These last couple weeks have been crammed full for me, not just in the writing department. If anything, I think my muse has taken a short hiatus.
I've mostly been thinking about my soon to be WIP: the characters, their reactions, how they might behave in scenario X or conflict Y. I've been doing a lot more planning for this story than I did for any other WIP.
My hope is that this will help focus my writing, that I'll be less of a pantzer, and that the scenes and conflicts will come across clearer and truer for my effort.
My fear is that I'm subconsciously delaying the writing process for fear of messing it up due to my impatience and not knowning my characters or story well enough.
With my first WIP, even after several rounds of heavy edits, I simply don't think there is a way to streamline the scenes and events into one cohesive whole. The story is still fun to read, and many people have said they liked it a lot, but it definately lacks some fluidity that I'd like my future work to contain.
And wow, for not having a lot to say, I seem to have been rambling on. Never trust a writer to be lacking for words, I guess.
Well, my planning period is over, so I must go teach class now.
Happy Writing!
Tuesday, October 5, 2010
Thursday, September 23, 2010
Thrilled
The experience of creating an interesting, multileveled, possibly unique (if there is such a thing) villain is quite simply thrilling.
Some worthy opponent for my hero to show her skills and character by besting.
Some entity that is not cardboard, but a living, breathing person.
My favorite part is that my villain is not evil incarnate or seeking to rule the world or destroy it. I grow so wearing of those types. It is thrilling and entirely satisfying to have created a believable, if not lovable, monster. :)
It's alive!
Has anyone else had as much fun creating their antagonist?
Some worthy opponent for my hero to show her skills and character by besting.
Some entity that is not cardboard, but a living, breathing person.
My favorite part is that my villain is not evil incarnate or seeking to rule the world or destroy it. I grow so wearing of those types. It is thrilling and entirely satisfying to have created a believable, if not lovable, monster. :)
It's alive!
Has anyone else had as much fun creating their antagonist?
Saturday, September 18, 2010
Two Streams of Thought (Part II)
Alrighty, I'm back!
Yesterday I blogged about my first recent revelation. In it, I talk about setting your goal too low (even if you already think its high) and about the persistence of successful people. There are several inspirational quotes at the bottom of that one, so if you're feeling down and need a little "pick me up," see the last post. :)
And on to the second of my two streams of thought...
I read and write fantasy, specifically YA fantasy. As a genre writer, I've been writing my stories as if to an audience of fantasy addicts like myself. Makes sense, right?
Well this week I realized that that's not a great mindset. It pigeonholes my stories a bit. They read in a way that a non-fantasy reader could be easily lost and not too keenly interested to begin with. This in itself is not a terrible thing. The pool of fantasy readers is broad and deep and there are plenty of successful fantasy books that do exactly as I've just described. I'd even go as far as saying that MOST science fiction stories are written as if speaking only to an SF reading audience.
But I'd like my stories to be available and interesting to more than just that one pool. Most, if not all, stories are ultimately about the human experience. Even if a story is all about aliens, it's really telling about how humans are NOT.
Therefore, I suspect if I shift my focus ever so slightly from the fantasy world and focus more on the human experience, a broader range of people might be able to enjoy my stories. No, this is not a gimmick to get more readers, but rather a means to let people, like say my grandmother, to enjoy a story that wouldn't fit in her typical reading list.
I see it more as an opportunity to introduce non-genre readers to fantasy without so much shock of the unfamiliar. Will it work for everyone? Certainly not. I myself cannot stand most murder mysteries, but occasionally an author delights me. This delight is without exception having to do with how I relate to the characters. The human experience.
So what do you think? Do you prefer to write a genre story focusing on the general human qualities, or to dig deep into genre, out of reach to the general audience (ex: high fantasy, hard core science fiction)? Do you target a genre specific audience or the world at large?
Happy writing!
Anette
Yesterday I blogged about my first recent revelation. In it, I talk about setting your goal too low (even if you already think its high) and about the persistence of successful people. There are several inspirational quotes at the bottom of that one, so if you're feeling down and need a little "pick me up," see the last post. :)
And on to the second of my two streams of thought...
I read and write fantasy, specifically YA fantasy. As a genre writer, I've been writing my stories as if to an audience of fantasy addicts like myself. Makes sense, right?
Well this week I realized that that's not a great mindset. It pigeonholes my stories a bit. They read in a way that a non-fantasy reader could be easily lost and not too keenly interested to begin with. This in itself is not a terrible thing. The pool of fantasy readers is broad and deep and there are plenty of successful fantasy books that do exactly as I've just described. I'd even go as far as saying that MOST science fiction stories are written as if speaking only to an SF reading audience.
But I'd like my stories to be available and interesting to more than just that one pool. Most, if not all, stories are ultimately about the human experience. Even if a story is all about aliens, it's really telling about how humans are NOT.
Therefore, I suspect if I shift my focus ever so slightly from the fantasy world and focus more on the human experience, a broader range of people might be able to enjoy my stories. No, this is not a gimmick to get more readers, but rather a means to let people, like say my grandmother, to enjoy a story that wouldn't fit in her typical reading list.
I see it more as an opportunity to introduce non-genre readers to fantasy without so much shock of the unfamiliar. Will it work for everyone? Certainly not. I myself cannot stand most murder mysteries, but occasionally an author delights me. This delight is without exception having to do with how I relate to the characters. The human experience.
So what do you think? Do you prefer to write a genre story focusing on the general human qualities, or to dig deep into genre, out of reach to the general audience (ex: high fantasy, hard core science fiction)? Do you target a genre specific audience or the world at large?
Happy writing!
Anette
Two Streams of Thought
This week I've had two important realizations that I think will help my writing immensely. Perhaps they are things which have already occurred to you, and in that case, you can tip your hat at me and say "Thank goodness you finally caught up." To which I would reply, "Glad to be here. It's better than back that way yonder."
These ideas aren't even entirely new to me. But rather than fuzzy vague images, they have been brought into sharp clarity in my mind.
The first is that I'll be lucky to achieve what I aim for, and will never surpass my goal. Therefore I need to set my sights higher in order to go further. Oddly, this realization came while bowling with my husband.
In the not so distant past, I went bowling every Sunday with a friend. I knew I was capable of bowling a 130 game on average. So I would say to myself, "If I break 130, this would be a successful game." Sometimes I did better than 130, but rarely did I go much higher.
Flash forward a few years. Having fewer chances to bowl these days, I now say "I'll be satisfied with this game if I break 100." An average of 10 pins a frame is not so unrealistic a goal is it?
The problem with this train of thought is that I know I only have to make so many good throws to meet my goal. I get sloppy. I don't try as hard. I realized that if I said "I want to reach 150" or "Let's try for 200" I'd likely bowl a lot better. Yeah, I'd be really lucky to ever reach 200, but I'd also do a lot better than "just breaking 100."
