“Help! I graduated from a creative writing program!”

Okay so I didn’t really graduate from a full degree program; I only had a little more than the minor.  (Electives for the win, without the hassle of the senior project) But it’s a sentiment I’ve heard expressed from my fellows who have come through full degree programs and are now transitioning out of the life of a student-writer. Confession time:  I’ll admit it, I have this problem too.  I am one of those writers who have since fallen a part during the transition -out- of a creative writing program. 

For two years now I’ve been able to blame my lack of writing on grad school, and the excuse is true enough.  I honestly did not have time to do much between a job, internships, and my course work.  It is also true that I didn’t try very hard to get anything done either, but it was okay because once I graduated I’d have time again to pursue my writing.  Right? (Hah!) Well it’s been three months now and I’ve produced very little – as in under 10,000 words when I used to be cranking out 10,000 at least, weekly. 

Initially, I freaked.  And to be honest, I’m still a little freaked but I’ve recently come to a better understanding of the problem.  The initial conclusion that I jumped to was that – Oh noes!!1!  I must be irreparably broken!  But that’s really not true, just some passing melodrama. It’s not quite writer’s block that I have.  If anything, I’m too attached to the world building process at the moment. I have five solid ideas right that I’ve been developing.  (Three of them short stories or perhaps novella length.) And in my head they continue to grow. The problem isn’t of inspiration; the problem is that I suddenly find the act of writing, uncomfortable and alien.  

I’ve grown so used to writing within the structure and safety of a classroom environment that I am now totally spoiled. Being a student was great – an able and willing support/critique group was always on hand.  There were deadlines to keep you moving forward, and prompts at the ready when I got stuck. I had a schedule.  Pieces were turned in on Friday so I wrote Monday-Thursday.  I would write before dinner and edit afterwards before bed time.  I couldn’t slack off or procrastinate, or else I wouldn’t have anything to turn in and that would have been bad.  Bad for my GPA.  Bad for my graduate school prospects. Etc. Etc.

It was a  magical time, but tricky.  Writing ceased to be a solitary activity and became something done for an assignment, for a teacher, or for a grade.  There was always an external reason to be working on a student piece, and I feel like I’ve lost sight of that internal satisfaction that I used to get from writing in the first place.  And it’s my own damn fault really and I have no one to blame but myself.  The change was just so subtle, evolving slowly over the course of four years.  It snuck up on me!  So now in addition to finding my groove once again, I’m dealing with the guilt of having allowed myself to end up here in the first place.  The guilt thing is stupid, needless, and not helping matters so I really ought to just let it go.

It will be okay though.  This is just a temporary (hopefully) and awkward transitional period.  I do not write this to point the finger at college writing programs or to imply that they are evil. They are what they are.  They take an adjustment and they require a readjustment. I learned from them and grew as a writer.  Now I just have to grow -beyond- that environment.  

If any of you have any advice on how you weathered this or personal stories, I would love to hear it.  Or any other words of encouragement or commiseration if you to are a recent graduate too.  Share and share alike; we’re all in this together right?

/End of Line

~ L.

Agent For A Day: Quick Observation

If you hadn’t heard, literary agent Nathan Bransford hosted an event on his blog called Agent For A Day.  On Monday, April 13th, Nathan began posting 50 queries (considered a light-load for an average day of submissions) to his blog and allowed readers one week to review the submissions and post either their rejection or request in the comments of each individual submission.  Participants were only allowed to request five manuscripts.  The goal was to give writers an chance to experience what it is like being a literary agent.  

I thought the exercise was genius, but I had to post about one curious observation.  For all the angst writers so frequently express after receiving the form rejection, it was a little surprising to me to see most of the responses being form rejections.  And some I thought walked a very fine line between constructive criticism and unnecessary snark.  Very few participants seemed to dole-out the constructive responses to queries so craved by the writing community.  

Anyway, had to share.

