Tag Archives: Craft of writing

Getting Beyond “Yes or No” Thinking in Writing, Part Two

Posted on May 1, 2011 | Comments Off

So, last time I wrote about tips and techniques I’d learned from others to get past seeing rejections as personal (“My story sucks”), pervasive (“I’m a loser”), and permanent (“I’ll never sell a story”).   Rejection is a fact of life for writers–the rate of rejection will go down as one gets better, but it will never go to zero.  Even the best writer produces a lousy story on occasion.

Chances are, you’ve noticed how binary humans can be in their thinking, i.e. that attitude of “It’s either Yes or No.”   So this week I want to go into more depth about getting comfortable with searching for the wriggle room between the “Yes or No” mindset.

Since we’ve been discussing the pursuit of publication through a traditional publisher or magazine, let’s use it as an example of the wriggle mind game.

Playing Mind Games with Rejections

On the surface, it seems so straightforward when a story is submitted to an editor–it’s either a sale or no sale.

But if we dig a little deeper, we find that not all No’s are equal.   There’s:
1) “No, but please send us your next story.”
2) “No, but interesting story.”
3) “No.”
4) “No.  This story is not to my taste.”
5) “No.  The craft in this story is poor.”

That third “No” can have a lot of hidden background that the writer doesn’t see.  It might just be a plain old “No, this story is no good.”   But, it is also possible the editor was swamped with stories and had to do form rejections for everyone, even the ones that were liked.  Or a story was recently published that was very similar to yours, so they had to pass on it.   Or the editor wanted to buy it, but the sales and marketing department rebelled.

Too often, writers see all No’s as exactly the same, because they’re focusing on selling one particular story instead of focusing on establishing a relationship with an editor.

I’m sure you’ve heard salespeople talk about cultivating clients.  Writing is no different.   Over time, as they submit story after story to an editor, writers have the chance to cultivate an editor by showing what they can do.   Stephen King did not sell the first novel manuscript he sent to William Thompson.  Nor the second, nor the third.  It was on the fourth manuscript, CARRIE, that he finally made a novel sale.

That’s why pro writers with 20+ years experience making a living as writers emphasize the importance of “keep submitting a work,” and “keep writing new work.”    A “No” isn’t about “No,” it’s about cultivating potential business relationships that may result in a sale a few years later.

The Wriggle Room Between “No Control” and “Absolute Control”

So, we’ve seen that when we look closer at rejections there’s more going on than a simple “Yes” or “No.”  Another example of that binary attitude at work is when we see a situation as having “No Control vs. Absolute Control.”  Oftentimes, there’s wriggle room if we look closer.

This is probably best explored with an example.  Let’s take the example of … book covers in publishing.

It’s rare that a writer gets absolute control of his or her book cover unless the book is indie published.

But often we go to the opposite extreme in mindset, and assume we have no control at all when our book is traditionally published.  But if we sit down and brainstorm ideas, sometimes we can come up with ways that can “tweak” what is going on with a book cover at a publisher.

Okay, so I’m going to take a moment and try to brainstorm ways I could wriggle past “No Control” on book covers with a publisher.  There’s no guarantee that any of them would help, but I wouldn’t know unless I tried.

Brainstorm Ideas to Get Past “No Control” Over Book Cover

1)  I could learn more about book covers in publishing.  Laura Resnick has a great series of articles to read on covers.

2) I could make a collage of favorite photos and pictures about the book, and send a JPEG copy to my editor to share with the art director and/or book artist.

3) I could ask for “cover consultation” in the contract if I have some clout; if I have major clout, “cover approval.”

4) I could demand a particular cover artist in the publishing contract if I have enough clout.

5) I could ask for final approval of the cover artist chosen written into the publishing contract if I have the clout.

6) I could provide a list of cover artists I admire (with their website gallery addresses) to the editor.  The editor and art director might throw the list out, but there’s a chance one of the names might catch their interest.  Can’t hurt to try.

7) I could politely ask the editor for a chance to see the cover sketches and layout before the final cover is done.

8) I could take a class on Photoshop, graphic design, or illustration so that I had a better understanding of what a book cover artist does.

9) I could go to bookstores to study covers, and browse through e-bookstores to look at thumbnail-sized covers.

10) I could find out who has won awards for their cover design work, and study the award-winning covers.

I could go on, but I’m certain you all see the point I’m getting at.   Sometimes even in situations where the writer officially has “No Control,” there’s wriggle room IF the writer is pleasant to deal with.   Woo, don’t whine.

So, to reiterate, remember that there’s more to a “No” than just “No.”  And keep an eye out for ways to wriggle out of a “No Control” business situation in publishing.   Good luck!

