Writing and the Little Black Dress

A couple of days ago, a writing friend of mine watched a fashion design contest show. In the show, a contestant had come up with beautiful designs only to have them shot down by fashion experts who said the designs were too similar to past designs of other famous designers.

My friend made a connection to writing. She was anxious about her new novel—that it would be too similar to what’s gone before. I agreed that it was a legitimate concern. But I reminded her that there are no new stories, only new ways to tell old ones. And in fact, the same is true in design—I remember platforms and bell-bottoms from when I was a little kid.

As I thought about the similarities between fashion design and writing, the “Little Black Dress” came to mind. Coco Chanel’s designs back in the 20s were the beginnings of the LBD. And yet, for almost 100 years, it’s endured and endured. It’s never gone out of style. In fact, I think I may have five or six versions of LBD.

What’s so special about it? Why do I have more than one? And what does this have to do with writing?

First off, I lived in southern New England where the LBD was de rigueur. So that may account for several of the dresses. But even aside from those social constraints, most women have at least one LBD. The reasons are myriad. Solid black is slimming. It’s elegant. Dressed up with pearls, sheer stockings, and heels, it can take you to any restaurant anywhere. It can be dressed down with flats and a belt to go to work. It can take you on a sexy date. Or even to a funeral.

Given its versatility, why have more than one? And this is how I think it applies to writing. I have a summer LBD—okay, I have a summer casual LBD made of the most breathable cotton that I can wear to the library or wear over a swimsuit—and look elegant, slimmed, refined. I have a dressy silk summer LBD—ditto the elegant, slimmed, etc. It’s got flirty ruffles and a plunging neckline. Then, there’s the LBD sheath made of linen with straight lines—it works so well with a wool hound’s tooth jacket and pumps. And the turtleneck knit LBD. And the other silk LBD with the structured lines….

Got the picture? Even though they all do the same thing (flatter the female figure, create an atmosphere of sophistication, etc.), they all do it in different ways. I think it’s the same with writing. There aren’t that many plot lines in literature. In fact, the Greeks divided it into two types. Comedy and tragedy. (Comedy ends in a marriage, tragedy ends in a funeral.) But it’s the telling that makes all the difference.

Take the traditional boy-meets-girl-problems-ensue-true-love-wins story (i.e., a comedy to the Greeks). What if the story occurs in a dystopian society (Hunger Games, Divergent, etc.)? Or what if it happens in 19^th century and the girl comes from a poor family and the gentleman is a wealthy, prejudiced young man (Pride and Prejudice)? Or how about a thwarted couple who get a second chance at love after they blew it the first time (Persuasion)? Or what if the novel is set after a war and the man takes years to get home and they both have to suffer and wait—Odyssey?(Yes, I know they were married before the war, but that’s just a variation on the story.) These novels are all variations of the literary LBD—boy meets girl and they fall in love/get married. The difference is in the telling.

So my advice to my friend, to myself, and to you, is write me a new LBD novel—use some gorgeous fabric, throw on some frills, show it to me with some three inch heels, and I’ll buy it. And so will all my friends. 

Vacation

No regular post today because we're on vacation. But I do have an update on the sequel to Screwing Up Time sequel--my "line editor" finished her read through the novel and I've begun working through her edits. (Yay!)

Here's a writing quote that I thought I'd share.

“When your story is ready for rewrite, cut it to the bone. Get rid of every ounce of excess fat. This is going to hurt; revising a story down to the bare essentials is always a little like murdering children, but it must be done.”

—Stephen King

Sequel Challenge

I'm on vacation this week and next, but I thought that I'd post a hint about the sequel to Screwing Up Time. If you can figure out what language this is written in, you'll have a big hint where the sequel is set. If you have a guess and want to know if you're right, email me at connie (dot) m (dot) keller (at) gmail (dot) com. Have fun!!

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What You Need to Be a Writer

In James Scott Bell’s book The Art of War for Writers, he discusses nine characteristics that he believes all writers must have. I think it’s good to be reminded.

1. Desire. The only thing that’s going to get you through the years of work, hurts, and disappointments is the burning need to write. Otherwise, find something else to do.

2. Discipline. The butt in the chair approach to writing. For years I had a Jack London quote that greeted me every morning. “You can’t wait for inspiration. You have to go after it with a club.” No matter what you write from YA to poetry to litfic, the only way you’re going to get through the rough patches is to grind it out. So, plant your butt in the chair. Ignore Facebook, Twitter, et al. Write.

3. Commitment to Craft. That means a first draft is a first draft. It’s not a book. You edit and edit and edit until all traces of you the writer are gone. As Allen Ginsberg said, “To gain your own voice, you have to forget about having it heard.”

4. Patience. Some writers strike gold early in their careers. Most don’t. Lately, I’ve been reading about writers who finally struck gold in their 60s and 70s. If needs be, can you wait that long? Is it worth it to you?

5. Honesty. You aren’t Fitzgerald or Hemingway. Deal with it.

6. Willingness to Learn. Not only do we need to be willing to admit our shortcomings, we have to want to learn. As Hemingway once said, “We are all apprentices in a craft where no one ever becomes a master.”

