Beware the Critical Eye
Most new writers join critique groups, but have you ever wondered if you’re spending too much time in one? Here are some problems that I’ve noticed. Most critique groups, over time, will morph into social clubs. The authors who join them tend to become friends, and as the months pass, it seems that the authors […]
Writing, Your New Normal
Today at the Writers of the Future workshop, I assigned a dozen new writers to go finish a short story in 24 hours. For some of those writers, in fact for most of them, this seemed like a pretty big challenge. As an old pro, it seemed more like another workday. Maybe the problem is […]
Not for Love nor Money
Very often I have new writers ask if I will pass their work along to an agent or editor, sort of “walk it through the system.” The author’s assumption is that this will help persuade a professional to publish their manuscript. But the answer is—No, I don’t believe in doing that, and you should never […]
Publishing Tips for 2018 and Beyond
One of the most frequently asked questions that I get is, “As a writer in 2018, should I go Indie, or try to publish traditionally?” It’s not a question that I can easily answer. The reason is that it depends in part upon the genre that you’re publishing in, in part upon your personality (Are […]
Your First Five Pages
When you send a novel to an agent or publisher, they normally ask for the first five or ten pages, just so that they can gauge your writing skill. If those pages don’t grab the reader, it won’t sell. As an editor, I read thousands of stories a year, and it would be difficult to […]
Artistry
There are a lot of people who want to write so that they can get rich quickly, and I worry about them. I don’t begrudge people the desire to get rich. If you’re a writer and you make a decent wage at it, it will give you the freedom to keep writing. That’s a good […]
What “Rejection” Really Means
For weeks I’ve been judging a large contest. I’ve had to “reject” thousands of stories. I hate the word “reject,” because it doesn’t really express what I want to say. Very often I will read the opening to a story and it is obviously the first work of a very young writer. It may have […]
Building a Better Battering Ram – “When do I begin approaching agents?”
“When do I begin approaching agents?” I get that question at least once a week, and my answer is always the same: “When your novel is done. And by that I mean, well done!” I think that it is human nature to be eager. When we are working on a novel, and we’re excited about […]
Writing as Magic
Recently I met Orson Scott Card, and he asked me if I’m still teaching writing classes. I said yes, and I knew that he was teaching, too. Then he said something interesting, he said in essence, “You know, sometimes I feel guilty for trying to teach something that at its heart feels so much akin […]
Striking While the Iron is Hot
Here is a recent question from Drew Briney: “I’ve seen conflicting advice as to whether or not it is okay to self-publish while querying agents and/or looking for a publisher. On the one hand, if my book doesn’t do well, they say, the publisher/agent will be less interested. On the other hand, others say, publishers […]