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neil-gaiman:

Neil Gaiman

1 Write.

2 Put one word after another. Find the right word, put it down.

3 Finish what you’re writing. Whatever you have to do to finish it, finish it.

4 Put it aside. Read it pretending you’ve never read it before. Show it to friends whose opinion you respect and who like the kind of thing that this is.

5 Remember: when people tell you something’s wrong or doesn’t work for them, they are almost always right. When they tell you exactly what they think is wrong and how to fix it, they are almost always wrong.

6 Fix it. Remember that, sooner or later, before it ever reaches perfection, you will have to let it go and move on and start to write the next thing. Perfection is like chasing the horizon. Keep moving.

7 Laugh at your own jokes.

8 The main rule of writing is that if you do it with enough assurance and confidence, you’re allowed to do whatever you like. (That may be a rule for life as well as for writing. But it’s definitely true for writing.) So write your story as it needs to be written. Write it ­honestly, and tell it as best you can. I’m not sure that there are any other rules. Not ones that matter.

…

Read the whole article. It’s filled with great advice from wonderful writers…

(via tinocka)

fictionfiction:

A lot of people assume dialogue is easy to write because ‘It’s just a conversation! I have those all the time.’ 

But real conversations are, for the most part, really boring:

• Lots of verbal tics (uh, um, like, well, I mean)
• Lack of conflict (How was your day? Great, yours? Pretty good!) 
• Cliches and repetitive phrasing 

Writing dialogue that too closely mirrors real conversation will give you lots of repetition on the page. You don’t want that. Repetition is bad. It’s boring. It sucks. It’s totally lame.

All that said, here are a few essential reads re: writing dialogue that is great and awesome.

On Punctuation 

• Punctuating Dialog by Marg Gilks
• How To Punctuate Dialog Correctly by Ginny Wiehardt

On Saidisms and Dialogue Tags:

• He Said, She Shouted Loudly by Nathan Bransford
• Verbs and Dialogue Tags: Or, Stop Smiling Words by Annette Lyon

On Pacing and Creating Conflict:

• Am I Talking To Myself, Or Is This Guy Not Holding Up His End Of The Conversation? by Anne Mini
• Speak To Me, Protagonist. Or Blink Twice To Let Me Know That You’re Alive by Anne Mini

On Info-Dumping, Hollywood Narration and As You Know, Bob

• As You Know (TV Tropes)
• Seriously, Dialogue Was The Only Way To Convey This Information To The Reader? by Anne Mini

(via fuileachd)

gqid:

subtlecluster:

Genderqueer Links and Books

The following are link and book recommendations, all evaluated myself, as helpful resources that relate to genderqueer and non-binary concepts and identities. If there is a resource you would like to suggest, please use the GQID submit form (select Submit a Link from the drop-down or copy and paste a list into the default text box). See also Marilyn Roxie’s genderqueer tag on Delicious. If you are instead looking for the bibliography for the Genderqueer History and Identities project, click here.

     Links:

Genderqueer-friendly Tumblrs

Androgynites Unite, Anything But Binary, Ask a Non-Binary, Break the Binary, LGBTQ Advice, Fat Genderqueers!, Fuck Yeah Androgyny!, Fuck Yeah Bigender!, Fuck Yeah Genderless, Fuck Yeah Gender Studies!, Fuck Yeah, Genderqueers!, Fuck Yeah, Transitioning GQs, the gender bender agenda, The Gender Book, Genderforkr, GenderPanic, Gender Queeries, Genderqueer, The Genderqueer Activist, GenderQueer Confessions, Genderqueer Fashionista, Genderqueer Problems, GQ Moments, KNOW Homo, LGBTQ Connections, Neutrois, Nonbinary, Non-binary Artists, Nonbinary Autistics!, Non Binary Confessions, Non-Binary Folk, Non-Op, no gender rules, nullgrade, Practical Androgyny, Queer Dictionary, Smashing the Binary, spectrumofgenders, STFU Binarists, T.R.A.N.S., Transcending Anatomy, Trans*Opinions, Trans* Transgressions, Trans* Tumblr Directory, transbears, TransFess, TRANSPRIDE, ygender[queer]

GQ-friendly Livejournal Communities

Androgynes, Bigender, Birls, Gender Blur, gender_fluid, Genderqueer, Gender.queer_FTW, Girlfags and Guydykes, Transgender

Websites and FAQs

Androgyny Rarely Asked Questions, Chroanagram, Crossdreamers, Genderfork, Genderology, Genderpedia, Genderqueer in the UK, GenderQueer Revolution, Gender Sphere, The Midwest Trans & Queer Wellness Initiative, Nonbinary.org, Non-Op: Another Option, pipisafoat: FAQ on Genderqueers, Gender Expression, and Gender Variance, Practical Androgyny, Questioning Transphobia, T-Vox, We Happy Trans, World Professional Association for Transgender Health, YGender

Organizations and Events: Click here for a list

Forums and Groups

AVEN: Gender Discussion, Forum GenderQueer (Russian), Last.fm: Genderqueers Group, Laura’s Playground, Scarleteen: Gender Issues, Susan’s Place, TransYada, What is Gender?

