It's all about word choice

So you know when you're writing a scene and it's just not working? And you can't really figure out why? I'm here to tell you:

It's all about word choice.

This is a lesson I'm learning the hard (but fun!) way through my advisors at VCFA, and it's true about so many things it's not even funny. Word choice is why adverbs are evil. Word choice takes a ho-hum scene and turns it into an OMGSCENEOFAWESOME. The difference between "hug" and "caress," between "walk" and "stagger," between "loud" and "explosive" is quite huge. 

But it's not always easy to figure out what the right word or group of words is to set the scene you want to create. Just the other night, for example, I was trying to write a kissing scene. (My favorite!) But not just any kind of kissing scene — a very specific kind. I wanted to write a more romantic kissing scene, the kind where it's clear the two characters are falling in love, where it's not about lust or passion, but about romance and tenderness. 

And I was really struggling. 

So I took a step back. I watched some videos of kissing scenes. (Totally for research. I swear.) Then I did my favorite kind of brainstorming: I created a wordlist for the scene. 

A wordlist can be a great way to set the mood for a scene you're struggling with. Basically, the goal is to create a list of words that remind you of that scene — but they don't all have to be related to that scene or the action taking place in it. For example, on my kissing list, I included words like "hold" "pull" and "lips," but I also included words that simply felt that they belonged in that scene, such as "sheer," "light," "slip," and "warmth." As I was watching the kissing videos, any words that came to mind that reminded me of the scene I was trying to create went on the list, even if they had nothing to do with kissing.

You can do this for any scene. A fight scene might have words like cut, beat, black, hard, and so on. Cut and beat obviously would be involved in fighting, but black? Hard? Those simply feel like they belong in a fight scene, even though the actual words have nothing to do with fighting. (And of course, you can disagree. Your word list will look nothing like mine.)

When you're done with your list, you have a foundation for your scene. You can take your list of words and try to build your scene around it. You don't want to over do it — just a few choice words sprinkled throughout the scene will help set the right tone and mood.

So the next time you're stuck trying to create the right mood for a scene, try a word list, or swap out some of the more dull, drab words in your scene for something with a little more punch. It will make a huge world of difference.

Do you have any tactics for helping you set the mood for a scene? How do you make sure the words you're choosing are right?

New Stories, Old Stories, And Balancing Life

I've been home from Vermont for a week now, and have read four novels, four picture books, and one non-fiction chapter book. I wrote a critical essay and worked a little on my creative work, which is a BRAND NEW story, which is kind of exciting and sort of scary.

The thing is, I never planned to try to write two novels at once. I thought I'd be totally finished with my old (I don't want to call it old...can we say original? That's nicer.) WIP by the time I started at VCFA, and the faculty and other students encourage you to start with something fresh so your mind is open to changing things around, slashing characters, etc. But my mind if pretty open to that anyway, so when one of my readers made an excellent case for redeeming a character who didn't make it to the end of the book (and, let's face it, who I was pretty much looking for an excuse to save anyway), I decided to go for it. Which left me with a new book to start for VCFA, and another round of revisions on my original WIP.

Since they're totally different stories, with different voices, I'm making it work. It's just very, very slow going. And I'm trying not to neglect my husband or my tiny dogs in the process, because even husbands and tiny dogs need love.

My key for success to working on two stories at once is to take time in between. Generally speaking, I never work on both stories on the same day, and if I do, there will be a work shift or some other long gap if time in between me opening the documents. During that time, I stop thinking about the story I was previously working on, and start getting into the head of my new character. One story is mostly a present tense POV in a contemporary setting, and the other is a past tense in a future setting, so when I switch to the future setting I think about the jargon and slang they use, examine the maps of the area I created, etc.

Before I pull up the documents, I completely shut anything related to the "wrong" story, and pull up all my images from the "right" one, so that I won't be tempted by anything unrelated to my current writing. Another thing that helps is that my original WIP is much further along, so I have to push myself to get better, more polished writing out. My new WIP is still in the drafting stages, so I can be a little messier -- though since it's for VCFA work, I want it to be cleaner than I would normally produce for a first draft. Basically, I think this is working because the two projects are so very different in terms of plot, characters, setting, and even the stage in the writing process -- if they were at all alike, I would be failing miserably.

Also, on an unrelated note, I think I need to finally cave and spend some time converting that weird, empty third bedroom into an actual office space, because right now there are library books consuming my end table, dinning table, dresser, and the bookshelf in our pseudo-office is about to topple because it's so front-loaded. Which is probably a safety hazard.

What about you? Can you balance multiple stories at once? Or do you, like my usual self, tend to have a one-track mind?

On Night-Writing: Confessions of a 2am Writer

Today, I decided I would switch things up a little by spending some time writing/revising at my local library. I did this for several reasons:

1. This particular branch of the library doesn't have WiFi. Apparently, they're "fixing it," but they were "fixing it" last time I was there, and the time before that...for several months now. Honestly, I am totally OK with this, because...
2. The Internet is distracting, You all are out there, with your bright, shiny Twitter objects and sparkly new blog entries and glittery YouTube videos, and when I'm at home I think, "Maybe I'll take a five minute break." And an hour and a half later, I'm Googling "Kitten Mittens" and wondering why I turned my computer on in the first place.
3. Also, in some kind of evil twist of the universe, my official last day of employment (I was recently laid off) has collided with the cold-weather Apocalypse here in Florida. And I know that your Northerners are laughing because it's "only" 38 degrees here right now, but our heater is broken. So though it's 40 outside, it's also 55 inside. (I'm not even making that up. That's what my thermostat says.) So I wake up every morning and I'm snuggled in the blankets, and my dogs (who have an internal temperature of 101 degrees) are cuddled next to me, and I see no reason to get out of bed, or get dressed, or go anywhere aside from the couch or the bedroom. So I end up staying in my PJs all day. Like a bum. So I needed to get out of the house.

Hence, my trip to the Dunedin Public Library. I had a nice hearty (read: warm) breakfast and chose my favorite comfy chair (with convenient attached swivel-desk), pulled at my revision notes and...

Nothing.

Well, almost nothing.

I'm not even exaggerating when I say that it took me three hours - three hours! - to revise a chapter that was actually pretty simply. I knew where I wanted to go with it and I had all my notes planned. I just needed to get the words out. I finally finished the chapter and packed up, wondering where my time had gone and what went wrong.

Because if it had been 1am, I guarantee I would have had that chapter revision banged out in 40 minutes, flat.

I'm not sure what it is about the nighttime that I find makes it so much easier for me to get the words out. But I will struggle and struggle all day long, then as soon as the sun goes down (which, thankfully, is quite a bit earlier these days) - BAM! My fingers can't stop moving. It drives the hubs crazy because I come to bed at 2, 3, sometimes even 4am (which is hilarious on the nights that he's waking up at 4 - he's just getting up as I'm going to bed. So by hilarious I mean kind of sad.) I would really love the muse to come to me at a normal hour, but she must be off hanging out with some of you folks.

