HORROR IN TWO SENTENCES

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After seeing a writerly friend, Colin Mulhern, post a link on FB titled 20 SCARY HORROR STORIES WRITTEN in TWO SENTENCES, I thought it’d be a great exercise. But not just for me, for all my writing buddies. Click on the link above to read examples.

This caused me to be torn between two versions I wanted to write.  But I decided this could be part two of this fun practice.

Here is my first reflex:
After proclaiming his love, my boyfriend pressed the warmth of his moist lips against my face. The blood dripped from his tongue as I removed the knife from his throat.

Upon thinking further:
After proclaiming his love, my boyfriend pressed the warmth of his moist lips against my face. I licked the blood from his tongue as I withdrew the knife from his throat.

I’ve two different reasons for the killings in both examples. How do you read them? In the first, it’s self defense against an obsessive lover and unmasked serial killer. The second, the murderer is the serial killer. Now, give me your two sentence horror story. Can you rewrite it slightly to have a completely different meaning for the history behind the same story?

Ready. Set. Go!

P.D. Pabst
Blogger and writer of MG/YA Fiction

SHOW DON’T TELL

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If you’re a writer, you know I’m not talking about things your partner says to you in the bedroom. Pah-lease, don’t get me started on that! I’m talking about the ever important sentences explaining your character’s emotions. This lures the reader into the characters head feeling the moment with them, instead of being told how they feel.

Telling: Anna was excited about going outside after seeing the sun shine through the window.

Showing: The sun beamed through the window of the door, warming Anna’s face. Her eyes sparkled as she reached for the knob and unlocked the bolt in a rush. Darting outside, she spread her arms allowing the sun’s rays to bathe her.

Sometimes it’s hard to think of ways to describe emotion, especially without using clichés. (I know, I know.) Although some overused phrases will be tolerated, most readers yawn if they see them used over and over in your writing, so get creative. A friend, Natasha Neagle, told me about a wonderful book to help authors. It’s called THE EMOTION THESAURUS by Angela Ackerman. And because I was too daft to think about it myself, I needed another friend, Susan Roebuck, to tell me to visit Angela’s website because she offers a lot of freebie advise. Her site is called Writers Helping Writers.

Show all three of these wonderful authors some love and follow their websites, maybe even buy a book or two! (That was a shameless plug that none of them asked me for. But ladies, I’ll gladly except cheese as payment on future sales resulting from this post. Just sayin’)

Seriously though, following writers that share the knowledge of things that often took them months or years to learn is always worth a new authors time. Research and follow those that interest you, or those that write in the same genre and category as your stories.

P.D. Pabst
Blogger and writer of MG/YA Fiction

REQUERY: SHOULD YOU DO IT?

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You submitted to an agent and got a rejection letter. Since then, you’ve learned better skills to hone your craft and edited your manuscript completely…again. Maybe you realized your hook didn’t work in the original query and, after help from betas, perfected it. Now you want to submit to the same agent. Should you?

In most cases, the answer is no. Some agents even post directly on their site not to submit the same projects.  If the hook in the first query didn’t make them ask for more, then the agents probably didn’t want to represent that type of story (not that the story was bad), and most likely still won’t want to represent it.

But what if you sent sample pages with the previous query? The agent might have liked the query but didn’t connect to the characters in the story, or the opening was weak, maybe starting in the wrong place, etc. Sometimes they tell you this. Mostly, they don’t. But if they do, this is a good opportunity for sending a new query after major rewriting. But I suggest asking if they would allow a resubmission. Why? Because most agents can see through weak pages and will still know if they don’t want to rep the story. If they didn’t connect to those, you can risk looking like a pest. You don’t want them remembering your name for the wrong reasons.

And for the love of scrumptious cheeses, DON’T ask every agent if you can resubmit. Read the last sentence of the previous paragraph if you don’t know why.

