Writing Tales, Triumphs, and Tribulations: September 2003 Archives

September 26, 2003

Book Proposal

Last December I met with an editor at a New York publishing house. We had a great lunch, enjoyed each other's company, and spent the hour brainstorming on book ideas for my next book. (This stemmed from the fact that I had written a book proposal that she liked, but couldn't publish due to the fact that some other (horrible, mean, awful) person had decided to write a similar book just a few months before I did.) I went home, promising her a new book proposal within a few months.

Much to my mortification, it is now ten months later, and still she has nothing on her desk from me. I haven't been incommunicado -- we continued to be in touch, we narrowed down our focus, I gave her some initial paragraphs on the subject, and she knows that I have been side-tracked due to finishing up another book on Einstein.

But really, this is absurd. I handed in the Einstein manuscript exactly a week ago, (only, mind you, three weeks later than the contract asked for it, which in publishing terms is basically On Time, and so I feel very proud of myself) and it is time to get this new proposal knocked out, dammit. In addition to the fact that I promised it to the editor ages ago, finishing the proposal will also help with the twin issues of freeing me from having to cringe and/or panic any time my father asks me "what's happening with that book proposal?" and of getting an advance to help me with, you know, buying food.

So, this is my task for the next week. I am setting myself a deadline of October 3, and writing it down here for the world to see. This would be ambitious if I were starting from scratch, but I am not. I have written a solid half of the proposal already, in fits and starts over the last year, and have done most of the research. All that's needed at this point is the ability, as Letitia Baldridge said in a talk I heard her give yesterday, to apply the seat of my pants to the seat of the chair.

Indeed, I have spent two hours this morning editing what I already had and writing an additional 500 words or so. That sounds embarrassingly paltry when put down like that, but I was proud of it a few moments ago -- I guess just because I have been reminded again of what happens every single time, and yet doesn't sink into my consciousness. Sit down, turn on the computer, force yourself not to leave (helped in the current case by the fact that I'm at my favorite coffee shop, Tryst, and cannot be distracted by the overwhelming urge to go clean my closets) and lo! the writing actually starts to flow. For goodness sake, I've been researching this topic for almost a year, I have the information in my head, it's time to get it all on paper.

A week. I have given myself a week.

Posted by karenceliafox at 01:02 PM | Comments (0)

September 23, 2003

Writing in Public

Somewhere out there in the cosmos, an idea was born that all writers have some innate talent, some creative gene, such that beautiful prose springs naturally from their neurons through their Mont Blanc fountain pen onto the page. Dazzling sentences, beautiful plots, perfect imagery dancing out of a calm mind, without any work at all.

It is the bane of freelancers, this image. We all secretly think that everyone else is more organized, more dedicated, more creative, more something than we are. That the world is filled with journalists and authors who spout their writing effortlessly, and that we, we alone, are perpetrating a sham.

I belong to the National Association of Science Writers, and one of my favorite on-line conversations took place a number of years ago, when everyone admitted that the thought of calling up someone to interview sent them into a panic. We all had rituals and procrastination tools we used to avoid calling someone the first time -- and all of us had assumed we were the only ones who hated this very fundamental part of being a journalist.

As it is, I have worked long and hard at creating the routines that actually keep me in a chair to write or to call an interview. I have had to train myself that the first draft of anything is a disaster, and that no one puts out a perfect piece on the first go-round (with the possible exception of John McPhee, who insists that whole books pop out full-blown from his head to the page -- but I think this belies the fact that he spends years researching and editing the book in his head before he commits it to paper. . . ) And you know what I'm really horrible at? I have all these great ideas and then I don't pitch them. It kills me. I have a great idea, I think I should send it off to someone, I don't, and then invariably the article I wanted to write shows up in the exact magazine I wanted to write it for, but someone else wrote it. It's just unforgivable that I should have had this happen so many times and yet haven't adjusted my behavior.

And so, I've decided to do it all publicly. Perhaps if I keep an honest record of what I'm doing, I will manage both to be a little more together about it, as well as to do some damage to the fiction that all other writers are better at this freelancing stuff than we. I'd like to flatter myself that despite what I see as my own inefficiencies I am a "successful" writer. So perhaps I can convince others, or at least myself, that "successful" writers aren't all paragons of organization.

It's a good time for it. I have just handed in the first draft of a manuscript on a book on Einstein, so I'm in a "beginning" phase. One of those glorious times where you're convinced that for the next project you will be organized, motivated, efficient. It's like the beginning of a school semester -- I have new notebooks and new pens, and am developing all my new routines . . . Of course, when I was at school, such organization lasted me about a week, but perhaps, maybe, possibly, keeping a writer's journal about my routines, might actually help me keep them.

