For those of you that don't know and those of you that care: the same people who bring authors/writers/people-who-love-a-challengers National Novel Writing Month (NaNo) also bring us Camp NaNo. So for an extra two months out of the year (April and July this year) we can enjoy the insanity that comes with meeting a word goal in 30/31 days.
Camp NaNo is a bit more relaxed than NaNo. You can set your own word goals instead of going with the 50K that comes during the NaNo event. Because the two camps are in the summer there are less people on the forums BUT you're placed in a cabin with people who are (supposed) to be participating.
I've lucked out in both April and July and gotten great people in both cabins. Some aren't so lucky and get people who either don't talk or disappear for unknown reasons. The cabins are a special camp feature: we have a chat feature so depending on time zones we can talk to people in real time about writing instead of having to wait for the forums.
Last camp I worked on Lies and probably had my cabin-mates wondering what the heck I was on with the questions about gender and what not. They were exceptionally helpful and we met our overall goal of 225K. My goal was 75K which I think I hit in the third week. My memory sucks.
This camp I'm working on Testing Grounds a sci-fi novel set in and about 2013 where aliens attack earth under the guise that they want to help us. It'll be explained further in a later blog. This month I set my goal at 50K and by the end of the day (July 9th) I'll have it completed. The fun part is that our cabin goal is 150K and with another cabin mate at 30K our cabin only has to write 3 words a day to complete the overall goal. I figure by the middle of the week or the beginning of next week, we'll have hit 150K because we're awesome like that.
NaNo and the two Camps are not only fun challenges but are also great motivation. I don't need anything to keep me writing but it is nice to take a break sometimes, go to either the Camp Chat or the forums and talk to fellow writers. The months outside of Camp and NaNo are pretty stagnate in talking to other writers as I've never really clicked with writing forums outside NaNo. I know there are a lot out there but I can't get into them like I can with the NaNo forums.
Anyway, it's always good to have a fellow writer (or few dozen) to talk to when you run into a problem in your writing. It's nice to know that out there, somewhere, another writer might be having the same issue. It's good to know you're not the only crazy one.
I plan to post updates about Camp NaNo progress but we all know that I'm more pantser than a planner so, yeah. Until next time: don't put your entire marshmallow into the fire unless you like flinging a flaming ball of goo around and enjoy the taste of burnt goo.
Showing posts with label authors. Show all posts
Showing posts with label authors. Show all posts
Tuesday, July 9, 2013
Friday, May 24, 2013
The "Said" Debate
Some authors will say that when writing the only dialogue tag that should be used is the word "said." This confuses me mainly because when I was taking Journalism my teachers told me the same thing. I believe that journalism (reporting the news) and being an author (telling a story) are different. In fact, I remember reading a quote from a famous author (I can't remember who) saying something like: "All journalists have a fiction story inside them. That's where they should keep it."
If that's the case why are we as authors told to always use the word "said" in dialogue? Why are we being told to be like our news-reporting cousins? The answer to that is usually: 1) the reader ignores the dialogue tags anyway and 2) the familiarity of said prevents it from drawing attention to itself.
That second part of that is fine but the first part is irksome. Why should we as authors who have spent weeks (months or years) writing, re-writing, editing, scraping, and re-doing our novels be okay with letting someone ignore part of what we've written? Why should we be fine with readers ignoring part of our hard work and dedication to our craft? Why are we being told it's okay to ignore a tool in our author's tool kit?
Letting all dialogue tags be "said" is like a plumber ignoring his wrench. Dialogue tags are part of our word counts, they're part of our stories and we should pay just as much attention to them as we do to pronouns, adjectives, adverbs, sentence structure, plot, characters and everything else.
If the reader skips a dialogue tag it's not good enough reason for authors to simply replace all of them with one word. Some readers skip over description of places or certain scenes, so should we stop writing descriptions or certain scenes?
I'm not saying that every dialogue tag should be a word different than "said." I'm saying to mix it up a bit. Used "whispered," "muttered", "uttered", "grumbled", "whined", "shouted", "told", "informed", "described", "voiced", "answered", "responded", "exclaimed", "cried", and "mumbled" occasionally. Throw in a few "said with a(n) *insert action here*." These words give feeling to what the character is saying and the description that comes after the dialogue amplifies it. Besides, if we all just "said" things, we'd be talking like monotone robots all the time.
There are many that would disagree but even Stephen King has used "exclaimed", "told", "repeated", and "amplified" all within a few pages (51-55) in his book Thinner. A more recent example is Under the Dome pages 277-279 where "whispered", "shouted", and "cried" appear. There's also a "said dully" and a "said eagerly" mixed in among the "saids."
Dialogue is all about balance and I think a constant repetition of the word said (or no dialogue tags at all) will stifle it. Balancing it with other dialogue tags and a few describers makes for more interesting reading. "Said" should always be the most common dialogue tag as various ones would get too distracting but there is no problem with mixing it up a bit.
I have to admit the reason I wanted to write this blog was because of a thread in the NaNo forums. Some authors there agreed with the prospect that "readers ignore the dialogue tag anyway" and were telling (see what I did there?) other authors that "said" was the only dialogue tag that should be used all the time. One even went so far to say it was the only dialogue tag used besides "told" if (s)he wanted to mix things up. I ask (again): why should we allow (and be okay with) readers ignoring part of our work? It is because it's convenient for them? Is it because we're in this fast-paced world and reader's want to burn through books on their eReaders? Those are not good enough reasons.
Our characters, plots, dialogue tags, scenery, and slew of others elements are equivalent to a plumber's wrench, snake, screw drivers and pliers. If plumbers ignore tools of their trade the result could be disastrous. I'd like to think the same applies for authors.
So what do you think? Should authors obliterated every word but "said" from our dialogue tags? Should it be a mix? Why?
If that's the case why are we as authors told to always use the word "said" in dialogue? Why are we being told to be like our news-reporting cousins? The answer to that is usually: 1) the reader ignores the dialogue tags anyway and 2) the familiarity of said prevents it from drawing attention to itself.
That second part of that is fine but the first part is irksome. Why should we as authors who have spent weeks (months or years) writing, re-writing, editing, scraping, and re-doing our novels be okay with letting someone ignore part of what we've written? Why should we be fine with readers ignoring part of our hard work and dedication to our craft? Why are we being told it's okay to ignore a tool in our author's tool kit?
Letting all dialogue tags be "said" is like a plumber ignoring his wrench. Dialogue tags are part of our word counts, they're part of our stories and we should pay just as much attention to them as we do to pronouns, adjectives, adverbs, sentence structure, plot, characters and everything else.
If the reader skips a dialogue tag it's not good enough reason for authors to simply replace all of them with one word. Some readers skip over description of places or certain scenes, so should we stop writing descriptions or certain scenes?
I'm not saying that every dialogue tag should be a word different than "said." I'm saying to mix it up a bit. Used "whispered," "muttered", "uttered", "grumbled", "whined", "shouted", "told", "informed", "described", "voiced", "answered", "responded", "exclaimed", "cried", and "mumbled" occasionally. Throw in a few "said with a(n) *insert action here*." These words give feeling to what the character is saying and the description that comes after the dialogue amplifies it. Besides, if we all just "said" things, we'd be talking like monotone robots all the time.
