Food for thought - What is terrible writing?

Read a really interesting blog post today (I love how easy Blogger makes it to link to things!) about someone being told by an intern at a literary agency that books with prologues were 'terrible writing.' I'm not so concerned about interns reading my queries, I trust that they've been well trained by the agents they work for to select stories their employer would be interested in. But I do find it disturbing that a literary intern (or ANYONE in publishing for that matter) would dismiss Twilight, The Swimsuit, and The Da Vinci Code as 'terrible writing.' Talk about ARROGANCE. It's fine to say that you didn't like something or it wasn't your style (although personally I liked all of those books), but to hop on a high horse and say they were terrible because they didn't appeal to you personally is ridiculous. I'd really like to know, who died and made this person Queen or King of Quality in Fiction?

Spelling and grammatical errors all over the place? Terrible writing.
Plot with huge holes that don't make any sense? Terrible writing.
Wooden characters who a reader could never relate to? Terrible writing.
A story that you just didn't connect to? Well, that's a story that you just didn't connect to.

Check out the original post below:

AJ & Charli Bite Back: I WANT TO BE A TERRIBLE WRITER, SERIOUSLY.: "I jumped on the query super highway. I went blazing, speeding, and didn't wear a seat belt. Not only was I not securely fastened but I didn'..."

Feeling Optimistic

I've been working on a new project for the last few hours and am feeling pretty good about it. Plot holes are starting to come together in my head. My characters tend to be like real people, in that it takes time to get to know them, and they won't reveal everything in the beginning no matter how much I try to rush the relationship. I was writing for two months before I figured out how Jasmine got her superpowers. I had the entire plot mapped out but there was just this small issue of how she happened to be super. Which is clearly, not a small issue at all. And the idea didn't come while I was writing either, I was actually crossing the street by the Gallery Place/Chinatown Metro Stop in DC and I tripped. And a light bulb went off. Random right? 

I'm learning to accept that sometimes I can't force the ideas, and they will come when they're good and ready. In the meantime I just keep writing, writing, writing - and depending on the gaps to fill themselves in as I get there. 

Since the last YouTube video I posted was incredibly melodramatic (What can I say? I'm an artiste. And all that pent up emotion makes for good material), I'm going to post something a bit more inspirational today. Another song I've mentally remixed to be about my writing experience, and the song I plan to sing all day when I sign w/ the right agent. From Legally Blonde, the Musical. (Love that movie!)

(video not mine, embedded from YouTube)

''Dear Lucky Agent'' Contest: Paranormal Romance & Urban Fantasy

"Welcome to the sixth (free!) "Dear Lucky Agent" Contest on the GLA blog. This will be a recurring online contest with agent judges and super-cool prizes. Here'sthe deal: With every contest, the details are essentially the same, but the nicheitself changes—meaning each contest is focused around a specific category or two. So if you're writing a book-length novel that's paranormal romance or urban fantasy, this sixth contest is for you!" (Info taken verbatim from Guide to Literary Agent's Blog at: http://www.guidetoliteraryagents.com/blog/Sixth+Dear+Lucky+Agent+Contest+Paranormal+Romance+Urban+Fantasy.aspx)

Where it all begins...

So I've been trying to figure out exactly what's going to become of this blog. It started out as a resting place for my sample chapters, but then I started to kind of have fun toying around with it. I think it is gradually becoming an online diary of sorts, describing my journey from desperate, starving artist to (hopefully someday) successful, published YA author extraordinaire. So I guess I'll give the background and then share how things progress from this point.

 My journey so far has consisted of:
-a year of writing (I started Jasmine Powers, Super Geek in July '09),
-a LOT of revisions (I've been trading chapters with 3 online critique partners and reading at a weekly in-person critique group),
-and a fair share of queries sent out. I'll just say that if I hit 100 query rejections with no agent, that's when I give up the ghost and trunk this book. And I've still got a long way to go, so I'm feeling pretty good. Got a lot of rejections on my first round query because frankly, it was horrible and I just didn't know enough to realize that then. Took a long pause for the cause and did a new round with my current, much transformed, many times revised version.

With my current query, I've gotten a good number of requests and one particularly helpful rejection on a partial, which led to some revisions which I think really improved the story. I've also had a few form rejections (not right for my list/ just didn't fall in love with the story/voice/concept/ME. Ok, no one said they didn't fall in love with me, but really that's what it felt like) and those were tough. I am usually pretty rational and constantly remind myself that I read and enjoy a lot of well-written books which I don't fall in love with, and I know that it's in my best interest to be patient and find that perfect agent who loves my story the way I do....BUT....I still have moments where I feel like this:


(video not mine, embedded from YouTube)


I've been remaking the song in my head to be about writing my experience. Once I get an agent, I promise I will make a remake of the video w/ my aspiring author version of the song and post it here. One more fun thing to look forward to!

Calling All Fellow Writers!

Angela Ackerman is running a great contest for writers to win a critique or three months of membership. Yowza! Entry is simple, just follow her blog and repost (as I have done here) Check it out:

http://thebookshelfmuse.blogspot.com/2010/09/1000-followers-contest-mentorship.html

My query letter

So since I mentioned my query letter in 'So what's going on with the book' explanation, I figured I might as well post it here. Don't know if anyone will find this interesting, but this is the letter I've been sending to agents to try and get them interested enough to want to read my book. (This is probably about the 15th version, I've done a ton of drafting and rewriting this thing). I'm pretty happy with this one and have been pleased with the results so far. So without further ado, my query letter:

Hot off the press! Chapters One and Two! Bigger and Better!

So I revised the opening chapters AGAIN. I've stopped counting how many times I've rewritten them. I got some really helpful feedback from critique partners and have added some new additional early conflict for Jasmine and hopefully amped up the tension. Without further ado, here are my brand spanking new versions of Chapters 1 & 2.

Go ahead and click! You know you want to!

So what's going on with the book?

Good question. I'm still in literary limbo trying to land my book with the right agent who will love it the way I do. So far I've had more rejections than I can count on my hands, but I've also gotten some helpful feedback and have ten current requests that are being reviewed by agents as we speak. (Ok, I'm writing this at 2:43 AM so the chance that they are actually reading my book right now is slim. But I'm sure it's on their to-do lists!) The average response time for a submission (I send query letter, if agent is intrigued they respond with a request to read it, I send them the book and that's a submission) is 6-8 weeks, sometimes faster, sometimes slower. It depends on the agent's schedule, what kind of work they're balancing for current clients, whether they dedicate nights and weekends to reading submissions, etc. A good agent is dedicated to their current clients so reading submissions from potential clients seems to be something they kind of fit into their schedules when they find the time. Let's hope they find some time for me real soon!

What happens next?

Well, agents will respond in 1 of 3 ways:

Rejection - Bad. Boooo!

Request for revision - Better. Means they see potential and may offer representation if they fully connect with my story after I make some suggested changes

Offer of Representation - BEST! They offer to represent me and sell my book.

So now I'm wishin' and hopin' and thinkin' and prayin' that I'll have good news to report soon. Will keep you posted!