I know, I know, I'm a week late :)
Forgive me?
My right arm (the more dominant one) has been slightly 'out' of the rotary cuff for approximately 7 weeks, which makes typing quite painful, so I've been limiting my computering (yes, that is totally a word in my dictionary :p) to the essentials.
AAAAAAAAND, since my last post, there's been a lot of essential computering :)
Today/this weekend I'm hoping to finish the last fiddly bits of editing (3rd round! So fun!) on TRoRS before it's "done".
I'm not entirely sure how I feel about that... like, one small part of my brain tells me, "hey, this is a big deal, you should be freaking out or jumping around or something..." and the rest of my brain goes, "yeah, but SELKA & SIKKA, and JAY & KELL, and... and... and OTHER STORIES THAT I WANT TO WRITE!!!!!"
...and then I start watching documentaries on the Arctic Circle and make notes on things like white sturgeons* and the hibernation cycle of ground squirrels...
...Oh yeah, I have managed to restrain myself from starting the story that is not a story yet. It's still locked in a small corner of my brain because it will take a CRAZY amount of research so I can get things right and not piss anyone off.
(The 'shoe' story)
...and I'm not sure if 'the shoe story' would be considered YA because it does involve the world history of alcohol...
I am absolutely going to finish 'Afraid of the Dark' & 'Scarlight' before I start anything new. And, I would LIKE to re-work/finish the MG story I started writing, 'Left & Right'. I stopped because I wasn't confident that the voice of it was MG, but this year I've read several really excellent MG books written in a slightly more mature voice which gives me a boost of confidence that I can pull this off.
Other things I've been up to... Oh, I donated my hair again! Last time was 2 years ago, so.... yeah, I did link a picture here. One of the very few pictures of me online... Generally, when it's cut off, it looks similar to that linked picture. Longer at the front, about 1-2" long at the back, (because they pull it into a ponytail, tie it off, and then cut, so you get a reverse-bob) but THIS time, my usual stylist was out of town and... let's just say, I am NOT inclined to post a picture until it grows out. When it's straight, it looks suspiciously... mushroom-shaped... so I've been letting it just go all crazy/curly, and the first thing my nephew said was... that I look like a sheep.
Nice thing is, I have a large collection of hats I can hide it under ;)
Best part about short hair? It looks insane in the morning! Like, I stayed at my parent's place Christmas Eve and everyone started killing themselves laughing when I walked into the kitchen on Christmas morning... it defies gravity and I kinda love that :p
So, other exciting things for 2016?
Hmmmm, I'm planning a trip to Montreal at the end of May (which might now involve meeting an online writing buddy for the first time ever!!!). The next internationally-attended PAC (Porcelain Artists of Canada) Convention is there, and thankfully, since it's on the other side of the country, I have not been involved with the planning/running of the convention :) If you recall, the 2014 convention that was in Vancouver pretty much sucked up a year of my time since I started out JUST handling all the registrations, then got asked to handle more and more responsibilities until I ended up as Vice-Chair. It was fun, I enjoyed it, but I didn't get to see any of the workshops because I was running around the whole time.
And speaking of PAC, and responsibilities, something similar has happened in that, after the 2014 convention, I got asked to help out with the photoshop work for the magazine, which snowballed into doing ALL the photoshopping, then taking care of the national website, and now I'm the Membership Director for the 2016-2018 term, which means I'm in charge of all the Provincial & International reps and handle all the membership stuff that they send me and compile/organize it all.
It's fun, I like the work, but I do need to learn to say 'no'. I'm probably just going to take on the position for the one term so I can re-do all the old forms/organizational stuff that they've been using for years, and set up a PayPal account so it's easier for International members to pay, 'cause right now, it's all done by cheque.
Generally, that's what I'm good at. Taking things apart and making them more efficient. It's a dyslexic-advantage ;)
...and probably why I often get asked to help on various projects like that.
(all joking aside, it's really flattering that they like me, and the work I do, to this extent)
Hmmmm, I was going to post something on my Bailiwick site when I got my new place all done/organized, and haven't done that yet because I've decided I want to do some more renovations. Some I'm going to do myself... like, I'm going to put stone around the fireplace, and all the way up to the ceiling. As part of that project, I am going to visit this place and get some cool wood to build shelving, and maybe rip out the existing tiled mantle & put wood there. Or I might do some framing/drywalling first... we'll see.
I also want to build a.... very unique lighting system/design feature that's going to involve cutting down a couple small trees on my parents' property (yes, I have permission, this won't be something I do under cover of darkness). I have thoughts on the actual lights too... remember how I played with coating actual maple leaves in resin? They were meant to be throw-away experiments, but 2 years later, the leaves haven't rotted and still hold their green colour. Anyways... let's just say resin & paper & leaves might play a part in the design for the lights ;) Oh, and maybe origami? We'll see :) Experimentation is the spice of life :)
One reno I may hire-out for is, I eventually want to remove the crappy laminate flooring from the ground floor AND the carpet from the upstairs and I'm thinking about a heated resin floor for the ground level, and that's not something I can put in myself. I know, I've researched it ;)
But, that's a design-choice I'm not 100% sure if I like or not. Would love an excuse to rip out the existing baseboard heaters because I wouldn't need them with in-floor heating, and it's super durable (with my crazy beagle tearing around) and it's super clean/modern... but maybe TOO clean/modern. I may go the opposite direction and put in distressed hardwood flooring, which I could do myself.
And a couple smaller things, I'm planning at least one snowboarding trip (end of Feb), and will definitely be up at the cabin as soon as possible... maybe late March, early April (yes, yes, I WILL avoid accidentally-on-purpose giving myself hypothermia again) because it's my absolutely favourite place in the world to write :)
So, those are a few things I'm excited about in this coming year :) How about you guys?
* By the way, there's kindof a funny white sturgeon thing... Another story idea that is not yet a story involves a white sturgeon, and a white sturgeon shows up (briefly) in AotD... so a writing buddy of mine joked that I should write "The Great Sturgeon Tales"... maybe do another one set in South America or something.
...so, kinda like how a character with a 'J' name always shows up in my stories... or vomit jokes... or cat references... or... or... uhh, yeah. I will seriously not start putting white sturgeons in all my stories, I promise.
Showing posts with label Project #4. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Project #4. Show all posts
Friday, January 8, 2016
Sunday, August 2, 2015
Something I rarely do
...talk about a book I've just read.
So, y'know how TRoRS has a genderless narrator, dubbed 'N', for 'Nameless' by a writing buddy who waded through the first-draft ugliness (you deserve several medals, Alcar).
Well, frequently when I've talked with other YA writers about TRoRS, they've asked me a variation of the same question/statement:
"Oh, you mean like David Levithan's book, 'Every Day', right?"
And every time, I've answered, "no." The first time I'd even heard of it was after that writing buddy (who dubbed my MC 'N') read my first draft and told me about the existence of 'Every Day'.
No, it was not an influence/inspiration. I could write another novel (well, maybe a novella) about the true inspirations, but I'm not going to. 90% of the point of TRoRS was to let the reader take control and make the 'world off the page' their own. N being genderless wasn't the point of the story, it was simply a vehicle to add freedom to the reader's experience.
Yes, I certainly like the idea of someone reading TRoRS twice and switching N's gender the second time, but that's a whole other conversation in itself, and not important for this particular post.
Because I kept getting asked about 'Every Day', I purposefully put off reading it because I didn't want to go into edits (of my own story) with this idea of comparison hanging over my brain.
So, today I read 'Every Day' and the companion story, 'Six Days Earlier'*.
And I'm glad I finally read it because it is absolutely nothing like TRoRS, so part of my 'gladness' is that it puts to rest any sense of fear that I was somehow writing a version of something already out there, which is silly, I know that. But fear isn't logical.
And even though I'm talking about a book I just read, I'm still not going to talk about whether I liked it or not.
I think the biggest thing I took away from 'Every Day' (other than letting go of that irrational fear) is that it made me think a lot about writing.
The notion of waking up every day in a new body, knowing/understanding some things, but having to make up the rest, pretend to be someone else in an unfamiliar skin, to me, this was probably the best description I could ever think of to explain what it feels like to be a writer.
As I followed A's journey, A's experiences in every new body, those A connected with and those that A wanted to escape, even a second sooner, that's often how I think about characters, stories, etc.
There are characters/stories that flash through my head and I don't want to stay in them, with them. I don't want their history, future, or even anything more than a couple moments of their present.
And there are those that deeply connect and make me want to wake up with them every morning and fall asleep with them every night. I want the complicated mess rather than a shallow encounter.
And I suppose it's the same way with reading other books. Some fit right away and I fall into the world, and some itch and scratch and keep reminding me that this isn't right, that it's not for me.
So yes, I'm glad I finally read it, for many reasons.
Has anyone else read 'Every Day'? Any thoughts on it? Or any other book that really made you think, or changed your opinion on something?
*One thing I found interesting about 'Six Days Earlier' is that there's an author's note right at the beginning in which A is referred to as male.
So, y'know how TRoRS has a genderless narrator, dubbed 'N', for 'Nameless' by a writing buddy who waded through the first-draft ugliness (you deserve several medals, Alcar).
Well, frequently when I've talked with other YA writers about TRoRS, they've asked me a variation of the same question/statement:
"Oh, you mean like David Levithan's book, 'Every Day', right?"
And every time, I've answered, "no." The first time I'd even heard of it was after that writing buddy (who dubbed my MC 'N') read my first draft and told me about the existence of 'Every Day'.
No, it was not an influence/inspiration. I could write another novel (well, maybe a novella) about the true inspirations, but I'm not going to. 90% of the point of TRoRS was to let the reader take control and make the 'world off the page' their own. N being genderless wasn't the point of the story, it was simply a vehicle to add freedom to the reader's experience.
Yes, I certainly like the idea of someone reading TRoRS twice and switching N's gender the second time, but that's a whole other conversation in itself, and not important for this particular post.
Because I kept getting asked about 'Every Day', I purposefully put off reading it because I didn't want to go into edits (of my own story) with this idea of comparison hanging over my brain.
So, today I read 'Every Day' and the companion story, 'Six Days Earlier'*.
And I'm glad I finally read it because it is absolutely nothing like TRoRS, so part of my 'gladness' is that it puts to rest any sense of fear that I was somehow writing a version of something already out there, which is silly, I know that. But fear isn't logical.
And even though I'm talking about a book I just read, I'm still not going to talk about whether I liked it or not.
I think the biggest thing I took away from 'Every Day' (other than letting go of that irrational fear) is that it made me think a lot about writing.
The notion of waking up every day in a new body, knowing/understanding some things, but having to make up the rest, pretend to be someone else in an unfamiliar skin, to me, this was probably the best description I could ever think of to explain what it feels like to be a writer.
As I followed A's journey, A's experiences in every new body, those A connected with and those that A wanted to escape, even a second sooner, that's often how I think about characters, stories, etc.
There are characters/stories that flash through my head and I don't want to stay in them, with them. I don't want their history, future, or even anything more than a couple moments of their present.
And there are those that deeply connect and make me want to wake up with them every morning and fall asleep with them every night. I want the complicated mess rather than a shallow encounter.
And I suppose it's the same way with reading other books. Some fit right away and I fall into the world, and some itch and scratch and keep reminding me that this isn't right, that it's not for me.
So yes, I'm glad I finally read it, for many reasons.
Has anyone else read 'Every Day'? Any thoughts on it? Or any other book that really made you think, or changed your opinion on something?
*One thing I found interesting about 'Six Days Earlier' is that there's an author's note right at the beginning in which A is referred to as male.
Monday, July 21, 2014
It's not you, it's me
I know it irks a lot of writers to receive a, 'I just didn't love it' type response from an agent or editor, but it's something I completely understand.
You don't have to be an agent to get excited about reading something, and then have the expectation fall flat.
You don't have to be an agent to get excited about reading something, and then have the expectation fall flat.
There's a book I read recently, which (of course) I'm not going to give the author/title. There was (unfortunately) no sample available for download, but there was the 'look inside' feature, and I did read the available pages before I bought the book.
There were 20 Amazon reviews (all 4 or 5 stars), but other than that, there wasn't a lot of information about the book.
But the premise was so cool that I just had to take the chance and buy it.
