The Stop-Watch Gang

Editing - Part One - Ten-Point Checklist

2012-03-06T13:25:00.000-05:00

I've been doing some editing lately, so this week's post is going to be part one of a two part series on editing. This week: The Ten-Point Checklist.
Next week: Dialogue.

Several years ago, I carried around a list of "ways to edit your story" that I had physically cut out of an issue of On Spec. This was pre-2004, so don't ask me which issue, because I've moved twice since then and most of those magazines and files are long-recycled. Over the years, I have added my own bullets to the list, so this isn't plagiarizing, more like complimenting and crediting where credit is due, because frankly, I can't remember which are theirs and which are mine any longer.

The most important word to keep in your mind at all times is: TIGHTEN. You want your prose to be tighter. Saying it in fewer words is ALWAYS better. Less is More.

Ten Problems to Look For When Editing

(1) Edit out "filter" verbs that filter the action.

For example: Joe wanted to start studying for the quiz, but he hated to study.

Here, the verbs "wanted" and "start" are filtering the verb "studying." Verbs give the story gusto, and if all of your verbs are trapped in layers of filtered sediment, your story will feel weak.

Tighter: Joe fiddled with the pencil, aware that he must study or he would bomb the quiz.

(2) Watch for duplications of words that appear too close together. In the earlier example, the words "studying" and "study" are in the same sentence. In the revised version, the second reference is gone.

(3) Watch for the over-use of adverbs and adjectives. Sometimes too much description makes me (personally) want to get out "old red" and start marking up a novel I'm reading. I realize some authors are famous for their amazingly luscious and delightful purple prose, but at some point, a tree only needs to be a tree and if the author is describing every leaf and branch I'm going to skim-read. One of the quickest ways to nip this issue is to do a search through your document for "ly" (to catch most adverbs) and the comma (which will catch long lists of adjectives).

For example: He quickly ran to her side. Her long, brown, dirty, dishevelled hair hung limp at the edges of her scruffy face, as though she had been trapped and shaken in a shake-n-bake bag full of mud. He gently brushed wisps of hair from her eyes, and softly whispered, "I love you."

How else do we run, but quickly? How else do we whisper, but softly? Plus, the metaphor says pretty much everything we need to know about her appearance, doesn't it?

Tighter: He ran to her side. She looked a mess, from her hair to her toes, like a pork chop caught in a shake-n-bake mud-bag. He brushed her hair from her eyes, and said, "I love you."

(4) Change up sentence structure. In the previous example, every sentence in the paragraph begins with the structure: she/he + verb.

Tighter: Sprinting, he caught up to her, knelt in the sand, and brushed stands of hair from her eyes. Head to toe, her disastrous appearance brought to mind the image of a pork chop caught in a shake-n-bake mud-bag. A smile broke across his lips. "I love you."

(Notice I also eliminated the repetition of "hair" and managed to use action to avoid the need of his "said" dialogue tag. This version might be about the same length, but I've included more detail that adds a sense of "truth" to the prose.)

(5) Remove "cheat" words. I've read many an article over the years stating that editors have "bugaboo" words that make them instantly reject your story. These are words that makes us crazy, words that are used too often, and show laziness on the writer's part. Some of the culprits: just, a lot, let, went, very, really, even, and the ever-popular was. Though I don't object to the verb "was," remember that verbs give your story life, and you can often come up with a more exciting and descriptive verb to take its place. Again, the search feature is your friend.

Feel free to add your own "irritating words" in the comments section below. -->

(6) The construct, "it was" is almost always unnecessary. As are its annoying cousins, there was, there is, they were, etc. You can almost always re-write the sentence to cut out the construct and still make your point.

For example: It was cold in the basement. Shelly pulled two blankets from the sofa and wrapped each of them around her shoulders. They were thread-bare and didn't do much to warm her. It was going to be a long night if she didn't keep moving to stay warm.

Now, without the construct: The cold basement chilled Shelly to the bone. She pulled first one, then another blanket from the sofa and wrapped them around her shoulders. Even in the dim light, she caught bright spots through the multitude of holes and tears in the fabric. With a long night of research ahead, constant movement would be a necessary bother.

(7) Each Other vs. One Another.

Traditionally, "each other" refers to the interaction between two people and "one another" refers to the interaction between more than two people.

For example: Bob and Mary were in love with each other. The baseball players kept one another motivated during the streak by wearing mismatched socks.

