Michael Drakich's Blog - Posts Tagged "writing"
Trying to finish a new novel
I was recently asked by a blogger to give a top ten list for her site. When I asked about what, she gave me some examples which were almost exclusively top ten favorite books. Never to be one who likes to follow the norm I opted instead to create a top ten list of why my latest work in progress isn't finished. She's had it for a couple of weeks now so I figured I'd share it here. I did my best to add a little humor so I hope you enjoy it.
Top Ten Ways to Avoid Working On My Novel
1. Facebook – There is no better online distraction than Facebook. Where else can you read about a bunch of trivial details going on in your friends lives than there. Ooh, look, Sarah posted a cute kitten. Ha, Sam posted a funny comic.
2. Workshops – Online workshops are a great tool to hone the craft of writing. The trouble is, it’s too easy to spend way too much time honing and not writing. Boy am I proud of myself, I crit three stories today.
3. Forums – Writers love to post comments in all the different author forums about every subject under the sun. They call it networking. Hey everyone, any idea on how to market my unwritten novel?
4. New Project – There’s nothing like starting a new novel, except when you haven’t finished the old. This one’s going to be a killer! I’ll worry about the first one after this sells a million!
5. Editing – It becomes too easy to stop a project to make changes. These of course require other changes. And then there’s others…and others…and others… Now where do I put that comma?
6. Distractions At Home – Let’s face it. Almost all writers work at home. Of course there’s the laundry to do, and the vacuuming, kids, meals, and our favorite program is coming on at seven. I’ll write after everything is done and the kids are in bed. Zzzzz
7. Bad Reviews – When you’re submitting your work to an online workshop or just getting the opinion of a friend, every now and then you get blasted for what others perceive as poor quality. Whether warranted or not, it’s deflating. How dare they say that about my masterpiece!
8. My Real Job – This one is pretty self explanatory. I owe, I owe, it’s off to work I go.
9. The Fear Of Failure – Impending doom that our novel will be a bust. No one’s going to like it, I just know it.
10. This Is Taking Forever – What did you think? That you could write a novel over the weekend? How do those people write a novel in three days? They gotta be cheating!
Top Ten Ways to Avoid Working On My Novel
1. Facebook – There is no better online distraction than Facebook. Where else can you read about a bunch of trivial details going on in your friends lives than there. Ooh, look, Sarah posted a cute kitten. Ha, Sam posted a funny comic.
2. Workshops – Online workshops are a great tool to hone the craft of writing. The trouble is, it’s too easy to spend way too much time honing and not writing. Boy am I proud of myself, I crit three stories today.
3. Forums – Writers love to post comments in all the different author forums about every subject under the sun. They call it networking. Hey everyone, any idea on how to market my unwritten novel?
4. New Project – There’s nothing like starting a new novel, except when you haven’t finished the old. This one’s going to be a killer! I’ll worry about the first one after this sells a million!
5. Editing – It becomes too easy to stop a project to make changes. These of course require other changes. And then there’s others…and others…and others… Now where do I put that comma?
6. Distractions At Home – Let’s face it. Almost all writers work at home. Of course there’s the laundry to do, and the vacuuming, kids, meals, and our favorite program is coming on at seven. I’ll write after everything is done and the kids are in bed. Zzzzz
7. Bad Reviews – When you’re submitting your work to an online workshop or just getting the opinion of a friend, every now and then you get blasted for what others perceive as poor quality. Whether warranted or not, it’s deflating. How dare they say that about my masterpiece!
8. My Real Job – This one is pretty self explanatory. I owe, I owe, it’s off to work I go.
9. The Fear Of Failure – Impending doom that our novel will be a bust. No one’s going to like it, I just know it.
10. This Is Taking Forever – What did you think? That you could write a novel over the weekend? How do those people write a novel in three days? They gotta be cheating!
A Fresh Voice - What Is It?
When scouring through the various criteria of literary agents in my pursuit of representation, I couldn't help but notice one pre-requisite that showed time and again - a fresh voice.
Now I doubt the agent is concerned whether I brush and floss daily and use copious amounts of mouthwash to gargle with. No, they must have some more valid reason for posting such a request. My problem is wondering what exactly it is.
Personally, I have my own theory on what is meant when faced with such a restriction, but deep down, I was not certain my answer was correct. I decided the simple thing to do was to go ask.
