Learn Writing with Uncle Jim, Volume 2

James D. Macdonald

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What she sees on the other side of the Dumpster is her body.

She's now a vengeful ghost inhabiting the body of a young lady who was, until then, a streetwalker.

Tonight, at the Mayor's Gala, she'll get the first clues as to why this all happened, and what her purpose in un-life is.

Unfortunately I wasn't able to fit all the Instant Rejection Reason into this. Very hard to do both first-person-plural and second-person at the same time.

I suppose I could have put the first bit in second-person then switched to first-person-plural for the part after "Gentle reader." Maybe if I'd done a second draft....


And how many deaths will it take 'til we know that too many people have died?

The words whispered out. Then: You opened your eyes, returning to consciousness. Taking in the dirty brick of the wall in front of you. Muddy water in oil-streaked pools, the smell of garbage. "My name is..." you muttered. A question crept into your voice: "My name is?" No answer.

You dug into your purse. A mirror. You needed a mirror. You found a compact. Opened it. Saw red-blonde hair, pixie cut. Blue eyes. Electric blue eyes. Upturned nose. Pouty lips.

You didn't recognize the face.
 

DeltaMike

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Hi Jim

First, thanks for this very helpful resource. I found the Learn Writing thread very useful, though on message boards I'm more of a lurker than a poster.

I've de-lurked to ask you about this article on Making Light about portal fantasies, which I bet you've read. The gist of it is that agents don't like portal fantasies and don't think they can sell them.

This troubles me because I'm about 80% through writing a portal fantasy myself. I think it's a good one, with engaging characters, situations the reader will care about and something genuinely new to say about the concept. Let's assume I'm right. (If I'm not and the book is rubbish then no-one will publish it anyway.) How do I go about querying it?

I see a few options:

1. Own up to it being a portal fantasy, and add a paragraph to the query letter summarising the point of the Making Light article: people do buy good portal fantasies. (This one looks best to me.)

2. Query it as normal and make no reference to the theme. (Asking for rejection, if the article is right.)

3. Query in such a way that the agent can't tell it's a portal fantasy until she's got the manuscript. (Downright misleading and I can't see this being helpful.)

3. Finish the book, trunk it and write something new. No-one buys portal fantasies.

Plus, I live in Britain, so at least some of my queries will go out with part of the manuscript.

What are your views?
 

allenparker

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Hi Jim

First, thanks for this very helpful resource. I found the Learn Writing thread very useful, though on message boards I'm more of a lurker than a poster.



I see a few options:

snipped for brevity...


What are your views?

I am not Jim, nor have I played him on television, although I suspect the Dos Equis guy does.

I would take option 4. Write the best story you can, edit it until and refine it until only an idiot would turn it down. Write the query letter of your life, then make it better. Lastly, send it out, starting at the top, and keep going until you find yourself at Hell's Bargain Basement door with their rejection notice.

Being mindful of what is selling and what is overused is important. Writing a story no one can resist trumps all.

I may be wrong. I was once before.
 

James D. Macdonald

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Actually, until that discussion on Making Light I'd never even heard the term "portal fantasy," so mentioning that term in the cover letter wouldn't be something I'd ever do.

Notice too what Miss Teresa says in her post:

This is borne out by the agents’ other remarks: there’s not enough at stake in portal fiction, there’s no reason for readers to care what happens, and if it weren’t for the falling-through-the-portal bit there’d be no story. I’ll take that as tentative confirmation that if they’re thinking of a book as a portal fantasy, there’s not enough going on in it; and if there’s enough story to make it a good book, they aren’t identifying the portal as a central feature.
So, would there still be a story in your story if you took away the portal? If so, proceed. If not, it wasn't a very good story, now, was it?

Other than that, allenparker is entirely right. Make this the best book you can, query it starting at the top, and, while it's making the rounds, write your next book.
 

Hathor

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I don't know what to do, so I thought I'd ask my favorite uncle.

I queried an agent, indicating the book was standalone but was intended as part of a series. He asked me for a proposal with a series overview, three comparative series or titles, three brief synopses, and a bio.

Okay, I can handle the bio and the synopses. (Fortunately, I have drafts for books two and three. I knew I shouldn't, but these people got in my head and wouldn't vacate.)

For the comparatives, I'm not certain what I'm supposed to do with them. Show similar books have sold? Explain how my series is similar/different/amazingly better? Or is this simply to show him what sort of books mine will be?

I'm not quite sure what goes into a series overview or how long it should be. I know what happens in the first three books, obviously. The trilogy would stand by itself, but then I have ways of extending the series if anyone wants me to.

All this, and he's seen only five pages -- and hasn't directly asked for more.

I emailed him to ask about what to do with the comparatives (no response yet). But I was hesitant to show my ignorance and say, "Series overview? What the heck is that?"