This same principle applies to my writing. For the last couple years, I've been going alone with the mindset that I'd like to write a book worthy of publishing. A daunting goal all by itself, but I have just come to realize that its not good enough. I'm not striving to write an amazing, epic, can't put it down, your-eyes-are-burning-from-lack-of-sleep-and-you've-had-to-pee-for-the-last-hour kind of story.
And while, yes, I'd be extremely lucky to produce anything so awesome, it's this higher goal, this striving for not just good but excellence, that will improve my writing. I personally don't care for literary stories. I find them slow, heavy, and needlessly wordy. So my main goal is not to write a beautiful, poetic story, but one that delights the reader as so many stories have delighted me.
So let me not sell myself, or my reader, short. I don't want "publishable." I want extraordinary. And I'm determined to work my tail off to reach that goal, because (and I don't remember who said this or the exact phrasing) "Success isn't the absence of failure. It's having failed 1000 times without giving up."
This blog post is getting longish, so I shall save my second revelation for a "Part II." In the interim, here are some inspiring quotes I came upon while looking for the source of the one above. Bye for now!
Success and failure. We think of them as opposites, but they're really not. They're companions - the hero and the sidekick.
- Lawrence Shames
Not failure, but low aim, is crime.
- James Russell Lowell
Thomas Edison viewed each setback he encountered in making a light bulb simply as another way NOT to make a light bulb.
Success seems to be connected with action. Successful people keep moving. They make mistakes, but they don't quit.
- Conrad Hilton
Persistence is what makes the impossible possible, the possible likely, and the likely definite.
The difference between stumbling blocks and stepping stones is how you use them.
The Model "T" - Why "T"? Because Ford had gone through A-S before being successful in producing and marketing the "T".
Breakdowns can create breakthroughs. Things fall apart so things can fall together.
When you fail, don't give up. These people didn't:
- R.H. Macy failed seven times before his store in New York caught on.
- Novelist John Creasy got 753 rejection slips before he published the first of his 564 books.
- Thomas Edison was thrown out of school in the early grades when the teachers decided he could not do the work.
- Harry S. Truman failed as a haberdasher.
- When Bob Dylan performed at high school talent show, his classmates booed him off the stage.
- W. Clement Stone, successful insurance company executive and founder of Success magazine, was a high school dropout.
These ideas aren't even entirely new to me. But rather than fuzzy vague images, they have been brought into sharp clarity in my mind.
The first is that I'll be lucky to achieve what I aim for, and will never surpass my goal. Therefore I need to set my sights higher in order to go further. Oddly, this realization came while bowling with my husband.
In the not so distant past, I went bowling every Sunday with a friend. I knew I was capable of bowling a 130 game on average. So I would say to myself, "If I break 130, this would be a successful game." Sometimes I did better than 130, but rarely did I go much higher.
Flash forward a few years. Having fewer chances to bowl these days, I now say "I'll be satisfied with this game if I break 100." An average of 10 pins a frame is not so unrealistic a goal is it?
The problem with this train of thought is that I know I only have to make so many good throws to meet my goal. I get sloppy. I don't try as hard. I realized that if I said "I want to reach 150" or "Let's try for 200" I'd likely bowl a lot better. Yeah, I'd be really lucky to ever reach 200, but I'd also do a lot better than "just breaking 100."
This same principle applies to my writing. For the last couple years, I've been going alone with the mindset that I'd like to write a book worthy of publishing. A daunting goal all by itself, but I have just come to realize that its not good enough. I'm not striving to write an amazing, epic, can't put it down, your-eyes-are-burning-from-lack-of-sleep-and-you've-had-to-pee-for-the-last-hour kind of story.
And while, yes, I'd be extremely lucky to produce anything so awesome, it's this higher goal, this striving for not just good but excellence, that will improve my writing. I personally don't care for literary stories. I find them slow, heavy, and needlessly wordy. So my main goal is not to write a beautiful, poetic story, but one that delights the reader as so many stories have delighted me.
So let me not sell myself, or my reader, short. I don't want "publishable." I want extraordinary. And I'm determined to work my tail off to reach that goal, because (and I don't remember who said this or the exact phrasing) "Success isn't the absence of failure. It's having failed 1000 times without giving up."
This blog post is getting longish, so I shall save my second revelation for a "Part II." In the interim, here are some inspiring quotes I came upon while looking for the source of the one above. Bye for now!
Success and failure. We think of them as opposites, but they're really not. They're companions - the hero and the sidekick.
- Lawrence Shames
Not failure, but low aim, is crime.
- James Russell Lowell
Thomas Edison viewed each setback he encountered in making a light bulb simply as another way NOT to make a light bulb.
Success seems to be connected with action. Successful people keep moving. They make mistakes, but they don't quit.
- Conrad Hilton
Persistence is what makes the impossible possible, the possible likely, and the likely definite.
The difference between stumbling blocks and stepping stones is how you use them.
The Model "T" - Why "T"? Because Ford had gone through A-S before being successful in producing and marketing the "T".
Breakdowns can create breakthroughs. Things fall apart so things can fall together.
When you fail, don't give up. These people didn't:
- R.H. Macy failed seven times before his store in New York caught on.
- Novelist John Creasy got 753 rejection slips before he published the first of his 564 books.
- Thomas Edison was thrown out of school in the early grades when the teachers decided he could not do the work.
- Harry S. Truman failed as a haberdasher.
- When Bob Dylan performed at high school talent show, his classmates booed him off the stage.
- W. Clement Stone, successful insurance company executive and founder of Success magazine, was a high school dropout.
Saturday, September 11, 2010
Wow! Over a Year (and not an empty one)
Hello all!
It's been over a year since my last post here. Life has been busy, but I haven't stopped writing, though it may appear that way from all the blogging I've been doing. I got married and moved to Korea with my military husband. But I'm back in the groove, so hopefully you'll see me more often on here.
First off, congrats to Lady Glam for her first self-published book. I am very keen to get my paws on it. I saw the book trailer for it and am very excited.
Second, I've finished editing AUC and have set it aside for the time being. I have three projects I'm currently working on (a short story, a children's series, and a YA novel) that are far more pressing. I won't go into details here, for this is mostly an "I'm back!" blog post.
Third, I took up a couple suggestions on books to read: The Hunger Games and City of Bones. Both came highly recommended by fellow bloggers, but I must say that Hunger Games FAR outstrips City of Bones. I wasn't all that impressed with the latter story, but the Hunger Games is now sitting on my "favorite books" shelf. If you haven't read it yet, do yourself a kindness and go pick it up. :)
Lastly, if you read this post, drop me a comment. I'd really love to see who still haunts these parts. I know Glam is still alive and kickin, but how about everyone else?
