I’ve done it — I’ve entered my first “real” writing contest. I just sent in a submission to the Chicago-North RWA Fire & Ice contest, using the first 25 pages of the NaNoWriMo novel I wrote in 2007.

No, I don’t expect to win (though it would be nice), and I don’t even expect to final (though i can hope!), but I learned something important while editing like a maniac to enter this contest.

Not only did I learn a lot about self-editing (when you can only enter the first 25 pages, you want to make sure it counts), but I learned a lot about myself and my writing.

I learned that:

• I should have edited this manuscript a long time ago
• I really want to KEEP editing this manuscript
• I still believe in this story and love it, unlike last year’s NaNo novel
• There’s a reason that this novel was the easiest and most fun to write… even though it was the first one I’d ever written… and that is…
• I think that Women’s Fiction (ie. chick lit) is actually “my” genre. WTH??? I know. I know.

…and that was the scariest part. You’d think that my paranormal or my MG fantasy would have been the easiest, most natural thing to write, because that’s what I read the most of. That’s what I love, and that’s what I’ll pick up time and time again. But neither of my 2008 or 2009 novels flowed right… neither of them had that ‘it’ factor, that spark that drew me back to the keyboard and the characters. For some reason, I had difficulty connecting with the characters, and the story was always missing something.

Not so with Jacqueline and her quest of self-discovery. I don’t know if that’s because it was the first novel I’d ever attempted, and therefore had fewer expectations of myself (or of how to write a novel), or if it’s because that’s the only one of the three that I think really has a piece of myself in it.

Either way, I’m wondering if maybe, just maybe, “chick lit” or as they’re calling it these days, “humorous women’s fiction” is what I’m supposed to be writing right now. I have a second manuscript in this genre on the go already, and pre-planned concepts for at least 2 other novels in the genre.

So, would it really be so bad if I edited this manuscript and made this the book that I query?

I used to be worried that if I did that, I’d be tied into this genre. That somehow it wasn’t “respectable” enough, or that I wouldn’t get taken seriously, or that it would kill any chances of ever writing fantasy in the future.

Well, you know what? It’s time to stop being afraid. It’s the book I love, and it’s the story I believe in. Why be ashamed? I wrote it, and that’s that. Lots of women love women’s fiction — heck, Jane Austen was the “chick lit” author of her day! — and there’s no shame in writing it if it helps women to escape into a good book with characters they can identify with. And so what if it eventually sells and I’m locked into a contract writing these kinds of books?

I enjoy writing them, and at the end of the day, isn’t that what counts? Not some false sense of “what’s respectable” or not. That’s selling myself and many authors I love short. Who am I to say it’s not good enough for me, even though I love their work? That’s prideful and a bad attitude.

So, from today forward, I’m going to stop selling myself short. I’m going to be proud of this manuscript, fix it up, and make the best darn effort I can at submitting it to the world at large. I would be honored and blessed to someday see my Chick Lit/Women’s fiction novel alongside the likes of Marta Acosta, Kristin Billerbeck, and Meg Cabot. I respect those women and they write damn good books with real characters, THE END.

I’m proud of my work, I’m proud of the genre, and it’s time I started showing it.

I’m going to write what I feel called to write, and stop thinking in terms of what I “should” do.

Sure, I’ll continue to devour fantasy novels for my reading pleasure, but I’m also going to write what’s fun for me, what’s enjoyable, and what comes naturally.

…but enough about me. How about you? Have you ever written something you thought was “your genre” only to discover that what you loved to write fell into another category? And if so, did you have a hard time accepting it, or was it an easy transition?

When it comes to this blog, more often than not I find myself struggling with what to write.

Do people want to read writing tips? News of my own work(s) in progress? Silly and random reflections on life, the universe, & everything? More book reviews?

I have no idea, so typically I’ll let the day go by without posting anything at all. Well, that’s got to stop, because traffic has dropped off significantly since the end of last year, which means… I’m probably boring you all to death. Ack! Or, I’m just not posting enough to draw anyone’s interest. That’s fair enough, and I take full responsibility for it.

