Desk & Chair

Paperback Version of 101 WPFSFW Is Now Available

2012-06-21T19:22:00.000-07:00

101 Writing Prompts for Fantasy and Science Fiction Writers, vol. 1, is now available in analog form! That's right, you can hold it in your hand, bend the spine, dog-ear the pages, draw raunchy doodles in the corners, and drop it in the toilet.

For serious, pick up your copy HERE

Also, thank you (yes YOU) for being nice enough to read my blog.

Today's the Day

2012-06-01T13:22:00.002-07:00

Well, writers and writettes, it's finally here!

101 Writing Prompts for Fantasy and Science Fiction Writers has hit the (virtual) shelves. I'm feeling pretty good, and though it's only been a day, I've been getting some sweet feedback already. Here's hoping some people hit the book's Amazon page and write reviews (I'm looking at you, kid).

Putting this book together took about three months all together, from researching prompts to hiring an illustrator for the cover art, and then uploading everything to Amazon. The best tool I had for writing the prompts were people in writing groups. I got exciting feedback from their responses, and I had the benefit of writing for them, which was so helpful. I owe them a debt of gratitude.

Self-publishing may not be right for every kind of book, but it seems the perfect format for a book like this. It allows me to put a book out there that doesn't bust the banks of notoriously broke writers, and I can format them according to my own plan.

Just to give you a peek at what's inside, here's a prompt from the book. If you like what you read, head to Amazon and get your copy. At $.99, it's pretty much a bargain.

*****

For a science project, a sixth grade boy designs a car that can run on water. He comes home with a first place ribbon from the science fair to find his parents missing and two men in dark suits and sunglasses sitting in his living room.

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And here's the cover in all it's glory:

A Sneak Peek at the Cover Art for My Book!

2012-05-23T14:02:00.000-07:00

Below is a sneak peek at the cover art for my new book, which was designed by the lovely and talented Geoff Pratt. It's still in the works, but as we get closer to the release date, I want to get you excited about 101 Writing Prompts for Fantasy and Science Fiction Writers!

Also, here's a writing prompt from the book!

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The light is dying. In a few moments, the sun will be behind the horizon. Your character is running as fast as he/she can through the streets, but every door is barred, every window boarded up. He/she knows that people can see and hear him/her calling for help, but no one will open their door and offer shelter. The sun finally slips below the horizon.

****

Rejection's Just Another Name for Nothing Left to Lose

2012-04-28T13:34:00.001-07:00

I received a rejection email from The New Yorker the other day for three poems. While it's always hard to get a rejection, you should know that the vast majority of published writers could paper their entire houses with rejection letters. It's a part of the life cycle, and if you're afraid of rejection, afraid of criticism of your work, you have two options: Quit writing or nut up.

On to the next submission!

This is one of the three poems I sent. I am interested in any feedback. Gaman is the Japanese term for "enduring the seemingly unbearable with patience and dignity." A more complete definition can be found here. I am debating whether or not to explain the definition in a small bit of text at the beginning or end of the poem, and that I wrote this poem shortly after the tsunami in Japan. Your thoughts?

Gaman

A piano lies

parsed in the middle of the road.

The foot traffic is rats and ghosts.

Keys hold fast to melody

in their determination to line up

and stick together.

Middle C

apostrophied

by C sharp

and married to D,

closely watched by D's dark half-step.

As if the earth had not been shifted

and then drowned,

as if silence was more destructive

than muddy water,

as if sound could knit together

fragments of pavement

and glass

and sundered skin.

But of this fractured instrument

splashed across two lanes of traffic

in a town where no cars move

of their own ignition,

order is illusory:

the music you hear

is just the wind and the rain

moving debris

across the guts of a piano.

Writing Prompt # 23

2012-04-22T00:14:00.001-07:00

My eBook, 101 Writing Prompts for Fantasy and Science Fiction Writers, is coming out in June. It's full of great prompts to get your pen moving across the page, but it also includes several tips and tricks for generating new ideas. I'm dying to share it with you, so here's another sneak peak!

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One morning in Ms. Fuller’s science class, a simple experiment produces an unexpected burst of greenish red smoke. None of her students seem hurt, but she begins to notice that they’re exhibiting some strange behaviors.

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One of the Most Harmful Articles Aspiring Writers Can Read

2012-04-20T14:59:00.001-07:00

A review of "The 10 Most Harmful Novels for Aspiring Writers," by Crawford Kilian

In this article, published two years ago but highlighted yesterday on NPR, Kilian posits his theory that there are certain novels that should not be read by young writers because doing so will harm their ability to write. Specifically, he says these novels "inspired young writers to imitate them," and badly, he suggests, based almost completely on his own personal experiences as a writer. But there is so much wrong with this statement. Young writers may have imitated them, but it's up to the young writers, not the books, to move beyond that imitation, to learn what they can from the novel and then bring something new and unique to the table.

In my own personal experience, imitation has led to breakthroughs and improved skill. No one should be asked to read, let alone PUBLISH, the crap I was banging out on my grandmother's electric typewriter when I was twelve years old. It was a mishmash imitation of Stephen King and Mark Twain, and featured vampires, werewolves and sexy vampire hunters. I'm pretty sure I've burned the manuscript, if only for everyone's safety. But the experience (sitting in front of a typewriter and actually creating a new world) was vital to my growth as a writer. I was inspired by the books I was reading at the time, and I was imitating the style of certain writers because it was comfortable to me, and it eased me through the initial act of creation.

As I read through Kilian's list of books, and his reasons for including them on the list, I find that he dislikes some of them, and dislikes his own imitations (written as a young writer) of the rest. These are valid opinions, and I do agree a few of them. But I disagree completely with the idea that young writers should avoid these books for the reasons Kilian outlines, and find it slightly preposterous for him to suggest that the act of reading these books is what causes young writers to churn out crap writing.

