Unplugging

by Riley Redgate

Recently, I took a break from the internet. For forty-five days, I did not venture into the realms of Facebook, Tumblr, or Twitter. Not even Google. The only things I used were sites like Moodle, SaplingLearning, and Gmail, which were necessary for me to not fail classes.

It had an interesting effect on my writing. Initially, I thought that since I'd have so much new free time, time that I used to spend on the internet, I'd spend that much more time on writing. Instead, though, I found myself avoiding the computer altogether. It helped that school started back up and provided a multitude of distractions, of course, but still. Once I was unplugged, I wanted to stay unplugged.

Still, though, unplugging provided some vital help to my writing, even if that wasn't exemplified by my pathetically flagging word count. Here's a list of benefits:

1) I spent that much more time reading. In the month and a half I was gone, I read six excellent books, from Neil Gaiman's slight and fantastical The Ocean at the End of the Lane to Haruki Murakami's fantastical but not-at-all-slight 1Q84. Imagine if, every time you read a post on Facebook, you were reading a novel instead. How many books would that give you?

2) I spent that much more time around humans, as opposed to staring into the depths of my computer. Unplugging from a constant source of interpersonal information means seeing less of the minutiae of my friends' lives; instead, I saw more of a big picture, because I spent more real time with them. I also made more connections. It's so easy to lurk on social media and feel like you're "getting to know someone" just by reading information they post on the internet. But if you're a chronic lurker, like me, they likely have no idea you're there and reading it, which means the connection is one-sided. Writing-wise -- as much as I love internet connections and talking to people online -- sharing experiences in real-time is helpful in a whole different way.

3) I spent that much more time with my own style of writing. The internet is a fascinating place -- it has developed a whole new type of communication. Everything is abbreviated. Everything is designed to be as eye-catching as possible in the shortest amount of time, which includes news pieces and other articles (Buzzfeed, for instance). Some speech patterns of the internet are downright incomprehensible (Tumblr, I'm looking at you). Getting away from the frenetic, everything-at-once, short-attention-span mode of communication that exists online ... it feels like everything slows down. Not to mention that there are these catchphrases you see online over and over, a collective internet slang. As with any slang and verbal shorthand, it infiltrates your writing, affecting it in whatever small way. Disconnecting from it helped me write more purely, write a higher proportion of words that came out of my brain, rather than words that happened to be buzzing around my skull because I saw the phrase a million times online that day.

4) I broke my dependence on the internet. With the prevalence of social media, people sometimes seem to forget that the internet is, at its heart, a tool. It is not the place to have one's entire life. Some days, over the summer, I would spend ten or eleven hours on the internet, jumping from site to site. Totally unhealthy. And sure, some of it was writing research, or getting to know someone, but most of it was not. Unplugging helped me get some perspective on what portion of my internet usage was actually necessary, and what was just a distraction from things that matter more to me.

Have you tried quitting the internet? Taking a break for an extended period of time? If so, what did you discover?

Riley Redgate, enthusiast of all things YA, is a bookstore-and-Starbucks-dweller from North Carolina attending college in Ohio. She is represented by Caryn Wiseman of Andrea Brown Literary Agency. Sporadically and with occasional weirdness, she blogs here and speaks with considerably more brevity here.

The Revolving Door(s) of Publishing

by R.C. Lewis

"Change is the only constant."

The math teacher in me can only think that such a sentence will confuse my students. But really, it's a contradiction that works. One of the only things we can count on is that things change. Publishing is no different ... maybe in ways you haven't thought of. Mostly in ways that prove none of us ever "have it made."

My book is completely done! (Pre-Querying)
Hopefully it's ready to query. If so, it's done enough ... but it's not done. You're going to make changes. Maybe with your agent before you go on submission. Definitely with your editor after you sell. Don't think of your manuscript as a finished thing. Don't get too attached to how it looks right now. Think of it as malleable, waiting to be taken from Awesome to Awesome-PLUS.

I have an agent—I'm out of the query trenches forever!
You and your agent may be a match made in heaven. Even if you are, the relationship may not be permanent. Agents quit the business. Writers decide to take their career in a direction their current agent isn't well-suited for—these splits can be amicable.

Or you discover your agent isn't the hot stuff you thought they were.

These things happen. They happen all the time. And back to the query trenches you go.

My editor is part of the immutable triad formed by me and my agent!
Well, I already covered that your relationship with your agent isn't immutable. The editor who buys your book may not be the one who sees you through to publication. Sometimes because the publisher hands it off to another editor after acquisition as a matter of course. Sometimes (particularly with the length of time the traditional publishing process takes) because your original editor gets a job at a different publishing house.

That happened to me. It's not the end of the world. It's not even a bad thing. Though some people found their new editor wasn't as fond of their project as the original one ... and that sucks.

I've been published once, so now I just rinse/repeat for the rest of my career!
Unfortunately, a label of "successful manuscript-seller" must be re-earned on each and every outing. The next manuscript may not sell. And this goes for all the details of the deal, too. Your next advance may be a different size. Your next contract will almost certainly have different provisions. You'll probably get different treatment by a different publishing house in varying ways.

Maybe this post seems like a big ol' downer, but it's not. It's not cause for despair.

We just need to be aware that a lot of things can change. That way when a change comes along to smack us in the face, sure, we might feel a sting. But we'll also know others have been through the same.

And we keep rolling.

R.C. Lewis teaches math to teenagers—sometimes in sign language, sometimes not—so whether she's a science geek or a bookworm depends on when you look. Her debut novel Stitching Snow is coming from Disney-Hyperion in Fall 2014, and she's been lucky enough to work on it with TWO awesome editors. You can find R.C. on Twitter (@RC_Lewis) and at her website.

The Art of Hangin' Out

by R.S. Mellette

I've been a bit quiet recently.  I haven't posted here or the Dances With Films blog in a couple of months. On Agent Query Connect, I'm lucky if I get to pop on for a quick word association post.  Not that I expect anyone to notice my absence, but I have.

Soon I'm going to have some happy news to announce, and it is due in no small part to both the amount of time I've hung out with my favorite groups, and the time I've selfishly stolen away from them.

That combination of time with, and time away from, my peers got me to thinking of the art of hangin' out.

Over the years I've been involved with theatre companies, writing groups, online communities, film festivals, film production companies, etc. and I've come to realize there is a delicate balance in the ratio of the individual helping the group, and the group helping the individual.  There's a Zen quality to this balance.  Each individual in a group wants to better his or her life by being a member, but members who only lookout for themselves rarely gain anything from the group.  Similarly, an individual who disregards their needs to only support the group, can become very important within the group, but have little success outside of it.

Writers, especially, struggle with this balance.  Without a trusted collection of beta readers, editors, walls to bounce ideas off of, etc. a writer's skills will wither.  Yet, I'm sure we all know writers with sage advice from past experiences who eagerly say, "Here's what I think of what I've read of your manuscript...", but haven't put their own words to the page in decades. 

So when I find myself in a group, I constantly measure my surroundings.  Are the people I'm working with on my level?  Are they too far above or below me?  That can be neither an exercise of inferiority nor snobbery, but an honest judgment.  I find myself most comfortable in a group where I fall somewhere in the middle.  I can learn by teaching others, and hopefully follow colleagues through doors they've opened.  Often, the doors are opened by a person you taught not so long ago.

There is a trap in staying with a group where your talent and experience is head and shoulders above the others. Laurels become easy chairs and ego strokes fill you up with empty calories.

In a group where your resume doesn't come close to the others, you can quickly become the king or queen of the servants.  Sure, your peers will be impressed, but what chances do you have of standing out or making your mark in the world?  These are good places to learn and move on.

