C h a z z W r i t e s . c o m

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10/14/2010 • 2:00 PM 0

Top 10 Reasons We Write Sci-fi

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1. We heard it was easier to break in.

2. We ate Robert Heinlein and really grok him.

3. We were promised flying cars and jetpacks. This is the closest we’ll get.

4. We’re doomed. Let’s imagine what our future would be…with a world robot government.

5. Spider Robinson is a humor writer, but the sci-fi elements made us think a little bit.

6. We’re incapable of writing anything else.

7. We love aliens. More than girls. Aliens want to probe us.

8. Settling scores with a ray gun is way cool, man.

9. Bradbury, Star Trek, Babylon 5…there are so many inspirations for talking about the future (and by that I mean, you can really comment effectively on what’s happening now.)

10. You get to play dress-up at the conventions.

How Robert A. Heinlein became one of science fiction’s giants [Book Review] (io9.com)
Little known sci-fi facts: The lyrics to Star Trek’s opening theme | Blastr (blastr.com)
Daleks top poll of sci-fi nasties (thesun.co.uk)
Daleks named greatest monsters by sci-fi fans (telegraph.co.uk)
Robot – A Bizarre Bollywood Sci-Fi Film (laughingsquid.com)
Eric Stoltz’s Marty McFly Gets Dissected in Back to the Future Reissue (wired.com)
The 23 Greatest Sci-Fi Songs of All Time (pastemagazine.com)

Filed under: Science Fiction, Robert Heinlein, Science Fiction, Spider Robinson, Star Trek

10/14/2010 • 10:00 AM 0

How to Become a Professional Writer

Filed under: publishing, writing tips, how to become a professional writer, writing tips

10/13/2010 • 7:16 PM 0

Three links for Authors

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Why You Should Publish an Email Newsletter

Guide to Literary Agents – 7 Things I’ve Learned So Far, by Matt Myklusch‏

Author Blogs–Getting Started With Domain Names — The Book Designer‏

Domain Name Search (webhostingpro.co.za)
Utilising aged domains (tjantunen.com)
Who Are Domain Names For? (cauce.org)

Filed under: publishing, Domain name, guide to literary agents, publishing advice links

10/13/2010 • 2:02 PM 2

Top 10 Reasons We Write Horror

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1. Childhood.

2. Anticipating old age.

3. 9 to 5 isn’t as exciting as zombies breaking down the door.

4. The existential horror of it all goes down better with the sugar of a plot.

5. Halloween fetish.

6. We heard it was easier to break into horror.

7. Mom and Dad and that thing they did that we weren’t supposed to see.

8. Mom and Dad gave us Stephen King books instead of a babysitter.

9. Vengeance fantasy on siblings…and all those other stupid kids who laughed at us at the academy.

10. Horror is closest to the truth of our existence and best expresses our worldview (when we aren’t entertaining at children’s birthday parties.)

“If you go to this adaptation of Stephen King’s novel expecting to see a horror movie, you’ll be disappointed.” (makethelogobigger.blogspot.com)
Glee Halloween Episode Is The Rocky Horror Picture Show (pamil-visions.net)
[Movies] The Mist (2007) (geeky-guide.com)

Filed under: Horror, publishing, Top Ten, horror, Stephen King, Top 10 Reasons We Write Horror

10/13/2010 • 10:00 AM 0

Kurt Vonnegut’s Short Story Advice

Filed under: short stories, writing tips, Kurt Vonngut

10/12/2010 • 4:02 PM 0

The Difference Between Regret & Remorse is…

Image by Dave Dyer via Flickr

You feel remorse for running over that little old lady when you were drunk.

You feel regret when you think how much better it would have been if you had run over (and then backed up over) your college freshman roommate.

In the first instance, it’s something you did do which was bad, so you feel remorse.

We regret the things we didn’t do.

Thank you to Christopher Hitchens. He had a better education than I did, but he shares what he knows.

Seven Tips to Develop The Art of Apologizing (socyberty.com)

Filed under: grammar, publishing, writing tips, Christopher Hitchens, Remorse, remorse vs. regret, the difference betweem remorse and regret

10/12/2010 • 10:00 AM 0

The Proper Use of Exclamation Points

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Occasionally I come across a manuscript in which the writer tries to inject excitement where there really isn’t any. That’s considered an amateurish mistake.

Exclamation points are common in tweets and in advertising. In the newspaper business, the slang for the exclamation point is “dog’s prick.” (i.e. they really don’t like exclamation points.)

In books, exclamation points are permitted, of course. However, please don’t overuse them. The more they are used, the less effective they are. Even better? Write around the exclamation point where you can. The reader’s experience will be richer if they get the mood of the scene through context instead of spoon-feeding with them.

Filed under: writing tips, Exclamation mark, proper use of exclamation points

10/10/2010 • 3:41 PM 0

Contest #2 Announcement

Image by the queen of subtle via Flickr

P.A. Melo won Contest #2 (and a book) with his take on the e-book future. His essay will be up sometime next week.

In other news, it’s Canadian Thanksgiving so new posts from me crank up again starting Tuesday morning.

I’m getting some writing and editing done in the meantime (ironically, that’s time which is not mean at all.)

REMINDER: There’s still Contest #3. Got a book you want to review? Review a book and you could win one. (See Contest rule details above.)

‘Canadian Jon Stewart’ Explains Thanksgiving (npr.org)

Filed under: Contest announcement, getting it done, contest announcement

10/08/2010 • 10:08 PM 0

Writing Blog Spotlight: The Muffin, WOW! Women On Writing

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I retweet useful publishing links. A lot! Of all the people I promote on Twitter, I retweet Elizabeth Craig’s tweets most. Here’s the latest on finding time to write (posted by Skyraven.) Take a look and you’ll see why I pay so much attention to this blog.