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March 30, 2007

Lisa Scottoline Advises "Don't Give Up"

Most mornings, at or around 8:45 AM, I flip on the TV and hit all three networks. I'm checking hungrily for author interviews. I know they only last 4 to 5 minutes, but I absolutely love hearing what big-name authors have to say about their new releases and, more importantly, about the writing process.

Earlier this week, I found Lisa Scottoline on The Early Show. And to my delight, she didn't disappoint. Among a range of topics, Lisa talked about the pains of rejection, having suffered through five years of it herself. Rejection is something we all experience. And yet, her words made me think about how reading the blogs of writers, agents, and editors is an essential task for writers. It is possible, simply by listening to the experiences of others, to shave years of valuable time off of the writing and submission processes -- a fine example of how "Don't make the same mistake I did" can really work.

During the interview, Scottoline talked about the protagonist in Daddy's Girl and how she comes to realize the importance of family. The author said she often writes about this subject in her books. Because family plays a dominant role in my own life, I pressed the "up" arrow on the volume button and leaned in.

Lisa laughed as she recalled her mother saying to her as a child, "Go out. You're going to ruin your eyes. Stop reading."

It sounds like a crazy message for a mother to send a child. And yet, for me (and probably for many of you), it was as though Lisa were talking about my own precious childhood.

I found out, when I was about tirty years old, that my mom signed me up for the local softball league because she was afraid I "read too much." Can that be? Can a child read too much?

So much of what Lisa Scottoline covered in those few short minutes struck a chord. She said of the writing process that, while she hoped she was evolving into a better writer (much like strengthening a muscle by stretching it), the act of writing itself wasn't getting any easier. It felt good to hear her say that, and not because misery loves company.

Writing is work and we can't forget that. While sometimes the words gently roll off the fingers and onto the page, more often it is a struggle to shape each sentence to get it just right. As a result, the writer who's willing to put the time in, who progresses and evolves, who changes and makes amends is the one who moves forward.

One of the most enlightening statements Lisa Scottoline made was this: "Don't give up until they publish you."

I couldn't have said it any better. Keep growing as a writer, continue seeking out the best match-of-an-agent or -editor. Don't stubbornly stand there and whine that your voice isn't being heard. Instead, be a Siren. Transform your words into a crystal clear song that agents and editors and readers adore.

Posted by Judy at 09:37 AM | Comments (5)

March 23, 2007

Judging Others

Have you seen the Mercedes commercial in which the blonde woman orders the milk shake in the library?

Upon watching it, I’m reminded of what famous blonde Dolly Parton once said. “I'm not offended by all the dumb blonde jokes because I know I'm not dumb... and I also know that I'm not blonde.”

Whether we try to or not, we humans judge. We assess. Appraise. Rank. We generalize. For whatever reason, we like to lump people into categories and assume certain things about them. We say accountants are nerdy, politicians are crooked, and athletes are arrogant. It's been said that professors are brainy, the wealthy are snobs, and blondes have more fun. Rationally we understand these generalizations aren't accurate. And yet, we are still surprised when someone breaks the mold. We notice and admire the people who simply refuse to squeeze into these stamped-out stereotypes.

So how can you apply this principle to your writing?

Just as generalizations weasel their way into our social lives, it’s almost shocking how often writers allow stereotypes to bobble to the surfaces of their character profiles. Take a look at your own work-in-progress. Does your geeky girl wear glasses? (Think Thelma--my personal favorite--from Scooby Doo’s gang.) Is your bad guy bald (like Dr. Evil) or your grandma tiny and frail (number one on my list is the woman who rode on the roof of Chevy Chase’s car in the original Vacation movie)? I'll bet your psychic character is an overweight, middle-aged woman, right? (Whoopie Goldberg, of course, comes to mind.)

Why not abandon these assumptions and twist things around? Surprise your readers with a beautiful nerd--and I'm not talking about the classic larva-to-butterfly story where you remove the glasses and let down the hair at the end. No, let the truly geeky girl be a looker techie, but let her stay geeky, being almost unaware of how attractive she is. Charlie doesn’t need any more Angels, anyway.

Let’s try a few more. Groom your Dr. Evil into, yes, a gorgeous bald woman? (Think Kylie Minogue, not Britney Spears or Jane Curtin.) Or give your villain wholesome, good-guy good looks like Pierce Brosnan. (Can you take it one step farther by casting a Doogie Howser-type? Not quite, I guess, but you get the picture.)

