I have finished the rough draft of the current novel-in-progress. It’s not done by any means, but now I have the whole of the story in my head and I can see so many places that need fixing. However, I haven’t started fixing the novel yet. I’m in that in-between phase that few authors ever speak of.
It’s the “Flailing About” Phase.
My experience is that I have just spent the last 4-6 weeks on “deadline mode.” This mode includes things like “no internet before word count” and “2000 words a day” and “hard core focus on the novel” and nothing else. Lots of creative people know what that’s like.
But, just like post-con blues are a thing, so is the post-novel flap. You’ve known what you were to do everyday for a month without exception. You’ve gotten into the groove. But now the groove is gone. It’s almost like discovering you have hands and discovering your pants have no pockets. What the heck to you do with your hands now?
If you are a regular writer, I recommend a quick once-over, adding all the things you know you need to add RIGHT NOW. Then putting the manuscript away for three months while you write something (anything) else. But, as I am a media tie-in writer, too, I don’t have time for that. I need to turn in the polished manuscript within 3 weeks. That’s my deadline.
But I don’t wanna. I don’t wanna work on the novel. I don’t wanna do the work I know I need to do. What do I want to do? I don’t know and I don’t wanna figure it out. See: flailing about.
Usually I have a bunch of interviews lined up to work on. Which I did this time, too. But they are done. And I polish-edited a short story and turned it in already. I have 3 more short stories to write but I’m not anywhere near doing them. I haven’t even outlined them on paper. Maybe I have in my head, but I don’t want to face the tyranny of the blank page. It is so much easier to fix what’s on the page than to create it wholesale.
Which leads me back to…start the next pass on the novel…and I don’t wanna.
Thus, I’m writing a blog post about the situation. I’m sure other authors have written about this phase of the novel writing process, but I figured it couldn’t hurt if other authors (and readers) understood a little more of what some authors (at least me) sometimes go through. The process of writing and editing novels is always changing, but I think the general phases of the process remain the same.
See? That’s about 500 words of verbal flailing and “productive procrastination” to help me avoid the edits I will begin next. Or tomorrow. It all depends on whether or not I figure out something else to do to avoid what I don’t want to do now.
But still, by tomorrow, I will roll up my sleeves and dive into fixing the novel because this is the “post” part of my mantra of “fix it in post.”
Have a cat picture. Here’s Mena in her tower.
Once upon a time, almost three years ago to the day, I got the urge to write a near future SF mystery story set in a subaquatic city involving robotic pets. I had been inspired by a mini-documentary about the AIBO robotic dogs in Japan. It only took me a couple of weeks to write the novella. I knew it was good, but it wasn’t great. I needed another set of eyes on it.
Then, the awesome Marie Bilodeau offered to edit it. She did so in short order and had some insightful things to say about it. While she did love it, there were some definite, specific issues—some of which she outlined in her email to me. The rest she left as comments in the manuscript. I knew she was right about it all, but by that time, the shine had worn off the project, it was just a personal story I had written with no market in mind, and I had other contracted novels to write.
Thus, it languished in my email for three years.
It’s no secret that I’ve been taking the first quarter of this year easy. I’ve pushed myself hard for the last five years (five novels and six novellas and everything else), thus when this year’s contracts got delayed, I decided to relax a little. Until I remembered I had several personal projects I wanted to work on. Which I did…sorta. None of them had due dates or markets in mind. Still, I wanted to work on them while I waited.
Thus, I did—on one of them: Dear Penpal. But mostly I tinkered at it. What should have taken merely a month to write is only 1/3 written in the last four months. As a full-time writer, this won’t do. If I don’t have contracts or deadlines, I still need to write. I have an agent and cats to feed.
Coming to this conclusion, two things in the universe conspired to help me. First, another publishing professional like me (author/editor/RPG writer/media tie-in writer) asked for an accountability buddy on a discord we’re both on. As someone who never wants to be the smartest person in the room, I knew her by her considerable reputation and jumped at the chance.
