Fiction Scribe

Walter at Inklings - The Copywriter’s Blog responded to a tag and put up a post about why he blogs.

In the post, he said:

Next? There are a lot of blogs that I turn to on a regular basis. But four that have really piqued my interest lately are: Wordsmith Extraordinaire, Designers Who Blog, Fiction Scribe and David Airey’s Creative Design. I, for one, would be interested in reading why each of them blog.

I absolutely adore tags, so I decided to post up my response.

Why I blog…

To be heard. I think most, if not all, people just want to be heard. Whether wanting to leave a statement, wanting to make a difference, or just wanting to get something off your chest, most people have something to say. For me, I like to help people and make a difference in that way. I also want Fiction Scribe to be the writing site I was always looking for when I was younger.

To keep up good writing habits. While you could say my blogging is just a stall on writing (writing for my personal blog, that is. Writing here is my job.), but I want to write every day. With blogging as an option to keep up the habit, I have a better chance of keeping it up.

To have my own space. I don’t own a house or even a car at this point. I live with someone, and until the spare room gets cleaned out, I don’t have my own space. Not even my own closet in the bedroom. Having a blog is having my own little space - even if it is on the internet. My space to decorate (more or less) as I please and mold into something distinctly…me.

Instant publishing. No rejection letters. No submission process. Ah, how I love it.

If you’ve read this, consider yourself tagged. Comment with a link to your response.

Or rather, don’t.

If you went through English and Composition classes like the ones I did, then you know this basic format for school papers:

Introduction - Body - Conclusion.

You may be thinking, “That’s not so bad. Why the pet peeve?” The pet peeve is what was pushed along with the three section paper.

Introduction: Tell the reader what you are going to tell him/her.
Body:Tell the reader what you told him/her you would tell him/her.
Conclusion: Sum up and tell the reader what you already told him/her.

Take all you’ve learned for that, put it in a mental file, and save it for your school papers. Unknown to most, if not all, Americans, a reason people don’t like some American films is because of that very format. Tell what needs to be told, but don’t beat the reader over the head with it.

I know David was smothered by his mother as a child. You’ve told me. I know. I know. So when David is working up the nerve to kiss his first crush, Samantha, I don’t want to hear it again.

Even if his mother’s smothering in the early years makes him suddenly yell at Samantha instead, don’t tell me again. At least not in the same way. If you told me the first time, show me in a flashback before, after, or during his little outburst at poor Samantha.

Telling something you’ve already told can stop the plot, which you definitely don’t want to do. Only retell if it’s something you’re sure bears repeating, and even then, do as I said and tell me a different way.

Not only can retelling stop the plot, your reader may take it as the author regarding the reader as not smart enough to have understood it the first time or remember it after the first telling. Unless it’s your aim for the reader to be offended, you most certainly do not want to offend the reader.

While I’m looking at publishers, getting together needed attachments for submissions, and looking over my manuscript again and again, of course possible rejection is on my mind.

There’s a certain excitement - at least for me, the paperwork and organization addict - when putting all these things together, but there’s a niggling every now and then in wondering if it’s all for naught.

Of course, as life always seems to go, I received this email notification from one of the writing groups I’m in:

“Confessions of a Small Publisher

At our monthly meeting of writers recently we invited a small publisher to tell us about the book publishing realities. Here are some useful comments:

They get an average of 35 book submissions every week. Agented and otherwise. That’s at least 1500 per year and they publish only 5-7 every year. That’s about 99.5% rejection rate…

We asked about criteria for rejection. They take first 30 pages of your manuscript and give it to at least 5 independent “readers” who then suggest to the publishers which manuscripts to read in full. You have to submit those 30 pages as a Word attachment in e-mail with a book synopsis and brief bio. Do not expect an answer for about 90 days…” - Courtesy of Szuprowicz

And that is a small publisher.

I’m not horribly worried about rejection in general. What I’m afraid of is a rejection letter like the one Law Mummy talks about in this post about a rejection letter she received. I know, like her, I could take it, but I wouldn’t like that period of upset, which would likely emerge every time I looked at the letter.

Alas, you can only deal with such things when they come. I’m not letting fears stop me, by any means.

But there are so many things said about rejection…

I say … and you think … ?

