I will revisit the Books on Writing Post Series when I come across another great book on writing. In the meantime, feel free to share your favorite writing books in the comments of any of the four previous Book on Writing posts.
Today, though, I'd like to talk about contests. Writing contests are exciting for new writers and seasoned scribes. There are often large reward prizes like meetings with editors, agents, publication and cash. However, they also often come with entry fees and a high volume of competition.
So are contests worth the struggle?
Pros: If you win, the prizes outweigh the cost of entry. Winning a prominent contest can make agents and editors perk up to your writing. Contest wins look great in writer bios in other literary magazines and on query letters.
Cons: Some entry fees are a lot of money, when there's a slim chance of winning the entire competition. Gaining a contest win doesn't guarantee that an agent will want to partner with you on your novel. If you enter a lot of contests and win none, you're not only out time and rejection frustration, but a lot of cash.
My verdict is to enter the contests that you are drawn to. Don't be blinded by the glitz of every contest's glittering prize list. If you think your work is ready and fits the publication running the contest, then submit if you can afford the entry fee. If not, waiting for their regular submission season and submitted your story to the magazine itself is just fine as well. Agents and editors will be impressed with a publication in a lit mag just as they will be from a contest win.
Remember, the only way to publish your novel is to write it amazingly. Same goes for your stories or contest submissions. If you do that, you have more of a chance of winning and publishing than you do by paying that entry fee.
Tuesday, February 25, 2014
Tuesday, February 18, 2014
Books on Writing Part 4
This week's book on writing comes from current literary agent Donald Maass. It gives a unique look at writing from a commercial aspect. Donald Maass is still a working literary agent (who is also seeking clients at his agency, Donald Maass Literary Agency).
Today, I'm talking specifically about one of his many books, The Fire in Fiction by Donald Maass.
The Fire in Fiction talks about writing specifically for publication. So, if you're not looking to be commercially published, this may not be the book for you. Donald Maass offers a unique agent perspective that is coveted by writers racking up rejections. He delves deeply into many issues including character, tension, voice and the story world. What I really loved about this book was Maass' ability to talk about all aspects of an issue. For example, he doesn't merely bottle character into a single quote of knowledge, he gives the writer options like Special Characters (ex. Superman), Ordinary Characters (ex. Average Joe), and the Antagonist (ex. inner antagonist, or outter do-badder). Maass is also the master of offering examples. He uses excerpts from many different novels to show his concepts.
Some sections from The Fire in Fiction:
"Exposition is an opportunity not to enhance the dangers of the plot (exposition doesn't do that) but to put your characters' hearts and minds in peril. Remember, though, that true tension in exposition comes not from circular worry or repetitive turmoil; it springs from emotions in conflict and ideas at war."
"Does it matter what is the last line of your scene, or the first? Apparently, many authors do not think it does. Most last and first lines in manuscript scenes are quite forgettable. That's a shame. Like a handshake, an opening and closing line can create impressions and expectations. They can set a tone. They can signal where we're going, or what we've done, or serve any number of other useful story purposes."
"Even worse [than cardboard villains] can be stories in which there is no villain as such. Literary fiction, women's fiction, romances, and coming-of-age tales are just a few types of story that do not necessarily call for a classic wrongdoer. In such manuscripts, even so, those who oppose the protagonist are often poorly developed and inactive. Lacking strong resistance, one wonders why the protagonist is having a hard time. It is possible to build conflict out of interal obstacles, of course, but over the long haul it's wearisome and hard to maintain readers' interest that way."
You'll enjoy this book if: you learn best through examples, you are seeking an agent and don't know why you can't get one, you write many stories with different types of characters, styles, or voices.
I'm currently reading Donald Maass' other book Writing the Breakout Novel Workbook, which is less instructional and has more examples and worksheets. It's nice if you've finished a few drafts and are working on serious revision.
One final note on The Fire in Fiction: as I perused the book (I read it last a little over two years ago), I found that I had earmarked nearly every exercise at the end of each chapter. So not only does Maass offer the exercises, but they are truly good, and they might even work!
Today, I'm talking specifically about one of his many books, The Fire in Fiction by Donald Maass.
The Fire in Fiction talks about writing specifically for publication. So, if you're not looking to be commercially published, this may not be the book for you. Donald Maass offers a unique agent perspective that is coveted by writers racking up rejections. He delves deeply into many issues including character, tension, voice and the story world. What I really loved about this book was Maass' ability to talk about all aspects of an issue. For example, he doesn't merely bottle character into a single quote of knowledge, he gives the writer options like Special Characters (ex. Superman), Ordinary Characters (ex. Average Joe), and the Antagonist (ex. inner antagonist, or outter do-badder). Maass is also the master of offering examples. He uses excerpts from many different novels to show his concepts.
Some sections from The Fire in Fiction:
"Exposition is an opportunity not to enhance the dangers of the plot (exposition doesn't do that) but to put your characters' hearts and minds in peril. Remember, though, that true tension in exposition comes not from circular worry or repetitive turmoil; it springs from emotions in conflict and ideas at war."