Everyone churns out crap writing, and they do it because they are learning. You do it, I do it, we all do it. No one breaks through to the other side if they don't allow themselves the benefit of the doubt. Allow yourself to churn out crap writing, and know that this is how you get better.

"Some novels are good but dangerous because they leave us dumbfounded." This is the line that baffles me the most. There's nothing I love better than reading a book that is so good I'm left dumbfounded. When my brain returns again and again to a book I've finished, I know that I've read something important, something well written and powerful. Kilian goes on to suggest that most writers are incapable of writing something as powerful, and so even the act of reading a powerful book will cause writers to give up.

A funny side note: The title is "The 10 Most Harmful," but Kilian lists only nine books by my count.

Because I don't believe in keeping you from bad writing, you can read the article here.

Read the books he doesn't want you to read here:

Atlas Shrugged

The Catcher in the Rye

For Whom the Bell Tolls

J.R.R. Tolkien Boxed Set (The Hobbit and The Lord of the Rings)

The Big Sleep

Love Story

U.S.A.: The 42nd Parallel / 1919 / The Big Money (Library of America)

On the Road (Penguin Classics)

Blood Meridian: Or the Evening Redness in the West

Every word you read is an act of learning, and even bad novels can teach you something as a writer. The most harmful thing you could ever really do is stop reading.

Writing Prompt #3

2012-04-08T00:19:00.000-07:00

*****

Writing Prompt #3

Blood oranges gain their eponymous color overnight, and only when the night is cold. They are sometimes called vampire oranges.

Imagine an orchard tended by vampires (or a similar night-dwelling creature). What kind of fruit would these creatures grow? What special properties or powers could it have? How would they defend it during the day? What about a fruit that has certain properties when harvested during the day and quite different properties when harvested at night? Eaten during the day vs. at night?

*****

The Word You Should Bend Over Backwards to Avoid

2012-04-07T00:59:00.000-07:00

And the word is...

IT

I hate this word. I loathe this word. I want to drag this word behind the building and shoot it (grrr) in the back of the head.

Why the vehemence? Because too many writers misuse and abuse "it," because "it" becomes a crutch for lazy writers, and because "it" can lose readers faster than run-on sentences and three page paragraphs.

I hate this word because this word is so general. "It" is as general as you can get. The word "it" doesn't bring a single image to your reader's mind. Our job as writers is to paint a picture with words, a living, breathing picture in the minds of our readers that helps them experience a story, not just read a story.

Now, obviously, the word "it" is useful in many cases, such as helping a writer to avoid repetition:

"Sara gazed into the crystal ball, touching it lightly with her fingertips." This sentence would be clunky and ridiculous without the use of "it." But notice that there is no doubt what "it" means. Your job as a writer is to make sure that your reader has no doubt what this fill-in-the-blank word means.

A few things to watch out for when you are writing and editing:

Any sentence that begins with "It" should be checked carefully. Sentences that start this way are often written in passive voice, which can get a writer in a lot of trouble. Passive voice is just that, passive. As in removed from action. Active voice keeps readers reading, while passive voice robs your narrative of opportunity for action (real and metaphorical). For instance, "It was a dark and stormy night." SNOOZE. Try, "Darkness filled the night, and though Claire could not see anything, she heard the trees as they whipped back and forth in the wind, and the rain as it battered the roof of the old inn." The second sentence gives each element of the scene (darkness, Claire, trees, rain) a clear action for the reader to imagine. By avoiding a sentence beginning with "It," you give yourself a chance to write with more clarity and oomph.
Make sure that each time you use "it," your meaning is clear. Don't send your reader back to re-read passages simply because they're trying to figure out what the hell you're talking about. If your reader spends time trying to puzzle out the meaning, let them contemplate the meaning of the story itself, the action it contains, the motives of your characters and the consequences of their actions. Not the actual words on the page.

A simple caveat: One of the most famous pieces of English literature, A Tale of Two Cities by Charles Dickens, begins with "It was the best of times, it was the worst of times...." I won't say anything condescending to you, lovely and faithful reader, like "remember, you ain't no Dickens." Maybe you will be some day (and I hope you will remember me fondly), but in the meantime, take note that this opening passage uses the refrain of "It was the..." ten times. This was a stylistic choice for Dickens. You will always be able to find instances where an author has broken a 'rule' like this, and with great success. I urge you to simply make sure that your own brilliant piece of writing reaches your reader with few mechanical flaws and a lot of heart.

Book Covers

2012-04-05T02:15:00.003-07:00

The cover of your book is the first thing that many of your readers will see.

They may buy it after reading the description and reviews by other readers, but the cover will be what draws them to check it out in the first place. So despite that old saying (you know the one), your cover has to rock.

With so many people ordering their books online, both hardcover and paperback and in eBook format, it's important for your cover to be as dynamic on a computer screen as it would be sitting on a shelf in a store.

It isn't necessary for your title and name to be legible at thumbnail size, but it helps. If you are designing your own cover, be sure to look at it very small as well as very large. If your cover becomes a muddled mess at thumbnail size, that may be the only size most people see.

K.I.S.S is the name of the game for covers. Instead of trying to describe the whole novel with one image, focus on one emotion, one character, one relationship or one moment from your story.

When designing your cover, be sure you have permission for any images you use. Copyright is important to you, right? Afford artists, photographers and designers this same courtesy.

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Just so you know, I design covers for $70, which includes original artwork, photography or design. Drop me a line at LKeenerGrant@gmail.com, and we'll get to work.