Today I finished up editing a novel by an author I really love working with, and whose books I love reading. Since I finished earlier in the night than I anticipated I was able to start on my next project. Judging.
From time to time I am lucky enough to judge contests in the writing world. And this is one of those times. I like judging, it's kind of a mix of editing and reviewing all in one. I have judged published works for contests as well as unpublished. I have to say my favorite to judge is unpublished. The reason why I say this is because I am able to give the authors comments about the various elements they are being judged on. There is nothing more helpful to an author than getting feedback from multiple people about your writing. It can be so monumentally helpful to have some identify your strengths and your weakness. I like that they are unpublished works because the author has time to go back and revise before sending it out in the world to agents and publishers. It feels like I am doing my part to help polish someone else's hard work and determination in the hopes that they will one day achieve their dreams with their writing career.
Plus it's fun to get snap shots of books out there, I know I like a writer when I'm bummed that the page limit on the contest means I don't get to read the book from start to finish. If any of you are considering entering a contest for unpublished or published writers, you should seriously do it, the feedback alone makes it beyond worth it.
Sunday, January 6, 2013
Thursday, January 3, 2013
Vamps
Today's book I am working on, and actually I have been working on it since yesterday, is about vampires. So I thought I would stop in a say a couple of things to those of you who read the blog and are thinking about writing about vampires.
Vampires are super commercial at the moment, but since they have been super commercial at the moment a lot of readers have started to get weary about them. This is especially true to fans of the urban fantasy genre long before it became so popular. So what do you do if you really love vampires and want to write a novel about them?
I have one really big piece of advice. Make them unique. It sounds so simple, but really it isn't. If you are a reader who loves vampires, and you love Author A's vampire series, while you are waiting for the next book in the series you may just seek out another vampire book/series. Now what do you suppose that reader thinks when they open Author B's book about vampires and finds that the vampires from Author B's book are super similar almost exactly the same as Author A's. Well I'll tell you: they tend to dislike Author B. Most readers who have already developed an emotional relationship with Author A's vampires, will find Author B's vampires to be a poor man's imitation. Sometimes this will make them really angry, but more often then not it will leave them feeling ambivalent about Author B, not something you want to have happen if you are Author B.
So here is my advice. Read 5-6 vampires book, or re-read them, whatever the case may be. Make sure they are all by different authors. Now visualize the vampires you want to come up with. If your vamps remind you of any of the vamps you just read about, they need to be more unique. Come up with something that sets them apart from the others, let your imagination be your guide. It can be a strength, but even better, it could be a weakness. Giving your characters more to overcome always makes for more entertaining books.
While it is true that you are never going to come up with a 100% unique vampire, some elements will always be similar, you have to do something to make you vampire original. So when the reader reads your book, they think, wow that's a cool way to have a vampire, or even better they go and tell their friends about how this author they just read came up with a new take on vampires, and that they think their friend should check out the book.
My goal for the new year is to keep my audience up to date with what I am working on as well as tips I think you can use. Part of my service as an editor is to tell the author where I think there book needs to be stronger, or even where the authors strength is. So while I am working I will try and pick one thing or element that I can make universal and put it out there for you all to use. Hope everyone is having a good new years, I know a lot of people are back at work, so hope everyone is having a good week, and getting ready for the weekend!
Vampires are super commercial at the moment, but since they have been super commercial at the moment a lot of readers have started to get weary about them. This is especially true to fans of the urban fantasy genre long before it became so popular. So what do you do if you really love vampires and want to write a novel about them?
I have one really big piece of advice. Make them unique. It sounds so simple, but really it isn't. If you are a reader who loves vampires, and you love Author A's vampire series, while you are waiting for the next book in the series you may just seek out another vampire book/series. Now what do you suppose that reader thinks when they open Author B's book about vampires and finds that the vampires from Author B's book are super similar almost exactly the same as Author A's. Well I'll tell you: they tend to dislike Author B. Most readers who have already developed an emotional relationship with Author A's vampires, will find Author B's vampires to be a poor man's imitation. Sometimes this will make them really angry, but more often then not it will leave them feeling ambivalent about Author B, not something you want to have happen if you are Author B.
So here is my advice. Read 5-6 vampires book, or re-read them, whatever the case may be. Make sure they are all by different authors. Now visualize the vampires you want to come up with. If your vamps remind you of any of the vamps you just read about, they need to be more unique. Come up with something that sets them apart from the others, let your imagination be your guide. It can be a strength, but even better, it could be a weakness. Giving your characters more to overcome always makes for more entertaining books.
While it is true that you are never going to come up with a 100% unique vampire, some elements will always be similar, you have to do something to make you vampire original. So when the reader reads your book, they think, wow that's a cool way to have a vampire, or even better they go and tell their friends about how this author they just read came up with a new take on vampires, and that they think their friend should check out the book.
My goal for the new year is to keep my audience up to date with what I am working on as well as tips I think you can use. Part of my service as an editor is to tell the author where I think there book needs to be stronger, or even where the authors strength is. So while I am working I will try and pick one thing or element that I can make universal and put it out there for you all to use. Hope everyone is having a good new years, I know a lot of people are back at work, so hope everyone is having a good week, and getting ready for the weekend!
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