Query One - Just One - Manuscript at a Time

Today I'm including a link to a children's agent blog, which impressed me with an interesting post on querying. A kids'  book agent? Well, agents are agents, whatever their field, and this post covers an area not often addressed - the urge to query more than one project at a time.

One or two of you are tut-tutting, saying, "There's that Fran being silly again, assuming we have more than one MS to query." But some of you do. You comment about it. And as we query agents with one story, we long to mention that other one, and perhaps an even earlier one - just a hint of them, that's all; just a snippet...a little whisper of a suggestion that we have a couple of other books looking for an agent; let them see that we're prolific, that we're industrious; and this, in turn, should warrant serious consideration.

Sometimes we sneak it in at the end of the letter. "This is my third novel. My first and second (third, fourth and fifth) are currently being revised (unrecognizably reconstructed, mercilessly mutilated, savagely vandalized, irrevocably ruined)," we say, hoping against hope that the agent will swoon in anticipation of yet more of our great works and email back, "Send these immediately!" Most times we don't say anything, but feel a litte inadequate talking about only one novel, as if we've been a bit lazy, when we've spent years working on those others, too, our earlier babies.

So this children's literature blog, KidLit, has a very useful take on the problem.  And if finding an agent for your only novel is your torment, thank your lucky stars. You are still delightfully uncynical about the whole business and probably life in general.  (It won't last, you know.)

I see Anne Mini is focusing on the correct formatting of  the manuscript again at her blog.  It's hard to believe it's still necessary to remind people of the preferred style, but there you are, all giddy excitement over your clever words and no thought for the agent's feelings, as she, it's hoped, reads it.  This is the one time when you don't want to appear eccentric, inexperienced, or just plain silly. You can do that later during the television interviews.

Of course, her Author! Author! link is permanently in my side bar, but to save you mousing over and looking for it, check Anne Mini's blog here. If you've forgotten how good her posts are, read a couple of others while you're there. This woman really knows what she's talking about, and the site is well indexed and ready for just about anything a writer could need.

Okay, so all of this chit-chat could be perceived as a cover-up for the fact of my NOT working on my current book. It's been ten weeks. I've done a few pages here and there, but no real, out-of-control, steam-heat-generating, can't-concentrate-on-TV, writing. But, I told you, I've had so much on my mind. I am entering a life-altering period again, a stage in my history which will be writ large for a long time to come. Such huge intercontinental house moves are up there with death and divorce when it comes to traumatic experiences, although you usually have little control over the last two.

And so Summer Must End can wait another couple of weeks while I deal with all the stresses that I've chosen for myself. The associated drama and frayed nerves (the cats will cost HOW MUCH to transport?) should help with the writing, at least, when I am ready.  We writers will do almost anything to put the excitement back into our writing.

Last, because it's almost Valentine's Day, I've slipped in the link to Patricia Volonakis Davis's blog, which is entitled "Got Love?" Hope you enjoy it.

The New Book Journey - Are We There Yet?

I've completed the 150% magnification proofing of Strachan, and she's looking good. I'll put it aside for now, before running off the hard copy. My writing buddy, Melissa, suggested a couple of valid points, and they're now reflected in this final draft, and I am still thinking of just one or two tiny pertinent things that I'd like to say, but that's normal. I don't think I've been so excited about a book before. It's strange, because Hafan Deg was a huge investment for me, and took ages to complete and forever to revise. Strachan's Attic was the 'easier' book - if writing is ever easy - and yet satisfies me more. Perhaps it's still a case of loving the one you're with.

Of the couple of new story ideas floating around, I am nervous at this stage. Melissa said the time wasn't right to start hers yet, even though her story was firmly in place. I echo that, in that I could sit down now and begin, but something is telling me to wait a bit. Once that urge is allowed free reign into our days (and our nights, damn it!) we'll be once more at its mercy. So we tend to hold off just a little longer, to grab some time for ourselves, to recuperate, to refresh, to rest (as Sally suggested), before jumping into the deep end.

But one of those ideas? Oh, wow, it's strong! I want to tell you about it now, but I can't. The important thing is the where. England, Canada, Australia? Each presents its own amazing backdrop for the kind of story I have in mind. Switching genres? Maybe. Upset my agent? Undoubtedly. But what writer truly wants to be predictable? Many well known writers deliberately use different names for their different genres - and not because it might otherwise upset their agents - but because they care about their readers' expectations. As a Newbie (possibly even a never-will-be) I have the luxury of deciding what I want to write, like building that baseball diamond in the cornfield: with luck, they will come.

I have another manuscript at around the 25% stage, started some time ago, for which I lost my fervor; one of Life's Challenges interrupted the original first draft, and I just didn't get back to it. I re-read it yesterday, and it's good. I'm thinking of incorporating the plot into my new book, intertwined through the main story, but I'll be careful before rushing into it. It could sound weird, but my characters are still getting to know each other. I'm going to leave them in peace.

Meanwhile I try to stay busy doing other things. I'm not much good at shopping, but did a little of that yesterday. I caught up with my upstairs neighbor as well, who sometimes phones me to see if I'm still alive. I didn't do the Wine-by-the-Bay thing, but will wait, I think. I have a feeling that the overwhelming need to get this story going will present itself at this restaurant, because of its beautiful setting.

