Are writing rules meant to be broken? May 20, 2013

 

 

Over the last two years I’ve become a student in the school of publishing.  I started out not knowing what a query was, much less how to format a manuscript or create a pitch. But over time, and through all my teachers (writers on AgentQuery Connect and Twitter – I’m talking to you), I’ve learned how to navigate the crazy world that is publishing.

 

Do I know it all? No.

 

Will I continue to learn and make mistakes every day? Yes.

 

Yet there are some hard and fast rules I’ve learned about publishing I try to adhere to:

 

 

1) Read and follow submission guidelines.

 

2) Your query should be written in third person, present tense.

 

3) Never use adverbs

 

4)  Do not start your first chapter with a dream, eating breakfast, waking up, or riding in a car.

 

 

And I’ll stop right there. Why? Because I’ve learned rules 2-4 can be broken. Yes, I said broken. But only if done the right way.

 

Allow me to elaborate with examples:

 

#2 – Your query should be written in third person, present tense

 

While this is almost always the best route to go, one well-known YA author broke this rule and still signed with an agent.

 

How? Because she did it right.

 

Do you know who I’m talking about? Should I leave you in suspense???

 

No, I’ll be nice. The author is Miranda Kenneally and she broke many query rules when she wrote her letter for CATCHING JORDAN. She wrote it from the perspective of her lead character.  I would venture to guess many “experts” would say not to do this.  But for Miranda it worked in so many ways.

 

Here it is:

 

 

My name is Jordan Woods, I’m seventeen, and last year, I blew it in the final seconds of the Tennessee state championship football game. This year, I can’t let that happen or I’ll never get a scholarship to play ball in college. I have a lot to prove, what, with an NFL star for a father – a father who doesn’t think I should be playing football. Why wouldn’t a famous quarterback want his kid to follow in the family footsteps?

 

I’m a girl.

 

But I’ve been playing quarterback since I was seven, so everyone’s gotten used to me by now. I’m a normal teenage girl. Well, as normal as I can be. I mean, obviously I think Justin Timberlake is a mega hunk, but I’m also over six feet tall and can launch a football fifty yards.

 

Other ways I’m not normal? A girl who hangs with an entire football team must hook up all the time, right?

 

Nope.

 

I’ve never had a boyfriend and most people think I’m gay. Hell, I’ve never even kissed a guy. But that might be about to change because the hottest guy, Ty Green, just moved here from Texas. Just the sight of him makes me want to simultaneously fly and barf. It turns out that he’s also a quarterback, and he’s a hell of a lot better than me. Last year, Ty led his team to win the Texas state championship.

 

And I’m scared. What if Coach gives my position away? What if Ty isn’t interested in me? The worst fear of all? What if Ty distracts me from my dreams of playing ball in college?

 

And why is my best friend, our star wide receiver, acting so strangely all of a sudden?

 

 

So why does this break all the rules and still work? Because this query is full of voice. Miranda tells Jordan’s story in a few sentences and makes you want to read more. I’m not surprised her agent, Sara Megibow, requested after receiving this query.  It is brilliant.

 

Should a beginning writer take this risk? That’s for the individual to decide.  But Miranda was brave. She sent this query out as a test. She didn’t send it to fifty agents, but just a few, and the response was overwhelming. Again, she DID IT RIGHT.

 

 

#3 – Never use adverbs

 

I see people railing about this subject all over social media.  And while the advice is somewhat true, I think it’s difficult to avoid adverbs.  Yes, why say, “he walked quickly” when you can say, “he raced” or “he ran.”  But there are times in writing where it’s almost impossible to describe a movement or action without using an adverb.

 

Now, if you use adverbs at the end of dialogue tags, we are talking another thing.  Recently, I tried to read the fourth book in a very popular YA series.  I stopped reading after 80 pages. Why?  Almost every dialogue tag had an adverb attached. You can only read, “he said angrily” so many times before it gets annoying. Plus, it pulls you out of the story.

 

So yes, adverbs can be an issue, but the rule can be broken if they are used sparingly and in the correct places.

 

 

#4 – Overdone beginnings

 

After doing numerous agent interviews in my First Five Frenzy series one thing is clear:  you should NOT begin your story with a canned opening. No waking up. No looking in a mirror. No eating breakfast or riding in a car.

 

But again, this rule can be broken if done in a convincing way.

 

Another example: The Hunger Games

 

The story begins with Katniss waking up and describing her family and surroundings. A big no-no, right? But for Suzanne Collins it works. Her prose drives the story forward. In those few paragraphs she eases the reader into her world. It’s a lesson all writers could learn from.

 

The thing to remember as a writer is this: rules can be broken.  You have to know what’s going to work for your own plot and characters.  Don’t be afraid to stretch and reach outside the norm to create a beautiful story that will grab readers and never let them go.

 

And one last thing about rule #1:   That one should never, ever be broken.

 

 

What writing rules do you think are okay to break?  I’d love to hear about it in the comments.

FIRST FIVE FRENZY with Annie Bomke of Annie Bomke Literary Agency May 17, 2013

 

 

If you’re like me, you toil for hours editing and fine-tuning the first pages of your manuscript.  You look at the first lines to make sure they are compelling and tight.  You examine the next few paragraphs, hoping  your MC’s voice is already taking hold of the reader.

 

The First Five Frenzy is all about getting an agent’s perspective on what works, and what fails, in those first pages of a manuscript.  By reading each agent’s comments, I hope you’ll learn how to make your manuscript a shining gem that will be requested time and time again.

