The making of the Pop Tart

In preparation for tomorrow's 2nd Annual Bootcamp (YAY US!) I thought it would be fun to see the writing process of the one, the only, Jerry Seinfeld.... Enjoy!

We are also VERY excited to have YA author Elana Johnson coming to talk with us about Query Letters and Blogging! You can see Elena's popular blog HERE and get some help with your Query Letter on her Query Tracker Blog.

Can't wait for TOMORROW!!

Brooke

Stakes, Pitching & Conflict- A Mash-Up Tip

Post contributed by Brooke Hargett

Top two reasons this agent passes on sample pages - 

http://nelsonagency.com/top-2-reasons-why-i-pass-on-sample-pages/

Her suggestions prompted a good idea of an activity for our annual boot camp.

How to pitch to an agent:

http://jetreidliterary.blogspot.com/2011/01/wdc11.html

I have a pitch coming up in a month so I've been researching this a lot!

On CONFLICT:  Really got me thinking….  In particular, the comments about how question and answer dialogue doesn't work really stuck with me.  Check it out: 

http://warriorwriters.wordpress.com/2013/04/08/les-edgerton-two-tips-to-take-your-dialogue-to-a-whole-new-level-part-3/

That's it for now!  Happy writing!

Brooke

How to Revise a Novel

I found this great info on how to edit your book in four steps here. The just of the article states that we can do our revising by:

1. The Close-In Writing: Write a day's worth of work. Next day, before writing anything new, revise and edit the previous day.

2. The Close-In Edit: Finish draft 1. Read and revise from beginning. This gives you draft 2.

3. The Distance (or “Hand”) Edit: Print and hand write your edits. Afterward, fix it all on computer to get draft 3.

4. The Oral Edit: Print and read entire 3rd draft aloud, making notes

Ok, that's all fine and dandy. Now what things should you look for when revising:

NITPICKY STUFF (check out this NaNoWriMo article)

• Omit all unnecessary words.
• Sacrifice modifiers.
• Consider the rhythm.
• Replace "to be" and "to have." (the dreaded was, were, had etc.)
• Simplify tenses.
• Spill your parenthetical (wait, we can't have thoughts in parenthesis?)
• Avoid alliteration.
• Rethink abstraction.
• Use figurative language sparingly.
• Engage all senses.
• Cut the last sentence.
• 
  

OVERALL EDITING

(Taken from "How to Revise a Novel" by Holly Lisle)

1. Does this character appear all the way through the book, or disappear with an explanation? (Death, travel, etc.) If not, does this character have a place in this book?

2. Does this character still look and act the way he did at the beginning of the book? 

3. If this scene introduces a new idea or new action, is it something that I remembered to follow through all the way to the end? 

4. Have you met the objectives of your story? 

5. Have you followed your header, chapter, and quote scheme consistently?

7. Does this scene matter? 

The Editor's Blog & Query Shark

(post contributed by Brooke Hargett)

Since I'm in the middle of editing my book, I've been focusing on things that will help me, to that end.   I've found a lot of really helpful information on The Editor's Blog and I thought I would share!

One question we've had come up in our writing group is when to use or omit italics for our character's thoughts.  I found all the answers in this post: Inner Dialogue- Writing Character Thoughts 

One thing I learned from reading her post about how to structure a Synopsis is that no matter what point of view your book is in, the synopsis should be written in third person present tense. 

In Stir Reader Curiosity she addresses the importance of giving the reader something they aren't expecting.   Here are some ways she suggests to do this: 

Encourage readers to anticipate what could happen, but give them an event or character response they couldn’t have expected, yet one so very appropriate for the story—this means you get to not only lead them, but mislead them

Create anticipation by writing a character action that requires another character’s reaction

Give characters multiple problems and setbacks—pile on the problems

Encourage readers to think—keep them involved

Raise the stakes

Give characters a reason to move faster—set a clock ticking

Introduce a new character, one who shakes up the status quo

Remove a character to take away another character’s support system

Change any major story element—don’t allow either characters or readers to grow comfortable.

