Not All About You

This past week, I had the great good fortune to be part of the TLA.  Meeting librarians (some of my favorite people), other authors whom I admire, and fans aside, I also got to sit on a sf/fantasy panel with some fabulous writers, all of whom give me the green envies: like . . . why didn't I think of that? (And, crap, they dress well.)   In hindsight, there were also several questions where, after I'd heard a response, I thought, <DOH!> I wish I'd said . . . x, y, z.

One question, though--really, two questions bundled into one--got me to thinking.  Specifically, how much does a dystopian or apocalyptic scenario reflect the writer's personal vision, and why is it that adolescents seem to groove on these books so much?  I'm perfectly happy with the answers I gave--which, yeah, I'll partially recap here but have written quite a bit about in other venues--but I was struck by how different my personal vision is/was from my fellow panelists.

Look, here's the skinny on the personal vision stuff: the reality is that if a book didn't reflect a fairly substantial chunk of what a writer believes, the book wouldn't work.  Period.  You just can't fake this stuff.  You have to truly believe what you're writing; the book must reflect your personal vision, regardless of genre or circumstance.  Readers can spot a faker a mile off.  So if you don't invest your narrative with every drop of conviction, you might as well hang it up.

What I found pretty interesting was that of my fellow panelists, I seemed to be the only pessimist in the bunch.  (Maybe the others were lying; beats me.)  Now this might be what comes of being a Freudian or from personal history . . . probably there's some truth to that . . . but it was striking and, honestly, a little troubling, mainly because I think that if anyone has paid any attention to history, you realize that people are really a) quite savage, b) selfish, and c) not all that nice when the chips are down.  I mean, God, turn on the news; go read about how many elephants were slaughtered last year just for their tusks, if you don't believe me, or which species is teetering on the brink of extinction this week.

Now, it's also true that people like reading stories (and seeing movies) where things work out, or there's some semblance of hope.  No one likes an eternal downer as entertainment (which, you have to remember, is what we writers are doing: providing entertainment).  It's the reason I like going to the occasional chick-flick; I couldn't live on the stuff, but I do love that little break and a good cry.  It is just as true that teens love dystopias and apocalyptic books because they provide a vicarious avenue for grappling with seemingly insurmountable odds--and winning.  Surviving.  And not only winning or surviving: doing the right and noble thing.

I recognize this; I truly believe that there are a few good and noble people.  But I guess I'm still quite pessimistic, and most especially about the idea that, no matter how bad things might get here on Earth, we humans will adapt, somehow.

Now, the reason I find that a little disconcerting is that while it might be correct--and I think the jury's still out on that; there are plenty of civilizations that have come and gone before us, and species, too--it reflects a vision of the Earth as something that matters only to humans.  It is an anthrocentric point of view.  Sure, okay: maybe we'll adapt and discover new tech and wander around breathing with special filters and living under domes, but I don't think anyone would much enjoy the world as, say, imagined by Phillip K. Dick, or one where the only forests exist on space ships (as in 1972's Silent Running).  It is, in fact, a view that ignores the reality that while we might adapt--and that's a big might because if we don't curb population growth and stop outstripping the carrying capacity of the planet, we will drain our aquifers, period, and there are huge regions of the planet without enough water right this very second--this isn't only about us, about people. It's about all the organisms with which we share this planet: living beings that will not adapt because the changes are too rapid and the alternatives, too few.  They will die, as they are dying now; as we destroy and decimate their habitats, species will continue to vanish at an alarming rate, as they are vanishing now.  That is reality.

Let me give you a disheartening example of just this kind of antrocentric thinking: if you've been following me on Twitter or Facebook, then you know that I've been watching a mother fox and her litter of five kits for the past couple of weeks.  The mom just happened to make her den under a neighbor's deck, and watching this little family was so special I can't tell you.  It was a true gift and opportunity not many people have, and I know that several neighbors felt the same way.  Yeah, fine, so my cats couldn't go out; BFD.  A couple neighbors even thought that, cool, the rabbits won't eat their lettuce.

Unfortunately, the guy whose deck it was . . . he was pissed.  And, no, before you ask: no chickens, no pets, no kids.  In fact, the guy and his wife are rarely home.  The foxes weren't in his house.  They were under the bloody deck.  The mom chased my cats twice (the first indication I had that she was around), but that was it, and she really only barked at them.  (Winslow, that stinker, was much more interested in being friends, I think.)  When I wandered outside, that mom just sat down and we had a good long look at each other, and we did that several times.  She watched me every morning at the bird feeder; our coversation was a bit one-sided, but she was polite about it.  She brought some of the kits over to our yard to hang out.  It was lovely.

