|
Right, I’m just specifically familiar with SFF where simultaneous submissions are a big no no. In other fields it’s different.
|
#
?
Aug 17, 2020 20:06
|
|
|
|
| # ? May 4, 2024 09:55 |
|
|
I've noticed that for SFF as well, whereas regular literary mags nearly always accept simultaneous subs. They're far more likely to ask for a $2-10 admin fee though. Dr.D-O posted:Recently I wrote a piece of flash fiction for a contest Weird Tales was running. Despite not writing a lot before, I really enjoyed it and was hoping to write more short fiction in my spare time. Ideally, I'd like to submit my work for publication somewhere. I use duotrope.com to track my submissions. You can search markets there, track your submissions, and see other user reported stats (acceptance rates, average response time, form vs personal rejection, etc.) There's a $5 monthly subscription fee but I find it worth it. A majority of magazines use a submission tracking system called "Submittable" that also helps track submissions, though plenty of them don't and sometimes you'll be using UIs like time capsules from 2001. Know that most good magazines have a 1% or less acceptance rate and it's extremely difficult to get published. They are also dying all the drat time because no one reads short fiction. Most of the time you submit a story, you'll receive a generic form rejection, but some magazines are intentionally more beginner-writer friendly and are more likely to give feedback (another useful data point in duotrope). Make sure to read the submission guidelines closely. SFF submissions often require an archaic font and page layout. Plenty of lit mags don't give a poo poo but others are general or specific on content (e.g. one mag says "light genre elements fine", another details how much they love Henry James.) Nearly all of them will suggest you read a few issues to get an idea of what they like to publish -- this is great in theory, especially if you have the time for it, but it's likely that you will to submit to more magazines than you can possibly read in depth. It's a good practice to get into though and sometimes If I'm not feeling productive during a writing session, I go read magazine shorts. Writing flash fiction isn't a bad place to start if you haven't done a lot of writing -- it helps you hone your language and makes it easier to finish things. I started with shorter pieces too. I've since moved away since I much prefer both reading/writing 3-6k word stories (also more markets there.)
|
|
#
?
Aug 17, 2020 20:47
|
|
|
Dr.D-O posted:Recently I wrote a piece of flash fiction for a contest Weird Tales was running. Despite not writing a lot before, I really enjoyed it and was hoping to write more short fiction in my spare time. Ideally, I'd like to submit my work for publication somewhere. It's pretty cool! Go check out the publisher Flame Tree and their newsletter. Each month they announce a theme for sci-fi and horror (one each) and accept submissions for flash. The pay is pretty good as far as I remember.
|
|
#
?
Aug 20, 2020 13:41
|
|
|
Is it wrong that all I write is fanfiction? I don't really have any original ideas.
|
|
#
?
Aug 23, 2020 17:28
|
|
|
I mean, it's not wrong in the sense of being incorrect. Write whatever you want. I would argue though that writing fanfiction means you do have original ideas. You're taking a setting, characters, whatever, and creating something new out of that. No artist gets their ideas out of nowhere. If you want to start writing your own original fiction, you've got a head start, but if you're happy where you are, that's fine too.
|
|
#
?
Aug 23, 2020 19:48
|
|
|
Mycroft Holmes posted:Is it wrong that all I write is fanfiction? I don't really have any original ideas. Do what millionaires do and change enough details in your fanfiction that you won't get sued and sell it! 
|
|
#
?
Aug 23, 2020 20:53
|
|
|
And then Aruton summoned forth his clone who helped him charge an energy ball that is not unlike a rasengan but just different enough to not get hit for copyright
|
|
#
?
Aug 23, 2020 20:55
|
|
|
someone commented on a recent post of mine that my dialogue was "alien and wooden". I hadn't thought it was that bad. Does anyone have any tips for writing dialogue?
|
|
#
?
