Natalia M. Sylvester

I realize it’s been about two months since I posted. I guess that’s what happens when you move out of state while at the same time attempting to rebrand your business!

So…yeah! I am now finally settled in to my new home in Austin, TX. Remember way back when I posted about lessons on writing from Pixar? That was inspired by my husband, who’s decided to go back to school and pursue a new career in animation and visual effects! Hence, the move and my little blog sabbatical.

During my time away, while much of my days were spent juggling deadlines and sorting through junk-filled closets, trying to decide what would go in the trash versus what would go in a box with us to Texas, I had a lot of time to think about where my work was headed. When I’d tell people about our upcoming move, so many would say, “Well, at least you can take your work with you.”

I’m lucky that this is true to an extent. I’ve managed to continue working with many of my Miami-based clients, but am also looking forward to expanding my network in Austin. When trying to come up with the most effective way of doing this, I realized the answer was simple: narrow the focus. Which is funny, because that’s the same way I approach writing.

In writing, if every word isn’t getting you closer to your focus, to your main message, then why write it? One of my writer friends described this point nicely by comparing writing to a rubber band—even when you’re stretching it, it has to snap back into place. Even when getting away from your main point, you should still bring the reader back somehow.

So now that I have the chance to rebrand myself in a new network, I realize how important this focus is. On my, oh, 20, 24 hour road trip to Texas, I thought real hard about the type of writing I LOVE to do, which turns out is also the type of writing I do best. And I realized that that should be the focus of everything I do. Every job I take needs to be aligned with my goal to grow in this particular area.

I know you’re probably wondering what this new focus is. I’ll get to it, I swear, but I’m getting a new logo designed and a new business name and new website, and I just think it’ll be more fun to unveil it all at once. It’ll be like a really delayed “TA-DA!” You know, since I missed the new year around here.

Like I mentioned in a previous post, I’m still on the fence about the whole traditional books vs digital books debate. While traveling over Labor Day weekend, I’m sure I made a few airplane passengers uncomfortable as I lingered in the aisle a bit too long, peeking over their shoulders at their Kindles. Yes, they carried less baggage on board than I did with their slick screens and 1,500 book memory, but I happily sat in my seat and finished my paperback copy of Elizabeth Strout’s Olive Kitteridge. Now that I’m halfway through another book (The Art of Mending by Elizabeth Berg) I’ve noticed I’ve been hypersensitive to the experience of holding a book in my hand.

I can safely say that I’ve taken quite a few steps back towards the traditional books side of the fence, and what’s made the difference are the little things. These are things that make the experience of reading a book worth holding on to.

1. When I read a book in bed at the end of a long day, my bookmark rests on my belly, and re-inserting it into the book’s pages when I’m done brings a sense of accomplishment.

2. Squeezing the book and seeing how the bookmark’s placement moves from the beginning, to the middle, to the end of the pages. It’s progress.

3. Dog ears. Yes, I use bookmarks to keep my place, but I use dog ears when I find a line in a book that just shakes me, to the point that I know that on a random day a few months from now, when I’m making a cup of tea or heading out of my home on a hectic day, I’ll want to pluck the book from its shelf and read those lines,  let the words grab me over and over.

4. I love that when I’m done with a book, its spine is a bit worn and the cover’s edges curl up ever so slightly, proof that it was read and loved.

Would love to hear readers’ thoughts, from either side of the fence.

On a trip to San Francisco over Labor Day weekend with my husband, we were having Clam Chowder and Crab Dungeness at this  little bistro on the Wharf. The tables were small and very close to one another, and pretty soon, instead of focusing on how romantic it was, I found myself eavesdropping on the conversation next to my table. I couldn’t help it — they were talking books! And, I reasoned, it’s part of my work. The best way to write great dialogue is to listen to how people talk. It was a mini-lesson in in how dialogue can reveal character.

These two women, let’s call them Jan and Tina, were talking about Jennifer Weiner’s books. Tina had read only one of her books, but Jan was a huge fan, so she used the opportunity to talk for about ten minutes about Weiner’s entire collection, and what she liked/disliked about each and every one. Tina mostly nodded and smiled politely while Jan described at length and in unnecessary detail for this level of friendship, how her boyfriend was totally the same as the boyfriend in Good in Bed. The few words Tina got in to the conversation were “That’s usually what’ll keep me reading an author, if I can really relate to the people in them.” (Proof that you can say a lot with very little words, or say very little in a lot of words).

Jan kept talking about said boyfriend, then transitioned into yogurts, how she’ll only eat X type of yogurt and is thankful that X type got her into yogurts in the first place, because she knows yogurt’s good for her but has hated every other type she’s tried since. When the check came, she suggested they split the bill evenly, even though she’d had much more to eat and drink than Tina. Tina agreed.

I was fascinated because, had this been a book, there were many conclusions we could’ve come to about these characters. Read the rest of this entry »

You knew this was coming. Everyone’s talking about it. Local news stations have an account. Your kids’ PTA has one. Most of the blogs you follow have one. Heck, even your dry cleaner has one.

So what can you really get out of Twitter other than updates on your friends’ lunches and the whereabouts of your coworkers on their off days?

Short, insightful glimpses into the lives of people that matter to you.

Now, let’s not get personal. I’m not talking about a best friend or a grandchild. I’m talking about people that matter to your goals. I was just as hesitant to join Twitter as the next guy until I realized how many literary agents tweet little nuggets of information to whomever is willing to listen in. The result is that I’ve learned more about publishing from Twitter than I would have from any book. Getting the information in such concise spurts (and from so many different perspectives) leaves no room for jargon or overwhelming confusion. The point is…people get to the point.

The hardest thing about joining Twitter is figuring out who to follow (follow me!). Shameless plug aside, if you have a book in the works and you’d like to learn a thing or two about publishing, here are my recommendations for some of the most informative literary agents you’ll find on Twitter (shall we call them Twiterary agents? Sound too creepy? Yeah, I thought so, too). Read the rest of this entry »