Query Education

Since you're thinking it, let me ease your mind: I'm not talking about part of the XML computer language.

Okay, okay, that probably wasn't the first thing that came to your mind. If you were thinking of query letters, as in the letters aspiring writers send in to try and snag an agent or get published, then you'd be right on the money.

I'm less than 20,000 words away from finishing my first edit of my complete manuscript. While I'm waiting for my volunteer readers to finish, I decided it was time to start learning the best way to write a query letter. There are books on the subject, of course, but most of those focus on good ol' fashioned snail mail queries and most agents rely on email queries these days. But never fear, after a minimal amount of searching I found THE website for query advice (actually it's a blog): Query Shark.

Query Shark is run by an actual literary agent who critiques various drafts of query letters. Now, the beauty of this site is that the Query Shark is brutally honest, which can be amusing at times, but always helpful. After you read some of the posts, you begin to see patterns and detect glaring mistakes. (DO NOT put your address at the top of an email query. The Query Shark gets upset when this happens.) Once I finish reading the archives, I'm faced with the task of writing my own query letter. I cringe at the idea because I don't like "selling myself." I picked up some modesty whilst living in Japan all those years and it doesn't look to be going away anytime soon.

Read a few posts from Query Shark and then read an "example" query here that highlights everything you could possibly do wrong. I laugh every time I read it, so enjoy!

And to be honest, I'm actually looking forward to sending out queries and hearing back. I think my first rejection letter will be the equivalent of a solider's first battle scar; it may hurt like hell at first, but you learn from it and move on, thankful to be alive to take on the world.

TXT Classics

Interacting on a daily basis with young people often leads to interesting conversations. For instance, I never would've read, "Diary of Wimpy Kid" if it weren't for my middle school students. The same goes for, "The Lightening Thief" of the Percy Jackson and the Olympians series. But yesterday something unique came up in conversation: How long will it be before someone writes a book in text shorthand? Unlikely, you say, but something similar has been done before to great success in Japan.

The book I'm referring to is, "Densha Otoko," or "Train Man" in English. A geeky Japanese man unexpectedly saves a beautiful woman on a train from some thugs. She thanks him and a strange relationship begins. At first the man is nervous beyond belief, but through the encouragement of his friends, he finally wins the girl. Now, the story of a man saving a girl and they fall in love is nothing new, but what makes this book unique is how the man receives encouragement. His friends are from an online messageboard/forum and the language used throughout the book for their "conversations" is a combination of emoticons (symbols used to create faces that represent emotion) and online Japanese shorthand. The book was a hit and a popular mini-series quickly followed.

It's only a matter of time before something like Train Man happens in English.

The question about a book in texting shorthand got me thinking and I've set myself a challenge: translate a paragraph or two from a classic into texting shorthand. I'm not sure how long it'll take, or when I'll finally get around to it, but I think it's worth trying once.

The Confidence Roller Coaster

Let me just say that I am one of the most optimistic and self-confident people you'll ever meet. Except, occasionally, when it comes to my writing.

In the last month my confidence has had as many ups and downs as a good wooden roller coaster. I was ecstatic to finish my first draft, but then I cringed at the writing of the first few chapters. I rewrote them and felt pretty good about myself again, but then came across some more bad writing in Chapter 5. I fixed that and felt strong, reaching a third of the way through and sent out my work to some readers. I'm still waiting for their feedback, but in the meantime I've been reading more about literary agents. If you ever want to test your dedication to writing, just read through the articles in a book like Guide to Literary Agents. There are query letters, networking, pitching, and lots and lots of stats. If I lived and breathed by numbers, I would've quit by now. Thankfully I don't, and when I read advice like, "Make sure to revise your draft before seeking an agent," I start to feel better. Who in their right mind would try to sell their first draft? I wish there was a way to prevent the hordes of "wannabe" writers from those of us who strive to do our best.

Some of the articles even made me reconsider the genre of my book. Sure, maybe series aren't great for every genre, but in fantasy, they're kind of expected. I panicked for a day, thinking I would have to axe five of my six points of view, add Senna's, and make it a romance novel. I have nothing against romance novels, some of my favorite authors write them, but I realized that's not really what I want to do, and a number of successful fantasy/urban fantasy/paranormal writers only have series. I'm sure Robin Hobb wouldn't be where she was today if the Farseer Trilogy had been one book. The same can be said about Anne McCaffrey's Dragonriders of Pern.

Thankfully I decided to keep to my fantasy genre (although I've been trying to decide if it's actually paranormal fantasy or just fantasy, but I have yet to make a decision).

Unfortunately today I came across another chapter that has to be completely rewritten, but there is hope. For some relief I skipped ahead to edit Chapter 17 and barely had to make any changes. I'm currently rewriting Chapter 12, so only a few more chapters to go before my revisions should be less painful.

After that, I finally get to finish my research for Oliver's story, for book two of the Secondworld series. Yes, I made an executive decision to switch the name from Otherworld to Secondworld; too many writers use "Otherworld." If you think "Secondworld" sounds simple, you're right, it is, but you'll soon see that the Fair-folk were less than inventive when it came to naming places...

Snip, Snip

Here I am, a week later, with a few thousand less words, four rewritten chapters and a stronger story. I feared going cross-eyed for a few days, but the feeling passed and I've got the heart to keep on going.

In theory, editing seems so simple. Re-read the story, take out the unwanted parts, fix a few words and presto, it's done. Unfortunately the reality is something else entirely. The constant battle for the right word or expression. The feeling that you know a certain paragraph or scene seems off, but you don't want to rewrite it, but you finally end up going back to do it anyway. The grueling process of fixing out of character slips(would he say this or wouldn't he?), or in my case, out of time slang and references (my story is set in 1891). Filling in plot holes or inconsistencies. Jotting down unanswered questions with a hope they are, in fact, answered by the end.

