This is my last post of the year and I thought it appropriate to look back at some of my stats for my blog. It is my 96th posting this year, which tied the record set in 2008 as the year with my most blog postings. I had wanted to reach more than 100, which in itself is rather modest, but it's not to be this year. While I am okay with the number of postings in 2010, I want to stretch a little more in 2011.
I first wrote about my stats three months ago shortly after I first realized there was a way of keeping track of some of my page views. I think the stats have been available to each blogger only since May or June.
I was a little depressed by the numbers -- still am -- but I am grateful I have any numbers at all. After pouring over the statistics, I have no greater understanding of what it all means than I did back in September.
Yet, I do find some of it quite interesting.
Though readers in the U.S. continue to make up the majority of my page views, there has been some slippage since September, when 67.6 percent of page views came from the U.S. Today, that figure is just 54.5 percent. Tied for second place are Canada and the Netherlands with 5.5 percent each of my page views, up from 4.3 percent for Canada back in September and 4.6 percent for the Dutch.
Alone in fourth place is Germany, with 5 percent of my page views. Germany wasn't even in the Top 5 back in September.
My most popular month was October, but there was a drop-off in November and into early December when I had less time and opportunity to blog. It has picked up in the latter half of December and I hope I haven't lost many readers.
Although I haven't the foggiest reason why, I seem to be popular all over the world, except in Africa and Antarctica. Apparently, I haven't reached people in some of the hottest places on the planet and in some of the coldest.
No big surprises in my most popular blog postings. (Well, I'm kinda surprised because my two most popular postings are among my oldest.) Just as last September, "Querying agents," from June 18, 2008, and "What's in a name?, Part II," from Jan. 4, 2008, are in a virtual tie for first place in page views. They make up 20 percent of my total page views, though that is a drop from 25 percent back in September.
Coming in at No. 3 is (not surprisingly) "Finding an agent? WTF does it take?" from Sept. 13, 2010. I think the title and the subject matter caught people's attention.
But the fourth-place favorite surprised me. It is "Being a picker at Amazon," which was only posted 10 days ago. In fact, that posting is my No. 1 posting for the month of December, easing out both my top-ranking posts from 2008.
I still haven't the slightest idea what people in Russia, Brazil, the Ukraine, Argentina and Poland find interesting about my blog. But I hope all of you out there keep reading. And it would be nice if you'd comment now and then.
Have a Happy New Year. I will see you in 2011.
Thanks for reading and keep writing.
Thursday, December 30, 2010
Wednesday, December 29, 2010
2011 goals
I generally don't set New Year's goals or resolutions down on paper, so to speak, opting mostly to keep expectations quietly in my head. Whether I accomplish them or not isn't anyone else's business so I usually don't say what they are. But not this coming year. I'm putting them out there for everyone to see. (Or at least everyone who reads my blog.)
That's not to say that these goals are that ambitious. Frankly, they're not. But I wanted something obtainable to focus on and to shoot for, and I don't care if you know about them.
So, without further delay or possibly increasing your boredom, here they are:
1. I will attend two conferences this year. I already have one planned for early August, and perhaps the other will be in October. The reason for this goal is to expand networking. I don't do that well enough and attending a couple of conferences should help.
2. Write and try to publish four short stories. I tend to write long fiction -- novel-length fiction. It takes longer to do and just as long to make suitable (or what I consider suitable). Writing a few short stories should help focus my storytelling, character development and dialogue. Plus I should be able to start and finish it faster, and feel the gratification of completion quicker.
3. Enter at least one contest, either with a short story or with a novel-length work. First, I will consider ABNA in January if it is happening again. That will be for a novel. Then I will look for suitable short story contests.
So there you have it. I know it looks like I am reaching for the low-hanging fruit. And perhaps I am but I don't care. I am doing it in 2011. Check with me at this time next year to see how I did. I probably won't bring it up again before then.
Thanks for reading and don't give up on writing. I'm not.
That's not to say that these goals are that ambitious. Frankly, they're not. But I wanted something obtainable to focus on and to shoot for, and I don't care if you know about them.
So, without further delay or possibly increasing your boredom, here they are:
1. I will attend two conferences this year. I already have one planned for early August, and perhaps the other will be in October. The reason for this goal is to expand networking. I don't do that well enough and attending a couple of conferences should help.
2. Write and try to publish four short stories. I tend to write long fiction -- novel-length fiction. It takes longer to do and just as long to make suitable (or what I consider suitable). Writing a few short stories should help focus my storytelling, character development and dialogue. Plus I should be able to start and finish it faster, and feel the gratification of completion quicker.
3. Enter at least one contest, either with a short story or with a novel-length work. First, I will consider ABNA in January if it is happening again. That will be for a novel. Then I will look for suitable short story contests.
So there you have it. I know it looks like I am reaching for the low-hanging fruit. And perhaps I am but I don't care. I am doing it in 2011. Check with me at this time next year to see how I did. I probably won't bring it up again before then.
Thanks for reading and don't give up on writing. I'm not.
Tuesday, December 28, 2010
Finding the ending, Part II
Back in 2007, in what was only my seventh blog posting, I wrote about finding the ending of a story. What got me thinking about it was an article in Writer's Digest. In the article, the author suggested looking to the beginning of the work to help find the ending and for providing closure.
I didn't have a hard time with endings then nor do I now. It's probably because I have been a journalist for some long and have written the endings to far more articles than I can count.
But I have been thinking more about endings to fiction stories recently, thanks to a posting on Piedmont Writer, one of the blogs I regularly follow. In it, Anne includes a snippet from writer Graham Greene:
A story has no beginning or end;
arbitrarily one chooses that moment of
experience from which to look back
or from which to look ahead.
That basically is my view and has been for years.
In any writing, the author starts the story where he or she thinks it's interesting and ends it just before it gets interesting again. But, like history, stories have a fluid continuity. Something happened before the telling and something happens after the telling.
I am often reminded of that when I see a movie. Often times I wonder, what would happen if the film were five minutes longer? It's not that I am unsatisfied with the ending. It's just that I know the people and events depicted in the story will continue. Thus, I daydream about what happens next.
In my fiction, I am told my endings often come too quickly, rushing up suddenly on the reader like a fast-moving freight train rounding a bend -- unstoppable and inevitable. I am working on slowing down the train. But that is more a matter of timing the ending than of not knowing what the ending is.
Only time will tell whether, in my works, I have chosen the best arbitrary moment to end things. And in the story of my life, I also hope that's how people will view me.
Thanks for reading. Keep writing and I will see you again later this week when I discuss my goals for 2011.
I didn't have a hard time with endings then nor do I now. It's probably because I have been a journalist for some long and have written the endings to far more articles than I can count.
But I have been thinking more about endings to fiction stories recently, thanks to a posting on Piedmont Writer, one of the blogs I regularly follow. In it, Anne includes a snippet from writer Graham Greene:
A story has no beginning or end;
arbitrarily one chooses that moment of
experience from which to look back
or from which to look ahead.
That basically is my view and has been for years.
In any writing, the author starts the story where he or she thinks it's interesting and ends it just before it gets interesting again. But, like history, stories have a fluid continuity. Something happened before the telling and something happens after the telling.
I am often reminded of that when I see a movie. Often times I wonder, what would happen if the film were five minutes longer? It's not that I am unsatisfied with the ending. It's just that I know the people and events depicted in the story will continue. Thus, I daydream about what happens next.
In my fiction, I am told my endings often come too quickly, rushing up suddenly on the reader like a fast-moving freight train rounding a bend -- unstoppable and inevitable. I am working on slowing down the train. But that is more a matter of timing the ending than of not knowing what the ending is.
Only time will tell whether, in my works, I have chosen the best arbitrary moment to end things. And in the story of my life, I also hope that's how people will view me.
Thanks for reading. Keep writing and I will see you again later this week when I discuss my goals for 2011.
Monday, December 27, 2010
Synopsis
In preparation for another flurry of queries going out, I am (again) re-writing my synopsis for AN UNTIDY AFFAIR. I have two versions. One that is one-page long, which I will probably lead untouched, and the other that is five pages long. Haven't decided whether to re-do them both.
It is amazing. As much as I dislike writing a query letter, I dislike a synopsis even more. The one upside is that I not only can but must provide the ending.
The synopsis isn't just telling the novel like you would to a friend or relative. Like the query, it is an enticement -- a selling tool -- to get someone to read the entire manuscript.
And, I fear, it is in the enticement area where I fall short.
There is so much that you must get right. The style and format must be right. Failure there suggests that you are not a serious writing or that you are unprofessional. That is likely to kill you with at least 50 percent of the agents who see it. But not with all agents.
Because even with imperfect formatting, the synopsis will rise and fall on how well it sells. And while formatting can be complicated and its requirements often conflicting, it is something that can be learned easily. Not so with synopsis as a selling tool.
Unlike the novel, with its peaks and valleys, I see the synopsis as being mostly peaks told in a compelling way. But, I think as a result, so much of the writing that gives the novel texture and depth is left out. It's a straight sales job. Bam, bam, bam.
Anyway, I was working on it last night. I want to hit the ground running at the beginning of next week. I assume a lot of other writers will be doing the same thing but I am hoping I will still be able to stand out from the pack. Hasn't happened so far but since there will always be a pack, I will have to deal with it.
So there is a little of what is going on in my mind. I am looking for a great 2011.
Thanks for reading and keep writing.
It is amazing. As much as I dislike writing a query letter, I dislike a synopsis even more. The one upside is that I not only can but must provide the ending.
The synopsis isn't just telling the novel like you would to a friend or relative. Like the query, it is an enticement -- a selling tool -- to get someone to read the entire manuscript.
And, I fear, it is in the enticement area where I fall short.
There is so much that you must get right. The style and format must be right. Failure there suggests that you are not a serious writing or that you are unprofessional. That is likely to kill you with at least 50 percent of the agents who see it. But not with all agents.
Because even with imperfect formatting, the synopsis will rise and fall on how well it sells. And while formatting can be complicated and its requirements often conflicting, it is something that can be learned easily. Not so with synopsis as a selling tool.
Unlike the novel, with its peaks and valleys, I see the synopsis as being mostly peaks told in a compelling way. But, I think as a result, so much of the writing that gives the novel texture and depth is left out. It's a straight sales job. Bam, bam, bam.
Anyway, I was working on it last night. I want to hit the ground running at the beginning of next week. I assume a lot of other writers will be doing the same thing but I am hoping I will still be able to stand out from the pack. Hasn't happened so far but since there will always be a pack, I will have to deal with it.
So there is a little of what is going on in my mind. I am looking for a great 2011.
Thanks for reading and keep writing.
Friday, December 24, 2010
Merry Christmas
I want to wish all my writer friends and any fans I have a Merry Christmas and a Joyous New Year.
This is a season of joy and happiness, enough for everyone. Make sure you get your share.
Thanks for reading.
This is a season of joy and happiness, enough for everyone. Make sure you get your share.
Thanks for reading.
Wednesday, December 22, 2010
Critique groups
I am in two critique groups at the moment -- one that meets monthly and one that meets every other weeks. But I think I will drop one in the new year because I'm increasingly having trouble remembering what to submit to each group and when. Then, after we meet, it's become difficult to juggle the comments and gain the greatest value from them. Both groups are looking at the same work, though at different points.
This is a difficult decision, however, because I have grown quite fond of the members of both groups and will miss their insights. But it is a decision that has to be made.
I encourage every new writer I meet to join a critique group. The insights of fellow writers is often invaluable. When I read someone's work, I consider it as a whole and piece by piece, line by line. In that way, the writer can see where I am providing a more objective view and where I am being subjective and nit-picky.
Plus it always amazes me when another wirter sees the same exact problems I do.
Any critique group is only as good as its weakest member, which I fear in both cases is me. Both groups have their strengths and weaknesses, but the one I will drop is obvious to me.
I won't inform the group until in January but the one I will drop is the monthly group. We only meet 11 times a year, whereas with the bi-weekly group we will meet at least 24 times in a year. Thus, by sheer numbers, it is a more productive group. But it is also a group with strong members.
In the end, I will know fairly soon if I made the correct decision, which also won't be set in stone. If this group doesn't work out, I will just find another one.
So there you have it.
My goals will be coming next week. Until then, thanks for reading and keep writing.
This is a difficult decision, however, because I have grown quite fond of the members of both groups and will miss their insights. But it is a decision that has to be made.
I encourage every new writer I meet to join a critique group. The insights of fellow writers is often invaluable. When I read someone's work, I consider it as a whole and piece by piece, line by line. In that way, the writer can see where I am providing a more objective view and where I am being subjective and nit-picky.
Plus it always amazes me when another wirter sees the same exact problems I do.
Any critique group is only as good as its weakest member, which I fear in both cases is me. Both groups have their strengths and weaknesses, but the one I will drop is obvious to me.
I won't inform the group until in January but the one I will drop is the monthly group. We only meet 11 times a year, whereas with the bi-weekly group we will meet at least 24 times in a year. Thus, by sheer numbers, it is a more productive group. But it is also a group with strong members.
In the end, I will know fairly soon if I made the correct decision, which also won't be set in stone. If this group doesn't work out, I will just find another one.
So there you have it.
My goals will be coming next week. Until then, thanks for reading and keep writing.
Tuesday, December 21, 2010
Jealousy
I sometimes get jealous this time of year. Not a lot -- enough to get my attention but not enough to distract my concentration. It's kinda like a bothersome fly buzzing around your head as you are trying to enjoy a picnic lunch.
I get jealous because I get tons of e-mails from big bookstore chains and small, local independent bookstores imploring me to come in and buy some new offering by some author. And it just reminds be -- at least once daily, but generally more often than that -- that I am still an aspiring novelist, not a published or even a pre-published novelist. And I wonder, when it is going to be my turn -- when bookstores are sending out discount coupons for my book?
(And for those of you who aren't in the publishing industry and may not know, a new book marked with a 40 percent discount is still making money for the retailer for an individual copy sold. The retailer got the book for AT LEAST 45 percent off the printed retail price. And big retailers get it for as much as 55 percent off the marked retail price.)
I'm doing the best I can here. I study the industry, I write (and re-write) my novels, I send out queries. I wonder why lightning hasn't struck me yet.
I know a couple of debut authors this year, and a couple more who will debut in 2011. And I am so happy for and proud of them. They are a constant source of encouragement.
And yet I wonder, will 2011 be my year? Will I get that call -- first from an agent and then from a publisher -- some time next year? I don't know. But I know I must believe it will happen and work toward that goal.
So, I will work on the things I can control and trust in God to handle fate. It's all I can do.
I have a few writing goals for 2011 and will probably tell you about them in the coming weeks. But for now, it's only four days until Christmas. I gotta get down to Borders to use than 40 percent discount I got via e-mail.
Thanks for reading and don't give up.
I get jealous because I get tons of e-mails from big bookstore chains and small, local independent bookstores imploring me to come in and buy some new offering by some author. And it just reminds be -- at least once daily, but generally more often than that -- that I am still an aspiring novelist, not a published or even a pre-published novelist. And I wonder, when it is going to be my turn -- when bookstores are sending out discount coupons for my book?
(And for those of you who aren't in the publishing industry and may not know, a new book marked with a 40 percent discount is still making money for the retailer for an individual copy sold. The retailer got the book for AT LEAST 45 percent off the printed retail price. And big retailers get it for as much as 55 percent off the marked retail price.)
I'm doing the best I can here. I study the industry, I write (and re-write) my novels, I send out queries. I wonder why lightning hasn't struck me yet.
I know a couple of debut authors this year, and a couple more who will debut in 2011. And I am so happy for and proud of them. They are a constant source of encouragement.
And yet I wonder, will 2011 be my year? Will I get that call -- first from an agent and then from a publisher -- some time next year? I don't know. But I know I must believe it will happen and work toward that goal.
So, I will work on the things I can control and trust in God to handle fate. It's all I can do.
I have a few writing goals for 2011 and will probably tell you about them in the coming weeks. But for now, it's only four days until Christmas. I gotta get down to Borders to use than 40 percent discount I got via e-mail.
Thanks for reading and don't give up.
Monday, December 20, 2010
Being a picker at Amazon
I perhaps used a poor choice of wording in a post last week because a number of people wrote to inquire about how I am feeling since I had mostly been offline for a while. Given my past health issues, which I have written about on this site, the concern was understandable.
So, let me just say, I am feeling fine. No problems. In fact, I have lost a little weight, about five to seven pounds. And the reasons for the weight loss and for why I have been too busy to post on my blog are the same -- Amazon.
November was a busy writing month for me, though I wasn't able to post much on my blog. I finished THE TONTINE, my National Novel Writing Month novel, but had to juggle how and where I was writing because my laptop crashed at the end of October. As a result of the crash, I have only finished two freelance assignments since then.
So to make some extra money for Christmas, I took a job working in a warehouse for Amazon. (Actually, it's called a Fulfillment Center. Creative, huh?) It was a seasonal position and I thought it would also be part-time. It wasn't but more about that later.
Amazon has two facilities in central Indiana and I would imagine there are hundreds of millions of items in them -- for virtually anything you'd want to buy online. The logisitics of the place truly amazed me. I was quite impressed.
