Are You Team "Traditional Publising" or "Self-Publishing"?

In the first ebook of her series "A Field Guide for Authors," literary agent Rachelle Gardner shares her wisdom with writers looking to decide between traditional publishing and self-publishing. Although I've always pictured myself going the traditional route, I see more writers these days deciding to self-publish. The industry has evolved much in the past several years, making both publishing routes viable options for success. So what is best for you? It's a big decision.

That said, Rachelle's ebook is aptly named How Do I Decide? Self-Publishing vs. Traditional Publishing (A Field Guide for Authors)

I'm reading it now and hope you'll join me (click on the picture above for a link). In the meantime, what are your thoughts? Have you already self-published or gone the traditional route? Both?

Write Just a Little Bit

How do you make time to write? No, seriously. That wasn't some kind of thought provoking opening sentence, it was a plea for help. Remember when I posted about how awesome I was at making time to write? Even going so far as to bring my laptop to my best friend's wedding? Well things are different now. 

I'm the one getting married. I can't bring my lap top to that wedding.

So I'm neck deep in rsvps, construction paper (for my favors), and running around to a zillion appointments regarding this and that. In the midst of this I'm very happy and blessed to be in two other weddings and not so blessed to have been in a minor car accident.

So there ya go. I have no time (said the girl who knows she's just making excuses). I can't possibly write (said the girl who knows she could absolutely write even for just 15 minutes a day). Woe is me, I am just way too busy (said the girl who seems to think that every other writer has copious amounts of free time).

Ok I'm done yelling at myself. Let's have a little grace here, eh? This is a season where I can't write as much as I want to, but I can write a little bit. How about you? How do you make time for the things you love? And if you're not making time, what are your excuses? 

We may not always be able to pump out novels, but let's write just a little bit.  

(image from freedigitalphotos.net)

The #1 Most Valuable Tool for a Writer

Aside from your computer, what is your favorite tool to keep handy when writing a novel? Is it Google? A dictionary or thesaurus? Flash drive? They are certainly must-haves but there is one thing that tops them all. This thing can completely change your perspective on your novel. It can bring clarity to your prose and alert you to inconsistencies in your writing or flaws in your plot. It can also gauge the authenticity of your characters as well as setting. No matter your skill level, this is the one thing all writers need yet it’s not always easy to come by.  

A beta reader.    

The greatest tool for any writer, in my opinion, is someone who reads a manuscript in its entirety and provides thorough feedback. The ideal beta buffers constructive criticism with lots of encouragement and offers practical solutions to any hiccups in plot, narrative, character development, etc. Often, they understand a writer’s needs and goals because they are writers themselves.

I love beta-reading for many reasons, including the fact that it makes me a better writer. Carefully combing through someone else’s novel heightens my awareness of the nuances in my own work. Other added benefits are building valuable relationships with other writers and getting a sneak peek at a manuscript before it’s published.

Now, just because I do some beta-reading for other people doesn’t mean that I don’t need one myself. I wrote a novel for National Novel Writing Month and am looking forward to finding a beta-reader once I’m done editing. If you need a reader too, let’s exchange manuscripts!

What are your thoughts? Do you think it’s important to have a beta reader? What’s your favorite writing tool?

(Image from freedigitalphotos.net)

Life's Purpose: More About the Elusive Finish Line

A friend posted this video on Facebook this morning and it went so perfectly with my blog topic from last week, that I had to share it!

Please enjoy your journey today my friend, don't get too hung up on the destination. If you sing & dance to life's music, THAT is SUCCESS.

The Writing Finish Line: Do We Ever Really Get There?

When I was younger I thought that I'd be satisfied just to write a novel, even if no one read it. To know that I followed through on such an ambitious project would be enough for me. So I wrote one. Not surprisingly, my goal changed and so did my definition of success. 

Becoming published became my new goal. I fixated on it and even once said that if I was a published author I could die happy. How naive was I to think that I could be satisfied so easily and that I wouldn't change my definition of success once again. 

Publication is still one of my goals as I draft my second novel during NaNoWriMo, but what I've come to realize is that there is no "finish line" in writing. I can't fool myself anymore with sentences that start with "If I just..." and end with "...then I can die happy".

