Rejection Letters

Image via WikipediaAccording to wikipedia, there are exactly four types of rejection letters: literary, job, college, and romantic. Under the banner of literary rejection, there are four versions that are as follows:

1. The Non-Existant Rejection--this rejection offers no proof of life, but it's still very real. Haven't heard from an agency 10 years after sending them your query? Yep, you've got a case of the "Non-Existant Rejection."

2. The Personalized Rejection--while this rejection has a bit of flair; they might have called out some of the best parts of your submission, encouraged you to keep trying, or suggested helpful alterations, it is still rejection none-the-less. It might sting a little, but at least you've got those little comments to ease the burn.

3. The Mass Printed Letter--this rejection will have zero reference to you or your particular submission other than the fact that it's just not right for the agency or publisher. Instead of your name, words like "writer" will be thrown around willy nilly.

4. The Standard Form Letter--now this little gem I have personal experience with. Yesterday I received my first rejection letter, and while I was expecting it, I can't say that I was pleased. This letter is clearly used on a daily basis by the agency, but they did have the decency to cut and paste my name into the salutation.

Now here's the evidence of my indoctrination into the world of the struggling author. I've provided it for you all to see in the hopes that it will prepare you as well as encourage you, because although I have been rejected...sigh, I haven't given up hope. Hey, at least it isn't a "Romantic" rejection letter...I hear those are brutal :)

All right, here she is, the first rejection for The Other Side of the Glass. It's short, sweet, to the point, and currently resides on my fridge:

Dear Jacey,


Thank you so much for writing to me about your project. I read and


consider each query carefully and while yours is not exactly what I am


looking for, I would certainly encourage you to keep trying.

Take a Break!

Image via WikipediaTaking a break from putting together your agency contact list? Good! Take a minute every now and then to breath, read a book, write, or just have fun!

Here's a  website you can go to to kill time while doing one of my favorite things, MadLibs!

http://www.madglibs.com/

Here's one I made today :)

Dear School Nurse:


Silicone Clayton will not be attending school today. He/she has come down with a case of measles and has horrible doors and a red fever. We have made an appointment with the swollen Dr. supercilious, who studied for many years in home and has thirty degrees in pediatrics. He will send you all the information you need. Thank you!

Sincerely

Mrs. round.

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Focus Group Audio Example

Last week I posted a little background information about setting up focus groups and just how helpful they can be. Well, today, I thought I would go ahead and post an edited bit of audio from the focus group I conducted. I recorded the entire interview and discussion, which was really helpful to me personally, but I have provided a small sample here showing just how helpful it can be.

It was amazing to get feedback, and even more exciting to realize that someone could actually be interested in my writing. The whole process turned out to be incredibly motivating.

Feedback Via Focus Groups

Image by Nebraska Library Commission via Flickr

Aside from my own immediate family, aka my younger sister, my eyes have been the only set that have glanced at the pages of my novel thus far. As it turns out, this fact has proven to be both good and bad. For one, since it is my first book, I haven't had to deal with the dreaded negative feedback that so often compels writers to cease writing. One the other hand however, I haven't had a chance to hear any feedback at all. Not positive encouraging feedback, or even helpful hints that could make my novel better.

So, with an anxious mind and a heavy heart, I set out to remedy those issues by setting up a focus group. The concept of a focus group is a pretty simple one, and it really can be set up in a variety of ways. the route
I chose to take involved a round-table gathering of sorts with a small group of individuals I felt would be a part of my target market. The results, or the conversation, that evolved from this meeting will be posted a little later on this week, but I have to tell you it was extremely helpful. Not only did I find myself surrounded by a group of people who were actually interested in reading my book, but I also discovered several aspects of my story that needed just a little more explanation.

To organize your own focus group, here are a few possible ideas/ guidelines you could follow:

1. Choose a format.
Will you be present? Will you give them a copy of your manuscript in advance? Will you all meet formally or will your focus group involve a questionnaire given online? After you answer these questions you should be ready for number two.

2. Choose/Gather your participants.
At this point you should consider the type of individuals you will involve in your group, as well as how you will reach them. This can involve anything from calling local book clubs to flacing fliers in book stores and libraries. Your methods are up to you, but if you choose to utilize a lier as advertisement for your event, be sure to include contact information for yourself as well as the qualifications you've decided upon based on your target market.

3. Create your materials.
Next you will need to create or gather the materials you will need to conduct your focus group. If you plan to give each member a copy of your manuscript you will need to provide copies. Also, I highly reccommend a timeline or series of questions created in advance to help facilitate the event and keep it moving smoothly and efficiently. For my event, I planned to read portions of my manuscript  aloud and let the group discussion evolve from there. I also had a series of questions to ask participants on hand in case the discussion got off topic (as is very possible when dealing with younger individuals and even adults).

4. Set up meeting time.
After finding all of the indivduals that are willing and able to take part in your focus group, I suggest finding a common time that works for them all. This demonstrates the importance of maintaining a file of participants and their contact information. Incentives for participation may also be utilized if you are having trouble gathering participants.

