Goldie's Words of Wisdom
Goldie's Secrets to the universe and all of that.
1) Believe in the something greater than yourself.
2) Believe in others.
3) Believe in yourself.
4) Helping others is a path to a greater you.
5) Pay it back and/or pay it forward.
6) Keep your word.
7) Don't believe the lies.
8) Fuck AI.
9) Don't feed the bears. (Trolls)
10) The free market fixes all ills.
11) You have the skill. You can do it.
Goldie's Keys to success
Persistence and Attitude
Goldie's Rules
1) Write Everyday.
2) Finish it.
3) Don't seek feedback till its finished.
4) Don't beat yourself up.
5) Review the crap out of other people's stuff.
6) Don't let the bastards get you down.
7) Give the story what it needs.
8) Write with courage.
9) Write it true.
10) Less is more.
11) Write for clarity
12) Write for meaning.
Goldie's Quotables:
1) Words on page beats thinking about words on page.
2) The rough is the outline.
3) Your growth is not dependent on their skill. <--Meaning, even bad writers and bad reviewers can still be used to sharpen your tools.
4) Write it ugly. <--Give yourself permission to...
5) You can't edit what isn't written.
6) One in hand is better than two not written.
7) 300 words a day is better than 0 a day.
8) No one ever got better at writing by not writing.
9) If you allow those who would be offended impede the story that needs to be told, it will never be told.
10) Inexperience is easy to fix. Just start writing, and then the experience magically appears.
11) Its an Art and not a Science. Art is a lifelong passion. Have passion and practice follows.
12) The book is put down when the mystery ends.
13) If the book you are writing does not make you want to get up in the middle of the night to write more, its not worth writing.
14) Make it matter, meaning if you gonna put it in the story, make it matter that it was there. Otherwise, why are we including this?
15) The question is never, is the work hard? The question is always, do you have a passion for it or not?
16) 'It Depends' is secretly the answer to every forum question.
17) Begin a story at the moment when everything changes.
18) Don't spend all your time wanting to do something, spend your time doing it.
Some Wisdom from Others:
1) Way Point Writer: "I know where I'm going, I know where I'm starting, and I know of the key plot-points in between." ~ Demesnedenoir
2) Rule of Cool: "If it breaks the rules, but its cool, go for it." ~ A. E. Lowan
2a) The Holdo Maneuver--where sometimes one might think its cool, but really its not and it ruins everything. Don't do it.
3) On World Building: "Character first, world second." ~ Prince of Spires
4) On Art: Art will never take a back seat to rules and regulations ~ the Xena Scrolls
5) Escapist fantasy: where the MC are pulled out of retirement for one last job ~ Adray
6) Finished work belongs to readers ~ Jennifer Luke
7) The moment you cheat for the sake of beauty, you know you're an artist. ~David Hockney
8) 'More like guidelines than actual rules' ~ Capt Barbosa, POTC
9) There are no mistakes, just happy accidents ~ Bob Ross
Jargon to help things along:
1) Tag On's: Little bits of sentence that are extraneous and can be removed. The dog bit John on the leg. <--'On the leg' is a tag on.
2) Word Stuffing: Stuffing in extraneous words to make the work look fatter and more filled out.
3) Blowing me over: Coming in with so much action, or zany activity, that I am supposed to think 'wow, that's a lot of character', when really, it is all empty.
4) You do you (or some version thereof...): This phrase has no place on a forum site, where people are posting for the commentary and scrutiny of others, and the atmosphere of members reading and commenting on other members is the currency of the site. If 'you do you,' is your thing, you are in the wrong place.
5) The Rule of Three: When I use the rule of three, I usually mean it to mean, everything gets three descriptors. The mountains were (1) tall, (2) cracked by ice, and (3) shining like dull grey spears against the silver sky. OR, his sword of was of bright metal that (1) gleamed in the sun like a hot brand, (2) lit with flame, and (3) bearing sigils.
Why does three work? I dont know, but it rings with the right amount of beats and resonates pleasantly on the reading ear. Four is almost always too many, and two is often not enough.
But the rule of three appears in many other places as well. Three acts to a story, three pulls at the well. If you set up a joke on act one, you can hit it again in act two and again in act three. Though each time it should come differently, and build on what was left, Three, I think, it the right number of times to pull at it.
The rule of three is a real thing in writing and a good measure to follow if one is wondering if enough is enough. Writers should have this in their tool box.
6) Belief and False Belief: Belief and false belief is one of those tool that just make writing cool. It explore growth and brings the reader along with it. What is it? Essentially it is whatever the character/s believe that is not true, and they have to come to grips with in the span of the story.
An example might be a character who believes they are not worthy of capable to defeat their monsters. That they are not physically strong enough or skilled enough. The Karate Kid follows this, when Danny is beaten down in act one, and doubts himself over his bullies, and then is beaten again after much training in act two, but in act three, sees his way through to the true forms and defeats his tormentor by staying true to what he has learned. His false belief was that he could not, but what was true came out instead.
