The novel is a hefty one in terms of content as well as form. Weighing in at well over 600 pages (in 12 pt. Garamond, no less!), The Final Appearance of America’s Favorite Girl Next Door touches on a wide range of topics — show business, fame, predestination, love, reality, lucid dreaming, and standup comedy, to name just a few. To tackle these subjects, Stark offers the reader Ellen Gregory, a thirty-something standup comic turned TV superstar whose recent run-in with a murderous stalker leaves her questioning everything about the world she’s grown used to. That her world consists largely of hype and rumors only complicates matters for the increasingly cagey celebrity.

Ellen’s Hollywood narrative alone would certainly provide enough material for a provocative examination of fame and its trappings, but Stark sweetens the deal by adding virtual reality to the mix. Shortly after escaping from the confines of her successful sitcom, Ellen falls for a computer programmer whose experiments have opened a doorway into a mysterious dimension that isn’t quite real but is, in some ways, more real than real. When Michael falls prey to a vicious attack, Ellen’s world turns upside down, and her entire world — not to mention her sense of self — goes up for grabs.

Stylistically, Stark’s writing evokes a diverse range of contemporary authors. From the more “literary” camp, there’s Jennifer Egan and Don DeLillo, while the elements of science-fiction present in the novel call to mind William Gibson’s interest in virtual reality and Jamil Nasir’s examination of lucid dreaming in The Houses of Time. Complex, ambitious, and genre-bending, The Final Appearance of America’s Favorite Girl Next Door is a philosophical page turner that dares to ask what it means to really know someone.

-Review by Marc Schuster

But how do we organize the “job search”?

This is something I struggle with. The only time I remember who I sent my work to is when they send me the rejection letter. I know that’s horrible. I don’t suggest anyone do that at all. AT ALL.

Because seriously, what happens when someone does take my work and I have to go around searching for the other places I sent my work to? It’s a hassle. A mess.

Yet, I do it.

But it’s a new year. I can’t keep doing the same thing, the same way and thinking I’ll get a different result.

What I’ve decided to do is use an excel spread sheet to organize my writing.
Each piece of work has its own spreadsheet. When the story gets rejected, I move down to the next block in the excel sheet and send my piece to that magazine.

I bring this up because as writers, we need to learn the business of writing. Creating a piece isn’t the hard part; it’s dealing with the constant rejection.

I’m hoping with this new mindset and this new organization approach, I can take out the sting of rejection.

How do you organize your submissions?

With poetry, I start looking at verbs first and then changing my watery nouns to concrete, strong nouns. Then it’s time to play with punctuation. After that, I look at the end words and make sure they pack a punch.

Plays…well, I start with the second ACT first. I make sure that ACT is sharp as a tack. Then I start rebuilding the first ACT.

Short stories…. That’s a bit more difficult. It really depends on what the main problem is with the story. I tend to fix the bigger things and then start working on the words and phrasing.

I say this because I’m interested in how others attack their word vomit.

As I’m wriitng this blog, I’m eating a chocolate covered pretzel (even though watching my weight is one of my New Year’s Resolutions. The good news is I only ate one. I could have devoured the whole bag. I didn’t. Progress).

I also want to set better writing goals for myself. This generic, let’s get published this year, isn’t going to cut it. The goal is too vague and way too big. What do I define as published? Does self-publishing count? How about blogs? If I put something on facebook, does that count? See, too many questions.

This year needs to be about progress. No looking back. No comparing myself to others. This year, it’s about me my writing only.

I’ve decided to make monthy goals for myself. It will center around the things I can control, like the product, and less about the ultimate goal of getting something in print. For the month of January, my goal is to get another one act play written and work on my next full-length play. As opportunities for submissions come up, I’ll take them. However, this generic rejection after rejection is counterproductive.

I’m a writer. Write, I shall.

Anyone else have any writing goals for this month?

I know, logically, the rejection letters are great because it means my work is out there doing its job.

But emotionally, I’m a wreck.

I want to figure out why I keep doing this to myself. Why do I keep setting myself up for all this rejection?

I started asking other writers why they write thinking maybe that would help me see why I write.

Here’s some of the responses:

Michael Pfister: I write because I have to. Writing is my affirmation, my anchor to the world around me and my meager attempts to make sense of it all. I cannot stop the earth from turning, but I can write to create my personal space, where the world slows down and I can feel independent, creative, and simply alive.

Tracy R. Franklin: I write poetry to converse with others; when I craft a poem well, neither I nor the reader is alone. I write essays to educate and advocate. (Most of my essays deal with the challenges faced by those with invisible illnesses.)

Merry Deedee Jones: No choice. If I don’t write, I get increasingly crazy.

Courtney K. Bambrick: i don’t have to write. it is very easy to shut the mechanism down. but i like the mechanism and i like what it makes. i have found a great deal of solace in books, stories, poems, song lyrics, etc. and i aspire to offer something like that to other readers. does that make me sound like an asshole?

And then there’s me. Why do I write? I used to think it was because I felt compelled to do it. That was before getting my MFA. Now, after MFA, I feel like I write because I have a story to tell. Sometimes I write the life I wish I have been given. Other times I write to explore a question or a problem that’s bothering me. I also write because, it’s fun. Even with all the rejection that comes along with writing, there is something so wonderful and down right magical about creating a story.

What about you? Why do you write?

In a first draft, it seems coming up with the last sentence is the most difficult. It’s almost as if the writer is not really ready to end the novel, but the writer knows he or she has to end it in order to be able to look at the whole body of the work and start revising. Also, a last sentence is the lasting impression a writer will have on his or her reader so a lot more thought should go into it.

Below are a few last phrases that may be able to help generate that lasting last sentence. Try them out. Maybe a new short story can come from them. Or you may find your character is not done telling his or her story. Whatever these last phrases inspire, it’s all for the good because no matter what, you’re still writing.

1. that was the last time he saw her.
2. it all came down to the way she drank her tea.
3. no one remembers seeing him again, but we all recalled ever detail of that night.
4. it was the end for him, but I was only starting my new chapter.
5. as he wrote the last check, he giggled with the idea of finally being free of her.

Before when I would write, I would start drafting and the word vomit would ensue. I still think for some areas of writing this is important. Having the idea and watching it form on the paper is a great way to start working on a short story or a novel. Also, it gives you a sense of accomplishment.

However, with plays and even with poetry, I think it is important to do some research before words hit the paper.

I’m learning so much more from this research first process. Things are falling more into place because I can see how to manipulate things and situations more. Finding research first gives me a larger base for adding scenes and details. I’m more excited to write the new play, too.

I started with a Major Dramatic Question (theme). Then I looked to other plays that discussed this same theme. I looked into Greek Mythology and folktales that discuss this same theme and that is where I found the most inspiration.

So, if you never tried researching before you write, try it and let me know what happens. Hopefully you’ll have the same success or something even better.

Make a list of your character’s names.
What do they want in your story?
What is stopping them from getting what they want?
What do they need?

These questions will help you make sure your character will encounter the proper conflict and will give you a way to continue writing when you get stalled.

Today, take a story you’ve been working on and do a plot diagram of the story.
Then write down all of your characters and their names. If you need to, create a family tree for them.

Next, write a scene that takes place either before or after your story. It can be ten years before or after your story takes place or it could be five years.

The purpose of this prompt is to give you a bigger sense of the story you created. Could this short story turn into a novel? Could this novel be a series?
Experiment with this prompt and see where it takes you.