@daeus-lamb
Active 2 days, 7 hours ago-
Daeus Lamb wrote a new post, How to Make a Character Come Alive 5 days, 10 hours ago
What makes a character come alive?
Writers have been asking this question for ages as they attempt to convince readers that little markings on a page are actually living, breathing people. This is no easy […]
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Daeus Lamb replied to the topic Horror Story Ideas in the forum Horror writers 4 weeks ago
I have a vague idea for a story that might be horror, though it’s more likely suspense. Interested to see what others have to say. I never care to watch any horror, no thank you, but I might have some interest in books. I certainly like to broaden my reading.
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Daeus Lamb replied to the topic Controversial Opinion: "Reading makes your writing better" is bad advice in the forum General Writing Discussions 4 weeks ago
@lrc and everyone else
I’m kicking myself I didn’t see this earlier. I read a lot of this discussion, but haven’t got the chance to read all of it. I want to come back and do that if I can.
I don’t see any point repeating what everyone has already said, but thanks @lrc for bringing this topic up! Even through I don’t agree, I love the out of the…[Read more]
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Daeus Lamb wrote a new post, 17 Ways to Approach Your Story from a Fresh Angle 1 month, 1 week ago
Are your characters flopping over like wet cardboard? Is your plot fizzling in the middle or bouncing around without direction? Maybe the problem and solution is simple: you need different tactics, like when […]
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Great article, Daeus! I especially appreciate the advice to try different approaches to figure out which ones work best for you. The fact that almost every point is supported by an SE article is great.
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THIS IS AWESOME!!!!! I WOULD LOVE TO TRY OUT EACH AND EVERY THING ON THIS LIST (except I’ve already tried pansting, and it doesn’t really work for me unless I’m writing a short story or a bit of microfiction)!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! I CAN’T WAIT TO GET STARTED THANK ‘EE KINDY SIR!!
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These are great ideas! I write primarily for the stage and screen and writing a book as a screenplay first is a fabulous idea! That’s getting on my todo list. Thanks!
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I enjoyed reading all these different ideas! So many fantastic tips, and like you said, many that I wouldn’t have come up with on my own.
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Daeus Lamb changed their profile picture 3 months ago
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Daeus Lamb commented on the post, How Monet Gives Writers the Secret to Crafting Intoxicating Scenes 3 months, 2 weeks ago
Mmm. You know, I have never read book two in that series, so I’m not qualified to speak about the series as a whole.
You’re right about the scripture. I reviewed the draft I sent in and I think my wording there was convoluted and confused our editor. Let me see what I can do with that.
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Daeus Lamb wrote a new post, How Monet Gives Writers the Secret to Crafting Intoxicating Scenes 3 months, 2 weeks ago
Over a period of one year, famous artist Claud Monet dedicated himself to painting a set of haystacks during various seasons, weather conditions, and times of day. Sounds monotonous, right?
On the contrary, […]
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Thank you for the article, Daeus! I loved your first two points especially, and I was literally just this morning thinking “I wish people wrote about motif more.”
Your third point was weird for me, though. The Rothfuss example is specifically one of my least favorite openings ever because, two books in, I don’t think it gives accurate story promises, or really gives us a good idea of who Kvothe, is or even shows us a hint of the kind of prose we’ll be seeing. Kvothe and the opening’s narrator have fairly different prosaic styles, and I’ve always thought the opening and the interludes serve as contrast to the main story, in tone along with other elements. Prologue Kvothe is tired and jaded and somewhat humble (at least, more grounded, maybe), while young Kvothe is vibrant and arrogant and idealistic.
Then once you added the verses from Isaiah I completely lost the thread and I’m not sure what it has to do with prophetic openings.
Am I completely missing the point?
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Mmm. You know, I have never read book two in that series, so I’m not qualified to speak about the series as a whole.
You’re right about the scripture. I reviewed the draft I sent in and I think my wording there was convoluted and confused our editor. Let me see what I can do with that.