There are many that would disagree but even Stephen King has used "exclaimed", "told", "repeated", and "amplified" all within a few pages (51-55) in his book Thinner. A more recent example is Under the Dome pages 277-279 where "whispered", "shouted", and "cried" appear. There's also a "said dully" and a "said eagerly" mixed in among the "saids."
Dialogue is all about balance and I think a constant repetition of the word said (or no dialogue tags at all) will stifle it. Balancing it with other dialogue tags and a few describers makes for more interesting reading. "Said" should always be the most common dialogue tag as various ones would get too distracting but there is no problem with mixing it up a bit.
I have to admit the reason I wanted to write this blog was because of a thread in the NaNo forums. Some authors there agreed with the prospect that "readers ignore the dialogue tag anyway" and were telling (see what I did there?) other authors that "said" was the only dialogue tag that should be used all the time. One even went so far to say it was the only dialogue tag used besides "told" if (s)he wanted to mix things up. I ask (again): why should we allow (and be okay with) readers ignoring part of our work? It is because it's convenient for them? Is it because we're in this fast-paced world and reader's want to burn through books on their eReaders? Those are not good enough reasons.
Our characters, plots, dialogue tags, scenery, and slew of others elements are equivalent to a plumber's wrench, snake, screw drivers and pliers. If plumbers ignore tools of their trade the result could be disastrous. I'd like to think the same applies for authors.
So what do you think? Should authors obliterated every word but "said" from our dialogue tags? Should it be a mix? Why?
Thursday, September 29, 2011
Why I write and a preview...
It always flabbergasts me when I log onto Twitter. I lose a follower (or five) but gain about the same. I figure it is because I'm not particularly active and that's fine.
I remember when it used to seriously bother me as well as make me feel horrendous when I lost a follower. Now I know a bit better and don't take it as a personal insult.
But, that is not what is the most astonishing thing about Twitter. What really awes me is the amount of followers some people gain in a short time (10,000 in five months for some). I've read Mr. Locke's book so it's not a big secret. One has to market and put their name out there constantly.
There is only one problem with that for me: I'm not a full-time author. I work all day and come home mentally drained to the point where I can't think of anything witty or humorous to say to attract more attention or readers.
I can't quit my job. Well, I could technically. But I've never been one to put all my faith in one stream of revenue. Quitting my job is a frightening prospect when I have bills that must be paid and no safety net to fall back on.
It's a conundrum. In order to market more, I need to do it full time. To do that, I must take a giant leap of faith and hope enough people buy my work so I can live. If they don't I will fall into debt and homelessness: I will be screwed.
For the past few weeks I have asked myself: Why write if no one is actually going to read my work? I could not think of an answer to be wonderfully blunt. It scared me and I lost some of that self-confidence I had been famous for in the past.
Of course, this resulted in a kind of depression which has led me to be completely inactive on any social network and caused me to fumble on the release date of Apocalyptic (Doomsday anthology - out Monday). I have not written or read my own work in about three weeks while I pondered over that query.
All authors will reply to the inquiry of why they write differently. Some do it for the money, many because they feel they were born to, various others because they enjoy it, and even those others for the fame.
After perusing a wonderful blog by Russell Blake and reading over the answers of Stephen King, Jeaniene Frost, Yasmine Galenorn, and others that I can't remember at the moment, I believe I have it figured out.
I write for myself. I know, it sounds selfish but allow me to iterate that further. I write because I enjoy creating characters, dreaming about magical powers, and living dangerous situations (safely through someone else's eyes).
So what if I have a handful of fans? Big deal if no one buys my work by the millions. Who cares if I don't become a New York Times Bestseller? I write for myself. If someone happens to come across my work and like it: awesome, wonderful, amazing, wo-hoo!
If not, I'm not going to lose sleep over it. I'm not going to shed tears about it. I may be upset that no one else will get to love (or hate) my characters as much as I do but that is their own loss. I love (and hate) my characters and I'm going to continue to be their voice.
Why? Because it's fun. Because I can. Because I was born with an over-active imagination. Because I HAVE THE TECHNOLOGY.
Because if I don't write their stories my brain will implode, bleed out of my ears, flood out of my nose and soak my keyboard with gray matter. Nice imagery, I'll have to inform my graphic artist of that. There will be fun had by all.
As I penned this down (and I DID actually hand write this in a notebook) I've come to the conclusion that I will always write. Even if no one ever reads what I write, I will continue to create. That does not mean I'll stop promoting to the best of my ability. I will try to get others to love (or hate) my characters, settings and stories as much as I do.
Now, if you'll excuse me, I have to finish polishing off the five stories for Apocalyptic that will be coming out Monday. Below you will find an excerpt to keep you busy.
Oh, one more thing: my graphic designer is an ADHD monkey and created a funky image based on the story in the preview below. Said image shall be posted soon as I haven't uploaded it anywhere and it's technically not fully complete yet.
Until then, Good-night and don't let the souls from the foulest pits of Hell drag you into Limbo where you will wander in the cold darkness for eternity.
Preview of Music:
I’m not entirely sure how or why it happened. I just woke up one day and it was silent as if I had gone deaf over night. This deafness for me would be my worst fears come true. I’m a musician through and through. Not famous but good enough to play at a local bar every weekend for some extra chump change that my 9AM to 5PM job doesn’t offer enough of.
Rather, didn’t offer enough of. Or something. I’m not entirely sure anymore. All I know for certain is that there was no one else around. No baby crying from the apartment next to mine (fucking relief that is), no car horns honking outside my window, no chatter of the girls downstairs or the mind-blowing bass of the guy upstairs.
My alarm didn’t even wake me up. Like I said, it was like I had gone deaf. The sun light coursing through my window did the honor of making me peel back my eyelids and squint at the bright ceiling above. There was no panic since it was a Saturday and I really considered falling back into an alcohol induced coma.
Of course, I didn’t hear anything so I panicked and reached for my guitar. Sound came clear and unobtrusive. I’m not deaf. I’m not blind either. I think I might be too drunk or high to realize that I’m on some crazy fucked up trip through. I mean, the whole world can’t disappear in a day, can it?
Then I took a close look at the date: December 22nd, 2012. Yep: Doomsday, the apocalypse, End of Days, and all that bullshit was yesterday. It seems that for everyone else, it came true. Whatever it was. Maybe it was the rapture and Jesus slung down from heaven on a white horse to take all his followers up by golden carriages bringing them into ever loving peace and paradise in Heaven while simultaneously casting all the sinners to the burning pits of Hell to be sodomized and burned.
Hey, I did say I could be high. Whatever the case, I was alone. Completely and utterly alone. Of course, I was suspicious of my complete and utter lack of company so I decided to do what any relatively sane person would do when faced with a similar situation. I walked the streets of New York with nothing but my guitar strapped to my back...
I remember when it used to seriously bother me as well as make me feel horrendous when I lost a follower. Now I know a bit better and don't take it as a personal insult.
But, that is not what is the most astonishing thing about Twitter. What really awes me is the amount of followers some people gain in a short time (10,000 in five months for some). I've read Mr. Locke's book so it's not a big secret. One has to market and put their name out there constantly.
