School Visits and Another Question Bites the Dust

Okay. One school presentation down. Hopefully, many, many more to go. (I actually have a tentative tour schedule for the first two weeks after my book comes out, but can?t post anything until it?s firm.)

So how did it go? Great!

The presentation was at American Leadership Academy, a local charter school. It was a ball. I was presenting to all ages?from grandparents to little babies?but mostly focused on the K-8 graders. I took part with three other authors. Jessica Day George, KL Fogg, and Mathew Buckley. All three of them were great. I had a few minor mishaps in my presentation (the projector remote that they couldn?t get to work and the magicians top hat that only wanted to pop up on one side.) But all in all I thought it came off pretty well. Here are a couple of pics. Looking forward to doing a lot more of these.

This is one of my two assistants "breaking" my good wand. Now I have to go all the way back to Diagon Alley to get a new one.

This is me offering him an alternative. What you don't think a rubber chicken the shrieks wildly when you squeeze it would make a good wand?

On another note, Deren asked me the following question ?. . . . to be thrilling, the reader needs to know what's at stake (otherwise the action is meaningless). But in order to know what's at stake the reader needs to understand the fantasy world (which interferes with the action). The problem of finding the right mix of action and information isn't unique to fantasy, but it seems that a fantasy author walks a finer line because of the additional burden of revealing information about a new world.

I'd like to hear your thoughts about striking that balance in general and some of the specific things you did in Farworld (insofar as you can do so without giving away too much.)?

Good question, Deren. And especially applicable to YA and MG fantasy. In adult fantasy (No adult fantasy cracks here. I?m referring to series like Stephen R. Donaldson?s and Robert Jordan?s.) you can spend more time on describing the world and building up to the action. In fact, the reader expects you to give them detailed descriptions of the world they are entering.

YA and MG novels don?t give you that luxury as an author. In fact, I think that?s why so many adults enjoy YA novels even more than novels supposedly written for ?adults.? They know a good YA novel will get them into the action quickly and keep the story moving and entertaining all the way through. The most common complaints I hear about YA novels is when they don?t get moving fast enough.

So how do you get around the problem of describing a new world without slowing down the story? First, you try to describe on the fly. For example I have Kyja approaching a tower in the center of town. I could take the time to describe everything she sees, or I could put the description into the context of action. For example:

Kyja raced onto a footbridge and over a burbling creek, ignoring the tiny golden
fish that leaped from the water and buzzed about her head before splashing back
again.

Past the bridge, the flagstone path wound in a spiral up a steep
hill to the base of the tower. Every hundred yards or so, a golden fountain
sprayed colorful patterns of water?one in the shape of a fish, another, a giant
eye that stared balefully at anyone who passed. Between the fountains, statues
of Westland?s most famous wizards and warriors guarded the grounds with stern
expressions.

Visitors to the tower were to stop at each fountain and
wash their hands?purifying themselves before meeting with a member of the
council or the High Lord himself. But Kyja had no time for such niceties. She
cut directly up the side of the hill, ignoring the blades of royal grass that
shouted, ?Keep off! Keep Off!? and ?No trespassing!? in their tiny high-pitched
voices.

From their spots along the path, the statues turned and gave her
dark scowls. But she ignored them too. As frightening as the statues looked,
they couldn?t actually tattle on her. And by the time the groundskeepers got up
in another hour, the grass would have forgotten all about her transgression.

At the top of the hill, she leaned against the cold, smooth wall of the
tower, panting. After catching her breath, she hurried up the white marble steps
and through the entryway, while Riph Raph broke off and soared up into the sky.
Just inside the massive gate, she stopped and curtsied to a stern looking guard.
?Eggs for the kitchen.?

Look at how much information I present here, without stopping the action. Kyja races across the bridge, cuts up the hill, and rests against the wall. Yet, hopefully, I?ve created a somewhat vivid picture in your head of what things look like. By using a little internal monologue, I can also pass on some other interesting points. The paragraph that starts ?Visitors to the tower,? uses a technique called implied history. The reader imagines years and years of visitors passing the fountains and statues, which makes it seem more real.

The problem is, that only works for so long. I?m actually walking a fine line here. These are things Kyja sees all the time. The longer she is in a land she?s familiar with, the more difficult it is to describe things which would be new to the reader, but old news to her. Of course, that?s why we put characters into a world they are unfamiliar with. If I bring someone to Farworld who has never been there before, I can have him discover new things along with the reader. Likewise if Kyja were to end up on Earth. Lots of room for fun discoveries.

As much as I?d like to never pass on information though, there is almost always going to come a time when the source of wisdom must tell the protagonists what?s going on. Think of the scene in Lord of the Rings where Frodo wakes up in the Elven city and Gandalf tells him about the rings. Or even earlier when he sends him on the quest. The key here is to make the story interesting and to keep it from being an infodump.

Your comment about striking a balance is really what it?s all about. Show me cool new things, let me discover the world along with the protagonist, but do it while keeping the action moving forward. The best way I?ve heard of doing this is to give your readers a red pen and ask them to mark any sections of your manuscript where their minds start to wander. I know you will put down my book at some point to eat or sleep. But I want to make sure you don?t put it down to watch I Love Lucy reruns.

Make sense?

Posters, Bookmarks, and Another Question

Before I get to the next question, I wanted to show you a couple of new goodies Shadow Mountain created for my signings and school visits. This is the poster. The words in white on the left side read, ?First find the Water Keep. Take Courage?the magic is already inside you.?


The is the front and back of the bookmark.

FarWorld Bookmark - Upload a doc

Read this doc on Scribd: FarWorld Bookmark

Great timing because I?m actually doing my first school presentation tomorrow. I?ll let you know how it goes.

Now on to the next question.

Growing up, I knew one of my grandfathers a little. He was my father?s father, but died when I was still pretty young. I do remember going out to his house in Carson City, NV and looking for arrow heads with him. Also playing horseshoes. But that?s pretty much it.

I knew my father?s stepfather better. He was a tough old carpenter who could start a hand-crank tractor with one hand, calculate how many board feet of lumber he?d need to build a house in his head, and who used to pour turpentine on open wounds to avoid infection. He also used to scare the crap out of us kids by wielding an axe and popping out his false teeth.

