Creating My Antagonist

So after many months of pondering, I have finally put together a plausible and tangible antagonist for my book "Dis-Ease" (working title).  My protagonists are average citizens turned mental patients thanks to some of the side-effects of their cure.  However, Jacob, my main character, is out to prove to the world that the government is wrong and that these people are not crazy but possess special gifts.  As much as I hate writing politics it makes perfect sense that the antagonist be some kind of government authority or interest group.  The Food and Drug Administration or the Department of Health (which oversees that agency) would be what I was shooting for, and I would create a character who leads the efforts to suppress media coverage.  The goal of my protagonists are to expose the truth on national television and broadcast to the world what's really going on with the cure for Miller's Disease.  Think John Carpenter's "They Live" minus aliens and a brainwashing satellite signal.

A Series is Born

After writing my previous blog entry "Prequels and Sequels: Are Series More Successful?" I took a great deal of time (about 5 months hehe) to think through and weigh out my options for creating a series out of my novel "The Mechanical Room."  I wanted to see if it were even possible to string together the ideas, plots, and stories from the other novels I had formulated, and it turned out to be very possible.

Having painstakingly gone over the story line of the potential series, I found myself writing the second book (sequel to "The Mechanical Room") in my head already.  My sister once asked me about my writing methods and I told her... "When I feel compelled to write, when it's not an option, but a need... when I HAVE to get whatever is in my head out... that's when I know I've got something," and such is the case with this new novel.  I am currently in the pre-writing stages, but I am excited to add to my world and give my character John Noah a bigger role to play, though he will not be the main character in the sequels.  That is my writing style... I tend to have more than one main character because I believe, in life, we all have a part to play and everyone has a story to tell... no one person can do anything alone, though the stubborn may try.

And so the Side Effects series by Nevada Wolf is born (No relation to the 1994-1996 Canadian hospital themed dramatic television series, which I've never seen or heard of before... thank goodness for Google). The first book is "The Mechanical Room," which will be followed by "Dis-Ease" (working title).

Tiiiiiiiiiiiiiiired!

Never try to write, or do anything for that matter, when you are on the verge of collapsing into your keyboard.  I have been working too much lately at my job and haven't had a chance to take a break.  I took some time off a while ago and I think I felt a bit guilty about that because I had just started (within my first 3 months) and already I was taking 5 days off.  So now I've been trying to go as long and as hard as I can ("that's what she said").  The problem is of course sleep deprivation.  I know some writers can function, but really how much quality can you possibly produce?  Doesn't the average human being need at least five hours of sleep?

We had an event Saturday and then another event yesterday (Tuesday) and I didn't get very much sleep either nights.  I come home, check some emails, get on the phone, read up on some articles (not in that order) and try to figure out what to wear for these events.  I never realized how important it was to own a suit until now.  I have been giving my co-workers fair warning that I may collapse at any time so keep an ear out for a thud of some kind.  Seriously, it's that bad... the kind of tired where you are nodding off every 5-10 seconds and when you turn corners you feel your body going a liiiitle too far in that direction.  When I get like this, my fingers don't move across the keyboard as fast or as smoothly, my words end up backwards and jumbled.  I am struggling to write this post.  I need to just sleep!  However, there's no rest to be had, at least not yet.  I still need to sit down and read my novel!!!

Prequels and Sequels: Are Series More Successful?

The thought came to me the other day, as I was watching something... I can't remember exactly what I was watching, but I remember something that stood out to me.  I remember considering taking part of my novel and turning it into a prequel, and then followed by a series that I came up with a while ago.  The series was going to be a stand alone series based on a totally different storyline and in a different setting and everything.  However, one moment it hit me... BAM!  Why not tie all three together?  It seems to me that the most successful stories tend to be those told in a series of some kind.  I'm not saying that single, one-off, one-shot novels aren't successful, but I do see a trend and in the publishing business trends are important to take note of.

As a creative writer, we have to go with the flow of things and pump out those creative juices in large quantities and wrap it all in a nice little package for the masses to consume.  I'm not sure if mine will be too much of a mind trip for people to handle... it's a pretty trippy rabbit hole I'd be taking my readers down, but guaranteed to entertain I think.  Originally, I had a flashback sequence at the end of my story that took the reader back to relive the story but from another perspective in quick sequences.  I think this might be confusing however, and I've been thinking of ways to clean it up.

