Tag Archives: writing
A Movable Feast
I had a revelation yesterday that I wrote briefly about, but now I’m going to elaborate a bit more on it. It’s one of those things that creeps up on you, that you don’t realize it’s there until it’s bitten you on the throat and sucked out all your blood (but in a good way). [...]
Posted in Writing Journal | Also tagged Indie Writer, Matt Mitchell, publishing, self-publishing, Stories, stories, story, writer | 1 Comment
Publishing vs. Self-Publishing [Once Again]
I’ve had it. It’s not the rejection letters, and it’s not the lengthy timespan between the moment that I mail the submission and finally receive my rejection. It’s just the process. The reformatting every story every time I send it out because this editor wants italics and this one doesn’t, this one wants paragraphs indented [...]
Posted in Writing Journal | Also tagged editor, marketing, markets, publisher, publishing, self-publishing, selling my stories, Stories | 3 Comments
Genre Bender
I’m throwing my hat in with a few other pre-pro writers (AKA “wannabees”) over at the new groupblog Genre Bender. The blog will be all about the craft of writing, the frustrations of the amateur writer, with a sprinkle of commentary on specific genres. Sounds like fun, eh? Does to me, which is why I’m [...]
Posted in Writing Journal | Also tagged authors, Blogging, genre bender, groupblog, indie, publishing, Stories, stories, story, writers | 1 Comment
Irmth the Eleventh
While I’m thinking about it, I’ve had dreams before that have ended up being incorporated into various stories I’ve written. For instance, one morning I woke up with a clear line in my head, which may not make any sense to you (it didn’t to my wife), but nevertheless I liked it and I thought [...]
Posted in Stories, Writing Journal | Also tagged galactiblaster, ideas, irmth, ith, science fiction, scifi, scific, shift, stories, story | 2 Comments
ARRGGHH! [Query Writing]
Queries suck. At least writing them does. The entire novel-writing process has never made me feel so futile as penning these two vexing paragraphs. I could fill this page with links to query-writing suggestions and formats and information I’ve read from various outlets all over the web, all of it very helpful in its own [...]
Posted in Writing Journal | Also tagged author, book, query, Stories, story, synopsis, writer | 3 Comments
Writing the Near Future
I am really loving io9. If you don’t read it, get on over there because they are consistently putting out great content. Today, for instance, they’ve posted a little space porn, some comics industry opinion, and this bit of writing advice, on “how to bring the weird” in your near-future SciFi stories. This is another [...]
Writing Omelettes
You know, sometimes I begin writing a post and it just unfolds like a bolt of cloth at Hancock Fabrics, and I think, “I’m not trying to write a book here.” But directions lead to other directions and before you know it my egg’s turned into an omelette. It’s like that with fiction sometimes, too. [...]
1000 True Fans -or- The Writer’s Challenge
Kevin Kelly is a long-time internet mainstay, one of the original founders of Wired Magazine, and a week or so ago he posted this bit concerning his “1000 True Fans” theory (P.S.–if you haven’t read The Technium, I highly recommend it):
A creator, such as an artist, musician, photographer, craftsperson, performer, animator, designer, videomaker, or author [...]
Posted in Writing Journal | Also tagged artist, Blog, creator, fan, fan base, journal, Stories | Leave a comment
Blog Fiction
In maintaining this journal through the years, along with its many and varied predecessors, I’ve made one small observation about what people want from writers and their blogs. On a blog people generally don’t want fiction. They do want things that are interesting, but for fiction they read books, not blogs. On occasion I think [...]
Query Quotes: The best query advice ever
There are a couple of posts I’ve read lately about the writing of queries that I think are just brilliant. First, from Kameron Hurley:
If you’re working on writing up queries or synposes, I’ve found it sorta fun and helpful to write up one of those “back cover” blurbs that you see on the back of [...]
Posted in Writing Journal | Also tagged clarion, genre, MFA, odyssey, query, Stories, synopsis | 4 Comments
Various and Sundry
I’ve been very busy at work the past few days. I’m thinking of giving up Warcraft altogether. I just don’t have time for it as I thought I would. It’s a fun game, but I can’t understand some of the fascination; every time I bring it up with acquaintances I hear stories of people losing [...]
The Novella Format
Whatever happened to the novella as a form of prose? Many of the greatest stories of all time were written in the 20k – 50k word range. Stories like The Legend of Sleepy Hollow and A River Runs Through It. There are countless others, but it seems the publishing world in general is intent on [...]
Posted in Ruminations, Writing Journal | Also tagged novella, novellette, Stories, stories, writers | 1 Comment
Suspension of Disbelief – The Theory of the Second Moon
Suspension of disbelief is a useful tool for writers, especially to writers of speculative fiction. But how much artistic license are readers willing to allow a writer? Like most authors, I read quite a bit about the craft of writing, and I read an article sometime last year concerning the suspension of disbelief. I don’t [...]
Posted in Writing Journal | Also tagged Earth, moon, second, Slate, Stories, story, suspension of disbelief | 6 Comments
The Book
My book is written. Well, it’s actually my third book, but the first one is not good and neither is the second, although with the second I believe its a good story, it just needs major rewrites. So, anyway, the book is done. It’s called Modern-Day Mythica, it’s around 120k words, and the premise is [...]
Posted in Writing Journal | Also tagged book, excerpt, Matt Mitchell, sample, Stories, story | 11 Comments
The Indie Writer Council Speaks