Networking with published authors who struggle to market their novels and still don't feel as though they've "made it" has taught me to cast off my illusions about the finish line. I will still have the same insecurities and desire to do better even after my book hits store shelves or online shopping carts. Hence, I'm adopting a new attitude: that doing whatever it is I feel called to do, not just in writing but in life, is all I need in order to die happy. 

If I'm content with who I am and where I'm at, whether I'm pre-published, post-published or in between, then I've already "made it". Hmmm. I guess there's a finish line after all.

What about you? How do you measure your success?

(Image from freedigitalphotos.net)

Are You Vulnerable Enough?

Sometimes I read other peoples work and marvel at just how real they allow themselves to be. Their writing goes deeper than merely telling a story or making a point. It manages to touch on some universal truth that binds us all together as humans.

Vulnerability is one of the most important tools for a fiction writer. If we don’t own our sadness, anger, insecurities or joy how can we expect to create authentic characters? How do you convey love, heartbreak, or betrayal without remembering how it felt? That kind of uninhibited writing is scary, but people respond to it. Your truth reaches out to the reader’s truth and somehow, over a river of fiction, a bridge to reality is built.

Growing up, I expressed my feelings through writing poetry. Prose became my focus as I got older, but last year during a difficult time I returned to my first love and wrote a poem. It contained such raw emotion that I didn’t want anyone to read it. Yet it was so authentically ME that I longed for it to be heard. Hours later I found myself in a writing forum known for being particularly brutal. I still don’t know what possessed me to share the poem, but it was one of the best received pieces I had ever posted. I was shocked at the positive reaction it stirred.

I still struggle with writing vulnerably. I care too much about what people think and I have to make a conscious effort not to let it flatten my voice. I don’t want to write with my guard up. I want to write messy, ugly and afraid. I don’t want paper characters that cry alligator tears. I want their names, flesh and words to be as real as the person sitting next to my reader on the train.  

That day in the forum the hurt deep within me reached out to the hurt in someone else. Our differing styles, backgrounds, political leanings etc., didn’t matter. For a small span of time we remembered that we’re all made out of the same stuff.  That’s beautiful. That’s why I write.

Do you think vulnerability in writing is important? If so, does it come naturally to you?

(image from freedigitalphotos.net)

NaNoWriMo Day 6: Get 'er Done

Here I am on the sixth day of NaNoWriMo and I'm more determined than ever to finish despite my overloaded schedule. This harried writer has learned a thing or two about how to get it done: hair appointment? Bring the laptop. Dentist appointment? Bring the laptop. In a wedding? Bring the laptop (I promise, I just threw together a few sentences before the bride had her makeup on). I set my alarm earlier and write before work and then I write again when I come home. I'm a MACHINE!

Oh and there's another thing I learned: my first draft sucks! Forget pretty words, poetic descriptions, realistic dialogue and character development. Pshhh, that's for Non-NaNo-ers. Besides, I'm naturally a slow writer so all that stuff needs to go out the window right now. And no offense to me, but my previous style wasn't exactly pumping out novels. I'm here to get 'er done.

Speaking of which, I gotta go. Please forgive the short and pointless post. If you're NaNo-ing look me up! I'm Little_Light and I'd love to be your writing buddy. If you're not NaNo-ing please feel free to share some advice, inspiration or encouragement. I'm not sure I'll be quite this motivated by next week...

Ode to NaNoWriMo

This is me crossing the Spartan Race finish line, not looking as badass as I felt.

National Novel Writing Month (NaNoWriMo) scares me. As the start date, November first, approaches I find myself thinking the same things I thought as I approached the starting line for the Spartan race. Can I do this? Have I prepared enough? Both events are all about endurance. Anyone can sit down and type, but can you do it for thirty days straight? Can you dig deep and give voice to the story on your heart? Can you ignore the urge to compare yourself to others, ignore anyone that says you can’t do it (including you), and commit to writing 50,000 words?

I’m going to try. It might be 47,123 words of pure drivel, but that’s ok. It’s editable, revisable drivel. You know what’s not editable or revisable? A blank page.

So the starting line is in front of us. I have butterflies and I wonder if I have what it takes. If you’re feeling the same way I am, if you’re running this race with me, I have just one thing to say to you:

WE CAN DO THIS.

