And We're Off!

The FARWORLD BLOG TOUR is officially under way. (Like how I put it all in caps? Makes it look more official. Can?t you just hear the bugles and drums?) But before I take you on a whirlwind tour involving much eating, drinking, reading, and generally being merry, I thought I?d answer a question quite a few people have been asking me.

Basically the question comes down to how do you feel about getting feedback from readers/editors/reviewers?

I think that learning how to request and handle feedback both positive and negative is one of the hardest things for new writers to master. They tend to overreact to both the positive and the negative. Combine that with the fact that often they don?t even know what they want when they ask for feedback and you can see where it?s easy for them to get their feelings hurt.

The first thing a writer has to understand is the level and type of feedback they are getting. I think I?ve pointed this out before, but I am not an expert on art. Not even close. But I have a co-worker who is. He graduated from a prestigious art school. He is an amazing painter. If he and I were to look at the same painting, we would each be entitled to our opinions. But, and this is key, my opinion would the opinion of an art patron. His opinion would be that of an artist. Neither is more valuable in and of itself, but they are definitely different. Let me explain.

Ultimately the person who matters most is the reader. That is who my responsibility is to. If most readers don?t ?get? my story, I have failed, not the readers. Much as I want and would be thrilled by nominations, awards, and positive reviews from prestigious publications like Kirkus, Publishers Weekly, ALA, etc, what matters most to me is what the readers think. So I am every bit as thrilled by a 13 year-old girl who loves my book as I am by a big publication.

I also realize though, that not all readers are going to like my book. Some will be the wrong audience. But some will just have different tastes. Just for fun, I looked up the first books in several best selling series. Harry Potter got 68 one star reviews. Twilight 87. Artemis Fowl 58. In fact the more successful you are, the more likely you are to get a significant number of negative reviews, just by sheer numbers. The key is to focus on what people liked and what they didn?t like, determine what if anything you?d like to change in the next book, and move on. You can?t please everyone.

When it comes to constructive criticism, I place a lot more credit with professionals in the publishing industry: editors, other authors, and book reviewers. Because they read many books and understand the process of creating a good story, I want their brutal opinion. I don?t want them to hold back. I will usually let them know whether I am looking for a content edit, a writing edit, or a line edit. It?s not that their opinion is any more important than an average reader, but they can not only tell me what they liked and disliked, they can suggest why something did or didn?t work.

My suggestion for beginning writers? Don?t ask for brutal critiques at first. That?s hard on even the most successful writer?s ego, and you haven?t built up enough thick skin yet. Instead, ask people to tell you what they liked. Ask them what characters they felt were the most real. Ask them where they felt the most attached to the story. Once you?ve received enough positive feedback to convince you your story is not a piece of garbage, ask them what parts they thought were slow or which characters they didn?t relate to as well.

When you?ve received feedback from enough people you will be able to decide for yourself what areas need work, and where you have got it down right.

I know this sounds like I am setting you up for a bunch of bad reviews on the tour. But that?s really not the case. In fact, I?ve been delighted by all the positive feedback and excited to hear what people wanted to see improved. So let?s jump in.

For my first stop, I jetted out to Washington state where Annaliese and I had a wonderful meal in the Space needle. You can read her review and our Q&A on her blog, Life of a Story Engineer.

Next on the tour is She Reads Books, where Christine did six word reviews of her June books

Over at The Lyon?s Tale, Annette Lyon gave away all my innermost secrets

Then I raced all the way up to Canada for a gondola ride. (But don?t be thinking boats and long poles) with Melanie Nielson at The Nielson Family

Finally I enjoyed a . . . hearty? . . . meal with Murph of From the Mind of Murph at Darrow?s Bar & Grill, Home of the 10 Pound Haggis. Ummmm.

I?ve also had several fun reviews over at Goodreads.

Thanks everyone for the excellent reviews and fun content. There are lots more on the way, and nearly all of these blogs are doing contests.

PS Also wanted to wish a hearty congrats to my good friend James Dashner who just sold a book I happen to love called Maze Runner. You can read the details of his deal over at his blog, The Dashner Dude.

Speed Racer and Editing

Okay, let me just start out by saying that Speed Racer is pretty much exactly what everyone is saying.

Here are some quotes that I think some up the movie, both good and ?bad.?

