From the Editor's Desk
Hi and
welcome once again to Fiction Factor! And, as always,
welcome to our new subscribers.
Merry Christmas!
Tina and I would like to take this opportunity to wish
you all a very Merry Christmas and a safe, happy New
Year. We'd also like to thank you all for being a part of
our 2007.
There are a few personal thanks I'd like to extend to
some wonderful people for their support, help and
encouragement of Fiction Factor. We've experienced
massive growth in the past year and it wouldn't have been
possible without the understanding and patience of some
of our own mentors. We appreciate your support and we
love that your passion for Fiction Factor is almost as
strong as ours. Those kind people include Marjane and
Oksana from the Export Club, Chris from Austrade and
Kevin Foley (Deputy Premier of South Australia and
Minister for Trade).
A special thank you goes out to Terry and Jo - our
helpful, tireless moderators on the writing forum. Always
quick with advice, feedback and comments, they're the
best moderators we could have hoped for. Thanks to both
of you :)
The biggest thanks is reserved for Tina Morgan. Not only
is she an excellent writer, a thoughtful, helpful
critique-buddy and a brilliant Managing Editor, she's
also a great friend. Thank you all.
What's Under the Christmas Tree?
 http://www.fictionfactor.com/christmas.html
I'm sure many of you guessed that the newest fre*e market
listing installment would be the Fantasy Market Listing.
It's the biggest of the three and it's now available for
immediate download from Fantasy Factor. http://fantasy.fictionfactor.com/fantasymarketlisting.html
However, that's not all we decided to put under the
Christmas tree this year. Tina and I decided we'd like to
offer all our subscribers a chance to grab our ebooks -
including those on a budget. So we've massively
discounted the prices on all three for just this
Christmas only as our gift to you.
For the Christmas period only, all three of our best
selling ebooks will be available to you for just $2.95
each. That's not a typo. Once your tiny payment has gone
through, don't forget to click the yellow button to
return to the download page for your ebook.
Please note these discounted prices will NOT be available
after midnight 26th December (Australian time) - that's
early morning 26th December for those in the US and
Europe - so grab your discounts while you can.
Merry Christmas from us :)
http://www.fictionfactor.com/christmas.html
Let's get into the writing stuff!
This issue William Meikle looks at 10 beginnings and 10
endings you should avoid and Suzanne Harrison looks at
habits of highly successful authors. Tamara Kaye Sellman
reviews "On Writing Horror" and Lee Masterson
reflects on goal-setting.
It's time now to grab a beverage of choice, sit back, and
enjoy this issue of Fiction Factor!
Lee Masterson
Editor-in-Chief
http://www.fictionfactor.com
"A professional writer is an amateur who didn't
quit."
-- Richard Bach
Fantasy Market Listings
Written solely for fantasy writers, this
comprehensive listing is filled with publications
wanting to pay for your fantasy stories! This
listing includes short fiction and novel markets.
Find the right market for your fantasy today.
FRE*E Download!
http://fantasy.fictionfactor.com/fantasymarketlisting.html
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10 Beginnings to Avoid
by William Meikle
In the same way that
editors don't want to see an ending they've seen before,
equally, there are some story beginnings that have been
done to death. Here are ten you shouldn't use.
"It
was a dark and stormy night."
The "weather report" gambit. Not only is it a
lazy way to start a story, but this one was voted
"Worst story opening of all time."
"I
hadn't seen her in the bar before. She was pale, but
interesting."
The "Vampire pick-up gambit" Or maybe they're a
werewolf, or alien, or serial killer. Or maybe the
narrator isn't what he or she seems. Either way, the
story turns out the same, and the editor will have given
up long before he got to the end.
"The
man with the piercing eyes and pointed beard asked 'What
you would give to have your heart's desire?"
The old "Pact with the Devil" gambit. Only try
this if you really have sold your soul for fame and
fortune - all other permutations have been played out
years ago.
"I
thought he was supposed to be in Vegas, so I was
surprised to see ........."
Almost as old as pact with the Devil stories is the
"I talked to a ghost" gambit. Cavemen probably
told this story to each other around their campfires. And
you think an editor hasn't heard it?
"I
woke up in the dark, and all I could feel above me was
velvet, and beneath that, wood."
The "buried alive" gambit. Those cavemen
probably knew this one as well. A variation is the
"Sixth Sense" gambit where the narrator is
already dead. Do you think the editor didn't see the
film?
