Y o u r W r i t e r s G r o u p

The Power of Critique

So critique groups. Good or bad?

It's like asking if publishing is good or if a book is good. Of course the answer's yes and no. Like everything else. It always depends on the people in them.

And just like everything else, what you get out of them is largely dependent on what you bring to them. Know someone who didn't like The Shack? Maybe their theology caused them to bring something different to it than someone without that filter. The same people are now angry at Rob Bell for Love Wins even though it's nothing Don Miller didn't say before, a little differently, maybe less pointedly in Blue Like Jazz.

But after I experienced disillusionment as a 19-year-old kid, I wondered if disappointment with God is a universal, that necessary moment when your eyes open and your innocence falls away and you know that God is not always going to save you from the worst attrocities life may bring. Everyone gets to learn this eventually. Even believers and the faithful. Life happens. And the point is to recognize that even still, God is always good.

So I believe it's a "writer fundamental" that what I'm able to bring to my writing is largely dependent on my willingness to accept that life will bring pain. And this is not bad, not to be fought off, but embraced as the gift it is. Fear of pain is instinctual, elemental--those who deny it, deny the very thrust of existence. But facing the fear of that pain, peacefully but forcefully, is at least one essential benefit a good critique group can offer.

This week, I'm working with one of my favorite future authors who's writing a genre western romance (what? That's not strange--one of my favorite books is Redeeming Love. Okay, maybe it's strange). I've encouraged her to trust her abilities, to let herself feel the fear of failure and to courageously believe in her inevitable success anyway. At the OCCWF conference a couple weeks ago, author Simon Tolkien claimed that a big part of his grandfather's success was because he had spent years studying language--words, their meanings and origins--and this allowed him to know how his characters spoke and how that defined them. 

I'd argue that this is what every author has to do--study words, learn, and respect that training. And a good critique group encourages a healthy respect for the symbols of words, their meanings, listening for where your "translation" is inaccurate or not revelatory enough.

Does this involve fear? Yes. But can you face it with courage?

Some authors discredit critiques, which is understandable. It's nearly impossible to find a good group that understands what critiques are and consistently applies their full attention and effort to it. It's often hopelessly idealistic to believe you can find an honest, dedicated, knowledgable group of writers who can regularly meet to thoroughly discuss your work. Especially within 30 miles of you.

Maybe they don't have to be within 30 miles.

A professional editor knows how to fix the things that need fixing. And a good critique group can point those things out. Where it's slow, redundant, and even not fully developed yet, a critiquer who's well-read, knows you, and appreciates the process of writing (through having done it themselves and having read the best books on craft) is worth a fortune. Professional agents are good readers as well, though until you've risen in stature a bit, you won't likely be told what isn't working. You need someone you can trust, who gets both what you're trying to do and what you need to do to pull it off and get peple talking. This could cost you a bit out of pocket. But that's why I started YWG and it's proving that just like a great book, what's truly valuable doesn't have to cost what it's really worth. Is it worth it to you? I don't know. It's not perfect and there's work involved. But I do think it's worth it to check it out--there's no charge to read the critiques.

Pro authors know early feedback is the best "promotional" money you can spend. But what can't a good critique do? It can't replace the need for a copy editor who will look for grammar mistakes, misspellings, wrong words, weak constructions, inconsistent elements like Suzy being 9 on page 4 and 12 on page 37. Critique groups shouldn't waste time on the minor things until the big things have been addressed. So authors, do not skip this step or you will suffer the consequences. If you're a good student of language, you'll save money when it comes time to hire a copyeditor. 

But just like the earlier stages, this one can be painful. It's hard to give up the pieces of ourselves that are holding us back. We fight for our ignorance and call it personality, style, artistic license. Most often, it's plain prideful stupidity. Sure, readers will accept your incomplete sentences. Even love them. But respect the refinement process. It's not just making your book better, it's making you better as well. And that's the big point.

The artist who demands he has nothing to learn soon finds he has nothing to say.

A powerful critique group is about growth, a shared journey of trust, fear, empathy, hope, and faith. It's powerful because it's built on relationships over rules, on embracing acceptance and peace amidst the striving for what's better. I have been in a few of them in my lifetime, and I can promise you the people you learn to write with will remain lifelong friends.

It's about being your vulnerable, wart-covered self and finding it accepted and improved. And as a bonus, you get to discover the true meaning of gratitude.

One of my critique partners, Rob Stennett has a book releasing today called Homemade Haunting. (I know. I'm a lucky dude.) Rob is a one-of-a-kind genius with character comedy and this time he mixed it into a thriller and asked "If evil is real, what happens when someone doesn't have the only true weapon against it?" If you think it was easy to blend comedy with such a serious subject, you're dreaming. But Rob figured it out and critiques played a hand in that. I'm sure he'd be happy to tell you if you asked. Anyway, get the book (it's only $10), read it and ask yourself how many people it really takes to finish a great book.

Writing like Mr. Rogers Lived

Just this.

 

How do you want to be remembered? Just stop for 10 seconds and consider how your words are liberating others today.

Editor to Author: Letter to a Memoir Writer

Dearest Author,

I've been thinking about worth lately.

What's your story worth?

At a recent writers conference I taught a workshop on how I saw publishing changing. Modern publishing, the only time in history when we've had separate "markets" for books, has begun to fracture and redistribute. I've shared several times about how The Shack has shifted things. It isn't just a book, of course, it's a bridge. And those bridges are inevitable because it isn't only spiritual people or Christians who recognize God as creator.  

Blue Like Jazz came well before it and created connections between the Christian and secular markets. Lauren Winner's memoir Girl Meets God made some connection points before that, similar to how Eat, Pray, Love did more recently, from the other side of the spiritual divide. Several spiritual/worldly, secular/sacred books have become best-sellers as bridges in the long history of such books since the beginning of print, and some people have traced this line back to the best-selling book of all time: The Bible.

