Latest Posts by danielmantel - Page 6

Fordelen ved Fiktiv Symbiose.

Fordelen ved Fiktiv Symbiose.

Jeg kniber øjnene hårdt i. Ellers lukker de sig bare langsomt. Lidt i takt med nikkende hovede. Hvis jeg var indianer, ville mit navn være ‘Nikkende Hovede’. Hov? Hvor kom dén indianer fra? Rysten med hele hovedet, kraftigt, så kinder og ører flaprer og min cykel slår med halen for at holde balancen, gør ingen forskel. Nå? Nu er der en indianer og en cykel der måske er en hund. Det må være nok…

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Love the broken parts you carry.

because at the broken parts is where our strength resides // Hina Syeda @abillionlittlethoughts (via abillionlittlethoughts)

Especially those hidden inside.

The strongest people are not those who show strength in front of the world but those who fight and win battles that others do not know anything about.

Jonathan Harnisch (via purplebuddhaquotes)

Fighting all the time...

MY GREY FOLLOWER. Senhor Passo, Laurie, the "me" and everybody in my head agree: I really, REALLY, oughta check out. Leave it all. Just get away. From every- and anything. Whatever person, even the ones I like. Also myself. Not that I care much for me these days.  They all advise me the same thing. In 3 or 4 languages, but what the… I decide we understand each other. No; deciding not needed. We're in it together, common understanding. Whatever origin. And they, we all SHOUT the same: GET OUT FROM THE GREY! Leave. However. To where? To what? It doesn't matter. The grey drags me down. So: Anywhere, anything. Just away! From myself. Too. I'm turning grey… #mantelmomento #danielmantel #laurieandthestoryof #primeiroproximopasso #udenfilter #grey #getaway #clouds #intothedark #leaving #breakdown #ontheedge #boring #nogood #winter #depression #toomuch #overload #goingdown #changeneeded #whatever #whocares #emptiness #enoughhashtags #selfloathing #deadfeelings #iamfilledwaytoomuchwithstuffofallkindsexceptthefewthingsthatreallymatterssoihavetocutawayalotincludingthegrowinggreyinside (Usual one-off hashtag...) (her: Everywhere on Earth)

You must learn to let go. Release the stress. You were never in control anyway.

Steve Maraboli   (via wordsnquotes)

... And you still think you are. In control. Even when letting go...

A great book should leave you with many experiences, and slightly exhausted at the end. You live several lives while reading.

William Styron (via kristensnotebook)

It sure will. That's a promise.

It's actually not only time. It's the last chance...

Darling, It’s high time you stop holding onto people who aren’t putting any effort to stay. Maybe it’s time you start holding onto yourself, And keep yourself from falling apart.

—Mahin Ismail, (today’s mantra.)

"FAMOUS LAST WORDS" It doesn't work. The story is slowly coming to a standstill. And I know why. This is winter in Denmark. February. So daylight has increased a bit: More time for greyness. And even a miserable sun trying its best. Sending out rays of light, only absorbed by souls below zero degrees celsius. My fictive figures falls silent. Even those usually chatterboxes. Like the "Me", "He", "She", all the "I"s, and of course Passo and Laurie. Normally babbling away in their native language, only able to understand each other through my imagination. But they too goes into wordless slow-motion, then turn to something more lifeless than statues of forgotten people. The story doesn't move at all. It's killing me. For real, not just as a saying. Maybe it's all in my head. Or rather, I know it is. That makes absolutely no difference. It's still killing me. Death by forced standstill. Frozen thoughts creaking easily. Killing me. #mantelmomento #danielmantel #laurieandthestoryof #primeiroproximopasso #udenfilter #figures #meandmystory #frozen #standstill #winter #february #statues #belowzero #prose #reality #fiction #frozenbrain #miserable #whenspringcomes #writersblock #andsowtfbecausewhenspringcomesorjusttomorroworinanhouriampastthatlittlestupidblockthatstopsmystoryonlyforashortwhilesoreallywtf... (Usual one-off hashtag...) (her: The Middle of No-where)

I am thankful for the difficult people in my life. They have shown me exactly who I don’t want to be.

(via purplebuddhaquotes)

Still sorting through people...

Stop apologizing. You don’t have to say sorry for how you laugh, how you dress, how you make your hair, how you speak. You don’t have to be sorry for being yourself. Do it fearlessly. It’s time to accept this is you, and you gotta spend the rest of your life with you. So start loving your sarcasm, your awkwardness, your weirdness, your unique sense of humor, your everything. It will make your life so much easier to simply be yourself.

