I think I'm one of the last guest contributors to be posted (and on the last day of June!), but today is all about my FIRST guest post at Writer Unboxed. Please click on through to read my article "Defeat the Wicked Witch of Writer's Block."
I absolutely LOVE the picture they chose. It's like a modern-day Dorothy in ruby (ballet flat) slippers, complete with fishnet stockings and a tattoo (sidenote: I do not wear fishnet stockings nor do I have any tattoos, but I still think that picture totally captures my essence).
As usual, there is no obligation to comment, but if you would like to, please do so at Writer Unboxed rather than here.
Thanks!
~Lydia
Wednesday, June 30, 2010
Tuesday, June 29, 2010
Book Review: ARCADIA FALLS by Carol Goodman
LOVED this book. I can't remember the last time I read something that had me so tightly in its clutches that I seriously could NOT put it down. I lost sleep because of this book, and it was SO worth it.
For my official review, click HERE.
~Lydia
Tuesday Tunes - Credit Roll
My recent viewing of the newest Sherlock Holmes movie got me thinking of how the closing credits of a film are always set to music, and this creates a distinct mood. I'm not going to do an official review of the movie, but I will say this: It is worth renting, especially if you are already a fan of Sherlock Holmes films. It features two of my most favorite actors, Robert Downey, Jr. and Jude Law, and is true to the characters and style of previous films (Holmes' brilliant deductive reasoning, Watson's cynicism, supernatural elements exposed as nothing more than clever science and parlor tricks, etc.) while at the same time offering fresh aspects that keep you thoroughly engaged and sometimes laughing out loud (many satisfying explosions and near-death incidents, Holmes and Watson are quite adept at hand-to-hand combat, Holmes constantly experimenting on Watson's pet bulldog, etc.). Also, there is clear set-up for a sequel, so you might want to get on this train before it reaches the next station.
If you want to know a bit more about the story, click here. The closing credits highlight a few of the interesting points of the movie through impressive artwork and downright awesome music, composed by none other than the great Hans Zimmer.
I've always been intrigued by innovative ways to get the audience to sit through the closing credits. Those names are important. It takes a helluva lot of people to make a movie, and they should be given credit for their work. But simply rolling their names past our faces in teeny-tiny print really doesn't do it any justice. Setting the credits to music helps--it reminds the audience of the theme song they've heard throughout the film, and any distinctly unique songs used at different points--but that alone is still not enough to keep people in their seats (unless they know there is a surprise clip afterward).
I will sit through credits (either opening or closing) if they are set to some kind of story, or wow me with clever imagery. The Sherlock Holmes movie shows an excellent way to do this at the end. There are also a couple I can think of off the top of my head that do this effectively at the beginning (Spiderman 3, X-Men Origins: Wolverine --sorry, no vid available for that one).
Are there any credit rolls you were impressed with, either at the opening or closing?
~Lydia
If you want to know a bit more about the story, click here. The closing credits highlight a few of the interesting points of the movie through impressive artwork and downright awesome music, composed by none other than the great Hans Zimmer.
I've always been intrigued by innovative ways to get the audience to sit through the closing credits. Those names are important. It takes a helluva lot of people to make a movie, and they should be given credit for their work. But simply rolling their names past our faces in teeny-tiny print really doesn't do it any justice. Setting the credits to music helps--it reminds the audience of the theme song they've heard throughout the film, and any distinctly unique songs used at different points--but that alone is still not enough to keep people in their seats (unless they know there is a surprise clip afterward).
I will sit through credits (either opening or closing) if they are set to some kind of story, or wow me with clever imagery. The Sherlock Holmes movie shows an excellent way to do this at the end. There are also a couple I can think of off the top of my head that do this effectively at the beginning (Spiderman 3, X-Men Origins: Wolverine --sorry, no vid available for that one).
Are there any credit rolls you were impressed with, either at the opening or closing?
~Lydia
Monday, June 28, 2010
Revisions, Rewrites, Rearranging, and Realism
Last Monday Alison brought up this question in the comments:
How does the re-writing phase go for you? I am concerned the re-writing phase will become confusing if I don't do it methodically, but no one ever talks about the re-writing phase....
To start, I'd like to point out that there are quite a few discussions going on about rewriting. It is talked about on writers' forums and blogs almost as often as first drafts and query letters. In Alison's defense, though, it is probably not something currently being discussed on the sites that she personally visits.
As one example, here are a couple of excellent articles recently posted at Writer Unboxed. The first is from an unpublished novelist, the second from a bestselling author. We can learn from both.
Editing: An Enlightened Approach by Erika Liodice
The Craft of Revising by Allison Winn Scotch
But no matter how similar our processes might be, we are all different in some way. That is the beauty of working in a creative field: you get to make it your own. The original question asked about my rewriting phase, so here goes...
The details are different for every project, no matter what the genre and no matter what the length (novels or short fiction). The basics, however, remain the same.
1. First draft, with minor revisions/editing as I go along. Emphasis on the word minor. I talked about this more extensively in a previous post, here.
2. Second draft = the bulk of my revisions. Now that I have the complete story, I can usually see where the major holes are that need to be filled, or where a certain passage might fit better (perhaps in a later or earlier chapter than it had originally been written). The latter is what I call rearranging. You're not actually rewriting anything yet, just moving it around.
Then I make an full pass of the entire piece from beginning to end. The first one to three chapters usually get the most rewrites. Not because you wrote it wrong on purpose, but because there were inevitably things about the story and characters that you didn't know until finishing the whole thing, themes emerged that you want to hint at early on, etc.
This first full pass is also where a lot of cutting occurs, which requires you to step out of the emotion of the first draft phase and take a more analytical look at your writing. This is where realism comes into play. It's difficult to remove something you've written; it can feel like you're cutting off a limb.
But new addtions go hand-in-hand with cutting, so it's not a total loss. Sometimes you cut sentences (or paragraphs, or pages, or whole chapters) because what you've rewritten or added makes them unnecessary. The result is a better presentation of your story. Sacrifice one for the good of the whole... or however that saying goes.
Since I can't turn off my Inner Editor, I correct technical errors (again!) during the second draft as well.
3. Third draft = a final polish. This includes reading the piece out loud. You'd be surprised how much awkward wording you can correct by doing this, and how many (more!) typos you find.
Then I send it to the betas. While I'm waiting for their feedback, I work on my pitch (if it's a novel), which I talked about in the latter portion of a previous post, here. Once they send me their comments and suggestions (which always includes pointing out even more typos I missed), I go through it again. If any major rewrites are needed, I send them the portion I rewrote to make sure it jives.
After that, the only feedback I want is from editors and/or agents. Later revisions do sometimes occur, based on that. With the exception of my first novel (the practice child that refuses to be rewritten to an acceptable form), that is what I've done for every project. I try not to get tied up in neverending rewrites, which can easily happen. I have too many other projects waiting for my attention to allow one to hold me back (as I said, with the exception of my first novel... but that one is currently shelved while I work on other things, so I'm not truly allowing it to slow me down).
It can be overwhelming if you think about how much work you have ahead of you rather than focusing on what is right in front of you. As with writing the first draft, the best way to get through the second and third drafts is by taking it one page/chapter/section at a time. Focus on making each scene the best it can be, then read the whole thing from beginning to end to find errors in the relatively bigger issues, such as pacing.
The most important thing I've found that helps with revisions is to give yourself breathing room. Most of my "second draft epiphanies" occur when I'm away from the laptop, either taking a forced break or simply working on something else in my day to day life, such as cleaning. When you're in first draft mode, you usually have epiphanies that are more like revelations about what happens next in the story, or some secret a character had in their past that explains a certain motivation, etc.
Second draft epiphanies are just as exciting, but are on a completely different plane. I will actually see words and sentences in my head... a perfect description, a line of witty dialogue, etc... and will sometimes see new scenes that need to be added to bridge a gap I hadn't even realized was there the first time through. Once I stop having these (or they are few and far between... like listening for the less frequent pops in microwave popcorn), I know I'm ready for the final polish. Like I said, editing and revisions can go on forever, so you have to cut yourself off at a reasonable point and force yourself into the next phase: submissions.
My personal process has required a lot of trial and error to get to this point. Don't be discouraged when you realize you've wasted your time on something, or you applied some bad advice, or you can't see the end of your second draft past the mountain of revisions, etc. It's all part of finding what works best for you. Writing and rewriting is always going to be "work", but the more you practice, the less mistakes you'll make and the work will become easier.
Does anyone else have any tried and true tips about the rewriting phase they'd like to share?
~Lydia
How does the re-writing phase go for you? I am concerned the re-writing phase will become confusing if I don't do it methodically, but no one ever talks about the re-writing phase....
To start, I'd like to point out that there are quite a few discussions going on about rewriting. It is talked about on writers' forums and blogs almost as often as first drafts and query letters. In Alison's defense, though, it is probably not something currently being discussed on the sites that she personally visits.
As one example, here are a couple of excellent articles recently posted at Writer Unboxed. The first is from an unpublished novelist, the second from a bestselling author. We can learn from both.
Editing: An Enlightened Approach by Erika Liodice
The Craft of Revising by Allison Winn Scotch
But no matter how similar our processes might be, we are all different in some way. That is the beauty of working in a creative field: you get to make it your own. The original question asked about my rewriting phase, so here goes...
The details are different for every project, no matter what the genre and no matter what the length (novels or short fiction). The basics, however, remain the same.
1. First draft, with minor revisions/editing as I go along. Emphasis on the word minor. I talked about this more extensively in a previous post, here.
2. Second draft = the bulk of my revisions. Now that I have the complete story, I can usually see where the major holes are that need to be filled, or where a certain passage might fit better (perhaps in a later or earlier chapter than it had originally been written). The latter is what I call rearranging. You're not actually rewriting anything yet, just moving it around.
Then I make an full pass of the entire piece from beginning to end. The first one to three chapters usually get the most rewrites. Not because you wrote it wrong on purpose, but because there were inevitably things about the story and characters that you didn't know until finishing the whole thing, themes emerged that you want to hint at early on, etc.
This first full pass is also where a lot of cutting occurs, which requires you to step out of the emotion of the first draft phase and take a more analytical look at your writing. This is where realism comes into play. It's difficult to remove something you've written; it can feel like you're cutting off a limb.
But new addtions go hand-in-hand with cutting, so it's not a total loss. Sometimes you cut sentences (or paragraphs, or pages, or whole chapters) because what you've rewritten or added makes them unnecessary. The result is a better presentation of your story. Sacrifice one for the good of the whole... or however that saying goes.
Since I can't turn off my Inner Editor, I correct technical errors (again!) during the second draft as well.
3. Third draft = a final polish. This includes reading the piece out loud. You'd be surprised how much awkward wording you can correct by doing this, and how many (more!) typos you find.
Then I send it to the betas. While I'm waiting for their feedback, I work on my pitch (if it's a novel), which I talked about in the latter portion of a previous post, here. Once they send me their comments and suggestions (which always includes pointing out even more typos I missed), I go through it again. If any major rewrites are needed, I send them the portion I rewrote to make sure it jives.
After that, the only feedback I want is from editors and/or agents. Later revisions do sometimes occur, based on that. With the exception of my first novel (the practice child that refuses to be rewritten to an acceptable form), that is what I've done for every project. I try not to get tied up in neverending rewrites, which can easily happen. I have too many other projects waiting for my attention to allow one to hold me back (as I said, with the exception of my first novel... but that one is currently shelved while I work on other things, so I'm not truly allowing it to slow me down).
It can be overwhelming if you think about how much work you have ahead of you rather than focusing on what is right in front of you. As with writing the first draft, the best way to get through the second and third drafts is by taking it one page/chapter/section at a time. Focus on making each scene the best it can be, then read the whole thing from beginning to end to find errors in the relatively bigger issues, such as pacing.
