The Beginning of the Blog

I was reviewing a thread (that admittedly went bad as it went further on, but had some really awesome information in the beginning) about when an agent finds your blog with bad writing on it/fan fiction. Now maybe some of you went back to the very first posts (I really hope you didn't) but there are some awful short snippets from when I was part of a website called 750words.com. The site's idea was to write three pages (approx. 750 words) every day to train yourself to write. That's great...but it didn't work for me personally. All my creative energy was drained into forcing myself to write 750 words so I could stop writing. The starts were awful, probably made only a little sense. And I, in all my mistaken glory, posted them here.

The point of the original thread is that if you wouldn't submit writing to someone, then you shouldn't post it on your blog for readers (or no readers, because at the time I had none lol). So now I'm sitting here thinking about those few abandoned posts. Is it worth going back and deleting them? Will an agent really care? Should I be safe anyway?

More things to ponder...

-Jessie

Updates, Updates, Updates

Ohmygosh! Snow, Snow, Snow, and even more snow! I am so tired of shoveling!

OK, so I have some updates on writing...although they're so small they barely qualify as updates, unfortunately. I have been going back and forth and back again on my next book choice, and so far I've settled on the idea I will test out. I'm being seriously cautious because BE was the first book I've ever finished. I don't want to give up on another book halfway through.

I'm going to experiment with True Love and Fairy Skulls (mostly because I love that name!). The good thing is I really only have one or two points that I'm including in the book so I can play around and create the world from scratch. But I have no real plot to share with you guys yet, besides the fact that it has fairy skulls...and true love apparently.

I am also going to force myself to finish typing up BE, because, seriously, I just need to finish it. I need to edit the hell out of it, make it amazing, try to make a decent query letter (oh god please) and get myself an agent.

So those are my updates guys. How's your writing going?

-Jessie

Hey everyone!

I haven't written in a really long time, and for that I apologize, even though you all probably have much more important things to do then read whatever I write.

So I'm now trying to figure out my next book which is much harder than I thought. I have two ideas I like but...I want this to be my next real book. I want to stick it through to the end. I don't want to start an idea and halfway through realize it's...well really lame. And it has to have an actual plot not just random points of drama. I've already retired Just Add Water and Lost in Whimsy...before they were even started. That's probably a record for me. I blame it on being pickier about what I write.

But I have to go now and pick something.

I'll write back soon when I have...y'know...something to write.

-Jessie

I don't really want to, but I think I just need to take a break from BE for a while. I have so much going on, I don't want to deal with revisions. I used to say that I couldn't wait until the book was done because editing is so easy. I was wrong. I can't stand going back to work that I loved and realizing it's horrible and mediocre writing. Whatever crap I go through actually writing the book is fine because It's just pure creativity. There's nothing stopping me except for myself. Even though it take longer, when you think about it, it's a lot less work. It doesn't feel like work. Editing is work. So is writing a query letter.

So BE is going on the shelf for a while until I come to terms with the fact that yes, it is work, and agree to do it.

I'm starting a new project that isn't named yet, but I'm really excited about it. I'll write a teaser and post it later I guess.

Night all! Ironically enough, I have to get back to work that's due tomorrow...

-Jessie

Well now I feel dumb

I hate writing query letters. They suck. Really badly. They're the worst things in the world.

Sorry that was just me getting my frustration out. I told you that my latest version of my query was going to be ripped apart. Well it was. And I'm happy that people took the time to help me out, but I'm almost out of ideas on what to write. I'm stripping down the book to one plot point and at this point I'm trying to just make it enticing rather than follow a formula. Because it's not working.

Okay, I have to go dive back in. Wish me luck.

-Jessie

Writing A Query Letter

It's certainly a suckish truth. Fact is, most Query Letters are very hard to write. If it came easy, I congratulate you, because you know your book like a reader does. Readers (okay, most readers) don't get caught up in every detail writers look at as vitally important. Readers only focus on the story. Which means, without being bogged down by these all important details, they have a much easier chance of answering the question, "What is the book about?"

Possibly the hardest question ever asked in the literary world. And, just our luck, it's pretty much what the Query letter is. What your character wants, how your character will get it, and the stakes if your character fails. But, as writers, we don't see our books as that simple. There is so much more, we insist, that must be said! But does it have to be said?

When I was writing the third version of my query, I realized something. I couldn't use the simple formula above, I had to tweak it a little, simply because Eric doesn't know what he wants for most of the book. Even at the climax he's not sure if he's making the right choice, if he wants to give up half of his being. And that caused some complications for me, because I felt like I needed to show everything that led up to the decision. I needed the agent to understand why things happened, even if they were small and didn't serve a final purpose. In other words, I thought every last conflict was vitally important. Which, of course, it wasn't. At least not in a query. Let me give you an example.

This was my very first Query. And while I succeeded in keeping it rather short, it lacked detail.

Dear Agent,
Eric Vilanova is evil. And, truthfully, he likes it that way. So when he dies and winds up in Heaven, he's a little pissed.

But after an innocent prank causes too much trouble, he's told he has to at least pretend to be good, or risk the wrath of his new friends. Talk about a welcome.

Eric struggles with pretending to be good, especially when his friends begin to believe his act. But when Eric discovers the ruler of the Spirit World, Acelin, is planning to instigate a war between Hell and Heaven he has more problems than his acting skills. When Acelin stops the war, she'll gain the trust of Heaven and punish Hell as she sees fit. The problem? She wants Eric to do her dirty work.

