Mama Jude's Pep Talk

[heyjude]

Aw, History, we all have those words.

And someone will ALWAYS hate your book. It seems to be the way of the world. It's a rite of passage!

And the cover is really cool.

[HistorySleuth]

Thank you Jude. I'll try to keep those things in mind. And I know your right. Just not feeling it I guess. It will pass, I'm sure.

[heyjude]

Well give yourself some time. And chocolate. ::bakes History a cake::

[HistorySleuth]

Figure I'd make fun of myself on twitter about the whole interrupter/interpreter thing. Made me feel a bit better. OH and the chocolate peanut-butter cheesecake my daughter is going to make will help too. Thanks Jude.

[Namatu]

So I am trying to finish up edit corrections from an awesome editor on the book in my siggy, and I'm thinking am I really this illiterate? It was a good thing I put it down for so long and took a break from it because some of it is really stupid mistakes in punctuation and capitalization. I think when you look at something too many times the eye just skims, not that that is a good excuse either. And 10 times in 50 pages I put interrupter instead of interpreter.

This is why I'm a big fan of letting things sit for a few months before making an editing pass for the small details. Your eyes need time to forget or you end up with a published book that includes "Palestininians." That's one of my , and I will never mention which book it's in, but I know exactly where that typo appears.

Don't beat yourself up, History. You're working on it, and you can search and replace "interrupter."

[HistorySleuth]

"Palestininians." Thank you for sharing that, Namatu. Yep did a search and replace, thanks.

I guess on a brighter note, it is a good thing I let this rest before picking it up again, especially since I will be self-publishing this one. Plus, since I've been working on this one, it has given my Milk Carton Murders time to sit.

Thanks you guys. I feel better.

[GailD]

HS, don't dispair despere lose hope. I think you may find that your book does a lot better than you imagine.

Land ownership issues are big here too. During the apartheid era the 'apartheid government' moved masses of people off their lands. (So did the British - as far back as 1820.) Now people are trying to claim their land back and ... "oops, sorry, the city of Johannesburg is now situated on your ancestral home. And you don't have the mineral rights to all those gold mines, do you?" And let's not even mention Zimbabwe!

Hang in there, HS. You're a good writer with an important issue. Even the interp.. interr... translator thingie will work itself out.

[Zelenka]

HS - big hugs. I have a thing where sometimes it's as if my brain was writing a totally different book to the one my hands are typing, and random wrong words that aren't even related to the right one turn up in the MS. And it is so easy to miss it when you're looking over, especially when you've seen the same book a dozen times already in edits, so I wouldn't give yourself a hard time over it. And yeah, loads of chocolate.

Also, even on the tour when I'm telling the same story over and over I say the wrong things. Had a whole week where I consistently called St Vitus' Cathedral, only the biggest most famous thing on the tour that everyone knows the name of when they come here, St Giles, which is the church in Edinburgh. What city am I in again?

[kaitie]

*Hugs!* Sorry I missed this yesterday.

I just wanted to say that I think it's normal to reread and have those, "What was I thinking?" moments. I actually gave a character three different last names in the course of a book once, and definitely was smacking my head on the desk by the end of that rewrite.

[HistorySleuth]

You guys are awesome for telling me your stories. I feel a lot better because of it. Thank you!

So to make myself feel better I took my scouts out to collect donations for the up coming BBQ + raffle.

Went to the town hall, and got permission to look at their old cemetery books to see if I could figure out who got moved out of the old cemetery in 1913 to build the library. (Went well)

Did a twitter thing and won an autograph copy of The Lifeboat.

AND sent in a writing prompt idea to WoW (Women on Writing) FB page. Guess they liked it and they are going to use it in the next month. So I get a couple sentence bio, and my booked named and a pic of the cover. So that was good inspiration to battle through edits without beating myself up.

[Namatu]

Yay!

[sheadakota]

Oh History- I should tell you my CALM/ CLAM story one day. sheesh.

