Writing a Short Story

Hello Fellow Writers!

I'm still in a bit of shock that I actually found the courage to send a query and synopsis to Harlequin for my romance "The Movie Star's Very Personal Assistant". My husband used to warn that I was going to spend all my time writing and never get published because I refused to put myself out there and risk rejection.

Then I realized that it doesn't matter if a manuscript gets rejected, because I can always write another one.

Since I recently finished writing the first draft of another novel length romance ("Snowed in With a Millionaire") I've been toying with the idea of writing a short story. Why toy, you ask? Why not just write the darn thing? Good question, and you're right. My plan for today, if my baby allows it, is to read a Harlequin Historical Undone online and then try my hand at it. I love historical romance but every time I try to write one I find myself getting caught up in all of the little details that need to be researched.

So I think what I need to do is write a first draft, details be damned, and then go back in and do the research during the editing process. Otherwise I get jammed up in the middle of trying to write by googling Regency era underwear.

Since Harlequin Historical Undone stories are 10K -15K words, here is an excerpt of an essay entitled "How to Write a Short Story" by Paul Saevig, from Author-Network.com. Read the whole article here.

1. Immerse yourself in language.

To be ready to write a story in English, your consciousness must be steeped in the best writing in English throughout history. Consider someone who wants to compose music. Before doing that, she probably performs in a band, and before that, she probably studies singing or an individual instrument. She learns how to read music, she studies harmony, she listens to all kinds of good music for years, and she may study at a conservatory. Wynton Marsalis didn't just decide to go into his first recording studio to play the trumpet one rainy day while he was recovering from the flu.

Author Dean Koontz is on record as opposing "literature writing", which is what he calls the classics. But he suggests no alternative for the best and most elegant writing of the ages. He is one of the rare few successful writers without much formal training. His critics insist they can tell the difference in his writing.

If you want to write stories, you should study the literary form. You should study the great masters of storytelling, starting with Homer and progressing to Stephen King and John Irving,, and specifically the great masters of the short story, starting with Turgenev and Chekhov. Read as many books as you can find. You must read classics, not just current popular books. Tolstoy will teach you more about writing than Dean Koontz. You are steeping yourself in language. Keep a journal. Write letters (not just Emails) to your friends. Take writing classes.

2. Think of an idea for a story.

To a trained writer, this idea usually comes in a flash, you have to know how to cultivate the flash. Usually one element of the idea is settled from the start: "I want to write a story about my Uncle Leo" or "The summer we lived in Honolulu" or "The day President Kennedy was shot".

What about that summer we lived in Honolulu, then? Concentrate on what makes that experience significant to you. What other idea would you like to attach to it? Suppose it were "the professional surfers".

That gives you "the professional surfers the summer we lived in Honolulu". What about them to you want to write a story about? Maybe it would be "the surfer who stole my sister's wallet".

"The professor surfer who stole my sister's wallet when we lived in Honolulu one summer". That's a start.

3. Figure your angle.

"Angle" is a journalistic term meaning significance. You need to decide the angle or significance about this larcenous surfer. Your story could be about the theft itself, or tracking him down afterwards, or deciding not to prosecute him and meeting up with him again, or dozens of other alternatives.

If you can't determine an angle, return to Number 1 and tinker with your idea. Maybe you need a new one.

I just finished reading a Harlequin Presents book by Caitlin Crews called "Pure Princess, Bartered Bride". Wow, what a fun read! I picked it up and was halfway through before I even realized what happened. I'll definitely be looking for her future books. She also writes chick lit under the name Megan Crane.

So today I'll be reading a Historical Undone, and hopefully getting started on a short story of my own. Tomorrow I'll be meeting with my writing group. I've sent them Chapter 2 of my WIP so we'll see what they say about that...

Wish me luck, and good luck to you too!
Yours Truly,
Shoshanna Evers

Submissions

Hello Fellow Writers!

Today is a big day for me. I finally got up the courage to put a query letter, synopsis, and SASE in the mail to Harlequin for my Silhouette Desire targeted romance "The Movie Star's Very Personal Assistant".

I went over and over that query and synopsis, I showed both to several writers that I trust, and the actual manuscript is ready to go should they decide they want to see it. There was no point in stalling any further. So out in the mail it went. I'm so terrified I feel like I could scream.

I know it's not that big of a deal. If they don't want to see the novel, then I can always try and submit it to some other places. By the time I get a response either way from Harlequin, I'll have another book ready to pitch to them ("Snowed in With a Millionaire"). So it's not going to be the end of the world. At least that's what I keep telling myself.

Here is an excerpt from an article entitled "How to Submit a Manuscript" by L. Shepherd.

Read the whole article here.

Sending a manuscript to a publisher is an exacting task that must be done according to the specific manuscript submission guidelines of each publisher. Each publisher will have a number of requirements that you must follow or risk having the manuscript rejected upon arrival.