When you go to Amazon and buy that CD, DVD, video game, book, fuzzy Teddy bear or large, ugly, black, metal jewelry holder that looks like a music stand, it is in one of more than 10,000 (and perhaps a lot more) merchandise bins in the warehouse, and someone has to go to that bin to pick it up and start it on its individual journey to your door.
At Amazon, that someone is called a picker. And for several weeks, I was a picker.
Now that doesn't sound too bad and it isn't. You generally don't have to search. There is a scanner that tells you exactly where to go and when to go there. It also tells you when to put all your merchandise on a conveyor belt and send it on.
But like I said, there were no part-time positions, which I was hoping for. All jobs are for 40 hours a week (four, 10-hour days), except that this is their peak time of year. So there was an additional mandatory day of overtime. And, as they need, they add on one, one-and-a-half, or two hours to your daily shift.
So I worked 11 or 11.5 hours a day, five days a week, walking (conservatively) around 16-17 miles a night. I burned enough extra calories to loose weight. Plus I worked a nightshift, which started at 6:15 p.m. and ended at 6:15 a.m. And you had to work fast. The average hourly pick is more than 80 items an hour, which means you had to locate an item, on average, every 40 seconds or so. (There are pickers who average 125 picks per hour.)
I was so tired that the only things I could do were work and sleep. By the end of my shift, my feet and legs would be killing me. I could fall asleep at home in the middle of a conversation, which happened. I had hard time remembering which day of the week it was and didn't remember the date. I had little idea of what was happening in the outside world, except that it snowed sometimes overnight on the car. And it was cold. I wanted to quit at the end of my first week but didn't.
We were told they hire several thousand temporary workers at Christmas and retain only a couple hundred. They start laying them off as the work slowly dwindles. I got the call over the weekend, thank goodness. It was a tremendous relief!
So that's why I haven't been writing, or reading, for the last several weeks. But I am getting back into the swing.
I'm revamping my query letter for AN UNTIDY AFFAIR and will push forward with it in the coming year. And until I hear something on AFFAIR, I will be re-writing THE TONTINE, preparing to hit the streets with it by mid-year.
The writing life goes on. And so do I.
Thanks for reading.
So, let me just say, I am feeling fine. No problems. In fact, I have lost a little weight, about five to seven pounds. And the reasons for the weight loss and for why I have been too busy to post on my blog are the same -- Amazon.
November was a busy writing month for me, though I wasn't able to post much on my blog. I finished THE TONTINE, my National Novel Writing Month novel, but had to juggle how and where I was writing because my laptop crashed at the end of October. As a result of the crash, I have only finished two freelance assignments since then.
So to make some extra money for Christmas, I took a job working in a warehouse for Amazon. (Actually, it's called a Fulfillment Center. Creative, huh?) It was a seasonal position and I thought it would also be part-time. It wasn't but more about that later.
Amazon has two facilities in central Indiana and I would imagine there are hundreds of millions of items in them -- for virtually anything you'd want to buy online. The logisitics of the place truly amazed me. I was quite impressed.
When you go to Amazon and buy that CD, DVD, video game, book, fuzzy Teddy bear or large, ugly, black, metal jewelry holder that looks like a music stand, it is in one of more than 10,000 (and perhaps a lot more) merchandise bins in the warehouse, and someone has to go to that bin to pick it up and start it on its individual journey to your door.
At Amazon, that someone is called a picker. And for several weeks, I was a picker.
Now that doesn't sound too bad and it isn't. You generally don't have to search. There is a scanner that tells you exactly where to go and when to go there. It also tells you when to put all your merchandise on a conveyor belt and send it on.
But like I said, there were no part-time positions, which I was hoping for. All jobs are for 40 hours a week (four, 10-hour days), except that this is their peak time of year. So there was an additional mandatory day of overtime. And, as they need, they add on one, one-and-a-half, or two hours to your daily shift.
So I worked 11 or 11.5 hours a day, five days a week, walking (conservatively) around 16-17 miles a night. I burned enough extra calories to loose weight. Plus I worked a nightshift, which started at 6:15 p.m. and ended at 6:15 a.m. And you had to work fast. The average hourly pick is more than 80 items an hour, which means you had to locate an item, on average, every 40 seconds or so. (There are pickers who average 125 picks per hour.)
I was so tired that the only things I could do were work and sleep. By the end of my shift, my feet and legs would be killing me. I could fall asleep at home in the middle of a conversation, which happened. I had hard time remembering which day of the week it was and didn't remember the date. I had little idea of what was happening in the outside world, except that it snowed sometimes overnight on the car. And it was cold. I wanted to quit at the end of my first week but didn't.
We were told they hire several thousand temporary workers at Christmas and retain only a couple hundred. They start laying them off as the work slowly dwindles. I got the call over the weekend, thank goodness. It was a tremendous relief!
So that's why I haven't been writing, or reading, for the last several weeks. But I am getting back into the swing.
I'm revamping my query letter for AN UNTIDY AFFAIR and will push forward with it in the coming year. And until I hear something on AFFAIR, I will be re-writing THE TONTINE, preparing to hit the streets with it by mid-year.
The writing life goes on. And so do I.
Thanks for reading.
Wednesday, December 15, 2010
Sorry I have been away
Sorry I have been away for a while. Will explain soon.
But I got a rejection today from a query I sent three months ago. So, there are still coming in.
More later. Keep the faith and keep writing.
Thanks for reading.
But I got a rejection today from a query I sent three months ago. So, there are still coming in.
More later. Keep the faith and keep writing.
Thanks for reading.
Sunday, November 28, 2010
Christmas reading
During the Holiday season, you hear and see much about Christmas television specials. (There's a new one this year -- I think on ABC Family -- about a dog who saves Christmas. That in itself is insipid enough but it also has the voices of Mario Lopez and -- gag me with a spoon -- Paris Hilton. UGH!!!!!)
Don't get me wrong. There are loads of great holiday movies and TV specials. Some of my favorites include: Holiday Inn (I watch this while wrapping gifts), It's a Wonderful Life, Miracle on 34th Street, How the Grinch Stole Christmas {TV version}, A Charlie Brown Christmas, The Santa Clause, and The Holiday (I watched that last night) ... to name a few.
But there is also good reading. Though my children are older now, before we go to bed on Christmas Eve I always read them The Night Before Christmas.
Of all the holiday-themed books, there is one book I read every year between Thanksgiving and Christmas. It is not a classic, if only because it's not that old -- less than a decade, actually. But for me, it is a very enjoyable read. And I looked forward to sitting down and opening it this afternoon.
It is Skipping Christmas by John Grisham.
It's not a legal thriller. It's not a thriller of any sort and there are no lawyers or judges in it.
It's about an accountant named Luther Krank and his wife Nora. The Krank's 20-something daughter is off to Peru for the Peace Crops, leaving them along for Christmas for the first time. And Luther comes up with the brilliant idea to TOTALLY skip the trappings of Christmas for one year, thus saving $6,000 on everything from stamps for Christmas cards to the electricity he won't use to light a large Frosty the Snowman on his roof. He's not really a Scrooge because he plans to spend $3,000 of the savings on a cruise with Nora starting on Christmas Day.
They barely weather an intense storm of anger and criticism from friends, colleagues and (in particular) neighbors when they receive a call on Dec. 24, from their daughter Blair who will be home in six hours and is looking forward to sharing a traditional Krank Family Christmas with her new fiance.
I love it. It's funny because it is written with a lot of wit. And the end is touching.
So, between all the turkey and stuffing, and the cookies, pies and cakes, and between watching football games and television specials, find a favorite book and enjoy it as if it's the first time you are reading it and not the Nth time. And if you can't think of one, pick up Skipping Christmas.
Have a good Holiday season and thanks for reading.
Don't get me wrong. There are loads of great holiday movies and TV specials. Some of my favorites include: Holiday Inn (I watch this while wrapping gifts), It's a Wonderful Life, Miracle on 34th Street, How the Grinch Stole Christmas {TV version}, A Charlie Brown Christmas, The Santa Clause, and The Holiday (I watched that last night) ... to name a few.
But there is also good reading. Though my children are older now, before we go to bed on Christmas Eve I always read them The Night Before Christmas.
Of all the holiday-themed books, there is one book I read every year between Thanksgiving and Christmas. It is not a classic, if only because it's not that old -- less than a decade, actually. But for me, it is a very enjoyable read. And I looked forward to sitting down and opening it this afternoon.
It is Skipping Christmas by John Grisham.
It's not a legal thriller. It's not a thriller of any sort and there are no lawyers or judges in it.
It's about an accountant named Luther Krank and his wife Nora. The Krank's 20-something daughter is off to Peru for the Peace Crops, leaving them along for Christmas for the first time. And Luther comes up with the brilliant idea to TOTALLY skip the trappings of Christmas for one year, thus saving $6,000 on everything from stamps for Christmas cards to the electricity he won't use to light a large Frosty the Snowman on his roof. He's not really a Scrooge because he plans to spend $3,000 of the savings on a cruise with Nora starting on Christmas Day.
They barely weather an intense storm of anger and criticism from friends, colleagues and (in particular) neighbors when they receive a call on Dec. 24, from their daughter Blair who will be home in six hours and is looking forward to sharing a traditional Krank Family Christmas with her new fiance.
I love it. It's funny because it is written with a lot of wit. And the end is touching.
So, between all the turkey and stuffing, and the cookies, pies and cakes, and between watching football games and television specials, find a favorite book and enjoy it as if it's the first time you are reading it and not the Nth time. And if you can't think of one, pick up Skipping Christmas.
Have a good Holiday season and thanks for reading.
Saturday, November 20, 2010
I WON!!!
I won this morning at 2. My National Novel Writing Month novel, THE TONTINE, hit 50,251 words. I rushed the last part in order to finish. There are more holes in this story that you'd find in Swiss cheese.
But I got the novel done and it reached 50,000 words.
Now I'd like to sit back and just read and enjoy the story. And maybe next year, if I still think the story is worth the effort, I will decide to definitely make it my 2011 writing project.
But for now, it's done. I am happy it's done and can sleep some.
Thanks for reading.
But I got the novel done and it reached 50,000 words.
Now I'd like to sit back and just read and enjoy the story. And maybe next year, if I still think the story is worth the effort, I will decide to definitely make it my 2011 writing project.
But for now, it's done. I am happy it's done and can sleep some.
Thanks for reading.
Sunday, November 14, 2010
40,000 words
I hit 40,000 words this afternoon on my NaNoWriMo novel, THE TONTINE, and have more writing to do today. I am well behind lasat year's pace with no hope of catching up. But I am well on my way to finishing long before the Nov. 30 deadline. Much will depend on how much I can squeeze in today -- my wife has a boatload of chores to complete -- and tomorrow morning.
I will be busy all tomorrow afternoon and probably won't get anymore writing done until Tuesday morning. Then I guess I will spend Tuesday knocking out the rest.
It has been fun -- or as much fun as NaNoWriMo can be. But I fear my characters are too two-dimensional and the plot too neat. During the week, I should have time to read it in its entirety and get a better handle on it all. Right now, I am in the middle of it and can't get that much perspective.
It is short, of course, and will clock in at around 50,000. I imagine I will spend all of 2011 fleshing out the characters and plot, and smoothing out the rough places, of which I imagine there are many. In the end, it is probably a novel that will end up with 75,000 to 80,000 words.
But I am getting there. 40K. That's 80 percent. Just 10,000 more words to go.
Thanks for reading.
I will be busy all tomorrow afternoon and probably won't get anymore writing done until Tuesday morning. Then I guess I will spend Tuesday knocking out the rest.
It has been fun -- or as much fun as NaNoWriMo can be. But I fear my characters are too two-dimensional and the plot too neat. During the week, I should have time to read it in its entirety and get a better handle on it all. Right now, I am in the middle of it and can't get that much perspective.
It is short, of course, and will clock in at around 50,000. I imagine I will spend all of 2011 fleshing out the characters and plot, and smoothing out the rough places, of which I imagine there are many. In the end, it is probably a novel that will end up with 75,000 to 80,000 words.
But I am getting there. 40K. That's 80 percent. Just 10,000 more words to go.
Thanks for reading.
Tuesday, November 9, 2010
NaNoWriMo, Day 8
Last night, I closed out Day 8 of National Novel Writing Month with 25,025 words, which is half the distance. Plus, I am only 100 words off the pace I had last year when I reached 50,000 words on Nov. 15, and finished the novel at 54,000 words four days later.
It's harder this year. The story is harder and is taking more concentration because I am not as familiar with the material. Plus, I have a couple of major holes in the story I want to go back to address but I know it is best just to continue plowing forward. So that is what I am doing.
But I enjoy this story and its various aspects. I will have to change my strategy a little, starting today. I generally write in continuity, from start to finish. But I will reach a section later in today's writing that requires more research and some studied thought in order to have the story hang together.
So I am going to jump over it and continue on toward the end and come back to write it later. It is a crucial part and without it the rest of the story don't work.
It is, as you've guessed, some back story. I plan to write it in its entirety but I haven't decided how it will finally appear in the novel. In later drafts, I may disperse it throughout. But for now, I think it best to have it in one big chunk.
Well, that's it for now. I have a freelance assignment to work on today before I concentrate on NaNoWriMo. So I have to get with it.
Thanks for reading and don't give up.
It's harder this year. The story is harder and is taking more concentration because I am not as familiar with the material. Plus, I have a couple of major holes in the story I want to go back to address but I know it is best just to continue plowing forward. So that is what I am doing.
But I enjoy this story and its various aspects. I will have to change my strategy a little, starting today. I generally write in continuity, from start to finish. But I will reach a section later in today's writing that requires more research and some studied thought in order to have the story hang together.
So I am going to jump over it and continue on toward the end and come back to write it later. It is a crucial part and without it the rest of the story don't work.
It is, as you've guessed, some back story. I plan to write it in its entirety but I haven't decided how it will finally appear in the novel. In later drafts, I may disperse it throughout. But for now, I think it best to have it in one big chunk.
Well, that's it for now. I have a freelance assignment to work on today before I concentrate on NaNoWriMo. So I have to get with it.
Thanks for reading and don't give up.
Saturday, November 6, 2010
Worry
I normally try not to write on a subject not directly related to writing. (Yes, I know I do sometimes but I try not to.) This is going to be one of those times because of something that happened last night that I know could have affected my writing for, perhaps, years. Maybe even forever.
When I learned last year that I had cancer I couldn't write fiction for several weeks. I have mentioned that in earlier posts. Today's topic is worry.
I am a worrywart. I try not to be but I am, although worry is generally useless. If you worry, for example, about whether an event will happen, it won't affect whether it happens or not. If the event does happen, your worry didn't stop it. So it was useless. If it doesn't happen, again you worried for nothing.
Now to the point. One of my daugthers, whom told me she'd be home around 10 last night, didn't get home on time. At 10, I wasn't overly surprised. I planned to have a mild conversation about being late and let it go. At 11:30, when she wasn't home and hadn't called, I was seriously getting angry. She wasn't answering any calls or texts. This is odd because her cell phone is an extension of her arm. She is never without it.
At 2 in the morning, I drive by the house where I had dropped her off at 7 p.m. and, not unexpectedly, all the lights are out and everyone is apparently asleep. A call to the house went unanswered. So it's 2:30 in the morning and I don't know where my teenage child is. We called the police.
That's when I started to lose the battle with worry. All sorts of things started going through my head. Injury, death, kidnapping by a middle-easterner and sold into sexual slavery.
And that's when I knew that if something serious happened to either my children or my wife, I would be creatively crippled, and for quite a while. Just the thought of something wrong crippled me last night. I couldn't think. I was gripped with worry.
At 3:32 in the morning she calls home, irritated that I had the police wake everyone in the house when she TOLD me she'd be home at 10 IN THE MORNING after a sleepover with a bunch of girls. And I told her she NEVER mentioned that to me or her mother. Last night wasn't a good night for her to go to a sleepover. I would not have agreed if I knew. She said she was EMBARRASSED. I decided to wait until morning to tell her that a parent's worry trumps embarrassment.
I told the police it was okay for her to stay and then my wife and our other daughter, whom oddly enough is actually mature enough to understand our point of view, went to a Perkin's restaurant and ate breakfast at 4 in the morning. The comfort of sleep didn't come until after 5.
My teenager has always been a good child. She still is. But I swear -- she is going to be the death of me, starting with the creative part of me. And I don't know what I'd do if I couldn't write.
Thanks for reading. Now get back to writing. It is the start of Day 6 of National Novel Writing Month and after five full days I have 16,751 words, which is higher than the 10-day goal of 16,670 words. I hope to reach more than 20,000 by this evening. It can only happen without worry.
Thanks again.
When I learned last year that I had cancer I couldn't write fiction for several weeks. I have mentioned that in earlier posts. Today's topic is worry.
I am a worrywart. I try not to be but I am, although worry is generally useless. If you worry, for example, about whether an event will happen, it won't affect whether it happens or not. If the event does happen, your worry didn't stop it. So it was useless. If it doesn't happen, again you worried for nothing.
Now to the point. One of my daugthers, whom told me she'd be home around 10 last night, didn't get home on time. At 10, I wasn't overly surprised. I planned to have a mild conversation about being late and let it go. At 11:30, when she wasn't home and hadn't called, I was seriously getting angry. She wasn't answering any calls or texts. This is odd because her cell phone is an extension of her arm. She is never without it.
