Stretching Yourself

Okay, so I've been writing for a while now. Years, even. That certainly doesn't mean I know everything; pursuing something creative is a never-ending quest to find what is beautiful.

One of the best ways for me to come back to what I love most about writing is to stretch myself. Then I enjoy the creative wrestling with figuring out the exact right word to use, finding the perfect voice for each character, and/or discovering the style each story should have.

I've gone through a couple of these "stretching periods," where I analyze the way I've been writing and desire to renew myself and my craft by trying something new.

I think employing this idea of stretching yourself is one of the best ways to combat the feelings of inferiority and jealousy that can be prevalent in this industry. I think we have to be consistently (not constantly) thinking about how we can improve ourselves.

Many of us do this in our personal lives. We try to be kinder to others; we set physical health goals; we endeavor to try new recipes or a new hobby.

We can apply this to our writing as well. It's how ELEVATED came to be. I had written about 100 pages of the book, and I was stuck. I couldn't figure out how to end it, or even where to go next.

I'm not sure what prompted me to try writing in verse, but I did. And it stretched me as a writer in ways I didn't anticipate.

I sort of feel like I'm on the cusp of another stretching period. I've written a fair few books now, and I want to try something new. A new genre. A new POV. A new style. Something. Not sure what yet, but I'll figure it out.

What do you think? Have you experienced any stretching periods? What have you done to stretch yourself creatively?

Goin' With My Gut...

Or whatever you guys say.

I'm starting a new project. Well, let me back up. "Starting" isn't really the right word. I wrote a bunch of words on this project before I realized the sucktitude of it. That uncompleted MS is now sitting on my hard drive.

I started over.

I'm about 50 pages in now, and had one of my besties read it. Her feedback was FRAWESOME (freaking awesome).

But now I'm stewing, and if you've been reading here for any length of time at all, you know that this is both good and bad.

So I just have a couple of questions for you. Feel free to answer any way you want, but back yourself up!

1. First person or third? Or both...?
2. One POV or two? Or more...?
3. Past tense or present? Or both...?
4. Female MC or male? Or both...?

Oh, and if anyone could identify, very succinctly, the main motivation of my characters, I'd appreciate it. kthxbai.

So what do you think? When you sit down to write, what comes to you naturally pertaining to those four things? What do you like to see when you open a book (girl, first person, past tense?)? And why???

(And I just realized this has nothing to do with guts. Dangitall.)

Throwing Up That First Draft

I quite enjoy reading the writing process of other people. So today, I thought I'd give you a glimpse inside my head. Hold on tight, cuz it's sort of a wild ride.

I relate writing my first draft to vomiting. I know, I hope you haven't recently eaten or taken a drink of something.

For me, it's just word vomit. I don't outline. I don't have whiteboards with post-it's. There are no snowflakes going on at my house.

I'm pantsing my way through life. (Hey! I could totally change the words to the Wicked song. "Pantsing through life...")

In my defense, I usually think about my story/characters for a little while, but I have no character sheets done, no pictures in my head, sometimes not even names.

Some of you are spasming right now, I can tell. Sorry. If you're looking for "organization while writing" you won't find it here.

I decide that hey, it's time to do this thing and I sit down at the computer. I open a new Word document, and feel this tiny tremor of terror at the blank page. See, I'm not so good with blank pages.

I am a better rewriter than writer. But I can't rewrite what I don't have.

So I flex my fingers--no, really, I do--and I start typing.

And word vomit comes out.

At the end of my writing session, I type notes for what might come next. Usually my notes are longer than what I've got on the story. I do organize the notes into chapters and scenes, so that when I come back the next day to write, I'm ready.

My notes change constantly. I'm always deleting old ones and typing new ones, because my story evolves so much as I write. So, so much.

At about 10,000 words, I usually hit a wall I have to navigate around. Or over. Or through. Whatever. At about 20,000 words, I take a break and write the query letter and a loose synopsis. This helps focus my writing on the end goal. At this time, I identify the two "pinches" in my story, and align them with the end of part one and the end of part two. See, I write in sections--usually 3. So I position my "pinches" to come at the end of those sections to keep the reader moving along.

