Tag Archive for 'Novel(s)'

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Books that must be written

Published on April 30, 2010 in Writing Tags: , , , . ______________________________________

I just finished reading HUNGER GAMES. Great book. Not sure if I’ll review it or not, because it’s been reviewed a lot.

Anyways, I really enjoyed the story, but I don’t know if I could ever write a story like that and enjoy the process. I don’t even know if I would have read the story without all the high recommendations. I’m glad I did, though.

In my last post, wonderful writer Melissa came up with an idea for a book about an ice cream diet.

Why not?

This made me remember all the stories and ideas that I would dream up in random places (The shower, anyone from my last post????) and I would say to myself, “That book needs to be written. Just not by me.”

Like the one about the kid who is pretty sure his bologna sandwiches give him super powers.

Or the anthropomorphic cats that travel through space and time to save the universe, forced to rely on what they think is a vastly inferior human girl for her opposable thumbs.

Or the young married couple that moves into their new home only to discover that it hides a portal to another realm that may separate them for eternity. *cue dramatic music*

Or the young girl who must choose between the boy she loves (who must fight the urge to kill her) and the other boy she loves (whenever boy number one is absent). Oh, and both love interests have paranormal ablilities…

Just kidding on that last one…

Anyways, stories whisper and bubble and crowd their way into my head all the time. Sometimes I write them down, sometimes I don’t. I read an interview with some author (gosh, I really don’t remember which one–sorry!!) where she said that she waits to see if an idea keeps coming back to her, that’s when she knows it’s worth her time.

It wouldn’t be fair for me to write a story I wasn’t passionate about, even if I thought the premise was wonderful. I guess that’s like the agents who have to pass on great stories because they know the author deserves someone who would be more on fire about it.

So I’m curious if you have any funny or just plain great stories that you think need to be told, just maybe not by you…at least for now. ???

Like the one about the boy who runs away from home with his dog and meets this traveling gypsy circus group and…

Or the monkeys that must destroy the evil space bananas before…

Or the duck-billed platypus that wishes his nose wasn’t so big and moves to LA for cosmetic surgery, only to discover the true meaning of loving yourself…

lol

You get the picture. :)
Peace ♥

oh yeah, and all images are from wikimedia commons.
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Interview with T.H. Mafi

Published on April 20, 2010 in Writing Tags: , , , . ______________________________________

The hilarious T. H. Mafi was generous enough to agree to an interview on my humble, new, little-known blog.  If you don’t check her blog like every day, you should because she’s a riot.

Let’s hear what she has to say, shall we?

Question 1. What’s your revision method? (Do you use critique groups and/or beta readers? How many revisions do you average before you feel that your work is ready?)

THM: oo tough question. believe it or not, my revision process breaks many,
many rules. [insert massive cringe here.] i revise as i go, and as a
result, usually max out at two drafts. my only experience with beta
readers [read: my unwilling brother and two incredibly generous
friends] were for my very first MS, and mostly because i was so
excited and [equally as] convinced that it was the greatest work of
literature ever known to man. after realizing my MS sucked dog doo, i
vowed never to burden my loved ones with my slush ever again &,
consequently, worked in solitude. the MS that landed my agent has
never been read by anyone but me and her lovely, lovely self. please
note: i do not recommend this method to anyone. my experience was some
kind of freak fluke. revision and beta-ing are suuuuper important. i
was just too embarrassed to ask.

Question 2. When you begin a manuscript, do you favor an outline, or do you tend to fly by the seat of your pants?

THM: i’ve never outlined. ever. i can’t stand the idea. (sorry outlining-
friends!) in fact, i often start writing with absolutely no clue what
i’m writing. i just feel a character developing in my head and follow
his/her/it’s voice. the story unravels itself.

Question 3. What’s the weirdest source of inspiration you’ve ever experienced? (A crazy dream maybe? The subway? Vacuuming your carpet?)

