Thoughts on Writing, Authors, and Publishing

I read TIME Magazine at lunch - specifically, the article on Stephenie Meyer. Now I am reminding myself of Shannon Hale's advice (found on her website): don't envy other writers. I don't know that I envy her, necessarily. It has become one of my goals as a writer to someday be interviewed by Time. The writing, ninety-five percent of the time, is crisp, displays a sterling vocabulary, and dependent on author, a fair hint of snarkiness.



One of the things in the article I found interesting was the comparison between the Twilight series and the Harry Potter series - or rather, the writers' styles. J.K. Rowling 'pieces her story together detail by detail' (not the exact quote), while Stephenie Meyers lets hers gush out. She wrote Twilight in three months. I suppose that means there's hope for me - I wrote my second novel of three-hundred pages in five weeks, she wrote a five-hundred page book in three months. Hers started with a dream; so did mine. Except I waited a month to start writing it because I wasn't sure if the concept was too strange.



Speaking of books: Percy Jackson 4 comes out in a week!! Yes, the reading level isn't abnormally high, but these books are pure fun. Rick Riordan spins myths into modern-day legend in a way that can only be labeled genius. If you haven't read any of these books, get thee to a library. I wish I could be in Austin for the opening day (I know this is the wrong term but bear with me). My fam will be in Austin two weekends in a row. However, they are the two weekends after the release. *sigh*



Agents: my next topic. I've been investigating a host of agents, cruising their websites, checking out their clientele. Some of these author lists are downright intimidating. I mean, how'd you like to say, "Oh, yeah, my agent is also Stephenie Meyer's (Shannon Hale's, you pick the name) agent"? A little scary, but why not shoot high? I'm not getting my hopes too high, though. I don't doubt that I can be published someday, but I don't want to over-excite myself.



Related to agents: the query letter. For my first novel I wrote a long query (two pages) and a long synopsis (read: five pages of torture). Thankfully or not, most agencies want one-page query letters, and some want the first two (five, ten) pages of the manuscript. That is good, because I can't make myself grind out another five-page synopsis. I'm not superb at summarizing, and when I read my synopses, I don't know if I"d buy my book. Hooray for one-page query letters! I never thought I'd say that either.



Your thoughts on Stephenie Meyer/Rick Riordan/publishing? Besides to lambaste me for never actually reading any of the Twilight series? *cringes in expectation of reprisal*