Julia Weston

Trying on Critique Groups

2009-07-10T10:44:00.001-04:00

I joined a new sci-fi/fantasy critique group a few weeks ago. It's great group, but I'm still finding my way through what, exactly, members want in the way of critiques.

There are several novels running the gauntlet, and the moderator was kind enough to give me the option to sideline myself because thought critiquing novels might overwhelm me. Trouble is, I don't feel comfortable sitting idle, then a month later offering up my first three chapters for critique.

So I took a stab at critiquing a couple members' chapters mid-novel, adding the caveat in my notes that I'm reading without context. I stuck mainly to line-editing and flow and dialogue (whether it felt real) with the hopes that I could still add something to the group as a whole even though I'm a noob. Where something didn't work for me I tried to offer suggestions (I like to try to be part of the solution, if at all possible).

Well...I'm not sure I helped. *sigh* So, it's time to sit back and observe (like I probably should have done in the first place).

Live and learn.

Help for the self-promotionally challenged

2009-03-22T13:49:00.002-04:00

As if writing isn't hard enough. I used to think that once I sold my book I could just move on to writing the next one. I write; someone else prints and promotes. Publishers have people who do that. Right?

Nuh-uh. Maybe in some bygone golden literary era, but now the job of selling and promotion falls largely to the author. Which makes me wonder why I keep writing because I find self-promotion about as much fun as squeezing lemon juice in a paper cut.

The folks over at Writer Unboxed know there's more than one promotion-phobe out there; they brought in guest blogger JA Konrath who offers eight straightforward tips in his post How Do I Self-Promote?

Evil Editor

2009-03-21T09:53:00.003-04:00

If you have a final draft of a query letter and you're ready to roll, you may want to let the Evil Editor have a look-see before submitting to an agent or publishing house. EE and his legion of "minions" will shred - er - critique your letter (or synopsis or manuscript beginning) and, while the Evil Editor himself frightens me a little (okay, a lot), he and his minions offer tons of insight and ask tough questions. Yes, your letter will be picked apart for the world to see (unless, of course, it's perfect - and if it is I will demand to know how you did it), but it's worth it. You'll come away with a fresh perspective and ultimately a better product. Turnaround is quick; my revision was posted the same day, though first-time submissions may take a little longer. Good luck.

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2009-03-20T08:20:00.004-04:00

After reading the following email from my husband about my three year-old son, I'm thinking right-braindedness could be hereditary:

He asked for a car dealership flyer from today's
paper to look at during our commute. He studied it most of the way
in. He described to me how the numbers were all having a party and
there were two zeros playing on a see-saw.

Nothing is certain but death and...

2009-03-19T09:34:00.002-04:00

I did my own taxes! HA! Take THAT, accounting types! I typically have a professional process them for me, but with this year's price hike I just couldn't justify spending the money. So I bought myself a fancy TurboTax disc, spent about two hours peering uncertainly at my monitor and viola! Taxis completus. Why am I shouting this from the blogtop? Because if my right-brained mental self can handle it, anyone can. Never underestimate the power of user-friendly tax software. Saved myself $100.

The hard way

2009-02-19T13:48:00.004-05:00

A well-meaning writer friend recently returned from a local writer’s conference bursting with new information. He was all fired up and ready to hit the page. Good for him. He also knows I have a completed manuscript and that I’m seeking agent representation, so he wrote on my Facebook wall:

“I learned at my writer’s conference that you don’t need to get an agent until you have a publisher interested.”

*sigh*

Okay, I don’t need an agent until I catch a publisher’s eye. H.O.W.E.V.E.R, I don’t have access to influential publishing people. I don’t have credentials or relationships that would help slip my little ‘ol manuscript past the big, dark slush rooms-o-terror. I don’t know the first thing about publishing contract negotiations.

Agents do.

Here’s how I see it. If I’m lucky enough to sell my story, my agent will get a slice of my advance. If I find an agent first, then I’m partnering with someone who believes in my story; will fight for my story; can get publishing decision-makers’ attention way faster that I could; can provide valuable criticism; can negotiate my contract and hopefully a larger advance. If I find an agent second, I’ll spend years querying and years waiting, I’ll still have to find an agent (with whom I will have no rapport) if I'm successful, and his or her commission will be nothing more than a contract negotiation fee.

I know my friend was looking out for me, and I truly appreciate that. But I can't help thinking that finding a publisher before finding an agent seems like...the hard way. As if any of this is easy.