(As an aside, I’ve discovered the perfect accountability buddy for me is someone I know in a professional capacity, am friendly with on acquaintance terms, and respect, but not someone I hang out with on a regular basis. We chat during our meetings, but it is all work related chat. There’s something about wanting to impress this familiar stranger that really pushes my “get it done” button. But I digress…)
The other thing that happened is that Uncanny Magazine opened up for novellas from May 1-15. At the time I read that, I had about two-to-four weeks to whip my languishing novella into shape and submit it. Suddenly, I had a deadline. Not only that, I had a professional author I was now meeting with weekly to talk about what I did that previous week—did I meet my goals? Why or why not and what’s next?
Long story short—I revised, edited, and polished that SF novella in just under three weeks and submitted it to Uncanny Magazine. Whether or not they accept it (and I hope they do), I’m pleased to have finally finished it. It’s a wonderful story. Thanks to Marie’s astute observations from three years ago, I think the novella turned out pretty good.
Now, I have Dear Penpal to work on while I wait for the various (editing and writing) projects that are on my radar but haven’t landed yet. After all, I have an accountability buddy to answer to and time to do it. No excuses left.
I think 2023 is going to be a bit different for me work-wise. Right now, I have one small project under contract and that is it. As a freelance author and editor I should be terrified, but I’m not. Probably because I know there are a number of projects coming down the line, and even though you can’t trust a damn thing in the publishing industry until it is under contract (and even then it can be suspect), I’m confident at least one of these (rather large) projects is going to land.
The problem will come if more than one of them lands too close to another.
Fortunately, all of the projects in the air are awesome and I’m really looking forward to working on each of them. It’s part of my new professional strategy: Do not accept a contract that you are not in love with. If it doesn’t tick 90+% of the boxes, let it go and give someone else a chance to pick up the ball and run with it.
All this is to say that I won’t be listing out all my projects and their timelines because I can’t. This is rather like the year of the Iceberg Duck. Iceberg: because most of its bulk is unseen. Duck: because it seems smooth and graceful on the water as it sails by, but it is paddling like mad underneath.
What do I know? Not that much. Most of it speculative
At times like these, I turn to what I do know: I need to finish paying work first. I have two original projects that have been eating my brain for over a year. I also know my best bet is to work on the things I can control and the rest will sort itself out in its own time. Thus, I will begin by working on the bits of Shadowrun that I can and then I’ll dive into Dear Penpal—a fictional YA epistolatory project inspired by my time in Belgium living in a 300+ year old manor house in 1980. Those will keep me happily occupied for a few months. Then we will see what we see.
Per usual, I like to round up the year to see what I accomplished as an author, editor, and media tie-in writer. This year was a bit unusual. Year three of the pandemic and I knew I needed more rest than normal because of the general trauma of it all. Between that and anniversaries of my parents’ deaths and a whole host of other things, I structured the year a bit differently.
First, the cold hard numbers…
New words written thoughts: For the first time in a very long time, I wrote less than 100K new words in a year. When I first saw the numbers, I was startled and a little upset. Then I thought about the three month writing break I put in the middle of the year because I needed it. Then I looked at how much I had edited: 2 novellas, 1 novel, and 2 anthologies. That was where my time went and why my “new words” number seemed low to me.
Sometimes authors put too much emphasis on quantity over quality. It’s a bit like watching the scale and wondering why you’re not losing pounds while you are lifting weights and gaining muscle mass even as your waist line shrinks. I keep track of the numbers to tell myself about how I worked and what affected me where. Travel, grief, other work, teaching classes. All of it counts. This is why I keep track of everything I do in a day. I can always tell when I had to stop and spend an hour looking at a contract rather than writing. Or when the words wouldn’t come because I was grieving. My Freelancer Summary is invaluable to me. I’ve had enough people ask me about it that I’ve created a blank 2023 RTF document for people to download and use as they will. (Direct Download Link.)
This was an excellent year for submissions for me. I don’t think I’ve had such a high acceptance rate before and that makes me feel good. I like to get my short fiction out there. I like it more when it is accepted. I will never get over the rush I get at an acceptance.
