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3 Necessary Tips for Querying Literary Agents

As I polish the final draft of my current manuscript, I am assembling query material. Thus, when I feel the book is completely finished, clean, and compelling, I’ll be ready to send it out straight away. I’ve read a few books on literary agents and querying in the last few weeks. From these, I’ve gleaned a whole lot of knowledge. Some of what I read should’ve been obvious, but without someone to share it with me, I likely would have made rookie mistakes. In this article, I’ll share three tips I learned from my reading.

Please note that I have never been agented. As such, I have chosen only to share tips that I feel qualified to speak on. There are many schools of thought when it comes to the minutiae of querying agents, but I will not speak on these more contested matters. For further reading, check out this book on querying and this book on agents, both written by Writer’s Relief. I also found some interesting tidbits in this short book by an advertising executive.

1. Take Your Time

You’ve spent months or years working on your novel. You’ve agonized over it to make sure that it cannot be improved upon. And now, you’re ready to share it with the world.

Unfortunately, it takes a long time to get an agent, even longer for them to sell your book to an acquisitions editor, and even longer for the book to go to print. So take a deep breath, and keep patient for a while longer. When it comes to writing novels, patience is the name of the game.

So don’t rush writing your query letter. You’ve spent so much time working on your book. Why would you undercut that hard work with a lackluster query letter? Take your time, and write the best query letter you possibly can for every agent you query. Have your friends and family read over it, just like they did your novel. And only when you can’t improve on your letter any more should you send it.

2. Read Guidelines Carefully

Put yourself in the shoes of a literary agent for a moment. You receive a hundred (or more) emails a day from writers who wish to find representation. From this slush pile, you need to pick out the very few who may be a good fit with you. But you’ve got to get through dozens and dozens of queries from those who aren’t right for you first.

So what do you do? Whenever you open a new query, you scan the document to see if there’s any reason to reject it immediately. As a writer, this may feel harsh. But as an agent, it just makes sense.

One big reason an agent might reject your query outright is if you don’t follow instructions. Literary agencies tend to be very specific in their requests. When you query an agent with a manuscript that’s too long or short for your genre, or an agent who doesn’t represent your genre, or include the wrong material, you decrease the odds of getting an agent to read your work.

Read every agent’s query guidelines thoroughly, and follow them. Don’t get rejected before you even have a chance to make a pitch.

3. Trust Your Gut

As I mentioned before, much of the querying process has become standardized, but on some matters, there are different schools of thought. What’s more, different projects or different agents might call for different sorts of pitches. Ultimately, you know your situation and your book best. So think things through from every angle, but trust your gut when you get stuck. For example, my current manuscript’s greatest strength is its pacing and its brevity. Therefore, I’ve chosen to focus on the same aspects in my manuscript. Another book might require a longer query letter. But mine moves quick, as does my novel.

Keep these tips in mind, and keep working. With a whole lot of patience and luck, you’ll eventually stand out from the crowd.

– AJG

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Countdown Articles Writing

4 Key Strategies For Revising Your Story

You’ve finished the first draft of a story. Congratulations! Whether it’s 2.5k or 250k words long, you’ve achieved something beautiful. Take the time to recognize that.

Once you’ve properly celebrated, you can begin the revision process. Some first drafts are cleaner than others, but nobody writes their perfect story on the first try. Even if you’re an architect who does a ton of preparation before you write a single word, chances are you’ll still need to clean up your work.

So where should you begin with revising your story? You probably recognize that your work has issues, however big or small, but how do you go about fixing them? The good news is this; once you’ve identified the problems with your story, fixing them is easy. As for the bad news, identifying those problems can prove difficult.

As Albert Einstein once said, “If I had an hour to solve a problem I’d spend 55 minutes thinking about the problem and 5 minutes thinking about solutions.” As such, my strategies for revising your story are designed to help you think about your work from new angles. Once you understand the problems, you can get on to crafting solutions.

1. Take Some Space

You need to identify the issues in your work, but how can you do that if you haven’t taken a step away before revising your story? You need to look on your writing with fresh eyes.

