The Book Pirate » writing

A Useful Reference for Writers

The Book Pirate Colin Matthew — Mon, 11 Apr 2011 00:33:55 +0000

I spent five minutes today pondering the difference between the (th-ee) and the (th-uh). After that I got to googling the differences between the two. Turns out, the proper pronunciation changes depending on whether to proceeding sound is a consonant or a vowel. Thanks Dictionary.com!

But while I was googling I came across this document that I found INCREDIBLY useful and I felt like sharing it.

99 Other Ways to say “He Said”

Bravo to whoever created this reference list.

Adaptation/Interpretation

The Book Pirate Colin Matthew — Fri, 18 Mar 2011 16:00:03 +0000

I’ve been really, really bored this week. Normally I would pass the time writing, but my writer friends have told me that it is too soon to begin the revisions on my novel. Right now it’s just sitting there on my computer’s desktop just waiting for me to double click it and dive back in. I’ve giving it a month before I start work on the second draft.

To pass the time I have been trying to think of what next to write. I don’t want to attempt another long piece like a novel because those take a while and I don’t want to start something only to set it aside a month from now. I’ve decided to pursue a fun project by adapting one of my personal favorite musical albums in to a short story. Why? Why not. It’s an album that has always spoken to me as having a story that progresses as the album plays on.

Which brings me to my question. Is this an adaptation of the album or an interpretation? I’m inclined to say it’s an interpretation of it. To my knowledge the artist did not have a story he wanted to tell when he wrote the lyrics/music. I think to some extent he was trying to tell a story, based on the lyrics and themes from the album, but he has never come out and said what that tale might be. So i’m going to have to make up my own.

I think this will be fun because it will allow me to write in a genre I wouldn’t normally consider.

We’ll see how this goes.

Shrt Chapters

The Book Pirate Colin Matthew — Thu, 16 Sep 2010 03:09:59 +0000

I find that I am currently being drawn to books with short chapters. Books like Tales from the City or Jennifer Government where each chapter is no more than three pages long. It’s easier to pick up and put down the book. While I was reading Catching Fire I would naturally want to finish a chapter before I put the book down for a break. If I had something pressing to attend to, I wouldn’t consider reading any of it because I knew I wouldn’t be able to commit to an entire chapter.

In my personal writing I also write in short chapters with each chapter ranging from 800-1,500 words depending on what’s happening. In my mind I think this is where a lot of books will be headed due to the ADD nature of society where sitting down for an hour to do nothing but read is hard to do. We all get distracted by the Facebooks and Twitters. My phone is always within reach and while reading I admit that I will check it from time to time. Call me a product of the social media, but I think most people are the same way, constantly checking to see if somebody wrote on their wall.

Anyway, anybody have any thoughts on short chapters versus long chapters? I’d be curious to hear them.

FAIL: Writing Goal for August

The Book Pirate Colin Matthew — Thu, 02 Sep 2010 02:45:54 +0000

I had set a goal for myself to reach the 20,000 word mark on this thing I am tentatively calling “my first novel”. I know, every English major has a “first novel” their working on, so why should I be any different? I came up 5,000ish words short and reached 15,635. I good deal of those words, however, is the word “that” which seems to be one of my favorite words to use. I have a problem. I admit it.

My goal for September is to hit the 35,000 mark before October. Possible? Sure, if I can type 1,000 words a day.

Writing Group #3

The Book Pirate Colin Matthew — Thu, 03 Sep 2009 17:27:07 +0000

Last night I met with various writers who responded to an ad on Craigslist for a writers group. I responded because I am still on the search for a group of local writers that I could talk writing with, preferably over beer. There were seven of us total who met at the Lucky Lab Brew Pub. We were a diverse group in terms of everything. Gender, age, writing style, etc. It was nice and I good a few comments from the short piece that I read. Anyway, it was good. We’ll see if this group manages to stick around.

The Book Pirate joins a writing group?

The Book Pirate Colin Matthew — Thu, 11 Jun 2009 04:02:43 +0000

Ugh, one more day left then I am done with this term. Again, ugh. So tired.

Today at PSU there was the first meeting of beginning of a writing group for PSU students. There were only five people present and of the five only one was an English major (me). Three were linguistics majors. I’m not sure, is that even a real degree? Anyway, it all seemed kind of awkward as we talked about what we wanted from the group and what our personal goals are. I’ll see how this group develops. I agreed, for our next meeting, to bring in a piece for the group to workshop which means I have two weeks to write something.

Anyway, my pile of books that I need to write about has grown humorously tall. I’ll try and get that knocked down withing the coming weeks.