tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-78136055840572435442023-11-16T10:53:23.853-05:00 The Blank Page Notes On The Writing LifeStephanie Doyonhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12907220734088544269noreply@blogger.comBlogger148125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7813605584057243544.post-13832370971138032992016-08-18T15:04:00.001-04:002016-08-18T15:04:33.600-04:00Farewell--For Now<br />
Dear Blank Page Readers--<br />
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So far, 2016 has been challenging year for many personal reasons. My family has had to go through quite a bit of change in recent months and the changes will continue for many more months to come. We're adjusting and things are looking a bit brighter than they did at the beginning of summer. This year has been a humbling reminder of how quickly life can change and how little control we have over most of it.<br />
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When everything started going sideways in late spring, I was thinking that getting my manuscript published was going to be the one bit of good news we needed to get us through. I'd worked so hard on the manuscript and loved it so much that I couldn't imagine that someone wouldn't want to publish it. I was wrong. My agent submitted the manuscript to publishers in April and so far, no one has expressed an interest. It's been four months. THE GREATEST MAN IN CEDAR HOLE sold in four days. As they say in finance, "past performance doesn't guarantee future results."<br />
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We're still waiting to hear back from a few editors, but publishing is a long shot at this point. Even though I try to stay optimistic on this blog, I'll admit that I was pretty devastated by the whole thing. It's been eleven years since CEDAR HOLE came out and I was looking forward to getting back into the business, to having a book on store shelves, to having a career again. I shed a lot of tears over this and truly questioned whether I had the energy to try writing another book. I even wondered if I could still call myself a writer.<br />
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In a way, it was a blessing that other events going on in my life overshadowed my failure to publish. It put things in perspective. It took me about a month to run through the stages of grief and then I started acting like a jilted lover. I cut my hair short for the first time in my life. I bought new eyeglasses. I reconnected with friends and socialized a lot. I ate an obscene amount of ice cream then started a new, healthier diet. I embarked on a challenging creative endeavor I'd never attempted before and discovered that I had a knack for it. I lost myself in fiction--though sometimes just looking at a book gave me a pang of failure. I'd think of how many things I'd been counting on that were no longer going to come to fruition.<br />
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Over time, I got a little tougher. Rather than waiting for each rejection to dribble in, I mentally moved on. For various reasons, I decided not to pursue small press or self-publishing. I put the manuscript in a drawer and will revisit it with fresh eyes a few years from now. Perhaps at some future date I will try again to get it published.<br />
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Then I started cleaning house literally and figuratively. A good friend of mine suggested this was a great time to take stock of what I was investing my time in and focus only on what was most important to me. Her suggestion was a real eye-opener.<br />
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After a lot of soul-searching, I discovered that all I <i>really</i> wanted<i> </i>to do is dive into my next novel. It's based on historical events and the subject absolutely fascinates me. It will probably take a year to do all the research and who-knows-how-long to write.<br />
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What I don't want is to write shorter pieces just to see my name in print. I don't want the pressure of being in a writer's group, especially since I'm only doing research right now. I don't want to spend so much time volunteering or pleasing everyone else that I don't have enough time to write. I don't want to waste precious time on social media or trying to promote myself when I don't have anything to promote.<br />
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Which brings me, Dear Reader, to this blog.<br />
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While it's been a pleasure to share my thoughts about writing and publishing, my well has run dry. Among the things I had been counting on with getting a publishing contact was sharing the entire process with you from start to finish. For now, the time I usually spend on this blog would be better spent on my next novel. At some point I will revisit this blog again, but for now I'm suspending it indefinitely. If you'd still like to know what I'm up to you can follow me on Facebook <a href="https://www.facebook.com/stephdoyonauthor/" target="_blank">here</a>. I'll still share occasional updates and articles that may be of interest to writers and readers alike.<br />
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Thank you for taking the time to visit this site and I hope our paths cross again.<br />
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Best--<br />
Stephanie<br />
<br />Stephanie Doyonhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12907220734088544269noreply@blogger.com3tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7813605584057243544.post-5762325941359100142016-06-09T09:05:00.001-04:002016-06-09T09:05:48.742-04:00Never Give Up, But...<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
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I recently heard this story:<br />
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<i>A guy--let's call him Fred--managed a bar. He was only in his twenties, but he had a real knack for it. He was always coming up with innovative ways to draw a crowd. Under his management, Fred's bar became the most popular after-hours place in town. The business was wildly successful.</i><br />
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<i>When Fred turned thirty, he decided it was time to grow up. He left his job at the bar and went to law school. He got his degree, passed the bar exam, and started practicing law. Fred now had a career, doing what he thought grown-ups should do. He was okay at it. He didn't love it. </i><br />
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<i>One day, Fred ran into an old friend. They had lunch. The friend was impressed that Fred was now an attorney. Fred admitted it wasn't all he hoped it would be. </i><br />
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<i>"You know what you should do?' the friend asked. "You should manage a bar."</i><br />
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<i>Fred couldn't believe his ears. "I can't do that for the rest of my life! That's not a career!"</i><br />
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<i>"But you know what?" the friend said. "You were great at it."</i><br />
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As I've written many times before, one of the biggest factors for success is follow-through. Starting a project is easy, but sticking with it after the initial excitement wears off and things get tough takes real work and tenacity.<br />
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But follow-through wasn't Fred's problem, was it? He went to law school, passed the bar, and became an attorney. Was he a success? On paper, I suppose, as our culture automatically equates certain occupations with success. On a personal level, though, Fred wasn't all that happy and his job performance was mediocre.<br />
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This got me to thinking that the recipe for success is really two-fold: <b><i>Finish what you start</i> AND <i>Choose something you're naturally good at. </i></b><br />
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Fred's talent was in bar management, not law. He resisted the idea of running a bar because it didn't fit his image of success. Should Fred continue to practice law just because it seems to be a more respectable profession? Or should he focus on what he's best at? My guess is that with a little creative thinking, Fred could take those skills that made him a success and parlay them into a career that is more in line with his vision of himself.<br />
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Some people have tremendous tenacity, but they focus on the wrong thing. We've all seen those cringe-worthy American Idol auditions of tone-deaf singers that return year after year, swearing to never give up. Our hearts go out to them because we know they're never going to make it as singers and their extreme efforts, though admirable, feel wasted. We wonder why they can't turn that drive toward something they're actually <i>good</i> at.<br />
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Assuming you already have a gift for writing, you still need to be on the lookout for misplaced talent. A student in an MFA program may have the high-minded goal of publishing literary fiction when in fact he has the perfect skill set for writing mysteries. Another writer might think novels are a requirement for literary success, but she is great at writing short stories. <br />
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The good news is, as artists, our work will naturally guide us toward our abilities. The trick is not to let our egos get in the way. If you want to create serious fiction but everything you write comes out with a humorous twist, embrace it. If you want to be a literary writer, but you excel at genre fiction, embrace it. If you have your heart set on writing short stories but everything you write tends to expand into a novel, embrace it. Don't fight your natural abilities--embrace them.<br />
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<i>Then</i> never give up.<br />
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<br />Stephanie Doyonhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12907220734088544269noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7813605584057243544.post-79560514237035128782016-05-09T13:06:00.000-04:002016-05-09T13:06:04.112-04:00Do You Yada Yada?<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
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<span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;">I don't have a lot of time to watch TV, but my recent trip to New York allowed me to catch a few Seinfeld re-runs. I'm still amazed at how well the humor and writing hold up. There are so many memorable lines and plots. Remember this one?</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;">"The Yada Yada" episode came back to me after a recent meeting of my writing group. We've been meeting for almost two years now and certain patterns have been emerging in the mistakes we all keep repeating. I'm starting to think that most writing problems boil down to just a handful of common pitfalls. These pitfalls can be obvious to spot in other people's writing, but can be difficult to see in our own.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;">The most common problem that has been showing up in our group is the tendency to gloss over the most compelling part of a scene or plot point. The scene might start out strong, full of dialogue and vivid detail, but at the moment that requires big action or the story reaches an uncomfortable emotional pitch (in other words, the stuff we readers live for) the writer tends to summarize, back off so that everything suddenly works out, or abruptly end the scene. Rather than confront the dramatic moment, we often yada yada our way out of it. Another name for this phenomenon is "a missed opportunity".</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;">Experienced writers are just as prone to the missed opportunity as newer writers. A few years ago, there was a much-celebrated, award-winning novel that I read that I didn't much care for. The story had all the makings of a great novel, but in my mind it fell short. I couldn't articulate what was missing until a friend of mine, who felt the same way about the book, pointed out that all the major plot points happened "off camera" with the characters discussing or retelling what happened after the fact. All the tension was kept at bay or diffused and the reader was never allowed to experience the most dramatic parts of the story.</span><br />
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<b><i><span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;">The Causes </span></i></b><br />
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<span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;">As far as I can tell, missed opportunities are rooted in three causes: laziness, fear, or not knowing how to handle an aspect of the writing. No matter what the cause, <b>a missed opportunity is a decision not to proceed. </b> Rather than writing through a difficult scene, confronting our fear of failure, or researching writing techniques, <b>we are deciding at a subconscious level </b><b>not to deal with it.</b> We are fooling ourselves into believing no one will notice if we sweep it under the rug. Maybe some readers won't, but the overall effect will be a flat story, devoid of emotional engagement.</span><br />
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<b><i><span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;">Recognizing the Symptoms</span></i></b><br />
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<span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;">If missed opportunities happen at a subconscious level, how do you know when they're there? Answering 'yes' to any of the following questions is a clue that you've given your story the yada yada:</span><br />
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<i><span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;">Do big scenes happen off the page? </span></i><br />
<i><span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;">Are action scenes over within a few sentences?</span></i><br />
<i><span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;">When my protagonist encounters a problem, is it easily solved?</span></i><br />
<i><span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;">Do my characters tend to agree with one another about crucial issues?</span></i><br />
<i><span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;">During an emotionally intense exchange does one character give in to make peace?</span></i><br />
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<b><i><span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;">The Cure</span></i></b><br />
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<span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;">Fixing the problem is simply a matter of reversing it. If big scenes happen off the page, bring them in. Lengthen and slow down action scenes. When a character encounters a problem, don't magically fix it. <b>Remember, it's your job to make your protagonist's difficult.</b> The more confrontations, the more obstacles, the more thwarted desires, the better. <b>Don't back away from drama.</b></span><br />
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Because here's the truth...As much importance as we put on the beginnings and endings of stories, what really makes them compelling is <i>how</i> your characters get from point A to B. That's the yada yada. Don't rob your readers of the experience.</span><br />
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<a href="http://www.pinterest.com/pin/create/extension/?url=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.blogger.com%2Fblogger.g%3FblogID%3D7813605584057243544%23editor%2Ftarget%3Dpost%3BpostID%3D7956051423703512878%3BonPublishedMenu%3Dposts%3BonClosedMenu%3Dposts%3BpostNum%3D0%3Bsrc%3Dpostname&media=https%3A%2F%2Fimg2.blogblog.com%2Fimg%2Fvideo_object.png&xm=h&xv=sa1.37.01&xuid=VV3YYtuTr6qn&description=" style="background-color: transparent; background-image: url(data:image/png; border: none; cursor: pointer; display: none; height: 20px; left: 193px; opacity: 0.85; position: absolute; top: 184px; width: 40px; z-index: 8675309;"></a><a href="http://www.pinterest.com/pin/create/extension/?url=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.blogger.com%2Fblogger.g%3FblogID%3D7813605584057243544%23editor%2Ftarget%3Dpost%3BpostID%3D7956051423703512878%3BonPublishedMenu%3Dposts%3BonClosedMenu%3Dposts%3BpostNum%3D0%3Bsrc%3Dpostname&media=https%3A%2F%2Fimg2.blogblog.com%2Fimg%2Fvideo_object.png&xm=h&xv=sa1.37.01&xuid=VV3YYtuTr6qn&description=" style="background-color: transparent; background-image: url(data:image/png; border: none; cursor: pointer; display: none; height: 20px; left: 193px; opacity: 0.85; position: absolute; top: 184px; width: 40px; z-index: 8675309;"></a>Stephanie Doyonhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12907220734088544269noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7813605584057243544.post-85120454142109207212016-05-02T13:10:00.001-04:002016-05-02T13:10:18.367-04:00The Good Ol' Days<br />
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj9HPvop8ifsmEajaw-a45XpVZp3tnOdj6LG7C2G_pGB34eSAuGNi2t8fIqnQZKHpC_E8ASLdZquy-0E2Y5o5IoPMPEW8chezM_I_vRS2h4epxdLTtIIHVmQ297_LimGcXbLSQwYfbjXLUc/s1600/DSCN0060.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="400" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj9HPvop8ifsmEajaw-a45XpVZp3tnOdj6LG7C2G_pGB34eSAuGNi2t8fIqnQZKHpC_E8ASLdZquy-0E2Y5o5IoPMPEW8chezM_I_vRS2h4epxdLTtIIHVmQ297_LimGcXbLSQwYfbjXLUc/s400/DSCN0060.JPG" width="300" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">The Flatiron Building. I walked past it every day on my way to work.</td></tr>
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<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">I just returned from a trip to New York City. It was mostly a family vacation, but I took a little time out to visit some friends at my old workplace. It's been over ten years since I've visited and the experience was a little overwhelming. New York has changed so much that during my visit I often felt a little disoriented. Once-quiet downtown neighborhoods are now as bustling as midtown. Every parking lot I remember now has a high-rise sitting on it. Once in a while, though, I'd see something completely intact, exactly the way I remember it, and it brought me such delight. My connection to the city--though tenuous at best--is still there.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">My husband and I drove our daughters batty pointing out our old haunts. We had a persistent need to press our history upon them. I wanted them to know I was not just someone who drove a minivan and cleaned the house, that I had a few experiences before they came along. But, alas, the girls didn't seem to really care all that much. To them, I'm just Mom and they're more impressed that I make waffles in the morning than the fact that I once crashed a swank party at The Plaza for the President of Ireland. (True story--and yes, Ireland has a President.)</span><br />
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgJMXKQ2SVL-q21iWFaDn293EuNJ_nuscDzif3kM8V1nRYN6RPr7yRNJty3quyH_SNoOm8Y5GjONiyzRL4VLOxJuBtzLQEf2-SrS7Z_0vtPmKzzYYSbKF6FN43_SM2QRqMy5lDlRHDFjXHS/s1600/DSCN0143.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgJMXKQ2SVL-q21iWFaDn293EuNJ_nuscDzif3kM8V1nRYN6RPr7yRNJty3quyH_SNoOm8Y5GjONiyzRL4VLOxJuBtzLQEf2-SrS7Z_0vtPmKzzYYSbKF6FN43_SM2QRqMy5lDlRHDFjXHS/s320/DSCN0143.JPG" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Union Square -- my old neighborhood.</td></tr>
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<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">Also while in NYC, I met with my agent. We discussed the next steps in the submission process for my manuscript. He is developing a list of a dozen or so editors he thinks would be interested in this type of novel and will send out a copy of the manuscript along with reviews from my last book. For those of you who are on the fence about getting an agent, here's reason #457 why you should: multiple submissions. Writers acting on their own are often discouraged from this practice as negotiating can get sticky if more than one publisher is interested, but agents do it all the time. In fact, it's <i>expected</i>. So while the unrepresented writer sends out to one editor, waits two months or longer for a response and then sends out again, the writer with an agent gets a bunch of editors looking at their manuscript at the same time. Instead of waiting months or years to find a publisher, the writer with an agent can hear back in a matter of days or weeks.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">My earlier excitement has mellowed into a nervous resignation. I've set my expectations so low as to almost be devoid of ambition. When we sent <a href="http://www.barnesandnoble.com/reviews/greatest-man-in-cedar-hole-stephanie-doyon/1100300694?ean=9780743271349#reviews-header" target="_blank"><b>CEDAR HOLE</b></a> out my mantra was "Knopf or bust!" (That didn't happen, but Simon & Schuster's no slouch.) Now I'm going around thinking, "Whatever happens, I can always self-publish." I've become just as nervous about success as failure. Walking around New York, feeling the once-familiar manic pulse of the city, I kept thinking, "Can I do this? Am I up for it? Do I still have it in me?"</span><br />
