I Can't Write in Third Person

Several years ago (or maybe several more than that), I saw a quote from a well-known novelist that belittled children's literature: "Anyone can write for children," this well-known novelist said, "because anyone can write in first person." (Full disclosure: the quote went something like that, and before you ask me who said it, I'll tell you that I can't remember.)

My knee-jerk reaction was one of righteous indignation: How dare said well-known novelist insult writing for kids! Kids are the only people worth writing for in the first place! But beneath the controversy, there was something sharp and true that this novelist was saying.

Writing in first person is easier than writing in third.

THE SOUND OF LIFE AND EVERYTHING and DON'T VOTE FOR ME are both written in first person. So is DON'T SOLVE THE PUZZLE and the next manuscript I wrote (which is on submission at the moment). So is Bonnie. So is this. So is almost everything I've written since I first signed with an agent.

I love writing in first person because it makes a novel so accessible. Readers can insert themselves into the story because the pronouns insert them into the story. But what I never considered until recently (read: what I never considered until I went back to writing in third person) is that writing in first person also makes the novel more accessible to the person writing it.

When you're writing in first person, your narrative voice and the main character's voice are, of course, one and the same. Even when you're writing in close third, there's some degree of separation between the main character and the narrator, and that separation has somehow changed the way I write, especially the connective tissue. Once I'm entrenched in a scene, I don't find it (as) difficult to write snappy dialogue, but it's in the connective tissue--the transitions between chapters, between sections, between scenes, and even between moments within the same scene--that your voice really shines through. I think that's the major difference between a good book and a great one. Good books have great scenes, but great books have great transitions that make you want to savor every word.

Because the narrative voice is the ONLY thing that makes connective tissue worth reading, the contrast between writing in first and third becomes sharper. In first person, you can borrow your MC's wit and personality to imbue transitions with more life, but you have more work to do when you're writing in third person. It's almost like you have to cultivate a whole other character, one who's never seen but whose voice is always heard.

I don't have it figured out. I'm working on two manuscripts right now, both of which are in third person, and the going has been slow, awkward, and more than slightly frustrating. But maybe I need to cut myself a little slack. Writing in third person is different than writing in first, and the sooner I figure that out, the sooner I might (finally!) make some progress.

What I've Learned in My First Year as a Published Author

One year ago today, THE SOUND OF LIFE AND EVERYTHING was published. I knew this day was coming, so I've spent the last week reflecting on my last year as a writer, and the truth is, I've come up empty. This ground has already been trod by so many other, better writers that I haven't been able to come up with anything to add to the conversation, and yet I couldn't let the day pass without at least mentioning it, so here we are.

My day-to-day life hasn't changed at all much in the last year. I do events very occasionally--other authors do a much better job of getting into schools and bookstores and generally putting themselves out there, so if you're looking for a tutorial, I'm afraid you've come to the wrong place--but for the most part, I just live life. I get out of bed, get my older kids ready for school, hop on my computer, feed Monster copious amounts of Goldfish® crackers, hop back on my computer, hang out with my family, and hop back on my computer after the kids have gone to bed (unless Honey Bear and I decide to watch a movie or an episode of Parks and Recreation, our latest Netflix binge). I'm one of those people who thrive on routine and consistency, so this quiet, non-stressful life is perfectly suited to my tastes (read: I'm an introverted homebody who doesn't like to interact with the outside world).

It takes self-discipline to write a book, to revise it, and to get it published, and in lots of ways, it takes even more to write the next one. When you have a book on the shelf (virtual or otherwise), it's easier to let yourself get caught up in extracurricular activities. Hanging out on Twitter can suddenly be chalked up to promotion, and school visits are fun (and also kind of terrifying, but that's another post). But if you want to sell another book, you actually have to write one.

That's both the bad news and the good news--bad news because there's no shortcut, not even if you're James Patterson (okay, a little bit if you're James Patterson, since, you know, he uses ghostwriters), and good news because the thrill of writing is why we took this gig in the first place. I only got to be a debut author once, but I get to experience the head rush of finishing a first draft over and over again.

If I've learned anything in my first year as a published author, it's that writers are writers, from Stephen King to you and me, and I wouldn't have it any other way.

"Five Ways to Bring Place and Time Alive" on the NaNoWriMo Blog

In case you missed it last week, The NaNoWriMo Blog featured my guest post on Friday as part of their "Choose Your Camp" series. I shared a few tips on beefing up your setting, so feel free to check those out.

Also, a seventh-grader from Connecticut recently asked me a few questions about THE SOUND OF LIFE AND EVERYTHING for the Fearless Fifteeners blog. She came up with some insightful questions that really made me think, so definitely check those out.

