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Judging Books by Their Titles

August 21, 2013 0 General Advice, Modern Writer v1.0 , , , , Permalink 0

Banned Books Week Banner

It probably goes without saying that strong titles are absolutely necessary to catch the attention of editors and readers alike.

A while ago, I read somewhere that people purchase books after first studying their covers and then reading their titles. (Though this doesn’t account for the power of positive reviews and word of mouth!)

If you’re like me, you probably spend a lot of time worrying about the titles of your stories/books. And it seems like every writer approaches titles a little differently: Some will create a title from the very beginning of a new writing project; it just comes to them. Others will wait until the project is completed.

I fall into the latter category. I hardly ever have the foresight to name my work before it’s finished.

Here are a few of my thoughts on this tricky business:

  1. List all of your favorite titles from your favorite authors. Analyze what they have in common. See if you can find patterns to steal. More than likely, each title uses active, specific language. You should, too! (I particularly like titles from Kurt Vonnegut and Haruki Murakami.)
  2. If you’re having real trouble naming your story/book, it could be that it just isn’t quite finished yet. Generally, when a story knows itself, it’s easier to name.
  3. Scan your work for a line or phrase that you could use as a title. Listen to what your characters say or think.
  4. Your title should give a hint as to what it is about, but it should also give a slight indicator of its tone. The most important aspect, though, is its ability to intrigue readers.
  5. Sometimes editors will rename your book to something that has more promise of selling.
  6. On a similar note, short story collections are not always titled by the best story in the collection. I used to spend lots of time analyzing title choices of some of these books, only to hear authors uncandidly confess that weaker stories often supplied a collection its title just because it sounded cool.

For an alternative approach to titling a book, you can also use Lulu’s Titlescorer. It will score the likelihood of commercial success for your book by referencing data from past bestsellers’ titles. (Although I’ve played around with this, and some of my favorite books fail to score well by its standards.)

So how about it? Do you place a high importance on titles for your work, or the books that you read? What are some of your favorite book titles? Please send me a comment or two below, and thank you for reading.

Write your heart out!

 

Photo credit: DML East Branch / Foter.com / CC BY-NC-SA

Choose a Mentor Wisely, You Must

August 14, 2013 5comments General Advice , , Permalink 0

Yoda's PlaylistOne of my students just told me a story about how he enrolled in a music course being taught by a renowned pianist. This student of mine, having been a huge fan and supporter of the pianist’s work, enthusiastically enrolled in this course.

However, this student went on to say that it was one of the major letdowns of his life! Not only was the pianist arrogant and unapproachable, he was incredibly lazy and uninspiring with his teaching.

 

Today, I’d like to share a word of caution with you if you are considering enrolling in a writing course being taught by a very skilled and successful writer:

The best writers don’t always make the best teachers.

Now don’t get me wrong. I’m not saying all successful writers are bad teachers. What I am saying is that writing and teaching are two completely different skill sets. Just because someone might have the bona fides to teach creative writing, doesn’t necessary mean the person can–or is willing to–share her knowledge in any kind of clear and meaningful way. Also, understand that her teaching probably takes time away from her writing, so more successful writers may even cut corners teaching to create more time for writing.

If possible, I suggest emailing, or (better yet!) visiting your intended faculty member’s office during office hours. Introduce yourself. It’s OK to admit your fandom. (Everyone’s a sucker for flattery, right?) Express your interest in her course. Ask a question or two designed to “feel out” the course.

If you receive no response by email, or a rude response in person, this could be a predictor of the quality of your interactions should you become a part of the course.

However, if all goes well with either of these attempts, you hopefully completed the first step toward establishing a fruitful student-professor relationship!

And when in doubt, you can always read other people’s experiences on Rate My Professors, too.

What do you think? Do you have an experience you’d like to share with us? If you do, please don’t hesitate to leave a comment below.

And, as always, use the force write your heart out!

 

Photo credit: Orange_Beard / Foter.com / CC BY

Workshop Etiquette 101

August 7, 2013 0 General Advice , , Permalink 0

Dangerous SurfingIn fiction workshops, writers prepare stories for the rest of their classmates to critique. Faculty facilitate round-table discussions over these stories. And by the end of the course, the hope is that all writers will leave the class with a greater understanding of their individual strengths and weaknesses, as well as a greater understanding of the writing process itself.

If you’ve ever attended a writing workshop, you know there are some things you just shouldn’t do. Like surfers, writers attending a workshop should adhere to a specific code of behavior.

The following are suggestions for you to get the most out of attending any writing workshop.

When workshopping someone else’s story:

  1. Never assume that the writer’s narrator or characters are, in fact, the writer.
  2. Before giving feedback, read the story at hand straight through without making any prescriptive commentary. Read it just to understand what the writer was intending to do. Then, and only then, should you prepare feedback for the writer.
  3. It’s OK to praise someone for a particular moment, scene, or entire story. This is not The X Factor. Don’t be Simon Cowell.
  4. Do not dominate the conversation with your own comments.
  5. Wait for your peers to finish sharing their opinions before you launch into yours. It’s rude to cut people off (unless, of course, they won’t shut up).
  6. Lastly, it’s OK to sit quietly, listening to everyone else–especially if you have nothing helpful to share.

When preparing a story to be workshopped:

  1. Proofread your shi. Unnecessary, repetitive grammar and punctuation errors will never ingratiate you with your peers.
  2. Only workshop a story when it is nearly finished. The feedback you receive will be much more specific and helpful. If you bring in work that is incomplete, you could receive comments as generic as, “Finish it.” And you knew you’d have to do that before bringing your story to class anyway. Also, hearing too much prescriptive feedback could potentially destroy the energy you will need to finish the story.

