White Privilege

The past handful of days, the concept--and reality--of white privilege has been bouncing around my small corner of the internet. It's been even more prevalent for my friend and fellow writer, Xen.

As a response, he posted this reference guide for dealing with white privilege when you encounter it. He says it so well, I got his permission to post it here, so I hope and encourage everyone to read it and to think about their own behaviors and the privilege they might be benefiting from without even realizing it.

Xen Sanders on 'white privilege':

A handy-dandy reference guide on what to do when offering advice regarding white privilege and how to deal with it in society:

1. Look in the mirror. Are you white?***

2. If the answer is yes, please sit down, observe a respectful silence, listen to what people of color are trying to tell you, and remember that you are not in any way, shape, or form qualified to advise on this subject. If you think you are, please see step three.

3. Google "white privilege." Educate yourself about what it is. Do not get defensive; do not automatically assume it cannot be you because you just don't like the idea. You are not being attacked right now. You are not an awful person. No one thinks you're horrible. No one hates you. And no one is calling you a racist for enjoying white privilege, so don't worry about that, either; let's get past that right now and work past that defensive knee-jerk reaction. If you see signs of white privilege in your life, it doesn't mean you're a racist at all. It just means society subconsciously favors you, and you've never even been aware of it. That can change, but please don't expect sympathy or congratulations for realizing your privilege.

4. Look in the mirror again. Still white? Yeah, that's not going to change. That's okay. There's nothing wrong with being white, just as there's nothing wrong with any other color. What can change is you, and how you respond to the people of color--if any--in your life. It is never okay to tell people of color how they should feel about race issues. I'm sorry, it's just not. It's never okay to presume to speak for us, either. We are intelligent, well-educated people. We can speak for ourselves; the harder matter is actually getting people to listen when it doesn't impact your life if people who aren't like you don't enjoy the same privileges you do, and when sometimes listening involves an uncomfortable and embarrassing level of self-analysis. Also? You don't have to shout louder than we do to be an ally. Sometimes the best you can do is listen, ask questions, and try to empathize, even though you can never understand because it's not a life you've lived. We wouldn't expect you to. But we do expect you to realize that--that you do *not* understand what it means to live life in the role of a person of color, and no amount of advocacy will change that, and any claims that you "get it" are false and offensive.

Check your privilege. Check yourself.

Show a little respect, and we'll be happy to give it back to you.

***If the answer to #1 is "no," disregard #2-4, and just do your best to educate, advocate, and not bite the heads off your white friends if they need to be told over and over and over again because they're just not getting it.

Here's the link for his post: Xen Sanders' facebook status on white privilege 

And here's his website: Xenarchy

The Truth About Publishing

Nathan Bransford is a big name in the blog-o-sphere of literary agents and authors. He was the former and is now the latter.

[As an aside, is blog-o-sphere even still used? Am I behind the times again? Maybe I should just stick with the classic slang. Nathan Bransford is a smart tack, a smart cookie, he's an old-timey newsman who knows what he's talking about.]

Anyway...he posted a breakdown of the publishing process, from initial story idea to book release and beyond, in GIF form!

And it's awesome. Not the least of which is because of the Troy Barnes ("Community", played by Donald Glover) "My emotions" gif.

You should read it, too. Go. Go now.

The Twelve Dancing Princesses, Persephone, and an Herbalist walk into the Underworld...

Just wanted to send everyone to look at a recent "The Big Idea" post by John Scalzi. Various authors write about their recents releases, usually with some really interesting background about their inspiration.

This one: The Big Idea is about Merrie Haskell's The Princess Curse, which stems from some of her own fears, and loves.

Check it out. I am going to be on the lookout for it when I next go to a bookstore.

I Have a Confession...

I've got a crush. Actually a number of them. Since my youthful years so long ago.

