From the monthly archives:

October 2008

The Absent Willow Review is Open

General

A note to all authors of horror, science fiction, & fantasy.  The Absent Willow Review officially launched today at 12:01 am, and is accepting submissions..  Happy Halloween!

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MindMapping Your Way to Greatness

Writing Tools

I recently started a research project on an early 20th century writer.  His body of work meant that I had a tremendous amount of data to collect. At first the prospect of compiling it all was daunting. Should I gather it all in separate documents or outlines?  What I was looking for was themes in [...]

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Manuscript Format for Your Novel

Writing Tips

Last week we took a look at short story formatting.  This week let’s examine how you can go about formatting your novel manuscript. 
First – the basics:
Paper: 8.5 x 11
Margins: 1″ on top and bottom, 1.5″ on sides
Font: 12pt. font.  Use something legible like Courier or Times New Roman.
Title Page: A must.  Your title page should [...]

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Hats Off (again) to Scrivener

Writing Tools

I’m a diehard fan of Scrivener. If you don’t know what Scrivener is or what it looks like you can visit its website.  And no… this is not any sort of paid endorsement.  I’ve spoken about Scrivener before and find myself going back to it over and over again.  When something strikes me as being indispensable [...]

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How Do You Format Your Manuscript?

Writing Tips

Since I’ve been asked numerous times I thought I would tackle some of the basics on manuscript format.  We’ll start with formatting a short story.  In the next few days we’ll take a quick look at novel manuscripts. So without further ado…
The basics:

First things first.  Your paper.  Always use 8.5 X 11 paper. I understand [...]

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Writer’s Rules of Etiquette

General

Over the years I’ve compiled a short list of things that a writer should always keep in mind.  Especially when submitting your work to be published. I call them the “Writer’s Rules of Etiquette”.
When submitting your work be neat. I’ve read horror stories of publishers or agents receiving hand written manuscripts or works that follow a [...]

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The Absent Willow Review is Open

Selling Your Work

Do you like to write short stories in the horror, fantasy, & science fiction genre?  If you’re an author looking for exposure or a fan who loves to read short fiction then visit The Absent Willow Review.
The AWR is a joint venture between myself and fellow author/fan Bob Griffin.  The “Official” launch date is October [...]

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The Top 100 Hot Markets for Writers

Selling Your Work

Don’t you just love writing?  And when you’ve typed the last page what do you do?  You keep writing.  But what about your finished work?  Who wants it?  
I’m here to tell you that there is someone out there who will want it.  It’s finding them that’s the hard part.  My friends at the Writer’s Digest have [...]

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What Makes a Reader Turn the Page?

Writing Tips

As a writer you’ve probably heard an instructor, agent, or publisher say “make me want to turn the page”.  Short of standing behind them and yelling “TURN!” when they reach the end of a page what do you do?  Is there a magic formula you can turn to?  
Suffice to say there is not.  But [...]

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