Sonitotum – Matthew Wayne Selznick

Sonitotum – Matthew Wayne Selznick episodes

November 03, 2022057: Have a Practice, Not a Plan
In this, episode 057 of Sonitotum with Matthew Wayne Selznick, I revisit my so-called Big Plan from two years past, and discuss why it didn’t work… and what does.
This episode is expanded upon in a companion Scribtotum article. Read it to get the whole story!
Links and Topics Mentioned in This Episode
There are new words written on Shadow of the Outsider, the follow up to my previous novel Light of the Outsider and the novelette “The Perfumed Air at Kwaanantag Bay.” Huzzah!
The companion article to this episode is linked above. History / full context buffs can also read the original article about the Big Plan, and listen to its companion podcast episode.
I mention the storyworlds in which I have future stories to write: The Shaper’s World, the Sovereign Era, Daikaiju Universe, and the Protector Cycle. Check out what I’ve released so far.
My latest non-fiction book is Indie Author Marketing Infrastructure, a distillation of some of what I teach when I coach new writers considering self-publishing.
Hazy Days and Cloudy Nights: “How It All Got Started” is my fiction serial set in the 1980s and delivered weekly, for free, to subscribers. Get in on it and start at the beginning!
I mention Lester Dent and his method for writing pulp fiction.
The fantasy genre is a crowded field these days, what with popular sub-sub-sub-genres like LitRPG, Reverse Harem, and Cultivation mucking things up…
In case you’re not familiar with the myth of Sisyphus…
The “How’s That Big Plan Going” Sonitotum episode.
In case you’re not familiar with the sword of Damocles… and yeah, I don’t quite utilize the metaphor appropriately in this episode.
Stephen Pressfield wrote The War of Art, in which he includes his ritual of invoking the Muse (as in the first verse of The Illiad or The Odyssey), not Pallas Athena as I wrongly say in the episode.
My patron community receives the uncut, unedited version of every episode. For this episode, they’re privy to about thirteen minutes of extra content! Want in on that? Become a patron for at least $5.00 per month (cancel any time) and get a bunch of other perks and special access, too.
Around thirty people listen to each new episode of this show during the first week it’s released. If most of the listeners became Exceptional patrons ($5.00 per month), patron revenue would surpass $100 per month, and I could begin donating 10% every month to 826 National in support of literacy and creative writing advocacy for children. Let’s go!
Oh, and speaking of patronage: This episode was made possible in part by the patronage of listeners like you, including J. C. Hutchins and Ted Leonhardt. Want to support the show and be listed in the credits, plus get lots of other goodies, perks, and exclusive access? Become a patron with a $3, $5, $10, or $20 monthly pledge!
Love Sonitotum with Matthew Wayne Selznick and would like to make a one-time donation in support of the show? Donate via PayPal or leave a tip via Ko-Fi, with my grateful thanks.
This content is by Matthew Wayne Selznick and came from his website.
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October 24, 2022056: Your Creative Oasis
In episode 056 of Sonitotum with Matthew Wayne Selznick, I’m inspired to remind myself (and you!) that creativity neither benefits from suffering, nor need wait for suffering to pass.
Links and Topics Mentioned in This Episode
There are new words written on Shadow of the Outsider, the follow up to my previous novel Light of the Outsider and the novelette “The Perfumed Air at Kwaanantag Bay.” Huzzah!
Hazy Days and Cloudy Nights: “How It All Got Started” is my fiction serial set in the 1980s and delivered weekly, for free, to subscribers. Get in on it and start at the beginning!
I’ve got a new newsletter in the works for writers and other creators. Be among the first to know about it (and keep up on all my creative offerings) by joining the mailing list community.
The plugin I’m using to grant exclusive website content to my patrons is Patron Plugin Pro.
My latest non-fiction book is Indie Author Marketing Infrastructure, a distillation of some of what I teach when I coach new writers considering self-publishing.
There are a ton of articles on the benefits of eliminating processed sugar from your diet. Here’s one.
