Arnold Bailey (the Grand Poobah of Baen's e-Publishing division, and administrator of Baen's Bar) has replaced the software that runs Baen's Bar.

It was a big job, but Arnold pulled it off smoothly.

So . . . effective today (2007-09-30), you will have to re-register, to access the Bar. If you were getting the Bar (all of it, or parts of it) by email or newsreader, you'll have to set those up again -- after you re-register.


The old software (WebBoard) was a web-forum management system -- to which Arnold added a back end to allow users to access the Bar by email and by newsreader.

But with 25,000+ registered users, the volume of postings was thousands of times what the WebBoard software was designed to handle. And the overload led to periodic crashes.


The new software system, from MPNews, is designed for newsgroup management -- so it can handle virtually limitless volumes of posts.

But the newsgroup software doesn't have a web forum interface. So Arnold added a customized web forum user front end.


Personally, I like the new Bar software system.

However, all the old posts now have new URLs -- so my posts with links to useful threads no long works. I'll have to redo all of that. Oh well . . . I had to update it anyway, to incorporate newer threads.

Sam

It's been a while since I've posted here -- mostly because I didn't have anything of interest to say.

But I watched the first episode of "The Masters of Science Fiction" earlier tonight, and I now have something to say.


I was so glad network TV is doing a science fiction anthology based on stories written by real science fiction writers. But if I didn't have a vested interest in the success of SF, I doubt I'd watch another episode after seeing this one.

If this is the best "The Masters of Science Fiction" has to offer (and one would think they'd debut with one of their strongest episodes), the series will tank rather quickly.

And sadly, it's going to have a net negative effect on the perception of science fiction within the general public (which is mostly unaware of written SF). It will simply confirm their belief that SF doesn't have anything meaningful to offer.


Couldn't the people who put this series together have chosen to debut with a story that's less than a quarter century old?

Or if they were determined to choose such an old story, couldn't they have chosen one that wasn't so woefully dated?

I got the distinct impression that John Kessel wrote this story during the first couple years of the Reagan administration. (His naive rant against Reagan's Strategic Defense Initiative has been thoroughly discredited by history. And far worse, he hadn't yet mastered his storytelling skills.)

The actress playing the psychiatrist was emotionally unconvincing. Sam Waterson is a superb actor, and he did the best he could do with the material he had -- but it wasn't nearly enough to carry this weak story.


I only watched it to the end on the hope that it would close with something fresh and original. I was sadly disappointed at how utterly predictable it was.

On a scale of 1 - 9 (8 or higher meaning I recommend it), I'd give this episode a 3.

There is an adage: "Know your markets."

Towards that end, Jim Baen's Universe is offering a free issue to those who aren't yet subscribed. Here's the letter:

= = = = =
Are you a blogger? Do you have an established blog?

Would you write a review of Jim Baen's Universe in your blog?

We are offering a free copy of Issue 3 to bloggers who agree to post an online review by June 30. This issue contains Mike Resnick's Hugo-nominated story, "All the Things You Are" as well as stories by Gregory Benford and Gene Wolfe.

Here's how this deal works:

1--You send an email to blogstorm@baensuniverse.com with your email address and the URL where you'll post the review.

2--We email you a copy of Issue 3 (PDF and HTML versions).

3--You promise to post a review by June 30 2007.

4--We link to your blog.

There is no requirement that the review be positive (although we can hope it is), only that it be posted. We would like it to contain a link to the Baen's Universe homepage, too.

This offer is open to everyone, so feel free to spread the word.

Best regards,

Eric Flint
Editor in Chief
Jim Baen's Universe magazine
www.baens-universe.com
= = = = =


Also, if you would, please include in the email request where you saw this offer. (I just want to know if anyone ever pays any attention to anything I post.)

Sam

Two weeks ago, my computer died.

It didn't take me by complete surprise, though, since it had been sick and getting sicker. Several weeks before its final demise, it started locking up at random intervals -- sometimes even when the computer was idle. (Note: most PCs have a built-in override in the on/off switch -- pressing and holding it for five seconds has the same effect as flipping the master power switch on the back of the box.) Then towards the end, it would even lock up while booting up in the morning. Several times, I had to power down and reboot several times to get it running.