I started with my favorite search for an answer - Google. I posed, in my mind, the most direct question I could. "What is a fresh voice in writing?" The better part of two hours later and having examined countless blogs and articles hinting at the it, I came to the conclusion my question must not have been direct enough because the information I sought was not there. I re-wrote the question a number of different ways in hopes of landing an answer and still could not discover a definitive definition.
Stymied, I decided a new approach was needed. Let's ask other people if they know. I would have asked an agent, but as I don't know any, I let my question fall to those in the publishing world that I do, my fellow authors. I posted the question to a handful of Facebook writer groups I belong and posted it as a forum question at a few author sites as well, and sat back, waiting for the answers to roll in.
It didn't take long.
And then again, it did.
I apologize for the multiple choice options, but what resulted was clearly a case of no one, in absolute surety, knowing the answer.
Sure, there were those who you could tell their convictions had them believing the answer they purported as likely to be the right one. The problem was, for those most adamant, their answers differed.
It was my fervent hope that a literary agent would see the forum posting at one of the sites and chime in, but unfortunately, that didn't happen. Why, I wondered. Could it perhaps be that they, in truth, did not know as well?
My mind was awhirl at the complexities of the question. Was there really a single answer? Or was it merely a smokescreen to cover an agent's subjective prerogative in how they considered potential clients? And finally, should I really care?
Like I mentioned earlier, I posted the question in a variety of locations, but the one that generated the greatest amount of responses was the one I placed at the Absolute Write Water Cooler. If you're interested to see, or simply for the entertainment value, feel free to click the link and read through the various replies.
As for me, I'm going out to get a new bottle of extra-strength Listerine, just in case. :)
Michael Drakich
Now I doubt the agent is concerned whether I brush and floss daily and use copious amounts of mouthwash to gargle with. No, they must have some more valid reason for posting such a request. My problem is wondering what exactly it is.
Personally, I have my own theory on what is meant when faced with such a restriction, but deep down, I was not certain my answer was correct. I decided the simple thing to do was to go ask.
I started with my favorite search for an answer - Google. I posed, in my mind, the most direct question I could. "What is a fresh voice in writing?" The better part of two hours later and having examined countless blogs and articles hinting at the it, I came to the conclusion my question must not have been direct enough because the information I sought was not there. I re-wrote the question a number of different ways in hopes of landing an answer and still could not discover a definitive definition.
Stymied, I decided a new approach was needed. Let's ask other people if they know. I would have asked an agent, but as I don't know any, I let my question fall to those in the publishing world that I do, my fellow authors. I posted the question to a handful of Facebook writer groups I belong and posted it as a forum question at a few author sites as well, and sat back, waiting for the answers to roll in.
It didn't take long.
And then again, it did.
I apologize for the multiple choice options, but what resulted was clearly a case of no one, in absolute surety, knowing the answer.
Sure, there were those who you could tell their convictions had them believing the answer they purported as likely to be the right one. The problem was, for those most adamant, their answers differed.
It was my fervent hope that a literary agent would see the forum posting at one of the sites and chime in, but unfortunately, that didn't happen. Why, I wondered. Could it perhaps be that they, in truth, did not know as well?
My mind was awhirl at the complexities of the question. Was there really a single answer? Or was it merely a smokescreen to cover an agent's subjective prerogative in how they considered potential clients? And finally, should I really care?
Like I mentioned earlier, I posted the question in a variety of locations, but the one that generated the greatest amount of responses was the one I placed at the Absolute Write Water Cooler. If you're interested to see, or simply for the entertainment value, feel free to click the link and read through the various replies.
As for me, I'm going out to get a new bottle of extra-strength Listerine, just in case. :)
Michael Drakich
Editing - Why Do I Bother?
Lately, in my recreational reading, I have been finding a greater number of the novels I read as being poorly edited. I understand that, by being engaged as an author, my perspective has skewed from the days prior to my entering the industry as I now examine what I read in a different manner. Still, I cannot help but believe the need for crisp editing has gone out the window.
Before I go further, I need to clarify something. I'm not talking about self-published works. I'm referring to novels being produced by the big publishing houses. Call me old-fashioned, but I still have a penchant for buying print copy books instead of reading eBooks, and I tend to make my purchases at my local bookstore. This habit precludes buying self-pubs, as they rarely make bookstore shelves.
