Random thoughts

I had a good Sisters in Crime meeting today. Our speaker was an arson investigator. Arson, apparently, is one of the hardest crimes to solve, although arson itself is relatively easy to detect. Most arsonists use methods to start fires which leave clues for investigators. Finding the arsonists, however, is a totally different issue.

I have been out of college for too long. I mentioned today about not having heard of the Chicago Manuel on Style and someone mentioned it is often the style used in graduate school work. While I was at Purdue, I took at least one graduate level course and it was in history, which was my major. But I don't remember that style. But I must have known at the time. The history class was on doing historical research.

Since it has been such a large part of my professional life for so long, wire service style, and in this case, AP style, is what is foremost in my mind. And when I stray from it, I generally know it and do so consciously.

I bought business cards today that read MB Dabney, freelance writer. On all my cards until now, I have used my full name. I debated whether to put Michael in quotes but decided against it.

I don't have a lot to say today, except that I am my more conscious of what I write here and how I write it. Since hardly anyone reads this, I thought it mattered little. For months, the last person to post a coment was my dear friend Seth.

But then I got two comments within a week, both from writers. Both offered great advice. But I didn't know we were even reading me and both referred to my posting two weeks ago on being discouraged.

This morning, I typed my blog address into my search engine and the only hit was for my discouragement posting. Now anyone of six billion people on the planet can know of how I felt that day and that I must be a hack writer. (I wrote a disclaimer to have posting but left it as it was.)

So it reminded me of something I always said as an editor to reporters working under me. Never write something on the computer you don't want to be published. I will keep that in mind. If I post something, I have to assume the world will see it, not just me.

I didn't have much to say today but thanks for reading. And keep writing.

A good day

I had a good day today. I felt like a writer. Not that I don't feel like a writer most of the time but today was a particularly productive day.

I reread the writing of two authors in my critique group who are due for critiques. And while haven't yet written the critiques, which are due tomorrow, I feel I have them well in hand. I sent out several e-mails to Sisters in Crime members regarding tomorrow's meeting and I feel am ready for tomorrow's meeting. It will be my first as secretary. Better take a couple of sharpened pencils. (I like taking notes in pencil.)

I got an e-mail regarding a two-day mini-conference in May that has a fellowship for new authors with works in progress. The deadline for applying for a fellowship in mid-March and requires roughly 1,000 words of a work in progress and a one-page synopsis. So, I took the first chapter of "The Death of Art," which is 2,300 words without the ending with the guy in the BMW. And I cut that chapter down to a mere 1,085 words without destroying it. I will eventually use most of the material I cut but it was good to edit it and see it was still good.

I started to seriously work on the three- to -five-page synopsis I need for my pitch session next Saturday. I already have some of it and I am expanding it and it is going reasonably well. I decided I just need to relax and tell the story. Everything else will work itself out.

I got two good freelance jobs today, including one that could lead to some on-going work.

And finally, I got a rejection e-mail today. But it was kind and considerate, and it didn't upset me too much. Really, it didn't upset me at all. I sent back a quick thank you and marked the agent off my list.

So it was, overall, a good day to be a writer and a good day to be alive.

Thanks for reading. Have a good day and don't give up on writing.

Deadlines

I was reading an Amazon thread by ABNA authors today on the subject of deadlines. The question was, Do you have self-imposed deadlines on your writing? As is generally the case, the answers varied. But as for me, no. I generally don't self-impose a deadline on my fiction.

I don't like to be held to a deadline if I don't have to be. I know I lack discipline, that I sometimes don't press myself hard enough. Right now is one of those times. But I think my fiction, the novels in particular, get written in the 'fullness of time.' So why impose something that isn't needed.

I am at a place in "The Death of Art" that is slow, probably boring, and undoubtedly won't make it in later drafts. So I am writing slowly. I have only written about 2,000 words this week. And I'm having a hard time motivating myself to write more or to write faster. But I know the time will come when I will do both. I just have to get past this slow, dry period.

I do impose a deadline when I am near the end, usually when I estimate I am one or two weeks from the end. It's hard to tell because when I finish I am at a point near the end, not at the end. For example, the last words I wrote in the first draft of "A Murderous Dispatch" were on Page 227, not on the last page of the novel, which ended on Page 244. I had already written the final 17 pages.

So it is a little hard to determine when I am about to finish because it isn't at the end.

That having been said, when I impose that ending deadline, I usually end up finishing with only a half hour left. It's an odd thing. I go right up to the end of the deadline but not over it.

