I hope you and yours are coping with Corona, and sincerely hope that we will see the end of this plague soon.

It’s so good to be back in blog mode! We have many new subscribers, and I’m so thrilled – welcome to all of you!

News and discounts

My new website which, incredibly, is called DeenaNataf.com, is officially registered and under construction! I’m trying to build it all by myself. However, if I get stuck, I’ll be sure to hire a freelancer on Fiverr.

I, too, am a Fiverr Pro freelancer, and am happy to offer discounts with the following links:

1. If you and/or someone you know needs editing, copy editing, or proofreading, and has never used Fiverr before, both Fiverr and I are offering a substantial discount. This is the link to my special “new Fiverr customer” page.
2. If you and/or someone you know needs any other service, click here for my affiliate link. You will also receive a discount. There are literally thousands of services offered: websites; design and graphics; virtual assistants; digital marketing and research; video and music; legal, financial, and business consultation; data entry; health and wellness; voice-overs; stylists; online lessons; arts and crafts; etc.
3. If you have used Fiverr before but are interested in my services, here’s the link to my profile, and here’s the link to my specific service (called a “gig”). Just let me know you’re a subscriber to my blog when you contact me, and I’ll happily give you the same discount as new Fiverr customers.

P.S.

If you and/or someone you know wants me to edit, copy edit, or proofread without going through Fiverr, contact me at Deena@BulletproofWriting.com, and I’ll be happy to work on the project and give a discount.

Gorgeous writing

I’ve just finished all Elizabeth George’s books in her Detective Thomas Lynley series. George is an absolutely brilliant writer; the way she uses description is nothing short of perfect, and her lexicon is awesome.

I like George’s novels, but they’re not for the fainthearted. Her books generally contain graphic violence and language. Most of her plots have to do, even tangentially, with sex. If you can get past all these lovely things, her prose and character studies are like nothing I’ve ever encountered before. Her treatment of a character’s psychology reminds me of P. D. James, but in my opinion, is on a whole other level.

George is also famous for her books on writing, which I highly recommend: Write Away, and her new Mastering the Process: From Idea to Novel. (Affiliate links.)

Gorgeous examples

Here are two excerpts from two of the Detective Lynley books I read this spring. Take a look at George’s use of analogy, metaphor, and simile. Pay special attention to the clothing metaphor in the second excerpt:

[The door] stands open, beyond it a courtyard between whose paving stones weeds spring like unexpected thoughts.

Whoever said April is the cruelest month had never been in London in the midst of a summer heatwave. With air pollution dressing the sky in designer brown, diesel lorries draping the buildings – and the inside of noses – in basic black, and leaves wearing the very latest in dust and grit, London in late-June was the cruelest month. Indeed, it was a veritable hellhole.

You, too, can write like Elizabeth George

I challenge you to create one paragraph in which you use only one metaphor throughout. Here’s my offering:

Allegra’s brisk steps alerted her children to get into Tracking mode. As she entered the kitchen, her three mini-me’s arranged themselves flush left of the refrigerator, waiting for her critical eye. Index finger poised like a red pen, Allegra proofread the kids, assuring herself that shirts agreed with pants, and socks matched the shoes they were modifying. Formatting spoons and bowls in a precise layout on the table, Allegra shot her kids a “save as” look while she went to edit their backpacks.

Okay, it’s no War and Peace, but it’s cute and I had fun doing it.

I’d love to see the fruits of your labors! Send me your one-metaphor paragraph at Deena@BulletproofWriting.com. Perhaps I’ll publish them in my next blog!

Keep well, and I hope to bring you another blog soon. Until then, and always…

Happy writing!

Deena

Deena Nataf

www.BulletproofWriting.com

Deena@BulletproofWriting.com

When I was doing acquisitions at an indie publisher, one of the most frustrating aspects of my job was having to write a rejection letter to a hopeful author.

Sometimes the manuscript was so full of grammar mistakes and typos, I couldn’t figure out the prose. Other times the story was inaccurate (Gustave Eiffel committed suicide by jumping off his tower – not).

But most of the time I had to write that awful letter because the prose was Just. Plain. Blah.

Have you ever gotten a rejection letter? It really hurts, doesn’t it?

It strips away your confidence, leaving you depressed and frustrated. You have no idea what you did wrong, or how you could have made the book or story better.

A Solution to Rejection

What if I could help you enliven your prose?

