A Novel Place

Creative Manifestos

Ms. Karen — Mon, 05 Dec 2011 14:02:13 +0000

Here’s a little something I tripped over while wandering the web. I hope you enjoy them.
Manifestos for a Creative Life

Writing Fiction

Selma — Sat, 22 Oct 2011 23:53:50 +0000

This is an excellent article from The Guardian in the UK about writing fiction.

You can read it here.

The points I really agree with are -

2 Avoid prologues: they can be annoying, especially a prologue following an introduction that comes after a foreword. But these are ordinarily found in non-fiction. A prologue in a novel is backstory, and you can drop it in anywhere you want. There is a prologue in John Steinbeck’s Sweet Thursday, but it’s OK because a character in the book makes the point of what my rules are all about. He says: “I like a lot of talk in a book and I don’t like to have nobody tell me what the guy that’s talking looks like. I want to figure out what he looks like from the way he talks.”

I really don’t like prologues and forewords in novels. It is backstory, so get it into the story proper. Every prologue I have read I have forgotten about as the narrative progressed and I’ve had to go back and read it again.

4 Never use an adverb to modify the verb “said” … he admonished gravely. To use an adverb this way (or almost any way) is a mortal sin. The writer is now exposing himself in earnest, using a word that distracts and can interrupt the rhythm of the exchange. I have a character in one of my books tell how she used to write historical romances “full of rape and adverbs”.

‘Hear hear’, she said enthusiastically. ‘Adverbs don’t belong with said‘ she said wryly. Much like Ashton Kutcher in Two and A Half Men.

8 Avoid detailed descriptions of characters, which Steinbeck covered. In Ernest Hemingway’s “Hills Like White Elephants”, what do the “American and the girl with him” look like? “She had taken off her hat and put it on the table.” That’s the only reference to a physical description in the story.

Let your narrative describe your characters. Let your dialogue describe your characters. One or two sentences is enough to give the reader an idea of their physicality.

This is such a good article. Helpful, valid and relevant. You can also read the second part here.

HAPPY WRITING.

Sorting the Details

Ms. Karen — Wed, 19 Oct 2011 02:15:18 +0000

The closer we get to November, the more excited I’m getting about the next installment of my book series. Because there are questions that were brought up in the first two books, I figured they’d need answers at some point, so this one will have a few.

One of the biggest sticking points was an artifact or item that would be used to grant the holder a longer life. How would it work? What kind of item? Single use or…? What characters would be returning for this, and what new ones would be introduced? Why are certain characters being sent off to do the dirty work, while our new friends are sitting back, waiting for things to get interesting?

My partner, patient and good-natured soul that she is, even went so far as to help me out with some role-playing between characters and what they might say in the beginning. What will be in the prologue, and how will the new characters be introduced? We had a blast and laughed ourselves silly.

Then I realized those new characters were going to be a lot of fun to play with and I can see them getting a book of their own one of these days.

Some years NaNoWriMo can be hard to do because the story just doesn’t want to show up, and other years it’s all I can do to keep the story from spilling out in October while we wait for the calendar page to flip one more time. This year? Oh, it’s a struggle to keep all the fun contained. Just like my story, I can’t wait for the green light, so I make a lot of notes in the mean time.

Ms. Karen — Sun, 16 Oct 2011 01:04:26 +0000

Working Magic

I had the opportunity of attending a workshop led by Gordon Liddy, and I must say… it was amazing!

He called it the Hero’s Journey, using material from A Writer’s Journey by C. Vogel. As I looked at the hero’s arc, I could see so many points of my own life reflected in those very stages. I could also see what is ahead for our journey to become owners of our own shop in the next few years. I could see obstacles and hard times, but seeing them and knowing they’ll be coming makes them easier to face. Mainly because there is the other side to all the unpleasantness, and that is the “elixir” or result of all those trials and travails.

It also got me talking to myself about a certain subject that has been driving me crazy for a while. Something I don’t really talk about because it sounds so… whiny. Don’t get me wrong, I’m all about the whining and worrying and carrying on when the situation merits it, but really, some things just kind of max out that whole pity/stupidity spectrum. And yet, I whine.

One of the things mentioned in the workshop was the importance of having a life coach or a mentor to get you over obstacles. Well, I don’t really have a life coach, although I do have friends who will listen and offer advice, so I guess that fits the mentor bill. However, this subject is one that is hard enough for me to talk to myself about, telling someone else would be impossible. So I figured I’d write it out.

