Resolutions. Goals. Quotas. Are they needed?

by

Dave Amaditz


With the new year recently upon us I got to wondering about resolutions and goals and quotas.

Personally, I'm not one to make a New Year's resolution. It's my belief that if I feel so strong a resolve to do something, then I should be doing it. Like right now. Immediately. No need to wait for a new year.

Setting goals, or establishing quotas for my writing is one of those things. And so I don't get depressed or feel like a failure if I don't meet my goals, like so many feel when they make a New Year's resolution and don't live up to the task, I set my goals almost unattainably high.

You might say that's crazy, that setting so lofty a goal will automatically lead to failure and depression. But to me, it's a matter of perspective...

Let me show you what I mean.

My goal is to write for four or more hours a day, every day, and to complete at least one polished chapter, somewhere between seven to twelve pages a week. With everything else going on in my life I'm seldom able to consistently meet those goals. This does not mean I do not write daily and produce polished material. In fact, since the middle of December, Christmas holidays and all, I've written six semi-polished chapters of the novel I'm rewriting.

I'm happy with what I've accomplished, even though I have not quite met my goals. This contentment comes about because when I established my goals I made sure to plant a seed in the back of my mind telling me my goal was more than likely unattainable. Doing this allows me to gracefully accept defeat when I do not reach the quotas I've established.

On the other hand, when I'm able to meet or exceed my established goals and quotas, I get a sense of accomplishment unlike any I’ve felt when I've established lesser goals or no goals at all.

Crazy? Maybe so. But the system seems to work for me.

If your system isn't working. Try something else. Change your perspective... Until you find what works for you.

One final note. I believe that if we do not push ourselves, or are not pushed by others to reach beyond what we think we can accomplish, the end result is simple.

We will achieve less than what we are capable of achieving.

I'm not ready to settle for that. Are you?

A Better Brain for 2012

My writers group is truly a gift in my life. When I joined, an agent handled my work. I came to our meetings and participated in the critiquing. When the discussion turned to submissions--which editors had moved where, what the different houses were looking for, whether or not they accept un-agented manuscripts--I sat back, blissfully reorganizing comments around my manuscript or looking up an author someone had mentioned. I didn't need to worry about editor issues. They were my agent's proficiency. That was his arena, his problem, even though a niggling little voice told me I'd lost touch with a big, important part of the field. Sort of the way you feel when you hand your tax documents over to your accountant thinking you'd forgotten something, but telling yourself that if it really mattered she would ask for it. That's her job, to know what your tax return needs. Right?

I knew it was coming. Life had gotten more complicated and left me precious little room to write. I took up valuable space in my agent's hard drive, I suppose, because I certainly didn't bug him in any way. In fact, I avoided contacting him since our conversations always ended with his asking, "How's that next novel coming?". It wasn't. So in 2011 my agent cut me loose. Without him, I suddenly needed to know which editors have moved where, what they're looking for, and whether or not they accept un-agented manuscripts. And that's not all. While I lolligagged in Agentville, a whole new set of requirements developed involving the other fact of life I had avoided: technological savvy.

Like Dave Amaditz wrote in his blog Weather Woes=Less Motivation??, I've looked at these things for the past year as hills in my way. So, for 2012, I've turned them around, transformed them into learning opportunities. (I'm reading Daniel Amen's Making a Good Brain Great. One of his suggestions for doing so is to learn new things. It doesn't count to keep doing the things you're already decent at). Therefore, in the interest of my brain, holding onto my lovely writer's group, and getting this novel published, I'm relearning the marketplace. I've also signed up for Apple's One-to-One learning sessions. Book trailers are coming up on our group's agenda. I'll have my notebook and my Macbook ready. Bring it on.

submitted by Fran McDowell

A Tale of Two Readers

     For the past several years I have been in search of my very first grade school primer.  Fun with John and Jean was the Catholic school version of Dick and Jane.  My St. Joan of Arc reader starred John, Jean and Judy, Puff, Spot and a whole slew of other characters including neighbors, grandparents,  and even the priest and nuns from John and Judy's church and school.  Last month I finally found one and haven't been able to put it down since.  What a wonderful life where children played outside without the benefit of iPads, iTouches or any other iEquipment! Father always wore a suit and tie, little Judy once left the house with Spot and walked all the way to school by herself without being abducted, and the family ate together at one table every evening without a television tuned to a sporting event.  Such a happy and innocent time!  I am well aware that Go the F**k to Sleep and Goodnight iPad are both still on the bestseller list, but I'll pass.  Though I will be the first to admit that the content now seems dry and repetitive, at least the New Cathedral Basic Readers thankfully skipped the vampire story lines.

