When No Progress Equals Progress

Okay, I'm coming up for air and catching up with my blogging buds. Progress is going very well with Echoes of Regret...okay, not so much the writing. I hit a big snag and now put myself in a tough corner.

So how can I say progress is going well? Because -- for me anyways -- I think snags make for a better story in the end. Doubts creep in when I breeze through a story with few to no bumps. Did I challenge myself enough? Did I challenge my characters enough? Did I push the boundaries of my themes? Did I give the depth the story needed to match my vision?

With a few exceptions, my doubts are usually validated when I've reopened manuscripts where the stories just"flowed out" with no major glitches. I found the wrong answers to those questions. And, I have to reopen the manuscripts because those stories were never accepted for publication, because in the end, they just weren't good enough.

So progress on Echoes of Regret is going well because I'm using the tools of my writing trade to work through some big barriers, which in the end will hopefully give a truer result to my vision.

Good writing (and progress) all!

(OH! And I gave my first interview over at my publisher's blog, Desert Breeze Blog. It was a lot of fun answering the questions. Feel free to drop by and snoop me out over there!)

Inspired by Those Inspired

Huh?

No, no. I really meant the title as written. One of the best things about artists of all forms and mediums is they inspire not only the public but others artists. Writers, like all artists, get inspiration from the world around them. We can look at the checker, the couple on the beach, or the lost puppy turning the corner and feel something. Our form just happens to be words. Those images grow words to sentences to paragraphs to stories.

But, sometimes we forget to look to the other artists as other artists look at each other. A painter will look at a sculpture and see in color what the sculptor saw in metal or ceramic. Just the same we should remember to look at the inspiration of others to find another source of inspiration for ourselves.

When I was still in school I learned this through a lesson the teacher passed out. She put down a stack of art magazines and had each student pick an image and write a short story. Mine was this cafe scene at night. There there was just the tender and a few lingering patrons. It was so fun to come up with the mystery story. One of the patrons poison the suited man's coffee. The police suspect all the patrons and it turns out in a twist ending to be the tender...

...Oops, diverted from my main point here. Getting back on track with my thoughts, try taking a look through some art magazines or better yet go visit some art districts or museum and see what ideas you come up with.

If you've already tried this technique, what great ideas have you come up with? I'd love to know.

Good writing...and imaging all!

Order in the House

The little Project Manager inside me woke up this morning and just about had a heart attack. Poor little guy saw the workload, dropped his coffee all over his new shoes, and keeled over faint. Once he regained consciousness, the little man got out his mental project board and started shuffling, panic still in his fierce little eyes.

He even created a list:

Publication preparations for Duty and Devotion. Lots of requirements sent over by the Editor in Chief (heehee, that's so cool to write/say). Author information sheet, cover art input sheet, manuscript preparation checklist, house style modifications, and banners and images to put on my Internet world. This all before the real editing phase begins and I cry a flood of tears from the Editors first scratches onto my work.

Completion of Revelations of Tomorrow. Halfway finished with round one revisions. I have two more focused revisions before the editing phase begins. This means I must prepare for and schedule two more rounds of research and several mini writer meltdowns.

Blogging. Blogging keeps me sane. Blogging keeps me on the path. Blogging is fun. I need to ensure I do a minimum of two blog entries a week. I've been really having fun with daily posts, but realistically I'll probably be riding near the minimum for the next six or so months.

Okay, three major headers with many activities in each. Project Manager created a worksheet.

First Column: Major tasks
Second Column: Subtasks
Third Column: Estimated hours/days needed to complete each subtask
Fourth Column: Date Needed by
Fifth Column: Completed Y/N

Now my little Project Manager is happy as a lark and my Muse can continue on with her business of creativity. And me? Well, I don't lose my mind.

Good writing all!

Developing Creatures

You've just arrived to a new planet. Exiting your space vehicle...what do you see?

Don't be boring and lay out the drony E.T. or triangular-beady-eyed-abducting alien. No, no, no. Let's do an exercise to see what we can come up with.

Close your eyes...don't peek...I said don't peek!

