Writer's Digest Article by Sarah Weinman

Guess I should be a little more careful about what I write! Check out Blog and Burned by Sarah Weinman.

All The Answers

Admittedly, my motivations for starting this blog were selfish. I had something to say and I wanted people to hear it. I had views on publishing, on writing, that I wanted to put out there, and hey, exposure never hurt anyone. But the more blogs I read, the more I wonder about people's motivations. To sell books? To vent?

This past year, I have spent a lot of time talking with people about writing. So many people from high school, from work, have come up to me and said, "I want to be a writer. How do I get started?" I obviously laugh and tell them that I'm just as clueless as everyone else, but I tell them about my experience and what I have learned. But I remind them that it is simply that: my experience. Someone else could have an entirely different take. So I guess this is what this blog is becoming: a documentation of my experiences and what I've learned about the writing field.

Unfortunately, all blogs are not this way. Too many of them claim that this is the way it is, that they have all the answers and anyone who disagrees is clearly mistaken. Given, many of these blogs are written by published authors, and in order to be published in this market you have to be doing something right, but if I've learned anything it's that there is no one way to do things. There are certain things that are universal and hopefully common sense, like meet your deadlines and make sure to spell the person's name correctly on your query letter. (Note: I misspelled an agent's name on one of my query's and he still made me an offer, but I don't recommend doing the same.) But other than that, it's a shot in the dark. Do you need an agent to sell your book? Not necessarily. Do you need to attend conferences in order to promote your work? It's probably a good idea, but not going to conferences doesn't automatically make your book a failure. I've been told over and over that there are two things you can't kill in your book: animals and babies. Do I advise it? No, but that doesn't mean that it hasn't been done in some very successful books.

There are no hard and fast rules in this industry, and be wary of anyone who tells you that there are. All I can share is what I learned from my experiences and my education, and that doesn't mean that how I do things is the be all end all. I'm not the first person to give writing advice as I am still an aspiring novelist, but I'm certainly not the last. You can read blog after blog, books on how to write, attend panels at conferences, but the most valued lessons you'll learn will come from your own experiences. And who knows, you may disprove my theories and all the advice that you've read over the years. Because anything written about the publishing industry is simply that: a theory, an opinion, not a stone-written rule.

Character Addiction

Most would say that I have an addictive personality. Whether it's because I swim two miles a day, down Trader Joe's almond clusters by the handful, or get cranky and bitter if I have less than two cups of coffee in the morning, my life consists of many addictions. But the latest one, one that I think many people experience, is television. HBO series in particular. Over the years, Sopranos and OZ have been my drugs of choice. I eagerly await by my mailbox for those Blockbuster Online envelopes and get anxious waiting for the next season to be released on DVD.

But why are they so addictive? For me, it's the characters. I watch them grow and change over the seasons and I can't wait to see what's going to happen to them next. I get sucked into this world and it feels more like a never-ending movie rather than a 60-minute television show.

I cannot help but see the link between these shows and series novels. Characters like Jack Reacher or Harry Bosch have become like old friends that live in my bookshelf. And just as I await for the next HBO series to be released on DVD, I await for new novels to appear on bookstore shelves. Just like a television episode, each novel is a piece of the bigger series in the story of these characters. It's no wonder that Dennis Lehane got tons of mail regarding his digression from the Kenzie and Gennaro series, pleading for him to write another book featuring the characters that readers had grown to love. Just imagine the devastation if Lee Child announced that he will no longer write about Jack Reacher...

I can see why series detective novels are so marketable: you build an audience and string them along book after book. Readers get addicted to the characters, the stories, just as much as 24 or The Wire. But just as most shows eventually come to an end, announcing the both devastating and exciting series finale, authors, like Lehane, often get burnt out on writing the same characters over and over. Even Harry Potter is taking his final bow, upsetting millions of loyal fans. But is it like a television series? Is the mourning process brief because there are so many other drugs to get addicted to? With new series, new characters, and new authors coming out each month, is it easy for fans just to move on to the next series?

While I count down the discs of the final Sopranos season, each episode bittersweet as it moves toward the ultimate finish, I'd love to hear your thoughts. For me, personally, although I love series characters I wouldn't stop reading an author just because he or she tried something new. But I know plenty of readers who fall in love with the characters more than the stories and are crushed, heart-broken even, when their favorite P.I. no longer graces the shelves.

News

Read my latest article on Out On The Net:
http://www.outonthenet.com/article.html?id=595

Also, my short story Everyone Loves a Leo will be included in The Queer Collection, an anthology of short stories written by queer authors. Not sure the exact release date, but I'll keep everyone posted.

Recently Read

The Memory Keeper's Daughter by Kim Edwards is hands down, one of the most beautifully written novels I have read this year...maybe ever. It begins in 1964 when Dr. David Henry delivers his own twins. His son comes out perfectly healthy, but his daughter has down syndrome. Thinking he's doing the right thing, he asks his nurse, Caroline, to take the girl away to an institution and tells his wife that the baby was a still-born. But instead, Caroline takes the girl to another city and raises her as her own. The parallel structure is beautifully crafted and each sentence is like a line of poetry. A definite must-read.

