Bryan Strawser

Here's my pinned tweet about my academic research & related twitter threads. 🧵

You don't need advice from editors on rejected manuscripts.  My short story “Ender's Game” was rejected by Ben Bova at Analog back when that was the top market for a sci-fi story. Ben gave me feedback. He thought the title should be “Professional Soldier” and he said to “cut it in half.” But I knew he was wrong on both points and submitted it to Jim Baen at Galaxy. He sat on it for a year, and responded to my query with a rejection. There was some kind of explanation, but I don't remember what it was. I concluded at the time that Baen's comments showed that he had barely glanced at the story. So … I got feedback both times, but it was not helpful. I looked at Ben's rejection again. What was it about the story that made him think it should, let alone COULD, be cut in half? Apparently it FELT long. What made it feel long? Now, post-Harry Potter, I would call it the quidditch problem. I had too many battles in which the details became tedious. So I cut two battles entirely, merely reporting the outcomes, and shortened another. In retyping the whole manuscript (pre-word-processor, that was the only way to get a clean manuscript), I added new point-of-view material to the point that I had cut only one page in length. So much for “in half.” But I already knew that my manuscripts did not need cutting — if it wasn't needed, it wouldn't be there in the first place. Even the battles were still there, but instead of showing them, I merely told what happened (so much for the usually asinine advice “show don't tell”), which kept the pace going. Those changes made, I sent it to Ben again. I did not remind him of what he had advised me to do. I merely told him I liked my title, and said, “I have addressed your other concerns,” which was true. I figured he wouldn't remember what his exact words had been. My answer was a check. That revised story was the basis for my winning the Campbell Award for best new writer. Did Ben's feedback help? Yes — but his specific advice was not right, and I knew it. On my next two submissions, Ben hated my endings, and I revised as suggested. The fourth submission he rejected outright, and the fifth, and I thought, Am I a one-story writer? I went back to Ender's Game and tried to analyze why it worked. Then, deliberately imitating myself, I wrote “Mikal's Songbird.” Ben bought it, and it received favorable mentions. I was afraid then that I had consigned myself to writing stories about children in jeopardy. But in fact I was writing character stories rather than idea stories. And THAT was how I built a career, not by self-imitation, and not by following editorial suggestions. I did get wise counsel from David Hartwell on my novel Wyrms, but that was on a book that was already under contract, and it was story feedback, not style. I got wise counsel from Beth Meacham, too, on various books over the years — but again, only on books that were under contract. I also received appallingly stupid advice from the editor of my novel Saints, which temporarily destroyed the book's marketability; after that, I was allowed to go back to my original structure and save the book — now it's one of my best. Editors don't know more than you about your story. They especially don't know why they decide to accept or reject stories. YOU have to know what your story needs to be, and take only advice that you believe in. Your best counselor on a story nobody bought is TIME. Let some time pass and then reread the story. Don't even think about why it Didn't Work. Instead, think about what DOES work, and then write it again, a complete rewrite, keeping nothing from the previous draft. Find the right protagonist and begin at the beginning — the point where the protagonist first gets involved with the events of the story. Be inventive — the failed first draft no longer exists, so you're not bound by any of your earlier decisions. THAT is how you resurrect a good idea you did not succeed with on your first try.

Omg yes

Only one chance in this lifetime… Like watching sunset at the beach from the most foreign seat in the cosmos, I couldn’t resist a cell phone video of Earthset. You can hear the shutter on the Nikon as @Astro_Christina is hammering away on 3-shot brackets and capturing those exceptional Earthset photos through the 400mm lens. @AstroVicGlover was in window 3 watching with @Astro_Jeremy next to him. I could barely see the Moon through the docking hatch window but the iPhone was the perfect size to catch the view…this is uncropped, uncut with 8x zoom which is quite comparable to the view of the human eye. Enjoy.

The definitive guide on how properly execute the complex ritual of the Minnesota Goodbye was developed by Howard Mohr and aired on @tpt in 1992:

@PatGarofalo Someone will undoubtedly be among to claim this isn’t a vaccine and should be banned as a weapon of mass destruction

Some very good news on the cancer front. Stay tuned to more announced breakthroughs.

On this night 251 years ago, two men climbed Old North Church's steeple. They held high two lanterns as a signal from Paul Revere that the British were heading to Concord via the Charles River. Their famous “one if by land, two if by sea” warning ignited the American Revolution.

It is with profound sadness that we announce the loss of Bob Kevoian, beloved co-founder and longtime host of The Bob & Tom Show, who passed away peacefully Friday afternoon at his home, surrounded by family and friends. Details regarding memorial services will be shared at a later time.

@DezNutsBeCrazy He literally shows up at events and does this?

@bryanstrawser They're the worst, the one that lives in Northfield likes to pretend he's Westboro Baptist lite and "preach" (yell at) any LGBT affiliated event happening in Rice.

Latest in “pro-gun” mission creep from Ben Dorr and Minnesota Gun Rights, who hadn’t been seen in Saint Paul all session, and haven’t posted on social media in almost 2 weeks.

@DezNutsBeCrazy you expect the dorrs to fact check their claims? lol

@bryanstrawser Hilarious because the guys a British citizen who served 4 years in the US Navy, came here and enlisted in 11/2020, not 2022 lol

EXCLUSIVE @TheAtlantic On multiple occasions Patel’s security detail had difficulty waking him because he was seemingly intoxicated, according to info supplied to DOJ and White House officials. A request for “breaching equipment”was made because Patel had been unreachable behind locked doors. theatlantic.com/politics/2026/…

They sent similar messages from their other affiliate organizations as well.

The Town (2010) had no right to be this good. What looked like a standard heist movie turned into something sharp and endlessly rewatchable. One of those films that quietly overdelivers.

this is fucking unreal stuff from Noah Wyle on the magic of The Pitt. @The_SummerMan gq.com/story/noah-wyl…

20 years ago today "Requiem" aired on TV.

Also as Lufthansa sunsets its older 747-400s, we'll have to say goodbye to the special business class cuck seat 😢

@ktinuch I am terribly sorry to hear this.

We did the unimaginable yesterday. And the sun is still shining. Take care of each other.

Pete Hegseth quoting a Tarantino hit man while believing (or pretending) he was quoting the Bible is the most Pete Hegseth thing ever.