Balticon is in eleven days!!! The schedule is more or less final, so here’s where I’m going to be: Sunday May 28, 2017 9:00 AM – Rituals for Creativity. 11:00 AM – What Diversity Is Good For 2:00 PM – Filing off the Serial Numbers: Good or Bad 5:00 PM – Worldbuilding in SF vs. …
I hate being laid up. In large part, it’s because it means that something has happened to lay me up, and that’s never a good time, but it also means that I’m usually sidelined in some way until I can get back on my feet. On Thursday I had a cancerous chunk of skin removed. …
You don’t: Need anyone to give you permission to write. Need listen when someone says, “Genre X” is dead. Need to do things “Just so” to be able to call yourself a writer. Need to Outline.* Need to discovery write. Need to listen when someone tells you, “You can’t do that.” Need to continue to …
Sometimes, when I’m writing, I feel like all I’m doing is just banging my head against my desk, trying to jar something loose. I don’t feel like I’m doing anything at all. That, of course, makes me feel like I’m wasting my writing time. Which, of course, results in more, frenzied head-bashing. Sometimes, it’s difficult …
Happy Sunday Y’All! This is going to be a quick one today because my “To-Do” list is pretty damned long and I am bound and determined to not spend the *entire* day working. So here goes… Take chances. In your writing. Write what you’ve never written before. Take that one thing (or pick one, if …
Elevator Pitch. If you’re any kind of serious about getting traditionally published, or if you listen to writing podcasts, or if you hang out with writers or writing communities, you’ve heard about the “Elevator pitch”. It’s almost unavoidable. But, if you’ve somehow managed to avoid hearing about the elevator pitch* let me wrap a definition …
I have a confession to make… I did not write 5000 words today. I didn’t write 2500 words today. Didn’t even get close. I edited a chapter, it took me – probably – longer than it should have because I’ve got a cold-thing that has half of my head feeling like it’s been packed with …
This week I’m blogging at The Million Words website. Come check it out, You’ll be glad you did! You can find it Here
Maybe you’ve heard this before: 80 percent of success is showing up. I tried to track down who it was that originally said that and the closest I could get was a quote from Woody Allen, but he was talking about life. I agree with the quote, but what, exactly does “Showing up” mean? On the …
I’ve seen the question posed by the title of this blog post a number of times over the past few weeks. It’s a good question because, if you’re anything like me, current events and the latest outrages tend to hit you pretty hard, leaving you drained and tired and that’s not the best footing to …