Any writers?

[AmateisGal]

Thanks! The "impersonator's" name is Rod "The Rocket" Williams, a bloated, surly shadow of his previous self. He can't sing like he used to, and no one - not even his ex-wife who was suing him - believes it's actually him. Instead of chapters, I'm writing each chapter in "episodes", as if his pathetic new life is some kind of funny sitcom. lol

What kind of story are you writing? The one without twists and turns?

PM sent.

 

[Harp]

Steven Pressfield (of the Legend of Baggar Vance fame) is chronicling how he is writing the end of his novel in a daily journal.

fftopic:
John Steinbeck's The Grapes of Wrath journal is most instructive; best read with a po'boy sandwich, egg coffee and grits.

 

[Senator Jack]

It's going to be a pins and needles weekend. Sent out an email query this early a.m. and within an hour received a request for a full. And this was from a publisher!

Here's something else I've learned: send email queries out before working hours. Like everyone else, agents get up, make coffee, and check their mail before heading out the door. If your query happens to strike their fancy, they're going to reply before leaving.

Regards,

Jack

 

[AmateisGal]

It's going to be a pins and needles weekend. Sent out an email query this early a.m. and within an hour received a request for a full. And this was from a publisher!

Here's something else I've learned: send email queries out before working hours. Like everyone else, agents get up, make coffee, and check their mail before heading out the door. If your query happens to strike their fancy, they're going to reply before leaving.

Regards,

Jack

Awesome, Jack! :eusa_clap

 

[AmateisGal]

fftopic:
John Steinbeck's The Grapes of Wrath journal is most instructive; best read with a po'boy sandwich, egg coffee and grits.

Now that sounds interesting!

ETA: Found this in my local library (which is right down the block from where I work) and am going to get it this afternoon.

 

[LocktownDog]

I have a friend who is just about finished with a children's book and another friend is illustrating it. But they're completely lost in even beginning the search for a publisher.

Any tips?

Thanks.

 

[AmateisGal]

I have a friend who is just about finished with a children's book and another friend is illustrating it. But they're completely lost in even beginning the search for a publisher.

Any tips?

Thanks.

Yes. Send them here: http://www.scbwi.org/

The Society of Children's Book Writers and Illustrators. Everything they need to know should be here!

 

[Fletch]

To twist Dorothy Parker's 'I hate writing. I love having written,' it can be said that the modern reader 'hates reading, but loves having said 'I read.' I really feel people aren't reading books for enjoyment these days but just to feel smart. So they can say, 'I read that,' at a dinner party. It shouldn't matter if a book is 50,000 or 250,000 words. If it's well-written, the reader shouldn't be thinking, 'I just want to finish this book.' Every agent that's said to me, 'This is too long,' I just want to ask, 'What are you doing in this business? It's obvious you don't enjoy reading.'

Most are probably frustrated writers themselves. They need to be in the business because it's all they can do or care about. But that doesn't guarantee a healthy attitude - in fact it's such a thankless business, it just has to create a lot of blasé, cynical survivors.

 

[Undertow]

It's going to be a pins and needles weekend. Sent out an email query this early a.m. and within an hour received a request for a full. And this was from a publisher!

:eusa_clap Good God man, good luck!!

 

[LocktownDog]

Yes. Send them here: http://www.scbwi.org/

The Society of Children's Book Writers and Illustrators. Everything they need to know should be here!

Will do. Thanks!

 

[Harp]

Now that sounds interesting!

ETA: Found this in my local library (which is right down the block from where I work) and am going to get it this afternoon.

And a po'boy, egg java and grits?

 

[AmateisGal]

And a po'boy, egg java and grits?

Will a bowl of Crispix do?

 

[Harp]

Will a bowl of Crispix do?

...only in a dusty bowl. (couldn't resist)

Ralph Ellison's Going To The Territory; and, Shadow and Act also trace
Oklahoma migration from an author's perspective. Ellison served as a merchant
marine during the Second World War and his formative essays are as thought
provoking as Invisible Man.

 

[Undertow]

...spent 11 hours Saturday writing a synopsis for my book...

...hoping I never have to do that again...until the next time... :eusa_doh:

 

[AmateisGal]

...spent 11 hours Saturday writing a synopsis for my book...

...hoping I never have to do that again...until the next time... :eusa_doh:

OHHHH. I HATE writing the synopsis! Most painful, dreadful part of writing, IMO.

 

[Undertow]

OHHHH. I HATE writing the synopsis! Most painful, dreadful part of writing, IMO.

I know. At first I thought, "No big deal, this should be simple." lol :eusa_doh:

I started writing around noon, giving myself a few hours to finish.

Then the sun fell. My girlfriend was yelling about something, food I think, but I don't remember. The owls started hooting, and the creepy critters were crawling about. Then around midnight I pushed the save button, followed by some CTRL+V's, send, and then closed out.

God, my head hurts just thinking about. shakeshead

 

[Senator Jack]

Ugh, I HATED writing a five-page synopsis. I think it took me days. Really, no writer should have to go through that agony.

 

[Fletch]

It's striking me what writing is, after all these years. Writing is depression. It's active hopelessness, with no cure but endurance. It is never a benign process, and it is rarely therapeutic.

If you do it right, it's slavery - willing slavery to a critic who cares nothing about you - because he IS you. There's no tuning him out, no negotiating with him, and no winning until he's satisfied. Even then, the victories are small and seldom.

What do you think?

 

[Senator Jack]

Some anguish, I would say, but not depression. For me, anyway, as I write comedy. Early on, I learned to stand back from my characters. Their depression, anguish, problems is/are not my depression, anguish, problems, etc. Indeed, I really don't trust writers who write 'to get something off their chest'. I don't believe writing should be cathartic for the writer, though the characters should undergo a catharsis. I know that's a skewed way of looking at the craft, but there it is.

 

[Fletch]

Craft is another good word for it. Maybe a softer one, but in my understanding, maybe not.

To me a craft is something where, if you're going to learn it and do it right, you have to put aside your reasons and devote yourself entirely to process until that process is mastered - and the next, and the next.

Craft is an exquisitely ruthless form of delayed gratification. If you love something, let it go - and work like hell on something else. It's as if you have to turn off your heart.