Science Shows Something Surprising About People Who Love to Write

25 September 2014
by Davide Mana 2 Comments

More Scrivener experiences – scenes

Short and sweet (hopefully) report on my adventures with Scrivener.

First, a note about how I write – I normally do a quick outline, and then think up a structure.
For instance – in the stories I’m writing right now (two 10.000 words pieces) I’m trying to follow the Seven Points Structure I mentioned in a post a while back.

Now, in an ideal world, I could lay back and let the story develop in my mind while I listen to music and browse illustrated books, so that when everything’s fleshed out, I can just go through a long bout of writing, and do a first draft in a few days.
But time is tight – so I basically go and write. Continue reading →

16 September 2014
by Davide Mana 2 Comments

Wu Xing for writers – part one

In the pauses of my writing binge I’m trying to put together the bits and pieces I’ll need for my next writing job – a novel looms on the horizon.

Which, in a very circuitous way, leads us to Wu Xing – that is, Taoist elemental theory.

According to the Taoist masters, reality is built by the interplay of five elements: Fire, Earth, Metal, Water and Wood.
The five elements are connected by complicated relationships of generation and antagonism. Continue reading →

16 September 2014
by Davide Mana 1 Comment

Seven points plot

The Writing Excuses podcast is so good, I’m linking it here in the sidebar.

And as I am at it, I’d like to point out this very interesting, simple story structure that was discussed in a not-so-recent podcast. It’s the seven-points story structure, and I like it quite a lot.

Hook
Plot Turn I
Pinch I
Midpoint
Pinch II
Plot Turn II
Resolution

I wonder if I’ll be able to adapt it to a 10.000 words story.

15 September 2014
by Davide Mana 5 Comments

Twentifive hundred words in ten days

This is going to be tricky.
I’m about to write 25.000 words – give or take a few paragraphs – in ten days, or I’ll miss a deadline.
And I can’t miss the deadline.
Two deadlines, actually

The plus is, I’ve about 5000 words already – so yes, I’m cheating, I’ll have to write only 20.000
It’s not much, really.
It means writing two thousand words per day.
Twenty hundred good words, that is. Continue reading →

10 September 2014
by Davide Mana 4 Comments

Firm-breasted lawyers

Once again about female characters in fantasy.

The painting here on the right is by the great Donato Giancola.
It’s my idea of a fantasy sword-woman done right.
She has character, she projects strength and toughness but she has class.
OK, so maybe there’s no reason in the ‘verse to handle a sword like that (or so they told me) but who cares – I can believe she’s a real woman.
No brass bikini, no empty, inflatable-doll-like curves to please an adolescent audience.

And the adolescent audience is what’s making me nervous.
And a quick survey of the fantasy and sword & sorcery field in my country* has been dis-heartening. Continue reading →

9 September 2014
by Davide Mana Leave a comment

Chinese poetry and Michael Bay

A few hours back I was chatting with my friend Lucy about one of the trickiest part of publishing.
Synopses, Amazon calls them.
But I prefer blurbs.
You know, the digital equivalent of the book’s back cover copy.
The text that’s splattered under your book details on the Amazon page, and probably you attach to your ebook as part of the metadata.

It’s not the first thing the readers sees about the book – title, cover, author name and price come first – and yet it’s important as hell.
Because if it’s true that often the cover sells the book, the blurb has the all-important purpose of tipping the scales, helping the undecided to go on and shell out their hard-earned money.

There might be a job, in there – blurb-writer.
A sure-fire, 100%-hits writer of blurbs could sell them for five bucks per copy and make a living out of it. Continue reading →