Microlog
66 Microlog entries tagged with ‘writing’
How to use a semicolon
Dead simple, really; in fact I’m using one right here. Permalink ·
The 22 rules of storytelling, according to Pixar
Ditto the bit about figuring out your ending before your middle. I’d add to that: figure out your middle before your start. Permalink ·
Dan Harmon’s Story Circle
An eight-step story structure tool from the guy behind Channel 101 (and the Harmontown podcast). Graham ‘Father Ted’ Linehan swears by it. Permalink ·
What Can We Learn From Diagramming Sentences?
I’m posting this here mostly because the concept of diagramming sentences completely eludes me; I never did anything like this at school and I don’t know anyone who has (or maybe I do). Permalink ·
What’s my motivation?: Sam Bain on writing for TV
“My writing partner Jesse Armstrong and I have run the gamut. On one of the first sitcoms we were hired to write for, we were keen to be involved at every stage. We asked for an office, and the producer obliged by giving us a desk in the photocopying room. The symbolism could only have been clearer if he’d ushered us into a spare cubicle in the gents.” Ouch. Permalink ·
5.4: Pitchfork, 1995-present
A comprehensive critical history of the music review site. Give yourself a good half hour or so to digest the whole thing, it’s worth it. Permalink ·
Every writing system, ever, pretty much
And this is why the web is awesome. Permalink ·
Screenplay Basics
Filing this for future reference. Permalink ·
What Editors Think of Writers
The biggest surprise for any new writer/journalist/whatever is when an editor corrects their work. It’s not about ‘taking away their voice’; it’s always about bringing out the best in the writer, and polishing it up nice for the reader. In my own experience, the most precious about their writing were the worst writers. Permalink ·
Rhodia Writing Pads
I’ve just started using a No 16 (yellow grid) with a cover and pen loop and I love it already. It’s so much lighter (and cheaper) than the Moleskine I was using, and the paper quality is more suited to my tastes, too (I use a Pilot G-2, which used to bleed and smear on the Moleskine but writes with a finer, drier line on the Rhodia). Plus when I’m finished, I just swap in a new pad — no more worries about filling my pages with nonsense. Permalink ·
Iain M Banks: Science fiction is no place for dabblers
Personally I don’t mind dabbling in sci-fi elements; it’s when some authors are at pains to distance themselves from the genre that really gets my goat. See also: The stars of modern SF pick the best science fiction. Permalink ·
Nearly 100 Fantastic Pieces of Journalism
More longform reading to file for later. Permalink ·
‘One of the things I did at writing school this year was write a fake blog’
Just read it. Permalink ·
Longform compiles the 2011 National Magazine Awards finalists
That’s a lot of reading. Permalink ·
Gateways to Geekery: Kurt Vonnegut
Confession time: I’ve never read any Vonnegut. But he really seems like my kind of writer. Permalink ·
The lost art of editing
I think – in fact I know – most people don’t realise how much input editors have into the work of writers. Permalink ·
What are your best magazine articles of all time?
There’s something off about that headline, but there’s a good selection of long-form writing here. Permalink ·
This Gaming Life free to read online
Jim Rossignol’s book on gaming culture available in full online. Shame it’s not downloadable as an e-book. Permalink ·
Some links on copyediting
“It’s a hard job, but someone’s gotta do it. Permalink ·
Mind your language: in praise of subeditors
The editor of the Guardian style guide writes in praise of subeditors: “Given the indispensable contribution that they make, it seems perverse that the role of subs has been questioned, albeit mainly from those more interested in the cost of everything than the value of anything.” Permalink ·
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This is the personal website of MacDara Conroy, a production journalist, music writer and mediavore in Dublin, Ireland. Read more »
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This page lists all Microlog entries by MacDara Conroy tagged with ‘writing’. You will find many more entries sorted by month and by category in the Archives.
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