the publishing process

Even though this is making the rounds I can't resist... Former awesome agent, and current awesome author Nathan Bransford has a hilarious blog post: The Publishing Process in GIF Form. Check it out!

Phew! The End!

I just sent off the last chapters of my most recent novel. Phew! This was a tough one. I think I've been working on it for about three years (along with several other projects). What took so freaking long? Well, I'll tell you...I didn't know where I was going when I started out. I ended up having to do a lot of rewriting regarding plot. It's a kind of thriller and it has a lot of twists and turns. I also decided I needed an antagonist, so I added an entire other pov character.
Suffice, to say, I don't recommend this process. BUT I do recommend doing whatever works for you. My methods are inefficient, but they work for me.

So now, I can rest on my laurels, right? Nope. I have to work on the synopsis and query for this project and update my webpage.

And then there are those other projects I've been working on...

Good luck with your WIPs!

lay and lie

For some reason, I still struggle with the whole lay versus lie thing.
The most common verb forms of lay are:
lay (present), laid (past), laid (past participle) and laying (present participle).
While the most common verb forms of lie are:
lie (present), lay (past), lain (past participle) and lying (present participle).

Furthermore, lay means to place something or to put something on something, while lie means to recline. In other words, "lay" means the subject is acting on something or someone else, and so must take a direct object. But, "lie" means the actor is doing something to herself, and so is a complete verb.
So, as someone who usually writes in past tense, and often has her characters recline, I need to remember lay! How about you? Do you lie? lay? get laid? :)

Why do I have so much trouble remembering this? It's a mystery.
Good luck with your own grammatical conundrums. :)

writers emotions

I went to a two-day writers conference recently. It was busy. We had various workshops in which we had to do a bunch of writers exercises, and there was a panel, and a performance.

I've never seen so many tears at a conference! A lot of the tears were from the authors themselves when they shared their pieces--several of which were inspired by real life experiences. I myself wasn't immune. Of course, when writing is emotional and when writers are emotional, it does tend to be a bit contagious. Also, there were some tears during the panel when the question was raised if writing is "worth it" when success is so elusive. All writers wrestle with this question. I'll leave it as an exercise for the reader to define "success" in way that enables him/her to keep writing.

But bigger picture... It's imperative for writers to bring emotion to their work. It's difficult to evoke emotion in the reader if there's no emotion on the page. I know for my part, the pieces I got emotional while writing were the ones that sold.

So, good luck being emotional!

critique is rough

I've posted on this before but somehow it keeps coming up. In this day and age it is very difficult to get published without some kind of critique group or beta readers who give you feedback on your writing. This is because writers often have trouble separating what's in their mind from what's on the page. I know I do. There are some solid tips on how to critique here:Critique 101.

Generally, I think I do a good job following these rules. However, you can't always be positive, IMHO. When there's something not working in a piece I think it's important to point it out. It can be challenging to express these issues in a sensitive and polite way. I do not always succeed in being sensitive and polite but I do always mean well. Mea culpa. I am working on this.
I sincerely want the author to write their best story and sell it!

On the other side of the coin, getting critique is rough. Often a writer's first novel is quite autobiographical but critique of writing is always just that, critique of writing--not critique of the author. I hate to say it but getting published is tough and most authors get many rejections before their successes. A thick skin is as important to an author as a word processor!

Do you have any tips for giving or getting critique?

pay to write?

Not all writers groups are created equal...

I live in a metro-area with about 2.5 million residents. We have two long-standing writing organizations, let's call them Group1 and Group2. Group1 originated over thirty years ago, I believe as a chapter of Romance Writers of America and has well over two hundred members. Group2 originated in 1997 as "an independent creative writing center operated by working writers and university-level teachers of writing" and also has at least a couple hundred members. Obviously, the two groups have a lot of members in common but they have a lot of differences as well. Group1 is run on an all-volunteer basis and focuses on novel-length genre fiction. Group2 pays its teachers and focuses on pretty much everything except novel-length genre fiction; this means poetry, short stories, literary fiction, etc. A lot of the teachers and students associated with Group2 have M.F.A.s.

I have been a member of Group1 for at least thirteen years continuously and have volunteered at various events. My (free!) critique groups have been invaluable over the years. The writers I've met in Group1--some of whom have many excellent genre novels published by New York publishers or smaller houses--have been extremely supportive. Through Group1 I've gotten to pitch various novels to literary agents and editors (for free! because I volunteered at the events). I can't recommend this group enough.

I have been a member of Group2 sporadically over the last ten years. I admit I'm about to let my current membership lapse. I decided my major dissatisfaction with the group is: you have to "pay" to be a writer in this group. Every critique session or workshop costs $$$ and this is after you've already paid your yearly dues! Some of you are no doubt thinking: 'But their teachers have MFAs!' Unfortunately, few of these teachers have written anything I've ever heard of. I myself have an MFA and I can tell you the critique I get via Group2's paid teachers is no better than the free critique I get from my Group1 peers. In fact, it pretty much breaks my heart to see my fellow students paying hundreds of dollars for two chapters of critique per semester in Group2. :( They're not making any progress.

So here's my advice for what it's worth: You should be in a writers group that supports you and doesn't make you pay to write. Writing is, and should be, free.

Begin with telling

Some of my writer friends and I have been discussing novel beginnings. Over the years, fiction has gone through certain trends and conventions. I thought the current convention was to emphasize showing more than telling. Out of curiosity, I went ahead and looked at the beginnings of some of my favorite novels. Incidentally, these are all very successful series.

• In my business, we not only understand chaos theory, we totally abide by it. Chaos happens. Always plan for speed.

  Either the Djinn was putting me on, which would be seriously unfunny, or the spell was coming from Elsewhere. I hoped not an Elsewhere that began with the letter Hell.--Ill Wind Rachel Caine.

• I heard the mailman approach my office door, half an hour earlier than usual. He didn't sound right. His footsteps fell more heavily, jauntily, and he whistled. A new guy. He whistled his way to my office door, then fell silent for a moment. Then he laughed.--Storm Front Jim Butcher
• There are some men who enter a woman's life and screw it up forever. Joseph Morelli did this to me--not forever, but periodically.--One for the Money Janet Evanovich
• I'd been waiting for the vampire for years when he walked into the bar.--Dead Until Dark Charlaine Harris

Oh dear. In this brief unscientific survey of hugely successful novels, 100% start with telling. I can take a hint. :)