Suggestion: Pen name

Don’t use a pen name.

• Be proud of your work and put your name all over it. Most people who start writing don’t finish it or don’t publish it.
• The internet means there are no secrets. Someone will eventually figure out who you are anyway.
• Branding isn’t just about branding your series – it’s about branding you as an author. You want your brand to remind people of you, not some mask you put on. When you’ve won people over with one series, why act like you don’t have more for them to read? They’ll move on to another author and forget about you if they don’t see new releases scheduled soon. You want people to find all your work.

Even if you write in different genres:

a.) most people read in more than one genre. 

b.) they might know someone who reads your other genre and suggest you.

In short: Proudly use the same name from start to finish for your career.

For the other side of the coin, try this article: http://www.writing-world.com/business/pseudonym.shtml 

And if you agree with that side follow it up with the Ten Questions listed here: http://www.writing-world.com/business/pen.shtml  

Lexicon: Science Fiction - Hard vs. Soft

Science Fiction Hard vs. Soft: all Science Fiction must have a sense of wonder, a what-if scenario, science, and the adventure of discovery. 

Hard Science Fiction: adheres firmly to the scientific method and the currently known rules of our universe. Science is about always asking questions and discarding disproven theories. This means that the science used is a true science – one that is defined by laws based on theory (if you drop an apple it falls because of gravity and you can calculate at what rate it falls by certain variables – etc).

Soft Science Fiction: Usually means that the story is not scientifically accurate. As is the right of all fiction writers the author took an idea not necessarily provable through science we have today and made it work in their world by sheer force of will. Some would also lump social sciences here. A social science is not easily defined by laws based on theory because culture and emotional mindset do not prove to always be the same.

Another way to look at it is: Hard Science Fiction focuses on the science (accuracy above all else, a glimpse of where science came from and especially where it is going). Soft Science Fiction focuses on people (how do humans usually interact with each other or other species, why do they react the same way or what causes the outcomes to be different).

Examples:

Hard Science Fiction: Twenty Thousand Leagues Under the Sea by Jules Verne, I, Robot by Isaac Asimov, and The Fountains of Paradise by Arthur C. Clark.

Soft Science Fiction: Ender’s Game by Orson Scott Card, Out of the Silent Planet by C.S. Lewis, and The Dispossessed by Ursula K. Le Guin.

Books: Worlds of Wonder

Worlds of Wonder

My Verdict: Skim It

Worlds of Wonder: How to Write Science Fiction & Fantasy by David Gerrold is a good book for those debating about writing in science fiction for the first time.

In the first 88 pages Gerrold easily describes science fiction step by step and defines where it crosses in to fantasy. You must have:

• A sense of wonder
• A what if scenario
• Adhere firmly to the scientific method and the currently known rules of our universe
• Science is about always asking questions and discarding disproven theories
• The adventure of discovery

While he refers to all science fiction, some might argue that his view leans more to Hard Science Fiction because of his focus on real technology instead of bolognium (made-up technology).

The fantasy chapters did not have clear structure to them or go in depth. Fantasy usually makes its own rules, so he cautions wisely that you understand the newly invented rules of your universe and stick to them for the whole story. He best explains this with, "The reader will suspend disbelief - he won't suspend common sense." (P29).

The other 148 pages of the book are filled with chapters on writing, such as: theme, style, first lines, last lines, simile, metric prose, dialogue and many more. The examples are all science fiction and fantasy, but mostly well known if you've been formally educated in writing.

Throughout the book he refers to and lists a large number of authors. If you are just getting into science fiction and fantasy or want to re-read some of the staples the following list is a good place to start.

Alfred Bester
Marion Zimmer Bradley
CJ Cherryh
Arthur C. Clarke
Harlan Ellison
Jack Finney
Robert A. Heinlein
Zenna Henderson
Ursula K. LeGuin
Richard Matheson
Anne McCaffrey
Judith Merrill
Larry Niven
Frederik Pohl
Ayn Rand
Spider Robinson
Joanna Russ
Theodore Sturgeon
J.R.R. Tolkien - just Fantasy
Jack Vance
A.E. Van Vogt
Kate Wilhelm
Connie Willis
Roger Zelazny

The chapters are mostly concise and for those wondering if they want to write science fiction this might be a good place to start your decision. If you're looking for fantasy - skip this book.

Your Homework: Pick the three authors in your current genre that made you want to write in the same field and read them again to confirm why they impress you.

Rating Scale: Keep On Desk, Own It, Read It, Skim It, Don't Bother

Lexicon: Historical Fiction

           Historical Fiction: a made-up story that includes a real setting during a specific year range. 

