writing

Small Epiphanies

January 5, 2012

Last February, I was a participant at the San Francisco Writers Conference, where I met lots and lots of people, but three people in particular: Katharine “Kit” Kerr, Alex Tillson, and Clint Talbert. Though it would probably surprise at least two of them to hear it, all three of them led me to great epiphanies [...]

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Ripe Ideas and Low-Hanging Fruit

November 28, 2011

“Low-hanging fruit” is a common metaphor you’ll hear in writing circles, in reference to coming up with ideas. The lowest-hanging fruit on any tree are the easiest ones to reach and therefore the ones that get picked first. For writers, the metaphor usually suggests that the ideas you come up with first, or most easily, [...]

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5 Tips For Boosting Your NaNoWriMo Word Count

October 24, 2011

NaNoWriMo is almost upon us. Writers everywhere are stretching fingers and sharpening pencils, saying farewell to loved ones and clearing schedules to accommodate large blocks of writing time. The goal of NaNoWriMo is to pen 50,000 words within the month of November. Your mission is to get to that word count. There are no rules [...]

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The Value of Collaborative Writing

September 26, 2011

When I’ve spoken in the past about the kinds of freeform text-based fantasy roleplaying games that have been my creative writing fix for the last eight years or so, people have always looked at me funny. But now, perhaps the old-school virtual communities have gained a bit more cred with this past Friday’s New York [...]

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A Couple Great Posts About Process

September 22, 2011

I’m about halfway through my next short story, and I was planning to write a post about the writing process today. Then I read J.M. Frey‘s latest blog post about her writing process, and I’ve changed my mind. You should go over to her blog and read that one instead. Unhooking – at JMFrey.net If [...]

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Supporting the Aspiring Writer

August 15, 2011

If you’re friends with an aspiring writer, what’s the best thing you can do to be supportive for them? At the Pub-Pourri (publishing potpourri) Writer’s Symposium panel at Gen Con, someone asked this question. I thought it was a great one, and I wanted to share some of the answers that the rest of the [...]

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Guest Post: Richard Lee Byers with “5 Truths about Publishing That Nobody Ever Told Me”

June 9, 2011

Guest blogger Richard Lee Byers is the author of over thirty fantasy and horror novels, including a number set in the Forgotten Realms universe. His short fiction has appeared in numerous magazines and anthologies. — Five Truths About Publishing That Nobody Ever Told Me Gabrielle suggested this topic when we discussed guest blogging on one [...]

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On Names, Placeholders, and Autocorrect

May 23, 2011

Just a brief cautionary tale today. Lately I’ve been trying to improve the work-productivity of my iPad. It’s a nifty thing for reading and for watching Netflix, but I want to be able to do work on it too. I want it to replace my netbook when I travel. It can’t completely take over until [...]

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Writer’s Inertia

March 10, 2011

Writer’s inertia is one of the big issues I face when I seek to set down a story. It’s not to be confused with writer’s block — I have the idea, I know exactly where it’s going…and in a way, that’s exactly the problem. I write really solidly at first: I establish the set-up, get [...]

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Belief [comma] Usage [comma] and Preference

February 7, 2011

I was asked, in response to last week’s post, if I believe in the Oxford comma. The Oxford comma, or serial comma, is the comma that sets off the “and” at the end of a list. It’s believed necessary for clarity by some, optional by others, and inefficient by yet others, and it’s one of [...]

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