Forgive me if I sound a bit rant-y in this post, it’s nothing against anyone personally. But I have a point to make to the generation below me. Maybe you’ve run into instances like this, or other writers who have this attitude:

“All those guidelines don’t really matter, right? Everyone basically wants things the same, it’s not like they’re going to care where my margins are or what font I use. They’re not really going to reject me / take away marks (in a competition) / etc.”

Oh, really?

Then why do you think they wrote up all those guidelines in the first place?

Let me explain why I’m a little bit ticked off today.

As some of you know (if you’ve been around the blog a little while), I’m currently teaching English Composition at a local college. It’s a class of first years (and some seniors who avoided taking the class until now), and I’m supposed to teach them how to write research papers / other forms of academic writing, and do it well.

Last night I spent 45 minutes talking about formatting bibliographies and citations. I could have spent a lot longer… if you’ve ever picked up a Turabian, you’ll know what I’m talking about. Forty-five minutes really isn’t that long.

I talked about all the different rules that go into formatting different types of sources: Books, articles from books, journal articles, webpages, ebooks, yada yada yada. Where the period goes when you cite an article versus where it goes when you cite a reference listing. Where the commas go. Where the quotation marks should sit, and which aspects are capitalized and which are not.

There are many rules, but they’re based on an international standard of formatting. We use this across the globe, so that we can understand each other and share information easily. Imagine the chaos if we all wrote bibliographies in different ways! It would be much more difficult to find the information you need, let alone make sense of the information.

So after spending all this time talking about bibliography formatting, and pointing out that one of their texts (the Turabian) had plenty more rules, a student raised his hand and asked:

“All of these things are pretty much the same, right? Like, we’re not going to lose marks if we—”

Yeah, I stopped him right there. YES, YOU ARE. I’ve told you the rules, and you are not the exception. You cannot claim ignorance. Why do you think I spent all that time explaining the rules, and make the citation book a required course text?

They will lose marks for a period in the wrong place. For capitalizing “ed.” in a bibliographic entry. For forgetting a comma. Because those are the rules, and I (and academia) have asked you to follow them in order to be a part of what you are studying.

In the same way, when you enter a contest, or send in a query, or even send off a manuscript to a critique service, you must follow the rules. They are there for a reason. You are not the exception, and you will lose marks in a competitive situation or be immediately rejected by an agent / market if you haven’t bothered to follow their guidelines.

Doesn’t matter how great your story is. If you don’t follow guidelines, you will not succeed.

You are not the exception.

Follow the guidelines. Follow the rules, no matter how trite or pedantic. Prove to your evaluators, whether a professor or a short story market or a literary agent, that you mean business and you can cooperate with others within your field.

If you don’t?

You’ll get back a pile of red-marked sheets or a “no, thanks” every time.

Rules and guidelines for writing are there for your benefit. Prove to the world that you can listen, understand, and follow direction.

You’ll be surprised how quickly your feedback changes for the better.

****

Have you run into authors like this before? Writers who seem to think they’re above playing by the rules?

Or maybe you were like this as a student and know better now… maybe you’ve noticed that the younger generation often thinks this way (not everyone, don’t start crying foul!).

Or maybe you’re still not sure why following guidelines is such a big deal?

Want to boost that online presence?

The lovely Rachael over at Rach Writes… is doing it again! She’s holding a platform building for writers who are looking to make more connections with each other and build up their online platforms.

The first Crusade ran last fall, and now she’s running it again!

What does being a Crusader involve? The original post is here, but in a nutshell, it’s this:

• support from & connection with other bloggers & aspiring authors
• writing posts & articles on our blogs that correspond with Crusade challenges
• “paying it forward” by helping each other build our platforms (through following, commenting, etc.)

The length of this Crusade runs from now until April 30th. If you join in the fun, I can almost guarantee your posts will have more comments, you’ll make new friends, and find yourself even more aware of how your writing platform has an impact on your public personality.

It’s fun! Follow new blogs, get new insights, meet new people in the same boat as you!

And there’s guaranteed to be plenty of silliness along the way.

Go post here to join the Crusade! See you there…

Since I haven’t particularly been in the ‘blogging mood’ this week (I blame the weather), I’m not feeling inspired enough to give you words of wondrous writing wisdom or whatnot. Though I am, apparently, an advocate of alliteration.

