We all seem to be in agreement that summer is time to kick back and relax a bit. So with that in mind, here is the next in our summer’s Writers Chatting open threads.
Enjoy!
by TaMara| 20 Comments
This post is in: Authors In Our Midst, Open Threads, Writing Group
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Frankensteinbeck
…relax a bit? That’s like a vacation, right? I’ve heard of those. I understand normal jobs get these things called ‘weekends’ as well.
scav
For those unfamiliar with the concept of vacations, or just looking for a change rather than a break, I stumbled across a podcast: BBC4 The Invisible College. “Lessons in creative writing from a ghostly array of great novelists, poets and playwrights such as Ted Hughes, W.B. Yeats and Allen Ginsberg.” I was just intrigued and wanted to throw them into the proper puddle. Number Nine is about the importance of time off, so maybe everything’s already been covered!
Oatler.
A great time for reading listicles like “10 beach-reading books you’ve already seen 1980s movie versions of and so make a mental note to rewatch them. Because reading is hard”.
EBT
After a month of coding for my writing and a month of drawing art for my writing, I actually got back to writing last week. 2500 words.
ruemara
I’m working more on developing the writing career, that links to my Medium page’s first story and living off event photography this year. A friend of mine used his to develop his first book of short stories. I’m very proud of him. They’re not exactly my kind of short story, but I think he’s a good writer. The only bad part about focusing more on creative work is it leaves you very little time to catch up on reading. I have a stack of ARCs to get finished and writing reviews, so when I travel, I predict my heaviest stuff will be photo gear, next heaviest is books.
Mnemosyne
@Frankensteinbeck:
I was telling my 17-year-old niece about Don’t Tell My Parents I’m A Supervillian yesterday. I may have made another sale for you.
On the writing front, I’m a day behind in getting my essay about Some Like It Hot written, so I need to get that done today. I also want to work on my outline a bit more. I’m pretty sure I know what my heroine’s backstory is, but I’m still working on my hero’s.
Mnemosyne
@Oatler.:
Our small city has a summer reading club for adults, and one of the challenges is “read a book that was turned into a movie, and then watch the movie.” I’m leaning towards Like Water For Chocolate since I’ve neither read the book nor seen the movie, and both are supposed to be good.
Laura
@Mnemosyne: please also consider The Namesake.
It is so very, very lovely.
I wish I could see it again for the first time.
Neldob
Women in Love was a good movie and a really good book.
Mnemosyne
@Laura:
I’m still debating, but I’ll put it on the list. Most people I heard from liked either the book or the movie, but not both.
@Neldob:
I’ve already seen Women in Love, so it would be cheating. ?
schrodingers_cat
@Mnemosyne: I have seen it. I can’t stand Jhumpa Lahiri, she basically writes the same story over and over again. I did love her first collection of short stories but after that it has been a snooze fest.
ETA: The movie is good though. Mira Nair made a wise decision to focus on the immigrant parents than their spoilt rotten progeny. Tabu is a goddess and Irrfan Khan is wonderful.
schrodingers_cat
@Laura: What did you like about it? I couldn’t finish the book but I did like the movie.
Vheidi
@Mnemosyne: howard’s end?
schrodingers_cat
@Mnemosyne: A room with a view, Last of the Mohicans, they are both so romantic..
Tissue Thin Pseudonym
I had a fun weekend at 4th Street Fantasy; met up with Iowa Old Lady. I’m worn out on socializing for the moment. Hopefully, this will kick me back into writing.
Mnemosyne
@Vheidi:
Maybe. I’ve seen a lot of 80s costume dramas, though.
@schrodingers_cat:
I’ve seen both movies already, and I tried to read The Last of the Mohicans but came to the same conclusion Mark Twain did.
I should definitely add LotM to my list of romantic movies to write about when I establish my author blog.
schrodingers_cat
@Mnemosyne: I haven’t read Mohicans, but loved DDL in it.
Steeplejack
@Mnemosyne:
You’ve probably seen Get Shorty, but maybe you haven’t read the book. I have admired Elmore Leonard as a writer since long before he became “famous” (i.e., hipster famous). His prose and plotting are very tight, and his dialogue is second to none.
Steeplejack
@Mnemosyne:
Okay, reaching for ones where maybe you haven’t seen the movie: Miles Franklin’s My Brilliant Career and Vera Brittain’s Testament of Youth (not a novel, though).
On the (tangential) subject of Gillian Armstrong, holy shnikeys, The Last Days of Chez Nous (1992) is an amazingly good movie that apparently nobody but me has ever seen.
Jay Noble
I come to writing from the hinterlands of advertising and regulatory writing (policy and procedure manuals). For nearly tne last 14 years, I’ve been working in the catalog business, not as a copywiter but what in the old days was called Paste Up. But from day one, I’ve been editing and writing copy 1 – to make it fit in the given space; 2 – to make the copy sensible to a customer; 3 – to keep us from getting sued. On occassion, I’ve been told it’s not my job, but rarely have they undone my work.
So yes I’ve seen the transitioning from paper-first to internet-first copy and also the deterioraton of the copy. Have any of you folks had to deal with the evil that is SEO – Search Engine Optimized copy? Most of you are on the more creative side but has this creeped into your work maybe via an editor saying you need more Google hits?