Earlier this month, I attended the Association of Writers and Writing Programs annual conference in Seattle. The sheer volume and diversity of program offerings at AWP can be overwhelming and after my newbie experience last year, trying to attend back-to-back panels from 9-5 three days in a row, I opted for a more targeted approach…
Valentine’s Day is over, you say. And anyway Rachel, don’t you write horror? I’m not talking about romantic love, the romance genre or even incorporating romantic elements in any genre. Rather, I mean that the impetus for writing anything comes from a desire to express and inspire love. Wait, what? How do stories about hauntings,…
How many of us writers are perfectionists? Oh, look, all of us. Honestly, who sits down to create the most mediocre story possible? Striving to write something great isn’t the problem. The issue arises when we demand greatness immediately, in the first draft. The next time you find yourself paralyzed by lofty literary ambitions or…
10. “Did you finish the book yet?” (Variations: How close are you? When will you finish? Are you actually going to finish this one?) 9. “When will it come out?” Don’t bother explaining that finishing the story is only the beginning. Folks outside the industry tend to romanticize the process: we authors toil with quill…
There are hundreds of writing conferences to choose from; how to pick the best one? It’s RMFW’s Colorado Gold. That was easy. Shortest blog post ever. Ok, but if you want to go to more than one, here are some factors to consider based on my country-wide tour of writing conferences this year. Size. WorldCon…