Writing and Writers Exposed

Entering a writing contest is like putting one's self on public display on a ground level platform in the center of town, nude, for all to see, touch, examine, and critique. Talk about pressure! Gotta take my hat off to every writer who puts him or herself in the position to be judged by others.

I recently served as a judge for the RWA Faith, Hope, and Love Inspirational Readers' contest. What fun! I received a thick package of four new books, which I was allowed to keep in exchange for reading them and telling the contest coordinators what I thought. I read each, spacing them out with other non-contest books so that my feedback would be somewhat independent. I gave my honest opinion and returned my feedback in much less than the two months time allotted.

It was such a delightful experience, I quickly signed up to be a judge again. This time I'm serving as a judge for the RWA Lone Star Writing Competition. Maybe I should have researched the contest before signing up. Although I'm still enjoying myself, this experience is markedly different.

For the Lone Star competition, I received a less thick package than the last time. Hmmm, I wondered. Must be pretty thin books. I opened it up and out fell the 1st 25 pages of five manuscripts. Uh-oh! These are someone's WIP, not published, polished works that I can read and like or not like because some editor has already blessed them and sent them forth into the world. Those writers will sell and earn royalties whether I like their stories or not. Not so for these poor souls. They are earnestly looking for feedback to help them down the path to the Holy Grail of publication. And I only have one month to do it. Oh boy! My shoulders sagged as the weight of these writers' expectations fell upon them.

I immediately sympathized with and applauded the writers--they submitted so they're a step ahead of me on the journey--and set out to do the absolute best job I could, to give each manuscript (1) my undivided attention while reading; (2) my honest and educated opinion, leaving my personal prejudices aside; and (3) a balance of good and constructive criticism, worded in such a way that the writer would hopefully understand the points I made and be able to do something with it, should she choose to.

As always, while committing myself to the task at hand, I'm learning too. So what have I learned about submitting contest entries?

1 -- Check spelling, grammar and punctuation
There's nothing more annoying than obvious errors. Be careful not to put off the judge before he or she gets to the heart of the submission.

2 -- Jump right in
Since I only have 25 pages to read, it's important that I get a feel for the hero, the heroine, and the plot right away. No time for meandering with colorful narrative or unimportant secondary characters. At the same time, the scenes should flow from one to the next. Too many disjointed scenes, in the name of increasing the action, is counterproductive.

3 -- Make the dialogue sharp
If the dialogue isn't moving the plot forward quickly, get rid of it.

4 -- Watch that POV!
Don't head hop and no matter what, don't start talking directly to the reader. Too jarring, like the person sitting next to you a movie theater starting up a conversation when you're trying to concentrate on the film. Dreadful experience.

5 -- Give the reader a reason to want more
An unusual plot twist right up front doesn't hurt, as long as it's not forced. Don't save all the great stuff for the middle because it may never get read.

And of course, make it my absolute best effort. When I submit to a contest like the Lone Star competition, if I'm lucky, I'll get a conscientious judge who gives me great feedback. Hopefully I'll take it to heart and use that feedback to learn, to improve my manuscript, and to move closer to publication.

Peace & Blessings,
Patricia

Peace & Blessings,
Patricia

Stay focused. Be deliberate. Believe.

What Flavor Writer Are You?

Saw a link to this cute quiz over on Julie Leto's Marisela blog and had to use it.

You Are Strawberry Ice Cream

A bit shy and sensitive, you are sweet to the core.You often find yourself on the outside looking in.Insightful and pensive, you really understand how the world works. You are most compatible with chocolate chip ice cream.

What Flavor Ice Cream Are You?

Strawberry ice cream is my favorite, although I've rarely been described as shy. Like ice cream, writers come in many flavors. We all have different experiences that we bring to our writing (I cock my head in wonder at those writers who swear there is nothing of themselves in their writing), we write using different techniques, we favor different genres, we have differing voices...the list goes on. That's why I love to hear other writer's stories of their road to publishing. Sometimes I hear something that makes me go, "Hey, I've experienced that!" or "Hey, I never would have imagined that!" or "Hey, I'm glad that's not me!" (Forget that my 85-year old mother still says, "Hey (sic) is for horses!" I obviously like the word.)

