Cleaning House: YA Giveaway and GUTGAA!

When we meet next, I will have put away the pool toys, vacuumed all the sand from out of my car (yeah right) and put summer things away until next year. School is upon us and only have time for two things:

Gearing Up To Get An Agent (GUTGAA)
When I participated in Deana Barnhart's blogfest/pitchfest last year it was really cool. I won a 10 page critique by an agented writer - and that crit helped me polish my pages. Which in turn (after a lot of additional work) helped me get an agent. It's not magic, it hard work. And GUTGAA is a wonderful way to focus your work and your mind. If you're ready to start querying, or think you are, but you don't know how to get started, this is the place for you. This year's GUTGAA is bigger, better and more intense than last year. You're mind may be blown, is all I'm saying. Seriously, if you think you're ready to take the next step, this is the perfect place to test your mettle. Plus, I'm one of the judges this year so I'm dying to lay my peepers on all the awesome stories out there!

YA FEST GIVE AWAY

Over at Bucks County Writer's Group we're giving away awesomesauce signed books. SEE!

All this can be YOURS!

Just head over to the Bucks County Writer's Group site, comment saying 'i want a chance at swag' or something similar, and follow us, if you don't already. THE DEADLINE IS TOMORROW! (please enter just once! GOOD LUCK!

C is for Critique

Maybe in the beginning I hated it. Okay, there's no maybe about it. I've always hated getting a crit. I remember being in art school, with my work hanging on the wall and everyone walking around it like it's an alien specimen. I still get slightly ill when I think about it.

But I had to put my big girl pants on when I started writing seriously three years ago. I had to let my work out there because I knew that it was the only way to get better. I think that's one of the differences between hobbyist writers and real writers. It's not a matter of quality or talent, necessarily. It's an openness to grow - painfully if that's what it takes - and to take on board criticism of your work.

The feedback I get from my writing group is priceless. As is the accountability of meeting every two weeks. It keeps me focused and thinking, thinking about my writing. It keeps me honest.

Two huge things I've learned from being in a writing group and routinely getting feedback:
First, consider the source. Every reader has an angle, a set of characteristics. Sure, we're all supposed to put our personal biases aside when giving a crit, but who can, really? One member of your group might dislike paranormal elements and you'll end up with notes in the margin like "doesn't feel realistic." Which might be true or might be them projecting their preferences on your work. Do not throw the baby out with the bath water and dismiss the comment, just consider the source.

Secondly, I always pay close attention to feedback I don't agree with. Maybe that's perverse, but if my initial instinct is to reject a piece of feedback as "no, that's not what's happening here" I make myself stop and look more closely at the comment and why I'm rejecting it so quickly? Half the time there's something there that I don't want to see but absolutely need to see. Understand that you have angles and biases too. Be open.

And what if you don't have a writers group? YOU NEED ONE. It can be online, informal, at a coffee shop, small or large. I put our group together after NaNoWriMo meet ups. You need to be a part of a larger community of serious writers.

Oh, and you need this book. It's genius.

By Becky Levine

And C is for Clap Your Hands Say Yeah.

New Blog - Old Query Problems

I don't usually post on Mondays but I wanted to let you know about a new endeavor, The Bucks County Writer's Group blog. We've decided to get our collective writing experience out there, especially what we've learned from being in a writing group. The blog will be less personal journey, more how-to. I'm sure I'll get lots of venting and snark in my posts, regardless. Check us out - we post on Mondays.

Did you check out NiNoCon this weekend over at Ali Cross' dojo? It was wonderful. If you missed it, you still have time to check out the sessions. There's so much great information over there, it's hard to know where to begin. As part of the con, I sent my query in advance to be reviewed by YA author and query queen Elana Johnson. The good news is that she singled mine out. The bad news is that she basically said it wasn't working at all and that I needed to start from scratch. Won't lie. OUCH.

But I kind of knew this, deep down, though I still have no earthly idea how to fix it. I've sent out ten queries and have two fulls and one partial out. BUT the requests have all come from agents that I've encountered at conferences (online and in person) not one request has come from the query. I suspected my query was not working, now I'm afraid it's toxic.

So back to the drawing board. Sometimes I hate that freaking drawing board.

And how is your Monday going?

Writing Group - Rug Pulled Out From Under You

When someone says that they've had the rug pulled out from under them, they generally mean that someone has done something, some mean or tricky thing, that has put them off their footing. They feel betrayed by this literal upset.

I don't feel betrayed at all, though, I look down and the rug that was there is gone.