Identity Sites

Androgyne Online, Bigender, Bi-Gender the Bisexual Partner, GirlFags, Neutrois.com/Neutrois Outpost, Neutrois Nonsense

Prounouns and Titles

Art of Transliness: Gender Neutral Relational Terms, Freelance Writing: The History of the Indefinite Singular Pronoun, Gender Neutral Pronoun Blog, Gender Queeries: Gender Neutral/Queer Titles, Genderqueer in the UK: Misc, or Mx: A Gender-neutral Title, MIT’s Ally Toolkit: Gender Neutral Pronoun Usage, Warren Wilson: Using Gender-Neutral Language in Academic Writing

Articles: Click here for a list

Fun, Videos, Podcasts, & Performance

Agender Earthworm, Facts About Queers (Humor), Fuck Yeah Non-Binary Seahorse, Genderqueer Chat, Gendercast: Our Transmasculine Genderqueery, Gender Queeries,Kreative Korporation: Yay genderform! (a comprehensive and fun-to-play-with list of gender, sex, orientation, and more identities), Midwest Genderqueer, regender: A Different Kind of Translator, Trans Parrotfish, Trans Parrotfish’s Significant Other

Education

Gender Diversity Project, Gender Spectrum: Resources, Queer Teaching Tips, Safe Schools Coalition, TRANScending Identities: A Bibliography of Resources on Transgender and Intersex Topics, Transgender Student Rights, Trans What?: A Guide Towards Allyship

Sex Ed: Click here for a list

The Trevor Project: “The leading national organization providing crisis intervention and suicide prevention services” to LGBT youth: 866-4-U-TREVOR (866-488-7386) Also available for matters of less pressing urgency, Dear Trevor is an “online, non-time sensitive Question & Answer resource for young people with questions surrounding sexual orientation and gender identity.” A directory of previous questions in the category of Transgender/Genderqueer is also available.

Social Media

Click here for a list of social media with options apart from male and female, as well as scripts to alter options on websites that don’t provide these options by default

Fashion and Transitional Gear: Click here for a list

Banner: This Journal is Gay/Lesbian, Bisexual, Pansexual, Transgender, Intersex, Genderqueer, Asexual Positive banner (with flags; without flags). Designed by nethdugan.

     Books: 

Note: Use Worldcat.org, the world’s largest global library catalog, to see if the book you’re seeking is available at a library near you!

Gender Now Coloring Book - Maya Christina Gonzales

Gender Outlaw: On Men, Women and the Rest of Us - Kate Bornstein

Gender Outlaws: The Next Generation - Kate Bornstein

Hello, Cruel World: 101 Alternatives to Suicide for Teens, Freaks, and Other Outlaws - Kate Bornstein

My Gender Workbook: How to Become a Real Man, a Real Woman, the Real You, or Something Else Entirely - Kate Bornstein

Books and essays by Ivan Coyote

Grrl Alex: A Personal Journey to a Transgender Identity - Alex Drummond

GenderQueer: Voices From Beyond the Sexual Binary - Joan Nestle, Riki Wilchins, Clare Howell

Nobody Passes: Rejecting the Rules of Gender and Conformity - Mattilda Bernstein Sycamore

PoMoSexuals: Challenging Assumptions About Gender and Sexuality - Carol Queen and Lawrence Schimel

Queer Theory, Gender Theory - Riki Anne Wilchins

Read My Lips: Sexual Subversion and the End of Gender - Riki Anne Wilchins

Trans Bodies, Trans Selves (in-progress) - Laura Erickson-Schroth

whatever.odt (free!) - JD O’Meara

Feeling Wrong in Your Own Body: Understanding What It Means to Be Transgender - Jamie A. Seba

That’s Revolting!: Queer Strategies for Resisting Assimilation - Mattilda Bernstein Sycamore

Transgender Voices: Beyond Women and Men - Lori B. Girshick and Jamison Green

Transition and Beyond: Observations on Gender Identity - Reid Vanderburgh

(Looking for a list of books concerning gender, sex, and orientation that aren’t genderqueer specific instead? Click here)

Book lists compiled by others:

Bibliography of Books Concerning Androgynes and Androgyny

Booklist for Trans Youth on Goodreads

Genderqueer Chicago on Goodreads

I’ve updated this yet again on site and used the reblog post format that subtlecluster had put up to share it - keep sharing and suggesting more resources that I should include!

(via sassygayangel)

radikewlerthanyou:

fishingboatproceeds:

“Why, for example, do the great writers use anticipation instead of surprise? Because surprise is merely an instrument of the unusual, whereas anticipation of a consequence enlarges our understanding of what is happening. Look at a point of land over which the sun is certain to rise, Coleridge said. If the moon rises there, so what? The senses are startled, that’s all. But if we know the point where the sun will rise as it has always risen and as it will rise tomorrow and the next day too, well, well! At the beginning of “Hamlet” there can be no doubt that by the play’s end, the prince will buy it. Between start and finish, then, we may concentrate on what he says and who he is, matters made more intense by our knowing he is doomed. In every piece of work, at one juncture or another, a writer has the choice of doing something weird or something true. The lesser writer will haul up the moon.” -Roger Rosenblatt, How to Write Great

There seems to be a feeling among readers these days that if they see an event coming, the book is less than it might’ve been. I couldn’t disagree more.

I stand with Rosenblatt in celebrating anticipation over surprise. Even when reading mystery novels, the pleasure for me is never in the feeling of, oh I didn’t see THAT coming. The pleasure is living with another’s dread and pain and yearning and hope. All of that is a hell of a lot more fulfilling than being surprised by the killer’s identity.

This is the whole reason foreshadowing exists. Foreshadowing, at its best, is not a trick demonstrated to brag about what a fancy writer you can be. It’s about building anticipation, so that the reader can more fully empathize with the characters in the story: I want s/he to battle and hope against the inevitable while reading just as we all do while living. When it works, anticipation is far more fulfilling than surprise, because we are reminded that a sunrise is precisely as magnificent as it is inevitable.

hey look, it’s 80% of the reasons why i fucking hate stephen moffat’s writing. 

(via captain---herp)