Does the brain really clean itself while we sleep? Check this out.
I once made a Big Plan, which I link here as an example of why we, perhaps, should not do so… or at the very least, not judge ourselves when… something something asunder. Coincidentally, the release of this episode of Sonitotum is exactly two years to the day after I posted The Big Plan! Yikes!
To be fair to myself, that Scribtotum article is about a lot more than dates and deadlines, and it’s worth revisiting. Which I will, in the next episode of this podcast, and in a new article.
Does creativity benefit from suffering? Alice Walker and the Dalai Lama might beg to differ. So might Elizabeth Gilbert, and she would know.
This episode’s main topic was inspired by something C.S. Lewis once told an audience, which I discovered in the always wonderful blog Marginalia.
I continue to read Natalie Goldberg’s memoir Long Quiet Highway, and it continues to feed my soul and help me create. Give it a shot.
My patron community receives the uncut, unedited version of every episode. For this episode, they’re privy to about 20% more content! Want in on that? Become a patron for at least $5.00 per month (cancel any time) and get a bunch of other perks and special access, too.
Around thirty people listen to each new episode of this show during the first week it’s released. If most of the listeners became Exceptional patrons ($5.00 per month), patron revenue would surpass $100 per month, and I could begin donating 10% every month to 826 National in support of literacy and creative writing advocacy for children. Let’s go!
Oh, and speaking of patronage: This episode was made possible in part by the patronage of listeners like you, including J. C. Hutchins and Ted Leonhardt. Want to support the show and be listed in the credits, plus get lots of other goodies, perks, and exclusive access? Become a patron with a $3, $5, $10, or $20 monthly pledge!
Love Sonitotum with Matthew Wayne Selznick and would like to make a one-time donation in support of the show? Donate via PayPal or leave a tip via Ko-Fi, with my grateful thanks.
This content is by Matthew Wayne Selznick and came from his website.
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October 17, 2022055: In the Rear View
This 55th episode of Sonitotum with Matthew Wayne Selznick marks eighteen years as a podcaster, and brings cause to reflect, carefully, on my creative accomplishments across the last two decades. Also, an update on my creative endeavors in the previous week, a check-in with you to see how YOUR creative endeavors are going, and more!
Links and Topics Mentioned in This Episode
I spent quality time on my Shaper’s World storyworld, the setting of my last two works of fiction, the novel Light of the Outsider and the novelette “The Perfumed Air at Kwaanantag Bay,” and my current work in progress Shadow of the Outsider.
I took part in a virtual panel discussing villains in fiction for the Harris County Public Library system with three other authors. In the episode, I’d mentioned listing them here, but I can’t find their names / links anywhere in my correspondence with the organizer, so… stay tuned!
The virtual panel will be aired in November as part of the library’s National Novel Writing Month events.
This episode marks eighteen years since I started podcasting. Check out that first episode, and many more from those early years, if you like.
These days, I help more people make their own podcasts than I make my own! It’s all part of my creatives services business. How can I help you?
I mentioned the sound card I used for that first podcast. For the gearheads, it was the Creative SB Live! Platinum 5.1, long retired.
However, you can still own the same microphone I used to record that first podcast, and many, many others: the Shure SM58. Remarkably, it’s only ten bucks more expensive than when I bought mine in the mid 1980s!
After finishing this episode, I’ll be messing around with environment design in Unreal Engine and Quadspinner Gaea. I’m fascinated by this stuff.
My patron community receives the uncut, unedited version of every episode. For this episode, they’re privy to nine minutes of extra content! Want in on that? Become a patron for at least $5.00 per month (cancel any time) and get a bunch of other perks and special access, too.
Around thirty people listen to each new episode of this show during the first week it’s released. If most of the listeners became Exceptional patrons ($5.00 per month), patron revenue would surpass $100 per month, and I could begin donating 10% every month to 826 National in support of literacy and creative writing advocacy for children. Let’s go!
