By Sean Tuohy and Daniel Ford
Editor’s note: Believe it or not, this post started after I alerted Sean that “Ghostbusters II” was on VH1 the other day. Somehow our conversation devolved into trading one-liners back and forth for several hours. Feel free to add your own in the comments section or tweet us @WritersBone. Keep writing!—Daniel Ford
Photo courtesy of heyrocc
By Daniel Ford and Sean Tuohy
Sean: Okay, so last night I attempted to read—for the second time—a book that we received some time ago.
The book hasn't been released so I don’t want to name it, but it’s a detective novel. The writer is a former police officer. The first time, I stopped reading three chapters in because it was boring. The writer spent too much time trying to make it feel real that it slowed everything down. It happened again this time around. The author would slow the story down to give some little fact about this or that.
Now, with these types of stories you have to put in details but when is it too much? When should a writer stop trying to get in all the facts and just tell the story?
Daniel: Man, I'm glad you brought this up. I just finished a book that comes out in June and it is awful. Poor dialogue, wimpy plot, caricatures instead of characters. I plowed through it because I hate not finishing a book I start, but I threw it right in the trash when I was done. I chalked it up as a lesson in how not to do things and I'm moving on.
Anyway, I think if you're going to overload people with facts, write a nonfiction narrative or just a straight nonfiction account. The rules are essentially limitless, so why do writers hem themselves into plot devices and narration that don't move readers?
Take the movie "Spotlight." Are all the details factually correct? No, of course not. Journalism, when done right, can be monotonous to an outsider. I heard Ann Hornaday, a movie critic who writes for The Washington Post, say on a podcast a couple weeks ago that some of the scenes featuring confrontations on the golf course or at parties were actually done through email. Does that make the movie any less authentic? No. The whole point of fiction is that you get to stretch beyond the bounds of reality. You can do that without losing the essence of the story.
Also consider Dimitry Elias Leger's God Loves Haiti. He tells a spirited, haunted love story in the middle of the Haitian earthquake in 2010. He doesn't dwell on Richter scale readings or news reports. He uses the facts to build his own world, one that explores the themes unleashed after the earthquake in a way that relates to readers.
People who read fiction want the authenticity of feeling and emotion, and don't necessarily care that facts have been stretched or tweaked.
Sean: Good example with “Spotlight.” You could say the same for “Bridge of Spies.” Was the film 100 percent spot on? No, not at all. Chunks of dialogue were taken from documents and things like the exchange and sneaking people out happen but not like it did in the movie.
I like to look at Stephen J. Cannell's work. The man was known for his research. He would spend months researching people, topics, and fields for a single book or television show. But he knew how to inject that into his work without slowing it down. He knew that you shouldn't let the facts get in the way of a good story.
If you are a good cop, it does not mean you’ll be a good writer. I tend to find that they get bogged down in details that the readers do not care for.
Daniel: Right. You have to know the facts, but also know when to ignore them. Creating a mood or a deep character is much more important than, say, explaining exactly how a suspect gets booked or what streets cops actually police.
"The Wire" is probably another good example of doing it the right way. Fiction's job isn't to inform using facts and details, it's to inform with passion and emotion.
Sean: Yes! I completely agree.
“The Danish Girl,” which was a big award-winner this year, tells this "true" story about a male artist who wants to become a woman in the early 1900s. Everyone loved it. It was not a real story. The film was based on a novel, which was based off a true story. But the film and novel captured the passion and emotion of the real people but put it into a fictional setting.
Daniel: "Steve Jobs" is another excellent example. All of Jobs's life didn't happen before product launches. However, I was impressed by Aaron Sorkin's screenplay. He illuminated Jobs's entire life in a structure that would make an excellent play. I walked away feeling like I knew a little more about Jobs without caring if every detail was correct. And after reading the biography, I think Sorkin captured the man and all his faults in three acts.
Sean: "Ray," the Jamie Foxx movie, did the same. It captured the man, how witty and driven he was, but also all his faults.
I want the facts and what to know how those facts impact a character but I don't want them to slow down the story.
Daniel: I live by three commandments when it comes to writing:
Facts can throw up roadblocks for all three. We're storytellers, and storytellers shouldn't be afraid to deviate from facts in order to uncover larger truths about the human experience. Move people with your dialogue and characters; don't bore them with lists and procedures. Readers get enough of that at work!
Sean: You are like Frank Ryan in Swag. You got your rules and you live by them. I like that.
But those are good rules and should be the cornerstones of any storytelling. Like Raymond Chandler said, "Every ten pages have a man with a gun." We need to keep the readers invested and interested without making them work.
