Matt Moore's Blog, page 26

Save the Sunburst Compilation Video

I took part in an effort to help save The Sunburst Award for Canadian Literature of the Fantastic. I'm the really intense one in the black t-shirt.

Also in this video are Gord Zajac, Andrew Davidson, Lorna Toolis, Cory Doctorow, Laura Marshall, Helen Marshall, Claude Lalumiere, Julie Czerneda, John Clute, Diane Walton, Nicholas Ruddick and Matthew Johnson.

"Touch the Sky, They Say" Review: "Just not long enough. I want more."

The Sensawunda blog reviewed "Touch the Sky, They Say", saying "Moore does something that a lot of writers fail to do in a piece 100x this length: create a character that is a product of his environment." The only downside the reviewer found was it's "Just not long enough. I want more. I want this man's background: his struggles, relationships, etc. I want to know how the world came to end and how the man adjusted to it. "

Short Story in AE – The Canadian Science Fiction Review

My short story "Touch the Sky, They Say" is now available (for free) on the new online science fiction magazine AE – The Canadian Science Fiction Review.

A short piece, it has already received some positive attention. Specifically mentioned in the Letter from the Editors, it was called a "tremendous" example of the power of Canadian themes in genre fiction. Also, in its review of AE's inaugural issue, io9.com called the story "kind of demented and awesome."

In addition to being another short story sale, this story is my first sale at pro rates. Once AE has been around for a year, it should qualify me as an Associate Member in SFWA.

Genre is the New Literature

Once upon, literature told us about what it meant to be human. Tales of struggles amongst the under class (or ruling class), in the modern day or distant past explored love, jealousy and the power of the human spirit to overcome all challenges.

At the same time, genre fiction was the stuff of boy's adventures and women's romance. The same shallow stories told repeatedly in different times and locations—the high seas, desert cities, make believe kingdoms.

Then something happened. Reviewers and prizes continued to hail literature as superior to genre, but literature became boring. Plot became inconsequential and/or a burden. Real literature, it seemed, eschewed pacing, multi-act structures and climaxes. These elements of story craft restricted a writer's ability to comment on life, which itself is often boring. It was as if its ability to entertain readers became secondary to how accurately a story reflected life. In other words, escapism was no longer the goal; readers should be grounded in a story that was as boring or brutal as their life.

Then something else happened. Genre fiction became important. No longer just romance or adventure, genre began using the "other" as a symbol of something in our society or in ourselves. While the Overlook Hotel in The Shining is terrifying, if you take away Jack Torrance's alcoholism the story falls apart. The possession of Regan McNeil is terrifying, but at its heart The Exorcist is about Chris McNeil's juggling being a single mom (in the 70s, no less) and a movie star.

In today's genre fiction, we are seeing fabulous science fiction, fantasy and horror stories that are about something. The Other of genre fiction is used to magnify a problem in our society or in our psychology and demonstrate its effects. And not just plot, but the pages of top genre anthologies and magazines are full of stories with rich characters, clear themes, immersive settings and strong narrative voices. These stories matter not just because they are excellent stories, but because they have taken over the role of literature: Telling tales that offer both an escapist experience and commentary on the human condition.

Canada, especially, is on the forefront of this movement. Edge Publishing's Tesseracts Thirteen is an all-horror/dark fantasy anthology, but with nary a gore-soaked, mad slasher story to be found. (Full disclouse: I have a story published in Tesseracts Thirteen.) Michael Kelly's new anthology Chilling Tales, also from Edge, continue the theme from Tesseracts Thirteen as an all-Canadian anthology of horror and dark fantasy. Rose Fox of Publishers Weekly commented "I don't know what's in the water up in Canada, but it's turning out some great writers" when it comes to speculative fiction.

It's for this reason why it's heartening to see things like the campaign to save the Sunburst Award (in which I took part) and the SpecFic Colloquium in Toronto this weekend. These are just two examples I know of, but imagine there must be many more going on around the world—events and awards that recognize speculative fiction has something to say.

 

What Twitter's "Conversational" Voice Really Means and Three Reasons to Use It

By now, we all know we should use a "conversational tone" on Twitter and avoid distant, formal writing. But while many tweets are not distant and formal, they still miss the point of being conversational.

We've all seen tweets like:

New Promotion! Join Now to Receive a 20% Discount!
Everything you want to know about [PROJECT NAME] now online!
Looking for a challenging, rewarding job? WE'RE HIRING! Here's your chance to break into this fast-paced career!

These are not conversational. This is marketing-ese.

No one walks into someone's office on Monday morning and says "Jack! I Hope Your Weekend Was FUN and EXCITING! We Should Talk When You Have Some Minutes To Spare!" More likely, you say "Hey Jack. How was your weekend? Good? When you got a second, let's talk."

Twitter should be no different.

And there are three good reasons to keep this in mind.

Conversation Among Equals

We've all heard that social media is about the conversation, which should take place between equals. By using marketing messages, you're making the mistaken assumption that you're the sender and everyone else is a receiver. This isn't a conversation and violates the idea that everyone is equal. In social media, your influence is earned, not assumed.

Key Message: You are one voice among many, so respect the conversation.

People Despise Marketing

We're overloaded with marketing messages across all media and we've become immune to this language. We're at the point of resenting it.

This is especially true in the social media space. On Facebook and Twitter, we are in control of who we follow, friend and subscribe to in order to learn something. As I've said earlier, we do not want to be pitched to. If we want to buy, we'll seek out the information we want

So inform your followers, don't sell to them. There is no need to make the "Ask" or try to "close" them. If you provide information of value, you are helping them to make an informed purchase, which followers will appreciate. Try the hard sell, and they will not even consider the offer, just leave.

