ARCs Trump Plans For Blog Post (Natasha Sinel)

I'd planned to write this month's post about books that have significantly influenced my career. And I'll do that...next month. In the meantime, today I was pleasantly sidetracked when my editor sent a photo of my ARCs (advanced reading copies) that she'd just received. It's an exciting day! Even though my book won't be its final hardcover self for a few more months, seeing it in the form of a book is surreal, amazing, a dream come true. I am speechless. So, here's the photo:

Natasha Sinel writes YA fiction from her home on a dirt road in Northern Westchester, NY. She drives her kids around all afternoon, but in her head, she's still in high school, and hopes that no one near her can read minds. Her debut YA novel THE FIX will be out from Sky Pony Press on September 1, 2015.

Six Ways to Fail as a Writer

Whether you’re just starting or have already been published, these common missteps can sabotage your writing career.

1. Don’t read. You already know everything you need about story structure, characterization, and the market. Besides, who has time to read? That’s why people invented movies.

Uh, no. I already wrote a post on the importance of reading. It’s great for everyone, but it’s especially essential for writers. Frankly, I don’t understand why anyone who doesn’t read would want to write anyway.

2. Don’t write. You have lots of great ideas, but finding time to write is hard. When you do set aside some computer time, you waste it online. No worries, though. You’ll write later. Or maybe you can find someone else to do the work for you.

No, no, no. Writers write. Aspiring writers talk about writing. Which do you want to be? If you’re serious about being a writer, you’ll make time. 

3. Ignore the market. Your 500,000-word picture book is special enough to be the exception.

Sorry. Exceptions exist, but they're rare. That's why they're called exceptions. You shouldn't assume you'll be one.

4. Refuse criticism. Your words are golden, and anyone who says otherwise is either jealous or stupid.

Possibly. Probably not. No one’s perfect, and the same can be said of manuscripts. You don’t have to make every change that’s suggested, but you should at least consider the feedback you’re getting, especially if different people keep pointing out the same issues.

5. Take rejection personally. Your writing is your baby—nay, your soul. Anyone who rejects it also rejects you.

Rejection happens, for lots of different reasons. Maybe the agent or editor already had something similar. Maybe the agent or editor liked your work but didn’t love it or didn’t know how to market it. Maybe the agent or editor hated your work. It doesn’t matter. Don’t let rejection crush you.

6. Obsess over reviews. Once you’re finally published, devote every second of your waking life to analyzing bad or mediocre reviews. This is clearly the best—and healthiest—way to spend your time.

Nope. No piece of writing has ever been universally loved. Some people won’t like your work, and that’s okay. Get back to writing.

©Trent Black
 
Laurel Gale lives in the desert with her husband and a band of furry monsters that might actually be ferrets. She enjoys reading novels, playing board games, and learning about everything from history to science to grammar. Her debut middle grade novel, Dead Boy, comes out September 29, 2015, from Random House/Crown Books for Young Readers. 

TV Turnoff Week

by Natasha Sinel

I just got a flyer home from school announcing that TV Turnoff week begins May 4th. My kids don’t want to do it. Even though they don’t watch much on school nights anyway, they’re positive they’ll die a horrible and painful death next week.

But me? Eh. I can go without it. These days I usually do.

I used to love TV. I loved it so much, I worked at Showtime. I worked there for a long time. I watched a lot of TV.

But since I’ve started writing, I don’t watch much. There’s nothing noble about my not watching TV. I'm not worried about my brain rotting or my creativity withering.

The reason I’m not watching TV is that it just hasn’t been doing its job for me lately.

I’m a mother of three, wife of one, owner of a home. My day starts in servant-mode—making breakfast, packing lunches, making sure all homework, notes, and library books are in folders, all logistics for the afternoon are settled, and off they go to school. Then I have a bit of time to squeeze in writing and all the other things associated with writing (like blogging) as well as the occasional errand, exercise, maybe once in a blue moon, a quick coffee with a friend. Then the kids come home and it’s go-go-go—homework, activities, showers, and then bedtime (and I still read for 20 minutes with each of them—one at a time). Then, if I haven’t already, I eat dinner.

