Six Sentence Sunday - Episode Twelve

YIKES!  Sorry all.  I am not sure my writerly dreams will come to fruition this year - at least this spring / summer.  Darn day job!  Busy, busy with whopping marketing reports for two clients...Well, you could say writing a marketing report is sort of similar to fiction writing!

I'm back with SSS.  However, I won't be able to comment until probably Monday and I can't wait to see what I missed!

Continuing in RESET - the Butcher Shop scene.  To read the whole scene since Episode One, click HERE.

She tried to cross her arms in front of her, but her parka was so bulky, she gave up, letting her hands slide into the pockets instead. “I find old memories fascinating,” she said.



“Do you.” I had meant it to sound like a question.


“Yes,” she said, still defensive. “Who doesn't?”


“I don't.”

And the mystery deepens...Thanks to all who continue to stop by, even when I can't be as dedicated a Blogger as I'd like. 
 
As always, don't miss reading tidbits from other talented writers' WIPs and finished works by visiting the Six Sentence Sunday Links page HERE.
 
Happy Sunday!

Six Sentence Sunday - Episode Four

This is too much fun!

This snippet is also from RESET.

Last week, we left off with the enigmatic, half human Lewis Hunter experiencing a flashback when he goes to serve a customer in the butcher shop where he works.

“This would make great filets,” I said, pointing to an expensive piece of tenderloin.

She was looking at me - scrutinizing me, a crease deepening between her lovely blue-gray eyes.

I pulled my ball cap further down. She doesn’t know me. She cannot know me.

“Do I…?” Her hand gripped the counter.

Now hurry on over and check out the links to other entries. And next week, why don;t you give SSS a try? Sign up on Wednesday, post your Six before 9 a.m. (Eastern) and that's it! It's a great way to find new friends for Facebook, new writers to follow on Twitter and new blogs to read.

Happy reading!

Juggling Skills - or Lack Thereof

ACK! My posts are getting sporadic. I'll try to do better in the next few weeks. Thanks for the new follows. It's fun to see the list grow. When I began this blog, the number of people reading sat at BIG FAT ZERO for months. So, a BIG thank you!

So, yeah. Juggling. I can't do it. My husband can juggle 3 items (soft, round items. Not knives or anything) and he tried to teach me. But I drop stuff. And soft, over-ripe oranges go splat.

And then there's LIFE juggling. You know what I'm talking about. Most of my aspiring writer friends are trying to balance writing (and all that social networking that must accompany it) with a career/day job (usually uber-boring, by comparison), kids/dogs (or both), and any number of other things from a sick, live-in parent, a farm, volunteer work and the list could go on and on.

I am struggling with juggling.

I can barely find the time to get my day job work (luckily, I telecommute) and my farm chores done by the end of the day. Add social networking to the mix (Blogging and commenting on blogs I follow, Tweeting, Facebooking) it seems that writing - the one thing to which I would happily dedicate my whole day seems to be taking a back seat.

Here's what I plan on doing next week. Or, perhaps the week after since I have a big work project over the next several days that will probably throw me for a loop.

1) Try to limit the number of blogs I read/comment on.

Blogging is time consuming. But let's face it. There is a wealth of learning and networking to be had by reading and commenting on blogs. Plus, if you want people to read and follow your own blog, you've absolutely got to do this. I've 'met' a tone of great writer folk through blogs. But, My Follow list is steadily growing. I need to skim titles and read only what catches my eye. Or something.

2) Use Tweetdeck or something to schedule Tweets.

I am a novice Tweeter, but I'm trying. I just find Twitter so time-sucking! Anyone got any other tips? Please let me know!

3) Cross post my Facebook and Twitter updates or at least some) to kill two of those birds with one stone.

4) LIMIT my online Twitter and Facebook time (yes, my posts are woefully infrequent, but I still find myself spending a lot of my time there!)

5) Schedule writing time.

