New Home for The Lit Coach's Guide to The Writer's Life

Hello, all!

It's official. The Lit Coach's Guide to The Writer's Life has moved to WordPress and is now a part of my new website.

Thank you to all my subscribers here on blogger and those who catch my feeds. If you signed up to receive The Lit Coach's Guide via email, you should still be getting my posts (we've had a few glitches, but they seem to be fixed). If you haven't signed up, please do! I may have a new home, but I'll continue to bring you great content by authors, agents, editors and other industry professionals I respect...plus my Lit Coach lessons and perspective on what's new in the world of writing and publishing.

And big thanks to all of you who have commented publicly and privately on my blog. Your feedback lets my contributors and I know that you appreciate the content and that we should continue to bring you more. In a time when writers put out so much free material just to be heard and make new friends, this is no small thing.

See you at the new site!

Signing off-

TLC

Q&A, DNA and A List

I knew this day would come...the day that I would move EVERYTHING over to one clean WordPress spot (my website and my blog). But it hasn't come without it's challenges (trying to reroute my feedburner to the new blog so you all still receive The Lit Coach's Guide in your inbox). I'm a little sad - I started out here on blogspot and it's super easy to work with and yet....WordPress is so cool! So bear with me, I'm double posting until I can figure out where the problem lies (if you know, please, feel free to share a solution). 

So here's yesterday's post!

Happy Wednesday, dear writers!


I have updates.

First, I’ve moved my Q&A with The Lit Coach column to LitReactor, a new online literary website, magazine and writers’ workshop – it’s a fabulous community and I’m really enjoying the wide swath of writers the site has attracted. The column is updated twice monthly. In this issue’s Q&A I de-mystified the querying process for those who are approaching agents with a book series and directed another writer toward building his writing portfolio rather than approach an agent too soon with his work. Check out the Q&A here. And while you’re there, take a look at some of the great articles! I particularly loved,Submit Yourself: A Submissions Calendar is a Smart Idea, by Hanna Brooks Olsen; and Jon Gingerich’s latest craft article, Which P.O.V. is Right for Your Story is good too.

Second, I’m teaching a class for LitReactor – Character DNA: The Invention, Discovery and Birth of Stronger Characters (LitReactor members now receive 20% off the class if they sign up by Friday the 14th). I developed this 4 week course for LitReactor based on the character development one-one-one workshops I take my private clients through when they come to me with stalled manuscripts or finished manuscripts agents aren’t quite connecting with. The problem? Lack of clarity and development with the main character is always the main culprit. So in this four week course, I will invite my students to pluck their main characters out of their manuscripts, pin them to a cork board and start cataloging what makes that character unique – in broad strokes at first, but as we dig into the course, we’ll examine:

• Your character’s desires and motivations
• The main obstacle(s) that stand in the way of your character getting what they want
• What’s at stake if your character doesn’t get what they want and what happens when they do
• How these elements lead your characters toward their climax and resolution

And it’s quite a deal, too! The 4 week intensive workshop is $295.00 (plus 20% off if you sign up by Friday the 14th). I’ll be there asking you questions and giving you individualized feedback the whole way. Come join me. Register here.

Third, I’m honored to be listed on Robert Lee Brewer’s (from Writer’s Digest) 2011 Best Tweeps for Writers to Follow list. I share the space with some wonderful industry pros and writers I respect including lit agent Rachelle Gardner, former agent and author, Nathan Bransford and publishing world maven, Jane Friedman. Thanks, Robert!

And that’s all for the updates, writers.

Wishing you good words and enough time-

TLC

Clarity in This Writer's Life: A Blogshop with Margo Candela

Clarity doesn't necessarily bring ease. Sometimes knowing exactly what path to take and actually taking it bring fear, anxiety and many challenges - but in the end it was all worth it. 

Notable Los Angeles author Margo Candela shares when it became clear her next steps in publishing would lead her down a path she'd never taken and how she made the best choices for her book along the way.