Forests of the Night by David Stuart Davies reminded me much if Sherlock Holmes, except with a little more blood and guts. I won't go into too much detail since the review will be appearing in Crimespree, but Davies had me hooked by page one. Private eye Johnny Hawke is a great protagonist and I look forward to reading the next in the series.

Magical Thinking by Augusten Burroughs is laugh out loud, can't put it down funny. After reading about murder and mayhem, it's nice sometimes to just sit down and laugh with a book. Magical Thinking is a collection of short stories, less linear than his other works but gripping just the same. I believe that anyone dating a writer should read this and see that their significant other isn't actually that neurotic.

I'm currently in the middle of Funny Boy by Shyam Selvadurai but so far, I'm really enjoying it. It tells the story of Arjie who is considered "funny" because of his desire to dress up in women's clothing and his disdain for playing sports. A beautifully written coming of age story of a boy growing up gay in Columbo, Sri Lanka.

Check out the next issue of Crimespree for reviews of Don't Be Afraid and Tranquility Denied.

Writing Rules

I had lunch with a couple of friends yesterday, proving once again that if you get three writers together they will talk about one thing and one thing only: writing. Yes, we briefly touched on work, significant others, the Bears kicking that beautiful field goal, but all roads led back to our favorite topic.

However, one interesting point that crossed our lunch table was the rules of writing. One guy who I had a class with said that he was turned off by genre fiction because he felt it was too formulaic and constraining. I think many people feel the same way, and yes, there is a certain formula to creating a mystery, romance or science fiction novel. Crime committed, find out who did it and why. Girl meets boy. They fall in love. Must overcome obstacles to be together. Kind of open ended formulas, don't you think?

But I have to admit, I do believe in certain rules when it comes to any writing. There are certain things you cannot do (although I'm sure someone will remind me of a novel that did it very well).

1) A Good Protagonist. Yes, Chili Palmer is a loan shark, John Rain is an assassin, and Strike is a drug dealer, but what do they all have in common? Redeeming qualities. Rain won't kill women, children or non-principles. Strike deals drugs but doesn't do them and he has ulcers from the everyday stresses of the job. Palmer, well, Palmer is one charming loan shark and it seems he's always looking out for the greater good. Ya gotta love him. If the main character is all bad or has too many bad qualities, I'm not going to like them and therefore will not like the story.

2) A Good Villain. Even if it's not crime fiction, every novel or story has some antagonist or antagonistic force at work. Without it, how is there any conflict? But the most intriguing villains are those that aren't all bad. Look at Hannibal Lecter. He is one charming cannibal, which makes him all the more creepy.

3) A Good Conflict. No conflict? No story. Period. I had a teacher at Columbia who would always coach us to write "the day when the wheels fall off." You cannot write a story without something out of the ordinary happening, without something changing. Not only does there have to be conflict, but the conflict has to be important enough for readers to care. Say in the opening chapter, a housewife finds a dead body in her living room. Okay, I would say that's not an everyday occurrence. But what if the dead person was wearing a locket with the housewife's picture in it? I would think that the housewife would be a little more invested in finding out who this person is and what his corpse is doing in her living room. It's not enough to cause problems for your characters, the problems have to be personal.

4) Change Needed. No matter what genre, characters must change in the story. If the characters don't change, then what was the point of all that conflict? If the protagonist is the same person at the end of the book that he was at the beginning, then why did I follow the story for 300 pages? I'm sure I'll get a few comments disputing this, but I'm standing by my statement. Characters must change, in some way, by the end of the story.

5) Believable. Again a touchy subject, but I'm standing by it. All stories, no matter how far fetched should be believable. Even horror and dark fantasy novels create a world in which the story is feasible. All great science fiction novels make readers believe that this make-believe future could actually happen, no matter how ridiculous and out there the futuristic society may seem. If your story is about an intergalactic plot to take over the earth and one man's struggle to protect the world from the alien invasion, then you better put a hell of a lot of details showing me how this scenario could actually happen. Would this ever happen? Probably not. But it's the writer's job to show me that it could.

I'm always skeptical when someone tells me that there are rules for any kind of art, but these are the rules as I see them. I'm sure there are exceptions just as I'm sure I've left out a couple hundred so-called rules for writing. But for me, these five are the bottom line. If the book doesn't encompass all of these aspects, chances are, I'm putting it down.

Writing Conferences and You

After shelling out a few hundred bucks for Thriller Fest and with Love is Murder around the corner, I felt a need to speak a little bit about writing conferences. I started a few years back with Dark and Stormy nights, then went to Bouchercon and well, I got hooked. I had never been in a room with so many authors, so many people who understood the writing life and publishing world. And while it is fun to kick back and get hammered, writers, published or not, attend conferences for one primary reason: to network. If you disagree, then I suggest saving your money and getting a beer at your neighborhood bar.

For the published author, you go to market your book, connect with readers, and pretty much gain exposure. For me, I come out of each conference with a list of books to read, books that I probably would never pick up if I hadn't spoken with the author. For Newbies like me, I go to build my list of contacts, to talk with the masters and hopefully gain insight on writing and publishing, and to open myself to new opportunities.

