Category: Writing

Weave it and read

I went on a serious writing tear this weekend. Serious. Tear. I think there’s a light at the end of the third draft tunnel (and I’ll refrain from making oncoming train jokes). I have a crucial bit of back story to weave in, along with some minor edits, then I’ll be looking for victims, suckers, beta readers for the third draft.

In the meantime, if you’re looking for something to read, I’ve discovered two new WordPress blogs:

The First Book has interviews with authors of … first books. I was happy to discover it took Jay Asher twelve years and that he felt he’d been writing in the wrong genre. I think this is a far more common mistake than a lot of writers realize.

On the other hand, I have much hate for Mark Henry. (Kidding. If Mark Henry happens upon this blog–unlikely–please know, I have nothing but hearty congratulations for you.)

Over at Elves Among Us, Esri Rose has been mining gems (sometimes quite literally) from eBay. Today’s not to be missed offering: Incubus Possessed Ring.

Seriously, you don’t want to miss this one.

The (non)interview: Marianne Arkins

Today, Marianne Arkins and I are chatting about her debut novel One Love for Liv, which is available from Samhain Publishing.

I wouldn’t call this an interview. More of a chat, where I ask Marianne the tough questions about writing and publishing, involving DNA, non-headless models, and the best way to waste time.

oneliv.jpg

Charity: First things first, now that we have the cover front and center. Is it me, or does model portraying Geoff (lower right-hand corner) look like the result of combining the DNA of David Hyde Pierce (Dr. Niles Crane on Frasier) and Ian Ziering (Steve Sanders on Beverly Hills 90210)? Your thoughts?

Marianne: LOL… okay, that’s really funny and a little scary to think of Niles and Steve mixed together.  But, honestly, you may just be right.  ((shivers))

Charity: In a related question, while I’m thrilled you have models with heads on them for your cover art, was it difficult/weird to adjust your mental image of Geoff and Mike?

Marianne: Ack, YES!! The absolute biggest problem I had was the people chosen for the cover.  The artist, Dawn (who has the patience of Job) and I went back and forth on it.  Oddly, I wasn’t as married to the image I had of Liv as I was of Mike.  I was content with the woman she’d selected for that, even though she really wasn’t the same as I’d chosen on my collage. 

Eventually, we decided to go for an illustrated “comic” cover because of that, and she came up with one that was spot on (I wish I could share it with you … it was AMAZING).  Unfortunately, it was vetoed by the powers-that-be who explained that those types of covers really didn’t sell well.

I sent Dawn a cover to another book that I loved, and she used that as an idea of what to do with Liv.  I still don’t think Mike is right, but he certainly is handsome.  And I’ve gotten several unsolicited compliments on the cover, so she must have known better than I did!

liv.jpg

Marianne’s collage for One Love for Liv

Charity: Although now that we’ve tossed up your collage, I’m thinking the cover artist was spot on where Geoff was concerned. Wait a minute! Is that Ian Ziering in your collage? And speaking of collages, excellent visual aid for writing or simply a lovely way to procrastinate? Do you have any other (unusual or otherwise) prep work that you do for writing?

Marianne: I do think that the artist did a great job with Geoff’s image.  With the exception of the receding hairline, he’s really spot-on.  I love having a collage… I’d originally seen the idea on Jenny Crusie’s blog, but didn’t have time, patient, inclination or magazines I’d need to do a real one.  Then this terrifically talented person I know (*cough*Charity*cough*) showed me how I could work one up in Power Point, and I’ve never looked back.

[Chairty: It’s true. I have mad PowerPoint skillz.]

I really do think creating one helps to boils the story down to some basics.  With Liv’s I tried to focus on the characters and their differences:  hence the spa, and the beer and pizza.  Of course, beer and pizza is an important part of the book.  I know my editor fell in love with Mike over that scene in the book.

Charity: I think I’ve heard you mention that you like quiet when you write, but are there any songs you associate with Liv? Would you ever be tempted to make a novel playlist?

Marianne: I love music, but not while I write, because I tend to really focus on the words and the stories in the songs.  So, yes, I write in utter silence.  Even slight noises like the stove clicking (as it is now) can be terribly distracting.  It’s one of the reasons I do the majority of my new writing in the morning before anyone (including potentially noisy neighbors) is awake.

I do mention some artists in “One Love For Liv”:  U2 (a nod to a certain person I know) and Led Zepplin.  Liv needed a musical education in the novel, because she’d primarily been exposed to classical music in her life.  But a playlist?  I can’t imagine what I’d use, to be honest.  I don’t really associate specific songs with this story.  Classical music and classic rock would have to be the mix.  Yep, a little odd.  But so is the story.

Charity: I know you’ve mentioned being surprised that One Love for Liv was the first novel you sold, since you had several others completed. Thing is, I wasn’t surprised. In fact, I knew you had something with Liv from the very first scenes I read (and I know you’ve revised since then). Did you ever have a whisper go through your mind that maybe this one was the one?

