Finding your voice, how to write and how Nike got it right.

Writing Prompt:

I looked into the green glass of the bottle in front of me and saw the one thing I never wanted to see reflected there.

Now onto the blog:

I'm probably not the best person to blog about how to write. My theory is basically "Just do it" and work out the kinks as you go along. This is a very long way to go about things but in the end I think it is the most creative and allows the writer to be the most true to themselves.

We have housewives trying to write, homeschool moms trying to write, professors, athletes, lawyers, secretaries, social workers, garbage men and hell, that poor soul who cleans at the porno booth is probably trying to write too.

What do all of these people have in common?... besides writing? Probably nothing. Which is why I'm going to say that most "how to write" programs and articles aren't going to work 100% of the time. (I'm guessing most don't work 50% of the time)

What will work however is this... the good ole guess and check method.

You are blindly searching in the darkest room (so it doesn't really matter that you're blind, but if a miracle cure comes along for blindness---yeah, still not gonna help, so suck it up) for the elusive mistress called the muse. Let's say you finally find it...that one idea that inspires you to write--that still isn't good enough. You can be inspired all day long, but if you don't know how a story is told, then you're just as screwed as when you were grasping nothingness all by your lonesome. (You better have been grasping nothingness otherwise you were in that room for reasons I don't want to know about, but I do know who to call to clean up!)

So how do you learn how to write if not from a writing program. From college?

College is an option I suppose but I don't think they are any more likely to produce good writers than any other program or article is. Why? Well because they teach you how to write by having you learn the rules.

Well that doesn't sound so bad does it. There you go, in black and white print in a text book is how to be a good writer.

WRONG! It tells you how to be a technical writer and it may even tell you how to write like other people, but it doesn't show you how to write like YOU! And good writers write like themselves. They've taken the time to get to know how they want a story to be told, and they've committed to it, even if it isn't by conventional means.

So how do you learn to write like yourself?

First off you need to know how stories are told. The best way to do this is to be immersed in stories. Watch movies, read books or anything that has a story line to it. Now here is where you want to be careful. There are "tricks to the trade", if you will, about plot devices and when certain things should happen in a story. They work for people, but I don't like being limited. Watch and/or read the stories, but don't feel like you have to copy them. Don't watch them like they are a checklist or a roadmap for a story. Just watch them for enjoyment. They more stories you surround yourself with, the more your inner story teller will emerge.

Next you have to find your voice. Typically the voice depends on the nature of the piece. An essay/term paper will be different from a poem, or a news article, or a fiction piece.

Per Wiki:

Writer's voice is the literary term used to describe the individual writing style of an author. Voice was generally considered to be a combination of a writer's use of syntax, diction, punctuation, character development, dialogue, etc., within a given body of text (or across several works). Voice can be thought of in terms of the uniqueness of a musical voice. As a trumpet has a different voice than a tuba or a violin has a different voice than a cello, so the words of one author have a different sound than the words of another. One author may have a voice that is light and fast paced while another may have a dark voice.

In creative writing, students are often encouraged to experiment with different literary styles and techniques in order to help them better develop their "voice". This aspect varies with the individual author, but, particularly in American culture, having this asset is considered positive and beneficial to both the writer and his or her audience.

So how do you find your voice? There's no real magic answer here. It all comes down to being patient really... Your voice will develop and emerge the more you write. Don't force it, don't emulate other writers (some people suggest you do this but I believe it will just lead you to being a one trick pony with an unoriginal trick--fruitless.) Just tell your story. Your voice may change over time as you learn more about writing and storytelling. Grow with it, accept it and don't force it.

Why am I telling you to throw all the rules out of the window? Aren't they useful?

Yes. They are useful, but I find that discovering them on your own as you learn to write is more successful than fretting over them. Rules of writing are meant to help, but they are NOT the end all, be all to what good writing is. If you have a paragraph that is passive--don't freak out, it isn't the end of the world. You don't have to stop and nit pick at it until it is so actiony you can't stand it. Sometimes you just have to use "to-be" verbs. There. I said it. To Be verbs are a necessity. Look I used one right there and the sky didn't fall on my head.

Consensus: Find yourself, how you like a story to be told, your voice, then learn the rest.

This is basically a "Shoot first, ask questions later" type of deal, except no one dies but bad writing and sketchy characters.

You can't be taught how to find yourself or your voice, but you can learn the rest. However, if you fret over the technicalities--you may lose yourself, your talent and your creativity in the process. Tread carefully writers!


And now it's video time!!!! This has nothing to do with anything...

I present: Jerry Springer meets Animal Planet...

Controversy and how it can make you a better writer

A few weeks ago I posted a blog about how I was going to post writing prompts/challenges every week, then I completely forgot about it! How terrible is that? Granted the response was nil, but still, I really should've followed through.

