Does the query process work?

All of us writers know about the dreaded query. We know that it is our one chance to get noticed by an agent. We know that we have to do everything in our power to make our query letter sing.

So, does just sending a query letter to an agent without them at least seeing your first page...is it the best option? Is an agent able to tell from just a query letter that a project is worth seeing? Does writing a good query letter mean that a manuscript will be well written? Is it the same for a bad query?

Like everything else I think this is not as simple as it seems.

On Nathan Bransford's blog he searched to answer these questions and the others that rose from them.

What did this show me? I don't have quite as much faith in the query system, I can tell you that. Reading people's queries showed me that just because an idea sounds great doesn't mean the execution will be. And execution is everything. If you have a great plot but bad writing the story falls flat.

What do I think agents should do? I think all agents should ask for at least the first page along with the query. Then if they reject us we know that there is more to it than just a sucky query. We then know there is something wrong with our manuscript, and that is important to our success. Finding what works with our writing and what doesn't.

The point of this post was to tell you all not to give up. That if an agent rejects your query not to put too much weight into it. Taste IS subjective. If your story is worth telling you will find someone to represent you.

So what do you all think? Should all agents ask for pages with the query? Or do you think just asking for the query is fine? Or should they do something different?

You tell me. In the comments.

How do you know when you need to get rid of a character?

I've been thinking about this and many other writing related questions lately. I guess I'm curious about everyone's process, to see if it is anything like mine. For me, a character needs to die when they are everything I hate, when they don't move the plot forward, when they are not planned for the book and make the book something I don't want it to be. There are quite a few reasons to "kill" a character...

What are yours? Do you ever get the feeling you need to get rid of characters before you reach the end of your first draft? What actions do you take to figure out if they really must die?

Fight Scene

Yup, my project calls for a fight scene. So, imagine my horror when I realize I can't, for the life of me, write one that I like. Maybe I am just being picky today, but I strongly suspect that my reason for being so worried is because what I have is crap. So I ask myself...how the heck do I fix this?

Does anyone have any advice to offer? Maybe a cool writers site that talks about what a fight scene needs, ect? Because I am really lost with this. I have found that, although I love reading scenes like this, I hate writing them. Maybe that's my problem? Anyway, even if it is I have to get over it. This project needs some fight scenes.

Please. If anyone could help a desperate writer out...I would greatly appreciate it. Seriously. This scene is making my eyeballs bleed...not fun.

Reading through my project.

I don't know how many of you are writers. But I have to ask this anyway, for my sanity. Have you ever, after getting started with your project, looked back on what you written and panicked? Wondered how the hell were you going to fix the mess you made? Contemplated throwing out everything and starting over?

That is where I am at now and it is not a very fun place to be. But I have not been known for finishing my writing projects, so I am going to push through this, no matter how painful it is. Besides, I am a writer that tends to hate everything I write during the first draft. I don't really have a clear idea what is good or not until the revision.

But...pushing through can sometimes be so hard. So I wanted to know what you guys do when you think your writing sucks. Do you start over from scratch? Play the lets-pretend-I-got-this-right-the-first-time game and move on? Or something completely different?

Please. Let me know in the comments.

Back on track.

I actually managed to write last night, even though I don't feel completely back yet. I am just not doing so well with the bad news, but I am trying very hard to stay positive.

So. Staying positive...my current word count is 2,928 words. That might not seem like a lot, but it is the most I have written since November, so I am happy. Plus, I have written every day since starting except for one day, which is good! If I keep this pace I'll be done with this story in less than two more weeks! (Yeah, its not novel length, my next project will be though!)

By the way, that leads me to a question I have been wondering: How many of you write even when you are NOT inspired? Because, like it or not, if I want to ever be published I realized I need to learn how to write on a regular basis. I know that in movies they have the writer that has months of writers block only to suddenly be hit with inspiration and then wildly finishes their book which becomes a bestseller... but lets face reality here. That is not how most successful writers work. They treat writing like a job, and therefore write even when they don't want to. I guess I need to keep that in mind when I feel like quitting. If I want to get anywhere in this business I have to find time to write...even if I want to be doing something else.

Just a thought.