Writing and submitting your stories -- Questions for K. D. Wentworth

[kdwentworth]

When considering your "weaving" technique, I can't help but recognize some sort of my own style, which leads me to another question:
When you realise there is a mistake in the content of your novel/short story (If you have ever encountered this before) how do you try to cover it up?
An example of your own would be very useful and would be appreciated.
If you've never encountered a problem like that before, try this (I have many in reserve ):
I originally planned to have a person have dinner with the parents of his deceased girlfriend and started writing, but somehow I seem to have skipped the guy's lunch.

When I was writing Moonspeaker, I had the villain, the protagonist's cousin, living with his maternal uncle. Later, as I got to the middle of the book, I realized that would not happen because this society is fiercely patrilineal. So, I needed to come up with a reason why a motherless child would be living with his mother's family and not his father's.

I decided his mother had become pregnant in an affair and disgraced herself, eventually dying not long after the child's birth, leaving behind an infant the father's family would not claim and the mother's family would dispise. This strengthened the child's motivation to grow up and make lots of trouble.

Often I find that inconsistancies like this spur my imagination. I'm forced to be inventive to cover them up. If you skipped lunch for your character, maybe something weird happened during that time that you can tell the reader about later, something to make her sit up and take notice. Let your imagination roam free!

 

[kdwentworth]

Hi Kathy, yet another question for you.
At this very moment I'm composing a brief cover letter. As part of the submission process they ask the writer to tell them a little about themselves.

As a new writer, I'm struggling with that. What are they really interested in when they ask this. If I were to tell them that I work as a Data Monkey for Clinical Trials, that I like keeping fit and that I'm married with no kids, I get the feeling they won't really be interested in all of that.
I don't have any novels published yet (though I have written 5 books), so I don't have any kind of impressive resume to woo them with. All I can tell them that I feel is relevant, is that I have an unquenchable thirst to write!

Any advice?

Thanks once again.

Boy, I don't know why they'd want to know "a little" about your personal life, either. It's so irrelevant. If you're an interesting person, it still has no bearing on whether your fiction is any good. My instinct would be to take them at their word with "little" and tell as little as I could get away with.

What publishers usually want to know is:

How long is the book?

What kind of book is it?

Is it finished?

Do you have any professional credits?

And, occasionally, do you have any professional background that relates to this book, as in being a pilot or physicist or NASA technician?

As for having finished five books, that really shows your tenacity. I wrote five before I sold one, then I sold three of the remaining four. Just think of them as potential backlist!

 

[kdwentworth]

Hello Kathy. I just want to know what would give me a better chance of getting my short stories published - submitting them to a magazine, one at a time. Or trying to get a collection of them published as one short story book. The latter is what I really want to do...
Thanks.

I think you will have better luck if you submit them to magazines and anthologies and try to make some sales there. Then, later, if you want to publish a collection and include some unsold stories, you'll have a track record to back you up.

 

[Teresa Edgerton]

Kathy, I know you've collaborated on at least one book, with Eric Flint. I suspect that I'm not the only person here who has thought about a collaboration at one time or the other. Could you tell us a little about your own experience? What process did you and Eric go through in deciding to work on a book together? How did you plan to split up the writing -- and did you stick with that plan, or did something else evolve? What things do you think a writer should consider very carefully before entering into a collaboration?

 

[scalem X]

A question/suggestion.
Concerning your view on letting your computer read your tekst back to you, do you like it or do you dislike or have you never thought of it/tried?

(If the above doesn't seem to make sense; then read this:
Some programs e.g. acrobat reader/certain versions of microsoft word have an option that reads the tekst that you have typed in your document. Unfortunately being only in american english, I find it quite handy sometimes to locate and correct mistakes concerning the story/grammar, while not being forced to press my face towards the screen and read the story out loud. If you never tried it, it can be fun go now and do it)

Extra question: do you use any other tools that could be really handy for us?

 

[kdwentworth]

Kathy, I know you've collaborated on at least one book, with Eric Flint. I suspect that I'm not the only person here who has thought about a collaboration at one time or the other. Could you tell us a little about your own experience? What process did you and Eric go through in deciding to work on a book together? How did you plan to split up the writing -- and did you stick with that plan, or did something else evolve? What things do you think a writer should consider very carefully before entering into a collaboration?

Jim Baen was the person who decided that Eric Flint and I should write a book together, and Eric corresponded with me for a while, to become acquainted, before he mentioned the idea. Fortunately for me, he's a very generous collaborator and working together plays to both our strengths.

He wrote 30,000 words of outline and background (which I am dreadful at), then I basically wrote the book. He wrote a foreword, a chapter in the middle, and a bit at the end. I wrote the rest. I got to make up the Jao and most of their culture, which is my favorite part. He wrote the outline and I didn't have to!

That book got quite a bit of the kind of attention I don't usually get. We got a great review in Publisher's Weekly and the book was picked up by the SF Book Club and then published in Russia.

I'd still rather write a book by myself, but it was a good experience.

 

[kdwentworth]

A question/suggestion.
Concerning your view on letting your computer read your tekst back to you, do you like it or do you dislike or have you never thought of it/tried?