Oh, and speaking of patronage: This episode was made possible in part by the patronage of listeners like you, including J. C. Hutchins and Ted Leonhardt. Want to support the show and be listed in the credits, plus get lots of other goodies, perks, and exclusive access? Become a patron with a $3, $5, $10, or $20 monthly pledge!
Love Sonitotum with Matthew Wayne Selznick and would like to make a one-time donation in support of the show? Donate via PayPal or leave a tip via Ko-Fi, with my grateful thanks.
This content is by Matthew Wayne Selznick and came from his website.
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October 10, 2022054: Fear, Contentment, and the Third Shift
Sonitotum with Matthew Wayne Selznick 054 finds me acknowledging fear, confessing a rare moment of creative contentment, and I ask you a question about your creative life I hope you’ll answer in the comments. I also reveal a revelation about my current work in progress.
Links and Topics Mentioned in This Episode
I spent quality time on my Shaper’s World storyworld, the setting of my last two works of fiction, the novel Light of the Outsider and the novelette “The Perfumed Air at Kwaanantag Bay,” and my current work in progress Shadow of the Outsider.
Want to learn more about worldbuilding? Check out this previous episode of Sonitotum with Matthew Wayne Selznick.
How did the Shaper’s World come about? I wrote about it in this article about the creation of Light of the Outsider.
Get Hazy Days and Cloudy Nights: “How It All Got Started,” my freely offered fiction serial, and enjoy well over a year and a half of weekly free fiction, when you subscribe. For free!
I use Scrivener for many of my writing projects, including Shadow of the Outsider. It’s a kind of “everything but the kitchen sink no haha we’re kidding the kitchen sink is included” software program for writers of fiction and non-fiction. It’s available for Windows and Mac.
After testing everything, I’ve settled on Mindomo for visual brainstorming / mind-mapping. Give it a shot when you need a different take on the ideas, beats, and scenes you’re wrestling with.
I mentioned I was loathe to look up the last time I sold any copies of Light of the Outsider or “The Perfumed Air at Kwaanantag Bay.” Well, in the interest of transparency and radical vulnerability, here you go: I last sold a copy of Light of the Outsider in June of 2022. I haven’t sold a single copy of “The Perfumed Air at Kwaanantag Bay” since the month it came out, April 2021. Ouch. I mean, seriously, ouch. My heart hurts.
Hey, are you a listener who is also making a full-time living from revenue from your own creative endeavors (work you create for you, not work you create for clients)? Sound off in the comments!
I suspect most of you listeners are actually creators who also have a day job. If that’s you, how do you break up your time between your creative work, your day job, personal obligations / responsibilities, and infrastructure / supporting tasks related to your creative endeavors? Are you working a “third shift?” Tell me about it in the comments!
My patron community receives the uncut, unedited version of every episode. For this episode, they’re privy to almost sixteen minutes of extra content! Want in on that? Become a patron for at least $5.00 per month (cancel any time) and get a bunch of other perks and special access, too.
Around thirty people listen to each new episode of this show during the first week it’s released. If most of the listeners became Exceptional patrons ($5.00 per month), patron revenue would surpass $100 per month, and I could begin donating 10% every month to 826 National in support of literacy and creative writing advocacy for children. Let’s go!
Oh, and speaking of patronage: This episode was made possible in part by the patronage of listeners like you, including J. C. Hutchins and Ted Leonhardt. Want to support the show and be listed in the credits, plus get lots of other goodies, perks, and exclusive access? Become a patron with a $3, $5, $10, or $20 monthly pledge!
Love Sonitotum with Matthew Wayne Selznick and would like to make a one-time donation in support of the show? Donate via PayPal or leave a tip via Ko-Fi, with my grateful thanks.
This content is by Matthew Wayne Selznick and came from his website.
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October 03, 2022053: Teachers
Sonitotum with Matthew Wayne Selznick episode 053 celebrates and recognizes the teachers — literal and literary — that helped your host become a creator, a writer, and an author.
Who are the teachers in your creative life, past or present? I encourage you to share them with the world by giving them a shout out in the comments!
