What’s Up Wednesday
I haven’t done a What’s Up Wednesday for a few weeks, so I thought I’d take this opportunity to say hello and catch up with everyone. Hello! Now to the catching up…
What I’m Reading
I’m still reading WAR AND PEACE, but I’m encouraged by the fact there’s something of a plot going on. Aside from another war brewing (the 1812 war to be specific), there’s a love triangle that’s a train wreck waiting to happen (and it’s her fault–oh those flighty 19th century damsels!), and I’m sure the main guys are going to be called to serve, which might make for an interesting turn of events. We’ll see. I still think this novel would be better in a different translation.
I’m also beta reading a novel, which is kind of reading and writing since I’m making copious notes. I hope this ends up being useful to the author, and not just an opportunity for me to feel like I’m writing something.
What I’m Writing
Aside from beta reading comments and blog articles, not a lot else. I’ve made a start on one novel, but I have another percolating in my head that I might make a start on. Whichever one looks the most promising will probably get my attention when I have more time to write.
What Inspires Me Right Now
Literary agent Jessica Sinsheimer tweeted that she received around 800 queries while she was at conferences and traveling. It inspires me to know that I’m not alone querying, and there are so many others out there in the same boat, writing stories they love, trying to get the attention of agents, publishers, and readers.
What Else I’ve Been Up To
If you’ve seen my blog over the past month, you know I’ve been following the World Cup. I’m not a very sporty person, and have never really been a great fan of physical exertion. But of all the sports in the world, (real) football is the one that captures my attention most. Particularly the World Cup. There’s something about this global (literally, not like the baseball “World Series”) event where national teams from five continents show off their football skills, and one nation is crowned the top football country, that enthralls me. And this year, the tournament has been particularly spectacular, full of awesome displays of talent and head-turning upsets. Germany won, as I thought they might from the way they played their first game. But it was a close match, and thoroughly entertaining. And now I’m done pretending to be a football fanatic for another four years.
Also, yesterday “Weird Al” Yankovic released a new CD. I tweeted the track he’s been promoting from it because, as always, it’s a clever parody, but it’s also very appropriate for writers, literary agents, editors, and grammar pedants. In case you missed the tweets, here’s the song:
So that’s my week. How have you been? If you want to join in the WUW fun, go visit the founders’ blogs: Jaime Morrow and Erin Funk. There you’ll find details on how to participate along with the linky widget so you can visit other WUW-ers.
My thoughts about the world cup exactly! From the moment I watched Germany play, I had a sad, sad feeling that it would not be the Netherlands year. The German team really was incredible. And Word Crimes is kind of cute…MUCH better lyrics than the original rapey ones. Good luck with your writing!
I thought the Dutch did very well this time. The fact they lost to Argentina on penalties shows what a quality team they have. I would have loved to have seen a Germany v. The Netherlands final, but I suppose Argentina beating Brazil would have been too cruel for the host nation. 🙂 But, yes, it was Germany all the way for me. They were quite simply the best team there.
And, yes, thank you Weird Al for making something worthwhile out of that song! These words are SO much better. At least I can let my kids watch this video. 😉
Loved that music video. So true and so informative. I hope everything goes well in the query trenches. Thanks for sharing.
Isn’t it great? 🙂 Thanks, Leslie!
The European futbol has been a pleasant distraction until real football starts up in August. 🙂
Thank you for sharing the Word Crimes. I don’t know if it was funny or just sad, and even as a writer I learned something from it. I am now furiously doing a find function for “to who”.
Most importantly, don’t worry, you aren’t alone in this sad query world. We’re all here with you.
Sorry, but how can a game where you spend most of the time carrying or throwing the ball legitimately be called “FOOTball”? I think we all know what the *real* football is, don’t we. And I think the non-European nations for whom “futbol” is a way of life would take exception to the “European” designation. But I’m not getting into that argument–as a certified athletic incompetent, my opinions are as valid as a car salesman’s views on honesty. 😉
“Word Crimes” is such a good laugh, and educational too! BTW, did you get the reference to the Alanis Morrisette song “Ironic”? 🙂
Thanks for the encouragement, Anna!
It is inspiring to know we aren’t alone in the querying wilderness!