"I've
always felt strange around the time of the full
moon."
The "werewolf" gambit. Even Michael Jackson
knows about the effects of the moon on certain people,
and you know how cut off he is from reality?
Want to see
more beginnings to avoid? Click here: http://short.fictionfactor.com/articles/beginnings.html
(this link will take
you to Short-Fiction Factor)
10 Endings to Avoid
by William Miekle
A logical, satisfying
ending is always required in a short story, but how do
you ensure that yours is fresh and new? One of the ways
is to avoid the obvious. Here are some common endings
seen by editors: use them at your peril.
And
then I woke up.
The 'Dallas' gambit. This approach is nothing more than a
cop-out for people with no imagination. Stories should
reach a logical conclusion that satisfies the reader and
resolves any conflicts. This method does neither.
And
then I died.
The 'Weird Tales' gambit. This one turned up regularly in
horror tales during the early part of last century, until
it was overplayed by HP Lovecraft, among others. A diary
which ends in a string of nonsense words as a crawling
terror from beyond comes for the author was fine the
first time out, but most editors have seen it too many
times.
And I
found out I'd been dead all along.
The 'Sixth Sense'
gambit. This is an old one, which is why people who were
well read in the genre spotted the twist very early in M
Night Shyamalan's film. An overused variation is to have
someone breaking out of a coffin after a supposedly
premature burial. Don't do it; the editor will see it
coming from a mile away.
And
they called them Adam and Eve.
The 'Bible' gambit or, as Michael Moorcock puts it,
Shaggy God stories. If you start with a nuclear holocaust
or human colonists on a new planet, make sure you don't
use this ending or the story will be bounced back to you
straight away. The other trap to avoid is having a
computer become a god. That avenue was new in the '40s,
but these days an editor will laugh himself out of his
chair.
Want to see
more begendings to avoid? Click here: http://short.fictionfactor.com/articles/endings.html
(this link will take
you to Short-Fiction Factor)
Create-A-Character
Clinic
Can you create a great character that editors
can't turn down? Holly Lisle can and she can show
you how too!
Learn to bring all your characters to life with
sparkle - from an author of more than 30
published novels!
Click here for more
details: http://tinyurl.com/yqqawa
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7 Habits of Highly Successful Authors
by Suzanne Harrison
The more I
read how the successful authors do it, the more I realise
that, like successful people in all walks of life, they
all do things in common that contribute enormously to
their success. So how can we learn from successful
authors to ensure our own success in 2008 and beyond?
We can start by adopting what I call "The 7 Habits
of Highly Successful Authors". Adopt these 7 habits
and you just may find that 2008 is the year you break
through your own writing barriers!
1. Write about something you care about.
Whether you are writing fiction or non fiction, it is
imperative you write about something you care about. The
successful authors have some emotional connection to
their content or story. If you are writing fiction, then
write from a place of emotional familiarity. Your genuine
experience will come through in your writing and your
readers will connect with that. If you are writing a non
fiction piece, choose a topic you are passionate or
enthusiastic about. After all, if you are going to invest
your precious time in what you are writing, you owe it to
yourself to write with passion, feeling and enthusiasm.
2. Take risks
Don't be afraid to put your head, or your hands, on the
chopping block when you write. In the world of fiction,
you will have no doubt heard about creating characters
that are "larger than life". That doesn't mean
they are giants, it means they go above and beyond and
take risks and make decisions that we would not have the
courage to take in our own lives. After all, it's not
about what we would do when we are tethered by the
restrictions of polite behaviour, it's what we would do
in our wildest imaginations that make our readers sit up
and take notice.
For the non fiction writer, it's time for you to take a
stand. Take a view and stick with it, presenting your
case with conviction and vigour. No one listens to
someone who writes meekly, or with a wishy washy hand.
Stick your neck out, and don't be afraid to get it
chopped off. All the greatest journalists are the ones
who are not afraid to speak their minds. Get into that
habit and you're well on your way to being that next
great journalist.
3. Plan
This is definitely the most ignored but equally the most
important phase of the writing process. Planning is
essential to the success of any undertaking and writing
is no different. J.K. Rowling spent 5 years planning the
entire Harry Potter series before she put pen to paper on
a single word that appeared in the books. If you are
writing a short story, novel or screenplay, planning the
story before you begin writing is as essential to your
success as ink in your pen or power to your laptop. There
are some writers who claim to just start with an image or
a sentence and then the whole thing just unfolds before
them, but the writers who can do this with any degree of
success are few and far between. Take the time to plan
out your story, at the very least know where your
beginning, middle and end are. The more planning you do,
the more enjoyable the writing process and the less
rewriting and editing you will have to do. The same goes
for non fiction pieces, where it's always advisable to
have an outline in place before you write your article or
book.
