Judith Post's Blog, page 127

Writing & critiques

Writing changed the way I read.  It must be like being a  musician.  When they listen to  songs, they probably divide it into lots of components–lyrics, melodies, rhythm, background instruments–things I’d never even know to look for.  Same for writers.  We find an author and can’t help but notice how she fine tunes all of the elements of story telling.

I finished reading American Gods by Neil Gaimann last week, and that book made me think about all kinds of things.   The writing?  The craftsmanship and language were enough to make me drool.  I should have worn a bib and drunk water so that I wouldn’t dehydrate.  The characters?  Wow, that’s a tough one.  Gaimann did what I’ve tried to do over and over again–on my part, not very successfully.  On his part?  I’d give it mixed reviews.  Or maybe, just maybe, it’s one of those things that even when a writer does it right, makes it challenging to work with.  Gaimann peopled the book with unsympathetic characters.  They were so odd, so out-there, so flawed, I kept turning pages to see what they’d do next.  But for the most part, I didn’t like many of them.  And I didn’t wish them well.  I liked Shadow, his protagonist, but he made such odd choices, I had trouble following him, too.   It’s hard to care about a character who doesn’t seem to care about himself…or much of anything.   Of course, I say this, and then I think of Les Edgerton’s noir–and that’s part of the appeal of that genre, isn’t it?  So maybe it’s just me and what I’m used to.

The plot?  Meandered all over the place.  Left loose ends here and there to tie up.  Which he did, but in no particular hurry.  If I took some of those chapters to my writers’ group, I’d get an earful.  “What is the book’s big question?”  “Who are we rooting for?   To do what?”  Now, obviously, a writer as big and as talented as Neil Gaimann can write a book any way he wants to and make it good.  Better than good.  It won lots of awards.  But an unknown author like me?  I’m grateful I have my writers’ group and reading buddies to keep me on the right path.  And that made me think, what do I consider a good critique?

First and foremost, in my mind, is that a critiquer says what he likes about your story, what confused him, and anything that might make it better.  It’s NOT trying to change your voice or style into sounding like his or some other author’s he likes.  My good friends/readers catch awkward wording, weak verbs, and other picky things along with  big ones–”The story bogs down here, needs more tension” or ”This would be better if you cut out a subplot and got rid of soft scenes to add more action” and worse, “Can get you rid of Floyd?  I can’t stand him, and I’m supposed to like him, I can tell.”  Honest opinions.  Which are fine.  I’m grateful for them.  What’s not fine is bashing, and our group never does that.  What good does it serve?  Critiques are to make a person’s writing better, not make him go home and cry or worse, give up.  “This stinks,” is not a critique.  And it’s not helpful.

One more thing to keep in mind when we critique is what genre the writer is aiming for.  Before I could critique a friend’s manuscript who wrote historic, inspirational romance, I had to read a couple of them.  What works for one genre might be taboo in another.  For instance, in Regencies, there’s LOTS of description–description of the lounge the ladies are sewing in, the gloves they choose to wear to the ball, the carriage they ride in.  They drive my friend who reads suspense nuts, but these descriptions are part of the fun.  Even the language is lush and formal.  In urban fantasy and fantasy, there’s a certain amount of world building.  If a reader doesn’t know the genre, he’ll miss it’s particular essentials.  My group keeps asking me, “So what are the rules for vampires again?  What’s a succubus?  Did you make that up?”  I think readers have to be fair and tell an author, “This is a genre I don’t know anything about.”  But then give a critique and realize some of their comments might be off target.  And last, but not least, we need to expect a writer to do what feels right to him.  After all, it’s his book.

I’m moving on to read another book now, so soon, I’ll quit noodling over elements of  writing and just enjoy a good, historical romance.  But I’m glad I read a book that challenged me and made me sit up and take notice of the many layers of writing skills.  I’ve been writing for so long, a reminder or two is good for me.  Hope you find a book that sparks your inner critic too.  Got any that have inspired you to sharpen your writing skills?

