Minneapolis/St. Paul is home to a dozen or more science fiction conventions. This weekend (August 3 -5) will be Diversicon 15/Consume Relaxicon. It will be held at the Holiday Inn Select International Airport—Mall of America, 3 Appletree Square, Bloomington, MN 55425; 952-854-9000. The guest of honor will be ANDREA HAIRSTON who is is the author of the novel Mindscape (Aqueduct Press, 2006) and of fiction in Dark Matter: Reading the Bones (Sheree R. Thomas, ed., 2004) and So Long Been Dreaming: Postcolonial Visions of the Future (Nalo Hopkinson & Uppinder Mehan, eds., 2004). Diversicon has a stated mission to promote diversity in science fiction.
Diveriscon is one of my personal favorite cons because it's not terribly big. There's usually only a couple of hundred attendees and many of those are authors, editors, voracious readers, and other experts in our field.
I'll be there on Saturday only. My schedule of panels is:
11:00-11:50 AM Krushenko?s (Concierge)
Panel: Good Blog/Bad Blog -- Modern Technology and Artists
What modern technology is available for artists (for self promotion, research, etc.)? What purpose can a blog serve? What are the ways things can go wrong? Discussion boards -- good, bad, or dependent on how they're used? S.N. Arly, mod.; Melissa S. Kaercher, Greg L. Johnson, Rachel Kronick, Catherine Lundoff, Lyda Morehouse
1:00-1:50 PM Mainstage (Beacon/Duchess)
Panel: The Politics of Battlestar Galactica
We'll talk about the politics that may or may not underpin the series, as well as the opinions expressed by various political commentators who've claimed the show for their own. Greg L. Johnson, mod.; JaniceBogstad, Philip Kaveny, Scott Lohman, Lyda Morehouse
3:00-3:50 PM Mainstage (Beacon/Duchess)
Panel: Why Doesn't Superman Look Like Me?
Comics have long been a stronghold of muscular Aryan men and buxom babes in skimpy costumes. There are more racially & culturally diverse characters now than ever before, but comics still fall short of being representational of real world diversity. Why are comics still associated with these archetypes that date back to the 1930's? Melissa S. Kaercher, Christopher Jones, co-mods.; Cynthia Booth, Lyda Morehouse
Conventions have part of the science fiction publication landscape almost since the beginning. What do you think of them? As a necessary evil to promote your books? A way to connect with fellow geeks, er, "early adaptors" over your favorite TV shows, movies, books? An embarrasment every time a newspaper runs and article that shows your BFF dressed as a Klingon? All of the above?
Do you have favorite cons to recommend?
Tuesday, July 31, 2007
Monday, July 30, 2007
Writing with an Agenda
I woke up this morning thinking a lot about something Melissa Scott once told me in an interview. We were discussing GLBT/queer content in science fiction and she pointed out that, particularly in cyberpunk, GLBT elements are often used as scare tactics -- a way to show the seedier side of life. You know you're in the deep, dark place because Jo-Jo sitting at the bar is a transsexual cyborg. Oh look, honey, the gay male hustler is getting cruised at the space station by the Martians. We must be in the dark underbelly of the future.
Where are the non-threatening, happy gay couples in space?
Of course, as a writer I understand that happy = boring. There's not a lot of drama when everyone gets along famously. But, I'm wondering if science fiction as a genre still hasn't shaken that idea that Melissa suggested nearly a decade ago -- that queerness is inherently "scary."
Of course, another writer pointed out to me that an author who includes queer folks in the background runs the risk of seeming ham handed in their attempts at inclusion (or diversity or whatever you might want to call it.)
There's a lot of validity in her concern. I grew up in the era of television "tokenism," where every show seemed to have to include the hero (white guy), the sidekick (black or other color guy), and the girlfriend (not guy). It was annoying, if only because the formula wherein the person of color was still stuck on the sidelines was never, ever violated.
On the flipside, I find TV shows (and movies and books) where there's a homogony of color (or gender or sexual preference) to be deeply, deeply frightening. It's the whole "Friends" phenomenon. How is it that these people who lived in New York City never seemed to know anyone of color? Or gay? And what does it say about them that they don't?
And does it matter?
Sure, people live like that. I would be forced to admit that ninety-percent of my close friends are white and straight. The "Friends" phenomenon is its own kind of truth, but I've always felt that a writer's responsibility is to see the whole picture – beyond the assumptions. Like, for instance, before I worked at the University of Minnesota's Immigration History Research Center, I would have guessed that the majority of immigrants settling in Minnesota were Norwegian, and that Saint Paul’s (my home town) main settlers were Irish. Not true. Both of those are myths perpetrated by storytellers, like Garrison Keillor (and the later by our former governor Jesse Ventura.)
I'm not trying to imply that either of those men are racists, but my feeling is that sometimes by not going beyond what we *think* is true, we inadvertently paint a picture that's not complete.
So what? Fiction writing isn’t about the truth, is it?
I think it is.
I think, in particular, when writing about the future, we need to be awake and paying attention to our words on the page. Our silences -- the people we leave out -- speak volumes about what we think is true... and what we feel is valuable.
I say this as someone whose life was changed by reading science fiction. In 1953, Theodore Sturgeon wrote a short story called "The World Well Lost," and he taught me the power of thinking beyond our assumptions.
Where are the non-threatening, happy gay couples in space?
Of course, as a writer I understand that happy = boring. There's not a lot of drama when everyone gets along famously. But, I'm wondering if science fiction as a genre still hasn't shaken that idea that Melissa suggested nearly a decade ago -- that queerness is inherently "scary."
Of course, another writer pointed out to me that an author who includes queer folks in the background runs the risk of seeming ham handed in their attempts at inclusion (or diversity or whatever you might want to call it.)
There's a lot of validity in her concern. I grew up in the era of television "tokenism," where every show seemed to have to include the hero (white guy), the sidekick (black or other color guy), and the girlfriend (not guy). It was annoying, if only because the formula wherein the person of color was still stuck on the sidelines was never, ever violated.
On the flipside, I find TV shows (and movies and books) where there's a homogony of color (or gender or sexual preference) to be deeply, deeply frightening. It's the whole "Friends" phenomenon. How is it that these people who lived in New York City never seemed to know anyone of color? Or gay? And what does it say about them that they don't?
And does it matter?
Sure, people live like that. I would be forced to admit that ninety-percent of my close friends are white and straight. The "Friends" phenomenon is its own kind of truth, but I've always felt that a writer's responsibility is to see the whole picture – beyond the assumptions. Like, for instance, before I worked at the University of Minnesota's Immigration History Research Center, I would have guessed that the majority of immigrants settling in Minnesota were Norwegian, and that Saint Paul’s (my home town) main settlers were Irish. Not true. Both of those are myths perpetrated by storytellers, like Garrison Keillor (and the later by our former governor Jesse Ventura.)
I'm not trying to imply that either of those men are racists, but my feeling is that sometimes by not going beyond what we *think* is true, we inadvertently paint a picture that's not complete.
So what? Fiction writing isn’t about the truth, is it?
I think it is.
I think, in particular, when writing about the future, we need to be awake and paying attention to our words on the page. Our silences -- the people we leave out -- speak volumes about what we think is true... and what we feel is valuable.
I say this as someone whose life was changed by reading science fiction. In 1953, Theodore Sturgeon wrote a short story called "The World Well Lost," and he taught me the power of thinking beyond our assumptions.
Saturday, July 28, 2007
Saturday Morning Funnies (Volume 2)
In which, our junior high school/high school student attempts to write high fantasy:
[This goes on, but not for much longer thankfully. We never learn the harpist name, though CLEARLY these two troubled boys are headed for a romance. I’m not sure I knew that at the time, but then I am no judge of men.]
Arn couldn’t sleep. He’d decided to take a walk to clear his mind. Things weren’t good at home, but then they never were. Every day it became more and more difficult to talk to his father.
He stopped suddenly. He thought he heard a voice. A melodious voice sang in the distance. It was as if the very forest itself sand in harmony with the singer. Arn yearned to hear more.
Arn quickly followed the sound. It led him to a sheltered grove. A dark, hooded figure sat on the ground, its head upturned to the midnight sky. The figure’s face was slightly visible in the moonlight. Although Arn was no judge of men, he
could see this one was very handsome.
Arn quietly sat down in the dewy grass of the grove, trying to be silent. But the singer stopped mid-verse. The hooded man turned to where Arn sat dreamily on the grass.
“[Here I have scripted some Elfish. No kidding.]”
The language was unfamiliar to Arn. It sounded like the falling of a waterfall or the buzz of a bee.
“I do not understand,” Arn said, hoping the harper was as fluent as he.
The hooded face looked directly at Arn. All Arn could see of him was the gleam
in the harper’s eyes. “Come you in enmity or peace?”
“I come to hear your song, whether that be in peace or enmity I know not,” Arn said with a slight chuckle.
“Ah,” sighed the harper. “A riddler. Is that what thee be? A
riddler?”
“I’m but a troubled boy. Who be you, fair harpist?” Arn asked, obviously trying to peer into the hood.
“It has been a long time since someone has called me fair,” The harper said sadly and distantly.
[This goes on, but not for much longer thankfully. We never learn the harpist name, though CLEARLY these two troubled boys are headed for a romance. I’m not sure I knew that at the time, but then I am no judge of men.]
Thursday, July 26, 2007
Re-Post: The WisCON Chronicles
Call for Ideas and Materials
Were you at WisCon this year? Was there a particular panel, discussion, or speaker that especially fired your imagination? If so, Aqueduct Press, publisher of The WisCon Chronicles, would like to hear from you. We are seeking suggestions and submissions for volume two of the series, which will deal with WisCon 31 (2007).
We want this volume to continue and extend the discussions that took place at the panels. So far, we are considering articles that derive from the following panels: The Future of Feminism: How does feminism need to change? Is it time for a reassessment of what feminism means? How can we take more action? Some people attending the panel felt that it was too much about white, middle-class, middle-aged feminists worrying about passing the torch to the younger generation. How would our thinking change if we looked forward to the issues likely to challenge us in the near and middle future, or if we looked laterally to the organizational strategies and tactics of the many feminist movements that are so vibrant and active in the third world today? As readers and writers and critics of feminist sf, surely we can expand our view of what feminism could be in the future!
The Romance of Revolution: This panel was rife with controversy. When a person of color in the audience asked the panelists to include examples of non-American, non-European revolutions, one of the members of the all-white panel said he “liked the Pol Pot revolution” and suggested that you can’t “retrain” people and thus have to “start from scratch” if you want to change a society. He later said that he wanted to make a point about the dangers of “utopian aspirations.” In addition, some audience members were outraged when another panelist asserted that the Indian Revolution was successful only because the US pulled Britain’s loans after WWII. This question remains: why in sf circles is the romance of revolution always so white, when in real life, postcolonial revolutions are so common? For more about this, see two posts at Ambling along the Aqueduct: http://aqueductpress.blogspot.com/2007/05/post-wiscon-report.html and http://aqueductpress.blogspot.com/2007/06/more-thoughts-on-romance-of-revolution.html
Unfair to Middle-class White Guys: This was a discussion that quickly moved beyond its satiric but misleading title to address issues of increasing racial, cultural, and gender-based diversity in the field. Can editors transcend their own cultural limitations to publish works that appeal to the diverse world of science fiction readers? Are the ones who can’t doomed? Or is it the genre itself that will end as bleached bones kicked to the roadside of literature? What if You Don’t Want to Have Kids: Is not wanting kids the last feminist taboo? For more about this, see the discussion on Ambling along the Aqueduct . If you were on or attended one of these panels and would like to participateto offer ideas or to submit an essayplease get in touch with us. Don’t be shy. We may want you, and we don’t necessarily have your email.
If you were blown away by a WisCon panel that we haven’t mentioned and would like to see its ideas expanded upon in The WisCon Chronicles, Volume 2, please let us know. Tell us the name of the panel, which participants (including audience members) most engaged you, and what was valuable to you about the discussion. If you’re interested in writing an essay on the topic or contributing to the book in some other way, please mention that as well. Please respond with ideas and suggestions by September 1, 2007. We will follow up with a request for submission of articles and essays on the topics we choose. To receive a list of topics (to be announced September 10), please send a request to wiscon-chronicles@aqueductpress.com.
Since the editors will be choosing specific topics to be considered, please query before writing an article. If you want to submit an article or essay, please send a proposal by October 1, 2007. (The earlier the better.) The deadline for the submission of finished essays is November 1, 2007. We’re looking for essays of 1000-5000 words. Payment will be nominal. Email or postal submissions/responses are both acceptable. Send email to wiscon-chronicles@aqueductpress.com.
Send postal mail to PO Box 95787, Seattle WA 98145-2787. Thanks! L. Timmel Duchamp Eileen Gunn Editors The WisCon Chronicles, Volume 2
PS: If you are on a blog or mailing list that takes an interest in these matters, please feel free to re-post this message.
Were you at WisCon this year? Was there a particular panel, discussion, or speaker that especially fired your imagination? If so, Aqueduct Press, publisher of The WisCon Chronicles, would like to hear from you. We are seeking suggestions and submissions for volume two of the series, which will deal with WisCon 31 (2007).
We want this volume to continue and extend the discussions that took place at the panels. So far, we are considering articles that derive from the following panels: The Future of Feminism: How does feminism need to change? Is it time for a reassessment of what feminism means? How can we take more action? Some people attending the panel felt that it was too much about white, middle-class, middle-aged feminists worrying about passing the torch to the younger generation. How would our thinking change if we looked forward to the issues likely to challenge us in the near and middle future, or if we looked laterally to the organizational strategies and tactics of the many feminist movements that are so vibrant and active in the third world today? As readers and writers and critics of feminist sf, surely we can expand our view of what feminism could be in the future!
