Indholdsfortegnelse for October 2014 i The Writer

Processing feedback is certainly a skill, and it’s one that’s essential to master. Receiving feedback can be an opportunity to see how others experience the words you’ve put on the page and to assess how well you’ve achieved your intentions. But it’s not a flawless process. Your task is to consider that feedback and make choices about how to move forward in revision. Each reader has given you his or her individual reaction to the words you set down on the page. This, of course, is informed by the reader’s understanding of the craft and of his or her sense of what you seem to be working toward in the fiction. It may also be informed, in more subtle ways, by personal experience and preference. Think of feedback, then, as…

• Doerr is married, has twin sons and lives in Boise, Idaho. His family was spending a year in Rome when Doerr won the The Rome Prize. • Doerr has written two collections of short stories, one memoir and two bestselling novels. • He regularly writes a science column for The Boston Globe. • Has received both a Guggenheim and National Endowment for the Arts fellowship. • Doerr’s fiction has won three Pushcart Prizes, four O. Henry Prizes and has been anthologized in The Best American Short Stories. • In 2007, Granta added Doerr to its list of 21 Best Young American Novelists. • Part of his inspiration for All the Light We Cannot See came from observing a grown man, upon losing cell reception, lapse into a rage on…

Have you ever… ❏ had your spouse urge you to keep your day job? ❏ wished a relative would hurry up and die so you could write his bizarre story? ❏ screamed at your character? ❏ celebrated a personal rejection letter? ❏ admitted all your writer friends are weird? ❏ invented a nom de plume? ❏ written a romantic story you didn’t want your mother to read? ❏ written an obituary for someone you loved? ❏ bartered your writing for some service or thing? ❏ anxiously waited to see what your characters were going to do next? ❏ played strange music for inspiration? ❏ joined a critique group? ❏ visualized your name in credits on the big screen? ❏ gone without sleep to write? ❏ gotten into a fight over…

Sandra McDonald grew up reading Isaac Asimov’s books and essays, and when she grew old enough to subscribe to the magazine for science fiction lovers that bore the famous author’s name, she got a subscription. “I love the wide range of stories,” she says, “everything from hard s.f. to light fantasy and drama to comedy – and the showcasing of strong, unique voices in our field.” Her fiction has appeared in the magazine several times. “She’s got a really fresh voice,” said Sheila Williams, editor of Asimov’s Science Fiction, explaining McDonald’s popularity with readers. “I enjoy her perspective. It’s warm and heartening, and she does a lot of interesting things with gender.” Asimov himself served as editorial director of the magazine from 1977 – the year of its inaugural issue…

What scares you the most as a writer? The cliché is that the blank page is the scariest part of writing. We posed the question to our friends on Facebook (and Twitter). Turns out, there’s a lot more that’s scary about writing than merely the blank page. The following responses may be ones you recognize. “The ending.” “A piece never feels finished.” “Not being able to bring the piece to fruition.” “Letting time go by, even when I find new clues to the story” “Never being read.” “Getting past the second chapter, as well as finishing it.” “Finding time.” “Did I say this in the best and most efficient way possible?” “Dry dialog. I’m terrible at giving characters their own unique voices.” “Getting stuck in the middle with nowhere to…

1 Read several back issues to learn the editorial style, and check archives to see if the magazine has already covered your idea.2 Review the magazine’s editorial calendar and schedule pitches accordingly. Most magazines plan far in advance, so give at least six month’s leeway for seasonal topics. For instance, pitch winter holiday articles in July.3 Stay local. Find city and regional magazines that need your residential perspective.4 Suggest a short article for the front of the magazine. Editors may be reluctant to give feature stories to an unknown writer, but shorter articles can be stepping-stones to larger assignments.5 Pitch a well-crafted story idea with a specific angle. The query letter should show the editor that you’ve done your research and are willing to approach an idea creatively. The magazines…