The general consensus that I have seen among authors about responding to negative reviews of their books has been to not do it. Author Elle Lothlorien is one who disagrees. I don’t have an opinion that reflects experience at all, but I can see some of her reasoning and there is something to be said about having the dialogue… to a point. When she talks of how reviewers have removed or changed reviews after conversations she’s had with them, however, is when it started to feel a little “skeevy”.
A few weeks ago I included in my summation an article about James Patterson and his success along with the idea that his name on books is mostly just for branding, now. This week, Keir Graff, on Booklist Online wrote a funny piece called, “James Patterson’s “Books”: A Novel Not by James Patterson.” It’s kind of long, but even if you only read half of it, you’ll likely get the full entertaining gist.
That’s all I’ve got for you this week. Apropos of nothing here, I leave you with some Lumineers:
My cousin posted a video clip from So You Think You Can Dance on Facebook sharing how moved he was by it. So of course I’m checking it out, assuming I will be, too.
Except I wasn’t. I mean, it was kind of cool. I liked the dancer’s expression, but I didn’t think it was anything too special. However, the audience gives this guy a standing ovation, one of the judges is crying, and another is telling the dancer he might be a genius.
Okay, well I guess our tastes are really different. Or maybe my expectation was too high? I don’t know, but what I do know is that I thought it was an awesome example of subjectivity in art and makes for an excellent comparison to the idea of another obstacle to signing an agent and selling a book to a publisher.
Remember that post that I wrote just yesterday about tipster-research overload and not being able to get my foot past the threshold of an agent’s door of interest? Yeah, I was trying not to be too rambly in it so one of the things I left out (among many) was the issue that the novel that I’m querying is just not matching up to what agents are looking for right now. Maybe some of them would have been interested last year. Maybe they will be interested next year. Maybe it just isn’t quite the thing for them right now. That is one of the things I’ve read in a gazillion places, too. It’s on agent blogs. It’s in some of the form rejection letters. In fact, it just showed up on Twitter today from agent Hannah Bowman who was one of five agents following a Writer’s Voice Twitter Pitch slam. She said, “Pep talk before I go: these pitches were *amazing*. Don’t be disappointed if you didn’t get requests. This business is so subjective. Only five agents here, and we have our own specific tastes.”
So if I’m one of the judges for So You Think You Can Dance, I’m the one that’s giving him the form rejection, but he’s got those other judges who thought he was genius.
Some of you can consider this post to be a long answer to “What’s happening with the first novel you’re trying to sell?” and it is, but it is also hopefully an honest look at what the road to (non)-publication is all about.
I received my 31st rejection today and in case you were wondering, it still sucks as much as the 1st one. I have 10 other queries still out there dangling… several of them are close to turning into the “no response means no” form of the rejection.
31 is not really that daunting of a number, really. Truly, that number does not discourage me at all. What IS discouraging, however, is that of those 31 queries, not a single agent has even requested any pages of my manuscript to read. This means, that for the most part, I cannot even get an agent interested in my book, let alone whether or not s/he might think it’s strong enough to consider for representation. I’m not even getting my foot past the door.
Why is this? Searching for answers on this front is the hard part.
Is it the query?
Is it the story concept?
Is it the high word count?
Yes.
Or no. Or maybe a combination of yeses and nos.
I could blame the lack of interest solely on my inability to market my story in my query letter, but there are some agents who do ask that you send a full synopsis of your novel. Others ask that you send the first 5-10 pages – or even the first couple of chapters of your manuscript with the query, and these have still led me to no requests, which means that it might not only be a poor query, but also that the first part of my manuscript is not good enough.
I do the QueryTracker thing where I post in the comments who I’ve queried, when I queried, and when I have received the rejection or chose to close out for a no-response. I want to throw things at those who are commenting, “this is my n-billionth request!” and “this is my third offer of rep, but I am holding out to see if my dream agent will make an offer instead!” and sometimes I get all whiny and talk to my computer screen saying, “PICK ME, PICK ME!” I’m human, after all.
I could easily not share how I am, for the time being, doing a spectacular job of failing at this whole endeavor.
