tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-46313649103429977822024-03-05T06:31:02.277-08:00Plamena Schmidt+ Fictional characters crossing +Plamena Schmidthttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14222695582552877560noreply@blogger.comBlogger14125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4631364910342997782.post-38244288528108564052011-10-20T13:23:00.000-07:002011-10-20T13:30:38.095-07:00Studying the Market: Then and Now (Part I)<!--[if gte mso 9]><xml> <w:worddocument> <w:view>Normal</w:View> <w:zoom>0</w:Zoom> <w:trackmoves/> <w:trackformatting/> <w:punctuationkerning/> <w:validateagainstschemas/> <w:saveifxmlinvalid>false</w:SaveIfXMLInvalid> <w:ignoremixedcontent>false</w:IgnoreMixedContent> <w:alwaysshowplaceholdertext>false</w:AlwaysShowPlaceholderText> <w:donotpromoteqf/> <w:lidthemeother>EN-US</w:LidThemeOther> <w:lidthemeasian>X-NONE</w:LidThemeAsian> <w:lidthemecomplexscript>X-NONE</w:LidThemeComplexScript> <w:compatibility> <w:breakwrappedtables/> <w:snaptogridincell/> <w:wraptextwithpunct/> <w:useasianbreakrules/> 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mso-style-noshow:yes; mso-style-priority:99; mso-style-qformat:yes; mso-style-parent:""; mso-padding-alt:0in 5.4pt 0in 5.4pt; mso-para-margin-top:0in; mso-para-margin-right:0in; mso-para-margin-bottom:10.0pt; mso-para-margin-left:0in; line-height:115%; mso-pagination:widow-orphan; font-size:11.0pt; font-family:"Calibri","sans-serif"; mso-ascii-font-family:Calibri; mso-ascii-theme-font:minor-latin; mso-fareast-font-family:"Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-theme-font:minor-fareast; mso-hansi-font-family:Calibri; mso-hansi-theme-font:minor-latin;} </style> <![endif]--> <p class="MsoNormal" style="font-family:georgia;"><span style="font-size:100%;"><br /></span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="font-family:georgia;"><span style="font-size:100%;">When I first started writing, researching the publishing market meant this:</span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="font-family:georgia;"><span style="font-size:100%;"><br /></span></p> <p class="MsoNormal" style="font-family:georgia;"><span style="font-size:100%;">1. Going into a bookstore on the way home from school.</span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="font-family:georgia;"><span style="font-size:100%;"><br /></span></p> <p class="MsoNormal" style="font-family:georgia;"><span style="font-size:100%;">2. Scanning the shelves of the YA section, especially the books on special displays that were selling REALLY well. (I was already reading blogs at that time, and I knew I needed to get a sense of what was out there. I didn’t want to walk into the writing world wearing a blindfold.)</span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="font-family:georgia;"><span style="font-size:100%;"><br /></span></p> <p class="MsoNormal" style="font-family:georgia;"><span style="font-size:100%;">3. Looking at covers, reading book blurbs and the first few sentences of the first pages.<br /></span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="font-family:georgia;"><span style="font-size:100%;"><br /></span></p> <p class="MsoNormal" style="font-family:georgia;"><span style="font-size:100%;">4. Drawing conclusions. (Note: At the time I wasn’t paying much attention to writing style and that stuff yet. This was probably a good thing since it can be overwhelming, and the important thing then was to start writing.)</span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="font-family:georgia;"><span style="font-size:100%;"><br /></span></p> <p class="MsoNormal" style="font-family:georgia;"><span style="font-size:100%;">Results: The most popular YA books had 3 things: (Yes, it was that easy! Lol)</span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="font-family:georgia;"><span style="font-size:100%;"><br /></span></p> <p class="MsoNormal" style="font-family:georgia;"><span style="font-size:100%;">Ready?</span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="font-family:georgia;"><span style="font-size:100%;"><br /></span></p> <p class="MsoNormal" style="font-family:georgia;"><span style="font-size:100%;">….</span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="font-family:georgia;"><span style="font-size:100%;"><br /></span></p> <p class="MsoNormal" style="font-family:georgia;"><span style="font-size:100%;">I. Death/murder, or at least the threat of one or the other.</span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="font-family:georgia;"><span style="font-size:100%;"><br /></span></p> <p class="MsoNormal" style="font-family:georgia;"><span style="font-size:100%;">II. Romance (the more impossible, the better.)</span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="font-family:georgia;"><span style="font-size:100%;"><br /></span></p> <p class="MsoNormal" style="font-family:georgia;"><span style="font-size:100%;">III. Something special about the main character. (Ability, circumstances, etc.)</span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="font-family:georgia;"><span style="font-size:100%;"><br /></span></p> <p class="MsoNormal" style="font-family:georgia;"><span style="font-size:100%;"> </span></p> <p class="MsoNormal" style="font-family:georgia;"><span style="font-size:100%;">I headed home with my newfound knowledge, but if just made me sad and dragged me down. What if I didn’t want to write about any of those things? In fact, knowing that I should probably try to write about them made me want to write about them even less.</span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="font-family:georgia;"><span style="font-size:100%;"><br /></span></p> <p class="MsoNormal" style="font-family:georgia;"><span style="font-size:100%;">Blogs were saying: Write the novel you want to read. Write the novel you want to write.<br /></span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="font-family:georgia;"><span style="font-size:100%;"><br /></span></p> <p class="MsoNormal" style="font-family:georgia;"><span style="font-size:100%;">I abandoned my research. I was going to write the story I wanted to.</span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="font-family:georgia;"><span style="font-size:100%;"><br /></span></p> <p class="MsoNormal" style="font-family:georgia;"><span style="font-size:100%;">TIME TIME TIME TIME TIME TIME<br /></span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="font-family:georgia;"><span style="font-size:100%;"><br /></span></p> <p class="MsoNormal" style="font-family:georgia;"><span style="font-size:100%;">A year and a half later, I’ve written a novel that has: death and murder, and the threat of both, as well as romance and a special main character. I never forced the story to bend so that it would include those aspects. But it did. I had even forgotten about my “research.” Weird? Maybe. It’s possible that on a subconscious level those elements stuck with me.