So you want to write a story?-Millard Jones

Want to listen instead of read? Just start the audio player!

So you want to write a story?-© 2011Millard Jones

So you want to write a story? Not sure exactly where to start? Afraid of starting in the wrong place? If you answered yes to one or all of these questions,  this article is for you.

Action Adventure Challenge Up!

Kaleb Krammer has a really cool challenge up today! Make sure to check it out and stay tuned for more posts, recommended reading, and tips for writing action/adventure!

Heroes and Heroines

The Proper and Perfect Mode of Description Amanda Bradburn

The Proper and Perfect Mode of Description

   Lesson Two

            Hey, everyone! As promised, description returns, as does our scribe dragon. Remember we are concentrating on exciting and fresh descriptions, this time on people. Generally, when a MC is introduced, the author does not run through the long spiel of adjectives. The character jumps in, and you get to know him or her by circumstances, conversations, and maybe a bit of description.
            So, let’s jump in. Keep those swords ready for the dragon. But don’t hurt him.

History of Action Adventure

 Technically, action/adventure is the oldest genre outside of historical records. The story of Gilgamesh would be the oldest recorded action/adventure story. However, I'll stick to modern action/adventure which sprouted in the previous century and a half.

What Action Adventure is, and is not

ACTION ADVENTURE won the vote in the League as the genre we will be looking at in September! To start us off, here is Kaleb Krammer's short definition of of what the genre is, and is not. Kaleb will be leading out look at ACTION ADVENTURE so make certain that all post questions are directed to his attention! And without further ado, here is Kaleb's introduction!





Action/Adventure is a hard genre to pin down. Many of what could be considered its sub-genres are full-fledged genres. Unlike fantasy or SF (Which some works of those fall in this genre. See Buck Rogers and Conan) which have iconic settings that are easily recognizable, action/adventure doesn't. The closest thing would look more like a documentary.  It's settings range from Victorian Africa, the Wild West, to yesterday's headlines.

 First, what action/adventure is not. It is not action or adventure in another genre. All genres  have elements of action and elements of adventure.
  Action/adventure as a genre makes the action/adventure one of the main points of the novel. Deep characters are generally not necessary. Plots are not needed to be realistic. Make it over the top and exciting.
  It also often has secret societies, martial artists, lots of chases, commandos, and vigilantes.

Good is good. Bad is bad. Nazis are evil. Automatic weapons rules. Explosions are key. Settings should be exotic. Heroines tough, most of the time. Rest of the time they're damsels of distress. Heroes are either highly skilled operatives (James Bond, Jason Bourne, Rambo) or normal peopl thrown into unordinary circumstances (Indiana Jones). There are more, but they're older.

Any questions?

Kaleb Krammer  copy right 2011

Vincent LaVel Moorehead takes on a Writers Misunderstood Tool

Today we are delighted to have Vincent LaVel Moorehead taking the spot for Tech & Trade, and he is going to share some really cool views on a word a lot writers don't understand, and others fear. Come and spend some time with Vincent as he takes away the confusion and send fear on its' way in regard to

OUTLINING

Amanda Bradburn Returns to Teach Tech and Trade!

Excited Scribes? You should be! Our own fantastic Amanda Bradburn is BACK and while the dragon we all love to see gimbling about is on vacation, she's got some fantastic things to share in Tech & Trade(Also viewable below) about Description! Check it out!

Historical Fiction Scribe Recommened Reading List

 Click read more to see these reading jewels!

New Challenge Up!

Nathanael Rebiger has added a rather interesting challenge this week, go check it out! And keep your eyes peeled, Millard is coming BACK with another look at the world of publishing. His articles are not to be missed!

Historical Fiction Month!!!

It's Historical Fiction Month! And to celebrate, here is the first document: What is Historical Fiction?

An overview of Traditional Publishing-Millard Jones

An overview of traditional publishing by ‘Millard Jones’.

This e-zine should enable you to make a more informed decision in the publishing ring as well as educate you on some of the more practical publishing points and issues. Regretfully this article would be tens of thousands of words long if I delved into everything mentioned in this e-zine.

Announcements JULY Genre!

Hullo Scribes! Michelle here.

The voting for July was furious, but the winner is FAERIE TALE and so from July the 7th to August the 7th we will be looking at that genre with Julie Dick leading the foray!

Below this post, feel free to leave questions as well as suggestions for looking at how to write a faerie tale, I'll be making a list to pass onto Julie and I'll also be running things for her until the 11th of this month and then hand the reins back over to her.