Anyway. Rather than attempt to wax poetic when the inspiration is clearly not there, I thought I’d give you something else… how about a story?

I wrote the short story below (flash, really) for storypraxis last month, based on the prompt ‘mist’. It was chosen for the bi-weekly ‘best of storypraxis’ online magazine, so if you want to read it in its original context, go here.

Read on, enjoy.

mist

by Faith Boughan

Marjorie knew the Mist would come for her eventually. What had her mother always said? “It comes for us all, in the end.” In the final throes of the disease that ravaged her body and mind, Marjorie’s mother vanished, the authorities chalking it up to a senile senior citizen having wandered off and met The End one way or another. Marjorie knew better. She’d been taken, and that’s all there was to it.

Tonight, Marjorie walked along the shoreline of the Bay of Fundy. Alone. What had she come for, anyway? She kicked a piece of driftwood that stood in her path, and watched it tumble across the sand, toward the waves.

She pulled her arms around herself and shivered. Her third husband, dead only six months prior. Her fourth child, lost to the violent temper of her second husband. Her job – god, how she’d hated that job anyway – gone, torn away by ‘concerned co-workers’ who’d reported her moments of weakness in the bathroom stall to the Upper Echelon of Management. And she, too broken to fight, simply packed up her desk and left.

So why here? Why now? She could try to convince herself it was for memory’s sake, a measure of comfort in feeling close to her long-gone family. But she’d be lying.

A tiny blonde girl ran down the beach, feet squishing in the mud where the tide rested only minutes before, splashing into the waves and squealing with an abandon that belonged solely to little girls in nature. Marjorie allowed herself a moment of happiness, remembering her own little girl before. But only a moment.

And in that moment, the Mist came. She felt it before she saw it, its tendrils reaching out to her, beckoning. Pleading. Begging.

It’s time, the Mist said, You’re ready now.

Marjorie stared into the Mist, and the Mist stared back. She shuddered, her hand outstretched and plunging into the Mist before she’d processed what she’d done. The Mist smiled and curled around her wrist, weaving between her fingers, caressing her deepest hurts.

She couldn’t look away. The face of her third husband stared back, full of longing.

No more pain, Marjorie.

The image was replaced by the faces of her children. Her four beautiful children, taken before their time.

No more sadness.

Her first husband, John, gazed back at her now. John, who she’d pushed away. She’d been too young to know what it meant to love, but he’d known. Oh, how he’d known.

Let it slip away, Marjorie.

And there was her mother, eyes vacant but whole.

Marjorie took a step forward and stopped. The Mist wanted her, called to her, offered comfort and release from an existence that wasn’t an existence at all. But was this it? Was there nothing more? Had it come to this?

Come closer.

On the beach, a lifetime away, Marjorie heard the shrieks of the blonde girl as she splashed in the waves of the ocean. The girl’s mother, laughing, and the cries of the birds overhead. So much promise. So much unlived life.

“No pain?” she whispered into the Mist. “An escape from my allotted portion of misery?”

It’s too much for one person to bear, the Mist whispered back, You don’t deserve this. Let go.

She almost stepped forward. Almost. Giggles of a tiny girl stayed her feet.

“What about hope?”

There is none. You, of all people, know this.

Marjorie sighed, and took a step back. “But that’s where we find it the most, don’t we?” She turned to look at the girl and her mother. The woman embraced her child, and the girl’s smile lit up the twilight hour as if it were crafted from the sun. “That’s what keeps us going.”

Without thinking, she drew her hand from the Mist.

The Mist screamed, clawed at her, shouted obscenities in a language so ancient that none could understand. And Marjorie, with the first spark of hope she’d known in a very long time, knew her mother had been wrong.

In the end, everyone has a choice.

***

If you’re still here, thanks for reading. Have a great (& productive!) weekend, drive safe out there if you’re in the areas still getting hit by snow! (Well, drive safely no matter where you are, please. But that should go without saying.)

Stop two on the blog tour!

The Girl in the Gatehouse

By Julie Klassen

Historical Fiction / Inspirational

Release Date: January 2011

Synopsis:

Mariah Aubrey lives in seclusion with her secrets.
Will an ambitious captain uncover her identity… and her hidden past?