(8) Said-isms like asked, insisted, intoned, snorted, yelled, sighed, etc, distract the reader. They jump out of the page, getting in the way of the reader's interest in the actual dialogue. If you write the dialogue well, the inflection will be obvious. The word "said" is almost always enough, and it is such a transparent word that it helps to brighten the other words on the page.

For example,
"Don't shoot," he yelled.

"I won't," she cried, her hands trembling. "Not unless you make me."

Trying to calm her, he set the gun down slowly, and asked, "Can you trust me?"

I will speak more about dialogue tomorrow. Briefly, today, you could use the word "said" or use action to indicate the speaker in each instance.

Tighter:
"Don't shoot!" he said.

"I won't." Her hands trembled. "Not unless you make me."

Trying to calm her, he set the gun down. "Trust me. Please?"

(9) Open and Close quotes irritate me greatly. They are easy to miss when you're typing two or three thousand words in one sitting, which I often do when I'm on a roll. The easiest way to check for them is to do a search on the quote. Then use the symbol in the bottom right hand corner of your MS Word screen -- that little >> to skip from one quote to the next. (Smile if you didn't know about that little feature.) While you're skipping say the phrase, "Open, Close" in your head to keep track of which is which. I can't tell you how many times I have found a missing quote mark in my document before submitting a story using this technique. You'll look more professional for it.

Remember the rule, though, that if you have two paragraphs of dialogue by the same speaker, the first ends without a close quote to indicate that the speaker in the next paragraph is the same. (Though personally, I would add some action to keep the reader interested, or you end up with what feels like a preachy-speechy situation.)

(10) The Gut-Check The best way to perform a gut-check on your story is to read it aloud. You might have to do this more than once for the gut-check to fully succeed.

What's a gut-check? That feeling you get when you're reading your story and there's one sentence, or one paragraph, or one metaphor that feels WRONG. When you read it, you get that gnawing feeling in your gut or you squirm in your seat or you stop reading and start tapping your pen or biting your nails.

Your gut knows you need to cut the words from the story. Listen to your gut.

Sometimes, the first time I sense the gut-feeling, I might ignore it, as though maybe I was reading too quickly, or I was distracted, or I have to fix something above or below to try to make that grouping of words fit. But if I get the same gut-feeling on the next read-through I MUST listen.

I won't provide an example. Every gut is different. But I'm sure you know what I'm talking about.

So that's my (and partly On-Spec's) Ten-Point Checklist.

Get out "old red" and start editing. Remember, less is more.

Writers' Groups

2012-02-28T11:46:00.002-05:00

Yes, this is the blog for the Stop-Watch Gang, and I am a member of the gang, thus, I continue to "drink the Kool-Aid" when it comes to being objective about the merits of belonging to a writers' group. But my weekly writing tips column wouldn't be complete without a discussion on the pros and cons of belonging to a writers' group.

Writers are solitary creatures. We stuff headphones into our ears, sit off in the corner with a notebook or a laptop, and live in our heads. This job requires alone time. The office must have a door that closes. The kids must respect my need to be left alone. That said, once the zero draft is complete, we sit back and say, "Yeah, baby! Best I ever wrote."

Then we give the project some space while we work on something else and the doubts creep in. Did that character have an arc? Could I have added more sensual experiences? Should I explain more or cut out the info dumps? Was the ending satisfying?

Writers require feedback.

So we form groups. Each group provides something that perhaps another group cannot provide. It's okay to belong to more than one group.

If you're fairly new to writing, and you've submitted a few stories that have come back rejected, you're probably wondering what you're doing wrong. A writers' group can help, not only to read your work and help you to see the particulars that you cannot. On the flip side, each time you read other writers' work and have to find the great parts and shortcomings in their work, you will become that much better at seeing the same problems in your own work. Each critique provides Free Practice (FP) -- the chance to improve your own writing through the pens and keyboards of other writers.

FP is the main reason to join a group.

The other benefits are all secondary. You will make contacts in the business that can help you to network in your pursuit to build a brand. Your group members can cheer from the sidelines when you succeed and provide a shoulder to lean on during the dark moments of self-doubt and rejection. The extra sets of eyes and ears will help you to be more aware of emerging markets, tight deadlines, and related opportunities such as conventions and appearances.

FP keeps you going. Sometimes, when you put your butt-in-chair and you don't quite feel like writing, you can always begin the session by reading one of the stories you promised to critique but haven't gotten around to yet. FP is like the transition drug for a writer, it gets your critical juices flowing, and provides accountability when you need it. After all, if you promise you will do something, meet a particular deadline or post to your blog, and you make that promise in front of ten other people who will call you on it when you fall short of the goal, you have all the more incentive to succeed. To meet that deadline.

