NaNoWriMo: Bump the Slump

The following was originally written for the Fear of Writing website back in 2010, and still rings true today. Now that the South Jersey Writers' Group is in the midst of NaNoWriMo, I think this might be a good time to unearth this nugget. Notably, since its writing, I am now on my eleventh year of NaNo-ing, and have finished three times. Enjoy, and be sure to check out FoW for great writing resources and inspiration.

You jumped right into the NaNoWriMo full tilt midnight Halloween night, didn't you? Your fingers raced across your keyboard building worlds, breathing life into characters and tangling them all into intricate plots. You roared ahead past five thousand words, ten thousand words and even twenty thousand words. However as you cooled your creative jets and eased into the next ten thousand something began to happen. Something bad.

You ran out of steam. More specifically, maybe you got bored with your story, maybe the characters no longer appeal to you, maybe you are simply blocked. You have hit the deadly NaNoWriMo mid-month slump. How do you get out of it? Do you just give up? Toss what you have and start again? The answer is simple really. Just shake things up a bit. Or a lot.

An old writing question, used when the author is stuck, comes to mind - what is the worst that can happen? In many cases, and many writers will tell you in all cases, the worst is what must happen for optimal drama and suspense. The wife finds out about not only the husband's infidelities, but also his other identities? Do it. The company goes bankrupt. Do it. The speeding train suddenly loses its brakes. Do it. Superman caught at ground zero of a kryptonite bomb. Yeah, do it. Whatever bad can happen, make it the worst. Characters are defined by what they can and cannot overcome. Do your worst.

Of course there are other ways to spin it, spin being the operative word. Throw a monkey wrench into your story, something wild, something unexpected. Make it fresh for yourself as well as your readers. Think about Robert Rodriguez and Quentin Tarantino's From Dusk Till Dawn, think about it hard, and pretend you never saw any previews for it nor knew the surprise twist. It begins as an action thriller about two serial killer brothers on the run, and would have worked beautifully as such, had Rodriguez let it. But then halfway through the film, it almost inexplicably becomes a vampire flick. That turning point, that one, out of the box, crazed moment makes the film. That's what you can do with your NaNoWriMo.

Throw that monkey wrench hard. Surprise your readers. Shock your readers. And, bottom line, get out of that slump and make the writing interesting to you again. Most of all, think out of the box. Is your protagonist boring you? Kill him and find a worthy (or unworthy) replacement. Send your Gothic romance into outer space. Are there zombies in the backyard seen through the window of your kitchen sink drama? Flat tires happen to everyone, and broken down cars can end up anywhere from haunted mansions to mad scientists' labs to that creepy old house from The Texas Chainsaw Massacre. And where did that dinosaur come from?

Don't laugh. Crossing and blending genre is the state of the literary mainstream these days. Rarely does a book have one single genre. I say Harry Potter, and you say fantasy, but we all know it's really about growing up, and racism, and fascism. What about one of the biggest bestsellers of recent times, The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo? Is it literary? A thriller? A mystery? Heck, arguments could be made for the romance or cyberpunk genres as well. Mix and match, folks, you never know what you will get.

The bottom line is, when you get stuck, think outside the box, shake things up, go wild. Make your NaNoWriMo exciting for yourself, and it will be exciting for the reader. Now keep writing!

About the author: Glenn Walker is the Membership Director of the South Jersey Writers' Group, Associate Editor of Biff Bam Pop!, and a French fry connoisseur. He gets his nerd on at The GAR! Podcast, and dreams of Disney on The Make Mine Magic Podcast. You can read his short story, "Live to Write, Write to Live" in Strange World available here.

Keith R.A. DeCandido at SJWG

"This crap is hard."

That’s the tough truth that guest speaker Keith R.A. DeCandido opened with at the October 2013 SJWG meeting - The Business of Writing and Publishing - in Bellmawr on Thursday night. Wearing an "ironic" black tee under a NY Yankees Hawaiian-inspired shirt, the Bronx-born author of more than fifty novels reiterated what we’ve heard many times at writing conferences and from people in the industry.

Writing? Getting published? Self-Publishing? Yeah, all difficult stuff, he said, requiring a lot of work and discipline. In 1999, only after he’d successfully published four novels, was he "allowed" to pitch his Star Trek tie-in novels to an interested party. He’s since fifteen Trek novels, not to mention a ton of short stories and comics and stuff, he told the large, appreciative crowd who came to listen and learn. Many new members - and some of the usual suspects - took notes and listened intently. He is what we aspire to be, after all: a successful author.

Still, he gets rejected all the time. "One acceptance is just that; one," he said. Getting published does not automatically open the door for your next one. No matter what success you’ve had, you still have to work your ass off. Being a freelance writer means you must constantly be thinking, keeping up with things, and understand tax structure!

