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    Writers on Writing Vol.2: Writers on Writing, #2
    Writers on Writing Vol.2: Writers on Writing, #2
    Writers on Writing Vol.2: Writers on Writing, #2
    Ebook122 pages54 minutes

    Writers on Writing Vol.2: Writers on Writing, #2

    By Brian Hodge, James Everington, Mark Allan Gunnells and

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    About this ebook

    This is Writers on Writing – An Author's Guide where your favorite authors share their ultimate secrets in becoming and being an author. 

    Learn the craft of writing from those who know it best. 

    This is Writers On Writing – An Author's Guide Vol.2, where professional authors share their secrets in the ultimate guide to becoming – and being – an author. 

    In this volume you'll find the following in-depth On Writing essays:

    • The Infrastructure of the Gods: 11 Signposts for Going all the Way by Brian Hodge
    • Embracing Your Inner Shitness by James Everington
    • The Forgotten Art of Short Story by Mark Allan Gunnells
    • Well, That Escalated Quickly: Adventures in Teaching Creative Writing by Lucy A. Snyder
    • Submit (to psychology) for Acceptance by Daniel I. Russell
    • Character Building: How Not to be a Stalker by Theresa Derwin
    • Heroes and Villains by Paul Kane
    • Do Your Worst by Jonathan Winn

    Writers On Writing gives young authors the guidance they need, but also has advice for all authors, from the interested newbie to the seasoned veteran.

    The Writers on Writing series carries on the proud tradition of Stephen King's On Writing.

    Are you ready to unleash the author in you?


    Proudly brought to you by Crystal Lake Publishing – Tales from the Darkest Depths.

     

    Interview with one of the authors:

    So what makes Writers on Writing so special?

    Mark Allan Gunnells: When I was growing up as an aspiring writer, I would have given anything for this kind of advice from authors actually publishing. I think writers will find the essays interesting and helpful.

    Tell us more about you essay in Writers on Writing.

    Mark Allan Gunnells: I am passionate about short fiction, and was happy to provide an essay about how to create effective short stories, the unique pleasures of the form, and to encourage writers who enjoy short fiction not to be dissuaded from writing it.

    Why should authors read Writers on Writing?

    Mark Allan Gunnells: There's something for everyone. Many topics of writing and promotion and publishing from people who have experience with these things. 

    Do you have other non-fiction books authors should try out?

    Mark Allan Gunnells: I have written non-fiction articles for Apex Magazine, and I have nonfiction essays on horror films in the books HORROR 101 and HIDDEN HORROR, both edited by Aaron Christensen.

    Writers on Writing eBook categories:

    • Authorship
    • Publishing and Books
    • Writing Reference
    • Writing Skills
    • Education & Reference
    LanguageEnglish
    PublisherCrystal Lake Publishing
    Release dateNov 5, 2015
    ISBN9781540179173
    Writers on Writing Vol.2: Writers on Writing, #2

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      Book preview

      Writers on Writing Vol.2 - Brian Hodge

      TABLE OF CONTENTS

      INTRODUCTION

      Joe Mynhardt

      THE INFRASTRUCTURE OF THE GODS: 11 SIGNPOSTS FOR GOING ALL THE WAY

      Brian Hodge

      EMBRACING YOUR INNER SHITNESS

      James Everington

      THE FORGOTTEN ART OF SHORT STORY

      Mark Allan Gunnells

      WELL, THAT ESCALATED QUICKLY: ADVENTURES IN TEACHING CREATIVE WRITING

      Lucy A. Snyder

      SUBMIT (TO PSYCHOLOGY) FOR ACCEPTANCE

      Daniel I. Russell

      CHARACTER BUILDING: HOW NOT TO BE A STALKER

      Theresa Derwin

      HEROES AND VILLAINS

      Paul Kane

      DO YOUR WORST

      Jonathan Winn

      BIOGRAPHIES

      INTRODUCTION

      Joe Mynhardt

      I’ve run out of space for books. But that doesn’t mean I’ll ever stop perusing through my own bookcase (closets), or ever run out of story ideas. It’s in this coming together of knowledge learnt from reading stories and writing stories, that our true talents will come to the fore.

      With hard work, of course.

      Hard work made easier with the support of other authors. One of the best things about working in this industry is the people you meet (and the free books). Authors are great people, and if your journey is anything like mine, you learned how to write from other authors. I hope you’ll take the time to give back.

