Having Lunch With My Agent And Other Surreal Things That Happened To Me Last Week

Last week, my family and I went on a much-needed vacation to New York City. Not exactly the most relaxing place, I agree, but nonetheless, none of them had been there, it was quality time with our two kids, one of whom is ready to leave the nest next year, and for me, it held the added caveat of being able to meet my agent face-to-face, break bread and talk about writing and publishing.

As surreal as it was to get the actual call offering representation, there are few words that can describe what an amazingly cool thing it is to sit in a restaurant in Midtown Manhattan and have lunch with my agent. I felt like the little kid who was finally being offered a seat at the adult table. I enjoyed the freedom of stripping away the limitations of email and the telephone to talk about where things are at and what the future holds. Even if it was only for two hours, he made me feel like I was his most important client, and renewed my confidence that I am with the right person for me and that his knowledge of the industry and where my work fits is extensive and spot on.

We talked about the kind of writer I want to be and the stories I want to write, and then he discussed with me the realities of the marketplace and what I need to do as a writer to stay competitive and get my work out there, remaining unafraid to stretch past my comfort zone. His honest pep-talk of sorts was just what I needed to bolster my spirits as I move forward on the rewrite of my second novel while still knee-deep in the waiting game on my first one. (You thought agents take a long time to respond to queries? Try being on submission with editors with a non-high-concept novel. Just sayin'...)

Living in Los Angeles, I am completely unfazed to drive by movie studios like Disney, Warner Brothers, Universal or Fox. They are just part of the landscape here like Starbucks or anything else. But I was positively giddy and reduced to a state of sheer awe to behold the likes of Simon & Schuster or walk past 1 Dag Hammarskjold Plaza and know that that was the home of Dell Yearling, the once-publisher of all the Judy Blume novels I grew up reading until the pages were practically separated from the binding.

The rest of the week was spent enjoying the city with my family, seeing six plays, touring the Statue of Liberty and Ellis Island, exploring two museums, and enjoying copious amounts of pizza, especially via our walking pizza tour of Greenwich Village. And best of all, on the plane ride home, an idea for a new novel came creeping into my brain and started taking shape.

Published or unpublished, agented or unagented, there is something about being a writer and coming to New York City to truly make you feel like one. I highly recommend it, if nothing else but to inspire you and reinforce that you can't have a dream come true if you never have a dream.


Me with my agent Bill Contardi

Firsts and Lasts

Today is a pretty big day in my house. My daughter is graduating elementary school and as of tomorrow, my son will be entering his senior year of high school. I've been a part of this elementary school for the past twelve years, and as of this afternoon, that chapter of my life and my daughter's life will come to a close. It's definitely the end of something, but also the beginning of something new and uncharted, filled with potential surprises.

These moments of firsts and lasts are what help define and shape us, and these are also the moments that suck us in the most when we are reading a great story. Everyone universally experiences this regardless of race, finances, geographic location, etc. It's part of the human experience, and the emotions that these firsts and lasts elicit from us are what drive us forward or stop us cold in our tracks and keep us paralyzed until we find the resolve to move forward as we know we must.

There is no greater source of plot to draw from than this little nugget, because in every first and last comes replete with its own story. And we can write these stories with authenticity and honesty because we remember how they felt. Who can't remember the first time you liked someone and they liked you back? Or your first kiss? Or when someone died that you loved? Or you had to say goodbye to a friend who moved away? Or started a new school and didn't know a soul? Or gave birth to your first child? The list goes on. But no matter what the first or last, guaranteed it stirs something in the pit of your stomach or creates a heaviness in your heart or makes you wish you could turn back time. THIS is what you want to infuse your stories with. THIS is what draws your reader in and not want to let go.

Some may be wonderful and some may be painful, but cherish every first and last because both are fleeting. This is the fabric of life, and the true heart of any great story.

Why Your Manuscript Might Be Getting Rejected And How To Fix It

Sending your novel out in the world is not for the faint-hearted. Nothing makes you feel more vulnerable than someone judging your work, and it's hard to remember that rejections are not personal, they're all business. At the end of the day, while your work means everything to you, an agent or an editor is looking at it in a monetary sense, i.e. can it make any. No matter how charming your story or lyrical your writing, if it won't sell copies, it may not see the light of day.