The most important thing I've found that helps with revisions is to give yourself breathing room. Most of my "second draft epiphanies" occur when I'm away from the laptop, either taking a forced break or simply working on something else in my day to day life, such as cleaning. When you're in first draft mode, you usually have epiphanies that are more like revelations about what happens next in the story, or some secret a character had in their past that explains a certain motivation, etc.
Second draft epiphanies are just as exciting, but are on a completely different plane. I will actually see words and sentences in my head... a perfect description, a line of witty dialogue, etc... and will sometimes see new scenes that need to be added to bridge a gap I hadn't even realized was there the first time through. Once I stop having these (or they are few and far between... like listening for the less frequent pops in microwave popcorn), I know I'm ready for the final polish. Like I said, editing and revisions can go on forever, so you have to cut yourself off at a reasonable point and force yourself into the next phase: submissions.
My personal process has required a lot of trial and error to get to this point. Don't be discouraged when you realize you've wasted your time on something, or you applied some bad advice, or you can't see the end of your second draft past the mountain of revisions, etc. It's all part of finding what works best for you. Writing and rewriting is always going to be "work", but the more you practice, the less mistakes you'll make and the work will become easier.
Does anyone else have any tried and true tips about the rewriting phase they'd like to share?
~Lydia
Saturday, June 26, 2010
Book Stacks
I have stacks of books all over my apartment, and one is actually a simple cardboard box. I thought it would be fun to share what's in my stacks. Haha.
I'll start with the box, since that's the easiest. Cookbooks. I have too many of them and don't use ANY. Most of them are from Pillsbury and Betty Crocker. I have this vision of myself actually cooking something in one of those books one day... someday.
There is also a random collection of other nonfiction books that I have read but don't need them to be readily available at the moment, or just found it convenient to throw them in there. These cover the following topics: gems and jewelry, horseback riding, Sudoku and crossword puzzles.
Also in that box are the few novels that I own and that I HAVE READ in the past year. Many (but not all) were bought as "used, but in like-new condition" for dirt cheap online. And yeah, they look and feel brand new, which is awesome. Even with the shipping costs, they were a fraction of the list price. I loves me a bargain.
Here are the titles of those novels, no particular order (sorry but I don't have time to link all of these today):
The Last Will of Moira Leahy by Therese Walsh
7th Son: Descent by J.C. Hutchins
Matter by Iain M. Banks
The Forever War by Joe Haldeman
Happiness Sold Separately by Lolly Winston
Small Miracles by Edward M. Lerner
The Dragonriders of Pern (original trilogy all in one book) by Anne McCaffrey
Shadows & Light: Tales of Lost Kingdoms (anthology that includes my short story)
Alex and the Ironic Gentleman by Adrienne Kress
The Lost Fleet: Dauntless by Jack Campbell
Bones to Ashes by Kathy Reichs
CEO by Patricia E. Gitt
Gravity's Rainbow by Thomas Pynchon
Wow. Okay, that's a lot, and it doesn't even include the ones that I borrowed from the library. I didn't think I'd been reading that much, but apparently, I was wrong. Moving on...
In the same room that holds said box (which is supposed to be my son's bedroom but looks more like a storage shed) is our lovely hand-me-down PIANO. Next to the piano is a stack of music books. Yes, I play. No, not as often as I'd like to.
In the kitchen I have a makeshift desk that was once my son's highchair. He doesn't need it anymore; he's almost as tall as I am and he's only six. We've sold the crib, but I still use the highchair. Next to the highchair (which is covered in paperwork that probably needs my attention in some way, I'm sure) the corner of our huge kitchen table has been reserved for a stack of books.
In this corner stack is the following (all nonfiction):
The Ultimate Cheapskate's Road Map to True Riches by Jeff Yeager (Jeff is an online friend from Writer's Digest and I believe his second book was released just this month. Anything written by him is highly recommended. He doesn't tell you how to get rich, but how to save money and be content living the simple life.)
The Writing & Critique Group Survival Guide by Becky Levine
Between the Lines by Jessica Paige Morrell
The Elements of Style by William Strunk, Jr.
The First Five Pages by Noah Lukeman
2009 Novel & Short Story Writer's Market
Webster's Dictionary
American Heritage Thesaurus
In my living room, one of the end tables has a magazine/book rack underneath. This is where I keep my son's books that have somehow overflowed from his personal bookshelf in his bedroom. There is a random collection of GameInformer magazines, children's picture books, Star Wars "first readers", sticker books, and even some adult nonfiction (from here I can see one about snakes and reptiles, and another about the solar system and the universe beyond).
There is also a bookshelf full of religious informatives here (including several versions of the Bible), and next to that is a very random bookshelf. Very. Random. On the top shelf alone are the following items: our wedding album, a clock, 80's-style head phones (they're huge), an old smoke detector (I'm assuming it's broken), LCD screen cleaner, a roll of carnival tickets... you get the idea. Below that it looks a little more organized. One of the sections is solely dedicated to my old college textbooks. (Oh, for those of you who don't know, I went to school to be a pharmacy technician. I'm not as stupid/ditzy as I appear sometimes.)
On another end table in the living room is my "official" writing area. My laptop is here, and so is a small collection of my son's current favorite toys (for easy access... because it's a whole five more feet to the corner where his multiple and overstuffed toy boxes are). One corner of this table has (yet another!) stack of books.
This is my most "active" stack, because it's right where I am most of the time, sitting here typing. It includes books I'm currently reading or am going to read soon, the writing books I refer to most often, and my notebook for plotting and ideas. There is also a pen. That comes in handy.
Aside from the notebook, here is what is currently in that stack (this often changes for obvious reasons):
Arcadia Falls by Carol Goodman (OMG, this book is SO good you have no idea)
Sherlock Holmes (erm... the movie, that is. It's a rental and (crap!) I just realized it's due tomorrow and I haven't watched it yet)
True Colors by Kristin Hannah
Save the Cat! by Blake Snyder
How To Write Science Fiction & Fantasy by Orson Scott Card
The Fire In Fiction by Donald Maass
For my final stack--which is on the floor in a canvas tote--here is what Joe and I checked out from the library two days ago (which includes Arcadia Falls, but since I'm reading it at the moment, it's on my table):
The Endless Forest by Sara Donati
The Best of Jim Baen's Universe, 2006 edition
Dies the Fire by S.M. Stirling
With the Lightnings by David Drake
DAW 30th Anniversary anthology
The Tuloriad by John Ringo & Tom Kratman
So what's in YOUR stacks?
Happy reading,
~Lydia
I'll start with the box, since that's the easiest. Cookbooks. I have too many of them and don't use ANY. Most of them are from Pillsbury and Betty Crocker. I have this vision of myself actually cooking something in one of those books one day... someday.
There is also a random collection of other nonfiction books that I have read but don't need them to be readily available at the moment, or just found it convenient to throw them in there. These cover the following topics: gems and jewelry, horseback riding, Sudoku and crossword puzzles.
Also in that box are the few novels that I own and that I HAVE READ in the past year. Many (but not all) were bought as "used, but in like-new condition" for dirt cheap online. And yeah, they look and feel brand new, which is awesome. Even with the shipping costs, they were a fraction of the list price. I loves me a bargain.
Here are the titles of those novels, no particular order (sorry but I don't have time to link all of these today):
The Last Will of Moira Leahy by Therese Walsh
7th Son: Descent by J.C. Hutchins
Matter by Iain M. Banks
The Forever War by Joe Haldeman
Happiness Sold Separately by Lolly Winston
Small Miracles by Edward M. Lerner
The Dragonriders of Pern (original trilogy all in one book) by Anne McCaffrey
Shadows & Light: Tales of Lost Kingdoms (anthology that includes my short story)
Alex and the Ironic Gentleman by Adrienne Kress
The Lost Fleet: Dauntless by Jack Campbell
Bones to Ashes by Kathy Reichs
CEO by Patricia E. Gitt
Gravity's Rainbow by Thomas Pynchon
Wow. Okay, that's a lot, and it doesn't even include the ones that I borrowed from the library. I didn't think I'd been reading that much, but apparently, I was wrong. Moving on...
In the same room that holds said box (which is supposed to be my son's bedroom but looks more like a storage shed) is our lovely hand-me-down PIANO. Next to the piano is a stack of music books. Yes, I play. No, not as often as I'd like to.
In the kitchen I have a makeshift desk that was once my son's highchair. He doesn't need it anymore; he's almost as tall as I am and he's only six. We've sold the crib, but I still use the highchair. Next to the highchair (which is covered in paperwork that probably needs my attention in some way, I'm sure) the corner of our huge kitchen table has been reserved for a stack of books.
In this corner stack is the following (all nonfiction):
The Ultimate Cheapskate's Road Map to True Riches by Jeff Yeager (Jeff is an online friend from Writer's Digest and I believe his second book was released just this month. Anything written by him is highly recommended. He doesn't tell you how to get rich, but how to save money and be content living the simple life.)
The Writing & Critique Group Survival Guide by Becky Levine
Between the Lines by Jessica Paige Morrell
The Elements of Style by William Strunk, Jr.
The First Five Pages by Noah Lukeman
2009 Novel & Short Story Writer's Market
Webster's Dictionary
American Heritage Thesaurus
In my living room, one of the end tables has a magazine/book rack underneath. This is where I keep my son's books that have somehow overflowed from his personal bookshelf in his bedroom. There is a random collection of GameInformer magazines, children's picture books, Star Wars "first readers", sticker books, and even some adult nonfiction (from here I can see one about snakes and reptiles, and another about the solar system and the universe beyond).
There is also a bookshelf full of religious informatives here (including several versions of the Bible), and next to that is a very random bookshelf. Very. Random. On the top shelf alone are the following items: our wedding album, a clock, 80's-style head phones (they're huge), an old smoke detector (I'm assuming it's broken), LCD screen cleaner, a roll of carnival tickets... you get the idea. Below that it looks a little more organized. One of the sections is solely dedicated to my old college textbooks. (Oh, for those of you who don't know, I went to school to be a pharmacy technician. I'm not as stupid/ditzy as I appear sometimes.)
On another end table in the living room is my "official" writing area. My laptop is here, and so is a small collection of my son's current favorite toys (for easy access... because it's a whole five more feet to the corner where his multiple and overstuffed toy boxes are). One corner of this table has (yet another!) stack of books.
This is my most "active" stack, because it's right where I am most of the time, sitting here typing. It includes books I'm currently reading or am going to read soon, the writing books I refer to most often, and my notebook for plotting and ideas. There is also a pen. That comes in handy.
Aside from the notebook, here is what is currently in that stack (this often changes for obvious reasons):
Arcadia Falls by Carol Goodman (OMG, this book is SO good you have no idea)
Sherlock Holmes (erm... the movie, that is. It's a rental and (crap!) I just realized it's due tomorrow and I haven't watched it yet)
True Colors by Kristin Hannah
Save the Cat! by Blake Snyder
How To Write Science Fiction & Fantasy by Orson Scott Card
The Fire In Fiction by Donald Maass
For my final stack--which is on the floor in a canvas tote--here is what Joe and I checked out from the library two days ago (which includes Arcadia Falls, but since I'm reading it at the moment, it's on my table):
The Endless Forest by Sara Donati
The Best of Jim Baen's Universe, 2006 edition
Dies the Fire by S.M. Stirling
With the Lightnings by David Drake
DAW 30th Anniversary anthology
The Tuloriad by John Ringo & Tom Kratman
So what's in YOUR stacks?
Happy reading,
~Lydia
Friday, June 25, 2010
Guest Blogger: The Rejectionist Shares a Little-Known Source of Literary Delight
For our final day of Book Review Month, please give a hearty welcome to a TRULY AWESOME lady, someone who really needs no introduction, but if you want one, click here (and replace the name Sir Ulrich Von Lichtenstein with The Rejctionist, Le R, Harbinger of the Apocalypse, etc).