    Fast forward to the 2011-2012 school year. The Pleasant Valley Elementary School in Peters Township uses a Reading Street text published by Pearson Scott Foresman.  I got a call late last year from a third grade teacher there alerting me that a poem of mine was included in the poetry section of their text.  (By way of explanation, oftentimes those of us who write poetry anthologies are lucky enough to be able to sell the rights to individual poems to educational textbook publishers.  However, even though we are paid in advance for those rights, we have no idea what poems will be used or what textbook they will be used in or when they will be published.)   Now, amazingly, a little snippet from one book of my zany poems is being read by a new generation of emergent readers.  The poem is about a wacky invention that can help children find lost shoes.  I am sure Judy could have used it.

Weather Woes = Less Motivation???

by

Dave Amaditz 

All right. It's wintertime in western Pennsylvania. Normally, it's a recipe for depression. Gray skies, rain, and cold are what we wake up to most of the time. But this winter has been a bit different. We've had plenty of sunshine, above average temperatures and virtually no snow.

So why have so many people I've spoken to told me they feel achy, tired and unmotivated to do anything?

I remind them of something we used to say when I was involved in sports, particularly as a runner getting ready to tackle one of the large hills on a particular course.

"The hills are in your head," we used to say.

What does that mean? And how does that apply to writing?

Obviously, the hills didn't just disappear because we said they weren't there. Your mind is a very strong tool, however. If you can overcome the mental blocks you establish whenever an obstacle is put in front of you things in life become much easier.

Take elite athletes for example. Most of them are graced with pretty much the same amount of talent. It's their work ethic and willingness to overcome the mental obstacles that puts them, and keeps them at the top.

So how can you as a writer overcome the blues and lack of motivation? Imagine that the hills or whatever obstacle is in front of you, are only in your head. Think of yourself as an elite athlete. Train harder and work harder than your competition. This will be your reward...

I recently spoke with a writer friend. She told me two things... After years of bad news on the publication front and nearly giving up writing she has landed an agent and a book deal.

How's that for overcoming the blues?

High School is Hellish (YA fantasies by Sarra Cannon, Lori Devoti, Alyssa Rose Ivy, P.T. Michelle, and Michelle Rowen)

SC Poe's Indie E-book Sampler, #7


As if bullies, gossips, cliques, senseless rules, and the swill they serve in the cafeteria aren't enough. These YAs push the usual high school angst up a notch by injecting supernatural elements.


Reign Fall (Demon Princess #3)

By Michelle Rowen
Self-published January 1, 2012

Poe thinks this is YA high-school-hallway romance/fantasy.

First sentences: My name is Nikki Donovan, your normal, everyday sixteen-year-old. At least, I was normal until a month ago when I found out the truth.

Poe is tempted to call this book "fantasy lite." The sample, if not the whole book, confines the action to the school and bedroom of the MC. Said MC, by the way, is half Demon, and a Princess in the Demon realm. Her best friend is a Demon Hunter; her current crush is a Shadow; and the guy she knows she's fated to marry is a Fae Prince. This is, and isn't, your normal high school.
As for "action," most of it (at least in the sample) relates to Nikki's girlfriend and boyfriend issues. Again, these issues have an everygirl feel, except for their supernatural twists. (Can a Demon and a Demon Hunter still be BFFs? Will Demon Dad object if Nikki dates a Shadow? And why hasn't said Shadow called lately?) The only glimpse of a greater peril comes with a dark, winged figure; he, certainly, will demand more from Nikki than her company at the prom.

NOTE: Walker books published the two earlier Demon Princess titles (Reign or Shine and Reign Check).

Rated If you like contemporary chick-fant, then you should probably sample the whole series.



Brightest Kind of Darkness (Book 1)

By P.T. Michelle
Self-published August, 2011

Poe thinks this is YA contemporary romance/fantasy
First sentence: For me, being surprised was like wearing my best friend’s favorite shirt; cherished for its borrowed uniqueness.

The intriguing hook here is that every night, MC Inara dreams the entirety of her next day. This saves her some worry, but it means she goes through every painful experience, from bad hair days to getting snubbed by a boy, twice. It also makes her a star soccer goalie, because she always knows where the next shot will come from.
But when the book opens, Inara has just dreamt that someone's hiding a bomb in her high school. Shocked awake, dream unfinished, she embarks on a day that will be full of surprises.
Now, it's technically difficult to maintain plot tension if the MC always knows what will happen next. Indeed, Inara stops dreaming altogether soon after the story begins. So the hook's a bit of a cheat. But by the time we learn this, we've been swept up in the characters and plot (or not), as with any other story.

Rated If you're immediately attracted to the mysterious new kid in any fictional high school, especially if he has hollow cheeks and dark circles under his eyes, then this sample may sweep you up.


Demon High

By Lori Devoti
Self-published in 2011

Poe thinks this is YA contemporary fantasy

First sentences: The envelope had arrived open. I wouldn’t have read the page inside otherwise, wouldn’t have thought to, honestly.

