Setting Boundaries

I've been absent for a few days to devote all my efforts to the final rewrite of my novel. This morning I completed editing and ran the spell check!
The next step I'll take is to revise my margins. During the writing process I condense the margins all around to half an inch in order not to waste paper. To submit a manuscript the standard margin settings appear to be one inch all the way around the double-spaced page.
Earlier I selected several literary agents from the 2009 Writer's Market Deluxe Edition. In choosing potential agents I ensured they accepted horror genre works. Also, I reviewed entries for their acceptance percentages, such as what percent of nonpublished submissions they review.
Finally, each agency has their own submission packet requirements. If you wondered about the importance of illustrating your hook at the beginning of your work, it's important to know that most agents want the first chapter or first fifty pages of your work. Some only want to review the first two pages. You will also send a single-spaced cover letter. The instructions will specify whether you will add a paragraph summarizing your work in the cover letter or if a second 1 to 2 page summary is required.
Think of the summary as the description of your work as it will appear on the book jacket. This sounds easy, after all you've devoted yourself to the project for months or years, it should be a simple matter to compose your summary. However, I found this the most difficult part. My suggestion is that you go through your work and review each chapter. At the end of each chapter write a 2 - 3 sentence description of what just took place. Put your chapter notes together and you have a summary.
- bethany moran

Foreword, Preface, Epilogue

When I searched agents and submission packet requirements I came across an interesting notation more than once. It goes without saying we must spell check religiously before submitting any material for publication but the notation I refer to use the use of the word Foreword. This important word, the first word seen when reviewing your manuscript is often misspelled. Many writers use the word "forward" in its place.
Foreword is defined as a preface or introductory note as for a book, especially by someone other than the writer.
Preface is defined as the introduction to or an opening statement of a literary work.
Epilogue is defined as the final section of a story or novel providing comment or conclusion of what happened in the story. The epilogue ties up loose knots and may contain the denouement.
Denouement is not often used but is an important term nonetheless. Similar to the epilogue it addresses the final outcome or dramatic complication in a literary work, especially the outcome of a complex sequence of event.
After the final chapter of my novel I use an epilogue to surmise a main character's point of view and give a glimpse into the future of the geographic area involved in the story. My epilogue is less than a page long. Since the thrust of the epilogue is a wrap up of events I felt it was an important tool to use instead of labeling it as another chapter.
These parts that make up your work may not consist of many pages, but are vial tools to the telling of your story.
Take care.
bethany moran

Slash and Burn

Editing continues at a steady pace on my novel. The red pen flies across the page slashing and burning wordiness. My first submission to an agent contained 92,000 words! What nerve I had to think an agent or publisher would consider a novel of such length by a newcomer. Stephen King can get away with a tome of such length but I doubt many newcomers break in the market this way. I've chopped the word count to around 64,000. Still a large figure, but as editing goes on more words will fall by the wayside. I'm finding that I give an idea, present a related sentence or two, then restate the idea once again.
It's a good idea to have someone outside your circle review your manuscript. Mothers and friends tend to tell you what they think you want to hear. There are no writer's groups in my area for a fresh set of eyes to review the work. However, there are universities nearby and Plan B is to seek a professor of English or creative writing to hire to review it for me if when I shop it out this time I don't meet with success. The other possibility is to seek out the services of an editor for hire. For a predetermined fee, usually by the page, the editor gives a thorough critique of the work complete with suggestions for change.
There are many options for the potentially published. So far on the road to seeing my name in print I've written a rough manuscript which I've since edited twice. I submitted, prematurely, to an agent and was rejected. And I've rewritten the manuscript again, for what I believe is the last go around, and am giving what I plan to be the final edit at this time. Editing should wrap in a week or so. I don't go "back and forth," that is, edit a chapter at a time then make those changes alone. I'm more productive editing the entire work before making changes. By the end of the month I should be ready to shop the manuscript out again. Maybe the second time is a charm.
- bethany moran

Manuscript Mania

In July 2008 I took the plunge. I began my journey by writing a piece about life in an orphan asylum in the mid-1900s in the American Heartland. I knew such an existence was bleak for the children. This made me wonder what happened to their energy. Did the building absorb their sadness? By the time I finished the manuscript it didn't resemble the original story line in the slightest.
Following my "what if" question I jotted a few pages of notes. What story did I want to tell? Who would narrate?
Next, I filled in the spaces with more What Ifs. It became clear I needed to research technical aspects about which I had no knowledge, specifically electricity and certain medical conditions. This led me to make "meatier" notes.
After research the hard part was sitting down in front of the computer and getting started. Before the first word appeared on the screen I reminded myself I was writing for ME and I wasn't even going to pay attention to my noisy inner critic. Writing lasted 67 days, including additional research. At some point I realized the story was telling itself. Some days I was lucky to produce two paragraphs. Others I didn't stop writing until late into the night. Amazingly, I was often exhausted at the end of the day, but it was a wonderful exhaustion.
After producing the first very rough draft I set it aside for two weeks to settle. The next draft was rewritten entirely at the computer. This draft was also set aside to marinate. For the next revision I printed a hard copy and went to work with a red pen before I sat back to make revisions. Then I made my first big mistake. I sent a query off to an agent. I was so excited to have completed my first novel I submitted it before it was ready. Rejection was swift and impersonal but not unexpected. This time I let the work sit for a couple of months while I pursued other story lines. Since the first of the year I've nearly completed the "final" rewrite. The biggest change in this edit was to slash words. I've probably cut the equivalent of two chapters during this rewrite, a move I hope solidifies the story and also makes it more marketable. The next goal for my book-to-be is to complete this process in the next 10 days afterwhich I'll give it one more red pen treatment.
It's clear the creative process can turn into a never ending story in its own right. Writers are notoriously fickle and change can be good during the process. But making grammatical and spelling changes and editing to make it concise are different than stringing the process out forever.
- bethany moran