 

Today, I am proud to share Literary Agent, Annie Bomke’s, perspective on what’s important in those critical first pages.

 

 

Amy: Many writers have the impression that a great first line is imperative to drawing in the reader. How important is a first line to you as an agent?

 

Annie: A great first line does help grab my attention, but it’s not as important to me as the first page or the first chapter.  The first line should set the tone for the rest of the book, it should intrigue me and give me a sense of the voice or perspective of the novel and what makes it special.

 

 

Amy: Many times a writer is told to stay away from common openings like dreams, eating breakfast, riding in a car, etc. What are some common openings you recommend writers stay away from?

 

Annie: All of those, as well as looking in a mirror while they’re getting ready in the morning, having a dialogue that isn’t that interesting (and won’t be important later).  Anything that involves a lot of reflection and little action is a bad way to open a book.

 

A lot of mysteries and thrillers open with a murder, or from the point of view of the killer right before he/she does the deed.  This can be exciting, but it’s just such a popular opening that writers need to find a way to make it fresh and polished.

 

In the first five pages, there’s a fine line between giving away too much information and giving away too little.  If you give away too much information about who the characters are, what they look like, and what their motivations are, etc., the pacing of the story slows down.  If you give away too little information, the opening can seem too vague, and it’ll be unclear what’s going on and what makes this story special.  Either way, your readers will lose interest pretty quickly.  The idea is to put enough information there to intrigue the reader and make them curious to read more.

 

 

Amy: When you’ve responded to a writer to request a partial or full manuscript, what was it about their first pages that piqued your interest?

 

Annie: Sometimes it’s a really unique concept, but usually it’s the writing.  I want to see writing that’s vivid, visceral, emotional, and unique.  I like writing that’s suspenseful, and writing with a great sense of humor.  I want to see ideas and images presented in a way I’ve never read before, and characters that feel rich and real.

 

And the writing should have some tension.  By tension I mean the feeling that something is going to happen, that events are being put into motion.  And for this tension to work, I have to understand the character enough to become invested in what happens to them.

 

 

Amy: What are some common mistakes writers make in their first five pages?

 

Annie: They feel the need to explain some background information on the characters, the setting, or the plot before the story gets going.  Or they open the book with a scene that’s not that exciting, like a character driving in their car, reflecting the past or future.  They include unnecessary information, like a character’s hair and eye color.  They use language that doesn’t help me visualize the scene or get to know the characters.  They rely on clichés and stereotypical characters instead of showing me something new and interesting.

 

 

Amy: What resonates with you most in those first pages? Voice? Pacing? Unique concept?

 

Annie: I’d say it’s usually the voice.  The voice is what pulls me into the story and keeps me there.  And interesting writing is always a plus.

 

 

Annie Bomke is a literary agent with over a decade of experience in the publishing industry.  She has worked with internationally bestselling authors such as Ken Blanchard, Spencer Johnson, Bob Burg and John Assaraf.  Authors have called her the pH test for good writing, and a bedrock for literary quality control.  She is interested in representing a wide range of fiction and nonfiction—including commercial fiction, literary fiction, historical fiction, mysteries, thrillers, YA, business, self-help, health/diet, and memoir—though she is most passionate about character-driven literary fiction, and psychological thrillers.

 

If you’re interested in submitting to Annie, please make sure to check the Annie Bomke Literary Agency website for their guidelines.

W.O.W. – Writer Odyssey Wednesday with Sara Raasch May 15, 2013

 

 

 

Publishing can be a rocky road.  When you are lucky enough to sign with a literary agent that is only the beginning of the journey. There are edits/revisions and a lot of work to be done before submission.  After the work is completed, you still have to shop the book around and hope a publishing house wants to buy it.  The process can be long and arduous.  But what happens when things don’t go as planned and you find yourself needing to move on from that book and that agent? Today’s featured writer, Sara Raasch, shares with us her amazing publishing journey that includes some major setbacks, but ends with a stellar agent and a shiny publishing deal for her debut novel, SNOW LIKE ASHES.

 

Here is Sara’s writing odyssey…

 

 

Amy: You have an interesting backstory I think many aspiring writers would be interested in.  You were previously agented with one book and then left that agency and went back to querying before landing another agent.  Can you share how you came to this difficult decision and how it affected your writing?

 

Sara: Leaving my first agency was hands-down one of the hardest decisions I’ve had to make in publishing thus far. It wasn’t a decision I made lightly either — I grappled with it for about ten months before I decided it was right for me. At the time I was at a bit of a crossroads in my career — a book I ADORED with every fiber of my being had been on submission for two and a half years (talk about soul crushing) with no bites whatsoever. I was no longer sure if the writer I wanted to be was linked to that book, if I should have kept going with that book, or where I fit in this mad publishing world. In that ten-month grappling time, I did a lot of soul-searching, philosophical-journey type things, and ultimately decided to leave that agency and refocus who I wanted to be as a writer.

 

This decision didn’t only affect my writing, it affected every aspect of my writing world. It was like a blank slate, which was both horrifying and exhilarating, and let me truly “start over” and make myself into the kind of writer I wanted to be. Leaving an agency is terrifying — you worked so hard to get THIS agent, why on earth would you leave?? — but if it’s something you’re considering, make sure you do consider it very carefully. Any big career move should be made only after thoughtful deliberation. But if you do decide to take that plunge, know you aren’t alone in your choice, and many, many other writers have been in the same boat as you. It’s scary, but can also be the beginning of wonderful, wonderful things.

