Nest Building

We have a bird house hanging right outside our kitchen window. My husband built it with my son long ago and they hung it up with pride and expectation. Year after year, we've waited for a family of birds to discover it. But sadly, the lovely little home sat empty. . . until this spring!

Finally a family of house sparrows decided to take up residence. And now they are the lucky owners of the best bird house in town. Their home is snug in a corner, sheltered from wind and rain. And right outside their tiny door is a heated bird bath and half a dozen feeders. What more could a bird ask for?

For a few weeks we watched the momma and daddy sparrow squeeze dead grass and dried weeds into their doorway as they slowly crafted their nest. Then when all of the fluttering in and out finally stopped, we decided momma bird was probably sitting on her nest.

Not many days later when we opened our kitchen window, we heard a chorus of cheeps. The daddy flitted back and forth from the feeders to his home. Every time he reached the doorway, the newly hatched babies inside would chirp with excitement.

As we watched, we were amazed at the amount of work those babies required! The daddy and eventually the momma spent most of their time flying back and forth feeding and nurturing their babies. As the creatures grew, they would pop their heads out the door and open their beaks wide, clamoring for even more nourishment!

The whole experience reminded me of our writing. In some ways we writers are like a momma or daddy bird giving birth to our babies--our stories.

I'm at the nest building stage. I just started a new book. Like the momma and daddy birds, I spend hours and hours finding the bits and pieces of information, and then sticking them all together into a potential home for my story.

Each species of bird has a different way of building nests, and writers will have individual ways of preparing for the birth of their stories. However, I think we can all agree there are a few essential ingredients (especially for fiction writers) that go into weaving a nest strong enough for those precious stories we're about to birth.

• Research: Since I write historical fiction, this is a HUGE part of my pre-writing work. I fill up a two inch binder with goggle research. I read biographies, autobiographies, and just about anything I can find to help immerse me into the setting and characters of my story.

• Plotting: My plot notebook contains categories like: relationship conflicts, external plot points, internal/spiritual plot elements, set pieces, three act structure, inciting incident, timeline, and more.

• Characterization: I developed a four page worksheet for my major characters and it has about 50 questions that I answer and analyze. Then I fill out a one page worksheet for each of my minor characters.

When we weave these elements together early on, then we'll be better prepared for the big day, the birth of our baby: our story. If we fail to weave the nest tightly, then when we start the actual writing, parts of our story may fall through the cracks.

How well do you build your nest before giving birth to your story? Have you ever started writing and realized you didn't prepare enough? Share your nest building tips. We'd love to hear them!

Join in on Wednesday when we'll talk about nuturing our babies.

To Tweet is Sweet

This week we've been discussing the connection factor that blogging provides. I think we can all agree that blogging benefits writers in countless ways--especially with friendships.

But what about connecting through other social networking sites?

In previous posts, I discussed facebook as a way to network (link). At first I was hesitant about joining facebook since I already struggle to limit my online time. However, I quickly realized it doesn't have to be a time guzzler. The comments are short and to the point. Replies, if any, are also brief.

With blogging and facebook, why in the world would anyone need twitter? For the longest time I resisted the tweeting call. Once again, I told myself I didn't need to add one more internet activity into my already overloaded screen time.

Then during one of my first conversations with my new agent, she asked, "Do you twitter? I'll follow you if you do." I stammered, "Er, uh, not yet. . ." I was too embarrassed to let her know I had no clue how twitter worked or even how to sign up for it!

After that phone call, I decided I would at least check into it. After all, if my agent twittered and liked it, then maybe I needed to get on board. End of story: it took me all of five minutes to set up a twitter account, and it takes even less time to tweet.

Now after twittering for a few weeks, I can report back some of the benefits:

• Connect more with fellow writing friends: Some of you twitter too, and it's been really fun to get to know you more personally and stay in daily contact with you.

• Meet new writers: I've connected with different writers that I don't normally see in the blogosphere.

• Keep up with agent news: Since my agent uses twitter as her primary mode of communication of her daily activities, I feel more connected with what she'd doing.

