Curing Writer's Blog
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Writing A Successful Query Letter
- 2010-05-29 12:47:27 - comments() By Matt Fyffe
Because my background is in engineering, as I tried to write a query letter for my book, I decided to take a very organized approach to things. Let's face it, query letters are hard. You never know if the agents viewing your query letter don't like the letter iteslf, or don't like the book idea, or what. So here's my strategy for writing query letters.
First, try a variety of styles. Sure, there are suggestions online about how to write a query letter, but lets face it, every book is different. As such, pay attention to the advice you see, but don't make it the only thing you try. I like to come up with three or four different query letters that I'm really satisfied with.
Once you have a set of query letters, begin sending them to agents. I try to send each query letter I have to a batch of five or so literary agents and publishers at a time and see what kind of responses each one gets back. I'll continue to use all of them for two or three runs of this to get the best idea of which style works.
Using an excel document, track which letters you send to which agents, and what agents responded back most favorably to your novel. Hopefully, you'll be able to see patterns emerging over which query letter produced the greatest interest from the agents. At this point, I would try and stick exclusively with that one, refining it as much as you can to get the most quality responses.
While we haven't told you how to write a query letter itself, we'll try and do that next time. However, I find this almost as important as writing the query letter since it will help you figure out which one works best for you. Check back next time for further tips as we try and help you write your first novel.
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How Outlining Can Help You Finish Your Book
- 2010-05-15 15:55:21 - comments() By Matt Fyffe
When it comes to the best way to write a story, everyone has their own tips on how to do it. Some people say you should write the first and last chapters first so you know how the book will begin and end. Others say that writing a fiction book should be a discovery process, with you writing the book from beginning to end and seeing where it takes you. Me? I'm a planner.
When it came to writing my current novel, I started with that idealism of just writing and seeing where things took me. However, around 20,000 words into the book, I began to feel overwhelmed. I felt like there was a hundred and one things left to write and I was never sure which one was the perfect piece to go next. Finally, I broke down and decided to outline the remaining chapters.
Outlining the rest of the book immediately made the entire process significantly easier. I knew where I wanted to take it, and I knew exactly how much more I had left. Occasionally, I would veer from this plan in order to add something that I thought of as I wrote, or if something seemed to fit better with the character's actions, but for the most part, the outline served as my guide. Whether you’re writing memoir, or working on writing a fiction book, the use of an outline can just make the whole process easier.
The extent of your outline is up to you. Mine was a few key notes about the characters that would be used in that scene, and what the important points in it were. Other people might prefer a more detailed outline, with a breakdown of everything that's going to happen and a few rough points of dialogue. In the end, you decide what feels right. The key part is to at least try it and see how outlines work for you.
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Family Circle Fiction Contest
- 2010-05-01 22:18:14 - comments() By Matt Fyffe
Everybody dreams of winning a writing contest. The problem is, most contests include a reading fee, even if they don't offer a monetary prize for the winners. As a result, it's hard to find a good contest to send your stuff to in hopes of receiving recognition.
Family Circle does an annual fiction contest which is opened now until early September with no reading fee. Offering a word limit of 2,500 words, the contest offers a first place prize of 750$. Second and third place winners are given a prize of 250$.
Overall, it looks like a great contest for everyone to try their stuff. After all, what do you have to lose? You can read last year's winners at Family Circle Past Winners or read the rules for this year at Family Circle Contest Rules
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Benefits of a Writers Group
- 2010-04-16 23:28:10 - comments() By Matt Fyffe
After we convinced you to find a writers group last entry, I figured it was time to help you understand why you should do a writers group. The benefits of groups are immeasurable. A writers group is the perfect way for other writers to look at your work and give you feedback and direction to help you develop your project further. A writers workshop or group is great no matter what stage of the game you're at, and here's the reasons why and how it can help you become a better writer.
Brainstorming: When you first are brainstorming a new story idea, talking with others and sharing your idea can help solidify your plan. While it's just in your head, the story isn't given all the nutrients it needs to develop into a full idea. Working on other peoples projects and telling them about your idea will get them to ask you questions and force you to think about your piece to a greater depth.
Early Writing Stages: When you're just starting to write the piece, a writing workshop can tell you more about how your perspective is working, the strength of your narrator's voice, and the clarity of your writing. What's more, it can help as the other creative writers ask you about the story. Ultimately, you'll get an early look at what does and does not work in your story, and even gain some new ideas along the way.
Finished first draft: After finishing the first draft, your writers group can help find the weaknesses. Where are the inconsistencies in your story, what scenes lack believability, what plot elements seem to be missing. These things are hard to pick up on your own because so much of creative writing comes from your head and so, the vision you have might be stronger than what's on the paper. Fellow authors can help identify these problems.
Finished work: At the end, a writers group can help you perfect your piece. The authors can help you with line editing in your novel, and even help you craft your query letter to send to publishers. While bigger suggestions might come at this point in time, many of them will have to be ignored as the book is done, but some may be worth considering.
In the end, working in a writers group can be a tremendous help, whether you are writing memoir or writing a fiction book. No matter what your goals, or your book's status, a writers group is the perfect addition to your writing itinerary.
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How to Find a Good Writers Group
- 2010-04-02 23:23:33 - comments() By Matt Fyffe
As I work on a new novel, I can't emphasize enough the importance of writing workshops. For newcomers to the art form, a writing workshop is when you work with other writers, sharing a section of your work. The other writers will read it and offer constructive feedback about the content, the style, and the bigger picture of the piece. While eventually I hope to create a form of writing workshop within this site, in the meantime, you're going to have to find a creative writing outlet locally.
To find a writers group in your area, there are a few options.
The first option available in your quest to find a writers group is through local colleges. Many MFA programs will offer courses to the public in creative writing where you can sign up. These classes will likely cost money and focus on more than simply working in groups, but that will be a part of it for sure. While not the best method for most people, this outlet allows you a writers group with minimal work.
Another option is to check out your local libraries, cafes and book stores. Oftentimes, writers groups in the area will post information about their group in these venues so you can check it out and see if there are any you're interested in. This option definitely costs the least, but this method is also very hit or miss.
One final method that I've used to find writers groups and writers workshops is a web site called Meetup.com. This web site is about social gatherings and ways for you to meet people in your area. However, it goes beyond these types of activities and often offers a variety of cultural groups and writers groups. While it's more successful in urban areas, I've been able to find 3 writers groups within a half hour of my house and an additional three within an hour. If you don't see a group in your area, you could always try creating one yourself for a small fee and seeing if you can gather any interest after a month.
In the end, it can take some work to find a good writers group but it will pay off immensely. Check out our next post to see what a writers group can do for you.
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