So, I know this is a boring posting but it is one of the things on my mind at the moment. I will use deadlines if I need them to focus me on finishing.

That's it for now. Thanks for reading. And get back to writing.

Writing style, and an embarrassment

I was reading my Writer's Digest today and I learned something, which, of course, is a good thing. There is something called "The Chicago Manual of Style."

As I have mentioned before, I am a member of a critique group in my local chapter of Sisters in Crime and have been reading material from the other members for the last 10 months. Also, since entering the Amazon Breakthrough Novel Award contest, I have been reading excerpts written by other entrants. And I have been amazed at the style other people use. In many cases, it is very different from what I am used to, particularly when it comes to numbers and when to write them out and when to use numerals.

I am used to AP style. As a journalist, wire service style is the standard in the newspaper industry. Yes, it can vary a little from paper to paper. For example, at The Philadelphia Tribune, which is a Black newspaper, the word black is always capitalized when it refers to African Americans. But the basic style remains the same.

Since I had never heard of the Chicago Manual style, I haven't used it, although apparently it is used in the book industry. So I will have to investigate what it is, how to get a copy of what the style is and perhaps get a copy of the style book. Apparently, according to the article in WD, editors and publishers also recognize AP style but it must not be the first style used.

The most important thing mentioned in WD is that whatever style is used, it should be consistent. And that I agree with.

And on to another subject, when I logged in today, I noticed I got a comment from my last posting. It wasn't one of my best because I was angry and frustrated at the time I wrote it. But what does it matter? Only me (or is it I?) and a couple of my friends ever read this blog.

But I was totally bowed over to see it was from writer Chris Roerden. How in the world did she ever hear of this blog? And why in the world did she have to read that one? I felt so embarrassed. She must think I am a hack. (She wouldn't be the first.)

And I would go back and edit that posting but I may not. Mostly I want to remember what I was thinking and how I was thinking when I look back on my postings. The way it is is probably the best indication of that. But if other people start reading it . . .

Thanks for tuning in Chris. I look forward to meeting you at the convention in October.

Thanks to everyone else for reading and don't give up on writing.

Discouragement

Note: I am tempted to edit this, something I didn't do when it was originally written. I was angry and frustrated that day, and this posting shows that in how it's written. But I want it to reflect who I am and how I am feeling on any particular day so there are no corrections here. mbd, 2/23/09

I am feeling discouraged today, thought not for any perticular reason. I have my new Writer's Digest, which generally cheers me, but not today.

I am struck yet again by how enormous the task is of getting published and then of getting noticed so that you can sell books. Even in a good economy, which isn't the case at the moment, getting published is difficult.

On one of the ABNA threads yesterday, another aspiring writer compiled a list of some three dozen agents whom he had cross-referenced in Publisher's Marketplace for being the best in helping debut authors and who had gotten the best overall deals for mystery, crime, thriller and suspense writers. Some I didn't know, such as Deidre Knight, while others I was afraid to query, such as David Gernert (who has represented John Grisham).

But others I have queried and none have sent a response. What am I, chopped liver? I write well, my book ideas are good and original. Why is this so hard for me?

I have sent out five queries in the last week, and plan more today and tomorrow. I know I can't give up hope but sometimes, like now, it just seems so hard.

Thanks for reading and keep writing.

The hump

There is a point when I am writing a novel when I reach a hump. It is the point when the pure excitement of the project faces the realitiy of the enormity of it. It's usually around 18,000 words when I begin to think,"Oh my gosh, how in the world am I ever going to reach 80,000 words?"

It is a point where a good bit of discipline and a good work ethic would help. I have little of either and, unfortunately, I have reached the hump. A little early this time -- I'm at 16,000 words in "The Death of Art" -- but it's here.

To make matters worse, I am feeling insecure about "A Murderous Dispatch" material I sent to ABNA.

I was just on one of the Amazon discussion boards and an author who made the semis last year, re-worked the novel and entered it again this year is pulling out because she found an agent AND a publisher. I went back and read her pitch from last year and it really was good. Far more informative and engaging than what I wrote this year. You could really tell how her life experiences living in Central America helped her in writing her book.

I am always happy when a new author gets published. It is such a long hard road and it inspires me. But it also makes me afraid I will never achieve the same level of success. (Seems like I'm having it both ways, doesn't it?)

It's a beautiful day outside and I have both some writing and querying to do but all I feel like doing is getting back in bed and pulling up the covers.

But I will just have to focus on writing. I know what is coming next and it is exciting. I just have to motivate myself. Plus I need to work on those queries.

So I will be going. Thanks for reading. And don't give up.