In my personal life, I am a huge planner, and can - more or less - tell you what I expect to be doing in five years. I believe in cash flow spreadsheets, long-term monetary forecasts, lists for just about anything you can think of, and I'm ridiculed by my kids, who think my need to start researching stuff years before I intend to take action on them is just plain obsessive.

I mention this because I don't do this with my writing. I plan nothing except my ending. I come up with the basic idea, mentally mull it around for a while, and then just go for it. All research is done as I work. Over the previous period, prior to the actual writing, I probably have made some notes, snippets of dialogue I want to use, but nothing else. If I decided my hero would be a biologist, and then couldn't find enough fascinating information on that, I'd just switch his profession. That's the wonder of writing. Like children, we get to make it up as we go along.

My question of the day? Are you heavily into research before you start, like Melissa, and, if so, is your life equally planned out in advance (in as much as any life can be)? I have a strong feeling that one practice voids the other. Just curious.

Have a great weekend. I think we are having a spot of summer up here tomorrow, although I'm not sure about Sunday.

Not writing? Don't feel guilty!

How are we all doing today? I've been a bit bossy this week, trying to get you guys back in line. The reason I did this is because I've been there, full of avoidance and doubt, and will probably be there again. Discipline is one of the key elements in getting your book finished - or started, for that matter, so I nagged you about why you weren't writing, commented on your unwarranted fears, and generally offered my personal suggestions on how to get beyond that. Today I just want to finish up with that old demon, guilt.

In the ideal world, you should be writing, and you shouldn't be suffering from any sort of fear about it, either, because this is what you want, the thing you believe you were born to do, isn't it? But, sometimes, much as you wish you could change things, you just don't want to write, and then the guilt takes over, and you feel even worse. Double whammy. You're not a real writer, you conclude, although you've spent most of your life telling yourself you are.

I've felt this way a couple of times in my life, and I didn't write for years! That would have been okay if I'd enjoyed the down-time, but I didn't, because I constantly felt bad about my two unpublished books, the other unfinished novel, and over my abandonment of what is, truly, a very special aspiration.

It's useless to be reminded that you need to get in front of that computer and just do it, work through blocks, overcome slowdowns, when you're feeling this awful. Sometimes, whatever uplifting things you read, whatever self-help program you watch, it just makes you more cynical.

After all, you're not as good as those other writers churning out thousands of words a week, and you're not as dedicated as those happy writers who say they can't wait to get to their revisions each day, are you? Obviously you've been leading yourself on, because a real writer wouldn't just turn away from their creations, would they? You keep hearing about passion, but suddenly you don't have any.

And so you read other people's blogs, vaguely hoping they'll help. They all seem gleefully dedicated to congratulating one another on their huge productivity. She's finished her 95,000 words, you read. She's already queried 15 agents, and he's just reponded to requests for two Partials AND a Full! One of your favorites - you've commented there many times - has just announced she's about finished with revising her second novel. You've been following her since she finished her first...

Oh, please, enough with the self pity.

Here's where I confuse you by appearing to disregard my Monday post. If your writing is going badly, for whatever reason - sickness, family or money problems, hormonal imbalances - it's okay to put it aside. Get away from it completely, for as long as it takes, but do it with intention, with understanding of why you must. State to yourself and the world, "I must take a break from the writing." And then go ahead and do something entirely different and DO NOT FEEL GUILTY. Think of this as your time to refuel.

You will be back. The ideas will flow again, the plot will resolve itself, and your characters will finally behave, because you've been here before and you know things always turn around. So stop beating yourself up.

Buy a bunch of top notch books and drown yourself in them. Try not to read them as a writer, but just enjoy them. They don't all have to be new books, because sometimes that can be a downer, seeing the shiny new cover, the crisp, fresh pages, especially if the jacket blurb mentions "...this block-buster first novel..." Used books are good for getting away from what's hot now (and which may not be hot by the time you're ready to publish, by the way), and cheap, and will still keep the economy flowing on a tiny scale. (I often buy books at my library, where they regularly sell off their unwanted ones to make space for the new.)

So take the summer off, if you like. Read every chance you get. Relax with the thought that you'll be rearing to go by the fall. All that reading is going to get you itching to get back to it. While you're relaxing, between reads, your next book is also percolating away in your brain recesses just waiting to emerge - along with a third and a fourth, if you'd take time to consider them. If new ideas do nudge you, after you've jumped up and shouted "Eureka!", make some simple notes and put those notes firmly aside. You're on vacation, so vacate.

It hurts me to see the blogs where you mention struggling to get past 14,000 words, or having doubts about your plot, or your voice. Time to step back and let your little writing genie ponder its mysterious life without you for a while. It will, you know, because it will always be there, despite how you're feeling now.


There are no changes in my query stats this week. Still 18 Pending, 2 Partials, and 11 Rejections. I'm going to add a new category next week, because it's probably warranted: No Response. Some of those guys have had more than enough time to get back to me, so I must be realistic and accept that they never will.

Check out this website, Poets and Writers, if you don't already know about it. I've found a lot of interesting things here, and it just requires registration to be a part of it all. I doubt you'll think of a single writer's question that hasn't been covered. Impressive.

Have a lovely weekend, and either work your little writing socks off, or - forget Dorothy Parker - lift yourself firmly off the seat and have fun.