My SF-writing dreams are as traditional as they can get. I want to make a living by selling my fiction to publishers. I long to see my name nestled with other SF-award nominees, on the cover of Asimov’s, on the New York Times Bestseller list, and on the shelf of the local bookstore. The […]
Category > Writing
A Willingness to Learn
I was a really lousy student, from grade school through my first attempt at college. Teachers thought I might be slow and made me suffer through batteries of tests and classes on preparation in an effort to get me to do my homework. It didn’t work. I barely made it through grade 12 and I […]
Guest Post from Tina Connolly: In Which We Consider Flash
Tina Connolly lives in Portland, Oregon with her husband and toddler, in a house that came with a dragon in the basement and blackberry vines in the attic. Her stories have appeared in Strange Horizons, Fantasy, Beneath Ceaseless Skies, and Rich Horton’s anthology Unplugged: Web’s Best SF. Her debut fantasy novel IRONSKIN is forthcoming from […]
Write-Brain Exercises
I spent the last two weeks with sixteen other writers under the tutelage of Walter Jon Williams and Nancy Kress at the Taos Toolbox workshop. I probably should’ve planned ahead to have my Inkpunks post ready for today before I left. Alas, I did not have that foresight. At the moment I’m a little (make […]
Guest Post by Jack Graham: A novel is an engineering project
Back in March, my colleague John Remy posted here about using kanban, a project management technique originally invented by Toyota engineers, to keep track of multiple short fiction projects. John and I have both worked in the Information Technology field – I as a software analyst. His post got me thinking about how I’ve re-purposed […]
Boots on the Ground
I don’t know about you, but I love books. Yeah, I guess that’s why we’re all here, isn’t it? I’ve got stacks of books for every occasion, but the tallest stacks are the “research libraries†for my various WIPs. (Yes, some of these stacks are temporary since I take full advantage of my local libraries. […]
YES, BUT– NO, AND
[6/15, 11:15 am: This post has been edited–when I originally posted, late last night, I had accidentally switched ALL THE PREPOSITIONS, giving “Yes, and,” and “No, but.” Which can still generate some good ideas, but I think you’ll find these slightly more useful. Thanks again to Mary Kowal for catching my blunder!] This spring I […]
Guest Post from Brooke Bolander: This Too Shall Pass
Brooke Bolander is the nymph stage of a foul-mouthed cicada that only emerges from the earth once every thirty years. She’s also a larval writer and Clarion UCSD grad, with stories featured or upcoming in issues of Lightspeed, Strange Horizons, Reflection’s Edge, and [PANK]. For more aimless ramblings, check out her website at brookebolander.com or, if you’re into […]
Revision: Art or Craft?
Do you see your writing as more of an art, or a craft? Is your ability to tell stories something inherent and intuitive, or is each sentence the product of conscious, deliberate, meticulous crafting? (In D&D terms, are you more sorcerer or wizard?) I think I’m a mix of both. Some aspects of writing flow […]
Writing Synopses and Getting Over Yourself
I’m a fairly new writer with very little experience, if I’m going to be completely honest, so this opinion may change in the future, but: I think I’m an outliner. It makes sense. Before I decided to really give writing a go, professionally, I spent six months simply reading about publishing. Everything I could get […]
