Guest Post: Submission Statistics and Revision Habits
If I’m unsure about a story, I put it on probation, and take another look 6 months later before I either lock it up, set it free, or possibly keep it on probation.
Archive for the ‘Advice for New Writers’ Category
Guest Post: Submission Statistics — An Inside Look
I’ve published about three dozen short stories, and perhaps 1/3 are SFWA-qualifying. I thought I’d open my submission history in case it would help a new writer see what the submission process looks like.
Guest Post: Writing SF for Young Readers
A machine that creates gourmet meals-on-the-go in exchange for credits is still just a vending machine.
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.
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.