(If the above doesn't seem to make sense; then read this:
Some programs e.g. acrobat reader/certain versions of microsoft word have an option that reads the tekst that you have typed in your document. Unfortunately being only in american english, I find it quite handy sometimes to locate and correct mistakes concerning the story/grammar, while not being forced to press my face towards the screen and read the story out loud. If you never tried it, it can be fun go now and do it)

Extra question: do you use any other tools that could be really handy for us?

I've never tried having my computer read to me, but I do belong to a writers' group that reads stories aloud at meetings. Sometimes I will get one of the other members, one with a really good reading voice, to read for me. It gives me a chance to experience the story in a different way. Often I pick up on places where I've made something unclear or repeated myself, which is very helpful.

 

[Patrick Mahon]

I think you will have better luck if you submit them to magazines and anthologies and try to make some sales there. Then, later, if you want to publish a collection and include some unsold stories, you'll have a track record to back you up.

Kathy,

Have you ever deliberately written a series of short stories linked by some common thread (main character, setting, world, ...)?

I'm wondering whether this might be a good way to write different stories, and deal with different issues, but within a common set of boundaries that might help me to develop consistency of style. As an added bonus, I could then end up with something of book length.

Is this something you've ever done? Or does it sound crazy?

Thanks,

 

[WizardofOwls]

I have a question for you. I have not read through this entire thread, so please forgive me if I duplicate a question that has already been asked.

Recently I was offered a book deal via the internet from someone. I let several friends read the offer and many of them warned me that it sounded like it might be a trap from someone trying to get me to sign away the rights to something I am working on. So, what sort of things should I be looking out for? What are some warning signs that might alert me to the fact that the editor I am corresponding with is not what he or she appears to be?

 

[kdwentworth]

Kathy,

Have you ever deliberately written a series of short stories linked by some common thread (main character, setting, world, ...)?

I'm wondering whether this might be a good way to write different stories, and deal with different issues, but within a common set of boundaries that might help me to develop consistency of style. As an added bonus, I could then end up with something of book length.

Is this something you've ever done? Or does it sound crazy?

Thanks,

No, it doesn't sound crazy! The only time I have done it is with a pair of characters I create for the Baen Chicks in Chainmail series, Hallah Iron-Thighs and her trusty, but dim, partner, Gerta. I've written five stories with them so far, the first four appearing in various Chicks and Chainmail books. The last one sold to an anthology called Bash Down the Door.

When you set up a situation with lots of potential for short stories, it's a bit like writing a novel. You're comfortable with the characters and setting. As long as you're not repeating yourself and each story has something new, it can be a lot of fun. I do intend to collect the Hallah stories someday into a book.

George Alec Effinger did this very successfully with his Maureen Birnbaum stories. If you haven't read them, I can highly recommend the book.

 

[kdwentworth]

I have a question for you. I have not read through this entire thread, so please forgive me if I duplicate a question that has already been asked.

Recently I was offered a book deal via the internet from someone. I let several friends read the offer and many of them warned me that it sounded like it might be a trap from someone trying to get me to sign away the rights to something I am working on. So, what sort of things should I be looking out for? What are some warning signs that might alert me to the fact that the editor I am corresponding with is not what he or she appears to be?

One of the warning signs is if they want money from you. Money always flows toward the writer, ALWAYS. Another problem is if they want more than first rights to publish the work. Never surrender all rights. If they're only offering you royalties and no cash advance, that's bad too. Most likely, the royalties will never happen.

The main thing a writer wants from a publisher, besides money (so she can go on writing more books and still be able to pay the bills) is distribution. A legitimate publisher has a way to distribute books after they're published so that people will be able to buy them. Vanity publishers and self-publishers cannot provide this. Writers who fall prey to them wind up with basements filled with books that will not sell.

The Science Fiction Writers of America have a website called Writer Beware, which serves to protect people from shady publishers and agents. It's at the SFWA.org address and is open to the public. Any time you're not sure about a publisher or agent, you can go there and check the listings. You can also ask questions. It never hurts to be cautious.

 

[Marky Lazer]

Hmmm... I can't believe this question hasn't been asked yet. What do you do when you're dealing with the classic 'writer's block'? Do you have a good remedy against it?

 

[kdwentworth]

Hmmm... I can't believe this question hasn't been asked yet. What do you do when you're dealing with the classic 'writer's block'? Do you have a good remedy against it?

Damon Knight said that being a writer is like living with a little old man inside your head named Fred. You have to learn to listen to Fred (your subconscious). He doesn't talk very loud and often is silent just when you want him the most.

Writer's block is having a problem with wily Fred. For me, it helps to work every day, so that connection with my subconcious is well exercised. When I get stuck, I try to leave the computer and do something so utterly boring and mundane that my conscious mind is quiet and Fred has a chance to make himself (herself?) heard. Loading the dishwasher, sorting dirty clothes, dusting, going for a walk--all of those help.