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<span style="background-color: white;"><span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">Over vacation I finally got around to reading <b><a href="http://www.barnesandnoble.com/w/benediction-kent-haruf/1111503445?ean=9780307950420" target="_blank">BENEDICTION by Kent Haruf</a></b>, the last book in his <b><a href="http://www.barnesandnoble.com/w/plainsong-kent-haruf/1100293779?ean=9780375705854" target="_blank">PLAINSONG</a> </b>trilogy. It was just as elegant and absorbing and heartfelt as I hoped it would be. It will forever have a place among my favorite books. On a related note, my writing mentor, Richard Russo has a book coming out May 3rd, the sequel to <b><a href="http://www.barnesandnoble.com/w/nobodys-fool-richard-russo/1002278879?ean=9780679753339" target="_blank">NOBODY'S FOOL</a></b> called <b><a href="http://www.barnesandnoble.com/w/everybodys-fool-richard-russo/1122713502?ean=9780307270641" target="_blank">EVERYBODY'S FOOL</a></b>. I will be running out posthaste to my local bookstore to buy it. In a recent BookPage interview, Russo calls out Kent Haruf as one of his literary role models:</span></span><br />
<span style="background-color: white;"><span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;"><br /></span></span>
<span style="background-color: white;"><span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">"He was not only a great writer, but also a great man. He went about his work with great seriousness and modesty, caring not one iota about fame or fortune, but only the work, always the work."</span></span><br />
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<span style="background-color: white;"><span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">Great advice to live by.</span></span><br />
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<span style="background-color: white;"><span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">You can read the full interview <a href="http://bookpage.com/interviews/19792-richard-russo#.VyeAkREsGLs" target="_blank">HERE</a>.</span></span><br />
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<br />Stephanie Doyonhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12907220734088544269noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7813605584057243544.post-71830816003040862992016-04-14T10:36:00.001-04:002016-04-14T10:36:46.651-04:00The Hide of a Rhinoceros <div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
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<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">Now that my agent is about to send my manuscript out to various editors, it's time to toughen my hide. The submission process isn't for wimps, I tell ya. In general, though, editors are a pretty tactful bunch. Rejections are often very benign, such as: "It's not right for my list," or "I'm going to have to pass." Passing, as we all know, also happens to be a euphemism for death. No matter how gracious the phrasing, a 'no' is still a 'no' and it hurts.</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;"><span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;"><br /></span><span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">When we choose the creative life, rejection is part of the deal. The trick--which is much easier in theory than in practice--is to not take any of it personally. To do this, we need to remind ourselves that <b>our work is not us.</b> It comes from us, but it is separate from us. It is not a measure of our worth. When we tie our self-worth to our creations, we are begging for trouble.</span></span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;"><b>Repeat after me: <i>I am not my work.</i></b><i> </i></span></span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">I am a writer, but I'm also a wife, a mother, a daughter, a friend, a volunteer. Writing is a big part of my life, but it isn't the only thing in it. When my writing isn't going well, I have these other aspects of my life to lean on. Success doesn't have to be tied to money. Some of my biggest successes have come from the volunteer work I've done at our local elementary school. Or from raising my daughters. I chalk those achievements right up there with some of the highlights of my writing career. If I never publish again I know I will be okay (a tad miserable, but essentially okay) because I'm not just a writer, but a whole person.</span></span><br />
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<b><span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">Not only do we have to detach from our work, we have to recognize that it's imperfect. </span></b></span><br />
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I'm sure you can find flaws in ever book you've ever read--and I guarantee someone will find the flaws in your book, too. There will be weaknesses that you know about and others that have never even occurred to you. It's okay. Writing is a learning process for all of us. Submit your work with humility. In the words of my writer friend <a href="http://stephdoyon.blogspot.com/2013/11/performance-skills.html" target="_blank">Howard Waxman</a>, offer up your work by saying, <span style="background-color: white; color: #222222;"><b>"This is the best work I am capable of at this moment in time." </b>When we are humble, there's no reason to be </span></span><span style="color: #222222; font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">embarrassed. We are not frauds waiting to be found out--we are artists who are learning, searching, experimenting with our craft. </span></span><br />
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<span style="color: #222222; font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;"><b>We need to recognize that failure <i>is</i> an option.</b></span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;"><span style="color: #222222;">Success is never guaranteed and it is certainly not owed to us. I've been working hard to set my expectations low. It's entirely possibly that my manuscript will not catch the interest of any of the big publishers. So I have a plan B. And a plan C. And I'm already working on something else. And I will continue to write, because that is my vocation. When I was young, I dreamed of literary stardom, because when you're young, everything seems possible. I have some life experience behind me now and </span><span style="color: #222222;">I've learned that big publishing success brings along with it big </span><span style="color: #222222;">responsibilities. </span><span style="color: #222222;">I also know that big success is bestowed only upon a chosen few. <b>If we are to live a creative life, we must be motivated by something other than the conventional definition of success.</b></span></span><br />
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<span style="color: #222222; font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">So...have I managed to toughen your hide at least a little? Believe me--that pep talk was as much for me as it was for you. I know that I frequently blog about this topic, but it needs to be repeated often. Writing takes a particular type of courage that few people can appreciate. Let's witness it in each other. </span><br />
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Stephanie Doyonhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12907220734088544269noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7813605584057243544.post-12076126969109149282016-04-05T10:31:00.002-04:002016-04-06T15:14:18.110-04:00The One-in-a-Million Monica Wood<br />
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<span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;">Not to sound like too much of a fan girl, but I love Monica Wood. </span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;">Her work is tender and evocative. She gives the best readings. </span><span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;">And by all appearances, she's just a decent human being. </span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;">Basically, I want to be Monica Wood when I grow up.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;">A few weeks ago, I saw that Ms. Wood had a new novel coming out and on a whim I asked her for a quick interview. To my delight, she agreed. Below, you'll find our conversation and a promo video of Monica describing her new book, <a href="http://www.amazon.com/The-One-Million-Boy/dp/054461707X" target="_blank">THE ONE-IN-A-MILLION BOY</a>.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;"><b style="line-height: 22.719999313354492px;"><b style="line-height: 22.719999313354492px;"><span style="background-color: white; font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif; font-weight: normal;">Years ago, every day looked about the same, but my professional life is far more complicated now. I spend a ridiculous amount of time on email, for example, managing the business of a full time professional writer. I usually have a stack of manuscripts that people have asked me to read. So my writing time is ever more precious, and I guard it jealousy. I am naturally a night owl but because I married an early bird my writing time is midday, about 10 until 3. Given my druthers, I would write all night and sleep till noon.</span></b></b></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;"><b style="line-height: 22.719999313354492px;"><b style="line-height: 22.719999313354492px;"><span style="background-color: white; font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif; font-weight: normal;">One thing I should mention if any young writers are reading this. I turn off all devices while writing. I don't have internet access on my laptop, which is where I write. Instead, I have a separate computer to connect to the wider world.</span></b></b></span><br />
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<b style="font-family: arial, helvetica, sans-serif; line-height: 22.719999313354492px;"><b style="line-height: 22.719999313354492px;">I had the good fortune of attending one of your events and it was the most entertaining reading I’ve ever seen. </b></b><b style="font-family: arial, helvetica, sans-serif; line-height: 22.719999313354492px;">You have a terrific way of engaging the audience. You read just enough to whet the audience’s appetite and then weave in anecdotes and </b><b style="font-family: arial, helvetica, sans-serif; line-height: 22.719999313354492px;">stories from your own life. What are your secrets for giving a great reading?</b></div>
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<b style="line-height: 22.719999313354492px;"><b style="line-height: 22.719999313354492px;"><b style="font-family: georgia, 'times new roman', serif; line-height: 22.719999313354492px;"><b style="line-height: 22.719999313354492px;"><b style="line-height: 22.719999313354492px;"><span style="background-color: white; font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif; font-weight: normal;"><br /></span></b></b></b>
<b style="font-family: georgia, 'times new roman', serif; line-height: 22.719999313354492px;"><b style="line-height: 22.719999313354492px;"><b style="line-height: 22.719999313354492px;"><span style="background-color: white; font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif; font-weight: normal;">Experience helps. You learn over time to select not your best stuff, necessarily, but the best stuff to read aloud. Look for a lot of white space on the page; that's a good rule of thumb. Also feel free to heavily edit. The audience doesn't need a lot of context. I have also learned over time an audience would rather have you speak about the book then read at length. I usually read for about 20 minutes in 10 minute segments, between which I talk about different aspects of the book itself or the writing of it.</span></b></b></b></b></b></div>
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<b style="line-height: 22.719999313354492px;"><b style="line-height: 22.719999313354492px;"><b style="font-family: georgia, 'times new roman', serif; line-height: 22.719999313354492px;"><b style="line-height: 22.719999313354492px;"><b style="line-height: 22.719999313354492px; text-indent: -24px;"><b style="line-height: 22.719999313354492px; text-indent: 0px;"><b style="line-height: 22.719999313354492px;"><span style="line-height: normal;"><b style="line-height: 22.719999313354492px;"><span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><br /></span></b></span></b></b></b></b></b>
<b style="font-family: georgia, 'times new roman', serif; line-height: 22.719999313354492px;"><b style="line-height: 22.719999313354492px;"><b style="line-height: 22.719999313354492px; text-indent: -24px;"><b style="line-height: 22.719999313354492px; text-indent: 0px;"><b style="line-height: 22.719999313354492px;"><span style="line-height: normal;"><b style="line-height: 22.719999313354492px;"><span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">Last year your first play “Papermaker” was brought to life by the Portland Stage Company an drew wide acclaim. </span></b></span></b><b style="line-height: 22.719999313354492px;"><b style="line-height: 22.719999313354492px;"><b style="line-height: 22.719999313354492px;"><b style="line-height: 22.719999313354492px;"><span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif; line-height: normal;"><b style="line-height: 22.719999313354492px;">How did it compare to the world of novel writing?</b></span></b></b></b></b></b></b></b></b></b></b><br />
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<b style="font-family: georgia, 'times new roman', serif; line-height: 22.719999313354492px; text-indent: -18pt;"><span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;"><b style="line-height: 22.719999313354492px;"><b style="line-height: 22.719999313354492px;"><span style="line-height: normal;"><b style="line-height: 22.719999313354492px;"><span style="background-color: white; font-weight: normal; text-indent: 0px;">There is simply no comparison between writing a novel and writing a play. </span></b></span></b></b></span></b></div>
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<b style="font-family: georgia, 'times new roman', serif; line-height: 22.719999313354492px; text-indent: -18pt;"><b style="line-height: 22.719999313354492px;"><span style="line-height: normal;"><b style="line-height: 22.719999313354492px;"><span style="background-color: white; font-weight: normal; text-indent: 0px;">With a play you need constant input from readers, actors, and a good director. I was crazy lucky to have all of the above. With the play I had all kinds of people rowing the boat with me. What a difference from typing alone in a room. For years. With no input from anyone. Alone. Did I already say alone?</span></b></span></b></b></div>
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<span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;"><span style="background-color: white; font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><b>It must be magical to see actors embody your characters.</b></span></span></div>
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<span style="background-color: white; font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;">It is indeed magical, but it requires a huge willingness to let go. Actors are interpreting your words and you have to give them room to surprise you. Some of my favorite moments in PAPERMAKER were quite different from my original intention. Also, every performance is different. I both dread and look forward to seeing the play with another cast.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><b style="line-height: 22.719999313354492px;"><span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;"><b style="line-height: 22.719999313354492px;"><br /></b></span></b></span></span>
<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><b style="line-height: 22.719999313354492px;"><span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><b style="line-height: 22.719999313354492px;">In your new novel, THE ONE-IN-A-MILLION BOY, </b><b style="line-height: 22.719999313354492px;">you do something rather unusual--you </b></span></b><b style="line-height: 22.719999313354492px;"><span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">kill off the title character on page two (I don't think I'm spoiling anything here!), yet his character </span></b></span><b style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; line-height: 22.719999313354492px;">continues to influence the story throughout. Was this your original intention, or did the idea </b><b style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; line-height: 22.719999313354492px;">evolve during the writing process?</b><br />
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<b style="line-height: 22.719999313354492px;"><span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;"><b style="line-height: 22.719999313354492px;"><b style="line-height: 22.719999313354492px;"><span style="background-color: white; font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif; font-weight: normal;">Most things happen as I am writing, but this wasn't one of them. The challenge for me was to keep the boy alive for the reader throughout the book and I think I accomplished that. The boy appears so often - through lists he composed, recordings he made with his elderly friend, and flashback scenes -- that many readers forget he's dead. This challenge led to some structural quirks that I like.</span></b></b></span></b></div>
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<b style="line-height: 22.719999313354492px;"><span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;"><b style="line-height: 22.719999313354492px;"><b style="line-height: 22.719999313354492px;"><span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">Another unusual choice is that you never reveal the boy's name--why? </span></b></b></span></b></div>
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<b style="line-height: 22.719999313354492px;"><span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;"><b style="line-height: 22.719999313354492px;"><b style="line-height: 22.719999313354492px;"><span style="background-color: white; font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif; font-weight: normal;">Every time I started to name him it felt wrong. To name him was to pin him to the earth, but he no longer is of the earth. he does actually have a name but only I, my husband, and my oldest sister know what it is. She named him. </span></b></b></span></b></div>
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<b style="line-height: 22.719999313354492px;"><b style="line-height: 22.719999313354492px;"><span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><b style="line-height: 21.299999237060547px;"><span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;"><br /></span></b></span></b></b></div>
<b style="line-height: 22.719999313354492px;"><b style="line-height: 22.719999313354492px;"><span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><b style="line-height: 21.299999237060547px;"><span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;">The cover is gorgeous. Did you have a hand </span></b><b style="line-height: 21.299999237060547px;"><span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;">in choosing the design, or was it a complete surprise to you?</span></b></span></b></b></div>