So here you go, the writing challenge of the week:

To help with a pitch to an agent/editor write a haiku about the plot of your novel

Standard format for a haiku is: 5-7-5 syllables.

Now onto the blog....


Controversy:

Per Wikipedia: Controversy is a state of prolonged public dispute or debate, usually concerning a matter of opinion, but sometimes the allegation that a matter of scientific fact is no better than opinion or even religious belief, as in the controversy between evolutionary biology and Creationism or Intelligent Design.

There are some people in this world who have no opinions, and in the rare event that they do, they refuse to express it. These people are in the minority. The vast majority of people in the world have opinions, like expressing them, occasionally arguing about them, and seek out people of like mind.

We're dealing with the vast majority of people, these are, after all, the people we write books for.

Oh there are some authors out there who write for the literary elite, the highfalutin of the world, those who strive for the most existential of information... so existential in fact that I highly doubt they glean it themselves. However, this blog is not for those people. This blog is for the masses, or rather the authors who want to write for the masses. Sales figures tell us that genre fiction reigns supreme and I write genre fiction. I have a feeling that the majority of the people drawn to my blog, and to an author who writes about vampires and werewolves, feel that genre fiction is where it's at, the cat's meow if you will.


Therefore kids, we're dealing with the masses and their need to pick a side.

People want to favor a sports team, prefer pepsi over coke, usually vote either democrat or republican. They have a favorite game of the year, the one that involves the biggest rival of their team. They are Pro-life or Pro-choice. Hell, they could even debate great taste vs less filling.

Noticing a theme? A dilemma that involves only two choices seems to be the one that most people fight the hardest for.

Let me give you a few examples from my genre, Urban Fantasy.

Werewolves vs Vampires
Team Jacob vs Team Edward (Twilight series)
Eric vs Bill (Southern Vampires series, aka Sookie Stackhouse series)
Violence vs Sex (Talking mainly about the Anita Blake Vampire Hunter series)

and last but not least... (not Urban Fantasy)
Joe vs Ranger (Stephanie Plum series)


But how can this help with writing?

Well first off, it helps in this way: You can't please all the people all the time.

Fans who love a series and/or book are allowed to hate a character, even one you, as the author, think is likable. There are several series I read that I flat out hate the main character, who coincidentally, is also the narrator. You can't really get around that, but if the story is good enough, if the world is developed enough, you love it so much it doesn't matter.

Fans will pick a side, some like a brooding male, some like the happy go lucky sort.

So writers, don't feel bad if someone hates a character or a plot choice. It doesn't mean you are a bad writer. It can mean you've done something right. You've created a character or a plot device that elicits a strong feeling in someone, so strong in fact that they feel the need to express it. That is what writing is all about.

Maybe you should have your characters be on two different sides of the same coin--let your readers choose sides. Let your fans take solace with one another and pit themselves against one another, not only is it good for business, but it makes for interesting conversation between books.

Controversy in books makes their effect last longer. It sticks with the reader. The key to this is that there can be no right answer.


However, controversy is not just about choosing sides, sometimes it is about appropriateness.

A lot of humans are uncomfortable with something "too real" in a book. And of course by real, I mean that in a sense that is usually negative. A very real scene from the perspective a child molester let's say. I know I'd feel uncomfortable writing AND reading that, but it will be memorable.

An example of an "appropriateness debate" from Chris Crutcher's novel Whale Talk. Georgia is a therapist and Heidi is a young biracial girl. The narrator is a young man, new on the scene.

In a calm voice Georgia tells me I'm supposed to tell at Heidi for letting the black dolls in the house, and I finally piece together from Heidi that I'm also supposed to find them one by one, scream at Heidi for letting each one in (Get these nigger babies out of the house! They Stinky!) [...] I am caught for one moment in mid-scream but Heidi screams, "GET THESE GODDAMN FUCK NIGGER KIDS OUT OF THE HOUSE!!!!"

I'm sure all of you can see the controversy in this piece, add to the fact that this book is Young Adult fiction and available in public school libraries... well that's just unacceptable... to some people. The language is not the kind that is appropriate for this day and age, however, that doesn't mean that people don't use it. You see Heidi is a biracial girl and her stepdaddy is racist and uses this language around her, and makes her feel all kinds of worthless. No wonder she needs a therapist huh? Uncomfortable to read? Sure. Poignant? Hell to the yeah!

This book was challenged (what I like to call a modern term of being banned and burned, it's like a lynch mob with tar and feathers knocking on the door of the book's house.) by parents in a city in my home state of Michigan.

To me poignant equates excellence. I realize that some people don't find this book to be poignant, but the controversy here is: poignant vs inappropriate. Actually, the only reason I knew about this book is because I heard the above excerpt being read at a library event about how to stop the nonsense of banning books. "Challenging" it led to me reading it. I guess it's true what they say, "There is no such thing as bad press."


