InkyBlots

I was recently asked to be on a panel of veteran writers who were asked what they wished they’d known at the very beginning, and believe me, it made me think—about attitudes, mostly. But also about craft. Cultivating both is absolutely imperative.

Most people give up too soon. They’re talented, but they just don’t have the drive. And those who do make it turn overnight into sour old pros—i.e., the greatest writer who ever lived, who’s not going to beaten down by their damned publisher who doesn’t know anything and is out to screw them.  And I mean overnight. The previously desperate, do-anything-to-get-published wannabe is instantly insufferable. It always makes me giggle.

But maybe it isn’t funny. May I suggest that those two attitudes should be reversed? Arrogant (secretly, of course),  i.e. “the world’s greatest writer” in the unpublished state (so as to keep up one’s drive) ; humble and grateful after the acceptance letter. Humble, grateful, and willing to help others. It’ll be so much better all around.

I can hear it right now if you’re pre-published. Check, okay, anything. Just how do I get to that acceptance letter? First, two simple things:  Number One, use contractions—this is the number one most overlooked key to smooth writing. Failing to use them is the mark of the amateur. Number Two, use the “find and replace” function to delete every unnecessary “that” Example:  “I remembered that she wore glasses.”  Wouldn’t that sound just as good without the “that”? That one isn’t particularly annoying, but most “thats” are and they just need to go.

Second, write a great first chapter. Sure, easier said than done, but here’s a hint, and I mean a major hint: Just write it as action, and keep it all in the present. Don’t try to cram in who everyone is and their life history.  Yesterday can wait till tomorrow—or at least Chapter Two. Don’t go off on tangents. (New writers love tangents.)  Don’t even tell us what’s really happening here. Make us wait. In other words, adopt this simple rule: No digressions, no flashbacks, no exposition. It’s your new best friend.

And then of course you’ll want to write the rest of the book. Seventh-Inning Burnout is the number one cause of never getting published. You’ve got to have a book to sell a book. So do this: Find your best writing rhythm. Experiment with morning, afternoon, or night, music or no music, steady or binge; whatever seems in your way, do it another way. If all else fails, just swear to write a page a day—if you do that, you’ll have a book in a year. Or do Nanowrimo (National Novel Writing Month) and you’ll have a book in a month.

Finally, always remember the Three True Rules of Writing:

1. Start it. (As in don’t just talk about it.)

2. Put your Heart In It. (This doesn’t mean work hard—of course you’re going to work hard. It means get feeling into it. Put your soul in it. Make it real, make it important, make it wrenching. Also hilarious if that’s the way you roll.)

3. Part With It (The Number Two cause of never getting a book published is trying to perfect it. It’ll never be perfect. At some point, you just have to consider it done.)

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Julie Smith is the award-winning author of twenty novels and as many short stories. She’s a former reporter for the New Orleans Times-Picayune and the San Francisco Chronicle,  as well as a veteran of her own online writing school, plus an editorial service she founded with two other writers. She’s also taught writing at the  University of New Orleans and in numerous private seminars. During her long career as a novelist, she has created four mystery series, including two set in New Orleans where she lives, featuring homicide detective Skip Langdon and poet/P.I. Talba Wallis. In 1991, she won the prestigious Edgar Allan Poe Award for Best Novel. Counting all the novels, all the stories in all the anthologies, the odd essay, and a progressive novel or so, her publishers include just about every big publisher– Ballantine, St. Martin’s, Tor, Walker & Company, Knopf,  Doubleday, Avon, Harper-Collins, Berkley, Warner,  and Oxford University Press– plus some smaller ones, including Akashic Books,  Carrol&Graf,  Allen &Unwin, Taplinger, and Four Star.

Her latest book is a how to writing book titled Writing Your Way: The Great American Novel Track.

Visit her website at www.booksbnimble.com.  Follow her on Twitter at http://twitter.com/#!/booksbnimble and Facebook at http://on.fb.me/nMW52h.  She welcomes your email at Julie@booksbnimble.com.

