Posts
First a few things worth pointing out in the blogosphere:
- My dear friend/Critique partner Julie Musil has an agent!!! Congrats to one of the nicest, most talented people I know. We started this journey together, and we will continue it together as well.
- Ebony McKenna's Books (of which I had the pleasure of interviewing her characters here) are NOW AVAILABLE IN THE US THROUGH PURCHASE ON YOUR KINDLE. Here's the link for The Summer of Shambles and The Autumn Palace.
- Martina from Adventures in Children's Publishing blog and I are doing a first five pages workshop each month. If you visit the first Saturday of the month, you will have an opportunity to be one of the first five to get in five pages you'd like critiqued, and each weekend we will post your revisions until, hopefully, you get it just right. :D Come down and see what it's like, and comment on others work as well. We all help each other out, right? Just be COURTEOUS, but I know you all are!
- Finally, I'm sure you all know, but registration is open for SCBWI LA!!!
NOW TO THE POST!
Mistakes. Without them, our characters would be a bit too perfect, no? But what about us as writers? When should we be extra careful not to listen to that little devil on our shoulder? What mistakes should we take care to avoid?
- Hitting Send too quickly. Don't be trigger happy, make sure you've got it right first, because you only get one shot with an agent or editor for each manuscript.
- NOT hitting send! Ha, I am so confusing, aren't I? If you've done all the work, revised, gotten critiques, revised again, and you keep changing the word "cry" to "sob" you probably are just scared. But if you never try, how will you ever succeed?
- Losing it. You don't want to say anything you'll regret later. Period. If you say something online, it does not disappear. And those things we wish we hadn't said have a way of going viral. Not to mention this is a small community, where agents, editors and authors know each other and talk. So if you are rude to someone, chances are she won't be the only one to be offended.
- Being afraid to jump in. I've said it a hundred times, but this is the most amazingly supportive community I've ever seen. Don't be intimidated. Speak up! Ask questions! Get involved. Chances are you won't be disappointed in the response. But if you never try...
What other mistakes do we make, and how can we avoid them?
I'm so happy for Julie! :)
ReplyDeleteI always end up sending queries out too early but then I pull back. I'm trying not to this time. That's my goal in life - not to press send too early. :)
I'm with Laura. I'm now more likely to do #2 than #1 now. Unfortunately sometimes you think your ms is ready. Your CPs and beta readers think it's ready . . . but it's still missing something. Fortunately I found my "magic wand" in a workbook which I'm currently waving over both my WIP and the one I was querying. The magic wand is that good. :D
ReplyDelete(Nothing like cryptic comments, huh?)
Oh, and that devil is absolutely ADORABLE!!!!!
ReplyDeleteJulie has an agent!! She's a gem. Congrats, Julie!! I didn't know she was your crit partner. That's wonderful.
ReplyDeleteI've made the mistake of "losing it," by actually losing my work. I didn't back it up and my computer died. That was three years ago, and I'm still sad :)
ReplyDeleteI'm most guilty of number 4. I'm pretty shy, so a lot of the time, I just watch conversations without joining in. I'm slowly getting better, though. And congratulations to Julie!
ReplyDeleteLaura - Just don't fall into the opposite trap of fiddling because you're sure changing that one sentence will make the difference.
ReplyDeleteStina - you can't distract me from your cryptic message by complimenting my pic! :D LOL I can't wait to read the blog post on that one!
Salarsen - :D I'm proud to say she is! And she is JUST AS AMAZING in person as on her blog and Twitter. FYI
Jes - OMG That is like my worst nightmare! And so much changes in just one day sometimes. I've had WORD crash on me several times and completely freak me out. I can only imagine losing everything. YIKES. Sending virtual chocolate!
Sarah - I've been enjoying your tweets! And I always love your comments and your blog. You have nothing to be shy about (easier said than done I know).
Lisa, you are such a sweetheart. Thanks so much for the shout out.
ReplyDeleteI'm terrified of hitting Send, in case there are mistakes I've missed. That actually makes me cling to things in order to read it "one more time." Oh, and I'm not outgoing with strangers--AT ALL! Which makes me lean on my outgoing friends, such as YOU :D
Julie - I should have added another point to the list. Being TOO outgoing. Sometimes I worry I talk too much. He he he.
ReplyDeleteI am so thrilled to hear Julie's news! Esp. since we entered the same contest last month (loved her logline!) and she was the winner so I'm just BETTING that she signed with the agent who judged that contest. Heading over to her blog to find out if I guessed right.
ReplyDeleteGreat points. I'd say my biggest mistake is spending too much time on-line and not enough writing! I'm tracking my hours spent doing each this week and keeping it to 4/1 ration (4 hours writing/1 hour online) . Otherwise I'll never get to that pressing the Send button point!