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This is lovely. 🙂
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Compelling advice, as usual. Thank you.
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One more brilliant article by Deus cuts through thick clouds. Thank you. For writing on a foundational topic. Offering vibrant recommendations, examples, and advise-for-this-moment. I wonder where to apply all I learned… 😉 I loved looking up Monet’s haystack series too
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Really enjoyed this article, Daeus!
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Daeus Lamb replied to the topic Strategies Outlining Epic Fantasies/Giant Novels? in the forum Fantasy Writers 4 months ago
@morreafirebird Well, there’s no reason it couldn’t be done, but since it didn’t work for you last time, I feel like if at all possible outlining before hand will be worth it.
If you’re unsure what goes between the mid point and the third plot point, it might be a sign your midpoint isn’t strong enough. The mid point is when your character…[Read more]
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Daeus Lamb replied to the topic How do I prevent outlining from becoming a creativity killer? in the forum Plotting 4 months ago
Hey Natalie!
The crazy thing is, each person is different, so I can’t really give you a one size fits all solution, but I could give a couple suggestions and maybe one will help.
First, if you don’t mind writing short stories (they’re great practice!) that might be an excellent way to find your groove. You can try full own…[Read more]
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That’s great advice. I do love writing writing short stories because I ALWAYS pants those, and it’s so much fun. By the time I’m finished I look back over it and realize there are parallels, symbolisms, and balance that wasn’t the intention in the beginning. So far, the novels I’ve finished have followed the same process pattern … I just start…[Read more]
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Daeus Lamb commented on the post, 4 Lessons Christian Writers Can Glean from the Horror Genre 4 months ago
I’m one of those guys with the vivid imagination. 😄 Point 1 really struck me though. I’m going to have to dwell on this.
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Daeus Lamb replied to the topic Early review copies available for The Songkiller's Symphony in the forum General Writing Discussions 4 months, 2 weeks ago
@chalice Well, I’d put it at the length of about one and a third of The Hobbit.
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Daeus Lamb replied to the topic Early review copies available for The Songkiller's Symphony in the forum General Writing Discussions 4 months, 2 weeks ago
@rebekah12 Yeah! While I’m currently targeting both teens and adults, I wouldn’t be surprised if my main audience ended up being teens. Fire away. I’d love to have you review it.
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Daeus Lamb replied to the topic Early review copies available for The Songkiller's Symphony in the forum General Writing Discussions 4 months, 2 weeks ago
@sparrowhawke Oh, dear! I edited the link. Let’s see if it works now.
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Daeus Lamb started the topic Early review copies available for The Songkiller's Symphony in the forum General Writing Discussions 4 months, 2 weeks ago
Hi friends!
Would you like a free, early review copy of The Songkiller’s Symphony?
It’s my debut, epic fantasy novel filled with
- Original fantasy races
- Themes of misguided heroism, suppressed pain, and trust
- Epic magic systems
- Poetry
And more of course. It takes some inspiration from Sanderson, though it’s more of a traditional quest…[Read more]
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Daeus Lamb commented on the post, How to Triple Your Writing Speed in One Day 5 months ago
Hey JC,
Isolation/lack of distraction is at least as powerful as anything I mentioned!
Definitely play around to see what works for you. No one system works for everybody. Still though, I think you might give dictation a try at some point. Not only does it help you type faster, but the point of it is to help you release the distractions in…[Read more]
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Daeus Lamb commented on the post, How to Triple Your Writing Speed in One Day 5 months ago
Nothing wrong with liking paper! It’s definitely refreshing.
I find screens way, way faster though. If I was that attached to paper, I would probably read through the draft on paper, take notes, then make the edits on my screen. It would only work for larger scale edits. Fixing lots of little tiny thing would take too much effort on the note…[Read more]
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Daeus Lamb replied to the topic FORUM GUIDELINES in the forum Guidelines & FAQ 5 months, 1 week ago
@obrian-of-the-surface-world If your post disappeared when you clicked the submit button, my best guess is you got automatically logged out between when you started the post and when you clicked publish.