A Conversation

Life Coach: You’ve done the work, now it’s time to take it to the next step.
Pupil ID: I can’t. It’s not ready.
L.C.: You said it was done. You said you’d done all you can with it, now it’s time to do something with it. Send it out.
I.D.: I can’t. I’m afraid.
L.C.: Are you afraid of failure?
I.D.: No, not exactly. I rather expect that.
L.C.: Then do you worry about rejection?
I.D.: No, I expect that in spades, but it is not something that worries me.
L.C.: What exactly is it that keeps you from stepping out of this comfort zone?
I.D.: Success. What if I’m successful? What if all my dreams come true and I join the ranks of the big kids, the famous ones? The rich ones?
L.C.: You’re kidding, right?
I.D.: No…not really.
L.C.: Why do you fear success?
I.D.: It’s a hell of a drop from way up there. I’m afraid of heights.
L.C.: It is a long drop, but one you would be able to see coming if you’re paying attention. Then you could do something to prepare yourself: strap on a parachute or pile mattresses at the bottom to land on, call your friends or your mother and cry on their shoulders for a while…
I.D.: I’m afraid of what people will say while I’m up there.
L.C.: What? What would they say that could possibly make you fear success?
I.D.: They could say the same things I whisper to myself, that I don’t deserve it, that I’m a hack, that my work is nonsense and has no literary value. They might say it has no meaning.
L.C.: You’re absolutely right! They can, and WILL say such things. Of course they will, and they will wait for your fall with ‘bated breath. If you do fall, they will cheer and jeer and say they were right.
I.D.: Yes, that’s very helpful, thank you so much.
L.C.: Why do you care? If you rise to the top of the heap, or even just to a comfortable spot higher than you are now, those voices, as ugly as they are, aren’t the ones who will get you up there. They’re not going to take you down, either. Only you can do that, and if you like the view from up there, I’m sure you can find a way to keep your footing and make yourself comfortable. Those who taunt you and mock your work are jealous and spiteful and say those exact same things to anyone who has met with success. They will say those things forever, and there will be those who listen, but why should you care? Do you like Hemingway?
I.D.: Not particularly.
L.C.: Do you think he cares that you don’t like him?
I.D.: Well, no… he’s dead.
L.C.: Ok, bad choice of examples. What about Stephanie Wazzername of sparkling vampire fame. Do you like her books?
I.D.: I’ve not read them, nor do I intend to at this point. Sparkling vampires…I just…would rather not. I mean, what would Buffy say?
L.C.: Do you think Ms. Meyers cares what you or Buffy might say?
I.D.: Not bloody likely.
L.C.: By not reading her books, are you going to push her from her perch?
I.D.: …no…
L.C.: Then…?
I.D.: Then I’m going to need some help putting together a submission package for my manuscripts. And I’ll also need some cheese to go with all that whine…

More Gearing Up

Ms. Karen — Wed, 12 Oct 2011 00:35:10 +0000

Over the weekend, my partner and I took a little break from the everyday and went to her mother’s cabin at the beach. It is quiet and restful and more than a little inspiring.

I’d been mulling over the third book in the fantasy series I’ve been writing, but there were too many details that just didn’t want to make themselves known. Too many “why’s” and not enough “because’s” (although I’ve never felt “because” was a satisfactory answer to any question… unless the questioner is two and has been asking “why” for about an hour). It was while I was deciphering some chicken scratch, a.k.a. transcribing handwritten notes onto my netbook, that one of the big questions again reared its ugly head and spit the big “WHY?” at me. Only this time, an answer appeared.

Convoluted, intricate, complicated, and will probably make me lose my mind once I start writing it, but I think it will open more doors to characters and books in the series. I’ll be able to “retire” Claire and her Guardian, Cole, and allow secondary characters from their stories take leading roles in upcoming tales.

One of the biggest conundrums was a library that just didn’t seem to fit the location, but I needed it where it was… When it finally made its true self known, everything made sense. Of course, it just had to drag in a few more players onto the scene, but that’s ok. Cole is going to freak when she finally gets to meet them.

It felt good to get that organized and now NaNoWriMo awaits, only this time, I’m really ready.

Are you?

NaNoWriMo Anticipation

Ms. Karen — Tue, 27 Sep 2011 14:02:58 +0000

There is a distinct vibration over on the NaNoWriMo site. They’re busy posting and keeping things alive, but the buzz caused by the approach of November is beginning to build. I checked out one of the forums and was surprised to find it hadn’t seen any action in nearly a year. It left me with a vague sense of a breath being held; a pause button that got left on.

It would be similar to walking into a room where a big party had just ended, that door across the room clicking closed and the once-buoyant streamers starting to sag. But the door has been closed for months and the streamers are sagging with dust. Soon the cleaning crew will come in and sweep it all clean, updating the databases and freshening the decorations.

Big things are on the writing horizon and I’m looking forward to them.

Keeping it Fresh…?

Ms. Karen — Thu, 15 Sep 2011 01:34:25 +0000

The “it” of which I refer is writing, specifically the act of writing. Keeping the act of writing fresh is as important as keeping your writing fresh, although I’m not quite certain exactly what “fresh writing” means, but I heard an editor say it at a conference, so it must be true.