Anyway, the neighbor guy wanted to get rid of the fox and her kits.  I have to say that I was floored; we live in a rural area; the woods are literally across the street and all around; there are coyotes and raccoons and opossums and foxes and deer and . . . you get the picture.  So this guy called the DNR (they wisely said forget it); called a pest control guy (ditto). Then he decided, fine, he'd scare the hell out of the animals: blasted rock music all day and put on big bright spots at night.

And, yes, before you ask: I went over to talk to him.  Nicely. Just to feel him out.  His primary thing was it was his land, his property, and he wanted those animals gone.

So . . . sad to say, he succeeded.  The foxes cleared out.  I spotted mom a couple times after I got back from Texas, but only one kit, curled up next to the shed maybe thirty feet from my back door.  Sweetest little guy.  He was there last night but gone this morning, and my guess is mom-fox told him to stay put until she got back, and then they went off together.  (I've found out from a wildlife rehab person that this kind of thing--planting the kids and telling them to wait here--frequently happens.)

But when you have a reality like that--this sense of entitlement that man has about what is his versus what he shares--it's hard not to get, well, a little discouraged.  To be a little über-sensitive when you hear that we humans will "adapt."  Yes, perhaps: but at what price?

Someone once asked if I didn't think my fiction was too "graphic," the violence too "real" for kids.  Uhm . . . well . . . no, I don't.  Nothing I include is gratuitous.  Everything I write, and this pertains to the violence, too, is no more graphic than a video game, a graphic novel, or the latest episode of The Walking Dead.  When I include a traumatic or horrible detail, it is to reinforce that, yes, actions have consequences.  Pull a trigger, someone may die, and it may be, in fact, a horrible thing to see.  It may, in fact, be more horrible to do.

But I do not believe that a writer has a duty to teach moral lessons or find "truth," because truth depends on who you are and what you believe, and we all have parents.  Sorry: I'm a writer; I'm an entertainer; it's not in my job description. Yet, at times, I do struggle with balancing out the reality that I see and know with the hope that, maybe, something will change.  Perhaps this is why I focus so much in my fiction on both the bad choices people make and their repercussions: because I do want kids (and adults) to stop a moment and consider before they act.  I especially want kids to understand that nearly every action has a consequence; every decision an effect; that we truly are connected to one another and this Earth, for better or worse, and you are not necessarily more important than anyone or anything else.  In the end, I want them to see: really, this isn't all about you. 

8 Key Ways to Add Layers of Depth to Your Scenes

By Jordan Dane
@JordanDane
 

I’ve been working with college-aged writers recently and noticed that many of them rush a scene by sending it to me too soon, as if they’re in a race. My job is to get them to be their own critic and not settle for mediocre, even if it means they won't get a grade. To get noticed in the slush pile of an agent or editor, today’s author must bring something new to the table that is uniquely from them and their storytelling ability.

Using an example of constructing a house, they send me the basic framework, but the finishing touches are lacking. Is the dialogue there? Check. Is there a beginning, middle and end to the writing sample? Check. Did I meet the bare essence of the assignment? Check. But a good house needs walls and all the finishing touches that make it feel like a home. Well-balanced scenes can be those finishing touches that make a house a home. They can add a balance of color/setting, voice, emotion, and memorable characters that doesn’t slow the pace down and make your work stand out as unique, too.

Here are 8 key ways to layer your scene with more depth and make them stand out:

1.) MAKE YOUR VOICE UNIQUE - Pick a POV for the character who will tell the story of the scene and give him or her a unique voice. That means you must see through their eyes and add their senses and opinions to the scene. You can talk about what’s in a room, as if it were a forgettable inventory, OR you can add color by having your character say things like, “the dump smelled like cat piss.” Also give each character their own unique voice, using the same care as you craft each one.

2.) USE ACTION - Show your character taking part in the scene, rather than merely talking about the emotion they’re feeling. A guy who is forced to fight when he’d rather cut and run like a coward will behave differently than a guy who wants to be there and do the right thing. The coward might hang back or urge someone else to take his place or fake an injury to get out of what he really doesn’t want to do. The brave guy would take lead or protect the others by shielding them with his body, for example.

3.) USE DEEP POV - Set your character’s deepest thoughts in italics as “Deep POV” to give the reader insight into your character’s internal motivation. These could be expletives or funny one liners that he /she would mutter under their breath or in their head. The right Deep POV touches can add punch.

