writerswritecompany: Writers Write is a resource for writers....

writerswritecompany:

Writers Write is a resource for writers. In this post, we look at science-fiction author, Octavia E. Butler’s Writing Advice.

Octavia E. Butler was an American science fiction writer. She was born 22 June 1947, and died 24 February 2006.

Butler was one of the first women and one of the first African-Americans to succeed in the sci-fi genre. Her novels were about future societies and superhuman powers. ‘They are noteworthy for their unique synthesis of science fiction, mysticism, mythology, and African American spiritualism.’ (via)

She was a multiple-recipient of both the Hugo and Nebula awards. Her novels include the Patternist and Parable series. Her first novel, Patternmaster (1976), was the beginning of her five-volume Patternist series about a group of telepaths ruled by Doro, a 4,000-year-old immortal African. Other titles include Kindred and Lilith’s Brood.

In 1995, she became the first science fiction writer to receive the MacArthur Fellowship, nicknamed the Genius Grant. In 2000 she received a PEN Award for lifetime achievement.

This advice is taken from her short piece, “Furor Scribendi”.

Octavia E. Butler’s Writing Advice