Tuesday Museday loves Pitch Wars!

If you are an unagented writer and you haven't heard about the amazing opportunity that is Pitch Wars, stop by Brenda Drake's blog before reading on!

I entered Pitch Wars three times, with three different manuscripts. I've watched this contest become huge, maybe even the hottest thing in the writing contest world. It's an amazing way to make connections with other writers, find a mentor, and have your work seen by agents.

I love this contest, and think every writer (with a completed manuscript, ahem ahem) should give it a shot. Nothing ventured, nothing gained, right?

So for this Tuesday Museday, I'd like to offer last-minute query letter critiques to five people who plan to enter Pitch Wars. I promise to have your critique back to you before the end of the submission window (10pm EDT on Sunday). The first five commenters on this post will receive a critique. Remember to check for replies to your post so you know how to submit your query!

And because I know from experience how heartbreaking it can be not to get into Pitch Wars...

This is me, signing my agency contract. I found my agent through regular ole querying. Pitch Wars is amazing, but it doesn't have to be the end-all-be-all. 

Tuesday Museday feels lived in

Have you ever heard the term "it feels lived-in" used to describe a movie or TV setting? For example, in Star Wars, lots of the sets are scuffed and worn--it makes each place look like it's existed forever. In Crazy Ex-Girlfriend, Paula's kitchen countertops are covered in junk, like Paula and her family really live there and we just get glimpses into their lives.

You can do the same with your writing. Little traditions can make your characters' lives seem more real to the watcher (er, reader). When writing descriptions, remember that people aren't perfectly neat--describe their unique messes! Anything you can do to make your fictional world feel like it exists outside of your story will help your readers to sink deep into your work.

What techniques do you use to make your worlds (contemporary or otherwise!) feel lived-in?

Do you need an extra set of eyes on your query letter? I'm offering up some critiques! If you're interested, let me know in the comments! I'll select a few people to win critiques.

Tuesday Museday is Surprised

I like that quote from Robert Frost that says, "No tears in the writer, no tears in the reader. No surprise for the writer, no surprise for the reader." Today I want to talk about surprises and how they can help you as a writer.

They're surprised. Are you?

I LOVE when a book surprises me. When I fully expect something to happen, or think I know who the bad guy is, but then the author zigs where I expected them to zag? It's like bookworm nirvana.

How can you do the same for your readers? I like the idea of listing out all kinds of possible outcomes of a choice, or actions for a character to take, or whatever. See which ones you'd think people would anticipate, and which ones would surprise them.

What are your best tips for creating surprises in your work?

Do you need help with your query letter? Let me know in the comments! I will reply to a few comments to select winners.

Tuesday Museday freezes and thaws

I grew up in Anchorage, Alaska, which most people know to be a pretty chilly place. When my husband's job asked us to transfer to Wyoming, many of our friends said, "Can you handle it? It's so cold there!" I brushed them off, because please. I am from ALASKA. I know cold.

Except in Anchorage, it gets cold, stays cold, gradually warms up, then stays warm. Here in Wyoming? The weather fluctuates wildly in the winter, and on top of that whoever was supposed to turn off the wind machine clearly forgot. Monday was sixty-five degrees warmer than Friday. SIXTY. FIVE. DEGREES. That is some bullshirt right there.

When world building or setting a scene, don't forget to include the temperature! It has a significant effect on characters, which you can use to your advantage. I challenge you to describe the temperature as perceived by your characters in a scene of your WIP this week.

Want a query critique from me? Let me know in the comments! I will reply to a few comments to select winners of the critiques.

And finally, here is a funny poem about winter in Wyoming. The author is unknown, but every Wyoming-ite on Facebook has seen it about a hundred times:

It’s winter in Wyoming

And the gentle breezes blow

Seventy miles an hour

At twenty five below

Oh how I love Wyoming

When the snow is up to your butt

You take a breath of winter

And your nose gets frozen shut

Yes the weather here is wonderful

So I guess I’ll hang around

I could never leave Wyoming

‘Cuz I’m frozen to the ground!

Tuesday Museday makes a mistake

I'm currently reading READY PLAYER ONE, and so far I am loving it. One thing in particular that I love is that the main character, Wade, frequently makes mistakes that drive the plot forward and reveal more about his inner self.

Story time!

Several years ago, I was in a community theater production of Brigadoon. We needed a trunk for the Jeannie's Packing Up scene, and my husband had an old one that didn't look too terribly anachronistic from far away, so I emptied it out and moved it to the theater for the run of the show.

