Sarah Allen's Blog, page 8

Have You Diversified your Writing Portfolio?

Firstly, check out this awesome post from Chuck Wendig about making a serious career/living out of this wordsmithing we do.

One thing he talks about in this post that I've been trying to focus on lately is diversifying your writing paths. There are a lot of great writerly options out there, and I don't think we have to pick all of them, but I think we should at least pick a handful.

I like novels, and I think most of all y'all do too, and that is and will stay the largest egg in my basket. But I think Chuck is wise to advocate incubating more than just one egg. (If you're looking to make writing your career, at any rate. There are other writing choices and lifestyles that are beautiful and wonderful too.)

Since writing for a living has been my dream since I was in middle school, this is advice I've been trying to take to heart. And now that I've finished grad school, this is where I'm focusing my energies. I'm querying the novels, of course, but I've also started seriously learning about pitching articles to magazines, news stories to newspapers, working on projects like picture and chapter books as well as my MG and YA novels, researching screenwriting, professional blogging opportunities, etc. Because those are the writing paths that seem at least sort of interesting to me.

There are a ton of other writing possibilities too. TV writing, technical writing, medical writing, legal writing, tons of stuff. In fact, so many it can feel overwhelming. But narrowing down your focus and energies on the opportunities and projects that really excite you can help you take steps towards full time writing.

Do you think this approach to a writing career is helpful for you? What three writing paths would be your top choices?

Sarah

Two Ways You Might Be Self-Rejecting Your Own Writing

I'm fighting self-rejection at this very moment, actually.

As I'm sitting at my computer trying to decide what to blog about, every idea I come up with seems dumb. Including this one. You guys are already pros. You don't need my two bits. I've got a shelf next to me of books by Ellen Degeneres and Jim Gaffigan and Dave Barry and when I'm working on bloggy stuff I pull one of those books out and glance through it for inspiration, but what often ends up happening is that I see how hilarious these guys are and I'm like, well, if I post anything ever, someone's going to hold up my drivel next to the genius of Dave Barry and it will by like Tyra Banks entering a beauty contest with a blob fish.

Okay, I'm being over-dramatic here, but there are some not very nice monsters that can sneak into our brains sometimes. And really, self-rejection and self-doubt can be like an anvil tied to the ankle of a swimmer. You may be Micheal Freaking Phelps but if you're attached to that anvil you ain't goin nowhere.

As I've struggled with starting new projects lately, and as I've talked with writer friends, I've noticed too serious ways we writers tend to self-reject ourselves. I mean, we get rejected enough. We get the proverbial door slammed in our face all the time, there is NO reason we should be slamming it on ourselves.

1. We Self-Reject our Original Ideas. This is the one I've been dealing with lately. I finished a novel several months ago and it was one of the easiest novels I've ever written and it just felt natural and fun. But ever since then, every tiny idea that's come through my head has been like a little ant under the boot of self-rejection. Every idea has felt stupid and dumb. I get a spark of something and then the monster in my brain says, "No, that's not how things really go." Or, "No, that idea isn't going to interest anybody but you."

So what to do about? I say we should call it the jerk-face meanie poo monster that it really is, see it as a voice separate and apart from our true selves, put a sound-proof glass box around the nasty beast, and ignore it. Or at least do our best to most of the time. This has helped me. I've wanted to write short stories to submit to places like Asimov's or FSF but I've been stuck. But once I realized that this doubt voice was one I didn't have to listen to, I thought to myself, well heck, I'm going to write a story about sister missionaries in space if I darn well please. Who knows if it's going to end up succeeding anywhere, but I'm sure having a dang fun time writing it. And more importantly, I can already tell that the writing is more vibrant, engaging, and alive, then it would be if I was trying to paint-by-numbers some idea I thought would be what everyone else wanted to see.

2. We Self-Reject our Final Product. We're writers, which means words are our business. Ink-blobs on the page is what we're trying to sell, and sometimes it can feel weird. Like standing on the street corner asking people to by a picture of us. But it's not that. You know how the best writers have impacted your life, and what they have done for you. They've given you everything, haven't they? I know that's what writers like C.S. Lewis and Wallace Stegner have done for me. Now, I'm not saying we're going to be Lewis's and Stegners, but we shouldn't be embarrassed that we're doing what they did either. We're making beautiful things. Maybe even art.