"Does it matter what is the last line of your scene, or the first? Apparently, many authors do not think it does. Most last and first lines in manuscript scenes are quite forgettable. That's a shame. Like a handshake, an opening and closing line can create impressions and expectations. They can set a tone. They can signal where we're going, or what we've done, or serve any number of other useful story purposes."
"Even worse [than cardboard villains] can be stories in which there is no villain as such. Literary fiction, women's fiction, romances, and coming-of-age tales are just a few types of story that do not necessarily call for a classic wrongdoer. In such manuscripts, even so, those who oppose the protagonist are often poorly developed and inactive. Lacking strong resistance, one wonders why the protagonist is having a hard time. It is possible to build conflict out of interal obstacles, of course, but over the long haul it's wearisome and hard to maintain readers' interest that way."
You'll enjoy this book if: you learn best through examples, you are seeking an agent and don't know why you can't get one, you write many stories with different types of characters, styles, or voices.
I'm currently reading Donald Maass' other book Writing the Breakout Novel Workbook, which is less instructional and has more examples and worksheets. It's nice if you've finished a few drafts and are working on serious revision.
One final note on The Fire in Fiction: as I perused the book (I read it last a little over two years ago), I found that I had earmarked nearly every exercise at the end of each chapter. So not only does Maass offer the exercises, but they are truly good, and they might even work!
Tuesday, February 11, 2014
Books on Writing Part 3
I'm veering slightly off the path of instructional writing books to bring you a slightly different option. I'm very conscious of the fact that not everyone learns the same way. That being said, I'm offering a different style of book on writing this week.
It's called The Story and Its Writer: An Introduction to Short Fiction by Ann Charters (I've read both the 7th and 8th editions, but offered the 8th edition's cover for you to view).
The Story and Its Writer differs from the other two writing books I've offered thus far because it does not go step-by-step through the process of writing or publishing. Instead, the book is a collection of fantastic short stories written by the greats (like Raymond Carver, James Baldwin, and John Updike) followed by commentaries written or spoken by the authors themselves on the craft, the story, the industry (basically, all the interesting things you'd need to know going into fiction writing).
Some great quotes from the commentaries section:
"Urgency does not mean frenzy. The story can be a quiet story...but it must be urgently told. It must be told with as much intentness as if the teller's life depended on it. And if you are a writer, so it does, because your life as the writer of each particular story is only as long, and as good, as the story itself. Most of those who hear it or read it will never know you, but they will know the story. Their act of listening is its reincarnation...From listening to the stories of others, we learn to tell out own." (Margaret Atwood "Reading Blind" 1989)
"A story really isn't any good unless it successfully resists paraphrase, unless it hangs on and expands in the mind. Properly, you analyze with any discrimination, you have to have enjoyed already, and I think that the best reason to hear a story read is that it should stimulate that primary enjoyment." (Flannery O'Connor "A Reasonable Use of the Unreasonable" 1969)
"My attention span had gone out on me; I no longer had the patience to try to write novels. It's an involved story, too tedious to talk about here. But I know it has much to do now with why I write poems and short stories. Get in, get out. Don't linger. Go on. It could be that I lost any great ambitions at about the same time, in my late twenties. If I did, I think it was good it happened. Ambition and a little luck are good things for a writer to have going for him. Too much ambition and bad luck, or no luck at all, can be killing. There has to be talent." (Raymond Carver "On Writing" 1981)
You'll enjoy this book if: you particularly like writing short fiction or short nonfiction, you like large books, you like a variety of viewpoints on the same topic, or the lives of past writers intrigue you.
The Story and Its Writer not only features short stories and commentary, but also spouts of graphic novel and photography. What I also found helpful in this book was an appendix that defined common terms like setting, first-person narration, style and theme.
It's called The Story and Its Writer: An Introduction to Short Fiction by Ann Charters (I've read both the 7th and 8th editions, but offered the 8th edition's cover for you to view).
The Story and Its Writer differs from the other two writing books I've offered thus far because it does not go step-by-step through the process of writing or publishing. Instead, the book is a collection of fantastic short stories written by the greats (like Raymond Carver, James Baldwin, and John Updike) followed by commentaries written or spoken by the authors themselves on the craft, the story, the industry (basically, all the interesting things you'd need to know going into fiction writing).
Some great quotes from the commentaries section:
"Urgency does not mean frenzy. The story can be a quiet story...but it must be urgently told. It must be told with as much intentness as if the teller's life depended on it. And if you are a writer, so it does, because your life as the writer of each particular story is only as long, and as good, as the story itself. Most of those who hear it or read it will never know you, but they will know the story. Their act of listening is its reincarnation...From listening to the stories of others, we learn to tell out own." (Margaret Atwood "Reading Blind" 1989)
"A story really isn't any good unless it successfully resists paraphrase, unless it hangs on and expands in the mind. Properly, you analyze with any discrimination, you have to have enjoyed already, and I think that the best reason to hear a story read is that it should stimulate that primary enjoyment." (Flannery O'Connor "A Reasonable Use of the Unreasonable" 1969)
"My attention span had gone out on me; I no longer had the patience to try to write novels. It's an involved story, too tedious to talk about here. But I know it has much to do now with why I write poems and short stories. Get in, get out. Don't linger. Go on. It could be that I lost any great ambitions at about the same time, in my late twenties. If I did, I think it was good it happened. Ambition and a little luck are good things for a writer to have going for him. Too much ambition and bad luck, or no luck at all, can be killing. There has to be talent." (Raymond Carver "On Writing" 1981)
You'll enjoy this book if: you particularly like writing short fiction or short nonfiction, you like large books, you like a variety of viewpoints on the same topic, or the lives of past writers intrigue you.
