|
mary rosenblum
|
Hello all!
|
|
mary rosenblum
|
Welcome to our Tuesday Forum.
|
|
mary rosenblum
|
I hope you had an excellent
weekend.
|
|
mary rosenblum
|
This is the Tuesday Forum with
me Mary Rosenblum LR Web Editor, fiction and nonfiction writer. We're
talking about knowing what you write. If you're new here, remember that you
need to click on the Ask a Question button or the word bubble next to the
red question mark at the top of the screen, or use the ask a question icon
in order to ask a question. Your regular send bar won't reach me! You can
also type /ask in front of your question in your regular send bar to reach
me.
|
|
mary rosenblum
|
This Forum topic is a request
from one of our website regulars.
|
|
mary rosenblum
|
It's true that while many
people know exactly what they are writing, some writers aren't really sure
where to market their fiction.
|
|
mary rosenblum
|
I want to talk about about
what 'genre' and 'market' mean, right off the bat.
|
|
mary rosenblum
|
There are no international
standards to define your work.
|
|
mary rosenblum
|
The whole concept of 'genre'
is simply a sorting tool.
|
|
mary rosenblum
|
It allows bookstore owners to
decide where to shelve your work with similar work.
|
|
mary rosenblum
|
And it allows readers to
browse a few shelves to find a particular type of story...
|
|
mary rosenblum
|
rather than having to search
the entire bookstore.
|
|
mary rosenblum
|
And it is true that many
stories contain elements of multiple genres.
|
|
mary rosenblum
|
Most of my SF stories have
mystery plots.
|
|
mary rosenblum
|
They're classed as 'SF'
because they take place in a SFnal universe.
|
|
mary rosenblum
|
Many of them contain elements
of romance, too.
|
|
mary rosenblum
|
Romance is generally a plot
element in most fiction...to some degree at least.
|
|
mary rosenblum
|
If you're writing short fiction,
the best way to identify your market is to purchase a couple of issues of
the magazines you're interested in selling to...
|
|
mary rosenblum
|
and read them.
|
|
mary rosenblum
|
Is their fiction anything like
what you write?
|
|
mary rosenblum
|
The writers guidelines for
Asimov's, Analog, Fantasy & SF, and Talebones are all pretty similar.
|
|
mary rosenblum
|
The stories those editors
publish are not at all similar.
|
|
mary rosenblum
|
And as an editor changes, so
does the magazine.
|
|
mary rosenblum
|
One way to identify your
'genre' is to ask yourself what is the most important aspect of the story?
If the entire plot...
|
|
mary rosenblum
|
revolves around a pair of star
crossed lovers, and the setting and other plot elements aren't nearly so
important, this is probably something for the Romance publishers.
|
|
mary rosenblum
|
If the story revolves around a
crime or a murder, it's probably a mystery.
|
|
mary rosenblum
|
If it's set in the future,
you're most likely going to be classes as SF..
|
|
mary rosenblum
|
And if it has magic, elves,
unicorns...you're looking at fantasy.
|
|
mary rosenblum
|
That doesn't stop you from
pitching your work to multiple genres. :-) You might find that you can sell
your fantasy book to either Luna (a romance imprint) or Tor Books (a
speculative fiction publisher).
|
|
mary rosenblum
|
You might find that your
contemporary fantasy belongs in both the mainstream genre ...
|
|
mary rosenblum
|
and the fantasy genre.
|
|
mary rosenblum
|
This is the Tuesday Forum with
me Mary Rosenblum LR Web Editor, fiction and nonfiction writer. We're
talking about knowing what you write. If you're new here, remember that you
need to click on the Ask a Question button or the word bubble next to the
red question mark at the top of the screen, or use the ask a question icon
in order to ask a question. Your regular send bar won't reach me! You can
also type /ask in front of your question in your regular send bar to reach
me.
|
|
mary rosenblum
|
The hard part for everyone to
grasp at the outset of their careers...
|
|
mary rosenblum
|
is that there is no hard and
fast standard for ANYTHING in fiction.
|
|
mary rosenblum
|
What one editor sees as
'fantasy', another editor might see as 'magic realism mainstream'.
|
|
mary rosenblum
|
Speculative fiction is a
rather vague and inclusive term for anything other than reality...it come
from the...
