July flash fiction: Independence Day

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Let’s hope I practice what I preach.

It’s been awhile since I’ve posted some real writing. I wrote this last week based entirely on the phrase “my cappuccino is a choppy sea” which came to me randomly. Maybe I should make it an InMon prompt.

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We sit in the very center of the café, swaddled by the muted bustle of coffee mug chit chat. I’m staring down at a froth-topped cappuccino. Giant bowl. Tiny handle. I don’t think my fingers are that strong.

“We’re just not the same people we used to be,” he says. He is half apologizing to me, half justifying himself. He hopes I will look up. I take the spoon and swirl the foam into my coffee.

“We want different things now.”

But he doesn’t want something different. He just wants out. My cappuccino is a choppy sea, swishing and swirling and slapping up in waves against the sides of the cup.

“I just don’t think I can make you happy.”

But I am happy. At least, I was until he bought me this cappuccino, this wretched ugly storm I hold in my hands. For a moment, I feel like I’m drowning. Then I remember to swallow.

“I feel like I’m holding you back.”

What does he even mean? Nothing. Nothing at all. Just sounds to fill the vacuum as I mop up a caramel-colored drip from the table with my sleeve. Now my sleeve is sticky. Stupid, stupid. Where are the napkins? He disappears for a moment and returns with a stack. But what thin paper handkerchief could soak up this ocean?

Why can’t he just ask me to look at him? Why can’t he have the guts to make me face him? Because he’s nicer than he is good. If he had been good, he would never have chased after me, or begged for my phone number, or paid for my dinner, or made me addicted to his smile. He would have known that he would get bored with me, and he would have left me alone. Because he wants excitement and flirtation and impassioned wrestling bouts. But I want a hand to hold, and a soul to talk to, and a band on my finger.

No, he is only nice. Guilt is his only motivation to be good. And he is not what I wanted. I wish that made it easier. I wish it meant I could flash him a smile and walk out with my chin up. But my heart is stronger than my pride. One little crack, and everything else stops working. It’s raining on my cappuccino sea, now.

“You’ll be so much better off without me,” his voice is gentler, but only because it makes him uncomfortable to see me cry.

“What you mean,” I croak out after another swallow and a few clearings of the throat. “Is that you will be better off without me.”

He makes an objection, but it is weak, and empty.

“But that’s alright,” I still can’t look at him. “You can have your life. I don’t think I want it any more. Buy me another coffee?”

He blinks and stares and eventually stutters, “uh, sure.”

“Make it to-go.”

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Inspiration Monday XVIII

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Fewer submissions this week, as it is officially Summer! Thanks to the Rewriters still pumping out words this week, and all worth reading (or listening to, as is sometimes the case!). In other news, I was interviewed last week by Rewriter Marantha (and flattered as all get out).

Read up, folks! /

Lady Nimue

Drew composed and produced a song in a day!

SAB Inspirations

Patti

Jenna

Mike

Jinx

Barb

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The Rules

There are none. Read the prompts, get inspired, write something. No word count minimum or maximum. You don’t have to include the exact prompt in your piece, and you can interpret the prompt(s) any way you like.

OR

No really; I need rules!

Okay; write 200-500 words on the prompt of your choice. You may either use the prompt as the title of your piece or work it into the body of your piece. You must complete it before 6 pm CST on the Monday following this post.

The Prompts:

Eternally five minutes* 

Voices of the wind*

Ancient astronaut

I dreamed this

A reason to fight

 

Want to share your Inspiration Monday piece? Post it on your blog and link back to today’s post; I’ll include a link to your piece in the next Inspiration Monday post. No blog? Email your piece to me at stephanie (at) balcomagency (dot) com.

Plus, get the InMon badge for your site here.

Happy writing!

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* Today’s first and second prompts brought to you by TragicPete and Wynonna Judd (the song Testify to Love)

How to make your book read like a movie

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I have two pieces of advice today:

1. Don’t write your book as if it were a movie.

2. Do write your book as if it were a movie.

I love movies – and have spent considerable time daydreaming about my books as movies. There’s something magical about the scenery and the characters coming to life in front of you – with background music, no less! But some writers fall into trouble when they try to achieve that effect in the book itself.

For instance:

Against the left-hand wall were boxes of restaurant provisions, primarily paper towels for the rest rooms, candles for the tables, and janitorial supplies purchased in bulk. The right-hand wall, which faced the beach and the ocean beyond, featured two doors and a series of large windows, but the coast was not visible because the glass was protected by metal Rolladen shutters. The banquet room felt like a bunker.

            Sole Survivor, Dean Koontz, p. 239

What happened here? Koontz seems to think he has to  describe every feature of every scene down to the minutest detail for the scene to be vivid in the reader’s mind. But would the hero – who is about to find out whether his daughter is alive or dead – even notice janitorial supplies purchased in bulk? When you watch a movie, do you note the size, shape, color, and texture of every object in sight, or do you subconsciously register a general idea, and go on taking in the action?