Very rarely has clarity hit me all at once except when it does. Sometimes it’s good. Like, while in the middle of shampooing my hair, I’ll figure out how to untangle a plot point or the perfect name for a character will come to me. Sometimes the obvious is a lot harder to accept even though I’ve had lots of time to accept it as inevitable. 

Earlier this year, my editor told me I’d have more success if I self-published my fifth novel, The Brenda Diaries. We’d had many conversations lamenting how traditional publishing was changing directly under our butts. While neither of us was willing to predict what state publishing would be a year from then, it was clear that I had reached that much talked about fork in the road.

After a couple of days of moping, I came to the conclusion that I had no choice but to pick a fork. I decided to take my editor’s advice and go it alone knowing full well that not only would I have to do the writing, but I’d have to see a manuscript through every step of the way—from initial idea to loading html code at midnight on publishing day.

Funny enough, almost instantly, I felt like as if a weight had been lifted off of me. It was like one of those overdue break-ups where the long, slow trek to it is actually worse than life afterwards because you realized that while you’re fully broken-up, you’re not broken.

I also realized that I needed help to make anything happen. Ideas are great, everyone has them, but turning an idea into a book is a whole other enchilada. As someone who hates asking for favors, this was the hardest part. But it was clear to me that if I didn’t ask for help, I was going to fail. The fear of failure forced me to get over my reluctance and showed me how very lucky I am. 

My dear friend Ruby saved my grammatically challenged butt by serving not only as my copy editor but general sounding board. Rocio, my talented graphic designer, didn’t fire me as a client after it took almost a dozen tries to get the cover right. Thousands of strangers also played a part, following Brenda (@BrendaDiaries) on Twitter, and cheering her on through bad temp jobs and breakups. 

I’m not sure what’s going to happen, but one thing is perfectly clear to me now—I’m certainly not in this alone.  

About the Contributor

Margo Candela is the author of Good-bye To All That (Touchstone, July '10), More Than This (Touchstone, Aug '08), Life Over Easy (Kensington, Oct '07) and Underneath It All (Kensington, Jan '07).  More Than This was a Target stores Breakout Book and an American Association of Publishers national book club selection. Good-bye To All That (Touchstone, July '10) was the only novel picked by Los Angeles Magazine for its 2010 Best of L.A. list. Her latest, The Brenda Diaries (SugarMissile, Oct. '11), is the first in a series.

Clarity of Vision

Between revamping my website, moving my blog over to WordPress (pardon the scaffolding, folks, it’s a work in progress), being at the ready for the launch of LitReactor, where I’m now a columnist and instructor, and taking on some new writers, I needed a moment to really reflect on this month’s focus – Clarity.

Then yesterday the brilliant creator and visionary behind Apple and Pixar, Steve Jobs died. Of course I found out via Twitter and of course I had to open a few links that would deliver his words of wisdom and brilliance about the virtues of being a fearless creative pioneer. I’m glad I did, although I’m saddened it took his passing to lead me toward his direction.

In his Stanford Commencement Address, Jobs inspires the graduates (and the millions who view the You Tube video) to have faith in their actions, whether right or wrong, they lead you toward your future.  And by actions, he means doing something you are passionate about, something you love – inspired action. You’ll have successes, you’ll have failures, and you’ll do things that seem benign – like taking a course in Calligraphy. All these things we do lead us to the next thing and the next until one day we see a trail of connected dots behind us, like bread crumbs. While it’s not clear to us at the time we’re leaving this trail, one day we’ll look back and say, “Oh yeah. I see, now.”

The key, writers, is to not simply trod mechanically from one thing to the next but to fully engage your passion for whatever it is – in this context, writing – into your daily life. Do what you love and have faith that it will be fruitful for you down the road, but be wise. Surround yourself with the right people who will cheer you on and help fortify your gift. Use the tools that are out there to help you better your craft, but most of all, listen to your gut – it will always direct you toward the right path in the end.

