Hey guess what! I’d been rummaging through a box of archives (a fancy name for a bunch of paper-related ‘junk’ I’ve amassed) and I came across something quite fun. And possibly valuable. Way back in this post, I spoke about how I had attended a lecture by Sci-Fi master Isaac Asimov. I met him briefly afterward, too, and obtained his autograph. Actually, I had him sign the notes I took during his talk.
So I’ve scanned it in to share it.
The top left part has some pretty standard advice, no? But the one line is rather unexpected. “never revise unless told.” I suppose when you’re Isaac Asimov that can be true…but how interesting is it that he passed the notion along to aspiring authors? I revise on my own anyway. I mean, who doesn’t? Perhaps he meant once the manuscript is “done.” I’m not sure at this point, as I took the notes long ago.
In the middle there you can see the bit of advice which I specifically recalled and posted about.
I particularly like “short sentences and words when they will do.” I find myself following this suggestion in the novel I’m currently writing. Or at least it seems so to me.
I believe that big X with society and plot on either side is supposed to mean that he said to make sure to keep the “world” of your book in conjunction with the plot. Maybe? It’s a shame I didn’t take better notes. But underneath that part is a wealth of good recommendations as to how to deal with the proverbial “Writer’s Block.” It seems that I follow his sagely wisdom. Perhaps it sunk in all those years ago. You can find out what else I do to chop at the block in my interview with The Gaia Peter Pan Guild.
All righty. I hope you enjoy seeing my notes (whoop-de-do) but more especially, Mr. Asimov’s John Hancock.
So I’ve scanned it in to share it.
The top left part has some pretty standard advice, no? But the one line is rather unexpected. “never revise unless told.” I suppose when you’re Isaac Asimov that can be true…but how interesting is it that he passed the notion along to aspiring authors? I revise on my own anyway. I mean, who doesn’t? Perhaps he meant once the manuscript is “done.” I’m not sure at this point, as I took the notes long ago.
In the middle there you can see the bit of advice which I specifically recalled and posted about.
I particularly like “short sentences and words when they will do.” I find myself following this suggestion in the novel I’m currently writing. Or at least it seems so to me.
I believe that big X with society and plot on either side is supposed to mean that he said to make sure to keep the “world” of your book in conjunction with the plot. Maybe? It’s a shame I didn’t take better notes. But underneath that part is a wealth of good recommendations as to how to deal with the proverbial “Writer’s Block.” It seems that I follow his sagely wisdom. Perhaps it sunk in all those years ago. You can find out what else I do to chop at the block in my interview with The Gaia Peter Pan Guild.
All righty. I hope you enjoy seeing my notes (whoop-de-do) but more especially, Mr. Asimov’s John Hancock.
You can click on it to make it full size.
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1 comment:
Short sentences and words when they will do. Nice advice for pacing! And for breaking up a page full of text.
I love going back to look over notes I thought were perfectly clear at the time only to discover I've somehow developed a new form of cryptic code.
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