Like exercise, writing won't make time for me. I've got to make time for writing. My muse is at its best anywhere from 3 am to 6 am (with 10 cups of coffee of course). That still gives me time to get farm chores done and hike my dogs (see exercise, above) before I need to sit at The Work Desk. Of course, then I'm wiped by 8 pm!

6) Take a day of from writing once a week.

I know, this seems counter productive. But honestly, my WIP or revisions benefit from a day of not actively thinking about it - that's when most of the questions get answered and problems get solved. Tip: Carry a small notebook and pen with you EVERYWHERE. The answer to your plot problem will come at the most inopportune times!

So, what do you all do to juggle everything? Are you like me, dropping oranges or are you an expert, like Bobby May?

Happy Juggling!

And remember....






Tomorrow!

Audiobooks: Same as Reading?

I do a heck of a lot of long distance driving. Good radio stations are sometimes hard to find, and even your favorite itunes playlist gets old after 5+ hours.

A few years ago, I joined an online audiobook club. For a monthly membership fee (around $15) I get one new credit each month. One credit buys most all of the audiobooks on the site (thousands - it's rare that I can't find a title I want). Sometimes a book will cost you two credits (all the Stephenie Meyer books - not sure why, as well as George RR Martin's fantasy series - I get that, they are often 45+ hours of listening joy!)


Of course, even your favorite books can be spoiled by a reader who doesn't quite match the author's "voice". But if the reader is a good fit, the stories that are fantastic on paper are made even more awesome. You can get totally swept into the world, and five hours in the car passes in the blink of an eye.

Someone once said to me that listening to a book read to you is not the same thing as reading (ha, there is defunct Facebook Group that also believes that), and to be a good writer, you need to READ.


I disagree.

NOT with the reading part, obviously. All writers should be ravenous readers, it's the way we see what might work in our own writing, how to improve imagery through metaphor use, for example; how overkill on similes can draw you out, how important voice is, etc. etc. But can you learn these things from listening to an audiobook, rather than reading your favorite novel?

YES. In fact, I almost would say - for me, at least - even more so.

When the reader is a perfect fit, the characters leap to life, the choice of words and sentence structure embed themselves into your mind...You can hear the punctuation, ascertain subtle emotion shifts, listen to the flow - the poetry of the paragraph, and how it brings the world to life.

If the reader is not a good fit, however, well... I usually don't get through the entire book, so I can't say if it would work the same way.

Below are a list of some of the audiobooks I've listened to recently and a couple of reasons why felt they helped me as a writer or why they didn't. So, got a road trip coming up? Try an audiobook. Really listen to it...No conversation with any other passengers, just listen. You'll pick up at least a handful of great ideas for your own work, I guarantee it!

A Game of Thrones, A Clash of Kings, A Storm of Swords (George RR Martin) - all read by Ray Doltrice

• Deep world building comes to life, you can see how important even simple language is in relation to that world
  
• Doltrice has a difficult time doing the voices of all the characters, leaving the listener somewhat confused. For instance, one character sounds a certain way in one book, and a completely different way by the third. (It must be SO hard to keep all of Martin's characters straight - I'm sure I couldn't do it!)
  
• The next books in the series are read by John Lee (who reads Follet's Pillars of the Earth books. So far, I like him better)

Harry Potter series (JK Rowling) - all read by Jim Dale

• Characters all done in different voices - perfectly! Each one is completely true to the book, in my opinion, which is NOT an easy thing to do!
  
• I enjoyed the audiobooks far more than the print books - but did they help me with my writing? Can't think right now what I took away from that series, but if nothing, you should listen to them for the sheer entertainment value!

Undead and Unwed (and all the Betsy Taylor vampire series, by Mary Janice Davidson) - read by Nancy Wu

• I got through two of these on audiobook, because the reader completely spoiled Betsy by making her sound like Bart Simpson. I do realize the snark had to be there, but it was MUCH better in my own head.
  