Posted by karenceliafox at 12:00 PM | Comments (0)



My newest book will be out in July. Preorder it now -- just click on it, go to Amazon, and help me earn royalties! And you can still buy my last book, The Big Bang Theory. Powered by Movable Type 2.661			Main \| October 2003 » September 26, 2003 Book Proposal Last December I met with an editor at a New York publishing house. We had a great lunch, enjoyed each other's company, and spent the hour brainstorming on book ideas for my next book. (This stemmed from the fact that I had written a book proposal that she liked, but couldn't publish due to the fact that some other (horrible, mean, awful) person had decided to write a similar book just a few months before I did.) I went home, promising her a new book proposal within a few months. Much to my mortification, it is now ten months later, and still she has nothing on her desk from me. I haven't been incommunicado -- we continued to be in touch, we narrowed down our focus, I gave her some initial paragraphs on the subject, and she knows that I have been side-tracked due to finishing up another book on Einstein. But really, this is absurd. I handed in the Einstein manuscript exactly a week ago, (only, mind you, three weeks later than the contract asked for it, which in publishing terms is basically On Time, and so I feel very proud of myself) and it is time to get this new proposal knocked out, dammit. In addition to the fact that I promised it to the editor ages ago, finishing the proposal will also help with the twin issues of freeing me from having to cringe and/or panic any time my father asks me "what's happening with that book proposal?" and of getting an advance to help me with, you know, buying food. So, this is my task for the next week. I am setting myself a deadline of October 3, and writing it down here for the world to see. This would be ambitious if I were starting from scratch, but I am not. I have written a solid half of the proposal already, in fits and starts over the last year, and have done most of the research. All that's needed at this point is the ability, as Letitia Baldridge said in a talk I heard her give yesterday, to apply the seat of my pants to the seat of the chair. Indeed, I have spent two hours this morning editing what I already had and writing an additional 500 words or so. That sounds embarrassingly paltry when put down like that, but I was proud of it a few moments ago -- I guess just because I have been reminded again of what happens every single time, and yet doesn't sink into my consciousness. Sit down, turn on the computer, force yourself not to leave (helped in the current case by the fact that I'm at my favorite coffee shop, Tryst, and cannot be distracted by the overwhelming urge to go clean my closets) and lo! the writing actually starts to flow. For goodness sake, I've been researching this topic for almost a year, I have the information in my head, it's time to get it all on paper. A week. I have given myself a week. Posted by karenceliafox at 01:02 PM \| Comments (0) September 23, 2003 Writing in Public Somewhere out there in the cosmos, an idea was born that all writers have some innate talent, some creative gene, such that beautiful prose springs naturally from their neurons through their Mont Blanc fountain pen onto the page. Dazzling sentences, beautiful plots, perfect imagery dancing out of a calm mind, without any work at all. It is the bane of freelancers, this image. We all secretly think that everyone else is more organized, more dedicated, more creative, more something than we are. That the world is filled with journalists and authors who spout their writing effortlessly, and that we, we alone, are perpetrating a sham. I belong to the National Association of Science Writers, and one of my favorite on-line conversations took place a number of years ago, when everyone admitted that the thought of calling up someone to interview sent them into a panic. We all had rituals and procrastination tools we used to avoid calling someone the first time -- and all of us had assumed we were the only ones who hated this very fundamental part of being a journalist. As it is, I have worked long and hard at creating the routines that actually keep me in a chair to write or to call an interview. I have had to train myself that the first draft of anything is a disaster, and that no one puts out a perfect piece on the first go-round (with the possible exception of John McPhee, who insists that whole books pop out full-blown from his head to the page -- but I think this belies the fact that he spends years researching and editing the book in his head before he commits it to paper. . . ) And you know what I'm really horrible at? I have all these great ideas and then I don't pitch them. It kills me. I have a great idea, I think I should send it off to someone, I don't, and then invariably the article I wanted to write shows up in the exact magazine I wanted to write it for, but someone else wrote it. It's just unforgivable that I should have had this happen so many times and yet haven't adjusted my behavior. And so, I've decided to do it all publicly. Perhaps if I keep an honest record of what I'm doing, I will manage both to be a little more together about it, as well as to do some damage to the fiction that all other writers are better at this freelancing stuff than we. I'd like to flatter myself that despite what I see as my own inefficiencies I am a "successful" writer. So perhaps I can convince others, or at least myself, that "successful" writers aren't all paragons of organization. It's a good time for it. I have just handed in the first draft of a manuscript on a book on Einstein, so I'm in a "beginning" phase. One of those glorious times where you're convinced that for the next project you will be organized, motivated, efficient. It's like the beginning of a school semester -- I have new notebooks and new pens, and am developing all my new routines . . . Of course, when I was at school, such organization lasted me about a week, but perhaps, maybe, possibly, keeping a writer's journal about my routines, might actually help me keep them. Posted by karenceliafox at 12:00 PM \| Comments (0) The story of a girl trying to write some fiction. Recent Entries Book Proposal Writing in Public Categories Book Writing Business of Writing Craft of Writing Day-to-Day Freelancing Magazine Writing When I'm Being Lame Writing Group Archives March 2005 February 2005 January 2005 December 2004 November 2004 October 2004 September 2004 August 2004 July 2004 June 2004 May 2004 April 2004 October 2003 September 2003 Search Search this site: