Captain's Blog
Ahoy, Critterfolk!
New entry May 11
Critter Notices
Critters Server is Dying has been Replaced
See important details here in my blog. Let me know if you find anything that isn't working right. (Manuscripts are now available for this week, FYI.)
Space Travel for SF Writers
Hot off the presses from ReAnimus Press! Space Travel - A Science Fiction Writer's Guide— An indispensible tool for all SF writers that explains the science you need to help you make your fiction plausible. (Also via Amazon)
New Book from a Critter Member
**NOW IN
PRINT EDITION
TOO!** Awesome new book,
HOW TO IMPROVE YOUR SPECULATIVE FICTION OPENINGS,
from a Critter member whose unearthed a shard of The Secret
to becoming a pro writer. Really good piece of work.
"...if you're at all concerned about story openings, you'd be nuts not to read what Qualkinbush has to say." —Wil McCarthy, author of BLOOM and THE COLLAPSIUM
Book Recommendation
THE SIGIL TRILOGY:
The universe is dying from within...
"Great stuff... Really enjoyed it." — SFWA Grandmaster Michael Moorcock
Announcing ReAnimus Press
If you need help making ebooks from manuscripts or print copies—or finding great stuff to read—look no further! An ebook publisher started by your very own Critter Captain. (And with a 12% Affiliate program.) [More]
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FEATURED BOOK
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The Rules of Writing
> Learning to create art--drawn, written, musical--has its rules. You > don't hold the trombone with your toes and play with your nose > (although there's probably someone who can break even those rules and > create something meaningful). The problem with the word "rules" is that it can mean either "mandatory" (as in law) or "customary." "Rules" in art are the latter, but many beginners assume the former when they hear the word "rule," and thus may inappropriately demand compliance by others. I think of art as having "conventions": "A practice or procedure widely observed in a group; a custom". By convention you hold the trombone in your hands, you don't split infinitives, etc. You should learn what the conventions are, but not feel they are Laws, nor demand others follow them. In critiquing, you can, instead, offer your opinion that someone's unconventional usage didn't work for you. (Now, in the "mandatory" sense, computer programming has Rules. If you misplace a semi-colon in a program, it simply doesn't work. :-)
