C R MYERS

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Who knows what lurks in the hearts of men? Who knows what dwells in that deep, dark-down place where fire meets ice?


Sunday, August 18, 2013

How the 10K a Day Plan Landed Me a New York Agent


How the 10K a Day Plan Landed Me a New York Agent

  You can change.
  I did.
  I began my writing career as a confirmed pantser.(writing by the seat of my pants) with only a vague idea of where I was going.
  I found writing this way, exciting and spontaneous.  It was fun to envision a scene and let characters come and go as they pleased….taking the plot wherever it happened to go.
  This worked out great until a publisher, liking one of my short stories, invited me to submit a novel. Not wanting to make him wait and possibly forget about me and my story, I told him I’d have my novel to him in a month. (I should mention I promised to submit a novel I hadn’t yet written.)
  What could I have been thinking?
  At this point I knew I had to come up with something fast, and that something had to be great. Could I afford to write the way I usually did–start with an idea and wander around until a book appeared?  No. I didn’t believe I could.
  And that is how the 10K a Day Plan began.  I didn’t realize, at the time, what a difference the new plan would make in my writing or how much I would enjoy it.  I relaxed and left the ideas flow, not worrying about the details.  I envisioned the novel as a whole and worked through the steps I would later christen the 10K a Day Plan.
  Twenty days later, Pocket Full of Die, had been written, edited, corrected, proofread, and mailed to the publisher. I had written faster, much faster than I’d ever written before.  At the time I attributed my speed to the pressure of the deadline.  I didn’t fully realize the value of the plan I’d concocted until later.
  The publisher sent me a glowing review of the novel, but found it too mainstream for his noir imprint. He urged me to send it to New York. I debated on where to send it and wavered back and forth while the manuscript lay in a drawer and gathered dust.
  In the meantime, I used and refined the 10K a Day Plan through the next few novels, liking it more each time I used it.  The more I practiced writing with the plan, the easier it became to implement the basic steps, and the faster my words flowed across the page.
  A couple of months ago,  I had the opportunity to speak with a New York agent interested innoir mysteries.  I immediately thought of Pocket Full of Die and mentioned the manuscript.  She asked me to overnight her a copy of the mystery to take with her and read on vacation.  I did.
  Two weeks later, she mailed me a contract.
  So, how did the 10K a Day Plan Land me a New York agent?
  A lot of writers read 10K a Day with the goal of writing faster.  10K a Day teaches how to achieve that goal.  If the book did nothing else, it would be worth the price on the cover.  But the plan does more than that.  By practicing the pre-writing methods explained in the book, the writer begins to work with the brain’s natural rhythm, utilizing each side of the brain, in turn, as well as in tandem, to gain optimum efficiency.
  The plot develops along designated plot points, avoiding the gaps and holes which often destroy a promising novel.  Characters grow as the story unfolds, revealing their strengths and weakness through the conflicts they encounter.
  The 10K a Day Plan landed me a New York agent by giving me the structure I needed to write an intense, nail-biting suspense novel which included a complex, but well-connected plot, and real-life characters to live in the story.  The speed was a bonus.
  The plan can do the same for you.
  The 10K a Day plan is simple and concise.  The brain absorbs and stores information best when it is presented in small nuggets against a well-laid frame of reference.  Less is usually more.  Practice the plan and watch the quality and the speed of your writing improve.
  Time is money.
  How long can you afford to wait before you try the 10K a Day Plan?  Improve your writing today.
  I wish you all the best,
  Cat :)  aka  C. R. Myers
  What some readers have to say:
C. R. Myers is a talented writer with superior expertise and a drive for excellent that is surpassed by no one. Cathy has advised, made suggestions, and offered ideas that have enhanced my writing and prepared them for publication. I have read her book, 10K a Day, and declare it is a jewel no writer should be without, but suggest it becomes a part of their daily reading. Her tips on settings, characters, formatting, plotting, and research are priceless. Surrounding your work area with cards that provide chapter outline will have you flying through your novel in no time. Having a friend like C.R. Myers is an honor and I am proud to recommend this book and suggest you make it a point to read it along with all her work and see what an expert and artist she is.
–Bobbie Shafer, Author http://www.amazon.com/Bobbie-Shafer/e/B007YKAUMW
*****
Write 10,000 words a day? This never occurred to me. Impossible—one might snicker and cough. But, C. R. Myers explains how it can be done with easy to understand and comprehend instructions. Even the doubters can get started after reading 10 K a Day—The Secret of Quality Speed Writing. The book includes lists of sites to further your desire to produce the next great novel. It would be amazing to know how many will achieve success from the guidance in this book.
-–Linda Ellis http://www.lindanelsonellis.com
*****
“Amazing concept! Something a dyed-in-the-wool panster can buy into and become a major word producer. 10K a Day here I come!”
–Kassy Paris, co-author of The Lazy M Ranch series by Kasandra Elaine
*****
You’re a writer, but have you ever written ten thousand words in one day, and continued at that same rate until your book is finished? Cathy Myers, (aka C.R. Myers) tells you how you can do this in her book, 10K a Day: The Secret of Quality Speedwriting. In the electronic age, when more people are reading and writing faster, it only makes sense, Cathy says, to use these amazing tools to write more stories in order to reach a broader audience. Planning is very important, and Cathy, speaking from personal experience, advocates writing down your ideas when they occur along with some annotation indicating why and how you want to use the ideas. All the planning leads to an emotional involvement so the writer’s enthusiasm doesn’t wane, thus slowing down productivity. Finally, Cathy (C.R. Myers) gives the reader a bonus section of six pages of sites they can use for all aspects of writing, including marketing. But there is a catch, and you can learn what it is and how to overcome it by reading 10K a Day: The Secret of Quality Speedwriting.
–Patricia LaVigne http://www.patricialavigneauthor.com
*****
Before I came across 10K A Day, The Secret of Quality Speed Writing, I couldn’t imagine writing 10,000 words a day. Within the first few pages, I went from intrigued to excited as I began to see how the strategy to increase production provided by C. R. Myers really can work. I highly recommend it to any serious-minded writer that wishes to increase the quality of their work and decrease the time that it takes to write a best-seller!
—Marlin Williams, Author http://www.amazon.com/Marlin-Williams/e/B0081S2PS8