~ Darcy

Discovering Yourself As A Genre Writer

I stumbled upon the blog of this new writer, AnonoWriter, and gave him my advice with regards to dealing with a recent rejection letter. It’s incredibly flattering that he has since taken it to heart, and I was only too glad to help. Seriously, I love this industry. I love to talk about it. I want to spend the rest of my life working with books. If you ever have any questions about anything in publishing, I will do my best to answer your question or find an answer for you. Just drop me a line.

Anyway, apparently I have sparked some kind of debacle for him as he is coming to realize that perhaps his novel might be better suited as a science fiction novel, but I sense a lot of confused feelings about the prospects of being a “genre writer”. For myself, it’s an odd feeling to be reminded that “genre publishing” is something of an uncomfortable label for some writers. I have always wanted to be a fantasy writer. I now work in genre publishing. It’s such a common thread in my life that I do sometimes forget that being a geek is not “normal”.

I’m starting to remember what it was like to be a fantasy writer in a university writing class. So I guess the purpose of this post is to first dispel some of the common disillusions of genre publishing.

“Genre Writers aren’t real writers. Their work lacks the same level of craft as literary fiction”.

Character progression & depth – check
Engaging dialog – check
Imaginative and visual description – check
Emotional conflict – check
Pacing – check
Originality – check

So, what are we missing? All writers set out to tell a story, and no matter your genre, the elements of a –good- story remain the same. I will not deny that genre writing is much more commercial than literary fiction, but that doesn’t make the craft any less valid.

As additional criteria most of us are chasing that sense of the fantastic, the sense of wonder that science-fiction and fantasy is known for. There is an art in bringing to life these worlds of fantasy in the mind of a reader who has never experienced anything of the like. I would challenge those same “serious writers” who look down on the genre folk to manage it.

From the Publishing Side

I’ve encountered some snobbery even in the publishing industry or from those “literary types” again who are equally as judgmental of the genre publishers as they are of writers.

The day-to-day processes of genre book publishing are the same as they are in trade fiction houses. There are small differences between publishing companies. That is natural since every company has a different personality; however, the publishing cycle seems to be fairly comparable. (Except in scholarly publishing which is a different animal entirely)

I know that the hardcover is important to a lot of authors and agents. There is usually a difference in royalty rates and more prestige attached to the hardcover.

The Mass Market format seems to be synonymous with a genre book, sadly, but this has not been the case for many years now. Certain genres have grow exponentially in the last few decades and have a healthy hardcover market. Format is also sometimes a point that your agent can negotiate for you. Publishers do want to be able to publish your book as a hardcover and then later bring it out as a trade paperback or a mass market. They make more profit that way if the book does well. You just need to present to them a manuscript and a pitch that convinces them that your work has sales potential.

Waking Up As a Genre Writer

It’s not the end of the world. If you feel compelled to write stories that contain fantasy or sci-fi elements, embrace it. It’s not being commercial, or selling out, it’s following your heart’s desire if these are truly the types of stories you –want- to write.

/End of Line

~ Darcy

They are more like guidelines, really.

Kim W. Justesen wrote up a post in response to four annoyingly common “Rules of Writing”. You’ve heard them before. You’ve probably read about them in a multitude of different blogs, and at some point in your life you have perhaps given these strictures an honest shot. I really enjoyed reading her commentary on each. She addresses some of the complaints I also have with regards to the practices that are preached as being mandatory for any writer or poet. Now, I’m sure there are many more but the four she chose were:

Rule #1 – Thou Shalt Write Every Day!
Rule #2 – Thou Shalt Keep a Journal
Rule #3 – Thou Shalt Free Write at Ungodly Hours of the Morning
Rule #4 – Thou Shalt Not Refer to Thyself as a Writer Until Thou Havest a Book Published\

Now these “rules” are great, but to borrow a quote from Pirates of the Caribbean , “they are really more like guidelines”. Following the first three rules will make you write, so there is some value in them. But structure doesn’t work for everyone. If that system doesn’t –work- for you as an individual, the writing you churn out is going to be forced, chunky, and uninspired.

There is no scientific method for writing. Every writer has a unique voice, style, and daytime schedule (or nighttime as the case maybe) during which we get that work done!

