My Aha! Moment

In addition to working on my new WIP, I’ve been rewriting LIGHT BRINGERS, my YA Urban Fantasy. It was the first YA novel I’d written and I queried it about 2 years ago. After several requests for fulls garnered no agent, I realized that I needed to do a complete overhaul.

First I changed it from third person to first person, feeling like I needed to get more into my main character’s—Ryan—head. I was halfway through and realized that wasn’t going to work, because I had a few chapters that needed to be in another pov.

So, back to the drawing board. I worked on it in while the novel I’m currently querying sat or was with readers. Finally, I finished the rewrite. I let that sit for a few months and just started reading it. I felt the problem about 8 chapters in and my heart sank. I love this story. Love the characters and want so desperately to share it with the masses one day. So, when I saw that something wasn’t working, I couldn’t believe it. What’s going on with this story? I thought.

Then, I saw X-Men First Class on Saturday. LIGHT BRINGERS is somewhat like X-Men in the sense that my characters have special abilities due to a genetic defect. Ryan works for an elite group of soldiers known as Venators, but that’s where the similarities end. However, when I saw X-Men First Class this weekend, I realized what I was doing wrong with this novel I love.

Ryan’s age is 18 almost 19 in my novel. That right there will make some agents say no thanks, he’s too old for YA (which completely baffles me, but we can debate that at a later date). With his mere 18 years, I was trying to make him too knowledgeable, too advanced. Yeah, there are some characters in the novel who think he’s a hot shot, some kind of wunderkind. But what it boiled down to was, I didn’t believe he was capable of the responsibilities I’d put on him. So, how could I expect anyone else to say, “Yeah, I believe this 18 year old could have joined this elite group of soldiers at 16 and in almost three years he could be promoted to Under-Sergeant, able to lead his own squad.”

Nope. It wasn’t working. The thing that I got from X-Men First Class was that these new recruits could do awesome things, and save the day, but they had a leader, someone who trained them and watched over them. It was believable that they would go out on this mission and do what they did best, but under the leadership of Professor Xavier.

I don’t have to change my plot, or my characters. I just need to put Ryan in his place. Stop trying to force him to be more than he’s capable of being at the present moment. He’s a rookie, so let him be a rookie. He can still be cocky, still screw up, and yet, he can still save the day, right?

Now, I’m going to do something I’ve never done. I’m going to do an outline. Eep! I’m a fly by the seat of my pants type of writer, but this hasn’t been working for LB. I need to map out all the ways I can change Ryan into a cadet (instead of a corporal), trying to prove himself and keep his best friend alive. * cracks knuckles * Off I go! I’m so PUMPED!

Have you guys ever had an Aha! moment with your work? It could be plot, character, or that fantastic ending. Tell me all about it.

Should I Give Up Writing?

Last week a guy asked what my plan B was, concerning writing. I didn’t understand what he’d meant at first so he clarified.

“What will you do if you don’t sell this book? Will you go back to school to learn something new, more marketable? Will you try to get a promotion at your current job?”

His questions left me silent for a long while. I’ve never been asked that before so when I finally had an answer it seemed anticlimactic.

“I write another book,” I said.

I don’t think that was a good enough answer. Writing another book probably didn’t seem like a plan B to him, more like throwing good after bad. No one who really knows me would ever ask me such a question because they know that giving up on writing is not an option. Most writers do it because they love it. You really have to because it’s such a solitary thing that I’ve been accused of being a recluse, an old maid, you name it. That’s just the way writing is. I’ve never met a writer who could do it with a room full of people talking, with the television on and babies crying. It requires concentration, so yeah, I kinda have to be alone—at least in the room alone. It’s often thankless. You have to wait months, years, or decades—if ever—to see any type of profit or accolades. So if you’re in the business for the glory then get out.

Yes I want to be published and yes I want to make enough money from my writing that it’s my single source of income, but if I don’t sell this novel, I HAVE to write another one. In this guy’s mind, not getting a book published would probably be the ultimate failure, but that’s the view of a non-writer. Actually, there are quite a few people in my family who think this way. They ask, “Are you still trying to get that book published?” It’s easier to say, yes, than it is to explain “that book” is now on the back burner and I’m querying a new one.

