Tuesday, December 1, 2009

What are your three wishes?

Suppose you ran into a literary genie and she granted you three writing-related wishes, what would they be? You cannot choose getting published. Sorry, I needed to make it somewhat difficult. But you can choose things like tenacity to pursue your writing dreams or the strength to handle rejections or a manuscript free of spelling and grammatical errors. So what would your wishes be? Anyone?

16 comments:

  1. I love this!

    1. I'd wish the effects of all my exercising would suddenly show up on my body.

    2. I wish I would get a writing mentor.

    3. I wish my father-in-law would get better.

    As usual my wishes are random, just like most of my thoughts.

    What are your three wishes, Buffy?

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  2. Hey Sharon, only one of your wishes is writing related. No cheating (smiles). For the purposes of this exercise, can you name three-writing related wishes?

    You asked about my three wishes. Here are three:
    1. To find an agent who believes in my work and me as much as I do. A Buffy champion of sorts, I guess.
    2. A chance to be one of my characters for a day. I get to choose character. (Oh what fun that would be!)
    3. The perseverance to pursue my dreams despite the obstacles and the deadends and the potholes and the twists and turns on this long and windy road to hopeful publication.

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  3. Sorry, Buffy...I was reading in a zombie like state. So here are my three writing wishes for the genie:

    1. Some fabulous writer would email me and say, "I love your voice. I'd like to mentor you."
    2. I'd win the Children's Writer Newsletter Folktale contest.
    3. My husand would let me have a housekeeper, so I could spend more time writing and less time cleaning.

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  4. Hey you,
    I linked your literary wishes blog post to my found a genie and can't have literary wishes post and contest. I said readers had to check out your blog to qualify for my contest. I hope that was okay. Your posts are always so good. :)

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  6. 1. For the publishing world to look to all other forms of art and embrace those who publish their own work. Filmmakers are "visionary" if they produce and fund their own work. Musicians are "independent" if they make their own album to try and impress a label. Visual artists are paying their dues if they set up a stand at a festival and sell their own pieces.

    Writers, on the other hand, are pariahs and sellouts if they publish on their own, even if they pay for editing, etc. It's high time those who are already published and hold the keys to the kingdom stopped putting up roadblocks for aspiring authors. Let the marketplace decide, not someone who is threatened by a consumer buying a self-published book over their own.

    2. To synthesize the novel manuscript I have worked off and on into a query which catches someone's attention.

    3. Jonathan Tropper's gift of description.

    3a. Better spelling so I didn't have to delete this post the first time and fix two errors. ;)

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  7. Thanks Sharon for the link and Brian for participating, too. Sharon, I'm a full-time journalist and I am fortunate enough to have a housekeeper and I definitely love that. I hope both of you get all of your wishes.

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  8. 1. I wish to find an agent that loves my work and works hard to find the right fit at a publishing house.
    2. I wish for more uninterrupted time to write and that I use it wisely.
    3. I wish that children will have my book on their Christmas wish list.

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  9. Kelly, what a nice visual that last wish is. Really great to picture a child reading your book and loving it. I think that would be the ultimate. For me, it's not about making money (although that would be nice) it's about having others enjoy my work.

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  10. 1. Ditto Kelly's first! I wish to find an agent that loves my work and works hard to find the right fit at a publishing house.
    2. I wish to master the art of writing a synopsis and query!
    3. I wish to attend Writer's Workshop at Chautauqua this summer.

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  11. Nora, have you applied for a scholarship for Chautauqua? Most of my friends from the conference got a scholarship of some sort. If you don't get a scholarship, it is still well worth the money. If you have questions you can email me. skmayh@q.com

    I have promised myself when I make some sort of a book deal, I will reward myself with another trip to Chautauqua.

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  13. I just came here from Sharon's blog, so now I get three writing wishes in addition to my non-writing wishes. All right! Here they are:
    1. a never-ending supply of book ideas I just can't wait to write
    2. complete mastery of characterization and the ability to create characters that readers will love
    3. enough confidence in my writing to never give up, and enough success to never want to (or does that count as two?)

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  14. Aaah, an exercise in the frustration of longing for what I don't have. Here are my writing wishes:

    1) A fully paid year of travel expenses to go wherever I wanted in order to do research for my upcoming books.

    2)A completely arranged book tour where I could do signings, talks, and promote my books. (hey, I didn't choose getting published but I guess that would have to happen to do the tour).

    3) A brand new luxury van loaded with copies of my books, promotional materials about my work, and my portable writer's office (once again I didn't wish to specifically get published but those books would have had to come from somewhere).

    Did I cheat? Was I pulling the old "I wish that every wish that I ever wished would come true"?

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  15. Hi Buffy!


    Found my way over here by way of Sharon Mayhew's 3 wishes blog post . . . You have lovely blog here!

    Here are my 3 writing-related wishes:

    1) To find an agent that's as passionate about my middle-grade novel as I am & who will work tirelessly to find the perfect editor & house for it

    2) To purchase a laptop so I'll be able to type my ms from anywhere in my house (or even at the library!)

    3) A heaping dose of self-confidence in my writing ability

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  16. Those are great wishes Crystal. Good luck with all of your writing endeavors and I hope you visit again.

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