Most of you know that I've submitted my historical novel, The Freedom Thief, for publishing. I originally submitted it last November, and waited patiently...uh...well, maybe not so patiently...to hear from them. Which I did...in February of this year. They rejected it. But nicely! And they asked for revisions, and then for a resub. Thankfully, while I agreed with all but one of their issues, none of them was something major, like making it a contemporary novel, or changing my MC from a boy to a girl. Even the one issue I wasn't too happy about, I understood their reasoning and went on to revise it. Five weeks later, I resubbed it. That was in March.
Here it is mid-July, and I've heard nothing. Nada. Nyet. Not a word. But since this publisher promises to let you know the decision, even if it's a No, I am confident I will hear...something...one of these days.
So I'm playing the waiting game. Isn't that the very worst part of publishing? Waiting? And waiting. And waiting some more. So what to do while I'm waiting. Every one...every writer one...says, start another book. So, okay, I've done that. But then I hit a stumbling block about 2 chapters in, and realized I needed to do more research, since I was writing wa a a a y out of my comfort zone. Now what? Well, I came up with a list of "what to do while you're waiting." Besides doing the required research, that is. See what you think!
1. Take a long walk.
2. Plant some new flowers in the hanging baskets: the old ones are looking...old.
PROBLEM: It's 100+ outside, so numbers 1 and 2 are out.
3. Make some iced coffee and watch a TV program.
PROBLEM: I hate daytime TV.
4. Make some iced coffee and read one of my free books on my Kindle
5. Clean the kitchen.
6. Clean the parrots' cages.
PROBLEM: I'm really not in the mood for cleaning, and besides, I can't drink my coffee and clean at the same time. Or so I tell myself. So numbers 5 and 6 are out.
7. Brush the Porky Corgi. Again.
8. Go to the library and get that research done!
9. Get on the Internet and see if I can find some SIMPLE AND EASY instructions on how to make a book trailer. UGH! I hate trying to learn some new technological thing...I'm about as technologically inclined as the Porky Corgi, but everyone says you need a book trailer.
10. Stop messing around, and get Building The Plot going for my new book that is out of my comfort zone.
As you can see, making this list didn't help me a whole heck of a lot! The PC wanted to play ball instead of getting brushed, so he was not cooperative. I told myself that getting outside in the heat, even in an air-conditioned car, was not a good idea, so going to the library was shot down. Besides, these were all temporary "fixes."
So... I made that iced coffee ( my super deluxe Keurig, a Christmas present from my husband, is such a delight!), played ball for a while in the house with the PC, and then sat down and started to write...seriously...on Building The Plot for my new novel. Still working on that, but at least now I'm up to my 7th chapter. Oh, yes...and still waiting!
No, all of this didn't occur on any ONE day. It's kind of a silly list, I guess, but it takes up a small bit of time while you are waiting. And it takes my mind off of... you know what.
About that book trailer...that's what is known in my world as Procrastination. But more about that later.
Tell me...what do YOU do when you are... waiting?
Until next time,
That's a wrap.
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Wednesday, July 18, 2012
Tuesday, July 10, 2012
Self-Publishing: What Does It Mean To You?
I just finished reading 4 YA books on my Kindle. I'm not going to reveal the names or the authors, because this is not a review. After I finished the 4th book, I went back to Amazon to find out who the publishers were. Each one of those books was published by the author.
Now, I don't have anything against self-publishing. I won't ever do it, but for reasons that probably most people don't have. What I do have something against is books that are poorly written and are still published.
Each of these books had all kinds of errors in them. Many punctuation errors, but I suppose that could be some kind of formatting glitch. From what I've read and heard, each self-publishing company has a specific format they want, and often a Word document doesn't lend itself easily to those formats.
But grammatical errors are not part of a formatting problem. A plot that rambles on and never seems to go in a specific direction; so many characters, each poorly developed, that some are superfluous; a lot of descriptive narration that is unnecessary for the most part...all of these are simply poorly written and poorly developed elements of a story. Only one of these stories actually held my interest all the way through. The other three I read to the end only because I spent good money for them and I refused to quit reading before I had gotten my money's worth. Only I still didn't. Get my money's worth, that is.
My question to you 'out there' is: why do some writers insist upon self-publishing? I understand that there are all kinds of options to do so these days, and that self-publishing doesn't have the stigma that it used to in the writing community. But why would any writer want to have a book published that contains all kinds of errors?
I know several writers who have published their books through Amazon and other publishing options. I know when I talked to them, they assured me they had "editors" go over their manuscripts, and they were totally proof-read, approved, and polished. Yet, one of the books I bought was from one of these particular writers. If she had an editor, it must have been a friend who knew nothing about writing. Granted, this was more of an adult book than a YA, or I guess you could call it a "crossover." But what difference does that make, if there are still errors in grammar and punctuation, and the story elements are not well written?
Stigma or not, I have yet to read a self-published book that I would recommend to someone else, or that I think is worthy of having been published. Don't misunderstand me, some of these books have great plots and even great characters. But when you are wading through grammatical errors, or you have page after page of metaphors and analogies that don't even make good sense, then what is really good about the novel gets completely lost. And, lest I have to dodge some rocks about now, it is VERY possible that I just haven't read a really good self-published book.
I don't really understand why someone is so anxious to get their story "out there" that they are willing to forego all the editing, revising, more editing, more revising, and then polishing to a shine before they go to the time, trouble, AND money to publish the book themselves.
I believe that ALL writers, no matter which publishing option they take, take pride in their work. We all work hard. We all make sacrifices in order to have the time to write. When we have families, we all give up certain things relating to our families in order to write. So it's not that I think self-published authors DO NOT go through all the things the rest of us go through. Umm...sorry about the double negative.
Self-published authors work just as hard, make just as many sacrifices, have just as many trials and tribulations as all of the rest of us. So why does that same author settle for something less than what he or she is capable of? Why is she or he willing to publish a book that has so obviously NOT seen a capable critique group, a knowledgeable beta reader, or a professional editor?