New works published: I had a Shadowrun novel, Elfin Black, and a Shadowrun novella, Unrepairable, published along with a FiveFold Universe space opera novella, Truumeel’s Light, published. Then there were the two re-releases: Apocalypse Girl Dreaming and Last Days of Salton Academy. Also, I’m quite proud of the anthology, The Reinvented Heart, I co-edited with Cat Rambo. Yeah, 2022 was a good publication year.
I’ve forced myself to take an actual break for the last two weeks of 2022. It’s been good but weird. Part of me is desperate to rest. Part of me is desperate to get back to work. I think 2023 is going to be interesting in a good way and I’m looking forward to it. There’s a lot to think about and a lot to plan for. However, that is for 2023 Jennifer to deal with. 2022 Jennifer is in “potato” mode. In the meantime, I’ve got a fiendish puzzle from my sister to work on.
Thank you to every single one of you who reads me and enjoys my work.
I hope you have had a lovely holiday season and I wish you the brightest new year.
Here’s something I do as an author: I think. A lot. About pretty much everything in regards to writing any length of work. Admittedly, the shorter the work, the less I have to think about it unless it is something in a very, very specific format or is on something I am not super familiar with.
Right now, I’m thinking about my next YA Shadowrun novella, The Kilimanjaro Run. It is the fourth in the series (even though each novella is standalone, there is a throughput line). It’s taken me weeks to figure out what POV this novella should be written in. Partly because I’m not familiar with the physical location where the novella will be taking place. Partly because I couldn’t decide who would be the best point of view character. That difficulty has come down to not having the confidence/experience to write the story from the POV character I would like to write it from. Thus, after much internal debate (and my editor’s approval), I will write it from the POV character I am most comfortable with, and the one the readers would be most likely to forgive should I muck things up. I have already hired a sensitivity reader. Hopefully, that will help with the not-mucking-up part of things.
In the meantime, I’m thinking…about the story…about the characters…about specific scenes. Basically, thinking about everything I’m going to write. I haven’t written much yet. Art notes for the cover (talk about putting the cart before the horse). An nascent outline. Character names with 1-3 lines of background. Facts about hippopotamuses and Tanzania. The first paragraph in the story (which I’m sure I’m going to toss out and start over, but it’s easy to start with a brief edit than to stare at the tyranny of the blank page). Probably about 600 words in total.
What does thinking about writing look like? For me, it looks like playing PokemonGO, cleaning my house, folding laundry, or doing some other bit of busy work that keeps most of me occupied while my creative part churns. I’m making inspired butter out of creative cream (or is that creative butter out of inspired cream?). Today, thinking looks like updating every single one of my apple devices because I bought more music for the first time in forever. It also looks like processing author bios for my anthology 99 Fleeting Fantasies. And eating lunch. And staring off into space, occasionally having an argument with myself or with the characters in my head. Not to mention writing this blog post.
While it doesn’t look like much, it is hard work. It is mentally taxing. It can be physically tiring. But it’s not the “sexy” part of writing. It’s not really a thing you can show without being stereotypical—and what you “show” is what writer’s block looks like. It’s funny how a writer thinking looks like writer’s block to someone who doesn’t write. It shows the fundamental disconnect between the writer and the reader.
The best way I can describe an author thinking to a reader who is not a writer is an earworm. An earworm of the literary kind in the best, most distracting, way. You don’t know the complete tune, nor do you know all the words, but it is enticing. You know it. But you don’t really know it, yet. You will…but only after it is on the page and has been edited a half a dozen times. Then you will know what the song/story really was all along.
So, that’s what and how I’m doing. What about you?
Mena being adorable in the cat tower.
