Award Extravaganza!

Alright, so I've been hoarding awards lately and haven't been passing them on (bad blogger), so today I figured I would thank the people who gave them to me and send them on their way to others.


First is the Over the Top Award given to me by Melissa at Chasing the Dream.  Thanks Melissa!  If you're not following her, go check her out.  She always has great insight to share on the writing journey.

So for this award, I'm supposed to answer the following questions with one word.  Well, I'm breaking the rules and using more.  I spend too much time editing out wordiness, I'm not going to do it here.  :)


Your cell phone: Green
Your hair: Blonde
Your mother: Giving
Your father: Funny
Your favorite food: Crab and avocado (not necessarily together, although that's fine too)
Your dream last night: nightmare
Your favorite drink: Iced Tea
Your dream goal: To be a paid novelist
What room are you in: Living Room
Your hobby: Cooking
Your fear: Failure
Where do you see yourself in 6 years: Published and still writing
Where were you last night: Home watching Lost
Something you aren't: Daredevil
Muffins: Chocolate Chocolate chip
Wish list item: A book contract or agent
Where did you grow up: New Orleans
Last thing you did: checked email
What are you wearing: T-shirt and jeans
Your TV: Playing Baby Einstein
Your pets: Living with my parents
Friends: Far away
Your life: Full of laughter
Your mood: Content
Missing someone: Always missing my family
Vehicle: Paid for (finally)
Something you aren't wearing: Shoes
Your favorite store: Borders
Your favorite color: Purple
When was the last time you laughed: This morning
Last time you cried: Last week when I left my son for vacation
Your best friend: Hubby and Mom
One place you go over and over: Target
Facebooking: Sometimes
Favorite place to eat: Chuy's (Mexican)


I will be passing this one on to...


1. Sierra Godfrey
2. Nicole at One Significant Moment at a Time
3. Natalie Bahm
4. Elana Johnson
5. Amber at Musings of Amber Murphy

Next is the Happy 101 Award given to me by Julie Dao at The Silver Lining, Stephanie at the Writer's Cocoon, Melissa at I Swim for Oceans, and Ash. Elizabeth at Warning:.  Thanks you guys!  Your blogs make me happy so I know why you all received this award yourselves.  :)

Now I'm supposed to provide my happy list...

10 Things That Make Me Happy

1. My hubby and son.
2. Writing
3. Reading
4. Blog comments
5. Cooking something successfully that I've never cooked before
6. Good Mexican food
7. Going to a great concert
8. A full night's sleep
9. Learning something new (I ♥ school)
10. Watching reruns of Friends or Dawson's Creek

I'm passing this along to these blogs that make me happy...

1. Tere Kirkland at The Lesser Key
2. Stina Lindenblatt at Seeing Creative
3. Stephanie Thorton at Hatshepsut: The Writing of a Novel
4. Stephanie at Chronicles of a Novice Writer
5. Sarah Jayne at Writing in the Wilderness
6.  Patti Nielson
7. Lindsey at the Domesticated Writer
8. Jill at Sasha Jackson Mysteries
9. Guinevere at This is Not By Day Job
10. Sarah at Falen Formulates Fiction
11. Christiejolu at Tales From My Head

And last but not least Jen at 52 Weeks of Wordage passed along the Superior Scribbler award to me.  Thanks Jen!  Jen has taken a fun approach to writing exercises by committing herself to a year's worth of them on her blog--go check out her progress to her goal!

1. Tamika at The Write Worship
2. Shannon at Book Dreaming
3. Oddy at Dani's Letters 
4. Karen Amanda Hooper at Eternal Moonshine of a Daydreaming Mind
5. Jennifer at Wonderings, Wanderings, and Writing
6. Dominique at En Violet

Whew, that was a lot of links!  Go forth and follow.  :)

Also, as a side note.  If you are a new follower of mine, and I am not following you, that's because Blogger has told me I am only allowed to follow 300 blogs.  I know!  What nerve!  So I have to take some time to clear out dead blogs and make room for some new ones.

**Today's Theme Song**

"We Are The Champions" - Queen

(player in sidebar--go ahead, take a listen)

The Drug of Choice for Writer's Block: Speed

Many authors subscribe to the belief that writer's block doesn't exist.  I attended a workshop by author Candace Havens last year, and she said that writer's block is simply author fear.  It's not a true block.  Although sometimes the struggle does feel like and honest to goodness wall in my brain, I tend to agree that it is wrapped up in my own fear and insecurity.

Photo by xavi talleda (click pic for link)

In this month's edition of the Romance Writer's Report from RWA, career coach Hillary Rettig wrote an article about overcoming writer's block.  She purports that one of the main causes of writer's "block" is perfectionism.  We obsess about every little thing and end up writing in fits and starts and procrastinating the rest of the time.  Um, has she been spying on me?  This is so my issue.  I talked about my perfectionism here.

So what is her suggested solution?  Speed.

She said productive writers have this in common.  They treat their writing as something they "do"--not think about.  They sit down without distractions and write.  That means no checking email, blogs, etc. as soon as you hit a tough spot in your story.

The second part of speed is not expecting to achieve the ultimate or most perfect work.  Perfection cannot be achieved, sometimes good enough really is good enough--especially in a first draft.

And lastly, she says that fast writers do not hold onto their drafts like they're guarding the Hope diamond.  Perfectionists don't want to hand over their draft to those beta readers until they feel like the book is ready for prime time.  This means we end up obsessively revising and spending way too much time on the work only to be devastated later when it comes back from critting with some major issue that we couldn't see because we were too emotionally involved.  Early beta readers can help point out issues and problems that you can fix upfront.

So her advice is to sit down, write, and don't hesitate, just keep writing.

This article definitely hit home for me.  I am so not Zen about my writing.  This is why NaNoWriMo always intimidates me.  I don't know how to write without going back and revising and questioning every little thing.  But maybe I should give this method a try.  It may mean more revising on the back end, but that's easier than just having two perfect chapters and a pile of blank pages to show after months of work.

