"Avoid having your ego so close to your position that when your position falls, your ego goes with it."
- Colin Powell
Monday, December 31, 2012
Wednesday, December 19, 2012
My Entry for Susanna Leonard Hill’s 2nd Annual Holiday Contest!!!
The 2nd Annual Holiday Contest!!!
The Contest: Write a children's holiday story beginning with any version of "Dashing through the snow in a one horse open sleigh." You may use that actual opening, or you may change it to any similar version "[Verb of your choice]ing through the [any substance you choose] in a [conveyance of any kind]." For example, "Dashing through the sand in a two-wheeled donkey cart" or "Sloshing through the swamp in a green and white canoe" or "Flying through the air in a striped hot air balloon..." You get the idea, I'm sure :) But "Dashing through the snow in a one horse open sleigh" is completely acceptable too - whatever works for you :) Your story may be poetry or prose, silly or serious or sweet, religious or not, based on Christmas, Hanukkah, Kwanzaa or whatever you celebrate, but is not to exceed 350 words. For full contest rules, click here.
Dashing Through the Cosmos
By Erika Bushman
348 words
Dashing through the cosmos in a Warpton 2000 pod,
Over the colorful nebulas and through the Milky Way.
Traveling at the speed of light, Dono sped toward a green planet, third from a sun.
He had heard about a silly tradition of giving gifts and wanted to see how it was done.
It was dark when he approached a building lined with lights. Frozen water crystals swirled in the air as his pod gently landed on the building top. Looking for a way in, he found a square portal made of bricks. The portal was a tight fit especially around his middle but Dono was determined. What was all the hype about?
His feet hit something solid and Dono exited the portal with a huff. He brushed the dark powder off of his red and white fur to behold a beautiful sight. Glittery round balls and sparkling lights covered a green conical shaped plant. Underneath the plant were brightly colored objects.
With wonder and awe, Dono sat down and admired the sight. He almost knocked over a hollow cylinder filled with a white liquid. Licking a drop off his finger, he eyes widened. It was delicious! Next to the cylinder were two warm disks with brown spots. He took a bite. "Wonderful!" he thought as he washed it down with the creamy liquid. He was really starting to like this planet.
As he munched on the disks, he noticed little statues made with the likeness of the beings occupying this planet. Several large beings and animals stood around a smaller one. Everyone was gazing at the little one with expressions of excitement, joy, adoration and humility. Dono's heart warmed. He did like it here.
He opened his bag and placed some items in the tubes hung from the entry portal. Giving to these kind beings made him feel good!
He packed up his bag. Putting a finger to his nose, he beamed up to his pod.
With his heart warm and his belly full, Dono had one simple thought, "No wonder people from this planet loved this night!"
With his heart warm and his belly full, Dono had one simple thought, "No wonder people from this planet loved this night!"
Tuesday, December 18, 2012
Goals - And not the kind you hang dirty laundry on
Admit it. You've bought at least 1 piece of exercise equipment only to have it become an indoor laundry line. We've all been there, some more recently than others. There's no doubt that the upcoming months are known to both inspire and depress. Goals flourish from the regret we have over not accomplishing something the previous year and we are determined to get it right in the upcoming year. It's natural to want to finish something you started - but it's also important to realize why your goal was never attained. Was the goal attainable? Realistic? Meaningful? All of these things can cause goals to wither away.
So how does one come up with good writing goals? Here's a total unrelated way to remember how to set your goals; M.A.M.A. (yes I work for a company that suffers from Acronym-alitis - it's an awful, itchy, and rather annoying disease involving the inability to call things by their rightful names)
Make it a Measurable goal: Say you want to lose weight, well great, good for you. But that's not really a goal. Same with writing. Do you want to be a good writer, a novelist, an editor, or NY Times Best Selling author (see I will always find a way to bombard you with my life's ambition!) You have to be specific with your goals; "I want to lose 30lbs by June 1st." or "I want to find a literary agent that loves my work as much as I do this year." You aren't saying how you are going to do it (that comes later when assigning short-term goals) you are simply stating a measurable goal.
