Perilous Publishing

Long Absence

2011-03-31T23:38:00.003-04:00

Hello everyone! First of all, I would like to apologize for not posting for several months. I have indeed been busy, and one of the things I have been busy with is this...

Yes – I recently signed a contract with L-book to publish The Second Sister in both E-book, paperback, and audiobook format. I’m so incredibly excited!!!

As of now, it’s a 5-year contract, and hopefully they will be interested in the three other books in the Amendyr series as well. A redirect/link will be posted on this website as soon as the book comes out.

I want to thank all of you for your support throughout my writing career. Getting e-mails in my inbox is the highlight of my day, and they always make me smile. I try to respond to most of them and all of the comments you guys leave. I also want to thank Lee, my awesome Beta reader, and my Mistress, who has encouraged (read: tolerated) my writing from the very beginning even though it drives her slightly insane.

Item of business one: OMG!!!!! *spaz* I am so excited!

Item of business two: new website - http://raedmagdon.com

Item of business three: Should I continue to run this site (with much more frequent updates) as a separate entity or combine it with my new website? Tell me in comments.

2011-01-18T20:49:00.002-05:00

Hello, everyone! Christmas break is over, and I am feeling much better now that my wisdom teeth are taken care of. (Yes, that's a hint to my embarrassingly young age, but at least I am several years older than the 18 years technically required to be able to read the smut I write)... Oh well, moving on. Four items of business today.

First of all, I should be hearing from L-book.com soon about The Second Sister. If they think it isn't right for their publishing house, I'll be disappointed, but I'll certainly keep looking for a home because that book is good, and it deserves to be shared.

Second item of business is this: Thank you to Brooke R. Busse. Check out the award lists she included me on!

Number three - I usually don't plead for reviews, but the third book in my Amendyr series got lost in a big glut of story releases on a wonderful site called The Athenaeum. If you all could go leave a review here on The Witch's Daughter (if you've read/will read it), that would make me feel all kinds of warm fuzzies! I don't usually ask for reviews, but on this particular site, more reviews means more people will see the recommendations on the updates page and maybe check it out.

Number four is slightly longer and different. Yes, I'm giving you a grammar lesson...

I've noticed a disturbing trend in Alex/Olivia fanfiction lately. No, it's not the torturotica. I just avoid that. No, it's not the lack of spanking stories. I cry about that at night, but I get over it because I know it's not everyone's kink. It is, in fact, the incorrect use of capitalization in dialogue after a comma!

Now, two of the BEST A/O fanfic writers I have ever encountered make this mistake, so if you do as well, don't fret. You're in good company. But technically, when you add dialogue to the end of a sentence, you should NOT capitalize the first letter of the clause. For example, let's examine this sentence.

To the surprise of both women, Christine actually grinned. “Hey, I know the effect of those glasses, Agent Hart,” she said, giving Tess’s reflection an appraising look, “They only add to her sex appeal.”

Do you spot the problem? Yes, the T in They should not be capitalized. When you are connecting two pieces or dialogue or adding a dialogue tag at the end of a sentence, you do NOT want to capitalize the first letter. Here are two other corrections for that sentence.

To the surprise of both women, Christine actually grinned. “Hey, I know the effect of those glasses, Agent Hart,” she said, giving Tess’s reflection an appraising look. “They only add to her sex appeal.”

Here, I used a period to separate the last piece of dialogue. Because I ended the sentence, I can now start the dialogue tag with a capital letter.

To the surprise of both women, Christine actually grinned. “Hey, I know the effect of those glasses, Agent Hart,” she said, giving Tess’s reflection an appraising look, “they only add to her sex appeal.”

I kept the comma this time, but used a lower case 't' in they. This sentence is also correct.

(Just for those who are curious, option 1 is the original sentence from my latest novel. I purposely wrote it incorrectly to demonstrate the problem, and the second correction, even though it is not actually used, is a perfectly acceptable option).

Back on the Horse

2010-12-16T03:45:00.002-05:00

Well, it's been a while, eh?

Here are some things you should know:

1. I won NaNoWriMo!
2. No, I'm not ready to post it yet. The novel isn't done even though I hit 50K.
3. I am getting surgery soon so I will probably be grumpy.
4. I finished The Witch's Daughter! Congratulations to me.
5. I'm submitting The Second Sister to L-book.com

Wait, backtrack. WHAT?

Yes, it is time for me to get back on the horse. I decided to give it another go and submit my baby, the first full-length novel I ever completed, to a publishing house that I very much respect. I have purchased stories from L-book in the past and was very pleased with the content. Although I was originally leaning towards print media, since most of my fans are online anyway, I think this might be an even better option! I am sure they would give my story a good home and hope that they like what they see.

I would like to thank all of you for your continuing support and all the lovely feedback and e-mails I get. I save them all and read them when I feel depressed, and it just really brightens my life. You guys all rock so hard!

It's back into the big, bad, scary world of publishing for me.

By the way, in the event that L-book doesn't think The Second Sister is right for them (I really hope they do!), I might need some other good ideas for publishing houses. I am NOT giving up until I get this baby in print one way or the other. It's a damn good story and it's worth putting out there for people to read! It took me a while to overcome my shyness, but Rae is back, baby, and she really wants to make a go of this whole novelist thing.

By the way, here's the Bio I sent them, just in case you were curious:

********* **********, writing under the pen name Rae D. Magdon, is a music student at the *** ***** ****** ** ***** in ********, **, working towards her undergraduate degree in Flute Performance. During the past two years, she has chosen to share her writing on such websites as The Academy of Bards and The Athenaeum, where she has received recognition and several awards for her first novel, The Second Sister. Its two sequels, Wolf’s Eyes and The Witch’s Daughter, were also well received upon completion, and the last book in the series, Mirror, Mirror, is outlined and half-completed. She has also written several non-fantasy novels, including Chopin at 3:00 in the Morning, a modern-day romance; Death Wears Yellow Garters, a light, “tea-cozy” lesbian murder mystery; and My Name Is Brianna, a young-adult novel about the struggles of a MTF transsexual and her lesbian sister. In her spare time, she enjoys dabbling in Alex Cabot/Olivia Benson Law and Order fanfiction, spending quality time with her girlfriend of six years, and hiding from her best friend’s purebred Flatcoats so that they do not eat her.

Character Letters

2010-11-08T09:49:00.003-05:00

Today, as an inspirational exercise (and also to vent my frustrations), I am going to write Dear Character letters. These can be fun to write from either point of view, Author or Characters. Hehe

Dear Tess,

You really need to trust Robin more. I know you just met, but she's an FBI agent and she'll help you find your blackmailer, I promise! Oh, and she's handy with a crop, if you're interested by the end of the book... *coughcough*

Love,

Rae

Dear Robin,

I promise Tess isn't really a jerk. Cross my heart. She doesn't mean to keep leading you on and then dumping you, she's just scared. Ignore everything she tells you! IGNOOORE.

