Guest blog from Matt Bialer, Literary Agent, Sanford J. Greenburger Associates

I am delighted and honored the write the first guest blog for Clarion!   I don’t think I have written a blog before, so this is fun.   I also feel like since it is “a blog” and not something more formal, I can just ramble on about whatever is on my mind. I have been in……

Writing Prompt #2

Below are just a few factoids I’ve collected over the years. Again, pick a number from 1 to 5. That’s your prompt: jot down the first story idea that comes to mind. Noodle around with it a bit and see if the story wants to move. If so, follow it. If not, pick a different number and try again.

Writing Life: Drop and Give Me 500

To continue a thought I expressed in my first post, I would like to take this opportunity to propose that if the Clarion workshop is to have a 100% success rate in producing professional speculative fiction writers, it needs acquire enough donations each year to hire a team of Writing Enforcers. I envision eighteen steely-eyed,……

Is Your Lizard-Man a Close Talker?

How do you introduce your reader to your fantasy or science fiction world?  You have a protagonist that’s seeing it for the first time, of course.  They can point out the fascinating stonework on that never-conquered tower, or the intricate knobs on that FTL drive. But the thing about exploring exotic locales is that the……

Writing Prompt #1

Writers seem to be mixed on the use of prompts. Some love em, some hate em. Some just don’t need em. For some, they’re the perfect little nudge that finally gets the ball rolling. As I write this, I sit in my East Texas home. I have a small garden plot outside, which I’ve been……

Secrets of Clarion

Welcome to the official blog of the Clarion Foundation.  I’m Mishell, Clarion’s Communications Director, and over the coming months I’ll be coordinating this exciting new resource for writers who seek careers in fantasy, horror, and science fiction. This month we will be featuring an entry from Clarion Foundation President and bestselling author Karen Joy Fowler,……