How to finish a book

I hear a lot from people who want to know how to FINISH a book.  It's pretty easy to start one, but it's even easier to get distracted and abandon it.  Here's my thoughts on how to get from beginning to end.

#1: FOCUS. This may sound obvious, but I see a lot of writers getting distracted trying to build a platform on social media. When I started my second draft of Crewel, I decided to step back from blogging and twitter and commit to the book. As soon as I was querying, I started up again. And now when I'm on deadline/drafting, I find that scaling back social media helps me focus on my project.

#2: EXPLORE. Outlines are great, but sometimes the trick to getting words on the page is to explore your story. Ask yourself what would be the most ridiculous or romantic or wild thing that could happen to your character, and then write that scene! Sometimes exploring opens up whole new storylines and dimensions in your book.

#3: DRAFT. Obviously you have to draft a novel to finish a novel. But the thing is that most people don't understand that drafts are just drafts. They aren't perfect. Sometimes they're crap. When you allow yourself to write a story from A to B recognizing that it will need editing and revision at the end, it's easier to get past the "I give up" phase. Give yourself permission to write crap.


#4: TALK. It's almost cliche to say "I'm writing a book" these days. I've had some snarky comments directed at me while out writing, so it can be scary to admit that's what you're doing. But talking about your work can give you accountability if you talk to the right people. Join writing groups, check out forums, sign up for NaNoWriMo. Tell people who will hold you accountable about your work.

#5. WANT. For the love of Doctor Who, write what you WANT to write. Don't worry about trends or landing an agent or getting a book deal. Believe me, pressure=resistance, and resistance is the enemy to writing.

#6: PLAN. As much as writing is a creative process, it's also a business. Being a little business-minded about your project isn't a bad thing. Give yourself daily goals and draft deadlines. Someday when you have a week to turn around edits, it won't be so horrible.

#7: DREAM. Yes, I believe in the power of visualization. I'm a bit of a hippy, remember? But, seriously, allow yourself to imagine getting a book deal, go to a bookstore and see where your book will be, or make a mock book cover with your name on it. If you want to write a book, you've already got a bit of the dreamer in you, embrace it.
Originally published on Facebook in a series of posts.  Join me on Facebook for more.  Have a question or topic of your own?  Ask it here.

The importance of REreading

When was the last time you read a good book?

I hear a lot of authors, agents, editors, and other writerly peeps proclaiming the virtues of reading to become a better writer.  Now don't get me wrong - I agree.  You absolutely have to crack open some books if you are going to write one.  And yet all too often I stumble on an excerpt or query that isn't very readable from someone who reads a lot.  I hate when that happens, because these people love books.  I know they do.  They love dozens of them a year, their Goodreads list is a veritable who's who of upcoming novels.

So where are they going wrong?
I think I know, which leads me to a very important question.
When was the last time you reread that good book?

We escape in good books.  We're sucked into new worlds.  We fall in love.  That's the magic of reading, and you shouldn't destroy it by reading a novel like a textbook the first time.  But you should definitely reread that book.  Reread it once for plot.  Another time for dialogue.  A third just for the kissing scenes if it's got 'em.

We don't learn a word the first time we hear it, or speak it, or read it.  We revisit that word.  We use it in context and maybe then it becomes part of our vocabulary.  Build your writer's toolbox the same way.  Study Suzanne Collins for pacing, J.K. Rowling for voice, Cassandra Clare for worldbuilding and so on.  Apprentice yourself to your favorite writers and learn the craft through study and practice.

Now go reread a book.

Shiny, Happy Ideas and Miserable Writers

When someone asks me where I get my ideas, I try to keep my eyes from rolling back in my head and give them a good answer.  But here's the truth, and it's something other writers know all too well:

I get ideas everywhere.

And I mean everywhere.  Vacuuming my house, on the highway, in the middle of a movie, talking with a friend, eating lentil soup, cleaning the wax from my ears.

