Shiny New Ideas

Two years ago, I was starting to get worried. It had been a while since I’d had a ‘shiny new idea’ and I knew that NaNoWriMo was coming up. I try and write something brand new for NaNoWriMo, and by the middle of the year, I usually had a basic idea for what I would work on.

I really didn’t need to worry. It’s amazing how stress can affect the creative muscle. By the end of July, I had a full-fledge idea, one that turned into four books, and sustained me for two years of NaNoWriMo.

You’d think that I’d learn from that experience, but here I am, two years later, again worried about NaNoWriMo. The rest of the year, I know I’m set. I’m editing and revising to my heart’s content, but the closer I get to November, the more my brain starts to panic, thinking that I won’t be ready.

Most of my panic is because I’m a planner. I need a thick and detailed bible ready before I can even start writing the first word. I want to know the direction the story’s headed, and the character backgrounds. I need to know the culture, their beliefs… I even tend to draw out the setting so I have a feel for the world.

I had a basic idea, but it wasn’t fleshed out, mostly because it was so generalized and so vague that I didn’t even know how to flesh it out.

Here’s the secret to shiny new ideas:

Always pay attention to everything. You never know what will start a spark.

Last time this happened, hubby and I went to the museum for our anniversary. Not because either of us were particularly interested in pirates, but because we wanted to get out of the house. The entire experience was a fodder for ideas, and pirates played a heavy role in my later book.

This year, all it took was an article on Pinterest, with a title that was much more interesting than the article itself. It was the spark that I needed to turn my vague idea into something that keeps me awake at night, planning and plotting for November.

How about the rest of you? Where do you get your ideas? Are you already planning for NaNoWriMo?

Meeting a Hero

As I mentioned before, I had the awesome opportunity to attend LTUE last month. It was the experience of a lifetime, and for more than one reason.

Last year, when my friend mentioned the symposium, I was excited to go, though I wasn’t sure what to expect. Then, Shannon Hale posted on her blog she’d been asked to be one of the keynote speakers.

I am a huge Shannon Hale fan.

When I was in junior high, I randomly found her book, Goose Girl, at the library. I’m one of those nerds who read fairy tales from all cultures along with Nancy Drew while in elementary school. I immediately recognized the name of the fairy tale, and I picked it up, intrigued. I hadn’t really read very many fairy tale retellings, and I believe at that time, they were just beginning to become popular.

I took it home and devoured the book. It quickly became an all-time favorite. While reading it, I realized how much fun it would be to write a story of my own, a retelling of one of my favorite stories.

It took me a few years before I found the perfect story, but that novel, inspired by Shannon Hale’s Goose Girl, was the first novel I ever wrote. It was a retelling of Beauty and the Beast, and it holds a very special spot in my heart, because it’s what started me on this whole journey.

When I finally went to LTUE, I was so excited to meet Shannon Hale. She gave a Keynote speech that blew me away. My friends and I couldn’t stop talking about it, and I’ve told my family, friends and coworkers about it. She’s an inspiration in more ways than one, and I was nervous about meeting her.

I’m sure it’s stressful, being under the spotlight like that, having everyone recognize you wherever you are for an entire weekend. But she was pleasant, and took the time to interact with her fans and fellow writers.

One of the things I heard while at LTUE was ‘Pay it forward.’ You never know when something you do for someone else will affect the series of events following. I’m so grateful I have the example of such gracious writers, who are willing to help cultivate the love of writing in young, budding authors.

I just wish I’d written down a list of things to ask her when I finally had the chance. My mind kind of went blank in the moment.

Looking Back to See Ahead

Sometimes, there’s a question in a writer’s mind every once in a while.

Am I getting any better? Is all of this practice and writing getting me anywhere?

Or maybe it’s just me. There’s always those moments of self-doubt. All of this time and effort might seem like a waste if I’m not improving.

Starting in December, I started working on revisions on Commissioned, one of the novels I wrote in November. I started to notice a pattern, and it was enough to give me some encouragement.

Here’s an example of a page I worked on during my fourth revision of Servant of an Empire.

Basically, I rewrote the entire thing. I crossed out each word, each sentence and wrote a new one.

Here’s a page I worked on during this revision of Commissioned. Looks pretty much the same, right?

