Noted

I think it’s important to take notes for works of fiction. Whether jotting down ideas for new stories or tweaks to existing stories, notes increase the chance of retaining flashes of brilliance.

Keep something with you at all times that you can use to record notes. Maybe it’s a paper notebook, but with technology advances, you might use a laptop, PDA or cell phone. Sometimes I email myself reminders if I don’t have a scratchpad within reach.

Try to limit your notes to the barest of essentials for recalling the ideas. This isn’t the same as creating a storyboard or a plotline. These are simply references to something greater in your brain. It might be something like: “Use mace, not sword” to indicate a character’s weapon or “Send Joe with Sue to cave.” My notes tend to look like incoherent thoughts, but that’s okay as long as my stories don’t.

If you’ve ever found yourself trying to recall a good idea that you had earlier and just can’t draw it back out, you can understand the importance of putting such hooks in place. Relying on memory alone isn’t completely reliable.

The Magicera's Confession

My short story, "The Magicera’s Confession," is now available on MindFlights. I’m excited about seeing another publication before the end of the year. This is my second publication with MindFlights. Here’s the teaser: Beaten and exhausted, Thadryn's prospect is grim. Even if no one listens, he's willing to tell his tale.

Supporting Markets

If you find speculative magazines that you enjoy, support them. As writers, there are several ways we can do this:

1. Financially – Subscribe to magazines. Buy issues. Pay to access special online content. Every magazine has expenses, and when those expenses aren’t covered, magazines go under.

2. Promotionally – Now that you’re reading issues through your subscriptions, promote the magazines. Post reviews on your blog or website, discuss your favorite stories in discussion boards. Raise the awareness of the reading community of markets you enjoy so that they can increase readership.

3. Contributions – Submit your best stories to these magazines. If you get rejected, submit something else. Keep submitting as often as you. It seems reasonable that the quality of an issue depends on a decent selection of stories. If an editor is hoping to publish an issue with five stories and only receives six submissions, that doesn’t leave a lot of leeway.