Now, what do you see? Is it a tropical like world, desert world, water world, wetlands, or frozen tundra? Write it down.

Okay now that you have the land, decide if it's populated (alien, human, or diverse mix) and how "civilized" it is. Write it down.

'Kay, time to research the types of animals you'd find in that kind of habitat. Once you find them, list the individual features on either small pieces of paper or index cards. Take the stack and toss it on the table, shuffle them around. Pick up three to five.

That is your species.

It's a creative, unique, and spontaneous way to build creatures...and I'd doubt any other writer would end up with the same type of animal.

Good writing all!

Query Letters

I figured since I did submissions in the last post, I'd better follow up pretty quick with the querying process. It can be kinda confusing.

The query letter can be (is) the most daunting task of getting your novel published. I'm still learning how to perfect a query letter...and I only have 1 darn completed book. (I'm already stressing the query for my next sci-fi epic novel.)

Querying is a one page letter about your book you write to agents seeking representation of your novel. Some publishers also request querying first. The basic framework of a query letter:

Paragraph 1: The Intro/Hook (Keep this paragraph only 1 or 2 sentences...I know, I know, but it's important.)

Paragraph 2: Summary of story (It's good to keep this 1 paragraph, but I've seen 2 paragraph successfully done.)

Paragraph 3: Biography (Only those things that tie to the story or you as an author. Not about your life as a kitty wrangler if the story is not about kitty wrangling.)

Closing: Say thank you for time and consideration. ENTER. ENTER. Sincerely, Your name. (Keep it professional people; no begging or bribery here.)

Most importantly, make sure you put the name of your book, word count, and genre in the query letter. This can be either in the first paragraph or last. Tip for you, not in the middle. It'll get lost.

Sounds pretty simple, right? But trust me and thousands of other querying writers, it's very hard. No cliche sentences. Interesting without being corner. Professional without boredom. Courteous without brown nosing or "bowing down to them"...and the list of "eeks" goes on.

There are some great resources to help you get started putting a query letter AND see examples of not-so-good ones:

Agent Query's "How to Write a Query"
Query Shark
Guide to Literary Agents "Successful Queries" series

Good writing all!

Submissions

Submissions, submissions, submissions.

They can cause a writer to sweat, become addicted to the refresh button, and prevent them from leaving their PC station. The process of submitting can be very emotional, as I've talked about on my site before. Today, I want to look at submissions in the objective term.

What is submission, how do you decide where to submit, and how do you know you're ready to submit.

Submissions:
Basically, a submission in writer's term is the process of sending an editor your story. It is made up of a cover letter and the story either in the body of the email or as an attachment. This is very different then the querying process (what you mail to an agent and some publishers)...which I'll cover some other time.

The cover letter is a quick, professional email stating the story you want to submit and who you are. My most successful cover letters followed Strange Horizon's format. Again, this is very different than a query letter that you'd send to an agent and some publishers.

Where to Submit:
Well, that literally depends on the kind of story you have. Know your genre, word count, and theme and then try some of these sites from Science Fiction Writers of America's (SFWA) list.

My personal favorite is Duotrope. They have a great system for seeking out and tracking submissions. Another site, Ralan.com, is great too, but for me personally I use it more for the other market-specific information and links it contains.

How do you know when you're ready:
Canned response to this is, "Well, that's up to you really. Have you thoroughly edited it (just spell checking doesn't work)? Have you checked your story mechanics for clarity, consistency, and logic? And most importantly, have you let it sit a while before re-doing the previous tips? Sometimes a break will allow you to further clean up and prepare your manuscript."

The real response to this..."Have you built up enough courage to hit send?" That's the only way you know you're ready. Even then, you will have the normal symptoms of a new story submitter, see my previous post titled Submission Process From the Writer's Viewpoint.

Good writing all! (And build up that courage to submit...you'll have to face it sometime or another if you want to be published.)

Unbelievable Success

I've been subbing Duty and Devotion the last few months without the request for partials and fulls I'd like. It's been a little disappointing, so early last week I was reading through the new queries on Query Shark and came across QueryTest.com in one of the comments.

