As an author you have to develop a thick skin. One of my recommendations to young/new authors just getting started is: Learn to accept criticism and negative reviews. The sooner you can do this, the better your writing will be for it and the sooner you can move on into becoming a "real" author. Until you can accept the bad with the good, the negative with the positive, and let them roll off your back, you're not ready to enter the world of publishing.
That said, I've done a lot in the past few years to "grow up" a bit as a writer. I've learned to accept criticism and glean through it for what is helpful and disregard anything I totally disagree with. It's not that it doesn't still sting a little now and then, it's that I have learned not to go on the defensive. I brace myself a little, sure, but I don't get defensive. I try to accept negative remarks as constructively as possible and with grace.
Oddly enough, it is now the positive reviews that evoke the most emotional knee-jerk response from me (thankfully, when it comes to positive feedback, I don't have to be as guarded in my own response!)
That is why I am just overwhelmed right now. Last night, I couldn't sleep. So I got up and started messing around on goodreads, where I discovered this post:
"Hello, I just created a new blog called The First 7500 words where I will be reading the first 7500 words of a novel and giving the writing a critique based on several different aspects of those first critical words.
This idea is based off of the fact that readers only give a novel so long to prove itself. Will your work hold strong?"
Intrigued, because it sounded a lot like the excerpt phase of the ABNA contest (which I haven't made it to in the past two years) I entered the contest. I expected a so-so response (I had no idea what sort of genre this blogger normally reads and enjoys, and her fun, snarky intro to the rules on her blog had me ready for a witty criticism, not necessarily an overly negative one, but I did not expect an overly enthusiastic positive review, and I was okay with that).
This morning, I read her review of my first 7500 words here and, yeah, I'll admit it, teared up a time or two. Her sweet words about my writing truly overwhelmed me.
July 11, 2012
July 08, 2012
LAST DAY for 50% OFF KING'S WARRIOR
Today is the last day of the 50% off sale of my book "King's Warrior" at the createspace e-store when you enter the discount code at checkout: 4QTPLAU6
Feel free to share this discount code with others. You can find "King's Warrior" at the createspace e-store here: https://www.createspace.com/3633144
(discount does not work at amazon)
July 02, 2012
THIS WEEK: 50% OFF "King's Warrior"
In honor of the 4th of July now through next Sunday you can buy "King's Warrior" for $7.49/copy.
That's 50% off the list price at the createspace e-store when you enter the discount code: 4QTPLAU6
Feel free to share this discount code with others. You can find "King's Warrior" at the createspace e-store here: https://www.createspace.com/3633144
(discount does not work at amazon)
June 27, 2012
Enter to Win: Goodreads Giveaway
I've set up a giveaway for my book over on goodreads.com. There are 5 available copies in this particular giveaway, go check it out! All you have to do is click on the button to enter!
June 13, 2012
Why Fantasy?
I have often had people ask me, "Why Fantasy?" when they find out what I write. Why write in the fantasy genre? Well the answer is complex.
1. I love reading fantasy. It is my favorite genre to read. It is the genre I am most familiar with. It began with my dad reading me "The Hobbit" and "A Wrinkle in Time" and "The Chronicles of Narnia" and other books like that, and I was hooked on fantasy for life. I would never want to write something I wasn't interested in reading, so fantasy is a safe bet.
2. Write what you know. According to most writers, you're supposed to "write what you know." Well, I know fantasy.
3. Fantasy is a wildly misunderstood genre. Although it is gaining in popularity since the advent of Harry Potter and the Lord of the Rings movies by Peter Jackson, fantasy is still a genre that is often given a bad rap. It is often written off as "stories about magic and dragons" but Fantasy is so much more than that.
Fantasy is about adventure. It often contains battles, sword-fights, and a quest of some kind.