---
We don't meet
many other people who grew up reading John Bellairs. Even the most obsessively nerdy of our fellow bibliophiles rarely seem to have heard of him, although he published prolifically during his lifetime and his various series have been continued posthumously by the young adult writer Brad Strickland. But anyone we've ever encountered who does know John Bellairs loves him the way we do: with an irrational, gleeful, and all-consuming delight.
Irrational because John Bellairs' books are not, as a whole, particularly good. Though the books of the original Lewis Barnavelt trilogy (The House with a Clock in Its Walls, The Figure in the Shadows, and The Letter, the Witch, and the Ring) are masterpieces of creepy Gothic horror, many of his other books are clunky and awkward; they often rely on questionable stereotypes of other cultures (enchanted voodoo drums, Haitian zombies, etc.); and they are undeniably (and totally unintentionally) campy. But there's something so gleefully enchanting about them, so soothing, so deliciously sinister (Lovecraft lite, maybe) that we've been rereading them obsessively for the last twenty-odd years--so much so that we have whole chunks of them committed to memory. Bellairs' books always take place in a 1950s idyll, a small town of unlocked doors and cookie-baking grandmothers (parents are often deceased through tragic circumstances or otherwise detained, and caring relatives step in to caregive). With the exception of The Letter, the Witch, and the Ring, the hero is always a small (white, obviously) boy, nerdy and, in the case of hapless Lewis Barnavelt, physically timid (Lewis's friend Rose Rita, a plucky tomboy, stars in Letter, and plays a prominent role in the other Lewis Barnavelt books, but Lewis is definitely the focal protagonist). An artifact is discovered which has been enchanted through various means, usually involving corpses and/or human sacrifice; the unwitting discoverer (the aforementioned small boy) sets off a chain of events that release an evil sorcerer (or occasionally sorceress) who, if not stopped, will Take Over the World/Universe. The sorcerer/ess is always foiled at the absolute last minute via some arcane Catholic object (splinter of True Cross, holy water, etc.) and the research of a wacky old codger who turns out to be an expert on the supernatural. Though the children always act with adult assistance, in the end they are frequently on their own: with the adults incapacitated by evil magic, it's always up to them to save the world.
As an adult, we've more than once tried to put our finger on what it is we still love about these books. It's certainly nostalgia, but there's something more behind it; for all their cheesy melodrama, the books often manage to capture perfectly the strange and alienating loneliness of childhood. Maybe it's the eerie winter storms, deserted islands in the wilderness of Maine, looming haunted mansions, adults who won't believe until the end is nearly upon them, and creepy old guys trying to destroy the universe, or maybe it's that none other than Edward Gorey himself illustrated the frontispieces for the original editions (the books have been rereleased over the years with dozens of other, vastly inferior covers, and it's an entirely different experience reading anything other than the Gorey editions). Whatever it is, there's a magic to these books that has never faded.
[The Rejectionist heartily recommends beginning with The House With a Clock In Its Walls.]
---
We don't meet
many other people who grew up reading John Bellairs. Even the most obsessively nerdy of our fellow bibliophiles rarely seem to have heard of him, although he published prolifically during his lifetime and his various series have been continued posthumously by the young adult writer Brad Strickland. But anyone we've ever encountered who does know John Bellairs loves him the way we do: with an irrational, gleeful, and all-consuming delight.Irrational because John Bellairs' books are not, as a whole, particularly good. Though the books of the original Lewis Barnavelt trilogy (The House with a Clock in Its Walls, The Figure in the Shadows, and The Letter, the Witch, and the Ring) are masterpieces of creepy Gothic horror, many of his other books are clunky and awkward; they often rely on questionable stereotypes of other cultures (enchanted voodoo drums, Haitian zombies, etc.); and they are undeniably (and totally unintentionally) campy. But there's something so gleefully enchanting about them, so soothing, so deliciously sinister (Lovecraft lite, maybe) that we've been rereading them obsessively for the last twenty-odd years--so much so that we have whole chunks of them committed to memory. Bellairs' books always take place in a 1950s idyll, a small town of unlocked doors and cookie-baking grandmothers (parents are often deceased through tragic circumstances or otherwise detained, and caring relatives step in to caregive). With the exception of The Letter, the Witch, and the Ring, the hero is always a small (white, obviously) boy, nerdy and, in the case of hapless Lewis Barnavelt, physically timid (Lewis's friend Rose Rita, a plucky tomboy, stars in Letter, and plays a prominent role in the other Lewis Barnavelt books, but Lewis is definitely the focal protagonist). An artifact is discovered which has been enchanted through various means, usually involving corpses and/or human sacrifice; the unwitting discoverer (the aforementioned small boy) sets off a chain of events that release an evil sorcerer (or occasionally sorceress) who, if not stopped, will Take Over the World/Universe. The sorcerer/ess is always foiled at the absolute last minute via some arcane Catholic object (splinter of True Cross, holy water, etc.) and the research of a wacky old codger who turns out to be an expert on the supernatural. Though the children always act with adult assistance, in the end they are frequently on their own: with the adults incapacitated by evil magic, it's always up to them to save the world.
As an adult, we've more than once tried to put our finger on what it is we still love about these books. It's certainly nostalgia, but there's something more behind it; for all their cheesy melodrama, the books often manage to capture perfectly the strange and alienating loneliness of childhood. Maybe it's the eerie winter storms, deserted islands in the wilderness of Maine, looming haunted mansions, adults who won't believe until the end is nearly upon them, and creepy old guys trying to destroy the universe, or maybe it's that none other than Edward Gorey himself illustrated the frontispieces for the original editions (the books have been rereleased over the years with dozens of other, vastly inferior covers, and it's an entirely different experience reading anything other than the Gorey editions). Whatever it is, there's a magic to these books that has never faded.
[The Rejectionist heartily recommends beginning with The House With a Clock In Its Walls.]
Thursday, June 24, 2010
My Dream Agent Is Out There... Maybe
My current agent search has me feeling like little orphan Annie, wondering where her wonderful parents are. This song is for all you hopefuls out there, like me. Keep on keepin' on.
~Lydia
Wednesday, June 23, 2010
Guest Book Review: The Girl With the Dragon Tattoo by Stieg Larsson
The Girl With the Dragon Tattoo by Stieg LarssonMystery/Thriller (Vintage, 2009)
Review by Paul Swearingen
The Girl With the Dragon Tattoo is the first of a series of three crime novels that Stieg Larsson completed before his death of a massive heart attack at age 50, and it has become a “phenomenon” novel and a runaway best-seller in spite of some serious flaws: it starts with a prologue which does not involve the main characters; it ends with a summary that draws the novel well beyond the climax; after the prologue it moves slowly and describes the outcome of a trial; its dialogue is often wooden and serves as the author’s mouthpiece; its point of view sometimes wanders bewilderingly; descriptions are either perfunctory or very detailed, especially in the case of computer specifications; the Swedish-into-British English translation at times is quaint if not distractive; most of the characters in it have the same last name of Vanger, making the family tree thoughtfully included a vital but clumsy reference.
So how could Larsson achieve the second-highest number of book sales in 2008 with all these shortcomings?
The short answer is that the “girl with the dragon tattoo”, Lisbeth Salander, whom Larsson characterized as a grown-up, dysfunctional Pippi Longstocking, is one of the most fascinating female characters to be portrayed in popular literature of the past 30 years or so. Larsson barely allows the reader into her methodic mind so that through much of the novel she is an enigma – almost moronic to those who continue to misjudge her abilities. But when she is crossed, she extracts revenge and tells the man who made the mistake of abusing her:
“’In the future I’m going to have control over your life. When you least expect it, when you’re in bed asleep probably, I’m going to appear in the bedroom with this in my hand.’ She held up the taser …’
The other protagonist in the story, Mikael Blomkvist, has been, like Larsson, a publisher of a magazine, and Larsson portrays him as passingly competent, forgiving, patient, and not really in charge of his destiny. But when he and Salander are thrown together they become an unstoppable force. The pace of the novel picks up; the family connections begin to make sense; moral objections are overcome; mysteries are solved; characters take on their own identities; and the story whizzes along to the conclusion.
Part of the novel’s believability comes from Larsson’s expertise as a publisher and his ability to put technical details into terms that the average reader can understand, especially with computers and photography, both of which play crucial roles in the book. His examinations of financial institutions, like John Grisham’s descriptions of legal affairs, ring true. However, some details may be unlikely – for example, to hide the contents of an issue of Millenium, Blomkvist’s magazine, he orders it to be sent to another printer for publication – highly unlikely and almost impossible on the spur of the moment in the real world.
The entire novel is plot-driven, and sometimes characters seem to be afterthoughts and merely to be along for the ride. Occasionally Lisbeth’s actions require some author exposition and manipulation to account for some behaviors which seem out of character for her, and several of the male characters, most notably the lawyer who advises Blomkvist on the Vanger corporation affairs, are more conveyors of information than characters. Larsson’s skill clearly was in plotting, rather than characterization, except for the female characters, who are clearly drawn.
The end of the story is a bit clumsy, as Larsson propels Salander back in and leaves just a bit of unfinished business as the book closes so that we know there’s more to come … but not until the next installment.
In spite of some freshman clumsiness in his first novel, Larsson clearly showed that he could skillfully resolve a mystery plot. As a journalist, he was able to convey concepts to the reader in economical, clear prose. But what lifts The Girl With the Dragon Tattoo above the ordinary is the character Lisbeth Salander, who is thrust like a frozen dagger into the plot, turning what might have been a simple follow-the-clues murder mystery into a psychological drama like no other mystery published recently. This book is a fun read, and his next two should turn out to be even more engaging.
---
Paul Swearingen is a YA author and the moderator of the Writer's Digest Young Adult Fiction critique forum.
---
The next two books in this series are now available:
The Girl Who Played With Fire
The Girl Who Kicked the Hornet's Nest
The Girl With the Dragon Tattoo movie was released in Europe early 2009, and in the US early 2010.
Click here to watch the trailer.
~Lydia
Monday, June 21, 2010
How Story Structure Can Help You Both Before and After You Write Your Novel
If you do not own Save the Cat! by Blake Snyder, you are no longer my friend. Sorry, but that has become a requirement. I'll allow a 30-day grace period from the time of this post for you to purchase the book and keep your friend status. Consider yourself warned.
It's no secret that I am in love with story structure, even in music. A good structure is invisible to the audience. A bad structure screams, "What a waste of time and money! I am never reading anything by that hack. Ever. Again."
But structure can do so much more for you, the author, than it does for the reader. Knowing the basics of your story 1) helps keep you focused during creative development, 2) gives you an idea of how good your premise is before you devote time to writing an entire book, and 3) once your story is complete, you can use those same basics to craft your selling pitch.
For me, the novel-writing process starts out like this:
Idea -- In its most simplistic form you have a character with a problem to solve. (If you do not have that, you have no story. That is your plot.) Then you build it a little further and identify the unique character and their specific problem. This is your premise.
Logline/One-sentence pitch -- Does it seem odd that I craft a one-sentence pitch before I've even written an outline, let alone a full story? Maybe, but it works. As I mentioned above, if your premise isn't good enough, don't waste your time on the story... unless you're not interested in selling your work. Personally, I don't have time to waste on something that isn't going to bring me something in return. I'm not saying that everything I write is a guaranteed success (are you kidding me?), but I never start a project with the mindset that it doesn't have a chance. I may be crazy but I'm not stupid.
The one-sentence pitch basically goes like this: (your title here) is about a guy/girl/group who (fill in the blank). If the setting is important, such as in a period piece, then work that in. If the age of the characters is important, such as in young adult or another type of juvenile fiction, then work that in as well.
