Fake it 'til you Make it: Avoiding Novice Pitfalls

How do you break into the write-o-sphere without being spotted as a novice?

Portrush, Northern Ireland, 2014, Photo by Erik Lundmark

When you're new to something, you often make glaring mistakes, simply because you don't know they're mistakes.

Giant's Causeway, Northern Ireland, 2104, Photo by Erik Lundmark

Everyone has to start somewhere. You're ready to get your feet wet--but I suggest before you dive right in, you take a step back and simply watch for a moment. It's okay to test the waters, but if you don't know how to swim, you should sit around the pool deck and watch for a while. Try the kiddie pool before you take the plunge into deep waters.

Portrush, Northern Ireland, 2014, Photo by Erik Lundmark

I was just Twitter-chatting with one of my earliest Twitter writing friends, and we both agreed how far we'd come in just one year--how much wiser we are, how much better writers we are, and how much better prepared we are to push forward.

It's the bonus of experience.

Of course we learn from our mistakes, but it doesn't have to be that way. Sometimes you can learn from other people's mistakes.

So how do you do that? 

Giant's Causeway, Northern Ireland, 2014, Photo by Erik Lundmark

Research

Before you start shooting off queries, entering contests, and tweeting easily-found questions to industry professionals, do your homework. There are plenty of resources out there, and many of them are free. Take advantage of the collective knowledge of the write-o-sphere (and collective mistakes made by others) so that you'll be better prepared to join the party.

Make connections with others who share your goals

Critique partners are a great way to learn how to improve your writing, and about writing opportunities. I learned so much from early critique partners--I feel honored that they had the patience to point out things I was doing wrong. I never would have joined Twitter if it weren't for a critique partner who suggested I enter a pitch contest.

Carrick-a-rede Rope Bridge, Northern Ireland, 2014, Photo by Erik Lundmark

Sign up for a conference or workshop

If you can't afford to travel, do one online. You'll learn valuable tips, tricks for honing your craft, and you'll make peer and professional connections. Writer's Digest offers online workshops. Manuscript Academy is another great resource.

Use your common sense

Even though Twitter can be a fun, often relaxed, and casual social media, remember that what you post is public. For writers, it's a work-place just as much as it is an outlet, so keep your comments professional. When participating in games and contests, always thank the hosts, never complain about the outcomes, and remember that this is a subjective industry. So many of the resources available are offered freely by volunteers. Remember, even agents don't get paid until they sell your book. They are reading your query for free.

Avoid these novice pitfalls

Finally, I wanted to point out a handful of tell-tale signs that will give you away as a novice. Avoid these mistakes in your interactions and in your writing and you won't soon be in over your head.

Giant's Causeway, Northern Ireland, 2014, Photo by Erik Lundmark

Not following directions

Always follow directions. If a Twitter hashtag game asks that you not post promotional buy links on the hashtag, don't do it. If a contest asks for a 35-word pitch. Send a 35-word pitch. Do not send 36. Your entry could be disqualified for something as small as one word. If a pitch contest says only pitch once every four hours, don't exceed that.

This is even more important when querying. Always double check submission guidelines. Get your guidelines straight off the agency website. Don't rely on what may be out-of-date information on someone's blog. There is no second chance to make a first impression.

Pitching at inappropriate times   

There's a reason agents have a process set up for querying. Unless you've been invited to query an agent (at a conference, during a pitch party, or other appropriate forum) the only appropriate way to query an agent is through the prescribed method outlined on their website. Thinking you are an exception to the rule will out you as a novice.

Querying before a manuscript is ready

Agents can tell if you just finished your manuscript. Running a spell-check is not enough. Make sure your manuscript has been fully vetted before you even think about putting it in front of an agent. Even if they like the concept, they won't accept work that's not there yet.

Giant's Causeway, Northern Ireland, 2014, Photo by Erik Lundmark

Submitting a manuscript that has excessive novice mistakes

Just being grammatically correct does not a good novel make. Here are a few technical things you'll want to avoid in your writing (and links to articles on why or how to correct them):

• excessive use of adverbs (Jeff Chapman gives great reasons why not to use them)
• excessive use of passive voice (is/was) (Daily Writing Tips shares how to fix)
• excessive use of filter words (i.e., I saw, she heard, it felt, it seemed) (Suzanna Windsor Freeman explains)
• overused words (that, like, could) (Daily Writing Tips shares five you can cut)
• no variation in sentence structure or length (Aerogramme Writers' Studio shares Gary Provost's lesson)
• improper or excessive use of dialogue tags (Michelle Hauk's great article here)

A great tool I have used in the past to hunt for these problems is ProWritingAid. (They offer a free search for issues on their website or you can purchase software.) It's well worth the small investment to tighten up and polish your writing.

