Category: Life in general

Wanna be a writer? You should probably read these books.

On By D.A. CampisiIn Life in general, WritingLeave a comment

Far be it from me to give advice on how to write. That isn’t really my forte, nor do I feel it is my place as I have yet to build an impressive set of writing credentials. Sure, I’ll throw out a fun writing prompt from time to time, but that is as much for my benefit as it is for anyone who reads/uses it.

Still, if you want to write fiction well, increase your skill, and just give yourself a greater knowledge on how to go about the craft of writing, you could do worse than reading the following books. Each of them has been a fantastic help to me both creatively and structurally.

OSC BookHow To Write Science Fiction & Fantasy
By Orson Scott Card.

If you have any inkling about writing speculative fiction, you should read this book. Even if you disagree with the author’s political views, you should read this book. This book is a fantastic resource with a ton of general knowledge on actual factual science, brilliant ideas on fantasy concepts like mythical creatures and magic, and basic sci-fi and fantasy story structure for both short stories and full length novels. This book also stands as the only instructional book that has inspired me to write a new novel from something factual I learned reading it.

book-cover-on-writingOn Writing
By Stephen King

For my money, this is hands down the best book on how to write. Period. Half an autobiography of the author, the other half an inspiring instruction on craft that will make you feel empowered to write more and write often. While reading it you will learn important “rules” on how you should be writing that you most likely hadn’t even thought of before, and after reading this you will feel like you can succeed at being a writer. If I need a little push of motivation, sometimes I will break out this book and read one of the middle chapters at random. After that, it’s butt in chair, fingers on keyboard, and away we go.

birdbybird
Bird By Bird
By Anne Lamott

If there is a better book on overcoming obstacles, coping with writer’s block and pushing through it, and increasing your flow as a writer, I haven’t found it.  Not only that, it is a very entertaining read with a healthy dose of instruction on everything from plot to character and more. Also, a great book for people who have thought about getting into writing but were intimidated by the thought and scope of it.  Give it a shot.

There are a ton of other excellent books and resources I’m leaving off, but these are the three that have inspired me most over the years. If you have not read them, and you are a struggling with your craft, you should head to your local library, Barnes and Noble, or Amazon and pick up a copy (or three). They will help, I promise.

Till next time,

DC

Post Con Season Update

On By D.A. CampisiIn Life in generalLeave a comment

I always have considered July to be my convention season here in SoCal. That the start of the month you get Anime Expo, which is usually a lot of fun. Though this year it did seem a bit more… boobie that previous years.  As in there were large animated breasts most everywhere.  One or two booths were straight-up porn-a-fied, closed off to prying eyes and where you had to show identification just to get inside.  While some other booths had no qualms about just handing out hentai pamphlets and samples to whomever walked by as long as you were obviously an adult. I don’t recall either of those things being the case in prior years, but maybe I’m wrong. Aside form that, this year’s show was pretty standard.  I attended a panel or two, and did an interview you may see over on Anime Diet at some point.

I also checked out the new game, Superfight. This is the best new party game I have played in a very long time. Where else can you have a dolphin with a venomous bite and tiny t-rex arms battle to the death with a legless Mike Tyson who spits acid?  Nowhere, that’s where.  If you get a chance head over to their site and check it out.  Gonna be doing an article on them for Anime Diet in the near future as well.

After Anime Expo, one to two weeks later comes San Diego, the granddaddy of nerd gatherings. This year, instead of stressed-out fun the entire time, I went with my day job and peddled our wares.  So most of the show was work, but I still got to do some fun things while down there.  Collected a few sketches, shook some hands, bought some cool stuff, shared an elevator with Stan Lee – you know, the usual stuff.

Anyone else do the con thing this year?  If so, what did you see?  Even if you did not go, what was your favorite thing  that came out of the show this year (cool announcement or trailer or whatever)?

Till next time,

DC

What’s in a name?

On By D.A. CampisiIn Life in general, Writing1 Comment

Recently, I’ve been having an internal debate with myself on a very particular question.  One that is somewhat important when it comes to my writing, and with that my public/social network persona.  It has to be a question many writers ask themselves at some point when preparing for their career.

Should I write under a pseudonym?

It’s a valid question, and deciding whether or not to use a nom de plume is not as easy a decision as you might think.  You have to take a lot of factors into account.  First off is, how much do you like your real name?  Is it easy to pronounce and/or spell?  Does your name fit the genre you write?  Do you share a name with someone who is already published? Do you want your real name bouncing around out there in the social cyberspace?

These are just a few of the things I’ve thought about in the time before the book is picked up by a publisher. There are a slew of other questions to take into account when you finally do reach the stage of being published.  Where will your book be shelved at the local bookstore?  Toward the top shelf?  At the bottom shelf?  What other authors will be surrounding your book?  Do you plan on writing in multiple genres?

Personally, I’ve never much cared for my last name. Don’t get me wrong, I’m happy to be part of the family I’m in, and I am proud of my heritage.  But after going through years of butchering mispronunciations from nearly everyone I meet (Cam-pez… Cam-pasi… Cam-pies…etc.) it becomes a little grating.

So would I be better suited using a name that rolls off the tongue easily?  Maybe one that is more memorable?  Or shorter?

No decisions yet, but something to think about.

– DC

Quick Update

On By D.A. CampisiIn Life in generalLeave a comment

Long ago in a blogosphere not so far away, there were rumors circulating about a weekly blog post.  Let’s bring that back, shall we?   Doesn’t have to be anything substantial, but something is better than nothing.  Quick updates, news, reactions, recommendations, etc.

So let’s see how that goes.

– DC