|
|
mary rosenblum
|
idea of 'speculating' about
whatever...the future, magic, etc
|
|
mary rosenblum
|
Mostly it's used to cover SF
and fantasy in the same sentence. :-)
|
|
mary rosenblum
|
It usually include horror and
magic realism...these are all more specific categories of speculative
fiction -- the broad umbrella term.
|
|
tolkienlvr
|
Mary, can you give more
description of what "speculative fiction" is?
|
|
mary rosenblum
|
Sorry, tolkien...I posted the
answer before I posted your question. :-)
|
|
janecj333
|
I have worried that a story with
multiple cross-genre elements will never find a publisher, because all
regard it as "not for me".
|
|
mary rosenblum
|
That's not necessarily so,
jane. Remember that while publishers like the tried and true because of the
tyranny of the bottom line...
|
|
mary rosenblum
|
they are ALL looking for the
'breakout book' that catches public attention and makes BIG sales.
|
|
mary rosenblum
|
THat does not mean that just
BECAUSE your book is a 'between the cracks' type book...
|
|
mary rosenblum
|
with elements of multiple
genres it will sell. But if it is a powerful book...
|
|
mary rosenblum
|
it will likely sell. Perhaps
not as quickly, since editors who are more fixated...
|
|
mary rosenblum
|
on the tried and true will
reject it. But who said you can only submit a book once?
|
|
jyinxy
|
so how do we know what we should
write?do you generally write what you like to read?
|
|
mary rosenblum
|
I really really really suggest
you write what you read for pleasure, jyinxy.
|
|
mary rosenblum
|
It is VERY difficult to write
for a genre you don't read personally.
|
|
mary rosenblum
|
You can do it, but it means
analyzing that genre to determine what the editors want to see,
generally...
|
|
mary rosenblum
|
and that is a WHOLE lot easier
to do when you can analyze your own work well enough...
|
|
mary rosenblum
|
to know what you are and are
not doing.
|
|
mary rosenblum
|
In other words, when you can
make intentional decisions about what you want your story to do, rather
than 'just writing it', you're more likely to suceed...
|
|
mary rosenblum
|
writing out of your genre. But
that usually takes a fair amount of experience.
|
|
mary rosenblum
|
So you're more likely to
succeed...and have more fun!...if you write what YOU want to read.
|
|
jackie7777
|
I am writing a piece and I am
not sure what genre itr fits into. It is about a young man who has been
told a lie about the death of his mother (who is alive) and later finds out
she is alive. He does not find this out until much later in life -
adulthood. I am not trying to write a mystery because 1. I do not like
mysteries and 2. I do not read mysteries. I am trying to write a piece
about a young man who after losing his mother finds her and in turn finds
himself. What genre is this?
|
|
mary rosenblum
|
Mainstream, jackie. And it
sounds like a great plot, too. :-)
|
|
oddangel
|
what if you read a variety of
things for pleasure?
|
|
mary rosenblum
|
Then your options for writing
what you read are MUCH broader, odd. :-) Good for you.
|
|
lore alley
|
Mary, can you explain mainstream
and literary fiction?
|
|
mary rosenblum
|
This is always a fuzzy
boundary, lore.
|
|
mary rosenblum
|
Essentially, mainstream is
just a fiction story that is not a mystery, is not fantasy, is not horror,
is not SF.
|
|
mary rosenblum
|
I know that's vague, but it IS
a vague boundary.
|
|
mary rosenblum
|
Handmaid's Tale was classed as
'mainstream' but it's actually SF...it's set in a future world.
|
|
mary rosenblum
|
But it was marketed as mainstream,
because the author was already known as a mainstream writer.
|
|
mary rosenblum
|
So you have quite a bit of
crossover into mainstream.
|
|
mary rosenblum
|
Literary is harder to define.