Literature: who gets to decide what's good?

2009-02-07T10:40:00.004-05:00

Nathan Bransford, my agent crush, posted Thursday about Stephen King's comments on Twilight author Stephanie Meyer (King thinks Meyer's writing stinks). Nathan posed a super-interesting question: "Who decides what is 'good', anyway?" Is it readers, writers, critics/experts or scholars?

My short answer is...all of the above. Like a well-run democracy, it takes all input from all perspectives to keep things in balance. I agree that as a population we're too heavy on the "pop culture" right now, but I believe that - just like the economy - this type of thing runs in cycles. Eventually the majority of us will get tired of easy-reading pop fiction and long again for literary substance. I think, as long as none of the folks above leave the party (or are forced out), we'll be fine.

Anyway, yesterday Nathan shared his own thoughts on the topic, which you'll find here. I won't even try to paraphrase; he's one articulate dude.

Respect the frugal.

2009-02-02T14:22:00.004-05:00

I grow a garden every summer. I carpool every chance I get. I shop at Aldi. I’m frugal. F.R.U.G.A.L. Then I see this headline at Foxnews.com:

Frugal Americans Hurt Economic Recovery

Um, what? How is this news? I dropped Econ 101 during the first week of class and I still have no trouble wrapping my numbers-phobic brain around this concept. We're not spending. You’d think our jobs/homes/401Ks were on the line or something. Do we have it all wrong? Maybe we should... Yes, that’s it! Incur more debt! Saving is for sissies.

Honestly.

Snarkiness aside, the next few years are going to be very, very interesting as über-consumers are forced to revert to more traditional financial values. We’ll all feel it, spenders and savers alike. Given all the other drama (housing, banking, Wall Street...), to take the stance that frugality is even part of the problem strikes me as a rather out-of-touch assertion.

Don’t hate. Respect the frugal.

The Bard hath spoken.

2009-01-29T18:25:00.002-05:00

Based on info from various sources, for years I believed that a prologue indicates a significant change, (e.g. in time, place, POV, etc.) So when I wrote my novel’s opening scene in the POV of a strong secondary character located across the world from my protagonist, I thought, “Hey, I know, this will be my prologue. Doesn’t every fantasy novel have a prologue? Brilliant!”

Years have passed since I penned that scene. These days, having a prologue in my manuscript doesn’t sit so well with me, but I haven’t been able to find a strong enough argument against it. Until now. Alicia over at editorrent set me straight on the rules of Prologue. Her pragmatic, three-paragraph explanation in the comments section made me a believer.

Wise words from Writer Unboxed

2009-01-27T12:40:00.002-05:00

On my RSS feed (I heart Google Reader) I subscribe to a gazillion publisher, agent and writer blogs. For about every six posts I read, at least one of them revolves around the following themes:

Promote!
Build a platform!
Put yourself out there!
Get involved!
Establish a web presence!
Network! Network! Network!

Part of the reason I started blogging again was to satisfy some of these excitable essentials, and then the amorphous questions floating around my brain began to gel: How do I promote a book I haven’t sold? Isn’t building a platform for non-fiction writers? Get involved in what, precisely? And (for the record) I’m an introvert. I’d rather take a cross-country flight with an ear infection than network to promote a book I haven’t sold.

As I pondered these things, Writer Unboxed posted an article about website-building best practices and I began to wonder, what exactly are other unpublished writers promoting? What could I be doing better/more of? I commented, explaining my uncertainly with regard to promoting…me.

Guess what??? Those super-duper WU ladies responded by writing an entire article addressing my question!

They cleared it all up. Dude. What a relief.

Oh, great. I think I just got inspired.

2009-01-24T08:09:00.006-05:00

The Writer's Digest Annual Writing Competition is in full swing. Because I've been hell-bent on completing my manuscript, I've shied away from competitions. But that's done now and, as I mentioned in my previous post, I'm up to my eyeballs in wee ones so I have limited time to devote to craft.

I'm considering writing and submitting a short story from the POV of one of my novel's secondary characters. As I wrote my novel, I began to realize that I like this character (I can't believe I'm saying this out loud) more than I like my protaganist. I've known for a while that I may have chosen the wrong character as the protag, but the thought of rewriting from a new character's POV shook the foundations of my being. I thought it might fix itself if I ignored it long enough. Nope. This is something I need to explore. I need a drink.

