{"id":1470,"date":"2021-09-22T01:55:38","date_gmt":"2021-09-22T09:55:38","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/treehousewriters.com\/wp53\/?p=1470"},"modified":"2021-09-14T11:06:47","modified_gmt":"2021-09-14T19:06:47","slug":"auntie-deborah-answers-your-questions-about-writing","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/treehousewriters.com\/wp53\/2021\/09\/22\/auntie-deborah-answers-your-questions-about-writing\/","title":{"rendered":"Auntie Deborah Answers Your Questions About Writing"},"content":{"rendered":"<p><span style=\"font-family: georgia;\">In this installment, Auntie Deborah discusses writing a first draft, the unfairness of publishing, and when to run away from a publisher&#8217;s contract. <img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"alignright size-full wp-image-1471\" src=\"https:\/\/treehousewriters.com\/wp53\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/09\/Stevens_The_Letter.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"169\" height=\"240\" \/><\/span><\/p>\n<p><i>Dear Auntie Deborah<\/i>: How can I prevent myself from constantly trying to edit as I draft?<\/p>\n<p><i>Auntie Deborah<\/i>: You\u2019re halfway there in understanding why it\u2019s important to plough through that draft so you can look at the whole thing when it\u2019s time to revise. It\u2019s tempting but (for many of us) deadly to halt forward progress and nitpick. Here are a few strategies that have worked for me:<\/p>\n<div>\n<ul>\n<li>Beginning each session with reading the last page or so but not making any changes in it.<\/li>\n<li>Reminding myself that the only draft that counts is the one on my editor\u2019s desk. And that what looks like an error may point me in the direction of a deeper, richer story, so I need to preserve all that drek the first time through.<\/li>\n<li>Reminding myself about author B, whose work I greatly admire, who told me that no one, not even her most trusted reader, sees anything before her third draft.<\/li>\n<li>Giving myself permission to be really, really awful.<\/li>\n<li>Falling in love with the revision process. I can hardly wait to get that first draft down so I have something to play with.<\/li>\n<li>Writing when I\u2019m tired. Believe it or not, this helps because it\u2019s all I can do then to keep putting down one word after another.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p>All that said, sometimes editing is the right thing, like when it feels as if I\u2019m pushing the story in a direction it doesn\u2019t want to go, or I\u2019ve written myself into a hole I can\u2019t dig out of. Usually that means I\u2019ve made a misstep earlier, not thought carefully about where I want to go. Or whatever I thought the story was about, I was wrong, and the true story keeps wanting to emerge. How do I tell when this is the case? Mostly experience, plus willingness to rip it all to shreds and start over.<\/p>\n<div class=\"q-text\">\n<p class=\"q-text qu-display--block\"><i>Dear Auntie Deborah<\/i>: How do you come up with names for your characters?<\/p>\n<div class=\"q-box qu-mb--small\">\n<div class=\"q-box spacing_log_answer_header\">\n<div class=\"q-flex\">\n<div class=\"q-inlineFlex qu-flex--none qu-mr--small qu-alignItems--center\">\n<div class=\"q-inlineFlex qu-flex--none\">\n<div class=\"q-inlineFlex\">\n<div class=\"q-inlineFlex qu-overflow--hidden qu-borderRadius--circle\">\n<div class=\"q-box qu-bg--white__ignore_dark_mode qu-borderRadius--circle\"><i style=\"font-size: 0.875rem;\">Auntie Deborah<\/i><span style=\"font-size: 0.875rem;\">: Sometimes the novel and its setting dictate parameters for last names. For example, if I\u2019m writing a science fiction novel about Scottish colonists on Mars, I\u2019m going to look at Scottish last names.<\/span><\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<div class=\"q-text\">\n<p class=\"q-text qu-display--block\">Often the character herself will suggest a last name, either based in ethnicity or personal traits and history. An aging hippie might have changed their last name to Sunchild or Windflower or Yogananada. A family trying to erase immigrant origins might have a last name like Smith or Jones.<\/p>\n<p class=\"q-text qu-display--block\">And then there\u2019s the telephone book (do such things still exist?) Or the credits for a really big movie, the ones that go one for screen after screen after screen. Do be careful when using real last names, though. If they\u2019re too different, they might be identifiable. Just use the lists as prompts for your thinking.<\/p>\n<p class=\"q-text qu-display--block\">Another strategy is to look at first names and then use them as last names. (My middle name is Jean, which was my mother\u2019s last name, so the reverse could also be true.)<\/p>\n<p class=\"q-text qu-display--block\">That said, always do an internet search for the name you\u2019ve chosen. Even if you aren\u2019t aware of others with that name, it\u2019s good to know.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<div><\/div>\n<div class=\"q-text qu-dynamicFontSize--small qu-mt--small qu-color--gray_light qu-passColorToLinks\"><i style=\"font-family: georgia; font-size: 0.875rem;\">Dear Auntie Deborah<\/i><span style=\"font-family: georgia; font-size: 0.875rem;\">: Why do so many terribly-written books get published?<\/span><\/div>\n<\/div>\n<div class=\"q-box qu-mb--small\">\n<div class=\"q-box spacing_log_answer_header\">\n<div class=\"q-flex\">\n<div class=\"q-inlineFlex qu-flex--none qu-mr--small qu-alignItems--center\">\n<div class=\"q-inlineFlex qu-flex--none\">\n<div class=\"q-inlineFlex\">\n<div class=\"q-inlineFlex qu-overflow--hidden qu-borderRadius--circle\">\n<div class=\"q-box qu-bg--white__ignore_dark_mode qu-borderRadius--circle\"><\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<div class=\"q-text\"><i>Auntie Deborah<\/i><span style=\"font-size: 0.875rem;\">:\u00a0<\/span><i><br \/>\n<\/i><\/p>\n<ul>\n<li>There are no quality gate-keepers (or, often editors and proofreaders) for self-published books. Anyone can type up garbage and throw it up on the web.<\/li>\n<li class=\"q-relative\">Literary quality takes second (or twelfth) place to great story-telling, and great story-telling is in the mind of the reader. Commercial publishers go for what makes money, not what will be read and appreciated a century from now.