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Cowboy Musings
Volume
Three
Granbury was great!
Granbury
Recalled
What is "Voice"? What I need is time Blog Interview on Kay Dycus
Site Writing update dropped Rose Colored Glasses Hide Newbie Status
My Name is . . .
Facing the Giants An Interview A Rejection Taking pitches Chicago Condolences
Love is Murder
Books for Boys
Talking to Readers Drawing fire? Tough for Newbies Manuscript is too big Guest Blogger Les Williams So Long, Richard Christian Libraries Writing workshop Writing ministry Conjunctions Empathy Whew, what a weekend! No Lectures Please What are we reading? Fruitbasket
Turn-over Age and
writing Getting
started A
discouraged writer An honor? A learning experience
Reformation Generation The 80% factor Stand and
Deliver Looking
Ahead Christmas thoughts My Christmas
Comments Who's
Looking? Print on
Demand Conferences The Dreaded Letter Patience Feelings? What does it take? Infinite number of monkeys Snowed In Awesome Proposal
More to read
Losing a friend A great read Red Herring My First Book Writing Full Time Sign from God What are we handling? None of the Above The Elite 15% Do Men Read? Branding I miss Boots On the road again New Markets
The
"Writing Down the
writing
conference in Granbury was
a terrific
experience. There was good
attendance,
great presenters, and
were great
hosts. Peggy Freeman
did a super
job of putting the
conference
together. Everybody was
very
friendly except three guys that
hung out on
the front lawn and I could never get them to say a word.
A
special treat, we were hosted
At
the "Warm
music threater where Jack
Gruebel and his group put on
a terrific Branson-style show.
Jack is about to be inducted
into the Hall of Fame, and was a
drummer with country greats
Boots Randolph, Chet Atkins
and Floyd Cramer. His
teacher on the skins also
taught drum
legends Gene Krupa and Buddy Rich. Blake Barnes
does the
keyboard and vocals,
There are
few who really know how
to use the
drums as a solo
instrument,
but go to the show and
Jack will
show you in an amazing
display of
talent.
Hats off to
all concerned for a great
conference,
and you can find out
more about
the Granbury Writers
and the
group they call "Writers Bloc"
at http://writersblocgranbury.tripod.com/
and thanks to "The Estates" retirement community who put us up in a
beautiful suite. That'd be a great place to retire.
It's nearly
time to leave for
I do know
there is a great danger in trying to teach if we cease to be a student as well.
If we do we start passing on a stagnant body of knowledge in which we are "expert"
instead of being a conduit for an ever-changing flow of information, we're
doing a disservice, and I don't think anybody would argue with me that the
publishing industry is in a constant state of change. Editors move from house
to house or maybe become agents at the same time that agents are becoming
editors. Houses that have been steadfastly publishing in one area make abrupt
shifts to go in new directions. Publishing trends change, fads come and go,
technology causes changes, and commenting on the industry is very often a case
of "Here's what I see TODAY."
In college
we had the professors who were the fount of all knowledge, and we had the
student teachers and lab assistants who were both students and teachers. I'm
clearly the latter, still trying to learn, but passing on what I know or think
I know at the same time. Usually at most conferences I go to I think I learn
more than I teach. I hope it always stays that way.
It seems to me it's almost like being in Army
Intelligence, and the person with the best intelligence-gathering has a leg up.
I got a
postcard in the mail. My Jeep is being recalled. Something about a defect in a
ball joint. It set me to thinking. What if God recalled us for our defects, how
much time would we spend in the shop?
I could see
it now, a glowing white postcard in the mail with the words, "You are
being recalled for service, the defect is faulty prayer time." Or it might
say, "You are being recalled for a spiritual filling, your levels are
getting dangerously low." The possibilities are endless, failure to show
for regular Sundy "service," not enough time spent studying the
"manual." I fear I'd spend all my time in the shop.
Fortunately
I know the master mechanic. I have to have my Jeep serviced every couple of
months, but I'm in much worse shape and have far more defects. I have to check
in every day, several times more often than not, because I'm really hard to
keep in tune. He tweaks me here, tweaks me there, smiles and shakes His head as
He cleanses me and sets me back on my way. He knows how imperfect I am, and
knows I'll be back, but I try . . . oh how I try.