<br /></span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="font-family:georgia;"><span style="font-size:100%;"><br /></span></p> <p class="MsoNormal" style="font-family:georgia;"><span style="font-size:100%;">So my advice here is: <b style="mso-bidi-font-weight:normal">Don’t</b> force your novel to follow a trend, but <b style="mso-bidi-font-weight:normal">Do</b> observe the market.<br /></span></p><p style="font-family: georgia;font-family:georgia;" class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size:100%;"><br /></span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="font-family:georgia;"><span style="font-size:100%;"><span style="font-family: georgia; font-weight: bold;">How about you? Do you study the market? What kind of novels do you write?</span><br /></span></p>Plamena Schmidthttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14222695582552877560noreply@blogger.com7tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4631364910342997782.post-64999255341740992722011-10-13T11:50:00.004-07:002011-10-13T12:04:03.573-07:00You Can Change It Later<!--[if gte mso 9]><xml> <w:worddocument> <w:view>Normal</w:View> <w:zoom>0</w:Zoom> <w:trackmoves/> <w:trackformatting/> <w:punctuationkerning/> <w:validateagainstschemas/> <w:saveifxmlinvalid>false</w:SaveIfXMLInvalid> <w:ignoremixedcontent>false</w:IgnoreMixedContent> <w:alwaysshowplaceholdertext>false</w:AlwaysShowPlaceholderText> <w:donotpromoteqf/> <w:lidthemeother>EN-US</w:LidThemeOther> <w:lidthemeasian>X-NONE</w:LidThemeAsian> <w:lidthemecomplexscript>X-NONE</w:LidThemeComplexScript> <w:compatibility> <w:breakwrappedtables/> <w:snaptogridincell/> <w:wraptextwithpunct/> <w:useasianbreakrules/> <w:dontgrowautofit/> <w:splitpgbreakandparamark/> <w:dontvertaligncellwithsp/> 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mso-padding-alt:0in 5.4pt 0in 5.4pt; mso-para-margin:0in; mso-para-margin-bottom:.0001pt; mso-pagination:widow-orphan; font-size:11.0pt; font-family:"Calibri","sans-serif"; mso-ascii-font-family:Calibri; mso-ascii-theme-font:minor-latin; mso-fareast-font-family:"Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-theme-font:minor-fareast; mso-hansi-font-family:Calibri; mso-hansi-theme-font:minor-latin; mso-bidi-font-family:"Times New Roman"; mso-bidi-theme-font:minor-bidi;} </style> <![endif]--> <p class="MsoNormal">Today’s post is in the spirit of silliness and making people feel better about their writing. These are all problems that you may or may not find in my first draft.</p> <p class="MsoNormal"><span style=""> </span></p><p class="MsoNormal"><span style="mso-spacerun:yes"><br /></span></p> <p class="MsoNormal">Your Main Character’s love interest morphs from the nice, helpful guy you planned into a weird, over-controlling pervert with an eye twitch.<br /></p><p class="MsoNormal"><br /></p> <p style="font-style: italic;" class="MsoNormal">That’s OK! You can change it later.</p><p style="font-style: italic;" class="MsoNormal"><br /></p> <p class="MsoNormal">Your Main Character has absolutely no reaction to major, life changing events because you’re too busy writing the rest of the scene and keeping all the details straight.<br /></p><p class="MsoNormal"><br /></p> <p style="font-style: italic;" class="MsoNormal">That’s okay. You can change it later.</p><p style="font-style: italic;" class="MsoNormal"><br /></p> <p class="MsoNormal">One of the Bad Guys is obviously NOT a Bad Guy, but your Main Character doesn’t realize this simply because YOU TOLD HER NOT TO.<br /></p><p class="MsoNormal"><br /><span style="mso-spacerun:yes"> </span></p> <p style="font-style: italic;" class="MsoNormal">That’s okay. You can change it later.</p><p style="font-style: italic;" class="MsoNormal"><br /></p> <p class="MsoNormal">Your main characters makes no decisions and just lets stuff happen to them like they’re on a roller coaster.<br /></p><p class="MsoNormal"><br /></p> <p style="font-style: italic;" class="MsoNormal">That’s okay. You can change it later.</p><p style="font-style: italic;" class="MsoNormal"><br /></p> <p class="MsoNormal">Your Main Character has one of three reactions: smiling, sighing or feeling sick to her stomach.</p><p class="MsoNormal"><br /></p> <p style="font-style: italic;" class="MsoNormal">That’s okay. You can change it later.</p><p style="font-style: italic;" class="MsoNormal"><br /></p> <p class="MsoNormal">Your book is getting too long so you cut it short, but the ending isn’t really there anymore.</p><p class="MsoNormal"><br /></p> <p style="font-style: italic;" class="MsoNormal">That’s okay. You can change it later.</p><p style="font-style: italic;" class="MsoNormal"><br /></p> <p class="MsoNormal">You describe minute details of the characters life like the smell of soap in the bathroom, and how they brush their hair, and put their clothes on, and end the scenes/chapters with them going to bed for the night.<br /></p><p class="MsoNormal"><br /></p> <p style="font-style: italic;" class="MsoNormal">That’s okay. You can change it later.</p><p style="font-style: italic;" class="MsoNormal"><br /></p> <p class="MsoNormal">Your scenes have no Objective, Obstacle, or Outcome because you didn’t know they were supposed to.<br /></p><p class="MsoNormal"><br /></p> <p style="font-style: italic;" class="MsoNormal">That’s okay. You can change it later.</p><p style="font-style: italic;" class="MsoNormal"><br /></p> <p class="MsoNormal">Your Main Character has no motive and sometimes just decides to do stuff because that’s what the plot calls for. (Wait, when did someone give them the script?)</p><p class="MsoNormal"><br /></p> <p style="font-style: italic;" class="MsoNormal">That’s okay. You can change it later.</p><p style="font-style: italic;" class="MsoNormal"><br /></p> <p class="MsoNormal">Your Main Character comes to conclusions right on the spot that should take a long time of reflection<span style="mso-spacerun:yes"> </span>and are based on the concepts from your first year Psych course, (which your MC never took).</p><p class="MsoNormal"><br /></p> <p style="font-style: italic;" class="MsoNormal">That’s okay. You can change it later.</p><p style="font-style: italic;" class="MsoNormal"><br /></p> <p class="MsoNormal">Your Main Character conveniently finds passages, letters, maps, as well as overhears conversations so that the plot can work.</p><p class="MsoNormal"><br /></p> <p style="font-style: italic;" class="MsoNormal">That’s okay. You can change it later.</p><p style="font-style: italic;" class="MsoNormal"><br /></p> <p class="MsoNormal">And finally, as well as possibly worse of all, the MC and friend’s plans towards the end of the novel are far-fetched and ridden with holes, but they get away anyway due to lucky circumstances. (Hero has to win, right?)</p><p class="MsoNormal"><br /><span style="mso-spacerun:yes"> </span></p> <p class="MsoNormal">Say it with me, everybody! <i style="">That’s OK! You can change it later.<br /></i></p><p class="MsoNormal"><i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal"><br /></i></p> <p class="MsoNormal"> </p> <p class="MsoNormal">That’s all I can think of. (Like that’s not enough, right?)