This was definitely one of those moments were I could empathize with an agent reading a great query, reading a great first 10 pages, getting all excited... and then the story quickly spiralling into "lessons" for young readers, adult character almost entirely steering the plot, steering the characters, etc, nearly point-form plotting, and the very interesting ensemble of characters (including the main character the book started with) disappearing from the pages completely while a rather boring side character suddenly took over the story, which was then filled with cardboard-flat and comic-relief add-ins who are easily manipulated by the boring side character, and everything works out perfectly.
Yeah, I was really disappointed. I certainly won't be buying the sequel.
Obviously those 20 Amazon reviewers were not disappointed, and of course, whoever the agent was (and editor, etc) who took on that project.
But I didn't love it. And that's okay.
So, why am I thinking about expectations?
But I didn't love it. And that's okay.
So, why am I thinking about expectations?
I'm one of those err-on-the-side-of-caution writers. I haven't yet seriously joined the query trenches. I've joined a couple contests that put my work in front of agents, and I sent out 10 queries from a previous story. I've never sat down and researched agents and agencies, made lists or spreadsheets.
I have bookmarked lots of agent interviews and (some may think this weird) blogposts by writers who have separated from their agents.
Although there's always a lot of politically correct language, it seems many agents/writers who split turn out not be a good 'fit' as partners, but the stories I am most interested in re-reading are from writers who have gotten an agent with one style/genre of book, and then been at odds with their agent because their second, third or tenth book is in a different genre/style, one that the agent doesn't connect to or doesn't represent.
When (in the future) I do eventually query seriously, TRoRS would be the book I'd go with.
The main reason?
It's a weird book.
Rather than show up to a first date in brand new heels & clothes, I'd prefer to be in my usual sneakers & jeans, and I'm sure as heck not going to be ordering salad and water if I want steak and wine.
I think it's better to lead with real idiosyncrasies than with a well-meaning facade.
...and TRoRS would be the equivalent to showing up in my much-loved and worn-in Converse One Stars.
Getting an agent excited thinking they're getting 'A' is making no one happy if you're really giving them 'B'.
And I'm not just talking just about a query/10 pages... I'm also taking about a writer's career. If what you love and want to write forever is Adult sci-fi, perhaps it's not the best bet to seriously query with a MG contemporary... Not that you can't do both, but that's certainly a necessary conversation.
And I'm not just talking just about a query/10 pages... I'm also taking about a writer's career. If what you love and want to write forever is Adult sci-fi, perhaps it's not the best bet to seriously query with a MG contemporary... Not that you can't do both, but that's certainly a necessary conversation.
I'd want an agent who knows s/he's getting scuffed Converse by reading the query, reading the first 10 pages, and still is getting those same faded black runners when s/he hits the end of the story. I want the consistency to carry through my story, from the first paragraph, to the last.
...and I'd want an agent who wouldn't be surprised, or unhappy, to get a pair of green DC's next instead of pair of Giuseppe Zanotti's (yes, I had to Google 'designer high heels' to find that name brand...)
In other words, someone who loves 'my style'. My voice. My stories.
As a reader, I want to love every book I buy, but that's impossible. Even out of the ones I like, there are very few that I'd want to read more than once.
So, for agents who have to re-read manuscripts over and over again, yeah, I totally get the "I just didn't love it" response.
And I think that's a good thing, because as a writer, I want (and deserve) to have an agent who loves what I write and who would want to read it more than once, and who would look forward to whatever project I work on next.
In other words, someone who loves 'my style'. My voice. My stories.
As a reader, I want to love every book I buy, but that's impossible. Even out of the ones I like, there are very few that I'd want to read more than once.
So, for agents who have to re-read manuscripts over and over again, yeah, I totally get the "I just didn't love it" response.
And I think that's a good thing, because as a writer, I want (and deserve) to have an agent who loves what I write and who would want to read it more than once, and who would look forward to whatever project I work on next.
Also, no more buying books on my Kindle unless they have a sample to download. I suppose, since my online Wish List is hovering around 620 items, that shouldn't be a problem :)
Yeah... still on the codeine-enriched anti-spasm muscle relaxants, can ya tell? I'm sure my grammar is a foggy mess :p
So sorry about that. Those ribs just still don't want to stay where they should.
So sorry about that. Those ribs just still don't want to stay where they should.
Wednesday, April 30, 2014
Thoughts on diversity
Okay, I picked away at this post over three days, very late at night, so forgive me if there are weird leaps or poor use of language. I have been so busy/stressed, that after this post I'm going dark until the end of May when the convention is over (except there might be some pictures up on Bailiwick), but I really wanted to write this one last post as this is something I very much care about.
There's a campaign starting tomorrow about diversity in YA. Not sure if you already know about it, but I first read about it here. The topic of diversity been popular lately. Here's just one page with links, but it's been all over the internet for the past couple of months.
Now, I've thought about writing a post about diversity before... I know I've touched on it in several other posts, but it's never been the foremost topic, and for the sake of keeping this at a reasonable length, I'm going to concentrate on racial/ethnic diversity.
Two things that need to be clear up front:
1) Yes, I'm Caucasian. I'm 1/2 Irish, 1/4 Scottish, and 1/4 FOB British (My grandmother married a Canadian pilot during the war).
2) I grew up in Vancouver, British Columbia in Canada. The 2011 census puts Caucasians at 46.2% of the population.
If we're only using race as a plumb line, I've never experienced 'not seeing myself' in a book.
BUT, unless an author keeps reminding me what the characters look like, repeating how blonde someone's hair is, or how dazzling blue their eyes are, I pretty much imagine the cast as the world I grew up in.
Caucasian Population 46.2%
Visible Minority Population 51.8% (Chinese 27.7%)
Aboriginal Population 2%
I've been asked before why there's almost no physical descriptions of character in the stories I write, and well, I'd have to say it's because it's something I don't pay much attention to in real life, so I don't pay much attention when I write.
If I'm shopping at Metrotown in Burnaby, I don't think about the fact that I'm one of maybe 10% Caucasian shoppers, or one of maybe 3% in a T&T Supermarket. If I'm walking downtown on Robson Street, I won't even give a thought to passing through a group of women fully decked out in burqa.*
Because it's so normal to see so many different kinds of people.
The only time I really started noticing ratios of white-to-non-white, was when I moved away from Vancouver, first to Calgary, AB, then to Victoria, BC.
...and then I felt a little creeped out.
I'm being 100% serious. It was like being dropped into that movie with all the creepy blonde blue-eyed children ('Children of the corn'???).
I live in a racial and ethnically diverse city, and therefore, when I'm reading books, I naturally populate them with diversity unless expressly told otherwise.
When I'm writing, I figure, the less description, the easier it is for the reader to put themselves into the book. The only time I describe someone, it's for an important reason.
But this campaign for diversity raised an important question for me:
Is 'not noticing' and 'not describing' part of the problem?
When you don't specifically identify a character's ethnic background in a book, readers are going to make assumptions and populate the book naturally, just as I do, by what's 'normal' for where they grew up.
A Caucasian kid from a primarily Caucasian city is probably going to imagine a white-washed cast.
...BUT, is a minority kid from a primarily Caucasian city also going to imagine a white-washed cast?
To me, the conundrum of how to approach 'diversity' comes down to this:
Do I want to intentionally identify racial/ethnic (or other) groups in the stories I write, or continue to leave it up to the reader?
Pointing out, or singling out one group calls attention to which other groups are, or are not there. (For a discussion about this in 'Harry Potter', read the comments on this post, but I'm sure you can find a million other similar articles by using the magic of Google).
For example, in TRoRS, Spence is Indian, and by that, I mean his parents/grandparents are from India. I know some people refer to Aboriginals as 'Indians', so I wanted to clarity my terminology.
Should I have to give him a more traditional name like Bupinder when most of my non-Caucasion friends growing up all had 'Caucasian' names like Jennifer, Andrew, Susan, and Eric**? Should I have made a point to describe his hair, his skin colour, etc when I didn't do that with any of the other characters?
...and if I did, would I have to give Triss an authentic Jewish name to balance it out, even though only her mom is Jewish***? What about Jackson, who I imagine to be mix-race? Should I have to specify the racial background of both his parents and ruminate over the 'right' word to describe his skin-tone? Should all the Caucasian characters also be broken down into which part of Europe their ancestors came from?
And even if I did all of that, there would still be people asking, "where are the gay, transgendered, handicapped, and mentally ill characters?"
...or whether my story passes the Bechdel test****?
...and in the end, what does any of that have to do with the story if none of it is integral to the plot?
You can't please, or include, everyone. If you do, it'll just be a poorly contrived mish-mash where it feels like the author has created a checklist for 'diversity' and filled in all the character blanks in their story from that list.
If I'm intentionally adding in extra words for the sole purpose of showing how diverse the cast is, it pulls away from the story just as badly as a to-remain-nameless-author who spent pages and pages worth of words describing the FMC's clothes.
Going back one moment to Spence... there's a twist in the story involving him and another character. If I concentrated a lot of time (and words) on his background, it would make the reader assume that having an Indian at the party was a singularity. Not only is that incorrect, but then the twist wouldn't work.
I think it's very important for everyone, not only teens, to read about characters they can identify with.
As a writer, I think, the issue with diversity (gender, race, sexual orientation, etc) can be approached from many different angles, and that you can't say one is necessarily more 'correct' than another, as long as the writer is putting some thought behind it.
I think it's important for there to be books published with a Chinese or Indian main character struggling to find their identify as a minority.
I think it's equally important for books where Chinese or Indian characters are not considered minorities at all.
And there should also be books where racial/ethnic diversity is such a normal thing, that no one notices or cares about singling out one group or another based on race/ethnicity/skin colour/etc.
In Vancouver, so many are second or third generation immigrants that people of all ages are more likely to band together and group themselves in terms of jobs, wealth, religion, hobbies/interests, omnivores/vegetarian/vegan, etc rather than 'race/ethnicity'.
That's the culture of the city I grew up in, so that's the kind of culture I'm naturally going to write.
But this campaign on diversity, and the question that got raised for me, is probably going to change how I write, at least a little bit, to make sure the diversity of the cast in my head is better translated onto the page... without it feeling like I'm shoe-horning it in just so I can wave a flag around and shout, "my story is diverse!"
I want the culture I grew up in to permeate the atmosphere of the book. That's my goal.
To leave you with one more link to an older post, I believe it should always be 'character first', not 'gender first', or 'sexual identify first', or 'racial background first'.
What about you? How much do you think about diversity, and if you write about it, what angle are you coming from?
...and I very much hope this campaign for diversity goes well. Personally, I'd also love to see more books written in other parts of the world end up on the mainstream bookshelves here. I still have the (English translated) tattered copy of Banana Yoshimoto's "Kitchen" that I re-read to death as a teenager.
* A couple months ago I was out for lunch with a dog-walking friend of mine who recently moved here from Russia, and he pointed it out later at the restaurant.
** No, I didn't use their actual 'real' names, but close ones.
*** Hopefully there are enough clues with Triss that careful readers would have figured that out.
**** I guess that depends on whether the reader imagines the gender-unspecified MC as male or female.
There's a campaign starting tomorrow about diversity in YA. Not sure if you already know about it, but I first read about it here. The topic of diversity been popular lately. Here's just one page with links, but it's been all over the internet for the past couple of months.
Now, I've thought about writing a post about diversity before... I know I've touched on it in several other posts, but it's never been the foremost topic, and for the sake of keeping this at a reasonable length, I'm going to concentrate on racial/ethnic diversity.
Two things that need to be clear up front:
1) Yes, I'm Caucasian. I'm 1/2 Irish, 1/4 Scottish, and 1/4 FOB British (My grandmother married a Canadian pilot during the war).
2) I grew up in Vancouver, British Columbia in Canada. The 2011 census puts Caucasians at 46.2% of the population.
If we're only using race as a plumb line, I've never experienced 'not seeing myself' in a book.
BUT, unless an author keeps reminding me what the characters look like, repeating how blonde someone's hair is, or how dazzling blue their eyes are, I pretty much imagine the cast as the world I grew up in.
Caucasian Population 46.2%
Visible Minority Population 51.8% (Chinese 27.7%)
Aboriginal Population 2%
I've been asked before why there's almost no physical descriptions of character in the stories I write, and well, I'd have to say it's because it's something I don't pay much attention to in real life, so I don't pay much attention when I write.