And on that note, here is a very silly Ode to NaNoWriMo:

I will write, I will write, I will write
To my greatest disdain or delight
harnessing thought,
and sculpting a plot,
throughout the day and at night

I will write, disregarding the clock
defending against writer’s block
confronted with doubt,
I’ll write my out
from between a hard place and rock

No facebook, no cable, no phone
as I work out my narrative tone
I sit undeterred
Writing word after word
All my plans I shall hereby postpone

Friends and loved ones please hear my plight
You may think that I’m not alright
but hold your appraise
for the next thirty days
as I write, and I write, and I write!

Word Count Expectations for Popular Genres

This weekend I've had the pleasure of taking part in a retreat with several other writers (it's wonderful, I highly recommend it) representing a variety of genres including Scholarly, Women's Fiction, Horror and YA. Last night, over wine, we discussed our current projects and got to talking about word count requirements. This is a confusing subject. My internet searches yielded vastly conflicting results, leading me to believe that the "rules" are not steadfast. They seem to be subject to trends in the literary world, and of course the "rules" are bent quite regularly.

That said, it's still helpful to know what most editors want or expect to see from writers. After comparing a number of agent blogs, publisher web sites and other resources, here are what I found to be the generally accepted ranges for some popular genres:


Horror: 80k - 120k

Sci Fi: 80k - 120k

YA: 50k to 80k

Single Title Romance: 75k - 120k

Women's Fiction: 75k - 90k

Mystery/Crime Thriller: 70k - 100k

There are exceptions for every genre mentioned, but keep in mind that if you are a first-time author you may not want to aim to be one of those exceptions. If you've written a debut novel and find that your piece is far outside the desired range, be sure to keep an eye on your word count and make adjustments during your revision process. It'll only make the query process easier for you later!

What do you think about the word counts stated above? Is your current project on target?

(image from freedigitalphotos.net)  

What Exactly Does "Unpublished" Mean?

The answer to this question used to be simple. If your work had never appeared in a book, magazine, anthology, journal, etc. then you had never been published. However, in the process of searching for online and print publications where I might place some of my work, I discovered that the definition of “unpublished” has drastically changed.

For instance, I wanted to submit one of my short stories to a flash fiction journal, but their guidelines were very specific in stating that all submissions would have to be completely unpublished. They were so adamant that I decided to research this topic and found the following things:

1. If it’s on your blog, or anyone else’s, it’s “published”. I knew this one, but it goes to show that writers should carefully select their blog topics. If there’s anything you are hoping to submit elsewhere for publication, it’s not always acceptable for you to simply take it down from your blog. Many editors prefer work that’s never been seen.
2. If it’s been posted in a writing forum that is not password protected, then your piece has been “published”. I didn’t know this one! I put my story in an open writer’s forum last year not knowing that it could prevent me from submitting for official publication elsewhere. The good news is, it doesn’t appear that the forum’s pages have been archived. I did an internet search using some key phrases from my piece and nothing from the forum came up. If you posted in an unprotected forum like I did, but your piece doesn’t come up in an internet search (hint: don’t just look at the first page of results), you might be safe. In the future, if you’d like to share your work with fellow writers be sure to do so in a password protected forum so your stuff isn’t all over the web.
3. Contests want unpublished work too. The sponsors usually want to discover pieces that have never been seen before. I was ready to submit some poetry to a Writer’s Digest contest recently and their guidelines expressly stated that your material could never have been posted on any blog, forum, or basically any other internet format. Booo.

The moral of the story is this: read guidelines carefully, and be selective with what you post online if you have plans to seek a traditional publishing route. 

Have you had any experiences like mine? Has posting online ever affected your chances of being published elsewhere? Did you already know all this?  

Write a Query Letter in 8 Simple Steps

Two weeks ago I posted an example of a fiction query letter and was asked to provide more details on how to write one. I’m happy to oblige! The following eight tips are the product of my research while preparing to query agents for my Young Adult novel. These same principles can be applied to most genres, although queries for nonfiction pieces are formatted slightly differently.  

