Be a Better Beta

Everyone should Beta.

I mean this whether you are a writer or just a lover of stories--but I especially mean this for writers. I know what some of you are thinking.

I don't wanna!

 You work a full time job. 

You're writing your own book.

You have kids.

You have a reading list of already-published work.

You don't feel like you can properly critique work.

Get over it.

The bottom line is that Beta reading is an integral part of trying to get published. In my experience my manuscript drafts have become perhaps 3 times better after I get a few extra eyes on the project. This isn't just about correcting a comma to a semi-colon, this is a chance to see which characters speak to the average person, which people they hate or love, who comes alive and who falls flat.

This is a chance to see if your plot is moving slowly or too fast. Do your MCs have chemistry, is the love interest boring or over-sexualized?

Editing is hard, all of you know it. Here is a chance for you to dump all 500 pages of your Epic Fantasy Novel on someone else's hands. Someone who finds the story fresh, and exciting and doesn't know a thing about the other four drafts where your MC had too many apostrophes in his first name. 

You just get to be like: 

Here, Slave.  Read it! Every last bit!

 And people want to do this for you.

If you have a good group of friends and family, they have been dying to read your work. If you are smart, you've kept your draft a secret and now your adoring fans are thirsty for a drink of your amazing words! Even if no one you know has a degree in literature or writing and can't give you "educated" feed back on plot development and character they can tell you what they liked and disliked.

Every opinion counts. 

Which is why you should share yours. Reading is important to being a good writer. I think solidarity is just as amazing. What if your friends book is an amazing story that is years before it's time? What if it's an Urban Fantasy book that agents find too "preachy" and never pick up? But if what reading it inspires your own work, your next blog post, your next tweet, even? You can't miss out on the opportunity to review a fellow writer's work.

One day, (hopefully) you could be asked to do it for a big name. Your comment could end up on a book cover. How can you make sure your feedback is useful? Here's a handy list:

• Read the Book Twice
• Your first time combing through it will be riddled with names, places, rough plot. Only on the second go will you be acclimated with the characters and able to give something meaningful 

• Learn to Use an Editing Program
• "Review" in MS word is a godsend. It lets you make side comments, it highlights your corrections and all your analyses will be in different colored text. It then allows the owner of the document to accept or deny a change. Google docs does the same

•  Be Honest
• First time I had a beta reader it came from a stranger I met on Absolute Write Water Cooler. She got an agent last year. She's a very good writer. She SHAT ALL OVER MY WORK. I deserved it. It was a bad draft and I never thanked her for her honesty and break down. I wasn't ready for that kind of hurt. But she was a good Beta because she wasn't concerned about my feelings--she told me exactly what she thought of my book and what would make it a better project

• Be Objective
• It can be hard being a Beta for a friend. We are excited about their project and genuinely think its good. But consider the book as a stand-alone-project because the truth is, that is what it is. Authors don't end up being super celebrities most of the time. Usually their book is on a shelf and no one really knows what they look like walking down a street. So if the book wasn't any good, we wouldn't care about them. Learn to consider the book as a book and not an extension of someone you love.

• Find Something Negative to Say
• Feel free to disagree with me on this but I do think it's a good exercise to challenge yourself to come up with something negative. If you read through an MS and can't find a single thing you disliked--even if you admit it's completely your opinion, then you are not doing a good job. You need to give the writer everything and can decide what advice to discard. I think it's impossible to involve yourself in critical thinking without coming up with one critique.

Even if you only Beta for one project in your decades of writing, do it anyway. You will benefit from it in some way, even if it's just doing a good deed for someone else. You never know, you could be getting a sneakpeak at something amazing.

And it will look exactly like this.

My First Author Interview!

Since September of 2013 I've really been making a game plan to get my shit together. That meant:

• Outlining a novel and committing to finish it
• This meant publicizing it! I feel like I, personally, can't back out of something if everyone knows I'm doing it. 
• Reading more
• Connecting with other writers
• Editing for other writers
• Attending events and conference
• Writing every single day 
• Try to get some short stories published
• Take a Gotham Writer's Workshop
• Apply for Fellowship

That last one is particularly difficult. Sometimes, you want to come home and relax.