• Promote writing industry news: Many writers post tidbits of writing-related news, or encouraging and motivational quotes.

• Market ourselves and our writing: Often authors post links to interviews, blogs, book release information, and more.

If blogging is a satisfying meal and facebook is a snack cracker, then twitter is like a tiny treat. It's not satisfying in and of itself. But combined with other networking, it's another easy way to build our platforms.

Terri Tiffany recently posted about the importance of searching out new ways to market ourselves as writers. (Read her post here.) For me, twitter is the next step in expanding my writing presence and it could potentially be an excellent marketing tool.

Have you tried anything new recently? What do you think of Twitter? I'd love to hear your opinions about it, both the pro's and con's.

Have a great weekend!

The Connection Factor

In the last post we talked about how blogging has benefited us. Because it's so helpful, we can easily let it steal time from other important things. I'm learning the key is self-control: setting limits and sticking to them.

Today I'd like to delve into the connection factor that blogging provides, particularly among the writing community. Blogging definitely allows us the opportunity to form genuine friendships with other writers. I've made some great new writing friends over the past months. Many of you mentioned this factor in your comments too.

But I've noticed that not all connections are on the same level. I suppose that in some ways, blogging relationships mimic real life. We have various depths in relating:

• Inner circle friends: We all have closer friends that we relate to on a more intimate level, the encouragers, the helpers, the advice-givers, the shoulder-to-cry-on friends.

• Outer circle friends: We have friends we see less frequently, but still enjoy chatting with on a more surface level.

• Acquaintances: These are the people we don't see often but smile and wave at when we do.

When you look at the people following your blog, where do they fit into these categories?

For me, the inner circle are the ones that comment regularly. When they take the time to comment, I feel like I get to know them on a deeper, more genuine level. I likewise try to comment regularly on their blogs. Our friendships keep growing and we're becoming a writing family.

The outer circle friends are the people who comment every so often or perhaps leave impersonal comments. I appreciate the connections but they are not as close. If I'm busy, these are the blogs I may not take the time to read.

The acquaintances are those followers who rarely or never comment. Because I don't see them much, I don't feel like I've gotten to know them. I suppose it's just not possible to connect with everyone--although if you're one of these acquaintance followers, I'd love to hear from you more often! (And if I hear from you, you'll definitely hear back from me!)

For most of us, blogging is a two way conversation. If we're interested in forming deeper connections, then we have to put forth the effort to meet, comment, and get to know others. Just like any real life relationships, if want to have friends, then we have to be one!

Now, I realize our blogging connections may not easily fit into the above three categories. But if you want to have deeper blogging friendships, are you doing the work necessary? Are you satisfied with your level of connection?

My Life Without Blogging

Rachelle Gardner had a big blog party last Friday. (If you missed it, you can check it out here.) She had over 200 comments in which people left their blog, facebook, and twitter addresses.

Since I'm a social kind of gal, I enjoyed hopping around to meet some new writers. I had a few writers stop by my blog too--so thanks! If you're new, I'm looking forward to getting to "know" you!

All of us can probably agree, one of the top benefits of blogging is the connection factor. Blogging allows us to connect with other writers, agents, and editors in a way that wasn't possible five years ago.

We certainly all struggle to keep blogging time from overtaking our writing or other priorities. I applaud those who unplugged their internets last week to give themselves more writing time. (I'm curious to know how it went!) But imagine what our writing lives would be like if we didn't have blogs.

Here's what my life would look like without blogging:

• I'd be incredibly stupid about the current state of the writing industry.

• I'd have no writing friends (or very, very few).

• I wouldn't have known about the Genesis Contest and therefore wouldn't have entered and wouldn't have finaled.

• I wouldn't have found an editor to help critique my manuscripts.

• I wouldn't have connected with my agent.

• I'd be no where near publication!

• And I'd still be double spacing after my periods.

Can I go so far as to say, the blogosphere has revolutionized the writing industry? What do you think? What would your writing career be like without blogging?

Book Proposals (Part 2)

This week we're discussing book proposals. In my last post I shared the first half of what went into the recent proposal I wrote. Today let's move on the second half.