(via purplebuddhaquotes)

More wise words...

POSSIBLE ENDINGS. Sorry, danish prose… https://mantelsroman.wordpress.com/2018/02/15/slutning-mulig/ Summary: The story is in place. The fiction can't be more fictive. Of Course there's still a lot of my figures adjusting details. Like if they deserve their own timeline; if they should be in 1.person and tell their story through their own eyes and mind or if they should be told… So on. As for myself, or "myself" or… -all the characters more or less with parts of me. Including past, present, even future, and lots of memories and memories of me through others thoughts, well… I'm most concerned about the ending. Of it all. Of the story; of "me" and me. I actually don't know. An ending. Yes. But which comes first? The ending of fiction? Or the ending of me? And what really matters? Most? #https://mantelsroman.wordpress.com/2018/02/15/slutning-mulig/ #mantelmomento #danielmantel #laurieandthestoryof #primeiroproximopasso #udenfilter (Not true... But the words are!) #prose #meandmystory #ending #endings #danish #novel #writing #selfie #white #mood #justafittingpicturetothestorylinkedtootherwisenotwithanyrealconnection (Usual one-off hashtag...) (her: Central Denmark Region)

Slutning Mulig.

DELVIST OPLÆST LØVES 14/2 – POETKLUB AARHUS HER DEN FULDE TEKST; SKREVET TIL OPLÆSNING:

Den perfekt drejede slutning. Håndværk som i de gode gamle Blixen-dage, ikke antydningen af skruer eller søm til at holde sidste side på plads… SLUTNINGEN er hvad det drejer sig om! Én af de mange mulige… Og, da det er løgn og latin, mest løgn, stadigvæk, også de komplet latterlige tåbelige himmelråbende…

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I’m not everything I want to be, but I’m more than I was, and I’m still learning.

Charlotte Eriksson, Everything Changed When I Forgave Myself (via books-n-quotes)

Me too...

And that IS all of us! 👍

Shoutout to the bookish people who;

Can’t afford special editions.

Don’t have fancy bookshelves with Christmas lights around them.

Are male, older, or poc.

Can’t afford a monthly box, like YA or Owlcrate.

Don’t even have a room full of books, or shelves worth, maybe you just have a handful stacked somewhere.

Prefer eReaders.

Might only have worn down, or mass market paperbacks, because they’re cheapest. 

Because regardless, we all love the same thing. We’re all here for the same thing. Stories. 

Just as much a reminder to myself...

The Dos and Don’ts of Beginning a Novel:  An Illustrated Guide

I’ve had a lot of asks lately for how to begin a book (or how not to), so here’s a post on my general rules of thumb for story openers and first chapters!  

Please note, these are incredibly broad generalizations;  if you think an opener is right for you, and your beta readers like it, there’s a good chance it’s A-OK.  When it comes to writing, one size does not fit all.  (Also note that this is for serious writers who are interested in improving their craft and/or professional publication, so kindly refrain from the obligatory handful of comments saying “umm, screw this, write however you want!!”)

So without further ado, let’s jump into it!

Don’t: 

1.  Open with a dream. 

“Just when Mary Sue was sure she’d disappear down the gullet of the monstrous, winged pig, she woke up bathed in sweat in her own bedroom.”

What?  So that entire winged pig confrontation took place in a dream and amounts to nothing?  I feel so cheated! 

Okay, not too many people open their novels with monstrous swine, but you get the idea:  false openings of any kind tend to make the reader feel as though you’ve wasted their time, and don’t usually jump into more meaty action of the story quickly enough.  It makes your opening feel lethargic and can leave your audience yawning.

Speaking of… 

2.  Open with a character waking up.  

This feels familiar to most of us, but unless your character is waking up to a zombie attack or an alien invasion, it’s generally a pretty easy recipe to get your story to drag.

No one picks a book to hear how your character brushes their teeth in the morning or what they’d like to have for dinner.  As a general rule of thumb, we read to explore things we wouldn’t otherwise get to experience.  And cussing out the alarm clock is not one of them.  

Granted, there are exceptions if your writing is exceptionally engaging, but in most cases it just sets a slow pace that will bore you and your reader to death and probably cause you to lose interest in your book within the first ten pages.  

3.  Bombard with exposition.  

Literary characters aren’t DeviantArt OCs.  And the best way to convey a character is not, in my experience, to devote the first ten pages to describing their physical appearance, personality, and backstory.  Develop your characters, and make sure their fully fleshed out – my tips on how to do so here – but you don’t need to dump all that on the reader before they have any reason to care about them.  Let the reader get to know the character gradually, learn about them, and fall in love with them as they would a person:  a little bit at a time.   