?There is something freeing about watching this movie because it establishes early on that it's not playing by certain cinematic rules.? Eric Melin, http://www.scene-stealers.com/

?The brutal sensory overload is coupled with a plot that starves the brain, a recycling of the silliness of the TV show unleavened by any saving hint of postmodern irony.? Frank Swietek , One Guy's Opinion

?The arty blockbuster has arrived, and it's as flashy, accessorized and auto-erotic as can be. Which creates a strange sensation indeed, that it's not just the cars that are smoking, but those Wachowski brothers as well, and whatever's in their pipes too.? Prairie Miller,
NewsBlaze

?Speed Racer may very well give your brain diabetes, and I state that as compliment.? Rob Humanick, Projection Booth

Now my take. I loved it. My kids, ranging in ages from eight-year-old son to twenty-year-old daughter loved it. My wife even loved it. Why? Because we didn?t go into the theater looking for a ?hint of postmodern irony??whatever the heck that is. We didn?t go to the movie looking for a deep and meaningful plot.

Speed Racer was a cartoon that lasted for one year. The very fact that so many of us Boomers remember it says something about the show. But it was a silly cartoon. It didn?t have deep meaningful messages. It had car races. It had bad guys. It had fights. It had cool car crashes and neat stuff on the race cars.

The producers of Speed Racer the movie could have taken the tack of trying to turn it into a ?serious? movie. After all, these are the guys that brought us The Matrix movies. But they knew that would have ruined the show. Instead, they take a tongue-in-cheek view of the old cartoon and combine it with some effects that literally are so incredible they almost make you sick. (Brian, don?t bring your little brother.) If you go in looking for ?sensory overload?, ?flash?, and a movie that will both make you laugh and have you gripping the edge of your seat, you will love this movie. I, personally, have never seen anything like it before, and I will definitely go see it again.

My only compliant was that they didn?t play the original theme song until pretty much the end of the credits.

Now to answer the second part of Deren?s question.

I know that many authors hate working with an editor. Writing a book is such a personal thing. You do it privately, struggling to get the scenes that work so well in your head onto the paper. Then it sees the light of day and everyone who reads it finds flaws. For writers with thin skin, that can be almost unbearable. It?s worse than someone saying your kid is ugly. It?s like someone saying your kid is ugly, and she got her looks from you. Ouch!

But here?s the thing. Would you want to watch a movie in which the same person was the director, the writer, the main actor, the editor, sang the theme song, and did the lighting? No. It would be terrible. An artist can get away with doing a painting by himself because it is one scene. And even then it doesn?t always work.

But an author has to deal with multiple characters both big and small, many interlocking scenes, plot, dialog, new creatures and civilizations, grammar, flow, sentence structure, and a million other things. How can you possibly look at all of that objectively when you?ve seen it both in your imagination and on paper hundreds of times. It?s impossible to see your story with completely fresh eyes even if you put it on a shelf for six months.

So you know you need outside people to look it over. But not all readers are created the same. I like paintings. I have purchased paintings. I?ve been to art museums. I could look at two paintings and tell you which one I like better. But I could not at first glance tell you which painting is worth millions and which is worth a hundred dollars. (Good thing I?m not an art investor huh?) So it would be foolish for a painter to bring me her work and ask for my opinion. All I could really say is whether I like it or not. I couldn?t give the artist the feedback she needs to know even if it is a quality piece of work or not. And I definitely couldn?t point out what areas need what type of work.

That?s where a good editor comes in. Now let me give you an overview of what Water Keep has been through since its inception. First I wrote it. I don?t recommend beginning writers edit as they go. Some author or the other said you can?t edit what you haven?t written. So get the thing done first. With that being said, I do edit while I write. Every day, before I begin writing, I read over what I wrote the last day and make changes until it feels right.

After I finish it, I take my writing to a seven person critique group. They often read it in pieces on a weekly basis. But after it?s done, they read it as a whole. Usually there is at least two weeks of rewrites there. Then I gave it to Lisa Mangum. It was through her that my manuscript was given to Chris Schoebinger. But before Lisa gave it to Chris, she gave me a bunch of suggested changes. Then Chris gave me his changes. Then he passed it to a group of kids to read, and gave me even more changes.

Once I?d made all of those changes, I sent it to some author friends who had never read it in any earlier stage. These are authors who read the genre, are comfortable giving me honest feedback, and that I know well enough to trust. After their changes, it went to the committee, and then actual editor. (Lisa had been sick and fallen behind on other projects.) Again more changes.