This all sounds terribly romantic, but it’s not, really; it’s good old common sense. When your head is clear about what you want, when your heart is set to follow that course, there’s no stopping you.

That’s clarity.

TLC

Supporting Online Workshop Education for Writers - Mark Vanderpool for LitReactor

LitReactor, the new destination literary website/magazine/writers' workshop I've been talking about for the past few weeks launches tomorrow! I've been a little excited about it (does it show?). I've had a sneak peek at the articles written by our amazing contributing staff, read through Chuck Palahniuk's essays on craft and have had a glimpse at what's on tap for the writers' workshop. Overall, I'm thoroughly impressed. While this is not a one-size-fits-all literary community (and being a fan of Palahniuk's work is not a prerequisite to join), those who find a home here will receive a solid education about the craft of writing, the business of publishing and then some. I've been waiting for a site like this for the 10 years I've been in this business.

Today I brought on LitReactor's Director of Education, Mark Vanderpool to share a little about what makes LitReactor's online writers' workshops unique, how they operate, who's lined-up to instruct and more. 

How did you come to LitReactor?

MV: A major impulse behind the launch of LitReactor is to present a dedicated domain for the educational outreach of ChuckPalahniuk.net. Since the predecessor site is principally a fan community for a bestselling author, the learning community is mildly eclipsed. Many people don't realize that we've had a strong peer review workshop since 2003 and instructor-led intensive classes since 2005 or very early '06. I've helped organize the peer workshop since it was in knickers--first purely as a volunteer who showed up with the right skill set at the right time. After that, I initiated the launch of our intensive classes with guest instructors and I facilitated most of those. I've gone from volunteer to freelancer to full-time on the basis of knowledge, passion, and caring—plus a willingness to try inspired things, to make mistakes, and to improve. So, I haven't been recruited to LitReactor quite so much as enabled by trusted and long-standing colleagues to fulfill a job description that I wrote for myself.       

What made the writing workshops that originally began on Chuckpalahniuk.net so successful?

MV: A combination of things:  real caring about writers of any age or stature who are pointed toward personal growth or giving back; care about the literature they produce as well as the heartaches and success stories; personal investment and pride in delivering the best possible experience; team members besides myself with genius for needed skills that I don't possess; intrinsic motivation from the whole team to see it go well; a driven artistic community that isn't conventionally corporate; a great set of author contacts who have been gracious enough to teach for us; and a small subset of Chuck Palahniuk's huge fan base who are serious aspiring authors in their own right--not only easy to reach from their presence on the fan site, but hungry for knowledge, armed with rich reading lives, and loads smarter than any hypothetical average consumer of education products.     

What kind of writers are you hoping to attract to your LitReactor workshops?

MV: More people exactly like I was describing at the end of my last answer, except a polytheistic community not heavily filtered through the fan base of any single author. Please note a humorous intent, however failed, in that vaguely religious reference. Our core group is already far more diverse in taste and temperament than an outsider might imagine, but we feel we can reach and benefit a much larger set of aspiring authors, simply from the awareness that's generated with a dedicated domain.

Give us a little background on how LitReactor's online workshops will operate.

MV: While new delivery formats could be on the horizon, our basic tested blueprint is a four- to six-week class, rich enough with lectures and assignments that multiple weeks are necessary, compressed and specialized enough to feel like a full semester in a third the time (but in a good way), private to the registered group, limited in size for focus and feedback, flexible in participation times and global via the Internet, with an expectation of peer review as well as feedback from the instructor, and with a trained facilitator to assist, especially if the instructor is new to teaching in our format. We also like to do optional phone conferences for the closeness, without the pressure of too many, since it’s a real-time interaction and our community occupies every possible time zone.

What authors do you have lined up to teach in the coming months?