I'm going to try to tempt her, though. Most reputable places aren't open super late, at the kind of places that are...well, let's just say they don't make for very pleasant backdrops for writing your children's book. I'll keep trying to write it out during the day, and we'll see if we can't turn this night-writer into a day-writer.

I'd love to hear from you...When do you write best?

Eavesdropping for Action!

I think I've mentioned before what an effective tool eavesdropping can be for getting authentic dialogue. That's not to say that you should include, verbatim, every conversation that you hear, but heading down to the mall and just listening to the way teens (or adults, if you don't write YA) talk to each other can really help you write more authentic dialogue. Take the best of the best of what you hear and stick it in your book.

But lately, I've started a new (and much creepier) kind of eavesdropping - observing for emotional action. As I go through my MS, I'm focusing on getting rid of any of the instances of "telling" and making them all "showing" - for a basic example, changing something like "fear rose up in me" to "a chill ran up my spine." Taking the actual emotional word out of the phrase and focusing instead on how the emotion makes the character feel - the character's physical reaction to the emotion - makes some of the bumpier scenes better.

Usually, I get the ideas for emotional reactions by thinking about how I would react in those situations. I close my eyes and imagine a time when I was scared, or happy, or nervous, then think about what my body was doing. Of course, that doesn't always work because 1. I'm not my characters, and we don't react the same way, and 2. Eventually, I run out of reactions, since I tend to do the same things. So I've started looking at the way people react physically as well as their dialogue.

And I'm getting so much great material!

Yesterday, I was in my local Super Target grabbing a coffee, and two women nearby were discussing the recent divorce proceedings one of them had gone through. They were going through the judge's or lawyer's report line by line, reading it out and reacting to (and dishing on) and it said. (Why they chose the cafe in Super Target to do this? No clue.) It was fascinating to watch, because things had obviously gone in the woman's favor - she was jiggling her leg, clasping her hands in front of her smiling mouth, and looked as if she were going to explode out of her chair at any second. I took my time pouring my cream and sugar into my coffee so I could watch their excited reactions and make a mental note of their physical clues, then when I came home I wrote the actions down in my writer's notebook. Now, when I need a character to act happy or excited, I can refer to my list, and maybe, if it fits the character, she'll be modeled after the woman in Starbucks.

So, yeah. I'm a creepy stalker. But hey. It's for art. And it totally works.

Writing (and Revising) the Hard Scenes

A lot of bad stuff happens in my WIP.

I mean, that should really go without saying. It is a dystopian/sci-fi. There are very clear villains. And the premise involves killing.

So. Yeah. A lot of bad stuff happens.

But when I started writing the book, I never realized how hard this stuff would be on me. Because it's not just the villains who suffer in my book. The good guys suffer, too. They go through some painful stuff - physically and emotionally. There's one scene that makes me cry every time I read it - and when you put your very first word on the page a year ago, you end up going through a lot of readings. There are other scenes that make my stomach turn because...well, they're kind of gory.

Every time I read some scenes, I consider changing the outcome. Even though I've always planned for things to turn out that way, even though I know they work better if I leave it as is, I can't help but think to myself, "What if I just tried it another way?" And maybe I even let the result play out in my head...but it never works as well.

And that's how I know I'm making the right choices. Because even when it kills me to do mean things to my characters, I know, ultimately (as strange as it is) it's for the best. Kids don't grow up if they're coddled, and the same goes for characters. You have to let them deal with the hard stuff, with the heartache. And it's so rewarding to see how they change because of it. (Did I just compare my characters to children? YUP.)

So don't be afraid to write the hard scenes. Let your characters suffer. You'll be glad you did.

It's NaNoWriMo! Some Tips to Get You Through

It's National Novel Writing Month! Hooray! Although I won't be participating this year (I'm dedicated to finishing up my revisions on last year's NaNo...SEE? It takes more than a month, people!), I did win last year, with hours to spare. I posted a pretty nice set of tips/lessons/"what I learned" after winning, but since the blog was pretty new at the time...no one really read them. Plus they were ill-timed at the end of NaNo so...that's not really helpful.

So I thought instead of leaving that post buried in the back of my archives, I would re-post it today, where my followers can actually enjoy it and get some inspiration. I've also added some cheeky comments (as I do), and those are in blue. But only because when I put them in pink they're too hard to read.

Heather's List o'Awesome NaNo Lessons, v. 2.0 (originally posted here, on 11/30/2009)

1. Old habits die hard. I'm a big procrastinator. I like to say I work well under pressure, but really I just think that I'm lazy, then all of a sudden my deadlines come up and I'm like OH CRAP. Case in point: I am really excited about my novel, and got off to a great, super ambitious start with the word count. But once real life started to interfere, I feel behind. I caught up a little in the middle of the month, but then I feel fell* behind again. Finally, with less than 48 hours to spare, I decided I couldn't let my six adoring fans down and put fingers to keyboard and cranked out the last 10,000 words. (Which is why I was starving tonight - I wanted to finish up right away, so I came home without dinner. Like a misbehaving kid.) If you think I'm making this up for the purposes of good blogging, here's graphical proof, in both line and bar chart form, because I know everyone learns differently:

 

*apparently, I didn't think editing was too important at the time. Maybe that's why I only had six readers...

I AM SUCH A GEEK. I can't believe I posted not ONE but TWO charts about my NaNo performance. But the even geekier part is I still think these are REALLY SUPER COOL.

2. Write as much as you can when you're excited, so that when you're not as excited, or when you're tired, or when you'd rather have a martini kthanks, it won't matter. See the charts above for a visual example if it didn't sink in the first time. (Which are still dorky/awesome.)

3. Knowing where you're going is half the battle. Since the idea for my novel came so close to the start of November, I didn't get to outline much before it started. I really only had time for the basic world building elements, character ideas, and first few chapters...maybe the first 10,000 words? I wrote the first 10,000 words in about 3 days, then took another 10 to write the next 10,000. Say, I wonder if another look at those charts would help demonstrate things... I cannot even stress to you how much an outline would have helped. My current round of revisions involve changing the plot around quite a bit and a lot of new scenes, so I did some heavy outlining, timelines, etc. And WOW. I'm flying through it. I also know my characters better and can hear their voices immediately. But still. Preparedness would have helped. I already have index cards stacked up for my next novel with notes all over them (dorkdorkdork).

4. Having a support system is extremely important. I'd like to take this opportunity to thank all the women in my book club who did NaNo along with me, and everyone from my local group, especially those who came out to the write-ins I attended. Also everyone who reads this blog, because you people are awesome. Still so true!!! And those book club ladies are now my writing group. And I still want to thank them. Because they are epically awesome. As you know.

5. Sacrifices have to happen. I typically read somewhere in the neighborhood of 8-10 books a month, give or take. Last month, I read four, and two of them were books on tape so I feel like they shouldn't count, plus one of them I had already started when November kicked off. But I knew that, throughout the month, writing was more important than reading. (Even though reading is extremely important for a writer, too, and don't you forget it.) The good news is, I don't really sacrifice reading anymore. I've managed to get back up to my usual quota, even with a heavy revision schedule. Now I just sacrifice sleep and exercise and normal human companionship instead. 