Make it Attainable: Say you want to right a book this year. Is it possible? Yes. But how do you go about it? Do you have six hours a day, seven days a week to write? No? (Come on who doesn't have that much time???? Oh, wait - I don't either.) So really, how much time do you have? Break your goal up into something that is measurable - like "I want to write 2 chapters a month." or "I want to finish my book by April 30th and finish all edits by October 1st." If you start out saying "I want to be a published author by December 1st" you are setting yourself up for failure - I'm not being mean, I'm just being realistic - I'm fairly certain it takes at least a year and half with edits and printing. Give yourself something worth fighting for - and in order for you to want to fight for it you have to know you stand a chance at winning.
Make it Meaningful: Any goal worth having has to mean something to you, or you won't even try. Writing is no different. What is it about writing that draws you to it? The freedom of being your own boss, the adventure in creating characters and places others haven't, the excitement in knowing that you could one day be the reason kids want to read? Whatever your motivation is, use it. Make every word, chapter, book count.
Make yourself Accountable: You can tell yourself you want to write a book anytime, anywhere (even on a random blog) BUT there's something about telling others what you're doing that takes your goal to a new level. No one wants to fail and yet when you tell others that you are a pre-published author it makes you want to work that much harder - because SOMEDAY you will be able to take that word "pre-" and bury it forever! So tell a friend, your spouse, your kids, your boss, your neighbors, or even the world :)
So here's to a year of worthwhile, attainable, non-laundry line writing goals!
So how does one come up with good writing goals? Here's a total unrelated way to remember how to set your goals; M.A.M.A. (yes I work for a company that suffers from Acronym-alitis - it's an awful, itchy, and rather annoying disease involving the inability to call things by their rightful names)
Make it a Measurable goal: Say you want to lose weight, well great, good for you. But that's not really a goal. Same with writing. Do you want to be a good writer, a novelist, an editor, or NY Times Best Selling author (see I will always find a way to bombard you with my life's ambition!) You have to be specific with your goals; "I want to lose 30lbs by June 1st." or "I want to find a literary agent that loves my work as much as I do this year." You aren't saying how you are going to do it (that comes later when assigning short-term goals) you are simply stating a measurable goal.
Make it Attainable: Say you want to right a book this year. Is it possible? Yes. But how do you go about it? Do you have six hours a day, seven days a week to write? No? (Come on who doesn't have that much time???? Oh, wait - I don't either.) So really, how much time do you have? Break your goal up into something that is measurable - like "I want to write 2 chapters a month." or "I want to finish my book by April 30th and finish all edits by October 1st." If you start out saying "I want to be a published author by December 1st" you are setting yourself up for failure - I'm not being mean, I'm just being realistic - I'm fairly certain it takes at least a year and half with edits and printing. Give yourself something worth fighting for - and in order for you to want to fight for it you have to know you stand a chance at winning.
Make it Meaningful: Any goal worth having has to mean something to you, or you won't even try. Writing is no different. What is it about writing that draws you to it? The freedom of being your own boss, the adventure in creating characters and places others haven't, the excitement in knowing that you could one day be the reason kids want to read? Whatever your motivation is, use it. Make every word, chapter, book count.
Make yourself Accountable: You can tell yourself you want to write a book anytime, anywhere (even on a random blog) BUT there's something about telling others what you're doing that takes your goal to a new level. No one wants to fail and yet when you tell others that you are a pre-published author it makes you want to work that much harder - because SOMEDAY you will be able to take that word "pre-" and bury it forever! So tell a friend, your spouse, your kids, your boss, your neighbors, or even the world :)
So here's to a year of worthwhile, attainable, non-laundry line writing goals!
Monday, December 17, 2012
Motivation Monday
"You cannot make yourself feel somehting you do not feel, but you can make yourself do right in spite of your feelings."
Thursday, December 13, 2012
What's in a character?
Characters are like recipes, you add a little too much of something and they fall flat. Of course, it can go the other way as well. If your character is too boring or mundane, no one will care. What's worse, you won't care - and as an author you HAVE to care. Characters are our children, we raise them from the pages we write, we nurture their faults and even their thoughts, hoping to make them someone everyone wants to love, hate, and more importantly, remember.
So what makes a character worth remembering? Looks, thoughtfulness, sincerity, attitude, familiarity?
