I'm about 1/3 of the way done. About 2 chapters off from finishing the first part. Cool. It's been going really well, and true to form, ideas for other books/stories/series have been coming fast and furious.
The weather has been cooperating nicely, so it's been a joy to be outside again. I even took the time to rearrange my patio into more of an office, with a nice comfy chair and everything. It's much better than writing on a plastic folding table.
The holidays coming up a making me a bit wonky. I'm not ready for the holidays. Seriously. I need like another month before the holidays start. Hopefully I'll get to see some family, but who knows. The lack of funding makes travel difficult and likely to not happen.
Everything else is peachy and keen. More keen than peachy. I hate peaches. Back to the hole.
Showing posts with label DDL. Show all posts
Showing posts with label DDL. Show all posts
Tuesday, November 11, 2008
Wednesday, October 29, 2008
Co-Dependence
Writing is like my abusive husband. When it's good, it's great. Then it beats me up and works me over, leaving me a little broken. And I think about quitting it, leaving it behind and never looking back. Then it crawls back to me, sorry, promising never to hurt me again. And I believe it every time. I always take it back. Because I can't live without writing. I breathe it. When I'm not doing it, I'm thinking about it. There's no twelve step program that could cure my addiction. There's nothing you could threaten me with that would make me stop doing it.
And that's how I know I'm a real writer.
A friend of mine came to me with a story idea she had and no idea where to start. It was a really cool idea. Very cool in fact. One I wished I'd come up with. She's a wicked smart woman, well read, and if anyone could write, I'm sure she could. But when she asked me where to start, I wanted to tell her to run far, far away. To fold up her idea, light it with a match, and release the ashes into the Aether. Because you can't be a casual writer. I know there are people out there who have über busy lives and write in their spare time, but I guarantee that those people write in EVERY spare moment. It's not like watching TV. You can't just skip an episode because you're tired. I've said it before, writers must be writers to their bones. And I wanted to tell her, as a writing junkie, to stop before she begins, because while the highs are so glorious, the lows can be brutal. But I didn't. I told her how to begin. I practically handed her the needle...I mean pen.
And that's when I realized that writing advice is 99% crap. I was trying to tell her how to begin, and I started looking at my own beginnings, only to come to the conclusion that I'm an idiot. My newest project went through no less than a dozen first chapter incarnations before I finally threw it all up in the air, got a new main character, sat down with my trusty fountain pen and moleskin, and wrote it out. Heck, in one incarnation I even tried to stylistically mirror an author I admire, just to see what would happen. It was pretty laughable.
I did my best though. I told her to create some characters in her world (since she'd developed the world so well) and to see what conflicts might arise from them. To think about what she wanted to say and how she wanted to say it. To write some of it and see what happens. Once I've discovered what I want to write about, I usually just dive right into the writing because that's when I start to see what the subplots are and who the B characters are. It's also where I work out tone and style and, often times, the crux of the plot.
But where to start? I think everyone's different. For DDL I did nothing. I wrote a page on some plot points I wanted to hit and that was it. For my current book (which is broken into three parts) I've written a paragraph synopsis on each part and then I write a one page synopsis of each chapter...but only one at a time. Like I wrote the synopsis for Ch. 4 after I'd finished Ch. 3. Books are living, breathing, things, and no two are a like, so each one gets written differently. Makes it kind of difficult to hand out advice. But here's mine again, distilled:
1. Give up now. If this fails, go to #2.
2. Just write. And then try #1 again.
Rinse and repeat.
And that's how I know I'm a real writer.
A friend of mine came to me with a story idea she had and no idea where to start. It was a really cool idea. Very cool in fact. One I wished I'd come up with. She's a wicked smart woman, well read, and if anyone could write, I'm sure she could. But when she asked me where to start, I wanted to tell her to run far, far away. To fold up her idea, light it with a match, and release the ashes into the Aether. Because you can't be a casual writer. I know there are people out there who have über busy lives and write in their spare time, but I guarantee that those people write in EVERY spare moment. It's not like watching TV. You can't just skip an episode because you're tired. I've said it before, writers must be writers to their bones. And I wanted to tell her, as a writing junkie, to stop before she begins, because while the highs are so glorious, the lows can be brutal. But I didn't. I told her how to begin. I practically handed her the needle...I mean pen.
And that's when I realized that writing advice is 99% crap. I was trying to tell her how to begin, and I started looking at my own beginnings, only to come to the conclusion that I'm an idiot. My newest project went through no less than a dozen first chapter incarnations before I finally threw it all up in the air, got a new main character, sat down with my trusty fountain pen and moleskin, and wrote it out. Heck, in one incarnation I even tried to stylistically mirror an author I admire, just to see what would happen. It was pretty laughable.
