One of my writer friends sent this to me. Maybe now I will feel motivated to write. Or maybe I’ll be too busy staring at all the hunky guys in this pic.

The good news? During this round of rejections, it wasn’t my writing holding me back. The first time I really tried to submit a novel, I was a beginner, making all the newbie mistakes out there. This time, it’s more about the market. I’m getting closer. Who knows, maybe next time I’ll hit the mark (writing plus market interest).

Wish me luck.

Today I entered a couple of the contests on my list (Contest List Here) and it only reinforced how important those first few pages are. The other day, I was at the bookstore (big surprise) when I came across Jeff Gerke’s book, The First Fifty Pages. Of course I bought it (I have to support my local indie store).

Anyway, he talks about some key dos and don’ts when it comes to the first part of your story, especially if an agent/editor requests a partial.

While I won’t give all of the book’s secrets away, I thought I’d highlight a few things I thought y’all might find interesting…

List of Don’ts:

• Weak first line
• Starting with a dream scenario
• Lack of an engaging hook
• Telling instead of showing
• Point-of-view errors
• Lack of beats for pacing/description
• Stilted dialogue
• Clumsy fiction craftsmanship
• Inadequate description of characters and setting
• Starting the main action too soon
• Going into flashbacks too early in the story
• Jumping to a new viewpoint character too early
• Too little conflict
• Lack of stakes or a [lack of a] ticking time bomb

He goes into some detail on each of the points listed above, but he spends a lot of time on what he calls, “The Big Three Bombs.” Three things which will almost always get your novel rejected.

1. Telling instead of showing. If they turned your book into a movie, what will the camera see? If it’s a lot of down time, watching the main character ponder the universe or watching a beautiful sunset, it may need to go.
2. Clumsy point-of-view. “In every scene you should have one character through whose eyes we are allowed to see what’s happening (and through whose brain we are interpreting it all). Here’s the rule: one head per scene.” Gerke goes on to say, “I’m not saying it’s [omniscient POV] wrong. I’m saying it’s not ideal. I’ll go as far as to say that head-hopping, like telling, is lazy writing…they both allow the author to express her urge to explain everything.”

   Now, I found his take on point-of view interesting because we happened to be talking about Omniscient POV at my critique group (when I bought this book). Fate? Maybe, but it was nice to get a more definitive answer.

3. Flat or Stereotyped Characters.”If by then [the end of the first fifty pages] you can’t tell the characters apart aside for cosmetic things like gender, age, role, office, species, attitude, or goofy accent, there’s a problem.”

The book is chalked full of useless tips. If you’re interested in polishing up the first half of your novel, I highly recommend his book.

Rarely do I dish out a 5 star rating (only my favorites), but I couldn’t help it. I really enjoyed this book. From the reviews I’ve read, it appears people are of two camps on Stiefvater’s latest novel: they either love it or they think it’s too slow/confusing. While I can understand the second group, I believe that’s what makes this book stand out from the slog (slush + bog) of other young adult novels.

True, the island of Thisbe seemed older and slower. For me, this added to the charm of the book, giving it a pre WWI feel. This was a time when romances lasted longer than two days and teenagers were considered young–adults. Puck and Sean face issues many adults would cringe from, and they do it without throwing melodramatic temper-tantrums or giving into unnecessary drama (should I pick this boy or that one?–nope, no drama).

The setting is also vague at times, but again, this adds to the charm. Stiefvater allows us, the readers, to use our imaginations and create a world truly unique to each person.

If you’re looking for a fast, drama-filled, stereo-typical “teen” book, The Scorpio Races is not for you. If, however, you are ready to let your imagination run free, let the world around you slow down, so you can follow a pair of extraordinary people, you’ll love this book.

Then she Tweeted that she wanted to do a query number analysis for the month of February. In order to do it, she wanted to get through all of her January queries in one night. I knew I was at the bottom of the pile. Not good.

She posted an update, saying she had over 300 queries to slog through. Extremely not good.

I’m ashamed to say, I checked my email every ten seconds. The night came and went. In the morning, she posted another update, saying she’d gotten through about half and requested 2.

The day wore on, and thankfully I had to work, otherwise I probably would’ve sat all day next to my email. Then the most miraculous thing happened. She requested a partial.

Later that night, she updated her feed. She plowed through over 300 emails and asked for six manuscripts. I’m still in a daze.

I know Cassandra Clare’s Clockwork Prince came out months ago, but I just finished reading it this weekend.

