On Revision Caves and Taking Care of Yourself by Jessica Taylor

August 22, 2016August 22, 2016Leave a comment

Photo credit: Rsms on Flickr

If you’ve been wondering where I’ve been, the answer is that I’ve spent most of the summer deep in my revision cave*. Now that I’m peeking my head out, I’ve been thinking about some decisions that have made my time away more manageable. This was a productive and mostly low-stress time, which I attribute to two things: For one, I allowed myself to check out of social media. Second, I splurged on a few things and invested in myself. I hope some of it is useful and inspiring to my colleagues in the revision trenches.

*For the record, these full-immersion revision binges are self-imposed. I just work better when I live and breathe a novel. Everyone I work with is beyond nice, and I’m sure they’d be more than willing to let me work at a more leisurely pace if I asked.

Allowing Myself a Social Media Break

I love social media as much as the next writer, but with good news and bad news coming from all directions—especially during this interesting election season—Twitter and Facebook are providing a little too much stimulation. I have a book out now, so I feel some pressure to keep up with readers’ tweets and messages, but it all became a little too much. So, while I was busy, I let myself check in a couple times a week. I’ve found that if anyone really needs to find me, they do—such a delightful and freeing surprise!

Splurging—or as I Like to Call it, Investing in Me

Nobody would really describe me as thrifty, but I do work hard to only spend money on things that are necessary (or just really freaking awesome). During the summer, I decided to spend on a few luxuries. It started with a few pair of Athleta sweatpants, which are awesome quality, breathable, and perfect for long stretches at my desk chair, but last month, I caved on something bigger—an Amazon Fresh membership.

When I was at my busiest, I tried out a free trial of Amazon Fresh. If you’re not familiar with it, it’s a grocery delivery service with free same-day deliveries on orders over $40. I know myself well enough to recognize that eating well is essential to keeping my body well and my mind producing my best work. For me, the actual cooking isn’t the issue, but shopping for groceries is a major time suck. I’m a picky eater and sometimes I go to five stores just to complete my shopping. When the free trial ended, I coughed up the $299 and signed up for a year-long membership. It’s stress-free and so exciting to wake up with all my groceries cold, fresh, and sitting on my porch in their insulated green bags!

These are the splurges that made the biggest differences for me, but I’ve heard of other authors investing in baby sitters, house-cleaning services, dog groomers, etc. The important part is recognizing that what we do is important, and investing in our health, happiness, and well-being is never a bad choice.

Jessica Taylor adores atmospheric settings, dangerous girls, and characters who sneak out late at night. Her debut novel, WANDERING WILD, received a starred review from VOYA and is available now. Her next two novels, starting with A MAP FOR LOST GIRLS, will be published in fall of 2017 and 2018 by Dial Books for Young Readers/Penguin. She lives in Northern California with a few degrees she’s not using, one dog, and many teetering towers of books. Follow her on Twitter at @JessicaTaylorYA and check out her website at http://www.jessicataylorwrites.com

What to Expect When You’re Expecting Your First Book by Jill MacKenzie

November 2, 2015October 31, 2015Leave a comment

Photo credit: QuinnDombrowski on Flickr

So you’ve just sold your novel…now what? Well, first things first here: a huge pat on the back to you! It truly is a fantastic accomplishment and—as many authors these days know—no easy feat. But you’ve done it! So take a moment to sit back and feel the sun shining bright on your face. You deserve it.

Now that that’s done, I thought it might be helpful to go through a couple of things you could (or should) do after that golden glow has started to fade.

Write another book. Or don’t.

I know what the rule is here: write something else! While I do see the merit in keeping those writing juices flowing, I also am a firm believer in just taking a break. You know those scrap books you’ve been dying to put together? Now’s your chance! Always wanted to take salsa lessons? Do it! Been thinking about re-doing the guest bathroom? Now or never! Because let’s face it here, people, revision takes serious time and energy. So while you’re waiting for that revision letter to come in (which may suck every last second of free time you’ve got right out of you) why not take the time to just not write and do some of the other little things in life you used to love.

What’s your mood?

