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Show Notes for Ep. 10 "Gamifying the Rejection"

In this episode, Mary Anne and Ben ruminate on the intricacies of writing for submission. Based on their own personal publishing experiences, the two give advice to writers young and old on how best to go about preparing for success and rejection in the field, even if it means gamifying the process.

Recorded 21 June 2020 / Published 24 May 2021

Contents

  • 0:00: Start of podcast and Ben’s early writing experiences
  • 6:45: Mary Anne starts on her early writing experiences and shares a quote from Ira Glass
  • 8:15: On having good taste and imposter syndrome
  • 9:40: Mary Anne returning to her early writing experiences
  • 15:45: Back to Ben’s story
  • 16:45: Managing the internal editor
  • 19:35: Mary Anne on getting feedback
  • 28:20: Ben on how he found a writing community and got back into writing
  • 29:10: Side on Mary Anne’s high school friend who could speak 11 languages
  • 31:15: Ben’s gaming company and narrative in game design
  • 36:33: Mary Anne on writing out of depression
  • 37:15: On themes in writing
  • 45:00: On the origin of inspiration and the “Muses”
  • 48:15: Mary Anne on teaching creative writing
  • 51:00: On writing workshops
  • 51:50: Intermission
  • 52:30: Ben on moving to Switzerland and returning to writing
  • 55:50: Mary Anne returning to her story
  • 57:45: Mary Anne on college news groups in the 90’s
  • 1:00:00: Mary Anne on the two things every writer needs to have
  • 1:06:45: Ben on the hierarchy of storytellers in culture
  • 1:10:45: On magazines and submissions
  • 1:17:11: MA on starting Strange Horizons
  • 1:19:40: the psychology of submission
  • 1:25:00: Ben on facing and gamifying rejection
  • 1:42:25: Mary Anne on the writers who do and don’t persist
  • 1:47:35: Mary and Ben returning to their stories
  • 1:52:40: Ben’s concrete suggestion
  • 1:55:02: Final thoughts
  • 1:59:30: The importance of community in writing
  • 2:03:40: Mary Anne’s postcard box
  • 2:05:00: Credits

Authors and Works Mentioned

Alphabetically by author surname, or by title of work in cases where authorship isn’t simple.

Other Clarifying or Explanatory Links

The Speculative Literature Foundation is partially funded by grants from the Oak Park Area Arts Council, Village of Oak Park, Illinois Arts Council, National Endowment for the Arts, Oak Park River Forest Community Foundation, Literary Arts EmergencyFund, supported by the Mellon Foundation (@MellonFdn), and The Science Fiction and Fantasy Writers Association.