So what are some of the most common things a writer hears with rejections and how can you work your manuscript so that these comments won't apply to you?

THE STORY IS NOT FRESH ENOUGH
Sure, there are books we've read that are similar in story to others. In fact, some themes are used over and over again to the point of roll-your-eyes saturation. After all, how many books on vampires, mermaids, first love, road trips and kids with a super power can there be? As a writer, if crafting a novel with any of these storylines, it is certainly frustrating to see a plethora of these books on the market with new ones coming out every month and yours is rejected for this reason. But that's the point entirely: Why would someone want to plop down $17 to read a story they've already read? And why would a publisher invest thousands of dollars in a book when they already have a similar one on their list? The only thing you can do when you meet this type of comment is look for something to add to your story that makes it unique and completely different from what already exists. Research the current marketplace, see who published similar books, and make a point of reading every one you can. Then try and find what makes yours different than these and punch up that element and make sure it becomes a significant part of your query and logline to distinguish it. If you can't find one, then that's a pretty darn good place to start.

WHILE IT HAS SOME LOVELY MOMENTS, IT DOESN'T HAVE ENOUGH HEFT TO DISTINGUISH ITSELF IN THE COMPETITIVE MARKETPLACE
This translates into that while the story may be entertaining, there is not enough meat to it to make it stand out and sell. In a sea of high concept stories, why would anyone choose this one? That's not to say that every story needs to be high concept, but there needs to be something substantial enough in it other than it being characters going from A to B or boy meets girl, boy loses girl, boy gets girl to make people want to read it. Publishers are buying fewer and fewer titles every year, so the bar is higher than its ever been to wow them and make them want to fight for your story when it does not have more obvious selling points. All you can do here is go through your book and see where you might be able to beef it up or add a storyline that will help it stand out. For example, if a character is bullied, maybe make the bullying aspect a bigger and more powerful theme. Or if a character has a strange quirk or obsession, play up more how it is affecting their life and everyone around them, therefore standing in the way ultimately of the character getting what he/she wants or needs.

THE STORY IS TOO QUIET
A quiet story, or a soft story, is the polar opposite of a high concept story. It may be beautiful, but again, it will appeal to a smaller sector of the marketplace and there may be reservations about its selling power. Some stories are just meant to be that, nothing more, and they become something else entirely if you try and tweak them too much to suit the marketplace. If a quiet romance can work for Sarah Dessen and sell, why can't it work for everyone else? The difference here is that Sarah Dessen has already established herself, and her publisher knows that her books will sell on her name alone because she's proven herself within her genre. It's much harder for a debut author to make a splash in this way in a quieter genre. You might want to put the quiet book aside to submit after you've sold something else, because once you've established yourself as well publishers may be more open to seeing other work from you that they might not have considered the same way initially. Regardless, quiet, soft stories remain a hard sell in this current market.

THE MANUSCRIPT DOESN'T LOOK PROFESSIONAL
Have you taken the time to go through your entire manuscript and check for spelling and grammar errors? It can make a huge difference in the presentation and readability to any agent or editor, and many may pass for that reason alone because the writer seems lazy or sloppy. Some writers may assume they don't need to go that extra mile because someone else will ultimately catch all that and clean it up for them. Not so. It is always essential to present your best, cleanest work. There are multitudes of websites out there that can help you with proper grammar and punctuation usage, so there is no excuse for not doing so before submitting your work to industry professionals.

THE MANUSCRIPT IS OVER-WRITTEN AND SELF-CONSCIOUS
This one is a big head-scratcher. What do all those buzz-words mean? Over-writing is just that: you are saying TOO much and it is taking the reader out of the story. Flowery language and over-description, or too many moments where the character is questioning everything and immediately coming up with the solution disrupts the flow and strays from an organic, consistent tone. Self-conscious writing is very often applied to first person narrative writing, and that's a tricky one. Because you are writing from one character's POV, you are relaying both their actions and their thoughts. However, there is supposed to be a wall maintained between the reader and the writer, and solid writing lets the reader forget the writer is there at all. Self-conscious writing is passages where the reader again loses that voyeur feeling and is reminded they are reading a story rather than being immersed in it. It is often an overuse of flowery language, literary devices and contrived and over-planned stories. This is a fixable problem, thankfully, and it may mean another revision or two (or more), but if you keep your eye trained to the places where this might be the case and rework them, you will end up with a stronger story.

