Talking With Dead Authors

The blog chain has swung my way once again and this time Michelle H. asked the question.

If you could dine with any author, and I do mean any whether alive or dead (yes, we're going into the realms of time travel - but hey, we have science fiction writers on this chain so we can always ask for them to write up the time machine specs), who would you want to dine with? And if you can ask them for advice on one writing element you feel you might be struggling at, what would it be?

The first thing I knew when I read this question was, of course, I was going with a dead author. There's really no contest here. Call your friends and tell them you had dinner with JK Rowling. They'll be impressed. A little jealous. But tell them you had dinner with Jane Austen... in that case, well in that case they'll probably think you've lost the little bit you have left of your mind. However, if there was some way to prove that you are not insane, then they will be totally and completely amazed. It's not just anyone who can raise the literary dead, and have dinner with them.

As for specifically which dead author I would choose, well, I honestly think several would be more fun. Make it a party, you know? I've already mentioned Austen, so she would definitely be on the invite list. Georgette Heyer, the Bronte sisters, Sylvia Plath, Louisa May Alcott, LM Montgomery, Francis Hodgson Burnett, Betty Smith - and there would be men too. Shakespeare, Salinger, Mark Twain, Hemingway, Oscar Wilde, Lord Byron, and really any other dead author who wants to take break from the grave for a night would be welcome.

Of course, you might have guessed from my picture at the top that I'm defining the term "dine" a little loosely. In fact, my first thought was booze cruise. You know Hemingway would totally be down with that.

And I'm not just thinking liquor because after years in the grave someone would probably prefer a good stiff drink to a fancy french dinner, but also because I want more than writing advice. I want the dirt. I want gossip. And lots of it. It's a weakness, I know, but I just love hearing those behind the scenes stories of feuds, fights, and long-held grudges. And a little author-to-author trash talking would be pretty fun as well.

So, there's my answer. Want to know how the rest of the chain answered? Shannon posted her answer before mine, and Sandra will be next.

Guest Post with K.M. Weiland!

K.M. Weiland, from the blog Wordplay, is here today with an awesome guest post concerning a very awful problem - writer's block. Keep reading to find out six simple ways to overcome it, and don't forget to also check out her CD - Conquering Writer's Block and Summoning Inspiration.

Writer’s Block Busters

Writer’s block is that hairy beast that lurks beneath every writer’s desk, growling ominously, and threatening to steal our joy at any moment of any given day. Right?

Actually, as I discuss in my recently released CD Conquering Writer’s Block and Summoning Inspiration (http://www.kmweiland.com/books_CWBASI.php), writer’s block is only a monster when we let it become one. The surest way to best this beast is to send him packing before he ever gets a toehold in that lair under your desk (you can find lots of prevention techniques on the CD). But what happens on those occasions when he gets the best of us and stakes out his territory right in the middle of our latest manuscript? Following are a handful of surefire writer’s block busters:

1) Just start typing. Writer’s block feeds off our inertia. If our fingers are moving—even if all they’re creating is dreck—we’re one step closer to winning the battle.

2) Grab a book off your shelf, open it to a random page, select a random line, and use that as the next line in your story. You may have to change it later to avoid plagiarism, but for now just focus on getting your creativity jumpstarted.

3) Write yourself a letter. Pretend you’re a bestselling author who knows all the tricks of the trade. Now write this super-writer persona a letter, explaining all the problems that are keeping you from moving forward in your work-in-progress. That, by itself, may be enough to get you thinking logically about your plot holes. If not, switch roles and have Super Writer respond with an encouraging letter of his own.

4) Throw in a plot twist. Kill off a character, introduce a wormhole, reveal a secret identity. Even it makes no sense in the story, just let your hair down and start writing something deliciously unexpected. An object in motion in much more likely to stay in motion—and you may come up with a killer new idea.

5) Take a break. Sometimes writer’s block is just burnout in disguise. Our creative brains are like rubber bands: they can only stretch so far. Instead of obsessing over what you’re not writing, give your imagination permission to go on vacation. You may be surprised with what your subconscious comes up with when you’re not paying attention.

