Writing Tip Number Four: Query Writing

Happy hump day bloggers!

I think I may have missed a few steps in the process but this is something I have been working on at the moment and though I would share what I have learnt.

First thing I learnt is that writing a query is hard! I mean really hard. I don’t know if everyone finds it this hard but it is killing me. I have written four or five different ones only to love then originally, then hate them when I re read it.  I saw this quote that says that if you can easily sum up your novel in a few sentences you are either a literary genius or you are not trying hard enough. Second thing I learnt is that you only get an average of few second to impress the agent before you novel get put on the rejection pile. A few seconds, that means that first line of the query has to be amazing! It has to be one of the best things you have ever written and it has to state the main point to your manuscript! That a big ask, but it’s not impossible. Third thing I learnt is that it must be kept short. Like I said you only get a few second, so make them count.  It’d best to try and keep you query to 250 words. Yep that’s right, you are a writer you are expected to sum up your entire manuscript into 250 words!  Again it sounds scary but it’s not impossible.  Though I have yet to have much luck in doing this I have read enough, wrote enough and seen enough to know how to do them.

I found this template on an advice site. I must say the person that posted this is a freaking genius and should be proud because they have done what many other have failed to do. Summed up a query simply.

Dear Agent’s Name:

I saw a recent interview in which you said you were looking for historical mysteries, so I hope you would consider representing my 85,000-word medieval mystery, The Awesomest Mystery Novel Ever. Bob the Protagonist is a guy with something really interesting about him. He thinks his life is one way, but SURPRISE HOOK! Suddenly he has to do Plot in order to achieve Goal, all without Conflict getting in the way. He traipses around Setting doing Plot, but doesn’t count on Complications. Ultimately he has to decide: give up Goal#1 or Goal#2?

I’m a member of some writing organization, won some contests, or neither of the above. If I have some relevant background which makes me good for writing this book (such as a doctorate in medieval studies for my medieval mystery), I’ll list it here. You can reach me at MyPhone#. I’ve included exactly the elements you’ve asked for (first X pages, synopsis, both, or neither) below. Thank you for your time and attention.

Sincerely,

You     

though this was was for a mystery novel I think it could act as a good starting point for just about anything.

one last thing you need is an amazing hook, your query needs to be attention catching, short and free of errors.  I also come across this amazing website. It’s like an online writers community. You can go there to get critique partners, ask advice, give advice, chat with fellow writers and a whole lot more it is totally a must see site for anyone serious about the love of writing..

http://agentqueryconnect.com/

here are some pages I found helpful many with examples of query’s that got their authors agented.

http://www.mediabistro.com/galleycat/23-literary-agent-query-letters-that-worked_b76306

http://www.writersdigest.com/online-editor/how-to-write-the-perfect-query-letter

http://www.agentquery.com/writer_hq.aspx

http://knightagency.net/manuscript_submissions/writing-a-solid-query-letter/

Happy writing!

Writing tip Number three: curing the dreaded writer’s block!

Now lately this is something I have been having trouble with. Thanks to writers block I’m stuck on writing Chapter Twenty Four of Ryder’s Story, which is now a week late :S While the post might be called curing the dreaded writer’s block, there really isn’t an actual cure for it, so instead I’m going to tell you a few things I do to help when I’m completely stuck. I make no promises these tips will work but they do help me (sometimes) so I thought I would share them.

 

Skip ahead.

Now this only works if you are writing something you can skip ahead in. For example I recently completed the final chapter of Ryder’s story even though it’s still a long way out on the real thing. Doing something like this keeps you in the mindset of the character but removes the obstacle that is stopping you from going further with the part you are up to. Doing something like this can be helpful not only to cure writers block but for later on because when you reach that point it’s already written and will only need re writing to make sure it fits with the changes you may have made to the storyline since writing it.

 

Create a different idea.

What I mean by this is think of something, anything and put the character that you are having trouble with into that situation. It doesn’t even have to be related to the storyline that you are having trouble with. Set the idea years into the future, in the past, it doesn’t matter. Something that might help if you are having trouble thinking of a scenario, think about what you have done in the last week. Pick an event that was unusual, be it a single conversation, swap yourself for your character and there you go instant scene. Sure it might not be exciting but the best way to break writer’s block is to write through it.