Don’t start editing the day after you finish your manuscript. Remember what I said about celebrating your achievement? Throw a party, or lay back for a while. If you can’t sit still (like me), work on other projects. Take a week, two weeks, or six months to get away. The amount of time needed will vary from person to person, story to story, and draft to draft.

For example, I finished a manuscript two weeks ago. I plan on starting on the next draft tomorrow. For the second draft, I will do no more than clean up my writing and reconcile plot holes, so I don’t need to come in so fresh.

However, once I finish that draft, I will likely wait months before I start on a third. Since I expect to make large alterations between the second and third drafts, I’ll need to come in as fresh as possible.

2. Remember Your Inspiration

What was the original impetus for writing this story? It might’ve been a character, a scene, a setting, or a spaceship. Remember what magic filled your heart, what excitement rushed through your veins, that brought you to sit down at the keyboard and engage in such a grueling task. Is that magic still present? Does that magic ring throughout the whole of the work? If not, where can you try to infuse that magic when revising your story?

Readers will know if your voice is disingenuous. And in my experience, the most genuine part of any story is the first seed from which the rest of the writing blooms. If you can reconnect with that seed, you can establish stronger roots. And that foothold will allow your story to blossom.

3. Map Your Story

Maybe you planned out your plot beats before you started writing. Even so, I doubt everything turned out exactly as expected. Details both small and large change as you write. So before you start revising your story, identify its major points. Define the journey.

Do you take any detours? Are they necessary? What do they add? Could you achieve the same end without leaving the path?

Do the stakes increase as the story goes on? Does your protagonist find themselves in situations of greater and greater consequence until they’re forced to confront their worst fears?

What promises do you make to your reader at the beginning of the story? Do you make good on those promises at the end of the story?

With your roadmap, you’ll act more confidently as a navigator for your readers when revising your story.

4. Find Readers

Eventually, you’ll have to let other people read what you’ve written. Terrifying, I know. But no one can look at your story with fresher eyes than someone who knows nothing about it. So, once you’ve written a second or third draft, find beta readers. They can be friends, family, industry professionals, or random people who you pay in Milky Way bars. (Side note: please pay people adequately for their labor in a government-backed currency. To my knowledge, Milky Way bars do not satisfy this requirement.)

Have your readers tell you what they honestly thought of your story. Not how they would’ve written your story, but how they enjoyed it as a reader. Did they feel the way you wanted them to feel? Why, or why not? What could you change to rectify this?

With the four tools I’ve described in this article, you should have a decent idea of where you might begin in revising your story. If you’ve already taken your time away and are ready to jump back in, happy editing! And if not, enjoy some well-deserved time off.

– AJG

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Countdown Articles Writing

4 Spooky Writing Prompts to Warm You Up for NaNoWriMo 2022

Tomorrow is Halloween. Hear nerds around the world rejoice, for cosplaying will be socially encouraged for the next 24 hours. Hooray! Shortly thereafter, hear writers around the world clack at their keyboards, for National Novel Writing Month begins on the first day of November.

Have you completed your plotting, your world-building, your outlining? Do you already know what your main characters’ favorite fruits are? Good, good. But are you ready to write approximately 1,667 words a day? If not, why don’t you warm up with some fun Halloween-themed writing prompts? Set a timer for thirty minutes, and don’t stop writing. When the timer goes off, wrap up the story, and go back to edit if you like. Or don’t! NaNoWriMo is about first drafts, nothing more.

Here are four spooky prompts to get you warmed up.

1. The Necromancer

You come from a long line of dark wizards. Over the past few years, you’ve perfected a resurrection spell. Now, you can finally ask your great-grandfather where he left the family book of spells–and why he hid it.

2. Parsecs From Home

You’re on a space ranging mission in a vast, unexplored corner of the universe. To your surprise, you see another spacecraft in the distance. However, your bioscanners tell you that there are no life forms on board.