4. Write every day
Joyce Carol Oates said that she would write, even when
her soul felt as thin as a playing card, because somehow
the act of writing would set it aright. There are going
to be times when you just "don't feel like it",
but like any other job or activity that is important to
you, you must still, somehow, sit down every day and
write. It has been said that it is by sitting down every
day to write that one becomes a writer. Stephen King
writes every day, including Christmas Day. Whether you
are working on a book, story, article or nothing, still
sit down and write something every single day. Even if
you only write one page every day, that's 365 pages in a
year and that's a whole book, isn't it? When you are a
writer, you cannot not write, and writing is like
breathing. You have an urge to put things down in print,
so to keep that fresh and alive, you need to turn that
tap on every day. It's more than practice. It's life.
You can see
the rest of this article here: http://www.fictionfactor.com/guests/habits.html
Don't forget to grab your
Christmas gifts from under the tree
http://www.fictionfactor.com/christmas.html
Book Review
On Writing Horror: A Handbook by the Horror Writers
Association
by Tamara Kaye Sellman
For me, the
sections on crafting horror and on genre and subgenre
were immensely illuminating as well.
Yes, I’ll admit it: I have since revised my idea of
what writing horror is all about. No, I still don’t
go in for splatter and I will probably never write a
piece of so-called redneck horror. (Question: Might that
be what literary author Flannery O’Connor birthed
when she wrote “A Good Man is Hard to Find?”)
What I will do is assign more respect for genres outside
my typical purview.
And once I’m done with my fast-food massacre essay,
I think I’ll take a look at both romance and mystery
writing for ways to inform other projects. All good
storytelling employs elements of mystery, right? As for
romance, I have a feeling that, just as I have learned
from the horror category, there’s far more to
explore than the simple rip of a bodice.
It never hurts to look beyond what you imagine. What we
understand about genre is always in flux, but it's from
that amorphous territory that we, as writers, can expand
our abilities, if only we are willing to learn.
You can
read the full review here: http://horror.fictionfactor.com/articles/writinghorror.html
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Goal-Setting
by Lee Masterson
There
is no passion to be found playing small - in settling for
a life that is less than the one you are capable of
living - Nelson Mandela.
Isn't that a truly inspiring saying?
I don't usually use Fiction Factor as a personal forum -
after all, there's nothing more boring than reading a
personal aggrandizement-session in a newsletter when all
you want to do is learn. So we try to keep our personal
information to a bare minimum. But this issue is so close
to New Year that goals become a major focus of many
people. Have you even thought about your New Year's
resolution and your goals for 2008 yet?
With that in mind, I thought I'd give you a little
insight into how I use goal-setting to reach out and grab
those things that are important to me.
My whole life I've always gone out on a limb and really
reached out for what I want. I aim big and I work hard to
achieve my goals. Not just with my writing, but with
everything I do.
So what happens if I don't reach a particular goal? Does
that make me a failure? Does it mean I should quit and do
something else? Or should I look back and say "Gee,
I didn't quite make that really big goal, but I came
close! And look how much I learned and achieved in the
process of reaching all of the other ones on the
way!"?
I know which option I usually choose. I'd prefer to look
back and be proud of what I did achieve and how far I've
come. I weigh up the mistakes I made and the successes I
experienced and use these lessons to help me shape and
develop my plans for the coming year.
My mom always said "If you grab every
opportunity that comes your way, you can never look back
and say "I wish I had..." with regret because
you'll always be able to say "When I did..."
with fondness instead." Sometimes I think mom
was pretty wise.
At the beginning of each new year I create a new list of
goals I want to achieve during the coming year. Some of
these goals involve expanding and growing my own personal
writing portfolio. Some include Fiction Factor's growth
and continuity. Other major goals for me include my
'other' business and its growth and expansion and success
in my personal investments.
More goals include relationships, friends & family,
travel, and personal aims. That also means making sure
I'm surrounding myself with people who are good for me -
happy, positive, generous, inspired, like-minded people
with whom I can relate. Positivity goes hand in hand with
happiness. Life's simply too short to be upset or
side-tracked by the negative, small-minded, nasty types.