At this point, you're probably wondering what the negatives could possibly be. Because I've sold you on joining a group. I've basically knocked you over the head and insisted you join a group. Really. You should! But...

Remember that it's your story. First and foremost. You must advocate for your story, even in the face of critique.

The way the Stop-Watch Gang works, the person receiving the critique must listen, without responding, as each member of the gang speaks for their five minutes (we USE a stopwatch) mostly about all that is wrong with the story.

That's a tough pill.

Once everyone has had their say, the writer has time for rebuttal, follow-up questions, etc, and the critiques becomes more free-flow.

Then I go home. And for me, that often means a long car ride where I stew and wonder about all that was said about my "baby" and all of its flaws. That is the part where all writers must develop a steel-enforced-backbone. The story is MINE. I understand and embrace its purpose. Its goals. Its theme. I must sit down, with my butt-in-chair and do whatever work is required to bring the story to a happy fruition, without being too emotionally attached to any one part that might need to be cut.

I reiterate: It's YOUR story.

You don't have to make any changes unless they feel right to you; unless they help bring your story closer to exactly what you were hoping to say. If you feel that the group members didn't "get" your story, then perhaps their crits don't apply. (Though you may very well have plenty of work left, to ensure that future readers will "get" your story.)

The best piece of advice I can give you is this sliding scale.

If only one person mentions a point, think about it, but don't make any changes.
If two or three people mention the same point, you probably need to change it, maybe not in the manner they suggest, but with some type of modification.
If four or more people make the same point, you need to heed their advice, because they're probably right.

Yes, math, once again, has a practical application in the real world. Aren't you glad you learned to count? And you thought you didn't need to know math to be a writer.

The other negative you must consider is that writers groups tend to turn all stories into "circles." Think of your story as a rectangle. Or a polygon with plenty of corners. (Yes, I have a math degree, work with me here.) As each member applies their critique, their comments essentially shave another corner from your story. The more shaves, the smoother the edges, until what's left is no longer a rectangle/polygon, it's a circle.

If every story is a circle, then they'll all feel the same. No edges. No sparks of brilliance. No outliers. No bumps that make the reader sit up and take notice, for good or for bad.

You as a writer must always hold this danger in the back of your mind while you're digesting critiques. I cannot stress enough how important it is to keep a copy of the "old version" of a story before you sit down to make post-critique-session edits. Because in a week, you might go back to that old version and keep most of what you had before, throwing away the majority of the edits you made to please your writers' group members. If you try to please every reader, you will end up pleasing none, you will have a story that is so smooth, it is soulless.

The soul of a story is what makes it brilliant.

In summary:

Join a group. Digest their comments. Use what works, Discard the rest. Remember that your story belongs to you, and you must treat it with the respect it deserves. Don't cut out its soul. But make it as strong and independent as you want your child to be that day they move out and take on the world on their own.

Great, I've convinced you. Now, you're probably asking, "How do I find a writers group?"

--> The Online Writing Workshop for Science Fiction, Fantasy, and Horror

--> Critters

--> Codex (A group for more experienced writers who have won an award or attended a major workshop)

--> Post a flyer at your local library.

--> Take a class/workshop. Two of the groups I belong to are made up of members from a workshop I attended.

--> Network. In my field (SF/F/H) conventions are the best way to accomplish this goal. (This is how I weaseled my way into the Stop-Watch Gang.)

Deadlines

2012-02-22T17:06:00.001-05:00

Personally, I have a love/hate relationship with deadlines.

For a writer, a deadline can be a wonderful thing. Because it forces you to finish; to get the story to a publishable state by a certain date and time. Otherwise, I can tend to allow a story to sit, be ignored, and generally linger on my laptop in a neglected state.

Now it may be possible that I am unique in this procrastination/avoidance cycle. That plenty of writers treat their stories with tenacity and respect, and that they don't require anything as artificial as an external deadline to force them into getting their butts-in-chairs and working.

I will now wait while you stop laughing.

Because, honestly, I have plenty of company in the procrastination/avoidance department. Writing is solitary. It doesn't have a time-clock that docks your pay if you're fifteen minutes late sitting down in front of your netbook. It doesn't have a manager who ticks the "doesn't meet deadlines" box on your quarterly performance review so that you might not make level 12 with the union this month.

Case in point, I'm posting this Tuesday writing tip on Wednesday.

Hence the love of deadlines.

Being in a writers' group can also help you to love deadlines. Because often, several of you will be submitting to the same anthology or contest with the same deadline. And as a group, you can cheer each other on, nudge each other closer to perfection, and create a bit of healthy competition.