The grandfather I knew the longest and the best was my mother?s father. He was an independent sort who never worked for another person in his life. When my mom was born (back when you used to pay cash for medical care and stay in the hospital for a month after the birth of a baby), he showed up and said, ?I sold a bracelet. So you can stay in the hospital for another week.? He also used to travel across the country selling oven cleaner he?d made in the bathtub of a hotel to local restaurants. Some other time I?ll tell you about the time he left his new bride standing on the corner while he ducked out for a burger. That took a while to live down!

Anyway, the reason I bring this up is because my maternal grandfather gave me some advice relating to sales that also applies to World Builder Robin?s question about, oddly enough, world building. He said that too many salespeople are afraid to get on the phone or go knock on doors until they have studied all their manuals, prepared all their forms, done plenty of research, sharpened all of their pencils . . . you get the idea. He said that you should be prepared, but sometimes you?re better off to just go out and make sales calls.

Daren and Anna gave some great advice. It?s true that fantasy readers want to understand the rules of a new world. How does magic work? What is the currency? What is the hierarchy of the good guys and the bad guys? The civilization. The history. All that good stuff gives a depth that makes the world more real.

You actually can get away with a lot less background information when writing for a younger audience. There are two reasons for this. One is that a younger audience just doesn?t care that much about what makes things work. Mostly they just want to see them in action. The second reason is that the younger your readers, the less patience they have for back story. They would never endure all the filler information of Tolkien or Robert Jordon.

Even with YA or adult fantasy though, you can do too much research. Honestly, many times you don?t even know what you don?t know until you dive into writing the story. The nice thing is, you can take notes as you go and fill in extra details later. And once you do have the information, be careful about how and when you present it. In my opinion, Tolkien would have a difficult time getting published today, because he spent so much time on language, songs, poetry, side stories, politics, history. If you can, it?s much better to present the information in context. Implied history is also cool. If I mention an archive of old scrolls in passing, I don?t have to show them all right now. And remember, if you are doing a series, it may not be necessary to show your entire hand right away. Sometimes it?s better to leave a few things shrouded in mystery at first.

I like to set up information for future books. I have a character hint at what happened when he was gone for a while. But don?t tell any more in the first book. I explain enough of how magic works to satisfy (hopefully) young and old readers alike. But I leave plenty for the protagonists to discover along with the reader. One example of this is a character who wants a magic wand really bad. The wizard tells him that his wand will find him when his magic is ready for it. Not to be a spoiler, but that doesn?t happen in this book. It?s enough that the reader understands the role of a wand in this world, and that at some future point the wand may appear.

I know quite a bit about my world, but there is plenty more I will discover along the way. One thing I am a stickler for?and this is just me?is not starting a series or a book until you know the end. One of the most fun things for me in a series is having things set up in earlier books for later books. Sometimes the things I set up are obvious enough that an alert reader may catch them and think, ?Aha! I?ll bet this will come into play later.? Other times the reader won?t even know I am setting something up. But either way, it gives your series a feeling of continuity or circularity you wouldn?t otherwise have.

So, I guess my answer is: before you publish the book, you need a pretty solid knowledge of your world. But sometimes it?s best to just dive right in and figure things out as you go.

Q&A #4

Wow, lots of great questions and great answers as well. I?ve been a little tied up with work and family things the last few days. But let?s see how quickly I can get all of your questions addressed. We?ll do them one post at a time, and I may do more than one post a day.

Anna asked how you connect the fun scenes that pop into your head, and make them part of a coherent story. You can read her whole question here. I?m going to divide my answer into two parts.

First of all, let me say that every author I know has cool scenes pop into their heads. Sometimes they have to do with the book you are working on. Sometimes they have to do with a book you?re thinking about. And sometimes that are just random scenes. What you do with those scenes depends a lot on where you are at with: your stage of writing, any currents projects you might be working on, and how important the scene feels to you.

One of my philosophies is that beginning writers are often pushed too hard to ?finish" something. I?m guilty of it myself. When people ask my advice for beginning writers, I usually say, ?Finish that book.? This is because many writers quit before they ever give themselves a chance to succeed. They spend so much time and energy worrying over whether the first three chapters are good enough, that they never make it to chapter four.

However, there is another side to the issue. Not everyone is at the stage in their writing where they are ready to write a whole book just yet. They may not even be ready to write a whole short story. Imagine giving a child (or an adult for that matter) a box of crayons and saying, ?You can?t start anything new until you finish the drawing you are working on.? Talk about stifling creativity. How do kids learn about art? They draw a bunch of trees. Then they add something that may be a cow or an airplane. Then for a couple of weeks they do stick figures and houses with crooked chimneys.

Writing can be the same way. If you push yourself too hard to make everything part of one coherent story, you can end up turning writing from something that is really fun into a chore. Why not give yourself the freedom to write a scene just for the joy of writing a scene? Work on dialogues for awhile. Move from talking heads to scenes that the reader can visualize. Work on battles. Work on beginnings. Work on deaths (I wish JK Rowling had worked on improving her death scenes.) Give yourself permission to work on your art.

Definitely save them. You may find a place to use them later. In fact, at the end of this post I?ll give you an example of a scene that I originally wrote for fun, which ended up in a book.

The other side of the coin is when you are ready to tackle your first novel. The biggest mistake that beginning?and even experienced?writers make is starting their novel without having a fairly good idea where it?s going. That?s like heading out on a trip without a map. It can be fun, but you may not actually get anywhere. Before you start your book, you should have a pretty good idea of the structure of what you are writing.

I?m not talking about hard core outlining. Many writers outline their books, and many writers don?t. There are pros and cons for both. If you can just throw a bunch of characters into a situation and see what happens, more power to you. But for most writers, you need at the very least a beginning, a middle, and an end. Not the exact details, but enough to carry you through.

Once you have a general idea of where things are heading, it?s easier to write scenes out of order or plug ideas into a coherent whole. Here are a few questions you can ask yourself to see if you are ready to begin your novel or if you need to do a little more planning.

