Posts Tagged ‘writing’

My Use for Writing Tips

Wednesday, March 17th, 2010

Overspreading the writing blogosphere the past few weeks–posts of Ten “Rules” for Writing Fiction. It started with The Guardian, a British newspaper, publishing tip lists from authors such as Neil Gaiman and Margaret Atwood. Since then, others have chimed in, including SF/F novelist Daniel Abraham.

I’ve read lots of writing “rules” over the years, ones I agree with and ones I don’t. It is interesting to see what successful writers believe about the (or their) process. But the main thing I get out of such lists is different. The tips I’ve already heard, I gloss over. But every now and then there’s one that makes me think, even if it covers a concept I already know.

Black Gate editor Howard Andrew Jones had one such in his list: “Know what all the characters in the scene want before they come on stage.”

I’m big on character motivation, so I’m always thinking of what the characters want. But I like how Jones’s tip frames that very succinctly, and also includes any possible antagonist or secondary characters as well. All characters, whether PCs or NPCs, want something, and they all should act and interact as though they do. If they don’t, they won’t feel real on the page.

So even if all these tip lists are things you’ve seen before, they can still be useful if they make you think.

“Spin” is Up to Bat

Wednesday, February 24th, 2010

Issue #14 of M-Brane SF magazine is now out, featuring my hard-SF baseball story “Picking Up the Spin.”

If you’ve always wondered what SF written by me would read like, given that I have a chemistry background but always write fantasy, this is your chance to find out. :)

M-Brane is a great indie mag, now in their second year (not unlike my mag BCS). Among the many other authors in Issue #14 is my friend and colleague Cat Rambo. So definitely give this issue a look.

M-Brane 14 Cover

A long drive, deep to left field…

Tuesday, February 9th, 2010

I’m delighted that my hard-SF baseball story “Picking Up the Spin” has found a home at M-Brane SF, an up-and-coming online SF magazine that got very good compliments in Rich Horton’s year-end review.

The story is a near-future look at what might happen to a ballplayer who had to undergo a genetically engineered treatment for retinal disease. It has lots of cool baseball jargon and my near-future baseball speculations (maybe someday there will be a major league team in Havana?).

The science is extrapolated from the retinal signal-transduction pathway I assisted with research on during an undergraduate summer. The scientific approach in the story also features a different angle than I’ve seen in SF before.

    [Warning: Science Content! Many science fans don’t realize how massively difficult it is to modify a biological system by changing or adding a gene. Specifically targeting one gene is trying to access a thousand base pairs of DNA among 3 billion. Even if you add a new gene, the old one is still present. The problem expands from there, as RNA transcription and translation and protein mechanics are exponentially more complex and less well understood than DNA processes. To see my neat approach that circumvented all that, you’ll have to read the story. :) ]

Despite my science background, this is the only piece of true SF that I’ve ever written. I think that may be because for me, scientific concepts and personal or character things rarely mesh for me. Character is always the most important element of a story for me, so, even in hard SF, the science must take a back seat.

The good folks at M-Brane tell me that “Picking Up the Spin” is slated for the March issue. Right around when spring training games will be starting for the new season. Play ball!

“Keeli’s Ordeal” Lives

Tuesday, February 2nd, 2010

My story “Keeli’s Ordeal” is now live at Crossed Genres magazine, in issue 15. Here’s the direct link.

The magazine looks quite nice! In addition to online text, it’s also available in paper format and in several ebook file formats–visit their web-store for all the options.

I’m sharing the TOC of this issue with Barbara Krasnoff, a good short story writer I met at ReaderCon last year, and my Homeless Moon cohort Jay Ridler. If you check out my story, be sure and check out theirs as well.