If I'm shopping at Metrotown in Burnaby, I don't think about the fact that I'm one of maybe 10% Caucasian shoppers, or one of maybe 3% in a T&T Supermarket. If I'm walking downtown on Robson Street, I won't even give a thought to passing through a group of women fully decked out in burqa.*
Because it's so normal to see so many different kinds of people.
The only time I really started noticing ratios of white-to-non-white, was when I moved away from Vancouver, first to Calgary, AB, then to Victoria, BC.
...and then I felt a little creeped out.
I'm being 100% serious. It was like being dropped into that movie with all the creepy blonde blue-eyed children ('Children of the corn'???).
I live in a racial and ethnically diverse city, and therefore, when I'm reading books, I naturally populate them with diversity unless expressly told otherwise.
When I'm writing, I figure, the less description, the easier it is for the reader to put themselves into the book. The only time I describe someone, it's for an important reason.
But this campaign for diversity raised an important question for me:
Is 'not noticing' and 'not describing' part of the problem?
When you don't specifically identify a character's ethnic background in a book, readers are going to make assumptions and populate the book naturally, just as I do, by what's 'normal' for where they grew up.
A Caucasian kid from a primarily Caucasian city is probably going to imagine a white-washed cast.
...BUT, is a minority kid from a primarily Caucasian city also going to imagine a white-washed cast?
To me, the conundrum of how to approach 'diversity' comes down to this:
Do I want to intentionally identify racial/ethnic (or other) groups in the stories I write, or continue to leave it up to the reader?
Pointing out, or singling out one group calls attention to which other groups are, or are not there. (For a discussion about this in 'Harry Potter', read the comments on this post, but I'm sure you can find a million other similar articles by using the magic of Google).
For example, in TRoRS, Spence is Indian, and by that, I mean his parents/grandparents are from India. I know some people refer to Aboriginals as 'Indians', so I wanted to clarity my terminology.
Should I have to give him a more traditional name like Bupinder when most of my non-Caucasion friends growing up all had 'Caucasian' names like Jennifer, Andrew, Susan, and Eric**? Should I have made a point to describe his hair, his skin colour, etc when I didn't do that with any of the other characters?
...and if I did, would I have to give Triss an authentic Jewish name to balance it out, even though only her mom is Jewish***? What about Jackson, who I imagine to be mix-race? Should I have to specify the racial background of both his parents and ruminate over the 'right' word to describe his skin-tone? Should all the Caucasian characters also be broken down into which part of Europe their ancestors came from?
And even if I did all of that, there would still be people asking, "where are the gay, transgendered, handicapped, and mentally ill characters?"
...or whether my story passes the Bechdel test****?
...and in the end, what does any of that have to do with the story if none of it is integral to the plot?
You can't please, or include, everyone. If you do, it'll just be a poorly contrived mish-mash where it feels like the author has created a checklist for 'diversity' and filled in all the character blanks in their story from that list.
If I'm intentionally adding in extra words for the sole purpose of showing how diverse the cast is, it pulls away from the story just as badly as a to-remain-nameless-author who spent pages and pages worth of words describing the FMC's clothes.
Going back one moment to Spence... there's a twist in the story involving him and another character. If I concentrated a lot of time (and words) on his background, it would make the reader assume that having an Indian at the party was a singularity. Not only is that incorrect, but then the twist wouldn't work.
I think it's very important for everyone, not only teens, to read about characters they can identify with.
As a writer, I think, the issue with diversity (gender, race, sexual orientation, etc) can be approached from many different angles, and that you can't say one is necessarily more 'correct' than another, as long as the writer is putting some thought behind it.
I think it's important for there to be books published with a Chinese or Indian main character struggling to find their identify as a minority.
I think it's equally important for books where Chinese or Indian characters are not considered minorities at all.
And there should also be books where racial/ethnic diversity is such a normal thing, that no one notices or cares about singling out one group or another based on race/ethnicity/skin colour/etc.
In Vancouver, so many are second or third generation immigrants that people of all ages are more likely to band together and group themselves in terms of jobs, wealth, religion, hobbies/interests, omnivores/vegetarian/vegan, etc rather than 'race/ethnicity'.
That's the culture of the city I grew up in, so that's the kind of culture I'm naturally going to write.
But this campaign on diversity, and the question that got raised for me, is probably going to change how I write, at least a little bit, to make sure the diversity of the cast in my head is better translated onto the page... without it feeling like I'm shoe-horning it in just so I can wave a flag around and shout, "my story is diverse!"
I want the culture I grew up in to permeate the atmosphere of the book. That's my goal.
To leave you with one more link to an older post, I believe it should always be 'character first', not 'gender first', or 'sexual identify first', or 'racial background first'.
What about you? How much do you think about diversity, and if you write about it, what angle are you coming from?
...and I very much hope this campaign for diversity goes well. Personally, I'd also love to see more books written in other parts of the world end up on the mainstream bookshelves here. I still have the (English translated) tattered copy of Banana Yoshimoto's "Kitchen" that I re-read to death as a teenager.
* A couple months ago I was out for lunch with a dog-walking friend of mine who recently moved here from Russia, and he pointed it out later at the restaurant.
** No, I didn't use their actual 'real' names, but close ones.
*** Hopefully there are enough clues with Triss that careful readers would have figured that out.
**** I guess that depends on whether the reader imagines the gender-unspecified MC as male or female.
Monday, April 14, 2014
Characteristics of insanity
I know I wrote a post a while ago that touched on this, but it's happening again.
There is seriously a screw loose in my head (well, probably more than one...) that pops up in times of extreme busyness/stress.
When things are piled up so high it's hard to plan out a day, much less a week, my brain decides it's a great time to push everything aside and think about writing.
Is this a strange form of procrastination?
Is it a way to force a mental break?
Or is my brain trying to kill me in a slightly different method?
There are few reasons why I think it might be attempted-suicide-by-brain.
1) It's not just one story. It's all of them, actually. 6 major/full length stories (well, 9 actually, since the 'sort-of-trunked' one was a trilogy). If it was just a single one, I'd be more included to think, "wow, after a good rest/break from that story, I have gained fresh perspective!"
2) It's not just one change, it's many. Thoughts on TRoRS would require me to delete about 1/4-1/3 of the story and go from there. Thoughts on AotD, L&R, and SO would require a complete refocus of each story... too scared to calculate how much re-writing would be required (easily 1/2 of each story)... Thoughts on the trilogy would require rewriting from scratch in a different POV. Thankfully, at only 20-ish-thousand words, the changes to SL would be less... but it's also the one I have the least thoughts on, which means it's the story least worth delving into.
3) I'm still banned from typing. Even just typing out this post has my neck aching, a sharp repetitive stabbing in my rotary cuff, and the fingers of my right hand are starting to hit the wrong keys, or not move at all (due to the shrink-wrapped-fascia tissue in my forearm restricting the tendons that work the fingers).
Yet my brain is full of *ideas* that it wants to get out.
May is going to be an insane month, with the convention and all, so I'm hoping I can mentally sandbag/barricade this tsunami until June 1st.
...we'll see how it goes...
There is seriously a screw loose in my head (well, probably more than one...) that pops up in times of extreme busyness/stress.
When things are piled up so high it's hard to plan out a day, much less a week, my brain decides it's a great time to push everything aside and think about writing.
Is this a strange form of procrastination?
Is it a way to force a mental break?
Or is my brain trying to kill me in a slightly different method?
There are few reasons why I think it might be attempted-suicide-by-brain.
1) It's not just one story. It's all of them, actually. 6 major/full length stories (well, 9 actually, since the 'sort-of-trunked' one was a trilogy). If it was just a single one, I'd be more included to think, "wow, after a good rest/break from that story, I have gained fresh perspective!"
2) It's not just one change, it's many. Thoughts on TRoRS would require me to delete about 1/4-1/3 of the story and go from there. Thoughts on AotD, L&R, and SO would require a complete refocus of each story... too scared to calculate how much re-writing would be required (easily 1/2 of each story)... Thoughts on the trilogy would require rewriting from scratch in a different POV. Thankfully, at only 20-ish-thousand words, the changes to SL would be less... but it's also the one I have the least thoughts on, which means it's the story least worth delving into.
3) I'm still banned from typing. Even just typing out this post has my neck aching, a sharp repetitive stabbing in my rotary cuff, and the fingers of my right hand are starting to hit the wrong keys, or not move at all (due to the shrink-wrapped-fascia tissue in my forearm restricting the tendons that work the fingers).
Yet my brain is full of *ideas* that it wants to get out.
May is going to be an insane month, with the convention and all, so I'm hoping I can mentally sandbag/barricade this tsunami until June 1st.
...we'll see how it goes...
Saturday, March 22, 2014
Karma & throw-up
Two things led me to write this post.
The first is my brain has been pulling me back to "RoRS". The anonymous main character (MC) contemplates karma a lot through the story, in terms of punishment/redemption, real/fake, something the MC desires/fears.
Now, no matter what long story I write, there are a few things that are always going to show up...
One of those is vomit jokes. I think "RoRS" has three or four.
The second thing that led me to write this post is an awful flu that's been making its way through the lower mainland. In the last two weeks, it's been passed around my immediate family... nephew, sister, mother, father... and a couple hours ago, I joined the ranks of the vomiting-near-dead.
Let's just say I now regret my breakfast and lunch choices... nothing ever tastes as good coming up as it did going down*.
Okay, enough with the gross stuff, I swear.
Karma isn't something I believe in. Ultimately, I think we're responsible for our own choices, our own attitudes, our own reactions. The idea of karma is really only good for one thing: reminding you to let go of the bad things that happen which aren't under your control.
Someone cuts you off in traffic? Isn't it healthier to think, "Well, maybe he'll get a speeding ticket" rather than stew and growl and put yourself into a bad mood.
Having the flu is totally out of my control... but I'm choosing to laugh about it rather than moan and groan.
Okay, I'm back from another fast mini-adventure.
Still trying to laugh about it, but perhaps it's better to make you laugh instead, 'cause I seriously just pulled something in my back and it now hurts to breathe :p
Sooooo... remember to chew your food, and flu season is definitely a good motivator to keep your bathroom clean.
I'm hoping some Twinings Irish Breakfast Tea will stay in my stomach a little longer than the glass of water.
Cheerio, and good night!
* This line is a long-time joke in my family. When I was in grade two, I got sick. Like, really badly dangerously sick. After not being able to eat anything for weeks... my mom brought me a handful of the first strawberries of the season. I slowly nibbled them down, and a few minutes later... up they went. I remember being really thankful to her, that she brought me my favourite food even though we both knew I was going to throw it up, and she looked so sad when I did throw them up, so I said, "They tasted almost as good coming up as they did going down"... like I thought that would somehow make her feel better.
The first is my brain has been pulling me back to "RoRS". The anonymous main character (MC) contemplates karma a lot through the story, in terms of punishment/redemption, real/fake, something the MC desires/fears.
Now, no matter what long story I write, there are a few things that are always going to show up...
One of those is vomit jokes. I think "RoRS" has three or four.
The second thing that led me to write this post is an awful flu that's been making its way through the lower mainland. In the last two weeks, it's been passed around my immediate family... nephew, sister, mother, father... and a couple hours ago, I joined the ranks of the vomiting-near-dead.
Let's just say I now regret my breakfast and lunch choices... nothing ever tastes as good coming up as it did going down*.
Okay, enough with the gross stuff, I swear.
Karma isn't something I believe in. Ultimately, I think we're responsible for our own choices, our own attitudes, our own reactions. The idea of karma is really only good for one thing: reminding you to let go of the bad things that happen which aren't under your control.
Someone cuts you off in traffic? Isn't it healthier to think, "Well, maybe he'll get a speeding ticket" rather than stew and growl and put yourself into a bad mood.
Having the flu is totally out of my control... but I'm choosing to laugh about it rather than moan and groan.
Okay, I'm back from another fast mini-adventure.
Still trying to laugh about it, but perhaps it's better to make you laugh instead, 'cause I seriously just pulled something in my back and it now hurts to breathe :p
Sooooo... remember to chew your food, and flu season is definitely a good motivator to keep your bathroom clean.
I'm hoping some Twinings Irish Breakfast Tea will stay in my stomach a little longer than the glass of water.