In my current groups: Dances With Films, Agent Query Connect, and From The Write Angle, I feel at home.  So much so that I'm comfortable stepping away to work on my own stuff for a while.  Then to humbly return.  Sure, I want to show off what I've done - but I also want to find out what I've missed.  Whose success can I be happily jealous of?  What has changed?  What has remained the same?  How can I help the group?  I don't need to ask how the group can help me, because they have done so much already.

They've given me a home.  I suppose that's the best way to gauge a support group.  Do they feel like home?  And by that, of course, I mean that ideal home we see in all of the commercials and 1950s TV shows, not the dysfunctional homes that turned so many people into artists in the first place.

I guess what I'm trying to say is, it's good to be home.


R.S. Mellette is an experienced screenwriter, actor, director, and novelist. You can find him at the Dances With Films festival blog, and on Twitter, or read him in the Spring Fevers, The Fall: Tales of the Apocalypse, and Summer's Edge anthologies.

Banned Books Week (And a FTWA Debut!)

by S. L. Duncan

It’s Banned Books Week! Incidentally, it is also the release week for Write Angler Mindy McGinnis! (Go buy her book here. Trust me, you want to read it.)

The two are not related. But three cheers for Mindy!

It’s a funny thing, wanting to ban a book. I’m not sure what drives a person to believe that they are capable of more sound thought or making better moral decisions than their neighbors, but there seems to be a lot of that going around. Especially in the United States. And double especially if those moral values pertain to the behavior of a woman. Looking at history, this is nothing new. (See the banning of The Diary of Anne Frank, Are You There, God? It’s Me Margaret, Alice in Wonderland, etc., etc.)

I live in Alabama. There is no shortage of under-cultured male politicians that think they know better about how you should live, or what you should eat, whom you should marry, or what you should read or see on television. Basically, we’re teaming with idiots in positions of power. Recently, Senator Bill Holtzclaw, R-Madison, sought to have banned Toni Morrison’s The Bluest Eye, because he found it to be objectionable.

So, what makes something so objectionable that is becomes ban worthy? And should you be cognizant of the danger of your work being banned when you write? (Quick answer – no.)

Content is key. A person said that, I believe. Here in the U.S., people go nuts over potty-mouth words and sex. Blood and carnage, though? Not so much. In Europe, it’s nearly the complete opposite in terms of what offends their sensibilities.

America seems kinda backwards, doesn’t it? A character cutting a guy’s head off on TV is fine, so long as she don’t tell him she’ll shit down his throat prior to doing so. Sure both are horrible, but which is worse?

Just how backwards is it getting? Here’s a quote from Rolling Stone (source – Upworthy) that sums up how little anything makes sense: “America is just so weird in what they think is right and wrong…Like, I was watching Breaking Bad the other day, and they were cooking meth. I could literally cook meth because of that show. It’s a how-to. And then they bleeped out the word ‘fuck’. And I’m like, really? They killed a guy, disintegrated his body in acid, but you’re not allowed to say ‘fuck’? It’s like when they bleeped ‘molly’ at the [MTV Video Music Awards]. Look at what I’m doing up here right now, and you’re going to bleep out ‘molly’?”

Yeah. That’s Miley Cyrus. Even she gets how arbitrary and capricious it all can be. Scary, right?

My point for you, the reader here to gather tidbits and advice for writing and publishing, is you can’t worry about those who will object to the content of your work. I’m not saying don't censor yourself. Self-censoring can be a smart way to be economic in what you want to say, or making your ideas become more impactful on the page. But never censor yourself because you might offend the sensibilities of someone.

Be true to your story, your words. Because when those written words are challenged, know that all written words are challenged.

So, stand up to the egomaniacal politicians that think they know better. And read a banned book while you're at it.

But read Mindy's first.

S. L. Duncan writes young adult fiction, including his debut, the first book in The Revelation Saga, due in 2014 from Medallion Press. You can find him blogging on INKROCK.com and on Twitter.

Where There's a Story, There's an End

by Brighton Luke

(The only spoilers in this are at the end and will be marked ahead of time so feel free to read up until that point.)

Like many people I woke up today reeling from the second to last episode of Breaking Bad and the finale to Dexter. Novels and TV shows are very similar in that they require a large investment of time from the viewer/ reader, making the stakes that much higher at the end. Get it wrong and people will be angry and feel betrayed. Get it right and win heaps of praise for your brilliance.

For novels especially (even more so than TV shows I would argue) the ending can make or break a book’s greatness. For some stories you start writing it already knowing where it will end, for others it’s not quite so easy and you have to dive in hoping you’ll find your way there. The important thing with both approaches to remember is that any ending will work, so long as you write the story that will get you there. Some genres require happy ever afters, some require a mystery to be solved, or someone to be saved. All of those are important and you should know the general expectations for your chosen genre, but what I’ve noticed over the years as a reader and viewer is that no matter the subject matter no matter the genre the good endings were ones that started in act one.

Good endings are not always the endings I wanted, often times they are not at all what I wanted. I’m drawn to stories about very flawed characters who if you gave them their happy ending it wouldn’t ring true as much as I may want that for them. The key to a good ending isn’t that it be happy (though it can be) is to write one that is fitting. You spend all this time creating characters with vibrant personalities all their own, for the end you have to let them make the choices they were created to make. (And if you really hate the way the characters are going to act at the end to be in line with who they are, your problem isn’t with the ending as much as it is with the way you’ve written them up until that point.)

For me, the reason the ending season to Breaking Bad is so damn good (so far, they better not screw it up on the last one) is not because what I want to happen is happening, far from it. Exactly the opposite of what I said I hoped for at the start of this season is what has transpired. What makes it all so good is that at every turn there are surprises but at the same time the gut wrenching feeling of inevitability, each choice no matter how bad or good is exactly what the character that’s gotten us to this point would do. They haven’t suddenly changed on us for the sake of an ending.

The absolute worst thing I believe you can do to a reader (or viewer) is give them an ending where the characters inexplicably change to create the ending. Dramatic arcs are all about change, but that change has to be organic, it has to come from the story, from the character.

DEXTER SPOILER AHEAD

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I hate that Deb died. (I’m also not yet over Rita dying either, there’s a reason I’m not going to watch Game of Thrones or read Song of Ice and Fire), and I also hate that Dexter died. I find it tragically fitting that his “dark passenger” lived on. The whole show had been a battle between Dexter trying to be normal and the demands of his “dark passenger”. Many times there were those insisting that the normal Dexter wasn’t real. I personally think he was, that’s what made it so heartbreaking, he was so close to winning, but the inevitable fact that for me made this ending work was that the act of choosing to live a normal and happy life destroyed the very person who had helped him conquer his “dark passenger”. When he chose not to kill Daniel Vogel and to instead do the right thing, he chose Dexter over the darkness, but it also killed Deb, and without Deb there was no way Dexter could continue to win out over the “dark passenger” she was his lifeline, when she died, he died.

The bummer part about writing is that you will never get everyone to agree I’m sure plenty of people have many other opinions on that same ending. The only thing you can do as an author is to keep writing and rewriting until you get to that gut punch feeling of knowing this is the ending the story has brought on itself. (And if you get to that ending, and still hate it, please go back and change stuff earlier in the story to get to the ending you want don’t just tack something not fitting onto the end, thanks.) 

P.S. Writers of Will & Grace I’m never watching any shows of yours ever again until you apologize for the train wreck that was the last two episodes of Will & Grace, prime example of characters making choices they would absolutely not make.

P.P.S. What do you guys think is going to happen in Breaking Bad? It’s kind of a similar battle that Dexter had, the internal fight between Walter White and Heisenberg, which one will win? And what novels or novel series do you think really got their endings right, or royally screwed them up? (Also please mark comments with spoilers at the start to let us know which story you'll be discussing the ending to.) 

Assessing the Value of Tools

by Matt Sinclair

What sells you when you decide to buy a book? Perhaps you were drawn by the cover art. Did the title catch your eye first? Was it a blurb on the back? You may have read a review and decided long before you ruffled the pages that this was the next item for your to-be-read pile.