Also, what do you think of the new colors here? Do you like the lighter look? Want us to go back to the darker gray? Let us know!

Interview with Kathy Tyers!!! :D

Click read more to view the EPIC interview here. 

New Teaching by Amanda Bradburn in Tech & Trade And other Things

Michelle here Scribes and Wanderers! Be of good cheer, the month of Romance is at an end. We are currently voting on the genre for July. It's a hotly contended thing, just as before, but I promise it is going to be one wild look at whatever is chosen. The Generals up for leading this month have vastly different styles and hearts like lions  in the hunt and like falcons on the dive! I am excited!

After July 4th the genre that wins will be announced and tips, interviews, ideas, and helps of all kinds will start appearing again!

Also this July  (for the first time ever) we are opening up our month-long writing contest to those who are not on the face book group page. I know, right? Incredibly exciting! Unfortunately you MUST live in the United States or Canada to take advantage of this. Check back on the 5th for full details! And get your ideas churning!

The next time we open it up to the Internet at large (which will be in the fall) there will BE NO SUCH RESTRICTION. Very exciting, right? Bear with us as we learn now to manage the shipping overseas without breaking the bank and work to get the prizes (mainly books) through Customs without issue.

So there are the announcements, and I will close by saying that there is an amazing teaching up in the Tech & Trade section by our own oh-so-talented Amanda Bradburn. Listen to her Scribes, learn from her, and one day your book might be sitting beside her stories on the bookstore shelves.

New Challenge Up!

Hullo all! Michelle here again! It's a day late and a dollar short (due to the fact that someone on my street was digging about in their yard and severed the internet cable for the street) but there's a New Challenge up and this one asks you to reach right into the gut of your story (and others too) and pull out the very core of the work. So put your rubber gloves on, get your pen in-hand and go take a look!

Fictional Romances by Mirriam N.

Fictional Romances

An extraordinarily helpful and somewhat snarky look at several fictional romances that I like. (I know it's late; I'm so sorry!)

New Challenge Up!

Greetings Summer Scribes (or Winter Scribes)  our New Challenge is up (finally) who knew that entering rooms could be so revealing of character or rather, of your character's character. Go check it out!

Romance Question Answered!

Answer to the question: What makes a Romance novel stand out? The answer was given by my friend Kathryn Olsen who works at Tyndale publishing editing books by Francine Rivers and Katherine Palmer. (and other ones too of course.;)) 

Scribe Approved Romance Titles

I haven't read all these books, so I can't vouch for them, but I'm sure they will be fine to read. When you've read them, you can even post a little review to let the rest of us know what you thought of the book. Happy reading! ~Emily B.

New Challenge Up!

All right guys, this week's challenge is up, a day late and a dollar short due to Blogger eating it the first time. But it is there! Go check out the Creature Feature and start adding animals to your worlds!

New Teaching by Amanda Bradburn in Tech & Trade

Michelle here! Author Amanda Bradburn is back on our Tech & Trade page  and so is the dragon. Go check it out! You won't want to miss this exercise, it's a chance for your paper tigers to play the hero.

Mindy Starns Clark On Building a Romance

 


Mindy Starns Clark's newest book, The Amish Midwife, is co-written with  Leslie Gould. It is a fantastic look at being in control of your life, and letting go and letting Christ direct your path even when that means pain and heartache.

Answer to the Saturday Spotlight Question

Hullo all, it's Michelle here again! I hope you have had a restful and peaceful Sunday. I sure have, I took a three hour nap that I wasn't planning on taking, but apparently I needed it. And to those who read this blog across the date line ::waves furiously:: yesterday says HELLO.



Answer to the question from last night.You all had great answers and guesses. It is Pride and Prejudice by Jane Austen. And the year that it was first published was 1813~ Elizabeth Lorenz



And another blog to highlight as a resource to help understand what is changing in the publishing community and what isn't, here is Joe Konrath's blog "A Newbie's Guide to Publishing" There's a wealth of wisdom there, but tread with caution as Joe is a bit of a wild man. As a disclaimer  I will add that all of his opinions are totally his own and have nothing to do with the League of Extraordinary Scribes. I'm just highlighting his blog because there's a ton of experience and wisdom he's sharing, for free  when it comes to traditional and non traditional publishing.

Saturday Spotlight

Ah, we've made it to the weekend. Michelle here (again). Elizabeth will be taking over more of the maintenance of the blog after she's finished with Joseph and the  Amazing Technicolor Dream Coat this month so for now you're stuck with me.

