Check out io9’s entertaining new list of classic speculative fiction novels originally rejected by publishers. It’s like a mashup of English reading lists from school and some of my favorite books.
Just goes to show, eh? Keep writing!
Posts Tagged ‘work’
Endless Nightmares, Russian Spies, and Other True Tales of Rejection
Posted in Writing, tagged arts, books, creativity, genre fiction, inspiration, literature, Motivation, reading lists, rejection, sff, speculative fiction novels, Thoughts, work, Writers, writing on May 29, 2013| Leave a Comment »
Newsflash! Twain Right Again!
Posted in Other, tagged DIY, finishing, home, house, inspiration, Mark Twain, Motivation, ouchies, power tools, projects, summer, Thoughts, work, yay on May 28, 2013| Leave a Comment »
“To succeed in life, you need two things: ignorance and confidence.”
— Mark Twain
We spent the weekend refinishing the deck. The wood was a mess, half covered with multiple layers of thick, splintering stain and half exposed to the elements. It was time. The only problem was that I’d never refinished a deck before.
Did I let that stop me? Nope. It helps that Mr Man is ridiculously handy but still. I took Mark Twain’s quote to heart and jumped in, and now, days later, the splinters and uneven steps and flaking are no more. I learned how to use an industrial sander, tons of power tools, and now know that Onion Goggles are perfect for jobs that result in large clouds of airborne particulates. The wood is now smooth, the finish even.
Is it perfect? Well, no. But it’s done. And that’s much better than not doing anything at all.
Thought for a Busy Day
Posted in Writing, tagged arts, awesome, creativity, finishing, inspiration, Motivation, quotes, Thoughts, work, Writers, writing on May 8, 2013| Leave a Comment »
I’m still busy, mostly with non-writing work, and that makes it harder to focus on being creative than I’d like. That said, you just have to knuckle down and do it. Even when you’re stuck. Even when your work is hard.
Queue this quote. As the Harvard article cited below says, Maya Angelou has been a “cook, streetcar conductor, waitress, singer, dancer, editor, teacher, civil rights organizer, and actress” and oh yes, a writer. If anyone knows how to live a courageous life filled with productive creativity, she’s it.
I realized that one isn’t born with courage. One develops it by doing small courageous things—in the way that if one sets out to pick up a 100-pound bag of rice, one would be advised to start with a five-pound bag, then 10 pounds, then 20 pounds, and so forth, until one builds up enough muscle to lift the 100-pound bag. It’s the same way with courage. You do small courageous things that require some mental and spiritual exertion….I understood early that not everything I did was going to be a masterpiece, but I would try to do it the best I knew how. I’ve listened to an inner voice and had enough courage to try unknown things.
— Maya Angelou
No Excuses!
Posted in Writing, tagged arts, awesome, creativity, finishing, genre fiction, inspiration, literature, Motivation, Thoughts, work, Writers, writing on May 1, 2013| 2 Comments »
Today I’m going to pass along a great piece of advice from Brandon Sanderson, author of the Mistborn series and many other excellent books. It helps when I don’t feel like writing (or more likely this month, when I think I have too much to do).
“Sit in a chair and write,” Sanderson says.“Ignore this thing they call writer’s block. Doctors don’t get doctor’s block; your mechanic doesn’t get mechanic’s block. If you want to write great stories, learn to write when you don’t feel like it. You have to write it poorly before you can write it well. So just be willing to write bad stories in order to learn to become better.”
— Brandon Sanderson (as quoted here)
A Thought for Monday Morning: Keep Going
Posted in Writing, tagged arts, awesome, books, creativity, finishing, inspiration, Motivation, rejection, Thoughts, video, work, Writers, writing on March 18, 2013| 1 Comment »
This is a great bit by Ira Glass on Art, and how you have to keep working at it if you’re going to be any good… even when you know that what you’re doing isn’t as good as you wish.
Way to go Scalzi & Co
Posted in Writing, tagged arts, books, creativity, e book, genre fiction, john scalzi, literature, sff, work, Writers, writing on March 12, 2013| Leave a Comment »
This is still in progress but John Scalzi reports new updates have been made to the previously mentioned contracts through Random House’s Hydra and Alibi imprints:
… and Scalzi’s immediate followup:
Immediate Thoughts on the Random House eBook Imprint Contract Changes.
More on Bad Contracts… and One Very Good One
Posted in Writing, tagged arts, books, copyright, creativity, e book, genre fiction, john scalzi, literature, rights, sff, work, Writers, writing on March 7, 2013| Leave a Comment »
John Scalzi’s righteous assault on bad deals for authors continues, with a look at a contract from Alibi, a sibling imprint of the previously discussed Hydra. The downsides look very similar and the upsides are few and very far between:
So, don’t ask me how, but I have in my hands (from what I consider a reputable source) a contract from Alibi, which is the sibling imprint of Hydra, the Random House imprint that I thumped on roundly in the previous entry.
And if you need more evidence that signing over all rights for the term of the copyright is a terrible idea, check out this DBW piece on Wool author Hugh Howey’s latest contract. He cut a deal with Simon & Schuster for print rights only to the tune of a seven-figure advance. Yes, apparently Howey’s self-published e-books were bringing in $150k a month already, but no matter who you are, why sign your work over to anyone else for nothing? Heck, you’d be better off printing your book out and using it for party invitations. Or tinder. Or any other use you can think of that is controlled by you and not someone else.
Just saying.
“Random House’s Hydra Imprint Has Appallingly Bad Contract Terms”
Posted in Writing, tagged arts, books, creativity, e book, genre fiction, john scalzi, literature, sff, work, Writers, writing on March 6, 2013| 2 Comments »
A great discussion is going on right now over on Whatever, John Scalzi’s site, around publishing contracts. Specifically, Random House’s new science fiction imprint Hydra is (so far as has been determined) acting as a vanity press. No advance, signing over copyright forever, and the author pays for expenses. In sum, Hydra somehow manage to make the music industry’s often exploitative contract terms look more reasonable in comparison.
Read John’s excellent salvo here:
Note to SF/F Writers: Random House’s Hydra Imprint Has Appallingly Bad Contract Terms
Random House recently started Hydra, an electronic-only imprint for science fiction stories and short novels. But, as noted by Writer Beware here, the terms in a Hydra deal sheet shown to them are pretty damn awful…
I’d say this is a must-read for all new or un-agented (i.e. unprotected by someone with industry experience or a lick of financial sense) writers. John’s right, there’s no justification for terms as bad as these.
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