I did it, I did it. *hands together shaking them in celebration* #NaNoWriMo

I wrote 51,530 word in November. Yeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeehaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaa!
I knew the whole time I could do it, just didn't know how. Thanks to the NaNWriMo staff and their website www.NaNoWriMo.org for their support and the challenge. You can support them by donating, the funds go to youth writing programs.

Confetti, applause, slaps on the back. Yay me!

I will be interviewing myself in a few days, unless a few folks have some questions about my experience. Oh please, oh please ask me some questions.

About My NaNoWriMo Experience

 First off, a lot of you... my two followers probably have read NaNoWriMo somewhere, either on my blog, Facebook, and Twitter, but what is it. It's a challenge to authors or to people who want to be one, to write 50,000 word in November. Wow, seems like a lot right. That's what I thought last year when I heard about it, which may have prevented me for doing it, plus I was in the middle of writing my book Zombies: The End is Just the Beginning (plug, plug). This year though I heard about it again about two days before it started. So I decided, "Hey, why not." Plus I needed to grow as a writer, and what a better why to do it, then to write. 


Also NaNoWriMo.org can explain a few more things about it. They do this annually to raise money for youth writing programs, but to be honest, since I'm new to the whole thing I haven't donated yet.


About my personal NaNoWriMo adventure: I had written out my outline for November, but reached the end of my outline and still had about 20,000 words left to go. I thought about going back and adding a lot of the detail I meant to put in, but I didn't feel like I had the amount of time I needed to do that and write 20,000 more words. So, I continued with the story, even though I had no intention to keep going. 


The end I had initially outlined was where I wanted the story to end so I could continue with another story idea that lined up with it. BUT, I needed 20,000 more words, so I continued forward. At first I didn't like it, but then I discovered an interesting story that was yearning to get out of me.

NaNoWriMo The Sing Off and Grimm

Random Blog:

It’s been a while since I’ve giving you an update on my search for a Literary Agent. Well, there isn’t one. I’ve been very busy this month with NaNoWriMo (November writing challenge 50,000 words in one month).

It’s been fun and I’m pretty sure I shouldn’t have any trouble with finishing, but once done, that doesn’t mean this is a completed book by any means.

I think some people think an author writes a book and then it goes to print, or they have an editor that comes along and finishes everything else up. Maybe if you’re the greatest writer in the world. Most authors thought write a first draft, which is rough, very rough. Then they take another stab, and details, cut story arcs, shift characters speaking because one would say what you wrote, but another might. I’d dare to say there’s a lot more work after you write the rough draft then there was writing it in the first place.

Plus I think most writers go through, “Is this any good, will someone want to read it, and question life as a writer.” I’m not even published or doing it full time, but I’ve spent time thinking those very things. One thing though that I do know is I love to write, I love creating stories, characters, and throwing these wonderful people I create into horrible, life threatening situations. So I keep writing.

Here’s where random part 2 comes in. 

The Sing Off… fan or foe?

I’ve been watching the show, The Sing Off, I enjoy listening to most of the groups sing, but I can get pretty worked up if the judges blatantly choose groups “I” deem not good enough to move on. So here’s my two cents on the subject. The fans aren’t stupid, we know which groups did a better job, and which ones can’t cut it. Just so you know, you’re not pulling one over on me, or anyone else for that matter.

I don’t like watching most reality TV because it’s such… crap. But the Sing off has real talent but they’ve simply selected the more boring groups to move on. For instance, Afro-Blue, yes I get their talented, but they’re boring and they always seem to fall apart during every song, doing these ninth chords over a fifth or something silly that just sounds like someone saying, “Look at what I can do,” but the viewing audience sees it, as boring, and out of key. Urban Method has a good rap guy and one of their girls, the dark skinned girl can sing her butt off, but the girl they put out front is truly average. Her tone is boring, she doesn’t command the stage, and has nothing original about her. Compare her to Angie who was in Delilah and you see she’s just a subpar performer. She may be the nicest girl in the world, but she can’t sing like some of the other people in the competition. All she has is that she can go up two octaves, but it’s horrible just hearing that. Not impressed.

North Shore was another group that could sing circles around any of the kids on the show, they had one slightly lackluster performance and they’re eliminated. I’m pretty sure that was a producer that said, “Get rid of them.”

Vocal Point was kicked off last week, and although not my favorite they performed a hundred times better than Afro Blue. During the judge’s comments they said Vocal Point needed to experiment more…did you see the Kinks song they did. That was pretty ballsy, just two weeks earlier. Not sure what crack the judges are smoking, but if I smoked cracked I’d want some. Keep in mind the audience isn’t stupid like you think we are, and if you don’t the show won’t stay on the air.

Not like anyone will really care what I say, but a lady I work with who loved the show until they got rid of all the good acts, besides Dartmouth, and Pentatonics. She decided she didn’t want to watch anymore because the judging was so bad.

Random part 3. Grimm!