Cheerio, and good night!
* This line is a long-time joke in my family. When I was in grade two, I got sick. Like, really badly dangerously sick. After not being able to eat anything for weeks... my mom brought me a handful of the first strawberries of the season. I slowly nibbled them down, and a few minutes later... up they went. I remember being really thankful to her, that she brought me my favourite food even though we both knew I was going to throw it up, and she looked so sad when I did throw them up, so I said, "They tasted almost as good coming up as they did going down"... like I thought that would somehow make her feel better.
Friday, November 1, 2013
Switching voices and the first day of NaNo
My brain has been full of 'The Rules of Riding Shotgun' these past couple of weeks. I think I've read through the entire manuscript 7 or 8 times.
I re-read the start of 'Scarlight' yesterday to prepare for NaNo, and I already noticed a few things I'm going to have to watch for when swapping voices from the anonymous MC of 'Shotgun' to the cynical/bitter Jay from 'Scarlight'.
I wanted the MC to sound really anxious, so s/he has these really long run-on sentences that leave you breathless, and partially formed half-sentences (usually starting with 'and' or 'but') since I wanted to mirror Triss' car, the way it struggles to get going, but when it does, it's going fast and the brakes don't work very well. I know that's something no one's picked up in the story, and I don't care. It was there for myself, 'cause I'm, 'know, just slightly over-analytical about weird things :)
Jay, on the other hand, is really eloquent/learned, but he shifts fast between almost bored disinterest, and sharp, cutting comments/observations. He's a little unstable, but fiercely fighting to always seem in control. I'm thinking about different brush strokes when I write Jay's voice, at how different amounts of pressure and lift can completely change the depth and breadth.
The two characters really aren't that similar, and I'm pretty careful about giving characters different voices, even in their thoughts, but sometimes things leak in accidentally... and since I've spent so much time (lately) in MC's head, I don't want any of that getting on Jay. (See? MC's voice right there! I only noticed while doing a final edit/check of this post.)
Some of the 'Shotgun' MC words/phrases:
I swear
'cause
rabbit
any excessive description having to do with the heart, breathing, and/or temperature
jacked up
messed up
cranked
wired
any metaphors/similes having to do with cars/engines/driving/music
starting sentences with 'and' or 'but'
comparing normal/crazy
fight/flight instinct
Strangely enough, out of all of those, I think the "starting sentences with 'and' or 'but'" is going to be the hardest to weed out, and it'll have to be something I purposefully go back and check for.
Jay is definitely more biting/sarcastic in the way he notices things, and since he's an artist, he sees/thinks more by colour/shape/light/etc than by temperature and proximity (the MC has a really strong 'thing' about touching). Jay has a touching thing too, but it's a desire to touch, rather than an aversion.
One small thing I know now, after re-reading 'Scarlight' (well, the 15,000 words I have written of it) is where Kell lives. There was a funny, dangling little paragraph I had written at the end of the file, and I had no idea if it even belonged in the story or not, but it clicked... it's where Kell lives.
Now, of all the things I have to watch for, there are several things I know are going to be 'repeated', since they're in every story I write:
1) There's always at least one vomit reference/joke
2) There's always something about a cat (even just a reference, or something somewhat disgusting, like in 'Shotgun')
3) Tactile sensations are always very important, as is colour and temperature.
4) Now that I'm keeping that dangling scene, there's also a shower scene :) ...and if you were around back when I was first drafting 'Shotgun', you might remember that the shower scene was pretty much my favourite scene to write in the entire story. Mostly, 'cause it was funny. But maybe it was a scene only I would find funny...
5) I think the one factor that's always in any story I write, even in the short flash fiction pieces, is my characters are always missing something fundamental, something that makes them decidedly less human, or stunted, when compared to those around them. Probably my 'Shotgun' MC is missing the most (even his/her gender!), but finding the missing piece of themselves is always a very large part of their character arcs.
Jay is... hmmm, missing empathy, I suppose. He feels he's been betrayed & ditched so many times that he no longer knows how to connect with other people, and has no desire to. He's a little sociopathic when you get right down to it, but in a sad sortof way.
Yeah... I really DO write 'unlikable' characters, don't I?
Well, I'm going to walk Eva, then sit down and whack out my 1,667 words for the day.
How about you guys? Whether you're doing NaNo or not, how do you prepare to swap into the right voice of a particular story? Do you have a playlist, or re-read the last page you wrote? How do you ensure you're sticking with a character's unique voice and don't let another character's (or your own!) leech in?
I re-read the start of 'Scarlight' yesterday to prepare for NaNo, and I already noticed a few things I'm going to have to watch for when swapping voices from the anonymous MC of 'Shotgun' to the cynical/bitter Jay from 'Scarlight'.
I wanted the MC to sound really anxious, so s/he has these really long run-on sentences that leave you breathless, and partially formed half-sentences (usually starting with 'and' or 'but') since I wanted to mirror Triss' car, the way it struggles to get going, but when it does, it's going fast and the brakes don't work very well. I know that's something no one's picked up in the story, and I don't care. It was there for myself, 'cause I'm, 'know, just slightly over-analytical about weird things :)
Jay, on the other hand, is really eloquent/learned, but he shifts fast between almost bored disinterest, and sharp, cutting comments/observations. He's a little unstable, but fiercely fighting to always seem in control. I'm thinking about different brush strokes when I write Jay's voice, at how different amounts of pressure and lift can completely change the depth and breadth.
The two characters really aren't that similar, and I'm pretty careful about giving characters different voices, even in their thoughts, but sometimes things leak in accidentally... and since I've spent so much time (lately) in MC's head, I don't want any of that getting on Jay. (See? MC's voice right there! I only noticed while doing a final edit/check of this post.)
Some of the 'Shotgun' MC words/phrases:
I swear
'cause
rabbit
any excessive description having to do with the heart, breathing, and/or temperature
jacked up
messed up
cranked
wired
any metaphors/similes having to do with cars/engines/driving/music
starting sentences with 'and' or 'but'
comparing normal/crazy
fight/flight instinct
Strangely enough, out of all of those, I think the "starting sentences with 'and' or 'but'" is going to be the hardest to weed out, and it'll have to be something I purposefully go back and check for.
Jay is definitely more biting/sarcastic in the way he notices things, and since he's an artist, he sees/thinks more by colour/shape/light/etc than by temperature and proximity (the MC has a really strong 'thing' about touching). Jay has a touching thing too, but it's a desire to touch, rather than an aversion.
One small thing I know now, after re-reading 'Scarlight' (well, the 15,000 words I have written of it) is where Kell lives. There was a funny, dangling little paragraph I had written at the end of the file, and I had no idea if it even belonged in the story or not, but it clicked... it's where Kell lives.
Now, of all the things I have to watch for, there are several things I know are going to be 'repeated', since they're in every story I write:
1) There's always at least one vomit reference/joke
2) There's always something about a cat (even just a reference, or something somewhat disgusting, like in 'Shotgun')
3) Tactile sensations are always very important, as is colour and temperature.
4) Now that I'm keeping that dangling scene, there's also a shower scene :) ...and if you were around back when I was first drafting 'Shotgun', you might remember that the shower scene was pretty much my favourite scene to write in the entire story. Mostly, 'cause it was funny. But maybe it was a scene only I would find funny...
5) I think the one factor that's always in any story I write, even in the short flash fiction pieces, is my characters are always missing something fundamental, something that makes them decidedly less human, or stunted, when compared to those around them. Probably my 'Shotgun' MC is missing the most (even his/her gender!), but finding the missing piece of themselves is always a very large part of their character arcs.
Jay is... hmmm, missing empathy, I suppose. He feels he's been betrayed & ditched so many times that he no longer knows how to connect with other people, and has no desire to. He's a little sociopathic when you get right down to it, but in a sad sortof way.
Yeah... I really DO write 'unlikable' characters, don't I?
Well, I'm going to walk Eva, then sit down and whack out my 1,667 words for the day.
How about you guys? Whether you're doing NaNo or not, how do you prepare to swap into the right voice of a particular story? Do you have a playlist, or re-read the last page you wrote? How do you ensure you're sticking with a character's unique voice and don't let another character's (or your own!) leech in?
Monday, October 28, 2013
SIWC
Hi everyone!
I know, since I mostly went to YA workshops, my notes won't be 100% useful to everyone, but I think there's some good information that is also applicable to adult fiction/etc.
I will put them up in individual posts so no one is overwhelmed by the sheer quantity of my note-taking ways (7,629 words for 6 workshops...). I will try to get them all up tomorrow.
Please excuse any spelling/wording errors as I was typing pretty fast while trying to listen/absorb at the same time... you can give me points for enthusiasm, but probably not for 100% accuracy...
As for the conference? Well, yeah, it was awesome! A fabulous three days that was topped off on the final day by winning a pass to next year's conference... so, my plans for next year are already set :)
I had my agent pitch on Friday morning (no, not going to tell you her name/agency) where writers had 10 minutes to verbally pitch a *finished* project to either an editor or an agent. I was freaking nervous, but due to my... odd tendency to flip into power-extro-mode when I'm highly stressed, my pitch was over and done with in less than 3 minutes. Then we spent the rest of the time talking about sports, the west coast, and other things, including her completely kick-ass shade of neon-green nail polish (I WANT some for when I go down for the Seahawks game in a few weeks!!!)
If you're curious, this is the pitch I boiled down, and thankfully didn't stumble over (too much):
To me, that kind of agent pitch was the perfect way to start off my first conference... It helped me relax and really hammered home that everyone there was passionate about writing. Probably, that is what spurred me on to talk to whoever I came across, sat with, or bumped into in the hallways. I haven't nerded-out about books like that since I was last in Victoria (almost a year ago!) with my writing group there... and it's something I am sorely missing.
I am very thankful to that agent :) I may not have had such a great conference experience if it hadn't started out in that way.
My Blue Pencil session was Saturday morning, and by sheer coincidence, the author who looked over the first 3 pages of 'The Rules of Riding Shotgun' knew the agent I pitched to... like, really well. I honestly had no idea... but that was kindof cool, and since I love the author's books, it was doubly cool how nice and friendly she was... and the fact that she laughed at the line on my first page about the shopping cart full of Depends ;) Yeah, that made me feel good ;)
Something I wasn't planning on doing, but ended up 'winging it', was pitching my 'pitch' in one of the workshops (after my agent pitch session) and getting feedback from the presenter and the other audience members, then I also did it with my query.
Both of those were more nerve-wracking then the agent pitch! ...probably because there were, like, 40-50 people in the room both times, but I'm glad I did them as I got some excellent feedback on my query (the IMPOSSIBLY annoying one that was insanely difficult to get into 3rd POV), which I'm going to update on my 'What I'm Writing' Page. It isn't too different, but there are a couple of significant changes that help make it a lot clearer, so that was awesome.
Someone even gave me the name of an author who has also written a gender-ambiguous character, so I'm going to have to check that out :) It's adult fiction though, not YA.
The only disappointment I had about the entire conference, is that I didn't know you could sign up for multiple pitch/Blue Pencil appointments if there were free slots... and only found out on the last day when it was too late. I have no idea how I missed that... but I totally would have taken advantage of as much feedback as possible.
Oddly enough, there was one off-handish comment in a workshop that made me completely re-evaluate a sequence of several scenes in 'The Rules of Riding Shotgun'. Guess you never know when something small you hear will make a big difference :)
I know, since I mostly went to YA workshops, my notes won't be 100% useful to everyone, but I think there's some good information that is also applicable to adult fiction/etc.
I will put them up in individual posts so no one is overwhelmed by the sheer quantity of my note-taking ways (7,629 words for 6 workshops...). I will try to get them all up tomorrow.
Please excuse any spelling/wording errors as I was typing pretty fast while trying to listen/absorb at the same time... you can give me points for enthusiasm, but probably not for 100% accuracy...
As for the conference? Well, yeah, it was awesome! A fabulous three days that was topped off on the final day by winning a pass to next year's conference... so, my plans for next year are already set :)
I had my agent pitch on Friday morning (no, not going to tell you her name/agency) where writers had 10 minutes to verbally pitch a *finished* project to either an editor or an agent. I was freaking nervous, but due to my... odd tendency to flip into power-extro-mode when I'm highly stressed, my pitch was over and done with in less than 3 minutes. Then we spent the rest of the time talking about sports, the west coast, and other things, including her completely kick-ass shade of neon-green nail polish (I WANT some for when I go down for the Seahawks game in a few weeks!!!)