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<span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;"><b style="line-height: 22.719999313354492px;"><b style="line-height: 22.719999313354492px;"><b style="line-height: 21.299999237060547px;"><span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;"><br /></span></b></b></b></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;"><b style="line-height: 22.719999313354492px;"><b style="line-height: 22.719999313354492px;"><b style="line-height: 21.299999237060547px;"><span style="background-color: white; font-weight: normal;"><span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;">Oh, boy, is this ever a long story! I hated this cover with a red hot passion but everyone from sales and marketing adored it. I thought it was too whimsical for the content , and I despised the literal depiction of a boy on a bicycle. My US publisher agreed to alter the cover. But then my UK publisher went nuts over the American cover, their sales and marketing people went nuts, and so I finally caved. And they were dead right, of course: most of the countries publishing this book are using the original cover. Lesson: writers should stick to writing and leave selling to the sellers.</span></span></b></b></b></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;"><b style="line-height: 22.719999313354492px;"><b style="line-height: 22.719999313354492px;"><span style="background-color: white; font-weight: normal;"></span></b></b></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;"><b style="line-height: 22.719999313354492px;"><span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;"><b style="line-height: 22.719999313354492px;">It can be a fine line knowing when to stick to your guns and when to defer to the 'experts'. </b></span><b style="line-height: 22.719999313354492px;"><span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;">When it comes to editing, how do you react to those occasional suggestions that seem to come </span></b><b style="line-height: 22.719999313354492px;">out of left </b></span><b style="line-height: 22.719999313354492px;"><span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">field? </span></b></span></b></span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;"><b style="line-height: 22.719999313354492px;"><b style="line-height: 22.719999313354492px;"><span style="background-color: white; font-weight: normal;"><span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;">I have worked with a lot of editors over the years, and very very seldom have I had to put my foot down. I can honestly say that an editor has never given me terrible advice. This is not to say I have never had disputes, but I have always found that the best way to handle differences with an editor is to take a deep breath, step back, and try to see the manuscript afresh. They are frequently right. At the same time, we must not forget that as writers we have the right to say no. Lots of new writers are afraid to say no because they fear alienating the editor. But editors expect give and take. They thrive on it! The world will not end if you speak your mind. </span></span></b></b></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;"><b style="line-height: 22.719999313354492px;"><span style="background-color: white;"><i>THE ONE-IN-A-MILLION BOY (Houghton Mifflin Harcourt) by Monica Wood is available in bookstores, now. Click <a href="http://www.monicawood.com/calendar.html" target="_blank">here</a> to access Ms. Wood's tour schedule. </i></span></b></span></div>
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Stephanie Doyonhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12907220734088544269noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7813605584057243544.post-32989131504674435462016-03-22T10:11:00.001-04:002016-03-22T10:11:07.378-04:00An(other) Interview With Judy Sheehan<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
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<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">Judy Sheehan and I go way back. All the way back to 2005, when we were part of an emerging writers panel at Book Expo America. We probably chatted a sum total of thirty minutes but hit it off right away. Since then, we've kept in touch a little through social media and cheered on each other's writing careers. In 2008, I interviewed her upon the release of her second novel WOMEN IN HATS, which you can read <u><a href="http://stephdoyon.blogspot.com/2008/05/interview-with-judy-sheehan.html" target="_blank">here</a></u>.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">When I recently heard that Judy had a new novel coming out </span><span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">I just knew I had to ask for another interview. She graciously obliged. Her latest, entitled, </span><a href="http://www.barnesandnoble.com/w/i-woke-up-dead-at-the-mall-judy-sheehan/1122226586?ean=9780553512465" style="font-style: italic; font-weight: bold;" target="_blank">I WOKE UP DEAD IN THE MALL</a>, is <span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">Judy's first YA novel. Having just finished the book, I have to say it's a perfect fit--this is Judy's best work yet. Here's our conversation about the creative process, rejection, and the afterlife.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "arial" , sans-serif; line-height: normal;"><span style="line-height: 22.719999313354492px;"><b style="line-height: 22.719999313354492px;">In our previous interview in 2008, you mentioned working on a third novel—was this it?</b></span></span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">Oh ha ha ha ha ha. This is possibly my third third novel. Or is it my thirtieth third novel? It’s been a long, long road. I came back to this process so many times, I considered changing my last name to Sisyphus. I still have a file called “12pp.” It’s a twelve-page story that serves as a prologue to a book. But I have no idea what that book is. I had books that I finished, books that I dropped midway because they were dead in the water, and one book that got all the way to publishers before it gave up the ghost. So please imagine the stress levels I was soaring through when my agent sent I WOKE UP DEAD AT THE MALL out into the world. And of course, now it’s going much more public. Ack! </span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "arial" , sans-serif; line-height: normal;"><span style="line-height: 17.98666763305664px;"><b style="line-height: 17.98666763305664px;">When I started the first chapter of your book, I was laughing out loud by the fifth sentence--</b></span></span><b style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif; line-height: 17.98666763305664px;">which is probably a record for me. What inspired you to choose the Mall of America as the setting </b><b style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif; line-height: 17.98666763305664px;">for the afterlife?</b><br />
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<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">Thank you! That was the goal! In an early draft of the book, the afterlife was its own special Mall, populated only by the dead. But then my super-smart agent suggested that I try setting it in a real Mall, and I went for the Mall of America. It felt so iconic. And there was a kind of logic in the location. The living never notice that the Mall is haunted, what with all the bright lights and free samples. And the dead have access to everything they need or want. My daughter and I even spent a few days at the Mall of America, in the spirit of research. And shoes. And Orange Julius.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">As soon as I moved the characters into the Mall of America, the story accelerated in all the right ways. In this case, it feels like the living are almost haunting the dead, as Sarah and the others try to finish their unfinishable lives. And since the Mall of America is insanely big, it offered me lots of locations – a gorgeous aquarium, roller coasters, and so much more. It’s a self-contained universe over there. I now have a happy, almost proprietary feeling about the Mall of America. I never would have predicted that.</span></div>
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<b style="line-height: 22.719999313354492px;"><span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">It's interesting how just the right detail can set everything in motion. I find that just a word or </span></b><b style="line-height: 22.719999313354492px;"><span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">turn of phrase can suddenly unlock a character. How did you discover Sarah's voice?</span></b></div>
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<span style="font-family: arial, helvetica, sans-serif;">I love this question, mostly because I have a very specific answer: parentheses. Yes, for me, it wasn’t a phrase, word, or even a sound—it was punctuation. All her life, Sarah has put herself on the sidelines. She has actively avoided being the center of attention, so naturally, her narration would contain a high volume of side comments. That’s how she’s been narrating her life for years and years. Even when she’s really just thinking out loud, Sarah has a side comment that drops into parentheses. I think/hope that her use of parentheses diminishes as the story goes along. That was always the plan.</span><b style="line-height: 22.719999313354492px;"></b><br />
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<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">This idea grew out of a remark a college friend said to me, during our senior year. I whispered a comment mocking a professor, who absolutely deserved the mockery, I swear. Later, she dubbed me the Queen of the Asides, and I realized that those side comments had become quite a thing for me. And now I’ve handed them off to Sarah. (And she’s eternally grateful.)</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><b style="line-height: 22.719999313354492px; text-align: start;">This is your first foray into the world of Young Adult literature</b><b style="line-height: 22.719999313354492px; text-align: start;">. </b><span style="background-color: white; text-align: start;"></span></span></div>
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<b style="line-height: 22.719999313354492px;"><span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">What sparked your interest in this genre?</span></b></div>
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-size: small;">photo credit: Paul d'Innocenzo </span></td></tr>
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<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><b style="line-height: 22.719999313354492px;"><span style="background-color: white; font-weight: normal;">My daughter got me started. When she became old enough to start reading Young Adult, I joined her because I probably have boundary issues. We even read a couple of books together. Really obscure ones, like THE FAULT IN OUR STARS and IF I STAY. I was egged on by an online editorial that said that adults should not read Young Adult books. That made me want to both read and write them. Read or write whatever interests you, and don’t let an online snob stop you!</span></b></span></div>
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<b style="line-height: 22.719999313354492px;"><span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">Amen! Was your publishing experience in YA different than for adult fiction?</span></b></div>
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<span style="font-family: arial, helvetica, sans-serif;">It was mostly the same experience. And I think that this illustrates the fact that real grown-ups appreciate YA and any other genre of fiction. The one thing that's different for me with this book is the big bump forward in social media. I've had to dedicate a lot of time to ensure that I'm in touch with the YA bloggers, Twitter giveaways, Facebook pages, and author forums. Some of it is quite wonderful, since I get to create an introduction to my book, my characters, and me. But oh my, it's a lot. It makes me feel productive, but it isn't the same as actually writing. Sigh.</span><b style="line-height: 22.719999313354492px;"></b><br />
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<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif; line-height: normal;"><span style="line-height: 18.161800384521484px;">Meanwhile, I'm focusing on getting the word out to school librarians. Who knew they wielded so much power? I thought they were just there to shush me.</span></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif; line-height: normal;"><span style="line-height: 18.161800384521484px;"><b style="line-height: 22.719999313354492px;">What does your typical writing day look like?</b></span></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif; line-height: normal;"><span style="line-height: 18.161800384521484px;"><b style="line-height: 22.719999313354492px;"><span style="background-color: white; font-weight: normal;">The truth is that I don't have a typical writing day because I shoehorn writing into days that refuse to be typical, or even mildly predictable.</span></b></span></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif; line-height: normal;"><span style="line-height: 18.161800384521484px;"><span style="line-height: 22.719999313354492px;">When I'm really in the groove, the day tries to run like this: the morning is all about getting my daughter and me out the door. I go to work, where anything can happen. If it's a quiet day, well, how lucky that I brought my laptop with me. I can plug into Pandora and write. If it's a busy day, I wonder why I brought this laptop with me. Back home, I get dinner on the table (dinner is a pre-occupation for me), clean up, and then I sit down and really write. I don't sit at my desk, but at my dining table. I play my playlist or Pandora, and eat something cakey with cinnamon in it. I take breaks to check on my daughter and her homework. I write until my eyes hurt. That's when I know I'm done.</span></span></span></div>
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<b style="line-height: 22.719999313354492px;">Rejection is a big part of any artist's life. How do you handle it?</b></div>
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<b style="line-height: 22.719999313354492px;"><span style="background-color: white; font-weight: normal;">Thankfully, most of it occurs over email, so I can pretend to be brave and noble about it when I reply. The truth is that it hurts, it gives me a stomachache and I hate it. I usually give myself a good 24-hour wallow, but after that, I just have to suck it up and move on. Life is busy, so wallows must be contained. The distractions of motherhood, life, and work can be a hindrance to getting writing done, but they are a balm when a rejection lands.</span></b></div>
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<span style="font-family: arial, helvetica, sans-serif;">I get weirdly maternal about my characters, so a book rejection feels like someone just kicked my child. That would be my boundary issues rising up once more. </span></div>
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Just last week, I suffered a painful blow, and thought I was handling it with grim steeliness. But then an author that I barely know tweeted me that she was reading my new book and loved it. That tweet pushed me over the edge, and I had a good cry. And do you know what? I felt so much better after that.</div>
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<span style="background-color: #fcfcfc; white-space: nowrap;">Who do you like to read?</span></div>
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<span style="background-color: white; font-weight: normal;">Kate Atkinson walks on water. I met her at a book signing, and I asked her this exact question, and it threw her. I felt so terrible, I can't remember her answer!</span><br />
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Kent Haruf and Dawn Powell may have spent some time walking on water, just like Kate. <span style="font-family: arial, helvetica, sans-serif;">Reading with my daughter, Michael Marpurgo's </span><i style="font-family: arial, helvetica, sans-serif; line-height: 21.299999237060547px;">War Horse</i><span style="font-family: arial, helvetica, sans-serif;"> was one of the most moving books I've encountered. I felt that </span><i style="font-family: arial, helvetica, sans-serif; line-height: 21.299999237060547px;">Where'd You Go, Bernadette?,</i><span style="font-family: arial, helvetica, sans-serif;"> by Maria Semple, and </span><i style="font-family: arial, helvetica, sans-serif; line-height: 21.299999237060547px;">Gone Girl</i><span style="font-family: arial, helvetica, sans-serif;">, by Gillian Flynn, both completely lived up to the hype.</span></div>
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After 9/11, I found myself immersed in children's literature. Later, I realized that I was probably reaching for a moral, ordered universe through books. I re-read (and loved) all of the Narnia books, the Anne of Green Gable books, and Madeleine L'Engle. It was escapism, and it was specifically helpful. Maybe it set the groundwork for me writing a YA novel today.<br />
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<b style="line-height: 22.719999313354492px;">Any words of wisdom for aspiring writers?</b></div>
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<b style="line-height: 22.719999313354492px;"><span style="background-color: white; font-weight: normal;">Is it an act of hubris for me to dispense wisdom for aspiring writers? Too bad. You asked, so here goes:</span></b></div>
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<span style="line-height: 22.719999313354492px;">Live your life. See every art form you can. Try every art form you can. Take jobs that make you learn new skills. Get your heart broken. Get confused. Read a lot -- and not just the books that seem tailor-made for you. Read things that seem unlikely for you. Talk to old people, young people, and people who disagree with you. Make some stupid choices, but not so stupid that you put your life in peril, because I'll worry about you, okay? Travel, as best you can, even if it just means finding a different commute to work or school. Pay attention.</span><b style="font-weight: normal; line-height: 22.719999313354492px;"> </b></div>
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These experiences will all enrich your writing, even if their impact doesn't seem obvious. Don't go for the obvious. Surprise us.</div>
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Stephanie Doyonhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12907220734088544269noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7813605584057243544.post-16897937641443233852016-03-04T12:03:00.000-05:002016-03-04T12:03:08.310-05:00This Is When the Fun Starts<br />
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Sorry to leave you in the lurch for so long, Dear Blog Reader, but it was with good cause. I finished <i>yet another</i> round with my manuscript and have finally submitted it to my agent. For reals this time. We're finally moving ahead with it. This novel has definitely been hard-won, which makes reaching this milestone all the more satisfying.<br />
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Yet, the manuscript is still far from complete.<br />
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If my agent manages to find a publisher for it, this version will only be considered a first draft (hilarious, really, since it's actually the fourth draft). I will still have many more revisions ahead of me. I welcome the chance for new insights and suggestions because I want to produce my very best work. I want this book to be the best it can be.<br />
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<b>This is how the next few weeks/months will go:</b> Mr. Agent will read my latest draft. Next, he will email my manuscript to a group of editors he thinks would be excited by this kind of book. The editors (or their assistants) will read the manuscript. Some will read a little of it and decide right away if they are interested (or not). Others might be intrigued and read the whole thing. If one editor gets excited quickly, another editor who is on the fence might suddenly jump into the ring and express interest. Interested parties will make offers. If more than one publisher is interested, there could be an auction. It could be over in a couple of weeks, it could take months. Every sale is different. You just don't know how it's going to go.<br />
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Given that this is my sophomore literary effort, it will probably take a while. Things went pretty fast with my first book because everyone loves a debut--everyone wants to find THE NEXT BIG THING. Once they figure out you're <b><i>not</i> </b>THE NEXT BIG THING, everyone is much more cautious the second time around. Back in the day (pre '90's) publishers would take on a writer with the intention of grooming her and developing her career. Conventional wisdom was that most writers didn't break out until their fourth or fifth book and publishers were happy to wait. The business climate is much different now.<b> If your second novel doesn't make a splash, you might not have much of a career ahead of you.</b><br />
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Knowing this--and knowing that quiet literary novels have a harder time than most getting published--I'm still crazy excited. This is when the fun starts. Waiting to hear back from publishing houses is one of my absolute favorite parts of the process. All along the way, I'll be sure to keep you updated with all the highs and the lows that are sure to come. I am so excited to finally give you a real, up-close look at the publishing process. Stay tuned.<br />
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<b>Also, in the coming weeks, I have two author interviews I'm sure you won't want to miss. Who are they? You'll just have to come back to find out. </b><br />
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Finally, the literary world recently lost a giant--Umberto Eco. Among the tributes, I found this short video of Eco imparting a little wisdom for aspiring writers. Click <a href="http://www.openculture.com/2016/02/umberto-eco-dies-at-84-leaves-behind-advice-to-aspiring-writers.html" target="_blank">here</a> to watch the short video. This is some of the best writing advice I've ever heard.<br />
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<br />Stephanie Doyonhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12907220734088544269noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7813605584057243544.post-91369345159412934102016-01-29T10:40:00.004-05:002016-01-29T10:40:56.632-05:00Is Your Writing Group Too Nice?<br />
