Being Versatile

I've been offered awards by two more wonderful bloggers! Thank you, A.L. Sonnichsen at The Green Bathtub, and Christauna Asay over at Art n' Writin'! These ladies have great writing blogs and are a delight to read. Thanks for the kudos!

I've already listed some things about me (as required when accepting these awards), but I thought I might try to list a few things I've discovered about the writing process since I began writing seriously a few years ago. I'll try to be original.

1. Before you submit ANYTHING, go to the intended publisher's website and LOOK UP their very own guidelines for submissions. Each publisher is different! Hard copy or e-copy, full ms or partial, or queries only, looking for specific genres, NOT taking specific genres, font size and style, min/max word count, header info, where they want the page number, EVERYTHING YOU NEED to avoid being automatically tossed in the slush pile or having your work shoved right into the self-addressed stamped envelope you managed to include. This is from experience, people.

2. Learn how to self-edit. Search editing, Tuesday Edit Crunch, or any number of topics on this blog right here (mine) to find my discoveries on self-editing and links to help. That's a few years worth of discovery on ONE BLOG. There are MANY OTHERS.

3. Let others read your work and give you feedback. Critical, cut-and-dry, red ink feedback. IT WORKS. Swallow your writer's pride and CONSIDER.

4. Have patience. BOOKLOADS of it. That's a lot.

5. Let your PASSION drive you. Remember WHY YOU WRITE. I just read somewhere that passion feeds energy. LET IT. Just... remember the needful things in life, too, and budget your time accordingly.

So, those are the biggies. The last time I was given an award I was to list 15 new bloggers I'd discovered, and I only listed 8 because I was budgeting time for needful things. Today I'll list 3 more.

• Norma's Novels. Norma Rudolph is a member of my writing group, Writing Friendzy, and my very good friend! She has written an amazing sci-fi novel about the people of the biblical city of Enoch, called THE WATCHERS OF SIONON. It will be coming out early 2011 through Leatherwood Press, and we are still happy dancing for her!
• Come On...I Dair You! Besides having great insights to writing (check out her post, Writing and Cookies), Carrie Dair regularly posts favorite book trailers, which I find fascinating and will probably attempt to make someday. Not by myself.
• Robison Wells. Okay, Rob isn't new, BUT he does have a shiny new contract with Harper Teen for his modern-day dystopian 3-book YA series. I had the fortune to read a draft of VARIANT and it WILL ASTOUND. And, his blog is entertaining. Particularly What's For Lunch Wednesday.

You know, I really like sharing awesome bloggers. Maybe I'll make this a regular thing. Hmmm. What do you think?