I read an article recently about trying to find inspiration in those blank-page moments we have all experienced. The article said to write about what you don't know you know. It said everyday life could be a means to inspiration if we will stop and look at our 'mundane' affairs to try and see what we usually don't see.
I was searching one day for the exact way to portray the decisive battle scene in my historical novel-in-progress. The house was silent, the kids were at school, husband at work, and I wandered around throwing my mind back over the incredible two thousand years between my time and my heroines, to try and picture what I was trying to say.
In my silent wandering I passed the music cabinet. Bingo! Why not listen to the music of the time I was writing about? I thought of a movie I'd seen about a person in history, how it would have fallen short of inspiring me to learn more about that person if I hadn't cried along to the heart-rending music.
So I chose a favorite CD, popped it in and listened a little differently than I usually do. Soon a certain familiar song began. I had never heard it quite the way I did that day for as I listened, the battle unfolded in my mind. I was transported to the slow motion death and horror surrounding my heroine. There was the bloody hacking of the long swords, the mortally accurate stabbing of the short blades, the cries of Celtic eagerness, courage, and the cries of pain, the orders yelled by Roman officers to their silently disciplined and deadly troops.
I listened in tears to the song at least six times before jumping up and running to the computer to write furiously for over an hour! My face was swollen. My eyes were red, but I had my scene! My husband came home for lunch and with shocked concern asked who had died. The look of relief was profound when he found out they'd been dead for two thousand years!
Since that first song, I've gone back not only to that CD but to others as well and have found three more scenes. I never know what I will find now. I have taken this a few steps farther and started looking at relationships (and conversations) from a different point of view as well. Friendships, children, the checker at the grocery store whom I've seen a hundred times, they have all taken on new meaning, meaning that I can use because though times have changed, humans still act and react much the same.
Music is but one of the many ways we can influence our writing environment. I guess you could say, 'You are what you write,' and maybe you know something inspiring you don't know you know, until you take the time to look and listen in a different way!
The article 'Write what you don't know!' by Donald M. Murray can be found in 'The Writer,' May 1998.
RELAX --
1.) Think of the editor as a friend or critique partner who you’re trying to explain the basics of your story to.
RESPECT THEM -- meaning;
1.) Don’t lie about how many pages you have finished, or how long it will take you to complete the novel in question.
2.) Don’t continue to talk about your manuscript outside your scheduled appointment, unless the editor approaches you first with the subject.
BE PROFESSIONAL --
1.) Bring one of your business cards, with the name of your current manuscript written on the back, with you to the appointment. Some editor’s will choose to save them to keep track of who they asked to see their manuscripts, and some will...well, throw them away. This is part of the business. (If you don’t have a business card, don’t sweat it. It’s not
going to make or break your career!)
2.) Dress nice, as if you’re going to a job interview.
3.) Be on time! This is VERY important.
GREETING THE EDITOR --
1.) After introducing yourself, keep the greeting short. Remember, you’ve only got this editor all to yourself for 10 min., to sell her your book.
SELLING YOUR BOOK --
1.) Start the conversation by quoting or reading a short blurb of the basics of your story, keeping it at roughly 25 words or less. You want to save time afterwards for her to ask you questions about what interests or concerns she has with the story.
2.) Tell the editor WHO your characters are, (names and physical descriptions aren’t needed, unless they pertain to the plot), WHAT your characters want, and WHY they can’t have it. (When stating the ‘why’ part, don’t forget the Inner and Outer Conflict.)
3.) Let the editor know the length of the story, or if it’s still in progress, the projected length. Also, let her know what line your story is aimed at, especially if it’s one that she’s not currently buying for.
4.) KNOW your story. The editor will ask questions about any concerns she has with your characters, plot, timeline, location, or the line you’re aiming the story towards. Oftentimes, if the editor feels that something with the story isn’t working, she’ll suggest changes that will give it a better chance of being sold. (Not all editors will do this though, it depends on the time constraint.)
TIPS --
1.) If you think you’re going to be nervous and will ramble on about your story, rather than give the editor the basic story elements she needs to know, then feel free to read from a note card. (Index cards work well.) Set it up like a blurb. You want to catch her attention and show that you can sell the book, if they choose to buy it.
2.) Don’t worry! Editor’s come to conferences to promote their house, and if your story is even close to what they might be looking for, they WILL ask to see it. Only if they feel it would be better suited for another house, will they refrain from asking.
Lisa Koester is a member of the Ohio Valley RWA Chapter, and is the editor of their newsletter. Lisa has written three short contemporary works of romantic fiction, and is currently working on her fourth. Reprinted with permission from Ohio Valley RWA and Lisa.
