Lacey Louwagie's Blog, page 37

Work in Progress: How Much Do You Share?

I've read the writing advice that one should not "talk about" one's writing project before the first draft is complete. The idea is that, by talking about it, you'll dispel some of the urgency, you'll work through in speech what you would've worked out on paper, and that your idea will lose a little bit of its magic.

I try not to be one of those writers who is always yapping about my writing projects to anyone who breathes (luckily, I have a writers group at which we can all mutually yap about writing), but I have to admit that when an interested party presents her or himself, I have a hard time resisting diving right into the details. Last weekend, my fiance asked me how my Rumplestiltskin story was coming along. The seed that became the story came from something he said to me on Skype one night, so he has a bit of a vested interest in this particular tale. So I told him what I'd written already, as well as what I foresaw coming soon. I talked about it a lot, but I didn't give away the ending.

When I got back home, it felt like it had been the right thing to do. His enthusiasm for what I told him about the story rekindled my enthusiasm for it, and my motivation to work on it. Yet, after I sat down to write a few scenes, I wondered if talking about it had taken away a bit of the crackle of mystery and secrecy that might have propelled me forward even more.

Ultimately, I think that anything that gets you back in your seat to write is a good thing, and this conversation did that for me even if it did dispel a bit of the dramatic tension I felt within myself. I can see where the advice not to talk about your work-in-progress comes from–I think we all know a writer or two who loves to talk about the books they "plan" to write, but who never actually gets anything written–but I also don't think it applies in every situation, all the time (honestly, what kind of advice does?)

What about you? Do you share details about your work in progress? If so, with whom? And if not, why not?

What are Your Three Writing Wishes?

SheWrites is asking members to record their year's three writing wishes here. (I'm reinterpreting wishes as "goals," since my *wishes* would be a) publication with b) fantastic reviews and c) high sales — but I'd rather list things I can make happen on my own.)

Now, this seems rather fortuitous, as one of my writing wishes for this year is to become a part of an online writing community, and SheWrites is the one that holds the most appeal because of its support of and connection to women writers from all walks of life and all stages of their writing career. For almost two years now, I've received their weekly emails and as such have been something of a "lurker" in that respect, since I always read them but only occasionally click through. But in those two years, I've seen a passion for writing and a warmth for other writers at SheWrites that isn't particularly evident at other online writing communities I've explored, although I'm sure they all have their areas where they shine.

My main reason for wanting to join an online writing community is to further my goal of understanding the short story as a literary form (and writing option). I'm fortunate to have my wonderful speculative fiction writers group, who monthly battle valiantly against patchy Internet connections to Skype me into their meetings in Duluth. I'm doubly fortunate that a couple members of the group are particularly good at speculative short stories. But I feel a little at a loss when it comes to getting feedback on short stories of a more literary nature, and so those tend to gather dust while I wait for them to (at some point!) critique themselves. Since I've waited over a year and a half for that, I think I really need to take matters into my own hands. And so, these are my three writing wishes for this year:

To evolve from a lurker to a participating member of SheWrites.
To Workshop and Revise my literary short story, "Closeted," and to submit it (I originally wrote it for GlimmerTrain's semi-annual short story contest with the theme of Family.)
To finish writing my retelling of Rumplestiltskin, which was supposed to be a short story but is languidly stretching out into a novella, and to bring it through its first rigorous round of revisions (right now, it's at that awkward stage where it's already ITCHING to be rewritten, but I'm trying to at least throw the rest of the bones out before I start rearranging vertebrae).

There are other things I hope to accomplish in my writing life by this time next year, such as participate in one last NaNoWriMo before I'm an old married woman (my last NaNo as a single gal, not my last NaNo ever), and get an agent to request the full manuscript of Ever This Day. But if I can at least accomplish 1, 2, and 3, I will be quite content.

What are your top three writing wishes?

Social Networking for Bibliophiles

A good friend recently sent me a link of these ten social networking sites for readers. I found myself feeling both intrigued and a little overwhelmed. Why so many different sites? Sure, they all have a slightly different focus — Goodreads is purely a place for talking books, while Scribd seems to be a place for uploading and browsing ebooks in addition to chatting about books and tracking reading patterns. Wattpad and Copia both focus on ebook libraries, with Wattpad catering to DIY authors who upload their stuff to the site for others to read. LibraryThing, which surprisingly wasn't included in the list, is mostly a databasing tool. Almost all these sites can be used in various ways to suit your own ends — I use Librarything to keep track of the books I own, while I track the books I read on Goodreads. Honestly, I would like to have an account on all, and explore them all, including the plethora of sites that exist for writers. But it seems I may have to be independently wealthy before I can devote myself to that kind of exploration — so I want to know which sites are the best. Which "book-ish" social networking sites do you use, and what do you think of them?

I love Librarything because my brain can no longer keep track of my book collection by itself, and I love Goodreads because it contains a detailed bibliography of everything I've been reading for the last several years, not to mention connects me with what real-life and Internet friends are reading. Another cool thing about these sites: both established and emerging authors use them, and connect directly with their readers. And sometimes the line between "friend" and "author" is thinner than you might think, as I discovered when I received a message on Goodreads from my friend Carrie. She wrote to announce that her middle grade/YA debut novel, Maryanne and the Benjamin Bohnes , has just found agency representation. Check out her website to learn more about this gothic, Burton-esque offering — I can't wait to put it on my virtual and actual shelves!

