What I Know About Writing

Okay, so I started writing a while ago. I've learned a lot about writing, the publishing industry, social media, and many more things. Sometimes it's really hard to keep up with everything, and everyone, all the time. (That's one thing I've learned!)

I've been to dozens and dozens of writing conferences. Heck, I sit on library boards that plan writer's classes, as well as committees that organize local, live conferences as well as WriteOnCon. I've learned that writers are fabulous people, who are eager and anxious to learn new things.

I've listened to keynotes, and some are really good. I went to the Teen Author Boot Camp on Saturday, and one of the keynotes was by Brandon Sanderson (there are a lot of perks to living in Utah, where a lot of amazing authors live!).

I've heard Brandon speak before. I always think he's eloquent and intelligent. He said some things that really sang to my soul. Things I've heard before, mostly from my equally amazing husband. But for some reason, to hear them from a really successful author struck my eardrums in a different way.

Now, I didn't record it, so I have to go off my memory, but Brandon said something like this: You are the product of your writing time. Not the book. You.

It doesn't matter if the book doesn't get published. You're "leveling yourself up" when you write. You're the main point of improvement.

It should be okay to spend time working on writing because we love it, and that's it. Writing makes us better than we were before. Not just better writers, but a better person.

I really loved that. And my husband has been telling me that for a while, and I swear I've listened! I know I'm just as valuable unpublished as I am published, and I know it's okay to write just because I love it.

But it was nice to hear from someone as successful as Brandon Sanderson.

What do you know about writing?

How to Establish a Great Magic System, Part Seven

Okay, I'm back to talk about the next question to ask yourself when setting up your magic system.

Question 7: What are the limitations of the magic?

The limitations of a magic system are what sets it apart from everything else that has already been done. These limitations will force the characters to have to work for their goals, which makes the writing simply more interesting and the characters more sympathetic.

Limitations in magic give the enemy an advantage, which makes for more tension in your novel. And that makes it exciting!

This is where you can really shine. Force yourself to stretch your imagination and come up with something that is unique in it’s limitation. This is tied closely with cost, and the cost of using magic could lead to a limitation. So spend some time on both of these to truly work out what’s WEAK about your magic, and what’s WEAK about your character, and then have them work and strive to overcome those weaknesses. Because that’s what readers like to read about – regular people who are weak becoming heroes. It’s why Superman is so popular. Or Spiderman. Joe Bloggs who can’t get the girl can suddenly leap off tall buildings and save the world. We want to BE that hero. But not if he’s all-powerful. We want to see in ourselves that we could become that person. So the magic still has to have a limitation, a weakness, that makes it “human.”

When you establish limitations on your magic, it can:

• Force the MC to work for their goals
• Makes the MC more sympathetic
• Increase tension
• Tie to the nature of your world

So what limitations does your magic have?

I did use Google to aid me in my research. I found three places that provided me with the most insight and useful information: Brandon Sanderson's Laws of Magic (Part 1, Part 2, and Part 3), WikiHow (don't laugh, it had good stuff!), and The Four Part Land (he has six parts, but they're all linked at the top of this one). My magic series is here: Question 1, Question 2, Question 3, Question 4, Question 5, and Question 6.

So I read (ahem, maybe I skimmed a little. Some of the posts are long!) up on magic systems. I thought about what *I* liked in a magic system. I thought about the fantasy novels I'd read (because I don't read high-high fantasy like Sanderson or many of the authors/titles they talk about in these posts). I thought about Harry Potter, Percy Jackson, the TV show Merlin, movies like The Prestige, and other -- in my opinion -- accessible references. (Basically I'm saying I was too lazy to take the time to read those high fantasy novels. I reflected on what I was familiar with. And that's a tip I always give when I'm teaching: Use what you know to draw conclusions and create learning for what you don't.)

How to Establish a Great Magic System, Part Six

Okay, so up today is part six in establishing your magic system. I hope you've been keeping up, but if you haven't, the links to all the past questions are at the bottom of the page.