Finally, today is the last day to enter to win one of three signed ARCs of DON'T VOTE FOR ME over at Kidliterati. It looks like the odds are pretty good, so get your name into that drawing! The giveaway is over now, but you can still pre-order DON'T VOTE FOR ME from all the usual suspects, including Amazon, Barnes & Noble, and Indiebound.

From "The Writer's Voice" to Publication

One of the best parts of organizing online writing contests is watching new writers' journeys unfold. R.C. Hancock, who was on my team for the inaugural round of "The Writer's Voice" back in 2012, is one of those writers (and if you want to check out his entry, you can find it here). AN UNCOMMON BLUE went on to sell to Cedar Fort and officially comes out today. I invited R.C. to come back to the blog and tell us the story of how AN UNCOMMON BLUE came to be, and he graciously agreed. Three signed copies of AN UNCOMMON BLUE are also up for grabs, so don't miss those details at the bottom of the post!

I started writing after finishing Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince. My first novel was a 200K-word mess about a fat girl. I dumped all my insecurities into her and it read like a diary: disjointed and whiny.

After a couple years of trying to lure an agent with this “tasty” bait, my wife suggested I turn one of my short stories into a novel. The one she liked, I had written for Cricket. (They didn’t buy it.)

The seed of the idea for glowing colored palms had come to me when I was doing a writing exercise from one of my craft books. I did some research about light mixing (i.e., what do orange and green light make?) which inspired a 2K-word story with a surprise ending. (Which later inspired me to give up on my overweight baby and take Blue to new heights.)

So I did. It took about a year to write, and several years to revise and find someone who wanted to publish it.

Here are five reasons I think my second novel was more successful.

1. I’d had years of writing practice.

2. I’d read more books on the craft and learned to apply them

3. I finally connected online and received feedback and support from awesome people like Krista. (Contests rock!)

4. I realized no one wanted to represent or publish a 200K-word debut novel. (Which is why I actually had to split Blue into two different books. I still haven’t learned how to stop at a manageable length.)

5. I learned the value of beta readers. (Thanks, guys!)

As Krista can attest to, transitioning from Writer to Author is a fun change, but also bittersweet. I miss the days when I could spend my time writing whatever I wanted and not have to worry about marketing, or whether I’m hitting social media hard enough. It’s still a lot of fun, and seeing people walking around clutching your book protectively is better than heroin, but a little of the magic is gone when you’re trying to meet a deadline. (This is one reason I was happy to go with a smaller publisher: They’re much less scary when it comes to deadlines and sales numbers.)

I just have to say THANK YOU to Krista, both for picking my story out of the contest slush, helping make my query and first page better, and for pairing me with Carrie Harris, who read the whole thing in two days so I could use her endorsement on my cover. (Discovering her as an author was the best perk. She’s hilarious.)

Carrie Harris IS hilarious. Just saying.

Thank you, R.C., for sharing your story with us (and for furnishing three signed copies for our giveaway!). If YOU (not R.C.) would like to enter, just tell us in the comments that you want to win. Contest is open to U.S. and Canadian residents and closes in one week, on Monday, December 15, at 11:59 p.m. EST. I'll announce the winner the next day, so if you need a last-minute gift--or, if you're like me, a perfectly on-time gift--for the YA book lover in your life, we've got your back.

From "An Agent's Inbox" to Publication

When S.L. Bynum entered GRIM CRUSH in one of the very first rounds of "An Agent's Inbox," The Agent said that her writing was great but that the concept wasn't for her. Luckily, Crescent Moon Press thought the concept was for them. GRIM CRUSH debuted last month, and Ms. Bynum is here to fill us in on her path to publication. I'm also hosting a giveaway for a copy of the e-book, so don't miss those details at the bottom of the post!

The road to publication is filled with many bumps and obstacles. In my case, it was filled with SIX YEARS of that tough road.

I guess I'll start when I was eighteen, and I first decided I wanted to be a published author. Despite disapproval from family and friends, I followed my heart anyway.

I thought it would be easy, but boy, was I wrong. I wrote a few novels (some that will NEVER see the light of day) and started querying one of them way before it was ready, just because I was so desperate to get published. The rejections poured in like an avalanche. So I got feedback on what I was doing wrong, then I wrote more, better novels. And I edited them. And I did research on how to write better queries.

In 2011, I came up with a novel idea about a female grim reaper who is invisible to all humans except the Native American boy she falls in love with. And I was like, "Hm, this is a YA paranormal romance. And that's what's hot in the market right now. And mine is different, in which the female is the paranormal creature, not the hot guy." So I worked on it, and edited it based off of critiques. And I sent out queries for it. Finally, literary agents were requesting the manuscript. But still, no offers of representation.