4.) WEAVE IN BACK STORY SPARINGLY - Know your character and their back story so you can slip it into the story seamlessly. Not many readers today tolerate a back story dump. There’s not many ways to disguise it either. But weaving a back story over a longer timeframe of your story is a good way to build upon your character’s history without slowing the pace—and it can create a mystery element. Other characters (who have a past with him or her) can fill in the gaps in a more interesting way.

5.) PICK THE ESSENCE OF EMOTION - Emotion is vital to make a scene memorable. Pick out the best images or set the stage in actions that best highlight the emotion you’re trying to weave into the scene. Add only the essential images. This could be a man talking about the small of a woman’s back, at a certain time of day when her body entices the shadows, or his memory of the first time he’d ever noticed how perfect that gentle curve had always been. The sensuality can be there, without overwriting the description of her, plus it conveys his enduring love for her in a sensual way. I'm not a poet, but I often think that good writers have the soul of a poet in them when I read certain passages that make me stop and reread them.

6.) PICK THE MOST PROMINENT PHYSICAL TRAITS - Beauty is in the small details. Today’s average reader may not tolerate an author describing a character in great detail because that would slow the pace, but try picking out the most essential characteristics of your character and pepper your scene with those images to suggest traits, rather than spell them out. Instead of describing how thin a guy is, add color by saying his suit hangs on him as if he were a human coat hanger.

7.) GIVE THE SCENE STRUCTURE – I think of scenes as mini-stories that will propel the story along with 1-3 plot points infused into every scene. They have a beginning, a middle and an end so that the characters in that scene take a journey and move the story forward. Internal monologue should not be repeated. Have your character discover or learn something about themselves during the scene, for example.

8.) ADD SETTING THAT ENHANCES YOUR SCENE – Any scene can be enhanced with the right setting. The bare bones of two characters talking in a study can be enhanced if there is a menacing storm rumbling outside, a loud crackling fire in the hearth, and a musty old library smell in the air from the countless alchemy books that lined the shelves, an extensive collection of magic books that spanned centuries, set in a mansion in the French Quarter of New Orleans. Classic.

I’ve mentioned 8 key ways to add depth to your scenes. Can you add more to this list? Please share your thoughts and what has worked for you.

Interview with ENTWINED Author Heather Dixon

By Dan Haring



Me again. Ilsa is under some crazy deadlines, so she asked me to take her turn this week. A few months back I did an interview with author Heather Dixon, and I thought I'd share it here, as she offers some great advice and information.

 I've been lucky enough to know Heather for almost 10 years now. She was a year ahead of me in the BYU animation program, and it was a blast getting to know her and working with her. If you follow her Story Monster blog, which I suggest you do, you'll find she has a wonderfully dark sense of humor. It's even better because it's hidden beneath such a sweet exterior. Her debut novel ENTWINED is a fantastic read. I hope you enjoy reading them as much as I did! (It's pretty long, so make sure you click through)

I had to research the 12 Dancing Princesses because I'd never heard of the fairytale before. First off, I have to say that it's pretty rad that you're on the wikipedia entry for it. High five for that. What drew you to this fairytale originally, and how did the idea for the retelling come about?

Ooo, I scored on Wikipedia? Awesome ^_^ I'll have to check that out. I started the story back at the beginning of 2006, when I was taking a bunch of dance classes and majoring in animation. The story, with its silver forests and ballgowns and waltzes, is intensely visual and when it struck me, I couldn't get it out of my head. I had to write it down. (It helped, of course, that I grew up in a large family--with 10 brothers and sisters, I felt a special connection with a story about 12 sisters ^_^)

You're also a storyboard artist. How does boarding inform your writing? Do you ever board out scenes before you write them?

I often don't board out scenes I'm writing (it's often more time-consuming than the words), but I do like to draw beat boards to the chapters--quick sketches that mark the mood, staging, and tension of the piece. Strangely enough that's been helping me with pacing, because once I sort out which beat boards to draw, those are the marker points in the story that need the most focus.  

That's a really cool method. In my own writing, I sometimes sketch out maps or layouts of buildings to help me keep track of where things are taking place. Do you do anything like that?

You bet! It's especially helpful with staging, & world-building too I think. Right now I'm working on a story with a steampunk ship, which involves looking up a lot of airship & seaship diagrams, then mapping out what this certain ship would look like. It makes the story & scenes quite a bit more distinct I think.

Common Denominators -- Recurring Fictional Themes

by Jennifer Archer 

Writing for both the young adult market and the adult market is enough to make me feel schizophrenic sometimes! Next week on the very same day -- September 18 -- I have two books being released. My novel for teens, Through Her Eyes, will be available for the first time in paperback, and my Romance novel, Shocking Behavior, will be available for the first time as an e-book -- with a brand new cover.

