Life Log

2012年03月21日 11:25 中国网 作者：文成

　　解读畅销图书的秘密，一直是读者和图书出版业内人士非常感兴趣的话题，有关这方面的图书和文章不少，而詹姆斯·霍尔的《热卖文学：破解二十世纪超级畅销图书的秘密》是关于这方面的一本很有分量的书。詹姆斯·霍尔是文学科班出身的，他本科、硕士和博士阶段的专业都是研读文学与创作专业的，后来又长年担任佛罗里达国际大学英文系的教授，还出版四本诗集、一部短篇小说集、一部散文集和十七部长篇小说，得过爱伦·坡短篇小说奖。无论是创作实践还是文学理论，都是非常内行的人，作为学院派的作家，他对畅销书的研究是非常到位的。在他的这本论著中，他挑选了二十世纪出版的十二部超级畅销小说，对其进行全面而深入的研究，从中探索畅销图书的“秘密”。

这十二部畅销小说，其实大都是大家熟悉的：《乱世佳人》（Gone with the Wind，即《飘》）、《佩顿镇》（Peyton Place）、《杀死一只反舌鸟》（To Kill a Mockingbird）、《玩偶之谷》（Valley of the Dolls）、《教父》（The Godfather）、《驱魔师》（Exorcist）、《大白鲨》（Jaws）、《死亡地带》（The Dead Zone）、《猎杀红十月号》（The Hunt for Red October）、《律师事务所》（The Firm）、《廊桥遗梦》（The Bridges of Madison County）和《达·芬奇密码》（The Da Vinci Code）。这些作品绝大多数是销量过千万的超级畅销书，其中，如《达·芬奇密码》各个版本在全球范围内已经畅销八千多万册。

A guest post by Ali Luke

“And what is the use of a book,” thought Alice, “without pictures or conversations?” – Lewis Carroll

I can manage books without pictures, but I know how Alice feels about the conversations. When I’m browsing, I flick through books to see how much dialogue there is. If there doesn’t seem to be much, I’ll put the book down and choose something else.

I’m pretty sure I’m not the only person who does this, either…

As a writer, dialogue lets you:

Show rather than tell – when characters act and speak, they become real to us Build tension and drama, furthering the plot Reveal character in what’s said (or what isn’t said) Create white space on the page – attractive to busy readers

A guest post by K.M. Weiland of Wordplay

Beginnings are tough for a number of reasons, not least among them the fact that we’re wading blind into unknown territory, trembling with the knowledge that if we fail to be brilliant, readers won’t get past the first chapter.

How do we grip readers with can’t-look-away action, while still taking the time to establish character? How do we decide upon the perfect moment to open the scene? How do we balance just the right amount of information to keep from confusing readers, while at same time raising the kind of intriguing questions that make them want to read on?

 In order to be good to their readers, authors have to be willing to be pretty nasty to their characters. An epigrammatic writing prompt once suggested, “Think of the worst thing that could happen to your character. Then think of 10 ways to make it worse.” This is how you up the stakes, by presenting your characters with hefty odds and your readers with no choice but keep turning pages. In his recent hit movie Inception, writer/director Christopher Nolan gives us a masterful example of how this is done.

The first half of the movie shows his team of characters preparing for a difficult job. Before they even

by Larry on December 10, 2011

As deep thinking, well-intentioned storytellers, we tend to want to make theme – one of the Six Core Competencies of successful storytelling – something mysterious and complex.  And therefore, challenging.

It certainly can be.  But it doesn’t have to be.  The good news is… the latter (it doesn’t have to be challenging) is as much the stuff of bestsellers as the former.

I get emails about this all the time, folks wanting a better definition of theme, clarifying the difference between theme and concept (which is huge, like, apples vs. apple pie kind of huge), or simply seeking to understand how to make their story themes more powerful.

Technique

The technique involves continuous writing, usually for a predetermined period of time (often five, ten, or fifteen minutes). The writer writes without regard to spelling, grammar, etc., and makes no corrections. If the writer reaches a point where they can't think of anything to write, they write that they can't think of anything, until they find another line of thought. The writer freely strays off topic, letting thoughts lead where they may. At times, a writer may also do a focused freewrite, letting a chosen topic structure their thoughts. Expanding from this topic, the thoughts may stray to make connections and create more abstract views on the topic. This technique

Fellow Writers,

I’m hoping your words are spilling out in fully formed plots, intriguing dilemmas, compelling characters, and sentences that feel vital and precise. But I well know that novels are unwieldy and that getting them under control can be like trying to herd planets into a line.

Here are a few tips that I’ve learned over the years.

1. Keep in mind the initial image that you had of your book. Writers often say that they were struck with an early image or tiny scene that filled them inexplicably with emotion and inspired them to create a story around it: the image of a woman leaving with a suitcase, the image of a car fallen into the ocean, or a mattress salesman

You like your hero, right? Your protagonist? The male or

female lead of your story?

You chose this character to be in charge of your story, to

have the juiciest role, to be the star of the book, because out

of all the characters you're writing in that story, THIS

character is the most interesting, the most important...

and the one in the most trouble.

(If you didn't choose your main character for these reasons

or reasons like them, we REALLY need to talk.)

And yet when I read both manuscripts and published books,

I find the same mistake over and over and over:

The villain gets all the good lines. Or the sidekick does.

by Shannon Crose

Spring is a time of year to open the windows of your house and let in a little fresh air. Air out all the stale smells of winter. Symbolically speaking, it's the time of year to let light into the secret corners of your mind, a time of rebirth. It's also time to let out a few secrets. Oh, I saw some ears perk up there. Nothing like a secret to get someone interested. Strap yourself in, because I'm about to share the most closely guarded secret in all of writerdom-okay, not that closely guarded, I won't have to kill you after sharing it. Ready?

All writers' first drafts suck! And anyone who claims to write a perfect first draft is the worst kind of liar. Or, a freak of nature. You choose.