Banished from the only home she’s ever known, Mariah Aubrey hides herself away in an abandoned gatehouse on a distant relative’s estate. There she supports herself and her loyal servant the only way she knows how—by writing novels in secret.

When Captain Matthew Bryant leases the estate, he is intrigued by the beautiful girl in the gatehouse. But there are many things he doesn’t know about this beguiling outcast. Will he risk his plans—and his heart—for a woman shadowed by scandal?

Intriguing, mysterious, and romantic, The Girl in the Gatehouse takes readers inside the life of a secret authoress at a time when novel-writing was considered improper for ladies and the smallest hint of impropriety could change a woman’s life forever.

My Thoughts:

Last January, I reviewed Klassen’s 2010 release, The Silent Governess. I didn’t have many good things to say about it, and I wanted to slap the main character. As you might expect, I went into this one with a bit of trepidation and a sprinkle of hope.

And you know what? I liked it. The Girl in the Gatehouse wasn’t as clever or surprising as, say, Lady of Milkweed Manor, but it was a refreshing story with realistic characters and a plot that moves along at a good pace. 

Apparently this novel was heavily influenced by Jane Austen’s work (the author’s note at the end explains exactly how), and as someone who’s never read Austen before, I was surprised at how much I liked this book and am now wondering if I need to get off my high horse and read some of Jane’s work. Argh! And I resisted for so long!

Ah, but back to this book. Unlike in her previous offering, I found the main character for this book to be much stronger, even though her off-screen impropriety was much more severe than Klassen’s other heroines.

There were moments when the story dragged, or when I thought a subplot was getting a bit messy, but I wonder if that might have been due to personal taste—I’ll be the first to admit I’m unfamiliar with the conventions in ‘Jane Austen period’ (Regency) lit.

On the whole, I thought the author skillfully evoked the atmosphere of the historical period she was writing in, and I didn’t mind the characters or the plot. In fact, I’d recommend the book to fans of period historicals and Jane Austen readers.

The inspirational element of the book is very minor, and fits in with the period atmosphere, when majority of people were still attending church and claimed to believe in God. Discussion of God flows naturally from the text, and doesn’t overwhelm the story or even jump out in a way that would make you point and say “Christian fiction!!!”. It’s subtle enough to blend in, as you’d expect from a historical in any genre.

If Austen/Regency is your thing, give this one a shot! (And I’ll give Austen a shot… *sigh*… I suppose it’s about time…)

Want More?

Here’s a Q & A with the author! –> Questions with Julie Klassen on her latest release

Read an excerpt from the novel! –> Excerpt from ‘The Girl in the Gatehouse’

About the Author

Julie Klassen is a fiction editor with a background in advertising. She has worked in Christian publishing for more than twelve years, in both marketing and editorial capacities. Julie is a graduate of the University of Illinois. She enjoys travel, research, books, BBC period dramas, long hikes, short naps, and coffee with friends.

Julie and her husband have two sons and live in a suburb of St. Paul, Minnesota. For more information, visit www.julieklassen.com

"Book has been provided courtesy of Baker Publishing Group and Graf-Martin Communications, Inc. Available at your favourite bookseller from Bethany House, a division of Baker Publishing Group".

That’s right… it’s blog tour time with Graf-Martin and Baker books! New year, new books, more thoughts about the direction CBA publishers are taking.

For those of you who are new to the blog (*waves* hello!), at the end of (almost) every month, I review a book or two published by Baker Books, from either their Revell or Bethany House lines. Fiction and non-fiction are both game.

If you’re not into CBA or inspirational books, skip these next few reviews. If you’re curious, or want to hear what’s passing for historical fiction in the Christian Booksellers Association these days, stick around! You may get a different perspective on the market.

And without further ado, I have two books for you this month! One I liked, one… not so much. We’ll do “not so much” today and save the best for last.

