So, in preparation for Viable Paradise, I’m catching up on stuff the instructors have written/recommended. All good stuff. (And I’m also improving my chess game!) But it occurred to me that a number of my future classmates have been published as well, and it would be nice to read some of their stuff before I […]
Yesterday I had two pieces still out on submission: A Stab in the Dark (to Strange Horizons) and Death in a Tin Can (my submission piece to Viable Paradise) At 1am, Strange Horizons said “No, thanks” At 1:45am, Viable Paradise said “Congratulations”! I now have no short fiction on submission anywhere. I need to remedy […]
I’ve been looking for interesting books lately to help with my writing, particularly plotting. I found a great one not too long ago: The Official C.I.A. Manual of Trickery and Deception, by Keith Melton and Robert Wallace (though most of the text is by professional magician John Mulholland) Basically, back in the 1950s, the CIA […]
I haven’t actually forgotten this site! Things have just been a little busy around here (who knew it would be that hard to put in an extra outlet for the A/C, even with someone else doing most of the work?) but I’ve been working hard on planning this novel. (Discussion of plot follows, but no […]
I’ve been working diligently (well, working) on the outline I talked about earlier. I’ve managed to work myself into a lousy space: Judging by the increase in outline length (doubled) I’ve probably doubled the length of the story. 40,000 words is kind of a lousy length. There are markets for fiction that length, to be […]
I mentioned earlier two plans related to the novel I’m starting: 1) I’m starting with an outline rather than just diving in, primarily because I’m worried about my lack of organizational skills. 2) I’m taking the plot of a 20,000-word novella I wrote last fall and using that as the basis of the novel: I’m […]
… From James D. Macdonald, “Do the work, then send it out ’til Hell won’t have it. Meanwhile, write another story.”
In the beginning, there was the Outline. Or there will be. (Will have been?) Having more or less run out of usable ideas for short fiction for the moment, I’m diving back into the project I had earlier: expanding Where Do They Bury the Survivors? to novel length. I approach with some trepidation, as the […]
Just got back a rejection for A Stab in the Dark. I wonder at what point F&SF’s form rejections started using the word “story” instead of “tale”. Ah well, into the filing cabinet it goes. Haven’t decided yet about its next stop. Its 7,000 word length is a little bit of a handicap for some […]
After finishing A Stab in the Dark, I decided to revisit the novella that kicked off my mystery-writing spree, Where Do They Bury the Survivors? If you missed it (easy to do, as it hasn’t been accepted anywhere for publication) it’s a locked-room murder mystery that takes place on a space station in interstellar space. […]
John P. Murphy 