Comments on Spontaneous Derivation: Reading: You're Not Fooling Anyone When You Take Y...

Hi Jeri! Whatever high-five!Yes, going from non-f...

2008-01-01T19:19:26.849-08:00

Hi Jeri! Whatever high-five!

Yes, going from non-fiction to fiction, I've found, is like going from Toronto to Sydney. Fiction is a whole weird other place, but ultimately it's on the same planet.

(But, like, totally different.)

I'm glad you enjoy my blog and hope that it won't disappoint in the future. I plan to give it lots of care, love, and growth of good content.

Hey - I followed your link from your comments on N...

2008-01-01T18:43:16.276-08:00

Hey - I followed your link from your comments on Nathan's blog. I'm in the same boat as you - tons of tech & business writing experience (I'm now a PM) - and wondering WHY THE HECK I can't write fiction too?

I'm a Whatever reader too - I really enjoy Scalzi's advice and am partway through Coffee Shop.

Great blog - I'm looking forward to reading some of your stuff.

Yep, that'd be the one.

2007-12-31T03:41:34.118-08:00

Yep, that'd be the one.

You're welcome!I suppose I'm lucky in that I alway...

2007-12-30T11:36:37.909-08:00

You're welcome!

I suppose I'm lucky in that I always mesh with what he has to say. I mesh more with him than I do with Warren Ellis, and I agree with Mr. Ellis quite often.

Perhaps we share the same star or something.

Thanks for the review. I might have to order a cop...

2007-12-30T11:09:16.453-08:00

Thanks for the review. I might have to order a copy.

Sometimes I really like what Salzi has to say, other times we just don't mesh for whatever reason.

M

Ann, yeah, it'll be a difficult problem for me to ...

2007-12-30T08:52:49.676-08:00

Ann, yeah, it'll be a difficult problem for me to deal with too. I hope to overcome my feelings of trepidation and, as they say over at Absolute Write, "Just Hit Send". :)

Another thing that Scalzi mentions (in some detail, as he also acts as an editor from time to time, handling submissions) is that rejection is not personal.

Tori, thanks for the info! This is her website, right?

There's many good things to be said for advice from writers Who Have Been There. (That's something else Scalzi mentions, when discussing advice from writers.)

I have also found out that you learn best by doing the writing. I learned far more from NaNoWriMo than I realized, and may cover that some day when I think I'm ready for it.

I wish you much luck on finding out how to deal with the day job's application forms successfully. If you can, I'd love to hear what you find out!

You know, right now Holly Lisle is working on some...

2007-12-30T06:05:21.888-08:00

You know, right now Holly Lisle is working on some stuff for people wanting to make it on writing. You might pop over there and see if it's to you liking.

I've signed up for her newsletter, and while I haven't read all of them yet, there are worthwhile.

But you've made interesting points. At my day job, they have a pretty broad policy, yet their second job form does not fit the writer in any aspect. They want who you are working for, blah, blah, blah. But there is no way I could fill one out for every job I queried. There be way to many rejections and long response times. Their system is completely impractical to a writer, so I am going to have to ask someone how I should approach it.

You're so right about the importance of being fear...

2007-12-29T19:36:50.949-08:00

You're so right about the importance of being fearless. I've recently submitted one story for a contest and two to paying zines, and before I hit "send" for each of them I had a moment of panic, of "I'm not worthy."

Then reason returned. What's the worst thing that can happen? I'll be told NO? That's it? No beatings, torture, mocking, ostracizing, no permanent writerly banishment to the outer fringes... just NO. That's all.

I can handle that. It's worth the risk of being told "no," to maybe hear the word "yes."

Be fearless, indeed!