Touch Your Toes

Picture yourself back in middle school gym class. Remember those physical fitness tests? How long does it take to run a mile? How many push ups can you do?

How flexible are you?

                             

Well, unfortunately the flexibility tests don't end in middle school years. They apply to adult life--figuratively, of course--and writing.

Just yesterday I had work my muscles. As you may know, I've been hard at work writing a query letter for my book. So far I've gone through five versions, and I'm not finished yet. One of my most recent attempts went live as a critique on Evil Editor's blog. The comments were pretty difficult to hear, but important. Which is why I'm doing away with the anonymity EE provides and sharing it with you.

                                       

I realized two things from the comments.

One. My query letter was describing a generic Wonderland that no way existed in my book. The query made it like a boring cut out of all the other Wonderland retellings that have passed before. Trust me when I say, my book is not.

Two. My title, no matter how much I loved it, needed to be changed. There are too many titles of "Underland" for it to even have a chance of standing out.

Of course even more flexibility is required in the publishing process, but the two above are just examples.

So, without further to do, let me announce my new title. Courtesy of my newfound flexibility, I present to you "After Alice," a twist on Lewis Carroll's classic "Alice's Adventures in Wonderland."

Killing Me Slowly: Queries

If you've ever written a query, you know how painful they are. Summarizing your 80,000 word book in 250 words is no easy feat. Plus you have to make it interesting!

Ugh.

Nonetheless, I spent last week working on my query for Underland. Which put me in a terrible mood.

                             

Which is also why I didn't do a blog posts.

The words were not flowing. At least, not the way I wanted them to. So I turned to the Internet, the familiar of writers all over the world. I typed in "examples of successful queries," and boy did I get a lot of results! Mixed feelings at this. Yay, success! Boo, my query sucks!

                                      

But I didn't give up. I kept reading and writing and taking frequent breaks to mope. Not the best method, I know. Though, through the negative bits, it was a learning experience that I can now pass on to you. And lucky you, you get only the positives...

How To Write a Query Letter (According to Emily Layne):

1. Don't look at your book for awhile (this way you'll only remember the important parts).
2. Read examples of successful queries on Query Shark and Agent Query Connect.
3. Write your entire query before you go psycho-analytical on it.
4. If you start to get frustrated, take a break.
5. If you really like your query and think it's perfect, take a break.
6. Give it to someone to review. A lot of websites offer free query critiques.
7. Edit then let it lie for a few days.
8. If you read it again and like what you see, you're ready to hook an agent. Good luck!

A long list, I know. But a query letter is the most important thing you'll ever write--besides the manuscript of course. Except the only way your MS will see the light of an agent's eyes? That's right, your query.

                                 

So take the time, and make sure it's perfect!

Oh! And don't forget about my contest going on. A $15 gift card to Barnes & Noble could be yours!

Vlog #1: Who is Emily Layne?

What's the Point?

Last weekend I did something I'm not proud of.

Okay, PAUSE. Pull your mind out of that dark place it no doubt went to. What I did wasn't illegal or immoral. All right, all right...a little immoral. Or "not nice" is the term I'd prefer to use.

Last weekend I was at a Barnes & Noble with my three younger sisters, and I happened to see a book. But not just any book. This novel was a young adult twist on "Alice's Adventures in Wonderland." And the writing was really, really good.

                                       

I will admit that I wallowed.

I collapsed in front of the shelf and stared at the book in  my hands: traditionally published, pretty (if slightly creepy) cover, and four stars--FOUR STARS (do you have any idea how hard that is?!)--on Goodreads.

                                          

In this moment I questioned my WIP, "Underland," and the very framework of why I wanted to be a writer.

My youngest sister snatched the book out of my hands (title which shall remain anonymous) and put it back on the shelf. She then covered it with other novels. Out of sight out of mind, right?

Except I felt really guilty about it. I  mean, what if that small act had cost the writer sales? She didn't deserve that! So, days later, due to my guilty conscience, I checked her book out at the library. Currently it's sitting on my nightstand, waiting to be read.

And I will be reading it. Why?

Because, after my brief plummet into despair, I realized something monumental.

                        

So maybe her book is already published. And tons of people like it. Okay, so it has a similar premise to mine,  being based off the same classic.

                                           

But you know what? I love my book, my characters, the world I built for them. Weirdly, I find myself missing (yes, actually missing) them when I'm not writing. I owe it to Jenny, Hatter, March, the Duchess, Dory, Theodora... I owe it to them to keep writing.

And I owe it to myself.

Ouch, That Hurt

Finishing your book is awesome.  The feeling of euphoria when writing that last line? Ah! Just thinking about it makes me shiver.

And editing. Editing's pretty cool. Tweaking here, adjusting there. Pounding that lump of clay until it actually looks like a young adult twist on Alice's Adventures in Wonderland. Or whatever your book happens to be about.

Then the beta readers swoop down with their red pens and opinions.

                                  

That dialog you thought was so clever?

Ah-ah. Sorry, it doesn't make sense or jive with the character's personality. 

The grammatical errors you thought you suffocated with spell check?