I'm picking up this topic from Jennifer Ambrose at The Charmed Bracelet. (Go there and read hers, it's a good post, along with many others!) She brought up the subject of literary crushes from childhood, which got me thinking about my own reading habits from yesteryears.

To be honest, I don't think I read as much fantasy when I was younger. The books that stick out for me now were mostly school books: "The Great Gilly Hopkins" (I loved how tough she was), "Julie of the Wolves" (possibly the start of my love for wolves), "Bridge to Terabithia" (I wished the world they created was real, and even now, I cry a little near the end), and "Tuck Everlasting" (I think my opinion of Winnie and the story changed every few pages, it brought up some complicated issues with immortality to my young mind).

My introduction to fantasy was probably through movies--I can still recite whole passages from "Labryinth" even though it's been a few years since I've watched it--but my first fantasy book that I recall was in fifth grade. [This is another story for another post about an awesome substitute I had. I'll tell it you later. ;) ]

After that, there were some books and characters that really stayed with me, mostly in the fantasy genre.

1. Vanyel Ashkevron in The Last Herald-Mage Trilogy by Mercedes Lackey



He went through a lot of tragedy, but he still worked hard to protect those he cared about, and he sacrificed a lot. I was struck by how he just kept going, even when he wanted to quit. This was also the first book I recall having gay and lesbian characters, who were main characters and side characters, and who were treated as individuals (both by the author and within the story's society). This is still something I feel is lacking in a great many books.

2. Alanna from The Song of the Lioness Quartet by Tamora Pierce



I should add the main character of Pierce's second Tortall quartet as well, Daine (and, frankly, her third with Keladry). Alanna was a twin (which I am not, but twins are awesome!), and she defied her family in order to become a knight. She was strong-willed and created a new family of friends and people she cared for and who cared for her (Jonathan, George, and the royal spymaster, Miles, a great father figure). I've always liked stories that showed the important side of friendship and non-blood families.

Daine was a softer character, a little more introverted, and had that wolf connection I loved, and I felt a more personal connection to her. I think that's something a lot of [young] readers look for, a character they can step into.

3. Sabriel from the Old Kingdom series by Garth Nix



I saw this at a Scholastic book fair at my school. I will admit part of the reason I picked it up was because the titular character had a name similar to mine. A young girl on a journey to find and rescue her father, taking up a huge responsibility in the process--now that I think about it, this might have appealed because of my own childhood a little bit, where I felt my responsibilities (to get As in school, be "perfect") an inescapable burden, but one I was driven to achieve. Honestly, I really need to reread this series, because I've enjoyed Nix's other work and it's been far too long since I traveled with Sabriel.

4. Dorothy and Elphaba from "The Wizard of Oz" and "Wicked" by L. Frank Baum and Gregory MacGuire, respectively

(Idina Menzel as Elphaba)

Okay, so I've read these both in only the past few years, but the play of good versus evil and how those lines can be blurred so much is a theme I'm finding in some of my own work. I saw the Judy Garland film when I was very young and of course, imagined myself in Dorothy's place, but nowadays I think of that scene when the pair first meet and of the confrontation that ends with a bucket of water, and I ponder all the possibilities for new and different stories. Like a lot of fairy tales, I'd like to find a new interpretation and write my own version, because I think there's a lot to be said for finding or making your own path, listening to authority, and the homes and families you make for yourself.

(I feel like there may be a analytical article in all that. Huh.)

***

There are others. I stuck to characters from series, but as I mentioned in Ambrose's comment section, Eddi from "War for the Oaks" and Jack from "Jack of Kinrowan" are also strong characters that have stayed with me through the years and deserve a reread. They've also helped shape me as a writer in ways I can hardly begin to quantity or qualify.

So dear readers, who are your literary crushes from your childhoods? I'd like to know. I'm curious that way. Comment and better yet, link to your own post. I'd love to read them!