I tried entering a few contests, like the lovely Krista Van Dolzer's An Agent's Inbox contest. I got positive feedback from agents, but now they were saying the YA market was getting too saturated with paranormal romances and grim reaper stories.

Grr.

By 2013, agents were rarely taking on any more YA paranormal romances. I thought I might have to self-publish, but before that, my last hope was trying small press publishers. I expected the same thing to happen: multiple rejections. My jaw literally dropped when I got a request for the full manuscript from Crescent Moon Press, which turned into them offering me a contract for publication!

Fast forward a year later, and my book is now available to buy. The process was much faster traditional publishing. So the moral of this story isn't just to never give up, it's about making sure you explore all possible options. When you have a dream, you should be willing to try anything to get there. If your first and most preferred method doesn't work (150 query rejections, anyone?), there are always other options. Who knows, it may turn out better than you thought.

Congratulations, Ms. Bynum, on GRIM CRUSH's release, and thank you for sharing your journey with us. Also, thank you for furnishing an e-book for our giveaway! If you'd like to enter, just tell us in the comments that you'd like to win. Contest is open internationally and closes in one week, on Monday, September 8, at 11:59 p.m. EDT (or 8:59 p.m. PDT). I'll select a random winner the next day.

What Channel Surfing Has Taught Me About Writing

I'm not a channel surfer--if there's a show I want to watch, I watch it--but Honey Bear is, and I've started to notice a pattern. Sometimes he stops because he knows the show, but sometimes he stops because the scene simply refuses to be ignored. The conflict is easy to grab hold of, and it's interesting enough that he wants to see what happens. Heck, I want to see what happens, and I'm not usually paying attention.

In other words, the best scenes are the ones that don't require you to know what's going on, that don't rely on twists or inside jokes, that tell an intriguing story on their own. They have a beginning, middle, and end, and the stakes are readily apparent. Plot is how each scene relates to the ones before and after it, but taken out of context, each scene should still tell its own story. If readers flipped through your manuscript and landed on a random page, would that page hold their attention and make them want to read the rest? Would they be immediately invested in the characters and whatever problem they were facing? Would they be able to tell what was going on?

It's a simple lesson, but I do think it's worth mentioning. Awesome books are really just collections of awesome scenes.

Make It Personal

I should preface this by saying that I don't write thrillers. Every time I try, someone shoots me down, so there’s a possibility that I don’t know what I’m talking about. But even though I don’t produce them, I do like to consume them, and I’ve had a few thoughts that I wanted to share.

I finally saw Jack Ryan: Shadow Recruit over the weekend, and while I liked it on the whole, I thought it suffered from the same problem that Mission: Impossible – Ghost Protocol did:

The climax was less interesting than the sequence that led up to it.

In Jack Ryan, I loved the Moscow sequence, but the climax in New York barely held my interest. And in Mission: Impossible, I loved the Dubai sequence, but the climax in Mumbai fell flat for me. Now, at first blush, that seems counterintuitive. Jack Ryan was trying to thwart a terrorist attack that would have killed thousands of people and obliterated the dollar’s value (which would have ended up killing tens of thousands more). Similarly, Ethan Hunt was trying to prevent nuclear war. The stakes should have been huge.

But it turns out that body counts matter a lot less to me--and probably to other consumers--than deeply personal stakes. The world wouldn’t have blown up if things hadn’t worked out in Moscow or Dubai, but Jack Ryan would have lost his fiancée, and Ethan Hunt would have collapsed the whole Mission: Impossible mythology. (Don’t mess up the masks, Ethan. You can mess up everything else, but you can’t mess up those.) I cared about Cathy in a way I didn’t care about those New York extras (though that may have been because I’d never heard Keira Knightley do an American accent before, but still). When the story hits the fan, I care about CHARACTERS and the things they care about.

So if you don’t want an interior sequence to outshine your climax, I have one piece of advice: make it personal.

"My Writing Process" Blog Tour

By now, I'm sure most of you have heard about the ongoing "My Writing Process" blog tour, which has been making the rounds. The girls over at The Write Shelf were kind enough to tag me, so here are my answers to the now-familiar questions:

What am I working on?

I'm kind of bouncing back and forth between Steve and Clyde at the moment, but since Clyde's latest draft is currently open on my desktop, let's go with him for now:)

How does my work differ from others of its genre?

Clyde's a quirky MG contemporary, so he's got a lot of company. I'd say the most unique thing about him is that he's a retelling of a biblical story. I suppose any underdog story could be considered a retelling of David and Goliath, but I really tried to incorporate some of the plot points from 1 Samuel into Clyde's storyline.