By Daniel Ford and Sean Tuohy
Daniel: So lately, whether we like a book or movie, we can usually find a moment, stretch of dialogue, or character that we remember fondly. I recently re-sold you on a couple of books that you gave up on, and you always suggest a movie I should see even if it's true for that one good thing.
My question is, are we a product of consuming so much content we can identify something to critique in everything or are we doing this because we're born storytellers and like seeing how the sausage is made?
Sean: It's a mix. We are born storytellers, yes, but that is a talent that has to be skilled and shaped and the only way we can do that is by consuming content.
Think of a writer's mind like a blade. It starts out dull and unable to slice butter. The blade has to be sharpened over time to be used properly. So when we are younger learn and sharpen our mind.
As we get old the blade becomes dull from use. We have to sharpen it back up. That is why any writer worth a damn is reading and writing all the time. They are always working on the craft.
For every hour you spend writing you need to spend another hour reading.
Daniel: Wow, I love everything about what you just said.
Makes writing the headline for this chain easy.
And you're right. I never feel like I'm slacking off when I'm reading or watching something. It's research in a lot of ways. And everything, including the crap, should make you excited about your own work.
Take a show like "Rectify." I'm sure that not many people have even heard of it. It's about a man who is let off death row after spending most of his adult life there. The show follows him as he tries to put back together his existence. It's so quiet and subtle at times it feels like I'm invading these characters privacy (much like the experience you had with "Tinker Tailor Soldier Spy"). After watching a couple of episodes, I never feel like I'm wasting my time. I soak in how the characters interact with each other, why the director chose one angle over another, or how the plot comes together slowly like a stew.
Same goes for a novel. Even if I'm slogging through it, I learn things that I can apply to my own work. Every book and movie offers a lesson, so it's important to keep a notebook around whenever you're binging watching or reading.
Sean: 100% every form of content—book, movie, poem—offers some insight into the creative mind. From the worse film to the best novel, you are going to learn something.
I should keep a notebook handy. That would be really helpful. How many times have you thought "great idea" and then forgot it about an hour later?
I have recently started keeping a notebook at my desk at work and when I think of scene, some dialog, or a log line I write it down. Some times I forget what I wrote down and when I look thought the book I surprise myself with something.
Daniel: That happens to me too often sadly. Although the notebook feature on the iPhone has saved my bacon more than a time or two.
We've talked about this, but ideas tend to hit me right before I pass out for the night. Sometimes I'll start teasing out an idea, get something I really like, and then fall asleep. Typically I can retain it that morning in some form, but it's not as pure. There’s nothing more soul crushing than a lost idea, especially a good one.
Sean: Agreed, nothing more soul crushing then losing an idea. You strain to get it back but nothing happens. A feeling I love is when you have a long-standing idea that would never work but then some happens and it clicks. It is brilliant.
I've had long standing ideas that never worked out. Something was missing. It felt hollow and small. But then something pops into my head and the light bulb just pops.
Have you thought about leaving the notepad next to the bed? Just flip over and write down the idea. A word or phrase that you can review in the morning.
Daniel: Oh, it's there. Sometimes I don't have the energy to reach over and grab it.
Keep those ideas around. Maybe it didn't work for that particular project, but it could end up being perfect for a project down the line. Kill your darlings, but keep their corpses around!
To join the conversation, use the comments section below or tweet us @WritersBone.
From the desks of Sean Tuohy and Daniel Ford: At what point in reading a book or watching a movie do you know it's bad? At the beginning? In the middle? The end? How many books or movies have you dropped in the middle and never returned to? How bad does it need to be to walk away?
Rachel Tyner: I used to never stop reading a book or watching a movie, even if I didn't like it, because I had something against leaving it "unfinished."
Now, I'm getting older, and ain't nobody got time for that.
There are so many books and movies out there, so if I don't like something, I'm done with it. I try and give it three chances. Pick it up and read, get bored. Try again a few days later (or weeks, months, etc.). Try again one more time. Recently, this happened with Ender's Game. It seemed like I would love it "on paper" (haha, get it?), but it was seriously a terrible book.
I think you know pretty soon into a movie too. Remember "That Awkward Moment?" Terrible within the first five minutes. When something you are watching or reading is making your life less interesting (or even less fun, if that's the movie/book you are reading), what's the point?
Daniel Ford: I remember walking out of the theater during "That Awkward Moment" with you, Sean, and Steph. It was that moment one of the female characters' father dies and Zac Efron has to have a powwow with his boys to decide whether he wants to go or not because he doesn't want to be considered the girl's boyfriend. That movie still owes me money.
