Ksenia Anske's Blog, page 25

Happy 2017. The winter has come. 2016 in recap, and more.

We're about to enter the four-year freeze I thought I have successfully escaped when I left Russia. I was mistaken. It seems the ugly head of the white male fantasy has reared itself once more, in all its blond balding glory, to remind us all that we're not infallible to this little evolutional leftover from the cave times: fear. We're terrified of change, and so we have conveniently slipped into the comfort of the fantasy that no longer exists. I have witnessed it (and wrote about it in Irk...

Diversity in literature: there isn't a story you can't tell

Illustration by Mari Kanstad Johnsen

Meg Collett wrote: "Hey Ksenia! Fellow indie here. I wanted to know your take on culture appropriation and diversity within literature,i.e., if there are some stories that we simply cannot tell because they do not belong to us. I would love to know your thoughts or if you've already put them into a blog that I might have missed. Love what you do and how you do it. High fives to you lady."

Hey Meg! Thank you for this wonderful question. I did blog on dive...

Character development, or how to make them real

Illustration by Eiko Ojala

Gloria Gawron asked me to write a post on character development, and it's about bloody time I did. The last time I wrote about that was in 2013, on non-perfect characters versus perfect stereotypes, and on how pink tutus rule (don't ask why).Well then, I present to you my newly minted wisdom (hey, it's been 3 years, and I learned a shitload since then, so shush, I'm terribly wise).

The only thing you need to accomplish in your book is to make your characters come...

Best Books I Read in 2016

Illustration by Ricardo Martinez

This year I've been reading as many non-fiction books as fiction ones, which is new. Most of non-fiction I read is on writing craft, some on women and feminism and the glorious things like vaginas and female ferocity and inner goddesses (as I'm preparing to take over the world), one almost 1000-page dictionary (yes, I read every page), and lots of books on psychopathic murderers and crime investigation procedures. I've been also reading more poetry, so the...

Productivity: time for writing and for everything else

Illustration by Malika Favre

Mars Dorian asked me to write about productivity: How to be productive in your writing? I've written a few posts in the past about this. On making time for writing, on motivation and self-discipline of writing from home, on locking yourself upin order to write, and on my writing routinewhich hasn't changed much over the years. But it's time I wrote an updated post talking specifically about productivity.

What kind of a beast is productivity,and how do you conque...

How to plan your book: from idea to manuscript (Part 3)

Art by Elizabeth Amento

And now to style, the beast that's as elusive as it's present in everything we write. I'm still trying to determine what my style is, and from what I've read so far, it's how I tell the story in its bones, not trying to tell it some special way but simply telling it as is. That's when my style comes out. I used to try very hard to be ornate and whimsical and poetic (Siren Suicides), then I tried to be witty and sarcastic (Rosehead), then blunt and brutal (Irkadura),...

How to plan your book: from idea to manuscript (Part 2)

Art by Elizabeth Amento

Okay then, to the summary page (you can read Part 1 of this post here). After I'm done planning it all in the structure part, I move on to the summary part and start working my way through it from top to bottom, expanding from the title to the scene beat sheet, and filling it out. This time, because I don't have anything for Rosehead, I'll use TUBE as an example.

When you scan through this list, you will see abbreviations, and your eyes will probably cross from looki...

How to plan your book: from idea to manuscript (Part 1)

Art by Elizabeth Amento

I'm prepping my Scrivener template to start rewriting the summary for Janna, and the structure part of it (I'll explain later) looks so clean and clear, I thought I'd share it with you, to save you the headache of figuring it out on your own. I had to figure it out alone, and it took me forever (plus reading a ton of books on plotting, character development, style, and everything in between). When I started using Scrivener, I was searching for a template like that a...

Thank you all for everything

Illustration by Delphine Durand

It's my dream to get us all at one huge table and have a huge feast with lots of food and drink and laughter, and who knows, maybe one day I'll be able to swing it. Because you're my family, and Thanksgiving is about giving and loving and bonding, and that's what families are about, and I have finally found mine.

YOU.

There was never such a thing as Thanksgiving in Soviet Union. And in America I came to love this day for the thanks we give each other. I wish t...

20 self-publishing do's and don'ts

Illustration by Cecile Dormeau

"Hi Ksenia, I wish you would write about that [self-publishing] process. The do's and don'ts. The good or bad ways. Steps to go through. Soon I’ll be going into this and will be suffering from overload I am sure, until I can figure it all out. As I have been following you for over a year now, I just find that you are so knowledgeable in this realm, and always helpful to others. Thank you so much. Wayne."

Hi Wayne, excellent questions, and a post long overdue....