Writing Excuses 8.32: Micro-Casting

[mbarker.livejournal.com]

Writing Excuses 8.32: Micro-Casting

From http://www.writingexcuses.com/2013/08/11/writing-excuses-8-32-microcasting/

Summary Q&A:
1. How do you set goals and work under a deadline?
Set word count or time goals. Timers act as external deadlines to help focus.
2. Are writing contests worth it and which ones are good?
Writers of the Future. Maybe the Amazon breakout novel contest.
You should not have to pay to play.
See Writers Beware http://www.sfwa.org/other-resources/for-authors/writer-beware/
3. How do you make clear that the weird aspects of your world are on purpose?
Hang a flag on it, with characters in world pointing at it.
4. How do you know when to quit or take a break from your writing?
When it's not fun and you don't have a deadline.
5. What is a quick rundown of word count and size limits for first-time authors in different genres?
Go to a convention and ask the editors. For short fiction, under 4000 words is good. Middle grade, 35-50K. YA, 70-80K. SF, 80-90K. Fantasy, 100-120K. Urban Fantasy, under 100K. Thriller, 60-70K.
( Questions and Answers, at length )

[Brandon] Does anyone have a writing prompt that's occurred to them?
[Mary] No.
[Brandon] Okay, I've got one.
[Howard] I was actually... Oh, go ahead.
[Brandon] I've got one. I actually think the deadline thing would be a nice thing to try. If you have never done it, I'd like you to try keeping track of your word count for a day in a spreadsheet and try to watch hourly how much you're writing for an hour. Set yourself a goal that's a stretch for your next writing session. See what you do naturally, and then try and up it and see what that does. All right. This has been Writing Excuses. You're out of excuses, now go write.