I tried to get into Ender's Game a bunch of times as well. Couldn't do it. Dune, same thing. I used to read much more nonfiction than I do now, and I'd bounce around from book to book if I got to a slower section or if my interests pulled me in another direction, but it's tough for me to put down a book for good.
I mentioned to Sean that I read a book recently that was awful, just awful. It had a good, strong opening, and then became 12 novels in one and none of them were good. And I hate read the rest. I complained to everyone I know. Must of the reactions were, "Well, just stop reading it." But by reading the whole thing I got a great lesson on failure (not that I needed one), and how learn how not to write dialogue.
That being said, you're right about time. It's one thing if all you're doing all day is sitting on the beach reading shitty paperbacks, but all of us have to work for a living. Why torture yourself when something isn't good? Better to go write something great than read something terrible!
Matt DiVenere: I have had the absolute worst luck with movies lately. It's basically a curse at this point. Here's the order of the last few movies I've watched that were offensively bad:
I know that I should take the blame for some of these, but yikes. If I were the creators of “The Drop,” knowing that it's James Gandolfini's last movie, I would have burnt every single copy of that mess and sent the remains up into space rather than have that movie be in his IMDB profile.
The only reason why I watched the whole movie was to be able to fully hate them and thoroughly discuss my hate for them with anyone who asks.
Also, you know a movie is bad right away. The dialogue, the acting, and the soundtrack. Those are my three strikes.
Gary Almeter: I spent 2006 reading Theodore Dresier's An American Tragedy. It took an entire year and I hated every minute of it but just thought it was something I should have read. Never again. Now, if something doesn't grab me by page three or four I put it down and it is dead to me.
I walked out of "The Flintstones" starring John Goodman and Elizabeth Perkins.
Daniel: I have fond memories of going to see "The Flintstones" with my family. It was one of the rare times in those days that my father had a Saturday morning off. I'm convinced he still regrets taking us to the movies that day.
I'm also more selective now that my time is so divided. I won't necessarily pick up a book that I'm on the fence about if I get in another book that I know I'll probably love. The one time I was swayed by some fall lists and picked up something I originally dismissed, I got burned with a crappy read.
Lisa Carroll: I feel slightly ashamed to admit that I've tried to read The Hobbit about a dozen times since 2001 when "The Lord of the Rings" movie came out (because I will not break my rule about seeing a movie before I've read the book) and I just can't get past the damn dwarf party. Needless to say I have yet to see any of the films.
However, I do teach the "three strikes and you're out" rule to my kids. I tell them, "Give a book three chapters because sometimes the author takes a little longer with the exposition and if you get through three chapters and he/she hasn't captured you, put it down." I general stick with that rule myself. Except when I have to read a book for school.
The hard part about being a middle school librarian is when I have to read all 20 Nutmeg nominees and then book talk them and convince the kids that I love them all. That's where my degree in theater really pays off.
To add to the discussion, comment below, weigh in on our Facebook page, or tweet us @WritersBone.
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By Daniel Ford
Summer is over. Fall isn’t just approaching, it’s here. The sunshine doesn’t hang around as long as it used to, and warm socks and boots have replaced shorts and flip-flops.
If you’re not careful, or have been listening to Robert Masiello’s autumn playlist, things could get depressing in a hurry. That’s why I compiled 15 tips from our favorite authors on how to be a better writer. These should keep your creative tank full well into the winter months.
If you have any advice of your own, feel free to comment below or tweet us @WritersBone. Keep writing!
Kirstin Valdez Quade (Photo credit: Maggie Shipstead)
The advice that I keep in mind as I’m working comes from Alice Munro: “The only choice I make is to write about what interests me in a way that interests me, that gives me pleasure.” Staying faithful to your interests is really liberating, and allows you to takes risks in your work. Plus, if you’re interested in the story you’re telling, that energy and urgency is bound to come through, and it’s far more likely your reader will also be interested.
Joe Hill
Over the years, I’ve had a lot of good advice from some brilliant writers. But I never really learned that much from all the kind, well-meant suggestions and clever tips. They didn’t stick with me. Just about everything I learned about writing a good book I learned from reading lots and lots of good books. I studied the novels I loved. I read them over and over, sometimes with a pen and highlighter, taking notes. Once, I spent a month rewriting the first five chapters of Elmore Leonard’s The Big Bounce, just to get the feel of his sentences.