      It might include: real people from that time and/or real events (President Lincoln, Cleopatra, Shakespeare, Ghandi, war, the black plague, Haley’s comet, Pompeii’s volcano catastrophe, the stock market crash of 1929, etc). 

      Various sub-genres exist: 

•       Just setting: using some or all details of a specific time period with characters that are completely or mostly fictitious (most High Fantasy novels are based on medieval Europe). 
•       Specific Important People: a.) choosing a real person and following from their point of view b.) using a fictional character that glimpses the historic person(s). 
•       Alternate History: one major change has caused a difference in the events that took place (such as a time traveling character or new technology turns the tide of war).

      Examples: The Nightingale by Kristin Hannah, Honolulu by Alan Brennert, Outlander by Diana Gabaldon, and Leviathan by Scott Westerfeld.

Suggestion: Keep Planning, or Else

Everyone has a busy life, but do you know when you are avoiding writing? The only way to know includes one of the most dreaded topics in history: planning.

Don't let flashbacks of elementary school with your mother’s voice-over distract you. Stay focused. Grown-ups and successful authors do plan (yes, even those that fly by the seat of their pants).

The key to planning is setting realistic goals.

When do you want to complete your novel?
How much time each week can you dedicate your time to writing?

You'll have to live by some trial and error. Some authors are really productive in 30 minute increments, others need 3 hours so they can sink completely into their world. Either way, there is something that will help you stay on task: make a list.

With things like:

• character profile
• setting description
• plot revising
• writing the next chapter

If you find yourself making the same list each week (because the item did not get done last week) you either need to break the item into smaller parts (to be more easily managed) or you need to find out what is keeping you from your writing time.

Make sure you don't confuse writing time with author branding time.

Your author brand includes:

• maintaining a website
• keeping in touch with fans
• social media
• conversing with your agent or publisher
• looking into conferences
• contacting your editor
• reviewing comments from your critique partners and your beta readers

These are all important things that should be scheduled, but they should be separate from your writing time.

We all know what happens when you don’t plan and aren’t motivated – your book doesn’t get published. If you have been published, but have a long gap in your writing, people move on to other authors. Everyone has at least one author they think of every few years and wonder why they dropped off the map. So make sure you keep planning, or else you know where your career is going.

In short: find something that will keep you on task from week to week.

I’d recommend a Passion Planner (http://www.passionplanner.com/).

Lexicon: Young Adult (YA)

Young Adult (YA): a coming of age novel set in a fast paced world. Usually first person, leans more toward dialogue than description, and must have a relatable protagonist.

Can be read and enjoyed by adults.

Most popular genres are indigenous fantasy, romance, and realistic fiction.

Examples: Throne of Glass by Sarah J. Maas, Six of Crows by Leigh Bardugo, The Selection by Keira Cass, and 13 Reasons Why by Jay Asher.

Books: The Comic Toolbox

The Comic Toolbox
My Verdict: Skim It

The Comic Toolbox: How To Be Funny Even If You're Not by John Vorhaus, tries to cover a very complex topic in layman's terms.

Consider this a workbook instead of just a writing theory book. In the first five chapters, exercises exist in lists of ten. After that it is mostly paragraph exercises. They are not just at the end of chapters, rather sprinkled throughout to help emphasize his theories. 

The exercises force you to lock up your internal editor by demanding ten examples each time (under the rule of thumb that nine will suck). It was a little agonizing to come up with so many ideas, but interesting to review them later with a friend - their favorite was often not the one I picked (which leads credence to "always have objective critique partners").

Brevity is the soul of wit he quotes from Shakespeare - it is also the soul of plotting exercises. Over and over he states "if you can't define a character in one sentence, I don't think you can define him at all" (P60).

Chapter 6 defines Types of Comedy in much the same way Save the Cat (STC) defined types of movies. In these definitions you will find lots of similarities to STC, but the main difference is that you can combine as many of these definitions together in order to make a more defined comedic world.

The exercises in this book were hard for me, because I tend to enjoy situational comedy. Therefore random word connotations that sound funny together, don't usually make me laugh. The tools here are necessary to build all types of comedic worlds, which makes sense once you see how they can be broken down and put together.

Whether you want to add a little bit of humor to your novel, or set out to write the next best comedic novel, this book is a good way to get your creative juices flowing and worth an invested skim.

Your Homework: Decide your baseline for humor and make sure you play to your strengths in your work.


Rating Scale: Keep On Desk, Own it, Read it, Skim it, Don't Bother