A little night music

I like music when I write. I put on earphones, plug them into the computer and listen to any number of things as I write.

Although I pick things I enjoy, whatever is playing is generally little more than background noise. At this moment, I am listening to "Layla" by Derek and the Dominos (Eric Clayton), the electric guitar version from the early 1970s. It makes my impatient and write faster, like I am trying to keep up with the music. The same effect occurs when I play "Running on Empty" by Jackson Browne.

But those generally get my attention. So I generally play something mellower, like some Dave Grusin. I particularly like "The Heart is a Lonely Hunter." (It is from the 1967 movie of the same name, which, in turn, is based on the book of the same name. I reread the book just last year.) It can make me happy or sad. It is good at both.

I like music playing in the background but sometimes I am concentrating so hard it takes a while before I notice the music has changed or stopped playing.

But background music is often good and I suggest playing something that matches your mood or matches the mood of whatever you are writing. In that way, it can speed you along.

One final thought, as Mary Chapin Carpenter’s “10,000 miles” plays in my ears. (I really love this song because it reminds me of how much I love my daughters. I used to get all teary-eyed when I heard it.) I finished John Grisham’s new book “The Appeal” today. It was well done, as I’d come to expect, but I still much prefer “The Broker”. It was a much better story and wasn’t such a downer in the end. This book left me unsettled, unsatisfied in the end.

Oh well, perhaps he will redeem himself to me with next year’s book.

That’s it for now. Thanks for reading and remember, keep writing.

A new book

I like to read, of course, although I am naturally selective about what I pick up. The first consideration is time, not interest. Will I have the time to devote to the material? Even if I am interested in it, it can get squeezed out by time restraint.

While I am busy at the moment, I picked up a new book today that I had been waiting for months to arrive. And I will devote the time to it.

It is the new John Grisham book, “The Appeal.” Until I ventured into the bookstore, I had no idea what it was about. I had purposely decided to remain ignorant.

I had been thinking about this new legal thriller since I started researching agents back in late September and happened to visit Grisham’s agent’s website. Though only a few months ago, the book at the time was still untitled, although it was slated for publication in February 2008. They must have gotten a lot done in a couple of months.

Unlike “The Broker,“ which was published two years ago and remains one of my favorites of Grisham, this book packs in a lot in the first couple of chapters. The Broker was slower in the beginning and I am wondering how Grisham is going to keep up the pace for more than 300 pages in this new offering.

It will be interesting to see.

While I was in the store, I saw a new murder mystery novel revolving around the Oscars. Good timing! And it looked good. That might be a good one to pick up next __ if I have the time.

Thanks for reading and keep writing.

E-mail rejections

I have come to a reasonable conclusion about rejection letters. Or to be more precise, rejections via e-mail.

In each case in which I have gotten an e-mail rejection, the response came within two business days of my sending a query. I got a rejection yesterday and it came within 24 hours. I’m not sure what that means but it is the fact.

As I mentioned earlier, once I got an e-mail rejection in less than 15 minutes. In one case, it took four days, but that included a weekend.

So my assumption is that agents who accept e-mail queries read them quickly and decide just as quickly. Again, I’m not sure what, if anything, that means, or how I can use it to my advantage.

But what I do know is persistence will pay off. I read somewhere in the last week or two that if you have seven rejections, send out an eighth query.

More about rejections later. But for now, thanks for reading and don’t give up on writing.

A short story

I decided over the weekend to take an ever-so-short break from my second novel to write a short story to submit for inclusion in a book of short stories on murder and NASCAR’s Brickyard 400.

I spent most of Sunday thinking about the story and even started putting some of it down on paper . . . well, computer, really.

I’m not sure how long I should be and hope that it’s no more than about 3,500 words. At the moment, the story’s a bit complicated and probably too complex for the format. If that’s the case, I will have to edit and shorten it. We will have to see.

I doubt that it should take that long to write, probably less than a week. I generally write quickly. Then I will have one or two friends look at it before I submit it for possible publication.

If it is included, it will be my first piece under the name MB Dabney. Up until now, I have always used Michael Dabney.

That’s it for today.

Thanks for reading and remember, keep writing.

To outline or not to outline

For some time I have wrestled with the idea of whether to outline my new book or let it develop as I write.

There is something to be said for outlining. It forces you to see the book project in its entirety before you get into the narrative. It says who are the main characters, what are the locations and, most importantly, what are the plot and sub-plots. It's basically a road map on where you are going are, and makes sure you are on the road to get there.

If you write an outline, it’s harder to write 600 pages and end up with a complete mess. You would have seen it coming long before then.

But the drawback is that it’s harder to be surprised as the book develops. And if you, the writer, aren’t surprised, it’s harder to imagine the reader being surprised.

I generally don’t outline, although perhaps I should. But I like to see what develops. For example, I know where my mystery novel is going because I wrote the ending months before I actually started writing the book. And so far, I am still heading in that direction and I have already found some surprises.

Plus, for me at least, when I outline, I imagine interesting scenes and plots but can’t write fast enough to get to them when I first think of them. It’s better for merely think of the interesting scenes when you get to them.