 

 

Amy: When you queried the second time with SHUTTER, SHUDDER did you feel like you were pretty seasoned with the process? Did the query come easily?

 

Sara: Oh, querying. No matter how long you’ve done it, how many agents you’ve sent to, or how long you’ve been in the business, querying SUCKS. But this time around, I felt a thrill with each query I sent out. Despite how much the rejection sucks (and boy, does it ever suck), there is something to be said for the sheer greatness of possibility. Each email could be The One, each incoming response could be a Let’s Set Up A Call. That possibility is what makes querying bearable.

 

One of my guilty pleasures is, sadly, writing summaries for queries. *ducks sharp projectiles* Okay, okay, hear me out! Actually, there’s nothing I can say to make it less weird. Querying did come easily to me this time around, but only because I adore writing summaries, and that mixed with my excitement to be reevaluating/redeveloping myself as a writer made the whole thing oddly enjoyable.

 

 

Amy: How many agents did you query before you got a positive response?

 

Sara: Luckily, I’m super OCD, and have a nice little excel sheet with just such digits.

 

I sent out 84 queries between the end of March 2012 and mid-April 2012 (I was excitable, okay? And I do not endorse this kind of aggression). Of those queries, I got 10 full requests (which still makes me dance a little inside) and of those 10 full requests, it was a week between when I sent the query to Sheedy Lit and when I got a voicemail saying they loved my book (the one I queried was a paranormal ghost story called SHUTTER, SHUDDER). Suffice to say, between leaving one agency and joining another, the beginning of 2012 was a frickin’ roller coaster.

 

 

Amy: You have a novel coming out in 2014 called SNOW LIKE ASHES.  Did you have critique partners or beta readers that helped you polish it? If so, how did that influence your writing process?

 

Sara: Of course! A writer is nothing without a good network of support and beta-ship. My CPs influence my writing SO much! I shudder to think what SLA would be like without their keen eyes and loving ability to tear scenes to shreds. Also, my agent is a KILLER editor — I rave all the time about how great she is at making my manuscripts that much more polished and coherent.

 

 

Amy: What can you tell us about your call with your agent, Charlotte Sheedy? How did you know she was a good fit for you?

 

Sara: I ended up speaking to both Charlotte and Mackenzie at various points before I accepted representation from them, and I knew they were a good fit because of how passionate they were for my book. Passion is truly the most important trait in an agent — if they love your work, that love will emanate out to editors and help sell your book a LOT more efficiently! There’s no substitute for passion, and as soon as I felt that spark with Mackenzie, I knew SHUTTER, SHUDDER (and all my future projects) would be happy with Sheedy Lit!

 

 

Amy: What was one piece of advice you got during your early writing stages that has stuck with you to this day?

 

Sara: There’s a quote I ADORE by Jodi Picoult: “You can always edit a bad page, but you can’t edit a blank page.” When I’m stuck on a scene or afraid to tackle a new project or seriously doubting my ability to live up to my goals, I remember that quote. You can always make a bad page better, but a blank page? You can’t do anything to fix a blank page. So write, write, write, no matter how you feel, because writing has a way of working out the bad feels too.

 

 

Amy: If you met an aspiring writer at a book signing and they told you they were going to give up on their writing dream, what would you say to them?

 

Sara: “NOOO!” and then I’d tackle them and cling to the hem of their skirt and sob dramatically.

 

Seriously though, I’d ask why they were leaning toward giving up. That can really make all the difference — this industry is much too stressful to put yourself through it if you don’t REALLY want it. So if writing truly isn’t something that’s “for them,” giving up might be a solution worth considering.

 

But if they’re considering giving up because it’s hard, because the rejection hurts, because they’ve been trying for so long and they still haven’t gotten anywhere, because someone gave them a bad review/a mean crit/was overall nasty to them, I’d do the whole dramatic-skirt-clutching-sob thing. None of those reasons are enough to quit if publishing is what you really, truly, deep-down want. If seeing your book on a shelf or finishing your novel or getting an agent is so much a fiery part of yourself that you go to bed every night on the verge of exploding from wanting it so bad, then you HAVE to keep trying.

 

I’ve wanted to be published since I was, no joke, five years old. I started querying when I was around 15, and didn’t get my first agent until I was in college. I’m 23 now and just got my first book deal, so that’s almost 12 years of working toward this goal. 12 years. A lot of it was awful, a lot of it made me question if I really wanted this, a lot of it made me cry and growl in frustration. But then I’d remember why I started this crazy venture in the first place. Why I love stories, writing, this whole thing — because stories are so vitally important to life, as an escape, as a way to make sure we know we aren’t alone, as a way to smile when life is just too hard. Remembering my reason for doing this helped me endure 12 years of up and down and down again until that magical, wondrous day when my agent called and told me we sold SNOW LIKE ASHES to Balzer + Bray in a pre-empt. All those bad things suddenly seemed so, so worth it, and I know I was infinitely happier in my most miserable time during those 12 years than I would have been had a I quit, because even though I was miserable, I was still working toward my dream. And if you keep at it, it WILL happen. Not it might. It WILL.

 

And when it does, it will be even better than you imagined.

 

 

Sara Raasch has known she was destined for bookish things since the age of five, when her friends had a lemonade stand and she tagged along to sell her hand-drawn picture books too. Not much has changed since then — her friends still cock concerned eyebrows when she attempts to draw things and her enthusiasm for the written word still drives her to extreme measures. Her debut YA fantasy, SNOW LIKE ASHES, is coming out Fall 2014 from Balzer + Bray. It does not feature her hand-drawn pictures. For more info on Sara, check out her blog or follow her on Twitter.

