Happy Friday!
1. Our BLOG CRITIQUE TOUR seems to have produced some good feedback for our participants. Yay! Please remember that you may continue to leave critique until midnight EDT tonight--and that each critique you leave = 1 entry in the drawing to win a 15-page critique from AUTHORESS EDITS.
HERE IS THE LIST OF EXCERPTS.
2. A small addendum to last Friday's thoughts ON TREND-CHASING AND THE UNPUBLISHED NOVEL:
In addition to writing what we love, there's also a place for branching out and trying something new. Not because someone tells us to; not because we think it will sell--but because we're stretching ourselves and flexing our writing muscles in a new way. If the slightest idea is niggling at your brain, and it's not like anything you've ever written before, give it a try! It may come to nothing, or it may blossom into something you never imagined you'd write.
I'd like to point out that my current novel-on-submission is a YA science fiction that I wrote because Agent Josh suggested I move in that direction. Note my use of "suggested". (Because, if he were, yanno, bossy or something, I wouldn't like him much.) If he hadn't given me that gentle, creative prod, I would not have written the novel. And that would be very sad, because it turned out to be a story I absolutely love! There's something different about it--something that honed my voice in a new way. For me, it was a definite "I've reached the next level" achievement in my journey as a writer.
So listen to those gentle suggestions. Pay attention to the oddball idea that wakes you up at night. It may turn into something new for you to love. And if it doesn't--well, a good, creative stretch always bears good fruit.
(I've got my own out-of-left-field idea swimming around. And it's, of all things, YA Contemporary. Which I sorta told Agent Josh I couldn't write. Not saying I'm sitting down tomorrow to get started, but if the idea doesn't stop poking me, I'm going to have to let it out. Right?)
3. If you could ask an editor any question at all, what would you ask? Please let me know in today's comment box. I'm working on a new idea for the blog, and if I get enough decent questions, I'll go ahead with my plans.
And that about covers it! Have a glorious weekend.
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ReplyDelete"but if the idea doesn't stop poking me, I'm going to have to let it out. Right?"
ReplyDeleteAnd thus you describe exactly why I have to be a writer. Otherwise these ideas would swirl around in my head and drive me crazy. I mean crazier than I was before, but let's not talk about that, okay?
Editor question: Are debuts more appealing than debut +1? As in, what if someone published their first book with a small press and the numbers were good for a super small press, how would that effect the way you look at the next book that author pitches?
ReplyDelete@AuthorVanessa: @AuthoressAnon I would ask: how much do you trust your 'gut' when hitting the pile? Does your body 'know' a good story as much as your head?
ReplyDeleteEditor question:
ReplyDeleteWhat's your favorite part of the process? Reading a new MS and getting excited? Ripping apart the plot? Critiquing grammar? Watching the writer grow better?