6) Give yourself permission to break the rules. Sometimes our obsession with crossing every T and dotting every I can knot us up into nervous wrecks of perfectionism. Forget all those rules that tell you to show and not tell, to avoid lengthy descriptions, or to forego info dumps. This is the first draft; all that matters is getting those words down on paper. You can perfect them later.

The cures for writer’s block are as multitudinous as the malady itself. Just remember that you don’t have to succumb to this foul-breathed dragon. He’s just a pitiful little lizard next to the awesome fury of your fingers pounding away at a story. Keep writer’s block in perspective, and he’s not likely to bother you!

K.M. Weiland writes historical and speculative fiction from her home in the sandhills of western Nebraska. She enjoys mentoring other authors through her writing tips, editing services, workshops, and her recently released instructional CD Conquering Writer’s Block and Summoning Inspiration.

My Legacy!?

Shannon started off the blog chain with this question:

Imagine this: when you're gone, readers will remember your writing most for just one of these things: your characters, your plots, your settings, or your style. Which one (only one!) would you prefer over the rest? Why?

Okay, wow.

Right?

I mean any question that begins with "when you're gone" is a pretty big question already. But then even once I've wrap my head around the whole dead and gone thing, I also have to imagine that at some point before I've shuffled off this mortal coil - not only will I be published, but that this book or books will also be remembered as being good for something other than lining the bird cage.

I gotta say this question makes all the self-doubt parts of my brain light up like a pinball machine.

But let's put that aside.

And let's also not think about the fact that no matter how much I love books, (so much so that once again - after I'm gone - if someone did the math they would calculate that I'd probably spent a good quarter of my life inside of them) I am not very good at specifically remembering each individual one. The ones I love - I remember bits and pieces. The ones I really hate - I remember bits and pieces. Most though fall into the middle, and those I pretty much forget completely.

But (not to get all philosophical on you here, I mean really, this is a pretty simple question and I'm here turning it into this whole existential what's gonna be left of me after I die whole big dramatic thing. sorry, i get that way sometimes.) maybe it's more than what's remembered or forgotten. And more than writing a book that's treasured instead of sold at the next garage sale - or in this new digital age - maybe it would just be deleted out of existence (deleted out of existence? that's a bit much, right? I know, bring mortality into the equation and suddenly it's all over-the-top statements and quoting Hamlet. again, I apologize.)?

Maybe it's about what Shannon (who I would not blame if she is right now rolling her eyes and saying a heartfelt "oye" at where I have dragged her truly excellent question.) wrote about in her post about getting lost in books. And getting lost is what I love about reading. For Shannon it was setting - being able to take someone to another place. But for me, I need to get out of my own head. My own head gives me headaches (if you are still reading this post, you might be getting one too.). Books put me in someone else's head. In someone else's life.

And I guess that after all this my answer is actually quite simple (it usually is once you dig past all the nonsense). Characters. I want my characters to be my legacy. Even if they're not really remembered at all, in the moment, when the words - whether on paper or screen - are in front of your eyes, I want my characters to be alive... even after I'm not.

So what about you? Ready to contemplate your own epilogue? What would you have your written legacy be?

And to keep following this blog chain (which if it's true what they say about things you post on the Internet being there forever, this chain will still be here long after we're gone. geez talk about a legacy.) please check out Amanda's blog next.

Genre Jumping

This time on the blog chain Margie started off with a question about genres.

How did you come to write your YA genre (e.g. contemp, fantasy, etc.)? AND (yep, it’s a 2 parter), if you weren’t writing that, what genre would you be interested in exploring?

As I've mentioned before, I've already played around with a few different genres.