Why do I write what I do?

I tried speculative YA stuff, both fantasy and sci-fi, for the first few years, didn't have a ton of success, switched over to realistic MG (sort of), and had lightning strike. I landed an agent and two book deals within a year and a half, so I'm a huge proponent of trying something new if what you've been writing for a while isn't getting you where you want to be.

How does your writing process work?

I started out as a pantser, made the leap to plotter, and ultimately went back to pantser. If I spend too much time not-writing, the whole thing starts to feel like homework, so I let myself just go, go, go when I'm writing a first draft. But once I've raced through that first draft, I spend a ton of time revising (like, two or three times as long as I spent writing the first draft, and that's BEFORE I start working with an editor). In other words, most of the work gets done on the back end for me.

Next up, Myrna Foster and A.L. Sonnichsen! These two have been good writing friends for almost as long as I've been blogging, and I can honestly say I wouldn't be where I am without them. Definitely check out their blogs (and keep an eye out for their posts next week!).

A Balancing Act

Critique partner and agent sister Amy and I recently had a candid conversation about how we balance writing and motherhood, and superagent Kate was awesome enough to post our chat on her blog. Don't miss parts one and two!

The Other Side of the Freeway

We drive the stretch of I-15 between Mesquite and Kaysville several times a year, so I'm pretty sure I have the whole thing memorized. I can tell you what it looks like at any given mile marker as well as how far you are from Cedar City, Fillmore, or Nephi. Honey Bear could probably drive it without his glasses in a snowstorm.

But what I've never really thought about is how different everything looks from the other side of the freeway. As we were coming down a hill on one of our more recent drives, I looked around and said, "Oh, my heck, this is THAT hill, the last one you drive over before you get to Beaver!" For whatever reason, that spot had made more of an impression on the southbound trip, but that didn't change the fact that it was THE SAME SPOT.

I've thought a lot about it since that day, and while I haven't come to any earth-shattering conclusions, I thought I'd share it with you. Sometimes, we don't even have to move to gain a fresh perspective; we just have to turn around.

What's Your Favorite Book on Writing?

Join us next Thursday, October 10, for an INTERACTIVE installment of "Interview with an Agent" with Christa Heschke of McIntosh & Otis, Inc!

Martha Mayberry (@mbelec123) asked a fantastic question the other day: "How in the world can I learn more of these techniques to make my entire story better?" I immediately thought of some of the books on writing I've read, but since a bunch of minds are better than one, I decided to pose the question to the Twitterverse. Here are a few of their suggestions:

WRITING THE BREAKOUT NOVEL WORKBOOK by Donald Maass
submitted by Stephanie Garber (@SGarberGirl)

My favorite book on craft is Donald Maass' WRITING THE BREAKOUT NOVEL WORKBOOK. I'm not sure if this counts, because it's a workbook and not an actual book, but I think it's amazing. It's kind of like a series of intense little work-outs for your novel. It has exercises for developing plot, character, and general story techniques. For each exercise Maass uses examples from a variety of best selling novels to illustrate his topic. This book is great for any stage in the writing process. I like to use it after I've finished my first draft, to help take my story to the next level, but I imagine other writers could use it while writing a first draft, or polishing a final draft. Every time I go through this workbook I'm challenged in different ways--it's like going to a literary gym with a really good trainer.

THE FIRE IN FICTION by Donald Maass
submitted by me

When Stephanie submitted Donald Maass's workbook, I had to laugh, because MY favorite book on writing is Donald Maass's follow-up, THE FIRE IN FICTION. I blogged about it a while back, so feel free to check out that post. Suffice it to say that Donald Maass is a high-powered literary agent who's sold dozens, maybe hundreds, of manuscripts over the years, so he definitely knows what he's talking about. It's been years since I've read this book, but I still remember what I thought was his thesis: In a novel, the characters are king. (Also, don't miss WRITING THE BREAKOUT NOVEL, the companion book that goes along with the workbook Stephanie mentioned!)

ON WRITING by Stephen King
submitted by Julie Sondra Decker (@JulieSondra)

First off, it's the only writing-about-writing book I've ever read that did a good job explaining why "colorful" permutations for the word "said" do not increase the effectiveness of the sentence. Secondly, King's archaeological metaphor on novel creation--representing the writing experience as digging in the dirt without being quite sure what you might find--resonated with me as an unrepentant pantser. And lastly, unlike most prescriptive writing advice, this book allows for flexibility and variety, offering more "how" than "what" in its suggestions. The prompts and included resources are useful, and the first half of the book outlining King's life from developing author to bestselling superstar provided context.

