Writing was my dream, but I had to delay it for almost forty years as I worked and raised a family. [Read more…]
Should You Quit Blogging?
People begin blogging for all kinds of reasons. My friends blog for two reasons: for the fun or satisfaction of being able to communicate with a wide range of people, and to expand your range of people who might want to know about your products. In my circles, that means books. But a blog is a commitment, and some of my friends are unable to keep it up. They’re a bit discouraged. [Read more…]
Jane Friedman is Awesome!
Even though she doesn’t know me, I have a fantastic writing mentor in Jane Friedman, one of the top editors at the Writer’s Digest empire. She’s always posting a lot of great, free advice for writers all over the Web. I found this fantastic article on why netting and platforming is so important to do BEFORE you finish your first book.
I was so glad to find it because even though Dakota Blues isn’t quite polished enough to start querying, I’m netting like mad. I even took an officer position at the Palm Springs branch of American Pen Women to upgrade my netting skills and expand my reach. In that job, as in so much else that I’m doing, I’m working my ass off on a lot of things that don’t directly involve writing (e.g. raising money for scholarships for local women.)
I long to sit at my keyboard and hang out with my main two characters, Kristen and Frieda. They’re somewhere in the Black Hills, camping and bickering as usual, with newly-fired workaholic exec Kristen chompin’ at the bit to get back to the corporate world, but 90-year-old Frieda trying to put on the brakes because she knows that as soon as she arrives at her daughter’s house in Denver, she might as well curl up and die.
But I digress. I was thinking, “All this advertising and still no product!” However, Jane says if you wait until your book is done to start netting, you’re stoopid. Well, I’m paraphrasing. Miss F would never be so uncool. But that’s seriously her point, so adios! I gotta go platform…
Here’s How to Avoid Rejection Slips Forever
Quoting Janet Reid from a recent post on her excellent blog:
“It got me thinking. I realized there is a very simple solution for all your rejection problems. All of them, forever more. You really don’t want any more of them do you? They’re totally awful, completely depressing, and we all know Rejection Just Sucks.
“Ok, here’s the solution: Stop Writing. If you never send out another query, you’ll never get another rejection. Easy-peasy.
“Wait, that’s not a solution you’re willing to accept? Well ok then. How about we look at rejections like this:
“You love to write. You love to write more than you hate rejections. You love being a writer. So, you love rejections the least of all the parts of writing you love, but faced with a choice of no writing/no rejections, you choose to be a writer. You choose ALL the parts of being a writer, because it’s all or none, and you are a writer.
“Now back to work.”
Revenge is a Bad Reason to Create a Character
Did you ever want to get even with somebody by putting them in your book? Don’t waste your time.
I always regret it when I create a character because I have a beef with someone or because there’s somebody who is so appalling or frustrating that I just have to write about them. They always end up looking cartoonish or pointless. You can’t put a person in a story for your own gratification alone, which totally blows the idea of getting even with anybody through your writing.
Bummer, huh? So here’s your bottom line: if it doesn’t SERVE THE STORY, it shouldn’t be in there.
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