Category Archives: Writing

Advice, Neil Gaiman, Writer, Writing

From Neil Gaiman

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I came across this post from Mr. Gaiman and like he wrote I wanted to pass it on to my readers.

From his website:

http://journal.neilgaiman.com/2006/10/important-and-pass-it-on.html

Important. And pass it on…

John M. Ford was pretty much the smartest writer I knew. Mostly. He did one thing that was less than smart, though: he knew he wasn’t in the best of health, but he still didn’t leave a proper will, and so didn’t, in death, dispose of his literary estate in the way that he intended to while he was alive, which has caused grief and concern to the people who were closest to him.

He’s not the first writer I know who didn’t think to take care of his or her posthumous intellectual property. For example, I knew a writer — a great writer — separated from and estranged from his wife during the last five years of his life. He died without making a will, and his partner, who understood and respected his writing, was shut out, while his wife got the intellectual property, and has not, I think, treated it as it should have been treated. These things happen, and they happen too often.

There are writers who blithely explain to the world that they didn’t make a will because they don’t mind who gets their jeans and old guitar when they die but who would have conniptions if they realised how much aggravation their books or articles or poems or songs would cause their loved ones (or editors, anthologists or fans) after their death…

Writers put off making wills (well, human beings put off making wills, and most writers are probably human beings). Some of us think it’s self-aggrandising or foolish to pretend that anyone would be interested in their books or creations after they’re dead. Others secretly believe we’re going to live forever and that making a will would mean letting Death in a crack.

Others make wills, but don’t think to take into account what happens to our literary estate as a separate thing from the disposition of our second-best beds, which means unqualified or uninterested relatives can find themselves in control of everything the author’s written. Some of us are just cheap.

All this bothered me, and still bothers me.

Shortly after Mike Ford’s death, I spoke to Les Klinger about it. Les is a lawyer, and a very good one, and also an author. I met him through Michael Dirda, and the Baker Street Irregulars (here’s Les’s Sherlockian webpage).

Les immediately saw my point, understood my crusade and went off and made a document for authors. Especially the lazy sort of authors, or just the ones who haven’t quite got around to seeing a lawyer, or who figure that one day it’ll all sort itself out, or even the ones to whom it has never occurred that they need to think about this stuff.

It’s a PDF file, which you can, and should, if you’re a creative person, download here:

http://www.neilgaiman.com/journal/SIMPLEWILL.pdf

As Les says, your options are:

1) Recopy the document ENTIRELY by hand, date it, and sign it at the end. No witnesses required.

2) Type the document, date it, sign it IN FRONT OF at least two witnesses, who are not family or named in the Will, and have each witness sign IN FRONT OF YOU and the other witnesses. Better yet, go to a lawyer with this form and discuss your choices!

Having said that, the first option, a “holographic will” isn’t valid everywhere — according to Wikipedia, In the United States, unwitnessed holographic wills are valid in around 30 out of the 50 states. Jurisdictions that do not themselves recognize such holographic wills may nonetheless accept them under a “foreign wills act” if it was drafted in another jurisdiction in which it would be valid. In the United Kingdom, unwitnessed holographic wills are valid in Scotland, but not in England and Wales.

So the second option is by far the wisest.

Pass it on. Spread it around. And then, if you’re an author, or even a weekend author with just a few short stories published, or one thin book you don’t think anyone read or would want to republish, fill it out. Sign it and date it in front of witnesses. Put it somewhere safe. And rest easily in the knowledge that you may have made some anthologist, or some loved one, in the future, a bit happier and made their lives a little easier.

(Or better still, print it out and take it to your own lawyer/ solicitor or equivalent legal person when you get a formal will drawn up. As Les says, take it to a lawyer and discuss your choices.)

Feel very free to repost it on your own webpages, or to link to it above, or link to this blog entry — it’s http://www.neilgaiman.com/journal/2006/10/important-and-pass-it-on.html — which contains all this information.

(And the same goes for you artists, photographers and songwriters, although a few words may have to be changed or added.)

