Example of sheer Bullheadedness - and how it works!

I just read this article by Kathryn Stockett, author of The Help, and I am both amazed and inspired (and maybe a little afraid) of this woman's perseverance. I admit I haven't read the book yet. It's on my reading list, but after reading this I may bump it up a few places.

In a funny, up-lifting, and painful story, Stockett explains how she had her manuscript rejected 60 times before being accepted by an agent. 60. Not only is that how many letters she got back, but also how many times she had to brace herself and send out another submission. How many times she had to edit and re-write. What a lady.

Thanks to the people at My Writer's Circle for posting this link. It's certainly worth keeping.

http://shine.yahoo.com/event/poweryourfuture/kathryn-stocketts-the-help-turned-down-60-times-before-becoming-a-best-seller-2523496/

Book Teaser videos - reupload

I've been posting these videos everywhere for awhile, but C.J. Duarte (Click here for my Q&A about his debut novel The Dash!) recently toyed with them a little bit to make them widescreen and they look SO good that I had to repost.

The first one is for The Fenwith Trials, a story of a series of witch-burnings in 15th century-type England: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-WBaQ2I-ZmY

The second is a very sneak preview for the manuscript I'm currently working on called Playing with Fire, a fantasy novel about a sorceress named Katerina:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=I3i-XSUCsvk

Please check them out, comment here, comment there, anything to support my books and C.J. Duarte's wonderful work!!

Writing Update

I feel like I've accomplished a great deal this week. Not only have I restructured my entire big fight scene that I've been struggling with since the first draft, but I also wrote the first chapter for book number 2 in the series! Yes, yes, I know I ought to do something with the first one before I start the second, but when inspiration hits, you just run with it.

I actually do have a few other projects in mind. One in particular that I'd like to run with, although I find the setting (and therefore any significant plot points) very intimidating. Generally I'm more of a dragons and fairies kind of girl, not space ship and aliens, but I've already fallen for my characters and I want to get to know them better. Not to mention the Beatles obsession of my Lead Character.

For now, though, I focus on this manuscript. My gut feeling is that after one more read-through on my part I should be ready to start submitting it. Then let the fun begin!

Action-Packednotsomuch

I am enlisting help from you now.

I have many strengths when writing. This is not me trying to sound arrogant, just recognizing what I'm good at. I'm excellent at witty banter, pretty good at establishing relationships between characters and giving each character a fairly distinctive voice. I can also pull the emotional heart strings and make people cry. I have done this many times.

But there are only so many scenes in a book that can be tear-filled encounters and clever repartee. We no longer live in a Jane Austen world and while novels solely about relationships still sell, they're not quite the top of the best-sellers list. People these days want ACTION.

So how does one write this way? What is the trick to getting people invested in a fight? Are there particular verbs I might throw in, or tropes that are used to get people rooting for the good guy? I am open to any and all suggestions on how to improve in this area.

And if no one replies, maybe I'll take up classes in knife-fighting. Write what you know, right?

Getting Started

I have a few buddies that are looking to start writing projects of their own now! I'm not saying it's ALL because of me (haha), but I am very proud of them for even considering it. It's a long drawn-out process that takes a great deal of self-motivation and discipline, the only fun part being the writing itself - and even that can get discouraging and frustrating early on.

Yeah, okay, way to encourage them, Krista.

I'm not trying to make writing seem like the hardest task in the world, because it really isn't, I just know from experience that the image of being a writer is sometimes  more fun than the reality. And the hardest part of it all? Starting.

As many writers will tell you, the most daunting sight in the world is a blank page. It's also the most exhilarating. A pure, blank slate full of possible adventures, of new friends and meaningful conversations, of the greatest epic that humankind might ever read. Unfortunately, the pristine whiteness of potential becomes as tight as a straight-jacket when it comes time to set down the pen (hit the first keystroke). The mind is a marvelous and fantastic thing...it just doesn't always translate well into coherent thought.

There must be a step around this endless blank, however, or the world would be full of novels without words, and that would just be silly. "What is this step, oh wise one?" you may ask. It's actually very simple. You just put down the first word. And then another. It really doesn't matter what you say in those first couple of lines - the editing comes later to make sure your introduction relates to the rest of your story - the important thing is that you've started. Once you have the rhythm of typing or writing, it's easy to get lost in the images that will undoubtedly run through your mind if you have an idea of where the story will take you.

It's the best advice I can give. Even knowing this, though, doesn't stop me from now and again beating my fists against the wall with writer's block or the dreaded creative silence. In that case, I tend to move onto writing something else, be it journaling or brainstorming for some other project. I have a post planned to discuss this "Wall" shortly.

My last piece of advice is something I offered to a friend only recently. Whenever I get stuck on what my first word should be, a good place to start is "The".