I bet if you asked people to tell what their favorite books are and why they enjoy them, most people would mention something about loving the characters. For example, I love the Harry Potter books because I adore Snape. When I was waiting impatiently for the seventh Harry Potter novel, I wasn’t wondering what nefarious […]
Author Archive > Wendy Wagner
Feedback, please!
Whoah! Yesterday, I went to the first-ever gathering of my new writing group. Yes, a writing group, that meet in person. With physical bodies and everything. It’s a brand-new experience for me. I’ve been lucky enough to have the Inkpunks willing to read my stuff via the power of email, but it’s been about twelve […]
GUEST POST, by Mae Empson: Speculative Poetry 101
Today, the Inkpunks invited me to talk about speculative poetry.  April is National Poetry Writing Month  in which poets often try to write a poem a day.  Like all writing, poetry benefits from continued on-going practice, so I encourage you, if you are interested in writing poetry, to set yourself goals.  A poem a week might be more realistic, though. […]
The Job Continuum
For the last week and a half, the Inkpunks have been in a pretty serious discussion of our work-life-art relationships. As artists, it’s almost impossible not to struggle to find some kind of balance between the need for money and the need to create. Sometimes it feels like the two needs are completely inimical and […]
Bifocals for Authorial Vision
I recently finished watching the movie Louisa May Alcott: The Woman Behind Little Women. (It’s a great movie about a fascinating woman in a fascinating family–I recommend it highly!) If you don’t know, Louisa May Alcott was the J.K. Rowling of her time, growing so successful from her children’s books that she became, in adjusted […]
Let’s get away from it all!
I just got home from The Rainforest Writers Village writing retreat, which Inkpunks Sandra Wickham, John Remy, and Andrew Romine also attended (last year Adam Israel came, too). I stayed in a cabin with super-roommate Sandra, ate amazing meals (including a fantastic lunch cooked by kitchen wizard Mary Robinette Kowal), went to some incredibly informative […]
Better Procrastination as a Writer
Procrastinating is a skill, like writing, that you can perfect with practice and that you’ll find advice about on the Internet. In fact, the two crafts mirror and complement each other. Here’s some advice about incorporating procrastination into your writing habits–based on much real life experience! Set a goal Your first step in a writing […]
Home practice
A workshop is a wonderful thing–it’s the writing equivalent of the yoga class or even the yoga retreat. It’s a magnificent way to reinvigorate your commitment to the craft and to learn new skills. But you know, I find that when I’m in class, I don’t experience my deepest yogic moments. I’m too busy absorbing […]
A very Inkpunks Christmas!
What are the Inkpunks? They are friends who will call you when you can’t make it to World Fantasy, and make sure you’re somehow still in the big group photo. An Inkpunk is someone who will travel a thousand miles to your wedding even though you’ve never […]
Burping the book baby
Almost exactly eight years ago, I sat down to rock my baby to sleep thanks to the tips from a certified sleep consultant and fell into another world. I stayed inside it all day, envisioning characters and places that kept calling me out of ordinary life and into a dream state. It was probably the […]