But here’s the exciting thing. This is the anomaly. Rewriting an entire scene is no longer the norm for me. I’m on my first revision, and here’s a typical page for me.

I’m using more of my original words, and I have less to fix. Even the basic plotline doesn’t require a whole lot of fixing either.

So for me, this is enough encouragement for me to keep going. Practice is paying off, and I believe I’m improving!

How about the rest of you? How do you know when you’re improving?

Brain on Overdrive

A few months ago, I decided to make writing a priority. Well, even more than a priority than it already was. I’m trying to cut out even more time during my day to write, and I think I’ve been successful so far.

I go to the engineering lab with my husband as often as I can, because there’s nothing to do there but write. Our NaNoWriMo group has decided to meet once a month to write, and my co-ML and I meet twice a week. There’s plenty of opportunities.

Since making that decision, I wrote 177,000 words in November, which included 2 books, and a partial of a character sketch, and I’ve almost completed 2/3 of a revision for the first novel.

There’s only one downside, if you can call it that.

I’m having a hard time turning my brain off. There’s always something I have to mull over, something that I need to work on. Yesterday, I was stuck on a scene that I knew needed to be rewritten. I decided to try cleaning, and voila, the answer came to me. Good thing there was a write in for the SCBWI group! 

Last night, as I was sleeping, my brain came up with the bare bones of a query. Query letters are hard for me, because I don’t know how to get all of the ideas into so few words. But my brain figured it out… at 4am. I had to jump out of bed to write it down before I lost it.

I know it doesn’t sound like a bad thing, and maybe it’s not. My brain is solving problems, and I’m getting more writing done than I have in my life.

What do the rest of you do when this happens? How do you tell your brain to relax for a few hours?

2015 Year in Review

It’s the end of the year, which means it’s time to look back on my resolutions and goals for 2015. It’s always a little terrifying, to know that I’ve passed another year, and to see what I could have done better.

1.       Focus on publishing.

This was a little iffy. In January, I set up a query party, and we sent queries through participants, which was a lot of fun. I learned from each of them, and I learned about online critique groups along the way. I also sent out almost ten queries for the year, and received rejections from all of them. I know it may not seem like a success, but at the same time, it means that I actually sent out queries and tried, so for me, that is a significant step.

2.       Participate (and win!) both Camp NaNoWriMos and the regular NaNoWriMo.

April was an interesting month for me. I participated in the first NaNoWriMo by writing a daily character sketch to try and get ideas for NaNoWriMo. It was a frustrating experiment, but it did give me two characters that ended up being the sole inspiration for NaNoWriMo. During July, I did a full revision of The King’s Councilor. November was an incredibly productive month. I was able to write not one, but two different novels, the first two in the trilogy. I wrote 177,000 words in 30 days, so I would say I definitely met this goal!

3.       Read 52 books in the year 2015

I didn’t get to 52 books this year, but I did get close. I read 44 books this year. One of the most amazing things that I’ve ever learned was that reading teaches me almost as much about writing as writing itself. I’m starting to notice trends, things that I like, things that I don’t like, even what works and doesn’t. I’m finding writers that I enjoy reading, and even popular books that just don’t quite work for me. I hope to read just as many books next year as well.

Well that’s my year! How have your goals and aspirations been in 2015? 

Post NaNoWriMo

It’s December 7^th, which means that NaNoWriMo has been over for a full week now.

It’s been a long week. It doesn’t help that I did push myself way too hard the last week of November, between picking up extra shifts at work, hosting 3 write-ins and getting together with family the other spare moments I had.

Not that I would have changed any of it…

But last week, I did take a full 3 days off and relaxed. I cleaned, did laundry, FINALLY put up the Christmas tree. I’m the kind of person that pesters her husband into putting up Christmas decorations starting the beginning of November. This year, I was so busy that I didn’t even think about it until December 3^rd.

But I know that it’s not safe to spend too much time away from my writing. I’ve spent the past 30 days creating a habit. Habits are easier to break than make. Fortunately, I have awesome writing friends, and we’ve grown even closer this NaNoWriMo. My Co-ML and I have decided to get together twice a week to keep writing. Plus, I know how much better I work under pressure, so I’m creating my own goals and schedule for her to use to monitor me.

I’ll keep her going too.