If a post disappears after it was published, that’s weird, but we have had posts disappear when posted before, so I doubt it has anything to do…[Read more]
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Daeus Lamb commented on the post, How to Triple Your Writing Speed in One Day 5 months, 1 week ago
Well…I do write a little faster with dictation. However, my thoughts themselves are protracted and so often slow. I do hold out hope I could even speed that up too with practice though. Maybe sometime I’ll have to use writer or die and slowly bump up the words count speed till I break past my barriers.
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Daeus Lamb wrote a new post, How to Triple Your Writing Speed in One Day 5 months, 1 week ago
At the beginning of May 2021, I maxed out my schedule.
That may sound stressful, but it was actually a happy occasion. I began a new job I felt good about.
The sad part? I lost writing t […]
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Thank you for the article, Daeus! I recently discovered dictation myself (though I use Google Docs, which is astoundingly robust for a free solution and even remembers my characters’ weird names most of the time). And very cool mention of Write or Die. I rarely see people talk about it, but it’s helped me a ton.
I’m surprised to hear you say dictation doesn’t actually make you write faster. I think a lot faster than I can type and I’m pretty sure that goes for most people. Dictation lets me write just about as fast as I can think, and my average words per hour is 5200, and can do it with only brief water breaks in between fifteen-minute sprints, while when I type by hand, my average is around 2400, and I need to take much longer hand-stretching breaks.
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Well…I do write a little faster with dictation. However, my thoughts themselves are protracted and so often slow. I do hold out hope I could even speed that up too with practice though. Maybe sometime I’ll have to use writer or die and slowly bump up the words count speed till I break past my barriers.
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Wow, Daeus! Great advice.
Nano is going to be a breeze this year! LOL! 😉 -
Daeus,
Great ideas! I’ve really been considering dictation more and more. My issues are not having practiced dictation enough and my being able to sneak drafting in on my phone via the Scrivener app.
Do you have ideas for speeding up the revision process? I’ve been revising on paper, but I’m wondering if I should just dive into the scenes on the screen. My editing brain just gravitates toward paper.
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Nothing wrong with liking paper! It’s definitely refreshing.
I find screens way, way faster though. If I was that attached to paper, I would probably read through the draft on paper, take notes, then make the edits on my screen. It would only work for larger scale edits. Fixing lots of little tiny thing would take too much effort on the note taking department.
You can use any of these techniques to speed up rewrites or heavy revisions. They don’t particularly help with fine-tuned surgery however.
Another way to speed up revisions is to send your story to beta readers in chunks. Once you get feedback back on chunk one, fix it up, then send it off to another beta reader or several. That way you can go through a couple drafts faster.
Also, if your beta readers or editors leave tracked changes (suggestions in google docs,) Microsoft word is by far the fastest way to process them. You can select a whole page of suggested edits and accept them all at once. It’s saved me loads of time.
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Hey JC,
Isolation/lack of distraction is at least as powerful as anything I mentioned!
Definitely play around to see what works for you. No one system works for everybody. Still though, I think you might give dictation a try at some point. Not only does it help you type faster, but the point of it is to help you release the distractions in your mind and get in the zone.
I used to be /highly/ skeptical of writing faster myself, because I wanted quality over quantity. I still do, but I realized that mindset has its own pitfall. You too easily wander in your daydreams. I often would be 90% certain I knew what to write, but I would just dally, thinking it through way too much to make sure. I don’t use any of these strategies to write faster than I can process. I use them to force myself to write fast enough I have no time to process /useless/ thoughts/distractions.
Just some thoughts.
I’m an ENFJ by the way. 😉
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Daeus Lamb replied to the topic FORUM GUIDELINES in the forum Guidelines & FAQ 5 months, 1 week ago
@obrian-of-the-surface-world That was a tech glitch.
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