Blogger Cookies, not the tasty kind

Blogger apparently doesn't want me to comment on posts anymore, blaming my cookie settings, which I never change (though I did delete them recently, along with my temporary files). I've gone into my internet options to allow Blogger cookies and it still won't let me leave a comment. In my own blog. Ergh. >.<

I'll admit it. Computers confuse me. I will never understand them quite as thoroughly as I'd like to. (~~~flashback~~~ I was halfway through high school before we even had a computer in our house. Even then, I got it as a donation from my school, from the bunch they were getting rid of, because we couldn't afford one otherwise. ~~~end flashback~~~)

Anyway, there's are posts coming in the next few days, but I'm hopefully going to figure this blogger/cookie thing first.

In the meantime, head on over to The Charmed Bracelet and read about Jennifer's first literary crushes.

Two Pieces of Good Advice: Do Research and Wear Sunscreen

"Wear Sunscreen" is a song/rap/spoken word poem set to music, which I heartedly enjoyed when it came out. In college, a friend made me a cd of awesome songs, mostly from the 90s, and included this one.

Today, there is a new version out, courtesy of author Seanan McGuire: Do Research.

For the writers out there, it is an adaptation filled with advice, both concrete ("Get plenty of sleep. Be kind to your wrists, you'll miss them when they're gone," and "Stretch") and more abstract or hard-to-quantify ("Don't worry about the future. Or worry, but know that worrying is as effective as trying to correct your spelling through interpretive dance," and "Don't feel guilty if you don't know what you want to spend your life writing").

It's a great way to start the day (my opinion, but I'm not the only one who thinks so, according to the comment stream). It's just great fun, and I suggest anyone who needs a smile clikcing over there and giving it a read. It has the same feel to the original, plucking at my emotions when she writes "Do not read Amazon reviews, they will only make you feel ugly," even though I haven't published anything yet for this to be an issue.

Still. It's good advice. Go. Read. Enjoy.
~Sabrina


Seanan McGuire is the author of "Rosemary and Rue," and "A Local Habitation" (urban fantasy, starring a changeling who has lost everything). Under her pseudonym, Mira Grant, she has a political zombie apocalyse, "Feed," in stores now.

Help a Book-Lover Help Others

I've just heard about this today, but I was eager to share: someone I do not know, is looking to spread the love of reading and create a space for readers, writers' groups, local authors as well as new and small publisher authors. Michelle Witte is opening a bookstore for children and young adult lit, and is looking for help in raising funds to accomplish that goal.

Details can be found on the blog for Fire Petal Books, about who she is and why she's doing this, especially with the economy still hurting. Also, the big fundraising method right now seems to be an auction of books by various children and YA authors, including Neil Gaiman, Maureen Johnson and a host of authors I personally haven't heard of until now, but whose work I am intrigued by, like Steve Ouch ("SteamPotVille," hmm).

I'd encouraged everyone to at least check out her blog, and if they feel so inclined, maybe even participate in the auction. The auction runs until this Saturday, March 20, at 11:59 p.m. EST.

I'm actually going to head back there and read the blog archives for a bit, but I wanted to put it out there for others who may not have heard about it. (Because sometimes, if I wait too long, I end up not posting, and I felt this was important to share. Yay for more independent bookstores!)

Today, I wish you all happy reading.
~Sabrina

Crosspost-it from my LJ: Epiphany! Albeit a little one

Thank you to those who read that very long post below, reviewing The Time Travelers by Linda Buckley-Archer, and The Sisters Grimm series by Michael Buckley--I enjoyed both and I don't always realize how much I'm writing until I'm scrolling through it after it's posted. But if you like mid-grade, fantasy, time travel, or fairy tales (especially fairy tales in the modern world), then please read the review, because I think these two series could appeal to you.

Moving on, I posted the following to my lj the other day, and realized it would connect very well to the purpose of CoffeeQuill, i.e. sharing my process on the road to and through publication. So here it is, with a few additional thoughts afterwards.

