The Unbearable Writeness Of Being

This is great, for those writers that have too much goin' on (like me). Thanks yet again, to Deanna Carlyle.

I'm in, people. Or rather, I'm back. Back in the saddle. I think the up-and-coming cliche "You're either in or your out" is very true in regard to writing (at least, for me it is). I'm rather all or nothing about it.

And after a bit of wandering around in a dry desert of Outness, I have found my oasis. It came in a weird breakthrough of sorts the other day (okay, while I was exercising if you really wanna know). I'm not even sure if my idea will work -- a character, after all, sometimes simply won't write the way you want -- but I'm thinking that a Big Issue, a gaping whole!, in the story may be solved. After having rested overnight, letting the idea nestle itself into my psyche, I'm feeling ready to make my way back to lush and green pastures (read: words flowing from my brilliant mind through my quick hands and into my LSB's WIP).

Now, I just want to hop back in that saddle and let the horse go wild. When we hit our stride, wind in my hair and hooves rumblin' across those lush plains, I can hold on -- I'm sure of that. Desert be damned, I've found a fountain and I'm feeling slightly intoxicated with the elixir of Words Promised. In like Flynn, I am.

I just can't believe that people in this sad economy could be giving things away for free! That just sounds crazy, doesn't it? Crazy-- or fifteen kinds of awesome, says I.

My Crush Blog, Elizabeth Stark, is offering a FREE tele-class Feb 26th or March 11. I have been dreaming for awhile about being able to actually enroll in one of her classes, and now I have a chance to actually pick her brain and suck up all the writing-insight goodness that I can for FREE!

Life doesn't get any better. Well, maybe for you it would, if you are a writer and you take advantage of a free class with Elizabeth Stark. Go sign up for the March 11th class, since this post is late and we've already missed the first one. (Drat!)

It's that time again! Let's have a round-up of articles in the blogosphere out there, shall we? I'm hung up on character development right now, so no surprise it seems a lot of my links tend towards addressing that:

We have author Deanna Carlyle's suggestion to "slam" your character. Her suggestion is brilliant, and I plan on slamming my MC, Josephine, straight away.

Nifty little distraction of the day, one that takes the theory of 'six degrees of separation' to a new level: Literature Map (thanks for the link, Linda, from Another Good Thing).

And for more character development, I tend to skim the fascinating articles and studies constantly being released in regard to human psychology and evolution. Here's a good one, especially for those who are writing for YA, or like me have flash backs to your MC's teenage years: this study finds that genetic risk for substance abuse can be neutralized by good parenting. These little tidbits of information can be uitlized in unsuspecting ways to flesh out a character.

And here is an great article that provides a comprehensive breakdown of what goes into writing a short story. I found this article b y Dennis G. Jerz to be just as helpful for a full-blown novel, and since I am very visual, I really liked all the 'multiple choice' examples for the how-tos.

My Crush blog had a great post about switching your adverbs to verbs, and linked to the aforementioned Deanna Carlyle's blog, wherein she has a fabulous list of 1000 verbs! I found many more great articles about writing at Deanna's site. Check it out!

At Writer Unboxed, there is a great overview for plot structure by Juliet Marillier, here.

And to wrap it up let's put a little Soul in our Ego: I stumbled upon a lovely blog where photographer and author, Wayne Wirs (FADING TOWARDS ENLIGHTENMENT), chronicles his nomadic journey not only by land, but heart and soul. For anyone interested in reincarnation, the search for enlightenment or imply beautiful imagery, this is a blog worth checking out.

Enjoy!

k.

Have you ever read a book that you found yourself halfway through, and suddenly had to fight a strong urge to go find a cliff and violently toss it off? Yeah, me too.

And have you ever read a book that was so good, so moving, that you knew it would forever be a cherished member of your personal library? Complete with memories of how you relished the haunting tale for days after you finished it? Yup, me too.

I recently came across two books that exemplify such noted reactions. I'm constantly working to sharpen my writing skills, so I took the opportunity to try and compare just a few of the ways that these two books did -- or did not -- work for me.