The Damascus Way (Acts of Faith, Book 3)

by Davis Bunn & Jannette Oke

Historical Fiction / Inspirational

Release Date: January 2011

Synopsis:

The fledgling church is being scattered by persecution.
It is spearheaded by a fanatical young Pharisee who does not realize he is unwittingly aiding a divine mandate to spread the truth "unto the ends of the earth…"

Young Julia has everything money can buy—except for acceptance by either Gentiles or Judeans in Tiberias. When she discovers the secret her beloved Greek father has kept all these years, she is devastated. Julia and her Hebrew mother are indeed less than second-class citizens. Her future is dark with clouds of uncertainty.

Jacob, Abigail’s brother, is now a young man attempting to find his own place among the community of believers. Does it mean trading away the exhilaration and adventure of his current profession as a caravan guard? Hired by Julia’s father to protect a wealthy merchant’s caravans on the secretive "Frankincense Trail," Jacob also reluctantly takes on the perilous responsibility of passing letters and messages between communities of believers now dispersed across the land. He is alarmed to discover that Julia, hardly more than a girl, is also a courier. Can their initial mistrust be put aside to accomplish their mission?

An earthshaking encounter on the way to Damascus has repercussions far beyond the lives of Julia and Jacob.

My Thoughts:

I’m not going to say a whole lot about this book because—I’ll be completely honest here—I didn’t finish it. It wasn’t badly written, and in fact both these authors are greatly experienced writers who are experts in their own genres.

However, I was bored out of my skull.

I simply think I was the wrong audience for this one. I hesitate to give it a bad review—in fact, I don’t think it deserves a bad review—because I think it’s a book that would be perfect for the audience it was written for.

And who is that? Church library readers or readers of inspirational fiction who want more Christian content than plot.

I read nearly half the book, and had yet to feel that there was a plot worth caring about. Some of the characters were interesting, but even then, I had difficulty believing that every single person, in every single scenario, would want to talk about their religious beliefs. Hmm. Not entirely realistic. While I understand that the time period of this book was a time of serious religious reform and uprising in the area, does that mean it was all anyone talked about?

I don’t think so.

I also didn’t feel really involved with the story, in the sense that I didn’t feel pulled into the setting and time period the way I like to be in a historical… particularly one set in the Near East, which I’ve studied.

On their own, both these authors have had great success and are fortunate enough to have huge fan bases. Janette Oke in particular has been writing for decades. Both these authors know how to write, so I wonder why this book wasn’t nearly as accessible as their other volumes? Particularly when they had such an engaging time period to work with. I know they’ve collaborated together on a number of series, so they must have a good readership for their combined efforts if they’re still writing together.

Like I said, it’s not badly written. I just don’t think I was the right audience. In fact, I think it would be a great book in the right hands, for the right person. Leave it in the church libraries, or give a copy to your Grandmother! She’ll love it, and there’s nothing wrong with that at all.

About the Authors

Davis Bunn is an award-winning novelist whose audience spans reading genres from high drama and action thrillers to heartwarming relationship stories, in both contemporary and historical settings. He and his wife, Isabella, make their home in Florida for some of each year, and spend the rest near Oxford, England, where they each teach and write. Visit Davis’ Web site atwww.davisbunn.com.

Janette Oke (pronounced "oak") pioneered inspirational fiction and is the leading author in the category today. Love Co mes Softly, her first novel, has sold over one million copies. Janette is now the bestselling author of over 70 books, 32 of which have been translated into fourteen languages. Her books have sold over 22 million copies.

Janette receives fan mail from all over the world and answers each letter personally. She received the 1992 President’s Award from the Evangelical Christian Publishers Association for her significant contribution to Christian fiction, the 1999 CBA Life Impact Award and has been awarded the Gold Medallion Award for fiction. Janette and her husband, Edward, have four grown children and enjoy their many grandchildren. They make their home in Canada.

Book has been provided courtesy of Baker Publishing Group and Graf-Martin Communications, Inc. Available at your favourite bookseller from Bethany House, a division of Baker Publishing Group.

I read a blog post on MFA Confidential the other day about notebooks. The post was entitled: “Does Anyone Use a Notebook Anymore?”, and detailed the blogger’s concern over whether she had become too dependent on her computer…but also commenting on how antiquated the notion of writing in a notebook is.

One friend of the blogger told her: “What was good enough for Shakespeare should be good enough for you,” to which she replies that if Shakespeare had toilets available over chamber pots, he’d most likely have used that instead – same idea as laptop vs. notebook use.