Story Overview
How will my story begin and end?
What are my primary storylines?
What are the beginning and end of each storyline?
List 1 to 3 sub-climaxes
How will each character be affected by above?
Where and how will I foreshadow?
What are some of the key plot twists?

Plot
Does your main character have a noble quest?
Will the reader empathize with that quest?
What are the obstacles to the quest?
Do you have more than one story line to carry the plot?
Are the smaller climaxes leading up to the final climax?
Did I start the story at the right point?
Is your storyline broad enough? Is it too broad, so it loses focus?

Character
Do you have a clear main character?
Do you like that character?
Do they have flaws?
What are they going to learn during the course of the story?
Who are the subordinate characters?
Is the main character in jeopardy? Of what?
What are the consequences of failure? Of success?
Are the obstacles to success difficult enough?
Is the character acting or reacting. Readers want a hero/heroine that is actively trying to fix things.

Again, you may not know all the answers when you start. And there is nothing wrong with writing scenes that don?t have a story to fit into yet. That?s part of your writing development. But if you find yourself beginning lots of stories that don?t go anywhere and you feel you are ready to move on, these questions may help you to organize your thoughts.

Okay, I promised a scene. Five or six years ago, I taught a class on three of my favorite tools: isolation, disorientation, and misdirection. To illustrate my points, I wanted to turn a non-threatening scene into something scary. To my wife?s eternal regret, I asked her to name a really happy place. She picked the Small World ride at Disneyland. (My whole family are Disney fanatics.) Using my tools, I created a rather dark version of this ride. This eventually found its way into a rather scary novel that is currently not published. Let me warn you in advance that should you read on, you may never look at this ride the same way. Also, this is a dark scene and a little gory. So if you aren?t into that kind of thing, do not read on.






Consider yourself warned







Don?t go on if you are prone to bad dreams









Last chance to turn back






All right, thrill seekers, please keep your hands and feet inside the ride at all times.


Cal was in a boat. He could hear water slapping against the sides of the small dinghy as it rocked back and forth. The dank smell of moisture filled the air and slipped into his nostrils with an almost dizzying power. He ran his fingers along the gunwale. Though he could feel the slick surface of polished wood beneath his fingers, he couldn?t see it?couldn?t see anything at all.

He tried to remember where he was and how he had got there, but for the moment his memories were as unfathomable as the darkness surrounding him. Was this a dream? It had the sense of unreality that dreams sometimes had, the feel of things just beyond his control.

Abruptly the boat jolted to the left, and he had to clutch the side to keep from falling. Now he could just make out a faint glow ahead of him. He seemed to be in some kind of tunnel. The light was growing stronger and he thought he could make out the sound of . . . of singing.

He had a vague memory of being shot at?of pain. Was he dead then? Was he hearing a choir of angels? Children?s voices echoed off the walls that he could now faintly see to either side of the waterway. But it wasn?t hymns they were singing. The tune was familiar, and for some reason it reminded him of Kat.

All at once he realized where he was. This was Disneyland. He was in one of the boats of the Small World ride. It was Kat?s favorite spot in the whole park. She said that no one could ever feel unhappy in Small World.

But what was he doing here? Kat was dead. She would never again watch the hundreds of dolls twirling in synchronized dance, their costumes forming brightly colored rainbows. She would never sing the Small World theme song along with the children in each of their different languages as the boat passed from one country to the next.

Why was he here without her? Without Kat this ride was as pointless as everything else in his life. He buried his face in his hands.

Cool fingers touched the side of his face. ?You don?t want to miss the best part, do you?? He looked up and Kat was sitting beside him?her eyes glowing as they always did when their little boat rounded the first bend.

The boat turned, and they entered the bright illumination of the ride. Their boat slipped past the signs reading Welcome in several languages.

?Kat it?s you . . . you?re . . .? Back he wanted to say, but couldn?t. Emotion blocked his throat. ?Am I dead? Are we . . .?

?Shhh,? she whispered, taking his hand and flashing him the smile that had won his heart the first time he saw it.

?I?ve missed you so much,? he said, drinking in every line of her face. ?I thought it would get easier. You know, that I would adjust. But everything I see reminds me of you, and it just keeps hitting me over and over that I?ll never wake up next to you again. Only now . . . now you?re here. Or am I there??

Tears slipped down the sides of his face, and she reached across to brush them away. As her fingers touched his skin, he knew that he would give everything he had to be able to feel that touch forever.

She turned to look at the singing dolls, her eyes lighting up at the beautiful costumes. But he couldn?t take his eyes off her. She was really here. Somehow she was back. He would never let her leave his side again.

Slowlly her smile faltered and her fingers tightened on his hand. ?No,? she whispered. ?No, this isn?t right.?

He turned and followed her gaze.

For the first time, he noticed the dolls. There was something strange about their faces. They were smiling. Of course they were. Anyone that couldn?t wear a dazzling toothpaste smile every minute they were in front of the public wasn?t long for it in Walt?s kingdom?even if they were robots. But the children?s smiles seemed wrong somehow, almost sly. As if they were just waiting for him to turn away so they could stick out their tongues, or make obscene gestures at him behind his back.

And the singing.

On the surface it was the same old, same old, about one moon, one sun, and friendship for everyone, sung in more languages than even a college professor could master. But the children?s voices seemed to be placing a special emphasis on ?a world of fears? and ?a world of tears.?

The tempo was off too. It was slower, more solemn?more like a funeral dirge. And just under their breaths, so low that he couldn?t quite make out the words, were they singing something more sinister?

Cal turned to Kat. Her eyes were glassy with fear, her breath coming in quick, short gasps. He took her into his arms pulling her toward him. ?It?s okay,? he whispered. ?Everything?s going to be all right.?

As the figures continued to whirl and spin, their shadows stretched out behind them like grotesque specters, parodying the joy of real children and turning it into something evil. Were they getting closer? He felt sure that the dolls should be moving in set patterns, up and down around and around. But these children were gamboling, darting off their platforms and leaping down to stand near the edge of the water.