It is, Emma. 🙂
We’ve been enjoying all of the new Weird Al tracks around here, but this one is by far my favourite. It had me laughing all the way through. The only down side is getting the tune to the rapey original stuck in your head. How far into W&P are you now? I *still* haven’t gotten back to it, so I’m a bit disappointed in myself. It’s kind of killing my Chapter A Day Classic thing. But really, how hard is it to read a single chapter of this book each day? They’re not exactly big. Ah well. Hope you’re able to sort out which story idea you want to run with next. It’s nice having options though, isn’t it? Have a great week, Colin!
I’m glad that, thanks to Weird Al, if/when I should ever hear the rapey original again, I can mentally substitute his version. 🙂
I’m a little over half-way through volume 2 of my three volume set of W&P, which I guess puts me about half-way through the novel overall. Despite the fact I usually get a bit eye-rolly when I come across a love triangle in a novel, this one’s kind of interesting. It’s also interesting to see the conflicting values coming through (marrying for love vs. marrying into money to keep the estate solvent). I’m encouraged that there is a story, or at least some interesting plot lines, here, just obscured by the narrative style. Which, right now, I’m blaming on the translation. Until I re-read in a newer rendering, I’m giving Tolstoy the benefit of the doubt. 🙂
Have a great week yourself, Jaime!
One of Jessica Sinsheimer’s is mine 😉
Have fun beta reading! And good luck with War and Peace!
I can understand Jessica getting so many queries. She sounds like a great agent. All the best to you!
Thanks, Cole!
Okay, WORD CRIMES has now officially replaced WHITE AND NERDY as my favorite Weird Al song! How had I not heard this song until now? Too funny! Thank you for sharing.
I think “The Saga Begins…” is still my favorite Weird Al song, but this one is pretty close to the top (along with “Amish Paradise”).
You’re welcome, Kate!
Querying is crazy but also kinda fun. I don’t know why but I still get pretty jazzed to get a rejection letter. I mean, a REAL agent read something I wrote! Pretty cool.
I know exactly what you mean Niki! The rejections can sting, but when you think that an agent actually took time to read my query, or even pages from my novel, it is awesome. Of course, the best rejections are those rare, coveted personalized rejections. I’ve had a couple of those, which is hugely encouraging. 🙂
Man, EVERYONE shared that video lately. I need to get with it and watch it, already!
Beta reading is so helpful to my writing. I’m glad you’re finding it useful as well!
I think when you watch it, you’ll understand why everyone’s been sharing it, Kris! 🙂
Knowing how helpful Team Awesome was for me, it’s great to be able to provide that same help to someone else. And it does make me think about my own work, so there’s definitely that side benefit.
I’ve read some really good fiction as a beta reader. 🙂
This is the first time I’ve offered my beta reading services, so I’m just beginning to appreciate first, how much of an honor it is to be entrusted with someone’s work, and second how cool it is to be this close to the birth of a new novel. Definitely something I’ll do again.
Oh War and Peace. I don’t think I can, I just don’t. I think I’ve seen bits of a movie version once and that’s it.
That video is hilarious. And actually, I wrote “I couldn’t care less” in my latest MS and I had a beta say, isn’t it “I could care less?” And it totally made me pause.
Actually, I’d like to see a movie version of the book (once I’ve finished it, of course), just to see what a director saw as the story.
The first time I heard someone say “I could care less,” I wondered if they meant that. After all, if they *could* care less, that means they really do care at least somewhat, which didn’t seem to fit what they were saying. Now that Weird Al has pointed out the same thing, I feel validated. 😀
War and Peace! You are far more ambitious than I 🙂
Good luck with the percolating novel ideas. Always better to have too many ideas than not enough, I say.
And that is definitely inspiring and encouraging to hear about the number of writers out there submitting queries. Makes writing feel like less of a lonely business 🙂
W&P is one of those novels that seems to be better known for its size than its story, which is part of the intrigue for me. I’ve read some people say they love it and re-read it every year. That also adds to the intrigue. It’s also one of those classic novels you think you really ought to read.
The edition I’m currently reading is probably not the best translation. It’s a three-volume set my dad bought many years ago but, as far as I know, never read. He probably hoped one of us would read it. After he passed away, the set came to me. So if you’re wondering why I persist with a translation that may not be doing the book full justice, that’s why. For my dad, so his purchase would not be in vain.
I think the idea of the lonely writer died with the internet. That notion is an artifact of a bygone age, and any writer that still lives there does so out of stubborn idealism. Even Stephen King has a Twitter account!