So what’s my current goal? Since I finished Commissioned on November 15^th, I felt like enough time had passed for me to start a revision. I did a quick read through on Friday and Saturday so that I could get an idea of what needed to be fixed.

Honestly, it’s a few minor things here and there (add setting, flesh out characters), but nothing like previous novels. I’m not having to delete sections or add entire plot twists. Obsessive planning and plotting have their benefits! I’m hoping to finish this revision by LTUE, my first official writer’s conference! I’m going with a few friends from my NaNoWriMo group, and I’m super excited.

Those are my goals for now! How about the rest of you? How are you doing post NaNoWriMo craze?

Reading Through a Writer’s Eyes and Thoughts on Marissa Meyer's Winter

An interesting phenomenon when you spend a great deal of time editing and revising is that you start noticing mistakes. In everything. Especially in books of bestselling writers, because, let’s face it, everyone has a different opinion on art, and what one person likes isn’t necessarily what another person likes. I’ve heard other writers and editors complain about it. The inability to turn it off long enough to enjoy the story.

It’s true, to an extent. This year, I’ve really pushed to improve myself as a writer. I’ve advanced in ways I wouldn’t have imagined in January. I’ve critiqued and revised, even started a new series. I also made a goal to read 52 books this year.

This week, I read Winter, the final book in the Lunar Chronicles by Marissa Meyer. If you haven’t picked up the books, I highly recommend them. I found them last year and blasted through Cinder and Scarlet. Then I had to wait for Cress to come out. I thought that was torture, but then I had to wait for Winter.

I’m a huge fan of Marissa Meyer. I love her writing style, her characters, and her story. I also love the fact that she’s a NaNoWriMo author. Both Cinder and Scarlet were written during NaNoWriMo. If that’s not motivation, I don’t know what is.

While I’m working on my current novel, I’ve also been thinking about revision. I’m not a stranger to revision, out of the five novels I’ve written, I’ve probably done an average of 3-5 revisions on each. But as I work on the Orange WIP, I realize that maybe I’m not doing it as effectively as I could. As I researched revision, I found Marissa Meyer’s blog, and she gave an incredibly helpful and detailed summary of how she revises.

One of the things that popped out to me was that in her first revision, she asks what she can do to make things worse for the character. How she can make it less easy.

Knowing that, I read Winter with new eyes. There were moments when I could almost see her going through, thinking, nope, this is too easy. Time to make them suffer.

And suffer they did.

But because I still had my ‘writing goggles’ on while reading, I was able to pick up on those small details that I might not have noticed otherwise. I loved the book, and I was depressed when it was over. But I have a feeling that I’ll be going back to those books over and over again, probably with my kids as well. And when I start revisions, I will be taking Ms. Meyer’s process in mind, making things as physically and mentally difficult as I possibly can for my characters. 

Starting out on the Journey

One of the perks of being the ML in our region is that I get to write pep talks for those writing in our region. I love the chance to encourage writers. :) Here's the pep talk that we sent out last week!

It’s week one, which means that we’re still in the beginning of the long stretch. I know that some of you are doing awesome! In fact, our entire region is doing awesome! Compared to last year, we’ve really blown out of the water without our helmets on. I’m amazed by all of your progress.

Whether you feel like you’re moving forward, or whether you feel like you’re not doing as well as you could have – or should, remember, that’s not the point.

We’re on day 5. Day 5 of a lifetime. To be a writer, you don’t write 30 days in November. You write every day for a lifetime.

So why is NaNoWriMo important? Because these are our warm ups, the practice for the actual race. We’re going for a marathon here, not a sprint. Remember that. Everyone starts out at a different pace, and each of us are in different events. Don’t compare yourself to everyone else. We’re here as a team, not competitors. We’re here to cheer one another on. Any success can be counted as our success because we’re in this together.

That’s really the beauty of NaNoWriMo. You’re not alone. There’s going to be someone with more experience, and someone with less. That’s how it works. The best way to learn how to write is to learn and to teach, so don’t be afraid to get out there, know your team members and cheer them on!

And remember, this is just the beginning. If you fall, that means you’re trying! If you pull a muscle, then take a break, stretch it out, and jump back in!

Trying Something New

Every year, I try and find a new way to challenge myself as a writer. This year, I wanted to try to write in first person. All of the other books that I’ve written have been in third person, except for the very first draft of Servant of an Empire. The reason I changed to third person was because it felt like every sentence started with the word I. It reminds me of the scene in Princess Diaries where she talks about how many stinkin’ times she uses the word ‘I.’