</p><p class="MsoNormal"><br /></p> <p class="MsoNormal"> </p> <p style="font-weight: bold;" class="MsoNormal">How about you? What problems may or may occur in your first drafts?</p>Plamena Schmidthttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14222695582552877560noreply@blogger.com6tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4631364910342997782.post-1576534350464587112011-10-06T05:52:00.007-07:002011-10-07T06:54:33.307-07:00Harry Potter and the Importance of Comic Relief<a href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/kstatelibrarian/4546729284/" title="JK Rowling's inspiration? by CharNewcomb, on Flickr"><img src="http://farm5.static.flickr.com/4063/4546729284_369d2340e1.jpg" alt="JK Rowling's inspiration?" width="440" height="330" /></a><br />Photo by <a href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/kstatelibrarian/">CharNewcomb</a> via Flickr<br /><br /><!--[if gte mso 9]><xml> <w:worddocument> <w:view>Normal</w:View> <w:zoom>0</w:Zoom> <w:trackmoves/> <w:trackformatting/> <w:punctuationkerning/> <w:validateagainstschemas/> <w:saveifxmlinvalid>false</w:SaveIfXMLInvalid> <w:ignoremixedcontent>false</w:IgnoreMixedContent> 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name="TOC Heading"> </w:LatentStyles> </xml><![endif]--><!--[if gte mso 10]> <style> /* Style Definitions */ table.MsoNormalTable {mso-style-name:"Table Normal"; mso-tstyle-rowband-size:0; mso-tstyle-colband-size:0; mso-style-noshow:yes; mso-style-priority:99; mso-style-parent:""; mso-padding-alt:0in 5.4pt 0in 5.4pt; mso-para-margin-top:0in; mso-para-margin-right:0in; mso-para-margin-bottom:10.0pt; mso-para-margin-left:0in; line-height:115%; mso-pagination:widow-orphan; font-size:11.0pt; font-family:"Calibri","sans-serif"; mso-ascii-font-family:Calibri; mso-ascii-theme-font:minor-latin; mso-hansi-font-family:Calibri; mso-hansi-theme-font:minor-latin; mso-bidi-font-family:"Times New Roman"; mso-bidi-theme-font:minor-bidi;} </style> <![endif]--> <p class="MsoNormal" style="font-family:georgia;"><span style="font-size:100%;">I recently went to see Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows Part 2 and unsurp</span><span style="font-size:100%;">risingly I loved it. </span></p> <p class="MsoNormal" style="font-family:georgia;"><span style="font-size:100%;">I mean, I’ve been a fan of Harry Potter since we read Sorcerer's Stone in class in grade 6 and have been reading the books ever since, practically growing up alongside Harry and watching all the movies and everything. Not quite dressing up and going to the midnight book releases, but still a fan. When someone talks about Harry Potter, I feel like they’re talking about an old friend, not just a fictional character. (Wow, it felt wrong to write Harry Potter and fictional character in the same sentence. Oh no, I just wrote it again.) </span></p> <p class="MsoNormal" style="font-family:georgia;"><span style="font-size:100%;">After my long and roundabout intro of my love for Harry Potter, I want to get to the point of this post—<b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal">comic relief</b>. Because that was one of the biggest things that struck me when I watched this last movie. I tend to watch a lot of comedies, so there are jokes here and there, and generally all the time. Harry Potter, of course, is far from a comedy so the few funny situations really stood out to me and made me think. </span></p> <p class="MsoNormal" style="font-family:georgia;"><span style="font-size:100%;">Since this was the last movie and the second half o</span><span style="font-size:100%;">f the last book in the series, it was very, very tense all the time, nearly-death situations everywhere, getting-away-at-the-nick-of-time type of thing, and frankly, <b style="mso-bidi-font-weight:normal">if it hadn’t been for the few comic situations dispersed throughout the movie, I would have totally burned out</b>. But I didn’t and I totally account it on that. Those moments provided an opportunity for the tension to drop so that it could start building up again. And that’s something we need to consider in our novels. 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Do you pay attention to this in your writing? Any tips?</p><p class="MsoNormal" style="font-family:georgia;"><br /><span style="font-size:100%;"> </span></p>Plamena Schmidthttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14222695582552877560noreply@blogger.com6tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4631364910342997782.post-38434437373421790892011-05-18T03:22:00.002-07:002011-05-18T03:25:23.870-07:00Has Anybody Seen My… Voice?<!--[if gte mso 9]><xml> <w:worddocument> <w:view>Normal</w:View> <w:zoom>0</w:Zoom> <w:trackmoves/> <w:trackformatting/> <w:punctuationkerning/> <w:validateagainstschemas/> <w:saveifxmlinvalid>false</w:SaveIfXMLInvalid> <w:ignoremixedcontent>false</w:IgnoreMixedContent> <w:alwaysshowplaceholdertext>false</w:AlwaysShowPlaceholderText> <w:donotpromoteqf/> <w:lidthemeother>EN-US</w:LidThemeOther> <w:lidthemeasian>X-NONE</w:LidThemeAsian> <w:lidthemecomplexscript>X-NONE</w:LidThemeComplexScript> <w:compatibility> <w:breakwrappedtables/> <w:snaptogridincell/> <w:wraptextwithpunct/> <w:useasianbreakrules/> <w:dontgrowautofit/> 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mso-style-priority:99; mso-style-qformat:yes; mso-style-parent:""; mso-padding-alt:0in 5.4pt 0in 5.4pt; mso-para-margin-top:0in; mso-para-margin-right:0in; mso-para-margin-bottom:10.0pt; mso-para-margin-left:0in; line-height:115%; mso-pagination:widow-orphan; font-size:11.0pt; font-family:"Calibri","sans-serif"; mso-ascii-font-family:Calibri; mso-ascii-theme-font:minor-latin; mso-fareast-font-family:"Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-theme-font:minor-fareast; mso-hansi-font-family:Calibri; mso-hansi-theme-font:minor-latin;} </style> <![endif]--> <p style="font-family: georgia;" class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size:100%;">When I first started writing, I was very afraid that I would lose my voice (the one in my writing). I would write half a novel, maybe even three-quarters of one, and then I would read a book with a strong voice in it and it would alter mine, leaving the rest of my book inconsistent. I’ve read about other writers having a similar concern, and I can understand why. After reading 300-400pg novel with a strong voice over several days, I usually start to think with a different beat, inserting words that were used a lot in the book. It’s most obvious with older books, especially when I start saying “thus” out loud. </span></p> <p style="font-family: georgia;" class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size:100%;">(Now, some of you might argue that what I’m describing isn’t exactly what voice is, and since it’s such a slippery topic, you’re right. Voice is much more than that. Come back Friday for a post discussing voice. However, I did not understand this at the time so I was worried.)