Music to write by: “Sweet Jane” by The Cowboy Junkies

Alright. I know I promised to relate my first experience at a Con, but that will have to wait while I unveil… the title of this blog ! ! ! (Yes the applause sign is lighting up!)

I finally found a name for my little slice of cyberspace:
“How to Succeed as a Writer (without even trying)”. Now I’m sure that some of you noticed that my passel of published stories is more of a parcel instead of a shipment if you know what I mean. I have had a story professionally published but I’ve yet to break into the pro-magazines. So…

Why would I name my blog “How to Succeed as a Writer”? Well I intend for this blog to chronicle my doing exactly that. Hopefully, I can take a few of you along for the ride. And… it’s a catchy name, ain’t it? Did it get to you read this far? Obviously the answer is yes or you wouldn’t be reading this. Or this. Or this. Hahaha I kill me….

Enough with the cheap gags. It’s my intention that this blog be a resource for all writers, but especially new writers. I do a lot of research and I like to think I keep in touch with the blogosphere. So subscribe the this blog, add me to your blogroll, and hopefully we’ll all learn how to break out together!

Until tomorrow’s post…. adios

hello again guys,

 Music to write by: “Bleed Together” by Soundgarden

Alright, so I’m having a lot of difficulty with a story I’m putting together for Mike Turner’s A New Century of Swords & Sorcery Anthology by Flying Pen Press. I have to admit, in terms of short fiction, sci-fi comes much easier to me than fantasy. Nevertheless I was invited to submit and I very much respect Mike, so I decided to give it a shot.

After much thinking, an idea started to gel and I began to write. At one point I was even patting myself on the back about how clever I was. Then… whammo! Blocked. Full-on colon-wrecking writing constipation. What did I do to uh… get the story out?  Well, a couple of things:

 1) remind myself that I’m a professional and I have a deadline. In your real-life job (mine’s writing accounting software), you can’t just tell your boss you didn’t finish your project on time. That’s a good way to get your walking papers. No, you buckle down and finish the damn job on time. That’s right, I said it.  Force yourself. Forget all that BS about your “muse” and just spew stuff out.

2) Write a shitty first draft (darn, this blog is up to a PG rating now, I really gotta mind the language). Just spew out the story and don’t worry about what works and what doesn’t. Having trouble moving your hero from one encounter to the next? Skip the troubling bits. Come back to them. But keep writing. Crappy writing is better than no writing, at least if you’re on the first draft.

3) Brainstorm. Talk out your problems with your writing group. I’m part of the Spec 24 writing group (yes, we named it. We’re geekers), and it really helps to bounce ideas off them.

4) Don’t get distracted. Unplug the TV, keep internet explorer closed, send the kids next door… whatever. Stare at that damn screen until something appears on it. Believe me. If you stare long enough, you’ll write something, even if it’s just to relieve your own boredom.

5) Finally, I’ll share some advice given to me by Joe Cooke at Norwescon. Joe believes we all have a “well of creativity” that we draw from for inspiration. In order to refill his well, Joe goes for long walks in the park. I hear Stephen King does this as well.  Me? Well, I suppose a little fresh air couldn’t hurt, but I live in Vancouver, so odds are it’s pouring out, and my apartment is sooooo comfortable….

 Anyways, that’s it for now. Hopefully I’ve been helpful. Next time, I’ll report on my experiences at NorWesCon. It was my first con, and boy was it an experience.  Until then…. chowder!

Hello again guys,

 Music to write by: “Rain Wizard” by Black Stone Cherry

Today, I thought I’d focus on some of the blogs of writers who are doing well and who I think you should read.

Robert J. Sawyer is a Canadian writer who’s got tons of accolades. Last year he made his way over to the Surrey International Writers’ Conference which, unfortunately, I missed. This guy has written tons of great articles on writing that are frank and open. Most of them are listed on his site where you can read them for free. If you’ve read the latest Writers of the Future anthology (and if you haven’t DO) you’ll already be familiar with one of his articles. Mr. Sawyer writes near-future Sci-fi (which puts us in direct competition…yeeeahhh). His novel Rollback has recently been released. One word of warning… his blog is a little pluggy. Actually, it’s very pluggy, but the guy’s a legend so his blog’s still recommended.

John Scalzi is perhaps most famous for his blog “Whatever” where he’s been posting daily since 1998 (and which recently got nominated for a Hugo under the category “Best Fan Writer”. Most on thatin another post). Why should you read his blog? Scalzi’s got a big microphone. Half (or more) of the writing community reads it, so you should too! As for the writing, well he won the John W. Campbell Award for Best New Writer in 2005 so the guy’s at the top of his game.

Jeff VanderMeer is a writer of the New Weird which is a style of writing that brings together elements of fantasy, sci fi, and horror. He won a World Fantasy Award in 2000, so you know this guy knows what he’s talking about. As a plus, his wife, Ann VanderMeer, is the editor over at Weird Tales. If you’re not reading this blog, you should be.

Well, I brought you three must read blogs, but there are way, way more. On the horizon, profiles on some newer authors that I feel are on the verge of breaking out, and spotlights on the blogs of editors at magazines you want to be published in. Until then, chowder!

Music to write by: “Chaos” by Mutemath

Hey guys,

Thought I’d start the blog rolling by…referencing other blogs. Not that I don’t have anything entertaining of my own to say… but… well… you know. Though I’m far from having written a complete novel, I’m reading a bunch of blogs of literary agents and editors just to keep my thumb on the throbbing pulse of the market. I few of the more interesting/entertaining ones are described below.

Miss Snark is an anonymous literary agent. From what I glean from her blog, she represents mainly historical fiction, some non-fiction, and perhaps some romance. Despite this, she’d got spunk and is–you guessed it–full of snarky things to say which makes for an entertaining read.

The Rejecter is a literary agent’s assistant at a New York firm. She’s got a blunt manner that makes for hilarious posts and I love a good rant. She covers a lot of the same ground as Miss Snark, but she’s also writing her own stuff (and doing an MFA, poor lass).

Lit Agent X’s blog is nice mainly for working on your hooks. She doesn’t post often, but sometimes she holds hook contests where she offers a critique. If anything, it’s worth trolling the archives just to see what kind of books other budding writers are writing, and how they hope to attract a lit agent’s interest. One this thing I learned from this blog: There are tooooo many “journery” stories in fantasy. This is a tired plot device but everyone seems to write fantasy this way. Obviously, yours truly is going a different way .

Finally, for now, is the Evil Editor. The Evil Editor’s blog consists entirely of little writing games, but occasionally (he/she?) does a little exercise called “New beginnings” where she takes an existing (usually crappy) hook and rewrites it. Valuable insight.

That’s about it for now. More blogs are a comin’ never fear!

Greetings!

Welcome to my mind for the first time. If you’re reading this, my thanks for subscribing to this site while it’s still in its infancy.

What is this blog going to be about? Well I write genre fiction so obviously there’s going to be a focus on that, but I’m going to avoid sharing every excruciating detail of my own career because I’m sure you have your own life to worry about. Instead I’m going to focus on some of the issues that are important in the field, share market information for places I think are cool, introduce you to some really cool writers, and forward some interesting posts.

That said, I welcome comments and I will do my best to respond to e-mail within a couple of days so feel free to drop me a line. You’ll notice the little RSS feed in the bottom right corner of the blog. Click on that and you’ll be redirected to a page that contains an “RSS Feed”. This allows you to get automatic updates on the blog through a FeedReader program like Google’s Blog Reader (the program I use). Give it a shot, I’m sure you’ll like it!

Until next time!

Tags: blogging