Tag: writing tips

Which Is It? Criticism or Feedback?

As a writer, you hear the terms criticism and feedback a lot. The first carries a (sometimes undeserved) negative connotation, the other, a more positive and constructive one. The truth is, feedback and criticism are both necessary and helpful to a writer, as long… Continue Reading “Which Is It? Criticism or Feedback?”

The 700 Club (No, Not That One)

Recently, I sent my 700th short story submission. That number spans a period of ten years since I started tracking them religiously (hah!) on Duotrope. Whenever I hit a big milestone like this, I like to break down all numbers, get WAY too analytical… Continue Reading “The 700 Club (No, Not That One)”

Writerly Wonderings: What’s My Brand?

  I think it is important for a writer to have a brand to some extent, so they can more effectively and precisely market to potential readers. This doesn’t mean an author can’t stray from that brand a bit, but if it gets too… Continue Reading “Writerly Wonderings: What’s My Brand?”

Evolution of an Author Bio III

This is the third post I’ve done about my ever-changing author bio. The last post was in 2020, and a lot has changed in the intervening two years. So, I find myself once again in need of a new bio. In this post, we’ll… Continue Reading “Evolution of an Author Bio III”

Three Things I Learned from Writing RPG Adventures

Before I embarked on the perilous journey of speculative fiction author, my primary writing gig was in the tabletop RPG and tabletop miniature game industries. Though writing material for roleplaying games is a different animal than writing fiction, there are certainly parallels, and I… Continue Reading “Three Things I Learned from Writing RPG Adventures”

Novellas by the Numbers

I recently had a novella published by Grinning Skull Press called Effectively Wild, and I’m currently writing a follow-up novella. I’ve also written novellas for Privateer Press in their steampunk fantasy setting of the Iron Kingdoms. Since I’m focused on novellas right now, I… Continue Reading “Novellas by the Numbers”

The Accidental NaNoWriMo

November is on the horizon, and that means thousands of writers are preparing to jam out 50,000-word novels in a month as part of NaNoWriMo. I’ve never done an official NaNoWriMo, but I keep meticulous records of how much I write per day when… Continue Reading “The Accidental NaNoWriMo”

Submission Statement: September 2022

September was a pretty good month on a number of fronts. September 2022 Report Card Submissions Sent: 9 Rejections: 6 No Response: 0 Acceptances: 1 Publications: 2 Further Consideration/Shortlist: 0 I sent a solid number of submissions out in September. Those nine subs bring… Continue Reading “Submission Statement: September 2022”

Submission Statement: August 2022

August was somewhat disappointing, mostly because I’ve fallen behind on my submission goal. August 2022 Report Card Submissions Sent: 8 Rejections: 7 No Response: 0 Acceptances: 0 Publications: 0 Further Consideration/Shortlist: 2 More submissions than last month, though most of those went in the… Continue Reading “Submission Statement: August 2022”

The Hook Up: Yet More Fun With First Lines

A blog topic I keep coming back to is analyzing the first lines of my flash and short stories. As before, all this comes from the essay written by Stephen King called “Great Hookers I Have Known” in his now sadly out-of-print collection Secret… Continue Reading “The Hook Up: Yet More Fun With First Lines”