Science Fiction and Fantasy Writers of America

Posts Tagged ‘Mary Robinette Kowal’

Quick Updates for 2010-03-03

Wednesday, March 3rd, 2010

Resources

• What do LGBTQ teens want to read?
• Victoria Strauss: Mokoto Rich on the math of ebook pricing: they’re not as cheap to produce as many people think.
• Bookends Literary Agency offers a handy publishing dictionary

Member News

• New issue of Apex Magazine is a single author issue with fiction by SFWA member Mary Robinette Kowal.
• SFWA member Jess Wynne has a story in the Steampunk issue of Crossed Genres.
• SFWA member Monica Valentinelli’s THE QUEEN OF CROWS is now available at DriveThruHorror.com.
• SFWA member Jay Lake is reading and signing new novel PINION at Powells Cedar Hills store on 4/1.
• Happy release day to SFWA member Seanan Mcguire for A Local Habitation.
• Happy Book release day to SFWA Member Blake Charlton's novel, Spellwright.
• Welcome to SFWA's newest Active member Rachel Aaron, author of The Spirit Thief.
• Welcome to SFWA's newest Active member Genevieve Valentine. Read one of her qualifying stories.

Industry News

• The Nebula final ballot is now open to Active SFWA members.
• Asimov's has posted their Nebula nominated stories.

Tags: Blake Charlton, genevieve valentine, Jay Lake, Jess Wynne, Mary Robinette Kowal, Monica Valentinelli, Rachel Aaron, Seanan Mcguire, twitter, victoria strauss
Posted in News, SFWA Blog | No Comments »

Reading Aloud: Cross-gender Voices

Sunday, February 28th, 2010

Cross-gender voices are a tricky business. Even if you can really do a convincing cross-gender voice–and I know folks who can–the fact is that in a live reading, the audience knows that there’s only one person doing all the voices. There are two ways cross-gender voices can throw people out of listening. It’s really bad, and embarrassing, or it’s really good and shocking that a female voice is coming out of a man’s mouth. Either way, the listener drops the story for a moment.

This is like a turn of phrase that’s really stunning in a story. You stop reading for a moment and think, “Wow, that’s lovely.” That may be true, but the story has stopped, right there. Same thing with voicing. Any time you make the listener stop to think, you’ve injured your story.

The point of doing different voices is to make it clear who is speaking–it’s not to make it sound like there are fifty people sharing the stage with you. If you really want it to sound like there are completely different people, hire some actors. (more…)

Tags: Mary Robinette Kowal, reading aloud
Posted in SFWA Blog | 1 Comment »

Conventions and writing, or Schmoozing 101

Wednesday, December 16th, 2009

by Mary Robinette Kowal

Let me talk about conventions and their relationship to my writing life. Everyone will have very different experiences, depending on their personality. Here’s how it works for me.

I primarily go to conventions for three reasons.

1. To see other people in the field whose company I enjoy.
2. Improve craft/business sense.
3. To be “visible.”

1) To see other people in the field whose company I enjoy.
I relish the social aspect of SF. There are people that I just plain like and a convention is like old home week. It’s fun! I like you guys.

2) Improve craft/business sense.
A convention with a really good list of panels is going to appeal to me more than one in which I only hang out at the bar (though I love that, too). I want to know what’s happening in the field and to think about things that aren’t just products of my own brain banging against the inside of my skull. Even if I only learn one new thing, that’s a thing I didn’t know before.

3) To be “visible”
I’m a new writer, so I’m building my “brand.” I’m not going to get that many new readers at a convention, but the people at cons are the ones who vote on things and frankly, nominations can be leveraged ((Nominations and awards do not automatically mean a reader increase. You have to know how to work them, but the power of narrative on career is a different topic.)) into getting more readers which means…that cons are filled with a good target audience. Cons also tend to have editors at them and those are good people to know.

Now, I’ll be frank about how this works, because a lot of people don’t understand how to do effective schmoozing. Yes, yes, I’m aware that admitting this happens is distasteful. But, I’m going to talk about how to schmooze, anyway.

Schmoozing 101

These are all ideas to employ but none of them are hard and fast rules. Schmoozing is all about being charming and that will vary somewhat depending on the situation. So, here are the basic ideas behind successful schmoozing. (more…)

Tags: business, convention, Mary Robinette Kowal
Posted in Networking and Self-Promotion, SFWA Blog | 3 Comments »

Reading Aloud

Sunday, August 16th, 2009

There are few things that can destroy a good story faster than a bad reading.  At the same time, a really good reading can make an audience excited and drive sales.  Short of a background in theater, how can authors improve their reading skills?

Let’s start by identifying the three pitfalls that most new readers fall into.