One day, I came in and found a groovy pair of hipster glasses (sans lenses) in the trunk. They didn't belong to anyone in the cast, so I made a game of hiding them onstage every show, and eventually took them home on Closing Night.

How could I NOT keep those bad boys?

Anyhoo, during the cast party I got a phone call from one of the guys in the improv company that had their shows right after ours in the same theater. Apparently, the glasses were his, and he needed them back ASAP for one of his sketches.

In taking the glasses, I had made a MISTAKE. I left the cast party immediately and took the glasses back to the theater.

Both the fact that I returned the glasses immediately and didn't give Improv Guy grief for using my trunk to store his props without permission reveal something about my character. And if it were a novel and not real life, fixing my mistake would have been useful to propel the plot along, by getting me out of the cast party before it got interrupted by a robbery, or having something awful happen to me on the drive home, or having a meet-cute with Improv Guy. (None of those things happened in real life. This is why fiction is so much better.)

Mistakes and their ramifications can serve a myriad of purposes in a novel. Let go of the idea that your characters have to be perfect, and allow them to make mistakes.

Last chance for a query letter critique in 2016! If you want one, please comment on this post and let me know. I'll select a few people for critiques. Make sure you come back and check for my reply so you know if you were chosen.

Tuesday Museday is hungry

A few years ago I bought a book for my husband called How to Read Literature Like A Professor. While I love genre fiction, he prefers literary fiction, and I thought this book would be right up his alley. (Apparently there is one for How to Read Novels, too.)

I read the book, and even gleaned useful information, such as this gem about eating:
"Writing a meal scene is so difficult, and so inherently uninteresting, that there really needs to be some compelling reason to include one in the story."

The author, Thomas C. Foster, goes on to describe a couple literary examples of meals described in books that tell much more than just the plain facts of what a character is eating. How characters eat around each other can be a way of showing how they feel about the other people in the scene. A character's description of the food (if you are using 1st person POV) can convey his or her feelings toward the meal or the companions.

The possibilities are myriad. But remember: if it's just about the food, you should probably cut it out.

As always with Tuesday Museday, I'm offering up query letter critiques! If you'd like a critique, please say so in the comments, and I'll select a few commenters to receive critiques. AND! If you are participating in #DVPit (10/5 and 10/6!) and would like your Twitter pitch critiqued, I'm happy to do a few of those, as well!

Tuesday Museday tells a story

I've had a busy month. First my kids and I went down to visit my parents for 2 weeks. I had my audition for Jeopardy!. Then we went back East to visit my extended family for 2 weeks. You probably didn't notice I was gone because I scheduled all my posts in advance. Tricky!

My seven-year-old loves the pool at my parents' house, but insists on wearing a life preserver because he doesn't know how to swim. I told him we'd have to teach him how so he could feel safe in the ocean when we went to Maryland.

"The ocean?" He was very interested. Both he and his brother (age 4) were suddenly giving me all of their attention.

I took advantage of it, and told them all about seashells, boogie boarding, and salt water. I told them about the boardwalk at Ocean City, eating cotton candy and Boardwalk Fries, and playing mini-golf. They were spellbound.
For like, five minutes, which is a record for them.

Storytelling is powerful. When your characters choose to tell stories in your work, it likewise can be a powerful experience and an effective way to give backstory without feeling like an info dump.

Use it wisely. Use it well.

I've missed doing critiques this summer! If you'd like fresh eyes on your query letter or Twitter pitch, speak up in the comments! I'll choose a few commenters for critiques.

Tuesday Museday gets a sibling?

If you have siblings, you likely know that there are things you can get away with doing to your siblings that you can't do to anyone else. Take this photo for example:

This is me and my cousins, plus my sister, my husband, and my cousin's wife (none of us were married at the time; this photo is OLD).

If you study the photo, you will notice that my sister, in the stripey sweater, is thrusting her hips forward and has her arms behind her back. This is because a second before the photo was taken, I credit-carded her. 

Do I go around swiping my hand up random people's butt cracks? Nope. That behavior is reserved for my sister. Poor Cassi.

Your characters will similarly have things they do or personality traits that they can show only around their siblings. Use those interactions to your advantage! Show a gruff character's silly side. Show someone who always acts cheerful dropping the facade around their family.