Paula Hawkins (Photo credit: Kate Neil)
Perseverance is all, and whenever you’re feeling disheartened, read On Writing by Stephen King. He knows of what he speaks, and he’s really funny, too.
Dimitry Elias Léger (Photo Credit: Jason Liu)
Write like you’re part of a continuum of novelists. Know the history and highlights of your genre and your settings inside and out. Novelists should be like painters, building and riffing on traditions that go back centuries. Also read a lot of poetry, and poetic prose, since you are what you read. And for god’s sake, have a sense of humor.
Brian Panowich (Photo credit: David Kernaghan)
Mainly, be wary of other author’s advice, especially those that make their money solely by giving it. There really are no rules. I’m not saying don’t ask questions of the writers you admire (I did) or that all “how-to” books are snake oil. Studying your profession and using the bits and pieces that make sense to you are essential, but any book, seminar, or pay-to-play contest that promises the moon can be downright predatory. Only three things are going to help you produce art for a living. Producing art, letting people see it, and doing both of those things with fearless tenacity. And none of that will cost you a dime.
Liana Maeby (Photo credit: Jeremy Hunt Schoenherr)
I wish I had something better than “sit down and write,” but I really don’t. Write, and rewrite, and don’t be too hard on yourself if something isn’t working. There’s a huge learning curve, and the only way to get through it is to keep your head down and work for longer than seems sane or reasonable. The good news is that if you have a writer’s heart, the above will seem like a fun challenge rather than a chore!
Matthew Thomas
Work as hard as you can and forgive yourself when you’re either not working as much as you think you should or producing work that you think is worth showing anybody. It’s a hard life in the first place and as productive as it can be to censure oneself, and as useful as it sometimes can be to feel bad about things like a lack of productivity, it can also be damaging, because there may be a reason you aren’t writing much at a certain time. Maybe you’re soaking up some of life, reading more, internalizing unconsciously the rhythms of the language, or learning about human beings and understanding people as characters. I think that if one chooses the writing life, there is so much failure, difficulty, and seemingly fruitless striving in it that the kinder one can be to oneself at any point in the process, the better.
Aliza Licht
Build your network before you need it. Get your website up and running months before pub date. Secure your book’s Twitter handle and start building that audience. I recommend this even if you plan on responding from your personal handle. Having your book’s own Twitter handle is like giving it a home. All the conversations around it come launch should be amplified through that handle.
Alan Cheuse
Find a master and learn from him or her, and read deep and widely to find those in the past who can tutor you in the present.
Jennifer Steil
Write every day. Write when you are not inspired. Write when you only have five minutes. Write while your daughter is building a farm for bunnies around your ankles. Just write.
Carmiel Banasky
Be kind! That includes being kind to yourself. That berating voice—“I’m not writing enough,” “I’m not good enough,” etc., etc.—doesn’t aid the work. It doesn’t make you a better person or writer. As soon as I gave myself permission to write less or to write badly, I started writing more, and with more freedom. You have to show up at the desk to get the work done, of course, but once you are there, it won’t do you any harm, no matter how cheesy, to take a deep breath and remind yourself that you’re awesome.
Joe Schwartz
Get an editor before you do anything casually like self-publish a book or go hunting for an agent. The more professional you can appear, literally on paper, the more seriously your work will be considered.
Tania James (Photo credit: Melissa Stewart Photography)
I have a handful of reader friends whose advice I rely on heavily, even when it’s tough love time. I think it’s important to find those writerly mates who have your back, as you have theirs.
Hester Young (Photo credit: Francine Daveta Photography)
I’ve said this elsewhere, but I think it’s an important paradox to wrap your brain around: as a writer, you need both the humility to accept criticism and the dumb confidence to withstand rejection. Learn to be grateful for thoughtful criticism, not afraid of it, because that will shape your work more than any compliment. Also, people tend to romanticize publication, to see it as a sign that your work is at last “good enough.” In an age of Amazon and Goodreads and book blogs, however, publishing means you are opening yourself up to more rejection than ever before. At the end of the day, the writing has to be for you.
David Joy (Photo credit: Alan Rhew)
Persistence. That’s it. That’s the difference between people who make it and people who don’t. I wrote for a very, very long time before I ever got to anything close to something publishable. Some of the earliest writing I had was on notebook paper and I kept it in shoeboxes, and my mother called one day to see what I wanted to do with it. There was probably a thousand pages and I told her to take all of it out into the yard and set it on fire in the burn barrel. A lot of people can’t understand that, but it was the fact that I knew the writing wasn’t any good. It was important. I had to get it out of me. But once it was out, there was no other use for it. I’m probably well into 2,000 pages now and I’m still not anything close to what I would consider good. Whereas that might seem futile to some, it’s that futility that makes it so beautiful. It’s knowing that I’ll do this the rest of my life and never get it just right that makes it worthwhile. You know, Faulkner said if the artist were ever able to get it perfect, “nothing would remain but to cut his throat, jump off the other side of that pinnacle of perfection into suicide,” and I think that’s true. There just wouldn’t be anything else to do with your life.
