I love Twitter. It is a wonderful source of information, tips and people.
Today's blog post serves two purposes. First, it allows me to procrastinate starting the massive spring cleaning efforts I must begin as soon as I am done writing this. Second, it allows me to share with you one of the resources I truly love.
I will make comments as needed. However, most of these are rather self-explanatory.
Enjoy! The format is as follows: The name of the person who made the post, then their post.
LindaEpstein
#pubtip Can you at least try to hide that your query has been forwarded to 10 other agents? Those blue forward lines are distracting me.
emilyreads
Dear random author: For the last time, I WILL NOT EAT YOUR COOKIES. #pubtip
agentgame
Reading a query that was interesting up until the part where it said the wordcount was over 390k. Don't do this. #pubtip
(Why: Most epic fantasies, even the 'long ones', tend to cap at 250 words. There are exceptions, but not often. If you're writing epic fantasy... do yourself a favor and save the 500,000 word monstrosities for book #2.)
Ginger_Clark
Authors, the following words have VERY different meanings, so stop mixing them up: important/impotent; prostrate/prostate #pubtip
BostonBookGirl
Finishing your 100,000 word book in 10 days is not a selling point. Might be true, but don't put that in your query. #pubtip
LindaEpstein
#pubtip Novelists: if you're not done writing it, it's not time to query an agent. No matter how "good" it is. Query when it's complete.
tor_intheory
an MFA, while it may improve your writing skills, does not make you more publishable or guarantee you success as an author #pubtip
LindaEpstein
Eight sentences. Only seven paragraphs. #queryfail
... twitter has failed and won't let me access the older posts to get out some of my favorite query fails. That said, please head over here for #queryfail and here for #pubtip. Both of these feeds often have a lot of excellent resources for writers. It is really an eye-opener to see just what gets an agent riled up.
Thursday, May 13, 2010
Tuesday, April 27, 2010
Self-Editing
This post is going to go out into far left field. I have no posted in a while, so I figured it was about time I made some progress on blogging. This will cover, once again, personal references so there will not be a lot of outside sourcing. This is what *I* do. Please do not judge what the rest of the writing world does based off of what I do. My methods may not work for you.
First, I will cover self-editing. This is a very personal matter, but a very important one. When you write a book, you need to know how to edit your own writing. A professional publication house is there to make you and them money. It is not there to clean up your poor writing. Do not just submit crap to an agent, editor or publisher. Before you even dream of submitting, it is vital that you do a lot of self-editing.
Self-editing should occur before you send to anyone for critiques. This is important because you need to grow as an author. In order to grow, you need to practice. In order to practice, you need to do.
It is very easy to fall into the trap of editing what people say you should edit. For this reason, you should try to self-edit on your own before you send it to even your first readers. First, you should be able to catch spelling errors by reading through your writing. You would not even begin to believe how many times I have typed 'and' when I meant to type 'had'. Spelling errors like this are often not picked up by spell and grammar checking programs. This is human error that a computer cannot typically correct, so you need to be on your guard.
When I self-edit, this is the process I take:
Step One: Read the piece.
I will read the section of writing anywhere between one to five times. It varies, really. If I wrote slower and had less stupid mistakes, I may not need to re-read it more than once or twice. If I was being sloppy as I was writing, I will need to re-read it several times. Mileage may vary.
Step Two: Correct Obvious errors.
Step Two occurs as I re-read it the first time. As I read, I will correct simple errors as I spot them. This may not work for everyone. It does not distract from my reading as I do this, so I can get away with it. Some people get distracted and cannot handle this. You need to find your own rhythm. Once again, mileage may vary. No matter when you correct the obvious errors, these need to be addressed. I like to get them out of the way first so I can focus on the more challenging things later.
Step Three: Correct the Not So Obvious errors.
I have to revisit step one to do this. Once I have corrected the obvious, easy errors, I read through the piece again. OUT LOUD. I will even record myself reading so I can listen to it. (Voice recorder in windows is a great tool if you have a mic.) There are several reasons for doing this. First, if you read your novel or story out loud, you can hear if your pacing is all right. If you run out of breath before you finish speaking a sentence, your pacing is wrong. Every sentence should be easily spoken. Length of a sentence is vital, as long sentences are often grammatically incorrect and difficult to read. Taking your time with this phase can make a huge difference.
Step Four: Allow your writing to sit for a day.
Taking a day off to work on something else or plot a different story helps me focus come editing time. This may not work for everyone. I will try to plan my drafting so that I finish on a Friday and start edits on a Monday. This gives me the weekend to relax and clear my thoughts, as well as put a little space between me and the writing.
Step Five: See Step One.
Rinse and repeat until you have a polished draft. Then send it off. If you can avoid first readers until you are DONE the first draft and polished, you can spare yourself a lot of anguish. So, you might have to do massive edits or a second draft... so what? You finished your draft. A bad critique can cause a new author to lose hope. Once you become a professional author, your editor or book publisher typically will NOT hold your hand every step of the drafting process. You will have a deadline you will be expected to meet. Accept this reality and work towards streamlining the self-editing process so that it works best for YOU. What works for me may not work for you.
Self-Editing will help you enhance your writing style while also improving the quality of your drafts. You do not have to write a perfect draft the first try if you can focus and put in the work to make it into a perfect manuscript.
First, I will cover self-editing. This is a very personal matter, but a very important one. When you write a book, you need to know how to edit your own writing. A professional publication house is there to make you and them money. It is not there to clean up your poor writing. Do not just submit crap to an agent, editor or publisher. Before you even dream of submitting, it is vital that you do a lot of self-editing.
Self-editing should occur before you send to anyone for critiques. This is important because you need to grow as an author. In order to grow, you need to practice. In order to practice, you need to do.
It is very easy to fall into the trap of editing what people say you should edit. For this reason, you should try to self-edit on your own before you send it to even your first readers. First, you should be able to catch spelling errors by reading through your writing. You would not even begin to believe how many times I have typed 'and' when I meant to type 'had'. Spelling errors like this are often not picked up by spell and grammar checking programs. This is human error that a computer cannot typically correct, so you need to be on your guard.
When I self-edit, this is the process I take:
Step One: Read the piece.
I will read the section of writing anywhere between one to five times. It varies, really. If I wrote slower and had less stupid mistakes, I may not need to re-read it more than once or twice. If I was being sloppy as I was writing, I will need to re-read it several times. Mileage may vary.
Step Two: Correct Obvious errors.
Step Two occurs as I re-read it the first time. As I read, I will correct simple errors as I spot them. This may not work for everyone. It does not distract from my reading as I do this, so I can get away with it. Some people get distracted and cannot handle this. You need to find your own rhythm. Once again, mileage may vary. No matter when you correct the obvious errors, these need to be addressed. I like to get them out of the way first so I can focus on the more challenging things later.
Step Three: Correct the Not So Obvious errors.
I have to revisit step one to do this. Once I have corrected the obvious, easy errors, I read through the piece again. OUT LOUD. I will even record myself reading so I can listen to it. (Voice recorder in windows is a great tool if you have a mic.) There are several reasons for doing this. First, if you read your novel or story out loud, you can hear if your pacing is all right. If you run out of breath before you finish speaking a sentence, your pacing is wrong. Every sentence should be easily spoken. Length of a sentence is vital, as long sentences are often grammatically incorrect and difficult to read. Taking your time with this phase can make a huge difference.
Step Four: Allow your writing to sit for a day.
Taking a day off to work on something else or plot a different story helps me focus come editing time. This may not work for everyone. I will try to plan my drafting so that I finish on a Friday and start edits on a Monday. This gives me the weekend to relax and clear my thoughts, as well as put a little space between me and the writing.
Step Five: See Step One.
Rinse and repeat until you have a polished draft. Then send it off. If you can avoid first readers until you are DONE the first draft and polished, you can spare yourself a lot of anguish. So, you might have to do massive edits or a second draft... so what? You finished your draft. A bad critique can cause a new author to lose hope. Once you become a professional author, your editor or book publisher typically will NOT hold your hand every step of the drafting process. You will have a deadline you will be expected to meet. Accept this reality and work towards streamlining the self-editing process so that it works best for YOU. What works for me may not work for you.
Self-Editing will help you enhance your writing style while also improving the quality of your drafts. You do not have to write a perfect draft the first try if you can focus and put in the work to make it into a perfect manuscript.
Monday, April 12, 2010
Conflict - The Heart of the Plot
As a writer, I find myself working on various plot lines. Often, I have more ideas than I know what to do with. To make matters worse, I sometimes try to use too many ideas in one novel or series.
In order to combat my own ambitions, I decided to try something a little different. Instead of focusing on the random ideas, I decided to pursue more of the conflicts and less of the exact scene concepts and other mechanisms I enjoy working with.