Secret to Sequels May 10, 2013

In the past six months I’ve read five YA sequels.  Three out of the five I put down at least half way through.  One of those I picked up again a few days later and sloshed through until the not-so-satisfying end.

 

I dread reading sequels. They are almost always a disappointment.  My biggest issue when reading?  The author does nothing to drive the plot forward.  Half the time they just rehash old events and continue the angst between the male and female leads.

 

What about those two I enjoyed?  What grabbed me?  I can answer this in two words: fresh blood.  No, I don’t mean death and gore. I mean the introduction of new and vital characters who build up the story and push the plot forward in a satisfying way.

 

Case in point (and I know many will argue with me here) CATCHING FIRE from Suzanne Collins.  The introduction of a new hunger game and characters like Johanna Mason and Finnick Odair kept the book alive for me.  I was intrigued by the characters and how they managed to set off both Peeta and Katniss. Another sequel winner for me? TORMENT by Lauren Kate.  Here again, new characters (and a new setting) made the story one I wanted to follow.

 

As a writer, I can only imagine how difficult it is to keep a steady, intriguing plot going (maybe this is why I’ve never written anything but a stand alone). But as a reader, I wish authors would think about where they are taking their plots and how they can keep the characters fresh.  Many times if the book is a trilogy, I find  the second book is merely filler to get to book three. If this is the case, you’re going to lose the reader and their commitment to finish the series.

 

What do you think is the key to writing a successful sequel?  What keeps you clamoring for the next book in a series?  I’d love to hear your thoughts in the comments, and please add your suggestion for a book you thought was a compelling sequel.

W.O.W. – Writer Odyssey Wednesday with Francesca Zappia May 8, 2013

 

 

 

Quick confession here – I’ve always wanted to have the talent to draw.  My oldest brother can pick up a pen and doodle something that is absolutely stunning.  Me? I pick up a pen, and I’m lucky if what I draw even looks like a stick figure.  Today’s featured writer, Francesca (Chessie) Zappia is not only a writer but an artist.  I find this fascinating for many reasons, but probably the most dominant being that I think it would be cool to illustrate your characters on a blank piece of paper.  This to me would be the ultimate way to really “see” what my characters look like, and have them become not just words on the page, but colorful beings.  During the interview, as you will read below, I asked Chessie about her drawings, and while she admits they help her visualize the characters, she also feels bad about what she does to them later.

 

Many thanks to Chessie for sharing her writing journey.  Be sure to check out her artwork here: http://www.francescazappia.com/p/artwork.html

 

 

When did you first know you wanted to be a writer?

 

I think I was around seven or eight–it was when I read my first Harry Potter book. After I finished it, I realized that an actual person had written it. For some reason I had the strange idea that all books had always existed since the beginning of time. I’d always liked thinking up stories and drawing them, but that was the first time I realized that I could make stories with words, too, and make people fall in love with them the way I’d fallen in love with Harry Potter.

 

 

I love your artwork.  When you draw your characters, and see them come alive on the page, does it help you connect to them better as a writer?

 

Thank you! I never really thought about it, but I guess it does! When you’re drawing a character, you have to know what pose to put them in, what their expression will be like, what sort of clothes they wear, how they do their hair–little things like that, that you may not necessarily describe all the time in the story, but they help you get a better grasp on the character’s personality and motivation. (It also makes me feel bad for what I do to them later.) I know a lot of people who wish they could translate their ideas into drawings and get frustrated when they can’t, so I feel incredibly lucky to have that skill.

 

 

How many manuscripts had you completed prior to ASK AGAIN LATER?

 

Wellll, that’s a bit of a hard question to answer. When you first start writing, most of what you write is for practice. I think a lot of writers write multiple manuscripts before they find the one that finally gets them an agent/book deal/etc. I mainly wrote two books–one was ASK AGAIN LATER and the other was the beginning of a YA sci-fi trilogy. I rewrote them from the ground up multiple times. To me it feels like dozens of manuscripts, but in reality, I guess it was only two.

 

 

If you had preliminary rejections, how did you deal with that process and continue to write?

 

I’ve been querying since I was fourteen or fifteen, so I’ve had my share of rejections. It’s hard to get rejections, no matter what form they come in, but for me I guess the writing itself was the way I dealt with it. If agents didn’t like my current book, I would write them another book they would like. But it always had to be the book I wanted to write–not what I thought they wanted to read.

 

 

Did you have critique partners that helped you polish ASK AGAIN LATER? If so, how did that affect your writing process?

 

I did! It was one of the first manuscripts I ever handed over to my critique partners, and the help they gave me in shaping it was unbelievable. They’re amazing because they each look at a different part of the story. With all the manuscripts I’ve churned out since then, I feel like I’m more open to trying new things and writing the way I want, because I know if it doesn’t work, my critique partners will slap me over the head and tell me to get my act together.

 

 

How long did it take you to write the query for ASK AGAIN LATER? Did it go through many drafts?

 

The original query took me probably a few days, but I was constantly revising it while I queried. It went through so many drafts it makes me kind of sick to think about it. Needless to say, I am not the best at query writing.

 

 

How many agents did you query for ASK AGAIN LATER?

 

72. But that’s not including those I sent submissions to after contest requests.

 

 

Did you receive instantaneous response or did you have to wait for requests/rejections?