With that said, here are some hints for sending a query to an agent for the same manuscript:

  • Don’t rush the rewrite. You can make new errors, like leaving half sentences from deletions.
  • Have betas read EVERYTHING. Just because they read the original, don’t be overconfident you can make the adjustments without them. You’re too close to the story by this point and may read things the way you hear them in your head and not the way they actually present themselves on paper.
  • Alert the agent this is a resubmission. This is especially important if they gave you some hint to why they originally passed, or approved sending them a new submission Let them know briefly that you feel your query/manuscript better conveys your hook and characters after rewriting.
  • Wait six months. If you didn’t know why the agent passed, this is a good rule to follow only after making your massive rewrites. Give them time to forget your original query. In this case, you don’t necessarily have to tell them it’s a resubmission. NOTE: If you didn’t rewrite the manuscript DON’T RESEND! And remember, if they decline for a second time DON’T RESEND!

And I think this is worth repeating, DON’T resubmit to every agent. I’m not the best with numbers but I think you should keep this down to like a five or ten percent ratio. No one wants to be known as the Madman-Query-Dude. Just sayin’.

As always, best of luck!

P.D. Pabst
Blogger and writer of MG/YA fiction.

WRITING CONTESTS: WHY I FOLLOW THEM

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NOTE: CONTESTS SHOULD NOT BE YOUR ONLY PLAN TO REACH AGENTS. NOTHING REPLACES THE DIRECT QUERY!

Phew! Got that out of the way. So, why do I follow them? Because I see:

1) What’s circulating.
2) Pitches/Opening lines that work.
3)  What agents are requesting.

Let’s start with number one. Why should I care? Well, if I thought about writing a dystopian, for example, I’d notice the market is currently over saturated, making my chances to get noticed slimmer. The novel had better be extremely unique if I choose to move forward. I like bettering my chances, so I’ll look at the next idea on my list!

As for pitches and opening lines, they need to be amazing to hook an agent/publisher. I can’t peek into their “Inbox” to see what they’re accepting, so contests are the next best thing. I can read those amazing entries and see what lines are working to attract their attention.

And nothing excites me more than seeing what types of stories agents/publishers request. Some even give reasons for the desired material with comments they leave. This helps me see what is currently being favored and sometimes I find clues to polishing a work in progress.

What am I currently watching? Brenda Drake’s Pitchwars

What contest did I win? PitchMAS #71

So, why did I open with “NOTHING REPLACES THE DIRECT QUERY”  if I won a contest? Because only a handful of agents participate in contests. If I only submit to these adrenaline pumping outlets, I close the gap on a huge market I could submit to. For example, I direct queried a few agents before entering PitchMAS resulting in a request for a FULL. I believe in the direct query, but contests can be excellent educators. (For help finding an agent go HERE and for query advise go HERE.)

There is one more tidbit about contests I’d like to leave you with: Some participating agents are closed to direct queries. In this case, the contest IS the only way to reach them when I don’t know a friend, who has a cousin, that has an uncle rep’d by said agent.

As always, good luck and happy writing!

P. D. Pabst
Blogger and writer of MG/YA Fiction

Interview: Geoffrey Gudgion, author of SAXON’S BANE

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While deciding which book to read, the cover of SAXON’S BANE by Geoffrey Gudgion beckoned me to peruse its pages. The medieval jousting helm bearing a stag promised a tale of ancient past while the paved road below hinted of present times. It had a dark and eerie vibe. I didn’t hesitate to open the intriguing book and was hooked with the first few sentences.

Saxon's Bane
Saxon’s Bane

 

 

(To read the interview, go here)

 

YA CONTEST ALERT-NO PITCH NECESSARY

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Having trouble writing a query or a pitch for that YA novel you’ve written? I know. I hear you screaming, “my brain rips in two trying to condense my story into a few sentences!” I feel your pain and send you a virtual hug! I understand an unfinished pitch keeps you from entering contests. You avoid them like dog poop on your sidewalk, curse them even. But I’ve discovered the perfect contest for you!

Here’s the scoop. I follow the wonderful @ChuckSambuchino (Editor of GUIDE TO LITERARY AGENTS and author of HOW TO SURVIVE A GARDEN GNOME ATTACK) on Twitter, who often contributes articles to WRITER’S DIGEST. Yesterday, he tweeted a link to Tell It Slant regarding a contest for your YA manuscript AND no pitch required! That’s worth repeating…NO PITCH REQUIRED!