As a writing exercise, write a scene (even one that doesn't make it into your book) between characters and their siblings. This is a good way to get to know your secondary characters as well as your main character. It'll be interesting to see what it reveals about them!

Need fresh eyes on your query letter? Comment below, and I will select a few random commenters for a critique.

By the way, when you get in the business of critiquing people, you often worry that someone will react badly to your critique and flame you publicly or privately. I've been doing Tuesday Museday for nearly a year now, and I have yet to have this experience. All you OA readers who receive critiques from me have been polite and grateful. I'm grateful to YOU for your classy behavior. Thank you!

Tuesday Museday gets stabbed in the back

Betrayal is a fascinating subject to write about, due to the fact that there are so many different ways people (and therefore characters) react to it. Including a surprise betrayal in your manuscript can be a brilliant plot point, but it is also a great opportunity to show your character's emotions. Betrayals can range in their degree of severity; they aren't always huge things.

This week, try including a betrayal of some kind in your MS. Put some thought into how each of your characters would choose to react, whether it's curl into a ball and retreat or lash out at others.

I have time this week to do a few query letter or Twitter pitch critiques, so if you'd like fresh eyes on yours, please let me know in the comments! #PitMad is this Thursday; if you want your Twitter pitch critiqued in time to use it for that, let me know!

Tuesday Museday

At the beginning of your novel, where is your main character headed? This may be a physical location, or more of a state-of-mind kind of thing. It may be a goal your character has.

How will your book change that character's destination (metaphorical or otherwise)?

If you don't know, I suggest you figure it out :0)

It's a busy week: I'm sorting through slush for Query Kombat, packing for a vacation, and helping to select new members of Operation Awesome. I can do ONE query critique this week; first commenter to post below gets it. You must include your e-mail address so I can contact you about the critique. If you don't include your e-mail, I move on to the next commenter. If you were planning on entering Query Kombat, let me know and I'll be sure to do the critique tonight.

A Murderous Tuesday Museday

Guys, I have some bad news.

I have to kill some darlings in my book.

No, I don't mean that some lovely people will be meeting an unfortunate end. I mean that I have to take out a section of my book that I thought was really clever.

I had a blast writing the beginning of this book during NaNoWriMo. I flew through it, patting myself on the back the whole time at how brilliant I was. I even showed my husband what I'd done (he doesn't usually read my stuff until it's very polished).

But I just got feedback from my first reader that let me know the beginning was not clever and brilliant, it was repetitive and frustrating. She spelled out exactly why she feels that way, and she is ABSOLUTELY RIGHT.

So the beginning must be changed, and that darling piece of writing I loved must be killed. I'm quite looking forward to it, actually. The great thing about growing as a writer is learning to see which feedback is valuable and needs to be incorporated into your work, instead of getting hurt feelings because someone doesn't think every single thing you write is perfect. I'm looking forward to the changes; I sincerely feel they will make the beginning of this book stronger.

So for Tuesday Museday, I encourage you to take the reins and cut out those parts of your MS that you know aren't working, even though you love them.

Need fresh eyes on your query letter or Twitter pitch? I'm offering up a couple critiques this week. Query Kombat is coming up, and I'd love to help you get your query nice and shiny. Let me know in the comments if you'd like me to take a look!

A Furry Tuesday Museday

Do your characters have pets?

A relationship with a pet can show hidden facets of a character's personality, because a person might act differently around their pet than around other humans (or aliens, or whatever fits your story). Maybe a reticent character uses their pet as a sounding board. Maybe a seemingly kind character mistreats or ignores their pets. There are many ways you can use a pet or animal to strengthen character development.

This month is CampNaNoWriMo, so most of my free time will be going there. I am offering up critiques of Twitter pitches ONLY this week. If you'd like fresh eyes on your Twitter pitch for upcoming pitch parties (like #DVpit), please let me know in the comments. I'll select a few for critiques.

Tuesday Museday goes down the tube

This is what happens at my house when it's too quiet...

What kind of mischief happens to your characters when things get too quiet? When things are going well for them, how will you pull the metaphorical rug out from under their feet?

If you need fresh eyes on your query letter or twitter pitch (especially if you are doing #DVPit next month!), let me know in the comments! I'll select a few people for critiques.

Tuesday Museday... sort of

I know it isn't Tuesday, but hear me out: Tuesday got reserved for our book club post so I took Monday instead.
On that note, if you've read The Martian, by Andy Weir, join us tomorrow for our book club discussion!

