December 13, 2011

Introducing "How to Write Fiction"

Writing has been in my blood for as long as I've been able to hold a pen.  My favorite high school experiences were creative writing projects in English classes.  Although I am a published author in that I have bylines in several information technology trade journals, I have never published a short story, novella, or novel.  (I've tried, but never created anything I thought was worthy of publication.)  I've set that as a personal goal for 2012 (even if it's self-published).

For the last three years, I've been fortunate to attend fiction writing seminars from several published novelists, including three New York Times bestselling authors.  The first of those seminars, by bestselling author Michael A. Stackpole, gave me the spark to try writing fiction again.  (I had tried a few times in the past, but always gave up.)

In 2009, 2010, and 2011, I've participated in an online effort known as National Novel Writing Month (also known as "NaNoWriMo").  The thousands of people who take part in NaNoWriMo commit to writing 50,000 words of original fiction during the month of November.  My 2009 effort had no coherent story line, but reached the 50,000-word goal.  My 2010 effort told a complete story, but needed a lot of work.  My 2011 novel also needs work, but is the first one I think is salvageable.

By no means do I think I am an expert on fiction writing.  Guys like Michael Stackpole, Timothy Zahn, and Aaron Allston are experts.  I've learned a lot from them, and from my NaNoWriMo experiences.  This blog is my attempt to share what I've learned about writing fiction with other amateur writers.  If you find it of value, I hope you'll bookmark it, add the RSS feed to your reader, and share the link with  your friends.  If not, thanks for stopping by.