Love,

Rae

Dear Samantha,

You are a fun character, but you are supposed to be a supportive friend, not a romantic lead. Please try to be in less scenes. And I know you are a former prostitute, but please stop sleeping with my FMC so she can hook up with the love of her life. Do it or I will come up with something horrible to happen to you!

Love,

Rae

Tomorrow, I am going to post some of the novel "framework" planning I have done for my NaNo so you can see how I did it using the Snowflake Method, a method I have never tried until this month. It is working great so far and I feel really prepared.

Word Wars, Websites, Software, and an Exercise

2010-11-02T11:25:00.006-04:00

First of all, I would like to apologize for the long break. I have been getting ready for NaNoWriMo! So far, I made my first day's quota and I'm about to get started on day 2. If you are not doing NaNoWriMo, shame on you. Everyone should try. Worst thing that can happen is you don't make 50K, but you still have some writing done that you can save for later. There is no downside as long as you don't put too much pressure on yourself.

Word Wars:

NaNo is all about the word count. It is a great motivator - it gets you past that annoying rough patch where you want every word to sparkle and shine, so you never get past the first page of your project. It encourages you to spit out whatever is in your brain regardless of whether you actually use it later. Word Wars are a wonderful way to spark your creativity.

Find a friend (or several) who are doing NaNo. This is easy to do, because the NaNoWriMo boards are full of them. Pick a generic time (:30 after the hour, :45, ect) and get going. Post your results and share snippets. This can be done on a forum, over AIM, or even on Facebook. If you'd like to do some Word Warring with me, feel free to IM me at RaeDMagdon and challenge me. Of course, it doesn't matter who wins, no one really remembers or cares anyway. It's all about boosting your wordcount and sharing the results!

Websites
Also, I would like to give all of you NaNo-ers some references that I think will help you on your quest to write the Next Great Novel.

1. Language is a Virus www.languageisavirus.com

A great prompt site with lots of fun word games to get you typing away.

2. www.hollylisle.com

Check out this awesome author's website and read her treatises on style, plotting, and worldbuilding.

3. www.nanowrimo.org

This one is obvious. I cannot recommend the forums here highly enough.

4. www.oneword.com

Self-explanatory once you go there.

Software:
Now for the software. Against my better judgment, I purchased some writing/novel plotting software today that, despite my reservations, I ABSOLUTELY LOVE. I am sure that many of you have heard of the Snowflake Method, a system developed by Randy Ingermanson. It is based on the idea that you expand your novel's plot out like a snowflake until you have it down to the minute details. I was not a fan of the Snowflake Method, preferring to ride by the seat of my pants, but I have changed my tune since buying this software. I am enjoying it immensely so far and have come up with a bunch of different plot points that I had not thought of before! Check it out at www.advancedfictionwriting.com

The software is fairly expensive at $100 (I got it for $50 because I already owned the book Fiction Writing for Dummies). For ME it has been worth it, but only you can decide which writing software is the best for you to use, if any. I am still a huge fan of good ol' pen and paper/Microsoft Word.

Exercise:

I have discussed this before, but I'd like to re-share one of my favorite inspirational writing games. Take a poem (I like Christina Rossetti). Choose a vivid word from each line of the poem. If you really want to, you can skip a line, but not doing so makes the game more fun. Then, write a few paragraphs and include all the words you chose. It's that easy! It will stretch your imagination, and you get to use some very fun words. Great for getting started on a scene for your NaNo.

Down and Dirty Tricks for Word Count Padding

2010-10-22T05:49:00.002-04:00

Since NaNoWriMo is coming up (hence why I have been so busy preparing instead of posting on this blog), I decided to post a few tricks I have used to pad my word count.

1. If you are stuck on a scene and feel like working on something else instead (like homework, eugh, who does HOMEWORK anyway?), skip ahead to a completely unrelated scene and write that first.

2. Find a random word generator or use lines in a famous poem as word prompts. You have to include one of the words you pick every few sentences. I like Christina Rossetti. =D Virginia Woolf or Emily Dickenson are also good choices. Or Poe, if you're feeling dreary.

3. Write sex scenes. Lots of sex scenes. This is absolutely the biggest word count padder I know of. It adds a good 1000 -5000 words depending on the level of detail, and it's the same basic actions and metaphors in a fresh, sexy new setting over and over again! You don't have to come up with something completely original... Insert Tab A into Slot B, you know? Of course, you want to make it sound original and fresh, but you can do that after November 30th when you edit.

4. Write dialogue. Lots of dialogue. Before characters do anything, have them whine about it. This will give you pages and pages of word count. Just a warning, it might make your readers want to bang their head against the wall, but you can tweak/cut/polish it later.

5. Steal ideas. Steal as many ideas as you can get your greedy hands on. Just don't let anyone know where you got them. If they still stick out a little after November 30th, you can always go back, remember? That's what December is for, after all.

6. Go to the NaNo boards and start WORD WARS with people. If any of you want to start a Word War with me, my AIM SN is RaeDMagdon and you can message me whenever I'm on or add me to your buddy list. I'd be more than happy to go nano -a -nano with you and pound out some 5, 10, or 15 minute sprints one on one or in a group chat. I absolutely love word wars.

7. Write out some planned scenes beforehand. It seems like common sense, but just writing out a one sentence descriptor for a few "chocolate bar" scenes - exciting scenes you reward yourself with after you have written a lot of 'filler' material - can be very inspiring and give you a place to start if you are stuck.

Note: Some of this advice might not produce GOOD writing, but it will definitely produce writing of some kind. The more you write, the more likely that when you start culling the horrible parts, you'll still have something good left over. Write even if it's bad. Write even if it's absolutely terrible. If you just keep typing words on the screen (or penning thoughtful verses in your handy dandy spiral notebook), at least some of it is bound to be good, right? Let's hope so...

NaNoWriMo Approaches!

2010-10-15T05:22:00.005-04:00

NaNoWriMo is coming faster than you think!

*Snerk* Ha, that's what she said. But anyway, here are some ways to come up with great ideas (besides trolling the NaNo forums, which ALL OF YOU SHOULD BE DOING).

1. Write about what scares you.

I'm serious. Write about what scares you, haunts you, or fascinates you. At the risk of sounding like a vampire Harlequin, find the dark desires inside of you and bring them out, even if you think you can't do it. Too embarrassed to write about sex or romance? Write erotica for NaNo. Think you could never tackle fantasy? Write a fantasy novel. Drool over stories with a love triangle, betrayal, or character death? Get angsty. Do what you think you can't and you will probably find that you can.

2. Get out a pen and paper.

Again, I'm serious. I know most of us writers are glued to our computers, but there's just something about the feel of a pen in your hand as it marks up a crisp white sheet of notebook paper that cannot be replicated by the tapping of keys. You can always type up your thoughts later.