As an author, all these are valuable tools to employ. Some are harder to come by. Not everyone is going to see their book reviewed by the New York Times. For self-published authors, a mention there might happen only if the book becomes a surprise hit and warrants a news story. To be sure, that’s quite valuable in itself, but again not a likely outcome.

Reviews on Amazon and Goodreads are something all of us should be seeking for our books. But even these might be hit or miss. To be sure, it’s nice when people indicate a book is now on their “Want to read” list, but it’s more significant when “AvidReader123” writes a three paragraph review of glowing praise, especially if Avid has written half a ton of other reviews that people found helpful.

Let’s go back to the blurb. These are certainly nice to have. And for the unknown writer, they can be more than just nice. Imagine how helpful it would be if your publisher got Stephen King to blurb your debut psychological thriller. That could certainly translate into sales. It could even generate buzz.

But blurbs from brand name authors are awfully tough to get, too. Agents know to protect their authors from blurbing too often. I know writers who are kept on a strict one-blurb-a-year diet.

Ok, so Stephen King won’t blurb your book and neither will his son Joe Hill. But what if one of those guys tweeted your book’s debut? Might that be worth something to you? What if George Takei shared mention of your novel on Facebook? Think his followers might take notice? Honestly, I think those might be more valuable than a blurb these days.

Of course, such electronic real estate is also hard to come by. Heck, finding a twenty dollar bill on the ground might be more common. But it still might be easier to get a tweet than a blurb.

Think of your own social media habits. Don’t you share things you found interesting? You’re writers: what are you reading? That’s a form of endorsement in itself. If you tweet out what you’re reading, some of your followers might check it out, too. Perhaps you’d enjoy sharing a bevy of your favorite covers on Instagram.

The key is having a well-stocked toolbox. Some tools are sharper than others, some cost more or have limited use. But assess what each one can do for you -- and for others. In the end, you get back what you give.

Matt Sinclair, a New York City-based journalist and fiction writer, is also president and chief elephant officer of Elephant's Bookshelf Press, which recently published Summer's Edge and Summer's Double Edge, which are available through Smashwords (SE) (SDE) and Amazon (SE) (SDE), and include stories from several FTWA writers. In 2012, EBP published its initial anthologies: The Fall: Tales from the Apocalypse, (available viaAmazon and Smashwords) and Spring Fevers (also available through Smashwords, andAmazon). Matt blogs at the Elephant's Bookshelf and is on Twitter @elephantguy68.

Change is Good!

by Jemi Fraser

Due to a last minute job switch for this school year, change is on my mind. Looking back when I first started this writing journey, I had no idea how much change would be involved! I'm hoping reflecting on some of the changes I've made will help some of the newer writers out there.

Change in Time

• I used to squeeze in writing
• now I plan for it, even when my life is its usual crazy chaos, I plan for those 15-30 blocks so my subconscious is working for me & I'm ready to write when the time comes

Change in Balance

• I used to worry more about my social media presence
• now I let it happen after I'm done with writing for the day - if the writing doesn't happen, there's not much point in having a social presence to worry about!

Change in Genres

• then I wrote a SF novel, a mystery, a YA steampunk & a MG spec fiction
• now I'm focusing on one genre (contemporary romance)
• I took a couple of years off from worrying about anything other than finding my voice and my niche - I wanted to find a place I could write multiple stories without ever needing to stretch for ideas

Change in Editing

• I used to think of tweaking as editing
• now I know I need to sometimes rip that poor first draft to shreds and rework it from the bones up
• this has probably been the biggest change for me as it taken me a long time to believe I can really edit properly - that fear of knowing something is wrong and not knowing how to fix it doesn't freeze me up any more

Change in Letting Go

• I used to believe that every story would have a place in the world
• now I know it's okay that some of those stories won't (especially that first ms of about 180k!!!)
• those stories have taught me so much and helped me grow and I'm just fine with letting them languish in my heart and on my hard drive

What Changes have you faced in your writing journey so far?

Jemi Fraser is an aspiring author of contemporary romance. She blogs and tweets while searching for those HEAs.

“Lucky!” A Friday the 13th Meditation on Authorial Luck

by Sophie Perinot

“Lucky!” The day you finally (countless queries into the process) snag an agent, you are going to hear it.  Ditto if you Indie publish something that climbs the ranks of the Kindle paid list.

 

“Lucky!”

I am not discounting for a moment the role of luck in authorial success or more broadly in life.  Sometimes it is just a matter of luck whether or not your e-query winds up in spam or in an agent’s mail box.  And I am certainly a BIG believer in BIG picture luck—constantly reminding my daughters that it wouldn’t matter how smart they were if they’d been born into a brothel in the third world.  So, no matter how unexceptional Mr. Putin thinks we are, I am profoundly glad I was born in the USA.  BUT, relying on luck can be a dangerous thing.  So can dismissing the accomplishments of others as grounded in good fortune.

Luck is a pretty passive concept folks.  And publishing . . . especially in its current change-a-minute permutation is all about action.  Yes people, we are waiting for lightening to strike in terms of sheer statistics but the truth is it is going to take more than luck if are going to fulfill your writing dreams (whether that means finishing a manuscript, getting a deal with one of the major houses).  If you are in the right place at the right time it will avail you nothing if you don’t know how to capitalize on say an agent’s interest, the six weeks surrounding the release of your first book, or being featured in O Magazine.

The answer is obvious, work.  Work like your life depends on it (your authorial life does).  And work smart—take criticism, read about the industry, set goals and meet them.

But there is something more.  Don’t fall into the “luck” trap and its ancillary belief in bad luck.  When you reach a goal (or when a friend does) do NOT dismiss it with a “lucky.”  Spend some time analyzing it—what did the author in question do that may have made the difference?  When you face disappointment don’t dismiss that either.  It is very tempting to say, “it was just not my day,” or “well it takes a lot of queries to get a request.”  Be willing to dissect failures as well.  It DOES take a lot of queries—but if you’ve sent a lot and you are not getting requests assuming that you haven’t queried the right agents or that it is all some random lottery isn’t going to help you, while scrapping that letter (or seriously considering your project’s marketability, gulp) may make a huge difference—even if you walk under a ladder on your way back to your keyboard.

So on this day—when bad luck is traditionally believed to be lurking around every corner—set your superstitions aside, cast of the crutch of “lucky” and take a positive step down your personal authorial path.  Heck, Friday the 13^th would be an excellent day to send out that next batch of queries, hit up a big name author for a book blurb, or work on that next manuscript.  Speaking of which . . . you’ll know where to find me ;)

Sophie Perinot is spending her Friday the 13th holed up in a corner of the 16th century working to finish her next novel. Her first novel, The Sister Queens, was published by NAL/Penguin in 2012 and is on sale in bookstores (brick and mortar and virtual) everywhere. Learn more about TSQ here.

More Than Words

by Charlee Vale

Words have power.

That seems like such a simple phrase, but I think that it's something that we as writers tend to forget. We use words all the time--we write them, speak them, bleed them, love them. All the while we can ignore the simple and bone deep effect of words.

I had a friend in college, and one time in a moment of frustration she told me something—"All you do is talk about yourself, can't you give someone else a chance?" Those words, said in anger, have affected my entire life. I now will avoid talking about myself to a fault, and feel uncomfortable when anyone asks me questions about my life--even if they're out of genuine curiosity. I suffer from the immense fear that by talking about myself I will appear self-centered or completely unaware and insensitive to those around me.

I've confessed this to my family, and some of my friends who have assured me that what she said isn't true. It was never true. Regardless, it doesn't matter. That single sentence, said to me a single time will haunt me forever.

This isn't a post meant to garner pity, but words have a certain kind of echoing immortality. All it took was fourteen words to change an entire aspect of my life. Imagine the power you have in your hands when you use a few hundred to write a review, or eighty thousand to write a book.

