Nathan Bransford - The Forums

Loving the numbers geekery, Hillsy!

Extremely classy, yes. Not only that they were polite about it, but also that they made it clear they'd be okay with the author changing it on the next print run, rather than pulling copies already in print. I think our current copyright/trademark laws are a clusterf*ck, but JD seems to be navigatin...

Not everybody in the biz agrees that 120,000 is the max: http://arcaedia.wordpress.com/2011/04/15/letters-from-the-query-wars-4-15-2011/ puts 150,000 within the acceptable range (granted, at the upper end, but still acceptable). LurkingVirologist, just write the story the way it needs to be written....

Been there, done that, and agree with all the above that a break is called for. In the long run, you'll lose less time to a break than to setting your manuscript on fire. ;) I would recommend, however, continuing to write during your break. Not on the novel or anything related to it, but keep writin...

polymath wrote:"Droid" is one example of an intellectual property trademark that has legal muscle behind it that will hammer down any, any usage.

What, so they're suing the Star Wars franchise? I think there's a pretty clear case of prior art on that one. (Not that it was original to Lucas, either.)

guys with guns show up and shoot the friend

That's a good reason. Gives the protag extra motivation, too. Sounds like a plan to me.

Great topic, LurkingVirologist! I love making mixes anyway, so of course I don't miss a chance to make them for my writing projects. The soundtrack for the espionage novel I'm currently putting the finishing touches on was: 1. Peter Gabriel - Come Talk To Me 2. Jackson Browne - The Next Voice You He...

Preacher - With your addendum, this makes sense to me. Sounds viable enough for a working theory, anyway! My only concern would be, how does Friend know enough about this woman to know she's this valuable, without knowing enough about her to tell Protag who she is? Or is there some other reason why ...

I have writing habits, but they tend to come and go in phases. For a long time, I was doing most of my writing at night in bed (which is a terrible idea, as the last thing a writer needs is a Pavlovian association between trying to write and falling asleep!), but lately mid-afternoon on the living r...

I'll throw in another vote for writing the accent, but keeping it light. Very light. Hagrid's an excellent example, and also probably about as extreme as you want to go. In "reality", he probably has a very thick Yorkshire or similar accent that would be unintelligible if written out phone...

Not cry, no, but if I can make their guts twist up so they can't swallow their dinners, I'll be a happy camper.

Thanks for the "Love List" link, wilderness. I really needed that today!

Cameron - They nag because they care. ;) My housemate isn't a writer, but she's gotten rather enthusiastic about the drill-sergeant approach. We've had to have a talk about when that's appropriate and when it isn't, but it's good to have somebody to call me on it when I get lazy. (I don't discuss wr...

macaronimagpie wrote:Is it okay to pretend an entire POV doesn't exist in the query?

Yes; in fact, I've seen it recommended. By QS/Janet Reid, IIRC.

Moni12 already touched on my favorite advice, but I'll say it anyway: They're not so much rules, as guidelines. Pretty much all of the "rules" of writing started out as reminders not to overuse something, but they tend to ossify into absolutes. "Don't overdo ____" becomes "D...