My first novel was a contemporary romance. Why? Because I've been devouring romance novels since eighth grade. The biggest influence in writing my contemporary romance was Susan Elizabeth Phillips, a contemporary romance novelist whose books I re-read on a regular basis. Also, at the time I was also reading a lot of chick lit, and elements from those books worked their way in as well. Unfortunately, I think my influences sometimes manifested themselves as imitation - and this ultimately hurt the book. However, I have two other contemporary romances that I began and abandoned in a file folder somewhere. Someday I'd like to hunt them down and give this genre another go.

My second novel was an urban fantasy. And genre wise, it's actually not that big of a change from contemporary romance. Like my contemporary romance this book had romantic entanglements - just no happily ever after. And the setting was the same modern world... except with a few demons thrown in for flavor. My biggest influence here was Buffy The Vampire Slayer. And all things Joss Whedon.

And now, I am working on a young adult urban fantasy. Again, not that far of a jump. Still in an urban fantasy world, just with a younger protagonist. It was really the idea I had for this one that demanded the young adult genre. For me, it wasn't Harry Potter or the Twilight series that brought me back to the YA genre as an adult (I'm actually not a huge fan of either of those series). I actually found my way back to YA in my early twenties, when I was in that section of the library picking out a book for my youngest sister. Turns out, she have any interest in reading the book, but I did. The book was, A Killing Frost by John Marsden - the third in his Tomorrow series. I ended up hunting down the entire series at the library, and then everything else he had written, and after that YA books were regularly rotated into my reading queue.

As for other genres I might write in... well, I don't know. I'm actually pretty happy with these three, but I also wouldn't rule anything else out. Who knows there might be a Western lurking somewhere at the far reaches of my mind... but I doubt it.

What about you? Are you true to one genre, or do you also like to play the field?

And make sure to keep following this chain. Shannon's daily pie post was before mine and Amanda will be up next.

All Joy No Fun

The blog chain has swung it's way back around to me once more. This time Eric started things off with this question:

What do you find to be the most challenging aspect of being a writer? What is your greatest reward from writing?

The most challenging aspect? Singular? As in I can only pick one thing? If this was a multiple choice question instead of essay, I wouldn't even have to look at the options. It doesn't matter if it's listed with

A. lack of confidence
B. rather lonely sometimes
C. finding time
D. motivational issues
E. staying focused
F. ideas needed
G. not getting discouraged

Oh, I could go on and one and on. An multiple choice that goes through the entire alphabet until we get to Y. and Z. Those would be the ultimate multiple choice options of:

Y. None of the above
Z. ALL of the above

And right there. Z. That's me. I'd fill that little scantron circle in so hard that the lead on my number two pencil would snap.

The most challenging aspect of being a writer for me, is well, being a writer.

Okay, yes, that sounds a little - or maybe a LOT - negative. But it isn't, not really. Because challenges aren't always bad. Nothing about writing comes easy, but maybe that's part of the reason why I keep doing it.

I think my attitude towards writing is best summed up by a recent article from New York Magainze. It was entitled: ALL FUN, NO JOY. The article isn't actually about writing, but rather about parenting. The subtitle is: Why Parents Hate Parenting. Still, I could easily change the headline to: Why Writers Hate Writing.

The article discusses the studies that have been done showing that couples without children are happier than those with children. There is a lot of talk in the article about the nature of parenting, the inherent difficulties, etc. However, what I really found compelling was when it questioned what happiness really is. Data for these studies was gathered by asking parents on a moment by moment basis throughout their day if they were at that exact moment happy.

Now I think almost anyone can imagine the reaction to being asked if they are happy while in the midst of - changing a diaper, or handling a tantrum, or telling a child for the 5 thousandth time to please pet the dog gently, or one of the other endless not super fun tasks of parenting. I can only imagine the harried parents being interviewed screeching back, "AM I HAPPY!?!?! AM I HAPPY!??!"

And yet despite this apparent lack of happiness, people say if they could do it again - they'd still have that one - or even multiple - children. The author of the article argues that maybe happiness is more than something we feel on a moment by moment basis. That perhaps there is a deeper happiness that comes from having having a purpose and being rewarded by working towards something - whether that something be raising a happy healthy person, or writing a brilliant book. In this odd way the challenges that make us miserable in the moment may actually make us happier in the end.

