Sarah Allen's Blog, page 37

What are you up to this weekend?

Hey guys :)

Conversation with my eight year old sister from yesterday:

Her: Ya know how sometimes people don't look like what they are? Like, if I just met you I wouldn't think that you were a writer.
Me: Really? What would you think I was?
Her: Um...I don't know what its called. It starts with a G.
Me: What do they do?
Her: They sit and play video games all day. Oh! Geek!

Gotta love the family support ;) Apparently even my eight year old sister thinks I'm at my computer too much.

Mostly I'm okay with this, because even though its true that if I'm not at work I'm probably at my computer, my computer time is almost always writing and blogging and networking, which are good things in my mind.

However, sometimes I need a refresher. A person needs to get out and do things, too. Not simply because of my sisters not-so-subtle hint, but I've been thinking about this a lot and talking with some friends about it lately. I've blogged about this before. I guess I'm a little too obsessed with BEING PRODUCTIVE, so a lot of times other things don't feel as writerly productive as blogging and querying and...ya know...writing.

Anybody else feel this way? There are some fabulous things to do in the DC area, and the birds are starting to get obnoxious and the trees are getting green. That is enough to get out for.

But what are your ideas? What gets you out of the house? What are your hobbies or interests besides writing?

What are you doing this weekend?

Sarah Allen

Little Things

[image error] Sometimes I get so many ideas popping in my head, so many plans, so many projects and things I want to do, and there's no possible way for me to have it all done RIGHT NOW like I want. I am learning to take things day by day, and that big houses are made with little bricks.

Little things get you there.

Little things like writing every day. Writing that new novel or that short story and editing your old one. Submitting to a few more agents. Writing a blog post and interacting with awesome people on Twitter.

Dusting off that old picture book manuscript and finding more publishers to send it to.
Getting in those 1000 words. Again.
Researching the next agent you're going to send to.
Making a social media spreadsheet.
Getting another 1000 words.
Reading a chapter of that novel on your nightstand, because we all need to replenish our word bank.
Sending the next chapter to your crit group.
Getting in ANOTHER THOUSAND WORDS DANG IT.

It's those things that will get you to the awesome place you envision. I'm counting on it.

Sarah Allen

Worth 1000 Words

Some paintings out there tell some FABULOUS stories. Here are some good ones:

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I will never be as good a visual artist as these guys, but they are definitely inspiring.

Who are some of your favorite artists?

Sarah Allen

What Gets You Reading Outside Your Genre?

I think we all have a nice set of adjectives we use to describe ourselves as readers: eclectic, voracious, avid. We can't help ourselves. I think most of us go from George Elliot to John Green to Jeffery Eugenides to Terry Pratchett without too much hesitation. Yes, we have our favorites that we go back to time and time again, and the genre where we're most comfortable, but I think most of us enjoy the occasional foray into other territory.

But today, when I say outside your genre, I'm talking really outside your genre.

My local library has two floors. Ground floor, we've got the adult fiction right up front, and science fiction and fantasy on the wall behind that. To the left is the wish-it-was-bigger young adult section. You walk through a door and there's a big room for the kids books. Then in the basement is all the non-fiction.

I've been in the basement maybe twice. Which is not much, especially considering how often I am at that library. Almost every time I leave I have something from adult, young adult, and kids, but I never go downstairs.

This is what I'm talking about. What would get readers like me to the downstairs books? I think I need to ponder this further before I have any good answers, which is why I'm asking you. And here's why I think it's important: for books to really break out, really get BIG, it needs to draw readers from every part of the book store. And it's fair to say we all want to reach as many readers as possible, right?

I think the last non-fiction book I read was Bird by Bird by Anne Lammot because 1) it was recommended by my trusty book recomenderer, and 2) it was directly applicable to me. Those are the best answers I've come up with so far for why fiction readers would delve into the non-fiction section. What others can you think of?

And I know there are plenty of those who generally only read non-fiction. Heck, I work at Barnes and Noble and that's an answer I've gotten from plenty of my co-workers when I ask about their favorite books. Only about half of the books on the staff recommendations shelf are novels. Like I said, I'm starting to come up with reasons for fiction readers to go to non-fiction, but what about vice versa? So for you non-fiction readers out there, what was the last novel you read and what made you pick it up?

I also know that there are plenty of people who only read mysteries or Pulitzer winners or books written in the 1800's (I wouldn't blame you). That's totally cool to read this way, but what makes you pick up the rare book outside your main category?

Leave your thoughts in the comments! Let me know the last "outside" book you read, and why you read it. I'm anxious to get some more ideas about this :)

Sarah Allen

Be So Good They Can't Ignore You (and Americas Next Top Model)

Of all the proverbs, platitudes, adages and whatever that people throw around, this is one of my favorite and one of the most, I think, useful. This one is from the hilarious, sage, respectable, entertaining Steve Martin. He's always been one of my favorites, one of those rare people whose celebrity hasn't tainted their decency as human beings.

I've had this quote at the back of my mind for a while and it's recently become useful in some interesting context.