 

P.S.  Just wanted to mention that author Elizabeth McKenna was kind enough to interview me on her blog.  If you’re interested:  http://elizabethmckenna.com/my-blog/

 

Writing–Read, read, read

I’ve mentioned before that a writer should read whatever genre they write.  Why?  To see what’s out there, how other authors do it, and what’s essential to bring readers to that type of story.  If you read enough, you’ll learn the genre’s rhythms and guidelines, but for every few novels I read in urban fantasy, I like to read a few that are outside my usual tastes.   Why do I do that?  Because my first love is good writing.  What I truly respect and admire are authors who can transcend their genres.

I learn a lot from reading novels that stretch the basics, authors who combine literary with genre plotlines.  That sounds sort of snobby, I know, but there are lots of authors whom I enjoy to read because they tell a good story and keep me turning the pages.  When I find an author who can do that AND blow me away with their use of language and imagery, I’ve found my own personal, reading Nirvana.  And I study how they do it.

I’ve said it before, and I’m not being humble–just realistic–that I think of myself as a writer, not an author.  I’m the person who asked for anthologies by Flannery O’Connor and Eudora Welty one year for Christmas, read every story, drooled at their mastery as wordsmiths, but asked myself, “What was that story really about?”  I look for plots.  I look for BIG book questions.  I enjoy subtleties, but I want more.  So for me, the perfect combination is a wordsmith who writes great stories.

Why am I thinking about this right now?  I’m reading Neil Gaimann’s American Gods.  The man’s skill and imagination blow me away.  The story?  I’m struggling with, and at first, it confused me.  It’s all the things I like–gods; myths; amazing, original ideas; and writing skills that make me bookmark pages on my Kindle and drool.   He can write scenes that make me squirm, that make my jaw drop, or that make my heart ache.  He writes scenes that shock me because I didn’t see what was coming.  So why am I inching my way through chapter after chapter?  Because each chapter in and of itself is amazing, but I still don’t see any progress in the plot.  And I’m a plot-driven girl.  I’m also a character-driven reader, and even though I really like Shadow–and I REALLY like him–he’s just moving through the novel.  At first, I thought I was having trouble with him because he simply reacts to everything instead of being pro-active–forming a game plan and trying to achieve something–but then I realized that he doesn’t even really react to what happens to him.  He simply deals with it and moves on.  And I guess, for me, that makes it hard for me to follow him, because I don’t know where he’s going or even what he wants.  I think that’s intentional, but boy, I never realized what a big difference it would make for me, the reader.

The thing is, though, I’m learning a LOT from reading this book.  I study how Gaimann sets up his scenes, because he’s GOOD at it.  It’s almost easier to be objective about his writing, because I’m not flipping pages as fast as I can to see what happens next.  It’s not my usual, genre read, so I’m not in any certain rhythm, waiting for the next plot point to happen.  I have time to really think about what I admire (and am jealous about) in his writing, and what slows me down.  And that, in itself, has been an awesome experience.

American Gods feels like an unusual, quirky read.  I’m glad I found it, even though I’m late.  The last novel I read–out of my comfort zone–was Les Edgerton’s Just Like That.  Noir.  Another genre I’m unfamiliar with.  That man’s another brilliant wordsmith.  Would I ever write noir?  No, and that’s the point.  Did I learn from reading it?  Yes, there’s a certain rawness about noir that I’d love to incorporate into my own writing.  And that’s what I’ve found interesting.  I learn more about writing–nouns and verbs strung together into sentences–when I read outside my genre.  I learn more about storytelling–what to put where–when I read inside it.  All of it worth my time.

Writing: Do you need a chalkboard?

Years ago, when I only worked on short stories, one of my writer friends told me that if I were ever going to have a serious career, I had to write a book.  That’s the first time I thought of writing as a long term thing or even a possible career.   After all, I’d gone to our local library to hear Kurt Vonnegut, and his advice for new writers?  “Don’t quit your day job.”