Two  fun things on this lovely Saturday, one a question from Elizabeth Lorenz about romance books, and the other a link to Stephen Bly's thoughts on how he builds a romance novel.

Romance Question: What is the most popular Romance Novel ever written? Who wrote it? Extra points if anyone can guess when the first copy of the book was printed! And now Scribes no cheating, don't use Google(tm) or any other search engines. Just take a guess and see if you're right. :D Check back here for the answer tomorrow.

Stephen Bly at Camy's Loft
Camy Tang is an amazing mystery/romance writer and her blog is one I highly recommend following. I've learned a lot.

New Challenge Up!

Good Wednesday to everyone, Michelle here. Where I am is miserably hot, and what I want to do most in all the world is to swim in a pool filled with ice cubes. Unfortunately swimming in that glorious pile of heaven-sent wetness is not going to happen for me, not right now anyway.  Samuel Clemens once said "Everyone complains about the weather, but no one ever does anything about it." I can't do anything about the weather where I am, or where you are, but I CAN put your minds into melt-down mode or  critical blue screen freeze. Hey, hopefully this week's Challenge will so distract and confound you, you'll forget about the weather all together. Go on, go take a look at the juggernaut we have posted on the Challenge Page.

Stretch your minds Scribes, and Encourage One Another!

Interview with Jeff Gerke, Owner of Marcher Lord Press

Due to some technical difficulties, Jeff Gerke's interview for Sci-Fi month was delayed, but no longer. Think of this post as warping through the fabric of time and the internet. It belongs to May's look at Sci-Fi, but through an anomaly beyond our control you are now viewing it in June. 

Romance-it didn't always mean what it means today!

Ok so to kick off Romance Month I thought I would start with the history of the Romantic Novel. I found this article and thought it was pretty cool! So let Romance begin.~Elizabeth Lorenz

JUNE GENRE ANNOUNCEMENT

Scribes, wanders, and rogues the genre that squeaked into the lead this month by ONE vote (see votes do matter every last one of them) is Romance. This will be led by Elizabeth Lorenz who also General(ed) us in April through Mystery! If there is something special you'd like her to do or find (interviews, resources, reading lists) post below and let her know what your expectations are. And get this month ready to look at Romance from a Christian point of view.

You say To MAY to and I say TO mah TO

There's a new Challenge up Scribes, and this week it's all about vocabulary! You're definitely   going to want to have a thesaurus close by for this one.  If you don't have a well thumbed thesaurus sitting next to your computer, here's one on line.  By far it's the least ad ridden and user friendly one that I've found. Now, why are you still reading this, you should be writing!

Tech & Trade

 There's a new teaching and assignment over on our Tech & Trade page, and it is one that is not to be missed!  Once again, Author Amanda Bradburn shares hard won knowledge with us and in a really fun way too! As Levar Burton on Reading Rainbow used to say "But you don't have to take my word for it. . ."  go on over to the tech page and see for yourselves. Oh and too, if you have questions or want a specific look at something, post it as a comment!

Seeing through a different set of eyes.

5 Essentials for Space Opera by Kaleb K.

5 Essentials for Space Opera (tongue in cheek of course)

  Space opera is the iconic sub-genre of science fiction for most people. Just mentioning the magic words “science-fiction” brings to mind images of lasers, starships, and colorful (though sometimes flat) characters. I’ve assembled my own personal list of 5 essentials to make a good space opera. Explanations may or may not appear. Starships are definitely an important part, but I couldn’t find room for them in the list.

The Father of Science Fiction

Greetings Scribes! It's Michelle here getting ready to introduce one of my all time favorite authors. He wrote stories about exploration and sacrifice and warned in his work what would happen if we continued to consume technology without keeping our moral compass pointed towards God. With titles like The Mysterious Island, Journey to the Center of the Earth, From the Earth to the Moon, 20,000 Leagues Under the Sea, and Around the World in Eight Days, he caught my imagination.

New Challenge Up!

Did you check out the fantastic explanation of similes and cliches by author Amanda Bradburn?  Excellent! Then you're all set to dive head first into the challenge this week.  Time to apply that new knowledge to your work and turn it into wisdom. I have to warn you, this  challenge is really is deceptively simple. Similes are like eels, they are slippery thieves that can make off with an afternoon's hard work and leave you frustrated and ready to give up. However, when properly trained and tamed, they can add humor or elegance to your style and smooth through the plot without disturbing the reader.

Here's the challenge, put aside doubts and build writing muscles!

Paper Tiger Challenge 5/25/11-6/1/11

A New Shiny Page!