</span></p> <p style="font-family: georgia;" class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size:100%;">My solution was—avoid reading books. Now, I love reading, so this wasn’t a good solution for me at all. <span style="mso-spacerun:yes"> </span>It lasted for almost half a year while I wrote my first draft, but eventually I had to read. I missed it too much. So I went ahead and dug into a book, and it was great to read again. The next day I approached my draft, wrote a few pages, and my writing wasn’t really that altered. My voice was still there! Some of the word choices were affected by what I had just read, but that was okay. In fact, writing was easier than usual. The words flowed better and I wrote faster. Reading helps you write! This is probably old news to a lot of you, but for me at the time it was a pretty big discovery. Sure, I had read books that told you to read a lot if you want to be a writer and that it will help you with your writing, but I never really grasped the extent of what they meant till that morning.</span></p> <p style="font-family: georgia;" class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size:100%;"><b style="mso-bidi-font-weight:normal">How about you? What surprises have you had on your writing journey (or with other learning experiences)? Did you have any fears that turned out not to be necessary? </b></span></p> <p style="font-family: georgia;" class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size:100%;"><i style="mso-bidi-font-style:normal">Note: Great giveaway over at <a href="http://www.stinalindenblatt.com/2011/05/celebration-and-giveaway.html">Seeing Creative</a>, Stina Lindenblatt’s blog. She’s celebrating reaching 500 followers and the prizes include Donald Maass’s </i><em><span style="font-style: normal;">Writing the Breakout Novel Workbook as well as first chapter critiques!</span></em></span></p>Plamena Schmidthttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14222695582552877560noreply@blogger.com12tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4631364910342997782.post-23671412651530382272011-05-11T16:55:00.001-07:002011-05-20T18:50:21.069-07:00How to Avoid Writing-related Panic Attacks<!--[if gte mso 9]><xml> <w:worddocument> <w:view>Normal</w:View> <w:zoom>0</w:Zoom> <w:trackmoves/> <w:trackformatting/> <w:punctuationkerning/> <w:validateagainstschemas/> <w:saveifxmlinvalid>false</w:SaveIfXMLInvalid> <w:ignoremixedcontent>false</w:IgnoreMixedContent> <w:alwaysshowplaceholdertext>false</w:AlwaysShowPlaceholderText> <w:donotpromoteqf/> <w:lidthemeother>EN-US</w:LidThemeOther> <w:lidthemeasian>X-NONE</w:LidThemeAsian> <w:lidthemecomplexscript>X-NONE</w:LidThemeComplexScript> <w:compatibility> 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mso-tstyle-rowband-size:0; mso-tstyle-colband-size:0; mso-style-noshow:yes; mso-style-priority:99; mso-style-qformat:yes; mso-style-parent:""; mso-padding-alt:0in 5.4pt 0in 5.4pt; mso-para-margin-top:0in; mso-para-margin-right:0in; mso-para-margin-bottom:10.0pt; mso-para-margin-left:0in; line-height:115%; mso-pagination:widow-orphan; font-size:11.0pt; font-family:"Calibri","sans-serif"; mso-ascii-font-family:Calibri; mso-ascii-theme-font:minor-latin; mso-hansi-font-family:Calibri; mso-hansi-theme-font:minor-latin;} </style> <![endif]--> <p style="font-family: georgia;" class="MsoNormal">I’ve noticed in the writing blogosphere that a lot of us have bouts of elated “this is the best book ever written” as well as many “nobody will ever like this, I don’t even know why I bother, I’m gonna wipe it all off my computer to spare others the misery” moments. If you’re ever experiencing any of the common writer ailments, please scan down the list for easy fixes. </p> <p class="MsoListParagraphCxSpFirst" style="margin-left: 22.5pt; text-indent: -0.25in; font-family: georgia;"><span style="mso-bidi-mso-bidi-theme-font:minor-latin"><span style="mso-list:Ignore">1)<span style="font:7.0pt "Times New Roman""> </span></span></span><b style="mso-bidi-font-weight:normal">Everybody wants to be a writer, there’s so much competition, what are my chances?</b> Well, if you visit writing blogs, it is easy to feel like everybody wants to be a writer, but you have to remember that it’s mostly because those are the people you talk to. Think of people you’ve actually met. How many of them are writers? Not all that many. Try to keep it in perspective.</p> <p class="MsoListParagraphCxSpMiddle" style="margin-left: 22.5pt; text-indent: -0.25in; font-family: georgia;"><span style="mso-bidi-mso-bidi-theme-font:minor-latin"><span style="mso-list:Ignore">2)<span style="font:7.0pt "Times New Roman""> </span></span></span><b style="mso-bidi-font-weight:normal">My character just did something weird/my plot took an unplanned turn, why do I even bother to keep writing, this story will never work now.</b> Remember—you can always, always edit later. It might seem catastrophic at the moment, but if you distance yourself from the particular problem for some time (hopefully by writing the rest of the book), you can always come back and snip, snip until you excise the problem, or remold the scene till it works with the rest of the story.</p> <p class="MsoListParagraphCxSpMiddle" style="margin-left: 22.5pt; text-indent: -0.25in; font-family: georgia;"><span style="mso-bidi-mso-bidi-theme-font:minor-latin"><span style="mso-list:Ignore">3)<span style="font:7.0pt "Times New Roman""> </span></span></span><b style="mso-bidi-font-weight:normal">This is taking sooo long. This first draft/first edit/nth edit will NEVER end.</b> Actually, as long as you keep writing a certain amount per day (no matter how little), you are bound to eventually complete your task. Sure, writing more per day will get it done faster, but either way it will eventually finish. Look back at how much you’ve already done. If you write a certain amount per day, estimate how long it will take and remember: it takes time to get a story down and that’s okay. It’s not a race.</p> <p class="MsoListParagraphCxSpMiddle" style="margin-left: 22.5pt; text-indent: -0.25in; font-family: georgia;"><span style="mso-bidi-mso-bidi-theme-font:minor-latin"><span style="mso-list:Ignore">4)<span style="font:7.0pt "Times New Roman""> </span></span></span><b style="mso-bidi-font-weight:normal">I’m trying really hard to improve my writing, but the industry trades are changing all the time, different agents have opposing opinions, and even my crit buddies can’t agree on how my story should be changed! </b>All of this may be true, but you have to keep in mind that it’s your story and that everybody has different opinions. Everybody will never agree exactly on what they dislike or like about it, and all of the advice out there will not always be applicable for you. You have to do what’s right for your story and characters, as well as what works for you as a writer. </p> <p class="MsoListParagraphCxSpMiddle" style="margin-left: 22.5pt; text-indent: -0.25in; font-family: georgia;"><span style="mso-bidi-mso-bidi-theme-font:minor-latin"><span style="mso-list:Ignore">5)<span style="font:7.0pt "Times New Roman""> </span></span></span><b style="mso-bidi-font-weight:normal">That writer writes so much better than me, I’ll never be that good. </b>You’re probably right. You won’t be that very same good, but you will be your own good. The writers you admire have written for years and years, and the strengths that you admire in them are probably your weaknesses. Which is what makes it interesting. If we all wrote exactly the same way, there won’t be as much variety. Write your own story, write it in your own unique way.