by Nancy Fulda
Your post strikes a nerve. It gets tweeted, and retweeted, and blogged about, and linked to. Comments start pouring in, both for and against your position. Your inbox is overflowing. You put other projects on hold.
As fiction writers, we talk a lot about humor. We talk about what’s funny. We talk about what isn’t. We talk about appropriate moments for humor, the types of audience best suited to it, and the consequences of attempted humor gone horribly wrong.
It’s awards season. It comes around every year, and every year authors wonder whether they should put their work out for consideration.
This can be a scary thing.
by Nancy Fulda
If you write stories, this has probably happened to you:
The words are flowing. The plot is exciting. Your characters, faced with overwhelming odds, find themselves in the midst of a difficult and absolutely enthralling situation. It’s the Big, Dramatic Moment of your story – and you have no idea what happens next. The bad guys are too strong, the social pressures are too powerful, the pit is too deep, or your character is too broken. Try as you might, you can’t think of a single way to get your protagonist out of the current crisis.
by Nancy Fulda
My oldest sister is very wise. Once, long ago, when I was struggling to master a difficult situation, she sent me a letter about strength and weakness. The gist of the content was this: Many strengths are the flip side of weakness.
by Nancy Fulda
Villains are challenging to write. Make them too heartless, and no one will find them believable. Make them too empathetic, and the audience will end up rooting for the wrong team. It can be difficult to create an antagonist with enough human virtue to be interesting and enough human foibles to be, well, villainous.
According to newflashes popping up around the web, the Washington Academy of Sciences has created a seal of approval for the scientific accuracy of novels.
There comes a time in the life of of every author when the list of Things One Should Do exceeds one’s capacity for time investment. Commissions, anthology invitations, interview requests and business propositions… They all accrue in proportion to one’s professional reputation.
…I’m not going to discuss the importance of goals today. Instead, I’m going to discuss how worthless they are.
Member News for Ian Creasey, Paul Cook, Ed Greenwood, Robert Lowell Russell, Eric James Stone, David D. Levine, Eugie Foster, Ferrett Steinmetz, Karen Azinger, Brit Mandelo, Jay Lake, Jim C. Hines, Jody Lynn Nye, Laura Resnick, Jennifer Brozek, and Nancy Fulda.
An overeducated 13th-century lady discovers the prince she loves may sacrifice her home to invaders. With the aid of university intellectuals, her family of tough farmers and the helpful witches of the forest, she devises a strategy to save her home.
Henry is a four-time Nebula/Norton finalist. He is the author of the PEASPROUT CHEN fantasy series. His short fiction has appeared in publications like Asimov’s, Analog, and F&SF. Hobbies include writing SFWA anthems and losing Nebula/Norton awards.
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