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Posted in Business of writing, Psychology of writing, Publishers

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Dealing With a Mental Jam When Writing

Posted on March 2, 2011 | Comments Off

Here’s a neat trick I learned from a pro that can help to figure out what’s going on when a story jams (I’m pretty sure it was David Morrell’s trick, but it might have been Lawrence Block).

1.) Open up Notepad or TextFile on the computer.

2.) Call a meeting of the characters. Imagine sitting down with them.

3.) Now type in “What’s wrong? Why are things jamming up?”

4.) Write everyone’s responses down, including your own. Keep going until the characters and you run out of things to say.

5.) Now type in “What do I need to do to get this story moving again? What do you need?”

6.) Write down everyone’s responses.

I’ve been surprised at how well it works. Sometimes the problem turns out to be a missing scene, or that I need to throw the entire draft out and start over, or that the story isn’t ready to be written, or that I’ve simply got a bad case of self-doubt and need to plow onwards.

It’s weird to have imaginary characters bitching at me in my head during the “meeting” as I transcribe stuff down, but so far it’s always been a help to do the exercise (if only to nail down what the problem is).

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Posted in Craft of writing, Psychology of writing

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The Joys of Project Gutenberg and E-Readers

Posted on January 5, 2011 | Comments Off

I went on a trip to Disneyland, and for the first time experienced the joys of not having to lug around a stack of paperbacks and hardbacks in my backpack.  I just got an e-reader (a Nook) and had a wonderful time exploring the Project Gutenberg website, whose mission is to provide to readers free access to classic books and reference works in the public domain (though donations are encouraged).

I was able to download electronic versions of books such as ALICE IN WONDERLAND, TREASURE ISLAND, THE COMPLETE WORKS OF WILLIAM SHAKESPEARE, EMMA, and several other classics.

If you’ve ever lugged around a hardback version of THE COLLECTED WORKS OF WILLIAM SHAKESPEARE, you know what a pain it is to the back and wrists.  Being able to carry Shakespeare around in a feather light electronic device was a joy.  Plus, when we got stuck in the airport due to flight delays from all the snow back east, I had enough old classics written for kids on the Nook to keep my son entertained for hours.

I’ve heard people talk about how they’ll never get an e-reader because they love the smell of paper, but I think one can have fun owning both paper and electronic books.  Each format serves best in certain situations.  When stuck in an airport, an electronic reader is an amazing tool for people who love to read and who want to share that love with their children.

I also encourage writers who are doing research to check out the non-fiction collections that Project Gutenberg has put together. I’ve found some wonderful out-of-print reference books from the 19th century to download to read in preparation for doing various writing projects.

Project Gutenberg provides their electronic files in various formats (ePUB, Kindle, rtf, html, and txt).

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Posted in Craft of writing, Research

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When Reading Stories and Going to Bookstores Turns into Work

Posted on December 19, 2010 | Comments Off

I think what I’m about to blog about happens to any writer if he or she stays the course long enough towards publication.  There comes a day when one discovers that reading books and going to bookstores has changed from being a fun way to relax to feeling like work.

It isn’t that the books have changed or bookstores.  It’s that one’s experiences and mindset have changed.  Before I started writing for publication and reading the writing trade magazines, I could go into a bookstore and simply lose myself.  Now I notice the store’s layout, the traffic in the store, and find myself thinking about the latest business news about independent bookstores, about whether Borders is going to go belly up in 2011, about pricing, about cover layout, about blurbs, on and on.

To no one’s surprise but my own, I recently realized that I visit bookstores a lot less than I used to.  It’d become a “job.”  So I had to make a conscious effort to change my mindset to enjoy going again.

What helped was realizing I needed to ditch the idea that I ought to do business research every single time I set foot in a bookstore.  I needed to give myself permission to have occasions that I would go in just to have fun instead.

Shutting off the business side of the brain sounds easy, but is a lot harder to do in practice.  I found that it helped if I had my 9-year-old along with me when I went into the bookstore; it was easier to remember I was there to relax, not do market research.

The bookstore mindset problem also ties into another problem: if one isn’t careful, one can lose the ability to read for fun.    There’s the danger of the marketing and editor voices in one’s head becoming too dominant, to the point one finds it’s difficult to shut them off.

I must say that losing the ability to read for fun due to the “critical voice” in one’s head is a serious pain.  It’s no fun to be always feeling like grabbing a red pen to do editing when reading someone’s story, and makes it so that one doesn’t feel like reading anything.  Reading had become work.

What shook me out of that reading slump was switching to genres I never write stories in.  So instead of trying to read fantasy and science fiction stories like I “ought” to, I switched to reading mysteries instead.  And found the joy of reading again–Dorothy Sayers, Agatha Christie, John le Carre, John D. MacDonald, etc.

It was such a relief to shed that critical voice that was tearing apart every single book or short story I tried to read.  And lately I’m finding I can add a little science fiction or fantasy to the reading mix without the critical voice immediately shredding it to bits.