3. Grab a friend.

Discuss plot with a friend. Role play with a friend. Goof off with a friend after drinking way too many Red Bulls (or maybe something stronger if you are old enough). Save the conversations if they take place online. If they take place in real life, carry a notebook with you and do your best to remember what was said. For online writers to talk to, go to the NaNo forums! There are tons of people there.

4. Write some stream of consciousness warm-ups

You can write anything you want ahead of NaNo except the actual novel, so do a few pages of stream-of-consciousness type writing for your favorite characters. It's a great way to find out what motivates them, how they speak, how they act, and who they are. Besides, you might come up with an excellent plot that way.

5. Break out the spreadsheet

Use Excel, Word, or a plain old piece of paper to graph, chart, or just plain list the scenes in your novel in any way you like. I still prefer pen and paper or just a plain old Word document, but some people have tons of cool word processing software that can organize it all pretty-like.

6. Play around on BabyNameGenerator. Or any other generator.

There are so many writing generators and prompts on the internet that it's not even funny. For some help getting started, visit www.languageisavirus.com It has all kinds of cool writing games to play.

Sorry if this post is slightly crazy, it's really early in the morning and I'm hyper for no reason.

And just for me, here's my To-Do List:

Original Fiction:

The Witch's Daughter (2000 more words to go!!!)

All The Pretty Things (NaNoWriMo)

Mirror, Mirror (seq. to TSS, WE, and TWD)

Lilith's Redemption

Sonata Form (seq. to Chopin)

Fanfiction:

What Happens In Provincetown (L&O/R&I)

It Happened One Night (L&O)

Sequel to Magnetic Resistance (L&O)

By Courier (L&O/DWP)

Twi-hate: The Descent Into Madness (L&O/Legally Blonde/Twilight)

Desperation (R&I, seq. to Denial)

Random Pairings I want to write at some point...

Something Kim/Shego (Kim Possible anyone?)
Something Mirandy (Devil Wears Prada)
Something Harley/Ivy (Batman)

.... yes, I am a pervert and a dork. I don't care. I'm also sure I've forgotten some projects on the lists...

Rae's 10 Rules of Writing

2010-10-09T11:07:00.002-04:00

Just because I felt like it.

1. Write Every Day - (even a little bit). The more you write, the better you'll get. You'll have a novel before you know it.

2. Write What Interests You - If you're bored, your reader will probably be bored, too.

3. Learn And Steal From The Greats, But Always Be Original - A bit of a contradiction, but most of writing is balancing tried and true techniques with your own unique voice.

4. Great Writers Are Avid Readers - A bit of a spin-off of number three. If you don't read, how will you ever learn how to write?

5. Worry About The Grammar Later - Don't get so obsessed with making each sentence perfect that you never write more than one paragraph. You'll have time to make every word sparkle later, during the editing process.

6. Stretch Yourself - Write something all in dialogue. Write only using questions. Switch between first person and third person... hell, use second person. Write from the point of view of a chair. Who has sat in it? Maybe Benjamin Franklin! =D

7. Make Friends - If you help other writers and form a writing community with your friends, your work will improve as a result.

8. Learn to Critique - Extension of number seven. Learn to read with a critical eye. It will improve your own writing dramatically.

9. Know Your Characters - Great writers have great characters. They will lead the way when you are feeling stuck or uninspired.

10. Have fun - If you aren't having fun, you aren't doing it right. But even when you're not having fun, keep writing until you start again and try to find new ways to stay engaged.

NaNoWriMo or How To Plan Your Novel

2010-10-06T10:35:00.005-04:00

Everyone that reads this blog should GET EXCITED. It's the month of October now, and you all know what that means: it's only 1 more month until NaNoWriMo!

For those of you that don't know, NaNoWriMo stands for National Novel Writing Month, a 30 day race to write 50,000 words during the month of November. It starts at 12:00 AM on November 1st and ends at 11:59 PM on November 30th. Check out the website at www.nanowrimo.org and get pumped! They have all sorts of cool forums, word counting devices, ways to procrastinate and build your world, and tons of different groups to join. During the month there are Word Wars to boost your word count, forum doctors that will help revitalize your sick and/or dying plot, adoptable characters and plots, and experts in just about any field imaginable. The forums are so much fun that they can distract you from actually getting any writing done!

Last year, I won NaNo (everyone wins as long as you complete 50,000 words in the space of 30 days) with my murder mystery: Death Wears Yellow Garters. All of you can go read it if you are so inclined. It has lesbian sex, crazy relatives, evil dogs, and, of course, a murder that has to be solved.

You can do as much planning as you want before November, but no actual writing. I am actually cheating, and I am going to finish my Senator's Daughter storyline that I started and stopped at 5,000 words (I'm still writing 50,000 words at least, so I'm not skimping on the word count, but I did start early. Shhhh, don't tell!)

Assuming you aren't like me and don't want to "bend the rules", per se, go ahead and start planning instead of beginning your actual novel. That can be a lot of work in and of itself. Write out some character names. Summarize your novel in ten words, three sentences, one paragraph, one page. Use an excel sheet to write a short summary for each chapter. Draw a fun graph with colors. Break out the crayons and put together a map if you are using a fantasy or sci-fi world. Draw your characters. Just draw rainbows if it inspires you. Write poems. Write short excerpts from the point of view of your characters. Just get planning. Hook up with other writers and discuss your ideas. Lurk on the NaNo boards. Visit the Adoptables threads to get some ideas.

Get pumped, because it's going to be a huge sprint to the finish.

What are you doing for NaNo? Tell me in comments, which I always read even if I occasionally get distracted and forget to respond.

A treatise on style... or how to refer to your characters without actually saying their names

2010-10-03T17:25:00.006-04:00

This post is... exactly what it says in the title. It will (hopefully) show you how to refer to your characters without using their names. It can be very exhausting to read someone's fiction and see the same one, two, or three names printed several times in every paragraph. Now, you need to use names sometimes, especially when you are writing about a large group of people conversing. It is necessary to clarify who is speaking. But in scenes with two or three participants, you have the flexibility to use other adjectives and titles for your characters.

If you have Microsoft Word, try an experiment. Highlight all of your novel/whatever you're working on and go to the 'Tools' tab. Then go to 'Autosummarize'. It should open up a new window and allow you to shorten your highlighted work. The automatic choices range from 75% to 25%, or you can choose the exact number of words you want to shorten to. Pick the lowest one (it should be ten sentences).

For your pleasure and amusement, I will now read the entirety of my masterpiece, Chopin at 3:00 in the Morning (the condensed version).

Chopin at 3:00 in the Morning (in 11 words and/or 10 sentences)

“Gwen! “Mandy.”

“Gwen – Gwen…? “Gwen!” “Mandy!” Mandy...” “Gwen... “Gwen.” “Gwen?” “Gwen!

*Bows to the thunderous applause*

See? It's just the two main characters' names over and over again. You get the idea. This proves just how much the names of your characters saturate your work.

Now, names are still going to be your primary means of identifying which character is speaking or performing a specific action. However, some variation is occasionally refreshing.

