When did I become the Paula Abdul of critics?

I’m tough. I’m sassy. I think I’m pretty bad ass. 

So how in the heck did I become the Paula Abdul of judges? The delusional, toss my hands up in the air in an act of raising the roof, who, even though the contestant clearly sucks, can STILL find something awesome to praise? When did this happen?

I’m not a Paula! I’m not. I mean it. Don’t look at me like that.

Yet, when D.S. shared with me some statistics she put together based on each of our individual acceptances of the submissions we’ve received to date, I was shocked. The amount of YES’s compared to the NO’s is slightly higher than 50%. Now, I’m not going to tell you which of us is the Simon (not me, apparently) or the Randy (not me either). Let’s just say, Both D.S. and Kacey are pretty tough cookies to crack. 

Me, on the other hand, I’m apparently a very loving, fluffy, happy go lucky gal. Dang it! 

That is not the type of reputation I strive for—just ask my children. They’d definitely tell you I’m anything but fluffy, and my husband would probably back them up, too. 

So what the heck is happening here? 

I think, in life, I can be pretty tough, pretty forthright. But when it comes to someone’s craft in which they put their whole heart and soul into, I worry about being as blunt and honest as I probably should. I know, I know. I’m a frickin’ critic. It’s my job. But still. 

I’m willing to take a chance. I’m willing to give the benefit of the doubt. 

Another reason I think I’m more open to saying yes, send additional chapters, is that I try to look at the piece as a whole. The concept of our blog is can you hook us with your first five pages? Sometimes the opening paragraph doesn’t capture me right off the bat (just so you know, an awesome opening line or paragraph will have me drooling), but sometimes it’s the ending of those first pages that have me thinking I’d like to see more. I’m open. I can't help it if I'm curious. 

But here’s the problem: this blog is about giving reviews to the best of the best. THE BEST. Not the pretty darn good or even the very well written. We’re looking for THE BEST. And we have a lot of submissions to read. Obviously, I can’t possibly read chapters and chapters of submissions that are simply “just good.” I can’t. I’ll never get anything else done. My own writing career will wither and die if I do. 

D.S. and Kacey already have an understanding of that concept. They get it. They know that even though a submission is good, it just might not be good enough. So even though their statistics of YES’s are lower than their NO’s, their standards are high. And in actuality, that’s a pretty good thing. 

If you earn a review from us, you can bet your bottom dollar it means something. 

Think about it . . . who of the American Idol judges did you most relate too? I bet the judge you liked the very best was Simon and that’s because he told you it just the way it was. He didn’t beat around the bush. If he liked what he heard, you knew it. If he hated it, BOY did you know about that, too. 

Nobody liked Paula. I didn’t even like her (except for a good laugh every now and again at her expense, of course). She was such a dunce. Was she on drugs? An alcoholic? Does anyone know? (Just to clarify, I’m not on drugs nor do I drink. I just want you to know when I read your work I’m perfectly sober. Too bad for you. Maybe a sip-sip would increase my acceptance rate to 70%. Sorry. Guess we’ll never know). 

Now don’t get me wrong here. D.S. and Kacey are brilliant critics. They may be tough, but I trust their judgment completely and so should you. If you receive their feedback and you’re quick to want to justify yourself and toss their advice aside, please take a moment and think again. They are smart and they are usually right on. They may be tough cookies, but they are brilliantly tough cookies. (Just so you know, they are my critique partners and when they say something doesn’t work in my writing, I go and fix it. That’s how much I trust and value them). 

But that doesn’t make me dumb and delusional or a soft cookie either, I want to clarify that too. I’ve said NO to quite a few submissions. And, from now on, unless something really, really speaks to me (the writing is crisp and clean, no spelling or grammar errors, and the plot is sublime) I’m going to have to start becoming more Simon-like. I’m going to be tougher. I am. I mean it.

So, if you think you have what it takes to hook two out of three Hook’ers with your writing, give it a go. Check out our Contact US page for further instructions. But I’m telling you now, it’s not going to be easy to please us. 

Because Paula has left the building. 

The Reluctant Hook’er

Get Into Your Character's Shoes

We’ve all heard it, right? The saying that “You never truly know someone until you walk a mile in their shoes.” Well, I’m here to tell you that anyone stepping inside my shoes is in for a world of hurt! I inflict torture on my feet from four-inch high-stilettoes and knee-high boots to the seemingly innocent banded sketchers that squeeze my feet like a vice. I guess I don’t try them on long enough before I buy. Or maybe I forgot how long it took me to brake in the last pair.
Life inflicts wear and tear not only on your feet but on your character. It makes you who you are. My question to you is: How willing are you to slip inside someone else’s joy and torture for a while? How long are you willing to stay there and stick it out until you have a good handle on their character?
So let’s talk about that.  Let’s discuss getting deep into character, and let’s do it with Utah’s own Tod Huntington, an up-and-coming actor about to take Hollywood by storm.
My friends, please welcome Tod Huntington.