If you’re lucky enough to have the sort of editor/publisher that actually wants your input on your book’s cover design, a great way to figure out what you envision for it is to create a mood board. I know it sounds kind of daunting, but it’s actually really easy and a great way to get excited about the next stage of your book journey. Here’s how you do it. If you’re super computer savvy, then just have a look on Pinterest to see if any of their formats speak to you. There are some great ones out there (see: https://www.pinterest.com/stephedesigns/ for inspiration.) If you’ve never done anything like a mood board before, (that’s me!) check out some of the really cool sites out there, designed to help newbies take their ideas and make them into something awesome. Sites like https://niice.co offer templates that allow you to simply drag and drop your images into their charts. You can simply use photo stock images or pluck photos from tumblr at little or no cost. It’s super fun, pretty simple, and a great way to stay focused on your book while your book is in someone else’s hands.

Uh…what’s your name again?

No point in writing something that nobody’s going to read, right? Now’s your time to get yourself out there and make your book known to the world. Of course, we all know the benefits (and pitfalls) of social media, but there are other ways to formulate an author presence, too. First off, what about your friends? Aren’t they publishing books at the moment? If so, make sure you make the time to plug their reads and attend their book release parties and signings, too. After all, you know that saying about coming and going around…

Second, get out of your state. I mean, it’s all fine and good if your name is out there in your hometown, but you do want other people from other places reading your book too, right? So how do you do that? Conferences, baby! Instead of going to your local one this year, try a new one (I hear they have great ones in Hawaii. Did you hear me? I said HAWAII.) This is a great way to meet new friends and acquaintances involved in the writing world and hey, you never know where that could lead.

And speaking of conferences…

Have a little comma problem you’ve been itching to scratch? Never really known the correct way to use an em dash? Thinking that your plotting/characterization/voice could use a little tune-up? Conferences are a great way to get your craft on and really focus on these integral storytelling elements without having your own story get in the way. Learn from the pros and spend the time writing freely without the pressure of it turning into your next great novel. Being that free to learn…wow. ‘Tis a thing of beauty.

Jill MacKenzie is the author of YA read SPIN THE SKY, which will be released by Sky Pony in Fall 2016. Because Jill is currently completing her MFA at the University of British Columbia (which is kicking her a** so far she can’t even see straight), Jill spends every single second of her time writing and, of course, reading banned books.

www.jillmackenzie.com | www.whatchareadingnow.com

How To Get An Agent! (In 52 Easy Steps) by Ami Allen-Vath

July 27, 2015July 24, 2015Leave a comment

Photo credit: Johan Larsson on Flickr

Getting your book published is the dream! But it takes a little more work than asking the clerk at B&N if they’ll take your book idea, do some magic and put it on their shelf.

It’s highly recommended that you seek out and secure agent representation. Which, as it turns out, is a feat arguably as difficult as landing a book deal. So yeah. Who knew there were some “minor” steps to take before achieving the dream of being published? Please note, the following steps were the ones taken by one individual and repeating said steps in no way guarantees success or failure in gaining agent representation for your book. As a matter of fact, many of these steps are not something I’d advise a writer to follow. Especially in this order. However, I STRONGLY do recommend the sites I’ve highlighted in this post. The site recs are totally serious. So, without further ado, here are the steps that have miraculously been proven to work. At least once.

