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Eric Beetner
Rebecca Cantrell
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Rebecca Cantrell
Hilary Davidson
Sue Ann Jaffarian
David Liss
Sophie Littlefield
Stephen Jay Schwartz
Kelli Stanley
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Stephen Jay Schwartz
Kelli Stanley
Off-site:
50 Famous Author Interviews that Shouldn’t be Missed
Hello fellow slackers!
Procrastination is a problem for me, so I asked some of my author friends how they shake off the lazies and get to work:
Eric Beetner
“When I finally commit to a novel or even something short I like to get it done and not lose momentum. I find inertia plays a big part in getting through a novel and keeping an even tone to the writing.”
Kris Neri
“Shortly before I fall sleep, I remind myself where I left off and what I’ll want to tackle the next day.”
Thomas Pluck
“It’s important to set aside time to daydream, as much as it is to have writing time. After all, you need something to write about.”
Print:
NEEDLE: A Magazine of Noir
Featuring my story, Once a Loser
Online:
Pass the Peanuts – Shotgun Honey
Hello there. Welcome to the insane asylum.
My name is Holly West and I write crime fiction. I recently completed my debut novel, Diary of Bedlam, for which I’m currently seeking representation.
I also write short crime fiction, which you can find here.
I am a writer seeking representation for my novel, DIARY OF BEDLAM, complete at 80,000 words.
Synopsis:
“Lady Isabel Wilde, a former English spy and occasional favorite in the royal bedchamber, has a secret: she makes her living disguised as Mistress Ruby, a fortune teller who caters to London’s elite. Charlatans, rogues, villains and swindlers lurk in every dark corner of 1678 England, and Isabel concedes she is one of them. But hard experience has taught her that women have few advantages in this world, and her conscience does not often bother her.
Everything changes when Sir Edmund Godfrey, a popular London magistrate, seeks Mistress Ruby’s counsel and reveals his accidental involvement in a covert Jesuit plot to murder the protestant King. Despite their estrangement, Isabel’s first concern is for her royal lover’s safety, but soon after Sir Edmund’s visit, her diary is stolen. It’s the sole record of her activities as a soothsayer and Isabel must locate it before anyone connects her to Mistress Ruby.
When Sir Edmund’s corpse is discovered a week later in a remote area north of London, Isabel suspects whoever committed the murder also has her diary. Unwilling to trust the investigation to a court infamous for its schemes and intrigues, she begins her own inquiry, re-entering the cutthroat world of London politics and reluctantly resuming her turbulent romance with the King in the process. After a series of increasingly violent threats against her and her loved ones, Isabel learns that Sir Edmund’s murder is only a small part of a conspiracy that leads all the way to the throne and promises to alter the future of the British monarchy forever. With everything she holds dear at stake, Isabel knows she must find Sir Edmund Godfrey’s killer before she becomes the next victim.”
My short story, Once a Loser, appears in the Fall 2011 issue of Needle: A Magazine of Noir. My short fiction has been featured online on Shotgun Honey and is forthcoming on Dirty Noir. I am an associate member of the Mystery Writers of America and Sisters in Crime. I also write a blog geared toward aspiring authors called Adventures in Bedlam.I am a member of Sisters in Crime and Mystery Writers of America.
I live with my husband Mick and two dogs named Stuart and Stella in Southern California. In my spare time I like to read, knit, run, pet dogs, and decorate my house.
What does it mean to write the best novel you can? I think I might finally have the answer.
Over the weekend I attended Left Coast Crime in Sacramento. It was a great conference this year, filled to the brim with entertaining and informative panels, including a sort of "writing track" that featured panels about getting an agent, self-publishing, and the business of writing.
One session included a panel of two agents, a freelance editor, and Keith Kahla, Executive Editor at St. Martin's Press. I mention Mr. Kahla by name because he answered what I believe is an important question–one that I've been wondering about since I started writing DIARY OF BEDLAM.
As writers, we're always told to write the best novel we can. Make sure it's polished. Then, and only then, do we take the next step in the publishing process. For me, the next step is finding an agent.
But what does it mean to write the "best novel you can?" How good is good enough? Admittedly, the answer changes depending upon who you ask; no question the manuscript has to be polished, but it also has to be saleable. The structure and plot and characterizations need to be well-crafted, but it also has to be saleable.
Let's for the moment forget about the questions of grammar and spelling. We'll assume that your novel is perfect in this respect. Let's also assume that your novel's concept is saleable, that is, there's a market for it. It's a big assumption, sure, but there's no point in continuing this conversation if your novel isn't saleable (this goes for self-publishing too).
So assuming the above, let's ask the question again: "What does it mean to write the best novel you can?"
It means, according to Mr. Kahla (and forgive me, I'm paraphrasing his actual statement), that when it first comes to him, the novel must be to a standard that if no changes whatsoever are made, he'd still be comfortable publishing it.