Aug 23, 2020 21:09
|
|
|
Mycroft Holmes posted:someone commented on a recent post of mine that my dialogue was "alien and wooden". I hadn't thought it was that bad. Does anyone have any tips for writing dialogue? Sit in a cafe and write down how people speak to each other for an hour or so. Read some good literature books and notice how they do dialogue in them. My 'rules' for dialogue are to only very rarely have people directly respond to each other, have them disagree, contradict, go off on a tangent, mishear, decline to answer, answer a question that wasn't asked. Dialogue is like violence in that if it's not fundamentally used as a way to convey character you're not using it properly.
|
|
#
?
Aug 23, 2020 21:50
|
|
|
Another criticism I had was that I was saying what the character was doing and not describing it. The character in question was making a gun. Any advice on how to describe an action without making it boring?
|
|
#
?
Aug 23, 2020 23:29
|
|
|
There's a lot of things that "alien and wooden" can mean. It might mean that the language your characters are using doesn't fit their mood, or that they sound too formal. It might mean that they're speaking too clearly, that what they're saying is explaining things with more clarity than a person would have. It might even be that the transitions between the lines of dialogue don't quite work, so it feels like two separate people delivering monologues rather than a flowing conversation. When I'm writing dialogue between two characters, there's always at least three things going on: there's the words they're saying to each other, but each person has their own internal thoughts too. Sebmojo's rules are good examples of this: all of them show there's some imbalance between what the characters are thinking. This gets us in closer to their thoughts, because we can see one of them is insistent while the other is distracted, or one is thinking in the moment while the other is thinking long-term, or whatever the case may be. If they're in perfect agreement already, what would there be to talk about?
|
|
#
?
Aug 23, 2020 23:36
|
|
|
Mycroft Holmes posted:Another criticism I had was that I was saying what the character was doing and not describing it. The character in question was making a gun. Any advice on how to describe an action without making it boring? Just read a bunch of good writing, there's no substitute for absorbing it directly.
|
|
#
?
Aug 23, 2020 23:45
|
|
|
Mycroft Holmes posted:Another criticism I had was that I was saying what the character was doing and not describing it. The character in question was making a gun. Any advice on how to describe an action without making it boring? Much like dialogue should be doing more than one thing, so should description. In fact, you want as much of your writing to carry as much weight as possible. So, I'll take building a gun as an example. How could I make that interesting? Well, I could lean into the character of the person building it, and make sure that each bit of the description helps to build their character. Do they have a cup of coffee they keep picking up and placing down in the shifting empty spots on the table as the gun slowly pieces itself together? Do they wave a half-constructed handgun around casually when someone stops in to ask if they're doing all right? What about inside their head? Assuming, of course, that the reader has access to their thoughts. Is there a memory they're calling back with every piece they put together? Is this as relaxing as a zen garden, like tracing the rake through the sand, making the mess of pieces fall into a simple order? Is there a brooding cloud hanging over them, a danger that's becoming more and more real as the gun is assembled? Or maybe there's just a mood you need to get across. Slowly creeping dread, tension, wistful memory--whichever one you're trying to convey, it would inform how you go about describing the scene. Sometimes, though, if you can't find a way to make an action feel interesting--skip it. Think of it as a cut between scenes, throw in a little *** between paragraphs if you need to. Give me two sentences of someone building a gun in their basement, then cut to them walking into a bank with a heavy weight in their coat pocket. If you're telling the reader something that's not interesting and not important, why is it there in the first place?
|
|
#
?
Aug 23, 2020 23:55
|
|
|
Mycroft Holmes posted:Another criticism I had was that I was saying what the character was doing and not describing it. The character in question was making a gun. Any advice on how to describe an action without making it boring? This is tricky. It depends on how important the action is. Let's say the point is the mystery of what the character is doing. Maybe they mailed all the parts and are assembling them in front of his victim. You could really string the reader along, describing how they pull out one odd part, then another, carefully fitting things together until toward the end as they fit the handle and cock the gun before pointing it. In this case, I'd have a longish monologue, with the actions after each paragraph. Or if the emphasis is on something else and the gun doesn't matter that much, it's okay to say something like "he spent a day assembling the weapon before heading out." It also helps to use the "doing" for things that don't need a description. "He left the room, slamming the door behind him." vs. "He put his hand on the doorknob, turned it, and flung the door open before running through." not that the last part is wrong, but it it almost makes it seem like the character may be trying to make a surprise exit or something. If wouldn't be appropriate if someone is just leaving for work.
|
|
#
?