That feeling when you take off your bra after a long day at work

However, since making this commitment, I've averaged about 10k words a month. I need to speed it up a little to be done by February--but I'm still impressed with myself. Especially since I think my writing for this project really isn't too bad!

  I booked my ticket for AWP (Association of Writers and Writer's Program) and attended an event at the Brooklyn Historical Society, that spoke about race and speculative fiction! It's been a fun ride and so far my hard work has culminated in the following:

Click Here

Needless to say, I'm feeling pretty good! And this young lady inspired me to come up with a list of 

Writing Goals for 2014

•  Finish the Novel
• Attend three more writing events outside of AWP
• Query 20+ agents (I tend to under-query and give up)
• Write and Submit 3 short stories
• Outline and begin draft of next project
• Read 10 books
• Tweet one new writer a day (I've met some great people this way)
• Publicize this blog
• Edit for someone in my genre

This is going to be such a good year--it's already off to a fantastic start! That isn't to underestimate that the publishing industry isn't terrifying and difficult. It's basically a war. I'm ready though.

So. Fucking. Ready

Eureka: The Artist and the Lightbulb

A friend of mine just had her "moment".

You know what "The Moment" is. It can happen at work, in bed, in the shower, even while walking down the street. It's kind of like catching the holy ghost.

You just wait til they start hikin' up their skirts and stompin the floor!

"The Moment" is when someone--be they artist or arithmetician--realizes their calling and cannot ignore it any longer. My friend is an excellent writer. We share a common struggle called "Shit Happens". Shit Happens is exactly what it sounds like. It's your dog dying, your wife divorcing you, your boyfriend leaving you, your girlfriend throwing away your favorite worn out Converse sneakers. Shit Happens is anything and everything that will offer you an excuse to not do your work. I don't mean to seem unsympathetic, I AM unsympathetic. I am looking at the "old me", or really just regular me a few months prior--and about 40k words less, mind you--who was making excuses for herself. She had real problems; she was jobless, her relationship of 3 years seemed like it was failing, she was losing friends left and right and couldn't understand why.... And she let those very real and very depressing things distract her.

In truth, there are no excuses. If you are upset, write and distract yourself. If you are in a hurry, write on napkins or in the note app on your cell phone. If you need to clean the house and can't sit down and type, use dictation software. There is no valid excuse unless you say so. There is no teacher to chide your absence, no boss to deny your vacation days. If you are not writing there is no one to blame but yourself. 

You have to realize that before hand, because that takes up space and "The Moment" needs room to move through!

I imagine "The Moment" is a big diva who doesn't need to make herself known. When she arrives, you KNOW

I wish I could remember my exact moment. I thought it happened in February of 2013, almost a year ago. I quite my real estate job because I hated it and, by that point, all I did was rush through my work so I could write my novel in Google Docs. I quit, completely unprepared, convinced I was going to start, finish and submit the novel that would get me a deal. 

In September of 2013, I got a new job.

I had to admit that I half-assed it. And furthermore, I had a tumultuous summer--which I know now is irrelevant to my work but I didn't know that then and I let it stop me completely. Suddenly after I started my new job, I got this wave of invigoration. I started to write every day. I made plans for events and conferences. I started to read more. I submitted and applied to fellowships. I am averaging about 10k words a month and my draft will be finished in January. 

Ever since I had my "moment", I haven't had writer's block for more than a couple days and I've been active about fixing it, instead of hoping it will go away. Since I've had my "Moment", people have been telling me how inspired they are by me and how they wish they could be as motivated. I'm inclined to say that all they have to do is stop "wanting" and "wishing" and just do it. The roughest part of writing the book is sitting down to write. Once the fingers move on the keyboard and the words start flowing, you never want to leave. 

But I could be wrong. It might not be that easy. If you want to induce your moment--yes, like pregnancy--read The War Of Art. It's a good kick-in-the-pants and a quick read. The bottom line is, there is no reason you're not living your dream right now. JK Rowling was on welfare when she wrote Harry Potter--and she did it by choice because she's just more of a G than you are.

Note: this is not an actual picture

Write that book. It really won't write itself.