Question about wanting to write
- Thread starter adamisme
- Start date
Read a lot, write, write some more, submit, get rejected, learn from the rejections, write better stuff, submit again, get rejected again, lather, rinse, repeat for as long as necessary. As with any other profession, it takes lots of practice and hard work to get good at it.
Thank You
. How did you get started? Is it as simple as saying I want to write about this, so I'll write about this?
Thank You
When it comes to writing tie-in novels based on other people's properties, not really. Except as an exercise, you really don't want to write a 300-page Trek book, then try to get it published. That's not how it works.
Typically, publishers acquire the rights to do tie-in books, then hire authors to write them. Before the book is even written, a plot outline has to be approved by the copyright holders, and you don't actually start writing the book until you get the go-ahead (and the contract) from the publisher.
Your best bet is start out writing your own stuff, get some professional credits, then let it be known that you want to write Trek books or whatever . . . .
Some good websites to check out: iamtw.org and writerbeware.org.
Just to be clear, all of the above refers only to writing STAR TREK books and other tie-in novels. Writing and selling original fiction is a whole other story.
Thank You
Getting started is that simple. The best way to learn to write is simply to write and keep writing. Getting to the point where you can actually sell your work is a lot harder. A lot of people think that what professional writers do is no different from what amateur fanfiction writers do as a hobby. But as with any other profession, if you want to be good enough to get paid for it, you need to go through a long period of training to develop your skills to the point where you can compete with other experienced professionals for a finite number of job openings.
Christopher is right. I've been writing since I was twelve years old. I didn't have the confidence to attempt publishing until seven years back. That got me into a volume of Strange New Worlds. Since then I've been writing my own stuff and I've never been happier.
Not that interested in writing any more tie-in work though. No offense meant to Christopher or Greg or anybody else. I've just got a mad passion for my own characters and universe.
Also I'm kind of vain and I don't want my own name subsumed by a brand name like Star Trek or Star Wars. That happened to Dean Wesley Smith and I know he really regrets it.
Then again, that's nothing I really have to worry about. Nobody at Pocket or Del Rey is knocking down my door demanding I do tie-in work anyway.
Not that interested in writing any more tie-in work though. No offense meant to Christopher or Greg or anybody else. I've just got a mad passion for my own characters and universe.
Also I'm kind of vain and I don't want my own name subsumed by a brand name like Star Trek or Star Wars. That happened to Dean Wesley Smith and I know he really regrets it.
Then again, that's nothing I really have to worry about. Nobody at Pocket or Del Rey is knocking down my door demanding I do tie-in work anyway.
Not that interested in writing any more tie-in work though. No offense meant to Christopher or Greg or anybody else. I've just got a mad passion for my own characters and universe.
No offense taken! We can always use some great new universes.
Thanks, Greg. You're the best! 
Take it from me -- writing tie-ins to a show you love can be rewarding, but there's nothing that compares to the thrill of seeing your own original work get professionally published.
What I really want to write is my own stuff, rather than a tie-in, I have written fan fiction stuff over the years that is lurking around the internet LOL. Just need an idea, haven't written in years because of lack inspiration even though I read a lot, need help getting started again.
I have a "brain-storming file" where I stuff newspaper articles, magazine clippings, random ideas and titles, which I leaf through when I'm looking to jump-start my imagination. I also have a "character file" which is full of quirky character traits and bits of physical description which I can pull from as needed.
In a pinch, I've been known to go down to the library and spend an afternoon reading through back issues of Popular Science or Smithsonian magazine in search of ideas.
True example: my most recent CSI book was partially inspired by an article on "snake massages" I found in a back issue of Time magazine. I xeroxed the article, stuck it in my brain-storming file, and used it a year or so later.
In a pinch, I've been known to go down to the library and spend an afternoon reading through back issues of Popular Science or Smithsonian magazine in search of ideas.
True example: my most recent CSI book was partially inspired by an article on "snake massages" I found in a back issue of Time magazine. I xeroxed the article, stuck it in my brain-storming file, and used it a year or so later.
Well, I'm probably just being old-fashioned using newspaper clippings and the magazine section at the library. I'm sure there's plenty of inspiration to be found on the internet.
There was a weird story on the internet this morning about Galileo's teeth turning up in some art collection. There's got to be a story (or maybe even a novel in that). Have at it!
Last edited:
Why didn't he stick with the pseudonymous Sandy Schofield?
That Kivas Fajo just never gives up.
If I recall that's actually a pen name he and Kris share when they're collaborating. I don't really know why he didn't use a pen name for most of his tie-in fiction. I suspect it's because he didn't expect to make tie-ins such a large part of his career.
Yes it is, but they've also chosen not to use it when they've collaborated on Trek stuff.
Well they did use it on the DS9 novel The Big Game, but you're right. They've written as Dean Wesley Smith & Kristine Kathryn Rusch on their other Trek collaborations.
I'm not really sure why the Sandy Schofeld name wasn't used consistently.
I'm not really sure why the Sandy Schofeld name wasn't used consistently.
That's why I brought it up. Seems to me, if Dean was that worried about tie-ins overshadowing his name, good ol' Sandy had a respectable career.
http://www.deanwesleysmith.com/?page_id=17
He isn't "worried" about it. It's simply a fact of his career. As Dean said:
Dean Wesley Smith said:
Doesn't exactly sound like a man with zero regrets.
Well, it was you who originally said, "That happened to Dean Wesley Smith and I know he really regrets it."
Pardon me if "worried" is suddenly a totally incorrect descriptor?