In summation...

Controversy is good for writers because:

It makes books memorable.

Yup, that pretty much sums it up. I know that's what I strive for as a writer, and as a reader.

And the video... and I just came upon this and it not only features my favorite character in the series (Yay Team Jacob!) but I'm excited for the movie as well...

A new clip from New Moon.

Overcoming Perfectionism as a Writer

As some of you may know, I am completely rewriting book 1 of the Just Sam series.

I'm doing this for several reasons:
1. I'm a better writer now and editing is proving to be impossible
2. Samantha's voice has changed in my head
3. It is the first book I've ever written and I've worked some kinks out in my style
and most importantly...
4. It has glaring plot gaps

The fourth is most important to me because this the first book of my open ended (still under debate) series. This is the foundation for my whole series, and essentially my whole writing career.

Pretty heavy stuff, right?

So rewriting makes sense.

However, I've started to rewrite the rewrite. This led my BFF extraordinaire, the illustrious CoD, to be concerned.

You see, she knows my habit/curse of perfectionism, and is afraid that I will fuss and never get anything finished. Unfortunately, this is a very real fear.

I feel I am justified in the changes I'm making, but I suppose, as a perfectionist, rationalizing isn't too difficult. So I've decided to take a deeper look into my perfectionism and see if my concerns about the book are well founded.

I started here: 5 Main Factors That Drive Perfectionists

The gist:

1. Fear of disapproval from peers or colleagues.
2. Lack of confidence and self belief, and fear of not being on par with others:
3. Fear of making mistakes and doing things 'wrong':
4. Fear of the consequences:
5. The quality of their thoughts, which are usually negative.

I suffer from 2 and 3 for sure. I think I am plagued by self doubt and this makes writing quite difficult. I mean hello people, I'm creating a whole freaking universe here... you can't do that with low esteem!

So after this article I've learned a bit about what drives me to keep fussing and fussing and fussing...

Now what to do about it?

I came upon this article... Overcoming Perfectionism in 8 Steps

I'll admit that parts of this article are a little too "touchy-feeling" "new-agey" "self-help" for my tastes. But one of the ways they list to overcome perfectionism struck a cord in me... and that is "Focus on the Big Picture"

Here is a quote from the article that really spoke to me as a writer...

Stewardship at work

Instead of fussing over everything at work, I would start assessing whether a particular task would make any huge difference in the bigger picture. If the answer was no, I would let it go. Versus driving myself endlessly, I embraced the mentality that work would never end and there was always the next day to continue working. That marked the first step where I started to become the steward instead of my own slave. At the same time, I developed faith in my co-workers’ abilities in their area of work and learned to delegate work out to them. This was my first step towards overcoming perfectionism.

The co-worker part isn't applicable to most of us writers, as writing is a very solitary task, but it could help with co-authors. Learning the lesson that the work will never be done... isn't quite as applicable to writers, as we must have deadlines... however it is important to realize that the work doesn't have to be completed in just one day. And for those of you who have day jobs and families, keep plugging away at it. It may take years, but if it's your passion, you'll find a way to keep writing.

What stuck out to me in this quote is looking at the big picture and seeing if whatever we were fussing over makes a discernible difference to the big picture...

Examples:
The correct word for the sentence.. not so much
Getting the plot and/or characterization for a book/series just right... hell yeah it matters.
Working out a integral plot detail... sure.
Fussing over it while writing a scene chapters before it... only for serious plotters (vs. the pantsers)

Writers are detail oriented people, we work on every punctuation mark, word and sentence of a story, but sometimes it's difficult to see the forest for the trees. We stare at a blinking cursor and one letter being typed at a time for most of the day. Sometimes it's important to take a step back and look around.

Does that detail have to be perfect now before I move on... not necessarily. But for some people, it's that detail that's holding them back from moving on, and it's different for every author. When you step back and look around, also look inside yourself, your motivation and your frame of mind about the current piece you are working on.

I'm looking at my motivation for my plot and character changes. Am I fussing nonstop because I'm being a nervous nelly and am afraid of failing? Am I not confident enough to continue on at this point?

Looking back at my fussing over book 1, I do feel justified. This is my foundation, my rock... I don't want to build it on shaky ground. You can't have a big picture without a canvas to put it on, and I'm creating my canvas right now. I've made good headway to the plot and the rest of the series is becoming clearer in my head.

Am I being fussy? Sure I am, but I'm also looking at the big picture and this needs to be done. This kind of fussing is important. This kind of fussing can make or break the future of this series. That's some serious big picture talk here kids.

So all of you writers out there... don't sweat the small stuff, don't get bogged down with detail (unless you're editing, and then heaven help you!) and take a step back every once in awhile. For writing is very much like pointillism, you can't see it clearly unless you remove yourself from it.