Now, caught between his new friends and the dark promises of Acelin, Eric is forced to make the decision that could destroy everything. But does he want to be evil, or good?

BEING EVIL is a YA fiction novel, complete at blah blah words.
{contact info}
Thank you for your time and consideration

From, Me

You see? It wasn't absolutely horrible, and it peaks some interest, but it needs a little more meat. Unfortunately my next try gave meat, seasoning, salad, and potatoes all mashed together in a confusing redundant mess.

Eric Vilanova is evil. And, truthfully, he likes it that way. But when his Sorter Lari places him in Heaven and his Patron Julia tells him he’s going to live in a fern, he’s begging for Hell.

After his ingenious plan to get kicked out goes wrong, he meets with the ruler of the Spirit World, Acelin. He’s even more confused when Lari and Julia seem to not only hate her, but are afraid of her. They warn him that he has to at least pretend to be good, or else they’ll be put in Hell as well.

Eric struggles with pretending to be good, especially when his friends begin to believe his act. Especially when he begins to believe it. But he has more problems than his acting skills, when he discovers the ruler of the Spirit World, Acelin, is planning to instigate a war between Heaven and Hell. When Acelin stops the war, she'll gain the trust of Heaven and punish Hell as she sees fit. The problem? She wants Eric to do her dirty work, so she keeps her hands clean.

Now, caught between his new friends and the dark promises of Acelin, Eric is forced to make the decision that could destroy everything. But does he want to be good or evil?

I really just slammed revisions into my old query and hoped they stuck. I added things that could've been said better, and didn't really need to be said at all. But I thought they were vitally important. Plus, it had mistakes.

This is my latest try and it, also, is destined to be eaten and spit back up in a sobbing broken mess. But I think it's getting somewhere. Because I'm finally seeing that I don't need an info dump, but a little information here and there won't hurt.

When Eric Vilanova dies and ends up in Heaven, there’s only one thing on his mind; how to get out. But his ‘ingenious’ plan only lands him with a meeting with the ruler of the Afterlife; Acelin. To his surprise, Acelin is fooled by his fake files, and lets him go. Which only makes Eric wonder why the files of his life were tampered with- and why his new friends are so keen on kicking the new ruler off the throne?

Eric agrees to take part in the conspiracy. Unfortunately, his main role in the plan is to pretend to be as good as his file suggests, which doesn’t come easy. Wandering around one night, he discovers Acelin’s plan to get support from Heaven. She will start a war between Heaven and Hell. When all seems lost she will come to the rescue, gaining trust and securing her power. She wants Eric to help, but first, he must kill one of his friends.

Suddenly, Eric doesn’t know what he wants. He doesn’t want to help Acelin, but this is a one way ticket out of a place he hates. He does hate it…right?

Slightly better, not quite right, but I'm on track. Which, frankly, makes me slightly happier.

Feel free to chew it to bits (erm...critique it.) Here. (You do need an Absolute Write account, although I think most of the people who read this have one already.)

-Jessie

50th Post! (Clerid's Tales, Part One)

Dealing with letting BE sit and rust for awhile is taking some effort, I have to admit. My first instinct was to tear it to shreds in editing right away. I know it's better to let it rest, but I can't help it. I want to finish. 


So in my new effort to keep my mind away from BE, this is a (really) short story I wrote. I don't know how good it is, but I figured it would keep me doing something to escape the madness. 

Clerid eyed the grubby, shrub covered landscape as a personal insult to his honor. How he hated the stupid place he was in, filled with all the stupid trees and stupid plants it could muster. And all, it seemed, to wreak complete havoc on his happiness. Plants are supposed to be green. Definitely not brown, and not a thriving brown at that.

Flicking his staff angrily, he turned around to trudge up the hill again, hoping, for an instant, that everything would have suddenly, magically turned green behind him.

It hadn’t, which only served to make his mood much worse. He busied himself with knocking pebbles down the hill with his staff. He started out with small stones, slowly growing larger in size as his walk went on. Finally, almost at the height of the hill itself, he saw a boulder. A beautiful, majestic, wonderful boulder. He decided to knock it down. Bracing his staff behind it, he pushed and shoved and cursed until the boulder broke free of the ground and went down the hill in a crashing, destructive sort of way. Feeling as sort of depressed sense of achievement, he watched his handiwork crush the stupid brown ground. He would have been more proud of himself, had the boulder not been brown.

“Hey!” Blinking in surprise, Clerid spun around in time to see a woman walk clear out of an ancient oak tree. She crossed her arms angrily.

“I’ll have you know that was my favorite boulder. It was the only one I could stand to look at for hours at a time. I lugged my tree halfway across the plain to watch this boulder, and then you come along!  What have you to say for yourself?” She asked threateningly, brandishing a rather evil looking twisted root. Clerid stared at her a moment, then continued on past her, down the other side of the hill.

“Right fine day this is.” He muttered at her. She raised her eyes in disbelief, then turned and looked forlornly after the boulder. She could hardly make it out; it had already blended in with the rest of the landscape.

“It had potential.” She answered glumly. The dryad turned and followed after him silently, picking up small burned flowers as she went and crushing them in the palm of her hand.

“Where are you headed?” She asked him. He glanced back at her before turning away again.

“Does it matter?” And she had to admit, it didn’t.

See? Silly, but I have to admit I rather like it. I'm reading a Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy right now so I'm trying my best to replicate redundant humor. Oh I love these books.


Okay bye, everyone!
-Jessie