I try to do a bit every other day… I’m scheduling it around full time work, a second job, language classes (am learning Arabic), blogging and a life… and I’m managing…

but I’m writing bland shite.

I’ve lost the joy.

The advice? “You’re treating it like a chore instead of a treat!”

All this scheduling makes it feel like all the other obligations and stresses. The writing is the thing you do because you WANT to, to relax and express yourself. Treat it as the escape from the other “To do”s.

Oooohhh I get it! That feels much better…. this week’s aim: swap wine for writing, and stop scheduling it. Watch this space to see how I go.

What do YOU do to get around this? Anyone else got handy tips? Love to hear ‘em…

He said he rarely plots ahead, but simply startings drawing the next frame and waits to see what happens. As he put it: those times when your hand knows what to do even though your head doesn’t.

Some of the most invigorating moments are those in which you surprise even yourself – when you start to feel like the thing you’re creating is no longer “you” but bigger than you. I think we’ve all experienced the exhilaration of seeing phrases / characters / scenes jump onto the page with little struggle to tease them out – that feeling of being connected directly to some kind of source you can’t define.

A script writer friend offered a simple writing exercise, to assist finding this headspace:

Go outside or to a populated place life a cafe, and begin stream-of-consciousness writing, describing everything you see, hear, feel, taste, smell. Write about all those sensory details around you. Don’t life pen from paper, for as long as you can. Don’t bother with punctuation or spelling or that editor in your head. Just write, until you’re not thinking what you’re writing. After a rest period, or later that night, look back at your writing and see what gems are in there.

(Thanks to Dan Vukovjlak and Simon Weaving for this post’s inspirations)

YA was never my intention. I went that way because an agent told me that’s how they read my MS, and because I hadn’t yet learned agents are human and susceptible to personal points of view, I changed myself to suit them.

Back in June I posted “Where is the line between YA and adult fiction?” (link: http://wp.me/p1AW0D-2C)

Since then I got another, another rejection and with nothing to lose decided to pose the question: “Did you read this MS as YA or adult?”

The response: “A 21 year old main character would not be YA, and I actually read this query as an adult novel. YA novels are those that speak to high school-aged teenagers and offer their perspective. I know “college-aged” protagonists always cause writers grief, but until there’s a new sub-genre of YA, yours would have to be considered adult. It won’t harm your manuscript, by the way. If an agent feels the tone and subject would work better as a YA, then they might ask you to shift the age to 17. But it wouldn’t change the integrity of the writing at all.”

Cool. Phew! I can go back to being who I thought I was. My understanding is also that YA needs to focus on those angsty things that YA age people go through. I love that writing can help with this stuff, but those themes are not the theme of this MS. Am going back to being true to me and the MS (and hope I don’t get asked to rewrite the MC’s age… awkward!)

If anything (besides my own gut) is going to validate my recent banging-on about rewriting the MS in a new voice, it’s my recent rejection letter. It’s a great rejection in this regard, and I’m actually a smidgeon relieved.  Here ’tis in the main (names removed):

“I love the idea and there’s much to admire but unfortunately we both felt the narrative wasn’t quite strong enough. I would be interested to see whatever you write next though.” (Note: “both” means agent + reader)

Woohoo! They love my idea!

This agent also agreed to consider reading my rewrite  – “if it is quite substantial”… ouch. Positive, yes, but maybe they politely underestimated the damage when they said it wasn’t “quite” strong enough!

No worries. Deep breath. I knew that already.

Actually, the post is about writing blogs but I reckon points 1-3 apply to creative writing of all kinds, and I’m taking them on board for my novel.

In a nutshell: For as long as we identify as “aspiring”, we send the message even to ourselves that we’re not yet there. Ollin says, “Stop holding yourself back.

“Stop aspiring and be yourself. Follow your passion. Follow your love.”

The blog post “Stop being an aspiring writer” appeared as a guest spot for Jane Friedman at http://janefriedman.com/2011/08/19/stop-being-an-aspiring-writer/

Ollin’s own fab blog is here: http://ollinmorales.wordpress.com/just-get-me-started/

Enjoy!