So Tod, How long have you been acting and what inspired you to pursue your dream?

I've been acting since I was a kid really.  It's human nature and a part of the growth process to play pretend.  I just never grew out of it.  But, professionally, 8-9 years. 
I pursued it because I couldn't stop thinking about it.  I felt and still feel that I have something to offer.  It's a way to serve my fellow man.  I've always felt that there's a distinct power in storytelling.  There's an opportunity to make people think.  I look at it as a responsibility.

What sort of techniques do you use to get into character?

The script tells me a lot about who the guy is.  I look at that, what he says, but more importantly what he means.  Subtext is more important than text.  I identify with it.  I use facets of my own life to fill the character out.  Human beings experience the basics of every human emotion by age 5.  So, I see how the characters situation would effect me, and guage that against what the character would do.  I try to give every character his own soul. 

Do you ever feel that some part of that character sticks with you after the cameras shut off?

Yes.  I think most women I've dated would tell you the same. 

How long does it take you to establish good character effectively?

There's really not an answer for that.  Good and effectively fall under the opinion category.  I leave that for critics.  But, I know when it works and when it doesn't.  At least for me.  There's no set amount of time.  Some things are easier to connect with than others.  I know that my best work are the ones I really don't want to do because they're too close to home.

I understand you’ve auditioned in for some pretty influential directors. What is that like?

It's strange. The first time I had to work with someone famous (Salma Hayek) I bought a biography on her so I could make her normal in my head.  I get more nervous in front of the layman than I do in front of someone that knows my industry.

Have you ever felt that you’ve gotten a character wrong?

Not wrong exactly.  I've looked back on some of my work and said "I could've done this".  I think that's normal.  And part of the learning process.  If I ever look at a role and say "It doesn't get better than that" I should probably quit.

Tell us about the future, Tod. What sort of projects are you working on?

Playing it by ear.  If a project wants me in September I say "Yeah, ok." because I don't see September as a reality.  I live day to day, moment to moment.  I talk to a lot of people, I audition quite a bit.  If I like the script and the funding doesn't fall through, I do it.  Since I've moved to L.A. I've had a couple that went through.  It's only been six months so we'll see what the future holds.  I've always had the philosophy that if you take care of being the best actor you can be, the rest will fall into place.  I still believe that.  I'm diligent about being my best.  Then I just put it in front of anyone I can. 
I have a few projects from previous years that are about to be released.  We'll see if that has an impact.

Thank you so much for letting me interview you, Tod! And for those of you who would like to catch a glympse of Tod's work--and let's be honest, who wouldn't?  you can check out the following links below!

http://www.imdb.com/name/nm1389879/

http://vimeo.com/todhuntington

Unfortunate Inspiration

This blog post was originally posted on my first blog site: Literary Intentions. Thanks to an unexpected smack in the face,  I had to ditch my blog post in progress and go to plan B. 

Since I was a child, I’ve secretly scribbled out stories and poetry. I would tuck my creations away in an iridescent orange folder and slip it under my mattress—my secret, my coping mechanism for whatever life threw my way. I had always wanted to be a writer, but lacked the confidence to pursue my bliss. 

It wasn’t until a family tragedy knocked everything out of whack that I thought I had any sort of talent for it. My mother-in-law passed away a few years ago on Easter. It was sudden and unexpected. Her death not only shook the family but it became my inspiration to pick up a pen and write.  

A few days after the funeral, my four-year-old daughter interrupted story time to tell me something that had been weighing on her mind for some time. She said Grandma Strawberry (My daughter’s nickname for her Grandma Atteberry) was a fairy who visits her in her dreams and they go on wonderful adventures together. She said when her daddy felt sad and missed his mom, all he had to do was close his eyes and find her: she would be waiting for him. 

Through the eyes of a child . . . 

My mind marinated in my daughter’s words, and after I put her to bed, I had the overwhelming urge to write a story about Grandma Strawberry and her many dreamland adventures—free of pain and full of happiness. I shared the story with my sister-in-law who later said it came on a day when she needed a nudge, a simple reminder her mom was okay and that she would forever live on. Her response was my nudge to pursue something that allowed me to feel a different sort of purpose besides wife and mother. 