Fantasy is about heroes. It contains complex characters, often with a lot of depth and back-story. The fantastical elements of the story are often contained to the setting (the world the story is set in, the physical laws of that world: e.g. the existence of magic, or mythical creatures, or the fact that the world is flat and could not exist in our universe as a habitable place) and circumstances (such as poor Harry being forced to live in a closet by his aunt and uncle, or the Pevensie children finding an alternate world in the back of a wardrobe), while the characters themselves are very realistic. Fantasy is about hope and overcoming seemingly unbeatable odds. It is about persevering in the face of enormous obstacles. It is about loyalty and trust and often depicts strong friendships that survive despite complications and hurdles along the way.
Fantasy often contains some sort of redemption story, and almost always has some sort of happy (or at least satisfying) ending. As Oscar Wilde wrote: "The good ended happily, and the bad unhappily, that is what fiction means." However, as more and more fiction these days ends with cliffhangers, and the bad guy winning, or the good guy dying... it would seem more appropriate to insert the word "fantasy" in the place of "fiction" in this quote, in order for it to ring true.
4. There is a sad lack of "clean" fantasy out there. Growing up in a family that read together, it was often difficult to find stories in our favorite genre that was also age-appropriate for four young children. My dad would sometimes have to skim over whole paragraphs when reading out loud to us, continuing the book because the overall story was good, despite there being some not-so-good parts in the story. Trying to come up with fantasy fiction that I can recommend to friends who have young children with high reading-levels is often a frustrating exercise, because the fact of the matter is: there are some really good stories out there... but they contain inappropriate content for younger audiences.
These are just a few of the main reasons behind why I write fantasy. Because I love it. Because it contains themes worth writing about, reading about, and discussing. Because it reflects the ultimate end of time when all that is good ends happily and all that is bad ends unhappily. And because there is a gap in fantasy fiction that needs to be filled: a gap of books that needs to be written so that families can read adventure stories together without fear and recommend books to friends without hesitation.
So, really, why NOT fantasy?
1. I love reading fantasy. It is my favorite genre to read. It is the genre I am most familiar with. It began with my dad reading me "The Hobbit" and "A Wrinkle in Time" and "The Chronicles of Narnia" and other books like that, and I was hooked on fantasy for life. I would never want to write something I wasn't interested in reading, so fantasy is a safe bet.
2. Write what you know. According to most writers, you're supposed to "write what you know." Well, I know fantasy.
3. Fantasy is a wildly misunderstood genre. Although it is gaining in popularity since the advent of Harry Potter and the Lord of the Rings movies by Peter Jackson, fantasy is still a genre that is often given a bad rap. It is often written off as "stories about magic and dragons" but Fantasy is so much more than that.
Fantasy is about adventure. It often contains battles, sword-fights, and a quest of some kind.
Fantasy is about heroes. It contains complex characters, often with a lot of depth and back-story. The fantastical elements of the story are often contained to the setting (the world the story is set in, the physical laws of that world: e.g. the existence of magic, or mythical creatures, or the fact that the world is flat and could not exist in our universe as a habitable place) and circumstances (such as poor Harry being forced to live in a closet by his aunt and uncle, or the Pevensie children finding an alternate world in the back of a wardrobe), while the characters themselves are very realistic. Fantasy is about hope and overcoming seemingly unbeatable odds. It is about persevering in the face of enormous obstacles. It is about loyalty and trust and often depicts strong friendships that survive despite complications and hurdles along the way.
Fantasy often contains some sort of redemption story, and almost always has some sort of happy (or at least satisfying) ending. As Oscar Wilde wrote: "The good ended happily, and the bad unhappily, that is what fiction means." However, as more and more fiction these days ends with cliffhangers, and the bad guy winning, or the good guy dying... it would seem more appropriate to insert the word "fantasy" in the place of "fiction" in this quote, in order for it to ring true.
