Columns

10 Big-Time Literary Drunks

March 1st, 2013

The blank page is terrifying. We all know the feeling. Anxiety is an integral part of writing — there's no getting around it. Healthy ways of dealing with the horror of filling emptiness with words that don't suck include stepping away from the computer and doing crunches, or meditating, or jerking off. But many of us are too fucked up to make these healthy choices, and we respond to the anxiety by pouring a little drink or three. Some of us know when to stop; others don't. Alcoholism is to writing what black lung disease is to coal miners.

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Storyville: Top Ten Things Literary Journals Need to Do. NOW.

March 1st, 2013

Let me get a couple of things out of the way first. When I say literary journals, I mean any publication (print or online) that publishes fiction—so please include genre fiction, in all of its glorious flavors. Literary can mean a genre of fiction, but it also refers to literature, in general. Also, I write this column from my heart, because I care about you, editors, as well as the authors that keep you going. I want you all to succeed. And, I do realize that I’ve made many of these very mistakes in my own capacity as an editor at various places over the years.

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UPDATED WITH WINNER: LitReactor's Flash Fiction Smackdown: February Edition - Now, with New Rules!

February 28th, 2013

Flash fiction: A style of fictional literature marked by extreme brevity. Welcome to LitReactor's Flash Fiction Smackdown, a monthly bout of writing prowess. For this edition, we are going to alter the rules a bit to keep it fresh. You now get 25 words and 2 sentences. How It Works We give you inspiration in the form of a picture, poem, video, or similar. You write a flash fiction piece, using the inspiration we gave you. Put your entry in the comments section. One winner will be picked and awarded a prize.

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Twitter: Destructor Of Grammar Or Awesome Word Factory?

February 28th, 2013

Twitter is the Wild West of language—but not everybody wants to be a gunfighter. Let’s be honest, you can tell with one glance that English actor Ralph Fiennes and linguist/philosopher Noam Chomsky are not cut out to be cowboys. That’s probably why they show such disdain for the bluebird-mascotted microblogging service. Both men hold that Twitter is eroding the English language.

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Amazon Shakes Up Indie Book Marketing Starting March 1

February 28th, 2013

There was an interesting little paragraph buried in an email which Amazon sent to everyone who has an affiliate account last week. In one fell swoop, they eliminated the financial benefit of running a website which caters exclusively to listing free eBooks from Amazon. As you can imagine, this has caused quite a stir in the independent author community. While the full impact isn't yet clear, it is clear that these changes will dramatically alter how many consumers find independent authors' books on Amazon.

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Why Write?

February 27th, 2013

In the twenty-first century, everyone writes, to some degree.  The ability to sequence words on a page is a requirement for success in a data-based world. Writing is communication, identity, power, profit.  It’s the means by which we conduct all kinds of transactions, whether we’re bringing a lawsuit or flirting via text message.  Writing is social, commercial and cerebral flow.

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The Only Question Every Story Must Answer

February 26th, 2013

It’s happened to all of us at one time or another, and far too often for some. Maybe I’m just getting old and cranky, but it seems to be occurring with alarming frequency as of late. You know that sinking feeling that sets in after you’ve read a significant portion of a story and come to the sudden realization that not only do you no longer care what happens, but maybe you never did. How could this happen?

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Author Beware: New Lit Mags

February 26th, 2013

Join a writers’ forum and it won’t take more than a week or two before it happens: the post about how so-and-so has just launched their new online lit mag and they are actively looking for submissions for whatever genre and length. “Check out our official submissions guidelines for more info” they’ll say, at which point, you follow the link and see if any of your pieces fit the bill.

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Embracing the Impossible: The Fantastical Adventures of Sherlock Holmes

February 25th, 2013

Over 125 years after his creation, Sherlock Holmes remains a beloved character. Just in the past few years we’ve had a second feature film starring Robert Downey Jr. as Holmes and two television series depicting him in the modern day (the BBC’s Sherlock and CBS’s Elementary).

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Seduction of the Innocent: The Story Behind the Story

February 25th, 2013

I was asked recently if I had any good writing advice I might share.  I’m afraid I fell back on that old wheeze, “Write what you know,” because there’s truth in it, and also because I couldn’t think of anything better.  This advice, while valid, gets tricky in the case of genre writing – if you grow up quietly in a small town in Iowa, as I did, and what you love to read is mystery novels...in particular tough-guy private eye novels...how exactly do you apply that advice, anyway?  I had never worked my way to Europe on a tramp steamer, le

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