Yesterday I
posted a great new blog just put up by one of my clients, Graham Garrison. My
good friend and faithful blog reader Les Williams pointed out to me that the
link I had didn't work so let me try posting it again. The site is http://www.hometown-heroes.com/ and it collects stories of real hometown heroes. It's
a great site and I encourage you all to visit and share a story if you have
one.
Comments: Something for us all to think about. I'm
afraid if the Lord recalled me, I would need a cot set up in the back. Much
like you, I do try. I know HE is not finished with me yet. Maybe next time I will
only be in the shop for a quick "oil change". - Les
FINDING OUR
WRITING "VOICE" - Kay Dacus is
running a series on her blog about what "voice" is, how we find it,
how we make sure we don't lose it. My comments are included there (or see blog interview below) , but she's been talking to people about
it for some time at http://kndacus.blogspot.com/
and I encourage you to go by and take a look. These other folks are probably a
lot smarter about it than I am, but you know me, if I open up my head on a
subject something always falls out.
Kay has
done a great job of pulling people together on a common theme like this, and if
anybody is having trouble getting a handle on this topic – those interviews she
has posted are sure to clear it up.
Another of
my clients, Graham Garrison has a new website up at http://www.hometown-heroes.com/ that collects stories of real hometown heroes. It's a
great site and I encourage you all to visit and share a story if you have one.
Yet
another, Max Anderson, a well-published writer is on a mission to reach out to
young male readers that we are prone to dismiss as readers simply because the
young ladies read more than they do. I've signed on to Max's cause and
encourage you to visit his website as well where he blogs on this issue. It's
at http://booksandboys.blogspot.com/
All of the resources that are online never fail to
amaze me.
I was home
all weekend – lots of time and I fully intended to do some writing, to catch up
some on reading proposals. Then along came a migraine headache. I was there with
no conflict on my time, my laptop was beside me, all the pieces were in place,
but my head didn't work well enough for me to do it. I didn't even have it in
me to go to church Sunday and I really hate it when that happens.
So I had
the time and couldn't use it. Actually that's the opposite of what I usually
hear, I hear people saying "I just don't have time to do it." We have
all the time there is, we aren't going to be given any more, no such thing as a
26 hour day. We just need to assess our priorities, and it may be we have our
priorities exactly right, our time is being taken up with things that are more
important to do than writing. If so we shouldn't be beating ourselves up for
not getting the writing done, we're doing what we need to be doing.
However, it
could be our priorities aren't right. We may be spending time on things that
really aren't more important, but are more convenient. Watching too much TV,
spending too much time on email and internet, a number of things could fall in
that category. All we have to do is decide what is really important to us, then
we'll find the time to do what that is . . . unless we get a migraine headache.
FINDING OUR WRITING "VOICE" - Kay Dacus is running a series on her blog
about what "voice" is, how we find it, how we make sure we don't lose
it. My comments are supposed to be posted there soon, but she's been talking to
people about it for some time at http://kndacus.blogspot.com/
and I encourage you to go by and take a look. These other folks are probably a
lot smarter about it than I am, but you know me, if I open up my head on a
subject something always falls out.
Blog Interview
on Kay Dycus Site
> > --How did you find your unique writing
voice? Did you struggle to
> > find it or did it come easily to
you?
In my opinion if somebody is struggling to
find "their writing voice" they're trying to force it. My writing
voice is not the way I talk, my West Texas Drawl, it is who I am. It is the sum
total of my education, my upbringing, my faith, my family, my experiences and
it comes through in the way I write, even when I am trying to craft dialogue
where the character speaks far differently than how I would speak myself. Some
of my characters would speak much as I do, others speak far differently, but
always no matter what is going on in the dialogue there are ways I would phrase
things and ways that I wouldn't. There are things I would allow in my writing
and things I wouldn't. The way I craft sentences, the pacing of my writing,
these are the things that make up voice, not the way I speak or make my
characters speak. I think far too many writers mistake dialogue for
"voice."
> >
> > --How would you describe your
unique writing voice? What is it that
> > you do to make sure your writing
"sounds like" you?
My writing style is simple, because that's
what I am, a simple old cowboy. If I tried to write complicated literary
fiction it wouldn't work because then I would be outside my voice. I write
simple, fast-moving stories and even if I'm not trying to do so, my faith is
still evident. As long as I stay true to my upbringing I don't have to worry
about my voice, it'll be there.
> >
> > --When reviewing
submissions, what do you as an agent
look for in
> > others' writing? How do you
identify a writer's voice?