I was very eager to read THE REINCARNATIONIST. The title alone suggested that the story would most likely be of interest to me. (In brief: it's about a man who keeps flashing on a life he lived in Rome, and the powerful love affair he had at that time. In modern day, he is caught up in the cliche 'web of lies' about some powerful stones that are relics found at a dig... from, you guessed it: the same time period he is having recall about.)

As someone who is usually willing to read all the way to the end in order to give a book a fair chance, it speaks volumes that I made it 2/3 of the way through this book and then refused to finish it. I really tried hard to like it and gave it my all. It certainly had a plot that was non-stop in motion, and one could argue it carried the book. But the lack of character development was so irritating it became a distraction; the cardboard characters literally bored me out of the story so much that I could not struggle through another page. I spent all my time considering how to fix what was bothering me. I mean I was literally yelling at the pages, Why are you doing this to me?! That kind of thing.

I simply could care less what happened to the characters. This is probably the Golden Rule of Writing, if ever there was one: the reader has to care, at the very least be curious about even one of the characters within the story (I'm being very generous, here). Otherwise, we fall asleep. We slam it shut, or we fantasize about destructive measures: if it was not a library book, I would have tied it to the bumper of my 4X4 and taken it for a long hard ride up the Wildcat, just to teach it a lesson and maybe beat some character into it (the Wildcat is a country road into the mountains here by my home. I live about 5 minutes away from thousands of miles of acres of wilderness known as the Lost Coast).

This book was the perfect example of all form and no substance, I am sorry to say.

But then, thankfully right after this sad disappointment, I picked up another book that a friend had assured me I would love: THE HERETIC'S DAUGHTER. (The story: this is a fictional recount told from the view of a young girl, about her family and how they endure the accusations and fall-out from the witch hunts in 17th century Salem, MA. The author is a descendant of one of the main characters, which gives it a certain amount of street-cred.)

At first blush I was plodding along and I admit I started to lose interest. It was slow. I was fresh off my let-down from That Other Book, so things did not look good at first. The difference? The plot was good, not as "exciting" as TOB, but it was good enough that I stuck it out. And I was compelled to continue...

Why? It was the characters, people. They slowly drew me in, deeper and deeper, and I began to truly want to know what was going to happen next? Not because of the plot leading me there like a carrot, but because I had developed feelings for the people in the story.

I'm no expert, and I'm not even near being published, so you can take my opinion with that proverbial grain of salt, but with these two books I feel like I finally really got an aspect of what elevates a good novel to great novel that I've read about in so many "how to" books. (Yes, I read those books, too. Some of those suck as well. Some don't: D. Maass' THE BREAKOUT NOVEL is the best I've read so far.)

Let's compare passages from each book, to show you what I mean:

From THE REINCARNATIONIST (M.J. Rose 2007) with commentary included:
[Wherein the main character is lamenting yet another event of past life recall]

Insanity was frightening.

Of course it is. Therefore this sentence is basically an over-used cliche [yawn]. We have various moments in the book when the lead character, Josh, laments over feeling 'crazy' because of his flashes of past lives, but we never get a good sense of how he is affected by the feeling of insanity from past life information 'invading' him, only laundry-lists of physical sensations about it. This is a lost opportunity to develop concern for the main character. It is important to give sensation and descriptives, certainly. But now, as a writer, I see how important it is not to rely on them. We are shown the past life that haunts him via flashback, but sadly even in that lifetime our character is still merely a cut-out version of what he could be. Let's continue:

Josh didn't want to analyze and dissect what was happening to him anymore. He just wanted it to cease. He wanted to return to a time before the accident,

Annnnnd... yet another lost moment to connect with the reader: even just a few more words to give us a sense of how he felt from 'the accident', like "a time before that day of the accident, when he was ripped away from all sense of reality, and would never eat hot dogs again." Not seriously, here, but you know: something. Throw us a bone! This is not a unique occurrence, this bland reporting of events, but happens again and again, and with each character. (I decided to leave out my take on the character with a two year old, who seems to care for her child as much as cardboard would, and is obviously just a Plot Tool. Yuck. As a parent, I was insulted.)

with recollections that started when he was four years old and got his first camera and he and his father went out into Central Park in the snow so that he could take his first roll of pictures. (p210)

This last bit here perfectly exemplifies and drives home -- again! -- this whole book's routine lack of character development. We know Josh has recollections of better times, and they are valuable enough to him, meaningful enough that he wants to return to them, instead of being in his current state of feeling some 'insanity.'

