When the term 'machine gun' enters common parlance, the word 'machine' becomes much more sinister.
Scott Westerfeld
I found a great book called 'Slang Through the Ages' by Jonathon Green. It's basically a thesaurus of historical slang, and had lots of great old uses.
Ninety percent of the research comes first. I mostly blunder around reading stuff and talking to smart people until an idea batters or oozes its way through to my narrative brain.
Warning stickers on books would be a nightmare.
Sometimes you have to delete characters from a scene just to keep from overcrowding the image.
I moved to New York when I was 21 or 22 as a graduate fellow.
I've learned a lot about stage-managing for illustration. Sometimes you have to delete characters from a scene just to keep from overcrowding the image. I've also learned to making big-scale design decisions early.
Luckily for writers - and unluckily for history - every scientific idea creates human conflict.
I have no formal training as a writer at all, not even a single English class in college.
I wouldn't say design has become strictly functional. A lot of cars these days look downright comic book to me, and the info-gadgets with which late industrial people spend the most time - phones, music players, etc. - are blobjects.
I have no formal training as a writer at all, not even a single English class in college. However, my adult books are all science fiction, which has some similarities to YA.
The difference between being a part-time writer and a full-time writer is like the difference between dating someone and living with them. Some of the romance is gone, but you learn things you'd never know just by dating.
When I finish a first draft, I often look back at first chapters I wrote and laugh at them. They're like pictures of yourself in middle school. You're embarrassed to see them.
I think any List of Best X creates arguments and people saying 'You listed that rubbish?' That's what lists like this are for.
I have no problem with commenters stating strong opinions, except for my usual annoyance with people who don't agree with me.
