31 January 2009 at 08:47 (Publishing, Writing)
Tags: agent, Book, editor, what not to write
In trying to find that perfect idea, there are often things that stick out – that have been done before and catch a writer’s attention. I wonder sometimes if a lot of us, when starting out, haven’t put enough time and thought into making up our own worlds, so we jump off from someone else’s.
In writing books, they sometimes mention ‘red-flags’ that editors have just gotten sick of seeing. It isn’t to say those topics aren’t or haven’t been done well, only that they’ve been done so often (and so often badly) that you have to have a stellar manuscript to make it past the first page, or even the first paragraph. A good thing to remember is an editor only has so much time; they’ve been inundated with lame attempts at the same topics- sprinkled liberally, annoyingly with adverbs, containing cliches by the dozen, and descriptively painting details of a world for the first 21 pages. No wonder they have red-flag lists.
Here’s an example from the online science fiction magazine, Strange Horizons. My friends discussed it (writers discussing writing? oh my!) and it amused us. I like the organization of this list. I will admit to working on something similar to one of the items, but I’m hoping, of course, that it works! Always something to consider, especially when those rejections start pouring in…
Excerpt:
10. Someone calls technical support; wacky hijinx ensue.
- Someone calls technical support for a magical item.
- Someone calls technical support for a piece of advanced technology.
- The title of the story is 1-800-SOMETHING-CUTE.
19. Some characters are in favor of immersive VR, while others are opposed to it because it’s not natural; they spend most of the story’s length rehashing common arguments on both sides. (Full disclosure: one of our editors once wrote a story like this. It hasn’t found a publisher yet, for some reason.)
28. Strange and mysterious things keep happening. And keep happening. And keep happening. For over half the story. Relentlessly. Without even a hint of explanation.
- The protagonist is surrounded by people who know the explanation but refuse to give it.
Leave a Comment
30 January 2009 at 08:33 (philosophy)
Tags: goals
Reaching for the stars might be beyond your grasp, but the effort makes you better, right? At least, as long as you don’t allow yourself to become discouraged.
Goals are there to keep us stretching to improve ourselves. Often we don’t get specific enough or give ourselves the tools to make it. I keep evaluating mine, and a friend sometimes reminds me to revise them.
Things to remember:
1. Be specific about what you want to accomplish.
2. Make sure you have a time frame in mind.
3. Check your progress in time intervals.
Example: I want to revise the current novel I’m working on. I’m editing one or more chapters a week. I’d like to finish it by mid-year, which may be difficult. If something comes up that requires more of my attention, this goal can slip without me giving myself too much trouble.
1 Comment
29 January 2009 at 08:35 (Books, Publishing)
Tags: blurb, promotion, The Art of Science
The Art of Science may not quite have a release date yet, but with the finishing touches, it’s getting very close.
Check out the new page to see the cover and the back blurb. Comments are welcome and I hope you’re almost as excited as I am. (I’d love it if you were more excited, but I’ve had time to build it up!)
Now I get to do all the things that come next: Promotion, promotion, promotion!
Leave a Comment
28 January 2009 at 09:19 (Books, Publishing, Writing, philosophy)
Tags: free story, I should be writing, Mur Lafferty, novel, podcast, Scott Sidler, writer
I should be writing.
That’s the name of the site and the podcast by Mur Lafferty. I listened to this podcast in the car yesterday, and I learned a bit about podcasting through the interview with Scott Sigler. The website has more information – a great resource for budding writers.
Scott Sidler was adamant with his last contract about wanting to give away his novel for free. But, wait, we’re authors for a living, don’t we need to make some money? He talks about the younger generation wanting things online, and he gets our feet wet with podcasting, for free, a chapter a week. His point is that although some will wait for the entire novel at that rate (3 or 4 months), others will go out and buy the book that is already available in the bookstores. He’s increased his audience that way.
Made me think about that novel I have coming out. With a Young Adult audience, it’s very likely that could spread the story to places I can’t travel to or otherwise might not reach.
It’s something I think I will look into and discuss with my publisher.
2 Comments
27 January 2009 at 08:11 (Books, Publishing, Writing)
Tags: cover, novel, Publishing
Amazing. At some point you think you’re done, and you find the little things that are left. Almost done. I might even have my copy in a month or so. It doesn’t feel real.
I got the cover and I love it! It’s done well and very colorful. Sometime this week I’ll post it on site with a new page for the book. I know everyone’s been waiting patiently, but it’s finally here!
I must keep reminding myself this is really fast for a book. It’s only been a year coming.
2 Comments
25 January 2009 at 08:48 (Books, Writing, philosophy)
Tags: ideas, Writing
Not always, but often stories ideas originate from places writers can’t describe. We’re just walking along one day when it hits us, that something about that flowerbed looks fishy, and wondering why, and all of a sudden we’ve locked ourselves in our offices and you won’t see us again until we’re done.