Have the patience to follow these steps and you'll no longer be a novice!

Portrush, Northern Ireland, 2014, Photo by Tara Lundmark

*This post is one in a series: "So You Wrote a Book! Now What?" Click here to view more topics.*

First Impressions: Crafting the Crucial First Page

We all know you don't get a second chance to make a first impression. That's why your novel's first line and first page are so extremely critical--they may be the only thing your potential reader ever reads. Don't take it lightly. I rewrote the opening scene of my first novel more than ten times.

It's that important.

St. Vitus Cathedral, Prague, Czech Republic, 2014, Photo by Erik Lundmark

There are several things to remember as you decide where and how to start your story.

1. Start in the right place

I've seen it time and again in agent writing tips: Make sure your story starts in the right place. Most people tend to start too soon. You want to begin your story just before that turning point where your protagonist will never be the same again--that moment where one crucial event or decision changes the course of the main character's life and begins the adventure. This is often called the "inciting incident."

It's tempting for many novice authors to start too far ahead of that moment in order to establish the character's daily routine first. Don't be tempted to do that. There's a fine line between establishing a character and giving us the character's life story.

On the other hand, it's possible to start too late, too. We've all heard it's good to start right into the action. But an action scene where the reader has no idea who the characters are is self-defeating. In order to care about the players in an action scene, the reader must already know and have sympathy for said characters. Make sure your reader has connected with your character before you put them in danger.

St. Vitus Cathedral, Prague, Czech Republic, 2014, Photo by Erik Lundmark

Finally, a note on prologues: From what I've seen from agents, I think the common consensus is that about 90% of the time, a prologue is unnecessary. If you currently have a prologue to your story, give some serious thought to it. Unless you really can't tell your story without it, it only serves as a red flag for agents.

Prague, Czech Republic, 2014, Photo by Erik Lundmark

2. Don't info-dump

When you are creating your characters, they will have a back-story. Unless they are a newborn, they will have an entire life worth of experiences, situations, and circumstances that make up who the are. It's important for you, as the writer, to know this whole backstory. You can write it out if you want. You need to know that information in order to determine how a character will react in any given circumstance. But the reader does not need to know all of it. And they certainly don't need to know it on page one.

Think about meeting a new person in real life. If you start up a conversation with someone in line at the coffee shop, would you expect them to spill their entire life story to you the first time you met? No. In fact, if they did, you'd probably think they were really weird and get out of there ASAP. Hello, awkward.

Wang Church, Karpacz, Poland 2014, Photo by Erik Lundmark

It's the same in fiction. All you need to know about someone in order to be intrigued is one small element that sparks interest. Perhaps the woman in line at the coffee shop has a tattoo that's exactly the same as one your ex-boyfriend had. Or perhaps you just overheard her on her phone telling someone she can't talk now because she's driving. What? In both instances, you'd want to know more about this person--or at least be curious enough to watch her for a while as you stand in line.

The whole mystery of your character's lives should be sprinkled in throughout the story--providing "aha" moments for your reader the more they get to know your characters. It actually works in your favor to dole out these nuggets of backstory as you go.

St. Vitus Cathedral, Prague, Czech Republic, 2014, Photo by Erik Lundmark

3.  Avoid trope beginnings

Nothing screams novice writer more than a trope beginning. Even if you think you've got a new take on it, unless you are JK Rowling . . . and you are not . . . just don't do it. If your story currently begins with one of the following, run--do not walk--do not pass go--do not collect $200--and change your beginning.

*waking up
*describing the sun or moon
*describing the scenery or weather
*character looking at themselves in the mirror
*first day of school
*a dream
*dialogue

Wang Church, Karpacz, Poland, 2014, Photo by Erik Lundmark

4. Make every word count

There are many contests out there that are based on the first 250 words of your story. That's all you get. That's not a lot. That's essentially one page. There's a reason for this. If all you had was 250 words to get a reader interested in your story, you'd want each one of those words to pack a punch. Here's where you need to use your amazing writerly skills to make each word do double the work. Make sure these sentences are crafted to the utmost perfection. Make sure you are "showing" your reader, not "telling." This is a hard thing to do, but think of it this way:

They say a picture is worth 1,000 words. So you need to use your words to paint a picture. If you paint a picture with your words, the value of each word suddenly increases. You need less words to get your meaning across because the reader is able to visualize what you've written--you've created a picture in their minds--and they will fill in the words for themselves. For example:

Telling: "It was really cold outside."