Writing for publication is filled with a million little successes so I don’t feel at all like a failure.

The first time you complete a novel = Success!
The first time you take hard criticism and make yourself a better writer = Success!
The first time you write a well-crafted query letter = Success!
The first time an agent requests a partial = Success!
The first time an agent requests a full = Success!
The first time an agent offers representation = Success!
The first time an editor wants to buy your novel = Success!
The first time you see your novel on a shelf in a book store = Success!
The SECOND time you complete a novel = Success!

Tell me, why would I want to give up on that? I’ve only gone through half that list! So if any of you out there are thinking of quitting, if there’s anything on that list you want to stick a pin in or mark off your list, hang in there. It happens every day so why wouldn’t it happen for us?

I’m Not Writing

My laziness during the past week has been astounding. I can barely pull myself off the sofa least of all sit at my computer and string together two sentences. Wait, I just did that, didn’t I? Nevertheless, I’ve been struck by a paralyzing bug and it’s called Laziness. Perhaps I suffer from seasonal depression. Perhaps I just don’t feel like writing.

But I’m starting to feel guilty. As I walk past my laptop and don’t even bother to boot it up, I hear it mocking me, calling me a good for nuthin’ hack, but I just ignore it. It’s not like I don’t have things to write. I have at least five wips I can dive right into. I have a massive rewrite of Light Bringers that I’m actually excited about, but something keeps my butt on the sofa.

If I want to be a fulltime writer I can’t just sit around and waste valuable writing time, can I? Absolutely, not! Deadlines and editors won’t care if I want to watch all the season premieres of the new fall shows. They won’t care if I have miserable menstrual cramps, well, they might care, but they won’t want to hear it as a reason for missing a deadline. And even though I don’t have a deadline, editor or even an agent, it’s not at all prudent to wait until I have those things to start writing like it’s my sole source of income. So with that said I’m going to give my laziness another week and then I’m going to put a boot up my own @ss and get to work.

What do you guys do when you just don’t feel like writing? Do you worry about leaving work undone? Do you feel guilty when you don’t write?


Note: I’ve taken down the link on the sidebar to Zellie’s novel, Lightning Spliced, because it was taken off Zulu and edited for the second printing.

How Do You Write A Book?

I was asked this question the other day and for a moment, I didn’t know how to answer. Sure I know how to write a book, I’ve completed five of them so far, but when you actually have to explain the process, it can be daunting. While at the beauty salon on Saturday, I was editing my current manuscript. The girl doing my hair was young and thought I was a teacher (I get that a lot when I'm marking my manuscript with a red pen—once I was asked if I was an actor going over a script-lol).

I told her it was a novel. It’s funny, people who have no clue about writing automatically say, so when is it being published? They have no idea how many steps it goes through before it hits the shelves. Anyway, this girl asked about writing. Her exact question was:

“How do you write a book? I mean, how do you fill up 200 pages telling a story, because when I tell a story it takes about five minutes so how can that fill up a whole book?”

Well, I sat for a moment, because I’d actually never thought about it like that. Yes, when you're telling a story to a person, it should only take a few minutes to regale them with a specific event during your day. If it takes 200 pages to tell someone about the screaming match you had with your boss, no one’s going to be listening when you’re done, and they might brain you with a hammer.

My answer to her was this:

“Well, when you tell a story to a friend it’s usually like, ‘He said this, and then I said that, and then he said this, and then I slapped him.’ The end. So yeah, that should only take a few minutes because really, when you’re talking to a friend and telling a story, no one wants to hear all about the interior of the room, (except if that’s what the story's about) unless a piece of furniture is going to get thrown. But when you’re writing you have to describe everything—or most everything.” (Here I gave her an example as the other beautician entered our area).

“You wouldn’t write, Charlene said, ‘how do you want your hair?’ and the patron said, ‘curly.’

