Oh, Squiders. Don’t you wish that you could do everything in a vacuum and never have to rely on other people? Sometimes I do. Sometimes I don’t. Sometimes I eat copious amounts of ice cream, which doesn’t really help anything,
Onward to Space Dinosaurs
Well, Squiders, I have finally finished my chainsaw edit of my YA paranormal/dark fantasy novel. It ended up being approximately 90,000 words, which makes it 15,000 words longer than the original draft. Most of the new stuff is related to
Beginning Problems: The Mirror
Another common issue found in the beginning of a lot of early drafts and first novels is the mirror. Generally, this is combined with the dream sequence, where the main character wakes up from their dream, stumbles into the bathroom
Beginning Problems: The Dream Sequence
Beginnings are an interesting beast, and what I find fascinating is that so many writers start their first stories the same way, like there’s some instinctual drive to do so. Like we were all taught to do so, even though
Ta Da Tuesday (and SFWA’s New Membership Guidelines)
I got an email this morning from D’vorah Lansky (who is a writing/marketing professional) talking about it being Ta Da Tuesday. The idea is that, instead of a To Do list, you make a Ta Da list and celebrate your
Using Your Phone as a Notebook
First of all, though, I’ve been remiss on telling you guys about stuff. I have a new free short story, called Band of Turquoise, up at Turtleduck Press. Go read it! (It’s nice and short.) SF Signal featured Band of
The Reliability of Beta Readers vs Length of Book
Ah, beta readers. An essential tool for most writers, and yet, sometimes, one of the most infuriating. A beta reader, for those who are unfamiliar with the term, is a reader to whom you give a draft of your story,
How Important is Your Writing Space?
We’re just going to question everything, apparently. I’ve seen a lot of talk lately about the importance of setting up your writing space. In theory, I think this is supposed to increase your productivity or the ease of your writing
Do Writing Prompts Work?
Ah, writing prompts. They’re everywhere. Daily ones, writing exercise ones, lists of prompts, music prompts, picture prompts. But how effective are they? Well, it depends. It depends on lots of things. What your goals are. What you’re hoping to get
Looking Forward at 2015
Woo! Does anyone else find the holidays absolutely exhaust them? I look forward to them every year, but by the end, I’m happy to return to the normal routine of everyday life. So! We’ve got a bright, shiny new year, full of