Once I have that, I'm ready to write again. Nothing is set in stone, and my pinches change, the notes change, the story changes as I actually sit down and vomit up the words.

I can usually pound out a 75,000-word first draft in 6-8 weeks. (Side note: I just wrote 37,000 words before I realized I couldn't use any of them. So I abandoned the project and have started it over. No, really. This is the writing-life of a pantser. Or maybe just me...Crap!) And it's so, so, so messy that I can't stand to open it again for a while. I mean, the stench alone keeps me away. So I usually re-visit my query and synopsis and shine them up.

Then I get to rewrite. But that's a story for another post.

What about you? How do you write your first draft? Are you an outliner or a pantser? What works for you? What doesn't? How long does it take?

Query Letter Writing Process

Let it be known: I like writing query letters.

That's right. I won't deny it any longer. And...well, the contest thingy I have coming up right here on this blog channel? Yup, you guessed it. Related to queries. So let's get started on honing yours.

Some of you are new around here. I'm a bit of a freak in the regard that I enjoy writing query letters. Like, a lot. I usually start writing my query when I start writing the book.

Query Letter Writing Sekrit #1: You don't need every single plot point in the query. We just need the skeleton. And writing the query BEFORE the book -- I mean, how much more skeletal can you get?

I'm pretty good at getting the bones down by now (yes, even agented authors must write blurbs or query pitches). But here's a glimpse into how I developed this lunacy, er, query letter writing talent.

1. Write by hand. There's just something different about writing with a pencil. Number one, it forces my brain to sloooww dooowwn, something I really struggle with.

2. Print out successful queries. Mine is here. I wrote a whole eBook that has an entire section devoted to "queries that worked." (But wait till Friday to buy - there's going to be a sale!) Or click here, where most authors who do an interview for Pat provide their winning query letter.

With the printed queries in hand, I highlighted all the first sentences. I read them. Over and over. I came up with a formula for why they worked. Basically, I found this: a one-sentence hook line for the entire novel.

Mine: "In a world where Thinkers control the population and Rules aren't meant to be broken, fifteen-year-old Violet Schoenfeld does a hell of a job shattering them to pieces."

Then I read the last sentence of the blurb, skipping everything in between. I think this should give the reader a very good idea of what the book is about, just in two short sentences.

Mine: "When secrets about her "dead" sister and not-so-missing father hit the fan, Vi must make a choice: control or be controlled."

Together, they read: "In a world where Thinkers control the population and Rules aren't meant to be broken, fifteen-year-old Violet Schoenfeld does a hell of a job shattering them to pieces. When secrets about her "dead" sister and not-so-missing father hit the fan, Vi must make a choice: control or be controlled."

Everything in the middle came later. Much later. (So much later, that I'm going to blog about them next week. And then I'm going to talk about the "other" paragraphs in a query -- the ones besides the blurb.)

So if you're writing a query, just start with nailing that first sentence and then the last. It should encapsulate the novel, from a starting point to an ending point, with nothing in between. It seems like a small step, but it's really not. And we all need to start writing query letters in small steps anyway, right? Right.

What do you think? Can you take out the middle of your query and still have an explanation of your book from beginning to end? Try it! Post it in the comments, let us see and help. Even agented authors can do this -- and it might really help someone to see something like this from another query that worked.

So let's see what you've got!

My Own Worst Judge

It's time to tell the truth again.

Here's goes: I'm my own worst judge. And coupled with that is the fact that I expect myself to be perfect.

Which, of course, is impossible.

I'm going through my manuscript again. Revising. Editing. Strengthening. Streamlining. Quickening. Bettering.

This is great and all. I can't say I'm particularly enjoying it because I've gone all George and am doing things I've never done before. But the need to "get it right" is strong.

Overpowering almost.

And even though I don't really need to line edit, I am. Every sentence I read, I think "Holy brown cows, girl! You sent this to an agent??" And then a vein of panic slices into my subconscious.

It's that whole worst judge thing. I keep repeating a few choice lines someone said to me and then I'm able to move past the paralyzing panic and keep revising.

How do you guys get over the whole perfection thing? Are you your own worst judge? Why do we do that to ourselves?

If Writing Were A Reality TV Show

It would be The Amazing Race. Totally.