Question 6: What is the cost of using magic?

• Magic use should have a price

This can be a physical cost, like getting a headache or being weak. It can be something that has to be made up in nature later. Perhaps magic acts cannot be performed close together, or simultaneously. This is where you can make your fantasy and your magic system DIFFERENT. You should always be looking for a new slant to put on your magic, and the cost of using or being associated with the magic is a great place to do it.

• The cost can establish character weaknesses

This is where you can establish weaknesses in the magic and provide something the enemy can exploit later. This will force them to grow and change BEYOND the magic (the magic can’t save them, they have to save themselves), and give you good conflict when you’re building your world and characters.

• Simply associating with magic can have a consequence

This is not to simply be more complex. It’s to force you to create better stories. You can do so here, with the cost of the magic. You set a limitation, and you stick to it. Don’t let yourself give your MC (magic user) a new power every time they need one. Resist using magic to solve every little problem in the book – unless you’ve already explained and shown that aspect of how the magic works. Be careful about writing laws into your system simply so you can use them once in a specific situation. Be more creative than that!

So what is the price of using magic in your world?


I did use Google to aid me in my research. I found three places that provided me with the most insight and useful information: Brandon Sanderson's Laws of Magic (Part 1, Part 2, and Part 3), WikiHow (don't laugh, it had good stuff!), and The Four Part Land (he has six parts, but they're all linked at the top of this one). My magic series is here: Question 1, Question 2, Question 3, Question 4, and Question 5.

So I read (ahem, maybe I skimmed a little. Some of the posts are long!) up on magic systems. I thought about what *I* liked in a magic system. I thought about the fantasy novels I'd read (because I don't read high-high fantasy like Sanderson or many of the authors/titles they talk about in these posts). I thought about Harry Potter, Percy Jackson, the TV show Merlin, movies like The Prestige, and other -- in my opinion -- accessible references. (Basically I'm saying I was too lazy to take the time to read those high fantasy novels. I reflected on what I was familiar with. And that's a tip I always give when I'm teaching: Use what you know to draw conclusions and create learning for what you don't.)

How To Establish a Great Magic System, Part One

Okay, so a while ago, I was asked to speak at a teen writer's camp at BYU. I love talking to teen writers, so I said yes. A few months pass, and finally I have to give a topic I'm going to teach about. Well, it's a science fiction and fantasy camp, so I decided to go with "How to Establish a Killer Magic System" -- something I'd been studying and learning about myself.

See, I've written a futuristic fantasy that I'm going to self-publish this summer, and I've got a contemporary fantasy I'm hoping my agent can sell in the traditional market. I love fantasy. I read a lot of fantasy. But I always think there's room for improvement in my own craft, and as I've been revising the futuristic fantasy for publication, I realized that I needed to really cement my magic system.

So for myself and for the class, I came up with 10 questions authors can ask themselves as they establish their magic systems. Oh, and this works for technology systems in science fiction novels as well.

I did use Google to aid me in my research. I found three places that provided me with the most insight and useful information: Brandon Sanderson's Laws of Magic (Part 1, Part 2, and Part 3), WikiHow (don't laugh, it had good stuff!), and The Four Part Land (he has six parts, but they're all linked at the top of this one).

So I read (ahem, maybe I skimmed a little. Some of the posts are long!) up on magic systems. I thought about what *I* liked in a magic system. I thought about the fantasy novels I'd read (because I don't read high-high fantasy like Sanderson or many of the authors/titles they talk about in these posts). I thought about Harry Potter, Percy Jackson, the TV show Merlin, movies like The Prestige, and other -- in my opinion -- accessible references. (Basically I'm saying I was too lazy to take the time to read those high fantasy novels. I reflected on what I was familiar with. And that's a tip I always give when I'm teaching: Use what you know to draw conclusions and create learning for what you don't.)

After I'd done a little light Internet reading, I formed my 10 questions. Today, we'll just explore the first.

