Newness

During the summer of '07, I needed a good beach/commute book, so I picked up my roommate's copy of Company, a "late capitalist novel" by Max Barry. It sounded like a ripoff of Palahniuk, but it ended up being really fun and fairly interesting. The twist at the end was good -- I'm always delighted when authors plot suspense well.

Somewhat less surprisingly, Max Barry (also author of Syrup and Jennifer Government) is also a decent blogger. And one of his nuggets of writing advice, from an older entry, is posted above my desk:

I reacted to my Syrup rejections by writing a standard, genre thriller. It was terrible. And I learned that you never improve anything by making it less original. It’s the opposite: the worst thing writing can be is not new [bold mine -RP].

I’m convinced this isn’t just me. I think everybody wants newness. Editors, agents, readers: we all want new plots, new ideas, new ways of looking at the world. Nobody wants to get twenty pages into a book and know where it’s going, or even feel too much like they’ve seen all this before. Even within a genre’s iron-clad conventions, we want twists, surprises, and reinventions.

Young writers in particular can sometimes try to crawl inside a pre-conceived box labeled “novel” or “screenplay,” and end up with something far less interesting than if they’d forged their own path. I’m not saying you want to hit the other extreme, and pursue a lone, bizarre vision with no regard for how it reads. But you must nurture the things that make your story and your writing unique—that make you unique, since writing is letting people crawl around inside your head. Billions of people can write a sentence. Why should I bother reading yours, unless they’re different?

I read this whenever I'm tempted to give up on writing smart fantasy because I'm afraid it won't sell. First of all, I need to shut up and start writing. But more importantly, Barry makes the point that editors and readers want something new, even if the bookshelves don't suggest that. The more cynical (and publishing-savvy) among us may respond that, yes, they're looking for something new, but what they really want is the new Next Big Thing that will sell millions of copies and have midnight releases.

That said, it really is good advice. I don't want to read the same short story (or fantasy novel!) over and over again. I don't want to write the same story, either.

Any thoughts?

(Cross-posted at I'm Writing)

Back Online

Hi all.

Some of you were (questionably) lucky to be around for my semi-coherent discussion of what I did with my summer when I was interning with a literary agent. I think at the time I promised to post the useful, non-rambling bits to the blog, along with a few links.

I have done this - sort of. Meaning, I put together a lot of information about what I do as an assistant in an agency, what an agency actually does, and how that relates to the publishing industry in the first place. Only thing is, I didn't post it here.

What I actually did was tinkered with the code on my other blog so that it would accept expandable posts (look, there were like six pages of material...you did NOT want to see that all posted at once) and stored all of my notes there. You should mosey on over and check it out.* Maybe at some point in the future I'll see about getting some more specific examples of Bad Query Letter/Good Query Letter if anyone's interested.

Because, you know, reading about publishing and/or messing around with HTML and style sheets is a lot more fun than finals.

*If I figure out how to modify the style sheet for this blog, I will move everything over here, I promise.

Writing Contest

I saw this postcard story contest and I thought I should pass it on to all you fine Workers (do we have a collective plural yet?). It sounds entertaining.

You find a postcard you like, write a 500-word story - fiction OR non-fiction, interestingly enough - and send it in. The deadline is November 1. Could be fun, especially if any of you go in for very short. Or it could be a good prompt/exercise/activity; who knows?

And an FYI on the industry and contests in general (for those of you who don't know, I spent my summer interning with a literary agent, so I got to paddle in the murky waters of the publishing pond. It was fantastic): part of writing is getting published, and one thing that will help you get published is placing in contests. It's not a guarantee someone will pick you up just like that, but it will get their attention and, hopefully, make them look twice, remember your name, and maybe even ask to see pages. So if you feel good about something and are seriously thinking of trying to get published at some point - especially in the short story line - it might be worth the $20.

Yesterday's meeting

A few of us met last night, and talked about the chapter Lisbeth had submitted from her project, "Fortunate Ones." We talked a lot about worldbuilding, which is more relevant to some of you than to others, as well as about how to apportion information for readers without making it feel like backstory is being heaped on them. To that end, the workshops this fall will focus less on getting ideas and getting started than on how to put those ideas into action -- in other words, how to get past Chapter 1.