My friend took her work very seriously.  She wanted to not only sell, but she wanted to win awards and accolades.  She wanted to expand minds by tackling gripping topics and concepts.  She wanted to be an author.  I wanted to be the best I could be, too, but my goals weren’t nearly as lofty.  I wanted to be the next Agatha Christie instead of the next Pulitzer Prize winner.  I wanted to be a writer.  (My differentiation, but “author” sounds so much loftier to me.)  We ended up renting a movie one night, Rich and Famous, starring Jacqueline Bisset and Candice Bergen.  It was perfect for us.  Jacqueline Bisset portrayed a brilliant, literary writer with a distinguished career, and Candice Bergen wrote gossipy books that became bestsellers.   Neither of us have achieved those goals yet,  but it was clear which one of us was which.

A fun scene in the movie shows Candice Bergen and her husband getting “friendly” in bed, and Candice Bergen pushes him away, jumps up, and hurries to a chalkboard she uses to jot down story ideas.  I told my husband about it, and he shook his head.  “That’s what you need,” he said.  “It will replace the pen and paper you keep on the nightstand.”  (NOT that I ever use it when John’s feeling “friendly.”)  But the very next weekend, he put a green chalkboard on the wall in my office.  And I have to say, I use the stupid thing all the time.  I list deadlines I set for myself to finish scenes and chapters.  I list ideas or important dates.  Sometimes, I list a new character for a story with a description and “tag” to remind me how I want to portray him until he becomes “real” to me.

I know computers are wonderful things.  They can copy and paste, search and find, and all sorts of useful things.  But I’m here to tell you, a chalkboard’s not bad either.

Writing–gird your loins

Writing’s a funny business.  The very act itself is a love/hate relationship.  When I start a book, I have new ideas swirling in my head, new villains, new worlds to conquer, and I can’t wait to dive in.  Somewhere after the first fourth of the book, when the set-up’s done and the middle is setting in, I doubt myself.  Do I have a strong enough conflict to push to the finish?  Are my characters interacting enough to create emotional tension as well as drive plot points?  I stagger through to the novel’s halfway point, and then I’m always sure that I’ve run out of steam.  My subplots now look like hideous diversions that will sag under the gravity of too many words.  That’s when I play the game of “what if?”  What if something comes at my protagonist that I, as his creator, never saw coming?  What if he takes a wrong turn, hits a wall, wants to give up?  Just like I do about now.  I don’t like this book anymore.  What started out as fun has become an impossible feat that I’m pretty much sick of.  And then I struggle to the last fourth of the book–the wrap-ups of my subplots, the final, big battle, and the short denouement–and all is well.  I love this book again.  Until I start rewrites.

But that’s just the writing of the book.  Now, it’s time to get beat-up, in the nicest possible way.  I hold my breath after I’ve made the story as good as I know how to, and then I give it to my critique buddies.  Believe me when I tell you, no one catches all of their own mistakes.  There are plot holes, that were perfectly there–in my head–but never made it to paper.  There’s repetition that drags entire chapters down.  There’s awkward wording, “duh” moments, and more.  When I get their feedback, it’s time to go through the manuscript again.  (I want to stress here, that I’ve had my writing friends for years now–I know when they mark something, I’ve screwed up.  But it takes a while to find critique partners who are right for you.  A friend wrote in circles for a while, because her partners didn’t know her genre and wanted to change her writing so that it mimicked theirs–not what a critique is for).  When I finish fixing that draft, I give the manuscript to my grammar guru who copy edits the whole thing.  Then I fix those mistakes  (hyphens don’t like me).   And finally, I give it to my agent.  And there are always more things to fix.

Finally, it’s time to put the novel or novella online.  And every writer wants readers to buy it, love it, and review it, right?  In our fantasies, every reader writes a glowing review of how much they loved the story and our writing.  And that is a fantasy.  Because it’s never going to happen.  People don’t like or look for the same things.  Hopefully, more people will like your story than not.  But you can’t please everyone.  Someone’s going to want more of this, less of that.  I’m not a famous writer.  I rejoice when I just get a review.  I read them, think them over, try to decide if I should change something in the next book.  The most helpful reviews, for me, tell me what they liked and what they didn’t.  The only reviews that bug me are the ones who give my work one star with no name and no comment.  What am I supposed to learn from them?  Come to think of it, though, that’s not as bad as my friend–who sells LOTS of books, who got a one-star review with a comment that said, “What a waste of time and money.”  That still doesn’t tell a writer what the reader didn’t like.  So maybe no comment is better:)  (My friend, by the way, had so many five-star reviews, she just shrugged and said, “Can’t win ‘em all.”  And she’s right.  You can’t.)