There is only one problem with that for me: I'm not a full-time author. I work all day and come home mentally drained to the point where I can't think of anything witty or humorous to say to attract more attention or readers.
I can't quit my job. Well, I could technically. But I've never been one to put all my faith in one stream of revenue. Quitting my job is a frightening prospect when I have bills that must be paid and no safety net to fall back on.
It's a conundrum. In order to market more, I need to do it full time. To do that, I must take a giant leap of faith and hope enough people buy my work so I can live. If they don't I will fall into debt and homelessness: I will be screwed.
For the past few weeks I have asked myself: Why write if no one is actually going to read my work? I could not think of an answer to be wonderfully blunt. It scared me and I lost some of that self-confidence I had been famous for in the past.
Of course, this resulted in a kind of depression which has led me to be completely inactive on any social network and caused me to fumble on the release date of Apocalyptic (Doomsday anthology - out Monday). I have not written or read my own work in about three weeks while I pondered over that query.
All authors will reply to the inquiry of why they write differently. Some do it for the money, many because they feel they were born to, various others because they enjoy it, and even those others for the fame.
After perusing a wonderful blog by Russell Blake and reading over the answers of Stephen King, Jeaniene Frost, Yasmine Galenorn, and others that I can't remember at the moment, I believe I have it figured out.
I write for myself. I know, it sounds selfish but allow me to iterate that further. I write because I enjoy creating characters, dreaming about magical powers, and living dangerous situations (safely through someone else's eyes).
So what if I have a handful of fans? Big deal if no one buys my work by the millions. Who cares if I don't become a New York Times Bestseller? I write for myself. If someone happens to come across my work and like it: awesome, wonderful, amazing, wo-hoo!
If not, I'm not going to lose sleep over it. I'm not going to shed tears about it. I may be upset that no one else will get to love (or hate) my characters as much as I do but that is their own loss. I love (and hate) my characters and I'm going to continue to be their voice.
Why? Because it's fun. Because I can. Because I was born with an over-active imagination. Because I HAVE THE TECHNOLOGY.
Because if I don't write their stories my brain will implode, bleed out of my ears, flood out of my nose and soak my keyboard with gray matter. Nice imagery, I'll have to inform my graphic artist of that. There will be fun had by all.
As I penned this down (and I DID actually hand write this in a notebook) I've come to the conclusion that I will always write. Even if no one ever reads what I write, I will continue to create. That does not mean I'll stop promoting to the best of my ability. I will try to get others to love (or hate) my characters, settings and stories as much as I do.
Now, if you'll excuse me, I have to finish polishing off the five stories for Apocalyptic that will be coming out Monday. Below you will find an excerpt to keep you busy.
Oh, one more thing: my graphic designer is an ADHD monkey and created a funky image based on the story in the preview below. Said image shall be posted soon as I haven't uploaded it anywhere and it's technically not fully complete yet.
Until then, Good-night and don't let the souls from the foulest pits of Hell drag you into Limbo where you will wander in the cold darkness for eternity.
Preview of Music:
I’m not entirely sure how or why it happened. I just woke up one day and it was silent as if I had gone deaf over night. This deafness for me would be my worst fears come true. I’m a musician through and through. Not famous but good enough to play at a local bar every weekend for some extra chump change that my 9AM to 5PM job doesn’t offer enough of.
Rather, didn’t offer enough of. Or something. I’m not entirely sure anymore. All I know for certain is that there was no one else around. No baby crying from the apartment next to mine (fucking relief that is), no car horns honking outside my window, no chatter of the girls downstairs or the mind-blowing bass of the guy upstairs.
My alarm didn’t even wake me up. Like I said, it was like I had gone deaf. The sun light coursing through my window did the honor of making me peel back my eyelids and squint at the bright ceiling above. There was no panic since it was a Saturday and I really considered falling back into an alcohol induced coma.
Of course, I didn’t hear anything so I panicked and reached for my guitar. Sound came clear and unobtrusive. I’m not deaf. I’m not blind either. I think I might be too drunk or high to realize that I’m on some crazy fucked up trip through. I mean, the whole world can’t disappear in a day, can it?
Then I took a close look at the date: December 22nd, 2012. Yep: Doomsday, the apocalypse, End of Days, and all that bullshit was yesterday. It seems that for everyone else, it came true. Whatever it was. Maybe it was the rapture and Jesus slung down from heaven on a white horse to take all his followers up by golden carriages bringing them into ever loving peace and paradise in Heaven while simultaneously casting all the sinners to the burning pits of Hell to be sodomized and burned.
Hey, I did say I could be high. Whatever the case, I was alone. Completely and utterly alone. Of course, I was suspicious of my complete and utter lack of company so I decided to do what any relatively sane person would do when faced with a similar situation. I walked the streets of New York with nothing but my guitar strapped to my back...
Tuesday, August 9, 2011
Why I love Tim Burton and why my Book isn't like Twilight.
So as a few people may or may not know, I went to LA recently (heck check the last blog post ;) ) to pitch Tale of the Twins Book 1 as a movie idea to Hollywood executives. The gathering of literary minds was phenomenal. There was such a variety in work, it left me somewhat stunned.
Here I was going against another 150 authors to get this potential once-in-a-life-time chance to be something other than a half-assed secretary working a mundane 9-5 job. Don't get me wrong, I like some aspects of my day job but being completely serious, I'd rather stay at home and play video games or write all day. Oh and I'd like to get out of bed a lot later in the morning. I like sleep and relaxing, it's the holiness of all things holy.
Anyway, the first part of this exciting event went off well. I met a few authors during the evening on Friday and tried not to sink too far into the lawn in 4-inch stiletto heels. Authors are an interesting bunch. There were authors writing about sex and prostitutes and authors writing about alien races battling against each other. One wrote a children's story about a lost kitten, another a children's story about a mischievous dog. So much diversity, so little time to absorb it all.
Our goal (as any author's goal) was the same: to be noticed. To achieve that life-long dream of being famous because of the written world. To be able to stop living a mundane life and live off the bank account of something that popped out of your imagination.
Whether or not we succeed in this goal depending solely on our own talents of pitching our book idea in three minutes to people looking for ideas. Oh and we only had one night and one day to learn how to make this pitch perfect. Were the odds against us? Oh yes. But from what I hear, 46 people received a "call-back" asking for copies of the book.
Saturday morning brought a bout of nausea and I felt like calling off the whole thing. But I managed to get down to the meeting hall where two semi-famous Hollywood folks taught us how to pitch. It was then that I for one, figured out that everything I had done was probably wrong and re-wrote the entire thing from scratch.
After the lesson, we practiced pitching in front of one of the Hollywood folks. I was told my story was interesting but I had to learn how to breathe. Usually I'm not so nervous when speaking to people about my ideas (God knows I wasn't when describing my story to other authors), but I was in L.A. Alone. Surrounded by people and trying to capture that one moment that would potentially catapult me into fame. Yeah, nerves were required.
Then the pitching itself. I won't bore you with details. I pitched to 9 different Hollywood agents, they asked questions and I answered. It was over too quick for me to actually think. Then there was a short 15 minute author interview, a final wrap-up and we were all free to crawl back to the hovels or under the rocks from which we came.
Not me, I had another author interview the next day. Then it was back on the flying metal tin-can and back home to Canada to wait. Yes, wait. We weren't to receive any results until August 8th. For those of you keeping track, that was yesterday.
