 Everyone has favorites: double chocolate fudge, purple, David Bowie, Peru, that scene in Contact when Jodie Foster's character meets her dad on the beach in the moonlight (only it's not a beach).
Sometimes we know why we love a certain ice cream flavor--it reminds me of my dad. Sometimes we don't. My favorite color has varied since I was a little girl (pink) to high school (black) to now (cinnamon orange one day, deep purple another). One thing we know, what we love will change and grow throughout our lives. For me, my list of favorite books changes from year to year...because I've read new books that must be on that list. (If you want to see more of my reviews, look here.) I know that if I want to improve my writing, I need to read good books. There's a pile TBR on my nightstand, a collection in my Kindle, and a list on my phone. One day, I might even read them all, and my favorites list will be miles long! Today, these are my top five favorites, plus a little reason why. ARE YOU THERE GOD, IT'S ME, MARGARET by Judy Blume - read it in elementary school. Margaret asked all the questions I had about life, and she taught me how to be tough and caring. PRIDE AND PREJUDICE by Jane Austen - read in high school. While my classmates groaned, I engaged in one-on-one conversations about the Bennett girls and their interests in marriage. Yes, I was that girl. THE HEART IS A LONELY HUNTER by Carson McCullers - read it freshman year of college. Drove around to every used bookstore in Los Angeles, buying all of McCullers' books and devoured each one. This one introduced me to a different kind of love: that between the two men and that between Mick and her world. LOVE IN THE TIME OF CHOLERA by Gabriel Garcia Marquez - read it senior year of college. Marquez' sprinkling of magic in all of his stories transports me to another time and place. The colors in this story still live in my mind. THE GOLDFINCH by Donna Tartt - read it as an adult. Tartt's writing is equisite. I've loved all of her books (all three?), but this is my favorite because of how lovingly she wrote Theo's story. My heart ached for him, but I also shook my head at his unrequited love, his dangerous friendship, his wayward path. Then I got to cheer a little in the end. Beautiful. I haven't finished THE MARTIAN by Andy Weir, but I'm halfway through it, and I'm sure it will be on my favorites list next. Why? Voice. I haven't seen the movie because I wanted to read the book first. I'm glad I waited. Wow. Again... Voice. This is a book I'm reading, laughing out loud, loving, but I'm also studying the writing (when I'm not lost in the story). Because he's nailed the voice of his MC so well, the technicalities in the story (I still don't have a clue what a Hab or MAV are entirely or how he can grow potatoes ) that are lost on me don't matter. This book is a classic. Mark Watney is a character to live as long as Sherlock Holmes or Holden Caufield. He's iconic. What's your favorite book? What are you reading right now? Please share! That's my story, what's yours?
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 I haven't blogged here in so long, I had to look up my website's password. Not good. But, hey, I'm baaack! How is everyone? More imortantly, what are ya'all writing? I have been busy these past two months on two projects. One, a dark YA contemporary, STARS IN MY POCKETS. After some awesome edits via the incomparable Judi Lauren, I believe my story's truly alive. It's out in query-form to a few agents. Fingers crossed. My second project was my NaNoWriMo2016. Yes, I won. Woohoo! But you can sense the lack of enthusiasm there, I'm sure. I didn't get a chance to plot the story before writing, so it's just a bunch of formless words on the page right now. More than 50,000 formless words, nonetheless. It's my first attempt at historical fantasy. Working title: JACKY INDIANA WEARS PURPLE POLISH. It's for the middle grade or younger young adult audiences. Like my 2015 NaNo, this will sit for the next few months, marinating in its magical juices, until I return to it for major revision work. Unlike bears who are preparing for their winter hibernation about now, I'm preparing to come out of my writing cave because this time of year always makes me want to connect more. So here I am, and I really did miss you all!  Right now, I'm revising my 2015 NaNo : MAGENTA WISE: PLASTIC WRAP. It's a young adult mystery--also my first attempt at this genre.
Although I spent all last summer plotting the story, after I finished it last November, I realized it wasn't what I'd expected. I revised it some, shared it with my critique partners and beta readers. Then I let it sit again while I worked on those above stories. This week, I spent time at OneStopForWriters where I plotted it again. And let me just say, people, I love Angela Ackerman and Becca Puglisi. If you don't know OneStop, get over there! These ladies have put together an amazing closet of tools to prep and preen your pretty baby and make her shine. So, enough about me. Tell me what you're working on. If you use OneStop, I'd love to hear what sparkles the most for you. That's my story, what's yours?  As a teacher and mother of grown children (23 and 19), I love summer. Lots of time to catch up on writing projects, but most importantly: tons of lazing in the sunshine reading.
