Writing is Scary

Writing is scary.

I wonder sometimes if we authors admit that enough.

Finishing a series gives me knots of anxiety in my stomach, and stress-dreams, and fresh fear about the next project that looms. Because they always LOOM, you know? Deadlines loom. New things cast shadows in my mind, shadows of doubt about capability to finish, to pull it off, to deliver.

Maybe that isn’t so different from other things in life, but it feels like a microcosm of life in the sense that I’m always starting and finishing these big, emotional journeys with the books, and it’s exhilarating and exhausting in equal measure.

I’ve started work on the sequel to A Gift of Poison in earnest now that I’ve finished revisions on In Dawn and Darkness. This is scary for me because I really, really love the characters in AGoP in a way that’s very personal, because I’ve carried them in my mind for a long time (I wrote the first draft of that book about 10 years ago). I want to do right by them by giving them a good story. By really telling the story well.

I have to do some mental coaching to psyche myself up for it at times. I talk myself to the cliff, and then I talk myself into jumping. And I have to write the parachute.

It. Is. Scary.

I think a big piece of the fear is facing my own thoughts about things, and another piece is the way the story changes as it takes shape on paper. I want it to be GOOD. I worry it won’t be. That I’ll write it the end, and the whole thing will collapse on itself. I always have the fear of “what if I can’t finish?"

It's like I have to keep proving each time that I can and I will.

With writing, as with man things, the only way out is through.

Drafting: Faith, Patience, and Hope

Writing a first draft is an exercise in faith, patience, and hope. Faith in yourself that you'll actually produce something useable, patience for your neurotic worrying that you won't, and hope that you'll like it when you're done. You might even love it.

Right now I feel like I've got a tattered quilt of words and I'm trying to sew it together, scene by scene, into something that makes sense. I've been gone a few months taking care of my baby, and an absence like that always seems to shake me a little in the confidence department.

But it will come together. Writing is a bit magical, I think. The stories begin to make sense after you've slogged through half a draft, spewing words and hoping there's some method under all the madness. And then, almost miraculously, there is.

IN DAWN AND DARKNESS is the last in the Itlantis series, and that is bittersweet as always, but I have so many other stories waiting to be told, and some of them are getting impatient. I'm eager to sink into them and play around with new worlds and characters. But first I have to do this final piece of the Itlantis story justice. I just might need a doughnut (or ten) while I'm at it.

In the meantime, if you're waiting, sign up for the newsletter to be sure to get notified when IDaD releases.

How To Be A Novelist Part 1

So I get a fair number of questions from people, both friends/family as well as readers, about how to "be a writer." I try to answer these questions as best I can, and I don't mind them at all, but it's hard to sum that up in a paragraph or off-hand conversation while still giving a helpful response.

So, I thought I'd write a series of blog posts about what I did* to develop my craft, learn the ropes of writing, and go on to have a career in writing. This will mainly focus on CRAFT, not business. The business aspect is super important, and there is absolutely a place to talk about that, but I think the foundation should be skills related to the creation of content.

*Bear in mind this is what I did in my journey. Mileage may vary!

So let's pretend you, the reader, are asking me to help you become a novelist with the intention to be published (independent, trad, hybrid, doesn't matter). You don't just want to write one novel, you want to make a career out of it. You want to tell stories and sell them and make a living from it.

I think emphasizing the career part is important, because a lot of my advice is going to hinge on the idea that you need to be developing skills that will allow you to stick with what is a difficult and intense process at times. If you want to write that one book and that's it, great! You will probably not make a lot of money from it**, so don't expect that, but that's perfectly fine if that isn't your plan. However, if you want a career, you will need more than one idea and infinite time to spin it into a story. You're going to need a whole arsenal of skills.

**People are funny with their assumptions about authors and their finances. I remember a couple of years ago when I was starting out and had 1-2 novels out, and people made all kinds of strange small talk with me about it. They'd say things like "are you a millionaire yet?" I just laughed awkwardly. Or, "you just need to get a movie deal and you're set for life, right?" Um, no. Other people say things like "you must be really rich" after you've published 1 book. No no no.

