Storytellersunplugged

Deborah LeBlancAstrology has always fascinated me, especially as it relates to personality traits in people. Now I don’t live my life by it. I mean, I don’t check the horoscope section of the newspaper before I start each day for heaven’s sake. I consider it a pretty cool tool, though, if I want to get an overall snapshot of a person’s personality type, especially when developing characters. But horoscopes alone are flawed.For years I couldn’t understand how three people born on the ... Read More

-- Bev Vincent(Audio podcast version available here)Writers sometimes debate the value of being part of a critique group or attending writers’ guild meetings. I won’t generalize. What works for one person may not for another. I can only relate my own experiences and hope that within this stream of words you’ll find something that applies to your situation.1Over the past decade, I’ve belonged to two different critique groups—one live and one virtual. I joined the local writers guild in 1999. My first ... Read More

Ah. You’re back for Part 2. Please be seated. The guards are now sealing the exits.Last month I wrote about optimism. I don’t think I ever actually used the word optimism, because I was talking mostly about pessimism and cynicism. Does that make me a pessimist? Hmmm. An optimist thinks this is the best of all possible worlds; a pessimist fears that’s true. Pick a color on the spectrum between the two, and color me anything but black, even though I drive ... Read More

In 2004, there were roughly 1.2 million books in print. 80% of those books sold fewer than 100 copies. 98% sold fewer than 5000 copies. Only a few hundred books sold more than 100,000 copies. About 10 books sold over a million copies. Still with me? Haven’t had a heart attack or gone off to commit suicide at the sudden realization that the chances of hitting the big time after selling your book are just slightly above the chances ... Read More

by John B. RosenmanA few days ago, my wife and I bought ourselves a new car. Now, some of you might think it would be a simple, joyful, liberating experience, especially when you get just the one you want at a reasonably low price. However, in other ways the experience can be like writing, a decidedly mixed bag. Call it one part joy, one part frustration, another part hope, another part anger. The recipe itself depends on the buyer, the dealer, the ... Read More

Frank T. WydraIt is August, and the Sun’s blistering rays blind. Little wonder that Caesar’s adopted son took this brilliant month as his namesake. Yet inside the windowless bowels of the Gonquin the atmosphere is no different than that of any other month. The conditioned air feels silky. The light is muted. Irises open wide.Virginia Woolf and Sylvia Plath sit at opposite ends of the table, Sylvia next to me and Virginia at Mary Shelley’s right hand. Spaced between us are Papa, ... Read More

So, while skimming over my usual haunts on the internet, I ran across a header that referred to “hating your readers.” I was between paragraphs and composing the next part of a YA proposal in my head at the time and I decided I’d go ahead and look it over. The board in question was Shocklines.com and the subject was, for a change of pace, exactly what it claimed to be. A writer who believes that if you don’t hate your readers, ... Read More

by Bill LindbladSome authors love to do signings; it's a chance to get out there and meet the fans. If they don't have many fans, or those fans aren't local to the signing, it's an opportunity to get new readers for their work. It's also a chance to move a few extra copies of the latest book appearance.At conventions, the organizers will often set up tables for the attending guests. They'll schedule a time... half hour, hour, maybe even two hours on ... Read More

by Brian Hodge[Podcast edition also available here.]I lie so that I may tell the truth.Somebody said that about writing, but I can’t recall who. And Google’s no help. The only hit that comes up is when I used the same quote here last September.Always had better luck with this one:Oh what a tangled web we weave, when first we practice to deceive.July 2007. I’m proofreading the galleys for this autumn’s new edition of my 1996 novel Prototype, about a young man trying ... Read More

by Mort Castle Presenting ... THE TWO WHAMMIES Today, let us begin with a brief essay on the writing craft--and then, Postus Scriptus, a brief essay on the writing business. TONE: THE WRITER'S VOICE IN THE READER'S MIND Johnny, the new kid, walks into third grade, casually waves to his teacher, Ms. Cruth, and says, "How's it goin', ... Read More