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Martello posted:I paraphrased a bit from memory. The actual text was: You should probably do more telling and less showing in your next submission.
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Jan 3, 2014 21:48
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Hey Battuta, do you have an email I could get you at?
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Jan 3, 2014 22:30
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Yeah, I'm at sethjosephdickinson at gmail.
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Jan 3, 2014 22:57
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Cool. Sent.
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Jan 3, 2014 23:07
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Walamor posted:You should probably do more telling and less showing in your next submission.
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Jan 4, 2014 01:48
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Just to chime in: I recently completed my Creative Writing BFA and the gist of what my professors and the MFA candidates said were multiple submit to your heart's content if you've never been published. Be sure to keep track of all of your submissions, and withdraw any multiple submissions immediately if you story gets published (but don't tell them why). Granted this is applicable to literary journals, so it might be different if you're sending out to sci-fi/fantasy mags. But yeah, once you have a story that you think is publishable, send it out to 5 different journals. You run the risk of pissing off an editor, but there aren't many editorial boards that remain the same for 5+ years. If you've never been published, getting published is pretty important, and waiting 9+ months just to hear "no" from one place is unrealistic. These standards apparently change once you have been published, but the upside of that is you'll now be sending in cover letters with a publishing credit to your name.
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Jan 4, 2014 02:55
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I'm never sure how much I should be searching Duotrope for intriguing calls for submission in the near future and using them as prompts, or whether I should be just finding homes for stuff I wrote because of whatever. What sort of approaches seem to work best from all of your experiences, fellow writers?
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Jan 4, 2014 03:45
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Dr. Kloctopussy posted:NOOOOoooooooo Yeah this is what I was talking about with the sim sub thing. As you wrote, if they allow it then it's fine to do it. But the understanding of sim sub is that it is first come first serve. The ethical thing to do is to take the first acceptance that you get (or immediately decline it I guess, but if you are gonna do that why include that venue in your sim sub?). It was Blue Squares' thinking of stringing a venue along for a month that was objectionable in this case, not the sim sub. As far as this is concerned it's probably a good strategy to sim sub a story only to venues that you value equally. If you sim sub to 4 high paying prestigious venues and one low paying one, then you'll be put in a bind if the low paying one says yes right away. But if all the venues you sim subbed a story to are equally good in your opinion, then it doesn't matter which one accepts first and you can go with the first response. That way you don't have to deal with angst about sure things vs potential gains, etc. As far as sim subbing places that don't allow sim subs goes. It isn't the best thing but a lot of people do it anyways. If you are unpublished you'll probably get away with it since most of the places you submit to wont accept you. If you do happen to get an acceptance, it'll probably just be the one. Just don't keep doing it once you have a few published stories under your belt and are starting to build a reputation (and relationships with editors for that matter). But to get that first published story, its not that big of a deal even if it is shady. Neil Gaiman did worse to get his first writing gig. JuniperCake fucked around with this message at 11:18 on Jan 4, 2014 |
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Jan 4, 2014 11:10
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JuniperCake posted:Neil Gaiman did worse to get his first writing gig. Do tell.
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Jan 4, 2014 12:18
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Symptomless Coma posted:Do tell. He made up publishing credits.
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Jan 4, 2014 18:05
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So if he'd just been honest, we'd all be spared his obnoxious fans? Son of a bitch.
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Jan 4, 2014 18:22
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Blade_of_tyshalle posted:So if he'd just been honest, we'd all be spared his obnoxious fans? Son of a bitch. Doubtful. His first job was as a journalist and I'm sure if he hadn't gotten that gig, he would have gotten another writing job soon enough. It's not like if you don't get some magical one job you disappear or something.
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Jan 4, 2014 18:25
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Dr. Kloctopussy posted:He made up publishing credits. If you still suck, your devious methods will only bite you in the rear end with a backlash.
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Jan 4, 2014 21:16
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Could I exaggerate a not-magnificent student-made university anthology so that it looks good as some sort of "publishing credit" do you think? e: Speaking of, how should I tell them about my credits? Just in a covering letter? Should I just drop a couple in the first paragraph or is there an accepted way of doing it?
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Jan 4, 2014 22:10
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I'll post a great cover letter template if I can find it when I get home tonight.
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Jan 5, 2014 01:09
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Mike Works posted:I'll post a great cover letter template if I can find it when I get home tonight. Oh yeah, do that. Mine is pretty simple, but I'm curious.
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Jan 5, 2014 04:42
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I just make mine up each time, so it'd be appreciated when cobbling my own together.