</p> <p class="MsoListParagraphCxSpLast" style="margin-left: 22.5pt; text-indent: -0.25in; font-family: georgia;"><span style="mso-bidi-mso-bidi-theme-font:minor-latin"><span style="mso-list:Ignore">6)<span style="font:7.0pt "Times New Roman""> </span></span></span><b style="mso-bidi-font-weight:normal">All the good ideas are already taken.</b> If you boil it down to broad terms such as friendship, love, revenge, etc—then yes, all of the good ideas have been taken, and have been done over and over again. (Because they’re good!) But you can always add twists, and your own personal touches—the execution, the voice, the characters. In the end, it’s all about shedding new light on old concepts.</p><p class="MsoListParagraphCxSpLast" style="margin-left: 22.5pt; text-indent: -0.25in; font-family: georgia;"><br /></p> <p style="font-family: georgia;" class="MsoNormal"><b style="mso-bidi-font-weight:normal">That’s all the ones I can think of for now. What problems and doubts do you have with your writing? 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mso-ascii-font-family:Calibri; mso-ascii-theme-font:minor-latin; mso-hansi-font-family:Calibri; mso-hansi-theme-font:minor-latin;} </style> <![endif]-->Plamena Schmidthttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14222695582552877560noreply@blogger.com15tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4631364910342997782.post-92122145032873893062011-03-15T14:44:00.003-07:002011-03-15T14:51:55.893-07:00Are You Married to Your Writing?<a href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/27630470@N03/3668854884/" title="love by vl8189, on Flickr"><img src="http://farm4.static.flickr.com/3124/3668854884_2a8df0a945.jpg" alt="love" width="440" height="293" /></a><br /><span style="font-family: georgia;">Photo by </span><a style="font-family: georgia;" href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/27630470@N03/3668854884/in/photostream/">vl8189</a><span style="font-family: georgia;"> via Flickr</span><br /><br /><span style="font-family: georgia;"><span style="font-weight: bold;">Warning:</span> Cheesy comparisons ahead</span><br /><br /><span style="font-family: georgia;">As I’ve mentioned before, I’m currently revising the first draft of my very first novel, and I’m trying to decide what book to write next. But the idea I keep coming back to has a main character that might be hard to empathize with, and I keep questioning if there’s any point in writing it. I could easily write a book with a much friendlier, easier to connect with main character, but I can’t help but wonder if I could make this one work. I mean, if it was done well it would probably work, right?</span><br /><br /><span style="font-family: georgia;">And then last night I got to thinking <span style="font-style: italic;">so what if the character doesn’t turn out well?</span> I don’t have to try to make every book “perfect,” and I’m allowed to experiment, especially since I’m just at the beginning of my writing career. And if I don’t like that book, I’ll write another one, and then another one after that. I’m committed to my writing and willing to keep trying in order to make it work. I remember reading that even Sarah Dessen wrote a book and gave it to her agent, but then they later pulled it out (I don’t remember if she made the decision or the agent, but even after having several published books, she still wrote one that “wasn’t good enough” for whatever reason). And that’s okay.</span><br /><br /><span style="font-family: georgia;">Anyways, I guess the point of this post is that I realized how committed I was to my writing and it was quite freeing. I’m not trembling with anxiety anymore to decide what to write next or if it will be good enough, and if it wasn’t, what would that say about me. Writing has made me embrace experimenting, be easier on myself when I make mistakes, and most importantly, be willing to try over and over.</span><br /><br /><span style="font-family: georgia; font-weight: bold;">How about you? Are you “married” to your writing—committed to making it work no matter what, or just writing as long as it stays fun? Has writing changed your approach to the way you work? </span>Plamena Schmidthttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14222695582552877560noreply@blogger.com7tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4631364910342997782.post-51997862030919668872011-03-08T08:06:00.004-08:002011-03-08T08:20:53.363-08:00Using Your Core to Revise<meta equiv="Content-Type" content="text/html; charset=utf-8"><meta name="ProgId" content="Word.Document"><meta name="Generator" content="Microsoft Word 12"><meta name="Originator" content="Microsoft Word 12"><link rel="File-List" href="file:///C:%5CUsers%5CPlamena%5CAppData%5CLocal%5CTemp%5Cmsohtmlclip1%5C01%5Cclip_filelist.xml"><link rel="themeData" href="file:///C:%5CUsers%5CPlamena%5CAppData%5CLocal%5CTemp%5Cmsohtmlclip1%5C01%5Cclip_themedata.thmx"><link rel="colorSchemeMapping" href="file:///C:%5CUsers%5CPlamena%5CAppData%5CLocal%5CTemp%5Cmsohtmlclip1%5C01%5Cclip_colorschememapping.xml"><!--[if gte mso 9]><xml> <w:worddocument> <w:view>Normal</w:View> <w:zoom>0</w:Zoom> <w:trackmoves/> 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line-height:115%; mso-pagination:widow-orphan; font-size:11.0pt; font-family:"Calibri","sans-serif"; mso-fareast-font-family:Calibri; mso-bidi-font-family:"Times New Roman"; mso-ansi-language:EN-US; mso-fareast-language:EN-US;} .MsoChpDefault {mso-style-type:export-only; mso-default-props:yes; font-size:10.0pt; mso-ansi-font-size:10.0pt; mso-bidi-font-size:10.0pt; mso-ascii-font-family:Calibri; mso-fareast-font-family:Calibri; mso-hansi-font-family:Calibri;} @page Section1 {size:612.0pt 792.0pt; margin:72.0pt 72.0pt 72.0pt 72.0pt; mso-header-margin:35.4pt; mso-footer-margin:35.4pt; mso-paper-source:0;} div.Section1 {page:Section1;}</style><span style=""><a href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/22699083@N04/2284340556/" title="Pacific Spirit by lawmurray, on Flickr"><img src="http://farm3.static.flickr.com/2308/2284340556_a1f85c6ded.jpg" alt="Pacific Spirit" width="440" height="330" /></a>
<br /><span style="font-size:100%;">Photo by <a href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/22699083@N04/2284340556/">lawmurray</a> via Flickr
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<br />First of all, Happy International Women's Day, everybody!
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<br />Onto the blog post...