Anyway, check out the link above. Chances are good there's a category for you. Chances are also good that you won't have to overhaul a 90,000 word manuscript as a result. That's just how I roll.

Julia vs. Clyde

2009-01-22T13:12:00.002-05:00

It’s like a mini Wheel of Time. I jump feet-first into blogging and within two weeks Clyde (yeah, I named my inner censor. So what?) browbeats me into submission and I’m certain my writing stinks worse than a pig farm in August. Yesterday marked the two-week point and this morning I nearly shut down the blog.

Clyde says no one will ever bother to read my posts. That the thoughts I capture here aren’t worth the virtual page they’re written on (FINE, Clyde! …the virtual page on which they’re written. Happy??). Anyway, in matters concerning any vaguely public writing venue, I usually defer to Clyde. He thinks it’s best not to share. Best not to be disappointed…and I will be disappointed.

But I’m going to win this time. The key is to keep writing. Every day. Chasing after a preschooler while hauling a five-month old means that blogging might be my only creative outlet for the foreseeable future. Sure, I could keep a journal, but that somehow seems like hiding.

So, much to Clyde’s dismay I will keep blogging - even if you, blog reader, never read my words. But if you do, and you like what you read, thank you. If you don’t like what you read…please don’t tell Clyde.

World's shortest book review

2009-01-17T16:15:00.003-05:00

IdeaSpotting; How To Find Your Next Great Idea
by: Sam Harrison

While this book is geared a bit more toward the business world, its free-association format forces the reader's gaze to hop around the pages, then encourages the reader's mind to explore different perspectives of...everything. Good for inspiring creativity; examining your own creative processes; and learning how to help your employer think like a consumer.

Tons of good quotes and thought diagrams (must be a name for a thought diagrams - but I sure don't know it).

A penny saved is, well, in this economy who the heck knows?

2009-01-14T13:08:00.001-05:00

Frugal is fashionable again, and I’m all over it. Where my writing is concerned, it means banking away a little extra for postage to mail my queries and (if I’m lucky) manuscripts; maybe even a trip to the publishing hub that is New York City. As long as we’re dreaming, living frugally means that I may one day afford to write full time – although according to current unemployment trends I may realize that dream sooner than expected.

Anyway, one of the ways I maintain my frugalosity is by shopping at Aldi. Here’s why:

(Bagging your own groceries) + ($.25 grocery-cart deposit) = 35 - 40% savings on your weekly grocery bill.

Seriously. Yes, their stores are the size of a McDonald’s dining room. Yes, they carry off-brands. My family has tested and loved most of them (except their paper products; might want to stick with Puffs). If you’re a stickler for a few name-brand products, it’s worth a trip to two stores; you’ll realize savings significant enough to more than recoup travel cost and time.

Bottom line, if you’re at all frugal-minded and fortunate enough to have an Aldi in your neighborhood, I challenge you to give it a try. I’ll bet you a box of Puffs you won’t be disappointed.

A shift in perspective

2009-01-13T13:00:00.002-05:00

I didn’t write yesterday. I didn’t edit or work on my query letter. I rose before dawn and cleaned, shopped, cooked, visited parents, worked from home – all with my four-month old and three-year old in tow – then hit the gym. I put the kids to bed and by 9:00 p.m. I realized there’d be no time for creativity (something I try to work in every day). I started glaring at the dishes in the sink and muttering as I packed lunches. I started to feel very, very sorry for myself. Why couldn’t I have an hour a day to write? Why couldn’t I have a studio? How was I supposed to launch a writing career like this? Why couldn’t I have five stinking minutes to myself?!?!

Then I heard my son crying. I went to investigate. Apparently a big work machine tried to smash his bedroom. He laid his head in my lap and, with his three-year old vocabulary, briefed me on his dream. We talked for a good half-hour and then I ran my hands through his hair and watched him fall asleep.

Writing can wait.

Images

2009-01-12T07:52:00.002-05:00

Yesterday I stepped outside the gym and my breath caught (for context, my gym sits in the middle of a cornfield). The lone shed next door had somehow changed. Its whitewashed walls rose up from the snow-covered earth on a backdrop of dormant oaks and dead corn. Then I saw it. Someone had boarded up its small, high windows and painted them red.

Now, I’m sure the landowners are wonderful people, but something happened in that shed. I don’t know what yet, but I recorded the image in a notebook so that one day I can investigate.

