Don't Take Trivia Trivially

Picture it: 7 teachers plus a couple of spouses. 9 categories of hand-written triva questions. All of us perched in front of our laptops/tablets, desperate for some fun during this pandemic.

Everyone but me was drinking. I bombed, even though I was only drinking water. However, some realizations hit me over the head the next day, and here they are:

Be realistic about yourself. There was a category about alcohol. I’m fond of a capful of Rumchata in milk not much of a drinker. There was a category about superheroes. I know nothing of that topic, except for the old Batman TV show. All the other teachers were 20 or 30+ years  younger than me. I knew there would be questions/whole categories that would be too young for me or beyond my scope of interest/knowledge..

I also know I am not a romance writer. I can’t write science fiction. I can’t do horror (but my current hair-do does qualify me to be a freak show exhibit). Although I do try to stretch outside my memoir box occasionally, I know my general lane and am well aware of my deficiencies, which leads to the next realization…

 

1. See the "Eclectic" section.

Have a sense of humor. At the end of the final (9th) round (10 questions each) I had amassed a pitiful 26 points. That’s not even a 3-point average. I wore my loser banner proudly.

Learn to laugh at and joke about your rejections and your mistakes. “Hey, that rejection came back to
me faster than the speed of sound,” or “Perhaps they haven’t sent an acceptance because they’re
arguing amongst themselves over how high my advance should be. Each editor thinks it should be
higher.” It’s better to laugh than cry.

2. (Again, see the "Eclectic" section)

Learn from your mistakes. My category was language. I only had one multiple choice question. The rest gave no clue or possbible answer. Most of them were hard. On the other hand, one of the spouses had most of their questions in multiple choice format. They had a couple of bonus questions at the end. Some of the teachers had more questions that were easy. Next time, I will make up questions that more people can relate to (perhaps a Viggo Mortensen category?), will use the multiple choice format more, and will definitely include bonus questions.

Right now I’m in a blurb group and a query letter and synopsis group through SCBWI (Society of
Children’s Book Writers and Illustrators). No agent is beating down my door to sign me, so perhaps
what I am submitting needs to be tweated have a major make-over.

3. (See the next section for an explanation.)

Embrace the eclectic. One of my teacher friends last night recreated alcohol/beer labels. She arranged grapes into a foot-print pattern. She paired up a slice of grapefruit with some parsley. She painstakingly placed dry pasta and fruit roll-ups in a careful arrangement. It was beyond brilliant.

Maybe you have a friend who is into dog shows. You might use their expertise and include a dog show thread in your murder mystery. I have a friend who spent part of their married life in an isolated part of Alaska. Crazy things happened to her. Perhaps I could use that lonely place as a back-drop for a piece of flash fiction. Use your friends (in a good way) and use their unique interests.

Even though I’m licking my wounds (which is better than licking the ice cream off a fudgsicle) because of my epic loss, I learned some things about myself.

4. (See the above section for an explanation of why this is here.)

And now, I’m off to write better trivia questions in case they’re charitable enough to invite me to the next one... Can you guess the labels? (The answers will be in my bio section.)

Sioux has lots of time to write these days... and yet she's wily enough to avoid it most of the time. She's a full time middle school teacher (from a distance currently), a part-time frustrated novelist and part-time "fetch" partner with her dog, Radar. If you'd like to read more of her work, check out her blog.

And do you give up? 1--Malibu rum. 2--Barefoot wine. 3. Jagermeister. 4. Smirnoff

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5 comments Society of Children's Book Writers and Illustrators

It’s a Bird! It’s a Plane! It’s A Writing Superhero!

So there I was, backed into a corner with a flailing manuscript. Despite feedback from writing partners, critique groups, and all my usual best efforts, it still needed something. But what?

“Help! HELPPPPP!” I hollered. And suddenly, I heard the cry, reverberating through my speakers. (It sounded a lot like Mighty Mouse singing, “Here I come to save the daaayyyyy!”) Look! Through the interwebs! In my Inbox! Swooping in with all kinds of ideas was…

Independent Editor Person!

So how do you know when it’s time to call for help? When might you need an indie editor? Here are a few tips that could point you in that direction:

If you’re sending out your manuscript to agents and getting lots of requests for a full but no offers of representation, it might be beneficial to get an editor. Chances are good, you’ve probably got an interesting premise—yay! You’ve written a compelling query, too—yay! And your writing in the first ten pages—the standard number of pages in a query—must be great. Double yay! But somewhere past those ten pages and query, the writing’s falling apart—boo!

An editorial letter, three to five pages of feedback, might just save the writing day for you, clearing up the plot problems or character snafus that are keeping those agents from committing.

So ask your published writing friends, preferably friends who are published where you want to be published, for editor recommendations. The cost of an indie editor varies widely, depending on the manuscript length, from reasonable ($50) to quite expensive ($4,000) so you’ll want to do your homework before you make a commitment.

If you have an agent who’s sent your manuscript out on round after round after round of submissions and it’s not selling, it might be time to call an editor. When you and your agent have worked on the story and firmly believe it’s ready, when you both love the story, and especially if your feedback is very basic, it can be hard to see what’s stopping the sale. A fresh pair of professional eyes can open your eyes to what needs revision.

An agent may know of editors that clients have used and make that recommendation, but again, it’s often enough to put out the request to friends in your genre. Reliable names come up on a reliable basis.

And finally, if your manuscript is winning multiple contests in professional writing organizations, like RWA or SCBWI, but then going nowhere fast, an editor might be able to get that story over the finish line. It’s possible that the manuscript’s sagging somewhere in the middle and you need feedback on the whole story.

That’s what a superhero editor can do for you: look at the whole story and make suggestions for improvement. And believe me, it’ll feel like he—or she—has saved the writing day!