So I added this requirement to my 2007 goals and stuck
firm to my choices. I'm truly glad I did. It worked a
treat!
I write down all my preferred aims and hang the list on
the pin-board above my desk. I read it often, then make
sure I'm always taking small but positive steps towards
making those goals into a reality.
One of my favorite goals for every year is to see just
how much I can give back to 'the community'. I thought
about the communities I'm a part of and considered what I
could do to give something back to each of them as a form
of thanks. I try to make sure Fiction Factor subscribers
are geting relevant, pertinent writing information and as
many resources as we can find that will help their
writing careers. My company raises money and donates
blankets and food to the animal shelter (RSPCA) here in
Adelaide. This Christmas, Fiction Factor donated 420
books to the Woodcroft library and a further 370 books to
the Flinders Hospital patient's library. My 'other'
business donated 1,000 budgeting and mortgage reduction
tips CDs to valued clients to help them break the debt
cycle.
December is the month where I review the past 12 months
of my life and my career and see just how close I came to
meeting the goals I set. Looking back on this past 12
months, I'm extremely pleased with just how much I
managed to squeeze into such a short space! My writing
career has never been stronger. Fiction Factor is moving
from strength to strength, with much-welcomed support
coming from the most unexpected places. We've needed to
hire new staff to keep up with my 'other' business and my
friends and family are a constant blessing. I wouldn't be
without any of them for a moment - that is, now I've got
all the 'right' ones around me. ;)
We're drawing close to the end of the year now. This
means it's time to create a brand new list of goals to
work towards for the coming New Year. For 2008 I plan to
push my boundaries even further out of my 'comfort-zone'
than ever before - and let me tell you, 2007 saw me
breaking boundaries harder than I've ever dared to push
before! The results are amazing! I'll be doing that again
- not just because I achieved things, but because it was
actually kind of fun.
Have you created a list of goals for your own writing
over the next 12 months? What about a list of goals for
you personally? What goal do you really want to reach?
You'll be surprised at just how much you really can
achieve when you set your mind to a task and then aim at
it with everything you've got. Give it a try!
If you want
to see a full article about Setting Goals for Your
Writing Career,
go here:
http://www.fictionfactor.com/articles/goals.html
 I Wanna Win!
Tips for becoming an award-winning author,
written by an award-winning author!
Whether you want to win contests of simply hone
your writing skills, this ebook can help you
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Click here to begin winning today! http://tinyurl.com/2nc3f6
|
 Create A Plot
Clinic
Have you ever lost interest in your story only 20
pages from the start and not know how to get it
going again?
Best Selling Author of more than 30 novels, Holly
Lisle, can show you how to structure your story
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while you write!
Jump Start your novel today: http://tinyurl.com/2z3ant
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Writer's Announcements
If you have any writing news or
announcements about your successes with writing, we'd
love to hear about it! Post your publishing announcements
on our forum and we'll get them in the newsletter for
everyone to see!
You can add your Woo-Hoo to our Announcement Forum Board
here:
Writer's
Announcements - http://fictionfactor.1.forumer.com/index.php?showforum=6
This week's news:
Teresa
Reasor of www.teresareasor.com writes: "I had two books come out this summer. Highland
Moonlight was released by The Wild Rose Press. Captive
Hearts was also released by the same publisher.
"
Gene Alvin of www.aelfbooks.com writes: "Just got word that my Short story,
"Anasazi Moon", will be published in
the second edition of The Creative Writer series by
J.D.Vine Publishing"
Congratulations everyone! Keep the great news coming!
~ "Words are, of course, the most powerful drug used
by mankind." -- Rudyard Kipling ~
Writing
Courses
You can see the full list
of available courses here: http://www.fictionfactor.com/courses.html
How to Beat Writer's Block - and Have Fun Writing
from Now On!
Have you ever wanted to shut out your pesky Inner Critic
and just enjoy the pure creativity of writing? It's
easier than you think - once you know how. Presented by a
best-selling author of more than 30 published novels,
Holly Lisle will guide you through breaking Writer's
Block, re-connecting with your Muse, learn to get past
what was stalling you in the first place and enjoy
writing again.