Two months ago I might not have. However, I figure that maybe one day someone will come across this post and do one of two things: 1) feel relieved that s/he is not alone in this ego-bruising journey to the bottom of the barrel or 2) feel a secret joy that s/he is NOT the one that has received zero requests and believe s/he has the better novel. Those who fit into #2 are also human, after all.
I’m about five months into this quest, which isn’t too bad, but it is also enough time into it to feel less bruised in general, making it easier to share my failings.
On the other hand, if any of you know anything at all about me by now, you understand my outlook on life… for as many failings as I have in this (non) publishing game, I recognize I have a sizable number of favorable outcomes. I wrote a novel. I’ve revised it several times and in spite of what I could think, I know that it’s a good novel. I’ve learned a ton about the publishing business and continue to learn more. I’ve made some connections here and there. I’ve learned how to write a query letter (even if it still sucks – HA!). I’ve started a second novel. I love what that novel might become. I also still love my first one. These are all very good things.
I’m still learning very good things, but here is where I get to the point of my title of this post. I am not anywhere close to giving up. I’ve already mentioned that all in all, it’s still quite early in the “game”. However, when I consider the idea of trying to find more research about how to get published, I’ve discovered that I am saturated. I’ve done the research. I’ve done the critiques. I’ve read everything about revising. I’ve read practically every tip there is about crafting and mastering the query letter. I’ve read successful queries. I’ve read a bazillion agent blogs. I follow agents, authors, editors, and publishers on Twitter. I feel like I could answer all of the #askagent questions that come through on Twitter. All of that advice just rolls away; I cannot absorb any more.
So now it is patience. Now it is trusting in what I have and simply revising again when I need to.
It’ll all work out.
(Hey… if things go dry… I know I can just “fill it up again”.)
Here are some of my most interesting blog and news reads of the week
My favorite article of the week:
NPR ran a story about increasing communication with those who have Alzheimer’s… it involves storytelling. A senior center in Seattle works with small groups of people with Alzheimer’s and shows them random photos, and together they create a story about them. The key element that I took away from this story is that it is successful because there is no pressure about getting the story “wrong”, since neither participant actually knows the story. My thought is this… for family members, what if they started with unknown photos with their loved one with Alzheimer’s, but then when you knew you’d be okay with it, move into the real family photos? If I showed a picture of my brothers or sisters to my grandmother and we started making up stories about them, I think I might have enjoyed the possibilities of re-writing their histories. It might take awhile for a spouse or child to warm up to this idea of letting go of the notion that the loved one has lost the real memories, but maybe creating new ones over and over again would ease other pain.
My second favorite thing on the interwebs this week:
Author John Scalzi wrote a blog post that gave a metaphor for straight, white male privilege… he called it the lowest difficulty setting on a video game (he’s more specific about the kind of game and all that, but not being a gamer, I’m not gonna pretend to explain and let him do it). I loved the metaphor, I loved that he posted it. I appreciate that he doesn’t say that we should feel guilt over our difficulty settings in life if we are on this easy end because I agree with that – but it is also important to acknowledge it so that we have a chance of understanding those who live with the more challenging settings.
And a couple of things about reading:
Author Ellen Weeren on the Writer Unboxed blog talks about the secret of keeping readers engaged in many novels – which is the secret that the protagonist holds. I have mixed feelings about this, as I commented on the post, but I agree with the idea that a well-revealed secret can do a lot for a story.
Agent Sarah LaPolla asks about if your viewing and reading preferences match up. Do you watch TV and movies that reflect your book choices? It reminded me of another post I talked about a few weeks ago about writing what we read, which I think we should. However, I love that our reading-viewing interests have a much broader freedom.
Author Carlos Fuentes died this week. He wrote many novels, but he also wrote a historical commentary non-fiction book, The Buried Mirror, which gives a compelling view of the relationship between Spain and Mexico since their two cultures met. I won an award when I was an undergraduate, and this was the book I chose as the prize.
Then there was, of course, Donna Summer’s passing. My favorite song of hers, for various reasons, is MacArthur Park. The lyrics are just ridiculous (I mean, I know it’s a metaphor – but it’s kind of a goofily-written one), – which is one of the reasons it’s my favorite:
Have you had any of those moments recently when you suddenly just smiled and thought, “Life is beautiful”? I feel like the last several days have been full of these moments, and I thought I’d share them with you.