Where was I? Yes, yes, keeping the act fresh.

I’ve been doing much better lately, and while I can’t put my finger on why, I have been putting my fingers on the keyboard a lot more lately. Not just the manuscript, but my other blog as well. Then I went and signed up for a post a day thing in October, right before NaNoWriMo begins in November and what was I thinking…?

Oh, but it gets better! To show just how far this madness has spread in my brain, I have signed up to be the advisor for a writing club at the school where I work. I have no idea how many students will show up for this thing, as there hasn’t been a creative writing club at that school in ages.

It was supposed to be a literacy club, but I was afraid that most kids would avoid anything to do with books, because so many of them don’t like to read. They say it’s “boring” or they don’t understand it. Whatever. So, instead of waving a stack of books at them and hope they wander close enough for me to drag them into the library, I figured I’d try a different tactic: If you don’t like what you’re reading, write something you DO like. I’m calling it the Do It Yourself Book club.

I had all these great and glorious plans on how I’d start it, then I went to the Young Writers Program feature of NaNoWriMo and found they’d already done pretty much the exact same thing, only they put it in a booklet and all I need to do is print them up and pass them out.

With luck, I’ll be able to get them revved up and ready to jump into the thrill of November where they will write their own book. Best of all, when they’re finished and they’ve done some editing, they can get a professionally bound copy of their very own novel.

After that, we’ll have write-ins, games (with my favorite Writer’s Scrabble), and I’ll introduce the club to Exquisite Corpses because I love them so much. The poems, not the students. If they really want to raise funds, we could even try to sell a chapbook of poems to the school, but I don’t see that as being too popular. Maybe if they autographed them or something.

I’m getting excited. This might be a good thing for me, and I hope it’s good for the students, too. Wish me luck!

Momentum

Ms. Karen — Wed, 31 Aug 2011 21:56:09 +0000

Writing this on the fly, we’re heading out for one last hurrah for the summer…

I’m a bit dazed at the moment. I’ve managed to finish editing the first draft of a manuscript and I’m NOT completely done in by the task. If I’m not mistaken, the last time I edited a manuscript, I didn’t feel like writing for weeks afterward, and editing anything else? Four words: Not. A. Chance. Fancypants.

But this time it went quicker than I expected, but it wasn’t all removing the excess commas and apostrophes that tend to plague my writing, it was real work. Re-writing entire chapters, fine-tuning time lines (oh, my favorite), and doing my best to keep some continuity when it comes to certain plot lines.

Oh, and there are those “she’s asleep, it’s best we leave her that way.” “Agreed.” So they woke her up, moments of WTF. (Writer Totally Forgot)

What I’m saying is, it wasn’t exactly a walk in the park. There were complicated parts that changed a lot of why a character was doing what they were doing, but it made more sense to change it.

Yet my muse is content and ready to dive into another project.

I’m not sure why this is happening, but I’m very happy about it.

How about you? Anything driving your muse these days?

From a Discussion

Ms. Karen — Sun, 28 Aug 2011 17:55:17 +0000

Technology makes the mundane look magical.
Magic simply is.

Surprise!

Ms. Karen — Thu, 23 Jun 2011 18:37:47 +0000

I suppose I should be contrite, apologetic, or otherwise civil, but there is something inside my brain that refuses to let me do that, at least not today.

Not after getting yet another handful of emails intended for someone else, someone with a similar name (but spelled differently) but with a very different career. Just the fact that she actually HAS a career sets us worlds apart.

But I digress.

When I opened my email this morning, I discovered several emails from someone I do not know, sending me photographs of the interior of an apartment building. Evidently PEOPLE live there! People who don’t always get their dishes done right away. People who may leave garbage in the hall because the dumpster is… not right outside their door and they can’t leave the apartment for long because… whatever… kids, injury, a riveting episode of Smoochie the Wonder Dog…

So, this other Karen (who does NOT spell her first name that way, but don’t blame me, I’m not her mother and I would NEVER spell a common name so stupidly as her parents did, but I digress), this other “Karen” is in real estate, so I get photographs of houses for sale (some of them she sent to my email address instead of her own… no, not kidding. I would not buy a used pencil from this person, much less a house).

The latest were the result of a visit by the pest control people to an apartment building on the other coast of the continent where I live.

I decided to have some fun, so I replied to the photographs with comments that make me sound like some kind of socially deranged dingbat. “Some people say good help is hard to find. I say good help is hard to bury in the back yard.” Should have edited it to say, “good help is even harder to bury in the back yard.” Ah, my world in hindsight.

Anyway, I figured I’d post this here, because a) answering those emails was a rather pleasant writing exercise, and b) there is a link to this blog on my outgoing emails and I figured this might serve as an explanation.

Or my defense. Whatever.