Question: What would you like to see?

I personally, would like to see an article about, comma usage, as quite frankly, the rules seem much more subjective than objective to my naive brain.

Truthfully, it seems to me, that different editors have different ideas about where and when to use the comma. Maybe it's just my vivid, but often incorrect, colorful imagination...

Don't even getting me started on our friend the semi-colon, that's like an whole new article. My god man, who was the first person to decide to put a comma and a period together into one confusing puncuation mark?

Dang, if I knew I was going to be a writer, not a pro baseball player, I would have paid more attention in English classes as a kid. Like my 10th grade English teacher said, "John, you write really vivid stories, but you wouldn't know a comma if it bit you on the butt..." I almost blurbed that on my first book.

johnzakour said:

Don't even getting me started on our friend the semi-colon, that's like an whole new article. My god man, who was the first person to decide to put a comma and a period together into one confusing puncuation mark?

Click to expand...

Probably the same person who invented the spork.

Along with chapter breaks, maybe some tips on pacing. I always think I'm either moving things along too quickly or too slowly.

What about advice for YA novels?

Maybe something on how you know when to dump your agent. My former agent made indifference into a science, and I'd have preferred someone who gave me a little encouragement from time to time. But since he sold both my books, I hesitated to part ways until I had firm evidence that he'd attempted to negotiate a financial settlement on my behalf that I'd told him I didn't want and considered to go against my interests.

So if you can, from your own experience and what you've learned from other sources, talk about the kinds of support an author has the right to expect from an agent and those that only the lucky or well-published can demand, I'd be interested. Thanks.

On agents

My first agent made me some money, then got too busy and goofed up several times in a major way:

a) ignored me when I specifically said "Don't DO anything, the money person will call you--you don't call him, it's a done deal, just WAIT!" then turned around and made a call--which screwed up the deal;

b) didn't bother putting in my name for a work-for-hire job for which I was very qualified;

c) closed a deal and skimmed money from it in a way that put him on the bleep list of both the packager and the publisher. He didn't break the law, but played it slick, and now they both hate him;

d) PO'd a major publisher to the point that they still won't look at any books submitted by that agent;

e) was somehow always too busy to sell my stuff overseas;

f) stopped taking calls from me and focused on his favorites in his stable.

Oh, yeah--bad writing advice a-plenty, and shot down every idea I had like it was a skeet shoot.

Time for a divorce. I should have bounced him for the first offense, but thought he'd made an honest mistake. Silly me.

Finding the right agent is like finding the right spouse. You do have to hunt around to get with someone who's right for your style.

My new agent (over 10 years now) is a firecracker, and I am well pleased with her "can do" 'tude, and the fact she's sold nearly all my titles several times over in Europe. She gently nags me when I need it, and actively looks into making new deals.

I send her flowers and thank her a LOT.

Gillhoughly said:

My new agent (over 10 years now) is a firecracker, and I am well pleased with her "can do" 'tude, and the fact she's sold nearly all my titles several times over in Europe. She gently nags me when I need it, and actively looks into making new deals.

I send her flowers and thank her a LOT.

Click to expand...

I want one of these agents.

Good luck on being brief on the subject of agents. There is probably a whole lot more to say about them than can be packed into one paragraph.

Prologues...that is a good subject to discuss too. Most people don't read them, and I have been guilty of that too (depending on how long the prolugue was).

Good topics for discussion:

-- Learning to write despite distractions.

-- The value, or lack thereof, of ideas all by themselves and why writers shouldn't obsess about them.

-- Learning to carefully consider writing advice ( ) since too many writers worry about what "they" said you can and cannot do.

-- Rejections, and how they aren't about personally hating personally you and your personal hopes and dreams.

-- Self publishing, vanity presses, PODs, and SCAM PUBLISHERS.

-- the importance of not giving up.

....

That's the topics that come immediately to my mind. Hope it helps.

I'm all for new advice about story structure - breaking down a plot into digestible, easy-to-follow sequences.

I would love something on chapter breaks, on character names, on cliche's to avoid...that sort of thing.