Rejection Strategy: Plan B

Rejections are tough. They are easily, the worst part about being a writer.  It's one thing to write the words. It takes discipline and dedication, creativity and perseverance. But it's all about courage and bravery when it comes time to send those words out there for someone else to judge. Sometimes, to help find this courage, my ego might even tell me that what I submitted was good, maybe even great.

Rejections pack their wicked punch at various stages throughout the process. Sometimes, one rejection might be easier to shake off than another. But other times, a rejection feels like someone stabbed a knife, right into my heart. Getting that confirmation that someone got what I wrote, read it and didn't like it…that black and white evidence that my words weren't good enough…really, really sucks. The pain is real, and usually, exponentially related to the stakes. And sometimes, directly related to how much my ego talked me into thinking that what I wrote was good.

Rejection is an inevitable part of the process. We writers know this. Cliché alert: It's the nature of the beast and all of that. If it were easy, everyone would do it. Etcetera, etcetera. Whatever. Our skin can only be so thick. Sometimes it gets to you. But maybe, just maybe, what I wrote WAS good. Maybe it just wasn't meant to be. After all, everything happens for a reason. Stupid clichés.
*Note to self: Rejection + Clichés = Annoying.

I think it's inevitable that we develop our own survival strategies for dealing with rejections. We wouldn't still be doing this, the trying over and over, again and again, if we didn't. My survival strategy has two parts.

If it's a particularly tough rejection, like the aforementioned 'knife to your heart' kind, those usually require a brief mourning period. Before I can pick myself up and dust myself off again, I need to throw myself a pity party. Key components include red wine and chocolate, and sometimes involve binge watching Victoria Mars or Mad Men.

The next phase, I like to call "Plan B" and it goes on from there. Plan B is whatever else I'm working on that I'm excited about. Plan B can be researching a new idea. Maybe Plan C is writing a short story, just for fun. Plan D might be diving into edits for my current WIP. Plans B, C and D are about throwing myself into my passion and work to help shake off the sting of the latest rejection. They are also about not giving up. If I stop to think about it and add them all up, I'm probably onto plan Double Z by now. No worries, I'll just start the alphabet over again if I need to.

It's also a strategy derived from the old saying, "Don't put all of your eggs into one basket." I think I have a lot of baskets of a lot of eggs. The point is, if this one didn't work, this time; something else might work, the next time. But I need those other things in order to have a next time…I've got to make sure there is a next time. Some days, I feel like I'm just throwing a bunch of stuff to the wall to see what will stick.

I know I will never, ever stop trying. This is my love, this is my passion. Back up world, and look out. Here comes another throw. And my aim is getting better every time. One of these days, something IS going to stick.

Shout out to one of my favorite Tweeps: If you're a writer, and you're on Twitter, check out @LitRejections if you haven't already. They will help you remember, you are not alone when it comes to rejections. And if you have any suggestions for getting through a particularly tough rejection, feel free to leave a comment below.

Camp NaNoWriMo Do-Over!

My #CampNaNoWriMo failure earlier this year did not sit well with my perfectionist self. I hadn't realized there would be another one coming again so soon during the month of July…but when I caught a glimpse of that #CampNaNoWriMo hashtag on July 1, it set my wheels turning. I knew I needed something to get my bum in my chair to work on my WIP as we shifted into summer…what better way than a daily word count challenge? So by the end of the day on July 1st, I quietly signed myself up for #CampNaNoWriMo. Again. 

Only this time, I made a few changes. The most important one? I kept my word count goal manageable. Oh, don't get me wrong. I have a hard time suppressing those overachiever personality traits. It was still pretty high. But I remembered to plan for vacations, and a few days of "I don't feel like writing today." But I learned the first time around, if that word count goal gets too far away, it's too easy to give up on it. I kept it real.

My second change, was that I kept that word count goal in sight. Preferably, behind me. I used the tools: the daily averages and pacing statistics that come with signing up for a NaNoWriMo challenge. It kept me on track. I kept my daily word count average low enough, so I knew I could double it the next if I skipped a day. Watching that bar graph climb the steep slope, sometimes landing higher than the daily target, was a visual thrill I never expected. I reached my word count goal on July 27. I was ecstatic.