The Romance of Revolution: This panel was rife with controversy. When a person of color in the audience asked the panelists to include examples of non-American, non-European revolutions, one of the members of the all-white panel said he “liked the Pol Pot revolution” and suggested that you can’t “retrain” people and thus have to “start from scratch” if you want to change a society. He later said that he wanted to make a point about the dangers of “utopian aspirations.” In addition, some audience members were outraged when another panelist asserted that the Indian Revolution was successful only because the US pulled Britain’s loans after WWII. This question remains: why in sf circles is the romance of revolution always so white, when in real life, postcolonial revolutions are so common? For more about this, see two posts at Ambling along the Aqueduct: http://aqueductpress.blogspot.com/2007/05/post-wiscon-report.html and http://aqueductpress.blogspot.com/2007/06/more-thoughts-on-romance-of-revolution.html
Unfair to Middle-class White Guys: This was a discussion that quickly moved beyond its satiric but misleading title to address issues of increasing racial, cultural, and gender-based diversity in the field. Can editors transcend their own cultural limitations to publish works that appeal to the diverse world of science fiction readers? Are the ones who can’t doomed? Or is it the genre itself that will end as bleached bones kicked to the roadside of literature? What if You Don’t Want to Have Kids: Is not wanting kids the last feminist taboo? For more about this, see the discussion on Ambling along the Aqueduct . If you were on or attended one of these panels and would like to participateto offer ideas or to submit an essayplease get in touch with us. Don’t be shy. We may want you, and we don’t necessarily have your email.
If you were blown away by a WisCon panel that we haven’t mentioned and would like to see its ideas expanded upon in The WisCon Chronicles, Volume 2, please let us know. Tell us the name of the panel, which participants (including audience members) most engaged you, and what was valuable to you about the discussion. If you’re interested in writing an essay on the topic or contributing to the book in some other way, please mention that as well. Please respond with ideas and suggestions by September 1, 2007. We will follow up with a request for submission of articles and essays on the topics we choose. To receive a list of topics (to be announced September 10), please send a request to wiscon-chronicles@aqueductpress.com.
Since the editors will be choosing specific topics to be considered, please query before writing an article. If you want to submit an article or essay, please send a proposal by October 1, 2007. (The earlier the better.) The deadline for the submission of finished essays is November 1, 2007. We’re looking for essays of 1000-5000 words. Payment will be nominal. Email or postal submissions/responses are both acceptable. Send email to wiscon-chronicles@aqueductpress.com.
Send postal mail to PO Box 95787, Seattle WA 98145-2787. Thanks! L. Timmel Duchamp Eileen Gunn Editors The WisCon Chronicles, Volume 2
PS: If you are on a blog or mailing list that takes an interest in these matters, please feel free to re-post this message.
Miss Snark's Greatest Hits (vol 29)
Miss Snark special double-pack. The Miss Snark post will be going on temporary hiatus while I go to a couple of conferences. I'm hoping to post a few things from the road, but can't guarantee it so it might be a while before you see my byline again. In the meantime, here's double the Snark.
What you should say when you get the call, or more correctly, a good snapshot of the process that leads to said call.
Smart thing to do when trying to figure out word count for a given genre. Go to the bookstore. I'd add one additional note to her criteria, make sure you've got first books by new authors.
Rights stuff:
Foreign rights or, am I ever going to get paid? Yes, eventually, probably.
You can't copyright an idea.
Query land:
E-queries and how do you send pages if not via attachment. Guest blogged since Miss Snark doesn't take them, with some general advice as well as the formatting stuff.
Make sure to safelist the agents you're equerying in your spam blocker if you want to actually hear back from them.
Querying weird stuff. Or what to do when you've written something that doesn't fit into the usual linear novel box.
More from the what not to do files, or how to really annoy an agent with the phone.
Trying to force a request for page by not giving the agent open ended questions is a dumb idea.
Requerying, the don'ts.
What you should say when you get the call, or more correctly, a good snapshot of the process that leads to said call.
Smart thing to do when trying to figure out word count for a given genre. Go to the bookstore. I'd add one additional note to her criteria, make sure you've got first books by new authors.
Rights stuff:
Foreign rights or, am I ever going to get paid? Yes, eventually, probably.
You can't copyright an idea.
Query land:
E-queries and how do you send pages if not via attachment. Guest blogged since Miss Snark doesn't take them, with some general advice as well as the formatting stuff.
Make sure to safelist the agents you're equerying in your spam blocker if you want to actually hear back from them.
Querying weird stuff. Or what to do when you've written something that doesn't fit into the usual linear novel box.
More from the what not to do files, or how to really annoy an agent with the phone.
Trying to force a request for page by not giving the agent open ended questions is a dumb idea.
Requerying, the don'ts.
Owning Your Work (pt 2) Rewriting
If you're fortunate enough to have a good critique group or first readers, you're going to get a lot of advice on your work, some of it spot-on, some of it close to the mark, and some of it that you violently disagree with. (If you're not that fortunate I'd strongly recommend doing something about it as you'll learn a lot both getting and giving critique).
The spot-on stuff is easy. You just do it. The close is also pretty easy, as it can be adapted to fit. It's the violently disagree with that's hard, because as much as you might like to, you shouldn't just dismiss it.
Readers offer suggestions because they either disagree with the choice you've made, they've missed something you expected them to get, or they've gone somewhere you didn't expect. In all of those cases, it's important for you as a writer to understand why that happened and whether it's because you didn't put something that was in your head down on the paper, because you've left something sketchy where you should have filled in the details to keep your reader on the path, because you didn't think of it, or simply because your reader has missed something obvious--it does happen.
The process I go through when I've been handed a suggestion that seems to me to come out of left field is thus: 1, put it aside for a moment to see if my backbrain can field the ball and figure out what went wrong. 2, Wait to see if anyone else had the same problem/suggestion or one that came in the same place. 3, ask questions of the critquer.
That last should be handled delicately. The person making the suggestions is giving of their time and perspective and you owe them the courtesy of being both polite and respectful no matter how wrong-headed you might think this particular comment is. You're not trying to defend whatever they've disagreed with, you're trying to find the root of the disagreement.
I try to ask questions like, okay you've said X, can you expand on that a bit? Or, if I've got an inkling what's wrong, here's what I was trying to do there, did that come through? Or, sometimes, what if I told you x about what's coming up, would that change things?
This is one of the places where the Wyrdsmiths really excel--often, while I'm still trying to figure out what lost someone, another person in the group who has better perspective, figures it out and gives me the piece I need to make sense of the critique, or better still, proposes a solution that fits into the spot-on frame, thereby saving me a ton of work.
Of course, sometimes it comes down to artistic or philosophical differences about where a story should go, and there you have to be willing to say X is going to make some percentage of my readers unhappy and accept the consequences, whatever those might be. It's not much fun, but it's what owning your work means.
So, how do you all deal with the comments that make you scratch your head or clench your fists?
Update Elizabeth Bear has a link to a post on editorial letters at Blue Rose Girls that's relevant to the topic at hand.
The spot-on stuff is easy. You just do it. The close is also pretty easy, as it can be adapted to fit. It's the violently disagree with that's hard, because as much as you might like to, you shouldn't just dismiss it.
Readers offer suggestions because they either disagree with the choice you've made, they've missed something you expected them to get, or they've gone somewhere you didn't expect. In all of those cases, it's important for you as a writer to understand why that happened and whether it's because you didn't put something that was in your head down on the paper, because you've left something sketchy where you should have filled in the details to keep your reader on the path, because you didn't think of it, or simply because your reader has missed something obvious--it does happen.
The process I go through when I've been handed a suggestion that seems to me to come out of left field is thus: 1, put it aside for a moment to see if my backbrain can field the ball and figure out what went wrong. 2, Wait to see if anyone else had the same problem/suggestion or one that came in the same place. 3, ask questions of the critquer.
That last should be handled delicately. The person making the suggestions is giving of their time and perspective and you owe them the courtesy of being both polite and respectful no matter how wrong-headed you might think this particular comment is. You're not trying to defend whatever they've disagreed with, you're trying to find the root of the disagreement.
I try to ask questions like, okay you've said X, can you expand on that a bit? Or, if I've got an inkling what's wrong, here's what I was trying to do there, did that come through? Or, sometimes, what if I told you x about what's coming up, would that change things?
This is one of the places where the Wyrdsmiths really excel--often, while I'm still trying to figure out what lost someone, another person in the group who has better perspective, figures it out and gives me the piece I need to make sense of the critique, or better still, proposes a solution that fits into the spot-on frame, thereby saving me a ton of work.
Of course, sometimes it comes down to artistic or philosophical differences about where a story should go, and there you have to be willing to say X is going to make some percentage of my readers unhappy and accept the consequences, whatever those might be. It's not much fun, but it's what owning your work means.
So, how do you all deal with the comments that make you scratch your head or clench your fists?
Update Elizabeth Bear has a link to a post on editorial letters at Blue Rose Girls that's relevant to the topic at hand.
Wednesday, July 25, 2007
Miss Snark's Greatest Hits (vol 28)
A Plague of Nice
My revisions are coming to an end, but they continue to kick my butt. I must have made every single beginner’s mistake while writing this thing. Last night I really noticed my tendency to “not go there.” This phenomenon probably has some fancy Turkey City Lexicon moniker, but I’ve always sort of thought of it a plague of the nice.
Here’s what the problem looks like. I set up some conflict, say, the idea that Coyote wants to steal my heroine’s goddess (which she harbors inside her). Anyway, I write a fantastic scene in which he does just that, but then I completely drop the ball in terms of follow-through. In fact, one scene later, without much work on the heroine’s part even, she gets her goddess back. How nice. No suffering.
When I’m too nice to my heroine, the conflict I set up instantly loses any punch it might have had. Also, as an author I completely missed the opportunity to really explore what this crisis MEANS to my character. It’s like I had my heroine walk right up to the edge of a really scary precipice, look over, shrug, and take the stairs. That might work for a funny moment in Indiana Jones, but it’s crappy story telling.
If you decide the precipice is going to be there, you need to not only go right up to it, but also jump. Otherwise why write about it at all?
As has been said by writers more famous than me, the writer’s job is to create characters and torture them. My corollary would be: if you bring out the hot poker, for God’s sake jab someone in the eye with it. And honestly, a good torturer doesn’t offer a bandage right away (or worse, some kind of instant cure-all that makes all the bad disappear.)
I think, in someway, this problem relates to Kelly’s post about writing from sadness/your happy place. It’s a lot harder to metaphorically poke someone in the eye when you’re suffering yourself. When you’re sad, there’s a tendency to want all the bad to go away. This is a great approach to life, but it makes for rather dull, toothless fiction.
Here’s what the problem looks like. I set up some conflict, say, the idea that Coyote wants to steal my heroine’s goddess (which she harbors inside her). Anyway, I write a fantastic scene in which he does just that, but then I completely drop the ball in terms of follow-through. In fact, one scene later, without much work on the heroine’s part even, she gets her goddess back. How nice. No suffering.
When I’m too nice to my heroine, the conflict I set up instantly loses any punch it might have had. Also, as an author I completely missed the opportunity to really explore what this crisis MEANS to my character. It’s like I had my heroine walk right up to the edge of a really scary precipice, look over, shrug, and take the stairs. That might work for a funny moment in Indiana Jones, but it’s crappy story telling.
If you decide the precipice is going to be there, you need to not only go right up to it, but also jump. Otherwise why write about it at all?
As has been said by writers more famous than me, the writer’s job is to create characters and torture them. My corollary would be: if you bring out the hot poker, for God’s sake jab someone in the eye with it. And honestly, a good torturer doesn’t offer a bandage right away (or worse, some kind of instant cure-all that makes all the bad disappear.)
I think, in someway, this problem relates to Kelly’s post about writing from sadness/your happy place. It’s a lot harder to metaphorically poke someone in the eye when you’re suffering yourself. When you’re sad, there’s a tendency to want all the bad to go away. This is a great approach to life, but it makes for rather dull, toothless fiction.
Tuesday, July 24, 2007
Quickie: SF Short Story Contest
A chance to win $5,000...
The Robert A. Heinlein Centennial Short Story Contest. To celebrate the anniversary of Heinlein's birth, the Heinlein Soceity is looking for stories by "any professional or amateur writer, excluding members of the board of directors of The Heinlein Society. The prizes will be awarded to the best original short story (in English) expressing the spirit, ideas, and philosophy of Robert A. Heinlein."
There's a lot of debate in the SF writers community as to whether or not contests are worth your time. The general concensus seems to be that if the prize money isn't a heckuva a lot more than the entry fee, don't bother. I think there are exceptions, however. Lots of people, including at least one Wyrdsmith, have benefited from The Writers of the Future. I can't say whether or not the Centennial Short Story Contest would be worth your time, but the money seems pretty darn good to me.
The Robert A. Heinlein Centennial Short Story Contest. To celebrate the anniversary of Heinlein's birth, the Heinlein Soceity is looking for stories by "any professional or amateur writer, excluding members of the board of directors of The Heinlein Society. The prizes will be awarded to the best original short story (in English) expressing the spirit, ideas, and philosophy of Robert A. Heinlein."
There's a lot of debate in the SF writers community as to whether or not contests are worth your time. The general concensus seems to be that if the prize money isn't a heckuva a lot more than the entry fee, don't bother. I think there are exceptions, however. Lots of people, including at least one Wyrdsmith, have benefited from The Writers of the Future. I can't say whether or not the Centennial Short Story Contest would be worth your time, but the money seems pretty darn good to me.
Miss Snark's Greatest Hits (vol 27)
The topic on this one is date specific requests for a partial, but the most interesting bits are down at the bottom where she talks about what to send along with the requested partial--important advice.
