Your first draft is probably a bit rough and chaotic, right? You know there are lots of things you need to fix. Where do you start?

The obvious way might seem to be to start at the beginning and feel your way. But I find if I do that, I don’t really have control. I might sort out the flow and the language, but I’m still not tackling the structure, or knowing if the pace is varied enough (or if it varies too much), if the crescendos build and are in the right places or if some of my threads disappear. Indeed, some characters may fade off into the background and never return to complete their stories! Or other story threads may prove to be irrelevant and should be saved for another book.
But there’s a smarter way to manage it all at once. And get much more out of the story. I call it –

the beat sheet.

The beat sheet is a document that assesses the entire manuscript in as summarised a form as possible. Hollywood scriptwriters do something similar with screenplays. Not only does the beat sheet allow you to assess your draft at a glance, it can be used as a mission statement for your revisions.

I’ve used it for short novellas and big, sprawling literary epics. It makes the most daunting revision job a piece of cake, no matter how long or complex the book is. And it’s even quite fun to do.

You write a short summary of each scene, assessing its purpose in the story. You use coloured pens for each story thread or group of characters, emoticons as shorthand for the mood of a scene, leave a column down the side so that you can work out the timeline with pinpoint accuracy. You use another colour to draw in where you’re going to swap scenes around, add new ones in, or adjust the content.

Preparing this document might take you a day or two, and the result might look like childish scribble. But I promise you, it’s a seriously useful piece of work.

You can make all sorts of creative decisions with the beat sheet. For instance, the emoticons might indicate you’ve got too much tension building – so you might rework the order of scenes to give the reader a breather. Or you might rewrite one of the tense scenes to make it lighter. You might feel the narrative has got bogged down in a repetitive loop – and looking at the beat sheet will show you where you can trim the flab.

You can use it to assess character development too – as you will see from the emoticons and your summary of the scenes if your people are being put under more pressure and changing the way they behave.

Another great thing about the beat sheet is it also puts me in a positive frame of mind about my first draft. Any problems I come across, I put on the beat sheet and figure out what to do about them. Quite often, it will be clear whether I need to reorder, delete – or maybe expand.

Once I’ve played with the story on the beat sheet, I’m confident it will work on a structural level. Then I can dive in and edit with purpose and pleasure. I know where I’m going and I’ve got all the information I need to bring the best out of the story.

That’s basically it in a nutshell, but you can find more detail at The Beat Sheet – Your at-a-glance revision blueprint.

Roz Morris has nearly a dozen novels in print. She critiques for a leading London literary consultancy and blogs at www.nailyournovel.com Inspiration and Creative Provocation For Writers and is on Twitter at @dirtywhitecandy. The beat sheet is one of the tools in her book Nail Your Novel: Why Writers Abandon Books and How You Can Draft, Fix and Finish With Confidence http://www.dirtywhitecandy.com/archives/202 available in paperback £5.99 or as a FREE downloadable ebook www.nailyournovel.com

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Nail Your Novel: A Beat Sheet

I mention these accomplishments because I’m betting most of you only know Gilbert from the sudden celebrity stardom brought on by her memoir. You may not have even picked up the book because it was sure to be one of those weird viral quirks that went big just because it was trendy, not because of the quality of the writing.

But Gilbert’s writing blows me away. This is a woman with some serious writing chops, people. And that’s why what she has to say about the creative process is so important.

Gilbert gave a twenty-minute talk on creativity at the TED conference in 2009. It’s an entertaining talk, and I highly recommend it to anyone who’s been feeling lousy about writer’s block or writer’s inadequacy or any of the other issues we writers struggle with now and then.

What I particularly want to draw your attention to, though, is a really important concept:

You are separate from your inspiration.

Gilbert calls it “your genius”. Her thoughts are that instead of striving to be such creative geniuses, we should be grateful that every now and then a little piece of genius drops out of nowhere and flies through us, giving us the ideas and inspirations for the stories we want to write.

This idea is awesome. It takes the pressure off us as writers and puts the focus on hope: We hope that today, a little piece of genius will find us.

Sounds pretty good. Now we just have to hope that genius finds us and we don’t really have to do any work until then, right?

Afraid not.

One day, Gilbert was writing and writing and getting nowhere, having one of those terrible days where nothing comes out right. She sat down her creative entity and gave it a talking-to:

“Listen, you, thing, you and I both know that if this book isn’t brilliant that is not entirely my fault, right? Because you can see that I am putting everything I have into this, I don’t have any more than this. So if you want it to be better, then you’ve got to show up and do your part of the deal, okay? But if you don’t do that, you know what, the hell with it, I’m going to keep writing anyway because that’s my job. And I would please like the record to reflect today that I showed up for my part of the job.”

I think this is brilliant. We’re used to not thinking of our creative endeavors as a job. A job is what makes you money, and then you write because you have to or because you want to or because you need an outlet for your creativity.

We don’t think of writing as something we should do unless the genius has already shown up that day.

Think of it this way: Let’s say you have a job building a house. If you show up every single day to work, but the person who hired you hasn’t delivered the materials to build the house, then the house won’t be built. If, on the other hand, the materials are delivered but you’re not there to receive them, the guy who delivered the materials might just decide that you don’t need them, and he’ll take them away again.

And the house still won’t be built.

It’s your creative entity’s job to deliver the materials. It’s your job to be there when they arrive, so you can take those materials and build something wonderful with them.

That’s why it’s so essential to sit down and write every day, preferably at the same time. Your genius knows exactly where to find you so he can deliver the goods. And if he doesn’t show up with the delivery? Hey. At least you were there.

So the next time you’re stuck, ask yourself this question: did you show up to work today?

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Did You Show Up For Your Job Today?

Writing with inspiration is easy. Finding inspiration can be one of the hardest things in the world.

One of the reasons for the elusive nature of inspiration is that we expect finding inspiration to be effortless. More than effortless – we expect it to be nearly magical. One day we’ll open the drapes and look out on the street and there, walking in front of us, will be the character around which our next great novel will revolve.

Or we’ll be sitting at a coffee shop one day and inspiration will hit us, suddenly, like a bolt of lightning. All at once, we’ll know exactly what we should be writing about.

Inspiration does sometimes happen this way, but this is a little bit like saying you shouldn’t have to go grocery shopping just because a friend of yours occasionally stops by with pizza.