This is iffy when world building is involved, but even then it works best when the delivery feels organic and in tune with the book’s overall tone.  Think the opening of the Hobbit or Good Omens.

4.  Take yourself too seriously.

Your opener (and your novel in general) doesn’t need to be intellectually pretentious, nor is intellectual pretense the hallmark of good literature.  Good literature is, generally speaking, engaging, well-written, and enjoyable.  That’s it.  

So don’t concern yourself with creating a poetic masterpiece of an opening line/first chapter.  Just make one that’s – you guessed it – engaging, well-written, and enjoyable. 

5.  Be unintentionally hilarious.

Utilizing humor in your opening line is awesome, but check yourself to make sure your readers aren’t laughing for all the wrong reasons (this is another reason why betas are important.)  

These examples of the worst opening lines in published literature will show you what I mean – and possibly serve as a pleasant confidence booster as well: 

“As the dark and mysterious stranger approached, Angela bit her lip anxiously, hoping with every nerve, cell, and fiber of her being that this would be the one man who would understand – who would take her away from all this – and who would not just squeeze her boob and make a loud honking noise, as all the others had.”

– Ali Kawashima

“She sipped her latte gracefully, unaware of the milk foam droplets building on her mustache, which was not the peachy-fine baby fuzz that Nordic girls might have, but a really dense, dark, hirsute lip-lining row of fur common to southern Mediterranean ladies nearing menopause, and winked at the obviously charmed Spaniard at the next table.”

– Jeanne Villa

“As I gardened, gazing towards the autumnal sky, I longed to run my finger through the trail of mucus left by a single speckled slug – innocuously thrusting past my rhododendrons – and in feeling that warm slime, be swept back to planet Alderon, back into the tentacles of the alien who loved me.”

– Mary E. Patrick

“Before they met, his heart was a frozen block of ice, scarred by the skate blades of broken relationships, then she came along and like a beautiful Zamboni flooded his heart with warmth, scraped away the ugly slushy bits, and dumped them in the empty parking lot of his soul.”

– Howie McClennon

If these can get published, so can you.

Do:

1.  You know that one really interesting scene you’re itching to write?  Start with that.

Momentum is an important thing in storytelling.  If you set a fast, infectious beat, you and your reader will be itching to dance along with it.  

Similarly, slow, drowsy openers tend to lead to slow, drowsy stories that will put you both to sleep.

I see a lot of posts joking about “that awkward moment when you sit down to write but don’t know how to get to that one scene you actually wanted to write about.”  Write that scene!  If it’s at all possible, start off with it.  If not, there are still ways you can build your story around the scenes you actually want to write.

Keep in mind:  if you’re bored, your reader will almost certainly be bored as well.  So write what you want to write.  Write what makes you excited.  Don’t hold off until later, when it “really gets good.”  Odds are, the reader will not wait around that long, and you’re way more likely to become disillusioned with your story and quit.  If a scene is dragging, cut it out.  Burn bridges, find a way around.  Live, dammit. 

2.  Engage the reader.

There are several ways to go about this.  You can use wit and levity, you can present a question, and you can immerse the reader into the world you’ve created.  Just remember to do so with subtlety, and don’t try too hard;  believe me, it shows.  

Here are some of my personal favorite examples of engaging opening lines: 

“In the beginning, the universe was created. This has made a lot of people very angry and been widely regarded as a bad move." 

– Douglas Adams, the Restaurant at the End of the Universe.

"It was the day my grandmother exploded.”

– Iain Banks, Crow Road.

“A white Pomeranian named Fluffy flew out of the a fifth-floor window in Panna, which was a grand-new building with the painter’s scaffolding still around it. Fluffy screamed.”

– Vikram Chandra, Sacred Games.

See what I’m saying?  They pull you in and do not let go.

3.  Introduce us to a main character (but do it right.)

“Shadow had done three years in prison. He was big enough and looked don’t-fuck-with-me enough that his biggest problem was killing time. So he kept himself in shape, and taught himself coin tricks, and thought a lot about how much he loved his wife.”

– Neil Gaiman, American Gods.

This is one of my favorite literary openings of all time, because right off the bat we know almost everything we need to know about Shadow’s character (i.e. that he’s rugged, pragmatic, and loving.)   

Also note that it doesn’t tell us everything about Shadow:  it presents questions that make us want to read more.  How did Shadow get into prison?  When will he get out?  Will he reunite with his wife?  There’s also more details about Shadow slowly sprinkled in throughout the book, about his past, personality, and physical appearance.  This makes him feel more real and rounded as a character, and doesn’t pull the reader out of the story.