At 2 in the morning, I drive by the house where I had dropped her off at 7 p.m. and, not unexpectedly, all the lights are out and everyone is apparently asleep. A call to the house went unanswered. So it's 2:30 in the morning and I don't know where my teenage child is. We called the police.
That's when I started to lose the battle with worry. All sorts of things started going through my head. Injury, death, kidnapping by a middle-easterner and sold into sexual slavery.
And that's when I knew that if something serious happened to either my children or my wife, I would be creatively crippled, and for quite a while. Just the thought of something wrong crippled me last night. I couldn't think. I was gripped with worry.
At 3:32 in the morning she calls home, irritated that I had the police wake everyone in the house when she TOLD me she'd be home at 10 IN THE MORNING after a sleepover with a bunch of girls. And I told her she NEVER mentioned that to me or her mother. Last night wasn't a good night for her to go to a sleepover. I would not have agreed if I knew. She said she was EMBARRASSED. I decided to wait until morning to tell her that a parent's worry trumps embarrassment.
I told the police it was okay for her to stay and then my wife and our other daughter, whom oddly enough is actually mature enough to understand our point of view, went to a Perkin's restaurant and ate breakfast at 4 in the morning. The comfort of sleep didn't come until after 5.
My teenager has always been a good child. She still is. But I swear -- she is going to be the death of me, starting with the creative part of me. And I don't know what I'd do if I couldn't write.
Thanks for reading. Now get back to writing. It is the start of Day 6 of National Novel Writing Month and after five full days I have 16,751 words, which is higher than the 10-day goal of 16,670 words. I hope to reach more than 20,000 by this evening. It can only happen without worry.
Thanks again.
Wednesday, November 3, 2010
NaNoWriMo, Days 1 & 2
It's now the morning of Day 3 of National Novel Writing Month in 2010 and I am already tired but also excited with the prospect of writing. After two days of writing, I have 6,521 words, which is about 100 words MORE than I had last year at this point. And last year, as you may recalled, I reached 50,000 words in two weeks.
I was walking Pluto at midnight on Sunday/Monday and still working out in my head how the first scene should go. Then, as I was walking and noticed the blinking security light in a neighbor's car, it hit me. After setting up a folder in my memory stick and formatting my pages, I started writing, using my wife's laptop, at around 1 in the morning, though I was already tired and should have been in bed. I wrote until 3 and finished 1,100 words. Not a great pace but I was just getting settled in.
Now much opportunity to write again until 10 at night, again using my wife's computer. My pace improved some but not nearly what I needed, given that I don't have reliable access to a reliable computer. By midnight, I had 2,404 words for the day, which was 50 percent more than I needed as a daily goal but also 50 percent less than on Day 1 last year.
I was satisified with what I wrote but a little discouraged, nevertheless. I wished I had written more.
Tuesday morning saw me venture to the public library. First, I cleaned out my e-mail account at Yahoo, updated Facebook and then settled into writing as little children sang "Ittsy-Bitsy spider" in the background. Good totals after two hours of work.
The afternoon saw me at my brother's house to use his computer but I won't do that again. Too many distractions. Home again on Angie's laptop in the evening after dinner, finishing up at 11:30. (I tried using the borrowed laptop of a friend but it is slow and it re-formatted my pages. Took my an hour to correct it all.)
Pace was very good and I had more than 4,000 words, which was more than I ever expected. I was hoping for at least another 2,400-word day but I went well beyond that. (Also wish I could have got to a NaNo writing session at a local coffee store.)
Plus, there are hills and valleys in writing a book, moments of heightened drama and then the build-up to the next dramatic moment. I finished at the conclusion of my first big dramatic moment where I surprise the reader. I loved it.
I wasn't sure what scene should follow next. What I had in my outline seemed insufficient. I got a little worried. But Pluto -- or walking Pluto, which is more to the point -- provided the answer. I would add another scene with the antagonist to start ramping up the tension again.
So this morning, I have a good place to start and I am looking forward to some interesting action.
I will probably just rely on a computer in the library during the day, when I have the time, and on my wife's laptop in the evening. Not sure if that will be enough for me to reach more than 2,000 words a day but I will try. And if I want to keep pace with last year, I will have to do 3,500 words today.
Not sure that's going to happen, either.
But we are off and running. It's fun. Not totally sure about the story yet but we will see.
That's where I'm at. You undoubtedly find all this boring but I wanted to get it all down mostly as a reminder to myself. I will try to be more interesting next time. I promise not to constantly only go on about NaNoWriMo.
But for now, thanks for reading and keep writing. It really is worth it, even if you are the only one who thinks so.
I was walking Pluto at midnight on Sunday/Monday and still working out in my head how the first scene should go. Then, as I was walking and noticed the blinking security light in a neighbor's car, it hit me. After setting up a folder in my memory stick and formatting my pages, I started writing, using my wife's laptop, at around 1 in the morning, though I was already tired and should have been in bed. I wrote until 3 and finished 1,100 words. Not a great pace but I was just getting settled in.
Now much opportunity to write again until 10 at night, again using my wife's computer. My pace improved some but not nearly what I needed, given that I don't have reliable access to a reliable computer. By midnight, I had 2,404 words for the day, which was 50 percent more than I needed as a daily goal but also 50 percent less than on Day 1 last year.
I was satisified with what I wrote but a little discouraged, nevertheless. I wished I had written more.
Tuesday morning saw me venture to the public library. First, I cleaned out my e-mail account at Yahoo, updated Facebook and then settled into writing as little children sang "Ittsy-Bitsy spider" in the background. Good totals after two hours of work.
The afternoon saw me at my brother's house to use his computer but I won't do that again. Too many distractions. Home again on Angie's laptop in the evening after dinner, finishing up at 11:30. (I tried using the borrowed laptop of a friend but it is slow and it re-formatted my pages. Took my an hour to correct it all.)
Pace was very good and I had more than 4,000 words, which was more than I ever expected. I was hoping for at least another 2,400-word day but I went well beyond that. (Also wish I could have got to a NaNo writing session at a local coffee store.)
Plus, there are hills and valleys in writing a book, moments of heightened drama and then the build-up to the next dramatic moment. I finished at the conclusion of my first big dramatic moment where I surprise the reader. I loved it.
I wasn't sure what scene should follow next. What I had in my outline seemed insufficient. I got a little worried. But Pluto -- or walking Pluto, which is more to the point -- provided the answer. I would add another scene with the antagonist to start ramping up the tension again.
So this morning, I have a good place to start and I am looking forward to some interesting action.
I will probably just rely on a computer in the library during the day, when I have the time, and on my wife's laptop in the evening. Not sure if that will be enough for me to reach more than 2,000 words a day but I will try. And if I want to keep pace with last year, I will have to do 3,500 words today.
Not sure that's going to happen, either.
But we are off and running. It's fun. Not totally sure about the story yet but we will see.
That's where I'm at. You undoubtedly find all this boring but I wanted to get it all down mostly as a reminder to myself. I will try to be more interesting next time. I promise not to constantly only go on about NaNoWriMo.
But for now, thanks for reading and keep writing. It really is worth it, even if you are the only one who thinks so.
Sunday, October 31, 2010
Still problems . . .
With just over two hours before the start of National Novel Writing Month and I still can't get online with a laptop at home. But I will still start at 12:01 a.m., Nov. 1, which is two hours and one minute away.
Wish me luck.
Wish me luck.
NaNoWriMo woes
National Novel Writing Month starts in under 12 hours and I am facing several problems. I still haven't worked out the creative problems with the story. Howevber, I will write the story regardless of that. That is part of the purpose of NaNoWriMo. No plot, no problem!
But more worrisome are my technical problems. I still don't have reliable access to a reliable computer. I may have a solution to that later this afternoon so I will have to see. Right now, however, it is a challenge.
Either way, I intend to write my novel. Some way or another I plan to upload more than 50,000 words on the NaNoWriMo website before 12:59 p.m. on Nov. 30.
I will try to update you later. But for now, Happy Writing, particularly if you are doing NaNo this year.
And thanks for reading.
But more worrisome are my technical problems. I still don't have reliable access to a reliable computer. I may have a solution to that later this afternoon so I will have to see. Right now, however, it is a challenge.
Either way, I intend to write my novel. Some way or another I plan to upload more than 50,000 words on the NaNoWriMo website before 12:59 p.m. on Nov. 30.
I will try to update you later. But for now, Happy Writing, particularly if you are doing NaNo this year.
And thanks for reading.
Wednesday, October 27, 2010
Computer problems, AGAIN
My laptop crashed this afternoon and, given that it is three years old, it will probably cost too much to be fixed and the data recovered. So I will probably have to buy a new computer.
And where is the money coming from, you may ask. I asked the same question and I haven't gotten a satisfactory answer. So my posts may be sporadic for a while.
This is particularly worrisome because National Novel Writing Month starts on Monday morning at 12:01. While I will continue preparing for several weeks of intense writing -- I am in the middle of outlinging, which I do in longhand -- I'm not sure yet home much computer time I will have in the coming weeks. I can use the computers at the public library but I can't sit there for the amount of time it will take for me to make my daily writing goals.
Anyway, this is just to let all you people in Russia, Brazil and Japan know my posts will be a little more sporadic. Keep a little prayer going for me.
In the meantime, thanks for reading. I look to see you again soon. And keep writing.
And where is the money coming from, you may ask. I asked the same question and I haven't gotten a satisfactory answer. So my posts may be sporadic for a while.
This is particularly worrisome because National Novel Writing Month starts on Monday morning at 12:01. While I will continue preparing for several weeks of intense writing -- I am in the middle of outlinging, which I do in longhand -- I'm not sure yet home much computer time I will have in the coming weeks. I can use the computers at the public library but I can't sit there for the amount of time it will take for me to make my daily writing goals.
Anyway, this is just to let all you people in Russia, Brazil and Japan know my posts will be a little more sporadic. Keep a little prayer going for me.
In the meantime, thanks for reading. I look to see you again soon. And keep writing.
Tuesday, October 26, 2010
Justin Bieber and other rants
I know this is going to sound like so many sour grapes -- and perhaps it is -- but it seems there is a certain injustice in the universe when there are so many talented, struggling unpublished authors in the world and someone like Justin Bieber can get a book contract for an autobiography.
I was in the bookstore last weekend and saw FIRST STEP 2 FOREVER: MY STORY by Justin Bieber. What in the world can this 16-year-old boy, whom no one had heard of two years ago, say would be interesting enough to pay good money to buy, let alone to read? He has no life experience. He's had no great struggles since he was a child. He was a healthy middle-class kid growing up in suburbia in Canada.
It looks a lot like a picture book for the pre-teen set but I know several young adult authors with far more to offer that age group than what they will get from Bieber. Fortunately, two of them are getting published next year but neither will get nearly the sort of publicity granted to Justin Bieber.
What I think is worse for Bieber, who apparently has a nail polish line coming as well as a unisex fragrance, is that it seems as if some marketing guru is trying to turn a boy, who already has lots of effeminate characteristics, into a girl. He could be messed up for the rest of his life as in private moments, which could be few, he struggles to understand who he is. He could end up like poor Michael Jackson.
That saddens me but it isn't the point I am trying to make at the moment.
I love it when a debut author breaks through because it provides hope for the rest of us. But it seems that when some celebrity, such as Bieber or with novels by Nicole Richie, comes out of nowhere and gets a contract, there is a little less space for the rest of us. I have an online friend who was published this year (and it was a wonderful book) and he footed the bill for his own book tour. It was worth it to him and I support that. But I'm sure Justin Bieber doesn't have to foot the bill for his publicity, tours or book signings.
It just doesn't seem right.
So there is my rant.
I truly don't wish young Justin Bieber ill-will in any way. I just wish there was a little more equity in the universe.
Thanks for reading and don't give up on writing. Don't let the injustice silence your voice.
I was in the bookstore last weekend and saw FIRST STEP 2 FOREVER: MY STORY by Justin Bieber. What in the world can this 16-year-old boy, whom no one had heard of two years ago, say would be interesting enough to pay good money to buy, let alone to read? He has no life experience. He's had no great struggles since he was a child. He was a healthy middle-class kid growing up in suburbia in Canada.
It looks a lot like a picture book for the pre-teen set but I know several young adult authors with far more to offer that age group than what they will get from Bieber. Fortunately, two of them are getting published next year but neither will get nearly the sort of publicity granted to Justin Bieber.
What I think is worse for Bieber, who apparently has a nail polish line coming as well as a unisex fragrance, is that it seems as if some marketing guru is trying to turn a boy, who already has lots of effeminate characteristics, into a girl. He could be messed up for the rest of his life as in private moments, which could be few, he struggles to understand who he is. He could end up like poor Michael Jackson.
That saddens me but it isn't the point I am trying to make at the moment.
I love it when a debut author breaks through because it provides hope for the rest of us. But it seems that when some celebrity, such as Bieber or with novels by Nicole Richie, comes out of nowhere and gets a contract, there is a little less space for the rest of us. I have an online friend who was published this year (and it was a wonderful book) and he footed the bill for his own book tour. It was worth it to him and I support that. But I'm sure Justin Bieber doesn't have to foot the bill for his publicity, tours or book signings.
It just doesn't seem right.
So there is my rant.
I truly don't wish young Justin Bieber ill-will in any way. I just wish there was a little more equity in the universe.
Thanks for reading and don't give up on writing. Don't let the injustice silence your voice.
Sunday, October 24, 2010
NaNoWriMo Kick-off
I went to a National Novel Writing Month Kick-off this afternoon and I am really excited about the coming month and the writing challenges that will come with it. I saw a couple of friends I made last year during NaNoWriMo. After saying she was glad to see me, one particularly wonderful and thoughtful woman asked me about my health. I had forgotten that last November was only two months after I learned of my prostate cancer and NaNoWriMo marked my return to fiction writing.
I don't have my outline finished yet -- actually, I haven't even written any of it on paper, although I have some of it mapped out in my head. But I described the plot to a couple of friends today and they thought it was intriguing. So I feel encouraged.
I don't know if I have a 50,000-word novel in my head yet but that won't deter me. It's time to see if I have any creative juices flowing and can face the challenge.
I like the idea of writing by abandon, as if I am walking on a tightrope without a net. (Though I must admit as a child -- and as an adult -- I hated people tightrope walking without a net. I was always afraid they'd fall and get killed in front of me.) Writing during NaNoWriMo is freeing. It is writing for the pure joy of the experience.
Writing is always hard, or I think it should be. If not, you are not digging deep enough. But there is also joy in the experience of crafting something out of nothing. It's a little like playing god.
So bring it on.
This is a generally upbeat posting. I am listening to some music I love and I am enjoying myself. But tomorrow or sometime during the week I am going to blog about something that troubles me in the publishing industry. So stay tuned.
But for now, have a good week of writing. Don't give up. And thanks for reading.
I don't have my outline finished yet -- actually, I haven't even written any of it on paper, although I have some of it mapped out in my head. But I described the plot to a couple of friends today and they thought it was intriguing. So I feel encouraged.
I don't know if I have a 50,000-word novel in my head yet but that won't deter me. It's time to see if I have any creative juices flowing and can face the challenge.
I like the idea of writing by abandon, as if I am walking on a tightrope without a net. (Though I must admit as a child -- and as an adult -- I hated people tightrope walking without a net. I was always afraid they'd fall and get killed in front of me.) Writing during NaNoWriMo is freeing. It is writing for the pure joy of the experience.
Writing is always hard, or I think it should be. If not, you are not digging deep enough. But there is also joy in the experience of crafting something out of nothing. It's a little like playing god.
So bring it on.
This is a generally upbeat posting. I am listening to some music I love and I am enjoying myself. But tomorrow or sometime during the week I am going to blog about something that troubles me in the publishing industry. So stay tuned.
But for now, have a good week of writing. Don't give up. And thanks for reading.
Wednesday, October 20, 2010
4 Golden Rules for Being a Writer -- Now wait a minute
I was reading an online edition of Writer's Digest this week and happened upon an article by author Anne Fortier, who wrote JULIET, a novel about a young woman who discovers that she is descended from Shakespeare's Juliet. Great premise, by the way.
Fortier's article, "4 Golden Rules for Being a Writer," appeared on Chuck Sambuchino's blog. (The blog address is below)
http://www.guidetoliteraryagents.com/blog/The+4+Golden+Rules+Of+Being+A+Writer.aspx
Now I originally agreed with Ms Fortier's suggestions until I started to think about them in greater detail. And the more I thought, the more I started thinking some of her suggestions were something out of a Hans Christian Andersen fairy tale. (Fortier is originally from Denmark, which is a beautiful country.)
Her first rule, Start at square one, essentially says forget about networking.
"The world is full of people who know people who know an agent. But you can save yourself a lot of time and disappointment by ignoring them. Because the truth is, no one really knows anyone, and even if they did, it is probably not going to help your chances one bit," she says. ". . . if you run around looking for them, chances are you will still end up back at square one, wondering why you just wasted six months on hearsay."
I'm sorry but that's crap.
