Conferences, Helpful sites, Queries, Writing skills and techniques

Write On Con Starts in 12 Hours

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Write on Con – the free online conference for writers – starts in twelve hours. The first event will be posted at 6am EDT (US)/ 8pm AEST (Aus). I’m getting very excited, especially since this will be my first writers conference! You can check out the schedule here:

Write on Con Schedule of Events

There’s lots of great things happening, including some live chats with literary agents (just make sure you read the chat rules). I’ve already got my highlighter out and highlighted everything I want to attend (which is just about everything). It’s just a shame some of the live chats will be the middle of the night for me.

You can find all the general information on the Write on Con website (where everything conference related will be taking place):

Write on Con

And if you haven’t checked out the forums yet, there have been a few exciting announcements in the last few days (including an opportunity to have your query critiqued in a live blogging event with agent Natalie Fischer!). You can find the forums here:

Write on Con Forums

Only 12 hours to go…

Conferences, Helpful sites, Queries, Writing skills and techniques

Write On Con – Writer’s Conference

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My critique partner tipped me off about Write on Con and I’m so glad she did. Write on Con is an online conference for writers taking place on the 10th, 11th and 12th of August. It is completely free to attend and all you have to do to register is join the Write On Con forums. This is a fantastic opportunity for several reasons:

There Is No Need To Travel

As someone living in rural Australia (and as someone with two young children) I find it difficult to travel to my closest major city (which is four hours away) to attend writer’s conferences there, it’s just not a viable option for me. And those big awesome writer’s conferences in the US are an impossibility. Being able to attend a conference from my own home, where I can still do the mum thing at the same time, is a great opportunity.

It’s Free!

Even if I could make it to my nearest major city for a conference, the cost for me is also a problem. Our family is just not in the financial position right now to justify my attending a conference (including all the costs of travel and accomodation that would go along with it). So the fact that it’s free is an extra bonus.

Get Critique

You only have to look at the forums to see there will be some great opportunities for working on your craft. Already there is a section open for practice critiques where you can post queries/pages of your writing to be critiqued by fellow attendees. It’s all about give and take. If you put something up for critique, be sure to offer critique to others. Once the conference begins there will be specific sections for query critiques, first five pages critiques, etc. And there will be agents about who may even weigh in on the critiques.

Connect With Fellow Writers

Another section of the forums that is already open is the Introductions section. Through the introductions section and the practice critiques I’ve already met quite a few fellow writers, some of us are even discussing setting up a critique group together. You can also pop by the Twitter roll call thread and include a link to your Twitter page.

I’ve also included links to my Twitter page and my blog in my signature –  a great way to get your name out there, especially if you actively participate.

Hear What The Pros Have To Say

When the conference starts there will be a section where pros will be talking about the industry. I’m looking forward to some great insight.

Classes

In addition to the forums there is also the Write On Con website. This is where all the ‘classes’ will be posted.

I’m really excited about taking part in this conferences and am looking forward to August 10th. For now it’s a great experience posting and critiquing in the practice critique section and meeting lots of new writers.

If you would love to take part in this great opportunity too, here is a link to the forums: Write On Con forums

Hopefully I’ll see you there!

Helpful sites, Picture Books, Queries, Writing skills and techniques

Helpful Writing Sites and Blog Posts – July 2010 Edition

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I just realised it’s been two months since I last did one of these, so here is a round up of some helpful writing sites and blog posts I’ve come across in the past two months:

You Have to Believe

Rachelle Gardner (literary agent) has a great blog, with lots of fantastic posts for writers. This particular post was quite an inspiring one encouraging writers to believe in themselves. My favourite line: “God gave you something powerful – a story or a message, and the desire to share it. God is not in the business of tricking people, or of squandering anything – not talent, not passion, not time. Pursue your God-given passions with an unwavering faith. Praise and bless the obstacles. And keep believing.”

