Friday Fricassee

Happy Friday!

So here's something I'd love to hear your thoughts on today:

In a first draft of my current WIP, I killed off one of the main supporting characters.  I actually cried when I did it, because it was painful.  That's a good sign, really--if it made ME cry, then it should impact readers. Right?

Except, it feels wrong to have him dead.  And I think that, because he is a main supporting character, it might be more upsetting than moving to have him die.  So right now, as I revise, I'm seeing if I can make this work without his death.  There's still a very hard choice involved, and still lots of tension (especially the not-knowing whether he's going to make it or not), but in the end, I think I will feel more peaceful if he lives.

Others die, so it's not a case of my avoiding killing off characters.  I do that with aplomb, as necessary.  *grin*

So, what do you think?  Is there a RIGHT and a WRONG time to kill off a character?  Have you ever struggled with whether or not to kill someone off?

Please help me through this by sharing your own experiences!

Allow Yourself to be Treated Well

Yes, I care about the journeys of other writers.  Yes, I tend to particularly "mother hen" those of my colleagues with whom I share friendship as well as writership.

As in, if you hurt, I hurt.  If you're angry, I'm angry.  You know how it goes.  You do it, too.

But I want to channel my latest bout of righteous indignation into something productive, and here it is:

Signing with an agent is a wonderful thing.  But if it ends up less than wonderful for any reason, DO SOMETHING ABOUT IT.

I know that many of you who read my blog are either getting ready to query or have been querying and are firmly entrenched in I-need-to-find-an-agent.  Then there are others of you who are recently or not-so-recently agented, but not yet published.  Like me.

Let me tell you something.  When you sign with an agent, you have not won the lottery.  You have worked hard and made a business connection that will be (hopefully) beneficial to both of you.  Being agented is a STEP along the way.  It is not a mode of being that requires you to stay in a perpetual state of stunned thankfulness.

Don't get me wrong:  I am daily thankful for my agent.  I adore him and he knows it.  And I think he must be at least marginally fond of me, because, let's face it--he's put up with me for quite some time now.  But the bottom line is that Josh treats me well.

Yes, I've been frustrated sometimes (and he knows it--because I've communicated it).  It's almost always because of a lack of communication.  The truth is that I feel "taken care of" when I'm communicated with.  Dark holes of silence?  I don't do well with those.  Not even marginally.  But all relationships, both business and personal, have their ups and downs.  Because nobody is perfect, and forgiveness is key to happiness.  And threaded through the frustrations and miscommunications is a strong sense of being treated well.  Being respected.  And I know--because he's said it--that Josh is in for the long haul.  We are, both of us, imperfect humans.  But I think we've got an undeniable synergy that trumps the hiccups.  Our relationship feels good.

This isn't always the case with agent-client relationships.  Of course, it's not always the agent who's the "bad guy".  Nobody wants to represent an author who is whiny or demanding or full of himself.  Agents are overworked and trying to inhumanly multitask on an almost-daily basis.  If we need respect, then they need it, too.  Respect for their time, their priorities, their private lives (yes, they do have them).

But.

If you feel more angst than satisfaction with your agent, something is wrong.

If you're not feeling supported, encouraged, energized, challenged to be become better, something is wrong.

Mind!  I am absolutely not saying that your agent exists solely to be your cheerleader.  HE DOES NOT.  But cheerleading is part of it.  Letting you know that he's excited about something, or that you've done a good job with the latest round of revisions, is a very decent-human-being sort of thing that needs to happen.

And if you've done something a bit out of line?  Like, maybe you posted something on your blog that's a bit taboo--or maybe you've made an unreasonable demand?  Then your agent needs to communicate this to you professionally and kindly.  If you receive anything less than professional and kind, then that, to me, is a red flag.

(This is assuming that you are also being professional and kind.  Right?)

You need to be treated well.  Not pampered, not coddled, not deferred to on a daily basis.  But simply treated well.

I walked for more than 2 years through a bad agent situation with a colleague who felt unsupported and condescended to by an agent with a reputation for suddenly emailing clients and telling them she no longer wanted to represent them.  This colleague lived in fear that the same thing would happen to her.  When she finally found the courage to "break up" with this agent, she found a new one--and got a book deal fairly quickly.

I've watched colleagues fall apart because their agents decided to call it quits after one try with one novel.  (Which is why it's important to determine up front whether or not the agent you're signing with is a "career agent" or a "let's throw one book at the wall and see if it sticks" agent.  If he's the latter, and you're longing for the former, you're going to end up disappointed.  And you won't feel like you've been treated well.)

