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Study Along Workshop
Science Fiction Craft Workshop Starting Up… And online, on Teachable, the Science Fiction Craft Workshop Study Along is starting as well. First stories are due on Friday evening. A ton of videos, more story assignments, a bunch of videos about sf books over the five days. Basically, the study along patterns what Kris is teaching here in Las Vegas. Of course, since it takes a couple months to read for the study along workshops, the science fiction one is well closed. And going to be a blast. I don’t have much to do, but I still have fun seeing people. Kris and the writers, however, are jamming. (grin) However, there…
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February Regular Workshops
Now Available… Here is the list of the February 6-week workshops and descriptions about each class. And a link to each one. A really good group of workshops this month. And the Floating Viewpoint workshop has been postponed. Starting two workshops in three months is enough to start the year. Starting in March is “Making a Living” workshop. All workshops are on Teachable. February Regular Workshops Class #11… Feb 4th … Endings in Fiction Class #12… Feb 4th … Attitude in Fiction Class #13… Feb 4th … Writing Romance Class #14… Feb 4th … Writing with Speed Class #15… Feb 4th … Teams in Fiction Class #16… Feb 5th ……
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Controlling Critical Voice
After Yesterday’s Post… I got a couple of questions about how I control my critical voice when I do so much teaching, which is automatically generated from critical voice. A couple things first. If I ever stopped writing for anything past a short life roll, I would stop teaching at that same moment. Sadly, a couple of my mentors became nothing but teachers and never really wrote again. I lost respect for them, to be honest. Second, I do the teaching to keep learning. When a workshop becomes boring to me, and I can’t learn from it, it goes to classic status or vanishes. Why Kris and I are always…
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Invested In Not Writing
Amazing How Common This Is… Basically put, writers, over time, develop a real and crippling investment in not writing. And, at the same time, often claim they want to write. These writers cross the spectrum of types. — Teachers who always wanted to write, teach writing, but now feel inside that they just flat don’t dare expose that they are still beginning writers at their core. — Burnt out writers who have made writing so important (because they have had a few successes in the past) that they don’t dare write anything more. Failure is a very high platform that these writers in their minds don’t dare jump from. —…
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The Trademark Book
For Fiction Writers… Remember, I started that book here, did some chapters, promised I would keep going. I even have another chapter or two written. And that is where it will end. So why did I stop? Two pretty basic reasons. First reason is that fiction writers just don’t need it much at all. Fiction writers can’t seem to find the time or energy to learn copyright, what they do need to learn. And copyright is “See Dick Run” simple compared to trademark. So the lack of need and my discouragement that fiction writers don’t even bother with the basics of IP by learning copyright. No point at all putting…
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Lots of New Videos
In A Bunch of Classes… Just in the last few days, I have made videos live in the following classes… — The new Romance Regular workshop. (Week #2) — The Decade Ahead (first quarter) — Novel Challenge (talking about something that happened to me in the novel I am writing at the moment) — Publishing Challenge (video reporting in that my first book in the challenge is published) — Shared World class (talking about owned shared worlds) — Licensing Transition class (talking about corporate structures) I have decided, on the request of a couple of writers who want to jump in soon, to leave the Shared World Class and the…
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Lifetime Workshops
And Other Nifty Things Such as Mentoring… I wanted to do a post here to let everyone know what was possible in the mass of workshops and lectures we have on Teachable. Lifetime Workshop Subscription… As more and more workshops and classic workshops and special workshops came on board over the last few years, we offered this. It has enormous advantages since you can do workshops at your own pace, are automatically signed up for new workshops, and can go through workshops that have been retired, yet still have value. This has over $17,000 in workshop value and the price is $3,000. Lifetime Lecture Subscription This is a subscription to…
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First Thirty-Three
Publishing Today!!! Everyone who supported my Make 100 Short Story Paperbacks Kickstarter last year should be getting a download copy of the First Thirty-Three collection. The second two will be early next month. Great fun! And a lot of reading. Thanks, everyone for the support. Here is the cover. It will take a few days before it gets to all the locations and stores. And the trade paperback and hardbacks will take a bit longer after that. A big book. A link to the project page on WMG.
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Las Vegas Workshops
All 2021 Workshops Now Open… You can sign up for any of the four we have announced here today. And I know 2021 seems like a long ways away, but in reality we start the group list for the anthology workshop in September of this year and the writers start writing in November. Of this year. And the reading list for the January craft workshop will go out in October. And so on. Plus it takes time to set these up not only for us, but for all of you to make your travel plans to Las Vegas. — One note on the April 2020 Short Story workshop first. Invites…
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But It’s Important!!!
Never Think That About Any Story… Or novel, for that matter. They are just stories. And telling stories is fun, right up to the moment that you make a story or novel important. That’s like taking a pin to a ballon. All the fun of writing just vanishes almost instantly in a pop. What actually happens is by making something important, you allow the critical voice to take over. You know that voice that lives in the front of your brain and thinks it knows everything. It shoves the creative, smart voice to the back and takes over. Writing out of critical voice is a struggle at best, and usually…