5. Conduct your focus group (record the event).
This is the easy, and by far, most exhilarating part of the whole process. On the day and time you've chosen to meet, get right down to business. An introduction is definitely a good idea, but keep it short. Also allow for a short icebreaker at the beginning to get participants comfortable with one another. I also HIGHLY recommend that you record the event in some way. Options for recording include simply taking notes, or even using and audio or video recorder. No matter the method you choose, make sure you have the permission of your participants, and if the participants are minors, you need the permission of their parents.

6. Compile your data/ make adjustments to your work as you see fit.
After the event, give yourself a day or two to digest all that you've learned before making any changes to your work. After this buffer period has ended, examine your recordings or notes and highlight or take note of the pertinent responses and advice. Remember, even if you don't agree with someone's opinion, you should serioulsy consider what they've said. Afterall, this sampling of individuals is representing the greater population of individuals who will or won't choose to read your book.

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Character Development Exercise

So it's time for another activity suggestion courtesy of me! I am constantly on the look out for projects or activities that might help me improve or encourage my writing, and I thought of one a while ago, but just got a chance to try it out this week.

The concept is pretty simple and involves taking pictures  throughout your day while jotting down a few quick notes at each location. For me, it involved taking my camera on campus  and taking pictures while I traveled to and from classes. At the end of the day I uploaded my pictures and used my notes for each one to create a mini storyline. I used the character analysis I had already done  to basically re-write my day in terms of a main character. Essentially, describe your day as though a character of yours lived it instead of you.

To Recap:
1. Take pictures throughout the day.
2. Jot down notes  of what you were doing, thinking, etc. at that point.
3. Upload pictures and review your notes
4. Last, and probably most fun, re-write your day as though one of your characters lived it instead.

Good luck, and I really hope you give it a try because it was actually fun!

(I took all of these photos today, and the captions included are the portions of text from my re-write. Because I couldn't fit much else into the captions, here are a couple things you should know:
-The only building photographed is University Hall on BGSU's campus.
-The rest of the images were taken in my apartment building and the local cemetary, which happens to be right in the middle of campus.)

That being said, here's my day as if it were lived by Brina Claramund, my main character:



Having trouble seeing the full captions? The click HERE .

How To Show Instead of Tell

I haven't had much time lately for leisurely reading, but over the weekend I picked up my copy of  F. Scott Fitzgerald's The Great Gatsby and was reminded just how powerful good descriptive writing can be. Absolutely nothing Fitzgerald writes about is a prop or remains motionless. Every door creaks, light glows, windows harbor loitering individuals, etc. Reading his words makes you feel as though you are walking through the streets of New York alongside his narrator .

Keys to impressively descriptive writing like Fitzgerald's include, aside from practice, imagining yourself as a part of what is happening. If you were there, how would it unfold, by using this technique while writing down each and every step of the action you can create an environment that pulls your readers in. Also, something I've already discussed , use your characters wisely. Don't merely tell us what or how they are manuevering in your world, use detailed descriptions as well as the actions of your characters so show us.

The best way to achieve successful and immersive description is to utilize the five senses. The human brain  is incredibly complex, and something as simple as a mention of a particular scent can bring to mind a flurry of memories, sensations, feelings, and emotional reactions. This sense-memory  is only one example, and to reach your readers you should employ similar methods. So describe a scene based on the sights as well as the smells, sounds, and even tastes it encompasses.

Below is the example from The Great Gatsby that exemplifies descriptive writing at its best.So, read, enjoy, and feel free to share your favorite descriptive paragraphs.

I began to like New York, the racy, adventurous feel of it at night and the satisfaction that the constant flicker of men and women and machines gives to the restless eye. I like to walk up Fifth Avenue and pick out romantic women from the crowd and imagine that in a few minutes I was going to enter their lives, and no one would ever know or disapprove. Sometimes, in my mind, I followed them to their apartments on the corners of hidden streets, and they turned and smiled back at me before they faded through a door into warm darkness. At the enchanted metropolitan twilight I felt a haunting loneliness sometimes, and felt it in others--poor young clerks who loitered in front of windows waiting until it was time for the solitary restaurant dinner-- young clerks in the dusk, wasting the most poignant moments of night and life.


Again at eight o’clock, when the dark lanes of the Forties were five deep with throbbing taxi cabs, bound for the theatre district, I felt a sinking in my heart. Forms leaned together in the taxis as they waited, and voices sang, and there was laughter from unheard jokes, and lighted cigarettes outlined unintelligible gestures inside. Imagining that I, too, was hurrying toward gaiety and sharing their intimate excitement, I wished them well.

Tools to Combat Writer's Block

Image via Wikipedia

Whether you've just started writing or have been writing for years, writer's block is an affliction that very few writers are immune to. It creeps up when you least expect it, and not even the best planning can prevent it. You might know exactly where you want your character to end up, but at some point between their start and achieving those goals, you may find yourself stumped.