I DON'T CARE ABOUT THE CHARACTERS
In life, there are people we like and people we don't. If we find their behaviors repugnant, their morals questionable and their personalities abrasive, chances are we won't like them much. So why is that any different when we are reading a story? If you want a reader to go on a journey with your character, he/she must be invested in him/her and care about what happens to him/her. Even if he/she is a miserable sot, he/she must have some redeeming qualities that are displayed that help a reader relate to and root for him/her. Relatability and likeability are hugely important.

There are obviously so many more, and at the end of the day, any agent or editor's pass is also completely subjective. However, it gives a writer a starting point to work with and see where they might be able to improve upon his/her story before it goes out too wide and great opportunities are lost.

Can you think of any other ones and how to fix them?

Doing the "I Finished The Second Book" Happy Dance

Holy crap! I did it! I finished my second book, and literally eight minutes before the bell rang and I had to pick my eleven-year-old up from school. SO glad you all couldn't see me doing the happy dance in my living room. That would have been waaaay embarrassing. Although it's a completely craptastic first draft that needs much revision and polishing, the bottom line is, I did it, and in just 2-1/2 short months. So I guess it's official: I'm a writer. :) It's not some fluke that I happened to write a book; this is something that I can do over and over again. Maybe the speed with which it was written was part pressure of feeling like I needed to have something else other than just the novel I have on sub, but part of it too is this time I had a much better idea of what I was doing. I understood more about structure and outlining, I caught careless mistakes because I'd learned so much about grammar and punctuation from the first one that I could teach a course, and I actually tackled this with a fully formed story in my head.

On top of that, my friend and one of my crit partners spent yesterday fielding multiple offers of representation after just a couple of months of searching, which kept a huge grin on my face. It's always wonderful when good things happen to people who truly deserve them. Her story is so different than mine (literally and figuratively) and it just serves to show that you can't hold yourself up against anyone else's experience to determine when and how things should happen for you. Everything in its own time. As George Michael would say, "Ya gotta have faith."

I'm so relieved to have draft #1 behind me and have committed to not even touch it for a few weeks so that I can enjoy immersing myself in my daughter's last few days of elementary school, because neither of us gets that back again. And that's the good stuff that makes up the fabric of our personal stories, the ones we keep just for ourselves. :)

Pushing It To The Finish Line Turtle-Style

June 6th looms on the horizon like a D-day of sorts in my house. Though it means that I will have my kids home for the summer and we have all sorts of wonderful things to look forward to, it also means the end of my quiet, uninterrupted writing time as I know it until late August. I'm almost done with the first draft of my new novel, and the fear of not finishing it before they are omnipresent has really put a fire under me, so I created a series of goals for myself that felt realistic.

THE SELF-IMPOSED DEADLINE
I created an imaginary self-imposed deadline of June 6th to bang out this first draft in it's entirety. Trying to meet that goal, though incredibly daunting, has helped me stay focused and push everything I can to the bank burner (including housework! Sorry family!) so that I can get the words on the page. I have given myself permission to just write, even if it's not perfect, and not worry about correcting ANYTHING at this point. Instead, I keep a pad handy and make little notes to myself so that when I revise later, I can target areas I know from the get-go I will need to address. Writing without the pressure of having that first draft be perfect takes off a HUGE amount of stress, because I have promised myself no one will read this until I have given it at least one revision pass, no matter how anxious I may be to get some feedback. The self-imposed deadline has given birth to an average writing day of anywhere from 8-12 pages, which is great, and also means that if I keep this up, I should meet my goal.