 

Push through.

So you have a deadline, sometimes deadlines don’t wait for writer’s block to go away. Sometimes you have to push through it. Grab some coffee, park yourself in front of that computer, notepad, typewriter whatever you use and just write. Even if you only get out a few sentences that is more than you had a minute ago. Once it stops flowing take a break, go for a little walk, watch some TV, read a chapter of a book, but make sure you go back to it. Make your breaks short and make sure you stick with it. It will suck, it will be frustrating but it will click eventually.

 

Talk it out.

This is another method I use a lot. Grab a friend, your mum, your dad, family member, even a pet and tell them what you want to happen in the part you are having trouble with. Tell them what has happened and what you want to happen, in as much detail as you can without writing it down in words. Then ask them (assuming it wasn’t you pet) what they think and if they have any ideas. If they say no, then try someone else. Sometimes just having a discussion about it will help get the creative juices flowing and just think they might give you an idea that you would have never dreamed of on your own.

 

Just give up.

Now I don’t mean drag that file to the trash and never look back. I mean give up trying so hard, take a break. Assuming you don’t have a deadline to meet, leave it for a day or a week. Sometimes you need a break. Leaving it for a little while and coming back at a later time can help.

 

Don’t pressure yourself.

Pressure is writers block’s best friend. If possible don’t set a deadline for yourself, doing that makes it feel like work, rather than something you love to do. If nothing helps don’t worry about it, it won’t last forever. Sometimes the harder you try the worse it gets.

 

I’m a firm believer in the wisdom that only writing will cure writers block. So whatever you do keep on writing. Do a journal instead. Write something different for a little while, hell just set your fingers to a keyboard and keep writing just to see what will come out. I really hope these tips help people and to all that read Ryder’s Story I am sorry he will be back when I can push through my own case!

Writing tips number two: Character development. (The Antagonist)

I don’t really have a lot to say about ‘the bad guy’ but I thought I would give them a mention. I’m not sure if I said this before but these tips are mostly just my opinions and only there to help. I’m going to try and share some of the advice I’ve been given and some of the things I’ve learned.

As far as antagonists go I don’t really think there is a set formula. They are just so varied and I’ve seen so many types that when I was trying to narrow down the list of what makes a good villain I was having a hard time. So instead I decided to talk about a few types that I like.

The ‘Good Guy’ Antagonist

The ‘Good guy’ Antagonist is the one you hate but at the same time empathize with. He’s the one that you know has a really good reason for being bad. He’s the one that you almost feel bad for when the Protagonist inevitably wins in the end. I haven’t seen too many of this types and I think it’s more common in movies than it is in books but they still work really well.

The Over the Top Bad Guy

This is the kind that is just so evil, just so dastardly that you wonder how they haven’t messed up yet. The kind that catches the hero, relays his evil plan because he is just so confident that he’s got it all in the bag. I find this kind of bad guy fun, if not a little over used. He’s the villain from every comic book ever, but having an over the top, totally evil bad guy makes for fun reading, most of the time.

The Betrayal

This is the least expected one, usually. It’s where someone close to the protagonist turns out to be the antagonist. Again this one is used in a lot of YA fiction. I like this kind of villain because it sparks an emotional response from the reader. They get to feel the protagonist’s betrayal. Beware with this kind though because it’s a bit of a letdown when it’s too predictable. There is nothing worse than starting a book and thinking ok he’s going to betray them. Ruins everything, (Ok, maybe not but it’s still annoying).

An antagonist doesn’t necessarily have to be a single person. That being said I’m not sure if it still counts as the Antagonist if it’s not but for the sake of this post we are going to pretend it does, but call it just the bad guy. So the bad guy might be a group of people, an event, or even an object. I have read some really good books whose bad guy isn’t really a guy (as in a character) at all. It could just be an event, and the badies that help cause it make up the Antagonist. I’m sorry that this post doesn’t have a whole lot of tips per se but oh well I’m sure you will get over it  😛

Next time I’ll talk about the importance of the Protagonist’s best friend/side kick.

(and to lighten up your day a bit, i’m going to give you a picture of Titan wearing sunglasses 😀 )

Writing tips number two: Character development. (The Protagonist)

Firstly due to some family issues I wasn’t able to finish last weeks chapter of Ryder’s story, but good news it is finished now and will be posted this week! Anyway on to this post.