Last year at LIM, I was on the Reviewer Panel moderated by Jon Jordan. After the panel (and after a few beers) Jon gave me the chance to review for Crimespree. I had been so nervous about being on a panel that I was almost going to call and cancel, but if I had, I would never have gotten that opportunity. After a few rounds at the bar, authors continued to come up and introduce themselves, saying that they enjoyed what I had to say on the panel. I was thinking, "Why do these people want to talk to me? Who am I?" But I realized that I was a reader and a reviewer and, to my surprise, and important contact for these authors to have. The next day, I had my pitch session with Cherry Weiner. Again, a last minute decision that I hadn't planned to participate in. But a month after she received my manuscript I was signing on the dotted line.

These conferences are what you make of them. You can't expect to sit at the bar nursing a beer and have people come up to you. You have to be confident and outgoing and be open to all opportunites that may come your way. Many aspiring writers think it's only important to talk to agents and editors. They are wrong. Other authors are some of the most important connections to have. They are the ones who will blurb your book when it comes out, they are the ones you may tour with, they are the ones who may vouch for you when their agent or editor has your manuscript. And, above all, most of them know what they're doing. In this market, if you have a book on the shelves, you have to be doing something right.

I'll be on the reviewer panel again at Love is Murder, so I hope to see everyone there. Take my advice, put yourself out there, pitch, talk to people, make contacts. It will pay off in the long run.

Your Resolutions

New Year’s resolutions that every writer should have:

1) Write More. Whether you regularly write a page a day or 20,000 words a week, double it. You can do it. You need to do it. The more you write, the better you get, so, in theory, if you write twice as much, by this time next year you’ll be twice as good. Triple it, and you’ll be Stephen fucking King.

2) Read More. You know all those books on your shelf that you proudly display and discuss eloquently with your party guests? Wouldn’t it be nice if you actually had read a few of them? Substitute an hour of TV watching with an hour of reading. Law and Order is probably a rerun anyway.

3) Drink Less. Right now you’re probably hungover from last night’s festivities, so you almost certainly agree with this resolution. But as soon as five o’clock hits, you and I both know you’ll be eyeing that beer in the fridge. Resist the temptation. Everyone knows that drinking hinders the writing process (with the exception of Tennessee Williams), so try and keep it to a minimum.

4) Exercise More. As with resolutions one and two, your immediate reaction is “When can I find time to do that?” But the days spent at the computer and the nights spent drinking have left you with a flabby gut, scrawny arms, and the inability to run a block without passing out. You need to remedy that. Join a gym and you can complete resolution number two while you’re on the exercise bike. Buy a couple of free weights and do bicep curls at the computer. Whatever it takes, you need to get in shape.

5) Procrastinate Less. Everyone complains about not having enough time. But how much of the little time you do have is wasted? How many games of spider solitaire did you play yesterday? How much time did you spend surfing the blog-o-sphere? (I mean, just bookmark my page and you can find it quicker!) Eliminate those beloved time-suckers and you can be more efficient and productive. Blocked about a certain scene? Do the dishes while you think it over. Did you complete a chapter and still have an hour to kill? Work on that freelance piece that’s due the next day. (Note to self: you have a freelance piece due tomorrow.)

6) Submit More. Whether you write fiction or nonfiction, short or long, you need to be submitting all the time. While you’re finishing up that great American novel, submit a chapter to a literary magazine or pitch a story idea to your local newspaper. Publishing credits mean a lot and editors aren’t going to come knocking at your door begging to give them to you.

Stick to these resolutions and you are certain to become a better person and writer. If not, I’ll buy you a beer and a donut and leave you to your spider solitaire.

Stealing Books

Tis the holiday season which means, if you're anything like me, the bank account as taken a serious hit. Buying presents, taking trips, and of course, going to bars has caused you to take a double take when you look at your checking account balance. This year, I was trying to be thrifty by making gifts and utilizing the sales, but there is one thing that I couldn't bear to do: buy books used.

Now, almost every DVD that you watch opens with that anti-piracy ad. You know the one. You wouldn't steal a car or rob a store. Buying pirated DVDs is theft, blah blah blah. But when you buy a book from a used book store, the author doesn't receive any compensation for that sale. Isn't that in the same ball park?

In our neighborhood there is a great thrift store, Brown Elephant, where used books are only a buck. Nicole and I have spent many an afternoon searching the shelves for rare first editions that people donated unaware of their value. But occasionally, I have felt torn when I find the new Michael Connelly or Harlan Coben paperback priced at only fifty cents. I mean, I've given them (and Barnes and Noble) a lot of my money already, what's the harm in saving myself some green? And since they are already bestsellers, how much will I, one person, hurt them by buying their book used?

I'm not perfect, there have been a few times that I gave into temptation. But 99 times out of 100, I follow this rule: only buy used books by dead authors. After all, the market is bad enough without more people buying their books on half.com. Some people look at a book and only see paper with words on it. I see the authors who wrote those words and who are trying to make a living by selling them.

Of course, my opinion doesn't count for much since I am a novelist that has yet to be published, so feel free to leave comments. But I know that when my book comes out, I better not catch any of you buying the ARC on Ebay.

Their Daughter the Writer

Chanukah is finally here, and you know what that means: family dinners. And because my parents are divorced, the family dinners are doubled. So this past weekend I spent the second night of Chanukah with my mother and the third with my father, and I couldn't help but laugh at how different the two evenings were. Besides the fact that my father is an accountant who reads biographies of dead presidents and listens to country music and my mother is a therapist who attends yoga and Buddhist meditation groups, the way they speak of me and show their support is very different.