This summer, I managed to devour five delicious stories. Because I write contemporary young adult, I read books from that genre. However, I also gobble up my favorite adult fiction. If you want to follow my reading rants, check out my Goodreads page, or click this link to reviews I post here. Now, check out these five writing tips I learned from the books I read this summer. High Fidelity: find a line or phrase that ties into your story’s theme. Repeat it throughout your novel. Nick Hornby makes lists. He has a Top Five for almost everything in his life. This works really well for the character (a lonely and serial boyfriend record shop owner) and the theme (finding happiness with one thing). Al Capone Does My Shirts: make your setting do extra work. In this middle grade read, author Gennifer Choldenko uses 1950s Alcatraz as a backdrop to seventh grader Moose’s caged life looking after his autistic older sister. If she had set this story in the city of San Francisco—where some scenes take place—it wouldn’t have worked as well. The island prison says so much metaphorically for Moose and his family. Misery: every summer needs at least one creepy Stephen King read. Since I never read the book—just saw the film—I decided I could handle the suspense while reading in the bright sunlight on a California beach. There is so much to learn from this man, but in the case of Misery, it’s all about characters. King knows how to make the most repulsive people likable. Annie Wilkes is a monster, but she’s also a tormented woman with a troubled past, a town against her, and a compulsion for sweets after she’s been BAD. If you write mean characters in your stories, give them a quality that makes readers say, “oh, well, yeah she chopped his leg off, but come one, she’s got those cute porcelain statues.” That Time I Joined the Circus: like High Fidelity, this story has great recurring hooks and phrases that help us feel safe in an unfamiliar world. JJ Howard introduces us to a young girl who meets tragedy and must leave home to find home. She takes her quirks with her, though. Of course. One thing the girl likes is music. She’s always comparing an event to a song she heard. Howard uses the song title and a lyric in her chapter headings. As we journey from circus land to circus land, from New York to Miami, we always feel at home because of the music. It Should Have Been a #GoodDay: if you are working on a story with multiple POVs, you might check this quick read by Natalie Corbett Sampson. There are four narrators, each taking us through the same day. As the story heats up, we use the varying perspectives to figure out how things might pan out. One of the narrators is an autistic teenager. His voice is stellar. Because we hear the other characters’ thoughts and feelings, we learn a lot about how other kids see those with differences. This is a perfect format to showcase autism and the fears and prejudices we can carry. What are you reading? If you picked up a great idea for your writing, please share it in the comments below. That’s my story, what’s yours?  Sitting in front of my laptop, day in and day out, tunneling inside my head to find the very last bread crumbs of creativity, I often wonder what I'm doing.
The short answer is: writing. The long answer is much more complicated. Telling a story is not easy. It's more than having an idea and some characters and a setting. There are layers. The idea needs to be complex, a conflict that branches off onto another path. The characters must be rich and flawed but believable. The setting requires details--but not too many--and imagery. It must all come alive before the reader's eyes and live within the reader's imagination. Storytelling calls for all of this plus heart and movement. Read all of the books you can on writing; study great writers; practice, practice, practice. It will still be hard. No one said it would be easy. Don't give up. Give in, and write. Every. Day. Every. Moment. You are never not a writer. Even when you are doing the other mundane chores that humans must do, even then you are a writer. Writers must take out the trash, wash dishes, pee, buy eggs, carpool the soccer team, shop for new underwear. You are human. Live your life, but always live it as a writer. Everything you do requires you to be on the alert for the next great line, quirky character, unusual plot, or brilliant setting. This is not a pep talk, this is a shoulder hug, a you-can-do-it-stop-complaining self-talk, a remember-why talk. Don't write because you want to, write because if you don't, you would die, life would evaporate before your eyes, and you would disintegrate into a pile of dust to be swept under a rug. Writing is the fire that burns inside me. I write for me. I write because I must. That is my story. What's yours?  If you seek an agent, you must know about #MSWL.
However, beware its lethal lure... There are many places to find what agents seek. 1. Agency sites. 2. Personal Twitter and Tumblr feeds. 3. The #MSWL. Smart writers will check out the updates on the Twitter feed. You might also be interested in two different websites. This simple one. This curated site with more info and archives. If you are a serious querying author, you will want a free or paid account at Query Tracker. Don't forget to polish your query. Always seek a second (or third) pinion from critique partners or friends. Learn even more here about what makes a good query. This week, I'm busy heavily revising ON THE ROAD TO MARTY MCFLY after an agent who requested the full manuscript suggested I tighten the plot. I'll be busy with that for several weeks. As for the rest of you, write on!  Paris peace sign created by artist Jean Jullien, November 13, 2015. In light of Friday's tragedy in Paris, I decided to locate authors and characters who promote peace.