This led to some interesting research. What, exactly, makes a good conflict?
No matter how many ideas that you have, all of them will be made worthless without a good conflict to make your story alive. You may have these excellent ideas on a character design. But, what good is a character without the conflict to make them grow?
In order to know if you have the necessary conflict, you must first know just what a conflict is.
There are several types of conflicts. Let us go into them:
Man versus Man
Man versus Himself
Man versus Environment
These are the basic types of conflicts. I am no expert on conflicts. This is the entire point of delving into this subject. As usual, this is my take on the subject. Do with it as you please. I will list some resources you can reference at the bottom of this post.
Man versus Man
This can be a lot of things. This can be society issues, wars, rivalries... anything where a man is pitted against another man. Political drama, for example, would fall as a man versus man conflict. This can also be physical struggles of a man versus another man.
Man versus Himself
This is the personal drama, the internal conflict. This is the hero who has to struggle with the morals of killing off an innocent in order to save the lives of man. Internal conflict is a very common type of conflict. In my opinion, it is almost necessary for a good story. Every novel that I have truly loved has had some form of man versus himself conflict.
Man versus environment
This can fit almost anything that doesn't fit himself or man. Be it fighting fate, fighting off natural disasters, or any circumstance that is outside of the control of man *or* himself would fit into this category. I tend to view fighting gods and fighting fate all a part of the man versus environment category.
Now that you have an idea of what the types of conflicts are, just what can you do with them?
I have made the error of writing stories without significant conflict. The stories were fun to write, but they really did not have any purpose. Conflict is what hooks a reader. A story with no conflict is a ship without water. It may be beautiful to look at, but it really would work a lot better if the ship had an ocean to sail on. Characters are the same as that ship.
I am going to use Harry Potter (JK Rowling) as an example of a story with conflict. No matter what critics may say about the writing style of these works, Harry Potter is full of conflict. This is a part of what draws so many people into reading these books.
Without spoiling the books for those who have not read the series, the conflict begins as man versus man. A boy with an unpleasant family. In this case, it is the boy versus his family. Then, it becomes a tale of a man versus himself versus man. He has to struggle with his own personal problems while dealing with his family *and* with the big bad guy of doom. This is dumbing it down as much as it can be, of course.
No matter which way Harry turns, Rowling throws problems at him. She throws him directly into problems. Whether he goes looking for conflict or not, it comes to him. Frequently. This keeps the story moving forward.
And, as she resolves one conflict, she naturally brings in another. Each conflict is a stepping stone towards the resolution of the major conflict. Best of all, the hero does not always win the battles.
Conflict should drive your stories. Ideas should not.
Some resources:
Short Story Elements
Literary Elements
Wikipedia on Conflict
In order to combat my own ambitions, I decided to try something a little different. Instead of focusing on the random ideas, I decided to pursue more of the conflicts and less of the exact scene concepts and other mechanisms I enjoy working with.
This led to some interesting research. What, exactly, makes a good conflict?
No matter how many ideas that you have, all of them will be made worthless without a good conflict to make your story alive. You may have these excellent ideas on a character design. But, what good is a character without the conflict to make them grow?
In order to know if you have the necessary conflict, you must first know just what a conflict is.
There are several types of conflicts. Let us go into them:
Man versus Man
Man versus Himself
Man versus Environment
These are the basic types of conflicts. I am no expert on conflicts. This is the entire point of delving into this subject. As usual, this is my take on the subject. Do with it as you please. I will list some resources you can reference at the bottom of this post.
Man versus Man
This can be a lot of things. This can be society issues, wars, rivalries... anything where a man is pitted against another man. Political drama, for example, would fall as a man versus man conflict. This can also be physical struggles of a man versus another man.
Man versus Himself
This is the personal drama, the internal conflict. This is the hero who has to struggle with the morals of killing off an innocent in order to save the lives of man. Internal conflict is a very common type of conflict. In my opinion, it is almost necessary for a good story. Every novel that I have truly loved has had some form of man versus himself conflict.
Man versus environment
This can fit almost anything that doesn't fit himself or man. Be it fighting fate, fighting off natural disasters, or any circumstance that is outside of the control of man *or* himself would fit into this category. I tend to view fighting gods and fighting fate all a part of the man versus environment category.
Now that you have an idea of what the types of conflicts are, just what can you do with them?
I have made the error of writing stories without significant conflict. The stories were fun to write, but they really did not have any purpose. Conflict is what hooks a reader. A story with no conflict is a ship without water. It may be beautiful to look at, but it really would work a lot better if the ship had an ocean to sail on. Characters are the same as that ship.
I am going to use Harry Potter (JK Rowling) as an example of a story with conflict. No matter what critics may say about the writing style of these works, Harry Potter is full of conflict. This is a part of what draws so many people into reading these books.
Without spoiling the books for those who have not read the series, the conflict begins as man versus man. A boy with an unpleasant family. In this case, it is the boy versus his family. Then, it becomes a tale of a man versus himself versus man. He has to struggle with his own personal problems while dealing with his family *and* with the big bad guy of doom. This is dumbing it down as much as it can be, of course.
No matter which way Harry turns, Rowling throws problems at him. She throws him directly into problems. Whether he goes looking for conflict or not, it comes to him. Frequently. This keeps the story moving forward.
And, as she resolves one conflict, she naturally brings in another. Each conflict is a stepping stone towards the resolution of the major conflict. Best of all, the hero does not always win the battles.
Conflict should drive your stories. Ideas should not.
Some resources:
Short Story Elements
Literary Elements
Wikipedia on Conflict
Tuesday, March 30, 2010
A long time coming - Writing from Experiences
First, I must apologize for the very long delay in blogging. Things have been hectic, and I have not had time for everything.
This post will be shorter than my usual, and it will not be full of links or resources. This is a personal journey, and as such, it will be my thoughts. Today, I want to comment -- briefly -- on writing from your experiences.
From the length of time that you have maybe noticed from my previous post to this one, a lot has happened. There has been family drama, the death of my great uncle, and other things which I do not wish to delve into.
A lot of drama and personal problems often results in a writer not writing. It happens to me, and it happens to those I know who also write. However, this is the perfect time to be writing. The experiences are ways to have you as a writer delve into the real pain, tragedies and personalities of characters. If you want your characters to be real, give them real emotions.
To learn those real emotions, examine your own emotions. Examine the emotions of those around you. That is how I try to make my characters real.
Crap happens.
Me, I'll use that crap to my advantage.
Once I get done digging out from a back log of other things I must get done, I will resume posting useful tidbits of information, but it will be at least another week or two until that point.
Cheers!
This post will be shorter than my usual, and it will not be full of links or resources. This is a personal journey, and as such, it will be my thoughts. Today, I want to comment -- briefly -- on writing from your experiences.
From the length of time that you have maybe noticed from my previous post to this one, a lot has happened. There has been family drama, the death of my great uncle, and other things which I do not wish to delve into.
A lot of drama and personal problems often results in a writer not writing. It happens to me, and it happens to those I know who also write. However, this is the perfect time to be writing. The experiences are ways to have you as a writer delve into the real pain, tragedies and personalities of characters. If you want your characters to be real, give them real emotions.
To learn those real emotions, examine your own emotions. Examine the emotions of those around you. That is how I try to make my characters real.
Crap happens.
Me, I'll use that crap to my advantage.
Once I get done digging out from a back log of other things I must get done, I will resume posting useful tidbits of information, but it will be at least another week or two until that point.
Cheers!
Thursday, February 25, 2010
Writing a Pitch
I have been hoo'ing and humming over writing this post for several weeks. It is something that is asked for frequently, but also something very difficult to actually write a guide for. There are several reasons for this. The most obvious one is that my experience with pitches is not as much as I could hope for it to be. This is one of my weaknesses.
That said, it doesn't seem productive if I just post to you a series of links that are on the subject of the pitch. That does not seem fair to you, who is struggling to make your way through the writing world just the same as I am.
That said, I have a great deal of experience pitching for freelance writing. Without a good pitch for this, I lose my contract to someone else. Because I charge more than the average person, I have to have a really good pitch to get any contracts at all. (For those of you not aware of the freelance writing market at the moment, it is not a good picture, as the demand for quality is far, far less than it used to be. Passable English suffices, which means many of the people want to hire those from India who charge significantly less than a cent per word for work.)
Now, onto the good stuff.
First, I would like to direct you to view the Post-Mortem of the pitch fest over at Johnson Literary. Unfortunately, the pitches themselves are long since gone, but this is a good overview of what was submitted.
Next, I would like to direct you to Elana Roth's Anatomy of a Query Letter. There are tied together as your pitch is an important element to your Query Letter.
However, as this is about the pitch itself and not about the Query Letter, let us focus on the Post-Mortem.
