Courtesy Floating Robes “Apropos of nothing,” asks one person, “what’s the name of the mental disorder/condition where a person thinks his or her art/work is never good enough?” The immediate response from the other is, “…being an artist?” It pretty much is a mental disorder, as it fucks with your brain almost constantly. It can… Continue reading The Disorder of Art
Tag: advice
Writing Weird Worlds
I have an unabashed love for science fiction and fantasy. I grew up on Star Trek (the Next Generation, mostly), and C.S. Lewis’ Chronicles of Narnia was possibly the first full book series I read start to finish. The ability of a writer to completely transport an audience, be it one reader or a million… Continue reading Writing Weird Worlds
More Writer's Rules
See this? This here is the bearded penmonkey who is, in my mind, the whiskey-soaked Yoda to my whiny Luke Skywalker, the cuss-heavy Stranger to my bumbling Jeffrey “The Dude” Lebowski, the shouty Elrond to my somewhat smelly Aragorn, Chuck Wendig. He’s going to give you the secret to successful writing. Lean close. You’ll want… Continue reading More Writer's Rules
Writers Should Read
Three years ago when I started this thing I posted about breaking writer’s block through reading. It’s been said by people cooler than myself that buying into writer’s block is a mug’s game, so I won’t totally re-create that previous post. I will, however, re-post some of the advice from back then, because it’s still… Continue reading Writers Should Read
Take A Walk
Writers: when was the last time you went for a walk? Some of you may do it every day. Some of you might go to a gym so what do you need a walk for? Others? Pfft, that’s what I bought a car for, son. Pedestrians are bonus points to me. I decorate the grille… Continue reading Take A Walk
Send Up A Flare
Going out into the wilderness is a somewhat dangerous prospect. Wildlife, weather and our own wherewithal are all factors that must be taken into account when facing a journey into the unknown. And when someone like Bear Grylls or Les Stroud enters the wilderness alone (or at least with no overt help from the camera… Continue reading Send Up A Flare
The Reality of Fantasy
Fair warning, would-be writers: if you’re good at what you do, somebody somewhere’s going to want to hurt you. Having finished George RR Martin’s A Storm of Swords last night, more than once I wanted to reach through the pages, grab the man by the beard and give him a couple of shakes for what… Continue reading The Reality of Fantasy
Querying Do's and Don'ts
“Professionals have standards: Be polite. Be efficient. Have a plan to kill everyone you meet.” Believe it or not, there’s a lesson to be learned from the Sniper of Team Fortress 2 if you’re a writer looking to get published. And it doesn’t have anything to do with shooting people or covering them in piss.… Continue reading Querying Do's and Don'ts
Revision's A Hatchet Job
A couple of weeks ago I touched on the subject of rewriting your novel. Wendig’s Writing Haus continues to spew fantastic advice on editing, and this mostly concerns phase two, or what he recommends as phase two. When you edit for content, after all, you’re doing something particular with the manuscript: you’re revising it. And… Continue reading Revision's A Hatchet Job
Be A Pitch Machine
This is going to be yet another one of those “advice I should follow myself before I dispense it” posts. I, like many other authors, have been rejected far more often than I’ve been accepted. From big publishing houses to small press folks, I’ve heard the word NO at least a dozen times before hearing… Continue reading Be A Pitch Machine