Here is what I have seen most recently:
Pre-school children running and greeting each other with hugs.
A school bus driver giving a mentally and physically disabled adult a welcome back embrace.
Friends – some of whom have never met face-to-face – giving a waiting, adoptive mother-to-be a necklace engraved with the name of her future daughter.
A child with a stutter proudly given the role of narrator in a play.
A child with stage fright make it through a read-through of her story in front of a microphone and a theater full of her peers and adults.
A mother patiently waiting while her toddler stopped to explore everything from building door to car door.
A five-year old express pure joy in celebrating others’ happiness.
Four Canada Geese leading their whole “gaggle” of young geese across the road and cars patiently waiting for them.
A post-it note chain of messages among family members on top of a dishwasher door.
Maybe when you look at some of the things on my list, they don’t strike the same chord… but I bet you know the kinds of things I’m talking about. You know beauty when you see it.
What little things have you seen recently that have made you smile?
This little article from The Guardian is kind of a fun (even if it’s kind of obvious if you are a serious reader) about letting a fictional character consume you to change your behaviors. I hadn’t read the comments when I posted the article on Twitter, then someone pointed out how entertaining they were and she was absolutely right. The comments outshine the article. Enjoy.
Some Writing Stuff…
Tired of me talking about (and mostly criticizing) the self e-publishing thing? You can go listen to a couple of other angles on the idea first from Jami Gold, an unpubbed author like me who talks about the idea that some authors simply skip having crit readers saying that those who buy their books from Amazon will be sure to let them know of errors. Cringe. However, she explores a different angle altogether regarding updates and changes based upon what she learned about the history of musical works. Check out her post on “Are eBooks Ever Done?”
On the agent side, which means it might be a little biased, but still had me thinking YES after reading it, Rachelle Gardner talks about how “Quality Books Take Time”.
I posted an article about Bones showrunner Hart Hanson a couple of weeks ago, and part of the reason I did that was because I really respect his television storytelling. After watching 4.5 season of In Plain Sight, David Maples has crept up into that realm, not leaving behind others such as David E. Kelley and Aaron Sorkin. Given that, I got a kick out of Lydia Sharp’s post on the Writer Unboxed blog about how “[..]Novelists Can Benefit from Watching Movies and TV Shows.”
On the kid side, I saw a lovely post by a Limbird Writer (Vanessa) about ideas for stimulating children and storytelling. One of the things I liked about it was that her ideas simply get kids to think creatively – and not necessarily worry about a complete and structured story. Additionally, it doesn’t take much for a writer to recognize that with just gentle shifts in sophistication, you have ideas that work for adult storytellers, too.
If for some reason you did not hear of Maurice Sendak’s passing this past week, then you have heard it now. He had a guest spot interview with Stephen Colbert earlier in the year, and it seems like the perfect video to include in this post (if the embedded video isn’t showing up, the link in the table will take you there – it’s quite entertaining):
Bracelet from a friend of mine: “Warning: Novelist at work. Innocent bystanders may become characters.”
My 10-year old son started writing a book this year. I can’t imagine where he got the idea. He’s got big plans for it and will likely see it published before anything of mine ever sees print. That kid has loads of talent and untapped potential. Quite a while back he asked me how I come up with a new character – or just any character in general. Author wannabe simply looked at him blankly, trying to figure out a way to sound wise and helpful. I’m pretty sure he saw right through me when I gave him some general nonsense about looking to traits he liked in different fictional characters and in “real” people around him. Then I mentioned putting those traits together and imagining that new person in various situations. How do you suppose someone like that would react? Think?
In other words, I punted.
My son asked me that question weeks – maybe months – ago and I have been plagued with trying to come up with an answer since then.
Last week I went to my husband’s jazz band concert and do you know what happened? I looked at the drummer and was immediately reminded of one of my current characters, Zach, and right then and there I determined that Zach was also a drummer for a small jazz ensemble. And then glimmerings of new scenes where he interacts with my main character, Julie, started drifting in my head.
