Insight on Getting Published

I know you thought it was going to be my truly inspired insight on getting published, but I thought I'd post this link to a great article by Jane Friedman on how long you should keep trying to get published by a traditional publisher.

She comments on a lot of details, including what you're trying to get published and whether it is commerically viable on a national level or if it's regional or niche.  And to me, the most important question of all: what your goals are.

Writing Exercise: Waiting for a Stranger

Your character walks into a restaurant and has a conversation with the hostess (or host).  He (or she) says he has a reservation, for two people.  Hostess says he is the first to arrive, would he like to sit down or wait in the front.  Your character has never met the person he is dining with (is it breakfast, lunch, dinner?), and he doesn't know what they look like, so he's not sure what to do, since he won't recognize them when they come in.  How does the conversation go with the host/ess?  Who is your character?  Who is the person he (or she) is meeting?  Why are they meeting?  Finish the scene when the person comes in (or doesn') and they recognize each other (or don't).  Try to be a little bit more creative than 'a blind date.'

Writing Exercise: After the Storm

Remember that person you wrote about in the last exercise and how they were preparing for an imminent storm?  When the wind dies down and the rain stops, and they come out of their hibernation, and step out into the world for the first time, what happened?  What are they faced with, damage, flooding, calm?  How did their preparations help, hinder, or have nothing to do with the the outcome of the storm?  And more importantly, how do they react to the situation?

Is there a tree down that crushed their car?
Do they have any shingles left on the roof?
Is the electricity out, and all that food in the refrigerator they bought is going to go bad anyway?

And more importantly, how do they feel about what they see?  And what do they do first?

Writing Prompt: Before the Storm

There are two courses of action I've heard the most from these days before the impending hurricane here in the northeast.  One school is all about water, milk, eggs, rice, prepared foods.  The other is wine, beer, cheese, baguette, DVDs, tortilla chips.  There's also me on a 24' ladder cleaning out the gutters that I haven't cleared in like two years, now that we might get ten inches of rain in one day.

So think about different types of people and what might be the most important things for them to take care of days before a possible hurricane.  Come up with something that is really uncommon or a person who's need is really unique.  Write up a description of their preparations through a day about two days before the hurricane "might" hit the area.  If you want to take this further, write about the day of the hurricane -- did it actually hit locally, or maybe it was a big bust and never came.  How did the preparations and the desperate need play into the results.

Writing Prompt -- Real Life

It's time for another writing prompt.  If you're one of those people who just can't get inspired to start a project, writing prompts are great.  But even if you are currently working on an ongoing project, writing prompts are great side exercises to take you away from that constant focus on your project to be free to go have fun with your writing for ten minutes, then get back to your novel, memoir, screenplay, etc.  So let's do a short little exercise.

Mine your own life, real situations, real people, real settings to draw out writing prompts.  Rather than take everything about an occurrence, take a few key details and launch into fiction.  Write into that situation for ten minutes, then read back to yourself where you took it.  If you can't come up with one of your own, here, use this one from my life right now.

I am 46 years old and found myself needing to learn a new, very complicated piece of design software.  Not having any design experience and having never used a software package like this one, it became obvious I should take a class.  So there I find myself in a classroom in the computer lab at Fashion Institute of Technology.  I've never wanted to be 'that old guy' who doesn't know about computers or technology, isn't up with the times.  But here I find myself in a classroom with 18-20 year olds.  They all get it immediately.  In fact they're opening their Facebook pages and gmail on their computers while the teacher is re-explaining steps for a few of the slower learners, which sadly includes me.  To get into this classroom, I had to walk through the very large room full of dozens of computer terminals filled with young, hip, trendy design students.  Write a short dialogue between me and the hip young girl at the next terminal to me during class.  Or write a quick interaction between me and a student or group of students during a ten minute break in the two-and-a-half hour evening class.  How's that for a fish-out-of-water story?