And then, I’m done. Toast. I want to turn off, to immerse myself in something else so that I don’t have to keep going and going.

TV used to be perfect. But these days, the TV goes on and it’s like Pavlov. I grab my phone or laptop and start doing the things I didn’t finish during the day. Pay a few bills, return some emails, check Twitter, Facebook, read a few blog posts, a few book reviews.

I look up and I’ve missed the whole show. Usually, I don’t even know what show is on. TV’s not doing its job anymore, like I’ve built up an immunity to it. Maybe it’s that “date” TV doesn’t exist anymore—remember Must See TV on Thursdays—Friends, Frasier, Seinfeld, Will & Grace? Back in the (ahem) mid-nineties, when The X-Files moved from Friday nights to Sunday nights, I had actual anxiety about rearranging my schedule. But now? I’m just surfing through endless channels, on-demand, Netflix. Whatever I end up with doesn’t feel special because I didn’t make a date to see it. Or maybe I just haven’t found “the right show” to date.

But I think the real reason is that when the TV is on, I can continue to multi-task. I can pay bills while watching TV. I can check my email, eat, even edit, while watching TV.

But reading doesn’t allow me to multi-task. Reading requires all of me—my eyes, my brain, even my body since I have to hold the book and turn the pages.

So now when I’m at that point in the evening when I need to shut it all out, I read. It’s the only thing that works.

I hope I find my love for TV again. But until then, I’ve got some pretty amazing books to wind down with thanks to my fellow 2015 debuts.

Natasha Sinel writes YA fiction from her home on a dirt road in Northern Westchester, NY. She drives her kids around all afternoon, but in her head, she's still in high school, and hopes that no one near her can read minds. Her debut YA novel THE FIX will be out from Sky Pony Press on September 1, 2015.

Five Tips to Help You Read Like a Writer

After I became serious about wanting to write fiction, the way I read fiction changed, too. I read more, for one thing, although I'd always been an avid reader. I also became more analytical about it. I often hear—and echo—the sentiment that writers should also be readers. Here are some tips on how to spend that reading time effectively.

1. When you don’t like a book, consider why. I don’t finish every book I start. I used to try, out of some strange sense of duty or something, but I found that attempting to slog through books I didn’t enjoy made me read more slowly and less often. I’d stop reading to avoid the book, and that didn’t do me any good. Now if I don’t like a book, I put it down. First, though, I think about why I don’t like it. Is the prose awkward? Do the characters lack motivation? Is the beginning too slow? Is the action too pointless?

2. When you like a book, also consider why. It’s easy to speed through the pages of a book you love, but it’s helpful to pause every once in a while and think about why it’s pulling you in.

3. Read reviews. Not necessarily of your own books—that’s a topic for a different blog post. But read reviews of books you’ve read, both ones you’ve loved and ones you’ve hated. Read five-star reviews, one-star reviews, and everything in between. This is a great way to compare your own reactions with the reactions of others. You can also get a feel for what tends to annoy readers.

4. Read a variety of genres. You should read in the genre you write, but you should read other books, too. Each genre has its own strengths. There’s no reason an author can’t study love interests from romances, surprise twists from mysteries, and pacing from thrillers.

5. Read the classics. They’re classic for a reason. Read them and think about what has made them stand the test of time—but keep in mind that markets change, so what sold a hundred years ago wouldn’t necessarily sell now.



©Trent Black
 
Laurel Gale lives in the desert with her husband and a band of furry monsters that might actually be ferrets. She enjoys reading novels, playing board games, and learning about everything from history to science to grammar. Her debut middle grade novel, Dead Boy, comes out September 29, 2015, from Random House/Crown Books for Young Readers.