My mother thinks everything I do is wonderful. She subscribes to Time Out, Crimespree and buys whichever issue of Curve I have written for. She speaks of my work as if it deserves a National Book Award, as if getting a 200-word book review published in Crimespree is a feat only to be accomplished by the most talented of writers. To tell you the truth, I could vomit on a piece of paper, hand it to her, and she'd say how she loves my experimental writing style and my willingness to take risks in my work. After dinner and presents, she proceeded to take out her box filled with my publications and pass them around so the family could read. Nicole, of course, gives me the look that I've seen a million times, the one that says, "No wonder you have such a swelled head!" But we all need this person in our lives, the blind cheerleader who will always tell us how wonderful we are, even if we suck.


My father, on the other hand, is more practical. He wants to know how much I get paid for each publication and gauges his support from there. He is more impressed that I am able to support myself financially than he was when I got an agent. I hear him on the phone, telling his friends proudly, "Yup, she's finally off my tab." A whole different type of support. And at this dinner, as I am grilled about the status of my novel and my father makes suggestions about grad school, Nicole gives me a completely different look. It is the look that I've seen a million times, one that says, "Don't worry, I think you're wonderful." But we all need this person in our lives, the skeptic that you want to prove wrong by actually being successful. Sometimes this is what drives me, more than making my mother proud because that is easy. Sometimes I am driven by my stubborn determination to prove my father wrong, and this can be just as effective.


Whenever I talk to writers, especially ones that are still working toward publication, I love hearing about their parents and what they think of their children's writing. My friend Marcus, always raves about how supportive his parents are, how they are always his first readers, whereas Dennis Lehane says that his father still asks when he is going back to teaching to earn a steady living. Some parents think their writer offspring are ruining their lives while others think they are G-d's gift to the literary world. My mother would buy fifty copies of my book when it gets published, while I'm pretty sure my father would just get it at the public library. I could never publish anything and my mother would still think I'm talented. My novel could hit the NY times bestseller list and my father would still ask if I wanted to pick up some extra cash by helping him at his office.

Some may prefer one support method over the other, but I think having a mix works best, when you have one parent swelling your head and eliminating your insecurities before the other takes a pin and bursts your bubble, bringing you back down to earth.

Freelance Prostitution

I took a freelance applications class at Columbia not knowing what to expect. I had always considered myself a fiction writer, not a journalist, but I thought it would be productive to expand my horizons. As the semester progressed, we had many guest speakers, who pretty much all said the same thing.

The career freelancer is always working on numerous deadlines, pitching constantly, and even then, it's still hard to make a living.

Fortunately, I have a day job and wasn't looking to make a living; I just wanted some publication credits. But when I began pitching to magazines and websites, I soon learned what they meant. The turnaround time from pitch to publish takes forever. Right now I'm working on an article, which I got assigned in November. It's due in January and won't hit the shelves until February, which is when I'll receive my pay check. If I was counting on assignments in order to pay my rent, I would always have to be on a deadline. I would have to pitch every day, probably write an article a week, conduct interviews, juggle deadlines, researching possible markets, etc. Even then, would it be enough?

Another lesson I learned in that class was about loyalty. I have always stuck to the mantra, "write what you know" not only because it's true but because I loathe research. It makes no sense for me to pitch to House and Gardens about decorating ideas for the Christmas season when I'm Jewish and decorating-retarded. In the class we did numerous exercises brainstorming about what we know. I came up with a few things: lesbian, Judaism, swimming, writing, books, and Chicago. Not much, but it was a start. So I began pitching to publications such as Curve, Bitch and Time Out, I even pitched to Child Magazine because they pay a buck a word and I thought I could do an article about children's swim lessons. But as I pitched, I thought about how a lot of my article ideas were similar and if one got accepted, would I have to turn down others for purposes of loyalty?

Another woman in my class had been writing for boxing magazines about the Golden Gloves and other tournaments. She pitched to two publications, both of which got accepted. One article was about going to the Golden Gloves and how it was a fun event to attend. The other was about the history of the Golden Gloves, more of a profile piece. When the first "fun thing to do" article came out, the second publication contacted her, saying how they were appalled that she had written a similar article for a competing publication. While both articles were completely different in content and slant, because they were about the same event and both were written for Chicago publications, the latter article was killed.

If we are constantly pitching and writing, trying to make a living freelancing, is it unrealistic to expect completely different ideas and subject matter to be churned out at such a high frequency? If I write regularly for one publication, is it disloyal to pitch to one of their competitors? I'm not on staff, I'm freelance, doesn't that mean I'm free to write for any magazine I want?

Anyone who has worked with me knows that I have an exceptional work ethic. Because of that, I'm very wary of where and what I pitch. However, it seems that freelancers are the prostitutes of the writing world: we'll take clients wherever we can get them, even if a few of them are "competitors" and we have no loyalty to the publication we are writing for. We do the job, the check's in the mail, and it's on to the next assignment. If we write an article for the Chicago Tribune one week, we wouldn't turn down an assignment from the Chicago Sun-Times the next. This is where my work ethic comes into play. Because I write so regularly for Curve and Crimespree, I don't think I could, in good conscience, write for Girlfriends or The Strand. I love my editors and wouldn't want to do anything to jeopardize my relationship with them. But just because I've written one article for Gapers Block doesn't mean I can't write for another Chicago lifestyle publication again.