Sorry, again. "Passed" and "past" are not the same thing.

Okay, so your beta readers probably aren't so blunt and annoying. But their job is still the same: critique/tear into your manuscript. And it hurts. A LOT.

I've entered this stage of the writing process. Let me tell you: ouch! Last night I passed out my Draft 1 Version of Underland to my sisters. Minutes later they found a missing word. Then an hour later a grammatical error.

Yes, they're being incredibly helpful by telling me.

YES, IT MAKES ME WANT TO RIP MY HAIR OUT EVERY TIME THEY DO!!!! Internally, of course, because I like my hair. Instead I kind of just sit and glare.

                                  

Then  I snap out of it and realize what they're saying is much needed criticism. My problem is that I take it so personally. Even something as simple as a typo.

Which is why every time I receive a comment I don't like I do the following:

1. Take a deep breath
2. Take another deep breath
3. Let it all out
4. Smile and say "Thanks so much, please just write that down for me"

Honestly, it's easier said then done, but I'm working on it.

A writer has to be humble and willing to accept criticism if he wants to improve. So that's what I'm doing.

A. Little. At. A. Time.

                 

Rome wasn't built in a day, you know.

My Plan of Attack

According to Pat Benatar, "love is a battlefield."

                                    

Which, I suppose, in some way it is. Especially in the paranormal YA books. Except I think there is a much more difficult, frustrating battle: The Editing Wars.

Why not just "War," you might ask? Well, there are lots and lots of battles involved. Like the Battle of Plot Points and Skirmish At Adverb Ridge. Toward the end of the Wars you might find you have at least 15 different drafts of your novel saved somewhere on your computer. Right now I have 8. And I just started editing.

                                      

Yuck.

When editing, it's incredibly important to step away from your manuscript. For at least a month. Seems like a horribly long time, doesn't it? The urge to finish your book and throw it out there for publication is so strong. Resist, resist! The time away allows you to come back with fresh eyes. It makes a huge difference.

So, here's my plan of attack in chronological order because I am a fan of organization:

09/08/2014 -- Finish Draft 1, send to beta readers
BEGIN PLOTTING SEQUEL & WRITING QUERY LETTERS
11/01/2014 -- Receive feedback from betas, start editing like mad
11/15/2014 -- Finish Draft 2, review
12/ 01/2014 -- Final check for any formatting errors
12/02/2014 -- Send out query letters

                                      

Pretty simple and to the point. This process and its length varies from author to author. But the one constant should always be a beta reader. Their input is invaluable. If you don't have someone you can trust to honestly critique your work, consider joining an online writing community like Critique Circle. It's amazing what another pair of eyes can pick up.

Updates

Remember me? I know it's been awhile.

Which is why this post is reserved for updates. Okay, okay. It's really a selfish post where I tell you all the amazing things I'm doing. Fun, right? Don't worry; there are only two updates so it shouldn't take long.

Let's get started.

Update Numero Uno... I finished my book!

Hold on, let me say that again with more textual excitement.
I. FINISHED. MY. BOOK!!!!!!!!!!

                                    

The stats came in as follows:

82,428 Words
29 Chapters + an Epilogue
1 Character Death

Now I'm traversing the dangerous pathways of editing. It takes such a different mindset to edit a book than it does to write one. Luckily I've found a few tricks to this perilous journey. They're all on my Writer Resources page. Make sure you check it out. Plus, Thursday I'll be doing a post all about editing and my plan of attacking the monster with my red pen.

 Update Numero Dos... I'm starting a vlog!

For those of you who don't know, a vlog is a blog in video form. Pretty simple. Every Friday, starting September 19th, I'll post a video on here and on my YouTube Channel. (Yeah, I put the hyperlink there so you'll subscribe!) The vlogs will only be 1-2 minutes in length and will focus on pretty much anything, but mostly writing/reading related stuff. I'm pretty excited to branch out to a new platform of social media.

                                           

And because I'm so excited, there is totally going to be a contest! So visit often to check out the status on that too.

Hmm. I suppose that was more like three updates.

You didn't mind, right?

                                         

Creative Death By Stupidity

I almost died Tuesday night.

Not literally, but creatively. Why, you ask? I almost lost my entire book. Entire book. All because of my stupidity.

Karma probably had something to do with it too. Spiteful thing.

I spent the majority of Tuesday working on my book... at work (shh!). My office's programs are all in the cloud. I didn't think this would be a problem, so I saved my book like normal to a USB I carry with me everywhere. 

Only when I got home, the document wouldn't open. In fact, this error message popped up.

After a fair amount of "Oh my gosh. Oh my gosh" and "I'm going to die," I tried to think rationally. Maybe logging onto my office's cloud would allow me to open it. Only I didn't have the link to the log in website. Time to text a coworker. After a fair amount of taunting, he gave me the information I needed.

Hopeful, I tried opening my book again.

Same error message. There may have been tears and hysterical screaming at this point.

                                         

Then my sister came up with a genius idea that ended up saving my life. I opened my book through Word Pad, then copied and pasted everything into Microsoft Word. IT WORKED! 

