Tag: Author

Do You Have Any Writing Advice For Me?

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 Writing Advice

I was deleting old emails from this blog’s contact form, and stumbled upon an email from a young lady stating that she hoped I was a friendly variety of writer, and asked, “Do you have any writing advice for me?”

I checked my email archives, and was happy that I wrote her back. Her question, after all, was very easy to answer, since I feel like I have to continually advise myself every day I write. My emailed response to her was this…

 I don’t really have much advice in the way of writing, since I’m still learning myself!  The best advice that I’ve read for any writer is something that Stephen King said: “If you want to be a writer, you must do two things above all others: read a lot and write a lot.” That’s pretty much all you need to know and do, especially while you’re still in school.  Read as much as possible.  Read read read.  While you’re reading as much as you can, write write write. When you surround yourself with words, you’ll be able to use them more creatively.

On my blog, I chronicle my writing journey.  Feel free to poke around there, and glean any learnings as I stumble around on my own writing path.  Though my goal is to be a published author one day, the skill/art of writing is a talent that I believe needs to be strengthened and sharpened continually.  It’s like a muscle that way.  You use it or lose it. My blog is my way of keeping myself accountable to “using” my writing skill.

Oh, one more thing: as you write, remember why you’re writing.  I truly enjoy creating stories, and I love getting lost in the creative process.  Sure, it gets frustrating sometimes, and I get tired, but in the end, I write because I love it.

…and re-reading it now, my advice wouldn’t change if she asked me again. The best part? Seeing my old words, “Sure, it gets frustrating sometimes, and I get tired, but in the end, I write because I love it,” and knowing they’re still as true today as they were six months ago.

Friendly Variety of Writer

There was one point in her email that stuck out to me that I didn’t notice the first time I read it six months ago. (Possibly because I was still amazed that anyone would ask me for writing advice, and was distracted by making sure my answer made sense.) (Also, what a great argument for letting a manuscript rest before revising it.) The young lady hoped that I was a “friendly writer.”

Of course, because I’m me, I’ve wondered all morning if she had encountered many unfriendly writers to have phrased her sentence that way, and moreover, if I lived up to her expectation of being a friendly writer.

Anyway, I didn’t write this last part to garner any words of sympathy or encouragement. Only that the realization gave me the opportunity to reflect on my writing journey and public persona, and to hope that I can be a support to my writing peers. (After all, writers provide me with books, my drug of choice, and I need to support my addiction.) 🙂

So, what one piece of writing advice do you share the most? What recent epiphanies have you had that caused you to reflect on your writing journey?

PS: One of my favorite author role models is Beth Revis, and she wrote a blog post HERE that stayed with me long after reading it.

Blog Titles and Other Thoughts

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Dandelion clock

Random picture. We can pretend it means that time is ephemeral and fleeting, like dandelion fluff held aloft in the breeze. But really, I just thought it looked cool.

Do you ever wonder what meaning or story a blog title may have? Most titles I guess are straightforward, like “So and So Writes!” or “Books Books Books!” or “How To ___.” But, there are those other ones (you know what I mean, I’m sure) that are either titled or domain-named (can that be a verb?) kinda randomly. Or, am I the only one that wonders about these things? Like I’m reaching to find a story where none really exists.

At any rate, I started thinking about bloggery things, and inevitably, blog titles/names since I chatted with a group of lovely writer friends last night about blogs.*

Previously, my blog title was simply, “Reading Makes Me Happy.” (In fact, some wordpress correspondence still shows up that way, which kinda throws me.) Obviously, I love books, I love reading, so BAM! Easy title! (My focus quote was: “I read to find a ladder to heaven.” W. Strieber.)

Well, sometime last year I had an epiphany, and I won’t go into details about it here (feel free to click on that link, though :)), but I realized that my unacknowledged dreams of writing a book and being a published author was in fact attainable, and it was only seemingly unattainable because I made it so. I did nothing to get me toward writing a novel, so why was I surprised that “gasp! I didn’t have a written novel, and I never will, and this will never happen for me.” *wonk, wonk*

All I needed to do was break down my dream (published author) into a more manageable goal (write novels), and break down the action steps to get me to that goal (develop and hone my writing skills, find a feedback/support group, read a lot, etc). With a paythebills job (sometimes, two!), balancing my goals was sometimes tricky, but I never let the “I have no TIME!” be an excuse for me to fall back on. (I have the same 24-hours that Edison, Einstein, and all those guys had! Surely I can “find the time” to write a book!)

