Category Archives: Guest Posts

A guest post by Heidi Wilde.

As soon as I discovered the existence of books and realized that human beings wrote these precious passports to lands unknown, I knew that I wanted to be a writer. The span between that realization and the present day I like to call My Rationalized Life (sounds better than My Wasted Life, don’t you think?). A little over two years ago, I decided that if I was ever going to be a writer I needed to get serious.

At first I thought that becoming a writer would involve a lot of time locked in my room, alone. That I needed to sequester myself away from “real life” in order to get in touch with my Writer Self. It’s a romantic notion, and you do need focused, concentrated time for your writing, but I found that merely sitting alone with my laptop wasn’t getting me very far. I started looking online for inspiration, tips, advice and stumbled into the world of Conventions and Workshops and all manner of Enticing Gatherings.

I try not to do anything in half measures and my first foray into this strange land was no different. I found a workshop that was held in conjunction with Dragon*Con and involved submitting a short story or the first chapter of a manuscript to the author who was running the 3 day workshop. It popped my eyes wide open, let me tell you. It also introduced me to the idea that writing is a community effort. Yes, when it comes down to it, the only one who can tell your story is you, but we aren’t meant to walk the path from inspiration to fruition alone.

My second convention experience was attending LTUE (Life, the Universe, and Everything – a speculative fiction symposium) where I became acquainted with a group of people who were interested in forming a writing group. I’d never had a writing group and I was a little nervous about how it would all work. I mean, these people would expect me to submit my writing. I would be expected to critique theirs! It was all very new and scary to me, so of course I jumped aboard.

In the beginning these people were strangers. They held no familial obligation to tell me my writing was good. They were going to give me what they wanted me to give them in return; honesty and ways to improve. If you aren’t currently in a writing group and have any interest in publishing – or at the very least improving – your work, I highly recommend finding a group.

There are a few things to consider when you begin searching for a group. First, you need to figure out what you want to get out of being in a group. Do you have a few projects that are nearly finished? Just need those extra set of eyes? Do you want to develop better critiquing skills? Do you need moral support for your writing addiction? A place where people speak your language? Know what you want/need so you can communicate those things to prospective groups.

Every group dynamic will be different; you need to find the one that fits you best. Trust me when I tell you you don’t want a group whose only feedback is that everything you write is awesome. This may sound like a good thing, and at times we do need to cosset our egos, but how much will you improve if you’re never told how or what needs improving? On the flip side, you should avoid groups that make you contemplate suicide at the end of each session. Moderation in all things, right? This is just as applicable to writing groups as to anything else. Find a group where you feel safe to submit, but also challenged to improve.

Don’t forget, writing groups are as much about what you can offer the rest of the group as they are about what you can gain from them. Make sure you are willing to read other people’s submissions and give them your honest feedback. Again, moderation. Don’t hang in the shadows for too long, but don’t expect that the spotlight is there just for you.

Be sure you are ready to accept and (where you deem appropriate) apply criticism. Once you have decided what story you want to tell, listen to your group’s comments to make sure you are telling the story you want to be. There is no need to make every change suggested by your group (that is one good way to lose your story), but if you hear the same comment from multiple sources you need to pay attention. A problem area is being highlighted. Somewhere along the way what you meant to say and what you actually said became two different things. Whether or not you use any suggestions you receive on how to fix the problem, the section needs to be fixed.

In addition to writing groups, I found that attending seminars and workshops help your craft as well as get you out mingling with people “in the know”. Yes, I’m talking about networking, rubbing shoulders, brushing elbows, playing footsie. No matter how nervous the idea of actually speaking to other people may make you, it is a very important piece of the pie.

The best experiences I have had with this aspect of writing have been during Superstars Writing Seminars. I could write a long post full of effusive praise for this seminar, but since this post is already quite lengthy, I’ll just mention one thing. This is where the budding thought of community that I received at the Dragon*Con workshop and watered during LTUE fully bloomed and bore fruit. Never in my wildest dreams did I image Superstars such as Kevin J. Anderson, Brandon Sanderson, Rebecca Moesta, Dave Farland, Tracy Hickman, Eric Flint and James Owen would claim me as a member of their Tribe, but they did.