Great! So what happened that day back in the park?! Take us there! Draw us in with even a few well-chosen sentences to convey the sense of.... what? What did he feel that day? Did his father have some profound insight into life and photography that set Josh off on a path for the rest of his life? What?? I can't say because we don't know, because the author didn't let us in on it! This is one of those moments that I wanted to throw the book across the room.

At first glance, maybe you're thinking this isn't all that bad, right? (I'm afraid maybe even I write this way, in fact, which may be why this all struck me so hard.) But the point is that the whole book is like this -- a whole lot of 'telling' to get through the plot, and no true 'showing', or depth of characters. Hence: a lot of form, no substance! There isn't anything wrong with the former as long as you have the latter. It's a balance, a blending of all the necessary ingredients left to simmer up that perfect batch (or book).

In order to care about the character, we need to understand him or her: what makes them tick? Give us an illustration of a moment in their life -- even one, well done, can suffice -- that helped to create who they are, and therefore how they most likely will react to unfolding events. (This by the way, is also an opportunity to set the stage for some good tension: if I make you think the character will respond a specific way due to his history or inner world, and then he doesn't -- that can also draw you in or keep you reading. Now I've added complexity to the mix as well, which makes a more satisfying, less cardboard-chewy, character.)

Now, let's look at a passage from THE HERETIC'S DAUGHTER (Kathleen Kent, 2008):
[The main character, Sarah, has been sent ot live with her Aunt's family]

As the day's shadows deepened into evening, I sat in my dark corner like an invading spirit and followed their movements about the house. From under my lashes I watched my two cousins, Margaret and her brother, Henry, studying us in turn.

In this brief passage, we already learn that she feels like an unwanted outsider in her environment, that she is willing to be devious to assess and learn how to handle her situation and the people she now is living with. She is obviously very self-aware and observant. I know more about this character, the young girl Sarah, from these two sentences than I ever learned of our dear friend Josh in over half of the TOB. When a book gives us this much with seemingly little effort (in other words: pithy!) -- it is like the perfect blend of spices, filling a reader's head with wonderful aromas and a promise of a hearty feast. But wait, there's more!

...Once, when [Henry] thought we were alone, he crept up behind me and pulled hard at the tender hairs on the back of my neck. My eyes watered but I said nothing and waited. The next morning he found the piss barrel upended over his shoes. (pp32-33)

Here, the narrator, Sarah, is sharing with us about a time in her life, not teasing us (thank you!). We are shown clearly who she is dealing with, and what kind of person she is in response. We are not simply told "there was this time, when I was bummed with my cousin." We are shown a simple event that conveys a wealth of information, tension, and foreshadowing. He's a devious jerk she needs to watch out for, and yet she is not afraid. In fact, she is stoic and determined, and will not easily be intimidated. Powerful information, especially given the events that will eventually come down the road in this tale about the men, women and children who were hung for witchcraft in Salem.

I could cite countless other paragraphs, but I think my work here is done. In my humble opinion, form is necessary but it is worthless without substance. Substance infuses a decent book, but can elevate a good, tight story to great. Plot devices and tools are wonderful, but empty events without characters that come alive.

I'll end by saying that THE HERETIC'S DAUGHTER does not disappoint, and is a haunting tale I will not readily forget. It does not just tell the story of an era that is a blemish on reason and justice in our history, but reminds us of how tenacious the very human weakness for blame and judgment is. How hurtful and far-reaching gossip can be, and the consequences we all pay for those who will not speak up, or even more frightening: those who refuse to listen.

And yes, this book is now a cherished addition to my personal library.

K

One thing I've learned as I amble down the Writer's Road, is that we love to imagine who would best portray our characters on the silver screen. The only hitch -- if we go so far as to make our choices publicly known -- is this can also serve to interfere with the reader's imagination. This is not always a good thing. I can readily see how it might take away from a reader's experience; while the author creates a world and characters to explore, we want the reader to join us and imbue that world with life via their own imagination. This is why excellent books are called 'inspirational' or 'compelling', 'unforgettable' -- because the reader is drawn in, not simply shown what to see, or think. We become a part of the experience together, author and reader are co-creators. Instead of seeing it all in a full frontal, there is the tantalizing mystery that leaves us to imagine.