1. Volume
2. Speed
3. Droning

Volume

Many readings simply aren’t loud enough.  You can’t rely on every venue having a microphone or good acoustics.  Fortunately, your body knows how to be loud. The trap that people fall into is that they talk to the person closest to them, the front row.

Try this experiment.  Step outside with a friend and have them walk to the opposite side of the yard or street.  Now say, “Hello! How are you?”  Your body will automatically make all the adjustments necessary for your voice to carry across the street.

The same is true when reading.  Speak to the back wall of your space, not to the front row.  If you are loud enough, you should hear a slight bounce as your voice hits the back wall and returns to you.

Speed

Many readers go so fast that their words become jumbled together.  The problem is that for the listener, this is the first time they’ve heard the story.  The analogy that I use is this: Imagine that you’ve got a mountain cabin. The first time you drive to it, you think, “This is the twistiest road in the world! I’m going to die!”  And then gradually, you get used to it.  A year later, a friend follows you home and they are driving so slow. That’s because they are behind you thinking, “This is the twistiest road in the world! I’m going to die!”

You are familiar with your text. This is the first time the listener has heard your words. Unlike printed stories, they can’t ask you to stop and repeat yourself.  You need to speak slowly enough that they can understand you.

An ideal speed is about150 words per minute. It’s easy to figure out how fast that is by taking a cutting that’s 150 words and timing yourself. I’ll warn  you, that it will feel like you are speaking about half the speed you think you should.  Keep at it.  When you get into performance, you will speed up whether you want to or not.   Adrenalin.

Droning

Humans are animals and as such there are certain things we’re hardwired to do.  One of those is tuning out sounds once we’ve identified them as not a threat.  Droning or speaking in a monotone, sends a signal to the brain of the listener that this is a sound without information.  They will, despite their best intentions, lose focus on what you are saying.

Again, trust your body because it knows what to do.  Remember that the written word was created to record spoken language. When you are reading a story aloud, you are a storyteller.  The way you tell as story to friends about an incident in your daily life is probably totally different from how you read. It shouldn’t be. Use the same animation and pacing that you would use when relating a spoken story when you are reading a written one.

So that’s how to avoid the biggest pitfalls of reading.  But what about going to the next level? How do you make your reading exceptional?
(more…)

Tags: Mary Robinette Kowal, reading aloud
Posted in Advice for New Writers, Information Center, Networking and Self-Promotion, SFWA Blog, The Business of Writing | 10 Comments »

“The Consciousness Problem” by Mary Robinette Kowal

Tuesday, August 11th, 2009

“The Consciousness Problem” by Mary Robinette Kowal
Asimov’s, August 2009

Tags: Kowal, Mary Robinette Kowal, The Consciousness Problem
Posted in Nebula Suggested Reading, Short Stories | Comments Off

Writer’s Workshop at Anticipation 2009, Worldcon

Wednesday, July 8th, 2009

Montreal – There will indeed be a writers’ workshop at Anticipation 2009, Worldcon, in Montreal this August. The workshop sessions are two hours long and scheduled at various times on various days.

Entry fee is $20 plus $2.58 in taxes, Canadian. This cost is to defray costs of the workshop. You pay the fee when you’re notified that you have a slot and not before. Instructions will be emailed to entrants directly.

There are a limited number of slots available and right now, it’s one slot per customer, no multiple submissions.

Maximum length is 10,000 words, including any synopsis of the rest of a novel, novella, etc. Shorter lengths, including flash, are fine, even encouraged, but only one story.

Genre: science fiction, fantasy, horror, the usual for a Worldcon
Type: short story or novel excerpt
Language: English or French
We will also consider entries for critique of non-fiction critical essays on the subject of genre, same length requirements.

The entries will be distributed in advance so the window to get space in the workshop won’t be open for very long.

Official details will be forthcoming on the Anticipation website (http://www.anticipationsf.ca) and through other avenues of communication. You can also email writers-workshop@anticipationsf.ca directly to request a slot now.

Oz Whiston
Creative Writing Track Programming

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SFWA members participating as workshop leaders include: Delia Sherman, Mary Robinette Kowal, Catherynne M. Valente, Mike Shepherd Moscoe, Rich Chwedyk, Lawrence Schoen, David Levine, Nancy Kress, Tony Pi, as well as others.

Tags: Catherynne M. Valente, David Levine, Delia Sherman, Lawrence Schoen, Mary Robinette Kowal, Mike Shepherd Moscoe, Nancy Kress, Rich Chwedyk, Tony Pi, workshop, Worldcon
Posted in SFWA Blog, Workshops and Critique Groups | 3 Comments »