MV: To name just a few of our starting lineup:  Holiday Reinhorn, Craig Clevenger, Stephen Graham Jones, and Christopher Bram.

How is this workshop experience different from other online writers workshop offerings?

MV: In addition to what someone might legitimately infer about an indie spirit or a non-corporate vibe, we never strive for generic, one-size-fits-all course offerings, even when a course is designed for beginners.  We teach beginners like we’d teach graduate students. In contrast, the course lecture content in some venues tends to be written by a veteran freelance contributor the student never knows by name, recycled endlessly, with delivery and follow-up falling to one of multiple interchangeable instructors who are qualified in their own right but not integral originators of the teaching content. That gives an online education program tremendous control and leverage and freelance instructors very little. We prefer to take larger risks to deliver something with more personality; we recruit instructors as much for course design as for delivery. And a high proportion of our instructors hold substantial name recognition.  

It's our goal to reach the right set of people and to deliver exceptional value that draws personal testimonials. A good word from our students is more valuable to us than a wider short-term profit margin. I've designed and taught two successful courses through Chuck Palahniuk's domain and will continue on faculty for LitReactor myself. I prefer to have three or more students from even a small class report tangible breakthroughs within weeks. Big breakthroughs, like landing a short story in an enviable magazine for the first time ever. This is more satisfying to me than teaching a larger number of people for higher profits and keeping them just satisfied enough not to withdraw. Conventional business tends to settle toward a numbers-driven lowest common denominator and kid itself that it’s not doing that. We’re wild visionaries in comparison. Looking around and taking a very close look, I've seen that some of the older companies who market writing advice and online instruction keep a superficial appearance of quality control with small class sizes, but are so complacent in an established brand name that blurbs from successful students are completely absent from their web copy.  LitReactor will never be that complacent. We're student centered, and we project not only real publishing success for our students, but the eventual clout and status where a few of them will join us as instructors. That isn’t just something that sounds good. We live it. 

What's on tap for your October writers' workshops?

MV: October includes a beginner's class from me that's successfully road-tested and valued in Chuck's domain, plus tweaked and improved from experience. Then a class with you, Erin Reel, that's geared for people with stuck and stalled first draft novel manuscripts that need to be revisited with new tools and perspective. Finally, a specialized class with the very talented and noteworthy Holiday Reinhorn who will help emerging writers embrace their writing practices by giving them the permission and tools needed to explore a craft style that works for them within a supportive community.

TLC: The three workshops listed above range from $295 for a 4 week course to $495 for Holiday's 6 week course. 

LitReactor launches October 1st, this Saturday, TOMORROW! Writers' Workshop classes begin October 10th but you can sign up as soon as the site is live. Space is very limited and there's already a line at the door, so act fast.

Have a great weekend, writers!

TLC

Author Brandon Tietz: On Writing Communities

I've always been of the strong opinion that a successful writer does not develop in a vacuum. From my experience, the best writers, those who experience the greatest amount of success, are quite active within some brand of writing community, whether it's local or online, MFA program or independent workshops developed by like-minded writers. Any opportunity a writer can take advantage of to connect with other writers, learn more about the craft and industry and get valuable feedback can be a very fruitful step toward success and a potentially worthwhile investment. 

Author Brandon Tietz is here to share his experience in such a writing community. While his experience is focused on what he learned through chuckpalahniuk.net, I encourage you to find a writing community that's right for you and your work. 

It was May 2009 when I came to The Cult—specifically, the Chuck Palahniuk Writers’ Workshop, in which I had hoped to get my work in front of the author, and perhaps earn myself a little credibility in the process by way of an anthology contest that was being run.  At that point, I had no published work other than a novel I took through a vanity press, which, if you’re familiar at all with the industry meant two things:

   

     

I had paid to see my work in print.

Because I had paid for my work to be printed, this was considered a huge faux pas.