The thing is, a writer needs to find her balance on a tight rope of listening to people enough to grow and improve and not listening enough to stay true to her own voice/style.  I belong to an awesome writers’ group, and new writers come and go.  They usually do fine when one of us is reading.  They listen to the comments and join in when we go around the table.  We often lose them after the first time they read, though.  And I understand.  Writing is a private endeavor.  And as much as all of us want feedback, it’s not always easy to take.  Most of us, even the members who’ve been writing for a long time, can get defensive.  When it happens to me, the trick is to keep my  mouth shut, give myself a few days to digest what failed on a colossal level, and then figure out how to fix it.  But my first instinct–and theirs, too–is to defend our work.  But if a person doesn’t like it, he doesn’t like it.  That doesn’t mean we have to change it.  I’d say that if four out of five people tell you something doesn’t work, though…well, you’d better fix it.  Reviews are pretty much the same.  They can be helpful, but at the end of the day, your writing is yours.  And you can’t please everyone.

My final point–as much as feedback can make us doubt ourselves, thank the heavens if you get some good, honest comments.  They’re not easy to come by.  I am grateful to every reader who goes to the bother to share his/her thoughts about my stories and writing.  THANK YOU!

Writing–What’s your theme?

My friend, Paula, from Scribes flew with me to San Diego years ago for a writers’ conference that featured Elizabeth George.  We’re both huge fans of her writing.  Her  presentation was well worth the flight, but one of the things that stood out for me was her idea that each writer repeats a theme over and over again in each novel they write.  There might be a “topic” theme that’s unique for each book–and she said she doesn’t know what hers is until the book’s finished–but authors have a personal take on the world that sneaks into their work.

I thought about that when I switched from the mystery genre to urban fantasy.  Did that mean my life theme had changed?  I don’t think so.  I couldn’t figure mine out for a while until I attended a lecture where the speaker broke down what attracted readers to different genres and sub-genres.  I fell into the “good vs. evil and good wins” camp.  In my stories and novels, I do what many mystery writers do–I make sure that crime, ultimately, does NOT pay, and good conquers evil and restores the world to its natural order, even if my protagonist has to break a few rules to make that happen.  That’s why I can’t really write horror.  In horror, evil CAN win and sometimes does.  My evil might win a few battles, but it always loses the war.

Another friend, who writes noir (Les Edgerton–and he does it exceptionally well–you should check him out if noir’s your thing) wrote that monsters can’t scare him in fiction, because he knows there’s no such thing.  He can’t suspend disbelief and worry that the vampire will drain poor Miss Marple.  To frighten him, the threat has to be distinctly human in the making–because that, he can believe might happen.  I, on the other hand, can easily be more frightened by a supernatural threat than a mortal one.  Why?  For me, it’s not about the actual event.  It’s about the struggle of “good vs. evil.”  Mostly, it’s about how hard a person will cling to his morals/beliefs in the face of almost sure defeat, how hard he’ll strive to be his idea of “good” or “worthy.”

My author friends who write romance don’t just like “boy meets girl, boy loses girl, boy must win girl” type stories.  They write romance because they believe in and value the concept that love is a unique, important value that can change a person’s life and world.  They love the idea of love.

When a writer creates a plot, peopled by characters, his most basic beliefs color the world he creates, and that, maybe, becomes his own personal theme.  Every planet and orbit revolves around it, because at his core, that’s how he sees the world, what drives him.   What seeps into your stories?  When you play creator, what rules drive your characters and the decisions they must make?