Show you how to summon up the author inside you and transform what you know, feel, and remember into acceptance-letter-worthy writing?

Unpack concepts and techniques – with lots of examples and fun writing exercises – that will shoot you up to the heady heights of being a “real author”?

And what if I offered all this to you at half price?

For the next 48 hours, head on over and get my 10-module, premium audio course, Wake Up Your Prose: Description Unpacked, at half price!

Here’s what former students have to say:

“This course opened my mind to new material and refreshed (with a bang) things I knew. I review the modules and exercises often. It’s hard to believe the changes I’ve made to some of my writing that have produced more concise and, certainly, more fascinating reading. Sometimes I ask myself, ‘Did I really write that?’ Thanks, Deena!”

“I really gained a lot from this course! Deena has a way of forcing you (gently!) to squeeze the creativity of your soul onto paper. I loved her ideas to jump-start a short story, as well as the practical advice sprinkled throughout the course.”

“Deena’s classes are loaded with information. We learned how to pack a punch with our words and avoid common mistakes. She gave us a lot to think and write about, as well as worksheets for future reference. Both fiction and non-fiction writers, as well as copy editors and proofreaders, have a lot to gain from Deena’s courses.”

Wake Up Your Prose: Description Unpacked

Is:

• self-paced
• a breeze to implement in your own writing
• broken up into bite-size, easy-to-understand lessons
• audio, with professionally designed slides

Comprises:

• 10 modules
• 1 bonus module
• 11 comprehensive, supplementary workbooks
• 10 hands-on, fun writing assignments designed to catapult your writing to the next level…and even higher
• ebooks, pdfs, checklists, and informative articles that will enhance your writing abilities

Course Curriculum

Module 1: Description Warm-Up. Get started right away, without a bunch of fluff and time-wasting information about me and why I’m so great. (I’ve provided a bio before Module 1; otherwise, how could you trust me?)

Module 2: Method Writing. Write about your own life and develop an arsenal of emotions and experiences to apply to your prose. (And get in the habit of writing every day.)

Module 3: Description Basics. The what, why, and how of description, and description best practices.

Module 4: The Art of Storytelling. Grab your readers from the get-go and use description tools for awesome storytelling and narrative.

Module 5: Show. Learn how to get your readers to experience, not just read, your prose.

Module 6: Tell. Report facts vividly, and move your narrative along in an interesting and masterful way.

Module 7: Analogy, Metaphor, and Simile. Use what your reader knows to convey something they don’t know.

Module 8: Putting It All Together: Description Review and Reinforcement. What did we learn? Where do we go from here? Recap the course and learn something new.

Module 9: Quick & Dirty Tips for Enhanced Description. Bonus techniques and advice from a veteran editor (me).

Module 10: The “G” Word: Grammar. A non-threatening lesson on why you have a greater chance of writing success if you care about grammar.

Bonus Module: Flash Fiction. Learn the basics of this trending genre, and try your hand at a complete story in less than 1,000 words!

Buy Now

Doors close on Friday, November 29th, at 11:59 PST.

I’m not planning to offer the course at half price again (my husband made me do it this time). Don’t miss out.

Still not convinced? Here’s the sales page.

Here’s the checkout page. (No need for coupon!)

See you inside the course!

– Deena

I recently came across two articles (this one and this one) about a janitor who won the 2018 Rooney Prize for Irish Literature.

Yes, you heard that correctly: She’s on the early-morning cleaning crew at Trinity College Dublin, coincidentally the same college that gives out the prize. The Rooney is given annually to an Irish-born writer under the age of 40 “who shows great talent and ‘exceptional promise,'” and who has published only once.

The winning author’s name is Caitríona Lalley, and she received the 2018 Rooney Prize for her 2015 novel, Eggshells. In another coincidence, she’s also a 2004 graduate of Trinity.

The Rooney Prize was created by Dan and Patricia Rooney, and was given for the first time in 1976. (The late Dan Rooney is the former owner of the Pittsburgh Steelers football team.) An author cannot apply for the prize; both the candidates and the winner are chosen by a selection committee.

Ms. Lalley, who is married with one daughter, was 39 years old when she won the Rooney – the very last year she was qualified to be in the running. Her day begins at Trinity College, scrubbing rooms from 6:00 to 9:30 am, after which she comes home to care for her daughter and to write.