Have an idea!
Start writing a book.
No, this time it’s serious. You will finish this project.
Take lots of breaks.
After four years and a suggestion from a high school best friend, start a new book!
Don’t have an idea.
Just start writing something fun.
When the story turns dark, keep writing and try to keep it fun.
Begin reading more books on writing.
Start to feel like your childhood dream of having a published book could actually be real.
Have two of your best friends read it and cheer your little book along as you go.
Finish writing your book.
Research query writing using awesome sites like Janet Reid’s QueryShark.
Write a query you think is amazing!
Post it to a site like AgentQueryConnect for constructive critiques from your peers.
Be grateful that you got help before actually sending out the query you thought was brilliant.
Forget that you actually did send out one query before revising it because you were caught up in the excitement.
Revise query a million times.
Using a site like QueryTracker, begin agent research and start making a list of dreamy agents.
Self-edit your book a couple times.
Hit send and get those queries out into the wild.
Feel your heart sink when you get your first rejection on the same day.
Feel your heart soar and maybe get a little teary eyed when you get your first full request.
Think, “Oh crap, I guess I better write that synopsis I’ve been putting off.”
Write a synopsis of your book in about six pages.
Keep cutting and cutting until you have a two page and a one page synopsis.
Feel bummed about the rejections that are coming in, but also feel amazed and lucky and proud that you are getting actual requests. OMG this is crazy!
Get your first two rejections on full manuscript requests in the same week.
Start revising based on feedback from one of the rejections.
Learn what a CP is and the importance of.
Find your first actual, legit CP.
Revise while you still have queries out.
Do your very best not to send out more queries amidst revisions.
Overanalyze every form rejection, every request, and every nugget of feedback on full rejections.
Send out lots more queries. Lots.
Enter a few pitch contests.
Wonder why no one favorited your pitch in the form of a haiku.
Do not get picked for contests.
Do okay with some contests and Twitter pitching.
Use a few more readers and CPs for query and first pages feedback.
Revise one final time based on feedback.
Send a couple revisions to agents who have your full.
Have no idea that your revisions were probably not major enough to warrant bothering agents with.
Get an offer.
Notify all agents with your full manuscript!
Notify all agents who have had your query in the last month or two (or three!) and have not responded.
Receive another offer.
Stress over email refreshing addiction, interested agent that needs more time, and the pace at which rejections and more requests fly in.
Obsess with your CPs and writer friends on how exciting and stressful this is.
Angst, overanalyze and somehow think you’re amazing and not good enough all at once.
Accept amazing agent’s offer.
Celebrate with ice cream.

Aside from linked sites above, here are some more of my favorite sites:

For awesome agent interviews and inspiring stories of “Getting The Call” and Book Deal offers: Michelle Hauck’s blog, Michelle For Laughs, Amy Trueblood’s Chasing The Crazies and Dee Romito’s I Write For Apples.

SubItClub is awesome and has a monthly round-up post for upcoming contests and pitch opportunities.

Dahlia Adler’s site, The Daily Dahlia has great and abundant book recs if you’re into YA, NA, and QUILTBAG reading. Reading in and outside of your category and genre is good for your writing and good for all the waiting you’ll be doing as you pursue your publishing dreams. Dahlia also has a great series called “Perpetual WIPS,” where you can find out if your querying, agent and on submission experience is “normal.”

Check out the hashtag #MSWL and its website for the types of books that agents and editors are currently looking to acquire. Do not pitch using this hashtag!

If you’re not on Twitter, I suggest you fix that. There, you can get the extra 411 on agents, writers, the latest books, and basically everything you wanted to know (and didn’t want to know) about publishing. The writing community on Twitter is lots of fun and very supportive. It shouldn’t be difficult to find your people there.

A few other fun sites for writers in any stage of the process are: the adorable (and one of our own) Ava Jae’s Writability and her youtube channel BookishPixie, Mindy McGinnis’ Writer, Writer, Pants on Fire, and Summer Heacock’s Fizzy Grrl.

Ami Allen-Vath somehow made it through the above 52 steps, gained agent representation and has her first book coming out next year. She’s into books, yoga, warm vacations in the wintertime and ice cream in any season. Ami’s debut, LIARS AND LOSERS LIKE US, will be released in March of 2016. You can follow her on Twitter, like her on Facebook but please ignore her if you see her in pj or yoga pants at the grocery store.

How I Write by Kate Ormand

July 6, 2015July 3, 20154 Comments

Everyone approaches writing differently and I don’t often open up about my own methods. I’m very much behind the scene, quietly getting on with it. I get a bit nervous to talk about my own process as there’s so much writing advice already on the internet—dos and don’ts, one says do this and another says do that. But the best way is always your own way, and you only learn something by doing it. And it took me a while to figure that out. At first I would feel like I was doing something wrong because I wasn’t following one thing or another, or feel guilty if I didn’t write one day…

Really, there can be some pretty useful advice out there, but it helps to know what’s relevant to you and how you work best. And the only way to discover that is by writing.

This is a rough guide of what works for me when writing a novel. This is just my approach, and it does vary depending on the book and the feedback etc. So here goes…

I plan, but just a bit. I plan out major points and why they happen—character motives, relevance to the story etc.

Example for The Wanderers is things like:

The circus – Why a circus? Who started it? How did the orphaned shifters find it? What roles do the characters play? Why are they essential to the order of things? What happens when they grow up? Who runs it, and how?

The hunters – Where did they come from? What do they want? How do they know about shifters? What drives them?

