A Few Little Things to Announce

My friend and fellow writer Darren Hansen has launched a new website called inkPageant! If you're looking for a place to share your blog posts, and enjoy blog posts from other writers, this is the place for you. It's a great gathering place for blogging writers. And there's even a contest going on! Who could say no to Amazon gift cards?

In other news, I started a YouTube channel! The goal of the channel is to share videos on writing aids, meditations for creativity, YA book trailers, general funny/awesome stuff, and have playlists for my WIPs. If you're interested, feel free to check it out.

And that's all I've got today, folks. Grocery shopping is calling my name. Blech.

Read more »

Something's Gotta Give: How to Decide what to Cut from your Novel

I'm in the cut-obscene-amounts-of-unnecessary-crap stage of my rewrites. In the last two days, I've cut around 2,000 words from the first 100 pages of TUGL (and added just a tad too, so it flows cleanly). You'd think it'd feel horrible to cut out so many of my hard-earned words, but it actually feels really refreshing to cut out the dross and find the story underneath.

Cutting is a necessary part of rewrites, but the real question is, how do you know what to cut? I sometimes agonize for days/weeks about whether a certain scene or paragraph or line needs to go. Here are a few tips on deciding whether or not to chop.

Read the section you're concerned about and ask yourself, does it do more than one thing?
Every single line-- possibly ever single word-- in your book needs to have more than one purpose. So does every scene and chapter. Does it add characterization and move the plot forward? Does it set up the setting while building tension? Does it give us voice in the midst of action? Great! But if you've got sections that do only one thing, it needs to go. Or maybe it can stay, but it needs another element added to it. That's up to you.

Take it out. Literally cut it out of the document and paste it in another one.
I do this one quite frequently. When the section is actually GONE from the book, it's a lot easier to look at what's left and ask yourself  if anything is really missing. If the story can go on without that section-- keep it out. If you think you do need it, look hard at WHAT you need. What particular element is essential to the plot? To understanding the character? To being grounded in the world? Then ask yourself if you can lift that element and put it somewhere else. You'll find your pacing can improve quite dramatically if you do that.

"But I love this part!" is never, ever, ever, ever a reason to keep it.
That doesn't mean you have to cut out everything you love. But if the scene is only there because you think it's hilarious or dramatic or amazing, and it doesn't really add to the story as a whole, it needs to go. This is "killing your darlings." It's possible, as just mentioned, that you can take some of the elements you love and put them elsewhere. But you might just have to chop the whole thing. Take comfort in the idea you can always add a "deleted scenes" section to your website for future readers someday. :)

When I have to cut, I always ask myself one thing: is this serving the bigger purpose of the story, or holding me back from what I really want to say? When all else fails, this question can solve the problem.

So, my friends, how do you decide what to cut from your WIPs? Do you like cutting, or do you find it emotionally wrenching?

Read more »

Teen Tales: Pranks-- the funny and the not-so-funny

Teen Tales is a weekly feature connecting the YA experience with YA literature.

I'm going to go out on  limb here and guess that I'm not the only one who played pranks on people as a teen.

The best prank I ever played was actually in college, but I did some other silly ones in high school. Usually, these were in connection with school dances. See, where I come from, you can't just ask someone to a dance face to face. You have to be all cutsey about it.

One of my girl friends wanted to ask another friend of ours to Preference, and she came up with a diabolical plan. With his mother's permission, we sneaked into his bedroom while he was at football practice. We had four rolls of toilet paper. He had a small room. It was significantly more awesome than this picture.

Why we thought toilet-papering a guy's room was a hilarious way to ask him out, I'll never know. But it was, at the time. That's the fun about pranks-- while you're doing them, they're the funniest thing in the world.

Unless, of course, you're on the other end of the prank.

For example, my extended family once had a family reunion at a lake. My grandpa had a "water buoy," which was basically a motor on an inner-tube that pumped oxygen down a thin hose and into a scuba mask. It was so much better than snorkeling.

I was enjoying a dive, held under the surface by a weighted belt, when my oxygen suddenly cut off mid-inhale. I barely had any air in my lungs, and I was about fifteen feet under. In absolute panic, I forgot to pull the lever to drop my weighted belt as I struggled toward the surface. Finally, I broke the surface and ripped off my mask.

My cousin floated next to the water buoy, my air hose in her hand. Kinked.

Not. Funny.

Teasing and pranking can have a good place in YA lit. Not only is it something we can all connect to, but it can be a great way to portray characters and their psychology. What does the character find funny? Do the other characters get a kick out of it too, or do they get upset? Why does the character pull a prank on another-- is it just a joke, or is it meant to be cruel or embarrassing? How does a character react to a prank being played on them? Character relationships and psychology can be illustrated brilliantly through a simple prank.

So, my friends, have you ever played a prank on someone? Have you had a prank played on you? Have you ever used it in your writing? Does the word "prank" no longer sound like a word because I've used it so much in this post?


image

Read more »

What scares you more than anything-- and how can you use it to enhance your writing?

I'm now happily hacking away at a fourth draft of TUGL. Sometimes, though, when my mind wanders, there's another story in the background that wants to be played with. Two of them, actually. I have vague ideas for them, but no real plot or character arcs. It usually takes me a lot of musing to come up with the plot that works with the idea I want.

I play the "what if" game to help me, but I also do something else: I remind myself of all the things I'm afraid of in life. When I come up with a plot that addresses my own fears, it tends to be a stronger story. 

