Nathan Bransford - The Forums

I envy you -- I can't read in a car, much less write. I can read, but not write, on a bus. I often wish I didn't get carsick when trying to read...just imagine how many hours of reading I could get in on long car trips. (If I'm not driving, of course. Though I can see it now: While everyone else is ...

Do you need to write in a special place, or at a special time, or in special circumstances? Or can you work basically everywhere, whether it's at home or in public or even on the train or in an airport? Long ago, I thought I needed everything to be "just right" to work, but now I can and w...

I have several self-imposed rules for using symbolism. It must not call undue attention to itself. And. It must be in the foreground so its potential effect is apparent for readers. And. It must be judiciously used. And. It must do what symbolism is meant to do, represent invisible, immaterial, or ...

I'm rather ashamed at this one, but if I manage to read a book in a month, then I consider it a personal victory. For the record, I'm a fast reader. When I sit down to do it, I can easily eat anything in two-three days. This typo cracked me up. Yes, I too can easily eat anything in 2-3 days (or min...

I don't read the whole thing straight through until well after the draft is done. I will often, however, read and lightly edit the previous chapter before moving on to write the next one. And of course I'll go back to check on any details, etc., that I might need to remember to move forward. Once th...

I've never done Nanowrimo but always thought thought that maybe I'd give it a shot. I would probably approach it as a fun side project, and not something that I hope would one day turn into an actual manuscript I'd want to try to sell. The problem is, when November rolls around every year, I'm alway...

There are plenty of reasons online lit mags can be wonderful places you can and should feel proud to publish your work (assuming you find the journals publishing the type of writing you admire, of course). There are many well-respected online journals that are just as difficult to get into as some o...

Congratulations!! Hunger Mountain is a fantastic journal. I'd love to be published there one day.

I recently had a short story accepted by The American Literary Review. It's one of my favorite stories (and my collection takes its title from this story), so I was pretty excited that it found a home.