Making up Words

I have been in a debate for a while now over the subject of made up words in novels...

Here's the opposing side - When you make up a word, then a reader will not be able to visualize what is being said.  I find this true in instances where someone has made up words for things like 'water'. If the writer is speaking about water, then calling it fregna would make no sense. Unless you want the reader to have to look up the meanings in the back of the book. Which makes a lot of work for readers.

My side - It is okay to make up a word for something, if that thing does not exist in real life. The only thing is to make sure and explain, or give a quick description of the item, so the reader does not have to be confused over what the word means.

The debate began when someone read a portion of my story and felt confused as to what the item was I had spoken about. What that person neglected to understand is there is no word for what the item is. I had no choice but to make it up, and the reader also skipped past the part of the story where I describe what the item is.

So here is my question, to which I would love your feedback. :-)

Is it confusing to make up a word for something that does not exist in real life, and if it is necessary to do so, what is the best way to bring the word about so the reader does not feel confused?

Also, is it confusing to have that made up word as part of the story title? Or does it have the possibility of catching the reader? Like in Eragon?

Thank you all!

Am I Conceited?

I totally don't want to sound conceited, but I had set my novel aside for a couple months while I focused on queries, a synopsis, and other projects, and when I came back to read it again I absolutely loved it! I didn't want to put it down...

It's good I suppose that I enjoyed my own manuscript. My husband agrees too. But I will admit, at first I was like, "Hun, should I be enjoying this so much? I mean, I 'did' write it after all!"

His answer was just what I needed to hear, "If you don't want to read your own story, then why would anyone else?"

Though his logic is sound, and I agree with him, I still feel a bit 'conceited' about liking my own story so much. Do any of my fellow writers feel that way? :-)

What do you think? Just 'how' much should we enjoy our own stories?

Cascade Writers

Just got registered for the Cascade Writers event this July and I am so excited to go! I know some people worry about getting their work critiqued, but honestly I can not wait. I have been trying for months to get my first chapter as strong as possible and need help... :-)

There is so much competition right now for authors, I think getting my manuscript in the best possible shape is really the only option. Only 'good' option that is, if I want to get published.

Anyway, just had to let everyone know I am going!

Character Books

One thing I absolutely love about writing is that I get to live in the world of all my characters. I have to say, it is better than reading. :-) My only problem is having so many characters I want to put on paper, and so little time for them all! Thus, I started the 'character book.'

This is actually kind of amusing, but I recently read a blog about what editors/publishers would like to see. Funny enough, one thing on the list was that we should have a notebook of characters. What they look like, personality traits, where they work, who they date, live with and where, who they are related to and where they come up in the story. After reading the blog, I reached under my desk and pulled out my character book.

I'm not sure if any of you fellow writers have done this, but it really helps to keep things clear. Especially if I change something, I just put it in the character notebook and then can follow up in the novel. This has really helped me when I did major revisions and changed appearances and relations of some of the characters. I found my mind kept seeing them the way I originally wrote about them, so I pull out the notebook occasionally to remind myself.

Now all I need is more hours in the day... :-) Then I will be able to bring more of these characters into reality. Oh the power of the pen!

Agent Bashing ~ Not OK

For all the agents who get bashed by writers, and all the writers who are guilty of bashing agents, this post is for you... It is truly how I feel.

I tend to surf agent blogs a lot because I get good information from them on what agents are looking for. Most of the agents I follow don't even represent my genre, but that is not the point. They give me insight into the writing world, and ideas on how to reach other audiences. I respect all the information I get, because they 'are' in the know.

This is why I find it so irritating when I hear people bashing agents because they get a rejection letter. Yet some of these same people are sending in queries on genres they should not be. No matter how fabulous the novel is, if an agent only takes romance, and yours is sci fi, most likely you will get a rejection.

In my opinion, it is disrespectful to send a query to an agent that clearly does not have interest in the genre. If I were an agent, that would only show me that you aren't serious about writing, or about me as an agent. It isn't that hard to go to the agent's blog or website and see what they are looking for. Make yourself and your novel fit the agent, not the agent fit your novel. It is hard enough to promote books in this economy, and as writers, we need to be flexible.

Most agents only get paid if they can sell your work. This means that even if an agent reads your manuscript, and absolutely loves it, he or she still has to be able to sell it. If the agent knows there are three other books coming out soon with the same type of story line, chances are, he or she won't be able to find a publisher.

Getting a rejection does not mean your writing sucks, or that the agent is out to get you, but it may mean that it is not be the best time for your manuscript. As a writer, I know how hard it is to play the waiting game, and to have someone not like your style, but we can not blame the agents for that.

There are so many things to consider in a rejection, and we should not be taking anything personally. Honestly, if an agent's opinion is so traumatizing, then being in the public eye may NOT be the best idea. :-) We will always have fans, and critics. Having a bit tougher skin seems like a better solution.

If your query is perfect, and your manuscript unique, there are other reasons as to why you may have received a rejection. For instance...

~ The agent may already be representing a novel in your genre, and yours would conflict with what that agent was trying to promote. I don't know about you, but personally, if I had an agent trying to promote my work, I would NEVER want that person also promoting something that is in competition with mine. What would be the point?

~ The agent may have a full plate, not being able to take anything else on at the moment.

~ Another thing to consider is writing style. An agent and their assistants KNOW what writing styles they like, and each of us have a unique one. I like to write in shorter, easy to read sentences, while my husband writes like Oscar Wilde. This does not mean one of us is better than the other, it only means that an agent who enjoys reading Wilde, would probably not enjoy my style even if both writings are in the same genre. Our queries generally show our style, unless we have it written by someone else (which seems a bit dangerous to me), and agents can tell from our query if we would be a good fit.

Most likely, if we receive a lot of rejections, the agents are not the ones where the blame should be placed. We, as writers, are responsible. Our task is to sell our novel to the agent, therefore it is up to us. So please, can we stop the agent bashing already? It is not professional, and only serves to show those agents that they made the right decision in the rejection.

To sum it up, we should be thanking all the agents and assistants that spend so much of their time weeding through the mess of queries they get every day, and for offering insight into how we can improve. They do not get paid to read queries, or write blogs, or edit our queries for us, yet so many still do this. So, from me, and the many others you have all helped, thank you! :-)

Picking a Genre

After many months of researching, I have decided that there are many different ways to market the same piece of literature...  At first, my story was based on high school students and I had planned on marketing it as YA.  But the age bracket just wasn't right for the subject matter, so I re-wrote over half the novel to fit college students just about to graduate and embark on the journey of adulthood.  This changed the genre to NA (New Adult for those of you who don't know what that is yet).

Here is where things get sticky...

My story has multiple components. For instance, a large part of the storyline is about things paranormal, and other parts (though they are in current times) are sci fi, and yet, these things do not make up the entire manuscript.  What it is mainly about is a character's journey of self discovery.  She is deciding who she wants to be in life.  The only catch is that the paranormal and sci fi events help her in her choices.

Since the story is about the college student dealing with day to day life as well, falling in love, rejection, graduation, jobs, places to live, friendship, doesn't this also make it fit the mainstream fiction category?

HELP! :-)

Agents and books on writing classify my novel differently.  Just depending on what they see in it...  Does anyone have any ideas?