New Life to Freelancing

I admit that in the past year or so, I've fallen into a bit of a routine (rut?) when it comes to my freelance work. I get half of my income, steadily, through my job at the library — which is wonderful, by the way. I definitely recommend part-time work to freelancers or would-be-freelancers, since the stability of that paycheck takes a lot of the pressure off accepting any assignment that comes your way, no matter how ill-fitted you are for it, just to make sure the lights stay on.

But part of that routine has robbed me of the motivation I once had to pursue new avenues for business. The very first day after I had quit my full-time job, one of my main freelance clients cut my pay by 25% (these cuts were made to all their editors, btw). Although I panicked, in some ways, the timing was perfect. Because if it had happened just one workday earlier, I would have been tempted not to pursue my dream of freelancing after all. As it was, I'd already jumped in the river. And I knew I was going to have to find something else, and fast. That was in November 2008. I put out pitches and applications every Friday, even though that meant I had no earning potential on those Fridays. By January, I'd been taken on by Scribendi, which is where I continue to get the bulk of my non-library income.

As I prepare to get married next year, I'm reassessing everything in my life, from how many clothes are in my closet to how many hours I should be spending per day on my writing. My fiance has offered to make me a "real" website to direct people to who might want to check out my services. I'm going to hire my sister to design the logo that will run along the top of the site when I change my "business name" from Lacey Louwagie to … something else. I want to get back into the habit of devoting Fridays to investigating new leads. And I might even — gasp — spend money on advertising.

It's good to have a routine, to not have to worry every day whether I'll make enough money to eat or fill my car with gas or run my AC. But it's good to be shaken up every once in a while, too. I look forward to seeing what will happen with my writing life in what promises to be the biggest shake-up my life has ever known.

Long Novels Will Take You Prisoner

I admit it: I love to read, but long novels intimidate me. Some of my favorite reads have been long novels — The Mists of Avalon, A Prayer for Owen Meany, The Eye of the World — and yet, every time the urge to pick up a long novel strikes me, there's the voice in my head that says, "Are you sure you want to do that?"

Long novels intimidate me because I want to read so many books, and I can't help but think of how many books I could be reading in the amount of time it takes me to read this one long novel. Right now, I'm in the midst of reading Les Miserables on my Kindle, and my younger sister breezes through dozens of electronic books while I plod through this tome one slow percentage at a time (I became deliriously happy last weekend when I hit 25% completion. That's a respectable number, right? One that might even imply an end in sight?)

So when I read this article comparing reading a long novel to being a prisoner experiencing Stockholm syndrome, I found myself laughing out loud several times. Admittedly, based on the title, I thought the article was going to be about how writing long novels carries its own version of Stockholm syndrome–how you come to love your "captor", that is, the work in progress, so much that you have trouble leaving it behind. And so, the words keep piling up. (I've written two "super-novels" to date, defined as 120,000 words or more, which is a bit hypocritical from a girl who shies from reading long novels.) Still, although the article is about reading and not writing long novels, there is something for writers to take away. And that is, the act of finishing a long novel inspires such awe in the reader that s/he's likely to mistake that awe for respect for your work. Maybe it's worth doing the long novel thing after all.

Some Thoughts on E-Readers (and the chance to win one)

You can win this Kindle at Coppergoose.com!

I receive daily poems from poets.org, and back in April, I received this poem about e-readers. On first read, I thought this poem was getting all nostalgic for paper books. On second read, I wondered whether it's  challenge to those who are anti-ereader. Look, these little devices will NOT destroy reading.  I used to be firmly rooted in the anti-e-reader camp. Since I work in publishing, I was among the first wave to get a "whiff" of the upcoming Kindle, and I remember thinking that I would NEVER buy one of those. After all, weren't books ALREADY portable? After all, I read on screens all day long for work — why would I also want to read on a screen for fun? After all, I LIKED the feel and smell and weight of "real" books.

I still like real books. I also own a Kindle. I was hooked as soon as I helped my sister download tons of free books for hers. Suddenly, I realized that a Kindle would play perfectly into my book-hoarding passion–AND that it wouldn't require me to find additional shelving for all the books I acquire much faster than I can read them. Now, I keep my Kindle in my purse and read from it while waiting for appointments, traveling, or during other unexpected down-time. I keep books on my bedside table. I still buy books. I also buy ebooks. One does not exclude the other; electronic books don't start eating up your traditional books the moment you bring them in the door.

E-readers are good for readers because they offer additional reading options, both in terms of content and the way in which it's consumed. They're good for writers, too, as they a) increase an interest in reading; and b) allow much cheaper possibilities for self-publishing. I used to have a "rule" against reading anything self-published because so much of it was low-quality. But it's so inexpensive on the Kindle that I'm willing to give self-published authors more of a chance. And I suspect a lot of the quality is also higher because the authors get more immediate feedback. For example, I downloaded this book yesterday, in which the author includes a disclaimer about the edits he's made based on reader feedback. I still have criteria when it comes to self-published books, but e-books make it easier to spot low quality at a glance: covers that don't look professional rule out a self-published e-book for me, as do grammatical errors in the book description.

So all this is to say that, after experiencing what an e-reader can offer, I lose patience for those who wax so nostalgic for paper books (which, if I haven't been clear enough, I STILL LOVE). Ultimately, it's just another way to read. And anyone who loves reading should be able to get behind that.

(If this post has inspired you to get on the e-reader bandwagon, check out Coppergoose.com, which has become one of my favorite websites since it launched about six weeks ago. You can win free stuff every day, and today only you can win a Kindle. The site will not spam you or sell your info — I promise.  It's worth checking out even if you read this post late and miss the Kindle offer, as there are often other goodies of interest to writers, like books and fancy pens!)