There was one section that I specifically wanted to highlight in Kim’s post as it is perhaps my biggest pet peeve.

Rule #1 – Thou Shalt Write Every Day!

Wow – how’s that for some pressure. If we all buy into the belief that you can’t be a real writer if you don’t write every day, the pool of writers would drop significantly. There are many great writers who subscribe to this rule, and many great writers who do not. I fall into the second group. Being a good writer means more than scribbling or typing frantically every single day. My advice (and that’s all it is, folks) is that you do something writing-related every day. Reading is just as important (and sometimes more important) than writing. Not only does reading expand your mind and give you better insight into the universe, it can also be good marketing research if you are a writer looking to be published. In addition, exposing yourself to a variety of writing styles helps you to determine what your own style should be without ripping off someone else. If I come across a piece of writing that makes me laugh, or makes me angry, or elicits some other emotional response in me, I want to know how the writer did that. I break down each sentence word by word to understand how that emotion was triggered. Then, when I need to create that same emotion, I have those resources to draw from for inspiration.

I’ve had this told to me in every creative writing class I’ve ever taken be it at university or in a workshop, and the result…burnout. Pressure, that’s exactly what it creates. And I’m not saying that it’s bad advice. For some people, it works really well. This sort of writing process triggers my self-doubt. So if I miss a day, oh god. I worry that I am in some way less of a writer because I couldn’t make room in my day to take fifteen minutes for writing, even if it’s only one sloppy & hastily written scene. A scene that I didn’t care about, at all. Whenever I made the attempt to write daily, writing became just another one of my chores, and it made me miserable.

I like that Kim talks about how important reading is. If your aim is to eventually shop your work to agents and publishers, doing your market research is incredibly valuable. Some people like to wait until a manuscript is all done before poking their noses into what their colleagues are up to in the book business. I know a few writer’s who worry that reading while they are working on a project might lead them to emulate another author’s style accidentally. Again, whatever floats your boat. Knowing the market will save you time as you’ll be better able to single out the agents and publishers that are most appropriate for your work.

I think there is also value in just taking a time out and living in one’s head. Sometimes I like to just take a Sunday afternoon to think about the work. I’ll go out to the park, find a nice patch of grass and a comfy tree trunk or rock to lean against. I’ll let scenes play back in my head, listen to the characters speaking with one another, listen for the water lapping against the dock below a character’s window, and just make the story all clear again without getting distracted by style, diction, or grammar. It helps me realize when the vision I have isn’t translating onto paper and it’s easier for me to see it all in my head than it is to sift through pages upon pages of my bad handwriting.

/End of Line

~ Darcy

Query Letters: Rhetorical Questions

They are not your best friends.  Please please please, approach them with caution.

Usually, no one is going to reject you because you used one -but- in most cases there is probably a better way to pitch the idea.  Granted every agent and editor is different and rhetorical questions are a pet peeve for some. 

*Question*  When will it hurt me?

*Answer*  When you do something dumb like this:

Dear Editor:

Imagine what it might be like to live in a closet beneath the stairs and be treated like a second rate citizen by your only family.  What if all that changed and you were suddenly thrown into a fantastic world of witchcraft and oddities?  What if you were the hero of this world?  How would it change you?  And what if, overnight, you learned that you had a powerful mortal enemy plotting your destruction?

These questions are thrown at our young hero in Harry Potter and the Sorcerer’s Stone, a 77k novel aimed at children 9+.  

Obviously this is just a fictional example to show how a poorly constructed pitch can hurt what could be a great book.  

A rhetorical question is a device that is meant to be used -sparingly-.  The purpose of it is to pull the reader into a situation from the point-of-view of a character.  But this is something that you need to accomplish in one or two sentences.  When you string together a giant block of questions, you aren’t making any definite statements about the work.  Worse, you are engaging the editor/agent’s reaction to the situation which may not necessarily be the same as your character.

Remember what it is that you are trying to sell: an idea.  When you have such little space to communicate the worth of your manuscript, don’t waste it on empty words.  Approach your hook directly.  Don’t beat around the bush.