“Find solutions, not excuses” is a mantra I embrace, and I’m also someone who responds well to accountability exercises and goal setting. (It’s the Achiever in me.) I wanted to make the most of the time that I have been given, and not just impulsively do things in the moment. I wanted to really create value in the now that I have. Thus the title, “Redeeming the Time.” (Also, it sounds pretty.) 🙂

“Redeeming the time” reminds me to focus on the things that I do control, like working on the craft of novel writing, so that I can eventually see my dream realized. It also reminds me to simplify and let go of those things that distract me from my goals. Sometimes it’s tough, but I don’t count it as a sacrifice. At this point, I find I feel freer because I’m not owned by other time-wasters. I have more ownership and control of my time, and guard that time zealously.

With all that said, I really want to incorporate reading back into my writing schedule, and even though I’ve said that I don’t really do book reviews, I at least want to put a few in rotation. (I plan on posting a book review page soon). Now, the reviews won’t be as fancy or engaging as most out there, but like this blog, it’s mainly just to keep me accountable to reading all the beautiful stories that find themselves in my mailbox or inbox. If my love for a book inspires someone to go out and read it, well, I’ll look at it as a bonus!

Plus, it’s a shame to get ARCs or egalleys and not give at least a little pre-release blurb about the book. Heck, even sharing a “new to me” title would be delightful. Great stories are meant to be shared and loved. The writers who wrote those stories should know that their sweat, tears, and sleepless nights have created worlds for readers to live in.

For a little while, both the reader and writer share the same dreamspace, and that is an experience worth cultivating.

So Tell Me: Any story behind your blog title? Do you like or care when someone blogs (non-spoiler-y) book reviews?

*The other friends I chatted with were:

Writing from a Salesperson’s Perspective

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Confession: I don’t understand why some writers are so fixated on getting an agent that they rush to query with an unfinished or sub-par manuscript. I would think that they would take the time to ensure that their manuscript is sellable from the query stage.

And no. I’m not talking about genre trends or marketability or writing a book just because you know or feel or think it’s something that can sell.

I’m going after something more basic (and honestly, common sensical, so please bear with me), namely querying agents with a great story, written with the cleanest copy possible (read: no typos or other editing errors).

I’ve worked in sales for at least ten years, and based on the amount of companies that have wanted to recruit me, hire me, and/or promote me, I think I’m a pretty good salesperson. I’m not saying I’m the best salesperson around or the hardest worker (though I am kind of a workaholic). But, I think where I excel is that when I love something I don’t need anyone to tell me to sell it. I will talk up a product because I honestly enjoy it, or it was beneficial to me in some way, and I want to share that joy and benefit with others.

Even if you’re not a sales person, you know what I mean right? It’s essentially word of mouth advertising/referrals. We all have an opinion of who makes The Best Pizza or The Best Burger, or which company has The Best Customer Service. I mean, I’ve never worked for AT&T or Apple, but I tell everyone who’ll listen to me how much I love my iPhone 4 (The Preciousss), and how it changed my life. (Caveat: I use my iPhone as a palm-sized computer, and rarely use it as a phone.) (Seriously. Life changer).

In the same way that I need to love and believe in a product in order to sell it (at least, sell it well), an agent will need that same kind of love and belief in your story.

I know that getting an agent is something that aspiring authors imagine or daydream about. I get it. It’s one step closer to being a traditionally published author.

But, why rush the process, especially if you haven’t finished your manuscript, let alone edited it till your eyes and fingers bleed, and your crit partners want to kill you? It’s still only one step. There are many, many more after that, not the least of which is SELLING YOUR STORY.

Even if you manage to land an agent with a sub-par manuscript, your agent will still need to sell the manuscript that you are querying to him or her. After all, that’s how they will get paid. So then, what help can a sub-par manuscript be at this point? You’ll still need to fix it, edit it, rewrite it before it can sell. You might as well do your best work now, before you ruin your chance of a great first impression. (I won’t bother mentioning that even if an editor is sold on your sub-par manuscript, that he or she will still need to pitch it to the purse strings of the publishing house, who will decide whether or not to proceed with an offer.)

Put in another way, if YOU were an agent, and YOU see a manuscript that still needs LOTS of work, would that be something YOU would want to work through and wait for and maybe hope to sell? Would YOU be willing to bet your source of income on it?

If I essentially worked commissioned sales, I would back the product that I could sell quickly and efficiently. If I were the agent in that scenario, I would look at the sub-par manuscript and see that it will NOT sell quickly because I would need to wait on rewrites and revisions and a possibly hostile writer who may not be open to my suggestions for edits, since the writer clearly didn’t see the need to edit in the first place, otherwise why did he or she submit a sub-par manuscript to me?

As a salesperson, I sell things that I love, that I believe in, that I’m passionate about. When you submit your work to a potential agent, you are asking them to believe in it, to love it, to be passionate about it enough to sell it.