You’d write…Charlene led Mrs. Peterson to the styling area and gestured for the older woman to have a seat. She ran her fingers through Mrs. Peterson’s hair, checking its moisture, looking for damage and signs of a dry scalp. She swiveled the chair slightly, so Mrs. Peterson could look at herself in the ornate mirror mounted above the station. ‘Did you have a style in mind?’ Charlene asked. Mrs. Peterson pressed her lips together, tilted her head from one side to the other and said, ‘I was thinking of something with a lot of curls. It’s getting cooler out, and the curls should last.’”

I explained to the girl doing my hair that a five minute conversation could take up five pages in a book when you add in scenery, expression, dialogue and emotion.

Truthfully, I always thought this was common sense, but I see that I was wrong. It’s common sense because I’m a writer and most of my friends are writers so we just know the basics of writing. There are so many people out there who don’t have a clue so I guess it’s our job to educate-God help them-lol.

I find the deeper I go into this world of writing, the more I’m called upon to answer question. I like it, because I want to explain what I do. Nothing frustrates me more than people who don’t have a clue about what I do, but want to give me advice because they knew someone who published thier book of poems. So all those people out there who have question, if I’m able to answer, I will every time. Sometimes, though, no matter how clear I am, they still walk away scratching their heads.

Do you all find it easy to explain what you do—the basics of writing and how you string together words to make a sentence, sentences to make a paragraph, paragraphs to make a page and pages to create a novel? I thought it would be easy, but I was actually kinda stumped. If you have a better explanation/example by all means, leave it in the comments!

Writing Out of Order

So I was just reading a post by David Farland, about When to Write That Great Scene Bouncing Around in Your Head.

It got me thinking about how my writing has changed over the years. I don’t know how unusual this is, but I’ve never written a short story—with the exception of the writing I did when I was a kid and wrote my first story, MURDER SHE WROTE—BLOOD ON THE PORK CHOP. My parents should’ve really gotten my head examined, but they listened—and laughed—at my tale of murder with pig products.

When I started to write later in life, as a teenager, I began with a novel. The thought never occurred to write a short story. So I’ve always had these big ideas rolling around in my head. When it came time to write my second novel, I had a scene in my head of gorgeous twin brothers and the girl they grew up with. One brother thought of her as a sister and the other thought of her as so much more and they were discussing the pros and the cons of this brother pursuing a relationship with this girl who grew up with them like family. This scene kept looping over and over in my mind and I couldn’t wait until I got to that part so I could finally get it down on paper…or actually, on the computer.

For years I wrote like that, letting one scene drive me to fill in the story around that inspired scene. Over the last year, as ideas and scenes filled my head, I changed that approach. I write the scene when I think of it, get it out of my head so I can breathe again. Otherwise I find myself zoning out during staff meetings, when people are talking to me, and when I’m listing to audio books at work. Also, as long as I’m stuck in that scene and my other writing suffers.

I found that I really enjoy writing like this. I have a wip that has four files attached to it. The first is the main document to the manuscript because the opening scene happened to be one that haunted me until I wrote it. The next scene I wrote was the end. I couldn’t get this conclusion out of my mind and while it may change, the gist of it will remain the same. The other two scenes happen in the middle of the novel, but they are intricate parts of the story. So now, when I sit down to finish this novel, I’ll have most of it in pieces.

I trust my brain—for now—but it never hurts to get those nagging scenes out of my head so I can fill them with more beautiful ideas! Do you guys do this? Do you jot down ideas in little books, on napkins and then work from there? I’d love to know what your writing process is when the story comes to you out of order.

The American Idol Lesson

For nine years people have lined up to pour their hearts out to the judges and America. Even if I haven’t followed every season all the way through, I’ve at least watched the auditions. Most of the time I laugh at the poor deluded people who can’t carry a tune. However this year, as I sit on the phone, watching with my best friend, I felt sorry for many of the contestants. And it had me questioning how these people can be SO wrong about their talent. Which in turn led me to think about writing—see, all things go back to writing.

A lot of people on the show have their parents and friends with them and they all sing these people’s praises even when it’s clear the people have no talent. My advice to these people…GET MORE OPINIONS! It’ll save you lots and lots of pain.

