Posted in Likes, Writing, tagged creative writing ideas, creativity, Fiction, inspiration, NatGeo, National Geographic, sff, short stories, Thoughts, work, Writers, writing, writing prompt on March 16, 2015| 1 Comment »
Today seems like a fine day for another visual writing prompt. The weather here in Ontario is starting to improve but there’s still a great deal of snow outside, and most of what I see is some shade of white. Perhaps that’s why these colorful images appeal to me. Or maybe it is the sense that their surface beauty is a veneer over danger, and a deeper mystery.
Enjoy!
Posted in Writing, tagged #madscience!, awesome, e book, Fiction, fun, genre fiction, science fiction, sff, short stories, speculative fiction, work, writing, yay on February 28, 2015| 2 Comments »
I am happy to announce that I will have a story coming out in the Summer quarterly of Mad Scientist Journal. “Just Like [Illegible] Used to Make” originally appeared in Perihelion Science Fiction, and I’m quite pleased that this story has found another venue.
Posted in Writing, tagged creative writing ideas, creativity, Fiction, inspiration, sff, short stories, Thoughts, work, Writers, writing, writing prompt on February 25, 2015| Leave a Comment »
I have the urge to post a visual writing prompt. If you’re reaching for creative writing ideas, check out this series of three potentially connected images (is it just me, or is there a lot of post-Apocalyptic quest story coming off of these pictures? :):
Posted in Likes, Writing, tagged books, Fiction, genre fiction, Motivation, science fiction, Science Fiction and Fantasy Writers of America, self-publishing, sff, SFWA, short stories, small press, speculative fiction, work, Writers, writing, yay on February 4, 2015| Leave a Comment »
Interesting news, and a big change for the Science Fiction and Fantasy Writers of America:
SFWA Welcomes Self-Published and Small Press Authors!
…the basic standards are $3,000 for novel, or a total of 10,000 words of short fiction paid at 6 cents a word for Active membership.
More information is included in the linked article, and full details will be posted at the SFWA site in March. Given the shifting landscape of publishing and the multitude of ways authors now have to reach an audience, this is great news. If you write and are paid at a professional level, you will be eligible for SFWA membership regardless of venue. All the more reason to keep at it:)
Posted in Writing, tagged CC Finlay, F&SF, Fantasy & Science Fiction, Fiction, genre fiction, Gordon Van Gelder, Locus, science fiction, sff, short stories, speculative fiction, Writers, writing on January 14, 2015| Leave a Comment »
Exciting news via Locus, folks, CC Finlay has been named the new editor at Fantasy & Science Fiction. He succeeds the excellent Gordon Van Gelder, who became the magazine’s editor in 1997 and will continue as publisher.
Will this mean a permanent shift from F&SF’s traditional snail-mail submissions process to e-subs? @ccfinlay sheds some light on the question, and it’s shiny:)
This means that electronic subs are going to be preferred. The online form will stay open after January 15.
— C.C. Finlay (@ccfinlay) January 14, 2015
Update: CC Finlay has posted answers to some of our more pressing questions in a new blog post. TL:DR version: e-subs forever! As an international author in favor of increased diversity, this makes me very happy. Also (via Twitter), no simultaneous subs, and currently a minimum 15 days between submissions.
Posted in Entertainment, Writing, tagged anthology, awesome, books, e book, entertainment, Fiction, free, genre fiction, literature, science fiction, sff, short stories, speculative fiction, Tor.com, writing, yay on January 7, 2015| 2 Comments »
A new anthology is out for free from Tor.com, and it includes twenty-six of their favorite short stories, novelettes, and novellas from 2014. Tor.com does publish its fiction online, of course, but if you prefer a transportable and handy-to-read format for Kindle, Nook or similar device, you can download the full anthology now for the low, low price of nothing, nada, zip, rien, tipota.
Enjoy! I know I will:)
Posted in Writing, tagged artists, CC Finlay, Fantasy & Science Fiction, Fiction, genre fiction, Motivation, science fiction, sff, short stories, speculative fiction, submissions, Writers, writing, yay on January 4, 2015| Leave a Comment »
Hello and welcome to 2015. You may remember that back in July I noted that CC Finlay will edit two issues of Fantasy & Science Fiction for this year, and that he will accept electronic submissions. Excellent news! The second of those submission periods is open now through January 15th. For more information, check out his blog post on the subject. Good luck to all who submit!
Posted in Likes, Writing, tagged creativity, David Farland, Fiction, fun, Gavin Grant, genre fiction, Holly Black, inspiration, Kelly Link, Lightspeed, sff, short stories, speculative fiction, Thoughts, work, Writers, writing, yay on December 15, 2014| 1 Comment »
David Farland put out a nice piece last week titled Be Excited, and (unsurprisingly:) that pretty much sums up his thesis. Essentially, he says that the writers he sees who are the most productive are those able to get and stay excited about their work. That hit home for me, not just in terms of quantity, but also quality. I find that my best stories tend to be those I find most entertaining. Granted, I may be biased, but what’s more fun than… fun?