I don't understand. Do you? I hope that's not a rhetorical question.
Until next time,
That's a wrap.
Now, I don't have anything against self-publishing. I won't ever do it, but for reasons that probably most people don't have. What I do have something against is books that are poorly written and are still published.
Each of these books had all kinds of errors in them. Many punctuation errors, but I suppose that could be some kind of formatting glitch. From what I've read and heard, each self-publishing company has a specific format they want, and often a Word document doesn't lend itself easily to those formats.
But grammatical errors are not part of a formatting problem. A plot that rambles on and never seems to go in a specific direction; so many characters, each poorly developed, that some are superfluous; a lot of descriptive narration that is unnecessary for the most part...all of these are simply poorly written and poorly developed elements of a story. Only one of these stories actually held my interest all the way through. The other three I read to the end only because I spent good money for them and I refused to quit reading before I had gotten my money's worth. Only I still didn't. Get my money's worth, that is.
My question to you 'out there' is: why do some writers insist upon self-publishing? I understand that there are all kinds of options to do so these days, and that self-publishing doesn't have the stigma that it used to in the writing community. But why would any writer want to have a book published that contains all kinds of errors?
I know several writers who have published their books through Amazon and other publishing options. I know when I talked to them, they assured me they had "editors" go over their manuscripts, and they were totally proof-read, approved, and polished. Yet, one of the books I bought was from one of these particular writers. If she had an editor, it must have been a friend who knew nothing about writing. Granted, this was more of an adult book than a YA, or I guess you could call it a "crossover." But what difference does that make, if there are still errors in grammar and punctuation, and the story elements are not well written?
Stigma or not, I have yet to read a self-published book that I would recommend to someone else, or that I think is worthy of having been published. Don't misunderstand me, some of these books have great plots and even great characters. But when you are wading through grammatical errors, or you have page after page of metaphors and analogies that don't even make good sense, then what is really good about the novel gets completely lost. And, lest I have to dodge some rocks about now, it is VERY possible that I just haven't read a really good self-published book.
I don't really understand why someone is so anxious to get their story "out there" that they are willing to forego all the editing, revising, more editing, more revising, and then polishing to a shine before they go to the time, trouble, AND money to publish the book themselves.
I believe that ALL writers, no matter which publishing option they take, take pride in their work. We all work hard. We all make sacrifices in order to have the time to write. When we have families, we all give up certain things relating to our families in order to write. So it's not that I think self-published authors DO NOT go through all the things the rest of us go through. Umm...sorry about the double negative.
Self-published authors work just as hard, make just as many sacrifices, have just as many trials and tribulations as all of the rest of us. So why does that same author settle for something less than what he or she is capable of? Why is she or he willing to publish a book that has so obviously NOT seen a capable critique group, a knowledgeable beta reader, or a professional editor?
I don't understand. Do you? I hope that's not a rhetorical question.
Until next time,
That's a wrap.
Saturday, July 7, 2012
Success Without Failure?
We went to our clubhouse for a 4th of July barbeque, and met some new people who happened to sit at our table with our four friends and my husband and me. In talking to them, I found that their granddaughter was a big sports fan, and a wonderful basketball player in high school. When I asked if she was playing in college, I was told, No, she quit. Being the nosy...er, curious...kind, I asked why she quit if she was really good. The short version is that she quit because she failed at getting the most baskets and winning the most games, and therefore, considered herself a failure. Hmm...
That, of course, suggested a blog post for me.
As writers, we fail a LOT. Really, we do. Think about it. How many times do you write a couple of chapters in your fantastic WIP, edit them, and then send them to your critique group, fulling expecting rave reviews. Only... you are shattered when they come back to you with remarks like: Your characters are one-dimensional; you have too much telling and not enough showing; your descriptive narration about the setting is too long and too boring, enough already. Oh My.
We failed. Of course, this was only our third or fourth rough draft. It wasn't polished. But still...my characters are one-dimensional? But I LOVE my characters! And so on.
So we start again, determined not to fail again. Well, maybe we do this 4 or 5 or 8 or 10 times, and we fail each time. In some way. Maybe our characters have become fully rounded, and now our critique partners also love them. We've cut out almost all the narration. But nothing is ever perfect, so we "fail" again. And again.
Finally, our critique group says, Okay, try submitting. We're excited beyond control! Of course we're going to get accepted the first time out of the starting gate. NOT. We get to the point where we can paper our office with rejection letters. Those we actually get, that is. What about all those agents and publishers who have rejected us, but not bothered to tell us after 6 or 8 months? Now we really are failures. Oh? Really?
Of course not. Failures Quit. Writers Don't. Therefore, it stands to reason we're NOT failures.
Seriously...I've heard that the "pathway" to success can be compared to a superhighway or better yet, one of today's freeways. What do you find on a freeway? Traffic. Roadblocks. Bumps in the road. Signs indicating "This lane is closed, merge left." All of which lead to slowdowns and frustrations. Isn't that what writing is all about? Rewrites and editing slows us down. Waiting and waiting and waiting some more for either a rejection or an acceptance is the most frustrating and disappointing event we can go through.
But we are WRITERS. And we WILL become AUTHORS. Because we know that in order for us to succeed, we have to fail. And fail. And fail some more. It's the nature of the beast, and since we can't kill the beast, we learn to live with him and we learn from him. We may have to feed him a heck of a lot more than we'd like, but eventually, he's going to get full. And THAT'S when we get that treasured and oh so precious acceptance !
Writers have to have that personality trait known as "sticktoitiveness"...and yes, that's a real word! Perserverance, intestinal fortitude, whatever you want to call it, but I call it sticktoitiveness. We keep on writing in the face of failure because we never call failure defeat. That's a whole 'nother ball game, and one we refuse to play in. We know that in order to have success, we have to accept failure. We can't have one without the other.
