Write Well Me

What Dawn Is Reading Today - 5/31/09

If you're new to Write Well Me, read this to understand why I tell you what I'm reading.  :-)

I finished Tad Williams's Shadowplay.  It was much better than the first in the series, Shadowmarch. Not that Shadowmarch was awful - obviously, it wasn't or I wouldn't have gone on to read the second in the series.  By the end of Shadowmarch, the character development was in full bloom and the action sequences were rich.  Those good things came to light fully and completely in Shadowplay.

In retrospect, it felt like Williams was trying to build history and character development in Shadowmarch before he could get to the "real" stuff.  The story was compelling, but not enough to get me to read it very fast.  Shadowplay, on the other hand, had me reading beyond breakfast and lunch, a true mark of a good book.  :)

Unfortunately for me, though, Williams isn't finished with the third book in the series.  I hope he doesn't take too long, as I have been known to lose interest while waiting for the next book (see Robert Jordan's Wheel of Time series - I got so tired of waiting for the next book, and I didn't want to go back and reread the six or seven HUGE novels to get caught back up.  I abandoned the series).

So now I'm waiting, but I'm putting that time to good use. My three favorite authors have all come out with new books, and because my SOP is to reread the last one before reading the newest one, I have six books lined up!

I will confess that I've already read Charlaine Harris's From Dead to Worse immediately followed by Dead and Gone.  Back to back, chain reading last Monday, and I can't tell you the last time I did that.

Now, I'm on to Kim Harrison and The Outlaw Demon Wails. I'm really glad I'm rereading it because I've forgotten so much, and I'd hate to go into White Witch, Black Curse woefully ignorant.

Are Curve Balls Good or Bad?

I was thinking the other day about the phrase, "got thrown a curve ball."  Usually we say that when something unexpected comes up, and not such a good thing at that.

Now, I played softball years and years ago, but not at any kind of level where we tried to anticipate and plan for certain kind of pitches.  So I'm wondering (and I appeal to my readers who are hard-core baseball fans)... does a batter ever WANT a curve ball?  Is there ever a time where we could say that we got thrown a curve ball and it was a good thing?

Guest Post: How to Pick the Right Editor for Your Book

I edit book-length manuscripts and have an excellent track record and happy clients; nevertheless, I hear horror stories about people who chose the wrong editor. Each sad story represents lost time, lost money, and an end product that reflects poorly on the author. When I ask what made the unhappy author choose a particular editor, I get one of two answers: low price or quick turnaround. Of course! Those factors are uppermost in the minds of most buyers of editing services, yet they should be the least important, because they are the most short-lived and shortsighted.

Instead, look for a reputable editor with credentials and an understanding of the type of book you have written. For example, if the book is self-help, your editor should be a reader of self-help books and should have a history of editing such books. If the book is a thriller, fantasy, reference, or romance, the same holds true.

How can you be sure you're getting a reputable editor who will do what he or she promises and who will still be in business later, if you need help? Here are things to check. Find out if he or she…

1. Is a full-time editor and doesn't have another job that detracts from editing
2. Follows Chicago Style guidelines for editing books
3. Line edits for clarity and correct capitalization as well as the standard grammar, punctuation, syntax, and typos
4. Has edited books that have been published by traditional publishers, not just by self-published authors
5. Has written or contributed to books that have been traditionally published (not just self-published)
6. Has been editing in general for at least a decade
7. Has been editing books for at least five years
8. Is willing to supply you with a list of recent clients, along with contact information, so you can check references
9. Has a Web site listing accomplishments, services, and prices
10. Offers follow-up guidance and mentoring-allows you to ask questions afterward
11. Offers concept editing if you desire it, in addition to line editing (Concept editing should include a written report on elements that apply to your book-that is, for fiction it should at least cover plot, characterization, pace, conflict, and resolution; for nonfiction it should address organization, clarity, pace, and marketability.

When the editor you find fills those requirements, no matter how long you wait or what price you pay, you will get the results you want.

In choosing an editor, low price and fast turnaround both work against you. The best editors charge for their experience, spend a great deal of time with each manuscript, and have a backlog of work. To get the right editor, be patient and be willing to pay, because you will get what you pay for, and you'll be rewarded with a good editing job. As a result your books will reflect well on you and sell well, too.

Bobbie Christmas is the author of Write In Style (Union Square Publishing, a division of Cardoza Publishing, Simon and Schuster, distributor) and owner of Zebra Communications, a book-editing service. Sign up her free e-zine, The Writers Network News, at www.zebraeditor.com. Her book is available in bookstores in America, Canada, and Australia as well through Amazon.com and BarnesandNoble.com.

Writing Help for Common Non-Fiction and Fiction Writers

My lovely Twitter friend, Laurie Kienlen, wrote a very helpful post on common writing mistakes, and she was so gracious as to include my idiotic use of the word "so."  Her take on writing help?  "The more you recognize your own writing weaknesses, the faster and better you’ll write!"

Laurie talks about weak words, em and en dashes, its/it's confusion, commas, and my overuse of so.  She gives some great tips as well as references experts in the field.  Read her post, and strengthen her writing.

Get Out of Your Head

I find as I'm working with people on their writing projects that they have trouble with all the ideas tumbling around in their heads. "I have this idea up there, but it just doesn't go anywhere!" they say, frustrated.

"Have you started jotting down ideas, planning the structure, the story arc?" I ask.

Blank look, then a start. "No, like I said, I can't get it out of my head."