Here's an example from Magnetic Resistance, simply because it is in third person, the most difficult viewpoint to write in terms of understanding who is talking (first person presents other, unique challenges).

It would be so easy to fall in love with Alex. Who am I kidding? I'm already in love with her. I have been for years. Olivia sighed, pressing a kiss to the dozing attorney's warm forehead. Her eyes were closed, her breath deep and even as she slept curled up against Olivia's side like it was the most natural place in the world for them to be. Everything felt so right...

Olivia shifted slightly in Alex's embrace, almost smiling as the blonde murmured something in her sleep and held her tighter, unwilling to let her go. The small movement made Olivia's heart ache. Was Alex afraid she would cut and run? She could not deny that she was thinking about it. Part of her wanted to sneak out the door and never come back. After experiencing Alex, no one else would ever be enough. Alex loved her. Olivia believed it. She had seen it in those sincere blue eyes, felt it in the gentle, reverent caresses that explored her legs and hips and breasts, the lips that had teased and taken and tortured hers.

She had believed it as Alex's fierce, scorching tongue explored her folds, only pausing when the counselor glanced up through the square lenses of those damn glasses and licked her lips, lips covered in gloss and a smile and Olivia. At the time, the look had been incendiary, even decadent. But remembering, the detective knew that there was love behind it. And that terrified her.

Notice how I (subtly) replaced the name Alex with 'the dozing attorney', 'the counselor' and 'the blonde'. I replaced Olivia with 'the detective' at the end.

You can use someone's hair color, eye color, skin color, clothing, height, job, or profession to distinguish who you are talking about. Basically, use whatever you want. Just please do it in moderation. Seeing 'the blonde' a million times is no better than seeing your character's name over and over again on the page.

Here are some examples, but please, for the LOVE OF ALL THINGS HOLY, use them sparingly, and juggle them so you don't end up sounding like a bad Harlequin. PLEASE.

'The taller woman'
'The olive-skinned woman'
'The scientist'
'The police officer'
'The spaceship pilot'
'The politician'
'The younger woman'
'The brunette'
'The violinist'

You get the idea... profession, age, hair color, height, ect. Just be very, very careful. This tool can be useful for adding color and mixing things up, but please use with caution.

You can also use 'her lover' or 'her girlfriend'/'her wife'/ect, esp during sex scenes, but once again, be careful. Don't overuse or you'll end up with a disaster.

New Website

2010-09-30T03:45:00.001-04:00

I have certainly been a busy bee recently! I have a new website that catalogues all of my work. Nothing new, just all the old stuff posted in a clear, easy-to-read place with links and such. Yay me.

http://raedmagdon.wordpress.com/

To-Do List

2010-09-29T01:30:00.004-04:00

Just in case you were interested, here is my writing To Do List. I'm mostly posting it here for my benefit, but perhaps some of you will find it interesting. In no fixed order (although priorities are generally near the top)...

Fanfiction:
- Last chapter of 'Magnetic Resistance' (Law and Order: SVU)
- Finish 'It Happened One Night' (Law and Order: SVU)
- Finish 'Exhibitionist' (Law and Order: SVU)
- Start sequel to 'Magnetic Resistance' (Law and Order: SVU)

///// Half-started ideas /////
- Twilight: The Descent Into Madness (Legally Blonde/L&O:SVU/Twilight crossover)
- By Courier (Devil Wears Prada/L&O: SVU crossover)
- Unnamed Devil Wears Prada fic
- Unnamed Jane Rizzoli/Maura Isles smut (Rizzoli & Isles)
- Unnamed KIGO fic (Kim Possible/Shego... yes, I am a total dork)

Original Fiction:
- The Witch's Daughter (2 more chapters to go...)
- Senator's Daughter (needs a title!)

///// Half-Started Ideas/////
- Lilith's Redemption (new supernatural-themed original fiction novel)
- Murder, Lies, Statutory Rape, and Madison Rose (drama/romance)

///// Other Plans /////
- The two other books in the Chopin universe
- The last book in the Amendyr universe

That list probably makes very little sense to you, but it's good to have goals. Lots of goals. And NaNoWriMo is coming up, so that will be a splendid time to knock out some writing and hit some big word count numbers.

Taking Critiques Well

2010-09-27T19:45:00.005-04:00

I have covered this particular topic before, but the emphasis of my last post on critiques leaned more towards how to give a good critique than how to accept one graciously. Anyone that indulges in the creative process must occasionally accept critiques of their work. For some people, this is easy to do. They are eager to learn, excited about new ideas, and constantly looking to improve.

I am not one of those people.

Compared to the average Joe out there, I am excellent at taking constructive criticism. (From here on out, we are going to assume that all criticism given is constructive, given by a colleague or a mentor/teacher figure). Compared to some other artists and musicians and writers out there, I'm a little sensitive.

Today, my flute teacher suggested that I try playing a piece I am working on ('Kokopelli', in case anyone is curious) in a completely different way than I had been practicing it. Of course, her way was better. Instead of getting excited about her suggestions, which were given in a mature, informative, and easy-to-understand way, I was angry that I had not thought of them first and sulked until she pointed out that I should be excited about the learning process instead of dwelling on things I could have done better. It is kind of like seeing someone else write the Next Great Novel and thinking, "why can't I do that?" instead of reading it, enjoying it, and weaving threads of that author's style into your own work to strengthen your prose.

Teachers show us the way. That is why we rely on them. As writers, we often must teach ourselves. Although we can study examples (a little like learning from a recording for musicians), we do not go into a music studio or attend art classes. You can take a group creative writing class, but it's not quite the same as having a private lesson once a week. Instead, we must rely on the critique in order to engage in the student-teacher relationship.

In general, there are two kinds of people you will get a critique from: colleagues and teachers/mentors. I mentioned this a few paragraphs ago. In the music world, a colleague is someone in the same musical group as you. For example, the oboist I sit next to when I play piccolo in Wind Ensemble or the other girls in my flute studio. Discussing technique with a colleague is very useful for writers. It can be anything from reading two line reviews on fanfiction.net to showing your entire novel to another writer to see what they think.

A teacher/mentor figure in the writing world would either be a vastly more experienced writer with more published/completed works than you whose style you admire, or a professional editor in the publishing industry. Basically, you want to look at the next level up. I could even be a teacher or mentor figure for a beginning writer.

When you are accepting a critique from a colleague, it does not sting as much because the playing field is even. You can take anything they say with a grain of salt if you fiercely disagree. Ex: "I don't care if she says this character is too unbelievable, I'm going to keep Clyde the Purple Mastodon in my novel anyway!" Although you always have the last say because, ultimately, your work is your own, I often find that my teacher's suggestions immediately improve whatever I happen to be working on. My frustration comes from not correcting myself before receiving the advice.

Instead of thinking:
- Why didn't I think of that? I should have done that in the first place...
- I'll never get anywhere if I keep making such big mistakes
- I had no idea this was even a problem! What if I'm never able to pick out my own mistakes and be my own teacher someday?

