SLUSH LESSONS: What? Where am I?

I’ve seen it over and over again, not only in my own stories, but in the slush pile: the tale begins as the main character wakes up. Be it in bed, in a suspended-animation tube, in a hospital, in a dark room—wherever—these beginnings are always the same. I know other editors who hate these beginnings with a passion, and I’m starting to see why.

Beginnings are hard, at least for me. Before I find that right voice, or POV, writing the beginning of a story can feel more like trying to slip into a pair of jeans that are too snug, too big, or too orange. Wake-up beginnings are a safe way to start a story because the author gets to wiggle around a bit before really getting to the meat. The character needs to look around (“Where is this story taking place?”), think about their situation (“Why am I telling this story?”/”How am I going to hook the reader?”), and then—usually—remember who they are (“Who is my character?”). It’s a who-what-when-where-why kind of beginning: all the info laid out at your feet.

But when I say “safe”, I mean that these beginnings are safe for the writer. It’s an easy place to start, and a lot of writers do it. Heck, I do it! But it’s a crutch. The stories that tend to stand out in the slush pile are ones in which we step mid-breath into an already unfolding scene. It doesn’t have to be high-action; it can be mid-conversation in a drawing room, so long as it’s interesting conversation. A beginning that steps unapologetically into the middle of things screams confidence and pre-thought: the author knows their world and what is happening so well that they don’t need to break it down for you the way wake-up beginnings do. Their world already exists, things are already happening and have been happening for years: you’re the one just stepping into it now.

And that’s not to say that wake-up beginnings can’t work. I’ve read a few that have worked brilliantly. Just remember, they’re very common, they’re fairly simple to write, and lots of other authors use them. Why not go back to that story you’ve got with the wake-up beginning and try something a little more daring?

(Note: I realize I’m using “their”, “they”, etc. as a word to replace “he” or “she” when referring to the anonymous “author”. I don’t care. Choosing either “he” or “she” annoys me, and for this, as a blog, I’m going to write it how I like. So there! XP)

 

SLUSH LESSONS: Introduction

Over the past few weeks, I’ve been playing around with an odd idea. Some of you may have read the first SLUSH LESSON (9/6/09) about an element of cover letters. Some of you may have even read the original SLUSH LESSON article I wrote for the APEX blog.

Here’s the situation: As an amateur writer myself, I’ve learned a lot just by reading slush. There are times when the lesson is obvious (“Ever heard of capitalization?”), and other times when it’s not (“Oh, crap. I do this, too, don’t I?”). I was chatting with my wonderful mother the other day, and she recommended that I start jotting down some of the things I’ve picked up. It’s all useful information, after all.

I thought about that, and then decided to up it one more: if I was going to benefit from what I was learning, why shouldn’t others? Back before I worked for APEX, I would have loved to know some of this stuff. The editing side of publishing can be so elusive and mysterious, so subjective and intangible from the writer’s side. It really does seem sometimes like you’re shooting in the dark. And when so often rejections come as form letters, it can be hard to even know what K.O.’d a story you thought was great.

So I’m going to attempt to write a continuing number of SLUSH LESSONS. I’ll be keeping them short (no more than 400 words tops, preferably 250), and they’ll be focused on only one issue at a time (when I can manage it). I’d like to write one to two a week–I’ve got a growing list of topics–but it may take me a little while to make it firm. For now, I’ll shoot to post one SLUSH LESSON per week, on Sunday, since all the webcomics usually take Sunday off, and therefore there’s nothing else to mindlessly check the interwebs for! ^_-

And we’ll just see how it goes. I know it’s way too early for this, but if you’re a writer and have a specific question you’d like to know the answer to about submitting, I’d be happy to focus a SLUSH LESSON on answering submission editor questions, provided I have a useful answer. If you do have a question, just post it here in a comment, and I’ll address it as soon as I can. If you’d prefer to use some other method of contact, you can find my email on the “contact” page.

Second SLUSH LESSON will go up this afternoon. ^_^

 

Weekend Blogging: Why It Works

Actually, I have only a vague idea of why I’ve only seemed to be blogging on the weekends lately.

Part of it is indeed the rampant speed of my weekday schedule, which utilizes almost every free moment of my time, which might otherwise be used for blogging. Part of it is because I’ve switched my writing schedule from my lunch breaks to my evenings, and my APEX work from my evenings to my lunch break. It’s made me a lot more productive in both arenas, so much so that I may actually be able to start taking on more APEX work soon! (LE GASP!) I also figured out how to get my internet to work at the local B&N, so I can actually go online and work on that stuff during my break, since my workplace has removed its wifi. T_T

But that means that in the evening, I have a lot more flexibility to do my own writing, and as this past week has shown, that could mean writing from 8-10:30PM, which leaves little time for blogging since I’m usually down for the count by 10 most weekdays. (Note: I am not a morning person. 6:30AM wake-ups make me a grumpy bear.)