While I don't think you can hang your hat on such long chances, there are numerous examples of people who connect with an agent or publisher through social and professional contacts. I know of two people who just this year got agents through knowing someone who knew someone. In both cases, the aspiring authors were prepared for an opportunity if it came. So when it did, they ran with it.
Ms Fortier's second rule is Do your homework. She is right about this.
Not only should your manuscript be "finished, brilliant, formatted correctly, and edited to near-perfection . . . the same goes for the query letter," Fortier says. "Invest the time and do a proper job; this is the most important page of your entire manuscript."
I think this is where I somehow must be failing. Yes, as you know, I have honed my query to the best of my ability but apparently something about it doesn't entice agents. Not sure what, so I continue to work on it. But it is a tight, 250 words. And I think she is right on this point. It is probably the most important page you will write.
Rule No. 3 is Pitch your book before you write it.
"What I mean by this is that you can save yourself a lot of time and headaches by thinking ahead to your query letter as early as possible in the writing process. Once you've done your homework and know what a query letter needs to accomplish, you are very likely to look at your finished manuscript and groan," she says. "So, make a point of thinking through the story early on, with the pitch in mind."
I agree in part and dissent in part.
I agree you should think your story through but she seems to suggest that you should write out an outline before you start. I know I lot of writers who do outline but just as many who don't. And there are successful writers in both camps. It is through hard work and the re-writing process where you keep your novel being "a rambling, pointless, dead-boring excuse for a book." And if you do that, it won't end up being "un-pitchable" as Ms. Fortier suggests. You should think ahead but you also must allow the story to develop. In the end, you could end up with a better story than what you originally considered.
The last rule is Don't jump the gun. "The book world looks pretty darn big from your office chair, but it actually isn't. So, once you have compiled that beautiful list of desirable and reliable agents (once again: by doing your homework), make sure you don't waste it. Don't send query letters to more than one agent at a time," she writes.
That is insane. There can be scores of agents who potentially may be interested in your book. But the response time for most agents is between two and eight weeks for queries, or so they say. Some answer in minutes while others never respond. If you send out only one query at a time and wait for a response, it could take you more than a year, at the earliest, to get through your list of potential agents.
Sambuchino says carpeting the industry with a query doesn't work and he is probably right. He suggests sending out a small number, say, seven, and if that doesn't work, there is probably something wrong with the letter. You can then hone the letter without having invested too much time in a letter that doesn't work.
That is reasonable.
But I agree with Fortier when she says, "Don't test the water by sending your second-best. Be patient. Finish the book. Write the most attractive query letter ever. And then sleep on it. And sleep on it again. Remember: an agent is not some opponent you need to blitz; an agent is someone who would like nothing more than to be your ally. All she/he needs is a good reason."
As with most advice, you have to take from it what works best for you. In that way, you will be prepared when opportunity comes knocking. And even if you fail to accomplish your goal, you can be comfortable in knowing you did your best.
Thanks for reading and, above all, don't give up.
Fortier's article, "4 Golden Rules for Being a Writer," appeared on Chuck Sambuchino's blog. (The blog address is below)
http://www.guidetoliteraryagents.com/blog/The+4+Golden+Rules+Of+Being+A+Writer.aspx
Now I originally agreed with Ms Fortier's suggestions until I started to think about them in greater detail. And the more I thought, the more I started thinking some of her suggestions were something out of a Hans Christian Andersen fairy tale. (Fortier is originally from Denmark, which is a beautiful country.)
Her first rule, Start at square one, essentially says forget about networking.
"The world is full of people who know people who know an agent. But you can save yourself a lot of time and disappointment by ignoring them. Because the truth is, no one really knows anyone, and even if they did, it is probably not going to help your chances one bit," she says. ". . . if you run around looking for them, chances are you will still end up back at square one, wondering why you just wasted six months on hearsay."
I'm sorry but that's crap.
While I don't think you can hang your hat on such long chances, there are numerous examples of people who connect with an agent or publisher through social and professional contacts. I know of two people who just this year got agents through knowing someone who knew someone. In both cases, the aspiring authors were prepared for an opportunity if it came. So when it did, they ran with it.
Ms Fortier's second rule is Do your homework. She is right about this.
Not only should your manuscript be "finished, brilliant, formatted correctly, and edited to near-perfection . . . the same goes for the query letter," Fortier says. "Invest the time and do a proper job; this is the most important page of your entire manuscript."
I think this is where I somehow must be failing. Yes, as you know, I have honed my query to the best of my ability but apparently something about it doesn't entice agents. Not sure what, so I continue to work on it. But it is a tight, 250 words. And I think she is right on this point. It is probably the most important page you will write.
Rule No. 3 is Pitch your book before you write it.
"What I mean by this is that you can save yourself a lot of time and headaches by thinking ahead to your query letter as early as possible in the writing process. Once you've done your homework and know what a query letter needs to accomplish, you are very likely to look at your finished manuscript and groan," she says. "So, make a point of thinking through the story early on, with the pitch in mind."
I agree in part and dissent in part.
I agree you should think your story through but she seems to suggest that you should write out an outline before you start. I know I lot of writers who do outline but just as many who don't. And there are successful writers in both camps. It is through hard work and the re-writing process where you keep your novel being "a rambling, pointless, dead-boring excuse for a book." And if you do that, it won't end up being "un-pitchable" as Ms. Fortier suggests. You should think ahead but you also must allow the story to develop. In the end, you could end up with a better story than what you originally considered.
The last rule is Don't jump the gun. "The book world looks pretty darn big from your office chair, but it actually isn't. So, once you have compiled that beautiful list of desirable and reliable agents (once again: by doing your homework), make sure you don't waste it. Don't send query letters to more than one agent at a time," she writes.
That is insane. There can be scores of agents who potentially may be interested in your book. But the response time for most agents is between two and eight weeks for queries, or so they say. Some answer in minutes while others never respond. If you send out only one query at a time and wait for a response, it could take you more than a year, at the earliest, to get through your list of potential agents.
Sambuchino says carpeting the industry with a query doesn't work and he is probably right. He suggests sending out a small number, say, seven, and if that doesn't work, there is probably something wrong with the letter. You can then hone the letter without having invested too much time in a letter that doesn't work.
That is reasonable.
But I agree with Fortier when she says, "Don't test the water by sending your second-best. Be patient. Finish the book. Write the most attractive query letter ever. And then sleep on it. And sleep on it again. Remember: an agent is not some opponent you need to blitz; an agent is someone who would like nothing more than to be your ally. All she/he needs is a good reason."
As with most advice, you have to take from it what works best for you. In that way, you will be prepared when opportunity comes knocking. And even if you fail to accomplish your goal, you can be comfortable in knowing you did your best.
Thanks for reading and, above all, don't give up.
Monday, October 18, 2010
Red Planet Blues, (sadly) Part ll
I sadly learned today of the passing last week of another Earth Angel, Frances R. Kirch.
Mrs. Kirch was the mother of Kerry Lou, the author of RED PLANET BLUES, and who provided some of the funding for the novel. Kerry dedicated the book to her mother, which only seemed right. I think at some point there was a stack of books in Mrs. Kirch's garage.
Mrs. Kirch was a wonderful woman, always charming, kind and pleasant to me. And that probably wasn't that easy 40 years ago. To me, Mrs. Kirch lived the life she was expected to live -- a very white bread with mayo life. But here was Kerry, this skinny, little, white girl, with this skinny, little, black kid as a friend who stopped by from time to time. But I never felt unwelcome in the Kirch household. Even their dog, Blitz, seemed to like me.
Mrs. Kirch had one very distinctive trademark. She always wore bright red lipstick. I don't think there was a time when I saw her when she didn't have it on.
I last spoke with Mrs. Kirch in late March, just after I learned of Kerry's fatal accident. She was as nice and charming as ever, and implored me to keep in touch. I knew she had been battling cancer for some time and I sent her a couple of notes over the summer. I never got a reply but I never expected one. I just wanted her to know I was still thinking of her.
I am saddened for her two surviving daughters, and the entire family, for their loss. But there can also be an element of joy in knowing that there is one more Earth Angel soaring above looking down at us.
May she soar in peace.
Mrs. Kirch was the mother of Kerry Lou, the author of RED PLANET BLUES, and who provided some of the funding for the novel. Kerry dedicated the book to her mother, which only seemed right. I think at some point there was a stack of books in Mrs. Kirch's garage.
Mrs. Kirch was a wonderful woman, always charming, kind and pleasant to me. And that probably wasn't that easy 40 years ago. To me, Mrs. Kirch lived the life she was expected to live -- a very white bread with mayo life. But here was Kerry, this skinny, little, white girl, with this skinny, little, black kid as a friend who stopped by from time to time. But I never felt unwelcome in the Kirch household. Even their dog, Blitz, seemed to like me.
Mrs. Kirch had one very distinctive trademark. She always wore bright red lipstick. I don't think there was a time when I saw her when she didn't have it on.
I last spoke with Mrs. Kirch in late March, just after I learned of Kerry's fatal accident. She was as nice and charming as ever, and implored me to keep in touch. I knew she had been battling cancer for some time and I sent her a couple of notes over the summer. I never got a reply but I never expected one. I just wanted her to know I was still thinking of her.
I am saddened for her two surviving daughters, and the entire family, for their loss. But there can also be an element of joy in knowing that there is one more Earth Angel soaring above looking down at us.
May she soar in peace.
Friday, October 15, 2010
Busy day tomorrow
I have a busy day tomorrow surrounded by other writers.
In the morning, I have the monthly meeting of the Indianapolis Association of Black Journalists, and in the afternoon I am attending a book fair at a nearby Barnes and Noble bookstore. And several of the authors in BEDLAM AT THE BRICKYARD will be signing copies at the book fair.
It looks to be a fine end to a busy and hectic week. I have been writing a lot and when I haven't been writing, I have been researching material for National Novel Writing Month. All in all, it has been a productive week.
The book signing should be fun, and there promises to be lots of people milling about looking for a good book. I hope we sell a lot of copies. Plus, I think our book trailer may be finished and we will be able to show it on a laptop. That should be fun.
Fortunately, it promises to be a quiet Sunday. I will need the rest because next week I will start and, hopefully, complete the outline for my NaNoWriMo book, and I need to finish up the freelance project I am currently working on.
So, have a good weekend. And thanks for reading.
In the morning, I have the monthly meeting of the Indianapolis Association of Black Journalists, and in the afternoon I am attending a book fair at a nearby Barnes and Noble bookstore. And several of the authors in BEDLAM AT THE BRICKYARD will be signing copies at the book fair.
It looks to be a fine end to a busy and hectic week. I have been writing a lot and when I haven't been writing, I have been researching material for National Novel Writing Month. All in all, it has been a productive week.
The book signing should be fun, and there promises to be lots of people milling about looking for a good book. I hope we sell a lot of copies. Plus, I think our book trailer may be finished and we will be able to show it on a laptop. That should be fun.
Fortunately, it promises to be a quiet Sunday. I will need the rest because next week I will start and, hopefully, complete the outline for my NaNoWriMo book, and I need to finish up the freelance project I am currently working on.
So, have a good weekend. And thanks for reading.
Thursday, October 14, 2010
Query advice
In my every-other-Wednesday critique group, two of the other writers last night passed around query letters to critique. One we went through one as we sat. But the other one we took home to read and will critique once we see each other again.
After reading the letter, I decided to write the author privately.
It must be stated that I'm not the best source for what is an effective query letter. If I were, I wouldn't have the tons of query rejection responses sitting on the hard drive of this laptop. But I think I have a handle on what is not a good letter.
Unfortunately, the query letter I took home wasn't very good.
The person who wrote the query is an excellent writer. I have read numerous examples of their writing and find it well-crafted, thoughtful, tight and entertaining. The writer is a great storyteller, with great imagination and color.
But to my complete surprise, none of that was displaced in the query.
It was flat and unfocused. I wasn't sure who the main character was (except that the author only mentioned one character by name but I still wasn't sure if they were the main character), and there was no conflict in the letter. The author also failed to clearly identify the genre and didn't mention the word count.
Nearly nothing in the query would entice me to read the whole letter. If I didn't know the writer, I would have stopped reading after the first paragraph.
I e-mailed them suggesting that they clearly identify the main charcter, show the challenges they face and the forces standing in their way. And I hope my comments weren't too harsh. I didn't mean for them to be.
Being in this group has helped me tremendously. I hope I was of help to this author. I haven't heard back from them. So only time will tell.
Thanks for reading. And never give up.
After reading the letter, I decided to write the author privately.
It must be stated that I'm not the best source for what is an effective query letter. If I were, I wouldn't have the tons of query rejection responses sitting on the hard drive of this laptop. But I think I have a handle on what is not a good letter.
Unfortunately, the query letter I took home wasn't very good.
The person who wrote the query is an excellent writer. I have read numerous examples of their writing and find it well-crafted, thoughtful, tight and entertaining. The writer is a great storyteller, with great imagination and color.
But to my complete surprise, none of that was displaced in the query.
It was flat and unfocused. I wasn't sure who the main character was (except that the author only mentioned one character by name but I still wasn't sure if they were the main character), and there was no conflict in the letter. The author also failed to clearly identify the genre and didn't mention the word count.
Nearly nothing in the query would entice me to read the whole letter. If I didn't know the writer, I would have stopped reading after the first paragraph.
I e-mailed them suggesting that they clearly identify the main charcter, show the challenges they face and the forces standing in their way. And I hope my comments weren't too harsh. I didn't mean for them to be.
Being in this group has helped me tremendously. I hope I was of help to this author. I haven't heard back from them. So only time will tell.
Thanks for reading. And never give up.
Monday, October 11, 2010
A brief pause in querying
I was interviewing a successful businessman last week for a series of freelance articles I am doing. And one of my favorite quotes from him was, "You can't just hope for things to happen."
I'm sure that's one of the reasons he is successful because he has faced -- and continues to face -- serious challenges. He owns an auto dealership, and it's a Chrysler dealership, to boot. And he is a minority. But he is doing well and is quite successful.
I have been so busy with this freelance project that I haven't spent as much time as I'd like researching agents and querying them. In fact, I haven't sent a single query in about two weeks. Now that's sad.
(I have gotten one more rejection from the last batch I sent out last month.)
Though he was talking about success in general and not about me -- he knows nothing of my aspirations of being published -- this businessman reminded me that complacency can quickly set it -- that merely hoping for an agent can take over for actually doing the work at finding an agent.
Merely hoping isn't taking over in me but I know I can backslide. So while I still have a busy week, I will get more queries out this week. I still have a list of about 10 or 12 agents I really like but haven't tried to contact yet. Plus there are more out there I haven't even discovered yet.
The query is done. Time for it to start flying -- but only a handful at a time, of course.
Thanks for reading and don't ever give up.
I'm sure that's one of the reasons he is successful because he has faced -- and continues to face -- serious challenges. He owns an auto dealership, and it's a Chrysler dealership, to boot. And he is a minority. But he is doing well and is quite successful.
I have been so busy with this freelance project that I haven't spent as much time as I'd like researching agents and querying them. In fact, I haven't sent a single query in about two weeks. Now that's sad.
(I have gotten one more rejection from the last batch I sent out last month.)
Though he was talking about success in general and not about me -- he knows nothing of my aspirations of being published -- this businessman reminded me that complacency can quickly set it -- that merely hoping for an agent can take over for actually doing the work at finding an agent.
Merely hoping isn't taking over in me but I know I can backslide. So while I still have a busy week, I will get more queries out this week. I still have a list of about 10 or 12 agents I really like but haven't tried to contact yet. Plus there are more out there I haven't even discovered yet.
The query is done. Time for it to start flying -- but only a handful at a time, of course.
Thanks for reading and don't ever give up.
Wednesday, October 6, 2010
NaNoWriMo -- 2010
I have made the momentous decision to write a different novel in November for National Novel Writing Month than I had been planning. What's worse is that it is going to take a lot more planning and research, and I only have a little more than three weeks to get it done.
It will be a challenge because it is a mystery -- what else were you expecting? -- but will have parts that occur more than 60 years in the past and some occurring today. I haven't decided on how to handle the past elements but they are too numerous and complicated to disperse throughout the novel.
So, I may open with an entire section in the past with its own dramatic elements, and then open a second section in the present, where the novel will conclude.
I have been paging through one of my favorite novels, TINKER, TAILOR, SOLDIER, SPY, to see how John LeCarre handled crucial past events in his novel. And there are a couple of other works that are inventive that I will consider.
The novel, tentatively titled THE TONTINE, is going to require that I step well outside my comfort zone. The protagonist may be a woman -- haven't decided on that yet, but at the very least a female will be a central character -- and I will stray well outside the mainstream or Black communities and into another ethnic culture altogether.
It should be fun.
Just to prepare you, I probably won't have a lot of time to blog next month. I still will be freelancing and also trying to write a novel. It will be crunch time and something will have to give. I suspect blogging will be part of the give, though I won't give it up all month.
I will let you know as we go along.
As for now, thanks for reading and don't give up.
It will be a challenge because it is a mystery -- what else were you expecting? -- but will have parts that occur more than 60 years in the past and some occurring today. I haven't decided on how to handle the past elements but they are too numerous and complicated to disperse throughout the novel.