Let us begin with the initial statistics so kindly provided. Of 164 submissions, two survived the pitch to become full manuscript requests. This is a very low number, and a very good representation of what you need to do as a writer. There are lots of individuals putting out pitches. You need to learn how to present your story as one that stands out.
Four were invited to send in sample chapters. This is promising, but not quite as grabbing as those two who made their one hundred words go the distance.
That is right, ladies and gentleman. One hundred words was the limit for these pitches. And, an agent can tell, just from these one hundred words, whether or not they are interested in your story.
Before I go into my speech regarding the word count, I wish to point out that seventeen people did not follow Elana's directions on what she was looking for. You may think you are God's Gift to Readers, but unless the agent is interested in your style of writing, please don't submit to them. You are wasting your time and theirs.
That said, there is no reason you can't, if the situation provides itself, learn from these agents or even be professional acquaintances. Knowing people is a very good thing. Wasting their time is not. Please do not waste the time of these agents. They are busy enough without having to process a manuscript they cannot properly work with. You may have an interesting pitch, but these individuals represent a certain style of work because that is the type of work they enjoy reading and selling. Sure, a domesticated cat can hunt mice, but a dachshund is much better equipped to deal with a badger. Don't make your cat hunt a badger, it will end poorly for the cat.
Let us return to the Pitch Fest itself. First, the rules were simple. Each agent wrote a list of requirements for their pitches. They all wanted different types of stories, and were clear in what fields they were interested in. Then, there were a series of instructions. For example, no more than one hundred words. The paragraph below is exactly one hundred words so that you can see how much each writer was given to work with.
This is a demonstration of what one hundred words looks like. This is only to show you exactly how much space that these writers were given in order to present their characters and plot to an agent and get them completely interested in it. One hundred words, unfortunately, is not really a lot. However, it is sufficient to prove your writing skills and whether or not your story is interesting. With a required count so low, it is important that you understand that every word must count. Only then can you make your pitch as viable as you possibly can. I had the pleasure of reading the pitches before they were removed from the site. There were some interesting stories present. Some used as few as ten to fifteen words. Others used too many words! There were moments where I was scratching my head and wondering where the pitch was in their pitch. There were others that made me want to grab their book and read it.
Your goal, when you write a pitch, is to make the agent want to grab your book and read it.
This is strictly my opinion. I am no professional pitch mistress, and every agent wants something different in their pitches. However, this is what I picked up from talking to agents and reading pitches from others. I will call these Rebecca's Rules of Pitching.
1: Make every word count.
This should be obvious, but when you pitch, every word must count. If the word does not serve an immediate purpose, it should be removed. If it does not forward your pitch or add to the intensity of the story, it should be removed.
2: Pitch only to agents who are interested in your work.
Don't pitch a fantasy or science fiction novel to a romance agent. They won't be interested, no matter how interesting you think your book is. This applies to every genre. Don't send romance to science fiction agents, don't send non-fiction to a mystery agent. Pick your market properly.
3: Pitch to your market.
Every agent likes something different. Many agents have pet peeves. When you are considering pitching to an agent OR a publishing house, see if you can find blog posts or other information that reveals their pet peeves. See if you can find out what interests them. By pitching to a captive audience, you greatly increase your chances of a manuscript request. Remember, a pitch may or may not include chapters. You want your potential new agent to be alive with interest in your story before they pick up the first page to read.
4: Grammar. Use it.
Please try to use good grammar when you pitch. Your pitch is a presentation of your writing style. Don't close the door to an agent or publishing house through being lazy.
5: Love your pitch.
If you are not on fire with enthusiasm with the quality of your pitch, then it is not going to be suitable for an agent or publishing house. Enthusiasm is contagious. Agents can often detect, just from writing style and presentation, how much a writer puts into their story just from their pitch.
6: Grow thick skin. You'll need it.
Many writers will see many rejections before they see an acceptance. The same applies to your pitches.
These are points I've picked up from reading the experiences of other people. I do not know how well they will translate into how well I pitch.
I had been intending to show you some of the pitches for a 140 character or less pitch fest I did with some individuals during NaNoWriMo, but somehow, these pitches have disappeared. Seeing as I have people coming over in an hour or so to fix my cable, I need to get cleaning. This post is not nearly as long as I would like.
Perhaps I will revisit it someday, and that someday, I will even include pitches of my own to share.
That said, it doesn't seem productive if I just post to you a series of links that are on the subject of the pitch. That does not seem fair to you, who is struggling to make your way through the writing world just the same as I am.
That said, I have a great deal of experience pitching for freelance writing. Without a good pitch for this, I lose my contract to someone else. Because I charge more than the average person, I have to have a really good pitch to get any contracts at all. (For those of you not aware of the freelance writing market at the moment, it is not a good picture, as the demand for quality is far, far less than it used to be. Passable English suffices, which means many of the people want to hire those from India who charge significantly less than a cent per word for work.)
Now, onto the good stuff.
First, I would like to direct you to view the Post-Mortem of the pitch fest over at Johnson Literary. Unfortunately, the pitches themselves are long since gone, but this is a good overview of what was submitted.
Next, I would like to direct you to Elana Roth's Anatomy of a Query Letter. There are tied together as your pitch is an important element to your Query Letter.
However, as this is about the pitch itself and not about the Query Letter, let us focus on the Post-Mortem.
Let us begin with the initial statistics so kindly provided. Of 164 submissions, two survived the pitch to become full manuscript requests. This is a very low number, and a very good representation of what you need to do as a writer. There are lots of individuals putting out pitches. You need to learn how to present your story as one that stands out.
Four were invited to send in sample chapters. This is promising, but not quite as grabbing as those two who made their one hundred words go the distance.
That is right, ladies and gentleman. One hundred words was the limit for these pitches. And, an agent can tell, just from these one hundred words, whether or not they are interested in your story.
Before I go into my speech regarding the word count, I wish to point out that seventeen people did not follow Elana's directions on what she was looking for. You may think you are God's Gift to Readers, but unless the agent is interested in your style of writing, please don't submit to them. You are wasting your time and theirs.
That said, there is no reason you can't, if the situation provides itself, learn from these agents or even be professional acquaintances. Knowing people is a very good thing. Wasting their time is not. Please do not waste the time of these agents. They are busy enough without having to process a manuscript they cannot properly work with. You may have an interesting pitch, but these individuals represent a certain style of work because that is the type of work they enjoy reading and selling. Sure, a domesticated cat can hunt mice, but a dachshund is much better equipped to deal with a badger. Don't make your cat hunt a badger, it will end poorly for the cat.
Let us return to the Pitch Fest itself. First, the rules were simple. Each agent wrote a list of requirements for their pitches. They all wanted different types of stories, and were clear in what fields they were interested in. Then, there were a series of instructions. For example, no more than one hundred words. The paragraph below is exactly one hundred words so that you can see how much each writer was given to work with.
This is a demonstration of what one hundred words looks like. This is only to show you exactly how much space that these writers were given in order to present their characters and plot to an agent and get them completely interested in it. One hundred words, unfortunately, is not really a lot. However, it is sufficient to prove your writing skills and whether or not your story is interesting. With a required count so low, it is important that you understand that every word must count. Only then can you make your pitch as viable as you possibly can. I had the pleasure of reading the pitches before they were removed from the site. There were some interesting stories present. Some used as few as ten to fifteen words. Others used too many words! There were moments where I was scratching my head and wondering where the pitch was in their pitch. There were others that made me want to grab their book and read it.
Your goal, when you write a pitch, is to make the agent want to grab your book and read it.
This is strictly my opinion. I am no professional pitch mistress, and every agent wants something different in their pitches. However, this is what I picked up from talking to agents and reading pitches from others. I will call these Rebecca's Rules of Pitching.
1: Make every word count.
This should be obvious, but when you pitch, every word must count. If the word does not serve an immediate purpose, it should be removed. If it does not forward your pitch or add to the intensity of the story, it should be removed.
2: Pitch only to agents who are interested in your work.
Don't pitch a fantasy or science fiction novel to a romance agent. They won't be interested, no matter how interesting you think your book is. This applies to every genre. Don't send romance to science fiction agents, don't send non-fiction to a mystery agent. Pick your market properly.
3: Pitch to your market.
Every agent likes something different. Many agents have pet peeves. When you are considering pitching to an agent OR a publishing house, see if you can find blog posts or other information that reveals their pet peeves. See if you can find out what interests them. By pitching to a captive audience, you greatly increase your chances of a manuscript request. Remember, a pitch may or may not include chapters. You want your potential new agent to be alive with interest in your story before they pick up the first page to read.
4: Grammar. Use it.
Please try to use good grammar when you pitch. Your pitch is a presentation of your writing style. Don't close the door to an agent or publishing house through being lazy.
5: Love your pitch.