Before I get into results, I need to say a few things. I knew that despite what happened, the trip wasn't a waste. I toured LA and went to the tar pits. I got a replica of a freaking Saber tooth cat fang. I got to see the Tim Burton exhibition at the LACMA. I got to meet other authors and discuss their novels.
I love meeting other authors, even if it's online. I love talking about myself (as you can plainly see) and I love talking to people about their work, or my own. I LOVE looking at the bones of dead things (this is where the tar pits come in) and I LOVE Tim Burton - in a totally not-obsessive fan-girl way.
Tim Burton is creepy, funny, and his art/movies makes you take a step back and thing: "What the Hell IS that?" I get chills remembering some of his work. I can't say he's been my biggest motivation for writing or anything, but I like looking to his work for creepy inspiration. And Edward Scissorhands has always been one of my favourite movies.
I think this creepy obsession goes hand in hand with my love of bones (I was going to say dead things here but that might make some people think I'm a necrophiliac or something). I took an online forensics course to learn more about how to tell how a person died by their remains, a la CSI. I've always been absolutely fascinated with the human body and the concept of death.
As for my love of talking to people, well that comes and goes. Sometimes I'm the most anti-social person you could ever meet. Other times, you can't get me to shut the hell up. Especially about story ideas. I love hashing out ideas with other people or talking to people about my ideas. For instance, I love mentioning my zombie anthology. Zombies combine all my loves: creepiness, bones, death and writing. What more can a morbidly obsessed girl want?
Speaking of the anthology: it comes out this coming Monday after I meticulously edit it for another few days. And decide whether or not the cover is really as good as I think it is.
Getting away from my insistent rambling: the results of the Hollywood pitching in LA are in. And no, I won't be getting a six or seven digit figure for someone to horrendously negate the original concepts of Book 1 so they can be transferred to the big screen. No Hollywood moment for me, no one-hit wonder here and certainly no movie deal.
Is it discouraging? Hell yes. Am I depressed? Oh *insert expletive here* yes. Do I care? Oddly, not really. Yeah, I was rejected but who wasn't their first time around? It would be insane of me to think after one try (technically 9 in this case) that I would hit the big one. Am I jealous of the ones that did? Certainly. It doesn't mean I'm going to give up, oh no.
It just means I'll work that little bit harder to get my name out there even if I'm a crazy-cat lady at 40 still spouting the same nonsense about my books and my work. Actually, crazy-cat lady seems like a good goal, I've always loved cats.
The only thing that irked me about the results is one agent said the following:"It feels too much like Twilight." Wait, what? There were no werewolves mentioned in my pitch. There was no human falling in love with a vampire in my pitch. My pitch was about the multiple-personality, insane, lovable spy La Puce and how he both saves and destroys the world in almost the same breath. Where the heck does Twilight fit into that?
Book 1 is about vampires blowing each other up, setting each other on fire, maiming each other, magically transporting themselves through portals, a fight of riddles with a dragon, magical spells, a sword called the Hell-blade that was made in a Satanic ritual, vampires killing humans for sport (and food, let's not forget that), and world domination that includes enslaving the human race. So, I'm sorry: "feels too much like Twilight"?
Bah. Really, if you're not interested in Book 1 now you should be ;). There's a lot of blood and gore in there (near the end mainly, that's when the big war breaks out) and some magic just for fun. Oh and Book 2 has zombies. And the Hell-beast. Oh and the actual blood and gore is almost half the book.
On a serious note (which is very rare for me), the comparison was mote. It seems that the moment someone mentions the word "vampire" people automatically think "Twilight". It used to be that people automatically thought of Lestat or Dracula. Now it's Edward Cullen and Bella Swan. I actually had to change the name of one of my characters from Isabella to something else for just that reason, even though the name Isabella made sense in the context that was being used and I hadn't heard of Twilight yet. Kudos to Stephanie Meyer for creating such a fandom.
Despite the words above, I'm not bitter. Merely impressed and fascinated. Okay, maybe a bit bitter that an agent thought my book was like Twilight but solely for the reason that it's completely different. That's like saying Dr. Seuss is similar to Shakespeare. And don't read too much into that comparison because I don't mean it any kind of insult to Meyer or myself. I admire her tenacity and her ability to create such an empire out of her work.
Either way, my work wasn't the break-out hit some Hollywood agent/company was looking for. Now, you're thinking: but what will you do now Renna? Well that's easy. I'm going to keep writing, editing, staying up until obscene hours of the night trying to be social network savvy and working my 9-5 job until I actually make something of the little ideas I scribble onto paper when I can.
And you're thinking: but why? Well, because I love my characters, I love writing and I love the handful of people that are my fans. I may not have the funds to put out Book 2 (buy Book 1 and you get Book 2 faster ;) ) but I do have enough funds so people don't forget I'm around. And once Book 2 gets edited (because in all reality my grammar/spelling is sometimes atrocious), it will grace the Internet with its presence. Then I'll write Book 3 and people will hate me for the ending, I'm sure.
But to hate me, you must first like me enough to give the first two Books a chance. Law of averages or something. And even when you do hate me, you'll want to read more so you can wonder where I get my literary genius from (you can laugh, I won't know).
To conclude this rant: buy Book 1. Do it for the love of Tim Burton. Do it for the love of morbid things. Do it for the love of authors. Do it for the love of the written word. Or do it just because you liked (or hated) this little rant. I don't need to know your reason, but I will thank you profusely because I love you.
Here I was going against another 150 authors to get this potential once-in-a-life-time chance to be something other than a half-assed secretary working a mundane 9-5 job. Don't get me wrong, I like some aspects of my day job but being completely serious, I'd rather stay at home and play video games or write all day. Oh and I'd like to get out of bed a lot later in the morning. I like sleep and relaxing, it's the holiness of all things holy.
Anyway, the first part of this exciting event went off well. I met a few authors during the evening on Friday and tried not to sink too far into the lawn in 4-inch stiletto heels. Authors are an interesting bunch. There were authors writing about sex and prostitutes and authors writing about alien races battling against each other. One wrote a children's story about a lost kitten, another a children's story about a mischievous dog. So much diversity, so little time to absorb it all.
Our goal (as any author's goal) was the same: to be noticed. To achieve that life-long dream of being famous because of the written world. To be able to stop living a mundane life and live off the bank account of something that popped out of your imagination.
Whether or not we succeed in this goal depending solely on our own talents of pitching our book idea in three minutes to people looking for ideas. Oh and we only had one night and one day to learn how to make this pitch perfect. Were the odds against us? Oh yes. But from what I hear, 46 people received a "call-back" asking for copies of the book.
Saturday morning brought a bout of nausea and I felt like calling off the whole thing. But I managed to get down to the meeting hall where two semi-famous Hollywood folks taught us how to pitch. It was then that I for one, figured out that everything I had done was probably wrong and re-wrote the entire thing from scratch.
After the lesson, we practiced pitching in front of one of the Hollywood folks. I was told my story was interesting but I had to learn how to breathe. Usually I'm not so nervous when speaking to people about my ideas (God knows I wasn't when describing my story to other authors), but I was in L.A. Alone. Surrounded by people and trying to capture that one moment that would potentially catapult me into fame. Yeah, nerves were required.