But I also hate deadlines. Because they force me to turn off the television, or close the exciting book I'm reading, and get back to work. When I really don't feel quite "up to working." Self-motivation is such an exhausting nuisance.

I spoke in a previous blog about Club 100 and how having that daily routine can help to produce a continuous flow, so that you won't procrastinate, and you will make all of those deadlines.

Did I mention I've fallen off the Club 100 wagon, and am now back to day zero?

This post is morphing into a lament over procrastination, which is the younger, annoying brother of deadlines. The two fight constantly, punching each other for no reason, stealing each other's toys and jockeying for the better seat in the car.

As a writer, consider buying a monthly calendar for your deadlines and goals. I would suggest a paper calendar, rather than the one on your phone or tablet. The kind you can place in close proximity to the spot where you love to write. Mark all of the deadlines for projects that matter to you. Do it now, because I will admit I have missed far too many deadlines simply because I swore I would remember them, only to the open the email or find the note two months after the deadline has passed. I also number the weeks on my monthly calendar, to give me a reminder of the submission goal of "one sub a week" that I don't exactly follow, but at least strive for.

I know that cookie looks tasty, and that you only want to watch one episode of [insert your favourite show here] which should only take forty-five minutes, and you're not quite in the right headspace to write at this very moment.

Write anyway.

The Tesseracts 16 deadline is February 29th, and I must now finish polishing that story or I am going to miss out on a great opportunity. I will now stop using the blog as a procrastination tool and get back to writing...

Market Listings

2012-02-14T12:15:00.001-05:00

If you are going to write a story, or a novel, eventually you will send it out into the world for publication.

But where?

For novels, you must either deal with the publisher directly (these types of submissions are called "over the transom") or you must first acquire an agent and have them shop your novel around. I will discuss novel submissions more in another post.

Hundreds of markets exist for short fiction, magazines catering to specific interests from gardening, to women's health, to cars, to adventures for the young and young at heart. Fiction markets also exist, ranging from the Literary (L), to Mystery (M), to Young Adult (YA), to Horror (H), to Science Fiction (SF) and Fantasy (F). I write SF, F, H, and YA, making me more familiar with those particular markets, but I have sent the occasional L and M stories out into the wild. Anthologies are produced as well, usually with a specific theme, and their guidelines are also available at the sites below.

Magazines

For speculative fiction, the traditional "big three" markets are: Analog, Asimov's, and The Magazine of Fantasy and Science Fiction. If you intend to publish speculative fiction, you should probably read several issues of these three markets. Period.

Yes, if you've never read them, stop reading this blog and go to a magazine store and buy one of each issue right now. I'll wait...

Which brings me to the notion that if you're going to submit to a market, you should probably read at least one issue of their magazine/anthology, to get a feel for what they like. "That's daunting," you might say. "How can I read one of every magazine? Who has that kind of time?"

The answer is simple: you should. But you do only have so much time. So, prioritize. Read the big three first, then catch some markets online like Clarkesworld. This reading will take some time, like when you're at the library with your kid who's researching volcanoes, or when you're at a Starbucks in a book chain and you peruse the magazine rack with your latté in hand.

Anthologies

An anthology is a novel-length book filled with short stories written by a variety of authors. (Novel-length books filled with short stories all written by the same author are called collections.)

The stories are often collected to explore a particular theme. These themes can range from stories inspired by Sherlock Holmes, Zombies, the Dark side of Fiction, or stories written specifically for Young Adults. Note each of these anthologies is produced by the same publisher, EDGE Science Fiction and Fantasy Publishing. Of course, plenty of publishers produce anthologies.

Some produce "Year's Best" types of anthologies, which collect a series of short stories considered the best in the previous year. If you're looking to read some of the best short fiction out there, try searching out Year's Best Science Fiction 28 or Year's Best Fantasy 9.

So let me assume you've done your homework, and now you're ready to submit. You must polish your manuscript into what's called Standard Manuscript Format and then read the Guidelines or GL's to see if there are any more specific hoops you must jump through to submit in a manner that makes the market happy. Hoop-jumping is a crucial step. Do NOT skip the hoop-jumping, because most of their GL's state rather emphatically, that if you do not follow their specifications, they will delete your submission unread. And nobody wants their baby to be deleted unread.

The following websites provide essential market listings.

Ralan's Webstravaganza. I usually go to this site first. This is a comprehensive list of magazines and anthologies for SF, F, and H.

Duotrope Digest. If my story leans more towards mainstream, Duotrope has a fantastic and comprehensive list of every market of every genre.

