Fork ’em over! You know you wanna! Question: How do you get a writer to agonize for hours over a handful of words that aren’t in her manuscript? Answer: Tell her she has to write her own blurbs, headlines, and website copy! Hey, it’s my choice! I’m not looking for a publisher, so promotion is 100% my responsibility. Great that I have such control over my message and where it appears, but what the heck should that message be? How…
My copy of Volume 1. Kirk and Spock are there for scale. These books will last you a while. Since I’m in the business of making books, I figured you wouldn’t mind if I talked about them from time to time… Samuel Clemens (aka Mark Twain) is one of my favorite authors. I hope I don’t have to explain why. He had one stipulation regarding his official autobiography: that it not be released until 100 years after his death. That…
Seeing our words in print is a dream for a lot of us- maybe even a holy grail at times, impossible to reach. No matter his age, the unpublished writer feels like a kid fresh out of college, trying to land his first full-time job. Everyone who’s hiring wants someone experienced. How on Earth will he get experience if no one hires him? Many writers say “screw it” and self-publish. (Heck, I’m doing the same with my novel.) For those…
(Image credit: imagebase.net) Research is easier than ever these days- thank you, Internet! Depending on what you’re writing, you may perform zero or tons of research to avoid sounding like you have no clue. You may also perform research for inspiration. Maybe a cool new fact is just the what you need to start outlining your next bestseller. Some things to consider regarding research: You may still want to go to the library. If you’re writing nonfiction, or straight historical…
(Cover art by Chris Howard) I can hardly believe it! I’ve balled up the manuscript for Blood’s Force, the first of the Sword and Starship books, to hand to my editor, RJ Blain. I’ve been performing my own editing and rewriting pass, with significant feedback from my spouse, since February. In that time, Dame Jessamine’s quest has undergone drastic improvement. The manuscript lost a few thousand words, gained them back, and lost them again: 88,000 words across 22 chapters at…
(Image credit: imagebase.net) Along with the million other things writers must worry about, there’s pacing! Basically, pacing is how fast the story moves. Ever hear someone describe how a book took off running from the first page? Or how it started slow, but picked up toward the end? What creates those impressions? How do you control them? Each individual sentence of your story has an effect on overall pacing. If it’s advancing the plot in a meaningful way, then it’s…
No one said this would be an easy climb. Let’s get started! (Image credit: imagebase.net) When one works Tech Support, one tends to develop a dim view of salespeople. Many of them are the former jocks who gave you hell in high school, now sporting fake tans, classy suits, and leased BMWs. They care more about meeting their quotas than actually assisting people. When their customers call Tech Support to complain that what they bought isn’t appropriate for their needs,…
My spouse does long-form improv- similar to what you see on Whose Line Is It Anyway?, only a given scene lasts several minutes instead of a few seconds. It requires tons of practice to keep such a long scene engaging and funny off the top of one’s head. Sometimes, an improv scene peters out when characters get stuck talking about stuff they already did, or plan to do in the future. During rehearsal, coaches will yell “CUT TO THAT!” In…
(Image credit: Imagebase.net) When most people think of “editing,” they think of reclining on the couch with a printout, red pen in hand, making tiny, gentle corrections in the space of an afternoon. Probably followed by a cookie and a well-earned nap. With a novel-length work, though, editing is a complicated slog. You take out extraneous words, and collapse chapters. You add words where they’re lacking, and split chapters. You say, “holy crap, this character would NEVER do/say that!” You…
The view out my front door is ever-changing. A developer has torn out a high school that used to be there to put in apartment buildings, offices, and townhouses over the next several years. Presently, a mountain chain of excavated dirt stares me in the face. On its right lies a lovely new bike and pedestrian path that, once open, will provide a shortcut to a major street, a park, and our groceries. On its left is a patch of…