Try thinking:
- Oh, that's a good point, this advice will improve my novel.
- Yay! I learned something new today.

This sounds like really basic advice, but keeping a positive attitude can be emotionally draining and very difficult. It is a test of endurance, particularly for negative, cynical people like myself. That is why it is so important to critique others in a positive way. Nothing you say could ever be half as bad as the things people sometimes say to themselves. And if you wouldn't say something mean to another person for fear of being rude, why on earth should you tolerate that kind of negative mental speech from yourself?

The Triumphant Return

2010-09-20T08:19:00.003-04:00

Guess whose back with a brand new track (er, blog post)?

... Well, no one, if my Music History teacher and other professors had anything to say about it. They have been piling on the homework, and I have been practicing like the devil. I have been writing, since I figured you guys would rather have me spouting out more smut and fluff and action scenes than keeping up-to-date on my blog, but I've decided to give a quick update and then get to work on posting some writing tips and tricks.

Aside from my fanfiction obsession (Magnetic Resistance is almost done!), my new project, which I have temporarily dubbed 'The Senator's Daughter', is coming along nicely at about 15,000 words. I have 6,000 more words to go of The Witch's Daughter, but I'm seriously drained for that novel, and I'm trying my best to make the last 6,000 words as high-quality as the first 70,000 or so. I don't want to disappoint and rush to finish just so that novel is off my plate. The ending is the most important part of any work.

Yes, there have been arguments made for the beginnings of novels being the most important. If you don't have a good beginning, why would you bother reading to the end in the first place? But I still say that the ending of a novel is far more important, because that is the last, powerful punch that finishes off your grand adventure and (hopefully) leaves the reader with questions, an emotional reaction, or something. Stories with a great beginning and a bad ending leave the reader feeling cheated and disappointment, while stories with a so-so beginning and a slamming ending leave the reader feeling pleasantly surprised.

Of course, if you can have a good beginning and an equally good ending, that is even better. A double-attack from both sides, if you will. And if you can get a good middle thread connecting the two, then you're in the money. Or, well, you'll make people feel very, very happy while cutting out coupons from newspapers, unless you are supported by your parents/spouse (*coughcough*) or your name is Stephen King or JK Rowling.

In order to write a good ending, I tend to follow the Storyteller's Cardinal Rule: Always Have A Happy Ending (Unless A Sad, Poignant Ending Is Appropriate). This seems like common sense, but you would be surprised how many people kill off their characters or ruin everything at the end of a novel for no good reason. Unless you can lay out a sound argument for doing so, let them ride off into the sunset and live happily ever after. Your audience will appreciate it and they might decide not to come after you with torches and pitchforks.

Another tip - once the climax has happened (the climax of the action, not the sexual climaxes, of which there are many in my novels), wrap it up quickly. You need to get out of there pretty fast in order to keep the reader's interest. It's nice to add questions at the end that can continue to germinate in the audience's minds, but don't leave too many untied threads or you will leave the reader feeling unsatisfied. It is a balancing act, like many other writing tools.

Anyway, I have to close my laptop because my professor just walked in. I'll update later. Music Girl, Away!

Themes

2010-09-12T21:44:00.004-04:00

All good novels have a few things in common. Strong characters, strong language, strong stories... but there is one ingredient that many aspiring writers do not try to incorporate into their work, and even if they do, many do it intrinsically, without thinking about it. The best novels have powerful, overarching themes that resonate within readers at a deep level. There are many different types of themes that you can write about, and there are many different ways to introduce these themes into your writing. Honestly, the topic of themes and their use in writing can fill a book all by itself - and has. This is just a brief introduction.

Many writers use some simple, tried-and-true themes already without realizing it. To start in a very general way, good triumphing over evil can be seen as a classic theme that countless stories and novels have made use of for centuries. It has stayed popular because it is a powerful theme, rooted to something deep within our psyche. Also, turning this theme on its head and exploring the shades of gray in between good and evil can be a good way to keep readers (and yourself) engaged. Another common theme is love. True love, sexual love, sacrificial love, romantic love, familial love, destructive love, relationships and how they change people... love has many different faces.

Themes can also become very specific. For example, 'The Wizard of Oz' is supposedly based (this is argued by different groups in literary circles) on the nineteenth century debate on government monetary policy, with the Wicked Witch of the West representing the railroads, the monkeys representing the Native Americans, the scarecrow representing farmers, the tin man representing factory workers, and the Cowardly Lion representing William Jennings Bryan. James Joyce used Ireland, its relationship with England and the Church, and its self-destructive tendencies as the overarching theme for his entire body of work.

Themes can be as simple or as complex as you want them to be. They may be unique and original, or they may have already been used thousands of times because they speak to us as humans. They can be about characters, about death, about life, about a place or time, about the future, about apocalyptic societies, about money, about sex, about social customs and stigmas... basically, themes can be about anything.

How do you weave a theme in to your work? First, you have to find out what those themes are. Writing them out before you start a project, in the middle of the project, and after a project can be useful and insightful. Themes might change as your story grows and develops, and that's okay, but having a list to refer back to can help remind you what you were thinking of before you clacked out those opening lines on your keyboard.

You can introduce themes with a character's thoughts, speech, or mere presence, with an image, with a setting, with an object, with plot... If you look for opportunities to include your theme, you will find them.

Pick themes that are meaningful to you. For example, some of the themes I have used are very general: the idea of soul-mates and love, LGBT themes, themes of self-hatred, the transition from adolescence to adulthood, good conquering evil. Some of my other themes are highly specific: questioning God's existence and His actions as a gay teenager; exploring futuristic dystopias; mirrors, dance classes, and their relationship with body image and self confidence; the future of the human race and their tendency to alienate anyone physically or mentally dissimilar; white suburbia and its tendency to hold young people from means to a ridiculously high standard while completely blocking out people from other cultures... the list goes on and on.

The point is, there are tons of themes out there. They can be anything from "LotR has a theme about heroes struggling to beat the bad guys" (a vast oversimplification) to "Joyce's use of the silver bracelet on the wrist of the unnamed female character on page three draws to mind the image of handcuffs, because the female represents Ireland and her current imprisonment and destitution."

... I suggest starting with something a little simpler before using numerology, Biblical references, and animology to build on your theme, but if you feel up to it, go ahead and try. It can be very fun, almost like using a secret code. Even my Law and Order: SVU fanfic has some color symbolism in it to add a dash of, well, color. But maybe that is because my brain is always on overdrive...

PS: Random fact - color symbolism is my favorite type of symbolism to use when developing a theme! =D

Random Poll:

2010-09-06T23:45:00.002-04:00

I've noticed that a lot of authors, particularly those that write in many different genres and dabble in both original fiction and fanfiction, have Livejournals to post the entire body of their work.

I have a question for all of you that read this (sporadically updated, I know) blog:

Should I make one?

