Congratulations to the writers who made it to this year's 'Pitch to Publication' editor round. And I'm thrilled to announce that my own submission, TEN PAST CLOSING, a YA thriller, was chosen by my top choice, Rebecca Faith Heyman, for a month of hard work to whip my manuscript into shape. Then, the agent round ... Thanks again to Samantha Fountain and all the editors who donated their time to make this event happen. It's going to be an incredible month! |
Now, time to get back to work.
1 Comment
Once again, I'm excited that "Judging More than Just the Cover," is hosting this month's "It's a Writer Thing" post. Amber Gregg's blog is a rich and informative resource for writers, plus a lot of fun! Okay, first off, I swear I watch more than reality TV. It’s just the fiction shows don’t get my mind whirring about success in writing the way the reality options do, and a new show we just started watching reminds me a lot of a concept from motivational psychology. Of course, I immediately applied the whole thing to writing. So, the show. My new favorite is called “From Fit to Fat to Fit.” I’m drawn to this one for the same reason I love the others: I’m always interested in watching someone accomplish something incredible by pushing themselves beyond their limits. In fashion design, it’s pushing their creativity. In dance, it’s creativity and limits of physicality. And in the new show, it’s stamina, fitness, and will. Plus, exercise is one of my personal foundations, so watching someone completely change their health via nutrition and exercise is immensely empowering for me. Writers have a similarly grueling path to walk to get from those first words to publication. As I’ve discussed in past “It’s a Writer Thing Posts,” it takes an immense amount of work and an immense amount of staying power. (Remember the story of the dancer from “So You Think You Can Dance” who was cut only to return to audition again that same season then went on to win?) That’s what writers do every day. We get rejections, and then we send out another query. We’re told our story has problems, so we sit back down and keep polishing our manuscripts. If we don’t, then our titles will never appear on the bookshelves. Okay, but what does this all have to do with some fitness show? Here goes. First off, in “From Fit to Fat to Fit,” there’s a bit of a twist on the fitness transformation trope. There’s a client—someone who’s struggled with their health for a long time—and a trainer—the expert who’s going to to get them to their goals. But the twist is that the trainers lose weight with the client. They actually gain 40 or 50 or 60 pounds in a four-month period, so they can understand what it feels like to start the journey from a place of poor health and fitness (as opposed to someone who’s always been in incredible shape and feels great every single day). Then, they suffer through the workouts with their client. The clients’ responses are always the same: “Why would you do that to yourself?” But, when it’s time for them to start, they know they’re suffering with someone who understands, and the trainers really do understand, maybe for the very first time in their lives. This makes me think of a motivation term called “The Stockdale Paradox,” which is named after an American Military Officer who was shot down and imprisoned for five years during the Vietnam War. He was determined to survive, never doubted it, but he also brought a realistic appraisal of what that would entail. He knew it would be hell and he anticipated the length of imprisonment with remarkable accuracy. After his release, he shared how the blind optimists who shared his prison perished; they were left hopeless and helpless when their unrealistic expectations of freedom didn’t materialize. So, to bring it back to writing. To succeed, we need both the confident assurance of our success and the realistic awareness of how hard our road to publication will be. If we underestimate the challenges of publication—how much time it really takes to get that MS in shape, or how much more we must grow before we’ll be ready, or how many times we’ll have to hear, “I’m going to pass, but remember the publishing world is highly subjective …”--then we’ll just give up. If we think it will be easier than it’s supposed to be (or, that it’s easier for everyone else out there than it is for us), we’ll assume something is wrong with us or our ideas or the publishing world, and we’ll quit. That’s why the FFTFTF concept is so brilliant. For the first time, the trainer isn’t some blind optimist. The trainer experiences the challenges of exercising with fifty extra pounds. With the added insight, they validate the clients’ suffering while still championing them toward their goals (instead of making the client feel like, what the heck is wrong with you that you can’t do another sprint right now?). As writers, if we have unfailing faith in our chances for success and a realistic appraisal of what we’ll endure to get there, how on earth can we fail?
“You can do it. You can write!” Happy New Year! It’s been a busy fall and holiday season, between work on different projects and the release of “Fright before Christmas.” I can’t believe my last post in this series was back in September. I'm excited to share that "Judging More than Just the Cover," will be hosting my "It's a Writer Thing" posts, including today's. Amber Gregg's blog is a rich and informative resource for writers, plus a lot of fun! Those of you who read my last guest post on “Judging More than Just the Cover,” already know that I’m a fan of “Project Runway.” Lately, I’ve been watching the “Junior” version (which is amazing by the way; these kids are incredibly talented and mature), and I was struck by something that comes up all the time on this and similar shows like “Top Chef,” (another of my favorites), and that is how contestants respond to being cut. The reaction is the same regardless of whether we’re talking fashion design or culinary arts: “It’s so hard to leave after getting so close.”