Anyway, this advice is specifically for people who want to be authors and who want a career doing that. People who are in it for the long haul.

First, pretend apprentice, I would advise you to work on developing or strengthening some skills, both general and writing-specific. The good news is that you can do all of these things at the same time, a little each day. Yay for multitasking!

General Skills

1. Develop discipline.

Writing is hard. It's emotionally taxing, creatively draining, and it requires a lot of work that nobody is making you do (unless you have deadlines and an editor harassing you about them, I suppose). Generally, you're going to sit down and write that novel IF you make yourself do it, so possessing the ability to make yourself work hard and stick to a schedule is pretty important. Soooooo many people say "one of these days I am gonna write that novel." Well... maybe? Novels don't just happen. They take a lot of intentionality. But remember, we're looking at developing a career here, not just writing that one book. So discipline is going to be even more important.

Honestly, I think one of the biggest hurdles to becoming an author is simply finding the discipline and fortitude to 1) learn to write well and then 2) actually do the writing. It's not so much the learning, it's the ability to keep trying and working over a long period of time.

I learned a lot of my self-discipline when I finished my degree long-distance due to health problems that caused me to drop out of school. So many people said to me, "I could never do that. I could never do my homework and write my papers if I didn't have the structure of class." But you CAN. It's a skill I learned--I wasn't born with baskets of willpower and discipline--and it came in handy again and again after I started seriously working on writing novels.

Well, how do you develop things like discipline?

I found these books really, really helpful. They are not about writing in particular, but they aided me as I worked to become a more productive individual.

The Power of Habit

Outliers: The Story of Success

Switch: How to Change Things When Change Is Hard

The Talent Code (haven't read this one but it looks similar to some other things I have read)


2. Develop a thick skin and the ability to hear constructive criticism.

A lot of writing is just re-writing and revising. You get the words down on paper and then you have beta readers and editors give you feedback, or you read books that guide you through the process of editing. You have to look at what you've produced and say, what needs to be fixed? How can I make this better? If you can't hear anything bad about your book baby, that is going to hold you back from growing as a writer. A lot of writers seem to be sensitive creatures--I certainly am--but I strongly advise cultivating the ability to hear hard things, because this will grow you as a writer. Also, you're going to get lots of criticism, not all of it constructive, once you are published. You are going to want to start now when it comes to learning to deal with that in a healthy manner.


WRITING SKILLS


1. Read fiction.

Seriously, read. Read all the time, especially in whatever genre you wish to write in. This is the fastest and best way for you to develop a feel and a taste for the genre. If you want to write YA, you need to be reading YA. Lots and lots of it. I cannot understand it when people say they want to write YA and they haven't read anything in that category except maybe The Hunger Games or something really well-known. That is THE starting point for you. Familiarize yourself in what you plan to write. Bathe in it. Soak in the styles, the conventions, the character types. Learn what you like and what you don't.

The good news is that this is the fun kind of work, because (hopefully!) if you want to write, then you like to read.

So read a lot.


2. Pay attention to all kinds of storytelling.

I, for instance, pay a lot of attention to my favorite TV shows. What do I like, what do I dislike, why did the writers make the choices they did, how could they have chosen differently? Analyze movies for structure, character arc, dialogue. Find a friend or two who enjoys discussing this kind of thing. Immerse yourself in the business of taking stories apart to find their nuts and bolts. This is part of learning how to put them together. This is another easy kind of work, one you can train yourself to do effortlessly.


3. Read books on writing.

I would suggest reading at least 6 books a year on craft, or 1 every couple of months. Depending on your skill level, you might want to start with more basic books on writing and work up. Beginner books are going to teach you very storytelling basic skills, like how to avoid info dumps, create compelling characters, and write basic, functional dialogue. The more immediate ones will assume that you know that kind of thing and focus on more advanced techniques. Here's some suggestions:

Beginner:

The First Five Pages

Self-Editing for Fiction Writers

Intermediate:

The Fire in Fiction

Writing the Breakout Novel

The Making of a Story


4. Write all the time.

It's as simple as that. You need to be writing. Not necessarily every day, but... a lot. Maybe every day. Make it a priority. Practice. Learn. Let yourself be terrible at it, and then learn why you were terrible, and fix it. Making mistakes is a huge part of learning. Don't be afraid to put down imperfect words, because that's what revision is for. Learn to uncork the flow of words in a consistent way. If you put off writing until you can compose it perfectly, you aren't going to learn. You're going to be afraid of failure and you're going to stall and stagnate. Don't do that.