Sales: This section is for those who've published a previous book. Since I'm unpublished, I left this out altogether.

Author Marketing: This is different than The Market from last post (which tells who our readers are). Instead this section tells how we'll market our books (via websites, blogs, newsletter). The proposal will look much more professional if we already have them in place. I wished I'd been able to list a website in my proposal, but unfortunately, I could only talk about my future plans to implement one.

Sequels or Future Books: My agent asked me to list between 3 to 5 ideas for future books. Since I write historical fiction, I had to research several more book ideas. The ideas were already floating around in my mind, but I had to flesh each one out in a short paragraph.

Comparable Books: In this section we want to help the editor have a big-picture understanding of our books. In order to do that, I had to find 4 to 5 novels that were similar to mine in some way, whether in setting, plot elements, or theme. For example, one of the books I picked centered around a true historic event. I explained how mine did too, but then went on to tell how mine was unique.

Characters: The challenge of this section was figuring out how to condense a description of my major characters into one sentence. My sentences were very long and run-on!

Synopsis: WordServe recommends a one or two page, single spaced summary of our books. In fact, they say: Shorter is better! I already had a synopsis on file, so fortunately I didn't have to take the time to create this too.

Sample Chapters: I included the first four chapters of each of my books. Similar to the agent process, THIS is what will determine whether or not we get a request for more. It must be polished and perfect to catch their attention.

There you have it! Those are all of the aspects that went into my book proposal. Interestingly, I'm learning not all proposals are the same nor does everyone have to write their own. Tess Hilmo commented that her agent wrote one for her. I'm not sure how common that is, but I'd say better be prepared to write your own and count yourself lucky if you don't have to!

I'm happy to report, Rachelle called to let me know the editor wanted to see the full of one of my books. So now, apparently several people will read the book, they'll have a meeting to discuss it, then make a decision if they think they can sell it.

Since this is the first publishing house, I have to remind my trembling nerves, if they don't want it, we have plenty of other publishers to try. Lots of waiting, plus many rejections, plus enormous amounts of determination equal my writing process. Hopefully some day they will all add up to publication!

What are you adding together in your writing process right now?

Have a great weekend!

Book Proposals (Part 1)

It's never too early to start writing a book proposal. Some agents require that a book proposal accompany a query letter. Editors may request a book proposal at a conference. Most of us will need one when we get ready to sell our books to publishing houses.

An abundance of information is available on how to write good proposals. Blogging friend, Krista Phillips mentioned that she used Terry Whalin's Book Proposal's that Sell to write hers. Rachelle Gardner has an informative post about how to write proposals, along with other book recommendations. (Click here to read it.)

Since so much help is available, I won't bore you with how to write a book proposal. Instead I'll share my experience writing one.

As I mentioned in my last post, WordServe Literary has a fill-in-the-blank template. Each section came with specific instructions or suggestions for what to write, which was incredibly helpful!

Title Page: Of course this was the easiest page to write! Rachelle listed the titles of all three of my books in a column in big bold print. At the bottom I listed my personal info. (address, phone, email, etc.); then she listed hers as well.

Content: This next section contained three distinct areas:

• What's the Hook? This is a tagline, one sentence that creates interest in the book. I included several options. Then Rachelle picked the one she liked best and perfected it. I was utterly amazed at how well she was able to hone in on the important phrases.

• Brief Overview: This is similar to the back-cover copy of a book. It's a way to create enough interest that a reader will want to buy the book and read it. WordServe suggests about seven sentences. Mine was three very short paragraphs. I tried to set up the conflict in such a way that it would generate a desire to know the rest of the story.

• Manuscript Details: Another easy section with things like: Format (trade paper), Price (I had no idea!), Manuscript Status (Complete, four chapters attached), Word Count (100,000).

The Market: This section is fairly short and is a bulleted list of the types of audiences that might be interested in the book. It demonstrates that we know exactly who will buy our books and why, i.e. female fiction readers from their 20's to 40's, etc. (This is not Author Marketing or Comparable Books. Both have their respective sections!)

