Category Archives: Guest Posts

A guest post by Matt Peterson.

There’s a quote by Shakespeare that I really like to use. I like to use it for a few reasons. Mostly, it makes me sound smart, quoting Shakespeare and all. But it also encapsulates my life’s learning down into one sentence.

Here it is, from Measure for Measure:

“Our doubts are traitors, and make us lose the good we oft might win by fearing to attempt.”

I kinda have a history with “fearing to attempt.” At least I used to.

I wrote a blog post awhile back about getting cut from the junior high basketball team. At the time, I didn’t want to attempt anything else, ever. That was enough failure to last several lifetimes.

But then I did something crazy—I went out for the wrestling team. It actually turned out to be a decent success. Not the letter-jacket-and-tons-of-dates-and-a-college-scholarship type success, but something…similar. Ish.

The point is, until I attempted something new, I would have stewed in the same cauldron of mediocrity that got me cut from the basketball team in the first place. And I wouldn’t have gone anywhere. It set me up for success later in life, and I’m forever grateful.

Now, you’d expect fear to dwell with a 12-year-old. “Fearing to attempt” is as rampant in the halls of middle school as too much perfume (girls) or too little deodorant (boys). It’s universal. And that’s normal.

But eventually, we have to move past that mentality (and start taking more showers).

Are we attempting new things often, now that we’re all grown up? And I’m not talking about trying new things. Everyone can plug their nose and try some new piece of sushi, or listen to a new radio station on the drive home, or even read a new book someone recommended. But that’s not really attempting anything.

Attempting something has to include the threat of some good ol’ fashioned fear. And that might keep some of us outside the gate looking in.

But the fear doesn’t have anything to do with the outcome. The beauty of attempting is that it’s always wide-open as far as outcome. Fear won’t change the outcome, just the probability of starting. Anything can happen once the attempt is made.

In fact, all successes at one point were mere attempts, and success can’t come until after an attempt. Hmmm.

Oh yeah, and with attempts, the crazier the better.

Here are some of the things I’ve attempted in my life:

Run a marathon. Publish a book. Marry the girl of my dreams. Start my own business. Replace the alternator in a 98 Nissan Sentra.

Each of these things was scary, crazy, and against my better judgment. There was a decent amount of fear involved before the attempt. But the payoff, or as Shakespeare put it, the “good [I] might win” was worth an attempt. So worth it.

Now is the time to set some goals and make some attempts. Real, honest-to-goodness attempts at something worthwhile. Something crazy. Something big. Something small. Something important. Whatever.

But let’s make 2014 about the things we’ve never done, never thought of doing, or never imagined ourselves doing.

Think of the big attempt you’d like to tackle, then break it down into manageable chunks. If you want to finish a novel as your big attempt, great! How many pages are you going to write each week? When are you going to have an outline done? Are you going to attend any workshops or conferences? What books are you going to read? And so on.

Start big. Dream big.

But plan small. Execute small.

And your attempt will be a success.

Just think of all the good waiting for you in the world. There is so much we can do if we simply attempt something. And there is so much we will miss if we are afraid to try.

Our doubts are traitors, indeed. Sentence them to exile. Never let them back.

And unless you’re attempting to ask Jenny Anderson to the 7^th grade dance right after P.E. class, you have nothing to fear.

Guest Writer Bio:

Matt Peterson is the author of The Epic Tales of a Misfit Hero (Bonneville, 2012). His day job is running the copy and video department for Infusionsoft’s in-house creative agency. He lives in Mesa, AZ with his wife and 5 kids. He loves the outdoors, sports, movies, books, traveling, and hanging out with his family. He doesn’t like onions, nor make any apologies for disliking them. In his spare time he runs a free neighborhood sports league for kids.

Conventions: Not Just for Gamers and Cosplayers

January 10, 2014

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Business Conventions Guest Posts Motivation The Writing Life 3 Comments

A guest post by Sherry Peters.

I’d been writing science fiction and fantasy for a number of years before I attended my first local SF/F fan convention. I’d hemmed and hawed over attending it for several of those years. Often I forgot what weekend it was on. I didn’t think I knew anyone who went, and as an introvert I’m usually not great at introducing myself to new people, so I wasn’t keen to put myself in that awkward situation.