Of the millions of things these wonderful authors said that touched me, the one that really changed my outlook on this business of writing was when Kevin told us to look around at the rest of the attendees. “These people are not your competition; they are your comrades.” Build your Tribe. Work on your writing, of course, but especially develop strong relationships with your fellow writers, editors, publishers, agents – and yes, even those I.P. attorneys (hey, we all need love) and you’ll find fulfillment and success in this insane, scary, wonderful world of writing.

Heidi Wilde Bio:

Heidi A. Wilde is a Respiratory Therapist by night and aspiring author by day. She spends her nights dragging people back from the brink of death, but she has dedicated her daylight hours to the pursuit of all things writing. Current projects include a Children’s “How to” Poetry book, a Regency romance series as well as a foray into the realm of Steampunk. She attributes the bulk of what knowledge she can claim to attendance in fabulous programs such as Superstars Writing Seminars, Dave Farland’s workshops and various conventions.

Being Creative While Working a Full-Time Job

November 20, 2013

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Business Guest Posts Motivation Superstars Writing Seminars The Writing Life 4 Comments

A guest post by Nick Ruva.

One piece of advice you will hear repeatedly as you embark on a writing career is, “Don’t quit your day job.” Many of us know that all too well. Either you do not make enough as a writer to pay the bills, or you need the security of a consistent paycheck and those much appreciated health benefits. Whatever your reason may be, trying to squeeze in your writing time while working a full-time job can be difficult. It is harder if you are working a job that challenges you to find creative solutions to problems. I cannot prescribe a way to squeeze more time out of your day to write. I am a staunch believer in the idea that when we say we do not have time to write, what we are really saying is there are other things we would rather spend our time on. I get that, and by all means if you would rather spend time unwinding after a long day by watching the tube or shooting baddies online, I cannot blame you. I have been there a million times. When I was asked to write an article about working a job that consumes you night and day, but still finding time to write, I had to sit down and think about it. Sure, I am busy often, and I work some long hours, but at the end of my day I still have time I could be writing, but sometimes I mentally cannot. I have found that there is a limit to the creative output I can muster in a day. Some nights all I want to do is flop on the couch and nullify my brain watching TV. The trick for me has been finding a balance.

I work as a Configuration Management Engineer, which is a fancy way of saying I manage the automated building and release of software. My job requires me to research and solve complicated problems. We need a product to build faster, or a process improved so it is more stable or does something else. It is a job where you are constantly being presented with a problem and asked to find a fast and elegant solution. It is a lot like creative writing, and it ticks a lot the same creative pleasure centers in the brain. Over the years I have had several jobs that did not challenge me, such as my early years in retail, or doing simplistic quality assurance testing. Now, some QA testers need to be deviously creative, but my stint was ticking boxes on a checklist as either pass or fail. Do this, record result, repeat. I would not say it was mind-numbing, but it did make me desire to be more creative during my downtime. As the skill and creativity necessary for my day job increased, my writing productivity took a hit. Again, it was not for a lack of time. I have the time to write, and I feel guilty if I am not working on a story, but finding the drive when I am already creatively satiated during the day means I need to use other criteria to motivate me. So what do you do if you find yourself in a similar situation?

The first thing I would recommend is to reach out and meet other writers. Writing groups can be incredibly helpful. While at the University of Southern California, I took a few creative writing courses which allowed me to meet other writers on campus and establish critique groups with other newbie writers. After school, I went to a few local bookstores and looked for fliers for writing groups in the area. I am still in a group thanks to a post I found years ago. Likewise, I have met writers online and at classes and workshops, and we have created an online critique group that is still in its infancy, but is already having a huge effect on my writing. A good writing group will help you on so many levels. First, and maybe most important for us busy folks, a writing group will encourage you to write more. I feel extremely guilty if I do not bring something to my critique groups, and shame writing is still writing. If that is what you need to motivate you, I am right there with you.