Obviously, I’m not saying you should rip off American Gods.  You don’t even need to include a hooker eating a guy with her cooch if you don’t want to.  

But this, and other successful openers, will give you just enough information about the main character to get the story started;  rarely any good comes from infodumping, and allowing your reader to get to know your character gradually will make them feel more real.   

4.  Learn from the greats.

My list of my favorite opening lines (and why I love them) is right here.

5.  Keep moving.  

The toughest part of being a writer is that it’s a rare and glorious occasion when you’re actually satisfied with something you write.  And to add another layer of complication, what you like best probably won’t be what your readers will like best. 

If you refuse to keep moving until you have the perfect first chapter, you will never write anything beyond your first chapter.  

Set a plan, and stick to it:  having a daily/weekly word or page goal can be extremely helpful, especially when you’re starting out.  Plotting is a lifesaver (some of my favorite posts on how to do so here, here, and here.)

Keep writing, keep moving, and rewrite later.  If you stay in one place for too long, you’ll never keep going. 

Best of luck, and happy writing.  <3

I have so much to say to you that I am afraid I shall tell you nothing.

Fyodor Dostoyevsky (via purplebuddhaquotes)

But nothing can be very telling...

The past was always there, lived inside of you, and it helped to make you who you were. But it had to be placed in perspective. The past could not dominate the future.

Barbara Taylor Bradford (via purplebuddhaquotes)

But it's a close contender... The past CAN be used as a positive way to the future. Or MIGHT be... Otherwise true; often a roadblock.

Well written! 👍

Dudes, just write. Stop asking me if you should start/continue/finish what you’re writing despite have x, y, or z problem. If you want to write I am in NO WAY authorized to tell you when to stop/start. That’s up to you and always will be.

If you think “no one will ever genuinely like this” you are 100% wrong. 100%. Think about all the trash out there that has fans. I wrote stuff when I was twelve that had more genuine fans among my family/classmates than ANYTHING I never shared with another living soul. It’s impossible to write something no one will like.

If you think “I’ll never finish it so why even bother?” you’re only depriving yourself, man. That’s like saying, “I like this cookie, but I can’t eat the whole bag. Guess I won’t even try one.” ????? Just write the story, to hell with endings. Some of the best works in the world went unfinished by the author/composer/architect, yet we admire the heck out of them. Maybe, instead of thinking you’ll never finish something, tell yourself this is the one you will finish (and repeat it until you do).

If you feel “this hurts to write, I’m too close to the subject material” either set it aside or full speed ahead. You MUST know how many classics, prize winners, and life changers came from someone’s very real pain and experience. Addicts, traumatized persons, victims, quite often they find solace and healing in writing about their experiences. Most importantly, so do their readers.

If you want to write, write. Otherwise only you are standing in the way of what you want.

Step out into the open fiction...

Step Outside

Step Outside

Do you see the world in your selfie?

Do you feel the touch of another in your keyboard?

Do you hear the voices of the children, the poor, the joyful, the persecuted in your ear buds?

What is it that you use the phone as a mask to shelter yourself from?

What is it that you are afraid to feel from another soul?

What is it that you run away from, that you avoid, ignore, or hide from while in your gadgets?

There is real beauty in the kaleidoscope of creation to see.

There is true love and compassion out there for you to feel.

There is pain and sorrow, joy and triumph all around for you to relieve, celebrate, fight for, and understand in the world outside your cellular box.

Will you step outside?

K. C. Barry

https://www.facebook.com/events/339594393188134/?ti=cl Sorry; in danish: Bliver de færdige? Når de Afladningers Afladninger? Afladninger Vol 2…? UNDER ALLE TÆNKELIGE OG UTÆNKELIGE OMSTÆNDIGHEDER: ÅBNINGSPERFORMANCE ÅBY BIBLIOTEK FREDAG D.9/2 KL.15.! BLIVER DE MON KLAR? Alt er Afladninger… Alt Afladt. Til tiden eller ej: Tid er ikke en del af formularen… #https://www.facebook.com/events/339594393188134/?ti=cl #mantelmomento #danielmantel #afladninger #åbybibliotek #udenfilter #performance #exhibition #multimedia #maxmadsen #willtheyfinish #comeandseeforyourself #fridaytheninthoffebruaryatthreepmsharptherewillbeaperformanceanywayandfinishedornot (Usual one-off hashtag...) (her: Åby Bibliotek)

Afladninger Vol 2; Udstilling & Performance.

