Interesting posts about writing - w/e August 10th 2012

[jongibbs]

Comments

[msstacy13]

Of course you know, Bob,
that Doctor McCoy wasn't merely comic relief,
as in, "Dammit, Jim, I'm a doctor not a ______!"
He also kept score,
as in, "He's dead, Jim."
and updated anyone who tuned in at the half-hour commercial break,
as in, "Well, Spock, synopsis of first half-hour..."

[ladysaotome]

:D So true. Though I think he shared the honor with Chekov. *kaboom* "Keptin, they are shooting at us." You don't say...

[msstacy13]

I suspect Chekov spent the first two seasons
working at The Federation's Department of Redundancy Department.

[jongibbs]

That was for the benefit of scaredy-cats like me, who hid behind the sofa when the monsters turned up :P

[ladysaotome]

Hmm, I hadn't thought about it but book trailers don't tend to do much for me. In fact, I usually only watch them if I happen to already know about the book and be checking the author or book site. The informational trailer makes the most sense logically but wouldn't make me interested unless I already was curious. I liked the example of the comedic one as it would make me want to find out what the book was about. And if it's funny enough, viewers will share with their friends which just increases promotion.

I loved the "As you know, Bob" article. Sadly, I just finished reading a book by an established, award-winning author (not “Self-Published") and the entire book felt like one long information dump. Rinse & repeat - every single chapter. To quote the bottom line "Don’t Be Boring!" - I was so bored. And sad. I'm supposed to write a review for this book. And it's a lot harder to write an honest review when I'm stressing about not being mean. (There's more to it than the dump, which just makes it worse....)

[jongibbs]

Trailers can be fun, but like you, I tend not to watch them unless I know the author, I'm already looing forward to the book, or someone highly recommends it.

[jongibbs]

I was torn between Seanan's post on promotion and Kristine's post for 'Pick of the week' :)

[wendigomountain]

I liked the "As you know, Bob" article. My (least) favorite of this is the military debriefing, in which everything is explained in a meeting with the Brass that explain the entire operation in about a page, including the exchange "permission to speak freeley, sir." The obverse of that is the maniacal dictator that explains all his plans to his henchmen, countrymen, etc. ala Hitler at Nuremberg. I always wonder what happens after the baddie delivers that speech. Are they all "yeah! Let's go!" or do they mill around for awhile and eat cake?

[jongibbs]

I vote for cake, every time :)

[msstacy13]

As you know, Bob--um, Clint,
my research into this tradition is far from exhaustive,
but I'm fairly certain it took root during the days of radio,
and become firmly entrenched in television.
When you have only twenty minutes,
you take a lot of shortcuts.

I particularly like comedies
that beat this dull plowshare into a sword.

[ext_400143]

The "As you know, Bob," one was really good, but of course you all already know that.

[ladysaotome]

Hey Jon, I just found a post that I thought should be shared & I didn't want to wait till Friday! http://www.deanwesleysmith.com/?p=7531

[jongibbs]

Hi Kat, what's it about?

[ladysaotome]

It's called "The New World: Publishing: Killing Your Sales One Shot at a Time". It's about the mistakes many indie writers make when designing their covers.

[jongibbs]

You're right, it is a goodie :)