See, that's the problem. Our minds, while they're wonderful things, can only get to a certain point before they hit a wall. It's like trying to manage traffic control at an airport. You can only keep sight of so many planes yourself. At some point, you just can't get any farther, and you have to depend upon radar. (Of course, it goes without saying that in real life - as opposed to Dawn's writing metaphor - air traffic controllers start with, maintain, and end their days with radar. They don't ever try to do their jobs with their eyes alone.)

But writers do. They think they're going to noodle through their ideas in their head so that when they get to the paper or computer screen stage, they can start producing full text.

It doesn't work like that.

Again, our brains only take an idea so far. Once we get those ideas down on paper or on screen, our brains can go farther. This happened to me while I was trying to come up with a title for my in-person writing workshop. I had the beginnings of a title in my head, and I found myself going, "That's terrible. That's not very creative. Why can't I come up with anything better?" And I'd go off and work on another part of the workshop (not the title), all the time in the background going, "What am I going to do about the title?"

Once I finished with the workshop planning, I turned my full attention to the title. I wrote down the really crappy title that had been floating around in my head all day. The minute I did that, though, I had a brainstorm. I wrote that down. Then another. And I wrote that one down. Within just a matter of minutes, I had a title I was happy with.

I've seen this happen in all aspects of creating and planning. I talked with an author who had her manuscript finished and was at a loss as to the next step. Based on her topic and the publishing house she wanted to target, she needed to do a book proposal. I sent her off with some suggestions, and she came back later to say that she had had a very productive week doing some research on agents, publishers, and book shepherds.

We got the issue out of her head and gave her some concrete tasks to work on. And off she went.

Nothing is going to get done on your book or any other project if it stays in your head. And it isn't going to come out of your head and be perfect. The work (writing, painting, drawing, formulating marketing strategy) doesn't happen in your head (at least not for the majority of us). It's actually work - the actual writing, painting, drawing, writing down strategies, objectives, actions.

Get out of your head and get to work. You can't keep all those airplanes in your head.

The Inner Critic Doesn't Belong in the Creative Process

Last week, I hosted the Writing Hour where I talked to writers at all various stages of the writing and publishing process.

One writer was frustrated with her progress (or lack of progress as it were) in her fiction story. She felt she'd been spending too much time on the character development and not enough time on the plot. "It's like I don't know how to do beginning, middle, and end."

As we talked further, we discovered that her time spent on character development hadn't been wasted.

"Are you happier with who the characters are now as opposed to when you first started?"

"Oh, yes!"

"Then that time wasn't wasted."

Writers (and anyone who creates) often forget that the creative process is as important (if not the most important) part of the writing process. We need the time to generate ideas and details and then go back and cherry-pick the best of those ideas and details. Then we write (and then edit and revise and go back and forth along the creative process flow line).

But if we sit down and think that we'll start writing beautiful words, sentences, and paragraphs without this creative step, then we get frustrated by the process. Because it doesn't happen that way. The ideas don't jump out of our heads and onto the screen or paper in perfect form. And when they don't (because this is what expect), we think we're not good enough. We're not "real" writers. We're not professionals.

That simply isn't true. We just need to honor the creative process, to give ourselves over to it. If we don't, and just try to barge into later steps of the creative process flow line, then those other steps are harder, if not insurmountable.

I shared with her Bruce Coville's status on his newest book, The Last Hunt. He's on the ninth draft of the first three-quarters of the novel. That means he's rewritten the first three-quarters nine times. I suspect that he can't finish that last quarter until he has the first three-quarters just right. How will he know where to go and end the story until he's absolutely sure of where he's been?

He's traveling along the creative process and hitting the steps he needs to. Create, then write. Then maybe create again. Then write again. Then edit. And then go back to create.

Compounding the issue is our inner critic telling us that we're not good enough. That a "good" writer would be able to just start writing. That if we were really serious, we'd be able to write that fiction story and get away from the character development. That we might as well just give up as we're really not ever going to amount to anything.

Tell the inner critic to shut up, and then embrace the creative process. The inner critic has no place in the creative process. Creating should be a time of joy, of wonder, of "what if..." There's no time limit. There's no single right way to write. It's not always linear.

Follow your energy. Honor the creative process. And give yourself a break.

Where Are You Stuck on the Publishing Path?

Friday was supposed to be launch day, and it ended up being a "soft" launch.  (I always wondered what that meant when a new store had a soft opening. Either they're open or not, right?  I get it now.)  Sure, Write Well U/AuthorSmart classes were open to the public, but I didn't get to make the big broo-ha-ha over it that I wanted.

That's today. A "hard" opening, I guess.

Now, that doesn't mean that I haven't been busy. Au contraire! As a matter of fact, I worked so hard last week that I was getting ideas even as I was going to bed at 1:00 a.m.  The best, most creative, and cutest idea I had was for the announcement of the Write Well U/AuthorSmart merger - and that was the idea that came at 1:00 in the morning as I lay my exhausted head on the pillow. I could write a story about the two little girls who started Write Well U and AuthorSmart, respectively!

Luckily, my BlackBerry is never very far from me, so I quickly emailed (I thought) Gail and asked for a baby picture. She's two hours behind me, so I thought she might be able to get it to me in time for Friday morning.

Friday morning (only five hours later, actually) came, and there was a picture.  However, it was attached to a meeting request. I was so tired the night before. I thought I was sending an email, but in fact sent a meeting request. Gail graciously ignored the fact that I was asking her to attend some weird meeting in which she needed to bring a baby picture and simply attached said pic.

I'd recount the cute story I wrote about the Write Well U/AuthorSmart merger here, but then you'd miss out on those pictures.  So visit the actual announcement, sign up for Fuel for Your Writing Journey, and browse our impressive class offerings.

And I promise I won't send you weird meeting requests at 1:00 a.m.