If you write children's or YA stories, check out Eugie Foster's Children's Market List.

If you have sold a story and wish to re-sell it to foreign markets where you can be translated into a myriad of languages, try Douglas Smith's Foreign Market List.

Each of these websites is extensive and comprehensive. If you've never visited one before, take your time and familiarize yourself with all of their information.

You can find links to all of these websites as well as links to writers' blogs and websites at the links page on my website: suzannechurch.com.

Once you've done your research and you've hoop-jumped your story into shape, go ahead and submit a story. Yes! If you're hesitating, DON'T! No one ever got published by hiding their baby in a filing cabinet.

Be brave and submit!

SWG Works Eligible for Nominations

2012-02-08T11:23:00.001-05:00

Awards season is in full gear!

Here are some of the stories published by Stop-Watch Gang members in 2011 that are eligible for the Nebula, the Hugo, the Bram Stoker, the World Fantasy, and the Aurora Award.

Novelette category:
Kotowych, Stephen. "Under the Shield." InterGalactic Medicine Show, Issue 24, August 2011 (preferred for Aurora nomination)
Click here for information on reading a review copy of "Under the Shield"

Short story category:
Church, Suzanne. "The Needle's Eye", Chilling Tales: Evil Did I Dwell; Lewd I Did Live. Edge Science Fiction and Fantasy Publishing.
Click here for information on reading a review copy of "The Needle's Eye"

Kotowych, Stephen. "A Time for Raven." Interzone #236, September/October 2011.
Click here for information on reading a review copy of "A Time for Raven"

Pi, Tony. "Brine Magic," When the Hero Comes Home, Dragon Moon Press.

Pi, Tony. "The Tremor Road," Tesseracts Fifteen: A Case of Quite Curious Tales, EDGE Science Fiction and Fantasy Publishing.

Pi, Tony. "We Who Steal Faces", Orson Scott Card’s Intergalactic Medicine Show.
(Note: none of Tony's stories are available to review online.)

Rimar, Mike. "Four Wizards and a Funeral", InterGalactic Medicine Show, Issue 23.
Click here for information on reading a review copy of "Four Wizards and a Funeral"

Rimar, Mike. "My Name is Tommy", Tesseracts Fifteen:A Case of Quite Curious Tales. Edge Science Fiction and Fantasy Publishing.
Click here for information on reading a review copy of "My Name is Tommy"

Illustration category:

Gurgu, Costi. Cover art for "Outer Diverse" by Nina Munteanu. Check out Costi's cover art at his website.

Shameless Self Promotion

2012-02-07T19:37:00.001-05:00

Authors must promote themselves and their work. The more people who know about our work, the more people will seek out and read our work. Even though self promotion makes some of us feel a little uncomfortable, it is a skill we must all perfect.

Embrace promotion. Be shameless.

Let us face the truth: the person most invested in an author's work is the author of the work -- a solid reason why we, as authors, must relentlessly and shamelessly promote ourselves.

One of the best ways to promote your work is the web. Many authors have a blog, and/or a webpage. I have both. As a matter of fact, I have more than one blog, but that's beside the point. I also have a presence on Facebook, Twitter, and Google+. The pluses: more professional connections, more readers, more exposure. The negative: some people might hear your message more than once, as they, too, might also have web presences on multiple platforms.

Writing is a solitary adventure. So many writers tend to be introverts who don't enjoy self-promotion. Let me assure you, many of us feel that way on the inside. However, we must put on our professional faces and confidently promote, promote, promote.

One of my tutors once told a story of how he sent out bookmarks of his current book when he paid bills, from credit card to hydro bills. Because the person handling the bill might be interested in his work. Too bad that most of us pay our bills online now.

When awards season rolls around, many authors dream of being nominated for an Aurora (in Canada) an Aurealis (in Australia), a Hugo, a Nebula, a World Fantasy, or a Stoker Award. And those are only a few of the possibilities in the speculative fiction genre. There are also big awards like the Booker, the Giller, and, of course, the Nobel Prize. Coming back to reality for a moment, I don't stay up nights writing my Nobel Prize acceptance speech. But I do work to be nominated for awards like the Aurora.

Why work you might ask? Shouldn't the fiction speak for itself? Aren't good stories always at the front of everyone's mind?

As if!

Even for awards as well known as the Academy Awards, a whole pile of backroom promotion goes on. For some of the bigger films, copies are distributed to every single member of AMPAS to get noticed.

Think of your award-nomination-promotion as a part of your job description. Just as you must be competent at using a word processor, or reading aloud well at a convention or book launch, you must also confidently promote your work for award consideration.