      That’s why this Writers on Writing series is so important. It’s the source of honest and straight forward writing advice from those who live it every day. Those who have been doing it for decades, those who teach it and make a living from it.

      Our worlds are not so small anymore when it comes to the lonely life of an author—thank goodness those days are over. Yet the world is smaller in the sense of reaching out to other authors and artists. We need to support each other and keep this industry growing. Keep talent alive. Be the best authors and people we can be.

      I know every author in this book on a personal and professional level, and I take the time to show them my support, just as they support Crystal Lake Publishing. And I hope to get to know all of you soon.

      This is Writers on Writing!

      Joe Mynhardt

      Publisher & Editor

      Crystal Lake Publishing

      THE INFRASTRUCTURE OF THE GODS: 11 SIGNPOSTS FOR GOING ALL THE WAY

      Brian Hodge

      The first half of this essay debuted in Writers On Writing Volume 1. It primarily addressed your mental game of work habits and mindsets. You and the words and the empty page, and the self-defeating futility of measuring yourself against other writers—what they’ve done and how they’ve done it—rather than trusting yourself to walk your own path in your own timeframe.

      That’s the whole point of this piece: building a mental and behavioral foundation that serves you, that keeps you in the game for the long haul rather than burning out or sabotaging yourself from the inside.

      Here, in the second part, we mainly look at you, the writer, as a social being, in your life and career beyond the page.

      (7) Never Pee on Electric Fences or Argue with Readers

      In the mood for an evening of cheap, train-wreck entertainment? Go to Goodreads and look out for the writers who’ve decided to fight the good fight against their readers. Bring popcorn.

      Spoiler alert: This never ends well.

      You know how many writers come out on top in these exchanges? Exactly none of them. Even George R.R. Martin doesn’t look all that good lately, issuing open letters to justify the things that a few vocal Game of Thrones readers and viewers have decided merit Berserker-grade outrage levels. He’s sitting on a monumental achievement that still needs to be finished. He doesn’t need the distractions and doesn’t need to stoop.

      Yes, criticism hurts, even when it’s valid and thoughtful and free of deliberate antagonism. When it’s ignorant and ill-informed and mean-spirited and delivered with gleefully vicious malice, it’s infuriating. Even all-consuming. It can ruin days of your life, if you let it.

      So make a conscious choice to not let it. No matter how badly you want to pick up that gauntlet and start swinging, don’t. Because you. Will never. Win.

      I don’t care what they say. I don’t care how wrong they get it, or how cruel they are. I don’t care how badly they mischaracterize you.

      Even adoring readers get it wrong sometimes. As for the ones who treat criticism as a blood sport, they’ll never see it your way. Attempting to take them on at their own game is like diving into a latrine pit to punch at phantoms that feed on your efforts at hitting them back.

      The world abounds with vicious little trolls. They all can smell blood and come running when they do. Trolls draw nourishment only from attention and other people’s anguish. There’s an unlimited number of them and only one of you. You will never vanquish them, never get them to admit they were wrong, never bring them to your way of thinking.

      The only thing you stand to accomplish is looking as bad as they do, in the eyes of reasonable readers.

      It doesn’t matter who doesn’t get it, who doesn’t get you. What matters is who does. So don’t alienate the ones who do—and the ones who might—by taking on the ones you’ll never win over in the first place.

      (8) Rage Goblins, Professional Suicide, and Other Sorry Spectacles

      There’s a question that often comes to mind when I observe writers in the wild. By which I mean online: "How fucking hard is it to remember Patrick Swayze’s Rule #3 from Road House: Be nice?"

      Insurmountably hard, apparently.

      Social media sites are what we make of them: a useful tool, a fun meeting place, or a theater of the grotesque. The magic of the Internet is that it can turn the pastiest basement-dwelling troglodyte into a tiger, and it’s largely a consequence-free zone.

      Robert E. Howard would’ve understood: Civilized men are more discourteous than savages because they know they can be impolite without having their skulls split.

      To be sure, being a rude prick will get you noticed. But will it attract readers? Maybe. I don’t know. Will it lose you readers, or discourage them from ever giving you a try? Count on it.

      There’s a silly metric that gets dragged out every U.S. presidential election, about which candidate voters would rather have a beer with. It may be irrelevant nonsense come voting day, but if you don’t think a similar thought process actually does go on with a wide cross-section of readers, you haven’t been paying attention.

      Yes, there’s that never-ending debate about separating

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