In 2008, an acquaintance of mine, a fellow alumnus of the Odyssey Writing Workshop, posted in the Odyssey email forum that she would be attending Keycon with some of her friends that year, and that Keycon was hosting the Aurora Awards, the top fan-voted award for science fiction and fantasy in Canada.

As usual, I’d been thinking about going to Keycon, but wasn’t really sure until I saw her email. Throwing caution to the wind (she might be a closet serial killer, or I might be), I contacted her, said that she could stay at my place for free, if she wanted, and we’d go to the convention together. It was probably one of the better decisions I’ve made in my life, especially in my life as a writer.

You see, there’s a fairly large writing community here in Winnipeg, but most of the science fiction and fantasy writers stay hidden, unknown to each other. I knew a lot of writers in Winnipeg, but none like me, until I went to Keycon. That weekend, I attended every writing/literary-oriented event on the program. I made a lot of friends, all of whom are writers, including my current best friends and writing group.

Over the years since 2008, I’ve made many other good connections through Keycon, with established writers and editors. I’ve also learned a lot about the fan community and the place of writers in fandom. I’ve even gone so far as to volunteer to plan the literary track of programming for the 2013 convention. (One of the best years for literary track programming ever, if I do say so myself.)

Some years, your local convention will be better than others. They are planned by a committee of volunteers which changes from year to year. Off-years should be expected. But even on those off-years, there’s always something to be gained by attending, even if it’s the Saturday evening dinner with your friends and fellow writers.

So, why should you plan to attend your local convention?

It’s a great opportunity to meet other writers who live in the same city as you. Writing is a solitary occupation, usually. This one weekend of the year, the party is in your backyard. You get to meet with others like you. The possibilities for networking and shop-talk are endless.
Volunteer to be on a couple of panels, or to do a reading. This is a great way to get your name known among the fans in your city. Remember, these are the people who are going to read your work and create a fandom out of it. They’ll be your biggest fans and be the ones to spread the good word about you to others.
If the programming isn’t great, hang out in the hotel restaurant or bar. That’s where the other serious writers will be. While the connections may or may not be as big as the kind you’d make at a World Fantasy Convention or WorldCon, depending on the guest of honor and attending list, they could be just as important to you. We know from World Fantasy Conventions and WorldCons that all the good stuff happens in the restaurant and bar. We’re trained that way, so hang out there when you have an hour or two of down time. And while you’re there, be open to sharing a table with others. You may just find yourself sharing a glass of wine and a laugh with your favorite author, dream editor, or number one fan.
The Dealer’s Room. As a book lover, not much more should be said. However, at a local convention, you’re not just going to find books in a Dealer’s Room. There will be all kinds of other retailers there as well. It’s fun to see what’s going on in the fan world, and maybe pick up a few souvenirs—and books.
The Dealer’s Room. Of course, this is also the place where your books will be sold. Frequent the room, sign books for the dealers (and your fans after your panels), and be friendly with the book dealers. If you’re self-published and thinking of getting a table of your own, remember that not everyone is your ideal reader; you’d rather they buy your book because they’re interested, not because they’re guilted into it. So be friendly, have someone to help you run your table, consider tag-teaming with another author or two, and enjoy meeting new people. They’ll buy your book because they like you, not your sales pitch.

One final note, as someone who has planned literary programming: often it’s only as good as its panelists and attendees, so if you find that your local convention hasn’t had great programming in the past, then get yourself and your fellow writer friends on the panels and in the audience. Contact the programming committee with your ideas for panels and what would help you get the most out of your weekend. And don’t forget to visit the convention suites (also known as the themed party rooms)!

Most of all, enjoy your local fan community. It will soon become an annual must-attend event.

