Search found 28 matches

by PhilipIsles
April 19th, 2011, 2:50 pm
Forum: Writing
Topic: What to do with parents?
Replies: 16
Views: 6763

Re: What to do with parents?

more than anything, I'm really enjoying hearing how everyone is addressing the question in their own stories. For the record, my character's parents drink the kool-aid that the military is passing around to distract/hypnotize/brainwash everyone from whats really going on, while the supporting charac...
by PhilipIsles
April 18th, 2011, 6:57 pm
Forum: Writing
Topic: What to do with parents?
Replies: 16
Views: 6763

Re: What to do with parents?

The problem with parents is that good parents make children and even YA feel safe, and would deus ex machina every hardship of our lives if they could. It's handy in real life, and deadly in fiction. Because your ten-year old protagonist needs to be in real danger, and needs to fix it with their ow...
by PhilipIsles
April 18th, 2011, 11:37 am
Forum: Writing
Topic: What to do with parents?
Replies: 16
Views: 6763

Re: What to do with parents?

I actually wrote about this last year on my blog: Absentee Parents Archetype in YA Lit. http://sommerleigh.com/archives/540 I talked about why we are seeing more absentee parents from books these days, but the reasons for their absence are all over the board. I think really good parents are sorely ...
by PhilipIsles
April 17th, 2011, 1:04 pm
Forum: Writing
Topic: What to do with parents?
Replies: 16
Views: 6763

What to do with parents?

While writing my last manuscript, I realized that all writers of childrens literature face the same problem: What do you do with the parents? I did some research and wondered what everyone thought. The write-up is here , but in case u dont want to leave the forum, here's a summary: Orphans By far th...
by PhilipIsles
March 21st, 2011, 2:29 pm
Forum: Writing
Topic: Writing out of order or not?
Replies: 20
Views: 6911

Re: Writing out of order or not?

Writing out of order is fine so long as you have an outline. I think narrative structure is more important in childrens literature than anywhere else. Here's why
by PhilipIsles
March 21st, 2011, 2:25 pm
Forum: Writing
Topic: Adults as Children, Children as Adults
Replies: 3
Views: 1686

Re: Adults as Children, Children as Adults

One has to wonder how it relates to the importance of dwarves during that time. It apparently fascinated Velasquez:
by PhilipIsles
March 21st, 2011, 7:14 am
Forum: Writing
Topic: Adults as Children, Children as Adults
Replies: 3
Views: 1686

Adults as Children, Children as Adults

I went back to Madrid last Christmas, where I had a chance to see Velazquez's masterpiece, Las Meninas. While studying the painting, I became particularly intrigued by one of the young subjects, and I thought I'd share an interesting discovery I made about him, for it's lead me to think about how we...
by PhilipIsles
January 18th, 2011, 6:19 pm
Forum: Writing
Topic: What makes you so good at what you do?
Replies: 21
Views: 16051

What makes you so good at what you do?

I recently had a discussion with an old family friend who, among other things, has worked as a UNICEF representative and published a self-help book. She said she had met a lot of incredibly interesting, successful people in her lifetime and the first thing she always asked them was this: What makes ...
by PhilipIsles
January 14th, 2011, 3:38 pm
Forum: Writing
Topic: Computer/Word/Keyboard Tricks I wish someone told me about
Replies: 17
Views: 7376

Re: Computer/Word/Keyboard Tricks I wish someone told me about

steve wrote:CTRL+A+DEL

Do this to everything you write, then write it again.

Your second go around will be much better.
best. one. ever.
by PhilipIsles
January 13th, 2011, 4:02 pm
Forum: Writing
Topic: Computer/Word/Keyboard Tricks I wish someone told me about
Replies: 17
Views: 7376

Re: Computer/Word/Keyboard Tricks I wish someone told me about

Hold down the "control" key (ctrl) and hit "enter" and you'll get a page break. Use page breaks for new chapters to format your manuscript. I put in page breaks at new chapters right from the beginning. It makes it much easier to find my place in the draft as I scroll through pa...
by PhilipIsles
January 13th, 2011, 3:50 pm
Forum: Writing
Topic: Computer/Word/Keyboard Tricks I wish someone told me about
Replies: 17
Views: 7376

Computer/Word/Keyboard Tricks I wish someone told me about

For my blog , I'm collecting all the computer/keyboard shortcuts I feel like some people might not know about because it's assumed everyone knows them. These may be obvious for a lot of people, but I didn't learn half of these until I was in the computer lab at college and overheard someone next to ...
by PhilipIsles
January 3rd, 2011, 8:58 am
Forum: Finding An Agent
Topic: Rejection and Recovery
Replies: 10
Views: 5703

Rejection and Recovery

I thought this area might be a good place to share a short piece I wrote about an important aspect of rejection--mainly, the importance/relevance of recovery when dealing with it. You can read the original article on my blog too. Rejection and Recovery "Fall down 8 times, get up 9" -Tradit...
by PhilipIsles
December 21st, 2010, 2:02 pm
Forum: Writing
Topic: How Do You Read?
Replies: 22
Views: 11228

Re: How Do You Read?

I think structurally it works as well if you consider Wonka's announcement as the catalyst instead of actually finding the ticket. In that respect, I feel that the discovery of the tickets is not truly setup per se but rather the first part of Act II. If you think about Act II as being an entrance ...
by PhilipIsles
December 21st, 2010, 1:05 pm
Forum: Writing
Topic: How Do You Read?
Replies: 22
Views: 11228

Re: How Do You Read?

The first time you read a book, I think it's important to allow yourself to be swept away. The mark of a well-written book/movie is one that makes you forget your thinking/craft/analysis hat and totally lose yourself. I keep bestsellers/favorites on my desk for reference. For instance while trying t...
by PhilipIsles
December 21st, 2010, 12:55 pm
Forum: Writing
Topic: Describing your Characters
Replies: 25
Views: 7337

Re: Describing your Characters

One of my biggest problems with writing is with character description. I do mannerisms, voices, and all the important stuff okay, but I can't for the life of me incorporate a physical description of a character without it being a classic info-dump. In my experience, character comes out best when we...