Showing: "Icicles formed beneath the eaves."

Both sentences are only five words, but which one paints a picture?

Wang Church, Karpacz, Poland, 2014, Photo by Erik Lundmark

5. Establish a connection

The most important thing you must do in that first page is establish a connection with the reader. That's usually done (and especially in YA) through forging a connection between the reader and the main character. If your reader is going to spend several hours of their life with a character, it better be someone they are interested in. What makes your protagonist unique? Spark the reader's interest with something that makes your character stand out or makes your character relatable.

St. Vitus Cathedral, Prague, Czech Republic, 2014, Photo by Erik Lundmark

If your first 250 words can stand on their own to intrigue a reader, you've done your job.

*This post is one in a series: "So You Wrote a Book! Now What?" Click here to view more topics.*

Going Up? Then Boil it Down: The Elevator Pitch

There's nothing I hate more than when I tell someone I'm writing a book and they say, "Oh! What's it about?"

Siena, Italy, 2013, Photo by Erik Lundmark

Boiling your whole 90,000 word novel into one sentence can be overwhelming. I always get tongue-tied and say something that sounds completely ridiculous--as if anyone would ever buy a book about whatever stuttering spewage just came out of my mouth.

Siena, Italy, 2013, Photo by Erik Lundmark

Now imagine the person is not a passing stranger, but an agent you've just met at a conference or in an online Q&A forum. They ask for a pitch. What do you say?

Freak out time!

Siena, Italy, 2013, Photo by Erik Lundmark

So before you get into that situation, you should craft an elevator pitch. Think 35 words or less.

How the heck do you do that?

Siena, Italy, 2013, Photo by Erik Lundmark

This is where some great Twitter contests come into play. Two awesome contests that can help you hone your elevator pitch are PitchMas (held in December and hosted by Jessa Russo and Tamara Mataya) and Pitch Madness (held in March and hosted by Brenda Drake.) *Hint: Pitch Madness submission window this year is February 24.*

Siena, Italy, 2013, Photo by Erik Lundmark

Now--remember--you don't want to actually enter one of these contests unless your manuscript is polished, you have a smoking hot query letter, and you're all ready to put that manuscript out in the world. If your pitch is good enough that you are selected, agents will ask for your manuscript. And while this is normally a good thing, if your manuscript is not ready yet, you risk sending it out prematurely, looking like an amateur, and forfeiting another chance with said agent on this manuscript. So heed this warning!

However, the reason I bring this up is that a number of contests have "practice rounds" where you can get peer--and sometimes professional--feedback on your pitches. Follow their hashtags a week or so before a contest and you'll likely find other writers who are working on their pitches. There are many people out there who are happy to trade pitches. Last year there was a super helpful mini-workshop on the hashtag #prapit run by Michael Mammay. He gives tips on crafting your pitch on his blog.

Siena, Italy, 2013, Photo by Erik Lundmark

So, where to start? You've got to do some real soul-searching and boil your story down to the bare essentials. What are the bricks that make up your story? And what makes your story unique?

Think specifics. 

Questions to think about:

Who is your protagonist?
What does this person want?
What happens to change the course of this person's life?
What does the person have to overcome?
What is at stake if the person doesn't overcome?
What makes your story stand out from the rest?

Siena, Italy, 2013, Photo by Erik Lundmark

If you are magical (and I know that you are) you can answer all these questions in 35 words or less. Get creative. Make every word count. Use strong verbs and loaded adjectives.

Boom--you've got an elevator pitch!

And if you can do it in 140 characters or less, you've got a Twitter pitch!

Now that you know what to include in your pitch--here's a great list of all those cliché, amorphous, completely vague phrases that you should leave out of your pitch. Michele Keller has a great article here. Go on. Check. If you have any of these phrases, cross them off and try again.

Siena, Italy, 2013, Photo by Erik Lundmark

Write a couple of different pitches--looking at your work from different angles--and see which one people respond to. Before you know it, you'll be ready to tell anyone what your book is about without hesitation. And they'll get the big picture.

Siena, Italy, 2013, Photo by Erik Lundmark

*This post is one in a series: "So You Wrote a Book! Now What?" Click here to view more topics.*

How to Meet your Match: Knowing which Agents to Query

As you prepare your manuscript for querying you may have heard that unless an agent *loves* your manuscript, they will not offer representation. They have to be just as passionate about your work as you are. So how do you know which agents are most likely to *love* your work?

