The Confabulator Cafe

Category: Writer’s Life

  • The Why of Writing (Week Ending July 28)

    Some do it for pleasure. Others do it to make a living. I’ve heard tell that some do it alone, in the dark. There are those who are tortured by it, but do it anyway. The “it” we’re referring to, of course, is writing.

    Why do we write? Are we sharks? Are we storytellers? Are we desperate to be remembered? Maybe there’s some primal instinct at work. Or maybe the answer is simply “because.” We asked our writers why, and — not surprisingly — we received a lot of different responses. (I swear, I’ll buy everyone a round if we actually all agree on something.)

    So come on in from the summer heat. Pull up a stool beneath the ceiling fan. Have an ice-cold drink. Sit back and talk with our writers. We hope you enjoy the discussion.

    Until next week,

    The Cafe Management

  • It’s Not About Me

    One of the first and most important lessons I learned about technical writing is that there is no room for ego. Simply put, you cannot get good feedback for your writing— and thus have a chance to improve it— if your beta-readers are afraid you’re going to get all butt-hurt about it.

    I have never sought fame or celebrity or anything other than common respect (and a decent paycheck) for my writing. That drive—to be renowned, to be a Big Name Author—has always seemed to me to be all about ego. That’s not a comfortable place for me.

    For the same reasons, I don’t get all googly about my favorite authors, either. I just buy their stuff, and recommend it to others, and do my little part towards that decent paycheck.

    On rare occasions I’ll be asked to prepare a piece of writing for a non-employment reason— a newsletter article, for example, or this Confabulator Cafe blog— and if I feel up to it and it’s for a cause I want to advance, I’ll do it. Because it’s not about me, or my ego.

  • What the Internet Taught Me About Submissions

    I have a weird relationship with sharing work and submissions. I’ve done it; I have my little pile of rejection somewhere in a box and I’m totally okay with it. For one: there’s something funny about how after something is rejected, you start to look at it and go, “Oh yeah, that totally wasn’t ready.”

    But my opinion of the submission process is very much affected by the way I’ve been sharing my writing since I was 17 — the Internet! (Ooooooooooh.) When it comes right down to it, the handful of submissions to small magazines and the single experience with sending a novel query is a minor experience compared to how I handle sharing most of my writing.

    Allow me to make this point with math! (Ahhhhhhhhhh.) Then I’ll tell you what the Internet has taught me about the submission process.
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  • SASE (Self-Aggrandizing Submission Envy)

    Spies use mailboxes, don’t they? Photo at Wikipedia.

    Back when I was trying to break into comics as a writer, I submitted several pitches. This was back in the day before the Big Two (that’s Marvel and DC for those who don’t know) closed down their slushpiles. I got very nice rejection letters from DC and I have them around here somewhere. One from another smaller publisher even offered some feedback that was very helpful.

    I had a relationship with one small publisher and one editor (each at different places) and got very nice emails that were terribly encouraging though both passed on the projects. I was encouraged. I should give them credit for me still wanting to be creative even though I had put my heart and soul into the projects I submitted. They told me I was good enough but the stories weren’t what they published. Sigh.

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  • A Matter of Definition

    So, before I get to the question of the week, I’m gonna stand up on my soapbox for a second. I’m gonna stand up here and glare at everyone else that’s standing on their soapboxes, telling people what they should and shouldn’t do, must and mustn’t do, and politely but firmly tell them to fuck off.

    How’s that for setting the tone? Yes, I’m grumpy. Strap in, dear reader.

    The question that many people seem to be asking/answering when addressing the submission/publication question is: What is a writer?

    Is it someone that earns a living with their writing? Because if so, there are next to no writers left on the planet. Even the most successful, prolific authors in publication today would likely tell you that their novels do not pay their bills. Their books serve as a supplemental income to their careers as scientists, teachers, cashiers and cubicle dwellers. Sure, some authors strike gold. Unfortunately, some of the authors that do manage to earn a living wage writing fiction are…not very good.