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I've been part of a writing group for over a year now with a terrific bunch of writers and it's been a great asset to my writing life. We share our work, talk about the publishing business, books we're reading, chat about our lives and laugh. We offer suggestions and encouragement. Our group is a safe, comfortable place to explore our work. We know that when we share a piece of writing, it will be treated with fairness and respect. We give each other slack. We are each other's biggest fans.<br />
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Our writing group is a vastly different experience than what you'll find in most college workshops, where a collection of not-necessarily like-minded souls are thrown together. Sure, you'll find a few kind people here and there, but also a few sticklers, a curmudgeon, that one person who 'doesn't get' your work, and a competitive type or two who are more interested in their own talent than anyone else's. Even with careful ground rules in place, workshops can be a little intimidating--and that's actually a <i>good</i> thing. If you know your work is going to be met with a critical eye, you're more likely to try harder. A tough workshop is excellent preparation for the larger, even more critical world you'll face when you're published.<br />
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I was thinking about the difference between my cozy little writing group and a true workshop after receiving e-mails from two of our group members who were apologizing for not having anything to share for our upcoming meeting. At first, we'd all been great about keeping to our deadlines, but little by little our collective discipline was starting to erode. All it took was one person saying they weren't going to be able to make deadline and suddenly we all relaxed. I was probably the worst offender of all, not submitting work for months because I was editing my novel. It occurred to me that the reason why we all joined the group was to write more and to be held accountable for it. Instead, we were enabling a lack of discipline. We were being too nice to each other. I decided it was time for us to buckle down and I was going to be the meanie to say something.<br />
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I was a little nervous about sharing my thoughts. By bringing this problem to the fore I, too, would no longer have a free pass. But it had to be done. Overall, the other group members seemed to take it well and everyone agreed that we needed to buckle down.<br />
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To soften the blow, we changed our rules a bit. Instead of submitting our work every other month we changed our deadlines to every <i>three</i> months--giving us all a little built-in leeway. If we were unable to generate something new or didn't have a re-write to share, then we had to write a piece using a prompt. One of our members distributed a list of some interesting prompts she found on the internet.<br />
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It was settled. No excuses. No more missed deadlines.<br />
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If you're in a self-run writing group, I recommend an annual assessment of how the group is functioning and then making adjustments accordingly. Don't be afraid to set goals for your group. On a whim I threw out a challenge to everyone--by the end of the year, we all had to submit a piece of writing to a journal or a magazine. The piece doesn't have to be perfect--we just have to get over our initial anxieties about trying to get published and start getting into the habit of regularly submitting our work.<br />
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<b>What challenges does your writing group face? How do you overcome those challenges?</b>Stephanie Doyonhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12907220734088544269noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7813605584057243544.post-81022870876919088932016-01-15T10:48:00.001-05:002016-01-15T10:48:07.609-05:00Working With Your Personality To Reach Your Writing Goals<br />
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Have you caught Gretchen Rubin fever yet? She's the author of best-selling self-help books including <b><a href="http://www.barnesandnoble.com/w/happiness-project-gretchen-craft-rubin/1101357622?ean=9780061583261" target="_blank">THE HAPPINESS PROJECT</a></b> and her latest, <b><a href="http://www.barnesandnoble.com/w/better-than-before-gretchen-rubin/1122624776?ean=9780385348638" target="_blank">BETTER THAN BEFORE</a></b>. She also has a new hit podcast called <b><a href="http://gretchenrubin.com/podcast/" target="_blank">HAPPIER</a></b>, which she hosts with her sister, television writer Elizabeth Craft (who, incidentally, was an editor for the SWEET VALLEY series around the time I was ghostwriting, but our paths never crossed). If you aren't familiar with Rubin's work, she studies behavior and how we can work <i>with</i> our personalities to achieve our goals.<br />
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I'm particularly fascinated by Rubin's concept called "The Four Tendencies". According to her book, <b>BETTER THAN BEFORE</b>, people tend to fall into four different categories when faced with expectations (both inner and outer). Here's a quick overview of <b>The Four Tendencies </b>(if you're not sure which category you fit into, Rubin has quizzes on <a href="http://gretchenrubin.com/" target="_blank">her website</a> to help you determine your tendency). Disclaimer: this is my <i>interpretation</i> of Rubin's book and may not represent her work precisely. For a more thorough explanation, be sure to read the book.<br />
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<b><i>The Four Tendencies:</i></b><br />
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<b>UPHOLDERS </b>are people who respond well to both inner and outer expectations. Upholders keep the promises they make to themselves and to others. They set goals and follow through. For example, if Upholders decide they need to get into shape, they'll stick to their diets and go to the gym without fail. While they are extremely disciplined, they can sometimes be seen as rigid. <i>Upholders are accountable to themselves and others.</i> They make up a small percentage of population.<br />
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<b>OBLIGERS </b>are the people pleasers. Most people fall into this category. Obligers are motivated by the fear of disappointing others, but aren't so good at meeting their own expectations. For instance, if an Obliger wants to get more exercise, they'll go for a walk every day if they have a walking partner, BUT if the walking partner happens to be sick one day, they'll probably stay home and eat potato chips on the couch instead. <i>Obligers need accountability from outside sources.</i><br />
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<b>QUESTIONERS</b> are the opposite of Obligers. Questioners are good at keeping promises to themselves, but reject being told what to do. If a Questioner wants to go to the gym regularly, they'll go. However, if someone tells them they <i>have</i> to go to the gym because it will make them healthier, they'll need need statistics and documentation to back up the claim and <i>then </i>they'll make up their own minds to go--if there seems to be a good reason for it. <i>Questioners are accountable only to themselves.</i><br />
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<b>REBELS </b>are the opposite of Upholders. They don't like limitations of any kind--from themselves or others. Among the Four Tendencies, this is the most rare category. When something needs to get done, Rebels have to want to do it. The task has to be fun--otherwise, forget it.<br />
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I don't think everyone fits neatly into one of the categories all the time--for example, I define myself as an Obliger with Questioner tendencies--but recognizing what motivates you can have a profound effect on making you a more productive writer.<br />
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<b><i>H</i></b><b style="font-style: italic;">ow can we apply The Four Tendencies to our writing ?</b><br />
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<b>If You're an Upholder...</b>Deadlines from editors are not a problem for you. You know you'll meet that deadline, no problem. However, if you don't have a contract it's important that you set deadlines or goals for yourself whether it be setting time aside each day to write or setting your own deadline for a project. Use specific times and dates.<br />
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When it comes to following the advice of editors, you're very cooperative about making changes. However, be careful of your perfectionist tendencies, which can keep you from moving forward. <br />
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<b>If You're an Obliger...</b>You'll bend over backwards to meet any deadline because the thought of letting your publisher down strikes fear in your heart. When you're on your own without a deadline, you need to decide on a writing goal (with a specific date) and then tell everyone you know about it. Having others know your goals will keep you accountable.<br />
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Like Upholders, you are easy to work with during the editing process. The one pitfall to look out for is that your people-pleasing ways sometimes prevent you from standing your ground. You don't <i>always</i> have to make the suggested changes. Do what feels right and don't be afraid to speak up if it doesn't.<br />
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<b>If You're a Questioner...</b>Personal goals and deadlines are important to you--editorial deadlines, not so much. It may help to find out the full publication schedule, then you'll better understand why that particular date was chosen. If you know a few weeks out that you're going to miss a deadline, be sure to give your editor a heads-up. If they know ahead of time, often they can work around the new date.<br />
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You tend to push back when given editorial suggestions. While there's nothing wrong with following your gut instinct, try to remember that the ultimate goal for everyone involved is to make your work the best it can be. Take the time to consider a suggestion. Ask all the questions you need to understand the reasoning behind a change. You may discover the reason is valid.<br />
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<b>If You're a Rebel...</b>What can I say? If you want to write a book or short story or article, write it; if you don't, don't. Since you like to do things your own way, I wouldn't recommend sending agents proposals or half-finished manuscripts. Write the entire piece the way you like, at your own pace, before sending it out. Maybe self-publishing is the best route for you.<br />
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I envy you rebels, being able to write for yourself without worrying about pleasing others. I'm convinced some of our most creative minds are rebels. I would caution you not to adopt that 'difficult artist' persona, however. Find a way to work with others without sacrificing your artistic integrity. Being difficult will only hurt you in the end. But never mind what I think--you're going to do what you want, anyway.<br />
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<b><i>Have you recognized your tendency? How has it hurt/helped your work?</i></b></div>
Stephanie Doyonhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12907220734088544269noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7813605584057243544.post-39743624095412686732016-01-08T11:18:00.001-05:002016-01-08T11:18:19.769-05:00Writing Goals for 2016<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
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Every January I like to take a little time to look back at what I accomplished the previous year and take stock of what needs to be accomplished in the year ahead. I'm a firm believer in setting goals--it's the single most important exercise we freelance writers can do since most of the time we are accountable only to ourselves. Goals help us stay focused and moving forward.<br />
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<b><i>Looking back, here are the goals I made for 2015:</i></b></div>
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<b>1) Read 52 Books.</b> I'm proud to say that I actually read <i style="font-weight: bold;">54 books</i>. This is a big accomplishment for someone who used to read 1-2 books per month. I used to call myself a slow reader, but not anymore. By signing up for the annual Reading Challenge on <a href="http://www.goodreads.com/" target="_blank">Goodreads</a> I made more of an effort to read. The one downside: I was less likely to drop a book that I didn't love because of the time invested. </div>
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<b>2) Post More Often. </b>I was surprised to learn that I achieved this goal, too--but not by much. I posted 22 times last year, which is more than I had the previous three years. Still, not a great number. It was tough keeping my focus on the blog because I was heavily immersed in rewrites.</div>
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<b>3) Continue to Build Platform on Social Media. </b>This goal was purposely vague, but I did reach out to my local writers' community and had more engagement than ever before. Also, my blog readership continues to grow.</div>
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<b>4) Finish Short Story. </b>Yeah...this didn't happen. I did make headway, though.</div>
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<b>5) Finish My Manuscript. </b>I came oh-so-close. I'm in the process of finishing rewrites and hope to be done by the end of January. </div>
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<b><i>And my one wish for 2015 was...</i></b></div>
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<b>Sell My Manuscript to a Publisher. </b>This didn't happen, either, because I'm still working on the manuscript. </div>
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<b><i>With all this in mind, here are my goals for 2016:</i></b></div>
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<b>1) Read 60 Books--and Some of Them Have to Be Classics. </b>Ok, I'll admit it--part of the reason I was able to read so many books in 2015 is that some of them were pretty slim. Also, at any one time I was reading a work of fiction and a work of non-fiction. When I look over my list for the previous year, I've noticed that I read a lot more memoir and non-fiction because it was a lot easier to read quickly. The fiction I read was mostly contemporary, which can also be easy to read. This year I'm going to dive into some thick novels and some classics that I've never tried. Like <i>War and Peace</i>. There are just so many books to read--it's overwhelming. </div>
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<b>2) Post 36 Times. </b>Instead of being vague, I'm committing to a number. I'm aiming for 3x a month. Still not often enough, but to be honest, coming up with compelling content is not easy. Maybe a book contract will give me lots to write about...</div>
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<b>3) Stop complaining. </b>This comes straight out of Elizabeth Gilbert's <a href="http://www.barnesandnoble.com/w/big-magic-elizabeth-gilbert/1121030101?ean=9781594634710" target="_blank">BIG MAGIC: CREATIVE LIVING BEYOND FEAR</a>. I just devoured this book and will post about it soon. Briefly: Gilbert reminds us that we should approach our work with a grateful, playful attitude and not take ourselves or our work too seriously. Deep in our hearts, we artists <i>know</i> we've got it good, but we feel that if we don't act like it's a struggle, the outside world will think we're just goofing off. We should own our good fortune. So when someone asks how the writing is, I'm not going to sigh and list all my difficulties (after all, no one's making me do it!), instead I'm going to cheerfully say, "It's going well, thanks!"<br />
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<b>4) Finish My Short Story...and Maybe Send It Out? </b>Believe it or not, I've never submitted a short story for publication. I stopped writing short stories the second I graduated from college. I've always seen myself as a novelist, but want to challenge myself by writing something in a different form.<br />
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<b>5) Finish and Submit My Manuscript. </b>This is a cheater goal, because I <i>know</i> this is going to happen. I'm only a few weeks away from making this goal. Sometimes you need to throw in a sure thing just so you can feel successful at the end of the year. Will a publisher buy it? That's anyone's guess. It's completely out of my hands, so for now I'm not going to worry about it. My goal is to get my work done--the rest will take care of itself.<br />
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<b>So here they are--my humble goals for 2016. </b>Nothing earth-shattering or exciting or all that different from the previous year. This list underscores how the writing life is just a slow and steady continuum. It's perseverance. It's keep on keepin' on for the love of the work--without expectation of glory. It's making a commitment to yourself to create (and <b>finish</b> your creation), even when no one's looking. <br />
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<b>What are your writing goals for 2016? </b><br />
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Stephanie Doyonhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12907220734088544269noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7813605584057243544.post-56493272481886865242015-12-14T11:48:00.001-05:002015-12-14T11:48:44.973-05:00Serve the Work<div>
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As 2015 comes to a close, my writing news ends on a high note. After many, <i>many</i> rewrites, Mr. Agent says my manuscript passes muster and we can send it out to publishers in January, after the holiday chaos. I am beside myself with relief and excitement. Just when I came close to giving up on this story, I stuck with it. Maybe the gamble will pay off. Whatever happens, I take comfort in knowing I did my best. I also look forward to finally returning to the business of writing after such a long hiatus and reporting the process to you, dear blog reader, along the way. <div>
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There is one small detail to attend to before Mr. Agent sends out the manuscript. It's a plot point that happens in the third act that he feels needs to be reworked. At first look it seems an easy fix, but as I move deeper into the changes I realize it ripples out and affects many scenes. Whether I make the changes or not is entirely optional and up to me--but his feeling was that since we're waiting until January, why not?</div>
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I've given his suggestion a lot of thought and I've decided to go for it. If it doesn't work, we can always revert to the previous version. Part of the reason why I'm taking on the challenge is that the change we came up with together is actually <b>an idea I had pursued many drafts ago, but had abandoned. </b>Why? Because even though the story led me there, it didn't <i>feel</i> literary enough to me. It was too obvious, predictable. I wanted to create something more subtle, nuanced. </div>
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Looking back now, I can see many instances when I tried to steer the story instead of letting it steer me. And what happened? I veered off course. Trying to make the story something it was not cost me a lot of time and pages. </div>
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On a whim, I borrowed a copy of Madeleine L'Engle's <b>WALKING ON WATER: Reflections on Faith and Art </b>from my local library. Shortly after my conversation with my agent I came across the following passage (don't you love it when this happens?) which refers to her process of working on <b>A WRINKLE IN TIME</b><i>, </i>her masterpiece:</div>
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<i>"I began to comprehend something about listening to the work, about going where it shoved me. And so the long two years of rejection slips which followed were especially difficult; it wasn't just that my work was being rejected; or, if it was, it meant that I had not even begun to serve the work."</i></div>
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Serve the work. <i>Yes</i>. This is what I've been learning. When we get in the way of a piece by trying to make it something it is not--either by deciding the story isn't lofty enough or it's in a particular genre we don't care for--we ruin it. Our job as writers is to accept the story as is and let it guide us into being. Our choice, <i>our art</i>, comes from <i>how</i> we tell that story. This is where we can let our heads rules our hearts. </div>
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<b>Is there a story you're stuck on? Think for a moment--are you trying to make it something it's not?</b></div>