The Science Fiction and Fantasy Writers of America (SFWA) has partnered once again with Worldbuilders, an organization of geeks doing good that supports humanitarian efforts worldwide, to run their annual silent auction. This auction runs from May 9, 12noon, Pacific until May 16, 12noon, Pacific.
https://www.biddingforgood.com/auction/auctionhome.action?vhost=wbi
Three items from me up for bid:
A 30-minute one-on-one virtual career session via Zoom with Jennifer Brozek, an award winning author, editor, and tie-in writer. Tell me where you want to go with your career and I’ll do my best to guide you.
https://www.biddingforgood.com/auction/item/item.action?id=342557558
Four seats in a one-hour virtual author kaffeeklatsch via Zoom with Jennifer Brozek, an award winning author, editor, and tie-in writer. Come talk about anything gaming or publishing related. On request, I will go get all my cats to show you.
Seat 1: https://www.biddingforgood.com/auction/item/item.action?id=342557553
Seat 2: https://www.biddingforgood.com/auction/item/item.action?id=342557555
Seat 3: https://www.biddingforgood.com/auction/item/item.action?id=342557556
Seat 4: https://www.biddingforgood.com/auction/item/item.action?id=342557557
Jennifer Brozek will do a tuckerization for the winning bidder (or as a gift from the winning bidder to someone else). Tuckerization will be in a new Shadowrun YA novella and possibly used in a later Shadowrun novel.
https://www.biddingforgood.com/auction/item/item.action?id=342557560
Please support this worthy cause.
Thank you,
Jenn
Time is always getting away from me these days, but not because I’m doing nothing. This Bubble & Squeek is mostly interviews with me (and with Cat Rambo) that have happened over the last month or so. Enjoy!
• Article: The Reinvented Heart anthology was listed in 52 New Sci-Fi and Fantasy Books for Your May Reading List on Gizmodo.
• Interview: With Scifi Pulse magazine. Jennifer Brozek discusses writing styles and creating engaging characters.
• Interview: Horror Tree Presents… An Interview with Cat Rambo and Jennifer Brozek.
• Interview: 2 Part interview with Signals From the Edge. The Reinvented Anthologies: Conversation with Cat Rambo & Jennifer Brozek, parts one and two.
• Interview: Author interview with Prachesta Magazine.
• Support: As always… if you appreciate my work and would like to support me, I love coffee. I am made of caffeine. This is the quickest way to brighten my day.
Early in my writing career (and even now), I was fascinated by editors who talked about slushpiles as they went through them. I learned a lot—both good and bad—about the submission process. The Reinvented Detective will be the 22nd anthology I’ve edited or co-edited. (Though, I don’t think it’ll be the 22nd anthology released. The publishing industry is complicated.) I figured that if I got something out of that kind of information, I should past it on and share some of my thoughts as I read 20-40 subs a day. I tweeted these out on my Twitter account: @JenniferBrozek.
Note1: These “Editor Tips” are not picking on anyone in the slushpile. Some submissions reminded me of issues as I went through. If you submitted a story, do NOT assume a tip is about you. Please. I’ve read a lot of slush (Apex Magazine, Edge of Propinquity, 22 anthologies…) and my thoughts are linked to all of them.
Note2: These are my opinions. I’m made them as generic as I could with an effort to not name names. These are based on experience and my likes/dislikes. “No shit, there I was stories” need to be in person with a libation in hand.
1. From the Slushpile: While you won’t be rejected for a typo in your second sentence, it doesn’t look good on you as a writer. Spellcheck is not your friend. It is a double agent who will let you write “barley” when you mean “barely.” Do not trust it!
2. From the Slushpile: If the story is so generic that I can’t tell what genre it is supposed to be, the writer has not done their job. Body language and descriptive word choice is worldbuilding. Details matter—even more so in short fiction.
3. From the Slushpile: If you use track changes in your document, please remember to accept all changes before you turn in your story. I really don’t need to see your edits. This happens way too often.
4. From the Slushpile: If the guidelines say original fiction only and/or no reprints, that means NO REPRINTS. If the story has been sold/printed/posted anywhere, it does not qualify per the guidelines. If the writer still submits the story, it does nothing but wastes the editor’s time.