I will say that outlining the project ahead of time probably helps in the editing and re-writing of later drafts because the book is already organized. When editing and re-writing “Fighting Chaos”, I had to reorganize whole sections to make them fit properly. I took out big chunks and moved things around, sometimes adding pages in the middle to make sure it continued to flow properly. In the end, for example, the first chapter I wrote ended up as Chapter 4.

I can see the same thing possibly happening with “Death at the Jungle-bunny Journal.” I have only done three chapters but I can imagine one of them, Chapter 2, having to be moved to a later point in the book.

I would strongly recommend outlining but in the end, it is a matter of personal tastes. Do what your heart says.

Have a good weekend and I will talk to you next week.

Thanks for reading and keep writing.

On being a novelist

I have had this feeling for some time that I hadn't put into a logical thought until today. It’s about being a writer, or more specifically, about being a novelist.

Since I have made my living as a working journalist for more than two decades, I have long since gotten over thinking of myself as a writer. It is a little harder to think of myself as a novelist, however. I am still at the ’aspiring novelist’ stage.

One of the things I started doing last month was acting like a novelist (instead of an aspiring novel, although I haven‘t gotten any business cards yet). Regardless of the freelance work I have to do, everyday I do something as a novelist __ whether it’s poring over material in search of an agent, re-working a portion of “Fighting Chaos” or, as I have been doing lately, working on my second novel. (It’s going well, by the way. I have almost gotten 10 percent of it done in slightly more than a week. But I haven‘t gotten to the hard parts yet. Talk to me next week.)

I was reading my Writer’s Digest today and saw where Isaac Asimov apparently once said, “If my doctor told me I had only six minutes to live, I wouldn’t brood. I’d type a little faster.”

When I saw that I realized more than in any other way that I am a novelist. If I had a short time to live, I would write a hell of a lot faster. I wouldn’t give up doing other things I loved or wanted to do. But would write faster. I have a lot t say and I am getting on with saying it.

You should, too. If you want to be a writer, then do what a writer does. Write. Don't just dream. Write.

Thanks for reading and, like Issac Asimov, keep writing.

You are what you read

I am so thrilled I can hardly contain myself. No, I don’t have an agent yet. But what I do have is my February 2008 issue of Writer’s Digest. It came Saturday and I restrained myself from immediately going through it. I actually waited about an hour. (And I took it with me to the mall when Angela, the girls and I went shopping. I was just there as the eye candy and read while they tried on clothes.)

There are so many great articles in it, as usual, that I hardly know where to start. I know I will cover some of the issues mentioned in the magazine in the weeks to come.

But the lead series of articles is called, “Yes! You Can Write A Novel”. Just what I need to know. I haven’t really looked at the articles because I was busy working on Sunday after returning from church and then all day today. But I am going to read and concentrate on every word.

On Saturday I read a very amusing article in Inkwell on Page. 20. It was called “Stand Tall, Fellow Rejects!” Boy, I thought I had it bad when two e-mail query rejection letters came on the same day about a month ago. March 2007 was really a bummer for him. (I really liked the part where his rejection included being paid NOT to write. Now that’s rejection!)

On Page 35 there was a sidebar called “Blog Your Book”. Until then, I never thought one day I could turn these blog postings (or some of them, at least) into a book. How myopic I am.

There is so much in the magazine, such as the piece on metaphors, that it’s amazing. There is nothing else that I read on a regular basis that contains so much useful information. I haven’t finished this issue and I am already looking forward to the next one. It is a publication I recommend.

Anyway, thanks for reading and don’t give up on writing.

Blogs

I have been thinking a lot about blogs of late, especially agent blogs.

When researching for an agent, a blog is a very helpful tool in understanding a potential agent. If there are regular posts to the blog, you can garner a lot of information about the ideas and view points of the agent that you can’t get from other sources, including (and especially) their websites.

You can learn something of their personalities and quite a few of their pet peeves. (There is one agent whose blog I read who doesn’t like for a writer to end a query letter with “Thank you for your time.” The agent reasons that the writer’s time is just as valuable as the agent’s. While I think it is only polite to say Thank you, the agent does make a good point.)

From their blogs, you can learn what’s new in the business. You can learn about their commitment to and passion about their clients and about the business. And most importantly, you can learn something about their attitude toward new and unpublished writers. (There is an agent blog I was reading today that mentioned use of the passive voice query letters. In general as a writer, I try to avoid a passive voice but it creeps in often.)

That is why it is important to read agent blogs as much as possible. An aspiring novelist like myself can learn a lot about the industry that would be difficult to know otherwise.

So, here are some (and only some) of the agents who have blogs that I read (in no particular order):

Jane Dystel of Dystel & Goderich Literary Management
Nathan Bransford of Curtis Brown Ltd.
Kristin Nelson of Nelson Literary Agency
Jessica Faust of Bookends, LLC A Literary Agency

I will talk to you again next week.

Thanks for reading and remember, keep writing!