***

Okay, so, as in geometry, there is a given. Every writer works differently. Given that, I do think it behooves writers to read a lot. Not necessarily the same genre they write, hopefully not just research, but in soem form or another, ingesting the words, the stories of others.

Last night, I was getting ready for bed, and reading a few pages in a fantasy novel by James Owen (lj coppervale), "Here, There Be Dragons." I only read about 2-4 pages, closed it at page 24 to finish getting ready for bed, and I took a moment to think about how much had happened in those first two dozen pages. In my head, I started to list the big pieces of action and after just the first, had an idea on how to improve Hounds, my faerie UF.

I've known it needed work, much like its query I could see something wasn't right,, but didn't have a firm idea on how to fix it. Now I have at least one part. Get to the park faster, and see Din's death. It won't fix everything, but the risk will be more evident right off the bat, the reader will see the danger rather than just being told it's dangerous.

Like I said, not a magic bullet, but it's a start, and it'll make the first chapter or so stronger. Already I can feel the story whittling down into a sharper, clearer form in my head. Too much is going on in it that's unnecessary, I just need to go through a hard copy and start slicing.

[This is something I knew I had to do, and was going to do it after I did the same for Harry's Skin, but now I feel like I'm in the right place mentally to view the story more objectively. I was too close to it before.] <-- The one positive point about being unpublished is that I can allow myself the time to do this, and to wait for when I'm ready to work on something.

Also, I am toying with two new story/world ideas. Well, new to me. I'm going to try and let them percolate for a while, though.

***

After I wrote and posted this, I was listening to volume 1 of the Glee albums. A line in one of the songs hit me, and though it didn't seem at all related, made me reexamine another issue I was having. I tend to populate my novels with large casts, and in this particular story, I think it's too much and at least one character, a private detective, can go. Even after mulling it over, I still haven't decided whether to keep 'Det. L' or not, but more and more I think his actions that need to be there can be attributed to someone else, and the rest can be dropped. But it's just sort of funny how part of a song can trigger an idea for a story about a completely different subject matter.

Happy writing everyone,
Sabrina

What Happens When You Put Two Authors Together on IM

Justine Larbalestier posted an IM conversation the other day, with "The Demon's Lexicon" author, Sarah Rees Brennan.

I'd advise writers to go read the conversation. One, it's funny and entertaining. Two, it's interesting to see how two YA authors' processes differ. I am one of those people always quick to point out that what works for one writer may not for another, because we are different people with different ways of thinking, and thus different ways of writing and planning out a book. [Different, different, different. :P] Larbalestier's post is a nice way of depicting these variations, because the pair seem to be on almost opposite sides of the issue when it comes to talking about one's book in its earliest stages. Whether to talk about your story in its zero draft, opening yourself to brainstorming and to critique, or to keep it to yourself until that first draft is complete.

I think some of my own problems lately may be because I fall on Larbalestier's end of the spectrum, but don't necessarily act in the best way for that process. I especially like this metaphor of Larbalestier's:

"JL: But someone criticising a zero draft is kind of like someone criticising a souffle on the basis of a few of the ingredients laid out on a table, but not yet made into a, you know, souffle.
I can’t stand people weighing in before I know what it is I’m doing. Before I can see the souffle. Because then they’ll try and make it into a cheesecake or, I don’t know, an aardvark or something."

The whole thing is fun to read, but it really jived with me after that point (as well as taking a strange-humorous turn).

I don't want to post all the great quotes and ideas in there, because there are a lot of nice lines, so anyone intrigued should read it in its entirety.

Steampunk and Linkage

I've been calling my newest idea a steampunk (well, clockwork) ghost story. I have never written steampunk before, have (hanging my head in shame) not read much, but I see the images and watch the shows and films, and fall in love every time. So I wanted to try my hand at it.