One of my new favorite series, Beautiful Creatures, is being turned into a movie that comes out in February. And let me tell you, if there's one thing they better get right is the characters. Beautiful Creatures was so brilliantly written that it made you feel as if you lived in the south - no, that's not even right - it made you feel as if you were raised in the south.
But there's one character that I can't wait to see on the big screen - Amma. Let me tell you, Amma is the kind of woman you'd expect from a book set in the south. Everything about her, especially the way she interacts with the main character reminds not only him, but you the reader, that she is in charge - and if you were to forget that, well all she'd have to do is grab hold of "the menace", her wooden spoon and the menace would gladly remind you who was in charge.
It's the simplest of things that makes Amma a character that I, and other readers, learned to love. The way she cooked when she was upset, the way she looked at the main character when she was about to come unglued on him, everything about her made you think she was real.
This is what we, as authors, have to do. We have to breath life into people that don't even exist. We have to give them personalities, hobbies, annoyances, habits - we have to give them life.
And then....
We have to make sure their life story is worth telling.
So what makes a character worth remembering? Looks, thoughtfulness, sincerity, attitude, familiarity?
One of my new favorite series, Beautiful Creatures, is being turned into a movie that comes out in February. And let me tell you, if there's one thing they better get right is the characters. Beautiful Creatures was so brilliantly written that it made you feel as if you lived in the south - no, that's not even right - it made you feel as if you were raised in the south.
But there's one character that I can't wait to see on the big screen - Amma. Let me tell you, Amma is the kind of woman you'd expect from a book set in the south. Everything about her, especially the way she interacts with the main character reminds not only him, but you the reader, that she is in charge - and if you were to forget that, well all she'd have to do is grab hold of "the menace", her wooden spoon and the menace would gladly remind you who was in charge.
It's the simplest of things that makes Amma a character that I, and other readers, learned to love. The way she cooked when she was upset, the way she looked at the main character when she was about to come unglued on him, everything about her made you think she was real.
This is what we, as authors, have to do. We have to breath life into people that don't even exist. We have to give them personalities, hobbies, annoyances, habits - we have to give them life.
And then....
We have to make sure their life story is worth telling.
Wednesday, December 12, 2012
Are you ready to be published?
So your manuscript is finally ready! You've spent months if not years writing, numerous critiques and millions of hours revising. It's finally done and ready to go to a publisher or literary agent. But is it really ready? How do you know if your writing can make it in the literary world?
Rachelle Gardner, a literary agent at Book and Such, has a few suggestions.
I just copied and pasted main content of the blog post below. For the full article and comments, please click here. The comments on this blog post are informative too!
Rachelle Gardner, a literary agent at Book and Such, has a few suggestions.
I just copied and pasted main content of the blog post below. For the full article and comments, please click here. The comments on this blog post are informative too!
How Do You Know if Your Work is Any Good?
Blogger: Rachelle Gardner
A question from a reader on Facebook:
I’ll ask the question that’s been asked a hundred thousand times by writers perhaps at all levels. Outside of selling, how do you know that your work is actually good? You may pitch a book, and it might be good but might not be what an agent likes. So how do you validate that what you are doing is good?
Always a good question! And a tough one. Here are some thoughts:
First, there’s the definition of “good.”
Art and entertainment are completely subjective. Beauty is in the eye of the beholder. While there are certain standards by which many of us agree to judge worthiness, it’s still not even close to being objective. Organizations routinely give awards to books that would bore the heck out of most readers. Meanwhile, other groups give awards to books that the literary types deem “trash.” All kinds of books become bestsellers—from the most intelligent, scholarly masterpieces to more easily accessible stories that attract readers for reasons other than literary excellence.
The question is, what kind of “good” are you shooting for? The “good” that wins literary awards and gets starred reviews in PW? The “good” that attracts readers and leaves them wanting more of your work? Some combination?
Whatever the answer, you’re shooting for a murky target. You won’t find a solid working definition of “good.”
Second, what kind of validation are you looking for?
The question above said, “how do you validate that what you are doing is good?” We’re all looking for validation, but your task is to try and understand what YOU will find validating. A few friends loving your work? An agent taking you on? A major publisher signing you? Or maybe none of those things will happen but you’ll self-publish. Can validation come in the form of thousands of copies sold and lots of positive reviews from readers? You might not know until you’re further along this journey and have some experience with different avenues of getting your work out there.
