Tips for Writers and Workshoppers!

Using Pain as Fuel

           

Hi, writers. This month’s writing tip will be a bit somber, in light of the recent tragedy that has unfolded in Boston. It is difficult to detach oneself from the event, be it physically or emotionally, and I think I would be doing everyone a disservice if I chose to ignore it. I would instead like to take this article to emphasize the importance of using one’s emotions as fuel for writing. In the wake of pain and horror such as this, I believe the most comforting action we can take is to write. We may feel helpless, but it provides us with a sort of silver lining if we can write powerfully with intense emotions as our foundation; it helps us to crush the hate meant to be inspired by such acts if we can offer a greater display of power and compassion with our voices. For many of us here at Emerson, our voice comes in the form of our writing.

The House of Paranormal YA

Everneath by Brodi Ashton

“I had been in his arms, but I hadn’t seen his face for a century. It was the same…. ‘You… you’re still the same Nikki. You survived…. I mean, I’ve searched for you—for someone like you—for thousands of years…. You have no idea what this means. This. Never. Happens. Nik, you don’t have to go to the Tunnels. You can stay with me. Become an Everling.’” (Page 5)

Nikki is a seventeen-year-old girl, wrenched from her normal world into Everneath, where she must stay for a century with a guy named Cole. Everneath is a place in-between earth and hell; in this place there are immortal creatures who are called Everling. However, in order to stay immortal they must feed off the energy of humans. Most of the humans, though, do not survive, being fed off, and go to a place called the Tunnels where the humans must spend eternity suffering. However, Nikki survived, because she has special ties to the Everling. After Cole fed off her, she was given a choice: stay with Cole and become an Everling or go to the Tunnels.

Turning Pages, Changing Channels

The Vampire Diaries: Dripping with Differences

**Spoilers Alert**

The CW’s The Vampire Diaries has won multiple People’s Choice, Teen’s Choice, Do Something, and Young Hollywood Awards in its five-season run.  The television series is based on the book series of the same name written by L.J. Smith.  The original books came out in the early to mid-nineties.  Since the television show gained acclaim, however, more books have been added to the series.  The show debuted in 2009, among the vampire craze caused, in part, by the Twilight franchise.  Though both series keep you on the edge of your seat by following Elena Gilbert into a world of supernatural love triangles and plots for revenge, the books and show have substantial differences. 

www.goodreads.com

  

   

Let’s start with the characters.  Both the show and the books portray Elena Gilbert as the town’s golden girl.  In the books, however, the phrase is a bit more literal; Elena is fair with blonde hair and blue eyes.  On the show, she has dark hair and eyes.  The casting of Stefan and Damon Salvatore, the vampire brothers in love with Elena, is more accurate to their descriptions in the book.  The cast of characters, in general, is different from the original set in the books.  On the show, Elena has a teenage brother, Jeremy, but, in the books, she has a toddler sister.  Elena also has three best friends in the books: Bonnie, who has a connection to the druids, Meredith, who seems to always keep her wits when facing a crisis, and Caroline, who eventually gives in to her dark side.  In the show, Bonnie is a descendent of the Salem witches and Caroline eventually becomes a vampire.  The role of Tyler, the local teenage werewolf, is also much larger in the television show than the books.  The role of the history teacher and vampire slayer, Alaric Saltzman, is also much different in each series.  In the books, he is a mentor and friend.  He helps the group of teenagers protect the town from several supernatural threats and, eventually, dates Elena’s friend, Meredith.  On the show, he plays the role of friend and mentor, but only for a limited time.  Eventually, he is turned into something supernatural, as well, and killed.

Generic 3rd Edition Released!!! Spring 2013!

Generic Release

Emerson College's solely genre fiction literary magazine was released last week to the whole campus. The stories include all different kinds of genres including, Western, Romance, and Fairytales. During the semester, workshops were held for Emerson students to learn about these three genres and test their writing abilities, creating stories based on writing prompts and exercises. 

Each genre brought its own challenges and PubClub has now released and online version! Enjoy here:

http://issuu.com/bookpubclub/docs/g3issuufinal

Pub Club, Pub World

Hello, and welcome to the next installment of “Pub Club, Pub World”! This section will update all you lovely blog readers about what’s going on in the world of publishing.

Here's the latest news for this month!

The Greatest American Novel was just decided on from a poll done on PWxyz (affiliated with Publisher's Weekly). Not surprisingly, To Kill A Mockingbird tops the list, followed by The Great Gatsby, The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn, The Grapes of Wrath, Moby Dick, and Gone With The Wind. The most interesting, however, is that The Amazing Adventures of Kavalier & Clay, came in seventh place, beating out The Catcher and the Rye, Fahrenheit 451, and Slaughterhouse-Five. The Amazing Adventures of Kavalier & Clay, published in 2000, was the only book in the top 10 to be published in the 2000s. Never fear, American Lit teachers; it looks like we'll be reading the same books for a long, long time. The classics are still relevant to the modern reader.

Aspects of Self Publishing

Disadvantages of Self-Publishing

Many authors are turning to self-publishing because it has become so accessible. While it can be appealing to go the route of self-publishing, as it is less time consuming than traditional publishing, turning to self-publishing has its disadvantages.

For one, traditional publishers already have a platform to sell your book on. They have connections to publicize your book and get it out to the masses. Going into self-publishing means you have to create your own platform to market your book on. Traditional publishers are also helpful in making your book better, through editors, marketers, and designers, who all work together to make the book the best it can be. By choosing self-publishing, you must edit, design, and market your book without an objective opinion.