Writers are often advised by agents and editors to develop a "brand" by focusing on one genre. While I know this is good career advice, I've always had trouble following it. I can't force a story -- I have to write the one that's knocking around in my head, trying to get out. Over the years, those stories have included paranormal romantic comedies like Shocking Behavior, quirky mainstream women's fiction, more serious mainstream women's fiction, and teen fiction like Through Her Eyes.

I used to spend a fair amount of time wondering why my books are so different, one from the other. I asked myself if I was too easily bored with writing the same "type" of story. Or if I was allowing myself to be influenced by whatever I was reading at the moment.  (I'm an eclectic reader -- I don't stick to one genre in that regard, either.)  

It wasn't until my agent pointed out that all of the books I've written have one thing in common --    a "continuity of voice" -- that I took a closer look at my body of work. When I did, I made a surprising discovery. My books have more than one common denominator. I revisit the same themes in my stories, again and again. 

For instance, more than one of my books have a past story and a present story taking place simultaneously. In these, history catches up to the here and now and affects it in some profound way. And many of my characters wear masks, literally or figuratively or both. These characters hide behind or inhabit a false persona or pretend to be someone else. Sometimes another character in the story falls in love with the "disguised" person's soul or personality -- their inside -- before seeing what they look like physically -- their outside.

All of these things are true of both Through Her Eyes and Shocking Behavior. On the surface these stories seem to be completely different. Through Her Eyes is a novel for young adults, a ghost story that deals with serious issues such as illness and death and dealing with change. Shocking Behavior is a novel for adults, a paranormal romantic comedy about a man who becomes invisible after stumbling upon his kooky scientist father's latest invention.  Through Her Eyes is serious with moments of humor.  Shocking Behavior is humorous with a subtle, serious undertone. However, look closer and the similarities are there. The ghost and the invisible man. The girl/woman who falls for each without ever really seeing him. A historical story that affects the present day story. The illness of a loved one and the changes that brings.  

Follow any author's work and I predict you'll find that I'm not unique. Every writer has his or her own themes that they explore in their writing, again and again.

How about you? If you're a writer, do you recognize recurring themes in your stories? And readers, can you identify the repeating themes of your favorite authors?

THROUGH HER EYES

Every ghost has a story to tell . . .
The last thing Tansy Piper wanted was to move to the middle of nowhere in Cedar Canyon, Texas. Once there, her life takes a chilling turn when she finds a pocket watch, a journal of poetry, and a tiny crystal in the cellar of her new home.
The items belonged to Henry, a troubled teenager who lived in the house and died decades earlier. And Tansy, an amateur photographer, soon discovers that through the crystal and her photographs, she can become part of Henry's surreal black-and-white world.
But the more time Tansy spends in the past, the more her present world fades away. Can she escape Henry's dangerous reality before losing touch with her own life forever? 

SHOCKING BEHAVIOR 

When J.T. Drake is rendered invisible by one of his elderly father’s inventions, his father’s assistant Roselyn Peabody is the only person with the skills to possibly make him normal again. The beautiful, young scientist has never met J.T. and has no idea what he looks like, yet sparks fly whenever they touch. Rosy vows to help him regain his visibility, but when J.T. finally materializes, will their electric chemistry disappear or expose itself as true love?

Jennifer Archer's website www.jenniferarcher.com 

Comforted by F. Scott Fitzgerald!

Carol Tanzman checking in!

I recently read a post on the Letters of Note site (via the awesome Alice Marvels—if you don’t receive her e-newsletter on just about everything YA, you should), showing the very first correspondence exchanges between F. Scott Fitzgerald and his editor Maxwell Perkins regarding his new novel The Great Gatsby.

I loved reading the back and forth between the two of them. Catching a glimpse into their process. Just before Fitzgerald closes the first letter, in which he tell Perkins that he’s sending him his new manuscript under separate cover, he writes,

“Naturally I won't get a nights sleep until I hear from you…”

Sound familiar, writers? The question that haunts us all: in spite of all our hard work, is this manuscript any good?

In the next letter, Fitzgerald writes, “There are things in it I'm not satisfied with in the middle of the book—Chapters 6 & 7.”

Perkins writes back after reading the manuscript twice. He makes sure to give Fitzgerald very effusive, and deserved, praise, before he says, “I think you are right in feeling a certain slight sagging in chapters six and seven, and I don't know how to suggest a remedy.”

I can almost see Fitzgerald taking a puff of his cigarette or downing a shot of whiskey: “Damn, I was hoping he’d tell me it was fine.” Because this means Fitzgerald must rewrite, of course. I imagine him trying all sorts of things to find that remedy himself: long walks, drinking extra booze, staying up late, waking up earlier, thinking about the problem, NOT thinking about the problem, working on another note…

Except for the cigarette-smoking, I’m actually projecting a bit of what happened after I read a few of my editor’s notes for the upcoming Circle of Silence. The acknowledgment that, yes, something’s not quite right in a certain section. The awareness that, oops, I’m not quite sure what to do about it. There has to be a way to solve the problem, I think, and I go through all those steps until, at last, the “Aha” moment appears.

 “I know how to fix this!” I think.

Lo and behold, in Fitzgerald’s very next letter to Perkins, he makes this list:

“(b) Chapters VI & VII I know how to fix” (emphasis mine). I hear Fitzgerald’s quiet triumph, his palpable relief that he can finally make those chapters work.

“(c) Gatsby's business affairs I can fix. I get your point about them.” (Again, the quiet nod—you’re right about this, Perkins old chap and I will make it better.)

“(d) His vagueness I can repair by making more pointed—this doesn't sound good but wait and see. It'll make him clear. “

LOL! “This doesn’t sound good but wait and see…”  I just love that. How many times have I said something similar to an editor? Since I am not F. Scott Fitzgerald, however, I always add, “If you don't think it works, I’ll cut/change/rewrite.”

Reading these exchanges made me inordinately happy. Through the wonders of the Internet, I'm able to cross time and space and meet F. Scott Fitzgerald in the place all writers wish to find: the magical ground that allows us to make every book the best we can.

For the full Letters of Note post, click here: 

For more information on Circle of Silence, which will be published by Harlequin Teen in exactly two weeks (7/24/12), click here.

Back It Up!

By Dan Haring

Is there anything worse than pouring your blood, sweat and tears into something you created, only to have it disappear?



Oh, well sure, there's THAT.

But I'm talking about non-life-threatening things.

More specifically, your manuscript. You know, that thing you've been slaving over in the hopes that someday the world will read? What would happen if it got deleted?

I'm sure there would be a fair amount of this.



But that's not going to get your book back, is it?

Trust me, it won't. And you'll just feel ashamed for, A. losing your work and, B. doing the ugly cry.

This actually happened to me with my last post on this blog. I posted it and everything was fine, then I went in to edit it and *poof* it was gone. Luckily I had a backup, and I can't stress how important it is to do the same with your work.

How? You might ask. 

There are plenty of ways, but I'll list a couple that I know about.

When I told Jordan about my problem, she suggested something called Windows Live Writer. I haven't looked into it too much, but it looks like a good option.

But let's say your computer pulls one of these:


Your files are just gone forever, just like Sarah Jessica Parker, right? Not if you're smart.

The first option is the external hard drive. These are great and for like a hundred bucks you can get a 2 terabyte drive.

For those non-techspeak people, 1 terabyte will hold a couple million pages of text files. So grab one of those drives and you should be set for life, even if every book you write is longer than Ulysses.

Unless you accidentally knock the hard drive over.

A friend of mine in animation school had all his files on an external drive and he accidentally kicked it, and he totally did the Dawson cry.

So if you're going to get an external drive, I'd recommend a solid state one. They're more expensive, but also more durable.

But what if you're travelling when your computer spontaneously combusts and you don't have access to your external drive?

There are a number of online options for file backup. I've used MediaFire.com and Dropbox.com. You can get a free account with a couple gigs of storage space or pay some money and get a bigger storage limit. Be warned though. I just got an email from Mediafire saying they might delete some of my files because I hadn't accessed them recently. (It's probably been about a year) I'm not sure, but Dropbox may have a similar time limit.If you're accessing it regularly you should be fine.

But my favorite method is free, easy, and allows me to have access to my document wherever I have internet access. It's called....Gmail.

That's right. My email account. I actually wrote my first book, all 76,000 words of it, in an email that I saved in my drafts. That way I had easy access to it wherever I had internet, and it would have been very hard to delete.

I'm still a little paranoid about losing my work, so on my recent manuscript, which I wrote in Word, in addition to cutting and pasting the text into an email and saving it, I would periodically email the Word document to myself. Easy enough, right? That way my computer could get nuked and I wouldn't have lost a word of my work, because I could just download it from Gmail whenever I wanted. It ensures I don't lose my work, and it keeps my keyboard free from those bitter tears that might otherwise fall.

