Three items of business before I retire for a well-deserved night of sleep.
Item one: Look to your right. Second column, right below my profile description. See that? Those are links. Click them to read my novels, see my youtube channels, or go to other sites that I find interesting/worthwhile.
Item two: I am officially half way done with The Witch's Daughter! Thank you, thank you, thank you for your support and positive feedback/comments. I really appreciate them.
Item three is a bit longer. Today, I began scouring the internet for writers forums in an effort to meet other writers, discuss the subject of writing with them, direct people to my blog, and find other interesting blogs to read. I have found one that I deem worthy of mentioning, although I have only been on it for one day, so I am not sure exactly how active it is. Check out Writer's Beat. Browse around on the Forums. It's quite fun, and they have some interesting discussions on there. If I find that this website is worth continuing to frequent, I will update you on whether I am enjoying it or not. So far, it looks promising.
If you know of any other good websites for writers, leave them in the comments and I'll check them out!
Thursday, June 10, 2010
Tuesday, June 8, 2010
Save Your Money
There are hundreds of writing tools and applications out there. "Buy our product for $40!" they'll say. "We can help you write your novel with our flashy software and our character description files!" Young writers, beware. Do not be tempted to buy any of these products, as glamorous and helpful as they appear. They will get you no closer to finishing that novel, and you'll be out $40. Save it and buy yourself a couple of pizzas and some soda. Then, stay up late and write.
The latest "Writer's Smorgasbord" product that I just tried (I will not mention its name for fear of offending someone) is actually really neat. It can open multiple documents at once, put all of your ideas on a cool looking corkboard, and even import audio and video files. There's even a sidebar where you can track your themes and keywords.
"This is all great," I asked myself, "but how is this going to help me write my novel?"
Truth is, it won't. It would be wonderful if someone made a magical product that could take all of your neat ideas and smash them into a novel for you, but then that would take all the soul out of it. Trust me, if you want to get something done, just open up good ol' Microsoft word and start typing. Even better, lock yourself in a technology-less room with a nice notebook and pen. You'll be closer to finishing that novel.
The latest "Writer's Smorgasbord" product that I just tried (I will not mention its name for fear of offending someone) is actually really neat. It can open multiple documents at once, put all of your ideas on a cool looking corkboard, and even import audio and video files. There's even a sidebar where you can track your themes and keywords.
"This is all great," I asked myself, "but how is this going to help me write my novel?"
Truth is, it won't. It would be wonderful if someone made a magical product that could take all of your neat ideas and smash them into a novel for you, but then that would take all the soul out of it. Trust me, if you want to get something done, just open up good ol' Microsoft word and start typing. Even better, lock yourself in a technology-less room with a nice notebook and pen. You'll be closer to finishing that novel.
You Don't Treat Me Right
Sometimes, the plot I envision at the start of a novel forces me to do things to my characters that I do not enjoy. Although it can sometimes be fun to write a scene where a character is embarrassed or involved in a conflict, emotionally scarring them for life is not pleasant for me as a writer.
Other writers I know love putting their characters in tragic situations. "There!" they say. "That serves you right for giving me writer's block. That's what you get for ruining my plot and running off with that side-character. You deserve this for being so difficult to write about." Yeah, it can be satisfying to get a little revenge on your characters once in a while. Personally, it's hard for me to get through tragic events, especially if they involve love. I hate breaking up couples, even if they will later be reunited. I have no such reservations when I kill off side characters for the greater good, strangely enough.
I'm at the angstiest part of The Witch's Daughter at the moment, and I'm finding it hard to write. It calls for Rapunzel to do something that hurts Ailynn, my narrator. I'm not going to give away any more spoilers, but Ailynn ends up heartbroken for a little while, although they do live happily ever after in the end. I don't like seeing my narrator, whom I have grown to admire, in so much pain.
Like dissonance and resolution in music, people enjoy conflict followed by peace and harmony. Pain and sadness are necessary to fully appreciate and experience true happiness. But you don't want your characters to swing too far one way or the other. If you keep your characters happy all of the time, your story will probably be boring. If you torture them endlessly, the reader will eventually get bored, sad, or both. Strike a balance (although I prefer for my own stories to swing towards the happy side, especially at the end).
Other writers I know love putting their characters in tragic situations. "There!" they say. "That serves you right for giving me writer's block. That's what you get for ruining my plot and running off with that side-character. You deserve this for being so difficult to write about." Yeah, it can be satisfying to get a little revenge on your characters once in a while. Personally, it's hard for me to get through tragic events, especially if they involve love. I hate breaking up couples, even if they will later be reunited. I have no such reservations when I kill off side characters for the greater good, strangely enough.
I'm at the angstiest part of The Witch's Daughter at the moment, and I'm finding it hard to write. It calls for Rapunzel to do something that hurts Ailynn, my narrator. I'm not going to give away any more spoilers, but Ailynn ends up heartbroken for a little while, although they do live happily ever after in the end. I don't like seeing my narrator, whom I have grown to admire, in so much pain.