<\/li>\n<li class=\"q-relative\">As science fiction author Theodore Sturgeon said, \u201cNinety percent of everything is cr@p.\u201d One might argue that 99.99 percent is more accurate.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p>It\u2019s infuriating for authors who pour their heart and soul into a book to make it the very best they can. Alas, it\u2019s also the cold, hard publishing business. But hang in there and keep improving, because someday, an editor will adore your work and shower you with money to buy the right to publish it.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\n<p><i>Dear Auntie Deborah<\/i>: Olympia Press offered me a hybrid contract, but I can&#8217;t afford the fee. Am I walking away from a great opportunity?<\/p>\n<div class=\"q-box spacing_log_answer_header\">\n<div class=\"q-flex\">\n<div class=\"q-inlineFlex qu-flex--none qu-mr--small qu-alignItems--center\">\n<div class=\"q-inlineFlex qu-flex--none\">\n<div class=\"q-inlineFlex\">\n<div class=\"q-inlineFlex qu-overflow--hidden qu-borderRadius--circle\">\n<div class=\"q-box qu-bg--white__ignore_dark_mode qu-borderRadius--circle\"><i style=\"font-size: 0.875rem;\">Auntie Deborah<\/i><span style=\"font-size: 0.875rem;\">: You are walking away not walking away from a great opportunity, you are walking away from a scam.\u00a0Never\u00a0pay a publisher! This is what\u00a0<em>Writer Beware<\/em>, has to say:<\/span><\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<p class=\"q-text qu-display--block\">Hybrid Publisher:\u00a0There&#8217;s some disagreement over whether there actually is such a thing as a hybrid publisher&#8211;a company that charges substantial fees yet provides a service that&#8217;s otherwise equivalent to traditional publishing, including rigorous selectivity and editing, high royalties, offline distribution, non-bogus PR, and more. Regardless, the term is extensively misused by vanity publishers trying to look more legitimate. Any publisher billing itself as &#8220;hybrid&#8221; demands further investigation.<\/p>\n<p class=\"q-text qu-display--block\"><a href=\"https:\/\/accrispin.blogspot.com\/2019\/07\/from-writer-bewares-files-seven-most.html\"><em>Writer Beware<\/em>\u00a0goes on to include Olympia in their questionable firms.<\/a><\/p>\n<div class=\"q-relative qu-borderAll qu-borderWidth--retinaOverride qu-borderWidth--regular qu-borderRadius--medium qu-overflow--hidden\">\n<div class=\"q-flex qu-justifyContent--space-between\">\n<div class=\"q-relative qu-overflow--hidden\">\n<blockquote>\n<div class=\"q-absolute qu-fullY qu-borderLeft\"><span style=\"font-size: 0.875rem;\">Seven Prolific Vanity Publishers (Austin Macauley Publishers, Pegasus Elliot Mackenzie, Olympia Publishers, Morgan James Publishing, Page Publishing, Christian Faith Publishing, Newman Springs Publishing) <\/span><span style=\"font-size: 0.875rem;\">Austin Macauley Publishers, Pegasus Elliot Mackenzie, Olympia Publishers, Morgan James Publishing, Page Publishing, Christian Faith Publishing, Newman Springs Publishing<\/span><\/div>\n<\/blockquote>\n<div><span style=\"font-size: 0.875rem;\">I highly encourage you to do your homework about any prospective publisher. Check it out in Writer Beware and Editors and Predators. Talk to writers who\u2019ve worked with that publisher. In almost all cases, you\u2019re better off self-publishing than going with one of these exploiting outfits. (Note: CreateSpace went by-by several years ago and is now Amazon\u2019s Kindle Direct Publishing; I prefer Draft 2 Digital, which gives you library sales through Overdrive.)<\/span><\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<p class=\"q-text qu-display--block\">Given that there are some wonderful, highly professional small presses who consider unagented material, I can\u2019t understand why you wouldn\u2019t begin with the top traditional publishing markets first.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<p><!--more--><\/p>\n<p>Good luck!<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>In this installment, Auntie Deborah discusses writing a first draft, the unfairness of publishing, and when to run away from a publisher&#8217;s contract. Dear Auntie Deborah: How can I prevent myself from constantly trying to edit as I draft? Auntie Deborah: You\u2019re halfway there in understanding why it\u2019s important to plough through that draft so [&hellip;]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":6,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[20,19,18],"tags":[144,229,328,329,269],"class_list":["post-1470","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-process","category-publishing","category-writing","tag-advice-to-new-writers","tag-learning-to-write","tag-scam-publishers","tag-writer-beware","tag-writing-craft"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/treehousewriters.com\/wp53\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1470","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/treehousewriters.com\/wp53\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/treehousewriters.com\/wp53\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/treehousewriters.com\/wp53\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/6"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/treehousewriters.com\/wp53\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=1470"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/treehousewriters.com\/wp53\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1470\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":1472,"href":"https:\/\/treehousewriters.com\/wp53\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1470\/revisions\/1472"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/treehousewriters.com\/wp53\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=1470"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/treehousewriters.com\/wp53\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=1470"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/treehousewriters.com\/wp53\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=1470"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}