Question 1: Who Can Use the Magic?

• the main character?
• special characters?
• everyone?
• the wealthy?
• a specific gender?
• only those trained?

You must decide who in your world can use the magic (or who has access to the technology in the world). Only a few people, designated to do so? Is the main character included in this group, or not? Can everyone use it? Only the wealthy? Or the poor? Only men, or women, or children? Only those who are trained? Those who are genetically capable? (Which leads us to another question we’ll get to later.)

But you have to know who can and who can’t use the magic, or who does and who doesn’t have access to the technology, in your world. This will help you establish weaknesses and limitations on the magic--also something we'll discuss in a later question.

So when creating a magic system, the first step is determining who will be able to access that power -- and why. Why them, and not everyone? Why only a select few? The why is important too.

So there's Question 1. I'll be back over the course of the next several weeks exploring all 10 questions, and I hope you'll join me!

Goin' George

Have you seen that Seinfeld episode where George Costanza decides to do everything the exact opposite of what he's done in the past?

Yeah, that's me.

I've gone off the complete deep end. It's just that all the stuff I've been doing hasn't been working. And I went to a conference yesterday and Brandon Sanderson said something along the lines of "Don't be afraid to try something you've never done before."

I'm sure that's not what came out of his mouth, but that's what I heard inside my own head. And I decided he's right. So, fully embracing my new identity, I went to a class on story arc, plotting, and a whole bunch of other stuff I don't normally think much about.

I'm goin' George!! I just figured it's time to do something different--especially if I want different results. What do you guys think? Is it good to switch up your approach to writing and publishing every now and then? Why or why not? And what do you do to keep it fresh?

Blog Chain - I Love Me Some Books

Okay, Kate started this chain with this: This time...I'd like to focus on the flip side of the writing coin - reading. Specifically, what books have influenced you? This can be books that influenced you as a writer, or simply books that touched you as a human being. If you want to talk about one book, a top three, ten, or even twenty go right ahead.

Annie posted before me and Terri is up next. Everyone's been going all crazy about how they could go on and on about this topic.

Um, me? Not so much. See, I don't read to learn something new. About life, about the chemical reactions of copper and peroxide, about myself, about anything. To me, that's not what reading is for. I can Google if I want to learn something new. Or ask someone who already knows. Or just by trial and error. But reading? Pshaw. That takes the whole point of reading away. Because reading should be...well, keep reading. *winks*

I'm what you'd call a shallow reader. I read for fun. The end.

So books that have touched me? *scratches head*

Influenced me as a writer? *panic face*

Don't get me wrong, I love me some books. I've always loved books, but not in the way that they can teach me a lesson and/or influence my life. More like in the way that I can escape to a new place, experience something cool or get caught up in a romance that leaves me breathless. Reading, for me, has never been about the writing. It's been about the stories, the people, the places.

Only recently (translation: when I tried writing myself) did the books I read have any other purpose other than to entertain me. So if you're looking for something deep here, um, maybe you better go back to Archy's post. Or Christine's. Or Annie's. Or pretty much anyone else in this chain.

My list of books I love randomly changes based on what I've recently read that I love. Ha! Go figure. I've blogged about some of these before, but here's my best shot. You should note that these books are on my list for their entertainment value. Now, before you go all ballistic on me, that doesn't mean they're not written well. I just didn't happen to be paying attention to that at the time.

1. Harry Potter by J.K. Rowling
2. Vampire Academy by Richelle Mead
3. Uglies by Scott Westerfeld. Heck, anything this man writes is pure entertainment for me. (And good writing.)
4. The Forest of Hands and Teeth by Carrie Ryan
5. Percy Jackson and The Olympians by Rick Riordan
6. Speak by Laurie Halse Anderson
7. Maximum Ride by James Patterson
8. Alcatraz and the Evil Librarians by Brandon Sanderson
9. The Bartimaeus Trilogy by Jonathan Stroud

These books I love because of the way the author wove words together. Some of them I didn't actually finish, because I wasn't entertained enough to do so. But the writing? Brilliant. I have pages folded down, images I've scrawled on post-its and happy faces in the margins of especially poignant sentences. This all came about after I decided to be a writer. I do think these books have helped me become a better writer, simply by helping me define what kind of writer I want to be.