What we can learn from Caitríona

I found Lalley’s story inspiring for many reasons.

She never gave up

Lalley comes across as a typical Humanities graduate who couldn’t seem to find a “real” job right after graduation. However, in her case, there was a difference:

She stuck with the writing, both when she had a job and when she didn’t.

While bouncing from one job to another, Lalley also experienced serious chunks of unemployment. In 2011, she spent a year pounding the Dublin pavement looking for any type of low-level job. She was rejected time and time again. But here’s how her experiences helped when writing and promoting her novel:

1. It gave her the idea for a social misfit protagonist who spends her days walking around Dublin looking for symbols and meaning in everyday objects. This is classic Method Writing, because Lalley used her own daily walks around Dublin only as the jumping-off point for her character; that’s where the similarities end.

It’s obvious that the author herself is not a social misfit, nor was she looking for deeper symbolic meaning in city structures like her protagonist. No doubt she was able to summon the authentic feelings engendered by spending the better part of her day essentially alone and searching, and apply them to the fictional character.

2. Surviving her job rejections enabled her to survive the many rejections from agents and publishers. As quoted in one of the articles, “There were many, many rejections, but after hundreds of [them], I think I’d gotten used to being told “no.'”

Lalley believed in herself and in her book. She wasn’t too proud to clean classrooms, dormitories, and bathrooms. Her writing wasn’t just a passing fancy, an “I want to maybe write a book some day” attitude. She took herself and her dream seriously. She wrote employed and unemployed. Her personal and economic status had nothing to do with the discipline of writing.

One day, Lalley submitted her novel to a contest whose prize was a day of pitching agents and publishers. And she won. And then she pitched. And then she got published.

She has a “day job”

Lalley’s janitorial job is perfect for her “job” as a mother, she says, and is a great fit for writing. She’s finishing up a second novel – and not planning on giving up her morning work:

It works well with my writing life. I’ve had paid copywriting jobs before, but it was hard to motivate myself to sit down at the computer and write my novel once my paid work was done.

I love this! I’ve heard from both other writers and my own subscribers that after a day of writing in their paid positions, they find it difficult to sit down and write what they want. And I, too, find it difficult to write after a day of editing other people’s work.

Granted, not all of us have the “luxury” of a job that doesn’t require us to think, reason, and solve problems. Nevertheless, I’d like to put Lalley’s idea out there. It’s something worth considering for anyone who’s looking for work.

You don’t have to be a janitor, but a job that’s totally different from writing can give you more head space to sit down after work and get your write your own stuff. It reminds me of when I was writing my senior thesis in university (a hundred years ago), and I took a computer science course as a diversion from all the right-brain stuff.

She’s working on her 2nd novel

Lalley was already almost done with her second novel when she won the Rooney Prize for her first one. This is how a true author behaves, and I admire her. After all, writers write, whether what they write will be read or not.

Lest we think Lalley is outputting thousands of words per day, one of the articles pointed out that although she had struggled with her second book, she had nevertheless plugged away at it every day.

Consistency trumps all.

She’s not rich

Lalley used her prize money to pay her bills, provide day care for her daughter, and buy a water tank for her attic. It sounds as if she scrambles like most of us. And this brings us to what should be every author’s bottom line:

Writing doesn’t always pay, but we do it anyway.

Every day, over and over again, whether we’re tired, energetic, sad, happy, hot, cold, under the weather or fit as a fiddle: it’s what we do, and I feel that this is where Caitríona Lalley can have the biggest impact on us.

Caitríona’s advice

Lalley’s advice for anyone who wants to write a book? Have a paid job that is not stressful. To quote one of the articles:

It’s very hard to write if you’re emotionally drained after work, or have a job that you dread. I know that cleaning is some people’s vision of hell, but it works for me. The bills must be paid, and until that six-figure sum comes a-knocking, everyone needs a day job.

I would add three other things that I consider good advice from Lalley:

• Consistency.
• Process, not product.
• No expectations other than just getting the words down day after day after day.

***

Let’s hear from you now! Do you agree with Lalley’s advice about day jobs? Does she inspire you or discourage you? Let me know in the Comments. And, as always,

Happy writing!
Deena

Deena Nataf
www.BulletproofWriting.com
Deena@BulletproofWriting.com

We have the power and the choice to write – and rewrite – our own life stories.

As writers, we can change our life and literary narrative simultaneously by expanding our writing and publishing options. I’d like to challenge you to think and write outside the box.