Okay now for some fun. Has anyone been watching Grimm? This show is stinking awesome. I wish it wasn’t on Friday’s; what a horrible time frame. But they’ve got a fan in me, I’ve watched three episodes and it’s so much fun. It’s like every week, we get new characters, inventive stories, and some pretty good laughs too. (I don’t get paid anything for this rant) Watch it on TV, on line, or whatever you do, but just watch so they don’t cancel the best thing on TV. Support what you like, and not what you don't is what I always say.

Well have an awesome day and all that good stuff.

Nanowrimo challenge!!! And encouragement!

Okay, taking a little break from NaNoWriMo this morning to try and encourage a little.

Writing is hard work, and it can be even harder to write without editing. If you’re going to succeed in the NaNoWriMo challenge you have to push that side of your brain away, lock it in a room, and hide the key. Kind of like when you do a brainstorm session and everyone throws out whatever comes to mind. You don’t laugh; you just write it down and move on.

I’ve talked to several people about this challenge and one person said there was no way they could do it without going nuts. I know what that feels like, I write using Word, and it always highlights my mistakes, which is great, and truth be told I try and fix the easy ones because those red underlined words drive me nuts. Here’s my only real advice, just try, and keep trying. Don’t stop, keep writing even if it’s horrible. Red lines, bad grammar, misspelled words be damned, write your heart out.

My biggest problem so far is that I have a great outline, but a key plot point just wasn’t there yet. I wrote the first thing that came to mind, and it SUCKED. What was I going to do, this was a major point in the story which drives us to the third act. It was a little over 800 words, but I deleted and wrote just about another 800 words to take their place. Guess what, it wasn’t the greatest either. So at least within NaNoWriMo, just keep going, don’t delete. I thought about just skipping to the next main section in my outline, which is what I should have done.

Anyway, I’d just like to encourage you. Keep writing, keep plugging along, and if it sucks, who cares, but if you come up with something brilliant, publish it and then we all win.

I play guitar, and heard some many of my friends’ say, “I wish I would have learned to play.” I say, “Well you’re not dead yet, you still can.” So if you ever wanted to write, no matter how old, or young you are, just do it.

 Grab your computer, a piece of paper, or chalk for cheese sake, and write.

The first book I read that helped a bunch was, A Complete Idiots Guide to Writing a Novel, it was awesome and helped out a lot, go get it, and write.

Nanowrimo... November 50,000 word challenge

Hey ya'll,

Showing my Okie'ness there. Not really one, just an implant for Washington the State mother truckers. hehe!

I joined the November writing challenge which is to write 50,000 words during the month. I'm over 13,000 words in, in just the first 7 days. Way to go me!

They have a web site just for this, and it's been going on for quite some time. www.nanowrimo.org
They've got some pretty cool things going, which to be honest I haven't even scraped the top of it all. But they send out encouraging emails, twitters, and blogs.

If you're already involved, "Way the go!" *hands in the air cheering* If not, you can still be a part of it, go check it out, plus it's never to late to start writing. Well for this event, probably but writing in general is extremely fun, (for me), and challenging too.

No more news about Literary agents, kind of been wrapped up in my new story. I'll blog more about it later.

For now, all you rock star writers, keep up the good work!!!

Update on the Query process.

As most of you know, I'm trying to find a literary agent. I'm not one to ramble with nothing to say, well at least I try not to. So I'll keep it short. I was rejected for the 3rd time. No biggie. I've decided to continue to keep working on my book, and each rejection pushes me to make the book better, and the query letters better. I could kick myself though, with this last query. In my opening statement I didn't put an "S" on the end of a word, so I'm pretty sure from the get go, they decided that's a big NO. Sometime I read, re-read, re-re-read, but I miss it. So I need to make it a regular practice to print it, and check again. I know that the "S" was probably not the kill shot for the query letter, but it doesn't help to start off on the wrong foot.

Most agents now seem to only want the query letter, and the first 5 pages of your story. That doesn't give you that much time to grab their attention. I had about 2 pages of build up before I reveal it's a zombie invasion going on, but I removed that and started with the action. If the name of the book doesn't give it away then it must be zombies reading it. The beginning did nothing to advance the plot, or build the main character in any way, shape, or form. So I ditched it.

Also, another big change; It's been going out at a 100,000 word manuscript. Although I think it works at that length I did a little research. Okay, so I asked a literary agent on Twitter if 100,000 was too much for my first story and she said probably so. So now I'm editing it down to 80,000 words. I don't think this is the main issue either with not getting representation, but I think this will help. Plus by editing down to the essentials drives the story forward more, adding more tension, and it seems to be more humorous this way.

The rejection letter didn't give me a lick of information to go on, and after reading a lot about them on Query Shark, I don't expect their help either. But, and it's a big BUT... I'm moving forward, progressing, and getting better. So one step forward, is a step in the right direction.

I read an article today that said Zombies bring over 5 Billion to the economy... I'm just asking for a small chuck of that.