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mso-hansi-font-family:Calibri; mso-hansi-theme-font:minor-latin; mso-bidi-font-family:"Times New Roman"; mso-bidi-theme-font:minor-bidi;} </style> <![endif]--> <p class="MsoNormal" style="font-family:georgia;"><span style="font-size:100%;">I recently finished the first draft of my first novel, and I’m currently revising it, so I’ve been spending a lot of time thinking about the overall picture. I still need to make sure all the characters don’t sound the same when they talk, but before that I want to make sure I have its “essence” down. What’s an essence? Hmm, well, some people call it the core of the story (check out a cool <a href="http://jadehearsvoices.blogspot.com/2011/02/finding-my-core.html">post</a> by my crit buddy, Jade, discussing the core of her newest novel where she references a blog post by Maggie Stiefvater). I like to call it: <b style="">the feeling you’re left with after you close the last page of the book.<o:p></o:p></b></span></p> <p class="MsoNormal" style="font-family:georgia;"><span style="font-size:100%;">Let’s take Twilight as an example (since it’s very popular and most people know it) and use my definition on it. The book is about a girl who falls in love with a vampire, and her life is in danger during most of the book, but especially toward the end. There are some pretty violent scenes and if you go on Amazon you’ll see that the two categories the book is under is “Love & Romance” AND “Spine-Chilling Horror.”<b style=""> </b>I was very surprised to see the horror category. When I closed the book I felt pretty happy—the core of the book is the romance between the two main characters.<o:p></o:p></span></p> <p class="MsoNormal" style="font-family:georgia;"><span style="font-size:100%;">So after reading Jade’s post, I knew I had to identify the core of my book. During revisions I would have to shift the emphasis around in the book, and I didn’t want to lose my core. After some thinking, I realized that the core of my book is all about believing in yourself. I was very happy to find this out. It also helped me decide how to tie up some of the plot threads so that I keep the emphasis on my core and I think it made the book stronger as a whole. <o:p></o:p></span></p> <p class="MsoNormal" style="font-family:georgia;"><span style="font-size:100%;"><b style=""><span style="">How about you? What is the core of your book? Do you keep it in mind while you’re writing/revising?<o:p></o:p></span></b></span></p> <span style="font-size:100%;">
<br /></span> <p class="MsoNormal" style="text-indent: 36pt;"> <span style="font-weight: bold;">
<br /></span></p> Plamena Schmidthttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14222695582552877560noreply@blogger.com13tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4631364910342997782.post-52658077552989266922011-02-10T10:33:00.006-08:002011-02-10T10:50:17.015-08:00It’s Okay to Dream: Crafting an Original Plot<a href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/dominicspics/1127762669/" title="Crossroads by Dominic's pics, on Flickr"><img src="http://farm2.static.flickr.com/1158/1127762669_4f850c3067.jpg" alt="Crossroads" width="440" height="330" /></a>
<br />Photo by <a href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/dominicspics/1127762669/">Dominic's pics</a> via Flickr
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<br /></span> <p class="MsoNormal" style="font-family:georgia;"><span style="font-size:100%;"><span lang="EN-US">In a similar vein to Monday’s post I’m going talk about another one of the many tips James Scott Bell has in his book PLOT & STRUCTURE. (Really a great book. You should get it. No, I don’t work for his marketing team. Why do you ask?)</span></span></p> <p class="MsoNormal" style="font-family:georgia;"><span style="font-size:100%;"><span lang="EN-US">Anyways, his suggestion was about how to come up with original ideas. He said that when you come to an important part in your book (a twist, a life-changing event for the character, or the end) you should let your mind wander and jot down ten ideas about what could happen. The next day you go back to the ideas and think about two or three of the ones that appeal most to you. This way you can have a more original plot instead of one with the scenes unfolding the very first way you imagined them (and also probably the very first way most other people will imagine them). And as he pointed out, you don’t have to end up using them, but it will help you to look at your plot in a different light or it might give you an idea for some other part of the plot.</span></span></p> <p class="MsoNormal" style="font-family:georgia;"><span style="font-size:100%;"><span lang="EN-US">Now, I was pretty hesitant when I read this at first—I’m a plotter with PowerPoint slides to keep everything just right. Abandon my pre-planned plot from six months ago? Never. Impossible! I mean, I’ve thought about it so many times that I can’t even imagine anything going differently. But no matter how brilliant your plot is, it’s always helpful to take another look at it—maybe a plot hole will pop up, or you will really be validated in your brilliance. I haven’t tried it yet, but I’m going to. Soon. I just came up with a shiny new outline for a book yesterday (sort of yesterday, I’ve been thinking about it for a few months) and I can’t wait to experiment!</span></span></p> <p class="MsoNormal" style="font-family:georgia;"><span style="font-size:100%;"><b style=""><span lang="EN-US">What about you? Do you think of different possibilities for scenes or just go with the first thing that comes to mind? Do you find it hard to change a scene that you’ve had planned out for a long time?<o:p></o:p></span></b></span></p> <span style="font-size:100%;">
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<br />Plamena Schmidthttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14222695582552877560noreply@blogger.com10tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4631364910342997782.post-18114090042259406152011-02-07T13:22:00.006-08:002011-02-07T13:45:10.220-08:00Get Your Character Through That Door!<a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/three_french_hens/2373684334/in/photostream/"><img style="cursor: pointer; width: 378px; height: 400px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhZ5pCZ-uVLFAIf4u97G0jgKA5cuR4tbAV8DTBWVLEy9v6mOLxTsby5PGwTMnflzFJNJ9mzqC5fpxV3xsYN1EdwDzhxbuzxHI_S1BYDkzkeSt6Jxj3DOvZdaKHID8C_kbUqJZYJHcH8bYQ/s400/Ladle.bmp" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5571061301136721970" border="0" /></a><br />Photo by <a href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/three_french_hens/2373684334/in/photostream/">Le Petit Poulailler</a> via Flickr<br /><br /><span style="font-size:100%;"><span style=""><span style="font-size:100%;">Yes, I’ve been gone from the blogosphere for the past, oh, two weeks and a half, but I have a great excuse. Okay, I don’t really have one except that I never realized how quickly days pass by and you realize you haven’t blogged. But all’s not lost. While I was gone, I read (both fiction and nonfiction) and revised, and read some more. So I want to share with you what I learned about structure</span> from a little book called PLOT & STRUCTURE by James Scott Bell. Hopefully, you will find it useful <span style=""> </span>: )<o:p></o:p></span></span> <p class="MsoNormal" style="font-family:georgia;"><span style="font-size:100%;"><span style="">Apparently there’s an Act I, II and III (big news, I know). But wait! There’s more. Mr. Bell says: “Let there be a disturbance and two doorways!” He focuses especially on the connections between acts and calls them doorways. For those who are visual learners (like me), this is what it looks like:<o:p></o:p></span></span></p> <p class="MsoNormal" style="font-family:georgia;"><span style="font-size:100%;"><span style=""><o:p> </o:p></span></span></p> <p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 0.0001pt; text-align: center; line-height: normal;font-family:georgia;" align="center"><span style="font-size:100%;"><b style=""><span style="">Act I</span></b><span style=""><o:p></o:p></span></span></p> <p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 0.0001pt; text-align: center; line-height: normal;font-family:georgia;" align="center"><span style="font-size:100%;"><span style="">Character going along the way they usually do <o:p></o:p></span></span></p> <p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 0.0001pt; text-align: center; line-height: normal;font-family:georgia;" align="center"><span style="font-size:100%;"><span style="">(In novels you want to keep this part pretty short, in my MS it’s only about 3.5pgs)</span></span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 0.0001pt; text-align: center; line-height: normal;font-family:georgia;" align="center"><br /><span style="font-size:100%;"><span style=""><o:p></o:p></span></span></p> <p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 0.0001pt; text-align: center; line-height: normal;font-family:georgia;" align="center"><span style="font-size:100%;"><span style=""><o:p> </o:p></span></span></p> <p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 0.0001pt; text-align: center; line-height: normal;font-family:georgia;" align="center"><span style="font-size:100%;"><span style=""><o:p> </o:p></span></span></p> <p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 0.0001pt; text-align: center; line-height: normal;font-family:georgia;" align="center"><span style="font-size:100%;"><span style="">///<u>Disturbance!