The shifters – How are they connected to their animals? What’s their view on the world? How much do they know? How do their abilities work?

If I can answer questions like this then I know I’m getting ready to start. More crop up while writing. Constantly. If I’m getting carried away with something I’m thinking: Why? What’s the point of this? If there’s a point, great I’ll use it. If not, cut back or cut altogether. I give myself time to answer all the questions because it’s important that I can.

First draft (or zero draft), which is me getting the plot down. End result is usually a third of the desired word count, as if it’s a really, really detailed outline. I fast draft, eager to get everything written down. I feel so much better when I’ve done this, when I have something solid to move forward with.

Rewrite it properly. I’m very much into editing by rewrite. It’s time consuming, but thorough. I do this a few times over. Reading it and rewriting as I go helps me see what’s not right, what needs expanding on, where info is lacking, where there’s too much info. Only problem is typos.

Read and edit. So it should be in pretty good shape after several edit-by-rewrites, but now there are typos to fix and a proper, undistracted read through to be done.

Send to Kindle. I like to read away from the computer, like I’m reading a finished book. This helps with picking out errors I don’t catch on the big screen and working out how the story flows. I always have a notepad and pen with me for this.

Take notes back to the computer and apply to MS. I usually end up with a long list of little things that need changing—a word change, remove a sentence, add more info. It’s mostly tweaking at this stage. Very picky!

Submit. Argh! At this stage it’s most often ready to go to my agent and readers for feedback. Usually, once I’ve got feedback I might write it out again if it’s extensive, or I’ll make the necessary edits and then read it through to make sure it all makes sense. Sometimes one little thing can have a domino effect on lots of other little things and it’s important not to let that slip through unnoticed.

I’m very careful. I think anyone who’s worked with me would agree that I’ll read and read and tweak and tweak until they cut me off at the source. But that’s good because then I know I’ve done everything I can to make it to the best of my ability and something I can feel proud of.

So what I’ve learned after writing a few books is not to be afraid to experiment, to carve out my own path, believe in myself and my own methods, and always do what works for me.

Kate Ormand is YA author of DARK DAYS and THE WANDERERS. She lives in the UK with her family, her partner, and a cocker spaniel called Freddie. She graduated from university with a first class degree in Fine Art Painting. It was during this course that Kate discovered her love of reading YA books, prompting her to try a new creative angle and experiment with writing. Kate is also member and co-creator of an online group of published writers and illustrators called Author Allsorts. And she writes children’s picture books under the name Kate Louise. Kate is represented by Isabel Atherton at Creative Authors Ltd. You can see more about Kate and her writing by visiting her website or on Twitter (@kateormand).

On Using Pinterest for Worldbuilding by Ava Jae

June 22, 2015July 17, 2015Leave a comment

Photo credit: My DotPress on Flickr

When I first started writing Beyond the Red back in 2013, I had no idea how to use Pinterest. I’d heard it could be inspirational with some of the photos there, and from what I’d seen from other writers, it seemed like a really great way to get visual, mood-board type things going.

Seeing how I knew I’d be completely making up a world from scratch, a mood board full of photos to help me get a feel for what I wanted with the setting seemed like a good idea, so I opened up a private board and started searching.

And pretty quickly fell down the rabbit hole known as Pinterest’s endless photo collection.

While even now, I’ve really only scratched the surface with Pinterest’s capabilities, I have found it time and time again to be a really excellent source of storyworld inspiration, especially in early stages of the manuscript.

In my case, when I first began brainstorming I knew I wanted the setting to be on another planet, and I knew I wanted it to take place primarily in a red desert. I imagine a society with advanced, alien technology in a future world far away from Earth.

And other than crimson sand and technology, I really had no idea what it looked like.

So I began by searching red deserts. And gorgeous red sandscapes led to beautiful pictures of deserts as white as snow. And that lead to images of incredible people who live in deserts, which led to further searching and thinking about how people would dress. From there I searched for alien and desert cities, which lead me to paintings from Sci-Fi artists and incredible pictures of Istanbul and Dubai. And eventually I ended up with this mood board.

From those pictures, I was really able to get a feel for what I liked and didn’t like—what fit into my evolving sense of the planet that would become Safara. Before long I was able to picture many of the main settings, which was what I needed to start writing.