I will be forever grateful for July's #CampNaNoWriMo. It kept me in my writing habit during one of the busiest months of the year. I yanked myself through the muddy middle of my WIP to catapult into an explosive ending. (And I mean that literally, I actually exploded stuff at the end.) I learned the value of a daily word count goal. I now feel confident that I can produce quality words on demand, under a deadline. (Which, hopefully, will come in handy in the near future. One word: sequel.) 

And best of all, the hashtag #amwriting can retire for awhile in favor of #amediting. Thanks #CampNaNoWriMo! 

It was the Best Advice...and the Worst Advice.

Some days, I feel lucky. Well, actually, a lot of days I feel lucky. But some days I feel lucky that I got through my first manuscript mostly on my own, without all of the noisy advice that seems prevalent online, especially Twitter.

These days, my Twitter feed is full of writerly advice tweets announcing, "Do this!"… "Don't do that!" And I won't even get into all of the wish lists and query do's and don'ts. After all, words are our gift, so we writers have lots of them to share.

I'm not saying advice isn't great or helpful, and I LOVE to see writers helping other writers. Who am I kidding, I LOVE to help other writers too. It's just that sometimes, it's noisy. And for me, I'm glad I didn't discover it was all out there waiting for me until I found my way through my writing process on my own first. I think otherwise, the self-doubt might have won out, and my type-A personality would have worried all along that, "I was doing it wrong" and probably my brain would have imploded.

In my early days on Twitter, I saw a tweet offering the worst writing advice I've ever seen. It announced that writers should "start small" and the blog link attached encouraged new writers to find their process through short stories and/or articles first. My first thought was that I was glad no one had told J.K. Rowling to start small. My second thought was, if I had started small, my mystery novel never would have been written. I was working. I had babies. If I had messed around with short stories during my very precious, and very limited, writing time, the damn thing never would have gotten done. And besides, in my opinion, short stories are actually really hard to write! In other words, it was the worst advice…for me.

I also flashed back to my very first writing class at the Loft Literary Center in Minneapolis. It was a short story class. I was starting small. I had an idea for a mystery, and I didn't know where to start so I decided to start with something more manageable and learn the art of a short story. The first day of the class, the instructor went around the room and asked us why we were there. I explained that I had an idea for a mystery novel.

He looked at me and asked, "So if you have an idea for a mystery novel, why are you taking THIS class?" He told me not to start small, but to follow my idea. If I had an idea for a mystery, then I needed to figure out how to write a mystery. (I still stayed in the class, but I signed up for the mystery writing class the first chance I got.)

Looking back, that instructor's advice was some of the best writing advice I have ever received. (Remember? Limited writing time due to the job and the babies.) I needed to streamline my focus to write exactly what I was inspired to write. That instructor's advice taught me to follow my motivation, and that has served me well.

When I began my writer's blog, it was with a little bit of an eye roll. Because really, does this world need another voice telling writers of the world what they should or shouldn't do? Well maybe, because anyone reading it can always take it or leave it. Also, it's such a tricky industry, it's nice to learn from others who have navigated the many different paths to get there.

But I really like to tell stories. I especially like to tell stories where I've screwed something up, or fallen flat on my face. So maybe, there might also be value for someone else in my missteps. Or at the very least a good laugh. So even though it's a little noisy out there some days, I'll tell a story or two if I have one that fits.

And MY advice about all of the advice out there? Listen to that little voice inside that tells you whether or not something is a good idea…for you. Because in this completely subjective industry, developing that little voice about our own writing is important. You'll need it to make decisions about suggested edits. You'll need it to make decisions about submissions. You'll need it…for a lot of different things. And the stronger it is, the more likely you are to listen to it.

Camp NaNoWriMo Fail. Or maybe not...

Yes, I know it's May 14. Yes, I know the blog has been very quiet about the whole Camp NaNoWriMo experience. I've been trying to figure out how to explain what happened.