The Secret. The Purpose-Driven Life. The Alchemist. The Celestine Prophesy. The Late Great Planet Earth. Pilgrim's Progress. Books you've never heard of have sold over 30 million copies: Steps to Christ by Ellen White, In His Steps by Charles Sheldon, late-19th century Congregational minister and advocate of the ever-intriguing idea of "Christian socialism." Even Nikolai Tesla wrote about his life a true spiritual man and world-renouned scientist in My Inventions. The Canterbury Tales, The Odyssey, and The Divine Comedy by Dante, written in 1304, has "sold" more than anyone knows and we have no idea how it or any of these books have changed readers and the history of spiritual thought, becoming seeds for the trees of countless theologies.

But of course, we know this is what books are--seeds. And this is what they do: define life and defy death.

"So long as men can breathe, or eyes can see, So long lives this, and this gives life to thee."

So this story that's a part of you, that is you, that defines your work and all of your effort and sacrifices to share it completely (or as completely as possible) for others to use--what's it really worth?

Don't answer. You can't. Simply try to see the fullness of the question clearly. Continue on...

Do you know where your worth is really found?

Yes, in God's ownership of the life and love he's created you to embody (1 John 4:7-12). His ownership, creating, protecting, guiding and infusing of his great, unchanging spirit into us. He dies that we might live (parents always understand this principle). And we die that others might live through our sacrifices. This is the daily work of writing.

Do you know what that is really worth?

Intimately known and held, seen and heard and helped in every way, this knowledge is invaluable, isn't it? We can talk of worth and value, and shift our understanding of that from copies sold to readers influenced, but it's the knowledge a reader will have by the end of your story that makes what you're doing truly valuable. And this understanding of how God fills us and dies for us is the greatest wisdom, the most valuable in the world. And if you are practicing that, that makes what you're doing invaluable.

I want to give you, as a witness of your discovery of that unchanging love, my invaluable opinion on it, my affirmation that you've been seen and heard and that what you've written down is completely worthy. And with your assurance that it's been well established and others will see it and respond, you can continue, knowing it's incredible and invaluable. 

So do you see what your story is really worth?

Because there's no true price tag you can put on it. There's no proper estimating the value of my work, my seeing it, or others' receiving it either. It's in-valuable. We have to simply trust together that whatever comes of it is just a small piece of its fullest value as a seed for God to use, and not at all connected to the worth of what you've written, or what I've done to help. I know you've sacrificed and given for your story, and I've been brought into the processing of it, but regardless of how it will be published and the realities of our modern marketplace, you must know:

What's your story really worth?

I remain your solid co-laborer in the process of delivering these invaluable words. Never assign its worth to money, public perception, publication, or anything else. Your heart is here, and that's established and it's something you have written definitively, and just as we have agreed together at the outset here, others will when they read it.

We don't know how it will all play out. But I'm on your side and not looking for specific outcomes big or small. Don't think in terms of what's "fair," but decide you will pay with your life what's necessary to give to this project. What you give is directly proportional to what that seed will be able to produce in readers. And in terms of return and profit, I believe Cohelo is right: the universe will conspire in our favor.

So what's your story really worth?

 

Your Loving Editor,

Mick

Writers Conference "Dos and Don'ts"

From an editor's perspective, writers conferences can be a mixed bag. For those of you planning to attend one in the near future, or wondering whether you should, let me offer some dos and don'ts that apply to any writer's conference you might attend as an aspiring author...

Do know your genre. Everything may be expanding into new genres and sub-genres, but there will always be a line of books that precede yours in content and style, both informing it and categorizing it for a quick comparison. You may not like that others have written books like yours, but the fact is, it's your duty to know them and how you're improving the mold. Categories help us know what we're getting, even as barriers are breaking down between CBA (Christian Book Association) and ABA (American Book Association). Some people may not like categories, but they help readers. Some people may not like books that push the boundaries, but they're a sign of health and vigor.

Do get a publishing professional to sit on a panel and use you as an example of a fresh, and engaging voice. It was at the Northwest Christian Writers Renewal conference (in 2008 or 9?) that I was introduced to Ann Voskamp. She asked me to help her edit, and went on to publish an amazing book called One Thousand Gifts. Her distinctive, individual voice is what makes that book work, a voice she developed for years of writing and blogging and seeking out gifts for which she was thankful. So many things go into making a book a best seller, but her experience in writing and reading developed her voice and that was absolutely a factor in getting her published, not to mention talked about. Don’t be conniving and crafty, but do be a crafter of unmistakably unique work.

Don’t simply go to the conference to be fed. I hear this often: “The singer / food / accommodations / teaching is so wonderful!” Well yes, but these are compliments for the organizers, and they need to hear them. When you’re with a pro, don’t gush. They're not interested in your experience of the trappings. Would you be here if it was the worst, backwoods conference on the planet, just to deliver my the book that’s going to make me fall out of my chair? (more on this in a bit) Which leads me to,

Don’t be a sycophant. If you don’t have the definition memorized, please go do so now.

Don’t miss the point. IN 2005, on a panel at ACFW, I recommended The Time Traveler's Wife as the best book I’d read that year. In a rare moment of foresight, I included a warning that it might be offensive to some, but for months after that, I still heard about grumbling: “I can’t believe a Christian editor would recommend that book.” Dear ones, you have a responsibility to know what’s being written and read currently. Professional editors, agents and writers are readers. If you aren’t, that’s a serious handicap. Yes, do skip the sex/language/violence, but don’t misunderstand: you need to find out why an editor is recommending a book. Understand what that author did and that’s your ticket into his stable.

Do pay attention. Much of the benefit, if not all, of a writers conference is what you learn while there. Authors' and editors' names, literary terms, methods of writing, clarifying, editing, working, thinking, appealing to the muse. Don't waste your time worrying about your pitch, selling your idea, trying to force your way up from the place you need to be to learn. It's not about getting published. It's about being in a place where you are being courted because you've acquired so much knowledge, and your book begs to be published. While many bad books do get published, publishing the good ones is inevitable. 