 

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Posted in Business of writing, Craft of writing, Psychology of writing

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The Fun of “Dare to Be Bad” When Writing

Posted on December 5, 2010 | Comments Off

Dean Wesley Smith has a great post this week on “Dare to Be Bad” when writing, though I think the motto could be applied to any new endeavor where perfectionism and a fear of risk-taking is a problem.

Brad Torgersen took Dean’s motto a step further, and used his experiences learning to ski as an analogy for learning to write in “On Writing and Skiing: Dare to Be Bad!”

I found both posts helpful in dealing with the fear of making mistakes, especially when I imagined what it would look like on the slopes if beginning skiers behaved the same way writers aspiring to publication often did.

Plus, I learned a skier slang word from Brad, “biff.”  Which sounds a LOT more fun than “error,” “mistake,” or “screwed up.”  Biff’s the word for when you tumble over while skiing.  I think from now on when I tumble when writing (i.e. characterization didn’t quite work, plot hole missed, forgot the sense of smell or taste, whatever) I’m going to say to myself “I biffed it” instead of “I screwed it up.”  Puts the situation in better perspective in my mind, because both skiing and writing can be tremendous fun until the tumble happens.

And “biff” doesn’t have the undertone of negativity that “screw up” and “error” do.  My fiction writing isn’t a training manual for pilots or a textbook for nurses, and while it’s important to do my best and correct all the “biffs” I can find, it’s also important to know when to move on to the next story or novel instead of obsessively revising something until it’s dead on the page.

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Posted in Craft of writing, Learning the craft of writing, Psychology of writing, Voice, Writer's block

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Going Beneath the Waves as Fiction Writers

Posted on October 9, 2010 | Comments Off

Fiction writers are like ocean divers.   The watery depths run deep and dangerous, the pressures are intense, the hazards myriad.   And there is no guarantee of anything being found of interest to those on shore.  However, the silence and mystery of exploration itself becomes addictive to the writer.  One eagerly awaits the next plunge into the depths.

Agents and editors are back on the boat, hoping you’re going to resurface with a pearl or a find a sunken galleon.  But they don’t go beneath the water themselves (unless they also write or have written fiction for publication).  So the deep ocean is this mysterious place that they never actually experience or have to survive in.

Their boats tend to cluster around places that are well-known and feel safe and predictable.   No “Here be dragons.”   This is to be expected.  Publishing is a business, not a scientific endeavor.

So at times there’s a culture clash–what a writer needs to survive as a “diver” over the decades is different from what those in the boats and on shore need.   Different personality, different set of skills.   That’s why the advice of fiction writers who’ve survived in the business for decades can be invaluable–they’ve been in the depths as well, have known many writers over the years, have learned how to survive.   And they’re sympathetic to just how addictive those oceanic depths can be.

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Posted in Agents, Business of writing, Craft of writing, Editors, Psychology of writing

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The Value of Seeking Out Editor Rejections

Posted on October 3, 2010 | Comments Off

It used to be that the short stories I submitted for publication got nothing but form rejection letters back.  But in the last three months that’s been changing–the letters are coming back at times with personal comments from the editors.  Considering how little free time editors have, if this happens to you, celebrate it, because it means you’ve gotten good enough in your writing that they want to encourage you.   Editors are continually swamped with manuscripts and work–to take a few precious minutes out of their schedule to say something personal to you is a big deal.

And a few days ago, I got a letter of the “we really like this novelette, but it’s too long for us” variety from a major science fiction publication.  Again, this is a milestone to celebrate if it happens to you.  It means that story was good enough to sell.

So, I took those stories, found new markets to submit them to, and mailed them off.    Why not just self-publish them?

Two reasons:  1) Quality control, and 2) audience.

Like any other writer, I am unable to be objective about my own abilities.  So I like to submit my work for traditional publication to editors because it tells me how I’m doing as far as skill level.   I want to know if I’m reaching “pro” level or not in my stories.    If a story isn’t at a “pro” level, I’d rather it sat in drawer than self-publish it.   However, if it was good enough to get a personal letter from an editor, but a hard sell due to length (such as novelette and novella), chances are that once I ran out of traditional markets, I’d look into self-publishing it.

The other reason to consider traditional publishing for a short story is the available audience.  Think about it.   If you get a short story in THE NEW YORKER, you’ve just reached a huge potential reading audience.  Even the smaller periodicals will give you exposure to hundreds, even thousands, of readers who might not hear of you otherwise.

There’s two chapters in Kristine Kathryn Rusch’s Freelancer’s Guide that also tend to haunt me whenever I get impatient with the slow pace of submitting my work.   Check out Giving Up On Yourself Part One, and Part Two.