For more author advice, check out:
Photo courtesy of Manel on Flickr
Editor’s Note: If you haven’t read Ernest Hemingway’s brilliant “Hills Like White Elephants,” well, what the fuck? Read it! Do it now! Okay, good, welcome back. Now you can read Alex Tzelnic satire without feeling like a heel because you blew off English class back in the day trying to impress someone who had already put in the friend zone. Enjoy!—Daniel Ford
By Alex Tzelnic
The hills across the valley were white. Not like, completely, perfectly white, like a sheet of printer paper. But like, kind of milky, though not quite two percent milk. Maybe more like almond milk. The hills were like almond milk.
The train station was between two railways. The railways were what the trains traveled on. The station was in the middle of them. It was very bright. Sunglasses were definitely an asset. The man had on a pair. So did the girl. They took them off as they parted the bead curtain and entered the train station bar. The beads kept the flies out. The beads were terrible at their job. It was hot and the flies buzzed and the man and the girl sat at a table. The express from Barcelona would come in thirty minutes. It stopped here, it picked up passengers, and then it continued on, like basically every other train that has ever existed.
“Let’s get a drink,” said the girl. She put her sunglasses on the table.
“It’s hot,” said the man.
“Let’s drink beer.”
“Dos cervezas,” said the man through the beads. “That’s ‘two beers’ in Spanish, “ he whispered to the girl.
“No shit. I took seven years of Spanish. Middle school through high school.”
“Right,” said the man.
The woman brought two glasses of beer. She put the glasses down. They were filled with the beer. The girl looked off at the hills.
“The hills look like almond milk,” she said.
“I’ve never had almond milk,” said the man.
“No, you wouldn’t have.”
“I might have,” said the man. “Just because you say I wouldn’t have doesn’t prove anything. I just haven’t needed to drink it because I haven’t declared myself allergic to everything, like everyone else these days. What’s so great about being allergic to everything anyway?”
The girl looked at the curtain. Another fly buzzed through the beads and into the bar.
“They’ve painted something on it,” she said.
“Yes. It’s called an advertisement,” said the man. “People create them so other people will buy their pointless shit. Like almond milk.”
“What does it say?”
“It says, ‘Licorice’ in Spanish.”
“Could we try it?”
“Spanish licorice?”
The man called to the woman behind the counter for licorice. She brought the licorice.
“It tastes like licorice,” the girl said, and put the Spanish licorice down.
“That’s the way with everything,”
“Yes,” said the girl. “Everything tastes of licorice.” She stared at the stick of licorice in her hand. “You know, licorice is one of those words that when you say it over and over, it sounds like gibberish. Licorice. Gibberish is one of those words too, I guess. Gibberish. Licorice.”
“Oh, cut it out.”
“You started it,” said the girl. “I was being amused. I was having a fine time.”
“Well, let’s try and have a fine time.”
“All right. I was trying. I said the mountains look like almond milk. Wasn’t that bright?”
“Uh, yeah. That was ‘bright’,” said the man, air-quoting the word “bright” to imply that her statement was actually not bright at all.
The girl looked at the hills across the valley.
“They’re lovely hills,” she said. “They don’t really look like almond milk. I just meant the coloring of the hills in this light was like the color of almond milk.”
“No, I get it,” said the man. “I know what an analogy is.”
They drank the beer. The beer was in the glasses. The glasses were on the table. The table was in the station. The station was in Spain.
“It’s really an awful simple operation, babe,” said the man.
The girl looked at the ground the table legs rested on. The ground was also in Spain. One hundred percent Spanish ground.
“I know you wouldn’t mind it, babe. It’s really not anything. It’s all perfectly natural.”
“Then what will we do afterward?”
“We’ll be fine afterward. Afterward will be great!”
“What makes you think so?”
“That’s the only thing that bothers us. It’s the only thing that’s made us unhappy.”
The girl swatted at a fly. A Spanish fly. She wondered if a Spanish fly and an American fly could communicate, could understand one another’s buzzes.
“And you think then we’ll be all right and happy.”
“I know we will. You don’t have to be afraid. I’ve known lots of people that have done it.”