It makes sense, and it helps me understand why, when I’m so please with my writing effort, I remain unsure where the book should begin. That’s the storytelling part.

In a guidetoliteraryagents.com blog, Dan Lazar says “Start where the story starts”. It’s one of those “well, duh” bits of advice that in practise aren’t nearly as obvious as they seem. (Thanks, Dan!)

(I had trouble with the original link, but found a copy of the blog post here: http://www.write4kids.com/blog/2011/02/08/1046/)

For me, it wasn’t until I began writing query letters that I realised from where I needed to start the story (another “well, duh”). In my queries I said, “The story begins with a young girl watching the sky…” etc etc. But my novel didn’t open at that scene.

I had my reasons but now I’ve realised I’m not in love with my opener, I’m going back to starting at this inciting incident and I have to say it feels much better.

There’s almost always an inciting incident – something that happens that sets the story in motion, or initiates the protagonist’s personal challenge. That’s where the story starts, really.

Not all storytellers choose to start there, and I’m not convinced it’s the only way to go – but what I have learned Is that drafting a query letter can be a very useful exercise in clarity.

If there’s any advice I might share its to draft a query letter very early in the piece (like, waaaaay before you’re ready to send the MS). It will help you get clear on the crux of the core conflict and where it’s come from. Reading my own words “the story starts when…” tells me clearly where my rewrite needs to begin.

Am I the only one willing to admit I’m not sure I really truly get it?

I mean, I have just had an epiphany about rewriting my book in a new voice which I’m VERY excited about and I CAN see how it’s going to transform, but, you see, what I don’t like about many books with really strong voice is at some point the voice drops away and the zing of the openers fizzle; or it becomes all about the voice and the writing starts to listen to itself and say “see what a great writer I am” when I’m trying to get a hold on the story.

How do I find the balance? Can classic, straight up third person prose have strong “voice”? JK Rowling did it and made a motza. Dan Brown did it and made millions… I’m not sure there are really distinctive writers’ voices in there yet I loved those books.

I mean, we all have a writing voice, just like a speaking voice, if we relax and allow ourselves to be natural. But what makes a voice so fresh and distinctive?

Is the current trend for first-person characterised prose that totally stands out (I’m thinking Markus Zusak’s The Book Thief, for eg, or Extremely Loud and Incredibly Close by Jonathan Safran Foer), or is it enough for my voice to just be my voice (because mum told me I’m special)?

Really… let’s talk. (I won’t tell that you didn’t get it either.)

The Reader actually sounded like a good guy (he posted chatty guidelines) but I wasn’t completely comfortable with not being able to send my query to the particular agent who most appealed to me.

Perhaps I should trust the agency to know the best fit, but I tried breaking the rules again.

I did send my hard copy sample chapters, synopsis and cover letter to “submissions” as the agency’s website requested. But then I cheekily sent a “heads-up” email direct to my chosen agent, and included my query letter.

Interestingly, this agent replied straight away to say she was interested and ask that I email the whole submission direct, to bypass the Reader! (Sorry, Reader.)

There’s no way of knowing at this point if what I did was a good approach for posterity, or I just got lucky and something was going on that afternoon in the black hole that is agency offices. Maybe it was a quiet week, maybe there’d been a jolly boozy lunch (maybe my query was actually truly good!?).

Maybe we can all relax just a little. If the black hole hasn’t swallowed me yet, I’m good with that.

This is the kind of bookstore that features in opening scenes of YA fantasy movies – I even stumbled into it while escaping a sudden thunder storm! Fabulous. It’s an adventure to walk into, a story in itself to browse.

This blog is not an advert for the store (I doubt they’ll ever know). It’s just the best collection of supernatural, magical, mythological and occult resources I’ve seen – I had to share it.

I’m not going to give spoilers (except maybe the coffin) but I will say this is a store clearly tended with great care and great respect for the knowledge held within. I have never met a bookstore owner more passionate about his stock than Drew Sinton.

If you’re a fantasy writer, browse these amazing shelves online – the research resource is to die for.