{"id":26693,"date":"2015-04-30T00:01:28","date_gmt":"2015-04-30T04:01:28","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/terribleminds.com\/ramble\/?p=26693"},"modified":"2015-04-29T09:35:47","modified_gmt":"2015-04-29T13:35:47","slug":"j-h-moncrieff-five-things-i-learned-writing-the-bear-that-wouldnt-leave","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/terribleminds.com\/ramble\/2015\/04\/30\/j-h-moncrieff-five-things-i-learned-writing-the-bear-that-wouldnt-leave\/","title":{"rendered":"J.H. Moncrieff: Five Things I Learned Writing The Bear That Wouldn’t Leave"},"content":{"rendered":"

\"\"<\/a><\/p>\n

Sometimes evil looks like a fuzzy teddy bear.<\/em><\/p>\n

Still grieving the untimely death of his dad, ten-year-old Josh Leary is reluctant to accept a well-worn teddy bear from his new stepfather.<\/em><\/p>\n

He soon learns he was right to be wary. Edgar is no ordinary toy, and he doesn\u2019t like being rejected. When Josh banishes him to the closet, terrible things happen.<\/em><\/p>\n

Desperate to be rid of the bear, Josh engages the help of a friend. As the boys\u2019 efforts rebound on them with horrifying results, Josh is forced to accept the truth \u2014 Edgar will always get even.<\/em><\/p>\n

* * *<\/p>\n

Find Out What Publishers Want<\/h2>\n

It\u2019s a lot easier to sell a story that publishers actually want (as long as you\u2019re passionate about the genre or subject) than to write the novel you<\/em> want and then try to find someone who\u2019s looking for it. If you\u2019re having difficulty getting published, give it a try.<\/p>\n

In my case, Samhain Horror wanted stories about childhood fears for a new anthology series, and I knew that was something I could sink my teeth into, so to speak.<\/p>\n

Tell Your Inner Critic to Suck It<\/h2>\n

I\u2019ve written seven novels now, and none of them had outlines. Still, every time I\u2019m about to settle in for a writing session, it happens…<\/p>\n

What if you can\u2019t figure out what happens next?<\/em><\/p>\n

What if it\u2019s not good enough?<\/em><\/p>\n

What if no one wants to publish this, and it\u2019s just a waste of time?<\/em><\/p>\n

Most writers have an inner critic. If you listen to it, it\u2019ll keep you from writing. Or it will make you rewrite your novel so many times you never finish it.<\/p>\n

Don\u2019t give it that power. Ignore it, keep writing, and eventually it will be drowned out by a torrent of words.<\/p>\n

Don\u2019t Fall In Love With Your Own Brilliance<\/h2>\n

Don D\u2019Auria, my editor at Samhain, made very few changes to this book. But the one change he did<\/em> want was BIG\u2014he didn\u2019t like my title.<\/p>\n

One the other hand, I loved it. What better title for a story about a bear that keeps coming back than It Bears Repeating<\/em>? I thought it was so clever.<\/p>\n

\u201cNo one will know what the book\u2019s about,\u201d said Don.<\/p>\n

So don\u2019t fall in love with your own brilliance. Once it\u2019s sold, anything can be changed. (And you may discover it wasn\u2019t so brilliant after all.)<\/p>\n

When Opportunity Knocks, Answer the Damn Door<\/h2>\n

I was busy writing a series when a friend told me about the Samhain call.<\/p>\n

\u201cShould I do it?\u201d I asked. \u201cI\u2019ll lose momentum with my current book.\u201d<\/p>\n

Of course my smart friend told me to go for it, and thankfully I listened. The rest is history.<\/p>\n

The timing is never perfect for anything, whether it\u2019s answering a publisher\u2019s call, writing a book, having kids, or going back to school. If you want something, go for it. You\u2019ll only regret the stuff you haven\u2019t done.<\/p>\n

Keep Breaking the Rules<\/h2>\n

When it comes to writing, I break every rule in the book. I don\u2019t outline. I don\u2019t write at the same time every day. I don\u2019t know the end of my novels before I start\u2014and yet, they always work out the way they should. Whenever someone tells me I should change my way of doing things, I smile sweetly and keep on writing. (If I\u2019m in a good mood\u2014if I\u2019m not, my response is a little on the blunt side.)<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

With The Bear Who Wouldn\u2019t Leave<\/em>, I broke another rule. Following Dean Wesley Smith\u2019s advice, I didn\u2019t give it to a million beta readers and critics. After writing the first draft, I polished it and gave it to just my copy editor before submitting. And it\u2019s the first book I\u2019ve gotten published. Go figure.<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

* * *<\/p>\n

J.H. Moncrieff loves scaring the crap out of people with her books\u2014when she\u2019s not busy being a journalist, editor, book doctor, and publicist. In her \u201cspare\u201d time, J.H. loves to travel to exotic locales, advocate for animal rights, and muay thai kickbox.<\/em><\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

J.H. Moncrieff: Website<\/a><\/span> | Twitter<\/a><\/span> | Facebook<\/a><\/span><\/strong><\/p>\n

The Bear Who Wouldn\u2019t Leave: <\/em>Amazon<\/a><\/span> | Samhain<\/a><\/span> | Kobo<\/a><\/span> | B&N<\/a><\/span>\u00a0|\u00a0Trailer<\/a><\/span><\/strong><\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Sometimes evil looks like a fuzzy teddy bear. Still grieving the untimely death of his dad, ten-year-old Josh Leary is reluctant to accept a well-worn teddy bear from his new stepfather. He soon learns he was right to be wary. Edgar is no ordinary toy, and he doesn\u2019t like being rejected. When Josh banishes him […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"jetpack_post_was_ever_published":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_access":"","_jetpack_dont_email_post_to_subs":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_tier_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paywalled_content":false,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[],"class_list":{"0":"post-26693","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"hentry","6":"category-theramble","8":"no-featured-image"},"jetpack_featured_media_url":"","jetpack_shortlink":"https:\/\/wp.me\/pv7MR-6Wx","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"jetpack_likes_enabled":true,"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/terribleminds.com\/ramble\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/26693","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/terribleminds.com\/ramble\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/terribleminds.com\/ramble\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/terribleminds.com\/ramble\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/terribleminds.com\/ramble\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=26693"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/terribleminds.com\/ramble\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/26693\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":26694,"href":"https:\/\/terribleminds.com\/ramble\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/26693\/revisions\/26694"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/terribleminds.com\/ramble\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=26693"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/terribleminds.com\/ramble\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=26693"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/terribleminds.com\/ramble\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=26693"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}