So, I’m going to make a resolution to post more regularly, even if it just means popping on to say what I’ve done to justify my existence that day. I enjoy reading updates on other writers’ blogs about their progress, as I find it helps to encourage me in my own work (or at least make me feel like I’m not alone with my struggles!), so hopefully I can give back that way.

I guess this all ties back into the question that’s been floating around for the past few weeks now: “Why do you blog?”

Well, I’m not entirely sure. I guess it’s a place to put my word vomit now and again, as gross as that sounds.

That said, here are a couple of topics I hope to comment on/post about in the near future:

• Critique groups (I’m a new member of one, and it’s been an interesting start… good, mind you, but interesting!)
• Querying (Something the crit group has been focusing on, and which I’ve noticed a lot of people are struggling with this month)
• Self-Editing/Revision (I’m taking a revision course with Holly Lisle and I’m also in the midst of a self-editing workshop with Angela James, so I’d like to share some insights that I’ve learned)
• Dealing with stress as a writer (A constant battle!)
• Finding short story markets & submitting on deadline
• Reading like a writer

Are there any topics you’d be interested in hearing about in the coming year? I think with this little brainstorm, I’ve come up with enough to keep me going for awhile, but if anyone comes here and has an idea or a question, I’d be happy to hear it and address it!

(…and yes, I’m still hoping for that blog layout reboot sometime in the near future. The Husband has been incredibly busy lately, so it just hasn’t happened yet… but I haven’t forgotten about it!)

Okay, I’ll admit… I didn’t actually have a personal Q&A with the Toxic Friends author, but when I received the book in the mail, I was also sent some promo material that I assume is perfectly fine to share with you all as well!

If you’re a fiction writer, here’s a chance to get a quick look into the processes of a non-fiction writer’s work; if you’re a non-fiction writer, here’s a quick peek at Barash’s research & what she learned.

Without further ado…

A Quick Q & A with Susan Shapiro Barash, author of Toxic Friends

Q. What in your research surprised you?

A. Regardless of age, ethnicity, or location, women are deeply invested in their female friends and hard-pressed to give them up.

Q. What is the #1 complaint of women about their friendships?

A. Time and availability are big issues for friendships; women of all ages complain that their friends are “not there” for them. Thus the biggest problem is expectations. Women expect so much of their friends, rather than accepting what their friends’ limitations are.

Q. Why do women have close female friends, but most men say that their best friend is their wife?

A. Women appreciate the company of other women and this satisfies needs that the husband can’t satisfy. Men, who give less energy to their male friends and expect less in return, are loners. Thus, they find that their wives suit them when they want companionship.

Q. Can you change how your friends (or Frenemies) treat you?

A. In many cases you can’t actually change how your friends treat you but you can change your behavior in the relationship. If a woman can establish better boundaries and communicate her needs and frustrations – women don’t often do this because they are fearful of losing the friend if they speak their mind – the friendship can take on another hue. This requires self-esteem and confidence to take a stand with a friend in a suboptimal relationship.

Q. Can you really change your role in friendships, such as Doormat to Leader?

A. I interviewed several women who did change their roles as friends. For example, a Leader who lost her group and realized she didn’t want the responsibility and instead sought out a Trophy Friend who would organize events for her. I interviewed a Doormat who decided she’d had enough and became so strong and independent that she became a Leader. A Frenemy rarely changes her tune, nor does the Misery Lover, and the Authentic Friend can remain that, but sometimes even she loses patience with her friends. The Sacrificer also hits her threshold, and can ditch her pattern, becoming a Sharer instead.

****

Sounds pretty interesting, doesn’t it? Thanks to St. Martin’s press for the Q & A material, and thanks to you for reading! And just a little teaser… I may have a copy of this to give away sometime in the near future, so stay tuned!

This week, I have a lot on my plate. I wanted to hit 50k by Sunday night (didn’t do it, as I was sick for most of last week), and I want to outline/write/edit/submit two short stories by November 30th, both of which still need everything done on them.