The title must be in the pitch, and this is why it is so SO very important that you work on coming up with a clever title (quick aside: I'm really tired of writers saying "oh, the editor is going to change the title anyway so it doesn't matter". NO! Seriously. Stop being lazy). If you break down the logline using the basics you learned in high school algebra, the word "is" means "equals" and you therefore have an equation in which the title of your book is half of the pitch.
Title = what your book is about.
Hmm... really? That seems so simple, but it's true. The best titles I've seen fit into this equation perfectly, and it's no wonder that they are quite often successful. Not only does the title sell your idea to a prospective agent or publisher, it also sells your story to a prospective audience, as in, paying customers.
Titles work double duty. First, they have to stand out among the masses of other titles and grab a potential reader's attention on their own. Once that has been accomplished and they read the pitch, the title must be relevant to the story. Relevance makes everything click; it sells your idea in their minds before they've even read a word of the story.
Example:
Notice how simple that is, and yet how easily it grabs your attention. Also notice how the title fits in with the premise. The phrase "pitch black" denotes a bit of scary/horror elements, which goes hand-in-hand with the phrase "fight for survival."
Then the irony comes in (remember the importance of irony in a logline?). The title clearly contrasts with the idea of a "sun-scorched world." All the possibilities of this basic idea are now blossoming in the heads of your audience (how is it pitch black?, why are they marooned?, will they survive?, if the world is lifeless then what are they fighting?), and they can't wait to see what you've done with it.
Here is one more example, but I'm going to leave it up to you to figure out why it works.
Why am I using movie examples and not novels? Because people in Hollywood seem to have a much better grasp on this simple selling concept than in the literary world. Sorry if that seems harsh, but it's true, and we would all do well to learn from it.
Okay, so you've got a good idea and it works into an attention-grabbing one-line pitch, now what? This is when I take a brief step away from pre-planning and write the first chapter of the actual story. Sometimes this ends up being scrapped because I don't really know the true starting point of any story until I know the ending. So I do it mainly to get into the head of the MC and find the unique voice and/or style of the piece. If I can't do that right off the bat, again, there is no point in continuing, even after all that work on the awesome premise.
Once I know that the story is going to jive for me as the writer of it, then I go back to my thinking chair, pull out my handy-dandy notebook, and scribble out a beat sheet. This is a rough outline that basically pinpoints the major turns in the story. I hate to call it an outline because that word is the writerly equivalent of a straight-jacket, in my opinion. I need room to breathe, and sketching out the basic turning points keeps me focused while allowing me a lot of creative development in between those points.
For more details on the specifics of a beat sheet, read Save the Cat! by Blake Snyder. Oh, I already mentioned that book, didn't I? Well, I'm recommending it again. As a friend.
Let's jump ahead now. While writing the first draft, selling the book, and hooks, and high concept, and clever pitches are the furthest thing from my mind. I just write the story, believing that all that hard work I did ahead of time will guide me in the right direction. The second draft is more analytical than the first, but I still don't worry about the selling part just yet. The third draft is my final polish before sending the whole piece to trusted beta readers.
While I'm waiting for that precious feedback, THAT is when I hammer down on the pitch again. I've got a whole story now, with all the details, subplots, character arcs, themes, etc. Crafting a query letter or pitch should be easier now, right?
If you're looking at it that way, then no, you've actually just made it harder on yourself. The main problem I see with query letters or "pitch blurbs" (and have done this myself in the past) is that the authors know too much, and think they have to present all the wonderfulness of their masterpiece inside of two paragraphs to get someone interested.
The result? Too much is a turn off. Too little--being vague--is also a turn off. This is when your beat sheet comes into play again.
The three main points I include in my pitch are:
1. Inciting incident combined with the break into act two.
2. The midpoint.
3. The "all is lost" moment combined with the break into act three.
Whoa, did I just mention act three? Yes, I divulge events that happen that far into the story. And also notice that I didn't include hardly anything from act one. Yikes! Am I crazy? *ahem* We've already covered that.
Actually, there is a very good reason why those three turning points are so effective in a pitch: they all require a concrete decision made by the MC and/or a major realization.
Paragraph one:
(Inciting incident -- what starts the story?) leads into (the break into act two -- the decision to go forward with action to resolve the conflict)
Paragraph two:
(midpoint -- this is often the realization of a specific change in events or a character's viewpoint). Then the bottom drops out with the (all is lost moment) which forces the MC to either suck it up and move forward to resolve the conflict despite the overwhelming odds, or withdraw and give up. Then (another concrete decision that is made clear just before act three).
This leaves the potential agent or book buyer hanging on that final thread of decision, which should be enticing enough to get them to read the entire piece. The hardest part about this is presenting the detail of those turning points concretely enough to create intrigue without giving away too much.
Does that all seem like too much work? If you really think so, then I'm sorry, you're in the wrong business. Writing a book well enough to sell involves so much more than just writing the book. The sooner we all accept that, the better.
All of this, of course, is simply how I go about things. It works for me; it may not work for you (or anyone else). But I hope there is at least one nugget mentioned here that will help, no matter where you happen to be on the road to publication.
Happy writing!
~Lydia
It's no secret that I am in love with story structure, even in music. A good structure is invisible to the audience. A bad structure screams, "What a waste of time and money! I am never reading anything by that hack. Ever. Again."
But structure can do so much more for you, the author, than it does for the reader. Knowing the basics of your story 1) helps keep you focused during creative development, 2) gives you an idea of how good your premise is before you devote time to writing an entire book, and 3) once your story is complete, you can use those same basics to craft your selling pitch.
For me, the novel-writing process starts out like this:
Idea -- In its most simplistic form you have a character with a problem to solve. (If you do not have that, you have no story. That is your plot.) Then you build it a little further and identify the unique character and their specific problem. This is your premise.
Logline/One-sentence pitch -- Does it seem odd that I craft a one-sentence pitch before I've even written an outline, let alone a full story? Maybe, but it works. As I mentioned above, if your premise isn't good enough, don't waste your time on the story... unless you're not interested in selling your work. Personally, I don't have time to waste on something that isn't going to bring me something in return. I'm not saying that everything I write is a guaranteed success (are you kidding me?), but I never start a project with the mindset that it doesn't have a chance. I may be crazy but I'm not stupid.
The one-sentence pitch basically goes like this: (your title here) is about a guy/girl/group who (fill in the blank). If the setting is important, such as in a period piece, then work that in. If the age of the characters is important, such as in young adult or another type of juvenile fiction, then work that in as well.
The title must be in the pitch, and this is why it is so SO very important that you work on coming up with a clever title (quick aside: I'm really tired of writers saying "oh, the editor is going to change the title anyway so it doesn't matter". NO! Seriously. Stop being lazy). If you break down the logline using the basics you learned in high school algebra, the word "is" means "equals" and you therefore have an equation in which the title of your book is half of the pitch.
Title = what your book is about.
Hmm... really? That seems so simple, but it's true. The best titles I've seen fit into this equation perfectly, and it's no wonder that they are quite often successful. Not only does the title sell your idea to a prospective agent or publisher, it also sells your story to a prospective audience, as in, paying customers.
Titles work double duty. First, they have to stand out among the masses of other titles and grab a potential reader's attention on their own. Once that has been accomplished and they read the pitch, the title must be relevant to the story. Relevance makes everything click; it sells your idea in their minds before they've even read a word of the story.
Example:
Pitch Black is about a group of marooned space travelers who must fight for survival on a seemingly lifeless sun-scorched world.
Notice how simple that is, and yet how easily it grabs your attention. Also notice how the title fits in with the premise. The phrase "pitch black" denotes a bit of scary/horror elements, which goes hand-in-hand with the phrase "fight for survival."
Then the irony comes in (remember the importance of irony in a logline?). The title clearly contrasts with the idea of a "sun-scorched world." All the possibilities of this basic idea are now blossoming in the heads of your audience (how is it pitch black?, why are they marooned?, will they survive?, if the world is lifeless then what are they fighting?), and they can't wait to see what you've done with it.
Here is one more example, but I'm going to leave it up to you to figure out why it works.
The Matrix is about a computer hacker who learns the true nature of his reality and must accept his role in the war against those who control it.
Why am I using movie examples and not novels? Because people in Hollywood seem to have a much better grasp on this simple selling concept than in the literary world. Sorry if that seems harsh, but it's true, and we would all do well to learn from it.
Okay, so you've got a good idea and it works into an attention-grabbing one-line pitch, now what? This is when I take a brief step away from pre-planning and write the first chapter of the actual story. Sometimes this ends up being scrapped because I don't really know the true starting point of any story until I know the ending. So I do it mainly to get into the head of the MC and find the unique voice and/or style of the piece. If I can't do that right off the bat, again, there is no point in continuing, even after all that work on the awesome premise.
Once I know that the story is going to jive for me as the writer of it, then I go back to my thinking chair, pull out my handy-dandy notebook, and scribble out a beat sheet. This is a rough outline that basically pinpoints the major turns in the story. I hate to call it an outline because that word is the writerly equivalent of a straight-jacket, in my opinion. I need room to breathe, and sketching out the basic turning points keeps me focused while allowing me a lot of creative development in between those points.
For more details on the specifics of a beat sheet, read Save the Cat! by Blake Snyder. Oh, I already mentioned that book, didn't I? Well, I'm recommending it again. As a friend.
Let's jump ahead now. While writing the first draft, selling the book, and hooks, and high concept, and clever pitches are the furthest thing from my mind. I just write the story, believing that all that hard work I did ahead of time will guide me in the right direction. The second draft is more analytical than the first, but I still don't worry about the selling part just yet. The third draft is my final polish before sending the whole piece to trusted beta readers.
While I'm waiting for that precious feedback, THAT is when I hammer down on the pitch again. I've got a whole story now, with all the details, subplots, character arcs, themes, etc. Crafting a query letter or pitch should be easier now, right?
If you're looking at it that way, then no, you've actually just made it harder on yourself. The main problem I see with query letters or "pitch blurbs" (and have done this myself in the past) is that the authors know too much, and think they have to present all the wonderfulness of their masterpiece inside of two paragraphs to get someone interested.
The result? Too much is a turn off. Too little--being vague--is also a turn off. This is when your beat sheet comes into play again.
The three main points I include in my pitch are:
1. Inciting incident combined with the break into act two.
2. The midpoint.
3. The "all is lost" moment combined with the break into act three.
Whoa, did I just mention act three? Yes, I divulge events that happen that far into the story. And also notice that I didn't include hardly anything from act one. Yikes! Am I crazy? *ahem* We've already covered that.
Actually, there is a very good reason why those three turning points are so effective in a pitch: they all require a concrete decision made by the MC and/or a major realization.
Paragraph one:
(Inciting incident -- what starts the story?) leads into (the break into act two -- the decision to go forward with action to resolve the conflict)
Paragraph two:
(midpoint -- this is often the realization of a specific change in events or a character's viewpoint). Then the bottom drops out with the (all is lost moment) which forces the MC to either suck it up and move forward to resolve the conflict despite the overwhelming odds, or withdraw and give up. Then (another concrete decision that is made clear just before act three).
This leaves the potential agent or book buyer hanging on that final thread of decision, which should be enticing enough to get them to read the entire piece. The hardest part about this is presenting the detail of those turning points concretely enough to create intrigue without giving away too much.
Does that all seem like too much work? If you really think so, then I'm sorry, you're in the wrong business. Writing a book well enough to sell involves so much more than just writing the book. The sooner we all accept that, the better.
All of this, of course, is simply how I go about things. It works for me; it may not work for you (or anyone else). But I hope there is at least one nugget mentioned here that will help, no matter where you happen to be on the road to publication.
Happy writing!