God Bless you all... and Happy Halloween!

Helpful Literary Query Info

In my search for a literary agent, I've found a couple really good resources I'd like to share with you all.
1. Would have to be Query Shark: This is a site run by a Literary Agent that will actually look at your query letter and give you honest to goodness feedback. Plus there's a crap load of previous ones on her site. She prefers that you read all of the ones on her site, and in her archives first, which may answer your questions. Just check it out, I think it's very helpful. I really thought I had a pretty good query but after ten minutes there I picked up a few tips, pointers, and necessities to improve my queries.

http://www.queryshark.blogspot.com/

2. I found another literary agent who gives great advice. She's currently not taking queries, which seems silly, because you never know when you might find the next great author, but I guess she knows more than I.

http://www.rachellegardner.com

Enjoy!!!

My Quest for Literary Agent Continues...

While writing a short story for the Writer’s Digest competition I found two literary agencies that I was real interested in working with. One of them deals with a lot of YA novelist that seem to write about the paranormal or supernatural. I really liked the selection of authors they represent, and I now follow several on Twitter.

If you’re just starting out as an author like I am, I encourage you to get up on the web, try Twitter; you’ll actually learn a lot. It may take a few attempts but before long a web of information will surround you. It seems if I let it happen I’ll read one thing, which leads me to another, and then farther down the rabbit hole I go with useful information. Best of all it’s free.

So…  I have two more agents I’m waiting on, with the 4 others I’m still waiting on to reply. One of the agencies said it’ll take about 2 weeks, the other it’ll contact me if they’re interested. Meanwhile I’ve learned more about dialog, and have been tweaking my story.  I still think you’re never done until it’s published.

Also, I was reading the Strunk and White book, The Elements of Style and read a little tad bit about the Rime of the Ancient Mariner. A co-worker looked it up for me on line and I read it. I encourage everyone that’s into ghost and zombies and stuff to read it. It’s really creepy, but it’ll take a few reads to comprehend what’s going on, well it did for me.  I also found the tune by Iron Maiden, and their retellings pretty good. The poem, which honestly I thought it was a book before yesterday, is in six parts. It’s long but worth the read. Even the Iron Maiden songs 13 minutes long, so it’s just long, but way good.

Tid bit for thought. I'm not even getting paid for this. I went to Wendy's today to try their new Cheese Steak almost knowing for sure it wouldn't be near as good as the commercial. I was even prepared to talk about false advertising, how it wouldn't be anything like what they said, blah, blah, blah... but it was actually pretty good. Shock. Shock. And I've been to Philly and had a real one, so not bad Wendy, not bad.

Grammar Rules

I’m not an expert of the subject but hopefully this will help other writers. Commas are killer, especially when it comes to writing. Most teachers I’ve had just say, “Put a comma when you want to add a pause,” that is not entirely true.

One easy thing I’ve learned, when you replace ‘that’ with ‘which’ is a sentence, you always need to put a comma. For example:

There was a long nail driven in a wall, which was rusted from tip to tail.

Easy enough, right? If you know the rules then you can do it the right way.

The other thing I’ve learned about writing is that it’s similar to playing music. You have to know the rules, so you can break them.

One thing I really like in some of the modern novels is how they emphasize a thought, or maybe an action with one word sentences.

I ran all the way to the store, but before I made it there I hit the ground, which hurt. Bad.

(Maybe not the best example, but you get the point.) It’s definitely not grammatically correct, but I like the way it reads.

Literary Agent update!!!

Hey!

I received my second literary agent rejection. It was a form letter but it apologized for being one, so I guess it’s okay, right? The form letter was nice, but seeing how it wasn’t really personalized I had nothing to learn from it, so if I was disappointed about anything, it’d be that I had zero opportunity to grow.

     I have four more query letters out, if my memory serves me right, and I have two more agents selected, and after doing some research I really like who they are, and who they represent so I think I might be a little disappointed if I don’t at least get some good feedback.

     The last few days I’ve been inspired to work on short stories. I have written four in the last two weeks. ‘The Escape’ which was for a Writer’s Digest competition, and then ‘Grimly’ which is aimed at children, then ‘The Shriek’ and ‘The Bait.’ I’m trying to decide if I’ll put any of them on the web. 

   We’ll see!

The Shriek!

Today I wrote a new short story inspired from reading one page of Neil Gaiman’s short story book, ‘M Is for Magic.’ It’s a short story named ‘The Shriek’ that you’ll either love or hate. I think I’ll post it for Halloween. Maybe. It’ll be my gift to my many readers. Hehe!

     I finished the Hunger Games Trilogy last night; probably the fastest I’ve ever read that many pages. Great story, great writer, wished it would have gone a different direction, but it wasn’t my story. I can’t wait for the movie. I saw the trailer today and it was so awesome, can’t wait for a longer one.