It reminds me of the classic arcade and early home console games like Atari and Colecovision (yes, I’m an 80s child). Back in the day, even if you beat levels 1-99, if you died in level 100, you had to start at the beginning again. Kids these days, with their video game ‘save’ buttons have it easy. Once you beat a particular challenge, you never have to worry about that milestone again. Not so in writing. Sure, you’re always learning, but none of your progress toward getting an agent or publishing contract is saved. As with the old-school video games, once your guys die, you’re out of luck and have to dig in your pocket for another quarter or go home. Getting so close you can almost taste it is exhilarating, but the crash can be extremely challenging to overcome. Persevering takes determination and a lot of social support. But, just like on “Project Runway,” “Top Chef,” and my other favorite, “So You Think You Can Dance,” there’s always another chance. For example, this year on “Project Runway,” (Season 14) the runner up was someone who literally tried out every single year since the show premiered. That means, he was told ‘no’ thirteen times. By the same people. Then he placed second. Similarly, on “SYCYCD,” a contestant auditioned in one city and was cut, but then showed up in another city, in the very same season. Not only was she given the golden ticket, she won it all. How many author stories have you heard about a book that was rejected countless times before becoming a huge hit? Getting so close only to be told ‘no’ just plain sucks, and not having that save button only makes it harder, but if those world class Pac Man champs (and the Donkey Kong champs and the Centipede champs) can gain enough mastery to play the game from level one to win, then we can accomplish the same with our writing. And the best part is, we don’t need an endless supply of quarters to get there. “You can do it, you can write!” For more great posts, be sure to check out the other articles in "It's a Writer Thing," as well as the wealth of offerings on "Judging More than Just the Cover."
It's a Writer Thing: Further musings on the phenomenon of the premature query (with graphics!)9/27/2015 In my last It’s a Writer Thing post, I wrote about the day I finished my first book and the thought process I had when I made my deeply misguided decision to query way too soon, which of course resulted in a bunch of rejections. The worst part of this story is, I did my homework. I read all the articles that outlined what I should do, then I ignored them. What the hell was I thinking? I'll tell you EXACTLY what I was thinking. Since I’m a visual person, I decided to represent this graphically. Here goes. Alas, queries ensued. My guess is this is another writer thing, so if anyone out there has been there, I’d love to hear about it; and if your experience was different, I’d love to hear about that too. I didn’t realize it at the time, but what I wanted was encouragement that I could write. Not just as a fun hobby, but for real. Even if they said I had a huge amount to learn (which I did and still do), I would have just loved a, Keep it up. You’re on to something here. There I was, on the tail end of a year of drafting. I was staring down the dark, unknown territories of another two years of rewrites, and I wanted some freakin’ guidance, someone to let me know that my past and future effort would be worth it. But what did I get instead? Agent rejections. Luckily, I got wise around that time and figured out what I really needed was a critique group, which I found (although that comes with its own treacherous waters to navigate). Funny thing is, one of the first people who cheered me on to really go for it hadn’t even read any of my stuff. This dear friend was one of the few people I told about my endeavors in those early days, and one day, she slipped a note into a card; it said, “You can do it! You can write!” She simply believed in me. She’s gone now, and I’m heartbroken to say that I lost her note. I wish more than anything that I had it back, but I’ll never forget her words. I know now that the only way we’ll ever fail is if we stop trying. As long as we keep working, we’ll keep getting better, and eventually, we’ll start to get those yes’s. Our stories are worth that extra time and extra effort to make them as good as they can be. So to anyone out there who isn’t sure if it will be worth it: You can do it! You can write!
Although my serious writing days began about five years ago, I feel like the world’s most perpetual newbie. The number of writing-related things I have to Google each day is embarrassing. This last year has been the biggest whirlwind yet. Not only have I enjoyed my first successes (i.e, those holy s**t! moments when you realize it can really happen to you), I’ve also learned more than in the previous four years combined. About the craft and myself as a writer. About the business of being a professional author. And, how much I still have to learn.