Scott posted about giving your characters problems to solve in the middle of the novel. He has some reasons why, so you should just go read his post from last week.

Anyway, immediately my brain went to reality TV. I mean, whose doesn't. *snarf*

And writing.

So writing + reality TV = The Amazing Race!

This is how I make things connect in my brain. I told you it was a scary place to be.

Anyway, have you seen the show? No? It's pairs of people (married couples, sisters, engagees, fathers/sons, whatever) and they race from place to place around the globe. If they arrive last, they're out.

But it's not that simple. Along the way, they have to complete tasks. There are two main types of tasks: Roadblocks and Detours. In a Roadblock, only one person on the team can complete the task (like climb to the top of a building and jump off). In a Detour, both members have to do something (like build a desk or find a slip of paper inside a pie) together.

Anyway, so how does this relate to writing? I'm getting there.

We all know the basis of fiction is conflict. We want to keep the reader turning pages. So we have to set up the roadblocks--the problems--we need our characters to solve. Things that will help their character arc, help them grow and change into the kind of people they need to be at the end of the book.

In The Amazing Race, roadblocks are done by one member of the team, and here's the kicker: they don't know what the task is before they choose which person will do it. So if you're deathly afraid of heights (which I am), and you have to jump off a cliff...yeah, it makes them grow and change. Makes them solve problems.

So writers tackle the roadblocks themselves. We do the actual writing ourselves (unless you happen to be the luckiest person in the world and have a kewl sister to write with. I'm looking at you guys, Lisa and Laura).

Then we finish the book. And we turn to our Detours, aka Beta Readers. They tell us where we got off track, where we need more gasoline, where we need to hit the brakes, all of it. We get to work with another person to build something beautiful.

So writing is totally like The Amazing Race! Totally! And it feels good with every leg you manage to complete. Writing THE END. Writing the query. Sending the query. Getting a request. Sending material. Even waiting.

Writing really is The Amazing Race.

What do you guys think? Isn't this an amazing journey we're all on together?

The Problem Is...

I have problems. Lots and lots of problems. I'm sure several of you could name a few for me. Right? Um, yeah, let's not do that, 'kay? Okay.

But think about your life. You have problems too, right? (Please just say yes, even if you're life is, like, 100% perfect.) I mean, maybe your nose is too big, or your hair is flat today or you don't have air conditioning or your kid just wrecked your car or something. I'm gonna go out on a limb here and say we all have problems. Some are bigger than others, sure. Some are more public than others. Some people have more than others. But we all have them.

Problems. Lots and lots of problems.

I swear this has to do with writing, bear with me.

The other night I was chatting with one of my dearest friends. We were talking about our WiP's and she asked me what the main problem in mine was.

This was me:

...

...

...

I almost made up an excuse to leave for a minute so I could think without pressure. But I didn't. I did realize that I had no freaking clue what the main problem of the novel was. To be fair to myself, I haven't actually written the novel yet. (Yeah, see, that's what we were talking about. Our writer's blockage and I was venting that I didn't know where to go next in the WiP, and I couldn't write it because of that, yada, yada, yada, she asked what the main problem was.) So in this unwritten novel that I couldn't write, I didn't know the main problem.

And that's a huge problem.

So, here's my question for you: What's the main problem for the protag in your novel? Is it easy for you to pin down? Can you tell me in one sentence without a panic face and an almost-excuse-to-leave-this-blog on your tongue?

BTW, after some discussion, I did pin down my main problem. And I've been able to write again. I still have problems, but yeah. Who doesn't?

Consistency Conundrum

Most boys and girls can't sit down and write a book from start to finish in a single day. Some boys and girls wish they could. So how do said boys and girls maintain a consistent voice and writing style through a project that might take six months to finish?

Let's examine.

A girl recently started editing a novel she started writing in November of last year. She finished it at the end of April, with a long break (2 months) in between. She deleted 95 pages of this novel and rewrote it. As she started going over the beginning notes from her critique group, she realized that the style of writing was way different than how she finished the book. Of course the main character has a huge arc, but that doesn't mean the actual writing should.

So what's a girl to do?

