Earlier this year, I finished my third novel. After feedback from different beta readers, I’ve decided I need to start over from scratch, keeping the same premise and main characters, but making a lot of major changes. Am I discouraged? Hell, yeah. Do I want to just be done with it and be published already? […]
Category > Writing
Boldly Going Where Everyone Has Gone Before
I’ve been watching a lot of Star Trek lately. A LOT of Star Trek. Ever since Netflix secured the rights to stream the whole enchilada, I’ve been (re)enjoying the voyages of the starships Enterprise, Enterprise, Voyager, and Enterprise (and the Defiant). One of the things I’ve noticed on my return trip through the Star Trek […]
Writer’s Block: Now I Get It
Writer’s block. That state of wanting to write something but not being able to find the words, disliking anything you do manage to write, or perhaps losing your motivation to write altogether. No paragraphs, sentences, or words appear on the page. You are blocked, silenced, inert. Confession: I didn’t used to believe this was a […]
The World According to Lou
Lou Anders is the editorial director of Prometheus Books’ science fiction and fantasy imprint Pyr as well as several anthologies. He’s been nominated for multiple awards multiple times, including the Locus Awards, Shirley Jackson Award, Philip K. Dick Award, Chelsey Award, World Fantasy Award and the Hugo Award. He’s won the Chesley Award and […]
So You Want to Write for Pay?
Making a living as a writer is not easy. Financially, there are almost any other careers that would be a better choice, yet most of us dream of one day being paid solely to write. Have you ever thought about writing for one of those Write-for-Pay websites? A member of my writing workshop, *Julie Downsbrough […]
Conversations
This is not a post about writing dialogue. Last weekend, I caught up with an old friend over dinner. We first met in a now-defunct writers’ group, back when I first had an inkling I might want to give this whole writing thing a shot. As one of my first beta-readers and original fans, I […]
Guest post from Vylar Kaftan: Submission statistics and revision habits
Today we bring you Part 2 of Vylar Kaftan’s ultra-nerdy guest post on her submissions data. This post originally appeared on her blog. Thanks again to Vylar for letting us repost it here! I’m often asked about when to revise rejected stories, and whether I change stories before sending them to another market. Previously I […]
Making NaNoWriMo Work For You.
A week from today is November 1st, and the start of National Novel Writing Month. I participated in NaNoWriMo two years ago, and am wondering if I should subject myself to this painful experience again this year. Maybe others are contemplating similar questions. Two years ago, I had no clue if I could write anything […]
Shifting Sand: The Art of Tending Goals
Around the time I was fifteen, I wrote to Marion Zimmer Bradley for the guidelines to her magazine and I collected every copy of Asimov’s Magazine I could get my hands on. I didn’t really know what it meant to be a writer but I knew I wanted to be one and I had it […]
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 […]
