Weekend Update #12

(For week ending April 1. The following Tuesday is better than Thursday, which is better than Saturday.)

The Daily Telegraph reports that Dan Brown has been cleared of copyright infringement. While I understand the argument, I don't agree with it, and the precedent is going to cause damage. With this legal decision, the door has been opened (and broken off the hinges) to any writer to pillage anyone's published research. Now every non-fiction author will have to write their own bad novel, to fully protect themselves.

The London Times discusses the recent wikinovel experiment, A Million Penguins, ultimately coming to the conclusion that the conclusion was foregone. (I discussed this at length a while back in Weekend Update #5.1- The Wiki Effect.)

For a man with no answers, JA Konrath sure asks a lot of questions.

Nathan Bransford wants you to give up. Okay, he wants you to think about giving up. Okay, he wants you to think about the hypothetical point at which you should give up querying. I think you know my thoughts on the issue.

Just because you get a decent grade on your high school English exam, does not mean you are a good writer. There are no indicators of a propensity for fiction writing, except a publishing contract. (Via Joanne Jacobs.)

Agent Kristin give you the heads-up on what editors are looking for right now (and follow-up). Don't bother, by the time you get your submission together the window will be closed, and you'll look like a chump for following a trend rather than leading it. Chum-p.

Lit Agent X on why your "hook" sucks.

Bella Stander, commenting on an op-ed written by Stanley Fish and critically annotated by Sarah Weinman, points out that agents often judge your book on the first paragraph, because readers do.

Slush Pile Diva shows you what you can learn about writing from Bruce Lee. The true master paralyses his opponent, leaving him vulnerable to attack ...

Fiction Scribe has great advice, if you stop reading after the first sentence.

Miss Snark doesn't believe that she's "giving the dolts false hope". By the way, I didn't write the original email. And I like her way too much to bring up the pot and the kettle.

Victoria Strauss reports on the sleazy things that some self-published authors will do to promote their book. Jim McDonald at Making Light provides more info.

Karen at Write Stuff posts some links which may be useful -- if you're American, and if you ever make any money from writing. Lynn Veihl adds her perspective. 

Will Write For Chocolate has an appropriate comic this week.

Shari Lyle-Soffe somehow got into my brain and telepathically stole a whole bunch of perfectly valid reasons to quit writing, then sets about refuting them! See what happens when you take off the tin foil helmet?

Finally, if a critic refers to your book as a pile of shit, he may not be entirely wrong.