Seriously, don't fall into the trap of waiting for a moment when you feel inspired and seized with the magic of the muse. In fact, that's a terrible idea, because most of the time you won't feel very inspired. Learn to use discipline (from general skills) and consistency to get the work done. As you become more familiar with your own process and as you grow your skills, you will develop confidence, and I think a lot of "writer's block" and other kinds of problems come from a lack of confidence in yourself as a writer and your own process, so you will see improvements there.

Movies always seem to depict writers as moodily wandering around, moaning about writer's block and doing romantic things like drinking a lot, smoking while wearing sunglasses, and staring through windows of coffee shops waiting for that perfect idea. NO. Writers plant their butts in chairs and write. They don't always leave the house or take a lot of showers if deadlines are tight. You're probably not going to be that guy from Castle. It is mostly unglamorous work. And when you've got a book or two out, it's not all about sitting around gazing at your name on the cover. Especially not as your write more and more. You'll probably say "cool," smile at it like a proud parent, and get back to work on the next one.

Don't be in love with this image of "being a writer." Love the craft. Love the process and the journey and the sharing of stories. It's what is going to sustain you through the crappy hard work.

Now, having said all that, I looooooooove being a writer. It. Is. My. Dream. Job. It's a lot of work, and it takes intentionality, cultivation of skills, and effort. But it's WORTH IT. And you can do it! You really, really can, if you set your mind to it and don't give up.

In part 2, I'll talk more in depth about my suggestions for developing your writing skills, specifically in regard to novels.

Writing Makes Me Feel...

So a lot of the time, writing makes me feel like this:

But then when I'm finished, it makes me feel like this:

And then when I get emails and messages from readers saying how much they love the stories I've written, that makes me feel like this:

And that makes it worth it when I'm slogging through those initial drafts. Ugh, the drafts. Rough does not begin to describe it.

So yeah, I am still in the trenches with this book, and it feels very hhhnnnngggg at the moment, but we're making progress here. I have a lot of other crap going on in my life with some other things, and that's slowing me down. I still hope to have a cover to reveal very soon!!

Thoughts on ending a series

Right now I'm almost done with edits for Aeralis, the fifth and final book in The Frost Chronicles series. And I'm kind of sad about it.

TFC is the first series I've ever successfully written. Well, okay, I've written a few sequels to a few unpublished things from my days as a young hopeful writer, but I've never stuck with one story world for five books before. I didn't think I'd like writing a series very much, so I only originally planned to write three books. But there's something really nice about it--you already know the world and all the characters, so by the time you get around to writing books 3+ it's just like visiting old friends.

So I'm trying to really make Aeralis a good finish to the series, and I tried to take my time with it and make sure it wrapped up every character's story in a way that I found satisfying. And honestly, I feel a little cranky about the idea of starting a new series. It's like transferring to a new school, away from all your friends. But! I have some GREAT ideas that I am really, really excited to write. Apprehensive, yes, but also excited.

But back to TFC...a lot of things about writing a long series like this one surprised me. For one thing, I didn't expect to end up having so much story. I feared I'd run out of things to tell and have to start fluffing the story around the end of book two, so I planned to have only three books, but as I wrote the story and the characters' journeys kept growing and so I kept telling it. I changed the number to four eventually, but when I was writing Bluewing (book four) I realized I needed AT LEAST one other book to fit everyone's endings in. My husband said I was "George RR Martining" by continuing to extend the series, and that I'd better finish writing these books before I died. That made me laugh. I plan to write dozens and dozens more books before I die, hopefully.

