Archive for the ‘SFWA Blog’ Category

How to Win a Short Fiction Contest*

by Shawn Proctor*Winning not guaranteed.In project management, the key is to begin with the end in mind. So maybe I should have foreseen that my flash story, “A Good Egg” would be published by Flash Fiction Online as a reprint in September and, previously, would have be a winner of the 2017 Podcastle Flash Fiction Contest. Unfortunately, writing with the end goal in mind has never worked for me.

The Productivity Monkey

by Deborah Walker

I don’t find productivity to be a one size fits all discipline. Sometimes a theory or technique just doesn’t resonate for me. For example, I’ve never got on with the Pomodoro technique, but some authors love it. I listened to a podcast recently where a motivational speaker was very insistent that if you don’t have goals then you can’t achieve anything worthwhile. Goals aren’t for me. I’d rather define processes rather than goals. I’ll write every weekday rather than I’ll finish a novel in a year. Many productivity experts swear by meditation, but I don’t care for it. The best advice for techniques is to try them on for size and see if they fit.

Open for Submissions: “A Matter of Time Science Fiction Bundle”

The SFWA Self Publishing Committee is happy to announce that we are open for submissions for the next SFWA Science Fiction StoryBundle, which will run from July 31st through August 20th. The theme for the bundle will be time travel. For those who are unfamiliar with the concept, story bundles are curated collections of books offered at a discounted price, with the proceeds going towards the participating authors and StoryBundle. 

Fantasy Worlds of George Pal Film Preservation

News from a Go Fund Me Campaign to preserve the interviews of science fiction film pioneer, George Pal:

Please take a moment and be a part of history by supporting the preservation of a series of historic rare archival videotape interviews – many never released –  from “The Fantasy Film Worlds of George Pal”  (1986)…..and before they are lost forever! 

The Ultra-Novelist

by Hunter Liguore

When it comes to writing, especially the novel, we can never give up! We’re essentially running our own ‘ultra-marathon.’ Looking at a runner who will traverse 100 miles over 30 hours, we must see the significant amount of training that went into this. Considering the above scenario, this ultra-runner must’ve spent at least half to a full year of deliberate planning/training just for this one race.