Author Bio: Half to full page that lists our qualifications for writing the book, any previously published books or short stories, awards, degrees, certificates, anything related to writing. Since I don't have a huge list of qualifications, I looked at the back of books of first time authors to help give me an idea of how to write something interesting and yet informative.

Come back on Friday for the second half of what my proposal contained. For now, I'd love to hear your thoughts! Which section would you find the easiest to write and which one the most difficult? (And you can't say Title Page for easiest!)

For Part 2, click here: Book Proposals (Part 2)

My Book Proposal

Book proposals. Just the thought of writing one is enough to make me shudder! It ranks right up there with crafting a query or synopsis. They're all difficult to write but things most of us will have to put our hand to at one point.

I recently finished writing a book proposal with the help of my agent, Rachelle Gardner. Thankfully, Word Serve Literary has a template, and so Rachelle emailed me the form I needed to use, which took some of the pain out of the process!

Once I downloaded the template, I spent several days writing and filling in the various aspects. Then I sent it back to Rachelle for her to tweak. She did an excellent job of polishing everything to a beautiful shine and effortlessly blending both of my completed books into one proposal.

She sent the finished proposal back to me so that I could check it over and make any further changes. Fortunately, I'd just had a photo shoot and could switch my old author picture for a fresh, new one. (Yes, that's it in the sidebar!)

Finally, when we both felt the proposal was the best it could be, she sent it to the publishing house and editor she wanted to target first. Rachelle had networked an editor at the Write to Publish Conference and perked his interest in my project. And so for the time being, she has given him a one month exclusive.

Now I'm discovering a new kind of waiting--waiting for an editor to read my proposal and decide if he would like to see the fulls of both books! As we've always heard, the best antidote for waiting is to send off the project and forget about it. So, I'm trying to do that by plunging into the research for my next book which I'm really excited about.

I'm also starting on my website with a little help from blogging friend, Jill Kemerer, who wrote an excellent article about setting up websites. (Click here to read it.) I'm delighted that this week I have the privilege of finally meeting Jill over coffee!

So, that's my update! How do you feel when you think about having to write a book proposal?! Do you shudder too? Join me on Wednesday for a closer look at the nitty gritty of writing a proposal.

Training Plan

This week we've been discussing the sacrifices we have to make in order to write. What we give up depends upon our priorities. I might be willing to sacrifice TV, but you'd rather give up the softball team instead.

What we sacrifice varies. But so does how much. I've learned that just because we're writers, doesn't mean we're all aiming for the same thing.

Think about athletes, specifically runners. Some are content to run for personal enjoyment and to stay physically fit. Others train for the local 5K run. Some are working more vigorously for a Marathon. And then there are those who are headed for the Olympics.

All of the runners have different goals. But they should share one commonality: a training program. None of the runners can reap the full benefits of their goals (even if only to stay physically fit) without rigorous, consistent, self-disciplined training. We've all exercised and know that when we don't stick to it, we often give up too easily.

So how does this relate to writing? Not all of us are writing for the same reasons. Some are journaling and blogging for personal enjoyment. Others are writing short stories, non-fiction articles, or poetry for publication (the 5K ). Some are content to work on books and platforms geared toward a smaller publishing houses (Marathon). And then many are seeking the big one--traditional publication (Olympics). My analogy isn't perfect. In fact, I think the Marathon and Olympic goals may often overlap.

The point is that every writer needs a consistent training plan, the same as a runner. However, we need to decide what we're striving after first, because that will determine how much we need to sacrifice. An Olympic runner has to work more vigorously and sacrifice more time than a 5K runner. In much the same way, an Olympic bound writer has to have a tougher training plan, set aside longer hours, and give up many other things to write.

So, what kind of writer are you? Are you writing for personal enjoyment, the 5K, a Marathon, or the big time Olympics? Does your training plan reflect where you're headed? If not, what can you do to put in place the kind of consistent training plan that will help you succeed?

Setting Priorities

Thanks for sharing your Don't Do Lists in the last post! I'm amazed at all of the things everyone is sacrificing in order to write.

As I've struggled with what to sacrifice, I've realized it all boils down to priorities. What's most important for me, may not be the same for you. But if we know what our priorities are then we'll have a much easier time figuring out which things we can sacrifice and which ones we can't.