If you think about it, this makes a lot of sense. There are some aspects of the publishing process that the writer still has some control over, and revisions are one of them. Revisions to the story are essentially suggestions, and if the author feels strongly against a particular change, he/she can argue against it. If an agent or editor doesn't feel comfortable publishing it from the very beginning, there's no guarantee it will eventually become something they will feel comfortable publishing.
Now that I have the answer to the question, at least according to one editor, I have to admit it's a tall and daunting order. I'm finishing the last hundred pages of copy editing DOB today and in my non-expert opinion, the novel is ready for the printing press. But I thought that a year ago when I first started querying, only to begin a huge revision on it three months later when a few agents suggested it. There's no doubt they were right–the novel is 100 percent better now.
There's only one thing I'm absolutely sure about when it comes to writing and publishing a novel–there will always be something else to learn, something else that can be done to improve the manuscript. Beyond that, there's no certainty. But for now, I'm glad to have an answer to one more question.
AKA: FInish Your Manuscript Before Querying Agents
I'm at the tail end of this latest revision on Diary of Bedlam. So close I can taste it, in fact. And frankly, it's tasting pretty darned delicious.
This was a huge revision. I cut about 30,000 words, re-arranged many scenes, wrote new scenes, etc. The result is a much stronger book, there's no question about it. It's taken about six months to complete, but after reading this version I can confidently say it was worth the extra time.
That's not the reason for this post, however. I'm close enough to finishing that I have a case of "premature query-itis." What does that mean? It means I'm itching to start querying agents again. After all, it takes awhile to get a response, right?
Actually, that wasn't my experience in my first round of querying. Agents who were interested in seeing fulls or partials pretty much replied within days (sometimes hours). I was thankful I had the manuscript ready to send as soon as I got their requests.
Even agents who rejected me replied fairly quickly.
I'm not saying that every single agent had their finger on the send button as soon as they received my query, but enough did that I know how important it is to have a finished manuscript when you begin querying. You don't want to get a request for more material and not be able to send it right away. Well, at least I don't.
I've never seen an agent's submission guidelines that didn't say something to the effect of "Only query a finished manuscript." So yeah, all of this is rather obvious. But I can't be the only novice who thinks "I'm so close to being done, let me just send a query to see what response I get."
It happened before my first round of queries (but I somehow found the strength to resist it) and it's happening again now.
So really, this post is just about me telling myself "Whoa there, take your finger off the send button. FINISH YOUR MANUSCRIPT!"*
*And by finished, I mean properly formatted, copyedited, ready-to-go, no exceptions.
"It's important to set aside time to daydream, as much as it is to have writing time. After all, you need something to write about." –Thomas Pluck
Hello there, fellow slackers! Today we have another installment of "GET TO WORK," this week featuring Thomas Pluck. An outstanding crime fiction writer and all-around good guy, Thomas is the co-editor of Lost Children: A Charity Anthology. It's a collection of 30 incredible stories, the proceeds of which go to PROTECT and Children 1st.
If you recall, the question I asked was:
Do you have trouble buckling down and getting to your writing? If so, what is your no fail (or mostly no fail way) of getting yourself concentrate and get the work done? Or is it such a habit now it's really not a problem?
Thomas Pluck: I wish I had one, because lately I've been succumbing to sloth. Guilt always works. If I say I'm "off to the word mines" on Twitter, I know I can't keep jabbering with my friends without knowing they'll be looking at that tweet and thinking, "This guy's no pro. He's here goofing off, when he said he was on the clock. I bet he's still in his boxers, and that his feet smell like Frito's corn chips because he hasn't showered and it's 4pm." That usually works. It's also good for keeping you on your diet, and not buying Frito's corn chips.
But seriously, folks… the old adage of "set aside time to write" is what I do. When I get in my pink dining room chair in front of my laptop, I'm all business. I plug in the headphones and choose the proper playlist. (If I'm writing the novel in progress, it's AC/DC, all Bon Scott and Flick of the Switch, their most underrated album; If it's Denny, I put on Run DMC and Grandmaster Flash). By then, I'm usually thirsty and get a beer, and the cat steals my chair. I can tell how focused I am on writing by how much effort the cats put into getting my attention. Shadow, a twenty pounder we call Cat Loaf, will jump on the table and sit on my hand. Charlie, the Siamese rescue we call the Gimp, will paw at my elbow. Word count low? Blame the cats.
Christa Faust said that what separates the amateurs from the pros is that the pros write even when it's tough. Like the famous Jack London adage- you can't wait for inspiration, you have to after it with a club. The other great piece of advice is from Hemingway, who said to stop writing while you still know what happens next. It works like a charm. By the time you write again, you've (hopefully) been daydreaming and taking notes about your work in progress, so you go a bit further, and further the next day. It's important to set aside time to daydream, as much as it is to have writing time. After all, you need something to write about. I've always been a daydreamer, so I steal moments where I can. So if you're a lazy, guilt-ridden daydreamer, writing should come easy.