While a conclusion has yet to be drawn, I think it is an important question that freelancers should ask themselves. When pitching to magazines and newspapers, desperately trying to get enough assignments to pay the phone bill, you should always keep in mind your previous publications. Have you written a similar article for a similar publication? How would that affect your relationships with current contacts? Just because your prostituting yourself for a publication credit, doesn't mean you shouldn't do it with a little bit of class.

First Lines

Any writer, reader, or editor will tell you how important first lines are. It is the first taste of the book, the first chance to pull the reader in. And for me, the first line is usually the first thing I think of when I begin a writing project. Because I was curious, and I had an hour to kill before work, I thought I'd go through my book shelf and pick out some books with great first lines. See if you can guess who wrote it and click on the quote to see if you're right!

"I understand now that innocence is relative." Immediately, I want to know why the character thinks that and why they didn't until now.

"When I was seven, I was plucked from my uneventful life deep in darkest Massachusetts and dropped into a Tang Instant Breakfast Drink commercial." The thing I love about this line, is it gives a sense of the author's voice. Immediately, I know it's going to be humorous and sarcastic. The line also evokes quite an intriguing image.

"The old lady had changed her mind about dying but by then it was too late." Clearly, this line draws the reader into the novel, knowing that this old lady is going to die. But the writer chose, instead of opening with her death, to get inside the lady's head and give her final thoughts.

"If you're going to read this, don't bother." I don't think anyone would listen to the narrator's request and put the book down. The second person point of view addresses the reader and creates an urgent need to read on.

And last, by far my favorite first line ever:

"When the first bullet hit my chest, I thought of my daughter." In just 12 words, we know that the protagonist has been shot, that there will be another bullet coming, that he has a daughter. Fantastic.

Feel free to comment with your favorite first lines as I'm sure there are plenty out there that I failed to mention.

The Reality of Publishing

I'm a realistic person. Despite my dream of being a career novelist, which seems to be the opposite of realism, I have a fairly practical mindset. So when I graduated from Columbia, my completely useless degree in hand, I told myself that I would give it a year. I would give myself a year to become a published novelist and if I didn't get anywhere with it, I would go out and get a real job.

So within the year, I got an agent, and besides the jumping up and down for joy because someone wanted my book, it was also a huge relief that I wouldn't have to buy a business suit, type up my resume and go out into the real world. I could continue to work in my pajamas, sit in smokey coffee houses, and while I would still have to eat Ramen Noodles and dodge my student loan officer, I could call myself a writer.

It's been six months, which from what I hear is no time at all, but my book is still on the desks of publishers and I am still in my pajamas, waiting. My insecurities force me to think about the next year deadline, what will happen if it doesn't sell, if I don't have what it takes to become the career novelist that I always dreamed of being. The realist in me is already preparing my resume and looking for journalism jobs.

But today, I read a post on Tess Gerritsen's blog. She says:

If you really want to be a published novelist, you’ll stick with it. You won’t say “I’ll give it a year, maybe two.” You’ll say “I’ll keep at it, I’ll keep improving my craft, year after year. Even if it never happens.”

I thought about this for a while, reminded of my self-imposed career deadline. Even if I got a real job, did the nine-to-five, would that stop me from writing? Would it stop me from attempting to get published? Of course not. All it would do is give me less time, which would mean less sleep, not less writing. Her comment made me think of all the musicians, artists, and actors who are in the same boat as I am. They all dream of hitting it big, of preforming on Broadway or having an exhibition at the Art Institute, just as I dream of seeing my name on the New York Times Bestseller list? They all do what they have to do to pay the rent, but it doesn't stop them from auditioning, from playing, from making art. They don't say, "I'll give it a year."

I'm a realistic person, and it's unrealistic for me to think that I could ever stop writing, no matter where I work, no matter where my income comes from. Even if this novel doesn't sell, even if the next five I write don't sell. I'll keep at it, and churn out novel number six, because publishing ain't easy. It's not going on interviews or responding to classified ads. It's an occupation that you have to make happen for yourself. And sometimes, that takes a little time. Okay, a lot of time. That is the reality.

The Reading Habits of Writers

Because of NaNoWriMo, I hadn't been reading as much as usual, so the first thing I did after completing word count, was devour a couple of books: Dry by Augusten Burroughs and Panic by Jeff Abbott. Although very different genres, both are fantastic and highly recommended, and it made me realize how much I missed reading!

It amazes me that I still meet writers who, almost proudly, claim that they seldom read. For me, it was my love of reading that made me want to become a writer in the first place. Seeing how authors construct their sentences, weave in the plot layers, develop characters that are relatable yet flawed, was how I cultivated by writing skills. Sure, I sat in workshops, went to critique groups, wrote everyday like breathing, but that would have only taken me so far.