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See you in 2016.</div>
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Stephanie Doyonhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12907220734088544269noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7813605584057243544.post-55317151661736386242015-12-02T11:10:00.001-05:002015-12-02T11:10:21.116-05:009 Great Gifts for Writers (2015 Edition)It's time for my annual roundup of 9 Great Gifts for Writers. While I <i>mostly</i> create this list in service to my readers, it also use it as a thinly-veiled wish list for any of my loved ones who read this blog. Happy shopping *wink, wink*!<br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEggWeegBMZanETFw9I5AlGle2f_iHW5CEMcpBloHrg82XgEhy6yDhQxQV7EbuGNms2jCmYF2gb2n_i6H8fxfTMIML9PcxS-sZMERyUgGAVn5ThBs3goSAz1xvA1gGEB6BiCic2I6prBOXxP/s1600/602_4up.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEggWeegBMZanETFw9I5AlGle2f_iHW5CEMcpBloHrg82XgEhy6yDhQxQV7EbuGNms2jCmYF2gb2n_i6H8fxfTMIML9PcxS-sZMERyUgGAVn5ThBs3goSAz1xvA1gGEB6BiCic2I6prBOXxP/s320/602_4up.jpg" width="300" /></a></div>
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<b><a href="http://pencils.com/product/blackwing-pencils/?_ga=1.27647486.33524131.1448407018" target="_blank">Blackwing Pencils.</a> </b><a href="http://stephdoyon.blogspot.com/2014/11/9-great-gifts-for-writers.html" target="_blank">On last year's list I extolled the virtues of a smooth-writing, medium point pen</a> but this year I rediscovered the beauty of the pencil. And not just <i>any </i>pencil. After reading <b><a href="http://www.barnesandnoble.com/w/between-you-me-mary-norris/1119710803?ean=9780393240184" target="_blank">BETWEEN YOU & ME: CONFESSIONS OF A COMMA QUEEN by Mary Norris </a></b>and learning of the devoted following the Blackwing had (especially among editors of <i>The New Yorker</i>) I just <i>had </i>to try them out. They are expensive <b>($21.95 for a pack of 12)</b>, but so worth it. The pencil is extra long and the Palomino model is painted in a shiny slate metallic color. When it's in your hand it just feels special. The writing is smooth and the erasing clean--the eraser is rectangular and flat and slides out as needed so you don't run out of eraser before you run out of pencil. I loved these so much that I started using them all the time instead of my beloved gel pens. One word of advice: make sure to buy the special <a href="http://pencils.com/product/blackwing-long-point-sharpener/" target="_blank">2-step pencil sharpener</a> <b>($7.50) </b>made for it.<br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj_Sr4DQBZCKQxJGTep4MlL-70H5KbQAKE-E5tpcuXHFUgez55bSh_-FyoeRMN9r6DF5cUe3NGTM-U-ya2MZs6q9vkV0qF00ibA5BlOdKtJSIr68J891Vzy8AWQvZ15OLx1NDxKiXVk-Bg9/s1600/walden-tote-2_153b412e-4877-436a-b452-ca7fe484ac9d_1024x1024.jpeg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="400" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj_Sr4DQBZCKQxJGTep4MlL-70H5KbQAKE-E5tpcuXHFUgez55bSh_-FyoeRMN9r6DF5cUe3NGTM-U-ya2MZs6q9vkV0qF00ibA5BlOdKtJSIr68J891Vzy8AWQvZ15OLx1NDxKiXVk-Bg9/s400/walden-tote-2_153b412e-4877-436a-b452-ca7fe484ac9d_1024x1024.jpeg" width="400" /></a></div>
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<b><a href="http://litographs./">Litographs.</a> </b>I have a niece who is an avid reader and who just earned her doctorate in entomology. Her favorite color is orange. I was searching for the perfect gift to celebrate her achievement and came across this amazing company. Litographs takes classic works of literature and creates graphics <i>using the text of the work</i>. How cool is that? They put the graphics on t-shirts, tote bags, and posters. For my niece, I bought a print of Kafka's THE METAMORPHOSIS, which is in the shape of a giant bug, and chose to have it printed in orange. She loved it. I'm partial to Thoreau's <i>Walden</i>, pictured above. <b>($24-$39)</b><br />
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<b><span style="color: blue;">Gift Certificate from an Independent Bookstore. </span></b>This year I made a concerted effort to buy fewer books from a certain online mega-retailer and more books from my local bookstore. By purchasing from independent bookstores you are supporting your local economy and saying no to predatory practices that hurt all writers. Any writer in your life would be thrilled to have some mad money to spend at the neighborhood bookstore. <br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgtNB8MFQNkftjScnwikWgltpjtKREUGUmMXRfxlvaP7LRZL6kOSVPQpYs2IWslbrYuYxxig_faui5rubFjgTAPGFrt221MHdlP2yXsX3q4IQP8pyVsfqbwknH-3IV3F-y_BbMZt76lcVQW/s1600/properuseofyoure_1024x1024.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgtNB8MFQNkftjScnwikWgltpjtKREUGUmMXRfxlvaP7LRZL6kOSVPQpYs2IWslbrYuYxxig_faui5rubFjgTAPGFrt221MHdlP2yXsX3q4IQP8pyVsfqbwknH-3IV3F-y_BbMZt76lcVQW/s320/properuseofyoure_1024x1024.jpg" width="299" /></a></div>
<b><br /></b><b><br /></b><b><a href="http://www.thuglifeshirts.com/products/proper-use-of-youre?pp=1" target="_blank">Grammar Nerd Shirt</a>. </b>I'm no expert when it comes to grammar (as you've probably noticed) but like most writers I do have certain grammatical pet peeves. This is my new favorite t-shirt until I find a snarky one that shows the proper use of the possessive. <b>($27.95)</b><br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEilbjkMj9xZWlswOUbUUJTn0SZYiP4zMlbiGSejQ5tSpacL_f1JdFqqm9LGYC26RQZe7S5BYJoR7svAKuOj5BbJxOWuBVTall36aRrhI7yr9EUuqYJd_VsSJU5-UcjpVFUPHe833LaXSaF5/s1600/old_books_soy_candle_front_1024x1024.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEilbjkMj9xZWlswOUbUUJTn0SZYiP4zMlbiGSejQ5tSpacL_f1JdFqqm9LGYC26RQZe7S5BYJoR7svAKuOj5BbJxOWuBVTall36aRrhI7yr9EUuqYJd_VsSJU5-UcjpVFUPHe833LaXSaF5/s320/old_books_soy_candle_front_1024x1024.jpg" width="320" /></a></div>
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<b><a href="http://www.frostbeardstudio.com/" target="_blank">Bookish Candles</a>. </b>The scent description of these soy-based candles makes me swoon--paper, dust, newsprint, vanilla. Other scents include Oxford Library, The Shire, and Sherlock's Study, which smells of pipe tobacco, cherrywood, and fresh rain. <b>($18 each)</b><br />
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<b><a href="http://scapple./">Scapple.</a> </b>No, this is not the cousin of the famous Pennsylvania Dutch breakfast treat but a poorly-named program from Literature & Latte--the makers of Scrivener--my all-time favorite word-processing program. Although I have yet to purchase this particular product, it's on my to-do list. The next project I'm working on is research-heavy and this mind-mapping software should help with plotting, note-taking, character development, and making thematic connections. Literature & Latte offers a free trial period, but at <b>$15</b>, it's a minimal investment.<br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhEuSQnNq16Ejeo-bMlhAg7MHb2HbFPAQfNPfDZh0puUStuJjVEWKNU3jgx-AM3W1B2mAzTRJxHYm_5aW_o2U8ejlbFnWLmIvs7MXFyf1_1hxkwC4QaZs-U2HfuRuIwOEtjeqqzgC683clT/s1600/issues.png" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhEuSQnNq16Ejeo-bMlhAg7MHb2HbFPAQfNPfDZh0puUStuJjVEWKNU3jgx-AM3W1B2mAzTRJxHYm_5aW_o2U8ejlbFnWLmIvs7MXFyf1_1hxkwC4QaZs-U2HfuRuIwOEtjeqqzgC683clT/s1600/issues.png" /></a></div>
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<b><a href="https://www.one-story.com/index.php?page=give" target="_blank">One Story Magazine</a>. </b>Co-founded by a former Writers House colleague of mine, Hannah Tinti, <i>One Story</i> is a unique literary magazine that simply publishes one story every three weeks. Contributing authors only get published once, allowing for the discovery of new talent. Subscriptions are available in both print and digital formats, or you can purchase single back issues of you favorite authors. Fun fact: Maine's own Lily King is featured in the latest issue. <b>(12 issues for $21)</b><br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgiB_yVnmpZz77nVBqrH3v5rR-MYGCAXormAa8CFRjZxptOodPBHjRF3YVQaAbgIBa41wxTHNeAfYk51YrwSvFiSFfEAr_Sir3MDOxWwg48Wmvlw817bcJRzITf0xoLVM7z_C_uIaAW4f8L/s1600/71ZCDii3qGL._SL1500_.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgiB_yVnmpZz77nVBqrH3v5rR-MYGCAXormAa8CFRjZxptOodPBHjRF3YVQaAbgIBa41wxTHNeAfYk51YrwSvFiSFfEAr_Sir3MDOxWwg48Wmvlw817bcJRzITf0xoLVM7z_C_uIaAW4f8L/s320/71ZCDii3qGL._SL1500_.jpg" width="108" /></a></div>
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<b><a href="http://www.amazon.com/Stanley-Classic-Vacuum-Bottle-Hammertone/dp/B000FZX93K/ref=sr_1_18?ie=UTF8&qid=1447775665&sr=8-18-spons&keywords=thermos&psc=1" target="_blank">Thermos</a>. </b>I've never been to a writers' colony, but I'm a little obsessed with the idea of spending a month or two in the woods of New Hampshire at the MacDowell Colony. Spending a couple of weeks in a cabin with nothing to do but read, write, sleep, and eat from MacDowell's legendary picnic baskets that are delivered right to your door. Those picnic baskets reportedly come with a thermos full of coffee to keep you at your writerly best. Since my children are still too young to have me running off for weeks at a time and since my backyard in the Maine woods basically looks like the MacDowell campus, I won't be applying anytime soon. Instead, I've made my own pseudo-retreat by filling up this thermos with my favorite hot beverage and heading out to my kids' play house to write. It's not quite the same, but at least my coffee stays hot for 12+ hours. <b>($23)</b><br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgfQTUsXGbBfCoMf7CEJ-HtthEGeSwXoaFvHolZR16Z9tcitqnv2Ydl1vebp8NsHxt3ouGIencsdDFBSstWx6d7LnI-DvjoVic_Sr83WIw7dFXF8WoJM2DRSSOKmtIipuzypqdn13NR23lJ/s1600/51n8GRf-1bL.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="236" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgfQTUsXGbBfCoMf7CEJ-HtthEGeSwXoaFvHolZR16Z9tcitqnv2Ydl1vebp8NsHxt3ouGIencsdDFBSstWx6d7LnI-DvjoVic_Sr83WIw7dFXF8WoJM2DRSSOKmtIipuzypqdn13NR23lJ/s320/51n8GRf-1bL.jpg" width="320" /></a></div>
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<b><a href="http://www.amazon.com/WISE-AND-OTHERWISE-Wise-Otherwise/dp/B00000GBQL/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1448649801&sr=8-1&keywords=wise+and+otherwise" target="_blank">Wise and Otherwise</a>. </b>I received this board game as a gift a few years ago. Players are given the first half of an obscure saying or proverb and must finish the rest of it. Everyone's answers are read aloud (including the original ending of the proverb) and then players must vote on the most convincing answer. Players with good writing skills tend to do well--which is why it's become one of my all-time favorite games. Not that I'm competitive or anything. <b>($42)</b><br />
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<a href="http://www.pinterest.com/pin/create/extension/?url=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.blogger.com%2Fblogger.g%3FblogID%3D7813605584057243544%23editor%2Fsrc%3Dheader&media=https%3A%2F%2F1.bp.blogspot.com%2F-xI1mMmqz-CM%2FVl8QMeu_Z7I%2FAAAAAAAAAtM%2FV34Bol4zCWQ%2Fs320%2F51n8GRf-1bL.jpg&xm=h&xv=sa1.37.01&xuid=VV3YYtuTr6qn&description=" style="background-color: transparent; background-image: url(data:image/png; border: none; cursor: pointer; display: none; height: 20px; left: 193px; opacity: 0.85; position: absolute; top: 3854px; width: 40px; z-index: 8675309;"></a><a href="http://www.pinterest.com/pin/create/extension/?url=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.blogger.com%2Fblogger.g%3FblogID%3D7813605584057243544%23editor%2Fsrc%3Dheader&media=https%3A%2F%2F1.bp.blogspot.com%2F-xI1mMmqz-CM%2FVl8QMeu_Z7I%2FAAAAAAAAAtM%2FV34Bol4zCWQ%2Fs320%2F51n8GRf-1bL.jpg&xm=h&xv=sa1.37.01&xuid=VV3YYtuTr6qn&description=" style="background-color: transparent; background-image: url(data:image/png; border: none; cursor: pointer; display: none; height: 20px; left: 193px; opacity: 0.85; position: absolute; top: 3854px; width: 40px; z-index: 8675309;"></a>Stephanie Doyonhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12907220734088544269noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7813605584057243544.post-86726207980709337572015-11-20T12:12:00.002-05:002015-11-20T12:12:49.056-05:00Getting Into the Groove<br />
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I just received a really nice note from a Goodreads friend named Alex who has the itch to write but doesn't know how to start.<br />
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We've all been there, haven't we? Think about all the skills you've learned over your lifetime--reading, riding a bike, cooking a pot of pasta, driving a car--and what it felt like at first. The word that comes to my mind is <i>overwhelming.</i> I remember, vividly, my first driving lesson: hands on the wheel trying to steer, foot on the gas (or brake, more often), eyes bouncing from the road to the mirrors to the dashboard, my brain on overload. It seemed impossible that I would ever be able to drive with ease. But eventually I did--and I never would have if I hadn't gotten behind the wheel in the first place.<br />
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And so it is with writing. You'll learn by <i>doing</i>. The trouble is that learning to write, or learning to create any kind of art, feels different than other skills because our thoughts and feelings are so exposed. Emotionally, there's more at stake. We're afraid of appearing idiotic or dull to others--or, even worse--to ourselves. <b>Spoiler alert: <i>No matter who you are, at one time or another both are going to happen</i>.</b> But you will also experience moments of joy when you turn out work that surpasses your expectations. If ups and downs are a given for all of us, why not stop fretting and just get to work?<br />
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<b>Whether you're picking up a pen for the first time or returning after a long hiatus, here are a few baby steps to help you get into the groove. </b><br />
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<b>Step 1. <i>Buy yourself a beautiful notebook and a bunch of your favorite pens. </i></b><br />
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Even if you think you'd rather work on a computer, I urge you not to skip this step. For the first several months it's best to stick with paper and pen. Nothing is more discouraging than a blinking cursor, or more distracting than knowing the Internet is just a tab-click away. Lovely paper and a smooth-writing pen are a pleasure to use. By purchasing good writing materials, you are making a commitment to taking yourself seriously as a writer.<br />
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<b>Step 2. <i> Schedule your writing time.</i></b><br />
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No matter how busy you are, I guarantee you can find ten minutes a day to write. You can either block out the same time every day or you can choose to be flexible--<b>as long as your ten minutes are done by bedtime. No excuses. </b>For the first month, I recommend sticking to ten minutes only. Even if you're on a roll and could write for an hour, shut it down after ten minutes. It's always best to stop when you're hot--it makes it a lot easier to sit down and write the next day. In fact, it will make you <i>look forward</i> to writing the next day. Getting the motivation to sit down and write is half the battle.<br />
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After the first month or so, up your time to fifteen minutes. Then twenty. Settle into a block of time that is comfortable for you. Most writers I know only write for a maximum of about four hours a day. How long you write for is less important than keeping a consistent schedule. Some writers insist that you must write every day. Personally, I take weekends off. If your schedule allows you to <i>only</i> write on weekends, do that.<br />
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<b>Step 3. <i>Give yourself permission to be bad. </i></b><br />
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Oh, the hours I wasted, staring at a blank screen, afraid to write a single bad sentence! It would have been so much better to just give myself permission to write the worst possible sentence and then fix it later. <b><i>You can't edit what isn't there</i>. </b>Every writer writes junky first drafts. The real art, the real skill is in the editing. You have to write garbage--a lot of it--to get to the good stuff. To learn how to write, you'll need to be a garbage-producing machine. In my college oeuvre of junk-writing I produced a schmaltzy story entitled "Pink Soap and Lilacs", that still makes me want to gag whenever I think about it. I will not be sharing the awful details of this particular story with you, which brings me to the next step:<br />
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<b>Step 4. <i>Don't share with anyone--yet.</i></b><br />
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As you begin to churn out your requisite pile of word-sludge you may suddenly strike gold. You might suddenly hit upon an idea for a nail-biting thriller or you may turn out an exquisite sentence that makes you proud. Your instinct will be to share it with someone, but I urge you to keep it to yourself. As I've said over and over again, you will rarely get the ecstatic reaction you are hoping for and early on your writer's ego will be too fragile to handle it. When you find a golden nugget in your junk pile, hoard it. Keep this treasure for yourself. Keep hoarding your literary gold until you have enough of it to feel confident in your ability. If it pleases <i>you</i>, that's all that matters.<br />
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<b>Step 5. <i>Read, read, read. </i></b><br />
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When I got my first ghost-writing job, I still wasn't quite sure how to intersperse dialogue with action. I wasn't even sure how to properly punctuate dialogue. To learn how, all I did was open a book and see how it was done. <b>Every book is an instruction manual</b>. Unsure how to open a story? Or create suspense at the end of a chapter? What about using page breaks? Everything you need to know is sitting on your bookshelf. Take down a few of your favorite books and see how it's done. I still do this all the time.<br />
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You should also be constantly reading for pleasure. <b>Read what you like, not what you think you're supposed to read.</b> Fill your head with words and they will be accessible to you when you need them.<br />
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<b>Moving Forward</b><br />
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Once you've practiced enough to produce a rough draft of a short story or several chapters of a novel, then you might want to consider finding a writers' group in your area. Don't rush this step, but when you're ready writers' groups can be an invaluable resource for every skill level. For more info on choosing (or starting) the right group for you, see my post about <a href="http://stephdoyon.blogspot.com/2015/01/how-to-start-writing-group.html" target="_blank">writing groups</a>.<br />
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<b><i>Do you have a question about writing or publishing? Leave a comment and I'll do my best to answer it in a future post. </i></b><br />
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<b>Happy writing!</b><br />
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<br />Stephanie Doyonhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12907220734088544269noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7813605584057243544.post-42080430781817121142015-11-09T10:14:00.001-05:002015-11-09T10:14:55.572-05:00No Downtime For You!<br />
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I'm back!<br />
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I've finally finished my latest draft and turned it in to my agent. If you're a regular reader of this blog, thank you for hanging in there with me. I hope to be posting more regularly for a while. <b>Finishing a draft is intense--for the past two months nearly everything else in my world has fallen by the wayside.</b> I've managed to feed and clothe my family, but that's about it. Now I can breathe a little and clean my house, have coffee with friends, go out to lunch with my mom, get ready for the holidays.<br />
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So the process will go like this: Mr. Agent will read this version of the manuscript. He may or may not suggest further revisions. If this version of the manuscript is fine as is, he will then shop it around to various publishers. If a publisher is interested, they will make an offer. Then there will be contract negotiations. <b>After that, the real work begins.</b><br />
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There's a huge amount of downtime in publishing. The steps I just described above might take several months. If you're an impatient or obsessive person--which is probably 99% of us--the publishing industry is enough to send you over the edge. What you need to do to is kick up your feet, sip a margarita, and wait for the phone to ring while basking in the glory of your achievement. You've been working hard, haven't you? You deserve to do nothing for a while--so turn on that TV, grab some salty snacks, and get down to some serious binge-watching...<br />