Sure, sometimes inspiration happens unexpectedly, at just the right time and in just the right place. Most of the time, writers have to go looking for it. And we have to have the skills to recognize where to find it.

Explore New Experiences

I know many aspiring writers who sit around the house all day by themselves, trying to think of new things to write about. Whenever they’re invited to do something new and exciting, they say, “Thanks, but I have to work on some writing.”
These same people are constantly in distress because they can’t find the inspiration to make their writing flow easily.

The last few times I was struck with sudden inspiration, it was because I was doing something new, something I hadn’t experienced before. At the very least, it was something I hadn’t experienced in quite awhile. The new experience forced me to look at the world in a slightly different way. From that, I got an idea.

That’s inspiration.

Go ice fishing. Attend an art opening. Check out a rodeo. Visit some of the tourist attractions in your area that you’ve always known about but had never bothered to visit. Go on a walk by yourself with no music and no particular idea where you’re headed.

Then pay very close attention to every single thing that happens.

Ask People about Themselves

One of the common failings I notice in writers is that they only want to write about themselves. Sure, writers are all told to ‘write what you know’, but no one ever said, ‘write what you know about yourself’. Your work will be seriously one-dimensional if all it is are simply variations of you and your experiences.

In order to find out how other people think and to get inspiration for new material, new characters, new ways of looking at the world, you need to know what people think and do and believe in. The only way to get that information is to ask them.

Pay attention. It’s very hard for us to listen to another person without jumping in with our own anecdotes. It’s a natural human response to demonstrate, “Hey, I’m just like you!” Resist that impulse, if only for the reason that you’re interested in what makes you two different from each other.

Think about that. If you like, start discussing your differences with this person. He may be able to expand on a viewpoint to the extent that you really feel you understand it. The next time you’re crafting a new character, you’ll think of all those viewpoints and one of them will ring true to you.

Bring a Notebook

Ever see a writer look very distant, very suddenly? It happens a lot among the creative crowd, and it’s usually because they just had a wayward thought about a possible idea. Mostly, they’ll try to remember it long enough to write it down later, but later comes after dinner and conversation and drinks, and they can never quite dredge up exactly what made that idea so wonderful.

That’s if they remember the idea in the first place.

Bring a notebook everywhere you go, especially when you’re exploring new sources of inspiration, because it’s you’ll likely have a flash of a great sentence or a scene or a just-right metaphor. You’ll want to catch that idea while it’s still fresh.

Later, when you lack inspiration, open up that notebook and browse through some of those brief moments of brilliance. I guarantee you that you’ll find what you’re looking for.

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How to Learn the Skill of Being Inspired

(Oh, and I got a little excited and asked more than one question within a question, so I hope you can keep up.)

Fuel Your Writing:

Let’s get the big questions out of the way — What prompted you to start oneword.com? How did you go about doing just that? And (if you did) how did you market the site?

Brian Kessler:

It is a prompt site, which was prompted by prompting in a verbal prompt exercise. So there was a lot of prompting involved. A friend of mine had done a similar exercise in a writing group where one person would call out a word, then the group would write about it until the moderator would call out “stop!”
I really liked the idea and wanted to create an online version of the exercise, but had no clue where to begin. This was back in 1998. In 2003, I started blogging and was using the Movable Type publishing platform, and I realized that I could tweak it and make it work, so I tweaked away and it was up and running within a week. At that point, I really was just wanting it for myself, and didn’t really imagine anything else happening with it. I sent it to a few friends and they all dug it, then within a few weeks it got listed as Yahoo!’s site-of-the-day and sorta blew up. Sorta. It simmered back down to a cool 200-300 posts per day, which was good, because it was mostly serious writers, and very few cut-and-paste-the-F-word entries.

Oh, and no marketing whatsoever.

FYW:

I heard that Demi Moore tweeted about your site a while back. Do you know what types of people you reach? And how many visit the site on a daily basis? Do you even care about the stats? Is it just a service, for lack of a better term, you provide, and what the writers get out of it is satisfaction enough for you?? What DO you get out of all of this?

BK:

Yes, [Demi] did and her tweet generated a lot of new fans . . . I certainly appreciated the props. … The site averages around 1500 visits per day. Though there have been up to 10,000 visits in a day—that’s the average lately. …
What I get out of it is the satisfaction of knowing that I’m helping others to be creative. I love it when people leave comments on the Facebook page about how it got them out of a block—that really makes my day.

FYW:

[So,] you’re up and running now and you have great prompts all the time. I use them myself just as a simple writing exercise for the day, or I even take it further sometimes. I expand on what I’ve written in the sixty seconds allotted for anything from my books to flash fiction to just random ramblings. It seems you’ve struck a chord with a lot of people, and I’m wondering what your plans are for the future of the site…

BK:

Right now, it has already exceeded all of my expectations. I love that people like you use it to kick-start your creativity. That really makes it all worth it.

There has been discussion of revamping it and adding new features, which has garnered a lot of “NO!!!!! Don’t change it!!!!’” multi-exclamation-point responses. But really, the changes would be unobtrusive, and the simplicity of the site would remain intact, as I believe that has been what has kept it afloat all these years. It’s really a no-nonsense site. It does what it does, and does it well.

That being said, we’re taking suggestions in the discussions section of our Facebook page.

FYW:

(I asked Brian if there was anything he wanted to tell me I may have missed asking, and this was his response — his question to himself…)
–The only thing I know you wanted to ask, but were too afraid was “where do the words come from?” to which I added: Are you the only one involved, or do you have people who help you out? Are all the prompts yours? Do you think you’ve ever unintentionally repeated a prompt, or do you keep a list of some sort??

BK:

A lot of times (thanks to the iPhone) I’ll be out and about and will just look around for inspiration. Other times it has something to do with what’s going on in my life at the time.
Yes, it’s just me. Now and then I’ll be with someone and say “give me a word,” to which they usually say something like “sesquipedantilism!” or [something a bit more risqué] — depending on who I’m with at the time. And I like to keep it clean and simple. Even so, I still get the occasional “wall? what’s that? wtf? I don’t know what that means!”
I try and keep it to words that my 6-yr-old niece can understand. And, no, I don’t keep a list, and have most definitely repeated one or three words over the last six years. I’ve been tempted to do the same word twice in a week to see if return writers would be inspired to write something totally different, though I’m pretty sure I’d get a lot of “hey! we already did this one!”. Really, that’s what flow is all about, letting those fingers fly regardless of any would-be obstacles.