What to say when your writing buddy sends you something to read and it turns out that while they may be to your taste, their work is not. This one is funny, and for anyone who reads stuff in draft a familiar story.
Networking with the pros, or how win friends and influence people. I have mixed feelings about this. Her advice is basically sound, but I'm uncomfortable with the idea of networking for networking's sake. Making friends who can help your career is great since they probably share a lot of your interests, but doing it only because they can help your career smacks of using people and that's not okay.
Querying an agent with a new novel after a previous reject.
A couple of guest posts on querying multiple agents at the same agency. Brian DeFiore. Jenny Bent and Lucienne Diver.
Overcoming the fear of sending your work in. Nice.
Fascinating post on inherited literary properties-what to do with Grandpa's diaries and unpublished novels.
What to say when your writing buddy sends you something to read and it turns out that while they may be to your taste, their work is not. This one is funny, and for anyone who reads stuff in draft a familiar story.
Networking with the pros, or how win friends and influence people. I have mixed feelings about this. Her advice is basically sound, but I'm uncomfortable with the idea of networking for networking's sake. Making friends who can help your career is great since they probably share a lot of your interests, but doing it only because they can help your career smacks of using people and that's not okay.
Querying an agent with a new novel after a previous reject.
A couple of guest posts on querying multiple agents at the same agency. Brian DeFiore. Jenny Bent and Lucienne Diver.
Overcoming the fear of sending your work in. Nice.
Fascinating post on inherited literary properties-what to do with Grandpa's diaries and unpublished novels.
Interesting Things and A Response
Nancy Pickard is saying interesting things about the beginnings of creativity over at her blog. She talks about sadness as a catalyst to write and I think that's true for a lot of people, but as with everything that can be said about writing it's not for everyone. Say for example, me. So I wanted to respond. I'll post what I said over there over expanded and edits a bit, because I think it's an interesting discussion and it demonstrates once again that there are a 1,001 ways to write a novel, every one of them right.
My response:
Interesting thesis. Doesn't follow my own path to writing at all, but I can see how it's one way to start down the road.
In my own case, I met a wonderful woman with whom I wanted to spend the rest of my life (going on 18 years together now). I'd been in theater, but that's not really compatible with having a life, so I was looking for a new artistic outlet. Shortly after she moved in with me, I got a computer. I had time and artistic drive and I was as happy as I'd ever been in my life, so I wrote a book. It didn't sell, but that didn't deter me and I wrote two more.
They didn't sell either. So, more than a little bit bummed, I took a break from novels for short stories. I learned a lot and started selling shorts. My confidence and the writing part of my happiness returned (the spousal part never having gone anywhere at all) and I wrote WebMage, which went on to be released by Penguin's Ace division.
But the sales process took six years and shortly before it sold I was again pretty bummed and unhappy about writing. I was at the lowest production ebb of my writing life. Then the book sold and I started to come out of the down period and, since I was happy, to write a lot again. I've now written four novels in 24 months, including the best work of my life.
I write when I'm unhappy too, but I write better and much faster when I'm happy.
My response:
Interesting thesis. Doesn't follow my own path to writing at all, but I can see how it's one way to start down the road.
In my own case, I met a wonderful woman with whom I wanted to spend the rest of my life (going on 18 years together now). I'd been in theater, but that's not really compatible with having a life, so I was looking for a new artistic outlet. Shortly after she moved in with me, I got a computer. I had time and artistic drive and I was as happy as I'd ever been in my life, so I wrote a book. It didn't sell, but that didn't deter me and I wrote two more.
They didn't sell either. So, more than a little bit bummed, I took a break from novels for short stories. I learned a lot and started selling shorts. My confidence and the writing part of my happiness returned (the spousal part never having gone anywhere at all) and I wrote WebMage, which went on to be released by Penguin's Ace division.
But the sales process took six years and shortly before it sold I was again pretty bummed and unhappy about writing. I was at the lowest production ebb of my writing life. Then the book sold and I started to come out of the down period and, since I was happy, to write a lot again. I've now written four novels in 24 months, including the best work of my life.
I write when I'm unhappy too, but I write better and much faster when I'm happy.
Monday, July 23, 2007
Owning Your Work (pt 1)
Getting comments and critique on your work is one of the most valuable ways to improve it. It's also something that you will have to deal with if you're planning on working with agents and editors. Finding the right balance between doing what's asked of you and putting your foot down is tough, especially when it could mean killing a deal (always a matter of last resort). There are two main questions you have to ask yourself when you look at a suggestion.
1, does is make the story better? If the answer to this is yes, you move on to question two. If it's no, you have to take a moment and think about why the suggestion was made (okay, so you should do that if it's a yes too, because you've just been offered a chance to learn something). I was going to talk about this in brief below, but I've discovered that it wants to be its own post on rewrites, so more on that later.
2, and potentially much harder to answer, does it advance the purpose of the story? This is the place where things go foggy and vary wildly depending on what sort of writer you are. If you've got the whole story in your head or in an outline and someone makes a good suggestion that doesn't follow along, you're posed with an immediate dilemma, go with the shiny new thing or stick to your outline. I've done both depending on the situation.
My very first short story sale involved taking the second half of a 6,000 word short and throwing it away to write a new ending. I've also looked at a beautiful idea and quietly (and somewhat sadly) put it aside. One of the few times I've really gotten hammered by a member of one of my writers groups (and rightfully so) was when I let myself slip and say that I wasn't going to do something at the time it was suggested. I had good intentions, but it was a breach of etiquette and absolutely the wrong way to handle the choice.
In general, if you're not going to take a suggestion, there's no reason whatsoever to tell the person who made it because it will only make them feel as though they've wasted effort. There are two exceptions to this. A, editorial/agent suggestions, in which case you discuss the problem the suggestion addresses and try to work out a comprise (more on this in the rewrite post). B, book length works where this person will be critiquing on an ongoing basis and where not taking the suggestion will have a significant impact on the reading of the story.
That latter was the case in the scene wherein I got hammered. I handled it the wrong way. What I should have done was shut my mouth and given myself a couple of days to think about it. Then, if I decided it still mattered (it would have in this case) I should have waited for the next meeting and spoken with the critiquer on an individual basis about why the (genuinely excellent suggestion) was incompatible with the novel I was writing.
What they wanted me to do would have made a good story, but it was a story that I had no interest in telling. The only way to stay sane in this business is to write what you love and love what you write. You are the one who is writing it and you are the one who's name goes on the byline--it has to be something you believe. You have to own the story.
So, does anyone have any thoughts on owning your work? Stories of critiques you loved but couldn't take? Critiques you later wished you had taken?
1, does is make the story better? If the answer to this is yes, you move on to question two. If it's no, you have to take a moment and think about why the suggestion was made (okay, so you should do that if it's a yes too, because you've just been offered a chance to learn something). I was going to talk about this in brief below, but I've discovered that it wants to be its own post on rewrites, so more on that later.
2, and potentially much harder to answer, does it advance the purpose of the story? This is the place where things go foggy and vary wildly depending on what sort of writer you are. If you've got the whole story in your head or in an outline and someone makes a good suggestion that doesn't follow along, you're posed with an immediate dilemma, go with the shiny new thing or stick to your outline. I've done both depending on the situation.
My very first short story sale involved taking the second half of a 6,000 word short and throwing it away to write a new ending. I've also looked at a beautiful idea and quietly (and somewhat sadly) put it aside. One of the few times I've really gotten hammered by a member of one of my writers groups (and rightfully so) was when I let myself slip and say that I wasn't going to do something at the time it was suggested. I had good intentions, but it was a breach of etiquette and absolutely the wrong way to handle the choice.
In general, if you're not going to take a suggestion, there's no reason whatsoever to tell the person who made it because it will only make them feel as though they've wasted effort. There are two exceptions to this. A, editorial/agent suggestions, in which case you discuss the problem the suggestion addresses and try to work out a comprise (more on this in the rewrite post). B, book length works where this person will be critiquing on an ongoing basis and where not taking the suggestion will have a significant impact on the reading of the story.
That latter was the case in the scene wherein I got hammered. I handled it the wrong way. What I should have done was shut my mouth and given myself a couple of days to think about it. Then, if I decided it still mattered (it would have in this case) I should have waited for the next meeting and spoken with the critiquer on an individual basis about why the (genuinely excellent suggestion) was incompatible with the novel I was writing.
What they wanted me to do would have made a good story, but it was a story that I had no interest in telling. The only way to stay sane in this business is to write what you love and love what you write. You are the one who is writing it and you are the one who's name goes on the byline--it has to be something you believe. You have to own the story.
So, does anyone have any thoughts on owning your work? Stories of critiques you loved but couldn't take? Critiques you later wished you had taken?
Saturday, July 21, 2007
Miss Snark's Greatest Hits (vol 26)
More from the fabulous snarkives:
Why some deals get posted at Publisher's Marketplace and some don't.
Write what you love. What she said.
Miss Snark on being prolific. She prefers slow writing. I flat out disagree with her on this. It doesn't matter a jot what speed you write at. What matters is how well you write, and in my experience that's largely unrelated to rate of production. If that's slow, fine. If it's fast, also fine. The trick is building a career that plays to the strengths of your mode.
Why some deals get posted at Publisher's Marketplace and some don't.
Write what you love. What she said.
Miss Snark on being prolific. She prefers slow writing. I flat out disagree with her on this. It doesn't matter a jot what speed you write at. What matters is how well you write, and in my experience that's largely unrelated to rate of production. If that's slow, fine. If it's fast, also fine. The trick is building a career that plays to the strengths of your mode.
Miss Snark's Greatest Hits (vol 25)
From the snarkives:
On resubmission of reworked material, (fine if time has passed) queries to agents, (ditto) novels to publishers, and (bad idea) pages to agents who haven't yet responded to the original package.
What happens if your agent dies? You should probably know the answer to this in advance.
And a previous partial index of the snarkives.
On resubmission of reworked material, (fine if time has passed) queries to agents, (ditto) novels to publishers, and (bad idea) pages to agents who haven't yet responded to the original package.
What happens if your agent dies? You should probably know the answer to this in advance.
And a previous partial index of the snarkives.
Saturday Morning Funnies (Volume 1)
Wyrdsmiths is currently considering an offer by an archivist/curator who is interested in preserving our collective papers. Thus, I’ve been in my basement a lot lately, digging through the piles of things I’ve saved regarding my writing career to-date. There are boxes and files cabinets filled with sorts of nonsense, including my earliest attempts at fiction -- including boat loads of Pern, Star Wars, Star Trek, and Deryni Chronicle fanfic. However, in among all of this nostalgic, if god(dess)-awful trash, is the occasional stab at original fiction.
I thought it might be fun to “publish” excerpts of some of it here. Unfortunately, none of these pieces are dated. But, using the sophisticated detection method of “just guessing” and looking at the style of cursive writing I used on the torn out sheets of spiral notebook paper, I can confidentially place this unearthed artifact between the years 1978-1985 (junior high school to high school.)
Prepare to cringe (but dig this opener, eh?)
[And there it mercifully ends]
If people enjoy this, I may continue to pull short gems like this one for your Saturday morning amusement/mocking.
I thought it might be fun to “publish” excerpts of some of it here. Unfortunately, none of these pieces are dated. But, using the sophisticated detection method of “just guessing” and looking at the style of cursive writing I used on the torn out sheets of spiral notebook paper, I can confidentially place this unearthed artifact between the years 1978-1985 (junior high school to high school.)
Prepare to cringe (but dig this opener, eh?)
Father Time knows space as the last horizon for us all to explore. The eyes of tomorrow look ahead into the dark, dark emptiness of space.
Spacemen are a separate and lonely breed, for there lies but one lust in their adventurous souls: the thrill of conquest!
The diplomats of our time call the desecration of sacred lands not conquest, but “liberation” from the drudgery of freedom. Don’t get me wrong, the men we call aliens are still allowed free thought as long as it doesn’t conflict with our ideals and the laws we impose upon them.
I, being a spaceman,see once proud men fall broken at the force of our conquistadors. I deal in the death of those proud men who won’t fall without a struggle into our crushing hands. No quarter is given, all must fall. Unearthly blood floods the fields and the skies, where e’er I venture.
Yet something in me cries out – something human, god-fearing. My evil-marred soul lusts to be gentle, forgiving. But none around me hear my pleas over the war-cries of thousands. How to explain love to a battle-worn soldier; he knows only lust and hatred.
My mind returns constantly to that day. The day I learned of love. We had been assigned to keep the peace at a rebel rally. I heard the rebel leader speak. He was tall and handsome, gentle and fierce. He spoke to his fells with pride and anger. He spoke of peace. As his lips formed the words of life-giving hope, a bloody shot rang out. He fell, killed for his love of life. I saw his lover rush to his, I saw them her kiss her lover’s unresponsive lips.
[And there it mercifully ends]
If people enjoy this, I may continue to pull short gems like this one for your Saturday morning amusement/mocking.
Friday, July 20, 2007
Miss Snark's Greatest Hits (vol 24)
Mirroring, or tailoring your query toward the specific agent by looking at the adjectives and adverbs the agent uses to describe what s/he's looking for and putting some of them into the query. I'd never thought of this but it's very smart.
Small presses and how to see if one might be right for you.
Should your academic credentials go in your query letter--probably not.
Small presses and how to see if one might be right for you.
Should your academic credentials go in your query letter--probably not.
What a Synopsis Should Do
I've been mulling this over a lot lately. Miss Snark claimed at one point that all a synopsis had to do was be short, not painful to read, and show that the author hasn't screwed up somewhere in plotting the book. I'm not sure that I agree. Those seem like good minimum conditions, but I think I want more from my work than to demonstrate I haven't screwed up in the minimum number of words.
