Category: Musings

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Weekly Musing: Critique Group Dos and Don’ts – Writer Edition

DH Hanni

A component many writers groups offer are critique sessions. This is a time set aside where an agreed upon number of pieces, be they a short story, poetry, or chapters from a novel, are submitted to the group for feedback. While the person critiquing the piece has a responsibility to be honest and fair, the author bears some responsibilities when submitting the piece. Below are a few things I’ve noticed within writers groups I’ve been a part of. Seemingly simple things I wish every author would do as it would set up critiques to be about the content instead of other issues.

So here are some suggestions for an author when submitting work for critique:

Don’t submit an unedited draft – First drafts are garbage. Doesn’t matter how long you’ve been writing, doesn’t matter if you’re a published author or not, your first draft is going to be a tangled mess of ideas. Because you are still trying to figure out what the story is, it’s not the draft to submit to your critique group.

What I mean by unedited is at very least clean up the grammar and spelling as much as you are able to. Most writers struggle with grammar and spelling. There are plenty of books, websites, and classes to help improve.

If I’m reading a piece and I have to stop to remind you put a period at the end of a sentence, to capitalize where appropriate, how to use (or not use) a semi-colon, etc., then I can’t concentrate on the story itself. When it comes to the story itself please go through your rough draft at least once to organize your thoughts. Make sure scenes are in some kind of order. Submitting a draft and admitting it’s in no particular order, and it’s not intentional or experimental, is frustrating as the reader. It’s not my job to cobble together the sequence of events.

Format the manuscript in the industry standard – It is easy to find via a simple Google search of what Standard Manuscript Format – Short Story and Standard Manuscript Format – Novel  looks like. Often publishers will even include a link on their Submissions page. NOTE: Times New Roman or Courier New are the accepted fonts.

To make life easier for you and for any potential reader, format your work in the industry standard from the very first draft. You can even set up a template in Microsoft Word for this. As a reader it’s frustrating tapping the writer on the shoulder to remind them of something as simple as Standard Manuscript Format.

In addition to putting your piece in the accepted industry standard, make sure you understand how to properly denote a scene break. Sometimes I see blank lines in between paragraphs. I have no idea if there’s a formatting problem that wasn’t caught or if there’s a scene break. I know I’ve read several novels where this was how a scene break was noted, but the industry standard is three *, sometimes you’ll see three # used, centered with double-spacing before and after. Also, learn how to use Window/Orphan Control.

Clearly note chapters – I’ve read a few pieces where it wasn’t until several pages into the story I came to a page saying “CHAPTER TWO” that I realized everything I read up to them was chapter 1. For me this changes how I read and analyze the piece. When I read a short story I’m looking to see if it’s a complete story. When I’m reading chapters from a book, I’m looking for something else. Does this chapter tell me a piece of the larger story? Should it be in the novel and at this point? Is there too much backstory? Am I intrigued enough by the character(s) to keep reading? Make it easy on your reader, note those chapters.

 

Putting your work out there for others to read and critique is a nerve-wracking endeavor. Your heart beat speeds up. Your hands get clammy. Sweat breaks out on your brow and/or your armpits. Your stomach is in knots. It’s a big step as you let others see what you’ve been working on for months or years. To make it easier on yourself, put forth your best effort. Correct the grammar and spelling, format the piece correctly, and learn to self-edit. I want to focus on your story. I don’t want to be distracted by easy fixes, things all writers must learn to do unless you want your work to be rejected without being read. It takes a lot of work to edit and revise. For many writers it’s not their favorite thing in the world, but it’s a necessary evil. Make the critique of your work easier on yourself. Allow the reader to focus on the content and how to help you improve.

Front Page, Musings

Weekly Musing: Under Pressure

DH Hanni

This musing is going to be more of a rant session. Over the past few months I’ve noticed more than a few things which didn’t used to bother me now do. Most are things I can ignore, but some annoy me so much I’m struggling to get past them.

Gripe #1: Stop with all “You Should Be Writing” memes. I don’t care which steely-eyed, vaguely threatening pose of a celebrity you’re using, just stop it already. Stop trying to guilt-trip people. Yes, I’m looking at FB, but that doesn’t mean I’m not writing. Taking breaks are good no matter what your profession is. Your brain and body need to recharge and sometimes looking at cat videos helps. Or maybe that particular time of day you’re scrolling through social media isn’t when your brain is ripe for writing.