The Last Two Weeks

The Last Two Weeks:

Just got done taking two weeks to write a YA short story for a Writer’s Digest competition. This meant not being able to seek out any new literary agents, but seeing how I have 5 still out, I don’t think it’s a loss. Plus, I feel that this may help get me some notice. I hope.

I've never actually entered a writing competition before except to win a scholarship though my local junior college. I did win, but I think 15 other students did as well. I also realized that I hadn’t written a short story for a very long time. It might have been when I was at that junior college, but before that I can only think of one other in Junior High School, where I killed off everyone in the end when an alien ship came blowing everything up. I still don’t understand why I only got a ‘B’ on that one.

I had read a column by a literary agent, and they had said another way to get noticed, or gain experience is to write short stories. However, I’m thankful I’ve got one novel under my belt, because I drew a lot from my experience from that and used it to write, edit, and talk with friends to get their opinions to make it better.

The story I wrote is called ‘The Escape,’ which is about a girl who’s falsely accused of a crime, sent to prison, transferred to cover up the fact she was innocent, and then escapes -hence the name, ‘The Escape.’ Did I mention, there’s fighting, huge explosions, and it takes place in space? Quit a ride for 4,000 words. And no, an alien ship doesn’t come and kill everyone.

(Note worthy to me at least) I just finished reading the second part of Suzanne Collins’s Hunger Games Trilogy. She doesn’t need my endorsement, but wow! She can write a great book. Fun, exciting, faced pace, she keeps you wanting more. Suzanne definitely knows her craft well. If you haven’t read them, pick it up. Also I saw they casted Woody Harrelson as Haymitch Abernathy for the Hunger Games movie, plus Stanley Tucci, Donald Sutherland, Elizabeth Banks, Josh Hutcherson, and Jennifer Lawrence as Katniss. It’s going to be great!

Interview with myself Part 2

Part 2

Q: How was the writing process? I mean like how long did it take to write, review, and edit?

A: It took a solid 6 months to write the first draft, but because I had so much to learn I spent a great deal more time editing, and re-editing. So maybe a year and half, but I won’t be finished till it goes to print. Just like recording a song, it’s never done until it’s finally recorded. I’ll tweak this or that until it sounds perfect, or till it’s time to write my next story.

Q: So this was your first book?

A: Yes.

Q: Did you think you could do it, I mean it seems so daunting?

A: I’d been writing off and on for a long time, but mostly lyrics for songs. I’d told my wife while dating about all these screen play ideas I had, but never finished them. One day, she said, “Why don’t you finish one?” So I decided I would, but instead of a screen play I’d do a novel. I knew I could write a novel, but really didn’t know how. I figured initially I’d just start and see where it takes me. Probably the wrong way to do it, but it was fun to see the story progressed right in front of me. I really liked the process.

Q: So your wife inspired you, who else?

A:  A few former co-workers, Martha, and Jack. Martha took a lot of writing classes and when we worked together she poured into me a lot of her knowledge. And then Jack is this creative guy I know that kind of looks at the world in a different way. But he’s the one that was gutsy enough to tell me, you need to get some books to help with writing. Opened up a whole can of gummy worms for me, that’s when I got several books from the library.

Q: What book helped the most?

A: A Complete idiots Guide to Writing a Novel. I still wish I had a copy, it was great and I encourage everyone to read it.  I’m sure I’ll go back and find it, and read it every year.

Q: What were, or are some of the most influential writers for you?

A: This is kind of weird, but the author who showed me it could be done was Stephenie Meyers. She showed me it didn’t have to be super wordy to get your point across, the book can be fun, fast paced, and still is able to tell a good story, or at least a story. I’m not a huge fan of the Twilight series, because it’s aimed at girls, but I did love reading the version from Edward’s perspective, because it was way more violent, and aimed for guys…I think.

Q: So you’re not into Chick-Lit?

A: I wouldn’t say that, if it’s good… than I don’t mind it, but if it’s just constant dribble about a girl pawning after a boy, than nope. If it has a good subject, and has more to offer than a love story I’m good. However, I’m very selective about what I read, because I’m a slow reader.

Q: Do you think being a slow reader hurts your writing?

A: I think it does, but it’s something that I’m trying to compensate for… meaning I’m trying to read more books, and asking around what avid readers think are the best books for someone who wants to be a writer to read. Also knowing my weaknesses helps me continue to improve.

Q: So how do you improve your writing skills, I know you can’t just take a class and be better?

A: I practice my craft. I play guitar, but if I didn’t practice I’d never be any good. As it is with writing, I enjoy it, so I write.

Q: Any examples of what you write.

A: Well, I use to blog on MySpace, but since that’s kind of a dying platform I started a Blogger.com blog. Also any time I get an idea, I try to write it down. Before when I’d email, or text someone, I didn’t care about capitals, or commas, or quoting someone right. Now I try to edit myself, make sure all the spellings correct, and reread everything before I send it out. Of course I don’t catch everything.

Q: So when you finished writing your novel what did you do next?