I want to leave the reader with questions that interest them enough to want to read the whole manuscript. This does not mean questions about what happened--those are by way of screwing up, because the reader of a synopsis needs to end their perusal knowing what happens. What I'm talking about are questions of method. I want my reader to say something like That's cool, I want to see that or, Really? Why didn't I see that coming, I have to read this, or just, oooh, nice.
A well written synopsis gives conflict, plot, setting, character sketches, and some genuine flavor of the book, at least in my opinion, and if that takes slightly longer, I think it's okay. I keep coming back to the idea of talking about what excites you about this story as a writer, because that's what's going to convey the important parts of the book's flavor. Perhaps this is another instance where strong voice is important.
So, what do y'all think? I'm still formulating my opinions on the subject.
I want to leave the reader with questions that interest them enough to want to read the whole manuscript. This does not mean questions about what happened--those are by way of screwing up, because the reader of a synopsis needs to end their perusal knowing what happens. What I'm talking about are questions of method. I want my reader to say something like That's cool, I want to see that or, Really? Why didn't I see that coming, I have to read this, or just, oooh, nice.
A well written synopsis gives conflict, plot, setting, character sketches, and some genuine flavor of the book, at least in my opinion, and if that takes slightly longer, I think it's okay. I keep coming back to the idea of talking about what excites you about this story as a writer, because that's what's going to convey the important parts of the book's flavor. Perhaps this is another instance where strong voice is important.
So, what do y'all think? I'm still formulating my opinions on the subject.
Thursday, July 19, 2007
Miss Snark's Greatest Hits (vol 23)
More Miss Snark:
Your job is to write. Your agent's job is to sell what you write. Getting the two confused is counterproductive. One thing she failed to mention in this post is the exception of knowing an editor and having them ask for your stuff--she's covered it elsewhere, but it should be mentioned in this context.
Don't put the dedication or acknowledgements page in a submission copy of the manuscript. That's added after a project has sold and (my note) should include your agent and editor for the project.
What to do when an agent requests revisions. Miss Snark suggests you do them. If not, make very sure you explain why you'd rather not and have a dialogue with the agent on the topic. I'm mostly in agreement with her provided that you as the writer agree that the revisions will make the book better. You are the writer and you have to make the final call on what you will and won't do. But that has to be informed by the understanding that if you won't do what an editor or agent wants, you may not be working with that person anymore. This is a tough one and I think I'll do a front page post on it later.
Thanking an agent who's rejected your work. This is fine if it's just a "thank you" and not a "but wait." Apropos of which, don't argue with the rejection or go back and say neener neener. My note: Not only is that impolite, it's also a really dumb career move for more than just the reasons Miss Snark lists. Publishing is a small world. We all know each other and "idiot" stories get around.
Finally, because it's fun, how to deal with family who want to know about the cousin who's "published" (vanity press) and why you're not doing as well.
Your job is to write. Your agent's job is to sell what you write. Getting the two confused is counterproductive. One thing she failed to mention in this post is the exception of knowing an editor and having them ask for your stuff--she's covered it elsewhere, but it should be mentioned in this context.
Don't put the dedication or acknowledgements page in a submission copy of the manuscript. That's added after a project has sold and (my note) should include your agent and editor for the project.
What to do when an agent requests revisions. Miss Snark suggests you do them. If not, make very sure you explain why you'd rather not and have a dialogue with the agent on the topic. I'm mostly in agreement with her provided that you as the writer agree that the revisions will make the book better. You are the writer and you have to make the final call on what you will and won't do. But that has to be informed by the understanding that if you won't do what an editor or agent wants, you may not be working with that person anymore. This is a tough one and I think I'll do a front page post on it later.
Thanking an agent who's rejected your work. This is fine if it's just a "thank you" and not a "but wait." Apropos of which, don't argue with the rejection or go back and say neener neener. My note: Not only is that impolite, it's also a really dumb career move for more than just the reasons Miss Snark lists. Publishing is a small world. We all know each other and "idiot" stories get around.
Finally, because it's fun, how to deal with family who want to know about the cousin who's "published" (vanity press) and why you're not doing as well.
Dashing Heroines and Nerdy Heros... in the Toliet
I have an odd bathroom. It’s got five corners. Decorating it has been baffling, to say the least, but I finally had a brainstorm the other day. What we needed was a bookshelf! (I often say this when thinking about decorating any part of our house because, well, we’re always in need of more room for books.) But, in keeping with the sort of light, bathroom reading I like to do, my partner Shawn and I are actually on a mission to fill the shelves (built to order for paperbacks) with pulp classics.
Thus, for the first time in my life I’m reading books with titles like Journey to the Center of the Earth and The Land That Time Forgot (yes, Verne and Burroughs). Also, at a recent foray to Uncle Hugo’s I picked up all of the John Carter of Mars series (also Burroughs) because I had fond memories of taking them out of the school library as a kid. They even had the cover art I remembered!
My son, who is turning four in six days, also discovered that Marvel Comics has put out a series of kid-friendly (they’re calling them “all ages”) titles that include a number of my favorite teams, including the Fantastic Four. One thing I noticed? The FF go into space a lot. Mason’s current favorite issue involves a trip the FF take to the “far side of a cloud of negative energy” where, due to a case of mistaken identity, they end up unleashing the universe’s most ultimate evil: Ego, the living planet.
It’s some of the worst science fiction I’ve ever read.
I absolutely adore it.
In fact, I went to Dreamhaven with Mason today and dropped a whole wad of cash on more of the same. It’s fascinating to me to watch Mason be drawn to the more fantastical and outlandish issues. He’s moderately interested in the politics of Black Panther’s vibranium mines, but put our fearless heroes in space and he’s there. The only stories he’s asked me to re-read are the ones that involve space or aliens.
It makes me proud. But, it also fascinates me. Why are some of us drawn to these kinds of stories? What is it that trips our triggers in a way that other stories don’t? Mason (and I) read all sorts of things, but his eyes (and mine) light up the instant there are rocket ships and some nerd saying, “according to my calculations….”
I’m glad to see new “golden age” type SF being written in comic books, but who else is writing it any more? I wish I were any good at it. I think I could be a hero to my son if I could write something that involved dashing heroines and nerdy heros.
Thus, for the first time in my life I’m reading books with titles like Journey to the Center of the Earth and The Land That Time Forgot (yes, Verne and Burroughs). Also, at a recent foray to Uncle Hugo’s I picked up all of the John Carter of Mars series (also Burroughs) because I had fond memories of taking them out of the school library as a kid. They even had the cover art I remembered!
My son, who is turning four in six days, also discovered that Marvel Comics has put out a series of kid-friendly (they’re calling them “all ages”) titles that include a number of my favorite teams, including the Fantastic Four. One thing I noticed? The FF go into space a lot. Mason’s current favorite issue involves a trip the FF take to the “far side of a cloud of negative energy” where, due to a case of mistaken identity, they end up unleashing the universe’s most ultimate evil: Ego, the living planet.It’s some of the worst science fiction I’ve ever read.
I absolutely adore it.
In fact, I went to Dreamhaven with Mason today and dropped a whole wad of cash on more of the same. It’s fascinating to me to watch Mason be drawn to the more fantastical and outlandish issues. He’s moderately interested in the politics of Black Panther’s vibranium mines, but put our fearless heroes in space and he’s there. The only stories he’s asked me to re-read are the ones that involve space or aliens.
It makes me proud. But, it also fascinates me. Why are some of us drawn to these kinds of stories? What is it that trips our triggers in a way that other stories don’t? Mason (and I) read all sorts of things, but his eyes (and mine) light up the instant there are rocket ships and some nerd saying, “according to my calculations….”
I’m glad to see new “golden age” type SF being written in comic books, but who else is writing it any more? I wish I were any good at it. I think I could be a hero to my son if I could write something that involved dashing heroines and nerdy heros.
Wednesday, July 18, 2007
Miss Snark's Greatest Hits (vol 22)
Snarkive* goodies.
On whether or not to include possibly unsavory but professional credits in your cover/query letters. The answer is it depends, but probably yes.
On mentioning those seventeen novels you've got tucked under the bed. Don't.
When an agent requests your book, how long do you have before the request expires? Not very.
When an agent calls you to talk before agreeing to represent you. What is she looking for? Short answer, be polite, be professional, be easy to work with.
Speaking of which, when your editor asks you to do something, do you: A, do it. B, send an email to Miss Snark or someone else asking whether or not you should. C, ignore her. D, something else. I'll give you a hint. It's not B or C, and it's only D if that something else is talk back and forth with your editor to find out how best to approach the problem that made her request that you do A.
Finally, an industry post on some of the differences between small and large presses in terms of book availability, marketing clout, etc.
-------------------------
*For those who turned in late, I'm going through Miss Snark's** archives and pulling out the posts I think will be most useful to writers. At the end of my snarkive diving I will create an indexed post with all of the stuff I've dug up.
**The wonderfully useful anonymous agent who recently shut the doors of her industry/writing blog.
On whether or not to include possibly unsavory but professional credits in your cover/query letters. The answer is it depends, but probably yes.
On mentioning those seventeen novels you've got tucked under the bed. Don't.
When an agent requests your book, how long do you have before the request expires? Not very.
When an agent calls you to talk before agreeing to represent you. What is she looking for? Short answer, be polite, be professional, be easy to work with.
Speaking of which, when your editor asks you to do something, do you: A, do it. B, send an email to Miss Snark or someone else asking whether or not you should. C, ignore her. D, something else. I'll give you a hint. It's not B or C, and it's only D if that something else is talk back and forth with your editor to find out how best to approach the problem that made her request that you do A.
Finally, an industry post on some of the differences between small and large presses in terms of book availability, marketing clout, etc.
-------------------------
*For those who turned in late, I'm going through Miss Snark's** archives and pulling out the posts I think will be most useful to writers. At the end of my snarkive diving I will create an indexed post with all of the stuff I've dug up.
**The wonderfully useful anonymous agent who recently shut the doors of her industry/writing blog.
Tuesday, July 17, 2007
Press Releases, A Primer.
Yesterday a writing friend sent me a request for help in formulating a press release for a reading for her hometown paper. As I was writing the response I realized the topic might make a good post here. Hopefully Lyda will chime in on the topic to correct or expand on my points since she has more experience with these than I do.
First, a general note on writing press releases.
The main thing to remember is the goals of the press release in descending order:
1. Getting your name and its association with publishing in front of the maximum number of eyeballs.
2. Getting the name of the current publication in front of same along with purchasing information.
3. Promoting the specific event if there is one associated with the press release.
4. Including details that will help the people attached to the eyeballs remember the first three goals in the same order.
5. Everything else.
Now, on to the specifics of the reading release.
Do it in standard journalism reverse pyramid style. Start with the important stuff in the first paragraph, who, what, where, when, why. Something like:
Para 1, Hometown writer, your name here will be signing copies of the title[s] at bookstore x at date and time. If it's a collection--the anthologies include name's story title as well as stories by big name authors here. Publisher and purchasing information here with the more prestigious and easily available publications first. Make sure to note that the books will be available at the signing.
Para 2, Any other professional awards or credits if you've got them. Otherwise go to paragraph 3.
Para 3, this paragraph should be optimized for the specific paper, in the case of the release I mentioned above it's a hometown paper: Biographical information about your links to the area and how you got your start in writing there--this can be reading stuff, or writing stories for school or whatever. The key is to make the links between this town and your writing. If you've got some tie to the bookstore, mention it here. That will remind the readers of the where and make the store remember your name fondly.
Next paragraph on what you write and why.
Further paragraphs expanding on the above.
The key with these is to get the information that the reader needs to go to the event up front and to follow up with why its important in this particular venue and after that a half dozen or so paragraphs of filler and biographical info. When a paper takes a press release that's the order they want to see things in. Also, finish each paragraph such that the article could end right there. Smaller newspapers are likely to run the whole thing, but big ones will only run as many column inches as they have space for and will stop when they run out whether the press release has ended or not.
Questions? Comments?
First, a general note on writing press releases.
The main thing to remember is the goals of the press release in descending order:
1. Getting your name and its association with publishing in front of the maximum number of eyeballs.
2. Getting the name of the current publication in front of same along with purchasing information.
3. Promoting the specific event if there is one associated with the press release.
4. Including details that will help the people attached to the eyeballs remember the first three goals in the same order.
5. Everything else.
Now, on to the specifics of the reading release.
Do it in standard journalism reverse pyramid style. Start with the important stuff in the first paragraph, who, what, where, when, why. Something like:
Para 1, Hometown writer, your name here will be signing copies of the title[s] at bookstore x at date and time. If it's a collection--the anthologies include name's story title as well as stories by big name authors here. Publisher and purchasing information here with the more prestigious and easily available publications first. Make sure to note that the books will be available at the signing.
Para 2, Any other professional awards or credits if you've got them. Otherwise go to paragraph 3.
Para 3, this paragraph should be optimized for the specific paper, in the case of the release I mentioned above it's a hometown paper: Biographical information about your links to the area and how you got your start in writing there--this can be reading stuff, or writing stories for school or whatever. The key is to make the links between this town and your writing. If you've got some tie to the bookstore, mention it here. That will remind the readers of the where and make the store remember your name fondly.
Next paragraph on what you write and why.
Further paragraphs expanding on the above.
The key with these is to get the information that the reader needs to go to the event up front and to follow up with why its important in this particular venue and after that a half dozen or so paragraphs of filler and biographical info. When a paper takes a press release that's the order they want to see things in. Also, finish each paragraph such that the article could end right there. Smaller newspapers are likely to run the whole thing, but big ones will only run as many column inches as they have space for and will stop when they run out whether the press release has ended or not.
Questions? Comments?
Quick Hit
Jay Lake and Ken Scholes saying smart things about persistence and writing success.