Now, in this digital age where words can be poured out without a second thought, I think that the immense power they hold isn't something we can afford to forget. It can take as little as a single word to change the course of someone's life, for better or worse. That's an awful lot of power to have, and every single person has it.

So when you're at your computer, writing away on the stories you hope will one day be told for your lifetime and beyond, remember that words have power, and the things that they create are more than words. More than stories. Choose carefully, and choose bravely.

Charlee Vale is a Young Adult writer, photographer, and tea lover living in New York City. You can also find her at her website, and on Twitter, and endeavoring to choose beautiful words.

5 Things I Learned As A Debut Author

by Mindy McGinnis

NOT A DROP TO DRINK hasn't hit the shelves yet, but I've already learned so much in 2013. As I'm about to be catapulted into the world of the published, I wanted to share what I've experienced so far - and maybe you''ll get an update after the Dark Days tour! Because I'm sure a debut will emerge from a national tour much, much wiser. Or possibly just exhausted.

1) Writing a book is a lonely endeavor. Publishing it takes a team. From your cover art to the author photo to the QR code that the marketing folks put on your dust jacket, there are more people involved in your book than you can imagine. Some of them you'll share emails with on an almost daily basis - especially as debut week looms - but there are also some whose names you may never know. It's a team, a huge team. It's your face on the jacket, but someone else made sure it was formatted properly.

2) People outside of publishing are going to ask you if your book is done yet... a month before debut. I've written a more extensive post on this subject over on the Book Pregnant blog, if you're interested. You can't expect people outside of the industry to understand how slowly this colossus moves. "Yes, it's finished,"  you want to say. "It's been finished for two years. I forget what happens in it." Don't say that. Or rather, just say the first part. Then smile.

3) Everyone else you know has written a book. Or wants to write a book. Or has an idea for a book. And they want to talk to you about it. Again, smiling is your best response. Don't blow anybody off - remember how you felt when you were just putting pen to paper, and how much guts it probably took for them to even tell you about their book. Point them in the right direction as far as helpful websites and writers forums, but don't start holding hands and baby-stepping them. It's not your job.

4) We're all big dorks here. And that's the best part about this whole book thing. I'm not even released yet and I've already rubbed elbows with some major names - and they were super cool people. Even when you're face to face with the coolest of the cool, remember that they love books. So you've got something in common.

5) Freaking out is for the weak. Yes, I am leaving for a national tour in two weeks. Yes, I just got my edit letter for my 2014 release and it needs to be back to the editor before tour time. Yes, I need to dive into the research for the 2015 release. Yes, I have three interviews that need answering in my inbox. Yes, I need to shoot a vlog tomorrow. (This is all true, FYI) And what exactly is freaking out going to accomplish? My version of freaking out is to eat a doughnut and complain to my crit partner. That's empty calories and wasted time. Focus. THEN DO IT.
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Mindy McGinnis is a YA author and librarian. Her debut, NOT A DROP TO DRINK, is a post-apocalyptic survival tale set in a world where freshwater is almost non-existent, available from Katherine Tegen / Harper Collins September 24, 2013. She blogs at Writer, Writer Pants on Fire and contributes to the group blogs Book Pregnant, Friday the Thirteeners, From the Write Angle, The Class of 2k13, The Lucky 13s & The League of Extraordinary Writers. You can also find her on Twitter, Tumblr & Facebook.

Banning Books vs. Curating Them

by R.C. Lewis

Banned Books Week is coming up later this month, and I found myself thinking about it months early. First off, I suggest you take a look at this post by author Robison Wells.

Like Mr. Wells, I live in a Land of Much Conservatism and Religiosity. (Wait, spell-check says "religiosity" is really a word? Cool.) Sometimes I love it, and sometimes I find myself throwing little "hey, let's think outside the box" ideas into the mix. When I got my publishing deal, I paused. I consider my work "relatively clean," but I know no religion-based publisher would touch my books with a ten-foot bookshelf.

Not like my characters cuss up a storm—just doesn't fit for me. But I've used all the words Mr. Wells rattled off for Variant at one time or another, plus a couple more. No sex, and the violence isn't super-gory/graphic. I'd consider the bulk of my work to be on the light side of PG-13, at most.

I know there are parents who would be horrified to have their children read it.

That's their prerogative. I don't get to say how they should or shouldn't raise their kids. When my students find out I have a book coming out next year, many get excited and swear they'll read it. Since one of the English teachers last year had their classes read Divergent without difficulty, I figure it'll mostly be okay.

Where the "book appropriateness" issue gets sticky for me isn't as an author—it's as a teacher.

As a math teacher, I don't typically have to worry about it much. Not like I regularly assign a whole class to read a book and get irate parents protesting what their child is being forced to read. But this year we've re-instituted DEAR time (Drop Everything And Read), and to keep mobs of "forgetful" students from flooding the media center every day, each teacher has set up a small classroom library for students to pull from as needed.

We had a book drive with a ton of donations to help stock everyone up, but I didn't bother with the donations. I have enough MG and YA books to stock several such classroom libraries, and once I've read them myself, I don't mind them diving into the rough-and-tumble of junior high students.

But I have a problem. My own literary tastes and tolerances are very liberal by local standards. My mother always trusted me to choose my own reading material. When the high school English teacher sent a permission slip home to determine whether I'd read the assigned book or a provided alternative, Mom's response was, "Why wouldn't I let you read that? *signs*"

There are things that happen even in our happy community that I often feel don't get acknowledged/discussed enough. Poverty, racism, bullying, and abuse are some of the first that come to mind. Some parents may say, "We know terrible things are in the world. That doesn't mean our children should be hit in the face with it gratuitously." To which I would say, I guarantee their child is sitting in a classroom with several people who are hit in the face with it every day. It's not gratuitous; it's their reality. And we often don't know it because who would want to admit to their own darkness in setting where such things are only acknowledged in the very-abstract?

On the other hand, I wouldn't want anyone to be blindsided by an F-bomb or sex scene if they weren't comfortable reading such things.

Because lugging books from my house to the second floor of the school is a pain, I've been doing it in installments anyway. So far, I've only brought books that our school library carries. They've already been vetted, so I know I'm "safe" there.

Part of me says I could just stick with that. It's more than enough books for just a little classroom library.

But guess what's not in our school library? The Fault in Our Stars. The Absolutely True Diary of a Part-Time Indian. Want to Go Private?

Those three books were in my classroom when I previously taught high school at a school for the deaf. The first became an instant favorite for a girl whose pretty much defying her life expectancy since the day she was born. The second I got into the hands of one of my Native American boys who had a hard time pushing himself to read novels. The third made one of my senior girls give up Facebook for over a month and sparked discussions about how smart people can still do stupid things.

Those books and others in my personal collection could be of value to students. Not necessarily the obvious "life-changing" type books, either. The Perfect Chemistry series by Simone Elkeles? Devoured by a girl who hated reading (because it's difficult for her). And plenty of students either don't belong to the majority culture or are more flexible in the media they take in.

So what do I do as I curate my classroom's library? Honestly, when it comes to a lot of my books, I can't remember whether there are any "potentially offensive" bits in there. These kids are 14-15 years old, so I believe they can be responsible for their own reading choices.

I'm considering a color-coding system. Green for books that are duplicated in the school library. Yellow for books that aren't in the school library, but I feel are likely fine by the library's standards. And red for books I know have definite "red-flag" content for the very conservative or sensitive among us.

(You know, those red-tag books will probably get some of the most reluctant readers to dive in, looking for the "bad" stuff. Ulterior motives, Ms. Lewis?)

Like I said, I don't want anyone blindsided by something they'd rather not see.

I also don't want to deny students access to a wide variety of books.

Nor do I want the headache of facing irate parents. But of the three, I'd rather handle this last one, if I have to choose.