1. Soldier ::
2. Lipton ::
3. Reason ::
4. Terms ::
5. Positive ::
6. Example ::
7. Legacy ::
8. Solo ::
9. Instrument ::
10. Later ::

“Good writing is supposed to evoke sensation in the reader–not the fact that it is raining, but the feeling of being rained upon.”
E.L. Doctorow

“I admire anybody who has the guts to write anything at all.”
E. B. White

“If you can’t annoy somebody, there is little point in writing.”
Kingsley Amis

“I often have to write a hundred pages or more before there’s a paragraph that’s alive.”
Philip Roth

“Forget all the rules. Forget about being published. Write for yourself and celebrate writing.”
Melinda Haynes

“What is written without effort is in generally read without pleasure.”
Samuel Johnson

“I don’t think anyone should write their autobiography until after they’re dead.”
Samuel Goldwyn

“When we read, we stat at the beginning and continue until we reach the end. When we write, we start in the middle and fight our way out.”
Vickie Karp

“I write for the same reason I breathe — because if I didn’t, I would die.”
Isaac Asimov

“One writes to make a home for oneself, on paper, in time, in others’ minds.”
Alfred Kazin

“To write what is worth publishing, to find honest people to publish it, and get sensible people to read it, are the three great difficulties in being an author.”
Charles Caleb Colton

“The strokes of the pen need deliberation as much as the sword needs swiftness.”
Julia Ward Howe

This is for the musically inclined. A friend introduced me to this song, and I feel it’s filled with enough emotion musically and visually to write about even if you (like me) aren’t familiar with the manga it’s based off. Don’t read the description and try to write about what’s going on in the video.

I apologize to my readers who have slower connections. If you would still like to check out the song, it’s Gomenasai by Tatu.

As you develop as a writer, you will (hopefully) come to find some voices of authority to help you on your way. Time will move on and those voices may fade or grow stronger, but there will be some you will never forget.

I know Chris as a fellow mentor on WritingForums.com and he is a voice of authority on the site (whether he knows it or not) when it comes to writing technique.

I am pleased to bring you an interview with Chris from Blogs from the War Room.

(more…)

Yes, ladies and gentlemen, the Fiction Scribe site now has a newsletter. This is a trial and error period to see how much interest there is for it, but I have high hopes.

In the March issue, you will find:

*A letter to the readers from me
*My plans for what will be coming soon to the site
*Your guide to the site for if you’re new here
*A full-page article about starting from scratch with your writing
*A bit of fiction from me
*…and much more

I’d love to get this all to you in printed format, but that’s a bit out of reach as of yet. The newsletter will come to your email in a PDF attachment. Most computers come with some version of Adobe Acrobat Reader, so there should be no problem.

If you’d like to sign up to receive this and following newsletters, click on the “Contact Me” under my about space, and send me your email. You’ll be added to the list.

I’m posting this a little early because I’m planning on sending it out by March 1st.

We writers know how it is.

If you sit down to write in the morning, your thoughts are filled with what is coming up that day. If you write in the evening, your thoughts are filled with what happened that day. Either way, when you sit down to write, it’s most likely you aren’t thinking about writing.

When your head is swirling with the thoughts of the day and your life, it’s hard to think about the lives of your characters. Whether you’re focused mostly on one character or juggling dozens, it’s hard to write about others when you want to think about yourself.

Here are some quick tips to help shut off your brain to other things and focus on your writing:

*Make your to-do list - quickly, don’t use it as a stall - before you start writing. That way you don’t have to worry about trying to remember all you have to do along with all your characters have to do, where your plot is going, etc.

*Get all your other things done at another time. This is your writing time, whether you like it or not. Don’t “take a break” to go web surfing or to answer emails. Do those things at a different time. This is your time to write, so write.

*Multi-task. Laundry, believe it or not, is not all that complicated a procedure. When your hands are busy doing something you don’t necessarily need your full mind engaged to do, use that time to be thinking about your next move in your story. If you do your laundry at the laundromat like I do, then make yourself stuck. Don’t drive away, don’t walk down the street (unless it’s hot in there), don’t do anything but be stuck where you are with your pencil and notebook to entertain yourself with when you aren’t transferring things from the washer to the dryer.

Apply or change these tips to help suit you, but use them. Using your time wisely is something that, if you didn’t learn it in school, you should start learning now.