I am under a constant barrage of ideas.  Writers don't see and hear things the same way nonwriters do.  All it takes is the right turn of phrase or casual dissemination of info and our minds start whirring, grinding out a plethora of what-ifs.

This might sound great, and most of the time when that Shiny, Happy Idea comes (SHI - ooh, that's a close one) along, I flirt with it, imagine who the characters are, what the cover will look like.  This honeymoon phase lasts anywhere from seconds to days until I think of my last SHI or another SHI pops into my head.

The best SHIs get a page of notes in a file titled backburner, some even have their own notebooks.  I'm always convinced my SHIs are marinating while I work on books that are under contract or deadline.  I'm positive I can write them all THIS YEAR and then I sit down to work on them and some of the shininess and happiness fades away, replaced with lots of questions.

Who are these characters?
What happens to them?
Most often—what was I thinking?

Sometimes that marinating time doesn't work it turns out.  Sometimes a SHI is just like all those shiny, happy objects that sparkle and catch our fancy in life but turn out to be pieces of junk.  It can be a miserable feeling when you sent down with your folder full of SHIs and come away feeling deflated.

What to do?

Pick a SHI and explore it.  Look for inspirational pics on Pinterest, find one and free write for 15 minutes.  Name your characters.  The problem with Shiny, Happy Ideas is that that's all they are–ideas. Books need a lot more than ideas.  They need bones and muscle and tissue, teeth and marrow.  Books need flesh and blood.  Wannabe writers create Shiny, Happy Ideas.  Writers create books.

So when you pull that Shiny, Happy Idea out and discover it's a little tarnished, decide if you want to chuck it back in the drawer or polish it up and remember, an idea kept in a drawer never becomes a book.

New Year New Plans

It's 2013.  My debut year has come and gone.  I'm a published author.  What more can I hope for in life?

Well, lots.

It turns out that when one dream is achieved, it's sort of like hitting just the right kernel in Popcorn Ninja.  You know the one that brings on a blitz and suddenly kernels are popping up everywhere?

But dreams are funny wispy things that flit in and out of our lives.  I was well on my way to a PhD when I started dreaming of having a child and I was dreaming of going off the grid when I landed my book deal.  Sometimes life just shifts.  So in an effort to capture these dreams and work towards them, I've written them down and if they happen as they happen, I'm going to share them with you.  Honestly, some of them probably won't happen.  One is pretty much impossible, but why not dream it? And at the end of the year, those things left unaccomplished will be turned off for all to see.

I've tucked them in the back of my sexy, new Moleskine planner.

What?  You don't think planners can be sexy?  You are wrong.  This one is perfect.  I spent 15 minutes helping the guy at BN track down a price for it, and I would have paid $100 for it (don't tell him that), but instead I paid $10 for the perfect planner.  It has a weekly calendar next to a blank, ruled notebook page.  It is so hot.  (This is about the time where you think gah, she is such a writer.)

Further proof of its total hotness.

Enough about paper.

What are your dreams this year?  Have you written them down?

The lost month of December

So other than a flurry of final edits for Crewel and some half-hearted staring at a blank page, December consisted mostly of shopping and wrapping and doing whatever I wanted.  I rewrote about 20k of book 2 and that's about it.

Last December wasn't much different.

Is it strange that after a month of crazed writing in November, which was meant to start a daily habit, that I found myself unable to lift the metaphorical pen?  It all started with a little meltdown after we went to get  the Christmas tree.  There was a lot of crying and whining and second guessing myself.  And bless my husband, who should be given some kind of award, he looked me and said, "You need a vacation.  Normal people at normal jobs schedule vacations."

But I'm not a normal person with a normal job.  My job consists of figuring out the way you show a girl is nervous around a certain boy or what the political structure of hypothetical planet would be like or the right shade of yellow for a description of a bathroom.  Totally not normal.