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Jan 5, 2014 04:59
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The shorter the better. Dear [get the editor's name right, use full name, no Mr/Mrs. in case they identify differently], Please find attached my [genre] short story "Name" (word count). My work has previously appeared in XYZ and will soon appear in ABC. I am the winner of $award. (Rarely: This story is based on my professional/personal experience with $subject). Thank you for your consideration. Regards, you Other people might have other templates, I'm curious to see.
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Jan 5, 2014 05:49
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That's what I use. I only add other bio info if the place asks for it, or if I think it'll help like my military experience when I submitted to War Stories.
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Jan 5, 2014 05:55
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Should the cover letter provide a summary of the work or more detail on the genre beyond "sci-fi," "fantasy," "mystery," etc.? And if you're unpublished, should you state that you're unpublished or just leave out the previous publication part?
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Jan 5, 2014 05:57
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My primary experience with cover letters is reading some on behalf of a literary agent. Most of the tips that have me are pretty obvious, like don't say your work is really good. Cover letters are really important, and a negative impression really will colour a reader's opinion right away and make them look gleefully for mistakes. Sometimes I think comparing it to other writers or work can be okay insofar as making it clear what market your piece belongs in, but don't over do it (I'd probably avoid it, but some places do ask). Otherwise you will have people on their end saying things like "Yeah, it is like Silence of the Lambs. A really bad and boring Silence of the Lambs."
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Jan 5, 2014 14:22
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I don't have much experience as a writer, and today while reading some stuff I wrote earlier I came to the unsurprising conclusion that my style sucks. So time to start Googling on how to improve, and I stumbled upon a few articles which felt helpful: A guy wites about showing, not just telling: http://jerz.setonhill.edu/writing/creative1/showing/ Beth Hill writes about deep pov (less said, thought): http://theeditorsblog.net/2011/11/16/deep-pov-whats-so-deep-about-it/ And somewhat relating to that, about inner dialogue: http://theeditorsblog.net/2012/02/28/inner-dialogue-writing-character-thoughts/ I found other articles in the editor's blog also helpful, especially thanks to the examples she provided.
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Jan 6, 2014 02:15
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So, the biggest problem I'm having right now with my writing is getting started. I managed to get my Thunderdome entry for this week (for whatever measure metric of quality you assign to it) written in a under three or four hours, including the brainstorming phase. This makes me think that there are two things that have aided me in this. First, the deadline. I'll need to assign for myself artificial deadlines in the future, but I think I can manage that. But it also provided a prompt. Those are harder for me t generate on my own, especially since I'm not entirely comfortable with the entire short story oeuvre. To that end, I was wondering if anyone could suggest some high quality prompt generators, specifically for use in science-fiction or fantasy short stories.
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Jan 7, 2014 04:04
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Meinberg posted:So, the biggest problem I'm having right now with my writing is getting started. I don't know if that's your first time entering, if it is, I wouldn't go congratulating yourself on writing a lot of words in just a little time. The crit portion of the dome is a soul crusher, especially if you kind of came up with an idea, wrote it, re-read it for a couple typos, and then walked away. I'm not saying you're a bad writer. I'm just saying putting four hours into it without getting shredded is no small feat. Second, check out the app Write Or Die. You set a goal against a countdown, and the screen turns red if you don't spew out enough words. magnificent7 fucked around with this message at 04:30 on Jan 7, 2014 |
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Jan 7, 2014 04:28
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magnificent7 posted:First off, tomorrow, around 4pm, take a xanax and prepare a bottle or two of wine, and brace yourself for the crits. While anyone doing dome should expect their work to be torn apart, It's important to note that finishing a story is a victory in of itself. This is especially true if you put your heart (or brain/other assorted organs) into it. So Kudos Meinberg for submitting and not running from the challenge. You should be proud of that. I'd strongly recommend continuing thunderdome if you have the time. You'll get some cruel ,but more importantly honest, reactions to your work plus fun prompts to work with. As far as prompts go, you can always go look up some theme anthologies or zines that are accepting works. See if the theme clicks for you then try and make a piece that could fit it. You'll get a deadline, a theme and an incentive for succeeding to boot. Or you could read some authors that you like for inspiration on themes and ideas to explore. Unfortunately, I don't know of any good prompt generators besides just looking around and finding stuff on one's own. I'm sure there must be a decent one or two out there somewhere though. JuniperCake fucked around with this message at 12:05 on Jan 7, 2014 |
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Jan 7, 2014 11:38
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magnificent7 posted:First off, tomorrow, around 4pm, take a xanax and prepare a bottle or two of wine, and brace yourself for the crits. Mixing drugs & alcohol is a very, very bad idea, never, ever do that. Also why would anyone have drugs like that ? Of course I don't know the background here but at least the first point stands. In general writers should have lots of ideas to write about. Why would someone want to write, if they have nothing to say? For some exercises here are a few which may help: http://theeditorsblog.net/2013/11/17/get-and-keep-the-words-flowing/
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Jan 7, 2014 13:22
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I'm pretty sure he was kidding about the drugs and alcohol, but I guess with mag7 you never really know. On the Thunderdome crit thing - yes, you should take them to heart in that you will usually get better if you understand the criticism and realize that it's valid and you're not as awesome as you think you are. But at the same time, don't go crying yourself to sleep about it. They're supposed to make you better, take them as the help they're intended and be happy about it. Meinberg - next time we're both in IRC we can talk about your problem.