The best way to describe it is a piece of fiction...
|
|
mary rosenblum
|
where the style of the writing
is as important as the plot and characters.
|
|
mary rosenblum
|
It's not just the story...it's
how you tell the story.
|
|
mary rosenblum
|
So the form is more important
and you are working with stylistic elements as much as plot elements.
|
|
mary rosenblum
|
And it is judged on its
stylistic merits as much as on its story.
|
|
mary rosenblum
|
In literary fiction, language
is meant to play a powerful role in the work.
|
|
mary rosenblum
|
In most other fiction, the
language merely presents the story in the most powerful fashion...it is
subordinate to the plot and characters.
|
|
mary rosenblum
|
Not so in literary fiction.
|
|
jackie7777
|
Is that how I present it to a
publisher?
|
|
mary rosenblum
|
Yes, Jackie. You would do your
market research by browsing the 'mainstream' shelves in your local
bookstore...
|
|
mary rosenblum
|
often called 'contemporary
fiction' or just 'fiction' and looking for publishers...
|
|
mary rosenblum
|
who have published stories
about characters who are also searching for meaning in their
lives...something along those lines.
|
|
mary rosenblum
|
And if you're talking novel
length fiction, you will have to approach the big publishing houses through
an agent.
|
|
mary rosenblum
|
BUT...if you find small press
publishers on the shelves of the big chains, they have excellent
distribution and are worth considering from the start.
|
|
mary rosenblum
|
This is the Tuesday Forum with
me Mary Rosenblum LR Web Editor, fiction and nonfiction writer. We're
talking about knowing what you write. If you're new here, remember that you
need to click on the Ask a Question button or the word bubble next to the
red question mark at the top of the screen, or use the ask a question icon
in order to ask a question. Your regular send bar won't reach me! You can
also type /ask in front of your question in your regular send bar to reach
me.
|
|
mary rosenblum
|
Most of the time, if you don't
think your book or story is speculative fiction, mystery, etc...it's
probably mainsteam.
|
|
mary rosenblum
|
That really is the 'everything
else' category. :-)
|
|
mary rosenblum
|
And I believe that next to
romance, it's the largest market.
|
|
mary rosenblum
|
NOBODY tops romance!
|
|
mary rosenblum
|
I really suggest that when you
are starting out you write what moves you and don't worry about where to
sell it until afterward.
|
|
mary rosenblum
|
What you want to capture is
all the power and passion that you feel as you tell that story.
|
|
mary rosenblum
|
And if you're trying to write
something you are not passionate about ...just because it might pay
better...you're not likely to impress an editor.
|
|
jyinxy
|
is it diffcult to find a good
agent?ho would you go about getting one? do you send them sample stories?
|
|
mary rosenblum
|
You can visit the Association
of Authors Representatives website, jyinxy.
|
|
mary rosenblum
|
AAR Webpage
|
|
mary rosenblum
|
They have a FAQ page that
guides you in the process of contacting and choosing an agent and they have
some contact information up there.
|
|
mary rosenblum
|
I also recommend Jeff Herman's
Guide to Publishers, Editors, and Literary Agents.
|
|
mary rosenblum
|
I think he just updated it.
|
|
geezer
|
Within the Christian genre are
all the other genres. Most people at the library ask me for historical
fiction.
|
|
mary rosenblum
|
Yes, good point Geeze.
|
|
mary rosenblum
|
Christian fiction is quite a
large market and really does include everything else..pretty much.
|
|
mary rosenblum
|
Historical fiction is its own
genre although it segues into SF with Alternative History.
|
|
mary rosenblum
|
Most agents, by the way, want
only a query or a synopsis and three chapters...often they ask for a
query...
|
|
mary rosenblum
|
which is a VERY brief pitch
for the book, and if it's the kind of book this agent handles...
|
|
mary rosenblum
|
you'll get a request for the
chapters and synopsis.
|
|
geezer
|
I meant that they asked for
historical within the Christian genre
|
|
mary rosenblum
|
Ah, that makes more sense. I
thought your public library clientele were a bit unusual. :-)
|
|
mary rosenblum
|
This is the Tuesday Forum with
me Mary Rosenblum LR Web Editor, fiction and nonfiction writer. We're
talking about knowing what you write. If you're new here, remember that you
need to click on the Ask a Question button or the word bubble next to the
red question mark at the top of the screen, or use the ask a question icon
in order to ask a question. Your regular send bar won't reach me! You can also
type /ask in front of your question in your regular send bar to reach me.
|
|
mary rosenblum
|
One thing to keep in mind as
you receive rejections from agents...
|
|
mary rosenblum
|
each agent works closely with
a handful of editors.
|
|
mary rosenblum
|
Every editor works for a
particular imprint... a big publisher like Random House has hundreds of
editors...
