A pain in the arse!

Editing, revising, revisions... revising revisions... my least favorite part of writing a novel.  Writing the novel was not so bad.  I cranked out an average of five pages an hour, completing a chapter of 20 pages in a span of four hours.  I wrote maybe eight or sometimes twelve hours a day.  No big deal right?  Now that the manuscript is complete, I've come to find that the work has barely begun!

I don't have a decent workspace.  I write on my futon with a meal tray and the keyboard hanging off of the edge, which contorts my hands and causes me a great deal of discomfort.  I frequently have to take breaks because of this.

My cat, Sam, is spoiled rotten!  He's always trying to curl in my lap.  He will just stare at me with big green eyes until I give in to his demands.

Then, to top it all off, a writer can probably literally rewrite the same sentence over and over again and so it's difficult to not nitpick over the same things.

So, what I like to try and do is do a "once over," or a "quick and dirty" if you will.  I revise the entire novel first looking for grammar and punctuation mistakes.  Then, I go through a second round for style and content.  I have a hard time with this because I have a tendency to want to add MORE and my novel is already a little over 100,000 words, which may seem scary to an agent or publisher (yes I am aware of this).

I'm currently on the fourth chapter and things are going smoothly so far.  One thing I do that helps me a lot is that I keep a notepad open on my computer of all the changes that I plan to make.  I don't implement the changes right away because I want to get a broad scope of things before, just in case some of the changes cancel out others.

Well, back to work!

(Recommended reading: The Elements of Style by William Strunk Jr. and E.B. White)

Inspiration

Writer's block = Kryptonite to a writer.

Writer's red sun = Inspiration

How does one find inspiration when attempting to tangle the daunting task of writing a novel, short story, etc.?  There were many times during my writing process that I hit a wall and it caused all creativity within me to cease flowing.  Usually my own thoughts caused me stress which blocked my creative flow.

Some things that I typically would stress over were:

1. Names - when I can't think of a name for a character or place it causes me a great deal of stress because I believe that the name is crucial and significant to the character or setting.  In Terry Goodkind's Sword of Truth series, he named his villain "Darken Rahl."  The name "Darken" has the word "dark" in it which we tend to associate with negative things or bad feelings.  Would you get the same imagery of his antagonist if the character were named "Mary Poppins"?

2. Backstory - deciding how much or how little of a character's backstory to put into the story usually causes me a bit of stress.  Whenever I read, I tend to cringe during flashbacks or parts in the book that take the reader away from the contemporary action (unless it is done extremely well).  Needless to say, when it comes to my own writing, I try to find interesting ways and places in the story to give more history of a character or a setting.

3. The middle - you know that part of your story other than the beginning, climax, and denouement.  I typically know how the story will start, peak, and resolve before I begin writing.  However, the middle can sometimes serve as a speed bump, which is why I love chapter by chapter synopses, but I'll save that for another blog.

4. Premature criticism - occasionally some people have a tendency to want to critique your work when you've barely started.  I consider the creation process to be very delicate, like a newborn baby.  If it were up to me I'd lock myself in a room and not come out until I was done!

So, I'm sure different people have different things that tend to cause stress and block their creativity.  I named just a few things that definitely hit the mark for me.  Here are some things that help to inspire me:

1. Watching The Lord of the Rings - YES!  And no, not just the first movie, but the ENTIRE TRILOGY.  I even watch the special features... EXTENDED EDITION!  My favorite is The Fellowship of the Rings.  I also love watching the special features that talk about Tolkien and how he wasn't so confident in his writing sometimes, and that he even threw away the first draft of his manuscript!  Can you believe it!?

2. Light exercise - about 30 minutes or so usually helps to get my blood pumping or sometimes just a walk around the block.

3. List of names - a friend of mine once suggested a solution to my problem with coming up with names.  She suggested creating a list of names that I keep.  I often hear interesting names, or someone's name makes me think of an alternate funny or strange version, but I never used to write them down.  Now, whenever I come up with a name I just add it to the list.  So when I'm working on a story I simply refer to my list when I need names.  Thanks Viva!

4. Chocolates - self explanatory

5. Substitute this last one for whatever it is that brings you happiness (within reason of course)... for me it would be playing a video game, listening to relaxation music, or even joking around with family and friends.  I think the idea is to basically get up and not sulk or dwell on whatever it is that's causing you stressful thoughts.

Inspiration can often be found in the simplest places that sometimes we forget to look there because of the barriers we set up in our minds.  So I say tear down those walls and let the creativity flow!  Bust out your Rock Band, favorite book, box of chocolates, or whatever your muse may be and let it energize you.

(Recommended reading: Robert's Rules of Writing: 101 unconventional lessons)

Mailed My First Submissions Today!