Guest Writer Bio: Sherry Peters lives in Winnipeg, where she works as a Life Coach for students at St John’s College at the University of Manitoba, and spends her evenings and weekends writing. Sherry is a trained Life Coach specializing in the areas of goal setting and eliminating writer’s block. She attended the Odyssey Writing Workshop and earned her M.A. in Writing Popular Fiction from Seton Hill University. She credits the year she spent in Northern Ireland as not only being one of the best years of her life, but for being a daily inspiration and motivation in her writing. For more information on Sherry, her coaching, her book Silencing Your Inner Saboteur, and when she’ll be presenting her workshops, visit her website.

Now What?

January 9, 2014

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Business Guest Posts The Writing Life 2 Comments

A guest post by Sam Knight.

Another day another dollar. Another year, another… Hmmm. A dollar. Yeesh! That’s about what it feels like. When did writing turn into a job? I didn’t sign up for this. Did I? I mean, I guess I did. I didn’t mean to. It was supposed to be fun.

Last year, I attended enough conventions that I actually lost count. Not like I went to a hundred or anything like that. I averaged a little over a convention a month—as a speaking guest, not an attendee or a vendor (although I was also an attendee and a vendor at most of them, too). There is a big difference in the drain on your personal energy. As much as going to conventions and meeting other writers and making new fans revitalizes me, staying in hotels, traveling, and being “always on” wears me out.

By the end of the con season, I actually skipped a couple of conventions. That really surprised me. The conventions were a major part of my personal goals for 2013. Heck, I even got to be on panels at both Denver and Salt Lake City Comic Cons! That was a personal goal I thought would take a lot longer to reach.

But it cost me. It drained me. I still have a family who wants me at home, kids I need to make arrangements for when I’m going to be gone, and money that hates me and runs away at the slightest hint I may have woken up.

I made most of my money by going to conventions and selling my books in 2013. Conversely, going to conventions was also my biggest expense. There is a tradeoff there, a give and take. But there was a hidden take I wasn’t seeing.

My word count, my writing production, suffered horribly. I can’t write while driving or speaking at conventions. I have met a couple of people who can, but I’m not one of them. The best I can hope for is a few flash fictions over coffee, or maybe a half of a short story.

But that is where the money really is—in my word count. The more I write, the more stuff I have to sell, and the more I sell… well, you get the point.

And I do need money to keep doing this. I am not independently wealthy, so I can’t afford to have this be the most expensive hobby ever. Even when my hotel and my vending booth are paid for by a convention, I still have expenses. And bills. And kids.

So that is what I am setting my goal for in 2014. Making money—by writing.

Don’t get me wrong, I intend to be perfectly reasonable about it. I have no delusions that I will sell a bazillion copies of anything. But I have also realized that I can’t keep pitching the same things I’ve already sold. I need more. I need a back catalogue. I need new fans to realize I have ten more things they want to buy. I need to write!

But then, I’ve been there before.

When I first started out, that’s what I did. I wrote. All the time. All by myself. And I felt like I needed to get out and meet people, go to conventions, meet other authors. And I did. Maybe too much. It kind of wore me out.

So for 2014, I plan on attending conventions, but maybe not quite as many. I plan on meeting other writers and getting together with those I already know, to revitalize my writing energy, but I will be more selective about where and when and how. And I am upping my writing game. I am going to find a way to get more work out there into the world.

When all is said and done, my goal in 2014 is to find balance. I want to find the sweet spot where I can write until I’m ready to take a break, yet still be able to take the break because I don’t have three things due already. I want to go to conventions, yet still feel giddy about going. I want to be able to run things like a small business, yet still think of myself as a writer. I want to stop thinking “Ach! When did this become a job! It was supposed to be fun,” and start thinking “This is a job? How fun!”

Guest Writer Bio:

Sam Knight refuses to be pinned down into a genre. If the idea grabs him, he writes it. Once upon a time, he was known to quote books the way some people quote movies, but now he claims having a family has made him forgetful, as a survival adaptation. He can be found at www.samknight.com and contacted at sam@samknight.com.

Kevin J. Anderson: Outside, in the Office

December 30, 2013

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Guest Posts The Writing Life No Comments

As we close out the year, we thought it would be a good time to revisit this guest post from Kevin J. Anderson, a reminder that while you should be writing, this doesn’t necessarily mean your butt has to be planted in a chair to do so. This post originally ran on April 9th, 2012, but the advice it offers is timeless. We hope you enjoy, and please check in again tomorrow as we look back on The Greatest Gift I’ve Received as a Writer Month here at Fictorians.