I've also been reviewing a lot of the posts from Query Shark to try to flush out my query.  The query shark is brutal and honest, but its very helpful if you're not the one on the hook. :)  Its free to send in your query, and if you get picked and "chewed up" you have the chance to revise and try again.  It is very helpful to look through these!  GOOD LUCK!

Hope these tips were helpful!  See ya next time!

Brooke

EDITING your manuscript

(post contributed by Brooke Hargett)

.... and we're back.  Sorry for the lapse in postings, but we are recommitting!  

I found this awesome blog: http://theeditorsblog.net/ and found some really helpful information when you are getting ready for an edit of your manuscript.  I just recently finished my complete first draft (YAY!!) so this is something I've been thinking about a lot recently.  I want to make sure I'm focused on the right things when I'm doing this so I don't have to do a zillion edits.

The first  I'm featuring of the Editor's Blog is a list of specific things to be watching out for when you begin editing:

http://theeditorsblog.net/2011/06/07/checklist-for-editors/ 

The second one is a final cleanup list:

http://theeditorsblog.net/2012/03/22/that-final-manuscript-cleanup/

I also suggested a book called Object Lessons by The Paris Review, which is a collection of 20 author's favorite short stories with their comments.  It's supposed to bean awesome tool for aspiring writers. 

This month is also NaNoWriMo which several of us are participating in (I was, but due to a more intense knee surgery recovery than I was planning on, I'm sadly bowing out until next year).  But good luck to my everyone who's participating!  Until next time- which will be sooner rather than later... Happy writing!

so you want to write a novel...

(Post contributed by Brooke Hargett)

I found this on http://rejecter.blogspot.com and I had to post it!  We just had our 1st Annual Riveting Writer's Bootcamp last monday so be looking for posts from each of us soon!  In the meantime...

Writing Reel #2: The Query

(Post contributed by Robin)

Everyone says that it's the hardest thing you'll ever do.  If you do it wrong, you can become an immediate failure.  Do it right and you can be on the New York Times Bestseller list.  That's right, people, I'm talking about the query letter.

Now, don't be scared.  Yeah, it can make or break you, but after reading hundreds of agent blogs and researching all the websites I could find, I've come to this conclusion:  once you're aware of the main parts of a professional query letter, forget everything else and have fun doing it!  Your query letter should allow the reader to get a feel for your writing style and a tiny taste of your novel.  Since I'm not an expert or agent, I've compiled a list of resources that will help you get started:

1. The Stress-free Query - a quick overview on what your query should look like.
2. How to Find an Agent - this article by an agent has great info and the comments section is informative.  The other links on the site are fabulous too.
3. Sample query letters -  dozens of examples already written
4. Basics of a Solid 3 Paragraph Query - skip down to Query Letter Basics
5. From the Query to the Call by Elana Johnson (I can send you a .pdf of this book if you can't download it from her website)

A little tidbit on choosing a genre:

On the importance of genre:
“Ack, it’s salty! Bleh, worst cookie I’ve ever tasted.”
“It’s a cheese straw.”
“Oh.” (second bite) “Hey, that’s really good! Pass me another.”
(brought to you by surprises on the potluck table)

HOOKS

By Savage and Dashner

Your hook is your sales pitch!

What is a hook?

• Tells enough of your story to "hook" an agent or editor. Two sentences--make sure it sounds cool.
• Don't try to tell the whole story.
• Capture the voice of your story.
• Shorter is better.
• Doesn't start with a hypothetical question.
• Makes it clear what is unique about your story.

Part of a Hook

• The Protagonist--What makes a strong protagonist?
• The Goal--Why must your protagonist have a goal?
• Obstacles--The bigger the better
• Consequences--Ups the tension--put on the pressure (i.e. time, death)

Names of writers to look at their query letters: Elana Johnson, Shannon Whitney, Alli Cross, and Jen Daiker (Unedited blog).