                                             

...Except all my formatting is now screwed up. But I have my precious words back.

And you know what I did after this? Backed my book up on every technological piece of equipment I could get my hands on.

Which is what I should've done in the first place. So, my advice to you, wonderful readers, back everything (EVERYTHING!) up. You never know what might happen. And when it comes to your precious book?

It's always best to be prepared.

When You Hate Writing

I love being a writer.

Making up characters, worlds, and plots. Having a blog, Facebook, and Twitter where I can connect with other authors. Reading book after book and not getting tired of it. But, sometimes?

Sometimes I really hate writing.

                                                

It's exhausting. The words won't come out right. I'm not sure where the plot goes next.

The above sentences sum up my Saturday and Sunday. The words wouldn't come, and I didn't feel like forcing them. But I had to write. I had a word count goal to meet! So I developed a plan of attack to combat my slump. I did the following:

    1.  A form of physical activity. I'm lucky enough to have a pool so I went swimming. Or more like almost-drowning. Terrible swimmer over here.

                                 

    2.  Fueled up. I ate an awesome, healthy snack. No grabbing the chips and chocolate. Resist!

    3.  Went somewhere new. Usually I'll write in my room or on my front porch, but this weekend I sat on my back porch in a lounge chair overlooking the pool.

    4.  Writing sprints! I put myself on a timer. 15 minute writing sprint and then a 30 minute break. And of course I'd announce the sprints on Twitter. Had to hold myself accountable via the World Wide Web.

By the end of all this, I found myself writing for enjoyment. The 15 minute sprint became 20 minutes, then 25, then 30. My imagination swept me away and immersed me in the world of my WIP. It just took some...encouragement... to get there.

All For Naught

I'm behind on my CampNaNoWriMo word count. That's what happens when you take a three day break.

Woops.

I planned to do some serious catching up last night to the tune of 2k. Did I write that much? Totally. Does it sound good? For a rough draft, yeah. Am I going to keep it? No.

The direction I was trying to take the plot in made no sense. I had my characters trying to get off a train without being seen. They decided to wait until it was moving to crawl out an escape hatch. I got them on top of the train (after a heart-pounding almost fall, of course). Then what? They were stuck! I literally wrote myself into a corner.

                                   

Hello, delete button. Cue throwing self on floor, chucking laptop at wall, and stuffing chocolate in my face. Okay, not really. I wouldn't have minded the chocolate though.

Deleting those 2,000 words wouldn't have been a big deal during a normal month. But July isn't a normal month. It's Camp NaNoWriMo. I have to earn my t-shirt!

At first I wanted to do this:

                                    

But then I realized writing my characters on top of that train had some positives.

  1. I learned where I did not want the plot to go.
  2. I leaned action movies that have characters leaping off moving trains made no sense. (When did they ever?)
  3. Finally, I learned the best direction to take the plot. No daring stunt acts involved.

Sometimes writing in the wrong direction is exactly the thing writers need to get themselves going in the right one. Even if it's totally aggravating and sucks up three hours of your life.

                                  

Trust me.

So worth it.

On a super exciting side-note, my gift card giveaway ended today. The lucky winner is Michelle. Michelle, keep an eye on your email. You'll be getting the gift card shortly.

A HUGE thank you to everyone who participated. Consider connecting with me on other social media. I'll be having more contests in the upcoming months!

NaNo Nightmares

I've gone camping!

--Figuratively, of course. I'm not one for actual camping. Bugs, behind-that-bush bathrooms, and lack of showers don't have much appeal. For me at least.

This month, I'm cyber roughing it at Camp NaNoWriMo. What is Camp NaNoWriMo, you ask? For those of you too lazy to click the link, it's "An idyllic writers retreat, smack-dab in the middle of your crazy life". You pick your word count and strive to meet it in a month. Camp NaNoWriMo has an awesome cabin system where you're matched with other writers.

My goal for July is to reach 40,000 words, which will finish my current WIP. I've tried to participate in the last three NaNo's: two Camps and one November. I failed each time. Why?

I wasn't dedicated enough!

This time around, I've really gotten involved. I've made use of the cabin chat feature and connected with other writers. I've forced (seriously, forced) myself to at least get 1,000 words written per day. And those cool emails the folks at NaNo send that I used to ignore? Yeah, I actually read those now. I also bought a camp shirt. So a monetary investment and personal guilt trip certainly help matters.

And so far I'm on track, even slightly ahead. Which is an awesome feeling.

Actually, I think I'm a little too obsessed with CampNaNo. In fact, I had a nightmare about it. Apparently this t-rex-like monster would stalk and eventually eat me unless I was able to say a sentence with a certain word count.

                                   

Weird and creepy? Definitely.

What is the point of this post other than bragging and letting you act as a dream psychologist?

To show the importance of apply butt-to-chair and fingers-to-keyboard! I procrastinate sooo much when it comes to writing. CampNaNo is a world-wide writing frenzy that forces me to get on the computer to write. So, whether it be a NaNo activity, a friend keeping you accountable, or giving yourself a personal goal. Write!

Seriously.

                                

Like now.