So, here I am nearly three years later.  I’ve written two novels and nearly finished a third.  I’ve placed in contests, and I’m currently seeking a literary agent. The one downside to it all is the fact that my mother-in-law isn’t here to root me on. She was a voracious reader, but more than that, she loved how a book made her feel. The waves of emotions, ebbing and flowing, freed her mind from the constant pain tearing through her body. The woman who sacrificed so much for her children could simply pick up a book and be whoever she wanted to be. I miss her, but thanks to my daughter, I now know when I need a little inspiration all I have to do is close my eyes and welcome the adventure.


In a world full of rejection, where do you find your inspiration? What keeps you clutching your pen fast in your hand? 

Thanks for looking, 

The Skeptical Hook’er 

Think readers care about fancy prose? Well, think again.

Tell me again, Ms. Myers, how PERFECT he is! I need no other other description than that.

Here’s the thing about writing—readers don’t appreciate fancy words and intelligently written prose. It’s true. It is. For the most part readers don’t even care about GOOD writing (does a certain shiny vampire come to mind? Just saying). You can slave away trying to perfect the most amazing sentence, paragraph, or novel, but I’m telling you right now, most likely, no one will even notice. 

I’ve been there as a reader. I’ve done the very same thing. I hate to admit this, but here I go anyway, I read the shiny vampire book in one day—beginning to end. Ahh, I opened up to you. Please don’t stone me. You may hate her writing. You may dis her and whatnot, but guess who’s laughing her way to the bank, folks—the lady who wrote “Green leaves were swaying in the wind, greenly.” Why? Because readers are interested in a good story. And whether you liked the shiny vampire or not, she told a humdinger of a tale and several million people loved it.

Now don’t get me wrong, I’m not saying to ignore your commas or toss aside rules of grammar and adverb usage (I hate adverbs). But what I am saying is this, don’t get so caught up in the form and style of writing that you forget to tell a great story.

The number one thing writers want and care about most: the story. It is then followed by character development , theme, and then atmosphere/setting (The Writer, August 2011, Laura Miller). I have yet to hear a writer commend the actual writing—“The story was so-so, but the word usage was superb!”

Ain’t gonna happen. If a reader does say this, then they’re just plain weird.

Also in The Writer, August 2011 article written by Laura Miller, she goes on to say the following (which I find perfect and decided to quote directly): “You probably don’t go to the movies to see the lighting and photography, and most readers don’t come to books in search of a breathtaking sentence.”

I couldn’t agree more.

And I’m thrilled.

Here’s why—I’m not an eloquent writer. I may have one sentence, two if I’m lucky, that someone might say, “Hey, that’s good stuff. I’d better underline that.” But for the most part, my writing is at par. Nothing fancy. Nothing to earn a MFA degree with, and I’m okay with that.

BUT, I do think I spin a good story. I work really hard to keep my readers engaged and desiring to read the next chapter, and the next one, and the next one.

That’s my goal. I love The Hunger Games, and I use that book somewhat as my model, my Holy Grail, if you will. Was the writing to just die for? Nope. Not one bit. But the story sure was! She had me hanging on by my nails, nervous and afraid for Katniss and Peeta, sitting in bed for a full day in my pjs, unshowered, because I simply couldn’t function until I knew how the story ended.

THAT’s the kind of story I want to write. That’s my hope and desire anyway.

Of course, my true goal is to write a fantastic story that is written well. I’m constantly trying to make sure my writing doesn’t make me look like an idiot—improve, improve, improve. But, without a great story, who will care that I “show” more than I “tell” or that I found a way to eliminate all to-be verbs from my writing (wouldn't that be awesome)?

These are the stories I’m looking for as well amongst the many, many, many submissions we’ve received. I want a good story. Give me something different, something that makes me say, “Holy cow! I need to read more of this!” We've had a few. But I sure would love to see more.

The Reluctant Hook’er

P.S.  I posted the question, “What do you think readers value more? A good story or good writing?” on twitter.

Though several responses indicated that good writing should be the most valued, there were far more responses that placed a good story above that of good writing. Many even went on to say that they would 

forgive bad writing, if the storyline was excellent.

I’d love to know what you think? So please leave a comment. (I love me some comments. They make me so happy).

The Car Ride: Banter Vs. Bickering

Isn’t it funny how a simple family drive can turn to all out war in a matter of milliseconds? The kids screaming, the radio blaring, the vehicle rolling through rush hour traffic at a snail’s pace. No one can escape; you’re all strapped into a road trip from hell until you reach your final destination. That is unless you’re still close enough to turn back for home. Do people really do that by the way? I’ve always heard it threatened. Never seen it done though.