A quiet place

I have mentioned before, as I recall, that my favorite book on writing is Stephen King’s “On Writing: A Memoir of the Craft.” (That is, of course, after the bible of any writer in English, “Elements of Style” by William Strunk Jr. and E.B. White. Strunk wrote his book about 90 years ago and White first revised and expanded it about 50 years ago.) King’s book, which is part autobiography, is nearly a decade old now. But one of the things I like most about it is that King is forceful in his views on the use of language and the craft of writing yet he is open to differing views.

One view on the craft of writing on which I concur in part and dissent in part is on finding a quiet place to write. I agree that it is important to have a quiet place to write. But I disagree that a writer needs to physically isolate themself to have that quiet place.

The quiet place is actually in your head.

As I remember, King had a special place to go to be alone when she started his career. Others, like John Grisham I am told, would get up a couple of hours early to be alone and write. All of that is good if it works. Given my work schedule, I can write at different times of the day, although I write the most in the evenings, and the later the better.

But as a writer I am fortunate because of my background as a working journalist. Newsrooms are notoriously loud. It’s not just the white noise and water cooler chatter of any office. In a good working newsroom, there is also the constant sound of television and radio broadcasts as you monitor the competition. If you are particularly lucky as a reporter, you could be assigned to sit next to the police beat reporter and also have the sound of a police scanner in your ear all day.

And while all this is going on, you are expected to concentrate, write __ and write well __ and meet your deadlines.

That is my background and it is why I say the quiet place is in your head. Last summer as I was finishing my first novel, “Fighting Chaos,” there were times when I was sitting at a kitchen counter writing while the hullabaloo of daily family life unfolded all around me. Once I wrote about 350 words in longhand in the backseat of the car while we were taking someone to an NA meeting.

The key is focus. One of the methods I use to drown out the rest of the world while I write is soothing music. When I am at my desk writing, as I am now, and the family television is on and only one room way, I put on earphones, play something on the computer that I like __ but that isn’t distracting __ and work away.

That is what works for me. I don’t have to physically isolate myself to write.

The key is to find what works for you, stick to it and Keep writing.

A new novel

I started my new novel today. I didn't go to bed until late last night __ around 3 in the morning __ and I didn't sleep well. I kept hearing the opening lines of the mystery novel in my head.

So this morning I got up and, after walking Pluto, wrote the beginning. And it's going quite well.

Some time ago __ just weeks before I finished my last novel, "Fighting Chaos", actually __ I wrote the final four pages of this book. So in truth, I actually started this mystery novel back in September. But I'm not going to count that.

I am not going to write a lot on my blog about the progress of this book. But I will probably touch on it from time to time as a subject seems appropriate.

Thanks for reading and keep writing.

What's in a name? Part II

For some time I have toyed with a title for my next novel, which will be a murder set in a Black newspaper. It comes to mind because in reality I came up with the title long before I had even the slightest idea what the novel was about. It’s a title I really love.

What’s in a name? For a publisher and from a marketing standpoint there’s probably quite a lot in a name. And I doubt anyone but the bravest publisher is going to like this one. The working title is “Death at the Jungle-bunny Journal.”

The book itself will not be controversial. Although the plot is a little complicated at the moment, it’s a standard murder mystery and the reader will travel along with the hero as he tries to figure who did it and why.

But the title is a grabber. And I like the alliteration. Jungle-bunny Journal rolls easily off the tongue. I love it. If I weren’t a Black person I would never be able to use it, which is probably why no publisher will touch it. So I will keep it merely as a working title (and not tell anyone but you).

About a decade ago while I was working at The Philadelphia Tribune, a Black newspaper in Philadelphia, a reporter and I were talking about what we considered an insult on the paper by some public official. And she and I came up with a number of terms that we were sure the official probably used in private to describe The Tribune, such as the Darky Dispatch.

But my favorite has always been the Jungle-bunny Journal.

So that’s the name. We will have to see how it flies once I get the book written. And I will update my blog on the issue when the time comes.

I will talk to you next week.

Thanks for reading and keep writing.

What's in a name?

I’m starting a new novel in a couple of weeks and I still haven’t decided on how the victim dies, although most likely it will be from poison.

My problem at the moment, however, is names. It is a constant problem for me. I can’t figure out names. I change them all the time. For example, I changed the name last week of one of the characters in my first novel, which I finished months ago. I had to go back and search every mention or reference and change things.

My problem is that I sketch out a character long before I decide on a name. Then when I get to the point where I have to introduce them in the story I scramble to come up with the right name.

I love the name C.K. Dexter Haven, the character Cary Grant played in the film, “The Philadelphia Story.” The name was perfect for the character. And it is that sort of perfection I would like. But I never approach the naming of a character in a way that would likely result in that sort of perfection. The name is almost always an afterthought. As a result, I often go back and change names.

One of the things I try, however, is finding and cross-pollinating names in the credits of movies. Almost at random, for example, I use the first name of someone in the art department with the last name of the key grip. Or I use the first name of the director with the last name of one of the people who co-wrote one of the songs.

I come up with some interesting combinations and some I have even used.

As I start my next novel, I will see how interesting I can be and how close to perfection I can come.

But for now, thanks for reading and get back to work. Write!