So, to sum things up. Writing, being a writer, that is my greatest challenge. And it is also my greatest reward.

What about you? Is writing a challenge? A reward? Or something else?

And to keep up with this chain you can find Shannon's entry before mine and Amanda's tomorrow.

What's Up?

Cole came up with the question for out latest round on the blog chain and it is:

Are you querying? Gearing up to go on submission? Writing? Revising? I'd love to hear what's new with you. And if you'd like to share a snippit of your WIP, even better!


Oh, you mean besides watching Mad Men, Friday Night Lights, Burn Notice and... *ahem* - perhaps just once in a while if it happens to be on and I happen to be near the television - an episode or two of Wipeout?

Oh wait, that's right - there is more to summer than watching TV, cursing the endlessly hot and humid weather, and attending weddings.

So what have I been doing writing-wise?

Well, I've been querying. Last year at about this same time I started querying my urban fantasy, Between the Devil and the Deep Blue Sea. After getting some revision notes from an agent, I revised. Then I got even more revision notes and I revised again. Suddenly, it was May. Revisions were done, but I wasn't quite ready to jump back into that query pool yet.

However, in the last month something changed - maybe it was Wipeout that inspired - or should I say motivated - me?




Okay, I am not proud of that clip. In fact, watching it fills me with shame and guilty guilty guilty giggles.

So anyway, I am querying. But I have also been writing, because when you are querying you are supposed to start working on something new. And because I have had this idea - for a YA urban fantasy where a girl goes missing and after a year is found again but she has no memory of who she is or what happened to her - rolling around in my head for a long time now, and I needed to finally get it down on paper. Mostly though I have been writing because after a while I get sick of hitting the refresh button my email inbox.

I am tentatively titling my WIP Immortally Wounded. I'm just shy of the 10K mark so it's still pretty early, but here is a little snippet from the little that I have written so far.

****

The mom insisted on calling my memory loss amnesia. As if I were a character in a freaking soap opera. She thought I just needed the right trigger to snap me out of it.

It started with a picture quiz. I correctly identified the Gerber baby, but couldn’t place my own baby picture.

It got worse from there.

Ronald McDonald – yes. The clown from my fourth birthday party – no.

I easily named every character from Friends. My own best friend – “Such a nice girl,” the mom told me as if this telling detail might jog my memory – no recognition at all.

In the animal kingdom category I got Kermit the Frog, Lassie, and Dumbo all correct. But Here Kitty Kitty, the rather cumbersome name that I apparently gave my own dear cat at the age of five, didn’t come close to my guess of Snowball.

This game officially ended when I incorrectly identified a woman with iron gray curls and a closed lipped smile as Queen Elizabeth. Turns out that one was my Nana.

I was trying. Can I say that in my defense? The mom is a really nice lady. And she was trying to be really upbeat, chirpy even, but with every wrong answer on the picture quiz she’d deflate just a little bit. She tried to cover it. She’d pat my hand and tell me it was okay. She was always touching me – patting, rubbing, squeezing my hand, arm, or leg. And that’s when she wasn’t hugging me. That was okay too though. She was a good hugger. As soon as her arms wrapped around me there was that sensation like everything was going to be okay. This was the one thing that we had most in common – we both really wanted everything to be okay.

****

And that's it from me. Make sure to check out Shannon's post from yesterday and tomorrow you can find out what Amanda is up to.

Revision Me This

After a bit of time away, I am back for another round on the blog chain. Today's question is brought to us by Sarah who asked:

How do you handle revisions? Do you revise as you're writing, or do you wait until you've gone through beta readers and crit partners to revise? How soon after you finish do you begin your revisions?

Revisions. I have a love/hate relationship with revisions.