Now, I don’t know about you, but I bristled a little at her comments about writing in a notebook being ‘Elizabethan’ or ‘totally anachronistic’. At one point in the blog post, she mentions that maybe there’s some kind of communion between the brain/hand & pen/paper that doesn’t happen when you’re typing on a computer.

I’d be inclined to agree with that! While it’s no longer practical to write entire novels in longhand (though I know a number of people who have), I use pen & paper to write many of my short stories. I find that the physical act of writing is somehow cathartic, and allows me to put my thoughts down much more freely than when I’m typing at a computer. I censor myself more on the computer. I get caught up ‘researching’ and avoid writing at all.

With a pen & notebook in hand, there’s nothing to do but write!

I also do all my round-one revisions in longhand. Sometimes that means re-writing nearly the entire manuscript in between the lines of the first draft. However, that physical act of crossing out, changing, moving things around keeps my mind focused on what I’m doing.

Planning, plotting – all longhand in a notebook.

Character descriptions / world maps – all longhand in a notebook.

For me, the physical process of creating something is what gives the notebook approach its power. And judging by the comments on that blog post, there’s plenty of other writers out there that feel the same way!

So, for Ms. Morrison who wondered, “who among us has every actually written anything under a willow tree?”

I have. And I’ve written on a bench, on the grass, in the house, with a mouse…oh wait, sorry, wrong train of thought. But you get the idea.

How about you? Notebook? Laptop? Indoor writing? Outside (preferably when it’s not snowing or raining, that is)? Do you find writing longhand ‘Elizabethan’ or freeing?

It’s (sort-of) the start of a new year, and as inspiring as that is, it doesn’t necessarily mean that all those stories we’ve been working on will magically come together and the characters will start behaving the way they should.

So, why not re-inspire your Muse with a workshop or two?

Now, I’ll give a little disclaimer here: I love learning. I’m listing these workshops for you because I suspect you might like learning too, not because I’m getting any kickbacks for mentioning them (I wish!).

If I don’t have one listed here that you’re planning on taking, let us know about it!

Or maybe there’s something completely different that you wish someone would hold a workshop on, but you can never seem to find… I’ll keep my eyes open for it!

Upcoming February Workshops

Storytelling and Folktales

January 31st-February 27th – Instructor: Masha Holl

Held by: Black Diamond RWA (RWA Chapter)

Cost: $25.00 (non-members)

Running in the Dark: Organic Structure for Character-Driven Stories

January 31st-February 6th – Instructor: Jody Henley

Held by: SavvyAuthors

Cost: $20.00 (Basic Members; free Basic membership)

The Language of Liars

January 31st-February 27th – Instructor: Lucinda Schroeder

Held by: SavvyAuthors

Cost: $25.00 (Basic Members; free Basic membership)

Short Story, Big Impact: Taking the Short Story Road to Success

January 31st-February 25th – Instructor: Anna Hackett

Held by: Colorado Romance Writers (RWA Chapter)

Cost: $25.00 (non-members)

Writing for Young Adults

January 31st-February 27th – Instructor: Genie Davis

Held by: SavvyAuthors

Cost: $25.00 (Basic Members; free Basic membership)

Business on a Shoestring: Dealing with the Business Part of the Writing Business

February 1st-28th – Instructor: Dr. L. Pepper Norris

Held by: Celtic Hearts Romance Writers (RWA Chapter)

Cost: $20.00 (non-members)

Mind Your MANerisms (How to Make Your Heroes Behave Like REAL Men)

February 1st-15th – Instructor: Dr. Stuart

Held by: Celtic Hearts Romance Writers (RWA Chapter)

Cost: $20.00 (non-members)

Developing Historical Character Sketches

February 7th-18th – Instructor: Kimberly Killion

Held by: Hearts Through History (RWA Chapter)

Cost: $20.00 (non-members)

Cracking the Romance Code

February 7th-27th – Instructor: Kimberly Llewellyn

Held by: Fantasy, Futuristic & Paranormal Chapter (RWA Chapter)

Cost: $25.00 (non-members)

Spilling the Beans: Secrets, Lies, and Backstory

February 7th-March 6th – Instructor: Lynn Kerstan

Held by: SavvyAuthors

Cost: $25.00 (Basic Members; free Basic membership)

