IE #5: Get Your Book Reviewed

To finish this week's theme of reading-leads-to-writing, here's some information about how to get your book reviewed on National Public Radio.

The organization's main reviewers are Alan Cheuse, a professor and reviewer for the All Things Considered program; Karen Gigsby Bates from the Day to Day show; and Maureen Corrigan, a reviewer on Fresh Air, a program that features interviews with people in the arts.

You can send a story idea or press release about your book. Make sure to provide the correct information and send to the proper address using the guidelines on NPR's pitch page.

Happy weekend!

CQ #5: Our Character

What we read is often an excellent indicator or our own character. If we love light, fast reading, we probably like to skim the top of life where smooth sailing is a promise. Whereas if we like to bury ourselves in a complex plot where characters experience fundamental changes, we're probably people who are fascinated by mental challenges.

Understanding our own character is crucial to developing characters who readers want to read about, and for two reasons. The first was mentioned earlier in the week, that knowing what we like to read is important for determining what we're best suited to write.

Secondly, what we read will tell us our greatest weakness when it comes to developing characters. If we can't stand a sad or heavy story, we probably don't delve deeply enough into our characters' psyches. Conversely, if we only think the most literary, difficult stories are of any worth, we're probably prone to robbing our characters of the joyful, sweet, silly, humorous moments of being human.

By reading widely, from fiction to nonfiction, light subjects to heavy, humorous tales to sad, the more likely we are to imbue our characters with a wide range of emotions and telling moments that make them more interesting, and in turn, take our readers from laughter to sadness and back.

For example, consider a friend of mine who sent me a list of her favorite books for 2007. From the list, we can tell a lot about Sara's character, namely, that she's curious about life, up for anything, attracted by an array of emotions and probably a pretty astute student of human nature. Here are a few of her selections:

American Gods by Neil Gaiman (science fiction)
The March by E.L. Doctorow (historical fiction)
A Long Way Gone by Ishmael Beah (nonfiction)
19 Minutes by Jodi Picoult (contemporary fiction)
Why I'm Like This by Cynthia Kaplan (essays)
Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows (fantasy)
East of Eden by John Steinbeck (classic literary fiction)
No Country for Old Men by Cormac McCarthy (literary fiction)

What type of reading helps you increase the complexity of your characters? When you get a chance, let me know.

BQTP #5: Write What You Read?

This week's theme is being a reader first and a writer second. That's why today's Big Question to Ponder is: are you writing the type of material you're reading?

That might seem like a simple-minded question, but the answer may uncover the truth. If you're reading mostly romances or or financial publications while trying to write a science fiction novel, you may be missing out in two ways. Not only could you end up submitting what you feel is a truly original idea, only to find out that theme is no longer marketable because the idea has been done to death in previous books, but you may not realize your true interests.

First, reading in the area you'd like to write about keeps you current in what's being published in that genre or field. You'll also be able to learn who's agenting and publishing the books by reading the acknowledements page where authors thank those who helped them. Armed with that information, when you query an agent or publisher, you'll be able to liken your book to past and current bestsellers in that genre, which will convince the person you know that market well.

Secondly, if you like to read a certain type of writing more than others — memoirs, books of essays, short story collections — that's probably the type of writing that interests you most and therefore, the type of writing you should be doing. I used to wonder whether a person could be good at writing something she/he is not particularly enthused about. Through experience I've learned the answer is no. The more excited and comfortable you are in your writing, the better your material will be.

Once you've considered what you like to read, here are a few web sites to help you learn about writing for those areas:

Science Fiction Weekly
Romance Writers of America
Mystery Writers of America
Western Writers of America
Literary Markets
Creative Nonfiction

What do you like to read, and write? Let me know.

WW #5: Are You a Reader or Writer?

This week's writing theme is the relationship between readers and writers. Are they two different groups? They shouldn't be. Writers should be a subset of those who read. Why? Because as a writer you need to know what's being published to determine how to sell your material. That and you need to be a part of the audience that helps the publishing world thrive. Whenever you read something, you've cast a vote for what gets published and created demand for that type of writing.

But if we're all writing without reading, who's going to buy the books or articles we write? That's the current state of poetry. For every 10 people who love to write poetry, maybe one supports the art by actually buying and reading poetry. That's why I've determined that if I want to get my next book published, I'm going to support the market by reading at least 30 books in the coming year.

So today's writing exercise is to list all the books, articles or other material you've read in the last year. Feel free to share this list, as a friend did with me recently, the results of which I'll share with you in the coming week. You can see my list below.

If you need a little more convincing about why writers need to be readers first, here's an interesting article:

National Endowment for the Arts