So, please. Take this time to write the best story you can, in the cleanest copy possible. Don’t be in such a rush to query. Don’t stress out so much about finding an awesome agent. Focus on writing an awesome story that an agent would feel privileged to represent. A story that makes them feel like they are holding the book equivalent of an iPhone.

When you have that, then feel free to query your favorite agents, and be giddy over the waiting game. I’ll even supply the chocolates.

This is my strategy. What about you? What are your thoughts or perspectives on the querying process?

Being A Published Author Wasn’t Always My Dream Job

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I Have a Confession

I haven’t always dreamed of being a published author.  Nor have I spent my childhood/teens/college years diligently writing stories with the hopes that others would read my work.  In fact, I spent most of my life keeping anything I wrote private.

I know I’m not alone in my experience.  But, what bothers me is that I was embarrassed about it.  Yes, I was actually embarrassed that I haven’t always wanted to be an author.  So much so, that at one point, I desperately scoured my memory banks to find a scrap of evidence that yes, indeed, I wanted to be an author.  I wanted to stand with those authors who always knew that they wanted to write, and couldn’t imagine being anything else.  The authors who claim that writing for them was like breathing.  I wanted to be able to say that, and if I’m honest with myself, I still want to be able to say that.  To claim that.  Of course, if I do, it would be a lie.

What bugged me more than being embarrassed by something so silly, is realizing why I was so embarrassed.  I’d built up authors beyond being merely role models, that their life stories and beliefs became truth to me.  Became The Way.  And, if I diverged from The Way, then, by my actions, I have excommunicated myself from the society of authors, and I didn’t have the right to pursue being a full-time novelist.

A Side Story

Last week, I was able to spend time with my side of the family.  Because, my immediate family is split between east and west coasts, I only see them for one week, twice a year, and we spend those weeks that we’re together sharing stories about our lives thus far, updating each other on any news.  (This is nothing new.  Growing up, we all often shared stories while eating breakfast on Saturday mornings.)  We’re a talkative bunch, and can be quite dramatic in our renditions, so it takes a good week for us to regale the other branches of the family on our happenings.

Anyway, whenever we’re together, it doesn’t matter that we’ve already heard about each other’s stories through some other means. (For example, my older brother might have called my sister who could have Facebooked me about something my younger brother allegedly did in college that my parents may not know about.  Or, an elderly aunt may have accidentally emailed my sister instead of the Internet scammer who was the intended recipient of said email, and who may have duped her out of money. Again.)  But, until we all get together, we pretend not to know what we all really know anyway, and talk in obtuse pronouns and pronounced facial expressions until the Big Reveal.

What’s important in our ritual story telling over breakfast is sharing the information RIGHT THERE and hearing it from either the source, or from a witness’s first-hand perspective.  The conflict is always more heated, the emotions, more intense, in these real life re-enactments.  (In case you’re wondering, my favorite perspective is from my momdad, seen as one unit because they can’t seem to take turns telling a story, nor can they stop editorializing, so they’re like a two-headed, story-telling juggernaut.)

My Point?

Though I may not have written epic fantasies when I was six years old, I grew up surrounded by stories.  My family breakfasts were proving grounds for telling the best stories, especially since we lived the stories that we told.  It really wasn’t a matter of us telling the truth or not, more like the truth abounded in the conviction that what we told actually happened.  That we believed what we said.  In the telling, our “characters” refused to be flat and lifeless.  My parents can make buying groceries a more interesting story than hearing about a multiple car pileup on the news.  They can’t help but be enigmatically complex and full of conflict.  When my family orders dinner or pays the bill, drama surely follows.

I realize now that I was silly to feel like I had to legitimize my claim for wanting to be a published author.  I’m grateful that I’ve been able to experience stories.  That I was born to a family of storytellers.  Though I didn’t necessarily scribble stories about princes and knights or ghost tale massacres, I told the stories that have surrounded me my whole life (some journals may have been filled with angsty-teen, anti-parent rants.)  Besides, we all have to follow our own writerly path.

So, I’ll let other writers talk about how they’ve been writing stories before they can walk, and how writing to them is like breathing.  For me, I can embrace my heritage of story telling.  If it weren’t for my family, and our stories, then I wouldn’t have become such a devourer of tales.  Creating more stories, albeit in written form, is just an extension of that.

Stories are my life, and that is not only a truth that I can claim; it’s one that I’ve lived.

SO TELL ME: What did YOU want to be when you grew up?

