In recent weeks, there has been much speculation on the internet over the announced sale of Weird Tales and what that means for the future of weird fiction. Surely, the loss of Ann Vandermeer at the helm of a very successful magazine stings more than just a bit, and has caused many to worry […]
Category > Cheerleading
I Love You, Hon, Will You Critique This For Me?
Writing partners and romantic partners? Best of both worlds or trap? That’s pretty much going to vary on a case-by-case scenario. However, there are many well-known couples who collaborate on projects. The Girl Genius creators, who finally withdrew themselves from Hugo eligibility so that someone else could win, are an excellent example. However, since every […]
Guest Post: On Seeing It Through
by Gabrielle Harbowy Sometimes, writers submit their works to a publisher for consideration, and then withdraw them. Usually, they’re withdrawing them because they’ve been picked up elsewhere. When that happens, I’m very happy for them. Sometimes, though, writers withdraw a manuscript because at some point since hitting “send” on their submission, they’ve reconsidered and made […]
Fuel
What’s your writing fuel? Whenever I hear that question, I think of a big mug of black coffee perched precariously by the keyboard or an IV drip of tea plugged right into a vein. Some writers might suggest a good bar of dark chocolate (with sea-salt on top) or a ginormous hunk of pie. In […]
Famously Rejected
As writers we spend a lot of time doubting ourselves. Are we talented enough? Is this idea terrible? Will everyone hate it? Would a publisher ever want it? That’s before we even send it out. Then the question becomes, how many rejections can I take? I thought my background of competing* and getting up on […]
The Benefits of Being a Hack (Or: Why You Don’t Want to Be Ted Chiang)
Today’s guest post comes from writer and editor James L. Sutter, whose anthology Before They Were Giants should be on every writer’s bookshelf. Thanks for contributing, James! There’s a thing that happens to me a lot, which I’ll bet happens to you as well. I’ll get a story idea–whether driving to work, talking science with […]
Scared? Nervous? Good.
Life shrinks or expands in proportion to one’s courage. -Anaïs Nin For my inaugural Inkpunks post, I wanted to talk about something that every writer struggles with, probably at every stage of their career. Courage. I bet at this point, you’re nodding sadly. If only you were a little braver, you’re thinking, your path would […]
Writing & Margaritas Don’t Always Mix
Okay, I thought I was going to write about nonfiction tips & trick, kind of an expansion of my blog post about writing bios, but honestly, I couldn’t focus enough to come up with anything. It’s 70 degrees in Portland; there’s a perfect breeze, and everybody is sitting out on their patios drinking cocktails. I […]
Decompression
(I have to thank the wonderful Diana Rowland for the inspiration to write this post!) “Bugs the crap out of me when I see someone spout the “if you don’t write every day you’re not really a writer.” ~Rowland I saw Diana’s tweets on this subject yesterday, and wanted to throw my fist up and […]
Why CREEPY is my thing
I wasn’t creepy until I fully embraced my inner writer. That person was born from a depraved childhood in the 1980s. See, we lived so far out in the boonies that we didn’t have nice, clean, FCC-approved television. We had books. And unlike those poor sad children of the 1960s, who parents might have […]