So how about you?  Are you Zen about your writing--just doing it without hesitation?  Or are you a perfectionist who questions everything as you go?  Do you hold onto your first draft forever or just throw the ugly thing to your betas for help?


*info from article "Speed as an Antidote to Writer's Block" by Hillary Rettig, Romance Writer's Report February 2010*

**Today's Theme Song**

"Perfect" - Alanis Morrissette

(player in sidebar--go ahead, take a listen)

The Vacation Diaries: The Boat's on Fi-Yuh!

You see that storm cloud hovering over those cruise ships?  Yeah, I didn't know it at the time, but I think they were a sign of things to come.  This was taken the day we docked in Cozumel, Mexico.  (Our Carnival ship is actually parked behind the Norwegian one, so you can't see it.)  Our vacation had been going pretty good even though the hubby was fighting a bad cold.  I was missing my son, but when I had talked to my mom on Tuesday, she had said he was doing well--so that made me feel good.

The ship was a little slim in the way of activities compared to the other cruises I've been on and the majority of the passengers were above eighty snowbirds, but my husband's company was paying for it, so I wasn't going to complain about free.  Plus, we were having fun hanging out with his co-workers and their spouses. Then, Wednesday night, things took a bit of a turn.

The ship left Cozumel around ten that night.  We had dinner and a few drinks, then hung out with friends in the karaoke lounge.  After listening to someone sing Titanic's "My Heart Will Go On", which seriously should be banned on all cruise ships, we went to our room.  I fell asleep probably around a quarter to one.  I remember thinking that it was nice to have a quiet room since I'm so used to sleeping with a baby monitor in my ear.  

Well, around one, my husband shook me awake and said people were screaming in the hallway.  In a half daze, I realized there was an older lady banging on our door yelling, "The boats on Fi-yuh!  Boat's on fi-yuh!"  (She apparently was from New Jersey.)  So I ran to the door, still not really registering what the heck was going on, and swung it open.  One half of the hallway had black smoke pouring from the ceiling, and people were running toward the exit.  I had a moment like, really?  Is this actually happening?  Then panic kicked in.  I yelled at my husband, who was frantically searching for his glasses, that we needed to get out NOW.  I tried to remember where our passports were, but couldn't think.  So we grabbed robes and his wallet and glasses, and ran out barefoot.

When we got to the main decks, other guests who were still partying and drinking upstairs had no idea what was going on, so they were looking at the people streaming in half-dressed like they were idiots.  And when we asked cruise staff where to go, they just kept saying "Everything's okay."  You could tell they were trained to give that rote response because everyone said the same thing.  And it was like, "No, really, all is not okay.  My hallway is on freaking fire, people."

So my husband and I ended up in our robes on the pool deck until 4 in the morning waiting to find out what was going on and if we could go back to our rooms.  Super fun.  All we got from the staff was them asking us if we wanted a drink on the house.  Um, no.  A Mai Tai is not really what I'm looking for right now.  Some information, on the other hand, that would be nice.

Turns out an elderly man who was in a wheelchair and on oxygen was sneaking a cigarette in his room.  His oxygen tank leaked and the gas caught fire.  Somehow, the tank didn't explode, so thank God for that.  It could have been a much worse situation.  In the end, one room was burned and the man suffered injuries (although I'm not sure to what extent) and he was going to have to answer to the FBI when we got back to shore.  Some people's rooms were flooded from the sprinklers, others had smoke and soot damage from the fire.  Luckily, even though the fire turned out to be five doors down from us, our room was okay.

I have to say I was impressed with Carnival's quick response of firefighters.  However, I was less impressed with their communication system.  There were no alarms, no signal things were on fire.  Guests knocking on doors was the only indication we needed to get out.  And then afterwards, there was no communication to the guests on where to go or what to do.

So needless to say, I was ready for the trip to be done after that.  But the adventure wasn't over.  When we got to New Orleans to pick up my son, he was sick as a dog.  My mom had told me he was getting a cold, but by Friday he was in a bad way.  Fever, coughing, refusing to eat or drink, lethargic.  We literally were in my parents' house for three minutes before we swept him up and hauled him to urgent care.  Apparently, he has some kind of virus plus an ear infection.  What does that mean?  No airplane.  So we had to rent a car and drive back to Dallas (over two days) with a very sick kiddo.

We finally got home yesterday (thank the Lord) and can close the chapter on this trip.  The kiddo is still not doing so well, so I'm taking him to his regular doctor today, but he's improved a bit.  So I'm hoping he's on the way to recovery.

So things I learned on this trip...

1.  Never sleep naked when on vacation (thankfully I wasn't) and keep your shoes by the door.

2.  No matter how scary the situation, people will still get a laugh out of seeing their co-worker/boss in his boxers and robe.  (Of course, my hubby's co-workers were the ones still upstairs drinking, so the alcohol may have had something to do with that.)

3.  Oxygen tanks and smoking don't mix.

4.  When people smile and say everything's okay, don't trust them.

5.  My son is not ready to be left without me.  Mom said he lasted two days before he started getting upset.  This means no National RWA meeting for me this year.

6.  Guacamole in Mexico just taste better.

7.  People freaking love Sinatra for karaoke *groan*

8.  That whole drill on a cruise where they tell you about your life jackets doesn't work.  I totally forgot to grab ours when an actual emergency happened.

9.  It's impossible not to gain weight on a cruise.

10. Things could always be worse, so be thankful no matter what.

Alright, sorry for the long post, but I felt the need to share.  Thanks to all of you who commented on my questions last week.  I really enjoyed reading your answers.

So anyone else have nightmare vacation stories?  How was your weekend?  Get any writing done?  (I got ZERO writing done on the trip.)

**Today's Theme Song**

"Smoke on the Water" - Deep Purple

(player in sidebar, take a listen)

Question of the Day: Do You Tell Others You're a Writer?

Do you tell other people you are a writer?