(Just a note:  my novel, Fallen Angels, is free for Kindles through May 21st: http://www.amazon.com/Fallen-Angels-ebook/dp/B0079MLWSQ/ref=sr_1_13?s=digital-text&ie=UTF8&qid=1369065362&sr=1-13&keywords=Judith+Post)

Also, later this week, the author Kyra Jacobs interviews me on her blog, Indiana Wonderer.  http://indianawonderer.wordpress.com/

Writing–the long & short of it

I have five e-books online.  I read a post on marketing that said that it was smart to post short fiction inbetween your long fiction, and since I like writing short, I thought Why not?  And that might have been a smart decision, but I didn’t stop there.  No, I decided to write five different series of novellas.  Why? you ask.  Because I didn’t have a clue.

E-books and marketing have been a totally new experience for me.  I’m still learning as I go.  And I was having so much fun writing novellas, I didn’t stop and ask myself, How will you market them?  Would concentrating on one set of characters bring more readers to your novels than offering five different series?  Or will people look at the twenty-some things you’ve posted and run for the hills?

The reviews and comments I’ve received have been interesting.  I chose to write Lunch Hour Reads.  Jen, at Goodreads, thought of the term, and it conjured quick, fun stories that would entertain a reader for one or two sittings.   The very first novella I wrote was One Less Warlock–a short, 22 pages, something you could fly through and pass a pleasant lunch break or short commute.  Readers enjoyed the story, but wrote that they wanted more–more time in River City, more time hanging out with Babet and Prosper.  I bumped the stories to about 40 pages each, still short enough to be considered a quick read.  And some readers still ask for more.  They’d still prefer longer.  Which makes me happy.  It means they like where my story’s taken them, but I’ve written enough of each series, that I’d like to keep the stories consistent, at least for now, so 40 pages, it is.

It’s summer writing time again for me.  Ty’s home from college.  There’s yard work and gardening.  That’s when I like to write short stuff, because I can pound out some pages without holding so much back story and so many plot lines in my head.  But my novellas have morphed into a life of their own.  They, too, have more and more characters, more and more back story, and broader story arcs.  I have to ask myself, Are my characters growing in each story?  Is the setting intrinsic to each story line?  Is there movement from the first story to the last?

I’ve gotten hooked on some of the series, but how far do I want to go with them?  Should some end at four novellas and some go farther?  Which ones?  And how do I choose?  Novellas started out as a fun break from novels, but they’ve gotten more complicated.  And how many book covers does a reader want to see when he visits your site for the first time?

I don’t have any answers.  I’m still in the learn-as-you-go phase of e-books and novellas.  But I think too much can be overwhelming.  I intended to put novellas together on amazon to form series, to show that there were five story lines to choose from, but there’s no way to do so that I’ve found.  I can bundle them on bitly, but not at Barnes and Noble or other online publishers.  So not only am I challenged as a writer, I’m technologically challenged, as well.  But I’m learning.  And for me, that’s what the e-book experience is all about.  Hopefully, some day, I’ll stumble my way to success.  But in the meantime, I’m having one heck of a good time writing.  But I have to ask myself:  Do readers long for longer?  Or can short be satisfying?

What about you?  Do you have a length that appeals to you more?  Even in novels?

http://www.judithpostswritingmusings.com/

Writing–Dogs vs. Cats

I killed a dog once.  In a story.  It was back when I was still writing mysteries.  And I got some pretty strong reactions from editors.  “How could you kill a cute, little dog?”  Now, mind you, I’d killed a few people in this novel, but that was par for the course.  Kill a dog, and I heard about it.  But more than a few editors responded with notes that said, “Killing a dog in a mystery is risky, but NEVER kill a cat.”  I guess that an inordinate amount of mystery lovers are cat lovers–so just like in Egyptian times, kill a cat & the gods might smite you.

I wrote some short stories for a Barnes & Noble anthology once, Crafty Cat Crimes–got lucky and had two accepted–but the trick was to have the cat solve or help solve the crime.  I know that a lot of my friends are fans of Lilian Jackson Braun and some of the new “cat” mysteries, but I had never, ever written a mystery where an animal brought justice to the villain.  I have to admit, that slowed me down for a minute.

