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This article is from the rec.arts.sf.composition FAQ, by Geoffrey Wiseman loki@mgl.ca with numerous contributions by others.

3.11 Why aren't there more questions than this? And more detail? What's the secret handshake, and why haven't you told me yet? What's the manuscript format again? (Science Fiction Composition)

Wannabe's and would-be's often get too caught up in the
'mysteries' of the writing world, and spend all their time
worrying about how best to break through, obsessing about
manuscript format, and calling editors at home.

Here's what Patrick Nielsen Hayden (pnh@tor.com) had to say on
the subject. Other people with similarly respectable experience
have mirrored what he had to say, including Lawrence Watt Evans,
and Gary Farber.

I can barely find the words to say how tired I am of
online obsessiveness about this stuff. Write good books.
Write good books and send them out. They will get found.
Most of the people fussing over Courier or query letters
have not written good books and are not going to write
good books. That's why they fixate on the petty little
details instead.

 

Continue to:

• prev: 3.10 To what speculative fiction magazines should I submit? (Science Fiction Composition)
• Index
• next: 3.12 Who is Dan Goodman, and why does he keep telling me to talk to a reference librarian? (Science Fiction Composition)

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writing, rec.arts.sf.composition, sci-fi, science fiction, novel, book