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Not!<b> </b><br />
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<b>To hijack the words of that immortal Seinfeld character: <i>"No downtime for you!"</i></b><br />
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The worst thing you can do is sit around waiting for something to happen. <b>You have to start the next thing immediately to save your sanity. </b>It's even better if you're so excited about the next thing that the manuscript you just turned in seems old and tired and you're sick of it. The new thing should be so shiny and sparkly and full of promise that it's all you can think about. I know it sounds like a drag to have to keep going but trust me--this is the worst possible time to take a break. You can goof off later once you have your new project well underway.<br />
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I'm thrilled to say I have just such an idea in my back pocket. I also have a short story I've been picking at for a long time that I've been eager to finish. And, of course, I have this blog. These things will be more than enough to occupy me in the coming months.<br />
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Now if I could just stop checking my email.<br />
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<b>In the meantime, are there any topics you'd like me to cover in a future blog post? Post your publishing or writing questions here and I'll do my best to answer them for you. </b><br />
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Thanks so much for taking the time to read my blog.Stephanie Doyonhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12907220734088544269noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7813605584057243544.post-60915059435341597842015-10-13T10:36:00.000-04:002015-10-13T10:36:11.807-04:00It's All About Follow-Through <img border="0" src="http://mrg.bz/yBpNjm" height="405" width="547" /><br />
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I'm coming to the end of a significant revision of my manuscript--the last one, I hope, until I have a book contract. If you're a regular reader of this blog you'll know the first draft took me close to ten years to finish (not because it's a work of epic genius but because of family commitments) and I've spent the past year going through multiple revisions. <b>I am <i>more</i> than ready to move on.</b><br />
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I already know what my next project will be and I'm really itching to get started on the research. I have a couple of books on the subject and every now and then I look at them with longing and think, "I could just do a little reading--what's the harm in that?"<br />
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But I know better.<br />
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The minute I start dipping into the research for the new idea I'm going to stop being interested in the project I'm currently working on. Odds are the new idea is so seductive because I'm approaching the final act of my current novel and it terrifies me. <b>On a subconscious level, I want to be distracted. </b>If I get distracted, I won't finish; if I don't finish, I don't have to face the possibility that no one will publish it.<br />
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This is a problem that all writers fall prey to now and then. Just when one story starts getting tough, a new and more exciting idea pops up that suddenly begs for attention. It's no coincidence. <b>Your subconscious is protecting you from failure. It's also keeping you from success.</b><br />
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There comes a point when, in order to progress, a writer must stop beginning projects and start finishing them. This is the true test of a writer's mettle. This is what separates the amateurs from the pros. Anyone can start a story and call themselves a writer--but how many actually see it through to the end of the first draft? Not many. How many know when they've finished enough revisions to take the leap and send it out to an agent or publisher? Fewer still. <b>It's much easier to let a half-finished piece sit in the drawer or start something new than to risk rejection.</b><br />
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When you start to have the itch to begin a new project--pay attention. Instead of giving in to the urge, use that desire to finish your current project. <b>Make it a reward.</b> Tell yourself you can start that next story as soon as you finish the one you're working on. Follow-through is one of the most important parts of the process.<br />
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<i style="font-weight: bold;">Do you use new projects as a way to avoid finishing a piece? Do you revise a piece over and over and never send it out? What are the ways you keep yourself from taking the next step?</i>Stephanie Doyonhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12907220734088544269noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7813605584057243544.post-86384361448948448852015-09-18T11:32:00.000-04:002015-09-18T11:36:27.903-04:00Don't Speed Date Your Characters<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
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I'm back! I can't believe I haven't posted since July. As you could probably tell by my mid-summer lament, I didn't meet my goal of finishing my rewrite by the end of summer. It was too difficult to concentrate on my kids and my work at the same time. When given the choice my kids will always come first. I put away my laptop for the rest of the summer, forgave myself for not meeting my deadline, and spent my time playing games and having water fights instead.<br />
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Now that school's back in session, I'm right back on schedule. I'm nearly finished rewriting 2/3 of the book. My new goal for completion is the end of October.<br />
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So, where were we?<br />
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A while back, I promised a post about getting to know your characters. That seems like a good place to start.<br />
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Sometimes when writers talk about getting to know their characters, we treat the exercise like speed dating. We sit down and knock off a list of traits in the span of a few minutes. To show you what I mean, I'm going to set a timer for two minutes and come up with a character from scratch. Ready, set, go...<br />
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Character Name: Krista Mahoney<br />
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-Female<br />
-22 years old<br />
-Short brown hair, bangs<br />
-Blue eyes<br />
-Small build, sometimes mistaken for a teen<br />
-Crooked smile<br />
-Wears bulky clothes she can "hide" in<br />
-Parents are divorced, one brother<br />
-Dropped out of college after one semester<br />
-Likes cats<br />
-Works at an ice cream shop<br />
-Shy<br />
-Has no significant other<br />
-Likes to read mysteries<br />
-Eats a tuna sandwich every day for lunch<br />
-Crawls under the bed during thunderstorms<br />
<br />
Okay for two minutes work, I guess. Notice the kind of details I came up with--most of them are superficial. She's a little compelling but a bit of a stereotype. Could I write a story about her? Sure, but I don't have much to work with.<br />
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This list, dear blog reader, would not be enough information to know if you wanted to date someone in the real world, let alone spend time with them in a fictional one. A person or a character, is more than just a list of traits and likes/dislikes. Rather than just quickly sketching out the basics, getting to know your character should be more like those long, all night phone calls with a new crush; where you don't want to hang up so you ask every conceivable question that comes to mind. <b>To truly know your character, to fall in love (which is a necessity for good writing!) you need to take some time and dig deeper. </b>You need to know the answer to the following questions:<br />
<br />
-What does this character want above all else?<br />
-What is she willing to do to get it?<br />
-What is she willing to lose?<br />
-What does she need?<br />
-How are her wants and needs in conflict with one another?<br />
-What does she value most?<br />
-What is her major weakness?<br />
-How does she hide this weakness?<br />
-What in her past makes her this way?<br />
-What, internally, is getting in the way of her getting the goal?<br />
-What, externally, is getting in the way of her getting the goal?<br />
-What event causes her to change?<br />
-How does she change?<br />
<br />
<b>Let's apply the above questions to Krista and see what happens.</b><br />
<br />
-Krista wants to feel safe and secure.<br />
-In order to feel secure, she is willing to avoid anything that involves risk.<br />
-She is willing to sacrifice friendships and romance in order to avoid being hurt.<br />
-What she really needs is to come out of her shell.<br />
-Coming out of her shell will put her at risk of having her heart broken.<br />
-Above all else, she values a peaceful, quiet life.<br />
-Her biggest weakness is not allowing herself to trust others.<br />
-She hides this weakness by avoiding social situations.<br />
-She's this way because her parents divorced when she was ten. Her older brother, her closest confidant, sided with her father in the divorce and left to go live with him. Krista could never understand why her brother took her father's side. She felt betrayed. She lost both her father and her brother/best friend at the same time.<br />
-Internally, she's unable to reach her goal of security because she's afraid to risk having her heart broken.<br />
-Externally, she's unable to reach her goal of security because she lives alone and has a job that allows her to work in isolation (instead of an ice cream shop, maybe she's an artist?)<br />
-The event that causes her to change is her work forces her to be in contact with a client/patron/philanthropist. If she refuses to contact this person, she will lose her livelihood. The person she is forced to deal with is unpredictable and difficult and keeps her on her toes.<br />
-Krista changes by gaining confidence in herself. She realizes that even when she's involved in events (or with people) she can't control, she is resourceful enough to handle the unknown and come out fine. With a little experience under her belt, she is now equipped to take bigger risks in her life.<br />
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I spent about 30 minutes on the above. Still not a huge time investment, but there's a lot more meat to work with here than on the previous list. <b>Better questions yield better answers.</b> The answers to these questions even suggest the outline of a story.<b> </b><br />
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You could make a list of character traits even before you start writing a story, but <b>where this exercise becomes most powerful is when you use it on the characters in a story you've already started, especially a story that has stalled. Often when we're stuck it's because we have yet to make some crucial decisions about what our characters want. </b>Take what you already know about your character and use it to answer the questions. Spend time thinking through their motivations. As if by magic, new plot ideas may suggest themselves and you'll be able to move forward.<br />
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Are you stuck on a story? Give this exercise a try. Let me know how it works for you.<br />
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<br />Stephanie Doyonhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12907220734088544269noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7813605584057243544.post-85424423796878382732015-07-17T13:32:00.004-04:002015-07-17T13:32:57.037-04:00Writing and MotherhoodMy summer started with such good intentions.<br />
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The plan was to get up 1-2 hours earlier than my minions in hopes of getting a little writing done. Getting up early wasn't as difficult as I thought it would be, given that I'm not a morning person. I loved watching the sun rise and finishing the most important task of the day so early. </div>
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The problem began when the minions started getting up even earlier than usual. I, in turn, got up even earlier and went to bed earlier to make up for it. It didn't help. With all the running around from activity to activity and all the meals (why must children eat so much?) I was exhausted. And cranky. In short, sleep won out.</div>
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Now, four weeks into summer break I'm back to the haphazard approach of stealing a few moments here and there. I'm just starting to fall behind on my rewriting schedule but trying my best to keep up. <b>I'm attempting to embrace all that summer entails--the messy house, the up-ended schedule, the spontaneous opportunities for fun. </b>All the while, though, my novel simmers on the back burner and I wonder if I'll ever finish by my self-imposed deadline. It's really important to me, so I keep plugging away.<br />
<br />
I once met a writer whom I greatly admire and he asked me if I had any children. I told him about my twin girls and how it was difficult for me to be fully present for them and for my writing at the same time. This particular writer had several grown children and sympathized with my situation. "Raise your children first," he said, "then when they're in college, write like crazy."<br />
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This isn't the first time I've heard this advice. Over and over again I've been told to put my work aside and focus my energy on raising my girls. The writing, they say, can wait.<br />
<br />
I'm sure the author (and others) meant well and had the best of intentions. Perhaps he even thought he was offering me a bit of comfort in the form of permission to not be so hard on myself. I'll admit that his advice did comfort me at first, but then I couldn't help thinking that <b>had I been a male writer, he probably wouldn't have told me to put my career on hold for the next ten years.</b><br />
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<b>Must I choose one over the other? </b>I love being a mother and having the luxury of spending lots of time with my children. I also love being a writer. If I was forced to pick one over the other, I would choose my kids. Thankfully, I don't have to make that choice. Still, there has to be a way I can have both without feeling depleted every single day. Am I asking for too much? Was that author simply stating the truth and I just don't want to hear it?<br />
<br />
<b><i>How do you juggle a writing career and motherhood?</i></b><br />
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<br /></div>
Stephanie Doyonhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12907220734088544269noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7813605584057243544.post-31827461042960640632015-06-29T13:09:00.000-04:002015-07-03T16:20:46.263-04:00Getting Unstuck<br />
I've spent the last few weeks moving forward with my stuck manuscript. I'm usually a fly-by-the-seat-of-my-pants kind of writer, but since the definition of insanity is doing the same thing over and over again and expecting different results I decided to try a new approach. Instead of just diving in with the umpteenth rewrite, I took a step back and did a little planning--something I almost never do.<br />
I can't believe how much of a difference this approach has made.<br />
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Sometimes you have to do a 180 to get a fresh perspective. Do <b><i>you</i></b> have a stuck manuscript? Here are a few ideas to help you get back on track. They really worked for me.<br />
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<b>Immerse Yourself in Other People's Words. </b>The best way to get inspiration is to read, read, read. Read classics, read contemporary authors, read non-fiction and poetry. <b>Learn from others.</b> I'll truly never understand writers who don't like to read or who say they avoid reading when they're working (What? You're not working <i>all </i>the time?). I know I'm reading a great book when it makes me want to run to my computer and write. I love this quote from Lisa See: "Read a thousand books and your words will flow like a river." Amen.<br />
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<b>Share Your Work With a Trusted Reader. </b>When you don't know how to move forward with a piece, it's often a good idea to get a fresh perspective from someone who is an avid reader in your particular genre. He doesn't even have to have mad editorial skills to be helpful--<b>the reader's reaction alone can be informative.</b> Which scenes or characters stand out for him? What themes is he picking up? What piqued his attention? Where did it wane?<br />
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<b>Write Out a Sketch of Each Character. </b>How well do you know your characters? The more specific you get about each character the easier it's going to be to get to the heart of the story. <b>Knowing your character goes far beyond superficial details.</b> Even though I had a complete manuscript with well-developed characters I still sat down and wrote out everything I knew about them. What I discovered is that throughout the manuscript my characters' motivations and wants were a little cloudier than I thought. It's not enough to know what they're feeling--you have to know what's at stake for them and what they're willing to lose. I'll have more specifics on this in a future post.<br />
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<b>Make an Outline. </b>Most writers belong in one of two camps--outliners and wingers. Some need to plan out the entire plot in advance, while others--like me--follow wherever the characters take them. I've been a longtime proponent of winging it, believing in Robert Frost's assertion "no surprises in the writer, no surprises in the reader" but I'm changing my tune a little bit. I've realized that part of the reason why my story wasn't working was that <b>I'd</b> <b>failed to make some key decisions.</b> The plot was chugging along, but since I didn't know my characters as well as I should have, their actions weren't specific enough. To remedy this problem, I went through the entire manuscript and wrote a summary of what needed to be accomplished in each scene. I also wrote summaries for scenes that appeared to be missing. As I did this, the story became much more focused. Now, as I'm rewriting, I'm able to approach each work day in a more relaxed way because I've already decided what each scene needs.<br />
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<b>Keep the Momentum Going by Setting Goals. </b>When you feel ready to tackle your rewrite, <b>set a deadline and tell others about it to hold yourself accountable. </b>I've chosen August 31st as my deadline (with you , dear blog reader, as my witness). In order to stay on track, I've divided the number of days until my deadline by the number of chapters. I need to edit a chapter every three days in order to keep on track. I have written each chapter deadline on my calendar so I know where I stand. Currently, I'm three days ahead of schedule--yay me!<br />
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<b>Write Every Day. </b>Until now, I've given myself weekends off. I'll probably go back to that schedule eventually, but right now I can't imagine letting a day go by without doing a little editing. It's been tough with summer break and the kids being home. I have to steal my writing time any way I can. The confidence I'm feeling right now is a brittle, fragile thing. I can't afford to let myself get stuck again.<br />
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<b><i>What do you do to get unstuck?</i></b><br />
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<br />Stephanie Doyonhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12907220734088544269noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7813605584057243544.post-89162447462306184162015-05-29T09:24:00.006-04:002015-05-29T09:24:52.196-04:00The Tie Breaker<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
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<br />
Well.<br />
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It's been an interesting week.<br />
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As some of you know, I've found myself in new territory this year. I finished the first draft of a novel that I love but that my agent doesn't. My original plan was to put it on the shelf for a while and move onto something else, another novel that I started a few years ago. Instead, I gave the draft to a trusted friend, a novelist who has a lot of experience in the field. <b>He gave it a read and the verdict is in: he loved it.</b> Maybe even a bit more than I'd hoped he would.<br />