Your character has favorite things, just like real people do. You may think it isn't important whether your character prefers chocolate to caramel, or red to blue, but those things inform who we are as people and can add depth to a character. So this Museday, make a list of some of your characters' favorite things, and think of ways to incorporate them into your novel. Bonus points if they actually affect the plot!

And even though it's not Tuesday, I'm still offering a critique to go along with this post. Let me know in the comments if you'd like fresh eyes on your query or Twitter pitch (both #PitMad and #DVPit are coming up!). I'll randomly select people for critiques, so include your Twitter handle or e-mail address so I can contact you if you are selected for a critique!

Tuesday Museday is back!

I missed doing Tuesday Museday--I can't believe that this is the first one of 2016 and it's February! So, for your inspiration today... (drumroll, please)

Write a scene in which your character does something that makes another character very nervous.

Need fresh eyes on your query letter or Twitter pitch? I'm offering up a critique this week. Speak up in the comments (include your twitter handle or e-mail) and I'll select someone at random for a critique!

Tuesday Museday gets sentimental

If you celebrate a holiday in December, chances are as that holiday approaches you might feel a sense of appreciation for holidays gone by. You fondly remember the good times you had the last time this holiday came around. You hope that this year will be just as enjoyable as the last.
Your characters are the same way, whether they live in our world or a fantasy one. Can you capture that nostalgia? No matter when your book is set, chances are it's near some holiday. Don't forget to include your characters' feelings toward the holidays of the past years!
That's my challenge to you this week. And now that NaNoWriMo is done, I have some free time back for query critiques! If you want a fresh set of eyes on your query before (mumble mumble something happening at Operation Awesome) the new year, please speak up in the comments! I'll choose someone for a query critique.

Tuesday Museday takes a dare

Well, it's the last week of NaNoWriMo. Have you hit the slump yet? Some days getting to my target word count feels like flying, and others it's more like trying to swim in a molasses pool.
When I reached the molasses stage during my first NaNoWriMo, I took a trip to the Sprints and Dares forum. People had all kinds of fun ideas for crazy things that could happen in your work, or a funny line that you should try to work in. I spent one night incorporating all these ideas into my novel, plus some that my Facebook friends offered. I shared some of them on my personal blog, if you're interested: NaNoWriMo Dares.
Here's a dare for you: Find a way to work in the phrase "Hashtag things I never thought I'd have to say."

And here's the link to the NaNoWriMo forum if you're interested: Word Wars, Prompts, & Sprints.

If you need a fresh set of eyes on your query and you'd like a critique, leave a message in the comments. Samantha will pick someone for a query critique! I'll resume my duties next month.

Tuesday Museday in Love

Earlier this year I read an article on Facebook about a social experiment designed to see if there was a way to speed up falling in love. The experiment designer had a list of 36 questions that partners were supposed to ask each other, getting more personal the further down the list they went.
I saved the link because I thought it was fascinating, and I knew I'd want to use it in a book someday. Your prompt for today is to use these questions to either get to know one of your characters better, or to have your characters get a little closer. The complete list of questions can be found here.
With NaNoWriMo going on, I'm a little too busy to offer a query critique this week, but fellow Operative Samantha has agreed to provide a critique while I'm in the writing cave. If you're interested, speak up in the comments! Samantha will pick a winner for a critique.

Tuesday Museday during NaNoWriMo!

Hello! I'm busy NaNoWriMo-ing, so unfortunately this episode of Tuesday Museday does not come with a query critique. I'll pick them back up in December.
Your writing prompt for today, should you choose to accept it, is your very favorite smell. Whatever it is, find a way to work it into your writing today.
Good luck!

Tuesday Museday On A Plane

Stuck in a rut? Brainstorm all out of thunder? Do you guys remember the "Numa Numa" song that was popular back before YouTube was a thing? (Side note--if your memory doesn't go back that far, there's the door.) The song is Dragostea Din Tei, by O-Zone, and it has the silliest music video. Go watch and enjoy: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GN3Slwk5gWM (You can X off all the little windows.)
Perhaps you will be inspired to write a character who doesn't know how to button a shirt! Or you will include a horrific plane crash! Just don't allow yourself to keep watching videos when that one is over. GET BACK TO WRITING.

If you are working on a query and you'd like fresh eyes on it, let me know in the comments! I'll pick someone for a query critique.