3. A Bigger Fish

All sorts of monsters have been spotted outside your village of late, but there have been no casualties thus far. When a werewolf is captured and interrogated, you find out that the monsters are not coming to your village. No, they’re running away from something. But what?

4. The Amnesiac Prisoner

You wake up in the dungeons of a dark castle situated atop a cliff. Distressingly, you have no memory of how you got there, and your jailer is not particularly talkative. Your memory begins to return when you place a hand on your chest, for there you feel the bulge of a key, sewn under your skin.

I’m far from experienced when it comes to writing short stories. In fact, every time I try, I inevitably seem to find myself plotting another novel. Nonetheless, Kurt Vonnegut, Jr. has some wonderful creative writing advice that I feel applies especially to writers of short fiction. Every sentence must do one of two things–reveal character or advance the action. With that in mind, go forth and conquer!

– AJG

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6 Simple Tips for Making A Better Pot of Tea

There are plenty of reasons to drink tea. When used as an alternative to coffee, tea can provide caffeine without keeping you awake all night or make you anxious during the day. Many teas can provide incredible health benefits, like my favorite–jasmine green–which is packed with antioxidants. And most importantly, tea is just plain delicious. Especially when made well. Right now, you may be content tossing a mug full of water in the microwave and plopping in a tea bag. While there’s nothing wrong with that, there are a few simple strategies to brew a better pot of tea in a less wasteful manner. Besides, as Uncle Iroh says in Avatar: The Last Airbender, “Good tea is its own reward.” Here are four tips for brewing a better pot of tea.

1. Start Using Loose Leaves

For less waste and a fuller flavor.

Where tea bags come in individual packaging, loose leaves come packed all together in a single container. This means significantly less waste per cup of tea, which can compound quickly if you drink more than one cup a day. Additionally, each individual tea bag creates one cup of tea, where a heaping tablespoon of loose leaves can make a whole pot. If you don’t throw out those leaves, you can even make a second or third pot by steeping for a minute longer each time. Most teas are good for two to three infusions, which means money saved!

And if none of those things convince you to make the switch, perhaps the difference in flavor will. After all, we are trying to make a better pot of tea here. The crushed leaves in tea bags do not lend as full-bodied a flavor as whole leaves. They may infuse faster, but they may also taste more bitter. Loose leaves soak up the water and unfurl as they steep, adding more complex flavors to your drink. Tea sachets offer a middle ground between the two options, if you can’t commit to the change.

Of course, to use loose leaves, you’ll need a teapot and infuser. Fortunately, you can buy those for cheap on Amazon or at your local supermarket. I use this teapot/infuser for its medium size and affordability. And for their quality and price, I buy my leaves from Harney & Sons, specifically the jasmine green. Their website also has a quiz if you don’t know which tea might be right for you.

2. Use An Electric Kettle

Make sure your water is the right temperature.

If you don’t brew your tea at the right temperature, you’re likely to “burn” the leaves and release a bitter flavor into your drink. Before you heat up the water in your kettle, check the recommended temperature at which to steep your leaves. This will be denoted on the back of the box. For green teas, the recommended temperature will usually be around 180°F.

An electric kettle can make heating to the correct temperature very easy and will reduce the chance of you spilling boiling water on your hands (been there). However, I understand that not everyone can make this investment right away. If you prefer, heat up your water in a pot and use a thermometer to measure the temperature.

3. Use Filtered Water

Tap won’t cut it.

When you’re filling your kettle, use filtered water and not tap. Unless, of course, you live in a location where your tap water is effectively the same quality. This may seem like overkill at first, but think about it. Your water is the basis of your drink. If you want to get a higher quality drink, you need higher quality ingredients. And some types of water are higher quality than others!

I’m not saying you need to go out and buy overpriced bottles of water which have been unnecessarily pH-controlled. But using a crisper base for your tea will result in a crisper tea. Simple as that.

4. Rinse Off Your Leaves

Clean leaves make a clean drink.

This tip may not be crucial depending on what kind of tea you’re drinking, but it doesn’t hurt. Pour a small amount of water over your leaves and discard it before you actually steep your tea. You can do this straight from the kettle after heating.