I knew that my query was not as good as it could be, but I couldn't pinpoint the issue. Hmmm...maybe QueryTest might be helpful. I looked through the site and decided to upload mine and see what happened. The site was very helpful with a good response volume (13 in total).

The summary...my query sucked. And not only did QueryTest help me out with that realization, readers gave the reason why.

I went back to the drawing board and after a major revision and resubmission through the site, I sent out a new batch of agent queries and a couple publisher submissions.

Eureka!

Within the first hour (not kidding you) I got a request for full. This morning I woke up with an email from another letting me know my submission was going from the slush pile to editorial review.

If you're looking to diagnose your query, try out this great new site. Totally worth the ego deflation...at least you'll understand where you're going wrong with it.

Good writing all!

What Does it Mean?

I received a link from Writer Beware with January's report from The Association of American Publishers sales statistics. Here's the summarized bullets of the fiction categories for you:

When I look at these stats it tells me a couple things (domestically, not internationally). Now, remember these are my own conclusions. You read the article and let me know your ideas on where the industry is trending.

In regards to the overall book sale declines, this could just be an indication of the Christmas spending period ending in December. It's not a big percentage and ties in the the national spending dip in January every year.

I do have a little concern with the Adult Hardcover, but since the paperbacks and e-books are increasing my thoughts are purely economic. People won't or can't afford to buy the elaborate hardbound books and are opting for the cheaper version. It's the same story, just different medium.

The Children's/YA hardcovers and paper backs shows a dramatic trend away from traditional reading methods. My inclination is that these younger readers are part of the mass increase in e-books and are reading from their generation-specific technologies.

And moving to that amazing percentage in the e-books category...WOW! I think this is the biggest alert for the industry of the direction reading is going. Just like the last days of the CDs. People were in denial about the MP3 and Ipod's...but it came and it came quick. Now look at the CD sales.

Paper books are just on the end of their life cycle. It's not bad. It's not good. It just is. We have an eco-friendly society that is on the technology advancing bandwagon. The good thing is reading is not going with the paper formats. It's still there, just different.

I'm going to keep an eye on these figures. It plays a lot into my publishing goals, marketing/promotion strategies, and target market objectives.

Good writing all! (No matter what format you work ends up in.)

Know Your Worth

Know your worth as an aspiring writer, my friends. Yesterday evening I received an email from a publisher...or so called publisher. Thank goodness for the resources and networks I've built up in preparation for my novel submissions.

In just two weeks they read through my whole manuscript (or so they say) and deemed it "worthy of publication". Imagine how grateful I felt. They'd attached an agreement, marketing plan, and publication schedule, along with a FAQs page.

I read through the contract and other attachments and let me tell you, it was the best fiction I've ever read. Here's some highlights:

• I purchase all copyrights, but give up all rights to my story for ten years
• A whopping $25 advance
• Mandatory 100 copies purchase that I have to make
• No advertisement, promotion, or marketing budget/plan or obligation by them (the marketing plan was what I should do with the 100 copies I have to purchased from them)
• A "No Sue" clause
• They have absolute control over changes and edits with no approval needed by me
• No out clause for me if they do not hold up their end of the bargain
• 3% royalty for hardback, 10% for paperback, 25% for ebooks, but they then take out the costs of production and manufacturing from that and I get what's left
• And no actual payment schedule for royalties I earn

I laughed reading through this and my hubby joined in. I then crafted a very clear response and reported them to two sites that are invaluable to all writers.

• Preditors and Editors
• Writer Beware

Before you start any submission, make sure to read up and know what you're getting into, because snakes like this company are everywhere in the business. Research, research, research. Knowledge in powerful and helps you maintain cool and calm in what will be a long and interesting journey into the world of publication and authorship.

She did get one thing right in her offer email...my story is worthy of publication. However, it's worthy to be published by a house who will treat it and me with worth.

To Edit or Not to Edit

I sat staring at the PC, willing my brain to come up with a really snazzy post topic. I hope that I provide engaging content that is both thought triggering (provoking just seems so generic and over used) and helpful. I try to integrate the "tips" and "lessons learned" in with my current WIP.