Woo-Hoo!

You do need to have the first 250 words polished to submit and a $15 entry fee. But look who they say will be reading:

“YA literary agent Regina Brooks and her team will read all of the entries and determine the top 20 submissions. These submissions will then be read by Deidre Jones Little Brown, Nicole Raymond Candlewick, Annie Nybo Simon and Schuster, Mercedes Fernandez Kensington, Erica Finkel Abrams Books, Monica Jean Random House/Penguin , Stacey Friedberg Penguin Group, Catherine Laudone Simon and Schuster, Laura Whitaker Bloomsbury, Kendra Levin Viking, Anna Roberto Feiwel and Friends.

These judges will whittle the top 20 down to five, and each of the five winners will be provided commentary on their submissions.”

Go to Tell It Slant to read more about the contest guidelines and the benefits of winning. Good luck!

P.D. Pabst

Blogger and Writer of MG/YA Fiction

TIP OF THE DAY: USE YOUR REAL NAME

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Oh, Uwrite? Well, Iwrite2. Huh? U8M, I8M, They8M…those cutsie-wootsie usernames, that’s what I’m talking about. We all want to chew some words and spit out something cool. But the unspoken truth is to keep the creativity in your novels and screenplays.

There I said it. Now I’ll explain it.

It’s no secret that agents and publishers are looking more at platforms of new authors. Do you have one? Two? Three? Do you know how to promote yourself? Sure, publishers will do a lot of marketing for you, but it’s getting scarier for them to take on new talent. So, let’s say you send a query that’s wrong for a particular agent (i.e. YA to one currently wanting A), but they feel your sample pages are awesome. Perhaps they want to follow your blog, Twitter feed, Facebook page, or whatever. But alas, they can’t find you because they don’t know who IMADETHISNAMEUP is. Therefore, I suggest to use your real name, or the pseudonym you intend to publish under.

Another reason to use your real name is it helps build a fan base. Yep, I said fan. Even if you’re not published. It doesn’t hurt to build followers who might become potential buyers, or help promote your work. And if you’ve self published, how do you expect people to find your books? They’re not on Amazon under the name HIDINGHERE. Or are they?  My point, people can’t find you if they don’t know who “you” is!

And there you have a quick tip from the former IWRITE2. Use your real name!

P.D. Pabst
Blogger and Writer of YA/MG Fiction

*All names are made up and aren’t meant to depict any actual people, so, don’t go there!*

ONE WORD A DAY

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Sure, the process is as slow as molasses running down an iceberg in the North Atlantic Ocean. But one word a day will get you closer to your goal of a completed manuscript. Do I mean only type one word a day for life? I may have some rocks loose inside my noggin but I do know how to count! This process may be okay if you are writing books for children, but it isn’t practical for a novel of 70,000 words. It will take 191 years to write and I am not immortal.

So, what do I mean? On the days you believe you’ve no time to write at all, sit and write one word. Yes, one word. It will do two things.

1) Give a sense of progress for your manuscript.
2) Get you closer to finishing.

It sounds silly, but make it a goal. Actually, make it a writer’s pledge. Repeat after me: “If I can’t write for hours, I’m going to write at least one word.” There. We can swap spit and shake hands. We have formed a writer’s virtual pact to complete our manuscripts.

What is amazing, you may find it difficult to write only one word. Usually, a complete sentence gets structured, maybe even two. We do this because we are writers. It’s in our blood.

Now, let’s presume most days you will write two sentences at an average of fourteen words per sentence. You could finish the novel in approximately seven years. And if you only write one word on some of those days, you could still finish in approximately ten years. It’s a goal that’s more feasible than 191 years! (Thank goodness we don’t need to be bitten by a vampire to continue writing. However, I’m not objecting if you know one.)

Yeah, yeah, yeah. You want to write a novel in one month. Well, I wasn’t speaking to James Patterson. This is a good rule to follow for those who work another day job…maybe two day jobs! If you are breathing, you can write. Jot what you can, when you can. If it takes longer to get there, it’s better to complete your manuscript ten years from now than never at all. Don’t hide behind you’ve no time.