Tips for Pitching and Querying Agents

YA writer Ingrid Sundberg shared a hand-out from Andrea Brown agent Mary Kole that she received at an SCBWI agent day on pitching and querying. It includes some great advice, as well as step-by-step questions you should address in your pitch.

Try This Picture Book Editing Checklist

For anyone out there writing or editing a picture book this is a great checklist to refer to, from the editors of Children’s Book Insider, the Newsletter for Children’s Writers.

Will Literary Agents Really Read Your Query Letter?

This posts covers reasons why a query letter may not be read, the problems with many queries and some tips on how to write better queries.

The Power of the First Sentence

We all know how important that first sentence is in a manuscript, Brenda Hineman, a freelance writer, guest posts on this blog on what makes an opening sentence memorable.

Eleven Senses – Who Knew?

Anyone who reads my blog knows how much I’m a big fan of ‘show, don’t tell’ in writing, and whenever I talk about showing in writing I refer to using the five senses of taste, touch, sight, sound and smell. This workshop handout covers eleven senses, including pain, balance, sense of time, joint motion and acceleration, temperature differences, and direction. Not only does it describe how each of the senses work, but how they can be applied to writing, some writing exercises and, best of all, a comprehensive list of verbs for each of the senses to spice up your writing.

7 Techniques for a Dynamite Plot

An editor offers some solutions to common problems writers have when constructing their plot.

The Secret to Getting Published

Published author Karen Gowen offers some down-to-earth truths on what is and isn’t the secret to getting published. My favourite line: “You have to want it more than you want anything else. You must want it with every fibre of your being.”

3 Ways to Show, Don’t Tell

There’s my favourite writing mantra again! A short post covering verbs and nouns, sensory details and dialogue.

Query Letter Suicide

Another great post from YA Writer Ingrid Sundberg, this time sharing some advice from Agent Jill Corcoran of the Herman Agency. A comprehensive list of what not to do in a query letter.

Do You Know the Real Reason Not to Use the Passive Voice?

The dreaded ‘passive’ voice. It’s something I’m working on cutting in my novel revisions at the moment. This post by an editor shows an example of the difference between using the passive voice and the active voice when writing.

Advice for New Writers Blogfest

Last week I participated in Peevish Penman’s blogfest on ‘My Best Advice for New Writers’. There were 42 participants altogether. I haven’t quite got through reading all the posts yet, but the ones I have read have offered some fantastic advice. You can find the links to all of them on the Blogfest page, they’re well worth checking out.

Writing skills and techniques

My Best Advice for Other Aspiring Writers

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I’m writing this post as part of Peevish Penman’s “My Best Advice to New Writers” Blogfest.

My best advice is something I’ve talked about on this blog a couple of times before, but it truly is my writing mantra: “Show, Don’t Tell”.

Some of this advice I’ve covered before, but there are also a few new little gems I’ve recently discovered.

Use All Five Senses

Don’t just tell the reader what the characters are experiencing, have them feel and experience through your character.  Use sight, sound, touch, smell and taste. For example, don’t tell the reader your character is cold, show the reader how your character experiences the cold, “Lucy pulled her coat tightly around her body against the icy wind. The snow crunched under her feet.” Something I like to do when writing is close my eyes and imagine myself in my character’s place, focusing on each of my senses. I’ve even gone as far as putting my hand in a bowl of ice water to describe how my character felt as she plunged into an ice cold stream.

Eliminate ‘Was’

This is something I’ve recently been focusing on in my edits for my novel. Find the places where you’ve used the verb ‘was’ (or ‘is’ if writing in present tense, or ‘am’ if writing first person present tense), then reword the sentence without using ‘was’. This forces you to not only use stronger verbs, but turns a ‘telling’ sentence into one that shows. Take this sentence, “I was tired.” Let’s try to eliminate was and turn it into a ‘showing’ sentence, “My eyes felt heavy, I could barely keep them open.” The sentence conveys the same information, but shows the character is tired, rather than tells.

