The Ungettable Get

"Remember it is all about the get. We cannot make a splash if we only get the gets that everybody has already got. I need the ungettable. Got it?" - Diane Roberts in Someone Like You

I watch quite a few agents on Twitter, and I devour any post or comment on their query statistics. I find them enlightening and a bit depressing. One thing that I see commented on is related to originality (or lack thereof). That's what agents are looking for; the original idea that can spark the imagination of millions of readers. They are looking for the ungettable get.

I take this concept to heart. I want to be fresh and original. Often I think I'm original, and I realize that I'm not the only writer out there that thinks that (based on the query critiques that I see posted).

Here's a true story from my own experience. I signed up for Writer's Digest Online course a couple of years ago. (The Fundamentals of Fiction Writing in case you are curious, and I know you are...) There were perhaps ten of us in the class, all at varying stages of wanting to write, polish, or perfect our fiction technique. I had decided that I wanted to write some kind of historical fiction thriller with a dash of romance. I researched historical anomalies and after careful consideration, I decided to focus one of the main character's life long quest on the Voynich manuscript. I had never heard of the Voynich manuscript prior to researching it, and it was well down the list of "ancient mysteries" that I uncovered. I was sure I had found something fresh and original. Imagine my surprise and chagrin when another student in my class posted a response to my story telling me that HIS story was focused on the Voynich manuscript as well!

That was the first blow to my writer's ego, but it taught me a valuable lesson. I am forced to constantly ask myself the question am I truly writing that "ungettable get", or am I just tweaking a well-trodden story?

What do you think? Do you think there is such a think as an original idea in fiction anymore?

I Lost Myself in the Retweet

"I don't have anything interesting to say."
"The things I do in my life aren't that interesting."
"Nobody cares what I have to say."

If you ever happen to review my tweets on Twitter (prior to this post), you will see that I am a serial retweeter. I spread good information out to my tweeps from the many wonderful folks that I follow, and I've learned a lot. But scrolling down the page and seeing each post start with "RT @" gives me a few moments pause. Where am I in all this? Where are the things that I want to say to engage with the people who follow me? It's missing.

Almost immediately when I think about changing this, my head is filled with nonsense like the phrases at the start of this post. I hide behind those excuses. It is time for a swift kick in the arse.

If I am a writer (and in 2009 I laid claim to this status) than I should, in theory, have A LOT to say. So what's holding me back; why all the excuses? I could only draw one conclusion: I'm afraid. I'm afraid that people won't like me or what I have to say. Even worse, I am afraid that people may ignore me altogether.

But one of my writing goals (as it is for every writer) is to "Engage". This fear is doing nothing for me other than holding me back from my potential and forever keeping me in the boring status quo rut. My 2010 self has decided that it's time to put my big girl panties on. I will post more than just a RT on Twitter on a daily basis. I will find more engaging ways to use Facebook (without turning into the person who overshares- you know the one.) If I'm posting about things that are interesting and exciting to me, then at some point it will interest and excite others.

I'm going to go tweet something now.

Poetry Not Included

I've been writing for years. I feel like writing is in my blood and is something I was meant to do. I love writing short stories and realized yesterday that my novel writing options have become quite robust. I have one novel complete that I am querying agents with right now. I have a first draft manuscript, and three other works in various phases of the writing process. If anything, my weakness is that all of them are more or less in the same genre.

I was shopping for a Christmas gift today for my sister-in-law. She likes to quote poetry in her Facebook postings, and I thought that a book of poetry around motherhood would be a unique gift idea (she is expecting her first child in February). As I browsed the shelves of poets at my local bookstore, I was surprised to find that I knew many of their names. Then I felt something building inside me that said this was an opportunity to expand my own horizons.

I was excited about the possibility of what this new perspective could offer for my writing. I found a book for my sister-in-law, and picked up a book of Emily Dickinson's poems for myself. It was actually a toss up between Dickinson and Frost, but I figured either way I couldn't go wrong.

Then as I was catching up on my tweets this evening, I found a blog post on why writers should try out other genres. I've been so hesitant to branch out with my writing because I wanted to be sure I could find my name and place in my genre. But my experiences today make me think that tipping my toes in other genre pools could be exciting and enlightening. I'm looking forward to the challenge.

No NaNoWriMo This Year

I want to start off by saying that I love National Novel Writing Month. There is nothing like letting your mind’s floodgates open for 30 days and writing like there is no tomorrow. You safely stash your internal editor away on an imaginary tropical island for 30 days (and hope he comes back rested and relaxed) and have the freedom to put down any idea that crosses your consciousness. It can be crazy, wacky, and out of this world, but that doesn’t matter because it is part of the fun. The only thing that matters is your word count, and 50,000 words is the Holy Grail.

I debated long and hard about whether or not to participate this year. I’ve done it twice. My first sprint to the finish line took me 22 days. In my second chaotic attempt, I managed to eek out my 50,000 words just under the wire on Day 30. I felt truly alive and present during those months, and had the “nothing can stop me now!” attitude that drove the deals home. But both of those attempts came at a time when I wasn’t truly focused on my writing life. Both experiences were the proverbial kick in the pants I needed to remember that I wanted to be seen as a writer too.

This year is quite different for me.

Since early August I have been revising my manuscript that was birthed during NaNoWrimo journey #2. I finished it, sent it out to beta readers, got some great feedback, and ultimately decided that I needed to change the story arc a bit and make it a whole lot darker. Then in October, I spun the Tiny Tales of Terror in honor of Halloween for my beta readers and their friends, because I found that by sharing my manuscript I have started to build a readership that was actively looking for new material (MY new material!) to read. I also have big plans to kick off a new podcast series that I’ve been working on since late September that was inspired by my attendance at the Writer’s Digest Conference.