SAVE THE CAT by Blake Snyder

submitted by Elizabeth Briggs (@lizwrites)

My favorite writing book is SAVE THE CAT by Blake Snyder. It's actually a screenwriting book, but a lot of the same tips apply to writing high concept novels too. Save The Cat has taught me so much about plotting and pacing, and I always refer to the book before I start writing or whenever I get stuck. The 15 step beat sheet was a complete revelation for my books, and I won't write anything without using it first. I also like the companion books--Save The Cat Strikes Back has some great points on writing endings, and Save The Cat Goes To The Movies has some good examples of how the beat sheet applies to popular movies.

What's your favorite book on writing?

When Enough Isn't Enough

I've been unhappy several times the last couple of months. More than several times, actually, and every time I feel myself succumbing to despair, I also feel guilty. "Buck up," I tell myself. "Why are you so sad? Is it because you're still struggling to achieve your lifelong dream? Oh, wait, you already did that."

Now don't get me wrong--I'm absolutely thrilled that Steve is getting published. But with Clyde still on submission, I've transferred all my worrying to him: "Yep, it's gonna stink if, after everything, Clyde still doesn't sell. You may have succeeded in the past, but you'll probably fall flat with this. And that's gonna drive you crazy, isn't it? That's gonna ruin everything."

Do any of you watch Frasier? I've probably seen every episode two, three, maybe four times, and one of my favorites is when Frasier is the subject of a focus group. He's a radio psychiatrist who hosts a daily call-in show, and in this episode, his station puts together a focus group to critique his program. Frasier watches from the other side of a one-way mirror, but the mirror probably isn't necessary. Eleven out of twelve participants give him glowing reviews. But the twelfth participant is less enthusiastic. He doesn't say anything negative, but he doesn't say anything positive, either. Eleven out of twelve people absolutely love him, but Frasier can't stop thinking about the one guy who (sort of) didn't.

Afterward, Frasier tails the twelfth participant to the man's newsstand and literally begs him for feedback. He's certain he can win him over if only the man will tell him what to fix. Finally, the man admits he just doesn't like Frasier, and through a series of mishaps, Frasier ends up burning down the man's newsstand.

I read this article the other day on this same phenomenon (as well as this article and this one, which the author linked to in her post). I found myself nodding the whole time, because this is exactly what I've been feeling lately. No matter how many things I have, I always seem to fixate on the things I don't (even when what I have is pretty great). I agreed with everything they said, but it was what they didn't say that rubbed me wrong.

All three authors seemed to think this lack of contentment was okay.

Well, maybe not okay so much as inevitable. This is just how writers are, they said, so we just have to accept it and move on. But I don't think it's good enough to say that this is good enough. We're ALL like this to some degree, writer or no, ambitious or not, but it's not okay to roll over and chalk our weaknesses up to human nature. I truly think we're here to become more than what we are.

I'm not there yet, but that's my goal. I want to learn how to be happy with the things I have, how to ignore that awful voice inside my head that tells me I'm not good or smart or brave enough. It's a lesson I've been trying to learn for quite some time, as you can see, but I'm not giving up yet. It's not over until the end.

The Expertise Exchange

I don't know about you, but I often wish I could talk to an expert when my characters are involved with things I know nothing about. The last thing I want is for someone who actually knows what he's talking about to read my book and think, "Wow, it's clear this writer was making things up as she went."

To participate, just leave a comment with your name and e-mail address as well as a few words about what you're an expert in and what you need expert help with. (Even if you don't need help with anything at the moment, you can still share your areas of expertise with us!) Feel free to include fields you've worked in or studied, hobbies or activities you've participated in, places you've been, cultures you know. And anything else you consider yourself to be an expert in. I'll go first:

Name: Krista Van Dolzer
E-mail address: kvandolzer(at)gmail(dot)com

What I'm an expert in: Mathematics, education, economics (which is actually cooler than you think!). I was on my high school's speech and debate team, so I'm very familiar with those kinds of tournaments and events, especially policy and oratory. I also play the piano, so I have a working knowledge of piano techinique and music theory. I grew up along the Wasatch Front in northern Utah and still visit often, so I'm very familiar with the Salt Lake and Provo areas. And I live in southern Nevada now, so I'm pretty familiar with the desert. I also know a lot of Mormons (and happen to be one myself).

What I need expert help with: Karina, the main character in Bonnie, is a swimmer, and Matthew is a dancer, so I'd love to chat with someone who was on his or her high school swim team and/or someone who's studied contemporary ballet, just so I can get some of the jargon down and get a feel for what practices and meets are like.

