How could I not do a SOCS post after that? Inconceivable! (Yes, I watched Princess Bride again with my kids last week. So you should hear that last word in your head being rendered by Wallace Shawn. With a lisp.) So here it is:
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I spent all day Friday with my true tribe - writer/bloggers - at the first ever (hopefully becoming annual) BlogHer Writers conference. There was so much useful informatiuon and so many amazing conversations going on all day (and at the cocktail reception the evening before) that my brain feels about to explode.
And I am still digesting most of it. But if there is one message I took away from the conference? It was this:
JUST. FUCKING. WRITE.
And then? Re-write. And trash whatever is not wonderful (even if its 80%) and re-write again. Make it great.
And don't put ALL of it up on your blog. Because if you want to be published elsewhere, to SELL your words, it has to be new & fresh content. So you can't give it all away first.
Also? It helps to have an agent. As in, if you don't have one you are 99% of the time totally screwed. But also? If your writing is good? You will find an agent. When you are READY.
And being ready? means that you have followed the above directives and have an actual COMPLETED book in your hands when you contact them.
For fiction & memoir that is (memoir being narrative and sold / bought like fiction). For non-fiction you "just" need three sample chapters and a kick-ass book proposal.
ANd, to get the attention of an agent? It helps to have credibility. A track record. Which means articles sold to magazines or stories / essays published in literary journals.
Hmmm, a lot more hard work and commitment than just spewing out a post and slapping it up on the old blog, huh?
Yup! (ANd yeah, other than these Sundays I don't usually just spew, I AM a change-the-word-ten-times-until-I've-got-the-one-I-like-best perfectionist writer. Guilty as charged.)
So I've got a lot to contemplate. Because the instant gratification of writing and posting, being my own publisher? Pretty intoxicating. Works for me so far.
But also? I have a book in me. a few books actually. And I'm thinking they want out....
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New to SOCS? It’s five minutes of your time and a brain dump. Want to try it? Here are the rules…
- Set a timer and write for 5 minutes only.
- Write an intro to the post if you want but don’t edit the post. No proofreading or spell-checking. This is writing in the raw.
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