I was really nervous, especially since all my attempts at practicing it weren’t going so well. But I’d also spent much more time trying to get into my characters’ heads, so that I can really understand how they think, so that I can imitate the way they talk.

So the first day of NaNoWriMo, I wasn’t quite sure what to expect. In fact, I was expecting to crash and burn. If not, the best case scenario would be a wooden, I-riddled first draft.

I was pleasantly surprised. Not only was I able to figure out a way to avoid the dreaded ‘I’, but I was also able to make clear and distinct voices. Or rather, Yaru and Nara were able to let their voices flow.

Remember, these are just first drafts, but here’s the difference:

The man huffed, slashing the sword from side to side, almost burying the blade into the wooden crate. If this idiot puts even a nick in the surface, I’d made him eat the Vor through his nostrils. “Not worth it,” he said. His voice was gruff, like sandpaper against stone, and his thick lips sneered down at me.

The parade stops as the monks congregate around the holy links, seeking the word of Gal. I snort. They should know better than to think that Gal would spend any time in this place. With the dust layering every building, and the stench of livestock, if I were a creator, I’d steer clear from this place. I’d probably spend my days floating across the sea’s foam or in the air, tumbling like… I don’t know, some kind of tumbling thing. A bird maybe.

I love both of them, but what I particularly love is how distinct they feel. I know which one is Yaru and which one is Nara. Now I’m excited to see how the rest of it develops.

How about the rest of you? How are your novels coming along?

NaNoWriMo to a Non-Writer

My husband is fantastic. I know I’m bragging, but it’s really true. He has supported my writing in ways I really wouldn’t have expected. Out of the two of us, he’s more afraid of my work getting stolen online. He lets me attend all of the writing classes, seminars and meetings in the area, and even lets me take the car when I need.

He understands my passion, though he doesn’t always feel the same way.

Last night, we were talking about NaNoWriMo. He and a friend went to where my group was having a write-in, and his friend asked him why I was in there with my computer.

Here’s the story as he told it to me.

Husband: Let me explain to you. (Though, in his accent, it sounds more like asplain).

You know how the gringos are weirdos and always have a day for everything? October was breast cancer, a few days ago, they had cat day. 

Friend: No, I didn’t know that.

Husband: Well, they do. Those gringos have a party for everything. Now November has two things. One is for prostate, and that’s Movember. The other is NaNoWriMo, which is National Writing Month.

At this point, I interrupted him, to tell him that it’s National Novel writing month.

Husband: I don’t care. Anyway, Krista and other people try to write 50,000 words in all of November.

Friend: Wow, that’s a lot of words.

Husband: I know. I told you they were weirdos.

So there you have it. If that’s the way that a supportive non-writer looks at NaNoWriMo, then I’m assuming the non-supportive ones thinks we’re raving lunatics. (For those curious, he learned the word weirdo from me.)

How about the rest of you? Do your friends and family understand your crazy November antics?

What makes a Story?

Recently, I’ve been thinking a lot about story. Not just plot or characters, but story itself. Last week, I attended a Storyteller’s Symposium, where I attended classes about photography, about film, other forms that I haven’t worked in, or that I hadn’t even considered for storytelling. 

I also went to a concert by performer Lindsay Sterling, who is a YouTuber who writers her own music and creates videos for those songs. She even said that often, before even writing the music, she has an idea of the video she wants to create.

I’ve had the opportunity to experience story in a completely different way. Through music, through video, photos… and I’ve learned a lot.

Out of all of them, there were some of the stories that really touched me in a way that I didn’t expect. There were some that drew me in so that I could use my own experience, my own thoughts to build the story into something that I can relate to personally.

Story, no matter the medium, needs to draw the audience in. It needs to speak to the basic human needs and emotions, to make them feel something that they haven’t felt before or to remind them of something they’ve already experienced. Whether it’s five minutes or 500 pages, there’s always something that the artist needs to say.

What have you learned from other art mediums? What kind of art do you enjoy beyond prose?