1.  Address the agent by name. Not “To Whom It May Concern” or “Sir/Madam”. You hand-picked this agent because you feel they’ll be interested in your work, so addressing them by name is crucial.
2. Keep it to one page. When querying, it’s important to keep it concise. If a longer synopsis is desired you will be asked for it or it will be stated in the agent’s guidelines.
3. Get right to the point. The agent knows why you wrote to them, no need for long introductions. Simply state the name of your book, the word count, the genre and your hook within your first two sentences. If you’re not sure how to write a good hook, research that before writing your query letter. The goal is to grab their attention and make them want to keep reading.
4. If possible, reference another book like yours. It’s not required, but its recommended that you point out similarities between your book and another one the agent might recognize.
5. Give a super short synopsis. Be sure to pique the agent’s interest without giving away too much or getting too bogged down in details. This is tricky. No writer enjoys figuring out how to sum up their work in such a small amount of space, but it can be done. Try reading the backs of your favorite books for inspiration on how to condense the gist of your characters and their conflicts into four or five sentences.
6. Do your homework. Become familiar with what your chosen agent likes. Point out that while your work is unique, it will still fit in well with the other books they’ve represented. Mention at least one of their books by name.
7. Your bio. Include just a small bit of relevant information about yourself such as whether you’ve been published before. If you haven’t, don’t worry. Just tell the agent that this is your first novel and briefly mention any experience you have that’s relevant to the topic in your book.
8. The Closing. Wrap up the letter by thanking the agent for their time and offering to provide them with more information upon request.  

I hope you find these tips helpful. If you have any tips to add or any interesting/valuable/funny query experiences please share!

(image from FreeDigitalPhotos.net)

Example of an Effective Query Letter

If you've written a novel and plan to use traditional publishing methods rather than self publishing, then you probably know how intimidating it can be to compose a query letter. How do you condense months, or years, of work into a mere few sentences? What is the best way to represent your qualifications, passion and, ok, desperation, to this one person who holds the key to your hopes, dreams and fragile ego? It's scary. Or at least it should be.

The excitement of completing a novel can cloud our minds with pride. It's like how all parents know that their babies are way cuter, smarter, and more generally awesome than everyone else's babies. When you write a book, that's your baby. Writing a lackluster query is like sending your child to a pageant with mismatched clothes and food all over their face.

Put time and energy into your query. Research the agent, be familiar with their submission guidelines, the genres they want, and read other books that they've represented. When I did this and queried an agent after writing my first novel a few years ago, she responded with a request for the full manuscript (eeep!). Ultimately, it didn't lead to representation (doh! Here's why) but it gave me a lot of encouragement knowing that my query had done its job. 

Here is the letter I wrote:

Dear Ms. DeChiara,

My 73,000 word novel, Like Steel, is the story of a scrappy fifteen year old that longs to be understood as she comes to terms with life's losses and contemplates the existence of God.

Similar to other poignant young adult novels, such as Speak by Laurie Halse Anderson, Like Steel consists of intense inner and outer conflict woven through an adventure of self discovery.

Marie still can't understand why Rob, her best friend and the hero that helped her develop a mean right hook, was ripped from her life. All she has now is her memories and her most constant companion: anger. When Marie's fighting and drinking land her in the Redwood Lodge, an inpatient treatment center for troubled teens, she bonds with her anorexic roommate as they rebel against the staff and hatch a plan to escape. Of course, nothing goes quite as planned. Filled with raw emotion and a colorful cast of characters, Like Steel is an inside view of a hurting teenagers good but guarded heart.

While the story of Like Steel is distinctive I believe it will fit in well with your other titles, The Last Chance Texaco and The Geography Club. I began writing for pleasure at the age of seven, attempted my first novel at the age of twelve, and wrote steadily throughout my young adulthood. This is my first completed novel and I am beginning to form the sequel. My qualification on the subject matter is based on life experience.   

If you are interested in seeing it, I would be happy to provide sample chapters or the manuscript. Thank you for your consideration.

Sincerely,

Jennifer Kohler

If you've written a novel, critiqued and revised it, and are preparing to seek agency representation, congratulations. You've already accomplished something huge. The next step is to make sure you do everything you can to adequately exhibit yourself, your talents...and your baby :) If you'd like a second set of eyes to look over your letter, just email me. I'm happy to help!    