Naturally, I started freaking out. “But I wanted to finish the novel this month, not just hit the word count!” I lamented. “I’m failing, I just can’t do both…”

Which in turn spurred the wise words of my husband, Mr. Practical (and also Mr. Calm-Down-You’re-Overreacting-Again-Faith): “Faith, every month is NaNoWriMo for you, so it doesn’t matter if you finish the novel or not. You’re going to keep writing at this pace regardless, because that’s how you’ll develop your career… so just do what you can and don’t stress yourself out.”

Ah, easier said than done. But he did make a good point: Writing a lot means accomplishing a lot, and if I don’t stop writing every day, the novel will get finished one way or another, regardless. And, I can switch over and write the short stories this month without worrying (apparently).

So, every month is National Novel Writing Month. Okay, maybe not 50,000 words on the same story, but if I write 50,000 words every month just in general… that’ll still be a lot of work accomplished.

Have you ever totalled up all the writing you do in a month?

I’m talking: blogging, writing-related social networking, newsletters or writing-related emails, edits (words that are added), outlining, notes you take on the various books you read, AND your WIP.

Try it for a month. I challenge you to open a Word document for December and copy/paste every piece of writing you do that somehow relates to writing (social networking on writing blogs counts!). I think at the end of the month, you’ll be shocked at how much writing you actually do, not to mention have a visual of where the majority of your time was spent.

I’d be willing to be that you’re living every month like NaNoWriMo too… just maybe not focusing all your energies on one specific novel. You’re constantly doing NaNoWriMo, just not under that particular name… maybe, NaWriMo (National Writing Month), over and over again.

I’d say that’s pretty darn encouraging.

I’ve been pretty lax at posting the last couple of days… in all honesty, I haven’t been entirely sure what to write about. I know that sounds ridiculous – how many millions of writing topics are there to choose from? – but there you have it.

So, here we are today. And today, I want to touch on marketing, because it’s relevant to me right now. “Oh noooo,” I hear you say, “Not this again… I’m so sick of hearing about writers and marketing…” I know, I know. Aren’t we all? We know we have to do it, but it doesn’t have a lot of real relevance for us until we “get the call”, so to speak. Awhile back, I posted about developing your platform before you get published, and many of you mentioned that your blog is your primary platform at this stage, while you develop your writing skills.

But what about your marketing skills? Not everyone has a natural aptitude for marketing, in the same way that 98% of writers need to continue to develop their skills, regardless of their career stage. What does that mean? It means that you can’t just expect to be able to do marketing to the best of your ability on the first go-around. And if the first go-around happens to be your first novel, well… you might end up shooting yourself in the foot, due to a simple lack of experience.

There is, however, a solution. And that’s called: practice. Yes, just like your writing practice, you can practice marketing. How? Don’t you need something to market, in order to know whether you’ve been effective or not? Yes, you do. And you don’t need to necessarily market something writing-related.

This will be my first year as the NaNoWriMo Municipal Liaison for my region. When I signed up for it, I thought “this’ll be fun”… but as I thought about it, I realized the kind of potential the position has. As the ML, I would be responsible for getting word out about the event, for trying to recruit new people, for subtly asking for donations, and for keeping everyone informed throughout the entire month. In essence, the ML’s job leading up to November is marketing.

During October, I posted press releases on all the community bulletin boards I could find. I emailed newspapers, radio stations, and put up flyers. I recruited another individual to help put up flyers and spread word of mouth, and I sent press packages to about 15 high school English departments. I created a Twitter account for the regional NaNo group, made a website, updated the Facebook group. Then, I waited.

Participants began trickling in, but I was discouraged by the lack of interest from local media. Was I doing something wrong? I still don’t know if there was a better way to get information out, but it means I learned something — I learned what routes don’t get coverage of my event/product. I learned that instead of emailing certain people, next year I’ll have to pick up the phone. I learned where posters worked best in terms of generating participants, and where they were ignored. And November hasn’t even started yet!

This week, I received two requests for interviews. Two! Yesterday I did an interview for a local news program, which will air on Friday. Next week, I have a tentative date scheduled for another interview, for a local university news program. I now know my postings on community bulletin boards worked, and in the coming week, I’m sure I’ll find out whether television coverage works too!