A: My wife and I celebrated, because it makes life more fun. Prior to finishing my book, actually way back when I started taking it serious I’d read on Stephenie Meyers web site, how she wrote her book, how she found and agent, and how she got published. Honestly, I followed her game plan. I learned about query letters, literary agents, and where to find all the information I’d need. Plus I spoke to a friend who edits books for businesses, and he’d mentioned this e-book that helps with writing a query.

Q: Did the e-book help?

A: Honestly by the time I read it, I’d found about 90% of his information free online. The only thing that has been helpful has been his blog.

Q: Care to mention who it was, or what it was called?

A: Nope, if I find something awesome, I’ll share, but if I didn’t think much of it, I tend to not share the names because you never know when or if, it’ll come back to haunt you. One thing I will say is there is plenty of people out there blogging information about getting an agent, it’s not hard to find excellent blogs on the subject. Also Writer’s Digest is an amazing free resource. Go there and get tons, and I do mean tons of good information. You may never leave the site, so if you need to write something, you may not want to go there.

Q: What would you tell someone who’s just getting started out as a writer?

A: If it’s a novelist, I’d say read ‘A Complete Idiots Guide to Writing a Novel,’ and then write, and don’t stop. Too many people think too much, and don’t do enough writing. One thing I’ve learn is just write, don’t edit, and don’t think too much about everything, just write. Details are important, but can be added later. Spelling, grammar, and punctuation need to be as spot on as possible, but if it hampers your creative juices, do it later.

Q: Okay, I’ll leave you with this last question. Where do you hope to be, in say… five years? What are your goals as a writer?

A: First off, I want to get my book published. If that happens then awesome, if not, I’ll continue working on my other ideas. I have 4 other books in my brain that needs to be written. I know my first book was all about learning the process of writing, and I’ve still got so much growing to do, but I’ve gotten a lot better and I think it’ll show. Also I think finding an agent that’ll help me grow, point me in the right direction, and potentially they’ll keep me working in the writing field, which would be awesome. In five years, I’d like to have my first book in print, and maybe even have a second and a third on the way. 

Part 1 of 2, Questions with Myself, the Interview!

I was reading on an Amazon add where a writer (I don't remember which), did an interview with herself. I thought, well until I'm world famous and everyone is clambering  for an interview I may as well do one with myself as well. Good writing exercise too, so enjoy!

Q: The books called Zombies: The End is Just the Beginning, so I’m assuming it’s about zombies, but briefly would you tell me about your book without giving too much away.

A: Yeah sure, it’s a story that follows Ryan, a young adult in his early twenties trying to find his niche in life, and love in the process. The book is set in Tacoma WA, during the first three weeks of the zombie apocalypse. In Ryan’s perspective we see him find other survivors, a potential love interest, become a leader, watch him fail, deal with self doubt, and then learn from his mistakes. During the story he’s forced to become a man to provide for his group, lead them to safety, and do some unthinkable things to survive. In a nut shell it’s a coming of age story with flesh eating zombies.

Q: So why books? Did you grow up reading; has this always been your thing?

A: Honestly, I wasn’t much of a reader, not because I didn’t like books, it was because most were just too wordy.

The only thing I read a lot was the Bible, and I’m thankful because it did help improve my reading, and writing skills. So when called to read in class I wasn’t the worst, but still not the best.

Writing was always there, but it was with songs, poems, and short stories. With two older brothers that were tight I was always kind of left to have fun by myself, I made up little stories and battles with my action figures.

Q: Any imaginary friends?

A: Nah, there was always too much stuff going on for fake friends. My dad took us camping, we played sports, made monster movies, and stuff like that.

Q: So is that where your love of zombies happened?

A: Maybe, but monster movies, and scary movies were always a staple in the Street house.

Q: Why zombies then?

A: I was always told, “Write what you know?” I’d seen so many movies, and loved how it can be funny and dark all at the same time. That scene where Shaun has to kill his mum in Shaun of the Dead was awesome. Played very serious, but those guys always make me laugh.

Q: Who were some of your early favorites?

A: I was always fascinated with Edgar Allen Poe; I remember having to read his poem The Raven, and can still remember by heart the first page of it. I don’t know why, but I always liked the dark subject matter. Maybe it had something to do with my dad letting us watch all those scary movies when we were young. Still to this day, I’m not sure why he let a 10 year old see American Werewolf in London.

Q: So comedy, or horror?

A: I love comedy, and I love horror, but the cheesy funny stuff like ‘Evil Dead, and ‘Drag Me to Hell.’ I think my stuff is funny, but it’s not trying to be laugh out loud funny, more amusing I guess. I think the best comedies, and the best horror are played real, and the situations makes them funny, or scary. That’s how I write; I just hope it comes out that way.

Q: So you’re writing Young Adult, why?