Our words speak as loudly as our actions. While you work to write the next great novel, consider the messages your characters share through their words and actions. Consider these wise and thoughtful words from some of our most creative writers. Why can't people just sit and read books and be nice to each other?” ― David Baldacci, The Camel Club “A quiet conscience makes one strong!” ― Anne Frank, The Diary of a Young Girl “If you love me as you say you do,' she whispered, 'make it so that I am at peace.” ― Leo Tolstoy, Anna Karenina “Peace is always beautiful.” ― Walt Whitman, Leaves of Grass “I do my best thinking at night when everyone else is sleeping. No interruptions. No noise. I like the feeling of being awake when no one else is.” ― Jennifer Niven, All the Bright Places “In his face there came to be a brooding peace that is seen most often in the faces of the very sorrowful or the very wise. But still he wandered through the streets of the town, always silent and alone.” ― Carson McCullers, The Heart is a Lonely Hunter “I have never been carried around by a large boy, or laughed until my stomach hurt at the dinner table, or listened to the clamor of a hundred people all talking at once. Peace is restrained; this is free.” ― Veronica Roth, Divergent “How blessed are some people, whose lives have no fears, no dreads; to whom sleep is a blessing that comes nightly, and brings nothing but sweet dreams.” ― Bram Stoker, Dracula “It is better to be small, colorful, sexy, careless, and peaceful, like the flowers, than large, conservative, repressed, fearful, and aggressive, like the thunder lizards; a lesson, by the way, that the Earth has yet to learn.” ― Tom Robbins, Jitterbug Perfume “Thus Gotama [Buddha] walked toward the town to gather alms, and the two samanas recognized him solely by the perfection of his repose, by the calmness of his figure, in which there was no trace of seeking, desiring, imitating, or striving, only light and peace” ― Hermann Hesse, Siddhartha “Let the peace of this day be here tomorrow when I wake up.” ― Thomas Pynchon, Gravity's Rainbow Find your words of peace and infuse them in the stories you tell. Let your characters rise above the horrible acts of human nature and be the trumpets of a new world, a peaceful world. Today, write only words of peace. Write on.  This is my first official year joining the throngs of crazies who attempt to write 50,000 words in November. Are you one of us? First, some history... Despite its Viking Helmet which suggests the phenomena began in Sweden or Denmark, NaNoWriMo started in the San Francisco Bay Area in 1999. The lyrical title stands for National Novel Writing Month. The fist one took place in July begun by founder Chris Baty. Starting in 2000, the event moved to the chilly hibernating month of November. Now there's a whole team of people who run the website and support coffee-guzzling authors. Writers are challenged to pump out 50,000 words in thirty days. That's about 1,667 words per day. There's even a challenge for young writers. Yesterday, November 1, I managed 2100 words. That was a Sunday with that extra hour of sleep, no work, and no kids running around asking for anything. We'll see what I manage during the work week. Join in the maniacal fun, and be my buddy! Cheer me on, and let me cheer you on. I look forward to connecting with you at NaNoWriMo. If you need help getting started, drop me a note below. Write on!   This week, I await agent responses to queries of my YA contemporary, ON THE ROAD TO MARTY MCFLY, and fixes from my editor for my WIP, STARS IN MY POCKET. So, of course, I'm plotting a new YA series. Not only have I decided to tackle a series, but I'm jumping genres into Mysteries. I find this very exciting but extremely intimidating. I won't say more about the premise or potential plots as I'm in the early planning stages. However, I have had tons of fun developing my characters. In a series, you need characters waiting in the wings for the next book. Think of popular YA series books like HARRY POTTER, PERCY JACKSON, THE HUNGER GAMES, or DIVERGENT. It's clear the authors planned longer plot lines out before the first novel sat on bookshelves. Plots don't run on their own. You need characters. My writing style seeks character before plot. So I'm busy crafting these people who will soon walk and talk about the pages of my stories. Making up a character is harder than it sounds. Making up a believable and relatable one is even trickier. Fortunately, there are many resources available to writers. I'd like to share my favorites with you. THE POSITIVE and NEGATIVE TRAITS THESAURUSES by Angela Ackerman & Becca Puglisi These books are invaluable as are the two authors. Angela and Becca run the WritersHelpingWriters website, which features numerous useful articles on the craft. Each thesaurus features dozens of personality traits to mix and match, including detailed analyses of root causes, associated behaviors, ideas for overcoming the flaw or other traits that might cause conflict. Couple these books with THE EMOTIONAL THESAURUS, and you will have the necessary tools to create real characters.  SAVE THE CAT by Blake Snyder To me, the penultimate outliner for new writers. Snyder offers a simple set of "beats" to create a forward-moving plot. He does not ignore character, and that's why I include his book here. Some blame him for oversimplifying the storywriting process. To that, I say, "thank you!". Read this "beatsheet" breakdown of the movie/book GONE GIRL for an idea of how character development and plot are intertwined. Although Snyder died in 2009, his ideas continue to be shared. Peruse the site, buy his books, Google related articles. You will not be disappointed. Here's one article on the site: In "Character Pitfalls," Author Kristen Higgins reminds us "The story is the vehicle for the character." I will share more another time on how "Save the Cat" saved my writing. What are your go-to resources for character development? What questions do you have? Let's talk. Share your comments or insights below. Write on! |
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