I tell you all this to say: You can learn to market your product, right now. Then, by the time you’re published and your book is ready for the world, you’ll have a better idea of what works to reach people and what doesn’t. Sure, you may get a bit of direction from your publisher’s marketing department, but we all know that it’ll be mostly up to us to get the word out.

So if you can’t volunteer as a NaNoWriMo ML, what kind of position will let you flex and strengthen that marketing muscle?

How about:

• church events
• SPCA fundraisers
• local newspaper subscriptions
• community theatre promos
• other community events
• your kids’ school events
• local sports teams

…etc, etc, etc. There’s really no end of positions available for marketing and promotion, and most non-profits will be falling down grateful for volunteers who want to help them promote this event or that fundraiser or even just the organization or team itself. Simply tell them that you’re looking to learn some marketing skills, and you’d like to do it with them — be up front about it, and be willing to make mistakes and learn what works and what doesn’t.

Just plunge on in, and start flexing that muscle. Don’t let it get flabby and saggy, because when the time comes for you to use it when it counts, you want a tight marketing muscle that can do the job properly, and do it well.

And here’s a little tip as well: When you try your hand at marketing, your name is “out there”. After a time, it’ll become familiar and recognizable in your community… which means that you’ll have plenty of connections to draw on once that published book is in your hands and ready to be sold. People prefer to buy things from people they know and trust… so get out there, and be that person!

I recently started working as a volunteer editor for the online flash fiction magazine Flash Me (don’t worry, it’s not as sketchy as it sounds!). I saw an ad for the positon on someone’s blog (my apologies to whoever posted it, I wish I could give you credit!), clicked over to the magazine site, and was pleased to see that it was an ezine I was already familiar with. I’d read their stories on several occasions, and thought it would be a good fit. What a great way to earn some editorial experience! Plus, it’s a paying market for the authors — and the zine has been in publication since 2003 — which, to me, screams “credibility!”

Good for the resume, good for the experience.

That said, what have I learned in my first 3 weeks as a slush reader?

• There’s a lot of potential out there. There are a lot of stories that are almost good enough, and you can see the raw talent… often it just hasn’t been refined and polished yet. A little more experience, a little more practice, and you can sense when a writer has the potential to someday shine.
• There are limitless ideas. I never know what I’m going to see when I open up a new submission, since the title often reveals very little about the piece. However, most ideas have been done before, and there is a real danger of writing obviously derivative work. Writers must be careful to give their own spin to an oft-used idea, or else the story will simply come off as sloppy.
• Formatting is everything. When I open up a document that’s 1000 words of narrative without any dialogue, paragraph breaks, or scene changes, I groan inside. And that gives you 2 strikes already, in my book.
• Authors need to read guidelines & know their markets. PLEASE. Please. I’m shocked when I read something that’s submitted and is obviously an experimental piece. When was the last time you saw an experimental piece in Flash Me? Read the entire guidelines before submitting. Check if you’re actually submitting to the right place for your work. PLEASE.
• Authors need to PROOFREAD. I’m even more shocked when something comes in with spelling errors, formatting errors, grammatical errors, crude sentence structure… and so on… and so forth… I simply don’t understand how people can submit something that’s full of errors and expect their work to be taken seriously.
• Authors need to do their research. Whether it’s location, a specific situation, a disease, a creature… I don’t care what, but please know what you’re talking about before you make that specific thing integral to your story. There are many, many resources today to make you an expert on your ‘thing’ if it isn’t something you already know about. It’s also important to know your stuff on specific topics because you can seriously offend someone through your own ignorance if you don’t do your research.
• It’s a real joy — and I do mean real, no sarcasm here — to read something so good that it feels like a breath of fresh air. It makes all the time spent worth it. I mean that.

While it’s only been 3 weeks, I have to say that I’m beginning to empathize with editors in bigger magazine/book publishing houses. If a small market like ours has these ups & downs, how much more extreme must it be for them?