That's one of the things that makes this writing world so much fun. There's no one way to get to the goal of publication, and even after getting there, there's no one way to proceed. There's room for us all.

I'm a reading writer. I don't think I could write if I didn't read as much as I do. I need to scale back to make more time for writing but reading gets me in the mood for writing and teaches me all sorts of things about writing, both good and bad.

If you had to pick one thing that characterizes, and maybe distinguishes, you as a writer, what would that be? (And what flavor ice cream are you?)

Peace & Blessings,
Patricia

Peace & Blessings,
Patricia

Stay focused. Be deliberate. Believe.

Blogging to the Future

Lately, I've been reading a lot of blogs. I know, I know...blogs are the new time-stealer. Definitely true and very dangerous for a writer. I once spent almost an entire day doing nothing but reading blogs, responding to posts, and hopping over to new blogs from the blogs I'd already read.

BJ Hoff has written a series on her blog recently on a writer's distractions, which has caused me to spend some time reflecting. Although I agree that blogs have to potential to keep a writer from doing the one thing that will certainly move his or her writing forward, i.e. writing, I think there is still so much value to blogs, especially to developing writers like myself.

Blogs are a little different than email. With a blog, you can talk to a lot of people--or no one--with one shot. When posting on blogs, you "speak" to more people than you ever could via email messages, and I recently learned there are tools that make reading blogs easier. I use Blogarithm which emails me once a day with a list of all the blogs on my list that have changed in the last 24 hours, thereby eliminating the need for me to painstakingly check a bunch of blogs one by one.

What I like most about blogs as a developing writer is making connections with other writers, learning craft from some very seasoned veterans who I might never meet, discovering new markets from those who don't mind sharing, getting advance notice on new book releases, learning of new books and authors through novel excerpts, and even winning books simply for replying to a post. (I don't mind admitting that I've gotten a few new books that way.) I've even seen some developing writers post short stories or excerpts of their WIP to get feedback. I'm not sure I'd do this but it is one way to create buzz and possibly build an audience before your book is published.

So blogging can be a helpful tool in the developing writer's arsenal if used wisely and kept in proportion to other writing tasks. At this stage of the game, I try to pick wisely. Most of the blogs I frequent help me to learn the craft or stay connected to other writers in the genres I'm interested in (romance and inspirational fiction). I've seen some really interesting blogs that I've had to "walk away" from, because they truly would be distractions.

So I'm blogging my way into the future! What do you like about blogs? How do blogs help you in your writing career?

Peace & Blessings,
Patricia

Peace & Blessings,
Patricia

Stay focused. Be deliberate. Believe.

Reading to Become a Better Writer

I read a lot, as you can see by previous posts. I enjoy it. It relaxes me and it's easier for me to fit into the cramped moments of my day than writing is. I find that I need time to focus to write whereas I can read in small snatches. Nonetheless, to meet any of my writing goals, I've finally accepted that I need to cut back my reading...way back.

Having said that, I stumbled into a series that has completely captivated me. It's the Ballantyne series by Kimberly White. I read the first book, Only in My Dreams, purely out of curiosity. (I've been trying to sample a wide range of romance authors.) I was hooked. Greyson Ballantyne has to be one of the most alluring heros I've encountered in a long time. I almost wanted to slap his beloved, Sutton, because she was whining just a little too much for me.

I was glad I'd taken the entire series out of the library, primarily because it was available in its entirety, unusual for a romance series in paperback. By the end of the first one, I couldn't wait to get into the next, To Love A Ballantyne, to find out if the next brother, Kirkland Ballantyne would be as interesting. He was. Then, the series finale, Ballantyne's Destiny, more than did justice to the last brother, Chevy Ballantyne.

As I read these books, however, I realized that I learned some things that will make me a better writer. Here's what I learned:

1 -- Don't be afraid to take chances.
As much as the series is about the entire Ballantyne family, including the women, this series turns completely on the men. Unusual. Most romances focus on the heroines.

2 -- It is possible to write very explicit sex scenes in sensual, not graphic, terms.
Ms. White is now my standard. There was never any doubt what was happening in a sex scene, even the most adventurous ones. Yet I was able to read them comfortably and with enjoyment, not feeling the least bit put out by overly graphic depictions.