Lucinda and Nana are about to lose their home, and Nana's been hiding the problem from Lucinda. Absent Mom was addicted to demons, and got spirited away by one of them. Nana was always the reliable one. But the page inside that open envelope is an eviction notice.

In short order, we are led to a box where Lucinda keeps Mom's secret demon-summoning spellbook; a boarded up door in the cellar; a tiny statue that drinks blood. And behind that cellar door, a gateway to Hell.

On page 10, we're off to school, where the tone lightens while the stakes remain high. In order to save her house (and possibly her soul), Lucinda must find a way to engage the interest and cooperation of cool-rich-popular Brittany.

This book has lots to offer. A great voice. Humor. Muscular prose. Lack of chatter. Complex characters. Mysteries and lies. And, of course, demons.

Rated S for Snapped Up.


Beautiful Demons
(Peachville High Demons #1)

By Sarra Cannon
Self-published by Dead River Books, 2010

First sentence: Six foster homes in one year had to be some kind of record.

Poe thinks this is YA contemporary fantasy.

Poe likes the MC, Harper Madison. She wants to be good. But wherever she goes, lamps fly. Windows break. Fires start. And, the story hints, a death has occurred. Harper insists that none of it's her fault. But we know it is.

Now she's being sent to the Shadowford Plantation group home. If Harper fails there, her next stop will be juvenile detention. So she wants to do well. But Shadowford Plantation feels. . .evil.

The story moves fast. (It's actually about 45,000 words, a longer novella rather than a novel.) Characters and places are cinematically drawn, in a neat blend of Princess fantasy (Shadowford's accommodations are luxe, and described to the last gilded ruffle) and gothic genres.

Oddly, the sample ends without a "forward," right in the middle of a tour of the mansion. But the sample does everything else right.

Rated Q for Queued to finish later.


Beckoning Light
(The Afterglow Trilogy)

By Alyssa Rose Ivy
Self-published, 2011

Poe thinks this is YA contemporary romance/fantasy

First sentence: We were flying over Canada when the panic set in.

This time, it's the MC herself who's the new kid in school. Shy Charlotte and basketball star brother Kevin have come back to live in the ancestral Southern mansion where their mother died three years ago. The author sometimes shifts to Kevin's POV, so readers can learn that Kevin and Uncle Monty are keeping some important secret from Charlotte.

This popular ebook has a ruminative, girl-writing-in-diary voice that reminded Poe of Twilight (the long middle chapters, before the chase kicked in). Not Poe's own favorite kind of writing. But if you've read this far in a post about YA high school fantasies, then Poe urges you to browse and judge this sample for yourself. Volunteer reviewers who enjoy contemporary fantasy give it 4 and 5 stars.

Poe acknowledges that in the first book of a series like this, the mystery often develops slowly. Here, we take time to get acquainted with the new school, a new boy who seems inexplicably familiar, and an old family friend who might now become something more. We know there's a secret, and Charlotte has a mysterious dream on page 11. At last, on page 50, we learn about the Forbidden Gate in the garden. And on that alluring note, the sample ends.

Rated If you love to get lost in long contemporary fantasy romances, then you may want to follow Charlotte through that Forbidden Gate.



Poe's Rating System:

• S for snapped up (Poe has already purchased the full)
• Q for queued (the book is on Poe's to-be-read-someday list)
• U for underwhelming (Poe will always explain the reason)
• I for If/then (not Poe's cuppa, but perhaps it's yours)
• R for rejected (Poe will always explain the reason)
• E for editorially challenged (Poe will not mince words)

Caveat Emptor Internexi: Poe's samples are intended to provide a springboard for further browsing. Genre and age classifications are Poe's guesses based on short samples, and may or may not accord with the classifications suggested by authors, publishers, or anybody else. The buyer is always responsible for deciding whether the book as a whole is appropriate for the intended reader's age, interests, and reading level.

Poe's opinions do not necessarily reflect those of other members of this blog.

If you'd like SC Poe to sample your ebook on this blog, please follow submission guidelines.

Spring Writer's Retreat - Bethany, West Virginia

by

Dave Amaditz

Each year, Western Pennsylvania's Society of Children’s  Book Writers and Illustrators, (WPA SCBWI), puts on events for children's writers (SCBWI members have priority). One of my favorites is the spring writing retreat which is held in Bethany, West Virginia. It's a chance to meet fellow children's writers, develop new friendships or renew old, get up to date on industry news and make professional contacts. This year, the retreat will be held April 27 through the 29th. Scholastic editors Grace Kendall and Mallory Kass will join us for a working weekend of critique circles and fellowship.  

More information will soon be posted on the following website. http://www.wpascbwi.com/

Calling All Judges!!!

As I was working on rewrites this evening, I took a quick break and came across a contest for charity on John Green's Nerdfighters' site. They are holding a contest for short stories between 1,000 - 3,500 words and are currently looking for judges. Here's the video link:

DFTBA Short Story Contest

It's for a great cause. Who else would like to help?