I knew its time was near, and I had been backing up all my data. But I had been putting off replacing the old computer because it's such a major hassle.


Getting everything transferred to the new computer was, indeed, a hassle.

However, the final death of my old computer probably made the switchover easier than it otherwise might have been. Since my old computer was dead beyond resurrection, I took the hard drive out and put it in my new computer as a secondary drive. So I saved quite a bit of time by not having to load in my data in.


My real concern was getting the browser and email programs on the new system to read in my old stuff. Without my browser bookmarks, I don't know where anything is. And I have thousands of emails in my mailbox that I would've hated to lose. And I have some 25,000 - 30,000 messages in my newsreader -- over 15,000 messages in 2,000+ threads in "Baen's Universe Slush Comments" alone. I could re-download the Slush Comments from the news server, but I have a substantial portion of those 2,000+ threads color-coded -- and I rely on the information imbedded in my color-coding a lot to manage the JBU slush forum.

I did finally get my old browser and email stuff back, but it took quite a while to figure it out.

My old Windows system kept my (Mozilla Thunderbird) mailbox settings and data in:

C:\Windows\Application Data\Mozilla\Profiles\default

So I copied it over to the same place on the new hard drive. The email program on my new Windows Vista system didn't pick up the settings or data. And I couldn't find a way to make the email program recognize the old data.

I left my Internet connection turned off (I didn't want the email program to read in any new email until I got the old stuff in place -- or else I'd lose either the old stuff or the new stuff). Then I wrote a draft email and saved it. Then I did a detailed data search of the entire hard drive for a character string in the draft email.

It turns out that Mozilla Thunderbird, on a Windows Vista system, keeps the mailbox settings and data in:

C:\Users\%username%\AppData\Roaming\Thunderbird\Profiles\default

(In my case, %username% is "SamHidaka" -- since that's the name I entered the first time I started the computer.)

I had been looking all through the "Windows" and "Program Files" directories. It never occurred to me to look in a "Users" directory -- until the data search led me to it.

(Afterwards, I found the file directory location in "Tools > Account Settings." And my colleague, Benja Fallenstein, emailed me with the link to the Mozilla webpage that details where the different versions of Windows stores the profiles. But I didn't read Benja's email until after I figured it out. Knowing where the profile info was stored would have saved me a few hours, but while searching, I found out quite a bit about the new system -- so in hindsight, it was time well spent.)

Anyway, once I found out where the email program expected to find the settings and data, I copied over the contents of my old "Profiles" directory -- and everything was in place.


And once I found that, it was easy enough to find that the Mozilla Firefox settings were in:

C:\Users\%username%\AppData\Roaming\Mozilla\Firefox\Profiles


Actually, Vista has some pretty nifty tools for transferring settings and data from an old system to a new Vista system. But alas, it doesn't seem to work well for non-Microsoft products. And I stopped using Microsoft's browser and email programs quite a few years ago, because Mozilla's Firefox and Thunderbird are better -- they have more features and they run a lot faster.


Then I got the other programs that I use daily up and running, and able to access my old data files.

And over the last couple of weeks, I've been reconstructing a whole bunch of utility programs that I use. I never kept track of the number of freeware and shareware programs I had accumulated over the years, but there are quite a few.


My new computer is fast.
Windows Vista is slooowwwwww.


In fairness, Vista has some excellent security features. It stops everything and asks for authorization whenever anything tries to access operating system files or alter system settings. That should prevent (in principle, at least) intrusions from outside programs or viruses.

OTOH, it prevented me -- at first -- from doing stuff that I want to do.

For example, I like to have Word, Wordpad, and Notepad in my "Send To" menu. Say I have a *.rtf file. The default program, if I just click on the file is Word. But I may want to send it to Wordpad. Instead of right-clicking on the file, clicking on "Open With ... ," and searching through a list of programs, I do it often enough that having it in my "Send To" menu saves a lot of time.