Then the pitching itself. I won't bore you with details. I pitched to 9 different Hollywood agents, they asked questions and I answered. It was over too quick for me to actually think. Then there was a short 15 minute author interview, a final wrap-up and we were all free to crawl back to the hovels or under the rocks from which we came.
Not me, I had another author interview the next day. Then it was back on the flying metal tin-can and back home to Canada to wait. Yes, wait. We weren't to receive any results until August 8th. For those of you keeping track, that was yesterday.
Before I get into results, I need to say a few things. I knew that despite what happened, the trip wasn't a waste. I toured LA and went to the tar pits. I got a replica of a freaking Saber tooth cat fang. I got to see the Tim Burton exhibition at the LACMA. I got to meet other authors and discuss their novels.
I love meeting other authors, even if it's online. I love talking about myself (as you can plainly see) and I love talking to people about their work, or my own. I LOVE looking at the bones of dead things (this is where the tar pits come in) and I LOVE Tim Burton - in a totally not-obsessive fan-girl way.
Tim Burton is creepy, funny, and his art/movies makes you take a step back and thing: "What the Hell IS that?" I get chills remembering some of his work. I can't say he's been my biggest motivation for writing or anything, but I like looking to his work for creepy inspiration. And Edward Scissorhands has always been one of my favourite movies.
I think this creepy obsession goes hand in hand with my love of bones (I was going to say dead things here but that might make some people think I'm a necrophiliac or something). I took an online forensics course to learn more about how to tell how a person died by their remains, a la CSI. I've always been absolutely fascinated with the human body and the concept of death.
As for my love of talking to people, well that comes and goes. Sometimes I'm the most anti-social person you could ever meet. Other times, you can't get me to shut the hell up. Especially about story ideas. I love hashing out ideas with other people or talking to people about my ideas. For instance, I love mentioning my zombie anthology. Zombies combine all my loves: creepiness, bones, death and writing. What more can a morbidly obsessed girl want?
Speaking of the anthology: it comes out this coming Monday after I meticulously edit it for another few days. And decide whether or not the cover is really as good as I think it is.
Getting away from my insistent rambling: the results of the Hollywood pitching in LA are in. And no, I won't be getting a six or seven digit figure for someone to horrendously negate the original concepts of Book 1 so they can be transferred to the big screen. No Hollywood moment for me, no one-hit wonder here and certainly no movie deal.
Is it discouraging? Hell yes. Am I depressed? Oh *insert expletive here* yes. Do I care? Oddly, not really. Yeah, I was rejected but who wasn't their first time around? It would be insane of me to think after one try (technically 9 in this case) that I would hit the big one. Am I jealous of the ones that did? Certainly. It doesn't mean I'm going to give up, oh no.
It just means I'll work that little bit harder to get my name out there even if I'm a crazy-cat lady at 40 still spouting the same nonsense about my books and my work. Actually, crazy-cat lady seems like a good goal, I've always loved cats.
The only thing that irked me about the results is one agent said the following:"It feels too much like Twilight." Wait, what? There were no werewolves mentioned in my pitch. There was no human falling in love with a vampire in my pitch. My pitch was about the multiple-personality, insane, lovable spy La Puce and how he both saves and destroys the world in almost the same breath. Where the heck does Twilight fit into that?
Book 1 is about vampires blowing each other up, setting each other on fire, maiming each other, magically transporting themselves through portals, a fight of riddles with a dragon, magical spells, a sword called the Hell-blade that was made in a Satanic ritual, vampires killing humans for sport (and food, let's not forget that), and world domination that includes enslaving the human race. So, I'm sorry: "feels too much like Twilight"?
Bah. Really, if you're not interested in Book 1 now you should be ;). There's a lot of blood and gore in there (near the end mainly, that's when the big war breaks out) and some magic just for fun. Oh and Book 2 has zombies. And the Hell-beast. Oh and the actual blood and gore is almost half the book.
On a serious note (which is very rare for me), the comparison was mote. It seems that the moment someone mentions the word "vampire" people automatically think "Twilight". It used to be that people automatically thought of Lestat or Dracula. Now it's Edward Cullen and Bella Swan. I actually had to change the name of one of my characters from Isabella to something else for just that reason, even though the name Isabella made sense in the context that was being used and I hadn't heard of Twilight yet. Kudos to Stephanie Meyer for creating such a fandom.
Despite the words above, I'm not bitter. Merely impressed and fascinated. Okay, maybe a bit bitter that an agent thought my book was like Twilight but solely for the reason that it's completely different. That's like saying Dr. Seuss is similar to Shakespeare. And don't read too much into that comparison because I don't mean it any kind of insult to Meyer or myself. I admire her tenacity and her ability to create such an empire out of her work.
Either way, my work wasn't the break-out hit some Hollywood agent/company was looking for. Now, you're thinking: but what will you do now Renna? Well that's easy. I'm going to keep writing, editing, staying up until obscene hours of the night trying to be social network savvy and working my 9-5 job until I actually make something of the little ideas I scribble onto paper when I can.
And you're thinking: but why? Well, because I love my characters, I love writing and I love the handful of people that are my fans. I may not have the funds to put out Book 2 (buy Book 1 and you get Book 2 faster ;) ) but I do have enough funds so people don't forget I'm around. And once Book 2 gets edited (because in all reality my grammar/spelling is sometimes atrocious), it will grace the Internet with its presence. Then I'll write Book 3 and people will hate me for the ending, I'm sure.
But to hate me, you must first like me enough to give the first two Books a chance. Law of averages or something. And even when you do hate me, you'll want to read more so you can wonder where I get my literary genius from (you can laugh, I won't know).
To conclude this rant: buy Book 1. Do it for the love of Tim Burton. Do it for the love of morbid things. Do it for the love of authors. Do it for the love of the written word. Or do it just because you liked (or hated) this little rant. I don't need to know your reason, but I will thank you profusely because I love you.
Sunday, May 16, 2010
I need a clone...
I really do need a clone. This weekend has been spent researching marketing tactics and attempting to formulate some form of marketing plan. I've read so much, I can probably write my own book about it (assuming the plan I do finally put into action works).
That aside, with all the posting, commenting, changes and other such things I have to do to market, I'm going to need a second me. Between working full time, attempting to write and keeping up to date with everything, I will have very little free time.
Am I worried? A bit, maybe. The more time I spend on marketing, the less time I have to write. BUT, the more time I spend on marketing, the more word will get out which will eventually lead to more time to write.
On the topic of writing, I'm playing with the idea to create a newsletter for different tricks and techniques to write a good novel. If not a newsletter, it will be a series of blogs.
On the topic of marketing, one of the major things I've learned is communication is key. Commenting on other blogs, discussing like subjects, talking to people on various social networking sites...is a big part of getting the word out there.
Another thing I learned is that I have more then likely been doing the whole Social Networking Marketing thing wrong. That is, I haven't really had a definitive WAY to market.
I also learned there are a lot of 'get-rich-quick' scams that come across as useful information...before they start telling you spam e-mail and use various different commenting tools to spam comment. Spam is a no-no. People hate spam, me being one of them.
