Chuck Wendig is a successful author with lots of experience. When he writes about the, err, writing business, you should listen. Or read, as it were. There’s just too much to quote on this one so I’ll just point you to the blog post, if you’re a fellow wordsmith. If you’re not, well, have a nice day, I guess?
Tag: Chuck Wendig
-
-
Chuck Wendig declares NaPloYoNoMo
Chuck Wendig, who must be wise because he gets to write Star Wars books, agrees with me in that October is for outlining. From his meaty post, which you definitely should read if you intend to write a book, be it for NaNoWriMo or not:
Outlining fucking sucks. I fucking hate it. Every time I do it I have to grit my teeth and swig whiskey and engage in a movie montage where I ragefully punch frozen beef and run through snow. And it takes me like, a day or two — three, tops — and then it’s done and suddenly I don’t fucking hate it anymore. It’s probably like building a house and starting with the basement. Building the basement has to be super shit-ass boring. It’s a basement. It’s just a cinderblock prison. It’s a horizontal dirt cave. The house itself above it — oh, that’s fancy. You get to think about where doorways are and which room will be the living room and the dining room and the SEX TARP room. You get to place windows and floors. But the basement: Ugh, fuck the basement. And yet, you need the basement. You need the foundation.
-
Don't respond to bad reviews
Getting reviews can be rough, especially since you’ll forget about the good ones and cry over the bad ones. This is most likely universally true, for musicians and game makers alike. And authors too, I’ve got some first-hand experience there, as has everybody else who’ve sold some books.
Kathleen Hale stalked a reviewer, and she’s written about it in The Guardian. It’s a fascinating piece, but also quite creepy. I don’t think this is the way to tackle bad reviews, although I can certainly understand the helplessness she must’ve felt. Naturally, the whole piece is her point of view, which may or may not conform with reality. I wouldn’t know. There’s certainly been reactions, and you’ll have no trouble finding them should you want to. For my own part, I side with Chuck Wendig on this one: Don’t respond to bad reviews. It’s that simple, and that hard.