The characters surprised me, too. They had secrets that I discovered gradually. They had more to say than I'd ever expected. They fell in love in ways that surprised me, and some of them died when I wasn't expecting it, either. They truly took on lives of their own.

It's been a wonderful journey, and I'm honored and thankful for every reader who shared it with me.

Hopefully Aeralis will be available in late September! Check back at the blog or sign up for the newsletter to be sure you don't miss the release.

Can't Wait for Inspiration

“You can’t wait for inspiration. You have to go after it with a club.” — Jack London

I love that quote. That's what I'm doing these days...going after that inspiration. And sometimes I seriously feel like the inspiration is fighting back. Drafting a novel can be pretty emotionally exhausting. You're creating a world from scratch, and you're conjuring up all these emotions along with the characters, and you're grinding out a lot of things that feel mundane at the moment (but will work well once everything has been edited and polished). It can be intense work, and some days I'm utterly spent when I finish working. Right now I'm staying motivated by rewarding myself with episodes of my favorite TV shows when I finish my word count for the day. It's keeping me on schedule.

On a more cheerful note, I'm about 1/3 of the way through the first draft of Aeralis. Woohoo! I'm still hoping for a late July/early August release date, but I can't promise that. These things have a way of taking more time than I expect. But hopefully!

Teaser: Earlier today I finished writing a sad scene (well, it made me sad) between Lia and a male character who will remain unnamed. You'll have to speculate who it is, and what "sad scene" means, because it could mean just about ANYTHING. Muhahaha.

Writing Is Hard

It's funny to me how I sometimes flat-out forget things sometimes.

Like the fact that writing is HARD.

I am currently working on what will be my fourth published book, and there's this part of me that thinks, subconsciously perhaps, that by now I should have it all together. By now I should be able to sit down, stick my fingers on the keyboard, and produce something perfect the first time I try.

Ha!

Such a thing is never gonna happen.

But still, when it inevitably doesn't, I end up getting discouraged.

So I read two posts recently that slapped me upside the head (in a good way). I think everybody, writers or not, should read them:

Embrace That You Are Doing Something Hard (Natalie Whipple)

My Lack of Pixie Dust (Amanda Hocking)


WRITING IS HARD.

Don't get me wrong--there are high points where the words flow like music and the glowing reviews pour in and I'm busy in that way that makes me feel energetic instead of tired. And then there are times when every sentence is lifeless and the characters just glare at me, tapping their feet and waiting for better dialogue, and I want to tear my hair out and the clock on the wall ticks too loud and there's so much blank SPACE...on the page and in my head.

At times this journey is thankless, exhausting, and emotionally draining. I often wonder if I'm nuts for pursuing this dream, especially given the fact that I have a mental disorder that makes the whole independent author thing feel completely impossible sometimes. But I keep doing it, feeling like a failure the whole while because "success" is about as easy as swimming through wet cement.

HELLO. Writing is hard. Finishing a novel, even a crappy one, is an accomplishment. Heck, writing a decent essay or short story is an accomplishment.

I think I need to give myself more freedom to struggle...and more freedom to not feel bad or lesser or incompetent because I'm struggling.

And this could be applied to any area of life, not just writing. If you are struggling, remember that life is hard. Good things worth doing rarely come easily. Difficulty doesn't make you a failure. If anything, you're proving that you have the strength and bravery to keep going in the face of struggle. And that's really awesome.

...or the zombicorns will eat you. Just kidding. Kind of.

Don't give up!!

FROST Blurb!!

Hello, everyone! Happy Monday!

Last week I revealed the cover for my upcoming fantasy, Frost. Today I'm unveiling the blurb:

In the icy, monster-plagued world of the Frost, one wrong move and a person could end up dead--and Lia Weaver knows this better than anyone. After monsters kill her parents, she must keep the family farm running despite the freezing cold and threat of monster attacks or risk losing her siblings to reassignment by the village Elders. With dangers on all sides and failure just one wrong step away, she can’t afford to let her emotions lead her astray. So when her sister finds a fugitive bleeding to death in the forest--a young stranger named Gabe--Lia surprises herself and does the unthinkable.