Anyway, changes are on the horizon for this little piece of the web I call my blog...and there will probably be more changes to the website.
That aside, with all the posting, commenting, changes and other such things I have to do to market, I'm going to need a second me. Between working full time, attempting to write and keeping up to date with everything, I will have very little free time.
Am I worried? A bit, maybe. The more time I spend on marketing, the less time I have to write. BUT, the more time I spend on marketing, the more word will get out which will eventually lead to more time to write.
On the topic of writing, I'm playing with the idea to create a newsletter for different tricks and techniques to write a good novel. If not a newsletter, it will be a series of blogs.
On the topic of marketing, one of the major things I've learned is communication is key. Commenting on other blogs, discussing like subjects, talking to people on various social networking sites...is a big part of getting the word out there.
Another thing I learned is that I have more then likely been doing the whole Social Networking Marketing thing wrong. That is, I haven't really had a definitive WAY to market.
I also learned there are a lot of 'get-rich-quick' scams that come across as useful information...before they start telling you spam e-mail and use various different commenting tools to spam comment. Spam is a no-no. People hate spam, me being one of them.
Anyway, changes are on the horizon for this little piece of the web I call my blog...and there will probably be more changes to the website.
Thursday, May 13, 2010
Motivation
So, I just received my first Quarterly Report from the publishing company. Book One has been out for about two months now and in that time, I have sold two e-books. I'm hoping it's because the book is only available online and not because there is lack of interest in it.
I'm also hoping that in the next four months I can make sales pick-up. I would be happy even selling 100 in four months, then say 200 the next. That's a half-decent goal, I think. But the problem is, major book-stores won't take it unless there is demand. And, I don't have a lot of time to make it so there IS a demand.
A bit discouraging yes, but I'm not going to give up. I didn't come this far to stop at the starting line. I'm going to find myself some really good friends to help push it over the next four months and hopefully that will make the difference.
And if I crash and burn, well at least I can say I tried. It's better to have tried and failed then to have not tried at all. At least, that's how the saying goes anyway.
On the plus side, the bookmarks, business cards and postcards look lovely. Now, once I get a small crew of people together, I can deliver them and hope for the best.
I'm also hoping that in the next four months I can make sales pick-up. I would be happy even selling 100 in four months, then say 200 the next. That's a half-decent goal, I think. But the problem is, major book-stores won't take it unless there is demand. And, I don't have a lot of time to make it so there IS a demand.
A bit discouraging yes, but I'm not going to give up. I didn't come this far to stop at the starting line. I'm going to find myself some really good friends to help push it over the next four months and hopefully that will make the difference.
And if I crash and burn, well at least I can say I tried. It's better to have tried and failed then to have not tried at all. At least, that's how the saying goes anyway.
On the plus side, the bookmarks, business cards and postcards look lovely. Now, once I get a small crew of people together, I can deliver them and hope for the best.
Wednesday, April 28, 2010
Freedom of Speech (Part Two)
As a follow up to part one, about the South Park writers getting threatened with death by certain Muslim factions, here is part two.
This part is more author based, that is, speaking more about books that get banned for whatever reason.
Now, don't get me wrong, some of the books that do get banned, I can completely understand. For instance, Stephen King's 'Salem's Lot' being banned in some schools because it was too violent.
I can understand the banning of Hitler's novel (at the time) because of the extremist nature of the novel and such. I can understand why people would not want others to read it and such.
But, in B.C, Harry Potter was banned. Why? Because it promoted witchcraft. Personally I don't think any child (or adult) is going to seriously attempt witchcraft after reading Harry Potter. Dan Brown's 'The DaVinci Code' was also banned in some areas because it was offensive to Christianity.
It's examples like the two above that make me shake my head and wonder where people's minds are when they make that decision. As authors, we are given a certain right to be able to express ourselves in the way we see fit.
Banning a book just because you do not like it's ideals or like what it may or may not teach is wrong. Again, if it's too violent (or too offensive) then yes, ban it. But if not, leave it alone.
Now, there is a difference between Dan Brown's 'Da Vinci Code' and Hitler's 'Mein Kampf'. Brown did not kill thousands of people based of the 'ideals' in his book. Brown did not try to take over parts of the world. Yes, some of the clues he laid out ARE true but that does not mean people are going to stop believing in Christianity because of it.
To summarize, book banning should be looked at more closely. That is, those who wish to ban a book, should take a good hard look at it and really determine if it is going to make someone offended. Most of the books banned, won't do that.
I did end up writing a whole other explanation on book banning and censorship. If you wish to read it, go to my website (www.vonravenstone.com) and head off the the F.A.Q.
This part is more author based, that is, speaking more about books that get banned for whatever reason.
Now, don't get me wrong, some of the books that do get banned, I can completely understand. For instance, Stephen King's 'Salem's Lot' being banned in some schools because it was too violent.
I can understand the banning of Hitler's novel (at the time) because of the extremist nature of the novel and such. I can understand why people would not want others to read it and such.
But, in B.C, Harry Potter was banned. Why? Because it promoted witchcraft. Personally I don't think any child (or adult) is going to seriously attempt witchcraft after reading Harry Potter. Dan Brown's 'The DaVinci Code' was also banned in some areas because it was offensive to Christianity.
It's examples like the two above that make me shake my head and wonder where people's minds are when they make that decision. As authors, we are given a certain right to be able to express ourselves in the way we see fit.
Banning a book just because you do not like it's ideals or like what it may or may not teach is wrong. Again, if it's too violent (or too offensive) then yes, ban it. But if not, leave it alone.
Now, there is a difference between Dan Brown's 'Da Vinci Code' and Hitler's 'Mein Kampf'. Brown did not kill thousands of people based of the 'ideals' in his book. Brown did not try to take over parts of the world. Yes, some of the clues he laid out ARE true but that does not mean people are going to stop believing in Christianity because of it.
To summarize, book banning should be looked at more closely. That is, those who wish to ban a book, should take a good hard look at it and really determine if it is going to make someone offended. Most of the books banned, won't do that.
I did end up writing a whole other explanation on book banning and censorship. If you wish to read it, go to my website (www.vonravenstone.com) and head off the the F.A.Q.
Saturday, April 24, 2010
Freedom of Speech (part one)
For those of you who don't frequently check the news or see the news, South Park creators/writers are being threatened with death by a particular faction of the Muslim Community. Why? Because they had the Prophet Mohammad featured (though covered by a bear mascot suit) in their 201st episode.
This may be old news to some, I found out about it mid-week but never got the chance to make a formal comment about it until now.
Regardless, this brings up an issue of freedom of speech. Now, don't get me wrong, I respect the Muslim community and their wants for wishing their Prophet not be seen. But, a death threat is a bit far. South Park DID cover their prophet, so really I don't see the major issue.
I agree, it can be insulting to have your prophet or God made fun of. But, there was no death threat made by Christians when Jesus was featured various times. There was no threat made by Paris Hilton, Tom Cruise and various other celebrities when they were featured on the show.
Personally, I think the death threat is going just a bit too far. I can understand a request to censor said offensive material and I can understand a formal complaint to various networks regarding the episode. Again, a death threat is a bit much.
I'm not 100% brushed up on my Freedom of Speech laws, but I am fairly certain people have a right to say what they want. I know certain limitations (moral or otherwise) apply, but I am fairly certain that the punishment is NOT death if one does not follow those rules.