1. Find out exactly what the publisher requires. Many publishers require a few preliminary steps before they will accept a full manuscript. Publisher's guidelines can be found in part in The Writer's Market. This is a book that is updated yearly, as well as a website that contains information about thousands of publishers.
2. A query letter is a common first step to getting a publisher to read a manuscript. This is required of most book publishers and many magazine publishers as well. This letter is usually a simple one-page typed letter that details both the contents of the manuscript and the market available for the work. Publishers love to hear exactly who would be interested in buying the item, so any data on successful projects that were similar is helpful. This is also the time to detail your credentials, such as any education related to the material that you may have and anything that you have previously had published. Unless the writer's guidelines say differently, submit these with standard 12-point type in a plain, easy to read font.

Today I have a busy day, but I do have some things I want to tinker with on my WIP. Last night as I was laying in bed I found myself writing scenes in my head for a new piece. I may have to actually get those words on paper.

Wish me luck, and good luck to you too!
Yours Truly,
Shoshanna Evers

Jo Goodman, Historical Romance Author

Hello Fellow Writers!

Yesterday I went to the NaNoWriMo "TGIO" (that's Thank Goodness It's Over) party at Charlie Brown's Steakhouse in Fishkill, NY. It was a very fun time, although I have to say I am very sad that it's over! A few of us are going to continue meeting up on the weekends to get some writing done with good company.

They gave us our internal editors back, still encaged in envelopes, along with red pens.

I just finished reading "Never Love a Lawman", by Jo Goodman. I love a good story about an arranged marriage! This book is a historical romance set in the wild west.

From LikesBooks.com, here is an excerpt from an interview with Jo Goodman. Read the whole interview here.

Q: Do you consider yourself driven by plot or by characters and how do you develop your stories and characters?

A: Jeezey peezy, I don’t know. Can’t I just drive? It’s both, I suppose. Plot without rich characters is a pretty flat story. I mean, who do you root for? Good characters without a plot are just Waiting for Godot. I develop my stories with a “what if?” question and go from there. I work without a net (no outline). That is a personal preference, and it causes me headaches sometimes, but I know that I have a tendency toward rigidity and following rules, so that if I do an outline, I’ll get myself stuck in the box that I’ve created. (I know this because I did it once, and it was a horrible writing experience. I couldn’t save me from myself.) Developing the characters begins with naming them, doing a brief description, and then doing a family diagram (also called a genogram). That’s where I think out the familial relationships, the birth order, that things that happened in their family that might impact the way they behave. I don’t squeeze all of that background into a book, but it’s in my head as I’m working

Q: Do you have any advice that you would like to share with aspiring writers?

A: I’ll pass on the piece of advice that was given to me that I found the most helpful (and it wasn’t from a writer): Don’t talk about the story that’s in your head; write it.

Today I am going to go through the rest of my WIP, "Snowed In With a Millionaire", and get rid of as many dashes as I can. One of my writing buddies suggested that I might be overusing them. I said "If you think I might be overusing them, than I definitely am! Otherwise you wouldn't have noticed." So that's the plan for today.

I'm also going to get my query and synopsis for "The Movie Star's Very Personal Assistant" ready to go out tomorrow morning to Harlequin. The query and synopsis (and novel, of course) are already written, I just need to address the envelope and such. I'm terrified.

Wish me luck, and good luck to you too!
Yours Truly,
Shoshanna Evers

Common Mistakes Writers Make

Hello Fell0w Writers!

Yesterday I met with my writing group at Barnes and Noble. They liked the first chapter of "Snowed in With a Millionaire", and I incorporated some of the little changes they suggested. My query and synopsis for "The Movie Star's Very Personal Assistant" is ready to go. Now I just have to get up the chutzpah to mail it off to Harlequin!

From eHarlequin.com, here is an excerpt from an article entitled "Presents: The Beginning" about writing for the Harlequin Presents line. I think you'll see that this advice applies to all writers, however! Read the whole article here.

Here are the most common writing personalities and their mistakes that our editors see when they’re reading unsolicited submissions while searching for new Presents talent:

• The Free Spirit has no idea what her story is or where she’s going when she begins her book.
• The Procrastinator “writes herself in.” She spends two to three chapters unfolding a long, rambling back-story and setting the scene, and there’s no romance or hero-heroine action in sight.
• Ms. No-Man’s-Land doesn’t introduce the hero until chapter two…or even later!
• She-who-saves-the-best-for-last, and who clings to the assumption that readers (and editors) will be understanding and hang in there until chapter four or five when her romance really gets going.
• Me-Me-Me uses a lot of descriptive narrative, choosing to tell the story by inserting herself between the readers and the characters, rather than letting characters speak for themselves.
• The Party Animal includes loads of minor characters—but who are the hero and heroine?
• The Show-Stopper thinks of a great opening line or paragraph and then…her book goes downhill from there!