Also, clicking on two *.doc files will put them both in Word, and you can bring up the different files by using the "Window" drop-down menu and clicking on the filename. But (and this is important to me), right-clicking on a *.doc file and sending it to Word through the "Send To" menu will start up a new iteration of Word and put the file in that new iteration. That way, you can have both files up front -- each in it's own iteration of Word. This makes switching back and forth much faster (one click on the Windows Task Bar). As a writer, I often need to look at multiple versions of a manuscript. As an editor, it's crucial.

I need to have Word in my "Send To" menu.

But . . . Vista won't allow me to alter the contents of my "Send To" menu. Apparently, I'm not authorized to alter the contents of my own computer.

That alone was almost enough to make me scrap Vista and load a copy of an older version of Windows.

But there is a way to turn off "User Account Control" -- which allows me complete control over my system. And having the "User Account Control" turned on is a major step forward in protecting the computer from malicious software or spyware installing or altering system settings.


All in all Vista is as slow as a slug. But its security features make it worthwhile.

Yeah, the constant "! A program needs your permission to continue" ... "If you started this program, continue" messages are really annoying. But considering the dangers of all the malicious software out there . . .


OTOH, considering the annoyances of Vista, this might be a time to look into converting to Linux -- since I am an old-time Unix guy. (How many of you know what "grep" is, and what it means? What about "awk"?)

The first annual James Patrick Baen Memorial Writing Contest closed on April 9, 2007. The winning story will be published in a future issue of Jim Baen's Universe.

As a member of the editorial staff of JBU, I'm one of the semi-final judges.

Earlier today, I finished reading the ten semi-finalist stories. (The contest administrator has stripped out all author information from the manuscripts. So I don't know who any of the authors are.)

There are two stories among the semi-finalists that are, IMO, publishable at the pro level.


Four of my colleagues have also read them all and rated them (and I expect at least two more to do so presently).

Three of my colleagues have given the highest rating to one particular story. It is, alas, the story that I think is second best.

The story that I liked the most was rated by the others: tie for first place, third place, tie for second place, tie for fifth place.


It actually doesn't much matter how we place the top three or four, because first place, second place, and third place will be decided by Eric Flint, Mike Resnick, and Toni Weisskopf.

But I'll be interested to see how my bosses rate the stories. I'm curious to see if they select the story chosen as first by most of the others -- or my first choice.

JBU stories in the Year's Best anthologies

The stories from the first four issues of Jim Baen's Universe (June 2006 through December 2006) are well represented in the Year's Best anthologies that will appear in the coming months.


Gardner Dozois will continue his long-running YB series.

THE YEAR'S BEST SCIENCE FICTION, TWENTY-FOURTH ANNUAL COLLECTION will include the following JBU stories:

"Bow Shock" by Gregory Benford
"Every Hole is Outlined" by John Barnes
"The Big Ice" by Jay Lake and Ruth Nestvold


Rich Horton is doing three Year's Bests, this year:

SCIENCE FICTION: THE BEST OF THE YEAR 2007 EDITION
FANTASY: THE BEST OF THE YEAR 2007 EDITION
SPACE OPERA 2007 EDITION

SPACE OPERA 2007 EDITION will include the following JBU story:

"Every Hole is Outlined" by John Barnes


David Hartwell and Kathryn Cramer have two annual YEAR'S BEST anthologies. This year's editions are:

YEAR'S BEST SF 12
YEAR'S BEST FANTASY 7

YEAR'S BEST SF 12 will include the following JBU story:

"When Sysadmins Ruled the Earth" by Cory Doctorow


YEAR'S BEST FANTASY 7 will include the following JBU stories:

"Pimpf" by Charles Stross
"Build-a-Bear" by Gene Wolfe


So from the first year of JBU, six stories will be included in the major Year's Best anthologies, with one of them appearing twice.

Not bad at all, from the first year of a new magazine -- and a partial year at that.


Sam

Mike Resnick's novelette, "All the Things You Are" (Jim Baen's Universe, October 2006) is a finalist for the Hugo Award.

The story is now public, and viewable to non-subscribers:

http://www.baens-universe.com/articles/All_the_Things_You_Are

Give it a read. It'll be time well spent.

