ChristopherKeelty.com

Short and long term plans

Chris — Fri, 13 Aug 2010 14:00:19 +0000

Ack! I haven’t updated in almost a month! Sorry, there’s been a lot going on in my personal life recently, and I’ve been a bit distracted. On the good side, I have applied a dose of discipline and commitment to my writing, and I have been getting some work done.

I’ve put the current novel-in-progress on hold for a few weeks and worked instead on short stories. I was starting to feel a little overwhelmed by the epic scope of the novel, and it’s been a relief to focus on the short form. I finished one short story late last month and submitted it for publication with a sizable electronic market that would pay pretty well. I don’t expect success, but I figured I’d try for the home run first. If that doesn’t work, I’m going to keep approaching markets until someone somewhere picks up the story.

I’ve realized that my lack of any publishing credits after almost 15 years of writing is something that bothers me. I’ve made attempts in the past to have short stories published, and a few real concerted efforts to get a novel picked up, and I have nothing to show for it. So I decided that I need to get some credits under my belt, if for no other reason that when I tell someone I’m a writer, I have a couple of publications to show for it. In the past when I’ve sent short stories out, I’ve usually tried one or two market per story and then given up – and I have usually avoided markets that don’t pay. This time I’m going to keep trying, no matter how small the market is, until I get something published somewhere. I don’t know how long that will take, but I’m hoping for results in six months or less. I’ve started writing another short story, and I may take out some oldies from my archives and see if I can polish them to sell somewhere.

In the meantime, it remains a personal goal to have the first draft of the new novel finished by the end of the year. It’s on hold at the moment, but I plan to pick it up again in September at the latest. Things are going to get crazy at work once back-to-school season arrives, and busy at home as the holidays approach, and I expect I will have to carve out time to dedicate to writing. I have been successful doing that for workouts in the past three months, and I should be able to apply that to my craft. My long-term goal is to take the five novels that are currently somewhat developed in my mind and have them all written – in final draft – by the time I’m 40. If I can do that, and make a professional effort at selling each one as I finish it, I anticipate that publication might become a reality. I’m hoping for sooner rather than later, but I can’t predict the future – all I can do is work to make what I want a reality.

Querying then and now: Why’s it have to be so hard?

Chris — Tue, 27 Jul 2010 22:06:46 +0000

In a time and place not very far in the past, perhaps ten or fifteen years ago:

A boy, not yet a man, has completed his first novel. It’s a sword-and-sorcery fantasy epic that took him six years to write. In that time he has found the how-to books about publishing in the library and in the tiny writers’ section of the book store. One of them is written by his favorite author of science fiction and fantasy. It recommends that a first-time writer try to hook a publisher, then see about getting an agent before signing any contracts.

The boy pours over the details in these magical books and learns how to properly format a query package: one inch margins all around, last name/title/page number on the top right, no staples or paper clips – no one mentions 12 point Courier font because the authors of these books assume that writing happens on a typewriter. He learns of the holy grail of publishing, mentioned in every how-to book: the Writer’s Market.

The library’s three most recent volumes are never in, so he goes to the book store and he spends $65 on his very own copy, which for this young man is a substantial investment. He spends more money on stamps and printer paper and just the right kind of envelopes. For hours he pours over the tiny print in the Writer’s Market to learn each publisher’s personalized requirements, and spends hours more assembling sample chapter, synopses, and self-addressed-stamped-envelopes according to each publisher’s particular tastes. When this ritual is ended, he carries the weighty stack of sealed envelopes to the post office and mails them off to the submissions editors, those faceless judges who preside over some secret court reachable only via the postal service. In three months he begins to receive rejection slips, but the last will not arrive until fully a year after the query was mailed. He gets three requests for partials and two requests for a full manuscript. Though all end in rejection, the editor who requested the full responds with a couple hundred words of constructive criticism and asks him to revise and resubmit. By the time he does so the kind editor has left her job. The publisher is in financial straits and no longer interested.

