Well, Bold Strokes responded. It's half good news, half bad news. I received a personalized e-mail that said, basically: Your writing is good and your voice distinctive, but we are simply not looking to publish fantasy books at this time. We are interested in seeing some of your other work.
Right now, I am not sure what to do. My other works are, well...
Death Wears Yellow Garters is too zany and not nearly polished enough to be published.
Chopin at 3:00 in the Morning is far too "high school"...
My Name is Brianna is too short.
Everything else that I have written is for the fantasy genre... I am dealing with a storm of emotions right now, and I will not sure what decisions I will make in the future or what I will do next, but I do know one thing. I am not giving up. TSS is a damn good book, and I'm proud of it, and I'm sure that, eventually, it will find a home, whether it's with Bold Strokes or not. Even if I have to tear it apart and redo it completely... even if I have to focus on some non-fantasy for now because that's what publishers want... no matter what I end up doing, I'm getting that damn book published if it's the last thing I do. I'm not sure when or how, but it's going to happen.
In other news, I only have 10,000 words left to go on The Witch's Daughter. The first two parts are up on The Academy and The Athenaeum (or will be, shortly). Oh, and on fictionpress, but those parts still have some editing mistakes.
Saturday, August 14, 2010
Wednesday, August 11, 2010
Tags
I have a terrible cold today, but that hasn't stopped me from writing! I churned out around 6,000 words, including 2,000 for The Witch's Daughter, 2000 for Magnetic Resistance (my L&O fanfiction), and 2000 more for my newest fanfic, It Happened One Night. How did I get so productive today? I have no idea. Once it started, the writing bug just refused to leave.
Today, I am going to talk about 'dialogue tags'. They are the little blurbs scattered throughout your dialogue that basically work as "he said" or "she said". That is a very simplistic explanation. The tags do not need to describe the voice, but they usually contain an action that refocuses the reader's attention on who is speaking and what emotions are passing between the characters. Here are some examples of dialogue tags from my work today.
First, you have to come up with the dialogue. Here is the first line of dialogue from chapter fourteen of Magnetic Resistance, which I wrote today.
Now, we have to clarify who is speaking, how they are speaking, what they are doing... just something to give the reader a mental image. To do this, we are going to add a 'tag' onto the end of the piece of dialogue. The following is the actual first line of the chapter.
This is a pretty standard dialogue tag. Tags can be either long or short. For example, I could have clipped the sentence at 'Olivia asked.' If you add too many long tags, it will get boring, but adding too many short ones is equally distracting. You want a balance. Similarly, you do not want to use the same words for all of your tags. Alternate between 'said', 'asked', 'whispered', 'shouted', 'confessed', 'pleaded', ect. However, do NOT overuse your tags and flood the reader with unnecessary words. It is a fine balance.
I generally do not put more than three tags in a row unless I am writing about a large group. I like to use two and then insert a line of pure dialogue, like so...
Tags can also precede a piece of dialogue instead of following them. This type of tag is rarer than the first one (tags that follow the dialogue). Here is an example of a dialogue tag that comes before the spoken words. It is from The Witch's Daughter.
Just for kicks, here is a second example from Magnetic Resistance
Like the first example, these tags can be clipped or stretched based on the writer's preference. I could have stopped it at 'I groaned' before going in to the dialogue.
There is one place where I do NOT recommend using tags: instances of rapid, back and forth dialogue between two people. Here is an example. The speakers have already been identified earlier in the scene, and no tags are needed.
Finally, here is a longer chunk where you can see dialogue tags in action!
Today, I am going to talk about 'dialogue tags'. They are the little blurbs scattered throughout your dialogue that basically work as "he said" or "she said". That is a very simplistic explanation. The tags do not need to describe the voice, but they usually contain an action that refocuses the reader's attention on who is speaking and what emotions are passing between the characters. Here are some examples of dialogue tags from my work today.
First, you have to come up with the dialogue. Here is the first line of dialogue from chapter fourteen of Magnetic Resistance, which I wrote today.
"Hey, Elliot, do you know any French?"