Be polite. Be specific. Make sure to mention all other works you deem nomination-worthy. Provide a list of all eligible works so the reader is able to make an informed decision. You are merely opening their eyes to one more possible story to consider placing on a ballot.

In keeping with this shameless self promotion, watch this blog for pointers to all Stop-Watch Gang stories that are eligible for this year's awards.

Inspiration

2012-01-31T14:57:00.001-05:00

One of the most frequent questions authors are asked is, "Where do you get your ideas?"

The answer involves a myriad of layers. I will peel the first three here, like an onion, for those of you who desperately require a dose of inspiration.

First layer: Where did you in particular, author Jane Smith, get the idea for this particular story, "The Story of that Guy and that Girl."

Layer one does have an answer. Of course, it varies from story to story, and author to author. Some of the many places I, personally, author Suzanne Church, have been inspired, are listed below. For fun, I also included the published stories that came into existance due to that inspiration (shown in square brackets). Note that some stories involve more than one inspirational source.

Word prompts ["Destiny Lives in the Tattoo's Needle"]
Photo/image prompts ["Coolies" and "Hell's Deadline"]
Mis-seeing or mis-reading a person, an image, a sign, a phrase, etc. ["Free Range"]
What if questions...what if couches were transporters ["Everyone Needs a Couch"] what if chickens could talk? ["Free Range" and "Yummy Mutants"] how do aliens pee? ["Waste Management"]
An opening sentence ["The Tear Closet" and "Destiny Lives in the Tattoo's Needle"]
An anthology or magazine theme ["Hot Furball on a Cold Morning" and "Free Range"]
World events and/or non-fiction research ["The Needle's Eye"]
Writers group challenges...write your own twist on a fairy tale/folk/myth ["Storm Child"] write a story about a funeral ["Driving the Past Home"]

Second Layer: How did you come up with this new twist on this old trope/story/theme?

Layer two involves work. I remember one of my tutors telling a story about how a visual artist would take a simple item and change it a bunch of ways. For instance, let's say the artist grabbed a simple object, like a Matchbox car. Then she would pull a tire off, or maybe melt the car in an oven. Then she would take the broken/melted car and glue it to a cardboard box. Then she would leave the box out in the rain and sun for say, a week. Then she would take the piece and throw paint at it. Then she would bury it in the yard. When looking for inspiration, she would unearth the artefact, take photos of the "dig" and use those photos as the foundation of a collage piece.

I know, I'm exaggerating a bit here, but I hope you're getting the point. Sometimes you have to take an idea and manipulate it in several different ways before it becomes your own. "Voice" is a big factor here...perhaps I will talk more about finding your "Voice" in a future post, but suffice it to say, that this layer of the creative process is where you as a writer put your own mark on the piece.

Third Layer: How do you stare at a blank page and come up with a hundred thousand words worth of characters and plot that are so amazing?

Layer three is the most work, and is made up of at least two answers.

Part one
"Fill the well" (quote from Bruce Holland Rogers) with events and activities that allow you to "Speak your truth" (quote from Mort Castle). The gist of this statement is you must LIVE. Experience whatever you possibly can. Go to an art gallery and watch the people study the art. Go to a rock concert (bring earplugs) and dance in the mosh pit. Go to a hockey or football or baseball or soccer game (no matter how much it costs) and cheer on your favorite team until you are hoarse. Take notes, or photos, or videos. Keep epic journals about your adventures. Then, when you need inspiration, read the journal entries, or watch the videos, or click through your photos and remember all of it...the smells, the excitement, the dread, whatever! Then put it all in your story, every inch and pound and laugh and tear. Your readers will buy into your story because it is full of the real.

Part two
Do the work. Plain and simple. Sit down in front of your notebook, or laptop, or netbook, or whatever, and write. One sentence. Then two. Then another paragraph. And soon you will have a page, or three, then a chapter. And keep in mind that whatever you get on paper, you can always change it later, add an image here or a metaphor there. But it's awfully hard to edit a blank page, so do the work and get words down on paper. Don't allow yourself to get up from that chair (except for emergencies of course) until you have some words down.

Any words.

It's all about establishing the habit. (Read more about Establishing the Habit in my previous post.)

So that's the first three layers of answers to the most common question asked of authors. And if you've ever asked a writer this question, do you understand now why they rolled their eyes, or smiled and said nothing? Because, it's almost impossible to answer, and when you try, you can talk forever and still not say it all.

Write on.

One hundred words today.

Go on...do it. Now.