So, maybe I was watching America's Next Top Model, and maybe I'm about to impart from the Book of Tyra Banks...don't judge me :) Anyway, on the show there were only like five girls left in the running and their assignment was "go-sees," which is apparently where a model "goes and sees" designers and other fashion-y type people and they see if they want to hire her. So, its obviously important for models to do well on these go-sees because its, ya know, how they get work.

What happened was that at the end judging part Tyra was talking about how each of the girls had something that the designer and fashion-world people could use as an excuse for not hiring her. One girl was 25 which is *gasp* positively ancient in model years, one girl was too quirky, one girl was 5'7'' which means that in the fashion world she's basically a midget, a couple of the girls were black, which, emotion and rightness and whatever aside, statistically still is a huge disadvantage in the modeling world.

Tyra pointed out that there are hugely successful models with each and every one of these "negative strikes." (Tyra herself, obviously.) That anyone with these "flaws" can go into a interview or go-see and just be so good that they are left with no excuse. You have not given them a reason to ignore you.

I think that's the same battle we're fighting in the publishing industry. There is just so much out there and people are looking for every excuse to mentally put us aside and find something better. They don't have time to let us prove ourselves. We're all the same way. If you're reading a sample on your kindle and the story or writing just isn't sparking, we're gonna delete and it not think about it again. Even more than that, when I'm in a bookstore and I pick up a random book and I don't like the first line, that's the end right there. If we're going to make people pay attention to us we have to grab them by the throat from the very beginning and not let go.

And I think we do that by playing to our strengths. I will never be as good a plotter as Stephen King. I will never be as transcendentally poetic as Wallace Stegner or have the same delightful humor splashing through my work as Charles Dickens. Nobody will. But King and Stegner and Dickens don't write like me or any of us, either, and they've all gotten many horrific reviews. (Some delightful person on Amazon says, and I quote, "Stephen King should find somthing new to do like not writting books.") Don't misunderstand me: these three are genius and if I can write half as well as them at their worst than I will feel okay calling myself a good writer. But I also think that part of their genius is that they played to their strengths and did what THEY did so well. So well that despite any bad reviews, despite prejudice at the publishers, whatever, they could not be ignored.

This is not to say that we should not take criticism into account. We all have room to improve, and should be trying to. Yes some critics just don't get it and what they say is bollocks (thank you Amazon), but often it is wise and productive and can cover our literary blind-spots. We need it. But in addition to improving on our weaknesses, I submit that what will help us most is blaring our strengths so brightly that we cannot be ignored, that the weaknesses don't matter.

In short, listen to Steve Martin and Tyra Banks. Be so good they can't ignore you.

Sarah Allen

Keeping Motivated Between Boosts

Every once in a while, something happens that validates your efforts. Like sign posts, they tell you you're on the right path.

You finish your novel.
You get a short piece accepted by a literary magazine.
Your university gives you a creative writing scholarship.
You place in a creative writing competition.
You get a positive, personalized rejection or sample request from an agent.

These moments are great. They are like water in a desert.

However, I've been realizing more lately that to really find success, motivation has to come from a place that's a lot deeper and a lot more internal. If we rely only on these kinds of circumstantial boosts, however important and lovely, we may run dry. We can't control when these things are going to happen, and if we're going to have consistent and long-term success, we need to be motivated and productive in the between times too.

It's hard, though. I feel like the boost moments can bring your end goal into sharper focus, make it feel more concrete, and going for a long time without them makes it feel fuzzy and so far away. That can spell death for ambition and motivation. Or at least put pressure on your reserves of strength.

So how do you keep going when it feels like you're on empty? I've found that talking with writer friends really helps to keep each other motivated. They know what I'm going through and their excitement can be contagious. Its also important to keep focused on the project at hand and let the writing itself be exciting and important and motivating. Because it is.

Sometimes I think it comes down to simply just doing it. Make a schedule for writing, submitting and networking. A little bit every day, even when its not fun, not exactly what you want to be doing, even when you'd rather be sitting on the couch watching Animal Cops.

The cool thing is, after a while of powering through on empty, that's exactly what will get you to your next boost.

Sarah Allen

Time for Book Recommendations

So, I'm going through the library faster than I ever have, meaning I need some good book ideas :) Here are some I've read recently and enjoyed.

1. Swamplanida! by Karen Russell
2. Night Circus by Erin Morgenstern
3. The White Darkness by Geraldine McCaughrean
4. My Name is Not Easy by Debby Dahl Edwardson
5. The One and Only Ivan by Katherine Applegate

Your turn! What are the best books you've read lately?

Sarah Allen

Who Are Your Favorite YouTube Artists?

No denying it, YouTube has become one of the premier artistic platforms of our age. It's got everything. Poetry, book trailers, music videos, dancing, animated shorts, all of it. Even us writers, whose medium is the written word rather than video, can find an overwhelming amount of beauty and inspiration. Here are some of my favorites:

And even some incredible educational videos that also manage to be entertaining:


I know that's a lot of videos, but they are all SO WORTH IT. Take some time this weekend and enjoy.

The real reason I wanted talk about this, though, is to get recommendations. So take a minute and browse through your watch history and your likes and your favorites and tell me: Who are your favorite YouTube artists? What videos have most inspired you? Which do you come back to again and again?