|
|
mary rosenblum
|
and if that agents familiar
editors don't generally buy this type of work, you'll get a no thanks.
|
|
mary rosenblum
|
So when you DO get accepted,
that agent is pretty sure the book is sold for sure.
|
|
mary rosenblum
|
Ah, Mark, I saw your question
about autobiography.
|
|
marktwainish
|
I mean a memior on my life as a
manic depressant
|
|
mary rosenblum
|
That might well sell. There is
a lot of public awareness about 'bipolar'...
|
|
mary rosenblum
|
autism, schizophrenia...and
that type of personal memoir might well catch a publisher's eye.
|
|
mary rosenblum
|
On the average, unless you are
a celebrity for some reason, you will have trouble selling an autobiography
to a publisher..
|
|
mary rosenblum
|
They want some sort of 'hook'
to attract reader attention.
|
|
mary rosenblum
|
But of course, that's a
perfect reason to use one of the very low cost personal presses like
iUniverse.
|
|
mary rosenblum
|
They fill the personal memoir,
family memoir publishing niche very well.
|
|
mary rosenblum
|
It is easy to get your book
published these days.
|
|
mary rosenblum
|
It is not particularly easy to
get paid for it, but it never has been.
|
|
janecj333
|
Getting the request from an
agent is not such an easy matter. In almost 30 queries for my completed sf
novel, I received no requests to send chapters. Despite that I researched
agents carefully and followed their guidelines, I obviously did not
identify even one that looks at new writers' work.
|
|
mary rosenblum
|
I think you're looking at it
from the wrong perspective jane. I think you didn't identify one that
thought they could sell your book.
|
|
mary rosenblum
|
It may be too similar to
things that are already out there and haven't done well...
|
|
mary rosenblum
|
it may have been for a variety
of reasons...
|
|
mary rosenblum
|
It might be something that
will sell better three years from now or ten...
|
|
mary rosenblum
|
And in Sf, I'd mostly work on
making editor connections at one of the many SF cons in your area...
|
|
mary rosenblum
|
and send it directly to the
editor. You don't need an agent in SF.
|
|
mary rosenblum
|
Actually, one of the best
places to get advice on 'what you write'...is at a writers conference.
|
|
mary rosenblum
|
You can often schedule a
meeting with an agent or editor...get direct feedback.
|
|
mary rosenblum
|
They may tell you where your
book will sell best.
|
|
mary rosenblum
|
And you can always chat with
editors and publishers after panels.
|
|
mary rosenblum
|
Don't pitch your book directly
then...very bad manners and they won't listen...
|
|
mary rosenblum
|
but ask them where a book like
yours...describe it generally and briefly...would best fit.
|
|
mary rosenblum
|
Editors for the most part are
very helpful to new writers if you're not obnoxious.
|
|
janecj333
|
I'm pretty sure that an agent
seeing a query from Greg Bear, Mary Doria Russell, or Margaret Atwood would
request chapters and synopsis without hesitation, regardless of the story
plot, because salabality depends on their name, not on whether it has been
done before.
|
|
mary rosenblum
|
Well of course, Jane. The
agent not only knows that Greg or Atwood will write a good, solid book, but
that person...
|
|
mary rosenblum
|
has already put in the
rejections and publishing sweat to establish that name.
|
|
mary rosenblum
|
And by the way, Greg Bear has
about 30 or more unpublished novels that he wrote and circulated...
|
|
mary rosenblum
|
before he sold his first book.
FYI.
|
|
mary rosenblum
|
So he did not have his name
handed to him. :-) I bet you Atwood has a few...
|
|
mary rosenblum
|
and I know Mary Doria Russell
does.
|
|
mary rosenblum
|
Greg's stack is pretty
impressive, though. :-)
|
|
mary rosenblum
|
But I think he started at
about age 14.
|
|
marktwainish
|
Would getting a memior publushed
before trying to get any of my horror out there hurt my chances, sort of
like type casting in film?
|
|
mary rosenblum
|
Oh, not at all.
|
|
mary rosenblum
|
Memoir is one of the very
respectable genres...
|
|
mary rosenblum
|
And it's not going to hurt you
in horror at all. :-) Mostly editors and publishers don't look outside...
|
|
mary rosenblum
|
their own markets unless those
markets overlap.