Husband hit back, referencing how many edits I had done on the book, how hard I had worked on the copyedits despite the flu overtaking our whole house, and the upcoming holidays.  So I relented, because he is usually right.

And he was.

Plot elements and character developments crept into my head throughout the last few weeks, but for the most part I got ready for Christmas, went to six Christmases, and then carted the kids about for a week and a half while they were on break.  And during that time away, during my "vacation," something magical happened.

I missed my characters.

I guess it's like any relationship: absence makes the heart grow fonder.  But as I'd had no break from them in the last year since I started the whole crazy adventure, I didn't know that.  I do now.  Sometimes I hear other writers bemoan their manuscripts or say how much they hate their books.  I was getting there myself.  So if it feels like you can't possibly stand to spend one more second in the same room as your WIP, it might be time to take a break.  Trust my husband.  Even writers can take vacations.

The lost month of December

So other than a flurry of final edits for Crewel and some half-hearted staring at a blank page, December consisted mostly of shopping and wrapping and doing whatever I wanted.  I rewrote about 20k of book 2 and that's about it.

Last December wasn't much different.

Is it strange that after a month of crazed writing in November, which was meant to start a daily habit, that I found myself unable to lift the metaphorical pen?  It all started with a little meltdown after we went to get  the Christmas tree.  There was a lot of crying and whining and second guessing myself.  And bless my husband, who should be given some kind of award, he looked me and said, "You need a vacation.  Normal people at normal jobs schedule vacations."

But I'm not a normal person with a normal job.  My job consists of figuring out the way you show a girl is nervous around a certain boy or what the political structure of hypothetical planet would be like or the right shade of yellow for a description of a bathroom.  Totally not normal.

Husband hit back, referencing how many edits I had done on the book, how hard I had worked on the copyedits despite the flu overtaking our whole house, and the upcoming holidays.  So I relented, because he is usually right.

And he was.

Plot elements and character developments crept into my head throughout the last few weeks, but for the most part I got ready for Christmas, went to six Christmases, and then carted the kids about for a week and a half while they were on break.  And during that time away, during my "vacation," something magical happened.

I missed my characters.

I guess it's like any relationship: absence makes the heart grow fonder.  But as I'd had no break from them in the last year since I started the whole crazy adventure, I didn't know that.  I do now.  Sometimes I hear other writers bemoan their manuscripts or say how much they hate their books.  I was getting there myself.  So if it feels like you can't possibly stand to spend one more second in the same room as your WIP, it might be time to take a break.  Trust my husband.  Even writers can take vacations.

From the Archive: Wherein my 3 year-old teaches me about writing

Originally posted in March 2011.

My three year-old is currently going through the "why" stage.  Moms will know this as the stage where alcohol becomes an essential part of mommy's nightly destress routine.

Basically every  thing he watches, every activity we engage in, every moment of his day, he wants to know more about.

"Why did Darth Vader cut off Luke's hand?"
"Why does Sydney need a nap?"
"Why is mommy crying?"
"Why did Wall-E pick up all the trash?"

You get the idea.  He follows me from room to room narrating my occupations and asking for my motivations.  And then the other day it hit me, this is a good lesson for writers.

When I tell him "I don't know."  He asks why.  He restates the original question.  I don't know is not an acceptable response.  If I don't know, I better figure it the hell out before he asks my ear right off.

How many times have you watched the deleted scenes on the DVD you rented?  You know why those scenes get cut, because they don't offer anything new or they don't give us compelling information.  They don't give us any why.  They don't offer us any new insight or they slow down the story without adding to it.

Does your book have scenes like this?  Lots of dialogue with no real importance.  If you ask yourself why it's there.  Do you know?  On the other hand, when your character does something, feels something, says something - do you know the motivation behind it?  Every line of your manuscript has to have a purpose, so that the only why your reader is left with is one of breathless anticipation for your perfectly executed final reveal.