Professionalism and Your Printer

Again on the subject of a submitting a professional package:  make sure you printer, prints out a legible manuscript. 

If an editor, assistant, or intern has to struggle to make sense of piece because the printer’s toner was running low and the words are barely legible, it should be only logical to assume they are just going to throw it out.  Or suppose one of the ink jets is blocked, and the words come out as legible but fuzzy and hard to read in a certain area on -every- page.  Why should an editor have to spend the extra time to slug through one writer’s submission when it appears that the writer is too lazy to go over his/her own work?  How does that reflect on the author’s commitment to quality?  Not positively.

If your printer is a tired, old piece-of-crap (as mine is, so I feel for you) it is your responsibility to find a better printer.  I’m not recommending that you have to go out and buy a new printer, but either check out your public library, talk to to your friends and family, or pay to have a place like Kinkos print out your submission packets.  

Check each page before you stick your submission in an envelope and send it off to a publisher or agent.  What if there was a jam in the middle of the print job, and chapter two comes out as a warped mess?  Professionals mess up too so don’t blindly trust Kinko’s to print out a perfect packet.  You don’t have a lot of time to make a good impression with your reader at either a publishing house or agency.  Don’t let simple carelessness be your ruin.

Professionalism and Your SASE

Okay writers, we need to have a talk about a few things.  I keep seeing some of the same mistakes, over and over again in your query letters and submissions.  So this week is Submissions Week.

The first thing I want to talk about  is the self addressed stamped envelope.  I have not seen this covered often in other discussions of submission do-s and don’t-s so hopefully this is new and helpful to you.  The SASE is actually somewhat important.  It’s usually the first thing that gets pulled out of the packet since it is an awkward thing to hang on to while you read through a submission.  

When readying your submission materials, pay attention to your SASE.  Spend the extra few cents and buy the envelopes that have a plastic label covering the adhesive.  -Don’t- send you submission packet with one of those cheap envelopes that you have to lick.  

More often than not, when you are submitting to an agent or to a publisher (without an agent) you aren’t going directly to the acquiring editor’s desk.  You first have to get through the intern or editorial assistant who is given the task of slugging through the slush pile of unsolicited manuscripts.  Now because they are only an intern or assistant, they aren’t usually given one of those nifty adhesive sticks.  No.  They have to lick every one of those rejection letters.  Now you, the writer, are a complete stranger to that assistant.  There is no telling where that envelope has been or how many hands it has passed between.  And there is no telling where those hands have been!  It is really gross when you think about it.

This may sound like such a small thing that it might seem petty to complain, but consider this.  Even before the intern/assistant reads the cover letter, they get a look at the SASE as they set it aside.  Is the very first thing you want your reader to think, “Ewww! Crap, not another one.”  No, of course not. 

A few more quick things about the SASE.

Don’t use holiday labels, even if Halloween is around the corner.  It looks cheap and tacky. Also what happens if your manuscript doesn’t get looked at until Thanksgiving?  What then?

Don’t dress up the envelope with other stickers (i.e. wolves, fairies, and dragons) and don’t draw on your envelope.  Even if you are submitting a children’s or YA manuscript.  Let your writing show your whimsical, creative spirit.  The SASE is not another place to express your personality.  Save it for where it counts; save it for the submission.  And no, I’m not suggesting you draw on your manuscript either.  You’re trying to sell a book.  Your writing needs to be strong enough to tell it all, sans goofy & superfluous illustrations.

Use a forever stamp to be safe.  It is a pretty common policy to simply throw out any submissions that do not include a SASE or have used insufficient postage.  Recently, postage went up.  So all those authors that submitted prior to the rate hike who didn’t use a forever stamp…well, they are out of luck.

And last but not least:

If you mess up your own address, go get a new envelope!  Don’t use White-Out!  Seriously, what kind of first impression is it when you screw up your own address?

It is clear when an author spends a lot of time on a submission in order to put together a professional packet, but it is amazing to see how often the SASE does not receive that same attention.  So spend the few extra minutes and cents on your SASE.  It can’t hurt your chances.