It’s not that I wasn’t confident in my abilities as a writer, but when it came to the industry of publishing, I was lacking a lot of key information other than “you need to get an agent.”  As most aspiring authors know, querying an agent with no credentials is rather futile, and that was much the case with me.  I also had no MFA or formal declaration on paper saying that I could write.  Essentially, the will was there—had been there for some years, actually, but the method on how to get into print remained foggy.  The Cult changed all of that.

Not only was I able to correspond with other writers and authors, finding out the methods that worked regarding craft, marketing, and publishing, but I was also getting the critical eye that my work had long been missing.  My missteps were identified and amended.  The things I was doing right, I learned to do better.  It was an opportune time in which both my writing and publishing IQ skyrocketed just by taking advantage of the resources workshop and community offered me, and it wasn’t without positive residuals.

After getting back-to-back nominations for my June and July stories, my August submission about conflict diamonds was selected as a finalist to go in front of Chuck Palahniuk.  Two more would make finalist after that, and although I don’t know if any of these pieces will make the final cut for his anthology, it doesn’t seem to matter as much anymore.

My vanity press novel got a re-release through a traditional publisher.  I learned how to get my work in print, and have been doing so in the form of lit mags and anthologies.  And I got a literary agent who is currently pitching my next book to places like Viking, Random House, and Doubleday.  This all happened within the last couple of years, and even though I don’t I think I’ve technically “made it” just yet, I can’t deny that I’m on the right path to do it.  I’ve always had the ambition, but The Cult taught me how to capitalize on it. 

LitReactor will continue to do that with other writers, and I’m quite honored to be a part of what’s sure to be a staple in the literary community.

TLC: A word about self-publishing: a self-published book is not a turn-off for me in the slightest. In fact one of my favorite novels, Strip Cuts, is a self-published literary novel that received a very positive review from Publishers Weekly and was favorably compared to Sherwood Anderson's Winesburg, Ohio. If you decide to self-pub, you must approach it like a business and make sure every effort to print and promote your work is polished and professional. It's a great option for the right author. 

TLC

Introducing, LitReactor!

I don’t remember how I found Chuck Palahniuk’s website die-hard fans call The Cult or why, but I do remember when I discovered it, I was a hungry agent looking for fiction with a strong, beating heart and a voice to match. Chuck was already long spoken for, but his fans were writing. Not only that, they were organized about it. And serious. Real serious.They organized their efforts to develop their craft in the writing workshops supported by the site. I was further surprised to learn that Chuck oftentimes led some of these writers’ workshops, leaving behind him an impressive trail of craft essays and lessons showing writers how they could develop and strengthen their craft as he had.

A major, bestselling author supporting writers in this workshop format online was extraordinary back in 2005, when I was introduced to The Cult. In 2011, it’s still extraordinary. Sure, more major authors are blogging, tweeting and otherwise reaching out to their readers and readers who want to learn to write more than ever before, but throughout the past 6 years, few bestselling authors outside an established MFA program have rolled up their sleeves and gotten down in the trenches alongside aspiring writers.

The workshop proved successful; so successful, the creative team behind The Cult, Dennis Widmyer, Kirk Clawes and Mark Vanderpool made the decision to move the workshop from its original home to a new literary website, boasting a vibrant magazine with articles, book reviews, industry news, all around book geekery and more as well as the writers’ workshop with an impressive lineup of instructors ready to launch October 1^st.

It’s called LitReactor.

Founding Partners Dennis Widmyer, Editor in Chief, and Kirk Clawes, Technical Lead, are here to shed some light on what LitReactor is, who it’s for and what this new, potentially revolutionary website aims to accomplish in the literary world. (Director of Education, Mark Vanderpool will be here Friday to share more about the workshops).

What Does LitReactor mean?

Dennis: At its fundamental meaning, the name conjures up a 'lit' reactor.  Something that is on. Breathing. Alive. Functioning. The dictionary defines a portion of the word as:

Any of several devices in which a chain reaction is initiated...