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We met for coffee and had a long talk about agents. I learned some interesting things. My friend has had the same agent for over thirty years and they've had many disagreements. As one might expect, agents have biases. Depending on the kind of novel my friend turns in, he already has a sense if his agent will or won't like it. <b>Agents also have their own strengths and weaknesses</b> when it comes to editing. My friend listens carefully to his agent's suggestions and if he strongly disagrees, he then turns to his editor as a tie-breaker. Ultimately, my friend decides what stays and what goes.<br />
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It was empowering to be reminded that I, as the creator of the work, have the final say. I've generally approached criticism with an open mind and trust that when someone finds a problem with my work there must be an issue that ought to be addressed. I also trust in the expertise of others and think that those who ignore counsel do so at their own peril. And yet there's a time, I'm beginning to see, that <b>maybe you need to trust yourself more.</b><br />
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I received a few great podcast suggestions after last week's blog post, one of them being <a href="http://otherppl.com/" target="_blank">OTHER PPL</a> with Brad Listi (thanks to <a href="http://mainewriters.org/" target="_blank">MWPA'</a>s Joshua Bodwell for the suggestion). Listi is the Marc Maron of the literary world and I've been immersing myself in his author interviews. One that stood out for me is a conversation with Stewart O'Nan. His approach is to work is to be slow and steady and to roll with the punches. Among his more traumatizing moments in the publishing business: the time his publicist left in the middle of a book launch and the time the entire staff of his publishing house was fired. Hearing these stories made my current squabble with my agent seem small. <b>I've been writing professionally for twenty years and yet I'm still so green.</b><br />
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So now that I'm feeling confident, I will ride this wave and dive right in. I will spend the summer taking my friend's and my writing group's suggestions and power through another rewrite. I will <b>"write a little every day, without hope, without despair"</b> as prescribed by Isak Dinesen.<br />
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I am back.<br />
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<br />Stephanie Doyonhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12907220734088544269noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7813605584057243544.post-19876728160855389362015-05-15T09:59:00.001-04:002015-05-15T09:59:14.323-04:007 Great Podcasts for Writers<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
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<b><br /></b>I'm not one of those writers who can sit still for 10-12 hours. I can put in a good 3-4 hours before the quality drops off and I need to move around. With two young kids and many different obligations, I spend most of my time attending to other matters. When I'm not writing, though, I pop in my earbuds and listen to podcasts that feature books, writers, and the creative process. It makes me feel productive, even when I'm not.<br />
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<br />
<b>Here are seven of my favorite podcasts:</b><br />
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<b><a href="http://www.selectedshorts.org/" target="_blank">SELECTED SHORTS</a></b><br />
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Accomplished actors reading short fiction by great writers in front of a live audience--what's not to love? The mix of old and new writers gives listeners the chance to be reacquainted with revered storytellers and to discover new talent. Listening to actors read is a master class in how to perform a story.<br />
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<b><a href="http://themoth.org/" target="_blank">THE MOTH</a></b><br />
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The complete antithesis of SELECTED SHORTS, in that the stories are usually autobiographical and often told by regular people. The storytellers are not allowed to have any notes, but Moth editors help them shape the stories and emphasize certain beats before each performance. The stories are confessional, usually funny, and often heartbreaking. There's a lot to learn here about storytelling. The supportive audiences are a good reminder for all of us who have to speak in public that most audiences are on your side.<br />
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<b><a href="http://www.waywordradio.org/" target="_blank">A WAY WITH WORDS</a></b><br />
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Etymology at its most entertaining. Hosts Martha Barnette and Grant Barrett field questions from callers about the origins of phrases and words. The historical tidbits and cultural references revealed are fascinating. With a couple of puzzles thrown in, it's word nerd heaven.<br />
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<b><a href="http://www.cbc.ca/radio/writersandcompany" target="_blank">WRITERS & COMPANY</a></b><br />
<b><br /></b>
The Canadian Broadcasting Company's Eleanor Wachtel is the queen of the literary interview. While the authors she interviews every week are the <i style="color: #252525; font-size: 14px; line-height: 21px;"><span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">crème de la crème</span></i> of the writing world, the real star of the podcast is Wachtel herself. Unlike many interviewers who seem to have superficial knowledge of the book they are discussing, Wachtel is a thorough, informed reader. She is not only versed in an author's current book, but his entire oeuvre. Wachtel also has a firm grasp of the author's history and makes fascinating connections between his work and his past--often to the surprise of the author himself. <br />
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<br />
<b><a href="http://www.wnyc.org/shows/lopate/" target="_blank">THE LEONARD LOPATE SHOW</a></b><br />
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Lopate interviews a range of guests, many of them writers and artists. Unlike Eleanor Wachtel, Lopate seems to have a superficial grasp of any particular topic he is covering, which allows him a layman's approach to any subject. His intense curiosity and sophistication lead to insightful questions that he fires off at terrifying speed. Many of this guests end up being thrown a little off-kilter, which allows for refreshing moments of candor.<br />
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<b><a href="http://www.nypl.org/voices/blogs/blog-channels/podcast" target="_blank">THE NEW YORK PUBLIC LIBRARY PODCAST</a></b><br />
<b><br /></b>In depth interviews with interesting people (many of them authors) in front of a live audience. The conversation generally steers toward the creative process and the role of art in our lives. The tone is casual but insightful and reflective. It's an easy-listening podcast, yet still thought-provoking.<br />
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<b><a href="http://www.nytimes.com/ref/books/books-podcast-archive.html?pagewanted=all" target="_blank">INSIDE THE NEW YORK TIMES BOOK REVIEW</a></b><br />
<b><br /></b>This is where I go when I want to find out what's shakin' in the publishing industry. In-depth reviews, reports on publishing trends, and bestseller news make me feel like I'm still in the literary loop.<br />
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<b><i>What's your favorite podcast for writers?</i></b><br />
<b><br /></b>
<b><br /></b>Stephanie Doyonhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12907220734088544269noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7813605584057243544.post-8641457356253688502015-05-08T10:34:00.001-04:002015-05-08T10:36:28.921-04:00A Good Kick in the Pants<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
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Since my last post, I've been taking stock. I've been reading a lot, listening to podcasts for writers, talking to my friends, family, my agent. I've been working on a short story and luxuriating in the freshness of new characters and in the economy of language that short fiction affords. I've been trying to fill the proverbial well as described by Julia Cameron in THE ARTIST'S WAY by taking long walks, riding my bike, watching films, and looking at art. Most of all, I've been doing the soul-searching necessary to decide how to proceed with my stalled novel.<br />
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I've had quite a few moments of self-pity. I've felt spent, used up, obsolete. I've felt like the literary world is a grand ball and I am a wallflower, thrilled to be invited to the party but worried that I'll never really fit in. I've spent far too much time fretting over how much time has passed since my last novel. I've looked at the titles on the bestseller lists and decided that the type of books I write are a real long shot for that kind of success.<br />
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Blah, blah, blah. <b>Funny how the universe seems to know just when to give you a good kick in the pants.</b><br />
<br />
One day, while I was sulking and cleaning the house (to make myself feel worthy and useful), I was listening to an episode of The New York Public Library's podcast. It was an interview with Cheryl Strayed, the author of WILD. While they were talking about publishing and the writing process, the interviewer relayed this story told by EAT, PRAY, LOVE author Elizabeth Gilbert:<br />
[I found the transcript of the story <i><a href="http://talentdevelop.com/2344/elizabeth-gilbert-on-fear-and-creativity-and-mental-health/" target="_blank">here</a>.</i>]<br />
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<i>I have a friend who’s an Italian filmmaker of great artistic sensibility. After years of struggling to get his films made, he sent an anguished letter to his hero, the brilliant (and perhaps half-insane) German filmmaker Werner Herzog.</i></div>
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<i>My friend complained about how difficult it is these days to be an independent filmmaker, how hard it is to find government arts grants, how the audiences have all been ruined by Hollywood and how the world has lost its taste…etc, etc.</i></div>
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<i>Herzog wrote back a personal letter to my friend that essentially ran along these lines: “Quit your complaining. It’s not the world’s fault that you wanted to be an artist. It’s not the world’s job to enjoy the films you make, and it’s certainly not the world’s obligation to pay for your dreams. Nobody wants to hear it. Steal a camera if you have to, but stop whining and get back to work.”</i></div>
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<i>I repeat those words back to myself whenever I start to feel resentful, entitled, competitive or unappreciated with regard to my writing: <strong>“It’s not the world’s fault that you want to be an artist…now get back to work.”</strong> </i></div>
<br />
Wow. <b>This was exactly what I needed to hear.</b> I copied Herzog's quote and hung it above my desk.<br />
<br />
I've been repeating this mantra to myself every day. It helps me remember that this life, <b>this career is of my own choosing and by extension so are the problems that accompany it</b>. No one has asked me to write. The world will continue on just fine if I don't. But <i>I</i> won't be all right--I'll be miserable. So I must write for me and no one else. I will let go of expectations. I will stop whining and get back to work.<br />
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And you know what? Suddenly, I felt the pressure lift off my shoulders. Last night, I was minding my own business, when ideas for the novel surfaced. I grabbed a notebook and starting writing as fast as I could. The well, it seemed, had been replenished.<br />
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Stephanie Doyonhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12907220734088544269noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7813605584057243544.post-43804279164937653912015-05-01T09:30:00.000-04:002015-05-01T09:30:04.017-04:00Back to the Drawing Board...Maybe<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
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As you know, Dear Blog Readers, I am an optimist by nature and tend to use this platform as a place of encouragement and support. While my view of the publishing industry may seem overly sunny at times, it's because my six years of working in NYC exposed me to many of the smart, well-intentioned, passionate people who work in the industry. Everyone I've ever met who works in publishing is crazy about books and getting good manuscripts into the hands of readers. I like to mention this as often as I can because it pains me to hear these people being repeatedly maligned by those who have little understanding of what really goes on in Big Publishing.<br />
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That being said, things can and do go wrong--and I would be remiss to gloss over the bad times. If I'm here to share my experience of the writing life, then I have to be honest when things get tough. Since we writers can be competitive and a little bit protective of our reputations, <b>I think there's a tendency for us to avoid talking about failure. </b>Maybe we don't want to appear vulnerable. Still, we do each other a disservice when pretend we everything is rosy all the time.<br />
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As I wrote in a previous post (<a href="http://stephdoyon.blogspot.com/2014/09/the-summer-of-crazy.html" target="_blank">"The Summer of Crazy"</a>), last May I turned in my first draft of a novel I've been working on in fits and starts since my twins were born ten years ago. At the time, it felt terrific to finally complete something after being out of the publishing world for so long. I was sure it was my strongest work to date and was thrilled to finally show it to my agent. Unfortunately, my agent didn't share my enthusiasm. I cried for two days.<br />
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When we discussed the story at length, he raved about the writing but thought the plot needed some work. His comments were insightful and on the money. I felt better--energized and ready to get back to work. I did a round of revisions, pretty sure that I fixed all his points of concern.<br />
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I was wrong.<br />
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We had another discussion and this time I felt a little fuzzier about what I was supposed to aim for. I did a second round of revisions. <a href="https://www.blogger.com/blogger.g?blogID=7813605584057243544#editor/target=post;postID=2825513450731031476;onPublishedMenu=allposts;onClosedMenu=allposts;postNum=20;src=postname" target="_blank">I took an ax to the manuscript</a>. It still fell short.<br />
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Third round of revisions. This time I felt like I was completely in the dark. I was losing confidence and interest. I was beginning to go against my own instincts. We both knew this was bad news. In the end, my agent's verdict was the same: it wasn't coming together the way he would like. Time to put it aside. Did I have any other stories to develop?<br />
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This was really tough news to hear. How could I possibly toss away something I've spent so much time and effort on, especially when I felt this was my best work and that maybe, just maybe he was wrong? I cried--though much less than the first time around--thinking about all the time I'd lost and how the manuscript wasn't any closer to publication. I went to war with myself, considering my options:<br />
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<b>Should I....</b><br />
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<b>1) Throw in the towel? </b>Every author has a book or two in their closet that had to be scrapped. This will be mine.<br />
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<b><i><span style="color: purple;">But I can't imagine giving up on this story. This is some of the best stuff I've ever written. My gut tells me that one way or another, something from this manuscript will be published.</span></i></b><br />
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<b>2) Cannibalize the story? </b>I could chop the novel up into separate short stories or use a character for something new so it wouldn't feel like a <i>complete </i>waste of time.<br />
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<b><span style="color: purple;"><i>This is a realistic solution, but something I'd like to avoid having to do. </i></span></b><br />
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<b>3) Step away from it for a while? </b>Maybe if I put it aside for at least six months I could gain a little clarity and figure out on my own what needed to be fixed.<br />
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<span style="color: purple;"><b><i>Aside from losing more time, this is a good plan. </i></b></span><br />
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<b>4) Get a second opinion? </b>Share it with a few trusted readers to get their take on it. If they feel the same way my agent does, then I'll have to really do some soul-searching.<br />
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<span style="color: purple;"><b><i>Yes! Other opinions are exactly what I need right now. It can help me make an informed decision about what to do next.</i></b></span><br />
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<b>5) Get a new agent? </b>Maybe it's time to find someone else who can better articulate what the story needs or whose vision is closer to mine.<br />
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<span style="color: purple;"><b><i>Something to consider, but not something I'm inclined to do. Aside from this hiccup, we have a good relationship and I trust him. Plus, he's a top agent. Trying to find another agent is a big risk on many levels. </i></b></span><br />
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<b>So, after thinking it over a bit, my plan was to set it aside for a while and come back to it in six months with fresh eyes. </b><br />
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<b>Then, an interesting thing happened: </b>I met with my writing group. I had been giving them a few scenes at a time to get their opinions and the response was overwhelmingly positive. They seemed to love the characters and were very invested in the story. They couldn't wait to read the rest and wanted me to send all of it at once instead of in dribs and drabs. <b>I couldn't believe it....and I was more confused than ever.</b><br />
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Suddenly, I found myself unable to put the story aside. I contacted a friend of mine who is a novelist and he offered to take a look. I'll be interested in hearing his point of view. I have a feeling he'll be a 'tiebreaker' of sorts and his feedback will give me a better sense of how to proceed.<br />
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In the meantime, I'm polishing an old short story I've been wanting to finish and hope to send it around in a few weeks. It will be nice to have something else to think about for a while.<br />
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<b><i>Have you encountered a big setback in your writing career? How did you move forward?</i></b><br />
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<a href="http://www.pinterest.com/pin/create/extension/?url=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.blogger.com%2Fblogger.g%3FblogID%3D7813605584057243544%23editor%2Ftarget%3Dpost%3BpostID%3D4380427916493765391%3BonPublishedMenu%3Dposts%3BonClosedMenu%3Dposts%3BpostNum%3D0%3Bsrc%3Dpostname&media=https%3A%2F%2Fimages-blogger-opensocial.googleusercontent.com%2Fgadgets%2Fproxy%3Furl%3Dhttp%253A%252F%252F3.bp.blogspot.com%252F-4YnpxBTUGEM%252FVUIxw3T3dUI%252FAAAAAAAAAnc%252FFeFMsNOmKzU%252Fs1600%252Ffile0001566541373.jpg%26container%3Dblogger%26gadget%3Da%26rewriteMime%3Dimage%252F*&xm=h&xv=sa1.35&description=" style="background-color: transparent; background-image: url(data:image/png; border: none; cursor: pointer; display: none; height: 20px; left: 241px; opacity: 0.85; position: absolute; top: 18px; width: 40px; z-index: 8675309;"></a><a href="http://www.pinterest.com/pin/create/extension/?url=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.blogger.com%2Fblogger.g%3FblogID%3D7813605584057243544%23editor%2Ftarget%3Dpost%3BpostID%3D4380427916493765391%3BonPublishedMenu%3Dposts%3BonClosedMenu%3Dposts%3BpostNum%3D0%3Bsrc%3Dpostname&media=https%3A%2F%2Fimages-blogger-opensocial.googleusercontent.com%2Fgadgets%2Fproxy%3Furl%3Dhttp%253A%252F%252F3.bp.blogspot.com%252F-4YnpxBTUGEM%252FVUIxw3T3dUI%252FAAAAAAAAAnc%252FFeFMsNOmKzU%252Fs1600%252Ffile0001566541373.jpg%26container%3Dblogger%26gadget%3Da%26rewriteMime%3Dimage%252F*&xm=h&xv=sa1.35&description=" style="background-color: transparent; background-image: url(data:image/png; border: none; cursor: pointer; display: none; height: 20px; left: 241px; opacity: 0.85; position: absolute; top: 18px; width: 40px; z-index: 8675309;"></a>Stephanie Doyonhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12907220734088544269noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7813605584057243544.post-55964023316053526202015-04-17T16:14:00.001-04:002015-04-23T15:33:18.858-04:00Living the Dream: Patrick Robbins Part III<div style="color: #444444; font-family: Calibri, sans-serif; font-size: 15px; line-height: 21.299999237060547px;">