Let’s be clear about a couple of things. In terms of word length, these are short books (50,000 words total). So you haven’t got time to warm up or wait for the hero to arrive! And, despite the quickness of the read, every reader expects to have taken a ride on an emotional rollercoaster by the time she finishes your book.

Today I will email my writing group Chapter 2 of my WIP. My father-in-law is visiting this weekend so I'm not sure how much I'll get done!
Yours Truly,
Shoshanna Evers

Peter Carey's Advice to Writers

Hello Fellow Writers!

Yesterday I incorporated (most of) the suggestions I got from my writing group on improving the first chapter of my WIP, "Snowed in With a Millionaire". There are always going to be some instances where I want to keep my original words, but I also know when to look at my work objectively and see that someone else is right!

Peter Carey is the author of numerous books. Even though NaNoWriMo is officially over, I did get another letter in my inbox from him. Here he shares his advice with writers.

Dear Writer,
Writing is the easiest thing in the world. Anyone can do it. It's like hitting a tennis ball against a wall. It's like swimming. Anyone can learn. You don't have to be the best. You don't need to compete in anything. On the other hand, you may aspire to be a celebrated star.

Like swimming, like playing tennis, there are people writing at all levels. If you just want to amuse yourself writing the weekends, just keep on keeping on. If you want to bash out a novel, you need no more advice than to keep on keeping on.

But if you dream of making something original and beautiful and true, if you imagine seeing your book reviewed, or in the window of a book store, you're in the same position as the ambitious swimmer—you've got a lot of training to do, a lot of muscles to build, a lot of habits to start establishing right now, today.

If you know what these good writing habits are, there's nothing more I can give you. Perhaps you know what I'm going to tell you—you have to write regularly, every day. You have to treat this as the single most important part of your life. You do not need anything as fancy as inspiration, just this steady habit of writing regularly even when you're sick or sad or dull. Nothing must stop you, not even your beloved children. If you have kids you do what Toni Morrison did—write in the hours before they wake. If you wish to be a like the champion who swims for four hours every day of the year, you will need extraordinary will. You either have this or you don't, but you won't know unless you try .

Let's say you (quietly, secretly) want to be a genius. Then you must teach yourself to be self-critical. Trust me—your own uncertain opinions are worth one hundred times more than the judgments of your friends. Your friends love you and are may be very smart. But they cannot imagine what you have not yet imagined. So don't show them stuff you fear may not be right.

If you feel at all unhappy with your work, there is a good reason for it. Trust your judgment. Write the draft again, and again. This is the strength you must build—to work alone, in solitude, and write and rewrite and rewrite. Even when you finally succeed in making the original work you wished, you will still live with doubt and uncertainty. All writers learn to live with this. In this way you and I feel exactly the same about our work today.

If you ever read one of my books I hope you'll think it looks so easy. In fact, I wrote those chapters 20 times over, and over, and over, and that if you want to write at a good level, you'll have to do that too.

That is the first half of the good habits you must develop.

Here's the second half.

First, turn off your television. The television is your enemy. It will stop you doing what you wish to do. If you wish to watch TV, you do not want to be a serious writer, which is fine.

But if you do pull that plug you've just created time for that exercise which is going to build up your writing muscles like nothing else. It's called reading. Perhaps you are already reading good books for several hours a day, in which case you don't need me to preach at you. Forgive me. I only mention this because I have met an extraordinary number of beginners who don't think they need to read anything too much.

I don't doubt these people enjoy their writing, and perhaps they will even get to publish something. But you can not play the top game without reading every day. There are so many extraordinary books waiting for you, some writing by living writers, the majority by those a long time dead. This is not because writers used to be better than they are now, but because a lot of generations have come before us and we would be crazy not to know what miracles they achieved.

Some of the great books are about people with lives just like you. Some will have characters you can 'identify' with, but some of the very greatest will tell stories you could never have imagined, were written in languages you cannot speak, and tell the stories of people like none we have ever known.

Now you've killed the TV, you should invest in a very good dictionary.

I know it is a major drag to stop reading and look up a word in a dictionary, but it is less of a drag than continuing to read not knowing what the story really means. No-one wants to do it. I never want to do it, but it is always worth the trouble. In my own case I often write the new word down, not because I am stupid, but because it helps me remember it.

So what books should you read if your greatest aim is to lift your game? Clearly "Goose Bumps" is not going to help you in your ambitions, but where to start, where to continue the adventure you're already on?
I'd suggest a wonderful new book by Francine Prose, "Reading Like a Writer.Go buy this now. You may already be a disciplined, talented original writer but you will not be sorry to read this for two hours tomorrow.