“So have I. And afterward they were all so ‘happy’,” said the girl, air-quoting the word happy to imply that actually they weren’t happy at all.
“Well,” the man said, “if you don’t want to you don’t have to. I wouldn’t have you do it if you didn’t want to. But I know it’s perfectly simple.”
“And you really want to?”
“Hell yeah.”
“And if I do it you’ll be happy and you’ll love me?”
“I love you now. You know I love you.”
“I know. But if I do it, then it will be nice again if I say things are like almond milk, and you’ll like it.”
“You know how I feel about almond milk. But yeah, basically.”
“If I do it you won’t ever worry?”
“I won’t. Because it’s perfectly simple.”
“Yeah I know,” said the girl. “You’ve mentioned that like three times.”
The girl stood up. She drained her beer glass and put it back down. She walked toward the bead curtain and peaked outside. She saw the river through the trees through the curtain, which she was peaking through, hoping not to get a Spanish fly in the eye.
“And we could have all this,” she said.
“What did you say? You’re talking out of the curtain.”
“I said we could have everything.”
“I still can’t hear you.”
“We can have everything.”
“I’m getting nothing. Just muffled sounds.”
“We can have the whole world.”
“Still nothing.”
“We can go everywhere.”
“What?”
“It’s ours.”
“Sure babe.”
The girl sat down at the table and then looked back at the licorice advertisement on the swaying beads.
“You’ve got to realize,” he said, “that I don’t want you to do it if you don’t want to. I just think all natural breasts implants would look fantastic on you.”
“Wait, what?” asked the girl.
“That’s what we were talking about, right? Breast implants?”
“Would you do something for me right now?”
“I’d do anything for you.”
“Would you please please please please please please stop talking?”
“What’s the problem?”
“I’m pregnant you jackass. I wasn’t talking about implants. I was talking about getting an abortion.”
The man gulped. This was a major revelation. “Oh boy,” he said.
The woman came out from behind the bar. “The train comes in five minutes,” she said.
“The train comes in five minutes,” he told the girl.
“I know how to speak elementary fucking Spanish,” she said.
The man drained his beer. “I’d better take the bags over to the other side of the station.”
He picked up the bags and carried them around to the other side of the tracks. He considered his options. He could just start running, and hide in the almond milky hills. He could fling himself in front of the train when it arrived. Or he could suck it up, like a hard-boiled character from a Hemingway story, and be a man about it. The downgrade from a boob job conversation that he thought was going rather well to an abortion conversation was immense, a tremendously tough pill to swallow, but, he thought, pregnancy will temporarily increase the girl’s breast size, so it’s almost like getting a boob job. He returned to the table.
“Do you feel better?” he asked.
“Are you kidding me? My boyfriend is a moron who thinks I have a flat chest and didn’t even know I was pregnant.”
The man thought for a moment. “That has to be like, one of the top five miscommunications of all time. Like, in the history of human life on Earth. It’s almost kind of funny when you think about it.”
The girl thought about it. It wasn’t funny.
They looked at the hills.
“You know, now that you mention it,” the man said, “if I squint just so, the hills do look kind of like almond milk.”
The girl laughed a little.
“Do you feel better?”
“I feel fine,” she said. “There’s nothing wrong with me. I feel fine.”
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There are so many comics outside of DC Comics and Marvel that comic readers should get into. Although we love the publishing giants, sometimes we like to take a step back and enjoy other publishers. It’s good to get out of your comfort zone, so dive in and check out these awesome comics that you may not have heard of but definitely should be reading.
Publisher: Image Comics
Writtten By Jeff Lemire
Illustrated By Dustin Nguyen
Descender is a fantastic science fiction comic that takes a turn towards the innocent by presenting its story through the protagonist, TM-21, a robot modeled as a young boy who is just as innocent as he was intended to be. The comic centers around nine core planets, primarily Niyrata where the cultural hub and best minds were. Past being the proper tense because nine giant robots appeared from nowhere and wiped most of all organic life. This absorbing sci-fi is a fantastic read for anyone who enjoys a good science fiction comic.
Publisher: Dynamite
Written By Matt Wagner
Illustrated By Dan Schkade
Take a trip down memory lane without the problematic facets of the 1940s and you get this new published version of Will Eisener’s The Spirit. It’s campy, fun, and most of all promising. It takes problematically portrayed characters of the comics past (i.e. Ebony White) and draws them well and portrays them wonderfully. If you’re looking for something that is packed full with adventure or just want to experience a modern day version of The Spirit, we recommend this comic wholeheartedly.