Why or why not?  If you do tell, do you tell everyone who asks what you do or just a select few?  If you don't tell, what do you think will have to happen before you feel comfortable saying it out loud to others?  What are people's reactions when you do tell them?  What's the most annoying response you've received from someone when you told them?  What was the best?


**This week I'm am on a cruise, so I apologize for the short posts and the lack of responses to comments.  I look forward to reading all of your answers when I return!  See you on Monday!**

Question of the Day: Genre Respect

Why do you think some genres are championed while others are considered "guilty pleasure" or "junk food" reading?

Do you think genre fiction (romance, mystery, suspense, etc.) is easier to write than literary fiction?  If something's "commercial", is that a bad thing?  When people ask you what you read, do you tell them or do you pick the most high brow book you've read lately and tell them that one?  And if you're a literary fiction reader, what is your opinion on genre fiction?  What books or type of books would you never admit to reading?  (I apparently have no shame when it comes to this since I have reviewed some verra hawt books over here.  And yes, my mother does read my blog.  *waves* Hi Mom!)


**This week I'm am on a cruise, so I apologize for the short posts and the lack of responses to comments.  I look forward to reading all of your answers when I return!**

Question of the Day: Pushing the Envelope in YA

How do you feel about YA books having edgy themes, cursing, and/ or sexual situations?

If you're writing YA, where do you draw your line?  If you have kiddos or teens, do you let them read the edgier stuff and discuss or do you not let them read certain YA books?  Which YA book would you be reluctant to let your children read?  How do you think edgy YA books compare to what is on the tv shows teens watch?

**This week I'm am on a cruise, so I apologize for the short posts and the lack of responses to comments.  I look forward to reading all of your answers when I return!**

Question of the Day: E-books

How do you feel about ebooks?  

If you have a reader, how do you like it?  If you don't have one, do you want one or are you opposed to the idea?  Have you read any ebooks--what did you think?  Would you be open to publishing your book with one of the epublishers if you can't find a home (or your book doesn't fit) with a print publisher?  Do you think getting e-published is a good way to jumpstart your career?


**This week I'm am on a cruise, so I apologize for the short posts and the lack of responses to comments.  I look forward to reading all of your answers when I return!**

Question of the Day: How Do You Decide What to Read?

 

How do you decide what to read?  

Are you a bookstore browser?  A sucker for a good cover?  A discerning person who only reads what has been recommended to them by a trusted friend?  Do you read book review blogs?  Do those author blog tours work for you?  Can you not resist the "recommended for you" section on Amazon?

For me, I definitely love a good cover and love spending time in a bookstore, but lately, more often than not, I  pick books on recommendations from book bloggers who I know have similar tastes to mine.  I also check out Amazon's recs for me.

So what's your answer?  Let me know.

**This week I'm am on a cruise, so I apologize for the short posts and the lack of responses to comments.  I look forward to reading all of your answers when I return!**

Accountability Check In and Bon Voyage

Alright so, as many of you know, I have signed up for both the 1000 word a day challenge and the 100+  reading challenge.  So far, it's going...okay.  On the reading challenge, I have finished five books.  Not so bad for three weeks into the year.  Of course, two of them were Harlequins which are shorter than most full length novels, but that's alright.

The writing challenge has been a bit more daunting.  I would say I'm hitting that 1000 words a day about 3-4 days a week.  I'm at about 6000 words on the new version of my WIP after scrapping the first 20k recently.  But so far, I'm liking these words a lot better, so I'm happy about the progress.

Although yesterday I barely got any writing done because my nose was stuck in Nicholas: The Lords of Satyr by Elizabeth Amber (an erotic paranormal historical romance--say that three times fast) and I didn't want to put it down.  (I'm not going to do a full review, but for the record, I really enjoyed the book.  Just be warned, it's not for the faint of heart.  If' you've never read erotic romance, you may want to start with something a little more warm and fuzzy like Maya Banks' Sweet Surrender, then work up to something like this, lol.  I'm not easily shocked and this book definitely made me raise my eyebrows.  And covers like this make me glad I own a Kindle.  I was reading this in the dentist's waiting room, lol.)

Alright, so moving on.  Next week I am semi-unplugging because I am going on a cruise, woo-hoo!  I'll be suffering greatly, forced to endure sun and Caribbean with my wonderful hubby.  Don't you feel sorry for me?  This will be the first vacation we've taken alone since becoming parents over two years ago.  I have never even spent a night away from my son, so I'm not sure what to think of actually getting a full night's sleep with no baby monitor in my ear.  I'm also bite my nails anxious about leaving him for the first time, but I'll know he'll be in good hands with his grandparents.

I will be bringing my laptop on the trip because I may shrivel up and die without it I'm hoping to get some writing done and to work on the crits for the winners of my contest in my down time.  But internet access will probably not be easily had.  Therefore, next week my posts will be short questions for you guys.  I want to know more about you and get your opinions on some things.  So be sure and stop by.  I'll be looking forward to reading your comments as soon as I get back.

Hope everyone has a great weekend and week!

Now, how are your writing and reading goals going so far this year?  Have any books totally distracted you from your writing?  Any advice for me on how to handle my first vacation away from my son?
 
 
 
 
 
 

**Today's Theme Song**

"Come Sail Away" - Styx 

(although I was totally tempted to put Cartman from Southpark's version)

-player in sidebar, take a listen-

Overediting: Sucking the Life Right Out of Your Story

I had the pleasure of attending my local RWA chapter meeting last Saturday and hearing author Catherine Spangler talk about "Writing Right".  She gave a great overview of the most common writing mistakes she sees when judging contests and critiquing.  We've talked about many of them here, but one that stuck out for me was the mistake of overediting.

She said sometimes she sees work where the writing is technically good, clean, and flows, but there is no life in the work.  Writing is ultimately a passion driven practice.  That's what we're doing when we're drafting; we're letting our creative juices and excitement about the story spill onto the pages.  This is the essence of a our writing.