Key Message: Inform, don't sell.

Easy to Digest

The last—and for me, best reason—to use a conversational tone is it uses plain language. Plain language, with its use of common words and simple phrases, is easier to understand at glance and ideal for Twitter.

Clever, marketing-ese takes a second or two to comprehend and process. While this might work for a tagline with a captive audience, on Twitter you've got the blink of an eye to communicate your message before readers are on to the next message. As well, formal language tends to be overly wordy and difficult to understand.

For example, which best communicates its message:

To better protect your privacy, we've modified our terms of service. A summary of the important changes can be found at http://bit.ly…
YOUR privacy matters to US! We've heard your ideas and now our terms of service better than ever! Check them out! http://bit.ly…
We've changed out terms of service. Summary of changes at http://bit.ly…

Key Message: Plain language is shorter and easier to understand, making it perfect for Twitter.

The Conversational Voice of Twitter

By now, we all know we should use a "conversational tone" on Twitter and avoid distant, formal writing. But while many tweets are not distant and formal, they still miss the point of being conversational.

We've all seen tweets like:

New Promotion! Join Now to Receive a 20% Discount!
Everything you want to know about [PROJECT NAME] now online!
Looking for a challenging, rewarding job? WE'RE HIRING! Here's your chance to break into this fast-paced career!

These are not conversational. This is marketing-ese.

No one walks into someone's office on Monday morning and says "Jack! I Hope Your Weekend Was FUN and EXCITING! We Should Talk When You Have Some Minutes To Spare!" More likely, you say "Hey Jack. How was your weekend? Good? When you got a second, let's talk."

Twitter should be no different.

And there are three good reasons to keep this in mind.

Conversation Among Equals

We've all heard that social media is about the conversation, which should take place between equals. By using marketing messages, you're making the mistaken assumption that you're the sender and everyone else is a receiver. This isn't a conversation and violates the idea that everyone is equal. In social media, your influence is earned, not assumed.

Key Message: You are one voice among many, so respect the conversation.

People Despise Marketing

We're overloaded with marketing messages across all media and we've become immune to this language. We're at the point of resenting it.

This is especially true in the social media space. On Facebook and Twitter, we are in control of who we follow, friend and subscribe to in order to learn something. As I've said earlier, we do not want to be pitched to. If we want to buy, we'll seek out the information we want

So inform your followers, don't sell to them. There is no need to make the "Ask" or try to "close" them. If you provide information of value, you are helping them to make an informed purchase, which followers will appreciate. Try the hard sell, and they will not even consider the offer, just leave.

Key Message: Inform, don't sell.

Easy to Digest

The last—and for me, best reason—to use a conversational tone is it uses plain language. Plain language, with its use of common words and simple phrases, is easier to understand at glance and ideal for Twitter.

Clever, marketing-ese takes a second or two to comprehend and process. While this might work for a tagline with a captive audience, on Twitter you've got the blink of an eye to communicate your message before readers are on to the next message. As well, formal language tends to be overly wordy and difficult to understand.

For example, which best communicates its message:

To better protect your privacy, we've modified our terms of service. A summary of the important changes can be found at http://bit.ly…
YOUR privacy matters to US! We've heard your ideas and now our terms of service better than ever! Check them out! http://bit.ly…
We've changed out terms of service. Summary of changes at http://bit.ly…

Key Message: Plain language is shorter and easier to understand, making it perfect for Twitter.

Save the Sunburst Award for Canadian Literature of the Fantastic

Here's my contribution in an effort to help save the Sunburst Award for Canadian Literature of the Fantastic, an award for Canadian writers of  speculative fiction.

In partnership with the Toronto SpecFic Colloquium, the Sunbursts are looking for 30-second to 2-minute videos from people sharing their thoughts on Canadian speculative fiction. Entries are posted to their YouTube channel and a longer video will edit together clips and be shown at the the opening remarks of the Colloquium on October 23, 2010.

More information can be found at: http://www.specfic-colloquium.com/sunburstawards.htm.

Macabre Republic Reviews "Silverman's Game"

Macabre Republic has posted a review of my eBook "Silverman's Game," saying:

"Moore writes clean, unaffected prose, and does a fine job here of capturing the voice/viewpoint of a twelve-year-old boy.  The suspense of the narrative builds steadily throughout (and) the climax delivers a surprising twist.  Overall, this is a quick, entertaining story, one that reads like the textual equivalent of a Tales from the Darkside episode. 'Silverman's Game' is well worth playing."

The full review can be f...

Social Media Résumé: Could "Whiteboard" Jenny Dryerase Inspire Something Good?

In two previous posts, I talked about "Whiteboard" Jenny Dryerase and her 33 photos where she quit her job, blaming her co-worker, Spencer, who she said had bad breath and called her a "Hot Piece of Ass." I said there were risks to making an accusation of sexual harassment in such a public way. And when Jenny was revealed as a hoax, I feared there might still be copycats inspired by this story seeking online revenge.

In writing these posts, I consulted with a friend who works in Human...

"Whiteboard" Jenny DryErase a Hoax, but Will We See Real World Copycats?

Yes, we've now learned that Jenny, the whiteboard-using HOPA (or is it HPOA) was indeed a hoax.

In my previous blog post, I explained my thoughts on how Jenny's actions—even motivated by understandable frustration—were unfair and could have negative consequences on her career. The fact that it is a hoax does not diminish the point I was trying to make: Using the Web for revenge might make you think you got the last laugh, but it might come back to bite you in the butt.

Will Others Mimic...