The procrastination partly came from the knowledge the third book wouldn’t be out until November (and I hate leaving the story in the middle of the action). But part of my hesitation was because of the love-triangle I knew was coming in this book.

Usually, I hate love-triangles. I can’t empathize with a girl who can’t decide between two boys. In fact, it usually irritates me to the point where I don’t want to finish the book/series.

This time I was wrong. There is a reason Cassandra Clare is my favorite YA author. She actually made me feel for Tessa’s plight, feeling her devotion to Jem and her desire for Will.

Rarely do I get emotional over story characters, but I actually teared up several times while reading this one. I don’t know how she does it. Cassandra Clare you’re a writing genius. I will never doubt love-triangles again (well, that’s probably a lie, but I’ll at least give them a try).

And once again, I’m upset that I have to wait until November to see how this all ends.

But alas, each time I checked, my inbox sat empty, so I had to devise a way to keep myself from going insane. The product of my insanity was to create a list of the top five things to do when you’re waiting for query responses.

5. Go back through your Angry Bird* levels and try to top your previous high scores. *Note, you may use insert another time-wasting, but equally as addictive game.

4. Create a list of all the characters from the Harry Potter books and then alphabetize them. Oh wait, someone has already created the list here. I guess, you can create a list of death traps from The Hunger Games trilogy.

3. Run a marathon of your favorite movies/TV show. If you need to waste even more time, you can always host a party and create personalized memorabilia, invitations, etc. Check out this hub page on how to host a marathon (scroll down the page to find tips on creating themes by actor/actress, topic, etc. and must haves at your night).

2. Use those old sticky notes, telling you to check your email, as sticky note origami. Don’t know how, there are plenty of books. Stick Note Origami. But you can also check out Youtube. They have a whole list of videos on sticky note origami. (Sample Video Below).

Origami Star

1. You can create a list of fun, but useless, things to do while you wait for a response to your queries.

What do you like to do to keep yourself from checking your email every five seconds?

To commemorate the new year, I have some exciting news. I recently found out I won my first contest. Yup, I actually won the Windy City’s RWA Four Seasons contest (YA category).

When I found out, I was shocked (and then I did a happy dance). When I entered  I never, not in a million years, thought I could actually win a contest. True, I’ve attended classes and workshops–thank you Suh-weet Success Sisters–and I’ve forced my husband read and reread my book–thanks sweetie. I’ve made countless revisions and corrections, but to win. Wow. It’s a great feeling, one I hope everyone gets to experience at least once in their lives.

I keep getting told the road to publication lies in contests. The more contests you can win, the more likely you are to be published. That being said, I came up with a list of RWA chapters who are holding a contest within the next few months. Then I though it would be cool to get the word out to all of my writing friends. Here’s the list. Most of these have a YA category (some don’t even need to be romance). The rest of them are all RWA chapters, so hopefully you have an element of romance to your story. Good luck to y’all.

• Yellow Rose Jan. 21 (the deadline’s tomorrow–eek)
• Desert Rose RWA Jan. 31
• Fire & Ice Contest Feb. 1
• Smoky Mtn. RWA Feb. 1
• NEORWA Feb. 14 (deadline extended to Feb. 29)
• SARA Contest Feb. 15
• Great Beginnings Mar 1
• Fab Five Contest Mar. 1
• Heart & Scroll Contest April 1
• Orange Rose April 14
• Sheila Award April 7 (Contest opens Mar. 1)
• Indiana Golden Opportunity Contest TBD
• Save the Best for Last–This contest looks interesting. You submit the last three chapters of your novel instead of the first, but I couldn’t find a deadline. It may have already passed.

Later this month I hope to put out a list of children writer contests (YA) from the SCBWI.

Some of us are too fast, rushing through our first drafts, throwing words on the paper like a teenager. There’s nothing wrong with a little speed. We all want to make it to the finish line before we lose gas, but if we forget to slow down and run spell check or meet with our critique group before submitting to an agent–crash. The race is over before we’ve made it around the first lap.

Likewise, driving too slowly can be equally as dangerous. You know the people who get on the freeway going ten miles an hour? They cause just as many accidents, truly. If the fear of rejection has us editing our WIP for the hundredth time or we agonize over our manuscripts for five long years, the market will pass us by.

Publishing takes a certain amount of guts. We need to step on the pedal and put ourselves out there, but only after we’ve slowed down long enough to take in the sights.

I’m guilt of doing both (and playing my music too loudly while I’m at it). How about you?