MERRY CHRISTMAS!

MERRY CHRISTMAS EVERYONE! I HOPE YOU HAVE A BLESSED DAY. ENJOY!

I SURVIVED!

I attended a workshop today that was hosted by the wonderful Literary Agent Louise Fury of the Laura Perkins Literary Agency. She was absolutely brilliant. She was friendly and she answered every ones questions even though at times she was bombarded by multiple questions at the same time. One thing is clear, there is a lot of aspiring writers in South Africa.

OK, so let me tell you more. There were about 30 attendees and we each got an opportunity to introduce ourselves. My brother and I sat at the back of the room, which meant we would be last to speak. Big Mistake! I had to listen to all the achievements and published authors histories and after a while I felt like a complete fake between all these experts. So finally when they got to me I was so overwhelmed and nervous that I started rambling and I started talking so fast that I still can't remember what I said. I just remember my brother turning all the shades of red possible. All he said is that ''you just embarrassed yourself''. But I don't worry about it. I know no one there will remember me because I was the least qualified to be a writer and the most inexperienced as well. I had nothing to offer a fellow writer in terms of help with their career.

Nobody was rude or anything but I just felt out of my league. Nobody said anything to me that was discouraging but I couldn't relate to anybody. They seemed so far ahead of me in this crazy world of writing that to this moment I am still struggling to decipher exactly what I was doing there or what happened. Don't worry I remembered enough that I can share what I learned with all of you.

So here goes:

Query letters should be professional and should not contain too much personal information.

In you first paragraph: mention why you are querying the agent, give the title and genre of your novel as well as the word count.

In the second paragraph: say what your book is about.

Third paragraph: a little information as to why you are the writer to write this book.


Manuscript formatting:

Always double space your work.

Use a header that contains your name and that of your book as well as some form of contact detail. Also remember to add page numbers to each page.

Use a Times New Roman font 12 Or Ariel 11.

One inch margins should be used on every page.

Maximum word count for first time writers is 100 000 words.


About writing in general:

If you want to be published in America you definitely need a agent.

Do your research about your genre. Educate yourself about the form of publishing you are seeking and the agent and publishers who deal with your genre.

Always share your knowledge with fellow writers because that is how the writing world works. You help someone today and tomorrow perhaps someone can help you. Louise called this networking and said that it is essential for any writers success.

You should have a critique partner that knows what they are talking about and participate in writing groups and public readings if you can. You need to get your work out there. Be part of an online community.

E-book publishing is very big at the moment.

Oh and another writer can steal your idea but they won't write it the same way you would. So he/she might steal your idea about vampires but only you will write it the way you would because every writers voice and style and even interpretation is different. (I am still paranoid though).

So that is all I remember for the moment, sorry. Most of our sessions turned into Question and answer sessions. Everybody was so hungry for information. You can't really blame us. A opportunity like today happens very rarely in South Africa.

Here is what I learned today: Know who you are as a writer. Know exactly what you are writing in the sense of genre. Be comfortable with who you are as a writer and your style of writing. Most importantly, know why you are doing what you are doing. Is it because you love it or is it because you just want to be rich or do you just want to be published? If you want to be rich choose another profession because becoming a published writer will take many years. And even if you are published it doesn't mean you will ever be rich or make enough money to survive on your earnings.

I learned a lot today and at least now I know how far I still have to go. I am barely just beginning. I am in fact an amateur and I am not ashamed of it because I have already grown a lot since starting this blog and who knows what my writing will be like in a few more months or even years?

So today all my fellow writers, lets believe in ourselves and our dreams, no matter how unrealistic they are. Because we first have to believe in ourselves before others can.

PS. Keep an eye out for my first chapter. I am strongly considering sharing it on my blog.

THANK YOU FOR KEEPING ME GOING

Christmas is drawing near as well as the end of the year. And because of this little fact I wanted to take this time to thank the wonderful people who kept me going and that helped me keep my dream of becoming a published author alive.

Thank you to Jody Hedlund (http://jodyhedlund.blogspot.com/) for her inspiring and informative blog. Your blog has helped me through some very tough and trying times as a writer.

Thank you to Nancy (http://introverted-writer.blogspot.com/) for teaching me that if writing is what I want to do then I should do it no matter what my age or personal turmoils.

On to two very cool and brilliant ladies that allowed me to be part of their own personal journeys towards becoming published authors. Both of you helped me through some very tough and tense times as well.

Firstly, a very big thank you to Heather Gardner (http://hmgardner.blogspot.com/) because if I didn't get that wonderful piece of advice from you about self-editing my first manuscript would still have been lying on my desk un-edited. And I am so grateful that I discovered your wonderful blog because without it I would never have made it through this year. I would probably just have given up. Thank you for all the wonderful advice and encouragement through the year. You helped me so much and I am truly grateful that I could have been part of your personal journey. Your posts are realistic and inspirational and without them I wouldn't have understood what it means to be an aspiring writer.

Secondly, thank you to Renee Silvana (http://reneesilvana.blogspot.com/) A.K.A Leah ( http://leahonveggies.blogspot.com/) for all the wonderful advice and powerful words of encouragement. I appreciated it a lot. Your posts too were very inspirational and you taught me that one is never too busy to write, to experience life, to never force ideas to happen and that being vegan can be sexy and cool. Thank you for allowing me into your world and letting me see what it takes to be an actual paranormal writer. Your dreams alone prove that I still have a long way to go yet, with regards to originality and imagination. Also thank you for always being honest and helping me right, even when I didn't know what the hell I was talking about. Big Thank you.

