ThreeGuys1Book has 1737 followers | By 3G1B DH: A list recently published in The New York Times by a noted restaurateur gave 100 rules for what service staff should not do. I thought a list of 50 things that writers shouldn’t do would give us all a chance to vent. I’m contributing 10 items. Some of these pet peeves have pissed me off for years: - Don’t use italics for more than one line.
- Don’t tell me what someone looks like if it doesn’t matter.
- Don’t make me draw a diagram to figure out who’s speaking.
- Don’t write in a manner that’s different from your everyday speech. You should write like your best talk when you’re having a very good day.
- Don’t start your story with a
Continue reading 50 Things a Writer Shouldn’t Do
By 3G1B 3G1B has an ongoing conversation, the subject of which: “what the hell is going to happen to publishing in the future?” disturbs us all. This week we have invited Craig Nova to tell us what he thinks. Craig is the award winning author of 12 novels. His new novel, The Informer, will be released in January 2010. CN: the first thing that comes to mind when I consider writers and the state of publishing is one of those science fiction movies from the fifties, you know, where some light is seen in the sky and then something like a smoking bowling ball lands someplace and then a couple of geeks get out of a pickup truck. They find a stick and poke the Continue reading The Smoking Cannonball By 3G1B DH: The literate media has recently brought the criticism of Richard Poirier to my attention. I picked up a copy of his The Renewal of Literature on Amazon. I had to settle for a used copy. The book is not currently in print. I just started it but I didn’t want to wait to discuss this issue. What’s a novel for? Why would you want to read or write one? It boils down to this. When one of us wrote All About Lulu did he do it because he wanted to becomea better person or help others to improve themselves? Like: “Thank goodness I read Lulu, it really helped me ace that job interview! Or: “I used to be a Continue reading What's a Novel For? By 3G1B  
DH: Reading is a solitary activity but I wouldn’t call it lonely. You do need to isolate yourself…keep family and friends, co-workers or surrounding strangers at bay. I’d say for at least 45 minutes. But you do have the company of the author. The loneliest activity is writing. If reading is wading, then writing is jumping into the deep end of the pool head first. Since The Guys have had this blog, I’ve learned that contact is possible between writers and readers. But sometimes it’s like trying to Iphone someone in a distant galaxy. I once asked a writer on Facebook if I could interview him and he Continue reading A Conversation on Interviews and Networking By 3G1B   JE: In recent months, we 3 Guys have discussed a myriad of reasons for the flagging fiction market, from antiquated business models, to unimaginative marketing approaches, to the ever-stiffening competition for the shrinking entertainment dollar, to the work itself-from the cult of the sentence to the glut of self-conscious slacker narratives. But one contributing factor we haven’t addressed, is the practitioners themselves, who, but for a few rare exceptions (Dave Eggers, anyone?) fail to capture the public imagination by virtue of a bigger-than-life persona. Literary purists will insist that this doesn’t matter, that the artist is irrelevant, and ultimately, they’ll
Continue reading Where Have All The Cowboys Gone? By Jason Chambers   JR: I think most literary websites today are created out of frustration, by people who have been rejected by the establishment, and felt the need to set up their own shop where they could at least express themselves, but then they turn around an exclude a good percentage of the people who approach them as a creative outlet, thus they turn into what they were running from (Rumpus, Second Pass, The Millions–great new design by the way). They’ve got published authors, and most importantly aspiring writers, to provide content for their sites, as there are millions of writers out there with something