Published By Dark Circle Comics
Illustrated By Michael Gaydos
If you enjoy dark and gritty stories then The Black Hood is certainly for you. It’s a story about a police officer that gets disfigured while killing a vigilante. Not only does he face personal problems like dealing with his depression and drug addiction but he finds himself taking up the mantel of the vigilante that he killed: the Black Hood. This bleak story is great for those who enjoy the darker side of crime fighting.
Published By Image
Written By Brian K. Vaughan
Illustrated By Steve Skroce
This futuristic story begins its first issue with an explosion and ends it with an icy wasteland. Canada is invaded by the United States and a small band of Canadian freedom fighters are here to take their country back. The first issue serves to surprise and intrigue, which it does very well. Since it just began there isn’t much to say about the story except that it presents many questions that you can’t wait to be answered. A great read in the making.
Published By Avatar
Written By Alan Moore
Illustrated By Jacen Burrows
Alan Moore is an amazing writer and Providence is no exception to his writing prowess. It’s seeped in mystery, is captivating and keeps you wanting more. It’s a love note to H.P. Lovecraft and excels in its genre of horror and mystery. A definite read for anyone who enjoys Alan Moore and deeply rooted plots.
Atalie Garcia is the owner and writer of www.onlynerdsallowed.com where she writes comic book reviews, character biographies, and opinion essays on comic book lore and culture. When she is not writing about comic books she's busy being Batman.
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Writer’s Bone’s Sunday Brunch features fresh commentary or interviews, jazz recommendations, and a roundup of the week’s top posts. We encourage you to enjoy this post on a weekly basis with a mouthful of omelet and home fries, as well as an unhealthy amount of the aforementioned mimosas, Bloody Marys, or bellinis.
By Daniel Ford
Writer’s Bone contributor Lindsey Wojcik stops by to talk about Astoria, N.Y., why she moved to New York City, her most exhilarating work experience, and how she stays inspired as a writer.
Author Steph Post graciously answered our questions about her early influences, how she went about getting her novel published, and her youthful love of fried gator.
Championing the Loser: 13 Questions With Grit Lit Author Steph Post
One of my favorite jazz tunes. You can’t help but be happy you’re alive after listening to this song.
The latest installment of The Newspapermen deals with the fallout from Shirley breaking our young cub reporter out of jail. We find our exasperated editor-in-chief attempting to keep the investigation on the right track without endangering Henry and Shirley even further. However, he’s ready to light a few fires and get his ink-stained hands dirty.
Author Stuart Dybek talks to Dave Pezza his style, Chicago, and creative writing’s place in the age of advanced technology.
Writer’s Bone got a whole lot funnier this week with our podcasts featuring Broken Lizard’s Steve Lemme and Kevin Heffernan and Bryan Johnson from AMC’s “Comic Book Men.”
The Writer’s Bone crew went to see Lemme and Heffernan’s show at Laugh Boston on Oct. 10 and are happy to report the two aren’t any funnier than Sean Tuohy after a few drinks (we’re kidding, they were great!).
Steve Lemme, Daniel Ford, Kevin Heffernan, and Sean Tuohy
A podcast with comedian Robert Kelly, the next installment of The Newspapermen, and our October 2014 book recommendations.
Keep writing (and Sunday drinking)!
By Daniel Ford
Do you know how hard it is to be a writer on Twitter? There’s no way we can get all of our brilliance out in 140 characters. Even Hemingway would have asked for a few more!
I’m kidding, of course, but writers do sweat over the words, images, and links they post more than anyone else on the social media network. Being witty and pithy are our bread and butter, so the limited characters is more of a worthwhile challenge rather than a bummer.
Here are five writers who make it look easy and deserve a follow from all aspiring wordsmiths. Feel free to share your own favorites in the comments section or tweet us @WritersBone.
See the below tweets from one of Writer’s Bone’s favorite authors. That should explain perfectly why you should be following her.
Yes, having a dog named Gus helps his cause, but Mayer would be worth a follow regards. Writers who want to write about government, the armed forces, and U.S. foreign policy (either fiction or non-fiction) need to put Mayer in their newsfeed ASAP. The former Special Ops. solider is always topical and has a firm grasp of all things having to do with the military. Mayer also shares plenty of links to pertinent posts that you may not have otherwise found.
I’m a fan of any writer who describes his memoir as “Eat, Pray, Love for depressed shut-ins.” I can’t wait to crack into Whitehead’s The Noble Hustle: Poker, Beef Jerky, and Death, but until then, I’ll be satisfied reading his witty tweets. We look forward to stalking him to come on the podcast in the near future (don’t say we didn’t warn you Colson).
