I need reading recs!

I think I've read every book in our library. Surely, there must be some really awesome books out there that I've never opened. Please, please give me some titles, people!

Really bad books

I have a ton of newspaper columns due. I went to the library and checked out a beach bag full of books. 70% of them were bad. Really bad. How do these things get published?

The thing I noticed about the really bad books is that they TELL instead of SHOW. Some had pages and pages of telling...like someone was telling me a story and not even inserting the most mundane bit of showing, not even inserting dialogue.

If I were mean, I'd give you the title of the worst offender. It was absolutely horrible and it was the author's 13th published book.

Probably, though, you could go to a library and pick 10 books off the shelf and find offenders in at least half.

Anyway, it was a big wake-up call to me. I'll be SHOWING like a crazy woman.

Looking for an agent?

Then you really need to Twitter. Agents are great on Twitter. They talk about what they like/hate in queries. They talk about the kinds of books they're looking for. They reveal their personalities and they interact with editors on Twitter. So what are you doing here? Go forth and Twitter!

Update: A thousand words a day for May

I've got more than 15 thousand words written on the new manuscript (a YA tentatively titled SORT OF A PREGNANT GIRL). Plus I've written thousands of additional words of plot development and character development and random ideas. I'm feeling very good about my progress for May. I hope you all are feeling motivated to write or do whatever it is that YOU like to do most.

Sacrifices for writing

Since I've been pounding away at this latest book (tentatively titled SORT OF A PREGNANT GIRL), I've had to give up other things. I haven't been gardening quite as much as I want to, for example. And my house is getting pretty dusty, too.

Some things I won't give up for writing (besides important family stuff, of course) are exercise, a few tv programs and reading.

What about you? What have you given up/refused to give up?

Teacher Appreciation Week!

I know a lot of people who credit their teachers for turning them on to writing. Okay. Well. I didn't exactly have that experience, but I do looove my kids' teachers...they keep my kids most of every day (and teach them all sorts of great things), so I can write. :) I have lots of friends who are teachers. They drink a lot, but are wonderful people. One of my favorite friend teachers just indie epubbed a book, which I WILL read SOON. To find out all about my friend and his book, puleeze visit my other friend's blog (she's cool, anyway). And, THANK YOU, TEACHERS!

Heather's post about Tracey.

Word count motivation

I'm part of a group of writer friends that shares all sorts of things. As far as writing goes, I am so motivated simply by regularly telling them my word count. And when they post their word counts, that motivates me, too. If you've got a group of writer buds, I suggest you share your #s with them. Or just regularly post your word count on your blog.

How would you run a writing reality show?

I keep watching reality show competitions...fashion, singing, dancing. I can't decide how I'd run a writing competition show. It's complicated, right? How would you run it? And if there's one already in existence, let me know!

Let's share some tips

Okay. We’ve all got a tip or two about writing and/or the industry that could probably help someone else out. Let’s share some here.

Hmm…my biggest tip is PREPARE. Specifically, I recommend people prepare their stories. Spend a couple hours writing about character and setting and plot. Write a few preliminary scenes…they don’t even have to be in order. And then OUTLINE.

Yeah, I know people hate outlining. There was a time I did, too. And now I love it. I see, in fact, how the whole preparation process makes my writing better and saves me oodles of time in the long run.

So PREPARE is my tip. What’s yours?