[Zelenka]

There's also the story about a football broadcast I worked on, where 'World Cup competition' had been mistyped on the teleprompter (the last letter of 'cup' was actually an m rather than a p) and the presenter actually read it out. Luckily not live on air.

[wonderactivist]

to all,

I also had a rough day for my writing career and it helped to see that I'm not alone. I had been corresponding with an agent about my first manuscript for well over a year and finally decided to send her a note yesterday that sort of lightly said, "Okay, I need to know what you think now."

No response in over 24 hours. (She usually responds to my emails in under an hour.) It saddens me, but I also know that I needed to sort of cut this cord. If she writes me, I'll be ecstatic. I would probably sign with her. Barring that, I won't follow up with her again. I had gotten my hopes up too high when she "really liked" the first half of my book. I had felt certain that even if she rejected me, she would send some feedback on why--

And I had mostly stopped querying other agents. (Not smart.) So now I'm going to cross her off and if she ever does respond it'll just be icing on the cake.

HistorySleuth, I once submitted a manuscript that had made it through a former magazine copy editor plus 13 betas:

Chapters 1-26, the name of the drug cartel is the Sacra and the clue on the body is a crucifix;
Chapter 27, the name of the cartel reverts to the original, Medellin, and the clue to a string of milagros;
Chapters 28-30, the name of the cartel goes back to the Sacra and the clue to the crucifix.

Now I would like to think that maybe some people just skipped a chapter or were skimming, but Chapter 27 also contains THE SEX SCENE and was a fave of several of the betas. 6 of them talked about specific things in the chapter. Nobody noticed the editing goof.

I'll bet a reader being carried by your prose won't even NOTICE "Palestianians."

Hugs to everyone. This place is such a godsend.

Lucie

[heyjude]

Oh History- I should tell you my CALM/ CLAM story one day. sheesh.

ME TOO! Like, every freaking time!

to all,

I also had a rough day for my writing career and it helped to see that I'm not alone. I had been corresponding with an agent about my first manuscript for well over a year and finally decided to send her a note yesterday that sort of lightly said, "Okay, I need to know what you think now."

No response in over 24 hours. (She usually responds to my emails in under an hour.) It saddens me, but I also know that I needed to sort of cut this cord. If she writes me, I'll be ecstatic, but I won't follow up with her again. I had gotten my hopes up too high when she "really liked" the first half of my book. I had felt certain that even if she rejected me, she would send some feedback on why--

And I had mostly stopped querying other agents. (Not smart.) So now I'm going to cross her off and if she ever does respond it'll just be icing on the cake.

Sorry, Lucie. My guess is that she was doing something less important for the day, like at her sister's side while she gave birth or fending off an attack by evil arch-villains on her building. Something. And you'll hear from her today.

But if not, you have the right attitude. Keep moving forward!

Querying seems to get tougher and tougher and as I've already talked to some of you about, I have to wonder if the DOJ lawsuit has made things worse. Tough times for all... well, except Amazon.

[Zelenka]

Lucie, I hope it was just that something came up, or perhaps she's away for a while or something. I have everything it's possible to cross crossed for you and I hope you hear something good soon. But I agree with HJ, you've got the right attitude.

If I can join in for a moment, I don't know if I need a pep talk as such or just a kick in the behind. I have written a bit over the past few months but very little of any consequence, and I simply cannot get an 'in' into my WIP at all, no matter how much work I do on it. I've also tried setting it aside and working on something else, which didn't work either. Coupled with all the rejections on my stuff lately, the fact that my family have been very discouraging about my plans to go to study screenwriting and basically have told me I don't have the talent to do it, I'm just generally a bit frustrated. I just want to get started on this book because I'm sure if I can just get the beginning, the rest will fall into place. So it's all a bit grrrr at the moment.

There, got that out. Think I needed to get that out.

[HistorySleuth]

Lucie, I think your gentle nudge was a good idea. If she liked it someone else will too. Do let us know how the querying goes.

And, all I can say on the unnoticed chapter gaffs is ... you must write some damn good sex scenes!

