samknight.bsky.social - Profile | ThreadSky | a Reddit-style client for Bluesky

@samknight.bsky.social's #writingtips for new authors: A moral rights clause is likely something you've never heard of. If it shows up in a contract, you need to figure out why. Moral Rights exist to protect the author. A clause taking that away needs examined. www.copyrightlaws.com/moral-rights...

submitted 4 hours ago • 0 comments

@samknight.bsky.social's #writingtips for new authors: Overused clichés can ruin your story. Or they can make it perfect. Especially when you subvert it. Here is a great resource of things to think about. You may even get some new ideas: tvtropes.org

submitted 1 day ago • 0 comments

@samknight.bsky.social 's #writingtips for new authors: If you've never outlined, try. If you've never winged it, try. Most authors do a combination. Outliners (plotters) are winging it when they outline. Exploratory writers (pantsers) tend to have a vague outline when they start.

submitted 2 days ago • 0 comments

Pretty sure Sunday afternoons are for watching old monster movies. Preferably stop-motion, but B&W is also acceptable. And so is Technicolor.

submitted 2 days ago • 1 comment

@samknight.bsky.social's #writingtips for new authors: An author's "brag shelf" is where they have the books they've published/been a part of. It's kind of like a trophy case or drawings put on the fridge. This can be an important reminder of all the things you've accomplished. Go you!

submitted 3 days ago • 1 comment

@samknight.bsky.social's #writingtips for new authors: The most important pieces of writing (and business) advice comes from other authors in candid moments when they open up about their personal wins and losses. Go meet your local community and make friends. It's a win-win situation.

submitted 4 days ago • 0 comments

It’s a pretty convincing Colorado false spring. Writing outside today.

submitted 5 days ago • 1 comment

@samknight.bsky.social's #writingtips for new authors: If you're writing one book to say you did, fine. If you're doing more, you need to learn the business. Like playing one game vs joining a team: you need to know the rules or no one wants to play with you and you'll get nowhere.

submitted 5 days ago • 0 comments

Watching a movie and a quiet, tense scene starts. Eventually I notice a very subtle beat in the background. The only sound not ambient noise. I think Wow, that’s really effective! Then I realize it’s me tapping my shoes together.

submitted 5 days ago • 0 comments

@samknight.bsky.social's #writingtips for new authors: Things I didn't know when I started writing: Everything. Have some free advice. If you like it, buy a paper copy or tell people or leave a review. Remember me when you're famous. Good to 3/31/25 www.smashwords.com/books/view/1... Code: RG23Y

submitted 6 days ago • 0 comments

@samknight.bsky.social's #writingtips for new authors: It's hard to prepare for interactions with fans. Try to remember they liked it! For example: in The Buffalo Hunters, I received comments about how unrealistic the factual part of the story was (but no one was bothered by werebears)

submitted 6 days ago • 0 comments

submitted 6 days ago • 114 comments

Ah, liverwurst and onion, my old frenemy. Have you to come to challenge my breath again?

submitted 6 days ago • 0 comments

@samknight.bsky.social's #writingtips for new authors: When editing and revising, that thing you think of that you decide would be too much work, too hard to do... That's the thing that usually most needs to be done to level up your story. Put your mind to it and do it.

submitted 7 days ago • 0 comments

In case you missed the announcement last month, Weird Wilderness: A Cryptid Bestiary is out. Twenty short stories featuring a wide variety of cryptids. And I'm proud to say one of those stories is mine! amzn.to/4hvqqV4

submitted 7 days ago • 0 comments

@samknight.bsky.social's #writingtips for new authors: If you're uncomfortable with writing something, try a pen name and promise yourself you'll never tell anyone you wrote it. Imaginary thoughts of other people judging us can hold us back. (You can always put your name on it later.)

submitted 8 days ago • 0 comments

@samknight.bsky.social's #writingtips for new authors: Sometimes people like safe reads (things). That's why cozy mysteries and romances exists. It's okay to write something that's formulaic. Not everything has to be 100% original. (No I'm not advocating fan fiction or plagiarism.)

submitted 9 days ago • 0 comments

@samknight.bsky.social's #writingtips for new authors: Always run a spellcheck. Then run it again. It can miss things the first time and you can mess things up when you think you are fixing them. Always save your previous file. You never know when you'll accidentally delete a paragraph

submitted 10 days ago • 0 comments

Something you didn't know about me: I keep an eyelash curler in my desk drawer so I don't absentmindedly pull out all of my eyelashes when they start bothering me while writing. One time, my sister said I looked freaky because I had stripped one eyelid. She was right.

submitted 11 days ago • 1 comment

Some people advise "writing to market." Others say don't, you'll never catch it. Either way, I'm pretty sure reading for escapism will be fairly popular for the next few years, and then probably a few more after that. So, if you are a writer, I suggest you go write something and get it out there.