Well, I'm considering it and I love the idea especially since it gives me an opportunity to cut down that 100,000+ word count that I have now!  Yikes!  I know, I know, I get it from my mother... bless her heart!  Sometimes we can be a bit long winded.

It also gets me excited an enthusiastic about sitting down and writing again which is very important if you read any of my previous posts on motivation and inspiration.  I love the novel as it is, don't get me wrong, but I think it might work better if I take out some of the confusing bits and pieces that could stand alone as a prequel and help set up the story arch.  What I plan to do is to read the novel through once and then determine if it flows or not.

REJECTION!!!!

Every true writer experiences rejection of some kind or another.  I don't think the reality of writing would be as conscious for me if it were not for this part of the process, and we all go through it and you know I think if you take it in strides it can really make you a stronger writer.

So far I have received two rejection letters from two separate agencies.  Neither one of them provided any tips, pointers, advice, or anything really.  Just the generic, "thank you for submitting... we will not be accepting your work at this time... the decision making process it a difficult one... we thank you for submitting... etc. etc."

I would honestly prefer to have some constructive criticism and that way I walk away with something for my time.  Both agencies took longer than advertised to reply and longer than Writer's Market indicated in their books.  Patience, however, is a writer's greatest virtue I believe, and so I continued to wait.

Now, with rejection comes hope.  I am strangely excited that my work is being considered at all and has human eyeballs scanning the pages reading MY WORDS!!  Words by Nevada Wolf!  The other part is that I am aware of the luck factor involved in the submission process and perhaps I wasn't lucky this time around, but who knows.  I will submit to other agencies and one of them might happen to be going through something at the moment and my story may reach out to them and beckon them to invest in me as a new author.

The main thing I want you all to walk away with is never give up.  Keep writing.  Keep submitting.  Every writer that has a book on the shelf isn't necessarily the most "talented" and certainly not "perfect."  They just happen to give people what they want and need in that moment and in that time.  Some stories are timeless and touch every generation.  So let it come from your heart and no matter what... don't quit! I guarantee you your story will touch an audience and that audience will forever be YOUR audience.

Never Change YOUR Style

This came to me the other day as I was thinking about how competitive the writing market is.  When I thought about how competitive things are and how much agents and publishers would like for you to change some things to be more marketable, it occurred to me how easy it is to interpret that as changing your style.  Style is very important.  There really is no right or wrong; there are styles, preferences, and tastes.  Every book will have an audience.  There are some books out there on the shelves that I wonder how did they ever get published that other people absolutely LOVE and adore.  There are other books that are widely acclaimed and received that I just can't get into. 

My sister is an excellent storyteller.  She starts out with a hook to grab your interest so that whatever comes next, you are willing to sit through just to get to that end.  She throws in enough humor and drama to keep you entertained to the end.  My mother tends to be more long-winded in her stories and explanations and will exaggerate the truth of the actual occurrences to create drama to keep you interested, and most importantly she enjoys her own stories.  I tend to rush through things.  I am so excited about revealing the big twist and surprise at the end of my story that I rush through the details to get to the end.  My stories tend to be vivid and complex and provoke thought, and a lot of times I can easily lose my audience if I get too technical without the detailed explanations.

Now, if you gave my mother, sister, and I the same story to tell... we would each tell it in a different way.  We all share the memory of how our mother scared the crap out of us one Halloween when we were younger.  My mother's version involves us breaking rules and deserving a good scare.  My sister's version involves a note giving us permission to trick-or-treat, and our cunning mother switching off the electricity so that we'd be in complete darkness when we returned home.  My version involves me being the foolish hero and volunteering to inspect the thumping and bumping in the darkness and jumping ten feet back, knocking everyone over, when our mother finally revealed herself, face painted white, shouting "It's Halloween!"  The other details I would probably rush through to get to that point as I did in the previous sentence (a long one, I know).

I like to foreshadow, switch perspectives, and focus on relationships between characters.  I particularly don't believe in there being one "hero" because that, to me, is not realistic or as thrilling as the combining of forces and strengths to overcome obstacles and challenges... that's just my style.  Is it as marketable as the hero on a journey who comes into power?  Probably not, but the market is ever changing, and not to mention there's always the possibility that someone can come along and set a new standard in the market.