Whether from the garden or the facility in which they were packed, you don’t know if any impurities remain on your leaves. Make sure they’re clean by rinsing them before you steep them.

5. Heat Your Teapot

Prevent temperature loss.

Pour some hot water in your teapot and swirl it around. In fact, this can even be the same water that you used to rinse your leaves. What this will do is heat up the inside of your teapot. Thus, when you pour the rest of the water, the teapot won’t cool it down. Remember, you want your water to remain at the recommended temperature for steeping. Naturally, a room temperature teapot will absorb some of that heat.

If you don’t do this, no sweat. This tip isn’t crucial either, but I’m giving you all the knowledge you need to make a better pot of tea.

6. Set A Timer

Don’t oversteep!

I’ve seen some folks steep their tea for far longer than the recommended time because they “want more caffeine.” Ideally, if you wanted a beverage with a higher amount of caffeine, you would find different tea leaves (black or Earl Grey), or you would make coffee.

In my experience, there seems to be a pervading attitude that drinking your coffee darker and stronger means that you’re more manly, more gutsy, more macho. And if you can’t handle the bitterness, then you’re a bubble blowin’ baby. Putting aside the fact that people should be allowed to enjoy whatever they want however they want so long as it doesn’t harm others, I find it unfortunate that this attitude sometimes carries over to teas.

Teas aren’t meant to be bitter. They should have a more mild flavor, sometimes with floral or fruity notes. So, if you like, read the back of the box, and steep the tea for the recommended amount of time. Setting a timer on your phone can help with this. I’ve forgotten my tea several times and come back to a bitter mess.

Enjoy a better pot of tea.

There you are! Not so hard. All it requires is a teapot, an infuser, some leaves, and maybe an electric kettle. Now, with your newfound knowledge, go and make some tea for a friend. Or a stranger! After all, to again quote Uncle Iroh, “Sharing tea with a fascinating stranger is one of life’s true delights.”

– AJG

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4 Crucial Tips for Fledgling Novelists

Throughout grade school, I made several attempts to write novels. My most successful attempt was in high school; I managed to write the first 25,000 words of a fantasy novel in the span of two weeks. I was so proud of myself! Granted, I’ve looked back on that story, and it’s rife with rookie mistakes. But without writing those words, I never would have believed in myself enough to finish my first novel a few years later. And now, I’m at a point where finishing my projects isn’t a question–it’s a given.

Moreover, as I continue to finish first drafts and to revise them, I feel myself growing as a writer. Things that once required my constant attention, such as minimizing use of passive voice, now come as instinct. And yet, I can still feel so much room to grow.

What helped me get from having seven unfinished manuscripts in my writing folder to writing multiple first drafts a year? And how did I become a better writer in the process?

If you’re a fledgling novelist, whether you’re about to start your twelfth attempt at writing a novel or you’ve yet to write a word, these tips should help you finish your stories and see long-term development.

1. Form a Writing Habit

Start writing your first novel today.

You may not want to hear this. But there’s an incredibly simple way to become a better and more prolific writer. It has nothing to do with extensive plotting, watching writing lectures, or waking up at the perfect time every single day.

No, the trick is this: write. A lot.

I mentioned that I finished my first novel a few years out of high school. Well, that one was pretty bad, too. Of course, while I was writing it, I felt sure that it would see publication in no time. Accepting the truth about the quality of my novel didn’t come easy.

But without finishing that novel, I never would have finished the next one, the next one, nor the next one.

We’re creatures of habit. And if we sit down to write every single day, maybe at a certain time of day or after a certain activity, we’re going to find it a lot easier to see progress in the long term. Rather than writing 25,000 words in a two week burst, you’re going to see yourself accumulating 100,000+ words over the course of months and years.

And even if your work is “bad” in the beginning (such a broad and subjective qualifier), don’t get discouraged. No one needs to see that work. As with any other skill, you can’t expect to be a master straight away. You need time to exercise all your different writing muscles.