FYW:

Another part of the follow-up included this: I actually did have one more question based on what you said:: Do you read through the entries to see what people are writing? You mentioned a couple times that you were aware of the content and quality, so I was just curious.

BK:

I don’t read every entry, but I do browse through them, usually . I will be going more thoroughly through them over the next few months as I am thinking of doing an annual book “365words” or something like that. And it will be a good time for me to go get rid of all the useless entries.

* * *

– There was so much more we discussed, but this was what I thought was the coolest and most interesting info that you might want to learn. Head on over to the site, oneword.com (I do all the time — one of our writers even has it set as his homepage (after reading my first article) and I guess be on the lookout for a future book. We’ll keep you updated!!

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More Than One Word (.com) With Brian Kessler

The fear of rejection is far more powerful than logic. Here are a few ways to blast through that fear of submission and get on a regular schedule of handing your work over.

Aim Low

This may sound like bad advice, but hear me out. There are the big giants of the literary magazine industry – The Kenyon Review, the Paris Review, Tin House, The New Yorker – and of course we’d all like to see our name emblazoned above our work in one of those great publications.

But the very thing that makes those magazines so appealing is the same thing that keeps many writers from ever submitting to them — they’re nearly impossible to get into. Sure, it’s a mark of prestige if you make it, but if you’re nervous about submitting you’re never going to get over your fear of rejection, when rejection is almost inevitable.

You’ll probably make it worse, in fact.

There are dozens of literary magazines founded every year, though. Many of them badly need good writers in order to establish themselves. These magazines cannot possibly get the attention of the biggest-name writers, so they’re looking for talented unknowns.

They want to establish themselves as places where really good writing is published, and they’re completely open to new people. They are a brilliant place to start submitting.

Now here’s a hard question for you — how many new, small, or relatively unknown literary journals are you even aware of? If the answer is zero, that’s a problem.

So check out the online (and free) literary magazine database and find ten literary journals in your genre that you’ve never heard of before (it’s searchable by every genre and length you can think of). Go read a few back issues and submit to the publishers who would be interested in your style.

Aim High

We’re not talking about where to submit anymore – we’re talking about the sheer number of submissions you should make. One excellent professional writer said that she made a goal to get at least ten rejection letters every month.

That’s right. Her goal was to get rejection letters, not acceptance letters. Why? Because when she made that goal about rejections, they weren’t nearly as disappointing to receive. They were simply a mark of honor for having submitted at all.

Think of your rejection letters as a tangible receipt for your submissions. Stop thinking of them as a terrible thing, and start thinking of them as a perfectly ordinary way to find out your story was indeed received and that you had successfully submitted.

What happens when you don’t get a rejection letter? Why, then, you get an acceptance letter.

Since you weren’t even looking for those acceptances, they’ll come as a nice surprise. You’re trying to receive a certain number of rejections, but you have no goal for acceptances. So when they do come, they will fall in your lap like gifts from above and you’ll be far more thrilled by them than you would have been had you been planning on them.

Getting acceptances might also mean your allotted number of rejections for that month hasn’t been met. Oh well. I guess you’ll have to submit more often to make up for it.

If you have a writer friend who also has trouble submitting, make a small wager with one another that whoever gets the most rejection letters in the space of a month wins a prize furnished by the other. If you get more rejection letters, he buys tickets to your favorite team’s game. If she gets more, you have to buy her a day at the spa. That’ll light a fire under both of you.

Aim at a Friend

Speaking of friends, if you have work that’s ready for submission but you can’t quite bring yourself to send it, enlist a friend’s assistance in exchange for your own. Make an agreement with one another that you will submit each other’s work to an agreed-upon list of publishers.

It’ll work. Most writers take a certain glee in making other writers do things they’re afraid to do themselves.

Make it into a party, hey. Get a bunch of envelopes, stamps, and copies of your manuscripts. Get a list of your publications and a computer for the ones who only accept via email. Break open a bottle of wine, get some good food out and start writing cover letters for one another to approve. It’s far easier to edit your friend’s work than it will be to start a letter from scratch on your own.

Before you know it, you’ll have a submission letter for every manuscript, and every one will be stamped and sent.

Even better? You won’t have had to be the one who pulled the trigger. Completely painless.

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How to Overcome Your Fear of Submission

What happened here? The book had potential! How did it become so boring?

Most likely, it lacked conflict.

For any kind of writing, from journalistic non-fiction to literature to science fiction to film to blogging, conflict is highly necessary. It’s what creates drama and urgency. It’s what creates anticipation. Conflict is what compels your readers to find out what happens next, and to read more to see if it comes out all right in the end.

Sometimes it does. Sometimes it doesn’t. But the story, whether true or fictional, is dependent on whether there is any debate in the matter. Being uncertain of the outcome is why any story interests you.

Conflict in Fiction

Conflict in fiction is usually easy to find. Your character wants something, and other events or circumstances intervene to make achieving that goal difficult. That’s conflict.

The trouble that many writers encounter in fiction is mistaking dramatic action for conflict. For example, if the main character is walking down the street and a sea bird suddenly assaults him, many writers point to that as an instance of conflict.

That’s not conflict. Unless the sea bird prevented that character from achieving a specific goal that was very important to the individual, then the situation is merely dramatic. It isn’t conflict.

So how can you tell the difference? Ask yourself what your character wants, overall, in the story. Maybe he wants to achieve a certain quest, or reconcile with someone, or get out of the one-horse town. Then ask yourself if the situation you created for that character actively prevents the character from achieving his goal.

If not, your plot could use some tweaking to be more interesting.

Conflict in Non-Fiction

Conflict in non-fiction is often harder to manage because you’re bound by the facts. Whether or not conflict occurs seems wholly dependent on whether conflict actually happened in real life.

However, most non-fiction writers forget that they aren’t limited by just the facts of a particular situation. They can add in facts from surrounding situations to create necessary conflict. For example, a senator caught cheating on his wife is not conflict – it’s just fact.

Add in the fact that his actions may mean he won’t be re-elected, and that this has repercussions for the government at large, makes it a conflict. Will he get re-elected? Will he fail? Who’s on which side? Should he win or should he lose? Who’s saying what?

That’s conflict.