To his left a pair of Eskimo children crept stealthily up behind a cardboard polar bear. As he passed by them Cal was suddenly sure that he had seen them somewhere before. They looked so familiar. If he had just another second, he knew that he?d be able to place them.

The boat left one land behind, rounding into another, and from the corner of his eye he saw a cowboy doll twirling a lasso above his head. The cowboy tossed the rope into the air, but instead of coming down on a cow or a horse, it looped around the neck of a cowgirl and he pulled her screaming toward him.

Their faces. They weren?t doll faces at all, but the faces of children. His gut went ice cold as he realized why they were so familiar.

The cowboy pulling the screaming cowgirl into the darkness was Lehi Rucker and the girl was Amanda Porter. And the Eskimo children?they had been Benjamin Meyers and Theresa Truman. What were the children from the mine doing in Small World?

As if sensing his recognition, the children gave up any pretense of following the script and lined the sides of the waterway, jeering and laughing at him. Something launched into the air, and he turned, startled, in time to see an Indian that looked like a young Dickey Jordan throw a javelin. It glanced off Kat?s head before sinking out of sight into the dark water.

?Kat!? he screamed.

?I?m okay,? she tried to smile. ?It?s just a bump.? But it wasn?t a bump at all. Blood was gushing from the wound, dripping down the side of her face.

He ripped off his shirt and pressed it against the side of her head trying to stanch the flow. ?I?ve got to get you to a doctor,? he said. He had to get her off this ride. This was a theme park; there would be plenty of emergency medical personnel on staff. He looked for one of the exit doors hidden behind the props, and froze.

They were no longer in Small World at all, but floating along a depthless black river running down the center of a long dark mine. Pick axes and bits of rusted rail littered the ground to either side of them. Overhead an electrical sizzling was followed by a loud pop. The lights went out, leaving the shaft a sickly green.

The boat jerked to a stop, throwing him forward in the boat. As he looked down into the water, a groan escaped his lips. Frankie Zoeller was floating just beneath the surface, his pale white face swimming behind dark glasses. Frankie?s eyes opened and his shriveled fingers reached up toward Cal.

Cal shook his head. ?I can?t help you,? he shouted. ?I have to save my wife. She?s hurt.?

Kat slumped against his shoulder, and he turned, catching her in his arms as she fell forward. He had to get her out of here. They would get help. This time he?d make sure the doctors looked for a blood clot.

He began to lift her; only it wasn?t Kat lying in his arms. It was Olivia. Her long blond hair was wet with blood, her eyes rolled back in her head like white hardboiled eggs.

?Do you like my new dress?? she asked, running her finger through her clotted hair. ?The blue brings out my eyes and the bloody flowers match my hair.?

?Where?s Kat?? he screamed at her. ?Where is my wife??

She smiled up at him, but it was the rictus grin of a corpse.

?You shouldn?t have come here,? she whispered, pointing to the water.

He turned back. Frankie was gone. Now Kat was the one drowning. Her eyes were red with blood. Bubbles exploded from her mouth as she tried to scream. From somewhere in the darkness, he heard Two Bears? voice say, ?There are underground springs in these caves that run hundreds of feet deep.?

He dove for Kat?s hand, lunging across the side of the boat. The ice-cold water closed over his arms and shoulders. He thought he had her?their hands were only inches apart. But just as his fingers began to close around her wrists, something snaked up from the depths, wrapped around her waist, and jerked her down into the darkness where she disappeared.

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?

Q&A with Lisa Mangum, Aquisitions Editor at Shadow Mountain Publishing

Okay, so I was going to begin this post by lavishly praising Lisa as a saint to downtrodden authors, who gives her lunch money to starving children and is the picture of beauty, wit, and intelligence. Then I saw her answer to the last question, which was clearly sent in by some wise and insightful reader. So with that in mind, here's Lisa, some woman who I met at a writing event.

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Q&A

1) If I wanted to publish with Shadow Mountain, how much would I have to pay to get the book published? What fees does the author pay and what fees does the publisher pay?

There are essentially two different kinds of publishers. A publishing house like Shadow Mountain doesn?t require the author to pay any money up front to get a book published. The author signs a contract and receives a royalty. Of course, since it?s essentially free to submit a manuscript, we get lots and lots of submissions and can only pick a select few to publish.

In the self-publishing or vanity publishing world, the author pays upfront for a large portion of the costs to have their book published. But, since the author is paying, self-publishing or vanity publishing outfits don?t have to be as selective in their decisions.

2) ?Leven Thumps" and "Fablehaven" have such amazing, elaborate websites, and, as a professional graphic designer, I know that those could not have been cheap! I just wondered if Shadow Mountain, being a relatively small publisher, has the means to do that with all its new titles or maybe just the "New York Times Bestsellers"?

Many of our titles have some presence on the Internet and we are doing more every season. We felt it was important to have a strong website for our children?s fantasy titles since many of those authors go on tour to promote their books.

3) What kind of material is Shadow Mountain looking for right now? What kind of things do they NOT want?

Short answer: We?re looking for the next big hit. :) Our door is always open to all kinds of submissions?fiction, non-fiction, children?s, young adult. Publishing is such a fluid business that it?s more of a ?we?ll know it when we see it? situation than it is a ?send us X manuscript now.?

4) What's the process after they receive a submission?

Once a submission arrives, I log it in and send the author a postcard to let them know we received it in good condition (and whether or not we receive a SASE). Then I start the submission through the review process. We have several people in-house who help with the review process and if the submission gets enough more ?thumbs-down? than ?thumbs-up? from our reviewers, then we?ll send a rejection letter back to the author. But if the submission gets more ?thumbs-up,? then I?ll pass it along to one of our Product Directors, who will make the final decision about whether or not to publish the project. Once the decision is made, we?ll send the author a letter or an email (or sometimes call on the phone) to let them know what we decided to do.

5) On Shadow Mountain's website, it mentions sending query letters and either a few chapters or the entire manuscript. They prefer physical hard copies. My question is, can a query letter be sent via e-mail, or should it be sent by "snail mail" as well?