Now, we have to clarify who is speaking, how they are speaking, what they are doing... just something to give the reader a mental image. To do this, we are going to add a 'tag' onto the end of the piece of dialogue. The following is the actual first line of the chapter.
"Hey, Elliot, do you know any French?" Olivia asked as she walked in to the bullpen, a cup of coffee clutched in her right hand...
This is a pretty standard dialogue tag. Tags can be either long or short. For example, I could have clipped the sentence at 'Olivia asked.' If you add too many long tags, it will get boring, but adding too many short ones is equally distracting. You want a balance. Similarly, you do not want to use the same words for all of your tags. Alternate between 'said', 'asked', 'whispered', 'shouted', 'confessed', 'pleaded', ect. However, do NOT overuse your tags and flood the reader with unnecessary words. It is a fine balance.
I generally do not put more than three tags in a row unless I am writing about a large group. I like to use two and then insert a line of pure dialogue, like so...
"What does that mean?" Olivia asked.
"It means, 'what would I do without you?'"
"And this one? Je t'aime means 'I love you', right?"
"Yeah," Munch confirmed. "And Amour de ma vie means 'love of my life'.
"It means, 'what would I do without you?'"
"And this one? Je t'aime means 'I love you', right?"
"Yeah," Munch confirmed. "And Amour de ma vie means 'love of my life'.
Tags can also precede a piece of dialogue instead of following them. This type of tag is rarer than the first one (tags that follow the dialogue). Here is an example of a dialogue tag that comes before the spoken words. It is from The Witch's Daughter.
I groaned, giving my head a brief shake to try and clear away the blurriness at the edges of my vision. “A good shield in the wrong place is not very helpful.”
Just for kicks, here is a second example from Magnetic Resistance
"And how many people know that you like it to hurt a little?"
This time, it was Alex's turn to blush. "A grand total of one. You think I let myself trust just anyone?"
This time, it was Alex's turn to blush. "A grand total of one. You think I let myself trust just anyone?"
Like the first example, these tags can be clipped or stretched based on the writer's preference. I could have stopped it at 'I groaned' before going in to the dialogue.
There is one place where I do NOT recommend using tags: instances of rapid, back and forth dialogue between two people. Here is an example. The speakers have already been identified earlier in the scene, and no tags are needed.
"Aw, that was years ago. Get over it."
"Don't you have some kind of gun rally to attend, some death penalty case to support, or some woman in DC to screw?"
"Nope! I have nothing but time for you, my dear Alex. You know you're my favorite."
"Don't you have some kind of gun rally to attend, some death penalty case to support, or some woman in DC to screw?"
"Nope! I have nothing but time for you, my dear Alex. You know you're my favorite."
Finally, here is a longer chunk where you can see dialogue tags in action!
"Don't worry about it, Alex, she's definitely interested," Abbie said, picking up on her friend's dazed and slightly confused expression. "I've watched her watch you for years. Given the chance, that woman would beat you like a rented mule." When two blue eyes widened, she added, "would you prefer ride you hard and put you away wet?"
Alex groaned. "I don't know which of those two was worse. Drop it, Abbie, or I'm going to stab you through the hand with my fork!" She brandished the utensil in a threatening manner until a throat cleared loudly beside them.
"Ya need some more water, hon?" asked their waitress.
Alex kept her composure. Now that Olivia Benson was not in the room, it was easier to remain calm and professional. "Yes, please," she told the waitress, purposely not reacting to the loud smack of her gum. "Thank you," she added when the waitress took her glass.
Once they were alone again, Abbie started laughing. Alex shot her a pointed glare. "I think you make a game of embarrassing me, Charmichael, and you probably even keep score."
Abbie didn't deny it. "I'm just trying to help you loosen up, Cabot. But since Olivia Benson was sleeping in your bed last night, maybe she'll do the job for me."
Alex groaned. "I don't know which of those two was worse. Drop it, Abbie, or I'm going to stab you through the hand with my fork!" She brandished the utensil in a threatening manner until a throat cleared loudly beside them.
"Ya need some more water, hon?" asked their waitress.
Alex kept her composure. Now that Olivia Benson was not in the room, it was easier to remain calm and professional. "Yes, please," she told the waitress, purposely not reacting to the loud smack of her gum. "Thank you," she added when the waitress took her glass.
