Writing Tip in 60 Seconds or Less

Craving that literary fix but feeling crunched for time? Lost in a sea of RSS feeds but looking for a safe harbor? The Pacific Northwest Writers Association has not only delivered up a clever online Author Magazine, but they've also created a segment called "Daily Minute."

Yep, that's right. In just one minute, you get the low-down on writing, publishing, outlining, and general writerly goodness from such well-known authors as Alice Hoffman, Jane Porter, Lee Childs, and others. Author Magazine also podcasts on iTunes, for you podcast junkies.

The e-magazine, itself, covers a ton, as their welcome mat indicates: Welcome to Author, an on-line magazine for writers and readers, featuring interviews with best-selling and first-time authors, reviews, articles, and more.

Gearing Up for Nanowrimo in Three Easy Steps

Nanowrimo: National Novel Writing Month begins November 1

Instead of fretting over word choice, sentence fluency, or air-tight plots, participants of Nanowrimo pound the keyboard in exuberant strokes. The ultimate goal is to produce 50,000 words in one month. Spell checks, grammar checks, and gut checks are all saved for the doldrums of December when you've nothing better to do than explore for belly lint or revise your novel.

Interested in playing along? Well, then, register if you want with the site. Or, if you'd prefer to play it alone, don't. Either way, it's up to you to closet yourself with caffeine and power bars, inspiration and diabolical plots, and get rocking on your first (or next) novel!

So, it's October, and you're thinking you want to be involved this year. What can you do? Well, funny you ask, because that's what this post is really about. Everyone has a different method or angle for getting the most out of this month of craziness. I'm listing but one way.

Things to do before the big day:

1. World-building: Create the world you're writing about. What laws operate within the fantasy, sci-fi, or alternate universe that you've created? Flora? Fauna? Governments? If you're writing about a contemporary setting, get to know the area you're writing about. Chicago? Seattle? A tiny town in eastern Oklahoma? Get a sense of place, immerse yourself in the setting, jot some notes about major landforms or landmarks. If you're writing about a different decade, start listening to the music from that era, search out hairstyles and fashions, understand the major political or civil issues of the day that impacted life at the most basic level.

2. Character-building: Who are you writing about? Get to know your character(s). There are lots of character sheets on the Internet that you can fill in. If you flesh out your protagonist, s/he will have a stronger personality and take you places you never thought you'd go. Don't forget your antagonist. Having a vivid (round in lit terms) personality makes for a stronger story. When the "bad guy" is multi-dimensional, tension crackles. This ultimately thrusts your story forward, giving you a place to go.

3. Plot-building: This can be as simple or as elaborate as you want. Creating a 3-Act story is simple. Act I: Protagonist faces Quest. Act II: Protagonist faces Obstacle. Act III:Protagonist faces Resolution (achieves quest at great cost or fails. Your choice). Here's an easy worksheet to complete if you're looking for specific guidance. I personally like Blake Snyder's Beat Sheet since he's explored Joseph Campbell's Hero and Vogel's Journey (plus major hit movies) and compiled these observations into an easy-to-understand formula.

If you have a basic outline for where you're starting, where you want to go, and what bumps you'll hit along the way, you're prepped for the big month. If you've participated in the world-building month that Eliza sponsored, you're ahead of the game. If you're just starting out, no worries. The ride is worth the pain!

Do you have a different way to prep for this month? Are you planning on participating at all?

Most Influential Poet: John Keats

I discovered Keats as a sophomore; he still speaks to my heart almost twenty years later. It's been a beautiful day of firsts for me, so I wanted to spread the joy around. I can think of no better way to accomplish that than to leave you with the words of a magnificent poet. Here are my favorite three stanzas (out of eight) from "Ode to a Nightingale."

MY heart aches, and a drowsy numbness pains
My sense, as though of hemlock I had drunk,
Or emptied some dull opiate to the drains
One minute past, and Lethe-wards had sunk:
'Tis not through envy of thy happy lot,
But being too happy in thine happiness,
That thou, light-wingèd Dryad of the trees,
In some melodious plot
Of beechen green, and shadows numberless,
Singest of summer in full-throated ease.

...

Darkling I listen; and, for many a time
I have been half in love with easeful Death,
Call'd him soft names in many a musèd rhyme,
To take into the air my quiet breath;
Now more than ever seems it rich to die,
To cease upon the midnight with no pain,
While thou art pouring forth thy soul abroad
In such an ecstasy!
Still wouldst thou sing, and I have ears in vain—
To thy high requiem become a sod.