6. When in doubt, write. Even if it's terrible and you know think you won't use it, even if it's the worst piece of crap ever, even if it's an ADVERB (!!) just write it anyway. You can always use a strikethrough font to note that you want to get rid of it, or just delete it in revisions. But you also might come up with the best scene/idea ever. (Unless it's an adverb, which is never, ever a good idea. Ever.) Man, I was hard on adverbs! Sometimes they're kind of OK. But only in small doses. Like, really, really small ones. But it is true that writing is the best way to get through writer's block. I totally stand by that. Current Heather is patting Past Heather on the back right now.

7. A working title is just that...working. I always knew I would part with my title, but tonight I decided for sure. It's got to go. I even posted a new working title on NaNo, but since I'm sure it won't stick for long, I'm not going to share it here. Once I have something I feel confident about, I'll post it. And then I'll post it again once I have to change it for my agent/publisher's fancy. This line item makes me laugh. I even broke up with my title in a very dramatic, public, and hilarious way. Then, a month later when no one was looking, I ran back to it. I heart my title.

8. It's not over til the fat lady sings. Which in publishing is when I see my book for sale. (And even then, it's still not over. That's what I've learned in the last year. That fat lady never, ever sings. Stupid hag.) That means, even though I won the NaNo battle, I still have to fight the novel war. I need to finish the book, then revise, revise again, revise a third time, cry myself to sleep every night, let some other people read it to get some opinions, wonder why my manuscript is bleeding (oh, wait, that's just red ink because the draft is so awful), fix all the mistakes, revisereviserevise, add some more steps I'm sure I haven't thought about yet, then send it off to all my favorite agents and watch as the rejections come pouring in. But it only takes one yes (well, a series of yeses, but let's not get picky) to get published. Actually, I think we will get picky, because it takes about 1,000 yeses to get published. That's another thing I've learned. Oh well. I'll still fight the good fight!

Hope all you NaNoers have a great month! 

How Writing Has Ruined My Ability to Enjoy Anything, Ever.

So last week, I was watching The Princess Bride with the hubs.

This is one of my most favorite movies ever. I mean, come on:

Fencing!

Cary Elwes!

Torture!*

Cary Elwes!

Revenge!

Cary Elwes!

True love!

Cary Elwes!

  Miracles!

Etc.

OK, so I probably watch this movie once a year, at an absolute minimum, but probably more like 5-6 times. It's my happy movie that I play when I've had a bad day. My sister and I used to walk around our block reciting lines from the movie. And yet somehow I'd never noticed it before but...

Princess Buttercup is totally a wuss.  

(OK, there are plot spoilers coming up, but if you haven't seen this movie then you FAIL AT LIFE so I'm going to pretty much disown you anyway.)**

OK, so they're in the fireswamp. And Westley gets attacked by an R.O.U.S. And instead of DOING ANYTHING like grabbing a a rock or whacking the thing with a tree branch, home girl literally stands by and watches as the love of her life gets eaten half to death. Lamesauce.

Then later, she tells the Evil Prince Humperdinck that she won't marry him, and he's like, "It's cool, sugarpie. I'll send out some ships to look for your BF." The fact that A: She believes that Westley would actually leave in the first place and B: She believes for even a second that Humperdinck would do as he says makes her a TOTAL idiot.

Look, I get it. Buttercup is supposed to be a classic damsel in distress. After all, it is a fairytale. And I'm used to ass-kickers like Katniss and Katsa and Hermione who don't stand idly by and watch their boyfriends get attacked by giant rodents. But Buttercup was so flat and annoying that I had to wonder...WHAT does hotty-mctotty Westley see in her anyway? I mean, one minute she's like ordering him around the farm, and the next they're OMGTOTALLYMAKINGOUT?? No way. Westley's way too awesome for that crap.

So I ranted and raved throughout the whole movie, driving my husband crazy about my complaints on the weak characterization and how Buttercup was the only character who wasn't remotely funny. Until finally hubs told me to shut up and enjoy the movie.

And then I realized that we'd had this conversation before.

The fact of the matter is, as writers, we're always looking at our characters, analyzing them, trying to figure out how to make them better. I know one of the main things I need to focus on in an upcoming round of revisions is characterization of two of my characters, because they're falling shy of where I'd like them to be.

But since we're always looking for how to make our own work better, and then we CP read and try to seek out the flaws, we start to lose a sense of how to just read and watch for fun. I've noticed that my critical reading skills have improved greatly, but my ability to escape into the world of a book has drastically decreased. I'm always questioning, always asking WHY? Why would a character act that way? Why would the plot go there?

I'm not sure if this is a good thing or a bad thing. On the one hand, I'm a more active, conscious reader. But on the other, I can't just zone out with a book. And I miss that.

What about you? How has being a writer changed the way you read or watch TV/movies?

*Yeah, I skipped a few. But that would be a lot of pictures. For the record, it's: "Fencing, fighting, torture, revenge, giants, monsters, chases, escapes, true love, miracles!" And Cary Elwes. 

**OK, that was a joke. Except it really wasn't. No really though, this movie is more than 20 years old and one of the most classic and quotable films of my generation, so I think a few spoilers are allowed.

Teenagers are More Successful Than Me

Let's talk about motivated teenagers.

When I was in high school, I thought I was a motivated teen.

I was president of the National Honor Society, vice president of the drama club, captain of the academic team, secretary of Youth in Government, and had a GPA higher than 4.0.

Apparently, being motivated = being a total dork.

I also watched a lot of TV, goofed off on the Internet (which was BRAND-NEW and SHINY and also slow because it was dial-up...ah, the bad old days...), played hours upon hours of Harvest Moon and Zelda on my N64, and cruised around Clearwater in Dave Mink's '88 Ford Whatever. (My memory isn't that good. This was like 10 years ago.)

Sometimes, when I look back at all those hours wasted goofing off, napping, doing nothing, I think, "You know, I could have gotten a head start on this whole novel-writing thing and been awesome and successful by now!" Then I remember the crap my 19-year-old self wrote and I want to smack myself upside the head with a blunt instrument, because no one, not even my blog readers, should be subjected to that (unless it's for entertainment, and snarky comments are included.)

I think it's better that I waited until I was an (im)mature adult before I started taking my writing seriously. Fortunately for the universe, book publishing, and current teenagers, not all teenagers suck as bad as I did. In fact, some of them are actually talented.

Last week, I read The DUFF by Kody Keplinger. The book has a frank discussion of sex, one that I think teens will relate really well to and appreciate (and will probably make adults across the country call for the book to be thrown out of homes and libraries alike). And the voice is dead-on and honest. I think this is one thing that teen authors have that adults authors don't. When I attended SCBWI-LA, many of the workshop sessions suggested interviewing teenagers to get a good hold on voice or emotions. Teen authors can totally bypass that step because, well, they are teens. They have that voice and emotion, and their friends talk to them constantly about their own feelings (or don't, and hey, that's a relevant character trait, too.) They don't have to visit high school because they're in high school. In fact, many of the authors below admit that events in their high schools inspired the works that eventually got them published.