Interweave Description into the Story

Telling your reader your character is short or the building is old is boring and assumes the reader is not smart enough to figure out things from more subtle descriptions. Interweave details into the story to create a picture that allows the reader to form their own assumptions and at the same time create a stronger story. Take the above examples, the character is short and the building is old. Let’s interweave those details into a few sentences without using those adjectives. “Bill and Peter had to duck low as they passed under the arch, but Jimmy walked under it comfortably, his head barely grazing the top. The boys looked up at the building before them; its brickwork crumbled in places and ivy wound its way up the wall.”

Take Out Your Highlighter

As I proofread my drafts I use a blue highlighter whenever I come across any parts I think are telling, then when I do my edits I rework those parts to show instead of tell.

Just a few other pieces of advice to end this post:

  • Keep writing, every word makes you a better writer.
  • Listen to those who offer critique on your work, your writing can always get better.
  • Always keep a pen and paper handy for when sudden inspiration strikes.

To check out some of the other great advice being offered during Peevish Penman’s blogfest, check out the links on this page: “My Best Advice to New Authors” Blogfest

Queries

Preparing to Query

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You’ve written your query, got it critiqued, edited it and polished it, now it is ready to get sent out to agents or publishers. I don’t know about you, but for me that’s the scary part. What if I *gasp* get rejected? It’s true, it could happen, and I’m sure when it does I will feel low and consume a truckload of chocolate. But maybe, just maybe, someone out there will love my story as much as I love it so it’s worth the risk right? And, as I keep reminding myself, J.K. Rowling was rejected quite a few times before someone picked up Harry Potter. The question is, who do I send my lovely polished query letter to?

Do Your Research

As tempting as it might be to send your query letter to every agent/publisher in the country, in the end this would be a waste of your time (and money spent on postage if you’re mailing your queries) and a waste of time for the agent/publishers you send to. In many cases your query letter will go straight into the shredder, or your query e-mail will get deleted without a second glance. Why? Because you didn’t do your research. Imagine you have written a picture book and query it to a dozen or so agents/publishers who don’t accept picture books. That’s time and effort wasted. Make sure you read submission guidelines before you submit a query to any agent or publisher to ensure they accept the type of book you are querying.

Make a Wishlist

Since I’ve been researching publishers while polishing my query I’ve created a Word document of all the publishers/agents who accept picture books (I also have another document of the ones who accept YA fantasy in preparation for when I start querying my novel). By keeping this list I don’t have to go back and find them all again when it comes time to query, as I have saved all the information. You can set out the list any way you want, but I tend to set it out like this:

  • Name of Publisher/Agent
  • What types of books they accept
  • Are they open to submissions
  • Contact information
  • Link to website
  • Any other important notes

I set my wishlist out so that the ones I intend to query first are at the top of the list and the ones who aren’t open to submissions now, but may be at a later date I put at the bottom to remind me to check back.

Check If They Are Open to Submissions

Some agents/publishers may be closed to submissions at certain times of year, or may be inundated with queries so close submissions until they catch up, so make sure you check and take note of when they’ll be open again if they mention it. I have a colour coding system (because I love colour coding) – On my list where I note if a publisher/agent is or isn’t open for submissions I highlight green if they are open, red if they aren’t currently open for submissions and yellow if they’re currently closed, but will be open again in the near future. Don’t forget to keep checking back.

Keeping Track of Your Queries

I remember a while back a writer on Twitter mentioned keeping track of who she was querying to ensure she wasn’t sending letters to the same publisher/agent twice, and to keep track of who had replied, whether they requested partials or fulls or asked for edits. There’s a good chance when you query you will be querying multiple agents/publishers at the same time, I know I will (imagine sending one at a time and having to wait up to 6 months for each reply! I know agents are much quicker in replying than publishers, but you may still have to wait to hear back.) And then if you query maybe five at a time, you don’t want to accidentally query someone again after they already rejected that story. I’m setting up a spreadsheet in Excel to help me keep track of my queries. When complete it will include:

  • Name of publisher/agent
  • Date sent
  • Estimated response time (most will state their response time on their website)
  • Reply received
  • Rejection/Partial/Full
  • Partial/Full sent
  • Edits requested
  • Edits sent

Do make sure, particularly with publishers, that they don’t mind you querying others at the same time you are querying them, as some ask that you don’t query others while you have a submission with them. Read their submission guidelines carefully and make a note of it.