And oftentimes, when we put our editor hat on and go back through our work, we become story vampires--sucking the lifeblood from our words.  We polish and cut and rearrange, we nix the adverbs and dangling participles, we make sure no dialogue is buried.  These things are all well and good and you want to edit and rewrite and polish.  But you also don't want to do so much that you leave your story pale and gasping for air.

For instance, in my YA, if I had cut every adverb, my MC's voice would have changed.  She was the type of girl who would use words like totally and completely and seriously.  If I had nixed those, I think it would have taken something from who her character was.

Think of it like chicken soup.  Your grandmother's always tastes better than Campbell's (well unless you're grandma can't cook).  Campbell's is technically perfect-every ingredient precisely measured, the cooking exactly timed, taste tester approved, but it's sterile.  Your grandmother, on the other hand, after years of practicing her craft, can throw in a bit of this or that and always make it taste great.  Why?  Because she put her heart and her own spin on it.  This is what needs to be in our stories.

So make sure you edit and cut and revise--those things are absolutely necessary.  But take care not to drain the life out of your book.  Keep the heart of your story in tact.  (BTW, the delish picture above is to remind you guys that The Vampire Diaries starts up again tonight on the CW--yay).

So how about you?  Have you ever been a story vampire and overedited?  Have you critted work that seemed like it was written well but lacked that spark?

**Today's Theme Song**

"Drain You" - Nirvana

(player in sidebar, take a listen)

How to Find Balance Between Character-Driven and Plot-Driven Writing

 Yesterday I talked about character-driven writers and plot-driven writers.  Based on comments it seems we have more character-driven people, but there are a few plotters out there as well.

Now, of course, we all strive to find a balance of both.  The best stories have an engaging plot and memorable characters.  I used the picture above as an example.  Titanic had a major plot driving the characters--that whole ship sinking thing did require a reaction.  However, I still remember Jack and Rose's characters and their personal stories.  And not just because Leo is so darn purty.

But from what I've read, not many of us are going to naturally excel at both sides.  It appears that most writers are going to have a strength in one and have to work at the other because the brains of the character-driven and plot-driven are wired differently.

Character-driven writers tend to be more right-brained and, as a result, are more likely to be pantsers.  They get the spark of the idea and start writing, letting the characters lead the way.  Plot-driven, on the other hand, are more likely to be plotters who outline, chart, and know the conflict and turning points of their story before they put pen to page.  Each of us can learn from the other.

If you are a character-driven pantser...

• Try a very rough version of plotting.  The thought of coming up with a detailed outline gives me hives, so I know that won't work for me.  But it doesn't have to be that detailed.  

• Here's a suggestion from author Liane Gentry Skye:

Start w/ your hook, 2-3 plot turning points, and the ending.  (These can all be one sentence items).  So for an 80k book, up to 20K sets up beginning, 20K marks first turning point, 40K turning second point, 60K final turning point/complication and on to resolution near 80K

• Heidi Willis offers a similar suggestion with a bit more detail.

PercentageMethod

Stage1 (10%) draw reader in, identification with hero

TurningPoint (10%) new opportunity, new journey often followed by MC refusing totake the journey or by into the opportunity

Stage2 (15%) hero reacts, formulates plan

Stage3 (25%) hero is overcoming obstacles

TurningPoint (at the 50% mark) hero must commit, there is no turning back

Stage4 (25%) goal is more visible, stakes are higher

TurningPoint (at 75% mark) Major setback, a do or die moment

Stage5: (15%) Final push; conflict becomes overwhelming, MC must giveeverything; accellerated pace; MC determines his or her own fate.

Stage6: Aftermath, what life are they living now

• And for even more detail of this method, check out this site.

If you can get those major points out of your head and onto paper, this gives you a rough guide of what your characters need to be directed toward.  And it also helps you avoid the following pitfalls of the character-driven, panster:

• Characters who are wonderful but wander around and do a whole lot of nothing besides navel-gazing
• A plot that is flimsy or contrived.
• A plot that is full of holes.

On the other hand, if you are a plot driven writer...

• You need to play therapist with your characters.  If you were their counselor and had them in for a first session, you would first complete a personal history.  Know where your characters have come from.

• And I don't mean their favorite color.  I think those character sheets you can fill out can be great, but they are often surface questions.  You need the deeper stuff.  What were the three defining moments in the character's life that made them who they are?  If they are sarcastic and push people away know why.  If your MC is afraid of dogs, there better be a reason.  

• You don't necessarily need to dump all of their backstory into the book, but you need to know that information so you can know how they will react in certain situations.

• Don't slack on your secondary characters.  You may not need to know them as deeply as your MC (although I try to), but you need to breathe life into them.  Their personal history is that breath.

If you don't do these things, you'll fall into the pitfalls of the plot-driven writer:

• Flat characters
• Stereotypes--bitchy blonde cheerleader, wise old man, quirky best friend, etc.
• Characters who act inconsistently or unrealistically because they are being bent to fit the structured plot
• A story that is exciting but doesn't connect with the reader because they feel no attachment to the MC
• Characters who do not change internally by the end of the story--no emotional arc

Alright, I hope that helps.  I may give the rough plotting a try because I am a hopeless pantser.  Hopefully I don't break out into a rash.  :)

So if you're a pantser, have you attempted an alternative style of plotting?  What works for you?  If you're a plotter (oh how I envy you), how do you make sure your characters are two-dimensional and memorable?
 
 
 
 

**Today's Theme Song**

"I Will Remember You" - Sarah McLachlan

(player in sidebar, take a listen)

Are You a Character Driven or Plot Driven Writer?

Kidlet's and my recreation of Jurassic Park scene

When you have that shining moment where a story idea pops into your head, what appears in your vision first?  Do you think of some amazing hook or circumstance?  Or do you think of a character you want to write about?

Most would agree that the best stories out there have some combination of being both plot driven and character driven, but usually one style dominates the other in a story.  And often that is because the author has an innate preference of writing one way or the other.