Discussion boards

There is something I have long known; I'm not good on discussion boards and forums.

The problem with such networking is that, for me, it is addictive. I get on, I read and read and read, commenting here and there, and don't get any work done. Or don't get as much done.

That's what's beginning to happen with me on the ABNA boards. I am looking and looking for comments, whether they are helpful or useful or not, and spending more time doing it.

I am doing more reading about writing and doing less writing.

It's the same with other social networking sites, such as My Space and Facebook. I have less than 30 friends on Facebook and it is still hard for me to keep up with them all. If I tried, all I would be doing is reading.

Connecting with other authors is very important and I take it seriously. And discussion boards is a way of connecting to a broad range of people and their ideas. My writing today is better than it was last year at this time because I have talked with and listened to other writers. But in the end, I still have to write and not let other aspects of the job of writing get in the way.

I have to find a balance when it comes to taking part in discussion boards. Otherwise, I will only dream of being a published author instead of doing what is necessary to become a published author.

Just a thought . . .

Thanks for reading and keep writing.

A new friend . . . and ABNA

I have a new friend. She is an author, I think on the West Coast, and we have communicated several times in the last day and a half. I won't mention her name here because I haven't asked her about it yet. But she has been quite helpful with my pitch for ABNA.

Being insecure about my pitch, I sent it to her and she offered a couple of very useful suggestions which I used. They greatly improved my pitch and made it shsorter at the same time. it was great.

Today there has been a lot of discussion on the merits of taking part in ABNA. When I last looked more than an hour ago, there were nearly 120 comments today on Nathan Bransford's blog on ABNA. Nathan opened up the discussion but said he wouldn't comment directly in the contest.

Any comments he'd have would be suspect because he, as an agent, has a vested interest in contests such as ABNAs failing. The winner gets a publishing contract without input from an agent, and some of the quarter- semi- and top-10 finalists could decide to self-publish using CreateSpace (an ABNA sponsor) or some other platform, again cutting out agents.

But what amazes me -- and my new friend, by the way -- is all the non-sensical arguments some writers used to justify their reasons for not entering. Who cares? Enter or not. You don't need to justify.

Plus there is little down side to entering. The requirements for entering are things you have to do to query an agent. You have slightly better odds with ABNA but not much. It's all still a subjective crap shoot.

Anyway, as I told my new author friend, I am in the contest and happy with my decision. I may or may not get much out of it but regardless of the result I don't lose anything. I'm still an aspiring author without an agent or a publishing contract. The contest just give me another path to success.

Finally, I did some outlining and writing for "The Death of Art." I think it will be my best work to date. And if I work hard and write a lot, I could have the first draft finished by my birthday. That's ambigious but it's doable. I at least want to have more than half of it completed by the time I have my appointment with the acquisition editor next month. That way I can show her I have a completed novel and considerable progress on a sequel. I hope that will give me a leg up.

Thanks for reading and don't ever give up on writing.

ABNA

I was online on Sunday night for a couple of hours as the minutes ticked away toward midnight. And I found a large community of writers also online waiting, waiting, waiting until the open submission period started for the 2009 Amazon Breakthrough Novel Award contest (ABNA).

In thread after thread on ABNA's community forums, writers were asking questions, offering answers, helpful advice, worrying and just sweating bullets until the contest began. One thread called "I've entered" started soon after midnight. The first post was at about six minutes after the hour and quickly filled within minutes with authors who had already entered.

The contest runs for one week, or until there are 10,000 entries, which ever comes first. While I didn't want to tarry, I didn't want to drive myself crazy just to get my entry in quickly. So, I waited until yesterday afternoon to finish one final edit of a portion of the novel, which is now called,"A Murderous Dispatch," then a final rewrite of the pitch and book description. For me that made sense. I didn't stress too much.

In the contest, judges will look at the pitches, rate them and cut the entries down to 2,000. Then they will read the excerpts of those 2,000 to determine some 500 quarterfinalists. Those who make the quarterfinals won't be notified until about March 16. Until them, none of us will hear a thing.

The guidelines for the pitch, which was limited to 300 words, were vague and in threads throughout the day today there were many writers -- some entered, some not -- still discussing its requirements. But with the entire contest, my feeling has always been that I do the best I can and don't sweat the rest. Advancing in the contest could jumpstart a career but we aren't brain surgeons. We are writers. None of this is life or death.

So now I wait. But as I wait, it's backto querying agents and writing "The Death of Art." Reagrdless of the outcome of the contest, life goes on. And so does work.

Thanks for reading and keep writing.