I met with my Bucks County Writers Group compatriots on Saturday. When I tell you that there's not much else (except maybe a new season of True Blood, or the last Harry Potter movie) that I look forward to as much as our monthly meetings, I'm not exaggerating. I love talking shop with them, hearing their opinions and awesome (so insightful) pointers for my book. I love talking about their submissions and getting into the nitty gritty of meaning and craft.

But this Saturday I got told things I didn't know, things that came so out of left field that the rug-pulling practically gave me whip lash. You know when the thing you think you're doing is not the thing that can actually be experienced by the reader? Yup, that's what happened to me.

One big surprise is that I'm not done writing. I seem to be one of those rare writers who actually has to add some fat in instead of trimming it out. I've left too much to the imagination. I've shown too much and need to tell more.

But the biggest bombshell came from Greg, who said he could stop where he's reading right now (about 250 pages) and it would make sense for him for it to be the end of the first book. That this book could be split into two books. Bleeeewww my mind. He also said that a section that I have taking place in four chapters, over a period of eight weeks, could be expanded. Like to take up a whole year. They he got his crazy on and said, "Well, it's an alternate world, why do their seasons have to be like ours?"

I know I looked like a truck hit me, and I think they were a little panicked at my slack-jawed expression. It's not that they're wrong, it's just that there's so much to think about, sort through. I admit, I'm enough of a control freak that this bothers me. I thought I was 'done.' What's more, I thought I was close to 'really done.' I like neat and I like finished. This felt like the end of my web was unwinding.

Trying really hard not to be negative and look at all this as a big positive (and it was, they're insights for the most part, are dead on). Trying not to panic and just absorb, percolate. Trying.

What's the biggest 'upset' you've gotten from writing feedback? How did you handle it?

C is For Critique

And Crime + The City Solution

I was talking to my friend Jackie the other day and she asked me how my critique group was going. When I told her it was great, I don't think she completely believed me. Granted, I sometimes don't believe me either, especially since I'm not great at 'not taking it personally' and am really terrible at seeing the constructive in the criticism. I've always been this way. When I think about how, in art school, we'd all wait next to our artwork on crit day, lined up against the wall like we were facing a firing squad, I still get queasy.

But my writing group is amazing. It's all the positive stuff I've heard about groups for years, but never really believed. We're supportive, insightful, smart as hell and encouraging. I started the group after meeting some cool people at a NaNoWriMo write-in. Personally, I can't believe I got so lucky. I have fun at these things, even though I still get butterflies when my work's under the microscope. We have intellectually stimulating conversations for the love of mike - do you know how rare that is with the Caillou watching crowd?

Here are some of the reasons why I think this group works:

1) Everyone has skin in the game. Almost every time we meet, we're giving feedback to everyone in the group. If there is ever an impulse to be less than kind, or less than thoughtful, it's squashed by this fact - you next. You want a well thought out, insightful crit that you can build upon? No problem, just make sure you give one too.

2) It's a small group, only three of us. I think it could grow, but it also works at this size. We all get the chance to know each other and know each other's work/style, strengths and weaknesses. It just makes the feedback richer.

3) We 'kill' the author. Usually, I bring baked goods so that the person being critiqued can shove his/her mouth full of cookie and keep quiet. Only when everyone's had a turn at pros/cons can the author talk.

4) We give an annotated copy of the submission back to the author. Having all that feedback thrown at you is disorientating and, while you take notes, it's hard to keep up.

5) Everyone's got a great sense of humor. That is HUGE. It makes the social aspect of the group possible and welcome. It's absolutely imperative to not take yourself too seriously, and goofing off is a great way to make this happen.

Do you belong to a writing group? What is the best and worst part of being in a writing group?

Bucks County Writer's group is GO!

Amazingly, it didn't end in tears.

This weekend we held the first meeting of our writer's group. I baked cookies and Laura and Greg and I talked about our work. No one died, except metaphorically, as the person being critiqued is 'killed' so that s/he can't speak during their crit. As you may have guessed, I was the most vocal dead person ever. I suck at being dead. I didn't argue with anyone that they were wrong - mostly because their feedback was insightful and as soon as they said it I was like 'duh! why didn't I see that' - but they had so many questions that I kept shaking or nodding my head and piping up when I was supposed to be dead as a parrot.

One of our members, Laura, posted her experience of the first meeting here - and I pretty much agree entirely. It was fun, motivating and remarkably painless. Cookies are the way to a writer's heart, apparently. I think I knew that. The best thing about it was that a few months ago, this group didn't exist. I just made it up and hoped someone would buy it. It worked (for now). and that's what I love about writing. I am literally making this shit up as I go along and it becomes real. What an amazing scam!

Bucks County Writers Group - it LIVES!

It's real because it has a logo.

Thank you awesome husband and design god. Now, should 'writers' have a possessive apostrophe? Crap, I don't know. What do you think?