I look for the same thing, is the writing
natural? I don't try to identify a writer's voice and style but I can tell when
it is contrived, when it is not natural. When it is forced it can seem pompous,
the story doesn't seem to flow easily, it sounds like the writer is using words
and phrasing they are not comfortable with. It feels very much as if they are
trying to be something they aren't.
> >
> > --What advice would you give to
beginning/intermediate writers to
> > help them find and develop their
unique writing voice?
> >
Don't overthink it. Tell your story, then
look at what you've written and see if it sounds like you or if it sounds like
you are trying to be someone else. Not the dialogue, we all try to be someone
else in the dialogue and sound the way we feel that character should sound, but
in the general tone and style of the writing. Does it feel natural, or does it
feel like you are trying to write like somebody else? If someone were sitting
there with you, is this the way you'd tell them a story?
That's
voice.
Saundra
wrote a periodic writing
update or
newsletter to try and
keep
friends and supporters up
to speed on
what we were doing
in terms of
writing and career
activity.
Then I started doing this
blog on the
front of the webpage
and she
decided it was superfluous
since I
mentioned most things
first over
here. She did leave the
archive of
past issues up in case
anybody was
ever interested in
looking
through them.
The picture
on the site today is one she took of me with new client
Love is
Murder mystery writers conference in
heart for
writing for young adult readers.
Also got to meet Karen Syed and Teresa Saldana of
Echleon Press there. Karen is on the left and Teresa
on the right.
It was a very good conference in spite of the
weather, well orchestrated with a terrific lineup
of
programs and presenters.
This last
picture is of Saundra
and I with
dear friend and
prolific
writer
Dooley at
the program I did
for the DFW
(Dallas/Ft Worth)
Ready
Writers. The restaurant
where the
meeting was held
was like
going up to a ski
lodge in the mountains.
One of the
special gifts I try to use is the gift of encouragement and one of the places I
try to use it is in encouraging other writers. Maybe I do it in a backwards manner,
but I do it by first discouraging them. I tell them the real truth about
getting published, the long odds, the snares and pitfalls. I believe people who
go about building a writing career with rose colored glasses on, oblivious to
all that is in their way will probably never be successful.
Pretending
obstacles and challenges do not exist practically guarantees that they won't be
surmounted. I'm a "realistic optimist." I believe the best is going
to happen, but only if we understand what we are up against and deal with it.
Those who choose easier routes than traditional publishing can circumvent many
of these difficulties and that process has become quite popular. Nothing wrong
with it as long as people truly know that it isn't a different path to major
publishers but most of the time is a career path instead of major publishing.
The good
news is the fact that those who realize the obstacles and put in the time, who
learn their craft and grow their career, who fail to get discouraged, those people
end up in the elite 15% who are genuinely in the hunt for major publishing. The
unprepared, those who have failed to learn what needs to happen in their work
and in their career, and the easily discouraged are left by the wayside.
It might not sounds as good as unconditional
encouragement, but to me the best way to encourage a writer is to show them the
task at hand and then tell them we belive they can do it.
I was
giving a program and was asked why it was so important to get the formatting
exactly right, after all, wasn't it the story that was important? I pointed out
if the manuscript looks like it's going to take too much work to get it ready
and others are professionally submitted that the story might not get much consideration
or even be read at all. I said the manuscript had to look professional.
"But
I'm not a professional," came the reply. Maybe so, but you want to hide
that fact as long as possible. Not lie to whoever is looking at the submission,
that'd be the kiss of death, but look professional and read professionally.
Manuscript formatting that has the one inch borders, chapters half way down the
page, header bar with name, word from the title and page number at the top and
in the header space, not integrated in the text. It should be double spaced
with half inch indentations and with one space after sentences and the right
side never justified. There should be no extra spaces between paragraphs. No
color (unless it is in the letterhead of your cover letter), no fancy fonts, no
pictures, and the preferred type font is Times Roman or Courier new and should
be 12 point.
The cover
letter should have contact information in the upper left or lower right and
should include the approximate word count. The title and the authors name
should be centered halfway down the page.
Why would I spend time mentioning this? It is surprising how many
submissions fail to do this, but it is what the pros do, no bells and whistles,
crisp typing all in the same font.
Lets not kid ourselves, editors and agents would
rather work with professionals. If we haven't published to the point that we
feel that's what we are we should at least present ourselves that way. More
than once I've gotten well into a proposal to find out it was a first effort
and been surprised at how well it was presented. That creates a very favorable
response. Trying something cute or fancy to get the reviewers attention gets
that attention all right, but not in a positive way.