And they're off!  I woke up, bright and early, today at 7 AM.  I know the post office doesn't open until around 9 AM but you know how sometimes you are anxious and sleep seems like an option that can wait?  Well, my body seemed to think so.

I'd been writing, and rewriting, and rewriting some more past midnight last night (December 8, 2009) up to this morning just before taking my materials to the post office.  I mailed my cover letters, query letters, synopsis, and sample pages/chapter to two agencies.

As I went to place them in the drop-off box in the post office, I was concerned with the way they were laying at the bottom of the box.  I think the manager maybe thought I was crazy or something.  He'd helped me out with using the postage machines to print out postage and was making sure I placed my mail in the right box.  When I placed them at the bottom I became worried that they may not see them at first and so I sat them up, but then I realized when I close the box they will fall down.  I stood there for a minute trying to figure out the best way to lay them in the box!!!  Now that I'm writing this out it does sound a bit nuts.

Well, I'm supposed to keep track of my submissions so let's mark today on the calendar and let the countdown begin!

Virginia Kidd Agency - Responds in appx. six weeks to queries (January 13th)
Linn Prentis Literary - Responds in... however long they feel like!  (no response time listed on their website)

What's the Difference Between a Query Letter and a Cover Letter?

Sheesh!  Trying to find this information proved to be challenging even for the almighty GOOGLE.  However, with our powers combined we formed, no, not Captain Planet, but a powerful team with the answer to this ever puzzling question.

Here's some information from a website that I think said it best:

What's the difference between a query letter and a cover letter? Author and instructor Alexis O'Neill uses an overhead projector to aptly demonstrate the difference. She pretends to shake her own hand casting a silhouette of a handshake. That's a cover letter. Meaning, "Hi, here's my manuscript." Then she traces a question mark. Meaning, "Hi, would you be interested...?" That's a query letter.

(http://www.scbwisocal.org/kitetales/query.htm)

So to put it simply, a cover letter is very short and concise and literally something you put over the rest of your submitted materials (e.g. query letter, synopsis, sample pages/chapter, etc.).  The cover letter should be in the format of a standard business letter.  This website has a few decent samples:

http://www.fictionforum.net/writers/articles/cover-letter-format-124.html

A query letter is a single page letter, single spaced, with spaces between the three main paragraphs.  The first paragraph should be your hook and generally contains a bit of narrative about your story to entice the reader.  The second paragraph usually runs a bit longer than the first and provides the main plot points of your work.  Some agencies want to know how the plot is resolved by the end of this paragraph so be sure to read each agency's specific guidelines and requirements.  The third paragraph can be a short blurb about yourself or your writing career/credentials, but whatever you write make sure that it ties in with what you're submitting.  For instance, don't talk about being a 40-year-old mother of two unless the book has something to do with that.

There's a lot of information out there.  Some people are confused about the difference and so the information might seem confusing.  One website described a cover letter with the exact specifics of a query letter, which prompted me to investigate further.  My advice is to research research research and then research some more until you feel confident enough with the information you've gathered.


Note:  There's also a difference between submitting materials to an agent versus submitting materials to a publisher so be sure to look for those specifics also.  Again, read the submission guidelines and criteria of the agency you are submitting to carefully and thoroughly.

 Best of luck to you all!

(Recommended reading:  Writer's Market 2010: Novel and Short Story Writers)

Pre-writing

One of my favorite pre-writing exercises to do is a character profile.  I like character profiles because it gives me a chance to get to know my character 100% and flesh him/her out so that they are as real and tangible as possible.

When I began writing The Mechanical Room, I knew I had three main characters definitely--John Noah (my protagonist), Penn Wolfgang, and Kade Strongarm (my antagonist).  I began writing the character profiles for each, detailing their likes/dislikes, age, birth marks, sense of humor, parents, spouse, etc. etc.

I did all of this before I started the novel.  Of course, once I started writing I realized I had more characters to delve into and eventually I wrote a few other character profiles.

Here are some of the basics that my character profiles cover:

Age
Height
Weight
Eye Color
Hair Color
Date of Birth
Birth Place
Scars/Handicap
Education
Work
Best Friend
Marital Status
Enemies
Parents
Present Problem
Character Traits
Humor
Ambitions
Philosophy
Favorite Colors
Pastimes
Dress
Hobbies

After I've answered all of these things about my character I usually feel quite satisfied with the layers of their personality.  Test it on yourself just for fun... fill out all of these sections about yourself to see how much it covers.


(Recommended reading:  Writing Fiction: A Guide To Narrative Craft by Janet Burroway)

Writing Your Novel

People often ask, "How did you manage to find the time to write a novel?"  A lot of people want to write something but feel like they don't have the time or energy to do it.  