I know the memes are meant to be humorous, and I do see it as such, but the message it sends is clear: You’re a lazy SOB. Why aren’t you writing at this moment? Don’t you know you’re not a real writer unless you spend uninterrupted hours banging out words? You’re taking a break? Yeah, right. Don’t believe you. Get back to work!

Somewhat related are memes and infographics humorously trying to show the percentage of time a writer spends actually writing vs. staring at the wall, looking at cat videos, distracted by social media, binge watching any TV show, etc. You get the point. Again, these are funny, yet like the memes telling me I should be writing it sends a similar message.

Gripe #2: Word count updates. I get it. You’re justifiably proud for writing 2,000 words on your WIP. Or that you’re 45,000 words into your new manuscript. Or perhaps bummed because you had to cut 10,000 words. But must you brag about this frequently? Fantastic you’re writing. I am too, let’s be honest, most people don’t care or don’t understand what the big deal is.

Out of curiosity a couple of years ago I tracked my word count. It was fascinating, yet also a little discouraging. Seeing days with 0 words made me feel as if I hadn’t done anything. I felt like putting notes next to those days explaining I was doing research, or was ill (I tend to be one of those people who when sick, their brain just shuts down), or some life thing came up. Though when I saw what my daily average was, I still felt as if it wasn’t good enough. Not compared with writers I know who are flat out machines. I’m not a machine; I don’t work fast due to being a perfectionist.

Because it made me feel guilty, I decided to never track my words again. Hell, I don’t even know how many words my current WIP is. Only short stories do I pay attention to the word count because I need to know for when I’m searching for a place to publish it. What matters most to me is to work as much as I can that day. Realizing, too, that research counts as writing. Or that my subconscious is working. Pen to paper isn’t the true tell of the tape.

Gripe #3: Group think. A pattern I’ve seen in a lot of writing advice is how writers should, no, need to seek out others’ input. I agree we shouldn’t completely write in a vacuum, but I see people going overboard turning a work into a group project. I’ve seen in my critique group, and unfortunately actively participated in this, where as a group we discuss different ways a writer can fix their story. It goes beyond constructive criticism or answering specific questions the writer has.

This is why I have a slight problem with the idea of beta readers. I’ve beta read for a couple of people and it’s a lot of work. What I have to constantly remind myself is are my suggestions related to the work or what I personally would do different? Is this suggestion helpful for the author? If the author asks specific questions, are my answers constructive? Of course a beta reader can be helpful if a writer is struggling with something and asking for help isn’t bad. None of us are great in all areas.

I see writing as an individual expression. When it gets turned into a community piece it risks losing the writer’s voice. The writer is the one who knows the story and knows the characters. Sometimes too many people reading and responding to a manuscript confuses the writer and muddies the narrative. I’m concerned with all this outside input modifies an author’s individual voice and style to conform to what is “right”.

This concern about group think is one of the main reasons why I don’t participate in write-ins. Besides not really getting any work done, I simply cannot concentrate with that many people around. It messes up my ability to immerse myself in my story’s world. Also, I’m a pretty independent person, a perfectionist, and a massive introvert. It’s great people ask for help when stuck. But I worry about are you fixing it to please someone else?

 

These gripes have made me realize we writers need to be kinder to ourselves and each other. We are bombarded with noise on every aspect of writing. It gets to people in a negative way, losing its helpful intent. We need to put less pressure on ourselves. Writing and publishing are already stressful enough without added external forces trying to guilt us. Writing is a job, yes, and must be treated as such, but it’s not the only thing in life. So let’s stop giving the impression it is and that to do or think otherwise makes you less than legit.

Front Page, Musings

Weekly Musing: Where’s My Money?

DH Hanni

Before becoming a writer, I had no idea there are different ways authors earn money. I’d heard about royalties mainly in connection with musicians. I’d also heard authors get advances but wasn’t completely sure what that meant. But I had no clue how complicated the system is until I started learning more about the business and based upon my own very limited experience.

There are three ways to pay an author. What most people are familiar with are royalties and advances. The third way is more common in short story and poetry markets and that is being paid up front. I’ll briefly explain each one as well as give pros and cons as I see it.