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Jan 7, 2014 13:25
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Martello posted:I'm pretty sure he was kidding about the drugs and alcohol, but I guess with mag7 you never really know. Oh and here's an update to my sleep-killing worries about the manuscript I'd been asked to review. I sent him my notes, with a 4-page overview of the biggest things that got in the way of me reading the story, sort of a "hey, before you read all my nit-picks, here's why I picked at them, and we've been friends a long time, dear god don't hate me for punching your baby." He was very understanding about it, and expected no less than my honest frank opinion. Some of the stuff he'd heard from a few other folks who'd read it, and had a lot of questions about why I loathed his constant POV shifts, (he was writing 3rd-person-omniscient, but it got confusing in a lot of places as to who was thinking what about whom, PLUS, i'm not too familiar with 3PO narration, at least not since I started learning to write stories). In the end, I'd say probably half of my input was mis-placed. I was reading what I thought was a suspense novel, (only because that's all I've been focusing on how to write for the past two years) so I was constantly asking, "Where is your antagonist? Who is the bad guy?" Turns out it's one of those coming-of-age literature man-vs-himself kind of stories. It probably would have helped to know that going in.
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Jan 7, 2014 18:59
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magnificent7 posted:Oh MAN that's cold blooded. And since when is wine and a xanax considered "drugs and alcohol"? Oh. poo poo. Wait I get it. Naw, if you didn't get what the story was about that's not your problem. Analysing why you didn't get what the story was about is helpful feedback for your dude, though. sebmojo fucked around with this message at 23:14 on Jan 7, 2014 |
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Jan 7, 2014 22:52
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Any links, advice, or other resources for writing thriller (or suspense) fiction? Especially psychological thriller, I'd appreciate any pointers. 
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Jan 16, 2014 23:32
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They talk about the distinction between mysteries and thrillers here.
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Jan 17, 2014 00:12
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Sometimes writing sucks. I have started so many stories in the month since I finished the one I sold, and none of them have gone anywhere.
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Jan 17, 2014 01:22
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blue squares posted:Sometimes writing sucks. I have started so many stories in the month since I finished the one I sold, and none of them have gone anywhere. Because you gave up before they got going? Sometimes I've found that the beginning only shows up halfway through. Which sort of sucks, yes.
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Jan 17, 2014 10:37
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Went for a dialogue heavy entry for Thunderdome this week. It looks very weird to me on the page. Does it bother anyone else when they see a page full of dialogue, especially if it's sometimes single sentences?
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Jan 18, 2014 02:01
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Mr_Wolf posted:Went for a dialogue heavy entry for Thunderdome this week. It looks very weird to me on the page. Yep. If it gets to the point where it bothers me, I just ask myself if the characters are doing anything while they're talking instead of sitting perfectly inert.
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Jan 18, 2014 03:57
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You'll want to read this Mr_Wolf... http://theeditorsblog.net/2010/12/08/punctuation-in-dialogue/
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Jan 18, 2014 04:54
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One of my biggest writing weaknesses is that I'm not good at maintaining consistent suspense or tension. It's probably because I haven't read a lot of suspense or thrillers since my Dean Koontz and Stephen King phase in high school. Can you all recommend some good authors or resources to me?
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Jan 18, 2014 08:59
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I'm having a really hard time developing a good plot, specifically the middle portion. I have a great, detailed setting, and a good beginning and end, but nothing in the middle. Every time I try to bridge the gaps my mind goes blank. Anybody have ides on how to overcome this? edit: just realized how much I resemble the previous poster.
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Jan 18, 2014 16:45
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http://jimbutcher.livejournal.com/1865.html
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Jan 18, 2014 18:02
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Ervin K posted:I'm having a really hard time developing a good plot, specifically the middle portion. I have a great, detailed setting, and a good beginning and end, but nothing in the middle. Every time I try to bridge the gaps my mind goes blank. Anybody have ides on how to overcome this?
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Jan 19, 2014 18:39
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