I worked late tonight and lacked the brain power to finish this week’s post. But I won’t leave you empty-handed! A commenter, Chris, recently shared this video on my post about George Lucas. Michael of BelatedMedia narrates his version of The Phantom Menace, which, frankly, is better than what we actually got.
Enjoy – and tune in next week, ’cause we’ll be talking about censorship in honor of Banned Books Week!
I recently rediscovered the joys of trail mix! …And the tragedy of it never having enough M&Ms. But regardless, it is a wonderful pick-me-up when you’re feeling sleepy during a writing session. Also, exercise. Never underestimate the power of forcing blood to your brain!
It also helps to be inspired by great work like this:
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The Rules
There are none. Read the prompts, get inspired, write something. No word count minimum or maximum. You don’t have to include the exact prompt in your piece, and you can interpret the prompt(s) any way you like.
OR
No really; I need rules!
Okay; write 200-500 words on the prompt of your choice. You may either use the prompt as the title of your piece or work it into the body of your piece. You must complete it before 6 pm CST on the Monday following this post.
The Prompts:
ONLY ONE RULE
DUEL AT DAWN
TRIAL AND ERROR
CHEESE AND WHINE
GREY SUN
Want to share your Inspiration Monday piece? Post it on your blog and link back to today’s post; I’ll include a link to your piece in the next Inspiration Monday post. No blog? Email your piece to me at bekindrewrite (at) yahoo (dot) com. (I do reserve the right to NOT link to a piece as stated in my Link Discretion Policy.)
Plus, get the InMon badge for your site here.
Happy writing!
Images from Amazon.
One of my pet peeves is book covers whose bylines are bigger than their titles.
I’m in advertising: I can see the practical reasons for a big byline. People are more likely to buy and read a book by an author they’ve read before, or at least heard of. They may not know the name of the new book, but they’ve come to trust the author. It makes sense to give more real estate to an established name.
But there’s just something about it that feels wrong in the gut.
First, fans are going to look for your name anyway. They’ll bookmark your website or follow you on Facebook or Goodreads to find out when your next book hits stores.
But more than that, it feels wrong that the publisher is counting on fame, instead of artistic merit, to sell books. Bigger bylines make the author a celebrity and the story an afterthought.
Other books earn attention with clever titles, unique cover art, intriguing hooks, and fantastic first pages, but these books are simply saying “You’ve read this author before. This book will be pretty much the same.”
It’s a mark of formula fiction.
Perhaps I shouldn’t complain. Perhaps big bylines are hazard signs to warn us away from junk food fiction back toward the books that actually take a few years, instead of a few months, to write.
And it’s not like these authors are pretending to be something else. They’re not tricking their readers into buying something they don’t want. They didn’t lie to earn their millions.
I just think it’s sad. They have the knowledge and the talent to tell stories; they’ve built a platform and an audience. They could do so much more than the Same Old Thing. But instead of looking for new and better ways to surprise and delight their readers, they’re settling for “whatever they liked the last time.”
I’m curious: if a new writer broke onto the scene and made her unknown name giant on the cover, would readers buy the book assuming she was a big time author? Maybe use a pseudonym that’ll be vaguely familiar?
Thanks to George Bannister for the photo.
Do you agree? Disagree? Or am I making something out of nothing?
Went to my first con over the weekend – Anime Fest in Dallas. It was a strange feeling not being the nerdiest person in the room. I felt like some alien creature who’d been separated from its home world at birth and has found its way back only to discover it does not understand the doings of its own people. Of course, anime is not my thing, so many of these people were more like my second cousins than long lost family.
Omigosh, somebody needs to organize a Star Trek convention called Kahn Con!
But I digress.
Check out the latest work from the InMon family!
Ack! Missed WritingSprint
Did I miss anyone else? Not all the pingbacks are coming through.
–
The Rules
There are none. Read the prompts, get inspired, write something. No word count minimum or maximum. You don’t have to include the exact prompt in your piece, and you can interpret the prompt(s) any way you like.
OR
No really; I need rules!
Okay; write 200-500 words on the prompt of your choice. You may either use the prompt as the title of your piece or work it into the body of your piece. You must complete it before 6 pm CST on the Monday following this post.
The Prompts:
RAISE HEAVEN
COSTUME
ESCAPE FROM PARADISE
WANDERING EYE
CELLOPHANE
Want to share your Inspiration Monday piece? Post it on your blog and link back to today’s post; I’ll include a link to your piece in the next Inspiration Monday post. No blog? Email your piece to me at bekindrewrite (at) yahoo (dot) com. (I do reserve the right to NOT link to a piece as stated in my Link Discretion Policy.)
Plus, get the InMon badge for your site here.
Happy writing!
This month’s wallpaper was inspired by almost every based-on-a-book movie ever made. The TV photo is by DailyInvention.
In other news, the YouTube version of Pride & Prejudice, The Lizzie Bennet Diaries, which I reviewed on this blog, just won an Emmy! A rare instance of an adaptation I approve of (though the A&E version is still first in my heart. After the book, of course).
Click to get it!
