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This is Constantin Stanislavski. If you’ve ever taken an acting class, you’ve studied him. He’s best remembered for his contributions to drama theory: attempts to create training for actors that will help them portray emotion realistically. Stanislavski’s system was at first based on the principle of “Emotional Memory”, the idea that an actor must prepare […]
[Written in 2012 but changed to #1 in the “Philosophy of Writing” series.] Let’s pretend for a moment that my silly little Philosophy of Writing series is a useful workshop or a university class rather than something that has been inconsistent and possibly entirely unhelpful. If that were the case, “How Not to Write a Novel” […]
Stuff You Need: the chapter from your manuscript in standard English that you prepared in previous posts, a computer capable of viewing pdf files. Please note that the rules of grammar I cover here don’t necessarily apply to AAVE or other dialects of English that aren’t considered “standard”! The process is the same, though. So by now we are […]
Before you start working, go back to last week’s post and prepare your workspace in the same exact way. You’re going to have to make this a routine. Pretty pretty please? Or at least do something else to block out the world for half-an-hour. It’ll help you focus and be chilled. Good things! ~~~ In […]
I’m a cynic. Not a believer, not a hater. I don’t think my personal beliefs really belong in my fiction except in subtle ways I can’t help (they leak into my characterisation, I imagine), so let’s just leave it at that. “Maybe” is a trilogy of books [N.B.: this is no longer true]. I dislike […]
So this is you. Hello, you! I want you to mechanically follow my instructions. If nothing else it’ll prevent you from getting brain damage. Please note: Every single time I say “chapter” in this webinar, I’m referring to either a) one chapter of a completed first draft of a novel or b) a short story from your novel-length portfolio […]
I hear a lot of talk about how the first draft is something you should just get down as fast as you can — a sort of verbal vomitus allowed to dribble out unchecked. Lots of professionals tell you to do this. “Just get it finished,” they say. “You’ll be able to fix it later.” […]
Welcome to my blog. Thanks for looking. This post was actually written in October of 2012, which is when I decided to split my “How to Edit Fiction” webinar into two. I made this decision because I was never designed to be chirrupy and popular. My earlier posts in the webinar are attempts to teach […]
I haven’t written anything good since I finished the first draft of my manuscript. I have a sneaky little demon in the back of my brain who wails desperately that I won’t ever write anything good ever. again. which is total nonsense, of course, because I know exactly why I’m not writing well, and it will […]
We’ve been trying to save money recently. There are some lovely, cheap restaurants around here, but it still doesn’t count as “saving money” to spend $5.00 on a burger and fries, even if that burger is freshly cooked, made with good ingredients, and is really quite nice. So we went to a box store, bought […]
not very alice 
July 21, 2011 by Alice M.
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