If I'm really desperate and Fred won't talk, I lie down in a dark room and tell Fred to cough the information up. A lot of people have told me this won't work for them because they'd just fall asleep. I'm a lifelong insomniac, though, so I don't have that problem. Fred has never been able to hold out longer than ten minutes in a dark room. He's bored into submission.

One other technique you can use when you're stuck is to write out a list of possible solutions, putting everything down, no matter how lame or stupid. You'll get all the cliched answers out of the way in the first ten or so, and somewhere down toward the bottom of the list something will pop up that Fred finds interesting. Go with that one.

 

[Teresa Edgerton]

Are there any books about writing that you would particularly recommend to aspiring writers?

 

[kdwentworth]

Are there any books about writing that you would particularly recommend to aspiring writers?

My three favorites are:

Damon Knight's Creating Short Fiction, where he teaches you about Fred.

Lawrence Block's Writing the Novel: From Plot to Print (salvation for the Unable to Outline set)

and Dwight Swaim's Techniques of the Selling Writer, filled with lots of practical advice, especially about structure

I also like Lee Killough's Checklist on Cultures (for writing about aliens and available on the Yard Dog Press website)

and Algis Budry's Writing to the Point

The last two are very short, but helpful.

 

[scalem X]

Okay another question:

How can you know if what you wrote is worth something or is just utter crap? Is there a way to check in between friends who are affraid to totally break you down and the terrifying publishers? You can post it on fora, but still. Do you know a way to avoid good feedback untill you submit your work to a publisher who tears your work into pieces and then uses the pieces to throw them at your ego? Actually I never submitted work to a publisher, maybe because I never produced anything worth publishing but that's besides the point. I'm still young (this argument slowly loses its power over the years but is now still pretty solid).

 

[kdwentworth]

Okay another question:

How can you know if what you wrote is worth something or is just utter crap? Is there a way to check in between friends who are affraid to totally break you down and the terrifying publishers? You can post it on fora, but still. Do you know a way to avoid good feedback untill you submit your work to a publisher who tears your work into pieces and then uses the pieces to throw them at your ego? Actually I never submitted work to a publisher, maybe because I never produced anything worth publishing but that's besides the point. I'm still young (this argument slowly loses its power over the years but is now still pretty solid).

First, you never know the quality of what you have written until you let somebody else read it. It's almost impossble to judge accurately yourself. These days, I have two of what Orson Scott Card calls "wise readers," people who have read for me for a long time and know what kind of feedback I want. They tell me what they liked in the story, where it seemed long, where I seem to have left something out or repeated myself. Neither of them are writers and it is not their job to tear the book or story apart. They just give me a reader's response.

The best way to get perspective on your own work is to put it aside for a while, then come back to it. I'm convinced that the reason I finally sold a novel, after writing five, was that I put the fifth aside for six months after finishing the first draft. I was irritated with myself because I spent all my time writing novels, even though I was selling short fiction regularly to good markets at that point. I took a small vacation from the novel, which was The Imperium Game, and when I came back to it, it was cold to me and I could see it more objectively.

After that, I went back to three of my four unsold novels and rewrote them too, and then sold them.

 

[Patrick Mahon]

I took a small vacation from the novel, which was The Imperium Game, and when I came back to it, it was cold to me and I could see it more objectively.

After that, I went back to three of my four unsold novels and rewrote them too, and then sold them.

Kathy,

This is really interesting to me. Without trawling back in your memory too much(!), could you summarise what the main issues were that you identified when you went back to these novels after some time away from them? I suspect that they may be of general interest - I'd certainly love to know what the greater objectivity of putting them away, then looking at them "from a distance", allowed you to see.

In any case, I will certainly take this lesson to heart. I've heard it said many times before, but hearing that, by doing this, you ended up selling 4 of your first 5 novels, not having sold any of the first 4 initially, is a pretty strong recommendation for doing this!!

 

[kdwentworth]

Kathy,

This is really interesting to me. Without trawling back in your memory too much(!), could you summarise what the main issues were that you identified when you went back to these novels after some time away from them? I suspect that they may be of general interest - I'd certainly love to know what the greater objectivity of putting them away, then looking at them "from a distance", allowed you to see.

In any case, I will certainly take this lesson to heart. I've heard it said many times before, but hearing that, by doing this, you ended up selling 4 of your first 5 novels, not having sold any of the first 4 initially, is a pretty strong recommendation for doing this!!

One of the things I noticed, when I went back to a book, was that emotional tone needed to be smoothed out. I am a natural smart-aleck, and humor would creep into even the direst of scenes, where it did not belong. Also, there were places where I hadn't been consistent with time. It's very easy to get lost and not know which day you are on, referenced to the beginning of the book, or what time of day it should be, referenced to the previous scene.

There were places I had repeated myself, and places where I'd left something out. I realized, too, how little description there was and worked to layer more in. Since the text was cold to me, it was easier to see where I could add more details of my world-building (always hard because you want to avoid the dreaded expository lump).

Now, I try to keep all of these in mind when I'm working on second and third drafts.

 

[Teresa Edgerton]

In imagining and writing about an alien race/culture what do you think are the most important things an inexperienced SFF writer should keep in mind?