So, I may open with an entire section in the past with its own dramatic elements, and then open a second section in the present, where the novel will conclude.
I have been paging through one of my favorite novels, TINKER, TAILOR, SOLDIER, SPY, to see how John LeCarre handled crucial past events in his novel. And there are a couple of other works that are inventive that I will consider.
The novel, tentatively titled THE TONTINE, is going to require that I step well outside my comfort zone. The protagonist may be a woman -- haven't decided on that yet, but at the very least a female will be a central character -- and I will stray well outside the mainstream or Black communities and into another ethnic culture altogether.
It should be fun.
Just to prepare you, I probably won't have a lot of time to blog next month. I still will be freelancing and also trying to write a novel. It will be crunch time and something will have to give. I suspect blogging will be part of the give, though I won't give it up all month.
I will let you know as we go along.
As for now, thanks for reading and don't give up.
Thursday, September 30, 2010
A contest to enter
I generally don't post twice in a day but I learned about this contest this afternoon.
So if you are an aspiring novelist like me, this is something to think about.
Thanks for reading and good luck.
M
___
http://bethanyray.blogspot.com/2010/09/query-submission-party.html
So if you are an aspiring novelist like me, this is something to think about.
Thanks for reading and good luck.
M
___
http://bethanyray.blogspot.com/2010/09/query-submission-party.html
Word count
I need some advice from any writers out there.
My current murder mystery, AN UNTIDY AFFAIR, clocks in at just under 72,000 words. Is that too short? Do I need to bump it up, somehow, to more than 75,000 words, with a target of 80,000 to 85,000.
As a journalist, I have always believed that you should write the story until it's complete. It is better, and easier, to cut it down, than to try to pad it.
The novel is the length that it is because that is the length of the story. I'm not sure what to add in order to increase the length. I see the story as complete at just over 71,500 words.
Send me a comment below or send me an e-mail with your thoughts please. Thanks.
And thanks, as always, for reading.
My current murder mystery, AN UNTIDY AFFAIR, clocks in at just under 72,000 words. Is that too short? Do I need to bump it up, somehow, to more than 75,000 words, with a target of 80,000 to 85,000.
As a journalist, I have always believed that you should write the story until it's complete. It is better, and easier, to cut it down, than to try to pad it.
The novel is the length that it is because that is the length of the story. I'm not sure what to add in order to increase the length. I see the story as complete at just over 71,500 words.
Send me a comment below or send me an e-mail with your thoughts please. Thanks.
And thanks, as always, for reading.
Tuesday, September 28, 2010
50 percent
In the first two weeks of this month, I went on a tear and sent out 30 query letters. And today, I got my 15th rejection letter. So I am at 50 percent.
Normally, I get about 50 percent replies, so I suspect I probably won't hear from any more agents unless I send follow-up letters to agents I didn't hear from. I generally only send a follow-up if the agent is on my A-list. And come to think of it, I don't think I have ever gotten a reply from a follow-up e-mail.
(I am a little loopy today because I went to the dentist this morning and had two teeth extracted. The numbness is gone but I'm on painkillers and am having a little trouble with focus. So that's my excuse for poor writing today. I will have to think of another excuse for all the other days.)
Ten days ago, I was talking to an editor at Writer's Digest who said it is a mistake to send out more than a handful of queries at a time. If all of them are rejected, you know it is the query that is the problem. You won't have wasted a lot of time and you know to work on the letter.
He said I should take a step-by-step approach. Get past the query stage, then the partial stage, then the ms stage. By then, I should have an agent.
An online friend who is very good at query letters -- she's my own Obi-Wan Kenobi -- re-wrote my letter this morning and sent it back to me. She also suggested only sending out seven at a time. So that is my strategy at the moment. Seven-at-a-time. But this time, I am going to start with only my A- and B-list agents and see what happens.
Well, my meds are really kicking in at the moment so I will go before I forget how to spell my name. (It' Michael, by the way.) Since I didn't work today and I have a large freelance project in the works, I will be very busy for the time being. Not sure when the next batch of query letters will go out. But perhaps I will get a few requests for partials before I hit the 50 percent rejection mark again.
Thanks for reading, especially you folks in Russia this month. Now get back to writing.
Normally, I get about 50 percent replies, so I suspect I probably won't hear from any more agents unless I send follow-up letters to agents I didn't hear from. I generally only send a follow-up if the agent is on my A-list. And come to think of it, I don't think I have ever gotten a reply from a follow-up e-mail.
(I am a little loopy today because I went to the dentist this morning and had two teeth extracted. The numbness is gone but I'm on painkillers and am having a little trouble with focus. So that's my excuse for poor writing today. I will have to think of another excuse for all the other days.)
Ten days ago, I was talking to an editor at Writer's Digest who said it is a mistake to send out more than a handful of queries at a time. If all of them are rejected, you know it is the query that is the problem. You won't have wasted a lot of time and you know to work on the letter.
He said I should take a step-by-step approach. Get past the query stage, then the partial stage, then the ms stage. By then, I should have an agent.
An online friend who is very good at query letters -- she's my own Obi-Wan Kenobi -- re-wrote my letter this morning and sent it back to me. She also suggested only sending out seven at a time. So that is my strategy at the moment. Seven-at-a-time. But this time, I am going to start with only my A- and B-list agents and see what happens.
Well, my meds are really kicking in at the moment so I will go before I forget how to spell my name. (It' Michael, by the way.) Since I didn't work today and I have a large freelance project in the works, I will be very busy for the time being. Not sure when the next batch of query letters will go out. But perhaps I will get a few requests for partials before I hit the 50 percent rejection mark again.
Thanks for reading, especially you folks in Russia this month. Now get back to writing.
Friday, September 24, 2010
Oh that name!
The second most popular blog post I have is from Jan. 4, 2008, and is called, What's in a Name, Part II. In that post I discuss the possible name of the book I was about to start. It was about the murder of a black newspaper publisher and the novel, still unsold and unrepresented, is called DEATH AT THE JUNGLE-BUNNY JOURNAL.
I worried that no publisher would risk taking on such a non-PC title. Or that they may be brave enough to take the chance since I am an African-American writer. Nothing so far.
But given that that blog posting is the second most popular posting I have, the title must strike a cord somewhere.
I haven't decided on what the title will be for the novel I plan to write in November. It probably won't be something as interesting as Jungle-bunny Journal. But maybe . . .
Haven't had a lot of time this week to query or blog. But I have been working hard mentally on an outline for the NaNoWriMo novel. Perhaps more on that in the coming weeks.
But for now, have a good weekend. I have a booksigning for BEDLAM AT THE BRICKYARD tomorrow in Bloomington and another one in Speedway next Saturday.
Thanks for reading.
I worried that no publisher would risk taking on such a non-PC title. Or that they may be brave enough to take the chance since I am an African-American writer. Nothing so far.
But given that that blog posting is the second most popular posting I have, the title must strike a cord somewhere.
I haven't decided on what the title will be for the novel I plan to write in November. It probably won't be something as interesting as Jungle-bunny Journal. But maybe . . .
Haven't had a lot of time this week to query or blog. But I have been working hard mentally on an outline for the NaNoWriMo novel. Perhaps more on that in the coming weeks.
But for now, have a good weekend. I have a booksigning for BEDLAM AT THE BRICKYARD tomorrow in Bloomington and another one in Speedway next Saturday.
Thanks for reading.
Tuesday, September 21, 2010
Who's lookin'?
Fellow blogger Anne Gallagher pointed out something to me last week and I have been fascinated by it ever since. On blogspot, there is a category on your dashboard called "stats". By clicking on it, you can view general statistics on who is looking at your blog and from where.
I was a little depressed at the numbers at first but got over it once I realized this feature apparently only goes back as far as May or June. (I think June.) But there is some interesting information, although I have no idea what it all means.
I am an aspiring author in the American Midwest blogging, well, about myself, mostly. I wouldn't expect to have much appeal to someone outside the country, and certainly not outside of English-speaking countries. I only write in English. (Don't get me started on how hard it is for me to learn another language.)
But only 67.6 percent of my pageview hits are from the United States. I have hits from five of the seven continents of the world. Apparently, no one in Africa or Antarctica has read me.
After the United States, some 4.6 percent of my pageviews come from The Netherlands, followed closely by 4.3 percent from Canada (which doesn't completely surprise me) and -- get this -- 4.1 percent from Bolivia. Who in the world in Bolivia is reading me?
I also have 13 page hits from China and 10 from Russia. What in the world am I saying that would interest someone in those countries? Is it the Secret Police? I don't know. They aren't leaving me any comments.
Some 28 percent of all my pageviews have come in the last month. But that doesn't mean my September posts are what people are looking at.
Two posts make up one quarter of all my pageviews -- and they are both from 2008, more than two years ago. My No. 1 most popular post (at 12.7 percent of all pageviews) is Querying Agents, from June 18, 2008, followed closely by What's in a Name, Part II, from Jan. 4, 2008 (12.3 percent of all pageviews).
They also have the most pageviews in the last month. But at No. 3 in pageviews this month is Finding an Agent? WTF does it take?, from last week. I was clearly frustrated when I wrote that one. But in terms of overall hits, that post from Sept. 13, is only tied for eighth in overall pageviews.
Now, what does any of this mean? I really don't know. But I hope to figure out why people are reading certain things and hopefully address those concerns more often. But it would be helpful if some of you people in Israel, Brazil, Italy, Denmark and Japan would leave me a comment from time to time.
I am glad, however, that people are reading. I hope you keep doing it.
Thank for reading everyone out there. Now get back to writing.
I was a little depressed at the numbers at first but got over it once I realized this feature apparently only goes back as far as May or June. (I think June.) But there is some interesting information, although I have no idea what it all means.
I am an aspiring author in the American Midwest blogging, well, about myself, mostly. I wouldn't expect to have much appeal to someone outside the country, and certainly not outside of English-speaking countries. I only write in English. (Don't get me started on how hard it is for me to learn another language.)
But only 67.6 percent of my pageview hits are from the United States. I have hits from five of the seven continents of the world. Apparently, no one in Africa or Antarctica has read me.
After the United States, some 4.6 percent of my pageviews come from The Netherlands, followed closely by 4.3 percent from Canada (which doesn't completely surprise me) and -- get this -- 4.1 percent from Bolivia. Who in the world in Bolivia is reading me?
I also have 13 page hits from China and 10 from Russia. What in the world am I saying that would interest someone in those countries? Is it the Secret Police? I don't know. They aren't leaving me any comments.
Some 28 percent of all my pageviews have come in the last month. But that doesn't mean my September posts are what people are looking at.
Two posts make up one quarter of all my pageviews -- and they are both from 2008, more than two years ago. My No. 1 most popular post (at 12.7 percent of all pageviews) is Querying Agents, from June 18, 2008, followed closely by What's in a Name, Part II, from Jan. 4, 2008 (12.3 percent of all pageviews).
They also have the most pageviews in the last month. But at No. 3 in pageviews this month is Finding an Agent? WTF does it take?, from last week. I was clearly frustrated when I wrote that one. But in terms of overall hits, that post from Sept. 13, is only tied for eighth in overall pageviews.
Now, what does any of this mean? I really don't know. But I hope to figure out why people are reading certain things and hopefully address those concerns more often. But it would be helpful if some of you people in Israel, Brazil, Italy, Denmark and Japan would leave me a comment from time to time.
I am glad, however, that people are reading. I hope you keep doing it.
Thank for reading everyone out there. Now get back to writing.
Friday, September 17, 2010
Query News, Part II
It's been quite a week in the Query Wars. Two weeks, really.
Since the Friday before Labor Day, I have sent out 29 query letters for AN UNTIDY AFFAIR, some with partial pages attached and some without. Twenty-six were e-mail submissions, two were submissions through the agency's in-house process via their website and one went by snail mail.
No requests for additional pages, a partial or the entire manuscript. There have been 12 rejections, including one in the return envelope through the U.S. Postal Service.
This week was the big week, of course. I got four rejections on Monday, more than on any single day since I started sending at queries for my first book, FIGHTING CHAOS, three years ago. Tuesday saw two additional rejections, none Wednesday, one on Thursday and none (so far) today.
Totally, my response rate is just over 40 percent. But it may increase in the next week or so and in about two weeks I will send out reminders to selected agents. In the past, that has also generated a couple of responses.
I was reminded this week, more than once, actually, that all it will take is for ONE agent to love my book. I can't do much except send out queries until I find that ONE.
Enjoy the weekend. I will be attending a book fair tomorrow at the Hancock County Public Library and, hopefully, signing some copies of my story in BEDLAM AT THE BRICKYARD.
Thanks for reading. Now go out and write something good.
Since the Friday before Labor Day, I have sent out 29 query letters for AN UNTIDY AFFAIR, some with partial pages attached and some without. Twenty-six were e-mail submissions, two were submissions through the agency's in-house process via their website and one went by snail mail.
No requests for additional pages, a partial or the entire manuscript. There have been 12 rejections, including one in the return envelope through the U.S. Postal Service.
This week was the big week, of course. I got four rejections on Monday, more than on any single day since I started sending at queries for my first book, FIGHTING CHAOS, three years ago. Tuesday saw two additional rejections, none Wednesday, one on Thursday and none (so far) today.
Totally, my response rate is just over 40 percent. But it may increase in the next week or so and in about two weeks I will send out reminders to selected agents. In the past, that has also generated a couple of responses.
I was reminded this week, more than once, actually, that all it will take is for ONE agent to love my book. I can't do much except send out queries until I find that ONE.
Enjoy the weekend. I will be attending a book fair tomorrow at the Hancock County Public Library and, hopefully, signing some copies of my story in BEDLAM AT THE BRICKYARD.
Thanks for reading. Now go out and write something good.
Thursday, September 16, 2010
A class act
I piled the family in the car yesterday -- well, actually, the wifey and one of my two daughters -- and high-tailed down to Cincinnati for a book signing of my friend and fellow author James King. Got there just before the start.
Although we have communicated online, it was my first face-to-face with Jim, who is as friendly and courteous in person as he is over the Internet. A few of his peeps, some dating back as far as his high school days in Ohio, were also at the bookstore and were wonderful to meet.
It was a small but very attentive crowd. Jim read from his novel, BILL WARRINGTON'S LAST CHANCE, and answered questions about the book and about writing in general. I tried my best to keep the reporter in me at bay and not inundate him with questions.
The book is quite interesting and I had hoped to finish reading it before the book signing. But time and work conspired against me. I'm only just past the halfway point. No matter. He signed my copy and left me a terrific inscription.
But the thing that surprised and impressed me most was a simple gesture. And it wasn't even a gesture directed toward me.
The signing was over and my daughter Ericka and I were sitting and talking to Jim. Actually, I was boring the poor man about my kids. But he asked me whether she -- meaning Ericka -- would read the book. I said yes. She is a voracious reader and planned to read it as soon as I finished.
Jim turned around, grabbed a book from the table and autographed it for her and then went downstairs to pay for it.
I was stunned and pleased. It was such a kind and unexpected gesture. And he left such a wonderful message for her in the book. She was excited and used a book light in the car to read some of the book on the two-hour ride home.
I'm sure he made a new young fan. And I can certainly say James King is a classy guy.
If I ever get a book published and go on a book tour, I'm definitely going to make a stop in Wilton, Connecticut. And perhaps, just perhaps, make a small repayment on a simple, kind gesture.
Thanks for reading and keep writing.
Monday, September 13, 2010
Finding an agent? WTF does it take?
As much as I can, I try to stay positive in my blog postings but at the same time try to state how I feel at any given moment. And I try not to curse too much. (The sermon at church yesterday was on James 3: 1-12, which deals with the evil of one's tongue -- how the same tongue can sing the praises of God and also curse man, who is made in the image of God.)
That having been said, WTF does it take to find an agent? I have worked on my query letter. I have done the research. I am professional and business-like. I don't curse (at least not in a query letter). WTF does it take?
I got two rejections already this morning. Now I know what you are about to say. "Rejections are part of the process." "Everyone gets rejected." "Agents reject 98 percent of all the queries they get."
Shut the f*** up. I know all that. I'm not as big an idiot as I look.
I expect rejections. Really. I do. But I also hope and pray for a little light at the end of the tunnel and I don't seem to be seeing any. One rejection in a day I can handle. Two starts to get a little dicey. Three in a day will send me to bed. And four in a day? Hasn't happened but I wouldn't be surprised if I didn't end up in a psych ward.
I did get three in a day last week and it wasn't pretty. So with two already today, I'm a little on edge.
I always send off a thank you note to an agent after a rejection. Sounds stupid, I know, but I want to do my part to encourage agents to answer writers even if it is to say no. After I thanked the agent this morning, I got a note back saying she rejected me because they handle children and youth adult books.
Now I was totally confused. Because I read every word of her agency's website and under her bio it stated that she "is especially looking for horror, ghost, mystery, thriller and dystopian tales."
I have no idea what it's gonna take. I truly don't. What am I to do? What am I to think?
Well, I have more letters to get out today and so that's what I'll do.
And now you have it. Thanks for reading. (Glad someone reads my stuff.) And keep writing.