First off, I wanted to try a different approach compared to my write-by-the-seats-of-my-pants leanings. I wanted to be more organized before I started writing the story itself (as I've mentioned in recent blogs). Some writers, like me, start with a single image or idea and just fly as far as they can. Eventually we (read: I) have to take a bit of time to figure where the story should actually end up, but the detailing pre-thought of specific scenes, not so much. Other writers outline a lot before writing a word, some to the point of detailing every scene.

Every new story I begin, I try to move forward, learn something new, try a new technique or method. And every writer works differently, but I'm a believer in playing around with what you think works for you. Sometimes you find a habit that works even better.

For this clockwork story, I wanted to know where I was going in a more structured way. I knew I'd have to do a lot of resarch into the Victorian Era and the steampunk genre. But then the story just grabbed me and refused to let go. So I started writing, rambling a bit as I'm wont to do. Long story short(ish), the past few days I've been a bit discouraged after receiving some very early critiques. They were right, but it was too much, too early--I'm still finding the story.

It was a really nice then to stubble onto this post of Writtenwyrdd's, reposted today (originally from 2006): "The Inner Critic as Muse." It starts off talking about writers falling prey to their own self-doubts, not only the unpubbed noobs like myself, but even the pre-publication jitters of authors like Lillith Saint Crow--"Ah, the Scylla of insecurity and the Charybdis of self-hatred. Iwish I could lash myself to the mast and sail throughthese rocks." Writtenwyrrd goes to offer the advice that whenever the fear looms, turn it around. Stretch as far out into the realm of the fantasic as it will go, and you may find yourself wondering about this person who is no longer, being dragged through a mysterious doorway, a hand clamped over your mouth.

The whole post is really interesting, and I found it helpful. I was already clawing my way out of the gaping hole of discouragement, but this gave me that last boost to propel me out and back into the story. With a few more steampunk images to inspire me, and some Abney Park playing near at hand, I'm ready to get back to work.

Happy writing everyone,
Sabrina


*The photo is from Jim Mullan, genked from Google Images. I just love the details and color. Looks like he's made a whole series of them, and the crows were originally hunting decoys. Lovely.

Brief Weekend Post the Second

Ironic Sans is a blog that I've known about for a number of years now, but visit only on occasion. I don't know why. Every time I stop by I run into interesting articles that teach me things I didn't know, and sometimes really wanted to.

As a senior undergraduate in the psychology program, I was required to do at least three credits worth of directed research with one of the psych professors. I asked Edward Chronicle, because I loved his Cognitive Psychology course. After a face-to-face meeting, he agree, and I was one of three undergraduates working with him and his graduate student. One, a PhD candidate, was studying migraines, and one of our tasks was to post flyers around campus. He was conducting research and needed people who had migraines with auras.


Professor Chronicle died about a year after that, but I still think about that semester of research, how much I enjoyed working with those people, and wondering how their research progressed.

Just a little while ago, I took a jaunt through some favorite websites that I hadn't visited much recently, and there was this post on Ironic Sans about aura migraines, and the blogger, David's, strange experience. He usually has the auras, but this time, it included typing gibberish, which hadn't happened to him before.

It was interesting to read his description of the auras, and commenters' additions on various migraine symptons.

Part of me wonders whether there isn't a story there, about someone who sees migraine auras, but rather than being a precursor to a migraine, it indicates something else. (Something magical, mysterious, or preternatural, because that's where my fanytasy head goes.)


It's a very warm Sunday, and I feel like I've been running around all day, even if I haven't. But read and enjoy, and I'll see you all tomorrow.

Happy writing.

(Note: the picture is a piece of art depicting visual phenomena experienced by migraine sufferers, from the slideshow David links to. Here also is the link to the sideshow. These paintings are pretty intriguing.)

Brief Weekend Post the First

Just wanted to point readers to this post by Patricia C. Wrede. After a post last week-ish about where I keep my ideas, I got a smile out of her post, offering an answer to that all-too-common question: Where do you get your ideas?

A taste: "If you just look slantwise at normal, everyday things, it becomes a habit after a while, and pretty soon you have more ideas than you know what to do with."