Freedom of Speech is important to every writer (television show or otherwise) and its a sorrowful day when a member of the writing community has their life threatened (or book banned) for something they said or did (even if it is South Park).
I will be posting a second part to 'Freedom of Speech' - hence the part one - that pertains more to novel-writing in the future. Until then, watch who you say what to. ;)
This may be old news to some, I found out about it mid-week but never got the chance to make a formal comment about it until now.
Regardless, this brings up an issue of freedom of speech. Now, don't get me wrong, I respect the Muslim community and their wants for wishing their Prophet not be seen. But, a death threat is a bit far. South Park DID cover their prophet, so really I don't see the major issue.
I agree, it can be insulting to have your prophet or God made fun of. But, there was no death threat made by Christians when Jesus was featured various times. There was no threat made by Paris Hilton, Tom Cruise and various other celebrities when they were featured on the show.
Personally, I think the death threat is going just a bit too far. I can understand a request to censor said offensive material and I can understand a formal complaint to various networks regarding the episode. Again, a death threat is a bit much.
I'm not 100% brushed up on my Freedom of Speech laws, but I am fairly certain people have a right to say what they want. I know certain limitations (moral or otherwise) apply, but I am fairly certain that the punishment is NOT death if one does not follow those rules.
Freedom of Speech is important to every writer (television show or otherwise) and its a sorrowful day when a member of the writing community has their life threatened (or book banned) for something they said or did (even if it is South Park).
I will be posting a second part to 'Freedom of Speech' - hence the part one - that pertains more to novel-writing in the future. Until then, watch who you say what to. ;)
Friday, April 16, 2010
To write or not to write...
I was cruising around the writing.com forums last night and came upon an interesting topic. The original thread creator in the forum had wrote a poem and kept receiving reviews on formatting it with stanzas. The creator of the thread then asked if other authors were questioned to change their own works.
There were a lot of intriguing posts about it doesn't matter or it does but one poster in particular said that if the reader's want something to be changed, as an author you should change it because you do not write for yourself.
I would have to say I'm in disagreement with that statement - to a point. Yes, I can agree with changing something as simple as stanzas but as authors we are given a creative license to write stories as we wish. That is, if a group of fans say our trilogy should end a certain way, and not the way we originally intended, that we should write it as the fans want it.
Now, I'm not saying fans ideas shouldn't be taken into consideration. But there is a fine line on how much an author should change just for the sake of their fans. For example, in Book Two, there may be a death that not every person reading Book Two will agree with. Am I going to change that death because my fans don't like it? No. That would completely change the story and make Book Three a mote point. How the story is told, is how it was meant to be told.
Authors can't make ALL their readers happy, that would be impossible. Somewhere, someone is going to hate something in the particular story and author is writing and well, that person is just going to have to deal with it. I mean, they all ready bought and read the story in question, so isn't that enough? Even if they hate a certain part of it, the story affected them so much so, that they DID develop this hatred. And, isn't the whole point of writing to have someone express emotion over one's works?
Don't get me wrong, I'll take all sorts of suggestions and criticism for anything I write. I might not necessarily change it, but I will consider the idea and wonder if that idea might fit better. And there has been times when something someone has suggested actually does make it into a story.
I would like to say to all authors: Don't be hesitant to write something a certain way just because readers do not like it. It's your tale, let it be told as it is meant to.
To readers: Don't hate the author because your favorite character dies or something happens that you do not like. They made you FEEL after all and that should be appreciated. If you are going to hate an author, hate them for a generic/overused plot, 2d characters, poor grammar, or lack of creativity.
There were a lot of intriguing posts about it doesn't matter or it does but one poster in particular said that if the reader's want something to be changed, as an author you should change it because you do not write for yourself.
I would have to say I'm in disagreement with that statement - to a point. Yes, I can agree with changing something as simple as stanzas but as authors we are given a creative license to write stories as we wish. That is, if a group of fans say our trilogy should end a certain way, and not the way we originally intended, that we should write it as the fans want it.
Now, I'm not saying fans ideas shouldn't be taken into consideration. But there is a fine line on how much an author should change just for the sake of their fans. For example, in Book Two, there may be a death that not every person reading Book Two will agree with. Am I going to change that death because my fans don't like it? No. That would completely change the story and make Book Three a mote point. How the story is told, is how it was meant to be told.
Authors can't make ALL their readers happy, that would be impossible. Somewhere, someone is going to hate something in the particular story and author is writing and well, that person is just going to have to deal with it. I mean, they all ready bought and read the story in question, so isn't that enough? Even if they hate a certain part of it, the story affected them so much so, that they DID develop this hatred. And, isn't the whole point of writing to have someone express emotion over one's works?
Don't get me wrong, I'll take all sorts of suggestions and criticism for anything I write. I might not necessarily change it, but I will consider the idea and wonder if that idea might fit better. And there has been times when something someone has suggested actually does make it into a story.
I would like to say to all authors: Don't be hesitant to write something a certain way just because readers do not like it. It's your tale, let it be told as it is meant to.
To readers: Don't hate the author because your favorite character dies or something happens that you do not like. They made you FEEL after all and that should be appreciated. If you are going to hate an author, hate them for a generic/overused plot, 2d characters, poor grammar, or lack of creativity.
Thursday, April 15, 2010
So many...characters...
After reading through another batch of old stories, I found out something interesting. I have dozens of interesting characters stuck in a story without a plot.
I find it funny how it's very simple for me to make up a new character. I can literally spend an entire day writing character profiles, quotes they might use, their look, their background but do they get in a story? Nope. Well, not all the time.
The old short stories (that at the time I thought were novels...oh how young I was) have introduced an entire new slew of characters, each that would be loved (or hated) by readers. But, no story lines.
Don't get me wrong, the setting descriptions are amazing. But, the plot is so generic it's laughable. I can barely read some of my old work, and not because my handwriting is illegible.
It's just so dull. Hopefully I can breathe life into some of these generic plots or at least steal the characters and put them into something else.
I'm going to finish this off with a few tips for writing a good character:
1) Become your character. There is no better way to describe a person then if you think like them. So, think like the character you want to create. Ask yourself, are they extroverted or introverted? What made them this way? Will they change and how? What are their likes and dislikes? Why don't they like certain things?
2) Stay away from generic looking characters, especially in fantasy. So, you have an amazing personality set out for your new character. Now, you need tell your reader what they look like. Blond hair and blue eyes? Sounds good, but there's so many blond haired, blue eyed people running around. If you do make them look 'average' give them something different. A scar, a tattoo, a certain way of dressing. Don't get me wrong, it's entirely possible to create an average looking character and make them stand out via their personality alone. More difficult, but still doable.
3) Interaction. This kind of ties in with a character's personality. How will this character interact with other characters? How do they speak? Is it very formal or filled with slang? And remember, tie in the way they speak with their personality. A genius character may not use a lot of slang and contractions in their speech pattern. Above all, make them talk as someone with that personality would talk (again, BECOME that character).
4) Be creative. When creating a new character, there are no rules. Who they are is completely up to you. Think of it as walking into a room full of blank wooden dolls and with your writing powers, you have to make them human. Or elf. Or vampire. Or hobbit. Or, whatever it is they are going to be. (Side note: That just gave me the beginnings of an idea).