Reading how many times the manuscript had to be changed, you?d probably think the original writing was a piece of garbage. But the thing is, almost nothing in the main storyline changed at all. There were zero key plot changes. Stephen King compares writing a book to uncovering a fossil. What all the feedback did was give me clues to places where I had not uncovered the fossil as completely as I could have.

Now don?t get the idea that I took all of the advice everyone offered. Or even that most of the advice included actual fixes. It didn?t. The feedback I got was far more likely to be of this sort. ?I don?t understand why character A was able to do x,y, and z without a wand.? Or, ?I was really hoping that when the [creature name] attacked character a, he would have used a, b, and c.? Or even just, ?The beginning of chapter 13 was a little slow.?

As an author, it is my job to look through the feedback, decide was has merit, and then?and this may be the hardest part to do well?figure out what the real problem is. Does my character really need a wand, or did I just forget to include a key piece of information about magic back in chapter 3? Does it help make the story more exciting or detract from the pace if I add more to the battle?

In general, the fixes I tend to look for the most are: overuse of certain words, phrases, or sentence structures, anything even remotely boring, issues requiring more clarification, and any point where success is achieved to easily. It?s hard to catch yourself when you start using one word a lot. It?s like it gets stuck in your brain. It?s also hard to know whether you communicated clearly what was inside your head. Many times I?ve had a reader complain about one thing only to realize the real problem was something else entirely.

For example, let?s say the reader tells me he doesn?t believe my unicorn would really be that unkind to my princess. (These are all just examples by the way. There is no unicorn or princess in my book) When I look at the scene, the unicorn seems very nice. I could make the unicorn sickeningly sweet, I could ignore the comment, or I could reread the scene trying to figure out why the reader thought the unicorn was mean. Upon rereading the section, I discover that I never made it clear that the Unicorn can only speak in riddles at night. That?s why it appeared the unicorn was being rude. The reader found a problem, but I had to find the actual fix.

One other thing I focus on a lot is anything to make the story more compelling. The ?wow? factor in fantasy is huge. Think of all the cool scenes you remember from Harry Potter. Almost all of those are ?wow? scenes. If I can make a creature just a little nastier, a battle just a little more intense, or a magical item a little more fantastic, I?m all over that.

One thing I have found is that most editors don?t care how you fix the problem. They just want to make sure you recognize that there is a problem and that you address it. For me personally, I like all the qualified feedback I can get. I?m about to put 40,000+ copies of my book out before the public. I want it to me the most highly polished gem it can be. There are plenty of things people can find to dislike, why give them more?

Okay, everyone. I'm out of questions. What would you like to talk about?

Writing Conferences

Over the past two months I have taken part in five different writing events. In some of them I was the only presenter. In others I was one of many presenters. And in others I was part of a panel of writers. Early in my writing career, I attended several of these types of events as a conference attendee. I remember not being sure how to go about things, and being nervous I?d either miss a chance to make a contact or offend someone by being too pushy. Then I began attending the events as a presenter, which brought its own unique challenges. At this point in my writing career, there?s not a lot that fazes me in these events, so I thought I?d offer some advice from both sides of the fence.

Things to know as a paid attendee:

First and foremost, if you have aspirations of becoming a published or even just a polished writer, you MUST attend writers? conferences. I?m not going to say you can?t get published without going to a writers? conference, because I did. But I honestly believe you can get more out of a conference of published authors and industry professionals than an entire semester of creative writing. Not to mention the fact that making contacts with editors and agents is invaluable.

Take lots of notes. There is nothing worse than learning something really valuable and after getting home, realizing you can?t remember what the presenter said. Sometimes it?s as simple as a couple of bullets which apply directly to the novel you are working on. If you do lose your notes, try e-mailing the presenter with a question or two.

Think about what classes to take in relation to where you are currently at. Does it really make sense to take a class on internet marketing when you are nowhere close to completing your first book? Most conferences try to provide a variety of tracks and skill levels.

Most conferences have at least a couple of panels. Research them and think about questions in advance. It often surprises me how many people are sitting in front of a panel of publishers and can?t think of any useful questions. This is your chance. Use it.

Be brave and schmooze. Networking is a big part of why you should attend these things. Yes some people take networking too far by dominating the time of a particular author, agent, editor, or whoever. Don?t do that. Ask a question or two and give someone else a chance (after asking for a card) if others are waiting. But don?t be afraid to step up and ask questions. They will be especially impressed if you?ve done your homework. Ask an author about why they wrote a certain scene a certain way instead of asking, ?So, what do you write?? Often the most valuable networking is done after the day?s classes are over, so don?t be in a hurry to leave if you can help it.