A: I didn’t set out to write YA, but I learned in the process that my audience would probably be more youthful. Don’t see too many older adults reading zombies books. Not that they can’t, just not as many would. Plus my story revolves around a group of kids dealing with the zombie apocalypse.

Q: So it is horror?

A: I’d say it’s more an action/adventure. There’s chase sequences, fights, gun battles, dragster cars, skateboarders, out of control fires, and zombies being torn to shreds.

Q: But, it’s got zombies, right? If it’s not horror, then is it a monster novel?

A: Yeah, there are monsters. Zombies are the backbone, the threat, but the story is more than just zombies running around eating people. It’s about the relationships that form in the course of the book.

Q: But, there's also a love story, right?

A: Yes, the main character Ryan runs into a girl he’d met prior to the zombie infestation.

Q: Want to elaborate a little on that?

A: I don’t want to give too much away, I do- want people to read the book when it comes out, but what I will say is that the relationship is one that grows during the story, and it’s not girl meets boy and they start making out. I wanted it to be a little more realistic, they are facing onslaughts of flesh eating zombies, which makes it hard to make out all the time.

Up for a writer challenge?

Are you up for a challenge?

I was looking on a website for a literary agent, and found one that has a submission system set up to take on-line queries. It’s set up almost like filling out an online job resume, or application. 

One of the questions that surprised me was… What is the one best sentence in your whole manuscript? As you can imagine, I was thinking, “My manuscript is 100,000 words, and you want me to tell you what I think is my best sentence.”  Wow, that’s asking a lot. 

However what I found out was that this is a great exercise for you to try, and you could potentially craft better sentences in the process. I searched my entire book, and wrote down my favorite sentences. Some were very long, even hinging on a run-on, others very short, and some regular lengths. Then I went around my office and asked four people what they thought were their favorites. To my surprise some of the ones that I thought weren’t as good, were rated better than I thought they would on a scale of one to ten, and some of the ones I loved didn’t rank nearly as well as I had hoped. Fear not, I took this as a way to make those sentences better and to make them really pop.

It was really interesting finding out what people thought made for good sentences with very little to go on. Most of my co-workers know I’m working on a zombie novel but they’ve never read it, or at least any of it in context. But, narrowing it down to the smallest element, in my opinion the sentence it put my work under the microscope which I believe helped me improve. 

If you’re looking for ways to improve your writing I’d suggest doing what I did; besides it can’t hurt. Well, maybe just a little.

1. Write a book (or poetry, lyrics, etc.)

2. Find every sentence that stands out to you.

3. Find several people to read them aloud.

4. Have them rate it from 1-10.

5. Listen to why they rated them the way they did.

6. And improve the ones that didn’t do so well.

7. And be proud of the ones that did better then, or just as good as you thought they would.

Good luck and God Bless.

The Wait

Well, as I posted before, there are many things to do while waiting for a literary agent to email you back. I know it's only been one week, but since my first guy only took one day, this seems like a long time. I'm not saying the waiting seems like a long time because it's bad, it just feels like weeks ago that I sent my second batch out. I'm selecting three more to send out tomorrow, and then I'll go from there. In the mean time I've done an interview with myself that I'll post in two parts. Also I'm looking for others to ask me questions. This may seem silly as I am not published, but this helps in two folds. One, I hone my writing skills, and two, you all get to learn more about me, and my writing. I plan on releasing some scenes from my book, so be looking for that too. It'll almost be like a beta test from a program, you all can tell me what you think. Well that's it for today...oh one last thing, if you don't have a lot to say, don't waste people's time...it can get very boring.

What to do...While you wait

What to do, while you wait:

My first experience with a literary agent went well, or so I thought. I sent out my letter and within one business day they got back with me. That’s good right? Well, after thinking about it, if he actually liked some part of my book or idea he may have taken a little more time to consider it. So, anyway what I’m getting at is this. My next three letters went out, and I know that I may be waiting a little longer, which I think is a good thing. But, what do I do while I wait? What would you do?

First off, you can always go back through your manuscript, edit, reedit, or rethink scenes that might be weak, work on dialog, get someone else to read it… tired of working on the manuscript, or you’re at a good place with it.

Try to blog, blogging is a great way to hone your skills. Just don’t fall prey to text talk, and by that I mean; remember to write how you would in your book, not in little sparse phrases. I use to write training material and that’s what I was familiar with. We’d spend hours crafting training, and bullet phrases that broke down the meaning to one small phase, often not even sentence worthy.

Start a new manuscript or just write down your ideas. I’ve started work on my next book. I’ve learned a lot about character development and have started creating profiles for each of my characters. That way when I write about them, they already have back-stories to draw from.

Maybe, you can do some writing exercises. Think of a scene that you’ve never tried to write before. Do you write romance? Well how about writing an action fight scene? Have you ever described the sky, the earth, a little girls face? You can also work on conversations, pick two people that are very different from each other and write dialog in their voice. This can really help develop the skills you’ll need to have characters jump off the page. Here’s an idea: Write one page of dialog with a sweet little girl, talking to Satan. If you do this, I want to read it. Not only could it be very funny, but also it could be very scary.