Also, Nancy Pickard saying smart things about writing and tension. Appropos of Lyda's plot post below.
Also, Nancy Pickard saying smart things about writing and tension. Appropos of Lyda's plot post below.
Miss Snark's Greatest Hits (vol 21)
A snarkive trip focused on submissions.
Agents and international submissions, or the trouble with IRCs (International Reply Coupons).
Rejections of the love the writing, the idea is not right for us variety.
Synopses, less is more. Miss Snark likes them at 1,000 words or less. I'm not entirely sure I agree with her for F&SF where you have to go into more detail for both world and plot then you do for many other genres.
90 days before you are allowed to query on your requested novel MS, minimum.
Miss Snark wants you to skip the prologue when sending your first ten pages. Not sure how I feel about that personally but it's worth listening to her reasoning.
Movie rights, let your agent worry about them until somebody offers. Pretend they don't exist and work on the next book. Obsessing over them leads to madness.
Agents and international submissions, or the trouble with IRCs (International Reply Coupons).
Rejections of the love the writing, the idea is not right for us variety.
Synopses, less is more. Miss Snark likes them at 1,000 words or less. I'm not entirely sure I agree with her for F&SF where you have to go into more detail for both world and plot then you do for many other genres.
90 days before you are allowed to query on your requested novel MS, minimum.
Miss Snark wants you to skip the prologue when sending your first ten pages. Not sure how I feel about that personally but it's worth listening to her reasoning.
Movie rights, let your agent worry about them until somebody offers. Pretend they don't exist and work on the next book. Obsessing over them leads to madness.
In Service to Plot
I just cut twelve pages from my manuscript. It hurt.
But I read the scene with my revision cap on, and, frankly, nothing happened. I’d had my heroine, Garnet, have this long extended discussion with the owner of the store she manages about the possibility of Garnet buying him out. It’s kind of a good character moment for her, because it’s one of the ways in which she’s accepting that Madison is her new home and that she’s planning on settling there permanently. However, this twelve pages discussion of financing options comes in the middle of some pretty high tension moments, including a murder attempt. I realized, re-reading it, that it grinds the pacing to a halt.
Now, I’m not advocating always having break-neck pacing -- rushing from one cliff-hanger/action point to the next until the final exhaustive battle. That works for some kinds of books, but, as a reader, I tend to need moments to process. Especially in the kind of novel that I’m trying to pull off with Romancing the Dead, where there’s a lot going on (and some of it is a bit mysterious – who *IS* trying to kill our heroine and why), the protagonist and the reader need quiet, reflective moments to consider all the possibilities. Those quieter moments are, in point of fact, vital.
Which is why distracting the reader with something kind of gratuitous in middle of all this more interesting and important stuff is such a bad idea. I want a slowing down moment, not a speed bump.
Kelly and I are very different writers in terms of process and product, but I know, having been on panels with him about this very subject, that he’s likely to agree. It’s all in service to plot. If the scene doesn’t advance the plot in some way, it has to go.
Now, back to the text forests with my machete.
But I read the scene with my revision cap on, and, frankly, nothing happened. I’d had my heroine, Garnet, have this long extended discussion with the owner of the store she manages about the possibility of Garnet buying him out. It’s kind of a good character moment for her, because it’s one of the ways in which she’s accepting that Madison is her new home and that she’s planning on settling there permanently. However, this twelve pages discussion of financing options comes in the middle of some pretty high tension moments, including a murder attempt. I realized, re-reading it, that it grinds the pacing to a halt.
Now, I’m not advocating always having break-neck pacing -- rushing from one cliff-hanger/action point to the next until the final exhaustive battle. That works for some kinds of books, but, as a reader, I tend to need moments to process. Especially in the kind of novel that I’m trying to pull off with Romancing the Dead, where there’s a lot going on (and some of it is a bit mysterious – who *IS* trying to kill our heroine and why), the protagonist and the reader need quiet, reflective moments to consider all the possibilities. Those quieter moments are, in point of fact, vital.
Which is why distracting the reader with something kind of gratuitous in middle of all this more interesting and important stuff is such a bad idea. I want a slowing down moment, not a speed bump.
Kelly and I are very different writers in terms of process and product, but I know, having been on panels with him about this very subject, that he’s likely to agree. It’s all in service to plot. If the scene doesn’t advance the plot in some way, it has to go.
Now, back to the text forests with my machete.
Monday, July 16, 2007
Both Wyrdsmiths Collections Available!
As you'll see in the retooled sidebar, Dreamhaven Books is now offering both of the recent Wyrdsmiths collections. Not only is Dreamhaven a fantastic place to shop with a great selection and a helpful, knowledgable staff, but they also are wonderful to work with from the author's point of view, too. Go check them out and see what cool things they have to offer. And if you don't see it on their website? Call. They can usually find books for you and order them.
And while you're browsing over there, you can always throw in a copy of New Wyrd or Tales from the Black Dog!
And while you're browsing over there, you can always throw in a copy of New Wyrd or Tales from the Black Dog!
Writers' Block/Writers' High Survey
A friend of mine, Rosanne Bane, is writing a non-fiction book about writers' block/writers' high and is looking for writers (at any level in their career) to fill out a short, on-line survery. If you have the inclination and time, please go to:
http://www.surveymonkey.com/s.aspx?sm=_2bxhgsIhnjrOxgQ_2bRPD7x2Q_3d_3d
http://www.surveymonkey.com/s.aspx?sm=_2bxhgsIhnjrOxgQ_2bRPD7x2Q_3d_3d
Miss Snark's Greatest Hits (vol 20)
This last round of my snarkive diving hit a section that was so dense I've divided it into two parts this one, full of general info and the next one, focusing on submission.
First, a truly excellent explanation of royalties and discounts and the economics of publishing and books stores.
Just for fun. Appalled. Really appalled. Queries by idiots. Not something you need to read, but funny, and it'll remind you that the competition for book slots is considerably smaller than the list of everyone who thinks they're competition.
Bad agent = worse then no agent. Lazy agents who don't bother to give good advice edition.
Book Expo America--Don't go to pitch. Bad idea. If you really want to go, go to learn.
Book packagers. A question on what to do when you've landed a work-for-hire type writing gig. And an absolutely fascinating post on book packagers looking for work-for-hire writers and the difficulties thereof. This is one of those "I didn't know anything about this corner of the industry" posts that I particularly enjoy reading.
First, a truly excellent explanation of royalties and discounts and the economics of publishing and books stores.
Just for fun. Appalled. Really appalled. Queries by idiots. Not something you need to read, but funny, and it'll remind you that the competition for book slots is considerably smaller than the list of everyone who thinks they're competition.
Bad agent = worse then no agent. Lazy agents who don't bother to give good advice edition.
Book Expo America--Don't go to pitch. Bad idea. If you really want to go, go to learn.
Book packagers. A question on what to do when you've landed a work-for-hire type writing gig. And an absolutely fascinating post on book packagers looking for work-for-hire writers and the difficulties thereof. This is one of those "I didn't know anything about this corner of the industry" posts that I particularly enjoy reading.
Signal from Fred
As I’ve been going through the manuscript of Romancing the Dead (or, as I call it in my mind Dead on Arousal), I’m particularly struck by the fact that I’ve committed one of the Turkey City Lexicon prose structure faux pas: “signal from Fred.”
Signal from Fred, apparently coined by Damon Knight, is defined as, “a comic form of the ‘Dischism’ in which the author's subconscious, alarmed by the poor quality of the work, makes unwitting critical comments: ‘This doesn't make sense.’ ‘This is really boring.’ ‘This sounds like a bad movie.’” Except in my case, because I didn’t know why my antagonist was after my protagonist, I continually had him avoid answering her direct questions. She’d say, “Why are you following me?” He’d reply with something cryptic that didn’t really advance the plot, like, “Because I’m after something.” Oh, really, Mr. Bad Guy, you’re AFTER something, I never would have guessed! And what could it be? “Uh,” he says, “something. Something IMPORTANT.”
Yeah, like that.
For pages.
It’s amazing to me that my editor didn’t look at this crap and call me on it. I guess, in a way she did, but she was much more subtle about it than I would have been in her place. She very nicely reminded me that I’m a fine writer and then told me there were problems with the pacing. I realized, of course, while trying to figure out how to get into the plot more quickly that all this artful dodging around the antagonist’s motives was slowing things to a snail’s pace.
Because it’s astounding how much time you can waste not answering questions and getting to the point. And, of course, the protagonist can’t exactly “protag” unless she knows what she’s fighting.
Bleah.
Back to the untangling.
Signal from Fred, apparently coined by Damon Knight, is defined as, “a comic form of the ‘Dischism’ in which the author's subconscious, alarmed by the poor quality of the work, makes unwitting critical comments: ‘This doesn't make sense.’ ‘This is really boring.’ ‘This sounds like a bad movie.’” Except in my case, because I didn’t know why my antagonist was after my protagonist, I continually had him avoid answering her direct questions. She’d say, “Why are you following me?” He’d reply with something cryptic that didn’t really advance the plot, like, “Because I’m after something.” Oh, really, Mr. Bad Guy, you’re AFTER something, I never would have guessed! And what could it be? “Uh,” he says, “something. Something IMPORTANT.”
Yeah, like that.
For pages.
It’s amazing to me that my editor didn’t look at this crap and call me on it. I guess, in a way she did, but she was much more subtle about it than I would have been in her place. She very nicely reminded me that I’m a fine writer and then told me there were problems with the pacing. I realized, of course, while trying to figure out how to get into the plot more quickly that all this artful dodging around the antagonist’s motives was slowing things to a snail’s pace.
Because it’s astounding how much time you can waste not answering questions and getting to the point. And, of course, the protagonist can’t exactly “protag” unless she knows what she’s fighting.
Bleah.
Back to the untangling.
Sunday, July 15, 2007
Miss Snark's Greatest Hits (vol 19)
Snarkive diving, another dense one.
On reader sensibilities, which touches on the implicit contract idea a bit, though it's more a reminder of the reader than anything else.
Synopsis stuff--line spacing.
When an agent talks about having a full list, it means they probably have...a full list. Here's why you don't necessarily want to get a super agent whose already running at capacity.
More on not working with fee charging agents. If you're already convinced that it's a bad idea you can skip these two posts, but it's a point that should be made strongly and with some frequency. One, and two.
Miss Snark growls at the Sunday Times for stupid investigative journalism tricks. The gist is that they did a report by sending a couple of chapters from previously published and award winning works off to some editors who all rejected it. Miss Snark notes that they sent directly to editors, unsolicited, that there's no mention of cover letters, that the work was almost certainly dated, that there was no effort to target appropriate editors, and that the appropriate editors would have probably recognized something familiar about it and bounced it for that very reason. It's kind of a fun read.
On reader sensibilities, which touches on the implicit contract idea a bit, though it's more a reminder of the reader than anything else.
Synopsis stuff--line spacing.
When an agent talks about having a full list, it means they probably have...a full list. Here's why you don't necessarily want to get a super agent whose already running at capacity.
More on not working with fee charging agents. If you're already convinced that it's a bad idea you can skip these two posts, but it's a point that should be made strongly and with some frequency. One, and two.
Miss Snark growls at the Sunday Times for stupid investigative journalism tricks. The gist is that they did a report by sending a couple of chapters from previously published and award winning works off to some editors who all rejected it. Miss Snark notes that they sent directly to editors, unsolicited, that there's no mention of cover letters, that the work was almost certainly dated, that there was no effort to target appropriate editors, and that the appropriate editors would have probably recognized something familiar about it and bounced it for that very reason. It's kind of a fun read.
Friday, July 13, 2007
Miss Snark's Greatest Hits (vol 18)
Snarkives, a light dip this time.
Is the agency you're looking at a scammer? How many books they sell a year matters. Miss Snark dissects an agency come on and points out red flags.
Why you should care if your agent is an LLC or a sole proprietor. Short answer, if your agent dies and had money of yours in a sole proprietor account it will be much more difficult for you to retrieve.
Note: In an earlier post's comments Tricia asked if I'd be indexing these in some way later on--just found it or I'd have answered sooner. Yes. Once I've finished going through the snarkives I'll do a master post with all of my links and notes organized by topic.
Is the agency you're looking at a scammer? How many books they sell a year matters. Miss Snark dissects an agency come on and points out red flags.
Why you should care if your agent is an LLC or a sole proprietor. Short answer, if your agent dies and had money of yours in a sole proprietor account it will be much more difficult for you to retrieve.
Note: In an earlier post's comments Tricia asked if I'd be indexing these in some way later on--just found it or I'd have answered sooner. Yes. Once I've finished going through the snarkives I'll do a master post with all of my links and notes organized by topic.
Miss Snark's Greatest Hits (vol 17)
More Miss Snark:
Be nice to bookstore clerks and managers, they are your friends. I'd add librarians to that as well, and pretty much anybody else you meet. First off, it's simply good policy and it'll make your life easier and happier in general. Second, word of mouth sells books, and you're much more likely to get good word of mouth if you're pleasant, polite, and not overtly egotistical. If you're a writer, you're a public figure, at least on a limited level.
Don't work with fee-charging agents. Just don't. Nota bene, fee charging means reading fees, up-front costs, etc, and not the agent's percent or reasonable office fees taken out AFTER the checks from the publisher start coming in, though in the later case a negotiated cap on total copying fees and the like is not a bad idea. My agent charges no fees but his percentage.
Researching Agents. Who do they represent? Ask. Really. If they won't tell you, worry.
Don't do this. The value of "this" here is sending sample pages to a published author cold. This is good advice. I do read unpublished authors and offer advice, but only very occasionally and only where I have a previous relationship with the author.
