Monday, August 2, 2010

AGENT INTERRUPTED

Ari is angry tonight. I like an angry Ari. He gets it done. Well, most of the time. Even the best fictional agent has his bad days. Days where the usual approach isn't working. Like making a joke with Mike Tyson about biting someone's ear. The God of all agents couldn't even seal the deal with the Mrs., big balls got blue balls. 

Ouch.

Definitely in a funk. His clients didn't have nice things to say about him, didn't feel connected or appreciated. And he seemed to have a hard time finding his A Game.

So, this all had me thinking. Even agents lose their mojo. They are human after all, aren't they? I mean it's not like they're vampires or anything....Now that would be a great character. A hybrid of Ari Gold and Eric Northman. Hmmmm....now he would be the perfect fictional agent.

Eric friggin Northman.

Deadly, loyal, passionate, funny, and oh so beautiful. If pubs seem all pissy about word count or my title, he could glamour them. If I am having a hard time with my WIP he could, well, help me find my muse. Ha cha cha!

Now, being asleep all day may pose some problems. But I am a night person. Eric flys. We'd save on airfare. I am already daydreaming about him flying me around like Superman did Lois Lane.  I even see myself wear that blue dress.

I am getting off topic here. Losing my concentration. I think this picture of my ficitonal agent is glamouring me. How could it not?

But here is where Ari gets all flustered too. He veered of course. Got so big he lost the personal touch with his clients, what made him great. He lost his voice people.

All this query business has me flustered. Freaked out. Contemplating changes I never thought about before. But it doesn't mean change won't be necessary. Bottom line, my query worked on two agents. Ok, not bad. When I go back and read them, it's missing MY voice. How did I let that happen?

Here's how. I am so hung up on the rules and examples out there I forgot to put ME in it. No wonder agents aren't connecting with it.

So it's back to the drawing board. I have a  lot to figure out. My genre fit, that's first and foremost. Getting the word count down a wee bit. And making the decision where my completed MS fits in the series. It's gonna be a long week, a  lot of digging and searching.

Who knows what I'll find but it sure will be fun. Poor JAWS!

8 comments:

  1. Voice is a funny thing. We have to make sure our voice comes shining through. Just another thing to worry about, lol.
    On one of the crit sites I belong to, there's this one story I'm following and critting, and the author has become so tied up with following every single writing rule there is. Now what I've noticed about each rewrite of this MS is this writer has lost her voice. Technically the writing is flawless, but, and this is a huge but, there is no emotion, it reads flat. She has lost the voice that intially drew me into the story.
    And if me as a reader isn't connecting to it anymore, for sure an agent isn't.
    Brenda

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  2. What I want to know is, when in the hell did I become so damn hard on myself. I mean I remember perfectly back in high school I could give a rats ass whether or not my essays were any good, or if my teacher connected with what I wrote. But now, oh god! Its like I can't berate myself enough! I know that there are rules to follow, but the heart of it all is the most important. I dig your voice. You're a straight shooter, and sometimes people don't like that. But sometimes they do! I'm rooting for you bud!

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  3. Voice is so important, its what defines us as writers, storytellers. I've pulled back from all the edits, re-writes and rules at times. 'Tis the only way you can hear the whisper of your characters, and not some self righteous, I know everything agent/writer, whatever.

    Rule number one, there are no rules, only good story telling.

    And Charli, FYI, I'm totally stealing Eric, damn that man is on FIRE!

    Alter ego JAWS hasnae problem taking a wee bit o' yer MS.

    Muh ha ha ha :-)

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  4. Oh yummy! Eric an be my agent any day. Sexy and a vampire. WOW! He coulld definitly sell my books. One way or another. LOL!

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  5. I would stab someone for Eric to be my agent. Draw blood and kill. Wholly molly he is just delicious.

    Brenda, early on when I joined Rom-Critters I lost my voice for a while, got so hung up on what everyone else said, rules, I was a mess. When I go back and read BGA, the first ever attempt, it's technically horrid, but I can hear me in there. You cannot lose that.

    Kris, join a crit group. Please tell me you already have. You need an outlet, an outside person to guide you. If not, all you will hear is the self doubt and THAT will become your voice.

    JAWS, have at her. AJ, good story telling is key, in the MS and QUERY. Good one.

    Carey and AJ, ERIC IS MINE.

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  6. Oh hell, C, I was there with ya--just on another site, lol. When I started I knew nothing of rules so when I started receiveing crits I too lost some of my voice. What got me was when I reread some of my MS--all the rules applied--it was starting to sound robotic.
    So, I stepped back and learned to keep my voice and some of the rules, lol. I hope I have. I will have to ask Carey. She just finished a beta read for me.
    Yo, hey, carey........
    Brenda

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  7. Charli- I do have a crit group. We swap stories and call each other on holes that may be present in our stories. I have learned a lot about the way I write. I talk too much..lol I was using too many words to describe a simple object. I am hard on myself in all aspects of my life. I still learning what I've gotten myself into. I think more then anything I'm surprised by it all.

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  8. I enjoy visiting your blog--it's never dull, and there's always something good to walk away with!

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