Have you made a list of your priorities, even if just mentally? Besides writing, what activities are most important to you, the things you don't want to sacrifice (or maybe shouldn't sacrifice) in order to write?

As I've pondered over my priorities, I've realized that sometimes the important things slip onto my Don't Do List. For example, one of my priorities is to spend quality time playing with my children. At times I'll tell myself I'm too busy to play with them, but then easily do something from my Don't Do List, like watch TV.

Lately God's been reminding me just how short life is. My husband's father was recently diagnosed with both brain and lung cancer. Even though he had surgery to remove one tumor and is having radiation on the others, we don't know his prognosis. We've also had other close family members hospitalized for illnesses.

Often we move along on the writing journey and the path stretches far out in front of us. We look ahead and think we have plenty of time, time for writing, and even time to get our priorities straight. But the reality is none of us knows exactly when God will call us off the path. Whether ten feet up the road or hundreds of miles, our traveling time will eventually end.

So, what about you? Do you struggle with your priorities? Do your priority lists and your Don't Do Lists ever get mixed up?

Be very careful, then, how you live--not as unwise but as wise, making the most of every opportunity. Ephesians 5:15

DON'T Do List

Last week agent Rachelle Gardner had a great post about how to manage time. (To read it click here.) I was particularly struck by the concept of a DONT Do List.

Here's what she said: I guess another big secret to my time-management strategy is the list of things I DON'T do. I've dispensed with a lot of non-necessary things in life... things I'd like to do if I could! But the path I've chosen means I've had to let go of some things.

She went on to list quite a few things she doesn't do in order to make time for her work. Her point was that there are a LOT of very good things we can do, maybe are doing. But in order to have time for our writing, we may need to sacrifice many of those things.

Whether published or not, most of us are struggling to squeeze writing time around the myriad of other responsibilities and activities that demand our attention.

We live in a culture that's constantly on the move, taking trips, going to movies, shopping at the mall, running errands, playing sports, and the list goes on. If you have kids the activities double, even triple with ballet, choir, baseball, 4-H, cub scouts, soccer, piano lessons, drama club, and on and on. Our modern culture is a wheel of never ending activities, spinning faster and faster. We often get sucked in for the dizzying ride.

The bottom line is that we can't do everything and still have time to write. We'll have to make sacrifices, especially if we're serious about pursuing publication.

Here's what's on my Don't Do List: I don't bake much even though I love to, I don't watch TV except for one favorite show, I don't make elaborate meals for my family, I don't get involved in many activities for myself, I rarely shop at the mall, I don't clean my whole house every week, I definitely don't iron, I don't go to movies, I don't read the newspaper or magazines, I don't read new releases as much as I'd love to, and I don't show hospitality the way I used to.

Now it's your turn to share! What are you sacrificing to make time for writing? What's on your Don't Do List?

Being Prepared

Once I received "the call" about representation, my to-do list doubled, maybe even quadrupled! I gave you a glimpse of some of the things I'm working on in the last post.

In hindsight there are things I wish I would have completed before "the call." Here are just a few:

• Have a website in place Most if not all published writers are expected to have websites. I'd planned to develop mine over the summer but now wish I'd done it months ago. In the book proposal I'm writing, I had to list ways I plan to market my writing. I would appear more professional if I could mention my website rather than having to tell about my future plans to have one. Besides, having one in operating order would have saved me the hassle when I have lots of other new things to deal with.

• Have a professional-looking photo. This is another thing I have to send with my book proposal. It would have been easier to have this sitting on file, rather than having to take time out of my frantic editing to get one taken.

• Have a plan for the next book. One of the first things Rachelle asked me to do is write a one page synopsis for my next book. I stammered and swallowed hard before I gave her a semi-coherent response: "What?" Although I had a lot of ideas floating around, I wish I'd been more prepared with a definite story idea (or even several). I think publishers want to work with authors long term. They may be more likely to take a chance on us if they see the potential for future books.

Fortunately, these kinds of things are not deal-breakers. But if I'd had them in place, I may have saved myself some stress!