Books that helped me along the way:
1) Fantasy Reference - Not sure if I have exactly this one, but I have one like it.
2) You can Write a Romance - There are a number of books in this group by Writers Digest. You can write a Romance, You can write a mystery, You can write a ____... Short and to the point. I liked them. (And now that I am looking, there are some more, so I may buy another).
3) First Five Pages - I liked this book a lot when I was just starting. I think I have another by Mr. Lukeman, but I dont remember the title.
4) Elements of Style - There are many style guides, but I am old school. I defer to this when there is a question.
5) Art of Styling Sentences - I think it is this one. Another short and to the point (Notice a theme?)
6) English Grammar and Composition - The one you had in College
7) Mythology - I have many books on Mythology, but Edith Hamilton's was the one I had in school
8) Dragon Grammar Book <--had to buy this cause of the dragon. Quick and to the point. I like it.
9) Emotion Thesaurus <--Bought this, but have not really looked through it yet. Still looks like it would be good to have.
In looking for these, I came across some others I might buy in the near future.
Uncovering Mythology Collection
Fantasy Writers Handbook
How to Write Fantasy - Looks similar to the writers digest ones. Maybe....
Dear Writer, you need to quit - Okay, title grabbed me
Writing Voice - Voice always holds a strong interest from me.
Self Publishing Empire - But of course...
Though, if I am being honest, I am not expecting to get much out of these anymore.
Ones I did not like.....
Steven King's how to write book. Had a few good parts, but too much Steven King
On writing by Zinser? Hated this one. Too long winded, not enough getting to it.
Hero of a thousand faces. Kind of the bible right? I did not care for this book. Erudite is how I would describe it. Saying a lot while also saying nothing.
Trope Thesaurus <--I would avoid anything that uses the word 'Trope' like the plague.
That's enough. Good luck with them.
See also:
Goldie's Words of Wisdom
Goldie's Opinions of Stuff Writing
Goldie's Words to Live By
Goldie's Tips for Writing
Goldie's Lists of Cool Threads
Goldie's Guide to World Building
Goldie's Guide to Ships
Goldie's Publishing and Marketing Resources
Link to my website: www.pphersongreen.com
Read my stories: The Eye of Ebon <--for sale on Amazon!
Pmmg's Onsite Stories (Public)
Questions or comments? PM Box
Goldie's Secrets to the universe and all of that.
1) Believe in the something greater than yourself.
2) Believe in others.
3) Believe in yourself.
4) Helping others is a path to a greater you.
5) Pay it back and/or pay it forward.
6) Keep your word.
7) Don't believe the lies.
8) Fuck AI.
9) Don't feed the bears. (Trolls)
10) The free market fixes all ills.
11) You have the skill. You can do it.
Goldie's Keys to success
Persistence and Attitude
Goldie's Rules
1) Write Everyday.
2) Finish it.
3) Don't seek feedback till its finished.
4) Don't beat yourself up.
5) Review the crap out of other people's stuff.
6) Don't let the bastards get you down.
7) Give the story what it needs.
8) Write with courage.
9) Write it true.
10) Less is more.
11) Write for clarity
12) Write for meaning.
Goldie's Quotables:
1) Words on page beats thinking about words on page.
2) The rough is the outline.
3) Your growth is not dependent on their skill. <--Meaning, even bad writers and bad reviewers can still be used to sharpen your tools.
4) Write it ugly. <--Give yourself permission to...
5) You can't edit what isn't written.
6) One in hand is better than two not written.
7) 300 words a day is better than 0 a day.
8) No one ever got better at writing by not writing.
9) If you allow those who would be offended impede the story that needs to be told, it will never be told.
10) Inexperience is easy to fix. Just start writing, and then the experience magically appears.
11) Its an Art and not a Science. Art is a lifelong passion. Have passion and practice follows.
12) The book is put down when the mystery ends.
13) If the book you are writing does not make you want to get up in the middle of the night to write more, its not worth writing.
14) Make it matter, meaning if you gonna put it in the story, make it matter that it was there. Otherwise, why are we including this?
15) The question is never, is the work hard? The question is always, do you have a passion for it or not?
16) 'It Depends' is secretly the answer to every forum question.
17) Begin a story at the moment when everything changes.
18) Don't spend all your time wanting to do something, spend your time doing it.
Some Wisdom from Others:
1) Way Point Writer: "I know where I'm going, I know where I'm starting, and I know of the key plot-points in between." ~ Demesnedenoir
2) Rule of Cool: "If it breaks the rules, but its cool, go for it." ~ A. E. Lowan
2a) The Holdo Maneuver--where sometimes one might think its cool, but really its not and it ruins everything. Don't do it.
