Storytellersunplugged

Note: Seriously looming deadline, so apologies in advance for the shortness of this piece! Some writers claim they write better to music. I’m not one of them. In fact, at times, even white noise becomes annoying. For me, writing is a process of visualizing scenes, each scene denoting a chapter. I see the characters, their exact location and interaction with each other, and even hear their conversations in my head. Any external noise at that point, winds up clashing against those scenes, ... Read More

by Kealan Patrick BurkeWriters promote because we have to, particularly in the small press where the budgets don't exist to rent the sides of buses or billboards on LA freeways, or center spreads in People. This promotion--as discussed in other essays here on Storytellers Unplugged--takes many forms. The Internet, for example, is an important window through which writers can shout about their wares. Message boards, Blogger.com, LiveJournal, various book sites, e-zines, are all handy auditoriums for the writer. During my exploration and ... Read More

Let’s talk about research. I know it’s a dirty word referring to a time-consuming task that many writers abhor. As creators of works of fiction, we like to make things up. We aren’t slaves to the dictum “write what you know,” and if we don’t know exactly how something works, what difference does it make? After all, we are lying to readers from word one—why should we be concerned with getting every little detail right?Stephen King has said that he does just ... Read More

When I first started out in this business, writing a book proposal seemed a daunting act. I wasn’t quite sure what exactly it should contain, how much was too much, what tone to take, etc. While working on a new proposal just the other day, it occurred to me that proposals might be an interesting topic for some of those who read this blog, whatever their experience level might be. So, in today’s essay, we are going to deconstruct my standard ... Read More

byTim LebbonBeing a working writer isn't all about writing. I'm sure anyone reading this blog will have figured that one out by now, but I thought I'd try to illustrate some of what else is involved by giving you a run-down of the last few weeks of my writing career, and where my time went:I wrote two pages of my current novel.Then Leisure Books sent me the galleys for BERSERK, due out January of next year. This is essentially an ... Read More

At some point this year I evolved from being an ordinary person into a writer. More than that – a Horror writer.This doesn’t mean that the day job has disappeared. Oh no, not a chance. That particular dream is still at least a few years and several prayers away from becoming even a wisp of reality. Nor does it mean that I only started writing recently. Or that I only just made my first sale.No.It just means that something’s happened to the ... Read More

Body Language There are languages aplenty in this world, and a few that are almost universal. Here’s one I tend to think a lot of people forget about. Body Language: the language spoken without words that can say enough to fill a diary. What a lovely notion. With a glance, a smile, perhaps something as subtle as the tilt of the head and a slow half blink of the eyes, a member of the opposite sex (or the same sex for that matter) ... Read More

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(Quick note: sorry for the lateness of this post. Just got home from a few days away. I see Steve's already posted (he's in Sweden where the clocks tick faster, but hopefully he won't mind if I squeeze this puppy in since it's still the 9th here in Boston.)Here's the simple truth: it's not enough to write a great book anymore. Authors, once they finish their manuscripts and turn them in (assuming, of course, there's an editor waiting at ... Read More

-- Steven SavileThis is a really brief one - an apology at that. The last 8 weeks have seen me zipping about the globe being all pretend authory for a while with cons and schmoozing... but real life has hit back with a sucker punch. This is a windy way of saying that my 10th of October essay just won't be ready in time. I've got to clear 20,000 words of the new book for the end of next week, and as ... Read More