Let's look at my situation.  I live alone in a small apartment.  I have a 13-year-old cat who sleeps most of the day.  I have no cable/satellite television and no home phone line.

Now, for those of you who actually have a life, you probably have a lot more to distract you at home.  Some people have children, husbands/wives or boyfriends/girlfriends, roommates, social obligations, pestering relatives, young energetic pets, and let's not forget TiVo and/or DVR.

When it's not convenient to run to the nearest library, then you have to knuckle down and create your creative environment.  Most writers need a nice quiet place to let their creative thoughts flow.  The most important part of writing a novel is WRITING!  So turn off the television, send the kids to see their grandparents or wait until they're at school, set a schedule and let it be known to your nagging relatives or club/party hopping friends that during this time you are absolutely UNAVAILABLE. 

As far as the writing goes, I couldn't give a better piece of advice than this... write for yourself.  During my writing process, I found that if I ever stopped to think about whether or not someone or some imaginary audience would like what I was writing, then it would immediately cause me stress.  Stress is a creativity killer.  Write your story for yourself... Tolkien did it, Terry Goodkind does it, it's a sure way to guarantee you will at least finish your novel because you will be doing it for the most important person in your universe.

How do you write terminally ill?

A few people have asked me, "how do you write," and then they'll either ask about the different races and cultures in the book or about my main character. In particular, some wonder how do you write the terminally ill if you aren't terminally ill yourself. Well, if you think about, we're all headed there... some of us a little slower than others, but in the end we all kick the same bucket.

I take what is, and I multiply it to get the sense of failing health and the depression that comes along with it. If writers know one thing it's depression, and man do I have lots of it! I'm broke and struggling every month just to make ends meet.  Normally I would sort of just sulk in this negative form of thinking, but thankfully I had my novel to pour it all out on.  I mean, it was a blessing in disguise.  I was able to tap into the emotions I felt and apply it to my character who had just lost the love of his life and didn't know how to go on, or is even certain if he wants to go on at all.

So yeah, my character has this great tone to him right from the beginning of the novel.  He's rude, inconsiderate, and just plain mean sometimes.  My friend Rachel would say, "sounds a lot like you," (haha) and occasionally she'd be right.  Then you see how hurt this guy, John, is and how much he loved life and felt so betrayed by it.  He really doesn't hate living.  He hates the unseen force that is life or rather death, but he doesn't distinguish between the two.

I mean if you've ever had the feeling that you just couldn't catch a break in life... bam!  That's John Noah... the poor guy.  You can't help but feel sorry for him. You want to help him.  You want to root for him, but at the same time you want to just watch and see what he does because he makes some interesting choices that makes you wonder, would I do the same?

Introducing The Mechanical Room

Welcome to my adventure!  I set out on this journey several years ago.  I was working for a non-profit in Santa Monica, California and while I was using the bathroom I saw a door to a room in front of me.  I looked up and on the door was a sign that read "The Mechanical Room," and I thought that's funny, who would put a room inside of a bathroom stall?  Then I began to wonder what was on the other side of that door, and my imagination took over.

This is the point where my mother would say, "oh boy, we know what a crazy imagination you have," and it's true I do have a crazy imagination.  I have always loved fantasy and science fiction.  I think it's partly due to my tendency to escape reality and what better place to escape to other than a fantastical one?

My imagination, sitting on the toilet and staring at that door, allowed a spark of creativity.  The spark gave birth to a novel that I am very proud of.  I wrote The Mechanical Room over a span of a couple years.  The bulk of it I wrote after being fired from my job... nothing better to do, why not write a novel!?  It was the perfect escape.

THE MECHANICAL ROOM combines elements of both science fiction and fantasy.  My main character, John Noah, is dying from a terminal illness that over half of the human population suffers from called Miller's Disease.  In the year 2109, the autoimmune illness Miller's Disease claims a 100% mortality rate. John, however, is resistant to it.  Doctors desperately try to convince him to volunteer for an experimental treatment, but John refuses.  He has recently lost his wife to the disease and couldn't care less whether he lives or dies.  As John's health deteriorates, his employers feel it is in his best interest to terminate his position.  On John's last day of work, he investigates strange noises coming from a room inside a bathroom stall.  Feeling his way through the dark room, he stumbles and falls through a gaping hole in the floor.  He wakes up in a fantastical world and soon realizes he is literally in for the fight of his life.


I know there are many of you out there who are going through trying times.  I encourage everyone to explore their creative side and turn something negative into something positive.  This is not just my journey, but a journey for all like me who dare to turn their dreams into a reality.


Here I hope to chronicle my writing process and my tireless efforts to get published.  My goal is to obtain a literary agent within the next six months.  I then plan to be published by the end of 2010.

So, let's get started!  Wish me luck!