Editor’s Note
Throwback Thursday! Some Thursdays, I will post a Market List newsletter from way back and comment on what's changed since. After major sections, I'll add a Where Are They Now? comment. (Yes, this is my sneaky way of moving my archives to my new website. 😉You caught me.) Because of rapid publication market changes, I only include the Featured Market in Throwback Thursdays.
How do you motivate yourself to write, day after day (assuming you’re not a binge writer, that is)? As my writing time shrinks, thanks to my darling toddler, I’ve become more and more concerned about how to squeeze the words out during those brief times when I *do* have uninterrupted time for writing. I no longer have the luxury of dilly-dallying around all day in order to get my word count. I’m trying:
1. Planning and visualizing beforehand: http://thisblogisaploy.blogspot.com/2011/06/how-i-went-from-writing-2000-words-day.html
2. Rewards! Kelly Barnhill, author of Iron-Hearted Violet, mentioned that she uses the reward of a chocolate chip every so many words. I find that Hershey’s Mint Bliss chocolates do the trick for me, and every hundred words or so, knowing that I’ve earned 1/4 of a chocolate really does seem to light up those reward centers in my brain.
3. Gold stars–just like in kindergarten. I’m trying putting a gold star on my calendar for every day I write, and a fancy multicolored star for when I write more than a certain number of words. The jury is still out on whether this works for me. I forget to put the stars up as often as not, which argues that they aren’t an effective motivator for me.
4. Spreadsheets! I’ve started using The Magic Spreadsheet (of myth and lore): http://murverse.com/at-long-last-the-magic-spreadsheet/ . It does seem to be working for me, at least in the sense of strongly motivating me to write that minimum 250 words every day, no matter what. It isn’t as effective at motivating me to write swiftly enough to increase my wordcount, but the “writing every day in a row” thing sure is working, and I know that for me, that can be crucial.
Where are they now? 1. I need to work more on pre-visualization. It really works for me, and I should remember that! 3. I literally bought a calendar to start doing this again this year. I have yet to hang it up. 4. This is still up, but it's huge and way too complicated to figure out now. Not sure if it's even still active.
What I’ve been up to lately, writing-wise:
(Note: You may have noticed this newsletter skipped last month. My grandmother died about the time that the newsletter was due to go out, and after we’d traveled for the funeral and come back home and gotten up to speed on everything else, the newsletter would have been late enough that I decided to just wait for the next month.)
I’ve confirmed that I’ll be attending CONvergence, a large fantasy and science fiction convention in the Minneapolis-St. Paul area. Schedules are still being finalized, but I will likely be talking on panels about things writingy, apocalyptic, and conspiracy-related (shh–don’t tell anyone).
From Their Cradle to Your Grave is now available on Amazon.com! This includes my reprinted short story, “The Perfect Costume.” This horror anthology is all about tales of terrifying tots, toddlers through teenagers. It might not be everyone’s cup of tea, but doesn’t that sound like a great gift for the new parents in your life?
Where are they now? Out of print! I didn't realize this until I checked the link. Now I have some publication updates to make.
Things Shiny or Useful
* Where Your Time Is [productivity]: http://pcwrede.com/blog/where-your-time-is/
* How to Write a Character From Start to Finish [characterization]: http://www.writersdigest.com/online-editor/how-to-write-a-character-from-start-to-finish
* An example of why you might need The Electronic Frontier Foundation someday (it has a happy ending!) [writing business]: https://www.eff.org/deeplinks/2013/02/trademark-bully-thwarted-spots-space-marine-back-online
* Free Stuff for Writers: Waking the Muse [plotting]: http://www.writing-world.com/newsletter/2013/WW13-03.shtml and search for the title
* She Has No Head! [characterization]: http://goodcomics.comicbookresources.com/2013/01/21/she-has-no-head-mission-accomplished/
* Entertainment vs Truth [writing craft]: http://writerunboxed.com/2012/03/07/entertainment-vs-truth/
* Updated MinnSpec podcast links: http://www.meetup.com/MinnSpec/messages/boards/thread/22420402/0/#71937842
Where are they now? We stopped doing the MinnSpec podcast a long time ago, but the links are still up!
Featured Market
Glitter and Mayhem is a spec-fic anthology about, well, they say it best….
A fiction anthology filled with Roller Derby, nightclubs, glam aliens, (literal) party monsters, drugs, sex, glitter, debauchery, etc
. . . why just throw a glow-in-the-dark roller skating party when you can also make it a book release party? And what’s better than a glow-in-the-dark roller skating party celebrating a book about the secret history of 20th Century nightlife/party culture?
Read more
The basics: due March 15, all speculative fiction, less than 6,000 words, pays $.05/word.
Where are they now? This anthology turned out pretty awesome (I bought and read it, because I'm a huge fan of Seanan McGuire's stories), and it is still available!https://www.amazon.com/Glitter-Mayhem-Seanan-McGuire-ebook/dp/B00EP4WL54
Stay tuned for future Throwback Thursdays, or go read the current Aswiebe's Market List newsletter now!