General George Patton said, "I don't measure a man's success by how high he climbs, but by how high he bounces back when he hits obstacles." I think that's a good quote to live up to. As writers, we're always hitting obstacles, but to finally be successful, we have to bounce back... and the higher we can bounce, the better we can write, and the sooner our success will come.
Here are a few success stories...AFTER their failures:
Mark Cuban, billionaire owner of NBA's Dallas Mavericks: parents wanted him to have a "normal" job so he tried carpentry, hated it; short order cook, but a terrible cook; waited tables but didn't know how to open a bottle of wine. He says: "I've learned it doesn't matter how many time you fail. You only have to be right once."
Stephanie Meyer, author of the Twilight series, made into movies: wrote the first Twilight book from a dream, and never intended to try to publish it until a friend encouraged her; nine literary agents rejected her, ONE gave her a chance, which led to EIGHT publishers auctioning for the right to publish Twilight. Today she is reported to be worth $40 million.
Stephen King: first book Carrie was rejected 30 times and he threw it into the trash...his wife retrieved it and demanded he resubmit it; he's sold more than 350 million copies of all his books.
Vincent Van Gogh: only sold one painting during his life time, yet he painted over 800; today his most valuable painting is worth $142.7 million.
John Grisham: took 3 years to write his first book, A Time To Kill, and it was rejected 28 times before he got a "yes"; he's sold over 250 million copies of his books.
If you don't try and fail, you aren't going to be able to try and succeed.
Until next time,
That's a wrap.
That, of course, suggested a blog post for me.
As writers, we fail a LOT. Really, we do. Think about it. How many times do you write a couple of chapters in your fantastic WIP, edit them, and then send them to your critique group, fulling expecting rave reviews. Only... you are shattered when they come back to you with remarks like: Your characters are one-dimensional; you have too much telling and not enough showing; your descriptive narration about the setting is too long and too boring, enough already. Oh My.
We failed. Of course, this was only our third or fourth rough draft. It wasn't polished. But still...my characters are one-dimensional? But I LOVE my characters! And so on.
So we start again, determined not to fail again. Well, maybe we do this 4 or 5 or 8 or 10 times, and we fail each time. In some way. Maybe our characters have become fully rounded, and now our critique partners also love them. We've cut out almost all the narration. But nothing is ever perfect, so we "fail" again. And again.
Finally, our critique group says, Okay, try submitting. We're excited beyond control! Of course we're going to get accepted the first time out of the starting gate. NOT. We get to the point where we can paper our office with rejection letters. Those we actually get, that is. What about all those agents and publishers who have rejected us, but not bothered to tell us after 6 or 8 months? Now we really are failures. Oh? Really?
Of course not. Failures Quit. Writers Don't. Therefore, it stands to reason we're NOT failures.
Seriously...I've heard that the "pathway" to success can be compared to a superhighway or better yet, one of today's freeways. What do you find on a freeway? Traffic. Roadblocks. Bumps in the road. Signs indicating "This lane is closed, merge left." All of which lead to slowdowns and frustrations. Isn't that what writing is all about? Rewrites and editing slows us down. Waiting and waiting and waiting some more for either a rejection or an acceptance is the most frustrating and disappointing event we can go through.
But we are WRITERS. And we WILL become AUTHORS. Because we know that in order for us to succeed, we have to fail. And fail. And fail some more. It's the nature of the beast, and since we can't kill the beast, we learn to live with him and we learn from him. We may have to feed him a heck of a lot more than we'd like, but eventually, he's going to get full. And THAT'S when we get that treasured and oh so precious acceptance !
Writers have to have that personality trait known as "sticktoitiveness"...and yes, that's a real word! Perserverance, intestinal fortitude, whatever you want to call it, but I call it sticktoitiveness. We keep on writing in the face of failure because we never call failure defeat. That's a whole 'nother ball game, and one we refuse to play in. We know that in order to have success, we have to accept failure. We can't have one without the other.
General George Patton said, "I don't measure a man's success by how high he climbs, but by how high he bounces back when he hits obstacles." I think that's a good quote to live up to. As writers, we're always hitting obstacles, but to finally be successful, we have to bounce back... and the higher we can bounce, the better we can write, and the sooner our success will come.
Here are a few success stories...AFTER their failures:
Mark Cuban, billionaire owner of NBA's Dallas Mavericks: parents wanted him to have a "normal" job so he tried carpentry, hated it; short order cook, but a terrible cook; waited tables but didn't know how to open a bottle of wine. He says: "I've learned it doesn't matter how many time you fail. You only have to be right once."
Stephanie Meyer, author of the Twilight series, made into movies: wrote the first Twilight book from a dream, and never intended to try to publish it until a friend encouraged her; nine literary agents rejected her, ONE gave her a chance, which led to EIGHT publishers auctioning for the right to publish Twilight. Today she is reported to be worth $40 million.
Stephen King: first book Carrie was rejected 30 times and he threw it into the trash...his wife retrieved it and demanded he resubmit it; he's sold more than 350 million copies of all his books.
Vincent Van Gogh: only sold one painting during his life time, yet he painted over 800; today his most valuable painting is worth $142.7 million.
John Grisham: took 3 years to write his first book, A Time To Kill, and it was rejected 28 times before he got a "yes"; he's sold over 250 million copies of his books.
If you don't try and fail, you aren't going to be able to try and succeed.
Until next time,
That's a wrap.
Saturday, June 30, 2012
Building Your Plot: Conclusion
This was supposed to be Friday's post, but little things like physical therapy, errands, and going out to lunch with my husband got in the way. When we finally returned home, our Corgi needed his walk. Badly. Or so he thought, and he was determined that we should know that. Even enticements like playing ball couldn't convince him otherwise, so another hour was gone! After that, I gave up and read my email, then curled up in my rocker with my Kindle and a new YA book I'm reading. More about that another time.
