Writer's Room of Requirement

I think it's true that the more things I have on my plate, the more things I get done--to an extent. Also, the less laundry I get done.

These days, I'm waking up at six a.m. with jabbing thoughts about that bill I have to pay, that email I have to return, that postcard I have to print out.

The postcard that I wanted to print out today was this:

I'm starting a Room of Requirement for writers.

I'm moving into the new office this week, a spacious two-room loft with skylights and character. You're welcome to come and use the writing room to work, and the conference room to discuss, gather, teach, or hang.

I'm all about making connections and building community, through blogging, writing events, and conferences. And now through sharing a community space.

So, if you live in Massachusetts, (especially around the Natick-Sherborn area) and are looking for quiet writing office space, a space to meet with your crit group, or have a book party, please email me at hegkelly (at) gmail (dot) com.

It's going to be a casual, drop in when you can kind of situation.

I feel very strongly that in order to survive this business--the business of writing toward publication, or any creative profession--I need to be consistently doing two things:

1. Striving to get to the next level with my craft while helping others do the same.
2. Seeking out professional opportunities outside the book writing arena.

I have seen too many people go off the rails because 1. they wrote in a vacuum, or at least felt like they did, and 2. their book was the only thing to hang their professional writing hat on.

I can't control the querying process, but I can control the job I do helping out with the NE-SCBWI conference or the job I do setting up a non-profit so others can come and have a writing space.

What do you need most from a writer's Room of Requirement?

My Human Moments and the State of the Desk

The State of the Desk: Thank goodness Athena is here to watch over it all. Lots of post-its, manuscripts, and endless emails coming in, which I am, indeed, thankful for--emails mean that people are stepping up to volunteer! :)

So, I've been creeping around behind-the-scenes here, and thought I would mention the creeping things.

I'm querying. Which feels a lot like I might be walking around with broccoli in my teeth (from the crepe I had with @Annastanisz last night), and nobody is telling me. But I know that can't be true. You guys would tell me. Right?!

I'm filling volunteer positions for the Spring NE-SCBWI conference. I'm even singing about it. (Don't worry, twitter isn't wired for sound...yet.) You can follow along on twitter (@HeatherGKelly) and #nescbwi, or check out the full version here.

I went to Jodi Meadow's book launch for ASUNDER at Brookline Booksmith. I was so distracted by the above tasks that I was at the launch a full two minutes before I realized that Jodi had written INCARNATE which I had read and loved. Then I was even happier to be there.  I know, #ICanBeSoDense and I promise, #ImNotACompleteFlake. I'm just having a lot of human moments right now. Would love to have more superwomen moments, though. Loved talking with @ACGaughen at the launch. I think she's all kinds of awesome.

Then I caught up with the fabulous @KristineAsselin, @AnshaKotyk, @Kiperoo, and met a couple other awesome kidlitters like @Lena_Goldfinch at Kris's fabulous meet-up. If you live in New England, check out the date of the next one in Kris's sidebar. There were not enough hours in the night to get all the talking done. (Well, there might have been enough hours, but we chose to go home and sleep through some of those.)

Phew. Lots of fun stuff this week.

So, is your desk any less post-it-y than mine? Have you gotten out for a bit of community during this long winter? What has been your flakiest moment this week? Maybe I'll give out an award. :)

To everyone attending the NY SCBWI conference this weekend: Have fun!!

How My Characters Would Query, and How Superman Sleds

Querying is an odd beast.

I send off e-mails, not knowing if they are even received (or are victim to the Spam Bot), and wait for a reply, not knowing if I will get one. I don't even know if the agent I queried is ever going to see my e-mail--I understand that some agents use interns to weed the in-box out.

I'm working over-time to put myself in the shoes of the agents, to understand why the system is what it is, but at the same time, some days I feel like I'm giving away my power.

Everyone copes differently with stress. Some queriers openly rage against the system. Some quietly hide the stress. Some do what is recommended and work on the next thing. Some alternate between all of the above.

Right now, I'm thinking about what my main characters would do:

Pete would create to-do lists to keep him on track. He would look at the puzzle of how to get an agent from all sides and come up with concrete, but out-of-the-box solutions. He would stay steadfast, systematic, and ignore the feelings of powerlessness.

Jeze would jump right in and pretend to bold and un-crushable. She would hide her insecurities behind attitude and blow through emailing agents like a bull in a china shop. She would face her fears unquestionably and query all the scariest agents first. :)

So, how am I doing it? I think I'm combining the two. I'm definitely ignoring the feelings, and some days, ignoring the fact that I am even querying. I am making lists and doing research, but I am also jumping out there. I'm probably making a bunch of mistakes. You know, because I'm human and just a little stressed about being vulnerable.

I am being methodical, but also pretending to be bold. I'm hoping the combination works for me.

I'm doing the hard work.

And rushing out there. 

I admit, the risk of querying can be a rush. :) Clearly, just sitting on the sled isn't enough thrill for Superman. 

And, if it doesn't work, there is always the next book. :)

How would your characters query? How do you?

We're going to be sledding until there's no more snow on the ground. :) Are you enjoying winter?

Writing Rites of Passage

Wow, it's been a while. Since I've talked on the blog, anyway. I've thrown up a few TED talks, but those posts are more about sharing other people's ideas.