Like dissonance and resolution in music, people enjoy conflict followed by peace and harmony. Pain and sadness are necessary to fully appreciate and experience true happiness. But you don't want your characters to swing too far one way or the other. If you keep your characters happy all of the time, your story will probably be boring. If you torture them endlessly, the reader will eventually get bored, sad, or both. Strike a balance (although I prefer for my own stories to swing towards the happy side, especially at the end).
Monday, June 7, 2010
When To Submit
A question was posed to me in the blog comments a few days ago: when do I submit my work to an online site or forum? I think it would motivate me to write more, but nothing feels 'finished' enough. Although I'm paraphrasing this question, it captures the essence of what it means to be a writer. No matter how long you work on a project, from the first chapter to the fifth editing, your work never feels 'finished'. You could spend your entire life tweaking the words of your magnum opus, but it is debatable whether your work will be improved by this endless editing. In fact, if I spend too long editing a novel, it tends to get worse instead of better.
I would encourage anyone and everyone to post their work online. Becoming part of a writing community is an excellent way to motivate yourself to write and raise your confidence. Just staring at the web page that hosts the first chapters of my novels sends a tingle down my spine. "Hey!" I think, "I wrote that! Me!" It's a great feeling.
Humans like things to be complete. They like endings. According to legend, Mozart's father woke him up every morning by playing the first seven notes of a scale on the piano. Mozart wanted to hear the eighth note so badly that he got out of bed to finish the scale. Seeing your novel online and noticing that all of the chapters are not there encourages you to write more. Also, don't worry if you only post part of your work online. Yes, it can be annoying for readers, but it's a good kind of annoying, and if the story is really good, your audience will eagerly await updates. When you see one in your e-mail inbox, it's a little like Christmas.
If your novel is actually finished and you are stuck in the editing process, you have no excuse. Put it up there for people to see and move on. After you get some comments, you can go back and tweak it later (or, better yet, find a beta reader to do it for you. Fresh eyes are always helpful).
Submitting to publishers is similar. Although it is important to show your best side by making sure that there are no typos or plot/character inconsistencies in your work before you send it to a publishing company, do not let it rot on your hard drive. Once you've done one or two good, thorough edits and had at least one other person go over it for you, you're ready to send it in. Don't worry about all the tiny word choices you made or the sentence you were not sure of. Yes, maybe you will be a better writer in a few years, but don't let that stop you from publishing, whether online or in print. This is the story you have written NOW, and it needs to get out there so that it, and you, can grow.
I would encourage anyone and everyone to post their work online. Becoming part of a writing community is an excellent way to motivate yourself to write and raise your confidence. Just staring at the web page that hosts the first chapters of my novels sends a tingle down my spine. "Hey!" I think, "I wrote that! Me!" It's a great feeling.
Humans like things to be complete. They like endings. According to legend, Mozart's father woke him up every morning by playing the first seven notes of a scale on the piano. Mozart wanted to hear the eighth note so badly that he got out of bed to finish the scale. Seeing your novel online and noticing that all of the chapters are not there encourages you to write more. Also, don't worry if you only post part of your work online. Yes, it can be annoying for readers, but it's a good kind of annoying, and if the story is really good, your audience will eagerly await updates. When you see one in your e-mail inbox, it's a little like Christmas.
If your novel is actually finished and you are stuck in the editing process, you have no excuse. Put it up there for people to see and move on. After you get some comments, you can go back and tweak it later (or, better yet, find a beta reader to do it for you. Fresh eyes are always helpful).
Submitting to publishers is similar. Although it is important to show your best side by making sure that there are no typos or plot/character inconsistencies in your work before you send it to a publishing company, do not let it rot on your hard drive. Once you've done one or two good, thorough edits and had at least one other person go over it for you, you're ready to send it in. Don't worry about all the tiny word choices you made or the sentence you were not sure of. Yes, maybe you will be a better writer in a few years, but don't let that stop you from publishing, whether online or in print. This is the story you have written NOW, and it needs to get out there so that it, and you, can grow.
Uh-oh...
Sometimes, the writing muse just takes over.
Perhaps 'writing demon' is a better descriptor. Every writer has been 'in the zone' at some point, where they can't eat, sleep, or think about anything but words. Oh, those all-consuming words. They struggle to come out, sometimes sluggishly, sometimes so fast that you can barely type them out.
I was struck with inspiration while writing last night. I think that I have enough material for a FOURTH novel in what was supposed to be a fantasy trilogy, and now I feel totally overwhelmed. I have gotten rid of 22,000 words, written another 30,000 (taking 10,000 of that material from an old work), and somehow formed a basic outline of my plan... I hope. I think I can use about half of the 22,000 false-start novel and about 10,000 words from my infamous archive of old junk to make 'Mirror, Mirror' come to life again.
Confused? So am I.
