StoryADay

This week I share some of the prompts from week 4 of StoryADay May 2018, talk about creativity and limits, and encourage you to dive into the community at StoryADay. Also, I talk about drug discovery and wheelbarrows... LINKS Serious Writers' Accountability Group (SWAGr): https://stada.me/swagr

The problem with doing something hard (like writing) is not that you aren't good. It's that it's hard to know how long to work before you decide that you really aren't any good.  (Hint: It's longer than you think. And you may never be able to tell!) How to keep going when you're not sure if you should.   Resources mentioned in this episode: My author interviews at NaNoWriMo's blog: http://blog.nanowrimo.org/ Jerry Jenkins: http://jerrysguild.com DIYMFA's 101 Course: https://members.diymfa.com/101-course/    

In Week 2 of StoryADay May 2018 we're working on craft-based writing prompts (character desires, conflict, structures, openings and endings). Picking up skills and putting down words. But now that the novelty has worn off, what can you do to rekindle your excitement about writing every day for a month?

The first week of StoryADay May 2018 is drawing to a close. In this episode I tell you about  The webinar I did with NaNoWriMo's Young Writer's Program, Marya Brennan: http://stada.me/ywplive The Superstars program, and how you can still join (today): http://stada.me/superstars Here's where you can find all the prompts for StoryADay May 2018: http://stada.me/may2018 And I answer a question about burnout and revision during May.  

In this episode I give you my top three tips for a successful month of writing an introduce the new StoryADay Superstars program: http://storyaday.org/storyaday-superstars (membership comes with a month of free access to Duotrope, my favourite online source for writing markets)

Apologies that the audio is a little crackly on this one, but it's worth sticking with, to hear the infectiously enthusiastic Windy Lynn Harris and me, gabbing about the joy of short fiction. Windy Lynn Harris is the author of Writing & Selling Short Stories & Personal Essays (Writer's Digest Books, 2017)

This week I share some ideas on how you can read like a writer, and turn that effort into a resource that you can return to again and again. StoryADay May 2018 starts in a few weeks. Reading short stories in the run-up to a big writing challenge, can be incredibly inspiring. 100th Episode Celebratory Look Back Here are some episodes you  might have missed. Jane Friedman and The Business of Being A Writer: https://stada.me/pdjane Flash Fiction Essentials: http://stada.me/flash Mastering The Magic of Opening Lines: https://stada.me/pdopenings

Today I interview publishing industry expert Jane Friedman (www.janefriedman.com) whose new book The Business Of Being A Writer is billed as 'the business education you never got', for writers. We discuss what writers should do when they want to go pro, the myth of the overnight success, the nature of 'work' and networking for introverts! We also talk about Patreon and if you want to see some examples of the very different ways writers can use Patreon, here are some of my favorites: Tobias Buckell - he creates a new short story every month, and his Patrons see it first.  Mary Robinette Kowal - a short story writer, novelist, writing teacher and puppeteer, Mary's Patrons get all kinds of rewards, like first-looks at her novel drafts as they go along, to demonstrations of how she makes puppets, to writing classes and chances to hang out online. Clarkesworld - a magazine that uses Patreon as a subscription model.

This week's podcast is a pep-talk to get you writing, even when you're having trouble getting started. (Isn't "getting started" the hardest part some days?) And sometimes, getting started isn't the problem. The problem crops up somewhere else:  * Getting through the mushy middle * Reining in a story that wants to become a novella * Losing focus before the end. I want to hear from you: what problems do you encounter when attempting to write short stories?  (I'm not calling it writer's block, because that sounds like an artificial, external problem, and I believe we can all find the solution to temporary 'stuckness' from inside ourselves.) Leave your comment and join the discussion here: http://stada.me/wrong

Today's mini episode is a writing prompt that challenges you to write a story in the form of a prose sonnet (don't worry, I explain what I mean and give you a few different styles to choose from). It's a challenge, but it's a good one! Read more: http://stada.me/sonnet