• What did I take away? Hmm, can't decide. The reader was too distracting.
  

Wicked Lovely (Melissa Marr) - read by Alyssa Bresnahan

• I have only listened to the first one of the series and am hesitating on the next because the reader changes, but the dark tone of the story is dramatically conveyed by Bresnahan, and I felt myself hanging on every word, letting the poetry of the sentences sink in.
  
• What I took away: style is important - dramatic writing creates drama in the plot - even if plot drama is lacking in some places - it keeps the reader hanging onto every word.

And my favorite one so far, Delirium (Lauren Oliver) - read by Sarah Drew

This reader has a PERFECT voice for the characters, and she makes the book almost musical, interpreting the rise and fall of rhythms so that words embedded themselves in my head. I caught myself saying, WOW on numerous occasions, just for the way the author strung her words together, and her endless metaphors and similes which didn't distract but brings the story to life.

• Entertainment value also very high - if you are into YA and have not gotten your hands on a copy yet - you NEED to!
  
• High concept plot - makes me jealous that I didn't think of it! All great take aways from this audiobook

I might try Shiver on audiobook, but I'm not sure if the reader's voice will ruin what's in my head (although having a female reader do Grace's part and a man do Sam's should help, and I do think they'll work). But, when I read this book, Stiefvater's beautiful writing just floored me. Yes, it's YA, so no, not Homer, not Shakespeare... Just modern and fresh and wonderful. And a great story to boot!

That's all for now - happy reading, happy listening... Happy writing!

Daily Word Count Targets and Goals

Yep, it's Saturday, so this post is seriously tardy.

I think I have set an unrealistic goal for finishing RESET. I wanted to have Ginormous Rewrite #3 finished by the end of March. (Note I say rewrite as opposed to revision, of which there has been more than I can count on my own fingers.)

Now I have a good reason for pushing myself. I never had a brother in the Boy Scouts, but the motto Be Prepared seems like a good, general one for every writer.

Be Prepared.

Since my first 25 pages made the finals in the NTWRA Great Expectations contest, I feel it would be very imprudent to not have Rewrite #3 complete in the event that all the stars align, they discover life on Mars, and I actually get a request.

Yes, I could submit Rewrite #2 but lots has changed in my plot since I began asking the right questions!

However, I am about to enter the land of the employed again, much to my relief and chagrin. Yes, I'll get a paycheck again (kind of important) but it will leave less time for writing.

Rewrite #3 is currently at 62,000 words. I have a lot of scenes that won't require more than a "simple" POV change, but others that are sitting empty. I have written the new awesome ending, but have to answer a lot of my questions in the next 30,000 or so words.

Can I do it?

What goals do you have for yourself and what drives you to push yourself everyday?

Finding WWWWH and More Through Clustering

WWWWH = Who, What, When, Where and How.

Have you ever....

• Started a story only to stall out after 10,000 words?


• Finished a story only to find out your character is so shallow a child could dig her grave?

Are you writing a story that has a lot of conflict, but no CONFLICT?

Do you want to give your villain a secret that raises the stakes?

If you are right-brained (take a quiz here), then clustering will feel utterly natural. If you are left brained, clustering might be more difficult. You may feel the urge to divert to organized lists instead of messy bubbles and lines. But just give it a try - I think you'll be amazed!

When I took the above quiz, my results showed I am 58% right brained. I studied Art in university....Alongside Stats, Finance, Accounting....Maybe this is why I feel comfortable with lists and bubbles?

Anyway. How can clustering help fix your story?

I was amazed at how quickly this method found the coolest plot twists and secrets!

Here's how it works: Write a word in the middle of a page along with a few descriptive words. If you are looking at the whole picture first (i.e. your whole novel), write the title of your novel, along with a simple logline that describes your plot.

Example: RESET: A young woman must discover a secret past.

And yes, draw a bubble around it (left brainers who need neatness might make these bubbles symmetrical rectangles - that's okay!)