I've talked about Gabriela's problems, A and B, and the complications and twists with each. Let's go on to Problem C:
PROBLEM C: Gabriela's supernatural powers become stronger, and she's not sure she can deal with it. She learns she can intuit certain things about individuals simply by touching something that belongs to them. Remi keeps popping up out of nowhere, and finally she learns he is not all human. She feels her powers are going to control her, not the other way around, and she seeks advice from two of the "Freaks."
COMPLICATIONS:
1) The Sheriff has become her number one suspect in the children's murders, but she discovers that she cannot use her abilities against him: somehow she is blocked from his mind.
2) Remi asks for her help: his human side is attracted to her, but he needs to be released from his gargoyle form. If she tries to help him, how much will that detract from her finding the killer?
3) Remi insists upon helping her get information from the townspeople about the murders. But why is it that each time he offers his help, someone in the carnival gets hurt... or dies?
4) Mr. Rutherford's attentions to Gabriela become even more insistent: he seems to be everywhere Gabriela is, and insists on helping her gather information about the murders that will lead to capturing the killer. But is it the right information, and what is his real intention towards her?
PLOT TWIST:
Gabriela discovers one of her powers is limited by certain elements, and these elements exhibit themselves at exactly the wrong time. What kind of danger does that put her in?
PROBLEM D: Gabriela finds herself almost surrounded by Kathryn, her new friend ( supposedly) from school, Remi, and Mr. Rutherford. All three seem to be at odds with one another, and Gabriela doesn't know whom to believe or whom to trust or what leads to follow that each of them present to her. Are they real leads what might lead to solving this crime, or are they nothing more than Red Herrings? She feels she is being followed, but no one is around. She feels eyes upon her, and whispers between 2 or more 'beings,' but there is never anyone... human... there. She hears the fluttering of wings... very large wings... but no bird... or whatever... is visible.
COMPLICATIONS:
1) Sheriff McCray confronts Gabriela and demands to know what she is doing and why. He is angry but doesn't appear threatening. If he is the killer, what does that mean?
2) The parents of the slain children meet with her, but plead for her to go away and leave things as they are. Why don't they want the killer of their children caught and punished?
3) The townspeople hold a Town Meeting and demand that the carnival leave immediately, regardless of the fact that their vehicles are still disabled... and why is that? Is the entire town held in the grasp of someone... or something... evil?
4) The one who is the Shape Shifter meets with the gargoyles. When Gabriela accidentally discovers who the Shape Shifter is, will this put her in danger that her powers cannot get her out of?
FINAL PLOT TWIST:
Gabriela learns that Sheriff McCray is not the murderer, nor is he the person who attacked and cut her face when she was ten years old. She discovers who the real murderer is, but he...or she...is neither human, witch, nor gargoyle. Will her powers be sufficient to overcome this being and save her, the carnival, and the town?
And that is the end! At least, of this novel, the first in a trilogy about Gabriela and the carnival. Beneath the Possum Belly: Night Cries is the name of this novel, the 2nd in the series is Beneath the Possum Belly: Night Sounds, and the third is Beneath the Possum Belly: Night Spells.
Building the plot in this way has been a great help to me, the original I HATE OUTLINES writer, and I hope that it has at least given you some new ideas about how to build your plot, or how to outline your story.
Until next time,
That's a wrap.
I've talked about Gabriela's problems, A and B, and the complications and twists with each. Let's go on to Problem C:
PROBLEM C: Gabriela's supernatural powers become stronger, and she's not sure she can deal with it. She learns she can intuit certain things about individuals simply by touching something that belongs to them. Remi keeps popping up out of nowhere, and finally she learns he is not all human. She feels her powers are going to control her, not the other way around, and she seeks advice from two of the "Freaks."
COMPLICATIONS:
1) The Sheriff has become her number one suspect in the children's murders, but she discovers that she cannot use her abilities against him: somehow she is blocked from his mind.
2) Remi asks for her help: his human side is attracted to her, but he needs to be released from his gargoyle form. If she tries to help him, how much will that detract from her finding the killer?
3) Remi insists upon helping her get information from the townspeople about the murders. But why is it that each time he offers his help, someone in the carnival gets hurt... or dies?
4) Mr. Rutherford's attentions to Gabriela become even more insistent: he seems to be everywhere Gabriela is, and insists on helping her gather information about the murders that will lead to capturing the killer. But is it the right information, and what is his real intention towards her?
PLOT TWIST:
Gabriela discovers one of her powers is limited by certain elements, and these elements exhibit themselves at exactly the wrong time. What kind of danger does that put her in?
PROBLEM D: Gabriela finds herself almost surrounded by Kathryn, her new friend ( supposedly) from school, Remi, and Mr. Rutherford. All three seem to be at odds with one another, and Gabriela doesn't know whom to believe or whom to trust or what leads to follow that each of them present to her. Are they real leads what might lead to solving this crime, or are they nothing more than Red Herrings? She feels she is being followed, but no one is around. She feels eyes upon her, and whispers between 2 or more 'beings,' but there is never anyone... human... there. She hears the fluttering of wings... very large wings... but no bird... or whatever... is visible.
COMPLICATIONS:
1) Sheriff McCray confronts Gabriela and demands to know what she is doing and why. He is angry but doesn't appear threatening. If he is the killer, what does that mean?
2) The parents of the slain children meet with her, but plead for her to go away and leave things as they are. Why don't they want the killer of their children caught and punished?
3) The townspeople hold a Town Meeting and demand that the carnival leave immediately, regardless of the fact that their vehicles are still disabled... and why is that? Is the entire town held in the grasp of someone... or something... evil?
4) The one who is the Shape Shifter meets with the gargoyles. When Gabriela accidentally discovers who the Shape Shifter is, will this put her in danger that her powers cannot get her out of?