This is one of my biggest pet peeves. The instructor has presumably been chosen to teach the class because they know something about the subject. If you have a question, raise your hand and ask. But don?t start giving rambling opinions on what you think about the subject. The other attendees are paying to hear the presenter. Feel free to chat with whoever you want after the class, but usually the schedule is tight enough that there?s barely enough time for legitimate questions as it is.

Do not under any circumstances bring copies of your manuscript to give editors, agents, authors, or whoever will take them. First of all, it is bad form. No one wants to go home with a suitcase full of paper, and if we take one person?s work, everyone wants us to take theirs as well. Second, most conferences schedule one-on-ones just for the purpose of pitching ideas. If you don?t have the chance to attend a one-on-one, send a query to the agent or editor right after the conference thanking them for coming, and pitch your book. Often editors who don?t take un-agented work will make an exception for attendees. Great question to ask for those panels huh?

Just a last thought. Sometimes you?ve spent everything you have on the conference. If so, more power to you. Hopefully it is a good investment. But if you have a little extra cash, consider buying books from an instructor who really helped you out. Most of the time instructors make little or nothing for teaching a class. Agents, editors, and keynote speakers typically make at least enough to cover their travel, but the authors teaching classes are doing it to sell books and spread good will. Say thanks by purchasing a book or two. They?ll appreciate it and you?ll get a signed book which will one day sell for millions on E-Bay.

Things to know as a conference presenter:

You?ve finally made it big enough (or know someone on the organizing committee) to stand in front of the classroom. Now it?s on you not to forget how you got there. If no one gave you a helping hand along the way, you are rare indeed. So how can you pay it forward?

First be friendly and open. Realize that many aspiring writers are scared to approach a ?real author.? If you bury your head in a book or quickly scoot off to the green room, you are doing a disservice to the attendees and to yourself. Make a couple dozen friends and you?ve probably just added a couple dozen people who will buy your books. Look for people to talk to. Don?t sit at the table with all the other authors. Plop down with a bunch of people you don?t know.

Be encouraging to the newbies. The last thing they want to hear is how hard it was for you and how little chance they have of ever succeeding. They want to hear how you overcame rejection and how they can do it too. By all means ask them what they are working on. As a sales manager, I always have to remind my CEOs how much a word of encouragement or a pat on the back from the head of the company means to a sales rep. The same goes for a published author to someone trying to break into the market.

With the exception of a little commercial at the beginning or end of your class, avoid talking about yourself in your classes. People are attending your session to get take away points which they can use in the own writing, publishing, or marketing. It does them no good whatsoever for you to spend twenty minutes telling a funny story about how you and your agent met over lunch at that little deli on 28th street and saw Tom Cruise. On a related note, if you are going to read, it is highly desirable that you read from someone else?s book, and keep it under three minutes. As authors, we want to give examples from our own work and it?s easy to overlook how self-serving it appears to class members.

Don?t dominate panels. You don?t have to answer every question. Take a couple of questions that you feel comfortable answering and pass the mike the others on questions they might be better suited to answer.

Be funny. Can?t stress this one enough. You know the old saying about how people don?t care how much you know until you can make them laugh. That?s not the way it goes? Well it should be. Prepare your lessons with solid take away points and plenty of laughs. Even if you are not a comedian by nature, you?ll find it is extremely easy to make people laugh in an environment where so much is serious. This is especially important if you are lucky enough to be an MC or keynote speaker. If people like you they will buy your books. But be really careful of anything too off color. Humor can turn to offense quite quickly.

Lastly, realize that not everyone has the money to buy your book right now. Bring other handouts: bookmarks, business cards, flyers. The person who takes your bookmark now is the person who buys your book next month. And if you are asked to sign a bookmark, do it with the same enthusiasm you would offer if you were signing a book.

I?m sure I?ve missed a ton of things. So speak up. What has worked for you? Or what questions do you have?

Series Business

Sorry it?s been a couple of days since I last blogged. I was on the road through Wednesday night for business, then took part in a wonderful Salt Lake City writers? conference Friday and Saturday. All in all it was busy, but a lot of fun. At least the conference part?I love getting the chance to talk to other writers. This business is way too solitary otherwise. The business travel?not so exciting. Although I always like Boston, even when it?s raining.