Sam

Over in the Baen's Universe Slush forum, I'm conducting a writing clinic.

One of the members of the editorial board was quite taken with a story.

The writer of this story did, in fact, create an emotionally compelling tale. However, she wrote it in an omniscient POV, showing the perspectives of the two main characters (sometimes for only a line or two before hopping back), which was causing POV whiplash.

I told the writer that I'd forward her story for a purchase decision, but I'd like her to revise the story, recasting it into third person limited POV, keeping tightly focused on the female protagonist.

She agreed, and revised.

The new version worked much better. But in reading the new version, I found that I didn't much care for the line-level writing quality. (I hadn't noticed the clunky writing in the previous version -- I had attributed the jerkiness to the head-hopping POV.)

Well . . . the underlying story is compelling enough that I still want to forward it. But I can't stamp my approval on a story that doesn't meet my standards for writing quality.

So I'm doing a very detailed critique of the writing. I'm analyzing just about every paragraph, deconstructing every sentence within the paragraph and pointing out the clunkiness and showing how to say the same thing in a way that reads smooooooth.


I had undertaken this particular very long critique (the whole critique, when completed, will probably be five times longer than the story) for two reasons.

1. The underlying story really is quite good. It succeeds in putting me "in the story," so that I as I read it, I participate in the events as the character -- instead of just riding along as a passenger. When a story does that, everything else (like some clunky writing) is fixable.

2. I thought, and my managing editor agreed, that this would be a good writing/revising teaching lesson for the folks in the Universe Slush forum.


So . . . if you want to read the critique thread, some of you might learn some stuff -- or it might reinforce stuff you already know.

It may also illustrate the difference between writing that competent enough to grab and hold a reader's attention versus writing that brilliant enough to get my approval.


Here are two different views to that thread (you need to be registered to Baen's Bar to view this):

http://bar.baen.com/WB/default.asp?action=9&read=102620&fid=66

http://bar.baen.com:8080/read?1028355,66e#1028355


Sam

Mike Resnick has written his first two editorials for JBU.

February 2007 Editorial:
http://preview.baens-universe.com/articles/febed

April 2007 Editorial:
http://preview.baens-universe.com/articles/April2007edpage


Note that all the "Preview" pages state that 1/3 to 1/2 of the story is available to you free. That's true of the fiction. These editorials are in full.

In the February editorial, Mike introduces himself.

In the April editorial, he discusses the business principles behind JBU paying writers the highest rates in SF/F.

I've been a slush reader at Jim Baen's Universe for a little over a year now.

Having read a couple thousand submissions, and having helped aspiring writers improve their stories in the slush forum, I've learned a bit about what makes a story work -- what makes one or two stories out of a hundred stand out.

I don't think I would have learned as much in the same amount of time by just writing, workshopping, and submitting.


For me, the story that stands out puts me in the character's skin -- makes me feel, at the gut level, what the protagonist is feeling.

Another story, with just as good of a story idea, just as good a plot, won't make the cut if it fails to put me "in the character," if it just has me riding along as a spectator.

Personally, I prefer writing that's somewhat minimalist -- both in writing style and in the amount of description. I prefer just enough description to prevent the "talking heads in a white room" syndrome.

Others like a great deal of descriptive detail.

It's entirely a matter of taste.


Keep in mind that writers in the 19th century and earlier included an enormous amount of description -- generally far more than would be publishable in today's market.

Back then, many readers may have had backgrounds like Laura Ingalls, growing up in a "Little House on the Prairie." If a novel included a scene in the drawing room of a Victorian mansion, or in a fourth-floor office in a six-story building, many readers may not have ever seen such a room or such a building. So the writers included descriptions based on the presumption that they're portraying something unfamiliar to the reader.

In today's environment, everyone in the English-speaking world has, through TV and movies, already seen just about every conceivable setting. So if you let the reader know what the setting is, you don't have to provide as much detail as pre-TV-generation readers needed.


When you do add description of setting, make it serve double duty, when you can.

For example, you have a bar scene. If you let the reader know that it's the bar in an upscale hotel, or that the bar is a dive in a seedy part of town, you really have no need to describe the interior decor in detail.