3 -- Tell the reader what the character sees.
In her narrative sections, I found myself feeling as though I was looking through the character's eyes. Her descriptions served a purpose, to help me get deeper into the character's POV, rather than to simply round out the word count.

4 -- Repetition can be a strength.
For a particular supporting character, I found the description of the character to be exactly the same in all three books, verbatim. It worked. Whether the reader read one or all three, it only served to convey the funky nature of this character with clarity. And it made perfect sense to me. If a few sentences perfectly capture the essence of a recurring character, why not reuse them?

5 -- The best romance novels are multilayered.
There are so many things going on in Ms. White's novels that I've been staying up way too late and teetering on the brink of falling asleep at my day job. This is good, engaging stuff. Yet, the romance is always centerplace and the reader never loses focus. Even the subplots somehow move the central romance along.

Yep, as a writer, it's possible to learn a lot by reading the works of others. What have you read recently that has enhanced your writing?

Peace & Blessings,
Patricia

Peace & Blessings,
Patricia

Stay focused. Be deliberate. Believe.

Calls for Submissions -- Hot Off the Press

Aspiring authors have many ways to get published. They can write a manuscript and shop it to publishing houses. Or, perhaps dive into the publishing pool, and self-publish.

Yet another way, perhaps a stepping stone for writers who have yet to complete a manuscript or are timid about shopping one, or maybe for writers who specialize in writing shorter pieces and are looking for new markets, or even for published writers who want to continue honing their skills and have something special to say, is to search for calls for submissions.

Calls for submissions are just that. Publishers need written works to publish and are looking for writers to submit pieces for consideration. Occasionally they are for book length manuscripts but more often than not, they are for short stories/narratives to be included in anthologies.

I did a Google search on "call for submission short story" and got a host of links. One of these led to the very popular Cup of Comfort anthology series. Unfortunately, the link was to a blog post that directed me to the Cup of Comfort website for more detail. Upon going to the website, I found nothing about the call specified so I emailed the publication. I am pleased to say I quickly received a response from Colleen Sells, the Cup of Comfort editor.

Turns out the blog post that I saw, although recently posted, had outdated information. Ms. Sells did, however, provide me with some hot-off-the-press info about three new anthologies, for which their website has not yet been updated. Since she gave me permission to share, the details can be found below.

Happy writing and best wishes on your answer to the call.

Peace & Blessings,
Patricia

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We are actively seeking submissions for three new volumes--so new, they haven't been posted to the Website yet. The call for submissions and submission specifications follow. Your are welcome to share this information with others.

More detailed writers' guidelines and sample stories can be found on the Cup of Comfort Website: http://www.cupofcomfort.com/. Please note that call-outs for the three new books will be posted to the site within two weeks.
Thank you for your interest in A Cup of Comfort.

Colleen Sell
A Cup of Comfort Editor
http://us.f534.mail.yahoo.com/ym/Compose?To=wordsinger@aol.com (direct)
http://us.f534.mail.yahoo.com/ym/Compose?To=cupofcomfort@adamsmedia.com (via publisher)

CALL FOR INSPIRING AND COMPELLING PERSONAL STORIES

A Cup of Comfort is a popular anthology (book) series featuring inspiring true stories about the extraordinary experiences of "ordinary" people. We arecurrently seeking submissions for three new volumes:

A CUP OF COMFORT FOR WRITERS

Only another writer can truly understand what it's like to aspire to become and to be a writer. For this anthology of true stories celebrating (and commiserating) the writing life, we seek compelling, insightful, and exceptionally well-written personal essays from writers of every persuasion and level of experience.

Possible themes include but are not limited to:
* Mentors or teachers
* Overcoming challenges in becoming a writer, in your life as a writer, or in the writing process
* Milestone(s) in your journey to become a writer or as a writer
* Discovering and/or heeding the call to become a writer
* Writers groups; the camaraderie of other writers
* Why you write
* Transcending self-doubt, fear, criticism, rejection
* What writing has taught you about life
* What life has taught you about writing
* Discovering/following your muse; what inspires your writing
* Best or worst writing experience and what you learned/gained from it
* Finding/making time/space to write

Submission Deadline: July 31, 2006

See submission specs, below.