My mother LOVES my writing, thinks I’m the greatest thing since the word was invented. She always wants a poem—even though I hate writing poetry. She thinks the first book I wrote was great and believe me, it wasn’t. And while my sister thinks I’m a great writer, she gives more constructive feed back than my mother. Still, imagine if I dipped my toe into the big bad world of publishing based on the fact that my mommy and my big sis think I’m great.

Not only that, but most of the people who get rejected on American Idol don’t want to hear it. They reject the rejection, let the criticism—which, admittedly, isn’t always constructive—bounce right off of them like a bullet ricocheting.

So what I was saying to my best friend is that, if I suck, please tell me! I know it’s a fine line between being honest and stomping on someone’s dream. So this is where we, as writers, have to open our ears and our minds and listen to what people are saying to us. It’s never fun to get criticized, to have someone tell you that what you’ve created isn’t perfection. But if you want to get better—for some, it’s just not in the cards—then you have to have someone tell you that you suck, tell you why you suck, and then YOU have to do something about it.

Don’t be like the American Idol rejects who stomp away in tears, cursing and saying the world will see you again and the judges are idiots. While some people are mean and don’t know what they’re talking about, most people who critique your work honestly want to help you. So listen to them!

And that is my American Idol lesson.

Turkey Day

So I’m sure we’re all gearing up for some family, food and fun…or is it family, food and fighting? I hope it’s not the latter. My parents will come to my apartment because their house is still being built. I wish I had a house, but I will someday, so for now, I’ll make due. My aunt and my cousins are coming as well, so it should be a fun time.

I’m cooking my first turkey! I got the recipe to brine it from my sister and I hope it turns out well. My other contributions will be dirty rice and a black bottom cake. Everything else is coming by way of my mother.

After that, I have to make a birthday cake for my one year old God daughter for Saturday, and then a wedding cake for my aunt on sunday.

I’m going to say this because I have to get it out. I DON’T WANT TO DO ANY OF IT! I only want to write! I know, I know, you don't have to say it, I'm a terrible person. I don’t think my family realizes how precious four days off is to a writer who has hot things just burning through her brain to be written. Man, I’d love nothing more than to go to someone else’s house on Thursday then come home and write, then write all day Friday (staying far away from the malls) then write some more on Saturday and Sunday…sounds like paradise.

Alas, I won’t be able to. My mother, bless her heart, tells me to go in my room and write while she cooks and she won’t bother me. She loves me and understands my need for writing better than most. But I live alone, so it’s hard for me to concentrate when other people are in the house, especially when it’s an apartment. Besides, I miss my mommy *pouts like a baby* She just moved closer to me and I like being with her. I’ll have plenty of weekends to write, so I’m going to suck it up, tuck it away, and maybe an opportunity to write will present itself. If not, I’ll just enjoy the time with my family. There, I just needed to have a minor vent session,

Hope you all have a wonderful holiday and may the tryptophan give you pleasant dreams!

Upcoming Posts

So this morning started rather funny. I’m not sure how many of you do this, but I’m hoping I’m not the only one. As I’m working on a novel, (editing, plotting, writing or revising) I often talk it out, especially dialogue. Most of this happens in the shower so I’m alone. Usually while I’m driving to work or walking to my office, I think out scenes in my head—silently. Every now and then I think of things and get so caught up in the scene that I need to speak/act it out.

That’s what happened this morning. I talked—to myself—the entire way to work this morning, mapping out a scene and I didn’t stop when I got on the hospital’s campus, or in the employee garage. I was parking my car, still talking through the scene when I felt someone looking at me. The woman in the car beside me was staring like she thought I should be checking into One-West (our psych ward-lol). I could see that she was wondering if I had a Bluetooth. “No lady, I’m not on the phone, I be a WRITER!” I proudly declared—to myself-lol.

Tell me I’m not alone. We quirky writers have to stick together.

So, anywho, I got this idea from a comment I read here and decided to borrow it for my blog. For the next four Fridays, I’ll be posting an interview with my characters from Light Bringers. The interviewer—my alter ego, Rosepddle, will conduct the interviews for the Telling Point Gazette, which is the fictional city in Light Bringers. The first interview will be with Ryan Webb, a 19 year old member of an elite group of soldiers known as Venators.