When I am writing the first draft I think back longingly to the joy of revisions. There are words on the page. Not always the best chosen words. Not always the correctly spelled words. But there are words and those words form sentences. Yes, several of them are egregious run-on sentences. It's a problem - I'm working on it. But there are sentences and they form paragraphs, which piled together make chapters, and those chapters - one stacked precariously on top of the next - form a story. Sort of. You know, once all those loose ends are tucked in, bad dialogue is deleted, and a few stray characters - whose names I forgotten and randomly started calling them something else - are rounded up and given one consistent moniker.

The thing is that there is something on the page to work with. Even if that something stinks like a diaper pail in July it is at least not a blank page staring at you daring you to write something that won't several months later be determined to stink like a diaper pail in July.

Of course, several drafts into revisions - when I've actually lost count of how many times I've actually revised the darn thing and start saving it as "BTDATDBS_REVISION#_SHOOT ME JUST SHOOT ME NOW"... well then I have moved onto the hate side of the relationship. No, not hate. It's more like the way I feel towards my three year old son at the end of a particularly whiny and difficult day. I love him, of course, I love him absolutely, but at that exact moment I am really sick of his face.

So how do I handle revisions? Well, I do not revise as I write. No, I prefer to handle my first drafts like a mad General marching through the wilderness on a moonless night. There are no flashlights. There aren't even any of those flaming sticks that they used to carry around on Lost all the time. And sure, I am most likely headed straight off a cliff, but I am determined to keep moving forward, because if I look back... well, if I look back and evaluate - or God help me, critique - then I might decide this march isn't worth marching at all.

The one sort of revision-ey thing I do while writing the first draft is occasionally make notes to myself about something earlier on in the manuscript that needs to be changed, due to something later on in the MS that went not exactly as I'd originally planned. These notes I'll usually tackle immediately after I finish the first draft. Technically I still consider these new additions as not really revisions, but as a finished touch to the first draft.

Then I let it sit. Usually a couple weeks. And during that time I'll read. Or I'll start brainstorming ideas for what I want to write next. Mostly though I'll start imagining that my first draft is better than I remember it being. Specifically I'll remember those few days when the writing was really flowing and everything seemed to be clicking. "Yeah," I think, "this book is gonna be good." And I start itching to do those revisions, which, of course, begins with reading my masterpiece.

Imagine then, if you will, my comically crestfallen face as I begin reading that word document holding my precious manuscript and realize that I might have a bit more work ahead of me than I had first realized.

This is the hardest part.

It's kind of like doing dishes after Thanksgiving dinner. Because I cook like I write. There is no cleaning as I go along. No, I simply pile the dirty pans and stirring spoons into the sink. And when the sink is full, they go on the counter next to the sink. Then by the time we've eaten and the leftovers have been put away - there are literally dishes everywhere. And I just don't even know where to begin.

Eventually though I just start somewhere. Maybe run spell check just to get rid of the errors so obvious even that annoyingly helpful Word paperclip can see them. Then I might print it out so I can see it on paper. This can sometimes backfire when major changes are necessary and I cross out large chunks, then using a series of brackets, asterisks, and long winding arrows, point to what should be moved into its place. Overall though, this method lets me see problems that I might not have spotted otherwise. As I enter these handwritten changes, I usually make even more changes still.

Then it's time for beta readers. My husband gets stuck with this job, because he lives with me and there is nowhere for him to run. But I usually round up a few other people as well. And since people have an annoying habit of reading at different rates of speed, the revisions don't all come in one batch, but slowly return to me one by one by one. This means that I usually end up doing revisions every time new feedback rolls in.

And then if it's ready, I start to query. But revisions don't stop and I never write the words - or even let myself think them - FINAL DRAFT. If a way to improve is pointed out in an agent's notes, or if I simply have an epiphany in the shower on how to improve something - then I'll go back and revise one more time. Even when I think that I cannot go back again, I always find that I do have that one more time in me.

So what about you? What's your revision process?

And if you want to read about revision methods a little less scattered than my own - check out the other blogs on this chain. Shannon came before me and you can find Amanda covering this topic tomorrow.