And, most recently, I've been privy to one of the most unprofessional communiques from an agent that I've ever seen.  (Not rivaling what I went through my my agent-from-hell all those years ago.  But, truly, there isn't a whole lot that could rival that.)  All because my colleague dared to ask for an update on her submission list.

Here's a disclaimer on that last one:  No one likes a pest.  It's never okay to PESTER your agent.  Weekly emails that say, "Hey! How's it going this week?" are going to drive your agent to the nearest bar before 2 p.m.  But asking for an update after your agent sends you an editor list on the brink of submission and then goes dark is not, in my opinion, "pestering".

You are allowed to ask for updates.  You are allowed to ask questions.  You are even allowed to ask for advice.

You are allowed to be treated well.

You are NOT allowed to be a diva, or to hurl invectives at your agent when he doesn't measure up, or to expect that your project and your needs will always come first.  In short, YOU ARE NOT ALLOWED TO BE A JERK.

But if you are being a decent, hard-working, non-pesty client, and you aren't being treated well, then it's time to reevaluate your relationship with your agent.

Love yourselves, people.  Love yourselves enough to know when the way someone treats you isn't okay.  Love yourselves enough to trust your instincts when something isn't right.

Love yourselves enough to LEAVE when you are not being treated well.

And that is my mother-henning for the day.  Write well, live well, love yourself so that you can love others well.

Thank you.  I feel better now.

Writing Process Blog Tour

I was tagged in the Writing Process Blog Tour by Holly Bodger, author of 5-to-1 (coming from Knopf in 2015, and an absolutely brilliant YA debut that I'm completely in love with!).

Here are my answers:

What am I currently working on?

I'm actually doing something not-quite-kosher--I'm rewriting a "book 2".  Reason?  I've recently rewritten "book 1" to change the tense and edge-up the writing, and since I'm in the middle of the Submission Desert with another novel (and don't have a fresh story tugging at me), I decided it would be sort of smart to go ahead and revise "book 2" on the tail of the other revision.  I believe strongly in this trilogy, and I'm going to keep polishing until it's blinding.  No, really.

How does my work differ from others of its genre?

My on-submission novel, a YA SF, eschews the common-in-YA "love triangle" trope, and instead brings to the forefront what I would like to believe is a character-driven, action-packed plot.  Yes, there's romance (of course!), but it's not every-other-page and this-is-all-about-girl-meets-boy.  And though it falls squarely into the science fiction camp, it's a book that people-who-don't-read-science-fiction can enjoy.  In that sense, I believe it has broader appeal for a YA-loving audience, instead of a narrow genre niche.

Also, one of the supporting characters is mentally challenged (brain damaged).  I fell deeply in love with her as I wrote the story, and I got some pretty strong "I love this character!" from some readers.  She's cast in a positive light, and I feel like she stands out as "different" in the realm of sidekicks.

Why do I write what I write?

If I say "because I am a sci/fi geek", that is only partly true.

While my currently-on-submission novel is straight sci/fi, I mostly write dystopian.  These are the stories that flow most naturally from the deepest part of me.  Why?  I'm passionate about our world and the direction in which we're heading.  I like to look at current events/situations/political landscapes and imagine the trajectory:  Where could this lead us in 50 years?  100 years?  300 years?  (If we even last that long!)  And I want young people to allow their minds to go in the same direction.  "What will happen if this trend continues?"  "What will my world look like when I'm 50?"  "What does it mean to give up my freedoms?"  "How can I change the world?"

I also write what I write--namely, NOT contemporary/realistic stories--because my passion lies in fiction outside of the realms of everyday.  I can get excited about a world that has laser pistols or space transports or holograms or life-sustaining moons.  Cell phones and proms and a job at the local coffee shop?  Not so much.

BUT.  That's not saying I'll never write a story like that.  In fact, now that I've publicly declared my reasons for writing science fiction, I fully expect a YA contemporary to bubble its way into my brain next.

How does my individual writing process work?

I am, for the most part, a one-idea-at-a-time gal.  Once I have the story seed, I world-build until the world feels solid enough to support a story.  (I hate this part.)  Then I use a beat sheet to "beat out" the novel before I begin writing.  (I don't like this part much, either.)  When I'm ready to start the first draft, I give myself 3 months (with a firm "due date") and then write 1000 words a day 6 days a week until I've finished it.  (I supremely hate this part.)