Simplify. Focus. The Author I Want To Be

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Brand Image

“Real is just a matter of perception.” Peter Bishop, Fringe

It’s not a big secret that I work in retail as a Store Manager.  Part of my role/responsibility is to ensure that my team upholds The Brand’s image.  Consistency is important for customer loyalty and overall satisfaction, not only for The Brand (as a company of over 1700 stores across the country), but also for My Specific Store.  You see, not only do I want my customers to receive the level of service that they expect from The Brand, I want them to have the “Fun Personalized Service” that I’m cultivating in my store team to deliver.  Fun Personalized Service is what I want my customers to expect whenever they come to My Store.

Just as I want my customers to expect a Fun Personalized Service experience when they enter my store, I want future readers of my books to expect a certain kind of story from me as an author.

The Author I Want to Be

“Literature adds to reality, it does not simply describe it. It enriches the necessary competencies that daily life requires and provides; and in this respect, it irrigates the deserts that our lives have already become. “
C. S. Lewis

I said last week that the Story I Want to Write was tied to the Author that I Want to Be; the brand image of the Writer, so to speak.  And, I decided that the Author I want to be needed to be Fun.  Not the “life is always happy and fluffy, cue the smiling flowers and woodland creatures” Fun, but more lighthearted, hopeful, and dare I say, entertaining fun.  The type of fun that I deliver in my store.  The type of fun that allows my customers to relax and enjoy themselves and forget their busyness for a moment.

I want to write the story that readers will seek out to remember that life is beautiful, and yes, you are invited to rest here for a time, and after doing so, you will feel refreshed and ready to face more of life.  In Dean Koontz’s novels, he would refer to this kind of respite as “moments of grace” (and if you’ve read what he puts his characters through, you would understand the beauty of those moments).  I would like to be able to say that my books can be your Moments of Grace in the midst of storms.  High expectations for me to deliver, but things worth pursuing are rarely easy to accomplish.  Finding Fun in the Challenge is my outlook on this journey.

Stop Thinking About Problems

“You can’t solve a problem at the same level of thinking that created it.” Einstein

“You can either make excuses or get results, but you can’t do both.” Tom Venuto

So, what prompted all this self-analysis?  Well, it all started with Tom Venuto’s The Body Fat Solution, which introduced  neuro linguistic programming in basic terms as a way to overcome mental roadblocks to achieving successful body recomposition.

I’m not an expert at all the nitty-gritty, but I will just say that I have been able to face down more challenges this year alone based on the principle that the words I use reflect a subconscious perception of my problem, creating limiting beliefs.  Months ago, I brainstormed many of my limiting beliefs that were blocking me from truly embracing the title of “Writer” and “Author.”  One of those beliefs was that I needed to be Serious and Deep to have any sort of chance to be a Published Author.  (I won’t analyze why I thought this, I just know that it was there, and I had to create solutions around that obstacle.)

You can imagine how (un)productive I was in my writing, believing that being an Author came with the admission price of being Serious, and knowing that deep down,  I’m not Serious at all (of course, I can be serious; don’t worry I act with appropriate decorum at weddings and funerals).  Of course, I’ve since set myself up to enable me to work through those limiting beliefs (though the feelings of inadequacy will likely stay with me for, oh, ever). I was able to realize and accept that having fun can (and should!) be part of the writing process…and the floodgates of creativity spilled forth as an answering reward.  I didn’t necessarily change any resulting behavior, I just changed my perception of my obstacle; the behaviors just ended up being more enjoyable.

I’ve learned to brainstorm better, to choose writing environments to support my writing, and turn off my self-editor so that I can “get over myself” and finish the story.  I’m under no illusions: my current WIP may never see the light of publication, but the knowledge that I will finish this story will enable more productivity.  One success, one win, fuels more success, and ever increasing challenges.  And you know what?  Because my mindset is prepared, I’m ready to meet and accept these challenges.

Focus on Solutions

“You have to know who you are before you decide how to be.” Twitter user, @IZTAES

So, I reflected on the person I am in order to realize the Author I Want to Be, the Story I Want to Write, and basically, commit myself to be labeled under the genre of Young Adult Literature (yes, a teaser of next week’s blog post).  I needed to be able to LOVE what I’m writing, and be proud that my name is associated with That Story.  And, I know it may seem insignificant, but for me, mindset is SO important to enable change.  It’s the strategic step that I needed to make before I was able to make any significant progress anywhere, because I needed to know Who I Was, and Who I Wanted To Be, before I could even make goals, let alone action steps toward that goal.

I know this process is a little foundational, but I hope I’ve been able to help someone who is struggling with their limiting beliefs over their own writing (or fillintheblank) journey/goal.  I’m obviously methodical and analytical, and have to follow certain processes; that’s just how I roll.  Thankfully, I also embrace change pretty well, and can course-correct easily. 😉