Figure out whose goal you support and see what’s in the way. For a non-fiction situation, you have free rein. You could take the senator’s standpoint and display the conflict from his point of view: he wants his seat back so he can achieve certain goals, but will he be able to get it?

You can also present conflict from other peoples’ point of view. The people the senator represents want certain goals of their own – will his re-election help or hinder them? Will they get what they want? Will the senator’s family get what they want? Will the president get what he wants if the senator fails?

Every Story Needs Conflict

Without conflict, you don’t have a story. Not for your journalistic piece, not for your blog post, not for your novel. Sit down and figure out who has a goal in the piece you’re writing, and what needs to happen for that person to achieve it.

Then find out what’s in the way.

When you have sufficient conflict in your story, no one will ever walk away from your writing thinking, “That had such potential . . .” They’ll walk away thinking, “I wonder what happened.”

That’s what you’re looking for. Go rustle up some conflict.

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Where’s Your Conflict?

Tell us a bit about yourself and Charade

Well, I’m a creative writing student living in Bristol in the UK. I’ve always written ever since I can remember. It started with simple lyrics and stories; then went through a stage of angst-ridden poetry, and has settled into a pattern of online journalism and part-time novel writing. Charade is my blog, where I attempt to enthuse and inspire mostly female audience of stylish yet budget conscious students with tales of surviving successfully.

Is your love for writing that made you start Charade?

Yes, writing’s no fun if you are your only audience. I wanted a way to ‘get my writing out there’ and blogging seemed the quickest and most instantly satisfying option. It’s such a confidence boost to have even a very small following supporting you.

What things influence you to write?

On Charade, I’m influenced mainly by my own needs as a reader. I like to think of  the blog as something I’d love to come across if I were surfing the web, and make it an aim to answer questions that have always nagged me through research. In terms of my fiction, I’m also inspired mainly by my own life and experience. I think building on what you know and being as authentic as possible is the key to great writing.

What is your favorite thing you’ve written?

That’s a tough one but I’d have to say The Dream Style Series just because it got so much positive feedback and attracted so many new readers, whilst being enormously inspiring to me as a subject.

What do you do to keep yourself motivated and avoid burn-out?

I honestly don’t know! I just started blogging one day and never stopped. I have slow months but I just enjoy doing it so much and am so thrilled by all the little intricacies and opportunities I’ve come across that I never get bored. You have to love writing or whatever you’re doing, and then motivation takes care of itself.

Do you think being a student of creative writing helps a lot with having your own website?

Definitely, if I look back on some of my early articles, I can see a clear difference against the standard of my current writing. The study of creative writing is something people are often dubious about, and people regularly ask me how you can be taught something creative. I think writing is a craft and a skill as much as any other, and there really is so much I know now that didn’t even cross my mind before I started my studies.

Lastly, what is your future plan for Charade?

I’m actually just about to release an Annual (a real-life book!) of the best of my articles from the first year of the blog. It’s a really exciting venture and I’ve already seen a lot of positive feedback just from the initial announcement. Beyond that I just hope to stay on the path I’ve already forged and keep learning!

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5 Minutes with Megan and Charade

“But I don’t sell products,” you might be thinking. “So how can I take advantage of the holiday shopping season?” Here are a few simple holiday marketing ideas that can work wonders for service providers like you:

1. Send gifts to your clients.

Sending gifts to clients is a nice way to thank them for their business throughout the previous year. It also sets you apart from the competition and other contractors they might have worked with.

Can’t afford to send gifts to all of your clients? That’s okay. Sometimes it’s difficult if you work with a lot of people or if many of your clients are international (high shipping costs). In that case you could send gifts to your biggest clients, or just send out holiday cards.

If you send cards, it’s probably a good idea to go with more generic “Happy Holiday!” varieties unless you’re sure of the holiday a specific client celebrates.

2. Send out a holiday newsletter with a special offer.

Maybe you want to attract a few extra orders before year’s end. A brief sale can help you do that. Send out an email newsletter offering a holiday promotion to existing and previous clients with a special offer for giving you their past business.

For example, if you’re a Web content writer and you like to sell sets of 10 articles at once, you might offer them 12 articles for the price of 10 instead. Just remember that you don’t want to get bombarded with too much work over the holidays if you want to take time off to be with family, so put limits on how long the offer is valid.

Another option is to send the promotional offer, but have it be for work in the New Year, so you can kick off January with a few new orders already lined up. If you want to drum up even more business, you might offer a bigger discount for any new referrals your existing or past clients send your way.

3. Release something for free.

Everyone’s trying to get your potential clients to part with a buck around the holiday season. Be different. Give them a free gift instead!

Release a free report or e-book (with a holiday slant if you feel so inclined). Something to help your prospective clients reach their business goals in the New Year would be good.

4. Choose a charity.

People tend to be a bit more giving during the holiday season. Choose a favorite charity — one relevant to your business if you want or at least one that your clients wouldn’t have reason to object to. In other words, avoid things like politically-motivated charities (donate to them independently). You want to attract support from clients who are happy to have a portion of their payment go to support the cause.

Then go back to our handy email newsletters. Send one to your existing and past clients (or other opt-in email list) announcing that you’ll donate a portion of sales placed between that point and the end of the year. It might be enough to convince people to buy from you now rather than later (so even with the donations going out, you could easily still have more money than usual coming in). Even if you don’t get a lot of business out of it, there’s nothing wrong with building a little good will.

5. Run a contest.

People love contests. They’re given a chance to get something valuable for free. Why not put some of your services on the line in an effort to attract more potential clients in the long run?

For example, let’s say you write sales letter copy. You might launch a contest where you ask people in your target market to submit their existing sales letter copy that they’d like overhauled by a professional. You could set up whatever criteria you’d like for choosing your winner (or make it random). The winner would get a new sales letter for free, perhaps on the condition that you’ll be allowed to showcase it afterwards as an example of your genius skills.

Where’s the benefit for you? Some of the people entering the contest are your potential clients. The contest makes them aware of you. Getting to see the results even if they lose gives them a reason to consider hiring you later (even if they weren’t previously planning to hire anyone).

Holiday marketing ideas aren’t reserved for the retail industry. Freelance writers and other service providers have plenty of options that don’t have to cost a lot up front. How will you take advantage of the holiday season to attract more business this year?

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Simple Holiday Marketing Ideas for Freelance Writers

How old were you when you first started writing?

