 Faith Hunter
read all posts by Faith Hunter[Quick note: as Laura reminded us {and Misty} rooms for ConCarolinas 2014 are going fast. Make your reservation today.] On to the post.
I just finished the rewrite of BLACK ARTS. And honestly it was the hardest rewrite I have ever done.
“But you say that every time,” you say.
“Yes. And every time it is true.”
Why so hard? Lots of reasons. For one, I no longer am writing standalones as I did as Gwen. (Except that 6 book medical series. And the 3 book saga. Except those.) Each book in a series is built on the plot arcs of previous books and yet there can be no similar plot lines or inciting events. There has to be lots of action. And character stuff and plot stuff that happened in previous books and was left unresolved has to be resolved.
No, “stuff” is not an appropriate technical term. [...]
Continue reading Rules of Thumb vs Tech Talk
James R. Tuck
read all posts by James R. TuckSo I picked up a book called THE FIRST 50 PAGES by Jeff Gerke the other day because, well, I have a book buying problem. (TBR pile is 68 at last count and I KNOW I’ve gotten a ton more books since then)
Anyways, I wanted to share some advice he gives that to me seemed pretty golden.
Here’s the sum up:
Think of your book as a movie. Telling is anything you write that THE CAMERA DOES NOT SEE.
Stop and think about it.
Let it sink in.
I know how we writers are. We feel like the reader needs to know all the back story to really understand what we are trying to write….the ins and outs of the plot, the history and texture of the worlds and characters we have created so lovingly.
It’s bullshit.
They don’t. They don’t need to know anything that doesn’t directly relate [...]
Continue reading I’LL SHOW YOU NOT TELLING (something I read somewheres)
John G. Hartness
read all posts by John G. HartnessOr – pay no attention to the algorithms behind the curtain.
Or – We’re off to see the Wizard of Sales and Market Manipulation.
This will be a business post, so if you’re looking for craft advice, keep on lookin’.
This was an exciting week for me, as the Black Knight Chronicles Omnibus Edition was the Kindle Science Fiction & Fantasy Daily Deal for Monday, which gave the book an amazing sales boost, running it all the way up to #16 on the Kindle Top 100. The gild is a little bit off the lily now, and the book has fallen to #286 or so, but the ride was pretty amazing.
I’m not sure what kind of negotiations went on to get my book featured as the Daily Deal, but I know that my wonderful publisher was responsible for this happening. And honestly, I have another kidney, so it’s a [...]
Continue reading Wonderful Wizard of Am-OZ-on
 DavidBCoe
read all posts by DavidBCoeTwo weeks ago, I wrote here about writing short fiction and how the challenges it presents differ from the challenges of writing novels. I want to expand on that a bit, and will use as my jumping off point a comment on that first post from regular site contributor Megan B. In her comment, Megan wrote (in part):
I think it’s worth considering that a short story set in a larger universe (e.g. the Thieftaker world, which you have established already in longer form) is a different beast than a stand-alone short story. It has it’s own advantages and challenges because it uses some people, places or concepts that the reader may or may not be familiar with.
On the one hand I think that Megan is absolutely correct: writing a short in an established world certainly makes the author’s job easier. In part this is just a matter of [...]
Continue reading On Writing: Short Fiction and Worldbuilding
 Diana Pharaoh Francis
You may or may not have heard about the recent tug-of-war (emphasis on war) between Barnes and Noble and Simon and Schuster (for clarity, I’m published with S&S under the Pocket umbrella). In a nutshell, BN is slowing down on carrying S&S books. As in, almost none. It seems to be they will be carrying the Big Names, because they don’t want to cut off their noses that much. For more on this, I blogged about it the other day, and so have many others. (feel free to post links for more info and the damage it does to authors in the comments). As I point out, this hurts authors, especially midlisters like me, and most of the others who write this blog. But that isn’t what I want to talk about. I want to talk about when you get run over, whacked with a clawhammer, drawn-and-quartered, or whatever metaphor [...]
Continue reading And so publishing goes
Diana Pharaoh Francis
This is a post about what you can’t do and what you can.
I had a talk with my agent today, really a schooling, about the current state of publishing and BN. She’s far more up to date on things than I am–she has to be and thank goodness for it–and made me aware of changes in the industry. I think I’m pretty good about staying on top of things, but I had missed this one. Specifically, many books aren’t even getting into BN. They are not getting shelf space at all. If a series isn’t doing well enough, the sequels simply don’t get ordered, a lot more than used to happen. Now BN has become a heavy hitter in the industry, because it’s one of the few major bricks and mortar stores left out there, and because of that, their order of a title is substantial and will [...]
Continue reading Hard and Sweet Truth
Faith Hunter
read all posts by Faith HunterThe reader needs the info. They need it badly. They need it now. But if we, the writers, put down all the info that the reader needs, it will become an info dump. We *never* use infodumps! Right? Ummm. Well. Never is a long time. This series is an indepth look into alternatives to the dreaded dump. (Stop laughing. This is not a Kaopectate commercial.)
We started off on this series with a partial list of world-building questions my editor for the first Rogue Mage book, BloodRing, wanted answered in the first 50 pages. Last time we talked about using emotion and the character’s reactions to show the reader that the info is important, and to use the info being dumped to develop the character.
Here is a partial list of the editor’s requirements (updated with more) from week one of the series:
How does the world work in the physical [...]
Continue reading The InfoDump Scene, Part 3.
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How To Write Magical Words
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