Be nice to bookstore clerks and managers, they are your friends. I'd add librarians to that as well, and pretty much anybody else you meet. First off, it's simply good policy and it'll make your life easier and happier in general. Second, word of mouth sells books, and you're much more likely to get good word of mouth if you're pleasant, polite, and not overtly egotistical. If you're a writer, you're a public figure, at least on a limited level.
Don't work with fee-charging agents. Just don't. Nota bene, fee charging means reading fees, up-front costs, etc, and not the agent's percent or reasonable office fees taken out AFTER the checks from the publisher start coming in, though in the later case a negotiated cap on total copying fees and the like is not a bad idea. My agent charges no fees but his percentage.
Researching Agents. Who do they represent? Ask. Really. If they won't tell you, worry.
Don't do this. The value of "this" here is sending sample pages to a published author cold. This is good advice. I do read unpublished authors and offer advice, but only very occasionally and only where I have a previous relationship with the author.
Thursday, July 12, 2007
Switching Gears
At the Wyrdsmiths meeting tonight, I apologized for not having posted here in about a hundred years, and Lyda suggested that I write about switching gears. I've written traditional/historical fantasy; the book I recently finished is urban fantasy; and I'm currently working on juvenile SF.
The thing I notice most frequently, switching to urban fantasy from traditional fantasy, is that I no longer had to censor the word "okay." I write my books using relatively modern language. I figure that my characters aren't speaking English anyway and theoretically I'm translating, so I'll just translate them into contemporary English, minus egregious neologisms and modern slang. But Americans use "okay" for everything. Are you okay? It's okay. Okay! I need you to stay right here, okay? Etc., etc., etc. I actually run a search for both "okay" and "OK" as part of my pre-beta-draft editing process just to be absolutely certain that I didn't slip and put it in. In Holy Week, it was perfectly OK for my characters to say "okay," and yet for a while, every time I typed it some part of my brain started waving a red flag, and I had to tell it to shut up, the word was OK in this story.
More important (and harder) in traditional fantasy are conceptual anachronisms. C.J. Cherryh has a list of antique words and their modern equivalents. It's fascinating to look through, but the first time I read it, the entry that jumped out at me was the one for heart: "not understood to circulate blood, only to beat quickly when excited." It's hard to avoid conceptual anachronisms because there are so many things that are so deeply embedded in our knowledge base that it's extremely difficult to remember that they are relatively recent additions to human knowledge. At the same time, this is the sort of thing that gives you a window into the world you're writing about.
With contemporary characters, I don't have to worry so much about it; what we know, they know. With the protagonist of my juvenile SF novel, though, the problem comes back but from a completely different direction. Jean is 10 years old and living in the future, and the audience is seeing the world through her eyes. Just as there are pieces of our embedded knowledge base that Molly, my six-year-old, is completely clueless about, there are important things about her own universe that Jean doesn't know, or doesn't give any thought to because it's just the way the world works.
I've been suffering heavily from imposter syndrome lately (this is when you feel like a complete faker even though you have books that really honestly have been published and everything) which is why I haven't posted here much. So I'll just note for the record that I really don't know anything about writing children's literature. I want to write some SF with a girl protagonist for Molly. I love reading children's books (good ones, anyway). But I've never written for children before. Once I'm done I'm going to attempt to recruit some juvenile beta readers with observant parents who can tell me where their kids put the book down, because honestly, I have observed my own child's reading patterns pretty closely and there are many things that are still a total mystery to me.
The thing I notice most frequently, switching to urban fantasy from traditional fantasy, is that I no longer had to censor the word "okay." I write my books using relatively modern language. I figure that my characters aren't speaking English anyway and theoretically I'm translating, so I'll just translate them into contemporary English, minus egregious neologisms and modern slang. But Americans use "okay" for everything. Are you okay? It's okay. Okay! I need you to stay right here, okay? Etc., etc., etc. I actually run a search for both "okay" and "OK" as part of my pre-beta-draft editing process just to be absolutely certain that I didn't slip and put it in. In Holy Week, it was perfectly OK for my characters to say "okay," and yet for a while, every time I typed it some part of my brain started waving a red flag, and I had to tell it to shut up, the word was OK in this story.
More important (and harder) in traditional fantasy are conceptual anachronisms. C.J. Cherryh has a list of antique words and their modern equivalents. It's fascinating to look through, but the first time I read it, the entry that jumped out at me was the one for heart: "not understood to circulate blood, only to beat quickly when excited." It's hard to avoid conceptual anachronisms because there are so many things that are so deeply embedded in our knowledge base that it's extremely difficult to remember that they are relatively recent additions to human knowledge. At the same time, this is the sort of thing that gives you a window into the world you're writing about.
With contemporary characters, I don't have to worry so much about it; what we know, they know. With the protagonist of my juvenile SF novel, though, the problem comes back but from a completely different direction. Jean is 10 years old and living in the future, and the audience is seeing the world through her eyes. Just as there are pieces of our embedded knowledge base that Molly, my six-year-old, is completely clueless about, there are important things about her own universe that Jean doesn't know, or doesn't give any thought to because it's just the way the world works.
I've been suffering heavily from imposter syndrome lately (this is when you feel like a complete faker even though you have books that really honestly have been published and everything) which is why I haven't posted here much. So I'll just note for the record that I really don't know anything about writing children's literature. I want to write some SF with a girl protagonist for Molly. I love reading children's books (good ones, anyway). But I've never written for children before. Once I'm done I'm going to attempt to recruit some juvenile beta readers with observant parents who can tell me where their kids put the book down, because honestly, I have observed my own child's reading patterns pretty closely and there are many things that are still a total mystery to me.
The Implicit Contract Between Author and Reader
Sean mentioned this idea in the comments on what the author owes the reader and it came up a lot at CONvergence, so I thought I'd give discussing it a go. When an experienced reader picks up a science fiction or fantasy story they do so with a number of implicit expectations which form a contract of sorts between the reader and the writer (this is also true for other genres, but the expectations have some variations, so I'm going to focus here on F&SF).
They expect that the story will be about something. They expect that there will be clues and foreshadowing that will point toward the ending. They expect that the author won't introduce things into the denouement that were not introduced or implied somewhere earlier in the story. They expect things to conform to the general rules and tropes of the genre or for deviations to be explained at some point.
For example, readers expect science fiction to follow the general rules of science. The technology should be of a generally consistent level. Deviations from that norm should be explained either at the time of the introduction of the deviation, or at least noted as being a deviation, with the expectation that the reason will be explained later. If the author wants to write an SF story with magical elements, then the magic had better be shown to exist very very early in the story and there will have to be a scientific explanation (even if it's just handwaving) somewhere in the story. Likewise, if you're writing fantasy with elements of sf you want to let the reader know about it early on or at least hint at it.
Another important aspect of the implicit contract has to do with a term I've borrowed from science education, the problem statement. Somewhere early in the story, ideally in the first couple of pages, the author has to define the problem that is going to be solved or addressed over the course of the story. The problem can be, the One Ring is a powerful magic device and we will have to learn what it is and what to do with it. It can be Miles Vorkosigan has washed out of military school, what is he going to do with the rest of his life? It can be Corwin of Amber realizing he doesn't know who or what he is. The answer doesn't have be resolved as the character expects or wants it to be, in fact in general it shouldn't be as they expect, though it should be logical and follow naturally from the flow fo the story. But the reader needs to have some idea what to watch and watch for, or they will become increasingly unhappy over the course of the story, and downright irate if the rug is suddenly jerked out from under them somewhere along the line.
Now, it's possible to do every one of the things I've said you shouldn't, but it has to be done consciously and extremely well or the book is likely to make a ballistic arc and lose you a reader, certainly for that story and possibly forever.
Thoughts? Comment? Violent disagreements?
They expect that the story will be about something. They expect that there will be clues and foreshadowing that will point toward the ending. They expect that the author won't introduce things into the denouement that were not introduced or implied somewhere earlier in the story. They expect things to conform to the general rules and tropes of the genre or for deviations to be explained at some point.
For example, readers expect science fiction to follow the general rules of science. The technology should be of a generally consistent level. Deviations from that norm should be explained either at the time of the introduction of the deviation, or at least noted as being a deviation, with the expectation that the reason will be explained later. If the author wants to write an SF story with magical elements, then the magic had better be shown to exist very very early in the story and there will have to be a scientific explanation (even if it's just handwaving) somewhere in the story. Likewise, if you're writing fantasy with elements of sf you want to let the reader know about it early on or at least hint at it.
Another important aspect of the implicit contract has to do with a term I've borrowed from science education, the problem statement. Somewhere early in the story, ideally in the first couple of pages, the author has to define the problem that is going to be solved or addressed over the course of the story. The problem can be, the One Ring is a powerful magic device and we will have to learn what it is and what to do with it. It can be Miles Vorkosigan has washed out of military school, what is he going to do with the rest of his life? It can be Corwin of Amber realizing he doesn't know who or what he is. The answer doesn't have be resolved as the character expects or wants it to be, in fact in general it shouldn't be as they expect, though it should be logical and follow naturally from the flow fo the story. But the reader needs to have some idea what to watch and watch for, or they will become increasingly unhappy over the course of the story, and downright irate if the rug is suddenly jerked out from under them somewhere along the line.
Now, it's possible to do every one of the things I've said you shouldn't, but it has to be done consciously and extremely well or the book is likely to make a ballistic arc and lose you a reader, certainly for that story and possibly forever.
Thoughts? Comment? Violent disagreements?
Miss Snark's Greatest Hits (vol 16)
Another dense set of snarkive dives.
Still more on synopses. Don't do them first person. And, brevity vs. flavor.
Just stick the thing in an envelope and let it go. On manuscript submission and special handling--hint, bad idea. Boxes edition. Plus, registered mail.
On why an agent may not find your MFA to be a credit worth mentioning in the query. With further notes from an article Miss Snark linked. I'm not sure how I feel about this. I don't possess an MFA myself, but I spend a great deal of time with academics (I'm married to one) and I think graduate school has a lot to be said for it on its own merits, though perhaps not in writing. It's certainly been my impression from my own discussions with editors, writers, and agents that Miss Snark is expressing the opinion of an awful lot of publishing professionals here, and the case made in the article is one that should be read by anyone interested in writing great books.
Bonus content, a link from Miss Snark to an article on how to avoid scam agencies in your search (written be the excellent Victoria Strauss).
Still more on synopses. Don't do them first person. And, brevity vs. flavor.
Just stick the thing in an envelope and let it go. On manuscript submission and special handling--hint, bad idea. Boxes edition. Plus, registered mail.
On why an agent may not find your MFA to be a credit worth mentioning in the query. With further notes from an article Miss Snark linked. I'm not sure how I feel about this. I don't possess an MFA myself, but I spend a great deal of time with academics (I'm married to one) and I think graduate school has a lot to be said for it on its own merits, though perhaps not in writing. It's certainly been my impression from my own discussions with editors, writers, and agents that Miss Snark is expressing the opinion of an awful lot of publishing professionals here, and the case made in the article is one that should be read by anyone interested in writing great books.
Bonus content, a link from Miss Snark to an article on how to avoid scam agencies in your search (written be the excellent Victoria Strauss).
Wednesday, July 11, 2007
Shameless Self-Promotion (Tate/Lyda)
Normally, I save this sort of thing for my personal blogs, but this is just so cool I wanted to put up a quick pointer to it. My alter-ego and I did a podcast with Shawn Ferrell that is available at Adventures in SF Publishing today. Go check it out, it's free!
Contemporary Fantasy: Where Elves Are Sexy...
... and Available.
The title of this blog is taken from a list of programming ideas for Marscon 2006. This particular idea was submitted by Minneapolis writer Paula Fleming.
Paula asks the panelists to consider this question: Contemporary fantasy often juxtaposes elements of old mythologies with cell phones and fast food. What do we find so compelling in this mix?
For me, the answer is: who doesn't want to meet an angel at McDonald's
Part of the reason I find "contemporary fantasy" or urban fantasy or paranormal romances so compelling is that, when done well, they give the reader the illusion of "it could happen."
Plus, I don't know about y'all, but I've spent a large part of my life in the realm of make-believe. When I was a kid, I chased my share of imaginary villains through the very real forests of Grandad's Bluff. But, then there was also... yesterday, when I was waiting in the doctor's office and I imagined what it would be like to be an international jewel thief. My imagination didn't switch off after I reached the age when it was no longer socially acceptable to play pretend in the woods with your school buddies. So, I guess the contemporary fantasy element appeals to the part of me that would STILL like those fantasies to be real, here, in my world.
Also, I think there's something inherently funny about an elf in a 7/11. I think that the format of the contemporary fantasy is one that allows us to look at both the mundane (the 7/11) in a new and possibly amusing way, but also to poke fun at all of the high fantasy stuff (the elf) we grew up reading. There's a lot of tongue-in-cheek that goes on in the works of, say, MaryJanice Davidson or Rachel Caine, like when your million year old djinn has to deal with... I don't know, pumping gas. It's not surprising to me that a lot of the popular contemporary fantasy is also intentially humorous and light.
It's funny because, in a lot of ways, the more ridiculous the situation, the more "real" the fantasy feels. This isn't always true, but I really enjoy it when, for instance, the vampires in the various chick-lit books I've read have to deal with the particulars of their existance. These kinds of questions (like how DOES a vampire get rich when he can only come out at night) obviously fascinate me. In fact, I find that the more those sorts of things are thought about and dealt with in contemporary fantasy the more the paranormal characters seem REAL.
And that appeals to my magical side, if you know what I mean.
The title of this blog is taken from a list of programming ideas for Marscon 2006. This particular idea was submitted by Minneapolis writer Paula Fleming.
Paula asks the panelists to consider this question: Contemporary fantasy often juxtaposes elements of old mythologies with cell phones and fast food. What do we find so compelling in this mix?