Now, the fun part...

Start asking questions! About your protagonist, your villain, the setting...

Draw bubbles around each answer and connect bubbles with subsequent answers to the "subject cluster". I got so into this that I began separate pages for EVERY little thing. And I am uncovering new stuff with every question I ask!

What questions do you ask?

Anything!

You can start small, if you're having trouble. For instance, one of the questions I asked about my hero was "what does he like to eat", when I wrote the answer "very rare steak" it lead to a bunch of other questions and voila - he has an intriguing secret (NOT telling!)

So, go ahead and have fun with this. It's such an awesome tool, I can't believe I shied away from it before. Must have been the 42% left brain in me!

Playing with Stakes - not the Vampire kind!

Thee first draft of RESET was unreadable. A Great Big Mess.

I painstakingly put the whole thing through a wringer, then mercilessly chopped, pasted, rewrote. That was the FIRST BIG REWRITE.

I was so proud! My story worked!

Er, say again?

I prematurely queried ten agents - not top picks. Well, most weren't. Guess what? TEN form rejections. No surprise there. But that was okay - I was just getting my feet wet...Wasn't I?

After submitting my first five pages to the folks at the QueryTracker.net forums, I began to grasp what was wrong.

Back to the drawing board. I became the Ruthless Reviser yet again, cutting 15,000 words and tightening the story, making the plot clearer. I read the whole thing out loud to my dogs and was pleasantly surprised when I found I enjoyed it!

So, I'm ready to hit the query trenches again... Except, what the hell is my book really about? Sure there's romance, there's a twist, there's a couple of immortal beings.... But the stakes are not high enough. There's a lot of conflict, but no CONFLICT. There's not a whole lot to lose that the character hasn't already lost before.

It seemed I wrote my entire novel without asking any QUESTIONS!!!

Don't know what I'm talking about?

Holly Lisle writes about it HERE.

So the new question is: Can I raise my stakes, or should I stake my novel? Hmm, I'm not sure my MC can be killed that easily!

Happy Question Asking! When in doubt...Just ask "WHY?"

Help, My Characters are Stalking Me!

During the last go-round of rewriting Reset, a new character knocked on my door. Really loudly. I mean, hammered. Now, she and her ever growing entourage refuse to leave me alone!

I am 30K (ish) words in to Rewind, a prequel to Reset, and I hate to admit, but I've hit The Wall.

It sucks, the story's weak, the plot confusing...The ever growing list of negative feed into my brain makes me want to quit, and these new characters, who fit nowhere into my plans, are urging me, pressuring me, threatening me to pay attention to THEM!

They're all there when I wake up in the morning, they follow me on my morning hike with my dogs, they sit down at the computer with me, whispering and scratching in my head...They come to bed with me, keeping me awake with their constant chatter.

I'm beginning to feel like the Verizon guy..."Can you hear me now?"

But, I need to keep on track! Finish what I've started....

Right?

Even as I type this post, I find myself scribbling scenes for these characters on the backs of my old business cards (hey, they are good for something). I discover that their story is NOT to be ignored. It feels too powerful somehow.

Am I up for it? Do I even have the skills, newbie that I am, to bring it to life?

Am I a failure for not finishing my WIP?

Will this be the story of my writing life: begin a novel, hit The Wall, give up and let myself be bullied and coerced into starting a new one?

I can't think of the answers right now, I have to research names, build a world, create a language...

Uh, oh, sounds suspiciously like Sci-fi, a 180 degree turn from the Paranormal Romance that Reset became as I revisited themes and 'What Matters' during my (many) rewrites.

Yikes. What the hell am I getting myself into now?

I have a gorgeous office...

Complete with a huge wraparound desk and hutch, two walls of windows overlooking fields and a pond, a wall of custom, built in filing cabinets and drawers with dog paw print shaped pewter knobs (so cute), an oak floor, recessed lighting, a big flat computer screen, an ergonomic leather chair, a private phone line...