Video:

I searched around youtube for awhile and wasn't finding anything I wanted that related to the blog, so I went with an old standby--animation! My fave. This video is an interesting but of animation, since it was all painted on public buildings in Buenos Aires.

What an editor wants in a writer

I stumbled upon this blog today. As an author who is inspiring to be published, and for those of you out there like me, it's appropriate to take a minute and reflect on what an editor wants. Of course they want someone who can write well, but what about the social niceties of the business? We don't often hear about that.

Editorial Ass: What Makes a Dream Author

I should probably call this blog... If you liked Twilight you might also like... But I won't.

It's been awhile since I've posted about the books I like to read, YA Fantasy in particular. YA Fantasy, and Urban Fantasy specifically, have become quite popular of late and my previous blog with series I like to read has received many hits, so I figured I'd update it a bit.


Melissa De La Cruz: The Blue Bloods:

The basics: Set in New York City, in this world the vampires are high class socialites--models, musicians, artists, etc. The series follows Schuyler Van Alen, a quirky halfblood vampire from a family of dwindling riches, who is more than what she appears.

My take: A fun world to live in (who doesn't want to read about rich beautiful people?) and explains why models are skinny and creativity and success tends to run in the family. I find Schuyler endearing and down to earth.

The Books:

1. Blue Bloods
2. Masquerade
3. Revelations
4. The Van Alen Legacy (which I have yet to read because it just came out on the 6th!!!!)

PC and Kristin Cast: House of Night:

The basics: Set in Tulsa, OK, not a place you'd figure would have a school for vampyres, but it does, it has the House of Night. This series follows Zoey Redbird, a strong female character from a conservative family. In this series, vampyres are "marked" during their teens. They are still human at the time and are then sent to a vampyre school to learn about what they will become. Zoey's immediate family basically disowns her and she is left at the school with her changing body and lifestyle to figure out on her own--not to mention that she turns out a little bit differently than the other vampyres about to be changed.

My take: Great series written by PC and her daughter. Great characterization, plots, plenty of hot guys to drool over and bitchy chicks to hate... sounds like high school right? Right, but it's better because we have vampires, magic and a whole supernatural world to learn about!

The Books:

1. Marked
2. Betrayed
3. Chosen
4. Untamed
5. Hunted
6. Tempted (Coming out 10-27-09)

Cassandra Clare: The Mortal Instruments

The basics: Also set in New York City, Clary Fray sees something she isn't supposed to see--a murder. The only problem is that no one else saw it, despite the crowded venue... Why? Because Clary is special, she can see demons. She is a Shadowhunter, she just doesn't know it yet. This world is comprised of humans, faeries, downworlders and the supernatural version of police--the Shadowhunters. Something attacks Clary's mom and the only person she can turn to for help is the murderer... or is he?

My take: A great world to live in, full of twists on stories and legends, my fave. I like the concept of magic in this world and that magic doesn't equate to being open minded, but boy, we wish it did, don't we?

The Books:

1. City of Bones
2. City of Ashes.
3. City of Glass


In conclusion: That's it for now folks. There are tons more that I enjoy, but that concludes my foray into YA Urban Fantasy for the night. If there are others that aren't listed here or in my other blog post of a similar nature: Ya-fantasy-thoughts-and-recommendations make sure to comment! Not only do I need to know about these great books, but so do my readers!

Video: LOST meets Twilight and... well and a little of everything else too! (Come on, it's LOST, like it's supposed to make any sense!)

Short but sweet

No, we aren't talking about me. Am I short? Yes. Sweet? Nope, more like walking plague at the moment. I woke up this morning feeling quite ill. I thought it was perhaps the rum and diets, or the strange shot someone bought for me, or perhaps even the jungle juice after the smoky bar closed but nope it's the plague. This plague has given me a new Indian name. I shall now be called Forever Running Nose.

So will this bog be stellar? Probably not. My dad mentioned to me that High Def channels are wonderful. I countered with, not if you have a Low Def brain. So I'm operating on Eco Friendly mode and all you Greenies out there will love me for it.

What will I blog about today?

Initially I was going to blog about Ghostwriting, as a recent opportunity has presented itself to me. However, I really don't have the brain power to extrapolate all I wanted from the copious amounts of websites dedicated to the matter. So instead, I will link a few here and perhaps over the next few weeks I will share my knowledge with you.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ghostwriter

http://grumpyoldbookman.blogspot.com/2006/06/ghostwriting-for-beginners.html

http://www.npr.org/templates/story/story.php?storyId=111511780

http://writingnonfiction.suite101.com/article.cfm/how_to_ghostwrite

http://ezinearticles.com/?How-to-Get-Started-As-a-Ghostwriter&id=391587

http://www.bookcatcher.com/articles/seven-useful-tips-to-ghostwrite-books.php

If anyone out there has tips on ghostwriting, by all means shoot them to me in a comment for all to read.