Links and Topics Mentioned in This Episode
Get Hazy Days and Cloudy Nights: “How It All Got Started,” my freely offered fiction serial, and enjoy well over a year and a half of weekly free fiction, when you subscribe. For free!
October means returning with a vengeance to my next novel, Shadow of the Outsider, the follow-up to Light of the Outsider and “The Perfumed Air at Kwaanantag Bay.”
This episode owes a debt of gratitude to Natalie Goldberg and her book Long Quiet Highway, which you should read. You might recognize her as the author of the classic Writing Down the Bones, which you should also read.
You might consider this episode an extension of the last, “In Gratitude.”
My beloved elementary school teachers in the Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania region were Mrs. Thomasser and Mr. Giles.
Mr. Giles gave little Matt a hardcover single-volume edition of The Decline and Fall of the Roman Empire and fully expected me to read it. Which I did.
My survival as a child and teenager depended on stealing from the playbooks of Hawkeye Pierce and Peter Benjamin Parker.
The quote I paraphrased to jab at Mr. Giles was spoken by Obi-Wan Kenobi in Star Wars: A New Hope: “Who is the greater fool? The fool, or the man who follows him?” Or something like that.
Gerry Conway, Len Wein, and Marv Wolfman wrote my Amazing Spider-Man comics, and taught me how to write dialogue.
Karen Winn was my high school journalism instructor. She made sure we each got the ball and plenty of yards to run with it. Thanks, Karen; I’m still in the game.
Paul Pflueger was my high school “contemporary world problems” instructor. You either loved him or hated him… and apparently the ones who hated him got him run out of a job. I thought he was the best.
Ray Bradbury and Ursula K. Le Guin sit at the heads of the table populated by my story family. For more about story families, check out this episode of Sonitotum with Matthew Wayne Selznick.
So long as I’m recommending excellent memoirs about the writing life, let’s never forget Gail Sher‘s One Continuous Mistake and Anne Lamott‘s Bird by Bird. Go get them! Seriously!
I taught scores of people how to be booksellers, and it was the beginning of my mission to add to the culture. I’m very proud of my time at Borders Books and Music.
My patron community receives the uncut, unedited version of every episode. For this episode, they’re privy to over eighteen minutes of extra content! Want in on that? Become a patron for at least $5.00 per month (cancel any time) and get a bunch of other perks and special access, too.
Around thirty people listen to each new episode of this show during the first week it’s released. If most of the listeners became Exceptional patrons ($5.00 per month), patron revenue would surpass $100 per month, and I could begin donating 10% every month to 826 National in support of literacy and creative writing advocacy for children. Let’s go!
Oh, and speaking of patronage: This episode was made possible in part by the patronage of listeners like you, including J. C. Hutchins and Ted Leonhardt. Want to support the show and be listed in the credits, plus get lots of other goodies, perks, and exclusive access? Become a patron with a $3, $5, $10, or $20 monthly pledge!
Love Sonitotum with Matthew Wayne Selznick and would like to make a one-time donation in support of the show? Donate via PayPal or leave a tip via Ko-Fi, with my grateful thanks.
This content is by Matthew Wayne Selznick and came from his website.
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September 26, 2022052: In Gratitude
In Sonitotum with Matthew Wayne Selznick episode 052, I acknowledge a rough couple of weeks and take the opportunity to express gratitude for the folks who have helped my creative endeavors across the decades.
Who are the people who have made life-changing contributions enabling you to pursue your creative endeavors? As a creator, who are you grateful for? Be sure to give them a shout out in the comments!
Links and Topics Mentioned in This Episode
Get Hazy Days and Cloudy Nights: “How It All Got Started,” my freely offered fiction serial, and enjoy well over a year and a half of weekly free fiction, when you subscribe. For free!
After my September focus on the serial, I’ll get back to my next novel, Shadow of the Outsider, the follow-up to Light of the Outsider and “The Perfumed Air at Kwaanantag Bay.”
