Things Writers Hate to Write

Currently reading - Born of Fire by Sherrilyn Kenyon

For some, it's the dreaded query. For others, it's the soul-sucking synopsis. For me, it's the series blurb.

I'm not saying I find queries and synopses easy to draft. They are difficult in their own right. But I'm usually writing these AFTER I've written the book. Boiling down the essence of something that exists is far easier to me than discovering the essence of something that doesn't exist yet.

And that's the job of a series blurb, to convey what might happen to my heroine if I happen to write the second or third book.

I know this is something I will have to do once I have a multi-book contract. Until then, I will have to learn how to pull things out of my butt as my c.p. Faye would say.

Releasing children upon an unsuspecting world...

I've spent the last few days sending out queries for my completed manuscript. And you know what? I like sending queries. For an unpubbed writer, it's the frosting on the literary accomplishment.

What's so great about queries? They force you to condense your idea into a few key sentences. Sentences that need to grab the agent and editor by the throat and say, "Damn it! Pay attention to me!"

On the other hand, synopses are a little tougher. It's a fine line between adding too much information that the synopsis bogs down and too little that the synopsis makes no freakin' sense. And that is why critique partners are so damn important! Good ones will tell you when you've crossed the line. But once it's done, I don't have to agonize over every single word the way I do with the personalized query.

But it's done. My children are out in the world, but I can't sit and stew about what will happen to them. Will they be liked? Admired? Told to put a paper bag over their heads? Nope, can't worry about them now. What's done is done.

The current wip is clamoring for attention, like a toddler demanding to be picked up and carried. And I'm already pregnant with the next idea.