 

All the times I’ve queried, it’s been pretty much a wait for requests/rejections. Sometimes I only had to wait a few days. Some of the queries I waited months on. Most were rejections; the requests were just as spread out. I got one request a week after I queried an agent, and I got another two months after I sent the initial query. It definitely wasn’t one of those “I sent out queries and everyone loved it!” situations, haha.

 

 

Can you tell us what your “call” was like with your agent, Louise Fury? How did you know she was a good fit for you?

 

Our call actually got delayed one or two times before it finally happened, thanks to a plane ride and a very unfortunately-timed illness. Which just meant I got to teeter on the edge of a heart attack for an extra two days. But as soon as I got on the phone with Louise, I knew she was perfect. She’d gotten just about everyone at L. Perkins Agency to read my book, and the overwhelming support they had for it blew me away. We talked about my vision for the book and her ideas for revision, and by the end of the call–which lasted about forty minutes to an hour, if I remember right–I knew she was right for me. She’s so professional and so dedicated to her job, but also so passionate about the books she takes on.

 

 

If you met a struggling writer at a book signing and they told you they were about to give up on their dream of publication, what would you say to encourage them to keep writing?

 

I’d tell them to keep at it, no matter how bad they think they are or how many rejections they get. All writers think their work is horrible at some point. All writers get rejections. But the more you write, the better you get. And the better you get, the more likely you are to attract the perfect agent or publisher. The only way you will for sure never reach that dream of publication is if you quit.

 

 

Francesca is 20, majors in Computer Science the University of Indianapolis, and prefers the name Chessie. She writes books about pirates, aliens, crazy people, ghosts, skysurfing, nightmare hunters, underwater prisons, and any other thing that catches her attention. Her debut novel, ASK AGAIN LATER, is a YA contemporary coming from Greenwillow/HarperCollins in Fall 2014. She’s represented by Louise Fury of L. Perkins Agency. You can find her on Twitter and on her blog.

Write, Learn, Revise, Rinse, Repeat – A Guest Post by Amy Reichert May 6, 2013

 

 

When you are a new writer you are naïve.  You think once you put the final word on the page, your manuscript is complete.  But really, once “The End” is written,  the real work has just begun.  Revisions and edits are key to making any manuscript golden.  It’s in this process we learn where the true story is, and how to bring it to the forefront. By “killing our darlings,” and cutting extra words, we make a manuscript tighter and much more enjoyable to read. But as with anything in writing, those edits/revisions are painful, and it’s hard to know what to cut and what to keep.

 

Today, I’ve asked writer Amy Reichert to share her revision process.  Her manuscript, THE CAKE EFFECT, has gone through many revisions and edits.  And as she explains, those cuts have been tough. But even though the changes have been painful, she admits they have made her work stronger – so strong, she recently signed with agent, Rachel Ekstrom.  Amy’s story is proof that although revisions take time, and at times can be brutal, the process can reap great benefits.

 

 

Write, Learn, Revise, Rinse, Repeat

By Amy Reichert

The best and worst thing about writing is you can always improve.

 

I can always find new problems to fix, or new techniques to try. I’m a revision enthusiast. Nora Roberts said, “I can’t fix a blank page.” I love that. No author, ever, has written the perfect book on the first try. Maybe an author revises each sentence as she writes, maybe she spews forth an entire book than goes back and rewrites, or maybe she has a method somewhere in between. But either way, words never meet the page perfectly. Writers must revise. Full stop. End of story. Learn to love it.

 

Without embracing revision, I wouldn’t have gotten an agent (Hi Rachel!), and I’d never be the tiny bit closer to publishing that I am now.

 

At the beginning of 2012, the draft of The Cake Effect I thought was ready — that my husband, my mom and several well-read friends had read, that I’d polished until I thought it gleamed — sucked. It was a case of I didn’t know what I didn’t know. I had written those first few drafts by instinct. While my plot was solid, the writing had so many newbie mistakes, including classics like telling instead of showing, too much backstory, and way too much unnecessary detail (no one cared why the news stand guy had three clocks – you never see him again).

 

But how did I get from that level of suckiness to an agent-ready manuscript? Revision, learn, revision, learn, revision, learn. And some more revision. I don’t have a creative writing background, so the art of story-telling was something I winged, pulling from my experience as a reader and academic writer. Well folks, let me tell you, intuition only gets you so far.

 

I, fortunately, had wonderful author and good friend, Ann Garvin (http://www.annwertzgarvin.com) to help me in my hour of need. I met her at a pitch workshop in New York and she agreed to read a few chapters. Ann, bless her blunt heart, gave it to me straight. I had the voice, I had the story, but my writing needed a lot of work. She gave me a few resources to study and some needed encouragement. A switch flipped in my head and I understood what I lacked. I lacked a foundation in creative writing.

 

Now, let me be very clear here. You DO NOT need to get a degree or even take classes in creative writing. But just like any profession from a plumber to an attorney, you do need to learn and you do need to study. And also like any other profession, you should always strive to learn more and improve your work. There are many fantastic books, magazines, and websites with oodles of useful information.

 

So, I started with a subscription to Writer’s Digest and bought On Writing by Stephen King. I bookmarked several websites and focused my energies on the issues Ann commented on, like basic plot development, superfluous details, and exposition. I read up on these topics, then tackled my manuscript. I rewrote over half of it and tweaked the other half. I would take little rules and follow them religiously — like not having backstory before page 100, avoiding the passive voice, and using simple dialogue tags. These aren’t hard and fast rules, and there are very good reasons to break them, but they helped me tell my story better.