Even little fears can help me come up with something. For example, I'm terrified of ants (I know, lame-- but they attacked me as a kid, so it's a psychological thing). Writing a story about killer ants sounds like a SyFy channel special, though. 

So I dig deeper. Seeing a single ant on the sidewalk doesn't faze me. It's the swarm that gets me. The writhing mass of tiny bodies that move as a single organism, crawling up my legs, biting me everywhere...I'm literally cringing as I write this.

Basically, behind my simple fear of ants is a fear of thousands of malevolent creatures acting as one for their own nefarious purposes. How do you defeat a swarm like that??

And voila. That's a fear I can use in my writing.

So, my friends, what are you scared of? What's the real fear behind the simple object? Have you written a story that involves one of your fears?

Read more »

What if your book shares a title with another book?

So while I was on my little break last week, my friend Reece interviewed me! You can check out the interview here.

Also last week, I got an email from a crit partner, and it brought up something that was a recent frustration for me. The problem? Titles. Not coming up with titles. (That's a pain in the rear in its own right.) But what happens when you find a perfect title, and then it turns out another book has the same one, or a similar one?

With my current WIP, I found a quote that fits the book PERFECTLY. And from that quote, I got the perfect title: The Unhappening of Genesis Lee. I came up with it months ago, right at the beginning of my planning process, and got a little giddy about it. Then someone burst my bubble.

Literally two days after I picked it, I heard about a new book coming out (in fact, it came out yesterday!). You may have heard of it too. The Unbecoming of Mara Dyer. Argh! The titles aren't the same, not exactly. And there are plenty of books that are "The ___ of ___." But the similarity of Unbecoming/Unhappening made me very pouty. (Not that I'm dissing Michelle Hodkin. The book sounds awesome, and I can't wait to read it.)

Her book is published. Mine is not. What's a girl to do?

Not worry about it, that's what.

I'm not saying to give your book a generic title that twelve other books share, and if your title is similar to too many others, maybe you should change it. But when you find the title that expresses your book, that hints at tension, that asks a question, that makes people want to read more-- keep it. If it ever gets published, it could likely change anyway, but you can still use a catchy title to get an agent's attention.

Some books have similar titles, there's no getting around it. In fact, Aprilynne Pike just announced the fourth book in her series that shares a title with another book-- also very popular-- that's coming out around the same time. The books are different enough, and Aprilynne says the title fits so perfectly, that it can work.

So, my friends, has this ever happened to you? Did you change the title, or keep it? How do you come up with your titles?

Read more »

Teen Tales Guest Post: Jenny Morris on Unrequited Love

Teen Tales is a weekly feature connecting the YA experience with YA literature. Today, we've got a guest post from Jenny Morris! Here's a little about her before we get started:

I am 6 of 7 children and have lived in 3 of the 4 A’s states, but I currently call Oregon my home. In an alternate reality, I would have been a totally cool Rock Star or a Ninja with Wings, who saved the day. But, in this reality I put pen to paper and I pretend. I am a wife, mother, and I hope one day, a published author.

Now to the post!

It was my sophomore year in high school, and I’d just started my first job. He was tall, with feathery brown hair. His hazel green eyes popped, because of his naturally tan skin, and he had WAY kissable plump limps. We made pizzas together, and he had my heart. Too bad his heart wasn’t available.

During the 9 months I worked with him, I analyzed every detail of our interaction with one another. I made excuses to stay late, if he had the late shift. Every glance or smile confirmed that he really wanted to be with me, he just couldn’t bring himself to hurt his girlfriend.

Then one glorious night, my co-worker and co-crusher, (I didn’t know that part until just a few weeks ago) told me that he broke up with his girlfriend. Finally, my guy with kissable lips was free. So, the next time we worked together, I made sure I stayed late. And we sat in his baby blue VW bug, and talked. What did we say? I have NO idea, but it ended in a kiss.

There is much argument as to who initiated this kiss. He swears that sweet little Jenny Sue, attacked him and made him kiss her. It was all a haze though, so I can’t argue with him. I just remember leaning in, and bam, we were kissing.

Why the argument? He only broke up with his girlfriend for a day. They were already back together. Oh, poor little Jenny Sue.

In my teenage girl mind, little things added up to so much. Each smile, conversation, that deep look he gave me with those hazel eyes. The way he laughed at my silly jokes, as he touched my arm. They all added up to mean he liked me.

Did this guy ever like me? Or did he just like to flirt? I wanted him to like me. So, that’s what I believed. I wanted him to kiss me, and that’s what happened. But, he stayed with his girlfriend. So, I guess he didn’t really like me, did he?

How do I apply this to my writing?

All the little things people do add up and become the story. When I’m reading a book, I love when the author allows the little things to tell the love story. You can use your MC’s perception of an event, as an amazing tool. Sometimes perception is EVERYTHING.

*I e-mailed my co-worker/co-crusher to ask what color this guy’s eyes were, and she informed me that she ran into him a few weeks ago. Guess what? I totally dodged a bullet with that one.

Read more »

Burnout

In June and early July, I wrote between 2,000 and 4,000 words a day and had a finished first draft in 7 weeks.

In July, August, and September, I have worked for 2 to 4 hours a day and completed three revisions of that first draft.

I'm a little tired.

So, my friends, there will be no writing--and no blogging--for me this week. I'm burned out, and ready to recharge my batteries.

I'm planning to try a few new recipes, clean my house thoroughly, take my son to the aquarium, and dig through ancient photographs and family trees to work on a family history project. I'm pretty excited about all of it-- even the cleaning.

I hope you all have a great week, and I'll see you next Monday!

Read more »