With that in mind, I recommend a short fiction from the September issue of Lightspeed.* Holly Black’s Ten Rules for Being an Intergalactic Smuggler (the Successful Kind) is everything I love about a story: it’s funny, poignant, trying and triumphant. And fun.
* This story also appeared in the excellent Monstrous Affections anthology edited by Kelly Link and Gavin Grant, which I read on the strength of this piece.
Posted in Writing, tagged Ann Patchett, Anne Lamott, creativity, Damon Knight, Dwight V. Swain, Fiction, genre fiction, inspiration, john scalzi, on writing, science fiction, sff, short stories, speculative fiction, Stephen King, TED, work, writer’s block, Writers, writing, Writing Excuses on December 8, 2014| 1 Comment »
Writing is simple, right? Writing is considered a basic skill in our society and as such, people often look down on it as, well, a basic skill. Sadly, thinking that you can write an effective book/story/memoir/etc. because you are literate is like saying that because you can run down the block, you have what it takes to do the Boston Marathon.
As always, the devil is in the details. Sorting out those details, by understanding the process and which of the many aspects of art and craft you should work on, is key to becoming (and staying) a writer.
Much of what I read and write is speculative and genre fiction, and a few of my specific suggestions and references are colored accordingly. If speculative fiction isn’t your thing that doesn’t mean you can’t use these references. It just means that you may need to ask yourself questions like, “This is great, but how would an alien sea monkey’s need for interstellar love translate to a tailor in modern-day Calcutta?” All the better to exercise your creative faculties, I say. As you’ll see, though, most writing advice translates well across boundaries.
Here are a few pointers to get you started…
Resources I’ve Found Useful:
It will shock no one to learn that there are also a lot of writing resources on the web; often the problem is sorting through them all. Search for talks, interviews and essays by authors whose work speaks to you, see if their ideas or suggestions offer fuel for your fires. I’ve mentioned some links in previous discussions on writing and creativity already, and there are many (many, many) more. To get you started:
Life rewards action…. That story isn’t going to unf*ck itself.
— Chuck Wendig [asterisk mine]
There are all kinds of writers. Fiction vs. not, certainly, but also binge writers, morning writers, middle of the night writers, must have my pencils just so writers, deadline writers and cabin in the woods writers, can only write on used envelope writers, take your pick. Find what works for you.
Then write.
Posted in Likes, Science!, Writing, tagged DARPA, dystopias, Elizabeth Bear, Fiction, Future Tense, genre fiction, inspiration, NASA, Neal Stephenson, optimism, science, Science and Technology, science fiction, sff, short stories, speculative fiction, Ted Chiang, Writers on October 21, 2014| Leave a Comment »
via Slate.com:
Using Science Fiction to Create a Better Tomorrow: A Future Tense Event Recap
Oh, this looks fun. A recent event hosted by Slate’s Future Tense and Issues in Science and Technology in D.C. focused on ways that imagination in general, and science fiction in particular, can help inspire a better future. Sure, dystopias are all the rage and who doesn’t love a good apocalypse, but people have always enjoyed teasing themselves with frightening things. The key word is “teasing”… that doesn’t mean we actually want to live there.
(Srsly, do you really want a horde of raving zombies standing between you and your pumpkin spice latte every morning? Neither do I. I want to live in a future where disease is manageable, hunger is obsolete, and creativity and innovation rule the day in the best ways. I also want a flying car. Because where are all the flying cars?!)
Check out the October 2nd event, complete with video of speakers like Neal Stephenson, Ted Chiang, Elizabeth Bear, representatives from NASA, DARPA, SyFy and many others, here: Can We Imagine Our Way to a Better Future?
From the tales we tell about robots and drones, to the narratives on the cutting edge of neuroscience, to society’s view of its most intractable problems, we need to begin telling a new set of stories about ourselves and the future.
Related links:
— Neal Stephenson’s article at the World Policy Institute, on the importance of renewing our society’s ability to “get big things done”: Innovation Starvation.
— The anthology Hieroglyph: Stories and Visions for a Better Future.
— For more links to short stories (including pieces from Hieroglyph) and related discussions on this topic, see the final section of the Slate article.
“There is more than one way to burn a book. And the world is full of people running about with lit matches.”
— Ray Bradbury
*Society for the Constructive Pursuit of Creativity
*Beauty in Imperfection
*We Are Magic
*What We’re Made Of
*Our Ancestors’ Dreams
*There Is No Button a Curious Monkey Will Not Press
*Condolence Lessons
*We're All Special
*Sometimes, They Reach Back
*Moses of Her People
*The Drabble, with Examples
*Thanks for Sharing
J.R. Johnson
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