on writing - more advice on first pages

Seven reasons why agents Esmond Harmsworth, Eve Bridburg, and
Janet Silver of the Zachary Shuster Harmsworth agency stopped
reading around the 250-word point:

1. Generic beginnings: Stories that opened with the date or the
weather didn’t really inspire interest. According to Harmsworth, you
are only allowed to start with the weather if you’re writing a book
about meteorologists. Otherwise, pick something more creative.

2. Slow beginnings: Some manuscripts started with too much
pedestrian detail (characters washing dishes, etc) or unnecessary
background information.

By Rose Brigid Ganly

on writing - author anecdotes

These are always to fun to read - the small beginnings to great ends.

1. The Hobbit:
J.R.R. TOLKIEN was grading college exam papers, and midway through
the stack he came across a gloriously blank sheet. Tolkien wrote down the
first thing that randomly popped into his mind: “In a hole in the ground there
lived a hobbit.” He had no idea what a hobbit was or why it lived
underground, and so he set out to solve the mystery.

2. Treasure Island:
ROBERT LOUIS STEVENSON painted a map to pass the time during a
dreary vacation in the Scottish Highlands. When he stepped back to admire his
handiwork, a cast of imaginary pirates appeared. Stevenson recalled, “They
passed to and fro, fighting and hunting treasure, on these few square inches of a
flat projection.” He promptly traded his paintbrush for a quill and began to write.

3. The Wonderful Wizard of Oz:
L. FRANK BAUM was telling his sons a story when he abruptly stopped.
He’d been swept away to a land unlike any his imagination had ever conjured.
Baum ushered the young audience into another room and, page by page, began
to document Dorothy’s journey along the yellow brick road.

By Neily

on writing success - a successful query letter

Dear Ms. Kriss:

As you represent strong authors in the adult urban fantasy genre such as Vicki Pettersson
and Lilith Saintcrow, and your agency’s website also states an interest in Young Adult fiction,
I thought you might be interested in seeing my contemporary fantasy novel for older YA
readers, THE IRON WITCH.

Freak. That’s what they called seventeen-year-old Dona Underwood in high school after a
horrific fey attack that killed her father when she was just a child. Her injuries and subsequent rehabilitation resulted in magically enhanced strength, thanks to the iron tattoos branding
her hands and arms.

Now, after ten years of wishing for a normal life, she finally has to accept her role in the
centuries-old war against the darkest outcasts of Faerie. Aided by a gorgeous half-fey dropout
and a depressed biker-chick vampire, Dona must race to save her best friend’s life – even if it
means betraying one of the world’s greatest secrets and confronting the very thing that
destroyed her family.

Although I am from London in the United Kingdom, I think my writing will find a more
natural market in the United States. THE IRON WITCH is set in the imaginary city of
Ironbridge in Western Massachusetts, and I hope it will appeal to readers of Melissa Marr
and Holly Black. The novel is complete at 65,500 words and I have just begun work on
nother book set in the same world.

As per the current submission guidelines, I have pasted the first ten pages and a detailed
synopsis below, and would be delighted to send the full manuscript at your request.
Thank you very much for your time and consideration.

Sincerely,

Karen Mahoney

Via Writer's Digest

on writing success - 7 ways to make a story great

Writer's Digest has some tips on upping the quality of your writing:

1.  Go beyond the five senses - what about smell, texture, weight, proximity
2.  Embrace idiosyncrasies - sharpen your characters
3.  Forget about being pretty - touch on dark, uncomfortable subjects too
4.  Be true to your IQ - don't dumb things down if its not true to who you are
5.  Use your best material only when it has a purpose - discretion
6.  Make then laugh - comb characters for humor possibilities
7.  Make them cry - your pathos must not be cheap

 Full article here.

By Alli Coate