While we’re always keen to post helpful links for writers here at Rocket Kapre, we thought we’d devote the Wednesday of each week to a more concentrated form of writing goodness. Our Writer’s Wednesday posts will contain three parts: the first part will be a set of interesting links for those in search of Internet-enabled inspiration; the second will be a writing tip culled from research or personal knowledge; and the third will be a writing prompt for those who want to exercise those prose muscles.
WW is an experiment and work-in-progress so please let us know what works for you and what doesn’t in the comments ^_^.
Today’s Writer’s Wednesday is brought to you by… the need to cram submissions for Philippine Speculative Fiction V. Yes folks you officially have less than a month to go so those “oh, I’ve got plenty of time” excuses don’t hold water anymore.
Stuck for ideas? Never fear, Writer’s Wednesday is here!
Baiting the Muse (LINKS):
- Philippine Related:
- The good folks over at Filipiniana.net have been uploading the official minutes of the meetings of the Katipunan. The latest is a record of a meeting held Christmas Eve and Christmas Day of the year 1895 at the house of the Supremo himself. I guess it’s only logical that any organization would have a written record of it’s meetings… but it’s just interesting that the Katipunan seemed to be sticklers for such mundane matters while they were planning a revolution.
- In more current news, it seems that Mayon volcano just had a minor eruption (or three).
- Science:
- We’ve got robot news galore over at Science Fiction in the News. Recently we’ve got Robots with Human Brain(cells), a Japanese Robot Exercise Instructor (who looks like a snowman for some reason), spherical soft robots that move by changing their shape (precursor to those droids from the Star Wars prequels?), and a dead link that lead me to an old Engadget article about a robot slave compelled to… play tennis? (That one’s for you Kyu ^_^)
- If you don’t want to go all robotic, that’s cool. How about having an electronic, toxin-sniffing nose instead?
- If you want some sand to go with your shine, then you might want to take a look at conceptual designs for a desert city inspired by Dune over at io9, and while you’re at it, check out the other cities that take the spotlight in their Future Metro feature.
Consulting the Muse (TIPS):
This week’s writing tip isn’t so much a specific tip but a recommendation: if you’re not listening to the Writing Excuses podcast by Brandon Sanderson, Dan Wells and Howard Tayler then you’re missing out on one of the best podcasts on the craft of writing. If you’re not the type who takes to oral instruction well, you can read the summaries/transcripts from Season 1 and Season 2. Here’s an executive summary of Season 1 Episode 4: Beginnings: don’t try to write your first line first. Do make sure that your first line makes a promise that the rest of your book fulfills. Get to character and conflict fast.
Personal Reflection: I agree that first lines are important, and that sometimes I get stuck coming up with that perfect line and just give up on the story in frustration after. However, sometimes my ideas for stories come in the form of opening lines, and I have a .doc file full of them–I think it’s important to capture that first whiff of story, even if in the process of writing it you don’t actually end up using that line.
Testing the Muse (PROMPTS):
No pressure–this isn’t graded or anything, just a service for those of us who like having prompts from an external source. If you do take up the challenge though, I encourage you to post your work here.
Let’s see… how about this:
Without spending too much time on the first line, write the opening scene of a story that involves a robot and a lot of books (a robot librarian? A robot vendor at the bookfair?) After you’ve finished the scene, go back and rewrite the first line.
See you guys next week! And work on that PSFV story!
