Once again, it’s time for the Insecure Writer’s Support Group Post! A writer’s life is one of insecurities. I’d imagine even a New York Times Bestselling author – perhaps especially a New York Bestselling author – worries that their writing just isn’t good enough, that they can never equal what they’ve already produced. Writing is…
Robin Gainey did a great webinar for my writing conference about “First Page Perfect.” Here are some of her suggestions: In the perfect first page, the main character must be sympathetic and introduced in a setting: Here are some things she recommends you not do: Robin says you should read and question. Read your story…
I “attended” a virtual query letter “boot camp” last month. Angie Hodapp talked about some pitfalls you might fall into while writing your query letter pitch — the part where you describe your story and try to hook the agent or editor. First, here are some awkward phrases to avoid: “Have you ever wondered…?” “What…
November’s Question: Albert Camus once said: “The purpose of a writer is to keep civilization from destroying itself.” Flannery O’Conner said: “I write to discover what I know.” Authors across time and distance have had many reasons to write. Why do you write what you write? Why do I write character-driven science fiction? I’ve had…
I’m running the short story past the critique group before I submit it to the anthology, so I’m thinking about “What makes a good short story?” First, of course, you need an idea that you can develop into a plot — and no, the two aren’t the same thing. Your idea will be something like…
Finished the story for Kevin J. Anderson’s anthology (due on Halloween!). I’m going to run it past my critique group before I send it in though … just to be sure it’s anthology-ready. I’m attending another writing conference this week via Zoom … it’s not specifically sci-fi but has a lot of great workshops and…
So I’ve joined this group of insecure writers … I’m feeling a bit insecure myself since I can’t seem to find an agent interested enough in the novel to even request a full manuscript. It wouldn’t be so bad if they actually read the thing, then decided they didn’t like it enough to represent it. I tried…
My local writing group has reassured me that I am not a terrible writer. In fact, they liked my last chapter so much that I didn’t get a whole lot of corrections or questions on it. That cheered me up a bit, I must say. Of course, this doesn’t mean I can rest on my…
My query letter was chosen to be evaluated but I’m not sure how the letter was. The agent doing the evaluating didn’t handle science fiction and he got so off-kilter thinking about how weird everything was that he never did get around to saying if the letter was effective or not. So now I’m back…
So my query letter was one of the 12 chosen for the Jericho Writers Slushpile Evaluation next week. I’ll get to see whether its a good letter or not and what needs fixing if not. That’s going to help immensely. If you’re still struggling with your query letter, here are some tips for you to…