So that's what works for me. What about you?

Setting and Story

by Jennifer Archer

How does setting affect story? I've thought a lot about that question in relation to my own writing. Some writers write plot-driven books. I consider mine to be more “character-driven,” in that the plot is pushed forward more by the characters than by external events or the environment around them. That said, even in character-driven stories, setting plays a crucial role, as it does in any good novel. A vivid locale can create tone and atmosphere, thereby helping the reader immerse herself in the world of the book. You can’t build a sturdy house on a weak foundation, but build a strong foundation and the home will be solid. In the same sense, build a good setting and let your characters live and grow in it, and the book will be solid – or believable. 

In a character-driven book, the setting may not drive what occurs, but in all likelihood it will affect the characters in some way, helping to drive them to push the plot forward. My novel Through Her Eyes would have been a very different kind of story if I had set it in New York City or Seattle instead of in a small Texas town. For one thing, the wind in the Texas Panhandle is very pervasive, adding to the eerie mood and atmosphere of the book. In fact, the wind plays with the main character's sanity to a certain extent and almost becomes a character in itself. Tansy knows that a ghost is rumored to haunt the property where she lives, so when the wind blows through the rafters of the old house, making the wood creak and groan, her imagination takes flight and she feels even more determined to solve the mystery surrounding the ghost so that she can put an end to her fears. That element of setting – the blustery West Texas wind – adds another layer to what drives Tansy to make the decisions she does.

I drew on my own experiences as a Texan to create the fictional town of Cedar Canyon in Through Her Eyes. The city of Amarillo, where I live, has a population of 175,000 but feels much smaller and it is surrounded by several little towns. While writing the book, I drove over to the towns of Canyon, Panhandle, and the scenic community of Canadian to do research that would help me imagine what life might be like in Cedar Canyon.  I was also able to call upon memories of the years I lived in the small town of Pampa, Texas, from the time I was in 5^th grade through my sophomore year of high school.

But a town is more than its layout and landscape – a town is its people. West Texans tend to be outgoing and friendly, especially in the smaller communities. However, true to the stereotype of small towns everywhere, gossips are as common as Friday night football and news usually travels faster than the person creating it! I couldn’t set my story in Cedar Canyon, Texas – a town with a population under 10,000 – and make it seem believable  without including that aspect of small town life. Cedar Canyon is a tight community with shallow-grave secrets. Nobody is supposed to talk about their neighbors’ buried skeletons – and certainly no one would admit to it – but one doesn’t have to dig deep to reach the corpses!

I am a Texan, and Texans are very proud of their heritage. Although many “outsiders” consider Texas to be a southern state, we aren’t truly “the South.” And though it’s true our Western legacy is strong, we’re somewhat separated from the rest of the west. Our legacy is uniquely our own, and our often over-exuberant pride in it can be difficult to explain! My husband’s great-grandfather, grandfather, and father were all born in the Texas Panhandle, as were my husband and our children. That’s five generation of Archers born and raised right here where we still live. Many other families here have roots set just as deep -- 150 years or more of family members whose blood, sweat and tears nourish the soil; their ancestors are Texas’s heritage and history. When people from New York City are asked where they live, they say "New York City." But ask a Texan where they live and they won’t answer with the name of a town or a city, they’ll tell you they live in Texas! As you might imagine, this sort of mindset among the residents of fictional Cedar Canyon, Texas in Through Her Eyes makes it all the more difficult for someone like Tansy – an outsider – to find her place and fit in among the “natives.”    

Dream Drapery

by Jennifer Archer

This photo was taken a few years ago as the plane my husband, Jeff, and I were on left Mexico. When I looked out of the window at the clouds all around us, I was taken back to my childhood...

As a kid, I indulged in quite a lot of daydreaming and make-believe. More than one teacher told me to get my "head out of the clouds." Flights of fancy are considered by most people -- especially adults -- to be a waste of time, but I don't think that's necessarily true. Sure, I should've paid attention during class instead of gazing out the window and making up stories. I should've reined-in my imagination until the last bell rang. But a lot of young daydreamers grow up and make a career out of escaping into their imaginations, and I'm one of them. I get paid for doing the very thing that used to get me into trouble. It's my job to spend hours every day with my head in the clouds! How cool is that? How lucky can a girl be? I am so grateful and amazed sometimes that I feel as if I need to pinch myself. Laboring in the land of make-believe hasn't made me rich, but there's no place I'd rather spend my days. I mean, I tried reality once and it just didn't work for me!