My plate feels a bit…full. This year, I am writing more than ever before and doing more things with the business side of my writing as well. I still have the good ole day job and my family obligations. So for me, regretfully but respectfully, I gave myself a pass on NaNoWriMo this year.

I am cheering all of this year’s participants on, and living vicariously through their tweets, blogs, and posts. Good luck to all of you and may your 50,000 words come easily and in less than 30 days!

Inspiration

I've been spending a lot of time looking for new inspiration over the last few weeks for my Tiny Tales of Terror. My goal was to put up a story a day until Halloween (which I haven't quite done). I chose this as a stretch goal for myself because I knew it would be more of a challenge to find new subject matter everyday. But I was excited at the same time because I knew that at the end I'd have a ton of new material to chose from and expand into longer stories.

Inspiration hasn't been as difficult as I thought. I've purposely been watching scary movies (even the bad ones), freaky TV shows, reading mystery/thriller books, looking for unsettling images on the web just to spark my imagination. I've also been able to weave in some real details from my own life which has been fun. Often the stories are coming from just one phrase or image that I explore further in the story.

I've been getting some questions from friends wanting to know more of the back story, but the purpose of these stories are meant to be just scary snippets. I haven't been able to spend enough time with the characters to really know more than some initial impressions that I can share.

I think it is very cool how images can just strike a chord. Something like this:

I've been meaning to write a story about this lighthouse for years. I just haven't found the right story yet, but I know it is going to be scary and it probably will take place in the early part of the 19th century. But most of my stories come to me easily, and I love exploring where the journey takes me.

What inspires you in your writing?

Writing: The Business

I've spent several pleasant hours this afternoon reading all about indie publishing. I am a huge fan of April Hamilton's. I followed her on Twitter prior to seeing her in person at the Writer's Digest Conference, and her Publetariat site is a MUST for anyone thinking of going at publishing on your own.

Now I have two completed manuscripts- one is still in its rough first draft form, and the second is the one that I have been working on revising since early August. I am "close" to being at the point where I need to make a rather critical decision. Do I start down the path of traditional publishing, or do I look at indie publishing options?

One thing that never occurred to me, that I just read about tonight, was the idea of starting my own indie publishing house. Intriguing... I am a big DIY person, and all of this information really resonated with me. I like the idea of controlling my own destiny. I like the idea of being able to connect with readers sooner rather than later. I like the idea of setting up a structure that would not only allow me to publish my own work, but publish other deserving work as well.

Lots of options to consider. Lots of things to think about. And in the meantime, my writing continues with my Tiny Tales of Terror. This is truly a great time to be a writer!

Walk Before You Run

I've learned a few valuable lessons over the last week: time is not my friend, and I have to set reasonable expectations for myself.

I have a working manuscript that I like, however it isn't truly the genre that I always envisioned I'd write. I somehow ended up with a paranormal romance when I want to write horror. (This is the part where I mention for the tenth time that I have always wanted to be Stephen King.) Chris Baty talks about this in his book No Plot? No Problem! that is the basis for National Novel Writing Month. He recommends making lists of what you do and don't like in stories, because you may find yourself writing what you don't like if you aren't careful.

Now it's not that I don't like paranormal romance. I don't think writing romance is a strength of mine. I decided that I needed to go back and rework my manuscript and darken it up ALOT. I could keep the romance, but as a subplot. I needed to focus on the main character, and rewrite it so that it kept me up at night. If the writing isn't scaring me, then it won't work.

Deborah Riley-Magnus (@rileymagnus on Twitter) wrote a great blog post on deconstructing a novel right at the same time, which I took as an omen that I was on the right path.

Horror being my genre focus, I also saw an opportunity to leverage some inspiration with my favorite holiday right around the corner: Halloween. Wouldn't it be cool to launch to a podcast series based on another story that I'm working on in honor of Halloween? So I did some more research on podcasting and with my husband's studio set-up I thought "well this can't be THAT hard". I put together an insane writing schedule for the remainder of September and October with an end goal of 10 podcasts and 1 reworked manuscript by the end of October.

Are you laughing at me yet? Let's just say that I was a bit overly ambitious.

It didn't take me long to find out that one 25-minute podcast for me is running about 5000 words. 5000 words!! So 10 podcasts would be about 50,000 words. That's a NaNoWriMo novel, not including some serious editing. Hmmm- maybe I needed to think about that some more.

I should also mention that I do have a day job. You wouldn't think so with the schedule I put together.

After one week, I wasn't close my goal and I was okay with that. I did have some great accomplishments:

1) My podcast concept came from a 750 word story that I put together for the Your Story Writer's Digest contest. In 2 days I turned that 750 words into over 12,000 words. I've created an episode framework and writing prompts for each of the podcast episodes. I do need to finish the story before I can record it, so the earliest that would probably happen would be November- December.

2) I wrote a completely different opening scene to my manuscript. It turns the old one on its ear. I honestly don't know how much of the old manuscript I could use if I go that direction, and that would mean I'm really starting from scratch. (A new NanoWriMo novel from an old one perhaps?) I need to think about that some more.

3) To get my Halloween fix, I decided to go smaller, but still have fun and offer up something to my readers. So I am introducing my Tiny Tales of Terror blog series on my new author blog.

All in all, I've had a great week, learned a lot, and even gave myself permission to put my Halloween decorations up.