The day job? I’m a creative services provider helping authors, podcasters, and other creators bring their work to fruition, to market, and to an audience. How can I help you?
My old laptop? It’s a Dell Inspiron 17 5000 Series from 2014, which I purchased in December of 2015.
My new laptop? It’s a ‎Lenovo Legion 5 from 2021.
The reason I can feel gratitude (or anything at all!), my late mother, biggest fan, and strongest champion, Priscilla Brieck. For the whole story, read this Scribtotum article.
My patron community receives the uncut, unedited version of every episode. For this episode, they’re privy to over eleven minutes of extra content! Want in on that? Become a patron for at least $5.00 per month (cancel any time) and get a bunch of other perks and special access, too.
Not much more than two dozen people listen to each new episode of this show during the first week it’s released. If most of the listeners became Exceptional patrons ($5.00 per month), patron revenue would surpass $100 per month, and I could begin donating 10% every month to 826 National in support of literacy and creative writing advocacy for children. Let’s go!
Oh, and speaking of patronage: This episode was made possible in part by the patronage of listeners like you, including J. C. Hutchins and Ted Leonhardt. Want to support the show and be listed in the credits, plus get lots of other goodies, perks, and exclusive access? Become a patron with a $3, $5, $10, or $20 monthly pledge!
Love Sonitotum with Matthew Wayne Selznick and would like to make a one-time donation in support of the show? Donate via PayPal or leave a tip via Ko-Fi, with my grateful thanks.
This content is by Matthew Wayne Selznick and came from his website.
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September 19, 2022051: Write Your Ugly Truth
The fifty-first Sonitotum with Matthew Wayne Selznick episode finds your host back in the lush and lavish studios of MWS Media to discuss the connections between flawed (even reprehensible!) protagonists, literary authenticity, and your reader community.
I also say goodbye to reader community member, superfan, and generous soul Dave Alcock, as well as offer up the usual weekly recap of my creative adventure. And what a week it was.
Links and Topics Mentioned in This Episode
The original Traveller “black box,” plus extras, gifted to me a few years ago from the late Dave Alcock.
The day job? I’m a creative services provider helping authors, podcasters, and other creators bring their work to fruition, to market, and to an audience. How can I help you?
For the gearheads: I replaced my fiery computer with a Cyberpower GMA4800 BSTV10 with an AMD Ryzen 5 5600x 3.7GHz processor, 32 GB DDR4 RAM, and an NVIDIA GeForce RTX 3060 12GB graphics card. I bought it at my local BestBuy, but it was the only one in stock. You might have better luck from NewEgg.
Hazy Days and Cloudy Nights: “How It All Got Started” is my freely offered fiction serial and part of my Sovereign Era storyworld, which includes the novels Brave Men Run and Pilgrimage, the collection The Sovereign Era: Year One, the novelette “Canary in a Coal Mine” (by P.G. Holyfield), and the short stories “The World Revolves Around You” and “The News from Bewilder Pond.” So far.
After my September focus on the serial, I’ll get back to my next novel, Shadow of the Outsider, the follow-up to Light of the Outsider and “The Perfumed Air at Kwaanantag Bay.”
It was likely a Facebook post from the author Adam-Troy Casto that first called my attention to the idea that some folks might be aghast at the character of Decker from the classic science fiction film Blade Runner (based on the Philip K. Dick novel Do Androids Dream of Electric Sheep). He might have shared if from a post from the author David Gerrold… do you forgive me for de-prioritizing the fact checking on this one? Where it came from is secondary to the point, after all…
So why are they called “blade runners,” anyway..?
The Punisher — Frank Castle — was created by by Gerry Conway, John Romita, Sr., and Ross Andru (in the episode, I mistakenly credit Gil Kane). He first appeared in issue number 129 of The Amazing Spider-Man, which hit the spinner racks in November, 1973.