Don’t listen to amateurs. There is more slippery sludge thrown around by well-meaning Christian newbies than any of us can shake our fingers at. The blogging world has made this bad advice proliferate, and there’s far too much posturing and speculating that goes on in absence of good data and some honest humility. Pride and ego can get the best of anyone—so be smart and listen to those who know.

Don’t tell me your entire story. Just stick to the P’s: Pitch, Package, Platform. PITCH: Give me the essence in as few words as possible. (caveat: “Aliens meets Blue Like Jazz” is not helpful. “Philip K. Dick meets Don Miller” is better, but explain that genre with a more specific comparison like, “Dean Koontz meets Graham Greene.” (I've actually heard this one. And that gave me a great picture.) PACKAGE: Tell me about series potential, what else you've written, what your "brand" is, any foreword or endorsements you’ve got, good-sized* publicity and promo opportunities, which leads right into PLATFORM: How big and how wide is your network? Are you bringing any guaranteed pre-sales through your blog, business, website, contacts in ministry, media, or miscellany (schools, churches, professional organizations, etc.) *total network of 1000 or more is fairly baseline for mid-size Christian publishers. That won't get you in the door a big of NY publishers.

Do know something about what publishing houses publish. Know the catalog and general sales figures (CBA top 50 titles, at least), especially for books like your own. You can find info on sales figures by asking questions: an author/agent/editor or clerk at a larger bookstore.

Do get in a crit group with real writers. When you say you’re in a crit group with a promising author or authors I recognize, it’s a big indication you’ll be an author I want to take more seriously. This is an alternative to getting a respected agent’s highest regard, though having both would probably make me fall out of my chair.

Do make me fall out of my chair. I really am a nice guy. But I have to be efficient as an acquisitions editor making pitches against the competition of other editors and publishers. A vast majority of the pitches I hear at conferences are not good. Learn what you're doing. Read this blog, have a professional help you, and if you’re pitching know the person, their house, and publishing guidelines. Even better, know their publishing goals. Follow what they've published and read their blog! The professional in the chair across from you is looking to see that you get it, you understand the situation, and you’re well-prepared. Do that, and you won’t have to quiver and freak out. Learn the criteria of a good proposal. Read the publishing trades (mainly PW & GalleyCat for ABA, CBA Marketplace and Christian Retailing for CBA market) and relevant editorial (Christian Communicator, Books and Culture) so you know what’s happening in the business you’re hoping to join. And remember, it's a business.

So go to writers conferences and soak up the knowledge and the community of like-minded individuals, and help someone grow! When you do that, you win. You get noticed. You get inspired. And those around you will remember or realize for the first time how great it is to be in a place like this, doing work they love, with people who are making a difference.

I mean, that's what I hope for...

 

A repost from the archives as I head out to the OCCWF conference this weekend. Maybe I'll see you there!

Writer Imperatives 101: Let Them In

I don't recall learning to read, but I know I was still pretty young when I first started retreating to my room to read. I remember Robinson Crusoe, The Chronicles of Narnia, and A Wrinkle In Time, looking up words in my paperback dictionary, and basically sealing my fate as a book nerd for the rest of my life. It didn't help that I was musical and played piano.

Soon, I realized just how different I was. And so began the defending.

Now I know it isn't unusual. The natural world is not always hostile, but it isn't protective either, and everyone and everything is compelled by their vulnerabilities to require defenses, shelter, and security to ward off the assaults of the environment and attackers. We vary in degrees of sensitivity, but even naturally tough people (and extroverts!) need protected space.

Frank Peretti's The Wounded Spirit has helped many people learn to value themselves again. Elaine Arron's identifying "highly sensitive" people has also provided tools for defense. But then a couple I've known my entire life, two lifelong friends of my parents'  and now mine, helped me understand bonding and attachment and I was able to acquire and edit their books for WaterBrook Press. If you're a human, and you'd like to know how humans work, I believe you'll find their help some of the best that money can buy.

I was still young when I realized that great books can be like theirs--life-changing treasure maps built of a lifetime (several lifetimes) of knowledge, wisdom and refinement. And one of the greatest advantages of our modern age is that these treasure maps are very nearly, or at least right up next to being, absolutely free. 

Do we realize how lucky we are in the history of the human race?

Well, no. Most people don't. Because we have never known different. I imagine the kids born into this information superstore and I wonder how they're going to value anything. Thankfully, new sensitive people are born every day, book readers and idea-seekers, and there are still some adults engaging to help guide them.

But being married to another extremely sensitive book nerd and pianist, we have two fairly different kids. I watch them grow and I don't think they'll struggle too much to let people in. They're confident that though their feelings and thoughts might be different, they're valuable and important to share. I wonder if this means they won't be writers. I'd be okay with that. At 5 and 8, they do really love books, so you never know.

But all of this is rattling around in my cranium this morning, thinking about letting people in and how that can be such a struggle for anyone, especially if you've been hurt for it. And most have. Writers are those who are compelled to fight back. And somewhere in the midst of writing down the words, the truth emerges, and we see a bit more of who we really are, and who everyone really is. And that makes the world look a bit brighter. A bit more promising of wonder, beauty and joy.

So fight on today, friend! Be brave and drop the shield. Write into the heart of the fear and don't ever doubt the wisdom of letting them in. It's for your own good, too, after all.

Does Your Writers Group Provide These 3 Essentials Every Writer Needs?

Welcome back, everyone. Hope you had a fabulous Easter.

Being a book editor is such a strange job. It has enormous up sides: not requiring me to, say, buy a lot of expensive equipment or be out in extreme elements. I don't have to dig through anything too revolting. At least not physically. But still, it has its challenges.