A critique group also offers a network of writers you can grow and learn from. I have received some amazing critiques over the years, and my writing gets stronger every time I submit. For instance, I had a horrible tendency to write characters who stare. They would stare at everything and everyone, and it drove someone in my critique group up the wall. Looking back over my work, it was a pattern, and a problem, that I have corrected. Likewise, I like my fiction sparse, but that’s a fine line to walk, and if I submit a piece and get too many “white room” comments, I know I have not gotten the balance right. The writers in my critique groups have been instrumental in making me a better writer.

Just meeting and being around other writers can be an enormous help. My writer friends and I like to commiserate and daydream about writing. It helps when you have an all-consuming job, especially if you can talk with other writers in similar situations. If you’re having trouble meeting writers locally, I recommend the more networking heavy seminars, such as the Superstars Writing Seminar. Superstars, and other seminars like it, throw you in an incubator with around fifty other writers. Thanks to social networking sites, we have kept in touch and continue to help promote and nurture each other’s work. Seeing status updates from other writers, yes, even those: “I just wrote 5,000 words this morning,” that shame me into writing, are wonderful motivators. When you are feeling burned out, and all you want to do is click yourself numb on the Internet, having some streaming encouragement definitely helps.

I know what you are thinking. I am telling you the way I find more time to write is by hanging out in writing groups, meeting other writers, and going online to Facebook. OK, so, those are motivators, but what about actually writing. For me, it is trying to find the right mix of time to productivity. I have tried to schedule daily writing times. Early morning before work, during a lunch break, right after work, before bed. When I try to make a set schedule, especially at a set time, I normally start strong and fail miserably in a few days. The biggest issue I have is making the time to write when I am actually feeling inspired. If I am feeling especially creative, and I am excited about a story, I will fly through a couple thousand words. If I am feeling tired, or forced to write, I will resist even opening my manuscript.

I am also leery of setting daily word count goals. I know they work for many of my writer friends, but if I set a goal for a thousand words a day, I will probably slack off thinking, “I can do that in an hour. I’ll just bang out a few paragraphs before bed.” Never happens. If I am crunching, for say NaNoWriMo, I will do hourly goals. For instance, instead of shooting for a thousand words a day, I will force myself to it sit down for two hours and set a goal of five hundred words an hour. Something about moving the goal up and making it smaller, and more immediate, helps me stay accountable. It is not perfect, and sometimes I will balk at that two-hour window, but it helps. For the most part, I am against the writing word count goals as they normally make me less productive, and I sometimes feel defeated if I miss too many in a row.

What has worked for me was creating a little leeway for creative time during the day. I know this may not work for everyone, and maybe you can schedule a solid block of time and work like a champ, but if you are like me, do not feel guilty stopping your daily work here or there for a few minutes to write a paragraph of fiction when you’re inspired. I started doing that a few years ago, and barring a meeting or a catastrophe at work, I can usually find fifteen or twenty-minutes each day to work on some prose. I have also found that it energizes me when I return to my day job, especially if I am stumped on a particularly hard problem, or if I am simply not in the mood to be 100% productive for the nine to five. Completing a few writing goals has worked wonders and I have hammered out a few solid short stories recently on work breaks that have gone over well in my critique groups. Again, your mileage will vary, and make sure that your writing does not jeopardize your day to day. I know how easy it can be to get lost in your writing and lose a few hours of time. You need to find that balance, but I have found writing during my day as a great tool that has made me more productive in my day job and my writing life.

Finally, you need to ask why you are doing this. Over the past year I have been putting my writing life into better perspective. I look at myself as a small business owner, and my writing as a product I need to ready for release. Every time I skip a writing session, or get nothing done for the day, I am pushing my release date out. If I want to get my product on the shelf, I have to put in consistent work. You need to find that big, juicy carrot to dangle in order to keep you motivated even when there is a full DVR to distract you. For me it is simply to write when inspiration hits. I cannot count on having an hour of quality brain-time later. If I can put things on pause for a few, write that scene, and then go on about my day I am that much closer to my finished product.

Nick Ruva Bio:
Nick Ruva is a literary writer who dabbles in Sci-Fi and Fantasy. While he is not practicing the dark arts of fiction, he manages the release and build process of software products and specializes in process control and automation. A Los Angeles transplant, Nick has worked with local LA writers, editors and publishers who are working to promote the independent L.A. writing and arts scene. Nick is a Superstars Writing Seminars alum, David Farland Death Camp survivor, and was a member of the inaugural Writing Excuses “Out of Excuses” Retreat.

