To my great delight, I've been completely inundated with queries and proposals since I officially opened to submissions on Monday. Occasionally, I look away from my computer screen and I'm reminded that there's a world happening beyond it--one that isn't composed of letters in a row.
There are queries I know I'll reject after the first sentence. But I read them through anyway--just in case. There are queries that have nothing technically wrong with them that I reject anyway because I can't get excited about them. I've heard from writers all over the globe with stories spanning age groups and genres and oceans. I've been entertained, annoyed, excited, abused, uplifted and bored. I've requested tons of proposals. I've rejected more.
But just now, a proposal stopped me in my tracks. This author was so talented that I heard her voice in the very first short sentence. How inspiring. In everything I read, there is a specific moment when I get a flash of certainty that I'm in good hands, that I'll come away from this just the tiniest bit different--or not. In this proposal, that moment happened in the first sentence. And I just had to smile.
What about you? Have you ever had The Flash Moment?
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Timely writing tips from George Orwell
7 years ago
I love it when that happens. Frequently my Flash Moment comes with the first line or first page of a book. But often, that moment comes later, when a particularly evocative image or turn of phrase stops me. And I think, "Dang, I wish I'd written that."
ReplyDeleteAh, yes! My favorite part of being an intern and then an assistant, by far. And it is always, always, always about voice for me.
ReplyDeleteI love those moments. Though I'm not an intern I still enjoy picking up a book and reading that first sentence. Immediately you know the reason that book sold was because of their voice. Such talent among the pages. Absolutely beautiful.
ReplyDeleteLove those Flash Moments--so much fun! And like Barb H--I often think--wish I'd written that! LOL. But am excited I get to read it.
ReplyDeleteI think that's the best part of both reading AND writing. When you pick up a book and you reach that sentence that lights you on fire (particularly if it's close to the front), you know you're in for an exciting ride. When you find a moment like that in your own riding, you get the most beautiful sense of pride, because every time you look at it, you think, "Wow. I wrote that."
ReplyDelete<3 Gina Blechman
Lauren congrats on becoming an agent and recieving so many queries. I just have a small request if you don't mind. I read in your blog that you can read THE VOICE of the author. Can you write a post about it. What does it mean the voice of the author. I read this terms in other blogs but not sure what it is really. Naturally, I like to understand it so that my own novel will have a voice too. Thanks in advance.
ReplyDeleteAs an author trying to categorize his first novel, I'm battling with the definition of YA. I suspect my novel will work there, but there are doubts. My MC's heaviest action comes in high school and her first year of college. Is that outside YA? I've heard this needs nailing down so the bookstore clerks know where to place it on the racks. Well, anything wrong with filling the entire table right at the entrance? Not with a Harry Potter book, and we all know those cross right out of YA to the category known as Checkout Counter.
ReplyDeleteI had flash moments while I taught English I. I would be reading tons of papers that students wrote and all of a sudden, one sentence stood out. I'd read it aloud to my squeeze since it was so rare. I absolutely know what you're talking about.
ReplyDeleteMy God, what was that short sentence? :)
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