So I've wondered about doing any post on the actors and actresses I have considered to best emulate my characters -- obviously, I'm hoping that someday crazed fans will pour over this site to uncover all the angles and clues, the inspiration and anecdotes about my story, THE SOUL'S BELOVED. Do I want to taint the images in their minds as to how these characters appear for them? I want to leave some of that magical Mystery, right?

For now I won't be doing it, even though I know exactly who I would want to play Janus, for instance, and Klothos.

But what did occur to me as kinda cool is a PLAYLIST for one's novel. Music and lyric are powerful ways to convey a sense of a time, a person, a situation -- just as well as an image, in many cases. I have a whole bunch of songs that I listen to in order to 'get me in the mood' for working on my tale.

So, without further adieu, here are just a few vid's that fit the era and characters of THE SOUL'S BELOVED. It's a bit 80's, but that is the main era it is set in.

The Novel's Song: STORMS by Stevie Nicks/Fleetwood Mac



This video has some awful moments (what does Stevie Nicks doing ballet have to do with this song, people?!), but it was the best demo of this song I could find. Close your eyes and just listen to the words, maybe?

Janus' song: SHAPE OF MY HEART by Sting


A haunting melody, the person described is Janus to the core.

Josephine's song: AMERICAN GIRL by Tom Petty


Micheal's song: WASTED TIME by The Eagles


The words say it all. For you writers out there, what video's or songs best convey your characeters, or even the breadth of your novel?

And, I tag Beth and Julie, Jen, Sandra and Jenny for this. There are some others I'd love to tag, but now I have to get back to writing...

~K

Over at Paperback Writer , she has a great post about some unique ways for us writing types to use Wordle. With this program, you can see which words you may be using too many times, for instance. You can use this as a non-linear tool for inspiration (chapter title? Book title?).

Here is mine from a scene I am working on right now (in which I learned that I am not using any one word too much, as there doesn't seem to be one large stand-out in the mix):

If you really want to analyze a scene, you can see how the words play off of one another, or if there is a theme. In this scene, I realize there are is a lot around the body: bite, musk, tremor, aches, breath. Good, that is what I want here so this works well.

What's in your pocket? Your characters pocket, that is. Debi posted about this on The Pen Whore (the name of this blog alone is almost enough to elevate it to Crush Blog status) , and I couldn't help but wonder what is in my characters' pockets, anyway?

Let's start with Josephine, since I'm having issues fleshing her out...

Hmmph... not much, apparently. She's a working girl, after all, so she carries a purse with her everywhere. Maybe a tin of Carmex lip balm, and her keys on occasion. Always a lighter and if she can't carry her purse, a pack of Marlboro Lights. (People are always surprised to learn she smokes. She has an air of that outdoorsy, healthy girl about her, even when she's all dressed up in heels and hairspray for work. But she started young and... well, just kept it up. Bad habits die hard.)


Ah, and there's a little stone from her last trip to Hidden Beach out in Half Moon Bay - this one, for today anyway, is smooth on one side and is shot through with white quartz on the other. Josephine brings home various sticks and stones like stray pets. She trades them out like other girls choose their earrings for the day - her Worry Stones. She nervously fingers them off and on throughout the day, deep in her right front pocket when she thinks no one is paying attention.

When she has no pockets, she hides the chosen stone in her bra -- right in front, tucked into her cleavage. She wouldn't want you to know this, and she has never told anyone before.

Janus - well, Janus doesn't need pockets. He's a soul, after all - pure energy. But if he had them, he would most likely have two things: first, a ball of string. Not just any old string, but string that binds lives together, string that pulls you in and tangles you up. String that has that odd quality of not easily being torn in half, and yet frays and suddenly severs itself from unnecessary weight all at once...

Second -- a rather large seed pod, polished smooth after centuries of wear and tear. A valued reminder of life on Earth.

Michael -- he always has a comb in his right back pocket, and a pack of Marlboro Red's in the left (with a lighter tucked inside). His wallet is with the comb. No one has ever seen it, but he always carries a poem originally written on a yellow office legal pad, folded and unfolded so many times over the years that the creases have pinholes of light that shine through.