When you have a finished piece (and I mean redrafted, beta-read, spit-shined finished) then don't let the self-doubt monster stop you there. You've done it. Now show it. Let the world benefit from your voice and your hard work, and trust that it will in fact benefit. Because someone will, and you may never know. But trust. Yeah you'll still get rejected from the outside, and that rejection sucks too, but just keep going. Make them reject you, don't reject yourself from the outset. Keep your finished pieces out in circulation. When your poem is done, send it. When your novel is done and the best you can make it, query.

You can do it.

Sarah

Is Everyone taking Anti-Depressants Without Me?

Okay. So the first and by far the most important thing that needs saying here is this: modern medicine is wonderful. Mental and emotional disorders are real, should be treated compassionately, and if anti-depressants or other pharmaceuticals can help you, then that is great. The ensuing thoughts are just me word vomiting my own experiences because this is my internetz space and I feel like it, okay? But we’re all going to remember that modern medicine is hooray and every single one of you people is wonderful and lovely, outside of whatever medicines or vitamins or fish oils or oozing laboratory concoctions you put into your body. Any questions about this, I’ll refer you to Dr. Bruce Banner. Who is lovely.
We good so far?
Okay.
I’m pretty much the ultimate stubborn optimist, so I tend to move forward viewing things as pretty great. I have bad days like anyone, sometimes really bad, and sometimes for a long time, but I’ve always been able to figure things out and move forward. I’ve never taken anti-depressants or been to a therapist. I did once take anti-anxiety meds after I got surgery on my jaw, and at first I was stubborn and thought, pssh, why are they giving me anti-anxiety meds? But that only lasted until the middle of that first night home when my heart wouldn’t stop racing and I couldn’t stop crying and I had no idea why. Then I took the anti-anxiety meds, and felt much better.
Anyway.
Because optimism is what I’m built with, there’s a thing that happens to me every so often. I’m going along, living a pretty happy life, and then something will inform or remind me that someone I know and love has a brain space or personal life space that’s pretty darn crappy. That’s broken or sick. And this inevitably, although it shouldn’t, takes me by surprise and throws me for a small loop.
So, yes, because of the way I see things, I often find myself discovering that a situation I didn’t know much about was a lot worse than I thought. Or that someone I love who I thought was doing just fine actually isn’t, that they’re getting therapeutic and/or medical help for some really hard, crappy stuff. Basically, that things are much more terrible than I thought they were when I was looking at them.
Now, obviously, this little mental jolt is a million percent less of a deal than the actual hard stuff that other people are going through. Obviously. But it’s still a jolt. When it’s bad, I end up feeling like I can’t trust my own head. Like somehow I’m being deluded. That what I experience isn’t real.
I end up thinking, is everyone seeing the real world except me?
I end up wondering if maybe I’m not as complex, nuanced, or profound as other people.
Of course, I am a stubborn, defensive, and firm believer that one person’s reality is no more “Real” than another person’s. My White Utah Mormon Girl reality and a Black Inner-City Chicago Boy reality and a Chinese Rice Farmer Grandma reality are all Reality. They’re all part of the “Real World.” And I get back to that mindset eventually, usually pretty fast. But I guess what I’m saying here is that everyone has weird neurosis, and that’s what makes us so wonderful.
At moments like this I take my own form of medication, which is a self-prescription for a forty-seventh viewing of The Best Exotic Marigold Hotel.
Remember when Dev Patel’s character is watching all his dreams collapse around him and his hotels going out of business and his mom hates his girlfriend and he’s doing his best to keep things together but they’re basically imploding. He’s distraught, but then he finally says, “Things will be alright in the end. If they are not all right, then it is not the end.”
And that’s the thought I’ll leave you with.
Until the end.

***Blog Spotlight: Blogging Can Lead To Many Career Paths, by Anne R. AllenSubmission Spotlight: Tomaz Salamun Prize (and a residency in Slovenia?!?!?)

The Most Life-Changing Book of the Last Year

Hey everyone! Been a while, for which I'm sorry. But life is in a routine again, the chaos is manageable, and the blog here is back in action!

So I think we have many reasons we want to be writers. One of them, at least for me, could be summed up as influence. I want to be able to influence lives the way other authors have influenced mine. And this can mean a lot of things, from a Judy Blume who makes a little girl feel better about herself, to an Upton Sinclair or Harriet Beecher Stowe who influences an entire nation. And I'm saying that with the understanding that both of those are equally important.

