- Notes From The Universe
Monday, April 11, 2011
Monday Inspiration
I SO needed this today. How does the universe always know?
"The difference between taking baby steps and acting small, is that one prepares you for success, the other for a fall."
- Notes From The Universe
- Notes From The Universe
Wednesday, April 6, 2011
It's Not Cheating If It Helps
So I was perusing my copy of The Art of War For Writers by James Scott Bell, looking for tips as I prepare to start my brand new book from scratch and I came across this suggestion from Chapter 20:
Bell suggests that you list the things you know you need to improve in your writing on notecards, or post-its --a sort of cheat sheet-- and keep them where you can see them when you're writing.
Some of the notes that he uses personally include:
Emotion! Emotion! Emotion! - Which reminds him that his primary objective is to give readers an emotional ride.
Be Dialogue Happy - Reminding him to let the dialogue flow, he can always edit it later.
And my favorite:
The Second Right Answer - This one could be a post all on its own. Bell suggests that we should learn to stop at every major creative decision in our story (for example: plot turning points) and think of several options before moving forward. This is because usually, the first idea we have (the right answer) for "what happens next" is the obvious, or cliche, or standard way of going.
This is something I actually do when plotting. I ask myself, what is the obvious expectation here, and what are my other options. Then I pick the one that's most interesting, or surprising, or emotional, that makes sense for my characters and my story.
I think this is a great idea and am definitely going to make up a few reminder notes for myself. Other than what Bell has listed, I know I'll have one that says "Description! Description! Description!" because I tend to leave that out of my draft.
What about you? Do you make reminders for yourself? What would be on your post its?
Wednesday, March 30, 2011
Getting Defensive: A Cautionary Tale
If you have not yet seen This Astonishing Post you MUST go read it now. No time? Okay, I'll paraphrase it for you. The link takes you to BigAl's blog where he gave 2 stars to a self-published book he'd been asked to review, and then the author comments several times with angry diatribes, and comments that make it clear she has not understood what the reviewer was saying, before finally signing off with a pair of F*** Off!s. I encourage you to read BigAl's review when you have a chance because I think it's a fair and honest review of the book.
He called the story "compelling and interesting."
He also said "the spelling and grammar errors, which come so quickly that, especially in the first several chapters, it’s difficult to get into the book without being jarred back to reality as you attempt unraveling what the author meant."
Ouch, right? But a fair warning. He makes it clear that if you can get past these, you will find a compelling story, and he did in fact read the whole book, however, the difficulty he had reading it was one of the factors that lead to his low rating.
The author (who I will not name, nor will I post any of her writing samples for ridicule) took offense to the review and apparently misunderstood, or refused to believe that the reviewer was not talking about mere formatting problems within the ebook.
She made repeated negative references to the reviewers character and integrity, as well as his and many other commenters' intelligence.
In response, many commenters apparently went to amazon and rated her book, which previously had 4 and 5 star ratings, with one star.
It was quite simply, mortifying.
And it made me think. My first reaction was one of how can she be so angry? He said her story was good, just the writing wasn't up to par. But then I tried to put myself in her shoes. This was a book she'd put up for sale, as an example of her talent. And I remembered how the first few times I got a critique from one of my crit partners, I could only see the negatives -- the things that didn't work, the should've-been-obvious mistakes, the seemingly insurmountable amount of revision I was going to have to do even though I'd already worked so hard on it.
And then I felt kind of bad for the author.
She had a fairly natural reaction to a negative review, but rather than taking the time to process it, find the good, find the things she didn't agree with and let them go, she took it straight to the internet and sabotaged her reputation, and potentially her book sales and career by lashing out.
So today, I just want to remind us all (including myself!) to STOP, and BREATHE, and THINK before lashing out at those we have asked to help us. Remember that any crit or review is just one person's opinion, but also that there is almost always something worthwhile in a negative critique or review. You can't please everyone at once, but you can always improve.
And those of you going the self-publishing route, I think this author's experience is proof that you must be extra vigilent since you won't automatically have the eyes of a professional editor or copyeditor before your book goes out into the world.
Don't let defensiveness, pride, or hurt feelings keep you from making your book the best it can be!
He called the story "compelling and interesting."
He also said "the spelling and grammar errors, which come so quickly that, especially in the first several chapters, it’s difficult to get into the book without being jarred back to reality as you attempt unraveling what the author meant."
Ouch, right? But a fair warning. He makes it clear that if you can get past these, you will find a compelling story, and he did in fact read the whole book, however, the difficulty he had reading it was one of the factors that lead to his low rating.
The author (who I will not name, nor will I post any of her writing samples for ridicule) took offense to the review and apparently misunderstood, or refused to believe that the reviewer was not talking about mere formatting problems within the ebook.
She made repeated negative references to the reviewers character and integrity, as well as his and many other commenters' intelligence.
In response, many commenters apparently went to amazon and rated her book, which previously had 4 and 5 star ratings, with one star.
It was quite simply, mortifying.
And it made me think. My first reaction was one of how can she be so angry? He said her story was good, just the writing wasn't up to par. But then I tried to put myself in her shoes. This was a book she'd put up for sale, as an example of her talent. And I remembered how the first few times I got a critique from one of my crit partners, I could only see the negatives -- the things that didn't work, the should've-been-obvious mistakes, the seemingly insurmountable amount of revision I was going to have to do even though I'd already worked so hard on it.