I mention the quote, “Fiction is telling the truth with lies.” I’m paraphrasing something with a long, storied history of paraphrasing. The origin of this universal statement comes from Pablo Picasso, who was quoted in a 1923 article as saying, “Art is a lie that makes us realize truth, at least the truth that is given us to understand.” The first person to apply this truism (see what I did, there?) to narrative fiction might have been the screenwriter Stephen Davis: “Drama is the lie that tells us the truth.” Check out Quote Investigator for more…
Henry Rollins is quoted as saying, “It’ll destroy you if you try to make it mean anything to anyone but yourself,” At least, I think he did. I can’t find the original source.
In this episode, I reference the “Nope to Tropes” episode, which you should check out..!
My patron community receives the uncut, unedited version of every episode. For this episode, they’re privy to almost eighteen minutes of extra content! Want in on that? Become a patron for at least $5.00 per month (cancel any time) and get a bunch of other perks and special access, too.
Not much more than two dozen people listen to each new episode of this show during the first week it’s released. If most of the listeners became Exceptional patrons ($5.00 per month), patron revenue would surpass $100 per month, and I could begin donating 10% every month to 826 National in support of literacy and creative writing advocacy for children. Let’s go!
Let’s double the listenership by the next episode! This week, tell a kindred spirit about Sonitotum with Matthew Wayne Selznick! Share
https://www.mattselznick.com/podcasts/sonitotum/
with them, or better yet, share your favorite episode of Sonitotum directly from your preferred podcasting app!
Oh, and speaking of patronage: This episode was made possible in part by the patronage of listeners like you, including J. C. Hutchins and Ted Leonhardt. Want to support the show and be listed in the credits, plus get lots of other goodies, perks, and exclusive access? Become a patron with a $3, $5, $10, or $20 monthly pledge!
Love Sonitotum with Matthew Wayne Selznick and would like to make a one-time donation in support of the show? Donate via PayPal or leave a tip via Ko-Fi, with my grateful thanks.
This content is by Matthew Wayne Selznick and came from his website.
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September 12, 2022050: Special Anniversary Episode!
It’s the fiftieth episode of Sonitotum with Matthew Wayne Selznick! Join me as I sit in my car at a park, listening to the rain, while I reflect on the first fifty episodes of the show (and before!) and think about the future of this podcast, my creative endeavors, and our community.
Links and Topics Mentioned in This Episode
September is for writing a whole bunch of installments of Hazy Days and Cloudy Nights: “How It All Got Started,” the free serial I deliver to e-mail subscribers. Get yours!
Hazy Days and Cloudy Nights is, technically, a work of “new adult” fiction. In the episode, I compare it in tone to teen soap operas such as those that can (or could) be found on the CW television network. Example might include One Tree Hill or The OC.
Hazy Days and Cloudy Nights: “How It All Got Started” is part of my Sovereign Era storyworld, which includes the novels Brave Men Run and Pilgrimage, the collection The Sovereign Era: Year One, the novelette “Canary in a Coal Mine” (by P.G. Holyfield), and the short stories “The World Revolves Around You” and “The News from Bewilder Pond.” So far.
After my September focus on the serial, I’ll get back to my next novel, Shadow of the Outsider, the follow-up to Light of the Outsider and “The Perfumed Air at Kwaanantag Bay.”
My new non-fiction book for writers, Indie Author Marketing Infrastructure, is available everywhere you buy e-books, including directly from me. It’s all here.
My patron community receives the uncut, unedited version of every episode. For this episode, they’re privy to over seventeen minutes minutes of extra content! Want in on that? Become a patron for at least $5.00 per month (cancel any time) and get a bunch of other perks and special access, too.
Not much more than two dozen people listen to each new episode of this show during the first week it’s released. If most of the listeners became Exceptional patrons ($5.00 per month), patron revenue would surpass $100 per month, and I could begin donating 10% every month to 826 National in support of literacy and creative writing advocacy for children. Let’s go!
Want to hear the first episode of this iteration of Sonitotum with Matthew Wayne Selznick? The post is here; the MP3 audio file is here.