Chief among those is the fact that everyone I meet wants to publish. And this varies in intensity, often marked by dilated pupils and shortness of breath when I mention what I do, who I've worked for, authors I've helped. In most settings, I try not to mention it because chances are if the person has thought about writing at any point in their life, a little bell labeled "My-Golden-Ticket-to-Published-Author" goes off in their heads. And its particular frequency has a way of pushing the conversation past the more important matters like writing, editing, networking, etc.

Even the best writers need a lot of help ignoring this pesky bell. Especially if they spend any time online.

But once in a while I meet someone who wants to be an editor and I always get excited because I've always wanted to help more authors than I have time for. It's no easy thing sometimes to help authors say what they mean, prove we're worth listening to and that they're not, in fact, full card-carrying citizens of crazyland.

My advice to future editors is this: 3 things. Creating great books (and authors) always starts with the same 3 things, and they all derive from the question, Will this book absolutely force people to share it?

The big challenge with being an editor is that you get to be the one to ask how exactly it will do that. It's a difficult question for authors to accept, let alone answer. But if you can get them to face the question, the rest isn't all that hard. Help an author keep answering that question through every stage of the book process, and eventually what they'll get is an exceptional book.

Will this writing compel sharing? Does this edit improve the chances of sharing? Is this a brand that fills a desperate need or want? And is there someone who would be naturally inclined to enjoy it?

And while good editors can provide help in at least two of the three essential categories, a good writers group can help in all three:

1. Motivation.

The first essential element in birthing a book that can change lives is a heart that's fully engaged. Writers who are most productive need daily encouragement and inspiration to continue the hard work of showing up, sticking with it, and continually developing the vision. This is a critical step that's missing in most of the courses I've seen. Each week, I want to send you a new motivational message to inspire you to write what matters most.

2. Education.

Writers need to engage in every step of the book process as though it's the most important step there is. From writing to editing to branding, networking and publishing, the reason a book doesn't sell is a breakdown in one of those areas. And unless authors have a strong understanding of their story and their essential difference, the book won't rise as well as it might have. First, authors need to know how to write words that work better than the rest, and like any creative endeavor, this takes training and practice over time. Each step should build on the last, with solid guidance in editing, building a brand, networking, and choosing best publishing options.

3. Connection.

The final element that's sorely missing for writers today is connection to a larger, engaged community. The trick with books is getting critical feedback on your best efforts at each step to ensure you're on the mark. And when it comes time to release your message, the best way is organically--by letting people put it to use. You don't sell great books, they sell themselves because they're so remarkable. They solve huge problems and inspire people to change. If I was a fancy marketer, I'd call this the Authentic Approach Advantage or something, but it's basically what happens naturally  when you stay focused on helping people all along the way through your own development.

To encourage authors to finish well and excel my new plan is to focus on an online writers group. I'll still help authors individually, but much of it will be through the website. For those who signed up over Easter weekend, I'm grateful for your trust, and I'd like to extend the $10-first-week offer for your entire first month. Anyone else who would like to check it out, your first month will be $10 as well. Who knows, if it gets going well, I may extend that price indefinitely.

I'm learning how to run a website as I go, but I'm still just an editor and my goals for these three categories haven't changed. So if you want to see if YWG can help you produce an exceptional book, I encourage you to come by and see the different kind of community we've just gotten going.

Thanks for reading--I'm always open to any ideas you have for making it better. See you over there!

 

 

 

Thoughts on Beauty, Joy, and Suffering: an Easter Reflection

It's a glorious spring day here. The birds are serenading the sun as it warms the grassy marsh beneath the berry vines with their new bright green growth, reaching up, creating new perches.

I open the door and let in the warm breeze, the first of the new year. And a glorious discovery wafts in: here, the Pacific northwest, spring arrives well-dressed and on time to present Easter.

After months of preparation under cover of low light, the burst of contrasting colors brings readily to mind how new life and growth take place.

The drops of rain like words stored up, each arranged to their proper use, set to their infusing, slow work, the time finally arrives, and the connecting and reconnecting of relationships renews and revives, revealing the deeper purpose behind winter's seeming cruelty.

Sacrifice does finally produce the greater. 

But it's the waiting that hurts, the true, soul-starving reality of deep need and gnawing want, the inescapable suffering of those who embrace the long process involved. There is no denying how much the preceeding pain is required before the joy. And eventual is a hard, insufficient comfort. "Eventually, this, too, shall pass." How to rejoice in the waiting, the becoming?

Belief is the only way. Faith in the principles, the process. When you know and remember, when you see the testimonies, the longing takes on purpose, builds the anticipation, makes the hoping sweeter and sweeter still.

Yes, the soul says, this is how it works.

And this is the thought I have in the open door moment, the sun finally bursting in, the clouds finally falling away. This kind of rejoicing is on the other side of the suffering, the result for both the struggling writer becoming, and the believer believing.

It's Easter in the morning. We believe, though we don't yet see. We trust in the principle at work, the long, dull gray finally producing sharp vibrant contrasts. Light from dark, life from death.

He will come. He will rise. And we will be made joyful again.

A Progressive Publishing Program, Part 2: The Write-Site Invite (and a special offer that's outta sight!)

Today, Good Friday, I launch the new site I’ve spent over 7 years dreaming of, slaving over, refining and developing. This work in progress has forced me to pass up several previous target dates, but I've fought back perfectionism, false hopes, weaker stories, and I believe it's all been worthwhile.

But the idea does still give me goose bumps. And it's ready for business.

It probably all started with that phrase I hear every time I go to a writers conference. "God told me to write this book." And almost as often, I hear some publishing expert share on the panel how that makes their ears bleed.

I'm sorry, but those who make such comments are just saying it's not adequate proof that you're ready to be published. But neither is that good reason to discount the fact, let alone deny, that inspired words come from somewhere higher. And some are literally ordained wordsmiths.

Yes, I said ordained wordsmiths. Plug your ears "experts" but God reveals himself to lowly, unwashed writers. I know. Horrifying. And if more industry professionals were listening, maybe he'd be heard and seen more often through these writers. 

