More World's Worst Book Proposals

Angela Hoy of WritersWeekly.com and Booklocker.com occasionally publishes a list of the World's Worst Book Proposals. Every time I read them I can't decide if I should laugh or shake my head in dismay. If you would like to know how not to present a proposal, check out the current World's Worst list here.

Tolerating Uncertainty

“Since you have no choice but to begin in uncertainty, you must learn to tolerate uncertainty and, if possible, to turn it into excitement.” -- Stephen Koch in The Modern Library Writer’s Workshop.

This is an appropriate quote for NaNoWriMo. I imagine there are a number of authors out there (I’m not participating) who are uncertain about a number of things at this stage, with many questions that still need answering. For all you WriNoMo enthusiasts, I have one piece of lame advice: Keep on keeping on. And let uncertainty drive your story, instead of being a roadblock to its completion.

Good luck, everyone.

The Force Behind the Book

Writers are also readers and have a great opportunity to study other authors, to figure out what it is about the book that drew them into the storyline. Figuring out the force behind the book that pulled you in will help define your own writing. Every book needs two things at least: memorable characters and a strong storyline.

Characters are the parts of the engine that move the storyline. When you create memorable and long lasting impressions of them into your readers then you’ve hooked them. As soon as a reader ‘feels’ for your fictional character then their emotions, trials and tribulations, and quests belong to the reader because now they care about them. Develop stick people and you lose a reader.

Besides characters, your storyline needs delicate paint strokes to bring your fictional world alive. Descriptions using the five senses sculptures a realistic and believable world.

The point of no return for a writer is the beginning. The opening (beginning - first chapter) should captivate and keep your reader’s attention. That initial hook is the difference between writers who understand the importance and those who don’t. Remember you are competing with thousands of writers…your work should stand apart from all the rest. That ‘hook’ will not only capture a reader, but possibly an agent or publisher when submitting your manuscript.

Besides characters and descriptions you need a solid plot, not one that jumps from one subplot to another without any connection to the overall theme of the book. Each subplot needs to connect in some way and tie in at the end, or help define and allow your character to grow with each obstacle thrown in their path. This entices your reader to find out the conclusion, to see how the protagonist will overcome, if at all. This is called building suspense, taking your reader for a neat roller-coaster ride. Surprise them with a twist ending but make sure that twist fits in and not something blended in out of the blue with no meaning.

Create a vivid fictional world with memorable characters and you’ll have a reader for life.

Web resource: Successful NaNo Writers Speak

Web Page:  Successful NaNo Writers Speak.

For those of you planning to participate in NaNoWriteMo, this web page contains interviews with three published authors discussing their NaNo experience.

Apollo's Lyre - October 2009 Issue

Our October 2009 Issue is now ready for you to enjoy.

We've got several mini and maxi flash fiction for your reading pleasure.

Poetry to delight your 'poetic' tastebuds.

And an article to smack you between the eyes...well, not really smack. Maybe awaken your 'rejection' senses?

So stop reading this...come one...go HERE.

Newest Issue

Stay tuned. Apollo's Lyre's newest issue is coming out this weekend.

The staff want to thank everyone for your patience while we were away on an online conference. We'll be back with insight as to how that went over the next few weeks.

The Rejection Blues

"I totally grant the possibility that a story I sent out sucks, and I do give rejections and comments the power (eventually) to let me know such a thing. But I would never grant them the power to determine whether I'm a writer or not. No one gets to decide that but me." -- Randall Brown in Submitting Your Story (As Opposed to Yourself).

Randall’s post comes at a perfect time for me. I received two rejection e-mails this week, and the last two stories I submitted to a weekly writing challenge received less than rave reviews. I checked my submissions database, and I’ve received 181 rejections since July of 2007. I didn’t look at how many stories this covered. Some were rejected multiple times.

You might think I'd be used to rejection, but it still hurts; especially when, for whatever reason, I expect an editor to fall in love with a story. One aspect of the process that bothers me is when an editor (and this happens in critique groups also) explains how he would have written the story, or what he expected at the end. Gosh, if I wanted to write his story, I would have interviewed him before I started. Okay, that may be sour grapes; but I’m not interested in how someone else would have written my story. I want to know why mine didn't work -- in this person's opinion. I don’t remember who it was that suggested no critique should include the word I, but I agree.

In the end, I have to remember Randall’s advice and realize it’s not me an editor is rejecting. It’s my story. On the good news side, I received three acceptances this week; and a three to two ratio is something to be happy about. Still ...