What a Week to Be a Writer on the South Shore!

Yes, yes—rejection is the low point of being a writer but, to offset that, there were two high points this week:

Tuesday night, Buttonwood Books and Toys in Cohasset hosted its monthly Grub Street South seminar. Despite short notice, the Writers Workshop was well represented: Dave, Donna, Kristine, Mariette, and Robine all turned out for “Query This,” with author Kathy Crowley, who’s also a physician and mother (and the wife of Chris Abouzheid, who presented last month’s Grub Street South class on “Plot Sprints”—see January archives). Kathy covered the topic of querying agents exhaustively, offering useful tips and advice to help us navigate what can be a somewhat challenging process. She even gave us a copy of her own query letter that ultimately landed her in the middle of an agent “frenzy.” Thanks so much, Kathy!

Just a “well-in-advance” heads-up: the March Grub Street South class will take place on the 30th, with Nichole Bernier. I will forward the notice with further details when I receive it. (Or you can visit www.buttonwoodbooks.com and click on Writer’s Group.)

Then, on Saturday, we had our much-anticipated inaugural Author Series, with debut novelist Randy Susan Meyers. Thanks to everyone who attended and especially to Randy, who was incredibly engaging, witty, and enlightening, and generously shared her knowledge and expertise with candor and good humor. It seemed like the whole event passed in a flash, and I was sorry when the lively discussion ended. I hope you enjoyed it as much as I did, and I welcome any comments or feedback you may have. Please feel free to either post a comment below or e-mail me.

Another “well-in-advance” heads-up: our next Author Series will be on June 4, with author Susan Kushner Resnick. She will discuss her nonfiction book, Goodbye Wifes and Daughters, which recounts the Smith Coal Mine disaster in Bearcreek, Montana, in 1943. One of the largest mining tragedies in history, it claimed the lives of 74 men, but is often overlooked because it occurred during World War II. More details to come…

Dave was quick to quip: “Is it a requirement that every author in the Author Series has Susan in her name and Daughters in her title?” Actually, no. Our fall author is Michelle Hoover, and her novel is called The Quickening.

’Looking forward to seeing you at the Writers Workshop meeting on March 16!

Rejection

It turns out that writing the novel was the easy part. Even the gut-wrenching critiques, the countless revisions and rewrites – easy.

Writing a query letter, compiling a list of potential agents – not so hard.

Hitting the SEND button to launch my precious idea into the inboxes of those agents – borderline traumatic.

Receiving a request for a full manuscript? Exhilarating!

Waiting for a response: excruciating.

But the absolute worst part comes at the end of the rollercoaster ride – you know the part where it feels like the bottom drops out and then you come plummeting back to earth? That’s rejection. Make that Rejection, with a capital R.

I've been here before, but it's still a shock to hit the ground so hard.

This afternoon, I received a note from one of the agents who was considering my manuscript. She said she was “passing.” Funny: with that one word, it felt like my novel died a little death.

So I thought I’d briefly mourn the loss of that hopeful prospect by sharing a moment of silence with all of the other aspiring authors out there whose stomachs are in a constant state of upheaval.

And now, if you’ll excuse me, I’ve got a rollercoaster to catch...the next one might just be the thrill ride I’ve been hoping for.

Bonus Q&A with Author Randy Susan Meyers

Debut novelist Randy Susan Meyers is the featured author at the Writers Workshop’s upcoming Author Series on Saturday, February 27, 2-4 p.m., at the G.A.R. Hall in Marshfield Hills. She will discuss “The Writer’s Relationship with the Reader,” read a selection from her book, and answer questions afterward. Copies of her novel, The Murderer’s Daughters, will be available for purchase and can be signed by the author. In this exclusive Q&A, Meyers shares details about her writing process, the most valuable piece of writing advice she ever received, and how she overcomes rejection.

Describe your writing process. How much time do you devote to writing each day, each week?

I write full-time. I don’t wait for the muse to hit me; I just sit down and write. Doing the first draft is the hardest part for me. I love revising – give me a finished novel to revise and I’m a happy girl. And I cannot work as steadily on a first draft as on revisions, but I basically do work seven days a week, less on weekends, more during the week.

Right now, since my book just came out, I’m doing more promotions than writing. I’m thankful for my blog because it gives me a chance to keep up with my writing. I’m about to go back into another revision of my new novel.

When you were working on The Murderer’s Daughters, which is written from two points of view, was it challenging to write in such distinctly different voices? Did one character come more naturally than the other?