Aug 24, 2020 00:00
|
|
|
General Battuta posted:Just read a bunch of good writing, there's no substitute for absorbing it directly. Tbh a good answer to any writing question is "do it like they do it in good books" as it contains a stealth action plan
|
|
#
?
Aug 24, 2020 03:23
|
|
|
sebmojo posted:Sit in a cafe and write down how people speak to each other for an hour or so. Read some good literature books and notice how they do dialogue in them. People (generally) don't provide information they don't have to, and dialogue can feel extremely wooden when characters violate this. If someone's wife asks how their day was they aren't going to drop in a bunch of exposition about where they work and who they work with and what they're working on, they're just going to say "Fine" or "Francine is a bitch" or ignore the question entirely. Doctor Zero posted:This is tricky. It depends on how important the action is. It also really depends on point of view. If it's close to one of the characters then it can be helpful to think about their attention as a filter. When you're walking around in the world you aren't attending to everything around you, but when you're reading the author is deciding what you attend to. The attention itself can communicate a lot about an action. If you describe a character putting their hand on the doorknob, turning it, and pulling the door open that's going to read as the character opening the door in a very deliberate way as you've forced the reader's attention onto the mechanics of what is usually an autonomic action.
|
|
#
?
Aug 24, 2020 15:00
|
|
|
A good dialogue writing exercise is to find an example of good dialogue in a novel and transcribe it word for word. It really makes you stop and think and with practice your brain commits it to memory.
|
|
|
#
?
Aug 24, 2020 17:44
|
|
|
Really if you're wondering how to do [thing] the best thing to do is pick up a book and see how that author did it. Even if the book turns out to not have [thing], worst case scenario is you just read a book.
|
|
#
?
Aug 24, 2020 19:17
|
|
|
Dr.D-O posted:Recently I wrote a piece of flash fiction for a contest Weird Tales was running. Despite not writing a lot before, I really enjoyed it and was hoping to write more short fiction in my spare time. Ideally, I'd like to submit my work for publication somewhere. A brief how-to/what's-what guide to publishing short fiction can be found near the bottom of this post: https://forums.somethingawful.com/showthread.php?noseen=1&threadid=3807739&pagenumber=1&perpage=40#post468811196 General Battuta posted:You will be rejected for years, gradually improve, start consistently selling, and, if you keep at it, end up placing stories in your dream markets. if you don't get tired of casting stories into the void along the way since nobody reads short fiction except short fiction writers ^^^^ my one acquaintance who has had lots of short stories published in pro SFF markets says exactly this, and also had a horrifying blog post (which I can't find now, thank god) titled "Just got my 1300th rejection letter." Stephen King, in On Writing, talks about how he had a railroad spike on his wall that he would impale all of his rejections on, and it was pretty much full-up when he finally got a story published. Should we not tell new people these things? I will now do the plug that I'm surprised no one else has done: We have our own dumb weekly flash fiction contest, which we have somehow done every week for over 8 years now (hoooow????). Thunderdome 2020ty: This Dumb Joke Will Continue Until the Words Improve. You will not get published, but someone will definitely read your story and give you honest feedback! And we've mellowed out a lot, so no one will tell you that your words made them want to drink bleach! Probably! ...should we not tell new people these things? If you don't feel like doing Thunderdome, I encourage you to write whatever you want and still seek out feedback, either by posting a thread here in CC (please let us know in this thread b/c most of us are lazy) or hitting us up on discord at: https://discord.gg/nzJy9MJ (the discord is thunderdome-branded, but not thunderdome-exclusive). I really hope all these responses haven't discouraged you--getting published isn't easy, but it's also not the exclusive end-goal of writing. If you had fun writing, keep writing. Dr. Kloctopussy fucked around with this message at 12:49 on Aug 26, 2020 |
|
#
?