Much like her helpful soup analogy, Wrede offers an easy-to-comprehend grocery list example.

Give it a look, and I'll be back later today with another brief post.

Some Linkage to Start Your Weekend Right

There's a pretty interesting conversation going on in the comments to Bookends, LLC most recent post, "Agency Policies." The topic is pretty basic: why do agents require personalized query letters and no mass emails? But it's nice to see the thought-out and detailed explanations by agents Jessica Faust of Bookends, and Colleen Lindsay in the comments.

---

In those comments above are a couple from JJDebenedictis, whom I first encountered through a quote in Writtenwyrrd's blog. From these comments, I decided to visit JJ's blog, and one of the current posts is also addressing some basics, in this case, of writing stories. She breaks down plot points (the risk of ambiguity), subtext, backstory and the over-arching idea we all hear about at one time or another, "Show, don't tell."

It all comes down to the reader's imagination.

"Show, don't tell," according to JJ, is really just giving the reader a few key details and letting them fill in the blanks, when it comes to description. In the example of the second Star Wars movie (the new second one, Attack of the Clones), the IMAX version made the movie better in terms of action and plot. Redundant scenes were cut for length, and the love story between Anakin and Padme was reduced to a few hinting glances and touches. Viewers filled in the blanks and the relationship worked.

The post is the last of five, but works all by itself, and the examples are clear and pretty useful, I find. Even if you already know the "rules," this is a handy post to read.

---

Lastly, if you haven't watched "Die, Vampire, Die," I heartily suggest it. It's funny, but it speaks to that worry in many of us (writers, artists, performers)--the awful voices in our heads that say 'it isn't good enough.' The video is embedded on the blog a few posts down.

Happy weekend,happy writing,
Sabrina

Update on the new FTC guidelines, and a book plug

From the post interviewing Richard Cleland about the new guidelines with the FTC about bloggers, free swag, and the possible consesequences of that being considered "compensation" for "endorsement" of a product, like bloggers who review a book they received as a -free- ARC.

Well, that poster updated with this link to another interview with Cleland. Further details on who might be fined, and how much, along with some responses from other bloggers, relating to their concerns and confusion.

Good information for all.


In only slightly related news, a former classmate of mine, currently a PhD student at the University of Hawai'i at Manoa, has a book soon to be released. "Big in Japan: A Ghost Story" will be released around November 1 of this year, but Tom Gammarino, Author, will be turing at the end of October. First stop, the UH bookstore, on October 29, at 3 pm.

He'll also visit Philadelphia in December, and Pennsylvania, Washington and Vancouver, BC in January. Go here for more details about the tour and the book.

It follows the "Dantesque" travels of an American (USian, specifically) musician in Japan, and skips along the border of reality and fantasy. It's "riotously serious and deadly funny," according to the blurb at the website.

I haven't read it yet, but I plan to when it comes out, and it sounds interesting enough that I wanted to make mention of it to others. [Disclaimer: He didn't ask me to say anything, and I am being no way compensated for this mention. Just in case y'all wanted to know. ;P]

Kat Richardson tells it like it is, booyah!

DISCLAIMER! My dad and little sister have read, I think, every Kat Richardson book currently out in paperback. They love the books. I, sadly (~weeps~), haven't read them yet because my to-read pile is a tottering hazard.

Plus, with this post, I've totally caught up with myself.

[I have decided, using my stuffy head-cold as an excuse, to be silly here. Please accept all of the above as truthful and deliberately exaggerated and silly.]

Urban fantasy writer, Kat Richardson, posts about Acquiring an Agent on her blog. It's long, but detailed and comprehensive, and basically, some overall good advice for writers currently editing, or just about to begin querying agents. And of course, the usual disclaimer--this is her opinion, based on her experience, and everyone who reads it has to look at it through that understanding. Besides that, it's a good read, IMHO.