And it all started on Pinterest.

Pinterest, as it turns out, can be a great tool for curating inspiration for your manuscript. So next time you need a little boost of inspiration for your manuscript, you may want to check it out.

Ava Jae is a YA and NA writer, an Assistant Editor at Entangled Publishing, and is represented by Louise Fury of The Bent Agency. Her YA Sci-Fi debut, BEYOND THE RED, is releasing March 2016 from Sky Pony Press. When she’s not writing about kissing, superpowers, explosions, and aliens, you can find her with her nose buried in a book, nerding out over the latest X-Men news, or hanging out on her blog, Twitter, Facebook, tumblr, Goodreads, Instagram, or YouTube channel.

Imposter Syndrome in Writers by Olivia Rivers

June 8, 2015June 6, 2015Leave a comment

A few weeks ago, I participated in a book signing at my local library along with about 30 other authors. Technically, I was just as much an “author” as all the other professionals at the event. But when I looked around the giant auditorium packed with people, I felt a lot more kinship with the readers wandering around than the writers signing their books. I kept waiting for some Author Fraud Alarm to go off at my table, or for the library director to walk up and say, “Whoops, sorry, that invite we sent you was an accident! You’re not supposed to be here.” Of course, neither of these things happened—the event actually went very smoothly, and I sold a few books and met a lot of lovely readers.

I wish I could say I had some grand epiphany after the signing that led to me proclaiming to be The Real Deal and telling the whole world I’m a professional author. But I can’t say that, because the label of “author” still feels wrong whenever I attach it to my name. However, that signing did lead to some long discussions with my writer friends about a psychological phenomenon called “Impostor Syndrome.”

Put simply, Impostor Syndrome is what happens when someone struggles to accept their own abilities. It usually results in the person chalking up their success to pure luck or a simple fluke, and fearing they’ll be called a fraud when they’re unable to repeat that success. Despite its scary-sounding name, Imposter Syndrome isn’t any type of illness, and is just an emotional state that plagues a lot of creative types. It sounds kind of silly to most people who have never experienced it, and frankly, it is silly. But there are a startling amount of writers who struggle with Impostor Syndrome, and after talking with many of them, I’ve figured out three things that help me deal with my own case of this quirky syndrome:

Most writers struggle with Impostor Syndrome. I didn’t realize this until recently, but Impostor Syndrome seems to be a phenomenon shared by most professionals in the writing industry. As much as it sucks for so many people to struggle with it, it’s also comforting to know I’m not alone. Almost every writer deals with these sort of feelings at some point, but despite this, many writers go on to achieve a lot of success throughout their careers.

The feelings are real, but the issues are not. I think it’s important to acknowledge that Impostor Syndrome is a psychological phenomenon, not a reality-based issue. I like to think of it as similar to my fear of public speaking—yes, I get genuinely terrified, but no, I’m not actually in danger when I give a speech. The same applies to Imposter Syndrome—the fear of being a failure is real, but the failure doesn’t actually exist.Personally, my wants as a writer are pretty simple—create enjoyable books, get published, attract readers, and stay passionate throughout. As long as I can manage to achieve those things, or continue to work toward achieving them, having Impostor Syndrome isn’t going to impede on my career unless I willingly allow it to.

Impostor Syndrome isn’t entirely a bad thing. Having Imposter Syndrome makes it a lot easier for me to admit my mistakes, because I expect them to happen. It also encourages me to ask questions—whenever I meet an author I consider successful, I always want to know what they’ve done to get to that point. I still wouldn’t consider the mindset behind Imposter Syndrome to be logical or healthy, but it certainly can make educating myself a lot easier at times.

I have a feeling Impostor Syndrome is something that will never truly go away for me, but it’s something I’m learning to manage. Who knows, maybe someday I’ll be able to say “I’m an author” with ease. But until then, I think the best fix is to realize I’m not alone and to make myself keep writing, no matter how insecure I might feel.

Olivia Rivers is a Young Adult author who writes in multiple genres, ranging from Epic Fantasy to Contemporary Romance. Her fascination with technology led her to become a hybrid author, meaning some of her works are independently published, while others are traditionally published. She has a passion for representing diversity, and you’ll often find disabled main characters in her novels. Olivia is represented by Laurie McLean of Fuse Literary.

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Tag: writing