Think about that the next time you're tempted to pull some kid back to earth, because let me tell you -- my office is a pretty great place to work. (Note, once more, the photo above). Pretty gorgeous color-scheme, huh? The furniture is so comfortable I feel like I'm sitting on a feather, and the curtains are soft and billowy. Oh, and did I mention that the air-conditioning always carries the scent of rain?

Clouds are a writer's "dream-drapery," the source of many stories, of poetry and music and possibilities. Keep your head in the clouds and dream on, all you dreamers...

Low-Anchored Cloud
by Henry David Thoreau

Low-anchored cloud,
Newfoundland air,
Fountain-head and source of rivers,
Dew-cloth, dream-drapery,
And napkin spread by fays;
Drifting meadow of the air,
Where bloom the daisied banks and violets,
And in whose fenny labyrinth
The bittern booms and heron wades;
Spirit of lakes and seas and rivers,
Bear only perfumes and the scent
Of healing herbs to just men's fields!

Happy Reading,

Jenny

Jennifer Archer's website

Revise or Die

Last weekend I was asked by someone how I was able to get through revisions. The person had finished her first novel, but was avoiding revising and editing. My answer probably didn't help her much, but I told her that I actually enjoy revising more than writing.

Writing a book is hard. It just is. Besides coming up with a story, characters, dialog, etc, it's hard to actually sit down and write. But once you've pounded out the first draft, to me that's when the fun starts. Once the story is complete, then you get to go back and make it better.

When I finished Oldsoul, I figured I would need to go back through and fix a few typos and maybe add a little extra to some scenes. Well, first of all, there were many, many more than a few typos. (In fact, over a year after finishing the first draft I was still coming across typos.) That part wasn't so much fun, and if that's what this person was talking about, I agree.

I had also underestimated how much I really needed to revise. In the end, I probably ended up revising Oldsoul seven or eight times, both with feedback from beta readers and friends and just on my own. And each time the story got stronger and better. It was actually fun going into scenes and figuring out how to make things more interesting and exciting. The heavy lifting was done. Now it was just a matter of going in and adding some extra zing. Of course I came across roadblocks and scenes that were difficult to revise. But in the end I fought through them, and the finished product, while still imperfect, is miles better than my first draft.

So my advice to this person and to everyone who writes: Don't be afraid of revising. If you've written a first draft, you owe it to yourself and your story to revise it and make it the best it can be. Granted, you might not enjoy it, but you and your story will be better off for it. 

Wicked Good POV Can Get Your Freak On

By Jordan Dane

In honor of Friday the 13th, my version of head hopping.

Okay, I’ll admit that when I first started writing, I had no idea what Point of View (POV) was. I head hopped in a big way. I thought that’s what writers did to show the reader what was in everyone’s head, what they were thinking. I justified my lack of skill by saying that as long as a reader understood the story and didn’t flip out with my POV gymnastics, that my poor technique would be acceptable. Wrong!

Years ago, after I read a blog post from an acquiring New York City editor (who was a believer in one character’s POV per scene), I tried it and it completely opened my eyes to a new way to look at author craft. One POV per scene forced me to focus on one character and tell a mini-story within that scene, to move the plot or character insights forward. It can be a way of hiding plot twists or planting misdirection clues (red herrings) too. I tend to pick whose POV to write in by focusing on which character has the most to lose in that scene, but there are certainly other reasons to pick other characters too. Now I’ve broken perceived “rules” plenty of times, for different reasons, but I think it’s important to understand a method and try it to see how it can work for you before you simply dismiss it as “not your thing.”

Understanding how POV can add depth and color to a character’s voice can distinguish your work from countless others who submit to publishing houses every day. Every author makes decisions about POV in their books. If an author likes challenges, he or she may test their skill level and try different ways to convey a character’s story as in the classic examples below.

In THE BOOK THIEF by Markus Zusak, the book is about a 14 year old girl who lives during the time of the Holocaust and steals books to read. The narrator of the story is Death. This was one of my favorite young adult reads. The author took a risk to distance the reader from the 14 year old girl in the story. I thought it might have been a mistake when I started reading it, but with the gut wrenching subject matter, I later came to believe the reader needed that distance. And with Death as an outside observer, that brought a beautiful narrative voice (with a literary quality) to the story. In the end, I cried like a baby, despite the distance.

