be the story

Happy Thanksgiving Wishes

I want to wish everyone in the U.S. a happy Thanksgiving. I myself will be spending the day with family. And I hope that wherever you are, you’ll find love and happiness there.

You’ve probably noticed I’m posting much more on this blog of late. That’s because I’m actually writing again… seriously writing. That is, I’m pursuing it professionally. That’s why BeTheStory.com has a new graphical theme, because I’ve made this site part of a larger group of sites. I talked about this at my personal blog, “Changes: Fading Out of the Software Business”.

I’ve linked 4 sites together as part of this strategy:

• www.JTimothyKing.com - The central hub. It contains links to all my sites, contact information, a selection of stories and articles I’ve written, and links to featured online offers.

• blog.JTimothyKing.com - My personal blog, previously at www.JTSE.com/blog. Here, I used to talk about business, professionalism, and software development. I’ still talk about these things, but I also talk about writing, personal experiences, stories I’ve written, and religion and politics. This blog uses the same software as BeTheStory.com, and you can subscribe to new posts via RSS or email.

• BeTheStory.com - This site, my writing site. All about how to write a story, and how to become a better writer. And since becoming a better writer involves analyzing others’ stories, I’ll continue to post reviews and analysis of books, film, and TV. And video games, if I get around to it. Expect my future reviews to be less general and more about the properties of the storytelling.

• shop.JTimothyKing.com - My online store, not yet active. Right now, it redirects to 1001 Character Quirks, which is being distributed through ClickBank. But I have plans to make it a full online store, directly distributing both electronic and physical products. That is, as soon as I work the kinks out of the e-commerce software.

Most of my time of late has been spent paying the bills (i.e., doing work for paying clients) and writing The Conscience of Abe’s Turn and other fiction. But this shift in focus, or rather a clarification in focus, also means I’m writing more for Be the Story and for my blog. So expect much more content.

-TimK

A Writers’ Rant by Harlan Ellison

Thanks to C. E. Dorsett for putting me onto this YouTube video, a rant about how professional writers deserve to be paid.

Hee! I so miss Harlan Ellison’s rants. Back in the day, when the SciFi channel actually had programming worth watching, he did a segment on a half-hour SF news show. I watched it regularly. He disgusted my brother. Me too, actually. But I loved it, and I miss it. Ellison’s recommendation put me onto Stanislaw Lem, another of the best science-fiction writers who ever lived.

Okay. Enough reminiscing and fawning, as though I actually like the guy. On to the video: (Read more…)

How to Beat Writer’s Block: The Definitive Course

Today, Holly Lisle releases her definitive course, How to Beat Writer’s Block. But as an affiliate of Holly’s web store, I’m making a special offer available only to you and others who are reading this blog post.

For those who order Holly Lisle’s How to Beat Writer’s Block through my affiliate links at the bottom of this post, I’m offering two freebies of my own. (Read more…)

The Dr. Temperance “Bones” Brennan Drinking Game

Another TV Dr. drinking game, to add to the Dr. House Drinking Game, and hopefully the second of a long series.

I borrowed the Bones DVD’s from my parents, and now I’m hooked. More importantly, this show looks like it would make a good drinking game. Here are a few rules. Please add more rules in the comments!

Cheers,
-TimK

The Dr. Temperance “Bones” Brennan Drinking Game

(Read more…)

March of the Penguins… Again

The Discovery Channel has been advertising the “Oscar winning” film The March of the Penguins. The documentary has also won numerous other awards… Proof, by the way, that awards indicate nothing as to whether a movie is actually worth seeing. And just in case you think I might have been sucking on sour grapes, I have some very good reasons why March of the Penguins is mediocre.

Basically, it doesn’t actually tell a story. It tries, yes. But really it just shows us penguins. Lots and lots of penguins. And we’re supposed to be sad that some of them die. (Read more…)

Carnival of Storytelling #7

Welcome to the Carnival of Storytelling!

Thanks to everyone who submitted articles. Please show your support by checking out other articles on these blogs.

If you would like to host an edition of the Carnival of Storytelling, please let me know.

Now, the most interesting posts in the blogosphere about telling stories…

(Read more…)

A Sure-Fire Cure for Writer’s Block

I got this from a copywriting maven… Sorry, I don’t remember who. Maybe it was Dan Kennedy. Or the late Gary Halbert. It might have been Gary Bencivenga. Sorry, I don’t remember. I heard it in an interview, and I’ve actually tried it, and it actually works for some types of writer’s block.

This is a simple one-step procedure you can use to barrel through those times when you just can’t get started. You know your characters and their story. You know what comes next. Everything is all set. But you’re not in flow, and the words just won’t come out.

What to do? Very simple: Just sit down to your word processor (or your pad and pencil), and start typing the following: (Read more…)

The Value of a Skillful Writer

A paragraph struck me while I was reading an open letter by Joss Whedon about the writers’ guild strike:

Writers can be replaced, as we are constantly reminded. But so can companies. Power is on the move, and though in this town it’s been hoarded by very few, there are other companies with newer ideas about how to make money off of – or possibly, wonderfully, with – the story-tellers.

It struck me how valuable good writers are and how much TV networks–and fans, too–undervalue them. Joss Whedon is an exception to the rule, because he actually has a fan-site. Most fans never truly appreciate how thoroughly they are indebted to the creators and writers of their favorite shows. (Read more…)

Is my story cliché and contrived?

An actual question asked on one of the writer’s boards. An aspiring author gave a two-paragraph summary of his plot idea. He said he feared it was just a series of clichés, then he asked whether it was too contrived to be taken seriously.

Now, I don’t know whether publishers would take it seriously. I can only speak as a writer and as a reader. (I have little faith in most publishers to do the right thing by readers, but that’s for another blog post.) But for what it’s worth, here’s my answer: (Read more…)

100 Free Fictional Character Ideas

… a tiny sample from 1001 Character Quirks for Writing Fiction. Literally, the full list is more than 10 times as big. Of course, the list of quirks is the easy part, because they’re just character ideas, and ideas are a dime a dozen.

-TimK (Read more…)