Aug 26, 2020 12:47
|
|
|
I'm gonna approach this from a different side and say it's not too hard to get published as long as you hustle. Truth is, there's plenty of paying markets that are new or don't get buried in submissions where chances are significantly higher. Open up Duotrope, The Grinder or Horror Tree (not just for horror, despite the name) and look up some fresh markets in your genre. Aim as high as you want: 10 cents per word and up is top 1% of markets, there's only a handful in spec fic and most of them open for a month each year. Incredibly hard to get into. Helps if you read them to figure out what kind of stories they like. 5-6 cents per word is considered ''professional'' rates as per SFWA (6 cents since a couple of years back). These are also hard to get into, but there's always pro anthologies going around that are ''easier.'' Flame Tree puts out a few of those a year that they announce in their newsletter. They do one sci-fi and one horror each time, maybe 3 times a year. I've been in one of them so if I can do it, anyone can. 1 cent to 4 cents a word is where the semi-pros lie. All kinds of markets of varying professionalism publish at these rates. If you keep sending stories out you're going to sell one if your stories are halfway decent. Flat rate markets can be good because if they accept low word counts you can get a decent cents/word rate. Say they pay a flat $100 bucks and you send in a 2000 word story, that's pretty good! Royalty share is just not worth it. You probably won't make a dime but more importantly, you probably won't get read. I edited one of these way back in...2014? I think each author ended up making like $30 in royalties. I don't recommend submitting here. It's just a bit sad.
|
|
#
?
Aug 28, 2020 23:34
|
|
|
Anyone else doing the pitmad tweet thing tmrw,
|
|
#
?
Sep 2, 2020 15:43
|
|
ravenkult posted:5-6 cents per word is considered ''professional'' rates as per SFWA (6 cents since a couple of years back). These are also hard to get into, but there's always pro anthologies going around that are ''easier.'' Flame Tree puts out a few of those a year that they announce in their newsletter. They do one sci-fi and one horror each time, maybe 3 times a year. I've been in one of them so if I can do it, anyone can. FYI, the SFWA qualifying rate has been 8c/word for some time now.
|
|
|
#
?
Sep 2, 2020 16:30
|
|
|
Shageletic posted:Anyone else doing the pitmad tweet thing tmrw, I mean yeah but what's different about tomorrow compared to any oth--oh you mean like there's a special thing going on and we're not just calling twitter the Shout Hole
|
|
#
?
Sep 2, 2020 18:26
|
|
|
Reposting a beta-read request from Discord for the non-Discord goons: I'm looking for beta readers for LOOK OUT FOR ME, my 97,000 word dark fantasy that combines the cave-dwelling claustrophobia of THE LUMINOUS DEAD with the locked-room murder mystery of GIDEON THE NINTH. If any of you are willing to nail yourselves to the great cross of beta reading, I've got .docx and .pdf and .epub for your reading pleasure, and the whole month of september to wait for feedback before I gear up for october querying. Even if you don't want to beta read, I still love you all. Just shoot me a PM or reply to this thread if you're interested. Thanks! edit oh sweet i'm a stupid newbie again, i think I might keep this for a while
|
|
#
?
Sep 3, 2020 20:26
|
|
|
I just wanted to say thank you to everyone who answered my question. It was all very helpful and informative and has not dissuaded me from writing. Even if I end up not selling anything, I think it's good for me psychologically. I feel like I'm having real genuine fun for the first time in over a decade. If I can share that with others, that's great. If not, then at least I'm happy.
|
|
#
?