Thanks for the encouragement, Kam!
Jaime mentioned that Weird Al video recently, but I forgot to look it up, so I’m glad you posted it! That was hysterical and very true!
I didn’t catch any of the World Cup, but my son followed it and was pleased that Germany won. Usually when the guys are watching sports, I take advantage of that time for writing or working on curriculum so I miss a lot.
Good luck with this new novel you’ve started and/or choosing which project to work on! 🙂
Another win for the World Cup–providing you with time alone to write! It truly is the best of sports. 😉
Thanks, Erin. Writing time is not plenteous at the moment, but I hope that will change soon. Maybe then I’ll settle on a project. 🙂
I salute you for your continued perseverance with War & Peace. That’s like the novel to end all novels, haha.
The World Cup has been so distracting for writing. I’m not a sports person in general (I was briefly very dedicated to college football when I was in college, but my enthusiasm has since died down) nor am I at all athletic, but I got sucked in this year. I think it’s because my sister has been rooting for the German Team since 2006, and so she was really excited about seeing them again this time around. Plus, my friend’s husband (who *is* into soccer) was more than happy to have a buddy (my sister) in the whole World Cup thing, and the two of them roped the rest of us in, haha. My sister was like nearly sick with nerves during the entire Final! You can imagine how thrilled she was with the outcome.
Anyway, I’m super happy though because the USA did pretty good and then Germany won! 😀 (I’m also kind of sad because it’s over and I’ve enjoyed getting to know different teams & learning more about the sport… Okay, and I freaking loved all the ridiculous internet memes that accompanied this year’s World Cup, particularly re: Team USA.)
I was quite impressed with the US team this year. It’s a shame they were knocked out, but if they grow from this, they could be a force to recon with in 2018.
Likewise, I’m not at all sporty and never have been. However, the World Cup usually grabs my attention, and has done since I was a child sitting with my dad, watching the games and filling out the match-ups as teams progressed beyond the groups. Happy times! 🙂
It was a great final, and I fully expected it to be. Argentina were good this year too. I’m just glad it didn’t go to penalties. That would have been a bit disappointing since both teams fought so hard.
And now it’s over (*sniff*). Back to real life… 🙂
Hey there! Yay for getting inspiration out of the idea that there are a lot of us in this together, and interesting about the War and Peace. I never even tried reading that one, maybe I should one of these days!
Hey, Chris! I think we all know that we’re not alone querying (otherwise we’d never get rejections, right?). But to see it quantified like that with a nice big number brings it home in a warm fuzzy kind of way. I think so, anyway. 🙂
W&P isn’t for everyone, but if you do plan to read it, I suggest you take time to find a translation that works for you. That’s my biggest hurdle right now–this translation is a bit old, and probably not the best. Why am I sticking with it? See my response to Kam above.
Hey Colin!
Great post! I’ll be joining the WUW bloghop tomorrow because I NEED to be held accountable. My summer of writing has turned into a summer of everything BUT writing. I’ve beta’d a lot since I started writing seriously and I can honestly say the first time I was TERRIFIED that I’d eff it up. I also waffled about how much or how little to give. I ALSO tortured myself thinking thoughts like “don’t put that comment in. they’ll get mad.” Now I ask the author for specifics on what they’re looking for – the kind of feedback – before I read. I also insert comments AND do a synopsis of my thoughts at the end. Finally, I make sure the author knows what my writerly bent is (do I hate paranormal? am I unhappy with HEA?) If any of those things might cloud my judgement, I let them know – so they can take my beta with a grain o’ salt. Ultimately though – beta reading makes my writing SO MUCH BETTER. as you say, it’s an honor to do – and it’s good for both parties. WIN-WIN!
Thanks, Alex!
I’m willing to do more beta-ing, if people want me to. The author I beta-ed for this time gave me carte blanche with comments (which is dangerous for a wafflemeister like me!), so I tried to be organized and fair. In fact, I did many of the same things you do: I gave a big picture overview of what I thought worked and didn’t (I put my summary in the body of the return email), along with caveats regarding my own preferences and biases. Then I commented throughout the ms as I read. Some read through the novel once and then comment on the second read-through. I prefer to comment as I read for the first time, because then the writer gets a better idea of what it’s like for someone to read it cold.
As you say, beta reading helps my writing too because I’m learning from the things I like and don’t like about the manuscript. Definitely a WIN-WIN. 🙂