The Haunted Writing Clinic

Hello fellow writers, minions, super villains.

Thanks for stopping by.  As a former acquisitions editor for Curiosity Quills Press, I saw a lot of queries. Some good. Some bad. Some horrifically ugly, covered in slime and ooze, brandishing knives, and shooting turds. (Okay, I was just doing that to stay in the spirit of Halloween--or something.)

One of the biggest flaws I observed was wordiness. Not spelling--because we ALL spell things wrong. Not because you didn't follow our submission guidelines--which is my second biggest peeve. The biggest flaw is WORDINESS!

Why?

Well, acquisitions editors read non-stop! If you want to capture the attention of an editor, you need to do it immediately. Write clear, concise sentences. Punchy lines that build tension are my favorite. I usually tell people to imagine a trailer for a movie. If that movie was about your book, what would it say? Television doesn't allow you to be wordy--that would be too expensive, and viewers would allow their ADD to get the better of them and leave the room. So, treat your acquisitions editor as if she/he has a severe case of ADD.

That's all the advice I have for you today!

This is a blog hop, and you can still participate!

For the Minions: You are hereby commanded to post your query for slaughter on or shortly after 10/8. Then through the course of the week, visit the sites of the other minions to attack their queries (aka give helpful and respectful critique they can use to improve their submission). You are also commanded to visit the sites of the super villains for tips on how to make your query more likely to frighten editors into doing your bidding.

Remember minions, this week is purely to help you improve your query and will not be part of the judging for the contest. You may edit your query based on feedback and re-post throughout the week if you wish.

For the Super villains: The honorable and fiendish super villains will be doing the following on their blogs this week:

-Posting their spooky team name and theme

-Posting tips on how to write a query or anything else they think the minions may find helpful regarding getting published

-Posting their successful query (if applicable)

-Visiting the minions' blogs to critique their query

Sharon Bayliss - The Dark Side (you know you want to come over)

James Wymore - Dark Brain, master of hypnosis, seeking Darkling minions

Court Young - The House of Gaunt (pure bloods only)

Dawna Raver - The Mystical Masters

Gerilyn Marin

Thea Gregory - The Zombie Culinary Institute

Mike Robinson

Krystal Wade - Frankenstein's Laboratory

The Criminal Masterminds

Is this the first you're hearing about the contest? Learn more here. New minions are welcome to join until 10/21.

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The Vampire Diaries-Marathon

I just finished watching the season three finale of The Vampire Diaries.

How I'm feeling right now: Depressed, like I need to stalk every season four teaser site, a little in love, tired, and elated that someone is a vampire.

When I began watching this show, I had no idea what it was about—other than vampires, duh! I thought it would turn into a teenage, lovey-dovey drama, focused solely around love.

In a lot of ways, the show does focus on the thumping of hearts—mmm, those tasty hearts!

BUT

There is so much action, so much history, so much magic and superstition and evolution. Every secondary character becomes a main character at some point. Every villain turns good guy, turns bad guy, turns I don't know.

This speaks volumes for the show's writers, for the author as well.

The Vampire Diaries made me feel so many things. The show sparked my imagination, forced me to think about my books and characters and their back history, and where they're going.

* Do you guys sense a lecture coming on? I'll try to keep it brief! *

So many times when we write, we're in such a hurry to get a book out there. We don't stop and think about every character; we don't write from their POV to figure out who they are and what they want. But we should. So, my vow is to know everyone in my book, to be connected with them, to connect them with my reader, to give them purpose.

Granted, I had outlines of my secondary characters for my Darkness Falls novels, but I didn't write from every character's POV.

Now, because I don't want to give anything away to potential fans of The Vampire Diaries, I'll end this by saying, "Watch TVD. Take your time when you write. Explore. Never stop using your imagination. Love life."

How I'm feeling now: Creative, still depressed, still want to stalk spoiler sites, hopeful, like I need to write.

How I rate seasons 1 – 3?

Totally obsessed-worthy!

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