She saves his life.

Giving shelter to the fugitive could get her in trouble. The Elders have always described the advanced society of people beyond the Frost, the “Farthers,” as ruthless and cruel. But Lia is startled to find that Gabe is empathetic and intelligent…and handsome. She might even be falling in love with him.

But time is running out. The monsters from the forest circle the farm at night. The village leader is starting to ask questions. Farther soldiers are searching for Gabe. Lia must locate a secret organization called the Thorns to help Gabe escape to safety, but every move she makes puts her in more danger. 

Is compassion—and love—worth the risk?

Frost is a YA fantasy with dystopian, sci fi, and suspense elements.

NOW. I have one more bit of information! The official release date is April 3rd. If any of you guys are interested in helping me celebrate the launch week on your blog with a chapter excerpt, author interview, cover/links post, or some other Frost-related thing around April 3rd, shoot me an email at kellisonwrites(AT)gmail(DOT)com! I'd LOVE to have some help getting the word out come April!


**If you're a book blogger interested in reviewing Frost, feel free to contact me about review copies. I'm already contacting some reviewers now--but if you want to make sure you hear from me, shoot me an email!**

How Some People Think Books Are Written

I swear, I spend more time changing stuff and doing stuff over than anything else combined... but I guess before I can write the book, sometimes I have to figure out what it's not.

PS ~ If you haven't entered to win a SIGNED copy of The Fault in Our Stars by John Green, you can do so here! Giveaway ends Tuesday, January 31st!

Some of My Favorite Quotes About Writing

"I want to write books that unlock the traffic jam in everybody's head." ~John Updike

"It should be noted that there are two blissful things about writing novels: making them up and seeing them finished." ~ Ann Patchett

found here

“Every secret of a writer's soul, every experience of his life, every quality of his mind is written large in his works.” Virginia Woolf

"There are only two or three human stories, and they go on repeating themselves as fiercely as if they never happened." ~ Willa Cather

"It was books that taught me that the things that tormented me most were the very things that connected me with all the people who were alive, or who had ever been alive." ~ James Baldwin 

“The beautiful part of writing is that you don't have to get it right the 1st time unlike, say, brain surgery.” R. Cormier

found here

"Storytelling reveals meaning without committing the error of defining it." ~Hannah Arendt

"If there's a book you really want to read but it hasn't been written yet, then you must write it." ~Toni Morrison

"Writing books is the closest men will ever come to child bearing." - Norman Maile

"If I don't write to empty my mind, I go mad." ~Lord Byron

You and me both, Lord Byron. You and me both.

What's your favorite quote about writing?

Don't Give Up

Writers, what keeps you going when you get discouraged? What one thing motivates you to keep telling stories, to keep putting the words on the paper even when you want to quit?

Is it the love of the craft, the thrill of seeing your name on the cover, the pleasure of knowing you've created a world other people can get lost in for a few hours? Do you write from a sheer need to do so?

(c) ganesha.isis

It's all of the above for me, but most of all I think I keep going because of those moments when someone tells me they loved what I wrote. It's a powerful feeling, like a creative hug--we've collaborated together to tell a story. Me by writing it, the reader by reading and imagining it.

I love sharing stories.

Happy writing, all! 

What They Didn't Tell Us (About Being A Writer)

I adore author and speaker Rachel Held Evans and I read her blog regularly. She doesn't usually talk much about writing, but today she posted about the things she never knew when she was a little girl attending writing camps for kids and dreaming about one day becoming an author. Some of the lines really resonated with me:

They didn’t tell me that I’d be working in my pajamas most of the time.

(c) Horia Varlan

They didn’t tell me how lonely this work can be.

They didn’t tell me that I’d go from loving my manuscript to categorically abominating it within a matter of hours. 

They didn’t tell me that this work—this life—would become such a part of who I am that even when it makes me crazy, I need it like I need water and sunlight and love. 

Read the rest at Rachel's blog.

It's so true . . . especially the love-to-hate bit. That is exactly where I am right now.

Hope everyone has a wonderful weekend, and happy writing, NaNoers!