As always read as much as you can. Read books, other people’s blogs, magazines, etc.

Well, those are my thoughts and tips for today. If you have any pointers, thoughts, or questions for me, please write.

Research and Soul Search

Research, and soul search!

I’ve done my research and picked two new victims, I mean literary agents. Well I guess I should say, one’s an agent, the other is a publisher who accepts submissions from authors. Since I don’t have an agent, I’m free to shop as I please. Doing a little bit of research, I found out that some publishing houses will accept submissions. They may be a rare exception to the rule, but if there’s a company you’d like to work with, you might as well go out and research them. Any way I digress.  The two I have selected are about as far from each as the moon from the sun. Again, I won’t mention names because I think it could be tacky if I was rejected, and they were rude, or something worse and I went around slamming them. I think professionalism is important. One company deals with spiritual fiction, but doesn’t focus solely on that, the other deals with teckie, horror, and stuff that you might find geeks, or Sci-fi fans reading.

After my first rejection, I did a little soul searching, as well as looking at the list of agents. There are a few I’d love to work with; some seem to have like minded ideals, morals, and convictions. Then there are others that I’d love because they’ve worked with some of the greats. I have to narrow my search and find an agent that would best serve my manuscript, someone who could best reach my intended audience, or a bigger one.

I had time, so I decided to get a third agent into the mix, this time it’s an agency that represented an author of a book I’m currently reading. I really like their creative titles, covers, and subject matter covered in their novels. They have the type of stuff I’d actually stop to look at when shopping. That’s a good quality to have, because if the covers and titles are boring and bland you might as well keep on walking, meaning find yourself another agent.

Am I nervous? Yes, because I’m putting myself out there, and allowing myself to be critiqued, but if you don’t do it, and don’t allow for rejection you will never succeed. Like faith, God says, seek and you shall find, not sit on your butt and wait for it to happen.

If you have questions please send them out!

The Final Frontier

The Final Frontier…

Growing up watching the original Star Trek, they always started with, “A Five Year Mission,” from what I can recall. Then later it went to a Continuing Mission. Well, this is my ‘Continuing Mission’ to find an agent. For some reason, whether it’s my own confidence level or me just being a realist, I knew that my first attempt wouldn’t be successful in scoring a deal.

Now the search for a new victim (And by victim I mean literary agent) search to begin. I’m not an expert at this but one of the things I learned, is don’t just blindly send your book to just anyone. 

First off, if they don’t even deal with your subject, then they most likely won’t deal with your query letter. 

Next thing is do some research; find out which authors they’ve worked for. 

Also make your query personal. Find out something about them, read one of their blogs, or an author they represent, and put this in your query letter.  (This is information some people charge you for!)

Just a little more information on subject: My novel is a story that has its roots with zombies, and zombie folklore, but does that mean it’s a horror? It could, but my story really spends more time with the main character Ryan growing into a man, falling in love, and gaining confidence in himself.

Is my story a YA novel (Young Adult)? I’d think so, for one it deals with a group of young adults and kids, it’s also relatively clean, plus my vocabulary is not for someone seeking to better their knowledge of the English language. It’s meant to be fun, quick paced, and humorous.  What I’m trying to say is this; just because your novel may fall in a category of monsters, or spacemen, it doesn’t necessarily mean its Sci-Fi or horror.

One major thing I’ve learned is that Horror fans love real horror, they want to be scared, and that’s why they’re reading it. So if you call it horror but don’t scare the bahjeebees out of them, then they’ll eat your lunch. Sci-Fi fans are the same, but even more so. If you write Sci-Fi you better know your stuff. They have you for lunch if you don’t.

So try not to pigeon yourself into just one category when seeking an agent. But, if you do try to sell your book in a different market, you should be able to back up; why it fits in the market you’re trying to sell it to.  

Wow! Rejection...sometimes is not as bad as you make it.

Wow!

So why the, “Wow?” you may ask.

I sent my first query letter out yesterday and was met with my first rejection. I’m proud to say it was my first, which means I wrote a novel and attempted what I set out to do.

What I set out to do. I found my ideal literary agent, and shot for the moon. Maybe I’ll fall a little short of the moon, but maybe a little short is where God wants me. Sometimes finding a better fit is way better for you in the long run.

 The agent was very kind. I will not give names, or who that person works with, but this is what he had to say.

“Thanks so much for giving me a shot at your novel. I’m sorry to say that I wasn’t connecting wholeheartedly with your writing, despite its poise and polish, so I ought to step aside, but I truly appreciate the look, and I wish you the best of luck!”

Now, I could look into what he said, and think this or that, but a literary agent with a big company said, “…despite its poise and polish,” which to me sounds pretty darn good. So just like the guy who invented the telephone, I’m taking this little rejection letter (Which, I’d hardly say felt like rejection), as a victory step in the right direction.