8 Practical Resources for Writers

There is an amazing amount of tools on the web for writers. Through my own writing adventures I’ve established a list of go-to sites that I like to use whenever I want to brush up on grammar, network with other writers, check out new book releases, track down an agent, or learn a new word. So without further rambling, here are eight of my favorite web sites for writers (you've probably heard of at least a few of them):  

1.      rachellegardner.com Rachelle Gardner is a literary agent that blogs about important topics such as what makes a blog or book compelling, how to get published, information on self publishing, and hundreds of other invaluable tidbits from an industry insider.  

2.      grammar.quickanddirtytips.com Mignon Fogarty delivers grammar lessons that will school even the most educated writer (she would definitely cringe at that sentence).

3.      goodreads.com Find books, rate them, make lists of what you want to read, participate in Q&A discussion groups with your favorite author, and as a published author Goodreads can help you to reach your target audience.

4.      writersdigest.com – writing prompts, articles on grammar, discussion forums, author interviews, contests, you name it! Great tool.

5.      querytracker.net – this web site allows you to search for agents by name, genre, location, etc. AND it gives you information like response statistics AND it helps you to keep track of your query submissions.  

6.      grubstreet.org – This one is local to MA, however it’s well worth it to travel here from afar for their annual Muse & the Marketplace conference. This conference is incredibly informative and offers the opportunity for a one on one discussion of your work with a literary agent. If you’re local, Grubstreet also offers a variety of workshops to help you hone your craft.

7.      nanowrimo.org – It’s a web site dedicated to National Novel Writing Month and helps you to track your progress and receive moral support from other writers. The magic happens in November…so get ready!

8.      rhymezone.com – This rhyming dictionary is an excellent tool for my fellow lazy poets.

Of course this is just a small sampling of the myriad web sites available to writers. I’m looking forward to posting more in the future, but for now…what are some of YOUR favorite web resources? Or resources that you wish were available? I’d love to hear them!

(image from FreeDigitalPhotos.net)

Word Counts and Sparkly Shoes

Generally, I’m not a fan of limits. I don’t enjoy limiting my food choices, hours of sleep or the amount of money that I (shouldn’t) spend on shoes…like these beauties I wore to a friend’s wedding last year:

How could I say no to those gems? How could I deny my longing to feel almost tallish for a few magical hours in towering rhinestone heels? I’m glad I made the frivolous purchase even though I could’ve made a more frugal choice at Kohl’s. But, I admit, it doesn’t always work that way. Sometimes holding back is a good thing.

Recently I finished writing a short story I’d been working on. I was happy with my verbose descriptions of dust swirling along the surface of the dry ground and a frayed flag dancing in the wind. I had fun playing with language and when I placed the period at the end of the final sentence I was proud of what I’d done. For, like, five minutes. 

Then I realized I'd run far past the required word count for the contest I want to enter. At first there didn’t seem to be any possible way to preserve the integrity and meaning in my story while reducing it by over 1000 words. Only when I dove into the revisions did I rediscover the clever art of refrain. I chiseled away unessential descriptions and watched a sharper story emerge from a fuzzy pile of fluff. 

For example, here’s just one of the changes I made. The following sentences existed prior to my revision:

Almost an hour into the show, the frayed yellow flag atop the red and white striped tent made gentle snapping sounds as it danced in the warm breeze. Dust swirled along the surface of the Southern California ground and when the breeze died, the dust settled, the flag ceased its dance and the snapping sound stopped.     

My intent was to show that the circus tent was so quiet that you could hear a flag flapping in the breeze. The problem is that I used far too many words to make a simple point. Here is the same part of the story after I revised it:

An hour later the red and white striped tent that was filled to capacity sat hushed in the deepening twilight.

Yup, I pretty much deleted everything. There's nothing wrong with being descriptive, but when writing a flash fiction piece every word must be scrutinized. What started as a flowery short story ended up being an exercise in the skill of saying just enough. When it comes to writing, less really is more. However, when it comes to shoes my advice is to never hold back :) 

Click here to see some great upcoming writing contests. If you’d like to partner up and critique each other’s entries send me an email!

Just Keep Digging, Just Keep Digging...

I know writers who can write on command. They do NanoWriMo every year and write a 75,000 word novel in four weeks as if it were no big deal.  These writers get an idea, commit to it, and sprint to the finish line. Bing, bang, boom. Done. I hate them. 