This girl put it aside and started working on something else. *snarf* But really, in the back of her mind, she knows she has to address this issue. When she worked at Pepperidge Farm, she had to check the goldfish for proper baking consistencies. Burnt fish were not packaged and sold to the general public. Thus, in her writing life, her quality control must be flawless as well. Half-baked beginnings are no good. They must be thrown out or packaged and sold as seconds.

And she is not satisfied with second. And so the girl will rewrite. Revise. Edit. She's not entirely sure what the difference is, but Scott said it so well, and she has to do all three so *shrugs*. She's working on making the beginning consistent with the ending in the style of writing. And she's revising the story, making needed improvements and clarifications. And then she's going to edit those rewritten sections and revisions. Maybe not in that order. She's learned that she is not like other girls, and what works for them doesn't always work for her. She's open to new ideas, she tries new things, she's willing to learn, so don't get her wrong. She just knows she is sort of on her own personal death march (see "motivational" poster above) as she reworks said inconsistent novel.

How do you maintain consistency? In the voice? The narrative style? Your blog posts? (*rolling on the floor snarfing*)

This girl wants to know.

The Dirty O-Word

That's right. *whispers* Outlining. I blogged a WiP Wednesday or two ago about this evil. And I thought it would be hilarious if I posted my outline. I know some of you aren't going to believe me. Like I'm one of those people you see on late night television with Jay Leno who doesn't know there is a South and a North Dakota. I swear I'm not. I swear I'm smart. Honestly. I even have the GPA to prove it. I just can't wrap my mind around outlining.

So here's what my feeble and pathetic attempts at outlining yielded.

And outline...go. These are chapters, BTW.

1. Intro to Penelopie - how she can feel death. Death is coming

2. Intro to Blake - backstory on their death partnership, world-building

3. Intro to Jayne - more on P's abilities - more about Blake

4. Blake asks Pen to the beach - backstory on what Pen's doing in her "family"

5. Characterization on Jayne, Sasha and Ruth.

6. Home life – real-life intro to Pen’s parents

7. Beach

8. Jayne’s death


And outline...out.

And that took me most of one day to do. I wanted to die (I still do). And I haven't worked on that novel since. I just can't go back to the horror waiting for me in that Word document. Can you really call that an outline? I mean look at number 7. It's one freaking word. How is that an outline?

I need therapy. Serious therapy. Does anyone know someone who's great with Outline: Fail patients? Please leave me their phone number in the comments.

Oh, and your insight on the dirty o-word would be appreciated too. kthxbai.

Sweating the Small Stuff

I'm OCD. Just stating that for the record. No, I've never been to a doctor about it, but I sort of know myself well enough to know that I have, um, issues. I'm like that really short insurance guy on the movie The Incredibles who lines up the pencils on his desk.

Or Monk.

Or something.

I know I like things to be "just so." I obsess over the smallest things. I plan events down to the minute. I live and breathe by a schedule in all that I do. You didn't think I actually got up and wrote my post and had it ready to go right at 7 AM every morning, did you? Ha ha ha! No. I plan. Execute. Schedule.

Somehow, though, this way of living has not spilled over into my writing. My life is not creative--writing is. So I let myself go and just write whatever I want. No outline. A vague plan. No schedule. Maybe a word count goal if I feel up to it. This "system" has worked for me. Until now.

Recently, I decided to change the system. I tried outlining. That was a Epic Fail of national proportions. I actually did some character sketches of the characters BEFORE I started writing. That was a mild success, one I'm not counting quite yet.

I did this for a couple of reasons. The first was to somehow try to reduce the amount of editing and / or rewriting I usually go through upon completion of a novel. I kept thinking that there had to be a better way to do it. And maybe there is.

For you. For your brother. For the best-selling authors.

But for me? I can't sweat the small stuff when writing a first draft. I just can't. I was so consumed with getting every little detail right, making sure I knew exactly who the people were, what the story was, that I couldn't do anything. I couldn't write a single word. The voices disappeared. So I abandoned my OCD, I gave up trying to figure out the "small stuff". Those details have always come later, and I'm more stymied now than I was when I wrote an "empty" first draft and then filled it up later.

So, I'm interested. Do you sweat the small stuff before actually sitting down to write? Or are those details revealed slowly as you go (like me)? How much rewriting / editing do you have to complete after a first draft?

Basically, how Monk are you?