Blogs and Your Cash: Thoughts on Starting a Blog and Where Your Money Should Go

November 7, 2013

fictorians

Guest Posts Marketing The Writing Life Writing Tools 1 Comment

A guest post by Stephan McLeroy.

Hello Fictorian loyalists!

Blogging, the soapbox of our generation. And just like finding a soapbox down some random alley, it’s actually really easy to snag a blog these days. So easy, that, according to blogging.org, in 2012, there were 42 million blogs in the U.S. alone. With about 315 million people in the U.S. by the end of 2012, that means there was one blog for about every 7.5 people.

Then, on top of that, I’m sure there’s a cacophony of questions singing through your brain as you consider your own blog: “What will I post? How is this going to supplement my writing career? How many cats should I have on the site?”

These are all important questions. However, I would propose that the most important question you should be asking right now is, “How much money am I willing to spend?”

What I want to do is help you navigate a couple of the financial decisions that go into making a respectable blog. I hope that, after this, you’ll have your blog up and running, and be well on your way to creating a site that will blow the blogosphere away without breaking your wallet.

Number one: Getting your website hosted

To own any website on the internet, you need to get a domain URL (for writers, usually our name). Once you’ve thought of the URL you want, write it down on your best stationery along with two or three alternatives and go to the next step: finding a hosting site. There are tons of hosting sites out there, all vying for your business. If you ask around, you’ll find out people have vastly different preferences for what they want/require from hosting sites. However, being an active writer, you probably don’t have time for that, so I did you a solid by running a basic search for “best hosting site” on Google and got this sweet LifeHacker article. You can thank me later. Once on a hosting site, do a search for the URL of your choice by following the site’s instructions and sign up for hosting. You are well on your way to becoming a bonafide blogger.

Number two: Pumping money into your blog

Deciding how much money to spend on your new website falls along a spectrum. At one end we have the penny pincher who declares, “I will do everything myself!” To them, I say, play on! You have a lot of research to do. There are plenty of How-To books, YouTube videos, and, funny enough, blogs about what you need to learn in order to set up and maintain a blog successfully.

But if you’re like me, your dollar-per-hour rate is probably a lot higher than the gentleman or lady I was speaking to in the last paragraph. I have a day job and a very limited amount of free time. I need professional help. Oh, and a small team to help me with my blog (Hey-Yo!). I currently have a webmaster, a web designer, and a publicist friend who manages my posts, all for reasonable sums. The main thing I do is generate content for my blog (my editor, btw, reviews the content I make).

To make this type of set up work, remember that your blog is only a component of your publicity efforts. It supplements writing by being a place to post updates and work. With that in mind, I, for instance, set a budget for myself and my blogging exploits. Under no circumstances do I allow myself to blow that budget. If I need more for my designer this month, I reduce the amount of work I send to my publicist. Is there a broken plug-in on the site that needs addressing? Then design gets suspended until the plug-in is fixed.

This brings us to the next piece of advice.

Number three: Communication

No matter what team you set up, you gotta communicate with them to get good results. For me, at the end of each month I take a few minutes to have a discussion with my team, letting them know what I see as a priority and then getting their input. Everyone wants money, yes, but usually the work of one person directly affects the productivity of another, so that, 99% of the time, everyone is in agreement on where the money should go. We then create an in/out list for the month and boom! The well-oiled machine continues to crank out a respectable blog.

Number four: Make sure you trust your team

Just starting out, you’ll probably end up working with people who are your friends, but they may not be; they may be people you’ve met at work, at a convention, or online. Make sure you trust them, because without trust, you will not be able to have open, frank conversations, which wastes precious time you don’t have.

Your team may look smaller than mine, or larger, depending on your own needs. I would suggest, if anything, that you at least have someone who can design the site, someone who can manage the non-design programming, and someone who can help you keep regular posts going. From the successful bloggers I’ve spoken to, these seem like the bare essentials for running a site when you can’t do it by yourself.