I already post my work on many, many, many other websites (fictionpress, Academy of Bards, Athenaeum, fanfiction, P&P...), so I'm wondering, would a well-organized livejournal with EVERYTHING I've ever written EVER be worthwhile?

Vote in comments or whatever.

A) Yes!

B) No, I don't think you need one.

C) No, I hate LJ.

D) No, I hate you. (Why are you reading this blog?)

E) All of the above

F) I hate multiple choice questions and polls...

Aspirations

2010-09-06T23:27:00.007-04:00

Every once in a while, you will read something that absolutely blows your socks off. If you're lucky, reading other people's writing inspires you and gives you a flood of new ideas, but more often than not, it just leaves you feeling like a horse's ass.

Sometimes, they are in your genre, and reading their work makes you think, "damn, they just took the craft I spent years developing to the best of my ability and made it 100 times better. Why on earth would anyone bother reading anything I write when this great writer is out there publishing new material?"

Sometimes, they are in a completely different genre, and reading their work makes you think, "oh God, now I have to abandon my humorous romantic comedy and write something dramatic and angsty if I ever want to have even the slightest chance of being as good as this person..." (These are the thoughts I'm having right now).

The sad truth is, there is always going to be someone who writes better than you. There, I said it. No matter how many years you spend writing, now matter how many books you sell, and no matter how many gallons of blood, sweat, and tears you collect (I don't really like that group except for 'Spinning Wheel'...), there is always going to be someone better.

This isn't just true of writing. This is true of musicians, artists, neurosurgeons, quilters, horseback riders, or anything else you can think of.

On the bright side, there is always going to be someone worse than you, too. Unfortunately, having a hundred people worse than you doesn't make up for that one person that's better. Sometimes it can be fun to have talented, professional colleagues to collaborate with, but once in a while, the green monster pops up, and you think, "dammit, why couldn't I have written that!"

It's frustrating, unhealthy, and ought to be dismissed from your mind (I know, easier said than done). Although I am still searching for a way to circumvent this envy as a musician, I have found one as a writer. Different people are in different moods for different things at different times. Even if someone writes the best crime fiction novel you have ever read, there are going to be people out there who want to read your romantic comedy. Maybe they just had a bad break-up and need something lighthearted. Besides, if only 'the best book in the world' was ever published, what would all the avid readers out there do with their time? There doesn't have to be just one winner.

My chorus teacher used to have a poster on the wall of her classroom that was really cheesy, but kind of inspiring at the same time. "The forest would be very quiet if no birds sang except the best." Bear with me and move the cheesy metaphor over to the writing world for a moment. The shelves of libraries, book stores, homes, and computer hard-drives would be very empty if no authors wrote except the best.

If you think no one could create a masterpiece half as good as the author of the book you just finished, look at the other books on the library shelf. There's going to be at least one other book that tops the one you just read. For every person that's better than you, there's going to be someone better than them, too, so really, we're all in the same boat together.

Somewhere in the world, someone is going to read your work at exactly the right moment and enjoy it immensely. It's always worth it to put your writing out there for that reason alone, but also because, as writers, we have to do it. We need to do it. We have to reach out and touch others (especially our fellow writers). Who knows, you might be the inspiration someone else is looking for (or maybe even the standard of excellence that tortures another writer).

... it's okay for you to feel a little smug about that. Really. Schadenfreude is a normal point on the large spectrum of human emotions.

Random Updates

2010-08-30T22:00:00.004-04:00

So, I counted up all the Law and Order fanfiction I've written in the past two months, and ended up with a grand total of: 56,596 words. That's the better part of a novel! I should be finishing TWD, but that will come in time. Right now, I am wandering around in Alex/Olivia land and LOVING it. If you are an original fiction writer and feel the need for a break, by all means, take one. It can be some of the most productive time you've ever spent.

In other news, I bombed my audition, but scraped together enough pieces so that I'm not last chair. Like writers, musicians have to have thick skins and get used to rejection. Not every day is going to be your best day. I have an excuse, sort of. It's one that paints me in a bad light, but I'll share it anyway...

So, I was feeling pretty confident when I went in to the room with the screen all set up so the judges (my teachers) couldn't see me. They gave their usual speech: "Play your Mozart exposition in D and then your excerpts in any order." I smiled, looked down at my music, and my heart tripped when I realized my Mozart wasn't tucked safely into my excerpt book. My mouth fell open, I paused a few seconds, blinked, then RAN off stage like the hounds of hell were at my heels. Once I was backstage, I started swearing like a construction worker or a sailor, whichever mental image you prefer, and scrambled to my bag to find my Mozart. Panting like crazy, I ran back on stage and tried to calm down my racing heart. I was gulping like a fish, couldn't breathe... somehow, I started to play.

I'm stuck in the lower band this year, but since they only took the top six players out of the whole studio for combined Wind Ensemble and Orchestra (something that they have never done before now), I do not feel too bad. Hopefully, my parents will not disown me. They can be almost Asian, I swear... "Bring home an A or you are banished from the family!"

If only they knew their lovely daughter spends her free time writing naughty lesbian stories... Oh well, let's hope they never find out. They might suspect, actually, due to an 'incident' when I was twelve and another when I was fourteen, but here's to hoping they leave well enough alone.

A rather self-centered post, but it does have some use for writers. Don't let anything faze you. Never give up. Develop a thick skin by sharing your work with as many people as possible. It's okay to be afraid. Everyone has faced failure at one point or another, and it never stopped them. The only thing that can really stop you is yourself.

(Edit: Sara, you're totally right. Dang, even us busy writers occasionally mix up our words. Curse you, spell check!)

Borrowing Ideas...

2010-08-28T08:50:00.005-04:00

Sorry I haven't updated a lot recently, but I've been preparing to go back to school. That involves seating auditions, so wish me luck! In other news, I've started posting my fanfic at The Academy and The Athenaeum, which will hopefully mean more readers. I am a total comment whore, so the more readers the better! Now, on to today's topic...

Today, I'm going to talk about "borrowing", a not-frequently-talked-about-but-very-frequently-used practice. It is an especially helpful tool for beginning writers. This might sound a little bit like "cheating", so you need to be extremely careful how you use this particular tool. Writers can steal, tweak, and publish each other's ideas, but unless you have original material to substitute for most of the stuff you stole, doing this is worthless.

1. Stealing an idea

Only one idea per work, please. Don't steal the entire concept of a novel or you'll be found out. Pick and choose carefully, and then try and use the idea in a completely different way than the original writer did. Most of the best basic ideas are hundreds of years old anyway and have been used so many times that no one author has a claim to them.

2. Stealing a word or phrase

I have done this, but usually for descriptive adjectives to use during sex scenes. If a particularly vivid image strikes me, I open a word document and copy down something similar (but not identical). Because I like to come up with my own ideas as well, I usually only "steal" one (or maybe two) metaphors or images per sex scene.