Anyway, in short, I’ll see about putting up at least brief posts mid-week, but the longer ones will still likely occur more on the weekends.

So far, this weekend has been a ton of fun, and today seems to be keeping the tradition. Friday, Andy and I hung out with Nate & Sadie and went to the Bridgeport Brewery in the Pearl District of PDX. Much fun was had by all, but man the seasonal Imperial IPA kicked my butt. Tasted great though! ^_^

Then Saturday, after junking out on doughnuts and watching an hour or so of Looney Toons which we’ve gotten from Netflix, Andy and I got him an office chair he’d found on Craigslist for $25, and headed over to B&N to figure out how to get my interwebs to work properly. We did so (Andy’s magic touch=some unknown electromagnetic effect on electronics that make them obey him when they scorn me for doing *the exact same thing*), and I had one of those lovely Pumpkin Spice Lattes. Mmmmm…. Though the extreme caffeine dose (I don’t normally drink coffee) put me in a weird drainage mode all afternoon. I was like a Roomba losing charge even while it sits on its charger!

Later, Kaku and his girlfriend came over for pizza and a movie (HOT FUZZ, why not?!). The pizza turned out pretty good and we all had a great time chatting and eating and hanging out. It was lovely!

Today, I’m thinking about trying to repot our sickly Ficus, get some APEX work taken care of, maybe do a little painting, and then later get some writing done. See below for more info on writing.

Writing Stuff:

 

A Productive Weekend

It feels like it’s been a productive weekend, though I’m not sure it’s more than a feeling. I did get a lot of writing done yesterday (as of this instant, about +3k on “DARK MATTER: or, HOW I FINISHED THE NEVERENDING NOVEL”), and had fun watching Dexter with Kaku and his fam!

We started cleaning up the rat-nest today, too, since the living room, et. al, were starting to get unlivable. What with Andy’s finals and my work trip this last week, we just kind of let things go. But it’s looking a little better now; Boomba has scooted around the carpet and made it all clean, which in and of itself is a huge improvement. The kitchen is still a wreck, and we haven’t done grocery shopping yet… hmm… Gotta eat cheap this week. I need to balance the budget too… Boy, is that something I’m not looking forward to! XD

 

*_*

I am insane.

>END POST<

 

I’ll have a Weekend, please: shaken, not stirred

I’m so tired. It’s been a long week, and thank goodness it’s Friday tomorrow, because if it turned out to be another Wednesday that felt like a Friday, I’d just… I don’t know what I’d do, but it’d involve a lot of whining and foot-stamping, and maybe a little rolling on the floor.

Let’s do a MADCAP-RE-CAP!

Friday, Sept. 11th, 5:30PM–Downtown at PDX Grill happy hour for Andy’s birthday palooza with Kaku and the Spangler-Babbits Co. Had a Lavendar Cosmo (<3) and then a White Cosmo (also <3), and then we ate the beef satay and spicy fries; there was much rejoicing.

Friday, Sept. 11, 8:30PM–Over on NE 13th and Flanders. Lost. Propositioned by pot-head; we declined. Got back in the car to meet Spangler-Babbits Co. at the Rogue Brewery on NW 13th and Flanders.

Friday, Sept. 11, 10:30PM–After a CANNON of free beer (chocolate stout + Hazelnut ale = the “Snickers”), a free t-shirt, a free pint of Dead-Guy Ale, and a LOT of laughter, plus bathroom signs that didn’t make any sense (you guess while buzzed and need to go: Barley vs. Hops), drove home (safely) and went immediately to bed.

Saturday, Sept. 12, 5:00PM–Kaku’s parents’ place for BBQ. There was much chatting, much laughing, much delicious salmon and steak, much cheesecake, and a good time had by all!

Saturday, Sept. 12, 10:00PM–Kaku’s apartment for a viewing of Ironman with his awesome surround sound system. There was much giggling, much exploding, much heckling, and a good time was had by all!

Sunday, Sept. 13–I don’t actually remember what I did on the 13th. Took it easy and relaxed, caught up on Apex stuff, while Andy studied. Packed for Monday’s work trip up to Bellevue, WA.

Monday, Sept. 14th, 7:30AM–Went to work as usual, but with an extra bag for overnight stuff. Andy started finals.

Monday, Sept. 14th, 8:30PM–In Bellevue, WA, after a 4 hour drive on I-5. Listened to half of H.G. Wells’ THE INVISIBLE MAN. Checked in at the Silver Cloud Inn, went to get sushi with bosses. There was Japanese beer, and a good time was had by all!

Tuesday, Sept. 15th, 7:15AM–Checked out of the Silver Cloud and went to the Hyatt for the convention! Got to meet a lot of people face-to-face for the first time in person, and it was a lot of fun! Shoes hurt like a b@#$! though…

Tuesday, Sept. 15th, 9:30PM–Arrived back home in Portland. Went promptly to bed.

