Today’s guest post is from John Joseph Adams–editor of Lightspeed Magazine, Nightmare Magazine, and more than a dozen anthologies–and one of his oft-published authors, Jake Kerr. If you’ve ever wondered what goes on between an author and an editor from a rewrite request to publication, you’re about to get a behind-the-scenes look that is invaluable [...]
Author Archive > inkhaven
Writing What’s Real
Last year at a writer’s retreat a late-night talk with a friend turned to the the subject of authenticity, and the struggles inherent in creativity and learning our craft. She shared with me a lesson that I was only beginning to understand on my own, advice that she had been given by one of her [...]
What are you doing differently? Reigniting the creative fire
After a kind of crazy summer I found myself completely unmotivated to write–my drive had just disappeared. No ambition, no burning desire to create, no stories pecking at my head demanding my attention. I think it might be overstating things to call it depression, since it seemed to be restricted to my creative life, but [...]
Trying to make the jump
Today Robert Jackson Bennett returns to Inkpunks with another great post, this time about taking chances with your characters. Enjoy! Most of my writing decisions – or the big ones, at least – are more or less the equivalent of someone standing at the top of a tall gap, and saying, “I bet I can [...]
Masters of the Controverse: Why Authors Should Speak Their Minds
Today’s post comes from frequent guest and friend of the Inkpunks, James Sutter. Enjoy! A while back, I was having a conversation with a well-known game designer friend of mine. He was bemoaning the fact that he has to constantly hold himself back from expressing his true views online, making sure to keep his public [...]
Getting unstuck
I’ve been going to writing workshops since 2004, and at this point it’s pretty rare for me to hear of a tool I haven’t heard of before. That doesn’t mean I don’t need to be reminded, and often! I love being reminded, because frankly there are just so many tools and I’m too new at [...]
Guest post from Carol Penn-Romine: Sorbet for the Creative Palate
This week’s guest post comes from food writer and all-around rock star Carol Penn-Romine. Thanks so much for your contribution, Carol! Last Sunday was Freaky Friday at our house. My husband Andy, a.k.a. Ink Gorilla, entertainment industry professional and the resident writer of science fiction and fantasy, was in the kitchen cooking Moroccan food, baking [...]
On perceived limitations, or writing what you think you don’t know
I wrote this post and then realized that I’d read it somewhere before. It was on the blog of my friend and fellow Inkpunk Andy, who had a very similar experience to the one I just had: We both found out we could write science fiction. No, really! It’s a real discovery. One of the [...]
Guest post from Tracie Welser: On the First Sale, and Believing the Impossible
Today’s guest post comes from Tracie Welser, a graduate of Clarion West. Many thanks to Tracie for her contribution, and congratulations on the subject of her post! Scenario: a seemingly Impossible Thing occurs, and you freeze. Then your body ceases to behave normally, and your jaw works up and down but no sounds escape. The [...]
On giving up
We’ve all been there: the hill is so steep, and we can’t even see the top. We have no idea when that first sale is coming, and even if we’ve made the first–as I well know–that does not mean the second or third will follow any time soon. There are days when we feel like [...]
