It’s Time for New Year’s Resolutions
 
It’s that time again, a time to reflect on the past year and make resolutions about what we want to achieve in 2018. Perhaps you submitted for the first time this year and likely collected your first rejection slip. How are you going to turn that around in 2018? Maybe you were published for the first time this year. How are you going to up your game in the New Year?

I’ll go first. I had an achievable goal of writing 20 or more short stories in 2017. I fell a little short because of a switch in focus mid-year. So, I’m going to stick with a goal of writing and submitting at least 20 short stories in 2018. Additionally, I am making it a goal to have 10 short stories accepted for publication.

I found recently that I have bits and pieces of 15 novels in progress. Some are mere outlines, some have as many as 20,000 words written. It’s time I made a commitment to finishing at least one of these babies in the coming year.

In 2017, I edited over 750,000 words including 7 novels, a couple dozen short stories and 138 Flash Fiction stories. My goal for 2018 is to find more of a balance in my writing and editing efforts. I’m looking to edit 4 or more books through my free-lance business as well as keeping up with the books I edit for Oghma. I’d like to add about 6 more short-story or article authors as clients as well. I’m shooting for 1,000,000 words edited in 2018 for both my freelance clients and Oghma.

I’ll try to post updates on my progress toward these goals on my blog posts at www.dennisdotywebsite.com/blog.

Those are my goals for 2018. Tell us about yours.
 
#goals # resolutions #writing #editing #freelance
 

So, you’ve found a great idea for your next story. Your MC is a high-school student who is being bullied by her peers. You sit down at your keyboard and hammer it out. You send it to a couple of friends who just love it. So, you think you’re ready to submit to a publisher. You get on The Grinder and find the perfect YA market. You whip off a short cover letter extolling the virtues of your story, and send it off.

NO!
           
Here’s what happens next. A secretary at the Publisher, glances at your cover letter and begins shaking their head. Feeling generous, they take a look at your manuscript. The first thing they notice is that it’s not in proper Shunn format for submissions. Most of the time, this is where your story will hit the shredder, but as I said, this secretary is in a particularly good mood, so they forward it to a reader or junior editor for a look. Let’s assume that it is an editor.

The editor glances at it and, also notes that you have both an improper cover letter and your submission is not in the proper format. Almost certainly he/she will shred it and remind the secretary that she is the first line of defense against worthless submissions. But, let’s assume it is the day of the annual Christmas party and everyone is in a great mood.

He/she skims through your first paragraph looking for the hook. Hook? Yeah, you know, the part where you set the scene, introduce one or more characters, and an element of tension to get the reader to read the rest of page one. Nothing. Shredder. But wait! It is Christmas, so he/she plods on figuring that if the story is good enough, the hook can be fixed.
They read through a couple pages of so-so narrative about the miseries of being a high school student. There are a couple of interactions that are semi-interesting, but nothing jumps out at them and says, “Keep reading this manuscript”. Shredder. But wait. The item before your manuscript in his/her inbox was a Christmas bonus check. You’re in luck. He/she skips to the last page of your manuscript and begins looking for the denouement. That’s the part of the story where you tie up all the loose ends and show how your MC has evolved through the story. Instead they find a conversation between your protagonist and another character that goes like this:

MC: “What are you doing after school?”
Character: “I’ve got no plans.”
MC: “You want to go to Mickey D’s and grab a burger?”
Character: “Sure.”

Shredder.

The point of this post is that there are certain standards and procedures which must be followed if you are to have any hope of ever being published.

Your first draft of the story should never be shown to anyone. Write it. Let it sit in a quiet corner of your computer memory for a couple weeks until you are not so attached to it. When the proper time has passed, pull it out. Run through it with a single thought in mind. Emotion. Where does this story evoke emotions in you as a reader? Where can you add, or cut, to increase the emotional impact? Make those changes and read through again. Does it make you laugh, snort coffee through your nose or cry in your coffee cup? If not, run through it again and punch up the emotion. It may take one, three or ten read-throughs to polish this piece with emotional impact.

Now, run through it to be sure that it all makes sense and flows well. Do actions happen in a logical sequence? Are there any plot holes? Plot holes? Yeah, those sequences where she puts her books in her locker then picks them up off her desk, or refers to a character she hasn’t met yet. Plot holes. Pesky inconsistencies which make the reader stop and ask, “What?”

I mentioned flow. Do you vary your sentence lengths and structures? Or do you write in consistently short choppy sentences which sound vaguely like “Fun With Dick and Jane”? Short choppy sentences are great for conveying rapid action such as a fight scene, but not for the body of your work. The opposite end of the spectrum are long run-on sentences, especially those full of unnecessary details or backstory.

When you have finished filling the plot holes and checked the flow, read through it again with the idea of imagery. As you read, do you get a clear image in your mind of the settings and character. Is that image clearly conveyed in the writing? Here’s where it takes a deft touch. I really don’t want to read about her red Aeropostale jeans with the cut-outs on both legs, the “I Love Maroon 5” tee-shirt or her funky lime green sneakers. I want you to show me her character. Who is she as a person? How does she feel? How does she interact with others? If it doesn’t move the story forward or give the reader an insight into the character, CUT IT. Be ruthless.

Okay. You’ve taken the time and done the hard parts. Now it’s ready to submit, right? No. Now you run it through your Word spelling and grammar check and fix everything with red or blue lines below it. Maybe your run it through Grammarly. Now, it’s ready for a couple of beta readers. Not friends or family, but real beta readers. You might want to get opinions from one or two teens because they are your target market, but you also want hard, critical opinions by other writers who understand story structure. Writers who will tell you if your hook works, if your writing is strong or weak, if it needs more emotion, if you tense hopped or fell into passive voice. You take all this feedback and incorporate the parts that you can agree with and ignore the parts that you feel will harm the story you want to tell or honestly feel are not helpful.