Be Prepared for Rejection, But Keep Believing in Yourself and Don’t Stop Writing

Even the best have been rejected, J.K. Rowling and Stephen King both had stories rejected, so don’t give up hope. Remember it’s not just about having a great story, but finding the right publisher/agent at the right time who is right for your story. Even while you are waiting to hear back, keep polishing your craft, start some new projects, and if your current story doesn’t find a home, you’ll have something new and better ready.

(*Note: While in the US it is more usual to query agents, rather than directly to publishers, in Australia there are still many publishing houses who accept unsolicited manuscripts and not many literary agents, hence why I keep referring to both agents and publishers in this post.)

Helpful sites, Picture Books, Queries

Writing a Picture Book Query

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_S070083-1 by nuttakit

For those of you who have been following my progress in the smories.com competition with my picture book entry ‘Can You Jump Like a Kangaroo‘ I have some good news to share. The competition ended two days ago and my story came in third! It may not have been first, but I was still extremely happy to win a place. Now I am preparing to query the story to publishers.

Writing a Picture Book Query: The Dilemma

I frequent quite a few agent and writing blogs and have collected a plethora of information on querying, however now I am faced with writing a query for a picture book I’ve found all my previous research on queries, which has primarily focused on querying novels, is not quite adequate for writing a PB query. I sat at my computer with a word document open, typed the initial salutation and then stopped. I know how to condense a 50k + word novel into a paragraph, I’ve written and rewritten queries for my YA novel many times over, but how do I write a paragraph summary of a picture book that’s only 147 words?

Sourcing Blogs for Query Writing Tips

I checked out a few picture book queries kidlit agent Mary Kole had commented upon on her blog during a query competition she held a while back to get some ideas (she has since removed these posts, but she has another post on picture book queries here, which I’ve also linked below). Through looking at these examples with comments from an agent who specialises in kidlit I was able to gain some insight into how a pictures book plot can be written in a query letter. I discovered channeling the voice of the book was a good first step. I wrote out my query with a better idea on how I could approach describing the story, but I still wasn’t sure if I was hitting the mark.

Seeking the Opinions of Those Who Have Written Successful Queries

I decided to seek out the opinions of two lovely Australian picture book authors I met through #pblitchat on Twitter. Kathryn Apel is the author of picture book This is the Mud and Karen Collum is the author of several picture books including one due out this September titled Samuel’s Kisses. I regard them both as being great sources of knowledge on all things PB related. They both gave me some great advice on writing a PB query. Here are the main points they made:

– Capture the heart and tone of your story in the query.

– Use small section of text from your book.

– Keep it short and sweet, one to two paragraphs is enough.

– Give the whole story in a nutshell, including the ending.

Armed with this great advice I shaped my query to match more with the tone of my story, with some little excerpts from the text weaved into it.

Query Critique

My query still needs some polishing so I’ve submitted it to the Query Kick-Around on YA Lit Chat (which also accomodates other types of kidlit, including picture books) and hopefully I’ll receive some helpful critique from some of the other members there.

Next step: Sending the queries to publishers here in Australia. I’ve got a list of a few of the publishers currently accepting unsolicited manuscripts for picture books, so hopefully one of them will love my story enough to publish it.

UPDATE:

Since I wrote this post a few sites/blogs have popped up with some helpful information on writing picture book queries, so I thought it might be helpful to update this post with some links.

