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Congratulations to everyone who entered the contest!  Here were the rules, which I put up at the Pikes Peak Writers’ Conference: Do you have what it takes to write a perfect short story?  Me either.  So we’re not going for “Great.” We’re going for “Done.” Rules: Your character is an insecure traveler who is obsessed […]

Right, at the last minute I decided to not submit to my own contest, but to just write for it using the same parameters.  I’m itching to write something fun and fast today, and I don’t have a lot of time.  We’ll see how it goes. Anyway, here’s my steps: 1) Pick genre (and market).

What tools do we need as writers?  How are they different from the tools we needed and learned as readers? There is a difference. For example, readers learn that well-rounded characters are interesting, but how do you write a well-rounded character, if you don’t have an innate sense of what a well-rounded character is?  Readers

Last week I did a post called “When you promise genre, what do you promise?”  More thoughts on the subject here.  (Yes, it’s arrogant of me to pick genre apart at this level.  No, I really am that analytical, so I will end up doing it anyway, even if it’s idiotic.)  The tl:dr is after

This is one of those “duh” moments that I’m sure other formatters are already doing.   But it makes me pretty happy nonetheless. Okay, someone wants a PDF copy of your book for their ereader, and you’re willing to send it to them.  How to do that? To size the PDF for an ereader, assume

The first rule of Writing Club is that a rule that doesn’t suggest how to successfully break itself is a boring rule.  No, I lie.  That’s the second rule of Writing Club.  The first rule is “don’t be boring.” I’ve been playing around with the idea that genre means making certain promises to the reader–setting

So you’re a writer and you don’t know what to do with Goodreads. And I’m going to try to tell you all about it.  Wish us both luck… Here is the link to Goodreads’ intro to the author program.  I suspect this is just the first post on the subject; it’s not thorough, but covers

My experiment for the day: what are the bare minimum of data points you need to know before you can start writing (or reading) most characters?  What does it take to hook the reader? I have slushed (and rejected) an uncounted number of short stories that start out with the character waking up with amnesia.

Or, why the words “entertainment” and “escape” aren’t all that helpful. This is going to sound dumb, but I’ve struggled over the last couple of years with what adult fiction is for.  The answer is obvious: entertainment.  Or escape.  I don’t get it.  But then I’m the person who searches for the keys when they’re