NOT RUSHING REVISIONS
Next, I have given myself the entire summer to tackle revisions. I don't want to rush the process in any way and send my agent something crap, nor waste my crit partners' time by sending them something to read before I think it's truly ready. My mother may be willing to read umpteen drafts of my novels, but realistically, I can't expect everyone else to. Not without a large denomination Starbucks gift card involved at least.

LEARNING FROM MY MISTAKES
I have tried to absorb all I have learned from the process of writing the first one and not fight it. Check grammar, punctuation and verb tenses. Then check them again. Make sure every piece of dialogue and every scene furthers the story along in some way or chuck it, no matter how beautifully written. I saw a great suggestion on a blog this week that said to create a folder called "Darlings", as in "Killing Your Darlings", and cut and paste all the beautifully written chopped passages of your work that were painful to let go of and keep them here. Maybe they will serve a purpose in something you write in the future.

APPLY THE "SAVE THE CAT" FORMULA TO HELP TIGHTEN MY STORY AND FIND THE HOLES
Next, plug my story into the Save The Cat formula and make sure it works and hits all the essential marks. I followed it loosely in the original writing, because it gave me more of a general guideline, but it will really serve as a fantastic tool to help make for a tight revision. If you are not using this method or don't know what it is, you should totally check it out. Truly, if your story doesn't have all the elements described, it helps you hone your focus on how to fix it. Great stuff.

EXERCISE PATIENCE (IT'S A VIRTUE!)
When we finish typing "The End," if you're anything like me, you can't wait to get your book in front of readers and hope that they will come back saying you're written something epic that needs minimal changes. I have learned this is completely unrealistic, and have learned not to feel disappointed and overwhelmed by this in earlier drafts. That's why it's called a "first draft." Maybe one day I'll possess the skill to knock it out perfectly in one shot, but I have yet to meet a writer who does, so I give myself permission for that first draft to suck and to temper my patience by giving myself a little space and then reapproach it. At the end of the day, I know what I want the story to say, so until it's ready and I feel like all the holes are plugged and I am completely confident about what I've written, I will not jump the gun.

TAKE AS LONG AS NEEDED TO PERFECT THE LOGLINE AND PITCH
Last but not least, don't shortchange my pitch and figuring out how to articulate a great hook for my logline. This is ultimately what will spark the interest of agents and editors so if it's not the best it can be, you may be shortchanging yourself an opportunity to get your work read. I am allowing myself as much time as needed for this piece because it's so very important. My pitch for my first novel went through many incarnations until it reached its present form because either it gave too much away or was too vague or didn't have anything to hook the reader in and make them feel like this might be a story that they haven't seen before even though the theme might be familiar.

For those of you writers in the same boat as me in the coming weeks, enjoy the last of the silence, and then enjoy the time with your kids! That's a gift not to be missed as well! Your story will still be waiting for you when you can get back to it and any time away from it will only give you the benefit of fresh eyes! Good luck!

Keeping It Real In Your Writing

If I had to pinpoint a moment in any given story where I become truly invested in any character, it's the moment where that character is faced with a difficult situation and they are forced to let it define and defeat them or they finally summon what's inside of them and fight back like a kickass ninja. After all, in our own lives, these are the moments of greatest growth, where we show the world what we're made of and who we've become; how far we're willing to be pushed and what we're willing to accept before we say "No more!"

If your character(s) in your story never have a moment like this, that's a great place to start as you deconstruct what might not be working as well as it could. Your novel does not need to be a high concept adventure or fantasy novel for your hero to have a defining moment. This can also happen in a contemporary romance when someone has to reveal what's in their heart, or in a drama when someone is forced to face their fears and work through them to overcome an obstacle, or even in a comedy when the unlikely hero has to take a stand, or does something he never dreamed he could do that changes everything.

Life is filled with things, people and circumstances that we cannot control. Our want to is what makes us human. Or success or failure at it shapes who we are. It is critical to include these elements into our stories to make them relatable and realistic. Sadly, in most situations in real life, the puzzle pieces do not all fit together easily, all the threads are neatly tied together and everyone lives happily ever after. We can take every measure possible to block out the darkness and the pain and the things that unsettle us, but when they find their way in the cracks, that is where the drama lies that has the power to rattle us, to bring us to our knees and to challenge our spirit. To create a truly memorable and meaningful character, his/her life should hold no less in whatever manner feels appropriate for your story.

