I feel so grateful that my friend Rachel has interned at big (as well as small) publishing companies, and for her insight into the publishing business. After all, it is a business right? And that means they'll have some rules.
What are these rules? I've come to realize that finding that out is rather difficult if you don't know where to look! What genre is big? How many words is acceptable? How should your manuscript look before you send it in? What is the protocol for slush? Should I try to find an agent? Does it really matter if I have one or not? How often should I ship out my manuscript? How many trees do I have to kill to get published?
There are a ton! I could keep going but I think my brain might just explode.
Thanks to her, I have a few blogs that might just interest the starving author!
http://cba-ramblings.blogspot.com/
This blog is amazing. Period. You can do searches and really find ANY questions you might have on the subject of publishing! I have it bookmarked as a favorite and am definitely going to utilize this fantastic resource! If you're serious about publishing, I highly recommend it! ( http://cba-ramblings.blogspot.com/2008/05/how-long-is-your-book.html here is a specific link from this blog regarding word count! a MUST READ!)
http://trac-changes.blogspot.com/
This is a blog my friend Rachel has created. It has some good insights into the questions, "What should I write?" and many others that you might be thinking!
That out of the way, you might be wondering "Where are you in your journey towards publishing?"
The past few days have been incredibly difficult to be in the writing mood. I sit in front of my computer and wonder, "What now?" and I still wait for one of these days five chapters of amazing content to just POOF onto my document magically. Why can't a fantasy novel have magical chapters that show up? It certainly would make things easier!
I've realized that the reason it's gotten so much harder to write is that I just hit the climax of a very, VERY tense scene that even had me nervous for my characters! (I know, crazy right? After all, I KNOW what's going to happen to them! I shouldn't be nervous! but I was!) Now I'm stuck in the "aftermath" stage and it's no where near as exciting as the previous scenes. People who have tried writing before know and love these stages. And in this case "love" means "hate with a passion that rivals the nine levels of Dante's hell."
In fact, I've been writing a chapter for the majority of the day that I know is going to get cut once I start editing. It's terrible, I'll be the first to admit it! Absolutely terrible. But I need to keep going. That's what editing is for!
I am at 42,000 words and know that soon I'll be out of this awkward transition phase. It's like going through a terrible break up...you need to keep facing him down until he realizes that you're going to keep beating on him until you're friends again.
Right?
Ok, maybe not.
I've also been working on my synopsis. It is probably more difficult than writing the actual novel, but I've been told that it's something I need to be able to write in my sleep! So...here it is:
"Raena is on the run from the government because of her abilities as an Emotional - a human who can Sense others Emotions. For years she has stayed well hidden until a mysterious man, Soren, comes into her life and sends her into a downward spiral of misfortune. After being capture by the Magister Raena must find a way to escape and find Soren who is the only person in the world with the knowledge that can cure her from an unknown poison slowly killing her. But that is not the only issue. While she fights for her life, Raena and Soren's twin, Aeniel, must also find a way to end the Tyrannical reign of the Magister and stop a war decades old."
Anyways, back to writing I go!
Until next time!
-Katie
Tuesday, November 17, 2009
Monday, November 16, 2009
An Introduction
Writing
As a single word it is not a very daunting task. Everyday the average person writes something, whether a grocery list, a resume, a letter to a dear friend across the world, one of those break-up letters so popular in middle and high school.....
Whatever the reason, writing is a crucial part of life! But it begs the question, do these little projects make us "writers"? Most people would say writing a grocery list hardly constitutes being a writer. After all, who wants to go to Barnes & Noble and purchase book entitled "Grocery Lists of the 21st Century"? Even though I'm sure there might be some interesting items; 300 packages of Ramen (courtesy of college students no doubt), Sushi grade salmon, morningstar veggie burgers, a full gutted boar (I've seen them, but can you even buy that in a normal chain grocery story??).
Anyways, I digress.
What makes you a writer? We've already nixed grocery list connoisseurs, and I think I'm a bit tired beating around the bush. Writers are people who love to do what? If you guess write you're "write" on! (C'mon now, I never said my jokes were funny). Anything from fantasy, to historical fiction, to non-fiction documentaries about penguins, if it is your passion to whip out your pad and pencil, or even your laptop, you are a writer! Congratulations!