Fast forward now to the present day. The boy is now a young man. His how-to books are outdated, the one written by his no-longer-favorite author preserved on a shelf only because of the personalized autograph. The young man has finished his fifth revision of that same novel, and it’s time to consider publication. His plan now is to find an agent, because the two remaining publishers who still accept unagented submissions have already declined. The Writer’s Market is no longer the definitive compendium it once was – in fact, it’s quaint and pretty much defunct at this point. The young man goes where the action is: the internet.

He knows all the best web sites. QueryTracker, AgentQuery, Publisher’s Marketplace, and Absolute Write. He keeps updated on changes in the industry by following PM on Twitter, and his Google Reader is subscribed to the RSS feeds of almost two dozen literary agents. He follows Janet, Nathan, Rachelle, Colleen, Kristin, and the folks at Dystel and Goderich. He has a QueryTracker account in which he’s bookmarked the web sites of every literary agent who accepts epic fantasy, and he carefully reviews their submission guidelines before he begins to send dozens of queries by e-mail. He carefully pastes his sample chapters and synopses in the body of the email and never sends an attachment. He addresses each agent by name, and adds a quick sentence to personalize each query – how he found them, what the recent discussion has been on their blog, what they said last week on Twitter.

It’s a lot of work, but it’s a lot faster and cheaper than digging through the Writer’s Market and ritualistically assembling paper query packages. The information is also much easier to find – there’s no need to read a book about how to publish when a quick Google search will turn up guides from About.com, Wikihow, and Yahoo! Answers. There are hundreds of pages on submission formatting, many of them contradictory, and dozens of bloggers happy to tell you how to write a successful query – and how never to do so. Maybe this is why literary agents are always so overwhelmed by their inboxes, and why so many queriers don’t know the first thing about writing a query – for example, actually writing the book first.

The young man starts receiving rejection emails within the first hour. Three weeks later, the flow of rejections seems to slow. After three months he’s heard back from two thirds of the agents he queried. The remaining third won’t ever reply. Sorry, slush pile’s too big! Can’t take the time to send rejections any more.

The rejections he does receive are polite and encouraging, though the language is boilerplate. Not right for us, sorry, but keep trying! The market is more difficult now than it’s ever been! We can’t invest our time into an author unless we are completely in love with the work! What’s wrong for us can certainly be perfect for someone else! Keep trying, don’t give up!

The young man takes that advice, but pretty soon he’s run out of agents. QueryTracker, Publisher’s Marketplace, and AgentQuery have run out of suggestions. The young man puts that manuscript into a drawer (metaphorically speaking – literally, he allows the “last modified” date on the Scrivener project to grow old) and starts working on another novel. After all, most of the agent blogs say that it takes the average writer two or three novels before writing something marketable.

While he writes, he keeps reading those agent blogs. More and more agents are closing to queries, taking breaks so they can fight off that overwhelming slush pile. There are discussions about self publishing and e-books, what they mean for the industry and how much longer a person will be able to make a living as a literary agent – or as a novelist. The idea of moving from a commission system to billable hours is tossed around and seems to meet favor, many agents proposing it would cut down on the slush pile if reading fees weren’t strictly verboten. Agents suggest the days of querying and slush piles may be numbered, and suggest that aspiring writers focus on meeting agents at writer’s conferences, establishing an online brand, and building their platform.

After all, if LOLCats and Stuff White People Like have taught us nothing, it’s that the fastest route to the book bin is no longer writing a great book – it just might be writing a great blog. Hell, even a really great Twitter feed can now get you a TV show starring Captain Kirk.

The young man clings to his dream, even as it simultaneously shrinks and drifts away. He keeps on writing, honing his craft, and reassuring himself that even in this challenging environment there is still a career to be made in telling great stories. Still, he can’t help feeling a little nostalgic for the old days of the Writer’s Market and the hours spent assembling query packages.