Here are some examples of some of those talented writers who just happened to have been in high school when they published their first books:

The aforementioned Kody Keplinger, who wrote The DUFF when she was a senior in high school.

Steph Bowe, who landed super agent Ginger Clark at the age of 15.

Though he's older than me, Christopher Paolini penned the first book in the Inheritance Cycle - Eragon - when he was just 15. (I will note that he might be a bad example, because the book was first published by his parent's company. However, when Carl Hiaasen's stepson found the book and loved it, Hiaasen brought the book to Knopf and Eragon saw its second print run before Paolini's 19th birthday. So, still a success story, just not by the traditional formula.)   

Hannah Moskowitz, who has a fantastic blog and published Break when she was 18 or so. What's more, she's got three more books coming out: Invincible Summer (April 2011), The Animals Were Gone (Spring 2012), and the MG Zombie Tag (Fall 2011).

And I have to include S.E. Hinton. Even though she's not a teen anymore, her classic The Outsiders is taught in schools, and well-known by even people who don't read a lot. And she was 17 when she started writing it.

OK, but here's the thing - even though these writers are younger in age (except for Hinton, obvs), I don't think any of them are short on talent. I'm sure some of them don't appreciate having their age pointed out at every turn (in fact, I know one in particular is looking forward to leaving her teens behind so she can just be an author-author instead of a teen-author), but I don't think the fact that these individuals were published when they were teen-aged means that they wouldn't have been published had they been middle-aged. Many of them probably didn't even mention their age in their query letters, which was probably smart - let the writing speak for itself.

I have nothing but the utmost respect and admiration for these young go-getters. Justine Larbelastier posited that anything younger than 30 was still very young to be a published author. So I guess I still have four years and four months to prove that I'm not a total slacker.

As for authors who are teen-aged? Well, I guess they're just getting a head start.

What to Do When You Find Out Your Book Has Been Written By Someone Else

So last night I was in my weekly writer chat. And in a slight lull in the conversation, I started gushing about how excited I was about my new project, about how I couldn't stop the ideas from coming to me, about how I had notes in my notebook, on my laptop, even in my phone because everywhere I went I was just getting smacked with scenes, dialogue, and whathaveyou.

Everyone said, "That's so great, Heather!" They know I am a freak of nature who likes first drafting more than revising, and since I am thisclose to finishing my current WIP, I am almost ready to start my next book.

Then someone in the group asked, ever-so-innocently, "What's your book about?" I told her, and she said,

"Oh. That sounds like a book SUPER-FAMOUS YA AUTHOR just sold. :("

And she was right. She pulled up the Publisher's Marketplace listing (of which she is a paid member and I only get the lame free emails) and, with the change of a minor detail, it was pretty much my book. The book I'd been sitting on and plotting, letting it simmer and researching for months.

Ughughugh.

So what's a girl to do? I had playlists started, scenes plotted, even the first 1,000 words written in a frenzy of inspiration I got a few months back. I felt pretty heartbroken.

But this, blog-readers, is why having a support system in place is awesome. Instead of letting me cry my sad tears, she immediately jumped into "Let's solve the problem" mode. Of course, the first thing she said was the writer's old favorite stand-by, "It's OK. Really, how many books with the same basic plot are out there? It's how you write the book, how you make it your own, that matters." She even brought up vampire boarding school novels and vamp romances, of which there are apx. 6 million.

Now, while I totally, 100% agree with this, I was being irrational. So I said, "That's normally true. But this is SUPER-FAMOUS AUTHOR, not no one's ever heard of them author. They're going to sell a MILLION COPIES and no one will buy my book!!!!" (Apparently I have never heard of Stephenie Meyer or any of the people who have managed to sell vampire romance books after her success. Then again, this isn't a genre, this is a pretty specific plot, so...)

So then we moved on to, "How can we salvage this plot?" We talked about new character motivations, other reasons the MC would behave that way, and in the end I have a NEW idea which has the opportunity for an AWESOME TWIST.

Am I still a little hurt over the loss of my original SNI? Yes. But I think this is the best way to deal. And I'm glad I found out now before I actually started writing.

The point is, when you find a book that is so similar to yours that it might as well BE yours, all hope is not lost. You can pick up the pieces. Think of a new plot twist, different motivations, or change a few key elements. Who knows? In the end, it might end up making your story even stronger.

Look Around and Smell Those Daisies! Writing Using the Senses

Oh, hai. I know it seems like I've forgotten you. But I haven't. I've just been super busy getting ready for SCBWI (!!!) in a few weeks (!!!!!) that I haven't had quite the usual amount of time to dedicate to blogging. But I really heart you guys, so I'm resolving to change that.

In between frantic rewrites, Zumba and spinning classes to sharpen my mind (the jury is still out on the "Does exercising more help Heather concentrate?" experiment. I think I might prefer a nap but I lost 2 lbs so...yay.), and wondering what I'm going to wear every day of the conference, I've been reading Connie Epstein's The Art of Writing for Children. This was on my list of recommended reading from the VCFA faculty, so naturally I wanted to read it before January (I am clearly an overachiever.) So far, the book seems to provide a nice overview of writing for children (picture books to YA), and gives good examples when pointing out how to look at things from a child's point of view. (The example so far are mostly from MG or chapter books, so if you're considering this read but you want something geared more toward YA, this might not be the book for you.)

The second chapter, which has so far been my favorite, was about using the five senses in writing. Epstein stresses the importance of childhood as a time of discovery, when everything seems a bit larger-than-life. So while the adult author might not notice certain details about an experience, the child/teen protagonist definitely will. In order to make your prose stronger, the best thing you can do is use as many senses as possible to describe the experience - particularly if it's something the character is dealing with for the first time, or has a strong emotional reaction to. She pointed out that one strong, well-chosen word or phrase can do a lot more than a long paragraph of specific details. She also notes that it's important to do all of these things to set a certain mood, and not fill your book up with details just for the fun of it.

This chapter really got me thinking about how I use senses in my writing. I think I use them pretty well. For example, there is one scene in my WIP where my MC is tasting fruit, and that was one of my favorite scenes to write - I remember closing my eyes and imagining every detail of the experience of eating fruit, then trying to find just the right words to describe it without going overboard. It took a few revisions, but in the end I think it came out great. Thinking about my own experience of something helped me describe how my character would react.

But I also tried to think of some of the weaknesses in my sensory descriptions. I think perhaps sometimes I go for the easy/obvious description, and don't read out and try to think of the not-so-obvious way to describe something. I want to start incorporating that more, and I think it will bring some unique perspective to my writing.

And now, a writing exercise! (I know, I'm like Shannon Messenger over here, giving you assignments.) Write a scene where you have to describe something, but don't use the obvious choice in sensory detail to describe it. For example, your character gets caught in a rainstorm, and instead of describing the way the rain smells or sounds or feels, maybe she opens her mouth and tastes it. Make sure the descriptions serve a purpose in the scene, and try to draw on your own experience, when possible.

To quote my Wise and Sage friend Jessica...

"Writing a novel is hard."

That is all.

(Except for this plug for Jessica's YA book review blog, which you should definitely visit, because it is awesome.)