Just Keep Writing

As a bunch of us start NaNoWriMo (National Novel Writing Month), and others of us try to finish old projects, and others of us just try to stay afloat in all the work to be done, I have only one piece of advice.

Just keep writing.

Simple advice, right?

But it's sooooo hard, I know.

Sing it to yourself to the tune of "Just Keep Swimming" from Finding Nemo, if that helps. Visualize yourself as a dancer instead of an axe murderer, if that helps.

Remember. You can revise later. You can bemoan how awful the story is later. You can wish you'd never learned to write later.

For now, just keep writing.

I'm hoping I can take my own advice this month, as I have a bunch of projects on my plate...

Good luck and best wishes to everyone who's doing NaNo!!

The Info Dump

What it is

The info dump is when you take all that fascinating world-building, all that back story for your character, all the rules of your world... and you just drop it into the reader's lap in a big sloppy mess.

For instance

(c) Nigel Howe

Let's say this is the start of your book. This is a hypothetical example, but I have encountered several stories lately that featured a first page/chapter very similar to this:

(note--the weird subject matter is just the first thing I thought of, sorry for the randomness)


Margie stood on the pier, watching the children splash and play in the water before her. When one of the children got too close to the edge, she hurried to catch him. Her shoulders itched with the desire to grow wings, because Margie was a Lylis, a magical creature that looked human but was actually a type of fairy, but she forced herself to jog instead.

There were actually four subspecies of Lylis--lotus, rose, lily, and amaryllis. Each species had a specific color of wing and a specific duty to fulfill in the world. Margie was a Rose Lylis, which meant she had pink wings and a duty to protect all children. But right now she didn't feel like protecting children. She wanted to get married and have children, but all Lylis were barren, unable to have children of their own...


Okay, that's enough of that.  Do you see what was wrong there?

Well, there were a lot of things wrong with it...

But let's talk about that info dump.

If I was reading a book where this was the first page, I would put it right back down and not pick it up again. I want to read a story, not a textbook. Not a history lesson. Not a lecture on the various types of "Lylis fairies." This is boring. I'm not attached to the character yet. I will not slog through all this exposition if I have nothing enticing me forward.

A better way to convey the same information


Margie stood on the pier, her eyes tracking the movement of each child's flailing arms and legs as they splashed in the waves and scattered droplets through the air like diamonds. At the moment, she wanted to be anywhere else. But as a Lylis, a fairy protector of children, it was her duty to stay and watch no matter how much it pained her.

She spotted one of the children on the end of the pier, tottering towards the edge. A baby. His mother sat on the beach, her nose in a book, and Margie didn't waste time trying to get the woman's attention with a strong gust of wind. She moved swift and silent as a shadow. Her shoulders itched to grow wings, but she forced herself to jog instead. People might be watching, and not everybody was susceptible to the blinding spells that kept her veiled from human eyes.

She reached the end of the pier. The child gazed up at her with eyes as blue as the water below. Young children could always see the Lylis. "Dahh," he gurgled, stretching out one sticky hand. 

Margie scooped him up, ignoring the twinge in her chest at the way the baby fit perfectly into her arms. She wanted to have children, not just watch them. But unfortunately, it didn't work that way for fairies. 

At least not the Lylis kind.

She set the child down by the water and watched him toddle off to his mother. Her arms were suddenly too big, too empty without him. Eternal barrenness--and the ache that accompanied it--made Margie's job a unique kind of torture.


The second example certainly isn't perfect either, mind you. I just dashed it off, so it's just a rough draft and could probably benefit from some reworking. And it's still a bit too "to the point" for me, at least for a novel. (It might be just right for a short story, though, where space is limited and details do have to be tossed in quickly.)

But see how I wove some of that information in with actions and thoughts? And notice I didn't even include all of it, like the Rose and Lily category stuff. It's totally unnecessary for the reader to know every type, color, and job description of a Lylis fairy at this point. That can all be explained later, when the reader is already interested in the characters and ready to know more about the nuances of the world.

So...