Is this a problem? I happen to think so, and maybe it isn't on par with AIDS in Africa or the Japan nuclear crisis, but then again maybe it is. Maybe God wants to speak to stutterers through bushes, and the crafting and preparing of their words is being cut off too soon. How will writers ever become like a mighty, well-watered tree?

So until the industry begins listening with their hearts more often than their heads, I'm offering professional coaching through this new website for the forseeable future. 

No, I haven't yet successfully cloned myself, so I'm still a limited commodity. Membership will involve some sharing of my eyeballs with other members. But the publishing program and community will eventually cover all writerly questions from most to least important. Of course, some writers don't like waiting or sharing, but that's okay. They can still get me for free if they want (why is it always the authors who need the most help are often the most unwilling to receive it?).

If you've been to a writers conference, you'll get the idea of this immediately. If you ever wished for a program that would organize all the classes you wanted to take and put them in order, from writing to editing, to networking and publishing, that's what this is. But what's bigger--if you've ever wished for a high-paid writing coach, editor or consultant, that's also what this is. You get all my top training and guidance as a high-paid editing coach without the high cost.  

And that's why I've been like a monkey with a banana about this for so long. This program virtually eliminates the barriers to becoming a great writer.

Now as I said last time, there's a lot of publishing advice out there and a little of it is actually helpful. But what about useful writing advice? Could a progressive writing community help you finally give your work what it deserves and complete the vision you first had?

The special offer is all about reaching out: by liking what you read and connecting people you like to the community. The cost of about $1.30 a day can be reduced by 15% ($6.50) off your next month for each new member who mentions you referred them.

That's like getting all my best help and writing motivation for helping your friends stay motivated in their writing. Actually, it's exactly like that.

The bottom line: a limited number of authors who choose not to publish too soon, but commit to the inspired message burning in their hearts will receive weekly assistance from me and the rapidly-expanding YWG community in completing their task well and writing great books for a higher purpose.

[Cue the tap-dancing bear.]

In the exclusive monthly newsletter (the free version is shorter), I'll tell you what’s required from a professional editor’s perspective and break down the steps. And find one friend and it's about $1/day for training, a writing coach, weekly motivation and tons more fun.

So come on over and let me know what you think: www.yourwritersgroup-beta.com. 

If you're just stopping by, there’s lots more explanation at the site—and a lot more fun to come.

Progressive Publishing Program, Part 1: Finish Your Book (for Free) with a Writing Coach

Some offers are just hard to believe, aren't they? 

The day I came up with the idea for a "progressive publishing program," I didn't believe it either.  

But here's a confession: I’ve always been something of a skeptic. As a small(er) babbler, I remember seeing the commercial for the Tootsie Roll pop and I determined to prove them wrong. I stuck with that thing until I licked the stick clean. I probably have some undiagnosed OCD, and coupled with a near-religious devotion to Sesame Street and Mr. Rogers during my newly-verbal years, my ability to persevere through difficult tasks that I enjoyed was virtually assured.

Of course, my mom would tell you, I was one headstrong little snot. I stomped my defiant foot into the deep shag carpet more than once. And as corporal punishment was something of a Christian duty in the 70s, I learned to withstand much pain. 

At school, I followed my own beat stubbornly, even learning to use my spankings to make my punishers cry. But something stuck. I learned self-discipline. And today I use it every day, to edit, write, and not coincidentally, to help authors edit and write.

Research shows that for those who want to write a book, finishing is the #1 barrier. Estimates put it that over 80% of American adults want to write a book, but it turns out life can get in the way. And I could use competition, the TV-addicted childhood, California slacker thing, or my Gen X label as excuses.

Or I could write myself a different story.

There are plenty of stories for all of us to choose from. But eventually we all need to recognize it's our choice to chose the one most worth fighting for.

Commitment isn’t all we need. But it's like, 9/10s. It may be true that obsessing gets you nothing but ulcers, but devotion is the main defense against the enemy of all great books, this enticing fruit of distraction. Greedy salesmen and barking self-publishers purport to want to help you, but do they care how good your book is? What's in it for them to help you not just publish, but sell well? The vision you initially had for your book when you imagined it finished, is that what you have? Or are you in danger of straying from your path? Opportunists have sprouted up everywhere, even in Christian corners, to prey on your flagging devotion. And they're very convincing.

"Congratulations! You finished writing! Now it's time to publish! Trust us, we're professionals."

Maybe you've noticed the decline in book quality. Or typos. Or simply what Stephen King calls "fast-food books" that bypass anything nourishing and go straight to the bowels. I think they're going straight to authors' heads, making their brains fat and slow, convincing them they can publish bestsellers as quickly and easily as, well, passing some fast food.

My theory, and it's just a theory, is that the major problem is undisciplined authors. They may not tell the lies, but they give them power by believing them. And they sell out their vision before a better book is given a chance to be born. Either too distracted, untrained, or afriad of never reaching the shelves, the majority miss their chance of connecting and selling well.

A glut of entitled sell-outs is dragging down the art and literature of publishing.

And why? Because they believe the hype. A brainless machine can publish your book. The real value is in the wisdom to know what's required to publish a best-seller. Are best-selling books always great books? No. And no one can predict success. But there are common characteristics in the authors who write well and sell well. The easiest way to make money in publishing is in selling false hope. And it costs far less to give people what they want than to commit to high quality work (what they really want, trust me).

If you've got a different kind of story, maybe it needs to be published as a great book. Maybe you are one who should choose a better way.

You can do that and make a stand. But you'll also need others around you who believe in that goal really, really stubbornly.

Look at how best-selling authors do it. My newsflash for you after having worked with many successful authors over the past decade is that the good ones committed to the idea that valuable work costs much. They sacrificed for it. They sought out professionals to ensure the highest quality and before they published, they decided they really, really wanted to learn to write and edit well. They learned to tell a story. Armed with this, they managed to wait, to learn to edit, to research the market and others' books, and put themselves through the paces to pull together a refined vision, instead of selling it for scrap.