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Posted in Business of writing, Craft of writing, Editors, L. M. May, Learning the craft of writing, News

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Doses of Reality: TALES FROM THE SCRIPT, and a blog post from Scott William Carter

Posted on September 12, 2010 | Comments Off

Peter Hanson and Paul Robert Herman have gone and interviewed 50 screenwriters to create the best (as well as the most brutally realistic) documentary on screenwriting I’ve ever seen, TALES FROM THE SCRIPT.   Even if one doesn’t write screenplays, this documentary is worth seeing as a way to understand the joys and hardships of writing stories for a living.

Here’s their description of the documentary:

Screenwriters ranging from newcomers to living legends share their triumphs and hardships in this probing, insightful, and often hilarious odyssey through the world of movie storytelling. Celebrated scribes reveal the fascinating creative adventures that gave birth to beloved classics (and notorious flops). By analyzing their triumphs and recalling their failures, the participants explain how successful writers develop the skills necessary for toughing out careers in Hollywood. Candid and unafraid to name names, they also describe their collaborations with stars including Tim Burton, Harrison Ford, Morgan Freeman, Stanley Kubrick, Adam Sandler, Joel Silver, Martin Scorsese, Steven Spielberg, and Bryan Singer.

Also, Scott William Carter has written a realistic thoughtful blog post on “10 Reasons There’s Never Been a Better Time to Be a Fiction Writer.” Here’s a very small taste:

When I replied that actually they’ve got it dead wrong, there’s never been a better time to be a fiction writer, that if I had a time traveling machine and could pick only one time to be a novelist, I’d pick now without question, I’m pretty sure he thought I was smoking something.
But it’s the truth. Seriously.
Don’t believe me? Here’s ten reasons why.

Go read this long post of his.  It’s better than many articles on “changing technology and the impact on writers” that I’ve seen in Writer’s Digest or Publisher’s Weekly.

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Posted in Business of writing, Craft of writing, Interviews with Writers, Markets, Psychology of writing, Writers on Writing Links

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Ray Bradbury and the Enthusiasm that Becomes a Writer’s Voice

Posted on September 5, 2010 | Comments Off

Yesterday I stumbled across a 22 minute interview with Ray Bradbury done by the National Endowment for the Arts’ “The Big Read” program.   It’s well worth watching.  There’s even a loud car purr to relax by :D

But, watching this interview, I was struck by just how vivid and alive Bradbury is compared to some people I’ve met.  He’s refused to be mocked by the world into disguising, hiding, and getting rid of his enthusiasms, and it shows.

How many people do you know go to Paris to walk the streets while stopping to read TENDER IS THE NIGHT along the way?  It’s the actual physical act of getting out into the world and colliding with it that can generate so many new ideas.

Enthusiasms can also act as road signs of what to write about as a writer.   They can help a writer find his or her voice.  For example, a passion for astronomy could turn into a science fiction story or a literary novel about an astronomer.  And I’ve noticed how “catching” enthusiasm is.  I’m not into cars, but by watching the hosts of “Top Gear” on the BBC talk with passion about cars, I’ve caught some of their enthusiasm and am starting to pay attention to the cars and trucks I see daily.

Bradbury has priceless advice to give on finding one’s voice as a writer, both in ZEN AND THE ART OF WRITING and in this “The Big Read” interview.  Check them out.

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Posted in Craft of writing, Interviews with Writers, Learning the craft of writing, Voice, Writers on Writing Links

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The Benefits of Keeping a Work Log of Writing Hours

Posted on August 23, 2010 | Comments Off

In July I started keeping a daily work log of how many hours I spent either writing or editing a particular piece.  And I ended up proving to myself what many of us have long surmised–the perception of how long it takes to do a piece of work is different from the actual reality.

I’ve now got over a month’s worth of work records, and the insights provided as I flip back through the log are invaluable to me.

–I can now make a good estimate on how many hours a short story or novelette is going to take me from start to finish.

–I can make correlations between productivity and when to schedule my writing time.  Certain times of the day and situations are much MUCH more productive than others for me, and I have begun to take that into account when planning the coming week’s schedule.

–It’s much harder to stay in denial if there’s a problem in productivity, because the work log shows the trend by either lack of hours, or too many hours being spent on a particular project.

–It’s motivating to look back and see the work hours that have already been logged in.

–I can quickly tell if I’m spending too much time on “niggling little stuff” and not enough on the novel or short fiction.

–If one is saying, “writing comes first,” but it’s clear from the log hours that it doesn’t (i.e that it’s coming in last behind everything else), the data is a goad to change that.

A writing log can be anything from a notepad to a daily planner.  To choose mine I went to an office supply store to the planner section, and pulled down planners and calendars until I found something I liked. In my case, I loved the Action Day Planner because it combined a calendar with a project planner organized by week.

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Posted in Craft of writing, Learning the craft of writing

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