In other news, I think my son is going to be an actor.  I'm going to start teaching him to ask "What's my motivation?" Instead of why.

From the Archive: Wherein my 3 year-old teaches me about writing

Originally posted in March 2011.

My three year-old is currently going through the "why" stage.  Moms will know this as the stage where alcohol becomes an essential part of mommy's nightly destress routine.

Basically every  thing he watches, every activity we engage in, every moment of his day, he wants to know more about.

"Why did Darth Vader cut off Luke's hand?"
"Why does Sydney need a nap?"
"Why is mommy crying?"
"Why did Wall-E pick up all the trash?"

You get the idea.  He follows me from room to room narrating my occupations and asking for my motivations.  And then the other day it hit me, this is a good lesson for writers.

When I tell him "I don't know."  He asks why.  He restates the original question.  I don't know is not an acceptable response.  If I don't know, I better figure it the hell out before he asks my ear right off.

How many times have you watched the deleted scenes on the DVD you rented?  You know why those scenes get cut, because they don't offer anything new or they don't give us compelling information.  They don't give us any why.  They don't offer us any new insight or they slow down the story without adding to it.

Does your book have scenes like this?  Lots of dialogue with no real importance.  If you ask yourself why it's there.  Do you know?  On the other hand, when your character does something, feels something, says something - do you know the motivation behind it?  Every line of your manuscript has to have a purpose, so that the only why your reader is left with is one of breathless anticipation for your perfectly executed final reveal.

In other news, I think my son is going to be an actor.  I'm going to start teaching him to ask "What's my motivation?" Instead of why.

From the Archive: 3 Things

Originally posted January 2011.

If you are like me your writing list and to-do list can get ambitious.

1.  Finish novel
2. Scrub bathroom with toothbrush
3.  Establish world peace
4.  Finish laundry

Let's face it, you're never going to finish laundry.  So I'd like to challenge you to try something new.  Each day, you will make a ist of 3 things (one for your home/work life and one for writing).  These have to be specific, achievable tasks.  For instance:

Home
1.  Clean toilet
2.  Do load of towels
3.  Dust

Writing
1.  Spellcheck three chapters
2.  Comment on 5 blogs
3.  Write 500 words

This isn't a huge amount of chores, but how accomplished will you feel when you actually finish a list?  How much more productive will you work and daily life become when you aren't fretting over doing all the laundry, curing cancer, and writing the last 10 k of your novel?  So give it a try and let me know how it works for you!

From the Archive: 3 Things

Originally posted January 2011.

If you are like me your writing list and to-do list can get ambitious.

1.  Finish novel
2. Scrub bathroom with toothbrush
3.  Establish world peace
4.  Finish laundry

Let's face it, you're never going to finish laundry.  So I'd like to challenge you to try something new.  Each day, you will make a ist of 3 things (one for your home/work life and one for writing).  These have to be specific, achievable tasks.  For instance:

Home
1.  Clean toilet
2.  Do load of towels
3.  Dust

Writing
1.  Spellcheck three chapters
2.  Comment on 5 blogs
3.  Write 500 words

This isn't a huge amount of chores, but how accomplished will you feel when you actually finish a list?  How much more productive will you work and daily life become when you aren't fretting over doing all the laundry, curing cancer, and writing the last 10 k of your novel?  So give it a try and let me know how it works for you!

From the Archive: Things you don't need to be a writer

Originally posted in February 2011.


1. A degree
I have a darling crit partner who gets all down on herself because she doesn't have a degree in literature.  I have two and I can promise you there was no super secret, backroom induction into the writer's club. We read books, we over-analyzed them, and we wrote hundreds of pages explaining them.  But that doesn't mean we're guaranteed to be able to write one.