Choosing a different story than the self-publishers' hype is a new first step to becoming a great author. And only those with the determination to finish well will ever sell a great book.

Stay tuned...part 2 tomorrow.

(Oh, and in case you're wondering how many licks it really takes, I'll tell you over in the forum at the new site...)

Ice Cream, Writers Websites, & Making Your Calories Count

Tillamook ice cream is one of the true pleasures of our moving to Portland.

I know I risk outing myself as a closet ice-cream freak, but I don't care. The way they pack so much lactocine goodness into every delicious spoonful is enough to make me want to move here all over again, just to have the pleasure of realizing I now, once again, have access to the greatest ice cream in the universe.

I am not proud of this. But I refuse to be ashamed of my obsession any longer.

Yeah, okay, there's Haagen Dazs. But that's not really ice cream. It's frozen butter. Of course that's going to be good. Dip a cold stick of butter in vanilla and sugar and go to town. It's tasty. It's also going to deposit you in coronary junction.

You think I'm kidding. Go ahead. Have your Haagen Dazs. We'll see who dies first.

But to bring this just a little bit nearer to my actual point, as I was preparing to indulge in my shopping day rendevous with a blissed-out ice cream coma, I came across a new ad printed along the plastic safety collar. You're familiar with these, and the same lawyers' work from tamper-evident seals on vitamin jars and baby toys. These same demons clearly made these evil little wrappers indestructible because they derive pleasure not from ice cream, but from making you convulse in frustration while slicing your hands on their cleverly-designed razor bands.

I could get scissors, but now it's too much like letting them win, so I decide teeth would be best and I bring the carton to my face to gnaw the daylights out of some shrunk-wrapped landfill.

And that's when I saw it. Little white printing in a playful serif font: "More ice cream per container." Well, I'll be chocolate-swirled.

That's it, I thought. Though even then, I wasn't quite sure what "it" was.

But something grabbed me in that claim that sounded vaguely similar to what I'm pulling together in my little corner of the information superflyway. Sure, you can go for those other writers sites and publishing packages that promise "editing" and thorough quality controls. But you'll get more ice cream per container with this site. And you don't even have to chew your way through uncertain danger to get to it.

I'm not big on self-promotion, so it can be tough to feel competitive against so many big guys who pump their ice cream full of air and diglycerides, just to make sure you think what you're getting is the good stuff. I also know I've been less than gracious about the end product of such. But "frozen dairy dessert" is not what I want for all my sacrifices in the supermarket of inspired dreams. Writers work hard for their visions. And no flashy ads or deep discounts from the other guys can supply the fullest experience my mouth and stomach deserve.

So I'm continuing on writing and designing the new site, hoping someone will notice the fact that there's more actual of the real good stuff shoved in here and that's what they really want. It's not going to catch everyone, but at least those who appreciate such things will know their calories are doggone gonna count.

How Authors Get Everything They Really Want: The Death of Traditional Publishing "Success"

What is “success” as an author?

This question has more answers than Carter has pills. (My grandpa liked to say this, which always made me feel badly for whoever Carter was. Who is Carter and why does he have so many pills?)

Ah, this is great. I'm munching some popcorn Charlotte, my 5 year old, just brought me from her mid-morning snack. She’s home today for teacher’s conferences, and this is way more information than you need, but I want to set this up first, to say how glorious it is working from home, and appreciate that beauty with me, but second, how instructive it is to have a kid around who comes downstairs with her big bowl and quietly sets it near you, careful not to interrupt the typing, and say, “You can have some of my snack, if you want.”

I mean, this isn’t the way I imagined it. I had no idea. But I take a handful and she smiles and tells me to get lots of work done and leaves.

And I will. With this popcorn, I will work like a factory-assembly-line maniac. Like Carter without his pills.

Now I don’t work for her affection. She gives it to me freely. I don’t do a thing. I could even deny my affection, work so I never see her and miss out completely on a relationship with her and she’d still bring me her own food to share.

Because this is how it is with love.

And this question of how we define success has so many different answers because so many people don't feel loved. Underneath what we say we believe, "success" always has to do with whatever we're seeking most. These are words I've treasured: When you first seek to give yourself to God's way, his higher purpose, you'll be given everything you desire.

I used to think this was a cheap trick because when you do this, your desires "magically" change—and how easy is it to give me what I want when he just changes what that is first? Come on! But there's a deeper principle at work that says when you seek the higher purpose beyond yourself, you get what you really wanted all along.

It’s not different from your original desires, it's just deeper, more real. And hense, more lasting when it's fulfilled. It's always better to give than receive. It’s always better to do for another what you’d want done for you.

And I believe it. But do I? Would I act differently if I really believed? Do I give my popcorn, or do I eat it myself? What’s success: having the biggest handful or giving the most away?

Affirmation and validation are big traps for authors. Most realize it’s a fool’s errand, but the exploiters still sell it: “Are you desperate to feel appreciated and worthy? Sign with PAI-YUP Publishing today!” So many authors say they know where ultimate love is, but they don’t seem convinced. If they felt it, they’d know, and they’d figure out it’s probably dumb to try and squeeze love out of a book contract. But they don’t want to look deeper.

That’s not me. I mean, I know you can’t derive your value from a car or a job or even others’ opinions....

But we all still do it. And we close our eyes, rationalize it and make it “all right.”

Why do so many books get printed? Why do so many people work so hard when the only pay off is more attention and more work? Ask anyone “important”: more importance = more problems.

I know what I want to say with my work, and it is a way to give back, but I think I need to look harder at how what I’m writing is directly pouring into who is receiving it. This is a critical step in the process for anyone looking to share a book of true lasting value. I need to spend some more time picturing those outstretched bowls and me pouring from mine that’s been so generously filled...