I don?t mind if query letters are sent via email, though I prefer hard copies. I tend to do better at tracking a submission (and responding to it promptly) if I have an actual letter or envelope or package that takes up space on my desk instead of an ethereal, easy-to-miss email buried in my Inbox.

6) Also, their site mentions children's books. What types of children's books are they most interested in right now?

Again, we want children?s books that will stand out from the pack, that are unique and original. The kind of children?s book that we just couldn?t pass on publishing. :)

7) What kinds of things do you see in a query letter that make you go, ?Wow, I want to read more?? What kinds of things make you pass?

I think it?s really important for fiction queries to include a detailed plot summary. A two-sentence summary isn?t going to help me make a decision and sometimes it?s easier to just say ?no? to those kind of queries than it is to say ?send me three chapters.? I also think it?s important to include in a query letter some hint of what your marketing plans are for the book, or some indication that you?ve done your homework about competing products and how your project is different.

I hate query letters or cover letters that are filled with errors and typos. Or letters that are missing important author contact information. I?m just an editor, not a mind reader, so always include your full name, full address, and as many phone numbers or email address as you have.

8) How was Shadow Mountain so fortunate to get such a handsome and articulate author as Mr. Savage?

Oh, we only picked up Savage because our current rising star and best-selling author James Dashner suggested we take a look at him. And since James is so talented and handsome and articulate, how could we deny him anything? :)

All joking aside, it?s true that networking is a powerful tool that can sometimes help you to get published. Get to know potential publishers and what they are publishing; get to know their editors and what they specialize in; get to know their authors and what they are writing. The more you know about the business, the better chance you?ll have of matching your work to the perfect publisher.

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Alright fine. Since I know she really loves me more than James and was clearly speaking tongue in cheek. Lisa is an amazing person and editor. It is because of her belief and encouragement that I have the opportunity to publish the Farworld series. Shadow Mountain is lucky to have her. I owe her at least half my royalties--not that I'm going to give them to her after that. But she richly deserves them. Not to mention that she penned this Q&A in arterial blood from her death bed. Thanks, Lisa! You are awesome.

Another Book Beginning Thread

Yesterday we talked about ways to alienate your readers (and your potential agent or editor) with the beginning of your book. As Becky pointed out, you can find writers who break every one of those rules and still get published. In fact, my first little regional book to get published started with a full chapter of flowery description and flashback. The thing is, it got published despite those things not because of them. And I can?t tell you how many people said, ?I loved your book! It sure picked up after the first couple of chapters.? Ugh! Not what you want to hear from your readers.

I?m sure there are some amazing books out there that start with a dreamed flashback where the protagonist cries over a flowery description of her recently dead lover. And if you?re good enough to pull that off, feel free to write in your acknowledgements, ?See Savage, you don?t know anything. So, hah!?

But assuming those really are bad ways to start your novel, let?s focus on ways that will hook your reader from the beginning. Like yesterday, I don?t expect anything I say here to be a huge new flash to you, but they definitely would have helped me back in the day, and they are still good reminders even now.

First of all, let me start with what I consider to be the one of the most important things to any storywriter. This comes from the world of cinema.

Enter the scene late and leave it early.

What does that mean? Essentially it refers to the fact that beginning writers generally want to start their books before they should. Let?s say your first chapter will have a man and woman arguing about the custody of their child. It will climax with the wife saying she wants a divorce and the husband shooting at her in a drunken stupor. Cool scene right?

As the author, I want to tell the ?whole? story. I don?t want my reader to be confused. So I begin with the wife waiting angrily by the door, looking out the window for her husband who is late again. I describe the room so you can see that they are financially well off. I show the pictures of their three-year-old growing up. I might have her remember how things used to be. (Or maybe a foreshadowing of how she is married to an ex-cop who still carries his gun) Finally the car pulls up. The husband staggers to the door, she opens it and shouts, ?You?re late! Again!?

Are any warning bells going off in your head here? If not, go back and reread yesterday?s post. Is there any immediacy here? Is the reader quickly pulled into the scene?

How about this?

?You?re late!? Marlene shouted throwing open the door. ?Although I don?t know why I even care anymore.?

Leaning slightly to one side, as though someone had cut an inch off the bottom of his right shoe, Norman blinked woodenly. Then something seemed to catch fire in his eyes and he shoved past his wife of seventeen years. ?Don?t ?magine I missed dinner,? he said with a slur Marlene had become used to.

See how we just jump right into the scene? The cool thing is that if we give the reader a few clues, they will fill in much of the boring background for us. Marlene?s first sentence tells us her mood, the probable time of day (or in this case night), and quite a bit about their relationship.

Her second sentence let?s the reader know this isn?t the first time Norman has been late, and the first sentence of the second paragraph tells us why. This is called implied history. By stating a few facts, the reader knows what has happened before without us telling them.

If I have thirteen-year-old Jordan eye the lockers of his new school and decide there is plenty of room for him inside. What does that tell you about his old school?

I could go even further in the scene above and start with something like this.

Norman staggered backward, his palm going to the bright red hand print on the side of his face. For a moment he seemed stunned that Marlene would actually strike him. A woman didn?t do that to a man?not ever. A woman needed to know her place. Then his hand went to the inside of his jacket and he was gratified to see the woman he?d been chained to for the past thirteen years back away. His fingers closed around the cold metal of the forty-five in his shoulder holster. She?d made a mistake. Quite possibly her last one.

It?s true that the reader may feel a little confused at first. Why did she hit him? Did he deserve it? But the story grabs our interest, just like overhearing a snatch of an interesting conversation between the unknown couple sitting in the booth behind us at a restaurant. Entering the scene late grabs us right away. Leaving it early makes us want to read on. I could end the chapter with him shooting wildly at her, them struggling, her calling the police. Or I could end it with him pulling the gun. Then I could start the next chapter with her boss wondering why she is late for work. Is she dead? Maybe. Or maybe something else happened. Would you keep reading?

Typically writing instructors say that you should start where the action begins. I agree and disagree with that. As we discussed on the MICE post, there is almost always more than one storyline. Which action should you begin with? It doesn?t necessarily have to be the life changing moment of the main storyline. In fact often that jumps into the story at the wrong point.