For my first writing attempt, I tried to be plot driven.  I thought that what I was supposed to do.  But I struggled with that method--I was way more interested in my characters than the action scenes.  So the result ended up falling short in both areas.

So for my next book, I worked with what came natural to me.   Characters popped into my head.  So I fleshed them out, then I created a plot around them.  The result turned out much better (at least I think it did, lol.) This is also why I was able to scrap my plot last week for my new WIP and start over with the same characters but new story.  If I had been a plot driven writer, I would have had to chuck everything.  I think this is also why I still struggle with log lines, which are almost always about the plot hook not the characters. Of course, that may just be my excuse to comfort myself about my ineptitude in this area.  :)

Now I'm not saying one is better than the other.  Each can create wonderful stories and there should be elements of both in a book.  However, I think it's important to be aware of what works best for you as a writer.

So what is the difference between plot-driven and character driven?

A character-driven story relies upon the decisions and emotions of characters to advance the plot. The decisions in a character-driven story produce “chain reactions” and conflict. The events, regardless of how many people they affect, are triggered by characters within the story.

An plot-driven story relies upon external events and circumstances to advance the plot. External events may be natural or human-initiated, as long as the initiator of the events is not a central character to the story. Natural disasters and wars serve as the foundations for many event-driven stories. (source)

One of the easiest ways to tell the difference is to think about what you remember about a book, movie, or TV show.  Does anyone remember the main characters from Jurassic Park?  How about naming all the plot points in Gone With the Wind?

And certain genres lend themselves to one or the other.  Mysteries, Suspense, Thrillers, and Horror are usually predominantly plot-driven.  Although, I will say that Stephen King does an excellent job of blending memorable plot and character (think The Shining, Carrie, Misery).

Literary fiction and women's fiction are usually character driven.  I've seen Romance and YA all over the board with regards to this--although my favorites are usually character driven.

Some examples:

Character Driven:

• Lost --Yes, there's a very unique external plot, but what do you love about this show?
• Glee
• Sookie Stackhouse Books/True Blood --Charlaine Harris' books are full of plot, but I rarely remember the plots after a few weeks, but I definitely remember the characters.
• The Office
• How I Met Your Mother
• Outlander
• The Mortal Instruments series
• The Vampire Academy series
• The Silence of the Lambs (great plot, but that's not what sticks with me)

Plot Driven:

• Jurassic Park
• The DaVinci Code
• 24
• Jaws
• Halloween
• The Exorcist
• Tom Clancy books
• The Uglies series
• The Hunger Games

Because the best stories tend to combine these two, tomorrow I will talk about how to strengthen your skill at the type that doesn't come as naturally to you.  In addition, I'll discuss the pitfalls of focusing too much on one style.

So which is your tendency--to write character-driven or plot driven?  Which type do you prefer to read?  What are some examples of books/movies you can think of that do a great job of being one or the other or combining both?

**Today's Theme Song**

"I Remember You" - Skid Row

(player in sidebar, take a listen)

Judging Writing Contests (and the Crit Winners!)

*Drum roll*  And the winners of the critiques are...at the bottom of this post.  :)

First, I wanted to talk about judging writing contests.  This year I decided to not only enter RWA's Golden Heart, but to volunteer as a preliminary judge.  The way it works is you are able to judge in any category except the one you entered in.  They send you six fifty-page partials and the accompanying synopses, which you are responsible for reading and judging.  

When I first started reading them, I realized how quickly I could tell if something was going to be good or not.   I know we've talked about agents making decisions quickly and how important that first line, page, chapter is, but this drove it home for me.

That first line and paragraph are like a little snapshot of what to expect in the book.  If it was overwritten and tell-y, the rest of the pages tended to be the same way.   If it was confusing, the story was often convoluted.  On the entries that had first pages that hooked me, the rest of the story was really good too.  So had I been an agent reading these, there are a few I would have put aside pretty darn fast.  (However, for the contest, you're required to read all of the pages, so I went ahead and did that.)

The other thing I discovered in this judging experience is that it's hard to give a score when you're not allowed to give feedback.  For most of the chapter level contests, you get detailed feedback from judges and a score sheet.  However, for the GH, you just assign one score (from 1-9) and give no feedback.  This is so difficult.

I know how much love has been poured into each of these manuscripts (not to mention the fifty bucks paid to enter the contest), so it pains me to assign a low score and not be able to help the writer out by telling them what I see that could be worked on.  However, I'm also not going to assign a higher than deserved score simply to be nice because that's not fair either.  I have to be honest in my opinion.  I just have to hope that if someone gets theirs back and all the judges assigned them less than stellar scores, they'll seek out beta reader feedback to try and figure out what went wrong.  Or, they have the option of going the these judges were idiots and failed to recognize my awesomneness route.  That can work, too.

Of course, I could be saying all this and then get back my own back with low scores, lol.  Hopefully not.

Alright, so now for the winners of the crit contest.  Congrats to....

List Randomizer

There were 43 items in your list. Here they are in random order:

1. Julie Dao - WINNER!
2. Aubrie - WINNER!

Woo-hoo for Julie and Aubrie!  Ladies, please email me your ten pages or query letter (your choice) for critique (click the little @ button under my picture on the right).  I look forward to reading your work!

So has anyone else out there judged a writing contest?  Have you participated in submitting to any?  Did you get feedback or just a score?  

**Today's Theme Song**

"In My Opinion" - The Kooks

(player in sidebar, take a listen)

Why Your Mama Doesn't Count as a Beta Reader

As I was watching American Idol this week, I realized that the contestants on the show are much like writers trying to get agents or publishing deals.  We all have a dream, we all believe we have some level of talent, and we want to impress the people that can help us realize our dream.

These people go on the show, wait in impossibly long lines (slush pile) then present what they've got to the judges (agents) for about a 1% chance of being successful.  So when I'm watching the show and see contestants walk in so hopeful only to open their mouths and sound like a dying cat, I always wonder why these people went through so much trouble?  Don't they know they're terrible?  I mean this guy seems honest in his surprise (sorry this is not from this season, couldn't find a good one yet on YouTube).