Marianne: Maybe.  I do know that I kept returning to it, even when I’d pretty much decided that no one would want to publish it because it was a little off center.  Of course, I can’t seem to write anything that falls neatly into any one category.  “One Love For Liv” is categorized as romantic comedy by Samhain Publishing, but I’m not sure I’d call it that.  Certainly, it has some pretty odd situations, but it’s not as “comedic” as, say, Jennifer Crusie or Susan Elizabeth Phillips.  I tend to think of it as a romance that doesn’t take itself seriously more than flat out comedy.

* * *

There you have it! I want to thank Marianne for being gracious and answering my weird questions. If you want to know more about Marianne’s writing process, what her writing space looks like, and the other real writing questions, visit her blog tour page for all the real interviews.

Genre angst

So a reader over at Marianne’s blog was curious about the predominance of third person point of view in romance, among other things. She wrote:

Why is romance the only genre mired in the tarpit of such pedantic rules? If the genre is to earn respect, shouldn’t it treat works as literature instead of mere commodity? Could you dedicate a blog day to this topic?

Poor Marianne cannot, at the moment, not with her novel coming out in mere days (stay tuned for the interview we’ll be doing here on Writing Wrongs, sure to go where no interview has gone before.)

But I have some oblique thoughts about this. I wouldn’t say romance is the only genre that plays to reader expectations. If a reader picks up a James Bond novel (by whoever is writing them these days), they don’t expect 007 to abandon the mission so he can go into therapy and find his inner child.

If a reader picks up a cozy cat mystery (by very famous cozy cat mystery author), they don’t expect knife-wielding kittens terrorizing the sleepy village of Meowville. (Oh, there’s an untapped LOLcat: I can has murderous rampage?)

And if a reader picks up a Harlequin Presents, they want (nay, demand) their Greek billionaires. Unless, of course, it’s an Italian playboy. In either case, the line plays into reader expectations, which also includes, for the most part, third person POV, most likely alternating heroine and the hero.

Oh, let’s put those all together, shall we?

James Bond, in his most dangerous mission ever. In the guise of a Greek billionaire playboy, 007 infiltrates KITTEN (Kittens in Tens Terrorize Every Nation), an organization bent on world domination using genetically altered kittens placed strategically in pet stores around the globe. On 007’s side? The beautiful and seductive virgin scientist, the only one with the known antidote, the only one with the key to his heart. Can they overcome his Oedipus complex and her cat allergy in time to save the world?

(Mine, people, this one’s all mine. Hands off. I’m pitching it at RWA national.)

See? No one wants to read that.

Such classifications aren’t necessarily evil. Readers want to find certain books at certain time. Bookstores (real and virtual) need a way to shelve/present their offerings. I suppose they could toss them all into one big room and have the salesclerks say: “Go for it, man. I’ll be over by the espresso machine, making myself a nonfat, extra hot, vanilla latte with a depth charge.”

If you look at one of Marianne’s publishers, The Wild Rose Press, you’ll see they have all their categories down the left hand side. And for whatever reason, publishers may be better at selling one type of story rather than another. So when a publisher says: No stories in first person, please, that reflects their business model.

Now, if they stop being good at selling what they do, or their readers’ tastes change, they either evolve or go out of business.

What happens next is writers turn these publisher guidelines and genre expectations into rules. If you do this … you’ll never be published. If you write for publication … you’ll never be original.

Then we all sit around and angst at each other. Someone ends up refusing to speak to all the rest. Someone goes home crying. Someone swears never to write another word ever again-seriously, people, I mean it this time.

And a good time was had by all.  

This is where it needs to stop. (Actually, it needs to stop before the all crying and wailing and gnashing of teeth.) If you’re feeling frustrated by a genre’s constraints, expand your reading selection. Read, and read widely. Subscribe to Publisher’s Marketplace and watch the deals that go through.

Watch those deals. When someone says it can’t be done, and certainly not by a debut author, you’ll probably see a deal for it in the next months or so. Get firsthand information. Read what’s being published right now. Read about what’s being bought right now.  

One of the best things I ever did was stop listening to people who told me it couldn’t be done and started fully concentrating on the only thing I could control: the writing.

And that’s about all I have to say about that. Now, if someone could photoshop me a knife-wielding LOLcat, I would be eternally grateful.  

Edited to add: Judy found a knife-wielding LOLcat here.

The third draft stares back

If you stare into the Abyss long enough the Abyss stares back at you. ~ Friedrich Nietzsche

Replace Abyss with Third Draft and you pretty much have my current state of mind.

While I was reading through the manuscript, I had the incredible brainstorm to use index cards to make notes on changes that went beyond editing on the page. During the process, I thought, hey, this is great. I’m getting some fantastic stuff here.

After? Well, maybe you should be the judge. Can you make heads or tails out of:

  • Chapter end — ?
  • Page 100, meeting Mr. Scott re-look and edit
  • Page 122 psychology of place in the locker room
  • Page 145, rethink bowling as church
  • Page 152, after at the swimming practice, re-look
  • Page 184, need MacKenna’s essay – here or somewhere

Oh, yeah. That was a helpful exercise. You know you’re in trouble when you’re advising yourself to re-look and edit (no duh, I could say that about every scene) and adding detail “here or somewhere.”