The Sunday Slump

I definitely think weekends will be hardest posts to stick with. Those are my running around days, especially Sunday, and I don't usually turn the computer on, let alone do all that pesky thinking about stuff.

Scanning through my enormous list of writers' blogs, looking for inspiration or an interesting article to link to, Anna Genoese (editor, and co-author of Salt and Silver) had some neat points to make about editing--three main questions, 1. can you tighten it up, 2. what story are you telling, and 3. who's your audience, really--but maybe I'm too tired at this point to say much more than that.

It's been a really long day. And I'm already tired thinking about having to get up tomorrow.

I also visited Carrie Vaughn's blog. She has a recent post about going on a ride-along with a police officer. This was almost startling in its helpfulness, because I have, on a handful of occasions in the past, wondered how some writers keep the police procedures in their books authentic if they don't personally know a cop or have a friend who knows a cop. Ride-alongs seemed like something only a well-known writer (or previously mentioned 'person with connections') could achieve. And although the police officer with whom Vaughn went on the ride-along is a friend, according to the post, I was caught by the last paragraph--that police departments usually have a ride-along program and/or "civilian academies," where one can learn about actual procedure.

That seems, in one way, pretty common sensical (is that word? it is now either way ;) ), and I like to think I have a healthy dose of common sense, but at the same time, it had never occurred to me that police departments would have something like that already in place.

Well, there are my two [sleepy] cents for Sunday. I hope to bring you something more coherent tomorrow.

Happy writing,
Sabrina

October First: Catch-All and Linkage

The countdown begins to my-favorite-holiday-on-which-I-have-nothing-to-do, Halloween. I love Halloween, the idea of dressing up as something magical and maybe a little scary, a night to pretend I'm someone/something else--it's like taking the stories I write a step further.

When I write, I am, in some ways, every character. I need to get in their heads, know how they think, how they react, how they feel. On Halloween, instead of quietly looking over the shoulders' of these fictional characters, I can walk the street as someone else.

@_@

Not to take that idea too far, I just love Halloween.

It's incredibly sad that I never have any plans for the night. Candy for the handful of kiddies that show up, yes, but my family never has parties, none of my friends have parties as far as I'm aware, and I'm not a dance club kind of gal.

But moving on. October 1 also marks the not-quite-midpoint of Banned Books Week, as well as the first day of NaBloWriMo--National Blog Writing Month. Seeing as how I love to read, but have been lax in my CoffeeQuill blogging, I want to attend to these both.

Briefly, a WHAT TO EXPECT:

Tomorrow, I'll post about Banned Books, talk about this year's list, banned books I have or have not read, and share an anecdote from 2003.

Then, it will be my fervent attempt to blog each day of October. I don't imagine I'll keep up the once-a-day post after this month, but if memory serves, it takes about 21 days to form a habit. If I can manage NaBloWriMo, maybe I can manage a more regular posting schedule. I'm already making a list of topics to post on.

LINKAGE

On Publisher's Weekly, there's a vote going on--PW is planning to do an interview with an urban fantasy author, and they want to know which UF author people want to read about. Voting is happening on now, and you can go here to cast your choice. You don't need to log in to leave a comment.

Today also heralds the guest post on "The Charming Bracelet," by "Only Milo" author Barry Smith. Jennifer Ambrose, the author of the blog, is running a Big Idea--a chain letter of sorts, but with a book. Receive it, read it, sign it, blog or tweet it if you like, mail it to someone else. Eventually, the book returns to Jennifer and more writers and readers are aware of a debut author. The book sounds interesting, and you can go to Jennifer's blog for more details about the book, Smith, and her chain book idea.

ETA: While writing about NaBloWriMo, I knew there was one more blog I wanted to mention. By the time I got to Linkage, I forgot. 'Cause I'm a dork like that. Seeing as I love Halloween, and by extension, October, here is a link to Writtenwyrdd's short fiction contest. 500-1,000-word horror story. Halloween as the deadline. Prize is a cuddly Chthulu plushie. I haven't written much horror, but for that, I'm going to give it a try.