FINAL PLOT TWIST:
Gabriela learns that Sheriff McCray is not the murderer, nor is he the person who attacked and cut her face when she was ten years old. She discovers who the real murderer is, but he...or she...is neither human, witch, nor gargoyle. Will her powers be sufficient to overcome this being and save her, the carnival, and the town?
And that is the end! At least, of this novel, the first in a trilogy about Gabriela and the carnival. Beneath the Possum Belly: Night Cries is the name of this novel, the 2nd in the series is Beneath the Possum Belly: Night Sounds, and the third is Beneath the Possum Belly: Night Spells.
Building the plot in this way has been a great help to me, the original I HATE OUTLINES writer, and I hope that it has at least given you some new ideas about how to build your plot, or how to outline your story.
Until next time,
That's a wrap.
Wednesday, June 27, 2012
Building Your Plot
This post may not apply to those of you who are organized enough to make thorough and complete outlines of your stories. But for pantsers like me, knowing how to build a plot is a great help. Now I know there are all kinds of ways to build a plot, but this is one I found in a great book by Nancy Kress, an award-winning author of more than twenty books.
Step One is building the Conflict. We all know that the protagonist has to have external conflicts...as well as internal... to get the story going. And the more problems that confront the MC, the more conflict she is going to have. You start out with Problem A, which should be the main problem she wants to solve. She is working on solving Problem A when Problem B shows up. Now she has two different problems, creating two different kinds of conflict, and before she had actually solved either of them, Problem C arrives. Since A is her main problem, this is going to be the center of the plot, so obviously she can't solve it any time soon. But she can try to solve B, so she is juggling A,B, AND C when Problem D arrives. By this time, she might have managed to solve B or C, but probably not both of them. And now she has D to consider.
Confused? Ok,let me take examples from my current WIP.
Problem A for Gabriela is the voices of the murdered children she hears in her head, calling for her to help them. She doesn't know who these children are, or how she is supposed to help them, so she must discover who they are, how they were murdered, and who murdered them, all in order to put their souls to rest.
However, problems alone don't make for a good plot. Along the way you need to have Complications arise.
Complications:
1. Gabriela meets Remi, tall, handsome, and not at all who or what she believes him to be.
2. Henri, the carnival cook, meets with an accident...but was it actually an accident?
3. Josie, the Fat Lady of the Freak Show, suddenly dies. Everyone thinks it's because she was so terribly obese...but was it really natural causes? And what will happen when the roustabouts have to Red Light her body?
Then, of course, it's always nice to have an unexpected Plot Twist: the police come snooping around, wanting to know what happened to Josie... they know of her death, they also know the townspeople wouldn't allow her to be buried in their cemetery... so what has happened to her body?
Problem B: Gabriela enrolls in the high school, since the carnival is stranded for several weeks in town. She immediately becomes the object of bullying: because of her limp and the scar on her face, the kids treat her as just another "freak." How will she deal with this, when she wants to make friends in order to learn more about the dead children?
Complications:
1. Her history teacher takes more than a normal teacher-to-student interest in her. Where will this lead, and is he really a friend, or something else?
2. One of the students, Kathryn, becomes Gabriela's friend... or is she?
3. Melvin, the 'chief bully,' attacks Gabriela twice. Kathryn comes to her rescue the first time, but the second is so violent Gabriela has to use her powers to defend herself. How will Melvin react to this?
4. Gabriela sees Kathryn talking secretly to the Sheriff. What is that all about?
Plot Twist:
Kathryn is secretly involved with the Sheriff. She is actually his daughter but no one knows this but the 2 of them. She had befriended Gabriela and pretends to help her with information about the dead children, but she is really keeping an eye on her for the Sheriff. She will lead Gabriela in the wrong direction, and finally, will be an ally in the last-minute attempt by the Sheriff to kill Gabriela... but is he really trying to kill her?
I hope this has been enough to whet your interest in one way to build your plot. I will have more about Problems C and D, and the complications and plot twists that go along with them, in Friday's post. Stay tuned!
Until next time,
That's a wrap.
Step One is building the Conflict. We all know that the protagonist has to have external conflicts...as well as internal... to get the story going. And the more problems that confront the MC, the more conflict she is going to have. You start out with Problem A, which should be the main problem she wants to solve. She is working on solving Problem A when Problem B shows up. Now she has two different problems, creating two different kinds of conflict, and before she had actually solved either of them, Problem C arrives. Since A is her main problem, this is going to be the center of the plot, so obviously she can't solve it any time soon. But she can try to solve B, so she is juggling A,B, AND C when Problem D arrives. By this time, she might have managed to solve B or C, but probably not both of them. And now she has D to consider.
Confused? Ok,let me take examples from my current WIP.
Problem A for Gabriela is the voices of the murdered children she hears in her head, calling for her to help them. She doesn't know who these children are, or how she is supposed to help them, so she must discover who they are, how they were murdered, and who murdered them, all in order to put their souls to rest.
However, problems alone don't make for a good plot. Along the way you need to have Complications arise.
Complications:
1. Gabriela meets Remi, tall, handsome, and not at all who or what she believes him to be.
2. Henri, the carnival cook, meets with an accident...but was it actually an accident?
3. Josie, the Fat Lady of the Freak Show, suddenly dies. Everyone thinks it's because she was so terribly obese...but was it really natural causes? And what will happen when the roustabouts have to Red Light her body?
Then, of course, it's always nice to have an unexpected Plot Twist: the police come snooping around, wanting to know what happened to Josie... they know of her death, they also know the townspeople wouldn't allow her to be buried in their cemetery... so what has happened to her body?
Problem B: Gabriela enrolls in the high school, since the carnival is stranded for several weeks in town. She immediately becomes the object of bullying: because of her limp and the scar on her face, the kids treat her as just another "freak." How will she deal with this, when she wants to make friends in order to learn more about the dead children?