~Lydia
Saturday, June 19, 2010
For the Unpublished
I recently came across some wonderful articles that I had to share. Most of us are aspiring to be published novelists. Those who aren't aspiring anymore (because they've achieved that status) are more than willing to offer advice and encouragement for writers still on the road to publication. They've been there. They understand the trials, the heartache, the frustration. They want you to be successful.
For anyone enduring the query phase of novel publication, Jennifer Jackson's latest Letters From the Query Wars should make you feel better about following submission guidelines. Also, note that she read 202 query letters this past week, and requested nothing. Most of those queries are just fine--there might even be a future bestseller among them--but if the project isn't right for that agent, they pass. An agent is only one person (a person who has individual likes and dislikes), and many of these agents receive hundreds of queries per week. Not per month; per week. They can only take on new clients they are PASSIONATE about. A rejection doesn't necessarily mean they didn't like you or your style or your story. It just means they didn't like it enough to dedicate themselves to it. Find another agent to query, move on.
Novelist and freelance writer Matt Mikalatos shares 5 Lies Unpublished Writers Tell Themselves (and the Truths That Can Get Them Published) on the Guide to Literary Agents blog. I especially enjoyed the "bonus truth" he added at the end:
Fantasy author Anna Elliott shares her Best Advice on Writer Unboxed: Don't give up; don't despair. She wrote five novels before she sold one. Is that discouraging? Yes and no. We all want our first baby to do well (and our second, and our third). And I'm sure none of us dedicate our time and effort into writing a novel-length piece with the attitude of "this one is just for practice; it's not going to make it." No. We pour our souls into everything we write. Then, when it comes time to sell, we have to take a step back from the emotion and be realistic. This is a business, and sometimes what we produce isn't right for the current market. But if you're truly a storyteller, not simply a status seeker, I'm sure you can relate to Anna's words here:
Revisions and editing for my current novel have recently taken their toll on me. For the first time in two months, I'm second-guessing myself on this project, and wondering if it's even worth putting on the market. I'm still trying to make it the best it can be, but a little voice has started whispering in the back of my mind, "Even at its best, it won't be good enough." Maybe that's true, but I won't know for sure until I try, which means finishing the revisions, writing a query and synopsis, researching agents, and then putting it all out there to be either embraced or slain. If it ends up being the latter, I still think it's a great story that needed to be told, even if only to myself and the few who are assisting me. I'll simply move on to the next novel and start the whole process over again. I'm a writer; it's what I do.
I hope some of this has been encouraging to those of you on the same path as I am. As long as you keep trying, you never truly fail.
Happy writing,
~Lydia
For anyone enduring the query phase of novel publication, Jennifer Jackson's latest Letters From the Query Wars should make you feel better about following submission guidelines. Also, note that she read 202 query letters this past week, and requested nothing. Most of those queries are just fine--there might even be a future bestseller among them--but if the project isn't right for that agent, they pass. An agent is only one person (a person who has individual likes and dislikes), and many of these agents receive hundreds of queries per week. Not per month; per week. They can only take on new clients they are PASSIONATE about. A rejection doesn't necessarily mean they didn't like you or your style or your story. It just means they didn't like it enough to dedicate themselves to it. Find another agent to query, move on.
Novelist and freelance writer Matt Mikalatos shares 5 Lies Unpublished Writers Tell Themselves (and the Truths That Can Get Them Published) on the Guide to Literary Agents blog. I especially enjoyed the "bonus truth" he added at the end:
You can do this. Work hard, keep writing, improve your craft and be persistent. We're all waiting to read your masterpiece!
Fantasy author Anna Elliott shares her Best Advice on Writer Unboxed: Don't give up; don't despair. She wrote five novels before she sold one. Is that discouraging? Yes and no. We all want our first baby to do well (and our second, and our third). And I'm sure none of us dedicate our time and effort into writing a novel-length piece with the attitude of "this one is just for practice; it's not going to make it." No. We pour our souls into everything we write. Then, when it comes time to sell, we have to take a step back from the emotion and be realistic. This is a business, and sometimes what we produce isn't right for the current market. But if you're truly a storyteller, not simply a status seeker, I'm sure you can relate to Anna's words here:
I may need to put this book aside. But I am trying again. I’m going to write another book. And if that one doesn’t sell, I will write another, and if that doesn’t sell, another after that.
Revisions and editing for my current novel have recently taken their toll on me. For the first time in two months, I'm second-guessing myself on this project, and wondering if it's even worth putting on the market. I'm still trying to make it the best it can be, but a little voice has started whispering in the back of my mind, "Even at its best, it won't be good enough." Maybe that's true, but I won't know for sure until I try, which means finishing the revisions, writing a query and synopsis, researching agents, and then putting it all out there to be either embraced or slain. If it ends up being the latter, I still think it's a great story that needed to be told, even if only to myself and the few who are assisting me. I'll simply move on to the next novel and start the whole process over again. I'm a writer; it's what I do.
I hope some of this has been encouraging to those of you on the same path as I am. As long as you keep trying, you never truly fail.
Happy writing,
~Lydia
Friday, June 18, 2010
Guest Book Review: The Name of the Wind by Patrick Rothfuss
The Name of the Wind by Patrick Rothfuss
Review by Liz Penn
To be honest, I first picked this book to take home solely for the cover art. Who doesn't like a secretive figure in black robes, staring at a desolate, bleak landscape?
From cover art to odd back copy to amazing first chapter (who doesn't enjoy wagon-wheel size spiders, huh?), this first novel does not disappoint.
This is the story of a hero's journey. We have the typical fantasy formula of a young child prodigy (or so it seems) meeting up with a wizened wizard for brief instruction, then the death of the family, and a search for ancient schools and arcane arts, the slaughter of a dragon (yes, there's a dragon) and a host of other common events. But they're changed into something profoundly unconventional. Sometimes it's good to follow the usual, and sometimes it pays, and pays in awesome dividends, to step away from the norm.
For each moment that I read this book, I was continually impressed. The prose flows in a storytelling-style (which works well for the premise of the story) but has very short chapters and scene breaks that keep it easily digestible in small portions. The most interesting tidbit was his ability to use several different writer "no-nos" and get away with it cleanly. In this book alone, Rothfuss uses first person, omniscient, third person limited, and a third person/second person hybrid. Yet, no head-hopping or any of the other confusing aspects. Each shift in viewpoint fit the moment and styling of the particular scene and never left me confused. (and believe me, I'm easily confused or annoyed with fantasy)
Lastly, I just have to mention my favorite literary "device" that he used. Simply because it amazed me and yet worked flawlessly. At a point close to the end of the novel, the MC Kvothe and a female friend of his are talking to a man with a very, very heavy accent. The dialogue was readable, but rough. But instead of continuing to force a picky reader like me to continue deciphering the wording, he breaks in by having the MC mention in internal thoughts that, and I quote.
The more I listened, the more Scheiem's accent faded into the back of my awareness and I didn't need to concentrate so much on maintaining my own.
From there on, the accented, oddly spelled words nearly vanished, only throwing one or two in for flavor. How is that for holding onto the truth--a foreign language, accent and all--yet adjusting it so readers can understand the dialogue without being forced to translate?
This is book one in a series that I intend to devour with singular gusto. As soon as the second book comes out. (due March 2011)
The best way I can summarize this story: This debut novel, reads nothing at all like a debut novel.
---
Liz Penn is a poet and an author of science fiction and fantasy. She is also a moderator of the Writer's Digest Sci-Fi/Fantasy critique forum.
Thursday, June 17, 2010
Frustration
Today's moment of frustration brought to you by Laura Callaghan.
~Lydia
EDIT (nearing 5 p.m.): My frustration this morning had started with lingering physical issues, an inability to focus on anything, and a six year-old who thinks he can have ice cream sandwiches for both breakfast and lunch. (NO. Pick one. You're lucky you get them at all, you ungrateful little...) Now I'm also enduring the wonderful task of changing the blog template. I think my eyes are melting out of their sockets. The coffee beans looked good at first, now... they just look like the stuff I used to see under the microscope when I analyzed fecal samples in my younger days as a veterinary technician. Specifically, a wonderful diarrhea-inducing parasite called Coccidia. Coffee beans... Coccidia... I really can't tell anymore. The fact that the beans are brown doesn't help much either. I'm just going to back away slowly and take my fifth nap of the day and hope that this time I'll actually feel like I've slept once I wake up.
ANOTHER EDIT (almost 9 p.m.): I'm awake now, and the coffee beans still look atrocious. Be gone! *poof* Ah, the magic of the internet. :)
~Lydia
EDIT (nearing 5 p.m.): My frustration this morning had started with lingering physical issues, an inability to focus on anything, and a six year-old who thinks he can have ice cream sandwiches for both breakfast and lunch. (NO. Pick one. You're lucky you get them at all, you ungrateful little...) Now I'm also enduring the wonderful task of changing the blog template. I think my eyes are melting out of their sockets. The coffee beans looked good at first, now... they just look like the stuff I used to see under the microscope when I analyzed fecal samples in my younger days as a veterinary technician. Specifically, a wonderful diarrhea-inducing parasite called Coccidia. Coffee beans... Coccidia... I really can't tell anymore. The fact that the beans are brown doesn't help much either. I'm just going to back away slowly and take my fifth nap of the day and hope that this time I'll actually feel like I've slept once I wake up.
ANOTHER EDIT (almost 9 p.m.): I'm awake now, and the coffee beans still look atrocious. Be gone! *poof* Ah, the magic of the internet. :)
Wednesday, June 16, 2010
Guest Book Review: The Key of the Keplian by Andre Norton and Lyn McConchie
The Key of the Keplian by Andre Norton & Lyn McConchie
First printing: July 1995 from Warner Books
Review by Jaleh Dragich
My mom used to have many of Andre Norton's books on the shelves while I was growing up, mostly the science fiction ones. As one of the few authors to receive the Grand Master award from the Science Fiction Writers of America, Andre Norton was, and still is, an inspiration to girls of all ages. I was impressed by the vast number of books she had written. I wanted to love the books of a woman I admired, books that my mom cherished, but I struggled to get into them. After a while I turned to other ones instead.
In college, I ran across The Key of the Keplian, Andre Norton's return to Witch World with co-author Lyn McConchie. The cover was beautiful: a girl in Native American garb riding bare-back on a black horse with a waterfall behind them. The back cover blurb promised magic and a fight between Dark and Light.
Unlike my earlier experiences with Norton’s books, I was entranced. This book lived up to its promises and more with vivid scenery and well-crafted characters.
All of Witch World knows that the fire-eyed Keplians serve Evil. The black horses lure riders to be carried to the Dark Tower to sate the Evil one’s blood lust. Whenever humans catch one of these creatures, they kill it. "The only good Keplian is a dead Keplian." Everyone believes this--all except a young woman from another world.
When Eleeri, a girl of Navajo-Apache descent, flees along the trail of the gone-before-ones to escape the cruelty of distant kin after her beloved great-grandfather dies, she crosses over into a new world. This world has its own hazards, of course, but Eleeri is warrior-trained and carries the strength and wisdom of an ancient heritage and a burgeoning gift of power.
When Eleeri discovers a Keplian mare and her newborn foal in the captivity of men who seek to destroy them, she challenges the commonly held truth that Keplians are of the Dark. All she can see is a mother trying to protect her baby. She uses her power to prove that the colt is innocent of evil and convinces the townsfolk to release both into her care. Though she wins their freedom, they are forced to run from one man’s vindictiveness.
Along the way, Eleeri learns to her delight that the Keplians are no mere beasts, but telepathic intelligent beings, and Tharna, the mare, learns to trust the strange human, who goes out of her way to care for and defend the Keplians from their human pursuers. That Eleeri would kill her own kind to save Tharna’s convinced the Keplian mare that there was at least one human of honor, binding them as battle-sisters and friends. In a hidden canyon, that bonding leads to the staggering truth no one knew: Keplians were created to serve Light, and to ride with humans.
