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The Edible Complex: Food-based tips for research and editing
November 21st, 2022
Header image made with Put Words Between Buns by Ian Bogost. Drawings by Roy Christopher. The process of writing is one of those things that eludes even those of us who do it every day. Sometimes sentences just pour out of you. Sometimes you go weeks with nothing. When I'm in the flow of the sentences, I'm always trying to figure out how to make them the best I can.
Read Column →The Mad, Bad Royal: 10 Books About Loathsome Monarchs
November 18th, 2022
Everyone has heard the old adage, “power corrupts and absolute power corrupts absolutely.” Is it even possible for a monarch to be a hero, given the lack of equality in their status versus the rest of the world’s? Some of literature’s most famous villains of the ruling class didn’t bother to find out; or perhaps they were tormented by the blood shed in their attempts to grab the reins of power.
Read Column →A Poetry Roundup Both Raw and Alive
November 17th, 2022
“Since you went underground I've wanted to track you down Since you went underground I've wanted to dig you out” "Forest Lawn" / Better Oblivion Community Center Why "Forest Lawn" by Better Oblivion Community Center? Because you know, pain, sadness, death. Or maybe it just came on as I was reading and when it did I felt overwhelmed by it all. What all?
Read Column →Storyville: How Grateful, Compassionate Protagonists Can Add Depth to Your Fiction
November 15th, 2022
I hear a lot of talk these days about unlikable protagonists, and how a despicable main character can be hard to read. I get that. So does that mean the opposite is true? If you have a grateful, compassionate, giving protagonist, does that make for a more appealing, layered, and satisfying experience? As we get closer to Thanksgiving, let’s discuss that.
Read Column →The AI Novel Is Pointless
November 14th, 2022
Compared to Judgment Day, during which intelligent machines will bomb humanity down to a pile of charred skeletons, I guess an AI writing a novel seems like a pretty benign thing. I mean, what if I have an ugly skeleton? I have no idea what my skeleton looks like, and maybe it looks all weird and all the surviving robots will make fun of it. Unlike Judgment Day, the AI-written novel is coming. Much like the intro to this column, the AI novel will be confusing, silly, and utterly without purpose.
Read Column →Writing with Chronic Pain
November 11th, 2022
Photo via Towfiqu Barbhuiya One quick perusal of the sad garage sale that is Writer Twitter and you’ll inevitably come across a bio or pinned tweet where the writing advice is some form of “just do the damn thing!” Besides being dumb, that advice also lacks a lot of nuance, especially if you’re a writer with chronic pain.
Read Column →The Rising Price of Everything and What it Means for Publishing
November 10th, 2022
“Inflation” isn’t an alluring word, but it’s one that’s been generously sprinkled throughout many conversations this year, from the grocery store to the gas pump. We’ve all seen the opinion pieces and heard the constant churn of news stories. Consumer prices are climbing to the fastest pace of increase in four decades, with annual inflation reaching its highest levels in the US since 1981.
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What Makes a Good Retelling?
November 4th, 2022
I recently caught up on the new Star Trek series, Strange New Worlds. The show is great, much more in the vein of the original with Kirk and Spock. The stories feel like the kind of thing Gene Rodenberry would have written… with one notable exception. Episode six, “Lift Us Where Suffering Cannot Reach,” is a rip-off of another story. Not a retelling, a rip-off. Let me explain.
Read Column →10 NaNoWriMo Tips for Success from Editors and Agents
November 2nd, 2022
Header illustration by Raúl Gil for Reedsy NaNoWriMo, or National Novel Writing Month, is right around the corner — starting annually on November 1. Though the concept of writing 50,000 words in one frenzied month sounds utterly insane, hundreds of thousands of writers attempt it every year, relying on the sense of camaraderie, accountability, and group momentum of the NaNo community.
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