If you find someone in the comments you think you could help--or someone you think could help you--definitely get in touch! (And if you're a swimmer and/or dancer, please, please e-mail me!)

Thankful

I’m thankful for a thousand things--literally, a thousand--but since listing all of them would make for an overly epic blog post, I want to focus on just one.

 

Time.

 

Really, we have so much of it. When you think about all the days and hours and seconds we’ve lived, our time is almost infinite. And I wouldn’t have it any other way.

 

It seems like, in the publishing industry, we want everything to go so fast. We lament that books take two years to hit the shelves. We wish that agents would respond more quickly. We wonder why these manuscripts take so freaking long to write. But I realized not long ago that I’m grateful for the time I’ve had. My writing is so much better now than it was three or four years ago, and I imagine it will be even better three or four years from now. Yes, perseverance and hard work are crucial, but both of those things take TIME. Time is what we really need. Time is what makes all the difference.

 

I used to want everything to happen right away--I wanted to be the next Stephenie Meyer--and there are still days and even weeks when I wish SOMETHING would happen now (or at least sometime in the next two months). But I’m not as frazzled as I used to be. I’m not in any hurry. Life will happen as it happens; I just have to learn how to enjoy the ride.

P.S. If you have a second, check out my interview with Kristina Perez of The Madeleine Project. I thought she asked some really interesting, non-writing-related questions.

On Life Well Lived

So many things remind me of writing (I’m sure you understand), so when I heard this talk from President Dieter F. Uchtdorf a few weeks ago, I knew I had to blog about it:) The talk was religious in nature, but I thought so many of his ideas were applicable across a broad range of life experiences. Here are a few of my favorites:

“I think of our Lord and Exemplar, Jesus Christ, and His short life among the people of Galilee and Jerusalem. I have tried to imagine Him bustling between meetings or multitasking to get a list of urgent things accomplished.

“I can’t see it.

“Instead I see the compassionate and caring Son of God purposefully living each day. When He interacted with those around him, they felt important and loved. He knew the infinite value of the people He met. He blessed them, ministered to them. He lifted them up, healed them. He gave them the precious gift of His time.”

He then went on to caution us about overusing technology, which is one of those perpetual balancing acts in my life. With so many good things to do with our time, we have to make sure we’re doing what’s best. When everything’s said and done, I want to be able to say I “purposefully [lived] each day.”

“Doesn’t it seem foolish to spoil sweet and joyful experiences because we are constantly anticipating the moment when they will end? …

“We shouldn’t wait to be happy until we reach some future point, only to discover that happiness was already available--all the time! Life is not meant to be appreciated only in retrospect.”

I’ve thought about this a lot lately, about choosing to be happy no matter what, and something I’ve learned is that we can choose to be happy even when our experiences are less than sweet and joyful. For most of us, querying and submitting amount to long months of waiting (seasoned occasionally with heart-stopping spurts of rejection), but we don’t have to let the waiting or even the rejection define us. Those months can be just as happy so long as we fill them with the things that matter most.

Feel free to check out the whole transcript if you feel so inclined. Or you can watch the talk in its entirety below. In another life, President Uchtdorf was the senior vice president of flight operations at Lufthansa Airlines, and I’ve always thought he looked very captain-like. I would have felt very confident after climbing onto a plane and shaking his hand:)

Thoughts on the US Open

If you follow me on Twitter, you might have noticed I'm a tennis fan. I stumbled onto Wimbledon while channel-surfing one lazy summer day right before I started high school, and I've been hooked ever since. (Wimbledon remains my favorite tournament, just in case you were wondering.)

On Monday, Andy Murray won the US Open, defeating Novak Djokovic in five grueling sets, and he won it in grand fashion. It's the first Grand Slam he's EVER won, even though he played in his first final back in 2008. And not only is he the first British man to win a Major title in more than seventy years, but he's also the first man EVER to win Olympic gold and the US Open in the same summer.

I had a feeling this US Open was going to be Andy Murray's breakthrough tournament, and he didn't disappoint. Murray's path to the championship match wasn't nearly as smooth as Djokovic's (he dropped multiple sets against multiple opponents), but in the end, he pulled it out. And he taught me a few things about writing along the way:

1. Murray's semifinal match was a tricky, less-than-ideal affair, but I'd go so far as to say that it was the adversity he faced that day that gave him the experience he needed later. It was easily the windiest match I've ever seen, but Murray managed the wind and even figured out how to use it to his advantage. When he faced Djokovic on Monday, the wind was a factor again, and Djokovic, who just a year ago won three Major titles and went on a forty-three-match winning streak, looked much less certain on the court. Murray had already taken on the wind and won, and that gave him the confidence to take it on again. In short, he took what might have been a setback and turned it into a stepping stone.