My Character Did WHAT?! Notes on Character Consistency

You might remember, oh dearest blog readers, that I've been watching How I Met Your Mother recently. (You might need reminding that, since I don't have cable, I generally catch on to shows about five years after everyone else realizes that they're awesome.) And although I generally think the show is totally amazing (Jason Segel? NPH? Kissing?), I do think they have some characterization issues they need to sort out. Specifically, with the Ted character, and how his adult narration is totally inconsistent.

The other night, I watched the season 5 episode, "Robin 101." In it, Barney gives Ted the finger by pulling the classic, "Is this loud enough? Want me to turn it up for you?" gag. But adult Ted, who's narrating the story, doesn't tell his kids that Barney gave him the finger. He says Barney gave him a thumbs-up, presumably to protect his kids from the evilness that is The Middle Finger (but more likely because you can't give someone the finger on CBS).

In another season 5 episode, "Bagpipes," adult Ted tells his kids about how he can never concentrate because his upstairs neighbors are always playing the bagpipes very loudly. But really, "playing the bagpipes" is a euphemism for having sex very loudly. Again, the way adult Ted tells his kids the story, it's clear he's using the substitution in order to protect his kids, and he catches himself just in time.

Another example is in an episode (I think this one's from season 4) where Ted is discussing the Lethal Weapon movies. He mentions the classic Roger Murtaugh line, "I'm too old for this...stuff." Because the real line (which involves a different s-word that I'm not putting on this blog today because I know for a fact that I have underage readers) is, apparently, offensive to his kids.

And all of that is great. It shows that adult Ted cares about protecting his kids, and is a bit of a fussy old dad. Better yet, it totally jives with who young Ted is, because young Ted is definitely on track to be a bit of a fussy old dad.

Except for one, teeny, tiny detail.

The entire show is built on the premise that Ted is telling these stories to his kids. In fact, the first word in almost every episode is "Kids," reminding us that we're still in story mode, and that these are still flashbacks. But not every episode has a bagpipe euphemism to make it more kid-friendly. In fact, there was one episode that was almost entirely about Barney meeting his 200th conquest - Barney, who adult Ted calls "Uncle Barney," so it's obvious that the kids still know who he is. Another episode revolved around the various methods and tricks Barney uses to pick girls up at bars. Still other episodes mention how Ted and Co. get drunk, do beer bongs, drink shots, have promiscuous sex, and are frequently irresponsible.

Maybe the euphemisms are unspoken, and adult Ted is actually always using them. But maybe there's actually some inconsistency going on here. Would Ted (who is probably, let's face it, a fuddy old dad much like the character formerly played by the man who voices him) really expose his sweet little kids to all this sex, beer, and discussion of architectural porn?

No. It's just not consistent to his character. It's not consistent with his young character, and it's not consistent with the behaviors he sometimes exhibits when he randomly chooses to censor himself when it's convenient for the network.  

Of course, I totally understand that it just makes for better TV to have Ted censor himself sometimes and not others. And I still think the show is hilarious. But for character-development purposes, this makes no sense. When you're writing, you want your character to be as consistent as possible. Barring any growth your characters undergo, the decisions they make and the actions they take need to make sense to who they are as a person, and what they would do needs to be true to who they are. Don't have them say on one page that they're a devout Catholic, then in the next chapter say GD when they stub their toe. Don't say they're vegan, then put them in leather pumps for their college acceptance interviews. And don't have them claim to be protective one second if the next they're going to throw caution to the wind and talk about how Aunt Lilly has a stripper doppelganger.

Working Out is Definitely NOT as Awesome as Writing

I joined the Y yesterday. As in the YMCA. As in the place where I'll be going (hopefully) every day after work (and maybe some days before work instead, although that's really effing early) to get myself into seriously awesome shape. Or just be able to zip up my favorite jeans again.

While I was suffering through my 20 minutes on the Arc trainer this afternoon, I couldn't help but think about how working out is definitely not as fun or rewarding as writing. You see, I've already gone to the gym twice. Yesterday, I did 40 minutes of cardio and then some strength training. Today, I did 45 minutes of cardio and more strength stuff. And all I have to show for my efforts is sore arms and a slimmer bank account (those Y memberships aren't free, you know).  My thighs are still thunderous. My butt is still booty-licious. And that "Hey Sally" flap underneath my upper arms doesn't appear to have dissipated in the slightest.

But if I had spent that time writing, I would have actual, measurable results. Spending three hours total on my WIP at this point would probably get me about a chapter and a half, maybe even two chapters, nicely revised and sparkling like a Cullen on a sunny day. Maybe it would only get me a sentence, but it would be a darn good sentence. The flaws in that area of my MS would have faded away. Even if I was working on a new project, on a good day I can write 5,000 or more words in three hours. On a bad day I can still hit 2,500. Sure, if I looked at the project as a whole there would still be plenty of flaws, but every day that I write I see an actual result, while working out...well, the change is gradual. I don't like gradual. Plus when I write I can do nice things like sip coffee and munch chocolates and snuggle with my dogs. Working out just makes me sweaty.

Still, I guess there are some similarities between the two activities. Every day that you write you get better, and the same can definitely be said for working out - the more you exercise, the stronger you get. And both writers and exercisers set goals. Plus, getting into the habit of writing or working out every day is important, even if you're not feeling up to it - though I admit "not feeling up to working out" is a much more common occurrence 'round these parts than "not feeling up to writing."

I'm not sure that I'll ever love to exercise. Right now, I spend the whole workout listening to my book, wondering how much longer I have to stay in the gym before I can move on, go home, and turn on my computer. But even if I do get used to working out, develop the slim hips I want, and turn exercising from a chore into a "fun" task (I can't even imagine it will be fun in the future right now - hence the quotation marks), it will never, ever, be as awesome as writing.

Hey, guess what! Frankie also talks about exercising and writing sometimes!    

Are You a Writer?

Earlier this week, I went on a business trip to Denver. Denver is approximately a million miles away from Florida. (OK, it's actually about 2,000 miles.) All of those miles meant a lot of time in the plane and airport, which meant I got a lot of writing done. (It's amazing what you can do when Twitter, gmail, and other blogs are not within your reach. Although on one of my flights I did get Internet access, and it was aMAZing. #TweetsOnAPlane is my new favorite hashtag.)

On my last flight, a very nice lady was sitting next to me as I clacked away at my MacBook. She mostly kept to herself, reading The Elegance of the Hedgehog, and sipping her diet Sprite. But at one point she turned to me and said, "Are you a writer?"

I had two options. I could say, "No, but I want to be." Or I could own up, say "Yes!" with confidence, and understand that being a writer means a lot more than having a book on sale at Borders.

When you're a writer, you wake up in the morning wanting to write. You might carry notebooks around with you in case you get ideas, and if you forget your notebook you'll write on napkins, scrap pieces of paper -- whatever you can get your hands on. If you've ever posted a blog entry, kept a journal, or shared a story with a friend or family member, then you are a writer. You don't have to write a book to be a writer -- but if you are writing a book (or even a story that you're really excited about), you'll probably bring your laptop or notebook with you, even on a business trip, just so you can get a few minutes of revisions in.