2. Lots of free time
Perhaps the trend in mom writers has left some believing that you can write a book if you are home all day without a "real job." I've even heard people sigh that they wish they stayed home with the kids so they could write. Are you serious? Have you ever been around two toddlers? My day is spent doing laundry, feeding, cleaning them up, changing diapers, breaking up fights, hitting replay on Harry Potter, keeping my daughter out of the cat food and the litterbox, and sometimes, if I'm lucky, showering. I squeeze writing into the nooks and crannies. Time is only an excuse.

3. Awesome, plot-ridden dreams
It must be nice to dream up bestsellers in your sleep, but my dreams are nowhere near that coherent. Writers since Coleridge have been using the "I had a dream" line and honestly, it's a bit played out, don't you think?

4. To live in the desert
Ok, I can't back this up. Maybe you do have to live in the desert. Will someone enlighten me as to why every new bestseller seems to be coming from AZ and UT? I have a theory that they are less depressed than those of us in the Midwest due to all the sun, and as such don't spend their allotted writing time coping by guzzling coffee and trying to get in the mood.

5. Fancy equipment or programs
About 24 hours after I jotted down the first page of my current WIP, I spilled an entire cup of water on my Mac. May it rest in peace. I wrote the bulk of my WIP during Nano in November on public access library computers in 70 minute segments. No special programs. Just a flash drive and my fingers. On a sidenote, I have developed an almost inhuman ability to block out people watching youtube videos.

There is, in fact, only one thing you can do to be a writer, and the good news is you have complete control over it: write! Yep, its as simple as that. Write...then write some more...go to the bathroom, come back and write. Write about anything, but make sure you do it every day.

From the Archive: Things you don't need to be a writer

Originally posted in February 2011.


1. A degree
I have a darling crit partner who gets all down on herself because she doesn't have a degree in literature.  I have two and I can promise you there was no super secret, backroom induction into the writer's club. We read books, we over-analyzed them, and we wrote hundreds of pages explaining them.  But that doesn't mean we're guaranteed to be able to write one.

2. Lots of free time
Perhaps the trend in mom writers has left some believing that you can write a book if you are home all day without a "real job." I've even heard people sigh that they wish they stayed home with the kids so they could write. Are you serious? Have you ever been around two toddlers? My day is spent doing laundry, feeding, cleaning them up, changing diapers, breaking up fights, hitting replay on Harry Potter, keeping my daughter out of the cat food and the litterbox, and sometimes, if I'm lucky, showering. I squeeze writing into the nooks and crannies. Time is only an excuse.

3. Awesome, plot-ridden dreams
It must be nice to dream up bestsellers in your sleep, but my dreams are nowhere near that coherent. Writers since Coleridge have been using the "I had a dream" line and honestly, it's a bit played out, don't you think?

4. To live in the desert
Ok, I can't back this up. Maybe you do have to live in the desert. Will someone enlighten me as to why every new bestseller seems to be coming from AZ and UT? I have a theory that they are less depressed than those of us in the Midwest due to all the sun, and as such don't spend their allotted writing time coping by guzzling coffee and trying to get in the mood.

5. Fancy equipment or programs
About 24 hours after I jotted down the first page of my current WIP, I spilled an entire cup of water on my Mac. May it rest in peace. I wrote the bulk of my WIP during Nano in November on public access library computers in 70 minute segments. No special programs. Just a flash drive and my fingers. On a sidenote, I have developed an almost inhuman ability to block out people watching youtube videos.

There is, in fact, only one thing you can do to be a writer, and the good news is you have complete control over it: write! Yep, its as simple as that. Write...then write some more...go to the bathroom, come back and write. Write about anything, but make sure you do it every day.

From the Archive: Loglines - setting the right tone

Originally posted in February 2011.

And now for another lesson from Star Wars (Btw, I use SW for two reasons: 1. it's a classic hero's journey most people have seen  and 2.  my 3 year-old watches it ALL day long)

A logline, or the one line pitch, is a simple way to tell your story using, you guessed it, one line.  You need a logline.  It's your go-to answer at dinner parties, conferences, the grocery store.  But while it may be tempting to say "Luke goes on a quest across the universe to stop bad guys," please refrain.   Your logline should be concise but still convey something about your novel.