 

After this major revision, The Cake Effect was much improved. The characters had more life, the story started faster, and readers weren’t distracted by unnecessary details. It still needed a lot of work, but now I knew how to improve.

 

I finally met some fellow authors who would beta read for me, and I was fortunate to get a revise and resubmit from an agent. The feedback she gave me brought my manuscript to the next level. I had a few new chapters, some relationships were clarified, and some scenes had heightened tension. Again, I had learned some new writing skills and implemented them in my manuscript.

 

So, if I were to summarize my revision process, it would be that I learn something new about writing then apply it.

 

As a result, I’ve done many, many, many drafts, and I’ll probably do a few more. But I also realize these new skills I’m acquiring will mean fewer drafts on future novels. Just like practicing a sport or an instrument, muscle memory will take over and I’ll automatically show not tell, use more active words, and avoid clichés.

 

So, here are a few nuggets of wisdom about revision in list form – cause everyone loves a list.

 

FIND BETAS YOU CAN TRUST

 

Betas are not the friends you have coffee with or your mom. Most likely they are other writers, people who will ask you to read their manuscripts and give them feedback. This relationship is a two-way street, people. I’ve learned more from reading other people’s manuscripts than writing my own. It helps you hone the muscles that send up the “something isn’t working here” flag. You want people who will help bring your novel to the next level, who will point out the plot flaws and character problems, and gently explain how you overuse commas.

 

 

BE WILLING TO CUT

 

Your manuscript contains no sacred cows. Repeat that until you believe it. I don’t care how much you love a turn of phrase or a plot point. If it doesn’t work, cut it. I have a file where I save all my lost treasures. It is all about the big picture.

 

 

BE OPEN TO IDEAS

 

People are going to share ideas with you, and believe it or not, some will be good. Use these ideas to make your manuscript better. Just because you didn’t think of it, doesn’t mean you can’t mold it to your purposes. That’s why there are acknowledgment pages in books.

 

 

LEARN TO ACCEPT CRITICISM

 

The road to publication is paved with criticism and rejection, so toughen up, buttercup. You need to be willing to hear the truth. I know, you want to hear how great your book is and that nothing needs to change and it’s perfect as it is. But if someone tells you that, he is either lying or not a good beta reader – don’t use him again. A book can always be improved. Always. (OK, there might be exceptions to this, but chances are, you aren’t one of them).

 

 

ALWAYS TRY TO IMPROVE

 

You need to learn, be it by studying other writers (yay! that means you get to read), reading articles and books, or taking a class. There is always more to learn about the art of writing. Never stop. Ever.

 

 

 

Amy Reichert is a first time novelist, life-long Wisconsin resident, mother of two (three if you count the dog – and you should), beloved wife, spectacular procrastinator, die-hard Harry Potter fan, and amateur baker. She earned her MA in English Lit from Marquette University and worked for several years as a technical writer. When she’s not writing, she’s taking the children somewhere, putting off cleaning the house, or researching new vacation spots. She loves to read, collect more cookbooks than she could possibly use, and sample new ciders. Represented by Rachel Ekstrom at the Irene Goodman Literary Agency. For more on Amy follow her on Twitter or Tumblr.

FIRST FIVE FRENZY – Tricia Lawrence with Erin Murphy Literary Agency May 3, 2013

 

 

 

If you’re like me, you toil for hours editing and fine-tuning the first pages of your manuscript.  You look at the first lines to make sure they are compelling and tight.  You examine the next few paragraphs, hoping your MC’s voice is already taking hold of the reader.

 

The First Five Frenzy is all about getting an agent’s perspective on what works, and what fails, in those first pages of a manuscript.  By reading each agent’s comments, I hope you’ll learn how to make your manuscript a shining gem that will be requested time and time again.

 

Today, I am proud to share Literary Agent, Tricia Lawrence’s perspective on what’s important in those critical first pages.

 

 

Amy: Many writers have the impression that a great first line is imperative to drawing in the reader. How important is a first line to you as an agent?

 

Tricia: Oh, first lines are definitely a signal to me. I usually can gauge within a line or two if the first line fits. It’s not the first line that’s the problem on its own; often the problem is if the first line fits what’s coming after it. Does that make sense? And as a writer myself, I dither over first sentences entirely too much too. I feel ya, writers!

 

 

Amy: Many times a writer is told to stay away from common openings like dreams, eating breakfast, riding in a car, etc. What are some common openings you recommend writers stay away from?

 

Tricia: I concur about dreams, but then again I’m not going to dictate a set of rules “Don’t ever . . . .” Sometimes a dream is the right choice, ya know? I think it’s just usually a sign that a writer is starting in the wrong place, but a writer can start anywhere and it be the wrong place. But some that come to mind are waking up, standing at a locker, on the phone with a friend, or texting while driving (the latter is just bad no matter if it starts a book or not!).

 

 

Amy: When you’ve responded to a writer to request a partial or full manuscript, what was it about their first pages that piqued your interest?

 

Tricia: The voice. A character’s view of the world. Find me a character that’s doing something intriguing, and I’m sold.

 

 

Amy: What are some common mistakes writers make in their first five pages?

 

Tricia: Overwriting. Jamming too much in. Trying to get everything in. Put it all in on a draft and then practice pulling out different elements until you have the right mix. Quality rather than quantity. Lack of polish (should have had a few more eyeballs on it before me.)

 

 

Amy: What resonates with you most in those first pages? Voice? Pacing? Unique concept?

