Goodbye 2013 and Hello 2014!

Even though I believe in reviewing the previous 12 months on the eve of the New Year, I am not big on making resolutions. If there is anything I have learned is that putting off until tomorrow what I can do today leads to nothing but premeditated resentment. Why? Because all I do is put off, put off, and then put off until the end of the year comes and that project remains undone. What do I then do? I beat myself up.  

Lately I have experienced that premeditated resentment when it comes to my writing. I have spent too much time saying I would write that story tomorrow when the plot is clear in my head, or finish the umpteenth draft of my query letter for my novel when I know I can get it prefect. That's plain silliness because these type of resolutions are not based on planning, which is healthy, but on fear that the product of my creative outlet is not, or will not be, good enough. The only way to combat that type of fear is to write the story and get it submitted now and to revise that query and get it out to agents now.   

NOW is the operative word.  

When I was a kid and would come up with excuses not to do homework or chores, my sweet little mother used to say, "there's no time like the present" and her infamous "don't put off until tomorrow what you can do today." Of course, back then I thought those words wee adult nerd-speak, but today they are golden nuggets in my memory. Believe me, there will be no more New Years resolutions for me.  

So, in 2014 I plan to.....

Just kidding.  

Happy New Year everyone! 

Dry Spell

I don't have writer's block, I just have been living a dry spell. I can write if I want to because I have plenty of words inside, but I just haven't been sitting my butt in the chair enough. The bottom line is I have been finding other things to do instead of writing.

Occasionally I have been line editing my novel and I'm almost done, but I'm stalling. Thinking the novel was ready I sent it out on query several times, but then decided that I'd missed too many errors with sentence structure, missing words, and other silly typos. It's definitely time to finish the editing and get it out to agents again.

I still have some short stories out there on submission, but two have been rejected. Ideally, I need to keep submitting my stories to different markets until they are accepted or there is nowhere else to send them.

I love writing but I have not been making the time for it.  The only way to do anything is just to do it and not make excuses. Time to start writing again.

It's Been Awhile

I have not blogged in over two months. Good intentions to write entries once a week have been waylaid by everyday life. In other words, I have been busy over the last few months. 

Busy with life, but also busy with writing.

I have been working on my short stories and submitting them to magazines.  Some encouraging rejections have landed in my inbox, but no acceptances. I'm encouraged enough by the positive feedback in my rejections to keep submitting. 

One short story market asks for a query prior to sending them your short story. I'm stumped with this guideline, except to say a query for a short story must be more compact than a query for a novel. I will give it as try, as I think my story would fit perfectly in this magazine. 

I have finished editing my novel and it is with a beta reader right now.  I'm interested in hearing about what works and what does not.  At this juncture, I am blind to my writing in my novel.  I will soon start the re-query process and continue working on novel number two. 

This is all for now. Happy writing all! 

Research and Imagination

Besides putting the final edits to my novel, I have been writing a short story about a sixteen year old homeless girl and her younger brother surviving in current culture. Amidst all the troubles of these kids living in homeless camps, there are moments of peace and joy. I think I have a good story in the making.

Since I have never been homeless, I have engaged in some local introspection, if you will, of how I might add flavor to my story.

For example, in a neighborhood where I park for work, a box of books has been left on the sidewalk. Everyday I have seen fewer books in the box, as if people have been helping themselves to their favorite read. What if my characters were to come across this free mini-library and find books that can take them to worlds away from the hardships and possible horrors awaiting them on the street?

Another example is a walk I took during my lunch break at work the other day. In the city where I live, there are long paved trails, double decker at some locations, running alongside a flowing creek protected by lush canopies of trees and brush. As I enjoyed the scenery, I began to wonder about the many places that a homeless girl and her brother could camp unseen.

My point is that research is all around you. You don't have to stick to the old adage write what you know, you just need to turn your imagination on and research enough to fill in the details. Most of all, remember to write honestly and from your heart.

Happy writing all.

Don't Let Editing Software Kill Your Writing

The scuttlebutt among some writing circles is that you must hire an editor before sending your work out to agents or publishers. A good freelance editor has a history of editing your type of book, has excellent editing skills, and costs buckets of money.  Many people do not have the money for a good freelance editor, so  they hire someone cheaper who may not have the necessary skills to do a good job.