Craft-wise, it was a bit easier to write Merry, only because she was a little more bad, and writing bad is always easier than writing an undercurrent of resentment or a quiet seething. With Lulu, to show that seething, I really had to just let myself go. That’s where I had to access an inner voice for Lulu that could be kind of harsh. I didn’t want people to dislike her – I love her – but she has a lot of pain roiling around inside her. It was pretty challenging writing her.

Please give us a sense of how long it took to write this novel. How many drafts and how many revisions did you go through?

It took me about 18 months from start to finish, and I revised it many, many times. Everybody revises in different ways. I was having dinner with some friends who are writers and they concentrate more on language the first time around, and I definitely go through for plot the first time and then go back and craft my language more and more and more. There’s so many ways to do it.

It took me about six months to sign with an agent. She had me do some revisions, some clean-up. We signed in June and she put it out to market in September. The nice part about it was that she sold it in eight days. That was a wonderful surprise.

Did any aspect of the plot change dramatically from your initial draft to the published work?

I’d have to say no. I was very lucky with this one. It uncoiled like a ribbon. I spent an awful lot of time outlining it; I spent a lot of time figuring out what would happen, and a lot of time on research.

How many other writers read and offered criticism of your work along the way?

In addition to my writers’ group, a few close friends read it – probably close to 15 people total. My writers’ group reviewed it as I went along, but I’m careful to always be four or five chapters ahead of what they’re reading because I will not go back and rework as I get the critiques. I keep all the comments, write all my notes, and do not enter a thing until I go back through and revise. I have a strategy for how I do it, and it takes time. I really try very hard to weigh everything, and give everything a fair shot. We generally do 100 or more pages per person, so your turn only comes up every few months. We found that doing so many pages at once was much more valuable than doing 15 pages at a time; otherwise, you’re reading in a vacuum.

At one point, I was in a group that critiqued entire novels. We did five novels in ten weeks. It was intense, but it was wonderful. I could only do it once a year. It was a group of five women who all like each other’s work and trust each other’s judgment. We were at different draft stages, but it worked beautifully.

What was the most valuable advice you ever received during the critiquing process?

To stop being subtle. I think that beginning fiction writers, especially, are afraid of being too over-the-top. Jenna Blum (author of Those Who Save Us) told me: “Stop worrying. You’re not being obvious. Let it go in that first draft; you can always pull back later.” That really helped to let me go wild and then skim back. It’s easier to take out than to push in.

Your thoughts on rejection:
Rejection is awful. People discount how strong an emotion disappointment is. I think if you’re going to be a writer, you have to steel yourself to get a hard skin, or let it go. I went through a few novels’ worth of rejections. Very few writers get by without it. I think many writers send out too soon; that’s a big problem with us. We’re so hungry for approbation, but we can’t always expect the first manuscript will sell. Writers do not want to hear that.

The best advice I give myself: if it seems like it’s not right, it’s not right. If you can’t fool yourself, trust me: you can’t fool anybody. We have to work through rejection and learn from it. When I got rejections from agents, I made a spreadsheet. I’m big on spreadsheets. I put down what each one said and I made myself face it. It’s something I learned from my husband. He’s a scientist: what is, is. Just because you’re not looking at it, that doesn’t mean it’s not there. It’s still there. So I reread everything the rejections said to see the similarities. If you have five different agents all saying the same thing, you have to take a serious look at that. If you have five or six agents all saying something different, then you haven’t met the person who’s in love with your manuscript yet. It’s like dating: if five dates all say, “You’re really rude in public,” then you probably you are. But if they’re each saying something different, then they’re just not that into you.

Rejection means that you’re sad. Can you get through that? I’ve cried. I’ve whined. You’re putting yourself out for review. If you can’t stand that, you should get a job where you never have to be out in the public eye. Which is weird because, as writers, it’s a solitary job. It’s a strange dichotomy.


On to your second novel: Did you suffer any ‘sophomore slump’ or ‘second-book syndrome’ anxieties?

I had started the second book, which is called Paper Baby, while the first was out with agents, so it wasn’t a problem. But now that the first novel is published and I’m getting such great feedback on it, I’m starting to panic about the second one. But I do love it. It’s very different from The Murderer’s Daughters, which I think is good for me. But I think that’s hard because you have readers fall in love with the first book and they want more of that. But this new one is also family drama and it’s also life through the prism of different people: the same story told through different people, showing their different views. I enjoyed writing it. It’s a book I would like to read.

