Oh wow, just noticed it's been over a month since I last posted anything here. Oops? Life became Very Busy, and this site was the first thing to get shuffled to the wayside... Here's a list of the writing-related things I accomplished in that time:
...and another grad school packet due on 11/15, which if you do the math comes out to being this Friday. Add into this various irrelevant work-stuff, and yes, I've been busy.
Oh, and NaNoWriMo is this month. I always make an account, but don't have quite enough competitive spirit to stick to it -- still, good luck to all those making a more serious attempt! I applaud your efforts. Now get back to writing.
Anyway, in all this month that I've spent not writing blog posts, I have had time to read some. So, without further ado, here are six of the best articles I've come across lately (listed after the break, in approximate order of the writing process)...
- 10/15: graduate school packet (latest chapter of my WIP + essays on two books) delivered to my mentor
- 11/1: manuscripts for January workshops
- 11/2: a reading in front of actual people (which is why I now have an Events page!)
...and another grad school packet due on 11/15, which if you do the math comes out to being this Friday. Add into this various irrelevant work-stuff, and yes, I've been busy.
Oh, and NaNoWriMo is this month. I always make an account, but don't have quite enough competitive spirit to stick to it -- still, good luck to all those making a more serious attempt! I applaud your efforts. Now get back to writing.
Anyway, in all this month that I've spent not writing blog posts, I have had time to read some. So, without further ado, here are six of the best articles I've come across lately (listed after the break, in approximate order of the writing process)...
"22 Great Map Resources and Tutorials," from The World Building School
This is a hugely useful collection of links for all stages of (literal) world-building, from PhotoShop brushes and icons to ground-up (rather, tectonic-plate-up) drawing tutorials. Go, click, sift through.
"Explorations of Faith in the Sandbox of Fiction," by Ken Scholes on A Dribble of Ink
A dissection of the theme of religion in SFF -- good for anyone who plans to include it (and, considering it's a major part of most cultures, your writing probably will). As Scholes points out, "it continues to be a key part of human existence and the worlds and characters we create are more real when they are multi-faceted. Religion can also be a great source of inner and outer conflict, which makes it a powerful tool for storytelling."
"How I Won NaNoWriMo in 9 Days," by Ava Jae on Writability
Regardless of whether you're aiming to climb that particular annual mountain, these tips are amazingly freeing when approaching any first draft. While most of those NaNoWriMo articles are written, well, pretty much like any other writing article -- advice on building believable characters, plot structure, etc. -- this tells you to do what all the others say not to: commit "writing sins," so long as you don't let them slow you down. It's the first draft. Your characters can gain dimension in the second.
"Contemplation, at the end of a season," by N.K. Jemisin
The utterly honest story of how Jemisin's latest-published duology -- The Killing Moon and The Shadowed Sun, which have proven good enough to be nominated for three major awards this year -- were actually her first-written, but could not find a publisher because they were too "esoteric". Talks about the uphill climb to publication against racial pigeon-holing, and about the progress the SFF publishing world has made (and will hopefully continue to make).
"Going Out of Business, Nigerian Spam-Scam Style," by Victoria Strauss on Writer Beware
On the other side of the publishing spectrum, here's the story of a publishing scam that's going under -- and has sent one last con email to its authors. It would be hilarious if it weren't true.
"25 Reasons I Fucking Love Genre Fiction," by Chuck Wendig on Terribleminds
On a more positive note, here's Wendig's presentation speech from this year's GenreCon -- a list of (some of) the best things about SFF.
This is a hugely useful collection of links for all stages of (literal) world-building, from PhotoShop brushes and icons to ground-up (rather, tectonic-plate-up) drawing tutorials. Go, click, sift through.
"Explorations of Faith in the Sandbox of Fiction," by Ken Scholes on A Dribble of Ink
A dissection of the theme of religion in SFF -- good for anyone who plans to include it (and, considering it's a major part of most cultures, your writing probably will). As Scholes points out, "it continues to be a key part of human existence and the worlds and characters we create are more real when they are multi-faceted. Religion can also be a great source of inner and outer conflict, which makes it a powerful tool for storytelling."
"How I Won NaNoWriMo in 9 Days," by Ava Jae on Writability
Regardless of whether you're aiming to climb that particular annual mountain, these tips are amazingly freeing when approaching any first draft. While most of those NaNoWriMo articles are written, well, pretty much like any other writing article -- advice on building believable characters, plot structure, etc. -- this tells you to do what all the others say not to: commit "writing sins," so long as you don't let them slow you down. It's the first draft. Your characters can gain dimension in the second.
"Contemplation, at the end of a season," by N.K. Jemisin
The utterly honest story of how Jemisin's latest-published duology -- The Killing Moon and The Shadowed Sun, which have proven good enough to be nominated for three major awards this year -- were actually her first-written, but could not find a publisher because they were too "esoteric". Talks about the uphill climb to publication against racial pigeon-holing, and about the progress the SFF publishing world has made (and will hopefully continue to make).
"Going Out of Business, Nigerian Spam-Scam Style," by Victoria Strauss on Writer Beware
On the other side of the publishing spectrum, here's the story of a publishing scam that's going under -- and has sent one last con email to its authors. It would be hilarious if it weren't true.
"25 Reasons I Fucking Love Genre Fiction," by Chuck Wendig on Terribleminds
On a more positive note, here's Wendig's presentation speech from this year's GenreCon -- a list of (some of) the best things about SFF.
Okay, there you have it! Six links that should prove useful. Have you read any fantastic articles on the internet recently? If so, link them in a comment!
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