Storyteller's Symposium

Last weekend, I was able to attend the first ever Storyteller’s Symposium in our little town. It was a fantastic event, and I was very impressed by the number of would be artists that appeared. What I really hadn’t expected was that the storytellers included all facets, including photography, writing, film, and everything in between.

 What I loved was that even though I’d heard most of the advice already, it didn’t mean that there wasn’t something new for me to learn. For the majority of the month, I’ve been working on prewriting and preparing for NaNoWriMo, which means that I’m going back to the beginning. It’s been a year since I’ve started a first draft, and I feel like I’m relearning and revising how I start out a novel.

Probably what makes this ‘novel’ so difficult is that it isn’t a novel. It’s shaping up to be a series, which means that there’s even more plot points, even more characters, and even more planning so that the story arch follows a clear trajectory from start to finish. I’d gotten about two thirds of the way through the rough outline when I got stuck. I needed a large and satisfying climax, but I still wasn’t sure who my actual antagonist was. Or if the two potentials were working together.

During the symposium, I was thinking about this issue, and there was one lesson that really stood out to me. One of the presenters talked about the Dramatic Structure, the need to have a clear protagonist and a clear antagonist, and to have the two confront one another during the climax. He also mentioned that if there are two protagonists, then they both need to be present during the conflict.

You’d think that would be obvious, but every single climax I’d run through hadn’t included one of my characters. She was just as important as the other, but somehow, I hadn’t thought to make sure she had a clear reason to be there as well.

Once I figured out that both protagonists needed to be present, the dynamics changed, and the plot opened up again.

How’s your prewriting going? Ready for November?

Best Advice to a Newbie Writer

Over the weekend, I was able to go visit family. My little sister is about to go on a mission for our church, and it’ll be a year and a half before we see her again. While we were there, my mom threw a huge open house, and I got to meet a whole bunch of my sister’s friends.

One of those said friends found me (with my sister’s help) and told me that he wants to be a writer. There’s nothing that gets me more excited than when I meet another person eager to start the writing journey. As we talked, I learned that as much as he wants to write, he hasn’t really done very much. He told me that he wants to write, but it’s a lot of work, and in the past few months, he’s written about ten pages.

In that kind of situation, I’m never quite sure what to say. I don’t know him very well, and I don’t know what motivates him. He’s got the desire, but without the effort, there’s not much that I can do. The best thing I could do was to direct him to the NaNoWriMo website and help him sign up.

NaNoWriMo is one of the best resources for starting because there’s a built in goal. Each day, you get the chance to gauge how well you did, know whether or not to increase the number of words you write. Plus, there’s a built in writing group, people who encourage you to actually do it. You’re not alone, and you’ve got someone to take the journey with you.

I can’t tell you how excited I am for NaNoWriMo. This year, we’re really pushing toward getting as many new writers as we can. We’re going to paper the town in the next few weeks, which will be awesome!

Who else is excited for NaNoWriMo?

Writer's Block

I had an interesting conversation with someone a few weeks ago about writer’s block. It’s something we’ve all heard of, that moment when the writer loses all of their juice, has nothing else to say, no more words pouring onto the paper (or keyboard.)

He suggested that it’s all in our head. It’s a way of procrastinating the inevitable. As writers, we’re looking at the present, but we also focus quite a bit on the future. After I finish my first draft, then I have to edit. After I edit, then I have to query. Once I query… well, I haven’t gotten there yet.

Maybe he’s right. I haven’t had any serious forms of writer’s block. I have found that if I make sure that there’s always a next project, then I don’t feel so stuck on this one. Currently, I’m working on a major rewrite for two novels, I’m working on the prewriting on one for November, and I’m working on critiques for another. If I get tired of editing, I write. If I get tired of writing, I prewrite. If I get tired of all of those, I write blog posts. J

Bouncing around keeps things interesting. I think I also know when to let a project go. It hasn’t happened recently, but I do have two partially finished novels on my shelf. I’m not sure that I’ll ever return to them, but they got me to where I needed to go.

Writer’s block is probably a trick of the mind. I love writing. I do it for myself, I enjoy the characters, and I enjoy the stories. The only time I really run into it is when I work on queries. Now those I can drag my feet in for weeks.

So maybe it’s true. Writer’s block is a form of avoiding what we don’t want to do, whether it’s writing, editing, writing queries, even social media. We each have our strengths. It takes pushing through the weaknesses that gets us even farther.