Most writers I meet at Mystery and Thriller conferences, say how they were reading genre fiction since they were kids. Myself, I hadn't heard of Raymond Chandler, Dashiell Hammett, or even James Patterson until I reached college. When I enrolled in classes at Columbia, it was to expand my writing, to try new things and take risks. So, I signed up for Patricia Rosemoor's Suspense Thriller writing class. When I got there, my first semester or freshman year, I listened as all these writers went around the room talking about their favorite authors. What did I do? I took notes, jotting down Michael Connelly, Harlan Coben, Tess Gerritsen, all the authors I had to read if I wanted to write thrillers. I remember when it was my turn to say which authors I read, I honestly answered that I took the class because I didn't know a damn thing about thriller writing. And I vividly remember Patricia giving me this look that told me, "I hope you know what you're getting yourself into."

More than the class, more than the critique, it was the reading that taught me how to write mysteries. When I read the work of the masters, I learned how to plot, how to develop meaningful characters, and cultivate ideas. I looked at published novels, saw what these authors were doing well and brought it to my own writing. To this day, when I'm struggling with voice or pacing, I pick up a novel and see how others handle it.

In my second year at Columbia, one of my short stories was chosen to be adapted into a movie for the film department, and I was asked if I wanted to write the screenplay. Of course I said, "Hell yeah!" but realized I didn't have the first clue about writing a screenplay. So what did I do? I went online and downloaded scripts to some of my favorite book adaptations, see how the writers handled dialogue, exposition, etc. When I began to get freelance gigs, I didn't have any journalism training, I just read the publications and used the articles as models. And I know that if something else comes up, a writing challenge for which I have minimal experience, I will learn from reading.

To me, any writer that boldly states, "I don't read" is selling themselves short. I understand with the pressures of writing deadlines and other obligations that it is difficult to squeeze in reading time. But the books on the NYT bestseller list are there for a reason. Those authors must be doing something right. Filmmakers watch movies, painters go to art museums, and writers read...or at least they should.

The Madness Is Over

Well, I did it. The first draft, a very VERY rough draft of Street Walk is officially completed. There are scenes missing, scenes that need to be cut, subplots that need to be elaborated, but nevertheless, I have typed "The End". For the next few weeks, the novel will be marinating in my laptop and I will be catching up on much needed sleep, reading and movie watching.

The whole process was wonderful. It really showed me what I am capable of as a writer. Writing 3,000 words a day, sometimes in one sitting, seemed impossible, but now I know I can do it. And hey, if I can do it, anyone can.

So many times, I have heard writers, or any artist for that matter, say that they have to wait for inspiration, that the mood has to strike them or else the words seem forced. Well, when you have a deadline, you don't have that kind of time. You have to turn in a product, a good product, whether you were inspired to or not. In my stage of the game, I don't have an editor or publisher telling me when my next manuscript is due. I have to create my own deadlines, or in this case, NaNoWriMo did it for me.

I once asked my uncle about writer's block, asking if he ever got stuck in the middle of a manuscript. He gave me the answer that I later heard him give at an interview. He said that writing is a job. Does a truck driver get stuck? No, he just keeps going. I've always considered that a good motto to live by. If you are serious about your writing, you do it every day, treating it like every other job. And if you keep writing, whether it's a page a day or 5,000 words, eventually you will finish. You will able to sit back at your computer, pop open a beer and type "The End".

Today was my day to pop the beer and type the two words. And even though I know that there is much work that needs to be done to get it to that final draft, the act of completion, of telling a full movement in over three-hundred pages, feels damn good.

Latest Article

The December issue of Curve Magazine should be hitting the stands very shortly. Pick it up and turn to the back page for my article, "Top Ten Reasons We Love Lisa Myers". Enjoy!

Destined for Spinsterhood

Okay, so NaNoWriMo has officially kicked my ass and things such as laundry, grocery shopping and maintaining my blog have been seriously neglected. Fortunately, I have skipped passed the 50,000 word mark and can relax a bit, although not too much. I still want to get at least 20,000 more words done before the end of the month.


But today, as I have sat in front of my computer for about four hours, I was thinking about the life of a writer. Aside from the writing, there is a lot of brainstorming, reading, researching, all of which is done solo. Writing is a solitary life and most of the writers I know are perfectly content to be by themselves for hours, sometimes days at a time. What surprises me the most though, is that most of the writers I know have significant others.

I am not an easy person to deal with: I am neurotic, anal, cranky, scatterbrained and stubborn. Throw writer on top of that and you get a person who is destined for spinsterhood. It amazes me that I have been in a relationship for over two years and Nicole hasn't either left me for good or had me committed to a mental institution. We are not easy people to deal with, so how is it so many of us have people who stay by our side as we spend hours in front of our computers, project these massive egos when really they are just blankets covering the insecurities, and need alone time like runners need water?

At Thrillerfest, Gayle Lynds said that there should be a book called, "How to Live With a Writer". I completely agree. We are, by far, the most difficult people to live and have relationships with. A manual of some sort, wouldn't hurt. So here is my contribution, both for writers and their spouses.

Things you should know about dating a writer:

1) Know that writer's write all the time. Even when they are not putting pen to paper or plowing away at the keyboard, they are still writing. When they are watching TV or doing the crossword puzzle or staring blankly at a white wall, they are writing. They are brainstorming, mentally outlining, plotting, and there's pretty much nothing you can do to stop them. When they say, "I'm working," even though all they appear to be doing is playing spider solitaire, just trust them. They're working.

