March 30, 2006

Comments & Criticism

Every writer needs to develop a thick skin, which totally includes me. Because all the feed back that you receive will not be good. I’m speaking for myself, only! After spending five years on developing characters, a good story line and many rewrites, my series feels like my baby. Then we protect that little bundle from everyone and everything.

Once you have polished your manuscript to the best of your ability, it’s time to get some feedback from your target audience. Now, sometimes it’s best to stay away from family members. (In my case) You need some constructive criticism not ‘it sucks’ from Uncle Bill. Look for a reader who loves your type of story. You need to have confidence in your ability to write, because if you don’t know no one will.

Okay, now you have several people reading your material and you’re looking forward to what they have to say. This is where the thick skin comes in. Six out of the seven says, that the pace is slow. Then, take a look at the pace. You may just need to pick it up. One person tells you that it’s the worst thing that they have ever read. Don’t worry about it unless it’s many people telling you this. Remember everyone will not love you work and that’s okay.

My advice, never stop writing and trying to be a published writer if that’s what you want.

March 26, 2006

Point of View

As a writer the first thing that one has to decide is the POV (point of view) in, which to write. I have always been comfortable with first person, narrative. But to try something different I have been working off and on a horror in a Third Person POV. There are many POV that you can choose to write in and several that I never knew.


Types of Points of View


1. First Person Point of View- the all knowing narrator.
2. Objective- the narrator knows only what can be heard and seen from outside the characters. Thoughts and emotions of the characters are unavailable.
3. Limited- the narrator knows everything about one character, including thoughts and feelings.
4. Rotating Limited- this allows the reader to get inside more than one character's head, but maintains a consistent narrative voice.


What I'm trying to say my dears is to try different POV in short stories you may enjoy the change.

March 22, 2006

Is there a Formula?

Today my dears, I'm going to lighten the mood. There's a subject that keeps rearing up every month in my writing group. My writing group is made up of five terrific writers and they’ve become great friends. The question is how much description to use and my personal favorite dialog how much is to much on one page.

I think that I'll tackle dialog first, which Writers Digest had a great article on the subject. In my Logan Wolf Chronicles, I use description a little more than dialog and in Heaven and Hell, I use more dialog than description.

My six elements of what I think is good dialog writing.

1. Don't worry about perfection. Your characters have to sound real. We don't always talk in complete sentence. Say the sentence aloud to make sure it sounds right.

2. Don't let your characters get on a soapbox and preach.

3. Don't try to be a comedian or a smartass all the time, it gets old.

4. Know your character. Let them do the talking.

5. Write from your gut. Let the dialog flow don't make it come.

6. Don't cram a lot of dialog together, it gets boring.


Description has to do many things so please don't omit it. I want to know what the writer sees in their head. I do have to admit that there's a fine line to just enough to over the top. I don't think you need five paragraphs to tell me what a shirt looks like. I have started using three sentences to describe a person and what they're wearing. This is my personal formula and my writing group seems to like it because I can get over the top at my descriptions. So do what's best for you my dears.

March 21, 2006

Deadly Sin

'We envy each other. If an author gets a movie deal, a huge advance, a big tour, a magazine spread, we're incredibly jealous because we feel we deserved it, not them. Then we hide our feelings behind well wishes, and say snide things behind their backs.' By J.A. Konrath

This is so true and I think that we've all been there. I have seen so many writers get their dream agent, a two or three book deal and I think when is it my turn. Sure I've been close several times but I'm still looking. On forums you see many post of 'I just signed with an agent' and your heart sinks because you know that you deserve one too. You write your butt off, spend hours sending out queries and still notta.

Sure you think my time is coming but when? It is sort of like a grieving process.

1. Get all fired up. Tell yourself 'I'm going to crank out a book and find an agent.
2. Writers Block rears its ugly head.
3. Writers around you get agent and publishing deal.
4. You curse under your breath.
5. (Is a two step process) You get pissed and bitch. Then you pity yourself and get depressed.
6. Then self doubt swallows you up.
7. You come out of it and the process starts all over again.

It's a never ending cycle. I think even after you land your agent, sure you can omit #3 & #4 but it's just part of being a writer. Maybe it takes longer to fall into that cycle but from time to time it happens. Just keep your chin up my dears and have a great support group. Strive to break the cycle.

March 19, 2006

Competition

A good friend of mine, J.A. Konrath, touched on this on his blog, which is my topic of bitching today. The competition in the publishing industry is fierce we all know this but we like to think that no one around me would stab me in the back. Well, guess again. If you are around a lot of writers especially in your genera at some point someone will stab you in the back. One has to be very careful about who you let read, edit or comment about your work.

If someone can tear you down and get you out of the way, they will. I've seen this in writing groups, forums and friends. Speaking of forums, I think they can be of great importance but they are also like high-school. It seems to be a popularity contest and I wasn't popular in high-school. But some people are put on pedestal, which is ridiculous. I don't think anyone should be that important to a forum.

Some could say that I'm jealous but I'm not. But, I don't think that the good of the one should out weight the good of the many. (thank you Star Trek) Many are ignored, questions go unanswered and comments are not interacted with. So I have noticed that many don't even bother posting any longer, which is horrible. I guess that some just need the attention.

A good point is I broke my ankle in January and mentioned it a couple times. One friend asked me a couple of weeks later how I was doing and a couple people seemed shocked that I broke my ankle. As if it was the first time that I had mentioned it. (roll eyes) And that my dears is the little fact about the behind the scenes of writing.

March 15, 2006

More to say

Okay this came up on another forum. I wanted to know how to get my name out there in Blog World. One comment that was brought up because I'm not a published author do I really have anything to say. Yes, I know that I'm not a popular person and the Gods know I won't brown nose to anyone but a couple of comments really rubbed my the wrong way. Some acted as if I were begging 'Please come to my blog and comment, pllleeeaase. Okay well maybe I don't have experiance in the writing world but I do have some knowledge of a few things.

Do I want people to drop in from time to time? Yes. Do I have anything important to say? Well, let me just say that what I write on my blog is no less important than others. Maybe less informative but not less important. I know of quiet a few unpublished writers that have blogs. Do they say anything earth moving? Not really but it's fun to read their entries.

I think that we as writers need to support each other and not attack. I know why I'm not popular on the other site. It's because of what one person posted and it should have never been allowed. Sure no name were mentioned but enough people knew behind the scenes who the post was about and I've been black balled ever since. Did I have hurt feelings over the situation, yes. But I can't do anything about it.

March 07, 2006

Waiting

I've been waiting to hear from an agent for 2 months and it's killing me. The only good news is that I got someone to read some of Realm of Relics and I've been wanting this person to read it for a very long time. I'm really looking forward to seeing what she has to say about it. I woke up yesterday with an awful chest cold that my daughter so graciously shared with me. I'm going to try to finish chapter 2 of The Trial, which is the first book in my Heaven and Hell Series.

I've been trying to stay positive and busy waiting to hear from the agent but it's extremely hard. Also some good news is that one of my favorite shows is returning at the end of the month, Ghost Hunters on the SciFi channel. I love Jason's attitude. Next week is my birthday, which will not be celebrated because no one ever remembers it. It only tells me that I need to reach my goal of becoming a published author.