If you're curious, this is the pitch I boiled down, and thankfully didn't stumble over (too much):
There are rules when you ride shotgun because the driver holds all power and responsibility, but after a bet goes wrong, a boy ends up dead, and the corpse is stashed in their trunk for disposal, two teens must reevaluate the rules of their relationship, and ultimately when to break them.
The twist is that the main character remains completely anonymous, as in, no name, and no defined gender.
To me, that kind of agent pitch was the perfect way to start off my first conference... It helped me relax and really hammered home that everyone there was passionate about writing. Probably, that is what spurred me on to talk to whoever I came across, sat with, or bumped into in the hallways. I haven't nerded-out about books like that since I was last in Victoria (almost a year ago!) with my writing group there... and it's something I am sorely missing.
I am very thankful to that agent :) I may not have had such a great conference experience if it hadn't started out in that way.
My Blue Pencil session was Saturday morning, and by sheer coincidence, the author who looked over the first 3 pages of 'The Rules of Riding Shotgun' knew the agent I pitched to... like, really well. I honestly had no idea... but that was kindof cool, and since I love the author's books, it was doubly cool how nice and friendly she was... and the fact that she laughed at the line on my first page about the shopping cart full of Depends ;) Yeah, that made me feel good ;)
Something I wasn't planning on doing, but ended up 'winging it', was pitching my 'pitch' in one of the workshops (after my agent pitch session) and getting feedback from the presenter and the other audience members, then I also did it with my query.
Both of those were more nerve-wracking then the agent pitch! ...probably because there were, like, 40-50 people in the room both times, but I'm glad I did them as I got some excellent feedback on my query (the IMPOSSIBLY annoying one that was insanely difficult to get into 3rd POV), which I'm going to update on my 'What I'm Writing' Page. It isn't too different, but there are a couple of significant changes that help make it a lot clearer, so that was awesome.
Someone even gave me the name of an author who has also written a gender-ambiguous character, so I'm going to have to check that out :) It's adult fiction though, not YA.
The only disappointment I had about the entire conference, is that I didn't know you could sign up for multiple pitch/Blue Pencil appointments if there were free slots... and only found out on the last day when it was too late. I have no idea how I missed that... but I totally would have taken advantage of as much feedback as possible.
Oddly enough, there was one off-handish comment in a workshop that made me completely re-evaluate a sequence of several scenes in 'The Rules of Riding Shotgun'. Guess you never know when something small you hear will make a big difference :)
Friday, July 26, 2013
Obvious, right?
Sometimes you whirl around a situation so many times you lose sight of the obvious. Until someone smacks you upside the head with it...
Thanks, Lydia for commenting. I really needed to be beaten-down with the obvious:
That query POV issue is always hard. You just have to pretend you're pitching it out loud to someone. It's hard!
So how do I talk about my murky main character when I'm talking to someone, out loud, about the story?
After 2.5 hours of sleep, I bolted awake at 4:30am this morning and typed this 3rd POV query for 'TRoRS' on my phone as an email to myself:
Yeah. Still needs work. It's boring and not quite *voice-y* enough, but it's a place to start, and not bad considering I'm deliriously tired from almost two straight weeks of insomnia... or maybe I'm so overtired I can't tell good from bad anymore...
Thoughts? Impressions? The writing sucks, so I'm asking more about the angle... the points I'm focusing on.
Okay, I'm going to try to get a couple more hours sleep. Today's Flash Fiction Friday may go up later than normal, but it'll still be going up.
Thanks, Lydia for commenting. I really needed to be beaten-down with the obvious:
That query POV issue is always hard. You just have to pretend you're pitching it out loud to someone. It's hard!
So how do I talk about my murky main character when I'm talking to someone, out loud, about the story?
After 2.5 hours of sleep, I bolted awake at 4:30am this morning and typed this 3rd POV query for 'TRoRS' on my phone as an email to myself:
For the nameless, gender-ambiguous main character (MC), riding shotgun in Triss’ car is normal. So is sleeping in her car when it’s not safe to go home, and eating her leftovers cold from a brown paper bag. When the car starts breaking down, it’s normal for the MC to help when Triss gets involved in a twisted game of manipulation so she can pay for repairs.
At parties Jackson hosts, their game runs on in the background, where they bet on who’s going to get wasted and do something stupid. The bets start out normal, but they quickly escalate until one night, everything goes wrong, and people aren’t like cards or poker chips. They have baggage. They get angry. They want revenge.
Six weeks after that party, Jackson ends up on the wrong side of dead, and now nothing is normal. There are rules when you ride shotgun, because the driver holds all power and responsibility, but when there’s a corpse in the trunk, the car is breaking down, and Triss starts to lose control, the MC must reevaluate the rules of their relationship, and ultimately when to break them.
THE RULES OF RIDING SHOTGUN is a 60,000 word YA Contemporary in the tradition of Courtney Summers and John Green, with a little bit of Justine Larbalestier’s LIAR mixed in. The main character has no name, and no defined gender, as relationships are all about the lines we draw, and the lines that are drawn for us.
Yeah. Still needs work. It's boring and not quite *voice-y* enough, but it's a place to start, and not bad considering I'm deliriously tired from almost two straight weeks of insomnia... or maybe I'm so overtired I can't tell good from bad anymore...
Thoughts? Impressions? The writing sucks, so I'm asking more about the angle... the points I'm focusing on.
Okay, I'm going to try to get a couple more hours sleep. Today's Flash Fiction Friday may go up later than normal, but it'll still be going up.
Tuesday, July 23, 2013
Like a Virgin round#2
The second round of 'Like a Virgin' contest starts today, results on Friday. Since I'm at my parents' house, and didn't bring my laptop, guess I'll be following along via my phone since I'm not heading home until late Saturday :)
If you do decide to pop over out of idle curiosity, just remember that no one but agents are supposed to comment on submissions.
Don't get too excited, I'm not expecting much, other than *actual* feedback due to my 1st POV query :)
I have spent... oh, so many hours fighting to get that query into 3rd POV, but it just doesn't work. Can't use he/she, can't use a name, and as soon as you start throwing around generic terms like, 'the passenger', the focus shifts entirely to Triss/Jackson, so it sounds like Triss is the MC, rather than the gender-ambiguous, nameless MC.
Argh.
Anyways, I'm expecting the lowest number of *cherries* ;)
If you do decide to pop over out of idle curiosity, just remember that no one but agents are supposed to comment on submissions.
Don't get too excited, I'm not expecting much, other than *actual* feedback due to my 1st POV query :)
I have spent... oh, so many hours fighting to get that query into 3rd POV, but it just doesn't work. Can't use he/she, can't use a name, and as soon as you start throwing around generic terms like, 'the passenger', the focus shifts entirely to Triss/Jackson, so it sounds like Triss is the MC, rather than the gender-ambiguous, nameless MC.
Argh.
Anyways, I'm expecting the lowest number of *cherries* ;)
Friday, July 12, 2013
Like a Virgin?
Okay, so... late night, crappy day, just now reading blog posts, and I noticed this contest linked by several people I follow...
So, hey, why not?
I've been sitting on 'The Rules of Riding Shotgun' after finishing another round of edits a few months ago... completely because this story dredges up so many 'happy' memories that have now turned sour in retrospect. (seriously, today has been a very, very bad day).
...but since I'm a 'silver-linings' kinda girl, what better way to sweeten the sour by getting someone to slash the hell outta my first 250 words & query?
I'm not sure if I officially have made it in yet (they're cutting it off after 50 entrants), but part of this contest is a bloghop, so here are the questions, and my answers:
1) How do you remember your first kiss?
Like many others I'm sure: awkward. Though, perhaps somewhere on the upper-end of the scale. Mine was on a camping trip the summer between grades 8 & 9 with my (then current) 'best friend' and her family, and she had been... hmmm, what's a more politically correct way of saying 'heinous bitch*?' the entire week. Anyways, she had an older brother... are you seeing where this is going? Wait, it gets better... To escape her... mood swings, and the fact that all she wanted to do was sit in the trailer and complain (and actually her parents told us to go so they could fight with her in private), I went on bike rides with the brother. No ulterior motives, simply to save my sanity, and I had no idea where we were and wanted someone along to make sure I didn't get hopelessly lost. One night, after a campfire, all three of us were lying on the bed that gets converted from the kitchen table**, me stuck in the middle between two siblings, and just when I was starting to fall asleep (with no thoughts other than, 'I'm freaking tired!'), the guy starts kissing me. With tongue.***
YEAH.
AWKWARD????? Okay, not by half. Let's go with 'creepy'****.
SOOOO, trapped in a trailer, sharing the same space for another 3 days with my 'soon-to-no-longer-be-best-friend' and her older brother. That was fun... we should skip over when she told the world I was a slut who seduced her brother and alienated all my friends, then pushed me down a flight of stairs on my birthday ;)
Oh, and the fact that I think he only kissed me 'cause he couldn't get my older sister. Yeah, that does spectacular things for your self-confidence when you're 13.
Can you tell why I don't write a lot of romance? ...and why my characters (might?) have some trust issues?
2) What was your first favourite love song?
Probably 'I don't want to miss a thing' by Aerosmith, inspired by another 'first kiss'... I was sleeping/just waking up at the time. How does that keep happening?
3) What's the first thing you do when you begin writing for the day?
I often start writing while eating breakfast, and in this crazy hot weather, that's normally a salad with tomatoes, turkey deli meat, parmesan cheese, pepper, and a little oil & balsamic vinegar. Think I'm weird? Raw veggies are the best thing to re-hydrate in the morning. Then, after my coffee is done, I walk my beagle, Eva, for a couple hours with headphones blaring loud music to clear my head. After I get back, whatever I started over breakfast is usually a lot clearer.
4) Who's the first writer to truly inspire you to become a writer?
I'm going to say it's a tie between Laurie Halse Anderson's "Speak", and Banana Yoshimoto's "Amrita". I bought both books during a summer sale and read them both in a single day.
5) Did the final revision of your first book have the same first chapter it started with?
...you mean the book that is on near-permanent-hold? Nope, different beginning. I think it was changed 3 or 4 times before I moved on to write something new.
6) For your first book, what came first: major characters, plot, or setting?
A scene woke me up in the middle of the night and I couldn't get back to sleep. Three characters fighting something... invisible in the desert, and one character (female) getting beaten so bad her ribs were broken and she was bleeding all over the place.
7) What's the first word you want to roll off the tip of someone's tongue when they think of your writing?
Maybe not a 'word', but the sentence, "That made me think." I entirely blame my parents for giving me Poe and Kafka to read before I hit the double-digits. Books that don't make you think are forgettable. I don't want to be a 'beach-read-author', I want to be one of the ones that twists someone's world-view, even by just a fraction, even if I don't sell well. Books that made me think are what got me through my teen years, even strange ones like Jostein Gaarder's "Sophie's World", Douglas Cooper's "Delirium", and Simon Singh's "Fermat's Enigma".
* by the way, TOTALLY a reference to the movie, '10 Things I Hate About You'. Yeah, love that movie... 1/2 for Julia Stiles, 1/2 for 'Letters to Cleo' on the rooftop during the end credits. The cameo by 'Save Ferris' was awesome too.
** seriously, I am NOT a camper... first, and only time in a trailer EVER, I'm sure there is a proper name for what that kind of bed is called, but I have no idea what it is
*** I will forever associate the taste of 'Juicy Fruit' gum with my first kiss, and 'Green Apple Jolly Ranchers' with my second first kiss.
**** Slightly incestuous, even, considering his sister was a foot away and snoring her face off.
So, hey, why not?
I've been sitting on 'The Rules of Riding Shotgun' after finishing another round of edits a few months ago... completely because this story dredges up so many 'happy' memories that have now turned sour in retrospect. (seriously, today has been a very, very bad day).
...but since I'm a 'silver-linings' kinda girl, what better way to sweeten the sour by getting someone to slash the hell outta my first 250 words & query?
I'm not sure if I officially have made it in yet (they're cutting it off after 50 entrants), but part of this contest is a bloghop, so here are the questions, and my answers:
1) How do you remember your first kiss?