But time and time again, we see those contestants break down in tears, exit the room, and run into the arms of their genuinely astonished friends and family.  Inevitably, the mother is murmuring, "They don't know what they're talking about, honey, you're wonderful!"

And herein lies the problem.  If the only people you ever sing for are your family and friends, you're not getting any true help.  They aren't lying to you necessarily--they just love or like you and are looking for the good in you.  This is the same thing that happens if your only beta readers are your mom/friends/co-workers.

ANYONE who has any obligation or loyalty to you in real life is going to see things through rose-colored glasses.  You have to look at what the person has to lose by giving you a harsh feedback.  For instance, if you're writing YA and your friend's teen daughter offers to read your manuscript, she is already set up not to give you a negative opinion.  You are her mother's friend and an adult.  She's going to want to please you.

So, I know I'm probably preaching to the choir, but do not send your work out to agents before you've found  unbiased beta readers (including people who are writers, not just readers) or joined a crit group.  (I'm speaking from experience with novel #1 here.)  Otherwise, you may end up getting the same reaction from the agents that the judges gave the guy in the video above.

Yes, there are some people who are born with some amazing innate talent and nail it the first time with no help.  BUT they are the exception--and if you've watched the movie He's Just Not That Into You--remember that most of us are the rule, not the exception.

So give yourself the best possible chance for that agent to fall in love with your work.  Getting a crit can be terrifying the first few times, but wouldn't you rather hear negative feedback from a fellow writer than blow your opportunity with your dream agent or publisher?  Your manuscript might just be a few critiques away from amazing--give yourself a chance to reach that.

*steps off soap box*

--Alright, you only have until tonight at midnight (central) to enter the "win a crit" contest (are you getting tired of me reminding you yet?), enter here if you haven't already.--

**ARE YOU LOOKING FOR BETA READERS OR CRIT GROUP?**

I've noticed a few of you have left comments this week that you are looking for a crit group.  So in addition to regular comments, feel free to leave a "personal" ad for what kind of crit group or beta readers you are looking for and leave your email address so that others who may match up with you can contact you.

So am I the only one who jumped the gun on her first novel and queried before I had unbiased beta readers?  When did you decide you needed to join a crit group?  Who would you want as your literary agent--Randy, Simon, or Cara?  


 

**Today's Theme Song**

"I Honestly Love You" - Olivia Newton-John

(player in sidebar, take a listen)

Know When to Hold 'Em, Know When to Fold 'Em

I've been staring into space for way too many hours this week and not writing.  Why?  Because I've gotten to around the 20k mark in my WIP and am just not happy.  I know where the plot is going, know what's supposed to happen.  There are some scenes I really enjoy.  However, I'm not liking what the plot is doing to my characters.  I like my characters, love them actually.  But this story is turning them whiny and weak, which has made the chemistry between them lackluster.  And I don't want to write weak characters.  Damaged?  Yes.  But strong nonetheless.

So I've spent the week trying to figure out how I can adjust the plot to make the characters come to life the way I want them too, but haven't found a solution.  I've read and reread what I have and it's not becoming any clearer.  So I figured I had three options:

Standby--stop writing for a few days, just let the words simmer, relax my mind, try to come up with solutions

This didn't work, so I went to phase two.

Turn Off--I gave myself two days completely off from dealing with it.  I read, I caught up on my critting, worked on reading through the contest entries I'm judging for the Golden Heart.

But when I came back and read through my chapters, I still hadn't come up with any solution.  So now I'm going to the most extreme of all phases, the control+alt+delete of writing.

Restart--I've decided to scrap the words (well save them in a file) and start fresh with the same characters but a completely new plot.  So page one, chapter one, here I come again.  *sigh*

I hate to do it, but I'd rather scrap 20k words I don't like, then keep writing and end up with 60k I loathe.  And since all great life wisdom is buried in old country songs, I'm going to take Kenny Rogers advice:  You got to know when to hold 'em, know when to fold 'em, know when to walk away, and know when to run.

So has this ever happened to you?  How far have you gotten in a WIP before you decided you had to scrap and reboot?  

**Daily reminder: The Win a Crit contest is still open, here's the link for those of you that still want to enter.  You only have until tomorrow to do so!**


 
 
 
 

**Today's Theme Song**

"The Gambler" - Kenny Rogers

(player in sidebar, take a listen)

Structuring a Critique Group Online

Cartoon credit: Inky Girl

I've mentioned my online crit group on here a number of times and many of you have asked how it's structured or set up.  So I thought it may be helpful to discuss how ours works.  Keep in mind that crit groups can take on any number of structures and set ups.  This is just what happens to work out perfectly for me.  There is no "right" way to do it.  So it's important to figure out what works best for you and the members of your group.

First, I want to say that Lynnette over at Chatterbox Chitchat set up our group, so the credit on this set up style goes to her.  :)  But I have found this structure really efficient, so I figured I'd pass it along.

One of the most important things is to set up rules and expectations up front (and stick to them).
--We have a document that actually outlines these things.
--Just like with anything else, if you're super lax about expectations, people will eventually slack.  It's human nature, lol.
---Our rules:

• Each person is responsible for critting at least one chapter a week (not one per person, just one.)
• Make sure you check the database (more on that below) to see whose critting what, and pick the chapter you crit based on who hasn't gotten a crit yet that week.
• Delete the person's work off your hard drive when you're done.
• Don't share anyone's work with anyone else.
• If you can't crit that week, let someone know, and make it up the next week.

It can help to have a designated leader.
--This is very helpful.  This doesn't mean the leader has more power than anyone else, he or she is just a goto person for different things.  Lynnette has taken on this role in our group.  If we can't crit, we email her.  When the group had spots open for new members, she led the search for a new one.

Choose what genres you're going to cover.
--Some groups are totally fine being mixed genre, but I find that harder to work with.  My group does all romance.  There are different subgenres--romantic suspense, paranormal, contemporary--but all adult romance.
--This eliminates issues of people who are not readers of your area not understanding the components of your genre.  For instance, a sci-fi person may not understand why romance has to have a happy ending.