Instead, you might want to focus on one or two things that sets the bar apart from all the others. Maybe the varnish on the bar-top has worn thin, and stains have seeped through -- and there's a stain that's shaped like Texas. The protagonist, who grew up in Texas and had a very bad childhood, sees the stain and has a strong emotional reaction to the memories the stain evokes. Or something.

Don't use description of setting just to describe the place. Use it to differentiate that particular place from all the similar places. And when you can, use it to help bring the character to life.

Sam

I've only done a handful of critiques in the past few week. In many of those stories, the opening simply didn't work.

Stories that start with a history of the society, or the world, in which the story takes place is pretty much guaranteed to bore the reader before that reader gets to the actual story being told.

Stories that start with many paragraphs of scene-setting description, with no characters making an appearance in the opening will likely not get read very far. (This applies primarily to commercial fiction -- literary or academic fiction may have different sensibilities).


This is the advice I've been giving:

In most stories, there's a point where circumstances, from the protagonist's perspective, depart from the ordinary -- otherwise, there'd be no story to tell. At that point, the protagonist faces conflict (against another character, against a situation, or against himself/herself).

If you start your story where that incident occurs, you automatically have "character in conflict" -- one of the more effective ways to draw a reader into a story.

That's more likely to grab a reader's attention than ... [fill in with whatever the writer now has] ...

To the protagonist, what's different about this day -- compared to yesterday, or last week, or last month? That difference is where the story lies. And that's probably where the story should start.


Sam

Hmm . . . we really need to update our submission guidelines . . . but no one has time. The entire staff consists of volunteers, and we all have lives -- or in my case, [::shrugs::] something that's at least vaguely life-like.

The posted guidelines aren't very clear -- partly because no one knew early on what would work, especially with the slush forum (or whether it would work at all). And we've been making up the rules as we've gone along.


We accept multiple submissions (though we don't accept simultaneous submissions).

And more importantly, if you have a story in the "awaiting decision from Eric Flint" pile, send more stuff.

If the editorial board has already recommended one of your stories, we really, reallywant to see more from you.


If you use the slush forum to submit (and there's no reason not to -- you might get some useful feedback that'll help you make the sale), you can post multiple stories. If you post more than a couple at a time, it'll probably be best to space them a week apart. But please feel free to post your stories as you write them -- no matter how many are already posted, no matter how many are in Eric's to-read pile.

The disadvantage of the slush forum is that there's no formal rejection, so a story could sit in the forum for 3 months before you know it's not going to be accepted. But I think you'll probably have a fairly good feel for whether or not any particular story is a fit for Universe within a few of weeks.

Sam

On the Critters forum, I posted a reply to a question about the use of the word 'as' -- whether or not there's a rule that says you can't start a sentence with 'as':

http://webnews.sff.net/read?cmd=blogview&group=sff.workshop.critters&from=92062

Here's the thrust of what I said.


Limiting the use of 'as' is a good guideline.

It's fine to use 'as' as a comparative:
"He's blind as a bat"
or
"As in the past, ..."


The problem occurs when beginning writers use 'as' to convey simultaneity. It's not that it can't be done -- it's just too often done poorly.

"As Zeldan ran down the stairs, he unsheathed his sword and started hacking away at the enemy soldiers."

This is the kind of sentence you see quite a lot in slush piles. It's usually followed by ten, or fifteen, or twenty sentences: "He did this, as he did this and that. As yadda yadda happened, he did blah blah and more blah blah." And the slush reader decides to reject the manuscript before getting through the passage.

Often, the simultaneity doesn't hold up. If he drew his sword and started hacking away while he ran down the stairs, then the enemies must be on the stairs. In that case, it'd be too crowded to run down the stairs.

And even if the simultaneity actually does hold up, the passage, more often than not, still feels clumsy and reads clunky. It becomes a chore to read, which detracts from the entertainment value of the story.

Many beginning writers seem to think that forcing an artificial simultaneity leads the reader to think the action is occurring very quickly. It doesn't work.