THM: mmm… this is a good question, but i’m afraid i have nothing
particularly interesting to offer. my first MS was inspired by a
serious concept i was considering for awhile. (although it did have a
lot to do with purple eyelashes, so i suspect that might be strange?)
one was fairly random. one was inspired by a song. one was relatively
autobiographical. & the one that caught Amy [Tipton], my agent, had
the funniest source of inspiration: my brothers’ stupidity. i talked
about it at length on my blog — you can find the link here:
http://stiryourtea.blogspot.com/2010/03/amy-tipton-love-story.html

Question 4. If you could go back in time to the point when you decided to try this writing thing as a career, what is the one piece of advice you would give your past self?

THM: “YOU IDIOT WHY DIDN’T YOU FINISH THE BOOK BEFORE YOU STARTED QUERYING?!?!” <— yes. i really did do this.

more pertinently? i wish i’d have known about AW before i started
writing and/or querying. The AbsoluteWrite forums & friends saved my
life. (love you guys!)

Question 5. How do you fight the am-I-crazy times when you doubt yourself or your work?

THM: *nods very slowly*

yes. this happens often. this happens every day, in fact. it happens
every time i write a blog post, much less a novel. i wish i had a
foolproof solution, but i don’t. i just take a deep breath and keep
pushing forward. because i love writing. i love it with every fragile
feeling in my body. i have to do it. and so i do. onward and upward,
always.

Bonus #6 (oops…how did an extra question get in here?). If you could choose one single meal to eat three times a day, every day, for the rest of your life, what would it be?

THM: oh goodness. what a question!! one single meal, every day for the rest
of my life?? hm. hmmmmmm.

i don’t know.

i like chicken?

——–

And there you have it. Of course she’s a genius. And apparently quite blessed with talent.  Thanks again, Tahereh for your time.  I hope you are super successful on submission because I can’t wait to read your gosh darn book.

PS. I don’t know if you noticed, but I cheated on the first question (It was really more like three questions! mwhahaha.) but I put them in parentheses so it was less noticeable.

Peace ♥

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Revision, step one

Published on February 4, 2010 in Writing Tags: , , , . ______________________________________
Goal: have step one done by Saturday morning – 2/6/10
Feelings: This is daunting and impossible. Why did I write so much? Hey, some of this isn’t half bad…ooh, I forgot about that part…

Step One:
Based on several blogs and articles I’ve read on revision, I’ve decided to attempt a 4 step process:

1) Correct grammar and awkward phrasing

2) Correct Plot/ Character Consistency

3) Check sentence length and subject placement

4) Final reread

Of course, these steps encompass much more than their brief description above indicates.

Some blogs make revision feel so overwhelming, unending, and impractical, that it’s no mystery why so many authors just give up or do a crappy job at revision. I liked Holly Lisle’s article about it, which was detailed enough to be realistic, but simple enough to keep my head from spinning. Another article I liked was Holt Uncensored’s post “The Ten Mistakes Writer’s Don’t See (But Can Easily Fix When They Do).” Of course, Mary Kole has volumes of great advice from her December “Revision-O-Rama” series. I definitely recommend reading any and every thing posted under her Revision category.

My first step is to read through the manuscript, fairly quickly, but thoroughly enough to catch most of the grammar and punctuation error errors. A lot of the time, I’m reading this outloud, or pretending to do so in my head so I can catch sentences that just don’t roll easily, or descriptions that are vague/over used.

To speed up step 2, as I read, I’m making a list of threads and elements that I like but maybe forgot to carry through to the end of the novel. I’m also finding good fodder for the subplots of my novel’s sequel, if I was to write one.

The other list I’m making is of all the characters introduced, along with the descriptions and histories I mention in the book. I know much more about my characters in my head than the audience does, and I think it’s good to make sure I know exactly how much I’ve revealed. This also helps check that the characters stay consistent to the end of the text, or have a valid reason for changing.

All this by Saturday…and my Thursday lunch is over, so I bid you adieu.
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