Cheerio!
It's been over a year since my last post here. Life has been busy, but I haven't stopped writing, though it may appear that way from all the blogging I've been doing. I got married and moved to Korea with my military husband. But I'm back in the groove, so hopefully you'll see me more often on here.
First off, congrats to Lady Glam for her first self-published book. I am very keen to get my paws on it. I saw the book trailer for it and am very excited.
Second, I've finished editing AUC and have set it aside for the time being. I have three projects I'm currently working on (a short story, a children's series, and a YA novel) that are far more pressing. I won't go into details here, for this is mostly an "I'm back!" blog post.
Third, I took up a couple suggestions on books to read: The Hunger Games and City of Bones. Both came highly recommended by fellow bloggers, but I must say that Hunger Games FAR outstrips City of Bones. I wasn't all that impressed with the latter story, but the Hunger Games is now sitting on my "favorite books" shelf. If you haven't read it yet, do yourself a kindness and go pick it up. :)
Lastly, if you read this post, drop me a comment. I'd really love to see who still haunts these parts. I know Glam is still alive and kickin, but how about everyone else?
Cheerio!
Thursday, June 18, 2009
Spark, Spark
It seems I've neglected blogger for a long time now. Hmmm... updates: I'm querying Angel Undercover. I finally wrote a query letter with some spark to it. Kristen Nelson has some great advice on that. Head on over to her website / blog for more on that.
On another note, I'm starting out on a new project! I "pitched" my idea (i.e. read the 300 word preface) to a few friends and they are super excited about it, as am I. It's still YA fantasy, but leans more toward slipstream, whereas AUC was more high fantasy. I don't want to say much more than that just yet for fear of jinxing it. Once it's all plotted out and I'm well into the draft, I'll give more details (though no spoilers!). Super excited. With everything I've learned from editing AUC, I feel like I'm going into this project with a much better head on my shoulders.
Ah, and before you go for the day, I suggest you check out the querytracker blog post up for yesterday. Top ten writer mistakes, uncensored. Very detailed.
Happy writing / living!
Anette
On another note, I'm starting out on a new project! I "pitched" my idea (i.e. read the 300 word preface) to a few friends and they are super excited about it, as am I. It's still YA fantasy, but leans more toward slipstream, whereas AUC was more high fantasy. I don't want to say much more than that just yet for fear of jinxing it. Once it's all plotted out and I'm well into the draft, I'll give more details (though no spoilers!). Super excited. With everything I've learned from editing AUC, I feel like I'm going into this project with a much better head on my shoulders.
Ah, and before you go for the day, I suggest you check out the querytracker blog post up for yesterday. Top ten writer mistakes, uncensored. Very detailed.
Happy writing / living!
Anette
Tuesday, June 2, 2009
Seven Basic Plots
Holy Moly, gone for all of May, then two posts in one day! I assure you, that rhyming was unintentional. :)
From Christopher Booker's The Seven Basic Plots: Why We Tell Stories, the seven storylines are:
Overcoming the Monster - A terrifying, all-powerful, life-threatening monster whom the hero must confront in a fight to the death. An example of this plot is seen in Beowulf, Jack and the Beanstalk, and Dracula.
Rags to Riches - Someone who has seemed to the world quite commonplace is shown to have been hiding a second, more exceptional self within. Think the ugly duckling, Jane Eyre and Clark Kent.
The Quest - From the moment the hero learns of the priceless goal, he sets out on a hazardous journey to reach it. Examples are seen in The Odyssey, The Aeneid, The Count of Monte Cristo, and Raiders of the Lost Ark.
Voyage and Return - The hero or heroine and a few companions travel out of the familiar surroundings into another world completely cut off from the first. While it is at first marvellous, there is a sense of increasing peril. After a dramatic escape, they return to the familiar world where they began. Alice in Wonderland and The Time Machine are obvious examples; but Brideshead Revisited and Gone with the Wind also embody this basic plotline.
Comedy - Following a general chaos of misunderstanding, the characters tie themselves and each other into a knot that seems almost unbearable; however, to universal relief, everyone and everything gets sorted out, bringing about the happy ending. Shakespeare’s comedies come to mind, as do Jane Austen’s perfect novels.
Tragedy - A character through some flaw or lack of self-understanding is increasingly drawn into a fatal course of action which leads inexorably to disaster. King Lear, Madame Bovary, The Picture of Dorian Gray, Bonnie and Clyde—all flagrantly tragic.
Rebirth - There is a mounting sense of threat as a dark force approaches the hero until it emerges completely, holding the hero in its deadly grip. Only after a time, when it seems that the dark force has triumphed, does the reversal take place. The hero is redeemed, usually through the life-giving power of love. Many fairy tales take this shape; also, works like Silas Marner and It’s a Wonderful Life.
This post comes to you from pure curiousity. I believe my novel AUC is a Voyage and Return story. Since so many of you are fellow writers, I'm curious... where does your story fall?
Secondarily, does anyone refute the notion of seven basic, all encompassing, never ending plots? If so, please share your reasoning. :)
P.S. Don't miss the first post of today, below. Or miss it if you like. :) So long as it's intentional missing rather than accidental.
From Christopher Booker's The Seven Basic Plots: Why We Tell Stories, the seven storylines are:
Overcoming the Monster - A terrifying, all-powerful, life-threatening monster whom the hero must confront in a fight to the death. An example of this plot is seen in Beowulf, Jack and the Beanstalk, and Dracula.
Rags to Riches - Someone who has seemed to the world quite commonplace is shown to have been hiding a second, more exceptional self within. Think the ugly duckling, Jane Eyre and Clark Kent.
The Quest - From the moment the hero learns of the priceless goal, he sets out on a hazardous journey to reach it. Examples are seen in The Odyssey, The Aeneid, The Count of Monte Cristo, and Raiders of the Lost Ark.
Voyage and Return - The hero or heroine and a few companions travel out of the familiar surroundings into another world completely cut off from the first. While it is at first marvellous, there is a sense of increasing peril. After a dramatic escape, they return to the familiar world where they began. Alice in Wonderland and The Time Machine are obvious examples; but Brideshead Revisited and Gone with the Wind also embody this basic plotline.
Comedy - Following a general chaos of misunderstanding, the characters tie themselves and each other into a knot that seems almost unbearable; however, to universal relief, everyone and everything gets sorted out, bringing about the happy ending. Shakespeare’s comedies come to mind, as do Jane Austen’s perfect novels.
Tragedy - A character through some flaw or lack of self-understanding is increasingly drawn into a fatal course of action which leads inexorably to disaster. King Lear, Madame Bovary, The Picture of Dorian Gray, Bonnie and Clyde—all flagrantly tragic.