Actually, a series of short declarative sentences showing a sequence of activity imparts a greater sense of fast-paced action. Short declarative sentences read easier and quicker -- even if the actual word count to portray everything in sequence might be higher. So the reader gets through an entire high-activity passage, with a sense that a lot of action took place in a very short span of time.

"Zeldan ran down the stairs and drew his sword. He hacked away at the nearest enemy soldier. When that enemy fell, Zeldan turned to the next. ..."


Please keep in mind that I'm using an action sequence to demonstrate a point about using 'as' to convey simultaneity. When writing fiction, don't get sidetracked by the action itself. Readers care about the characters in the action. If you move too far away from the characters in order to narrate the action, it can get boring rather quickly.

Sam

I set up this blog 7+ months ago. Since then, I've hardly given it a thought.

In the interim, though, I've been "friended" by two writers: j_cheney and bobhowe.

That's two people more than I had expected, since my blog has been dead inactive.

I did, in fact, know that J. Cheney had seen my earlier post (though I have no idea how she came upon it). She mentioned it in the comments thread of her story submission to the Jim Baen's Universe slush forum. That story is, BTW, one of the strongest stories to have passed through the slush forum. It's as good as the very best stories we've published, written by the big-name pros.

Since I was one of the first to read J. Cheney's story in the slush forum, and the very first to comment on it, I wonder if I'll get the credit for discovering her. :-)

As for Bob Howe, I have no idea how he came upon me. I know who he is, because I've seen his stories in Analog. In fact, his story "Do Neanderthals Know?" has been nominated for the Nebula Award. (Big congratulations to Bob!)

In any event, I think I may be posting here on an irregularly regular basis.

Sam

Jim Baen's Universe is a Science Fiction & Fantasy online magazine, published by Toni Weisskopf (also the new publisher of Baen Books), and edited by Eric Flint and Mike Resnick.

There are a number of threads in the Jim Baen's Universe section of Baen's Bar (the Web forum for Baen Books), that might be of interest to writers.

To access the Bar, you'll have to register and get a password. Go to: Baen Books
Click on "Baen's Bar" on the upper right corner of the Baen homepage.



For each of the links to threads, I show the thread name (which is the link), followed by the name of the originating poster [in brackets].

Links marked with {*} indicate threads that have been added since the last time I posted this (June 23, 2006).


These first threads are of interest only to those who post stories to "Baen's Universe Slush":

General info for newcomers to the Universe slush [Sam Hidaka]

{*} How to Post to the Bar [Paula Goodlett]

{*} Formatting Stories [Sam Hidaka}


The following threads concern critiques (some of it specific to critiques on the Bar):

For newcomers to Universe Slush: The feedback/rewrite cycle [Benja Fallenstein]

Techniques: Interpreting Critiques [Nancy Fulda]

Technique: On Amateur Criticism [Keith Higginson]

{*} Techniques: How long should one wait between revisions? [Nancy Fulda]

{*} On wondering if one is in over one's head [Laura Fraser]


These following threads concentrate on writing mechanics, at the line and paragraph level:

Techniques: Writing Tips 1, Adverbs [Sam Hidaka]

Techniques: Writing Tips 2, Dialog Tags & Gerunds [Sam Hidaka]

Techniques: Strengthening the Prose [Nancy Fulda]

Peeve Listing [Darwin Garrison]

{*} On swearing (definitely PG) [Drak Bibliophile]

{*} Freaking out about dialogue [Bret Booher]


The following threads concentrate on story-level issues:

Techniques: Focus [Nancy Fulda]

Techniques: The Evils of First Person [Nancy Fulda]

Techniques: Making the Reader Care [Nancy Fulda]

Starting a story with dialogue [Laurie Hicks]

Techniques: expectations and surprises [Eyal Teler]

Techniques: Turning Ideas into Stories [Nancy Fulda]

Case study, turning an idea into a plot [Ori Pomerantz]

Case Study: Minor Characters [Ori Pomerantz]

Technique: representing thought [Keith Higginson]

Techniques: Disguising the Infodumps [Nancy Fulda]

Techniques: POV (please) [Beckysue H]

Techniques: Action Sequences [Nancy Fulda]
(This thread contains a post by Eric Flint, in which he excerpts an action scene from his novel, 1634: THE GALILEO AFFAIR, Chapter 37.)