    Does being a writer mean you’ve been published? Uh…self-publication is so easily accessible in the year 2012 that describing oneself as a “self-published author” is roughly equivalent to saying, “I use the internet.” Yeah, congrats. So do the rest of us. Go sit back down. (more…)

  • Submission Secrets of a Rookie Pro

    We’re told never to start a story with the main character looking into a mirror, but we’re going to do that anyway, here. But it’s only a metaphorical mirror, so maybe that gives me some leeway.

    Shortly before my 42nd birthday, I took a long, hard look at myself. Ever since I was a little girl, my plan was that, someday, I would grow up to be a published author. I would write books and stories, and they would be available for other people to buy and read.

    The funny thing is, dreams like that don’t actually happen unless you do something to make them happen. And time was getting away.

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  • I’ve never gone “all the way”

    I’m embarrassed to admit it, but I am a submission virgin.

    Wait…that doesn’t sound quite right. Sounds…naughty.

    I haven’t ever submitted my work. There, that’s better. I haven’t ever sent out my writing. Not exactly. Well. I guess I sort of have. But that explanation comes later.

    What it comes down to is that I haven’t ever sent out something I’ve written to query a publisher or agent.

    I’ve thought about it. This year I even thought seriously about it.

    But I still haven’t.

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  • Submit! You Must Submit!

    Every now and then, writers need the crack of a whip to bring them in line.

    Bettie Page by Olivia
    Just to be clear, this isn't the kind of 'submitting' that I'm talking about. Bettie Page by Olivia.

    For me, it’s a deadline. I thrive on deadlines. Part of that comes from my day job as a copywriter, where everything is on a timeline. But I also know I’m a world-class procrastinator and will use any excuse to play one more round of Angry Birds. So to stay on task, I need to give myself a deadline.

    This year, I’ve challenged myself to write and submit stories on a regular basis. I needed an excuse to write multiple stories this year. And while the Confabulator Cafe has afforded me some opportunities for confabulation, I wanted to do more.

    Because I need regular deadlines, I checked Duotrope for publications looking for submissions and discovered anthologies of all shapes and sizes looking for new stories. The downside to choosing an anthology is they are often very specific in what they want. I don’t have a huge backlog of unpublished stories, so that means writing specifically for each anthology.

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  • Just Write, Damn It!

    I struggled with my thoughts on the post this week: submitting vs. not. While I think it’s helpful to put yourself out there, if for nothing else than to get feedback on how you’re doing, there are those who would tell you that submission is part of being a writer. That somehow not being willing to fling your work over the transom makes you less of a writer, or at least not brave enough to fully own that title.

    At the moment, I’m not sure that I believe that.

    Several months back, I read a series of articles about what it means to be a writer. My own thoughts at the time were pretty snobbish. I felt that if you weren’t actively submitting your work somewhere then you were just wasting your time, as well as the time of anyone else who had been asked to read your pages. But then one blog post stopped me short. The gist was this: if you write, you’re a writer. End of story. No further validation needed. That really appealed to me.

    Although I like the inclusionary nature of this approach, I feel like I should add a caveat here. Be proud of the work you do. Enjoy the thrill of creation, and soak up that rush of finishing energy you get when you finally type the words “The End.” But understand your limitations as well.

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  • Submit or Perish

    Writers are masochists. They have to be. Otherwise, they would never put up with the whole thing. Writing is a painful process.

    Don’t get me wrong. Everyone loves the first draft, some writers even enjoy re-writing, but I don’t know a single person that loves submission.

    Even the name sounds bad, as if you are giving in to the world, bending under its crushing weight. Unfortunately, it might be the perfect name for it.

    Submission requires market research. You search to find a publication that you think might have some sort of interest in whatever piece of writing you are trying to sell. Then, you have to read through their submission guidelines.

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