P.S. No. 3 came this afternoon, a bit late, I'd say. So I assume someone was late getting to the office this morning and didn't have time to send me a rejection until mid-afternoon. Three rejections in a day is my personal best -- it happened last Wednesday, too -- but I have so many queries out there it wouldn't be hard to top it.
mbd
P.S.S. I got No. 4 at four minutes to midnight, thus setting a new personal best. Amazingly, I don't feel bad about it. I got a lot of support from friends and writing colleagues during the day. Now we will have to see what Tuesday brings.
mbd
That having been said, WTF does it take to find an agent? I have worked on my query letter. I have done the research. I am professional and business-like. I don't curse (at least not in a query letter). WTF does it take?
I got two rejections already this morning. Now I know what you are about to say. "Rejections are part of the process." "Everyone gets rejected." "Agents reject 98 percent of all the queries they get."
Shut the f*** up. I know all that. I'm not as big an idiot as I look.
I expect rejections. Really. I do. But I also hope and pray for a little light at the end of the tunnel and I don't seem to be seeing any. One rejection in a day I can handle. Two starts to get a little dicey. Three in a day will send me to bed. And four in a day? Hasn't happened but I wouldn't be surprised if I didn't end up in a psych ward.
I did get three in a day last week and it wasn't pretty. So with two already today, I'm a little on edge.
I always send off a thank you note to an agent after a rejection. Sounds stupid, I know, but I want to do my part to encourage agents to answer writers even if it is to say no. After I thanked the agent this morning, I got a note back saying she rejected me because they handle children and youth adult books.
Now I was totally confused. Because I read every word of her agency's website and under her bio it stated that she "is especially looking for horror, ghost, mystery, thriller and dystopian tales."
I have no idea what it's gonna take. I truly don't. What am I to do? What am I to think?
Well, I have more letters to get out today and so that's what I'll do.
And now you have it. Thanks for reading. (Glad someone reads my stuff.) And keep writing.
P.S. No. 3 came this afternoon, a bit late, I'd say. So I assume someone was late getting to the office this morning and didn't have time to send me a rejection until mid-afternoon. Three rejections in a day is my personal best -- it happened last Wednesday, too -- but I have so many queries out there it wouldn't be hard to top it.
mbd
P.S.S. I got No. 4 at four minutes to midnight, thus setting a new personal best. Amazingly, I don't feel bad about it. I got a lot of support from friends and writing colleagues during the day. Now we will have to see what Tuesday brings.
mbd
Saturday, September 11, 2010
Verisimilitude -- "Spread it and stamp it out."
In the last couple of weeks, I have been paying much more attention to the discussion/argument over literary fiction vs. genre fiction. And the more I read about the subject, the more I am reminded of one of my favorite episodes of The Dick Van Dyke Show in the early 1960s. The episode is called "I'm No Henry Walden" and ran in the second season of the show, which ran five years. (I know all this because I have all five seasons on DVD.) The show is a classic and quite funny.
In the episode, Rob and Laura Petrie (Van Dyke and Mary Tyler Moore) are invited to a party of literary and intellectual snobs to raise money for foundation of poet laureate Henry Walden. They don't know why they were invited, though Rob is a top television writer. They are clearly out of their element.
They are introduced to Felicia Fellows and anti-existentialist Yale Sampson, played brilliantly by Carl Reiner. In explaining his views on the decline of modern culture, Yale (whom Rob once mistakenly calls "Mr. Harvard") blathers some incoherent mumbo-jumbo about the "plethora of the mundane" and "banality" and ends, to the absolute delight of Fellows, by saying, "Surely you can see the danger!"
The TV audience laughs, and Rob and Laura have no idea what he is talking about. None of us do. The rest goes like this --
Rob: What can one man do?
Laura: Yes, or one woman?
Felicia: We can spread the word!
Rob: Uh, what word is it?
Yale: Verisimilitude.
Rob: Verisimilitude. (Smiling). It's a good word to spread.
Yale: (Shocked, indignant) To spread, sir, to stamp out!
Rob: Well, that's what I meant. Spread it and stamp it out.
I always laugh through that part. The episode is probably the reason my 16-year-old daughter learned the meaning of verisimilitude about six years ago.
In the episode, there is another brief exchange I love after Yale walks out of the camera shot.
Felicia: Hasn't he a MARVELOUS mind?
Rob: (Mocking) Marvelous.
Felicia: (Thinking) He has the gift and ability to say things that, uh . . .
Rob: (Pausing while he thinks) . . . uh, seem vague but are in reality meaningless.
The episode reminds me of the gap people see between literary writing and genre writing, which is intended for a wider audience. There is a same sort of intellectual snobbery in the discussion.
Literary types, it seems, often look down their noses at writing for a mainstream audience, as if such writing lacks intellectual and artistic merit. I have a very dear friend whom, I think, berates John Grisham for that very reason. His thinking, apparently, is that Grisham is a hack because he isn't writing the next FOR WHOM THE BELL TOLLS.
But Grisham writers legal thrillers and is quite good at it. They are generally entertaining and occasionally thought-provoking.
The idea is that genre writing isn't serious enough or weighty enough to withstand the test of time.
That is intellectual snobbery at its worst. (In the TV episode, Sampson wrote a book called DEATH FEARS ME, while a strange-looking poet wrote LAVENDER LOLLIPOPS and POINT ME TO THE MOON. The show made snobbery a well-deserved target.) One merely needs to consider Dashiell Hammett -- I particularly love THE THIN MAN -- or the works of Agatha Christie to see great writing that withstands the test of time.
I have nothing against literary fiction. Some of my best friends read literary fiction. (That was an attempt to lighten the mood here.) Generally, though, when I want intellectual heft, I read non-fiction. But I hate intellectual artistic snobbery in fiction. I love genre fiction, particular mysteries and thrillers. They can be serious and thought-provoking. And a lot of it will stand the test of time.
And perhaps my mystery fiction will, too.
Thanks for reading me today.
And keep reading and writing fiction, whether it is literary or mainstream. It all has value.
In the episode, Rob and Laura Petrie (Van Dyke and Mary Tyler Moore) are invited to a party of literary and intellectual snobs to raise money for foundation of poet laureate Henry Walden. They don't know why they were invited, though Rob is a top television writer. They are clearly out of their element.
They are introduced to Felicia Fellows and anti-existentialist Yale Sampson, played brilliantly by Carl Reiner. In explaining his views on the decline of modern culture, Yale (whom Rob once mistakenly calls "Mr. Harvard") blathers some incoherent mumbo-jumbo about the "plethora of the mundane" and "banality" and ends, to the absolute delight of Fellows, by saying, "Surely you can see the danger!"
The TV audience laughs, and Rob and Laura have no idea what he is talking about. None of us do. The rest goes like this --
Rob: What can one man do?
Laura: Yes, or one woman?
Felicia: We can spread the word!
Rob: Uh, what word is it?
Yale: Verisimilitude.
Rob: Verisimilitude. (Smiling). It's a good word to spread.
Yale: (Shocked, indignant) To spread, sir, to stamp out!
Rob: Well, that's what I meant. Spread it and stamp it out.
I always laugh through that part. The episode is probably the reason my 16-year-old daughter learned the meaning of verisimilitude about six years ago.
In the episode, there is another brief exchange I love after Yale walks out of the camera shot.
Felicia: Hasn't he a MARVELOUS mind?
Rob: (Mocking) Marvelous.
Felicia: (Thinking) He has the gift and ability to say things that, uh . . .
Rob: (Pausing while he thinks) . . . uh, seem vague but are in reality meaningless.
The episode reminds me of the gap people see between literary writing and genre writing, which is intended for a wider audience. There is a same sort of intellectual snobbery in the discussion.
Literary types, it seems, often look down their noses at writing for a mainstream audience, as if such writing lacks intellectual and artistic merit. I have a very dear friend whom, I think, berates John Grisham for that very reason. His thinking, apparently, is that Grisham is a hack because he isn't writing the next FOR WHOM THE BELL TOLLS.
But Grisham writers legal thrillers and is quite good at it. They are generally entertaining and occasionally thought-provoking.
The idea is that genre writing isn't serious enough or weighty enough to withstand the test of time.
That is intellectual snobbery at its worst. (In the TV episode, Sampson wrote a book called DEATH FEARS ME, while a strange-looking poet wrote LAVENDER LOLLIPOPS and POINT ME TO THE MOON. The show made snobbery a well-deserved target.) One merely needs to consider Dashiell Hammett -- I particularly love THE THIN MAN -- or the works of Agatha Christie to see great writing that withstands the test of time.
I have nothing against literary fiction. Some of my best friends read literary fiction. (That was an attempt to lighten the mood here.) Generally, though, when I want intellectual heft, I read non-fiction. But I hate intellectual artistic snobbery in fiction. I love genre fiction, particular mysteries and thrillers. They can be serious and thought-provoking. And a lot of it will stand the test of time.
And perhaps my mystery fiction will, too.
Thanks for reading me today.
And keep reading and writing fiction, whether it is literary or mainstream. It all has value.
Wednesday, September 8, 2010
Cancer
I generally don't post twice on the same day but I forget to mention that this afternoon at 12:52 marked the One Year anniversary of learning I had prostate cancer.
I was at my desk working when the moment came and passed.
I'm glad I survived it (though the radiation therapy last winter sucked big time). I'm a better writer today than I was a year ago.
So I'll keep going . . . and so should you.
I was at my desk working when the moment came and passed.
I'm glad I survived it (though the radiation therapy last winter sucked big time). I'm a better writer today than I was a year ago.
So I'll keep going . . . and so should you.
The 27
I planned to blog today about an op-ed piece John Grisham did a couple of days ago for The New York Times. It was about being a writer. But just now, I changed my mind. I have taken a couple of blows in the last couple of days and, against my better judgment, I decided to say just a little about it.
The main story in the current issue of "Writer's Digest" is called 27 Agents Looking for New Writers. Sounded good to me. I'm new.
I looked them all up and, not surprisingly, they don't all represent the sort of material I write. But a sizable portion of them do.
Since last week, I have queried five of them, including one already today. I will query a sixth one later today.
And while as a group they may be looking for new writers, many of them obviously are NOT looking for me. I've gotten three rejections so far, all saying basically the same thing. Nothing personal but I don't want you. (One form rejection was badly written. If I were her, I'd re-write my rejection form letter.)
I know it's not personal but when the rejections are coming in waves, it is a little harder to take. Agents as salespeople and are rejected by publishers all the time. They, apparently, don't take it personally. But they also didn't write the manuscript.
So, I am going to lick my wounds for the moment and go for a walk. It's wonderful outside -- warm and sunny. Then, later today, I will get back to work. It is what a writer does.
And I am a writer.
p.s.
And I ate steak. I only had a light lunch earlier but this afternoon I was hungry -- and a little depressed. So I ate steak.
I took Angela to dinner Saturday night for her birthday and brought home a doggie bag that contained part of my steak. It was 3 oz. So to make myself feel better, it's what I had this afternoon. Helped a little.
mbd
Thanks for reading and don't give up.
The main story in the current issue of "Writer's Digest" is called 27 Agents Looking for New Writers. Sounded good to me. I'm new.
I looked them all up and, not surprisingly, they don't all represent the sort of material I write. But a sizable portion of them do.
Since last week, I have queried five of them, including one already today. I will query a sixth one later today.
And while as a group they may be looking for new writers, many of them obviously are NOT looking for me. I've gotten three rejections so far, all saying basically the same thing. Nothing personal but I don't want you. (One form rejection was badly written. If I were her, I'd re-write my rejection form letter.)
I know it's not personal but when the rejections are coming in waves, it is a little harder to take. Agents as salespeople and are rejected by publishers all the time. They, apparently, don't take it personally. But they also didn't write the manuscript.
So, I am going to lick my wounds for the moment and go for a walk. It's wonderful outside -- warm and sunny. Then, later today, I will get back to work. It is what a writer does.
And I am a writer.
p.s.
And I ate steak. I only had a light lunch earlier but this afternoon I was hungry -- and a little depressed. So I ate steak.
I took Angela to dinner Saturday night for her birthday and brought home a doggie bag that contained part of my steak. It was 3 oz. So to make myself feel better, it's what I had this afternoon. Helped a little.
mbd
Thanks for reading and don't give up.
Saturday, September 4, 2010
Query Shark
I had been thinking about it for a while and decided last week to jump into the deep water and swim with the sharks. Well, in this case, just one shark -- Query Shark, the blog by agent Janet Reid of FinePrint Literary Management.
Like many agents, Reid has a regular blog but in Query Shark, she provides a service most agents don't -- critical analysis. Examining a query letter, she points out what works and, most importantly, what doesn't work. And she offers the chance to improve.
I don't always agree with her. There was one letter that broke all her rules in terms of content. Plus I thought it was boring. But she loved it and requested the manuscript. For whatever reason, it appealed to her, which she says is the only point of any query letter -- to get the agent to request more material.
Query Shark isn't for the faint-hearted. But neither is the publishing industry. Reid's comments can be harsh, particularly for mistakes she has repeatedly commented on earlier. To avoid such criticism, she STRONGLY encourages writers to read the Query Shark archives before submitting to the blog. She wants to see new mistakes, not the same old mistakes.
I read the blogs of several agents whom I won't mention in today's post. (They get enough online promotion already.) They are valuable in offering suggestions and in pointing out general mistakes they see regularly in the scores of queries they get each week. Query Shark does that, too.
But what I like about Reid's blog -- and where I think is its greatest strength -- is that she points out specific problems in specific queries. The names of the innocents are redacted, of course, as is any identifying information, except the title of their work. But if you read through the blog archives -- again, strongly suggested, though for the uninitiated, it will take days to read through them all -- and take notes, you can improve your query letter whether you decide to submit it or not.
That is what I did. I tried to apply everything I learned on the blog in my letter. At 250 words, it was short. I got right to the action. While I did mention more than one character, the main character was the only one mentioned by name. I presented the problem the character faced and who sought to foil the character's plans. The writing reflected the tone of the novel. It was in present tense. And on and on.
I sent the query to the blog and got a form letter e-mail reply the next day acknowledging my letter's arrival.
In the e-mail reply, Reid pointed out, "The chance your query will be posted are low." She reads some 200 manuscripts a year but posts less than 160 query letters on Query Shark. There are about 100 pending queries for each query letter that makes it online. No writer's query appears without their permission and the writer can at any time request that their letter be removed.
I am of two minds in this adventure. I tried to send the best letter I could and I'd like it to appear on the blog. If it's too good, she won't use it. Letters in Query Shark are used as a learning tool for others. There needs to be problems. But if it's too bad she may not use it, either. In fact, she may not use it for any number of reasons that I will never be aware of. It's still a crap shoot.
I did send the same basic letter to a number of agents late in the week, including on Saturday to an agent in the South. (I won't mention her name but she is mentioned in the current issue of "Writer's Digest" as one of "27 agents looking for new writers.") I got a form letter rejection in less than 24 hours, even though it was a holiday weekend. Obviously, the query letter didn't impress her. No idea why. I will never know. No matter. She only made my C list of agents to query.
But perhaps I will have better luck with the Query Shark. I am keeping my fingers crossed.
And in the meantime, I am pouring over AN UNTIDY AFFAIR word-for-word, and working on an outline for my next novel. Life goes on. So does writing.
Thanks for reading. Enjoy the holiday.
Like many agents, Reid has a regular blog but in Query Shark, she provides a service most agents don't -- critical analysis. Examining a query letter, she points out what works and, most importantly, what doesn't work. And she offers the chance to improve.
I don't always agree with her. There was one letter that broke all her rules in terms of content. Plus I thought it was boring. But she loved it and requested the manuscript. For whatever reason, it appealed to her, which she says is the only point of any query letter -- to get the agent to request more material.
Query Shark isn't for the faint-hearted. But neither is the publishing industry. Reid's comments can be harsh, particularly for mistakes she has repeatedly commented on earlier. To avoid such criticism, she STRONGLY encourages writers to read the Query Shark archives before submitting to the blog. She wants to see new mistakes, not the same old mistakes.
I read the blogs of several agents whom I won't mention in today's post. (They get enough online promotion already.) They are valuable in offering suggestions and in pointing out general mistakes they see regularly in the scores of queries they get each week. Query Shark does that, too.
But what I like about Reid's blog -- and where I think is its greatest strength -- is that she points out specific problems in specific queries. The names of the innocents are redacted, of course, as is any identifying information, except the title of their work. But if you read through the blog archives -- again, strongly suggested, though for the uninitiated, it will take days to read through them all -- and take notes, you can improve your query letter whether you decide to submit it or not.
That is what I did. I tried to apply everything I learned on the blog in my letter. At 250 words, it was short. I got right to the action. While I did mention more than one character, the main character was the only one mentioned by name. I presented the problem the character faced and who sought to foil the character's plans. The writing reflected the tone of the novel. It was in present tense. And on and on.
I sent the query to the blog and got a form letter e-mail reply the next day acknowledging my letter's arrival.
In the e-mail reply, Reid pointed out, "The chance your query will be posted are low." She reads some 200 manuscripts a year but posts less than 160 query letters on Query Shark. There are about 100 pending queries for each query letter that makes it online. No writer's query appears without their permission and the writer can at any time request that their letter be removed.