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<a href="http://www.amazon.com/Make-Others-Happy-Patrick-Robbins/dp/0977973603/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1429301001&sr=8-1&keywords=to+make+others+happy" target="_blank"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi_EeUJk2u_oQSd0OKIKR5ScVdGsDO0qLWKC_L_pNj5anmYh8DlZYYFkf9kbFimAW2iEKg5oUAZJeXOIQ9fPU6X7-WsY2FZ6vqgMnqsJX3X_LsfJlbhn9JKy5BXJrwSXN0iBaTwoR-wuvNZ/s1600/ToMakeOthersHappy.jpg" height="400" width="285" /></a><span id="goog_157675008"></span><span id="goog_157675009"></span><a href="https://www.blogger.com/"></a></div>
<i><b><br /></b></i><i><b>[Update: I've now included a link to the video of Pat's Reading <a href="https://youtu.be/OKQTBiCmzEc" target="_blank">here</a>.]<br /></b></i>
<i>As some of you might recall, I did a few <a href="http://stephdoyon.blogspot.com/2008/06/living-dream-update-on-patrick-robbins.html" target="_blank">blog posts</a> back in 2008 following my friend Patrick Robbins as he cloistered himself in an Airstream trailer to write his first novel. While the manuscript came together very quickly, it took six years before the book was published. Read my follow-up interview to find out how Charles Schulz, Greg Brady, and an old friend eventually helped to make Pat's dream come true. </i><br />
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<i><b><br /></b></i><i><b>How does it feel to be a published author?</b><b><br /></b></i><b><br /></b></div>
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Oy! (To coin a phrase.) This is something I've wanted for years, decades even, and now that it's here... it's just as good as I always imagined it. Picture a combination of the satisfaction in a long-term job well done and the delirium of an oil well finally coming in. I would compare the whole thing to a sports team winning a championship - on the one hand, "Mission accomplished, gentlemen." On the other hand, "WE WON!!! WE WON!!!"<b><br /></b></div>
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<b><i>I mentioned in a previous post that your first book signing felt a little like a graduation party--it's one of those few events in life when you are surrounded by so much love and support from your friends and family. How do you remember that day?</i></b></div>
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Photo by Alina Pauksis</td></tr>
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Sheer unadulterated joy. It was so much fun seeing people from throughout my past - grade school, high school, college, various jobs - mingling with my family, all of them in couldn't-be-happier mode. The event was originally just going to be a signing, but people were clamoring for a reading as well; major, major kudos to Stacy Shea, the Barnes & Noble community relations manager, who whipped up 30 chairs in nothing flat. I hadn't read aloud from my work in years, but I wasn't nervous in the slightest - who can be nervous about having their dream come true? The whole thing went great; people wanted to buy it after hearing it, and one of my coworkers was so overcome she couldn't speak, which was something to see. One friend took pictures and video of the whole event, so I've got a permanent scrapbook. And my dad said he never knew I could carry a tune (part of my reading included the singing of "Amazing Grace"). The expected snowstorm didn't even show up. It was just a perfect day.</div>
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<b><i>Your road to publication was a little bit unusual. Tell us how it came about.</i></b><b><br /></b></div>
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I started sending letters of inquiry to agencies and got between forty and fifty rejections. After a while, you start to believe these people really know what they're talking about. One [agent] said it was clear I had real talent, but my book didn't seize the reader by the throat within the first five pages and that's what was selling these days.</div>
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Looking for another way to skin a cat, I got in touch with a friend of mine who's a branding strategist. At the time, he maintained the Facebook page of Barry Williams, a.k.a. Greg Brady on <i>The Brady Bunch</i>; he said he'd have Barry talk about my manuscript [on Facebook] and ask for help getting it out there. Ninety-eight percent of the responses were "Get it self-published!" or "Can't help, but it sounds great!" But one man said, "I think I can help your friend" and left his contact info. I called, we talked for a few hours, and he said to send the manuscript to his agency, with his recommendation. "But don't you want to read it first?" I asked. He said that it was his experience that when you do good, good comes back to you. I'll never forget him for that act of kindness to a guy he'd never met.<br />
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I sent in the manuscript and,<i> mirabile dictu</i>, they were interested and wanted to represent it. I took it through three more drafts per their request. After the third one, they wrote to say that it still hadn't come together the way they wanted, and they were going to step away from it. That was pretty devastating - so close and yet so far. On the other hand, it was three drafts better than it had been.<br />
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At this point, enter Thom Hayes. He was my boss [when I worked at] Barnes & Noble. He read a draft or two of the book and told me not to give up on it. But I had. When the world reaches a consensus, it's very, very hard to go against the world. I chalked it up to bad luck, consoled myself with the fact that I'd actually written a novel, and got on with my life.<br />
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Then, maybe a year and a half ago, Thom said he was going to be starting a publishing company, 3 Wide Press, that was going to focus on sports titles. He asked if I'd let him publish my book once he got the company going, even if it was outside the company's mission statement. Hey, sure, I said, it's good to plan ahead. Then I promptly forgot about it.<br />
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Last December, Thom wrote and said, "Are you still cool with me publishing <i>TMOH</i>?" By the end of February, I was holding my book in my hands. One with a bar code and everything. The whole trip took six and a half years; if it had taken half that long, the book would not have been as good as it became. My dad, who taught high school English for over 30 years and still reads two or three books a week, told me after he'd read his copy, "The first draft was the work of an adolescent; this is the work of an adult." I grew up with <i>To Make Others Happy</i>, and it introduced me to a lot of true heroes. I'm truly grateful that the road to publication was as long and winding as it turned out to be.</div>
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<i><b>Publicity and marketing for a first-time author can be a real eye-opener. What has surprised</b><b> </b><b>you the most?</b></i><b><br /></b><b><br /></b></div>
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The biggest surprise was that I didn't get responses to emails that I sent stores. I crafted a hell of a cover letter, emphasizing my/my book's connection to the various towns these stores were in, and got no responses. I would've guessed that emails were how many of their author contacts were born, but apparently not. So I've switched to actually driving out to the stores, letting them hold the book, making eye contact as I make my pitch. It's worked a lot better. It's also nice to see their faces light up when I tell them the book has a national distributor.</div>
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<b><i>Have you used social media to get the word out?</i></b><b><br /></b><b><br /></b></div>
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I've created <a href="https://www.facebook.com/ToMakeOthersHappyPatrickRobbins" style="color: #0068cf; cursor: pointer;" target="_blank">a Facebook page</a> and have taken initial steps on my author page for both Goodreads and Amazon. I'm also a regular contributor to two blogs - I'm features editor for <a href="http://www.covermesongs.com/author/patrickrobbins" style="color: #0068cf; cursor: pointer;" target="_blank">Cover Me</a>, a blog about cover songs, and I'm "Grandpop Culture" on <a href="http://www.actsofgeek.com/tag/grandpop-culture/" style="color: #0068cf; cursor: pointer;" target="_blank">Acts of Geek</a> - and I spread the word there. I don't Tweet, but frankly, some might consider that a blessing.</div>
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<i><b>You've said that </b><b>TO MAKE OTHERS HAPPY </b><b>is inspired by Charles Schulz. What's the connection?</b><b><br /></b></i><b><br /></b></div>
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A series of <i>Peanuts </i>comic strips from 1961. Lucy asks Charlie Brown why he thinks we're put here on Earth, and he immediately responds, "To make others happy." Instead of saying "You blockhead!", as is her wont, Lucy dwells on this response over the course of three strips. [<i>TMOH</i>] is divided into three parts, and each part begins with the dialogue from those strips (thanks so much to the Schulz estate for granting permission). An even closer look will reveal that each part of <i>TMOH </i>is a sort of mirror to the <i>Peanuts </i>dialogue - but where I take a hundred pages to tell that segment of the story, Schulz only needed four panels. He was a genius. He had punchlines like "There's no heavier burden than a great potential" and "This world is filled with people who are anxious to function in an advisory capacity."</div>
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<i><b>In many ways, the relationships at the center of the story reminded me of THE GREAT GATSBY. </b><b><br /></b></i><b><br /></b></div>
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Very much so - of all the Books You Have To Read In High School, it's probably my favorite. I like books where the first person narrator isn't the center of his own story (<i>One Flew Over the Cuckoo's Nest</i> is another good example of that); you're as close to the hero as you can be without being in his head, and as the hero affects the narrator, so he affects us. Also, in <i>TMOH</i>, Ned and Nadine are second cousins, while in <i>Gatsby</i>, Nick and Daisy are second cousins once removed. And Tedd Long, Nadine's unpleasant partner, is a sort of Tom Buchanan. I didn't set out to write a Gatsby Jr., but as I wrote, I recognized that there were distinct echoes; I figured the best thing to do would be to not look at <i>Gatsby </i>at all during the writing and rewriting, for fear of being too influenced. But I couldn't resist one good tip of the cap; Nadine, talking about a restaurant says, "The place is full of money," which is a mini-tribute to Gatsby saying of Daisy, "Her voice is full of money."</div>
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<b><i>At my last writing group meeting, we all lamented the fact that what we write is often so vastly different from what we love to read. For example, a friend of mine loves literary fiction with a gothic or fantasy element but is finding that her latest work is a straight-up genre piece. Do you find this disparity in your own work? </i></b><b><br /></b><b><br /></b></div>
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To be honest, no, I don't. My work is grounded in old-school storytelling, in no small part because that's the kind of stuff I like to read the most. I'm talking William Goldman, Elmore Leonard, Richard Stark, Stephen King, the short stories of Irwin Shaw, that kind of thing. But I also love the lyrical flourishes of Fitzgerald, Amy Hempel, Kyril Bonfiglioli, Mark Kram, and more. So if the writer is keeping the story moving, but also taking the time to have fun with the language, the field they're writing in doesn't matter so much to me. I see the genre as the clothing and the storytelling style and craft as the body. Keep the body in shape and you can dress it any way you want.</div>
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<b><i>I met you when we were both undergrads at Colby, where we both studied with Jennifer Boylan and Richard Russo. You later went on to get your MFA from the University of Massachusetts-Amherst. What are your thoughts on the MFA/no MFA debate among writers?</i></b><b><br /></b><b><br /></b></div>
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I'm pro-MFA. Quick story: I was in a tavern with several others from the program, and there was a lot of griping going around about office politics, who taught which classes in which rooms, etc. Someone said I must be mad with the program, as I was unable to land a teaching gig and was therefore paying off the whole thing with student loans (I'm currently $49K in the red). I said that I couldn't be mad because I was becoming a better writer, which was exactly why I went there, so anything going on around me that didn't interfere with that was just white noise to me. Kind of brought the discussion to a grinding halt.<br />
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Where it helped me the most was with rewriting. Grad school was where I finally learned how satisfying it was to rip out the middle of a story, to arrange a sentence so the most important part came as close to the period as possible, to always look for better verbs, to seek and destroy the passive voice.<br />
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If you learned everything you needed to know about writing from a quality undergrad program and from extensive reading and writing, God bless you. Nothing wrong with that at all. Me, I needed that extra fine tuning, and in my MFA program, I got it.</div>
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<b><i>Are you working on anything right now?</i></b><b><br /></b><b><br /></b></div>
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I've got two ideas I like - wunza road trip / treasure hunt, wunza story of an actor turned cop. I'm further along on the first idea - I've got the whole thing plotted out on index cards and have written about twenty pages - but I'm taking down good plot points and quotes for the second idea as they come to me. Now that I've quit my job of five and a half years, I'll get to make some real progress on both of them. That's the plan, anyway - if things progress like they did with the first book, we may not see them until 2021 or so. Well, something to look forward to!<br />
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<i><b>Patrick is scheduled to read from and sign copies of To Make Others Happy at Buffalo Street Books in Ithaca, NY, on May 9 at 3pm, and at the Odyssey Bookshop in South Hadley, MA, on May 19 at 7pm. Good seats still available.</b></i></div>
Stephanie Doyonhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12907220734088544269noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7813605584057243544.post-13971013904171036442015-04-06T11:41:00.001-04:002015-04-06T11:41:16.940-04:00Professionalism (or, Don't Shoot Yourself in the Foot)<br />
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For those of you who don't know, I used to work in the accounting department of a literary agency. My job was to process royalty statements, but I'd often make the rounds to chat with agents and assistants. The mountains of unsolicited manuscripts the agents had to read was staggering. Stacks and stacks of paper would cover every available surface, bookshelves, and occasionally the floor (this, clearly, was before the age of electronic submissions). And every day the mail carrier would bring more. The assistants' jobs were to separate the wheat from the chaff. If the assistant liked a particular manuscript they'd write up a report about it and then pass it on to the agent. It's a wonder they ever had time to do anything else.<br />
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One time I remember chatting with an agent who was bemoaning the fact that she was interested in a particular manuscript, but found the writer to be difficult to deal with on a personal level. "He calls every a day to see if I've finished reading it and then I can't get off the phone with him," she said. "I can tell he would be a difficult client." After a lot of careful thought--and one too many calls from the author--she decided to pass.<br />
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It was so unfortunate that this talented author shot himself in the foot. I wish I could say this was an isolated incident, but I've seen it happen time and time again. While good manners won't make up for a manuscript that's lacking, bad manners can definitely tip the scales against you. There are simply too many talented writers out there and too many choices for agents. They have the luxury of being extremely selective.<br />
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I'll admit that the submission process seems a little backwards. You are submitting your work to gain the approval of someone who is ultimately going to work for you. It's like going to an audition before hiring an attorney. Since agents work on your behalf, some authors feel they have the right to be aggressive or intrusive during the submission process. Also, publishing is a competitive field and our culture rewards ambition. But really, the author-agent relationship is more of a collaboration and the submission process ought to be looked upon like a job interview. You apply for a job at a company that interests you and the employer decides if you're the right fit for the company. Likewise, you have chosen to submit your manuscript to a particular agent because you like their reputation and area of expertise, and now it's agent's turn to decide if they want to be in a partnership with you. If ever there was a time to be on your best behavior, this is it.<br />
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During the course of their careers, writers develop reputations based not only on their writing ability but also on their level of professionalism. We've all heard stories of famous writers who act like divas and I can't help but think that their lack of manners close doors on occasion. Likewise, those authors who are a joy to work with are revered within the industry. Agents and editors move around a lot in publishing. Whether you choose to build bridges or burn them, your past actions will likely affect you at some point in the future.<br />
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<b><i>So what does it mean to act like a professional? Much of this is obvious and falls under basic manners.</i></b><br />
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<b>Respect Other People's Time. </b>Be on time for meetings, functions, appearances, scheduled phone calls. Honor deadlines. If you think you can't make a deadline, contact the person as soon as possible so they can plan around it. During phone calls a little small talk is appropriate, but keep in mind that the person you're speaking with has a lot of work and other authors to attend to. Read social cues. Keep it short and to the point.<br />
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<b>Be Kind to Assistants. </b>Sure, assistants are usually fresh out of college, but they are also the ones who picked your manuscript out of the slush pile. Most are sharp, friendly, and eager to please. They are also the ones who get things done. Treat them like the ally that they are.<br />
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<b>Show Your Appreciation. </b>Hand-written thank-you notes are rare and classy. So are gift baskets. When someone goes above and beyond for you, let them know how much you appreciate them. Kind words are free and always welcome.<br />
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<b>Don't Talk Trash About Others. </b>Not just editors and agents, but other authors as well. The publishing world is small and fluid. Snarky comments will come back to haunt you, guaranteed.<br />
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<b>Be Humble. </b>There are thousands of talented writers in this world-- remember that you are one of many. Nothing will alienate your colleagues faster than thinking you're God's gift to the literary world.<br />
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<b>Respectfully Disagree. </b>When the inevitable dispute arises, state your case calmly, clearly, and respectfully. As in any business partnership, being honest while carefully choosing your words to express yourself will get you much closer to your goal than failing to keep your anger in check.<br />
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<br />Stephanie Doyonhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12907220734088544269noreply@blogger.com2