Author Amanda Bradburn's teaching is up as our premiere article on the new Tech & Trade page. What will you find there? Think of it as a peek behind the curtain into the machinery of the craft, or where the Master writers will be disclosing secrets. It's definitely a page to watch, and we'll let you know when it's been updated by posting here. Go on over and take a look!

List of Hugo/Nebula award winners

The Nebula Award is a prestigious award awarded by the Science Fiction and Fantasy Writers of America annually for books published the previous year. Books are voted by the membership of SFWA. (Science-Fiction and Fantasy Writers of America)

Announcements.

Hullo all, this is Michelle. I wanted to let our visitors know there are some cool changes coming up to the blog. One is that we will be posting and featuring more technical pieces on the craft of writing. Our first article has been  written by author Amanda Bradburn. Look for that post to be here later today or tomorrow on the main page. Another change is that we are going to start posting links to our challenges here on the main page  That way you'll know for certain when we have a new challenge up.

Coming up this week will be a piece on Hugo and Nebula award winning books, and then later in the month some pretty amazing interviews. We're having a blast with our month long look at Sci-Fi and hope you are too! If you have an idea or a question don't hesitated to post it here or e-mail the League at leagueofscribes@gmail.com and we'll get back to you in a day or so.

Challenge for 5/18/11-5/25/11

Recommended Browsing for Sci Fi Month

SciFi name generator: http://donjon.bin.sh/scifi/name/#scifi_location (That's a name generator for an rpg.)
SciFi ship generator: http://d6.ironsind.com/ShipGen/shipgen.php (That's for starships.)
Writer's help for SciFi and fantasy- http://www.writesf.com/
An epic Christian SciFi forum (highly recommended) http://www.holyworlds.com/scifi
Recommended by Jeff Gerke: http://wherethemapends.com/forums/forums.htm

75 words every Sci-fi fan should know!

I copied the following from the TechRepublic. I don't mind telling you, I don't know most of these words. I am putting the link at the end of the document. In the link, each of the words are hyperlinks to their definition in Wikipedia. BEFORE you go read it, how about you tell us how many words you know, and what they mean. ;)

Science Fiction Month!! Congrats Nathanael!

Sci Fi Definition and subgenres!

Interview with Wayne Thomas Batson on Mystery/Suspence

To end our month long look at Mystery/Suspense I asked Wayne Thomas Batson, author numerous titles including The Door Within, Isle of Swords and The Sword in the Stars, for his thoughts on the genre. 

Interview with Camy Tang by Michelle B.

Top 100 Mystery books!

Here is a list of the 100 Best Mystery Novels that I found on the internet. I don't know how accruate it is, was the best one I could find. If any of you have more to add feel free to! And just for fun let's see who has read the most out of these!

Mystery Writers by Elizabeth L

Mystery books have always held a fascination for the reading public. They fall into many sub-categories such as murder, legal, police procedural and many others. But wherever there is a question of whodunit and good story behind it, you can be sure that the book will be devoured by the mystery book fans.

Definition of Mystery by Elizabeth L.

A mystery, according to Webster's New World Dictionary, is any event that remains so secret or obscure as to excite curiosity. A murder mystery is a novel, story, or play containing such an event and the gradual discovery of who committed it. The dictionary specifies murder mystery because this fiction deals with crime. Murder, as a crime, is in a class by itself. There is no way to make complete restitution to a person who is murdered, because a life cannot be given back. Seeing that the perpetrator of the crime is identified correctly, and in some way punished severely is the outcome that provides some satisfaction. Of all outlawed acts, a murder is most often the crime that initiates the action of a mystery.

Mystery Month! Biography on Dorothy Sayers

Thank you Elizabeth L for finding this info and for heading up Mystery Month! 




Dorothy Leigh Sayers was born at Oxford on 13th June 1893, the only child of the Rev. Henry Sayers, of Anglo-Irish descent. Her father was at the time headmaster of Christ Church Cathedral School, and she was born in the headmaster's house. She was brought up at Bluntisham Rectory, Cambridgeshire, and went to the Godolphin School, Salisbury, where she won a scholarship to Somerville College, Oxford. In 1915 she graduated with first class honours in modern languages. Disliking the routine and seclusion of academic life she joined Blackwell's, the Oxford publishers, worked with her Oxford friend Eric Whelpton at L'École des Roches in Normandy, and from 1922 until 1929 served as copywriter at the London advertising firm of Bensons. 

Interview with author Amanda Bradburn! (with pictures from book signing!)