I don’t remember the first piece I ever wrote, but ever since I was very young, I loved reading and making up stories in my head. Make believe definitely used to be (and still is!) my favorite game. When I was eight or nine I distinctively remember writing a lot of fiction. It was a lot of science fiction/fantasy and it was in Chinese, modeled after short stories or novels I’d read.

Where do you get your ideas?

They come from everywhere. Especially living in the city, anytime I go outside ideas hit me in the face from every direction. The subway, a park, a passerby, my friends…everything. I also get inspiration from photos I see on Flickr or books and movies. Music is also a great source of ideas. Certain songs suggest stories that have to be written.

What and who influences you the most when it comes to writing?

My earliest influence was definitely Stephen King. I was a huge King fan girl back in the day. I think out of all his works, there are only a few that I haven’t read. And this is including the giant ones like The Stand, Desperation and the whole Dark Tower series. When I read his On Writing, though, it seemed to set in my mind that this is what I have to do, not just now but in the future. More recently, since I’m making my way through Infinite Jest, David Foster Wallace is a huge influence. I find myself adding excessive parentheticals and observations and ironic bits into so much of my writing. I’m really influenced by pop culture and the whole music, arts and fashion world in general. Seeing something or reading something easily influences the way I write.

How much do you feel you’ve improved in the last few years?

Immensely. I mean, I would hope, it’s a constant struggle and constant improving thing, but if I read back on stories or blogs I wrote in the past years, sometimes it just seems so embarrassing. I used so much passive voice and unnecessary description and bland characters! Just growing older and experiencing more of the world, as well as reading more (and different) books helped a lot.

What is your favorite place to go and think?

Parks, in the subway, long walks (especially down West 10th street, my favorite street in all of New York, but my rooftop might be my absolute favorite. It has the most incredible postcard-view of the Manhattan skyline and the air is generally perfect for thinking.

How do you divide your time between writing and photography?

There’s not really a set formula. I bring my camera everywhere I go and some days are more photo-oriented days and some days writing. But since I always have camera and notebook on hand, it’s easy to switch between whichever I’m more inspired to do. Photography is especially good for late nights. I run Photoshop and talk to my friends online while uploading and posting on Tumblr. Writing takes more of a focus to sit down and just do or when I get desperate enough, I won’t be able to help but write ridiculous amounts for long periods

Any plans to publish your novel?

Yes! I’m currently querying a lot of agents and if I don’t hear back after a while, I’m going to query a lot more and start working on new material. If all else fails I’m considering self-publishing. It seems like the sort of thing that I’m driven and motivated enough to pull off. But if you’re an agent/publisher, please don’t hesitate to send word my way! Even if it’s old fashioned and business driven, there’s still something in that traditional route I’m very fond of.

How long have you been trying to get it published?

I’ve only recently began writing a query and submitting to agents, so about two months, I think. I only did electronic queries so I’ve only gotten a few emailed rejections from agents (but I’m not giving up just yet!) My advice for writers who want to get published is probably to remain optimistic, dedicated and open minded. I’ve learned a lot regarding the publishing world, like my perception of it changed dramatically when I worked retail at a bookstore a few years back. More recently I’ve read so much about how authors really just don’t make any money. Regardless of how difficult or easy it might sound when you’re reading about it, you should start applying and going for it to get a true taste of what it’s like. And remain optimistic. I think that’s pretty much my rule on life.

You can find Laura Yan on her blog and on Flickr.

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NYC Through a Writer’s Eyes

Ian LeWinter and Don Richmond, the writer and artist of Blank: The Graphic Novel, understand the importance of Social Media as a platform to promote and distribute their work. Known as The Brothers of The Silence, the two men invite their readers to unravel the unfolding saga of John Blank and his journey into the abyss.

Take a peak into the minds of Ian and Don as they discuss their creative process, their belief in Social Media and yes, their strategy for World domination.

Describe Blank in 140 words or less:

At least you didn’t say 140 characters. Blank is a supernatural thriller. The protagonist, John Blank is an everyman — literally. He is a hitman who subsumes the souls of his prey, creating a psychological complex that is in constant struggle to harmonize internally. Ian had the brilliant idea of killing him in Chapter One and then following his death journey. John is haunted by a girl-ghost who will become his defacto spirit guide in his journey toward realization of his destiny.

John Blank has what psychologists term a compromised ego integrity — one that is continually fragmented and redefined, possessing no reliable sense of self apart from his unique capability to kill. The antagonist, Ouranos Gaia, has a psychopathic megalomania that stems from a mythic iconography that has been nurtured by his family for generations. Angel is the mysterious wild-card.

You have a dedicated Blank website, a Blank Facebook fan page and you are both very active on Twitter. How do you utilize each of these mediums to your advantage?

When we first launched Blank, it would be impossible to communicate how wonderful the fan reaction was. Currently, for instance, we communicate with close to 30,000 people generally, nearly 3,000 people concretely, and about 300 people intimately every week! The comments from readers are the fuel for this project. In the past, all writers had to keep a clear picture of their audience in their minds. Now, you can have real-time, two-way contact with your audience as each page is unveiled. That’s a phenomenal innovation that technology has afforded writers.

Our goal was simple: find the most effective means to tell the world about Blank. The medium dictated the solution — social media is free and experiencing growth rates of 1400 percent, while traditional channels were experiencing a decline. We saw our responsibility to the project and to future generations who must know about the Trilogy. Because of this, the book is being launched on several social media platforms. We knew Blank would work by the artistic excitement we felt when discussing the project. It had all the attributes of a magnum opus, of a life work on such a grand scale that it would survive for many generations. Whether it worked economically was subsidiary to that fact. The only challenge after that realization was to listen to what the characters were saying and to find the most productive means of telling everyone about the story. Both Social and Traditional Media had to be exhausted as distribution channels. Before this project is over, for us to accomplish our goals, we will have multiple social media hubs, have published three graphic novels, negotiated a motion picture deal, produced spin-off books and launched on augmented reality.

How did the story of John Blank come to life?

The concepts came in parallel from both of us. Don was obsessed by an after-world in the Greek tradition in which its inhabitants metaphorically drank from a river of forgetfulness — in other words, its inhabitants were unclear of the reality of a prior existence and uncertain of a future different from the one they currently experienced. Throw in a young girl-ghost who would be the ostensible guide for a hitman who is new to that world.