What do you think? What causes writer’s block?

Why I Write

Wow! I have not been on for way too long! Life keeps getting in the way of writing, which often feels backwards to me. Shouldn’t writing get in the way of life? At least, in an ideal world…

I was talking to my sister the other day about stress. I know we all have ways to deal with it. But I know that whenever I’m particularly stressed, when I can’t focus or even concentrate on the smallest thing, it’s because I don’t write.

Writing is the most cathartic practice I’ve ever participated in. I’ve missed it, and I usually know when I’m most stressed because I’m willing to give up sleep and food to try and balance my life with writing.

Today, I’ve been thinking a lot about how writing really makes up a large part of who I am, and it balances me as a person. There’s so many reasons why I love to write, and why it’s so important to me.

Here’s the top reason why I love to write:

1.       I’m a definite introvert. There are days when I’m maxed out on how many people I spend time with, especially as a nurse. I’m in and out of rooms, talking with patients, with families, coworkers – it’s exhausting. After a long day like that, it’s a relief to go home, pull out my computer and surround myself with nonexistent people. It’s a bit of a contradiction, but I know I can turn off my imaginary people. That’s not always possible with real people.

2.       No matter what I’m going through, I always know my characters are going through worse. Work has been rough. I’m not going to deny it. But as bad as it’s been, it’s never as bad as what my characters are going through. I’m currently bouncing between Servant as an Empire and King’s Councilor. In servant of an Empire, I’ve kept Kanya locked up in a freezing cold cellar with rats. In King’s Councilor, Cassie’s being tortured by telekinetic fireballs. Makes me appreciate my life a little bit more.

3.       It gets my brain going. Does this make any sense? When I’m stressed, I can’t stop obsessing about specific things, about what happens if… or I need to do… But when I’m writing, I turn all of that off. I’m concentrating on a different aspect of life, and often, after I finish writing, all of those obsessions have calmed down to a low roar.

4.       I love creating. I’ve always been someone who wants to make new things. Whether it be trying a new recipe, using a new crocheting pattern or attempting to draw (cough, cough), there’s always something that makes me incredibly happy when I can look at something, and say that I made it. These stories are the same way. These are my characters. They are my own creation, and I’m definitely proud of my accomplishments, even when I’m the only one who gets to enjoy them.

5.       I love the escape. Writing and reading serve the same purpose. It’s an escape from real life. With writing, I know the world so well that I can really immerse myself in it. I can jump into Xyheam or into Oren, escape the world I live in and explore another.

What about the rest of you? Why do you write?

Fortitude

When I was younger, I learned a word that has always stuck with me.  I read it in a book from a series I loved.  The main character was talking to his best friend, a guy who was desperately in love with the main character’s sister, but she wouldn’t give him the time of day.  When he asked the main character’s advice, he gave him one word:

“Fortitude.”

What a fantastic word.  Life liked to knock us down.  I know each of us has our own hardships, our own struggles.  What could a little fortitude give us?

It’s not just persistence.  It’s an emotional and physical determination to endure whatever comes, and to keep going.  It’s not stubbornness.  It’s more than that.

Why do I bring it up?

Because this is something that all writers must have.  This should be a prerequisite to writing.  Writing isn’t easy.  There’s the first draft.  Finishing that first draft, especially when you’ve never written a novel before, can be absolutely daunting.  In fact, I know quite a few people who’ve never finished one.  Then there’s the revisions.  Some might say that it’s even harder than the actual writing.  It’s taking away the inspiration and going for the analytical.  Looking at phrasing and syntax and ugly adverbs. 

After that?  Depending on the route you take, it’s querying, getting rejected, revising your query over and over again.  Or it’s self-publishing and fighting to get noticed above everyone else in the throng.

There’s nothing easy about writing. 

There's going to be a lot of curves and bumps in the road

A few weeks ago, I saw a fellow writer get discouraged because of feedback she’d received.  This was her first time, and I know how daunting that can be.  For someone else to look at your baby?  The thing you created from your own sweat and tears?  Yeah.  I definitely cried that first time.  Probably the second time too. 

When I talked to the writer about it later, she told me, “I’m not sure if I’ll be putting much more energy into the project.”

