April 11, 2012

mcavoyhasladyhips:

Check Out This Fan-Made “Good Omens” Title Sequence

With a TV mini-series based on Neil Gaiman and Terry Pratchett’s Good Omens still in development (recently confirmed by Gaiman himself on Twitter), this “book title sequence” made by Ariana T. on Vimeo gives us a tantalizing idea of what we might expect. A motion graphics assignment for school based on her favorite book, Ariana used After Effects and Photoshop to put this visually striking video.

Very well done. Loved the character sketches. Now we just need to give Phil Foglio millions of dollars to pick up that “Good Omens” graphic novel he did a few pages for.

(Source: diabeticwitchbrother, via neil-gaiman)

March 13, 2012
thenelsontwins:

theatlantic:

6 Writing Tips From John Steinbeck

1. Abandon the idea that you are ever going to finish. Lose track of the 400 pages and write just one page for each day, it helps. Then when it gets finished, you are always surprised.
2. Write freely and as rapidly as possible and throw the whole thing on paper. Never correct or rewrite until the whole thing is down. Rewrite in process is usually found to be an excuse for not going on. It also interferes with flow and rhythm which can only come from a kind of unconscious association with the material.
3. Forget your generalized audience. In the first place, the nameless, faceless audience will scare you to death and in the second place, unlike the theater, it doesn’t exist. In writing, your audience is one single reader. I have found that sometimes it helps to pick out one person—a real person you know, or an imagined person and write to that one.
4. If a scene or a section gets the better of you and you still think you want it—bypass it and go on. When you have finished the whole you can come back to it and then you may find that the reason it gave trouble is because it didn’t belong there.
5. Beware of a scene that becomes too dear to you, dearer than the rest. It will usually be found that it is out of drawing.
6. If you are using dialogue—say it aloud as you write it. Only then will it have the sound of speech.
Read more. [Image: AP]


Excellent.

thenelsontwins:

theatlantic:

6 Writing Tips From John Steinbeck

1. Abandon the idea that you are ever going to finish. Lose track of the 400 pages and write just one page for each day, it helps. Then when it gets finished, you are always surprised.

2. Write freely and as rapidly as possible and throw the whole thing on paper. Never correct or rewrite until the whole thing is down. Rewrite in process is usually found to be an excuse for not going on. It also interferes with flow and rhythm which can only come from a kind of unconscious association with the material.

3. Forget your generalized audience. In the first place, the nameless, faceless audience will scare you to death and in the second place, unlike the theater, it doesn’t exist. In writing, your audience is one single reader. I have found that sometimes it helps to pick out one person—a real person you know, or an imagined person and write to that one.

4. If a scene or a section gets the better of you and you still think you want it—bypass it and go on. When you have finished the whole you can come back to it and then you may find that the reason it gave trouble is because it didn’t belong there.

5. Beware of a scene that becomes too dear to you, dearer than the rest. It will usually be found that it is out of drawing.

6. If you are using dialogue—say it aloud as you write it. Only then will it have the sound of speech.

Read more. [Image: AP]

Excellent.

(via neil-gaiman)

March 8, 2012
I have to admire this guy’s tattoo, but I do think he took his love for Robert Frost a wee bit too far.

I have to admire this guy’s tattoo, but I do think he took his love for Robert Frost a wee bit too far.

February 29, 2012
In Writers Gone Wild on Feb. 29, Joan Collins won a major victory in her lawsuit against Random House when a judge awarded her an extra million bucks on top of the $1.3 million she was already given. Collins had signed a two-book, $4 million contract with the publishing house and had turned in two manuscripts that Random House rejected as unpublishable. The company then sued to get back its $1.3 million.
(The photos is from a scene in “Rally Round the Flag Boys.” It has nothing to do with the lawsuit, but let’s face it, wouldn’t you rather see this instead?)

In Writers Gone Wild on Feb. 29, Joan Collins won a major victory in her lawsuit against Random House when a judge awarded her an extra million bucks on top of the $1.3 million she was already given. Collins had signed a two-book, $4 million contract with the publishing house and had turned in two manuscripts that Random House rejected as unpublishable. The company then sued to get back its $1.3 million.