In Farworld Water, I begin with a scene where a group of boys are waiting to beat up the protagonist. I did this for a couple of reasons. The main storyline would require unearned emotion. I want you to empathize with my first protagonist (there are two) before we plunge him into the main story. And I want you to see early on that my story will involve magic. So I begin with a scene that tells us a lot of Marcus?s history and hints at what may come next. So at least consider what storyline to begin with.

What kind of hooks grab the reader most easily?

Action, action, action

Readers of all ages love action. Do you remember the first time you saw your first Indiana Jones movie. The darts flying, the spears with the skull, the giant ball rolling. I didn?t take a single bit of my popcorn during that entire scene. One of the best ways to hook a reader early is with an action scene that puts someone in jeopardy. Even better if the person in peril is a woman or a child, because readers root for them right away.

The Explosive Beginning

While this could be action, it doesn?t have to be. Essentially it is starting with something so compelling that you have to read more. An example of that above would be the man reaching for his gun after the woman has slapped him.

Unexpected dialog

Snappy dialog is always a good way to grab the readers attention. Just make sure whatever they are talking about is interesting. Boring is bad. Repeat that ten times. If you opened the first page of a book and read, ?Someone?s trying to kill me,? would you read at least a couple of lines more?

What did you just say?

I have a really fun urban fantasy I will finish one day that starts with this line. ?The problem with human heads is they always turn up in the most inconvenient places.? Would you read more? The idea here is that you starting with something so unexpected and compelling you must read more. Dean Koontz is the king of this method.

Creating a bond to one or more characters

Make me care about the character right away. Often this is done through internal monologue. I once started a book like this.

?They say the human subconscious is capable of picking up hidden danger signals long before the conscious mind is aware that anything?s wrong. The senses tingle. The small hairs on the back of the neck stand. Adrenaline races through the body. It?s supposed to be a holdover from the times when having a bad day meant ending up inside a sabertooth?s belly.

Well, maybe I?m just not in touch with my inner cavewoman. Or maybe my receiver was on the fritz that day. Whatever the case, I don?t remember feeling any sense of peril, no premonitions of impending doom, as I reached the top of the rise revealing the house on the hillside.?

Do you like her? Would you read more?

Finally, keep it short and sweet?cut, cut, cut

Details are great, especially if they create a mood. But don?t dawdle. Grab my interest and hold on like you?re gripping a tiger by the tail. If you can hold me for the whole first chapter, I?m willing to cut you a break farther in. But if you lose me on the first page, don?t expect me to come back.

Well that?s it, gang. We did a week of blogs straight. Hopefully it was fun for you. I know it was for me. I?m going to take a break over the weekend. Okay, actually I starting Farworld book two. On Monday I want to talk a little bit about promotion. I have a YA fantasy I?m sending out into a world teeming with YA fantasy. How can I possibly hope to stay afloat? Even more importantly, how can I stand out? Also I have a fun new poll. And a hint about how you can get your hands on an advanced reader copy of Book One.

Beginnings, and Prologues, and Talking Bears . . .Oh My

Wow, great thoughts on villains everyone. Mostly, I try to remember that villain is spelled ?ai? and not ?ia.? Button eyes, though. Now that is creepy. I thought Stephen King?s recurring villain, Randall Flagg was pretty creepy. As far as Disney villains, Ursula was pretty nasty with her pet eels. Anyone remember their names without Googling?

Also, thanks for dropping by Queen of Chaos, Becky, and Onelowerlight. Love your sites. And Becky, I have no idea how you keep up with so many BLOGS.

Okay, so I promised that today we?d talk about beginnings, prologues, and talking animals. Let?s see, always begin your prologue with an animal that talks. Thank you folks, you?ve been a great audience. Please don?t forget to tip the hat girl on your way out, and remember, we?re here six nights a week.

No? Oh, alright then. Eeenie, meenie, minnie, moe. Let?s start with beginnings. The goal of your first sentence is to do one thing. Can you guess? To get the reader to read the second sentence. That?s the main goal of the beginning of your story, to keep the reader reading. If they shut the book, anything else you might want to accomplish is impossible. Did you know that agents and editors don?t make it past the first page of most manuscripts? If you don?t hook the reader in those first few lines, you are out of luck.

The problem is that the best ways to hook the reader are often the beginnings that come least easily to most writers. And the ways we tend to want to start our books our often the ways the turn off an agent, editor, and reader. So let?s begin by examining a few ways not to start your book.

Flashback/Foreshadowing


Jane remembered the first time she?d sat on this very rock. It was the day after Michael left. She remembered the wind had been blowing cold, and her face had been raw and chapped by the tears she?d shed over the last few days. Mary had arrived holding the handle of her unusual umbrella. But all Jane wanted to do was curl up in a ball, drink some lime cordial, and . . .

Or

Little did Mickey realize as he headed to the laboratory that only an hour later he would be fighting for his life with a giant but deadly mop.


First of all, why are so many authors drawn to the flashback? I think it?s because inside they realize where the story needs to begin, but they feel they absolutely must provide the reader with all of the background information necessary to ?appreciate? the story. Wrong. What the reader wants is immediacy. What is more interesting? A car chase happening right outside your window at this very moment, or someone recounting a chase that happened years before? To capture the reader?s attention, you must engage them. To engage them, you must catch their interest right now.

I?m not saying you can?t use flashbacks in your story. But not at the beginning. Even then, any time you are tempted to use a flashback, ask yourself if it is essential to the story or if the background information can be conveyed via implied history, dialog, or internal monologue.

Heavy handed foreshadowing is nearly as bad. You can accomplish the same thing in the sentence above, by saying, ?Mickey was sure he would be in and out of the laboratory in thirty minutes, an hour tops.? This isn?t nearly as intrusive and heavy handed, but the reader will still jump to the conclusion that for some reason Mickey is going to run into trouble.

Dream


?Now I have you!? the ogre shouted, placing his spear tip against Mickey?s throat. Mickey, tried to pull away, but the flint cut cruelly into his furry flesh, drawing blood. Mickey knew he had only one chance. He needed his wand. It was less than a foot away, but before he could think of a scheme to reach it, the ogre sneered.