So now you're thinking, "Great! I'm a writer! Now what?" well, that's what I'm here to explore! I want to figure out how to transition from "writer" to "author." I wish it was as easy as saying, "Well get published silly!" but it seems a lot more work goes into this transition. I don't expect it to be easy, in fact I've talked to a friend who knows more about publishing than the average human being, but walking into Barnes & Noble and seeing that author who got famous off of grocery lists gives me hope that it isn't hopeless. In this blog I'm going to keep a detailed documentary of the day-to-day struggles of a writer trying to go author. Maybe through this I'll be able to inspire others to keep their hopes up as they see me get rejected publisher after publisher, and maybe they'll feel better about their own predicaments (Shadenfreude is alive and well!).
Learn from my mistakes, I promise I'll make many, follow my journey and watch a story unfold! I'll write about where I am in the writing process (which is long and tedious!) and eventually have a working draft to send for publishing.
Should be interesting, right?
For now, I'm still writing, and I figure I'll post chapters here and there so you can follow me as I work, give me advice of your own, and even just voice an opinion! I'm about 40,000 words into a first draft (I'm not even considering going back and revising until I have an entire story written) and some days are a struggle, others are like cutting through warm butter.
Which brings me to this question that's probably on your mind, "Who are you?"
I have a simple answer. My name is Katie, I have a Bachelors Degree in English Literature and Music, but really, I'm just like you. I've had a dream for years but have never really taken the initiative to make it reality. Just like you I've started and stopped projects and always thought, "One day...." but now I'm changing it to "today." It won't be easy, I know this, but I'm ready for the fight and I hope you come along with me!
Until next time!
-Katie
As a single word it is not a very daunting task. Everyday the average person writes something, whether a grocery list, a resume, a letter to a dear friend across the world, one of those break-up letters so popular in middle and high school.....
Whatever the reason, writing is a crucial part of life! But it begs the question, do these little projects make us "writers"? Most people would say writing a grocery list hardly constitutes being a writer. After all, who wants to go to Barnes & Noble and purchase book entitled "Grocery Lists of the 21st Century"? Even though I'm sure there might be some interesting items; 300 packages of Ramen (courtesy of college students no doubt), Sushi grade salmon, morningstar veggie burgers, a full gutted boar (I've seen them, but can you even buy that in a normal chain grocery story??).
Anyways, I digress.
What makes you a writer? We've already nixed grocery list connoisseurs, and I think I'm a bit tired beating around the bush. Writers are people who love to do what? If you guess write you're "write" on! (C'mon now, I never said my jokes were funny). Anything from fantasy, to historical fiction, to non-fiction documentaries about penguins, if it is your passion to whip out your pad and pencil, or even your laptop, you are a writer! Congratulations!
So now you're thinking, "Great! I'm a writer! Now what?" well, that's what I'm here to explore! I want to figure out how to transition from "writer" to "author." I wish it was as easy as saying, "Well get published silly!" but it seems a lot more work goes into this transition. I don't expect it to be easy, in fact I've talked to a friend who knows more about publishing than the average human being, but walking into Barnes & Noble and seeing that author who got famous off of grocery lists gives me hope that it isn't hopeless. In this blog I'm going to keep a detailed documentary of the day-to-day struggles of a writer trying to go author. Maybe through this I'll be able to inspire others to keep their hopes up as they see me get rejected publisher after publisher, and maybe they'll feel better about their own predicaments (Shadenfreude is alive and well!).
Learn from my mistakes, I promise I'll make many, follow my journey and watch a story unfold! I'll write about where I am in the writing process (which is long and tedious!) and eventually have a working draft to send for publishing.
Should be interesting, right?
For now, I'm still writing, and I figure I'll post chapters here and there so you can follow me as I work, give me advice of your own, and even just voice an opinion! I'm about 40,000 words into a first draft (I'm not even considering going back and revising until I have an entire story written) and some days are a struggle, others are like cutting through warm butter.
Which brings me to this question that's probably on your mind, "Who are you?"
I have a simple answer. My name is Katie, I have a Bachelors Degree in English Literature and Music, but really, I'm just like you. I've had a dream for years but have never really taken the initiative to make it reality. Just like you I've started and stopped projects and always thought, "One day...." but now I'm changing it to "today." It won't be easy, I know this, but I'm ready for the fight and I hope you come along with me!
Until next time!
-Katie
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