Ian was haunted himself by a megalomaniacal intellectual giant who was raised to believe he was the incarnation of Uranus, much in the way the Dali-Lama is raised to believe that he is the incarnation of the Buddha. Ian also gave John the quality of personality fragmentation, making him a melting pot of competing mental images of self.

Why did you choose a graphic novel to tell your story?

Some brains collect formulas. Some brains collect algorithms. Our brains collect art — whether in words, in visuals or in sounds. Because of this, our interest in graphic serials began the first moment we touched one. The promise of creating a world in which we can communicate the unique patterns we see in life was and still is the most important discovery we’ve ever made. So graphic novels were a natural for us.

And graphic novels are, without a doubt, a mega-burgeoning market. We are poised for a new age in this medium. These are exciting times. There are people entering this arena who will amaze and inspire beyond our comprehension. Publishers are recognizing this fact and expanding their labels. Fans are what this market is all about and they are driving the generation of the most creative work seen in decades. We’re like kids in a candy store.

How did you meet? Is this your first collaboration?

We met in an opium den in Kabul…wait, that’s not true. Although Ian most likely is an opium addict, we met as marketing and advertising professionals and quickly learned of our shared passion for graphic novels. The Blank franchise is our first collaboration together.

Your blog posts indicate that both of you share a talent for writing. Do you ever switch off on duties?

Don: Never. Only so far as to make comic bubble suggestions for brevity or grammatical suggestions for clarity. To alter Ian’s story-crafting would be ridiculous. That would put me in the shoes of Tom Higginson, the guy who edited Dickinson’s poetry. Silliness playing with ego. I am not here.

Ian: Ouranos, John and Angel tell the story. I’m only writing it down. I am not here.

Don (after more consideration): Also, I am afraid that if I did that, Ian would kill me with a scramasax that he keeps in his top desk drawer. I’m not joking. He would do it.

Ian: But I wouldn’t kill him until he was done drawing.

What do you love about writing? What is your process?

Writing is beautiful because it is the ultimate act of destruction.

Readers come to a work with all the faculties and prejudices and expectations that society has helped them architect up to that moment. Authors are gifted with the opportunity to dismantle those constructs — slowly, carefully at first, and then with irresistible abandon. At the end of any story, the reader should feel as breathless and frightened and disoriented as a newborn. That terrifying destruction is the true test of any great work.

As for Blank, the typical process is to discuss the project from various vantage points. Afterward, Ian jacks into the ether and begins listening (and sometimes confronting) the characters as they craft the story for him. As a story designer, he sees the action, he hears the conversation, he feels the emotions. When the characters eventually get it right, he records his vision and sends it to Don. Don’s responsibility at that point is to become immersed in the words as one drowning and then draw that floating, deadly suspension as beautifully as his hand will allow. The Flash site is a collaborative effort after Don’s illustrations meet with approval.

What’s next for the Brothers of The Silence?

We have a franchise idea on deck and one in the hole, making three long-term projects. But for now, our short-term goals necessitate that we focus on hitting the tipping point with Blank. It’s too important not to do that. After that, we’ll play with expanding that franchise and nurturing the next two. It’s hard to believe that we have this opportunity. We feel that we’re being encouraged to play, to inspire, to create and, ultimately, to bring to life the greatest cast of characters our genre has seen to date.

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Blank: The Graphic Novel- A Chat with Ian LeWinter and Don Richmond

Annie Bahringer is all too familiar with those dreaded rejection slips that writers receive in the mail. Another frustrating aspect that she is familiar with is the lack of feedback. Agents and publishers get thousands of pieces a year, and cannot possibly give feedback on every writer’s submission. Yet this is the Catch-22 that many would-be authors find themselves in: If their work can’t be published because it needs to be “fixed,” then how can they “fix” it if they don’t know where the issue lies?

Annie is persevering, though. While she has admittedly “run out of steam,” she knows that the important things is to keep trying.

What are you trying to get published and how long have been trying?

I am currently writing a novel because I gave up on short fiction. It was always “Your piece does not fit our needs right now.” That was four years ago. Still haven’t finished the novel. But I have been trying, still do occasionally, when I feel strong enough, to send out my short stories in hopes that now is the right time. Still isn’t and hasn’t been for about 15 years.

How many places have you contacted regarding this/these piece(s)?

At least 100, I ran out of steam.

What hurdles have you run into when you tried to contact these companies?

They are eager to talk to you in email, but that’s as far as it goes.

What kind of feedback have you been given?

Hardly any. I would love to get feedback, positive or negative. I want to know what I am doing wrong and if the case, what I am doing right.

What frustrates you the most about this process?

The feedback. And the rejection notices. It’s been reduced to a Xeroxed slip of paper. Not even a half-sheet rejection. A slip I could use as a bookmark. I would really like the feedback.

Have you considered self-publishing?

Yes, but I don’t have enough material as of yet to publish a full volume of work.

What tips can you give to those writers out there who are about to jump into the publishing world?

I’ve noticed part-time writers, like myself take a lot longer than those who are able to jump feet first and stay in the pool. Do that, stay there and start now.

What are your next steps?

Finish my novel and possibly self-publish to start with queries being sent to larger publishing houses.

A big ‘thank you’ to Annie for sharing her story with us! If you have publishing story that you’d like to share with our readers, please drop us a line!

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The Road to Getting Published: Annie Bahringer’s Story

Cap’n Fatty Goodlander has found success as an author for many reasons, one of those being because he writes about what he knows and loves…life on the water. As a self-proclaimed ’sea gypsy’, Cap’n Fatty spends his time writing tales about his sailing adventures and acts as Editor at Large of Cruising World magazine.

Cap’n Fatty (Gary) Goodlander

What are you trying to get published and how long have been trying?

I’ve been a professional writer now for almost 30 years. But I remember well starting out by attempting to write four hours a day and get something (anything) published within a years. Zilch, at first. Then I changed my goal to collecting 100 honest rejection slips from well-known national publications. On my 17th mss submission, I sold something! Within the year I was regularly selling. Eighteen months later, I had  a  bylined column!

How many places have you contacted regarding this/these piece(s)?

At first, I kept 25 mss in the mail, minimum. I pre-wrote my cover letters so the sting of rejection would be less. I never gave up. I just tried everything I could think of or read about… and eventually it worked. Now I sell every word I write!

