Sitting on My Laurels

But at least I am ahead of Julius Caesar and know exactly where they are.

Which makes it worse - resting, perhaps content of having finished it but definitely petrified of having failed.

I have not looked at my novel in weeks, not since I received a rejection.  Naturally, I expected that I would get one (well, a lot more actually) but the automatic five-minutes-after-I-submitted rejection was annoying nonetheless.  What I did not expect was the effect it had on me - not upset or sad or indignant or whatnot, just hit with a surge of self-doubt.  Normally I regroup within minutes and move on, so by all accounts I should have sent a query to the next agent on my list within a few days.  But nothing, which is why I have also neglected this blog and writing in general.

Anyone else experience this sort of inability to move ahead?  Somehow uncertainty, filled with possibility, was so much kinder.

The relationship between work and talent

I was reading Nicole's latest post about conquering our writing weaknesses.  Inside her post she had a quote: "Hard work beats talent when talent doesn't work hard."

I love quotes and words of wisdom and this one stayed with me after I closed the browser.

When you are an accountant (a subject I majored in), working hard can compensate for initial lack of mathematical talent - all you have to do is practice and practice some more.  Or when you are a lawyer (like me), drafting and redrafting an agreement or a submission will make you better - it is not that hard to pick up the mechanical skills.  All you really need is patience, time, and hard work.

But when it comes to creative writing, can hard work really compensate for lack of talent?  Can someone with just a good measure of talent get better by working consistently?  Or is the resulting novel or story going to be only as strong as that person's underlying talent?

I understand how hard work can improve one's writing if that person does, in fact, have a way with words that is combined with an impressive imagination.  But what if all you have is good language and grammar skills but not enough imagination?  How can you improve that?

Imagine a story where the words sign, but the story goes nowhere because of lack of imagination.

Or am I looking at this from the wrong angle?

Ready to Query

My first novel, which I have titled In The Shadow of Honey Locusts, is finally finished.  It took five drafts and 19 months, many sleepless nights and countless lunch breaks, a good number of hopeful days and hundreds of others when all I wanted to do is quit.

But I did not and, for better or for worse (I hope the former!), it is now done.

I have also crafted a query letter and a synopsis, and made a list of agents.

Yes, I know, there is always that what if I go over it just one more time and change a few more words but I think I am now satisfied.  At last.

But now comes the silly question - is there a best day and time to send the query?

Do some of the unwritten rules of business apply to querying?  That is, don't really send an email / query on Monday, especially early morning, because everyone is too busy focusing on the must-get-this-done tasks, and certainly don't bother to send one on Friday because everyone is in weekend-mode and won't really pay attention.

Any thoughts or experience with this - or am I going too far?

Thank you!

On the Move

The shuffling of folding boxes.  The screeching of packing tape.  The towers of books and the mountains of dishes.  And the gentle wave of dust that inevitably settles on everything.

The pains of packing and unpacking are many and are topped by several sleepless nights as we move through the process.

Yet there are a few unexpected highlights.  The long-forgotten articles I saved from old magazines. The mementos from childhood, thought lost for years.  And the letters written by family and friends almost two decades ago.

Letters.  Yes, words written by hand on neatly folded crisp sheets hidden inside pretty envelopes decorated with kind words or pretty stickers, and, occasionally, an ink spot or two.  It must be years since I last received one and seeing the yellowing papers and faded ink I realized how much I miss them.  But I am just as guilty of resorting to the faster and cheaper email as the persons who I wish still wrote real letters to me. By hand.  With a pen and a paper.

Do you still write and get letters?  Do you feel it is a lost art?

Rejection Before One Word Is Read

That is my biggest fear.

My manuscript will be thrown right on top of the slush pile, without the agent (or, most likely, his assistant) ever having read one word of what took me over two years to write.

Yet that is what is most likely to happen to me - and most of us who are "amateurs" and unknown.

Is there anything we can do to avoid that?  Who really knows!

But we must certainly try.

Below is a list of questions to ask and points to consider in getting your book stand out (thank you Writer's Digest).  Most of these are obvious and dead on - but sometimes those are the first ones to slip our minds (at least mine, as I get lost in crafting each sentence or thinking about the theme).

- Why does the publisher have to read it? (If you are not sure, how can they be?)
- Why do you believe in what you are doing?
- What is it about this book that warrants the attention of the reading public?
- Start thinking like a marketer - condense the story into just two sharp, attention-grabbing sentences.
- Target your book - which market are you aiming for?  How is your book different from others targeting the same audience?

Grammar Hang Ups And The Like...

I returned from a family vacation a couple of weeks ago, but since the office was eager to have me back, I am still catching up on my "writing" emails, including the weekly emails from Writer's Digest.  Always looking to improve my grammar and avoid uncommon pitfalls, the article "The 13 Trickiest Grammar Hang-Ups" caught my eye.  Most of the so-called hang-ups were fairly basic and I am sure most of us are comfortable using the terms correctly or using suitable replacements.  Some of the hang-ups were interesting, albeit for different reasons.

Take "until," which the author said was ambiguous.  I absoutely agree and have thought about this not just when writing fiction but when doing work (legal writing).  If you have until April 15 to file your tax returns, does it mean you have to file it no later than the end of the day on April 14 or do you have until the end of the day on April 15? As you all know I am sure, we are all happy that the tax authorities are more specific and specify that the due date is April 15. Certainly an easy hang-up or pitfall to avoid in your writing.

"Next" also made the author's list of ambiguous words. It is Monday morning and you are making plans with your friends for lunch next Thursday.  Does next Thursday mean this upcoming Thursday or Thursday of next week?  Again, this is an easy pitfall to avoid.

And then the article got interesting... discussing the use of the word "American" to refer to persons who are US citizens or other persons who are considered "US persons."  The author opined that using the term American to refer to US persons is fine (although technically incorrect) because there is no other single word we can use to refer to a US citizen and because most people in the US and Europe will assume that an American is a US person, as opposed to a Brazilian or Mexican person. Maybe this usage is commonplace and, as such, is becoming acceptable, but you should see the responses given to the article by Americans who are not US citizens...

Writing, like everything else, cannot escape politics.

Thank You - and the Award Goes To...

Thank you Shannon for the Kreativ Blogger Award :-)

I am going to break the "rules" a bit but here we go:

The Answers

1.  I don't really have a favorite song (more of a classical music lover) but I do like Enter Sandman by Metallica and With You in My Head by Unkle.
2.  Favorite dessert?  Too many to name...but must be organic or at least all natural.
3.  What ticks me off? People who are mean, rude, ignorant, and always "entitled."
4.  When I am upset I'll take a few deep breaths and close my eyes for a minute.
5.  I don't have a favorite pet (no pets, actually) but I did have a dog when I was a child - Caesar.
6.  I always wear black.
7.  I am an eternal optimist but the realist in me is always watching and on stand-by.

The Random Facts

1.  I used to run miles every day, sometimes twice a day (morning and night...)
2.  I speak three languages fluently, still working on perfecting the fourth.
3.  I am a total neat freak.
4.  I love to travel.
5.  I am passionate about clean, healthy, non-toxic living and products and all that relates (eating local & organic, recycling and so forth).
6.  I keep another blog which relates to #5 above - SmartMommyHealthyBaby.
7.  I am a natural gray :-) at least by now.

And The Award Passes to:


1.  The Desert Rocks

2.  Kelly Hashway

3.  Motivation for Creation

4.  One Word at a Time

5.  Margo Kelly

6.  Will Write For Cookies

7.  The 20th Century Man