So what's "success" to you, that is, what do you think is most important? Are you writing to “give back” or is it more about what you want to say?

Becoming an Introvert-Extrovert Author, Part II

Thanks for coming back. Last time I left off asking if we should be better introvert-extrovert authors, balanced between the extremes.

I thought some more over the weekend about classic books that survive as good reads. I still think most seem to be by introverted authors. Have times changed? I think so. There are probably some exceptional extroverted "classic authors," but maybe they're rare simply because just like today, extroverts by nature would rather be out having fun than sit in the house alone reading and writing books. I don’t doubt this could offend someone, but with the possible exception of Ernest Hemmingway (who arguably was a pretty well balanced introvert-extrovert), I can’t think of any who fit the classic extrovert author category.

Is this a new thought? I don't know, but it was for me recently. And how with all the books in that classic cannon, are some of them not by extroverts? Please share some if you have any.

But my bigger point is, today more than ever we need well-balanced introvert-extrovert authors, those rare people who can be 50/50. And I’m trying not to be stereotypical or protect my identity as an introvert (thanks Jon Acuff). Secure introvert-extroverts who can compete as wordsmiths and promoters are pretty rare, but they are the truly successful authors these days. There is a time for listening and a time for speaking. And no matter how good I am at one side of the game, I still have to join the other game, at some point. Even with books, loud still wins over quiet, hard over soft, big personality over reserved. Some people are born this way, others need to learn to appreciate the other side.

Not surprisingly, well-known, successful authors are able to be more extroverted, and whether that translates into being more dominant in the public sphere is a matter of perspective. What’s attractive in an author isn’t necessarily the same as what’s attractive in other famous folks. But media and publishing, tends to favor the extroverts, which feels so unfair to introverts who see this side of the business as invasive. It’s easy to begin feeling packaged, processed and reduced by marketing and the sales necessities that require evangelizing about books as competitive products.

There’s food for thought on how writers might be better developed today by Bill James at Slate. “I believe that there is a Shakespeare in Topeka today, that there is a Ben Jonson, that there is a Marlowe and a Bacon, most likely, but that we are unlikely ever to know who these people are because our society does not encourage excellence in lit­erature.”

Couple that with Ray Bradbury’s thoughts on his deeper motivation for writing: Looking over his life, he said his most important decision came when he was 9. “I was collecting Buck Rogers comic strips, 1929, when my 5th grade classmates made fun of me. I tore up the strips. A week later, broke into tears. Why was I crying? I wondered. Who died? Me, was the answer. I have torn up the future. What to do about it? Start collecting Buck Rogers again. Fall in love with the future! I did just that. And after that never listened to one damn fool idiot classmate who doubted me! What did I learn? To be myself and never let others, prejudiced, interfere with my life. Kids, do the same. Be your own self. Love what YOU love.”

Bradbury who wrote Farenheit 451 and sold over 100 million copies of his books, and said every writer has to write 1 million crappy words before he’s any good, said that the most important decision of his life was to reject what some extrovert said to him. How do I know it was an extrovert? I don’t. But because introverts don’t often assert dominance, it seems likely. I’m afraid far too many extroverts can’t understand this real social difficulty, and introverts can relate all too well. The good news is, even our deepest wounds can be gifts and we can use them to craft great work.

And if we can accept these disparate pieces of ourselves, and the different people in our lives, maybe we can become better balanced as authors of substance and successful.

I’ll talk more about the assumptions in being “successful” authors in a future post...

Why We Need Introvert and Extrovert Authors

You probably saw the headline and thought I was talking about two different types of authors, right? Ah, but this is an entirely new and different kind of post. This is how to draw on your hidden abilities as an extrovert and an introvert. 

Obviously, it's becoming ever more important for a good writer to use both. Story is king and only becoming more so as advertising and big media lose its dominance. We want writers who get themselves, who know how to tap into their heart message and share it with deep meaning (introverts). But in this new maket of noise and confusion, we also need authors who are dynamic and demand our eyeballs and can speak with authority, wit, and passion (extroverts). 

And this deep writer and engaging author need to live in the same person. 

I have to admit I'm biased. Prejudiced. Like most people, I tend toward one type over the other. Two guesses which it is.

It isn't my fault extroverts aren't as intelligent as introverts. It's why everyone wants to say they're an introvert but be an extrovert. If a respected news outlet reported that extroverts score an average of 10-20 points lower on IQ tests that introverts, who among us wouldn't believe it?

The extroverts. That's right.

I'm only teasing extroverts because they're tougher than the sensitive introverts. Never tease an introvert. Believe me, they carry that stuff around for life (Actually extroverts do too, so you see? There's more similarity than you think).

Now before I get into any more trouble, let me point out that God would not have made the majority of the world extroverts and then go on to make an entire species of animal--dogs--in their image if extroverts didn't make the world go around. Some of my best friends and favorite family members are extroverts, but if you're a dog-lover and a noise-maker who ramps up at parties and sometimes steps on people's toes in conversation, and just can't contain all that bubbly personality sometimes...if you're a bit wild and often messy and don't really get those quiet people and why they can't just lighten up and enjoy themselves...you have the making of a great celebrity author.

But God made cats too (and I know some of you extroverts are cat haters and you know what I'm talking about) and it's thanks to introverts that we even understand personality types to begin with. Jung (introvert) pointed out that introversion and extroversion actually come from differences in the brain and that typically, everyone has some of each in them (this explains why introverts with 1% extroversion need Paxil and extroverts with 1% introversion are commonly illiterate and lack abstract thought capabilities. I'm kidding, again.) 

Honestly, as a dominant introvert, I have many deficiencies if I want to be an author someday. So I'm encouraged because while I need my "introvert" part to produce a deep and meaningful subject and to craft it meticulously, I can draw on my passionate "extrovert" part for that great writing to connect (in quotes b/c it's generalizing). I've never heard this mentioned at a writers conference before, but I think this bears some deeper investigation. If the goal of life is finding greater balance between parts, this seems a good opportunity to blend our dreams for celebrated authorhood and the disparate parts of our personalities into a satisfying whole. 