A Cautionary Tale [Benja Fallenstein]

{*} Technique: Show Me An Alien? [Mike Barker]

{*} Knowing vs Showing [Dale Josephs]

{*} Techniques: Raising the Tension [Nancy Fulda]

{*} Techniques: Integrating Genre Elements into A Story ['nother Mike]

{*} Characterization Q [Rocky Perez]


The following threads cover other topics that might be of interest to writers:

Case Study: Early Solar System Colonization and Economics [Ori Pomerantz]

When to Break the Rules [Laer Carroll]

Techniques talent v. Training [John Zeek]

{*} The Unsung Collaborator [Laer Carroll]

{*} Judging mil-SF [Darwin Garrison]

{*} rate of travel [M Cellar]
(This thread contains an article by Karen Bergstralh, "Horse Gaits and Speeds 101" -- the most informative discussion of the travel by horse I've ever seen.)

{*} Late 19th, Early 20th century Women's clothing [Jebediah Barr]

{*} Story Question [Joe Rettzo]
(This thread starts out as a question about posting stories set in someone else's established universe [the answer is NO]. But the thread veers off into various directions.")

{*} Parts of Song Lyrics and Poetry [Ruth Burroughs]

{*} Line-level writing quality [Sam Hidaka]
(This is a discussion of why line-level writing quality is important, not a how-to topic.)


Sam

Jim Baen passed away yesterday.

I never had the opportunity to meet him, nor did I even interact with him virtually. Yet I feel like I've just lost a favorite uncle. Such has been Jim Baen's impact on the science fiction field.

David Drake's In Memoriam

Jim Baen's Universe is a new Science Fiction & Fantasy online magazine, published by Jim Baen, of Baen Books, and edited by Eric Flint.

There are a number of threads in the Jim Baen's Universe section of Baen's Bar (the Web forum for Baen Books), that might be of interest to writers.

To access the Bar, you'll have to register and get a password. Go to: Baen Books
Click on "Baen's Bar" on the upper right corner of the Baen homepage.



For each of the links to threads, I show the thread name (which is the link), followed by the name of the originating poster [in brackets].


This first thread is of interest only to those who post stories to "Baen's Universe Slush":

General info for newcomers to the Universe slush [Sam Hidaka]


The following threads concern critiques (some of it specific to critiques on the Bar):

For newcomers to Universe Slush: The feedback/rewrite cycle [Benja Fallenstein]

Techniques: Interpreting Critiques [Nancy Fulda]

Technique: On Amateur Criticism [Keith Higginson]


These following threads concentrate on writing mechanics, at the line and paragraph level:

Techniques: Writing Tips 1, Adverbs [Sam Hidaka]

Techniques: Writing Tips 2, Dialog Tags & Gerunds [Sam Hidaka]

Techniques: Strengthening the Prose [Nancy Fulda]

Peeve Listing [Darwin Garrison]


The following threads concentrate on story-level issues:

Techniques: Focus [Nancy Fulda]

Techniques: The Evils of First Person [Nancy Fulda]

Techniques: Making the Reader Care [Nancy Fulda]

Starting a story with dialogue [Laurie Hicks]

Techniques: expectations and surprises [Eyal Teler]

Techniques: Turning Ideas into Stories [Nancy Fulda]

Case study, turning an idea into a plot [Ori Pomerantz]

Case Study: Minor Characters [Ori Pomerantz]

Technique: representing thought [Keith Higginson]

Techniques: Disguising the Infodumps [Nancy Fulda]

Techniques: POV (please) [Beckysue H]

Techniques: Action Sequences [Nancy Fulda]
(This thread contains a post by Eric Flint, in which he excerpts an action scene from his novel, 1634: THE GALILEO AFFAIR, Chapter 37.)

A Cautionary Tale [Benja Fallenstein]


The following threads cover other topics that might be of interest to writers:

Case Study: Early Solar System Colonization and Economics [Ori Pomerantz]

When to Break the Rules [Laer Carroll]

Techniques talent v. Training [John Zeek]


Sam