When you're a writer, you read. You read novels that you love, novels that you hate, classics and contemporary pieces. You read books that were recommended to you and you recommend books to others. You read the back of a cereal box if that's all there is.

When you're a writer, it doesn't matter if you get published or not. Sure, that would be great (obviously) and you spend plenty of time daydreaming about what your cover will look like and doodling your author signature (we've all done it, come on people.) But ultimately, you write because you love it. If your first book doesn't catch anyone's eye, you'll write another, and another, because you can't help but write -- it's in your bones, it's in the air you breathe.

So, back on the plane, when my neighbor asked if I was a writer, I almost said no. I don't have a book published. You can't find me at Barnes and Noble. But I am a writer. So I smiled back at her and said, "Yes!" with gusto.

On her way off the plane, she asked if I was going to pursue publication, and I said yes. She wished me luck, and said she hoped she could read my book one day. I hope so, too, but if not, I'll still be a writer.  

The Plot Thickens: What I've Learned About Writing From TV

Full disclosure: I don't have cable. And because the hubs promised that we had a digital television even though we, in fact, do not, we never got one of those box things for the digital switch, so even the basic channels come in like snow. Which is kind of nice, since I live in Florida. But basically, my access to television is limited. We have Netflix, and the majority of my queue is filled with seasons of shows I've heard great things about (mostly because I can only spare 20, 40 minutes tops a day for TV, so watching movies is really out of the question). If I really love a show, I'll start watching the current episodes online, but other than that, I'll just wait for the new season to come out on DVD.

That being said, I do have to admit that my limited television watching has actually taught me quite a bit about plot devices and unique ways to tell stories. Many of my favorite shows have a unique storytelling style that I admire, and could thoroughly enjoying in a book.

Take, for example, my latest find: How I Met Your Mother. I'm currently at the beginning of the third season of this show, and I think it's pretty hilarious. I mean, come on...NPH? Jason Segel? Yes, please. But aside from the acting talent and the cute story lines, the way the story is told in a very smart way. OK, so you have to majorly suspend your disbelief that two teenagers would sit through their old man's ramblings about nothing related to the story they actually want to hear. And also the fact that dad's voice has totally changed for narrating purposes, but in flash forwards that take place in the same time period, his voice sounds like it did when he was in his 20s. Aside from those obvious errors, the show manages to do something incredible - tease what's coming, and still keep me interested. The best example I can think of is the Robin/Ted relationship. Robin is introduced in the second or third episode, and hilarious antics ensue. At the end of the same episode, the dad says "That's how I met...your Aunt Robin." And from there after, whenever Robin is referred to by the narrator, she's always called "Aunt Robin." And yet, even though I knew these two were never meant to be, I still found myself routing for them as a couple when they did get together. And there are many other times when the show does this - they'll hint that something will or won't work, but you won't find out how exactly it happens until two or three episodes later. (This is definitely another perk to having the DVD - watching multiple episodes in a row.) It's pretty smart storytelling - it sucks me in, because I have to know why, in the end, it turns out that way.  

Another show I love is Arrested Development. Sadly, AD lasted just three short seasons before it was canceled by some short-sighted executives at Fox. But I still think it's probably the best show that's ever been on TV - smart, funny, and rewards you for being a loyal watcher. Throughout the show, the characters make little references to things that happened in earlier seasons. In AD, of course, they're doing it for comedic effect, but a novelist could use this device to lay clues to a mystery, build suspense - or just for comedic effect. The jokes were so well laid-out, and there are so many, that after years and years of watching the episodes, I still find new ones every time I play the DVDs (and trust me, I play them often.) So not only did I enjoy them the first time around, but knowing those little hints were there made we want to re-watch - if you can learn how to use them in your writing, maybe you can make people want to re-read.

Finally, as much as I hate to admit it...LOST had me hooked. Even though I had no clue what was going on half the time, I still had to know how it all came together. Maybe it was the fact that they kept introducing new mysteries, almost right up to the last second. Maybe it's that, just when everything got a little too crazy on the island, they gave us some beautiful off-island stories to keep everything grounded. Maybe it was simply that there was so MUCH story there that I had to dish with my co-workers for an hour everyday after I watched the episode just to figure out what happened. No matter what it was, there was something about that show that got to me, and stuck with me, and made me want to watch. (And that very last few seconds? OMG. Totally perfect way to close, I think. But no spoilers here, since it was less than a week ago and it's totally plausible that people haven't gotten to it yet.)

So now, thanks to HIMYM, AD, LOST, and many other shows, I've learned to take television more critically. I don't simply watch and ignore. I watch and think, "Is this a good plot device? Could I use it somehow?"

What about you? Do you ever learn anything from television (or movies - like Momento!) that help you in your writing? If so, which ones?

Why Home Decorating is Like Writing, Part One

I have a confession: I have another hobby.

I know. It seems totally impossible that someone with no time to sleep actually has time to consider doing something aside from writing in the few waking moments that she has, but, what can I say. I like to torture myself. Anyway, lately I've been getting into decorating and renovating my house. Since I'm on a serious budget (and I mean serious) all of my "new" decor is really stuff I find in thrift stores or consignment shops and fix up to display in my house. And every time I go through the process, I can't help but be reminded of the writing process.

Take, for example, the lamp I recently found at my local Salvation Army. I'd been looking for a good lamp for weeks, ever since I refurbished an adorable end table and decided it needed a lamp to sit on top of it. I wanted one with a nice, interesting shape, but also one that wasn't totally huge. Finally on my third weekly visit to the store, I found the perfect lamp. It was just like searching for the perfect idea for your next novel - I didn't know what I was looking for, in particular, but as soon as I saw it I knew it was the one.

I really wish I'd taken a before picture, because this thing was pretty hideous. Much like the first draft of a WIP, it had great bones, but it was speckled with awful brown spots, almost sponge-painted on. Just terrible, classic thrift-store tacky. But after some primer, a can of yellow spray paint, and an incredibly adorable (and possibly too girly for my husband's tastes) shade from Ikea, I transformed my thrift store find into this:

It's so cute I want to die a little.  And it just took a little bit of revision, and the ability to look beyond the hot mess of what the lamp was and see what it could be. (If that doesn't remind you of the writing process, I don't know what does.)

But then, as I was putting the final touches (literally, the very last spray) on my lamp, disaster struck. I got a little overzealous, came a bit too close with the paint can and bam! Drip city. Oh noes! What to do? Hm...what would a writer do when there's a plot problem that seems a little bumpy? Research! So I did a Google search for "Removing spray paint runs" and found some useful information. Since my runs currently look like this:

It's obvious I have a little more sanding, then some painting to do before I can finally display my lamp for all the world to see. But if writing's taught me anything, it's that revisions are a long and painful process, so waiting a week to show off my adorable lamp hardly seems difficult.