Since February is the month of love, I thought this would be a great topc. And what better place to talk about love than with pictures of Paris--the love capitol of the planet. Ooh, la la!

Paris, France, 2013, Photo by Maya Lundmark

Because the publishing industry is such a subjective field, approaching the right people is key. You could just send your query to every agent out there (which would be an utter waste of time) or you could do your homework and find out who is most likely to be interested in your work (and thus save yourself a measure of rejection.)

Louvre Museum, Paris, France, 2013, Photo by Erik Lundmark

Think about it. Say you join an online dating website. Imagine you spend some time putting together your dating profile and indicate that you enjoy going to the theatre, reading books, and are an avid figure skater. You also say you are looking for a male who also enjoys these things. How would you feel when you get a date request from a guy who likes to play online games, watch football, and eat pizza? Or a date request from a woman who also likes theater and books. Neither of those options are going to work for you, and you will probably delete their requests without reading further.

Rodin Museum, Paris, France, 2013 Photo by Erik Lundmark

So why would you send your adult sci-fi thriller to an agent who states she only reps children's literature? Or an agent who specifically says sci-fi is not her cup of tea? You're just asking for rejection. And you will get it.

Rooftop, Notre Dame Cathedral, Paris, France, 2013, Photo by Erik Lundmark

Take your time researching agents and getting to know them. At the very least spend as much time as you would expect them to spend reading your query and sample pages. But, really, more is better. And it's a process. It shouldn't necessarily be done in a day. When your book is completely done and ready to start querying is the wrong time to start looking at agents. Start now, while you're in revisions.

How do you research agents? It's easier than you may think.

Tuileries Gardens, Paris, France, 2013, Photo by Erik Lundmark

One huge recommendation I would make is to sign up for a free account on Query Tracker. If you have no other place to start, at least you'll have a list of agents with links to their agency websites. Agency websites are so important. They generally have a brief description of what each agent is looking to represent. It will tell you what books they currently represent and submission guidelines for when you're ready to take the plunge.

Louvre Museum, Paris, France, 2013, Photo by Erik Lundmark

Remember that most agencies only allow you to query one agent at a time. Keeping this in mind, you can read about all the agents at a particular agency and choose which of them is most likely to be interested in your book. If they turn you down, you can submit to the next best agent. But remember, in some agencies a 'no' from one is a 'no' from all, so be sure to check agency guidelines and choose wisely.

Sainte Chapelle, Paris, France, 2013, Photo by Erik Lundmark

Agency websites are not the only place you can find out about agents. Most agents have a Twitter account you can follow. It's a great way to get an idea of an agent's personality, likes, dislikes, pet peeves, etc. You can tell a lot about an agent by what they post on Twitter. And, at appropriate times, you can even interact with them. Like their posts, read their blogs, send them a GIF if they're having a bad day. (Just DON'T ever use Twitter to pitch to an agent unless it's part of an organized contest.) 

Louvre Museum, Paris, France, 2013 Photo by Erik Lundmark

Agents often have personal blogs. Follow them. Read them. You can also search for interviews with agents. Amy Trueblood has a great resource on her website, Chasing the Crazies, called First Five Frenzy. She has posted interviews with agents on what they look for in a query. Writer's Digest posts information about new agents on their website under Guide to Literary Agents.  

Eiffel Tower, Paris, France, 2013, Photo by Erik Lundmark

You can always do a search for "interview with xxx agent" and see what turns up. The more you know about an agent, the easier it will be to know if they may be a good fit. And it will also give you some details you can bring up in your query to let the agent know you've done your homework and you are specifically choosing them.

Of course you can always meet them at a conference or get to know them in a Q&A session of an online conference. This may not be feasible for everyone, though.

Loves Lock on Pont de l'Archevêché, Paris, France, 2013, Photo by Erik Lundmark

One last, favorite, way I have learned to find agents is to look at the author thank you page in books I have enjoyed reading. More than likely, their agent will be named. It's really helpful if you can mention in your query that you enjoyed a book they represent--especially if your book has the same target audience. It shows the agent you know your book's market.

Even if you are not ready to query, go ahead and start building a list of agents you think might make a match. You'll be surprised how many you can find who may be a match. And one day, you'll find just the right agent who is looking for the very thing you've got--and you can lock yourselves in agent-client bliss, and throw away the key . . . (well, maybe).

Seine River, Paris, France, 2013, Photo by Erik Lundmark

*This post is one in a series: "So You Wrote a Book! Now What?" Click here to view more topics.*