To view the full feature, "Taking In The Murderer's Daughters," please visit this link:
http://www.wickedlocal.com/scituate/fun/entertainment/x1068584460/North-River-Arts-Society-hosts-first-ever-author-series

Outlining: The Happy Medium?

Lots of great comments on the "Writers About Town" post from a week or so ago. Dan and I have been discussing the age-old question of outlining. Some authors swear by it, while others vehemently reject the practice. Personally, I'm an outliner, but I'm a planner by nature. So whether you like to outline your short stories, novels, children's books, etc., probably depends on your own personal style.

As you can see, Dan's comments really got me thinking about this topic, so I'm going to keep going...I'd love to hear your own preferences about outlining vs. not outlining.

I definitely see his point about outlining seeming restrictive, but it doesn't necessarily have to be that way. Remember that, since you're the author, you are the "master" of the outline, so you can stray from it as much as you like and then go back and rework or adjust it to match what you've done and where the story's going. I would suggest that the happy medium is a "loose" outline. That's how I tend to approach it. That way, I know what's coming up (and, as I'm writing, what's already happened). It provides a guide, a structure for the story so that I don't get "lost" or feel like the story's not going anywhere, but it doesn't hem me in. Plus, it can help you to see the "arc" of the story -- that kind of thing. Outlines can also be motivating the closer you get to THE END.

May I also suggest: if you're planning to attend the Writers Workshop Author Series on 2/27 (I know, I know -- that's ALL I talk about!), you could pose a question about outlining and plotting to our featured author...it's always interesting to hear the different approaches out there.

See you next week (2/16)!

Writing Warm-ups: The List Goes On

Maybe it's because it's Super Bowl Sunday, or because I'm hiding out from the cold weather, or because I'm also the editor of a trade magazine for the fitness industry -- or all three. Whatever the reason, "warm-ups" are on my mind today.

I know that many of you Writers Workshop members are looking for inspiration wherever you can find it, and that you consider writing exercises to be helpful, so I wanted to send two your way. Each one has to do with a "list" of one sort or another, and you might just happen to find an idea on one of them. (Oh, and we'll be taking a cue from the movies here...)

- Things That Make Life Worthwhile: In Woody Allen's "Manhattan," the main character ponders this topic and rattles off a rather unique list. Among them: Groucho Marx, the second movement of the Jupiter Symphony, Tracy's face. What five or ten things would be on your list? Chocolate-chip cookies that are fresh out of the oven? Tropical vacations? What would appear on your protagonist's list...walks in the summer rain without an umbrella or raincoat? Dog smooches? The moment the lights come on at the Eiffel Tower? The more original and off-beat, the better...These types of details can add depth and authenticity to your characters. (Plus, it's fun to imagine what aspects of life they might enjoy.)

-The Bucket List (or, things to do before you die): It doesn't have to be morbid; it's just a wish list on a grander scale. Maybe sky-diving would be a good launching point for a story about a long-married couple who's looking to add some excitement to their stale marriage. Or maybe a newly divorced woman who is finally going to get a tattoo -- an idea her ex-husband always hated. What about a recent college graduate who wants to travel to the beach in Normandy where his grandfather fought?

If you come up with anything you'd like to share, let us know!

Ready or Not

Okay, so I couldn't help it.

I fully intended to take things slowly with the new novel I'm starting. I've been spending some time getting to know my characters, their motivations, their quirks, their secrets, their longings, etc. But there was nothing I could do to stop the words from coming. I had to write them down. I already have a rough first chapter and the beginning of a second. It all happened so fast -- I just got swept up in the excitement of this new world, these new people. But now, I'm taking a breath and slowing the pace back down again. I know it will make all the difference at critique and revision time.

How's your writing going? Does the same thing ever happen to you?

Part of it has to do with the fact that my writing has to be crammed into very compressed periods of time -- in between, my mind collects bits and pieces, molding and shaping them until I'm sitting down at the laptop again to put them all together.

The writing process is different for everyone. Heck, it's different for me now than it was even a few years ago. Some people write their stories totally out of order, getting immediately to the "good parts," while others are linear writers, like author Randy Susan Meyers. I recently sat down with her in preparation for the upcoming Author Series (2/27), and she had so many insights to share. Stay tuned: I will be posting a short Q&A with her prior to her seminar and reading at the end of this month. By the way, I finished her book, The Murderer's Daughters, last week and it's still with me -- it was THAT good.