Hey readers! Letting you know I will be attending Shore Leave this upcoming weekend (July 6-8) in Maryland. As a guest author (how cool is that?) I have a bio listed in the site here. Below are the panels I'm a part of. I hope I see you there!
Solo: A Star Wars Story (Fri. 7-8 pm, Salon F)
This prequel depicting Han Solo as a younger man hasn’t met expectations
at the box office. Why not?
Laura Ware (M), David Harten Watson, Susan Olesen
Meet the Pros (Fri. 10 pm - midnight, Hunt/Valley Hallway)
Avengers vs. The Justice League (Sat. 12-1 pm, Salon F)
It’s the end of the world. Whom do you trust to save it? The panel
will cover comic books, cartoons and movies.
John Coffren (M), Peter David, Laura Ware, Derek Attico, Michael
Jan Friedman, TA Chafin
Outside In by ATB Publishing (Sat. 2-3 pm Salon E)
Meet the contributors to these essay collections on the likes of Doctor
Who, Star Trek, Buffy, and more.
Laura Ware (M), Bob Greenberger, Amy Imhoff, Derek Attico, Lorraine
Anderson, Kelli Fitzpatrick, Joseph F. Berenato
Heinlein's Five Rules of Publishing (Sat. 4-5 pm Salon E)
Robert Heinlein wrote five basic rules of writing that are easy to
remember but hard to actually carry out. A discussion of said rules
and their application.
Laura Ware (M), Phil Giunta, Jim Johnson, Lorraine Anderson, Dayton Ward
Indie Publishing 101 (Sun. 10-11 am Salon F)
The basics of indie publishing and why you should give it a go.
Jim Johnson (M), Laura Ware, TJ Perkins, Andrew Hiller, Valerie
Mikles, Kim Headlee
Showing posts with label Heinlein. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Heinlein. Show all posts
Thursday, July 5, 2018
Sunday, October 10, 2010
Rules # 4 and 5: You Must Send Out What You Write (and keep sendiing it out)
I hope you've been enjoying these posts of mine. I don't claim to be the most knowlegable writer on the planet but hopefully there's been some nuggets of wisdom here and there.
I'm combining the last two rules because they are closely related. Rule #4 states you must send out what you write. Rule #5 says that when it comes back, you send it right back out the door.
Send out what we write? To, like, editors?
Yup.
It takes some courage to send out our work. We put part of ourselves in what we write. Sometimes when we give it to someone else to read it feels as if we're sending our baby to school for the first time. Will they like it? Hate it? And what if they reject it? Doesn't that mean they hated it and us?
Nope.
Ive sent stories out to dozens of editors. I have a large collection of rejection slips. I'm not saying they don't give me a twinge of disappointment at times.
But here's what I've learned - a rejection simply means an editor is not buying your story.
It has nothing to do with you. It might have nothing to do with the quality of your story. Stories are rejected for a variety of reasons. Maybe it didn't fit the idea they had in mind. Or they just bought something that was similar. Or any of a number of reasons that have nothing to do with quality.
If you send out a story, the worst thing that will happen is the editor will reject it. That's it. No one dies, your family willl still love you, and you are still a writer.
Sometimes we tie our self-esteem into our stories and their fates. We can't do this. If you are going to succeed in the business of writing you are going to hear "no" a lot more often than you will hear "yes." And the writers who succeed in the business are the ones who persevere through the "no's" to get to the "yes's."
That's why you keep sending out even if it comes back. So one person didn't want it - how do you know someone else won't? Everyone is different.That's why you don't give up just because someone doesn't buy it.
I was recently concentrating on fulfilling rule #5 because I'd let a lot of stories pile up at home. So I made an effort to research markets and shove everything out the door. The result? As I type this I have 3 novels sitting on various editor's desks, and 56 short stories (if I'm counting right).
That's a lot of words out there. I'm hoping that in all that there's a "yes" or two in all that. If not, I know what to do - keep sending it out!
Okay, so send out, but where?