As Neil Gaiman says, “Assume that you have a million words inside you that are absolute rubbish and you need to get them out before you get to the good ones.”

So stop saying you’re in the “research phase” of your novel and write consistently. You can worry about constructing a fictional language for your fantasy race of not-elves later. You’ll get to those good words a lot sooner if you chip away at the bad ones every day. Even if you’re only writing a hundred words a day. Or fifty a night.

2. Read, Read, Read

Learn from the works that work.

In On Writing: A Memoir of the Craft, Stephen King writes, “If you don’t have time to read, you don’t have the time (or the tools) to write. Simple as that.”

Most of your development as a writer will come from writing. The second most beneficial activity is reading. If you can write and read consistently over time, you’re perhaps 90% percent of the way there. The other 10% is revision, feedback, and querying, but I’m getting ahead of myself.

I can’t stress this enough. Read, read, read. Read anything and everything you can get your hands on. Get a library card. Visit used book stores. Ask friends for recommendations. Reread your old favorites. Not only will you grow your vocabulary and learn what makes a good story, but you’ll also learn what you like. You’ll mimic the voices of the authors you love before you find your own. That’s okay. Figure out what you enjoy, and write something that you would want to read. Chances are, someone else will too.

If you read slow, that’s also okay. The key here is consistency. Can you do fifty pages a day? No? What about ten? Five? If you can’t read every day, what if you read a whole book every Sunday? Find a way to fit it into your schedule. Make the time, and you will be rewarded.

3. Revise and Reflect

Get ready for some criticism.

When you’ve formed a consistent habit of reading and writing, it’s time to work some new muscles. They’re related to the ones you’ve already exercised, but they’re also surprisingly different. Go through your first drafts a couple months after you’ve written them. How would you improve them now that you’ve grown as a writer? Don’t be afraid to say that you’d rip them up and start from scratch. Writing a bad novel gives you key information on what does and doesn’t work, so be honest.

Once you’ve done some editing on your own, show your work to friends and other writers. Form or join a writing group. Others will have perspectives on your writing that you would never have expected, not if you guessed at them for a hundred years. These perspectives are extraordinarily beneficial, even when they’re harsh.

However, be careful not to let others’ advice discourage you. Even well-meaning advice can be detrimental. Other writers have a tendency to say, “If it were me, I would have written it like this…” They didn’t write it. You did. Mitigate their advice through the lens of the story you’re trying to tell. But before you dismiss their advice, ask yourself if you’re being honest or stubborn.

4. Believe in Yourself

You will finish your first novel.

As Syrio tells Arya in George R.R. Martin’s A Game of Thrones, “The man who fears losing has already lost.”

Forming any good and healthy habit is hard. Fitness, dietary, and financial habits all come to mind. Think of the healthy habits you’ve successfully formed, and think of how many times you failed on your way there. Writing is no different. You’re going to trip and stumble and fall and spend six months on the worst novel anyone’s ever seen, and maybe you’ll stop writing for a while.

Don’t give up. You’re still a writer.

Very intentionally, I chose not to use the words “aspiring writer” in the title of this article. If you enjoy writing, what else do you need to consider yourself a writer? Don’t be afraid to assign yourself that label, especially if it helps you feel more legitimate in your work. You don’t need to wait until you quit your day job to be a writer.

In fact, I would argue that everyone should be a writer. Articulating one’s thoughts in a more permanent medium than speech begets reflection and development.

So write consistently. If for no one else, then for you.

– AJG

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4 Invaluable Tips for DMs Running Their First Session

So you want to run Dungeons & Dragons for your friends. Maybe you’re starting a long-running campaign, or maybe you’re just giving your forever-DM a break. Maybe you’ve never even been a played before. Whatever the case, no need to feel nervous. Anyone can be a Dungeon Master, even if they’ve only watched a few episodes of Critical Role, Dimension 20, or if they’ve skimmed the Player’s Handbook. Here are four invaluable tips for DMs to help you along the way.

1. Read the Rules

…but don’t treat them as law.