1. The Book Thief by Markus Zusak
2. Enna Burning by Shannon Hale
3. Anything by Nancy Farmer or Cornelia Funke
4. Tantalize by Cynthia Leitich Smith
5. A Great and Terrible Beauty by Libba Bray
6. Wicked Lovely by Melissa Marr

Notice there are no classics in either list. Um, that's not fun reading. At least not for me. Heck, I was on the Academic Olympiad in high school *insert geek song of your choice*. We even had these totally schweet T-shirts and everything. I don't think any of my former geekalicious Olympiad's read this blog so I can say this out loud: I didn't read the books we were supposed to for the competition. Why? Cuz A Tale of Two Cities and Huckleberry Finn are NOT entertaining reading! That is not my idea of a fun time.

But reading about magic and moving staircases and hoverboards? Oh, yeah. Djinn and faeries and alternate realms? Bring it on. The first kiss and riding in the Sun God's chariot and jumping out the window of a fifty-story building and unfurling your wings? Yes, yes, YES!

There are also only young adult and middle grade books on my list. That's what I like to read (and write), because it's fun.

So I read for entertainment. Funnily enough, that's also why I write.

Can you answer Kate's question? What books have influenced you? And maybe just because they were a good yarn that kept you turning pages way past your bedtime.

Conferencing, Day Four

Status of my Life: Shredded. 'Nuff said.

Thursday at the conference. I just have to say that I love the MC's at this conference. They are so funny and really liven the mood and atmosphere. It's been such a blast.

Today, I got to "mingle" with Brandon Sanderson. I'm a big lover of science fiction and fantasy, and his advice is good for those of us who are speculative fiction writers. But, his advice overall is just good. Today he said not to fall into the 3/4 trap. Authors tend to get annoyed/bogged down/sick of their novel about 3/4 way through. So they throw in a new character or conflict. He very strongly advises against this. Yeah, I've probably done it, so I'm going to have to go check for that...

He also said something about traitors and villians today that really set me thinking. And now I think I'm going to have to do some major rewriting in SHADOWS. There is a traitor, but I don't do a good enough job of leading the reader to believe it's someone else and then hitting them with who it really is. So I've got to work on that. SHADOWS actually needs a lot of work before I query in September. But the goal still stands. I'm going to be giving it the attention it deserves. I've just gotten sidetracked by Freedom and Jess Harper. And another idea popped into my head on the way home from the conference today. I think I'm going to write it in a notebook instead of on the computer and see how it develops.

Okay, the conference. So many good things today! First off, the agent talked to us. He was wonderful and gave really sound advice.

Good: Writing advice from Brandon Sanderson. You should check out his writing podcast if you haven't yet.

Bad: 3/4 New Conflict/problem. Don't do it.

Good: Find out what works for you by trying different things. The best advice I got today.

Bad:

Good: Quote from agent, "I forgot to wear a belt." It was pretty funny. The MC's played "Secret Agent Man" and said agent came running down the steps with sunglasses on. We all stood and cheered as if we were on the Price is Right. The MC's had shades too, and they all danced around on the stage. We sang along. When the song was over, the agent said, "I forgot to wear a belt." :)

Bad:

Good: Agent said, "Not everything needs to be loud and smart-alecky." Thank you Secret Agent Man. I like snarky just like everyone else, but one of my main characters is not, and I've been wondering about him.

Bad:

Good: More good advice: Be bold, confident, and fearless writers. Love it!

Bad:

See? It was a great day! One more to go. Even though I'm pretty exhausted, I'll be sad when it's over.

Reading: Crits I'm behind on. Lots and lots of crits...