Advances: Advances are money paid to an author by the publisher ahead of a book’s publication. Most commonly it’s “advance against royalties” meaning the amount of the advance is paid based on what the publisher thinks the royalties will be.

Advances can be small for new authors to several millions for a best-selling author. Factors used to determine the amount are: size of the publisher (smaller publisher means a smaller advance), historic performance of similar books, author’s track record (newer author vs. established author), and the book’s topic (some genres and topics traditionally perform better than others). Usually the advance is paid in installments based upon manuscript milestones such as a signing bonus, when the manuscript is completed, when it’s accepted, and so on.

One advantage of an advance is the author earns money before even selling a single copy. Another pro is it encourages the writer. I imagine it’s a thrill to know a publisher has enough confidence in your work that they want to pay you even set one word has been written. Another positive is as long as the author meets all the agreed upon expectations, their advance is guaranteed even if the book doesn’t sell enough to cover the advance.

One of the biggest cons is advances are it’s becoming less common. Paying money to an author banking on a book is successful enough the publisher recovers at least the advance is risky. There are thousands, millions of books competing for readers and very few become best sellers. Few authors are consistent best sellers so have earned their advances. Another con is if an author does get an advance, it’s going to be smaller then what the average advance used to be. Again, the publisher is taking a financial risk and a newer author without a track record is a bigger gamble then an established author. One more downside is if you have an agent, which most traditionally published authors have, you don’t keep the entire advance. An agreed upon percentage is taken out by the agent. Another con is if your book doesn’t make back the advance, you may not get another advance from your publisher for subsequent books.

Royalties: A royalty is a payment made to an author based upon the number of books sold. If an author has received an advance, royalties are paid after the publisher has sold enough copies to cover the advance. Easy enough concept to understand, however, in practice it’s the most complicated method of payment and the one which can lead disputes between author and publisher. The reason why it’s complicated is because royalties often operate on a sliding scale. This means an author’s royalty percentage depends on how many hardbacks vs. paperback vs. eBooks are sold. The list price of each version is also factored in.

The biggest advantage of royalties is this is where a bulk of authors earn their money. Royalties are paid out on an agreed upon schedule so the author will earn money as long as the book continues to sell.

While royalties have a big advantage, they have a number of complications. Where the book is sold affects the royalty rate. Ever see a book at a chain bookstore then see it at your local grocery store a couple of years? By the time the book reaches the grocery store, the list price is much lower thus impacting an author’s royalty. Another complication is the percentage the publisher calculates for potential books returned. This causes the author’s royalty to go down. And what if the book tanks? Thankfully you’ve got the advance but if you don’t sell many copies, no more money.

Upfront Payment: With upfront payment, a publisher or literary magazine states on their Submission page how much they pay for an accepted piece. Payment varies from a few dollars to several hundred dollars. Instead of paying a set flat rate, others will pay per word up to certain dollar limit.

What’s great about upfront payment is an author gets paid upon either acceptance or publication. No need to wait around for royalties paid each month, quarter, half a year, whatever the terms of the contract are. Another plus is this makes the most sense for submitting short stories or poetry.

A negative is you take a chance the story could be worth more. Many places are only able to pay anywhere from $5 to $25 dollars, which is still better being paid nothing. It’s possible you could earn more if the story or poem were submitted to an outfit offering royalties especially if accepted by a big publisher who knows they can sell a lot of copies. Of course, with multiple authors in an anthology or chapbook everyone shares in the royalties. Naturally if a collection of your stories or poems is published then you don’t have to worry about splitting royalties.

 

A brief look into how authors get paid. Personally, I prefer upfront payment vs. royalties for short stories. One of the anthologies I have a story in is set up for royalty payment. In hindsight I realize that’s not a good idea since the royalty will be split amongst all the authors thus resulting in a potentially smaller payment. I can see where a royalty payment for a short story anthology can be lucrative but only if there are big name authors or if it’s the type of anthology the publisher knows will sell well. However, anthologies don’t sell as well as novels though with Kindles, iPads, Nooks, and other electronic reading devices becoming common place, anthologies have seen resurgence in popularity. As I aspire to become a novelist, the idea of advances and royalties are attractive. After all, it’s a relatively steady source of income and one which has the potential to grow over time.