Sep 11, 2020 15:53
|
|
Dr.D-O posted:I just wanted to say thank you to everyone who answered my question. It was all very helpful and informative and has not dissuaded me from writing. That is great, dude! Makes me feel like I need to get some writing done soon.
|
|
|
#
?
Sep 11, 2020 16:28
|
|
|
Genuine fun? Seems suspicious 
|
|
#
?
Sep 11, 2020 17:41
|
|
|
If you have fun writing you are doing it WRONG. It should BURN. Like the SUN.
|
|
#
?
Sep 11, 2020 23:04
|
|
|
SimonChris posted:FYI, the SFWA qualifying rate has been 8c/word for some time now. Since 2019 apparently.
|
|
#
?
Sep 12, 2020 00:05
|
|
|
Apologies, but my search-fu is weak. I've read that agents/publishers are souring on series from first-time authors. How do you tailor a novel to stand on its own, while also making it the first of many? Or is that a fool's errand? Specifically: In my book, Protag is hunted by Lieutenant. Lieutenant represents the Boss. The Lieutenant is the villain of the book, the Boss never makes an appearance (not even in the cliche "cut to Boss's chamber where they brood and yell at minions" scene), they are mentioned in only a few scenes. The Lieutenant is the driving antagonist of the book, and is written as such. The Lieutenant's motive, and indeed the conceit of the novel, all hinge on the existence of the Boss, and the Boss's relationship (lower-case R) with the Protag, but I'm not interested in writing about the Boss in this book. Thoughts? More in general than in relation to my book, but I wanted to give an example. Thanks kindly.
|
|
#
?
Sep 15, 2020 16:31
|
|
|
Doesn't sound like a huge problem. Add a scene where the lieutenant meets, talks to or worries about the boss if you're worried
|
|
#
?
Sep 16, 2020 03:45
|
|
|
sebmojo posted:Doesn't sound like a huge problem. Add a scene where the lieutenant meets, talks to or worries about the boss if you're worried Agreed, though I wouldn't add that scene. As long as the relative rank of the Lieutenant is made clear, I think readers will understand that there exist ranks higher than them.
|
|
#
?
Sep 16, 2020 04:30
|
|
|
Sorry, to repeat: I'm less worried about my novel in particular, and more interested in starting a general discussion about how to write standalone novels to be the beginning of a series. Not merely how to write sequels to successful stories (Hollywood is filled with unnecessary sequels), but rather: how to plant sequel seeds so that in hindsight, a story feels like the inevitable chapter, without having to market it as Book 1 of a Six Part Trilogy.
|
|
#
?
Sep 16, 2020 04:35
|
|
|
1. be tamsyn muir, who can write an insane first novel series starter that is barely even comprehensible without the rest of the series but still tremendously satisfying 2. make sure all the primary plot threads are tied up, but there are still thematic lines and character goals. the protag has changed, but their problem (which has now been resolved) is no longer the real problem.
|
|
#
?
Sep 16, 2020 05:01
|
|
|
CitizenKeen posted:Sorry, to repeat: I'm less worried about my novel in particular, and more interested in starting a general discussion about how to write standalone novels to be the beginning of a series. Not merely how to write sequels to successful stories (Hollywood is filled with unnecessary sequels), but rather: how to plant sequel seeds so that in hindsight, a story feels like the inevitable chapter, without having to market it as Book 1 of a Six Part Trilogy. I wrote some stuff about different kinds of series, but I don't think that's what you're asking. I think the general kind of answer here is not to commit yourself to anything in the first book. So: have a protagonist who has a free hand to go around doing lots of things, a reporter, a police officer, a spy, something like that. Include relationships and potential conflicts that you can build on later, but include space to raise the stakes. Use lots of background/setting information that you can build on later but don't have to, and in the mean time provides an interesting setting for your independent story. Don't make up the world as you go along. Have a plan for the series. If it's going to be long, make sure it's something that can still interest you several years down the line. Looser series like the Flashman books are the models for this. I mention Flashman because the first book spends about a third of the page count setting the main story and series up, and that's far too long; it hurts the novel as a standalone work. CitizenKeen posted:I've read that agents/publishers are souring on series from first-time authors. I think a backlash against series is due to long series with big problems: Patrick Rothfuss, Song of Ice and Fire, maybe Ada Palmer's Terra Ignota books. If so, the solution would be to have a rock-solid plan, to convince editors you know where you're going and won't bollox up the ending, and preferably have written lots of it before submitting, although that's a bit of an ask. Gene Wolfe had second drafts of all of the New Sun books before he submitted them, iirc. Ultimately it's a commercial decision, and there's no way for a new author to prove they'll sell lots of books. E: I don't have any contacts like Sally Forth mentions, and I don't know if there is a backlash, btw; but if there is, that's what I'd put it down to. Safety Biscuits fucked around with this message at 09:47 on Sep 16, 2020 |
|
#
?