When this part is done, you are ready for a professional edit. Here you might have to make a choice. If your story is 3,000 words or less and is not intended for a prestigious contest, then it is unlikely to generate more that $30-40 for first rights. You may have to rely on good betas here. You could try to find an editor you can trade services with or take a chance on a new editor trying to build a clientele. If the story is longer or especially for novel length works, you need to invest in an editor. Your betas should have indicated, even if only between the lines, if you need developmental editing or if you can get by with a good line edit. You will need the line edit even if you use a developmental editor. They do two completely different jobs.

Finally, you get your story back. You apply the editor’s changes making note especially of repeated corrections which indicate bad habits you need to work on. Now it’s ready to submit. You go to your chosen market listing and carefully read all the instructions including format and what to include in a cover letter. Following these instructions exactly, you prepare a cover letter that puts your best foot forward while not seeming pushy or egocentric. You thank them in advance for reading your submission and let them know that you look forward to hearing from them. You put your manuscript in the indicated format. If no format is indicated, then standard Shunn format is expected. Take the time to do it, then take more time to look it over and be sure that it is correct.

Now, you’re ready to submit. You do a little research and find the name and job title of the editor who handles your genre or is supervising this particular contest or submission period. You write a short email and attach both your cover letter and manuscript. If the publisher requests an author bio, attach that, too. You check over everything again making sure that you have followed the publisher’s guidelines, that you have attached the most recent version of your work and any other attachments required. NOW you hit send.

Congratulations. You have done everything in your power to insure your story is read and, hopefully, accepted. Now, it’s up to the strength of your writing.

That’s it for this blog post. Until next time, Happy Writing.
 
#writing #fiction #editing #submissions #publishing

Interview with Gloria Ogo
Author of
“While Men Slept”
 
Gloria, thank you for taking the time to sit down with me today and discuss your new book.
You are welcome. Thank you.
 
When did you first decide that you wanted to be a writer?
Right from high school, I have always had a penchant for writing and literature. Then, I dabbled into light writing, nothing too serious. Until ten years ago, when I wrote my first novel( (yet to be published). In-between, I filled time with some short stories. Then, three years ago, I wrote my second one While Men Slept (now published). You could say, the writer has always been in me, waiting to exhale. The decision was never mine to make.
 
Which books and authors inspire you, and which ones do you just want to curl up with and read?
I am inspired in the wake of Chinua Achebe’s book Things fall apart, Bichi Emecheta’s Second Class Citizens and Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie’s Purple Hibiscus. The aforementioned are all educational and research materials for me. The ones I read for relaxation are thriller genres by author Dean Koontz, legal kinds by Sidney Sheldon and suspense shots of James Hadley Chase.
 
What are you doing when you aren’t writing?
When I am not writing, you will find me being a loving daughter and sibling (or so I hope*laughs*) Other times, I am working as a Secretary or finding quiet spots to read.
 
How long have you been writing, and is this your first published work?
I have been writing ever since I could hold a chalk and pen. Yes, this is my first published work. (sighs gratefully)
 
Where did the idea for the book come from?
The book was inspired by my immediate environment. Nigeria is a breeding ground of rich stories, waiting to be told. Rich, not necessarily in its content, but in its propensity as societal mirror to its people and a moral compass for our eroding values and structures.
 
Your characters, in “While Men Slept” are so vivid and real, are they based on actual people?
The activities are based on real events which African women relive daily and have unconsciously assimilated as status quo. They have become complacent in this unfair re-enactment and for so long considered it as being the way nature intended.
No, they are not based on real people.
 
Do you have a favorite character in the book, and if so, who and why?
All my characters are like my literary babies, not exalted above the other. They each represent an aspect of my society where I long for changes.
 
What can you share with us about your process in writing a novel?
I am not a straight-jacket kind of person who would choose to streamline myself to processes and patterns. When inspiration hits, which is at odd moments, I just pick up my pen and pour my heart out.
 
Now that you’re only a couple weeks from your release date, what other projects are you working on?
I have gone back to my closet to blow the dust off the binders of my first novel which I am in the process of editing and hope to release in 2018.
 
When is your release date and where can we get a copy of “While Men Slept”?
My maiden novel will officially launch 16th December, 2017. I would have love to have it sold on Amazon, but that platform, currently, does not cater to Nigerian based authors. So, for now, copies can be ordered through my email glodeniro@yahoo.com or message me through my facebook page or my Author page https://www.facebook.com/Authorgloriaogo/
 
Where can my readers follow you on social media?
I love connecting with people. They can meet up with me on facebook, Gloria Ogo or my author page (link already provided above).
 
What other question(s) do you wish I had asked?

What difference do I see this work making in the future?
Over the years, I have seen Nigerians hunger for change, a difference, a usurp of the cyclical decomposition of our society. But, before an illness can be tackled adequately and effectively, there must first be a determination of cause. In future, an awareness of why we are like this as a nation will be established. An in-depth scrutiny of minds will commence and a discussion will be generated on public platforms, backed by prompt actions of restitution.
 
And were there any challenges encountered along the process?
In order to accurately depict each character in a manner that would be relatable to the reader, I had to constantly submerge my consciousness into the minds of these characters. It, sometimes, left me drained and was tasking, trying to resettle into my persona. My major challenge was getting a professional editor who would handle my baby right and give it the solid sponge bath it direly needed to sparkle. I was fortunate to take this path with Denis Doty and I have never regretted a moment working with him.