|
|
mary rosenblum
|
My mystery publishers could
care less that I'm well known in SF.
|
|
mary rosenblum
|
Although those markets DO
overlap.
|
|
mary rosenblum
|
This is the Tuesday Forum with
me Mary Rosenblum LR Web Editor, fiction and nonfiction writer. We're
talking about knowing what you write. If you're new here, remember that you
need to click on the Ask a Question button or the word bubble next to the
red question mark at the top of the screen, or use the ask a question icon
in order to ask a question. Your regular send bar won't reach me! You can
also type /ask in front of your question in your regular send bar to reach
me.
|
|
lore alley
|
Are there conferences for
mainstream writers?
|
|
mary rosenblum
|
Oh yes, of course. The
Willamette Writers conference here in Portland is one,
|
|
mary rosenblum
|
So is the Tacoma Writers
Conference.
|
|
mary rosenblum
|
Those two I know about.
|
|
mary rosenblum
|
I'm guessing there are more
'general' writers conferences than genre conferences.
|
|
oddangel
|
Do you think the James Frey
debacle is going to sour the memoir market?
|
|
mary rosenblum
|
Good point, odd. Yes, I think
it will make editors more cautious...
|
|
mary rosenblum
|
they will want to be more
certain of the author's facts.
|
|
mary rosenblum
|
It's hard to say if it will
affect the reading public's perception of memoirs.
|
|
mary rosenblum
|
It sure didn't hurt Frey's
sales any! There is NO bad publicity.
|
|
janecj333
|
What you're saying is that new
writers, even the now well-known and extraordinarily-talented, are
badly-treated by the current agenting process. It just doesn't give me much
hope, I'm sorry to say.
|
|
mary rosenblum
|
Jane!!! For pete's sake!
Greg's thirty novels are LOUSY! he's the first to admit that, LOL!
|
|
mary rosenblum
|
Talent is as talent does but
nobody writes perfectly the first time they sit down to the keyboard! LOL
|
|
mary rosenblum
|
I've got my own share of LOUSY
in my background, too!
|
|
mary rosenblum
|
We all do.
|
|
jyinxy
|
well it dosen't help being on
oprah's bad list
|
|
mary rosenblum
|
Well, Frey will have trouble
selling some things in the future, that's for sure.
|
|
mary rosenblum
|
I wrote novels that were good
learning experiences, but I'll sure never sell 'em!
|
|
mary rosenblum
|
Remember that writing is a
craft.
|
|
mary rosenblum
|
While you might sit down at
the piano the first time and play a Beethoven concerto...it is not likely.
|
|
mummsy
|
did you try to sell them Mary?
|
|
mary rosenblum
|
Sure! why write 'em if you
don't want people to read 'em?
|
|
mary rosenblum
|
There is nothing wrong with
writing work, submitting it, and getting rejected.
|
|
mary rosenblum
|
You keep writing, you keep
getting better.
|
|
mummsy
|
so you can tell a writer by
his/her broad shoulders?
|
|
mary rosenblum
|
By their good typing muscles!
:-)
|
|
geezer
|
A little sour grapes. Ted Dekker
has put out about a dozen books since 2000 and he will have 3 this year. He
didn't sell anything until he borrowed Bill Bright of Campus Crusade's
name.
|
|
mary rosenblum
|
Well, you know, the publishing
world is huge, sales count, and alas, you can also find...
|
|
mary rosenblum
|
plenty of examples of really
awful writing that gets published right off the bat.
|
|
mary rosenblum
|
It has readers, it's poorly
written, but it sells. It can drive you up a wall if you let it...
|
|
mary rosenblum
|
but it just depends on what
matters to you.
|
|
mary rosenblum
|
Good matters to me. It matters
to the writers I respect.
|
|
mary rosenblum
|
I know writers who write
anything for money and they don't have any intention...
|
|
mary rosenblum
|
do doing anything more than
the minimum. It's a day job.
|
|
mary rosenblum
|
A lot of what you'll find in
writing is what you bring to it.
|
|
mummsy
|
sometimes reading a poor writer
makes me feel better
|
|
mary rosenblum
|
Good for you, mummsy! ANd
that's the right attitude. I can do BETTER.
|
|
geezer
|
It is discouraging because
Dekker is an award winning author. He did Three.
|
|
mary rosenblum
|
So I don't think I'm
understanding this. Did he succeed after he used someone else's universe?
