A week ago today I was watching the sunset as I waited in line to cross the border back into Canada. I just kept reflecting on what a great weekend I had at the PNWA conference. Not only did it allow me to validate myself as a writer but I got to meet with like-minded people and spend 72 hours just talking about writing. I was able to give feedback, which made me think how I could make my own pitch and story better, and get feedback, which is something I constantly long for.
I learned the importance of a strong synopsis and how it differs from a query. A query letter has the hook, the book, and the cook. A synopsis should concisely tell the story without any long-windedness. The agents on the panel also discussed some of the things they like seen avoided, and I was surprised to find many of them don't want to know the ending! They'd rather the synopsis establish the story and leave it off on a cliffhanger with all major plot points intact. A synopsis uses active voice, must never have a wasted word, does not need emotion and should never have a rhetorical question! Well, I immediately went home and rewrote everything my synopsis was.
The character development panel was sort of interesting because the panelist gave good examples but most of what he said was not new to me. I did, however, like how he separated character development into three categories. The police report gives the reader basic description, how they dress and defining features. The military report dives deeper into skill level, education, what they can/can't do, quirks and beliefs seen from the outside. And the psychological report describes the character's fears, dreams and the way their background shapes their present.
One panel I hadn't expected to attend was the one about memoir writing. I felt a little nervous entering the room for most of the attendees had a few decades on me and the look of those who had a story to tell. I'm just shy of three decades and have a mere experience I want to write about not a whole life. Still, the panelist was extremely inspiring and backed up everything he was saying with a beautiful piece he had written about him and learning about his son's autism. It was so real and believable everyone applauded. It was worth going just to hear him read! According to him, a memoir is writing about a correction to perception. It should have the reader asking what will happen next. Every scene should begin with a disturbing event, and by that he meant, an event that disturbs the peace. A passive scene does not an interesting story make. And the most important thing I walked away with was, always know why you are telling your story.
Probably the most useful panel was my last one: Cleaning up your Manuscript. Proofreading is so difficult... I now know, after attending the panel, that I should get my hands on a copy of 'The Gregg Reference Manual' by William A. Sabin. It is the highest standard of grammar used and the one all other style books branch off of. I also now know that when I create a list--Sarah likes to write, read, and ride horses, a comma is used after every listed thing or else I'd be implying that I can both read and ride horses, of which I kinda can but not in the sense I am going for! My teachers always taught me you did not need a comma before and. Who knew? Anyway, I also finally put to rest whether I had to capitalize 'the empress' or not and if I needed the additional S after 'the priestess's.' And the final thought I walked away with: You don't want them to read your writing, you want them to read your story.
All and all it was a real success and I ended up meeting with some fantastic editors and agents who I hope I will one day get to work with. Then came the hard part. After all the excitement of having my material requested, I had to actually follow through and provide it. A part of me wanted to just keep it for myself. If I never sent it I would never be rejected. But that wouldn't be very fearless or writery of me so I threw my story to the wind and am hoping it lands right where it belongs.
Saturday, July 26, 2014
Friday, July 18, 2014
Writing instead of just dreaming
My writer's block was cured! One day, quite suddenly the words began to freely pour out on to paper again. I actually forgot I was even suffering from a block at all until I visited my blog and was reminded of it in my last post. So maybe writer's block is a thing. Or maybe I was just experiencing a prolonged period of laziness. Or maybe just maybe it was the 2014 Pacific Northwest Writer's Association Conference that kicked me into gear.
Four years ago I finished my first book. It was amazing and brilliant. It was going to take the YA world by storm and change the way people thought about life, the universe and everything. Or, it was going to be met with a little bit of interest, a few polite words of praise and then go on to collect dust and become a perfect reminder that one must walk before they run. I will never regret a) writing that first book and b) attending the 2010 conference because it taught me way more than just sitting around dreaming about being a writer ever could. I learned I'd need an agent, a platform, a query and a synopsis. That I'd need to actually write a few drafts of my novel before flinging it out there and that I'd need to have a good reason to write that book.
Fast forward to present day, a few manuscripts and hours and hours of research later I feel The Sky Empress is in much better shape and ready to see the light of day. Hopefully so will some of the people I met today. Today at the conference it was all about putting the last four years together: all the studying, all the edits, all the books I've written since. Today felt kind of like the test after a four year long class. Hopefully I passed.
Trying to sum it all up into some sort of moral for this blog post and all I can really think about is this warm glowing feeling of success. Going to conferences is about learning the craft and business, meeting new people, making connections, learning how to tell your story in a few lines and presenting yourself about a writer but it is also about gaining confidence. More than anything I think today made me feel like I was a real writer and I needed that. Being surrounded by hundreds of people dedicated to writing felt so wonderful and to simply be able to turn to someone and just begin talking about something I have such a passion for was inspiring. I guess what I'm trying to say is conferences are an amazing learning tool but they're also a way to reaffirm yourself as a writer. Because you are. The minute you stop just dreaming and starting writing is the day you are a writer.
