Recent content by ddmealing

Lord of the Rings wouldn't be published today. Chuck Berry wouldn't get a record deal either. Art evolves. It doesn't mean LOTR is bad. It's brilliant. A work of genius. But what's commercial now isn't what was commercial 50 years ago, and the same will be said 50 years from now about our...

For sure! I actually find I can't be productive writing for more than 2-3 hours in one sitting. I need a solid 6-8 hours between writing sessions to let my brain soak on other stuff, typically my day job though it can be anything really. I've always been super jealous of the writers who can...

This might sound harsher than I intend, but I get 'inspired' by the fact that I have four hours per day blocked off for writing. I either type stuff or I stare at the screen. I've never heard any advice that works better than just blocking off the time and forcing yourself to work...

Well, YMMV of course. I rewrote over 100,000 words of my first novel during the second draft. I rewrote the last 20,000 words in my most recent draft because my editor had a better idea for the ending. I think there comes a point where you need to let your projects go out into the wild, but I...

Absolutely! If I didn't do any rewrites my stuff would be totally unreadable. There's a point where you need to be able to say enough is enough, but a few revisions are necessary if you intend for anyone else to read it. Huge difference between draft #3 and draft #30.

Argh I wish I was better at this. One of my critique partners has an absolute gift for creating authentic-feeling curses in fantasy worlds, and my characters just say '****'. I totally agree that characters need to be able to swear. It's such a natural part of my IRL speech (sorry kids!) that...

Yeah that was picked up by virtually every agent & editor I know or follow on twitter. Insane how quickly a bad attitude like that can scuttle any hope of a career. The whole 'tortured misanthrope' thing really doesn't work anymore, if it ever did. People have to like you to want to work with...

Cliches sink you on two fronts, IMO - marketability and prose. If the publishing world is tired of vampires and fae (and they are right now, big time), you pretty much need to already be Laurel K Hamilton or Sarah J Maas to publish in those subgenres. This one is *hard* to overcome. Even if you...

99% of the time you should finish the story rather than rewrite sections of a first draft. (And IMO, unless you've completed at *least* a couple books, you should treat this as pretty much 100%). It's absolutely critical to develop a habit of finishing your projects. It's more important to...

RE: conventions, the beautiful thing about this industry is we are almost all a bunch of introverts who are uncomfortable in social situations. The industry as a whole is super supportive and encouraging. It's by no means required to meet people in person but IMO it's a big help, as much to give...

Thanks for the warm welcome :) I'm on the fence about world fantasy - good chance I will be there, but I haven't booked it yet. I will be at worldcon next month though, always love a chance to connect to folks face to face. Orbit has world english rights, and I already have a UK editor working...

Hey Vincent. Two basic paths to go down if you think your project is ready. Path #0: polish your MS. No, really! Very important to have a finished product. Now trust me, your MS is not even close to actually done. I asked the President of my agency once, 'have you ever gone on submission...

Hi folks. Just got connected to this community and I'm excited to get to know as many of you as I can. Three years ago I hadn't written a word of creative fiction. Now I'm rep'd by the fabulous and inimitable Sam Morgan @ JABberwocky (my dream agency) and in the process of finalizing a...