I’m a stopper and goer. I pause. I go back and edit even though I know I shouldn’t. The full plot of a story just doesn’t come easily to me and that’s ok because every writer is different. We each have our own idiosyncrasies and challenges. For some, beginning a first draft feels fluid and natural. For me, it feels like digging an Olympic pool with a teaspoon.

Three times in the last four weeks I’ve begun to put a certain idea to paper, only to scrap it and start over. I find myself asking “Is this how the story should be told? Is this the best point of view? Is this the best possible opening scene?”

I know that when all is said and done, I will write the story. The answers to all of my lingering questions will suddenly come to me in the shower, on the way to work, or in the middle of answering an email to my boss. That’s just how I operate. In the meantime, I must grip my teaspoon and dig with gusto.

If you need to trade in your teaspoon for an excavator, here are three simple pieces of advice from someone who has struggled through all different kinds of writer’s block.

1. Don’t lose hope. Believe in your idea and KNOW that you will bring it to life.
2. Don’t stop writing. Take breaks when you need to and let your mind wander, but be sure to return to your project as soon as you have a fresh perspective.
3. Keep every draft. Even the crappy ones. They can serve as inspiration for new ideas or simply show you how far you’ve come.

So, what does writing feel like for you: a teaspoon, backhoe or something else? Do you have any tips or tricks to getting over your writing hurdles? I’d love to hear them!

Snuck, Brang, and Other Imaginary Things

It's time to hang my head in shame. I intended to write a post today about tricky words that aren't real, but that are often mistakenly used. I was going to get on my little bloggy soap box about such grammatical sins as "irregardless" or saying "expresso" instead of "espresso" (shudder). But then it happened: I discovered a word that I didn't know wasn't real. It's like that March evening many years ago when I was five years old and went to a local drugstore with my mother. As we walked by the large, colorful display of celophane wrapped Easter baskets, mom proudly announced to the cashier "Jenny prefers the ones that I make for her, right honey?" Her face fell as she realized her mistake, much to the cashier's amusement.

My small voice shook, "There's no Easter Bunny?"

Why didn't all those prepackaged baskets tip me off before? Had I believed that the drugstore chains put together all of the Easter baskets for the Bunny, kind of like the elves make all the toys for Santa? How did I not see the truth? That's how I feel about "preventative". It really seemed like a word, before now. I thought my health insurance didn't charge a copay for preventative visits to the doctor. As it turns out, only preventive work is covered. How did this slip by me? What else do I not know?

I hope it doesn't deliver the same kind of shock for you to learn that "snuck" is also not a word; "sneaked" is the proper term. And don't even think of saying that Santa "brang" you presents last year. He "brought" them. Now that I think of it, that Santa guy is almost as elusive as the Easter Bunny. Hmmm. It may be time for another awkward conversation with mom.

What about you? Have you ever found out that a word you use isn't real? Are there any words people use that drive you crazy? And, most importantly, how did you find out there was no Easter Bunny?

The Writing Life

It’s taken a few months for me to learn that I should write whether I feel like it or not. Just like I should go grocery shopping before I go hungry and do laundry before I run out of underwear. Hey, everyone’s gotta grow up sometime right?


It seemed that there was no solution when the cool, crystal pool of inspiration that I’d thought was bottomless dried up and left me tapping my fingers on the desk instead of the keyboard. No more late nights in a cluttered corner of the living room with my squinty, red rimmed eyes awash in the blue-white light of my computer screen. No more early mornings with my caffeine addled fingers twitching across the keyboard to the sound of weather and traffic reports. I got all blah. Like the milk carton that someone shouldn’t have left in the fridge, I was suddenly empty.

Cue the epiphany. Two weeks ago I was walking to my car after work, thinking about how I wished I felt like writing because I miss it, and it hit me: write anyway. Don’t wait for the adrenaline rush of an amazing idea. Take a leap of faith and write one word on the screen. Just one. And trust that the next word will reveal itself, followed by the next and the next. So I did. I’m still not oozing ideas and getting so excited that I stay up all night weaving plot, but at least I feel like I’m back in my own skin.

I’ll refrain from saying something super cliché and dramatic such as “writing is like breathing to me”. But it’s pretty darn important. Even more important than clean underwear…which reminds me...I have some laundry to do.

What about you? What holds you back from doing what you truly love?

