Hypothetical Questions

I just blogged a new post over at the Writing Jungle, Focus, with hypothetical questions and answers to offer to ignoramuses that feel they need to pester you with because you are a writer and they just don't get what that means.

I find many of us writers agitated because we try and try and try and try and try to blast it in our family and friends that writing is part of our blood, it's who we are and we're happy with it so just puh-lease, leave us alone. Is that too hard? Apparently, it is.

So, if you want a nice chuckle, hop on over and see my hypothetical questions and answers and then come back here and post some of your own angst you've had with family and friends pestering you about your writing and what you answered. Offer some more ammunition on top of what I offered at the Writing Jungle to our fellow readers.

New Muse General Forum for Writers Unveiled

There's a new writers forum now available. Tons of goodies to explore:

THE MUSE MINGLE AND NETWORK CAFE

THE MUSE WRITING CAFE

THE MUSE BOOK CLUB

THE NANO SUPPORT GROUP

and more.

Registration open to all writers 18 and over.

http://www.themuseonlinewritersconference.com/Forum.html

Please read the guidelines once you land on the page above before you register.

Great Business Card Tips...NOT!

If you want potential buyers to toss your business card in the garbage then make sure to do the following:

Get the most obnoxious color and splash more ugly tones to give your business card a rainbow effect.

Use a different font for each letter. Yeah, they’ll love you for that one.

Make sure the printing is very small so you can fit in tons of stuff.

Just write the name of your book. No one is really interested in your name or any other contact info, like where to email you, where to buy the book, or an ISBN number. Gee, why would you want to offer them all that info where they can Google it and get it if they really want your book, right?

Okay, so you made a few typos on your card. Do you think anyone will notice? You forgot to check it before printing your cards. An honest mistake.

Make sure to have everything in capitals. Hey, some may have a hard time reading so help them along.

I sincerely hope my tips above have helped you design the right business card. And if you follow my advice above to the tee, you will be guaranteed that your card will end up kissing the bottom of a garbage bin somewhere on this planet.

Your Hook Posts

Hop on over to The Writing Jungle to read my post on hooks and then come back here to post your one line openers for some critique by me and fellow readers.

Oh, don't be shy. Come on, click above, read, and then come back here for some fun.

Editing Mi-steaks

There are some who enjoy a juicy steak and the fat lacing its edges. Then you have those who prefer to take the time and trim the fat, section by section, until that juicy steak is lean and mean and growling to be eaten.

Which of the two are you if you compare the steak to a manuscript? Do you leave in a typo or two thinking a reader/editor/agent won’t notice? Or are you the type who diligently goes over each word making sure excess wordage is eliminated?

The latter is a persistent writer. The first? Perhaps dependant on the editor to catch everything. However, once you realize what to look for when editing, each subsequent manuscript will have a tighter first draft.

This article I want to concentrate on ‘redundancies’:

“Martha, I have a free gift for you.”
FREE GIFT: is there a gift that isn’t free? Perhaps, but for this sentence the added ‘free’ part can be eliminated and the sentence doesn’t lose its meaning.

The loud banging woke me up at 4a.m. and I couldn’t go back to sleep because I was now awake.
Hmm…beginning states the character woke up. Adding everything after sleep is redundant.

The clerk looked over the register and said, “The sum total is twelve dollars.”
The sum…The total…but not The sum total

The report was adamant at his closing: The final outcome…
The outcome suffices.

“Oh, Nancy, come see the extra additions I’ve made to the first floor.”
Come see the additions…

“Oh my. This is an unexpected surprise!”
Not sure about you but a surprise is usually unexpected.

June looked at the clock. It read 9p.m. in the evening.
What part of the planet does one have to live in not to know that p.m. means evening?

James pulled the chair for Isabelle and she sat down.
No need for ‘down’ because one usually sits down. It’s part of a logical order of things in life.

Excessive word count can be found in every manuscript. I may have a few in this article, although I tried to eliminate the added word count that sounds like unwanted luggage that is going to cost me a pretty cent and may eventually end up reading like a run-on sentence. GRIN

Here are a few more that can easily be cut down to size:

I am in possession of the silver dagger…
I have the silver dagger.

It is my opinion that many writers rush their work…
I think many writers rush their work.

All of a sudden, the clouds turned murky gray...
Suddenly, the clouds turned murky gray.

Due to the fact that one sister didn’t talk to the other…
Because one sister didn’t talk to the other.

Do you have any repetitive words or phrases you’d like to share?

So what the heck is an editor looking for?

Your manuscript is finished and it’s time to submit to an agent or editor. Blogs, articles, and discussions have put you in a spin as to what exactly an agent or editor is seeking. Many have told you to make sure you offer something different, a unique voice, otherwise you’re going to end up in the slush pile followed by a rejection letter. But what is a unique voice? What is that something different they’re searching for? Ah…that’s the million dollar question Regis hasn’t asked yet. And to be honest, you should be asking these questions before or while writing, not after you’ve completed and edited the book.

Editors, those who study and know the market, can spot a quality book offering a unique slant to an otherwise similar storyline read hundreds of times. Yet a rejection letter might come your way only because the acquisitions editor for a publishing house knows that although the submitted book is amazing, it’s not one their readers would be interested in. Publishers sees what sells or doesn’t and perhaps your book was in the lower sales category so they don’t want to take a chance. This, however, might have a different end result if you are a proven writer with a high selling track record and larger following. Is this fair? Don’t ask me. The name of the game is salability and as any business, publishing houses want to make money, just like a writer.

Let’s get back on track here, however. Editors are seeking writers:

• Who have a grasp on grammar
• Who use words to move and bring an emotional connection between readers and fictional characters
• Who have come up with a plot that stands apart from the other slush pile manuscripts
• Who have crafted such a captivating beginning they can’t put the book down
• Who have unique characters with their own distinct personalities
• Who know how to tie up loose ends and offer a satisfying ending
• Who maintain an even flow in every scene without headhopping or changing tenses from past to present to past to present to past to present…
• Who have thoroughly gone over their manuscript with a critique group/partner/editor unlike others who hand in a first draft thinking it’s perfect as is

The above is what an editor/publisher/agent seeks. They want the novel that isn’t like the other one million they’ve read. Offer that to them and maybe you have a shot.

Agent Contest-deadline January 31

Kidlit Contest

Mary Cole, one of the agents at Andrea Brown Literary Agency is having a contest.

Show her the first 500 words of your completed middle-grade or young adult novel!

Click the link above and HURRY!! Contest ends on January 31st.