Sep 16, 2020 06:00
|
|
|
CitizenKeen posted:I've read that agents/publishers are souring on series from first-time authors. How do you tailor a novel to stand on its own, while also making it the first of many? Or is that a fool's errand? Safety Biscuits' advice is really good, but I don't think it's true agents and publishers are souring on series. Annecdotal, but I chat with three first-time authors whose publisher recently signed them for series (and one of the authors really didn't want to do a sequel). When it comes to agents, what they don't want is for you to waste time working on a series if the first book doesn't sell, but in my experience they're really keen for the sequel potential exist and will do their best to sell Your Book + As Yet Unwritten Book 2.
|
|
#
?
Sep 16, 2020 09:09
|
|
|
One way to approach this is to write your book as if it's a standalone in terms of plot, but to also pay close attention to developing your setting and characters. Depending on which genre you're writing in, a sequel could spring up as easily as introducing a new planet to explore, a new killer to catch or a new application for magic. And along the way you can continue threads from the first book that weren't completely resolved. A lot of times this takes the form of an evolving romance but can also follow up on characters whose motivations the main character encountered in the first but that they're still striving to achieve. And maybe the MC owes that character a favor for how they helped them out. Now the main character puts their specific skills toward finding a missing family member or helping them climb the political/social ladder. Similarly, the main character will likely have many aspects to them that weren't fully explored in the first book. Perhaps their sibling died in the war. Where that was originally a detail that shaped who the character was, this can now become a major focus for a second book when at the end of the first book the antagonist reveals that the sibling is actually alive or actually was killed because they were carrying information that could save the country from ruin. The first book wraps up all of the major threads that originally began the journey, but raises new questions about the main character, the world they inhabit or other characters who have similarly interesting stories to tell.
|
|
#
?
Sep 16, 2020 16:09
|
|
|
I think one of the clearest places to observe how the balance between short, medium, and long term plot setup/resolution can be handled well and poorly is in serialized TV shows that got cancelled after their first or second season. Some of them gently caress it up spectacularly and feel like a complete waste of time even if the seasons were good otherwise; others put out a single season that's entirely satisfying even if some things will never be resolved. Usually when there are abandoned series (in writing) that really piss people off it's because, in my opinion, the weight that has been put on long-term plot is totally out of proportion. Even if those series get finished they'll still have a ton of pissed off fans—if you spend a nine book epic setting up a burning question the answer has to be impossibly compelling to pay it off.
|
|
#
?
Sep 16, 2020 18:13
|
|
|
I find it interesting that all the discussions revolve around television. Are there any good books that go on for more than one book, but end with unresolved questions? My gold standard (my role model) is the Honor Harrington books.
|
|
#
?
Sep 16, 2020 22:14
|
|
|
|
| # ? May 4, 2024 09:55 |
|
|
CitizenKeen posted:I find it interesting that all the discussions revolve around television. I think the Harrington books are a great example of the perils of stretching out a series. The last arguably good book was the one where the writer planned to kill the protagonist. He didn’t, and everything since has been catastrophic.
|
|
#
?
Sep 16, 2020 23:55
|
|