In THIRTEEN REASONS WHY by Jay Asher, this story is about a girl who commits suicide, but leaves 13 audio tapes for the people who helped her make the decision to take her life. Great hook, right? The story is told through the eyes of one boy, but the structure is complicated by the ever present recorded voice of the dead girl, flashbacks to the past they shared, with jumps into the present while he spends one night without sleep, visiting all the places she put on a map. The intimacy of her voice often appears in one simple line or short spurts, mixed with the boy’s POV. As a reader, I got sucked into this story and totally forgot I’m an author. That’s when I know the book is really good—and the author is amazing.

If Zusak and Asher had done the standard POV thing, their critically acclaimed books wouldn’t be the same. I think it’s important for authors to push the envelope on their craft, but it takes understanding craft in order to know how to effectively “break the rules” with good result.

Okay, so here are my random thoughts on POV (from my POV):

1.)    The POV Tango Gets my Freak On - Writing is a creative process and rigid rules don’t always work, but after trying one POV per scene, I’ve learned when to utilize this technique and when NOT TO. In general, I’m a POV purest, but on the rare occasion that I shift POV in a scene, I usually transition it by an action where the reader’s attention is diverted to the new player, such as with a handshake or a meaningful glare that shifts the focus over to the other character where the reader sees their reaction. Keep the break in POV simple by doing it the one time, not back and forth like a tennis match. I may also “break the POV rule” with one sentence, but I smile when I do that. Breaking the POV rule makes me feel frisky, but you can’t fully appreciate a side trip down Freakalishess Boulevard unless you know what being “good” is, right?

2.)    Get into Heads like a Frontal Lobotomy - Developing a full character “voice” is part of what I consider “deep POV.” I’ve mentioned this before, but it bears repeating here. Average writers describe a setting as if they are detailing an inventory. Sure they touched on all the basics to trigger a reader’s senses, but if they allow their minds to fully “free associate” the character’s POV, the technique allows that character to have an opinion of his/her setting. That opinion adds color, depth to the scene, and reflects not only on his or her inner thoughts and nature, but it also sheds light on other characters too.

3.)    Crack the Whip, Dominatrix! - Determining whose POV will dominate the scene can help direct your plot or give a different kind of insight into your main character. For example, red herrings (false clues) can be doled out through the POV of a character who doesn’t know anything, or has reason to lie. Or you can hide the guilt of someone by staying out of their “head.” If you’re stuck in one POV for the entire book—as in first person POV—you have limited options.

4.)    Boingee Boingee…Whatever - Head hopping bounces from character to character, removing the reader from building any great affinity or insight into any one character. This is reason enough to pick a POV per scene. Readers need to get emotionally involved and having a universal narrator describing the scene in omniscient fashion from afar can distance the reader from making any meaningful connection. This worked beautifully in THE BOOK THIEF as I mentioned, because the author told an emotionally charged story, but for the average author, an omniscient POV can sever any hope of a reader connecting with your character(s).

5.)    Dogs are Better than People - Picking the right POV can affect your research. If you don’t feel comfortable writing a police procedural, establish the POV in a character at a crime scene who isn’t a cop. They can be clueless for a reason and you can stay clear of research you don’t feel is “your thing.” Tell a dystopian, post apocalyptic story from the POV of a dog. It could happen.

6.)    Eenie Meenie Mynee Mo, Pick a Loser by the Toe - Selecting the right POV can shove the reader right into the middle of the action or put them in the backseat. For example, in a scene where a guy is undercover and on stake out, he could witness the abduction of a girl. An author could decide to stay in his POV or shift into the girl’s head. Putting the reader into the victim’s head could be scary and more emotional. You can always spring back into Mr. Action’s POV and watch him come to her rescue, but I tend to pick POV by the character with the most to lose. In every scene, I make a choice for a reason. POV doesn’t have to stay with the main character. Be open to new ways to tell a story.

7.)    Name Your Poison - Combining first person with third person POV is tricky but can be done effectively if the transitions are clear. I first tried this in my YA debut book – IN THE ARMS OF STONE ANGELS (Harlequin Teen). I wanted to have the intimacy of a first person narrator through my central character, Brenna Nash, but I also wanted to bring my mystery/thriller techniques to YA and write third person POVs for other characters. The reason I chose to do this was to give the reader insight into some pretty nasty people, so the reader would fear more for my central boy and girl. I also wanted to hide clues to the mystery of who killed Heather. I combined first and third POV in another of my YAs, ON A DARK WING (Harlequin Teen), but after reading other YAs that mixed POVs, I added a tag to the start of every scene in first person. By doing this, I made the transitions easier for the reader to follow.

I'd like to hear from readers who have discovered a great book with an unusual point of view story teller. And from you authors, I'd love to hear any tips you have to share on POV.