Archive for the ‘Advice for New Writers’ Category

Life Plus 70

by Ethan Ellenberg

Now we are in a whole new world. There are different ways to be published and author incomes are coming from a far wider range of sources. The standard book agreement that routinely grants the mainstream book publisher a license for the ‘term of copyright’ has to be re-considered.

What to Write When You’re Not Writing

by Gargi Mehra

Writing when you’re in full flow is like living a dream. Who doesn’t love that feeling when the words spill out faster than you can type them? If you’re old school, the scratch of the pen as it flies over the pages struggles to keep pace with your thoughts.

The reverse scenario keeps writers awake at night.

The Egregious Practice of Charging Reading Fees

by John Walters

I am a hybrid author, which means that I self-publish books and also publish short stories in traditional venues. Last night I was engaged in what I call marketing. Several of my stories had come back unsold from magazines and anthologies, and rather than having them sit around, I wanted to send them back out to other possible markets.

Forming Practice from Passion

By Michael Michel

Regardless of where you end up on the journey known as being a writer, my guess is you want to enjoy the experience. Here’s my recommendation: focus more on the crafter than the craft. As the crafter, you are the instrument through which creativity flows and stories are shared with the world. If you want to be successful, start writing the story you’d love for yourself, first.

The Post Novel Blues

by Paul Jessup

It seems to happen every single time I work on something larger than a novella. The minute I finish it, it seems like all of my creativity for fiction dries up.

Surviving Times of Stagnation

by Paul Jessup

It will probably happen to you. Almost every career for a professional writer hits a snag at some point. Usually after a huge burst of activity and a feeling of momentum, of going somewhere. It comes out of nowhere, out of left field.

Building Worlds with SFWA

by Jeffe Kennedy

It’s apropos that “Lonen’s War,” book one in my Fantasy Romance series, “Sorcerous Moons,” is featured in the first SFWA Fantasy StoryBundle. That’s because the fantastically smart and helpful folks in SFWA helped me out with a worldbuilding challenge.

The Voodoo of Research

by Tim Susman

Since it’s fall and ghosts are in the air, I thought it might be a good time to talk about my research into vodou/voodoo, the religion and spiritual practices that coalesced on Haiti among the African slaves there and spread to America, most commonly and famously in New Orleans (for the purposes of this article, I use “vodou” to refer to the Haitian religion and “voodoo” to refer to the New Orleans practices).

On Writing of a Different Culture

by Douglas Smith

Eventually, I came to understand these stories were transcribed from versions people remembered being told when they were young or used to tell their children. Story telling was an oral tradition.