?Too late, Sorcerer. Now you will taste death.? The ogre rammed the spear into Mickey?s throat. Mickey coughed out a red spray?which coincidentally matched his outfit?as his life bled onto the ground. It was finished. He was dead.


Mickey jerked awake with a moan. ?Oh, boy!? he cried in his squeaky voice. ?What a dream.?

The first two paragraphs are exciting right? (Okay, also a little gratuitously gory.) They are definitely immediate. The problem is the third paragraph. Again, the writer is trying to use a trick or gimmick to hook the reader. Typically because inside they know their beginning is not as exciting as it should be. Often the writer uses a dream sequence to hook the header before finding out the protagonist is actually daydreaming at his desk or waking up to go to school. Yawn!

The problem is, readers don?t like to be tricked. Nothing pulls the reader out of a story more quickly than realizing the author used a gimmick to get their attention. Agents and editors will drop a manuscript as soon as they see it is starting with a dream. This is a big no-no.

Killing off a character too early


?Can I get you a cup of coffee??


?Certainly,? replied Jane. ?With a little cream if you have it.?


?Of course.? As Tarzan started toward the kitchen, the jealous hunter stepped into the living room and began to spray bullets. Tarzan crumpled to the ground, dead.


Okay, now this is exciting. It?s immediate. It?s not exactly a trick. So what doesn?t work with this beginning? The reader doesn?t care. I don?t know who Tarzan is, other than the fact that he seems to make a good cup of coffee. To the author this may be a poignant scene worthy of many tears. But that?s because they know that Tarzan is a hunky, leopard-skin-wearing swinger who protects little kids from bullies and donates his spare time knitting vine sweaters for less fortunate seniors. The author is crying buckets as they peck out this sad, sad beginning.

But since the author didn?t take time to let us meet Tarzan first?and hopefully come to like him?they?re shaking their heads and going, ?Huh. Wonder what that was all about?? It doesn?t take much, maybe only a page or so, but you have to make the reader care about a main character whom you are going to kill off at the beginning of the book. If the point is to just kill off some place holder, you might be able to get away with it, but even then it?s better if you can create a connection in some other way (tension, humor, action, etc.)

Sticking with the emotion theme, the next way to wreck a good beginning is with . . .

Unearned emotions


?Why?? Jasmine wailed, pounding her fists against the useless lamp. Hot tears dripped down her cheeks as she gnashed her teeth. It was so unfair!


?Why did he have to die?? She?d loved him so much?more than life itself. He was everything to her. Her little street rat. And now he was gone. Stabbed by a maniacal street vendor. She pressed her face against her silk pillow and wept until she finally fell asleep and dreamed about an ogre and a white-gloved rodent.

Can you guess what?s wrong with this beginning? I?ll give you a hint. It?s a lot like the problem with the last one. You haven?t earned the care of the reader yet. Again, you are relying on what you, the author, know about Jasmine?s situation. Because you know what?s happening here, the scene tugs at your heart. But to the reader, Jasmine is a whinny, snot-nosed, cry baby. If you want the reader to feel the pain of your protagonist, you have to earn it by creating a bond between reader and character.

Last, and perhaps most despicable, is . . .

Flowery descriptions


It was a warm day for early spring, and the smell of jasmine floated on the slightly damp air?the flower, not the spoiled princess. Everywhere Aurora looked, signs of life abounded. Red throated warblers warbled, sprouts sprouted, fuzzy little bunnies . . . did whatever it was bunnies do. The sun peeked down from between the branches of the aspens and maples. It was a wonderful day to be alive. If only she could find a prince to help her celebrate her sixteenth birthday.

If you don?t know what?s wrong with this scene, you haven?t been listening. Is it exciting? Is it immediate? Does it make the reader go, ?Yowza! I can?t wait to see what happens next!? If it does, this is not a reader you want to invite to your next party. As a writer you often begin with the scene inside your head. That?s why stories begin with things like, ?It was a dark and stormy night.? Scenes are cool and they add a ton of value, but very seldom are they the way to hook your reader.

Next we?ll talk about how to create good beginnings. But since this blog is getting pretty long and I promised I?d cover two more things, we?ll save good beginnings for tomorrow.

Prologues

This is almost as dicey a subject as my anti-SASE stance, which always gets me in trouble with other authors, but I?ll forge ahead at my own risk. Prologues are cool. One of the neatest things about them is that you can use any point of view, any tense, and start anywhere. The prologue is like a separate piece of the book that doesn?t have to follow the same rules.

However, there are two problems with prologues. While good readers?which means everyone who would read this blog?read prologues, many readers don?t. They see prologue and read ?optional.? This is especially bad because authors often use prologues for one or both of two reasons. Chapter one is boring, so they start with an exciting prologue or key information needs to be given to the reader that doesn?t fit well into the rest of the story. Maybe it is an event that happened hundreds of years before. Maybe it is a scene the protagonist isn?t there to witness.

If this is the case, there are two choices you can make as the author. Either you write a prologue anyway, and say ?Skip it at your own risk.? Or you write the story in such a way that the prologue is not necessary. Don?t like either of those choices? That?s okay neither do I. Which is why I opt for a third choice.

Write the prologue, but call it chapter one.

Finally we come to talking animals. Who doesn?t like talking animals? Without talking animals we wouldn?t have Mickey Mouse, Big Bird, or Thomas the Tank Engine. Okay he?s not really an animal, but you get my point.

Talking animals are cool. Dr. Doolittle thought so and so do I. In fact one my favorite characters in my book is a horse that tells really corny jokes like, ?Knock, knock.? ?Who?s there?? ?Dishes.? ?Dishes, who?? ?Dishes the coldest it?s been in weeks.?

It?s okay, go ahead and groan. I won?t be offended . . . much. Treat your talking animals the same way you would with talking people. Make sure that their attitudes, speech patterns, and motivations are different enough that people could tell them apart even if you couldn?t use speech tags.


So there you have it. Don?t kill off your characters too soon. Do include talking animals. And include prologues at your own risk. See you tomorrow.