7. Business-like Attitude. Yeah, writing is a very personal, emotional art—sometimes you’re putting your soul on the page. But there’s needs to be a part of you that realizes publishing is a business. You have to balance those aspects.

8. Rhino Skin. You have to learn that everyone gets rejected. Remember what one publisher said about The Diary of Anne Frank. “The girl doesn’t, it seems to me, have a special perception or feeling which would lift that book above the ‘curiosity’ level.” To see other rejections of famous books, see here.

9. Long-term View. “I decided that I would continue to write as long as I lived, even if I never sold one thing, because that was what I wanted out of life.” George Bernau.

So now, start writing! You can do it!

Shadows of the Hidden

My friend Anne Riley will be coming out with the novel Shadows of the Hidden published by Compass Press in December. And she's sharing her cover art and the novel's blurb. I'm very excited that she wanted to share it on my blog. I can't wait for the book. 

SHADOWS OF THE HIDDEN BLURB:

A teenage girl discovers the true reason behind her parents' disappearances and finds herself and the center of a centuries-old quest for immortality. 

PLOT SUMMARY:

Natalie Watson doesn't believe her parents are dead, even though they disappeared five years ago. Discovering the truth about their fate is one of the only things that gets her out of bed in the morning. But after moving from her home in Georgia to her aunt's boarding school in Maine, solving the mystery of her parents' whereabouts is just one of several challenges she must face. When she's not fending off attacks from the popular kids, she puzzles over the rumors about a strange boy in her math class--one with fiery red hair who rarely speaks.

Despite suspicions that he murdered his sister a year earlier, Natalie finds it impossible to stay away from Liam Abernathy--especially when he confesses to knowing something about her parents. Soon she's following him into the forest, where things happen she doesn't understand...things that shouldn't be possible. 

Natalie soon realizes her connection to Liam is deeper than she ever imagined, and not everyone she counts as a friend can be trusted. When she finds herself at the center of a centuries-old quest for immortality, she must work with Liam to stay alive--even if it means facing a truth about herself and her family that will not only shake her perception of herself, but of the entire world around her.

Here is the book's Goodreads page: http://www.goodreads.com/book/show/14287740-shadows-of-the-hidden 

Update on the Screwing Up Time Sequel

Last week I posted about waiting. Yesterday one of my waits ended. I heard back from the last beta reader. And I had good news. My beta readers loved the sequel to Screwing Up Time. They said it was even better than the first book.

Even better news. They didn’t find any significant problems with the novel. The changes they suggested were minor things. For example, explaining time travel a bit more—especially for readers who hadn’t read book one or for readers who’d forgotten the intricacies of time travel for Mark and Miranda.

So what happens next? A lot. I have to make the changes. I need to start writing a blurb, i.e. the book description. I have to contact my graphic designer about a cover design. Then, I’ll need to read the book aloud. After that, I’ll read the entire novel one more time, beginning with the last chapter, to proofread it.

Finally, I’ll prep it for uploading to Amazon, Barnes & Noble, and Smashwords. When will the sequel be available? I’m not sure. I hope to release it at the end of September. (Though depending on how quickly everything goes, it could be sooner. Or later.)

Keep checking this blog, and I’ll keep you updated here. Plus, I’ll release the title soon (it’ll give you a big clue about where the sequel is headed). When the cover art is ready, you’ll get a sneak peak here. And when the blurb is done, this is the place where you’ll read it first.

The sequel to Screwing Up Time is definitely in the homestretch. I’m getting really excited. I hope you are too.

**Check back tomorrow. My friend Anne Riley, a talented YA writer, will be giving us a sneak peek of the blurb and cover art for her latest YA novel, Shadows of the Hidden.

Waiting

The one thing you need most as a writer is patience. Yes, you need to be patient with a story—you can’t force it. I suppose you can, but then you need to be ready to delete a lot. And you need not to rush to finish. What seems done to you at one point, may seem horribly unfinished a month later. But there’s another kind of patience that writers need. In between patience.

“In between patience” is when you’re waiting to hear from a beta reader/agent/editor. It’s when you’ve send out your novel to someone for some kind of judgment or decision. And it takes sooo long. And nervous energy that builds makes the wait interminable.

Normally, beta readers don’t take too long. Most will read and respond to your book within a month. If they aren’t backed up, maybe a week or two. But agents. That’s another story. I recently heard from an agent who had my novel for nine months. Nine months is a long time, especially since a query can sit around for six months before the agent requests a full. (Of course, some genres are faster. Young adult, new adult and middle grade fiction tend to be faster because they’re hot genres.)

So what do you do to make the time pass, aside from hitting refresh on your email hundred times a day? What you don’t do is wait one month and then nudge the agent to “make a decision already.” It just makes you seem needy, and the truth is they have real clients who earn them money—those people are their first priority, which is what you’d want if you were their client. Instead, remember what it is you do. You’re a writer, so you write.

While you’re waiting to hear back from your beta readers, write a short story or make notes for a new novel. When you’re sending out queries or submissions, begin writing that new novel. Besides keeping you busy, the new book will keep the rejections from hurting quite so much because you won’t have all your eggs in one basket. And if after all your work and waiting, your book doesn’t find a home, you’ll be that much closer to pitching a new book. A better book. And then, you can start the process over again. I know, it seems impossible. But, you can do this. You’re a writer.