(Thanks to Writtenwyrdd for reminding me I wanted to post about this.) :)

So that's October 1, day one of NaBloWriMo. 30 more days to go.

Happy writing,
Sabrina

Nathan Bransford Linkage

A swing by Writtenwyrdd's blog reminded me, I wanted to share a particular link. When I swung by agent Nathan Bransford's blog, I saw another link to share.

The latter is actually a post of links. "Writing Advice Database" lists a ton of Bransford's past posts regarding writing, broken down into sub-headings like "The Writing Process" "Revising" and "Genres and Classification." The last heading being, enjoyably, "Staying Sane During the Writing/Publishing Process." Because we all need help with that sometimes, don't we?

The other post, which I originally wanted to mention was, "Revision Checklist." I know when I write a story, I'll read writing books beforehand, and sometimes after, but when I'm in the thick of things, writing or editing, I don't always consciously think about what I should be looking for. I found this post, which is a list of questions to keep in mind when revising, easy to understand and something that I think will be rather helpful to me. Mostly as something I can write out or print and keep near at hand, perhaps to glance at when I know something isn't working in a scene, but I can't figure out what. I thought it might helps others as well.

In fact, the post in between these two is on how one knows when one is done editing, with Bransford asking for answers to that question in the comments section.

These are strangely well-timed, for me at least, as if Mr. Bransford somehow knows I'm diving into editing two novels. (Is he psychic? Are all agents?) ;)

Anyway, maybe these posts will help others. Happy writing.

When it's a hard hit

I asked for some general feedback on a draft of a query blurb. I was trying a different tactic and mostly wanted, "Works/Doesn't work," with maybe a "Too long/Not enough detail/need better hook." What I got was a detailed five-point explanation of why and how the blurb was wrong.

Suffice it to say, I was a bit thrown. I mean, I was writing it pretty late last night (just before bed, in fact) and blurbs and synopses are not my favorite things in the world, so I wasn't expecting it to be ready for sending out, but it isn't fun to ask for a short response and see just how 'off' your work is. I immediately felt discouraged, despite how little a thing it was (little in terms of length, but it's also what agents base their decisions on). I was beginning to get excited at the prospect of my upcoming Summer of Queries, and this felt like a huge step back.

I know that as a writer, I get too close to the story and the writing itself, so whenever I get harsh feedback, I tend to react emotionally at first. Give me a few hours or a few days and I'm fine and can analyze the comments, disregarding what doesn't work for me, keeping the stuff that does. But it's a dejected bump I need to get over first.

This blog post helped me do just that. Toni McGee Causey of "Murderati: Mysteries, Murder and Marketing" writes about Susan Boyle (the phenomenal Britain's Got Talent singer) and the topic of when do you give up. When do you say, I'm not going to be a writer anymore.

I read that and thought, "Getting upset over this is stupid and useless. The feedback, though harsh, was given with good intentions and is helpful. I am not going to stop writing because of it, and I sure as hell won't give up on trying to get published. So why bother whining and moaning that someone was mean about it?" If the blurb doesn't work, it helps to know now before I send it off to agents. I typed it quickly and posted it on my personal blog, and one imagines I'd have made many more changes before mailing, but I might've missed one of the big problems, just because I get too close to the writing. I get too used to the way a sentence looks and can't always see what's wrong.

I imagine that problem will fade (hopefully) the more I write and edit, but in the meantime, I am not giving up, and I thank my friend for the feedback. I'm going to revise that blurb, then go work on a short story.

Update

There's a new post just below, but for the curious:

I fixed the link for Writtenwyrrd (from blogspot to typepad). I've also added a few more writers' blogs that I tend to frequent and another agent blog I like to check out from time to time.

Hope it helps.

~Sabrina