Three Top Tips for Black Library Submissions

Games Workshop/ Black Library currently has an ongoing call for new writers. There is obviously a lot of interest in this amongst fans and writers, and I am often asked what potential applicants can do to increase their chances. With that in mind, here are the three things I believe you need to bear in mind.

It’s a WARgame

In the Grim Darkness of the Far Future, There is Only War. It’s a mission statement, not just a tag-line. Your piece has to involve some fighting, or some consequence of bloody war in a fairly direct fashion. This doesn’t mean it should just be action-filler, it still has to have an element of character and plot. But if you’re writing the romance between a fourth-rank Administratum clerk and the preacher of the local Ecclesiarchy shrine, one of them better turn to Chaos and stab the other, or get shot at some point…

Less obvious, but just as important – just because there is a fight doesn’t mean your piece has ‘conflict’. Simply kill or be killed does not usually make for a compelling story, it’s generic and commonplace to all war stories. As with anything else, the protagonist must have a clear goal, an obstacle (other than survival) to overcome, and some transitional change of realisation that allows them to do so. Yes, even in 500 words. It can be done.

Thematically, make it a piece that could only take place in 40K or the Age of Sigmar – not a generic tale with the right names added, but something that is at the heart of the grim darkness of the Imperium or the essence of the cosmic battle against Chaos. It is an attitude more than using the right terminology.

Don’t Get Cocky, Kid

Pick something to write that best showcases your skills, but be sure to produce what you’ve been asked to write. Don’t try to take the brief and manipulate it to something other than what it is. If you are asked for an Ultramarine against an Ork, stick to that and do it well.

To put it another way – the editors want to see that you can write (technically and in storytelling terms) and do so to a brief. At this stage they are looking for execution, not ideas. You will be judged on the quality of the writing and the knowledge of the background it displays (but don’t throw in exposition just to show off that you’ve read a timeline in a Codex).

Punch First, Punch Hard

Chuck Wendig has some great advice on writing short stories (available here) and one that keeps coming back to me goes something like:

Start the story as close as possible to the end.

It probably had more swearing and references to bodily functions than that, but that was how I remembered it. In longer terms, work out what the piece is about – the final moment, the crescendo of the action and narrative – and then give the reader just enough lead-in so that they can understand what’s at stake and why, and appreciate that moment but nothing more. Look at ways to convey context without exposition and description, allow the reader to make a few leaps themselves. Have the blade poised to fall, the mountain about to crumble, the bomb about to explode.

Do not confuse backstory (or in this case history and lore) with story. Write it well and the reader will be carried into the fray needing to know what happens, not caring that they are a little fuzzy on the details. Stories are an emotional journey not a rational one, and the shorter they are, the less room for explanations and more necessity for raw narrative. We do not need to know exactly why and how the Ultramarines and Orks are fighting, only the detail that pits your characters together in their particular dance of death. The shorter the piece, the more immediate the intro and pay-off have to be.

Secret, Bonus Advice

Learn about Age of Sigmar. Really. I would wager that 80%+ of applicants are well-versed in 40K lore only. If you can be an expert on the unfolding Age of Sigmar setting, you’ve jumped a big chunk of the queue.

So, use the comments to let us know if you’ve applied, what you’ve learnt and to celebrate any successes you’ve had.

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