Complete Failure? Not exactly. I did add a lot of new words to my WIP. But if you are looking at it strictly from a word count perspective…then maybe. I admit, here and now, that I did NOT meet my obnoxious word count goal.

Camp NaNoWriMo Recap:

Back in March, I got myself ready. I stepped back into the world of a stagnant WIP. I refreshed myself with my research. I even tackled projects around my house…projects that had been staring me in the face for months. A friend of mine called it "nesting" and said it was like I was getting ready for a baby. She was exactly right, I was nesting.

April 1st arrived and I was ready, images of fingers flying across the keyboard danced through my head. But the Universe had an April Fool's joke ready for me. That was also the day I got my first big freelance editorial project. "Bring it," I told the Universe.

The weekend arrived with my first Ghost Stories, Inc. event. While paranormal investigations are a huge source of inspiration, I quickly learned that it's not always easy to write actual words during a ghost hunting weekend. I attacked my word count the following week, catching up just a bit. (Ahem, this is also the part where I must confess that I "adjusted" my obnoxious word count goal. In a downward direction.)

I wrote words like crazy during week two. I was motivated. I found a balance between tackling my word count goal and finding time for my freelance project. I thrived in this balance. When my brain hurt and I couldn't write any more words, I flipped to my editor brain and worked on the project that was actually going to bring an immediate paycheck. This continued for about the next ten days. And it was a beautiful balance. But then, something happened.

It wasn't unexpected. I knew it was coming. My WIP started to fall apart. Not a lot, just a little. I knew my plot was beginning to unravel just a bit. I knew there were things I needed to go back and fix. I got stuck. I knew that if I were a true blue NaNoWriMo participant, I should just push through. Keep going to the end! Because, yikes! That word count goal was staring me in the face! And I was so close, but I couldn't…quite…catch…it. I also started to feel torn, like I should be spending more time on the project that actually had a guaranteed paycheck attached to it.

Here's the thing. I made a lot of mistakes in my very first manuscript. My second one was so much better and I spent a lot of time analyzing why. That first manuscript was about finding my process. Once I found it, I vowed to stay true to it. And one of my writing mantras, is that when I get stuck, I figure it out before I just plow forward. I don't mean that I go back and fix everything, I just thoroughly think through where I want things to go before I try to just keep pushing through. It's kind of like the forest and the trees…when I get stuck, I make myself find the path. It might not be the right one, but, for me, it's better than wandering in a circle.

I've also learned over the years, that my best chance at grabbing that sometimes illusive muse, is to trust my motivation. I was motivated to finish my editing project so I did. It's a good thing, too, because another one was waiting in the wings right behind it, and then another. So I gave myself permission to…just…stop. Stop chasing that lofty word count goal. But I'm not going to call it giving up.

I am grateful that I stepped outside my comfort zone to jump into NaNoWriMo. It taught me that if faced with a creative deadline, I, 100% without a doubt, know that I will meet it. Especially if there is money involved. (Don't judge, I've been writing and editing for free for a REALLY LONG time.) It's nice to be at a place in my career that I'm getting paid for something I know I'm good at. I also proved to myself (again) that I do my best work when I am balanced and busy.

Therefore, I will keep myself busy. But balanced. I can't let my freelance projects take away from my WIP and vice-versa. Because that seems to be a magic combination for me, and it took Camp NaNoWriMo for me to figure that out.    

Gulp. Camp NaNoWriMo.

I've watched the NaNoWriMo (National Novel Writing Month) challenges from afar, in awe. Like an eager spectator, I scroll through the Twitter feed, cheering participants on with favorites and hopefully helpful comments. But always with admiration for those participating, and the thought, "That is SO not for me."

I just don't work that way. My first manuscript, I made a lot of mistakes. But I learned a lot too, about the process. MY process, and what works best for me. My process doesn't allow for the under-pressure-writing style that comes with a NaNo project. My second manuscript grew organically, fed by careful thought and a promise not to make the same mistakes twice. It was a much better book for it. It was also the book that landed me my agent. Logic states that my "process"now appears to be tried and true. So why mess with it?