Rebirth - There is a mounting sense of threat as a dark force approaches the hero until it emerges completely, holding the hero in its deadly grip. Only after a time, when it seems that the dark force has triumphed, does the reversal take place. The hero is redeemed, usually through the life-giving power of love. Many fairy tales take this shape; also, works like Silas Marner and It’s a Wonderful Life.
This post comes to you from pure curiousity. I believe my novel AUC is a Voyage and Return story. Since so many of you are fellow writers, I'm curious... where does your story fall?
Secondarily, does anyone refute the notion of seven basic, all encompassing, never ending plots? If so, please share your reasoning. :)
P.S. Don't miss the first post of today, below. Or miss it if you like. :) So long as it's intentional missing rather than accidental.
Ultimately...
This is a short post and it comes from a discussion I had on CC. But I figure it's been a good month since my last post here (AA anyone?), so you might like to hear from me. :)
I'm thinking that my main priority is to make sure AUC remains an interesting read throughout. Discovering a whole new world, with hints of underlying conflict involving your beloved big sister, could be conflict enough for the first four chapters as long as readers are still interested in Paige's story.
I've been rereading a bunch of classics and greats, from Ender's Game to Harry Potter, and realizing that they break tons of the "rules" we all endeavor to follow.
From this, I take that the number one goal of any novel should be to entertain the mind. If it's doing that, keeping interest, keeping the pages turning, then it succeeds.
I think that there are a lot of ways to do this and that it might not be as formulaic as many of us treat it. Heck, if it was formulaic, everyone could write a great novel. I think it really comes down to whether we can write a great story or not.
I, for one, sure hope we can!
I'm thinking that my main priority is to make sure AUC remains an interesting read throughout. Discovering a whole new world, with hints of underlying conflict involving your beloved big sister, could be conflict enough for the first four chapters as long as readers are still interested in Paige's story.
I've been rereading a bunch of classics and greats, from Ender's Game to Harry Potter, and realizing that they break tons of the "rules" we all endeavor to follow.
From this, I take that the number one goal of any novel should be to entertain the mind. If it's doing that, keeping interest, keeping the pages turning, then it succeeds.
I think that there are a lot of ways to do this and that it might not be as formulaic as many of us treat it. Heck, if it was formulaic, everyone could write a great novel. I think it really comes down to whether we can write a great story or not.
I, for one, sure hope we can!
Friday, April 24, 2009
Hey, A Girl’s Gotta Do Her Research
I keep telling my grandmother (who’s dying to be a children’s book author) that she needs to do her research.
“Go in a bookstore or library and READ children’s books,” I tell her.
Over and over. I cross my fingers that it’s sinking in, but I’m not holding my breath.
But all these talks got me thinking about my own “research.” Now, I’ll readily admit that no one had to twist my arm to get me to do this. I’ve always loved reading, so if writing is my field then research feels like an afternoon at the park for me.
I sat down and put together a list of books I’ve read. It’s probably incomplete, but hey, I tried.
I tried to limit it to books relevant to my writing, so while I’ve read books like Summer of the Monkeys and Island of Blue Dolphins, they won’t appear on this list, nor will Hawthorne, Poe, or The Da Vinci Code, for that matter.
Some are YA fantasy. Some are just YA. Some are just fantasy. Some just influenced me.
2007 and prior
Christopher Paolini - Eragon and Eldest
John Flanagan - Ranger Apprentice, books 1,2,&3
Erin Hunter - Warriors, first 13 books
JK Rowling - Harry Potter series
Elaine Cunningham - Songs and Swords quintet
Elaine Cunningham - Starlight and Shadows trilogy
Orson Scott Card - Ender’s Game
Ray Bradbury - Fahrenheit 451
HG Wells - The Time Traveler
Margaret Atwood - A Handmade’s Tale
CS Lewis – The Chronicles of Narnia
KA Applegate - Animorphs, first 43 books
Margaret Weis and Tracy Hickman – The Soulforge
RA Salvatore – The Silent Blade
Marjorie B Kellogg - The Book of Earth
Anne McCaffrey - Dragonflight
2008
Scott Westerfeld - Uglies trilogy and Extras
Tamora Pierce - Lioness quartet & Immortals quartet
Tamora Pierce - Terrier
Stephanie Meyer - Twilight saga
Jonathan Stroud - The Amulet of Samarkand
Patricia Briggs - Steal the Dragon and Masques
Patricia Briggs - Mercy Thompson, books 1-3
James Patterson - Maximum Ride
Orson Scott Card - Ender’s Shadow
Jenny Nimmo - Charlie Bone
Angie Sage - Magyk
Cornelia Funke - Inkheart
Shannon Hale - Princess Academy
Jeanne DuPrau - City of Ember
Kristin & PC Cast - Marked
John Levitt - Dog Days
Jocelynn Drake - Nightwalker
Christopher Pike - Alosha
Eoin Colfer - Artemis Fowl
Donna Jo Napoli - Sirena
2009
Charlaine Harris - Dead Until Dark
Jim Butcher - Codex Alera, books 1-4
Rachel Vincent – Werecats 1 (Stray)
Scott Westerfeld - Peeps and The Last Days
Richelle Mead - Vampire Academy, books 1-3
Ed Decter - The One
Randa Abdel-Fattah - Does My Head Look Big In This?
Delia Sherman - Changeling
LJ Smith - Night World, book 1
TBR List
Micheal Grant - Gone
Patricia Briggs - Bone Crossed
Tamora Pierce - Bloodhound
Rachel Vincent – Werecats 2&3 (Rogue & Pride)
Jim Butcher - Codex Alera book 5
Richelle Mead - Vampire Academy book 4
So, for those of you who are either YA fantasy readers or YA fantasy writers, what books have I not read that I absolutely MUST? After all, a girl’s gotta stay on top of her research. ;)
“Go in a bookstore or library and READ children’s books,” I tell her.
Over and over. I cross my fingers that it’s sinking in, but I’m not holding my breath.
But all these talks got me thinking about my own “research.” Now, I’ll readily admit that no one had to twist my arm to get me to do this. I’ve always loved reading, so if writing is my field then research feels like an afternoon at the park for me.
I sat down and put together a list of books I’ve read. It’s probably incomplete, but hey, I tried.
I tried to limit it to books relevant to my writing, so while I’ve read books like Summer of the Monkeys and Island of Blue Dolphins, they won’t appear on this list, nor will Hawthorne, Poe, or The Da Vinci Code, for that matter.
Some are YA fantasy. Some are just YA. Some are just fantasy. Some just influenced me.
