The Worst Thing About Writing

Quite often, writers are asked about writing. One of the questions most often asked, I've found, is "where do you get your ideas". I blogged briefly on that topic here, at The Five Star Blog in May, and I'll be blogging on that subject again on November 2nd at "The Idea Boutique".

Recently, however, I was asked a question that I couldn't recall having been asked before. It was: What did I feel was the worst thing about writing? After I gave my response, I thought the question had the makings of an article. And so, I wrote one. The result was a first-person opinion piece that appeared in this week's issue of AbsoluteWrite. My agreement with the publisher doesn't permit me to reprint it here, but if you'd like to take a look, the link to the article is:

http://www.absolutewrite.com/freelance_writing/worst_thing.htm

If you'd like to share your own thoughts on what the worst thing about writing is for you, post a response here, or write to me at: karen@karenfenech.com

Regards,
Karen
http://www.karenfenech.com/

Book Covers

I've been out of touch for a while, busy with new releases due out this month, next, and November. While all this pre-publication prep has been going on, one of the things I've been focused on are book covers.

Waiting to for my book covers is always nail-biting time for me. It's a lot to expect for one image to capture the essence of a 90,000 page book. That's the equivalent, I think, to writers condensing our stories into a one-page synopsis. It's not easily done, and not always done well. We've all seen some terrible book covers out there and felt the author's heartbreak.

I received the cover for BETRAYAL a while back, and am thrilled to write that I was, well, thrilled. Five Star invites authors to submit an idea for their covers. I had a vague one, and after I submitted it, I worried that the artist reading my small offering, might be thrown off a great idea of his own. I was worried that I might have contributed to a terrible cover. The artist, however, included a couple of the elements from my idea and then came up with something so much better than I'd imagined.

I'm challenged when it comes to uploading files etc, so I couldn't post the cover here. It's on my website, though, if you'd like to take a look. Let me know what you think. The link to my site is: http://www.karenfenech.com/ The cover is posted on the "BOOKS" page.

I just received the cover for my September short story release, and I'm happy to write that I like that one too. Two covers down, one more to go. . .

Regards,
Karen
http://www.karenfenech.com/

Life's Journey

Upon reflecting about my life, I realized…
Mine is no different than others; we are all children of the Universe. All of us have written our personal life stories in and through the lives we have touched. Life is not an easy road for most; it twists and turns with many forks in the road, although always, and inevitably, we are given a choice…do I turn to the left? Or to the right? Do I take the high road…or the low road? Do I take the easy path…or the difficult one? Decisions have not always been easy as I struggled for direction…sometimes the many choices and signs became overwhelming.

While standing at a crossroads in my life, the urge, as with most, was to take the most comfortable path; the road with least resistance—the shortest or most traveled route. I’ve been down that comfortable road before; have gleaned its lessons in life, and learned from my experiences; into my life entered the thought of writing professionally, and I found myself; my soul; drowning in indecision…Do I yet again follow the known? Or does my destiny lie in another direction?

The fear of the road less traveled is tangible and all too real; it manifests itself in many ways, and tends to cloud the issues that might otherwise be clear. It is in these times of confusion, I have learned; that we must seek peace and solitude; time to contemplate on our life, our experiences, and our choices past; time to look back, and reflect on what we have learned without fear or confusion.

For only each of us knows our own personal thoughts; our unique past and personal history; the experiences that brought us to the crossroads we now face. We can always learn a small degree from others experiences, and yet—no one person can walk in our shoes, others know not, the trials and tribulations faced in private—for each is individual…unique…and personal.

And that is why, while standing at a crossroads, only “we” can formulate the decision for ourselves; the true direction that lies within ; the choices we much deliberate on with clarity and wisdom. For it is only through personal reflection, that we can now choose our destiny; our next adventure, and the future we will embrace.

May the true force of your paths and journeys always be with you.

