Writing
Eric San Juan
November 15, 2010
I’ve mentioned before that good editors will almost always improve your work. Writers (myself included) are often too close to their own work to be completely objective about it. It’s difficult to get outside your own head and read your work the way a reader would — and that’s a vital part of the polishing process. After all, if you’re not writing with readers in mind, you may well be writing crap. Another blogger recently made an excellent post about working with editors, specifically newspaper editors. That’s what I happen to be Monday through Friday, so I was especially delighted to see that this guy got it. He stood there, reading the draft, occasionally eying me over the top of the page, then pulled out…
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Eric San Juan
November 12, 2010
Sometimes writers (and in this case editors) just don’t get it. This guy is a perfect example. He rages and rages and rages about people slamming his/his publication’s work, proclaiming, “You don’t get to call me unprofessional!” And then proves his critics right by acting exactly that. Unprofessional. What this guy doesn’t seem to get is that yes, people do get to call him unprofessional. It’s part of the unwritten contract you agree to you put your work in front of the public — especially when you’re putting material out in the form of a magazine, newspaper, or website offering strong opinions. In that context, dealing with criticism, even irrational and mean-spirited criticism, IS PART OF THE JOB. That doesn’t mean you don’t get to…
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Eric San Juan
November 12, 2010
There are times when the words don’t come, and what words that do come make you cringe. You sit down and work, you reach your writing goals each day, but you hate every last bit of work you produce. I’m in the midst of one of those rough patches. For the last week or so I’ve wanted to toss my work-in-progress in the trash. It’s not writer’s block — writer’s block is bullshit — it’s something else. It’s “this sucks, this story sucks, these words suck, why am I bothering with this?” I hate that feeling. I’ve mentioned a few times before that I’m wrapping up a readable draft of a dystopian science fiction novel. I’ve gone back and forth between hoping people find it…
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Eric San Juan
October 9, 2010
If you were interested in that little comics anthology I wrote last year (with the help of a slew of talented artists) but still hadn’t gotten around to getting a copy, good news. It’s now available via lulu.com. I’ve gotten my copy and can vouch for its quality. Nice, glossy cover, strong binding, and decent paper quality. I’ll be up front: happy as I was with the quality of the work ComiXpress did (and I was), I got some complaints about slow order fulfillment. Excellent quality on the product, but it’s true. A few orders were slow to be fulfilled. The Lulu version takes a slight slight (slight!) hit on paper quality, but trades it for a glossy cover, printed spine, and very fast delivery….
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Eric San Juan
October 8, 2010
… not something I can announce just yet, but I’ve been working hard on it for the last two weeks or so, it’s due in bookstores next August, I’m working with some extraordinary writers (I’m merely one small part of a team), including Hugo, Nebula and World Fantasy Award nominees, and it will be geeky as hell. The last part is the best part of all. So yeah, all you geeks out there? Watch out for a wickedly fun announcement