P.S. All your guys silly boo boo stories are a great help. It sure lightens the stress I was feeling over it.

[HistorySleuth]

Zelenka, wow on the whole family thing. I would't even tell them that kind of stuff any more. It seems there is always someone in your family who is a downer about your writing. I would just skip talking to them about your writing ambitions all together, and stick to the hows the weather, hows work stuff. Hugs for you too!

[Namatu]

to wonder and Zelenka.

Zelenka, wow on the whole family thing. I would't even tell them that kind of stuff any more. It seems there is always someone in your family who is a downer about your writing. I would just skip talking to them about your writing ambitions all together, and stick to the hows the weather, hows work stuff. Hugs for you too!

This. And if you can't get into the start of the story, how about a few chapters after that? You can always go back to the beginning.

[heyjude]

Zelenka. Let us be your family just for a minute:

We think you are hugely talented, and wonderful, and lovely to boot. You can do it!

Have you given yourself a break? I mean, from all writing altogether? Take a week, or two, and see if that helps. Read books, watch movies, do anything but thinking about writing and see if that doesn't do it for you.

If not, you may want to try a writing accountability partner.

[wonderactivist]

Thanks so much for the support, y'all. Still no word.

Zelenka, you're a great writer. Maybe you just need to take in the sights and not worry for a bit. You know, sort of research on life. Family issues can tear you in half from the inside. I hope you'll find the inspiration to journal about them.

Lucie

[kaitie]

Lucie--it's entirely possible she hasn't had a chance to read it yet or had to go back over it to get her thoughts together, or even that she's at a conference or just had a ridiculous crisis at work and has to sort that out first. It's not necessarily a bad thing.

My agent is known for his ridiculously fast responses. I know that I can't say this is true in every case, but I did an R&R for him. Most people hear back on fulls within two weeks, and I didn't hear back for two months. I just knew it was because he hated the revision and hadn't gotten around to sending out the rejection yet.

I found out later from a blog post that he'd had a couple of manuscripts he wanted to sign on, but they came at the same time so he gave each of them another read to make sure he wanted to take them. When I got the email from him, I was so certain that he was just sending a polite rejection that I had to read it a couple of times to see that he really was asking for a phone call instead.

So a little extra time isn't always a bad thing. There is probably a perfectly valid reason that isn't "I hate this book."

Zelenka--It sucks to have family not be supportive. Mine has always been oddly supportive. On the one hand, they encouraged me, on the other, I'd get questions about whether or not I was crazy because I talked about my characters like they were real people, or telling me that I needed to not focus on writing and worry about getting "a real job."

The fact is, though, that if this is something you want to do, you'll never know if you could have accomplished it if you don't try. Maybe your family doesn't see it, but this isn't a field about talent. It's a field based in learning and study and research and improving. Personally, I'd rather work my ass off to try something even if I know the odds are long because then I know I tried. Otherwise, I'd spend my life wondering if I could have done it, and really that's a regret I don't want to have.

You have us here to be supportive when you need it. Do what you need to do. Your family is trying to think of what's best for you, but in this case, they don't know the answer. You do. You're an adult and it's your choice to make. And you know you have people to support you.

[Zelenka]

Thanks guys. My family are more annoying than anything, as I'm used to having to see past their negativity and do my own thing now. It's not actually that they have my interests at heart, it just doesn't ever occur to them to actually think before they speak, they just say whatever comes to mind without considering how it affects other people (not just me, btw, they're this rude to everyone). So because they think I'm useless, they just come out and say so. But they lost the right to give me advice on my life a long time ago.

But guess what? Read this thread (couldn't reply as I was on my iphone and can't type well on it) and got home after a private tour last night, to write 543 words of the beginning of the WIP. It may not be the best stuff, but it's got something there now! Which I think just shows how great this thread and you guys are.

[heyjude]

So glad, Z.

[kaitie]

That's awesome, Zelenka. And I totally agree. This thread and the people around here help so much when I'm feeling down.