2) Know that your writer is insecure. They may act like they are G-d's gift to the literary world, but deep inside, they think they are a hack. When a rejection letter comes or the editor is unhappy with their latest draft, give them a pat on the head and tell them they're brilliant. There is a time for constructive criticism and there is a time for ego stroking.

3) Know that writing is their job, a job that they love. Whether your significant other has published ten novels or is still finishing the first, if they consider themselves a writer, then that is their job. Writers don't keep normal hours, the computer doesn't shut off at five o'clock. There are early mornings, late nights, and often weekend writing sessions. Just because it's not always paying, doesn't make the job less legit.

4) Know that your writer needs you. They want you there for support, because they enjoy your company and because they care for you. Writing is such a solitary life, that if they have let you into their realm, it means they must really love you. So don't get offended when they want to go to a cabin for a week by themselves or spend Sunday mornings at a cafe. It doesn't mean they love their laptop more than you. If they did, you wouldn't be in their life.

5) Know that you have to keep them in check. They may think that a deadline means they have the right to abandon all other household and relationship duties, but this is not true. If they are slacking around the house or not spending enough time with you, you need to call them on it. When writers are wrapped up in a project, everything around them seems to fade and it's your job to bring the clarity back.

For Writers, How to Keep Your Significant Other:

1) Be understanding. Know that you are a pain in the ass to deal with. You are needy, stubborn, insecure and often times inconsiderate. Know that your significant other must really love you if they are putting up with all your idiosyncrasies, so you better love them back.

2) If you are dating a non-writer (which I think is highly recommended since two egotistical basket cases would have a difficult time cohabitating), know that they may not always understand what it's like to be a writer. Let them into your world. Tell them about the publishing industry, talk to them about your writing process, it will help them better understand what is going through that crazy head of yours. Don't blow them off with a you-just-don't-understand line, and know that it is hard to sympathize when they aren't sure what exactly you are going through.

3) Show that you care. If you've been slaving away at a novel for six months, celebrate it's completion by taking your significant other out to dinner. Clean the house, pick up some flowers, buy a present for no other reason than you love them. When you spend so much time writing, it's easy to think you love your characters more than your partner. Show them that this isn't true.

4) Balance your time. You spend so much effort creating a writing schedule and juggling deadlines, make sure to factor in your significant other. Create one day a week, or an hour a day, when you put the writing aside and dedicate yourself to the relationship. This is difficult in any dating situation no matter the occupation, but it is extra difficult for writers because, (as stated in the previous section) we are writing constantly. Turning off your author brain for a little bit each day goes a long way.

5) Quit being so damn anal. If you're like me, you want your work station to be just so and the writing conditions have to be perfect to have an effective work day. I need my morning coffee, I need to not speak to anyone for an hour after waking up, I need to have just the right amount of background noise, and I need to not be interrupted. Do not get angry if your partner didn't pick up coffee at the grocery store or calls you when she knows you are writing, or was trying to be helpful by organizing your desk but instead, according to you, ruined your system and now you can't find anything. Know that none of this is her fault or the end of the world. It will save you a lot of stress and quite a few fights to turn down the anal retentiveness level just a notch.

Again, I'm not the expert. Feel free to leave comments if you have any other suggestions. But hopefully everyone will find these suggestions helpful.

It's depressing...in a funny sort of way

Last night, Nicole and I went to see Running With Scissors, a fantastic adaptation of Augusten Burroughs's memoir. After I let the film digest on the walk home, I went to the computer and, like the nerd that I am, searched for interviews with Burroughs to see what he thought of the film. This is what I found on the Book Standard website:

"I never was going to option Running With Scissors for film because I felt it would be too easy to make a really bad, cheesy movie out of it. But this person, Ryan Murphy, kept pestering me and my agent over and over again, so I finally decided to have lunch with him, just to explain to him why I was not going to option it. But he had an understanding of Running With Scissors that I felt only the author of the book could have. It was really remarkable how deeply he related to the book. And by the end of lunch, I had made a 180-degree turn in my feelings...When I saw it [the film], I was just absolutely blown away. On the one hand, it was like watching a home movie, where everyone is, like, gorgeous. But of the other hand, I was able to step back and disconnect emotionally from it and look at it just as a movie. And I was able to realize, this is so fucking cool. This is a great movie. In one minute, it's absolutely hysterical, in the next it's heartbreaking, in the next it's shocking and in the next, it's just weird. All through it, it maintains a real huge heart and it's not pretentious and it's not arty for the sake of being arty. Running With Scissors is amazing when I consider that it's Ryan Murphy's first movie. It's a triumph. I feel lucky to be associated with it."

First of all, I was shocked at the fact that he didn't want to option the book. Isn't that every author's dream? But he didn't see the money they were throwing at him, he saw the possibilities of what could go wrong. I think that most authors are really quick to jump on the Hollywood bandwagon and get their movie check without thinking about the what could possibly happen if they movie was actually made.