Like many others I'm sure: awkward. Though, perhaps somewhere on the upper-end of the scale. Mine was on a camping trip the summer between grades 8 & 9 with my (then current) 'best friend' and her family, and she had been... hmmm, what's a more politically correct way of saying 'heinous bitch*?' the entire week. Anyways, she had an older brother... are you seeing where this is going? Wait, it gets better... To escape her... mood swings, and the fact that all she wanted to do was sit in the trailer and complain (and actually her parents told us to go so they could fight with her in private), I went on bike rides with the brother. No ulterior motives, simply to save my sanity, and I had no idea where we were and wanted someone along to make sure I didn't get hopelessly lost. One night, after a campfire, all three of us were lying on the bed that gets converted from the kitchen table**, me stuck in the middle between two siblings, and just when I was starting to fall asleep (with no thoughts other than, 'I'm freaking tired!'), the guy starts kissing me. With tongue.***
YEAH.
AWKWARD????? Okay, not by half. Let's go with 'creepy'****.
SOOOO, trapped in a trailer, sharing the same space for another 3 days with my 'soon-to-no-longer-be-best-friend' and her older brother. That was fun... we should skip over when she told the world I was a slut who seduced her brother and alienated all my friends, then pushed me down a flight of stairs on my birthday ;)
Oh, and the fact that I think he only kissed me 'cause he couldn't get my older sister. Yeah, that does spectacular things for your self-confidence when you're 13.
Can you tell why I don't write a lot of romance? ...and why my characters (might?) have some trust issues?
2) What was your first favourite love song?
Probably 'I don't want to miss a thing' by Aerosmith, inspired by another 'first kiss'... I was sleeping/just waking up at the time. How does that keep happening?
3) What's the first thing you do when you begin writing for the day?
I often start writing while eating breakfast, and in this crazy hot weather, that's normally a salad with tomatoes, turkey deli meat, parmesan cheese, pepper, and a little oil & balsamic vinegar. Think I'm weird? Raw veggies are the best thing to re-hydrate in the morning. Then, after my coffee is done, I walk my beagle, Eva, for a couple hours with headphones blaring loud music to clear my head. After I get back, whatever I started over breakfast is usually a lot clearer.
4) Who's the first writer to truly inspire you to become a writer?
I'm going to say it's a tie between Laurie Halse Anderson's "Speak", and Banana Yoshimoto's "Amrita". I bought both books during a summer sale and read them both in a single day.
5) Did the final revision of your first book have the same first chapter it started with?
...you mean the book that is on near-permanent-hold? Nope, different beginning. I think it was changed 3 or 4 times before I moved on to write something new.
6) For your first book, what came first: major characters, plot, or setting?
A scene woke me up in the middle of the night and I couldn't get back to sleep. Three characters fighting something... invisible in the desert, and one character (female) getting beaten so bad her ribs were broken and she was bleeding all over the place.
7) What's the first word you want to roll off the tip of someone's tongue when they think of your writing?
Maybe not a 'word', but the sentence, "That made me think." I entirely blame my parents for giving me Poe and Kafka to read before I hit the double-digits. Books that don't make you think are forgettable. I don't want to be a 'beach-read-author', I want to be one of the ones that twists someone's world-view, even by just a fraction, even if I don't sell well. Books that made me think are what got me through my teen years, even strange ones like Jostein Gaarder's "Sophie's World", Douglas Cooper's "Delirium", and Simon Singh's "Fermat's Enigma".
* by the way, TOTALLY a reference to the movie, '10 Things I Hate About You'. Yeah, love that movie... 1/2 for Julia Stiles, 1/2 for 'Letters to Cleo' on the rooftop during the end credits. The cameo by 'Save Ferris' was awesome too.
** seriously, I am NOT a camper... first, and only time in a trailer EVER, I'm sure there is a proper name for what that kind of bed is called, but I have no idea what it is
*** I will forever associate the taste of 'Juicy Fruit' gum with my first kiss, and 'Green Apple Jolly Ranchers' with my second first kiss.
**** Slightly incestuous, even, considering his sister was a foot away and snoring her face off.
Wednesday, April 3, 2013
Yeah, I'm kind of slow sometimes
It just hit me, why I'm writing Jay.
'Cause when writing "The Rules of Riding Shotgun", I never really got to write from Jackson's perspective.
And Jay is a lot like Jackson (and it's not just the 'J' name thing*). They are both confident, pushy, and selfish. Their needs come first, always, and if someone can't help them, then that person is disposable.
The reason why I'm saying that I'm slow, is 'cause every time I start a new story, the main aspect of the main character is something I wanted to explore more in whatever I was previously working on.
Project #1 had primarily female characters, and I hated my main female character. Yes, hated. As in, I plotted her destruction daily, but couldn't kill her off since she was (duh) the MC, so instead, she got beaten up a lot by other characters -> so I wanted to write from the male perspective, which I was more comfortable with anyways
Project #2 flipped between two brothers -> I really enjoyed writing from the younger one's perspective, since I had never written a character that young before, plus I knew the narrative was too distant, so I was toying with the idea of trying 1st person for a change, rather than my usual close-3rd POV and seeing how that went.
Project #3 is MG, not YA, 1st person, present tense (also a new/first-time thing for me) -> I wasn't confident I was pulling off a MG voice, and I wanted something more action-y (plot-wise), and I kind of liked how a preteen boys and girls can be nearly interchangeable in a lot of ways, especially since romantic relationships aren't the first thing on their brain when they interact with their peers.
Project #4 I went back to YA, there's a more action-y plot, genderless character who is pretty slow on the whole 'growing up/relationship thing', and I felt confident enough to swap between past/present, and keep it in 1st person -> but I didn't have a good handle on Jackson. Actually, that's still bugging me while I'm editing the 2nd draft. Since the MC is so 'Triss-focused', it's impossible to show Jackson as anything other than how the MC views him as: a dangerous, selfish jerk who is trying to take the MC's place (in a way). Jealousy sure throws up some strong blinders... and it bothers me that I can't show a more objective view of Jackson.
Project #5 I flipped a complete 180. Female MC who makes her choices/mistakes 'cause she loves her sister (not for selfish reasons), there's an actual *romantic* relationship that isn't weird/creepy, and I got to play with my own mythology (which is always awesome)... but then after NaNo was over, I went back to re-read Project #4 with fresh eyes, and all those things I was already thinking about resurfaced, so...
Project #6 has a male character who is similar (personality-wise) to Jackson, and since I'm in his head, I can actually focus on why he does what he does, not trying to pry small details out from an extremely difficult, Triss-obsessed character who only focuses on whether someone is going to hurt them or not. So, (contented sigh) I get to show a more objective view of an unlikable character and (somehow?) make him interesting enough that readers want to follow along on his journey. Although, it would probably be easier to kill him off, like Jackson ;)
See why I say I'm kindof slow? I have this clear pattern... and I only clued in 20 minutes ago as to why I'm writing such a difficult character as Jay.
OH, and after many hours of research**, I know Kell's "real" name now. HINT: it's an Arabic name meaning "good looking/beautiful". Since Jay wants to paint her, I figured that was appropriate.
It was a real pain trying to find a name with the sound 'kell' somewhere inside it, and have it come from the right part of the world.***
I also looked up names for Jay's ex girlfriend and a couple teachers, and chose them 'cause they "fit", not just 'cause I needed a name, and whatever fell off of my fingers and onto the screen was good enough. So that's a first-time thing for me too.
Although, I do realize I wasted hours on this yesterday... which is why I will probably go back to my usual lazy-naming-scheme. After all, I can always change names later :) Heck, that's what I do with titles, so names really aren't any different.
How about you guys? Do you put a lot of thought into your character names? What about weird quirks like my 'J-name' thing?
Do you have strange writing patterns like I do? What inspires you to write a new story, and is it usually the same kind of genre/characters/POV/etc, or do you mix it up?
* I mentioned this a long time ago in another post... but I have the tendency to use a lot of 'J' names. In Project #3, there was a kid names Jack (changed to 'Zach' after I started Project #4), and there are two of them in Project #1... not the MC, but the next important female and the... sort of (but not really) male 'interest'. I seriously can't call him a romantic interest 'cause... well, I just can't.
So far, Projects #2 & #5 are 'J-free', but I'm sure one or two will sneak in there when I'm not looking...
** also known as procrastination
*** Kell almost got a complete background re-write, instead of Arabic/Persian, there was one African name that worked, and like 4 or 5 Hawaiian names. But I'm glad I stuck it out.
'Cause when writing "The Rules of Riding Shotgun", I never really got to write from Jackson's perspective.
And Jay is a lot like Jackson (and it's not just the 'J' name thing*). They are both confident, pushy, and selfish. Their needs come first, always, and if someone can't help them, then that person is disposable.
The reason why I'm saying that I'm slow, is 'cause every time I start a new story, the main aspect of the main character is something I wanted to explore more in whatever I was previously working on.
Project #1 had primarily female characters, and I hated my main female character. Yes, hated. As in, I plotted her destruction daily, but couldn't kill her off since she was (duh) the MC, so instead, she got beaten up a lot by other characters -> so I wanted to write from the male perspective, which I was more comfortable with anyways
Project #2 flipped between two brothers -> I really enjoyed writing from the younger one's perspective, since I had never written a character that young before, plus I knew the narrative was too distant, so I was toying with the idea of trying 1st person for a change, rather than my usual close-3rd POV and seeing how that went.
Project #3 is MG, not YA, 1st person, present tense (also a new/first-time thing for me) -> I wasn't confident I was pulling off a MG voice, and I wanted something more action-y (plot-wise), and I kind of liked how a preteen boys and girls can be nearly interchangeable in a lot of ways, especially since romantic relationships aren't the first thing on their brain when they interact with their peers.
Project #4 I went back to YA, there's a more action-y plot, genderless character who is pretty slow on the whole 'growing up/relationship thing', and I felt confident enough to swap between past/present, and keep it in 1st person -> but I didn't have a good handle on Jackson. Actually, that's still bugging me while I'm editing the 2nd draft. Since the MC is so 'Triss-focused', it's impossible to show Jackson as anything other than how the MC views him as: a dangerous, selfish jerk who is trying to take the MC's place (in a way). Jealousy sure throws up some strong blinders... and it bothers me that I can't show a more objective view of Jackson.
Project #5 I flipped a complete 180. Female MC who makes her choices/mistakes 'cause she loves her sister (not for selfish reasons), there's an actual *romantic* relationship that isn't weird/creepy, and I got to play with my own mythology (which is always awesome)... but then after NaNo was over, I went back to re-read Project #4 with fresh eyes, and all those things I was already thinking about resurfaced, so...
Project #6 has a male character who is similar (personality-wise) to Jackson, and since I'm in his head, I can actually focus on why he does what he does, not trying to pry small details out from an extremely difficult, Triss-obsessed character who only focuses on whether someone is going to hurt them or not. So, (contented sigh) I get to show a more objective view of an unlikable character and (somehow?) make him interesting enough that readers want to follow along on his journey. Although, it would probably be easier to kill him off, like Jackson ;)
See why I say I'm kindof slow? I have this clear pattern... and I only clued in 20 minutes ago as to why I'm writing such a difficult character as Jay.
OH, and after many hours of research**, I know Kell's "real" name now. HINT: it's an Arabic name meaning "good looking/beautiful". Since Jay wants to paint her, I figured that was appropriate.
It was a real pain trying to find a name with the sound 'kell' somewhere inside it, and have it come from the right part of the world.***
I also looked up names for Jay's ex girlfriend and a couple teachers, and chose them 'cause they "fit", not just 'cause I needed a name, and whatever fell off of my fingers and onto the screen was good enough. So that's a first-time thing for me too.
Although, I do realize I wasted hours on this yesterday... which is why I will probably go back to my usual lazy-naming-scheme. After all, I can always change names later :) Heck, that's what I do with titles, so names really aren't any different.
How about you guys? Do you put a lot of thought into your character names? What about weird quirks like my 'J-name' thing?
Do you have strange writing patterns like I do? What inspires you to write a new story, and is it usually the same kind of genre/characters/POV/etc, or do you mix it up?
* I mentioned this a long time ago in another post... but I have the tendency to use a lot of 'J' names. In Project #3, there was a kid names Jack (changed to 'Zach' after I started Project #4), and there are two of them in Project #1... not the MC, but the next important female and the... sort of (but not really) male 'interest'. I seriously can't call him a romantic interest 'cause... well, I just can't.