Afladninger Vol 2; Udstilling & Performance.

ÅBNINGSPERFORMANCE FREDAG D.9/2 KL.15 ÅBY BIBLIOTEK

ORD & AGEREN: MAX MADSEN & DANIEL MANTEL

LYD & MUSIK: POUL JUHL & THØGER JOHANSEN

  brovtende brændende flammende bølger

hvirvler vakkelvorne vanvidsvestpå

hvinende hylende vind

trækker horisonten maske over ansigtet

som urværk trækkes op

små skrøbelige tror sig særlige

sorteres og sies fra i takt

tik tak takt og tiders vand skylle drypper op…

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It’s easy to do nothing, but your heart breaks a little more every time you do.

Mark Ruffalo (via purplebuddhaquotes)

Each and every time...

Silence and lack of words turned into a interactive object-oriented installation... Based on all those words left behind in ear-roaring silence; words stuck in past tense... https://www.facebook.com/events/339594393188134/?ti=cl

Annoying depends on who gets annoyed... 😉

i hate that im sensitive and jealous and stupid and quiet and ugly and annoying 

Right and wrong seems to be a question of senses... 😉

Man vs Woman

Woman: ‘Men! Why can’t he see?                Why can’t he be more like me!?’

Man:’      Women! Why does she have to fight?                Can’t she see I’m right!?’

Woman: ‘How can he treat me that way!?                 What more can I say?’

Man:      ‘Why won’t she understand?                 I’m doing the best I can!’

Woman: ‘Why doesn’t he listen, understand!?                How can he be so obstinate? He’s a man!’

Man:      ‘Can’t she see my way makes sense?                Some times she’s dense!’

How can either be right When they are both wrong?

K. C. Barry

To reflect oneself out of all illusion is not as difficult as to reflect oneself into an illusion.

Søren Kierkegaard, Stages on Life’s Way (via philosophybits)

One more making sense out of the nonsense...

Our life always expresses the result of our dominant thoughts.

Søren Kierkegaard (via philosophybits)

As said by a fellow dane, so very true.

True...

Writer’s Curse

Writer’s Curse

You start with a thought,      a word,           a sentence,                a verse.                     Then you curse.

You work on grammar,      syntax,           synonyms,                meter,                     then you have a rhyme.

You struggle with meaning,      homonyms,           depth,                time                     why not be retro.

You try to rhyme orange,      banal,           succor,                rose.                     Why rhyme rose? I think I’ll do prose.

You take the paper; cross out,      replace,           erase,                wad it up and throw it out.                     Then you shout it out.

You grab a new thought, piece of paper,      new words,           cup of coffee.                new verse,                     And that is the writer’s curse.

K. C. Barry

We had our first of many definite final meetings at Stonehenge version '18. The last updates before a battle. That was no battle. Only switching to pure fiction. End of reality. Maybe like the druids in the past. If they did meet. If not, the more appropriate: Also fiction. I was a bit emotional. So close to my dear and loyal friends. Also the ones the story hadn't created yet: Dear and loyal. Like the "I" that was more me than I. Like Laurie, Senhor Passo, the whole gang. And the extras waiting for their cue. If the story would give them a line. We all joined hands and jumped into my pool of imagination. Well, no. Not really. I made that bit up. That's what I do. Only this time I was a little anxious. A hidden agenda in my mind. Or in. Somewhat stupid. A hidden agenda, yeah right: Not at all! It was in my thoughts. As my figures and the story. So of course they knew. No thought can be hidden among thoughts. Still, I wasn't sure how they'd react. Our story had to be postponed about a month. But hey, they knew. And told me, or I told "I", or… You know! The story would unfold and be alive anyway. No matter what matter. I rediscovered: The story was actually and always ahead of me. We, in front of that Stonehenge version '18, allowed me a short detour: https://www.facebook.com/events/339594393188134/ I promised, during my being absent-minded, that I'd finish my "Part 4" of 'Klynk & Ynk': That WILL be posted… #mantelmomento #danielmantel #afladninger #udenfilter #åbybibliotek #laurieandthestoryof + #primeiroproximopasso (Will return; actually not away, just deeper in fiction...) #aakb #volume2 #maxmadsen #stonehenge #thisisjustacirclebeingclosedcalledAfladningerstartedatDokk1throughKulturmødetMorstonowÅbylibraryasoneyearofAfladningeronAfladningerifthatmakessenseifnotthencomeandseeforyourself (Usual one-off hashtag...) (her: Stonehaven)

These days are those many... Bad pun, sorry. But ment.