One thing I found when I “came out” as a writer is that there are writers everywhere. It seems like everybody knows somebody who is either trying their hand at the craft or thinking about starting, and most seem ready to talk to other writers about it. It can be so beneficial to get together […]
Criticism is a good thing
In today’s hyper-partisan land of the social media echo chamber, it sometimes seems to me that people are are no longer capable of hearing anything that isn’t 100% in agreement with them. You’re most likely thinking “yeah, so. I’m here to read about writing, not your social commentary.” But this does relate to writing. In […]
10 Pieces of Advice for New Writers in 2017
With 2017 already 18 days (!) old, I thought I’d like to post something for some of the aspiring writers out there who may be picking up the proverbial pen for the first time this year, or maybe giving writing another chance after a long break. If you’re new at this writing thing and happened […]
4 Questions to Ask Yourself When You Want to Quit
I’m on a ten-day Christmas break from the day job over here at WriteGoodBooks-land, so that means ten days of staying up late getting as much writing and writing related stuff done as I can, so that I can close out the new year on a high note. So after finding places for all the […]
5 Questions About Query Letters
I often talk about how rejection letters don’t usually bother me. In some sense I even view them as a minor success since each rejection reminds me that at least I have a story finished. There is a lot you can learn from short story rejections and if you view them as a tool to […]
When to pull a story out of the slush pile
I don’t like leaving potential cash sitting on the table. Why have money sitting someplace where it’s not invested, or at least earning some sort of minuscule interest in a savings account? I feel the same way about short stories. If a short story has an ending, it’s no good to anyone hidden away on […]
Five Ways Writers Abuse Twitter
As a writer, I love Twitter. It’s an incredible tool for connecting with other writers, promoting my own stuff, and just killing time when time needs killing. But it’s not all rainbows and roses. (Or scotch and cigars.) There are certain things writers do on Twitter that are guaranteed to not only result in an […]
The Best Advice I’ve Received from Rejection Letters
I like to think of writing as the business of collecting No’s. You can’t be a writer unless you’re willing to be told “No” every now and then. And by “every now and then,” I mean repeatedly–day in and day out. Since I first started writing short stories, I’ve received 173 rejections and 19 non-responses. […]