3. Using models

The best writers read good books. This is less of something you "steal" than something you "absorb". Pacing is difficult to learn unless you have read a lot of books. If I am struggling with a scene, and see another scene that resembles the idea I'm going for, I will occasionally "model" my scene on that one in terms of pacing, but I DO NOT steal any words or phrases from that scene. My thought process is more like -entrance two paragraphs - argument three paragraphs - rapid dialogue - first physical contact - self-deprecating inner dialogue - sex begins.... something like that. Also, I try to completely change the location, characters, and genre of the book. For example, if I am using pacing ideas from a romance novel, I'll put it in a fantasy world. If I'm stealing pacing ideas from an epic fantasy battle scene, I'll turn it into a courtroom drama.

The 'models' idea can actually be used for entire novels (or sections of novels), but this is tricky. In theory, you could copy down the entire ratio of scenes (filler - action - humor - plot development - sex - ect) that fill one of your favorite novels and try to achieve the same ratio.

This might sound very confusing, so if you have any comments (especially on the 'models' part of the article), please chime in. I'm probably going to expand on this topic, because this particular post is a hodge-podge of rambling information in no particular order.

Now, I have to go pack away my entire wardrobe for school. Ta-ta

Rome Wasn't Built In A Day, Running, and Other Metaphors

2010-08-23T21:27:00.007-04:00

Sure, there are some days where the words pour from your fingertips in a waterfall of creativity and prose, but those days are exceedingly rare. As Holly Lisle, one of my favorite writers (especially when she writes about writing), says in one of her helpful articles: novelists are the long-distance runners of the writing world. Unlike sprinters or milers, long distance runners have to have a lot of endurance. Speed isn't necessarily the most important skill. It's all about pacing yourself. It doesn't matter how fast you go, only that you reach the finish line.

Every writer works at their own speed. My personal writing speed is completely erratic. Sometimes I can barely get down a couple hundred words, and other times I glance down at the word count and realize I've done five thousand in only a couple of hours. Being a fast writer is definitely nice, but not necessary. In the end, it isn't important whether you write faster than a Harlequinn romance novelist with two books out every year or spend what seems like forever on the same gigantic fantasy novel.

Right now, I am not very inspired to finish The Witch's Daughter, maybe because of the rejection from Bold Strokes, and I really want to work on my newest project, which is about an FBI agent and a closeted politician (I posted an excerpt already). However, I'm not giving up.

In order to inspire myself, I posted the first two parts on the websites I submit to for some comments and feedback. That always makes me write faster. My fanfiction is proof of that. The more reviews I get, the faster I write. If you are ever stuck on a project (make sure it is one that you really DO enjoy and want to finish), I suggest posting it half-finished instead of waiting. Although many people hate being left at a cliffhanger, myself included, it can be a personal motivator. (If you are one of those people who can NEVER seem finish a project, however, don't heed that advice and wait until you finish, or you might end up with a lot of disappointed fans.)

Dividing my attention between multiple projects also seems to be an effective way to unclog the writing tubes when I feel like I will never finish my novel. Again, this technique is not the best one to use for beginners that have trouble finishing what they start. If you fall in to this category, the only advice I can offer is to slug through the mud until you get to the finish line. There's no shortcuts, no easy way around it. You just have to finish. The more projects you complete, the easier it gets.

Being a writer is a lot harder than most people think. It requires a lot of stamina, a lot of determination, and a thick hide. But it is also very rewarding to sit and stare at a full word document that means something to you... and will, hopefully, mean something to others.

On another note, Rome cannot be built without help. Today (or tomorrow, since it's late tonight), take the time to thank all the wonderful people in your life that read your work and help you while you're running the novel race. It will make both of you feel good, and maybe it will also garner you some extra support and inspiration.

Editing

2010-08-19T21:29:00.002-04:00

Editing is something that some writers very much enjoy and that other writers absolutely hate. There are as many ways to edit your work as there are writers, and there is no one-size-fits-all editing bonanza package that you can use to polish your novel or short story. However, that does not mean that there aren't some hard and fast tools that I have found useful in my editing and beta-ing experience.

1. Strike a balance

You have to let the pendulum hang in the middle, somewhere between 'tweak the first chapter until I have memorized every word of every sentence' and 'oh screw it, I refuse to go back and correct spelling mistakes'. Rereading and re-writing rough patches is necessary, and it can even be enjoyable, but if you find yourself reading the same paragraph over and over again while lamenting that it isn't the prose of the Gods, you need to open up a blank word document and work on a different part of your project.

2. Have someone else read it

Get a beta-reader. I don't care how you do it, but just do it. I generally force my work on three people before sharing it. The first one is my girlfriend, who has put up with a huge amount of romance, drama, smut, fluff, battle scenes, monologues, and even the occasional poem. I even force the poor thing to read my Law and Order fanfics, which she hates, and she does it anyway because she loves me THAT much. The second is my friend Richard, who I usually look to for gut reactions and snippets. He is more of a testing board than a nitty gritty critic, but that's exactly what I need from him. The third part of my little group does most of the heavy lifting, and that's Lee, my beta. I shove huge files at her and somehow she fixes all of my extraneous commas and sometimes writes little notes in the margins. I don't know what I'd do without these people.

3. Listen to it out loud

Read to yourself out loud (hope no one is home, or at least not in the room, or you will embarrass yourself... trust me...) Download or purchase a text-to-speech program from somewhere. There are tons of free options, although my Mac has it for free. I have started doing this over the past several months, and trust me, it helps. Even though there's no great voice acting, the ear is able to pick out a misspelled word or a gap in phrasing much more accurately than the tired eye. Plus, you can listen to free stuff online while you're falling asleep! You DO get used to the robot voice, I promise. Mine's named 'Victoria' and I have actually started to enjoy her. Kinda scary, isn't it?

4. Do at least one large, huge, ginormous edit and then put it away and start something new

When you have finished a project (or a section of a project), take it out, dust it off, sit your butt down in the chair, and go through it with a fine-tooth comb. Then, forget about it. Don't go back and mess with it anymore, at least not for a while. You can pull it out again in a few weeks and look at it with fresh eyes, but if you work on the same stuff over and over again, it won't get any better. Do yourself a favor and choose something different to work on so that you won't go insane.

No novel will ever be "perfect". You have to get over that if you ever want to share with others. There is always going to be someone who could have done it better, there is always going to be a more fitting word choice or a better plot idea than the one you chose, there is always going to be at least one typo in a 75,000 word novel. But I do promise that the more you write and edit, the more your work will improve, and the more entertainment and joy you will be able to bring to yourself and others. Now stop being a slacker and go write something instead of reading this blog!

New Project

2010-08-17T13:08:00.004-04:00

Well, never let it be said that Rae gives up without a fight. Since Bold Strokes does want to see more of my work (and they were actually very encouraging in their letter to me, which was personalized and not just a form letter), I am starting a new project. I'm not sure what title I will give it, but here's the gist and an excerpt.