2007 and prior
Christopher Paolini - Eragon and Eldest
John Flanagan - Ranger Apprentice, books 1,2,&3
Erin Hunter - Warriors, first 13 books
JK Rowling - Harry Potter series
Elaine Cunningham - Songs and Swords quintet
Elaine Cunningham - Starlight and Shadows trilogy
Orson Scott Card - Ender’s Game
Ray Bradbury - Fahrenheit 451
HG Wells - The Time Traveler
Margaret Atwood - A Handmade’s Tale
CS Lewis – The Chronicles of Narnia
KA Applegate - Animorphs, first 43 books
Margaret Weis and Tracy Hickman – The Soulforge
RA Salvatore – The Silent Blade
Marjorie B Kellogg - The Book of Earth
Anne McCaffrey - Dragonflight
2008
Scott Westerfeld - Uglies trilogy and Extras
Tamora Pierce - Lioness quartet & Immortals quartet
Tamora Pierce - Terrier
Stephanie Meyer - Twilight saga
Jonathan Stroud - The Amulet of Samarkand
Patricia Briggs - Steal the Dragon and Masques
Patricia Briggs - Mercy Thompson, books 1-3
James Patterson - Maximum Ride
Orson Scott Card - Ender’s Shadow
Jenny Nimmo - Charlie Bone
Angie Sage - Magyk
Cornelia Funke - Inkheart
Shannon Hale - Princess Academy
Jeanne DuPrau - City of Ember
Kristin & PC Cast - Marked
John Levitt - Dog Days
Jocelynn Drake - Nightwalker
Christopher Pike - Alosha
Eoin Colfer - Artemis Fowl
Donna Jo Napoli - Sirena
2009
Charlaine Harris - Dead Until Dark
Jim Butcher - Codex Alera, books 1-4
Rachel Vincent – Werecats 1 (Stray)
Scott Westerfeld - Peeps and The Last Days
Richelle Mead - Vampire Academy, books 1-3
Ed Decter - The One
Randa Abdel-Fattah - Does My Head Look Big In This?
Delia Sherman - Changeling
LJ Smith - Night World, book 1
TBR List
Micheal Grant - Gone
Patricia Briggs - Bone Crossed
Tamora Pierce - Bloodhound
Rachel Vincent – Werecats 2&3 (Rogue & Pride)
Jim Butcher - Codex Alera book 5
Richelle Mead - Vampire Academy book 4
So, for those of you who are either YA fantasy readers or YA fantasy writers, what books have I not read that I absolutely MUST? After all, a girl’s gotta stay on top of her research. ;)
Wednesday, April 22, 2009
Great "Ready For Submission" Checklist from Fellow Writer
I Heart CC (or, Beta Readers Rock!)
So, last week my prologue went up at CC. I actually liked this version, so I was super excited when I got lots of feedback from critiquers. I feel like I must have done something right since eight people took the time to read it and half of that came in the first day. But on to the subject of this post...
Critiquers, or Beta Readers, simply rock.
This is why: I loved my prologue because I'd finally squeezed all the necessary information in while keeping character focus and interest, BUT I couldn't see that it was just a little bit confusing.
How could I? I wrote it. I understood it.
But my reviewers helped me see where the trouble spots were and I figured out where the focus needed to lie. I also realized that taking a more direct approach would help clarity a ton.
So I completely rewrote it.
And you know how I said I liked the old version? I love this one! It's not going to win any prizes (it's rough draft phase again) but I love it.
It's not even the same scene anymore. For that matter, it's not technically a prologue anymore. It's a preface. A long one (for prefaces) at around 1000 words.
The one thing I managed to keep through all three versions was my duck metaphor.
Draft 1 - Alexander FEELS like a duck.
Draft 3 - Alexander WATCHES the duck and relates to it.
Draft 4 - Alexander IS the duck and relates to it.
haha... I love it.
Anyway, I get super excited whenever something in my novel starts working for me, so I'm on cloud nine now. How often does that happen to you all?
Critiquers, or Beta Readers, simply rock.
This is why: I loved my prologue because I'd finally squeezed all the necessary information in while keeping character focus and interest, BUT I couldn't see that it was just a little bit confusing.
How could I? I wrote it. I understood it.
But my reviewers helped me see where the trouble spots were and I figured out where the focus needed to lie. I also realized that taking a more direct approach would help clarity a ton.
So I completely rewrote it.
And you know how I said I liked the old version? I love this one! It's not going to win any prizes (it's rough draft phase again) but I love it.
It's not even the same scene anymore. For that matter, it's not technically a prologue anymore. It's a preface. A long one (for prefaces) at around 1000 words.
The one thing I managed to keep through all three versions was my duck metaphor.
Draft 1 - Alexander FEELS like a duck.
Draft 3 - Alexander WATCHES the duck and relates to it.
Draft 4 - Alexander IS the duck and relates to it.
haha... I love it.
Anyway, I get super excited whenever something in my novel starts working for me, so I'm on cloud nine now. How often does that happen to you all?
Saturday, April 18, 2009
I Have This Idea...
… of how I want my novel to look. And by look, I mean read. I mean Feel. I know exactly what I want out of it. The work is the process of getting it there. The work is training myself to think, speak, and write in the verve I expect out of my novel. And I can tell you, with draft 3 complete and 4 in the process, I’m not even close. That sounds totally depressing, doesn’t it? Well it’s not. Because I know what I want, I have every confidence that I’ll eventually get there – and by extension, so will my novel.
The process of this is really rather cool, because for every one thing I learn, that’s one mistake I won’t make as often in the future. Once I learn how to create the kind of book I want to produce, I’ll be able to do it again. Or so I imagine. And hope.
In the process, I have to keep reminding myself of the things people have said along the way to cheer me on. All the way back to creative writing in college, when my classmates were enthralled by a short story that I now think is terrible. I have to keep telling myself that if my then-good-work is now bad, that means I’m moving toward great. Just the direction, not the proximity. But I will get there. And I will remain hopeful and not depressed along the way.
So to all my fellow blogging writers, cheers to optimism. Whether we ever get published or not, we’re always improving. I know most of you love your craft as much as I love mine, so becoming better writers should be enough. Publication would be the icing. The sweet, sweet icing.
Oh, and if you don’t follow How Publishing Really Works then click that link for today’s blog about what editors want. It cheered me up, because what they want is exactly what I want to produce in ms form.
“What editors want, more than ANYTHING else in the world, is for someone to delight them.” -Osiander
Cheers!
-Anette
The process of this is really rather cool, because for every one thing I learn, that’s one mistake I won’t make as often in the future. Once I learn how to create the kind of book I want to produce, I’ll be able to do it again. Or so I imagine. And hope.
In the process, I have to keep reminding myself of the things people have said along the way to cheer me on. All the way back to creative writing in college, when my classmates were enthralled by a short story that I now think is terrible. I have to keep telling myself that if my then-good-work is now bad, that means I’m moving toward great. Just the direction, not the proximity. But I will get there. And I will remain hopeful and not depressed along the way.