I want to talk today about an Upton Sinclair type book. I've had an interesting experience talking about this book, unlike any other. I tell people what it's about, or even just what it's called, and I see them shut down. They don't want to know.

And that is so surprising to me.

The book is called Eating Animals, by Jonathan Safran Foer. I hope you'll let me explain a bit before passing over. It may seem like a Vegan Manifesto, but it's not. The whole first chapters of the book are about how important meat, particularly his grandmothers chicken and carrots, has been in his family. And then he goes on to talk about modern farming practices. Factory farming. He's not saying we shouldn't eat meat. He's simply asking us to consider where that meat is coming from.

And honestly, why don't we? Why are we so willing to not think about what we're putting in our mouths, and when the information is put in front of us, we do our utmost to push it aside and ignore it?

I won't go into the details, because I think the information he presents does best in the context of all the research and first hand experiences this writer went through. But I ask you to read this book.

That's really the point of this post. Writers can make a huge difference. Write to make a difference in the world, and read to make a difference in yourself.

And please read this book.

Sarah

Anagramatically Speaking and YA Call for Submissions

Anagrammatically Speaking
What’s in a name?Another name?A mirror?The law waiting to be wealth?It worries meThat education can mean cautionedOr worse, be auctioned. A simple idea count.
The Word may indeed have the power to warn.But what do you make of abortion?A bio torn?I rob a ton?Brain too?
Something strikes me as trueAbout using a thing to describe itself.Parliament is, after all, a collection of partial men.A politician becomes too easily a coil in a pit.And the US of A is a hot fuse.
From the words In God We Trust we borrow tutored wings.But when we say America, we also say I am race.
Sometimes the words tell us what we already know:Internet chat rooms are where the morons interact.A dangerous situation puts us near God.Even a great organization might just be a training zoo.
It’s what names say that frightens meWith the accuracy:Clint Eastwood was destined to personify old west action.Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart was born a famous German waltz god.And William Shakespeare’s name prophesied I’ll make a wise phrase.Could President Abraham Lincoln have done anything Other than end Americans’ ill-born path?
What does it say if all I can make of my name is nasal healer?And what if a poetry writer
Is just a petty worrier? 
***
Writing Prompt: What type of magic system could you create with anagrams? Any ideas?
Call for Submissions: Well known and well respected YA magazine, Cicada, has a new call for submissions on the theme of "Duality and Doppelgangers." Due on June 20.
Read More: Check out Writer Unboxed great post on how writers can best use video marketing and networking.
Weekly Awesome: Have you guys heard this poem? Because seriously take the few minutes out of your day and watch. It is stunning.



For more frequent updates, writing tips, and funnies, follow on Facebook, Twitter, Google+, 
YouTube, Pinterest, Tumblr, GoodReads, and/or Instagram. (Snapchat: SarahWritesBook) Or if you enjoyed this post, sign up to get blog posts delivered to your inbox. 

Write on!

Sarah

Piano Lessons and an Animal Themed Call for Submissions

So I decided to go a little romancy today. I gotta say, I had so much fun with this :)

His arms reached around me, fingers set softly on the keyboard. His breath warmed my ear and he smelled like mouthwash and dryer sheets. What piece was I learning again?

“Like this,” he said, fingers trickling up the keys like shivers on a spine. “Start the scale with your second finger.”

He stayed bent over me while I placed my hands on the keyboard. I placed my fingers where his had been, played what he played. Up and down these keys, these strings, these vertebrae.

“Very good,” he said.

***

Writing Prompt: This is more of a reading/writerlife type prompt--but here it is: when was the last time you gave a young boy a book with a female protagonist? We give "boy books" to girls all the time, and so its completely skewed. So my challenge is, next time you're giving a boy a book, give him one featuring a *gasp* girl.

Call for Submissions: Lackington's is a speculative fiction magazine paying $50 for stories on the theme "Animals."

Read More: 3 Writing Tips from Beyonce from The Write Practice because why the heck not?

Weekly Awesome: Ok, you guys have all seen The Lizzie Bennet diaries on YouTube, right? Because IF NOT:


For more frequent updates, writing tips, and funnies, follow on Facebook, Twitter, Google+, 
YouTube, Pinterest, Tumblr, GoodReads, and/or Instagram. (Snapchat: SarahWritesBook) Or if you enjoyed this post, sign up to get blog posts delivered to your inbox. 

Write on!

