Science Fiction and Fantasy Writers of America

Tips for Beginners

Guest Blog Post: Self-Promotion–Starting Too Soon?

Self-promotion: a subject much on many writers’ minds. All across the Internet, new authors are urged to be proactive in publicizing themselves and their books–to build a “brand.” But what to do? And how much?

Tags: Alyx Dellamonica, self-promotion, Writer Beware

Guest Blog Post: How Libraries Choose Books to Purchase

A frequent question, especially among self- and small press-published authors, is how books get into libraries, and what authors can do to help. Today, guest blogger and public librarian Abigail Goben explains how libraries choose the books they purchase–and what authors should (and shouldn’t) do to play a part in that process.

Tags: library, Writer Beware

You Can Take It With You

Interstellar space travel. We dream about it. We write about it. Science fiction writers have come up with all manners of interstellar travel, ranging from multigenerational arks, to wormhole generating warp drives that can spit you across the galaxy in a blink of an eye. As wondrous and amazing as all these approaches may be, most suffer from a very fundamental problem.

Tags: interstellar, physics, robert metzger, science, space travel

Murder Your Darlings

It’s the nature of writers to fall in love with words, particularly their own. Clever turns of phrase excite us; we beam like proud parents when our protagonists take on lives of their own; a shapely plot twist can turn our heads. There is nothing wrong with indulging in the occasional fling-as long as it stops in draft. When time comes to make that final revision, however, you must harden your heart, sharpen the ax and murder your darlings.

Tags: james patrick kelly, revising, revision

TANSTAAFL and the Novice Writer

Article by Elizabeth Moon on advice for novice writers. Novice writers have to take some responsibility for their own careers. The good information is NOT that hard to find. The novices who don’t find it–and don’t find it repeatedly–are resisting the truth.

Tags: Elizabeh Moon, Intermediate, Moon, writing

The Basics

It doesn’t matter if you write fiction or nonfiction. You have to know the basics.

Tags: beginners, Melisa Michaels, writing

Science in Science Fiction: Making it Work

An article on getting science right in SF stories.

Breaking Into Print: What Length Sells Best?

Article by Melisa Michaels on how to build a writing career.

Tags: Intermediate, Melisa Michaels, Michaels, writing

Writerisms and other Sins: A Writer’s Shortcut to Stronger Writing

Writerisms describes overused and misused language. In more direct words: find ‘em, root ‘em out, and look at your prose without the underbrush.

Tags: C.J. Cherryh, Cherryh, Intermediate, writing