There are several remedies available to sufferers of writer's block if you take the time to dig around, but here is a compilation of a few of the most common cures that are thought to be most helpful:

1. When in doubt, take the last portion you have written and try writing it from a new perspective. Sometimes changing the narrator, point of view, time, or setting can be just enough to create a spark that will get your writing back on track.

2. Make a change in your own scenery. Step away from the computer screen and pick up a notebook and pen or go to a local library or park to write.

3. Take a movie break. This is one of my personal favorites and whenever I just can't seem to figure out where my story should go next I pop in a DVD and get lost in someone else's story. Most of the time I try to pick a movie that is completely different from what I am working on, but no matter what movie, there is something inspiring and rejuvenating about watching a story through from start to finish.

4. Write something else. Finish an entry in your journal or write an email, just keep writing until you get back into the flow of things.

5. Take a walk or do some exercise. Set your work aside and take a stroll to clear your mind or think about your story without trying too hard. Sometimes the writer's instict is to overreact after hitting a wall and just like any other muscle, overworking the brain can cause a sprain or set you back even further (ok that might not be medically accurate, but trying to hard to move forward can induce a certain amount of panic that is definitely not productive.)

6. Story web. Take the central event from the last portion you've written and create a diagram, or web, based on all the paths your story could take.

7. Work out of order. Not all writing must be written in the order that it occurs. If you reach a barrier in the middle of a chapter set it aside for a while and move on to the next or the ending. As long as you're writing you're being productive.

8. Last but not least, you can always jump on the Pavlovian/ Skinner bandwagon and motivate yourself with a reward system.

The Narrative Hook

Image by Honou via Flickr

Lately I have been having trouble finding time and energy to come up with new material for my novel, and the last chapter I wrote took me almost twice as long to finish as all of my other chapters. Finishing this particular chapter was a little bit of a milestone for my project and marked reaching the half-way point. So, to celebrate my hard work I decided to take a little break. Now I didn't want to stop the project completely because it really is something I enjoy, but I did want to take a break so I could come back with fresh ideas for the second half. In order to keep up with my progress and also take a refreshing break I decided to go back to my first chapter and really think about my book's opening.

I haven't really looked back at it since I wrote wrote it  a while back, and re-reading those first few paragraphs over again really made me think about just how important they are. The first chapter, or sentence even, is what draws the reader in. It makes them interested in your book and, essentially, keeps them reading through to the end.

Think back to all of your favorite opening lines. Here are some of mine:

1. It is a truth universally acknowledged, that a single man in possession of a good fortune, must be in want of a wife.
2. Happy families are all alike; every unhappy family is unhappy in its own way.
3. It was a bright cold day in April, and the clocks were striking thirteen.
4. If you really want to hear about it, the first thing you'll probably want to know is where I was born, and what my lousy childhood was like, and how my parents were occupied and all before they had me, and all that David Copperfield kind of crap, but I don't feel like going into it, if you want to know the truth.
5. It was a pleasure to burn.
6. It was love at first sight.
7. In my younger and more vulnerable years my father gave me some advice that I've been turning over in my mind ever since.

All of these lines had some sort of narrative hook or method of drawing the reader in. Narrative hooks are the author's pick-up lines, and cheesy cliche's aren't going to get you the phone number. Whether it was Jane Austen's blunt honesty that made you want to read on to find out why she believed as she did or a simple teaser making you wonder just what advice F. Scott Fitzgerald's character got from his father, you wanted to read on, to find the answers you were looking for.

After reading my opener again I realized just how much work it needed. A strong opening can make for a strong novel, and my first sentence just wasn't cutting it. So I looked again at my favorite book openers and went back to the drawing board. I guess the lesson I learned, and want to share, is simple. Don't be afraid to make changes, but most of all, don't forget to objectively examine your work to discover when changes need to be made.

Dream Big, Little Girl

We all have a list, a list of things we want to accomplish before it becomes too late, and if your list is like mine, it can look a little overwhelming. For the past four years I have slowly been making my way through my life’s list, and I am finally at the task that I am most excited about: writing a novel. So far, this has been one of the most difficult of my undertakings which have run the gamut from conquering my fear of roller-coasters to getting a full-ride to college.

This goal is one that I am most excited to accomplish, and if, like me, you have always wanted to sit down and try your hand at writing a book, I will be sharing with you everything I have learned from my experience thus far. Like most of you, completing a novel is something I have never successfully attempted before, so to get through it in one piece I relied heavily on the support of my friends, family, and professors who helped me to battle one of my arch-enemies, procrastination.

So in the spirit of anti-procrastination, let’s get started! In this blog you can look forward to tales of triumph, tragedy, and a few motivational tidbits here and there to help you along the way as you plan, prepare, and attempt to get your manuscripts published.

“And by the way, everything in life is writable if you have the outgoing guts to do it and the imagination to improvise. The worst enemy to creativity is self-doubt.” Sylvia Plath