So to all my fellow blogging writers, cheers to optimism. Whether we ever get published or not, we’re always improving. I know most of you love your craft as much as I love mine, so becoming better writers should be enough. Publication would be the icing. The sweet, sweet icing.
Oh, and if you don’t follow How Publishing Really Works then click that link for today’s blog about what editors want. It cheered me up, because what they want is exactly what I want to produce in ms form.
“What editors want, more than ANYTHING else in the world, is for someone to delight them.” -Osiander
Cheers!
-Anette
Agent for a Day
Leave it to me to wait until the last minute to do my day of being an agent. Nathan Bransford does his big reveal later today, so keep an eye out for it.
My five picks (requested manuscripts) are:
10 – On One Hand
15 – The 15 Date Rule
17 – Inugami
28 – Long Shot Lost
35 – Losers
These are the ones that leaped off the page so to speak. I really want to know more about these stories.
And I really learned a lot about what makes a effective query.
I'd finally gotten a query that I was truly satisfied (version 21). With what I learned from Agent for a Day, I'm going to... wait. Yep. Wait. I'm going take my treasured v21 and put it in a special file and not touch it until I'm truly satisfied with my manuscript. THEN I'll pull it out and work again. But not until.
I've got a million ideas running around my head for my ms anyway. Can't wait to get started on draft 4 and 5 and 6...
How was your Day of being an Agent?
Anette
My five picks (requested manuscripts) are:
10 – On One Hand
15 – The 15 Date Rule
17 – Inugami
28 – Long Shot Lost
35 – Losers
These are the ones that leaped off the page so to speak. I really want to know more about these stories.
And I really learned a lot about what makes a effective query.
I'd finally gotten a query that I was truly satisfied (version 21). With what I learned from Agent for a Day, I'm going to... wait. Yep. Wait. I'm going take my treasured v21 and put it in a special file and not touch it until I'm truly satisfied with my manuscript. THEN I'll pull it out and work again. But not until.
I've got a million ideas running around my head for my ms anyway. Can't wait to get started on draft 4 and 5 and 6...
How was your Day of being an Agent?
Anette
Friday, April 17, 2009
It's Okay to Make Them Wait
Curiosity in a reader is a good thing, right? As long as it’s curiosity and not confusion. Like most other lines we writers ride, it’s a fine one.
For example, I was reading a book that was fast losing my interest. The characters weren’t doing much to reel me in and the plot was moving pretty slow. But there was this dog that traveled with the two main characters and the author had already given several hints that the dog was not really just a dog. So I’m compelled to read further, to find out about this blasted not-dog if nothing else. Perhaps by the time I figure out what it actually is, the characters and storyline will have hooked me again.
How does this apply to my own writing? Well, hopefully I don’t lose my readers with plot and character problems to begin with, but there are certain elements in my story that I WANT the reader to be curious about and wait for – mostly dealing with the angels of the world.
My prologue gives the reader a glimpse into the angels’ world and introduces you to a main character in the story. Then I jump into chapter 1 with Paige, my protagonist, who knows nothing about angels. A couple chapters in, she meets the angel character, but he goes by a different name and she has no idea he’s an angel, but I’m hoping I’ve dropped enough hints for the reader to realize who he is. This angel then accompanies her through the rest of the story, guiding her a bit, and near the end she learns the truth. He explains more about the angels at that time, information that was hinted at all the way back in the prologue.
Now, the angels stuff isn’t really key to the flow of the novel. It’s from Paige’s POV and she doesn’t even know of them, so how could it? But I want the READER to be curious. What I don’t want is for them to feel overwhelmed by the need to know information that I only hint at in the beginning.
Essentially I need the reader to trust me, the writer. I need to somehow show them that I’m not going to leave them hanging and that it will be explained, but that it’s just not the right time at the beginning. My CC reviewers are all getting stuck on details and want me to slow down and explain them, but I want to move into the action of the story. How do I convey that they should be interested, but not obsessed?
To my fellow writers: How do you get your readers to trust you? What do you make your readers wait for?
Because I, for one, am convinced that it’s okay to make them wait. Curiosity is a good thing.
For example, I was reading a book that was fast losing my interest. The characters weren’t doing much to reel me in and the plot was moving pretty slow. But there was this dog that traveled with the two main characters and the author had already given several hints that the dog was not really just a dog. So I’m compelled to read further, to find out about this blasted not-dog if nothing else. Perhaps by the time I figure out what it actually is, the characters and storyline will have hooked me again.
How does this apply to my own writing? Well, hopefully I don’t lose my readers with plot and character problems to begin with, but there are certain elements in my story that I WANT the reader to be curious about and wait for – mostly dealing with the angels of the world.
My prologue gives the reader a glimpse into the angels’ world and introduces you to a main character in the story. Then I jump into chapter 1 with Paige, my protagonist, who knows nothing about angels. A couple chapters in, she meets the angel character, but he goes by a different name and she has no idea he’s an angel, but I’m hoping I’ve dropped enough hints for the reader to realize who he is. This angel then accompanies her through the rest of the story, guiding her a bit, and near the end she learns the truth. He explains more about the angels at that time, information that was hinted at all the way back in the prologue.
Now, the angels stuff isn’t really key to the flow of the novel. It’s from Paige’s POV and she doesn’t even know of them, so how could it? But I want the READER to be curious. What I don’t want is for them to feel overwhelmed by the need to know information that I only hint at in the beginning.
Essentially I need the reader to trust me, the writer. I need to somehow show them that I’m not going to leave them hanging and that it will be explained, but that it’s just not the right time at the beginning. My CC reviewers are all getting stuck on details and want me to slow down and explain them, but I want to move into the action of the story. How do I convey that they should be interested, but not obsessed?
To my fellow writers: How do you get your readers to trust you? What do you make your readers wait for?
Because I, for one, am convinced that it’s okay to make them wait. Curiosity is a good thing.
Thursday, April 9, 2009
Twentieth Time Is A Charm
I think I've got it. My query letter. You tell me if I'm right.
It's 149 words long and has everything Nathan Bransford says a good query letter needs. Best of all, it's almost identical to my "five sentences' from the Snowflake Method. Here we go:
Fourteen year old Paige Moss is a bleeding-heart humanitarian optimist held captive by her own timid nature. But when she is kidnapped by a deranged visionary, Paige must get past her shyness in order to save her sister’s integrity, her friend’s happiness, and her city’s existence from his manipulating grip. A much bolder Paige exposes the visionary’s ruthless game, follows him into exile to retrieve a precious belonging, and leads a team of allies to save her city from his vengeance. Through her oft-dangerous, yet light-hearted adventures, Paige is accompanied by a diverse cast of unforgettable friends. She learns that shyness is not a state of existence, but a choice – that her character is really the sum of her actions – and becomes the hero she never expected she could be.
