Q&A with Gail Z. Martin Oct. 24 - 31 discussion
What are your biggest questions about writing?
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Gail
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Oct 22, 2012 01:37PM
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Hello Gail I am a big fan of yours - I absolutely love your books.... I enjoy reading and also writing but I have a big problem. I seem to get stuck at the plotting process... can you give me any suggestions? Is plotting very important? And if so do you have any suggestions about constructing a good plot?
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Thank you! I'm so glad you like the books!
Plotting is really important, because without it, the reader doesn't have a reason to stay engaged. If the plot doesn't make sense or isn't compelling, even great characters and fantastic settings won't make readers stick around.
Where do you get stuck? If you can tell me where you tend to get hung up, maybe I can help!
Hi Gail - I have penned a trilogy which has been very well received and I am informed could be huge. the problem is, where do I go from here? How do I market my books/reach more readers as a self published author with limited resources/time?
Do you have any advice or can you relay your own experiences? How did you secure a book deal and how do you advertise/market your books?
Thank you
Gail wrote: "What are your biggest questions about the writing process? Let's talk!"My biggest question would be about publishing ones work, although i am a long way off it still is of interest to me for when i may get to this point. I have looked up a bit about the differences between traditional and self-publication, and have come to the conclusion that i would rather attempt the traditional way of publication if possible. I am not affraid of being turned away or negative comments, nor having to try an entire long list of publishers for a result (if the work of course is good enough).
My question though is how one attempts this, once you have a printed manuscript in front of you? What do you do first?
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How do I market my books/reach more readers as a sel..."
First off, congrats on writing your trilogy and on getting such good feedback. Woot!
There are a lot of things you can do to grow a following and increase your visibility--most of them are free, and you can spend as much time on them as you can allot (some is better than none). I'm a big fan of social media, and it has definitely been a part of my outreach since the beginning--very important since my first publisher was in England.
I go into a lot more step-by-step details in my books on book marketing--The Thrifty Author's Guide series. I wrote those books because I wanted to make it easier for other writers to do things I learned the hard way.
My agent secured my book deal, so that's not something I did personally, but I can say that getting a reputation for consistently marketing your books can help attract a publisher, since they value authors who are willing to make the effort.
Good luck!
Thanks Gail, I'll check out your books. I have lined up two newspaper interviews for Friday since I made my comments so T think I'm moving in the right direction.
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My biggest question would be about publishing ones work, although i am a long way off it still is of interest ..."
If you're interested in traditional publishing, then getting an agent is the first step. Only two of the traditional houses (the last I checked) accepted unagented manuscripts.
A good place to begin looking for an agent is Writer's Digest Book's Guide to Literary Agents. Look for agents who handle your kind of story, and who are open to submissions. See who the agent represents and what kind of success they've had. Make sure the agent is an AAR signatory, which means they don't charge reading fees or other "red flag" kinds of fees. Check the Editors and Predators web site and Writer Beware to make sure they don't have a bad reputation. Then you have to pitch them to get them to review your manuscript. You can find all the details on how to do that in the Guide to Literary Agents. A good agent is a huge asset.
Good luck!
Gail wrote: "Lucinda wrote: "Gail wrote: "What are your biggest questions about the writing process? Let's talk!"My biggest question would be about publishing ones work, although i am a long way off it still..."
Thank you so much. That is really helpful.
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Congrats on the newspaper interviews. Good luck!
Thanks Gail - When did you realise you wanted to be a writer? Who/what influenced you?
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I started out writing fan fic for my friends based on our favorite TV shows--episodes we would have liked to have seen, or shows we thought would have been better with a different ending, or new stories for shows that went off the air. I'd write, then my friends would come over and we'd sit in my room and pass the hand-written (or typewriter-typed) originals around while we drank soda and ate chips. That's how I discovered that I could entertain people. It was fun.
Hi Gail,I attend the Thrifty writers meet up group. I am currently writing a memoir creative nonfiction about a boy who grows up without a father. His dad was killed in WWII. A child's most important years are from 1-5 and a Father's Love is most important during those years. Otherwise, the child goes through the right of passage into teenage and adulthood without a secure self-image and last of self-esteem.
That being said, my character is being written in the first person active voice. However, I have Microsoft Word set up to detect the passive voice, which is killing me. How does one write in the active voice consistently instead of the passive voice?
It is important to include scenes though description and dialog of the characters sexual encounters. Not the description of them more than the emotions of them. Failed attempts in these encounters causes mental depression that further destroys the character’s self esteem and affects the rest of his adulthood towards total failure. I haven't found anyone who can tell me if this is included in created non-fiction and how to go about writing the scenes.
For Bruce: If you can end a sentence by adding "by zombies", it's passive voice. My biggest problem is rewriting. As a journalism school graduate, I tend to edit myself as I write. Rewriting is pure hell for me. And yet every editor and pro I talk to says it's where the best stuff comes out. Any tips on making that easier would be very helpful.
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I attend the Thrifty writers meet up group. I am currently writing a memoir creative nonfiction about a boy who grows up without a father. His dad was killed in WWII. A child's most im..."
Hi Bruce
The biggest piece of advice I can give on the active/passive voice piece is that although first person requires past tense, it can be active past tense. So "I ran through the dark alley" instead of "I had run through the dark alley" whereever possible. If you can flag your use of linking verbs and substitute an active past-tense verb wherever possible, it will help.
I'm not sure I understand the second part of your question. Can you be a little more specific please? Happy to help if I can--just not sure what you're asking.
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My biggest problem is rewriting. As a journalism school graduate, I tend to edit myself as I write. Rewriting is p..."
Don't rewrite as you create. Do your brain dump, and then come back--later is best--and fix it up. If you try to edit as you write you'll drive yourself nuts.
I tend to read what I wrote the day before in the morning before I start writing something new, and I make small fixes then. no way around the re-writes to make the big fixes! But I will say that once you have the story down, it can be easier to have flashes of insight into what the plot needs to be better.