Ahem. I've come up with two reasons. The first, is that, as writers, we don't always have the luxury of working at the leisure of our muse. With a book contract, comes deadlines. And while I'm not there yet, (knock on wood three times, spin around, throw salt over my shoulder), I hope to be soon. I intend to be ready.

Also, I aspire to be a great writer. I believe, that to be really great at something, it is necessary to keep pushing the boundary limits of our comfort levels. Because in that space beyond our comfort levels, that's where I always seem to find the ways to grow.

So when a good author friend of mine said, "Hey! We saved a spot for you in our NaNo cabin for April!" I decided to take a chance. I decided to succumb, willingly and gratefully, to peer pressure.

Tomorrow, I will begin a challenge that terrifies me to the core. Tomorrow, April 1, I will embark on a month of NaNoWriMo camp…with a very lofty word count goal. (What can I say? I was raised to value the concept, "go big or go home.") I'm sure I will make some mistakes. Who knows? I might even trip and fall. But if that happens, I will do it with style and flourish, and I will try to keep a smile on my face. Because there are lessons to be learned and maybe it will even make a good story. And who knows? At the end of it all, what if I get to say, "I can write a book in a month."

Gulp. Here goes nothing, with the potential to be something.

Want to join me? Sign up here! Camp NaNoWriMo

Need help with your query or manuscript?

I have a hangover. It’s a happy hangover from last week’s new and improved #AdPit. I LOVED helping people with their queries. I’ve been thinking about hanging out a shingle for awhile, but #AdPit sealed the deal.

It’s official. I am open for business as a freelance editor.

Need help with your query? I will review your query and offer my opinion and advice for $25. For a limited time, I will even include feedback on up to five Twitter pitches.

Want a critique of your first chapter? Also $25. (A first chapter or the first 1000 words, whichever gives you more.)  

I will also look at your ENTIRE manuscript! If you like the feedback from your first chapter, and want me to look at your full manuscript, I will apply your $25 to a full manuscript review. Full manuscript reviews start at $150 and go up from there. Contact me for availability and an exact quote. Payment plans are available. Because, more than anything, I just want to help and I know that I can.

Here are my strengths:

I write mysteries. And I believe there is an art to weaving a good mystery. If I get to the end of your book and I still don’t know who the bad guy is, you know you’ve got an excellent mystery plot on your hands. (But don’t worry, I will still be able to give you clues on how to make it better.)

I used to be a lawyer. I can help make sure your courtroom scenes and legal jargon shines with authenticity!

I also especially like helping to make sure your characters stay consistent throughout, your pacing is solid and your plot flows in the right direction.

If you think I can help, contact me.  I can’t wait to hear about your project.

Do you need a ghost writer? I can do that too. I am especially good at writing web content for your small business or law firm. I will even ghost write your nonfiction book for you. Especially if it’s about ghosts.  For more information, contact me.

It wasn't just an #AdPit day, it was a whole #AdPit week!

Today is the Twitter pitch party #AdPit! (Of which I am especially fond, because I found my agent during an #AdPit Twitter pitch party.) This round of Heidi Norrod's #AdPit was even more exciting because #AdPit has evolved to be more than just a Twitter pitch party. Earlier this week, #AdPit included a pre-party, where entrants were invited to submit their queries for a chance to win a query critique, and a few agents even stopped by the inbox to take a peek and make requests.

And I got to be one of the slush readers! When I told Heidi (@HRNorrod) I would help, I don't think I realized what I was getting myself into. I was at the Love is Murder mystery writer's conference last weekend. I didn't realize that the submission window would close at the exact same time as my flight home would board. I also wasn't expecting how exciting this part would be. As slush readers, we weren't allowed to touch (or maybe it was more that I was afraid to touch) anything in the inbox until submissions closed. But wow!