If you are not on fire with enthusiasm with the quality of your pitch, then it is not going to be suitable for an agent or publishing house. Enthusiasm is contagious. Agents can often detect, just from writing style and presentation, how much a writer puts into their story just from their pitch.
6: Grow thick skin. You'll need it.
Many writers will see many rejections before they see an acceptance. The same applies to your pitches.
These are points I've picked up from reading the experiences of other people. I do not know how well they will translate into how well I pitch.
I had been intending to show you some of the pitches for a 140 character or less pitch fest I did with some individuals during NaNoWriMo, but somehow, these pitches have disappeared. Seeing as I have people coming over in an hour or so to fix my cable, I need to get cleaning. This post is not nearly as long as I would like.
Perhaps I will revisit it someday, and that someday, I will even include pitches of my own to share.
Friday, January 29, 2010
Writing a Critique
I have covered how to accept a critique or criticism. Now, it is time to learn the art of writing a critique. This is a skill that many writers take for granted. There is a wealth of things that you can learn from taking the time to review other works that are not of your making.
Before we begin on the methods of how to write a critique, I am going to try to impress upon you the value of critiquing as I have experienced. This may not be truth for everyone. These are my experiences. At the end of this blog post, I will provide a wealth of information on what others think. For now, I will pursue my own thoughts and opinions.
1: The Value of the Skill
In order to critique, you must be a critic. You must look at writing with a new eye and judge every word. Every word must bear value and weight. The story must retain the simplified elegance that intrigues and captures.
If you can write a good critique for others, you are well on your way to being able to critique your own words. This is the true value of the skill.
When you see errors in other works, you will begin to identify those same errors in your own works. This is another added value of the skill.
When you correct grammar in someones work, you will begin to see how your own grammar is flawed. If you find a sentence that does not flow well, you may even search google to find out why it does not flow well, in efforts to teach the person you are critiquing. In turn, you learn a great deal more of the craft that you would if you had not taken the time to help someone else out.
As if these things were not benefit enough, there is a sheer, simple joy in sitting down and reading. You can see the starts of a story blooming before your eyes. If you are so fortunate, you can follow the story's progress towards a publisher. Should that great day come where that story is then published, you can bask in the glow of knowing you had helped that author along the way in some form or another.
To me, there is great value to the skill, and great value to the act of doing a critique or edit. There are days I sometimes wish to quit writing and become an editor just so that I can enjoy these benefits day to day. It would not be a bad life. However, I love telling stories even more than I love editing.
2: The lasting effect on others
When people set out to write a critique, it is often forgotten the lasting consequences of their critique on writers. Writers are often flighty folk who wear their heart on their sleeves. Even the most thick skinned of us fail at keeping some particularly stinging critiques from temporally crushing hopes.
In the worst of cases, these temporary emotions turn into permanent scars.
It saddens me to even acknowledge that I know a few former writers who have quit because of a critique written in such a way where it was meant to bring harm to the writer.
When you write a critique, you are supposed to be helping the person, not beating them down and crushing their hopes. Their words are not personal to you. Do not personally attack someone because of what they have written.
On the flip side of the coin, a writer *does* need to make efforts to believe that the critique is not a personal attack.
Karma comes and it goes. I hope for your sake you're on the right side of karma. A person who purposefully writes a hateful critique tends to get a slap to the face later down the road.
3: How best to benefit from writing a critique -- both as a receiver and a giver of critiques.
Like I mentioned in point #1, you benefit from writing a critique almost as much as the person who is receiving said critique. However, I find that I have to write a critique in a certain method in order to make the most of having written the critique.
I would like to call this the top ten list on things you should remember when critiquing.
While I often use 'you' in these points, please note that this is how *I* handle critiques when I write them.
First, I must find both the good with the bad. Finding the good may be harder in some pieces for others, but it forces me to focus and dig deeper into the point of the story. The same may be true for finding the bad in particularly good stories. It is sometimes actually harder to find 'bad' things about a good story than it is to find good things about what you view as a 'bad' one.
Second, you must learn diplomacy. You are allowed to be opinionated. You are allowed to be honest. However, learn to watch your mouth. I am opinionated, honest and stubborn all in one nice little package. That does not give me the right to Lord over someone as if their work is inferior to mine. There will always be someone more talented than you at writing in some form or another. You are critiquing to help someone else -- as well as yourself -- improve at writing. You are not critiquing to get a happy-good feeling. It will not kill you to be kind. It just means it may take a little longer to write that critique.
Third, you must take care with your words. This is not the same as diplomacy. If you are writing a critique on someone's writing, are they really going to take you seriously if you write: "Nice werk u did great job. U haz mad skillzors! Ur grammar here doesnt seem rite. Plz fix!"
Oh dear heavens, it hurt me just writing that. Unfortunately, I've seen it. And it made bits of my soul cry in agony. If I am critiquing someone, I should be writing at the best of my ability. The author I am writing the critique for deserves that much.
Fourth, do not waste their time. The time of an editor, agent and publisher is precious. When you submit to them, we do not wish to waste their time. The same applies in reverse. When you are critiquing, don't waste your time and do not waste theirs. This time is better spent correcting errors, critiquing new works, and improving yourself as an author.
Fifth, it takes one million bad words to write a good one. Writing a critique is writing. Ever word, every effort that you put in, goes towards improving your art at the craft. When you find a section of a story that seems 'off' or 'wrong' to you, try your hand at rewriting a suggestion for them. This allows you to practice your craft. At the same time, you may be able to help them overcome their issues with that section.
Sixth, confirm the use of your grammar before you lecture. If you spot a grammar error, hit google or another reference site and confirm that what you *think* is correct actually *is* correct. This will go a long way towards reinforcing your skills at the written craft without guiding anyone astray by accident.
Seventh, accept that they may not take your advice. A writer will often reply to a critique and thank you for the work you have done for them. Sometimes they will be rude and will not. However, accept the bitter fact that your advice is just that: it is advice that they can choose whether to accept or not.
Eighth, unless you are a paid editor, do not expect any favors (or cash) in return. Writers can be temper mental creatures. When you write a critique, do not expect anything in return except for what you learned as you tried to write the critique. If you get a critique in return of your own writing, be happy. Do not expect the same amount of work you put into your critique from them, however. This sets you up for being bitter in the end.
Ninth, do not hold a manuscript or story hostage. It concerns me that I feel the need to mention this. However, when you are writing a critique for someone, they are putting their trust in you not to expose their manuscript to harm. Treat it as you would their own. Do not steal from them, do not post your comments on public forums unless that is what they desire. The benefit to this is knowing not to make the mistake before you make it.
Finally, approach every story with an open mind. Critique genres that you are not used to critiquing. Explore new worlds. If you are a fantasy author, reading and critiquing a romance can be extremely valuable to you. After all, romance and love are emotions that people feel and experience. Why should your characters be any different? Exposing yourself to new things is never a bad thing. Your critiques of these genres may not be as useful at first, but they can make a significant difference to your own writing. Even if your critique lacks the sparkle of experts of those genres, the person receiving the critique will most likely respect the effort that you put into critiquing their manuscript.
4: How to Write a Critique
Onto the meat of this post. How exactly should one write a critique?
There are so many different ways to write a critique that I do not dare even try to go into them all. That is what the handy dandy list of critiquing methods and commentary from others at the bottom of this post is for.
What I will do is explain how I write a critique. In order to do this, I will expose you to a rough draft sampling of my epic fantasy piece. It is a small sampling which has not seen much sunlight or edits.
I hope you enjoy watching me tear new holes into myself critiquing my own writing. I didn't think to ask for a volunteer for a small passage of their work. The passage I have selected is one of my favorites. It was an experiment with writing about someones reaction to sudden deaths of those he knew. It was meant to set the tone for future parts of the novel as well. I apologize for the font differences.. Blogger is making fun of me as I try to do this. :(
All the background that you need is that a blizzard swept through a village with an environment rather similar to the tropics. I will put my self critiques in bold italics for easy spotting.
They continued their search. The brothers investigated each home with a detachment that Bion could not share. Every home told a different tale of death. Some were like Petrin’s, a calm release into a sleep that they would never awaken from. The first five homes they searched told that same tale.
I need to show Bion's lack of detachment, as well as the brothers' detachment rather than telling you about it. Things like, "No emotion showed on the brothers' faces as they peered into the ruins of the homes." should be added. A less 'fact by fact' tone needs to be taken with this paragraph to give it a deeper sense of being there.
It was the sixth that revealed the true horror of the killing cold.
Bion had gathered the courage to be the first to enter the home. In part, it was due to the fact that he was not intimately familiar with the couple who lived there. Riran and Marrany had been reclusive, quiet people. They had shown kindness to their neighbours, but respected distance and privacy. While older than Bion’s twenty four spans, they had not yet had children.
