Be Honest
A story needs to be honest. Now, that isn’t quite the same as saying that a story must be true. Obviously when we are writing fiction, we are basically telling lies in order to enlighten and entertain. So fiction stories aren’t true. Yet in order for a story to work, there must be a good […]
Be Imaginative
Artist Zaria Forman, source: The Daily Mail I judge stories for the world’s largest fantasy and science fiction writing contest. When I’m judging, the first thing that I look for is a great idea, a great concept. I search for something original. The most common failure in a story is a failure of imagination. You […]
The Truth About Writer’s Block
Some authors never get “Writer’s Block,” and they don’t believe that it exists. They’ll blithely say, “Do doctors ever get ‘Doctor’s block,’ or do plumbers ever get ‘plumber’s block’?” and they think that they’ve just scored a point. If you had asked me ten years ago, I would have told you much the same. The […]
To Win Big, You Have to Enter the Race
Last week I got a note from a student who just had a novel accepted by a major publisher. He seemed a little surprised at how easily it had happened, as if he’d happened to enter a horse race and had just taken first place by accident. But it’s no accident. I’ve heard a lot […]
Writing the Impossible
When I fell in love with the idea of writing, it was after reading my favorite novel of all time. I thought, “I want to write stories like that,” not realizing how big my dream really was. You see, when I meet new authors, I almost always find that they hope to write great works, […]
Dream Big
You may not realize it, but as writers we are all on the same journey. We all start as “wannabes,” hoping to amaze audiences with our eloquence and powerful tales, and so we set out on a quest to become “writers.” Some of us take only a few steps along the path before we give […]
Stories and Stables
Many years ago, I heard a renowned magazine editor Gardner Dozois remark, “I don’t want just a great story in my magazine, I want a great writer in my stable.” He was talking of course about why he didn’t pick up new writers on their very first stories. He had a policy: if a new […]
The Author Must Say Something!
What story treasures do you have buried deep inside of you? When the author has nothing to say. Very often as a reader, I’ll come across a story that is well written in many regards: the author has written characters that have strong voices, the setting is energetically created, and the action progresses in a […]
Fixating on a Story
What Does “Fixating” Mean? Remember when you were young and your mother or father read a favorite story to you over and over? Or do you recall that one book or movie that you wanted to read or watch again and again? Most people have a few “all-time favorites.” For me, when I was a […]
Using Precise Language in Your Writing
Using Precise Language Once a quarter I read through thousands of stories for a writing contest—a job that usually takes several weeks. It would take longer, but of course I don’t always have to read an entire manuscript in order to know that it is not publishable. In looking at stories and determining just why […]