(Whew!)

Cathy C. Hall is a kidlit author and humor writer.
 She'll be attending an SCBWI conference in Decatur, Georgia, on March 10th--12th. She'd love to see you there!

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6 comments Cathy C. Hall, editor help, revision tips, Romance Writers of America, Society of Children's Book Writers and Illustrators, writing advice

Talking About Your Book: You Can Do It!

As a volunteer coordinator with the Society of Children’s Book Writers and Illustrators, I look for ways to support the published children’s authors. Right now, for example, I’m working on a list for a couple events where I need children’s authors to talk about their books in front of librarians.

But getting authors to jump on an opportunity like that is not always easy. And not just because of time or financial constraints. To be honest, I think oftentimes it’s because…well, they’re writers.

They ponder and plot and wonder and write. All by their lonesome.

And for most writers, that’s exactly what appeals to them. Writers love being alone with their characters and their settings and their conflicts and their commas and…yeah, you get the picture.

But eventually, if the writer is lucky, he or she ends up with a book contract—Oh! Frabjous day! An author is born! Now it’s time to sell that book!

And here is where the sticky part comes in: many writers are not comfortable selling the book. Because selling the book takes a completely different set of skills from writing the book. Namely, selling the book requires an author to get out there and talk about the book.

Now, of course an author can tweet or post pictures or share links or write brilliant blog posts about the book. Those are necessary online marketing skills that help sell the book. But at some point, one must go out in the actual world. The world beyond the neighborhood bookstore, beyond family and friends. Sooner or later, Mr. or Ms. Introverted Author is going to have to stand up in front of a crowd of strangers.

And talk about the book.

So perhaps it would be a good idea to work on those speaking skills now, before you—Oh! Frabjous day!—sell that book you’re writing. And I have a couple ways for you to start:

Are you a member of a professional writer’s group, like Romance Writers of America or SCBWI? Volunteer at the writer’s conferences. Sit at the reception desk and welcome people who come in the door. You’ll meet a lot of people, and you’ll get used to the idea of speaking to strangers about something you love. (Chances are good that you’ll talk about what you’re writing.)

Do you have children in school where you can volunteer to read at a Storytime? Teachers love to have guest readers come in, and you’ll get the experience of dealing with the trials and joys of what might happen at a school visit.

When you attend a big event, challenge yourself to sit with people you don’t know. Introduce yourself. Ask questions. Take note of the speakers you liked. What qualities made their talk engaging or compelling?

Great speaking skills are invaluable and you can develop them the same way you developed writing skills: practice, practice, practice! And then when an event comes ‘round your neighborhood, perhaps a convention packed with librarians, you’ll be ready. (And I’d be honored to add your name to my list!)

~Cathy C. Hall

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8 comments Cathy C. Hall, public speaking, Romance Writers of America, selling the book, Society of Children's Book Writers and Illustrators

Look To Your State!

On the Premium Green discussion group (for information on how to join this group, check out http://www.wow-womenonwriting.com/markets.html ), we recently had a discussion about critique groups. One writer suggested looking to state groups to find a critique group. That was a great suggestion!

I have a lot of experience with one state group in particular. I recently finished serving as president of the Missouri Writers' Guild (http://www.missouriwritersguild.org/). This group has 13 chapters throughout Missouri and Kansas. From these 13 chapters, several smaller critique groups exist--some online but most face-to-face.

But state groups are important not just because you can find someone to read your work, they provide exposure to successful national and regional speakers such as authors, editors, and agents. Hundreds of writers join these groups, which provides hundreds of networking opportunities. The Missouri Writers' Guild (MWG) offers their members an online bio, an ad on the speakers' bureau, their own web page, a quarterly newsletter full of useful information, and contests for published work. I have met hundreds of writers and have felt part of a community since joining MWG, and I still belong even though I live in Illinois. In many state organizations, such as the MWG, you don' t have to live in the state.

Oklahoma Writers' Federation, Inc (http://www.owfi.org/) is another great state organization. Like the MWG, the Oklahoma group sponsors a yearly conference full of wonderful speakers from all over the United States. This conference is usually held the first weekend of May and in a beautiful Embassy Suites hotel in Oklahoma City--that means a FREE great breakfast buffet with made-to-order omelets and a FREE happy hour with snacks. (You can tell I'm a writer, I'm looking for the FREE stuff.) Every time, I've attended this conference, I've learned a lot, met lifetime friends and contacts, and had a blast. It's probably too late to go this year now, but look into this state organization, and mark your calendars for 2009. Same for the MWG conference, which usually offers one-to-one pitches with editors and agents. Their conference is April 3-5, 2009.

Another way to belong to a state group is to join a national group, and then you're automatically a member of the state chapter. I am a member of the Illinois Society of Children's Book Writers and Illustrators because I paid my national dues. The IL-SCBWI is a wonderful, active organization, which I am a part of for "FREE" because I pay no extra dues to the state chapter. A lot of national groups are organized in a similar way, so check these out, too.

It's important to connect and network with other writers when you're a writer--not just for critique but for information, education, and opportunity. State groups are great at providing these three important tools. If you are looking for a group, you can do an Internet search on a search engine such as Google (http://www.google.com/) for (State Name) Writing Groups. When I did it for Missouri, Illinois, and Oklahoma, a ton of groups popped up--local and state. And remember, you don't always have to live in the state to be a member. In today's technology age, you can honestly live in Timbuktu and still join up!

The important thing is get connected and soon.

Happy Writing!
Margo Dill
http://www.margodill.com/

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1 comment critique groups, Margo Dill, Missouri Writers' Guild, Oklahoma Writers' Federation Inc., Society of Children's Book Writers and Illustrators, state writing groups