Thank you to my family for their support. It took a while, but I am glad that all of you are finally ok with me being an aspiring writer. I will try my best not to embarrass you with my writing.

Finally, thank you to everybody that read my blog this year. I hope some of it was entertaining and that I wasn't too much of a bore and if I was...nothing I can do about that now. I can just promise to do better next time.

All of the best for the festive season and a very big (heartfelt) THANK YOU!

ATTENDING A WORKSHOP

I forgot to mention that I will be attending a workshop on Monday hosted by Louise Fury of the Laura Perkins Literary Agency. She is visiting South Africa and would like to give some guidance to local aspiring writers. I am actually looking forward to it.

My brother will be attending the workshop along with me. He is a Microbiologist who sometimes writes scientific articles based upon the research he does. But he becomes upset when I point out that he too is a writer. A non-fiction writer. He writes at least 3 articles a year and all of whom get published in a local magazine. But he is attending only to give me some much needed support.

I am a little scared to attend a workshop with fellow writers. What if I am a complete amateur in the presence of great writers? What if the agent asks me questions to which I have no answers?

But that is why I am there right? To learn.

PSYCHO ALERT!

Lately I have been getting a lot of pressure from all sources regarding my direction in life. Most of the pressure is actually coming from my new boss of all people. For some reason he feels I am wasting away my life on the quest to become a writer. Apparently I have so much potential.

At first I thought he just wanted to help me but Wednesday I noticed he has this White Oleander (as in Michelle Pheiffer's character) mind trick shit going for him. Now a little secret about me...I know a lot about mental warfare. My family specializes in this kind of stuff and this guy has no idea I realized what he is trying to do. Mostly I am upset that I didn't realize what he was trying to do from the beginning.

Anyway, the fact that he was trying to force me to stop pursuing writing was like waving a red flag in front of a bull. Yes, he mentioned a lot of similar things that my family has previously pointed out but the fact that he told me that it was an unrealistic dream made me want to pursue it even more and prove to him that it was an obtainable goal after all. I hate it when other people tell me that I can't do something. If ever there is anyone to tell me that it will be myself. The more people tell me I can't or shouldn't do something the more I will push on, just to prove them wrong. I haven't always been like this but lately I found a new sense of strength in myself. I am the most clueless about life and the unknown then I have ever been, yet I have never been stronger or happier. I always had plans for everything in life and now I don't, but I am not worried about it.

When I go back to work on Tuesday I will be professional and if I get anymore shit for being an aspiring writer I will put him straight and if he wishes to fire me then I will start my holiday sooner and I will be happier for it.

I actually am going to use his personality type as that of the villain in my historical romance. He apparently used to be a poet and philosopher. I use to write poetry too but I wasn't anywhere near as psychotic as this guy. Poet's are passionate people but this guy is on some other mental plane and that is just scary. Sure he is intelligent but not in a good way.

I know my posts have been a little depressing of late and for that I apologize. I will try to make it a bit more interesting. I guess my posts are a reflection of my moods but I am cheering up as we speak or should I say write?

DIRECTION IN LIFE

Today I feel like jumping out of my own skin. I feel as if the person inside me is suffocating.

A few days ago my new boss came into my office and said something out of the blue that has been bothering me quite a bit. ''I think you are hiding from life. What are your plans for the future? Why not do something bold with your life? If you want to be a writer why not do it? Why don't you go do a academic program that can help you become a writer?''

I sat and stared at him in confusion. How could he sum me up so quickly? How could he possibly know these things? This man hasn't known me before this week. Do I have some invisible sign on my forehead that says ''Hey, I am struggle with the direction of my life!'' I didn't mind what he said, I just wish it wasn't true.

I don't want to face the reality of the situation. I have to decide what I want to do with the rest of my life. I have a degree in Agriculture. Most specifically Animal production and Management. But I only recently realized that I don't want to do that anymore. I can't stand it when the animals aren't treated properly and it sends me into a crazy spin of emotions. My heart is just not in it anymore. I don't know if it ever was. So basically I spent 4 years obtaining a degree I don't (and also can't) use.

I want to write, just like millions of other people. But writing at the moment is like my brother says '' a hobby''. I need a job in the real world and I am rather tired of doing low paying jobs with maximum amounts of stress. So how the hell am I supposed to make a choice? I don't want to depend on my family anymore.

I desperately need to make a choice that will impact the rest of my life. But I don't know how to go about it. I am lost today.

OVERLOAD

My brother is renovating his room and seeing that my room is the closest to his, his storing most of his stuff in my room. I don't mind at all. But the past week has been a mentally draining and physically tiring week. I just feel like my senses are suffering a overload.

Yesterday I had another one of my migraines. None of my medication helped but the good news is that I don't have a migraine right now. Because of the past week and yesterday's headache I haven't resumed my normal writing routine. My ''wanna be'' historical romance is just lying there unfinished, taunting me as if saying ''yep, knew you couldn't stick it out, sucker''. It is smiling an evil smile and laughing it's evil laugh.

I am still capturing data for my previous company. I have a lot of stuff just floating around in my head and it is not the kind of stuff I want to be thinking of. I think it is somehow blocking my creativity. I haven't thought of a single scene in a week. Maybe it is because the couple finally had sex and now all the mystery and previous built up tension is gone (sounds like real life) and now I can't seem to get them to work together.

I will resume the de-bulking of my first manuscript on Thursday. I am forcing myself to get into the editing mode. Must edit...must sleep...must...goodnight.