I’d hope that this was my first and last rejection, but I’m prepared for more, and maybe not as kind as my first, but to me this was encouragement to continue on.

So continue to wish me luck and keep on praying!

If I encourage you in the process; please feel free to send me a note.

Home sick...first submission.

I caught some bug over the weekend and ended up lying around all weekend trying to recoup. Thanks to my awesome wife I feel much better.
 I finally sent off my first query letter for a literary agent today. As I was reading my synopsis I felt a little silly about trying to make a business deal with a Zombie manuscript, but I guess people have done it before. I know my story has more than just zombies, there's quite a bit more, but it still seemed a little silly.

Wish my luck, and say a prayer!!!

Back up a few steps!!! Read how it all got started!

I want to back up a little bit in my story and give you all a little insight into the writing process as I have seen it progress. Initially, I was encouraged by my wife and Stephenie Meyers of all people to just write a story.  I had begun a few screenplays and worked on some other ideas for stories, but had never really taken them seriously. Let’s just say I had really boring jobs and wanted something to do while I waited for my next project. Stephenie taught me one thing which I’ll be grateful for; you don’t have to write like some scholarly dude from the 1800’s, or fill the pages with lavish details for a book to be good. Simple details, that keep the story moving forward was something I felt she’s good at.

With my story well underway I started reading a lot more than I had in a while. Writing gave me a renewed excitement about reading. With all this new inspiration flowing through my veins I changed my idea about my book. See, at first I just wanted to complete it. I didn’t really care if it was good, I really just wanted to say I started something, and completed it. But, a friend who read my first chapter realized I needed help and told me to check into a few books that could help with my writing. Honestly, I don’t remember which books he suggested, but I went to the library and checked out, ‘A Complete Idiots Guide to Writing a Novel.’ I don’t remember the author off hand, but it was amazing, the book gave me so much more information. I read it each day, and was inspired to not only complete my book, but make it really good. I checked out a few more books on the subject, and the more I read, the more inspired I got. The second book I read was called ‘Revision and Self-Editing,’ by James Scott Bell. If you’re a budding writer, or an expert I suggest reading both books, buy copies, and review them from time to time.

Even with this new knowledge, I still needed help and honestly still do. I turned to a friend to read my first finished draft. I’d like to say his input was good, but I think he got bored with my misspellings and gave up. This didn’t shake me up though, because another friend stepped up to the plate and helped review it. His input was much better and he actually finished it, and I thought… now I’m done. Nope, this was I believe the third revision, but the book still needed help. I talked a friend who loves reading, and asked about punctuation, because I knew I still needed help in that area. Still to this day, I don’t think anyone has really defined the rules and stuck to them. I digress. So, I ended up taking another pass at my novel, which meant starting from chapter one, and going all the way to the end, again.

My mom kept mentioning wanting to read my book, and I didn’t want her to have to wait until it got published, so I sent her a few chapters at a time and she’s actually been really helpful in finding things that I missed. I’ve now decided it’ll never be perfect, but if the majority is good, and the story is interesting a publisher will edit it, and possibly want more revisions. That is not to say I haven’t worked my butt off to get it the best I can I just know that even if it’s perfect someone will see things I never could. It’s all about making it better.

So, I believe this gets us up to date. Next week, if all goes well, I will send out my first query letter. After finding out Kathryn Stockett who wrote ‘The Help,’ had 60 agents turn her down before finding one that would work with her, I’m prepared for the rejections. 

If I’m blessed enough to find one quickly, than thank God, if not, I just hope that with every failure, or rejection I can just become a better writer, and guess what, I’ll still thank God.

First Time Novelist

I'm a first time novelist, who's starting his journey into the publishing world. I will try my best to give you the insight into my world, as I begin this adventure. Every step of the way I will tell you how things are going. I'm prepared  for rejection letters, for people not liking what I write. I know not everyone will enjoy every writer. I have friends that really enjoy Stephenie Meyers, and then I have friends that think she's a horrible writer. I personally enjoyed some of Twilight, but the point is, not everyone will like what I write. I hope they do, but I'm a bit of a realist. I hope to find an audience that will love what I write. What I enjoy writing about varies, but my first novel is a youth/young adult adventure set with the back-drop of zombies.
     I completed the first draft about 6 months ago, and the final draft today.I'm sure there will be more edits to come, but that's to be expected.
     I've done some research about literary agents, read some books, reviewed a few websites, and watched interviews about getting published. So, as you can tell, I'm still a newbie in this process. http://www.writersdigest.com/ has been a good source, http://stepheniemeyer.com/ has also been a great source. Her being a first time writer, I was inspired by her journey. Also J.K. Rowling's story was quite inspiring as well.
     I'll try to also point out any cool sites I find that help me in my process. If you read this and know of any that may help me in my quest, please feel free to email me.
    Within a week I plan on sending out my first query letter; I'll tell you more as I go.

Tracy Street
08/23/11