So far, Projects #2 & #5 are 'J-free', but I'm sure one or two will sneak in there when I'm not looking...
** also known as procrastination
*** Kell almost got a complete background re-write, instead of Arabic/Persian, there was one African name that worked, and like 4 or 5 Hawaiian names. But I'm glad I stuck it out.
Tuesday, March 19, 2013
The horrific word: 'background'
Some followers already know how much I hate writing character backgrounds. When things are all spelled out too neatly, it's boring. When I'm reading, I like to make my own guesses/decisions about things, not be told every detail.
Which is why Justine Larbalestier's book "Liar" is one of my all-time favourite books.
When I first started writing "The Rules of Riding Shotgun", I wrote this post, and then clarified it with a second post, since I wasn't as eloquent as I could have been the first time...
Most of that first post no longer applies. By the time I finished writing the first draft, I did know a lot more about both the MC & Triss's histories. I even added a bunch of background stuff before handing it off to my first set of beta-readers.
But apparently, it wasn't enough.
I got chastised by every one of my readers :)
...and rightly so.
So, yesterday (and the last week or so) I've been picking away at the story. Most of what I'm doing is fleshing out Triss's character a little more so she seems like less of a sociopath, but I'm also specifically going in and adding snippets of their histories.
Like, Triss got into trouble and was held back a grade. She's the same age as Jackson & Spence, but she's a year behind them. Previously, it wasn't even mentioned that she was a sophomore. I haven't decided yet if I want to make it more obvious that her mom is Jewish...
Another history bit I've added/clarified, is the MC still lives at home with his/her father, and the father's girlfriend. There are also a few new lines about what happened to the MC's mom.
So far I've added about 2,000 words, and I'm on page 57 of 224. I've also deleted some redundant info/etc, and am working to make the 'rules' stronger.
I still don't like backgrounds, and don't worry, there are no new info-dumps about either of their histories, but hopefully I have added enough small bits that readers won't be trying to beat me over the head for more information.
'Cause that is one of my known-problems... I like subtlety too much, so while I think everything is screamingly-obvious, readers are like, "I have no idea what's going on, and this is driving me crazy!"
So, yeah, trying to fix that :)
Which is the purpose of editing, right? To make the story better :)
How much background do you know before writing? Do you develop it before, or during the story? Do you usually have to add more background in, or take some of it out during your first round of edits?
Which is why Justine Larbalestier's book "Liar" is one of my all-time favourite books.
When I first started writing "The Rules of Riding Shotgun", I wrote this post, and then clarified it with a second post, since I wasn't as eloquent as I could have been the first time...
Most of that first post no longer applies. By the time I finished writing the first draft, I did know a lot more about both the MC & Triss's histories. I even added a bunch of background stuff before handing it off to my first set of beta-readers.
But apparently, it wasn't enough.
I got chastised by every one of my readers :)
...and rightly so.
So, yesterday (and the last week or so) I've been picking away at the story. Most of what I'm doing is fleshing out Triss's character a little more so she seems like less of a sociopath, but I'm also specifically going in and adding snippets of their histories.
Like, Triss got into trouble and was held back a grade. She's the same age as Jackson & Spence, but she's a year behind them. Previously, it wasn't even mentioned that she was a sophomore. I haven't decided yet if I want to make it more obvious that her mom is Jewish...
Another history bit I've added/clarified, is the MC still lives at home with his/her father, and the father's girlfriend. There are also a few new lines about what happened to the MC's mom.
So far I've added about 2,000 words, and I'm on page 57 of 224. I've also deleted some redundant info/etc, and am working to make the 'rules' stronger.
I still don't like backgrounds, and don't worry, there are no new info-dumps about either of their histories, but hopefully I have added enough small bits that readers won't be trying to beat me over the head for more information.
'Cause that is one of my known-problems... I like subtlety too much, so while I think everything is screamingly-obvious, readers are like, "I have no idea what's going on, and this is driving me crazy!"
So, yeah, trying to fix that :)
Which is the purpose of editing, right? To make the story better :)
How much background do you know before writing? Do you develop it before, or during the story? Do you usually have to add more background in, or take some of it out during your first round of edits?
Monday, March 11, 2013
Eva and I did it!
We walked all the way around the Stanley Park portion of the Seawall, which we've been building up to.
Well, we actually walked farther because I missed the path from English Bay that cuts around Lost Lagoon and meets up at the off-leash dog park.
So, probably closer to 15-15.5 km, plus several stops on the beach, and two ball-throwing sessions at the dog park. We went out at 9:30am and got back just before 2:00pm.
Eva has been crashed on the sofa ever since. Poor little pooped pup.
I'll make sure walk #2 (in about half an hour) will be on the short side ;)
Oh, I've also been working a little on editing (the recently re-titled) "The Rules of Riding Shotgun".
The biggest problem with the MS, at this point, is the likability (or lack there of) of the two main characters. Well, Triss, mostly.
Which is very tricky editing.
The hardest thing about writing an unreliable narrator is showing what the other characters are *truly* like, despite being seen through the MC's warped lens.
...and while Triss' bravado is mostly just that, there seems to be a very fine line between what the MC believes is true, and what the reader believes is true.
Because there should be a difference.
One of the main components of the MC's growth is recognizing that s/he is viewing Triss through a warped lens, but the reader should clue into that much earlier than the MC.
So, I'm taking it piece by piece, scene by scene, and trying to create a little more dimension/wiggle-room.
...and I suppose I won't even know if I've succeeded until I pass it along to readers :)
This is one of those times where I curse my own brain for making me write something unnecessarily complicated... but at the same time, I know that if I actually manage to succeed, that I'm going to be so damn proud that I was able to pull this off.
Well, we actually walked farther because I missed the path from English Bay that cuts around Lost Lagoon and meets up at the off-leash dog park.
So, probably closer to 15-15.5 km, plus several stops on the beach, and two ball-throwing sessions at the dog park. We went out at 9:30am and got back just before 2:00pm.
Eva has been crashed on the sofa ever since. Poor little pooped pup.
I'll make sure walk #2 (in about half an hour) will be on the short side ;)
Oh, I've also been working a little on editing (the recently re-titled) "The Rules of Riding Shotgun".
The biggest problem with the MS, at this point, is the likability (or lack there of) of the two main characters. Well, Triss, mostly.
Which is very tricky editing.
The hardest thing about writing an unreliable narrator is showing what the other characters are *truly* like, despite being seen through the MC's warped lens.
...and while Triss' bravado is mostly just that, there seems to be a very fine line between what the MC believes is true, and what the reader believes is true.
Because there should be a difference.
One of the main components of the MC's growth is recognizing that s/he is viewing Triss through a warped lens, but the reader should clue into that much earlier than the MC.
So, I'm taking it piece by piece, scene by scene, and trying to create a little more dimension/wiggle-room.
...and I suppose I won't even know if I've succeeded until I pass it along to readers :)
This is one of those times where I curse my own brain for making me write something unnecessarily complicated... but at the same time, I know that if I actually manage to succeed, that I'm going to be so damn proud that I was able to pull this off.
Thursday, March 7, 2013
Rules of Riding Shotgun
So, yes, as of today, I'm officially changing the title of "Brake Fluid & Body Bags" to something along the lines of:
"_ Rules of Riding Shotgun"
Notice the "_" in the title? That's 'cause I think I might put a number there, I just haven't decided on how many rules there are.
So far, I have six:
...any other suggestions, or do you think this covers it?
...also, for those grammar nazis out there, should it be "rules OF riding" or "rules FOR riding"? My ear wants it to be 'for', but 'of' seems to be more correct? If it's 'of', my brain wants to add 'the' to the beginning.
Sorry if I'm being confusing... here are the two I'm flipping between:
"The Six Rules of Riding Shotgun"
"Six Rules for Riding Shotgun"
Personally, I like the second one better, I'm just not sure it's grammatically correct
Due to... a number of people suggesting it, the "Rules" are also going to carry through the story better. In my current draft, they were almost secondary, but for the MC, these aren't only the rules of riding shotgun, they are the rules as to how he/she understands relationships with the people around him/her.
Follow the rules, or you get discarded/thrown away.
So, duh. They're pretty important, and I'm an idiot for letting them lapse into the background.
Anyways, would love to hear what you guys think :)
"_ Rules of Riding Shotgun"
Notice the "_" in the title? That's 'cause I think I might put a number there, I just haven't decided on how many rules there are.
So far, I have six:
Don’t ask stupid questions
Don’t talk back
Always obey the driver
Always trust the driver
Always obey the driver
Always trust the driver
Never lie to the driver
Never assume you have the right to ride shotgun
...any other suggestions, or do you think this covers it?
...also, for those grammar nazis out there, should it be "rules OF riding" or "rules FOR riding"? My ear wants it to be 'for', but 'of' seems to be more correct? If it's 'of', my brain wants to add 'the' to the beginning.
Sorry if I'm being confusing... here are the two I'm flipping between:
"The Six Rules of Riding Shotgun"
"Six Rules for Riding Shotgun"
Personally, I like the second one better, I'm just not sure it's grammatically correct
Due to... a number of people suggesting it, the "Rules" are also going to carry through the story better. In my current draft, they were almost secondary, but for the MC, these aren't only the rules of riding shotgun, they are the rules as to how he/she understands relationships with the people around him/her.
Follow the rules, or you get discarded/thrown away.
So, duh. They're pretty important, and I'm an idiot for letting them lapse into the background.
Anyways, would love to hear what you guys think :)
Sunday, February 17, 2013
Getting settled
I'm slowly getting settled in Vancouver.
Wednesday my parents came over for the day and packed all my plants (seriously, I've got a lot of plants...) and a few other things in their SUV. We also went to see 'The Hobbit', which I enjoyed a lot more than the 'LotR' trilogy (I actually fell asleep in each of those...), but that's probably because 'The Hobbit' was the first book I took from my parent's shelf when I was around 7 or 8 and read on my own. I haven't read it since, so watching the movie felt strangely nostalgic in the, "is this a memory, or is this only something I'm imagining is a memory?" kind of way.
Thursday was crazy, decompression treatments in the morning, then packing everything up and having to make tough decisions when I realized everything I wanted to take wouldn't fit in my car. All my art stuff, light table, paints, etc got left behind. I got to the ferry terminal just after 2:00pm, and the 3:00pm ferry was already full, so I ended up parked for 3 hours until the next ferry (5pm). My back/ribs didn't overly appreciate that, so I did get out a couple times to walk Eva around. By the time I got to the condo, around 8:00pm, I was too sore to bring up anything more than the pets and their food. I even had to sleep in my clothes. Good thing I had a toothbrush ;)
Friday... I walked Eva on the Seawall in the morning, and it felt like the first time in 2 months I've been able to take a clean, stress-free breath of air. Then I hung a bunch of my art... not stuff I've made, but stuff I've bought, or have been given as gifts. My parents came by around noon with their SUV full of my plants, and the three of us unloaded their vehicle, and my car. We went out for dinner, Chinese food, including my favourite: gai lan stir-fried with garlic.
Saturday, I walked Eva again, then my bro-in-law (husband's younger brother) was awesome and tagged along on a whirlwind shopping trip to IKEA, Costco & Home Depot to get the last necessities, two of which were lights for the bedroom (seriously, why do condos/houses never have a central ceiling light anymore?) and wall anchors you can hang off, since the headboard for the bed needed to be mounted to the wall. That should have been a 2 person job, an hour max, but instead it took 4.5 hours total on my own... partially since I was dead tired and kept measuring wrong, partially since it was really heavy and it took some mad-analytical-skillz to get it up with only 2 hands. Unfortunately, one of my ribs popped out, but it's not bad.
Today... I've been just taking it easy.
Cooked breakfast, and have been watching a tv show on Netflix that a friend of mine recommended as an excellent time-waster called "Alphas", kinda like "X-Men", "Mutant X", or "Heroes". I have a particular fondness for computer/nerd characters, and Gary is pretty awesome as an autistic guy who can see radio/wi-fi/etc frequencies.
With the bed set up, the art hung, and all the plants watered & fertilized, this place is starting to feel a little like home. Then again, since I've moved 10 times in 10 years (this is #10) maybe I'm just highly adaptable...