"If you treat it like a hobby, that’s all it’s ever going to be. Want it as a profession? Treat it like a job." He still gets the same thrill, he said, after fifty novels as he did when he saw his name on the cover of his first book in 1996. Although he has gone the "small press route" a couple of times, he says that writers should try to sell to the New York houses because we have nothing to lose.

DeCandido, who’s also a member of the Liar’s Club, said self-publishing is not for him because he doesn’t have time to market and promote his books. "I’m too busy writing," he said.

"To self-publish, you have to become the sole proprietor of a small business; that’s a full-time job and you have to treat it like that. So many writers don’t realize that going in." If you do choose to self-publish, he added, take care with the cover.

"The truth is that everybody judges a book by its cover!" he said, suggesting that writers work with graphic artists. When asked how publishing contracts work, he said that they’re all different. "In fact, the answer to nearly every question about publishing is: it depends."

"If we knew what was gonna be successful, we’d all be much richer right now." DeCandido went on to say that it’s better to get rejected by someone who’s not enthused by your book than to be accepted by them. "Editors have to work for you, be seriously behind your book, get it in front of the publisher’s eye." The good news for us is that he said publishers look for new writers because we’re 'cheap' and 'get paid the smallest advances possible.'

Still. JK Rowling was once an unknown. The Help was only accepted after more than 100 submissions; now that was a relentless writer who believed in her story! Publishers will not, however, be interested in a book that’s already been published online or through self-publishing. But that is just one of many reasons your book may not make it to the show.

A publishing house may already have too many books like yours. Or, maybe they think their sales force won’t be able to sell it. Yes, it’s tough to write; it’s tough to market and promote yourself; it’s tough to get published. Still, we do it and hope for the best. His suggestions:

FINISH WHAT YOU START

"The ratio is like six-gazillion to one - novels started to novels finished. Don’t worry about going back to rewrite all the time; forge ahead and finish the damn thing. It’s like your mother told you: if you keep picking at it, it’ll never heal. Get to the end; fix chapter four later."

READ YOUR STUFF OUT LOUD

You’ll hear the repetitions, the word you used five times in the first two sentences.

FIND YOUR OWN PROCESS

"It’s up to you when and how you work. Make your work place free from distractions like the internet. I listen to music, some people like it silent. Whatever works for you is what’s right."

PROOFREAD

GET AN EDITOR

For more info on Keith DeCandido and for a list of his books, visit his website.

Also, DeCandido’s fiancée, Wrenn Simms, offered this: The L. Perkins Agency is apparently looking to publish ten erotic romance books per month for the next year. Manuscripts should be 125 pages and up, and she’s paying between $600 and $1,000 for each. So get your Shades of Grey on and get writing.

About today's guest blogger:
South Jersey Writers' Group member Patti O'Brien is an award-winning writer and editor extraordinaire. Be sure to check out her excellent editing service Editing Is Everything, Follow her on Twitter, find her on LinkedIn and Facebook, and read her always entertaining blog, A Broad Abroad.

Interview with L.D. Davis

                                                                     

 

 

L.D. Davis is a member of the South Jersey Writers Group and a published author. Her book, Accidently on Purpose is a best seller and after reading it, I'm not only a big follower of Ms. Davis, but I highly recommend the book. So join me now as L.D. tells us what's up in her writing corner.

                                                                   

 

Tell us a little about yourself

 I always hate these open ended "tell us about yourself" questions. I always feel like I'm bragging, but if you insist....I live in and grew up in South Jersey. I am married with five kids, and as fantastic as they all are, they drive me up a wall and make me pull my hair out! I have been writing since I was able to form written sentences, but last year I finally followed my dream and published the novel Accidentally On Purpose and the novella Pieces Of Rhys.

 

What inspires you to write?

Real life, I guess. Mine, yours, his and hers. Music is also a big inspiration. I can hear a song and a story will play out in my head.I can get a novel idea, if you will, from the smallest details around me.

 

What was the inspiration for this book?

There are some real life aspects to the book, but the idea popped into my head one night on my work to slave work at a giant retailer to not be named. I heard a song Ready To Start by  Arcade Fire and a couple of hours later on my first break I started writing. The weird thing is that the song really does not have much to do with the end result.

 

Did you go traditional publisher or self publisher?

I never tried the traditional route. I didn't know how. Self publishing seemed like less of a hassle and I'd be able to keep my work as I wanted, sans the editorial issues.

How much do you rely on Social Media to promote yourself and your book?

 Apparently, social media is extremely important. I get yelled at because I don't post enough on Facebook. I don't tweet enough. I don't blog enough. Im getting better, but I need to pick it up.

What advice would you give to a new writer?

Edit. Edit. Edit. Edit again. When you're finished, edit it again. Don't stop editing, even when you think you are finished. Don't let others dictate to you how they think YOUR book should be written. If they don't like it and want to change it, let them write their own book. Protect your work, keep it secret, keep it safe! Share only enough to entice.

L.D. thank you so much for doing this interview, and I know our readers will want to head out and buy your book.