Q&A #3

Keep them coming Anna. I've got four more days to go!

Q: Got any advice on how to write really awesome villains? They are so hard! The one I have now also has a pretty dumb name. I think my plot is improving though, and the over the past couple of weeks I somehow came up with some really good plot twists. Surprising, but I did.

A: Keep working on that plot. Remember, it's easier to go back and edit later, than to get the momentum back if you stop and rewrite all the time.

The key to good villains is giving them real motivations. Just like your hero needs a noble quest, your bad needs a reason for being bad, other than that he/she is evil. For example, in the first chapter of Farworld, I have a dark wizard named Bonesplinter. He is going to meet with the head of The Dark Circle. In the first draft I had him simply be scared of the Master. But in rewrites he turned into a power hungry schemer. Even while he is groveling before the Master, he is thinking about what he would do with that kind of power. By adding more depth to him, it makes him more real and gives me options down the road.

The other thing to think about?especially in a fantasy series?is the hierarchy of bad guys. If I start with the top bad guy in the first book, where do I go from there? As my hero/s become stronger, I want my bad guys to become worse, so I need to use balance and restraint in the first book.

Another thing to consider is language. I am writing a YA novel so I don?t want my bad guy to be cursing up a storm. But I do want the reader to get how bad he is. So I use imagery in his language that makes you go, ?Oh, this guy is creepy.?

For example:

Marcus says, ?What are you going to do to me??

Bonesplinter answers, ?I?d like to spend a little time getting to know you. I?d like to study you like a fine watch and see what makes you tick.?

And later

?Unfortunately,? Bonesplinter whispered, ?it?s not up to me. It won?t be long before the others come looking for you, and my orders are quite clear. I?m afraid, little bird, that you won?t be returning to your nest.?

See, I don?t use bad language, but the reader hopefully will get that this is a bad dude.

So what do you like to see in your villains?

Q&A #2

This is the personalized license plate I ordered today. I'm sure that makes me really vain, but I just thout it looked so dang cool. Okay on to the next question. Which comes from the lovely and talented Anna.

Q How do you get a contract with a publishing company? It isn't as if most fifteen year olds have agents, so do you send some sample chapters in as a book proposal, or do you write the whole book and then send it? And how do you do that? I haven't finished a book yet. Once in my head, I think...but I'm working hard on plot lines and stuff right now, so I'm really curious if I'm supposed to write the book first or get a contract first. Both sound really scary, but it'll have to come to that eventually....right? I'm really enjoying your blog by the way. :)

A Anna, first let me say that I?m really jazzed you like the blog. Your question/s is/are great, funny, and um . . . long. But all of us start out wondering the same thing. So I?m glad you asked, and hopefully I can give you a good answer. For articles or short stories?which are a great way to start out by the way?you can send a query without an agent. A query is basically a letter asking if the editor might be interested in what you have written or would like to write.

So let?s say you want to write an article on how to trim the nose hair of Shetland Ponies. First you?ll need to make sure there is actually anough information to write an article. Then find out what publications do stories about horses or nose hair. Especially if they specialize in Shetland ponies. You can do this most easily by using a book called Writers Market. This book should be available in any library or you can buy a copy for I think about $20. Since it changes every year, I would recommend the library. In this amazing book, you?ll find a list of magazines and internet magazines (called e-zines) that publish on various topics.

Next you?ll want to send query letters to the publications that seem like the best fit. Query letters are a whole other topic, but until I cover them on this blog, you can find some great examples by googling how to write a query letter. (Don?t pay for this info! There is a lot of great information on writing query letters for free.) Send out your queries and wait for your responses. At first you?ll get a lot of rejections. But the more you work at it, the more positive your responses will be, until you get your first yes. Remember, you can spin most articles more than one way. One query might be about horse hygiene, another might be about how properly trimmed nose hair helps horses win shows. (Yeah I know, this is a really lame example, but I just got back from taking my kids to my mom and dad?s house and I think I ate too many chocolate chip cookies.)

Once you get a request for an article, it?s time to send in your very best work. Check for typos. Read similar articles in that magazine and others like it. Read articles about writing articles. The key is that the more you write, the better you will get. Of course you?ll get rejections along the way, but those are badges of courage. Nearly every author gets at least some and most get a lot. They just mean you are getting closer to getting published. Stephen King had a whole spike filled with rejections before he sold his first story.

Short stories are usually the same process. Check Writers Market to see how the publication wants you to submit. Some want a query, some want the whole story. Some want both.

Okay let?s move on to books. First, DO NOT try to sell a book you haven?t finished writing. It can be done, but the chances are great that it will backfire on you. Nothing takes the wind out of en editor or agent?s sails like asking for a full manuscript and finding out you haven?t finished it. So, get your book done first. That?s the cardinal rule. Once your book is done and you?ve gotten lots of feedback and done lots of polishing, it?s time to try and sell it.

Whether you need an agent or not depends on what kind of book you are writing and where you want to publish it. Many small publishers do not require agents. Also some fantasy publishers and some children?s book publisher do not require agents. You?ll have to go back to WM again to find out for sure. TOR does not require agents, and neither does my publisher, Shadow Mountain. But even if you do sell your book without an agent, it?s still good to get one as they can negotiate on your behalf, get competitive offers, sell foreign rights, movie rights, and all that cool stuff.

The other reason for having an agent is that now days almost all the big publishers will not even look at you without an agent. Since an agent works completely on commission (usually 15% of sales,) the publisher knows that the agent will only send them writing that is good. So the agent is the one that actually gets your work looked at.

Guess where you go to find an agent? Yep, that?s right. Back to WM. They have a whole list of agents, what kind of books they represent, how they want to see submissions, if they take on new writers, all that cool stuff. Most of time they?ll want a query letter first, then the first three chapters of your book, then the whole thing. The whole process can take six months or more, so it pays to submit to several agents at a time.

Okay, the chocolate chips are wearing off and I?m sure my other good author friends will cover what I missed, so I?ll call it a night. And you thought you?re question was long, huh?
Okay I?ve got five more days to fill with posts, so if you have more questions, fire away!