This is an established agent with sales near the top of the PM list for my genre. I don't want to blow this.

I've searched here and the internet generally, but haven't found anything useful.
 

James D. Macdonald

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He asked me for a proposal with a series overview, three comparative series or titles, three brief synopses, and a bio.

The series overview is going to be a few titles with, at most, one paragraph for each of the next two or three books, and a paragraph about the series arc.

The "comparable series or titles" would just be books (or series) that give the reader a feeling much like your book will feel to the reader. What is it, tender romance? Hardboiled detective? Epic fantasy? When you picture a reader buying your book, what other books are in that reader's basket as she stands in the checkout line at the bookstore? When that reader tells her friend about your book, what book does she compare it to? "It's like Harry Potter"? "It's like Shane"? "It's like The Lilies of the Field"?

One thing you can do as an exercise: Pick someone else's series. Find two or three comparable books or series. Pretty easy, right?

Now do the same thing with your series.
 

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Thank, guys. There's definitely a story without the portal - it'd be very different, but still a story. I'll crack on with it.

And I'm guessing you're in favour of not even mentioning the whole agents-don't-like-portal-fantasies thing if you hadn't heard the word before you read the article either.
 

Hathor

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Thanks, Uncle Jim. That helps a lot. I was concerned I needed much more.

Now I just have to decide upon just three series to compare to and to figure out how to explain my books in one paragraph each.

Oh, and how to give him the "detailed bio" he asked for when I haven't published anything, have no relevant degrees...
 

James D. Macdonald

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Publishing things, and degrees, are unimportant.

Have you done anything interesting in your life? Rounded the Horn on a schooner under full sail? Worked as a gravedigger? Have the best recipe for peanut brittle that anyone has ever tasted?

You'll notice that my official biography doesn't mention degrees or publications.
 

Hathor

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Some advice-givers say if you don't have anything relevant to writing, say nothing. Others agree with you.

I've decided to agree with you :D

I have something interesting and unusual in my life, folks say; indeed, I've written a memoir about it. I haven't found representation, however. I'm unsure if I should mention having written this other book (a new, major rewrite in response to agent comments hasn't been widely queried yet).
 

Grunkins

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Are there any good tips for getting past the quagmirey middle? I'm at about 50k words and feeling bored and uncreative. All I can think about is the next project. It seems my talent has fled me, and it took my passion for the book along with it. My daily word count has dropped dramatically and the quality of my prose has diminished. I can't seem to say what I mean. I'm trudging through it, and I know that eventually if I keep doing that it will get written, but I'm afraid it will be awful by the time I'm done. Any ideas?
 

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It may help to think about scenes you haven't written that you're really looking forward to, and tell yourself that the sooner you get through this bit the sooner you get to that really cool scene/moment/line. And sometimes you just need to grit your teeth, gird your loins, and (if you can still move after all that) keep going until it starts being fun again. If it's any comfort you may well be amazed, afterwards, how hard it is for anyone to tell which bits came easily and which you really struggled with.
Good luck!
 

Hathor

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Just write. Don't worry about quality. Get the ideas down and the necessary actions, period. You'll be revising anyway.

If you worry about the quality of your prose at all points, you may get bogged down and never finish the first draft. Accept that much of what you write will be crap. It's liberating :)
 

Sonsofthepharaohs

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It may help to think about scenes you haven't written that you're really looking forward to, and tell yourself that the sooner you get through this bit the sooner you get to that really cool scene/moment/line. And sometimes you just need to grit your teeth, gird your loins, and (if you can still move after all that) keep going until it starts being fun again. If it's any comfort you may well be amazed, afterwards, how hard it is for anyone to tell which bits came easily and which you really struggled with.
Good luck!

Oh, big yes to all of this.

I'm sort of at that stage too (60k into a massive rewrite) and feel like I've reached a plateau. I know what comes next but I'm not looking forward to writing it. So, I'm just gonna leave myself a mini scene synop as a placerholder and move on to the scenes that DO excite me. Hopefully inspiration will strike for the other one at some point and I'll want to come back to it. If not, I'll just MAKE myself come back to it.

But it's happened more than once that the scenes people really liked were the ones I HATED to write, and thought were a pile of crap. Maybe it's the same as exams in that sense - the ones I thought I had bombed always turned out to be my best marks :)
 

James D. Macdonald

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I know what you're thinking. "Can I sell a novel of 250,000 words, or only 100,000?" Well, to tell you the truth, in all this excitement I kind of lost track myself. But being as this is massive multi-volume fantasy epic, the best-selling genre in the world, and would make a dandy HBO special, you've got to ask yourself one question: "Do I feel lucky?"

Well, do ya, punk?
 

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I think I need a permission to write at all certificate. Stapled to my forehead.