There has been a lot of interest lately in electronic publishing. Frankly, writers want to know the pros and cons of entering this new, but still unknown medium.
I plan to do a series of articles on this topic, but first, I thought it would be more interesting and enlightening to let you hear directly from Marilyn Grall, a pioneer author who has already published two books with the electronic publisher New Concepts.
Marilyn kindly agreed to this interview and provided candid and very thoughtful answers. I think you all will be interested to hear what she has to say...
Q: How did you become interested in electronic publishing?Marilyn Grall is currently a housewife and author, but spent 20 years in medical transcription. She's an avid reader of romance and has been for many years. Her first New Concepts book, TAMING THE LION, is a medieval story. Her upcoming book, IN SEARCH OF AMANDA, will be released in mid-May of '98. You can read her books online at New Concepts Press' home page: http://www.valuu.net/ncp. Reprinted with the permission of Washington Romance Writers and Julie Moffett.
The woman of the Eighties did it all -- She could bring home the bacon and cook it up too. The woman of the nineties does it all, too. She's just too tired to enjoy it.
When I first decided to write, only my husband supported me. Everyone else told me it couldn't be done.
"You don't have time to be a writer," they said. "You have a husband, a full-time job and two dogs. And just wait until the kids come. You won't even have time to breathe. Why don't you wait until you're older?"
I felt old enough already so I started writing.
The first manuscript took eight months to write and another six months to get rejected. At the rate I was going, I'd be dead before I got published. I needed more time to write.
I got a time management book out of the library. I'd only read a few pages and already I was exhausted. Sort your mail while stuck at traffic lights. Dust while you're on talking on the phone. Cook three dinners at the same time and freeze the other two portions. Get up a half hour earlier.
Their time management seemed more about running myself ragged than finding time to daydream, plan and write. I didn't give up, though. Instead I took a hard look at my life.
First, I decided my priorities. Easy. My husband, my dogs, my writing. Simple. I could just cut out everything else and I'd have plenty of time to write.
But, I forgot a few things. That writing room I loved so much came with a hefty mortgage and we were all fond of eating daily. So, I added in my day job. Along with the day job came an hour commute, laundry, cooking, food shopping, cleaning the house, walking the dogs, and all the other responsibilities that devoured my free time.
I was back to square one -- doing it all and hating it.
I looked at my schedule again. I realized that I had been looking for large blocks of time to sink into my writing. I couldn't manage that, but I could manage an hour or more each day, especially if I divided it up.
For two days, I kept track of everything I did. I was amazed. I had a lot of free time, I'd just been filling it with other things.
Some of it was necessary. I couldn't change driving an hour each way to work, but I could go directly to my writing room when I got home, instead of unwinding in front of the television. I didn't have to cook dinner each night, my husband could also cook. And there was always pizza delivery.
But the biggest and most consistent writing time for me turned out to be my lunch hour. I spent my lunch hours running to restaurants, gulping down food then racing back, more exhausted than when I left. I knew writing couldn't tax me further.
It was hard at first. In the beginning, I spent more time settling in to write than actually writing. But then I got the hang of it and soon I could write eight first draft pages in that one hour. I had a routine, I was writing regularly, and I hadn't had to give up much at all.
And then I changed jobs.
I could still write at lunch, but the work was so much more solitary that I craved contact with other people. I compromised-- writing three days a week, lunch out with my friends the other two days. Around that time, my husband began attending college at night. Two nights a week the house was quiet. Perfect for writing.
It was difficult adjusting from writing mid-day (when my energy level was high) to writing at night (when I was ready to unwind and go to bed). But I persevered and soon enough my creative muse followed and I was able to write equally well at both times of the day.
And then I changed jobs again. And moved. Overseas. New culture, new life, new schedule.
I didn't have a lunch hour, or even my own desk to scribble some notes. I work shifts -- mornings or evenings. Pure havoc for a woman who thrives on routine and a set writing schedule. I had to adapt.
When I work mornings, I write after work. When I work evenings, I get up early and steal time to write before work. Since my Embassy work schedule changes weekly, so does my writing schedule.
It isn't always easy, and I don't always put in the writing time that I'd like to. But the end result is still the same --I'm writing.
Everyone's priorities are different, everyone's schedule is different. For me, writing is a top priority, so I take the time to do it.
Only you can decide how you can fit writing into your already busy schedule. But, I guarantee you, if you want to make the time to write, you will.
Lisa E. Arlt wrote this article in four spurts sandwiched between her day job and her life. Her first published novel, SMOKE AND MIRRORS, will be released by Harlequin Temptation in April 1998. Reprinted with the permission of Washington Romance Writers and Lisa E. Arlt. Please visit Lisa's website at: http://www.pobox.com/~LisaArlt