Complications:
1. Her history teacher takes more than a normal teacher-to-student interest in her. Where will this lead, and is he really a friend, or something else?
2. One of the students, Kathryn, becomes Gabriela's friend... or is she?
3. Melvin, the 'chief bully,' attacks Gabriela twice. Kathryn comes to her rescue the first time, but the second is so violent Gabriela has to use her powers to defend herself. How will Melvin react to this?
4. Gabriela sees Kathryn talking secretly to the Sheriff. What is that all about?
Plot Twist:
Kathryn is secretly involved with the Sheriff. She is actually his daughter but no one knows this but the 2 of them. She had befriended Gabriela and pretends to help her with information about the dead children, but she is really keeping an eye on her for the Sheriff. She will lead Gabriela in the wrong direction, and finally, will be an ally in the last-minute attempt by the Sheriff to kill Gabriela... but is he really trying to kill her?
I hope this has been enough to whet your interest in one way to build your plot. I will have more about Problems C and D, and the complications and plot twists that go along with them, in Friday's post. Stay tuned!
Until next time,
That's a wrap.
Thursday, June 21, 2012
How Do You Describe Your Characters?
How do you describe your characters? We're told over and over again that we should never spend paragraphs telling our readers what our characters look like. Yet, how many times have you read a story where the MC, at least, is vividly described: "Her hair was the color of fresh honey with lighter streaks of pure gold. Her beautiful eyes reminded him of pools of liquid amber, surrounded by long, curling lashes, while her sweet lips were red and perfectly heart-shaped." And on and on, ad nauseum.
Then there's the old mirror trick, where the MC stands in front of a mirror, and sees herself... sometimes as she really is, sometimes as she would like to be: She combed through her blonde hair, and spent thirty minutes carefully arranging it so that it would look wind-blown and casually unkempt. She blinked her brilliant blue eyes, moving closer to the mirror to apply layers of mascara to her exceptionally long lashes. Next, she moved slightly away, examining herself minutely as if to prove to herself that her black silk dress fitted her full and natural curves, emphasized her tiny waist, and swirled softly around her graceful legs...etc. etc. etc.
Boring! When I get to a passage like that... although it's often a full page or more...I simply turn the page and move on to something more interesting...hopefully. Yet I've found that kind of character description in both MG and YA stories, more often in YA, but I'm sure it's enough to turn teens off, too.
To be honest, I recently used "the old mirror trick" in my current WIP. Well, sort of. Here is the way I used it:
The mirror shimmied in front of her, emphasizing the jagged scar on her face. Her torso was fat and mishappened, her dark curls shriveled up, and her legs seemed ten miles long. It was a distortion mirror straight out of the Fun House, and she hated it, but it was the only mirror her mother allowed.
You do get a sense of what she looks like: she is slim, has dark, curly hair, and a scar on her face. But you also know that she still doesn't look exactly like what the mirror shows, because it is a distorted image. What else does that passage tell you? Doesn't it suggest that her mother is controlling? Doesn't it make you want to ask: WHY is that the only mirror her mother will allow?
There are many ways to describe our characters, without reeling out a litany of their many attributes. Here are a few:
1. Kiley stormed into the classroom, spurs ( which weren't allowed in school) clanking against the tiled floors. He slapped the dust from dirty jeans, slammed his Stetson hat down on the desk, and slid into the seat. His brown eyes glittered, and his hands balled into fists. He was ready.
What does this tell you? Hmm...spurs, dusty jeans, Stetson hat. He's a cowboy or ranch hand, rides a horse, and works ( or his jeans wouldn't be dusty and dirty.) But he's not ordinary 'hand,' because a Stetson 'cowboy' hat is one of the most expensive you can buy ( true statement, remember I was a rancher for many years), so that suggests he probably owns or his family owns the ranch. He has brown eyes that glitter so he is angry. His hands are balled into fists, he is 'ready.' Obviously, he is expecting trouble to walk through that classroom door.
That is a great opening sentence, because it a) introduces the character; b) describes the character; c) gives you a good first impression because right off the bat you know that whatever is going to happen, he is ready and waiting; and d) makes you start asking questions right away: Who is Kiley? What kind of 'cowboy' is he, working hand who happens to own an expensive hat, or son of rancher owner who is wealthy? Why is he expecting trouble, in school of all places? And who is going to come through that door bringing trouble with him?
2. Let's try describing our MC from the POV of 3 different people who happen to know her well:
A) Her Best Friend: "Oh, Kenzie is just wonderful! She has this great sense of humor, and she's so smart she makes straight As all the time. I just love her blonde hair and those beautiful green eyes. She's friendly to everyone, and she is the captain of the Cheerleading Squad. She wears all those gorgeous clothes that really show off her figure, and she's even offered to loan some to me that she doesn't wear any more!
B) Her Former Best Friend Who Lost The Competition for Captain of Cheerleading: "MacKenzie is a snob. She flaunts her looks around by wearing all those designer clothes her mom buys for her, and thinks she's better than everyone else. She is shallow and selfish, and she's not any better at cheerleading than I am. She just got to be captain because she agreed to go out with that dorky son of the coach. She's not funny at all, she just makes snarky remarks that all the boys think are funny. And besides, her blonde hair is bleached, because in real life, her hair is almost the same color of brown mine is."
C) The Boy Who Used To Be Her Boyfriend: "MacKenzie is two-faced. She shows the world this wonderful, talented, smart person, which she can be when she wants to, but in private she is egotistical and arrogant. She wants everything to be exactly the way she wants it, and she wants everyone to do exactly what she says. She IS beautiful and smart and all the rest, but she knows it, and she feels like she's entitled to do anything or say anything she wants, even if it hurts someone else. She wants you to be where she can reach you 24/7, and if you're not there to do what she wants, she starts screaming at you... in private, of course. She broke up with me because I told her I was going to my sister's birthday party on the same night as a party one of MacKenzie's friends was throwing. She demanded I go with her, and when I didn't she broke up with me.