Being familiar with the rules of Dungeons & Dragons is necessary to running the game. And if you’re similar to me, you’re more like than not to overemphasize playing by the rules. However, this can actually be detrimental to a successful session.

Yes, technically casting a spell requires physical components. So technically if a player is restrained, they can’t cast spells which require somatic components. But say your wizard is really excited to cast fireball, and though their arms are bound, they want to shoot it from their mouth. What are you going to do? Point to the paragraph on page 203 of the Player’s Handbook where it says they need to have at least one hand free to cast the spell? Or are you going to let your player scream out a fireball? In this case, you might as well do the latter, seeing as a gust of wind will probably knock the wizard unconscious next turn anyway.

The point here is that the rules should feel intuitive, and if they don’t, you can make your own. By now, you’ve probably heard the acronyms RAW, RAI, and RAF. Those stand for Rules as Written, Rules as Intended, and Rules as Fun. Every DM should have their own unique blend of the three as suits their style. Besides, playing everything RAW is hard when you are managing several character sheets and monster statblocks at once. Give yourself a break.

When determining how much you want to stick to the rules, also look to your players. Some players may enjoy playing with near-exact combat rules. Others may enjoy forgoing three-hour combats in favor of quick and punchy encounters. You’ll have to make that assessment yourself. Which brings me to my next tip.

2. Know Your Players

Everyone is different.

In a game as intentionally open-ended and interpretive as D&D, there are an infinite number of perspectives on the “correct” way to play. And none of those perspectives are wrong.

Except for those of players who split the party. Their perspectives are always wrong.

Jokes aside, every set of players is going to prefer a different style of play. These six may enjoy riffing together in lighthearted, roleplay-heavy sessions. Whereas these four may enjoy difficult combats where a lack of strategy and communication will result in player deaths. And so on and so forth forever.

If you don’t know what your players would prefer, there’s a really easy way to find out. Ask them! Do they want a humorous or a serious session? Do they want to focus on roleplay or combat? What’s something they’ve never done in D&D before, but they’ve always wanted to? Curate your session to their preferences.

Oh, and know whether or not your players are going to show up on time.

Spoiler alert: they won’t.

3. Trust Your Instincts

Don’t overplan.

You don’t need to spend fifteen hours planning out each session for your players. In fact, if you do, you may be wasting your time. Yep, the rogue already got into combat with the NPC who was supposed to give the party their quest. And the bard is still in the tavern, chatting with the dragonborn who was supposed to be a background character.

You get the idea. Giving your session some structure is helpful. But too much planning can become restrictive for both you and your players. Trust that you can improvise dialogue, names, and even entire plotlines in the moment. Otherwise, when your party falls in love with the innkeeper’s dog and spends three hours trying to steal it, you’ll resent them for ignoring all the incredible plot hooks you’ve thrown their way. Or, you’ll force them back on track, leaving them unsatisfied.

That’s not very fun, is it? And what’s the point of it all if you’re not having fun?

4. Remember the Point of It All

You’re playing a game.

D&D, at its core, is collaborative storytelling. Your players are the protagonists of this story. You exist to tell them how the world responds to their actions. And at the end of the day, you’re doing this to have fun.

You may fall into the trap of feeling like it’s you versus them. This isn’t true. You’re not their enemy, trying to keep them from doing what they want. Quite the opposite. You want your players to have a good time, so they should get what they want… eventually. The hardest won victories are the most rewarding, so provide reasonable resistance and obstacles for the players to overcome.

Continually telling your players “no” doesn’t sound like much fun to me. But maybe they’re masochists. Like I said, there are no wrong perspectives. Opt for whatever will result in the most fun for everyone.

Conclusion

Just by following the tips for DMs as outlined this guide, you aren’t guaranteed to have the most impressive game of Dungeons & Dragons. However, I can promise that if you take my advice, you will have a blast playing with your friends. And that, I think, is the benchmark of success. So take a deep breath, relax, and don’t overthink it! You’re going to have fun, and afterward, make your players treat you to dinner. You deserve it.

– AJG

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