To us, this is how we see our Writers’ Workshop, which is one of the core features we offer on the site. It's a place to come and be motivated. To get results.  

The other side of this meaning reflects our Magazine. And here, the name could simply mean A reaction to literature.

All that aside, we just think it sounds cool.  

What's the philosophy behind the site?

Dennis: Writers tend to exist in a vacuum most of the time. They have no one to share their work with. Network among. And get real feedback from. And all of that leads to what we call the “stall” - pushing off your hopes and dreams because you feel like you're getting nowhere. We wanted to provide a home for these people to link up with like-minded people, workshop their material, and take ground-breaking classes on par (if not exceeding) the lessons you'd get in a 20K+ MFA program.

Kirk: We wanted to create a home for writers to hang out, meet each other, improve their skills and to geek out about the thing we hope they all love - BOOKS!

How does LitReactor fill a gap in the writer's market?

Dennis: At LitReactor, every name has a face and a personality. Our classes are developed and taught by actual published authors and established professionals in the literary industry.

Beyond that, we are aiming to build a solid community of people who share similar goals and in addition to wanting to grow as writers; they want to help others grow as well. We hope to do whatever is possible to help facilitate those relationships.

What breed of writer will be most drawn to LitReactor?

Kirk: Without a doubt writers who consider themselves to be: hip, edgy, loud, experimental, opinionated. I could toss a dozen or so buzz-words here but in the end you always end up sounding cheesy. You'll notice I only used 5 buzz-words, which has scientifically been proven to not sound cheesy (not intended to be taken as a factual statement). 

Dennis: We live in a generation right now where social networking has given people a platform to express themselves whether it’s in 140 characters or a three page blog.  What this has done is light a match under a lot of people's butts.  It's made them feel creative again. Hungry. Authors like Chuck Palahniuk, a writer who didn't pick up the craft until his mid-thirties (and learned through workshops!), seem accessible and give inspiration.  At the risk of sounding cheesy... writing the great American novel (if that's your poison) seems manageable suddenly.  And this is the frame of mind that makes LitReactor an unparalleled advantage for a writer looking to hone their voice.

When you began to create chuckpalahniuk.net, AKA The Cult, as a fan site, did you think such a serious, close knit writing community would be borne from a love of Palahniuk's work?

Kirk: I can't speak to this as well as Dennis as I haven't been around as long as he has - I began working with The Cult around 2002 in varying technical capacities. However, during my time I have seen some amazing things come out of the community. And though I started working with Dennis as a fan of Chuck's, what really kept me interested was the community of writers who were determined to see each other succeed.

Dennis: To be honest, I started the site really as just an archive, to collect every piece of media on Chuck Palahniuk I could find online. Then, when Chuck endorsed us and the publisher's started linking to us, we soon found that a ravenous community was forming, and that Chuck's love for mentoring, had a very key role to play. In 2005 the first incarnation of our Writers’ Workshop sprung up, through a joint idea between Chuck and I. It soon grew into our online classes which then soon grew to define a major arm of the site. By the time 2009 rolled around, we were already discussing plans to one day form a stand-alone site for this specific community of readers... readers who wanted to write.

What do you see happening in LitReactor's future?

Kirk: Primarily, I would like for us to be known as the place where interesting writers are developed. Kind of like what Second City in Chicago is to comedy. If all goes according to plan, we will continue offering top-notch classes and engaging content while growing a community of writers. I want it to be the place where when two writers meet they immediately exchange their LitReactor screen-names. There are also a lot of "big idea" things I would love to see happen, but those should probably stay under my hat for now. 

TLC: Writers, what I know is this: I’ve been working with the LitReactor team for months and I’ve never met a more professional, passionate, and supremely talented group of individuals ready to deliver such a feast to a portion of the literary world that have been malnourished for some time.

I’m stoked.

Join us for LitReactor’s launch on October 1^st, won’t you? 

TLC