I am of two minds in this adventure. I tried to send the best letter I could and I'd like it to appear on the blog. If it's too good, she won't use it. Letters in Query Shark are used as a learning tool for others. There needs to be problems. But if it's too bad she may not use it, either. In fact, she may not use it for any number of reasons that I will never be aware of. It's still a crap shoot.
I did send the same basic letter to a number of agents late in the week, including on Saturday to an agent in the South. (I won't mention her name but she is mentioned in the current issue of "Writer's Digest" as one of "27 agents looking for new writers.") I got a form letter rejection in less than 24 hours, even though it was a holiday weekend. Obviously, the query letter didn't impress her. No idea why. I will never know. No matter. She only made my C list of agents to query.
But perhaps I will have better luck with the Query Shark. I am keeping my fingers crossed.
And in the meantime, I am pouring over AN UNTIDY AFFAIR word-for-word, and working on an outline for my next novel. Life goes on. So does writing.
Thanks for reading. Enjoy the holiday.
Tuesday, August 31, 2010
How to develop characters
I started a blog posting yesterday that I intended to finish and post today. But I just ran across something from Writer's Digest (Aug. 31, 2010) that I thought was interesting. It's an online article called, "How to Develop Your Characters."
Actually, it was just a listing of four things and a brief description of what is meant. But I found it useful. Here they are:
1. Make a character study for each of your characters, defining the five traits discussed here: name, age, appearance, relationships and personality.
2. With a clean copy of your manuscript, get out a different colored highlighter for each character. Go through the manuscript one character at a time. Highlight whenever that character speaks and/or acts. If you try to do too many characters at the same time, shifting from one color to the other, I guarantee you will make a mistake at least once.
3. Now read only the dialogue and actions of one of those colors. Does everything your character says sound true to her? What about her actions? If not, rewrite the passages that seem forced.
4. Did you notice one character, or maybe several, who appear in the beginning but not in the end, or vice versa? If so, they probably aren’t necessary to your story. Try deleting them or perhaps combining them with another character.
Now in my latest novel, I have more than two dozen speaking parts. However, there is one main character. There'd be no story without him. But there are more than a half-dozen major characters who are crucial to the telling of the story. Am I suppose to do character studies of more than two dozen characters, which I doubt, or just the major ones?
I am opting for the latter and I might try it. It would probably be an interesting exercise.
I hope I have been a help today. That is always my goal. So thanks for reading.
Actually, it was just a listing of four things and a brief description of what is meant. But I found it useful. Here they are:
1. Make a character study for each of your characters, defining the five traits discussed here: name, age, appearance, relationships and personality.
2. With a clean copy of your manuscript, get out a different colored highlighter for each character. Go through the manuscript one character at a time. Highlight whenever that character speaks and/or acts. If you try to do too many characters at the same time, shifting from one color to the other, I guarantee you will make a mistake at least once.
3. Now read only the dialogue and actions of one of those colors. Does everything your character says sound true to her? What about her actions? If not, rewrite the passages that seem forced.
4. Did you notice one character, or maybe several, who appear in the beginning but not in the end, or vice versa? If so, they probably aren’t necessary to your story. Try deleting them or perhaps combining them with another character.
Now in my latest novel, I have more than two dozen speaking parts. However, there is one main character. There'd be no story without him. But there are more than a half-dozen major characters who are crucial to the telling of the story. Am I suppose to do character studies of more than two dozen characters, which I doubt, or just the major ones?
I am opting for the latter and I might try it. It would probably be an interesting exercise.
I hope I have been a help today. That is always my goal. So thanks for reading.
Monday, August 30, 2010
First draft
I opened my e-mail this afternoon and saw an advertisement for a course at Writer's Digest University called "12 Weeks to a First Draft." Now that sounded catchy. I was also interested in the idea of a fast first draft because National Novel Writing Month is in two months and members of the newest critique group I am in are planning a novel-writing workshop at a local library to help kick off the month.
Several of the selling points for the WD course included, "How to employ writing techniques to facilitate the first draft of your novel," "How to maintain a writing routine with clear objectives," "How to pace your novel," and "How to implement literary conventions such as plot, character, setting, style, exposition, dialogue and tension in your novel."
All those are good, of course, but I also hope the course stresses one truly important fact, which is something they could give for free: Writing is hard work and there is no substitute for planting your butt in a seat and doing the hard work.
For for the uninitiated in writing a fast work (and particularly for people who might also want to try NaNoWriMo), I hope the course doesn't place too much emphasis on all those "literary conventions" such as plot, characters and setting. While those are EXTREMELY important, I think the most important things to remember are setting a realistic goal for completion and working every day to achieve that goal. I strongly believe if you focus too much on the mechanics of writing a masterpiece, it is too easy to get bogged down and discouraged, and thus not finish.
There will always be obstacles to finishing -- obstacles over which you have no control. You don't need to add more.
I think the best advice is sit down and write. A compelling plot, exciting characters, believable dialogue and good setting, if you don't get it done in the first draft, can be -- and, in fact, will need to be -- added in later drafts. You have to remember, it is only a first draft. Get it done.
Thanks for reading and keep writing.
Several of the selling points for the WD course included, "How to employ writing techniques to facilitate the first draft of your novel," "How to maintain a writing routine with clear objectives," "How to pace your novel," and "How to implement literary conventions such as plot, character, setting, style, exposition, dialogue and tension in your novel."
All those are good, of course, but I also hope the course stresses one truly important fact, which is something they could give for free: Writing is hard work and there is no substitute for planting your butt in a seat and doing the hard work.
For for the uninitiated in writing a fast work (and particularly for people who might also want to try NaNoWriMo), I hope the course doesn't place too much emphasis on all those "literary conventions" such as plot, characters and setting. While those are EXTREMELY important, I think the most important things to remember are setting a realistic goal for completion and working every day to achieve that goal. I strongly believe if you focus too much on the mechanics of writing a masterpiece, it is too easy to get bogged down and discouraged, and thus not finish.
There will always be obstacles to finishing -- obstacles over which you have no control. You don't need to add more.
I think the best advice is sit down and write. A compelling plot, exciting characters, believable dialogue and good setting, if you don't get it done in the first draft, can be -- and, in fact, will need to be -- added in later drafts. You have to remember, it is only a first draft. Get it done.
Thanks for reading and keep writing.
Friday, August 27, 2010
A damn good writer
I had a couple of hours free this morning after a client postponed an appointment at the last minute. I could have -- and should have -- used the time constructively. There are a couple of things I need to edit. But I wasted the time watching television. Well, kinda wasted it.
I watched several episodes of "Studio 60 on the Sunset Strip," a show a genius named Aaron Sorkin created several years ago. Unfortunately, it ran for only one season. I got the entire show on DVD at the public library.
I loved that show. Really loved it. I was so sorry it was canceled. But given the problems I could imagine Sorkin probably put the network through, I wasn't surprised. But I loved the show because, like so many other Sorkin efforts -- the film, "The American President" and TV shows like "Sports Night" and "The West Wing" -- the writing was beyond brilliant.
After the first handful of episodes of "Studio 60," the show began to slip, much like "The West Wing" did as it reached middle age. (That about the time Sorkin was fired from the show.) But, like "The West Wing," "Studio 60" redeems itself at the end.
Whenever I watch "Studio 60" I am struck by the writing. It is clever and funny and well-done and well-executed. And I love good writing. It doesn't matter whether it is Sorkin or Sting or Richard Pryor or Lennon and McCartney or August Wilson or Ernest Hemingway or the Marx Brothers. Good writing is good writing. It is inspiring, certainly for me. It makes me want to do what I do better.
I didn't have a good day yesterday. Personally reasons, professional reasons, it was a whole bag of reasons (including after a small piece that probably cost 99-cents came off of my MG and disengaged the throttle. I had no power. I got a guy to come out and fix it and I got home). I wasn't sure I had what it takes to succeed as a fiction writer. I fought off bouts of self-doubt, though I was also sure I wasn't going to give up.
Today, however, I feel inspired, partly because it is beautiful outside, partly because of "Studio 60," and partly because I have the talent to succeed. I may not be able to write like Aaron Sorkin but I am a damn good writer. And knowing that is what will keep me going.
Have a good day and thanks for reading. Now go out and write something good.
I watched several episodes of "Studio 60 on the Sunset Strip," a show a genius named Aaron Sorkin created several years ago. Unfortunately, it ran for only one season. I got the entire show on DVD at the public library.
I loved that show. Really loved it. I was so sorry it was canceled. But given the problems I could imagine Sorkin probably put the network through, I wasn't surprised. But I loved the show because, like so many other Sorkin efforts -- the film, "The American President" and TV shows like "Sports Night" and "The West Wing" -- the writing was beyond brilliant.
After the first handful of episodes of "Studio 60," the show began to slip, much like "The West Wing" did as it reached middle age. (That about the time Sorkin was fired from the show.) But, like "The West Wing," "Studio 60" redeems itself at the end.
Whenever I watch "Studio 60" I am struck by the writing. It is clever and funny and well-done and well-executed. And I love good writing. It doesn't matter whether it is Sorkin or Sting or Richard Pryor or Lennon and McCartney or August Wilson or Ernest Hemingway or the Marx Brothers. Good writing is good writing. It is inspiring, certainly for me. It makes me want to do what I do better.
I didn't have a good day yesterday. Personally reasons, professional reasons, it was a whole bag of reasons (including after a small piece that probably cost 99-cents came off of my MG and disengaged the throttle. I had no power. I got a guy to come out and fix it and I got home). I wasn't sure I had what it takes to succeed as a fiction writer. I fought off bouts of self-doubt, though I was also sure I wasn't going to give up.
Today, however, I feel inspired, partly because it is beautiful outside, partly because of "Studio 60," and partly because I have the talent to succeed. I may not be able to write like Aaron Sorkin but I am a damn good writer. And knowing that is what will keep me going.
Have a good day and thanks for reading. Now go out and write something good.
Thursday, August 26, 2010
Query letters
Since I am the secretary of the Speed City chapter of Sisters in Crime, I handle most of the local membership-wide communications. And today I was asked to pass on some information to our members regarding an event at another SinC chapter.
Sisters in Crime of Columbus, Ohio, also known as SiCCO, is having an afternoon workshop this Saturday on the query process. The workshop is being conducted by author Heather Webber, who will talk about how to effectively query agents and editors.
(She is the author of the Nina Quinn cozy mystery series and has launched a new series starring Lucy Valentine, an unlucky-at-love character with a supernatural talent.)
What really caught my eye, however, was that Webber was offering to critique query letters submitted in advance. For FREE. Doesn't get much better than free.
What a wonderful idea. Querying is one of the most crucial aspects for becoming a published author and is also one of the hardest to master. I have a basic letter, of course, but I pour over it numerous times before I send it out. Each one is slightly different from the one I sent to the previous agent.
I wish our chapter will host a similar workshop, perhaps some time early in 2011. I certainly will suggest it this Saturday at our next meeting. But, of course, that's the problem. I can't go to Columbus on Saturday, a drive of under three hours, because I have to attend our local meeting. That's too bad. I could really use some help with my letter. I think it is good but it doesn't seem to attract much attention.
So I am not sure if it's my letter that is bad or my novel itself is the problem.
I will paste my letter below and if you feel the urge, send me a note on what you think.
Until then, thanks for reading and keep writing.
---
Dear XXXXXXX,
It wasn’t a typical Monday for struggling private eye David Blaise. He got two new, important cases to solve and Philadelphia was burning to the ground.
Pretentious socialite Elise Carmichael begs Blaise to investigate whether her husband is having an affair. And Blaise’s former girlfriend asks him to accept a missing persons case. The husband is having an affair, of course, but what Blaise also finds is murder. The victim, whose badly burned body is found in a house destroyed after Philadelphia police firebombed an entire neighborhood, is the socialite’s lover, who was blackmailing her regarding her secret past.
Baffled by his client’s lies and half-truths, distracted by the advances of his former lover, harassed by police and threatened by a stalker, Blaise tries to get to the bottom of his two seemingly unrelated cases – and do it before the killer literally buries him alive.
AN UNTIDY AFFAIR is a sassy 71,000-word murder mystery that is easy to read and would be a good summer companion for fans of classic mysteries. It is my first novel. I can provide a partial or the entire manuscript per your request.
I am a working journalist with numerous freelance credits in local and national publications. I serve as secretary in the Speed City chapter of Sisters in Crime and I have a murder mystery story in BEDLAM AT THE BRICKYARD, a racing anthology published in June by Blue River Press (Cardinal Publishing Group).
Thank you for taking the time to consider my work. I look forward to hearing from you.
Sincerely,
MB “Michael” Dabney
7120 Keston Circle
Indianapolis, IN 46256-2323
317-509-6490
E-mail: www.mbdabney@yahoo.com
Sisters in Crime of Columbus, Ohio, also known as SiCCO, is having an afternoon workshop this Saturday on the query process. The workshop is being conducted by author Heather Webber, who will talk about how to effectively query agents and editors.
(She is the author of the Nina Quinn cozy mystery series and has launched a new series starring Lucy Valentine, an unlucky-at-love character with a supernatural talent.)
What really caught my eye, however, was that Webber was offering to critique query letters submitted in advance. For FREE. Doesn't get much better than free.
What a wonderful idea. Querying is one of the most crucial aspects for becoming a published author and is also one of the hardest to master. I have a basic letter, of course, but I pour over it numerous times before I send it out. Each one is slightly different from the one I sent to the previous agent.
I wish our chapter will host a similar workshop, perhaps some time early in 2011. I certainly will suggest it this Saturday at our next meeting. But, of course, that's the problem. I can't go to Columbus on Saturday, a drive of under three hours, because I have to attend our local meeting. That's too bad. I could really use some help with my letter. I think it is good but it doesn't seem to attract much attention.
So I am not sure if it's my letter that is bad or my novel itself is the problem.
I will paste my letter below and if you feel the urge, send me a note on what you think.
Until then, thanks for reading and keep writing.
---
Dear XXXXXXX,
It wasn’t a typical Monday for struggling private eye David Blaise. He got two new, important cases to solve and Philadelphia was burning to the ground.
Pretentious socialite Elise Carmichael begs Blaise to investigate whether her husband is having an affair. And Blaise’s former girlfriend asks him to accept a missing persons case. The husband is having an affair, of course, but what Blaise also finds is murder. The victim, whose badly burned body is found in a house destroyed after Philadelphia police firebombed an entire neighborhood, is the socialite’s lover, who was blackmailing her regarding her secret past.
Baffled by his client’s lies and half-truths, distracted by the advances of his former lover, harassed by police and threatened by a stalker, Blaise tries to get to the bottom of his two seemingly unrelated cases – and do it before the killer literally buries him alive.
AN UNTIDY AFFAIR is a sassy 71,000-word murder mystery that is easy to read and would be a good summer companion for fans of classic mysteries. It is my first novel. I can provide a partial or the entire manuscript per your request.
I am a working journalist with numerous freelance credits in local and national publications. I serve as secretary in the Speed City chapter of Sisters in Crime and I have a murder mystery story in BEDLAM AT THE BRICKYARD, a racing anthology published in June by Blue River Press (Cardinal Publishing Group).
Thank you for taking the time to consider my work. I look forward to hearing from you.
Sincerely,
MB “Michael” Dabney
7120 Keston Circle
Indianapolis, IN 46256-2323
317-509-6490
E-mail: www.mbdabney@yahoo.com
Tuesday, August 24, 2010
Backstory
I have been wrestling for some time now with the issue of backstory. Where to put it, when to put it and how much to put it.
Backstory kills the action and should be used sparingly, I'm told. Spread it throughout the story, I'm told. Only about two paragraphs of backstory at a time, I'm told.
But then, I read something by some famous author and there are big chunks of backstory, often at the beginning of a novel. Case in point, THE PRESIDENT'S DAUGHTER (Putnam, 1997) by Jack Higgins. The entire first chapter, some 23 pages long, is backstory.
Now, love the book and, frankly, the first chapter is one of my favorite parts. But why is Higgins exempt from the "use backstory sparingly" rule and I am not.
I know. That is a stupid question. He is a rich famous author and I'm . . . well, uh, not a rich famous author. He gets a pass on that rule and probably many others as well. This is not where I go on about 'life's not fair.' If it were fair, I would perhaps be a bestselling author and no one would have ever heard of teenage sensation Justin Bieber. (I'm not hatin', I'm just sayin'.)
What I am saying, however, is that it is hard catching a break when the rules I'm expected to play by can be such moving targets. There are whole sections of my first novel, FIGHTING CHAOS, I will have to cut if I ever hope to sell it. (The whole book needs another total re-write, as I have said before, but that is a subject for another day.) They are sections rich with funny, moving detail, and they flesh out the characters and establish them more as three dimensional people.
That is my complaint for the day. Backstory. I have a cold and have been in bed most of the day and I guess I just felt like whining. So there you have it. I'm going back to bed.
But you get back to work! And thanks for reading.
Backstory kills the action and should be used sparingly, I'm told. Spread it throughout the story, I'm told. Only about two paragraphs of backstory at a time, I'm told.
But then, I read something by some famous author and there are big chunks of backstory, often at the beginning of a novel. Case in point, THE PRESIDENT'S DAUGHTER (Putnam, 1997) by Jack Higgins. The entire first chapter, some 23 pages long, is backstory.