The best part about doing all these little paint jobs (including a totally botched dresser and nightstand set, which may make up part two of this post) is that painting really lets me clear my head and think - and whenever I'm thinking, my brain always turns to my WIP. Some of my best ideas have come to me while I'm refurbishing something, or browsing the aisles of the thrift store. So even if this new decorating craze has taken some time away from my writing here and there, in a way it's also helped me connect to it again. 

The Art of the Multi-Dimensional Villain

Everyone loves to hate a villain. They're evil. They're miserable. They're always running about mucking up everyone's lives. In books where the villain wins, you want to cry and throw things a little, and the times when the hero is vindicated, you can feel your heart swelling.

Still, just because a villain is technically the bad guy doesn't mean he or she should be all bad. In fact, you need to find a way to give your villain some depth, otherwise they'll fall totally flat and will be unbelievable. Even the big historical villains had a hard time somewhere along the way - and that often turned them into the person they became. Hitler, for example, had a troubled relationship with his father, who beat him and sent him to a technical school, even though young Adolf wanted to attend a school for artists. Serial killer Ted Bundy struggled with depression, and found out as an adult that the parents who raised him were really his grandparents, and his "older sister" was actually his mom. Another serial killer, Charles Manson, also had family and abandonment issues; apparently, Manson's mother once sold baby Charles to a childless waitress for a pitcher of beer. An uncle rescued him a few days later. Although these stories certainly don't excuse what the men would eventually become, they do make you feel just a little sorry for who these men are and what they had to go through - a crucial element in the art of villain creation.

Until recently, I had a villain who was all evil, no sorrow. Then I chatted it out with my writer-friends (who are awesome), and now he has some neurosis that fit his character oh-so perfectly (I just have to write them into the MS. Don't you love revisions?) Since talking about my character will make no sense - you don't know him or my story, I thought I would share some of my favorite, well-known, multi-layered villains with you. (Please note that the character discussions obviously have some spoilers for their back-story, so if you're not familiar with the story but plan on being one day, perhaps you want to skip over that character and move on to the next. They're not too bad, but maybe you'll hate me if you read them. I don't know, but I do know that I don't want you to hate me if you don't like spoilers without warning, so...You've been warned.)

Exhibit A: Sue Sylvester

Quote: "I will go to the animal shelter and get you a kitty cat. I will let you fall in love with that kitty cat. And then, on some dark, cold night I will steal away into your home and punch you in the FACE."

Sue is a great villain. She is mean to everyone - everyone - the students, the teachers, even herself, at times. Her intentions are always clear and never waver, and even when she seems to have a last-minute change of heart, in the end we see it's all about getting rid of the Glee club and getting the funding for her Cheerios back. She's selfish, obnoxious, arrogant, and hilarious. But then, about halfway through the first season, she did something that seemed so heinous that even I was appalled - she invited a girl with Down syndrome to join the cheerleading team (a very un-Sue move). Of course, people were suspicious, and Sue pushed the girl hard to keep up at practice. When her behavior was questioned, Sue just said she's not going to treat the girl any differently because of her handicap. At the end of the episode, we saw Sue visiting her sister at a nursing facility. Her sister has Down syndrome, and our evil villain was so sweet and caring that I almost cried. In fact, every time Sue visits her sister and shares this little glimpse at her softer side, I get a little choked up. I love the softer side of Sue, and it's almost enough to make me forget that she's totally sabotaging everyone in the Glee club - almost. 

Exhibit B: Mrs. Coulter from His Dark Materials by Philip Pullman 

Quote: “Oh, there is more suffering to come. We have a thousand years of experience in this Church of ours. We can draw out your suffering endlessly.”

(Excuse my use of the movie Mrs. Coulter for the picture. Nicole Kidman was creepy, but the movie totally missed the mark in every way, and made the first book way less awesome than it really was.) Mrs. Coulter is one of the most terrifying women in literature, in my opinion. She comes off so sweet and innocent, like she really wants to protect and help young Lyra. She takes Lyra under her wing, and Lyra is ensnared by her beauty and grace. Of course, we find out soon enough that Mrs. Coulter and her evil little golden monkey are actually up to no good, and are in fact responsible for ordering the separation of children from their souls. Mrs. Coulter is evil, definitely, but she also has a complicated past that wraps her up even further in the mysteries of the book. I won't spoil the past here, though, because I'm hoping you pick up the book (maybe even order the series from The Book Depository for just $19! For three amazing books!) and find out for yourself what makes Mrs. Coulter multi-dimensional - and whether or not she redeems herself.  

Exhibit C: Lord Voldemort from Harry Potter by J.K. Rowling 

Quote:  "There is nothing worse than death, Dumbledore!"

Voldemort is probably my favorite example of the sympathetic, multi-dimensional baddie. We hated him through five books, our hate only growing more passionate with each one, then, suddenly, we read Half-Blood Prince, and we started to feel just a little sorry for him. Obviously, the kid was still totally creepy. But you could see exactly where he got his Muggle/half-blood hatred from, even through he himself has a Muggle father. And the situation with his orphanage, where he got almost no personal attention, and had no idea who he was or how to control his evil urges and power, was obviously not ideal. If only he'd been raised by someone who cared, then maybe none of this would have happened. If only Tom Riddle Sr. had really loved Merope enough to stick around. If only Merope had been strong enough to get herself together, run a comb through her hair, and be a badass single mother. If only Marvolo Gaunt wasn't such a misogynist jerk to his only daughter, then maybe she could have been strong and independent all along. But none of those things happened, and instead Voldemort turned into, well, Voldemort. Raised in circumstances much like Harry's, he became something very, very different - and of course, this comparison to our hero only further heightens the complexity and sadness we feel for our lonely villain, who uses power to get friends he's never had. Is it possible to cry through snake-like nostrils? I'm sure lonely Lord Voldemort can tell us it is. Then he blows the head off another Muggle, and we forget we ever felt sorry for him at all.

There are a ton of excellent villains with many layers - layers like onions. (Yes, shameless Shrek reference there. Which, hey, there's another villain with issues! Not Shrek, but Lord Farquaad, who is so short he's self-conscious about it and tries to overcompensate by being a raging jerk.) So, you tell me...who's your favorite multi-dimensional villain? 

More proof that Outstanding Writers Have No Rules

We all know there are rules that writers are never, ever, ever supposed to break. Don't use adverbs. Don't start with your character alone in a room. Don't use dream scenes, flashbacks, or prologues. Seriously, the list goes on and on (and on and on). But the truth is, writing rules were made to be broken - as long as you do it well, and are awesome.  

Rule: Don't Start Your Story With the Weather!!
Broken in: Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix by J.K. Rowling

The hottest day of the summer so far was drawing to a close and a drowsy silence lay over the large, square houses of Privet Drive. Cars that were usually gleaming stood dusty in their drives and lawns that were emerald green lay parched and yellowing; the use of hosepipes had been banned due to drought. Deprived of their usual car-washing and lawn-mowing pursuits, the inhabitants of Privet Drive had retreated into the shade of their cool houses, windows thrown wide in the hope of tempting in a nonexistent breeze. The only person left outdoors was a teenage boy who was lying flat on his back in a flower bed outside number four. 