Angel Undercover is an 84,000 word YA fantasy. It is my first novel and it sets up for sequels.
By the way... did you see that? 84,000 words! I'm in the middle of chapter 17 (of 25), so it'll go down more. I'm shooting for 80K.
This is my "fluff" layer of edits. You know, all the extra words and sentences. You should check out Lady Glam's series of posts about layers. She explains it exactly how I do it.
Next I'll be going through combing for content, then tension, then nit-picks. It's such a long process, and my word count might go up again, but it will improve my novel. I know it will. You know it will.
Oh, and on the side, I'm filling doing the Snowflake Method on AUC and it's first sequel. It really gives great insight into a novel, in addition to clarity the query process has given. You really have to dig to find what's key. It's hard, but totally worth it.
For comparison, here is my "five sentences" from the snowflake method: (You know, setup, three major disasters/plot points, and conclusion.)
Fourteen year old Paige Moss, a bleeding-heart humanitarian optimist held captive by her own timid nature, gets kidnapped by a deranged visionary. Paige must get past her shyness in order to save her sister’s integrity, by exposing the visionary’s ruthless game. When he steals the source of her friend’s happiness, Paige must follow him into exile to retrieve it. Then her city is threatened by yet another of the visionary’s plans and Paige must lead a team of allies to protect it from destruction. Through her oft-dangerous, yet light-hearted adventures, Paige learns that shyness is not a state of existence, but a choice – that her character is really the sum of her actions – and becomes the hero she never expected she could be.
The revised Sentence:
When Paige gets kidnapped, she must get past her shyness in order to save her sister’s integrity, her friend’s happiness, and her city’s existence from the manipulating grip of a deranged visionary.
And the revised 15 word summary sentence: (yeah, mine is 21 words)
A girl must part with her timid nature to save her sister, her friend, and her city from a deranged visionary.
For those of you who've seen the earlier versions of all these things, isn't this much clearer?
How many of you find that some or all of these methods help you understand your novel?
It's 149 words long and has everything Nathan Bransford says a good query letter needs. Best of all, it's almost identical to my "five sentences' from the Snowflake Method. Here we go:
Fourteen year old Paige Moss is a bleeding-heart humanitarian optimist held captive by her own timid nature. But when she is kidnapped by a deranged visionary, Paige must get past her shyness in order to save her sister’s integrity, her friend’s happiness, and her city’s existence from his manipulating grip. A much bolder Paige exposes the visionary’s ruthless game, follows him into exile to retrieve a precious belonging, and leads a team of allies to save her city from his vengeance. Through her oft-dangerous, yet light-hearted adventures, Paige is accompanied by a diverse cast of unforgettable friends. She learns that shyness is not a state of existence, but a choice – that her character is really the sum of her actions – and becomes the hero she never expected she could be.
Angel Undercover is an 84,000 word YA fantasy. It is my first novel and it sets up for sequels.
By the way... did you see that? 84,000 words! I'm in the middle of chapter 17 (of 25), so it'll go down more. I'm shooting for 80K.
This is my "fluff" layer of edits. You know, all the extra words and sentences. You should check out Lady Glam's series of posts about layers. She explains it exactly how I do it.
Next I'll be going through combing for content, then tension, then nit-picks. It's such a long process, and my word count might go up again, but it will improve my novel. I know it will. You know it will.
Oh, and on the side, I'm filling doing the Snowflake Method on AUC and it's first sequel. It really gives great insight into a novel, in addition to clarity the query process has given. You really have to dig to find what's key. It's hard, but totally worth it.
For comparison, here is my "five sentences" from the snowflake method: (You know, setup, three major disasters/plot points, and conclusion.)
Fourteen year old Paige Moss, a bleeding-heart humanitarian optimist held captive by her own timid nature, gets kidnapped by a deranged visionary. Paige must get past her shyness in order to save her sister’s integrity, by exposing the visionary’s ruthless game. When he steals the source of her friend’s happiness, Paige must follow him into exile to retrieve it. Then her city is threatened by yet another of the visionary’s plans and Paige must lead a team of allies to protect it from destruction. Through her oft-dangerous, yet light-hearted adventures, Paige learns that shyness is not a state of existence, but a choice – that her character is really the sum of her actions – and becomes the hero she never expected she could be.
The revised Sentence:
When Paige gets kidnapped, she must get past her shyness in order to save her sister’s integrity, her friend’s happiness, and her city’s existence from the manipulating grip of a deranged visionary.
And the revised 15 word summary sentence: (yeah, mine is 21 words)
A girl must part with her timid nature to save her sister, her friend, and her city from a deranged visionary.
For those of you who've seen the earlier versions of all these things, isn't this much clearer?
How many of you find that some or all of these methods help you understand your novel?
Sunday, April 5, 2009
Nineteen and Counting
Quick update: edits on AUC are going well. Word count is down to 85K, with a long way to go.
So I've now created nineteen versions of my query letter. NINETEEN! Yikes. I'm really hoping that's a reflection of my query writing skills rather than my novel writing skills.
Out of the nineteen, there are five distinct versions:
Queries 1-6: mainly synopsis, protag vs physical antagonist.
Queries 7-9: little plot detail, a lot protags growth process
Queries 10-14: an attempt to combine plot and purpose, with a better hook
Queries 15-17: protag vs internal (main) antagonist, with key plot details
Queries 18-19: bare bones based on Nathan Bransford's Query MadLib
I'm really hoping v17 or v19 will work out. This is a long process that I'm hoping will be done soon. Does anyone else have this much trouble with query writing?
Anette
So I've now created nineteen versions of my query letter. NINETEEN! Yikes. I'm really hoping that's a reflection of my query writing skills rather than my novel writing skills.
Out of the nineteen, there are five distinct versions:
Queries 1-6: mainly synopsis, protag vs physical antagonist.
Queries 7-9: little plot detail, a lot protags growth process
Queries 10-14: an attempt to combine plot and purpose, with a better hook
Queries 15-17: protag vs internal (main) antagonist, with key plot details
Queries 18-19: bare bones based on Nathan Bransford's Query MadLib
I'm really hoping v17 or v19 will work out. This is a long process that I'm hoping will be done soon. Does anyone else have this much trouble with query writing?
Anette
Saturday, March 28, 2009
Cutting a Tenth of Your Novel
This will be a quick post. It's been two weeks since my last one (doesn't that sound like an AA line?), but I've just been editing, which isn't hugely exciting to hear about. :) The process is teaching me so much about writing well though, so I count it as time very well spent.