Now it's 1:57pm and I think I'm going to take Eva down to the Seawall for a long walk.
Oddly enough, I've been sleeping badly for the last week or so... okay, not so odd considering what's been going on... but the odd part is, I've been "re-writing" Brake-Fluid while in that dozy-nearly-asleep state. Like, visually imagining the words on the page and mentally striking them out and writing new words. I get stuck in that state and can't fall asleep, but I can get up, turn on the light, do other things and snap out of it, but as soon as I lay down and turn off the lights... bam... back in editing mode.
This is a normal thing while writing a first draft of a new story, but I've never experienced it for editing.
Too bad my dyslexic-brain doesn't include a photographic memory, but I could probably re-create about 60-75% if I was awake enough to concentrate.
I'm hoping the walk, and maybe a second walk later this afternoon, will tire me out enough that I can crash.
Wednesday my parents came over for the day and packed all my plants (seriously, I've got a lot of plants...) and a few other things in their SUV. We also went to see 'The Hobbit', which I enjoyed a lot more than the 'LotR' trilogy (I actually fell asleep in each of those...), but that's probably because 'The Hobbit' was the first book I took from my parent's shelf when I was around 7 or 8 and read on my own. I haven't read it since, so watching the movie felt strangely nostalgic in the, "is this a memory, or is this only something I'm imagining is a memory?" kind of way.
Thursday was crazy, decompression treatments in the morning, then packing everything up and having to make tough decisions when I realized everything I wanted to take wouldn't fit in my car. All my art stuff, light table, paints, etc got left behind. I got to the ferry terminal just after 2:00pm, and the 3:00pm ferry was already full, so I ended up parked for 3 hours until the next ferry (5pm). My back/ribs didn't overly appreciate that, so I did get out a couple times to walk Eva around. By the time I got to the condo, around 8:00pm, I was too sore to bring up anything more than the pets and their food. I even had to sleep in my clothes. Good thing I had a toothbrush ;)
Friday... I walked Eva on the Seawall in the morning, and it felt like the first time in 2 months I've been able to take a clean, stress-free breath of air. Then I hung a bunch of my art... not stuff I've made, but stuff I've bought, or have been given as gifts. My parents came by around noon with their SUV full of my plants, and the three of us unloaded their vehicle, and my car. We went out for dinner, Chinese food, including my favourite: gai lan stir-fried with garlic.
Saturday, I walked Eva again, then my bro-in-law (husband's younger brother) was awesome and tagged along on a whirlwind shopping trip to IKEA, Costco & Home Depot to get the last necessities, two of which were lights for the bedroom (seriously, why do condos/houses never have a central ceiling light anymore?) and wall anchors you can hang off, since the headboard for the bed needed to be mounted to the wall. That should have been a 2 person job, an hour max, but instead it took 4.5 hours total on my own... partially since I was dead tired and kept measuring wrong, partially since it was really heavy and it took some mad-analytical-skillz to get it up with only 2 hands. Unfortunately, one of my ribs popped out, but it's not bad.
Today... I've been just taking it easy.
Cooked breakfast, and have been watching a tv show on Netflix that a friend of mine recommended as an excellent time-waster called "Alphas", kinda like "X-Men", "Mutant X", or "Heroes". I have a particular fondness for computer/nerd characters, and Gary is pretty awesome as an autistic guy who can see radio/wi-fi/etc frequencies.
With the bed set up, the art hung, and all the plants watered & fertilized, this place is starting to feel a little like home. Then again, since I've moved 10 times in 10 years (this is #10) maybe I'm just highly adaptable...
Now it's 1:57pm and I think I'm going to take Eva down to the Seawall for a long walk.
Oddly enough, I've been sleeping badly for the last week or so... okay, not so odd considering what's been going on... but the odd part is, I've been "re-writing" Brake-Fluid while in that dozy-nearly-asleep state. Like, visually imagining the words on the page and mentally striking them out and writing new words. I get stuck in that state and can't fall asleep, but I can get up, turn on the light, do other things and snap out of it, but as soon as I lay down and turn off the lights... bam... back in editing mode.
This is a normal thing while writing a first draft of a new story, but I've never experienced it for editing.
Too bad my dyslexic-brain doesn't include a photographic memory, but I could probably re-create about 60-75% if I was awake enough to concentrate.
I'm hoping the walk, and maybe a second walk later this afternoon, will tire me out enough that I can crash.
Friday, November 2, 2012
...AAAAAAND, that feels good.
Can you hear the triumphant sound of angelic trumpets celebrating my victory?
Okay, I know, I know. My brain is a little screwy at the moment.
...what was my guestimated end-goal for BF?
60,000 words
...and what is my total after finishing the final page of edits?
59,678
...which means I have completed my edits, and managed to make my NaNo minimum wordcount goal for the day!
Waa-freakin'-hoo, this feels awesome.
Now I can finally get some new words in on Project #5.
Okay, I know, I know. My brain is a little screwy at the moment.
...what was my guestimated end-goal for BF?
60,000 words
...and what is my total after finishing the final page of edits?
59,678
...which means I have completed my edits, and managed to make my NaNo minimum wordcount goal for the day!
Waa-freakin'-hoo, this feels awesome.
Now I can finally get some new words in on Project #5.
Thursday, November 1, 2012
Wow, I'm creepin' up
So far today, I've added 2,530 words to 'Brake Fluid', and I'm just about to start Chapter 17 (of 24).
My total word count is now over 58,500, and I'm pretty darn happy about the prospect of closing in on 60,000, as that was my original/guestimated goal for this story.
If I wasn't so tired right now, I'd share a crazy story with you... but the thought of typing out more words at this point... not in my top 5 of things I want to do, so I'll try to share the story tomorrow.
G'night, all, and a big "Congrats!", "Good job!", and "Well done!" for all those NaNo-ers who managed to get some words in today... even if you didn't hit the 1667 daily minimum :)
...you've started, and for many people, that's the hardest part.
Go to sleep early and wake up refreshed for another day of mad writing.
My total word count is now over 58,500, and I'm pretty darn happy about the prospect of closing in on 60,000, as that was my original/guestimated goal for this story.
If I wasn't so tired right now, I'd share a crazy story with you... but the thought of typing out more words at this point... not in my top 5 of things I want to do, so I'll try to share the story tomorrow.
G'night, all, and a big "Congrats!", "Good job!", and "Well done!" for all those NaNo-ers who managed to get some words in today... even if you didn't hit the 1667 daily minimum :)
...you've started, and for many people, that's the hardest part.
Go to sleep early and wake up refreshed for another day of mad writing.
Sunday, October 28, 2012
Weirdness+
Voice comes out strongest in the way the characters view the world around them.
My nameless, genderless MC was already pretty strange in my first-draft, but I'd have to say that in this stage of edits, I find the weirdness keeps creeping higher every time I make a change.
...and I think all my favourite lines are the ones where the MC is hyper-sensitive about some things, and dumbbell-dense about other things, 'cause I love how lopsided/uneven this character is mentally.
Here's a couple of new/re-written lines from today:
My nameless, genderless MC was already pretty strange in my first-draft, but I'd have to say that in this stage of edits, I find the weirdness keeps creeping higher every time I make a change.
...and I think all my favourite lines are the ones where the MC is hyper-sensitive about some things, and dumbbell-dense about other things, 'cause I love how lopsided/uneven this character is mentally.
Here's a couple of new/re-written lines from today:
She gives me a wicked grin, but it’s not quite right. She sounds normal, looks normal, but something’s off. I can’t put my finger on it, but the tension in my muscles cranks up another notch, the urge to fight or flee at a rolling, simmering boil.
And my teeth clench, and my lungs clench, and I start to sweat and shiver at the same time. I want to bolt, and hide, and hug her all at the same time, but I can’t, so I slip a twenty out of her wallet and dash inside.
As the dirt falls away, I’m relieved to see that the wounds aren’t as bad as I thought they were, and I feel stupid for panicking, ‘cause it’s not like she was walking and running for hours on frozen asphalt and hobbling over gravel and broken glass. It was only bark-mulch, grass, and the width of one street. It was maybe ten seconds, not four hours. It’s 50 degrees Fahrenheit outside, not below 40, and she was fully clothed. Everything about this is different.
The one thing that’s the same is the shaking.
Thursday, October 25, 2012
Clean draft, clean attitude
'Brake Fluid' was the cleanest first draft I've ever written, which is strange, since it's also the most complicated story I've ever written.
And I admit I have conflicted feelings about that.
Go ahead and roll your eyes... 'cause you know what I'm going to talk about, right?
Well, you're only partially correct.
Yeah, I've talked before about how, since I'm dyslexic, I expect there to be problems with my writing. I expect things not to make sense, for description to be convoluted, for not enough of what's in my head to end up on the page.
I expect my first drafts (and even second or third drafts) will get shredded up by my CP's.
...and that's why my writing is getting better. 'Cause my CP's don't cut me any slack. Which is why they are good CP's.
A while back, someone who knows me well sent me a link about compliments. And along with trying to write a cleaner first-draft, I've also been trying to change my attitude, to take a compliment without assuming there's another shoe waiting to drop.
I've always loved writing, but there was always that voice in the back of my head saying, "not enough..."
While I've never explicitly stated it before, I've put a huge concentrated effort into not only becoming a better story teller, but becoming a better first-drafter. I pay very close attention to the things I'm bad at, the things I constantly err in (like, in BF, mixing up 'truck' and 'trunk' about 85% of the time, or in the case of writing this blog post, 'except' and 'expect').
...and this is the first time I feel that my efforts have paid off.
As I work through my edits on 'BF', I keep asking myself, why is this so easy? Why aren't there any huge problems that need to be re-written? Why do I feel like I'm being lazy or have been let off the hook in some way...?
And strangely enough... I'm trusting that my CP's caught everything major. That I won't be blindsided with something later on.
What is this strange feeling... is this confidence?
Honestly, I have no idea, but it feels damn good.
When I wrote that previous post (about the compliments link), I said I was searching for some kind of solid validation that my hard work is moving me forward, that it's getting results and my effort is not being wasted. And while I still haven't received any outward validation, somehow, I'm not worried, I'm not beating myself up, I'm not desperately analyzing every comment a CP sent me, looking for the hidden criticism.
I think I deserve to laugh at myself.
Did it really take me this long to figure out that validation has to start in my own brain?
And I admit I have conflicted feelings about that.
Go ahead and roll your eyes... 'cause you know what I'm going to talk about, right?
Well, you're only partially correct.
Yeah, I've talked before about how, since I'm dyslexic, I expect there to be problems with my writing. I expect things not to make sense, for description to be convoluted, for not enough of what's in my head to end up on the page.
I expect my first drafts (and even second or third drafts) will get shredded up by my CP's.
...and that's why my writing is getting better. 'Cause my CP's don't cut me any slack. Which is why they are good CP's.
A while back, someone who knows me well sent me a link about compliments. And along with trying to write a cleaner first-draft, I've also been trying to change my attitude, to take a compliment without assuming there's another shoe waiting to drop.
I've always loved writing, but there was always that voice in the back of my head saying, "not enough..."
While I've never explicitly stated it before, I've put a huge concentrated effort into not only becoming a better story teller, but becoming a better first-drafter. I pay very close attention to the things I'm bad at, the things I constantly err in (like, in BF, mixing up 'truck' and 'trunk' about 85% of the time, or in the case of writing this blog post, 'except' and 'expect').
...and this is the first time I feel that my efforts have paid off.
As I work through my edits on 'BF', I keep asking myself, why is this so easy? Why aren't there any huge problems that need to be re-written? Why do I feel like I'm being lazy or have been let off the hook in some way...?
And strangely enough... I'm trusting that my CP's caught everything major. That I won't be blindsided with something later on.
What is this strange feeling... is this confidence?
Honestly, I have no idea, but it feels damn good.
When I wrote that previous post (about the compliments link), I said I was searching for some kind of solid validation that my hard work is moving me forward, that it's getting results and my effort is not being wasted. And while I still haven't received any outward validation, somehow, I'm not worried, I'm not beating myself up, I'm not desperately analyzing every comment a CP sent me, looking for the hidden criticism.
I think I deserve to laugh at myself.
Did it really take me this long to figure out that validation has to start in my own brain?
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