I just purchased an editing product called StyleWriter 4. I checked out the demo and found it excellent at pointing out weak sentence construction, wordiness, and passive verb usage, among other things. StyleWriter also makes it easy to evaluate what it finds.
I've already improved several short stories with StyleWriter, and I'm looking forward to making it a regular part of my writing.
Sunday, March 27, 2011
Monday, February 21, 2011
The Stratemeyer Syndicate
Ever wonder who was responsible for creating the Nancy Drew or Hardy Boys stories? The man was Edward Stratemeyer, who also created the Rover Boys, Tom Swift, and the Bobbsey twins, all very successful.
Stratemeyer's method was to create outlines of the stories, and then farm out the writing to authors for a one-time fee. In this way he was able to generate an immense number of juvenile series books. This was the Stratemeyer Syndicate, and it was exceedingly successful.
Another notable feature of the Stratemeyer syndicate was the breeder set. Generally each juvenile series would see one new book a year, but to begin a new juvenile series, several volumes would be released up front, often three (as was done with the Hardy Boys). It seems this generated interest and drew in long-term readers.
I find this interesting from the eBook perspective, as it also seems that authors who have several eBooks available do better than those with only one. It may be worth trying: get several books ready (perhaps in a series), and release them all at once.
Stratemeyer's method was to create outlines of the stories, and then farm out the writing to authors for a one-time fee. In this way he was able to generate an immense number of juvenile series books. This was the Stratemeyer Syndicate, and it was exceedingly successful.
Another notable feature of the Stratemeyer syndicate was the breeder set. Generally each juvenile series would see one new book a year, but to begin a new juvenile series, several volumes would be released up front, often three (as was done with the Hardy Boys). It seems this generated interest and drew in long-term readers.
I find this interesting from the eBook perspective, as it also seems that authors who have several eBooks available do better than those with only one. It may be worth trying: get several books ready (perhaps in a series), and release them all at once.
Sunday, January 30, 2011
Classic Juvenile Series
Who hasn't heard of Nancy Drew and the Hardy Boys? They are perhaps the most successful series books ever in terms of longevity, and they changed the face of series books for decades, so that the detective story dominated. But in the early twentieth century, many other kinds of juvenile series books were popular, and the themes reveal something about the culture of the time.
Many early series were devoted to new technologies such as movies, motorcycles, cars, and airships. Flying stories were especially popular during World Wars I and II. Scouting and other outdoor adventure stories were quite popular until the advent of the detective story. Sports series survived, however, especially those about basketball, football, and baseball. Perhaps the best of the lot, the Chip Hilton series, has been recently reprinted.
The older stories are especially intriging because they reveal little things about the time they were written. For instance, in the original Nancy Drew stories from the 1930s, Nancy has to keep an eye on the weather if she's going to be driving anywhere. Why? Not many roads were paved then, and the roads would become impassable in the rain. Running boards on cars show up frequently, and in the Rambler Club a friendly official calls speeding "scorching".
Classic series books references may be seen in Hollywood and even in modern vocabulary. For example, the word taser stands for "Thomas A. Swift's Electric Rifle." (The book Tom Swift and His Electric Rifle was published a hundred years ago.) In the original That Darn Cat, the supporting actress mentions "Tom Swift and His Electric Switchboard". The Rover Boys are a frequent reference in older movies.
It would be interesting to know just how much series books influenced those who read them. But if only a reflection of their time, the classic series book is certainly a significant part of Western history and culture.
Many early series were devoted to new technologies such as movies, motorcycles, cars, and airships. Flying stories were especially popular during World Wars I and II. Scouting and other outdoor adventure stories were quite popular until the advent of the detective story. Sports series survived, however, especially those about basketball, football, and baseball. Perhaps the best of the lot, the Chip Hilton series, has been recently reprinted.
The older stories are especially intriging because they reveal little things about the time they were written. For instance, in the original Nancy Drew stories from the 1930s, Nancy has to keep an eye on the weather if she's going to be driving anywhere. Why? Not many roads were paved then, and the roads would become impassable in the rain. Running boards on cars show up frequently, and in the Rambler Club a friendly official calls speeding "scorching".