 

Tricia: I’m all about voice. If it’s fast or slow, the voice beguiles me.

 

 

Tricia Lawrence is the “Pacific Northwest branch” of EMLA—born and raised in Oregon, and now lives in Seattle. After 17 years of working as a developmental and production-based editor (from kids book to college textbooks, but mostly college textbooks), she joined the EMLA team in March 2011 as a social media strategist hoping to learn from Erin and Joan about agenting.

 

As associate agent, Tricia represents picture books/chapter books that look at the world in a unique and unusual way, with characters that are alive both on and off the page, and middle grade and young adult fiction and nonfiction that offers strong worldbuilding, wounded narrators, and stories that grab a reader and won’t let go.

 

Tricia loves hiking, camping out in the woods, and collecting rocks. She loves BBC America and anything British. She has way too many books and not enough bookshelves. You can find Tricia’s writing about blogging, Tweeting, Facebooking, and other social media topics (for authors and the publishing industry at large) at authorblogger.net and her thoughts on being a creative professional at trishlawrence.com.

 

 

If you’re interested in submitting to Tricia, please make sure to check the Erin Murphy Literary Agency website for their guidelines.

Monday Musings: Writing Communities April 29, 2013

I’ve been writing for a long time, but it wasn’t until about a year ago that I stumbled upon an internet writing community.  I’d heard about places like Absolute Write and AgentQuery Connect but had never ventured onto either site.  Why did I hesitate? Well, there were a couple of reasons:

 

 

1) I was afraid to ask questions. Would they be lame? Would they show just how truly uneducated I was about the publishing world?

 

2) If I shared my pages and/or my query, would I be showing my fellow writers what a hack I was?

 

3) What did I have to offer?  One of the things about a writing community is the give and take.  Yes, you share your work, but you’re also encouraged to engage with others, and critique their work.  I wasn’t sure any feedback I could offer would be of value.

 

 

But as with any challenge, you have to be willing to take a risk.  So with a big leap, I jumped into the writing community over at AgentQuery Connect.  What did I find?  An amazing website where writers of all ages, and genres, share their work, and go out of their way to support one another.  Many of the writers on the site were kind enough to agree to give me my first interviews for this blog.  Other writers have become my critique partners, while countless others have commented on my query and added invaluable feedback to my work.

 

 

If you are new to the writing world, or are just hesitant about joining a writing community, I highly encourage you to check one out.  Not only will it provide you with valuable feedback, and help educate you about the world of publishing, it will also help connect you to other writers who want to support you as you try to reach your publishing goal.

 

 

Are you involved in an online writing community?  What kind of value has it added to your work?  Please share with me in the comments.

W.O.W. – Writer Odyssey Wednesday with Maggie Hall April 24, 2013

 

 

 

One thing I always ask in the W.O.W. is how critique partners affect a writer‘s work.  I can only count on one hand the number of writers who have told me they do not use CPs.  How they do it, I don’t know.  CPs and beta readers, I believe, are critical to the writing process and today’s featured writer, Maggie Hall agrees.

 

Maggie is part of a group blog called the YA Misfits.  This group supports one another through the writing, revising, querying and eventual submission process.  They are proof that with a great support network, any writer can reach their potential.

 

Many thanks to Maggie for sharing her writing journey…

 

 

Amy: You don’t see a lot of YA International Thrillers in the current marketplace. What inspired you to write The ELITE?

 

Maggie: Mostly that there weren’t a lot of YA International Thrillers in the marketplace! I read a lot of adult International Thrillers and love the genre, and always wished there was more like it in YA, so when the idea for this one came to me, I knew I had to write it. Plus, I love traveling and it was really fun to get to use some of my experience in writing this book.

 

 

Amy: How many completed manuscripts did you query before THE ELITE?

 

Maggie: This is my very first manuscript, so none!

 

 

Amy: I know you are part of the blog group, YA Misfits.  How did you connect with them, and how has knowing them affected your writing?

 

Maggie: Twitter, contests, forums…we met all over the place online, essentially. I met the first Misfits I knew through seeing each others’ entries on WriteOnCon then connecting through Twitter, and then met their friends, and they met mine, and soon we had this wonderful group of writers, and thought hey, wouldn’t it be fun if we started a group blog? And so YA Misfits was born.

 

Most of my critique partners are Misfits, and CPs in general changed my writing life. There’s only so much you can do to your writing on your own, and they have been incredibly helpful. And besides help on my actual MS, I would never have made it through the publishing process without them to lean on and vent to and freak out with…everyone needs a few good CPs!

 

 

Amy: Did your query for THE ELITE come easily or did it go through many drafts?

 

Maggie: It went through quite a few drafts. I started messing with the query well before the MS was done, so I had time to let it evolve naturally, and to get lots of advice! I had friends read it, posted it on forums…I have a tendency to ramble on, and the first couple drafts definitely showed that!

 

 

Amy: How many agents did you query for THE ELITE? Did you receive immediate responses or did you have to wait a while for replies?

 

Maggie: I queried 14 agents. Most of them were actually very quick–I got lucky!

 

 

Amy: Can you give a short summary of your call with your agent, Claudia Ballard? How did you know she was the right agent for you? 

 

Maggie: I knew Claudia was the right agent when she told me what was wrong with the book. Some agents aren’t very editorial (which is fine!) but I love having an agent who made me confident that she wouldn’t send my book out on sub until she thought it was really ready. And besides the edits, she was incredibly supportive, too. I came out of our first call knowing she loved the book and could see good things happening for it.