The Job Interview

Characters need to be interviewed for their position in your story. You want to be sure the right person is hired for the right job. After all, they represent your company to the public.
Applicants should complete an application spelling out their name, birth date, city of birth, current residence, past employment and education.
As the interview starts I begin by asking them to tell me about their childhood. Where were they born? Did they grow up there? Did they play sports? in the school band? What were their grades? Favorite classes? Did they hate school? Next, ask about their immediate family. I try not to make more than 1 character in each story an only child. It takes away from depth and complexity. Where did dad work? Mom? Are they immigrants?
What's their past work history/experience? Education? Club/church affiliations?
These details aren't necessary for each story. However, they allow you to see them as a living, breathing being. You can then drop items of interest into your dialogue or allows other characters to inquire of them, again, building character depth.
Knowing these factoids about your character in advance give points in mind to work from. If I know the character in question graduated from college. I can explore where, what degree was earned, what was her motivation, what were her plans after school without stating: "I'm Mary. I graduated from Indiana University. I was a cheerleader." Doesn't sound like very interesting dialogue, does it?
Get to know your characters. If nothing else, your job as manager is easier with a team of highly qualified individuals on your team.
sit down and write today!
- bethany moran

Setting the Setting with Food

Setting a scene with food sounds like a minor detail. However, if you consider the following questions you'll see I'm onto something.
Where did the food come from? a character's garden, the supermarket, a mom and pop store, a farmers market, foraged in the forest....... Who procured the food? main character, shopkeeper, farmer, child sent on errand? ....... Who prepared the food? your character, a chef in a five-star restaurant, the family cook, a hobo by the railroad? ...........
Envision the story the following foods tell: 1) macaroni and cheese from a blue box prepared on a single, portable burner 2)hot and sour soup, enamel red Chinese spareribs, fried rice, emperor's lobster 3) fish sticks and oven fries 4) shrimp cocktail, French onion soup, salad of celery hearts with a Roman vinaigrette, broiled rainbow trout with parslied lemon wedges, cherries jubilee 5) hot dog with the works, popcorn, cotton candy, nacho chips with neon cheese and beer
Who consumed these foods and where? 1) a bachelor? a starving writer? in a dorm room, a drafty garret? 2) a Chinese meal at your favorite spot? regular dinner out? date night? first date? solo splurge? take out eaten in your pj's while you watch a tear jerker? 3) budget dinner of millions of Americans? fast supper for a babysitter to fix the kids? supper for newlyweds? 4) the big dinner before you pop the question? New Year's Eve dinner? elaborate dinner of the 30's, 40's or 50's? 5) ball park, circus, concert, street fair?
Some fiction writers of the past spent pages describing feasts or the origins of the food served. If that's the way you want to frame your story just don't overlook the chance that your reader may get lost in the detail. However, if I tell you the family of my main character sits down to a regular Sunday dinner of fish sticks and fries what does your reader infer? 1) family eats together 2) they eat budget foods 3) possibly lower middle class 4) they dine on the same meals routinely
Write it like you eat it.
- bethany moran

Baby Steps, Baby Steps

In the 1991 Bill Murray film "What About Bob?" his neurotic character learns that if he uses the Baby Steps method perfected by Richard Dreyfus's' psychiatrist character he can attain his goals.
Yesterday I took Baby Steps until I thought I'd drop. Rereading the opening of my novel I knew it needed a stronger voice, a hook. The opening was good, but I'm pretty sure "good" doesn't land agents and publishing contracts. Yesterday was the day I quit composing bad poetry (Just a little hobby of mine. If I try to be intentionally bad, it's amazing what lands on the paper.)and sat down at the computer. I knew what I wanted to say. I thought I knew how I wanted to say it but what appeared on the screen before me was as big a load of crap as my bad poetry. Boy, was I pissed at myself. So, instead of whining and fuming I would have in the past. I got up from in front of the computer and strolled into the kitchen where my Muse was hanging out. For a change, she wasn't beckoning me with chocolate chip cookie dough ice cream. Today she called to me with the melodious tones of the kitchen timer.
I punched in fifteen minutes and walked away. The goal was to keep physically busy for fifteen minutes without thinking about the novel's opening. My health has been a challenge lately so in order to complete housework it has to be done in small intervals some days. The dust on the master bedroom furniture was as deep as Hoosier snow in January so I grabbed my household implements and went to work. When the timer went off I was more than happy to drop the duster and sit back down at the computer, but not before I set the timer for fifteen more minutes.
Back at the keyboard I referred to a couple of pages scribbled on a junior legal pad (I defy anyone to decider the scraggly lines of ink.) I set about typing, fast and furious, getting words on paper was my primary goal at this point. I scarcely heard the timer's chime this time.
Rereading the two new opening pages was gratifying. The revisions now better relayed who the main characters were and hinted at the strange circumstances surrounding them. If that round with the timer didn't work I'd have reset it and continued the routine until I was satisfied. Don't be too hard on yourself. Satisfaction could have come from success that was measured in one or two words, or lines.
Baby Steps can work.
- bethany moran