My protagonist, Julie, actually came about while I was mulling over a completely different novel idea – one that I’ve tucked away and may or may not ever come back to. That novel was building around a different concept, one that surrounded sibling relationships. As I pondered the protagonist’s relationship with her sister, my mind wandered and landed on Julie, who made herself a completely different protagonist altogether. Then Julie told me about her family, and thus more characters came into existence.
So this still isn’t really answering the question, is it?
My original answer to my son wasn’t bad, but it might have been a bit premature. Let’s consider the fundamental side of this. Some writers think in terms of plot, then add characters. Others – like me- consider characters, then plot. Given that, let me more succinctly and directly answer the question.
Name your characters, first. This may seem like it is not enough, but honestly, if you have a name you’ve always really liked – perhaps it’s that name for that daughter you never had (and no, I haven’t actually done this…. yet), then here is your chance to use it. Chances are, you will find that once you name a character, he/she might start living up to the expectations of the name.
Consider a characteristic you really dislike or admire. Maybe you really hate it when someone under tips at a restaurant. Now, make it so your protagonist has this trait. You might now be thinking, but now I don’t even like my own main character. Aha! Now give him/her a redeeming quality – maybe it’s related, maybe not. She’s a really bad tipper, but she always pays for everyone else’s meal and sometimes even surreptitiously pays for another family’s meal, too. Look! Character number one.
Consider the times when you’ve either thought, heard, or read, “Really, who DOES that?” Why, your new character, that’s who. But why does he do that? When you start asking that question, you discover a great deal. I love to tell the story of when I was at a grocery store I left my cart – with at least 2-3 items in it – at the end of an aisle while I picked up my next item because it was too crowded to take the cart with me down that aisle. When I came back, I found my 3 items on the floor in the space where my cart was. Who deliberately and methodically steals someone grocery cart like that? Maybe it was some world-class jerk who thought she was more important than anyone else and felt she deserved it more than I did. Or maybe it was a harried mother who had a child that kept running off, and she had already worked a 13-hour day and was too tired to carry that child and the 2 items she needed and was thinking, please, please don’t be mad, but I just needed this cart and based upon the items in your cart, you could probably carry them on your own, right – or at least long enough until you get a new cart? Is the mother a single parent? Are there sick family members at home? Are they surviving on food stamps? Thinking through these possible scenarios not only produces a possible character, but starts developing her, too.
And while we’re at the grocery store, look at store products. Who else buys the things you do? Who buys the stuff you would never buy? This might then lead you to questions about your character’s taste in food, shampoo, clothing and whether or not your character is a bargain hunter or if he just buys anything he likes without looking at price tags.
Look to yourself. There’s a little bit of us in everything we write. Ana, in my first novel (which hopefully one day you’ll be able to meet her), is an educator. Hey, guess what? So am I! It wasn’t hard to choose an occupation that was similar to my experience. This might fall under the “write what you know” umbrella… but it doesn’t have to be everything you know or be you (and actually should NOT be you). For example, Ana is also Latina, which I am not. Part of why I made her Latina was to fulfill a part of me that has a special affinity for many different aspects of the Spanish-speaking world. I taught Spanish for several years and lived in Nicaragua for a few months. I wanted to speak to that experience, even if wasn’t actually a part of my heritage. Basically, a character can come from something that is close to your heart.
These are just a few techniques of many – and some will work for some characters, but not all. There are many other sources out there that give some fun advice in this area. One in particular that I found amusing a while back was a post by Julia Munroe Martin, “I’m Not Above Spying” where she actually takes photos of strangers to give her inspiration. Let me just go on record and say that taking the photos might not be, um, necessary – but observation of those around you in a coffee shop, a McDonalds, or a Lifetime Fitness is another great avenue for character creation.
The good news might be that once you have your character, you’ll always have him/her. In fact for me, I can say that once I create them, I find it extraordinarily difficult to un-create them – or even change fundamental aspects of them. Brian is Julie’s brother and due to a particular plot point, I thought I might need to change him to be her sister, instead, but I cannot seem to do it. Brian already exists. He has a history (even if I don’t actually know all of it yet) and an important role to play. So I’ve changed the plot point – which has actually made the plot better, so thank you, Brian, for showing up. Sure, you might have better luck with changing character traits, but listen to your people, if they become stubborn about changing, there’s probably a good reason for leaving them alone.
What is your favorite technique for creating a new character?