I learned from experience, though, that I got strong, passionate feedback when I included animals in stories.   I wrote a novella where I had the hero race his horse home, hand him to a groom, and tell the groom to give him an extra treat–that he’d earned it…and got feedback about how the horse should be wiped down and walked to cool off, etc. BEFORE he went to the stables and was fed.  Which was great, because the reader obviously loved horses.  And I obviously should have mentioned that the horse was well tended.

I’ve used children in stories, and I think they add a nice, not-adult view of happenings that give a different take on plot points.  And people seem to like kids in fiction, but I don’t get nearly the strong feedback on a kid as on a beast of some sort.  In my Babet/Prosper novellas, I had a wise, poisonous boa constrictor (magic makes her poisonous) that chooses to be Babet’s familiar, and a few people actually squirmed at my writers’ group when I read about Morgana slithering onto Babet’s shoulders and wrapping her coils around Babet’s arm.

All that I’m saying, I guess, is that people aren’t the only characters that can make an impact in a story.  Weres and shifters aren’t quite as effective.  In readers’ minds, they’re still humans–just with a few animal instincts thrown into the mix.  But toss in a dog, a cat, or a parrot–and you’d better treat them right.  Readers will forgive grisly murders, betrayals, and mass destruction–but kill a dog..or a cat.. or a bird.. and you’re in a LOT of trouble:)

http://www.judithpostswritingmusings.com/

 

Writing Backwards

When I wrote mysteries, I always started with an idea that hooked me.  Some odd thought would snag my imagination, and it wouldn’t let go until I built scenes around it.  The scenes told me what type of character I was going to follow through that particular story.  Sometimes, I’d get so gung-ho, I’d rush into writing.  At that stage of my craft, rushing was a mistake.  Almost every story I started, when I didn’t have an ending in mind, lacked the tension and punch my stories–with endings in mind–had.  I’ve written for so long now, I don’t need to plot as hard as I once did–at least, not on paper.  Because now, the rhythm and twists are so internalized, they’re just part of the process.

A friend read some of my stories and said, “I could never write these.  How do you come up with so many ideas?”  “But it’s easy,” I told her, “if you know the end and write backwards.”  And it’s true.  You have a beginning, and if you know the end, you just need to figure out how to get there.  If it’s a mystery, you can sprinkle in clues and red herrings along the way, because you know which things ARE clues.  You know who did it and why.  Same holds true for most stories you write.  But middles can still be muddles, so that’s why I fiddled around until I found what works for me.

I spelled out my plotting technique in an earlier blog, but basically, I divide  a story (whatever it’s length) into four parts.  And I know how the story will end, so….

The first fourth is set-up:

1.  One heck of a hook–whatever grabs the reader and pulls him in.  (It doesn’t have to be in-your-face to do this).

2.  Introduce the main & minor characters through action–not back story.

3.  The inciting incident and big story question (both external and internal).

3.  The setting has to contribute to that particular story’s tone/mood/plot.  Show it through the protagonist’s POV, what it means to him.

4.  For novels, I introduce 1 or 2 subplots that deal with the same theme as the main plot.

5.  A direction the protagonist goes in, thinking he’ll resolve his problem and make his world right again.

6.  At the end of the set-up, he discovers his solution won’t work or that his problem’s bigger than he ever thought.

After the set-up, I think of at least 2 more plot twists and try to put the first twist in the middle of the story and the next twist close to the 3/4 mark.  Then for the last fourth of the story, I tie things up and finish what I already put in place–rushing toward my ending.

This technique took something unwieldy (writing an entire novel) and broke it into smaller pieces that make it easier for my brain to hold.  Until, that is, I got bored doing the same-old, same-old.  And I decided to write a novel where I knew the beginning and I knew the end, but my goal for myself after the set-up was to try to put my protagonist in as much trouble as I could get her in, scene after scene, and then get her out of trouble by asking myself, “What would the reader never expect to happen here?”

