Connect with Karen on Facebook, Twitter, and LiveJournal

 Karen's Facebook Page  Karen's Twitter Feed  Karen's LiveJournal

Writing Craft Tips for the SciFi and Fantasy Inclined

If you want to polish your craft, things I’m on the constant lookout for in my own writing:
• Avoid passive voice to reduce extra words and clarify action (limit my use of “was” and “had been”).
• Avoid –ing verbs so that actions are much more crisp and “in the now” (I often make the mistake of pairing these with passive voice).
• Avoid adverbs (slowly, quickly, etc) and instead make my verbs really descriptive, specific, and strong.
• Avoid inserting value judgments into my descriptions and summary—I have a bad habit of telling my reader how to feel about something (“impressive mustache”, instead of “well groomed” or “overlarge mustache”)
Because I read a lot of fantasy, I have a tendency to use phrases I’ve seen in what I’ve read, but these borrowed “artistic” phrases often just clog up what I’m trying to say.

Writing is a Gift: Reflections on Bird by Bird by Anne Lamott

On page xxx of her forward to Bird by Bird: Some Instructions on Writing and Life, author Anne Lamott quips: “Most of [my writer friends] go around with haunted, abused, surprised looks on their faces like lab dogs on whom very personal deodorant sprays have been tested.” Lamott writes a funny, honest account of the writer’s ups and downs in her guidebook, revealing through her example how we can write with authenticity, enjoyment, and deep engagement. I found three aspects of Lamott’s advice particularly resonated with me: surrendering control, cultivating good writing habits, and giving passionately through our writing. Through these techniques we discover true authenticity and the best possible ways to reach our audiences as we come to understand why the facial expressions she described above are actually those of a person in not only highest anguish, but also deepest ecstasy.

Click to read more ...

Karen's GenCon Indy 2011 Writer's Symposium Schedule

Thursday
Pick Our Brains 8/4/11 8:00 AM 
Fantastic Females 8/4/11 9:00 AM 
Plot a Novel in an Hour 8/4/11 10:00 AM 
To Plot or Not 8/4/11 11:00 AM 
You Slay Me! 8/4/11 12:00 PM 
How Not to be Published 8/4/11 1:00 PM 
I've Finished a Novel, Now What ... 8/4/11 2:00 PM 
Writing RPG Short Stories and Novels 8/4/11 3:00 PM 
The Rules of Writing 8/4/11 4:00 PM 
21 Days to a Novel 8/4/11 5:00 PM 
Reading: Elizabeth Vaughan and Stephen D. Sullivan 8/4/11 6:00 PM 
On Writing: From RPGs to the Big Screen with George Strayton 8/4/11 7:00 PM 

Friday
The Name Game 8/5/11 8:00 AM 
Big on the Small Press 8/5/11 9:00 AM 
The "Novel" Approach to Editing 8/5/11 10:00 AM 
Villains as Heroes 8/5/11 11:00 AM 
The Structure of Scenes 8/5/11 1:00 PM 
Sharing Worlds and Work For Hire 8/5/11 2:00 PM 
Swords and Sorcery 8/5/11 3:00 PM 
Writing a Successful Series 8/5/11 4:00 PM 
Plotting 8/5/11 5:00 PM 

Saturday
Setting as Characterization 8/6/11 8:00 AM 
Thinking in Threes: Approaching the Trilogy 8/6/11 9:00 AM 
Category 4 Brainstorm 8/6/11 10:00 AM 
Confessions of a Slushie Machine 8/6/11 11:00 AM 
What's In A Word? 8/6/11 12:00 PM 
Tension and Conflict 8/6/11 1:00 PM 
Part-Time Writer in a Full-Time World 8/6/11 2:00 PM 
How I Met My Hero 8/6/11 3:00 PM 
Twenty Ways to Kill Your Novel 8/6/11 4:00 PM 
Characterization 8/6/11 5:00 PM 
Writing Success in the Post Paper Era 8/6/11 6:00 PM 
Eye of Argon hosted by Donald J. Bingle 8/6/11 7:00 PM 

Sunday
Care and Feeding of Your Editor 8/7/11 8:00 AM 
Business of Writing: The Basics 8/7/11 9:00 AM 
Business of Writing: Agents & Query Letters & Piches, Oh My! 8/7/11 10:00 AM 
Genres—What Are They and How Do You Mix ‘Em? 8/7/11 11:00 AM

Iowa Writer's Forum at DEMICON 2011

Join Iowa writers on Sunday, May 1, 2011 at the Demicon Science Fiction Convention http://www.demicon.org/22/index.html.

Topics include:

12-1 p.m. Writing Careers

1-2 p.m. Writing Science Fiction & Fantasy

2-3 p.m. Revision and Critique

Joining me is Lettie Prell http://www.lettieprell.com/ , Central Iowa NaNoWriMo Liason Mary Egan, and Mallory Vance, director of http://thefinalbattle.org/

This is going to be fun!