Or wrote under their name?
|
|
mary rosenblum
|
This is the Tuesday Forum with
me Mary Rosenblum LR Web Editor, fiction and nonfiction writer. We're
talking about knowing what you write. If you're new here, remember that you
need to click on the Ask a Question button or the word bubble next to the
red question mark at the top of the screen, or use the ask a question icon
in order to ask a question. Your regular send bar won't reach me! You can
also type /ask in front of your question in your regular send bar to reach
me.
|
|
jyinxy
|
how did you first come up with
the idea of Europa?
|
|
mary rosenblum
|
Ah, I have a contract to write
a 10,000 word story for a SF anthology due in June...
|
|
mary rosenblum
|
and I wanted a fun new world
to play around in. And Europa has been in the science news lately...
|
|
mary rosenblum
|
as a potential ice and water
moon, so it fit the bill.
|
|
mary rosenblum
|
I had to come up with a
character and plot.
|
|
geezer
|
His first book said it was by
Bill Bright and Ted Dekker. The second by Ted Dekker and Bill Bright .
After that he used only Ted Dekker. His 4th book was a best seller.
|
|
mary rosenblum
|
Ah, but you know what? That
may well have been Bright giving Dekker a hand up.
|
|
mary rosenblum
|
Anne McCaffery does that all
the time.
|
|
mary rosenblum
|
She'll team up with a novice
writer and it'll be by Anne McCaffery and Roberta Whomever.
|
|
mary rosenblum
|
She does it to get them
published and if they take off their own and do well, she's thrilled.
|
|
mary rosenblum
|
Other writers do this, too.
|
|
geezer
|
So where's my angel?
|
|
mary rosenblum
|
They don't knock on your door,
geeze. :-) You have to find them.
|
|
mary rosenblum
|
The cooperations I've
known....and I've done a few in short fiction...
|
|
mary rosenblum
|
come from friendships between
established writers and a newbie.
|
|
mary rosenblum
|
That person might critique for
the writer, belong to the same writers group...
|
|
mary rosenblum
|
or just get to be a friend and
end up mentored by the established writer...
|
|
mary rosenblum
|
and they eventually pair up on
a project.
|
|
jyinxy
|
so how would we go about
"conning" these known writers into helping us?
|
|
mary rosenblum
|
If you have the chance to
become friends with a writer, don't let the friendship drop.
|
|
jackie7777
|
Could I simply write a
particular author and ask?
|
|
mary rosenblum
|
No, jackie. I really doubt you
would succeed that way.
|
|
mary rosenblum
|
When I've done it, it has been
with someone I had swapped crits with...
|
|
mary rosenblum
|
so I knew their writing style
fit mine, and they were writing well enough that I wasn't going to...
|
|
mary rosenblum
|
have to fix their stuff.
|
|
mary rosenblum
|
It wasn't MY story in any
case. It was a blend of our styles and ideas...
|
|
mary rosenblum
|
not a case of 'send me
something, I'll edit it and stick my name on it'.
|
|
mummsy
|
do you write at the same time
everday?or when the mood hits?
|
|
mary rosenblum
|
Now it's more the latter,
mummsy. I do a lot of my work on scraps of paper and in my head. For
example, I was sitting up in bed at 4 AM this moring, writing a scene of my
Europa story on a ...
|
|
mary rosenblum
|
notepad in pen. :-)
|
|
mary rosenblum
|
But I'm quite willing to drop
everything and hit the keyboard when the words are ready to go.
|
|
mary rosenblum
|
When I first started, I had
two very young children, I was a single mom...
|
|
mary rosenblum
|
and writing time came rarely.
