From my notebooks:

1. Being an adult means taking responsibility for the safety of yourself, your family, and if needs be, your entire race.
2. As we experience different emotions, so we also feel time pass at different rates.
3. There are two kinds of courage. There’s the kind you get from knowing that what you’re doing is right. And there’s the kind you get from knowing its hopeless and wrong, and just not giving a damn.
4. Over long enough timescales, everything flows like water, even rock.
5. Punctuality is simply good manners.
6. A blank piece of paper has almost limitless potential.
7. All suffering is caused by denial – denial of basic human rights; denial of food; of love; of loved ones; of security; of health; of shelter; of money; of peace; of clean water; of justice.
8. All out myths are attempts to address three fundamental questions: 1) Where did we come from? 2) How do we behave now we’re here? 3) Where are we going?
9. Writing a novel is like building a dry stone wall across a windswept moor, one stone at a time.
10. Sometimes it is good to yodel like a crazy monkey person.
11. The only thing more terrifying than beginning to write is not to write at all.
12. People who are cynical about absolutely everything are often very dull company.
13. Stress results when there is a disconnection between the person we are and the person we want to be.
14. If you want people to read what you write, write about people.
15. You will be remembered for your actions, not your inactions.
16. There are no joys purer or sorrows keener than those felt by a child.
17. Writing is a constant struggle between inspiration and housework.
18. Everything in the universe came from gas and dust, and to gas and dust it will return.
19. Children are fearless because they haven’t experienced consequences. As we age, we become more fearful.
20. When writing, you have to confront the possibility of failure. You have to push beyond your comfort zone.
21. Some people live their lives as a perpetual sigh; others as a joyful whoop.
22. Life is short, and books take a long time to write.
23. Often, when someone says they want to talk about politics, what they really mean is that they want to talk about themselves.
24. Some dreams leave you upon waking with an incalculable sense of loss.
25. Few things are as contemptible as wilful ignorance.
26. Just as you climb a mountain one step at a time, so you have to keep following one word with another if you want to write a book.
27. A society civilised enough to have free speech should also be civilised enough to know when to use restraint.
28. Sometimes editing is like sculpting: you have to painstakingly chip away what isn’t needed in order to find the shape of the piece.
29. Some people don’t work well under pressure; others can’t work without it.
30. Future shock is a by-product of age. The young do not suffer from it.

“It is better to write a bad first draft than to write no first draft at all.”

- Will Shetterly

But this article is only the latest in a seres of articles on genre writing. If you enjoyed it, you might also want to read:

• Five Books That Changed My World, feature article for SF Signal, June 2010
• The Future Is Now, Irish Times feature article about the appeal and literary purpose of science fiction, May 2010
• How To Write A Press Release. A guide for writers and publishers, first published in Focus magazine, Spring 2010 edition.
• What Does Happen Next? An article exploring the lessons I learned from my first book launch, first published in Focus magazine, Spring 2010 edition.

A few days ago, I made the following comment on Twitter:

Just as you climb a mountain one step at a time, you have to keep putting one word after another if you want to write a book.

Now author Colin Harvey has used it as the jumping off point to discuss his method for staying focussed while working on a novel.

A novel is like a picture made up of 100,000 pixels, with each representing a pixel. Miss out a thousand words, and you have a picture with a hole in its whole … When you feel that awful sense that you’re going to fall and/or fail, stare hard at the detail and fill those pixels in.

Read Colin’s full article here.

In this week’s guest post, fantasy author R. L. Copple discusses the importance of using the right words to communicate with your audience.

Words Gone Wild
R. L. Copple

When I was a teen, my mom asked me to mop the floor while she ran an errand. When she returned, she stared at the floor and said, “Rick, I asked you to mop the floor.”

“I did,” I told her.

Continue reading “Guest Post: Words Gone Wild”

On Dark Fiction Review, Sharon Ring has published an article that asks authors how they handle negative reviews of their work. My own responses are quoted below:

How do you feel about negative reviews of your work?
Negative reviews are always disappointing. Of course they are. If you’ve poured your heart and soul and time into a piece of writing, you want people to connect with it, and if they don’t, you’re bound to feel frustrated. Personally, I tend to mope around the house for a few hours, feeling sorry for myself. But at the end of the day, you have to take it in good humour. It’s all part of the game, and if you can’t take the odd negative review, you shouldn’t be a writer.

Continue reading “Negative Reviews”

In this week’s guest post, New Jersey-based author Stuart Clark examines where speculative fiction authors get their crazy ideas.

Running With The Idea
By Stuart Clark

A question that authors often get asked is “Where do you get your ideas?”  It’s a topic that many speculative fiction authors have blogged about recently.  The general consensus seems to be that ideas are everywhere and they come from observing the world around us.  But simply having an idea is like having salad dressing without the salad – It may be good, but it’s almost unpalatable on its own.

So what’s after the “What if?”  How do you take that initial idea and turn it into a full-blown story?  Whether you’re writing shorts or novels, there are a number of techniques you might want to consider.

Continue reading “Guest Post: Running With The Idea”

In order to write well, you first have to write badly. You have to learn your craft. It’s like learning to drive a car – you can’t compete in the Monte Carlo grand prix the first time you sit behind a wheel; you have to make all the embarrassing mistakes, the awkward stalls and occasional prangs – and the same’s true for writing.

Continue reading “Burn Your Notebooks”

This afternoon, Colin Harvey and I co-presented the 5pm creative writing lecture at Bath Spa University. There were around 20-30 students in attendance. I read a brand new short story called The Bigger The Star, The Faster It Burns, which seemed to go over well, and did a brief question and answer session. I also shared with the students the following five pieces of writing advice:

Continue reading “Creative Writing Lecture”

In the first in what will hopefully become a series of posts by guest writers, Lyn Perry gives us his perspective on micropublishing.

“Dear Sir or Madam, will you read my book?” – The Beatles

Micropublishing Trends & Marketing Thoughts
by Lyn Perry

It seems everyone wants to be a paperback writer. Or at least an e-published author. And with the advent of web-based self-publishing tools like Lulu (for print-on-demand books) and Feedbooks (featuring a variety of electronic formats), anyone with a bit of talent and know-how can claim the title of published author.

Continue reading “Guest Post: Micropublishing Trends & Marketing Thoughts”