I wanted to grab her and shake her.  This is just the beginning.  She has a story, she has a plot.  The feedback wasn’t to scrap it and start all over again.  It was to do some revising and some fixing.  It was totally doable.  It’s a matter of taking a deep breath, closing her eyes and diving in.  Once you get to the other side, where critiques make you happy – even when they tear your work apart – that’s when things are starting to get good.

It’s too easy to give up.  Don’t do it.  Whether it’s your dream of writing a novel, learning a foreign language or riding a hot air balloon strap on some fortitude.  You’ll get there.

What I Learned from a Bad Movie Trailer

As many of you know, in January, I hosted a query party for several writers to come together and critique one another’s queries before we send them out. 

There were several moments of realization during the party.  I probably got through two queries when that lightbulb flashed through my mind. 

I was able to pare down another person’s query into something that made sense.  It wasn’t a long-winded, distracted bundle of words, it was short, succinct, and it made sense.  It focused on the main character, who he was, what he wanted, what the stakes were. 

That’s it.

I tried doing the same to my query, and suddenly it was 50 words longer.  Over the past two weeks, I started working on my 35 word pitch for Pitch Madness.  (If you haven’t heard of it, head over to Brenda Drake’s website!  She hosts some awesome competitions.)  I had a critiquer go through it, and she told me that my pitch was muddled, confusing and vague.  It made sense to me, but to someone who didn’t know the story, apparently it wasn’t clear.

I had another AHA! moment last week.  I’m not sure how, but I came across this trailer for a movie that came out last month.  It’s called Strange Magic.

I think I’ve watched it seven or eight times already.  Even so… I’m still not sure what it’s talking about.  There’s so many characters introduced that I can’t keep track of them.  I think I know who the main character is, but she’s only in there probably about a fourth of the time.  I get that a sister is kidnapped, but I’m not sure why, or what the main character (or who I think is the main character) has to do with the bad guy’s ultimatum.  Why her?  Also, who are all those other people?  

I’ve seen movie trailers where they give the whole story.  But this one, it makes me wonder if there is a story, somewhere beneath all of the odd characters and obvious attempts at jokes.

It also makes me wonder if that’s what my query looks like.  I went back to my pitch, and stated who my main character was, what he wanted, and what the conflict was.  That’s it.  35 words, and it makes sense.  It’s clear, and it sets up exactly what the reader should expect in the story.  No fluff, no other characters, or subplots.

Now it’s time to clean up the query.

Spending Quality Time with the People in My Head

Last week, after finishing my NaNoWriMo novel, I decided to celebrate by reading a book.  I’m a little bit behind on my goal of reading 1 book a week, but I’d decided to focus on finishing writing first.  I’d had the Winner’s Curse on my reading list for a few months, so I picked that up and started to read.

Here’s what I love about reading.  It wakes up my imagination.  I see how other writers do it and I think, “Oh yeah!  This is why I decided to become a writer!”  Even if it has nothing to do with what I’m working on, it always gives me new ideas and makes me want to write more.  For those who don’t believe that writing and reading go hand in hand, I’ve got to say: it does for me.

After I finished (Which, by the way, I hate cliffhangers!  Especially when the next book isn’t out yet.) I started thinking about my next project.  Last year, I was working on my second revision of The King’s Councilor, after getting it torn apart by some awesome betas.  I’d spent a lot of time trying to figure out how to get the beginning more exciting.  One of the chief complaints was that it was repetitive, and believe me, that’s not what I want in my writing.  I sat down with one of my good online friends and brainstormed.

Back to the drawing board

I wrote the first eight chapters and had her reread it for me.  Before I could keep going, NaNoWriMo came, and I wanted to start a new one for the occasion.

I was also a little stuck.  Now that the first eight chapters had changed so drastically, I wasn’t sure that I liked the direction the rest of the book was taking, so I’d probably been using NaNoWriMo as an excuse to procrastinate figuring out the rest of the novel.

But last week, after reading the Winner’s Curse, the ideas started pouring.  They had nothing to do with the book, but the creativity caused by reading was enough to get the juices flowing.  Saturday, I deep cleaned the house.  I needed something to do while the people in my head talked to me.  I’ve learned that when they talk, I’d better stop and listen.

The longer they talked, the more I realized that they knew what needed to happen in their story.  I know it sounds crazy, but when I let them take charge (not while writing, but in planning) I always come up with a better story. 

