http://newinstance.com B. D. McLaughlin Online Wed, 25 Jul 2007 12:37:57 +0000 http://backend.userland.com/rss092 en The heading of this entry is a piece of advice I read somewhere, maybe in The Writer's Digest or one of the other numerous writing books I wade through in free moments. I've found it to be true in fiction, but also in non-fiction. It's easy to see how starting near ... http://newinstance.com/2007/06/28/start-as-close-to-the-end-as-you-can/ One of the most important lessons I've learned in a decade of professional writing and editing is that writing and editing are two separate processes. Seems obvious, right? The problem is, we -- authors -- don't like that. We write two words, change the first one, write another three, change that ... http://newinstance.com/2007/06/26/write-first-edit-second/ One of my early short stories, "Change of Heart," was just published online at Relief Journal's Rough Draft e-zine*. Click on over and read my story, as well as several others. The story is semi-rough; that is, I've been through it in my massive cut-out-the-crap stage, but I haven't taken ... http://newinstance.com/2007/06/22/change-of-heart-published-online/ It's easy. Start out by writing a 10,600 word story. Then edit yourself without mercy. Seriously, I participated in thie NaNoWriMo (National Novel Writing Month) "spring training". Here's the deal. In November, all sorts of writers join up and commit to write a 50,000 word novel (which is a novella, really). ... http://newinstance.com/2007/06/14/how-to-write-a-7100-word-story/ Well, I’ve submitted my first fictional short story today (last night, actually, but you get the idea). Thanks to Writer’s Market online and the 2007 Novel & Short Story Writer’s Market, I found a couple of places that would take a nearly-9,000 word piece -- ... http://newinstance.com/2007/06/13/let-the-rejection-begin/