So here's the bottom line... stick to your style!  Write for your self!  If you love what you write then chances are others will too.  Will you have as many in your audience as J.K. Rowling or Stephen King?  Who knows.  Such thoughts can stop productivity and creativity.  If you immerse yourself in your world, then you will never be lost because you know your world like no other.  If they suggest changes... make the changes, but don't change your style.  Style separates you from everyone else.  How many times did Rowling get rejected?  How many times did Tolkien think people wouldn't read what he wrote?  But that never stopped them and they put a bit of themselves, as storytellers and as human beings, in every word... let us all do the same.

Now They Tell Me!

Okay, so back in December is when I submitted my various materials to these agencies for review.  I am almost 1,000% positive that at the time they preferred, no... required, SNAIL MAIL only.  Now, I go to their websites to check for any updating news and here's what a lot of them say now:

I hesitated about publishing this post, as agency secrets are best when kept, you know, secrets. Nonetheless, I decided that there was enough personal interest here to warrant filling in y'all weary (and wary) authors to a few suggestions. You may be asking yourself, "Should I email my query, or should I snail mail it?" Well, the answer is a resounding Email.  
(http://linnprentisliterary.blogspot.com/)

Now they tell me!  I worked really hard to print out all of those materials... chapters, query letters, synopsis, etc.  Revising them over and over and over and over again driving everyone insane who I had critique them (thanks Mom, Raqui, and Kia).  Now, it turns out I could've just emailed them... great!  No wonder they have not responded.  But still, if I sent a SASE with my submission then they should reply... or at least that would be the idea.

Sigh... oh well, I will have to call them and find out what is the fate of my materials... if they have been reviewed and replied to or if they're lying somewhere at the bottom of a waste basket.  Meanwhile the new job is going well except I'm not allowed to do what I specialize in.

But hey, I still have my buddy (my cat) Sam, my health, my Xbox 360, and Domino's Philly Cheese Steak Pizza... ah, ain't life grand?

Back In The Saddle

Whew... I don't know what has been going around lately but it sure got to me.  I caught a cold at the beginning of last week that totally knocked me out of commission for a few days.  I hadn't been sick in a long time (I even "knocked on wood" whenever I said that statement), but I figured I was about due for a cold.  Luckily for me it was just a cold and not the flu or anything.  I stayed in bed as much as possible watching episodes of Keeping Up With The Kardashians and as many movies as I could get my hands on.

Still no word yet from any of the agencies I submitted my query letter and materials to, but it is to be expected.  I will continue to be patient and hopeful.  I'm still waiting for the revision juice to flow back through me... I feel a bit burned out still especially now after having this cold. 

I still have a few agencies that I want to submit to, but first I wanted to see what the feedback might be from this first group.  I want to see if they all have the same feedback and maybe I just have some general changes to make or if the feedback will vary.

Does anyone know if agencies have more or less of a tendency to lose your materials if you submit them via email versus snail mail?  My concern about email submissions is of course junk mail filters.  I submitted via snail mail to three agencies but I did an email submission to one back in November and haven't heard anything since then.

Welcome To The New Year

Back to work, for those of us fortunate enough to have a job, and for those of us who are less fortunate it is back to job hunting.  Either way, we welcome a new year with new goals to accomplish.

At the beginning of every year I start a new journal.  I look back on my journals of 2009 and I see all of the things I'd set out to accomplish... the trials and tribulations.

One of my main goals was to finish my novel.  Now, in the past I'd said that every year... "This year I want to finish my novel by June... July... November," and so on and so forth.  I think I had that goal for at least two years.  However, 2009 was the year I would finally see it through and I honestly attribute part of the accomplishment to the support I received from my friends (Thanks Rachel!  You're the best!).

My goal for this year is to get my novel published (this is me shooting for the moon), or at least make significant progress in that direction (and here are my stars in case I miss hehe).

I have a printed version of my manuscript finally (thanks mother!), which is a good solid 375 pages.  I will begin reading it through soon once the January rush settles down for me a bit.

I hope to hear something from the agencies I submitted to.  I mailed my materials to them December 9, 2009.  January 9, 2010 will mark the fourth week they've had them.  I'm supposed to give it up to six weeks for a few of the agencies, and I know some of them take longer.  In the meantime I have lots of work to do and I have to not be so lazy about doing them... I have a mission to accomplish!  Let nothing and no one stop you from achieving your goals!