Sheila Dalton, author of The Girl in the Box
http://www.sheila-anne-dalton.com

For writers just starting out in today’s publishing climate, I think it’s really helpful to join an online critiquing service.  They’re good for us more seasoned types, too.  I’ve had over ten books published, but I value my membership in both The Next Big Writer, www.thenextbigwriter.com, a site based in the U.S. and You Write On, www.youwriteon.com, run by the British Arts Council.

The feedback you get from these sites is extremely helpful, plus the connections you make are invaluable. I’ve had so much good marketing advice from friends I met online this way. Not only did they help improve my writing, I got to read some incredible new talent, plus I was given tips on how to use Facebook, Goodreads and book blogs to publicize my work.

The sites also run contests, and reaching the top ten on either will garner you rewards like a professional critique or something to brag about on your cover letter on the big day you start sending your work to agents or editors. Anything that separates you from the crowd can help.

You have to do a lot of reviewing on these sites, and you may find yourself reading material you don’t like. But it’s worth the time and effort. You can learn a lot by critiquing others, as well as from feedback on your own work.

Sometimes the feedback can be conflicting, and that’s confusing, there’s no doubt about it.  Your first low score, if you get one, will be hard to take. But it’s all practice for the “real world” out there, and it’s good to learn how subjective readers can be. You’ll find it much the same among editors and agents, and perhaps won’t take rejection so personally if and when it happens.

When unsure whose suggestions to follow, I’ve learned to wait until I get the opinion of three, four or more reviewers before making changes. Then I’ll usually go with the majority opinion.  As time goes by, you get a “feel” for what reviewers are the best for your work, and whose opinions you can trust.

It’s always worst when your very first review is critical, like my first one on You Write On for my current novel, The Girl in the Box. The reviewer seemed to hate the book, and I was crushed. But as the good reviews came in, I took heart, and it went on to reach the Top Ten. My “prize” was a review from a professional editor which was very positive. I quoted it in my queries to agents and publishers, and I think it helped get their attention. It certainly didn’t hurt!

About Sheila Dalton

Sheila Dalton was born in England and came to Canada with her family at the age of six. She studied English Language and Literature at the University of Toronto. She has worked as a barmaid, an art gallery assistant, and an independent craftsperson and artist.

Sheila was a freelance writer and editor for many years before becoming an Adult Services Librarian for the Toronto Public Library. She lives in Newmarket, Ontario with her husband and two cats. She has written over ten books, including a collection of adult poetry, three children’s picture books, a literary novel, and a YA mystery which was shortlisted for a major Canadian crime writer’s award, the Arthur Ellis.

You can read more about The Girl in the Box and Sheila’s other her work at her website:
http://sheila-anne-dalton.com

Inspiration drives us to take action; it motivates us or produces feelings within us. Inspiration can come to us in many different forms, whether through a picture, in dreams, through the actions of another or by looking at a tree, a beautiful sunset or a piece of artwork. The inspiration for the Traegonia series came by way of an art sculpture created by a friend, Dino C. Crisanti. I hadn’t seen them myself, at first, but my husband did and just had to show me what our neighbor Dino had created. The three of us stood in the backyard on a warm summer evening about twelve years ago, looking at this 16” tall sculpture and talking about who he was and what he and his kind were. Through that discussion the idea for at least one book’s was born. This piece of art spurred the inspiration that continues to drive Traegonia the book series and all of the sculptures and characters that have followed.

Traegons are a community of 16 inch tall creatures that resemble a cross between a troll and a wingless dragon. They look scary, to some, but they are wise, kind and wonderful creatures. They live in the forests and anywhere there is land where they can hide and remain undiscovered. The first book in the Traegonia series, Traegonia the Sunbow Prophecy, takes place in a small town in Illinois, where a young boy, with a spirit of adventure, meets two young Traegons and a friendship is formed. As they come to learn more about each other they discover, that, as fate would have it, an ancient Traegon Prophecy foretold of their meeting and the looming presence that will threatens the home of the Traegons. It is up to these three young friends to believe enough in themselves and each other to bring change to this dooming situation.