4. There is a sad lack of "clean" fantasy out there. Growing up in a family that read together, it was often difficult to find stories in our favorite genre that was also age-appropriate for four young children. My dad would sometimes have to skim over whole paragraphs when reading out loud to us, continuing the book because the overall story was good, despite there being some not-so-good parts in the story. Trying to come up with fantasy fiction that I can recommend to friends who have young children with high reading-levels is often a frustrating exercise, because the fact of the matter is: there are some really good stories out there... but they contain inappropriate content for younger audiences.
These are just a few of the main reasons behind why I write fantasy. Because I love it. Because it contains themes worth writing about, reading about, and discussing. Because it reflects the ultimate end of time when all that is good ends happily and all that is bad ends unhappily. And because there is a gap in fantasy fiction that needs to be filled: a gap of books that needs to be written so that families can read adventure stories together without fear and recommend books to friends without hesitation.
So, really, why NOT fantasy?
May 08, 2012
Blogger Review
I have taken part in a couple of various "blogger review" programs, and decided that I should host my own version of it.
A few days ago I posted on my fan-page that I had 10 copies of my book available for free to the first 10 people to email me their address at jenelle.l.schmidt at gmail dot com. These free copies do come with a bit of fine print: you must be willing to read the book and then write a review to post on amazon and goodreads (and/or other sites such as barnesandnoble or on your own blog, if you are not familiar with goodreads).
Well... I still have FOUR (4) free copies to give out for my "blogger review" program, so if you are interested there is still time to send me your mailing address and I will send you a copy of my book!
A few days ago I posted on my fan-page that I had 10 copies of my book available for free to the first 10 people to email me their address at jenelle.l.schmidt at gmail dot com. These free copies do come with a bit of fine print: you must be willing to read the book and then write a review to post on amazon and goodreads (and/or other sites such as barnesandnoble or on your own blog, if you are not familiar with goodreads).
Well... I still have FOUR (4) free copies to give out for my "blogger review" program, so if you are interested there is still time to send me your mailing address and I will send you a copy of my book!
May 02, 2012
Update
Blogger has changed its user interface all around, and I got behind on my blogging, and now I'm getting even more behind because I have to learn how to use blogger all over again, hence the lack of posting in the past week-ish.
I still have posts coming about:
"Why the Fantasy Genre?"
and
"Do you come up with themes first? Or do they just happen naturally as you write the story?" - a question I got from a former student and I thought it was an interesting question, because I really had to think about the answer.
I also have an actual website in the works (and it is going to look awesome!) Hopefully I'll be able to share that with you soon and move this blog over there.
I also have to send a copy of my book to my library (now that I have copies on hand) and hope that they accept it into their circulation. If they do, I am hopeful that I will be able to have a book signing there maybe this summer. I will keep you apprised of those plans and happenings.
Also, if you are in the Raleigh, NC area and would like a signed copy of my book at a discounted price of $12, please let me know and we can arrange a way for you to get your copy.
If you live in the Wheaton, IL area and would like one of these discounted copies, I will be in town May 17-27. Let me know if you want to buy a copy and I'll make sure to bring one for you!
I think that's all I've got for now. Have a great rest of the week!
I still have posts coming about:
"Why the Fantasy Genre?"
and
"Do you come up with themes first? Or do they just happen naturally as you write the story?" - a question I got from a former student and I thought it was an interesting question, because I really had to think about the answer.
I also have an actual website in the works (and it is going to look awesome!) Hopefully I'll be able to share that with you soon and move this blog over there.
I also have to send a copy of my book to my library (now that I have copies on hand) and hope that they accept it into their circulation. If they do, I am hopeful that I will be able to have a book signing there maybe this summer. I will keep you apprised of those plans and happenings.
Also, if you are in the Raleigh, NC area and would like a signed copy of my book at a discounted price of $12, please let me know and we can arrange a way for you to get your copy.
If you live in the Wheaton, IL area and would like one of these discounted copies, I will be in town May 17-27. Let me know if you want to buy a copy and I'll make sure to bring one for you!
I think that's all I've got for now. Have a great rest of the week!
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)