When it comes to conflict with our characters, we must be careful not to strap our readers in for an adventure and give them the car ride from hell instead. For a reader, getting there is half the fun. Making them work to hard through obstinate characters will cause them to throw your book out the window.

 A lot of fun can be had with playful banter, but you must take care not to let it turn into bickering.  The “yes I did” “No you didn’t” dialog can only last so long without a strong enough conflict and even then you may be stretching your readers patience if you let it drag on too long without change or resolution.

I’m not really an expert on literary debate, but I do have a few tips for keeping your character conflict fresh.

·         Make it funny- Throw in a few jokes here and there to liven things up.

·         Make it hot- if bantering could hold any angle for increasing the sexual tension between characters, go for it!

·         Keep it playful- little nicknames and witty comebacks are always welcome

·         And above all else, use the banter advancing the plot.

Uh-Oh, It's Revision Time

I’m getting ready to revise. Shoot me now. No, actually, if I get my mind in the right place, I welcome revision. It’s challenging and eye opening. There are many times when I’ll laugh or roll my eyes at some awkward sentence or stupid stretch of dialogue. But that’s okay. Like Angela said in her post on Monday, we have to allow ourselves to write crappy first drafts. If we get caught up with perfection we could lose out on something great. Just get ‘er done and worry about it later.

The best part of revision is getting wrapped up in the emotions all over again and taking them to a whole different level. But before we jump back into our story we need a bit of distance. Use the time to start a new project, catch up on blogs, twitter, or giving your family a bit of lovin’. Do anything but touch your finished ’script.

After I’ve had time away, and before I print off a hard copy, I do a search for all my clutter. The words and phrases that are useless and can be deleted without changing the sentences too much. The reason I do this now is getting rid of some of the fat helps me focus on the story. I stay out of edit mode. Actually, they say writing and editing use different sides of the brain. So it’s important to either write or edit, but not bounce back and forth. If you’re interested in what words and phrases I search and destroy, look for an upcoming post Biggest Loser: Manuscript Edition.

Okay, so I’ve de-cluttered a bit, now it’s time to print off a hardcopy and get to work. Not only do you need a break, but your eyes need a rest from the computer screen. It’s amazing what you’ll pick up in hardcopy. This is a great opportunity to change the font too. Do whatever you can to get a fresher viewpoint.

Read through your manuscript as quickly as you can, resisting any and all urges to edit. Take notes, ask yourself questions as you read. Use this opportunity to be a reader. Does the story make sense? Is there enough conflict? Are the characters believable and likeable? Are there plot holes? Does every scene propel the MC forward? Yada yada yada.

When I’m all done with my first run through, it’s time to get back in writing mode. This is the time to experience it all over again, only this time your job is to enrich it, go deeper. Make sure that your reader forgets he’s reading. There are two concepts I read about in July/August Writer’s Digest that I think help in the revision process: overwriting and finding the telling details.

Overwriting is basically just that. Let’s say you have a scene you’re reluctant to tank but it lacks something. Murdering your darlings is not easy; so, rather than slicing and dicing just yet spend some time, I think the article said ten minutes, and write as much as you can without stopping, adding as much new material as you can. Don’t filter yourself—just write.

Most of this you won’t use, but within that ten-minute chunk of writing you may come across a gold nugget, some detail that makes it better than before. Sift through it and keep what works and get rid of what doesn’t.

The other concept is the Telling Detail. This isn’t telling vs. showing. This is that one detail that brings your character to life or makes a scene unforgettable. Think of one of your favorite books. Was there any one thing that told you everything you needed to know about a character without saying x, y, & z?

In one of my writing lectures, one of the speakers elaborated about the importance of characterization. She shared an example from a suspense novel. Two characters sitting in an office. One was a cop and the other wasn’t. The civilian noticed deep grooves in the detective’s glasses and went on to describe them. Then sometime later, we see this cop at a crime scene, crouched over the body of a murdered woman with the earpiece locked in his teeth. Sure this answers a question as to where the grooves came from but it’s also one of those details that stirs up questions and keep us turning the pages.

Do you have any tips or tricks to enrich your writing at the revision stage?

"You write to communicate to the hearts and minds of others what's burning inside you. And we edit to let the fire show through the smoke.” ~ Arthur Polotnik

Thanks for looking, 

The Skeptical Hook'er 

How Do You Handle Toxic Feedback? Cry? Yell? Punch Someone?

