Introverts… tend to be introspective, quiet and less sociable. They are not necessarily loners but they tend to have fewer numbers of friends. Introversion does not describe social discomfort but rather social preference: an introvert may not be shy but may merely prefer fewer social activities. (source) Most people think introverts are socially awkward shut-ins […]
Archive > September 2011
The net worth of your network
The other day a friend asked me: “How do you network the way you do?” And at first I was like “What? I don’t network. That’s for schmoozers and politicians!” And then I got to thinking about the ways my relationships with other genre writers and editors has changed my life, and I realized that […]
On Readings, or Oh My God I Made a Fan
So, readings. If you write and share your written work with others in some form, you will eventually be asked to read aloud. Whether this is to promote a published work, or simply to practice in front of your (hopefully supportive) writing group or mom, you will find yourself before an audience in a coffee […]
The Power of Creative Collaboration: a Personal History.
I used to be Mormon. My fellow inkpunk Galen used to be Mormon, too. We became friends because we were atheists who found ourselves stuck in the LDS Church, and we bitched about it on the same online forums. You may be asking yourselves, that’s all fine (or John, that’s not fine at all), but […]
Don’t Self-Reject!
Writing is hard. Collecting the library of information necessary to be a successful writer is hard. But maybe the hardest thing for a writer is collecting those inevitable piles of rejection slips. Fear of those rejection slips, however, is a killer. No, I’m not going to give you a pep-talk about J.K. Rowling or Stephen […]
Guest Post – Literary Mercenaries: Is Media Tie-In Writing Right For You?
James L. Sutter returns to Inkpunks today with a guest post on writing media tie-ins. Feel free to ask James any questions in the comments. Thanks for your contribution, James! Literary Mercenaries: Is Media Tie-In Writing Right For You? by James L. Sutter As writers of fiction, most of us follow a time-honored pattern […]
Playing With Structure
Okay, so I’m probably a total freak, but I love structure. This is what gets me through first drafts (which I loathe). It’s what makes a nebulous idea sort itself out in my head. There are some wonderful books on structure out there, and I’d advise you to heed the wise words of writers much […]
A Novel in Ninety Days
When I started my first novel in 2009, I emailed my mentor Diana Rowland and told her I was writing 1000 wds a day and was that enough? I remember her saying, “1000 words is good, but you might want to try for more.†That set me off on a new mission to write 1500 […]
Have Deadline, Will Travel.
Earlier this summer, as I packed to go to the cabin with my family, I nestled my laptop and portable wacom tablet between my hiking shoes and s’mores. During that weekend in the mountains I was able to carve out an hour or so every day, between hiking and hanging out, to get some drawing […]