So I had regular writing time.
|
|
mary rosenblum
|
The minute I put the kids to
bed I hit that keyboard and didn't stop until I fell asleep there...
|
|
mary rosenblum
|
usually after midnight.
|
|
mummsy
|
i always thought i'd write my
first novel on post it notes
|
|
mary rosenblum
|
I wrote my second one that
way. :-)
|
|
mary rosenblum
|
You have to write a LOT to get
better.
|
|
mary rosenblum
|
At first quantity REALLY
matters.
|
|
mary rosenblum
|
I wrote hundreds of thousands
of words....many of them in stories or novel ms that really were not good
enough to publish...
|
|
mary rosenblum
|
although I couldn't see that
then! :-)
|
|
mary rosenblum
|
But the more I wrote the more
I learned. I did it right by accident at first...
|
|
mary rosenblum
|
then I figured out how to do
it on purpose...
|
|
mary rosenblum
|
and now, I can generally write
something publishable, although the editor I send it to might not like it
enough to buy it...
|
|
mary rosenblum
|
it's not bacause it's not well
writting. But I"m always getting better.
|
|
mummsy
|
does it hurt to have several
projects on the go at once?
|
|
mary rosenblum
|
It works for me.
|
|
mary rosenblum
|
I usually have at least three
in progress.
|
|
mary rosenblum
|
As soon as I feel 'oh, no,
I"ve got to go work on....' I switch to another project...
|
|
mary rosenblum
|
In a way, it's avoidance
behavior turned to good use. :-)
|
|
mary rosenblum
|
To avoid the project I'm
getting stale on, I work on something else.
|
|
mary rosenblum
|
Then I 'avoid' it by working
on project three...or one...
|
|
oddangel
|
And here I was feeling guilty
about not being focused!
|
|
mary rosenblum
|
Everybody finds their own
working method, odd, but I get tunnel vision if I stick with something too
long...
|
|
mary rosenblum
|
and stop seeing the creative
possibilities.
|
|
mary rosenblum
|
I was working on my urban
fantasy, it was slowing down, and then I had a great insight on the
Europa...
|
|
mary rosenblum
|
story and spent part of last
night working on it.
|
|
mummsy
|
i found my mind wanders if i
stay at the same one too long
|
|
mummsy
|
that's comforting, Mary, feels
like i'm on the right track
|
|
mary rosenblum
|
Just as long as you finish
projects once in awhile, mummsy. :-)
|
|
mary rosenblum
|
I do know people who never
finish anything. Hard to publish that way.
|
|
mummsy
|
oh, i do, i've had several
feature articles published so far
|
|
mary rosenblum
|
Good for you, Mummsy!
|
|
mary rosenblum
|
Probably the best thing you
can do as a starting writer is write a LOT...
|
|
mary rosenblum
|
and keep sending it out.
|
|
mary rosenblum
|
You'll get rejection slips,
but you always have something new in the works...
|
|
mary rosenblum
|
and the more editors see your
name and see you getting better...
|
|
mary rosenblum
|
the sooner you'll sell.
|
|
mary rosenblum
|
They'll know your name long
before you make that first sale, in most cases. :-)
|
|
mary rosenblum
|
If you're not sure what you
write, see if you can find something that is generally similar.
|
|
mary rosenblum
|
See who published it.
|
|
mary rosenblum
|
Bookstore browsing is a great
market research tool.
|
|
geezer
|
Off topic. Have the spots for
the novel course been filled? I haven't heard anything since they sent me a
letter.
|
|
mary rosenblum
|
They're signing people up
right and left, geeze.
|
|
mary rosenblum
|
They have their instructors
lined up and it's open to graduated LR students.
|
|
mary rosenblum
|
If you're interested you can
call 'em.
|
|
mary rosenblum
|
Well, this has been a fun
Oregon hour.
|
|
mary rosenblum
|
Moslty write what matters to
you. Then find your market. Don't worry. You fit somewhere!
|
|
lily2
|
How do you handle self doubt.
Lately I've been wondering if I'm good enough
|
|
mary rosenblum
|
Ah, honey, none of us ever
gets past that entirely! Your self doubts just change in nature, that's
all!
|
|
mary rosenblum
|
It's something you simply have
to drive through, the way you'd drive through fog.
|
|
mary rosenblum
|
Remember...you are your own
worst judge of your own abilities.
|
|
mary rosenblum
|
Thanks for coming all!
|
|
mary rosenblum
|
Do join us tomorrow for our
casual chat...
|
|
mary rosenblum
|
here in the auditorium. Same
time, same place...
|
|
mary rosenblum
|
it's just a time to hang out
and talk about writing. Whatever.
|
|
mary rosenblum
|
Have a good week, all!
|
|
mary rosenblum
|
Bye!
|