The poem is written in the flourished hand of a young girl under the throws of her first love. A bit of change in one front pocket, with some gum. And a small, silver key that was broken off from a chain he wore around his neck for years. Given to him by the same girl who wrote that poem: Josephine.

There are a few more people, but right now those are the three main characters. Most important in my mind, are the why's and what for's of these somewhat trivial items. Even the simple comb, for instance, reveals character. What do these items conjure up in your mind?

The smallest item that we choose to carry with us tells volumes about who we are.



K

I was blog surfing and came across The Pen Whore's post about Mary Sue characters (there's a test link in there, for those of us who can't control ourselves. Who creates all these tests, any way??).

One of my main characters, Josephine, is most definitely a Mary Sue - I don't need a test to tell me that, sadly (at least I'm not in denial - acceptance is the first step!). I was going to update my Character Spotlight with a passage about her recently, and realized I had nothing written that I felt truly conveyed her. Nothing that depicted who she is at her core, what she cares about, why she does the things she will do.

This is not good, for obvious reasons. At least I know what I need to focus on for awhile, right?

k

Well, I went and did it. I was reading a recent post here, at Trish Lawrence's blog, and accidentally found myself committing to a writing goal.

Ruh-roh.

Anyone who knows me is aware that I am nothing of not a woman of my word, so now I have to do this.

I commit to 15 minutes of writing at least 4x a week.

Stop laughing, this is a big deal for me, people.

Write on!
k

I'm enjoying Nathan Bransford's blog a lot these days (who is your pick to win the SUFPCx2?). I've added him to my blogroll.

So I was reading this entry (full of info!) and this led me here to Jeff Abbott (great post on how to get organized - who doesn't need that?), and that led me to the gold at the end of the rainbow, people! Evernote, where have you been all my life? This looks to be an amazing way to keep track of things online (and if you have an iPhone or the like, offline as well. Alas, I do not.) Check it out! You can track all those interesting tidbits you come across online, and it categorizes and organizes it for you. You can easily, quickly look up via word search what you are looking for. Awesome.

No more searching in my folders and lists for "17th century French fashion" (there's a wee hint about where we may go in my WIP, The Soul's Beloved, for those paying attention). No more banging my head on the keyboard because I somehow misplaced the link to that awesome, strange article that mentioned one specific village that was perfect for my scene, no more searching everywhere for the image that I had intended to save to the right folder for inspiration later...well, you get the idea.

Write on!
K

I wanted to take a moment to comment on some of the wonderful blogs or sites out there. These are places that move me, inspire me, teach me, or make me laugh (sometimes, all of the above). I plan on doing a 'round up' consistently, maybe once a month (I've got a bit of a list going, so there are lots more in the queue). To keep me sane, I will comment on no more than six at a time.

I'd love to know where do you go online to fill your glass, to take a break, to learn more about your craft? Feel free to post in the comments! Here are some of my current favorites:

~ Sarah Hina. Her words are elegant, her poetry and images are enchanting; and I am certain to be carried off somewhere that is bittersweet and full of longing. Sarah's book, Plum Blossoms in Paris, has just been picked up by Medallion Press. Congrats, Sarah! I can't wait to get lost in this story...

~ Elizabeth Stark's recent post on chunky narrative is wonderful. As a fellow chunky writer I am always looking to tie things together - she offered up all kinds of worthwhile information that I will be using today.

~ Linda Sands always makes me laugh (like, big belly laughs with coffee spraying everywhere, Oh Yeah!). And she helps to feed my shoe fetish. You'll see what I mean.

~ Speaking of laughter - looking for wacky twists to inspire you? Or just want to take a break from stressing on that latest chapter and get a good laugh in? Overheard Everywhere.

~ Here is a great site for all you mama writer's out there. In fact, it's invaluable: Writer Mama Riffs. Run by Christina Katz, author of The Writer Mama: How to Raise a Writing Career Alongside Your Kids and Get Known Before The Book Deal.

~ And to wrap it all up, let's end with an agent's blog: Nathan Bransford is having a first paragraph contest.

Enjoy!

Kimberely