-Peter Carey

You can learn more about Peter Carey's writing at his website.

Today I will be going to my writing group at the Barnes and Noble, where I will see if they agree that my query and synopsis for "The Movie Star's Very Personal Assistant" is ready. Then I will have to just do it - and send it out into the world.
Wish me luck, and good luck to you too!
Yours Truly,
Shoshanna Evers

Kevin Smith on Writing and Filmmaking

Hello Fellow Writers!

I have exciting news. That spec advice column that I sent out to the new local newspaper that's starting up in March got picked up! So I will be an official, paid writer. I am so excited!

Yesterday I went over my query letter and synopsis for "The Movie Star's Very Personal Assistant". I'm going to go buy more ink for my printer so I can print those out and have them ready to be reviewed one last time by my writing group tomorrow, and then I'm going to take the jump and submit to Harlequin. Scary thought!

I found a wonderful video on YouTube where writer and filmmaker Kevin Smith talks about how he got started writing and filmmaking. The first part focuses the most on writing, and then goes into how he got started making movies.



I think it's so funny how he says the idea that he could actually write a book was amazing to him!

Today I am going to incorporate some of the tips my writing group gave about Chapter 1 of "Snowed in With a Millionaire".

Wish me luck, and good luck to you too!
Yours Truly,
Shoshanna Evers

Uh oh! Harlequin Drama?

Hello Fellow Writers!

There's some drama brewing in the romance publishing industry. Harlequin, as you know, is a publishing company that I love to bits. I read most of the books they publish, and I am planning on submitting my novels to their Silhouette Desire line.

So what's the drama? Well, it looks like Harlequin has made the decision to open up another line just for self publishing. They called it Harlequin Horizons. This immediately upset so many people that they decided to change the name to DellArte Press.

From author NK Jemisin, here is an excerpt of a post about the issue. Read the whole article here.

And although Harlequin has already announced that it will be changing the new division’s name to something without “Harlequin” in the title, how much do you want to bet they’ll still make heavy use of the brand name in marketing the service to aspiring writers? A most unromantic seduction.
This impacts more than just the romance genre, as the MWA has clearly realized. For one thing, however great the potential financial gain in the short term, reputable publishers cannot be permitted to get into the business of exploitation — not without consequence. That hurts the whole industry in the long term. For another, fantasy writers like me who write “fantasy with strong romantic elements” (according to RWA) often attempt to sell books to romance publishers; Harlequin runs LUNA, one of the better-known romance/skiffy fusion imprints. If one of the juggernauts of the industry has decided to dilute its own brand like this, that cuts down on the number of places I can sell future titles. After all, how long will it be before “I’ve got a book out with Harlequin” becomes as meaningless and laughable as “I’ve got a book out with Publish America?
Hopefully it won’t come to that. I guess we’ll have to see.
ETA: Ask and ye shall receive: SFWA has declared Harlequin a non-qualifying market for membership purposes, and issued its own statement in opposition to Horizons-or-whatever-they-call-it.

Well, I think Jemisin hit the nail on the head by saying that Harlequin authors are worried that if Harlequin has a vanity press in addition to it's regular publishing lines, people will be confused and think all Harlequin books are self published.

Carol Thomas from Examiner.com has been following this all very closely. Here is an excerpt from her article. Read the whole article here.

Participants in the ongoing discussion being held on the Smart Bitches Trashy Books website defied the prediction made yesterday, November 19, 2009, by the Nora Roberts Examiner. The group did indeed regain its focus on the consequences of Harlequin Enterprises' decision to enter the self-publishing arena with its currently named Harlequin Horizons division....
The Smart Bitches discussion also picked up a more recent development. The Science Fiction & Fantasy Writers of America has prepared its own "Statement on Harlequin’s self-publishing imprint." This statement was issued after Harlequin Enterprises CEO Donna Hayes announced yesterday that Harlequin Horizons would change its name in response to the concerns of its writers. Consequently, the SWFA statement contains the view held by that organization's president, Russell Davis, and its Board of Directors as to Harlequin's most recent action:

SFWA does not believe that changing the name of the imprint, or in some other way attempting to disguise the relationship to Harlequin, changes the intention, and calls on Harlequin to do the right thing by immediately discontinuing this imprint and returning to doing business as an advance and royalty paying publisher.

As quoted on Examiner.com here, Harlequin Enterprises CEO Donna Hayes said:

"Most importantly, however, we have heard the concerns that you, our authors, have expressed regarding the potential confusion between this venture and our traditional business. As such, we are changing the name of the self-publishing company from Harlequin Horizons to a designation that will not refer to Harlequin in any way. We will initiate this process immediately. We hope this allays the fears many of you have communicated to us."

Wow! I'm very interested to see how this all unfolds.

Yours Truly,
Shoshanna Evers