I wrote the book.  A friend read it.  A small publisher even took it and then went out of business.  (Not my book’s fault.  Lack of money).  And my friend said, “Hmmm, my daughter loved it, but it sure isn’t your usual writing, is it?”  Not a compliment, but I had to laugh.  No, it wasn’t my usual writing, and that was the point.  I learned a lot from that book (not that I recommend writing books to experiment with unless you really don’t care if it’s published or not.  At that point in my life, writing was still a hobby to me, my “me” time.  I wrote and sent books, but wasn’t really surprised if no one took them).  But that book gave me a wonderful sense of freedom.

Before, I tried really hard to write like my favorite authors wrote, to do as they did.  When I gave myself permission to ask, “What do I want to do now?” and it could be anything, I came up with plot twists and scenes I’d never considered before.  Not that it made for a great book, but it made for a fun one.  So now, I make a habit of using the Rule of Three.  (I’ve heard Shirley Jump on panels and in workshops, and she uses the Rule of Six.  If I’d have heard her first, maybe I’d have tried harder, but she’s smarter than I am, or maybe I’m lazier, so three works for me).  Anyway, when I come to a culmination scene now (where I’ve laid the ground work for it and, hopefully, the reader’s waiting to see what happens), I try NOT to go with my first idea–the obvious.  I try to think of a second and a third result that’s feasible, but unexpected, and I go with that.

So my technique now?  I still use the four part strategy for stories, but I give myself more wiggle room.  I try to suprise myself more often.  My advice to new writers?  Find what works for you and have fun!

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Writing–Enjoy the Words

I love my writing group, Summit City Scribes.  We get together twice a month and critique each others’  manuscripts.  We mention what we find strong and wondrous in each piece and what we think might make it better.  We bully and encourage each other, and eventually, most of us end up being pretty darned good writers.

And then it’s time to figure out what to do with what we wrote.  This isn’t a how-to about selling books.  It’s not practical advice, but from the heart.  Some of us in Scribes have been writing for a long time.  I remember the days when a writer could send a query letter directly to an editor at a publishing house.  True, the editor might never look at it, but some poor underling or slush pile reader trudged through each submission, and if it was deemed worthy enough, a writer could get a reply from the editor. These were  considered ”good” rejections.

A few of us at Scribes have managed to survive “almost” deals, where an editor asked for a manuscript, held it to publish, and then the deal fell through.  Twice, editors held novels I wrote for future lines their companies meant to start, and then, for whatever reason, decided against trying.   Frustrating?  Yes.  But not nearly as frustrating as today’s world of traditional publishing where no editors or slush pile readers even accept unsolicited manuscripts.  In today’s world, an author has to find an agent, and only an agent can submit manuscripts to editors.  In the “old days,” publishers had a strong stable of midlist authors who might never reach the Top Ten lists, but sold consistently.  There were lots of places to submit and sell short stories.  A new writer could “cut her teeth” and learn as she got better and better at her craft.

Things have changed.  I have a writer friend who claims that finding an agent is easy.  It is for him.  He’s well known in the publishing world.  For the rest of us?  It’s blood, pain, and tears.  I was lucky enough to get an agent who’s anything and everything that I’d ever hope for an agent to be, but I still didn’t have any luck selling my books. I have a habit of writing cross-genre that I find exhilarating, but publishers aren’t so fond of.  I also have a tendency to write for markets that are already full or starting to sag.  So I bugged Lauren to let me put my writing online.  She warned me that sticking a novel on amazon and Barnes and Noble, etc., would be no trip to overnight success.  And boy, was she right!

Before she’d even put my work online, she had a list of to-dos I had to complete.  I needed 50 followers on Twitter, I needed to start a blog and join some kind of internet group–I chose Goodreads and love it–and I needed to be on Facebook.  None of these are any best kept secrets.  There are lots of posts on how to create a “brand” as a writer these days.  But what Lauren was making sure of was that I’d at least TRY to market myself and promote my work.  No one does it for you these days, unless you’re a big name author who will make a publisher lots of money.