First let me just pass on a lesson to all you other writers out there. If you get back a Q&A from your editor just before you jump onto a plane, wait before posting to your blog. Don?t just think, ?Hey I?ll whip off a couple of lines and post this baby before my flight leaves.? Editors are notoriously picky about typos on blogs about them. Especially when all of their smiley faces get turned into capital J?s. Enough said. Fortunately, Lisa was also at the conference and she doesn?t hate me for life. Also, I came back from the conference fully energized and excited about new blog ideas. So let?s get to it, hey?

Early on the first day of the conference, one of the attendees asked me about my new book. When I told her it was the first book in a five books series, she wrinkled her nose. Assuming she didn?t have to sneeze and relatively confident I hadn?t passed any unpleasant odors, I asked her what was wrong.

?I hate series books,? she said. ?You have to wait a whole year to find out what happens next, and by then you?ve forgotten what happened before. I won?t read them until they?re all out.?

I thought about that much of the conference, because in general I really like a good series. It makes me not feel so bummed out when I come to the end of a book I really like. I have four kids ranging in age from 7 to 20, and we all excitedly attended the midnight releases of every HP book from 4 on. Not sure if they had those before that, but if so, we didn?t know about them.

So what makes a series bad or good? In my mind there are several things. A series is bad if each book leaves you hanging in the middle of the action. A series is good if each book wraps up one storyline while leaving several others to be solved in future books.

I think there are two kinds of series. The first is where there is an ongoing character, but each book is a standalone with an entirely new plot. That would be like Fablehaven or Twilight. You could read just the first book and be totally satisfied. Of course you want to read more, and the next book picks up where the last one left off, and there are overarching elements to the story, but you aren?t left hanging per se. Then there are series like Harry Potter, where each book is its own story, but you would be very unhappy if another book didn?t come out, because there are many, many threads left hanging. Finally, there are books like the Wheel of Time series, where it?s essentially one long story broken into parts. Yes certain things get wrapped up, but many more are opened.

In my Farworld series, each of the first four books deals with a quest to find the next elemental, but there are lots of other ongoing storylines. You clearly understand when you go into the series that you must read all of the books, and read them in order. But it?s not so bad that you throw the book on the floor and scream curses at the author when you finish each volume?like, say Terry Brooks? ?Armageddon?s Children? where it ends with a couple of kids falling off a tall wall. Talk about a cliffhanger. So I?d say I?m somewhere in the middle.

A series is bad if the story is so convoluted you can?t remember what happened a month later, no less a year or more. A series is good if the story is clear, exciting, and at least somewhat organized. It?s good if the reader doesn?t have to go back and reread the previous books (unless they want to) before the new book comes out. It also helps if you stick to a yearly release. At the conference, Lisa said that I should quit complaining about waiting for my book to come out and get writing number two. I promised her I?d have it ready before book one is released in September.

A series is not necessarily bad, but at least not as good if the characters don?t learn and grow. A series is good if the characters progress. It may be in how good they are at magic, or how they deal with other people. They may fall in love or out of love. They come to understand themselves better. But they need to change. Nothing is more boring for me than a series where the main characters are exactly the same in book three as they were in book one.

A series is bad if the only recurring characters are the main ones. A series really gets me pumped when a character I liked but almost forgot suddenly reappears. The red tipped arrow flies through the air, or you hear a familiar whistle, or see a white stallion, and you go, ?Oh my gosh, that?s old so and so. . .? It?s like when you?re a kid and you rediscover a favorite old toy at the bottom of your toy box.

A series is bad when it feels like the author had no idea where it was going when they wrote the first book and is just making it up as they go along. I hate it when the storyline feels forced. I love it when a story surprises me?when clues that were placed clear back in book one show up again in book four. Or when a pattern emerges that I didn?t see until I?d read several of the books in the series. It makes me happy when an author really delivers with a plot that was well thought out from the very start.

Last of all, I really like a series to stay with the same artist. I know the author has no say in that, and sometimes the publisher doesn?t either. But I like to line up my books side by side and have them match. I like to compare covers and maps. I really, really, like when covers convey something. Like when how Shadow Mountain is going to have the jackets of Farworld 1-4 actually look like the elements, water, land, fire, etc.

Okay, so I?m easily amused. How about you? What do you like and dislike in a series?