In short, don't waste valuable time at the beginning of the book pontificating about the rules and details of your world and the creatures in it. And when you DO include information, blend it in gradually like you're stirring sugar into cake batter. Don't just lump it all at the front and call it a day.

A Dancer And An Axe Murderer

I love this fantastic (and hilarious) advice about learning to balance drafting and revision in this excellent article The Seven Habits of Successful Writers:

(c) liakapelke (Not Pictured: Axe Murderer)

"Nurture your inner schizophrenic. When you have written a draft of your story and it’s time to revise, you have to be able to look at it with a cold eye and take the ax to it as needed. . .You’re actually not one person, but two: a dancer and an ax murderer. Love both of these people who live in your brain, but keep them apart."

In other words, allow yourself to be unfettered and creative during your first draft. Don't get into editor mode until it's time to edit.

This is brilliant advice.

So write away, my friends--and keep those axe murderers and dancers separate!

Other news!!

I was interviewed on Kindle Author a couple of days ago and forgot to post it before now. Check it out and maybe leave me a comment? I've also added it to the reviews and interviews tab.

Hope everybody has a happy and safe Halloween!

Where Do You Read?

Right now in Georgia the weather is perfect for reading. The air is slightly cool and just crisp enough to remind me of a fresh apple. Leaves are trickling down from the sky like ticker tape, and the sunlight slants just so through my windows and makes patterns on the floors of every room.

(c) Andrea_44

In other words, FALL.

I find myself more eager to read (and write) in the fall. There's something in the air, a kind of energy that I can't quite describe or even fully understand. It gets into my blood and makes me hungry for stories. I've been spending a lot of time curled up on (or in!) my bed, snuggled up with a book and dreaming of other worlds.

Do you have a favorite place to read? Writers, do you have a favorite place to write?

Mine, for both, is in bed no matter what time of day it is.

Are Your Friends or Family in Your Books?

I have this habit of reading TV recaps even though I don’t watch the shows (is this weird? I don’t even know if it’s weird). Anyway, apparently Gossip Girl had a storyline this week where Dan got a book published, and it got me thinking.

I’ve already seen several blog posts that discussed how unrealistic the whole “book acquisition process” was in that storyline. Which is to be expected—it’s TV. They get CPR wrong every time, too. But what snagged my interest was the fact that apparently Dan had based all his characters in the book on the people in the show—Blair, Serena, Chuck, etc. Naturally, drama resulted from this, because people were pissed about the way they’d been portrayed.

It got me thinking. I actually get asked somewhat frequently if I base my characters on real people. People ask me, “Am I in your book?” Or, "Do you write books about people you know?"

No, you're not. And I don't.

I don't write real people into my books. At least not all of real people.

To make an analogy—if writing a character was like drawing a picture, I might use my best friend’s ears, my mother’s nose, my sister’s hands, my own chin, Mona Lisa’s smile, and hair and eyes straight out of my imagination.

So a character might have my husband's tendency to be on time, my love of unicorns, and my mother's work ethic. My characters are mishmashes of people I know and people I observed in the store or met once or even simply dreamed up. And sometimes they're more influenced by fictional characters than real people (hello, Han Solo)!

I have multiple reasons for this. 

First, putting people you know into your novel seems like a bad idea (at least to me), especially if you have any deeply flawed characters who do bad stuff. 

But besides the potential damage to interpersonal relationships, trying to fit an already fully-formed individual into a book just doesn't make sense to me from a creative standpoint.

Maybe it's just the way I write.

See, 90% of the time I begin with a scene or the plot itself.  Then I ask myself, "What kind of person would get into this situation? What kind of person would act the way they need to act in order for the story to go the way I want it to go?" And there are so many nuances to that question, little quirks and facets to the character’s personality that will explain all these choices. It’s pretty unlikely that I would just plug my best friend into the story and have all her quirks and neuroses line up with the necessities of the plot like that.

Of course, plot and character are just two parts of the same rope. Plot affects character, but character also affects plot. I’ve had stories neatly planned out only to discover that my character wouldn’t do the thing they’re supposed to do in order to make the plot work, because by now that character has become a huge part of the story and the plot is beginning to shape itself around them.