Mary Kole on kidlit.com made a post specifically on how to write a picture book query: Picture Book Queries

The Query Shark bites into a picture book query: Query Shark #178

Looking for PB query critiques? The Write on Con forums have a section specifically dedicated to critiquing PB queries. Registration is free at the time of this post and it’s a site well worth joining if you’re a kidlit writer: Write on Con

Here is a helpful webinar video from Write on Con with Emma Walton Hamilton (aka The Query Whisperer): Picture Book Query Letters.

ANOTHER UPDATE:

Another great resource that’s cropped up in the last few years is the 12 x 12 Picture Book Writing Challenge. As well as providing great resources on picture book queries, you also get access to webinars from industry professionals that sometimes include helpful information on crafting picture book queries and even sometimes opportunities to have your query critiqued by a professional (such as the fabulous Emma Walton Hamilton). There is also access to a query critique forum where you can receive critique from fellow (often experienced) PB writers on your picture book query. While it does cost to join 12 x 12, it is a worthwhile investment for picture book writers who are serious about submitting to agents and editors. 12 x 12 is open to new members from about mid-January through to the end of February.

UPDATE (Feb 2016):

I’ve recently come across a post on picture book query writing from agent Maria Vicente of P.S. Literary Agency. She offers three great tips specific to picture book queries. You can find the post here: How to Query a Picture Book.

Picture by nuttakit

Biography, Writing skills and techniques

Author Interview

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This week I was interviewed on Beth Hull’s blog. I got to talk a little about my work-in-progress, my writing process and how I find time to write with two little ones at home (among other things). Beth is my critique partner and in coming weeks I will be interviewing her on this blog.

Aspiring author interviews are not only great practice for when you do become published and will have to think about the answers to questions about your book (including summarising it in a couple of sentences) and about your writing process, but it’s also a good way to relate to other writers who are at a similar place on their writing journeys.

You can check out my responses to Beth’s questions here: NiFtY Interview with Jo Hart

Helpful sites, Writing skills and techniques

Creating 3D Characters: The Character Interview

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I discovered a new writer’s chat on Twitter this week called #storycraft. It’s a chat dedicated to the discussion of various aspects of story craft and takes place Sunday 6-8pm (US Eastern time)/ Monday 8-10am (Australian EST). The topic for this week was about fleshing out characters so they are 3D and not flat cardboard cutouts, or worse, the dreaded Mary-Sue. A Mary-Sue character is one who is perfect in every way, beautiful, smart, loved by everyone… and boring because she has no flaws or quirks. The male equivalent is usually referred to as a Gary-Stu. If you want to test if your character is a Mary Sue there are many Mary-Sue litmus tests available online, here’s one you can try: The Universal Mary-Sue Litmus Test. It’s one of the most comprehensive ones I’ve come across.

One thing I do to ensure I have a 3D character is to do character profiles and character interviews before I start writing. By doing this I can ensure my characters are well rounded and well developed before I start writing them. It also helps me get inside their heads because I know how they will react to certain situations. My character profiles consist of basic background info: Full name; age; hometown; family; main strengths; and main weaknesses (it’s just as important to have weaknesses as strengths; real people have flaws, and so should your character).

For the character interviews I have a list of questions relating to different aspects of my character’s life and I answer them from the POV of my character. Here are some of the questions I ask (*note: I may not necessarily use the answers or background information in the story itself, it’s just a way to flesh out my characters in my head so I can find their unique voice):

Describe your family. (This is not just a list of the members of your character’s family, but how they would describe them.)

If your house was on fire and you could only grab 3 things, what would they be? (Shows what is important to your character.)

Are you religious at all, and if so, in what way?

What kind of music do you listen to, and why?

What’s the last thing you’d be caught doing?

What has been the best experience of your life so far? (I answer this one as the best experience of my character’s life prior to the beginning of the story, but you could also answer it in relation to the story too)

What has been the worst day of your life? (As before, I answer what it would have been prior to the beginning of the story, but you can answer in relation to the story)

Describe the kind of person you want to marry, if you want to be married at all.