2. Murray was simply hungrier than Djokovic, and it showed. For years, sports writers have criticized Murray for choking, for not getting the job done when it counted, for not standing up to the one-two-three punch that is Roger Federer, Rafael Nadal, and Novak Djokovic (at least two of whom will probably go down in history as some of the best, if not THE best, men ever to play the game of tennis). But not so on Monday. Murray looked like a man balancing on the razor's edge between surgical precision and reckless abandon. He looked like a man playing for his life.

And in a way, he was. His tennis life, at least.

I want to write like that. I want to LIVE like that. And I never want to look back.

The List of Qualities My Future Writing Career Will Have

When I was a teenager, I had this List of Qualities My Future Husband Will Have. I can’t remember if I ever wrote it down (I really, really hope I didn’t), but I can remember the entries well enough. Here's a representative sample:

1. He had to be tall, at least six feet (never mind that I’m five-three).

4. He had to have served a mission.

29. He couldn’t be, you know, stupid.

Now some of those entries weren't negotiable (no way was I going to spend eternity tethered to a meathead who couldn’t talk about really important things like the underlying axioms of microeconomics and, you know, college football), and some of them were (I really lucked out on the height requirement; Honey Bear is exactly eleven inches taller than I am), but they were all on the list, for better or for worse (pun intended).

The other day, I realized I’ve had another list brewing in my head for quite some time, the List of Qualities My Future Writing Career Will Have*, and since this one isn’t quite so embarrassing, I thought I’d share it with you.

The Really, Really Important Stuff

1. My books have to be published by reputable, well-respected publishers. “Reputable” and “well-respected” are kind of vague terms, I know, but I prefer them that way. And notice that I DIDN’T say my books have to be published by one of the Big Six. Pretty much every publisher that falls under that umbrella is reputable and well-respected, but there are plenty of reputable, well-respected publishers that don’t, and I would be perfectly happy--no, perfectly ecstatic--to be published by one of them.

2. My books have to appear in print, at least in the current market. Maybe in ten years, the whole market will be e-only, but for now, I can’t imagine feeling as if I’ve done what I set out to do if I can’t hold my books in my hands.

The Somewhat Important Stuff

1. I want to be able to walk into a bookstore and/or library and see my books on the shelf.

2. I want to hold a book signing or go on a school visit someday.

Now your list may look quite different; in fact, I’m pretty sure it will. No two writers are alike, so no two lists should look alike, either. And I’m sure my list will grow and change over time, too, but for now, it is what it is. (I’m actually really glad it’s kind of short.)

So what are some of the entries on your List of Qualities My Future Writing Career Will Have?

*This is, of course, assuming that I even have a future writing career, which, at the moment, is kind of a big assumption, but one you’ll have to grant me:)

The Hike

Adams Canyon is a popular hike in my hometown. The trailhead is only a few miles up the highway from my parents' house, so I've hiked it multiple times. Pretty much everyone in my hometown has hiked that canyon more than once.

Everyone, that is, except the moms.

See, Adams Canyon is also one of the most treacherous hikes I've ever been on. I'm pretty sure the only reason teenagers get to hike that canyon is because their moms have no idea just how dangerous it is. You cross a rocky creek bed several times, once on a rickety, old bridge that was rickety and old ten years ago, and you also scamper across a forty-five-degree cliff face that will dump you fifteen feet into that rocky creek bed if you lose your grip. Like I said, treacherous.

So why is it so popular? I'm sure some people hike that canyon for the thrill, but most of us hike it for the waterfall. After curving around a final cliff, the trail up Adams Canyon dead-ends in an unbroken forty-foot waterfall that you'd never expect to find five minutes from the burbs. It really is breathtaking and one of the best thoughtful spots I've ever found.

But here's the thing: About a quarter of a mile down the trail from that unbroken forty-foot waterfall is another much wimpier one. I suppose it still qualifies as a waterfall, but the drop is only around ten feet, and it slips and spills over a bunch of rocks and broken logs. As you admire this wimpier waterfall, you can look up the trail and actually see the final cliff around which the real waterfall waits.

But the first time I hiked Adams Canyon, I made the mistake of stopping at Waterfall Wimpy.

In my defense, I'd never hiked it before, so I didn't know what I should have been shooting for, and neither, apparently, did the other people I was with. We'd heard there was an awesome waterfall at the end of the trail and mistakenly assumed that Waterfall Wimpy was it. The trail widens out at the end (to be honest, it's not very well-defined to begin with), and we assumed that that final cliff was the end. That there was nothing more to see.

How wrong we were.