Do you have any ideas or advice for me in keeping the balance ... and the peace?

R.C. Lewis teaches math to teenagers—sometimes in sign language, sometimes not—so whether she's a science geek or a bookworm depends on when you look. She also moonlights as a rabble-rouser in her spare time. Her debut novel Stitching Snow is coming from Disney-Hyperion in 2014. You can find R.C. on Twitter (@RC_Lewis) and at her website.

People Who Aren't Us

by Riley Redgate

Almost two years ago, I was lucky enough to catch the show Seminar on Broadway. The show is brilliant as a whole and deals with a creative writing seminar taught by the crotchet-iest of professors. It is about many things, but one subplot that particularly stuck with me went something like this:

A girl writes a book. The crotchety professor takes one look at the first page and not only criticizes every facet of the main character, but implies that the girl herself is exactly like that main character. The girl protests, and she hypothesizes that the professor is only uninterested because of what she is like as a human being. So she writes pages and pretends they are autobiographical pages from a nonexistent friend, a gay illegal immigrant amputee from South America, rather than from her own head. Crotchety Professor Man gushes over them. She takes this as a victory at first, but comes to realize that the professor has won: he has forced her to stretch her comfort zone and write from the perspective of someone who is nothing like her, someone whose story is far more high-stakes and creative than her own hyper-personal story.

That's not to say that a narrative can't be utterly brilliant despite how "normal" or "underwhelming" it may seem on its surface: look at the simple, down-to-earth concept of Mrs. Dalloway. Also, the prospect of misrepresenting, and thus offending, an entire demographic of people—a different race; a different gender; a different sexuality—is horrifying and daunting in equal parts. But I think that as citizens of a larger world, we have a responsibility to write also about people who are utterly unlike us in race, gender, sexuality, background. This responsibility is not only to those demographic groups as people who deserve representation, but also to ourselves as human beings, in order to aim for a larger worldview and heightened empathy. The important thing is how to go about portraying those perspectives. I believe there are two vital points to keep in mind:

1) Research. Research trends and statistics and understand their implications—but dig deeper, too. If you're writing a character who lives in extreme urban poverty, for instance, look up as many stories as possible from people who have lived in urban poverty, and people who are still living that life. Individual stories can tell you so much more than percentages and overall trends and general impressions, than graduation rates and unemployment rates. Reading individual stories will help humanize the people you're writing.

Otherwise ... well, for instance, if you the author have always been well-off, patchy or solely-trends-based research means you may run the risk of your characters just having a thin veneer of Ideas About Poverty over a personality that is driven by deeply-ingrained patterns of behavior that you, the author, have had your whole life. Research conscientiously so you can write conscientiously about people who aren't you, who don't think like you, who have never thought like you and will never be anything like you. (I'd argue that playing at those opposite perspectives is half the fun.)

2) Implications. One of the issues with minorities in fiction is that minority depictions can easily be misinterpreted as being the author's concept of the minority as a whole. It's the same messed-up principle that drives society to demand that women answer for their gender as a whole—as in, if a man is bad at driving, he's a bad driver; if a woman is bad at driving, it's because women are bad at driving. When a person of a marginalized demographic appears in fiction, he, she, or they may be held up as an Example for that demographic, even if the author never intended that to be the case. Subsequently, it's often hard for the character to shrug off that stigma and be seen as a multifaceted human being rather than "the black character!" or "the gay character!" or "the fat character!" Which is, of course, all the more reason to include more of those marginalized characters, to be sure they're not being pigeonholed.

It would be lovely if this weren't an issue, and luckily the world seems to be veering toward a world where it's less of an issue, but as it is, we still have to be hyper-conscious of the implications of these depictions. And by "as it is", I mean, "as we are currently dealing with shameless whitewashing of major Hollywood films," or "as the number of LGBTQ characters in well-publicized lead roles is hovering around zero, except in films that are explicitly About Gayness And Being Gay," or "as the number of incidentally fat teenage girls in lead roles is also hovering around zero."

Both of these points are seemingly focused on inhibition. Research excessively. Fact-check constantly. Police yourself. That sounds unappealing, I know ... but when it comes to writing the unfamiliar, I truly believe this is the right approach. We live in a time where people, bizarrely, hilariously, have started talking about being politically correct like it's a bad thing. If me policing my portrayals is going to make a trans* person more comfortable with reading my writing, or is going to make it easier for people of color to read a piece I've written without feeling excluded, then yes, I'm willing to put in extra time and effort to be "politically correct." Frankly, I don't view it as "political correctness"—I view it as obsessive honesty, because writing any group of people into a tiny box of conceptions is dishonest, a slap in the face of realism. The real world is diverse, and huge, and to get a taste of that in fiction should be utterly normal, really, rather than a special feature.

Sure, there may be readers who couldn't care less about the so-called "P.C."—but I feel like if I'm writing for public consumption, that means I'm writing for the entire public. And that includes those who are easily offended. No, I don't believe authors can please everyone, but I definitely believe we can write fearlessly and push the envelope while still being careful enough not to hurt people. In my opinion, Chuck Wendig's blog, terribleminds.com, is a great example of this. He's "offensive" in the sense that he curses constantly and has a crude sense of humor, but I don't know anyone who has read his pieces and come away from them feeling like they've been targeted. I think the same is true of George R.R. Martin's A Song of Ice and Fire series. It offends sensibilities, but it doesn't offend people, not on a deep personal level.

I don't know how popular this opinion is; it's simply my own approach. I'd love to hear what your approach is, or your opinion!


Riley Redgate, enthusiast of all things YA, is a bookstore-and-Starbucks-dweller from North Carolina attending college in Ohio. She is represented by Caryn Wiseman of Andrea Brown Literary Agency. Sporadically and with occasional weirdness, she blogs here and speaks with considerably more brevity here.

Can't We All Just Get Along? (Books vs. Movies)

By Charlee Vale

It seems to me that lately, there have been an influx of book based movies hitting the theatre. As both a writer and an actress, this makes me immensely happy! But I know that others aren't as happy, especially when they see their favorite books 'ruined' by it being made into a movie.

As an example, I'll tell you about my experience seeing The Mortal Instruments: City of Bones, this past week.

I went to a tiny theater near my house. It was a late showing, and there were only a few people waiting for the movie with me. Of these people, there was a group of teens, completely decked out in costume. They had every major character covered, we're talking dedication. I gathered from not-so-subtle eavesdropping and a little conversation, that they were overjoyed to be seeing the movie for the first time, some of them fans of the book since it first came out in 2007.

So we went in and watched the movie. (For the record, I really enjoyed it--and I recommend everyone see it) As soon as the credits rolled I looked over at the costumed group to gauge their reaction. They all seemed overwhelmingly confused and saddened. Not understanding 'what had just happened.' (This despite us talking about how books and movies have to be different before entering the theater)

While thinking about this, it occurred to me that in fact, many times I've known people who are 'okay with it being different from the book,' and then walk out of the movie furious for that same reason. This makes me sad, because hollywood is finally paying attention to books! Their making book movies! But if everyone keeps hating them, they'll stop.

As a person who crosses the book/movie world, I thought I'd talk about a couple of the reasons books and movies can't be the same, and why that's okay.

1. Length

The book you read was most likely in between 200-300 pages, maybe more. The standard rule of thumb in the movie industry for screenplays is 'a minute per page.' If movies literally took the book you read and put it on the screen, even the shortest books would be almost three hours long. (The City of Bones hardcover is 485 pages--an 8 hour movie!)

2. Investment vs. Payoff

Because the aforementioned problem with length, movie producers have to look at the story and what's going to be the best way to deliver the required information, and still keep the tone of the story. A good example of this is the Hunger Games movie.