How About a New Writing Prompt

Three friends meet up regularly on Saturday mornings in one of their backyards with their dogs for a 'puppy playdate.'  As the dogs run around and romp, the three friends stand and chat and catch up.  This week, a fourth person shows up, unexpected.  Why did they come?  Did they bring a dog?  There is some reason, issue, argument, secret, need, interest, desire that led them to show up.  Are the friends all women, men, mixed?  What's the gender of the new person?  Did any of the three know this person would be showing up?

This is really open ended for you.  Maybe one of the dogs bit this person.  Maybe this person is coming to ask out or propose to the host?  I'll stop giving you suggestions.  What happens?

It's the End of the World as We Know It

Let's have some fun.  The Zombie Apocalypse is upon us!  To come up with a totally new and different spin on a genre theme that has been done 1,000 times before, let's start at the beginning. Answer these couple of questions, then write a short story that could be the start of a bigger story.

Where did the ZA start?

Get creative, get specific.  Yeah, yeah, yeah, the lab accident has been done to death.  Think about something else more interesting.  It might help to think on some of these questions as a whole, not one by one.  The characteristics of your zombies can be effected by your choice on where and how it started.

 

What caused it?

Virus, bacteria, inadequate burial practices, contaminated food, sexual contact, whatever your cause, even if it doesn't come out in the actual telling of your story, you as the writer should know.

 

How does it spread?

Do you have to get bitten by a zombie to get infected?  How do you get to that rule after the first victim?  Because I'm assuming the first victim wasn't bitten by a zombie, because there weren't any.  Can anyone now be infected the way the first person was?  Do you have to die first in order to become a zombie?  Are some people immune?

 

How fast does it spread?

I always wonder about just how fast the zombie infection will spread.  In order to get to full on Zombie Apocalypse it obviously has to spread pretty quickly, no?  Or maybe it spreads invisibly at first?  Or maybe on like Walking Dead, we're all infected

How do you become a zombie after the initial exposure?

The stories that make it about a bite or scratch typically have you get violently sick, flu-style, then die, then wake back up as a zombie.  Older stories would have people buried, then have to dig out of the ground.  Remember those great old pictures of the hands clawing out of the cemetery ground?  How about your story?  The cause will explain your first victim of the infection, so how does he or she spread it around?

What are the qualities and characteristics of zombies?

Of course eating people is always the top quality.  And most zombies don't talk.  They can't run, just walk.  They don't know how to turn door knobs.  And they have no compassion at all.  They don't eat each other, cuz frankly, wouldn't that take care of it?  Why do they crave human flesh?  Is it just human flesh they crave, or anything alive?  How can you avoid them?   Is it smell that drives them, or sight, or hearing?  The whole loud sounds thing getting their attention will make firearms dangerous to use.  Your survivors will need silent killing implements.

So... who is your main character?

Certainly the most important detail in any story, not just zombie.

Where is your main character?

Especially important in relation to where it started and how it spread.  Was your main character involved in the outbreak somehow?

More on the where, where is your main character going to ride out the ZA?  Or, where do they get stuck?  How are they able to survive?  Who is with the main character?  A group?  One loved one?  No one?

What will become your main characters strategy on how to survive and where to get to?

This the fun question of what is the quest for your character.  And I'll add, what is driving your main character?  Trying to save someone in particular, or trying to track down the cause or an antidote?  Or getting somewhere safe to live the rest of his/her life out?  This is where I hope you don't pick a shopping mall or the local high school.  I'm rather tired of stories of one hero desperately trying to find out about his/her one true love.  The entire world is crashing down around them.  Should we really care if he gets back and saves his ex-wife and the kids he doesn't have custody of anymore?

Add your own questions to the mix.  Be creative.  There are sorts of thngs you can try.  Maybe your main character is a zombie instead of a survivor?  Maybe zombies can talk?  Maybe they can fly?  Maybe the dig into the earth and they're like moles and can come up anywhere?  Come up with something entirely new and write a short synopsis or a short story or just an outline of the answers to all your questions.

Maybe I should come up with a framework and have people write stories inside the world of the Zombie Apocalypse as I created it.  Who would be in?