Want to hear the first episodes of the first iteration of Sonitotum? Check it out over at the Internet Archive.
The second iteration of Sonitotum was very short lived. I’m still trying to track down those files!
Want to go farther back in my podcasting history (and hear a lot of great 2000s-era indie music)? Dig The MWS Media Radio Show Podcast and The DIY Endeavors Podcast on the Internet Archive.
This latest iteration of Sonitotum with Matthew Wayne Selznick came about a month or so after I declared a kind of creative bankruptcy. Read about that here.
Let’s double the listenership by the next episode! This week, tell a kindred spirit about Sonitotum with Matthew Wayne Selznick! Share
https://www.mattselznick.com/podcasts/sonitotum/
with them, or better yet, share your favorite episode of Sonitotum directly from your preferred podcasting app!
Oh, and speaking of patronage: This episode was made possible in part by the patronage of listeners like you, including J. C. Hutchins and Ted Leonhardt. Want to support the show and be listed in the credits, plus get lots of other goodies, perks, and exclusive access? Become a patron with a $3, $5, $10, or $20 monthly pledge!
Love Sonitotum with Matthew Wayne Selznick and would like to make a one-time donation in support of the show? Donate via PayPal or leave a tip via Ko-Fi, with my grateful thanks.
This content is by Matthew Wayne Selznick and came from his website.
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September 05, 2022049: Absolutely No Absolutes
Another park cast edition of Sonitotum with Matthew Wayne Selznick, because it’s too darn hot to be indoors standing in front of monitors and giant computers!
Join me under a big tree as a young hawk yells at me from the boughs above and an eager squirrel in the grass (you’d think the two of them would have a problem!) pesters me for treats I did not have.
Oh, and I talk both about why I think we all need to have our own websites, how no legitimate authority in indie publishing should ever use absolutes in their advice… and show, oddly, how the two topics both speak to the same larger point: the importance of building a community around your work.
Is your author website more personal, or professional? Have you ever heard a successful author declare that you must not or must do this or that? How’d it all work out? Let me know… in the comments!
Links and Topics Mentioned in This Episode
My new non-fiction book for writers, Indie Author Marketing Infrastructure, is available everywhere you buy e-books, including directly from me. It’s all here.
Read “What it Took to Write Indie Author Marketing Infrastructure.”
I wrote similar articles when I finished Light of the Outsider and “The Perfumed Air at Kwaanantag Bay,” which you can read here and here, respectively.
Hazy Days and Cloudy Nights: “How It All Got Started” is the free serial I deliver to e-mail subscribers. Get yours!
My patron community receives the uncut, unedited version of every episode. For this episode, they’re privy to almost fifteen minutes of extra content! Want in on that? Become a patron for at least $5.00 per month (cancel any time) and get a bunch of other perks and special access, too.
Speaking of patronage: This episode was made possible in part by the patronage of listeners like you, including J. C. Hutchins and Ted Leonhardt. Want to support the show and be listed in the credits, plus get lots of other goodies, perks, and exclusive access? Become a patron with a $3, $5, $10, or $20 monthly pledge!
Love Sonitotum with Matthew Wayne Selznick and would like to make a one-time donation in support of the show? Donate via PayPal or leave a tip via Ko-Fi, with my grateful thanks.
This content is by Matthew Wayne Selznick and came from his website.
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August 29, 2022048: Just Say Nope to Tropes
This episode of Sonitotum with Matthew Wayne Selznick is a park cast! It’s just too hot and stuffy in the lush (as in swampy) and lavish studios of MWS Media, so I recorded this one strolling around a big local park. Enjoy the ambience as I talk about how and why new fiction writers (heck, all fiction writers) must avoid the pit of mediocrity that is tropes and genre expectations.
Do you want your fiction to be known for what it’s similar to? Or do you want people to hold up your work as the new standard? Just say nope to tropes, and write from your heart and soul.
“If you make cookies with cookie cutters, your cookies will look just like the cookies from everyone else who bought those cookie cutters.”