The best part, I’m excited about it all the time. Problem is, I fear my husband is getting tired of my long-winded dinnertime musings about all the knowledge I’ve gained and all the realizations I’ve had. He’s got incredible patience, but everyone had a breaking point. So, in order to preserve his sanity, I decided to start a new, regular feature on my blog where I can journal about these things and let him finally get a chance to talk about his day over our evening meal. My dear fellow writers, readers, and lovers of all things bookish and word-related, if these musings are interesting, helpful, or at least entertaining (even if that’s only of the schadenfreude variety), even better. So, here’s my first post: On finishing the first novel and the phenomenon of premature querying. About a month ago, I finished drafting my fifth novel, and for some reason, I keep thinking back to the day I finished my first. That day was one of the most incredible of my life. I’m not a big crier, but I kind of bawled a little. I just couldn’t believe I actually did it. It took a whole year with some weeks full of daily work, which were followed by weeks of zero productivity. I had no idea how to plot, so I pantsed the whole thing, writing whatever I had in my head, then waiting for the next bit to come to me before I hit it again. When I finished it, I did what every first-time-novelist does. I thought my book was awesome, and I queried that baby with very little editing. Cue the regret and red face of chagrin. But I guess I should be kind to myself about it. Premature querying seems to be a right of passage, a total writer thing. To quote my good friend, Cristina Dos Santos, “Nothing is ever wasted or lost in this journey.” I remember the swirl of emotions and my decision process like it was yesterday. There were definitely some thoughts like, Who wouldn’t want to read this book? It rocks! But my predominant thought, What if this was just fluke? This book better get published because I may never be able to do that again. I know now that I was wrong on both counts; after a few years of revisions, novel #1 became share-worthy, and I learned that I can definitely, without a doubt, do that again. My confidence grew once I understood that it’s not just the idea of being an author that fuels me, it’s that I actually love to write. I love everything about it, even when I hate everything about it. I can’t imagine not doing it. That first book represents the first milepost for me. I’m in it for the long haul. Over the last few weeks, I've been thinking about how crazy it is that prior to December, I hadn't had a single fiction piece published or even accepted for publication. Then the "Beware the Little White Rabbit" acceptance came, and I had my first story. I danced around so much in joy, my husband got anxious I'd sprain something (which, I've had the misfortune to do in the past, so his concern wasn't misplaced). So what does this all have to do with today's post? I used to fear I'd never get a single thing published. Now, don't get me wrong, I've still got a long way to go. A long way. A long, long, windy, and probably pot-holed way to go before I can say I'm a successful author, but I no longer bemoan my chances of success. And that's a very good thing. Here's why. What we tell ourselves matters.It's an absolute truth: what we tell ourselves matters. This is a premise the entire field of Cognitive Behavioral Therapy is founded upon. It's been proven time and time again. Recently, Dr. Sonia Kang from the University of Toronto, along with colleagues from universities in New York and California, published a study in the Personality and Social Psychology Bulletin, which found that when participants write out self-affirmations about their best negotiation skills, their ability to negotiate a lower price increased significantly when compared to a group that wrote about their worst negotiating skill. In other words, writing about what we're good at gives us an advantage. They also demonstrated the opposite: focusing on what we're not good at reduces our efficacy. The semantics are important too.How we talk to ourselves is important as well. A study by Dr. Thomas Holtgraves entitled (brilliantly, if you ask me): "I Think I'm Doing Great, but I Feel Pretty Bad about It," found that when participants were asked to describe how they feel about themselves, their self-report was far more negative than when asked what they think about themselves. His results also suggested that this may have implications for self-esteem. Throw in a little grit, and you've got a winning combination.I've written about the concept of grit in the past, which essentially refers to one's determination to continue trying at something over and over. Dr. Kennon Shelton and colleagues collaborated on a study that examined several different personality factors to determine which had the biggest impact on goals over time. Surprisingly, the only one that had a direct impact on goal attainment at time two was the participants' grit at time one. And they looked at a bunch of important constructs including: Gratitude, Curiosity, Savoring, and use of Strengths. So, that's easy enough, right? I'll just keep working at my goal, focusing on getting better, no matter how many times I fail. No matter how many times I lose. Or look dumb. Or get hurt. It's not easy at all! In reality, it's hard to keep at a goal in the face of rejection or setbacks. So, where do affirmations come in?Affirmations are potentially one tool we can use--telling ourselves we think we can--that can facilitate the maintenance of effort. In other words, affirmations are to grit like oil is to fire.
This isn't to say we should tell ourselves that our road will be easy. The complete opposite. But, as Brian Johnson said in a recent post on his site, Entheos, instead of telling yourself "this is impossible," why not re-frame that into an affirmation like: "I know this will be hard, but I think I can do it"? If we can do that, no matter what our goals, we may find ourselves in the kitchen doing a hip-spraining dance of joy. |
Jessica Bayliss Blogs about reading, writing, & other fun stuff
Categories
All
Archives
October 2019
|