And then I felt kind of bad for the author.
She had a fairly natural reaction to a negative review, but rather than taking the time to process it, find the good, find the things she didn't agree with and let them go, she took it straight to the internet and sabotaged her reputation, and potentially her book sales and career by lashing out.
So today, I just want to remind us all (including myself!) to STOP, and BREATHE, and THINK before lashing out at those we have asked to help us. Remember that any crit or review is just one person's opinion, but also that there is almost always something worthwhile in a negative critique or review. You can't please everyone at once, but you can always improve.
And those of you going the self-publishing route, I think this author's experience is proof that you must be extra vigilent since you won't automatically have the eyes of a professional editor or copyeditor before your book goes out into the world.
Don't let defensiveness, pride, or hurt feelings keep you from making your book the best it can be!
Wednesday, March 23, 2011
Chapters Vs. Scenes
So I was reading this awesome post at QueryTracker today about writing a synopsis and the section on chapters got me thinking.
I don't write in chapters. My brain doesn't understand them. Like, literally - I find it confusing how sometimes a chapter can take place over a period of three days, and another time a chapter ends in the middle of a scene and the next chapter picks up at the exact same place. I can't find the pattern.
I think in scenes and scene sequences - thanks to all my film and screenwriting education, I guess. My first ms is a dual narrative and for the most part each "chapter" is one complete scene or sequence.
H.L. Dyer says at QueryTracker, "Each chapter, like a novel, should have a beginning, middle, and an ending."
This makes sense to me, and I think this is true of my scenes and scene sequences, they are just generally too short to be considered a "typical" chapter. I'm also a fan of the short chapter in fiction, so maybe that says something about me and my writing.
As I'm in the planning stages of my next book, I'm finding the chapter issue interesting. This book will have one narrator and so switching chapters at the end of each scene doesn't quite work with how I want this book to be.
I don't outline, but I do make note of all the major scenes I know need to happen, as well as my beginning through to the inciting incident, and my ending. I'm fascinated by people who use chapter outlines, and know exactly what will be in each chapter when they sit down to write.
I don't know how they do this. But then I also tend to be more fluid with my scenes. I will switch them around and re-order them in order to best build tension, make motivations clear, and keep the story moving forward.
At this point, I feel certain that I will have to write first and separate into chapters later. I will probably but in chapter breaks in places where it feels right, but other than that I won't know where a chapter ends and the next one starts until I finish the story.
What about you? Do you know exactly what your chapters will entail? Do you think in chapters or scenes? Does anyone else split and number chapters after they've written the book? Am I crazy?
I don't write in chapters. My brain doesn't understand them. Like, literally - I find it confusing how sometimes a chapter can take place over a period of three days, and another time a chapter ends in the middle of a scene and the next chapter picks up at the exact same place. I can't find the pattern.
I think in scenes and scene sequences - thanks to all my film and screenwriting education, I guess. My first ms is a dual narrative and for the most part each "chapter" is one complete scene or sequence.
H.L. Dyer says at QueryTracker, "Each chapter, like a novel, should have a beginning, middle, and an ending."
This makes sense to me, and I think this is true of my scenes and scene sequences, they are just generally too short to be considered a "typical" chapter. I'm also a fan of the short chapter in fiction, so maybe that says something about me and my writing.
As I'm in the planning stages of my next book, I'm finding the chapter issue interesting. This book will have one narrator and so switching chapters at the end of each scene doesn't quite work with how I want this book to be.
I don't outline, but I do make note of all the major scenes I know need to happen, as well as my beginning through to the inciting incident, and my ending. I'm fascinated by people who use chapter outlines, and know exactly what will be in each chapter when they sit down to write.
I don't know how they do this. But then I also tend to be more fluid with my scenes. I will switch them around and re-order them in order to best build tension, make motivations clear, and keep the story moving forward.
At this point, I feel certain that I will have to write first and separate into chapters later. I will probably but in chapter breaks in places where it feels right, but other than that I won't know where a chapter ends and the next one starts until I finish the story.
What about you? Do you know exactly what your chapters will entail? Do you think in chapters or scenes? Does anyone else split and number chapters after they've written the book? Am I crazy?
Thursday, March 17, 2011
Three Things on a Thursday (WINNERS!)
Don't drink and drive!
1. Look what Pretty Little Liars sent me! A clover plant! How cute is that?
Next Monday, March 21, they're doing a marathon leading up to the Spring Finale! Don't miss it!
2. I wrote a letter to my teenage self for the awesome website Dear Teen Me and it's up today. Read all about My Tragic Youth (And see some rather embarrassing photos of my "fashion sense")! And then read the other letters from some amazing YA authors like Sarah Ockler, Hanna Moskowitz, Shannon Messenger, Jo Knowles, Sara Zarr, Elana Johnson, I could go on and on!
3. Now for what you've been waiting for, the winner of my Back From Branson Giveaway Part 2! They are:
TRISHA
Congrats to the winners! Look for an email from me soon! Thanks so much to everyone for entering and spreading the word! I have a lot more books to give away now that BEA is coming up! So you've got plenty of chances to win!
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