 

The rest of the call with her was pretty standard, I suppose–we talked about what she was looking for out of me, what I wanted out of my future as a writer, etc!

 

 

Amy: As most writers know, publishing is a very difficult business. What was the one thing you think you did to garner agent interest?

 

Maggie: I think the fact that my MS was different from what agents usually see in the slush pile was the most important factor in hooking them initially. Agents see so many queries, anything that makes your story stand out in a good, exciting way is really going to help you.

 

 

Amy: Was there ever a time you thought about giving up on your writing dream? If so, what motivated you to keep writing?

 

Maggie: All the time. I thought I’d never get my draft finished, then I thought I’d never think it was good enough to query, then when I was revising with my agent, I definitely doubted my ability to make it good enough to go on sub. Doubt, doubt, and more doubt. I was ready to throw in the towel a million times.

 

And what motivated me to go on? First of all, see my answer about CPs, above…my amazing CPs have encouraged me, been a shoulder to cry on, and kicked my butt into gear more times than I can count. If it weren’t for them being there for me through thick and thin, I very well might have quit at some point. And also, the love of writing. It sounds cheesy, but it’s true. Every time I tried to ignore my writing, or thought of giving up, it would be there, nagging at me, and I know there’s no way I could really quit. Maybe writers really are a little crazy!

 

 

More on THE ELITE:

 

 

Sixteen-year-old Avery West’s newfound family can shut down Prada at the Champs-Elysees when they want to shop in peace, and can just as easily order a bombing when they want to start a war. They are part of a powerful and dangerous secret society called the Elite, and they think Avery is the key to an ancient prophecy. Now some of the Elite want to use her as a pawn. Some want her dead. 

 

To unravel the mystery putting her in danger, Avery must follow a trail of clues from the crypts of Paris to the back alleys of Istanbul and through a web of ancient legends and lies. And even more complicated are the two boys she’s with—beautiful, volatile Stellan and mysterious, magnetic Jack—who might be part of the solution, or who might be her undoing…because the conspiracy goes deeper than anyone could have guessed. 

 

Maggie Hall is a former bookstore events coordinator and world traveler, who has petted tigers in Thailand, eaten her way through Italy, and taken thousands of miles of trains across India. When she’s not on the other side of the world, she likes to watch USC football and blog about young adult literature for YA Misfits. She recently relocated from Albuquerque to New Orleans with her husband and three cats.

 

 

Maggie is represented by Claudia Ballard at William Morris Endeavor and the first book in her YA International Thriller trilogy, currently called THE ELITE, will be published by Putnam/Penguin in fall 2014. You can add it to Goodreads here. For more on Maggie, check out her website, blog or follow her on Twitter @MaggieEHall

Writers: Do You Push Yourself? April 22, 2013

 

The query trenches suck.  There I said it. I’ve been saying it for a while.  The only thing keeping me sane right now are my writing buds, who are going through the same thing, and my need to distract myself with developing something new.

 

I was fortunate enough a while back to write a short story, “Emanate”, which was included in The Fall anthology published by Elephant’s Bookshelf Press.  It was a true challenge for me.

 

First off, the only time I’ve ever written a short was for a creative writing class some time back – and it was hard.  Well, who am I kidding? It was almost freaking impossible. Create an entire story with a beginning, middle and end in less than 10k? Yeah, it was pretty difficult.  But it tested me in ways I never expected.

 

“Emanate” still had a YA voice but this time it was male. I don’t write male protagonists. Ever. But I wanted to push myself.  See if I could write an authentic teenage boy’s voice that would be compelling.  It took months to write and massive edits after my CPs got a hold of it.  I’m a little embarrassed to admit the first draft was really bad. No, really, really bad.

 

When ”Emanate” was complete, and eventually accepted for submission, I felt like I’d jumped a huge hurdle. Not only had I written a short, but it was way out of my comfort zone.

 

Fast forward six months. My MS is completed and queries, partial and fulls are floating out in the marketplace. I was tired of refreshing my inbox for the thousandth time and needed something new to write.  Elephant’s Bookshelf Press had announced a summer anthology and was looking for submissions which was a perfect way to get my focus on something new.

 

I toyed with several ideas until one stuck.

 

But I hesitated.

 

A day. A week. A month.

 

Why? Because it was way out of the realm of what I usually write.

 

1) It was adult

 

2) It was sci-fi

 

3) It was 3rd Person POV

 

I tried many times to talk myself out of this story, but every time I tried to focus on something new, the premise came back to haunt me.  Begging me to be written. So one Sunday a month ago I sat down and wrote.  The characters and plot flowed onto the pages seamlessly and before I knew it “Unearthed” was born.  I did a small amount of editing before I sent it to my CPs.  They were incredibly encouraging about the writing and the premise (except for the several times when I “head-hopped” – which is something that is very difficult NOT to do in 3rd Person POV). I bow down to those of you who write in this POV. It’s really hard.

 

So you may ask what is the point of this long diatribe? It’s this – your writing gets better if you push yourself.  Writing in a different genre and POV forces you to experiment and learn.  After finishing “Unearthed”, I proved to myself I could write in something besides the YA voice and could do it from a different POV.

 

Now will I ever write an entire adult, sci-fi MS from third person POV? Probably not.  But what I proved to myself was I could stretch as a writer. Even though my idea was scary, I pushed beyond that fear to create something I was proud to submit.

 

What about you fellow writers?  Do you push yourself beyond your writing comfort zone? If so, I’d love to hear how in the comments.