It was a different
group than those I have been giving workshops to. Usually I'm presenting to a
group of people who are already a good ways down the writing trail. These were
people from my church, people who had a desire to write, but most of whom had
not yet done much with it.
We started
like an Alcoholics Anonymous meeting, "My name is Terry Burns and I'm a
writer. I write Christian fiction and my desire is to write good stories that
will pull people in, get them invested in the story, and by the time they discover
it has a faith content they will stay with it even if they weren't looking to
read something of that nature."
Everybody
had to do it. When you are just getting started, there is something empowering
about admitting to a group of people that "I am a writer." That's all
there is to being a writer, putting words on paper and being serious about it.
Now getting published and doing something with our words, that's another step.
For now, admitting we are a writer, carving time out of our lives to do it no matter
what, and realizing what we want to write and what we want to come from our
writing, that's the place to start.
I was happy
with the beginning. I was happy with the questions asked and what they wanted
to know. I was happy that they had a heart for getting their words out. The
starting point was realizing whether it was poetry, family stories, journaling,
non-fiction, short stories or book length fiction that it was all about the
story. It was about realizing no matter what words we had to convey that they
were meaningless if we didn't do it in an interesting and engaging manner.
I said the
best way was to assume that nobody wanted to read our words, that we had to
pull them into our story and keep them there. Hopefully they will be interested
in reading what we have to say, but we can do a better job of reaching them if
we proceed on the assumption that they don't want to.
It was a good start. I'm interested in seeing where
it goes from there.
I've
reviewed a couple of books here, not often, but I don't believe I've ever
reviewed a movie. Saundra gave me a copy of the DVD for "Facing the
Giants" for Valentines Day, and it's an awesome movie. With the
ever-popular theme of the David and Goliath battle between a small school and
the huge perennial state championship winner, it has the adrenlin rush of
rooting the underdog to victory even though you know they are going to be able
to do it.
But this
movie is different. Produced by a church down in
Trust me, I
haven't given anything away by telling you this. Simply knowing what the film
is about is enough for any believer to know what is going to happen, but the
story isn't trying to guess the outcome, the story is watching and experiencing
the warmth of getting to watch as faith makes a difference in the character's
lives. It's a terrific movie and I entend my heartfelt congratulations and
admiration to all those volvunteers down there that made it happen.
It was picked up by Provident Films who have taken it
into theaters around the country making it a powerful testimony to all who see
it. I encourage you to be one of them.
I just
finished an interview with Glenn Hascall of KHYM Christian Radio in Meade
Client and
good friend
On his blog Max pointed to a larger question however.
He has posted a large number of articles talking about the "Feminization
of Education" where our educational system is more and more catering to
the girls widening this gap. Many nations around the world don't let girls go to
school, but is our nation pratically going the other direction? The articles
make interesting reading and while I'm not ready to say we are giving up on our
boys, it is clear we aren't producing much for them to read and I'm working
with several writers who write for the young adult market to see if we can
specifically work on this. Noted author
I got a
rejection yesterday. I know, I know, I say a rejection is only when it's
personal, that all of the other responses aren't personal but just about
whether our writing fits the market. I call them "negative market
reports." This was a rejection, but not of my writing, it was a rejection
of my response to a query letter. The sender in very profane language berated
me for making a "snap judgement," and "not taking the time to
see what he had to say." He seemed to think the entire industry was taking
that stand against him in some sort of organized fashion. If he wants to see
snap judgments he ought to hang around a bookstore for a while and watch them
performed by the thousands as readers reject books.
I told him
in a very polite response that I could tell by the query letter that it wasn't
an area that I'm working in at the present time and didn't need to spend an
hour or two reading to find it out. I also told him that I keep tract of
submissions and their general content in case I run across a market need later
and want to go back and see if the work is still available. After witnessing
his temper and his language I won't bother.
I have 200 proposals sitting here, I can't read all
of them. It's his job to make his stand out, to force me to pick it to pursue
further and he didn't get it done. Then he compounded his failure to do so by
attacking me and insuring that I'll never look at anything of his in the
future. It's your basic lose-lose proposition.
So I turned my attention back to market research.
Working in this business is sort of like being an Army intelligence officer.
They constantly seek to learn enemy strength, disposition, armament and tactics
not just in general but specificly and hour-by-hour. This business is the same.