But I digress...

So if I write a story about a girl with a mean sister, or a boorish cousin, or a hateful friend—I’m not writing about my own sister, cousin, or friend. 

 Writers, do you base your characters on people you know? Or do you make a mishmash of traits? Are your characters 100% fictional, even?

How To Be A Good Beta Reader

Good critique partners and beta readers are a must for any writer, aspiring or professional. If you have a writer friend, or if you're a writer yourself, chances are you'll find yourself in this role sooner or later. Want to be the best you can be? Here are some tips for ways to improve your beta reading/critiquing.

Be honest

You can't help the writer if you aren't being honest with them. Don't feel like you can't be critical--that's kind of the point! If something isn't working for you, say so. If you are bored during a chapter, say so. If you find the main character unlikable, say so. 

Be kind

Don't take the "I must be critical" advice in the wrong direction. You don't need to be all "Doctor House" here. Beta reading is not an opportunity for you to get your snarkfest on--not unless you specifically know that the writer will find this funny or helpful. If you derive some sense of satisfaction from ripping someone a new one, tap that crap down when critiquing. Be professional. Be kind. Be mindful that you are trying to be helpful--and being unnecessarily hurtful is not usually helpful.

Be specific

When you're being (helpfully and kindly) critical, don't simply say "I didn't like this chapter." Vague feedback is unhelpful feedback. You could have disliked any number of things, and the writer will have a hard time fixing something when she doesn't know where to start. Instead, say "I found the pace too sluggish" or "The dialogue in this chapter was unrealistic to me" or "When the main character complains all the time, I lose sympathy for her," etc. And then expand from there--give specific examples, and perhaps suggest some changes.

Offer both positive and negative feedback

Remember, your ultimate goal should be to help the writer. If you only succeed in discouraging the writer, you probably haven't helped them. Some crit partners fall into a "negativity rut" and only talk about what is wrong with the book or short story they are evaluating.

I like to say two positive things for every negative thing when I'm critiquing--it makes the negative things more palatable, and it helps keep the writer from becoming too discouraged in the fact of all the problems I may have found.

Don't try to make the book into something it's not

Remember that this isn't your book. Your goal is helping the writer, and that means encouraging and shaping their artistic vision for their project. If the book is a young adult paranormal thriller, don't suggest that the writer turn it into a contemplative, contemporary literary novel. Don't insist on making the book something you'd write. Your goal is to help the book be the best it can be as it is, not as you might make it if you were the writer.

Four Lies About Writing We Tell Ourselves

Confession: right now I'm in a bit of a slump. I'm struggling with writing consistently every day, I'm struggling with discouragement, I'm struggling with feeling like a hack.

I will also freely admit that I experience a lot of wildly fluctuating emotions, so ... this is nothing new.

But I just read this marvelous article by Susan Kaye Quinn on Four Nasty Lies We Tell Ourselves About Writing, and it was like getting a good kick in the seat of the pants. Well, in a comforting way.

It was so good I wanted to share it.

Do you ever tell yourself any of these lies? I've told myself every single one at some point.

And they are just. not. true.

Hoarding

The truth about me and ideas:

Sometimes I have a great idea.

But sometimes instead of writing it down in a story, I hoard the idea instead. It's like I'm afraid that if I use that idea, I'll never get another idea even half as good, so I have to save it for something special.

I didn't even realize I did this until a few years ago. And you know what?

It's not true. Not even remotely true.

I've discovered that when I use those great ideas, I get more of them.

Also, they turn into books! Yay for finished books!

Why do I have so little faith in myself sometimes?

Am I the only person that gets afraid they won't have any more good ideas?

Other Announcements:

I am hard at work on several projects, including a steampunk novelette/novella/something short. It has detectives. And airships. And mysteries.

AIRSHIPS, people!!!!

I'm wild about them.

I am also brainstorming for cover art for a previously-written book that I'm thinking about putting up on Amazon (also steampunk, well, sort of). I'm pretty excited about it. More information on these and other projects coming soon!