I like following author Steve Kozeniewski for a variety of reasons. It never fails to make me smile when I see the name Braineater Jones, he uses the word fart a lot, and he takes the time to thank reviewers and people who have interviewed him. Plus, his Twitter avatar deserves to go in the Hall of Fame.
Like we weren’t going to include our podcast partner in crime? Richardson is always funny, relevant, and informative. He’s at his best when he’s ranting about Amtrak, lousy screenwriting, and Hollywood award shows.
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By Daniel Ford
Someone said to me this morning, “There is not enough coffee in the world to get me through this week."
After a Patriot’s Day off, I feel the same way.
Alas, writers aren’t allowed a day off. Even when your eyelids are heavy, your hangover is crushing, and your hand is crippled with indecision and fear, your writer’s mind is always thinking about the next word, the next paragraph, and the next conclusion.
So once you’ve jolted your system awake with copious amounts of caffeine, you’re going to need something else to keep you going. These 10 quotes on writing I found this morning just might do the trick. Feel free to recommend your favorite inspirational writing quotes in the comments section, or tweet us @WritersBone.
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Daniel Ford and Sean Tuohy gave you their best moments as writers when they first founded Writer’s Bone. They asked the Writer’s Bone crew what their favorite moment was and here’s what they came up with:
Stephanie Schaefer: In college, my favorite moments as a writer were when I received papers with relatively little red mark-ups and that ever-so-satisfying “A” (or A-) on top–a rare fete for an English major. However, as I made my way into the real world, I realized that this subjective art doesn’t necessarily need A+ approval from a teacher or editor to be qualified as something you’re proud of.
Although sitting face to face with Shaquille O’Neal and firing questions at him was a badass moment in my journalism career thus far, one of my most gratifying accomplishments as a writer was crafting a story with true meaning behind it. I had the opportunity to interview a 16-year-old girl who survived cancer and found power in creativity. She remained positive and upbeat throughout the entire interview, and truly appreciated the chance to tell her story. After that interview, I knew that I wanted to use my skills to share inspiring narratives.
Lindsey Wojcik: "New York Brought Down to Size." That headline accompanied by an inaccurate composition of the New York City skyline donned the cover of my college's student newspaper my sophomore year. It was not the first headline with my name beneath it—I had experienced that euphoric moment of seeing my work published for the first time months before—but without that simple cover line, as well as the content of the story inside, I may not be where I am today.
I just was an eager contributing reporter hoping to obtain a few writing samples for my portfolio when, at a weekly writer's meeting, the features editor pitched an idea for a series of stories that would profile thriving cities a 20-something might consider moving to after college graduation. With my heart set on my own post-collegiate life in New York City, I knew I could deliver exactly what the editor wanted. I took the assignment.
Two weeks later—after interviewing a New York City-based realtor, a career development counselor at NYU, and three of my own school's alumni (former metro-Detroiters) that lived in the city—I turned in a comprehensive guide on where to live, work, eat and play in New York City after college. I was proud of it, but I never expected it would grace the cover.
The final product gained the attention of key editors and the newspaper's faculty advisor, who deemed it cover worthy. When the features editor passed along the news that it would, in fact, be the cover story, I could not remove myself from the newsroom. I only left to attend class, but returned long after other contributing writers left—determined to see the story come to life on the page and cover.
I craved camaraderie from the editors and advisor, so there I sat, deskless, shooting the shit with other staff members and pitching ideas, so I could contribute more. Each one of them listened intently and encouraged me to write as much as possible.
A year later, I would become the newspaper's editor in chief. And not long after graduation, I would finally be able to call myself a New Yorker. "New York Brought Down to Size" gave me the confidence and determination to achieve both.
David Pezza: My best moment as a writer is writing a short story that I haven't finished yet that I know will be crazy cool, but I need time to flesh it out…like years…
Also, one my best moments as a writer happened in a creative writing class at Providence College. The story, and the line about a redheaded woman I included in a previous post, got a huge response from the class. One kid, who was a nice and a cool dude (so someone I respected in the class), said about it, "Wish that I could write like that someday."
Emili Vesilind: It's always the same moment for me: that point in the writing process when the reporting has been jotted down, the lead has been crafted, and it's time to sort out and finesse the rest of the story. The hard part is over!
Elizabeth Nicklis: Getting the Principal’s Award in the first grade for writing. It was the first time I got an award for writing and you only get awards once in a while.
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