Why not transform your psychic, middle-aged woman (bye-bye Whoopie) into a clairvoyant teenaged boy. As for your frail, old grandmother, twisting her into the feisty go-getter has been done to death. So what else can we do? How about making grandma VP of a Fortune 500 company? Or, better yet, have her own the Lakers.

Think about how surprising Dolly Parton has been over the years, refusing to wear the stereotypes assigned her. If only we could learn to write by her words: “I'm not going to limit myself just because people won't accept the fact that I can do something else.”

So don’t grow gray hair making your accountants nerdy or your blondes dizzy. Follow Dolly and "do something else." Do something unexpected. And you just might keep your readers reading!


Posted by Judy at 12:15 PM | Comments (14)

March 16, 2007

Agent Nudging

I read a recent blog entry by agent Michael Bourret (Dystel & Goderich Literary Management) that detailed his daily routine. Much of it contained what you'd expect: reading while commuting, answering emails, reviewing manuscripts, lunching with editors. However, I found two items on his agenda a bit surprising.

1. He blocked off a segment of his day for pleasure reading.

2. After he arrived home, ate, and watched a couple of TVO-ed shows, he went back to work, reading manuscripts and working until bedtime.

Wow, he makes good use of his time. And although we all know we need to get up earlier or go to bed later to get more done, what else can we learn from reading Michael Bourret’s busy schedule? That agents really are busy. (And I’m not just kissing up.)

Starting at about an hour after we seal the submission envelope, we writers wonder, “Why haven't they answered me?” Or we think, “What’s taking so long?” Well, as we know from Bourret, they’re working with existing clients, meeting with editors, and reading material from hundreds of potential authors.

So how and when is the right time to nudge such a busy agent? Here’s what I recommend:

1. After submitting your initial query, which was hopefully sent to an agent who actually wants to represent the type of material you’re submitting (and I’m assuming you’ve spelled her name correctly), wait two months. That’s eight weeks, not two and not twenty.

2. Then and only then (not before and not too long after), send a brief email nudge, politely asking to check the status of your submission. Mention the title, a one-line reminder of its super-catchy contents, the date submitted, and whether it was an e-submission or sent via snail-mail.

3. In response, the agent will likely do one of three things:

a. Email you to let you know she remembers the piece and wants to pass on it. It’s not right for her, or whatever. In this case, don’t ask her why she didn’t like it. She doesn’t have to tell you, and besides, she doesn’t have the time. Move on to the next agent on your list.

b. Email you to request that you resend the material. (This saves her from digging it out of the slush pile or wasting too much time otherwise locating it.) If this happens, by all means, get the material to her right away, in the same manner you sent it before, either email or snail mail, not both (never both). This time, mention in the first line of your cover letter that she requested you send the material again.

c. Not answer your nudge. Don’t think this is rude. If such is the case, she is likely doing one of two things:

i. Ignoring you, in which case you need to forget it and move on.

ii. Finding your material and reading it quickly so that she can respond to you in a timely manner. Be patient. You’ll probably hear from her soon.

I hope this helps some of you address the uncertainty that often surrounds the submission waiting game. If you handle yourself professionally, you’ll get the respect you deserve. If you’re pushy and demanding, you’ll likely get slammed with a form rejection, even if you are the next Stephen King (oops, I guess Joe Hill has already scooped that title).

Keep in mind that agents are people, too. They’re eating shrimp tempura and watching Grey’s Anatomy and trying to discover the next Dan Brown. So write a good book, submit it to the right people, and be patient.

That said, it is okay to then live by the words of Margaret Thatcher. She says, “I am extraordinarily patient, provided I get my own way in the end.”

If you follow the rules, while mixing in professionalism and patience, you just might get your own way, too! In fact, I hope you do!

Posted by Judy at 11:14 AM | Comments (14)

March 08, 2007

Where Opportunity Lies

I scored 800 in the Logic section of my GREs, so it’s only natural for me to like things to make sense. I’m no Einstein, but I like it when blonde people have blonde eyebrows; that just makes sense. When I meet a couple, I like when they look as though they belong together. Otherwise, I’ve got a puzzle to solve – to figure out why they ended up together. And even though it’s not always possible to come up with logical answers in life, I like to understand why people behave the way they do.

