rainy evenings

It was actually a beautiful evening today. I walked home and the drizzling had stopped while I was in a cafe, so that everything gleamed. The headlights from passing cars and the stoplights all reflected in the shallow pools on the streets and it wasn't cold, but just cool enough where my jacket was a comfort and not yet a necessity.

It's also perfect writing weather. Or reading weather. That's another nice thing about fall, other than the beautiful colors. The grey skies and cooling temps urge me to stay indoors, or perhaps at a cafe, and curl up with a good book and a coffee. Or perhaps sit down at my computer and create worlds that hopefully others will want to curl up with. 

And today I had another glimmer of inspiration. And unlike my note from the weekend, I was able to grab a piece of scratch paper and write down the story line that came to me. Hmmm...now to just find some time to flesh it out and then get down to writing Act I (it came to me as a screenplay rather than a novel). I love it when that happens.

the importance of a notebook

There are three things I always try to carry with me no matter where I go: a book, a notebook/scratch paper and a pen. The first is because you never know when you will have to wait and it's a good way to get through a few more pages. The other two is because you never know when an idea will hit. It could be an idea for a plot problem, or maybe a few lines of dialogue or a new scene, or maybe a new story ideal all together.

Yesterday and this morning I was reminded why having paper and a pen are so important. On the metro, I had this great idea and since I didn't have any paper, I thought about it and then thought some more, thinking I'd remember enough of it now to write it down when I got home. 

Well...I got home and got distracted by other things and never wrote it down. And now this morning I'm left trying to remember what it was. Let's hope it comes back, and I'm tossing in extra paper into my bag as I type in case it does.

a reminder on personal tastes

One reason for rejections that I've seen discussed (and maybe received one or two) is a matter of personal taste. This doesn't always mean the writing was necessarily bad, but that it just didn't appeal to the reader. I thought about this the other morning after I finished up a kind of futuristic...thriller (if thriller was the right word). I had two friends who loved it and another who didn't really care for it. So where did I fall?

I didn't really care for it. But here's the thing, I don't think there was anything the author could have done to change that. The characters had real motivations, the writing was smooth and the plot was fully developed. But it just didn't appeal to me. I can't pinpoint anything wrong with it that I didn't like, just that I didn't really like it. Is it something that I can recommend to a friend? Mmm...maybe. If I really knew their tastes and knew it was in line with that. But can I go around with a blanket recommendation that I would do with a book that I absolutely loved?

When a rejection comes along and it's not suited to that agent's particular taste, or s/he couldn't get behind it passionately to sell it, just remember. It's not personal. It's personal taste. What appeals to my friend doesn't always appeal to me. And after all, isn't that what makes all of us a little more interesting?

Of course, I will say that having said all that, it's still important to try things outside the comfort zone. Who knows? I might have loved this book. There have been other books I've been skeptical about and then once I read them, wanted to go around and recommend them to everyone I knew. And then I want to read other, similar books. And then not to sound cliche (ok, maybe a little), but I've broadened my horizons. 

It was a nice little reminder to have.

writing contest - Writer's Digest "Dear Lucky Agent"

I had another post mostly drafted late yesterday/early this morning that I planned to finish writing about tonight. But then there was a slight change of plans as I learned about the blog Guide to Literary Agent's "Dear Lucky Agent" contest. Well, I guess I shouldn't quite say learned about...since I read this blog fairly regularly, I've come across it before, but it hasn't yet been in a genre in which I write.

This time around though, it's in Young Adult. Tomorrow though is the deadline.

Ordinarily I've heard about these with slightly more time, but last week was more than a little busy for me, and I wasn't quite up to date with the twitter feeds I follow. But if you're catching up like I am and come across this contest to enter, best of luck to you!

I'm reading over my first 150-200 now, so please wish me luck as well.