Hope you all enjoy!

Things I Never Plan to Write About

I was listening to an audio book the other day at work (I won’t say which) but as the story moved on, I could see a scene coming that I was dreading. Now, mind you, this was a fluffy kind of story so serves me right for being annoyed by the fluffy scene, but I could see that the story was about to come to a childbirth scene and I wanted to fast forward with the quickness.

I closed my eyes and prayed the author would not go into detail, but my prayers went unanswered. Then I thought to myself, Karen, why are you SO annoyed with childbirth scenes? Is it because you’ve never given birth?

Um…that’s a big fat no. I don’t want to read or see child-birthing scenes, not because I’m put off by it, or I’m squeamish—I work in a Perinatal Center for crying out loud—but it’s because it’s all clichéd to me. Unless someone dies during the birth, or the baby comes out as a green alien, I’m not interested in reading a childbirth scene.

Perhaps it’s because I’ve worked with pregnant women for quite a while, have witnessed my share of childbirths that I know that anyway to make childbirth entertaining enough for it to be part of a book, tv show or movie, then the writer is going to have to fall back on some clichés. The panicked father, the rushing to the hospital, the mother cursing the father for putting her through all of the pain, the mother cursing the staff and begging for drugs…ENOUGH!

Really, my main problem with the childbirth scene is that it rarely ever moves the plot along. It’s always used as a device to either inspire comedy with the screaming mother and the bumbling father, or it’s used to stir emotion as the parents stare down at the precious bundle of joy.

Don’t get me wrong, I love babies, will probably have one…one day, but if it’s not moving the plot, leave it out. And for as many childbirth scenes as I’ve read, I have yet to read one that really needed to be there. I’m starting to feel the same way about wedding scenes in books.

As much as I hate to say never, I don’t think I’ll ever incorporate either one of those types of scenes in any book I write. Will I have pregnant characters? Probably. Will I have characters who get married? Yup, I do believe I will at some point. But will I actually write the childbirth scene or the wedding? No.

So tell me, what things will you never write about?

To Quote or Not to Quote...

A while back I was speaking with a friend who writes, but not really with professional aspirations (which is still good. I don’t care what your goals are for writing if you love it!). She asked if I planned to add quotes to my book. At first I wasn’t sure what she meant. I thought she meant like a foreword or like some song lyrics at the beginning that may capture the meaning of my book.

She actually meant a quote at the beginning of each chapter—something that may foreshadow the plot, the heart of the character, or the main purpose of the chapter. I had to think about that for a moment. First, I don’t know that many quotes that would convey the meaning of all 25 chapters of my book. I don’t read a lot of poetry, nor do I write much (despite how fantastic my mother and my sister thinks my poems are), so I didn’t think I could even come up with 25 places to quote from. Granted, they don’t all need to come from poems, they could just be quotations from people that resonate with my story.

Then I started thinking about the books that I’ve read that have quotations introducing each chapter.

Tithe, by Holly Black and Wicked Lovely, by Melissa Marr are just two that I can pull right off the top of my head. Even though I remember that they both quoted people, stories and maybe even songs at the beginning of each chapter, I couldn’t tell you what any of the quotes were about. I never read one of them. Well, I think I at least read or tried to read one, but I found that it pulled me out of the story to stop and read a quotation that I may or may not get the relevance of at that moment. Most of the time I barely stop to read chapter titles (even though I prefer naming my chapters as opposed to simply numbering them). This in no way means that I think Black and Marr should not have used the quotes in the beginning of each of their chapters, it’s their book, they can do what they want, (like they care what I think-lol). And this doesn’t mean that I didn’t enjoy the books. I did, very much, and that’s why I couldn’t waste time reading a quote because I was too busy enjoying the book!

So the short answer to this question is, No, I would not add quotations to my chapters. Now if one day I write something with a heavy lyrical pulse, maybe I would quote some songs since music resonates with me more than poetry. And I can certainly think of 25 songs that would speak to the feelings I want to convey in each of my chapter.