Which is why I never get it when some writers do all the work they do, only to let it fizzle when an agent or editor asks for a change. I knew a writer once who wrote an 80,000-word romantic suspense novel. In just a short time, the author was able to attract a large house editor’s attention. The editor loved the characters and the plot but wanted the writer to heighten the whole thing, adding at least one more subplot and increasing the word count to 100,000.

Although I can identify with the dread of going back through a project when you thought it was as complete as it could be, I didn’t at all understand this writer’s reaction.

“I’m not doing it,” she said to me. “This is not a 100,000-word type of book.”

“It’s not right now,” I told her. “It will be after you make a few changes, add several more scenes, and further flesh out some of your minor characters.”

She never did. And in the blink of an eye, she lost the editor but was awarded the opportunity to allow a nice fat manuscript to gather dust on the back file cabinet. To this day, it remains unpublished.

Similarly, I’ve seen writers lose contracts because of missed deadlines (and I don’t mean by a few weeks – we’re talking months, here). Some writers I know have argued with editors in attempts to hang on to titles the authors held dear. Others were reluctant to give up a difficult name at the suggestion of a pseudonym by an agent or marketing staff. Now, I’m not saying we should sell our souls and all become Roxanne Rung just to climb the publishing ladder. But if you’re with a reputable agency and a respectable publishing house, you need to turn your work loose and let them do their jobs.

Don’t allow all of your efforts and abilities to languish in the drawer because of stubbornness or laziness. As Einstein put it, “In the middle of difficulty lies opportunity.” So while it might be more difficult to plow through that manuscript one more time, or to go through the process of re-thinking your title (especially after it took you months to come up with your favorite) or choosing a more memorable pen name, remember that the opportunity you’ve labored for lies just on the other side.

While you trudge through those revisions, keep in mind your end goal of seeing that book on the shelf. After all, that just makes sense. Doesn't it?

Posted by Judy at 08:25 AM | Comments (9)

March 01, 2007

It's March! What Have You Got to Show for It?

It’s March 1st and that can only mean one thing: January and February are gone forever (at least until next year). And what have you got to show for it? I’m sure at the introduction of the New Year, amidst the firecrackers and champagne, you made a promise to yourself: to write more, to complete that first draft, to finish the proposal, to find an agent, to get published, to lose weight (okay, now we’re getting off track), or something. And have you done it? Well, have you at least attempted to do it?

For many of us, the answer is no. But it’s not too late. You still have a couple of months before editors and agents pack their bags and head for the Hamptons. (Agents, I know you all don’t vacation in the Hamptons, but as a land-locked native of the Middle-Atlantic region, I love the glamour in that). Let’s treat this day as if it were the first of January, minus the hangover. Wake up, retrieve that outline or pull out that draft. It’s time.

Here are three simple steps that might help catapult you over those previously insurmountable obstacles:

Step One: Don’t dwell on what you haven’t done.

You’ve already wasted enough time saying, “I don’t know where the time went.” Forget it. It’s gone. Whatever you were doing in January and February took you farther from your writing goal, so let’s turn that distance into motivation. The time is now. If you’re still not ready, you might want to write a checklist of items you CAN cross off, like “I know what my protagonist does for a living” or “I’m going to include mini-quizzes in my how-to book.”

Step Two: With that behind you, set a reasonable goal.

Don’t tell yourself to accomplish grandiose generalities like “write your novel” or “finish your nonfiction book proposal.” Those goals are huge. It brings to mind the words of my father who paid for 32 years of private college tuition (some of us have graduate degrees). He said, “If I had thought about all the money I’d be spending when I wrote that first check, I might never have done it.” So don’t overwhelm yourself. Forget the big picture. Instead, be specific. Vow to write a detailed character profile, to rough out the opening paragraph for your query letter, pick three target markets for your article idea, or to brainstorm a fresh format for your nonfiction material. Those goals are fair and far less frightening.

Step Three: Now, do it.

Don’t pull the postponing-the-diet trick of “I’ll start next Monday” or even tomorrow. No, you can start today, by making a quick note of what you’ve already accomplished and then deciding where you’re headed. I don’t want to hear that you don’t know where to go. If you’re writing fiction, there’s no right answer, so choose a direction, commit to it, and head there. For nonfiction, you’re the expert. Decide what message you most want your readers to receive and move forward from there.

Henry Ford said it best: “Obstacles are those frightful things you see when you take your eyes off your goal.” Force yourself to focus in March so that, come April 1st, you won’t be fooling yourself any longer.

Posted by Judy at 09:09 AM | Comments (6)