Let me know if this thread is in the wrong area.
There's a small site that is holding monthly writing competitions. They are looking to expand and attract a bit more attention, and these contests are a way to draw in writers and readers. Instruction are in their forums. First prize is $100...
SPOILERS FOLLOW
Actually, he was never trying to kill his father. He invited the Jotun to Asgard as a setup so he could kill them when they attacked and look like a hero. Odin can see everything even when he is in the Odin-sleep, so he would see Loki defending him and realize what a great son...
Sometimes I've had odd dreams that inspired some new story ideas. I wrote a story called Digging For Birds which was loosely inspired by a dream...I've never actually dreamed about anything I was in the process of writing, though, which I think is a shame. It seems like it would be helpful. I...
I used to play with phonetics, until I got bored of typing all that (and got bored with reading it in other books). I think it's enough to say early on that so and so has a particular accent, and then let the reader apply it to the dialogue in their head should they choose. Vocabulary will be...
Speaking for myself, I always just go ahead and write the big, fat, long thing of dialogue I have stirring in my head, and I don't let myself start thinking like an editor, like "This is getting too long" or "I should write in some action here". Sometimes when I just let the characters talk...
I know it's just now leaving theatres, so it's a little late to discuss, but I recently saw Thor and enjoyed it very much :) The dialogue was cute, though the plot was definitely lacking (since it was mainly a movie serving to introduce Thor himself and the future villain of another movie, this...
I loved Redwall as a kid! I'd spend hours reading, even during recess. I think I've still got a couple old copies lying around. But I think it was sometime around Triss that I started to move on. Eventually every hare seemed like the same character to me :( And the descriptions of the forest...
Someone else already said this, but long hot showers are a godsend for writer's block. There's nowhere to hide in the shower; you have to be brutally honest with yourself. I've solved so many plot-problems and character motivation issues in the shower :)
Title first, then cover design. Especially if the title has something to do with the night, or a tree, or something other overused nonsense that's become so popular since paranormal romance became the vogue. I like clever titles, something offbeat and short and snappy.
After that, cover...
I keep seeing her books in the library and telling myself I'm going to try them out...and then I forget. But I definitely need to get on it, I keep hearing great things.