So I know I started my writing tips with tip number two, but that’s only because I had mentioned what I was going to use for number one in my first post which is idea development.  Though I’m sure it might be useful or even interesting I just can’t seem to figure out how to explain it without sounding all over the place. Now this might be more than a one part post because a lot goes into creating characters that are likable and convincing. But I’ll try to get it all out without being too boring.

So first I guess in this post I’ll cover the protagonist (The hero)

Every fiction has one it’s just one of those critical things that the story can’t function without. Though I said the hero the protagonist doesn’t necessarily have to be the good guy, a protagonist is simply defined as: The leading character or a major character in a drama, movie, novel, or other fictional text. A few things need to happen to make the protagonist a good one. Firstly they the need to be relatable, though they might be an alien, a superhero, a vampire ect, the reader still needs to be able to see bits of themself in the character. If the reader doesn’t like the character there is a good chance that will colour thier whole view of the story, no matter how great it is. I don’t mean to contradict myself in saying this but at the same time it’s possible for an unlikeable character to be a good protagonist.  A great example of that is Stan Lee’s Iron man. Lee’s goal with iron man was to create a totally unlikable character but make everyone like him. This can either work out great, or fail miserably because having an unlikable character leaves no room for them to be one dimensional.

Another good thing to remember when creating a character is that they need to have bad habits as well as good habits. They can’t be perfect, perfect characters are unrelatable and unbelievable. No one’s is perfect, we all know that and even if it is a work of fiction remember that. That being said don’t let the bad be all the reader sees, sure show your character’s bad side when needed, but make sure the good equals it out.  Give the character dimension the more work you put into a character the more real they will seem to the reader. I find it helps if you make up a back story, even if you never plan on including it. Figure out why they are like they are and what makes them tick, will help. Personally I like it when you can actually see the character develop along with the story. A character, especially one in fiction goes through quite a lot in a short time frame.  So think how would it affect them in the long run, are they used to being shot at by ray guns? Or is it a daily thing for them? Thinking about little things like that can really help build a character.

Things to avoid when creating a protagonist

Making them shallow

Having a shallow character is in my opinion never a good choice. Having a character that self-centred and shallow can sometimes blind the reader to their other good characteristics, I’ve read a few book where the protagonist has been very shallow and I found myself hating them, even if as a whole I liked the story.

Making them too one dimensional.

I talked a bit about this before but a good main character needs depth, they need good and bad. They need to be more than a pretty face, or more than just the person that saves the world. Characters have to be complicated or they end up being boring.

I guess really there is no right or wrong choices when it comes to creating a character because in the end it’s your character. You’ll often find authors talking about their character as if they are real people I know I’ve turned to my friends many time after seeing something and saying ‘Damien would totally do something like that’ or ‘I could so see Misty saying that!’ so if you can build a character that is real enough to make you believe they are a real person, chances are the reader will see them as one too.

 

writing tips!

I have been thinking of giving writing tips for all you out there that like to write. Now I know getting writing tips from a slightly crazy dyslexic might seem like a bad idea but trust me it’s not.

Sure my grammar and spelling suck (it’s why I keep my best friend Lauren around!) but overall I do have some useful tips to help anyone who wants to write fiction. Be it for an assignment, or maybe you want to write a novel I can give some advice, I can’t promise it will always be good advice but it might help. At the moment I’m just thinking of ideas on what might be helpful but I’ll start off with one of the best tips I can think of at the moment.

Ideas are not linear things; they don’t always work in a straight line. Sometimes the best ideas aren’t even whole things. For example Stephenie Meyer, author of twilight, wrote that entire series from something she dreamed about. I think we all know how confusing some dreams can be. So down to the advice, if you have a good idea don’t disregard it because it’s only half an idea. Don’t disregard it because it seems insane, don’t disregard it because you think it won’t work, ideas are just that ideas they aren’t set in stone and they can be played with. I will probably go more into that in another post seeing that’s pretty vague but I couldn’t have a post called writing tips and not actually give any 🙂

and to finish it off here is a picture of my dog smiling over his new toy 😛

he looks slight crazy like his owner, but he’s really not 😛