3) On World Building: "Character first, world second." ~ Prince of Spires
4) On Art: Art will never take a back seat to rules and regulations ~ the Xena Scrolls
5) Escapist fantasy: where the MC are pulled out of retirement for one last job ~ Adray
6) Finished work belongs to readers ~ Jennifer Luke
7) The moment you cheat for the sake of beauty, you know you're an artist. ~David Hockney
8) 'More like guidelines than actual rules' ~ Capt Barbosa, POTC
9) There are no mistakes, just happy accidents ~ Bob Ross
Jargon to help things along:
1) Tag On's: Little bits of sentence that are extraneous and can be removed. The dog bit John on the leg. <--'On the leg' is a tag on.
2) Word Stuffing: Stuffing in extraneous words to make the work look fatter and more filled out.
3) Blowing me over: Coming in with so much action, or zany activity, that I am supposed to think 'wow, that's a lot of character', when really, it is all empty.
4) You do you (or some version thereof...): This phrase has no place on a forum site, where people are posting for the commentary and scrutiny of others, and the atmosphere of members reading and commenting on other members is the currency of the site. If 'you do you,' is your thing, you are in the wrong place.
5) The Rule of Three: When I use the rule of three, I usually mean it to mean, everything gets three descriptors. The mountains were (1) tall, (2) cracked by ice, and (3) shining like dull grey spears against the silver sky. OR, his sword of was of bright metal that (1) gleamed in the sun like a hot brand, (2) lit with flame, and (3) bearing sigils.
Why does three work? I dont know, but it rings with the right amount of beats and resonates pleasantly on the reading ear. Four is almost always too many, and two is often not enough.
But the rule of three appears in many other places as well. Three acts to a story, three pulls at the well. If you set up a joke on act one, you can hit it again in act two and again in act three. Though each time it should come differently, and build on what was left, Three, I think, it the right number of times to pull at it.
The rule of three is a real thing in writing and a good measure to follow if one is wondering if enough is enough. Writers should have this in their tool box.
6) Belief and False Belief: Belief and false belief is one of those tool that just make writing cool. It explore growth and brings the reader along with it. What is it? Essentially it is whatever the character/s believe that is not true, and they have to come to grips with in the span of the story.
An example might be a character who believes they are not worthy of capable to defeat their monsters. That they are not physically strong enough or skilled enough. The Karate Kid follows this, when Danny is beaten down in act one, and doubts himself over his bullies, and then is beaten again after much training in act two, but in act three, sees his way through to the true forms and defeats his tormentor by staying true to what he has learned. His false belief was that he could not, but what was true came out instead.
Books that helped me along the way:
1) Fantasy Reference - Not sure if I have exactly this one, but I have one like it.
2) You can Write a Romance - There are a number of books in this group by Writers Digest. You can write a Romance, You can write a mystery, You can write a ____... Short and to the point. I liked them. (And now that I am looking, there are some more, so I may buy another).
3) First Five Pages - I liked this book a lot when I was just starting. I think I have another by Mr. Lukeman, but I dont remember the title.
4) Elements of Style - There are many style guides, but I am old school. I defer to this when there is a question.
5) Art of Styling Sentences - I think it is this one. Another short and to the point (Notice a theme?)
6) English Grammar and Composition - The one you had in College
7) Mythology - I have many books on Mythology, but Edith Hamilton's was the one I had in school
8) Dragon Grammar Book <--had to buy this cause of the dragon. Quick and to the point. I like it.
9) Emotion Thesaurus <--Bought this, but have not really looked through it yet. Still looks like it would be good to have.
In looking for these, I came across some others I might buy in the near future.
Uncovering Mythology Collection
Fantasy Writers Handbook
How to Write Fantasy - Looks similar to the writers digest ones. Maybe....
Dear Writer, you need to quit - Okay, title grabbed me
Writing Voice - Voice always holds a strong interest from me.
Self Publishing Empire - But of course...
Though, if I am being honest, I am not expecting to get much out of these anymore.
Ones I did not like.....
Steven King's how to write book. Had a few good parts, but too much Steven King
On writing by Zinser? Hated this one. Too long winded, not enough getting to it.
Hero of a thousand faces. Kind of the bible right? I did not care for this book. Erudite is how I would describe it. Saying a lot while also saying nothing.
Trope Thesaurus <--I would avoid anything that uses the word 'Trope' like the plague.
That's enough. Good luck with them.
See also:
Goldie's Words of Wisdom
Goldie's Opinions of Stuff Writing
Goldie's Words to Live By
Goldie's Tips for Writing
Goldie's Lists of Cool Threads
Goldie's Guide to World Building
Goldie's Guide to Ships
Goldie's Publishing and Marketing Resources
Link to my website: www.pphersongreen.com
Read my stories: The Eye of Ebon <--for sale on Amazon!
Pmmg's Onsite Stories (Public)
Questions or comments? PM Box