Anywho, we've already established that I'm something of a numbers freak, so I'll give you some more here. Numbers tell us nothing about the quality of a story, but it does show the quantity of things I've removed from the earlier draft because they were unneccessary or just plain bad writing.
This recent round of edits was the "I was ly-ing" edits. That is getting rid of excess pronouns, passive voice, adjective/adverbage, and present tense verbs. None of these are bad when used in the right places and in reasonable quantities, but let's face it... my first drafts of my first novel were bound to come out really rough. I hope that I can write cleaner in future novels to avoid some of this work.
Anyway, without further ado, the numbers.
Data displayed in a quantity before --> quantity after format. These cuts didn't remove content, only excess wordage.
I (pronoun) – 4146 --> 3377
Was (passive voice) – 1345 --> 610
Were (passive voice) – 442 --> 307
Ly (adjectives/adverbs) – 2150 --> 716
Ing (present tense verbs) – 4000 --> 3225
Word Count – 100K --> 89K
Amazing that a tenth of my novel was just unneccessary words.
Anyone else had that kind of experience?
Anywho, we've already established that I'm something of a numbers freak, so I'll give you some more here. Numbers tell us nothing about the quality of a story, but it does show the quantity of things I've removed from the earlier draft because they were unneccessary or just plain bad writing.
This recent round of edits was the "I was ly-ing" edits. That is getting rid of excess pronouns, passive voice, adjective/adverbage, and present tense verbs. None of these are bad when used in the right places and in reasonable quantities, but let's face it... my first drafts of my first novel were bound to come out really rough. I hope that I can write cleaner in future novels to avoid some of this work.
Anyway, without further ado, the numbers.
Data displayed in a quantity before --> quantity after format. These cuts didn't remove content, only excess wordage.
I (pronoun) – 4146 --> 3377
Was (passive voice) – 1345 --> 610
Were (passive voice) – 442 --> 307
Ly (adjectives/adverbs) – 2150 --> 716
Ing (present tense verbs) – 4000 --> 3225
Word Count – 100K --> 89K
Amazing that a tenth of my novel was just unneccessary words.
Anyone else had that kind of experience?
Friday, March 13, 2009
A Little Boost
Yesterday I had a query writing crisis. I have 9 versions of my book's query, from two completely different angles (each with several revisions, totalling 9). Yet I'm still not anywhere near the right hook or "advertisement" that I need to be at. It was crushing that both ways didn't work, when I thought I was on the right track.
So when I saw this on How Publishing Really Works it brightened my day:
"To paraphrase James D Macdonald: if you can write something that’s grammatically correct, which doesn’t contradict itself too many times and which shows a reasonable understanding of both spelling and punctuation then you’re already in the top ten per cent of the slush-pile, with a good-to-excellent chance of getting read—and getting published."
Hope it brightens your day too!
(I recommend reading the whole post)
So when I saw this on How Publishing Really Works it brightened my day:
"To paraphrase James D Macdonald: if you can write something that’s grammatically correct, which doesn’t contradict itself too many times and which shows a reasonable understanding of both spelling and punctuation then you’re already in the top ten per cent of the slush-pile, with a good-to-excellent chance of getting read—and getting published."
Hope it brightens your day too!
(I recommend reading the whole post)
Wednesday, March 11, 2009
The Long Road of Revision (Query)
I’ve said it before, but I’ve got to repeat:
You can’t know what you didn’t know until you know it.
You might have seen Query v1, v2, and v3 in earlier posts. The latest is v9. Be thankful I didn’t bore you with the interim versions. :) It’s been a long road and I have many thanks to give, but mainly to Glam for asking “why should I care about Paige?” and “why does her story need to be told?”
Her questions made me step back and throw the first six versions (all pretty similar) out the window and start fresh. In previous versions I worked on boiling the story down to the main conflicts, the main characters, and the main plot. But I never got to the Why Should You Care part. :) Seems important in hindsight. How could I miss it? Well, I couldn’t know what I didn’t know until I knew it.
So, to all of you who have struggled with your query letter like I have, high fives all around for stickin’ with it when you wanted to tear your hair out.
Without further ado, here is v9 (surely not to be the last, but likely the best so far):
[redacted. v9 was one of the best bad ones, so I considered leaving it up, but it still had to go]
Does it reel you in? Does it make you care about Paige or her story? Any and all suggestions are welcome.
You can’t know what you didn’t know until you know it.
You might have seen Query v1, v2, and v3 in earlier posts. The latest is v9. Be thankful I didn’t bore you with the interim versions. :) It’s been a long road and I have many thanks to give, but mainly to Glam for asking “why should I care about Paige?” and “why does her story need to be told?”
Her questions made me step back and throw the first six versions (all pretty similar) out the window and start fresh. In previous versions I worked on boiling the story down to the main conflicts, the main characters, and the main plot. But I never got to the Why Should You Care part. :) Seems important in hindsight. How could I miss it? Well, I couldn’t know what I didn’t know until I knew it.
So, to all of you who have struggled with your query letter like I have, high fives all around for stickin’ with it when you wanted to tear your hair out.
Without further ado, here is v9 (surely not to be the last, but likely the best so far):
[redacted. v9 was one of the best bad ones, so I considered leaving it up, but it still had to go]
Does it reel you in? Does it make you care about Paige or her story? Any and all suggestions are welcome.
Thursday, March 5, 2009
Where Would You Like Your Splash of Genre?
Today's post comes from the middle of a short story I'm working on. Well, from the first third really. See, it's a horror, but I've decided to open it up with normal occurances to ground it in reality before dabbling into the more supernatural elements. Makes good sense, right? But my concern is that an avid horror reader will open it up and wonder why the first five hundred words are a flirtatious conversation between a woman and her fiance. Insert question...
Where would you like your splash of genre?
What I mean by that is this... Everything you read has a prime element that causes it fit into a genre. Westerns, sci fi, mystery, horror, romance, you name it. But how far into the story (any story, from flash fic to full blown novel) can you go without introducing that element before the reader goes "Well, what the crap?"
When you open a book or magazine, do you want the element of your interest to jump out at you from line one or can you wait?
From the other side of the fence, do you write safely (genre strong from the get go) or daringly (make 'em wait and bet it all on your brilliant narrative)?
Where would you like your splash of genre?
What I mean by that is this... Everything you read has a prime element that causes it fit into a genre. Westerns, sci fi, mystery, horror, romance, you name it. But how far into the story (any story, from flash fic to full blown novel) can you go without introducing that element before the reader goes "Well, what the crap?"
When you open a book or magazine, do you want the element of your interest to jump out at you from line one or can you wait?
From the other side of the fence, do you write safely (genre strong from the get go) or daringly (make 'em wait and bet it all on your brilliant narrative)?
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