If you’ve read my blog for any amount of time, or have bought my course, Wake Up Your Prose: Description Unpacked, you will know that I am not a fan of Harlequin Romances. In fact, it’s my favorite publishing house to make fun of.

However, I recently came across this article in Writer’s Digest, and it gave me a whole new perspective on the infamous publisher.

I learned that Harlequin has several extremely diverse imprints – which means several new opportunities for getting published! Aaaand… they welcome both established and beginning writers! Furthermore, the Harlequin folks promise that they read every single manuscript submitted to them.

Here’s what Harlequin has to say:

We are committed to publishing for our diverse global readership, and are actively seeking to acquire underrepresented authors, as well as stories which explore underrepresented perspectives on popular time periods.

I hear opportunity knocking.

Harlequin Series

Harlequin has 12 imprints that accept un-agented manuscripts, called “Harlequin Series.” This is great news for all of us. The bad news: They’re all in the Romance category – but there’s a range with regard to how rangy the books can be. These imprints publish only series books (which means you get to write more than one!). The names are hilarious, and some of the plots are way over the top and a bit embarrassing – to say nothing of the covers. But on the other hand, the enterprising Bulletproof Writing devotee might not want to write them off completely. (And you can always use a pseudonym.)

Here are the 12 categories in the Harlequin Series:

• Dare
  
• Desire
  
• Heartwarming
  
• Historical
  
• Intrigue
  
• Medical Romance
  
• Harlequin Presents (M&B True Love)
  
• M&B Modern
  
• Romantic Suspense
  
• Special Edition
  
• Love Inspired
  
• Love Inspired Suspense

Don’t ask me what “M&B” means; I couldn’t even get Google to give me a straight answer.

These twelve imprints range from super-explicit sex to Christian themes with no sex. And everything in between. But the bottom line is that Romance needs to be the leitmotif of each and every book.

According to the article in Writer’s Digest, Harlequin “provides very detailed ‘key elements’ they wish to see in books for each series, including word count, how explicit to get with the romance, whether the hero should be a billionaire alpha male, and other very specific details (while leaving room for creativity).”

So glad they leave room for creativity.

In any case, let’s explore a couple of these, from the raciest to the tamest.

Dare

“The heat level is explicit and described in straightforward, non-euphemistic language.”

Desire

“Passionate, dramatic and intense—a window into the world of the American elite, where the yearning of powerful men and dynamic women heightens as the drama unfolds!”

Heartwarming

This category comprises “clean, sweet, feel-good stories that readers can share with friends and family of all ages…with a focus on family and community.” Heroes are everyday types with traditional values. Although it can’t be Harlequin without romance, just make sure it’s clean romance.

Harlequin Historical

This imprint is actively looking to accept manuscripts from authors who belong to “underrepresented” communities. They would also like to publish more novels whose characters come from underrepresented communities. They want heroes to be alpha males, and their heroine needs to “emotionally challenge the hero, and inspire reader sympathy.”

You can get the rest of the scoop about each specific category by clicking here. Scroll all the way down the page to get information on Harlequin Series imprints.

Other Harlequin options

In addition to the Harlequin Series, there is one other imprint that accepts un-agented submissions: Carina Press.

Harlequin also has several imprints that must be submitted by agents, and from my research they seem to be a bit more conservative. Their covers are much less racy, too. Many of the books I explored on the Harlequin Website have been showcased by Amazon, so they’re a bit more mainstream.

Here are the imprints that require agents. Explore each one’s list, and see if you have a book idea that would fit their vision:

• Park Row Books (their literary fiction imprint)
• Graydon House (women’s commercial fiction)
• Inkyard Press (young adult in a variety of genres)
  
• HQN Books (romance, various genres)
  
• MIRA books (“binge-worthy reads”)
  
• Hanover Square Press (“fascinating stories of our world that readers can’t wait to talk about”)
  

***

The point of this article is to show you that there’s more than one way to skin a cat. Even the one publishing house everyone loves to hate might just be your ticket to publishing fame.

Think outside the box. Research a variety of publishing opportunities, and keep an open mind. Most important: Start mapping out your next writing project!

You might just find yourself the recipient of that golden acceptance letter.

Much luck to you, and

Happy writing!
Deena

Deena Nataf
www.BulletproofWriting.com
Deena@BulletproofWriting.com