so while i'm posting all sorts of random links...

[2eclipse]

this one is for my wannabeauthor/booknut friends

a lovely article on avoiding cliche
incidentally from a group of podcasts i really like. i'm looking forward to the day this one becomes more than an lj.

Comments

[dimfuture.livejournal.com]

That read a bit too much like "don't write about my personal pet peeves" for my taste. And I say this as someone who really dislikes elves. :D

[2eclipse.livejournal.com]

hmmm...i didn't take it that way.
i don't mind elves, but i do mind formulaic writing. i thought her lego metaphor was very helpful for saying what i keep feeling about the books i read that just...bore me. i feel like i've read them before when i haven't because i can just predict everything the characters will do.
like she said, it isn't that you shouldn't write about elves. it is that you need to give your work details that makes your elves different from other people's elves - individuals in a way that don't simply shift them into another paradigm (city elf instead of country elf). i think she's right on the nose.