People are always interested in how writers work. How do I do my research and how do I organize my writing? Let’s take a look at my process. First of all, I do most of my research on the internet. Sometimes, if I have a particularly interesting setting, or one I’m using often, I’ll pay…
I don’t just read sci-fi and fantasy. I also love a good mystery story. This year I’m reading a new (to me) series about the chief inspector of the Quebec homicide division. His name is Inspector Gamache and I’m enjoying his stories very much. The author is Louise Penny and I think there are around…
Can you believe it’s February already? Time for another issue of the Insecure Writer’s Support Group. I’m feeling a bit more insecure than usual. I found out by accident that I wasn’t selected for our “Dark Matter” anthology (didn’t even get a form rejection, either), and Zombies Need Brains rejected both of the stories I…
Just got two form rejections from Zombies Need Brains. Form rejections suck. They didn’t like the “Modern Deity’s Guide to Surviving Humanity” humor piece or the velyr “When Worlds Collide” story. Of course they did get 1400 submissions when they only had 20 slots available so I guess it’s not horrible. I may try reworking…
This month I’m working on anthologies. There are at least ten sci-fi anthologies due in February or early March. I might not have time to submit a story to each of them, but I’m going to give it the old college try. I’ve completed a mis-mashed fairy tale for “Upon a Once Time” (and need…
In two days I will be 60. That just can’t be right, can it? I can’t say I’ve been a writer all those years, though I have been a storyteller since I could speak coherently. My early writing is unpublished and rightly so! However, I feel I’ve progressed as a writer until the point where…
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’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…
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…