Here you have 3 different but descriptive mini-portraits of the same person. Is any one of them completely true? Probably not, but instead, you have bits and pieces of one person that, collectively, make up a whole multi-dimensional character. If you interviewed her parents, her siblings, perhaps the 'nanny' who took care of her when she was young, you could add to those mini-portraits until a whole, conclusive picture emerged.
These are just a few of the ways you can go about describing your characters. You don't have to list their physical attributes in some long and boring monologue, which will do nothing but turn your readers off. In using some of the above ideas, you not only introduce your reader to your MC and give them some idea of what their physical appearance is, but you also give them a glimpse into their personality, their emotional make-up, and maybe even a peek into what their home life is like. You set the stage for a first impression, and/or you set the reader up to expect something specific from your character... which may or may not be or come true. Either way, you have your reader hooked.
Until next time,
That's a wrap.
Then there's the old mirror trick, where the MC stands in front of a mirror, and sees herself... sometimes as she really is, sometimes as she would like to be: She combed through her blonde hair, and spent thirty minutes carefully arranging it so that it would look wind-blown and casually unkempt. She blinked her brilliant blue eyes, moving closer to the mirror to apply layers of mascara to her exceptionally long lashes. Next, she moved slightly away, examining herself minutely as if to prove to herself that her black silk dress fitted her full and natural curves, emphasized her tiny waist, and swirled softly around her graceful legs...etc. etc. etc.
Boring! When I get to a passage like that... although it's often a full page or more...I simply turn the page and move on to something more interesting...hopefully. Yet I've found that kind of character description in both MG and YA stories, more often in YA, but I'm sure it's enough to turn teens off, too.
To be honest, I recently used "the old mirror trick" in my current WIP. Well, sort of. Here is the way I used it:
The mirror shimmied in front of her, emphasizing the jagged scar on her face. Her torso was fat and mishappened, her dark curls shriveled up, and her legs seemed ten miles long. It was a distortion mirror straight out of the Fun House, and she hated it, but it was the only mirror her mother allowed.
You do get a sense of what she looks like: she is slim, has dark, curly hair, and a scar on her face. But you also know that she still doesn't look exactly like what the mirror shows, because it is a distorted image. What else does that passage tell you? Doesn't it suggest that her mother is controlling? Doesn't it make you want to ask: WHY is that the only mirror her mother will allow?
There are many ways to describe our characters, without reeling out a litany of their many attributes. Here are a few:
1. Kiley stormed into the classroom, spurs ( which weren't allowed in school) clanking against the tiled floors. He slapped the dust from dirty jeans, slammed his Stetson hat down on the desk, and slid into the seat. His brown eyes glittered, and his hands balled into fists. He was ready.
What does this tell you? Hmm...spurs, dusty jeans, Stetson hat. He's a cowboy or ranch hand, rides a horse, and works ( or his jeans wouldn't be dusty and dirty.) But he's not ordinary 'hand,' because a Stetson 'cowboy' hat is one of the most expensive you can buy ( true statement, remember I was a rancher for many years), so that suggests he probably owns or his family owns the ranch. He has brown eyes that glitter so he is angry. His hands are balled into fists, he is 'ready.' Obviously, he is expecting trouble to walk through that classroom door.
That is a great opening sentence, because it a) introduces the character; b) describes the character; c) gives you a good first impression because right off the bat you know that whatever is going to happen, he is ready and waiting; and d) makes you start asking questions right away: Who is Kiley? What kind of 'cowboy' is he, working hand who happens to own an expensive hat, or son of rancher owner who is wealthy? Why is he expecting trouble, in school of all places? And who is going to come through that door bringing trouble with him?
2. Let's try describing our MC from the POV of 3 different people who happen to know her well:
A) Her Best Friend: "Oh, Kenzie is just wonderful! She has this great sense of humor, and she's so smart she makes straight As all the time. I just love her blonde hair and those beautiful green eyes. She's friendly to everyone, and she is the captain of the Cheerleading Squad. She wears all those gorgeous clothes that really show off her figure, and she's even offered to loan some to me that she doesn't wear any more!
B) Her Former Best Friend Who Lost The Competition for Captain of Cheerleading: "MacKenzie is a snob. She flaunts her looks around by wearing all those designer clothes her mom buys for her, and thinks she's better than everyone else. She is shallow and selfish, and she's not any better at cheerleading than I am. She just got to be captain because she agreed to go out with that dorky son of the coach. She's not funny at all, she just makes snarky remarks that all the boys think are funny. And besides, her blonde hair is bleached, because in real life, her hair is almost the same color of brown mine is."
C) The Boy Who Used To Be Her Boyfriend: "MacKenzie is two-faced. She shows the world this wonderful, talented, smart person, which she can be when she wants to, but in private she is egotistical and arrogant. She wants everything to be exactly the way she wants it, and she wants everyone to do exactly what she says. She IS beautiful and smart and all the rest, but she knows it, and she feels like she's entitled to do anything or say anything she wants, even if it hurts someone else. She wants you to be where she can reach you 24/7, and if you're not there to do what she wants, she starts screaming at you... in private, of course. She broke up with me because I told her I was going to my sister's birthday party on the same night as a party one of MacKenzie's friends was throwing. She demanded I go with her, and when I didn't she broke up with me.
Here you have 3 different but descriptive mini-portraits of the same person. Is any one of them completely true? Probably not, but instead, you have bits and pieces of one person that, collectively, make up a whole multi-dimensional character. If you interviewed her parents, her siblings, perhaps the 'nanny' who took care of her when she was young, you could add to those mini-portraits until a whole, conclusive picture emerged.