Yet I find myself doing all of my writing on a pathetic little netbook in my basement, sitting on a hard antique chair and surrounded by swirling dogs, floating dust bunnies and poor lighting.

WHY?

Is it a) because I logged countless hours doing very non creative things in that office? b) because it saps my creative energy? or c) do I just prefer to be surrounded by muddy dogs?

Where do you do most of your writing? Do you do your revising in the same place?

'Showing' the Way to Reduce Word Count

Show Don't Tell all the instruction books on writing tell us. But how to weave the all important character development or that 'the-entire-book-depends-on-this' backstory into action?

Naive beginner writer that I am, I thought I WAS showing, mostly. Especially in my first scene. I thought I had nailed it! Landed the reader right into the important stuff. It wasn't until I got my first, honest critique that I saw how far off I was.

So here I am, revising again...And enjoying it! I need to cut 10-15K words (at least), and now I am really seeing how easy this will be!

Excerpt from previous RESET draft (a mid-story excerpt, so as not to give anything away!):

I wasn’t sure why it was taking me so long to make a decision, but I stood for what seemed a ridiculously long time staring down into the top drawer of my dresser. Archie would arrive, hungry at the river any minute and since it was my turn to bring snacks, I should hurry up and choose what I was going to wear already.

Archie was always starving. I was never quite sure where he put it all and wondered if his voracious appetite would slow down once he finished growing up and all the puberty stuff was over and done with. Maybe, as his high speed metabolism slowed down, he would get fat when he was older. I hoped the sad little tuna sandwiches I had made would fill the hole in his stomach somewhat, because there was no hope of pilfering anything better from the kitchen; I didn’t want to have to explain to my mother or tell her where I was going. She didn’t approve ...

BLAH BLAH BLAH for 1000 more words or so...

YAWN. *Puts book down never to pick it up again*

So, obviously this needed to be cut ruthlessly.

Here's what it became:

"Nice swimsuit." Archie smirked at the frilly pink thing I had, for some reason, chosen over my regular swim attire of cutoffs and a boy's undershirt. "Did you bring the sandwiches?"

I thought about the tired looking tuna fish sandwiches I'd packed. "I didn't have time to get much," I lied. "I had to finish my homework." The truth was, I didn't want any questions from my mother. If I had taken anything else, she would have noticed, asked where was I going, with whom and that sort of thing.

Archie grabbed my bag, peering in. "That's it? If I had known you were going to be so stingy, I would have had my mom pack the lunch,” he complained.

Guilt heated my face as I remembered what Mrs. Baldwin had packed last time - thick ham sandwiches and giant oatmeal cookies. I was ashamed at my own lack of effort. I was the rich girl, after all. That last lunch Archie brought probably emptied the Baldwin’s pantry.

There's still some telling, but I think these paragraphs are better balanced now. It still may be cut completely...Nothing is safe! *laughs evilly* But this is the idea behind my current editing craze!

Happy writing (and editing)!

Does This Dress Make Me Look Fat? (Or, Will You Critique My Story?)

Writing.

Riding the roller coaster of emotions: the OMG, my story is awesome! and the Another rejection? My story sucks! does something to one's objectivity towards their own work.

So, employ the objectivity of someone else.

A Beta reader could be a friend or family member. But remember, they love you.

"Does this dress make me look fat?" Even if you seek an honest answer to the question, would they tell you? Remember, they won't want to hurt your feelings. Best find someone else, perhaps a member of one of the writer's forums you are a member of? Maybe someone with a cool screen name and avatar...

And since critiquing will only help you grow as a writer, how about swapping stories?

Okay, you've got the first 50 pages of your new crit partner's manuscript in your inbox. Eager to dive in and hopefully enjoy a good story whilst making suggestions for an awkward sentence here and there, you expect to be finished and have it sent back within the hour.