Now, there may be other things other authors do when writing a character but I find the above works for me. Of course, what works for me, may not work for someone else and the tips are meant to be a general guideline/place to start.
Keep creating. ;)
I find it funny how it's very simple for me to make up a new character. I can literally spend an entire day writing character profiles, quotes they might use, their look, their background but do they get in a story? Nope. Well, not all the time.
The old short stories (that at the time I thought were novels...oh how young I was) have introduced an entire new slew of characters, each that would be loved (or hated) by readers. But, no story lines.
Don't get me wrong, the setting descriptions are amazing. But, the plot is so generic it's laughable. I can barely read some of my old work, and not because my handwriting is illegible.
It's just so dull. Hopefully I can breathe life into some of these generic plots or at least steal the characters and put them into something else.
I'm going to finish this off with a few tips for writing a good character:
1) Become your character. There is no better way to describe a person then if you think like them. So, think like the character you want to create. Ask yourself, are they extroverted or introverted? What made them this way? Will they change and how? What are their likes and dislikes? Why don't they like certain things?
2) Stay away from generic looking characters, especially in fantasy. So, you have an amazing personality set out for your new character. Now, you need tell your reader what they look like. Blond hair and blue eyes? Sounds good, but there's so many blond haired, blue eyed people running around. If you do make them look 'average' give them something different. A scar, a tattoo, a certain way of dressing. Don't get me wrong, it's entirely possible to create an average looking character and make them stand out via their personality alone. More difficult, but still doable.
3) Interaction. This kind of ties in with a character's personality. How will this character interact with other characters? How do they speak? Is it very formal or filled with slang? And remember, tie in the way they speak with their personality. A genius character may not use a lot of slang and contractions in their speech pattern. Above all, make them talk as someone with that personality would talk (again, BECOME that character).
4) Be creative. When creating a new character, there are no rules. Who they are is completely up to you. Think of it as walking into a room full of blank wooden dolls and with your writing powers, you have to make them human. Or elf. Or vampire. Or hobbit. Or, whatever it is they are going to be. (Side note: That just gave me the beginnings of an idea).
Now, there may be other things other authors do when writing a character but I find the above works for me. Of course, what works for me, may not work for someone else and the tips are meant to be a general guideline/place to start.
Keep creating. ;)
Monday, April 12, 2010
Inspiration
I absolutely love when a random bout of inspiration hits me. The simple flow of words from my brain to my hands to the keyboard and onto the screen. There is just something so exhilarating about it that it makes me giddy.
I love it even more when a plot line I never even thought about works its way into my mind and gives birth to a slew of new ideas that make the story that much more complex. My muse is fickle. Most of the time I can turn it off and on at will, other times it hides in the corner. But then there are those days when it will not be ignored.
That day was Sunday. The other novel I'm working on was the receiver of this inspirational turn-about. This lucky piece of work got an entirely new plot concept added to it which makes it that much more solid and that much more entertaining for me and the reader.
Mind you, no one's actually going to read it until after this trilogy is complete. Even then I might put something else out first, it depends. But it's just one of those plots twists that got me very excited. I haven't felt that in two weeks and I missed it.
I'm not entirely sure what brings about these random moments of: "Oh, that would be awesome to do with this plot." But I'm not complaining. I often say that I'm never sure exactly what inspires me. Sometimes, it's nothing at all and other times it can be a certain note in a song.
I guess it's just a quirk shared among the writing community and more then likely various other communities as well. I'm certain a lot of people have had this "Eureka!" moment. And that feeling of excitement will never wear thin.
It makes me wonder though, what inspires other writer's to write? Is it different for all writers or is there a common trend? I'm going to assume it would be different for everyone, we are all individuals in personality after all. But it would be an interesting study to see if each community had its own trend of inspiration...
I love it even more when a plot line I never even thought about works its way into my mind and gives birth to a slew of new ideas that make the story that much more complex. My muse is fickle. Most of the time I can turn it off and on at will, other times it hides in the corner. But then there are those days when it will not be ignored.
That day was Sunday. The other novel I'm working on was the receiver of this inspirational turn-about. This lucky piece of work got an entirely new plot concept added to it which makes it that much more solid and that much more entertaining for me and the reader.
Mind you, no one's actually going to read it until after this trilogy is complete. Even then I might put something else out first, it depends. But it's just one of those plots twists that got me very excited. I haven't felt that in two weeks and I missed it.
I'm not entirely sure what brings about these random moments of: "Oh, that would be awesome to do with this plot." But I'm not complaining. I often say that I'm never sure exactly what inspires me. Sometimes, it's nothing at all and other times it can be a certain note in a song.
I guess it's just a quirk shared among the writing community and more then likely various other communities as well. I'm certain a lot of people have had this "Eureka!" moment. And that feeling of excitement will never wear thin.
It makes me wonder though, what inspires other writer's to write? Is it different for all writers or is there a common trend? I'm going to assume it would be different for everyone, we are all individuals in personality after all. But it would be an interesting study to see if each community had its own trend of inspiration...
Friday, April 9, 2010
The writing community.
In browsing the Internet for different things about writing, I stumbled across an entire enormous community for authors.
The website is amazingly immense. I can barely find my way around but so far it seems like a fairly good resource. A good way to market and to get tips on improving certain aspects of my own work.
I can connect with other authors as well as discuss the works of famous writers. Everyone there seems friendly and very helpful. I think I'll enjoy it there. And the new community has given me a few ideas for writing this blog.
I'll have to delve into it further over the next few days and really start using the forums to get to know my fellow authors better. It should be a fun weekend.
The website is amazingly immense. I can barely find my way around but so far it seems like a fairly good resource. A good way to market and to get tips on improving certain aspects of my own work.
I can connect with other authors as well as discuss the works of famous writers. Everyone there seems friendly and very helpful. I think I'll enjoy it there. And the new community has given me a few ideas for writing this blog.
I'll have to delve into it further over the next few days and really start using the forums to get to know my fellow authors better. It should be a fun weekend.
Friday, April 2, 2010
Welcome!
Hello and welcome to the Dairenna VonRavenstone official Blog!
This is basically going to be my area on the web where I will write about things that pertain to my novel, The Tale of the Twins, Book One: Gathering and Destruction (henceforth referred to as Book One). I hope to write many other works so hopefully, you will be hearing more from me soon.
The novel itself has been out for about a week as an e-book and I have just started promoting. I have a Face Book Fan page so feel free to come check me out there. I will be updating this regularly as well as updating my Face Book fan page.
If you have any questions for me, feel free to ask as a comment. And if you do join my fan page, be sure to read the free preview of Book One.
This is basically going to be my area on the web where I will write about things that pertain to my novel, The Tale of the Twins, Book One: Gathering and Destruction (henceforth referred to as Book One). I hope to write many other works so hopefully, you will be hearing more from me soon.
The novel itself has been out for about a week as an e-book and I have just started promoting. I have a Face Book Fan page so feel free to come check me out there. I will be updating this regularly as well as updating my Face Book fan page.
If you have any questions for me, feel free to ask as a comment. And if you do join my fan page, be sure to read the free preview of Book One.
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