For me, the answer is: who doesn't want to meet an angel at McDonald's
Part of the reason I find "contemporary fantasy" or urban fantasy or paranormal romances so compelling is that, when done well, they give the reader the illusion of "it could happen."
Plus, I don't know about y'all, but I've spent a large part of my life in the realm of make-believe. When I was a kid, I chased my share of imaginary villains through the very real forests of Grandad's Bluff. But, then there was also... yesterday, when I was waiting in the doctor's office and I imagined what it would be like to be an international jewel thief. My imagination didn't switch off after I reached the age when it was no longer socially acceptable to play pretend in the woods with your school buddies. So, I guess the contemporary fantasy element appeals to the part of me that would STILL like those fantasies to be real, here, in my world.
Also, I think there's something inherently funny about an elf in a 7/11. I think that the format of the contemporary fantasy is one that allows us to look at both the mundane (the 7/11) in a new and possibly amusing way, but also to poke fun at all of the high fantasy stuff (the elf) we grew up reading. There's a lot of tongue-in-cheek that goes on in the works of, say, MaryJanice Davidson or Rachel Caine, like when your million year old djinn has to deal with... I don't know, pumping gas. It's not surprising to me that a lot of the popular contemporary fantasy is also intentially humorous and light.
It's funny because, in a lot of ways, the more ridiculous the situation, the more "real" the fantasy feels. This isn't always true, but I really enjoy it when, for instance, the vampires in the various chick-lit books I've read have to deal with the particulars of their existance. These kinds of questions (like how DOES a vampire get rich when he can only come out at night) obviously fascinate me. In fact, I find that the more those sorts of things are thought about and dealt with in contemporary fantasy the more the paranormal characters seem REAL.
And that appeals to my magical side, if you know what I mean.
Tuesday, July 10, 2007
Miss Snark's Greatest Hits (vol 15)
Another dense one.
A great post on the actual uses of a synopsis, or why the agent wants one. I've got another synopsis post brewing in my head as well, maybe later this week.
Agent referral services--Miss Snark doesn't think much of them (and neither do I.) This is a good post on why.
On payment for a published novel, advances, on acceptance, on publication, etc. with significant contributions in the comments.
Never lie in your cover letters or queries. It's dumb, and counterproductive. Miss Snark's take, and the Making Light post to which she links. The Making Light thread is funny, but everything you really need to know is in Teresa's initial post at the front of the thread.
What do they mean when they say they want new and fresh and how unique is too unique?
Last, and again, so I can find it later. On the copyright of unpublished letters.
A great post on the actual uses of a synopsis, or why the agent wants one. I've got another synopsis post brewing in my head as well, maybe later this week.
Agent referral services--Miss Snark doesn't think much of them (and neither do I.) This is a good post on why.
On payment for a published novel, advances, on acceptance, on publication, etc. with significant contributions in the comments.
Never lie in your cover letters or queries. It's dumb, and counterproductive. Miss Snark's take, and the Making Light post to which she links. The Making Light thread is funny, but everything you really need to know is in Teresa's initial post at the front of the thread.
What do they mean when they say they want new and fresh and how unique is too unique?
Last, and again, so I can find it later. On the copyright of unpublished letters.
What Does the Writer owe the Reader
Eleanor was on a panel about this at WisCon, and she talked about it here . It's an important question and I really wanted to come back to it. Eleanor's post included the following:
"Ellen Kushner said writers owe readers the truth, which I guess is true.
I would say the writer owes readers -- and herself -- the best job she can do.
I tend to believe that the writer owes readers a work that will make their lives better, something they can use in dealing with life."
I agree with all these points, especially the second one, and yet...I want to say something more.
I guess for me it's contextual. What story am I trying to tell? Who is the character I'm currently writing? When is the story set? And where? Those are all the sorts of things that will determine what I owe the reader in a given piece. Most importantly of all, what am I trying to achieve with this story?
Sometimes, as in the case of the hard science fiction shorts I wrote for middle school students, it's conveying good, real, science in a way that lets student see the gears move. Sometimes, I owe the reader a true representation of my core beliefs. Sometimes, if the character disagrees with me, I owe my reader the best arguments I can make against those same beliefs. Sometimes I just owe the reader a damn good ride, or some laughs.
It's good to write truth. It's good to give a reader something they can use to make their lives better. It's good to make a reader laugh or cry or think deeply. But you don't have to do it all at once. No one story should have to carry everything the writer hopes to accomplish with their fiction.
Picture a story as a boat. Yes, there are great ships that can ferry a life's work across an ocean—stories that can do everything. But there are also submarines and canoes and even surfboards. Stories that touch you beneath the waterline of the subconscious, or that glide silently across the lake of the mind with a single smart thing loaded amidships, or that just give you a hella ride through the surf. Every single one of them has its proper place and purpose and that's important to remember.
The key isn't to do everything every time, it's to do what you want to do this time to the best of your ability, and it's okay if all you're shooting for in a given story is one pure silly smile. Don't let yourself get trapped into thinking beyond the needs of the story.
Thoughts? Comments? Questions?
"Ellen Kushner said writers owe readers the truth, which I guess is true.
I would say the writer owes readers -- and herself -- the best job she can do.
I tend to believe that the writer owes readers a work that will make their lives better, something they can use in dealing with life."
I agree with all these points, especially the second one, and yet...I want to say something more.
I guess for me it's contextual. What story am I trying to tell? Who is the character I'm currently writing? When is the story set? And where? Those are all the sorts of things that will determine what I owe the reader in a given piece. Most importantly of all, what am I trying to achieve with this story?
Sometimes, as in the case of the hard science fiction shorts I wrote for middle school students, it's conveying good, real, science in a way that lets student see the gears move. Sometimes, I owe the reader a true representation of my core beliefs. Sometimes, if the character disagrees with me, I owe my reader the best arguments I can make against those same beliefs. Sometimes I just owe the reader a damn good ride, or some laughs.
It's good to write truth. It's good to give a reader something they can use to make their lives better. It's good to make a reader laugh or cry or think deeply. But you don't have to do it all at once. No one story should have to carry everything the writer hopes to accomplish with their fiction.
Picture a story as a boat. Yes, there are great ships that can ferry a life's work across an ocean—stories that can do everything. But there are also submarines and canoes and even surfboards. Stories that touch you beneath the waterline of the subconscious, or that glide silently across the lake of the mind with a single smart thing loaded amidships, or that just give you a hella ride through the surf. Every single one of them has its proper place and purpose and that's important to remember.
The key isn't to do everything every time, it's to do what you want to do this time to the best of your ability, and it's okay if all you're shooting for in a given story is one pure silly smile. Don't let yourself get trapped into thinking beyond the needs of the story.
Thoughts? Comments? Questions?
Monday, July 09, 2007
Miss Snark's Greatest Hits (vol 14)
Two more from the snarkives:
Joint accounting is a bad deal for the author.
Diminishing sales and the death of an author's name
Plus one that Miss Snark linked to:
In which the practice of free rewrites is discussed. A free rewrite is when an editor says I love this but... and then convinces the author to revise without a contract or any other sort of promise. I've seen this happen to a number of folks in F&SF with much work and wailing of teeth going into a project that the editor then fails to buy.
Joint accounting is a bad deal for the author.
Diminishing sales and the death of an author's name
Plus one that Miss Snark linked to:
In which the practice of free rewrites is discussed. A free rewrite is when an editor says I love this but... and then convinces the author to revise without a contract or any other sort of promise. I've seen this happen to a number of folks in F&SF with much work and wailing of teeth going into a project that the editor then fails to buy.
Crazed Revision Weasels
I got my revision letter, so I'm going to be kind of AWOL from this group blog for a while. Big changes for the book that continues to kick my butt.
*sigh*
*sigh*
Sunday, July 08, 2007
Miss Snark's Greatest Hits (vol 13)
Continuing on through the snarkives:
Agents charging expenses, what is and is not acceptable and when. For the record my agent covers expenses out of his own pocket.
A bit more on synopses and a note on excessive novel length.
A contract is not the same thing as a good contract, or scammers can create paperwork too.
The agent's drink of choice--pure silliness.
Agents charging expenses, what is and is not acceptable and when. For the record my agent covers expenses out of his own pocket.
A bit more on synopses and a note on excessive novel length.
A contract is not the same thing as a good contract, or scammers can create paperwork too.
The agent's drink of choice--pure silliness.
Miss Snark's Greatest Hits (vol 12)
This one will be a little bit dense for reasons that will become obvious.
First, in this section of the snarkives we find several portions relevant to the subject of synopses, something I've talked about before in my pitching/synopses suck series of post here, here and here. Miss Snark thinks they suck too. What does she want in terms of synopsis length? Synopsis vs. outline.
She also made suggestions for what to send when you can't find the submission guidelines for a given agent.
What to do when one agent makes an offer of representation while you still have partials or fulls in with other agents.
And why you need an agent even for small deals if at all possible.
What to do at a pitch--hint it's not about pitching.
Finally, because I want to be able to find this later: on putting together and pitching anthologies.
First, in this section of the snarkives we find several portions relevant to the subject of synopses, something I've talked about before in my pitching/synopses suck series of post here, here and here. Miss Snark thinks they suck too. What does she want in terms of synopsis length? Synopsis vs. outline.
She also made suggestions for what to send when you can't find the submission guidelines for a given agent.
What to do when one agent makes an offer of representation while you still have partials or fulls in with other agents.
And why you need an agent even for small deals if at all possible.
What to do at a pitch--hint it's not about pitching.
Finally, because I want to be able to find this later: on putting together and pitching anthologies.
Friday, July 06, 2007
Miss Snark's Greatest Hits (vol 11)
Further gems from the snarkives:
A really smart way to sort short story markets for who to send to first. My rule is to start with the top paying market and work my way down, with provisos. First, I weight markets that have good turnaround times. Second, I weight markets that are looking for the kind of story I've written for whatever reason; I've sold to them before, they've put out a call for left-handed werewolf carpenter stories, (if you're newbie) they hold slots open for new writers. Third, I weight markets by prestige. Snark's post talks about a great way to look at prestige.
Notes on the used book market, which contained this absolute gem, "ARCs are fearsomely expensive. MORE expensive to produce on a per unit basis than the actual book itself."
Publishing and profit, why it sucks to be a midlister.
Finally, this bit of Miss Snark's advice showed up in several posts and is a damn good one to remember: "Every single time you hear something about publishing keep in mind who is telling you and what their agenda is. If you paid money to hear them, even more so. If they want you to buy more services from them, remember, they aren't providing services out of altruism, they're making money off your ignorance." This is a good sample of why it's being worth my while to read through her old posts.
A really smart way to sort short story markets for who to send to first. My rule is to start with the top paying market and work my way down, with provisos. First, I weight markets that have good turnaround times. Second, I weight markets that are looking for the kind of story I've written for whatever reason; I've sold to them before, they've put out a call for left-handed werewolf carpenter stories, (if you're newbie) they hold slots open for new writers. Third, I weight markets by prestige. Snark's post talks about a great way to look at prestige.
Notes on the used book market, which contained this absolute gem, "ARCs are fearsomely expensive. MORE expensive to produce on a per unit basis than the actual book itself."
Publishing and profit, why it sucks to be a midlister.
Finally, this bit of Miss Snark's advice showed up in several posts and is a damn good one to remember: "Every single time you hear something about publishing keep in mind who is telling you and what their agenda is. If you paid money to hear them, even more so. If they want you to buy more services from them, remember, they aren't providing services out of altruism, they're making money off your ignorance." This is a good sample of why it's being worth my while to read through her old posts.
Miss Snark's Greatest Hits (vol 10)
Snarkive diving with a note and a quick question. I'm distilling these down from about two dozen posts to the 2-3 I find most interesting and helpful for writers. I'm going to keep going through the snarkives because I'm enjoying it and I'm learning, but I 'm kind of curious if anyone else is finding it helpful. So...what's the answer? In the meantime, the results of the latest segment.
First, a definitions post on publishing basics, stuff like that. Always worth having available.
Submissions and smoking--get fresh paper and don't smoke around your query because it permeates the paper--something that never would have occurred to me.
That moment when you realize that the person you're talking to has no clue that there's a difference between reputable publishers and subsidy presses. Been there, done that, chewed the knuckles and then explained things.
Some notes on the differences mentioned above in terms of writer as salesperson for self-published product vs. respected artist. Miss Snark does not think much of the product model, and neither do I.
First, a definitions post on publishing basics, stuff like that. Always worth having available.
Submissions and smoking--get fresh paper and don't smoke around your query because it permeates the paper--something that never would have occurred to me.
That moment when you realize that the person you're talking to has no clue that there's a difference between reputable publishers and subsidy presses. Been there, done that, chewed the knuckles and then explained things.
Some notes on the differences mentioned above in terms of writer as salesperson for self-published product vs. respected artist. Miss Snark does not think much of the product model, and neither do I.
Thursday, July 05, 2007
Doing my Homework for Me?
Any takers? Here's the deal:
I'm going to be at CONvergence in Minneapolis this weekend where I will be on four panels:
Friday:
3:30-4:30 (A3) MISFITS: Authors and Others in the Schools program
5:00-6:00 (A4) Writing Fantasy Vs. Writing Science Fiction
Saturday:
11:00-12:00 (A8) Writing Craft, World and the Creatures Within
3:30-4:30 (A8) Writing Craft, Creature Dialogue
I will probably be moderating the 2nd of those and possibly the 3rd and 4th as well. Is there any question in those areas that you'd want to hear the answer to? How about if you knew that the fantasy vs. SF panel included Lois McMaster Bujold? Is there anything you'd want to ask her about the differences in her process for the two?