Try to find members who are not too far apart in skill level.
--If you have brand new beginners with seasoned veterans, people can get frustrated.  (The beginner because they are getting torn apart and the veterans because they aren't getting enough valuable feedback.)
--It's okay to have some variance in skill, just make sure people aren't on opposite ends of the spectrum.

Alright, now a few technical aspects...

We have our group set up through Yahoo Groups.  This website has been very helpful in keeping things organized.  It also provides you with a group address so you can email your members and everyone sees the email and can respond to them--which means you can have conversations on the email loop.  This aspect is almost as helpful as the crits themselves.  You have a sounding board at your fingertips.

In the yahoo groups, there are two folders set up for each member--a "to do" folder and a "done" folder.  For instance, the Roni To Do folder is where I upload my chapters that are ready to be critted.  Then, the Roni Done folder is where the members upload their crits of my chapters.  So if I go in my Done folder, I'll see all the chapters that have already been critted and I can download them to see the critique.

To keep track of who is critting what and to make sure everyone gets  a crit each week, we have a database set up in yahoo as well.

Okay, that's a little hard to see, but basically it has our names along the side and top--grid style.  So my name is second from the bottom, if you scan horizontally from my name, this shows that I critted for three different people (the names at the top) that week.  We designate this by code: (novel title initials) Chapter #, date, then either C (for currently being critted) or D (done and uploaded for viewing.)

So if someone had critted Wanderlust chapter two, it would look like this: WL Ch.2  D 1/13.  Now if someone goes in the database ready to crit, they will see that someone has already done one for me this week, so they will find the person who still needs one and enter that they are critting their chapter.  For instance, in the pic above, you can see that the person on the far right end hasn't received any crits yet that week.  (For the record, she had nothing uploaded that week to do, so that's why she didn't have any.  Otherwise, other people wouldn't have gotten multiple crits before she got one.)

There is also a handy dandy box you can check when you upload someone's chapter that automatically sends an email to everyone to let them know the chapter is now available for viewing.  That way you don't have to constantly check the database to see if people have finished critting your work yet.

Lastly, and most importantly, remember that in any critiquing relationship, all members need to treat others with respect and kindness.  Give tough feedback if it's called for, that's your job.  But don't be rude, tear people down, or make fun of anyone's work.  Also, be sure you know how to take a crit.  Don't get all defensive and fussy when you get back feedback you don't like.  Honest feedback is a gift, treat it as such.  We're all in this together.  :)

How about you?  Are you in a crit group?  How does yours work?  Have any tips for those trying to put a group together?  What have you seen gone wrong in a crit group--how did you fix it?

**Don't forget, the win a 10 page crit contest is still accepting entries until Friday.  Click here to enter!**

**Today's Theme Song**

"Perfect Situation" - Weezer

(player in sidebar, take a listen)

Contest!!!! And The Techie Post About Critting

Photo credit: Inky Girl

Before I get to today's post, I want to announce a new contest.  In honor of my focus on critting this week, I am offering a critique giveway!

Two winners will receive either a detailed critique of their first ten pages OR a query critique from me (winner's choice).  These crits will be private and not published on this site.  Now, I don't claim to be a professional editor, but I am a very detailed critter and give honest feedback, which I hope will be very helpful to whoever wins.

Alright, so here are the rules...

• You must leave a comment on TODAY's post
• You must be a follower (If you are not currently, you can join now.)
• If you are already a follower, you get one extra entry (+1)
• If you tweet about the contest (just hit the retweet button at the bottom of the post) or post it on your blog, you get an extra entry (+1)
• No non-fiction (except memoir) or poetry please.
• Comments will be cut off at midnight (central time) Friday night Jan. 15.
• Winner will be announced on Monday's blog!

Good luck to everyone!  I look forward to reading the winners' work!

Now for today's post...

I do not pretend to be technically savvy.  I occasionally have a moment where I feel I've conquered some html thing that I thought I wouldn't figure out (like my fancy label section in the sidebar).  However, I thought it may be helpful to review how my critique group uses Microsoft Word to crit.  I know many of you probably already use these features, but for those of you who don't, I hope this proves useful.

In Microsoft Word (2007 version is what I'm using), there are these handy dandy review features.  So when you open your document, click on the tab at the top that says "Review".

This will bring up the options to "Track Changes".  Select this option.  It will now track any changes you make to the document in a different color.

Now when you make changes in the document, it will look like this (click on picture for bigger view):

Now for those things that you can't just correct inline, you have the comments feature.  To the left of the Track Changes button is a button labeled New Comment (see first picture above).  Make sure your cursor is at the point in the document where you want to make a comment.  Then press the New Comment icon.  A little bubble will appear out to the side where you can type your comment.  You can also highlight whole words, sentences, or passages, then hit comment and it will attach the comment to whatever you highlighted.

And remember this feature is great for pat on the back comments as well as critical ones.

So these are the basic features I use.  In addition to the review features, I also use the normal highlight capability to denote echoes.  I don't bother making a comment each time I see a repeated word, I just highlight each one to bring it to the person's attention.  An automatic comment will also appear in the sidebar since you are tracking changes. To highlight the word, just highlight the word with your cursor, then a little box will pop up, select the yellow (or whichever color you choose) option. (Click on pic to see bigger)

A few other time savers are coming up with abbreviations your crit buddies all know to put in the comment section:

SDT = Show don't tell

HD = Hidden dialogue (or buried dialogue)

awk = awkward

??? = What in the heck are you trying to say here?

And smiley faces and LOL's always work well too.

Alright, I'm sure that was as clear as mud.  I definitely don't need to quit fiction for technical writing.  :)  If any of you have questions about any of the above, feel free to ask them in the comments and I'll try to not confuse you further.

