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
Speculative Fiction is a Product of its Time
If you remember, last year I acquired and read a short story collection of the best science fiction and fantasy stories from 1959. For those too lazy to click the link, I mentioned that I thought that most, if not
Reminder to BACK YOUR STUFF UP!
Don’t worry, Squiders, nothing got me. Well, nothing got my stuff. (I do, however, have an issue where, if I forget to uncheck the graphics driver update before my computer runs the updates, the new driver eats my display set-up.
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,
How Important is Your Writing Space?
We’re just going to question everything, apparently. I’ve seen a lot of talk lately about the importance of setting up your writing space. In theory, I think this is supposed to increase your productivity or the ease of your writing
Do Writing Prompts Work?
Ah, writing prompts. They’re everywhere. Daily ones, writing exercise ones, lists of prompts, music prompts, picture prompts. But how effective are they? Well, it depends. It depends on lots of things. What your goals are. What you’re hoping to get
Even Outlining Goes Awry
Ah, outlining. Some people hate it. Some people swear by it. The longer I’ve written professionally, the more I’ve come to like outlining, both as a writing tool, but more as an editing tool. One of the last steps I