I've got material, but I'm always happy to take suggestions, and to share anything fabulous that comes up in the discussion. What do you think?
I'm going to be at CONvergence in Minneapolis this weekend where I will be on four panels:
Friday:
3:30-4:30 (A3) MISFITS: Authors and Others in the Schools program
5:00-6:00 (A4) Writing Fantasy Vs. Writing Science Fiction
Saturday:
11:00-12:00 (A8) Writing Craft, World and the Creatures Within
3:30-4:30 (A8) Writing Craft, Creature Dialogue
I will probably be moderating the 2nd of those and possibly the 3rd and 4th as well. Is there any question in those areas that you'd want to hear the answer to? How about if you knew that the fantasy vs. SF panel included Lois McMaster Bujold? Is there anything you'd want to ask her about the differences in her process for the two?
I've got material, but I'm always happy to take suggestions, and to share anything fabulous that comes up in the discussion. What do you think?
Pretty-Shiny
So, I'm in the post-beta, pre-final draft phase. For the next two weeks I have absolutely no writing obligations. I feel light as a feather and blown by the winds of whimsey. I really shouldn't start any major new projects, since the book isn't out the door to my editor, but... With no deadline hanging over my head and no have-tos I'm having a hard time not playing pretty-shiny and leaping into a spec project.
The first choice for pretty-shiny is The Eye of Horus, which is the second book of the alternate WWII YA fantasy trilogy that I'm currently in love with. The first chapter is fully outlined and it's got some scenes I'm dying to write.
Second goes to getting all my ideas for the Halifax novel laid down for later use. I'm both tempted and torn. If I do it now, the experience is still fresh. On the other hand, when I plan too far ahead on a novel I have no chance of writing for a couple of years I often lose interest. I've got dozens of old novel outlines in my ideas file that testify to that.
Third, a short story, maybe in my Urbana world. That would be fun, finite, and possibly even lucrative (inasmuch as shorts are ever lucrative), but I'm less enthused about that than some other things on the list, in part because my short story experiences over the last couple of years have involved an awful lot of dunning people to pay me, and effort and time spent to generate rejection letters instead of novel stuff.
Finally, and what I "should" be doing, I could start work on WebMage IV, MythOS. However, since the deadline is currently 14 months away, I'm not feeling as compelled on that front. Perhaps ACE will move it up.
It's a bit like being a cat in a field full of catnip and butterflies. Ooh, look at that! Ooh, what about that! Ooh, ooh ooh! Maybe I'll just flop on my back and soak up sun for a couple of days.
The first choice for pretty-shiny is The Eye of Horus, which is the second book of the alternate WWII YA fantasy trilogy that I'm currently in love with. The first chapter is fully outlined and it's got some scenes I'm dying to write.
Second goes to getting all my ideas for the Halifax novel laid down for later use. I'm both tempted and torn. If I do it now, the experience is still fresh. On the other hand, when I plan too far ahead on a novel I have no chance of writing for a couple of years I often lose interest. I've got dozens of old novel outlines in my ideas file that testify to that.
Third, a short story, maybe in my Urbana world. That would be fun, finite, and possibly even lucrative (inasmuch as shorts are ever lucrative), but I'm less enthused about that than some other things on the list, in part because my short story experiences over the last couple of years have involved an awful lot of dunning people to pay me, and effort and time spent to generate rejection letters instead of novel stuff.
Finally, and what I "should" be doing, I could start work on WebMage IV, MythOS. However, since the deadline is currently 14 months away, I'm not feeling as compelled on that front. Perhaps ACE will move it up.
It's a bit like being a cat in a field full of catnip and butterflies. Ooh, look at that! Ooh, what about that! Ooh, ooh ooh! Maybe I'll just flop on my back and soak up sun for a couple of days.
Wednesday, July 04, 2007
Miss Snark's Greatest Hits (vol 9)
In which I continue my walk through the snarkives.
More on firing your agent.
When submitting to editors and agents, follow the directions.
Libraries are good.
More on firing your agent.
When submitting to editors and agents, follow the directions.
Libraries are good.
Miss Snark's Greatest Hits (vol 8)
A bunch of stuff from my most recent pass through a snarkive section--she was on fire in this window.
Advice for when your agent is advocating for what you could write instead of what you do write.
Bad agency contracts. As a side note, my agent and I work on a verbal agreement and handshake basis.
Agents outside of New York, which she feels are perfectly fine. So do I--my agent is not in New York.
The market for an as yet unsold book is not counted in readers it's counted in editors buying that type of book. I hadn't thought about this in quite this way, though it's exactly how I've always thought of short story markets.
Book taxonomy for queries. Category vs. description. Notes on how to label your book for agency consumption.
Finally, in the bad agent issues category, she linked to an excellent post on how to fire your agent.
Advice for when your agent is advocating for what you could write instead of what you do write.
Bad agency contracts. As a side note, my agent and I work on a verbal agreement and handshake basis.
Agents outside of New York, which she feels are perfectly fine. So do I--my agent is not in New York.
The market for an as yet unsold book is not counted in readers it's counted in editors buying that type of book. I hadn't thought about this in quite this way, though it's exactly how I've always thought of short story markets.
Book taxonomy for queries. Category vs. description. Notes on how to label your book for agency consumption.
Finally, in the bad agent issues category, she linked to an excellent post on how to fire your agent.
Tuesday, July 03, 2007
Ave, Fred Saberhagen
Fred Saberhagen is no longer with us and that makes me sad. He wrote a lot of books that I loved at one time or another in my life. His books of swords were favorites of mine as a teenager, as was his Dracula stuff. Some of the latter are books I still return to from time to time. The world be a poorer place for his passing.
Miss Snark's Greatest Hits (vol 7)
Here's a post on what an agent would like to see in her authors and what they should expect of her. It's more complex than that, but that's the gist. Definitely worth a read.
On the utility of selling portions of a novel to magazines.
Pluses and minuses of an individual agent (as opposed to one who's part of a larger agency). Or, what happens if your agent spontaneously combusts. I hadn't thought about this as much as I should have. It's probably not a bad idea to have a contingency plan in case your agent is suddenly removed from play somehow.
On the utility of selling portions of a novel to magazines.
Pluses and minuses of an individual agent (as opposed to one who's part of a larger agency). Or, what happens if your agent spontaneously combusts. I hadn't thought about this as much as I should have. It's probably not a bad idea to have a contingency plan in case your agent is suddenly removed from play somehow.
Sticking the Landing, or Writing and Gymnastics
I have a shiny new metaphor for how writing works for me; gymnastics. Specifically, the uneven bars. Setting out to write a book is a bit like performing on the uneven bars. I know in advance what the routine will be, and there are compulsory maneuvers. But even so, no two runs will ever be quite the same as grips shift, conditions change, and you make adjustments. And, of course you're constantly striving to come up with a better routine.
Most importantly, in both cases you have to stick the landing. I've just finished my 11th novel. From the very beginning, I knew approximately what the end would look like. Adequately handled, it would be adequate. I would land on my feet with no major bobbles. But, as always happens, as the dismount grew nearer it loomed larger and larger in my head. I'd lost a couple of points by only getting one flip into that twist a third of the way through. I'd telegraphed a reversal. Things like that.
Was there some way I could make the dismount count for more? Could I maybe throw in an additional spin? Soon, I was about to let go. Yes. I had an idea to scratch out a few more marks for artistic merit. Then, before I was entirely ready, I was in the air, spinning and twisting and trying to make it count.
It's not until the very last instant, as my feet touch the mat that I realize it's over. I've landed upright, and the whole thing went pretty well.
Of course, now I've got to go look at the replays and see where I blew things. That's where the gymnastics metaphor breaks down, because I get to edit those.
I love being a writer.
Most importantly, in both cases you have to stick the landing. I've just finished my 11th novel. From the very beginning, I knew approximately what the end would look like. Adequately handled, it would be adequate. I would land on my feet with no major bobbles. But, as always happens, as the dismount grew nearer it loomed larger and larger in my head. I'd lost a couple of points by only getting one flip into that twist a third of the way through. I'd telegraphed a reversal. Things like that.
Was there some way I could make the dismount count for more? Could I maybe throw in an additional spin? Soon, I was about to let go. Yes. I had an idea to scratch out a few more marks for artistic merit. Then, before I was entirely ready, I was in the air, spinning and twisting and trying to make it count.
It's not until the very last instant, as my feet touch the mat that I realize it's over. I've landed upright, and the whole thing went pretty well.
Of course, now I've got to go look at the replays and see where I blew things. That's where the gymnastics metaphor breaks down, because I get to edit those.
I love being a writer.
Monday, July 02, 2007
More Miss Snark (vol 6)
I'm trying to weed these down to just the very best, but she's done such a lot of fine industry writing that it's tough.
First, what does an agent do besides sell books and negotiate contacts?
Second a pair of posts on why an agent doesn't always keep a client up to date on where things are on submission. The opportunity side. The client/agent relationship side.
Third, querying an agent on a revised project.
Finally, another matched pair on the too long and too short of it for novel length. My own take on this is that her too long note is spot on but that her too short leaves out another category exception, YA which can be as short as 40k.
First, what does an agent do besides sell books and negotiate contacts?
Second a pair of posts on why an agent doesn't always keep a client up to date on where things are on submission. The opportunity side. The client/agent relationship side.
Third, querying an agent on a revised project.
Finally, another matched pair on the too long and too short of it for novel length. My own take on this is that her too long note is spot on but that her too short leaves out another category exception, YA which can be as short as 40k.
Sunday, July 01, 2007
Sacrificing Chickens to the Writing Gods
As I was making a pot of coffee this evening, I got the thinking about writing rituals - the little things we like to do, or have "just so", before we write.
For me, one of the key ones is coffee. I don't have to necessarily drink it (I leave half-empty cups near the computer all the time), but I find I have a harder time getting into my writing groove if I don't at least have the smell of brewed coffee near by. Can I write without it? Yes - and have done so plenty of times. But having a cup around seems to make it that much easier for me to ease into the process.
I must compose on a computer. For a long time, it had to be in my office, but I am able to work mobile now, too.
I have to write fiction using WordPerfect. Don't ask me why, but I just don't feel "at home" in Word or any other word processing program. I *do* use Word for plenty of other things, but not my fiction.
My chair has to either tilt, or be solid a enough wooden one that I can lean back in it from time to time.
I will only outline on a yellow legal pad.
There are other conditions I prefer, of course, but the above are rituals or requirements I have found are more or less a must for me. If one of these is gone, I have a harder time sinking into the story and getting anywhere. Like I said in regards to the coffee, I can still do it - I'm just not as happy about it.
So, what little (or big) rituals help you write? Is there something you have to do before you get started, or can you write anywhere, on anything, at any time? What keeps you in your groove, and what missing things can kick you out of it?
For me, one of the key ones is coffee. I don't have to necessarily drink it (I leave half-empty cups near the computer all the time), but I find I have a harder time getting into my writing groove if I don't at least have the smell of brewed coffee near by. Can I write without it? Yes - and have done so plenty of times. But having a cup around seems to make it that much easier for me to ease into the process.
I must compose on a computer. For a long time, it had to be in my office, but I am able to work mobile now, too.
I have to write fiction using WordPerfect. Don't ask me why, but I just don't feel "at home" in Word or any other word processing program. I *do* use Word for plenty of other things, but not my fiction.
My chair has to either tilt, or be solid a enough wooden one that I can lean back in it from time to time.
I will only outline on a yellow legal pad.
There are other conditions I prefer, of course, but the above are rituals or requirements I have found are more or less a must for me. If one of these is gone, I have a harder time sinking into the story and getting anywhere. Like I said in regards to the coffee, I can still do it - I'm just not as happy about it.
So, what little (or big) rituals help you write? Is there something you have to do before you get started, or can you write anywhere, on anything, at any time? What keeps you in your groove, and what missing things can kick you out of it?
Pixel-Stained Technopeasant Wyrdsmiths Stories!
Back in April of 2007, several of the Wyrdsmiths participated in International Pixel-Stained Technopeasant Day. We won't get into all of the hulabaloo here as to why that day was so aptly named, other than to said there were a fair number of electrons whose primary duty that day was to carry conceptual picket lines in the collaborative form of a heck of a lot of stories.
Here are some of the stories that the Wyrdsmiths offered for public consumption. Enjoy!
Eleanor Arnason:
Grammarian's Five Daughters
Naomi Kritzer:
Comrade Grandmother
Kelly McCullough:
The Uncola
When Jabberwocks Attack
Lyda Morehouse:
Indigo Bunting
Irish Blood
Sean M. Murphy:
Cloverleaf One
Maelstrom
Here are some of the stories that the Wyrdsmiths offered for public consumption. Enjoy!
Eleanor Arnason:
Grammarian's Five Daughters
Naomi Kritzer:
Comrade Grandmother
Kelly McCullough:
The Uncola
When Jabberwocks Attack
Lyda Morehouse:
Indigo Bunting
Irish Blood
Sean M. Murphy:
Cloverleaf One
Maelstrom
Miss Snark's Greatest Hits (vol 5)
Three more posts from my review of the snarkives.
First, Miss Snark's top ten. Here she's listing the things that make her happy in a client. This is an excellent list focussed on professionalism and demeanor, and these are kind of traits that will endear you any publishing professional you work with and that are well worth cultivating.
Second, publishing and song permissions, or why public domain is your friend--there and for poetry.
Third, why agents hate queries for unfinished novels.
First, Miss Snark's top ten. Here she's listing the things that make her happy in a client. This is an excellent list focussed on professionalism and demeanor, and these are kind of traits that will endear you any publishing professional you work with and that are well worth cultivating.
Second, publishing and song permissions, or why public domain is your friend--there and for poetry.
Third, why agents hate queries for unfinished novels.
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