I did my best though. I told her to create some characters in her world (since she'd developed the world so well) and to see what conflicts might arise from them. To think about what she wanted to say and how she wanted to say it. To write some of it and see what happens. Once I've discovered what I want to write about, I usually just dive right into the writing because that's when I start to see what the subplots are and who the B characters are. It's also where I work out tone and style and, often times, the crux of the plot.
But where to start? I think everyone's different. For DDL I did nothing. I wrote a page on some plot points I wanted to hit and that was it. For my current book (which is broken into three parts) I've written a paragraph synopsis on each part and then I write a one page synopsis of each chapter...but only one at a time. Like I wrote the synopsis for Ch. 4 after I'd finished Ch. 3. Books are living, breathing, things, and no two are a like, so each one gets written differently. Makes it kind of difficult to hand out advice. But here's mine again, distilled:
1. Give up now. If this fails, go to #2.
2. Just write. And then try #1 again.
Rinse and repeat.
Sunday, September 28, 2008
Getting into your head
That's what I'm trying to do. Not get into YOUR head, but get into the head of my character; my new character. I know the story I want to write, I'm just not sure yet, how it's going to be written. I wrote the first scene from three different POV's to see how I like it and it's tough. I'm mostly settled on a first person narrative. But I want to be sure.
I don't know what the general consensus is on FP, but I don't particularly care. I mean, I do care, but I don't. I've read that people think writing FP is easy and it's really not. The trick is that you have to know your MC so well that every single part of the story is filtered through him. Every word is his, every thought, every action is his. I was discussing a point in DDL about this. My MC is this 13 year-old horny boy. He's the narrator. Therefore when he describes his guy friends, it's a very spare description because most heterosexual men simply don't notice physical characteristics of other men. And when he described the girls, he had a tendency to focus on his favorite parts. It was part and parcel of having a character who is a slave to his hormones.
Now that I'm working on another book, I have to get into the head of a new character. See, it's not really ME writing, it's my MC. My new MC wants to be a doctor and he's a Junior EMT, so everything he sees, he relates to medical things. White walls bathed in fluorescent lights are the color of mucous. When he talks, he sometimes uses anatomical terms (and sometimes he uses them wrong). The goal here is to have two books, both written by me, but which read like they were written by two separate people. Because in a way, they are different people.
In a third person narrative, you can have different styles, but YOU are always the writer, the narrator.
So right now, that's what I'm doing. I'm working on revisions, playing the waiting game, and moving ahead with a new book. I think it's going to be a good one, a sad one, but one that gets to the heart of who we are as a people, and the direction we're going to be going.
Friday, September 26, 2008
I am NOT an expert
I think I've proven that.
Back when I started this journal, I wanted to record my experience writing a book and maybe seeing it published. The first book sucked and I shelved it. The second book was good but it needs a lot of attention to really make great. The third book is where I'm at now. Up to now, the journal has been recording my process surrounding the writing of a book. Now I can start blogging about maybe publishing one.
The Deathday Letter found representation. Right now DDL is in the revision phase, getting tweaks and touch-ups before it's sent out into the big, scary world. So I wanted to write about what I've learned up to this point. Some of it might not be right, some of it might not be right for everyone, but it's what I've learned.
1. Don't worry about who you're writing for - Seriously, writing's difficult enough without trying to envision your potential audience. Just write the best book you can, and worry about the rest later. That's what revisions are for.
2. Don't be afraid to look critically at something you've written and decide it's not good enough - That's how I feel with Jak and the Giants right now. I love the story, love the characters, but I'm not 100% behind it yet. With DDL, I pretty much couldn't wait to throw it at anyone who would read it. Even published authors write books that suck.
3. Research. Research publishers, agents, genres, everything. Start reading agent's blogs, and editor's blogs, and the websites that list good agents and bad agents. Make lists of the agents you think would really get your work. If you're writing fantasy, don't target agents who mostly handle mystery.
4. Don't EVER send your queries out until your book is as good as you can make it. Don't count on them taking six weeks to answer. Until you've read the book a thousand times and can find nothing in it you want to change, don't send out a single query.
5. Learn how to write a query letter. Really write one. The query letter is that short note that's going to make an agent drool to get your book. It's got to make them want nothing more than to read your book. That means you have to be able to distill your novel's plot into two paragraphs, a couple of sentences. It's way tougher than it looks.