For those of you who have both read the book and seen the movie, you know that the person who gives Katniss the Mockingjay pin is different. A lot of people were upset that in the movie 'Madge' was cut out as a character. However, the time the movie would have spent developing that character would have been wasted. Why? Because Madge does nothing else. In fact she has little presence through the entire series. So spending ten precious minutes of film time on a character that doesn't affect the audience, is silly. The payoff wasn't worth the investment.

3. Different Mediums

This should be fairly straight-forward, but I find it's always good to remind people that books and movies are different. And that's okay.

In books, we have the time to describe something, to let the mind piece together an image as it goes along. Movies, as a visual medium, have to give us things that our minds can both interpret immediately, keep us engaged, and keep the story moving.

This is why I find I enjoy book-to-movie adaptations much more the second time I watch them. The second time, I already know what's different from the book--there are no surprises. That way, I can relax and enjoy the movie for what it is. Unfortunately, I know a lot of people don't get that far because they're upset.


As a final note, I hope that you will go and support book movies. Even if the particular book isn't your thing. I would hate for Hollywood to think we're giving them a message to stop making these movies. There are so many wonderful book stories that can be told with film. Let's keep making it happen!


Charlee Vale is a Young Adult writer, photographer, and tea lover living in New York City. You can also find her at her website, and on Twitter, and at the movies, absorbing all the stories. 

Judging a Book by Its Cover

by J. Lea López

There isn't an author alive who hasn't heard "Don't judge a book by its cover." There also isn't an author alive who doesn't know that readers are judging books by their covers. You can probably point out a few different book cover clichés in your genre. If not, check out this list with 19 of them that you may have seen. Certain "typical" cover design elements can signal to the reader a great deal of information about the story. Usually, it's those elements and that conveyed information an author or publisher hopes will entice a reader to buy.

Sex sells ... or does it?
If you read romance, erotic romance, or erotica, you're well aware of some of the cover trends in those genres. If you're looking for a steamy read, books with covers featuring near-naked bodies are a sure bet. But while a "typical" cover may seem like a guaranteed way to attract "typical" fans of the genre, there's also the risk of deterring other potential readers.

Over the past couple weeks, I've been catching up on some ebooks I'd downloaded to my Kindle during various free promotions. I scrolled through the carousel on my Kindle Fire, which shows the book covers for the books on the device, trying to decide what to read next. I kept passing over one particular book because the cover gave me a certain impression that I wasn't interested in, even though I'd already downloaded the book. I often download books that I might otherwise feel meh about, if they're free. Don't judge me. I know you do it, too. So anyway, in the weeks since I'd downloaded the book, I kept passing it up and reading other things instead, based solely on the cover. I'd mostly forgotten the description by then.

The cover features the muscled torso of what we assume is an attractive man. We don't know, because the only parts of him we see are his pecs, abs, and arms. A woman's hands are groping him from behind. In the background is a cityscape as seen through the window of what we probably assume is a penthouse apartment.

Now let's not forget that I, and other readers, will bring our own reading baggage and preferences to the table when judging a book by its cover. It's inevitable. What I'm about to say may seem harsh, but it's the truth of what I was thinking at the time, and it may mirror the thoughts of other readers more than authors would care to think about. Here's what I was expecting from this book, based on the cover I just described:

A billionaire-themed steamy romance. Not particularly well-written. Probably will require a greater leap of faith to suspend my disbelief than I generally like in books. Most likely will cause me to roll my eyes or shake my head at what I see as utterly illogical leaps of plot or characterization, but that I could still see coming a mile away because I'd read three or four similar romances in the week prior that were scripted exactly the same way.

Not the most flattering picture, right? Still, I finally decided to read it. And something strange happened. I found myself smirking on the first page. Not because I was saying "I knew it. Mediocre at best." in my head, but because I was actually amused at the characters. Their personalities came through right away. The way they met and the details of their first interaction were fresh and fun and a little bit silly, and I absolutely loved it. And I found myself reading chapter after chapter because I wanted to, and not just because I told myself I had to.

Yes, it was a billionaire romance, which is something that has never really appealed to me. But that aspect of the story was treated in a way that made sense for the characters and added to my enjoyment most of the time. And yes, there were a few things that went the usual way seemingly because that's the way a romance should go, regardless of whether it was the way this particular story and these particular characters should have gone, given everything up to that point. Overall, I enjoyed the book. Writing about it now makes me want to go back and read it again, which says a lot.

But I almost didn't read it because of the cover.

I realized after reading it and revisiting the Amazon page that I had downloaded it in spite of the cover because the blurb was interesting AND it was free at the time. Once it was on my Kindle and I completely forgot what it was about, the cover really held me back from reading it sooner because it conveyed a type of book that I was not very interested in.

What does this mean for readers? Obviously, don't judge a book by its cover! But it's hard not to, and I don't think there will ever be a time where we don't judge books by their covers. Especially in an increasingly digital marketplace.

So, then. What does this mean for authors and publishers? I think it means we need to be a little more careful with the messages we choose to send with our book covers. This particular cover will attract quite a few readers who like to read certain things. I'm not denying that. But there's a potential market that it's probably missing as well.

I know we can't appeal to all readers all the time, nor should we try to. But I think there's a more nuanced balance between hitting your target market square between the eyes and roping in your target market without completely alienating readers who might really like what you're writing, but they just don't know it yet. Like me. I'd probably read this author again in the future, knowing that if she has a cover that would normally turn me off, there's likely a better story inside. (And if you're curious, the book I've been referring to is She's Got Dibs, by AJ Nuest. Check it out. Even if you don't like billionaire romances.)

What are some books you've read and enjoyed despite a cover that would've made you think otherwise?

J. Lea López is a shy, introverted writer with a secret world of snark and naughtiness inside her head. She writes character-driven erotica and contemporary new adult stories. Her first novel, Sorry's Not Enough, and her free short story collection, Consenting Adults, are available now. She'd love to tweet with you.

1 Piece of Advice 5 Ways

by Jemi Fraser

There is so much advice out there for aspiring writers it can sometimes be overwhelming. A lot of it can be boiled down to the same piece of advice given from different perspectives.

What's right for someone else may not be right for you

• Social Media
• There are about a bazillion options for social media interactions with more popping up all the time. You can't do them all - or at least I can't. You need to find which ones you enjoy and which ones make your skin itch. Pick and choose. Be selective. Don't join because 'everyone else is' or 'it works for everyone else'. It doesn't.

What's right for someone else may not be right for you

• Genre
• Write the stories you love. Write the ones in your heart. Of course you can keep a reasonable eye on the market and make some tweaks and twists, but if you're writing a genre you don't love, it will show. Don't worry about what's currently popular - by the time you're done and polished and ready to query that trend will probably be over. Create the next trend instead.

What's right for someone else may not be right for you

• Style
• Find your voice. Don't try to imitate your favourite authors. Be you. No one else can do it better. Warning: Finding your voice takes a lot of time and a lot of words. Be prepared.

What's right for someone else may not be right for you

• Promotion
• Don't piggyback on someone else's ideas. Sure, we all borrow bits and pieces, but find the promotion style that works for you. Decide what will work for you based on your comfort levels and your target audience.
• PLEASE don't fall victim to The Opera Disease.

What's right for someone else may not be right for you

• Your Journey
• A crit buddy signs with an agent after only 10 queries. A fellow blogger started writing 2 years after you and has pubbed 4 books already. A friend gets a 3 book deal with a big pub...
• Be happy & celebrate with them. Remember they're not you. Your Journey is uniquely You. Don't compare. Don't waste energy on jealousy (okay, go ahead, cry a bit and eat some Rolo ice cream. Then get over it). Your Journey is going exactly as it should be. Enjoy the journey because that IS the point.

Anything else you think that piece of advice might be good for?

Jemi Fraser is an aspiring author of contemporary romance. She blogs and tweets while searching for those HEAs.

