Melissa West

The other day or month or so (I have no clue but this did happen) I ran across someone studying creative writing with the career goal of becoming a writer. The person had no idea that I enjoy writing and I didn't offer up the info as that can sometimes shut a person up if he/she doesn't feel as "in the know." So instead I asked about this person's writing interests, which logically lead to this person's reading interests. With that I received the reply "Oh, I don't read." Yeah... Ok... Hmm... It stopped me short. I have never met a writer that didn't enjoy reading. Have you? It really stunned me. Why would you want to do something for a living that you yourself do not enjoy? Ya know? So after a minute of picking my jaw off the floor and pushing my bulging eyes back into their sockets, I asked. The response ran something like "It's boring." And mind you, I am not talking about some high school kid. This is an adult, going back to...

Today I received an email notification from the QueryTracker blog which linked over to a popular editor's blog. I read over the editor's entry for today and then perused the rest of said editor's posts. One post touched on a guide to publishing and in that post the editor discussed platforms. See below: http://editorialass.blogspot.com/2007/05/moonrats-guide-to-getting-published.html This editor pretty much says that you better get your name out there if you hope to land on the big book chain's shelves. I can see the point and, as a business person, support the point. But, I then went on over to Verla's and ran a search. There are numerous posts that suggest a platform is not really necessary for children's books. See link below to one such discussion: http://www.verlakay.com/boards/index.php?topic=36869.0 So, is it true that platform is mainly an issue for adult books. What about YA? I would think YA books/authors would definitely benefit from a solid platform ...

So I started reading Donald Maass' Writing the Breakout Novel. In the foreword Anne Perry (one of his clients) mentions that the books that she claims to love are not always the books that she really loves -- basically. This got me thinking, which can be dangerous, but I digress...I have a list in my head of my favorite books. The books that I have read a zillion times and love each and every time that I read them. But if I can put out a little bit of honesty here, none of those books (with the exception of one) are considered classics/greats. I often read blogs or interviews with authors where the author is asked to list his/her favorite books. They are almost always classics/greats and it is very rare that the author lists a book published in the last say 20 years. Now tell me, if you are honest, are your favorite books classics? Do you read them and relish in the story or do you simply appreciate the complexity of the writing or the depth of the characters? Perhaps that is one i...

Hello fellow writers, It is a dreary day here in Atlanta, GA. I drove home in rain so thick that it felt more like driving through heavy snow. You know the kind that falls sideways, hitting your car with such force that you want to pull over or grip the steering wheel for your life. Yep, that was my drive home tonight. So anyway, on to my topic for today - Character traits. I realized the other day that my characters are not exactly reflections of me, but instead represent characteristics I wish I had. Now don't get me wrong, I'm not one of those hate myself kind of people. But I like my characters to have traits that resonate in people around me. The respectable sub character reminds me of my father. The snappy character of my mother. And so on. I do push certain elements of my personality into my characters, but I often find they are my struggles instead of my virtues. Lack of patience. Stubbornness. General know-it-all attitude - just kidding, well sort of. :) The glowing tr...

I find the writing process to be almost relaxing. I settle in, throw on some appropriate music, and set my mind to the specific scene that I am writing. I love this part of the process. Then the relaxation melts away and I enter the revision process... To me, revising is like exercise. There are many that enjoy it, maybe even love it, but most of us hate it. The rewards are similar - a tight product (body or manuscript). But the process to get to the tightness is grueling. Trainers will often say that your body aches because you are changing the muscle. I guess that is why revisions are so damn painful - you are changing, toning, buffing up your WIP until you could be proud walking around naked, or eh - in your writing I mean. :) . We polish until we are ready to bare our souls to agents/editors/publishers. So I am interested. Tell me your revision process. Is it as painful for you? Check out my process below and let me know if yours is similar. My current process: I fast draft my 1st ...

Today, June 11th, I decided - on a whim mind you - to start a blog. It is a common thing for aspiring and accomplished writers for sure. So in my many searches across Verla Kay and other sites I decided that today, yes this very second, I needed a blog. So here I am world. I hope to post helpful information for aspiring writers like myself - articles, any new stats, etc. I also hope to post my struggles with this new world and will bare them (as openly as possible) for you all to read. So let the fun begin! M.B.