Archive for February, 2010

Title Tips

Monday, February 22nd, 2010

As a former in-house fiction editor for a large publishing company, I read a lot of slush. (Yeah, I’m dating myself. This was in the days when editors still read slush.) Now, as a writer who critiques and edits manuscripts on the side, I get to read unsolicited manuscripts before they land on agents’ desks. (I say agents because many publishing companies don’t read slush anymore.)

Here’s what I can tell you about reading slush. It’s boring. Boring, boring, boring. Same old stories, same old characters, same old writing style. Mostly. When somebody does something–anything–a little different or exciting, it’s a great day!

Why more people don’t recognize the importance of hooking agents and editors with a superlative title, I have no idea. I have reason to believe many books out there (probably including my own I Was a Teenage Popsicle) sold mostly on the strength of their titles. I can tell you unequivocally that a great title will get your book read and possibly bought faster. A zippy title is gold for a publishing company’s marketing department. It can get your book better shelf placement, which means, in turn, that you’ll attract more book buyers.

Here are a few tips to keep in mind when creating your one-of-a-kind title:

1) Make it witty. The Hitchhiker’s Guide to the Galaxy is my all-time fave title. Recent YA titles I love include How to Say Goodbye in Robot and The Reformed Vampire Support Group.

2) Make it bizarre. How can an agent or editor not love a title like last year’s Soul Enchilada?

3) Keep it short. There’s something about a one-word title like Holes or Speak…

4) Tug at the Heartstrings. The award-winner in this category has to be Hope Was Here. It’s the ‘Was’ that gets me every time.

5) Keep ‘em guessing. In this group, I like Robert J. Sawyer’s Calculating God. You immediately wonder, how can you calculate God? A construction like “What So-and-So Learned While Doing Such-And-Such” works well, too, but keep it witty. (See tip #1.)

What are some of your fave titles? Do you have any of your own title stories to share?

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What I Learned About Writing at the Olympics

Tuesday, February 16th, 2010

Well, from *watching* the Olympics, anyway!

-You’ve gotta put in the hours. Alexandre Bilodeau, who won Canada’s first gold medal on Sunday (and Canada’s first ever gold on home soil!), keeps saying in interviews that he put in four hard years of training for 23 seconds. All you aspiring writers out there, take note. Before you even put pen to paper, read, take classes and join writers’ organizations. When you are finally ready to write a book, outline like crazy, and make sure your story, craft and voice are all in superlative shape before you submit to agents and editors.

-Focus on what’s important. Anybody watch the pairs figure skating on Sunday night (the short program)? Didja happen to catch the Ukraine pair’s electric blue catsuits that were described by commentators and bloggers as ’superhero costumes’ and ‘Blades of Glory rejects’? (If not, go to http://popwatch.ew.com/2010/02/15/olympic-pairs-short-programs/ ). Um, it’s all about the skating, Ukraine peeps. Just as writing is all about the writing, writer peeps. Work on getting the important stuff right before you start to tweet and blog and so on–especially if you’re unpublished!

-Keep things in perspective. Canadian snowboarding silver medalist (sorry for all the Canadian references, American friends!) Mike Robertson said on Monday, “As soon as I came up short on that jump I knew someone was going to pass me. But whatever, I’m second. My expectations were just to come here and have fun and enjoy the show. It’s the Olympics. It’s apparently a big deal.” Uh, yeah, it is, Mellow Mike. Just as getting a book published is, peeps. So quit yer bellyaching about how so-and-so just got a bigger advance than you did, or better marketing support from her publisher (well, okay, I kinda get that one), or a book tour, blah, blah, blah. If you’ve had a book published, you’re one of a lucky few. You’re bound to experience disappointments and setbacks along the way, even once you’re published (even more, maybe–there’ll be a whole new set of things to disappoint you and set you back!) so you might as well just relax and enjoy the ride…

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What I Learned About Writing at the Movies

Wednesday, February 10th, 2010

Phew. Various crises (computer issues, sick kid, sick dad) have now been averted, and regular life can continue! Regular life for me includes going to the movies at least once a month. I think going to the movies regularly is as important for a writer as reading regularly. Yeah, that’s my line and I’m sticking to it. No, seriously, movies can teach you a whole lot about writing. Here are just a few things I’ve learned from movies I’ve seen over the past few months:

A Single Man: Write what you know. Apparently Tom Ford read Christopher Isherwood’s 1964 book of the same name as a young man and was deeply affected by it. When he decided to make a movie after working as a fashion designer for many years, he chose to adapt the book he connected to on an obviously very personal level. The love and passion he has for the material shines through. (And the costumes and sets aren’t bad, either!)

Avatar: Go the extra mile. Creating a whole new film technology and a real, working language was crazy expensive, but James Cameron’s efforts paid off in droves.

Up in the Air: Be true to your own style. Writer/Director/Producer Jason Reitman has said in an interview that he would have made the worst Ghostbusters (directed and produced by his father, Ivan Reitman) ever–all the characters would have been sitting around *talking* about ghosts! While he has deep respect for his father’s ability to entertain, the younger Reitman continues to make talky movies about morals in his own inimitable style, and hits home runs every time.

Sherlock Holmes: Don’t mess around too much with classic genre stuff. (I missed my gentlemanly, erudite Holmes!)

The Hurt Locker: Don’t be constrained by so-called rules. You’ll be hard-pressed to find evidence of a three-act structure or turning points in this one. It’s completely episodic and makes no apologies for being so. The movie is a faux-documentary about a bomb squad’s 30-day tour in Iraq. The ‘plot’ comes from wondering whether the squad will live through it. Period.

And then there’s the movie that just came out that sparked an idea–well, gave me the final piece in the puzzle of an idea I had long been thinking about. Stay tuned for details…!

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On My Own…Again

Monday, February 1st, 2010

I love being a writer. Well, let me amend that. I love most parts about being a writer. I don’t love the rejections (and make no mistake, even published authors get them), I don’t love the glacial pace at which the sale/publication process works, and I especially don’t love the business aspects of the job–the contract negotiations, the ‘branding’ considerations, and the promotional stuff (well, okay, I might like that part better if I had more TIME!).

I do love the creativity of the job and the flexibility it gives me. I also freelance edit, and I can drop my editing or writing at any time if one of my kids wants to talk, or if I have to take somebody to the doctor. And I love that I can make myself a cup of my fave coffee anytime. And that I can work in my sweat pants. And that I don’t have to make tons of small talk or deal with office politics (both of which I had to do regularly when I worked as an in-house editor at a large publishing company–I wasn’t very good at either).

Which isn’t to say I don’t occasionally miss having co-workers around. When you’re feeling blue, the isolation only deepens the shade. And when you’ve just started a new project and have no idea if you’re on the right track (that’s, um, me right now), it can be a real drag only having yourself to answer to. Sure, I have an agent–an agent who used to be an editor, no less, and is supremely qualified to give me insightful feedback. But unfortunately, she currently has three other projects of mine in various stages sitting on her desk–or rather, in her computer’s hard drive–and I can’t, in all good conscience, saddle her with another one. I also belong to a great writer’s group, but one of our members just had a baby, another’s taking a break from writing, and the third is killing herself writing a couple of books I just happen to be freelance editing for her publisher. (Sorry about those crazy deadlines, M!)

So for now, I’m on my own…again. Definitely both a blessing and a curse. What think you, peeps?

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