Rejection King

April's post (The Writer's Life) was timely. My thoughts recently have been wandering down the same avenue as the second part of her post -- how do you draw encouragement from rejection? The fact is, I don't think another profession out there (perhaps aside from acting) presents its practitioner with as much rejection as writing. We've heard tales of job seekers sending out hundreds of resumes with few responses, but often they send resumes to positions for which they are un- or ill-qualified.

That's not to say there aren't thousands of wannabe writers out there who are truly ill-equipped to write a good piece of novel-length fiction. There are. And hundreds of them have found a way to get published through print-on-demand technology. There are also thousands of writers who actually can string together a sentence, some of whom are talented enough to write a book. Even then, they may not be good enough to submit their work to a traditional publisher.

Far greater, however, are the number of writers who work hard at their craft and have enough inate talent to write good, well-plotted books with interesting characters, a fresh voice and intriguing themes. Many of them, like me, are published. But the road to publication is littered with rejection. Like April, I did a quick count and came up with 283 rejection letters in the course of the last 30 years.

The fifth book in my Emerson Ward mystery series was published in hardcover recently. I just completed the manuscript for the sixth. It's the best piece of fiction I've ever written, a result of hard work and years of practice at this craft. In the past two weeks, I've already been turned down by 17 agents.

Why do we endure this sort of rejection? What is it about writers that makes us come back, day after day, and sit in front of typewriter/computer/paper to write? Why are we so compelled to tell stories that will end up receiving jeers from so many? Why do we punish ourselves with not only one of the hardest jobs I know of, but the humiliation of rejection as well?

Perhaps because acceptance, when it comes, is validation of what we knew all along -- we're good at what we do. While most of here on this blog don't yet have legions of fans, if we could find a way to let more people know about us and what we write, we would.

Rejection? Hardly. More like motivation.

Michael W. Sherer
Death Is No Bargain
www.emersonwardmysteries.com

The Writer's Life

I doubt there is anything more frightening to a writer than a blank screen (or piece of paper). You stare at it as though expecting the muse to appear any minute. But that minute soon turns into micutes, then hours, and still NOTHING. Is this writer's block? Is this a writer's truest frustration and moment of despair? For some perhaps. For me it used to be. Now, however, I find it challenging. The blank screen actually awakens my creative spirit from within and gets me excited about what I KNOW will appear--sooner or later. As I allow these thoughts to become stronger (the excitement and anticipation) it's usually under the hour mark before my fingers are tapping away. I now know how Mozart must have felt before psyching himself up and lowering his fingers to the keys before him. I like to think of it as my new found creative block.

In reflecting over the month past I realized I actually wrote more (and better) by allowing the blank screen to be there. Giving it permission to remain blank. It took my mind OFF the screen and into my heart and soul where the muse eventually awakened, arrived, and created. There's many frustrations and disappointments a writer goes through on their journey to publication. Many of these I have just recently discovered; some I have known about ever since I put pencil to paper to compose that first story at age five.

The most despairing feeling is, of course, rejection. Earlier today I had my "rejection collection" out just so I could actually give myself a sense of accomplishment from them. There are 216 of them. The earliest one dated back to 1976. That's thirty years I KNOW I have been writing professionally. Professionally meaning - NEVER giving up in spite of rejection but rather--honing your craft, learning from comments editors may have made, and making tenacity and perseverance your inner trademarks.

Last night I received a positive rejection from an agent. Yes, there are POSITIVE rejections! So much so that it inspired within me a drive to "go for it!" Here is the message:

Thank you for your submission for the Wanderlust Mysteries. We are actually very aware of your series and think it’s a terrific hook. Unfortunately, it’s very difficult to move a series mid-publication, so I will have to pass on this book. Our assistant saw the terrific hook and immediately requested the proposal. I would be very happy to see any new series you decide to work on, or even hear a pitch in an email if you’d like to try something out.

You better believe I pitched something out! I gave it my BEST shot and that's all any of us can do as writer's or anything else we are passionate about.