Writing is hard work.  So is marketing.  And what’s frustrating to me is when a new author shows tons of potential in our group, and she asks, “What should I do now?,” more often than not, the answer is, “If you want to try to find an agent and publisher, go for it.  But if it takes forever and it doesn’t look good, put your work online.”  Thankfully, Scribes has Melissa, our computer guru, who can whip up a book cover, format a book, and put it on Kindle in the blink of an eye.

The sad news, to me, is that it’s so hard to get a traditional publisher to take on a new writer these days.  The good news?  E-books have taken the place of midlist author slots and pulp fiction magazines that used to serve as practice grounds that gave writers time to learn and grow.  But going the e-book route, an author has to market and promote to get her work any attention.  The only exception that I can think of, off the top of my head, is Harlequin romance.  Editors there still welcome writers and work with them.  A writer doesn’t have to have an agent to submit to one of their lines.  More places might exist, but I can’t think of them.

In a way, it’s so easy to put a book online these days that there’s no filter to assure quality of writing.  There are so many books online that it’s hard to stand out.  So my advice to writers?  Enjoy putting words on paper (or computer screens) and write the best books you can, because that, for me, is the luxury part of the job.  The business part is necessary, and I’m not saying it’s not without its joys, but it takes a new set of skills.

Writing–am I good enough?

Last week was Easter, and I didn’t write a blog because Tyler was home from college and things got busy.  Starting tomorrow night, I’ll have a strict no writing, just play policy.  We’re going to Florida to visit my daugher and son-in-law, and John’s brother is flying from San Francisco to meet us there.  We won’t get back until the 19th.  I’ll miss my blog,  e-mails, twitter, and facebook, but it’s not a vacation if I keep my usual routine.  I used to feel serious guilt when I wasn’t pounding out words at my computer or trying to market my books/novellas, but I’ve relaxed a little.  (I say that now, but by the 17th, I’ll probably be worrying that all of my novels will tank because I’m not here, pampering them:)

The thing is, most writers have an insecurity or two.  We love the actual process of writing, but we always wonder if we’re good enough, if readers will like what we put on offer, and if enough readers will ever like us to make us serious contenders on the charts.  We write and rewrite, trying to make our book as good as we can make it.  And then we worry.  Did the plot work?  Did we hold the readers’ attention or have pages they skimmed over?  Did the readers like or care about our characters?  And after we get some good reviews, and we’re starting to feel a little frisky, someone is happy to give us a low rating and point out all of the flaws he/she found between our book covers.  I’ve learned from some of the helpful reviews, the ones that say “I liked this, but ….”  I don’t expect to write a perfect book, even when I try, so I’m interested in what readers consider my weaknesses.  Lately, though, I’ve read two blogs by writers who are seriously doubting themselves because their books haven’t sold like they hoped they would.

There are many reasons that books don’t sell.  One might be that the writer still has more to learn, that the book has too many flaws.  But another reason could be that not enough people FIND the book.  Marketing takes time and effort.  I’m still not comfortable with it.  I’ve read over and over that one book isn’t enough to give an author any marketing clout, that more books mean more sells.  Others say that writing a series helps.   I’ve heard that 50 reviews is the “magic” number that helps lift a writer’s ranking.  Some genres sell better than others, but if a writer tries for a “hot” market, it could easily be glutted by the time he gets his novel finished–and then there are LOTS of books for readers to choose from, and his might get lost in the masses.  Accordingly, many pros tell us to write what we’re passionate about.  The passion shines through.

I’m guessing that most writers will never feel like they got everything right.  The next book will always be better.  And hopefully, it is.  But there are no guarantees.  Every book is different.  Just like kids, each one comes with its own challenges.  And just like most parents I know, we’ll second guess ourselves on whether we did everything the right way, or if maybe we could have done it better.  And the truth is, we’re never going to please everybody.  What one reader likes, another might hate.  So all we can do is write–and do it to the best of our ability or creativity or whatever’s driving us at that moment.  And eventually, we’ll get better and find our niche and get things more right than wrong.  (And we’ll still probably worry).

(I won’t be here to reply to any comments until after the 19th, so if you don’t hear from me, that’s why.  We have house/dog sitters, but they don’t blog).