Needless to say, when I submit my work anywhere in the future, I’ll be reading the guidelines extra carefully, and researching the market even more closely. I think sometimes we as writers get so caught up in the creation part of our work that we skim over or rush the selling, perhaps without even realizing what we’re doing.

So, I’d like to thank Jennifer at Flash Me, the Editor-in-Chief, for allowing me to become a part of her fun & exciting publication. I encourage you to head over to the website and read some of the stories from the last issue (new issue published Oct.31!) — I particularly recommend ‘Survivalist’ and ‘Going Home’.

Question: When you submit, how carefully do you read the guidelines & research the market? Are there specific things you know you skim over because you don’t like doing them, or are you a stickler for detail?

A typical morning for me includes, in sequence:

• Waking up (shocker, I know)
• Coffee
• Checking email, Facebook, LibraryThing, blog feed, Twitter, various forums I’m members of
• Reviewing stories for Flash Me
• Wandering about online
• Opening various work pieces & staring at them for awhile
• At 10am, the bird gets woken up & fed
• Rinse & repeat with the checking email, etc sequence…

So when do I get around to actually writing fiction? Well, more often than not, I don’t. I usually only get fresh fiction writing done on days that I head to our local cafe and sit down determined to type. I have excellent focus there, and I always get lots done. But as I’ve been trying to reorient and reorganize myself this fall, I had to take a hard look at how my time was spent and admit that one or two afternoons a week just isn’t going to cut it. I have too many ideas, too many aspirations, to produce so little.

I thought about NaNoWriMo. Every November, I manage to punch out 50,000 words in a month — how is it that I can manage to produce so much in that one month, and then fall off drastically for the rest of the year? Unacceptable.

At the urging of my husband, and prodding of my own heart, today I started a new plan. I’m taking a page out of James Scott Bell’s book, and am going to try and get my writing done in the morning. According to his Twitter feeds, he always writes 500 words in the morning, no matter what. His daily quota is 1000 words, so if he can get 500 done at the very beginning of the day, then getting the second 500 is a much less daunting task when the entire remainder of the day stretches out before him.

I agree! And while I may be bleary eyed, cranky, fuzzy-headed, and rather immobile in the mornings, for whatever reason, that’s the time my Muse loves best. Maybe that’s because my Self isn’t fully conscious yet, so she’s able to communicate with me best before my left brain takes over for the rest of the day.

Today was day #1 of the plan. The goal is 1000 words in the morning, and then even if I get precious little accomplished during the rest of the day… at least I’ll have that 1000 words to be proud of, and which will accumulate over time. If for some reason my Muse sleeps in one of these mornings, that 1000-word quota can be transferred to my ebook writing or SEO article creation. It doesn’t matter what… I just need to produce, and do it at a time that I know works best for my own mind & body.

Some people work best at night, or in the evenings after dinner. Some work best on weekends. Everyone is different, so my question for today is, when does your Muse prefer to come out to play?

This past weekend, I performed my first dance solo on stage. What does this have to do with writing, you ask? Just hang in there, I think I know where I’m going with this.

I prepared my solo for weeks. Months, even. I chose my music, my theme & style for the dance, my costume, and tried to make my dance & appearance stand apart – even just a little bit – from the other bellydancer I knew would be performing solo that night.

I was nervous… very nervous. The other bellydancer was an experienced soloist, who dances at weddings/parties/community events, so she knew exactly what she was doing, at least in my mind. I’d never seen her dance before, I’d simply heard some wonderful things about her. “I want to be like that,” I thought, “I want to inspire comments from the people who see me dance.”

So I practiced. I rehearsed. I drove an hour away from home, on numerous occasions, to use studio space that was far bigger than the space at home… it was a better resource, so I could create a better dance.

Performance day came closer. My dance was completely choreographed, I’d rehearsed it enough times that I could dance it in my sleep, my costume was ready, and I had a bag full of ‘back-up’ items just in case anything went wrong on the day of the show.