What hurdles have you run into when you tried to contact these companies?

[Keep in mind that] the company SHOULD not waste time talking to ‘wanna be’ writers. The writers should make SURE that their manuscripts ARE NOT wasting the editor’s time. The editors and the readers OWE the writer nothing. It is the WRITER who owes them.

What kind of feedback have you been given?

Usually, none. But I viewed any feedback as positive.

What frustrates you the most about this process?

…that people give up. Professional writing is just like anything else. A writer creates a product and an editor buys. Why should writers have to be cuddled more?

Have you considered self-publishing?

I have five books currently in print. (If you want to call it self-published, fine.) One of them, Chasing the Horizon, was accepted by Lothar Simon at Sheridan Books. Luckily, I published it myself. It has made me many many thousands of dollars over the course of 20 years.

What are your next steps?

I’ve written about 18 to 22 GREAT pages. I want to write another great page (or two or two thousand) before I die.

I personally have found that my career progressed roughly at the same pace as my talent. When I didn’t deserve to be Editor at Large of Cruising World magazine, I was not. Once I deserved to be,  I was.

Keep writing. Keep trying. The marketplace is the best teacher. Don’t bitch. This is the easiest time to be a professional writer EVER!

A big ‘thank you’ to Cap’n Fatty Goodlander for sharing his story with us! If you have publishing story that you’d like to share with our readers, please drop us a line!

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The Road to Getting Published: Cap’n Fatty (Gary) Goodlander’s Story

Gary Murning knows what it takes to get your books on people’s bookshelves. His is a bit of a Cinderella story as his first novel, If I Never, was published on August 29th through Legend Press. FYW is lucky to have Gary as a regular contributor of content aimed towards helping writers develop their talents in the hopes of one day living their dream.

Gary William Murning

Have you been published prior to If I Never?

No — If I Never is my first published work.

How long had you tried to get it published before it happened?

All things told, not that long at all, really. It was less than two years between completion and acceptance — which isn’t bad going, compared to some.

How many places did you contact regarding this piece?

Funnily enough, just the one! Very different to my previous experience of submitting work!

What hurdles (if any) did you run into when you tried to contact these companies?

None whatsoever. The Legend Press team has been and continues to be very responsive and easy to get in touch with. They involve the author in the whole publishing process — even to the point where I had input regarding the cover design.

Before finding a publisher for If I Never, what kind of feedback were you given from other publishers?

Well, most feedback these days comes from agents. In the vast majority of cases they are the first contact for a writer with work to submit — and, I have to say, I’ve received some very positive and encouraging comments from agents over the years. The problem for many (which says a lot, most not very good, about the industry today) was that my work didn’t neatly fit any particular genre or niche. It has strong “literary” elements but it isn’t “literary” enough to be classed as “literary”! (My publisher favours the terms “literary mainstream” or “light literary” — which works well for me!) The overwhelming sense I got, I suppose, was of an industry extremely cautious about taking a chance on new and slightly different talent.

How is the novel that the reader will get different from the one that you shopped around to publishing houses?

There’s hardly any difference at all, actually. Apart from proof corrections I’d say there were about, in total, no more than ten pages excised.

Was it hard to accept the comments/critiques on “your baby?” How did you get past that?

Generally speaking, critical comments usually only serve to confirm what I already know. Most writers quickly learn their own strengths and weaknesses and, if they’re willing to be truthful with themselves, they soon learn when to make a stand and when to accept the criticism. It’s something that comes with time, I suppose. I now know what I want my work to do and I’m fairly confident about my ability to achieve it.

What frustrates you the most about the getting published/publishing process?

Prior to being accepted by Legend Press, I’d probably have said just about every aspect of it! The need for agents was always a big one with me, though. Not being able to submit directly to many of the bigger publishers was something that really annoyed me. One of the reasons I decided to have a go at submitting to Legend was that they accepted work directly, without the need for an agent. That’s not to say that agents are all “evil”, of course! On the whole, they do an excellent job. It’s simply that it always seemed to me that the aspiring writer was kept “at arms length” from the industry — which wasn’t how it was when I first started writing.

Working with legend, however, has been a breath of fresh air. They’re a pretty young and dynamic bunch — forward-looking in their approach to publishing and, yet, old-fashioned (in a good way!) in the way they work with their authors. I’m as surprised as anyone when I say that I really have no gripes about my experience of working with Legend. Very good team (and I’m not just saying that because they’ll be reading this!)

Have you considered self-publishing? Had to considered it for this book?

I briefly considered it for an earlier book — print on demand, that kind of thing — but, no, it isn’t really a road down which I wanted to travel.

What is one thing that you wish you knew before contacting anyone in the industry?

That’s a difficult question. To be honest, I’ve been reading about publishing etc for so long that I’ve been pretty clued up on how best to approach/pitch etc for quite a while. The information is out there — especially now we have wonderful websites like this — and it doesn’t take too much effort to find the best way to approach publishers/agents.

Do you think it will “get easier” now that you’re published? (do you feel that the door has been opened and so the “hard part” is over, etc.)

Well, there are no guarantees, of course. We none of us know what tomorrow will bring — especially in the wild and wacky world of publishing! But, yes, it is looking quite “promising” for me. I have another completed project that Legend has expressed an interest in, and I’m fairly sure they’ll go with that — as long as If I Never doesn’t sink without a trace!

What tips can you give to those writers out there who are about to jump into this?

Don’t expect it to be easy. Learn as much as you can about the right way to approach agents/publishers and follow the guidelines rigidly — but don’t be afraid to try something new when the opportunity arises. I originally found my publisher on MySpace, believe it or not, and they are now the fastest growing independent publisher in the UK. The industry is changing (it’s being forced to) but many of these changes will not happen overnight. So follow the tried and tested submission/pitch methods, but keep an eye out for publishers with an innovative approach. My prediction is there’s going to be a lot more of them… more opportunities but also more competition. Therefore, do what you do to the best of your ability.

What are your next steps?

Well, at the moment it’s all go with the promotion of If I Never. I’m also working on what will hopefully be my third Legend Press novel, As Morning Shows the Day. Exciting times with plenty to think about. I’m very aware just how fortunate I am so I’m making sure I enjoy every minute!

A big ‘thank you’ to Gary for sharing his story with us! If you have publishing story that you’d like to share with our readers, please drop us a line!