6. Make sure that when you choose an agent, you choose someone who is at LEAST as enthusiastic as you are about your book. Accept nothing less. This is your career. You wouldn't take a job in an office that only sort of wants you, would you? No. You want to be somewhere where they track you down on the other side of the country to get ten minutes of you time, because they're that excited about your book.
7. Write, write, write. And read. Lots.
8. Don't forget to work out a lot. Trust me. My thirty pounds was a lot easier to put on than it's been to get off.
9. Don't give up hope or sell yourself short. Rejection is part of the game. Get used to it. Don't get angry about it. If you get a rejection letter, send a very short, polite thank you. You never know when you might speak to that person again. Maybe they don't like your first book, but they might love your second.
10. I'm not an expert. I'm a newbie muddling my way through this sloggy mess called publishing. Don't listen to anything I have to say.
I don't know how much I can talk about DDL. It's finished. I wrote it. I went on my European vacation and signed with an agency. We're doing revisions. Hopefully soon we'll sell it. I think that I'll write another entry later or tomorrow about how it all came about.
Back when I started this journal, I wanted to record my experience writing a book and maybe seeing it published. The first book sucked and I shelved it. The second book was good but it needs a lot of attention to really make great. The third book is where I'm at now. Up to now, the journal has been recording my process surrounding the writing of a book. Now I can start blogging about maybe publishing one.
The Deathday Letter found representation. Right now DDL is in the revision phase, getting tweaks and touch-ups before it's sent out into the big, scary world. So I wanted to write about what I've learned up to this point. Some of it might not be right, some of it might not be right for everyone, but it's what I've learned.
1. Don't worry about who you're writing for - Seriously, writing's difficult enough without trying to envision your potential audience. Just write the best book you can, and worry about the rest later. That's what revisions are for.
2. Don't be afraid to look critically at something you've written and decide it's not good enough - That's how I feel with Jak and the Giants right now. I love the story, love the characters, but I'm not 100% behind it yet. With DDL, I pretty much couldn't wait to throw it at anyone who would read it. Even published authors write books that suck.
3. Research. Research publishers, agents, genres, everything. Start reading agent's blogs, and editor's blogs, and the websites that list good agents and bad agents. Make lists of the agents you think would really get your work. If you're writing fantasy, don't target agents who mostly handle mystery.
4. Don't EVER send your queries out until your book is as good as you can make it. Don't count on them taking six weeks to answer. Until you've read the book a thousand times and can find nothing in it you want to change, don't send out a single query.
5. Learn how to write a query letter. Really write one. The query letter is that short note that's going to make an agent drool to get your book. It's got to make them want nothing more than to read your book. That means you have to be able to distill your novel's plot into two paragraphs, a couple of sentences. It's way tougher than it looks.
6. Make sure that when you choose an agent, you choose someone who is at LEAST as enthusiastic as you are about your book. Accept nothing less. This is your career. You wouldn't take a job in an office that only sort of wants you, would you? No. You want to be somewhere where they track you down on the other side of the country to get ten minutes of you time, because they're that excited about your book.
7. Write, write, write. And read. Lots.
8. Don't forget to work out a lot. Trust me. My thirty pounds was a lot easier to put on than it's been to get off.
9. Don't give up hope or sell yourself short. Rejection is part of the game. Get used to it. Don't get angry about it. If you get a rejection letter, send a very short, polite thank you. You never know when you might speak to that person again. Maybe they don't like your first book, but they might love your second.
10. I'm not an expert. I'm a newbie muddling my way through this sloggy mess called publishing. Don't listen to anything I have to say.
I don't know how much I can talk about DDL. It's finished. I wrote it. I went on my European vacation and signed with an agency. We're doing revisions. Hopefully soon we'll sell it. I think that I'll write another entry later or tomorrow about how it all came about.
Saturday, July 19, 2008
Rue Street Hookers
I was on a business trip this past week and each time I boarded a plane, I watched the stewardesses ask the people sitting in the emergency exit row if they were okay with performing the emergency duties if there was a problem. Each time the people nodded morosely, and I started wondering how many people actually think SOMETHING might happen. How many people thought about having to open the E-Door and help others out. Then I started wondering: What if you were sitting there and instead of having to open the E-Door, if you were forced to spend the entire flight keeping it closed.
Anyway, the Rue Street Hookers are a bunch of housewives turned high-class hookers in my current book. I can’t discuss the details in any more...detail, but it’s an unexpected neighborhood.
Anyway, the Rue Street Hookers are a bunch of housewives turned high-class hookers in my current book. I can’t discuss the details in any more...detail, but it’s an unexpected neighborhood.
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