The comment about the movie being hysterical, heartbreaking, shocking, and weird all at the same time was right on point. Newbie authors hear time and time again, make sure yoconsistentonsistant tone throughout your work; don't have this violent gritty narrative throwthen thow a dash of humor in. It's jarring. But Burroughs mastered this in his novel, being able to maintain a sense of humor throughout, while conveying the underlying darkness and depression that was plaguing the characters. There were moments, in the theater, when half the audience was gasping and the other half was cracking up, and I thought it was the coolest thing in the world. When I'm reading a book or watching a movie and I'm not sure whether to laugh or cry, it speaks to the talent of the artist. Really, the events in the story were dark and depressing, but were told in such a humourous way, that I actually caught myself, "Wait, this 35 year old man is having a relationship with a fourteen year oThat's...that's not funny!" But would I go to see a film about pedophilia and mental illness? Probably not. It's too depressing. The humor allowed him to tell this heartbreaking tale in a way that would get people to pay attention, laugh, be entertained, while still receiving Burroughs's message.

If you haven't already, read the book and see the movie, you disappointed.

I Write Obituaries

Anyone who has had the nerve to call themselves a writer, has heard this question:

"What do you write?"

Being who I am, I often come back with, "I write obituaries" or "erotic novels for children". It depends on the audience, but it's a great way to get rid of people that you don't want to talk to.

But it's an interesting question, and something that most writers deal with. Because of how the industry it, it seems that genre crossing is never recommended. If your debut novel is a romance, then you sure as hell better write at least three more romance novels in order to build up your audience. If you want to cross genres, you better get a pen name or else the readers will most likely crucify you.

The problem I have had is that I am a genre crosser. I've written literary and genre fiction, short stories and novels, magazine articles and book reviews. It's not because I have ADD and it's not entirely that magazine articles pay and short stories often don't. I truly believe that each form of writing improves the other, and sticking to one median is limiting your writing potential.

For instance, in a novel, you have 90,000 words to play with. That's a lot. And I have read too many books that meander through the plot because they have so much to work with. When I have to write a 500 word magazine article about a person that has accomplished enough to fill a book, I am forced to be more selective. I'm sure I'm preaching to the choir here, but it would do a lot of novelists a lot of good to be more selective with their words, only putting in the passages which are essential to the story. The same goes for genre and literary. As Michael Cunningham so beautifully stated, "I get tired of reading books about people sitting in rooms talking about people sitting in rooms talking." If more literary writers tried their hand at a mystery or horror novel, they could learn a lot about plot and tension. Conversely, a genre writer could learn a lot more about character development and emotional drive by writing literary fiction.

The other question that is often asked is, "What do you write about?"

And I look at the asker like a deer in the headlights. "I'm sorry, I don't understand."

I can tell them what my novel is about, I could give them a one line synopsis of my short stories, but would those be accurate answers? Is what I write about judged by what I have already written? Like I said, I'm a genre crosser. Different things interest me and there's no telling what I'm going to be drawn to tomorrow or a year from now. Thou Shall Not is about the ultra-orthodox community in Israel while the project I'm working on for NaNoWriMo is about a reformed prostitute living on the north shore. Yes, I know there was a prostitution sub-plot in the first book, but that doesn't mean there is a connection. My short stories range from coming of age tales, to a girl getting the wrong zodiac sign tattooed on her hip, coming out to my Jewish grandmother or beating up a kid on the playground because he said thought I was a boy. If I only wrote about one thing, I would go nuts. To me, it's the equivalent of going to the office Monday through Friday from nine to five. It get's real dull, real quick.

To please the publishing industry, I have my answers about what I write and what I write about, the two line pitch and my platform. But the truth is, I write. That's it. And I wish it was a sufficient answer to the frequently asked questions.

Chill Mag article and Nanowrimo update

Due to the intensity of NaNoWriMo, the blogging hasn't been as frequent. So far, it has been a very interesting experience. Although it makes total sense, I was amazed at how easy it is to write 3,000 words a day if you just say, "I'm not leaving this chair until I make my word count!" You want to go to the bathroom. You want another cup of coffee. You want to watch bad day-time television. You will write those 3,000 words! Yes, chores are being ignored, laundry and dishes are piling up, I haven't seen much of my friends, and I'm becoming slightly sleep deprived...But it'll be worth it in the end (and if anyone wants to volunteer to clean my house, that would be great. Just think of it as a donation to the arts). As of right now, I'm at 14,500, almost right on schedule. But hopefully, I'll crank out another thousand by the end of the day.

The other aspect that has been amazing to me is how much your own writing can surprise you. When your streamlining the story, the thoughts coming faster than your fingers can type, it seems that the characters take on a life of their own. I heavily outlined the major plot points, but let the connecting scenes write themselves, and I found myself saying, "Shit, I didn't know that was going to happen." I think this is the good part of the writing, when your own story can surprise you, when, just like the reader, you're unsure of what could happen next. Whether or not I'll end up writing myself into a hole, it's too soon to tell. Right now I'm enjoying the experience, especially when I run into other sleep deprived writers at some cafe and I ask, "NaNoWriMo?" and they just give a zombie like nod and reply, "NaNoWriMo."

On another interesting note, I was featured in an article for Chill magazine, written by the very talented Alicia Eler. After years of writing about other people, it was a cool experience to be on the other side of the interview. Check it out, e-mail it to your friends, get this girl a little press to feed her ever growing ego!