They must use their new-found wisdom to break the Dark Tower's hold on Keplian stallions and to rescue the brother of Eleeri's new friend in a nearby keep. Will their bond and Eleeri's witch gift be strong enough to destroy the force of Evil and give all Keplians a chance at a better life, side by side with humans in friendship?
The rich landscape and powerful characters kept me captivated from beginning to end. Eleeri is someone I would be proud to know and have as a friend. Her faith, courage, and honor serve as an example to others for how to live and serve the Light, by whatever name we may use.
I just may have to go give the other Witch World books another chance.
---
Jaleh Dragich is an author of science fiction and fantasy, and a member of the Writer's Digest Sci-Fi/Fantasy critique forum.
Tuesday, June 15, 2010
Tuesday Tunes - Separation Anxiety
When we were discussing fingerprints the other day, it really got me thinking. I might have too many fingerprints... although, in all fairness, we're allowed ten, right?
In addition to the ones I mentioned before, I've realized that in many of my stories I use the power of separation for maximum dramatic and emotional impact in the third act. By the time you reach the final leg of a story, the attachment of certain characters to certain other characters should be clear... and then snapped. Rip them away from each other and make them fight to get back.
This makes whatever their primary goal had been suddenly more intense, because you've added to it something primal: the need to be with someone you love. This is not always a romantic love (but usually is). It can also be a familial connection, which is sometimes stronger than romantic connections. For example, two of the three main characters in my sci-fi novel, Web, are a twin brother and sister who had never been away from each other for any extended period of time. Ever. For their entire 22 years of life. You can bet your last banana that I tore them apart at the end.
And the results were like a punch in the gut to the reader. Even to me, and I'm the author.
Don't underestimate the power of separation. It will force your characters into action and make them do things they might have never thought possible.
Unfortunately, embedding has been disabled for the song I wanted to use, so all I can provide are links.
"Leaving on a Jet Plane" (Chantel Kreviazuk version):
official video
lyrics video
~Lydia
In addition to the ones I mentioned before, I've realized that in many of my stories I use the power of separation for maximum dramatic and emotional impact in the third act. By the time you reach the final leg of a story, the attachment of certain characters to certain other characters should be clear... and then snapped. Rip them away from each other and make them fight to get back.
This makes whatever their primary goal had been suddenly more intense, because you've added to it something primal: the need to be with someone you love. This is not always a romantic love (but usually is). It can also be a familial connection, which is sometimes stronger than romantic connections. For example, two of the three main characters in my sci-fi novel, Web, are a twin brother and sister who had never been away from each other for any extended period of time. Ever. For their entire 22 years of life. You can bet your last banana that I tore them apart at the end.
And the results were like a punch in the gut to the reader. Even to me, and I'm the author.
Don't underestimate the power of separation. It will force your characters into action and make them do things they might have never thought possible.
Unfortunately, embedding has been disabled for the song I wanted to use, so all I can provide are links.
"Leaving on a Jet Plane" (Chantel Kreviazuk version):
official video
lyrics video
~Lydia
Monday, June 14, 2010
Sharing Time
I've had acute back pain between my neck and left shoulder blade for over a week now, and today it feels like I'm trapped in a medieval torture device. I'm having a hard time focusing, and since I don't pre-plan my posts, I'm forced to fall back on something pointless.
But fun.
I'm currently working on revisions for my YA novel, Summer Hoax. This has actually been easier than I'd anticipated. Rewrites and editing require a different focus than writing a first draft, one more analytical and mentally taxing. As I'd mentioned in a previous post, I do some edits as I write, but once I'm done with a chapter I don't look back on it. Now I'm going through the story again from beginning to end, and I'm reliving little moments I'd forgotten about.
So I thought I'd share one. This is from chapter 11:
If you'd like to share one of your snippets in the comments, I'd love to read them.
Happy writing/revising/editing!
~Lydia
But fun.
I'm currently working on revisions for my YA novel, Summer Hoax. This has actually been easier than I'd anticipated. Rewrites and editing require a different focus than writing a first draft, one more analytical and mentally taxing. As I'd mentioned in a previous post, I do some edits as I write, but once I'm done with a chapter I don't look back on it. Now I'm going through the story again from beginning to end, and I'm reliving little moments I'd forgotten about.
So I thought I'd share one. This is from chapter 11:
"You should wear your hair down more often," Ben said. "It's pretty."
"And pretty is bella, too? Or a different word?"
"Bella means beautiful, which you are, and pretty is piuttosto. Which you also are. But there's a slight difference in the context. Pretty means more like… carino, cute, like a little girl. Beautiful has an air of maturity." He placed both hands on either side of my waist and lifted me down to the rocky sand. "Like a woman."
Damn if he didn't sound like a professor when he talked like that. An older, wiser, very un-Ben-like English/Italian professor.
"Say pretty again."
"Pretty." He gave me a cocky grin.
"You know what I meant. In your language."
"Piuttosto."
Our feet syncopated in rhythm as we stepped up the wooden stairs from the beach to the grass. We slipped our sandals back on.
"I like bella," I said. "The other one's too clipped."
"Agreed. Bella suits you better."
By the time we reached his car, lightning bugs flickered around us, but I wasn't ready for the day to be over yet. "Did your parents emigrate, or were they just raised bilingually, like you?"
"Emigrate?"
There went his PhD. We got in the car and buckled up.
"Were they born in Italy or America?" That was as simple as I could make it without removing the conjunctions.
If you'd like to share one of your snippets in the comments, I'd love to read them.
Happy writing/revising/editing!
~Lydia
Sunday, June 13, 2010
Inside the Writer's Toolbox - Humor
"Sometimes you have to laugh. If you didn't, you'd scream. In fact, at times the world is so absurd the only thing to do is to write about it.
Laughing at others is essential. Making fun of ourselves, it seems, is even more necessary."
~Donald Maass, quoted from his book that EVERY WRITER SHOULD OWN, The Fire In Fiction
Laughing at others is essential. Making fun of ourselves, it seems, is even more necessary."
~Donald Maass, quoted from his book that EVERY WRITER SHOULD OWN, The Fire In Fiction
Saturday, June 12, 2010
To Err Is Human
This morning I reached into my fridge for my instant coffee and pulled out a tub of butter spread... and didn't realize my mistake until I'd popped off the lid. Oops.
It got me thinking, though. Little mistakes like this happen on a daily basis, and we usually don't even pay attention to it. Just fix the error and move on. But if these things suddenly disappeared, I would miss them. For one thing, they make for a much-needed moment of humor in our difficult lives. For another, mistakes are what make us human, and it can almost be described as a comfort to know they're there. So if these little human characteristics are missing from our characters in fiction, it can distance your reader.
This is one of the reasons I enjoy the style of women's fiction author Allison Winn Scotch. In her second novel, Time of My Life, which I read many months ago, I still remember a specific scene in which the main character was involved in a heated argument with her boyfriend, while eating, and at one point a tiny piece of food went flying out of her mouth. It was merely mentioned, though. Nothing major; stuff like that happens and you move on. But the main reason I remember it so clearly and view it as sheer genius on the author's part is this:
It made the character real. If you can do anything to make the reader think, "hey, that could be me," then you're on the path to success.
Ever since reading Allison's book, I've tried to infuse these little details into my stories. There is a scene in Summer Hoax where Diana and Ben are on their lunch break during work and Ben takes a bite of his meatball sub and marinara sauce dribbles down his chin. Diana hands him a napkin and the scene continues. No real focus on the event; it just happened, as it might in real life. There is a scene in Venom: Book Two of the Cricket Trilogy (oooh... I haven't talked about this novel much... *ahem* mainly, because it's not really written yet beyond the first three chapters, just outlined) where Rose and Markus are walking down an empty hall--completely empty with a smooth floor--and Rose trips. On nothing. Then Markus just says, "Watch out for that curb." Rose is understandably embarrassed, but the scene moves on without much more focus on it than what is mentioned here.
I actually stole that last one from someone/something I saw in real life, which I guess is the point of this post. Make your stories real by creating little character mistakes that your reader can connect with. In my opinion, erring human qualities is a large part of what makes a novel or a movie entertaining.
What do you think?
~Lydia
On a randomly unrelated note, I am now a redhead. Again. If I can get a decent picture taken I'll post it.
It got me thinking, though. Little mistakes like this happen on a daily basis, and we usually don't even pay attention to it. Just fix the error and move on. But if these things suddenly disappeared, I would miss them. For one thing, they make for a much-needed moment of humor in our difficult lives. For another, mistakes are what make us human, and it can almost be described as a comfort to know they're there. So if these little human characteristics are missing from our characters in fiction, it can distance your reader.
This is one of the reasons I enjoy the style of women's fiction author Allison Winn Scotch. In her second novel, Time of My Life, which I read many months ago, I still remember a specific scene in which the main character was involved in a heated argument with her boyfriend, while eating, and at one point a tiny piece of food went flying out of her mouth. It was merely mentioned, though. Nothing major; stuff like that happens and you move on. But the main reason I remember it so clearly and view it as sheer genius on the author's part is this:
It made the character real. If you can do anything to make the reader think, "hey, that could be me," then you're on the path to success.
Ever since reading Allison's book, I've tried to infuse these little details into my stories. There is a scene in Summer Hoax where Diana and Ben are on their lunch break during work and Ben takes a bite of his meatball sub and marinara sauce dribbles down his chin. Diana hands him a napkin and the scene continues. No real focus on the event; it just happened, as it might in real life. There is a scene in Venom: Book Two of the Cricket Trilogy (oooh... I haven't talked about this novel much... *ahem* mainly, because it's not really written yet beyond the first three chapters, just outlined) where Rose and Markus are walking down an empty hall--completely empty with a smooth floor--and Rose trips. On nothing. Then Markus just says, "Watch out for that curb." Rose is understandably embarrassed, but the scene moves on without much more focus on it than what is mentioned here.
I actually stole that last one from someone/something I saw in real life, which I guess is the point of this post. Make your stories real by creating little character mistakes that your reader can connect with. In my opinion, erring human qualities is a large part of what makes a novel or a movie entertaining.
What do you think?
~Lydia
On a randomly unrelated note, I am now a redhead. Again. If I can get a decent picture taken I'll post it.
Friday, June 11, 2010
Guest Book Review: The Clay Marble by Minfong Ho
The Clay Marble by Minfong Ho
Review by Paul Swearingen
The Clay Marble is the story of Dara, a 12-year-old Cambodian refugee who is forced to flee in 1980 with what remains of her family to a camp on the Thai border. Dara is able to bring almost nothing with her, but her new friend Jantu creates tiny clay figures from the mud in the camp and later presents her with a clay marble which supposedly is imbued with magical properties. With imagined help from the marble, Dara is able to survive her terrible ordeal, and as the marble slips away from her at the end, Dara is able to realize that the magic was inside her all along, and the marble was merely symbolic of her own awakening abilities.
Minfong Ho writes with authority, as she worked in Cambodian refugee camps during the period in which she sets this story, around 1980. She also has avoided the mold of other stories set in Southeast Asia.
"I had never enjoyed reading stories of Asia in my own childhood. …” “Children's books about Thailand, China, Burma, etc. were invariably about princes and emperors and/or their elephants, peacocks and tigers. The few about village life portrayed it as idyllic and easy-going, full of kites and candles and festivals at the temples. This was not the Asia I knew, and I had resented the writers--usually white--who out of condescension and ignorance misrepresented these countries."
Ho’s characters, even the frightening army officers, are realistic individuals with whom middle-grade readers can easily identify … bullies, sisters, friends, authority figures. The reader sees them all through the eyes of Dara, and they become real, with all their frailties, shortcomings, and humanity.