Here are free two websites that are worth checking out for short story markets: http://www.duotrope.com/controlpanel.aspx
http://www.ralan.com/
For novels, consider subscribing to http://www.publishersmarketplace.com/ . It's $20 a month but chock full of information concerning publishers.
http://www.writersmarket.com/ is another subscription site for both novels and short story publishers.
Do your homework, write your best, and follow the rules! You do that and you will find yourself a published writer at some point!
I'm combining the last two rules because they are closely related. Rule #4 states you must send out what you write. Rule #5 says that when it comes back, you send it right back out the door.
Send out what we write? To, like, editors?
Yup.
It takes some courage to send out our work. We put part of ourselves in what we write. Sometimes when we give it to someone else to read it feels as if we're sending our baby to school for the first time. Will they like it? Hate it? And what if they reject it? Doesn't that mean they hated it and us?
Nope.
Ive sent stories out to dozens of editors. I have a large collection of rejection slips. I'm not saying they don't give me a twinge of disappointment at times.
But here's what I've learned - a rejection simply means an editor is not buying your story.
It has nothing to do with you. It might have nothing to do with the quality of your story. Stories are rejected for a variety of reasons. Maybe it didn't fit the idea they had in mind. Or they just bought something that was similar. Or any of a number of reasons that have nothing to do with quality.
If you send out a story, the worst thing that will happen is the editor will reject it. That's it. No one dies, your family willl still love you, and you are still a writer.
Sometimes we tie our self-esteem into our stories and their fates. We can't do this. If you are going to succeed in the business of writing you are going to hear "no" a lot more often than you will hear "yes." And the writers who succeed in the business are the ones who persevere through the "no's" to get to the "yes's."
That's why you keep sending out even if it comes back. So one person didn't want it - how do you know someone else won't? Everyone is different.That's why you don't give up just because someone doesn't buy it.
I was recently concentrating on fulfilling rule #5 because I'd let a lot of stories pile up at home. So I made an effort to research markets and shove everything out the door. The result? As I type this I have 3 novels sitting on various editor's desks, and 56 short stories (if I'm counting right).
That's a lot of words out there. I'm hoping that in all that there's a "yes" or two in all that. If not, I know what to do - keep sending it out!
Okay, so send out, but where?
Here are free two websites that are worth checking out for short story markets: http://www.duotrope.com/controlpanel.aspx
http://www.ralan.com/
For novels, consider subscribing to http://www.publishersmarketplace.com/ . It's $20 a month but chock full of information concerning publishers.
http://www.writersmarket.com/ is another subscription site for both novels and short story publishers.
Do your homework, write your best, and follow the rules! You do that and you will find yourself a published writer at some point!
Sunday, September 12, 2010
Heinlein's Five Rules of Writing
Many years ago author Robert A. Heinlein put forth five rules of writing. It is said that if a person follows these rules faithfully, they will succeed as a writer.
The rules are as follows:
1) You must write.
2) You must finish what you write.
3) You must not rewrite, except to editorial demand.
4) You must send out what you write.
5) If it is rejected, you must send it out to another editor.
They sound so simple, don't they? Yet I don't know any writer who hasn''t struggled with one or more of these steps at some time. Me? I've fought every last one of them. Still am fighting them.
Over the next few weeks I want to touch on each of these steps - how I understand them, why they're harder then they look, and why they work. I hope it encourages some of you in your writing career and that maybe I'll gain some insight from you as well!
The rules are as follows:
1) You must write.
2) You must finish what you write.
3) You must not rewrite, except to editorial demand.
4) You must send out what you write.
5) If it is rejected, you must send it out to another editor.
They sound so simple, don't they? Yet I don't know any writer who hasn''t struggled with one or more of these steps at some time. Me? I've fought every last one of them. Still am fighting them.
Over the next few weeks I want to touch on each of these steps - how I understand them, why they're harder then they look, and why they work. I hope it encourages some of you in your writing career and that maybe I'll gain some insight from you as well!
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