Is it funny?

When a farm boy buys two robots, he stumbles into a cross-galaxy quest to save a princess with the help of an old man, a con artist, and a huge dog.

Is it scary?

When a ruthless lord builds a machine that destroys planets, Luke Skywalker must find a way to destroy it before innocent millions are killed.

Is it romantic?

When a beautiful princess broadcasts a call for help, Luke Skywalker is compelled across the galaxy to save her.

What's your logline?

From the Archive: Loglines - setting the right tone

Originally posted in February 2011.

And now for another lesson from Star Wars (Btw, I use SW for two reasons: 1. it's a classic hero's journey most people have seen  and 2.  my 3 year-old watches it ALL day long)

A logline, or the one line pitch, is a simple way to tell your story using, you guessed it, one line.  You need a logline.  It's your go-to answer at dinner parties, conferences, the grocery store.  But while it may be tempting to say "Luke goes on a quest across the universe to stop bad guys," please refrain.   Your logline should be concise but still convey something about your novel.

Is it funny?

When a farm boy buys two robots, he stumbles into a cross-galaxy quest to save a princess with the help of an old man, a con artist, and a huge dog.

Is it scary?

When a ruthless lord builds a machine that destroys planets, Luke Skywalker must find a way to destroy it before innocent millions are killed.

Is it romantic?

When a beautiful princess broadcasts a call for help, Luke Skywalker is compelled across the galaxy to save her.

What's your logline?

There's no such things as dues

Writing is free.  Anyone who tries to tell you differently is selling something.

But in all seriousness, I've seen enough backhanded compliments to writers and read enough angry posts on forums to know that there are some people who believe in "dues."  What are dues exactly?  From what I've gleaned they are: being old enough, being rejected enough, writing long enough, writing well enough, being humble enough, being rockstar enough, being involved enough, or all of the above.

But I hate to break it to you, dues are a figment of your imagination.  This writing gig?  Anyone can do it.  Now I'm not saying everyone  who writes a book can or should get published, and there are a lot of fabulous writers out there who only concern themselves with writing.  But if you are holding yourself back from writing because you're young or you don't have a degree or you're pretty sure people will laugh at you, you're doing yourself a disservice.

There will always be naysayers.  Those people that scoff at the teenager who is writing a novel.  Those that will post nasty messages about writers who get book deals with seemingly no effort (no one gets a book deal without effort -- even celebrities have to find ghost writers).  Others who will say you aren't a real writer until you've been rejected dozens of times for representation or publication.

And then they'll say something about dues.  About how they've paid them and you haven't.

Here's the thing though:  You don't have to pay dues to write a book or land an agent or get a book deal.

Your dedication - your persistence - your passion: that's all that's required.  And you don't owe it to anyone but yourself.

On Moms and Writing

It seems like every time you turn around a mom writer is getting a book deal.  Personally, I think this is great, but I've seen quite a bit of negativity regarding moms who are writers online lately.  From the dismissive "just another Stephenie Meyer" comments (which btw, isn't an insult) to downright mean-spirited jibes, I've been a little shocked.  It seems that there's a misconception that moms writing books are the new fad.  As though many of us just looked around at our cluttered houses and active children and said, "Gee, golly, I think I'll write a book!"

Mother writers are not a new thing.  Seriously, check out Mary Wollstonecraft, or her daughter, Mary Shelley.  Or Francis Burney.  Or Sylvia Plath.  Or J.K. Rowling.  Maybe it's the birth of social media that allows us to come out from hiding and reach out to one another.  It's allowed us to make ourselves known outside of the published book spine.

