“Nobody in life gets exactly what they thought they were going to get. But if you work really hard and you’re kind, amazing things will happen.” – Conan O’Brien Last night was Conan O’Brien’s final episode of The Tonight Show. Before he was a late night TV host, Conan was a writer, working on Not […]
Archives for 2010
Queries that Worked: Personal Writing Magazine
The last query letter of the week is a pitch sent to Writer’s Digest. I’d read Writer’s Digest on and off since I was in my late teens, and decided to send a query for a sort of travel piece: * * * [Note: My contact information is flushed right on my query] Christopher Gronlund […]
Queries that Worked: My Biggest Writing Regret
Since I had written a couple travel pieces for the Dallas Morning News and finally knew the editor on a first-name basis, I decided to send a pitch letter. A pitch letter is a query letter, but it’s a little different. Instead of sending a detailed query about a place you plan to write about, […]
Queries that Worked: Two Travel Writing Queries
Each day this week, I’m sharing query letters that worked for me. Today, I’m sharing the story that resulted in my first travel article. I’m also sharing the second query to the same publication. I’ve previously mentioned that I pitched my first travel article after a layoff seven years ago. I don’t have the original […]
Queries that Worked: The Screenplays
Today’s query letters aren’t letters at all. Sometimes the pitch is in person or over the phone (over the phone in today’s examples). * * * A friend I made when my wife and I were doing comic books bumped into somebody in development at two movie studios at the San Diego Comic Con. He […]
Queries that Worked: The Novel Pitch
Each day this week, I’m sharing a query letter that resulted in a request for more material, or a sale. In some cases — like today — I’ll share multiple queries. Today’s queries are for my first novel, Hell Comes with Wood Paneled Doors (HCWWPD). While HCWWPD didn’t sell, the queries I’m sharing did work, […]
Crowded
The first thing I ever wrote for submission was a comic book story for an anthology. (It was also the first thing I wrote that was accepted.) I met my wife in 1992 when we were both working for the same independent comic book company. Most of the people I hung out with at the […]
Dealing in Change
Are you a nurse? If you are, I have a great job lead for you—it pays $2,500 a year! Project manager? Great gig at a place I know for $3,000 a year! I don’t know a nurse or a project manager who would work 6 or 7 days a week for that kind of money. […]
Make Them Laugh
People love to laugh. It doesn’t matter if what you write is serious or humorous, making people laugh is giving them what they want. Here are 5 tips for writing funny, even if you aren’t: 1. Be Universal If you don’t think you have it in you to be funny, you’re not paying enough attention […]
Mimic Me
In my writing group, I’m known for writing odd little stories with heart. My friend, Mark, is known for writing gritty stories straddling several genres. My friend, Deacon, is known for writing hip little stories with heart. This isn’t to say that Mark has never written touching stories, or that I’ve never written something gritty. […]
Jackhammers and the Pizza Friday Distraction
Earlier this week, I had been writing for 45 minutes before I realized that the landscapers at the apartment where I live were working right below the window where I sat. When I stopped to get some water, I heard the construction crew across the street with the jackhammer. I knew they were there, but […]
Knocking on Windows
When writing, I like making things up. While you’d be hard pressed to find any lengthy autobiographic passages in my fiction, I do love taking a small, real thing and running with it until it’s nothing like what it was based on. Here’s an example: I had a friend who never knocked on my front […]
Deliberately Bad Writing
One evening at the writing group I belong to, my friend, Deacon, shared a story with me and the other member of the group. It was made very clear to us that he meant the story to be deliberately bad, full of cliches, purple prose, and stock plotting. The story was called, “Butterfly, My Queen,” […]