Sometimes they sneak up slowly, weaving in and out of our thoughts. Others hit us over the head and don’t go away until we put them down on paper. (or type on screen, as we’re evolving to the computer age.)
Still, I often hear or see(in written form) people asking, “How do you get your ideas?”
Of famous authors, I think it’s because people want to know how to write the best-sellers. It isnt’ the idea, so much, as the delivery.
When people ask it of me, I figure it’s because I’m just a bit off-the-wall with my approach to things. I also guess they’re trying to understand my way of thinking.
It makes me laugh to think back to high school and remember when one of my classmates told me, “You just think wrong!” That might be one of my greatest strengths in my writing career. The wrongness isn’t the issue; it was a difference in the way I approached ideas. I enjoy writing to prompts to twist them to fit my purposes and come up with something completely off where others head with the same idea. I also like things to be unexpected – like in a short story I wrote where the Spider isn’t the monster but the protector.
Ideas are things of beauty, but even the best idea won’t be a best-seller if you can’t deliver it. I like to write the ideas down, put them in a slush pile, and look over them from time to time. Sometimes something sparks later, but often I don’t do much with them because of the new ones demanding my time and attention.
The best answer I can give is ideas come from living. The delivery takes work and often isn’t finished at the end of the first draft. Like everything worth doing, the passion the writer brings for the project is what tempers the idea into the product on bookstore shelves – and it is extremely rare that the author is the only pair of eyes to revise it.(Except, perhaps, for the self-publishing industry.)
1 Comment
24 January 2009 at 08:50 (Books, Writing)
Tags: hooked, les edgerton, opening, writing book
I got a new book. It’s about openings specifically, but it also encompasses the elements to make a whole novel rather than ‘pieces’ we often associate with writing exercises.
It is true we break everything into pieces. We talk about descriptions, or word choice, or dialogue as if we could separate those from the whole. While it is one way to get better, we find ourselves clipping those things and not seeing the entire project.
This book is a page-turner. It’s easy to read, clear to understand, and thought provoking. The woman who did the introduction mentioned another book by Les Edgerton about voice. I might have to find that one, too. I haven’t finished it yet, but I’m very pleased so far.
I organized my library a bit today, though I still have a long way to go. I could review a writing book every weekend for quite a while without buying any new ones.
2 Comments
23 January 2009 at 08:26 (Writing)
Tags: editing, NaNoWriMo, Writing, young adult
Writing, or editing. It’s always one or the other that ocupies my time.
I took a chapter from 3600 words to 2500 today. Most of it wasn’t correcting passive voice, either, though I did manage that. My NaNo Novel from last November has a lot of things that need tightening, and it needs added conflict.
The difficult part is sometimes knowing what to cut and what to keep. It’s YA, and since it occurs in school I think I should have some details of school (I like to do little school details here and there), but I don’t want to beat the kids over the head with it, either. There is a balance between how much school and home life is good, I’m sure, but I haven’t found it yet.
I figured out the parts I want to focus on for this story, and I’m trying to dump the rest. I had an unrelated spelling test, so I deleted it in all its gritty glory. (Oh, don’t worry, there’s a copy. I always keep a copy of the original version in case I get rid of too much or I need to change the focus later. No use trying to remember what it was. I can compare drafts if need be.)
My original estimate was 2500 words per chapter, so I find it amusing to hit that now. I think I should be able to do that with most of the chapters in this book. Some of them are under right now – one of the drawbacks of a writing spring – but at least the story is down so I can tweak it as needed. I find it much easier to focus on the essence once it’s written.
Writing sprints like NaNoWriMo give a good opportunity to get the story down. Just can’t forget that it’ll need a few good edits when you finish.
2 Comments
22 January 2009 at 10:13 (Technology, Writing)
Tags: black obelisk, book writing, novel writing software
Black Obelisk
If the only thing you’re lacking to writing a novel is an organization system, this one looks amazing. It has a trial period and a 50% off sale running. (Which means you can get it for only $22.95) There’s also a trialpay offer to get it free, but I’m leery of those. It often seems like you end up paying more for something you didn’t want in the first place.
Black Obelisk keeps your place, has room for pictures, and automatically backs up. It has places for your music so you don’t have a reason to get out of your chair. Timelines and dossiers on your characters give you instant access to that little detail you need to finish your chapter. That is only the beginning to their list of features, however. It uses simple file formats (TXT, RTF, and ZIP) so anything you create, even during the trial period, is available in the future.
Definitely looks worth checking out. I wonder if that snazzy black and gray color is the only theme it has.
3 Comments
