Posted in Writing, tagged #365Ways, #365Ways2024, genre fiction, rejections, submissions, Writers, writing on December 10, 2024| 2 Comments »
It’s perhaps a funny thing to celebrate but if you’re a writer this may strike a chord.
My email this morning contained a rejection, and it’s had me smiling all day.
Apex Magazine put out a call for flash fiction about memory, and I happened to have a flash piece on memory.
I submitted.
They responded.
With rejection, yes, but it was a personal rejection with phrases like “this is beautifully written” and “hope to read something from you in the future.”
I’ll take that:)
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Posted in Other, Writing, tagged #365Ways, #365Ways2024, creativity, Thoughts, writing on December 7, 2024| Leave a Comment »
If we only play to our strengths, we might never overcome our weaknesses.
— Adam Grant
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Posted in Other, Writing, tagged #365Ways, #365Ways2024, creativity, Thoughts, Writers, writing on December 3, 2024| Leave a Comment »
“If you’re alive, you’re a creative person.”
— Elizabeth Gilbert
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Posted in Other, Writing, tagged #365Ways, #365Ways2024, creativity, Thoughts, work, writing on December 2, 2024| Leave a Comment »
“Take your job seriously, but don’t take yourself too seriously.”
— Alex Trebek
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Posted in Writing, tagged #365Ways, #365Ways2024, classes, creativity, genre fiction, Mary Robinette Kowal, Writers, writing on November 30, 2024| Leave a Comment »
“If we wait for the perfect time, we won’t ever write.”
Writer, audiobook narrator, puppeteer and award-winning author Mary Robinette Kowal knows that external pressures can do a number of your writing, and that the best way forward is to keep moving forward.
As a way to help, she’s offering a Free Class: Barriers to Writing
Hey there… have you been having a hard time writing? Yeah. There’s a lot of that going around right now.
This class looks at what keeps people from writing. It’s less about problems with the story and more about all the external things. It covers environmental factors, mental health, and tricks for compensating for all of this to write.
I’m sharing this class for free, because I suspect we could all use both the boost and distraction now and in the coming months.
Hope this helps.
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Posted in Writing, tagged #365Ways, #365Ways2024, creativity, Thoughts, Writers, writing on November 23, 2024| Leave a Comment »
Some days I don’t have time to write, but today I have a different problem. I have time, technically, but don’t have the mental space to write.
And that has to be ok.
Do what you can, where you are. For me today, that means being ok with the fact that writing is off the table.
Until tomorrow!
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Posted in Other, Writing, tagged #365Ways, #365Ways2024, creativity, failure, persistence, success, Thoughts, writing on November 15, 2024| Leave a Comment »
“In my experience, each failure contains the seeds of your next success—if you are willing to learn from it.”
— Paul Allen
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Posted in Writing, tagged #365Ways, #365Ways2024, #wotf, #wotf39, books, bundles, genre fiction, Writers, Writers of the Future, writing on November 12, 2024| Leave a Comment »
I just received word that my Writers of the Future book (volume 39 for those who are following along) is currently part of a great big story bundle from Arc Manor.
HOW DOES THIS WORK? You may select either the base bundle of five books or the enhanced bundle of 14 books (including a surprise title by a bestselling author).
For each choice, there is a suggested price and a minimum price. When you select either of the two options (base bundle or enhanced bundle), you will be taken to a checkout system that displays the suggested price. You may change this to any price you like as long as it meets the minimum price requirements.
The base bundle has big name authors like Joe Haldeman and Nancy Kress and Kevin J. Anderson. The enhanced bundle contains those authors and more, including Jody Lynn Nye, Robert J. Sawyer, my collection and more!
If that sounds like something of interest to you, scroll down the linked page to see what’s included, and enjoy!
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Posted in Other, Writing, tagged #365Ways, #365Ways2024, commercial fiction, creativity, Thoughts, Writers, writing on November 11, 2024| Leave a Comment »
The other day, I started a book billed as a mystery for fans of Richard Osman’s Thursday Murder Club. Premise, fine I guess. Characters, meh to mediocre. Overall story, tone and execution? Not for me. It takes a lot for me to put down a book, particularly before the first body falls, but in this case, I did it.
I only share books I like here, so I won’t mention the title. I will say that it’s lovely to find a reliable author. The good news is that Osman has started up a new series and I am looking forward to it. Here’s an interview with Osman and Lee Child, author of the Jack Reacher books.
And while I think the idea that writing is a good job for those who have already had careers is a mite limiting, it certainly has worked out for these two authors.
To me, it’s never about what happens. It’s about: why do I care what happens? And that’s all character…
My default is to write commercial fiction, because that’s just how my brain is. I want to do something that the maximum amount of people love; I want to write something that’s good and then sits right in the heart of popular culture. You want the sort of book where, if you’re on a long-haul flight and you open the first page, it takes you through that entire flight – that sounds trite, but it’s not, because how do you keep someone through an entire flight? You keep them with story, and you keep them with character, and you keep them with wit and with a personality that people want to spend time with.
— Richard Osman
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Posted in Science!, Writing, tagged #365Ways, #365Ways2024, #writingscience, creativity, Writers, writing on November 1, 2024| Leave a Comment »
Typing monkey would be unable to produce ‘Hamlet’ within the lifetime of the universe, study finds
“It is not plausible that, even with improved typing speeds or an increase in chimpanzee populations, monkey labor will ever be a viable tool for developing non-trivial written works,” the authors muse.
So human writer monkeys can rest easy. In case you were worried!
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