Show vs Tell, shame on me! (Egads, I did a lot of telling... I want to go pick a different section now. Mommy!)
Direct thought would be a good addition. For example,
I can do this, Bion straightened as he tentatively strode towards the door of Riran and Marrany's home. They do not have children. I do not know them well. This cannot hurt me.
Or so he hoped. Guilt at invading the privacy they had so carefully maintained warred with concern. Could they, unlike the others before them, still be alive?
Riran’s body lay close to the door. His limbs were sprawled, as though he had thrashed on the floor as he died. Unlike the others, his eyes were wide open in horror, ice crusting over most of his face. The roof had all but collapsed. Snow had fallen into the home, dusting Riran’s body.
I should probably describe wind sweeping in from the open roof above, blown snow drifting over the corpse rather than "the roof had all but collapsed..."
Bion stepped over the body, eyes searching the room.
Eyes searching the room is so cliche. Be gone, cliche! Be gone!
If Riran’s body had been disturbing, Marrany’s was grosteque. She had died naked, her hands clawing at the window as though she sought escape. Blood had frozen on her nails from where she had tried to claw through the wood and had only succeeded in tearing her fingers. Her body was pressed tight to the wall, one hand still clutching at the window sill above her head.
I like this paragraph. I will need to think on whether or not I wish to change it. At this moment in time, I do not.
Bile rose in Bion’s throat. He had enough dignity to make it outside before vomiting beside the house. His body shook from shock and cold. His vision blurred as he knelt in the snow. His hands clenched into fists, his breath coming in short, ragged gasps.
“We can stop,” Halens’ voice lacked all smugness, the short man opting for sympathy.
Change it to, "Halens' voice lacked his typical, high handed smugness. Scratch opting for... it is revealed in the following dialogue.
“I don’t want your sympathy,” Bion violently shook his head and forced himself back to his feet. Wiping his mouth on the back of his glove, he turned back towards the home in steely determination. “I’m not the one who is dead.”
I like Bion's reply here. It really shows a change of personality. He comes across very meek until this point. This is when the character starts standing up for himself.
It is harder to critique yourself than it is to critique someone else. I suggest you try to practice on yourself, as I have done here. You will learn a lot. If you can roleplay it better than I, talking to the author as if they were not you, you may be able to go far with it!
I will add the good with the bad as I go through the story. I add line edits, just as I did here. However, I make a point to mention brad points and *good* things at the *end* of the critique, and a disclaimer that I mean to make no offense.
That is my critiquing style in a nutshell.
Onto the resources! More resources are welcomed. If you know of any, please add a comment and I will edit them into this post.
On Writing Critiques:
RPI.edu
Writing World - Links
Creativity Portal
Suite 101 Article
Help with Writing Critiques
Experience Festival - Writing Critiques
Critique Groups:
Critique Circle
Critters Writing Workshop
Internet Writing Workshop
Before we begin on the methods of how to write a critique, I am going to try to impress upon you the value of critiquing as I have experienced. This may not be truth for everyone. These are my experiences. At the end of this blog post, I will provide a wealth of information on what others think. For now, I will pursue my own thoughts and opinions.
1: The Value of the Skill
In order to critique, you must be a critic. You must look at writing with a new eye and judge every word. Every word must bear value and weight. The story must retain the simplified elegance that intrigues and captures.
If you can write a good critique for others, you are well on your way to being able to critique your own words. This is the true value of the skill.
When you see errors in other works, you will begin to identify those same errors in your own works. This is another added value of the skill.
When you correct grammar in someones work, you will begin to see how your own grammar is flawed. If you find a sentence that does not flow well, you may even search google to find out why it does not flow well, in efforts to teach the person you are critiquing. In turn, you learn a great deal more of the craft that you would if you had not taken the time to help someone else out.
As if these things were not benefit enough, there is a sheer, simple joy in sitting down and reading. You can see the starts of a story blooming before your eyes. If you are so fortunate, you can follow the story's progress towards a publisher. Should that great day come where that story is then published, you can bask in the glow of knowing you had helped that author along the way in some form or another.
To me, there is great value to the skill, and great value to the act of doing a critique or edit. There are days I sometimes wish to quit writing and become an editor just so that I can enjoy these benefits day to day. It would not be a bad life. However, I love telling stories even more than I love editing.
2: The lasting effect on others
When people set out to write a critique, it is often forgotten the lasting consequences of their critique on writers. Writers are often flighty folk who wear their heart on their sleeves. Even the most thick skinned of us fail at keeping some particularly stinging critiques from temporally crushing hopes.
In the worst of cases, these temporary emotions turn into permanent scars.
It saddens me to even acknowledge that I know a few former writers who have quit because of a critique written in such a way where it was meant to bring harm to the writer.
When you write a critique, you are supposed to be helping the person, not beating them down and crushing their hopes. Their words are not personal to you. Do not personally attack someone because of what they have written.
On the flip side of the coin, a writer *does* need to make efforts to believe that the critique is not a personal attack.
Karma comes and it goes. I hope for your sake you're on the right side of karma. A person who purposefully writes a hateful critique tends to get a slap to the face later down the road.
3: How best to benefit from writing a critique -- both as a receiver and a giver of critiques.
Like I mentioned in point #1, you benefit from writing a critique almost as much as the person who is receiving said critique. However, I find that I have to write a critique in a certain method in order to make the most of having written the critique.
I would like to call this the top ten list on things you should remember when critiquing.
While I often use 'you' in these points, please note that this is how *I* handle critiques when I write them.
First, I must find both the good with the bad. Finding the good may be harder in some pieces for others, but it forces me to focus and dig deeper into the point of the story. The same may be true for finding the bad in particularly good stories. It is sometimes actually harder to find 'bad' things about a good story than it is to find good things about what you view as a 'bad' one.
Second, you must learn diplomacy. You are allowed to be opinionated. You are allowed to be honest. However, learn to watch your mouth. I am opinionated, honest and stubborn all in one nice little package. That does not give me the right to Lord over someone as if their work is inferior to mine. There will always be someone more talented than you at writing in some form or another. You are critiquing to help someone else -- as well as yourself -- improve at writing. You are not critiquing to get a happy-good feeling. It will not kill you to be kind. It just means it may take a little longer to write that critique.
Third, you must take care with your words. This is not the same as diplomacy. If you are writing a critique on someone's writing, are they really going to take you seriously if you write: "Nice werk u did great job. U haz mad skillzors! Ur grammar here doesnt seem rite. Plz fix!"
Oh dear heavens, it hurt me just writing that. Unfortunately, I've seen it. And it made bits of my soul cry in agony. If I am critiquing someone, I should be writing at the best of my ability. The author I am writing the critique for deserves that much.
Fourth, do not waste their time. The time of an editor, agent and publisher is precious. When you submit to them, we do not wish to waste their time. The same applies in reverse. When you are critiquing, don't waste your time and do not waste theirs. This time is better spent correcting errors, critiquing new works, and improving yourself as an author.
Fifth, it takes one million bad words to write a good one. Writing a critique is writing. Ever word, every effort that you put in, goes towards improving your art at the craft. When you find a section of a story that seems 'off' or 'wrong' to you, try your hand at rewriting a suggestion for them. This allows you to practice your craft. At the same time, you may be able to help them overcome their issues with that section.
Sixth, confirm the use of your grammar before you lecture. If you spot a grammar error, hit google or another reference site and confirm that what you *think* is correct actually *is* correct. This will go a long way towards reinforcing your skills at the written craft without guiding anyone astray by accident.
Seventh, accept that they may not take your advice. A writer will often reply to a critique and thank you for the work you have done for them. Sometimes they will be rude and will not. However, accept the bitter fact that your advice is just that: it is advice that they can choose whether to accept or not.
Eighth, unless you are a paid editor, do not expect any favors (or cash) in return. Writers can be temper mental creatures. When you write a critique, do not expect anything in return except for what you learned as you tried to write the critique. If you get a critique in return of your own writing, be happy. Do not expect the same amount of work you put into your critique from them, however. This sets you up for being bitter in the end.
Ninth, do not hold a manuscript or story hostage. It concerns me that I feel the need to mention this. However, when you are writing a critique for someone, they are putting their trust in you not to expose their manuscript to harm. Treat it as you would their own. Do not steal from them, do not post your comments on public forums unless that is what they desire. The benefit to this is knowing not to make the mistake before you make it.
Finally, approach every story with an open mind. Critique genres that you are not used to critiquing. Explore new worlds. If you are a fantasy author, reading and critiquing a romance can be extremely valuable to you. After all, romance and love are emotions that people feel and experience. Why should your characters be any different? Exposing yourself to new things is never a bad thing. Your critiques of these genres may not be as useful at first, but they can make a significant difference to your own writing. Even if your critique lacks the sparkle of experts of those genres, the person receiving the critique will most likely respect the effort that you put into critiquing their manuscript.