The Story and Its Writer not only features short stories and commentary, but also spouts of graphic novel and photography. What I also found helpful in this book was an appendix that defined common terms like setting, first-person narration, style and theme.
Tuesday, February 4, 2014
Books on Writing Part 2
This week's instructional book on writing was one I did not find myself. It was a pleasant surprise to find a required reading book in my creative writing class that was actually fun and helpful.
Anne Lamott's Bird by Bird: Some Instructions on Writing and Life
Much like King's On Writing, Bird by Bird is part autobiography, part instructional manual. Lamott is open about everything - her former drug addiction, her family and her son, as well as her writing process. With eye-catching chapter titles like: "Shitty First Drafts," "How Do You Know When You're Done?" and "Broccoli" - it was welcome to me amidst the stale, "if you do this, you get this," writing books of my past. Lamott covers everything from starting your first draft (ever) to seeking publication.
Some fantastic snippets:
"You sit down, I say. You try to sit down at approximately the same time every day. This is how you train your unconscious to kick in for you creatively. So you sit down at, say, nine every morning, or ten every night. You put a piece of paper in the typewriter, or you turn on the computer and bring up the right file, and then you stare at it for an hour or so. You begin rocking, just a little at first, and then like a huge autistic child. You look at the ceiling, and over at the clock, yawn, and stare at the paper again. Then, with your fingers poised on the keyboard, you squint at an image that is forming in your mind -- a scene, a locale, a character, whatever -- and you try to quiet your mind so you can hear what that landscape or character has to say above the other voices in your mind."
"Perfectionism is the voice of the oppressor, the enemy of the people. It will keep you cramped and insane your whole life, and it is the main obstacle between you and a shitty first draft. I think perfectionism is based on the obsessive belief that if you run carefully enough, hitting each stepping-stone just right, you won't have to die. The truth is that you will die anyway and that a lot of people who aren't even looking at their feet are going to do a whole lot better than you, and have a lot more fun while they're doing it."
"E.L. Doctorow once said that 'Writing a novel is like driving a car at night. You can see only as far as your headlights, but you can make the whole trip that way.' You don't have to see where you're going, you don't have to see your destination or everything you will pass along the way. You just have to see two or three feet ahead of you."
You'll enjoy this book if: you've always wanted to write but never could get through that first draft, you like a personal connection with the author giving you advice, and/or you want a book on writing to take you on the journey from first draft to publication all under one cover.
Anne Lamott's Bird by Bird: Some Instructions on Writing and Life
Much like King's On Writing, Bird by Bird is part autobiography, part instructional manual. Lamott is open about everything - her former drug addiction, her family and her son, as well as her writing process. With eye-catching chapter titles like: "Shitty First Drafts," "How Do You Know When You're Done?" and "Broccoli" - it was welcome to me amidst the stale, "if you do this, you get this," writing books of my past. Lamott covers everything from starting your first draft (ever) to seeking publication.
Some fantastic snippets:
"You sit down, I say. You try to sit down at approximately the same time every day. This is how you train your unconscious to kick in for you creatively. So you sit down at, say, nine every morning, or ten every night. You put a piece of paper in the typewriter, or you turn on the computer and bring up the right file, and then you stare at it for an hour or so. You begin rocking, just a little at first, and then like a huge autistic child. You look at the ceiling, and over at the clock, yawn, and stare at the paper again. Then, with your fingers poised on the keyboard, you squint at an image that is forming in your mind -- a scene, a locale, a character, whatever -- and you try to quiet your mind so you can hear what that landscape or character has to say above the other voices in your mind."
"Perfectionism is the voice of the oppressor, the enemy of the people. It will keep you cramped and insane your whole life, and it is the main obstacle between you and a shitty first draft. I think perfectionism is based on the obsessive belief that if you run carefully enough, hitting each stepping-stone just right, you won't have to die. The truth is that you will die anyway and that a lot of people who aren't even looking at their feet are going to do a whole lot better than you, and have a lot more fun while they're doing it."
"E.L. Doctorow once said that 'Writing a novel is like driving a car at night. You can see only as far as your headlights, but you can make the whole trip that way.' You don't have to see where you're going, you don't have to see your destination or everything you will pass along the way. You just have to see two or three feet ahead of you."
You'll enjoy this book if: you've always wanted to write but never could get through that first draft, you like a personal connection with the author giving you advice, and/or you want a book on writing to take you on the journey from first draft to publication all under one cover.
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