I have been in a major time of transition--finishing a novel and starting to query. Yup, I've started to put my work out there.

So, I haven't been using this platform as a voice recently. But I've also been busy on other (writing) fronts--finding office space and doing work for the NESCBWI conference. I'm sure I'll talk more about those things soon.

Right now I'm trying to decide what to work on while waiting for query responses. I have so many projects in various forms of completion, since I have been doing this writing novels thing for such a good long time. I might work on a MG contemporary fantasy, a tween contemporary fantasy, a YA cyber thriller, or a YA humorous contemporary (an almost spy novel). I think I'm leaning toward the YA cyber thriller, since the novel I'm querying is a YA urban-futuristic-psych thriller. Sounds awesome, doesn't it? :) And, no, I don't call it that in my query. :P

And, I don't know if the novel that I'm querying will land me an agent. There's just so much out of my control. But as far as my evolution as a writer, I believe I'm there.

Here's my know-you're-ready-for-an-agent checklist:

Made a complete fool out of myself in front of an agent at a conference. Check. I know, most of the time I seem relatively put-together when you meet me in person. But, boy, occasionally the wallflower in me comes out, and I can't string together actual words into coherent sentences. It's a rite of passage. :) I hope.

Toted my kids to writer events all over the state. Check. Their response now is, "You mean, we have to meet ANOTHER writer?" The honeymoon is definitely over. Except, of course, for this chick, who continues to have rock-star status at our house.

Revised my philosophy into: Butt-in-chair no matter how I feel about the current project, shoot for the stars and believe they're reachable, but understand that there is so much about this career choice that I have no control over. Know that rejections don't make me any less of a writer but sometimes can help me become more of a writer. Check.  Not that I have such a rosy attitude every single day, but even when I don't, I still do the writing.

Have cheerleaders (a.k.a. crit partners) from every walk of the writing spectrum. Check. There is nothing like having a published author point out that you learned a comma rule incorrectly and need to go back and relearn. So embarrassing. I tell myself that most people have a quirk like this that they have to rectify. We're all human. :) We all have bad (writing) habits.

Decided not to give up on my writing career, multiple times. Check. Although, I don't know how much power I have over this. No matter what conscious decisions I make, I always end up writing. Call it a compulsion. Plus, I don't know how to make cherry pie. Yup, I'm shameless. I linked to my own blog post. But reading about how L'Engle was rejected for an entire decade before anything of hers was published is so heartwarming. (Or maybe not--depends on perspective!)

So, does you're I'm-ready checklist look anything like mine?

How do you survive querying? How did you snag your agent? If you are an agent, what kind of check-list do you look for in your clients?

Happy New Year, everyone!

TED Talk Tuesday: Malcolm Gladwell Talks About CHOICE, HAPPINESS, and SPAGHETTI SAUCE

Today's TED talk, by author Malcolm Gladwell, is lengthy but worth the watch. I find his reasoning to be spot-on for helping me create a healthy querying mindset. He's not talking about writing, either. He's talking about how his friend Howard Moscowitz systematically and scientifically studied what makes people passionate about food.

It's really hard to see our writing with professional detachment, but we all know our feelings about coffee, Pepsi, and spaghetti sauce.

It all comes down to taste.

Your manuscript cannot be the perfect Pepsi. There is no perfect Pepsi. There are only perfect Pepsis.

Intrigued? Watch and see why your book can't, and shouldn't, be loved by all your crit partners, all agents, the whole general public.

Take it away, Malcolm Gladwell!

Can't view Malcolm's talk: Choice, Happiness and Spaghetti Sauce? Watch it here.

My takeaways?

1. People don't know what they want, but it is our job as writers to give it to them anyway. :)

2. "There is no perfect mustard or imperfect mustard. There are only different kinds of mustards that suit different kinds of people." Once you have perfected your manuscript, there will be crit partners/agents/readers, who don't like it. It doesn't mean that your manuscript isn't awesome.

It may mean that your manuscript is old world tomato sauce, and that the people you have been showing it to prefer spaghetti sauce with tons of visible solids. :) Your job as a writer is to use all your clues to find the crit partners/agents/readers who prefer the taste of spaghetti sauce with visible solids and see what they think of your manuscript.

We don't have the time to create different versions of our manuscripts. So we need to be specific when we search for our audience.

I have to add a personal caveat here--and that's that I do find value in receiving a crit from someone who doesn't read in my genre. As long as I know their tastes going in, it is extremely useful to me to hear their feedback.

3. It's all about taste. I know this on some level and have been told this in different ways along my career. But comparing books to food REALLY brings this idea home to me. We need to study and embrace human variability--embrace the diversity--in order to find the fans which will love the taste of our book. I don't want to write a book which appeals in a mediocre way to all. I want to create a book which is loved by some.

So, what do you think? Does this idea make it easier to think, when facing a rejection from an agent, that that agent prefers the taste of Pepsi and your manuscript is a Coke?

(Of course we need to make sure our Coke is the best tasting Coke it can be.)

What are your takeaways from this TED talk? What do you do when you are faced with a crit from someone who clearly doesn't like your book? How do you find your true audience? How do you handle the querying process? How do you deal with the rejections?

I will be the first to admit that I love weak, milky coffee (preferably with a nutty flavor). 

I'm so hungry for some spaghetti smothered in garlic mushroom Prego sauce. I think I'll go make some. :)