Questions

So it’s your dream to write novels? Be a freelance writer and make a living off of your articles? Or maybe you nurture an ambition to write and sell enough short fiction to put bread on the table, like those writers of the golden age of the pulps?

Well, those are all noble dreams to have. I’m smitten by the writer’s glamour myself. Also I’m grateful for the others who were, those authors whom I love to read and return to time and again. I’m grateful that they possessed not only their artistic vision, but also the sheer stubbornness and will to persevere and see their dreams become reality.

So we’ve settled on the fact that we want to be writers, and that no other dream will do. Now let’s take a look at what this is likely to mean in terms of the sacrifices we’ll have to make along the way.

1. Misunderstanding.

Make no doubts about it – even those closest to us may not understand or even sympathize with our dream. Young authors still in school or living at home should prepare themselves for the advice of well-meaning but frightened parents; which typically will be encouragement in ANOTHER direction. With all that time spent on the computer, you could build a career as a typist. How about data entry? Web design? They have a lot of great courses at the college for that.

Adult writers can oftentimes expect a similar reaction from their significant others; though in this case, the motivation might be someone different. Why don’t you pursue something that there’s a FUTURE in?

People who give this sort of advice are doubtlessly well-steeped in all the lore of the suffering artist. Parents don’t want to see their children go through it; husbands and wives aren’t all that eager to see their spouses get caught up in that trap either.

But the real question here is this: are YOU ready to believe in yourself enough to persevere even in the face of this negative (though well-meant, perhaps) feedback?

2. A social life? What’s that?

To finish a novel could easily take up a thousand hours or more of your time. That means almost three hours a day if you want to get it done in a year. And this is a modest estimate. Now maybe you’re willing to give up T.V. time, leisure reading, evenings out with your sweetheart, etc. You want to be a novelist that badly. But wait! The trials don’t stop there.

Your friends and family will want explanations. WHY can’t you go over to Luck’s and hang out tonight? Why do you never pick up the phone at night (or in the morning or whenever you write)?

Now it’s one thing to have college papers to write, or mid-terms to study for, or overtime hours at work. Those are all socially acceptable obligations. But tell your friends that you’re staying in every evening to write and probably the best reaction you can hope for is a blank stare.

Are you ready to say: “Too bad if they can’t understand”?

3. Rejection upon rejection.

Let’s say we pass the first two hurdles. We don’t listen to people’s attempts (however well-intentioned) to dissuade us, and we plug away at our stories even though it means we can’t enjoy the leisure and down time of “normal” people. We put those thousand-odd hours into our work, and when it’s all done we’re proud of it. We write query letters, mail submissions, and sit back and dream of that fat advance, the book signing tour and the movie offers.

Then the unthinkable happens. We get one return letter after another, and all of them are variations of this: “Thank you for sending us [our work]. It was indeed interesting, but not quite what we’re looking for at this time.”

This happens to everyone. It has happened to me numerous times, and if it never happens to you then you will be entered into the history books of publishing. You may reach the point where a PERSONAL rejection letter instead of a pre-printed rejection feels like an accomplishment.

Remember the dream. Remember the passion that drove you to devote all those hours to writing in the first place, at the expense of your social life and leisure. Then send your work out again, because you didn’t pass the first two tests for nothing. When and if you get feedback, see if there’s anything constructive within it and learn for next time. You’ll be another rung up the ladder to success.

We writers survive and find our way because we weren’t meant to BE anything


- Diya sood

anywebsite ? thank you very much
- vimsy

I have a writing assignment to write that way and am more used to writing and reading in third person. General advice about writing in this point of view is also welcome. Note that I can’t just write about myself and disguise it.
- Stacye S

January 1985 marks the beginning of America’s love affair with Ender Wiggin. It was that month that Ender’s Game was published, becoming an instant blockbuster, and “probably the most popular science fiction novel published in the last twenty years” (John Kessel). The child prodigy and ultimate savior of the earth, Ender Wiggin, had appeared seven years earlier in a short story published in the science fiction magazine Analog. Writer Orson Scott Card had spent much of his young life working in print, but had only set to writing science fiction when his meager salary as copy editor at a small press failed to pay a debt incurred from a failed business attempt. His magazine article won instant attention, and Orson Scott Card won the 1978 John C. Campbell Award for best new writer at the World Science Fiction Convention. But little Ender was destined for bigger things.

Orson Scott Card saw potential in his young protagonist and instantly set to work developing the short fiction into a longer work. Already he had two novels in mind, Ender’s Game and its sequel Speaker for the Dead, published the following year in 1986. Card made history by winning both the prestigious Nebula and Hugo Awards in both consecutive years. No other author has managed this feat to date (2006.) Since that time, Ender’s Game has been translated into sixteen languages, and spawned two series.

The first series includes Ender’s Game (1985), Speaker for the Dead (1986), Xenocide (1991), Children of the Mind (1996), and First Meetings (2002). The saga follows Ender as he grows into adulthood and deals with the moral and ethical issues presented in his childhood.

The second series starts with a parallel telling of the original Ender’s Game, but from the eyes of Bean. Titled Ender’s Shadow (1999), it is the first of the Shadow Series, followed by Shadow of the Hegemon (2001), Shadow Puppets (2002), and Shadow of the Giant (2005).

Ender’s Game has been called “the science fiction novel for people who don’t think they like science fiction.” Truly it appeals to a vast audience. It is on the list of top books for college-bound students, and has been adopted as required reading in numerous secondary schools and university classes. Card explains that the focus on the human story as it unravels, rather than the science fiction elements, is what gives the novel power among its readers. Essentially, Card says, readers must relate and care deeply about the characters. Beyond that, he admits that the use of computer networks and the “mind game” are features in the book that appeal to many readers.

Ender claimed the spotlight again in the late 1990s when rumor caught wind that a film was slated. Indeed, Warner Brothers announced in 2002 its plans to produce the film. Director Wolfgang Peterson, known for his most recent films Poseidon, Troy and The Perfect Storm, is joined by screenwriter David Benieff (Troy). The movie is expected to hit the theaters in 2008. After winning the top prizes offered in science fiction literature, one wonders what is still in store for Ender Wiggen.


- Fran Black

This is my list. What do think? Which one off hand do u respond to most.
Drake, Maxwell, Victor, Sebastian, Owen, Oliver, Nicholas, Rab, or Robert?
The character is a young adult. he is cocky, Pompeous, dangerous, and from a different era.
- Glinda C

I need to write a fictional a short fictional story for my writing class but I have writers block and can’t think of any story ideas! Please help me! Any suggestions would be appreciated!
- Lily

Does the name Andaerin (An-day-rin) sound like a good masculine name for a piece of fantasy short fiction I am writing?
- Neaphus

This question refers to a specific genre or tone of literature. I noticed that there is some confusion about this type of literature when I searched for similar questions/ answers here. I just want to read more stories of this nature and would welcome any lists or recommendations. Thanks.
- Michael G

Does the name Andriar sound like a good masculine name for a piece of fantasy short fiction I am writing?
- Neaphus

i had to write a short fiction story for my english II class
so now, after spending the better part of this week, and scrapping 7 stories before this one, i have finally completed a first draft
i still have lots of editing to do, but what do you think:

[it wont all fit, so you can find it on my livejournal]
http://xkillerpiratex.livejournal.com/
- plastic_trees