The second book, Traegonia the Ember Rune, takes Dino, Karia and Juna to a mountain in Northern California that holds danger, mystery and a path of learning for each of these new friends.  Faced with forces of nature, a rogue cougar and the evolution of their own journeys, the group of unlikely friends must believe in themselves and each other to uncover the meaning of the Ember Rune and get off the mountain safely. New friendships are made, old ones revealed and a new community of Traegons is introduced.

The books bring inspiring messages to the reader, messages of friendship, looking beyond outward appearances; conservation and the power behind BELIEVING, in yourself, each other and possibility. The series takes the reader on a journey not so far from their own home and each book that follows will take the three main characters to new locations and introduce the reader to other creatures that are endangered and protected. In every book these three friends are met with new adventure, new friends and new communities of Traegons which leaves the reader with the question; Do they exist? Are they real? Well, that is something you will just have to decide for yourself.

Do You Believe?

We invite you to stop by our website and see many of the Traegon Sculptures at www.worldoftraegonia.com

Although her background has been in business, K.S. Krueger has always loved to write. She has written poetry and several children’s stories originally for her eldest daughter. Kim enjoys the idea of seeing the world through the eyes of her imagination and finds herself submerged in the worlds she creates. Imagination has never been in short supply ever since she was a child.

Because her series rides a fine line between fantasy and reality, it calls each reader to decide for themselves if they BELIEVE!  Kim has always believed that when you find something you truly love to do, even if you think it is just a dream, find your passion, the gift that is within you, believe in yourself and follow that dream. “Let yourself be open to the possibilities that await. You never know where they might take you.”

Kim is a wife, mother, daughter, sister and friend. She is a writer, businesswoman, Reiki practitioner and spiritual person. She loves animals, nature and kids. Kim has lived in the Suburbs of Chicago all her life. She is creative and always tries to foster creativity in her own children as well as in others. She is the author of Traegonia The Sunbow Prophecy and Traegonia The Ember Rune.

You can visit Kim’s website at www.WorldOfTraegonia.com and her blog at http://worldoftraegonia.wordpress.com/

© 2011

Originally published by Writing-World.com March 2011

I’m an author of five books and over forty short stories along with a number of fiction writing articles. From my experience, I’ve learned a number important lessons and I want to pass them onto others. One important lesson involves getting a book published; it changes your life. No longer can you sit in your office and spend your time writing more fiction. Once you become a published author, you also become the book’s marketing manager and its sales manager, a terrifying situation if you’re not prepared for it.

To protect others from the trauma of this situation, I’ve put together a list of fiction writing techniques that will guarantee non-publication. Following them will ensure a rapid reply from editors who will use a preprinted form or a terse email. This rapid reply will allow you to maximize the rejections you receive in a given period of time.

Here is the list in no particular order:

• Always use adverbs! Lots and lots of adverbs. One of your writing objectives should be to use an adverb to modify at least fifty percent of your verbs. And don’t forget about using them in dialog tags. Why show the reader a woman shredding a paper tissue? Make it easy on the poor readers. Tell them the woman is nervous. Thus, “He’s making me so fidgety,” she said nervously.

• A naked noun is evil! Adjectives exist to be used. Their primary purpose is to modify a noun, so make use of this most excellent writing technique. Load up your nouns with modifiers so the reader will have no doubts about the noun. “The skinny, ugly guy wore a hideous, ripped t-shirt, dirty, baggy pants and shredded sneakers.” Here’s an even better example of clever adjective usage: “The scrawny boy used his undersized biceps to try to pick up the clumsy weight and place it in the old-fashioned truck before the foul-mouthed old man became aware of his clever trickery.” Get the idea? Remember, a naked noun is e-v-i-l!