Classic series books references may be seen in Hollywood and even in modern vocabulary. For example, the word taser stands for "Thomas A. Swift's Electric Rifle." (The book Tom Swift and His Electric Rifle was published a hundred years ago.) In the original That Darn Cat, the supporting actress mentions "Tom Swift and His Electric Switchboard". The Rover Boys are a frequent reference in older movies.
It would be interesting to know just how much series books influenced those who read them. But if only a reflection of their time, the classic series book is certainly a significant part of Western history and culture.
Tuesday, December 28, 2010
George MacDonald
George MacDonald, a nineteenth-century Scottish preacher, wrote the best fairy tales I have ever read, and I very much recommend them. These are some of the ones I know:
The Golden Key
The Day Boy and the Night Girl (Photogen and Nycterus)
Little Daylight
The Lost Princess (the Wise Woman)
At the Back of the North Wind
The Princess and the Goblin
The Princess and Curdie
C. S. Lewis famously said that he regarded George MacDonald as his master. I have also read that Tolkien was inspired by the underground scenes in the Princess and the Goblin.
The charm of the stories is that they speak of things faraway and beautiful and real, without being preachy; they are a child's glimpse of the Incorruptible.
The Golden Key
The Day Boy and the Night Girl (Photogen and Nycterus)
Little Daylight
The Lost Princess (the Wise Woman)
At the Back of the North Wind
The Princess and the Goblin
The Princess and Curdie
C. S. Lewis famously said that he regarded George MacDonald as his master. I have also read that Tolkien was inspired by the underground scenes in the Princess and the Goblin.
The charm of the stories is that they speak of things faraway and beautiful and real, without being preachy; they are a child's glimpse of the Incorruptible.
Sunday, December 12, 2010
Joe Konrath
Joe Konrath is an author who self-publishes with eBooks, and sells lots of them. I haven't read any of his stories myself, but I follow his blog because he posts all sorts of worthwhile information regarding self-publishing via eBooks. He also promotes other self-publishing authors, even new ones.
Many authors post comments on his blog, and I've found good stuff in them as well. Lots of insider info.
Bottom line, Konrath is very helpful to the eBook author.
Many authors post comments on his blog, and I've found good stuff in them as well. Lots of insider info.
Bottom line, Konrath is very helpful to the eBook author.
Sunday, November 28, 2010
Jerry Pournelle
Jerry Pournelle hosts my favorite website, Chaos Manor. Pournelle was the first person to write a book on a computer, and Chaos Manor is arguably the very first blog.
Chaos Manor is also the closest thing I've seen to being the Renaissance Man of websites. It has a plethora of excellent content, including essays and dicussions on matters relevant to civilization and current affairs. One may glean a great deal of understandable information about all sorts of subjects. And if Pournelle doesn't know something, one of his readers very likely will.
Simply from the perspective of being a writer, the website is invaluable. There are discussions on writing, on ebooks, on self-publishing, and on the state of the publishing industry. There are also many links to other sites with more information. And the other content is good research material, especially for people creating worlds.
Chaos Manor's value extends well beyond writing, however, and I very much recommend it.
Chaos Manor is also the closest thing I've seen to being the Renaissance Man of websites. It has a plethora of excellent content, including essays and dicussions on matters relevant to civilization and current affairs. One may glean a great deal of understandable information about all sorts of subjects. And if Pournelle doesn't know something, one of his readers very likely will.
Simply from the perspective of being a writer, the website is invaluable. There are discussions on writing, on ebooks, on self-publishing, and on the state of the publishing industry. There are also many links to other sites with more information. And the other content is good research material, especially for people creating worlds.
Chaos Manor's value extends well beyond writing, however, and I very much recommend it.
Thursday, November 25, 2010
Dylan West
Dylan West is not only working on a Christian young-adult fantasy series, called A Signet Forever, he's also building a high-quality RPG as part of the project! And he's making it a lingual teaching aid and an evangelistic tool as well.
I enjoyed the draft of the first novel and game-design document, and I'm looking forward to reading more of the series and seeing the RPG in action.
The A Signet Forever Workshop link is to his website.
I enjoyed the draft of the first novel and game-design document, and I'm looking forward to reading more of the series and seeing the RPG in action.
The A Signet Forever Workshop link is to his website.
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)