Some of the things I have seen make me cringe. The list of transgressions covers just about every writing faux pas that editors hate. Here's the rub. Too often I peruse the front pages and discover there is no editor listed. How could that be? You would think, before committing to a large print run for distribution to the brick and mortar purveyors, the publisher would suffer the small expense that editing would entail. Why would they forego this step? The only answer that I can surmise is time. When an author is popular, who wants to delay the next release for months while the editing process is completed.
I decided I needed to consult with someone about this disturbing growing trend. As I was home alone, with only the cat as company, my options were limited. I decided to ask the only person in the room for an opinion - me.
Now as I am taking the position that good editing is an absolute necessity, I allowed my counterpart, me, to take the role of devil's advocate.
"So, me, aren't you alarmed at the degradation of editing in what is being published today?"
"What's to worry? People today can't tell good written from bad anymore. Heck, they need their cell phones to spell check the alphabet."
"You mean writing?"
"Written, writing, what's the diff? You say potato, I say potato.", me mumbled in hopes I wouldn't hear.
I shook my head. "When it's spelled out, potato is still the same."
"Exactly my point. (As if I needed one.) No one cares anymore because they can't read!", me shouted loudly.
"If what you say is true, then why am I still spending countless hours having my work critiqued and edited and honing my craft?"
Me gleefully looked gleeful with a gleeful grin in his fully glee lit uniquely colored eyes. "Hey, you want to waste time, that's your choice. The people will buy what they're told to buy, whether it's good or not. That's how marketing works."
"You do know you've breached a number of writing etiquettes while we've been chatting, don't you?"
"You say potato, I say potato."
"You said that before. I can see this is going nowhere. I think I'll go chat with myself instead."
"Don't drag me into this.", said myself.
"I'm ALREADY in it.", Me growled.
I sighed. There was just no winning the argument. Instead, I decided to get back to my writing. At some point, I hope to get me, myself and I united on this issue, but for now will have to live with only being on the same page.
Michael Drakich
Before I go further, I need to clarify something. I'm not talking about self-published works. I'm referring to novels being produced by the big publishing houses. Call me old-fashioned, but I still have a penchant for buying print copy books instead of reading eBooks, and I tend to make my purchases at my local bookstore. This habit precludes buying self-pubs, as they rarely make bookstore shelves.
Some of the things I have seen make me cringe. The list of transgressions covers just about every writing faux pas that editors hate. Here's the rub. Too often I peruse the front pages and discover there is no editor listed. How could that be? You would think, before committing to a large print run for distribution to the brick and mortar purveyors, the publisher would suffer the small expense that editing would entail. Why would they forego this step? The only answer that I can surmise is time. When an author is popular, who wants to delay the next release for months while the editing process is completed.
I decided I needed to consult with someone about this disturbing growing trend. As I was home alone, with only the cat as company, my options were limited. I decided to ask the only person in the room for an opinion - me.
Now as I am taking the position that good editing is an absolute necessity, I allowed my counterpart, me, to take the role of devil's advocate.
"So, me, aren't you alarmed at the degradation of editing in what is being published today?"
"What's to worry? People today can't tell good written from bad anymore. Heck, they need their cell phones to spell check the alphabet."
"You mean writing?"
"Written, writing, what's the diff? You say potato, I say potato.", me mumbled in hopes I wouldn't hear.
I shook my head. "When it's spelled out, potato is still the same."
"Exactly my point. (As if I needed one.) No one cares anymore because they can't read!", me shouted loudly.
"If what you say is true, then why am I still spending countless hours having my work critiqued and edited and honing my craft?"
Me gleefully looked gleeful with a gleeful grin in his fully glee lit uniquely colored eyes. "Hey, you want to waste time, that's your choice. The people will buy what they're told to buy, whether it's good or not. That's how marketing works."
"You do know you've breached a number of writing etiquettes while we've been chatting, don't you?"
"You say potato, I say potato."
"You said that before. I can see this is going nowhere. I think I'll go chat with myself instead."
"Don't drag me into this.", said myself.
"I'm ALREADY in it.", Me growled.
I sighed. There was just no winning the argument. Instead, I decided to get back to my writing. At some point, I hope to get me, myself and I united on this issue, but for now will have to live with only being on the same page.
Michael Drakich