Why it works: Aside from the fact that this is J.K. Rowling who we're talking about, the references to the weather are intermingled with other excellent descriptions of parched lawns and the like. What's more, Rowling makes the outdoors sound so unappealing that you instantly wonder why anyone - including Harry - would bother staying outside in such heat. She also manages to let the misery of the intro reflect the misery that's to come in the rest of the book. This definitely isn't a perfect execution of the weather-as-opener, but in general it does what weather openers need to do - have a character interact somehow with the weather.

Rule: Don't start your story with dialogue!!
Broken in: Don't Let's Go to The Dogs Tonight by Alexandra Fuller

Mum says, "Don't come creeping into our room at night." 

They sleep with loaded guns beside them on the bedside rugs. 

She says, "Don't startle us when we're sleeping." 

"Why not?" 

"We might shoot you." 

"Oh." 

"By mistake." 

"Okay." As it is, there seems a good enough chance of getting shot on purpose. "Okay, I won't."

Why it works: The reason you may have heard people say not to start with dialogue is because there's no context. It's hard to establish who is talking (narrating), where they are, or what their situation is if you open with just dialogue. But here, even though I didn't give you the next line (which is brilliant, but it mentions spiders, which I don't talk about on this blog), you know that the narrator is a child, probably living somewhere rural or lawless, and the voice is fabulous. Don't you want to keep reading? I do.


Rule: Don't start with your MC falling asleep or waking up!!
Broken in: The Hunger Games by Suzanne Collins

When I wake up, the other side of the bed is cold. My fingers stretch out, seeking Prim's warmth but finding only the rough canvas cover of the mattress. She must have had bad dreams and climbed in with our mother. Of course she did. This is the day of the reaping. 

Why it works: Mostly because The Hunger Games brings the awesome. It's really the last sentence of that paragraph that works, and knowing that Prim had bad dreams. What's going to happen today that would cause bad dreams? I want to know, so I keep reading. (For two days straight, right through two books, bringing them with me to meals and the movies and thoroughly irritating my husband...until he gets the sense to read it, too. Now we're arguing over who gets to read our copy of Mockingjay first when it comes in.)  
 

Can you think of any examples of writing rules that were broken well? (Or not well?) Share them in the comments!

Are You an Evie or a Millie?

Blog readers, meet Evie:

 She is obviously adorable.

Although when Evie plays she totally spazzes out and makes me a little scared for her intelligence, for the most part Evie is extremely methodical. She chews her food carefully. She burrows into the covers for hours on end until she finds the right amount of coverage. She nudges and prods me over and over, minute after minute, while I'm trying to write and get important blog posting done, and it drives me totally insane and then I yell at her and scare her and she runs away, but since she's obviously adorable I feel terrible so I call her back and tell her I'm sorry, and the whole thing starts all over again, until she finds just the right spot by my supple body to snuggle. She's a planner.

Now, blog readers, meet Millie:

 She is also obviously adorable. And yes she's wearing a t-shirt. We are so Those People.

Millie scarfs down her food in about two seconds. She gets under the blanket with one swift nudge of her nose. She moves right in next to me because she knows exactly where she wants to sit - no planning required. 

When I was thinking about the vast differences in my two dogs today, it occurred to me that their personalities perfectly mirror the two kinds of writers. And if I were to talk about this on my blog, I would be able to post pictures of my dogs. Who are obviously adorable.

Some writers outline. They work through their plot scene-by-scene, thinking what will happen when and to whom, so that when they start writing they have a plan. They might even exchange the outline with a trusted crit partner to see if the book has a leg to stand on before they start writing. These are the Evies of the world.

Other writers don't outline. They just open up the Word document or their Pages (I'm a Mac user now, remember) and start typing. Of course, they have an idea in their head, and I'm sure they have a line or two written out, and a general sense of where they're going. But for the most part they just find of write, and let the story grow organically and see where it takes them. These are the Millies of the world.

When I started writing my current project, I didn't outline. I definitely knew where I wanted the story to go, but I didn't write it out. I think I had too many bad memories of writing outlines from school - and I'd never outlined in school, either. (Here's a confession, in case any of my former English teachers are reading this: I used to write the rough drafts before the outlines. Then I'd turn in the outlines as if I'd written it first. I just liked it better that way. Go ahead, revoke my diploma.) Not outlining kind of worked for me. Two of my most vibrant characters (and ones that my crit partners have loved) popped up as I was writing, and were totally, completely unplanned. I'm not sure if that could have happened if I had an outline.  

But now that I'm starting to think more and more about my next project (even though, don't get me wrong, I am still no where near done revising this one), I think I'm going to give outlining a try. I'm not going to go all crazy and snowflake or anything - that's intense. (Plus I live in Florida. So obviously I'm not a fan of snowflakes.*) But I will try to write out the major scenes, characters, that kind of thing. I definitely see the merit in it, and how it might help me identify some of the weaker scenes in the book before I waste the time writing them. Of course my rough draft might still be a mess, but as someone who's new to novel writing, I think it can't hurt to try something new.

So...are you an Evie (a planner) or a Millie (a non-planner)? Why? 

Or, are you a little of both?

 

This is an old picture, since my hair is long and that's my crappy old Dell and not my awesome new MacBook. Also it's not a very good picture. But apparently I'm not a good dog mom because there are approximately 0 other pictures with both dogs in them. Oh well.

*Actually, that's a lie. I effing love snowflakes.

My First Vlog! (More on Making Time to Write)

So I made a vlog.

It's not really that great.

It's probably too long. It lacks direction. There's a period near the end where I sort of forget I'm on camera and just look through my notebook, but I was too tired to edit it out, so it ended up in the final cut.  Also, I'm not wearing any makeup, and there's definitely some shoddy editing going on.

BUT

You get to meet my cute dog, Evie. You get a glimpse at my new haircut (even though the ends are a bit flippy tonight). You get to hear my voice (which might be annoying and make you forever thankful that I'm a writer.) AND most exciting of all, you get a glimpse inside my writer's notebook, and you get to hear me read the sentence that sparked the idea for my current novel (including the original title! The title and the idea have been modified significantly, so I feel totally cool sharing them all with the world.)

Plus I promised I would.

Also, I totally stole that sign-off from the podcasts I do at my full-time job. I work for an insurance magazine, and we always say, "Until next month, happy selling!" at the end of the podcasts. I think it's cute, and have since I started working there, so I totally borrowed the idea for my vlog. Happy writing is way more fun/easier than happy selling. Happy selling doesn't exist. At least not for me.

So...there you go. Watch at your own risk.

EDIT: I fail at YouTube. Apparently the settings were automatically set to private, and because I have no idea what I'm doing I didn't change them. I posted the video then, like a good writer, turned off the Internet and crit read and did a little writing...and awoke to messages of my fail. But the video should be fixed now! Hopefully my nightowl tendancies mean most people weren't affected. If you were...you aren't missing much.






Related posts/posts mentioned in the vlog:
The last time I talked about making time to write (which includes some eerily similar advice...but I have new followers, plus this is a VLOG!)
The time I wrote an entire post about my dogs, who I probably definitely mention more than my husband