I hope this little post helped get you started on your blogging exploits. I can say that I am still a novice at this and my advice is not the end all be all, but it’s what I’ve learned in the time I have been blogging. Feel free to leave comments or questions.

Good day!

Stephan McLeroy Bio:

Stephan McLeroy is a historical urban fantasy writer based out of the San Francisco Bay area. His current work, The Adventures of Lockwood and Blackfox can be read for free on his blog at stephanmcleroy.com. He recommends “Death on the Pearl River Delta.” It’s his favorite.

For the Love of Words

November 4, 2013

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Craft & Skills Editing First Drafts Guest Posts Motivation Publishing The Writing Life 1 Comment

A guest post by Lisa Mangum.

I love words. I love how they work and how they sound and how they look on the page. I’ve been reading since I was three, so perhaps it’s not much of a surprise that I chose a profession that is all about words.

I actually chose two professions: I am both a writer and an editor. I’ve been in the publishing business since 1997, when I was hired by Bookcraft as their Editorial Assistant. Bookcraft merged with Deseret Book in 1999, and I’ve been there ever since. After several years as an Assistant Editor, I recently switched responsibilities to work more in acquisitions and developmental editing. It’s the part of the job I love the most: finding that diamond in the rough and polishing it until it shines. Every time I see a manuscript turn into a book I think it is magic.

And nothing was more magical than seeing my own manuscript turn into a book. I wrote The Hourglass Door in 2007, and it was published by Shadow Mountain in 2009. I finished out the trilogy with The Golden Spiral and The Forgotten Locket. My most recent book is After Hello.

So, having been on both sides of the writing desk for so long, what is the best advice I’ve been given about writing?

Three things:

My first piece of advice comes from my friend Rick Walton who tells this to his students who aspire to be writers:

1. “Quit. But if you can’t—do the work.”

Writing is hard. It’s exhausting and exhilarating at the same time, but it is hard. So, before you get too far down that road of “being a writer,” you should think seriously about just quitting. Because if your heart isn’t in it, then there’s nothing wrong with not being a writer and being something else—with following your true passion.

But if there is something inside of you that won’t let you quit, that says, “No! I am a writer; I do have a story to tell,” then your only choice is to do the work.

Which leads me to Advice #2:

2. “Dream bigger.”

Recently, I was on a panel at SLC Comic-Con about Disneyland and one of the other panelist said that what she wished she’d known earlier in her career was that it was okay to dream bigger.

I love that! I think we as writers work hard to figure out what works for us and how to write a story and how to get published. And then we think, “Whew, I made it.” Well . . . maybe we need to dream bigger. If there is always a bigger dream out there beckoning to us, we’ll never stop reaching for it. And if we never stop reaching, we’ll simply get better and better until we reach that new dream.

So whatever it is you’re dreaming about—dream bigger.

3. “Don’t hurry. Don’t worry. Don’t stop.”

I saw this years ago written on a wall in the Innovations building at Disneyland, and I instantly resonated to it. Writing is a process; don’t hurry. Take time to learn your craft. Take time to enjoy the journey. Publishing is a process. Take time to learn the business. But don’t worry if you don’t get it right the first time. Don’t worry if you make mistakes, or if other people don’t understand your vision. Just—don’t stop.

I believe that there is a story inside each of us that only we can tell. Each of us has a valuable and unique voice. Don’t be afraid to use your voice. Don’t be afraid to tell your story.

So dream bigger. Do the work, and don’t hurry, don’t worry, and don’t quit.

Guest Writer Bio:

Lisa Mangum has worked in the publishing department of Deseret Book since 1997. She specializes in editing fiction for the Shadow Mountain imprint and has worked with several New York Times best-selling authors, including Ally Condie, James Dashner, and Jason F. Wright. While fiction is her first love, she also has experience working with nonfiction projects (memoir, educational, cookbooks, etc.) and some children’s picture books. She loves finding that “diamond in the rough” in the slush pile, and she is particularly skilled in the developmental editing part of the process. Lisa is also the author of four national best-selling YA novels (The Hourglass Door trilogy and After Hello). She graduated with honors from the University of Utah, and currently lives in Taylorsville, Utah, with her husband, Tracy.