A CUP OF COMFORT FOR DOG LOVERS

As any dog lover will attest, dogs are, indeed, our best friends, and so much more. They're also our helpers, heroes, champions, teachers, and beloved family members. For this volume, we seek heartwarming true stories that speak to the amazing bond between dogs and the people who love them. Stories can focus on any experience/theme that demonstrates how a dog has inspired and/or enriched the life/lives of a human(s).

Possible themes include but are not limited to a dog's:
* Devotion and loyalty
* Courage
* Amazing feats
* Role as a member of a family or community
* Companionship
* Therapeutic effect on a human
* Unique relationship with a person
* Unique relationship with another pet or animal
* Inspirational effect on one or more people
* Amusing, endearing, exceptional ways We do NOT want sad stories about a pet's suffering or death. However, stories can be about the life of a dog that is now deceased and can include a fond farewell to a lost pet, provided the story isn't solely about the pet's death.

Submission Deadline: August 31, 2006

See submission specs, below.

A CUP OF COMFORT FOR SINGLE MOTHERS

As Oprah Winfrey has often said, parenting is the most difficult and important job in the world. It can be even tougher for single mothers, who face all the usual parenting challenges plus another whole set of unique ones. But single motherhood -- whether by choice or by chance -- also brings many untold rewards, for both moms and children. For this collection of personal essays celebrating single mothers, we seek uplifting true stories about the joys and the difficulties of single mothering. The majority of stories selected for publication will be written from the single mother's point of view, but we will also consider stories written by the children of single mothers as well as by third parties with intimate knowledge of (and the permission of) the single mother and her child(ren).

Possible themes include but are not limited to:
* Juggling the myriad responsibilities of single motherhood
* Raising sons or daughters solo/without fathers
* The support of family, friends, other mothers
* Having/navigating adating/romance/social life
* Hard lessons learned
* Busting myths about single mothering
* Defying stereotypes about single moms and/or children of single moms
* Overcoming adversity
* Self-acceptance and self-respect in a society that sometimes disparages single mothers
* Unconventional wisdom(s) gained
* Blessings, joys, and rewards of being a single mother or the child of a single mothers
* The unique bond between a single mother and her child(ren)
* The courage, resilience, ingenuity, devotion, accomplishments, and/or integrity of a single mom
* Why you chose single motherhood (if by choice) and how you've made it work
* The unexpected and/or under-recognized advantages, joys, and/or rewards of being a single mother or having a single mother

Submission Deadline: December 31, 2006
See submission specs, below.

SUBMISSION SPECS
* $500 grand prize (one per book); $100 (each) for all other stories published
* Author receives one complimentary copy of book
* Story length: 1,000 to 2,000 words
* Stories must be original, true, uplifting, typed, and in English
* Simultaneous submissions acceptable
* Previously published material acceptable--EXCEPT for stories that have been or will be published in a widely distributed, mass market anthology or magazine
* Each submission must include the following:
Author's name
Author's mailing address
Author's phone number
Author's email address
Story title
Story wordcount

* Submit by email or mail:

EMAIL: In the subject line, cite the Cup of Comfort volume (i.e., Dog Lovers). Copy and paste (or type) the story into the body of the email (no attachments. One story per email. Send to: http://us.f534.mail.yahoo.com/ym/Compose?To=cupofcomfort@adamsmedia.com or http://us.f534.mail.yahoo.com/ym/Compose?To=wordsinger@aol.com

MAIL: You can send more than one story per envelope. Include self-addressed, postage-paid envelope for each submission. Send only the paper copy of the story; do not send computer disks or CDs. Mail to: Cup of Comfort Adams Media 57 Littlefield St. Avon, Massachusetts 02322, USA

Please direct questions and suggestions to: http://us.f534.mail.yahoo.com/ym/Compose?To=cupofcomfort@adamsmedia.com or http://us.f534.mail.yahoo.com/ym/Compose?To=wordsinger@aol.com. We cannot accept phone calls.
Copyright 2001-2006, Adams Media Corporation, an F+W Publications Company

Peace & Blessings,
Patricia

Stay focused. Be deliberate. Believe.