Clearly, I have my work cut out for me.

Emergency Geek

So today, Darcy and I received what I think are the final, final line edits from our agent (!). No major changes, just a word/sentence here or there, a few add this, delete that sort of things.

However, our agent (!) saved this revision tracked version of Geek Girl’s Guide as:

Emergency Geek.doc

Now, she means this in the kindest, nicest, most positive way. Yes? Darcy maintains that it means the manuscript is so, so hot, not that it needs some serious mouth-to-mouth. Surely, that’s what it is.

Right?

Right.

Right.

The fine art of losing your changes

I went to print out MacKenna’s story (AKA The Fine Art of Holding Your Breath) since I’m starting the revision process with a read-through. I was casually glancing at the text when a section I knew I’d changed caught my eye. Only, the section was the old way, not the new and improved way.I double checked all my versions to make sure I was working in the latest and greatest. I checked the version I sent to the Golden Heart. I checked everything.

I remember making these changes. They were small but good ones suggested by Darcy and Jen. Were they in the latest and greatest? No. Were they in the version I send to the Golden Heart? No. Were they in any version of the story?

No.

*head-desk*

I did find the changes, in various sent/received emails, so all is updated now. That still doesn’t help me re: the Golden Heart.

The fine art of screwing up.

Sigh.

Well, I’m off, to do a read-through and drown my sorrows in green tea and Fig Newtons.

Goals, resolutions, and peeking at 2008


You Are 50% Left Brained, 50% Right Brained


The left side of your brain controls verbal ability, attention to detail, and reasoning.
Left brained people are good at communication and persuading others.
If you’re left brained, you are likely good at math and logic.
Your left brain prefers dogs, reading, and quiet.The right side of your brain is all about creativity and flexibility.
Daring and intuitive, right brained people see the world in their unique way.
If you’re right brained, you likely have a talent for creative writing and art.
Your right brain prefers day dreaming, philosophy, and sports.

Jill over at The Wet Noodle Posse has a great post on matching goal setting to your brain/learning type. It’s worth a read, especially if you’ve tried goal setting and it hasn’t worked for you.

But what do I do with that 50/50 split? It probably explains why I do write a lot of things down. I like to get stuff on paper, but what I actually write looks a little chaotic.

For instance, when Darcy and I were brainstorming revisions for Geek Girl’s Guide, I made some “outline” notes that looked like this:

  • More parents
  • Scene between tryouts and results?
  • Or maybe? It is a truth boy–athlete talent want of morning oatmeal
    Geek stuff, lay of the land
    • tryouts
    • game store scene
    • results
    • home with parents
  • Test good pen?

Oddly, Test good pen has nothing to do with the outline or story. I was trying out a pen to see if I liked writing with it. But there it is, in all its glory, as part of the outline (it really does have its own bullet point). I’m not even sure these notes would make sense to Darcy, never mind anyone else.

I looked at my 2007 writing goals/resolutions. I didn’t keep a single one! But! That’s not necessarily a bad thing. At the start of 2007, I wasn’t planning on doing anything with Geek Girl’s Guide. I had a (small) start on MacKenna’s story, I hadn’t partnered up with Darcy, hadn’t even thought about taking that terrific children’s book writing class.

And so on.

What’s a goal setting girl to do? I did accomplish a lot, I think. Much more than what I wrote down at the start of the year.

Well, I ended up writing down some goals, more coherently than my outline above (sort of). I won’t bore you with all of them, but in summary:

  • Finish MacKenna (as in final draft finish)
  • Work on another book with Darcy (assuming she wants to–D, we should talk about this, no?)
  • Research for possible historical novel.

The rest? The rest I’m keeping flexible.

Brilliant ideas and story-thinking

Every once in a while, Kyra will come up to me and say, “Mommy! I have a brilliant idea!” Sometimes, this idea is no more than me following her to see something she’s done. Recently, she cleaned her room. Yes, all by herself. The child is already more organized than I am on my best day. The moment she decides to take over the world, watch out.

Yesterday, on the drive home, I had a brilliant idea. In MacKenna’s story, I want to include some letters and notes from another character (and that’s all I’m saying–the who/what behind that is the super secret double probation part of the novel). So … I had this general idea of what I wanted. It felt like a solid idea.

But pulling it off? You know, add in the actual content, the words that would go along with this idea. This has been bugging me for a while. During draft two, I kept putting it off: oh, it’s a draft three problem, I’d tell myself. Well, here I am staring at draft three without a clue.

Then, driving home yesterday, it hit me. A major of course moment. I love these. You’re sitting there (okay, driving there), minding your own business, when it the idea fairy smacks you upside the head. I can hear the words already.

I’ve always advocated letting a story rest, compost, whatever you want to call it. Sometimes you have to be still (even if you’re driving) for the ideas to come.