I'm not going to spell out the metaphor, mostly because I think this post will mean different things to different people, but as I drove past Adams Canyon the other day, I knew I had to blog about it. I'd be interested to hear what the metaphor means to you, though. And of course, if you're ever in Davis County, Utah, and want to hike a fairly treacherous but fairly awesome canyon, I'll happily give you directions:)

Take Two: The Quarter in the Toilet

I'm away from home and not finding a lot of time to blog, so I thought I'd throw an older post up here that didn't get a lot of (read: any) pageviews the first time around. I originally published this in December of 2009, back when I had, like, two followers and was querying the project I queried BEFORE I queried Bob. That certainly puts things in perspective:) Anyway, hope you enjoy!

My husband teaches religion classes to high school students for a living. So he's always coming up with object lessons to teach different principles. One of my particular favorites is called "The Quarter in the Toilet." It involves herding the entire class into the bathroom and holding up a quarter. He asks them how much a quarter is worth and someone says, "Twenty-five cents." Then he asks them what its value is and someone says, a little slower this time, as if he's aged fifty years in a single moment, "Twenty-five cents." Then he chucks the quarter into the toilet and asks, "And what's its value now?"

Except for some enterprising freshman, most of his kids aren't willing to go in after it; to everyone but that freshman, the quarter actually has negative value now. Still, a quarter is a quarter is a quarter, in the hand or in the bowl. Whether they value it or not, that quarter is still worth twenty-five cents.

As a writer, I sure feel like a quarter in the toilet sometimes--especially when I'm querying. I often only feel as good as my last response, so when a rejection rolls in, my confidence dips. And when the rejections pile up, my confidence plummets.

But the truth is, my worth as a writer has nothing to do with how everyone else values my writing. My worth as a writer is defined by certain inherent characteristics--my talent, my passion, my desire--and those things never change.

It reminds me of Max Lucado's beautiful picture book YOU ARE SPECIAL. His main character, the much maligned Punchinello, only receives ugly gray dots from his fellow wooden puppets, and in a society built around public praise or scorn, those gray dots might as well be the plague. But then Punchinello meets Lucia, another wooden puppet who bears neither the stars nor the dots of her fellow townspeople. Punchinello asks her why her stickers don't stick, and she tells him: Because she cares more about what the woodcarver thinks than what the other puppets think. Because she knows her worth as a wooden puppet is intrinsic. It has nothing to do with how much the other puppets reject, or adore, her.

Now, obviously, constructive criticism is, well, constructive; I'm in no way suggesting that we don't consider and try to incorporate the feedback we receive. And it's pretty much impossible not to feel that tiny thrill when a request or, gasp, an offer of representation comes. But in the end, those things do not define us. In the end, we are worthwhile writers simply because we are.

Do I always think this way? Sadly, no. There are minutes and hours and days and weeks when I feel about as valuable as a quarter in the toilet. So this post is just as much for me as it is for you. I plan to look back at it whenever I'm feeling low. Because even when I don't believe it, I know it's true.

Coming Soon

I’ve been trying to come up with an obligatory New Year’s post for a few days now, but nothing’s come to mind, so I’ll just fire a few random thoughts at you instead.

First off, I wanted to share this article with you, “Living the Abundant Life,” from Thomas S. Monson, president of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints. It’s the best New Year’s thought I’ve got, and so much of it applies to writing (not to mention querying). I especially liked these lines:

“Courage is required to make an initial thrust toward one’s coveted goal, but even greater courage is called for when one stumbles and must make a second effort to achieve.

“Have the determination to make the effort, the single-mindedness to work toward a worthy goal, and the courage not only to face the challenges that inevitably come but also to make a second effort, should such be required. Sometimes courage is the little voice at the end of the day that says, ‘I’ll try again tomorrow.’”

Next, I have another interview for you, this one our fifth installment of “Agent-Author Chat.” Fellow blogger Adam Heine and his new agent, Tricia Lawrence of Erin Murphy Literary Agency, agreed to come on the blog and answer a few questions about how they came to be a team. Watch for that post to go up this Friday.

Lastly, in case you haven’t heard, I’m having a baby, like, next week. Exactly one week from today, Honey Bear and I will welcome Baby Number Three to our family and the world. (That is the one good thing about having C-sections: their predictability.) So I’ll be taking the next couple of months off. I’ll definitely post something about the birth, but after that, I’m not planning to blog again until sometime this spring, probably in April.

But have no fear! I already have a handful of agents waiting in the wings to do interviews and judge more rounds of “An Agent’s Inbox,” so when we come back in April, we’ll pick up right where we left off. In the meantime, I’ll do my best to figure out this whole taking-care-of-three-kids thing.

Happy New Year!