Once they were alone again, Abbie started laughing. Alex shot her a pointed glare. "I think you make a game of embarrassing me, Charmichael, and you probably even keep score."
Abbie didn't deny it. "I'm just trying to help you loosen up, Cabot. But since Olivia Benson was sleeping in your bed last night, maybe she'll do the job for me."
Sunday, August 8, 2010
The Waiting Game
Now that I have returned from my vacation (it seems like I am hardly at home this summer) with no traveling left to do, I have time to relax, get some serious writing done... and bite my nails down to the skin while waiting for a response from Bold Strokes about my submission. It is nerve-wracking to send something in for publication. Even while you are busy working, having fun on the beach, or preparing to start your next writing project, it lingers in the back of your mind.
It has been roughly ten weeks since I sent in The Second Sister, and boy, hitting the 'submit' button was hard. Doing it electronically was probably easier than mailing it in, however (they prefer electronic submissions anyway). At least that way, I didn't have time to change my mind. Once I double clicked on the 'Send' button, there was no going back. I admit that it took me a few minutes to gather the courage to do it. Bold Strokes did confirm that they received my submission and that they are reviewing it, so at least I don't have to worry that it got lost somewhere in cyberspace. Their website says that submitters are usually contacted 12-14 weeks after the initial inquiry, so I still have more time to wait and worry.
Still, there are no regrets on this front. Maybe I could have edited the novel more (although I did a pretty thorough job the first two times). Maybe I could have scrapped the whole thing and done it better the second time. Maybe I'm not ready to be a published author. But if I sat around waiting until I had the perfect novel to submit, I would never be able to share anything with anyone. If Rembrandt spent years agonizing over the tiny, imperfect spot in one of his first paintings, who knows, maybe the masterpieces he painted later never would have been created. If Beethoven had been too self-conscious to write his first symphony because of Mozart's lingering shadow in Vienna, the others would never have been written. Writers are always growing and changing (and hopefully improving), but there is no such thing as a 'perfect' novel, just as there is no such thing as a 'perfect' piece of music or a 'perfect' painting.
It's important to suck it up and put yourself out there over and over again - even if someone does not like your work, even if you get rejected. You have to develop a thick skin and the ability to accept criticism graciously. If you never try, you are never giving anyone a chance to say 'yes'. And someday, I hope that the 'yes' will be for me. I know it will be worth the work it took to get there.
It has been roughly ten weeks since I sent in The Second Sister, and boy, hitting the 'submit' button was hard. Doing it electronically was probably easier than mailing it in, however (they prefer electronic submissions anyway). At least that way, I didn't have time to change my mind. Once I double clicked on the 'Send' button, there was no going back. I admit that it took me a few minutes to gather the courage to do it. Bold Strokes did confirm that they received my submission and that they are reviewing it, so at least I don't have to worry that it got lost somewhere in cyberspace. Their website says that submitters are usually contacted 12-14 weeks after the initial inquiry, so I still have more time to wait and worry.
Still, there are no regrets on this front. Maybe I could have edited the novel more (although I did a pretty thorough job the first two times). Maybe I could have scrapped the whole thing and done it better the second time. Maybe I'm not ready to be a published author. But if I sat around waiting until I had the perfect novel to submit, I would never be able to share anything with anyone. If Rembrandt spent years agonizing over the tiny, imperfect spot in one of his first paintings, who knows, maybe the masterpieces he painted later never would have been created. If Beethoven had been too self-conscious to write his first symphony because of Mozart's lingering shadow in Vienna, the others would never have been written. Writers are always growing and changing (and hopefully improving), but there is no such thing as a 'perfect' novel, just as there is no such thing as a 'perfect' piece of music or a 'perfect' painting.
It's important to suck it up and put yourself out there over and over again - even if someone does not like your work, even if you get rejected. You have to develop a thick skin and the ability to accept criticism graciously. If you never try, you are never giving anyone a chance to say 'yes'. And someday, I hope that the 'yes' will be for me. I know it will be worth the work it took to get there.