Then, on the day of the show, for the first time in my life… I realized I had stage fright. Where did this come from? I was fine putting the dance together, refining it, changing what didn’t work, creating a sparkly costume to complement the steps… but when it hit me that I’d be all alone up there, showcasing my hard work to a crowd of people there to watch ‘serious dance’ – who’d probably never seen a bellydancer before – and who could reject my work in a setting where I could see it on their faces… I panicked. I broke down. I didn’t want to do it anymore. I wanted to keep my dance and my sparkly costume to myself, hidden away at home, where no one could see it… and no one could reject it.

Of course, the only way I could actually get out of it would be to break an ankle or fall violently ill, neither of which seemed to be the best course of action. I arrived at the venue, put on the costume – enjoyed plenty of compliments on my shimmery outer self – and headed to the stage. There was no turning back, and when my music started, all those nerves and butterflies disappeared, because… what was the point of being nervous anymore? It was too late to do anything about it – I’d done the best I could – so I danced, and left my heart on the stage.

There were plenty of scowlers in the crowd (I imagine their brains going “this doesn’t look anything like contemporary or lyrical, what does this woman think she’s doing?”). There were also some smiles, so I danced to the smiles. I danced to make the people happy who appreciated the style of my performance.

Yes, I forgot choreography. I messed up, but I kept going. When you’re showcasing yourself to the world, the worst thing you can do is freeze up, and mercifully I had the strength to take the stumbles in stride and finish strong. They applauded, I left the stage.

Three days later, I watched the video. I saw all the mistakes I made, I cringed when my elbows were turned in or my arms made a sloppy transition, or I forgot to look up… but now I knew where to work on next time. I knew what to focus on, and what I should fix. In the meantime, I received a number of compliments from people who actually enjoyed my performance (much to my surprise). It felt good. I’d done what I’d set out to do, and the people who didn’t like it? Well, they didn’t bother to tell me, so who cares? All I can do is create a better performance the second time around, and hope it reaches even more people.

…by now, I’m sure you see where I’m going with this. Performing your first solo is very much, in so many ways, like writing. You create the best product you can, package it with a sparkly cover letter (or if you’re published, a shiny cover), and reach deep within yourself for the strength to place it out there on the literary stage: the desks of the people who become your first audience. Some will reject it, some will smile and ask for more, and some will love it enough to compliment you and anticipate your next book.

We may also try to tailor our writing to suit the established norm of the genre. Like a more experienced dancer and a new soloist, we see the trends and try to follow them, but also tweak and change so that our work stands out and is seen as just a little bit different.

We writers pour our hearts and souls out onto the paper stage, take our fumbles as they come, and – hopefully – finish with a smile on our faces, no matter what. Rejection hurts, but we need to take chances – to send our work out into the spotlight – in order to receive acceptance.

And now that I’ve performed my first solo, I feel far more ready to try it again.

Banish the fear. Step into the spotlight and give it all you’ve got. Leave your heart on the metaphorical literary stage, and don’t worry about the people who glare and wonder why your work doesn’t look like ‘this’ or ‘that’. Because someone, somebody, out there is going to smile – and that’s when you’ll know it’s all been worth it.

I definitely dropped the ball last week when it came to posting. And I  had this whole series of posts in mind on platforms & new media, and a nice pile of shiny information to go along with it. Of course, Wednesday rolled around, I reached down into my pile of conference papers and found… well, nothing. What the…?

It turns out I’ve misplaced my sheets from the New Media session at Write!Canada, which I was going to use to write some brilliant (haha) & informative posts on platforms. I could try to wing it from memory, but… you guys deserve better than that. I think the best idea right now is to put the platform series on hold until I can track down my notes (oh noes, does this mean I have to clean the *shudder* office?!?!).

Until then (or until I can think of a new topic), please enjoy this quote I found several weeks back:

“There’s nothing to writing. All you do is sit down at typewriter and open a vein.”
- Red Smith

No kidding! But what about those times that you sit down to write, open the vein, and come up dry? Like your lifeblood has drained out? Yikes… it’s scary, but it happens. How do you find that inspiration again when you’re drained of ideas, motivation, inspiration, or even the will to keep writing?