Images like this don’t hit me often, and I consider them a sort of gift. Can you think of a recent image that sparked your imagination? I’d love to hear about it.

And on the seventh day...

2009-01-11T10:15:00.001-05:00

Coffee, laptop and silence. I love Sunday mornings.

Stray thoughts on Saturday

2009-01-10T13:14:00.006-05:00

I just caught myself writing in "text". Call me old fashioned, but I've never quite accepted this phenomenon - until now, apparently. Even in the most casual correspondence I still spell out my words and capitalize everything that needs...er..capitalizing. Today, however, I sent the following email:

where r u going to b later?

**sigh** Am I crossing over to the dark side? I know how fuddy-duddy I sound, but I just can't help feeling like Strunk and White are going to jump out of the bushes and tackle me when I write like that.

What r your thoughts?

Distractions – What’s your favorite shiny object?

2009-01-09T15:57:00.004-05:00

I shouldn’t admit this but, as a writer, I’m always looking for reasons not to write. I’ve heard other writers say there’s nothing they love more than sitting down to a blank page and transcribing their thoughts. Well, that’s super and all, but for me writing is a love/hate relationship. I love it when it’s over and I can review the fruits of my labor, but I hate starting. It’s as if I

Sorry. I fell asleep for a minute. My four month old woke me up at 3:00 a.m.

Anyway, what I’m getting at is that I love a good distraction. With that in mind, I thought I’d share this week’s online shiny object.

www.HumanMetrics.com

It’s a personality quiz based on the famed Myers-Briggs personality test. If you’ve spent time in corporate America you may have already taken it. But heck, take it again. People change. If you answer the questions with brutal honesty (which I doubt I did the last time I took it – I was 19) you will be intrigued by the accuracy of the results. I’m an INFJ. Turns out, we INFJs make up only 1.5% of the population. That’s unsettling. But now instead of writing I can spend more time digging up tons of research on my personality.

So. What’s your favorite shiny object?

Agent Thursday, Reporting

2009-01-08T12:43:00.005-05:00

Psst. I’m Agent Thursday. World-class literary detective. I’m on a covert mission for my client to monitor the activities of several notable literary agents. In less than a day I’ve already uncovered their collective attempts to confine their intelligence to a contraption called a blog. I’m going to get to the bottom of this. They don’t know who they’re dealing with.

Just this afternoon I received word that agent Nathan Bransford allegedly leaked a report on whether a writer should craft his own query, or have an expert craft one for him. Which leads me to the question: what exactly is a query? I haven’t confirmed this, but it sounds like a secret magic key (developed by ghosts, no less) that will unlock a doorway to a world of literary fame and fortune. This could be huge. Stay tuned.

How did I manage to uncover this information? I'm afraid a world-class detective never reveals his sources. Suffice it to say that I know enough to blow this case wide open.

Until then, this is Agent Thursday.

A conversation inside my head

2009-01-07T12:27:00.001-05:00

Me: Can’t wait to blog again. It’ll be great!

My subconscious: Are you nuts? With everything else you have going on right now?

Me: Can’t wait to blog. It’ll be great.

My subconscious: What do you think you’re going to write about?

Me: (pause) It’ll be great.

My subconscious: Who’s going to want to read it?

Me: (thoughtful pause) Look, what’s that over there?

My subconscious: Where? I don’t see anyth-

(Julia slams door to subconscious).

Me: Can’t wait to blog. It’ll be great!

Do I Have To?

2007-05-08T19:52:00.000-04:00

I just put my 1.5 year-old to bed and can hear him conducting a meeting with his furry entourage. The bottle of red wine is calling to me from the wine rack, and an all-new House is on in less than an hour.

Do I have to?

I produced 1,500 words yesterday and attended my writers' group meeting. In theory, I should be able to take tonight off. Maybe even tomorrow.

It's funny, I can spend the better part of my free time conjuring ideas for my book, turn them over in my mind and tweak them until I'm satisfied. But when it comes time (like right now) to sit down and transfer the scene in my head to the screen three feet from my face, I get all flustered and frustrated and how dare I think of myself as a writer?

But over time I've learned that the answer is an unequivocal yes. I have to. There's no help for it. Whether I tap out literary refuse or Pulitzer material, the most important thing is to commit those 1,000 words (or whatever my current goal may be) to paper five days a week.

Writers write. I guess that's really all there is to it. So off I go...