There are millions of writing tips that can be given. Millions...yes, I can allow myself too hyperbole. I'm a writer after all.

*rubs hands*

Okay, of the million tips, which do I want to talk about today? Hmmm...editing. Or rather, not editing. With my recent frustrations of Sorcerer's Carnival and the editing of two short stories I think it's appropriate. Not to mention - which is a weird sentence introduction as I'm about to mention - my online writing circle had a forum discussion about this very topic.

Many writers, especially new writers, want to edit as they write out their first draft. My tip: don't worry about editing when your laying out the first draft of your story. By trying to edit as you unveil the story in your mind, you're limiting your creative juice from the gate.

Let your muse do his or her thing. Don't restrict them. Don't slow them down. Don't stop them. Your muse runs on an underlying level of thought that your conscious doesn't recognize or see. Basically, you don't know all the thoughts you're thinking. Your muse, however, can see everything and cruise all the avenues.

By definition your draft is suppose to suck. It's suppose to have grammar errors, sentence mayhem, and confusing paragraphs. The climax of the story will be in an odd spot and your characters will conflict with their core characteristics.

It's okay.

After your muse exhausts himself or herself and crawls into his or her mental bed to sleep off the creative hangover, your Nazi Editor can march out and straighten up the mess. They are systematic, organized, and ruthless.

I guess the core of what I'm saying? The Muse and the Editor don't play well on the playground, so don't have them out at the same time. You're just begging for the Muse to go all bitch on you and risking your Editor having a meltdown.

Then where will you be? Screwed, that's where.

That's my writing tip for the day. Good writing all (and editing too)!

Depth and Breadth

Working in the business side of healthcare I’ve learned that the depth and breadth of your services is important to your patients (or potential patients). In looking at business development I have to see what services we have and how we can change, mold, and expand on them to realize our full potential as an organization.

This concept can be applied to your manuscript as well. ‘Cause let’s face it, all we have right now is a manuscript. It’s in the development stage and is not a novel quite yet. So how can we get that depth and breadth to our manuscript, thereby completing it to its full potential?

Here are some factors I’m looking at myself with my work. See if it helps you.

First and foremost – as with business – who is your customer, end user, or client? That is, who is the reader that you want or need to interest? Know your audience and what they want. You may be a great writer but if no ones interested in your work…well, you’ll never be a published author.

After you find that out, you need to compare it to your manuscript, outline, work in progress.

Focus and evolve your idea/purpose to match industry, genre, and audience trends. Don’t write a novel for the purpose of showcasing the potential of time travel when your readers are primarily into new life forms on other planets. Don’t write a story that pits adversaries fighting for oil on other planets 400 years in the future when human evolution is trending towards green alternatives. It won’t stand the test of time (not to mention it’s flashback to 1980).

Now that you have your audience and idea aligned, it’s time to write your story. But wait, now you have to worry about how you’re writing out your idea. Pesky little details like narrative voice, word choice, and transitions. Is the voice and word choice matching the tone and mood of your story? Are you writing more formal than the brash heroine calls for? Are the transitions between scenes too choppy for your romantic space opera?

When all these details are developed and integrated into your end product (your novel), you then have to go back through and check the mechanics. You have to put on your editor hat and make sure you grammar and structure are up to snuff.

Only when these things are cleaned out can you put your product out there to potential agents and publishers. At least you know that if you check through all these things you’ll have the highest potential pumped into your story.

Good writing all!

Monthly Status Check

I started my adventure of becoming a published author October of 2008. To help keep my momentum going I've decided to start a monthly status check of my submission and activity

There are some industry standard way of building your author name and your readership. Getting flash fiction, short stories, and novella's published in magazines and anthologies is one great starting point. This method also helps to learn and gauge your audience and story trends. In example, one thing I verified through this method is that Space Opera's are virtually nonexistent in today's market.

Okay, to kick it off here are my stats and progress to date. Then going forward I will only report on my progress for that month at the end of the month.

