Video Pick of the Week: Steal Like an Artist
We can pick our teachers and we can pick our friends and we can pick the books we read and the music we listen to and the movies we see, et cetera. You are a mash-up of what you let into your life.
Archive for the ‘Advice for New Writers’ Category
Guest Post: Playing with Structure
I’ve been told by highly skilled writers that this is a good exercise–something to do for now, but eventually I’ll grow out of this once I internalize it. I believe them! I really do. The thing is, I keep discovering different structures to try, and I can’t see myself internalizing any of them until I run out of new ones.
Guest Post: When You Have a Chance to Meet an Editor, Say Hello!
Whether you want to self-publish your novel or are trying to land a traditional publishing contract, it is in every author’s interest to make connections and talk with the editors in our field.
Guest Post: Writers and Pellets
Anything I can control, I pay close attention to. Contracts. Personal relationships. The words. Stories I want to tell.
Guest Post: Finding Your Voice
Write a lot. This is almost all I need to say, as nothing else matters without the constant practice of writing a lot. Write blog posts and letters, booklets and diatribes, letters to the editor and book reviews, love poems and short stories, novellas and manifestos. The sheer mass of your writing becomes the raw matter from which to chisel your voice.
The Results of My 100 Day Social Media Blackout
When I decided to “go dark” on Twitter, Facebook and IMs for one hundred days, I wasn’t sure what effect it would have on my web presence.
Guest Post: 60 Rules for Short SF (and Fantasy)
A “mainstream” short story can be about anything: a mood, a character, a setting, even a flashy writing style. A genre (SF or fantasy) short story is about an idea. The fictional elements (character, plot, setting, etc) are only there to dramatize the idea. Here are the rules for the SF (or Fantasy) short story.
Redstone SF is SFWA’s newest qualifying short fiction market
Today the board of directors of SFWA voted to add Redstone Science Fiction to the list of SFWA qualifying markets. Just celebrating its first year online, this market features science-fiction short stories and essays. They have published SFWA authors such as Cory Doctorow, Vylar Kaftan, and Cat Rambo. Because they have met the SFWA minimum requirements since […]
Key Conditions for Suspense:
Part 27 – Patterns for Resolution
Element 4-6 & The Series Wrap Up
Well, folks. This is it. The final post in the series. I’m going to finish identifying basic patterns for the resolution phase, summarize what I’ve presented on structure, and wrap the whole series up.
Key Conditions for Suspense Part 26:
Patterns for Resolution Elements 1-3
Readers want their tension to build to a pitch. Then they want to feel a release. The resolution phase is where you deliver that delicious release.