Editors move or change constantly. The needs change as they get enough of one
thing and start seeking something else, seeking to fill a catalog slot. I watch
market sales to see who is buying what. It's all about finding and filling
needs with available products, it isn't about taking something that doesn't fit
where I've found markets and instead knocking on door after door seeking to
find a place for it.
When we go
to some of these conferences the first thing I hear is "what are you
looking to see?" Not an easy question to answer. I'm not just there as an
individual agent, but representing Hartline as a whole. That means I'm taking a
pretty wide range of pitches, and if it isn't an area I'm trying to work in, I
pass it to another agent who is working there.
I think
it's easier to say what we aren't looking for. We don't do Sci-Fi, Fantasy or
horror at the present time, although I have looked at some fantasy for the YA
market. I've been charged with the task of doing more in the secular
marketplace, but probably aren't the right place if there is too much language,
sex or violence.
Hartline
has a long reputation in the Christian marketplace and in Romance and continues to be a good place
for titles that fall in those areas. I particularly like inspirationals,
mystery and thrillers, historicals and historical romance and of course it's a
really tough market to try to do something with right now but I've always loved
westerns. I grew up on them.
I also
believe we need to be developing our young readers, particularly young boys.
For that reason I'm trying to work with a few middle reader to YA writers
although that's a pretty tough market to try to sell in as well.
Things change rapidly in this business,
I know that. I know I've got to have some varied shelf stock so I have the
ability to respond if I run across a market need. It's all about having the
right product in front of the right person at just the right place at exactly the
right time. The time when it is needed. Easier said than done.
Got to
watch the last half of the Super Bowl in the
The Love is
Murder mystery conference was well staged and they made us feel right at home.
Sorry I didn't get to attend more sessions (I got to sit in on one) but I was
booked solid taking pitches. Got some interesting projects that I'm looking
forward to checking out, as well as one that I offered a contract to while I
was there.
Most of the
attendees were from that area so we got to meet a lot of new folks. I do see
the mystery writers are a close knit group and are as a rule in several
different organizations together. This was the first year the "Dark and
Stormy" mystery writers conference has merged with the L.I.M. group and
the merger seemed to go very well.
It was Saundra's first trip to
We'll be hanging
out with a bunch of murderers this weekend. No, we aren't going to be locked in
some creepy house while people keep dying off and we have to figure out who is
doing it before we're next. I draw the line at actively participating in
catching killers.
It's the
"Love is Murder" writers conference in
Travel
aside I look forward to the conference itself. We did use a travel credit on Southwest
to book our fares which saved the conference some money, but it also brings us
in to Midway airport. What's wrong with that? The conference is at the O'Hare
Wyndham, practically in the shadow of that airport. Yes, by the time it dawned
on us we found the fares were non-refundable, that's how life works. The trip
between airports in a cab will surely eat up any savings on the fare.
There are supposed to be between 300-400 people there
assuming they all brave the frozen tundra. And we'll probably have the city to
ourselves since everybody that lives there will probably be off supporting
their Bears at the super bowl. Ought to be downright interesting.
Sure, more
girls read than boys, it has always been that way. But does that mean we should
write them off and just publish things to interest the girls? Or should we work
even harder trying to interest them and reach out to them? The latter, of
course, particularly if we're trying to build a reader base for the future.
It doesn't
have to be a big sacrifice to do this, because girls LIKE to read about boys.
Not that I'm advocating that we quit publishing books that specifically speak
to the interests of the girls, but we
I think
it's kind of like self-fulfilling prophesy. We say "Boys aren't going to
read these books," so we don't publish them, and sure enough they don't
read them. What if we said we didn't want to write them off? What if we reached
out to them with some really intriguing stories? What if we didn't give up the
first time we tried a title and it didn't automatically hit the bestseller list
, and instead followed with more titles and did some promotion and worked to
pull them in.
What if we acted like we want boys to read? Max is on
a crusade to pull more boys into the reader base, and I'm with him. I believe
that's a goal well worth pursuing.
Had a nice
program put on by the library in Dumas TX, about 40 miles north of here last
night. Most of those programs I've been doing lately have been writers in
attendance. There were some writers or wannabe writers here as well, but the
group was better than half readers. They had all read
I enjoyed
it. Readers ask different questions. "Where
did the character of Joseph come from, how did you think him up?" I
didn't think him up, he just showed up in the story and carved out a place for
himself.