Then the week started up as usual, though Wednesday felt like Friday, and I still need to feel like I actually slept. >.< Have been keeping up well with Apex submissions, though, now that I’ve switched to managing them during my lunch break. Now I just need to make sure I keep on top of the free-time writing.

Writing Stuff:

 

CHECK.

“Sidrie’s Last Battle” is in finished rough-draft form.

…it still needs so much work. >.O

Also, since I probably won’t get a chance to post tomorrow: HAPPY BIRTHDAY ANDY! ^_^

 

I ran a MILE!

I so did! I jogged a mile this afternoon!

Okay, for those who are in perfect shape and run all the time, blah blah blah, I DON’T CARE! I’ve been wanting to get in shape for a while, and just haven’t found a good medium. Granted, I still don’t *like* jogging–I’d prefer to swim, which is what I did out in Hawaii–but at least it’s something. I’m working on self-improvement. Still hurts like a b-

But I ran a whole mile without stopping even once! Granted, I was jogging with Andy, who’s the jogging machine, but I still feel good about myself. Maybe one of these days, if I keep working on it, I’ll actually be able to jog and hold a not-gasping conversation in the process! XD

Writing Stuff:

X Write Chapter 7 of the “Novel”<–DONE! ^_^
- Write Chapter 18 of “The Thief Dilemma”
- Post Chapter 18 of TD
- Finish “Sidrie’s Last Battle”
- Edit “Sidrie’s” to final draft
- Submit “Sidrie’s”
- Edit “Swallow” to final draft
- Submit “Swallow”

And I sent “Swallow” to my first editor, so we’ll see what she thinks when she gets some time to read it! ONWARD AND UPWARD!

 

Three Days and Four Nights of Bliss

I love long weekends. I’ve needed this extra time off so much the last few weeks! The best part is that so far this weekend, I’ve been “in the moment”, enjoying the time off without worrying about anything else. I haven’t done everything I wanted to yet, but I’m not worrying about that either! Ha! Take that, part-of-me-who’s-a-worrywart!

In the efforts of the past two weeks to minimize stress and maximize relaxation time (without sacrificing work, Apex, writing, etc.), I’ve officially swapped my lunch-break writing time with my after-work Apex time. I get a lot more done for Apex since I have a guaranteed hour every day to focus on slushing, and then when I get home, I can post up any quick announcements, respond to submissions, and then shut the computer down for the evening so I can have “not work” time. In the evenings, then, I make sure to set down at least an hour to write. I’m enjoying this swap, because it gives me a lot of flexibility when it comes to writing: if it’s not working, I only torture myself for that hour; if it *is* working, then I have the flexibility to keep going, which solves the issue of hitting that time-wall when I was writing during my lunch break.

I’ve also been trying to squeeze in an hour or so of reading before bed, which I think is helping immensely, too, in managing my stress load. Ultimately, I think I’d be the happiest living in a beach house with only writing to do, but since that’s on the far side of never-in-a-million-years, this new organization seems to help me really relax. Still working out a few kinks, but so far so good.

Writing Stuff:

 

Slush Lessons: Cover Letters 101 – Don’t Shoot Yourself in the Foot

There are plenty of instructions on how to write a cover letter, but one of the issues I occasionally see is rarely addressed: don’t down-talk yourself (or your story) in a cover letter. From the editor’s seat, if you don’t believe in yourself, why should I? And yet from time to time I see this self-depreciation pop up.

As a writer and a submitter, I’ve often been tempted—out of what I like to think is humility—to down-talk myself. But thankfully, I usually recognize this impulse and stop it before I get carried away. It can’t help your case if the first thing an editor sees is “this story probably isn’t very good” or “you probably won’t want to accept this, but”.

So, for the story’s sake, I’ve learned:

DON’T tell an editor how many times the story has been rejected so far. (That means their publication wasn’t the top of your list, and that you think they publish stuff other people don’t want to pay for.)

DON’T tell an editor how many revisions or drafts this story has been through. (One, it doesn’t matter if you just printed it off or you’ve gone over it for thirty years trying to decide if that comma really should be there; as far as the editor cares, it was perfect the first draft you hammered out. Two, it means the story wasn’t great and has required a lot of work; you don’t want an editor thinking about how much more work it may need.)

DON’T say anything about yourself or the story which involves “I haven’t”, “I’m not”, “this isn’t”, or “you probably won’t.” (Don’t tell an editor what his or her opinion will be, and let them assume you’re a pro.)

….

Note: I’ve also learned that none of these things will get you rejected; after all, the story must stand on its own. But it will likely get you an email (at least if you submit it to me) that suggests you avoid the self-doubt in your cover letter.