Thankful for Writing

On this Thanksgiving weekend I'm thankful for a lot of things.  I have a wonderful family and friends, a good-paying job and all the necessities.  The people in my life are wonderfully supportive of me in my endeavors.

One important thing I'm thankful for is writing.  Right now, it's primarily a hobby, although it could be likened to a habit or addiction.  I have never made a living from my writing and possibly never will.  Financial gain is not why I do it.  I do it because it makes me happy.  It's an outlet.  Cathartic in so many ways.  I have no idea if my writing is really any good.  People like it.  I think it's good.  But, again, I don't know for sure.  Most people seem to measure writing success by whether they ever get published.  For me, it's successful simply because it keeps me sane.  Everybody needs an outlet.  For some, it's running a marathon.  For others, it can be eating.  Still others use shopping.  There are also gambling, smoking, drinking, singing, dancing, any number of things.  We all need something.

So, on this most appreciative of weekends, I am thankful for writing.

What are you thankful for?

A Successful Query: Part 1

Sometimes, I just have a hard time coming up with good ideas for blogging.  As I've said, I started this blog to help others hopefully wade through the research faster.  There's so much out there.  So many helpful resources.  I wish I could somehow list them all here.  At least I can pass along one tidbit at a time.

Today's tidbit involves a good query letter.  Lord knows I've yet to really write one I know for certain works.  Here is a proven one on the Writers Digest site.  The book is called Not a Drop to Drink and it's by Mindy McGinnis.  I don't know much about the book but the query is considered successful because it got her an agent.  The post gives the actual query and has a part at the end where the agent tells what she liked about it.

Queries are hard.  I've talked about that in this blog before.  It helps to know what strikes an agent's fancy.  Good luck writing your own.

Plot

Okay, this sounds simple.  If you write a 100,000 word novel, it certainly has a plot.  Right?  Yes.  I guess.  I don't know.

I thought I did know.  This can be tricky in the genre I write.  Contemporary romance.  Not to be confused with romantic suspense.  Basically girl meets boy.  Boy and girl don't click at first or they click all too well;-).  Romantic tension builds.  Something gets in the way.  Resolution and happy ending.  And there you have it.  There are only so many ways you can go with this scenario and as usual, Janice Hardy says it better here.

The problem for me is now I'm doubting whether my work has enough of a plot.  I'm a bit of a worrier in case you haven't figured it out already.  I'm full of self-doubt.  So, I now have two recently finished manuscripts just sitting and I'm not sure what to do with them.

Are you crazy?  I can hear the words leaving your mouth as you read this.  Submit already!  There you are again.  I know, but for some reason I'm dragging my feet this time.  I want it to be perfect.  I want to do it right this time.  So, I keep researching and doubting and researching some more, hoping for the day when I know I'm ready.

When will that happen?  We'll see.  Meantime, I'll keep researching plot until my eyes pop out of my head.

Word Count, Really Important!

You've written your science fiction or fantasy novel.  You've polished it.  Added and taken away.  You set it aside with a sigh of relief.  It's 50,000 words.  Now what do you do?

It may not sound like a big deal but it is.  It's all about business and money.   Economics 101.  It has to do with the cost of making a book and being able to sell it.  People just don't by really long or really short books.  There are exceptions of course as with anything but on average, this is true.  As Janice Hardy said, "Readers won't pay $16 for a 2500-page paperback."  This is a gross exaggeration but you get the point.

Rule of thumb is 80,000 to 100,000 words for a typical work of fiction.  If you hit this threshold, you're likely good; although, the sci-fi and fantasy example above tends toward the longer side.  There are genre rules and here's a breakdown.  Sources I've used are Writer's Digest and Rachelle Gardner's blog, but there are multiple search results out there for this topic.

Science fiction and fantasy:  100,000 to 115,000 is thought to be best.
Romance:  80,000 to 100,000 words (although serial romance or certain publishers, such as Harlequin, have their own rules.
Middle Grade:  20,000 to 45,00 words.
Young Adult:  55,000 to 70,000.
Cozy Mysteries:  About 75,000 words.

These are just rules of thumb.  The shorter word count for Middle Grade makes sense as I've personally found younger kids don't yet have the attention span for the longer.  While you'll see most others fall around that 80,000 mark.  Even with Young Adult and Cozy Mystery, you'll likely be okay with 80,000.  And again, there are definitely exceptions.  The Twilight Series is considered young adult and definitely exceeds the limits above.  An important note is the writing.  Stephenie Meyer's writing was exceptional.  It broke all the molds and set the bar higher.  The prevailing wisdom is that longer books are the exception.  As a new writer, I can't bank on being exceptional quite yet.  So, I stick to the rules.

Janice Hardy does an excellent job of giving tips to cutting down a high word count or bulking up a short word count.  Check out her blog if you haven't already.

One last thing to say about word count.  This really stressed me out in the beginning but I also like to know what certain standards are.  Do your best.  If you're a couple thousand words short or too high, don't sweat it.  If you're falling very low, you may want to take another look at your plot or see if certain things can be fleshed out.  Also, remember longer doesn't always mean better.  The last thing you want is for a prospective publisher or agent to turn you down on word count alone.  Good luck!