On personality and character creation

Chris — Mon, 19 Jul 2010 15:00:19 +0000

Comic lifted from "Toothpaste for Dinner." Go read.

Often when I’m on a journey of emotional self-discovery (as I am now, thanks for asking) I will revisit the Myers-Briggs Type Indicator as a means of re-centering myself and making peace with my own tendencies. I first took a Myers-Briggs test in high school, and since then have consistently and strongly tested to the same result. This post is not about my personality, though, it’s about the personalities of your characters, and whether personality type-sorters can be useful tools in character development.

This weekend was my first encounter with the Enneagram of Personality model, which sorts personalities into nine major archetypes, numbered one through nine. I have to say, when I took the test and read about my own type I was astonished at the accuracy.

Now, I’m sure not everyone is going to match their type so precisely, and there is always the horoscope phenomenon, where the wording of a type profile is vague enough to allow anyone to see themselves reflected, but having read the other eight types I can honestly say that I fit one very precisely, and the others not nearly as well. Being that both enneatypes and Myers-Briggs personality profiles are based not on something as random as your birth month but on your actual behaviors and thought processes, I do put a fair amount of stock into the results.

So how do we use this in our writing? Naturally my first thought is that we can use these personality profiles to help create consistent, realistic characters, but I wonder how we can go deeper. In examining myself, for instance, I started thinking that some characters might be very self-aware – perhaps they’ve even taken these tests and examined their own personalities – while others may be very blind to their own tendencies. Some may fall victim unconsciously to their fears and insecurities, while others may be on the lookout for their triggers. What if a character has taken such a test and, as many people are prone to do, hides behind his personality traits and takes the attitude that he or she is incapable of some behavior because “it’s just not who they are?”

I find that the enneagram model is easier to try and use this way because (a) it breaks personalities down into nine distinctive groups that are easier to remember; and (b) it more clearly delineates the fears, hopes, dreams, and defense mechanisms of each personality. Myers-Briggs seems to be more concerned with behaviors and tendencies, whereas enneagrams are more oriented toward inner thought processes and motivations.

As I read through the nine different enneagrams, one thing that struck me is how I have unintentionally placed many of my characters into groups without realizing it. I expect this is something many good writers do – we observe real people and form links in our minds between certain behaviors and emotional tendencies. Workaholics, for instance, are frequently impatient people who get frustrated with unstructured time. Artists are sensitive to others and open with their emotions. Many writers have used the tool of completing questionnaires for their characters, to help them feel that they know that fictional person inside and out. I’ve never been a fan of that approach, preferring to intuit a character’s reaction to something based on the personality in my mind.

If you’re looking for an introduction to enneagrams, I’d recommend 9types.com. As a beginner myself, I found their resources on each personality type to be straight-forward and easy to read. They also offer a brief sorting test – try taking it as one of your characters, and answering as they would. See what result you come up with, and see if the answer surprises you.

So what do you think? First of all, do you put stock in these sorts of personality sorters as they apply to real people? Do you think they are useful for writers in developing fictional characters – and how do you think they are best applied?

Grow Wild

Chris — Fri, 16 Jul 2010 14:03:29 +0000

Sometimes I write bad poetry. Since I don’t plan to sell it, I can share some of it here.

Grow Wild

Some people love gardens

But I prefer wild places

Though they may be hard to reach and dangerous to travel.

Cultivation and control can make things look pretty

But I have only ever felt my soul

Where life is free to grow as it will.

Writing as a marathon

Chris — Thu, 15 Jul 2010 20:44:28 +0000

My best friend Liz is training to run her first marathon. On Wednesday she blogged about it, and the way training changed her mindset and her priorities. For the first time, she says, she started to think about herself as an athlete.

I watched her run her first real race in early May, and seeing the way she glowed after finishing inspired me to take up running, something I spent years swearing I would never do. I’m far from marathon training, but I’m working my way up to levels I never thought I could accomplish. It’s taught me a few things that I can apply to other areas of my life, like my writing.