But this is not a fad.  Writing isn't the new kitschy hobby of moms everywhere.   Moms who write, work hard.  Now, don't get me wrong, most writers work hard.  But the image of moms jotting down a few lines blissfully between meals and diapers changes is a bit out of whack with reality.  If you think a mom has all the time in the world to write a book because she stays home with her kids, you are mistaken.  This is what it's really like:

Get up with kids.
Wrangle them into high chairs for breakfast.
Decide what to do while they're eating: eat yourself, get dressed, or try to catch up with your emails or blog reading.
Choose blog reading -- you're desperate for contact with the outside world.
Clean up breakfast.  Empty dishwasher.  Start laundry.  Vacuum twice, because the kids got a hold of crackers 5 minutes after you did it the first time.
Sit down and try to ignore Barney on the t.v.
 Worry that they're watching too much television.
Tweet once.
Break up fight over lightsaber.
Switch laundry.
Vacuum because 1 yo hid a cracker in her pocket and then sprinkled it Hansel and Gretel-style all over the house.
Take a shower with 4 yo flipping light off and on and asking what's privacy while 1 yo screams and continually opens shower door.
Make lunch.
Find something you can just shove in your mouth, so you can dry your hair.
Wonder why on Earth you aren't skinnier.
Clean up lunch.
Vacuum.
Consider buying a roomba to follow each child around all day.
Drag kids to library.
Page through books while taking dirty, public library crayons out of 1 yo's mouth.
Check email.  Sigh that no one has emailed you.
Check out books with help of 4 yo.
Put kids back in car 15 minutes later.
Drive home.
Stupidly, give them crackers as a snack.
Vacuum.
Take call from hubby (Be ready when I get home).
Feel guilty for not making dinner.
Consider deleting your stupid, selfish manuscript, so you can be a better mom.
Scrounge up coffee money.
Meet husband at door.
Leave screaming, crying baby with him.
Feel horrible for leaving her.
Get to coffee shop.
Set up.  Get coffee.
Settle in to get in the right mindset.
Stare blankly at screen for fifteen minutes.
Finally get to work.
Write like the wind, ignoring the typos.
Get text message: "Can you come home now?"
Hit save.
Check clock.
Two hours.
Check word count.
2k words.
Go home.
Wrangle kids to bed.
Vacuum.
Rock baby to sleep.
Try to watch show with husband while wanting to open up your manuscript.
Wait until he falls asleep.
Open up the document, stare at it.
Too tired.
Maybe tomorrow you'll get more work done.

Take What You Want

Photo credit: jacobms (flickr)

Ever been to a salad bar?  You know the kind with 3 kinds of lettuce, spinach, every veggie on the planet, chunks of ham, 10 dressings, pasta salad, and even lima beans  There's a lot of delicious options.  You could make a salad of just about anything you want.  Maybe you're the type to try a smattering of several things, or perhaps you prefer to build a large salad with a carefully chosen mix of toppings and your favorite dressing.

But how often do you pile some of everything - every salad dressing, pasta salad, croutons, cheese - on your plate and dig in?  It would be a bit of  a mess and certainly not very good.  All the ingredients are delicious and some even mix well, but altogether?  Not so much.

The internet works the same way.  It seems like everyone out there has an opinion on the right way to write, the right way to query, and the best books being published.  Lately I've found myself sort of frustrated with agent/writer blogs.  There's a lot of absolutism in the advice as though you must utilize the advice or you will never, not ever be published or agented.  Don't get me wrong it's not all bad advice, but honestly, there is no formula to successful writing.  There are tools and methods you can use, but at the end of the day if you try to meet all the well-intentioned demands of all the blogs and websites, you'll wind up with a bit of a mess.

Maybe you read a post on super writer's blog and it really speaks to you, but I read it and think its bad advice or something that doesn't work with my writing style.  That's cool.  You might like spinach in your salad, and I prefer green peppers.  Variety in our writing and our styles is what sets us apart and, more importantly, what sets books apart.  Choose what resonates with you and leave the rest.  That's what the salad bar is for.

