Ready to send that query?

I had a wonderful lunch yesterday with a fellow friend and writer, and it brought back memories of days past submitting query letters in search of landing a big time literary agent.  It also brought back some of the valuable lessons I learned during that process. 

In my eagerness to get represented and then published, I didn’t want to hear some of those important lessons I needed.  So, I’m sure there are others in that same spirit of impatience who will not want to hear them from me now, but nevertheless, I’m going to post them.

1.    Professional – Be professional, not personal, in your query letter.  Your query reveals a lot about who you are, how you write, and what that agent can expect from you as a writer.  While writing may be an agent’s passion, they’re also in a business where success is dependent on the ‘type’ of writer they represent.  They don’t get paid unless they can get their client signed by a publisher.  So, while they may be moved with compassion by your personal story, its business that will be the deciding factor.  SHOW, don’t tell, the agent that you are professional, determined, and filled with natural talent and an overabundance of drive, and you might just get that call.  Don’t write a long, personal sob story about yourself and your dream of being published.  EVERY writer who submits a query letter has a dream of being represented and published.

2.    Polished  - Make sure your query letter is error free and ‘shows’ a prime example of your writing style, a clear and correct synopsis of your story, and has a powerful message.  This is probably the most difficult part of the query; writing that short, but powerful, sales pitch of your story.  You don’t have to write the WHOLE story, just the pitch that gets them to want to know more.

3.    Pro-Active/Promising – Agents ‘invest’ in their clients, because they feel that the writing/novel can be successfully placed and sold.  However, they’re also looking for clients who will continue in that success, and are not just ‘one-trick ponies’.  So make sure you ‘show’ that you’re busy working on the NEXT BIG THING, the next project, the next novel. List your accomplishments, affiliations, and the immediate working project.  DON’T list everything you dream of doing in the distant future – just list the big project you’re currently working on. This tells the agent that you’re not sitting at home biting your nails, and placing all your hopes on this one book.  A good agent knows that the more novels an author writes the BETTER writer they become.

4.    Prepared – This is the MOST important.  Don’t query UNTIL you’re completely prepared.  Your novel needs to be polished, printed and ready for publication, and you already WORKING on the next project.  You need to be DONE – completed, edited and ready to go.  This is how you will immediately lose an opportunity for representation and burn a networking bridge – by getting a request for a partial or full manuscript, but then not have one ready to send immediately, or it’s unedited and not in the best possible shape.  This SHOWS an agent that the writer is unprofessional, lazy and impatient. 

So, if you’re thinking about sending out that query letter, but haven’t covered these basic issues, don’t.  Remove your emotions from the process and tackle it with the prowess of professionalism.  Then watch those requests and offers come pouring in.

Till next time,

~T.L. Gray

Character Dossier

 

Writing a new story but don’t quite know your characters yet?  There are two ways to get to know them. 

The first is that you, the writer, allows your characters to develop at their own pace AS the story is being written.  This method adds those authentic elements of surprise enjoyed by both reader and writer.  On the downside, without careful scrutiny, these characters are in danger of being inconsistent or being similar to the other characters, because it’s the writer’s perspective, reactions and development that comes through more than the characters themselves.

The other method is to create a character dossier before you start writing the story.  What is a character dossier?  It’s simply an information “file” of your character.  There are usually four or five specific subjects covered in a dossier.

The first section usually consists of basic information like name, age, marital status, gender, birthday, spouse, place of birth, siblings, career, education, family, friends, etc.  Usually the general information one would most likely find on a job, college or biographical application.

The next section would probably contain physical information like hair type, color or style, skin, eyes, complexion, height, weight, race, type of clothing, style, faults, scars, tattoos, etc.  Completing these minute details will help create a clearer picture of your character.  Having the information written down in a dossier also allows for a source of reference to maintain consistency (or change) throughout the story.

The next section gets even more personal and more detailed as it contains the family, personality and likes/dislikes information like parents personalities, home life, childhood, siblings personalities and relationship status, hobbies, temperament, talents, good qualities, bad qualities, strengths, weaknesses, loves, likes, dislikes, bad habits, fears, turn ons or turn offs, etc.,

The last suggested section would involve personality trait information, usually rated on a scale of 1-10 like warm – cold, outgoing – shy, optimist – pessimist, spender – saver, leader – follower, risk-taker – cautious, quiet – loud, subtle – direct, heroic – cowardly, responsible – irresponsible, etc. 

Creating a character dossier will give you a clearer picture f your character, often times knowing this information in advance helps the writer get into character easier, having that clear definition.  Sometimes just knowing all those details helps to inspire many scenes throughout the story in showcasing those traits.  Also, for stories that have seemed to stall, creating a character dossier can sometimes help the writer spot troubled areas with their stories or characters, most often kick-starting creativity to flow freely once again.

So, whether you’ve ever used a character dossier before or not, I personally find them very useful and think all writers should at least give it a shot.

Till next time,

~T.L. Gray