Plot: Tess Daubney, the daughter of a prominent senator, is running on the Republican ticket in her first national election for one of Ohio's Congressional seats (2nd district). However, she has to make a choice when she gets entangled with Robin, the niece of her campaign manager. It's kind of ironic that, in this story, the Republican is the good guy and the Democrat is a total sleezebag. I usually vote Democrat (although I greatly admire Olympia Snowe), but I tend to judge individual politicians based on their moral fiber and their experience rather than their party.

Her legs still shaking, weak from what they had just done, Tess bent down to pick up Robin’s discarded clothes. Her jeans and underwear were slumped in a pile against one wall, and her shirt was on the other side of the room. The sleeve of her brown leather jacket peeked out from beneath the desk, but Tess was too distracted to notice it.

“Don’t do that yet,” Robin murmured, getting up from the chair and wandering over to wrap the smaller woman in her arms. She looked confused and a little hurt when Tess flinched, jerking out of the embrace. Looking uncomfortable, the blonde adjusted her skirt and began rebuttoning her blouse. She would have to find her bra and stockings later. They had to be somewhere underneath the furniture. “Tess, what ar-”

Tess shook her head, taking another step back to put more distance between them. She shoved the clothes into Robin’s outstretched arms, trying not to watch as the naked woman began to dress herself. “Love is for story books, Robin, not real people. I have a chance to do something great here, something bigger than just me or you... I – I can’t throw that away.”

“You’ve got to be kidding me.” Robin’s wounded expression urged Tess to take back what she had said, to change her mind. It took every ounce of strength that the blonde possessed to turn her chair around and face the wall. She couldn’t do this if she had to look at Robin’s haunted brown eyes.

“I think you should leave,” she said. Her voice wavered, cracking slightly, but Robin was too angry to notice.

“I guess now that you got what you wanted, you’re done with me,” Robin said, the disgust in her voice piercing the blonde’s heart.

All of the color drained from Tess’s face. “You have to understand, my job–”

“Oh, I understand perfectly. You’re throwing away something wonderful, something I’ve never felt before, without even giving it a chance... just because you’re a coward.” Not caring about the messy state of her hair, she finished pulling her shirt over her head and reached under the desk for her jacket, almost forgetting to button and zip her jeans. They felt stiff and uncomfortable against her legs. She should have been holding Tess right now, savoring her warm skin, soaking in the afterglow... not running off into the night like a high school kid sneaking through their girlfriend’s bedroom window. Obviously, what they had done meant nothing to her. She rubbed at stinging eyes with the back of her hand, glad that she and Tess had their backs to each other so that the other woman couldn’t see her fighting back tears.

“Robin...”

For a moment, both women forgot to breathe.

“I’m sorry things aren’t... different.”

She expected another argument, shouting, curses, something – but Robin did not try and convince her to turn her chair back around. She did not speak at all. She simply stood in silence, numbing herself against the sting of Tess’s rejection.

Staring at the drawn window shades because she could not bear to watch Robin leave, she listened to the quiet click of the door and the melancholy sound of retreating footsteps. Words rose in her throat, words calling the younger woman back, but she clenched her teeth and swallowed them back down. Hadn’t Robin already taken enough of her soul?

When she was sure that she was alone again, Tess finally let her defenses fall, collapsing onto the desk and burying her face in her arms, crying into the sleeves of her crookedly buttoned blouse.

Anyway, I'm still going to try to get TSS published. It's a damn good novel, and I'll find a way to get it out there somehow. I'm not sure what route I will take yet, but there are other publishing companies out there. However, I'd still like to publish something with Bold Strokes someday. They're a great publishing house, and I'm not at all offended by their rejection. From the tone of the letter, I gather that they just don't have room for fantasy right now in their next set of releases. If you've got ideas, tell me what you think!

Bold Strokes Responded...

2010-08-14T20:02:00.003-04:00

Well, Bold Strokes responded. It's half good news, half bad news. I received a personalized e-mail that said, basically: Your writing is good and your voice distinctive, but we are simply not looking to publish fantasy books at this time. We are interested in seeing some of your other work.

Right now, I am not sure what to do. My other works are, well...

Death Wears Yellow Garters is too zany and not nearly polished enough to be published.

Chopin at 3:00 in the Morning is far too "high school"...

My Name is Brianna is too short.

Everything else that I have written is for the fantasy genre... I am dealing with a storm of emotions right now, and I will not sure what decisions I will make in the future or what I will do next, but I do know one thing. I am not giving up. TSS is a damn good book, and I'm proud of it, and I'm sure that, eventually, it will find a home, whether it's with Bold Strokes or not. Even if I have to tear it apart and redo it completely... even if I have to focus on some non-fantasy for now because that's what publishers want... no matter what I end up doing, I'm getting that damn book published if it's the last thing I do. I'm not sure when or how, but it's going to happen.

In other news, I only have 10,000 words left to go on The Witch's Daughter. The first two parts are up on The Academy and The Athenaeum (or will be, shortly). Oh, and on fictionpress, but those parts still have some editing mistakes.

The Waiting Game

2010-08-08T21:40:00.003-04:00

Now that I have returned from my vacation (it seems like I am hardly at home this summer) with no traveling left to do, I have time to relax, get some serious writing done... and bite my nails down to the skin while waiting for a response from Bold Strokes about my submission. It is nerve-wracking to send something in for publication. Even while you are busy working, having fun on the beach, or preparing to start your next writing project, it lingers in the back of your mind.

It has been roughly ten weeks since I sent in The Second Sister, and boy, hitting the 'submit' button was hard. Doing it electronically was probably easier than mailing it in, however (they prefer electronic submissions anyway). At least that way, I didn't have time to change my mind. Once I double clicked on the 'Send' button, there was no going back. I admit that it took me a few minutes to gather the courage to do it. Bold Strokes did confirm that they received my submission and that they are reviewing it, so at least I don't have to worry that it got lost somewhere in cyberspace. Their website says that submitters are usually contacted 12-14 weeks after the initial inquiry, so I still have more time to wait and worry.

Still, there are no regrets on this front. Maybe I could have edited the novel more (although I did a pretty thorough job the first two times). Maybe I could have scrapped the whole thing and done it better the second time. Maybe I'm not ready to be a published author. But if I sat around waiting until I had the perfect novel to submit, I would never be able to share anything with anyone. If Rembrandt spent years agonizing over the tiny, imperfect spot in one of his first paintings, who knows, maybe the masterpieces he painted later never would have been created. If Beethoven had been too self-conscious to write his first symphony because of Mozart's lingering shadow in Vienna, the others would never have been written. Writers are always growing and changing (and hopefully improving), but there is no such thing as a 'perfect' novel, just as there is no such thing as a 'perfect' piece of music or a 'perfect' painting.

It's important to suck it up and put yourself out there over and over again - even if someone does not like your work, even if you get rejected. You have to develop a thick skin and the ability to accept criticism graciously. If you never try, you are never giving anyone a chance to say 'yes'. And someday, I hope that the 'yes' will be for me. I know it will be worth the work it took to get there.