Uh oh. The dress really DOES make that person look fat. Do you say so? Or do you add a silk scarf, some bling, to draw the eye upwards?

What if the manuscript you are critiquing reads so much like a first draft from NaNo that you are on comment number 245 and it's only page 31?

"Sorry. The dress is really not right."

I opted to tell the writer where I, as a reader, was left feeling frustrated, confused and bored. I broke the critiquing golden rule of sandwiching a criticism in between two compliments (although I did comment positively in the parts I did enjoy), and although I tried to make my criticism constructive, I'm pretty sure I fell short. I do feel bad about that.

But should I feel guilty? Depends. If the writer was only looking for compliments on her dress, then I might. If she is truly looking to be published someday (aren't we all?) then I hope she'll accept my critique for what it is.

Honest.

I don't pretend to know all about writing, but everyone who reads knows when a story doesn't "work".

I wished I'd got back an honest "Yes, the dress does make you look fat" from my partner. I hope she wasn't just being nice when she said how much she enjoyed the story and wanted to keep reading. How will I know?


Crit Links:

How to Critique a Bad Manuscript

How to Take a Critiquing and Keep on Ticking



Where to find Beta Reader:


Forward Motion Writers Community Forums (free membership required)


QueryTracker.net Forums (Free membership required)

How to Keep Your Writing Dream Alive (or Giving Up is easy, but Not Giving Up isn't that hard either)

I am getting responses on my first queries, and none of them have been good.

I thought I dove into the querying process with my eyes wide open, understanding that it wasn't going to be easy; but I have to admit, those form rejections are hard to take - especially since they all seem to arrive in my inbox in the early morning, just as I sit down eagerly to tap out another scene in the sequel to said manuscript.

And poof, there goes my writing drive, my creativity, my belief that I can be published someday - cut down by one sentence that begins with "I'm sorry, but..."

And suddenly it would all be too easy. Just pack it in and admit it. I suck!

Giving up is easy. Slogging away to improve both my finished manuscript and to improve my craft so that my second novel is even better is hard. Way hard.

I read over and over how even the best, most popular and successful authors feel like this sometimes - or at least, they did at some point in their careers. Even J.K. Rowling must have felt the writer's angst each time she saw another blow to her confidence in the form of an agent's rejection. Until one day. There it was.

The golden ONE.

If a series about a boy wizard can fly, and a story centered around a selfish girl who falls for a sparkling vampire can make the hearts of teenage girls (and their moms) go all a-flutter, then my story has a shot, doesn't it? I mean, there's a girl, there's a boy and they are both searching for a way to be together even though their history hints that it's impossible. Okay, so there's a vampire too, but his race is more important in the next book. And besides, vampires are still very much in.

Or at least I hope that Agency The Gatekeeper is right!

Okay, talked myself back into this writing thing! See, that wasn't so painful, was it?

Don't Look Directly at the Stars

Yesterday's planned beginning for my new novel was an epic fail. Or so I thought...

As I opened my shiny new (and blank) project in YWriter, I realized that there was still a huge promise left unanswered in my finished manuscript. I mean, HUGE. So huge that it threatened the credibility of the story (okay, so what's credible about a paranormal fantasy?).

So huge that I couldn't bear to address it.

Instead of at least attempting to solve the HUGE problem in the finished manuscript, I nitpicked through my outline for the first scene of the new one. I mean, how much time can you spend on a one liner description? ALL DAY, apparently. And I got stuck on a name for a new character. Really! As if that's important at this stage! Like puppies, characters often name themselves once you take the time to get to know them.

As I was disgustedly wrapping up my day's worth of (non) work, the epiphany came....

And suddenly there was the answer to the HUGE problem! I found three scenes in my finished manuscript where I could address it, and reworked the ending to include its fulfillment. Voila. In ten minutes (okay, thirty) the HUGE problem is solved.

Don't look directly at the stars. Sometimes, you need to focus on the surrounding black sky to see their splendor!