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Category Archives: Character
Professional Wednesday: Trust Yourself. No, Really.
Trust your reader. This is editor speak for “trust yourself.” It is something I say often to many of the writers I edit. But what does it mean? I have had my own lesson in “trust your reader” in recent … Continue reading
Posted in Business of publishing, Character, Fantasy, Novels, Setting, Writing, Writing Life
Tagged blogging, character, D.B. Jackson, David B. Coe, editing, how to write, narrative, plotting, publishing, revising, Rules of Ascension, setting, Tor Books, Winds of the Forelands, world building, writing, writing advice, writing life, writing tips
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Professional Wednesday: Learning From Each of Our Projects
Ideally, every new book and story we write is not just an adventure in imagination, a chance to discover new characters and settings and narratives, but also a learning opportunity. I continue to improve my writing with each project, and … Continue reading
Posted in Bell Bridge Books, Belle Books, Character, Islevale Cycle, Novels, Radiants, Short Fiction, The Chalice War, Thieftaker, Writing, Writing Life
Tagged Bell Bridge Books, Belle Books, blogging, Blood of the Southlands, Case Files of Justis Fearsson, D.B. Jackson, David B. Coe, humor, Islevale Cycle, journaling, LonTobyn Chronicle, narrators, point of view, Radiants, The Chalice War, Thieftaker Chronicles, Winds of the Forelands, writing, writing advice, writing life, writing tips
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Professional Wednesday: When To Fight an Edit, and When To Let it Go
I know my knee-jerk response is not always my wisest response. All of us who have gone through the editorial process are familiar with the conundrum: We want to work with our editors. We want to cultivate reputations for being … Continue reading
Posted in Character, Novels, Reading, Short Fiction, Writing, Writing Life
Tagged blogging, character, D.B. Jackson, David B. Coe, editing, editor-writer relationship, editorial process, editors, how to write, plotting, publishing, revision process, revisions, wording, working with editors, writing, writing advice, writing life, writing tips
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Professional Wednesday: My Best Mistakes, Part I
A new month, a new blog series. Not that I’m committing to doing a series every month. Really, I’m not . . . . [Sigh] What have I done . . . ? Over the course of my career, which … Continue reading
Posted in Appearances, Business of publishing, Character, Novels, Publishing, Writing, Writing Life
Tagged blogging, business of publishing, character, character development, conventions, D.B. Jackson, David B. Coe, LonTobyn Chronicle, mistakes, publishing business, Tor Books, writing, writing business, writing life
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Professional Wednesday: Three Ways To Help Your Short Fiction Submission, and Three Ways To Doom It
The deadline for submissions to Artifice and Craft, the anthology I’m co-editing with Edmund Schubert for Zombies Need Brains, is ten days away. December 31. As of this writing, we are closing in on 400 submissions. The anthology will have … Continue reading
Posted in Business of publishing, Character, Publishing, Short Fiction, Writing, Writing Life
Tagged blogging, D.B. Jackson, David B. Coe, editing, Edmund R. Schubert, guidelines, how to write, Joshua Palmatier, publishing, publishing business, short fiction, submission guidelines, writing, writing advice, writing business, writing life, writing tips, Zombies Need Brains
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Professional Wednesday: It’s All Connected
One more post about my teaching weekend at the Hampton Roads Writers Conference . . . . As I believe I mentioned last week, I taught four classes at the event. The topics were: point of view, character development, world … Continue reading
Posted in Character, Fantasy, Writing
Tagged blogging, character, D.B. Jackson, David B. Coe, Hampton Roads Writers Conference, how to write, narrative, plotting, teaching, Vernor Vinge, Vernor's Rule, world building, writing, writing advice, writing tips
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Professional Wednesday: Hampton Roads Writers Conference, and the Hardest Writing Topic to Teach (For Me)
This week I head to the Hampton Roads Writers Conference in Virginia Beach. I’ll be teaching several workshops over the three days I’m there — a two-hour master class on “Point of View and Voice,” a ninety-minute class on “Character … Continue reading
Posted in Appearances, Character, Novels, Publishing, Writing, Writing Life
Tagged blogging, business of publishing, character, D.B. Jackson, David B. Coe, Edmund R. Schubert, Hampton Roads Writers Conference, how to write, John Hartness, narrative arc, pacing, point of view, publishing, teaching, world building, writing, writing business, writing conferences, writing workshops
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Professional Wednesday: Once More Unto The Breach — To Outline or Not, Redux
After attending DragonCon and speaking on panels about various aspects of writing, I have found myself thinking—yet again—about the age-old debate between those who outline their books and those who don’t. Or, between planners and pantsers, in the parlance of … Continue reading
Posted in Character, Islevale Cycle, Novels, Time's Assassin, Time's Children, Time's Demon, Writing, Writing Life
Tagged blogging, character, creative process, creativity, D.B. Jackson, David B. Coe, DragonCon, Islevale Cycle, organic writing, outlining, pantsing, Time's Assassin, Time's Children, Time's Demon, writing
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Professional Wednesday: Writing For a Themed Anthology . . . And My Story Idea Revealed!
With the Zombies Need Brains Kickstarter well underway, and our pledges slowly creeping up on our ambitious funding goal (four anthologies instead of three this year, to mark ZNB’s 10th anniversary!), it is time for my yearly “Writing For a … Continue reading
Posted in Business of publishing, Character, Friendship, Publishing, Short Fiction, Writing, Writing Life
Tagged Artifice and Craft, blogging, D.B. Jackson, David B. Coe, Derelict, Dragonesque, editing, Edmund R. Schubert, Galactic Stew, ideas, Joshua Palmatier, Kickstarter, Noir, publishing, S.C. Butler, short fiction, Temporally Deactivated, themed anthologies, writing, writing life, Zombies Need Brains
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Professional Wednesday: One Hot-Mess of a Writing Post
Dispensing writing advice when one is struggling a bit with one’s own work can be somewhat strange. Just ask . . . well, me. I am more than 50,000 words into my current work-in-progress, the third book in my Celtic … Continue reading
Posted in Character, Friendship, Novels, Writing, Writing Life
Tagged blogging, character, creativity, D.B. Jackson, David B. Coe, friendship, how to write, novels, writing, writing advice, writing life, writing problems, writing struggles, writing tips
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