4: How to Write a Critique
Onto the meat of this post. How exactly should one write a critique?
There are so many different ways to write a critique that I do not dare even try to go into them all. That is what the handy dandy list of critiquing methods and commentary from others at the bottom of this post is for.
What I will do is explain how I write a critique. In order to do this, I will expose you to a rough draft sampling of my epic fantasy piece. It is a small sampling which has not seen much sunlight or edits.
I hope you enjoy watching me tear new holes into myself critiquing my own writing. I didn't think to ask for a volunteer for a small passage of their work. The passage I have selected is one of my favorites. It was an experiment with writing about someones reaction to sudden deaths of those he knew. It was meant to set the tone for future parts of the novel as well. I apologize for the font differences.. Blogger is making fun of me as I try to do this. :(
All the background that you need is that a blizzard swept through a village with an environment rather similar to the tropics. I will put my self critiques in bold italics for easy spotting.
They continued their search. The brothers investigated each home with a detachment that Bion could not share. Every home told a different tale of death. Some were like Petrin’s, a calm release into a sleep that they would never awaken from. The first five homes they searched told that same tale.
I need to show Bion's lack of detachment, as well as the brothers' detachment rather than telling you about it. Things like, "No emotion showed on the brothers' faces as they peered into the ruins of the homes." should be added. A less 'fact by fact' tone needs to be taken with this paragraph to give it a deeper sense of being there.
It was the sixth that revealed the true horror of the killing cold.
Bion had gathered the courage to be the first to enter the home. In part, it was due to the fact that he was not intimately familiar with the couple who lived there. Riran and Marrany had been reclusive, quiet people. They had shown kindness to their neighbours, but respected distance and privacy. While older than Bion’s twenty four spans, they had not yet had children.
Show vs Tell, shame on me! (Egads, I did a lot of telling... I want to go pick a different section now. Mommy!)
Direct thought would be a good addition. For example,
I can do this, Bion straightened as he tentatively strode towards the door of Riran and Marrany's home. They do not have children. I do not know them well. This cannot hurt me.
Or so he hoped. Guilt at invading the privacy they had so carefully maintained warred with concern. Could they, unlike the others before them, still be alive?
Riran’s body lay close to the door. His limbs were sprawled, as though he had thrashed on the floor as he died. Unlike the others, his eyes were wide open in horror, ice crusting over most of his face. The roof had all but collapsed. Snow had fallen into the home, dusting Riran’s body.
I should probably describe wind sweeping in from the open roof above, blown snow drifting over the corpse rather than "the roof had all but collapsed..."
Bion stepped over the body, eyes searching the room.
Eyes searching the room is so cliche. Be gone, cliche! Be gone!
If Riran’s body had been disturbing, Marrany’s was grosteque. She had died naked, her hands clawing at the window as though she sought escape. Blood had frozen on her nails from where she had tried to claw through the wood and had only succeeded in tearing her fingers. Her body was pressed tight to the wall, one hand still clutching at the window sill above her head.
I like this paragraph. I will need to think on whether or not I wish to change it. At this moment in time, I do not.
Bile rose in Bion’s throat. He had enough dignity to make it outside before vomiting beside the house. His body shook from shock and cold. His vision blurred as he knelt in the snow. His hands clenched into fists, his breath coming in short, ragged gasps.
“We can stop,” Halens’ voice lacked all smugness, the short man opting for sympathy.
Change it to, "Halens' voice lacked his typical, high handed smugness. Scratch opting for... it is revealed in the following dialogue.
“I don’t want your sympathy,” Bion violently shook his head and forced himself back to his feet. Wiping his mouth on the back of his glove, he turned back towards the home in steely determination. “I’m not the one who is dead.”
I like Bion's reply here. It really shows a change of personality. He comes across very meek until this point. This is when the character starts standing up for himself.
It is harder to critique yourself than it is to critique someone else. I suggest you try to practice on yourself, as I have done here. You will learn a lot. If you can roleplay it better than I, talking to the author as if they were not you, you may be able to go far with it!
I will add the good with the bad as I go through the story. I add line edits, just as I did here. However, I make a point to mention brad points and *good* things at the *end* of the critique, and a disclaimer that I mean to make no offense.
That is my critiquing style in a nutshell.
Onto the resources! More resources are welcomed. If you know of any, please add a comment and I will edit them into this post.
On Writing Critiques:
RPI.edu
Writing World - Links
Creativity Portal
Suite 101 Article
Help with Writing Critiques
Experience Festival - Writing Critiques
Critique Groups:
Critique Circle
Critters Writing Workshop
Internet Writing Workshop
Help, I've fallen and I can't get up! (Or how to resume writing if you have stopped)
Before I begin with this entry, I wanted to extend a kind thank you to those who have started to follow this blog and for those who have linked to specific entries, or even the blog itself! Your support is greatly appreciated.
I write this blog with no intent to profit or benefit from it beyond having taken the journey doing it. As you've probably noticed, I have not added ads to the blog, nor will I ever. I do not even have a donation button. So, that anyone has taken the time to respond to this blog at all is extremely valuable to me. I hope that you continue to enjoy and make use of the things I have learned.
In addition to this, I would like to point out -- once again -- that these are my opinions. I try to support my opinion with the opinions of other writers. Sometimes, I even find some facts out there on the internet! Please do not swallow every word I say with blind trust. I want every person who reads this blog to reach out and come to their own conclusions. If it happens to be inline with mine, that is wonderful.
Now, onto the real subject.
Something I hear about frequently is that a writer friend of mine has abandoned writing or has not picked up their pen in months. Some made the long haul for Nanowrimo and have since jumped off of the bandwagon. In some cases, they face-planted directly into a mud puddle. This often just adds insult to injury.
It causes a bit of pain to realize that I too have suffered from this syndrome. I think all writers do from time to time.
I have some insights that I have developed, oddly enough, without much influence from others. Writing is a very personal journey. For me, even more so. I'm fairly willing to hand out copies of my work to people who want to read if I have any trust in them whatsoever. However, until the moment I dedicated myself to posting to this blog as I became inspired to, I had not shared many of the details of the actual journey itself.
This post, I warn you now, is extremely personal for me. Because of this, I will be opinionated, stubborn and sometimes surly. I may even sound grumpy. (That may be due to the fact that it is 5:19 AM and I am looking at a draft with 61,661 words and I don't want to type a word because I really enjoy the look of that word count.)
Yes, I am procrastinating.
In order for this post to make sense, I will have to tell you a bit about two projects I am working on. This is relevant, because this is what I had to do to dig myself out of the latest hole I have buried myself in.
I will also warn you that this post meanders in all sorts of directions. If you're looking for the nice, neat and tidy posts you are used to. . . look away. Quickly. This is the union of a pig sty with chaos. This may sound angsty as well. In a way, it is. Emotions tend to be angsty things, and these are some of the darker emotions of writing.
The Projects!
Project One: My epic fantasy series. (As of yet, Untitled)
This is the novel series that I started with NaNoWriMo '09. I have 61,661 words to it at the moment. I have done some drafting, I have done some minor edits, and I have done a lot of world building for this story. I am writing slowly. After November, I admit to having done the inelegant face-plant directly into a pile of ....
... I'll let you imagine just what I fell into.
This story is my love child. It has been hard for me to write, however. I have strayed outside of my normal comfort zone and have not only pursued an epic, but I have pursued a story where people die. I have pursued a story that delves into grief, joy and difficulties. I have pursued a tale where a man must give up the things that he loves in the hopes of protecting them and giving them a future, only to find out that those hopes and those sacrifices meant nothing in the end.
I pursue a tale where men and women struggle for things that they believe in for the sake of people other than themselves. I pursue a tale where these same people then sacrifice those things they have fought so hard and long for in hopes of doing something purely for themselves.
This is a tale about building a future through a shroud of tragedy. It is a dark epic that finds glimmers of light in the oddest of places.
It is action and adventure paired with a little romance. And lust. (What is a good story without at least a little bit of lust, after all?)
I fell off the bandwagon on this story for a few reasons. As I mentioned before, it is difficult to write. I do not like writing of the deaths of people, even fictional. I have always been a fan of those stories where many people somehow manage to survive against all odds.
This time, I sacrificed those people. I let people die as is their fate. If someone is struck through the heart with an arrow, I allow them to bleed and become a statistic.
I have let main characters survive and die as necessary. After all, these people are but human, and humans are fragile.
So, I admit, I did get a keen sense of pleasure from killing off the random villages and describing their fates. There was something thrilling about the process. Also, there was something gleeful about making some of my friends squirm as I discomforted them.