I remember being a young girl, perched on a stool in the middle of my kitchen, singing along with the radio, belting out the words of the song with such passion and emotion as my mother cut my hair (she was a hairdresser back in the day and so our haircuts came free—lucky us). 

I was feeling the music all the way down to my soul. I was a singer! I could sing just as well as Crystal Gale, or so my thirteen-year-old self believed. I knew I was that good.

Then my mother, the woman I so admired, so loved, told me, “Angela, I’m so glad you took up an instrument instead of joining the school choir.”

What?! What the heck did she mean by that? Was my own mother telling me I sucked at singing? Really?

I truly believed so. At least that’s the way I took it.

And to this day, I remember that scenario clearly (my mother denies saying any such thing or that the situation even happened at all) and because of it, I have a singing complex. I still love to sing, but I don’t do it nearly as loud, nor do I sing in public places—I whisper-sing when anyone is around.  I’m super self-conscious.

The feedback I received from my own mother had a lasting impact on me that even twenty plus years later, I still feel it.

As much as writers crave feedback—good feedback, constructive feedback—every writer at some point will receive some toxic feedback that will make them want to cry, take a hammer to their laptop, and swear they’ll never, EVER write again. No matter what. You can’t make me.

And to make matters worse, that feedback was usually given by someone we admired greatly and so wanted to impress. To find out we didn’t impress them one bit can be pretty damaging and heartbreaking to our fragile writer’s ego (yes, we’re fragile, we are. We want to be tough, but it still stings—we’re human after all).

Putting ourselves out there by handing over our writing, something we’ve put our heart and soul into can be scary. Then to be told it just wasn’t good enough can really affect how we continue to look at ourselves and our writing paths. Each writer is different and each writer will take that piece of feedback and react to it differently as well. For some, it will be the end all to end all. And for others, they will use it to better themselves in an act to prove that particular feedback provider wrong.

Recently, I read a book titled, Toxic Feedback, HelpingWriters Survive and Thrive by Joni B. Cole, in which she discusses this very thing. If you have read Bird by Bird by Anne Lamont, then you will enjoy Joni B. Cole’s writing style and approach—very personable and humorous.  Because I like to use little post-it notes to mark passages or areas of a book I find useful , my copy of this book now looks like a freaking rainbow, there was so much I found valuable and worth marking. 

At some point in your writing career, someone is going to make you feel like crap. It will happen. It will. Whether it’s early in your writing—be it a teacher, professor, even your own mother, or heaven forbid, your spouse—or later, after you’ve been cultivating your writing for years—rejections from agents, publishers, or you receive a horrible review from a reader who gives you one stinkin’ star out of five—it will happen.

But in her book, Toxic Feedback, Joni goes on about how we should process that information, how to approach it. And more importantly, I feel, she discusses how WE should go about giving feedback to others who ask it from us.  Because like it or not, receiving feedback and giving feedback can be a highly emotional thing if not done correctly. It could actually be more damaging than good.

I love Joni’s definition of feedback, or what she believes the definition should be: “Any response to a writer or his work that helps him write more, write better, and be happier.” 

Wow. Isn’t that great? That’s the kind of feedback I want. Don’t you? 

And that’s the kind of feedback we should be giving, as well.

Now, don’t confuse this with being all fake and saying positive stuff about someone’s writing that is seriously lacking and needs a ton of work—that’s not what I’m saying here or Joni either. That defeats the “write better” portion of the definition above. 

It’s all about the approach. We need to be conscious of how we approach a person’s work, how we encourage them to fix those areas—spelling, character development, plot issues—without making them feel like a loser. Joni gives some great pointers in her book about how to do it correctly. We also need to look at ourselves and understand how we process and react to negative feedback as well—we need to understand the intentions. 

The cold hard truth is that we all need feedback. We do. Without it, we risk setting ourselves up for failure and humiliation. For me, I know I’d much rather have one of my critique buddies tell me I have a piece of broccoli in my teeth (embarrassing and slightly humiliating) than to be standing in front of the world, smiling like an idiot, with broccoli in my teeth, making people uncomfortable or worse yet, causing them to gag.

If you haven’t added Toxic Feedback to your writer’s library, I highly suggest you check it out. Just as important as it is to know where to place a comma, or what things to avoid in writing your first five pages, I think knowing how to give and process feedback ranks right up there with things all writers should know and be aware of.

The sooner we can come to understand negative feedback and how to utilize it to make us better writers, the sooner we will improve not only our writing but other writers writing as well. 

And don’t we all want that? 

Of course we do. 

Do you crave feedback or do you do everything in your power to avoid it? How do you handle Toxic Feedback?