My 2012 Reading List

One of the most important things you can do in order to become a better writer is to be an avid reader. It teaches you, even when you’re not fully concentrating on learning. Whether the book is terrible and you can’t finish it or it’s a masterpiece and you can’t put it down, reading is the best way to figure out what works in writing. Plus it’s super fun.

So without further preamble, here are just a few of the books I plan to read in 2012:

Love in the Time of Cholera

The God of Small Things

Girl with a Pearl Earring

How to be an American Housewife

These is My Words

The Poisonwood Bible

The 19^th Wife

And of course…your manuscripts!

What about you, what do you want to read in 2012? Any recommendations for me?

What’s wrong with exclamation points?!

There are many obvious things to look for when revising your novel (See When You Write a Book). But sometimes it’s the little things that can make a big difference. When reviewing work by other writers, or my own, I look for certain sneaky little flaws that can hinder the flow or quality of the writing. Here are three of them:

Exclamation Points. When used correctly, they make a statement pop! The problem occurs when a writer wants to make a lot of sentences pop! Overusing them is like being the little boy who cried wolf. It also  gives the narrator a more juvenile voice, bringing to mind comic books or that old Batman show (POW!).                                                                                                                 

Even if your work is geared toward a younger generation, don’t shortchange your writing ability with these tempting little suckers. Sure, they get the idea across that someone is yelling or something has suddenly happened. But those things can be better expressed through the building up of suspense and emotion, setting and dialogue.                                                         

The exclamation point isn’t to be hated or blacklisted. Use it. But do so sparingly and you’ll increase its punch.

Short sentences. Periods make the eye stop. They express statements. Statements are grouped in paragraphs. Many short statements make a paragraph choppy. However, when you combine short sentences into a longer one with a comma, the result is a more natural flow. Short sentences are an excellent tool for drawing the reader’s eye to a crucial point; they can even sometimes be used instead of an exclamation point. So use them wisely and the result will be writing that’s more poignant and easier to read. 

Names. "Sally, I don’t understand your point."

                                                                        

"June, my point is that you say my name too much." 

                                                                    

"I don’t, Sally. You’re imagining it." 

"June, you think I’m imagining things? You’re cruel, June." 

No one actually talks like this. If you want your dialogue to sound authentic be careful not to let your characters repeat each other’s names. I’ve fallen into this habit plenty of times and only caught it later when I was proofreading. It’s surprisingly easy to do this and not notice it, so be on guard.

These are just a few of the bad habits that can creep up when writing. And as I always say when it comes to anything artistic, there is no real rule. Go ahead and go crazy with exclamation points, short sentences and names if you can make it work. But if your writing sounds choppy or unpolished, look for one or more of these habits and see if that’s the cause of the problem.

Good luck and happy writing :)

When you write a book…

When I put the period at the end of the last sentence in my novel, I felt elation that I will never forget. I wrote a book! I could finally move onto the next step: becoming published. Dreams of book tours and signings and royalty checks filled my mind. It was all within reach; the hard part was over. Right? Not so much.

I chose a literary agent, checked her submission guidelines, verified she was interested in my chosen genre and I wrote a killer query letter if I do say so myself. When I got a reply requesting my full manuscript I naively thought this was how the process worked. Little did I know, having the very first agent I queried ask for my entire manuscript was an amazing opportunity.

So I lovingly packed my 234-page manuscript into a small box along with the copy of her request and mailed it off. Wait. Let me rephrase that. I sent my UN-revised, UN-critiqued, UN-edited novel to a professional literary agent. Are you cringing? I hope so.

It took months to realize why I never heard back. No writer, even published writers, should ever accept their first draft as a final product. Always, always revise and have another writer critique your work.

Now when I revise a novel here are just a few of the most common errors I’m looking for as I comb through the pages:

1. Point of view. Am I staying in the point of view I started with or am I sometimes lapsing into another? Would another point of view be better for this story?
2. Tense. I started the novel in present tense, am I staying in present tense or lapsing into past tense?
3. Does every scene serve a purpose? Is there any fluff I can weed out?
4. Is my spelling and punctuation correct? 

The revising process takes time and patience but it’s well worth it. When an agent asks for my manuscript again I'll know it will be the very best I have to offer.

Stay tuned for more book & manuscript reviews. And thank you to the talented writers who are sharing their unpublished novels with me; it’s an honor and pleasure to read your work.