Four years ago I finished my first book. It was amazing and brilliant. It was going to take the YA world by storm and change the way people thought about life, the universe and everything. Or, it was going to be met with a little bit of interest, a few polite words of praise and then go on to collect dust and become a perfect reminder that one must walk before they run. I will never regret a) writing that first book and b) attending the 2010 conference because it taught me way more than just sitting around dreaming about being a writer ever could. I learned I'd need an agent, a platform, a query and a synopsis. That I'd need to actually write a few drafts of my novel before flinging it out there and that I'd need to have a good reason to write that book.
Fast forward to present day, a few manuscripts and hours and hours of research later I feel The Sky Empress is in much better shape and ready to see the light of day. Hopefully so will some of the people I met today. Today at the conference it was all about putting the last four years together: all the studying, all the edits, all the books I've written since. Today felt kind of like the test after a four year long class. Hopefully I passed.
Trying to sum it all up into some sort of moral for this blog post and all I can really think about is this warm glowing feeling of success. Going to conferences is about learning the craft and business, meeting new people, making connections, learning how to tell your story in a few lines and presenting yourself about a writer but it is also about gaining confidence. More than anything I think today made me feel like I was a real writer and I needed that. Being surrounded by hundreds of people dedicated to writing felt so wonderful and to simply be able to turn to someone and just begin talking about something I have such a passion for was inspiring. I guess what I'm trying to say is conferences are an amazing learning tool but they're also a way to reaffirm yourself as a writer. Because you are. The minute you stop just dreaming and starting writing is the day you are a writer.
Thursday, July 3, 2014
Is this writer's block?
I'm not sure if I believe in writer's block or not. I have had times of feeling uninspired and times where I'm just being down right lazy but I never excused it as writer's block. Now I'm not so sure.
Lately writing hasn't just been hard for me, it's been unpleasant. When I sit down to write usually it's like letting a race horse free. Like all the times I'm not writing, I'm holding back the prancing thoroughbred in my mind. Then, I sit down at my laptop or with my notebook and lean forward letting the horse go. Suddenly I'm not collected anymore, I'm racing, unable to keep up with my thoughts, my words spill out on the page, galloping out of control. But not lately. Lately it's like there is an old draft horse in my mind that would rather be left out in pasture than plod about meaninglessly in the riding ring.
Even now I find myself stopping to stare out the window, pet my cat and pick my fingernails. Anything that keeps me from putting words to paper. I don't know why I can't break this block. I've done all the usual things: gone for walks, taken a good book to the beach, went horse-back riding, sat in my favourite coffee shop to people watch and flip through my old material but still when it comes to write I just don't want to.
And then comes the doubt. "You can't be a writer," the little voice says. "This will all be for nothing." "You'll never be published." With the absence of the muse comes the presence of insecurity. It would be easy enough to say I just write for me because it's fun and enjoyable but the truth will always be: I want to be an author. I want to make a career of this and be published in book stores so I can go and pick up a physical copy of my book and not just flip through the pages that thus far only exist in the digital. I want to go on book tours and tell aspiring writers that the road is rough but with enough time, energy and gumption everyone can achieve their dreams. I suppose I most want to be published because I want to have validation that dreams come true.
But before all that I must write.
Because as Lawrence Block said in 1981, "One thing that helps is to give myself permission to write badly. I tell myself that I'm going to do my five or 10 pages no matter what, and that I can always tear them up the following morning if I want. I'll have lost nothing--writing and tearing up pages would leave me no further behind than if I took the day off."
Lately writing hasn't just been hard for me, it's been unpleasant. When I sit down to write usually it's like letting a race horse free. Like all the times I'm not writing, I'm holding back the prancing thoroughbred in my mind. Then, I sit down at my laptop or with my notebook and lean forward letting the horse go. Suddenly I'm not collected anymore, I'm racing, unable to keep up with my thoughts, my words spill out on the page, galloping out of control. But not lately. Lately it's like there is an old draft horse in my mind that would rather be left out in pasture than plod about meaninglessly in the riding ring.
Even now I find myself stopping to stare out the window, pet my cat and pick my fingernails. Anything that keeps me from putting words to paper. I don't know why I can't break this block. I've done all the usual things: gone for walks, taken a good book to the beach, went horse-back riding, sat in my favourite coffee shop to people watch and flip through my old material but still when it comes to write I just don't want to.
And then comes the doubt. "You can't be a writer," the little voice says. "This will all be for nothing." "You'll never be published." With the absence of the muse comes the presence of insecurity. It would be easy enough to say I just write for me because it's fun and enjoyable but the truth will always be: I want to be an author. I want to make a career of this and be published in book stores so I can go and pick up a physical copy of my book and not just flip through the pages that thus far only exist in the digital. I want to go on book tours and tell aspiring writers that the road is rough but with enough time, energy and gumption everyone can achieve their dreams. I suppose I most want to be published because I want to have validation that dreams come true.
But before all that I must write.
Because as Lawrence Block said in 1981, "One thing that helps is to give myself permission to write badly. I tell myself that I'm going to do my five or 10 pages no matter what, and that I can always tear them up the following morning if I want. I'll have lost nothing--writing and tearing up pages would leave me no further behind than if I took the day off."
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