Sarah Allen

Books My Younger Siblings Like

I took two of my siblings to the library last night. I took my little sister S, which is fairly normal. She and I are the bookworms of the family, and I take her to the library with me a lot.

I also took my brother J. That was a miracle. It seems like he's been having a rough couple days and he's found himself with a bigger chunk of free-time now that basketball seasons ended. He came and asked me for a book to read which, you guys know, is about the best question a person can get. He was almost shy about it. It was pouring rain but my mom looked at me with a take-this-chance-and-run look and said, "Take him to the library before he changes his mind." Of course S wanted to come too, and we went.

So, okay. S is eight years old, right? I was picking out books with J while she walked through the kids section. She hurried up to me with one of those white hardcover abridged-for-kids books, Great Expectations. I said, "I'm impressed you picked Dickens."

She smiled and said, "This is the one she reads in Matilda, right?"

I told her yes, sort of, but that this wasn't the real version. She looked crestfallen for a moment and then asked where the real one was. "It's long," I warned her. She wanted to see it. So we went and I pulled out some shorter Dickens, but she wanted that one. So I gave her Great Expectations and she took it to the kids section and began to read.

Now, J. In the past, he has really enjoyed listening to the Harry Potter audio-books. He has also enjoyed the Redwall series by Brian Jaques, the Percy Jackson series, and Levin Thumps. But he is fifteen, and its been a while since I've seen him pick up a book for fun. I've recently kept audiobooks going in my car and on the occasions when I'm driving him somewhere or picking him up from school, if I haven't turned it to the radio before he gets in the car, he'll turn it for me, or put up a fuss until I let him. Last week I had playing in my car The Witches by Roald Dahl. Maybe I was just feeling particularly stubborn that day but when I picked him up from school I told him we were listening to the book and he couldn't do anything about it. Whether it was Dahl's delightful writing or the fabulously British narration, he didn't throw too much of a fit. The next time I picked him up the radio was on. He switched it to the audiobook.

Last night at the library, with the very helpful recommendations of my go-to book recomenderer, we ended up with The Graveyard Book and Odd and the Frost Giants by Neil Gaiman, and Enders Game. We'll see how it goes.

S ended up with Ingrid Law's Saavy rather than Great Expectations, but she'll get to Dickens eventually, I have no doubt. She has to finish Among the Hidden before she starts on Saavy, and she plans to finish all the books in the Shadow Children's series too.

Here's the quick-list of some books my younger siblings have read and loved.

Redwall, Brian Jacques
Percy Jackson and the Lighting Thief, Rick Riordan
Leven Thumps, Obert Skye
The Witches, Road Dahl
Among the Hidden, Margaret Peterson Haddix
Bud Not Buddy, Christopher Paul Curtis
Sideways Stories from Wayside School, Louis Sachar

What would you guys recommend, next time I rope my younger siblings to the library?

Sarah Allen

10 Weird and Creepy Places to Set a Novel (Part 2)

Welcome to Part 2 of 10 Weird and Creepy Places to Set a Novel. Yesterday we focused a lot on the creepy, and today we're going to focus on the weird. That being said, these places definitely still have a good amount of creep factor, and in many cases you don't have to travel very far.

6. Arthur Kill Ship Graveyard


Just off Staten Island, the bay has become a graveyard for old unused and dismantled tugboats. Over the years many ships that are no longer in operation have accumulated here and been left to rot. It makes me feel sad, a bit, and also curious. I imagine characters climbing barriers and exploring, and who knows what they might find.

7. Dead Horse Bay

An ideal place for collectors, Dead Horse Bay is hopefully not as creepy as it sounds. Once an area of horse processing plants (hence the name, I think) it eventually became a landfill until the cap burst, spewing trash onto the bay and into the ocean. Although you never know what you may find among the rubbish.

8. Republic of Molossia


So apparently some people can get away with being like, "Hey, I'm making my own country," and then it happens. Such is the case with the The Republic of Molossia in the heart of Nevada, founded by Kevin Baugh. It originated as a childhood game and then developed into an actual territory of about 1.3 acres. Allegedly, Kevin Baugh accepts cookie dough as legal tender, and his little micro-nation is still in a state of war with East Germany. And he doesn't pay taxes.

9. UFO Watchtower


In Hooper, Colorado, Judy Messoline has capitalized on the enthusiasm of Southwestern UFO enthusiasts. You can come here to camp and watch for UFOs, or at least the beautiful desert sky. The campground is complete with rock gardens, a gift shop, and Judy can even legally officiate a wedding. Now what type of characters would go for that?


10. Trinity Church, King George Island


A church in Antarctica? Sure, why not. In the 90's a charity called "Temple for Antarctica" began collecting funds all across Russia and the church was finished and consecrated in 2004. It is manned year round by two volunteer Orthodox priests (now they would be fascinating characters) who pray for the souls of Russians who have died on polar expeditions and service the spiritual needs of the people at the Bellinghausen Station. They've even performed a wedding.

There you have it! Ten weird and creepy places to fire your writerly imagination. Any others you would recommend?

Sarah Allen