Just lay off the corn chips.
Note from Holly: Well, it's 12:26pm and I'm still in my PJs. Make of that what you will.
Thanks for stopping by, Thomas! Some great advice here (I especially like the playlist idea).
"Shortly before I fall sleep, I remind myself where I left off and what I'll want to tackle the next day." – Kris Neri
As you know from this post, I recently asked several of my writer friends how they motivate themselves to do the writing. Sometimes, all it takes is getting that first word down–but you'd be surprised how difficult it sometimes is to just do that.
I admitted to a serious case of the lazies in that post, but since then I've made some good progress on my revision of Diary of Bedlam. I'll be done with the revision today, with what I call "copy edits" starting tomorrow.
Today my friend Kris Neri stopped by the blog to offer her tips for staying on track. Kris is the award-winning author of the Tracy Eaton mystery series, the Samantha Brennan and Annabelle Haggerty magical mystery series, and several stand-alone titles. Her latest novel, Magical Alienation, is nominated for a Lefty Award this year. She also co-owns The Well Red Coyote bookstore in Sedona, Arizona.
So here's the question I asked:
Do you have trouble buckling down and getting to your writing? If so, what is your no fail (or mostly no fail way) of getting yourself concentrate and get the work done? Or is it such a habit now it's really not a problem?
Kris Neri: The second half of any book seems to create a decent level of compulsion for me, but I sometimes have to push myself during the first half. My best technique for keeping my mind in a book that I'm not too far into is to actively work at using my unconscious.
Shortly before I fall sleep, I remind myself where I left off and what I'll want to tackle the next day. I address any questions I might have about the next segment, and tell myself the answers will come to me before I settle down to write. And lastly, as I drift off, I visualize myself seeming really engaged in my writing, not frustrated because I don't have enough time. If I do that regularly, I'm able to make better use of small amounts of time, and I never really leave the book.
I'm also a big believer in starting the day with journaling. The act of starting the day writing something, anything — even if it's misspelled brain dribble — helps me get into writing mode. Unfortunately, I still have to work at it some of the time.
Holly: Thanks, Kris! I like the idea of actively putting myself into the mind set of writing, the process of visualizing engagement in order to acheive it. This is something I'll definitely be trying.
"When I finally commit to a novel or even something short I like to get it done and not lose momentum. I find inertia plays a big part in getting through a novel and keeping an even tone to the writing." –Eric Beetner
I've been having a really hard time getting to work lately. Not sure what the problem is, but it's been bad, folks.
I decided to ask a few of my writer friends what they do to shake off the lazies and get to work. First up is Eric Beetner, author of numerous short stories, novels and novellas. His latest novella, DIG TWO GRAVES, is available from Snubnose Press on the Kindle.
But since distraction is the order of the day for me lately, let's start with Eric's great trailer for DIG TWO GRAVES:
All right, now that that's out of my system let's get on to the real purpose of this post. Here's the question I asked:
Do you have trouble buckling down and getting to your writing? If so, what is your no fail (or mostly no fail way) of getting yourself concentrate and get the work done? Or is it such a habit now it's really not a problem?
Eric Beetner: I think everyone struggles with this at least a little. Thankfully, I don't very much. I also don't beat myself up if I'm not writing. I'm not one of those "I have to write everyday" people.
That said, when I finally commit to a novel or even something short I like to get it done and not lose momentum. I find inertia plays a big part in getting through a novel and keeping an even tone to the writing. I like to be in the same head space the whole way through, and for me, the easiest way to do it is to keep on a tight schedule. It's why I don't start until I have a full road map of where I'm going, and why I won't start something if I know I have a big break coming up, whether work or otherwise.
For instance, I recently moved and I have two novels I would love to write but I knew better than to start something I couldn't follow through with. I'm gearing myself up to start right now, but this is when I face the inertia of not having written for a while. Other things have gotten in the way too like catching up on other projects that got put aside during my last novel. Things that pay a little bit and involve other people who are waiting for me.
But these are all wonderful problems to have. No complaints. I'd always rather be busy than stagnant. It's funny how being busy in other aspects of my life actually fuels the writing. You'd think a calm non-writing life would lend itself to more writing, but I find it leads to more lazy movie-watching and sleeping.
In the end, if I ever feel like I'm not writing when I should be I can be very hard-assed with myself. "Suck it up and sit down at the keys, boy!" That kind of thing goes on in my head. And some of the best nights of writing I have ever had have started out as times when I did not want to write at all.
Holly: Thanks, Eric! I like this idea of having a "full roadmap" before starting the novel and then plowing through to get it done. I'm the sort of person who needs that direction or I start to waver and go off course.
In the coming days/weeks, I'll feature additional writers who've come forward and offered me advice and/or commisseration.