SWG CritQuotes

2012-01-24T10:00:00.001-05:00

Overheard at the January 22, 2012 Stopwatch Gang critique session...

"Usually when someone says 'Johnson' it means they're uncircumcised. Did you know that?"

A: "Christmas, an orgasm, and then a big crap? One of these things just doesn't belong here."
B: "Christmas?"

"Instead of mittens, giver her a muff. Then you can say, 'She's hiding it in her muff!'"

"Lesbians? That purple chick? Lesbian stuff--that's HOT!"

A: "Some of your names bothered me. 'Nether' made me think of 'nether regions' and got my mind thinking of something else."
B: "Mittens?"

"Synch, synch a song..."

A: "It's an arcology."
B: "Oncology?"
Everyone else: "ARCOLOGY!"

"I was going to print, 'It was' in the largest possible font to fill an 8.5x11 sheet of paper and make you eat it at the meeting, the structure bothered me so much."

Submission Trackers

2012-01-24T09:51:00.001-05:00

Most of us write because we love the act of putting characters through hell. But let's face the fact that we also want to publish what we write.

Keeping careful track of submissions is crucial. At the start of your fledgling writing career, you might want to believe that you only have a story or two and naturally you can keep track of who has rejected your precious new babies. Trust me, five years from now, when you have many stories in circulation and some of them have been rejected by over a dozen markets you need to remember which stories have been where.

I use a spreadsheet for this task.

The first section of my spreadsheet lists each short story, in the order they were written (to give me a sense of history) but you could go with alphabetical by title if that works for you. After the title, I show the number of words for the story (important when you want to send one out in a hurry and you're checking guidelines to determine what fits where.) Then I have a calculation that determines how many acceptances (#Y), rejections (#N), and submissions (#S) have occurred for each story.

To the right, I list each submission, the date the story was submitted and the expected date of reply. Once the reply comes in, I update that space with a yes or a no. So an entry would look something like:

Title #Y #N #S Words Sub 1 Response Sub 2 Response
Slimed 0 1 2 3500 Asimov's Dec 3/11 No Jan 18/12 IGMS Jan 19/12 Due Feb 28/12

Most markets do NOT accept re-submissions of a story (even if you've made some improvements,) so it's best to keep track of where a story has been so you don't accidently send it twice.

When a story is accepted, I highlight the cell in a bright color so I can easily see which stories have sold. When a story is currently not submitted anywhere, I change the text for the title to bright red so at a glance I can see which stories need to go back into circulation ASAP.

In another part of the spreadsheet, I list all of the markets and write the title of the currently submitted story beside the market. That way, I don't accidently send two stories to the same place at the same time. (Many markets don't accept multiple submissions.)

I believe there are several "submission trackers" available online, if you don't want to create your own. The most important concept is to use one that works for you.

I must admit, there's a certain "bragging right" in knowing how many rejections you've accumulated over the years. As of this morning, I'm at 284 rejections out of 302 submissions for my short fiction.

And yes, I have a different spreadsheet for tracking novels, mostly to keep a record of agent submissions as well as publisher submissions for each novel.

If you're still deciding whether or not to bother with a submission tracker, keep in mind that setting up a spreadsheet is the perfect procrastination on a day when you should be writing but you can't quite face the blank page.

But eventually, writer, you must face that blank page!

Writing on the Run

2012-01-17T15:38:00.001-05:00

Last week I discussed Club 100, suggesting that establishing the writing habit involves consistency and diligence. But we all have those days when our lives steer so far off the "plan" that we end up in the ditch.

Yesterday was one of those days for me. Yet I managed to scribble 100 creative words in a notebook to keep my count going. Today is day 8 for me.

I scored last minute tickets this morning to a Toronto Maple Leafs game and spent most of the day getting organized to get to the game. At this very moment, I am on a GO bus headed to Toronto. A few minutes ago I realized that today is Tuesday, my day to blog for the SWG.

Thank goodness for technology!

Most of us carry a smartphone or a tablet and I often have both. Once I chose to take my writing seriously, I made sure I possessed the technological toolbox to get the job done. Luckily, I can claim portions of the purchases for income tax purposes.

If you are having trouble making writing a habit, try jotting a few words in the note-area on your phone, or on the word processor on your tablet. I wouldn't recommend writing a 200,000 word novel that way (though I've heard it's a trend in Japan), but a few hundred words are a snap.

And it all counts.

You might be thinking that this type of writing might not seem as productive as butt-in-chair time in front of your laptop, but that sort of thinking might be worming it's way into the excuse/procrastination column of your word-count ledger.