The average reader will quickly identify with Dara and empathize with her growth through the story, from a frightened girl who flees her native land with little more than the clothes on her back, to a self-assured young woman who is able to leave her fears and belief in magic behind as she is able to see beyond her own problems. In the following passage, Ho describes Dara’s feelings just after she has discovered a cook using precious seed rice for food:
I felt as if something had been torn from me, and I ached with the loss of it. … No, I thought, not the rice seed, too. That’s meant for us, for the women and children, for the harvest next year, for our new lives. Each rice seed, I thought, if it was carefully sown and transplanted, carefully watered and harvested, would yield fifty grains of new rice.
However, Ho sometimes seems to push Dara beyond her age level when she protests the conditions of war:
It scared me, how much I hated my brother then. I took a deep breath. “Courage?” I echoed. “You talk of courage? What courage does it take to shoot a girl walking home in the dark? … What about going home?” I said, my voice controlled now. “What about planting rice and raising a family? What about trying to live in peace, when there is a war going on? Doesn’t that take courage, too?”
Instead of kites and candles, Ho writes of fear and helplessness, and she shows how Dara is forced to cope with each challenge – finding shelter and food, locating a lost friend, dealing with authority and death – and does not up and submit to the forces around her.
Nevertheless, Dara’s voice rings true throughout the novel as Ho’s depiction of a strong female character who is able to see with complete clarity what war does to people caught up in it.
The Clay Marble is an elemental story which is a complete antithesis to current popular children’s novels which depend upon the creation of external magic – vampires, alternate universes, wizards – as it stresses the remarkable internal strengths that children can possess and develop to survive without the help of magic. Although Dara seems much wiser than a western reader would expect of a 12-year-old refugee from a war-torn country, Ho shows us that under extreme conditions even the most unlikely of individuals can rise to the occasion and triumph.
---
Paul Swearingen is the moderator of the Writer's Digest Young Adult Fiction critique forum and a member of the Young Adult Book Writers of America.
Thursday, June 10, 2010
52 Qualities of the Prosperous Writer: Number Twenty-Three, Vision
This post is part of a weekly series in association with Christina Katz's ezine, The Prosperous Writer.
---
I especially enjoyed this week's issue. According to Christina, visionaries are:
* Brave in general
* Unafraid of criticism
* Proactive
* Process-appreciative
* Good communicators
* Constantly fine-tuning how and what they communicate (because sometimes even they are not 100% clear on what they are trying to say)
* Not that concerned with pleasing naysayers
* More creative than people who just go with the flow
Precisely. And all of those work together.
Courage is required to carry out everything else in that list. If you're unafraid of criticism, then you won't be concerned with pleasing the naysayers, but you'll also appreciate the process that includes constantly fine-tuning based on feedback and results (or lack of). Being proactive requires an ability to communicate well. And having a substantial amount of creativity will enable you to find effective ways to be proactive. All of this leads to success and prosperity.
So what's your vision, and how are you going to make it a reality?
~Lydia
---
I especially enjoyed this week's issue. According to Christina, visionaries are:
* Brave in general
* Unafraid of criticism
* Proactive
* Process-appreciative
* Good communicators
* Constantly fine-tuning how and what they communicate (because sometimes even they are not 100% clear on what they are trying to say)
* Not that concerned with pleasing naysayers
* More creative than people who just go with the flow
Precisely. And all of those work together.
Courage is required to carry out everything else in that list. If you're unafraid of criticism, then you won't be concerned with pleasing the naysayers, but you'll also appreciate the process that includes constantly fine-tuning based on feedback and results (or lack of). Being proactive requires an ability to communicate well. And having a substantial amount of creativity will enable you to find effective ways to be proactive. All of this leads to success and prosperity.
So what's your vision, and how are you going to make it a reality?
~Lydia
Wednesday, June 9, 2010
Do You Have a Fingerprint?
Not literally (obvs). I'm pretty sure all of you have real fingerprints. What I meant was a fingerprint in your writing, a unique identifying mark that you leave in every story you write.
This could be anything, and it's usually very subtle, only noticed by someone who is a true fan of your work because they pay more than the usual attention to your wording and technique. A writer-friend of mine, Liz Penn, has a signature phrase that I've seen in just about every story of hers that I've read, whether it be fantasy or sci-fi. It's an awesome phrase, and it's so unique that if I saw it in anyone else's writing I'd assume that she had been a co-writer for that project.
Phrases are the most common fingerprint. I've got one or two that I employ in all my stories, sometimes without realizing it until I see it on the screen, and then I'm like, "oh yeah, I meant to do that; it's my fingerprint."
More difficult to recognize is a style fingerprint. You'd think that would be easily noticed, but not really. What I mean by a style fingerprint isn't the obvious differences in writing styles from author to author. For me, it tends to be a character style choice. For someone else, it might be a location, such as, there is always one scene that takes place in a bathtub (just an example, and it has to be something weird like that or else it's not really a fingerprint). As I'd mentioned in a previous post, I usually have a minor character who is overly optimistic (this doesn't include my very short fiction in which there is sometimes only one or two characters total). I know these names won't mean much to most of you, but I'm going to list them anyway for the sake of proving my point.
In Web, it's Moyra.
In Sunset Rose, it's Dr. Martin.
In Summer Hoax, it's Nan.
In One-Way Ticket to Nowhere, it's Trevor.
In "Chasing Dreams", it's Parker.
In "Faultless", it's Emi.
This isn't something I set out to do on purpose; it's just something I noticed after writing A LOT of different stories. I notice it in published works as well, and I think it's part of what makes our favorite authors our favorites before we even understand why.
How about you? Have you noticed any unique identifying marks in your own work?
~Lydia
This could be anything, and it's usually very subtle, only noticed by someone who is a true fan of your work because they pay more than the usual attention to your wording and technique. A writer-friend of mine, Liz Penn, has a signature phrase that I've seen in just about every story of hers that I've read, whether it be fantasy or sci-fi. It's an awesome phrase, and it's so unique that if I saw it in anyone else's writing I'd assume that she had been a co-writer for that project.
Phrases are the most common fingerprint. I've got one or two that I employ in all my stories, sometimes without realizing it until I see it on the screen, and then I'm like, "oh yeah, I meant to do that; it's my fingerprint."
More difficult to recognize is a style fingerprint. You'd think that would be easily noticed, but not really. What I mean by a style fingerprint isn't the obvious differences in writing styles from author to author. For me, it tends to be a character style choice. For someone else, it might be a location, such as, there is always one scene that takes place in a bathtub (just an example, and it has to be something weird like that or else it's not really a fingerprint). As I'd mentioned in a previous post, I usually have a minor character who is overly optimistic (this doesn't include my very short fiction in which there is sometimes only one or two characters total). I know these names won't mean much to most of you, but I'm going to list them anyway for the sake of proving my point.
In Web, it's Moyra.
In Sunset Rose, it's Dr. Martin.
In Summer Hoax, it's Nan.
In One-Way Ticket to Nowhere, it's Trevor.
In "Chasing Dreams", it's Parker.
In "Faultless", it's Emi.
This isn't something I set out to do on purpose; it's just something I noticed after writing A LOT of different stories. I notice it in published works as well, and I think it's part of what makes our favorite authors our favorites before we even understand why.
How about you? Have you noticed any unique identifying marks in your own work?
~Lydia
Tuesday, June 8, 2010
Tuesday Tunes - Movie Themes
Perhaps the reason why we, as authors, like to listen to music while we write or have a tendency to give our stories theme songs (and sometimes even our characters and individuals scenes) is because the music invokes clear emotion, and we have all grown up on theme music in movies. The main hook of a theme song is often repeated throughout the movie, and varies in style as the mood warrants.
The same is true for the themes of our novels. It should be repeated enough that when the reader sees it, they recognize it, even if it is a slight variation. This gives the story a cohesive quality that creates reader satisfaction.
This post is a tribute to some of my favorite movie theme songs. Please add your favorites to the comments. I'd love to hear them!
Jurassic Park
Star Wars
Indiana Jones
Mission Impossible
Superman
Titanic
Robin Hood: Prince of Thieves
~Lydia
The same is true for the themes of our novels. It should be repeated enough that when the reader sees it, they recognize it, even if it is a slight variation. This gives the story a cohesive quality that creates reader satisfaction.
This post is a tribute to some of my favorite movie theme songs. Please add your favorites to the comments. I'd love to hear them!
Jurassic Park
Star Wars
Indiana Jones
Mission Impossible
Superman
Titanic
Robin Hood: Prince of Thieves
~Lydia
Monday, June 7, 2010
Saturday, June 5, 2010
Movie Review: Robin Hood
This movie was good, but didn't wow me.
What I liked:
It is not the common story of Robin Hood; it is the pre-story. Yet it still contains all the same characters and elements, plus a few new ones.
There is more focus on Prince John's role in this version than in any other version I've seen. Even though he's an ass, I liked this change.
I must have been neglecting my need for period costume, horses, swords, and hand-to-hand combat lately because I really enjoyed those aspects. Well presented without being over-the-top.
Robin and his men were originally archers in King Richard's army. This meant they knew how to fight already. I thought this was way more realistic than the previous versions in which they learn these things during the course of the tale, and then are able to take down trained soldiers in a final showdown.
What I'm on the fence about:
Russell Crowe as Robin Hood wasn't outstanding. That could have been anyone, really, and it wouldn't have mattered. He didn't seem to bring anything new to the character.
Maid Marian was not a maid. When we meet her, she'd been married already. I'm not sure if that was a good change or not.
The Sheriff of Nottingham had almost zero role in the story. I attribute this to it being a "pre-story", so I'm kind of okay with it, but I almost think they would have been better off just not including him at all, and keeping the focus solely on the issues with Prince John.
What I didn't like:
There are parts of the story that I'm still confused about, which could very well just be a personal issue with my tendency to confuse easily, so take this with a grain of salt. Much of the first half didn't seem to flow right. Things happened and decisions were made by the characters without me really understanding the reasons behind them, making it feel contrived.
It was too long for my taste. Although I enjoyed it more than Joe did, I agree with his sentiment that some parts were unnecessary/boring.
Bottom line:
Definitely worth watching, but I'd recommend waiting for the DVD release.
~Lydia
Friday, June 4, 2010
Guest Book Review: The World Next Door by Brad Ferguson
The World Next Door by Brad Ferguson
First edition October 1990 from Tor books
Review by Jaleh Dragich
I don't normally go for post-apocalyptic stories; I find them depressing most of the time. Why should I want to read about the aftermath of humanity's attempt to nearly destroy itself? But when I found this book in a bin of of other paperbacks marked way down, it intrigued me. After I read it, I went back and bought a few more copies to give away.
In 1962, World War Three erupted. Atom bombs decimated major cities across the globe, the fallout affecting humans and wildlife everywhere else. In the Adirondacks, a handful of survivors have carved out a simple life for themselves. Game is scarce to nonexistent, but farming provides enough for the small community.
Newcomers are questioned and medically examined before being allowed in town. After all, survival means being wary of everyone and everything beyond their borders. Between bandits, plague, and flu, there is plenty of reason to be concerned.
Jake and Prosper are the first newcomers the townsfolk of McAndrew have seen in years. Though technically Jake is no stranger; he came through here years ago. They come bearing news about which towns are wiped out, and how far society has degenerated. Just as well that McAndrew is so isolated. Law and order have devolved to whoever has the power determines the rules. And those rules are arbitrarily decided and strictly enforced. The two men bear the marks of defying such harsh strictures.
Most of the townsfolk have begun to dream of another Earth, one with technology beyond what they'd had. That world now hovers on the brink of a war greater than the one the survivors had faced decades before, one which will wipe out all life there completely. The dreams grow more vivid every week and occur more often. As the other world draws closer, will it mean hope or disaster for this determined pocket of humanity? And what of the sadistic men who have been tracking Jake and Prosper for escaping their idea of justice? McAndrew faces its greatest challenges to survival since the bombs fell.
