esymessmith

[esymessmith]

Welcome to the 15th (free!) “Dear Lucky Agent” Contest on the GLA blog. This is a recurring online contest with agent judges and super-cool prizes. Here’s the deal: With every contest, the details are essentially the same, but the niche itself changes—meaning each contest is focused around a specific category or two. So if you’re writing young adult fiction, this 15th contest is for you! (The contest is live through EOD, Wednesday, April 9, 2014.)

[esymessmith]

His feet pound the ground to the beat of his heart as he runs, and runs, and runs; his breath catching in his throat as terror chokes him. He is driven by fear and the solitary need to escape. This is the first time in seven years - since the day his brother first came into the world – that Dakin has been selfish. But now, at this moment, his brother is safe. Their mother will protect him. There is no one who can or will do the same for him. He is alone. He must survive on his own. 

As he runs, skirting around corners and flying down the long, winding corridors of his home, all he can hear is the blood rushing his ears and the steady thud! thud! thud! of his father behind him, above him, all around him. Every footstep is a sharp spur in his side, kicking him on; a constant reminder of what is at stake should he slow, should he give up, should he be caught.

[esymessmith]

Now, this is The Feeling that first inspired me to write. It was the sharp twist of the stomach that you only get when you are the character you are reading, when you feel exactly what they are feeling. When I first felt like that, I knew that that was what I wanted to do - I wanted to induce That Feeling in my readers. That was my goal. And I was successful in that. I was shameless - I knew how to press the buttons, and I knew how to make people squirm and cringe along with my character. 

[esymessmith]

There is no such thing as Writers Block, or Inspiration; you will never get perfect, absolute peace; sitting in a cafe does not provide you with any more magical powers than sitting at your desk does. Being a writer is like being a magician - you have the ability to weave spells and cast allusions that makes your audience go Ooh! and Aaah! 

But the greatest tricks are those we play on ourselves, and it is only when you allow yourself to see through the mirage that the true magic of the writer can happen. 

[esymessmith]

All it takes - literally - is a little bit of faith.

[esymessmith]

No matter how much I love what I'm working on, I will fight against doing it until the cows come home, I will give myself every excuse not to sit down at my work-space (today's excuse is that I absolutely must teach myself 'A Song for Sienna' on the piano), and I will whine about it until all my facebook friends have blocked me and my wife bans me from the kettle. 

[esymessmith]

This blog will be a source of procrastination, rambles, rants and story-telling on topics such as 'The Plight of the Arts Graduate', 'The Hilarities of the Life of the Freelancer', and 'Ugh! Why Haven't I Finished My Novel Yet???', and the like.  I will share you excerpts of what I am working on (not the ghost-writing stuff though, before anyone tries to sue me!) along with tit-bits of advice for all you writers out there.