The importance of REreading

When was the last time you read a good book?

I hear a lot of authors, agents, editors, and other writerly peeps proclaiming the virtues of reading to become a better writer.  Now don't get me wrong - I agree.  You absolutely have to crack open some books if you are going to write one.  And yet all too often I stumble on an excerpt or query from someone who reads a lot that just isn't very readable.  I hate when that happens, because these people love books.  I know they do.  They love dozens of them a year, their GoodReads list is a veritable who's who of upcoming novels.

So where are they going wrong?
I think I know, which leads me to a very important question.
When was the last time you reread that good book?

We escape in good books.  We're sucked into new worlds.  We fall in love.  That's the magic of reading, and you shouldn't destroy it by reading a novel like a textbook the first time.  But you should definitely reread that book.  Reread it once for plot.  Another time for dialogue.  A third just for the kissing scenes if it's got 'em.

We don't learn a word the first time we hear it, or speak it, or read it.  We revisit that word.  We use it in context and maybe then it becomes part of our vocabulary.  Build your writer's toolbox the same way.  Study Suzanne Collins for pacing, Stephenie Meyer for irresistible love interests, J.K. Rowling for voice, Cassandra Clare for worldbuilding and so on.  Apprentice yourself to your favorite writers and learn the craft through study and practice.

Now go reread a book.

Lessons from Star Wars: Ratcheting up the Tension

I love Star Wars, and by that I mean the original three and not the prequels-which-must-not-be-named. There's a lot you can learn from them. While film and writing are two different animals, they share a lot of similarities and as writers, we can learn from them. Star Wars is the ultimate in the heroic journey that you can learn all about from Joseph Campbell. But I'm not going to talk about that. Today I'm talking about tension.

Somewhere along the line, writers have to realize that writing shouldn't be realistic. Here's what I mean: A bad day for me is getting a flat tire or losing my wallet or maybe having my refrigerator go out. No one wants to read a book where these events are the climaxes. A writer's job is to make a bad day into a horrible or terrifying or tragic day.

In Star Wars, Luke and Han have gotten pulled onto the deathstar, rescued Leia and escaped in the garbage shoot. They're having a bad but exciting day. Lucas could stop there, but he doesn't. Why? Because he knows to keep his audience hopelessly hooked, he needs to ratchet up the tension. They're trapped in the deathstar's garbage dump and Luke is attacked by a tentacled monster. Oh no! (Please don't ask why a tentacled monster is on a new space station). He almost escapes and gets pulled back under. Han and Leia are ready to give up when he escapes. Yay! Now they can go back to escaping, right? Nope. The dump is a compactor and the walls start to close in to mash them up! But wait! Luke can call the droids for help, but the droids are hiding and can't hear him....That's a bad day!

Even if you are writing about ordinary people in Ohio, events needs to e extraordinary and you have to ratchet up the tension for your reader. Maybe a tire blows out while a young man is frantically driving his wife whose in child labor to the hospital. Pretty bad, but make it worse. There's a horrible storm and he can barely see to flag down other cars for help. Things are getting pretty tense. What if another car can't see him and comes skidding toward him? That's how you turn a flat tire into a noteworthy, tense moment in a novel.

Happy writing!

Challenge 1122011: Objective Correlative

T.S. Eliot popularized the term objective correlative, which orginally was coined by Washington Allston in 1840.  Simply explained, it is the use of a symbol to "describe" generally inexplicable concepts like color or emotion.  I first came across the concept when I sat in on a phone interview of poet Rachel Zucker, who was a fan of using objective correlatives in her poetry:

many cities no longer exist
but there is cleaning to finish

lemon halves wrapped
in clinging plastic (Eating in the Underworld, pg. 11)

Lemon is acerbic, bitter, clean, stinging, yellow...lemon conveys so many emotions, feelings, and concepts.

What are some things that symbolize fear?  Longing?  Desire?  Go work five into your novel.