The Hard News

by S. L. Duncan

I remember starting out on this ridiculous publishing endeavor, the whole querying process lived on this binary of good news and bad news. And let’s face it; the news was mostly the latter. Yet there was some comfort in knowing that it was always going to be one or the other. You either got requests for a partial or full manuscript of your work, or you got rejected.

And then one day that good news leads to even better good news—the offer of representation.

I say I remember this feeling, like it was SOOOOO long ago, but really, as a published author, not much has changed. I still participate in this querying process, only this time my agent does the querying (though he has a cooler name for it—submitting), and for the most part, the results are the same. Either the editors like my work and offer a deal, or they reject it and no offer.

There is, however, a new dynamic—a third possible response, acknowledged usually with the help of your agent. I’ve been on submission for a new book for a few months now, the first round of what might be a hard sell. It’s a WWII middle grade book about a boy surviving the London Blitz with a future-predicting, haunted teddy bear. I was warned prior to submission that the historical elements and the more literary tone might make for a tough get. So when my agent sent me the compilation of the first round responses to his submission, I was prepared when there was not an offer on the table.

What I wasn’t prepared for was the uniformity of the responses—all 12 of the 14 that bothered to respond nearly said the exact same thing, and it was mostly positive. What they loved and what they gravitated toward is what we thought they’d hate—the historical setting. So what went wrong? Why didn't they offer a deal? This is a bit hard to admit publicly, but here you go:

Nobody connected with the main character.

Ouch.

So, here’s where that new dynamic comes in: The Hard News. A good agent, much like the one I’ve got, wears multiple hats. The one you want him or her to wear in this situation is the psychologist hat. There is plenty of advice my agent gives based on his experience, but he doesn’t give me the answer—he asks what I think is the answer. Can’t you just imagine me, on the leather-bound couch, my agent sitting in the chair beside me, pen and pencil in his hand, checking his watch for how much of the hour is left? Lose the furniture and the impatience, and that’s just about what we’ve got—him on the phone asking, “What do you think you should do?”

This is where I am right now—holding neither good nor bad news. Just hard news. Hard because I know it’s true and it will take a grand effort to basically start over. Hard because it would be so easy to say everyone else is wrong and set out again on another round of submissions. Heck, I might even land a deal. Deep down, though, I’d know those original editors were right; that the work and effort I’d put into writing and mastering that book was flawed, and in a big way.

So be prepared for Hard News to come with the good and the bad. Because while it’s a hard thing to accept that you’re wrong about something, it’s an even harder thing to do something about it. And who knows? With a little effort, it might just be Good News in disguise.

S. L. Duncan writes young adult fiction, including his debut, the first book in The Revelation Saga, due in 2014 from Medallion Press. You can find him blogging on INKROCK.com and on Twitter.

Who Do You Think You Are?

by Matt Sinclair

Can a man accurately write a story from a woman’s perspective? Can a woman write in a man’s voice? Can a 20-something Asian American who’s lived in the Northeast all his life write about being a black blues musician from the south? Can a Christian academic write about the tenets of Islam? Can a Muslim write about the politics of Jesus?

In my opinion, the answer to all these questions is yes. Of course, those answers come with at least a couple caveats: Such writers must do their research thoroughly, and they not only need to be excellent writers but also confident that they’ve approached their goal with respect.

Writing about people we are not is one of the joys of writing fiction. In its purest form, it is imagination; to be publishable, it must be informed imagination.

I recall starting a novel too soon. I had a vision of the characters, but before I’d finished my first page, I could see that my understanding was superficial. What did I know about being in my 70s or 80s and looking back on life? About as much as I knew about living and working in Antarctica, which was where part of my story would take place. It was years of research before I felt confident to start telling the tale of those characters, and I still need to do more research.

Of course, most of that research won’t make it directly on the page. Instead it comes through between the lines—in the words chosen and the attitudes conveyed.

In my opinion, it’s not merely about showing respect to the subject matter, which is critical, but it’s also about respecting the readers. We need to always remember that readers are perceptive. Tell an entertaining tale and readers might say nice things about your book, but if you expect them to suspend disbelief, to leave their real world behind for your imagined one, you need to do your homework. Of course, this might explain why so many writers’ early novels seem to be autobiographical.

But you’re writing something original, right? How would your main character react if someone cut him off on the road, or tripped her at a restaurant? These things don’t happen in your manuscript? Doesn’t matter. What I’m getting at is how well do you know your characters and how they’d react to adversity. It shouldn’t matter whether you’re a lapsed Catholic writing about a Sephardic Jewish family or a guy from suburban New Jersey writing about a girl living in rural Iowa. But the identity of the writer and the identity of the characters do matter to readers.

From the first time your manuscript crosses an agent’s desktop, it needs convey an answer to the question that will be on every reader’s mind: Who is this writer and why should I believe what is in front of me?

Who do you think you are? I hope you’re not only an author, you’re also a believable and authentic authority.

Matt Sinclair, a New York City-based journalist and fiction writer, is also president and chief elephant officer of Elephant's Bookshelf Press, which recently published Summer's Edge and Summer's Double Edge, which are available through Smashwords (SE) (SDE) and Amazon (SE) (SDE), and include stories from several FTWA writers. In 2012, EBP published its initial anthologies: The Fall: Tales from the Apocalypse, (available viaAmazon and Smashwords) and Spring Fevers (also available through Smashwords, andAmazon). Matt blogs at the Elephant's Bookshelf and is on Twitter @elephantguy68.

Tic Toc

by Riley Redgate

The other day, I was strolling through Goodreads when I encountered a review that stopped me in my virtual tracks. I don't remember what book it was for, so I can't find it again and thus the specifics here are invented, but in essence, it said this:

"This book used the phrase "blue eyes" seventy-eight times. Seventy-eight. Yes, we get it, the love interest's eyes are frickin' blue!"

Nervous laughter. This is a new era, everyone. With the advent of the search feature on eBooks, readers can now see exactly how much of a crutch your crutch words are.

One of the most disheartening (yet strangely hilarious!) writing things I've ever done is a control-F search for the word "and," which led me to realize that numerically, "and" comprises 2 percent of my entire manuscript. Amusing. Less so when it's a reviewer realizing that your work has a reliance on certain phrases.

I've always wondered why writer's tics exist. One hypothesis I've come up with is that it's something in our minds trying to fix the disparity between our character's voice and our own voice. Like, in reality, I actually do just use some words so very often: "like," "actually," "just," "so," and "very." ... Hang on.

Another guess of mine is that we have lingering initial concepts of people, places, or things in our manuscripts that haven't been fully fleshed out. I've often found that, sadly, an author's fixation on a character's particular physical characteristic can become a (poor) substitute for that character having an actual personality. For example, instead of deepening and fleshing out a character's humanity, she gets a "blue-eyes" tag and that makes her familiar to a reader in an easy, superficial way. A character's voice is repeatedly described as "husky" because that's how he first came to the author, in a snatch of a husky-sounding voice. A flag is repeatedly described as tattered and worn because that's how the author first saw it in their mind's eye. It betrays something never having left the conceptual stage.

Another guess: casual padding. My tics, especially the ones listed above, are irritatingly common words like "just" and "so," and I share these tics with a lot of folks out there. The sheer quantity of them is staggering and often hard to notice -- you have to use the ctrl-F laser-pointer to see, "Welp, okay, I've used "just" 834 times in this manuscript. Great." I'd hazard a guess that the reason they're harder to notice is the reason they're there in the first place -- they're placeholders. Empty calories. They delay the point of the sentence, and they do it sneakily. Eyes brush over them.

Of course, reviewers' eyes tend to be more discerning than an author's. And now, if someone starts noticing your egregious excess of "blue-eyes" descriptions, there's nothing stopping them from telling the whole world how repetitive your writing got, quantitatively.