I do wish history was more of a guide here. Most classic books and even those from several years ago could come from introvert writers and they did just fine. Today, headliner extroverts hire introverts and give them a "with" byline. Though obscure extroverts are probably in the same boat (it's rumored they exist), authors have to tap into both parts of themselves to get a publisher.

I'm just coming to this as another thing to consider in pursuing this writing/publishing business. I'll think on it some more and share my thoughts when I'm back on Monday.

Postscript: I recognize the peril of intentionally generalizing about the actual characteristics of extroverts and introverts. So don't take my word for it, Reading Rainbow-ers! Read for yourself: Please Understand Me

To be continued...

How to Write What Matters

People still ask if I'm doing okay and I tell them I've never been happier. Sure, we're starting to recognize the gray insides of the silver lined clouds, but mostly, we're amazingly okay despite my decision not to return to analog publishing. 

Speaking of old publishing, feast your eyes on these libraries.

Oh, where will we bookies be in 20 years?

Incidentally, being let go in a big corporate layoff is a pretty good way to go, given the alternatives. But I've chosen to embrace the change and take my opportunity to move into the digital age. And I'm not concerned with the destruction of print so much as I am with the destruction of great writing.

I suppose in some ways I’m just more proof of the publishing implosion, the faint whispers of hope turning to rumors of impending doom. But I don't believe that. Publishing is alive and well; it just doesn't look the same as it used to. And I'm excited about the future books and what will emerge in the newly democratized land of the free.

And there's even a team spirit in the air, a widespread group of dreamers taking up the colossal fight to pull together and keep believing in great books. Part of our hope is that books can be created, shepherded, published and sold in ever more ways. And knowing that creating books is such a valiant, incredibly difficult battle, we're excited because it also makes for close friendships and complementary shaping. All of us may have different battles in this glorious fight for books and we all meet it in different ways. But we're exactly the same in heart and spirit.

The cause will go forward.

And as much as everything has changed, nothing is any different in the deep abiding love writers and book people have for great books. We may whine about how difficult it is to produce a respectable, not to mention decent-selling, book. And if you're a new author, your chances of being respected, let alone rewarded and allowed to grow are rather small even as the current publishing system expands.

It will always matter who you are and who you know.

But important books are still published every day, many by top traditional houses, some by boutique imprints, and even in the self-publishing sphere. And there are many excellent fresh voices among them. Not nearly enough. But again, that's what makes the fight so rewarding.

One characteristic anyone associated with this industry has is a joy for, or at least a pride in the struggle for books, fighting off myriad disappointments while clinging to dwindling shreds of sanity and perpetual hurry-sickness and information-saturation. I love my incredibly talented and principled friends who keep their corners of this industry pumping. And I see how their dedication involves difficult trade-offs and I hurt with them.

It matters what you write. It really does. It makes all the work worthwhile, in the end. These books that require so much more than one person to be born, if writers could only see how many hopes and dreams ride on them, maybe they'd dedicate more readily, more completely. Maybe they'd hold off accepting someone's offer to publish it before it's been critiqued and edited by someone beyond Mom and Aunt Hazel. Maybe their book would outlast the others being written that are too much like it and don't really speak of the deeper truth inside that will go unrealized and unnoticed.

Cue the ominous music...

Meanwhile, I remain hopeful that the support in bookland is there, and we're all continuing to believe and fight together.

 

Why Writing Must Not Be Used for Love

"Don't Use Writing to Get Love"

The title comes from Writing Down the Bones by Natalie Goldberg. Not a bad book, and several of her thoughts are useful. One is something I've seen in writers, especially of fiction, obviously because I've seen it in myself, this idea that we writers are curious creatures who can't live the way others do. Some of us come to believe we don't give and receive love like normal people and our best relationships should be pretend, inner worlds often substituting for the outer. It can be easy to forget that everyone has to eat real food, even writers, and that means finding the real food of love in the real world.

"Writers get confused," Goldberg says. "We think writing gives us an excuse for being alive. We forget...that life and writing are two separate entities. Often we use writing as a way to receive notice, attention, love. 'See what I wrote. I must be a good person.'"

Where do successful writers find the love that says, "You are of value, regardless of what you do?" The same place all fully nourished humans do. But writers are special and many times this leaves us without a guide to remind us that we aren't any different in this basic human need, or where it is and how it's found.

Most guides aren't much help on this point, I'm afraid. But the great truth is, this fuel doesn't automatically come from inside you. And that's a great truth because the source of that love frees you from any responsibility. You don't have to muster it up or perform well, or even wait until you understand it. No, you don't have to write to be worthy of love.

I'm pondering that today. It's meant for me and all writers. The love you need, to be happy and whole and free of using writing to get it, is bigger than you, beyond your understanding, in that real place you can only travel to by faith. Where our minds leave off, the heart picks up and while writing can help train our minds to escape into that world through faith, it can't bring us the food our hearts ultimately need for the journey.

Writing must not be used for love because it isn't the food. It's your bowl.

Everyone has a bowl. And when you know you're a writer, the words are how you share the food of love. But you receive it by simply accepting it from God as he fills the bowl  and makes it more, a hundred times over. And with that love, you can hold out your bowl as it's filled and pours overflowing, always more, never empty. Yes, you will find your hands full and it will become hard to carry. And yes, you may even find yours so full you can't carry it alone. But as you learn to adjust and walk with care not to spill it, he'll still be there to help you handle what's poured out. He decides how much to give and as long as you keep giving it away, there's always more when it's needed.

Don't try to hold your writing hostage to bring you love. Trust and be all there in the writing today and simply let yourself be filled. Don't work hard to reason out the process logically, just believe.

And hold out your bowl.