• Use conversation. Don’t limit yourself to dialog. Conversation is the stuff of life. Don’t allow your characters to be stuck inside the story by restricting them to dialog that moves the story forward. Make your characters more life-like by letting them engage in idle conversation just like real people do.

” How you doing?”

“I’m cool. What’s up?”

“I’m good. Couldn’t be better. Watching the Yankees tonight?

“Who they playing? . . . Yada, yada, yada.

This stuff doesn’t move the story along like dialog does, but it shows the characters are just as boring as real folk.

•Motivation is overdone. To properly show motivation requires a lot of creativity, time and words. It is much better to skip over that part and get right into the action. So what if the guy disarming the ticking bomb is only doing it because his shift doesn’t end for two hours and he doesn’t have anything better to do. The character doesn’t have any motivation, but who cares; it keeps the story moving and doesn’t slow it down with a lot of words explaining the motivation.

• Don’t worry about Point of View rules. POV is perhaps the most technical of all aspects of writing and handling it correctly is time consuming and requires advanced planning. Who needs all that extra work when there is another scene to write or another crisis to defuse. Most of the readers will figure it out and sort of follow the story.

• It’s wise to develop writing habits such as peppering the page with –ing words. This technique will give your writing a pleasing sing-song effect. “Opening the door and running down the corridor while waving her hand, she tried shouting, calling attention to her life-threatening situation.” Doesn’t that sentence make you want to hum along from all the –ing words?

• Use empty words. Very, really, ever, still, just and others are words with no meaning but they do fill up sentences and make them look more impressive. Fiction writing is filled with opportunities to use these words and titillate the readers. With a bit of imagination, you can also use these words to punctuate the sentence.

•Why bother with multiple-dimensional characters? Flat characters work just as well. Flat characters can fight, love and die just as well as the more complicated ones, but take considerably less work. The simple approach gives you more time to write still more stories.

• Character Voice. This attribute allows the reader to identify the characters from their dialog “voices.” What nonsense. That’s what names are for. Just use the names in all the lines of dialog and the readers will be able to keep the characters straight.

Keep this list near your keyboard and refer to it frequently. Within a short time, your friends and family will be impressed by the huge stack of rejection notices you’ve accumulated. A side benefit is that your family will know you’re really doing something in your office. Right now, they probably think you’re goofing off and playing computer games.

If you chose to ignore this excellent advice, there are alternatives listed in my book, Build a Better Story. Note that following the advice in Build a Better Story can significantly increase the response time from editors.

Award-winning author Hank Quense lives in Bergenfield, NJ with his wife Pat.  They have two daughters and five grandchildren.  He writes humorous fantasy and sci-fi stories.  On occasion, he also writes an article on fiction writing or book marketing but says that writing nonfiction is like work while writing fiction is fun.  He refuses to write serious genre fiction saying there is enough of that on the front page of any daily newspaper and on the evening TV news.

Zaftan Entrepreneurs is his latest work.  In it, an alien mining ship discovers a planet that holds promise to be a mining bonanza.  Unfortunately, it is inhabited by humans, dwarfs, elves and other races and they object to the mining expeditions.

Hank’s previous works include Tales From Gundarland, a collection of fantasy stories.  Readers Favorite awarded the book a medal and EPIC designated it a finalist in its 2011 competition.  His Fool’s Gold is a retelling of the ancient Rhinegold myth and Tunnel Vision is a collection of twenty previously published short stories.  Build a Better Story is a book of advice for fiction writers.

Altogether, Hank has over forty published short stories and a number of nonfiction articles.

He is presently working on novel that combines the plots and characters from Shakespeare’s Hamlet and Othello with the character Falstaff thrown in for good measure. Zaftan Miscreants: Book 2 of the Zaftan Trilogy will be released on 10/15/11

Visit Hank online at http://Strangeworldsonline.com  and http://hankquense.com. You can find his blog at http://hankquense.com/blog