Though the cover art and jacket blurb prompted me to pull the book from the bin, it was the prologue that made me decide to give it a chance. I know many people hate on prologues or at least eye them like bombs waiting to go off, but I think this is one that works well to establish the overall theme of hope and survival, written through the perception of the bedrock beneath the mountains. In three short pages, the rock becomes an underlying character (pun intended) to the events of the story. The promise of hope in desperate times, that's something I can stand on. These three paragraphs especially enticed me with both a hint of what had happened and what was to come.
In the last eyeblink of time, the rock had suddenly realized that there were far fewer scampering things living upon the mountains, and that even the mountains themselves had somehow been terribly damaged. The rock did not hesitate. It supplied its strength unstintingly to the mountains, but the rock soon realized that even all its vast resources would not be enough to permit survival, let alone recovery. The scampering things would soon die, and all purpose would end.
That could not be and would not be permitted. The rock thought about it and, being very old and very wise, quickly found a solution. The rock would realize hope from the promise of doom.
It had to. After all, the rock knew that a planet only four billion years old has just barely gotten started.
This book deserves new life for its 20th year. Check it out.
---
Jaleh Dragich is an author of science fiction and fantasy, and a member of the Writer's Digest Sci-Fi/Fantasy critique forum.
Thursday, June 3, 2010
Am I a Writer?
Yesterday I finished another novel. Today I was going to try to describe what that feels like, but found that it is indescribable, and something only understood by others who have "been there."
Instead, I thought I'd share this quote with you because it is quite possibly the best quote ever, on so many levels.
For more tips and advice from Ben Bova, click HERE.
Happy Writing,
~Lydia
Instead, I thought I'd share this quote with you because it is quite possibly the best quote ever, on so many levels.
The question, "Am I a writer?" is irrelevant. The real question is, do you want to write?
Writers write. You get up every morning and hit that keyboard. You get the words down and build stories. You might have to do other things to keep groceries in the pantry, but above and beyond everything else, you write. Every day. Despite all the disappointments, despite all the obstacles, you write.
Every day.
As you write, you learn. You create characters and give them problems and make them work to solve their problems. You send your stories out to market and keep sending them until somebody starts to publish them. But the stark fact is that no one can know if you're a writer - you won't know it yourself - until you have written well enough to be published.
Frankly, most people give up. Writing is hard, lonely work and they get tired of it. But every successful writer starts exactly where you are now, and succeeds by writing and writing and writing until they get published regularly.
Do the work. Write. Learn. Write every day. Read and learn from published writers. Work at it every day. There's no other way to become a writer.
Good luck,
--Ben Bova
For more tips and advice from Ben Bova, click HERE.
Happy Writing,
~Lydia
Wednesday, June 2, 2010
Guest Book Review: ttyl by Lauren Myracle
Every Wednesday and Friday in June we will be hosting a book review.
ttyl by Lauren Myracle
Review by Paul Swearingen
ttyl, the first of Lauren Myracle’s young adult novels written in IMspeak, or the truncated language used by many in Internet instant messaging, has since been followed by ttfn and l8r, g8r. Each page of ttyl is set up to resemble a computer screen, complete with different typefaces and colors for each individual IM.
The novel has been soundly criticized by many, including a few teens, for its frank depiction of the near-sexual exploits of its three main female characters, for realistic language, and for manipulated situations which show teens as less than pillars of teen society. It has been pulled from school library and classroom shelves and literally out of the hands of young readers whose mothers apparently feel that their darlings are reading a how-to manual for the sexually-repressed who suddenly want to go wild … if a few reviews on amazon.com can be believed.
In other words, Myracle has pretty much followed the norm for creating a YA novel but has included some of the language that 15-year-old girls use as well as situations that a few of them fall into (Maddie drinks too much and bares her chest for a frat crowd, and the step-by-step seduction of good girl Zoe by her English teacher, who is also her church group leader, is chronicled). Various events are condensed and crammed into the book as if every day for the girls was replete with fun-and-games, wish you were here, ttyl. Etc.
The medium of IMspeak simply does not lend itself well to the development of characters and setting, but Myracle wisely refrains from using the three girls as author mouthpieces. Instead, she sprinkles in elements of the setting as needed while each character in turn keys in her part of the story, trusting the reader to add the necessary details. Each development is of course told in the past, so the reader may develop cyberseasickness as the back-and-forth story is unfolded, but it all works out. In fact, after a few sections (the book is divided into days instead of chapters), the IMspeak language becomes easy to follow, although character development is less than profound, and some passages are much longer than in real IM’s in order to provide enough plot information.
Because of the use of IMspeak, the three girls tend to become one-dimensional paper dolls, although their online conflicts and reactions are the most realistic elements of the entire novel:
Zoe (zoegirl) is the good girl. Maddie (mad maddie) becomes the bad girl. Angela (SnowAngel) goes from almost delirious to depressed as her boyfriend alliances sour on her but becomes the savior of Zoe when she enlists Maddie in a joint last-moment save of Zoe from her unwanted seducer that brings all three of them back together – so that they can be bff’s again. Exhilarating stuff, but obviously Myracle is not working with character material here that could lead to rocket scientists and corporate presidents.
ttyl is not intended to be a serious contender for the next Catcher In the Rye replacement, but then Salinger didn’t write Catcher as a YA novel for young teens; he wrote it as a serious, literary, adult novel with a teenage main character. ttyl is written for early teen girls (and boys who feel the need to spy on them); while it may not accurately reflect the lives of teens (most who actually lead rather dull existences), it is intended to be a quick, entertaining, escapist, what-if read, not a training manual to teach kiddies to become immoral little deviants who shame their parents. It is titillating but no more harmful to the young reader’s morals than an extra swipe of cream frosting on a slice of cake is to the waistline of a size 2.
---
Paul Swearingen is the moderator of the Young Adult Fiction critique forum for Writer's Digest, and is a member of the Young Adult Book Writers of America.
ttyl by Lauren Myracle
Review by Paul Swearingen
ttyl, the first of Lauren Myracle’s young adult novels written in IMspeak, or the truncated language used by many in Internet instant messaging, has since been followed by ttfn and l8r, g8r. Each page of ttyl is set up to resemble a computer screen, complete with different typefaces and colors for each individual IM.
The novel has been soundly criticized by many, including a few teens, for its frank depiction of the near-sexual exploits of its three main female characters, for realistic language, and for manipulated situations which show teens as less than pillars of teen society. It has been pulled from school library and classroom shelves and literally out of the hands of young readers whose mothers apparently feel that their darlings are reading a how-to manual for the sexually-repressed who suddenly want to go wild … if a few reviews on amazon.com can be believed.
In other words, Myracle has pretty much followed the norm for creating a YA novel but has included some of the language that 15-year-old girls use as well as situations that a few of them fall into (Maddie drinks too much and bares her chest for a frat crowd, and the step-by-step seduction of good girl Zoe by her English teacher, who is also her church group leader, is chronicled). Various events are condensed and crammed into the book as if every day for the girls was replete with fun-and-games, wish you were here, ttyl. Etc.
The medium of IMspeak simply does not lend itself well to the development of characters and setting, but Myracle wisely refrains from using the three girls as author mouthpieces. Instead, she sprinkles in elements of the setting as needed while each character in turn keys in her part of the story, trusting the reader to add the necessary details. Each development is of course told in the past, so the reader may develop cyberseasickness as the back-and-forth story is unfolded, but it all works out. In fact, after a few sections (the book is divided into days instead of chapters), the IMspeak language becomes easy to follow, although character development is less than profound, and some passages are much longer than in real IM’s in order to provide enough plot information.
Because of the use of IMspeak, the three girls tend to become one-dimensional paper dolls, although their online conflicts and reactions are the most realistic elements of the entire novel:
mad maddie: i just think ur being hypocritical, that’s all.
SnowAngel: *steps a safe distance away* o-k-a-a-a-a-y . . .
mad maddie: just drop it. this is retarded.
SnowAngel: fine
mad maddie: fine
SnowAngel: i’ve g2g, anyway
mad maddie: whatevs
Zoe (zoegirl) is the good girl. Maddie (mad maddie) becomes the bad girl. Angela (SnowAngel) goes from almost delirious to depressed as her boyfriend alliances sour on her but becomes the savior of Zoe when she enlists Maddie in a joint last-moment save of Zoe from her unwanted seducer that brings all three of them back together – so that they can be bff’s again. Exhilarating stuff, but obviously Myracle is not working with character material here that could lead to rocket scientists and corporate presidents.
ttyl is not intended to be a serious contender for the next Catcher In the Rye replacement, but then Salinger didn’t write Catcher as a YA novel for young teens; he wrote it as a serious, literary, adult novel with a teenage main character. ttyl is written for early teen girls (and boys who feel the need to spy on them); while it may not accurately reflect the lives of teens (most who actually lead rather dull existences), it is intended to be a quick, entertaining, escapist, what-if read, not a training manual to teach kiddies to become immoral little deviants who shame their parents. It is titillating but no more harmful to the young reader’s morals than an extra swipe of cream frosting on a slice of cake is to the waistline of a size 2.
---
Paul Swearingen is the moderator of the Young Adult Fiction critique forum for Writer's Digest, and is a member of the Young Adult Book Writers of America.
Tuesday, June 1, 2010
Tuesday Tunes - Looking at the Bright Side
There is usually one character in all of my stories who is overly-optimistic about things. This character is never the main character; he/she is there for support while the main character journeys through the turmoil of the plot.
This character is not unrealistic or naive about the ways of the world, they just choose to look at the bright side of things, because the alternative is to be sad and depressed all the time, and that's not something they want to be.
And it is oftentimes this character who states the tag line of the story somewhere in their dialogue during the break between the second and third acts, because it is at that point that the main character is at a major crossroads of decision-making and they need advice.
In my YA novel, Summer Hoax, the minor character in question is the MC's mother. She is described in early parts of the story as "always having a Barbie-like grin plastered to her face" and the MC says at one point that her "cheeks hurt sometimes just looking at her", but even so, she also admits that she "wouldn't want her any other way."
And true to form, when the MC is at her lowest point (the "all is lost" moment) her mother has a talk with her and at one point during the conversation she states the tag line of the novel: Sometimes the worst failures come from the best intentions.
Her reason for saying that (and for the entire conversation there, really) was to get her daughter to look at the situation from a different angle, and point out that there might just be a flicker of light at the end of her dark tunnel.
The following song gave me that same optimistic feel, but still contains realism. "Sun is in the sky, oh why, oh why would I wanna be anywhere else?"
~Lydia
This character is not unrealistic or naive about the ways of the world, they just choose to look at the bright side of things, because the alternative is to be sad and depressed all the time, and that's not something they want to be.
And it is oftentimes this character who states the tag line of the story somewhere in their dialogue during the break between the second and third acts, because it is at that point that the main character is at a major crossroads of decision-making and they need advice.
In my YA novel, Summer Hoax, the minor character in question is the MC's mother. She is described in early parts of the story as "always having a Barbie-like grin plastered to her face" and the MC says at one point that her "cheeks hurt sometimes just looking at her", but even so, she also admits that she "wouldn't want her any other way."
And true to form, when the MC is at her lowest point (the "all is lost" moment) her mother has a talk with her and at one point during the conversation she states the tag line of the novel: Sometimes the worst failures come from the best intentions.
Her reason for saying that (and for the entire conversation there, really) was to get her daughter to look at the situation from a different angle, and point out that there might just be a flicker of light at the end of her dark tunnel.
The following song gave me that same optimistic feel, but still contains realism. "Sun is in the sky, oh why, oh why would I wanna be anywhere else?"
~Lydia
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