Stop Making Things Up!

by Lee Ann Setzer

I’ve been working through the book we received at the CFI writers’ conference, Get Off the Beach!, by keynote speaker Eloise Owens. She uses surfing metaphors to illustrate principles of salesmanship and marketing.

She quotes a famous surfer: “Essential requirement for a big-wave rider is not courage, daring, or fitness but a non-arousable imagination.” Owens emphasizes the “mental strength to stay quiet while executing through the unknown.”

So, how’s that supposed to help a novelist? We’re using our imaginations to “execute through the unknown,” and if they're "non-arousable," we're in trouble! This reminded me of advice I heard years from authors Kristine Kathryn Rusch and Dean Wesley Smith: “Stop making things up!”

We’re novelists. We have great imaginations. We can create a whole dramatic chain of events from one minor occurrence. We make things up for fun and profit. The problem comes when we write the query letter, put the manuscript in the mailbox, and start waiting—and making things up.

It’s the worst thing they’ve ever received. I haven’t heard back because they burned it and scattered the ashes. Not only do these editors hate this manuscript, every editor in the world (or universe, if you write science fiction), is destined to hate everything I ever write for the rest of my short and miserable life. I should have become an accountant.

So, fellow authors, how do you avoid making things up? Or do you guide your limitless imagination in positive paths, and put it to work for you?

Me, I have a goal to receive 100 rejection letters.

The Hardest Part of Writing

By Christine Thackeray

I was (electronically) talking with Rebecca Talley a while back and she mentioned that her book had just come out and she was facing the hardest part of writing. At the time I had no idea what she was talking about but now that my first book is here, my eyes are wide open.

For me the actual writing of my story was challenging but fun. I'd sit at the computer clicking away, watching the ethereal images in my head come to life in full color. While doing laundry or dishes, new plot twists would come to mind or a phrase from one of my children would be so clever, I'd have to include it. Although my family would laugh at me or catch an ocasional typo, it was smooth sailing and a lot of fun.

Then came the rejections. I thought that was the toughest part. Plain form letters with not a single comment, no glimmer of encouragement. But after some rewrites, it shockingly got accepted. The editorial process was very pleasant and I loved the cover. It was great.

When the time came to get my book out there, it was tough begging for reviews, blogging, emailing all my relatives and telling them to beg all their friends to buy it. But the worst part was when the reviews started coming back. Yup, it's the hardest part. Your book is your baby and when people stab at it, its like getting poked in the eye with a toothpick. I suppose I've just got to smile and keep encouraging sales. I mean three of my neighbors said they adored it and couldn't put it down so what does an accomplished reviewer know anyway-- do I sound too much like an "American Idol" contestant?