I think it is so smart to keep reminding each other to be kind and professional about what we say and not to "lose it". Road-rage, whether real life or internet, is NOT good for anyone.
Margo - that's very SMART of you. I do tend to get lost in cyberspace, yet still never feel like I catch up. I enjoy it a little too much. And yes, road-rage, as you put it, is never good for anyone.
ReplyDeleteI like your idea of not being afraid to TRY - I think the whole thing can be SO intimidating that it scares people right out of it.
ReplyDeleteHere's another one: Don't listen too much - there a lots of opinions out there (from craft, to querying, to publishing). Listen to the one coming from deep inside you. Trust your instincts.
Susan - That's EXCELLENT advice. Sometimes all the info out there can make you feel like you know nothing or just on overload. But you should take what strikes you as useful and file the rest away. :D
ReplyDeleteCongrats to Julie--that's so wonderful!
ReplyDeleteNot that I love mistakes, but I feel like I learn a ton from them. There's a hockey quote that you miss 100% of the shots not taken. Yes, 'hitting send' means you'll get rejections, but it's the only way to get a goal. :)
Kristi - Well said! Who knew hockey players were so smart? If you don't try you can't succeed. Just make sure you do your best.
ReplyDeleteThis is a great list! Especially the one about Losing It. People, the stuff on the Internet is FOREVERZ.
ReplyDeleteJulie has an agent???!!! Must hop over to her blog. :)
Karen - Cyberspace is like the ultimate preservative. :P Say hi to Julie for me!
ReplyDeleteYay, Julie. Yay, Julie. Yay, Julie. Life is sweet when good things happen to good people. Love that you pointed out the fine line between making sure your work is ready, and being a big chicken to push send. At the LA Festival of Books last Spring (I highly recommend it) a panel of MG writers shared that they too are nervous to push the SEND button to their editors when they do a revision. Talk about validation. That devil is a keeper.
ReplyDeleteI totally agree - we need to be able to know when to send, not send, speak up and shut up. :) Knowing when though... that's a little tricky!
ReplyDeleteLeslie - It never ends. At least we all understand each other because we all feel that same way to some extent.
ReplyDeleteBethany - maybe that's a whole other post!! :D
Wow! Wow! and Wow again. So much good news and the usual excellent stuff that informs and helps.
ReplyDeleteLee - :D
ReplyDeleteYay congrats to Julie! Whoo hoo! I'm so happy for her. I know how hard she's been working.
ReplyDeleteAh mistakes, they are both terrible and wonderful. We learn and grow from them, as do our characters!
Yay for Julie!!! I agree with your list. RIght now I'm working on #4 and not being afraid to put myself out there. :)
ReplyDeleteGreat points all--I definitely suffer from #4, myself. I think many writers are introverts, or at least value their quiet time, but I definitely take that to extremes! Even on the internet I end up feeling shy, lurking rather than commenting, deleting my blog entries unposted for fear they're actually dumb--the whole thing. When really, this community is nothing but lovely, and there's no reason to be afraid!
ReplyDeleteHeather - Yes, terrible and wonderful. But let's look on the bright side. *bursts into Monty Python song*
ReplyDeleteGhenet - You're doing great!! I always love hearing from you. :D
Meagan - Well commenting is a great start!! And I'm so glad you did! :D YAY!!
Oh wow, thanks so much for the mention!
ReplyDeleteI am so good at making mistakes, I think I've become an expert. However, the one mistake I have managed to avoid is . . . no, I've done that. Oh hang on, it's . . . . uh-oh, I did that too. Dang!
I have learned from my mistakes and so far I haven't committed the same mistake twice.
Here's another tip - join a crit group so you can make all your mistakes in private, where you're allowed to be enthusiastic and naive and gung ho and it doesn't matter.
I'm so delighted for Julie!
ReplyDeleteI think another mistake writers make is thinking that if they boost others and offer opportunities, they're somehow diminishing the good things that might come to them personally.
Ebony - EXCELLENT advice! Don't know what I'd do without mine. :D
ReplyDeleteAmie - That's a tragic mistake for a writer to make. It's one of the best - if not THE best - parts of this whole journey. The supportive, sometimes as kooky as me, friendly community. :D
Congrats to Julie! How exciting! I'll have to pop over and congratulate her in person.
ReplyDeleteA notable mistake, imo, is trying to do too much. There are a lot of things we writers can do in our 'writing time'. But we only have so much of it. I think we need to be diligent about prioritizing and dividing up our time accordingly so the important stuff doesn't get pushed to the side.
Becca @ The Bookshelf Muse
Becca - That's a mistake I still make all the time. Part of my personality I fear. I take on too much. Sigh.
ReplyDelete