</u>///<o:p></o:p></span></span></p> <p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 0.0001pt; text-align: center; line-height: normal;font-family:georgia;" align="center"><span style="font-size:100%;"><span style="">Something unusual happens to the character, but they still go on living pretty much the same way<o:p></o:p></span></span></p> <p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 0.0001pt; text-align: center; line-height: normal;font-family:georgia;" align="center"><span style="font-size:100%;"><span style="">(This is usually what makes the reader interested in reading further)</span></span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 0.0001pt; text-align: center; line-height: normal;font-family:georgia;" align="center"><br /><span style="font-size:100%;"><span style=""><o:p></o:p></span></span></p> <p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 0.0001pt; text-align: center; line-height: normal;font-family:georgia;" align="center"><span style="font-size:100%;"><span style=""><o:p> </o:p></span></span></p> <p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 0.0001pt; text-align: center; line-height: normal;font-family:georgia;" align="center"><span style="font-size:100%;"><span style=""><o:p> </o:p></span></span></p> <p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 0.0001pt; text-align: center; line-height: normal;font-family:georgia;" align="center"><span style="font-size:100%;"><span style="">~<i style="">First Doorway</i>~<o:p></o:p></span></span></p> <p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 0.0001pt; text-align: center; line-height: normal;font-family:georgia;" align="center"><span style="font-size:100%;"><span style="">Something happens to character and they have to face the problem, there’s no way going back<o:p></o:p></span></span></p> <p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 0.0001pt; text-align: center; line-height: normal;font-family:georgia;" align="center"><span style="font-size:100%;"><span style="">(This makes the character transition from Act I to Act II)</span></span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 0.0001pt; text-align: center; line-height: normal;font-family:georgia;" align="center"><br /><span style="font-size:100%;"><span style=""><o:p></o:p></span></span></p> <p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 0.0001pt; text-align: center; line-height: normal;font-family:georgia;" align="center"><span style="font-size:100%;"><span style=""><o:p> </o:p></span></span></p> <p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 0.0001pt; text-align: center; line-height: normal;font-family:georgia;" align="center"><span style="font-size:100%;"><span style=""><o:p> </o:p></span></span></p> <p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 0.0001pt; text-align: center; line-height: normal;font-family:georgia;" align="center"><span style="font-size:100%;"><b style=""><span style="">Act II<o:p></o:p></span></b></span></p> <p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 0.0001pt; text-align: center; line-height: normal;font-family:georgia;" align="center"><span style="font-size:100%;"><span style="">Character has to deal with challenges associated with the main problem, further complications arise<o:p></o:p></span></span></p> <p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 0.0001pt; text-align: center; line-height: normal;font-family:georgia;" align="center"><span style="font-size:100%;"><span style="">(This makes up the bulk of the story)</span></span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 0.0001pt; text-align: center; line-height: normal;font-family:georgia;" align="center"><br /><span style="font-size:100%;"><span style=""><o:p></o:p></span></span></p> <p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 0.0001pt; text-align: center; line-height: normal;font-family:georgia;" align="center"><span style="font-size:100%;"><span style=""><o:p> </o:p></span></span></p> <p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 0.0001pt; text-align: center; line-height: normal;font-family:georgia;" align="center"><span style="font-size:100%;"><span style="">~<i style="">Second Doorway</i>~<o:p></o:p></span></span></p> <p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 0.0001pt; text-align: center; line-height: normal;font-family:georgia;" align="center"><span style="font-size:100%;"><span style="">Something happens to character and they have to face the final battle, the novel has to end, and there’s no way going back<o:p></o:p></span></span></p> <p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 0.0001pt; text-align: center; line-height: normal;font-family:georgia;" align="center"><span style="font-size:100%;"><span style="">(This makes the character transition from Act II to Act III)</span></span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 0.0001pt; text-align: center; line-height: normal;font-family:georgia;" align="center"><br /><span style="font-size:100%;"><span style=""><o:p></o:p></span></span></p> <p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 0.0001pt; text-align: center; line-height: normal;font-family:georgia;" align="center"><span style="font-size:100%;"><span style=""><o:p> </o:p></span></span></p> <p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 0.0001pt; text-align: center; line-height: normal;font-family:georgia;" align="center"><span style="font-size:100%;"><span style=""><o:p> </o:p></span></span></p> <p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 0.0001pt; text-align: center; line-height: normal;font-family:georgia;" align="center"><span style="font-size:100%;"><b style=""><span style="">Act III<o:p></o:p></span></b></span></p> <p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 0.0001pt; text-align: center; line-height: normal;font-family:georgia;" align="center"><span style="font-size:100%;"><span style="">Character has to gather whatever tools and help they can get and fight the battle to the end, conclude the novel<o:p></o:p></span></span></p> <p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 0.0001pt; text-align: center; line-height: normal;font-family:georgia;" align="center"><span style="font-size:100%;"><span style="">(This is about a fifth of the novel, about 65pgs in my MS)</span></span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 0.0001pt; text-align: center; line-height: normal;font-family:georgia;" align="center"><br /><span style="font-size:100%;"><span style=""><o:p></o:p></span></span></p> <p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 0.0001pt; text-align: center; line-height: normal;font-family:georgia;" align="center"><span style="font-size:100%;"><span style=""><o:p> </o:p></span></span></p> <p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 0.0001pt; text-align: center; line-height: normal;font-family:georgia;" align="center"><span style="font-size:100%;"><span style=""><o:p> </o:p></span></span></p> <p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 0.0001pt; line-height: normal;font-family:georgia;"><span style="font-size:100%;"><span style="">Mr. Bell especially emphasizes the fact that whatever pushes your character through the doorways between each act, there’s no going back. Let’s use a movie I recently watched as an example of a disturbance and the first doorway. It’s called the Holiday and focuses on two women.