Other groups of writers say that we must edit our own work. Self Editing for Fiction Writers by Renni Browne and Dave King is the often recommended reference guide.  I bought this book years ago, have read it from beginning to end, and it is still part of my writing library.  Browne and King teach writers to polish their work to a high level of professionalism.

Finally, a new group has emerged; those who swear by editing programs.  The process here is to copy your text into a box and run software that checks for numerous grammatical issues. The problem is that some of the software cannot discern a dialogue tag from an action included with dialogue, or it marks was as passive (when it is not), and suggests cutting out every adverb in your document.    

At this juncture in my writing writing adventure, I do whatever it takes to produce the best product I can. Other than just having someone else write your manuscript, I suggest one or a combination of the following:

• Hire an editor, but work with him or her so that you learn to recognize errors in your own work.  
• Use a self edit using a written guide.  Make sure you read and highlight the important points and practice the editing exercises so that you are clear on common grammar errors. 
• Use editing software, but make sure you use one that offers explanations for grammatical errors.  Do not use software that highlights words and phrases but does not give clear explanations.  

If you hire an editor or use editing software, make sure you are well-versed in grammar, spelling, and sentence structure. A self-editing guide is your reference for when your get stumped on grammatical errors. The bottom line is that you must never rely on someone or something else to edit your work for you and just take the result at face value. Editors are human too and computer programs are automated.  You make the final decision as to the editorial changes in your work.

Happy writing all!

Query Time Again

It's query time again for my novel.  I have rewritten, edited and re-edited my work, searched for agents who represent my genre at Query Tracker and Agent Query, completed due diligence via Preditors and Editors and Writers Beware, and honed my query letter and synopsis. Now, I am hopeful that an agent may become excited about the story I have written.

After sending queries out two weeks, ago, I have received one standard rejection out of ten. In my book, that's nine more chances to land one of many fabulous agents.  The glass is always half full, never half empty.

If you are a writer and submit to magazines, agents, and/or publishers, you will get rejected. I doubt any writer has had a one hundred percent acceptance rate.  If you have never gotten rejected, please share how you did it.

At the writing forums I frequent, many writers want to know while they have their work on submission. The best advice I have seen, which I also follow, is to work on something else.

My something else is my second novel.  I started this one about six or seven years ago, but never got past the first chapter until last year.  I now have written twelve chapters and between 20 and 30 thousand words. I keep a running synopsis so I don't forget an important plot point or a thread that needs follow through.

I am also writing some short stories and editing the newsletter for the Redwood Writers Club. This year, I would like to submit some of my short stories as well as look into other areas of writing.

I could be stressing over the what ifs while waiting for agent responses, or beating myself when I receive a rejection, but I am choosing to stay neutral and to work on those other projects. Besides writing, my job is to put my best work out there without expectation of the outcome.

2013: New Beginnings

What does a new year mean to you? For me, it means taking stock of last year's accomplishments and unfinished goals and deciding whether I want to discard any projects or move forward with them, and perhaps even take on some new project.  

We are eight days into 2013 and I have completed my updated query letter and emailed it to two top-notch agents.  When querying, sages advise to start with the best and work your way down the list.  Once you have exhausted agents, start querying publishers.  I am not even close to the end of my query process.  My goal is to continue to submit until I have exhausted all reputable literary agents who accept my genre (psychological thriller).

I have been working on my synopsis, but feel that I need to hone it.  It's choppy and does not adequately represent my writing style.  It’s not that I don’t know what my story is about, because I do, but that I am trying to emulate winning synopses.  Not a bad idea, but I need to apply my unique writing style to create a synopsis that will sell my book.  

As for my writing, I working on my second novel.  I am almost 20,000 words into the story and want it to be submission ready by the completion of my first draft.  This means editing as I go along and making sure that each page is honed to perfection before going to the next page. I have heard of writers who do this well, but I am sure it takes practice.  

I have also been working on some short stories. My goal is to submit to magazines this year.  Just as a reminder to myself to write, finish what I start, refrain from rewriting except to editorial order, get it out on the market and keep it there until it is sold, and start working on something else.  

Happy new year to all, and happy writing!