Then I'll wait anywhere from 1 week to a month (not too-too long) before looking at it again.  I'll go through, edit, and then send it to my beloved crit partners.  Once I get their notes, I compile them and FINALLY get to work on the part I LOVE THE MOST:  revising.

I love to revise.  I LIVE to revise.  Revisions are the soul of writing.  For me, it's where the magic happens.  It's what breathes real life into my story, and makes it what it's meant to be.

Once I have what I feel like is a clean draft, I send it to Josh, who is ONE OF THE BEST EDITORIAL VOICES IN MY LIFE.  Sometimes I want to die after I read his notes, but without fail (so far) his suggestions (and those of his assistant Danielle) have been spot-on.  I love the round of revisions that happens after I hear from this dynamic duo.

I am absolutely at my best when I am revising a manuscript.  The only time I'm even BETTER is when I have FINISHED the revision.

I am one of those writers who likes to say, "I have written a novel" instead of "I am writing a novel".

----

And there you have it!  I am tagging two other authors, who will answer these questions in the next week or so.  Be sure to visit their blogs to see their answers!

Peter Salomon is the author of HENRY FRANKS (Flux, 2012) and ALL THOSE BROKEN ANGELS (Flux, 2014).  He is also one of my critique partners, and manages the Success Stories pages for me.

Julie Butcher writes YA and MG fiction in many genres (though she claims that she writes thrillers no matter what she writes), and is represented by Deirdre Knight of The Knight Agency.  She is also one of my critique partners, and offers freelance editing for full manuscripts.

Friday Fricassee

Here are some random questions for you.  Answer at will.

1.  What's the hardest part of writing for you?  Plot? Character? Grammar?

2.  What comes most easily for you?

3.  Would you rather read a great story with lousy writing, or a meh story with fabulous writing?

4.  Is there such thing as a great story with lousy writing?

5.  What engages you more as a reader--character or plot?

6.  What is the most frustrating part about pursuing your dream to be published?

7.  Is your dream worth spending the rest of your life on? Or do you have an endpoint in mind?

8.  If your house were in flames, what 3 things would you grab on your way out?

9.  As a writer, do you feel supported or unsupported by your family/close circle/spouse?

10.  If you could achieve your dream TOMORROW, what would it look like?


(Answer the ones that strike your fancy; you don't have to answer them all.  Just number your answers so I know what you're answering.)


BONUS QUESTION:  If you knew my real name, would you want to buy the anthology that contains my adult sci-fi short?

(No promises -- I'm just dying of curiosity, is all!)

Have a lovely weekend, beautiful tribe.

Update: The First-Kiss Phone Call

Your responses were so heartfelt--and divided--that I feel the need to let you all know what went down.

(Don't know what I'm talking about?  Read this.)

So he called me.  But I was in the shower, so I missed the call (talk about timing, right?).  I called back--and got his voice mail.  Not an auspicious beginning, right?

But then, minutes later, he called again.  And we talked for an hour.

And it was fine.  Absolutely, positively fine.  Not awkward.  Not weird.  Not angst-y.

He's grown from a confused, egocentric teen into a thoughtful, intelligent man.  (Well, probably he was intelligent back then, too.  But idiocy tends to trump intelligence when one is 17.)  He spoke with great nostalgia and longing of heart about our old circle of friends, and the theatre director who reached out to him when he was so young and lost.  "He changed my life," he said. "I've spent the last four days trying to write a letter to him."

Since I sent him the letter and opened this doorway to his past, he's been on an emotional roller coaster.  He asked me to please pass along his contact information to "anyone and everyone."

In short, it's been amazing.  This wasn't about "old first kisses" at all.  This was about creating a connection for a man who'd lost touch with people who actually meant a lot to him.  And I am honored to have played that role.

That's my happy ending.  Mr. A was completely supportive, and I came downstairs after the phone call and filled him (and my eager parents) in on what Old Kiss and I talked about.  (In fact, I took notes.  Sort of like when I talk with my agent.)

It was all good.

Bottom line?  We were kids.  And now we're not.  And it takes grace to move on and not keep slapping the past with wet noodles.

Thank you all so much for taking a keen interest in my little situation.  All is well, and I absolutely know I made the right choice in speaking with him.  I guess you never know how God is going to use you to bless someone else.

And, yes, he did end the phone call by saying, "If I were there, I'd give you a kiss."  Which was poetic, somehow--and not at all creepy.  In fact, it felt affectionate in an okay sort of way.

(Also?  Yes, we're going to skype him into the party.  We're doing everything we can to get this old cast together, dadgummit!)