5. From the Slushpile: When the guidelines ask for a specific type of story, especially genre (IE: SF), a writer’s story, no matter how good it is, will not qualify if it is the wrong genre (IE: Fantasy). It is a waste of time on both sides to submit it.
6. From the Slushpile: Don’t begin a short story with historical backstory or an infodump. Begin your story in a way that catches the attention, necessary details can be sprinkled in later like spice. Trust the reader to keep up.
7. From the Slushpile: While every anthology may have its theme, many of the choices are subjective and based on the Editor’s likes and dislikes. Sometimes it is good to know what kinds of stories the editor loves or hates. (IE: I love “hidden world” stories. I hate “hurt the woman/child to turn on their power” stories.)
8. From the Slushpile: Beginnings are extremely important. Hooking the reader with emotion, a provocative thought, or interesting action allows the writer to pull the reader along as the story unfolds. Start with what is important.
9. From the Slushpile: Endings are as important as beginnings. Learn when and how to end a story without cutting it off too quickly or stringing it out too long. This is the last impression the story will leave on the reader.
10. From the Slushpile: I don’t care how avantgarde the writer wishes to be, writing a story with little (or no) punctuation is going to be a HARD sell. It is difficult to read and even more difficult to edit.
11. From the Slushpile: Stereotypes and cliches are not usually a good look in a story. They are often too familiar, trite, and boring. If the writer is going to use one, make it different and interesting.
12. From the Slushpile: Cover letters should be simple and to the point without extraneous information. Also, don’t say “aspiring author” in a cover letter. The writer is an author by the mere fact that they have submitted their work. Doesn’t matter if they are unpublished.
13. From the Slushpile: A short story title is a promise from the writer to the reader. Don’t make the short story title too generic. Make the promise and give the reader something to look forward to.
14. From the Slushpile: Sometimes a brilliant first line/first paragraph is all that’s needed to keep me reading through the parts that need to be edited. Though, a brilliant first line won’t save a story that isn’t right for the anthology.
15. From the Slushpile: Flashbacks in a short story are hard to do well. More often than not they are infodumps or backstory that could be told in better ways. Consider that for future stories.
16. From the Slushpile: Using specific, named media/personalities (TV shows, movies, songs, actors, politicians, CEOs, etc…) or modern day slang in a short story can date them quickly. Try to avoid this unless this is part of the anthology call.
17. From the Slushpile: Humor and sarcasm are subjective. Understand the reader is not in the writer’s head and may not understand what was meant. Deploy with care.
18. From the Slushpile: Seriously, learn how to write a simple, effective cover letter. All the writer actually needs: Writer’s name, the story’s title, word count, (optional: anything else specifically asked for,) thank the editor for their time. The end.
19a. From the Slushpile: Now that I’m done reading slush for The Reinvented Detective, here is a controversial topic: reading stories from writers the editor has met. There is a certain joy or pain that comes from name recognition in the slush pile. This emotion can bias the editor towards or against the writer.
19b. Often, if the editor knows the writer in a favorable context, it will make them more patient with the story they are reading. More willing to consider edits. This includes reading stories from writers who have been in classes, workshops, and/or kaffeeklatsches with the editor. Or bought them a drink/meal and picked their brain.
19c. The converse is true. Editors can be more impatient with stories or less willing to entertain edits if the writer is known in an unfavorable context. Especially if the writer is a known “repeat offender” (virtually or in person) for whatever reason.
19d. That said, if a story does not stand up against its peers in an anthology, it doesn’t matter how much the editor likes the writer, the story must be rejected as it is unsuited to the work in progress. I speak as someone who has rejected Ed Greenwood and Seanan McGuire. (Ya’ll know I adore both Ed and Seanan. Ed was one of my first co-authors and taught me a lot. Seanan…one of my best friends.)
19e. Editors want to publish you, /if/ the story is good and suits what they need. Editors love finding new talent or that story that wins the awards. Editors are human with likes, dislikes, and inherent biases. I try to be as fair and professional and transparent as possible.