Now, for the purposes of the contest, please leave in your comment the number of entries you qualify for (if you're tweeting it, posting it, a follower, etc.).  If you do not want to enter, but want to leave a comment, just let me know "no entry".  Thanks and good luck!

**Today's Theme Song**

"Get the Party Started" - Pink

(player in sidebar, take a listen)

Repetition: The Good, The Bad, and The Bad

Before I get to today's post, I wanted to say thank you to everyone who left a comment on Friday's post.  You guys are better than chocolate for cheering a girl up.  So thanks. Y'all are the best!  I'm happy to report I did absolutely no writing on Friday (besides the blog), played way too much Rock Star on the wii, and felt better for the break.  This weekend I managed to churn out 2000 words, so hopefully, I'm back on track.

Alright, so today I thought we'd talk about one of my bad habits when drafting.  Repetition or echoes.  (How cool is the echo pic above, btw?)  There are a few versions of this issue to look out for.

The first is the favorite words or phrases you have that, when used multiple times in a novel, stick out.  If you read a lot by one author, you'll often start picking out those phrases that the author likes.  For instance, the kissing scenes always have one of the people "slanting" his or her mouth over the others.  For the record, I never really understood that image anyway, but if it's used multiple times in a book, I notice because it's unique enough to draw attention to itself.

Now the word of phrase doesn't have to be unique to be an issue.  If your character's physical reactions are always based in her stomach--my personal favorite goto organ when writing--i.e. her stomach twists in anxiety, churns in worry, flips over when excited, etc, that will be noticeable.  So look for your tendencies--are fists always balling, eyes narrowing, hearts pounding, eyebrows raising?  Make sure you change them up.

Another version of repetition is echo words in the same paragraph.  When I crit, this is one of the things that always jumps out to me.  This occurs when you use the same word too close in proximity to each other.   Here's a a cringe-worthy example plucked from my current draft:

 As the kids exited the room, Quinn putteredaround, picking up stray worksheets and straighteningfurniture, amazed at howquickly teenagers could turn a room upside down.  She wandered to the back of the room andfound an acoustic guitar that one of the students had forgotten to put back inthe case.  She picked it up and threw thestrap over her shoulder, letting the guitar swing while she crossed theroom toward the stage.  A loud bangerupted as she accidentally knocked the guitar against a desk.

My rough drafts are rife with this kind of repetition.  I don't worry too much about it during this phase.  The creative part of my mind is working on the story, not utilizing my mental thesaurus.  I picture my brain having all these pages of available words tucked away onto shelves and when I call one out, my mental librarian pulls the word out and puts it in the stack of words on the available table.  Then when I need the same idea again,  the librarian's lazy and automatically goes to the words she's already pulled out so she doesn't have to go back to the shelves again.

So make sure when you do go back for revisions to look for these.  And then when you think you've eliminated most of them, send it to your crit group.  They are bound to find more.  If you'd like more examples, Katie at Step 1 did an excellent post on echo words a while back.

Now, having said all of that, remember there are always exceptions.  Sometimes the word is necessary to repeat because a synonym for it would sound silly and unnatural.  The thesaurus is not always your friend.  So if you can't change around the sentences to avoid the repetition, that's fine in some cases.  Especially if the word is pretty common and can blend in.

Another exception is when repetition is used as a device to make a point or create impact.

"They hire English nannies, if possible, always nice middling women with sensible hairdos, sensible clothes, and sensible shoes." Tom Wolfe

"I remember the place, I remember the date, I remember the moment." Cindy Clark

(source of examples)

So, as is the case most of the time, rules can be broken.  But you should know the rule before breaking it.

**Be sure to stop by tomorrow.  I'm going to spend a few days talking about critting, how to do it in Microsoft Word, and about the structure of my crit group.  But I'll also be holding a contest offering a one chapter detailed crit or a query critique!  So don't miss it.  :)**

Do you struggle with repetition or echo words?  What are your favorite phrases or words you find yourself using all the time?  Does your character have a favorite physical reaction that you catch yourself repeating?


 
 
 

**Today's Theme Song**

"Can't Repeat" - The Offspring

(player in sidebar, take a listen)

The "I'm a Total Hack" Days

I'm usually a person who can focus on the bright side of things, but I'm having one of those days where I'm racked with doubt and insecurity.  Do I know what I'm doing?  Will I actually be able to find success in this one day?  Does my writing/story/plot/hairstyle suck?  Even if I do have a great story will it be special enough to be published?  Am I just deluding myself?  I'm sure many of you are familiar with those days.  They seem to be an occupational hazard for writers.

I know this feeling will pass.  It always does.  But I'd like that to be sooner rather than later.  So I need some advice...

What do you do when you're having one of those "I'm a total hack" days?  What gets you back on the positivity train?
 
 

**Today's Theme Song**

"Bad Day" - Fuel

(player in sidebar, take a listen)

The 1000 Word a Day Challenge

I mentioned in a post last week that one of my goals is to write 1000 words a day.  Well, InkyGirl has made it official with cool badges and such.  The rules are simple: write 1000 words a day, 6 days a week.  I'm cheating a bit because I'm only committing to five days a week.  The weekends are my family days.  But I'm going to try to do my best otherwise to meet this goal with my WIP.

There are also 500 word and 250 word versions of the challenge if the 1000 doesn't fit for you.  

I'm hoping this will give me motivation to write even on those days where I feel stuck or nothing is coming to me.  My internal editor can get the best of  me, so this forces me to push past that.  It isn't necessarily the 1000 GREAT words a day challenge.  But writing bad ones can help me decide what direction I want the scene to go in.  So I'm going to go for it

Also, before I forget I wanted to thank Laurel at Laurel's Leaves and Katie at Step 1 for giving me the Blogging Writer Award.  Thanks you guys!  Both these ladies have wonderful, helfpul blogs, so make sure and go check them out!  

So are any of you jumping on this with me?  Do you set daily writing goals for yourself or do you find that stifling?

**Today's Theme Song**

"One Day More" - Les Miserables Soundtrack

(player in sidebar, take a listen)