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Discussion

Flashbacks: Awesome or Bane of Your Existence?

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Flashbacks

Today’s topic comes from QSFer Tam Ames – “Flashbacks in books. Discuss. (As in memories, not PTSD type flashbacks)”. OK, I’m game. I regularly use flashbacks in my stories. I try not to overuse them, but it’s not uncommon for me to use at least one entire scene as a flashback, usually to illuminate a character. But over-use of them can lead to confusion unless it is handled very carefully. In the novella I’m working on now, I do use them fairly liberally, but in a very structured way. So here are my questions – as a writer, do you … Read more

Created vs. Evolved

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werewolf evolution

QSFer Hank T. Cannon has an interesting question for us today: Do you prefer “evolved” creatures and races, or creatures that are expressly created by other beings, these “creators” being either on the page or off the page? If both created and evolved exist, is there a conflict between them? What about those who are created, and then evolve? It could apply equally to paranormal, Fantasy or sci fi stories. In paranormal, for instance, we can have werewolves who “evolved” from a natural process, or those who were “created” by a man-made virus. In Fantasy, again maybe elves and dwarves … Read more

Using Prologues

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Star Wars Prologue

Today’s topic comes from QSFer Violet Joicey-Cowen – “To prologue or not to prologue, that is the question…” I’ve used prologues sparingly – in fact, I have one in the story I’m writing now – sort of – it’s a flash-forward that sets up a part of the story later on. I’ve also used them Robert-Jordan style, and of course, Anne McCaffery was famous for her Pern prologues. And don’t get me started on Star Wars. But I’ve also been criticized for using them in the past, especially when they represent an omniscient POV. So what’s your take? As a … Read more

The Long Haul of Novel Writing

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Typewriter

Today’s topic comes from QSFer EJ Runyon: “Found this on another page: ‘…believe in yourself and finish what you start. Most people have an initial idea and write while the fire is hot; when the moment of inspiration passes, they stop. Real writers can’t allow themselves to do this. Book writing is a craft, you’re building something like a house…if you write one page a day, every day, within a year you’ll have a book. If you don’t want to put in that time, you may be a great human being with bunches of good ideas, but don’t kid yourself, … Read more

Terrible Queer Characters

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Well of Loneliness

Today’s topic comes from QSFer Amanda Clay: “We’ve talked about really good queer representation in sf/f, how about really bad? What are the worst queer characters and story lines you have ever had to suffer through” You know, the ones that are so stereotypically over-the-top gay. Your limp-wristers. Your comically bad evil gay villains. Your “doomed to the pits of hell” 50’s lesbians. Your really bad men in drag passing as transgender folks. Your invisible bi characters. We can mine TV, film, and literature for this one. And have you written any that, looking back, you just kinda go “ick”? … Read more

Crazy Like A Fox

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Alan Turing

Today’s topic comes from QSFer Victoria Stagg Elliott: “I just watched the Imitation Game last night so my potential question is inspired by Alan Turing. Alan was a tortured genius. His craziness gave him the genius to crack the enigma code and end WWII, two years early. He probably saved millions of lives. But that craziness and societal homophobia also meant that he was dead by suicide at age 41. In what ways does our own craziness benefit our writing while perhaps being less than beneficial in our lives? How has societal oppression shaped our writing and how we express … Read more

Back Up or Lose It All

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Today’s topic comes from QSFer Fletcher DeLancey: “How do you back up your writing? Have you ever had a catastrophic failure, and if so, how did you recover?” We did once. Mark and I run several online directories for the LGBT community, and back in the early days, we backed up to Zip Drives – do you remember those? They were like floppy discs, but fatter. They held HUGE amounts of data – like 500 MB or maybe a Gig! LOL… Well, at one point, Mark’s hard drive crashed. And for some reason, the back-up had failed on one of … Read more

Fan Fic Outings

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OK, I thought we’d have a little fun today. A lot of writers got their start doing fan fiction – taking beloved characters / universes and putting their own (often LGBT) spin on them. Think Kirk and Spock as a power Trek couple. So if you were going to write your own sci fi, paranormal, or LGBY fan fic, which characters would you out? Where would they fall on the LGBTQI… spectrum? And what stories would you tell?

When the Gay Guy is the Villain

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Today’s topic comes from QSFer Beth Brock: “Is there a place for gay antagonists in LGBT fiction?” It’s a simple question on the face of it – of course there should be. Gays (and I’m using the term generically here for LGBTQI), like straights, like lesbians, like transgender and bisexual and asexual and intersex folks, come in all shapes and sizes and types in the real world. There are white gays, black gays, asian gays, short gays, tall gays, happy gays, sad gays, good gays and evil gays. But to simply say “yes, of course” would be to ignore the … Read more

It’s Snowing in My Head

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Today’s topic comes from QSFer Janet Gershen-Siegel: Because it is snowing and snowing here (Boston), how does the weather affect your writing? What happens when it essentially becomes a character? E. g. I am going to write some massive winter scenes because I have 6 foot piles of snow in my front yard. Hey, write what you know! It’s a good question – how does the weather ouside affect your writing? Are you more productive when it rains, or when it’s sunny outside? Has that snow drift just outside your window somehow found its way into your story?