If you go to school, what is your favourite subject, and why?

Sum yourself up in 5 words.

You can add as many questions to your interview as you want, you can include questions about friends, goals, dreams, work, etc. It’s up to you, just make sure they serve to add depth to your character and tell you who your character really is.

Do you have any questions you ask of your characters? What do you do to get to know your character before writing your story? Or do you just jump in and discover your character along the way?

Writing skills and techniques

Writing Effective Description

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This week on #scribechat on Twitter (Thursday 9pm ET US/Friday 11am AEST Aus.) the topic was ‘Editing your Manuscript’. One question that came up was regarding description. So today I’m going to address the topic of writing effective description in your novel.

Show, Don’t Tell This is the most important thing to remember when writing description. I’ve written a post about this before (Show, Don’t Tell). What is the difference between showing and telling? Telling is exactly that: telling. You tell the reader that the character is ‘tall with long brown hair and blue eyes’. Sometimes the writer tries to be more subtle about it, the biggest cliche being a character looking in a mirror to describe him/herself, but it is still telling. Showing means interweaving the details in the story. If the character is tall you might write, “His head brushed the top of the doorframe as he entered the room.” In this example you are showing the reader the character is tall, without having to even use the word ‘tall’.

When I am editing I use a blue highlighter to highlight any sections of my manuscript where I am telling instead of showing.

Use All 5 Senses This is related to showing rather than telling. Whenever you describe anything in your novel, don’t just think about the visual elements, try to imagine the smells, tastes, sounds and how things feel. It’s the difference between your reader viewing a photograph of your scene, or becoming immersed within the scene. You want your readers to feel like they are there, experiencing what your characters are experiencing. Instead of just telling the reader there’s a building on fire, describe the sound of the flames crackling, the smell of the smoke and how the smoke burns your character’s throat.

Here’s an exercise: Go sit outside and close your eyes. What sounds can you hear? Are there birds tweeting in the trees, or cars revving their engines? What can you smell? Can you smell the sweet aroma of flowers, or maybe you can smell rain in the air? What can you feel? Is the sun warm on your face, or is the wind sending chills through your body? Now when you write your next scene think about where your character is, what time of year it is, what time of day and what is going on around him/her and incorporate the different senses into the scene.

Move the Plot Forward It’s important to keep your plot in mind no matter what you are describing. Avoid adding excessive details that do not relate to your plot. Is it important that your main character’s best friend has a mole on her chin? Does it matter if someone’s eyes are blue or brown? Character development and world building are both necessary to give your story life, but try not to bog your story down in too much detail or readers will be inclined to skip over the long drawn out descriptions. Cut out what is unnecessary, then build up the parts relating to your plot. Instead of spending a page and a half describing what your character looks like, use that space to delve into who your character really is and what motivates him/her. Instead of telling your reader your character has a scar on her left knee, you might write, “Liz ran a finger over the scar on her knee, remembering how she’d fallen off her motorbike in the Championship race last year and lost the race.” From this we find out Liz likes to ride motorbikes competitively and if the story is related to her racing it might show us how she is out to prove herself. This shows a very different character to one who might have got the scar from a knife fight.

These are the three main points I keep in mind when writing/editing description in my manuscript. Do you have any other important tips you follow for writing effective description? Please share them!

Picture Books

Can You Jump Like A Kangaroo?

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I have some exciting news to share today. I mentioned not long ago that a children’s picture book story I submitted to smories.com was shortlisted. All the shortlisted stories have now been filmed and posted to the site. You can see my story here:

Can You Jump Like A Kangaroo?

Submissions have just closed for their third and final competition, but they will be starting something new. Once competition three is over they will be posting a story a day on the site. Submissions are now open for anyone who wants to submit a children’s story to be featured as one of the stories a day. While you don’t win anything for these stories, it’s great exposure for you as a writer. You can even set up your own author bio page on the site. Here is a link to their submissions page:

smories.com

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