And so on.

Of course all of this hard work is starting to pay off. I started reading a book yesterday, which I'll leave unnamed for now, and kept thinking, "I write better than this. The story is slow, the explanations clunky, the characters a little extreme to the point of being unbelievable." If this person was published, and continues to be published, then surely I can be published too. Sometimes I forget this when I read some really good books, but it's nice to be reminded that it is indeed possible.

Next comes the scary part: having my reader extraordinaire go through it, make comments, suggestions and all around critique it. The first third is going out today, so we'll see what she says.

Now back I go to my cave to finish editing the other two-thirds of my story.

Editing 101

As the title suggests, I finished my first draft (at just under 88,000 words) and am in the process of editing.

After three days, I can honestly say this is my least favorite part of writing so far.

The process is necessary for several reason, a few of which I'll touch upon in a moment. The biggest surprise, however, is the difference in the caliber of writing. Now, if you think about it, it only makes sense that your writing changes the more you do it, hopefully for the better. But I didn't realize just how much I'd tidied things up by Chapter 31 until I started editing Chapters 2 and 3 (I rewrote the first chapter). I know you have to start at the beginning, but it's knocked my confidence down a few notches.

At this point I think I'm going to rewrite Chapters 2 and 3, because if I don't, I think I may go crazy. Sometimes editing just isn't enough and you have to scratch it.

Off and on, over the last year, I've been reading books about writing. They always preach about the importance of editing, and I can now say I wholeheartedly agree, but you have to be careful. It's fine to edit a little as you go along, but the most important step is to FINISH the damn thing and then rip out the flaws. Finishing a draft gives you insight into structure, pacing and a number of other things. I've been writing on and off since junior high school, but this has been the best experience by far.

The reasons for editing? Well, believe it or not, the way characters act in the beginning aren't always the way they act at the end. Inconsistencies, especially with six viewpionts, is bound to happen. Now is the time for me to clear them up.

Useless information also shows up. You can't be afraid to snip, because when you get down to it, content is more important that word count. Have you ever read a two page description of something that could've been done in two paragraphs? Yeah, me too and it's something I hope to avoid.

I know my story is worth it, but I can't help but complain a little bit along the way.

Emotional Involvement

Today I was faced with the task of writing a very emotional scene of loss. Honestly, I almost started crying once I was in the character's mindset and tried to find every excuse NOT to write. The most difficult scene is now done, but I fear for a few coming up. Say what you will, but unless you're an actor or a writer, I'm not sure if you can truly understand the emotion that stems from trying to understand another's point of view. For writers it's much worse since we decide what actually happens to a character, but if everything was perfect, you wouldn't have a story. To be more precise, you wouldn't be truly alive if everything went just the way you wanted it, all the time. Readers may criticize and whinge (a lovely British word for whine), but without hardship, you'd have a pretty boring story no one would want to read.

I'm on the home stretch, nearly at 80,000 words and everything's coming together. Even the set-up for book two is mostly in place, which I can hardly wait to start writing. I have the ambitious goal of finishing the first complete draft by the end of this week (Sunday, perhaps), but it all depends on the final length. 90,000 words is doable, but 100,000 would be pushing it.

Right before I start editing, I'll be rewriting the first two chapters. I'm horrible at beginnings until I know the ending, and being the non-plotter I am, I'm still a little hazy about the details for the ending. What I had wanted to do originally may not work. In any case, the current Chapter One I have just won't do and needs to be jazzed up a little. Then I'm faced with the impossible task of fixing plotholes, mistakes and inconsistencies (Oh, I already know I have more than a few).

I'd better get back to writing and stop procrastinating. True I write best in the morning, but lately I've been writing more than 2,000 words a day, which requires some evening time. Maybe I should chain myself to the desk...

A Million and One Ways to Interpret Mythology

It's nearly the end of summer, and as I currently work the same days as the school calendar, it has been a summer of unemployment, good reading and getting into shape. The reading part is what concerns us this time around, as I have been addicted to mostly paranormal-related romances and fantasies.

When did stories about gods, goddesses, fairies, vampires, werewolves, harpies, and all matter of related creatures become so popular? Most "hot" titles feature one of the above creatures as their main character, but the world that surrounds them varies with each and every author.

For example, take Greek mythology. I have become a big fan of Gena Showalter's Lords of the Underworld series about a group of warriors who opened and destroyed Pandora's box because of jealousy and have since been forced to house the demons inside of them (Pain, Death, Misery, Lies, Doubt, Nightmares, etc). The results are some engaging, steamy romances books (with a great background story and cast of characters, I might add), focusing on how every person, no matter their weakness, has someone out there meant for them. Take this approach and compare it to Sherrilyn Kenyon's Dark-Hunter series, divided into those who were created by Apollo (Apollites), who sometimes work with the daimons, and those favored by Artemis (the Dark-Hunters) who are granted a single act of vengeance before they serve her. The Dark-Hunters are immortal, seeking out those daimons and Appollites at night who wish to hurt humans. The use of the same set of mythological stories produces two very different worlds.

Another example is the portrayal of fey in Karen Marie Moning's Fever series and in Richelle Mead's Black Swan series. Again, the same set of stories and myths produce two very different takes on what it means to be an outcast fey in a modern world.

These are the type of stories I've dreamed of reading since I was little, but I guess my imagination was ahead of the curve. No matter, I enjoy the stories now and am nothing but guilty of producing yet another take on what it means to be "fairy" in a world interconnected to our own.

Now, I'm going ponder what the difference is between paranormal fiction and urban fantasy and see if I can come up with an answer, because honestly, they blend and overlap in my mind.