Secrets of the Prolific: How to Overcome Procrastination, Perfectionism and Writer’s Block

February 7th-March 6th – Instructor: Hilary Rettig

Held by: SavvyAuthors

Cost: $30.00 (Basic Members; free Basic membership)

Writing Kick Butt Action Adventure

February 14th-March 13th – Instructor: Linnea Sinclair

Held by: SavvyAuthors

Cost: $25.00 (Basic Members; free Basic membership)

All About Agents

February 14th-27th – Instructor: Kara Lennox

Held by: From the Heart (RWA Chapter)

Cost: $20.00 (non-members)

The Plotting Wheel

February 28th-March 27th – Instructors: Sue Viders & Becky Martinez

Held by: Fantasy, Futuristic & Paranormal Chapter (RWA Chapter)

Cost: $25.00 (non-members)

…now, go ye forth and learn!!!

Ever been writing something and discovered that… well… your characters aren’t exactly doing what you want them to? In fact, they’ve stopped running around and solving their conflicts and falling in love and saving the world and are instead, perhaps, standing around discussing the weather, or the irrefutable health benefits of cinnamon, or even—perish the thought—are simply enjoying a bowl of their favorite sugary breakfast cereal?

You’re not the only one. (And not that there’s anything wrong with sugary breakfast cereal.)

In the WIP I worked on during November, I realized about halfway through that my characters were standing around in front of lockers, talking about homework. It occurred to me that this was incredibly boring—if I’m bored writing it, you’re definitely going to be bored reading it—so I had one character punch another character in the face for no particular reason (though I sorted that out later).

Voila, action! Problem solved, and the story got moving again! (Albeit illogically at first, but it all came together in the end.)

And isn’t it wonderful to know that this phenomenon isn’t limited to those of us without agents / book contracts / novels on the NY Times Bestseller list?

A quotation from ridiculously amazing author Neil Gaiman’s blog post on December 31st, 2010:

“And also, please wish me luck with this short story I’m writing. I’m up to page 19 and nothing’s happened yet. Right now, they’re eating porridge. In my head, by this point in the story everyone was going to be terrified, and strange oogly things would be happening to all the villagers. Porridge!”

Ahh… doesn’t that just make you feel so much better about getting stuck? You have years and years of plot holes, sluggish characters, and seemingly insurmountable writing blocks to look forward through, regardless of your publication status!

Seriously, though… it just goes to show that writers, at no matter what point of the journey they may be on, can commiserate together over things that those who don’t write would just shake their heads at and say “so make them do something, already!”

How little they know… (also, I now want a bowl of oatmeal/porridge. With honey. And almonds. And those oddly delicious golden raisins…).

When was the last time your characters participated in an equivalent activity to eating porridge? Or talking about homework? And how FRELLING EXCITED are you that you share writing woes with Neil Gaiman?!

(Kinda makes you want to force your characters to eat porridge. Just a little.)

(Or maybe Fruity Pebbles instead, just to change it up a bit.)

I think you’ve waited long enough for this, so without further ado, here are the WINNERS from the Christmas Giveaway/100 Followers contests!

First, the winner of a copy of Rosy Thornton’s Tapestry of Love is…

*drum roll*

Su

Congratulations, Su!

And second, the winner of the Writing Prize Pack is…

*second drum roll*

Jessica

Congratulations, Jessica!

For the curious, I gave each entry a number, and then used random.org to generate the winning numbers. Yay! Winners! Happy times!

I will send each of the winners an email to them know (in case they don’t see it here), and you’ll have 72 hours to reply… or else I’ll draw another name! *dun dun duuuuuun*

Congratulations again to the winners, and thank you all for entering!!! There will be more contests in the upcoming months (w00t) so stay tuned for those.

Also, I’m going to do my best to get back to posting regularly, starting this week. My goodness it’s hard to get going again after the holidays! For me, the hardest part has been finding the motivation to write, post, or research… I just want to sit on the couch and read! And I’m pretty sure I’ve gained the ability to completely tune out my alarm clock in the mornings.

What has been your biggest challenge in getting back to work? Or were you able to jump back in at full swing? (In which case, what are your secrets?!?)