I apologize for the lateness of this post, ladies and gentlemen.

Getting right to it…

My lovely pet peeve #11. I was having a writing discussion with someone the other day and a related subject (I won’t say which because it’s an upcoming pet peeve) made me think of this pet peeve:

Telling me what I already know.

I’m guilty of it myself from time to time, but that doesn’t mean one of my higher annoyances on the list isn’t someone telling me what I already know. I’m not a writer who gives much description, so that’s probably what gives my eye a bit of special radar for this.

Some examples.

Salty or watery tears. Why is something so small annoying? Because all of humanity has salty tears. Tears are salt water draining from your eyes. If your character is somehow crying powdered Mountain Dew all over the place, by all means let me know, but don’t tell me about someone’s salty or watery tears. I’ve cried before; I know what they’re like.

The same goes with the blue sky or the blue ocean. Firstly, I have to wonder if people who writer “blue ocrean” have actually seen the ocean. The ocean isn’t just blue. There are greens, blues, and even some purples if you look at things the right way on the right kind of day. I absolutely adore the ocean. Don’t tell me it’s blue. One, it’s not just, and two, blue is too broad a color range for the bits that do fall under it.

Along the same lines, don’t use “her eyes were as blue as the ocean.” No. Blue as the sky, yes. (Though I’d prefer you to be a bit more specific than “the sky” for that one.) Sea green is good too.

Be descriptive, but don’t be obvious. I know the sky is blue. If your sky isn’t blue, please do tell me a bit about it. Go ahead and tell me about the sky in relation to how it makes your character feel, but emphasize the character and not the stuff about the sky I already know.

Hello everyone. I wanted to let everyone know that I am moving Pet Peeves from Wednesdays to Tuesdays. I’ve decided to do this because I have some ideas for three-part posts, and one.) I like pet peeves to have their own day, and two.) I have some three-part posts ideas, and I don’t want them to be broken apart by Wednesday.

Thank you.

As you may know, I’m in the process of getting a novel published. Now, I hate to go into anything completely unprepared, so I’ve been reading the beloved Australian Writer’s Marketplace at the library, as well as renting books about the publishing industry and getting published.

As far as the publishing industry goes, I have a slight advantage having taken Graphic Communication classes in college.

I’ve decided not to go with an agent this time. Perhaps in the future when I’m seeking publication for my longer fantasy novels. I’ve decided against an agent because, while I would like this to get published, I don’t want to stay with the young adult market and have to switch agents after one or two books. Perhaps it’s a bit high thinking of me, talking about how to switch agents, but I’ve thought it over and have decided to skip over all that trouble.

Through all my investigations into submitting directly to publishers, I’ve come across these things that can be asked for in a submission:

Cover Sheet
Synopsis
Writer’s Resume
Chapter Summaries
Sample Chapters
Full Manuscript

And,

SASE - Self-addressed, stamped envelope

**Some of the links provided aren’t writing submission specific, but they can at least give you an idea.

Obviously sending all of these to one publisher would be overkill. As always, you want to follow the publisher’s guidelines as close as humanly possible. A few publishers, I’ve discovered, have “template” documents available for the parts they want.

Though sending all of these to one publisher would be too much, it doesn’t mean you shouldn’t have a copy of each ready.

My plan (and suggestion to readers) is to have a specific folder with all these items in it on your computer. (Don’t forget to back it up elsewhere!) That way you can just go in, adjust as needed, and print off as needed.

The journey continues…

I’ve heard a lot about this “Miss Snark” so I figured this is an appropriate comic.

Courtesy of Will Write for Chocolate

I say … and you think … ?

1. Threshold ::
2. Jason ::
3. Suspicion ::
4. Tender ::
5. Tempted ::
6. Crimson ::
7. Repulsive ::
8. Bulldog ::
9. Garage ::
10. Racket ::

This time around, I thought I’d give you a prompt to start things off.

You’ve woken up, yawning and stretching. It isn’t until you sit up that you realize you don’t recognize your surroundings. Not the bed or the sheets or even the trinkets on the small dresser near you. When you look down at yourself, you see unfamiliar pajamas even.

Then you realize the worst of it - may not know where you are or how you go there, but you also have no idea who you are….