19f. I hope this peek into my editorial thoughts has been helpful. Don’t forget that you can pre-order/buy The Reinvented Heart anthology, edited by me and the ever-talented Cat Rambo, now. (https://www.arcmanorbooks.com/reinvented) The Reinvented Detective will be released in 2023.
Here’s a cat picture (a blast from the past) to sooth author anxiety.
We have about two weeks left in the year but I already know I’m done editing for 2021 and all the writing I’m doing on the new project won’t be counted until 2022. It’s just how I log my work.
When looking at my scorecard I was vaguely surprised to discover I had only written 2 new short stories, 1 new novella, and 1 new novel. About 110,000 new words. That seemed significantly less than the year felt like. Then I realized that I had also done full edits on 1 novel as an author and 3 anthologies as an editor. Still it felt like I hadn’t done much. (IE: I do this fulltime, what’s my excuse?)
I have a five year paper journal that I’ve kept for almost four years now. I flipped through it to see what I’d missed. What took up my time? Why did I feel so busy? Why didn’t I get more done?
Yeah. So, there was a lot. A lot, a lot. I just skimmed things. I didn’t talk about helping my sister with estate stuff or teaching virtual classes/conventions or mentoring people or losing the Bram Stoker and British Fantasy Awards or…other stuff.
I wrote in my journal: “2020 was like being grounded on prom night. 2021 has been all about being kicked in the shins while I’m down.”
So, when I say I “only” wrote 2 new stories, 1 new novella, and 1 new novel in 2021, I did damn well. I am proud of myself. It was a hard year.
No, 2021 has not been kind. However, through it all, good things have happened. Really good things. I still have the house, the Husband, my career, and my kitties. I still have relative safety and security. I am grateful for it all.
I want to slow down in 2022. For real. I know I’ve said that before. I mean it this time and won’t feel guilty.
(At least I’ll try not to.)
While I am aware that 2021 will not become magically “back to normal” (whatever the new normal is), I have hope that it will be better; that I will be able to visit friends and family. Hell, that I will make it to at least one convention in person. I’m enough of a realist to know that none of that might happen, but optimistic enough to believe some of it will.
In the meantime, I have projects scheduled for 2021. Here’s what’s known and forthcoming.
Editing:
Writing:
Most of the editing is scheduled for the first quarter of 2021. Most of the writing will be in the second and third quarters of the year. I think. This is the first year in a long time that I haven’t gone into it with a novel contract and a due date. I’m okay with this because of the two anthologies.
I guess, the short version is: I don’t really know everything I’m going to do in 2021. There are too many unknowns and “secret” possible projects in the air. And who knows about conventions. The ones I’m already going to for sure are all virtual.
I think I’m going to stick with this. This seems like a good plan to start with. Maybe I’ll update it in the second quarter of 2021.
Jennifer Brozek is a multi-talented, award-winning author, editor, and media tie-in writer. She is the author of Never Let Me Sleep and The Last Days of Salton Academy, both of which were nominated for the Bram Stoker Award. Her YA tie-in novels, BattleTech: The Nellus Academy Incident and Shadowrun: Auditions, have both won Scribe Awards. Her editing work has earned her nominations for the British Fantasy Award, the Bram Stoker Award, and the Hugo Award. She won the Australian Shadows Award for the Grants Pass anthology, co-edited with Amanda Pillar. Jennifer’s short form work has appeared in Apex Publications, Uncanny Magazine, Daily Science Fiction, and in anthologies set in the worlds of Valdemar, Shadowrun, V-Wars, Masters of Orion, Well World, and Predator.
Jennifer has been a full-time freelance author and editor for over seventeen years, and she has never been happier. She keeps a tight schedule on her writing and editing projects and somehow manages to find time to teach writing classes and volunteer for several professional writing organizations such as SFWA, HWA, and IAMTW. She shares her husband, Jeff, with several cats and often uses him as a sounding board for her story ideas. Visit Jennifer’s worlds at jenniferbrozek.com or her social media accounts on LinkTree.