What do you think? Leave a comment; let’s talk about it!
Links and Topics Mentioned in This Episode
My new non-fiction book for writers, Indie Author Marketing Infrastructure, comes out on August 30, 2022 everywhere you buy e-books. Click that link and buy direct from me!
Mentioned around the nine minute, thirty second mark: Sonitotum with Matthew Wayne Selznick 043: “Writing is Hard.”
I cite a quote attributed to Orson Welles: “The absence of limitation is the enemy of art.”
Want to go waaaaay down the rabbit hole of tropes? Check out TVTropes.org.
My (far as I know) trope-less fantasy novel is Light of the Outsider. You should read it.
My very trope-y first novel is Brave Men Run. Lots of people have read it. You should, too!
My second novel, a follow-up to my first, is far less trope-y and reflects my growing maturity and ability as a writer. It’s called Pilgrimage, and you should read it, too!
Authors I mention off the top of my head whose work defines a genre rather than being defined by a genre: Leo Tolstoy. Anton Chekhov. O Henry. Raymond Chandler. Ursula K. Le Guin. Ray Bradbury.
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This episode was made possible in part by the patronage of listeners like you, including J. C. Hutchins and Ted Leonhardt. In my park-wandering state of mind, I didn’t mention them in the original recording and so inserted my grateful thanks “in post.” Want to support the show and be listed in the credits, plus get lots of other goodies, perks, and exclusive access? Become a patron — and join at the Paramount tier before August 31, 2022 to get $100 worth of digital books, audiobooks, and music!
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Become a Paramount-tier patron before August 31, 2022 and get 14 fiction and non-fiction titles (including 14 e-books and six audiobooks) and six music titles (two full-length albums, one EP, and three singles — 49 songs plus printable lyrics) when you pledge — plus all the benefits of Paramount patronage:
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Books! Science Fiction, Fantasy, Literary, Horror, and Non-Fiction:
Brave Men Run — A Novel of the Sovereign Era (e-book editions)
“The World Revolves Around You — A Sovereign Era Tale” (e-book and audiobook editions)
The Sovereign Era: Year One — A Sovereign Era Anthology (e-book editions)
“Canary in a Coal Mine — A Sovereign Era Tale” by P.G. Holyfield (e-book editions)
Paramount — A Novel of the Sovereign Era (e-book editions)
“The News from Bewilder Pond — A Sovereign Era Tale” (e-book and audiobook editions)
Light of the Outsider — The Outsider Trilogy Volume One — A Novel of the Shaper’s World Cycle (e-book and audiobook editions)
“The Perfumed Air at Kwaanantag Bay — A Tale of the Shaper’s World Cycle” (e-book and audiobook editions)
“Reggie vs Kaiju Storm Chimera Wolf — a Daikaiju Universe Tale” (e-book and audiobook editions)
“Cloak — A Tale of the Protector Cycle” (e-book and audiobook editions)
Four Stories — A Literary Collection of Stories and Essays (e-book and audiobook editions)
Worldbuilding for Writers, Gamers, and Other Creators: Star, Planet, Moon (e-book editions)
Reading “The Amazing Spider-Man” — A Fun Critical Review for Writers (e-book editions)
Indie Author Marketing Infrastructure — Three Things Every Independent Author Must Have for Self-Publishing Success (e-book editions)
Music! Analog and Digital Solo Acoustic and Semi-Acoustic Studio and Live Recordings:
Hundred Seller / Background Music — EP and Live Album Collection (MP3 and PDF files)
Test Pressing — LP (MP3s and PDF files)
Anyman: The John Smith EP (MP3s and PDF files)
“Anastasia — Theme from Sonitotum with Matthew Wayne Selznick” — instrumental single (MP3 file)
“Gnatcatcher — Theme from The DIY Endeavors Podcast” — instrumental single (MP3 file)
“The Ghost in You” — Psychedelic Furs cover — single (MP3 file)
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This content is by Matthew Wayne Selznick and came from his website.
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