Some people love giving advice to new/young writers. Sometimes, that advice involves telling others how to do things exactly the way they do things, framing those how-to’s as the only options for becoming successful.
One of the ones I hear most often is “You MUST write EVERY DAY.”
This video is about why that’s not true and why it’s important to trust yourself to find your own rhythm and schedule for your writing.
This weekend I was invited on an Australian morning news program called Weekend Sunrise. Happily, I did not have to travel to another continent for a less-than-five-minute interview. They piped me in from a TV studio in Tampa.
Here is the television piece:
I received my box of books from my publisher and I’m thrilled to finally see the finished product! If you want to see me opening the box and talking a little about the book (and how you can get it), check it out:
“What if someone steals my work??”
I’ve been getting that question a lot lately so I decided to do a video about why your work is not likely to get stolen–primarily because people who are too lazy to come up with their own ideas are VERY unlikely to steal yours just so they can go through the hard part of editing, pitching agents, and getting published. However, if you’re still unconvinced that getting your work stolen is unlikely, there is a suggestion in the video for how you can safeguard your content.
I had the pleasure of attending the International Asexuality Conference in Toronto, Ontario, at the end of June 2014. As a WorldPride-affiliated event, we got some pretty amazing coverage and attention, with something like 300 registered attendees!
I was on the Asexual Leadership Q&A panel with Sara Beth Brooks and David Jay. Video here!
And later I was on a Visibility and Content Creation panel. You can see video of it here.
But what’s also great is it was the first appearance I made with my book!
I asked attendees to enter their names to win advance reading copies. Around fifty people entered and I got to talk to quite a lot of amazing people who were really excited about the book coming out. And there were a few who treated me like a celebrity or excitedly told me how much they like my videos online. How nice!
And after attending sessions and sitting on panels all day, I rounded out the night by appearing on Canadian national television.
Click to watch the video!
So yeah, that was a good experience. Hanging out with new and old friends was also fun–I was staying with asexual friends in a hotel, some of whom I’d known on the Internet before and some of whom I was getting to know for the first time. I didn’t stay for the parade–just the conference–but I’m glad I got to go.
Hooray for visibility and connections!
Now for a video on one of the most universal subjects for authors: REJECTION.
In this video I discuss my personal rejection experiences, share my first rejection letter and laugh over my most condescending one, and give you an idea of how and in what capacity I’ve been rejected over the years–from the perspective of a person who did eventually get to “yes.”
Most of my videos so far have been about publishing and approaching agents and stuff, but I haven’t done much with actual writing technique and the earlier stages of drafting your book. Since I have done a lot of beta reading for authors, I thought I’d share some advice that I’ve found myself repeating for the authors I help on nearly every book.
This video addresses common pitfalls and teaches certain techniques for authors to use in polishing their novels, with particular attention paid to how to begin your novel. It also includes tips on characterization, dialogue, providing background information, pacing, story elements, and even punctuation. Enjoy!
On Saturday, March 29, I appeared on an author panel with Ron Riekki and Ryan Meany. We each read from our own work and answered questions. I read the prologue of my book, Bad Fairy. This is the video:
If you watch the video on YouTube, you can look in the video description and use the time codes there to skip around to anybody’s reading selection, as well as browse the questions we answered and when in the video we answered them.
I have a new video in which I read my first draft of Page One on the next book I’ll be writing: Bad Fairy Book 2. It doesn’t contain spoilers for Book 1. Feel free to tell me if you have opinions.
I get a lot of questions from aspiring writers about what kind of education they “need.” This is my answer, with a little bit of reflection about the purpose of a career. Maybe I’ll say something that speaks to you. 🙂