The last sentence in this sample sums up, in seven words, what the preceding sixty-one words drag out. All Koontz needed to do was make some passing remarks about his hero squinting in the dim light of the mostly obstructed windows, or about the irony of the ordinariness of the restaurant supplies contrasted with the life-changing revelation he knows he is about to have.

Take the less-is-more approach. One or two details can go a long way into showing your readers where they are, but it will only hurt your writing if you describe everything. You’re the writer, not the set designer. You’re also not the fight choreographer. Don’t describe every single move in a fight scene. Your readers will get lost if they have to imagine each strike according to your exact specifications. A scene in a movie requires extensive choreography, but the viewer only perceives lots of movement and tension and clanging blades or flashing bullets, and that’s all you need to convey in your book. Not “a cut down across the left, followed by a two-handed thrust and a sweeping kick” for sentence after sentence after sentence.

The Takeaway:

Writing a book and making a movie require different methods to produce similar results. Give your readers a sense of scenery and action, but don’t get bogged down in details. Get back to the story!

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Read my other post on how to “show, don’t tell” by writing with the screen in mind. 

Inspiration Monday XVII

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We’ve had a little bit of everything this week, from poetry to steampunk. In other news, I wrote a new synopsis on Saturday, and it wasn’t terrible. You may applaud – and help me celebrate by reading the awesome pieces linked below!

Nimue

Pete

Patti

Marantha

Mike and two and flash fiction and one more

Kay

Chessie

Juan

PianoLover

Barb

Anna

Jinx

Drew, InMon’s resident lyricist, has recorded a song from past prompt Paper Towns

I missed SAB Inspirations

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The Rules

There are none. Read the prompts, get inspired, write something. No word count minimum or maximum. You don’t have to include the exact prompt in your piece, and you can interpret the prompt(s) any way you like.

OR

No really; I need rules!

Okay; write 200-500 words on the prompt of your choice. You may either use the prompt as the title of your piece or work it into the body of your piece. You must complete it before 6 pm CST on the Monday following this post.

The Prompts:

One day he shot me; we’ve been happy ever since*

Do you ever feel like glass?*

I miss someone I’ve never met*

One man’s tragedy, another man’s miracle

Silence followed

Want to share your Inspiration Monday piece? Post it on your blog and link back to today’s post; I’ll include a link to your piece in the next Inspiration Monday post. No blog? Email your piece to me at stephanie (at) balcomagency (dot) com.

Plus, get the InMon badge for your site here.

Happy writing!

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Today’s first three prompts brought to you from TragicPete, Blindside (the song Cute Boring Love) and Wes King (the song Thought You’d Be Here).

Do I Need a Literary Agent and How Do I Find One?

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Image by Marco Arment

Image by Marco Arment

Do I need a literary agent?

Short answer: yes. If you want to be published traditionally, you absolutely need an agent. (I’ll post about self-publishing vs. traditional publishing later on.)

Why do I need a literary agent?

  1. Few publishers (maybe none) will read anything unless it comes to them from a literary agent.
  2. Agents have in-depth knowledge of the publishing industry and will know which editors/publishers are most likely to be interested in your work.
  3. Your agent may give you feedback to help you to polish up your work before it gets submitted to said publisher.
  4. Your agent really believes in your work and will fight to get it out there.
  5. Your agent will negotiate your publishing contract – and because they work off of commission (they don’t make money until you do), you know they’ll negotiate it to your greatest advantage.

How do I find a literary agent?

The traditional (and still legitimate) way to find an agent is to look them up in the latest edition of Writer’s Market. But now we have the Internet; it’s much easier to look them up on AgentQuery. Start by searching by the genre you write, and make a list of the agents who are accepting submissions. Find out everything you can about each agent before you query. Visit their website (follow submission guidelines!), read their blog, and read any interviews they’ve done.

A great way to pinpoint agents who might like your book is to look up the agents who represent authors with work similar to yours. I don’t know of any standard place to find this information, but you can try the acknowledgements page of the book, the author’s website, searching by author on AgentQuery, or simply Googling it (comb through the results carefully, though; see below).

How do I avoid getting scammed?

DO NOT simply search “literary agents” on Google. I love Google, but there are droves of scam lit agents out there, and AgentQuery is a safer bet. To really protect yourself, here are a few more steps to follow.

  1. AAR– The agent’s AgentQuery profile will specify if they are an Association of Author’s Representatives member or not. Members of the AAR adhere to strict ethical guidelines. (Though there are legitimate agents who aren’t in the AAR, so don’t throw out an agent just because they aren’t a member).
  2. Predators & Editors – Look up every agent on this site before you query. It’ll tell you if they are legit or a scammer, have made recent sales, and if they come highly recommended. The website isn’t very professional, but writers have depended on it for years.
  3. Run Away from Fees – No legitimate literary agency charges writers up front. Period. If you see a reading fee, run. If you see administrative fees, run. A legitimate agency takes a commission from your publishing profits, and will not bill you until you make money.

More resources:

Learn how to query in these other posts: writing your hook, sample hooks, and what else goes in a query.

Learn more about agents, including what to ask an agent interested in representing you at AAR’s website.

Read about “spaghetti agents” and how to avoid them on former agent Nathan Bransford’s blog.

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