Anthologies are often the first place a brand newbie writer can get published. Which is why many colleges and writing clubs collect and print anthologies. Inclusion in an anthology increases the value of group membership and lifts all boats – or in this case, author’s street cred.
In my early years of writing I believe that in order to be successful, I needed to follow the paths of more successful writers. Did my mentor meditate? I’ll mediate, it will make my work better. Did my mentor move to Taos? I’ll move to Taos, it will help me be more inspired and creative. Did my mentor write for ten minutes straight? I’ll write for ten minutes straight.
Ask me about a favorite book – and I’ll describe the heroine.
Let’s welcome back monthly columnist Catharine Bramkamp as she shares with us “ The Writer’s Reward.” Enjoy!
In my weekly live #askaWritingCoach chat this week, Catharine Bramkamp and I chatted about writing retreats and conferences, their differences, and how to prepare your own cheap writing retreat. We also gave away prizes....
I’m not a fan of Sara Gilbert per se, but she delivered a great TED talk on the Muse. And based on that talk she has just published a book on creativity called Big Magic
Many authors and students have difficulty starting their projects. For students, often the problem is they aren’t terribly inspired by the topic. I don’t blame them for feeling stuck. It’s difficult find motivation in broad topics like, say, global warming. Once you’ve created a slide showing that poor polar bear swimming in the melted waters of the Arctic, there isn’t much else to say.
I work with an engineer on the show – someone devoted to reality as much as he’s devoted to fantasy. Interestingly my son is a Geo-Physicist and is equally passionate about fantasy and science fiction. Which should be a lesson to writers: even brilliant people read to be transported to far away lands. Remember that you are writing for brilliant readers, some even more brilliant than you.
When you try really, really hard to be funny, it inevitably won’t work. Like when my mother tells a joke. She always forgets some critical piece in the set up that, if forgotten, renders the punch line unintelligible. Which, as she backtracks and says, Oh, I forgot to tell you about the bath tub, is funny, but not the way she intended.
Urban Legends are the sturdy children of ancient myths and legends. We love to believe the story about the hook on the car door, or the dog drying in the microwave, or the car following a driver in the middle of the night and honking because there was a killer in the back seat. We love these stories, we believe these stories because we heard it from a friend who heard it from their aunt who swore she knew the victim, or at least heard of the victim. No names are ever exchanged. But even so, the story must be true. Preposterous, but deliciously true.
You are a real writer, that’s why you stopped at this title. You persist. Real writers write despite nagging questions about the mortgage, food and what to do with the children this weekend. And you still write. So where is our international support group? Not a critique group – not a writers reading group, we already belong to those. What I would like to see is a more sensible group, based on the real challenges and essential character of a writer.
From wanting to know if James Patterson uses a special pen to wondering what kind of perfect program Jon Green has loaded into his computer, we think that if only the specific talisman for good writing is identified, then purchased, possession will make us instantly famous. Except no matter what kind of special pen you own, you still must use it.
Science Fiction and/or Time Travel is fun. We get to imagine the future, create bizarre creatures, re-imagine everything we may not like in this world, and fix it in the next.
Many writers are not specifically or even self identified, scientists. Yet we write about science and technology anyway. Why? Because we use it technology, we depend on science and many of us watched Star Trek as kids. What else is there to know?
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