This week’s been a little chaotic, but I’ve still written about 3,000 words starting from where I left off. 

Do any of you use the people in your head as a muse?  Am I the only one?

My Very First Character

Last week, K.M. Weiland posted a question on twitter.  (If you don’t know who she is, click on this link!  She is awesome.)

First character?

Honestly, once you get into this writing business, there’s people bouncing around your head all the time.  Between the five novels I’ve finished and the probably half dozen that I haven’t, I probably have over one hundred imaginary friends. 

But who was my first?

When I think about firsts, I’m not counting the characters I wrote as a kid.  Most of them were caricatures, or people with names but no personality.  When I think character, I think of someone who’s fully rounded, who jumps off the page and feels real to me.

That character would have to be Kanya.

When I was in high school, I’d tried writing different novels.  Each of them crashed and burned at about chapter 4.  At that point, I still hadn’t learned the importance of planning and plotting.  The importance of actually having a story before starting. 

Then one day, I watched Beauty and the Beast with a friend.  Beauty and the Beast is one of my absolute favorite fairy tales.  It’s a Tale as Old as Time.  Although it’s my favorite, there is always a part that I hated.  The very end.  I never understood why the Beast had to turn handsome in the end.  If she loved him the way he was, then isn’t it enough that he’s alive?  What’s with all the crazy magic changing his appearance?

For some reason, I kept thinking about it for days afterward, and I realized that there were a few other things that bothered me.  For example: I know that Beauty and the Beast are foils of one another, but I hated the fact that he had all of the bad traits while she had all of the good traits.  Why does he have to turn ugly because of something bad he did?  What if he did something kind and was punished anyway?  And why does she have to be so good all the time?  What if she ran away after she was forced to take her father’s place?  What if she didn’t volunteer?

Over the few weeks that these ‘what ifs’ bounced in my head, Kanya became very real.  A girl who was flawed in a very major way.  She was beautiful, no doubt, but selfish, rich and naïve.  Almost at the same time that she became a true character, so did Anthalor, a king who was disfigured because he tried to save a woman’s life.  He’s kind, giving and hideous. 

Their story was the first one I’d ever completed.  The first one that came to full life. 

How about the rest of you?  Who was your first character?

Writing Something Familiar

I’m almost done with my purple WIP.  So close.  This is the one that I started during November for NaNoWriMo.  I wrote 50,000 words in November, and now I’ve written about 20,000 words since then, so my momentum has definitely slowed.  Though, to be fair, half of that was written this month.

This week though, I’ve been able to get back on track, and I’m in an interesting part of the story.  I’d accidentally started a section before realizing that I skipped a whole part, so I’ve been simultaneously working on both at the same time.

One of the sections, the main character is taking a tour of a city that is very important to my family.  It’s a teeny tiny town on the edge of Illinois, where the early members of our church gathered, and many important things happened there.  My character is currently taking tours and watching shows that are more than familiar to me.  In fact, one of them, I’ve been in for four years.  She’s also meeting people that I know out there, though I never specify them by name.

With hubby in Nauvoo

The second section, her father falls and hits his head and is rushed to the hospital.  As a nurse, I know what it’s like when someone hits their head, I know how they bleed, what the paramedics will ask, I even know what kinds of things a doctor will look for in that kind of an incident.

Both sections are familiar, and yet, it’s almost surreal writing because it’s not familiar to my MC.  She’s never been to Nauvoo, and she doesn’t know where each building is, how to get from one place to another.  She doesn’t know where the shows are, or which ones she needs tickets to.  And as an added difficulty, all of her travel companions speak Spanish, which she barely understands. 

With the paramedics and hospital, it’s not something that comes naturally to her.  This is her father, and she’s going to react on fear and probably not understand everything that’s going on.

I’ve never had to work so hard to think in someone else’s head.  In all of my other stories, I’m discovering the world with my characters.  They all live in foreign and exotic worlds, so I’m still trying to get an idea of the territory as I write.  But now, these are real world places and situations.  I have to be true to them, make sure that they are exactly right, and show them through the eyes of someone who’s not going to know what kind of assessments a doctor will do in an emergency room.  Or who doesn’t know the difference between Parley and Muholland Street.

Have you ever had to write about something you know well, but present it in a way that’s utterly foreign to you?