Click
Here for your course and your bonuses!: http://tinyurl.com/26uy95
Fantasy Writing Course
Fantasy is all about the strange, the fantastic, the
beautiful and the amazing. Here is your chance to delve
into creating a great fantasy novel. This intensive
course looks at everything from world building to
creating races and cultures, from plotting to
characterization, from questing to role playing –
you name it, if it’s Fantasy related, we’ll be
looking at it, in depth, up close and personal.
http://fantasy.fictionfactor.com/course.html - (this link will take you to Fantasy Factor)
Thriller Writing Course
Learn how some of the masters of the modern thriller get
readers' spines tingling. Masters like John Grisham, Dan
Brown
Michael Crichton, James Paterson, Patricia Cornwell and
more. Join our thriller course today and get your
thriller career up and running.
http://www.fictionfactor.com/thriller.html
Romance Writing Course
Increase your chances of writing a great romance
manuscript and having it accepted for publication. Join
our romance course today and launch your romance writing
career!
http://romance.fictionfactor.com/course.html - (this link will take you to Romance Factor)
 Write Any Book
in Under 28 Days
Best Selling Author Nick Daws has written 30
books in 3 years. He can show you how too!
Click here for more details:
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|
 How
To Beat Writer's Block
and Have Fun Writing From Now On
Learn how to connect to your Muse and
get back to creating. No more procrastinating. No
more pesky Inner Critic. Jut the pure creativity
and fun or writing. Want to know how?
Click here for more details: http://tinyurl.com/26uy95
|
Paying Market Listings
You can find the complete
Market Index here: http://www.fictionfactor.com/markets.html
Happy Market Hunting!
(Disclaimer: Mention of a market/ contest in Fiction
Factor is not necessarily an endorsement. Check all
guidelines in full before submitting)
Black Gate
http://www.blackgate.com
Black
Gate publishes epic fantasy fiction at all lengths
(including novel excerpts), articles, interviews, news
and reviews. We are looking for adventure-oriented
fantasy fiction suitable for all ages -- including urban
fantasy, sword & sorcery, dark fantasy/horror,
"magic realism" and romantic fantasy -- as long
as it is well written and original. Create accessible,
epic/heroic fantasy suitable for all ages… fiction
that incorporates strong elements of heroic myth,
adventure-oriented themes and exotic and colorful
settings.
Black Gate is also looking for artists -- for line art,
comics, and cartoons. If you have an online portfolio
full of dynamic, fun b&w art, don't hesitate to
contact us. We pay 6 cents per word for fiction, and 5
cents per word for non-fiction, on acceptance.
Submission Guidelines: http://www.blackgate.com/bg/guide.htm
Romance
and Beyond Magazine
http://members.aol.com/rbeyond/romance.html
Seeking fantasy, science fiction, paranormal, and other
speculative fiction (up to 10,000 words) in which a
romantic relationship develops between the hero and
heroine. We pay ½ (one-half) cent per word, two free
copies of the magazine in which your work appears, and a
discount on future orders.
** Currently altering format to annual anthology
collection. Please see site for more deatails.
Submission Guidelines: http://members.aol.com/RBeyond/Guidelines.html
Omega Room Press
http://www.omegaroom.com
We will consider all genres and literary submissions but
our focus is Sci/Fi and fantasy. Omega Room will only
consider complete and edited manuscripts. There are many
fine editors out there. Check the Editorial Freelancers
Association (http://www.the-efa.org/) if you need help.
We are interested in lengths of 80,000 words to 150,000.
Please submit cover letter (including author's bio), two
to three page synopsis and the first 50 pages to omegaroom@yahoo.com Acceptable formats are anything
that can be opened in Word.
Please read full guidelines and FAQ before submitting.
Submission Guidelines: http://www.omegaroom.com/ORBsubmit.htm
Polyphony 7
Print anthology, seeking magreal/surreal/literary with a
genre sensibility/hard-to-classify literary stories
(fic). Payment is 4¢/word to a maximum of $400. Word
count: 2,000 -10,000. Opens 1 December 2007. Deadline: 15
January 2008.
Submission Guidelines: http://www.wheatlandpress.com/
Heliotrope
http://www.heliotropemag.com
Heliotrope Magazine is looking for exceptional fiction
that does not exceed 5,000 words. We are most interested
in Science Fiction, Fantasy, Mystery and Horror. If your
story is somewhere in between or is something you
can’t label – we are interested in that as
well. We pay 10 cents a word for fiction. Payment will be
made upon publication and in U.S. currency.
Submission Guidelines: http://www.heliotropemag.com/node/2
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