One of the things Liz taught me is the power of how we think about ourselves. When she first started running, she was doing it to keep fit. At some point during her training, she started thinking of herself as a runner, and that brought about a major change. She started reading magazines and buying products aimed at runners. She got familiar with major races, and learned runners slang. She went from running for fitness to accumulating “base miles” and setting “PR”s (personal records, for the uninformed). She saw herself differently, and that changed her goals and her outcomes.

I’ve also learned how much work goes into training for a marathon. Marathon runners don’t spend months on the couch and then suddenly pump out 26 miles. They spend four months in rigorous training, running almost every day, working their way up to that pace – and before those four months of training even begin, they spent at least two months getting their “base miles,” twenty or so miles a week that are intended to build bone density, joint strength, and otherwise condition the body to prepare it for distance running. By the time she finishes the 26.2 miles of the Philadelphia Marathon, she will have run more than 1,000 miles to prepare for it.

I apply these lessons to the work of aspiring writers. Are we really “writers?” Are we living that life, or are we dabbling? Are we training for the big race, or just dabbling when the mood strikes?

For years I called myself a writer, and truly I have written on and off in some form or another since I was about nine years old. But I don’t think I really thought of myself as “a writer,” the way Liz thinks of herself as “a runner.” I’ve taken steps to fix that recently. I switched this blog over, for instance, to become focused primarily on my writing. I subscribe to and read blogs by agents and other writers. I follow agents and writers on Twitter. I have a subscription to QueryTracker.net, and I have sent more than fifty queries in the last twelve months.

There are other things I can do. I should subscribe to Writer’s Digest. Whether the articles are always valuable, receiving it will be a monthly reminder that I am a writer. I should start attending workshops and the meetings of my local writer’s group. I’ve considered going a few times but always made excuses. It’s time to get serious about that.

Most importantly, I need to write, and to read. I need to get my base miles. I’ve been more disciplined about that recently, but I’d still say I’m only about a third as committed as I should be. I’m more than halfway through a new novel, and just this week I finished the rough draft of a short story I’ve been struggling with for years. I intend to have that polished within the next week, show it around a bit for feedback, and start looking for a place to publish. Because as long as I have been writing, I have never had any fiction published anywhere. I’ve never run a sanctioned race.

Writing, like running, may start slow and may be painful in the beginning. The key is to stay with it, to set goals and stick to them, and to keep practicing every day. Just as one can’t leap off the couch and run a marathon, one can’t sit down and pound out a novel in one week and expect to be successful. We must be serious about our training, put in the work, and then we’ll see the benefits.

When I watched Liz run her first race, I noticed the difference between the early finishers and the stragglers. The early finishers blew through their 10K as if it barely required any effort. Sure, they were exerting themselves, but it was a level of exertion they had conditioned themselves to be comfortable with. They breathed easy, and when they finished they looked satisfied and proud. These were the people who trained. Far behind them, the final finishers were red-faced, walking in, holding their sides and gasping for air. They finished, but just barely. That race took everything they had, and left them physically and mentally exhausted. These were the folks who hadn’t trained as hard.

I go back to writing, and I look at the way different writers finish a novel. Those who have trained still find it exerting, but when they finish they are still comfortable. They are ready to look back and revisit, to polish the work and make it the best it can be. Those who haven’t trained enough are exhausted. They are glad to have finished, but they don’t have the strength to look back at what they just did, they just want to collapse on the sofa. Chances are good that their writing, like the races run by those last-place finishers, is sloppy and inconsistent. There’s another important distinction between the early and the late finishers, too: the early finishers won, or came close to it.

So what do you think? Do you think of yourself as a writer? Do you treat yourself as one? Are you doing your miles? For you non-writers, what aspects of your life can you apply these lessons to? What roles do you apply to yourself, and what work do you need to put in if you want to be successful?