...

Forlorn! the very word is like a bell
To toll me back from thee to my sole self!
Adieu! the fancy cannot cheat so well
As she is famed to do, deceiving elf.
Adieu! adieu! thy plaintive anthem fades
Past the near meadows, over the still stream,
Up the hill-side; and now 'tis buried deep
In the next valley-glades:
Was it a vision, or a waking dream?
Fled is that music:—do I wake or sleep?

Do you have a poet (or poem) that influenced you or gave you strength or made you laugh?

Publish My Book: Steps You Can Take

Note: This posting is a continued conversation on the topic of Agents & Publishing.

So, what now? It's really a matter of choosing a course and following through. If you're determined to get published, you must commit to the following steps:

1. Write the best novel you can. I can't tell you how many people I talk to who have a great idea or have just written the first fifty pages. Stop talking and write. There's too much competition out there to simper over what you're going to do. Just do it.

2. Do the research. Who repesents your market? Who's accepting unsolicited manuscripts? There are so many good resources out there already (on-line: AgentQuery, Writer Beware, ForWriters, Writers Write & book form: Guide to Literary Agents, Literary Marketplace, Writer's Market to name a few), that I'm not going to repeat it all here.

3. Do the research part II. Think you're done? Not by half. Once you find a sizable agent list, research them. Visit their websites and find out exactly what they want. If they're looking to publish urban fantasy with a steampunk edge and you're writing high fantasy, look elsewhere. Tailor everything you do in your query to each specific agent. Yes, that means that you might be doing a great deal of editing and work. That's okay. That's your job.

4. Do the work. Write a darn good query letter. Again, this means doing your homework, discovering what a query letter is supposed to accomplish, and perfecting your work of art.

• Reminder: Different agents require different things. Look up their requirements on their website. They may ask for a query letter, a synopsis, or a chapter outline, an ounce of blood or DNA proof that you're not a child of the antichrist. Give it to them.
• Note: If agents have no unsolicted manuscripts written on their site, that simply means that you need to write an effective query letter. Don't strike them off your list.
  

5. Send off your queries in batches of ten (see previous post on this strategy).

6. Don't stop -- Keep writing. Just because you've written the next best thing since LiveScribe doesn't mean you rest on your laurels. Nope. Instead, you keep on a' truckin'. You write. After all, it's what you do.

Query Letter: Five Steps Toward Publishing

OK: I'm guilty of it myself. I've toiled hours over my query letter. I've perfected it. I've tweaked it. I've buffed it. In fact, my query letter is a work of art, right up there with coffee ice cream.

And then I've sat on it. For six months.

Next step? GUILT. If I'm not out there beating the bushes for an agent, then how will Ceilyn see the light of day? I'm certainly not going to be hit over the head and dragged off by the hair to some publishing cave. So I decide to send out the query letter.

Retrieving the somewhat squished and wrinkled pages is the easy part. Determining the agent is pretty simple, too. Head held high, I mail off my one query letter. I'm still awaiting the results.

So -- if you were wondering -- this is the wrong way to do it. If you've taken even one class in statistics, you'll know why. Elizabeth Lyon, author of The Sell Your Novel Toolkit, pleads with us writers to do it the right way, the kinder, gentler, smarter way, the Lyon way.

The Lyon Way:
1. After you've perfected your query letter, send it out to ten agents.

2. Keep track of how many agents request your manuscript. A successful query letter nets 30%, or three out of ten requests.

3. If "successful," send out individualized letters to scores more agents. Increase your odds.

4a. If your query nets you zero, then your query letter is a failure.

4b. This is the good news: you haven't been rejected; just your query letter.

5. Re-write your query letter. Repeat steps 1-5.

If you have successful query letter stories or even "don't do what I did" stories, please share them! Are there better methods out there? Must-read books on the subject?

Pacific Northwest Writers Association

For any writer who needs exposure, tips, an agent, or just a shot in the arm, PNWA's summer conference kicks butt. From big name authors to down-and-dirty, roll-up-your-sleeves kinds of workshops, this conference delivers what it promises: a chance to belong to the writing community.


Link Elizabeth Lyon, author of The Sell Your Novel Tool Kit, offered invaluable advice, going over query letter do's and don'ts. I definitely recommend her book(s). Email me if you want some of her notes.