Sometimes your only option is to write on the run.

Try it as a challenge this week. Write on the bus, or in a line at the store, or at your kid's hockey game.

Don't waste the opportunity to stay in the heads of your characters.

Establishing the Habit

2012-01-10T11:27:00.001-05:00

If you choose any book on the art of writing from a shelf, the piece of advice you will always find is to write every day.

Every single day. Without fail.

Because writers can only be writers if they make writing a habit. And it should feel like a habit after a while, as though you'll go insane or scratch the insides of your eyelids out if you don't have time to write today.

But getting to that point, ingraining a habit, can be tough for new writers.

One challenge that worked particularly well for me is "Club 100 For Writers." The concept was developed by Beth Patillo. You can read more about the club or join her mailing list.

The gist is you write 100 words every day for 100 days.

Sounds easy, right? Or should I say, write?

In actuality, it's harder than it sounds, especially if you've never taken your writing so seriously that it trumps all other activities, even for fifteen minutes, every day. And that's what being in Club 100 is all about.

That's what being a writer is all about...putting your writing at the top of your to-do list. Either first thing in the morning, or right before bed, or over your lunch hour, or whatever works for you.

Several times in my writing career, I have put my nose to the grindstone and pulled off a Club 100 victory. At one point, I tried using my word-a-day blog to motivate me, but that didn't work. Finally I tried paper journal/notebooks (nice ones, like Moleskine, Paperblanks, or Time Traveler) and that worked. Though in my mind, writing a "journal entry" doesn't cut it. The words have to be fiction.

That's my hard-fast rule: Fiction only.

To make it easier, I use one trigger-word as an inspiration. I either ask someone for the word or I take it from the TV, or the radio, or a sign, or whatever word pops into my head. But that word must appear in the first sentence of the entry.

Sharpen your pencils, writers, and...go!

I will try to check-in after 100 days, to see how you're all doing. Yes, that means I'm watching you. Mwah ha ha!

Click through on Suzanne's icon in the list of followers to read her word-a-day blog for a glimpse of today's 100+ words.

On the subject of making writing-specific New Year's resolutions

2012-01-03T22:32:00.001-05:00

As this is the first official working day of 2012, I spent the morning procrastinating instead of writing. But some writers would argue that setting resolutions for the New Year is in fact work, or at the very least, a form of non-fiction writing.

For the record, I side with "those" writers.

The benefits of setting writing goals are many.

First, you are accountable. To yourself, to your writers' group members, and to the world at large. You have made a contract between yourself and the page to meet certain benchmarks. And most writers will tell you that having a contract-based deadline is one powerful motivator to get the job done.

A secondary benefit of writing resolutions is the exercise itself. I spend a half-day cataloguing a year's worth of effort and most times, this activity leads to a certain sense of personal accomplishment. After all, I work for myself and I'm not about to give myself a performance evaluation nor do I have the power (I wish!) to give myself a raise. Nope, my writing work doesn't follow the same prescribed pattern of the traditional worker in the traditional job with a traditional manager and set of prescribed compensations. Thus, I need to set resolutions as a way to ensure that I'm coloring inside the lines, so to speak.

Third, I challenge myself to delve into new segments of the writing market. Resolutions can also act as prodders, giving me the freedom to branch out in different directions. For the second year in a row, the word "poetry" appears on my resolution list, a subsidiary of prose that I approach each year with caution and a shot of awe.

If you are on the brink of taking writing more seriously, if one of your personal resolutions is to write down those ideas you've been dabbling with for decades, then I highly recommend you make resolutions for your writing.

Keep in mind a few guidelines:

1) Make moderate goals that are achievable so that you don't get crushed in a month when you realize how impossible the goals truly were.

2) Include value-based, measurable goals (500 words a day, 10 submissions for the year, etc) rather than vague goals (write a comfortable number of words a day).

3) Consider a consequence if you don't meet a goal (I will wear pyjamas to the January writers' group meeting if I submit less than 5 times this year).

4) Revisit the goals quarterly, to make necessary course corrections.

Don't wait any longer. Make yourself some writing resolutions, then put those fingers to the keyboard and soar.

To read Suzanne's resolutions, go to http://canadiansuzanne.livejournal.com/291704.html

The Stop-Watch Gang

2011-11-21T23:07:00.003-05:00

Watch this space for updates on Stop-Watch Gang story sales and accomplishments.

Post your questions or opinions on all things related to Speculative Fiction Writing.

Learn more about our group members.

Lounge a while, but eventually you will need to stop procrastinating and get back to writing!