CB's Top 100 Writing
Tips,
Tricks, Techniques and Tools
from the Advice Toolbox
Break the rules, not the writing
Carter Blakelaw
CB's Top 100 Writing Tips, Tricks, Techniques and
Tools from the Advice Toolbox: Break the rules, not the writing
First eBook edition. January 12, 2021.
© 2020, Carter Blakelaw. All rights reserved.
No part of this publication may be reproduced, stored
in a retrieval system, or transmitted, in any form or by any means, without the
prior written permission of the publisher.
Published by The Logic of Dreams
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While every precaution has been taken in the
preparation of this book, the publisher assumes no responsibility for errors or
omissions, or for damages resulting from the use of the information contained
herein.
Cover art and book design by Sanja Baletic & Jack
Calverley
Photograph by Florian Klauer and Pawel Czerwinski from
www.unsplash.com.
Appendix A is available as a PDF download
from:
www.carterblakelaw.com/toolbox
Catharine Abell: "Genre, Interpretation and Evaluation" in Proceedings of the Aristotelian Society, Volume CXV, Issue No. 1, (2015).
Douglas Adams: The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy (1979, Pan)
Ray Bradbury: Zen and the Art of Writing (1996, Joshua
Odell Editions)
Renni Browne and Dave King: Self-Editing for Fiction Writers (Second Edition, 2004, William Morrow)
Walter S Campbell: Writing: Advice and Devices (1950, Doubleday and Company)
Orson Scott Card: Characters
& Viewpoint (2010, Writer's Digest Books)
Dorrit Cohn: Transparent Minds (1978, Princeton University Press)
Suzanne Collins: The Hunger Games (2008, Scholastic)
Lisa Cron: Wired for
Story (2012, Ten Speed Press)
Maren Elwood: Characters Make Your Story (1989, The Writer Inc.)
David Farland: Million Dollar Outlines (2013, CreateSpace Independent Publishing Platform)
Ian Fleming: Goldfinger (1959, Jonathan Cape)
Frank Herbert: Dune (1965,Chilton Books)
George V Higgins: The
Friends of Eddie Coyle (1972, Secker & Warburg)
Rust Hills: Writing in
General and the Short Story in Particular (2000, Mariner Books / Houghton
Mifflin)
Robert Ludlum: The Bourne Identity (1980, Grafton Books)
Cormac McCarthy: No Country for Old Men (2005Vintage Books)
Raymond Obstfeld: Novelists Essential Guide to Crafting Scenes (2000, Writer's Digest Books)
Steven Pinker: The
Sense of Style, The Thinking Person's Guide to Writing in the 21st
Century (2014, Allen Lane)
Dwight V Swain: Techniques of the $elling Writer (1981, University of Oklahoma Press)
Francis-Noël Thomas & Mark Turner: Clear and Simple as the Truth: Writing Classic Prose (1994, Princeton University Press)
Hunter S Thomson: Fear and Loathing in Las Vegas (1972, Paladin)
Albert Zuckerman : Writing the Blockbuster Novel (2016, Forge Books)
Appendix B is available as a PDF download
with clickable links from: www.carterblakelaw.com/toolbox
(All links accessed and valid as of
November 20, 2020)
Authors
Julius Caesar:
Veni, Vidi, Vici 47BC:
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Veni,_vidi,_vici
On Chekhov's Gun:
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Chekhov%27s_gun
On the goal of the writer:
https://www.gutenberg.org/files/6408/6408-h/6408-h.htm
(Letters
to Suvorin, May 30 and October 27 1888, Letters
of Anton Chekhov)
Over-estimating one’s initial skill at a task:
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dunning%E2%80%93Kruger_effect
Milton Jones:
The joke: "I hate sitting in traffic, because I always
get run over."
https://inews.co.uk/light-relief/jokes/milton-jones-best-jokes-116591
Marx Brothers:
"If you can't get a taxi, you can leave in a huff," from the scene: His Excellency Is Due! In Duck Soup:
https://www.marx-brothers.org/whyaduck/info/movies/scenes/firefly.htm
George Orwell:
On six rules of writing, taken from "Politics and the English Language":
William Shakespeare:
Tomorrow, and tomorrow, and tomorrow, Macbeth, Act 5, scene 5, lines 19-28
https://myshakespeare.com/macbeth/act-5-scene-5-popup-note-index-item-lifes-walking-shadow
Mark Twain:
On lightning and the lightning bug:
https://quoteinvestigator.com/2019/09/02/lightning/
On the rules of writing, taken from Fenimore Cooper's Literary Offenses:
http://xroads.virginia.edu/~Hyper/HNS/Indians/offense.html
Podcasts
Brandon Sanderson (YouTube):
https://www.youtube.com/c/BrandSanderson/
The Creative Penn / Joanna Penn (YouTube):
https://www.youtube.com/user/thecreativepenn/
Odyssey Writing Workshops podcasts (mp3 downloads):
https://odysseyworkshop.org/podcasts.html
Six Figure Authors Podcast (YouTube):
https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCkgP6WIFsg3vWga2XVs619w/
Web References
The Turkey City Lexicon, published by the SFWA (Science Fiction & Fantasy Writers of America):
https://www.sfwa.org/2013/11/14/reposting-classic-turkey-city-lexicon-primer-sf-workshops/
Narrative Flow by Jeanne Cavelos published on the Fiction University blog:
http://blog.janicehardy.com/2019/01/uncovering-mysteries-of-narrative-flow.html
The Hero’s
Journey, overview
in Wikipedia:
en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hero's_journey