This is terrifying to me. Terrifying. Of course, it's also Capital-A Awesome. Honestly, in my eyes, anything that holds authors accountable for the quality of their prose is an Awesome development, given our hyper-commercial day and age, where The Quality Threshold seems to be transforming -- more and more -- into The Purchasing Threshold. That is to say, the question starts changing from "how perfect can this be?" to "how perfect does this have to be for people to buy it?"

As with any issue of Awesomeness, though, I'm torn. On the one hand, yes, I absolutely believe it's great that authors have more cause than ever to worry about their writing getting lazy. Keeps you on your toes; keeps you striving for excellence! On the other hand, there's a point at which pulling out numbers gets arbitrary. Another review I saw that listed crutch phrases said that one of these 'crutches' showed up four times. Honestly, in a novel-length work, four of a phrase doesn't seem like a great deal to me (unless the phrase is something like "alarming proclivity to waterski spontaneously!", which ... um, it wasn't).

In any case, I'm sure if I'd been reading the book, I wouldn't have noticed those three repeat phrases, and I feel like the practice of breaking books down by numbers -- if it indeed becomes a 'practice' -- creates a risk of veering into semantics. I mean, come on: if you ctrl-F your way through the classics, I bet you'll find repetitions, some unintentional. Authors pre-1950, after all, didn't have the luxury of finding every instance of their crutches electronically in a fraction of a second. And while it's now simple to find the flaws of a book by the numbers, I certainly hope that doesn't become our default mode as readers. I hope that collectively, readers still hunt first for the beautiful and the unexpected within a book rather than the failed and the recycled.

Riley Redgate, enthusiast of all things YA, is a bookstore-and-Starbucks-dweller from North Carolina attending college in Ohio. She is represented by Caryn Wiseman of Andrea Brown Literary Agency. Sporadically and with occasional weirdness, she blogs here and speaks with considerably more brevity here.

LOUD NOISES! Should We Scrap the Caps?

by Mindy McGinnis

As I was recently typing up a letter to promote NOT A DROP TO DRINK to public libraries in Ohio, I made the super-duper mistake of not having my critique partner look it over before printing out 250 copies. That was a big oops, and more details can be found here. After coming to my senses and having R.C. Lewis take a look at everything, she pointed out something that technically isn't wrong... but to some people might seem not quite right.

It seems that pretty much everyone in the industry uses ALL CAPS when typing a title. I see it in emails from my editor, my agent, and fellow authors as well. Putting the title in CAPS is pretty much the norm for us, and I don't give it a second thought when hitting the Caps Lock key. What I don't think about is how people outside the industry might perceive that choice.

R.C.'s comment made me think back to when I first started rollicking around writer's sites and blogs. I remember seeing people putting their own titles in CAPS and thinking, "Geez, really?" It seems almost pretentious to wholly capitalize your own title. What are you trying to prove? What are you saying? Do you think this makes your title stand out from the rest of the text? Is this a marketing move?

Years of absorbing the culture now has me capitalizing myself all over the place, which no one seems to mind. Yet, what will someone on the outside think if they get a promotional letter from me in which it seems that I'm SCREAMING MY TITLE INTO THEIR FACE? Will they think I'm pretentious? Bold? Full of myself? Will they know that this is just how it's done?

I'm not sure. I'm so unsure of how this would be perceived by those outside of publishing that I took R.C.'s advice and decided to italicize my title in the promotional letter.

What do you think? Is ALL CAPS abrasive, or is this something even people outside of the industry take in stride?

Mindy McGinnis is a YA author and librarian. Her debut, Not a Drop to Drink, is a post-apocalyptic survival tale set in a world where freshwater is almost non-existent, available from Katherine Tegen / HarperCollins September 24, 2013. She blogs at Writer, Writer Pants on Fire and contributes to the group blogs Book Pregnant, Friday the Thirteeners, From the Write Angle, The Class of 2k13, The Lucky 13s & The League of Extraordinary Writers. You can also find her on Twitter, Tumblr & Facebook.

In Defense of Present Tense

by R.C. Lewis

I recently heard a person with a considerable amount of authority state that writing a story in first person is a terrible idea, shouldn't be done, and that writing it in present tense is even worse. It's his opinion, and he's entitled to it, but I disagree. I'm tackling the first-person aspect over on my blog (web host is having issues, so I've cross-posted to my old blog), so I want to focus here on the idea of present tense. (And I'm mostly going to assume we're discussing present tense within first-person POV, because third-person present is a whole different puzzle.)

One argument against present tense is that it's unnatural to us in the English language. We don't tend to use it much in our speech.

(Except some people do relate anecdotes that way—it's their style—and what are anecdotes except telling a story? But anyway...)

I have a couple of issues with that argument. First, spoken language and written language are not the same thing. Spoken is a primary form while written is a secondary form. The way we speak has never been fully reflected in the way we write, and vice versa. Even written dialogue should only feel like a realistic depiction of speech, not actually be an accurate, true-to-life representation. So why would my use or non-use of spoken present tense have any bearing on whether writing a story in it is appropriate?

Second, of course we don't use (spoken) present tense the way we do in written stories, because we don't narrate life as it's happening. (At least, most of us don't. And I might be a little concerned about anyone who does.)

"Then why is your protagonist narrating their life as it happens?" you may ask. "Isn't that just as ridiculous?"

In my opinion, no. It isn't. Because when I read, I don't process it as the character telling me the story. To me, the story simply happens, and the narration is a construct to deliver that thing called "story" to my brain. I don't generally feel like the character/narrator is talking at me—they're just living the story.

Of course, I understand this is a particular philosophy and approach to reading—one I know plenty of people don't share in, and one which I discuss a bit more in the first-person post.

All that said, I'll make some concessions. The first time I read a novel written in present tense, it was awkward. I wasn't used to it, and almost every sentence felt strange. But not being used to something doesn't automatically make it wrong. Little kids just learning to read aren't used to sentences that don't follow simple subject-verb-object structure. The first time they encounter a sentence like the one I'm writing right now, they might feel very awkward indeed. You get used to it. In fact, the only time I seem to notice present tense anymore is when it's done badly. Which brings me to ...

... Sometimes it's done badly.

Present tense is tricky. You can't note or reflect on anything until it comes into the sphere of your POV character's perceptions. I once changed some material from past to present and discovered I had to shuffle sentences around in a paragraph to make things work. And sometimes a story (or even a voice or style) doesn't really seem to support the choice for present tense.

So why use it? What do we gain?

Some say immediacy. That can be true, but I've read things in past tense that seemed to have just as much immediacy. The difference with past tense is that it's a bit easier to ease off the immediacy when it's not needed. If present tense truly creates immediacy by its very nature, then that immediacy will be much more constant throughout the story. And I think that's probably what I mean by stories that do or don't support use of present tense—some stories can handle that immediacy better than others.

Don't use present tense just because The Hunger Games did.

There's also a distinction between past and present that hits me more subconsciously as a reader. If I read a story in past tense, I don't actively think about it, but there may be a feeling deep down that the character knows what's going to happen in the next paragraph, next chapter. Not always—skillful writers still manage to keep the suspense level high when they want to—but sometimes. (Then there are the blatant cases, ending a chapter with "That was the last time I saw my father alive.")

With present tense, we make all discoveries at the same time as the character. Their problems are exactly as big as they seem, with no hindsight to put them in perspective. That can be a good thing.

Every tool has a use. We just have to make sure we use them all mindfully and correctly.

Do you have opinions on present tense—for OR against? Love it? Hate it? Why? Please share (respectfully!) in the comments.

R.C. Lewis teaches math to teenagers—sometimes in sign language, sometimes not—so whether she's a science geek or a bookworm depends on when you look. That may explain why her characters don't like to be pigeonholed. Her debut novel Stitching Snow (which is in first person, but past tense) is coming from Disney-Hyperion in 2014. You can find R.C. on Twitter (@RC_Lewis) and at her website.