Posts Tagged ‘advice’
Reflections on My First Two Book Events
This week, I attended my first two book-related events as an author: a book talk / signing at Jabberwocky Books and the Merrimack Valley Halloween Book Festival. For someone with lots of social anxiety, planning, committing too, and/or attending events is no small feat, but somehow, I managed to set up a launch event and…
Read MoreFive Friendly Places that Pay for Fiction
Finding a place to publish a short story can be intimidating. Submitting a story I’ve poured my soul into out to a literary magazine is scary enough without worrying about what happens to it once it lands in someone’s slush. And there are so many places that publish fiction. I have to think about things…
Read MoreTwitter Pitch Parties Are About More Than Just The Likes
When seeking an agent or publisher for a novel, I participate in every twitter pitch party I get the chance to. So far, no one “like” or “heart” has landed me an agent or a book deal, but I still participate. They help me figure out what agents like the kind of stories I write, and…
Read MoreIWSG November: I will win NaNoWriMo!
November 1 question – Win or not, do you usually finish your NaNo project? Have any of them gone on to be published? Because I was so into national novel writing month, I completely forgot to blog on the first of the month with the Insecure Writers Support Group Question. Half way through the month and…
Read MorePronoun Problems
“… just because there is a non-binary character doesn’t mean the story has to be about being non-binary.”
Read MoreISWSP October Question: #ownvoices?
October 4 question – Have you ever slipped any of your personal information into your characters, either by accident or on purpose? My answer: Yes, but sometimes it is more intentional than others While none of my characters are directly based off of my self, many of them share my non-binary gender identity. They struggle with…
Read MoreCelebrate Every Victory, No Matter How Small
In an industry full of rejection, it is important for writers to celebrate every victory, large or small. Today, I’m celebrating because my novelette, Half Breeds, is available for pre-order. It may not really be a “book” or full-length novel, it may not even be available in print, but it is a standalone piece. It’s…
Read MoreBailing Boats and Books
No matter how much rain gets in it, and no matter how broken it is, I never let it sink.
Read MoreProblems with Word Count Quotas
While writing my first two books, I didn’t pay too much attention to my word count until after I finished the first draft. My first draft of Song of the Forest came close to 200,000 words and my first draft of Power Surge was around 130,000. When I revised, I went through a cycle of…
Read MoreRoom for Discovery in Planned Novels
When I was taking a creative writing workshop in college, my professor (Andre Dubus III) told me he never planned novels. He encouraged us to avoid outlines, claiming they would make our writing feel forced. He said if we outlined, our characters wouldn’t feel real, and they wouldn’t come to life on the page. Shortly…
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