Sarah

In These Chambers and a Call for Speculative Short Fiction

In These Chambers

Here's the empty room in my heart.
I've been saving it, if needed, for you.
Please ignore the worm, he's just clearing
corners for you to crawl in to.
Did you bring a chair?
I'm sorry I'm so unprepared.
Usually its just me in here, listening
to gnawing sounds.
Sometimes I hum but when the notes make
the rounds off the chamber walls and echo
back to me, it just makes the place seem
emptier.
But here's an open atrium, if you like.
You can't see the stars from here,
but maybe with the two of us in here
we can count blood cells whooshing by instead.
Maybe we look out of each other rather
than out of windows.
I am out of windows.
If we get trapped in here, I'm sorry, but please
come in anyway. It's not tidy,
but I've turned the heat up
and I think it will be warm soon. It's taken
a long time to fit it in, but if you
will just step this way, there's a place
to hang your hat.

***
Writing Prompt: I admit this poem was inspired by this Billy Joel song. What is the most inspiring song to you, and what would the first line of your spin off poem be?

Call for Submissions: Shimmer Magazine is accepting speculative short fiction until May 31st. Send in your best stuff!

Read More: Read this great post from Anne R. Allen about how new writers can sabotage their careers before they even get started.

Weekly Awesome: This is an amazing and possibly life-changing talk. More than worth your time.


For more frequent updates, writing tips, and funnies, follow on Facebook, Twitter, Google+, 
YouTube, Pinterest, Tumblr, GoodReads, and/or Instagram. (Snapchat: SarahWritesBook) Or if you enjoyed this post, sign up to get blog posts delivered to your inbox. 

Write on!

Sarah

Me as a Cop and a New Young Adult Agent

I think comic writers and artists are some of the most underrated and talented artists alive. Like, Gary Larson blows my mind. So I tried my hand, and had a good time! Something I want to work and get better at. Hope you enjoy!

Me as a Cop:

***Writing Prompt: Imagine you're writing a story about comic book artists. What is their star superhero's name and power?

New Agent: Alexandra Weiss seeks YA and MG.

Read More: Great advice for new writers from the incomparable Chuck Wendig.

Weekly Awesome: You just gotta see this :)

For more frequent updates, writing tips, and funnies, follow on Facebook, Twitter, Google+, 
YouTube, Pinterest, Tumblr, GoodReads, and/or Instagram. (Snapchat: SarahWritesBook) Or if you enjoyed this post, sign up to get blog posts delivered to your inbox. 

Write on!

Sarah

To Do and an Agent Spotlight

To Do

If A, then be
ready to run
run three miles up
hill. Three o'clock check up
don't forget.
Get milk, bread, honey
I'm home at night
almost never. Never leave
cereal in the sink
milk in the bowl
bowl of water for the dog
bowling at seven, he'll be home
late. Better never than
one too many
baby needs a bath.
Home is where the rear view
mirrors are. Step on
the gas, the breaks.
Drive A to B and B to C
and if you don't see,
then are you anywhere?

***

Writing Prompt: Pick your favorite villain. What would their daily To-Do list look like?

Agent Spotlight: Ryann Wahl seeks upmarket literary fiction and YA.

Read More: Check out this great post from Writers Digest about writing characters of a different gender than you.

For more frequent updates, writing tips, and funnies, follow on Facebook, Twitter, Google+, 
YouTube, Pinterest, Tumblr, GoodReads, and/or Instagram. Or if you enjoyed this post, sign up to get blog posts delivered to your inbox. 

Slight of Hand and a Steampunk Anthology

Slight of Hand

This is the trick his dad made. This is the card that ends the trick his dad made. This is the queen that’s on the card that ends the trick his dad made. This is the spade held by the queen that’s on the card that ends the trick his dad made. This is the grave dug by the spade held by the queen that’s on the card that ends the trick his dad made. Gone are the bones inside the grave dug by the spade held by the queen that’s on the card that ends the trick his dad made.

***

Writing Prompt: You buy a pack of cards at a gas station. When you open it later that night, you find something written on the last card. What does it say?

Call for Submissions: Interested in submitting to a Steam-Punk anthology? Check this one out. Deadline is June 1st, so you have time to prepare your best work!

Read More: Check out this great overview of how writers can use social media on the great blog Social Media Just for Writers.

For more frequent updates, writing tips, and funnies, follow on Facebook, Twitter, Google+, 
YouTube, Pinterest, Tumblr, GoodReads, and/or Instagram. Or if you enjoyed this post, sign up to get blog posts delivered to your inbox.