Story Ideas by Length:
Flash Fiction: 2
Short Stories: 14
Novels: 2
Novellas: 4
Series: 1

Story Progress Status:
Outlined: 9
In progress: 2
Halted: 3 (in queue to finish after "in progress" are completed)
Complete: 6
Archived: 2 (1 contest done, 1 not marketable/good)
Published: 1

Agent Search:
Queries: 33
Requests for Partial: 2
Rejections: 33
(Efforts halted until revisions complete and more magazine/anthologies published)

Submission Status:
Submissions: 24
Accepted: 1
Revise & Resubmit: 1
Contest Placed: 1 (2nd place)
Rejections: 15
Waiting Response: 6

There are my stats from October 2008 to date. Good writing all!

Streamlining

Every writer faces it...the dreaded word count. We sci-fi and fantasy writers, seem to have an added stress. No only do we have the same word count restrictions of standard genres, but we have to build worlds and connect the reader to unusual settings and characters.

I've heard it over and over through my writer groups, online, and in industry resources. Science-fiction and fantasy stories frequently end up between 100-130 K, or even more.

Sigh....now what?

Do we force through and try to get 100-130 K published, industry standards be damned? No, that's been tried before and failed miserably.

Do we break it up into a series and submit them as such? Well, yeah...if your established and proven with sales to back it up. But if you are, you wouldn't be worried about the word count. And if you were established, you wouldn't be reading this newbies blog. As a rookie, like me, you can't get away with trying to submit a series unless the first in the series is independent enough from the second, third, and so on. The plain fact is you just aren't a sure bet yet to the agent or publisher.

What to do, what to do? Here's what you do.

• Rip out your love for the story (this usually can be done if you tuck your story away for several weeks)
• Get your mental machete.
• Tear through each sentence, each paragraph, each scene, and each chapter...slicing and dicing.

Start with the blaring stuff. Are there two sentences in a paragraph that describe the same thing? If so, can you mold the two by cutting words and gathering them together in a tighter sentence.

Are there multiple paragraphs describing simple, everyday actions. Does it really take two paragraphs for the character to enter the dang door? Cut it down and show what you need in one intense paragraph.

How about things you just over described by using too many adjectives?

Once you do your first pass with the obvious stuff you got to get tougher. Are there points in the storyline that just don't matter to the reader? Have you written half a chapter describing a place you'll never take a character? Or explaining a technology the characters wouldn't notice in their everyday life. This happens a lot when sci-fi writers are describing the technology of the future. It can be neat and as a sci-fi reader I can soak it up...if it fits within the storyline.

But if you're describing a travel jump to the minute details, only to have the characters blocked by the law and having to use traditional space travel...well, what was the point? The reader is now frustrated that they don't get to see the technology in action or the reaction/result to the character afterwards.

If you really want to be published, you have to remember that you've entered their world. They haven't asked you in, you're demanding to be in. So play by the rules...at least until you're famous. Then you can write two paragraphs about the color of the stupid floor, like Stephen King.

Good writing all!

Organization is Important

I walked home from work yesterday figuring out a sticking point in Galileo. By the time I got home, I was all excited with several different ideas for fixing it. I sat down, turned on my computer, checked my email for any rejections...I mean acceptances (let's think positive here, people).

It was at this point I remembered receiving the rejection for Poseidon. That's okay, I was thinking, I'll just quickly open up my writing spreadsheet, note which place I had slated next for it, and send it off. Then I could get on with my unsticking.

Ugh, I opened the darn spreadsheet and realized I hadn't updated it in weeks. Needless to say, I could not close the workbook without updating it. that would violate all ingrained project manager instincts in my body.

I spent the next two hours updating my submission table, my 2009 calendar, setting up my 2010 calendar (some responses weren't due until February 2010). It didn't stop there, I had to then update my work in progress (WIP) table.

I did manage to send Poseidon off to its next potential home; and I have to admit I felt pretty proud of myself for "spring cleaning".

Maybe tonight I can get back to the meat and potatoes....writing.

Good writing all!