A guest post by Kevin J. Anderson

Everybody knows the best way to get writing done: put your butt in the chair, fingers on the keyboard, eyeballs on the screen…and type.

Unfortunately, with distractions everywhere (kids or pets demanding attention, phone ringing, email popping up, toilets that need cleaning…), the butt/chair/keyboard/monitor setup isn’t always the best way to be productive.

Maybe you need to think outside the keyboard.

I regularly write, and publish, an average of 300,000-500,000 words each year. To me the word “office” is only a loose term for the place where I get my writing done. I can sit in a bustling coffee shop with headphones on, and disappear into my story. I can take notes on the paper tablecloth in an Italian restaurant. I can write anywhere.

Most importantly, I have trained myself to write using a hand-held recorder while walking along beautiful trails, sinking into my imaginary worlds and characters. Yes, I talk to myself. It’s like telling stories around a campfire, engrossed in the plot, speaking aloud, letting the sentences roll off my tongue as my hiking boots roll off the miles. That way I can accomplish my exercise and sightseeing while being productive at the same time. A day in the mountains, forest, or desert is a day at work.

Sometimes other hikers I meet on the trail aren’t quite so accepting of my work methods. More than once I’ve been the recipient of angry glares. While climbing around the Flatirons near Boulder, a man snapped at me, “You shouldn’t be working out here. Just enjoy nature!”

(As if the two are mutually exclusive?)

At a campsite on the Grand Mesa, I was surrounded by tall trees whispering in the wind, near a rushing creek. I had my laptop out on the picnic table, reveling in the glorious surroundings as I edited chapters. Another camper felt compelled to march over to me. “Turn that thing off! You’re on vacation.”

Personally, I thought he should mind his own business, but more important he was making a completely unfounded assumption. The fact is, I wasn’t on vacation. That was my work day. While other people are doomed to go to the daily grind in a “dilbertville” office complex with fabric-walled cubicles, ringing phones, office gossip, and endless meetings, I get to do my work out in the Colorado mountains and canyons. There, I am inspired rather than distracted, all my senses filled with input (some of which is even relevant to the story I’m writing).

I have written a STAR WARS novel with Han Solo and Princess Leia at the polar cap of an ice planet while snowshoeing up Quandary Peak, a 14,265-ft mountain in central Colorado. I’ve written DUNE novels with Brian Herbert — all of them set on an arid desert planet — while trudging through the Great Sand Dunes National Park. I’ve written about ancient ruined alien cliff cities for my “Saga of Seven Suns” while exploring Anasazi ruins in Mesa Verde.

It’s the next best thing to being in the exotic locales of my imagination.

So don’t be fooled by the stereotypical picture of writer slaving over a computer at a desk. If you feel too self-conscious to talk to yourself and dictate finished prose, then just mull over ideas, characters, history and take notes. Or if that doesn’t work, just try a different place-take your laptop (or even a pen and paper notepad…they still function) and go to a coffeeshop where people don’t know you, or hide in a library carrel. My wife even sits in a car in a parking lot and dictates into her recorder when she really needs to get something done. Think about going into the “writer protection program” and disappear for a while.

For me, the way to do it is to get miles away from anybody looking for me.

So if you see me on the trail talking to myself, intent on something inside my head, remember — I’m not on vacation, I’m working. And I’d rather be working here outside on the trail than in any other office in the world.

Guest Writer Bio: Kevin J. Anderson is the author of more than one hundred novels, 47 of which have appeared on national or international bestseller lists. He has over 20 million books in print in thirty languages. He has won or been nominated for numerous prestigious awards, including the Nebula Award, Bram Stoker Award, the SFX Reader’s Choice Award, the American Physics Society’s Forum Award, and New York Times Notable Book. By any measure, he is one of the most popular writers currently working in the science fiction genre. Find out more about Kevin at Wordfire.com.