Now, love the book and, frankly, the first chapter is one of my favorite parts. But why is Higgins exempt from the "use backstory sparingly" rule and I am not.
I know. That is a stupid question. He is a rich famous author and I'm . . . well, uh, not a rich famous author. He gets a pass on that rule and probably many others as well. This is not where I go on about 'life's not fair.' If it were fair, I would perhaps be a bestselling author and no one would have ever heard of teenage sensation Justin Bieber. (I'm not hatin', I'm just sayin'.)
What I am saying, however, is that it is hard catching a break when the rules I'm expected to play by can be such moving targets. There are whole sections of my first novel, FIGHTING CHAOS, I will have to cut if I ever hope to sell it. (The whole book needs another total re-write, as I have said before, but that is a subject for another day.) They are sections rich with funny, moving detail, and they flesh out the characters and establish them more as three dimensional people.
That is my complaint for the day. Backstory. I have a cold and have been in bed most of the day and I guess I just felt like whining. So there you have it. I'm going back to bed.
But you get back to work! And thanks for reading.
Saturday, August 21, 2010
POV
Until the last handful of years when I seriously took up writing fiction, I never gave much thought to point of view. As a journalist, most of my writing has been in third-person. Whether at a news conference or witnessing events as they unfolded, I was like a fly on the wall. I observed and wrote what I heard or observed but not as a participant.
There have been exceptions, of course.
Besides the editorials I wrote for The Philadelphia Tribune (for which I won a couple of awards, thank you very much), my writing career includes a handful of first-person articles about experiences I had, including two I had at racing school. But my favorite first-person article was while I worked for United Press International. It was about an experiment at the Franklin Institute science museum in Philadelphia.
Using only paper, Popsicle sticks, string, glue and other materials found around the kitchen, a group of us, including an 11-year-old boy named Noah, had 15 minutes to construct something that would hold an egg and protect it from breaking when dropped from 12 feet onto some bricks. I felt particularly competitive toward Noah, though he was only one-third my age, and when I wrote the article I proudly announced to the world that I succeeded where most failed (though Noah wasn't one of them).
I have always felt most comfortable as a writer using a third-person POV. But as a reader, I generally don't care. In fact, I don't think most readers care. Or at least I don't think most readers who aren't writers actually care or even notice. So when other writers in my critique group say I sometimes switch POV when in third-person, I don't see it. I don't understand. It seems consistent throughout to me.
Then yesterday, I bell went off in my head and for the first time I got what other writers were talking about. I was reading James King's BILL WARRINGTON'S LAST CHANCE, which I have praised in the past and suggest you read. I was aware of whose head the writer in mind from chapter to chapter, and I noticed its consistency and when and why it changed.
James' writing is wonderful, descriptive and, it turns out, instructive.
I think I am going to stick with first-person narrative in my fiction for a while. It is challenging for me but also easier to keep consistent. So the next time I change POV, it will be with knowledge of forethought.
I've learned something. Thanks James.
And thanks to all of you for reading. Now go write something and don't give up.
There have been exceptions, of course.
Besides the editorials I wrote for The Philadelphia Tribune (for which I won a couple of awards, thank you very much), my writing career includes a handful of first-person articles about experiences I had, including two I had at racing school. But my favorite first-person article was while I worked for United Press International. It was about an experiment at the Franklin Institute science museum in Philadelphia.
Using only paper, Popsicle sticks, string, glue and other materials found around the kitchen, a group of us, including an 11-year-old boy named Noah, had 15 minutes to construct something that would hold an egg and protect it from breaking when dropped from 12 feet onto some bricks. I felt particularly competitive toward Noah, though he was only one-third my age, and when I wrote the article I proudly announced to the world that I succeeded where most failed (though Noah wasn't one of them).
I have always felt most comfortable as a writer using a third-person POV. But as a reader, I generally don't care. In fact, I don't think most readers care. Or at least I don't think most readers who aren't writers actually care or even notice. So when other writers in my critique group say I sometimes switch POV when in third-person, I don't see it. I don't understand. It seems consistent throughout to me.
Then yesterday, I bell went off in my head and for the first time I got what other writers were talking about. I was reading James King's BILL WARRINGTON'S LAST CHANCE, which I have praised in the past and suggest you read. I was aware of whose head the writer in mind from chapter to chapter, and I noticed its consistency and when and why it changed.
James' writing is wonderful, descriptive and, it turns out, instructive.
I think I am going to stick with first-person narrative in my fiction for a while. It is challenging for me but also easier to keep consistent. So the next time I change POV, it will be with knowledge of forethought.
I've learned something. Thanks James.
And thanks to all of you for reading. Now go write something and don't give up.
Tuesday, August 17, 2010
Fan mail
Having a reader write or call to say they enjoyed your work is, I have found, one of the truly wonderful things about writing. I write with the reader in mind but first reader I work to please is always me. After that, I hope I connect with someone else. As I work, I am never sure.
I have gotten some very positive comments on my short story "The Missing CD" which is in BEDLAM AT THE BRICKYARD, which was published in June. And yes, most of the comments have come from people I know. But I have gotten a couple of e-mails from out of the blue.
I got an e-mail just today from someone who asked me about a detail in the story. It involved the storage room where Speedway Museum officials keep the vehicles that are not displayed on the museum floor.
I told her I wrote what little I knew about that aspect of the museum, which I had researched, and I made up the rest. That is why it is called fiction.
I don't know what I will do when I have a novel published and I start getting some mail that is not so positive. Probably what I have always done as a reporter: Thank the reader and not let their comments get to me.
We will see. But for now, I am enjoying what little fan mail I get.
Thanks for reading and keep writing.
I have gotten some very positive comments on my short story "The Missing CD" which is in BEDLAM AT THE BRICKYARD, which was published in June. And yes, most of the comments have come from people I know. But I have gotten a couple of e-mails from out of the blue.
I got an e-mail just today from someone who asked me about a detail in the story. It involved the storage room where Speedway Museum officials keep the vehicles that are not displayed on the museum floor.
I told her I wrote what little I knew about that aspect of the museum, which I had researched, and I made up the rest. That is why it is called fiction.
I don't know what I will do when I have a novel published and I start getting some mail that is not so positive. Probably what I have always done as a reporter: Thank the reader and not let their comments get to me.
We will see. But for now, I am enjoying what little fan mail I get.
Thanks for reading and keep writing.
Monday, August 16, 2010
Killing them softly . . .
I was reading an interview with Mary Higgins Clark over the weekend and was reminded of something I love to do. I love to kill off people I don't like. Or hurt them badly.
She said, "Don't hold a grudge! Instead, make the guy who was mean to you the victim in your next book." (Writer's Digest, Sept. 2010)
I do that. And I tell people to do that.
Of my victims, my favorite is a guy whom I don't truly dislike but who made my professional life difficult for a number of years. He was my boss' boss. He was unpredictable, often rude, inconsiderate, stubborn and controlling. (And a number of other bad things I won't get into.)
In my second novel, I had him bashed in the head with a heavy object and killed. It was so much fun and the best part was he wasn't killed for all the obvious reasons. He was killed because his assailant was a bigger bad-ass (and was crazier) than my victim was.
I started my current novel, AN UNTIDY AFFAIR, with a person I didn't like. I didn't have an idea for the book but I remembered this woman who was a real piece of work and I constructed a novel around that fact. She was a rude, pretentious, uppity (add the b-word). But I didn't kill her off. Actually, she wasn't worth the effort but I put her through Hell, which was also satisfying.
So my advice today is: Kill off that idiot you hate. Or at least hurt them badly. You will feel better for it and won't get sent to jail.
Thanks for reading. Now write something!
She said, "Don't hold a grudge! Instead, make the guy who was mean to you the victim in your next book." (Writer's Digest, Sept. 2010)
I do that. And I tell people to do that.
Of my victims, my favorite is a guy whom I don't truly dislike but who made my professional life difficult for a number of years. He was my boss' boss. He was unpredictable, often rude, inconsiderate, stubborn and controlling. (And a number of other bad things I won't get into.)
In my second novel, I had him bashed in the head with a heavy object and killed. It was so much fun and the best part was he wasn't killed for all the obvious reasons. He was killed because his assailant was a bigger bad-ass (and was crazier) than my victim was.
I started my current novel, AN UNTIDY AFFAIR, with a person I didn't like. I didn't have an idea for the book but I remembered this woman who was a real piece of work and I constructed a novel around that fact. She was a rude, pretentious, uppity (add the b-word). But I didn't kill her off. Actually, she wasn't worth the effort but I put her through Hell, which was also satisfying.
So my advice today is: Kill off that idiot you hate. Or at least hurt them badly. You will feel better for it and won't get sent to jail.
Thanks for reading. Now write something!
Wednesday, August 11, 2010
NaNoWriMo
I write occasionally for an alternative weekly newspaper called NUVO, and while I haven't gone to one of their weekly budget meetings for a number of months I went today. And as I was chatting with one of their contributing editors, who is also a playwright, the topic changed to my novel writing.
Now the editorial people at NUVO pride themselves as much for their literary knowledge as they do for their liberal politics. But to my amazement, they had never heard of National Novel Writing Month. And I don't think it was a simple matter of snobbery.
I mentioned that I wrote the first draft of my latest novel, AN UNTIDY AFFAIR, in 19 days last November during NaNoWriMo. David, the playwright, was impressed. (And he is a man I like to impress, by the way. Though too liberal for my tastes, he is a great writer, both knowledgeable and insightful.)
He suggested I write a journal this November as I work on my next novel and use it for an article for the newspaper. I had never thought of that but the prospect scares the hell out of me.
Just writing the novel will be hard enough. But also keeping a daily journal of my experiences would probably overtax me and drive me insane. But I agreed to think about it. November isn't for another two-and-a-half months so there is plenty of time to hash out some of the details, not the least of which being what novel I will write. Yet the idea is interesting. As part of my new critique group, I am doing a panel discussion at a local library on how to do NaNoWriMo. This could be part of that overall experience.
So I hope I am not biting off more than I can chew because I don't want to burn my candle on both ends. (A Larry Bird in the hand is worth two in a [George] bush and a rolling gathers no Kate Moss! Enough already!)
I think I will do it. But heaven help me when I do.
Thanks for reading and keep writing.
Now the editorial people at NUVO pride themselves as much for their literary knowledge as they do for their liberal politics. But to my amazement, they had never heard of National Novel Writing Month. And I don't think it was a simple matter of snobbery.
I mentioned that I wrote the first draft of my latest novel, AN UNTIDY AFFAIR, in 19 days last November during NaNoWriMo. David, the playwright, was impressed. (And he is a man I like to impress, by the way. Though too liberal for my tastes, he is a great writer, both knowledgeable and insightful.)
He suggested I write a journal this November as I work on my next novel and use it for an article for the newspaper. I had never thought of that but the prospect scares the hell out of me.
Just writing the novel will be hard enough. But also keeping a daily journal of my experiences would probably overtax me and drive me insane. But I agreed to think about it. November isn't for another two-and-a-half months so there is plenty of time to hash out some of the details, not the least of which being what novel I will write. Yet the idea is interesting. As part of my new critique group, I am doing a panel discussion at a local library on how to do NaNoWriMo. This could be part of that overall experience.
So I hope I am not biting off more than I can chew because I don't want to burn my candle on both ends. (A Larry Bird in the hand is worth two in a [George] bush and a rolling gathers no Kate Moss! Enough already!)
I think I will do it. But heaven help me when I do.
Thanks for reading and keep writing.
Sunday, August 8, 2010
Write what you know.
The current issue of Writer's Digest is "The Big 10" issue in which the editors and writers share many of the 10 secrets of writing and success. They examine productivity, top books and markets, plot problems, and more. They have interviews with 10 best-selling authors, where I noted with amazement that not a single one of them was black. But that is a matter for another blog posting.
What immediately caught my attention, however, was the 10 Rules of Writing from writing experts. And most importantly, for each of the 10 rules, there was a reason one expert said you should follow it and another reason another expert said you should break it.
The whole exercise was exhilarating and confusing. What advice do I take?
Super agent Donald Maass, whom I unfortunately missed last October at Bouchercon, says write what you know. That means, he says, "write what you see differently, feel profoundly and know is important for the rest of us." But author Natalie Goldberg says the opposite. She says be curious, and look for "what lurks beyond the familiar, safe streets."
Good advice from both. But which do I choose? (As a writer for nearly all my professional life, I go with write what you know. But that's what research is for -- so there will be things you know.)
Write 'shitty first drafts.' John Smolens, an English professor and best-selling author of a number of books and short stories, says follow that rule. "Really, do you have a choice?" he asks. While columnist, teacher and author Nancy Kress says first drafts "can certainly be rough and sloppy," but that doesn't mean they have to be shitty. She says you can only write as well as you can write. A first draft can be messy but "a mess can be fixed. Shit is just a waste. And a first draft is never a waste."
More good advice from both sides of an issue.
And it goes on. Write every day, John Dufresne says, because you have to. Not so, says James Scott Bell. It's not possible to write everyday if only because life will sometimes intrude, he says, plus you regularly need the break to recharge your creative batteries.
Read what you like to write; silence your inner critic; if you want to get rich, do something else -- all great topics, and all with conflicting points of view.
But not necessarily. If you examine them closely, you can see similarities in the points of view. So what I took most from the article is that, as a writer and as a person, you have to be true to yourself. That is where the real truth is and it is from that place that you want to reach readers.
Do what feels best to you. That may not have been what the experts intended but it's what I got from them. Otherwise, all their advice is nothing more than background noise.
Thanks for reading. Search inside yourself and keep writing.
What immediately caught my attention, however, was the 10 Rules of Writing from writing experts. And most importantly, for each of the 10 rules, there was a reason one expert said you should follow it and another reason another expert said you should break it.
The whole exercise was exhilarating and confusing. What advice do I take?
Super agent Donald Maass, whom I unfortunately missed last October at Bouchercon, says write what you know. That means, he says, "write what you see differently, feel profoundly and know is important for the rest of us." But author Natalie Goldberg says the opposite. She says be curious, and look for "what lurks beyond the familiar, safe streets."
Good advice from both. But which do I choose? (As a writer for nearly all my professional life, I go with write what you know. But that's what research is for -- so there will be things you know.)
Write 'shitty first drafts.' John Smolens, an English professor and best-selling author of a number of books and short stories, says follow that rule. "Really, do you have a choice?" he asks. While columnist, teacher and author Nancy Kress says first drafts "can certainly be rough and sloppy," but that doesn't mean they have to be shitty. She says you can only write as well as you can write. A first draft can be messy but "a mess can be fixed. Shit is just a waste. And a first draft is never a waste."
More good advice from both sides of an issue.
And it goes on. Write every day, John Dufresne says, because you have to. Not so, says James Scott Bell. It's not possible to write everyday if only because life will sometimes intrude, he says, plus you regularly need the break to recharge your creative batteries.
Read what you like to write; silence your inner critic; if you want to get rich, do something else -- all great topics, and all with conflicting points of view.
But not necessarily. If you examine them closely, you can see similarities in the points of view. So what I took most from the article is that, as a writer and as a person, you have to be true to yourself. That is where the real truth is and it is from that place that you want to reach readers.
Do what feels best to you. That may not have been what the experts intended but it's what I got from them. Otherwise, all their advice is nothing more than background noise.
Thanks for reading. Search inside yourself and keep writing.
Saturday, August 7, 2010
Other writers' success
Sorry I have been away for a while but I was on vacation. I am back in the swing of things now and have several topics to discuss but the first is on the success of other writers.
I read three books while on vacation -- two girlie books (the latest in the Stephanie Plum series by Janet Evanovich; and REMEMBER ME?, a funny and charming novel written several years by Sophie Kinsella) and a terrific debut novel by Harry Dolan.
BAD THINGS HAPPEN was published some time ago and while it was on my reading list, I hadn't gotten to it. Too bad for me. Harry's writing is witty, his characters are rich and full-bodied, and his plot is suspenseful. It was a delightful read.
I only know Harry online and through other online friends but he is a good writer and I'm happy he is experiencing some literary success.
Another wonderful writer I have met online is James King, who won ABNA last year (handily beating me, I might add). His debut, BILL WARRINGTON'S LAST CHANCE, was published this week. I went to the bookstore this afternoon to get a copy -- there were two, so my local Borders sold out 50 percent of its inventory.
(I will post pictures of both novels on my blog once I figure out how to get them off my phone and onto my laptop. I need my 16-year-old daughter to tell me how to do that and she is in cheer camp this weekend. GO WILDCATS!!!)
I have said this before but I love it when authors I know or have met online achieve some measure of success. While I still admit to some degree of jealousy, it is quite small in comparison to the encouragement I feel when yet another deserving author breaks through. I am humbled by Harry's writing and storytelling, and by James' imaginative story (I haven't read the book yet). But they both also remind me that success can come with talent, hard work and persistence.
So when I feel dispair or discouraged, James and Harry are there in spirit to tell me to stop feeling sorry for myself and to get back to work -- on improving my writing, on sending out queries, on networking with other authors and on learning more about the publishing industry.
Thank you, gentlemen. Well done. I hope and pray to follow in your footsteps. I am certainly working on it.
Thanks for reading.
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