And just as in real life, sometimes we are forced to accept what we cannot change and to know our limits. Sometimes that brings about new beginnings. Don't always give your characters the resolution one might expect. Good luck!! Now get busy writing!!

Getting To Know Your Novel: A Love/Hate Story

There are really no words to describe the awesome feeling of starting a new book. That blinking cursor on a blank page that transforms into a first sentence - a portal into a new world. New characters with new mannerisms and quirks and story twists and turns that have yet to be revealed despite what you may or may not have carefully outlined. But in the beginning stages, you're still not committed. You can write one, ten, even twenty pages and then just let it go because there is not yet a tether that binds you to this story. You have yet to truly crawl inside these characters in a way that makes you unable to stop thinking about them, and the story has yet to become such a piece of you that you find yourself thinking about it as you shower, as you drive, and in every idle second in between your "real" life. It's like you're dating.

You start to feel like this story may actually become something as it starts to move up in page count, naturally, propelling into the sixties and seventies, and when you finally hit page 100, you may even have a victory dance and fist pump that hopefully no one saw. By this point, you've already foregone basic nutrition for snacks, food pyramid be damned, because you are starting to feel the groove of this thing and what it might become. At this point, you truly feel like you can call it a work-in-progress, because you are indeed progressing. The relationship to your story is becoming more serious and intense, far more than a courtship, and you're definitely feeling like you can commit to this, but you can still turn back. You may go back at this point and read all you've written and one of two things will usually happen here. Either you will pat yourself on the back and think this is an absolute effing work of genius and press on, buoyed by little more than your own over-confidence that you've written the next New York Times Bestseller, or you will start to crumble inward, thinking that you have spent the last 100 pages (translate into weeks/months/years of your life) deluding yourself that this was any good and that you're a real writer. Many relationships with one's stories end and fizzle in a blaze of glory right here.

But . . . for those that brave forward, who know in their heart that the first draft is allowed to be utterly craptastic and they just need to get the story out, they plunge forward toward the murky middle. This is, without a doubt, the toughest part of the novel for most writers. It's where all the meat of your story truly lies, and it's also the easiest place to get bogged down with details, have too little action and find your characters treading water and ultimately lose your reader. Don't give up hope!! Because if you can make it through the murky middle, your relationship will have proven the test of time, and you will have reached a tipping point. Because after you've reached the middle, it's all downhill sailing to the end. That doesn't mean there doesn't need to be action, characterization, plot and the tying together of threads, but it means you are less likely to give up on your story because that light at the end of the tunnel, though maybe only a small yellow dot at this point, is first starting to become visible.

For me, moving my way past what I project to be the midpoint of my novel makes me breathe an audible sigh of relief, because I start to feel like I might actually be able to do this. Honestly, it's not until then that I feel absolutely confident and committed that this story is going to find its way to completion because up until then, it's simply too easy for that self doubt to settle in the cracks.

And the end. The glorious, bittersweet end. The part where you know what you have left to say, and you get to race downhill and let it all come together. By that point, this book has become so much a part of your soul that you get the necessary surge of adrenaline you need to do whatever needs to be done, hours in the day be damned. You feel like a marathon runner , summoning all your reserves to make it across the finish line. And when you do, it is pure exhilaration.

You did this. There were days when you doubted you could, where the words wouldn't come, where you wondered if this is truly what you were supposed to be doing. But at the end of the day, you can't have that dream come true unless you hold true to the dream and work every day to make it your reality. No one else can write the story that's inside of you, so don't give up. Whether you write 50 words or 5,000 words on any given day, just write. Sometimes a first date an turn into a great love, and you'd never know if you didn't keep dating. So it is with your writing. See it through, and give yourself the permission to write pure and utter crap with the simple promise that you'll see it through and revise it later. I, personally, find it much easier to work from and be inspired by the words I've already written on the page than that blank, blinking cursor. And once in a while, I'm rewarded with reading something I've written that's really great and all my own and remember that I do this because it fills my soul.