Finally, when your story is being workshopped:

  1. Take notes of any helpful feedback and suggestions. Your peers may not have written these down for you.
  2. When receiving feedback, don’t get defensive and explain reasons why everyone misunderstood your genius.
  3. Take all of the comments and notes home with you, and don’t read them right away. Give yourself enough time and space to approach them objectively. This way, you will be able to remove yourself from any emotional excitement or frustration you may have experienced. When your mind is clear, you will be able to see what is best for your story.
  4. Remember that it is your story. You don’t have to listen to anyone if you don’t want to.
  5. If you received a couple smart suggestions for improvement, you got your money’s worth.

 

If you adhere to these rules, you will be primed to make the most of any creative writing workshop you attend. And with any luck, you will forge long-lasting friendships with other writers who share your appreciation and dedication for the craft.

Thanks for reading. Please leave me a comment below if you have any of your own rules for workshops that you’d like to share.

As always, I hope you have a productive week. Write your heart out!

 

Photo credit: Lefty91 / Foter.com / CC BY-NC-SA

Choosing a Good Job to Sustain Your Writing Life

July 24, 2013 2comments General Advice , , , Permalink 0

The Casual VacancyWe’ve all heard of success stories like James Patterson’s rise to fame and fortune. The same can be said of other writers like Stephen King or E. L. James.

But unfortunately, for every J. K. Rowling, there are millions of working writers we’ve never even heard of.

I have a touchy topic to discuss with you today, so I apologize to you in advance if you take this the wrong way. I don’t want to discourage any of you to pursue your dreams. But I don’t think this will come as any great shock to you:

Realistically, most of us won’t be able to live strictly off of our own writing. As writers, if we’re going to be in it for the long haul, we need to find jobs that will allow us to make enough money for us to live.

So, to address this, there are two important aspects to consider when choosing a good job to sustain your writing life:

  1. A good job should allow you to create or maintain a writing routine.
  2. A good job should not drain your inspiration to write.

We all know people who work long hours and come home exhausted, too tired to do anything but watch TV, especially in this economy. I had a friend who worked as a copy editor, and when he was done with his day at the office, he didn’t want to work on his fiction. He spent all day working on other people’s manuscripts, and it sucked all the joy out of writing from him. The job wasn’t a good fit if he wanted a writing life.

I’ve heard of writers working as graveyard shift security guards, scribbling their thoughts on pads of paper, reaching for paperbacks from out of their back pockets. That could be a better fit.

From the outside looking in, my allergist has working hours that would be a great fit for the writing life. He never arrives to his office before 10:30 a.m. And he hardly ever stays past 5:30 p.m. He schedules no work on Fridays, Saturdays, or Sundays. He never takes his work home with him. And he makes bank. You should see the invoices that he sends to my insurance!

The best work I’ve found for myself is in teaching college writing. The pay might not be as great as other professions, but I enjoy standing in front of a group of students and sharing what I’ve learned with them, while embracing and encouraging them to be the best writers and people that they can be. I can be passionate about it because I love writing. I can share tips and strategies I’ve gleaned from other writers, and my students appreciate my efforts because they are in the class to improve their abilities.

I particularly love teaching at the college level because my students don’t have to be there. Some high school students approach class as if they’re serving jail time. But in college, when a guy picks his desk in the back of one of my classrooms on the first day of the semester, you can’t tell me that he isn’t making sacrifices to be there. He is dedicating time and energy and resources. I’d be willing to bet that if he’s honest with himself, some part of him wants to be there, and that part of him wants to be a better writer! I love working with these students. It inspires me and energizes my writing when I am able to witness someone’s marked improvement, sometimes over the course of year or longer, if the student takes multiple courses with me.

My whole point is: Like college athletes, writers need a backup plan. You might never find work that you love in the same way that you love writing, but hopefully, you will be able to find work you love in a different way–not less–and it will afford you the lifestyle needed to write your heart out!

 

Photo credit: Little, Brown and Company

Establish a Writing Routine

July 17, 2013 0 General Advice , , , , Permalink 0

72:365 - And Your Point Is?I can’t emphasize enough just how important it is to establish a writing routine, if you haven’t already!

Years ago, while I was still a student attending writing workshops, I wrote whenever the “inspiration” struck. I’d sit at my computer and churn out sentence after sentence whenever I felt like it. And since I was still a student–and I had ample free time to do what I liked–this habit worked well for me.

Well, fast forward a few years.

Now that I’m married, I teach at two colleges, and I desire to lead a somewhat healthy social life, my writing has, at times, been placed on the back burner.

(My on-again-off-again workout schedule also plays a role in this, too! Ha.)

I thought something like, “Oh, I can get back to writing whenever–during the summer and winter breaks.” But as life goes, something always came up–trips to Disneyland or Vegas, or last minute dinner reservations, etc. And another year would pass this way, and I’d have very little writing to show for it.

I don’t regret the way spent my time over these past few years. I just wish I had established a writing routine into my lifestyle.

I have one now, which I sort of alluded to at the close of an earlier post.

I write for at least two hours, six days a week on my living room sofa, whether I read for leisure or not. The time I used to watch TV, or surf the internet, or button-mash video game controllers has been replaced with writing and reading. (For the most part, at least!) For another way of thinking about this, check out the following brilliant YouTube clip from Darryl Cross:

As people, we need to make time for the things we prioritize in life. As writers, writing should be one of them. A daily writing routine will help with this. If you haven’t already implemented a writing routine in your life, start one today.

Stay focused. Stay disciplined. And, above all else, write your heart out!

 

Photo credit: Helga Weber / Foter.com / CC BY-ND

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