Edit, Grammar, Life, Manuscript, Writing

Grammar Time

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When one writes so much has to be taken into consideration. Is the plot line working, how is the pace and flow of the story and are we bringing our readers along for the ride or leaving them back at page four? We have to incorporate and weave scenes, characters and drama and make it all work together or else it will go nowhere. When we finally finish a book well that is just the beginning. The cliché that writing is the easy part I feel is dead on.

For once we are done we are now having to revise and edit. To me edit is an evil word but one that is needed and required. Some words we must pay certain attention to for it can change our sentence structure around.

Its vs. It’s: When I have to use either word I tend to pause sounding out the contraction to make sure I am using the right form. Its is possessive while it’s stands for It is.

I vs. me: I truly hate this one. What helps is if you separate the sentence. For example if you are not sure whether it is “Sharon and I will go” vs. “Sharon and me will go”, take them apart. You now have “Sharon will go” and “I will go” which both make sense. “Me will go” does not so hence you need to use the word I.

Another example of this is “Give it to Tom and me” or “Give it to Tom and I”. Separating the two you will have “Give it to Tom” vs. “Give it to me”. Both make sense so the correct word to use is me.

Your vs. You’re: This one does make me pause. Your is used as a modifier before a noun. For example: Your books. You’re means you are which would not make sense if you say you are books.

There vs. Their vs. They’re: There is the possessive form of they. They’re stands for they are. There tends to mean place and position.

This is their car.

Take a note of their names and addresses.

The child is theirs.

Sit over there.

I wouldn’t go there again.

Stop there before you make any more mistakes.

They’re going to the concert.

They’re making bread.

There are other examples that make me mutter such as effect vs. affect, to vs. too and then vs. than.

I won’t even bring up commas. They are the death of me and that is why I have an editor. Editing is not fun and while people have said they love to do it, I doubt those words will ever be uttered by me. So yes writing is the easy part as far as I am concern. The revising and editing are the hoops writers must go through to get their MS ready for the world to enjoy. It is not fun and that is probably while I still have three books to be edited. Instead I continue to write.

Class, Drawing Class, Right Side of The Brain, Stick Figures, Writing

Stick Figures

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After my Character Development class ended I searched the course catalog of what could be taken next. All the writing classes had either been taken or were already started. That is when I saw the one class I been trying to take for two years and now was able to. I would be taking a drawing class.

I am not sure how many of you out there can draw and well, but that is not me. My stick figures are the rage in my own mind that is. Sure growing up as a child I would color and draw to my little heart content but it did not matter then if it was good or not. The beauty of being young and not caring. But a few years ago while reading the description of the courses this one drawing class had a different perspective. One that I was not familiar with. The class was called “ Drawing on the Right Side of the Brain”. The concept is to awake our brain to a creative side we might not have accessed before. The artists we see today have figured out what the rest of us haven’t. We are so busy using our left side with its reasoning, speech, writing and logic that we don’t always access the creative side or the right side.

This class is designed to show the students how to access the imagination, awareness and creativity that is inside all of us. Something a child readily can do before life gets to complicated for them. Not having drawn much recently or well I was hesitant that this would be way out of my league. Fortunately the teacher on the first day said this class was for every one from beginner to more advanced. She said she loved the students who were starting at ground zero for at the end of the session we could see how much that person has grown and learned. These are the ones she loved to get in her class.

The time came for us to introduce ourselves and she started with me. When she looked at me I waved. Seeing I did not start she repeated herself. That is when I said, “ Oh I was just waving, you see I am one of your favorite students. I am at ground zero.” She and the class chuckled.

The first day we drew three objects. The first two drawings was to sketch a person sitting in a chair and then our hand. We were to label this preinstructional drawings and date it. The instructor then gave us a drawing, the catch we were to place the paper upside down. We were to draw from bottom to top. While this was time-consuming the task was completed. Turning it around to see how I did, it didn’t look so bad.

Having asked why we had taken this class was easy to answer. As a writer one needs to try different avenue to keep the juices flowing. If I can draw my characters on paper then a face can be assigned to them instead of just in my head. While it may not be the best it might give me insight and direction in a new way. It is worth a shot.