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The Road to Getting Published: Gary Murning’s Story

We spoke with four writers at different stages in their journeys. A couple have been published, the others have not, but not for lack of perseverance. They gave us a glimpse into their triumphs and frustrations. They shared their hard-won advice and pearls of wisdom. All in the hope of showing aspiring authors that their literary travels will always lead them somewhere.

Debbie’s tale is one that many writers are familiar with:  Sending out multitudes of queries and hearing little -if anything- back from literary agents and/or publishing houses. Her determination and “it will happen someday” attitude is one that other writers should emulate.

Debbie Riley-Magnus

What are you trying to get published and how long have been trying?

I’ve been writing for fifteen years, but primarily seeking representation and publication for my fiction over the past three years. The first is a literary novel. Two years ago I sought an agent and stumbled onto one of those agents you should never sign on with; the kind that requires payment for everything. Having fired them eight months later, I continue my search for representation. I have been lucky enough to have three agents request more chapters (one the full manuscript) for that literary novel and was told more than once that in this economic climate, it was unlikely an agent would pick up a literary piece by a first time author. I then began writing an urban fantasy fiction series. I queried the first book of this fun series four months ago with amazing results; an average of 2 of every 6 queries resulted in a request for more. To date, it has not been picked up for representation. I am also writing a cookbook and attempting to make my way into publishing through the non-fiction door. I am querying all three pieces at this time.

How many places have you contacted regarding this/these piece(s)?

Let me check my query notes … yup. Of the three books, one literary, one fantasy and the other non-fiction, I have sent more than 100 queries. I’m diligent about keeping this process moving and query at least one of the books every single week.

What hurdles have you run into when you tried to contact these companies?

I seldom try to contact an agent when I’ve just queried, but I have contacted them after they’ve received requested material (three chapters to full mss). I use email, remind them that they had requested the material and noted that it had passed the number of days they suggested it would take for the read (90 seems the usual). They’ve always replied quickly with an apology and note that they are behind or over loaded and will get to the requested material as soon as possible.

What kind of feedback have you been given?

The feedback ranges from wonderful to the typical form letters. Some are so vague it can make a writer’s head spin. Comments regarding the “missing X factor” or stating “wonderful plot, great character development and terrific prose but not for us” are not helpful. Needless to say, with the volume of queries I send out, I have enough rejections to wallpaper my office, but on the good side, at any given time, at least three agents have additional chapters of one of my books.

What frustrates you the most about this process?

I suppose everything about the process is frustrating but the key is to work through the frustrations and push on. I’m constantly working to improve everything from the query letters to the full manuscript. Taking classes and accepting assistance from professionals and published authors can be just as frustrating and even more confusing. For example, when one person offered help, they asked for various pieces and proceeded to completely rewrite the query letter for one of my books. It was actually funny … that query letter was the only thing that was working. I believe there comes a time when we as writers have to just take up the challenge and go with our gut; to trust ourselves and just do it. If something isn’t working look at every angle, our genre, the market tolerance for that genre, the writing, etc. It’s a “never give up” world and not for the weak of heart, that’s for sure.

Have you considered self-publishing?

I have not considered self publishing for a number of reasons. But some e-publishing may be in my future. I have several novels that aren’t my “loves” but are really good all the same. It may be a good avenue to at least earn a little and get more online exposure.

What tips can you give to those writers out there who are about to jump into the publishing world?

Gird your loins. Polish your armor. Believe in your cause. Never say never. Have I missed any clichés? I hate to say it, but the reason clichés apply to tackling the publishing world is because it may be the hardest thing a writer will ever attempt to conquer. There is definitely a badge of honor at the end. I want that and my advice is that if another writer doesn’t want it bad enough, get out of the pond.

What are your next steps?

I have a tiny advantage of having been in the marketing, advertising and PR business for many years. Using that experience and knowledge, I’m connecting with several other writers (published and unpublished) as well as a few publishers to help promote my clients’ soon to be released novels. This has strengthened not only my knowledge of how to assist in my own success when it comes, but it has clearly shown the lay of the land for me. As far as my writing career … easy. One foot in front of the other. A little e-publishing. Continue to query my novels. Continue to write. Continue to work on my cookbook proposal. And always remember that there’s a pot of gold at the end of the rainbow.

In addition to her writing website, Debbie also has a blog and a literary website filled with the work of many very talented writers.

A big ‘thank you’ to Debbie for sharing her story with us! If you have publishing story that you’d like to share with our readers, please drop us a line!

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The Road to Getting Published: Debbie Riley-Magnus’ Story

Some people are gifted with persuasiveness; most of us are not. But no worries – when nature fails, cleverness come in handy!

That’s exactly what Aristotle claimed: back in the Greece of the 4th century BC, he set the standard for effective communication starting from the simple assumption that the key to persuasion is in the idea.

The word ‘idea’ is the acronym for Inventio, Dispositio, Elocutio and Actio, which for Aristotle were the foundations of rhetoric, or the art of persuasion. The ancient Greek used rhetoric to gain the upper hand over rivals in trials (no lawyers at that time!) and in political debates. Now we can use the same tricks to write effective, engaging and persuasive text.

Inventio means discovery. For every text you need to find out a group of basic arguments that will give strength and credibility to your message. Some of these arguments will be apparent (e.g. scientific truth), others will require some effort to make them apparent to your readers. For instance, you might use deductive or inductive reasoning, exemplify using metaphors and analogy, appeal to horse sense or recall concepts from the common imagery.

Dispositio means arrangement and refers to the logical order of the building blocks you found during your Inventio phase. There isn’t a fixed structure to fit every message or purpose, but remember that you can hit the mark even with a simple introduction -> arguments -> conclusion order.

Elocutio means delivery and has to do with the style of your text. Reading a lot of essays, articles and blogs will help you recognize and learn to exploit at least some of the most common figures of speech. A first step towards oratory mastery could be looking up “rhetorical strategies” in Google!

Actio is action – in other words, presenting your arguments in a public speech. A brilliant actio is one that makes savvy use of gestures, tone of voice, pauses and other forms of body language or non-verbal communication. Not every text is meant to be performed, but pretending to perform what you’ve written in front of an audience may help you check if your writing is really consistent and compelling. For example, do you need to add many non-verbal clues to make it work? If so, then maybe it needs some revision!

Remember: start your writing from an idea!

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The Ideas Behind Ideas