submitted 11 days ago • 0 comments

@samknight.bsky.social's #writingtips for new authors: There are many reasons people read: to learn, escape, pass the time, for the love of a subject... Not liking a type of book isn't a reason to knock the book, the genre, or the author. Find your place and share the infinite space.

submitted 11 days ago • 0 comments

@samknight.bsky.social's #writingtips for new authors: Most people hate stories written in the 2nd person point of view. Hearing "you did this" and "you do that" can feel arrogant and insulting. It's a super hard sell. Don't be surprised if that story always gets rejected.

submitted 12 days ago • 0 comments

Just thought I'd take a moment and say, it's always a good idea to take a moment and decide whether you should say that thing you were going to say. A while back I started to post about something. It wasn't really complaining, but it was.

submitted 12 days ago • 1 comment

@samknight.bsky.social's #writingtips for new authors: Proper formatting is a really, really good idea. Shunn’s formatting style is the generally accepted industry style. You can find it here: www.shunn.net/format/

submitted 13 days ago • 0 comments

@samknight.bsky.social's #writingtips for new authors: When a character is thirsty, hungry, tired, or really has to pee, etc., and you've done a good job drawing in us readers, you set us up to be miserable the rest of the story (or forever!) if the character doesn't get to go pee.

submitted 14 days ago • 1 comment

If I lock the front door, there is about a 30% chance my kid will need to get back in because they forgot something. If I don't lock it, that drops to 1%.

submitted 14 days ago • 0 comments

@samknight.bsky.social's #writingtips for new authors: You don't have to know grammar, punctuation, or the parts of a sentence to be a good writer. But do pay attention when someone corrects you. Look it up, figure it out, learn it, use it correctly in the future, and keep going.

submitted 15 days ago • 0 comments

@samknight.bsky.social's #writingtips for new authors: Other writers are not competition. They're your support group. They're the only ones who "get it." Make sure you're supportive and not a reason other writers need a support group. One choice you'll regret, the other you'll treasure

submitted 16 days ago • 0 comments

@samknight.bsky.social's #writingtips for new authors: That person you were just rude to? That's the writer who will be famous in 3 years. The Editor or Agent looking for new writers next year. The TV Producer. The Publisher. Who knows? All will remember you. None will want your story.

submitted 17 days ago • 1 comment

When we read books, we get exposed to new ideas and have a chance to consider them, possibly accepting them into our experiences, possibly changing our lives. Or, at least, offering insight to what, how, and why other people think, giving us the chance to find common ground.

submitted 17 days ago • 1 comment

@samknight.bsky.social 's #writingtips for new authors: Telling an editor why they were stupid for not accepting your story (or whatever), no matter how nicely or not you do it, whether they deserved it or not, insures they, and anyone who asks them about you, will never work with you.

submitted 18 days ago • 0 comments

@samknight.bsky.social's #writingtips for new authors: Fonts are copyrighted. Don't just grab one off the internet and use it in self-publishing or promotion without reading what permissions the copyright owner has given. Fine print may say for personal use only or no commercial use.

submitted 19 days ago • 0 comments

@samknight.bsky.social's #writingtips for new authors: Meeting your favorite author can be wonderful. It can also be disillusioning. Like learning to be thick-skinned against rejections, you need to prepare for the fact that your idols are merely people, too. Some great, some not.

submitted 20 days ago • 0 comments

@samknight.bsky.social's #writingtips for new authors: There are very few "right" answers, or "right" ways to do anything in writing and publishing. But every way is a wrong way for someone. Learn all you can, but take all of it in with a skeptical eye and then make informed choices.

submitted 21 days ago • 0 comments

@samknight.bsky.social's #writingtips for new authors: Using names too similar (Kit, Kat, Kate, Kar) or too complicated (Hrthalilite, Anandiriome) can cause confusion and lead to your reader skipping over them. This leads to a lack of connection to the characters and weakens your story

submitted 23 days ago • 0 comments

@samknight.bsky.social 's #writingtips for new authors: There is a ton to learn about getting published and self-publishing. But none of it matters if you don't finish your story. Wait and look into that stuff while taking breaks from writing your NEXT story. "Only fools rush in..."

submitted 22 days ago • 0 comments

@samknight.bsky.social 's #writingtips for new authors: A story doesn't have to be profound to have a profound impact. The one I receive the most incredible positive feedback on almost never happened. Because I thought it was too silly and I didn't like my drawings. I was wrong.

submitted 24 days ago • 0 comments

@samknight.bsky.social's #writingtips for new authors: There's almost nothing you can do to get people to leave reviews other than write their favorite thing they've ever read. Even Mom gets tired of leaving reviews. Brace yourself. It's not easy to deal with bad and lack of reviews.

submitted 25 days ago • 0 comments