(The photos is from a scene in “Rally Round the Flag Boys.” It has nothing to do with the lawsuit, but let’s face it, wouldn’t you rather see this instead?)

February 28, 2012
Iris Blasi: Geoff Dyer on Literary Failure

irisblasi:

“Failure is quite interesting, and it’s something I have a certain amount of experience with. I wasn’t a failure in the way lots of people are failures—I could always get published, that was pretty straightforward. Literary failure is funny because it’s not like you get this massive slap in the…

February 15, 2012
Was listening to Woody Allen’s standup routines and heard this bit about how he had turned down a vodka ad on the advice of his rabbi, only …. well, let him tell it.
Turns out he did a whole lot of vodka ads during that time, including one with Monica van Voorhis, above.

Was listening to Woody Allen’s standup routines and heard this bit about how he had turned down a vodka ad on the advice of his rabbi, only …. well, let him tell it.

Turns out he did a whole lot of vodka ads during that time, including one with Monica van Voorhis, above.

February 13, 2012
Lights Out for Garcia Marquez (1976): On this day in Mexico City, Peruvian author Mario Vargas Llosa ended his friendship with Gabriel García Márquez with a punch in the face.
     They met at the Mexico City premiere of “Survivor of the Andes,” a movie scripted by Vargas Llosa. García Márquez had spotted his friend, shouted “Brother!” and held open his arms. Instead of a hug, García Márquez received a punch, hit the floor and heard through his ringing head, “That’s for what you did to Patricia.”
     The full story is in my book, but, apparently, when Vargas Llosa’s marriage hit the rocks, it was natural for his wife, Patricia, to seek advice and support from his best friend. What transpired between the two is still a matter of speculation, but when she returned to Vargas Llosa, he didn’t like what she told him.
     And when she found out about the fracas at the premiere, she caused one of her own, throwing a vase and several lamps at him and shouting that he made her look stupid in public.
     Whatever the reason, the two men have never met since. And nobody’s talking.

Lights Out for Garcia Marquez (1976): On this day in Mexico City, Peruvian author Mario Vargas Llosa ended his friendship with Gabriel García Márquez with a punch in the face.

     They met at the Mexico City premiere of “Survivor of the Andes,” a movie scripted by Vargas Llosa. García Márquez had spotted his friend, shouted “Brother!” and held open his arms. Instead of a hug, García Márquez received a punch, hit the floor and heard through his ringing head, “That’s for what you did to Patricia.”

     The full story is in my book, but, apparently, when Vargas Llosa’s marriage hit the rocks, it was natural for his wife, Patricia, to seek advice and support from his best friend. What transpired between the two is still a matter of speculation, but when she returned to Vargas Llosa, he didn’t like what she told him.

     And when she found out about the fracas at the premiere, she caused one of her own, throwing a vase and several lamps at him and shouting that he made her look stupid in public.

     Whatever the reason, the two men have never met since. And nobody’s talking.

December 26, 2011
Got this ad from the Brevity blog. I think Lawrence Block started this way. That might even be him.

Got this ad from the Brevity blog. I think Lawrence Block started this way. That might even be him.

December 16, 2011
Walt Whitman embarks on a mission to save his brother during the Civil War, and also turn around his life, in “Writers Gone Wild” on Dec. 16, 1862. Read the rest of the story at Planetpeschel. 

Walt Whitman embarks on a mission to save his brother during the Civil War, and also turn around his life, in “Writers Gone Wild” on Dec. 16, 1862. Read the rest of the story at Planetpeschel

December 12, 2011
On Dec. 12 in “Writers Gone Wild,” in 1889, Mark Twain is accused of plagiarism over his recently published “A Connecticut Yankee in King Arthur’s Court.” Read what happens next over at Planetpeschel.

On Dec. 12 in “Writers Gone Wild,” in 1889, Mark Twain is accused of plagiarism over his recently published “A Connecticut Yankee in King Arthur’s Court.” Read what happens next over at Planetpeschel.

Liked posts on Tumblr: More liked posts »