For a general answer, I would say yes. There’s a lot of useful things that can be gotten out of a writers conference: networking with other authors, the opportunity to see where your genre/the industry seems to be heading, and
What Constitutes Storycraft?
Websites are still down. Sigh. So, I mentioned earlier that I’ve taken over the storycraft meetings of my local speculative fiction writing group. I really enjoy these meetings, but I sometimes find it hard to pick appropriate topics to discuss.
The Tricky Art of Character Creation
Before I get started, Squiders, let me note that both KitCampbellBooks.com and KitTheEditor.com are currently down. Apparently some sort of malicious source code snuck in through one of my WordPress plugins and tried to send people to other websites, so
Waiting on Other People (It’s Not Your Fault)
Oh, Squiders. Don’t you wish that you could do everything in a vacuum and never have to rely on other people? Sometimes I do. Sometimes I don’t. Sometimes I eat copious amounts of ice cream, which doesn’t really help anything,
Onward to Space Dinosaurs
Well, Squiders, I have finally finished my chainsaw edit of my YA paranormal/dark fantasy novel. It ended up being approximately 90,000 words, which makes it 15,000 words longer than the original draft. Most of the new stuff is related to
Beginning Problems: The Mirror
Another common issue found in the beginning of a lot of early drafts and first novels is the mirror. Generally, this is combined with the dream sequence, where the main character wakes up from their dream, stumbles into the bathroom
Beginning Problems: The Dream Sequence
Beginnings are an interesting beast, and what I find fascinating is that so many writers start their first stories the same way, like there’s some instinctual drive to do so. Like we were all taught to do so, even though
Ta Da Tuesday (and SFWA’s New Membership Guidelines)
I got an email this morning from D’vorah Lansky (who is a writing/marketing professional) talking about it being Ta Da Tuesday. The idea is that, instead of a To Do list, you make a Ta Da list and celebrate your
Using Your Phone as a Notebook
First of all, though, I’ve been remiss on telling you guys about stuff. I have a new free short story, called Band of Turquoise, up at Turtleduck Press. Go read it! (It’s nice and short.) SF Signal featured Band of
The Reliability of Beta Readers vs Length of Book
Ah, beta readers. An essential tool for most writers, and yet, sometimes, one of the most infuriating. A beta reader, for those who are unfamiliar with the term, is a reader to whom you give a draft of your story,