Looking at all of those queries was an honor and a privilege. One of my favorite parts, was seeing the queries that were nearly perfect - the ones where we all marked "YES" to a great concept, a great pitch and a great query. Those queries deserved to be read by more than just us. So it was good news that a few agents agreed to stop by the inbox to take a peek. I enjoyed the flurry of emails and the teasing Tweets between myself, @HRNorrod, @mtelschelwilliams and @sidneytblake (all friends from Twitter, none of whom I knew very well before this). Another favorite part was finding a query that had been marked by someone else as a "NO" and while I loved the pitch and concept, I also saw something in it that I knew I could fix. Those are the queries that ended up in my pick pile.

Also new this round was the #AdPitCrit - a special hashtag where participants-to-be could stop by and practice their Twitter pitches. There is an art to a Twitter pitch, 140 characters to summarize an entire manuscript is not a lot. So providing a place where writers could practice their pitches and critique each other was a great idea. Watching other writers help each other out, and seeing the pitches get better and better over the course of the week was a lot of fun.

So if you are thinking about trying a Twitter pitch event, in the words of the Nike commercial: Just Do It. There are so many reasons. You make Twitter friends and writer connections. I never made it to any of the final rounds of the contests I chose (#SunvsSnow and I think #AgentTrickorTreat) but that didn't matter. I still found my agent anyway and I made friends and connections along the way. 

Participating in the contests made me a better writer. You practice summarizing your entire manuscript into a ridiculously small word count. When my agent asked me for summaries of various lengths, I already had them and/or could write them quickly, because I'd already done a ton of them for the Twitter pitch parties. My writing became tighter. One of the contests had a first chapter word limit. When I ran my revisions by my CP's (who were forever telling me I needed to tighten my writing) they said "Yes! This!" And it was all because I was just trying to fit as much as I could into the darn word limit on the submission guidelines.

So @HRNorrod and other Twitter party organizers, thanks again for hosting #AdPit and #AgentMatch and #SunvsSnow and all the others. They added one giant step on this writer's path that made it all just a little easier.   

Do ALL the things.

I wrote a book. Two of them actually. It didn't take me long to realize, that was the easy part.

But I've made a promise to myself. On this difficult path that I've chosen, I promised myself that I would push myself beyond the limits of my comfort levels in order to see this dream through. Because at the end of wherever this path is leading me, I have to be able to say that I tried my very best or else I know I will regret it. (I know myself pretty well.) 

Joining Twitter was all the way outside of my comfort zone. But I pushed myself and it brought me my agent. It led me to writing clubs. I've connected with other authors. And don't even get me started on all of the paranormal groups to be found on Twitter. I'm a Twitter convert. 

Going to a writer's conference is also outside the comfort zone of my introverted self. Especially because I still occasionally have nightmare-flashbacks to the emotional trauma I experienced from the live pitch sessions at Crimefest 2012. (Read about that: Here.)

But Thursday night, I kissed my little ones good-bye. I got on a plane by myself and flew to Chicago. Friday morning, I walked through the hotel lobby, and into the conference room, again all by myself, for the Love is Murder mystery writer's conference. When I walked through those doors, I didn't know anyone. But I took a deep breath, put a big smile on my face and just started talking to people. Yes, this was way outside of my comfort zone. My comfort zone was back up in my hotel room next to my laptop, waiting for me to come back and write the words.

The day went on and got easier as it did. I gave my support to anyone I saw with that nervous rock, the one you do right before you walk into a pitch session. I bumbled my way through a self-introduction to one of the headliners. But had an amazing conversation about St. Paul gangster history with Robert Goldsborough. I told everyone about how Twitter helped me find my agent. I made new friends and connections. I was surprised by how few writers use it as the valuable resource it can be.

So do ALL the things. For my introverted Twitter friends, push yourself to sign up for that writer's conference you've always thought about going to. Or even start small by finding a local networking group of writers. SCBWI or maybe Sisters In Crime. For my new conference friends, join Twitter and connect with other writers, even though you've never met them in person. Do ALL the things, even if they require you to step outside of a self-declared safety zone. Because then, at the end of the day, you'll know you tried everything.

Coming up next: Why Twitter pitch contests, like #AdPit, should be on your list of ALL the things.