But let’s get back to the crux of the question: How do you know if your work is any good—by anybody’s standards?
You know your work is good in two ways:
1) Your own gut feeling.
You have to train your gut, however, by reading and writing, and reading more, and writing more. Reading books in your genre, reading books on craft, identifying how you can make your writing better. Putting manuscripts away for a few months and coming back to them later to re-evaluate them with a fresh eye. You will never be objective about your own work, but you can train yourself to assess your work more and more accurately.
2) Outside feedback from others.
In the end, there’s no substitute for getting other people’s eyes on your work. This is why critique partners and beta readers are so popular. It’s also why authors hire editors, consultants, book mentors and book doctors. At some point, you might want the input of someone whose “gut” is more seasoned than yours or your critique partners’.
But still…how do you know when your work is ready to send out?
Nobody can answer this definitively. A combination of your gut and some outside feedback is where you start… then it’s trial and error. Sometimes you just have to send it (or press “publish” if you’re self-publishing) and see what happens.
So glad she mentioned that gut feeling. Sometimes you just know when you know!
Happy writing!
Monday, December 10, 2012
Motivation Monday
"Joint undertakings stand a better chance when they benefit both sides."
- Euripedes
- Euripedes
Tuesday, December 4, 2012
Pitch Wars! Finished Manuscript contest
So another author posted this and I couldn't help but want to share (Yes, I will except hate mail for waiting too long to post this - the deadline is tomorrow.....) But I think it is a great contest and anyone who has a finished manuscript should jump on this... like tonight or tomorrow - by 8pm EST!!
Here’s the deets…
The teams will consist of 1 agented author or industry intern or editor (coaches) and 1 aspiring author.
November 26: The coaches (listed on the linky below) will post on their blogs what genre/category they want to coach. They’ll be very specific genres. Aspiring writers will hop around and decide which coaches best fit their manuscripts.
November 26 through December 5 at 8PM EST: Aspiring writers will submit 3 “applications” to their top choices for coaches to the contest email (brendadrakecontests@gmail.com). That means, participants will send three separate emails to the contest email addressing each with one of their three top choices for coach.
December 5 through December 10: Coaches will read the applications and pick teammates.The coaches don’t have to pick from their applications. If a coach passes on an application, it is then up for grabs and another coach, if they haven’t connected to their applicants, can snatch it after notifying the applicant and if the applicant chooses the coach.
December 12: Teams will be announced. On the announcement post there will be instructions on how the winners must send their work.
December 12 through January 16: Each coach will read their teammate’s manuscript and give general notes on any issues they find. The coach will help their teammate get his or her pitches ready for the agent round.
Note: The material for the agent round will be a 3 sentence pitch and the first 250 words of your manuscript. Coaches will read manuscripts and query letters only once and give notes. It is up to the writer to use the notes from their coaches to get the manuscript and query letter in as best shape as they can to send to requesting agents. The coaches will critique the three sentence pitch and first 250 words. The coaches will read them as many times as they deem necessary. In no way will writers expect the coaches to read the manuscript and query letter more than once or the pitches more than twice.
January 20: Coaches will submit shined pitches to the contest email.
January 23 and 24: Agents will read and make requests on the pitches they like (it is likely that not all participants will get requests).
January 25: We’ll announce the team with the most requests and who will take home the winning prizes (an amazon gift card for each).
This is open to finished manuscripts only.
You may only enter one manuscript.
Only the genres requested by each coach will be considered for the contest.
Formatting…
Subject line: Pitch Wars Application: Coach Name you want to apply for: Title
(Example: Pitch Wars Application: Brenda Drake: GONE WITH THE WIND)
(Example: Pitch Wars Application: Brenda Drake: GONE WITH THE WIND)
Name: Your Name
Genre: The genre of your manuscript
Word Count: The word count of your manuscript
Query letter here (embedded in email). Single spaced. No indentions. A space between each paragraph.
First five pages of the manuscript here (embedded in email). Single spaced. No indentions. A space between each paragraph.
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REMINDER: You can send an application for up to 3 coaches.
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