Here is where I need some reader input. If you have read The Second Sister, Wolf's Eyes, or the first part of The Witch's Daughter, feel free to chime in. Tell me what you think of this plan.
The third book, The Witch's Daughter, will be completed as-is, in my usual three-part, first-person format. I'm about half way done already.
The fourth book, Mirror Mirror, is going to be a hodgepodge, but it works PERFECTLY with the grand plot structure I was originally going to include in The Witch's Daughter. The first 25,000 word part will be from Ellie's point of view. The second 25,000 word part will be from Cate's point of view. The third 25,000 word part will be from Ailynn's point of view. So, like, mini versions of the first three books to wrap it all up. Cool, right? Or am I just crazy?
Do you think I could pull this off if I was careful? Do you think jumping viewpoints is too confusing for readers? I think I got it to work for 'Chopin at 3:00 in the Morning', but I never expected to try the viewpoint-swapping experiment again. I'd love to hear your thoughts on this in the comments. I'll probably have another post up later today (more about the craft of writing, less about my own confusing plotlines).
Perhaps 'writing demon' is a better descriptor. Every writer has been 'in the zone' at some point, where they can't eat, sleep, or think about anything but words. Oh, those all-consuming words. They struggle to come out, sometimes sluggishly, sometimes so fast that you can barely type them out.
I was struck with inspiration while writing last night. I think that I have enough material for a FOURTH novel in what was supposed to be a fantasy trilogy, and now I feel totally overwhelmed. I have gotten rid of 22,000 words, written another 30,000 (taking 10,000 of that material from an old work), and somehow formed a basic outline of my plan... I hope. I think I can use about half of the 22,000 false-start novel and about 10,000 words from my infamous archive of old junk to make 'Mirror, Mirror' come to life again.
Confused? So am I.
Here is where I need some reader input. If you have read The Second Sister, Wolf's Eyes, or the first part of The Witch's Daughter, feel free to chime in. Tell me what you think of this plan.
The third book, The Witch's Daughter, will be completed as-is, in my usual three-part, first-person format. I'm about half way done already.
The fourth book, Mirror Mirror, is going to be a hodgepodge, but it works PERFECTLY with the grand plot structure I was originally going to include in The Witch's Daughter. The first 25,000 word part will be from Ellie's point of view. The second 25,000 word part will be from Cate's point of view. The third 25,000 word part will be from Ailynn's point of view. So, like, mini versions of the first three books to wrap it all up. Cool, right? Or am I just crazy?
Do you think I could pull this off if I was careful? Do you think jumping viewpoints is too confusing for readers? I think I got it to work for 'Chopin at 3:00 in the Morning', but I never expected to try the viewpoint-swapping experiment again. I'd love to hear your thoughts on this in the comments. I'll probably have another post up later today (more about the craft of writing, less about my own confusing plotlines).
Sunday, June 6, 2010
Letting Go Of Baby
A short post today. First item of business: the first part of my novel, The Witch's Daughter, is officially finished! Er, the rough draft version, of course. I sent it off to my beta-reader, who is a sweetheart, and posted it on fictionpress. I won't send it to The Academy or The Athenaeum until it's been beta read. I know those ladies like their stuff well-looked-over first.
Second item is the actual content of this post...
You have to be able to send your story out into the world. Yes, letting go is hard to do, but it's a necessary step in the writer's journey. As close as a writer can become to the characters in their novels, a time comes when their story is done, the girls are all grown up, and it's time to let go.
It is terrifying to send your baby out to be read and judged by nameless, faceless readers, some of whom you will never meet. However, it can also be extremely exciting and rewarding. I find it spiritually satisfying to share my work, and that feeling usually overcomes the terror that accompanies the release of any written material on my part. So, if you've written something, no matter how short, let it go and share it with others so we can all enjoy your thoughts.
Third item of business. I am looking for new topics to write about! Although I have plenty of ideas, I want this blog to be about its readers, so if you have any writing topics you would like me to discuss, let me know! I'm open to suggestions. Also, thank you to those of you who have left comments! I adore you.
Love and kisses,
Rae
Second item is the actual content of this post...
You have to be able to send your story out into the world. Yes, letting go is hard to do, but it's a necessary step in the writer's journey. As close as a writer can become to the characters in their novels, a time comes when their story is done, the girls are all grown up, and it's time to let go.
It is terrifying to send your baby out to be read and judged by nameless, faceless readers, some of whom you will never meet. However, it can also be extremely exciting and rewarding. I find it spiritually satisfying to share my work, and that feeling usually overcomes the terror that accompanies the release of any written material on my part. So, if you've written something, no matter how short, let it go and share it with others so we can all enjoy your thoughts.
Third item of business. I am looking for new topics to write about! Although I have plenty of ideas, I want this blog to be about its readers, so if you have any writing topics you would like me to discuss, let me know! I'm open to suggestions. Also, thank you to those of you who have left comments! I adore you.
Love and kisses,
Rae
