The scattered thoughts of short story writer Sandra Seamans
Friday, April 12, 2013
Just Because
This is one of the best essays I've read about writing crime/mystery stories in a very long time. Passage Work by Russel D. McLean.
7 comments:
Anonymous
said...
He charges friends and acquaintances to read their MSS. I'd question his judgment. And if he really knew his stuff, he'd sell enough of his own writing that he could afford to _buy_ crime fiction magazines and books.
If you're going to be snarky at least put a name to your comment, please.
If Russel charges it's because he's an editor and maybe he has a preference for who and what he reads? And he does know his stuff because he's a well-published author.
One other thing, I always make sure that the writer I'm linking to knows what they're talking about. Anyone can set up a blog and dispense advice so it's best to check them out a bit before you follow them willy-nilly.
Sandra and Peter - - thank you so much. I don't claim to be always be right, but nice to know I can get people to think.
Anon - to be fair, the footnote was ambiguous on the situation so I changed it. I threw it in at the last moment to try and curb a situation I once found myself in with a lot of unasked-for ms landing in my inbox. I meant that I only do these reports for professionals in the industry who send me MSS to report on without the writers name and that this is charged on a pre-agreed freelance basis. I do not charge friends but then if we do read each other's works its a very private arrangement and I wouldn't talk about it. So mea-culpa. I have edited the post.
As to the rest, the passive aggressive tone is a little off. You clearly don't know me as you don't know where my money goes (Would you believe a hell of a lot of it goes on books?) and what I'm earning. If you do know me, then we're clearly not that close.
7 comments:
He charges friends and acquaintances to read their MSS. I'd question his judgment. And if he really knew his stuff, he'd sell enough of his own writing that he could afford to _buy_ crime fiction magazines and books.
If you're going to be snarky at least put a name to your comment, please.
If Russel charges it's because he's an editor and maybe he has a preference for who and what he reads? And he does know his stuff because he's a well-published author.
One other thing, I always make sure that the writer I'm linking to knows what they're talking about. Anyone can set up a blog and dispense advice so it's best to check them out a bit before you follow them willy-nilly.
A superb essay. Thanks for posting it. Great storytelling starts fast and keeps going strong.
Glad you enjoyed it, Peter!
Sandra and Peter - - thank you so much. I don't claim to be always be right, but nice to know I can get people to think.
Anon - to be fair, the footnote was ambiguous on the situation so I changed it. I threw it in at the last moment to try and curb a situation I once found myself in with a lot of unasked-for ms landing in my inbox. I meant that I only do these reports for professionals in the industry who send me MSS to report on without the writers name and that this is charged on a pre-agreed freelance basis. I do not charge friends but then if we do read each other's works its a very private arrangement and I wouldn't talk about it. So mea-culpa. I have edited the post.
As to the rest, the passive aggressive tone is a little off. You clearly don't know me as you don't know where my money goes (Would you believe a hell of a lot of it goes on books?) and what I'm earning. If you do know me, then we're clearly not that close.
Thanks for dropping by Russel!! And welcome to the Corner.
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