You guys also missed an extended clash about the merits of Frank Herbert's Dune. Very entertaining!

There might be a meeting next week; please mention in your comments which day and time would be best for you. We're also taking submissions for next week; otherwise you guys will have to put up with reading my project.

Also, would anyone be interested in having another reading this fall? It would be in mid-November or later. We would need to have people sign up to read their work, as well as any musical acts you guys can get your hands on.

Lastly, keep thinking about NaNoWriMo. It's not as far off as you think!

Tuesday's meeting; recs and NaNoWriMo

Sorry to have been remiss in posting! Here's what we talked about this week.

Recommendations for reading:
+ Wonderboys (Michael Chabon)
+ Riddlemaster of Hed
+ The Name of the Wind (LeGuin)
+ Bleak House (Dickens)
+ The Wind-Up Bird Chronicle (... am I the only one in the world who hasn't read this yet?)
+ books by Wilkie Collins
+ books by A. S. Byatt
+ The Shadow of the Wind (Sara, help me out on the author!)

We also talked about the upcoming November, which happens to be National Novel Writing Month. I quote: "National Novel Writing Month is a fun, seat-of-your-pants approach to novel writing. Participants begin writing November 1. The goal is to write a 175-page (50,000-word) novel by midnight, November 30."

Even if you're writing a BA this year, take a stab at writing for NaNoWriMo. Remember, "the ONLY thing that matters in NaNoWriMo is output," so you can write whatever you want and rewrite it later. A lot of you have mentioned that it's hard to just get started, so take this as your chance to put pen to paper (or fingertips to keyboard) and write whatever comes. You can revise it later.

To that end, it's important to start NaNoWriMo with a fresh idea. Don't bring preexisting characters or plots into it. I'll be starting with the kernel of an idea I already have, but not with the complex world I've built around another project in the works.

Having primed you, here's the prompt for this session.

---

Write a scene in which a character's body, as well as his mind, is engaged in doing something. Here are some possibilities:
+ repairing something
+ playing solitaire or a game involving other players
+ doing exercises
+ painting a canvas or a wall
+ cutting down a tree
+ giving someone a haircut

Explore how various activities and settings can change what happens within a scene. For example, what happens when characters are planning their honeymoon while they are painting an apartment, or while one of them is cutting the other's hair. Pay attention to body language and choreography.

(adapted from What If: Writing Exercises for Fiction Writers, by Anne Bernays and Pamela Painter)

---

Last, but not least, the next meeting will be Monday, August 25, at 7 p.m. at my apartment.

"...all writers, novice or professional, have to get our hands dirty."

So I'm in this blogging phase right now, right? And I just started my own blog, wherein I'll diligently chronicle my thoughts and actions about writing... someday soon. In the meantime, I'm still reading the blogs of writers I like. At the blog of Shannon Hale, who's a great (and successful!) YA fantasy author, there's a new post up about the point of rewriting. I especially like the following quote:

"Every writer's process is different. Ann (A.E.) Cannon pointed out that most writers either start with character then find the plot, or start with plot then find the character (and of course it's the combination of those two, character and plot, that make story). ... Whichever you are, it becomes the work of rewrite to find the other."

I found this really helpful, since I'm a last-minute writer when it comes to everything but fiction, and I usually rewrite too heavily to even consider my products drafts of the same story. Ergo I'm terrified to revise real projects I'm invested in. But fear is not the answer.

Summer WIP, II

I decree it to be time for a new post to work out scheduling for said summer meeting.

To wit:

• Kat has a standing Wednesday conflict
• I am happy to host
• Although I too have a conflict this Wednesday (that's the 23rd for the calendary types)
• And I'm not available Thursday nights either
  

I'd be up for something any day of next week that isn't Wednesday or Thursday though. ;)

Comment at your leisure. What day is good? What time is good? Who's here anyway? I assume we all have a similar 9ish-5ish work schedule? Would 7 be a good meeting time?