A New Day, A New Idea
Before I started this push to write more, I’d occasionally (every six months or so) get an idea. I’d write it down or let it float away. Now I find that I am getting more ideas to throw in my Premise file.
Last night, I was reading a slow moving, but well written, literary mystery. I [...]
Did I say tough?
Aw shucks. My writing sample request was rejected. I made it to first base (the request for a sample). That made me feel good. The rejection (your project isn’t quite what we want…) made me feel sad.
So what did I do? Wallow in my pity? Well, I did for a few hours. Then I submitted [...]
Poetry? POETRY???
Yes, poetry.
I was looking at some markets for short stories and came across a well known SF magazine that accepts poetry.
Well, after taking a good part of the day getting my blog headed in a new direction, I thought that I can bang out a poem. I’ve written hundreds of poems in my time… lots [...]
Premise vs. Plot
Look up at the title bar… it says NEW writer. So I make these little discoveries and yell within my head, Eureka! Yet to the long-time writer, these are rather blatant self-evident truths.
I had a Eureka moment this morning. I had an idea pop into my head and it said book idea. Well, it wasn’t [...]
So how TOUGH will I have to be?
I’ve had one rejection on HoG so far. It was strictly formula, so I don’t feel bad. That particular agent was looking for the Great American Novel (see post below). There will be more to come. I have to steel myself for disappointment.
My wife just ended her preschool. The name of the school was the [...]
Master of my Universes
I am finding that amping up my writing is moving other things aside. Is this going to create a problem? I think it might if I don’t do a personal intervention.
As a first time author, who has only dabbled in writing, I find that writing can take a lot of time. Work takes a lot [...]
Different shots for different plots
As a continuation of the post below, I thought I would spend a few minutes talking about my preparation for my current project, PAG.
I was reading a fantasy author’s comments on world building. For my first novel (currently being rejected at an agent near you), I had been living with my first draft for so [...]
First novel point of view
Hand of Grethia
The hook from my query letter:
Life is tough when you transform a planet then transform the known universe, only to realize you haven‘t yet transformed yourself.
I think a lot of what gets written at the beginning of a real career… I consider myself pre-career at this point having written a reasonably polished draft [...]
Dipping my toe into writers’ groups
I’m not much for joining. Never have been. My networking skills are basically awful. Yet in the writing/publishing world, you can’t escape the need for others’ help.
My wife is a good grammarian and can set me straight in tenses and sentence construction… but she doesn’t have a feel for the story. I’m on my own. [...]
Trying out a modified Snowflake Method.
I was rummaging around on the web and came across a reference to the Snowflake method of writing. Randy Ingermanson has developed some writing tools he sells on his site. His description of the snowflake method is a freebie. I read it and found it fit nicely in one of my projects. You can read [...]
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