I love a good, dark epic fantasy. So, this is my journey to write one. But I fell off! Woe is me.
Project Two: Ten Years Later (Tentatively titled: Darkest before the Dawn)
Yep. I revisited the world of the epic fantasy ten years later, on a different side of the continent that the main story takes place. Characters from the epic reappear. Ones who have not yet been introduced earn their keep. Ground work on "What Happened After?" is set into place. A few major players from the epic have minor roles, but are not the stars.
The star of this book is someone who does play a major role in the epic. However, she is not a major character, nor does she have a long term role. Her story did not begin until after she died and became a witch.
Er.. what?
In my world, in order to become a witch, you must first suffer fatal injuries. In a sense, it is a divine intervention of sorts. The powers of a witch are powers of nature, and a tie with nature that can only be completed once she (or he) has experienced all aspects of life. Including death.
If the person who dies is to be a witch, then he or she survives the injuries after walking through the shadows of death, of a sort. It is those "I have seen the light in the tunnel and somehow survived" type of people, who by all rights should have died. More people with the power to become a witch die than actually become a witch. It takes someone - or something - with a lot of dedication to keep one of these people from dying completely.
In this character's case, it was a bit of both.
This story is also a dark tale, at least at first. However, the main point of this story is a story of hope. It is the story of someone who has lost it all and has somehow survived despite that fact and has a glorious chance to take it all back. With an indominable spirit and a desire for vengeance, this witch goes on to not only serve justice, but to reclaim everything that she has lost.
It also touches into grief and healing, but is mostly a feel-good story about someone who does overcome those odds.
This novel was how I picked myself up off of the ground.
How I stood back up
After NaNoWriMo '09 ended, I think I wrote maybe 1,000 words a week total. Of which I deleted more words than I added. Very counterproductive, that. In furstration, I put it aside completely at the end of December, flailing in general. Who doesn't, sometimes?
I knew where I wanted to go with this story. I worked hard poking at it, but the inspiration that is still with me was having trouble coming to the surface. It is a form of writer's block, but somewhat different. I had the entire story, I knew what I needed to write, I knew what was happening in the scene. I just could not get myself to type the words onto the computer.
When coupled with a general sense of failure, this can result in tragedy for a writer. And the inability to put words to the page.
So, I asked my husband one day to buy me some writing journal or another. I wanted to jot down some story idea or another that was rattling in my brain.
He came out of the store with a pack of four 16 sheet journals.
Truly, these were the bestestestest things I have ever laid my eyes on. I squealed. There is a yellow, a blue, a green and a pink journal in each pack.
My creative juices had a collective freak fit and went into a state of catatonic shock. Who ever would have thought something so simple as a 16 sheet writing journal could make such a difference?
Armed with these journals, I began to write random stories. I had two false starts before I found project #2 kicking around in my skull.
The first 24 hours resulted in 6,400 handwritten words.
By the weekend, I had 12,800 and had the starts to a story I was really satisfied with.
After the shine wore off a bit, I found myself right back to where I had left off: saddened, discouraged and thinking I would never get a project properly finished, edited and out the door.
I took a step back, blogged a bit to motivate myself, and glared at my computer.
Then, I fell onto the solution of my problem.
Belief.
For one critical moment, I believed I could do this. I just had to figure out how. So, I made this expression at my computer and my writing paper: >:|
Project One is my dream novel(s). It is the story I wish to publish and share with the world. I had reached that precipice and stared into the abyss. The abyss stared back and mocked me.
No one is going to help pick you up when you fall. You must do it on your own. I realized this and started trying to find out just how to do it. I sat on my rump and reflected and found that I still had that critical belief in myself. It had just gone into hiding into some dark, dusty corner. It was a skeleton in my closet.
Just to repeat this: No one is going to help pick you up when you fall.
People will say kind things and try to help, but only you can help you get back up at the end of the day.
This is kind of painful to write about. And embarrassing. But, I am human, so there we have it.
Again, just in case the first two times weren't opinionated and stubborn enough:
If you want to be a writer, stop relying on other people to pick you up and start relying on you. People, like me, will tell you kind words or mean ones trying to motivate you. But at the end of the day, when you fall in the mud, you need to believe that you can stand back up. An agent may love your story, an editor may shower you with praise. A publication house may pick up your story. However, none of this will ever happen if you do not believe that you can make it happen.
Now, onto the next stage of recovery:
Remembering to Write
Life gets in the way. Some of the time, I just forgot to fit writing into my day. I got distracted by shiny objects or by how warm and comfortable my bed really was and how much I enjoyed sleeping.
I cannot tell you how to remember to write each day! I fail at it miserably enough. (I am one week in of non interrupted writing. I feel like I'm succeeding at rehab.)
One tip I can suggest: Never ever take a day off completely. Write one sentence at a minimum. Once I fail to do that, it is sometimes a month before I pick up my pen again, which is totally unacceptable if I wish to become a professional author, as I do wish to do.
Finally, making progress!
Once you have gotten back up, it is easier to stay on the horse than to get back on after you have fallen. Train yourself not to give up. Once you do, you have to go back and find those shreds of belief and motivate yourself. This is hard. Oh, is it ever hard. But if you sit there and tell yourself that you can do it AND you actually do it, good things will happen.
Oh, yes. Good things will happen.
Believe. Remember to Write. Make it Happen.
Three very simple things that are extremely difficult to do. But, I stand by it. Hindsight is rather good for me, and each time I have fallen off, this is exactly how I ended up getting back up on the saddle and riding off towards that gorgeous sunset.
Now, as soon as I submit this and drink some tea to soothe my frayed nerves, I will exceed that shiny 61,661 word count. I want 75,000 by Monday, and they will not write themselves down.
By Friday, I want 85,000.
Two weeks from now, I want 100,000.
Can I do it?
I don't know. But I'm back up on the saddle, and I refuse to fall just yet. If I do, I will get back up.
But, I can thank four little 16 sheet writing journals and Project Two for helping me get the courage to resume on Project One. I will continue to write Project Two as a reward, but I have rededicated my focus back onto Project One where it properly belongs.
I would like to note that I had five spelling mistakes in this entire entry. For writing at 5-6 AM, not bad!
Also, a piece of advice before I find some fancy schmancy quotes to share: Do not forget to take your tea bag out of your water. It leaves unpleasant surprises an hour later.
Quotes on Motivation, Inspiration and anything else I feel interesting at this hour:
I write this blog with no intent to profit or benefit from it beyond having taken the journey doing it. As you've probably noticed, I have not added ads to the blog, nor will I ever. I do not even have a donation button. So, that anyone has taken the time to respond to this blog at all is extremely valuable to me. I hope that you continue to enjoy and make use of the things I have learned.
In addition to this, I would like to point out -- once again -- that these are my opinions. I try to support my opinion with the opinions of other writers. Sometimes, I even find some facts out there on the internet! Please do not swallow every word I say with blind trust. I want every person who reads this blog to reach out and come to their own conclusions. If it happens to be inline with mine, that is wonderful.
Now, onto the real subject.
Something I hear about frequently is that a writer friend of mine has abandoned writing or has not picked up their pen in months. Some made the long haul for Nanowrimo and have since jumped off of the bandwagon. In some cases, they face-planted directly into a mud puddle. This often just adds insult to injury.
It causes a bit of pain to realize that I too have suffered from this syndrome. I think all writers do from time to time.
I have some insights that I have developed, oddly enough, without much influence from others. Writing is a very personal journey. For me, even more so. I'm fairly willing to hand out copies of my work to people who want to read if I have any trust in them whatsoever. However, until the moment I dedicated myself to posting to this blog as I became inspired to, I had not shared many of the details of the actual journey itself.
This post, I warn you now, is extremely personal for me. Because of this, I will be opinionated, stubborn and sometimes surly. I may even sound grumpy. (That may be due to the fact that it is 5:19 AM and I am looking at a draft with 61,661 words and I don't want to type a word because I really enjoy the look of that word count.)
Yes, I am procrastinating.
In order for this post to make sense, I will have to tell you a bit about two projects I am working on. This is relevant, because this is what I had to do to dig myself out of the latest hole I have buried myself in.
I will also warn you that this post meanders in all sorts of directions. If you're looking for the nice, neat and tidy posts you are used to. . . look away. Quickly. This is the union of a pig sty with chaos. This may sound angsty as well. In a way, it is. Emotions tend to be angsty things, and these are some of the darker emotions of writing.
The Projects!
Project One: My epic fantasy series. (As of yet, Untitled)
This is the novel series that I started with NaNoWriMo '09. I have 61,661 words to it at the moment. I have done some drafting, I have done some minor edits, and I have done a lot of world building for this story. I am writing slowly. After November, I admit to having done the inelegant face-plant directly into a pile of ....
... I'll let you imagine just what I fell into.
