A Tale of Conferences Past
August 31, 2010
Conferences About Books! by Rebecca Cantrell
I love reading. I grew up in a family of readers, but once
I entered school I discovered that most of my classmates did not
yearn to sneak away and read during recess. They wanted to play soccer
or Frisbee or jump rope. I was aghast, but muddled through, convinced
that I was the last reader left in the world. Read more
Brainstorming
August 17, 2010
Brainstorming techniques?
I think I may be the only writer I know without a file of cool ideas
tucked away and I’m starting to feel worried about it. I could throw
one together, but I don’t think I’d ever look at it again. For me, each
novel exists only as I’m writing it. I never go back through old ideas.
My process isn’t that straightforward, sadly.
First place I look for ideas? History. When I read about a
historical event or find the perfect quote from a historical
character, I know that I have to put it into a book. I can
research for hours and claim it is all background and plot
ideas. And it is! See that great picture? Tamara de Lempicka
painted it. She's a Polish Art Deco painter and I managed to
sneak her work into "A Night of Long Knives." Research...
Second place? OK, this sounds odd, but I make myself make a
list of ten ways to solve whatever story problem I’m having.
Ten. No more, no fewer. Sometimes the best idea is number one
and sometimes it’s number ten, but usually it’s somewhere in the middle. But making myself
do ten lets me give myself permission to throw nine ideas away, which is very freeing.
Still not working? Then I write on paper instead of typing. After a couple of pages of
that kind of torture my subconscious usually throws something out in a desperate attempt
to save me from having to decipher my own handwriting.
If that doesn’t work, I draw diagrams on paper with big circles and arrows or stick
stuff on index cards and put it on a board in my room while muttering and trying not
to step on the pushpins that somehow always end up on the floor.
If all else fails: I go see a movie and eat popcorn and chocolate. Even
if that doesn’t solve the story problem, at least I got tasty snacks in
air conditioned splendor. Did I mention that I love this job?
Rejection? It’s about falling in love again
August 3, 2010
by Rebecca Cantrell
I planned to write a scathing rejection letter for the blog this week. Being a good student, I did research. I googled rejection letters and found some doozies for classic books. Here is an actual rejection of Animal Farm by George Orwell: “It is impossible to sell animal stories in the USA.” Here’s one for Steven King’s Carrie: “We are not interested in science fiction which deals with negative utopias. They do not sell.” 
I then wasted far too much time on the Internet (what a surprise!) reading other people’s rejection letters. And after I was done I realized not only that my blog post would now be late, but also that I didn’t want to add more rejection to the world. I don’t think it’s helpful to dwell on rejection.
Truth? I got 30+ rejections for my first novel, A Trace of Smoke. It went on to be published by Tor Forge, sell just fine, and get nominated for various awards. The conclusion I drew was not the 30+ people who rejected it were idiots, but rather that publishing anything is excruciatingly difficult.
Why is it so hard? First there’s the financial risks: paying the author an advance plus paying the team that brings it out: the editor, the cover artist, the copy editor, the fact checker, the publicist, the printer, the sales staff, and others I’ve forgotten to name. Then there’s spending social capital as you call in favors to get other writers to blurb it, reviewers to review it, and booksellers to read it. All that with no guarantee of success.
To do that someone must love your book a lot. Not just like it, not just think it’s brilliant, but absolutely let their heart fall out of their chest onto the pavement to get walked on love it. Nothing less is enough for them to take those risks. I have Marlene Dietrich’s picture over there from “Falling in Love Again” in the 1931 classic, “A Blue Angel,” because it’s a great reminder of the risks of falling in love. We all know it doesn’t always end well.
By and large acquisition editors aren’t mean people eager to reject talented authors. They are dedicated and overworked and I think most of them start reading every submission hoping to be amazed and inspired and fall in love. It doesn’t always happen that way, but when it does, it’s magic. Instead of rejections, I try to focus on that magic.I try to write the best book that I can and then never give up searching for the one person who will love it.
Advice for a Teen Writer
June 8, 2010
What would you tell a high school kid who wants to write?
by Rebecca Cantrell
OK, I’ve decided to name my high schooler. Her name in Mina, because that’s the main character in my YA novel and so she’s the high schooler I hang out with the most. Thanks, Mina, for wanting to carry on the tradition of the written word. It takes a special high schooler to recognize that and make it a goal.
Writers read. Writers have to love to read. And they have to do lots of it. One of the things that I hate the most about being a published writer is that I don’t have as much time to read books as I used to. When I was a kid and a teenager I was constantly holed up someplace with my nose in a book (I still am whenever I get a chance). Turns out, it’s all research and practice, not daydreams and time wasting. It’s my JOB.
Writers write. Lots of people talk about being writers or what they are writing. But a real writer writes, and a lot of the time. Words on the page stack up into books. Words in the air don’t. It’s fun to talk about writing, and there are a ton of things you will do that aren’t writing that still contribute to the book. But it all comes back to words on a page.
I hate to tell you this, Mina, but it’s tough to make money as a writer. In most careers you can learn your craft and work very hard and you will be financially rewarded. Writing, like most art, isn’t always like that. Money is important for food, shelter, and peace of mind. You can either figure out how to earn more or how to make do with less. But don’t get in the writing for the money as it’s statistically unlikely to follow. Still, I know you’re tough enough to persevere in that face of that. You’ve thrown down with vampires. The publishing industry, while sometimes perceived as similar, is not that bad.
Have fun. That whole tortured writer myth? Way overworked. I know a lot of happy and well adjusted writers. You don’t need to drink, do drugs, engage in complicated sexual dramas or perform other high risk acts to become a writer. You can simply enjoy doing it. You don’t have to act like every edit is a cut that wounds your soul. You can view them as ways to help your work read better, clearer, and more true. I love to write. I love to edit. I love to cut and add and re-vision. It’s not always easy, but I have a really great time.
Good luck, Mina! And know that many other writers will be there to help you along the way. Including me.
If I Win the Lottery
May 25, 2010
“If you won the Lottery, would you quit writing? If not, would the guaranteed income change how and what you write?”
But I don’t write because of invisible dollar signs. I write because of invisible voices in my head. I write because I am a crazy obsessed person who can’t stop writing. I wrote for years before I even thought to send something out to be published. Being published was the lottery. And I won it and I love it. I think it’s easy to get caught up in worrying about the money and the numbers of books sold (things largely outside our control) and forget about the pure joy of writing.
Don’t get me wrong. If a big pile of money comes out of this whole writing thing, just like the next writer, I will install a pool in my basement full of gold coins and swim around in it like Scrooge McDuck. Although I might have the coins sanitized first because who know where they’ve been. 