Continue reading On Toiling In Obscurity By 3G1B  JE: To blurb, or not to blurb–not even a question, as far as I’m concerned. I’m a blurb whore. So far this year, I’ve blurbed roughly a dozen authors, including Greg Olear, Greg Downs, Hesh Kestin, Ben Loory, Gina Frangello, N.L. Belardes, James P. Othmer, and our very own Jason Rice. I’ve still got a blurb pile a foot high I’m working on– so, if you’re in it, sorry for the delay. I’ve got diapers to change. And guess what? They’re all great books, as I knew in each instance they would be. And guess what else? I never lie when I blurb. Maybe sometimes my blurbs don’t use phrases like “a harrowing achievement” or “a modern classic,” but there’s Continue reading On Blurbs and Blurbing By 3G1B  DH: I read a novel recently that had some scenes set in a creative writing class. I remember laughing at a joke where one of the students writes a story where “rigor mortis has set in” in the first person. Almost no student in this fictional class had real talent and those few who did were subject to the jealousy of everyone else. Even the instructor was struggling to get recognition for his unpublished novel as he had to endure watching some of his students move on to professional recognition while he remained a promising failure. Later in the novel, the lead character goes to a writing workshop in Iowa. Apparently, one reason that Iowa works as a teaching venue Continue reading Can Writing Be Taught? By 3G1B   JE: In recent days, we four at Three Guys have been discussing the trials and travails of authordom, from the rigors of composition, to the art of absorbing rejection, to the epic and often fruitless journey to finding an agent, to finding a publisher, to building a readership, and now it seems a logical progression would be to talk about what an author might do to help his cause in the arena of bookselling. What happens to a book after it emerges hot from the printing press is for the Continue reading Demystifying the Vagaries of Bookselling By 3G1B  Two kinds of people graduate college. The first kind have already made plans to attend grad school or are heading for a career. It’s like they are on a train track that is not going to vary. Career, family, regular hours, home for dinner, television, bedtime…five days a week plus weekends off. This pattern will probably persist for most of their lives once they leave school at one end of the adult life cycle until they are ready to retire at the end of the line. Continue reading The Slide by Kyle Beachy By 3G1B  Book industry folks will find a lot of amusement in the discussions on how to tell if a new artist will be a success. I suspect that quite a few editors out there may have a similar philosophy in developing new talent. There is also a fair amount of talk about art vs business in the industry. Stephen could be selling cans of baked beans, for all he cares, as long as it gave him a huge expense account, easy access to drugs, and frequent lays. Continue reading Kill Your Friends by John Niven By 3G1B  The very good JC mentioned James’ exploration of the house that he is renovating, There is a wonderful scene towards the end of the book where James proceeds to the lowest level of the house. I had a philosophy teacher who liked to say that, on a moral and spiritual level, we are sometimes like the owner of a magnificent house who chooses nonetheless to live in the cellar. Sam Taylor has taken us on an open house tour of a basement or two in our minds. No wonder I feel uneasy about this story. Continue reading The Amnesiac by Sam Taylor By 3G1B My original idea was very ambitious, but I didn’t know it at the time, I just thought I was discovering a new writer and giving him some space on our blog. I had no idea what was involved with getting to know Sam Taylor as a writer, and reading his books one after the other. My wife picked up Republic of Trees right before I had this idea for us to talk to him, and then she walked around with the book in front of her face for three days, reading it, quoting it, and I could see this writer’s power pouring out of this book. Continue reading The Republic of Trees by Sam Taylor By 3G1B  I like this as a development in the criminal-focused sub-genre of crime novel, like the Leonards and the Westlakes, where so often the protagonist is a likeable thug, or thief or murderer. The current success of the Dexter TV (and book) series is another exemplar. A lot of the books in this area are fun and action-packed, to go along with suspenseful, and I think this book fits perfectly in that crowd. Continue reading Beat the Reaper by Josh Bazell By 3G1B Think about what’s in a typical chain bookstore. I have a rather strict personal definition of what a trade (non-text) book is: It’s a book that’s designed to be read…from cover to cover. And it’s a book that may plausibly be reviewed in a standard media venue like the New York Times Book Review or book blogs. By that definition an enormous chunk of what’s in large bookstores are not books. It’s book product, like cheese product in a supermarket that isn’t really cheese. Continue reading Do Booksellers Care If You Read That Book? | |
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