This story is my love child. It has been hard for me to write, however. I have strayed outside of my normal comfort zone and have not only pursued an epic, but I have pursued a story where people die. I have pursued a story that delves into grief, joy and difficulties. I have pursued a tale where a man must give up the things that he loves in the hopes of protecting them and giving them a future, only to find out that those hopes and those sacrifices meant nothing in the end.
I pursue a tale where men and women struggle for things that they believe in for the sake of people other than themselves. I pursue a tale where these same people then sacrifice those things they have fought so hard and long for in hopes of doing something purely for themselves.
This is a tale about building a future through a shroud of tragedy. It is a dark epic that finds glimmers of light in the oddest of places.
It is action and adventure paired with a little romance. And lust. (What is a good story without at least a little bit of lust, after all?)
I fell off the bandwagon on this story for a few reasons. As I mentioned before, it is difficult to write. I do not like writing of the deaths of people, even fictional. I have always been a fan of those stories where many people somehow manage to survive against all odds.
This time, I sacrificed those people. I let people die as is their fate. If someone is struck through the heart with an arrow, I allow them to bleed and become a statistic.
I have let main characters survive and die as necessary. After all, these people are but human, and humans are fragile.
So, I admit, I did get a keen sense of pleasure from killing off the random villages and describing their fates. There was something thrilling about the process. Also, there was something gleeful about making some of my friends squirm as I discomforted them.
I love a good, dark epic fantasy. So, this is my journey to write one. But I fell off! Woe is me.
Project Two: Ten Years Later (Tentatively titled: Darkest before the Dawn)
Yep. I revisited the world of the epic fantasy ten years later, on a different side of the continent that the main story takes place. Characters from the epic reappear. Ones who have not yet been introduced earn their keep. Ground work on "What Happened After?" is set into place. A few major players from the epic have minor roles, but are not the stars.
The star of this book is someone who does play a major role in the epic. However, she is not a major character, nor does she have a long term role. Her story did not begin until after she died and became a witch.
Er.. what?
In my world, in order to become a witch, you must first suffer fatal injuries. In a sense, it is a divine intervention of sorts. The powers of a witch are powers of nature, and a tie with nature that can only be completed once she (or he) has experienced all aspects of life. Including death.
If the person who dies is to be a witch, then he or she survives the injuries after walking through the shadows of death, of a sort. It is those "I have seen the light in the tunnel and somehow survived" type of people, who by all rights should have died. More people with the power to become a witch die than actually become a witch. It takes someone - or something - with a lot of dedication to keep one of these people from dying completely.
In this character's case, it was a bit of both.
This story is also a dark tale, at least at first. However, the main point of this story is a story of hope. It is the story of someone who has lost it all and has somehow survived despite that fact and has a glorious chance to take it all back. With an indominable spirit and a desire for vengeance, this witch goes on to not only serve justice, but to reclaim everything that she has lost.
It also touches into grief and healing, but is mostly a feel-good story about someone who does overcome those odds.
This novel was how I picked myself up off of the ground.
How I stood back up
After NaNoWriMo '09 ended, I think I wrote maybe 1,000 words a week total. Of which I deleted more words than I added. Very counterproductive, that. In furstration, I put it aside completely at the end of December, flailing in general. Who doesn't, sometimes?
I knew where I wanted to go with this story. I worked hard poking at it, but the inspiration that is still with me was having trouble coming to the surface. It is a form of writer's block, but somewhat different. I had the entire story, I knew what I needed to write, I knew what was happening in the scene. I just could not get myself to type the words onto the computer.
When coupled with a general sense of failure, this can result in tragedy for a writer. And the inability to put words to the page.
So, I asked my husband one day to buy me some writing journal or another. I wanted to jot down some story idea or another that was rattling in my brain.
He came out of the store with a pack of four 16 sheet journals.
Truly, these were the bestestestest things I have ever laid my eyes on. I squealed. There is a yellow, a blue, a green and a pink journal in each pack.
My creative juices had a collective freak fit and went into a state of catatonic shock. Who ever would have thought something so simple as a 16 sheet writing journal could make such a difference?
Armed with these journals, I began to write random stories. I had two false starts before I found project #2 kicking around in my skull.
The first 24 hours resulted in 6,400 handwritten words.
By the weekend, I had 12,800 and had the starts to a story I was really satisfied with.
After the shine wore off a bit, I found myself right back to where I had left off: saddened, discouraged and thinking I would never get a project properly finished, edited and out the door.
I took a step back, blogged a bit to motivate myself, and glared at my computer.
Then, I fell onto the solution of my problem.
Belief.
For one critical moment, I believed I could do this. I just had to figure out how. So, I made this expression at my computer and my writing paper: >:|
Project One is my dream novel(s). It is the story I wish to publish and share with the world. I had reached that precipice and stared into the abyss. The abyss stared back and mocked me.
No one is going to help pick you up when you fall. You must do it on your own. I realized this and started trying to find out just how to do it. I sat on my rump and reflected and found that I still had that critical belief in myself. It had just gone into hiding into some dark, dusty corner. It was a skeleton in my closet.
Just to repeat this: No one is going to help pick you up when you fall.
People will say kind things and try to help, but only you can help you get back up at the end of the day.
This is kind of painful to write about. And embarrassing. But, I am human, so there we have it.
Again, just in case the first two times weren't opinionated and stubborn enough:
If you want to be a writer, stop relying on other people to pick you up and start relying on you. People, like me, will tell you kind words or mean ones trying to motivate you. But at the end of the day, when you fall in the mud, you need to believe that you can stand back up. An agent may love your story, an editor may shower you with praise. A publication house may pick up your story. However, none of this will ever happen if you do not believe that you can make it happen.
Now, onto the next stage of recovery:
Remembering to Write
Life gets in the way. Some of the time, I just forgot to fit writing into my day. I got distracted by shiny objects or by how warm and comfortable my bed really was and how much I enjoyed sleeping.
I cannot tell you how to remember to write each day! I fail at it miserably enough. (I am one week in of non interrupted writing. I feel like I'm succeeding at rehab.)
One tip I can suggest: Never ever take a day off completely. Write one sentence at a minimum. Once I fail to do that, it is sometimes a month before I pick up my pen again, which is totally unacceptable if I wish to become a professional author, as I do wish to do.
Finally, making progress!
Once you have gotten back up, it is easier to stay on the horse than to get back on after you have fallen. Train yourself not to give up. Once you do, you have to go back and find those shreds of belief and motivate yourself. This is hard. Oh, is it ever hard. But if you sit there and tell yourself that you can do it AND you actually do it, good things will happen.
Oh, yes. Good things will happen.
Believe. Remember to Write. Make it Happen.
Three very simple things that are extremely difficult to do. But, I stand by it. Hindsight is rather good for me, and each time I have fallen off, this is exactly how I ended up getting back up on the saddle and riding off towards that gorgeous sunset.
Now, as soon as I submit this and drink some tea to soothe my frayed nerves, I will exceed that shiny 61,661 word count. I want 75,000 by Monday, and they will not write themselves down.
By Friday, I want 85,000.
Two weeks from now, I want 100,000.
Can I do it?
I don't know. But I'm back up on the saddle, and I refuse to fall just yet. If I do, I will get back up.
But, I can thank four little 16 sheet writing journals and Project Two for helping me get the courage to resume on Project One. I will continue to write Project Two as a reward, but I have rededicated my focus back onto Project One where it properly belongs.
I would like to note that I had five spelling mistakes in this entire entry. For writing at 5-6 AM, not bad!
Also, a piece of advice before I find some fancy schmancy quotes to share: Do not forget to take your tea bag out of your water. It leaves unpleasant surprises an hour later.
Quotes on Motivation, Inspiration and anything else I feel interesting at this hour:
- Dreams are extremely important. You can’t do it unless you imagine it. – George Lucas
- A man is not old until regrets take the place of dreams. - John Barrymore
- The man who goes farthest is generally the one who is willing to do and dare. The sure-thing boat never gets far from shore. - Dale Carnegie
- Strength does not come from physical capacity. It comes from an indomitable will. - Mahatma Gandhi
- The world is full of willing people, some willing to work, the rest willing to let them. - Robert Frost
- The difference between the impossible and the possible lies in a person's determination. - Tommy Lasorda
- The price of success is hard work, dedication to the job at hand, and the determination that whether we win or lose, we have applied the best of ourselves to the task at hand. - Vince Lombardi
- One’s best success comes after his greatest disappointments. - Henry Ward Beecher
- Don’t be afraid to take a big step if one is indicated. You can’t cross a chasm in two small jumps. - David Lloyd George
- A man's doubts and fears are his worst enemies. – William Wrigley Jr.
- Failures are divided into two classes - those who thought and never did, and those who did and never thought. - John Charles Salak
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