These are just a few of the ways you can go about describing your characters. You don't have to list their physical attributes in some long and boring monologue, which will do nothing but turn your readers off. In using some of the above ideas, you not only introduce your reader to your MC and give them some idea of what their physical appearance is, but you also give them a glimpse into their personality, their emotional make-up, and maybe even a peek into what their home life is like. You set the stage for a first impression, and/or you set the reader up to expect something specific from your character... which may or may not be or come true. Either way, you have your reader hooked.
Until next time,
That's a wrap.
Monday, June 18, 2012
Do Your Characters Make Good First Impressions? Part Two
In Part One, I talked about naming your characters, and how that name might affect the first impression they make. Today I'm going to talk about ethnicity, religious affilliation, and socio-economic status, and how your character's name will suggest to your reader any one or all of these elements. All part of that important first impression.
Suppose when the reader meets your MC, she is told the MC's name is Caitlin O'Hallahan. This immediately sets her up in the reader's mind as both Irish, and most likely, Catholic. So now we have ethnicity and religious affiliation as part of the first impression... all because of the name. If the story bears this out, all is well and good. The first impression has been made, it's correct, therefore we can trust this author to not deceive us later on.
Now we have Milana Giordano and Rebeccah Feinstein. Can we correctly make the assumption that the first girl is Italian and the second is Jewish? We can...IF the story bears that out. Another MC is named Jamila Raboud...probably Arab, probably Muslim. But again, the story must bear this out for us to be able to trust that the author knows what she is doing when it comes to her characters' names.
Naming a character can also give the reader a first impression of the family's background and socio-economic status. For example, what do you think about this character's background: Nicholas Alexander Wainscot III? Wouldn't you think that a) this young man comes from a wealthy family; b) the family is from a long lineage and proud of it; c) he is likely to be an arrogant and self-entitled snob who looks down on his peers. Maybe he is most of those things, but maybe "c" is undeserved and uncalled for. Be sure that your character "lives up to" his or her name, or that you have a very good reason for him not to. And if the latter is true, don't keep your readers in the dark for very long as to that reason.
On the other hand, let's say you had twin girls named Ima and Ura...and their last name was...drum roll...Hogg. Yes, I said...Hogg. Ima Hogg. Ura Hogg. Okaaay...no, I'm not way out in fantasy land somewhere. There were actual twin girls, once upon a time way down South in Texas, named Ima and Ura Hogg. What do you think your reader's first impression of these characters would be? Poor? Uneducated like their parents? ( Surely educated parents would never name their girls like this...) Living in some hobo camp or some kind of urban slum? That first impression...so important...would be all wrong. Ima's name is pronounced Ee-mah; Ura's is Oo (rhymes with "coo")-rah; and Hogg is pronounced Ho ( like "hoe")-gug ( rhymes with "jug"). In the 1800s, they were from a very wealthy family, and their father was Governor.
Now are you getting it? Naming your characters is a very important part of your story, and you have two options when you name them: 1) make the name a true and realistic part of their personality, of who they are, and make sure throughout your story that the name continues to be indicative of that; 2) surprise the reader with a twist to your MC's name, something that he would never think of with respect to the name, BUT have a very solid and realistic reason for that twist. AND don't keep the reader in the dark for very long, before that reason becomes obvious. You need to keep the reader's trust in you, trust that you actually do know what you are doing when it comes to naming your characters, and making that name be an essential part of the first impression.
Until next time,
That's a wrap.
Suppose when the reader meets your MC, she is told the MC's name is Caitlin O'Hallahan. This immediately sets her up in the reader's mind as both Irish, and most likely, Catholic. So now we have ethnicity and religious affiliation as part of the first impression... all because of the name. If the story bears this out, all is well and good. The first impression has been made, it's correct, therefore we can trust this author to not deceive us later on.
Now we have Milana Giordano and Rebeccah Feinstein. Can we correctly make the assumption that the first girl is Italian and the second is Jewish? We can...IF the story bears that out. Another MC is named Jamila Raboud...probably Arab, probably Muslim. But again, the story must bear this out for us to be able to trust that the author knows what she is doing when it comes to her characters' names.
Naming a character can also give the reader a first impression of the family's background and socio-economic status. For example, what do you think about this character's background: Nicholas Alexander Wainscot III? Wouldn't you think that a) this young man comes from a wealthy family; b) the family is from a long lineage and proud of it; c) he is likely to be an arrogant and self-entitled snob who looks down on his peers. Maybe he is most of those things, but maybe "c" is undeserved and uncalled for. Be sure that your character "lives up to" his or her name, or that you have a very good reason for him not to. And if the latter is true, don't keep your readers in the dark for very long as to that reason.
On the other hand, let's say you had twin girls named Ima and Ura...and their last name was...drum roll...Hogg. Yes, I said...Hogg. Ima Hogg. Ura Hogg. Okaaay...no, I'm not way out in fantasy land somewhere. There were actual twin girls, once upon a time way down South in Texas, named Ima and Ura Hogg. What do you think your reader's first impression of these characters would be? Poor? Uneducated like their parents? ( Surely educated parents would never name their girls like this...) Living in some hobo camp or some kind of urban slum? That first impression...so important...would be all wrong. Ima's name is pronounced Ee-mah; Ura's is Oo (rhymes with "coo")-rah; and Hogg is pronounced Ho ( like "hoe")-gug ( rhymes with "jug"). In the 1800s, they were from a very wealthy family, and their father was Governor.
Now are you getting it? Naming your characters is a very important part of your story, and you have two options when you name them: 1) make the name a true and realistic part of their personality, of who they are, and make sure throughout your story that the name continues to be indicative of that; 2) surprise the reader with a twist to your MC's name, something that he would never think of with respect to the name, BUT have a very solid and realistic reason for that twist. AND don't keep the reader in the dark for very long, before that reason becomes obvious. You need to keep the reader's trust in you, trust that you actually do know what you are doing when it comes to naming your characters, and making that name be an essential part of the first impression.
Until next time,
That's a wrap.
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