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Broadcast Premiere of “Worlds of Ursula K. Le Guin”
On Friday, August 2nd, “Worlds of Ursula K. Le Guin” has its broadcast premiere on PBS’ American Masters!
Translating the Hero’s Journey Into a Linear Plan
by Susan Forest There are as many paths into creating fiction as there are writers, and widely differing approaches have led to successful works. Entire books have been written how to plan a story; here, I will focus on one…
Writing While Parenting
by P.G. Galalis Here’s a ten-step guide to writing while parenting: 1. Make some coffee or tea. Head to your special writing place. Close the door and boot up your computer, put a fresh ribbon in the typewriter, or select…
On Keeping a List of All the Books I’ve Ever Read
by Dan Brotzel
I have a list of all the books I’ve ever read.
Well, not ever. But since 1993 at least.
It began with a red spiral-bound exercise book. At first, I didn’t just write the names and authors at first. I…
Waking up to Productivity: Testing Robin Sharma’s The 5AM Club.
by Deborah Walker
Productivity gurus love routine and habit. They say you should have a regular bedtime and a regular time to wake up. I don’t do that. But I am an early riser and no stranger to 5 am. It…
SFWA Market Report For July
Welcome to the July edition of the SFWA Market Report.
“Start a New Series” with a Humble Book Bundle!
Start a new series this summer with the latest Humble Book Bundle from Open Road Media. Get great books at a great price, and support SFWA.
Waking up to Productivity: Robin Sharma’s “The 5 AM Club”
by Deborah Walker
A few months ago, I began to hear great things about Robin Sharma’s bestselling, new book, “The 5 AM Club.” Sharma is a productivity guru whose work is ’embraced by rock stars, royalty, billionaires and many celebrity CEOs’….
Grice’s Maxims and How You Can Use Them in Your Fiction
by Dan Brotzel
The philosopher of language Paul Grice (1913-88) is best known for his four conversational maxims, which describe what’s going on when people hold a conversation. I want to look at these to see how they can help us…
Five Paths to Break Into TV/Film as a Novelist
by Ellis Cube,
Right now, IP (intellectual property) is everything in Hollywood, and by “everything” I mean its validation—both their and your proof of concept. If your novel draws attention or builds up a sizeable audience, executives/investors will feel more comfortable…
Lovable Predictability: The Pleasures and Challenges of Writing a Children’s Fiction Series
by Alex Woolf
“Why do we always have to reinvent the wheel?” my editor once asked me.
When a new book is launched, it’s like introducing a stranger to a largely disinterested world. Potential readers know nothing about its characters or the…
Good for Your Career? Evaluating Events for Writers
by Catherine Lundoff
“You should go to this – it’ll be good for your career” is a phrase that you’ll hear more than once as you start getting published. The phrase gets applied to conventions, conferences, writing workshops, book festivals and…
SFWA Market Report For June
Welcome to the June edition of the SFWA Market Report. Please note: Inclusion of any market in the report below does not indicate an official endorsement by SFWA.
Crowdpublishing
by Diane Morrison
Everyone says that indie publishing is the wave of the future. Avoiding gatekeepers, who are often prejudiced against particular ideas or demographics, and putting your work out there to see if it will sink or swim on its…
Words Out of Time: Building a Better World Through Etymology
by Ken Pelham
Your stiff-upper-lipped hero, Professor Jenkins, frustrated with the chicanery of Air Captain Hamm, pounds the table and shouts, “Good heavens, man! The scoundrel has hatched yet another outrageous boondoggle!”
Boondoggle. This is where your narrative gets stuck in the etymological…
An Appreciation of Eleanor Wood
by Michael Capobianco
SFWA thanks Eleanor Wood and Spectrum Literary Agency for more than twenty years of service to the organization.
Rebound Novels
by Paul Jessup
Novels are like long, committed relationships. They take months to years of your life, and they require complete and utter devotion to their singular purpose. Certainly, there is something to living inside of a novel, breathing inside of…
Camp Writerhaven Announced
News from Middle Tennessee State University: MTSU Write is proud to announce Camp Writerhaven, a new writers’ retreat for wordsmiths in all genres at Rockvale Writers’ Colony June 20-23 and July 14-20. Camp Writerhaven provides writers time and space to…
Neukom Institute Literary Arts Awards Announces 2019 Book Shortlist
News from Dartmouth University: Ten books that dare to imagine how society collides with the future have been named to the shortlist of the 2019 Neukom Institute Literary Arts Awards.
SFWA Market Report For May
Welcome to the May edition of the SFWA Market Report. Please note: Inclusion of any market in the report below does not indicate an official endorsement by SFWA.
From the Inside Out: Worldbuilding Through Extrapolation
by Suyi Davies Okungbowa
It’s virtually impossible to do ALL of your SFF worldbuilding prior to writing your book/story. How much weight is given to each stage depends on the author (some prefer to do a lot before starting, some build…
Why I Review, or Rather: What Is Reviewing?
by Cameron N. Coulter
Since March 2018, I’ve been writing a monthly short fiction review column for Skiffy and Fanty. A year ago, I didn’t have too many thoughts on reviewing, but now I find I can have long conversations about…
The Art of the Playlist
by Paul Jessup
Ever since I first started taking writing seriously as a teenager, I’ve always written to music. Back then it was a bit more difficult than it is now, in the days of Spotify and gigantic playlists that can…
How to Avoid Writing That’s as Clear as a Mountain Stream
by Chris Sumberg
The phrase “clear as a mountain stream” gets splashed around pretty loosely, sometimes in reference to clear writing but also in reference to the sometimes not-at-all-clear names of actual bodies of water, clear or otherwise. When you take…