We can never be totally prepared for all of the new and unexpected things that we'll face on this writing journey. Sometimes we'll walk in the fog and have to learn as we go. But in the competitive world of publishing, we need all of the advantages we can get and so should seek to be as prepared and professional as possible.

What about you? Have you ever been caught unprepared? What do you wish you would have done better? On the flip side, what are you doing to prepare for the future? If you are actively querying, would you be ready if you got "the call"?

Have a great weekend!

Progress Forward

Thank you for your interest and support in what's been happening lately with my progress forward! I thought I'd take a moment to catch you up on where I'm at.

I have two current books under consideration. Since the titles are still in limbo, I'll refer to them as Book 1 & Book 2. (I know, not very original, but I'm terrible with titles.)

Rachelle read 50 pages from Book 1 (the one that had been in her slush pile for months). She had a meeting with the other members of Word Serve Literary. They discussed my project and liked it. Rachelle gave me "the call" and offered me representation. (You can read about it here.)

Later in the same day Rachelle read 50 pages from Book 2. She liked that book so much that she called me again to discuss our plan of action for both books.

Here's a condensed list of the things she's encouraged me to work on:

• Brainstorm titles. Rachelle didn't like my titles--go figure! She told me to study all of the titles used by the publishing house she's planning to target. This might give me a feel for the types of titles that are popular right now.

• Write a book proposal. She emailed me the specific form Word Serve uses for Fiction Proposals. It is approximately 6 pages long. (I'll share more about the proposal in a future post.)

• Write synopsis for my next book. When she submits my current books, she would like to do so as a three book proposal. This means that I need to narrow down the topic of my next book and begin the historical research. I also need to have ideas for the next 3-5 books after that.

• Finish editing both current books. Earlier in the year I hired a freelance editor for Book 2 and loved the feedback. I asked Rachelle if I could send Book 1 (the one that had been in her slush pile) to my editor before we start submitting it. Rachelle has patiently agreed to my wish. So now I'm in the process of shining up Book 1.

Here's how I see it: Our goal should not be to write a book that's just good enough to catch the attention of an agent. Instead, we should strive to produce a book that reflects excellence, something readers will truly love. We need to do whatever it takes to get us to that point whether we have an agent or not.

I'm making steady progress with my to-do list. Once I cross off all of the above, then Rachelle will have to read through everything which will take time. After that, hopefully she'll be able to start working on selling my books. She has a specific publishing house and editor she plans to target first.

Since I've shared my to-do list, I'd love to hear yours. What are you working on these days? And what are you doing to push yourself to excel?

Turn In the Bend

As you know, I recently turned a bend in my writing journey. Agent Rachelle Gardner offered me the wonderful opportunity of having her representation. Of course I accepted! And now I'm moving forward on a new, unfamiliar path.

So how am I feeling? I'm super excited and thrilled that I've made it over the incredibly high hurdle of finding an agent. But now that I'm on the other side of that hurdle, I'm looking ahead at this new path with both excitement and trepidation.

Ahead I see shadows of things I don't understand. The path slopes upward with steep heights and crags that I've yet to climb.

So far in my writing journey the path has been a steady uphill climb. I've plodded forward one step at a time. I've strengthened my muscles, built my stamina, developed my callouses. I've written at least five books that will never see the light of day, filled notebooks with research, queried numerous agents, received countless rejections, waited in slush piles for endless months, slaved over contest entries, paid for professional editing.

I'm ready for the next phase of the journey. And yet. . .

I wonder, do I really have what it takes? Will I have the time to devote to the demands of this climb? Will my stories really be good enough? Can I persevere for the long haul? Because there's no turning back now.

When I'm plagued with self-doubts, first I tell myself there are many who've already gone before me. If they can do it, why can't I? And second, I remind myself I'm not alone in this journey. I have an excellent agent to guide my steps, I have the encouragement and support of all of you, and most importantly I have One who walks beside me and promises never to leave my side.

Where are you in your writing journey? And how are you feeling about where you're at? Since I've poured out my heart, I would love to hear what's in yours!