And there you have it…one word a day CAN get you closer to your goal. Just don’t be a noodlehead about it.

P.D. Pabst
Writer of YA and Blogger

THE IDEA – TOILET PAPER

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“I can get an idea from toilet paper!” I shouted after a writing friend asked me where my inspiration came from.

He laughed.

I was serious. Writers have a huge imagination and can be anywhere when an idea strikes, even the bathroom. It can come from a person, a place, or the oddest of objects. If you feel you’ve got writers block and can’t think of anything, maybe you are trying too hard. Relax and let your mind sink to levels from grade school. Think of stupid things and laugh about them. Do goofy things. Heck, cover yourself with chocolate syrup and roll around in your grass after freshly cut. You can call yourself the Grass Cutter Monster. I don’t care! Eventually, something has to emerge from your nonsense. You’re a writer, dang it!

Okay, maybe you don’t have to go to extremes. But you do need to stop being inhibited by your educated adult brain that insists on telling you when something isn’t practical. Let’s go back to toilet paper. My linear thinking brain says no one wants to hear about white fluffy stuff that wipes fecal matter off their butts. I’m a writer of paranormal stories and fluffiness doesn’t fit into them very well. Or…can it?

“Prove it,” my friend challenged.

I blurted this out: It is family day down at the local toilet paper factory. Little Johnny brought his good luck rock he claims fell from the sky when he was camping last week. His dad pulls him aside to demand the rock be put into his pocket because Johnny is embarrassing him by claiming the rock came from outer space. In an argumentative struggle, the rock accidentally falls into the pulper and breaks. Microscopic parasites, resistant to high heat levels, are released and get woven into the toilet paper. Upon contact with human skin, the parasites enter through their pores and rapidly drink their blood. People shrivel to bone and stiff corpses turn up around the country. Only little Johnny and his dad suspect the reasoning.

I can go on with a full blown novel from there. I just need to determine how the parasites are going to continue spreading and how they will ultimately be stopped. But the bottom line, I took the challenge because I didn’t laugh myself out of the “fluff” idea.

Now it’s your turn! Write away folks! And yes…the novel FLUFF may be coming your way soon!

P.D. Pabst

Writer of YA Fiction and Blogger

Toilet Paper Parasite
Toilet Paper Parasite

KISS MY…WORDS

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Ever want to tell someone to kiss your words because they said you wouldn’t make it as a writer? If you’re having moments you believe them, maybe you should tell them. Don’t listen to their words:

• “You’re from a small town, no one will listen.”
• “You’re not smart enough.”
• “Your style isn’t right.”
• “Get your head out of the clouds.”
• “You’re too young/old.”

I could ramble endlessly about things I’ve heard people say to writers. Even family and friends can be negative unintentionally. Remember, it doesn’t matter what they believe. You must believe in yourself. Tell them to kiss your words! When they look puzzled, just repeat and walk away with a smile. (Yes, I said smile Mr./Mrs. Sourpuss!) Sure, being an author is a difficult road. But believing in yourself keeps you determined to find the tools you need to succeed. You don’t need to explain to negative people how you plan finding your way into the writing world. Just keep writing and you’ll get there.

What’s that? All those rejection letters are piling up and making you doubt yourself. If I have to hand you a tissue, I’m going to throw the box at your head. Many famous authors were rejected before they found success:

• John Grisham: A Time to Kill was rejected by 16 publishers.
• James Patterson: Rejected by more than a dozen publishers.
• J.K. Rowling: Harry Potter was rejected by 12 publishing houses.
• William Faulkner: Sanctuary was said couldn’t be published.
• Nicholas Sparks: The Notebook was turned down by 24 literary agencies.

And even though I would love to add Chronicles of Narnia author, C.S. Lewis, rejected 800 times before his first publication, those numbers are still in question. But if they are true, the promise for publication is great for new writers. Everyone gets rejected…EVERYONE. So, chin up and keep believing in yourself!

P.D. Pabst
Writer and blogger