<br /></span></span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 0.0001pt; line-height: normal;font-family:georgia;"><br /><span style="font-size:100%;"><span style=""><o:p></o:p></span></span></p> <p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 0.0001pt; line-height: normal;font-family:georgia;"><span style="font-size:100%;"><span style=""><o:p> </o:p></span></span></p> <p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 0.0001pt; line-height: normal;font-family:georgia;"><span style="font-size:100%;"><span style=""><o:p> </o:p></span></span></p> <p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 0.0001pt; line-height: normal;font-family:georgia;"><span style="font-size:100%;"><u><span style="">Example 1 – The Holiday, movie, 2006</span></u></span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 0.0001pt; line-height: normal;font-family:georgia;"><br /><span style="font-size:100%;"><u><span style=""><o:p></o:p></span></u></span></p> <p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 0.0001pt; line-height: normal;font-family:georgia;"><span style="font-size:100%;"><span style=""><o:p> </o:p></span></span></p> <p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 0.0001pt; line-height: normal;font-family:georgia;"><span style="font-size:100%;"><b style=""><span style="">Disturbance</span></b><span style="">—Woman I breaks up with her long time boyfriend because she found out he was cheating on her, Woman II finds out a guy she’s in love with (and she used to date on and off) has just gotten engaged</span></span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 0.0001pt; line-height: normal;font-family:georgia;"><br /><span style="font-size:100%;"><span style=""><o:p></o:p></span></span></p> <p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 0.0001pt; line-height: normal;font-family:georgia;"><span style="font-size:100%;"><span style=""><o:p> </o:p></span></span></p> <p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 0.0001pt; line-height: normal;font-family:georgia;"><span style="font-size:100%;"><span style="">Now, they can technically keep living more or less the way they were, but they both decide to do something unusual—take a vacation far away.<br /></span></span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 0.0001pt; line-height: normal;font-family:georgia;"><br /><span style="font-size:100%;"><span style=""><o:p></o:p></span></span></p> <p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 0.0001pt; line-height: normal;font-family:georgia;"><span style="font-size:100%;"><span style=""><o:p> </o:p></span></span></p> <p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 0.0001pt; line-height: normal;font-family:georgia;"><span style="font-size:100%;"><b style=""><span style="">First doorway</span></b><span style="">—they find each other online and agree to exchange homes for the holidays</span></span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 0.0001pt; line-height: normal;font-family:georgia;"><br /><span style="font-size:100%;"><span style=""><o:p></o:p></span></span></p> <p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 0.0001pt; line-height: normal;font-family:georgia;"><span style="font-size:100%;"><span style=""><o:p> </o:p></span></span></p> <p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 0.0001pt; line-height: normal;font-family:georgia;"><span style="font-size:100%;"><span style="">This takes them through the first doorway and into Act II because they can’t really go back—alone in new places they have to face how their lives are going and what they want to change about their lives.<br /></span></span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 0.0001pt; line-height: normal;font-family:georgia;"><br /><span style="font-size:100%;"><span style=""><o:p></o:p></span></span></p> <p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 0.0001pt; line-height: normal;font-family:georgia;"><span style="font-size:100%;"><span style=""><o:p> </o:p></span></span></p> <p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 0.0001pt; line-height: normal;font-family:georgia;"><span style="font-size:100%;"><span style="">Okay, so I don’t want to talk about the second doorway in case someone wants to watch the movie (it’s a great movie!), but I can do another example.<br /></span></span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 0.0001pt; line-height: normal;font-family:georgia;"><br /><span style="font-size:100%;"><span style=""><span style=""> </span><o:p></o:p></span></span></p> <p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 0.0001pt; line-height: normal;font-family:georgia;"><span style="font-size:100%;"><span style=""><o:p> </o:p></span></span></p> <p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 0.0001pt; line-height: normal;font-family:georgia;"><span style="font-size:100%;"><u><span style="">Example 2 – The Woman Who Only Liked Bad Guys, novel, I just made this one up</span></u></span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 0.0001pt; line-height: normal;font-family:georgia;"><br /><span style="font-size:100%;"><u><span style=""><o:p></o:p></span></u></span></p> <p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 0.0001pt; line-height: normal;font-family:georgia;"><span style="font-size:100%;"><span style=""><o:p> </o:p></span></span></p> <p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 0.0001pt; line-height: normal;font-family:georgia;"><span style="font-size:100%;"><b style=""><span style="">Act I</span></b><span style=""> – Woman reserved to relationships because she’s only attracted to bad guys and has bad experiences as a result of it, takes the same route to work every day</span></span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 0.0001pt; line-height: normal;font-family:georgia;"><br /><span style="font-size:100%;"><span style=""><o:p></o:p></span></span></p> <p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 0.0001pt; line-height: normal;font-family:georgia;"><span style="font-size:100%;"><span style=""><o:p> </o:p></span></span></p> <p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 0.0001pt; line-height: normal;font-family:georgia;"><span style="font-size:100%;"><b style=""><span style="">Disturbance</span></b><span style=""> – A man asks her out while she’s getting coffee in the morning and gives her his number</span></span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 0.0001pt; line-height: normal;font-family:georgia;"><br /><span style="font-size:100%;"><span style=""><o:p></o:p></span></span></p> <p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 0.0001pt; line-height: normal;font-family:georgia;"><span style="font-size:100%;"><span style=""><o:p> </o:p></span></span></p> <p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 0.0001pt; line-height: normal;font-family:georgia;"><span style="font-size:100%;"><b style=""><span style="">First Doorway</span></b><span style=""> – She always, always turns men down, especially his type, but that night she calls him up and accepts to go on a date with him</span></span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 0.0001pt; line-height: normal;font-family:georgia;"><br /><span style="font-size:100%;"><span style=""><o:p></o:p></span></span></p> <p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 0.0001pt; line-height: normal;font-family:georgia;"><span style="font-size:100%;"><span style=""><o:p> </o:p></span></span></p> <p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 0.0001pt; line-height: normal;font-family:georgia;"><span style="font-size:100%;"><b style=""><span style="">Act II</span></b><span style=""> – She goes on a date with him, falls for him, thinks that maybe he’s different (even thought she knows deep down that he’s not), they keep dating, move in together, months pass, but she keeps finding strange things around the house, she’s afraid he’s cheating on her</span></span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 0.0001pt; line-height: normal;font-family:georgia;"><br /><span style="font-size:100%;"><span style=""><o:p></o:p></span></span></p> <p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 0.0001pt; line-height: normal;font-family:georgia;"><span style="font-size:100%;"><span style=""><o:p> </o:p></span></span></p> <p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 0.0001pt; line-height: normal;font-family:georgia;"><span style="font-size:100%;"><b style=""><span style="">Second Doorway</span></b><span style=""> – Two big guys from the police show up at her door and she finds out that he’s involved in trafficking rare government-owned ladles (yes, ladles, why not?) She’s surprised (she was so sure there was another woman) and dismayed (not the ladles! They were so important to their country).</span></span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 0.0001pt; line-height: normal;font-family:georgia;"><br /><span style="font-size:100%;"><span style=""><o:p></o:p></span></span></p> <p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 0.0001pt; line-height: normal;font-family:georgia;"><span style="font-size:100%;"><span style="">She agrees to help the big guys find her boyfriend and track down the ladles.</span></span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 0.0001pt; line-height: normal;font-family:georgia;"><br /><span style="font-size:100%;"><span style=""><o:p></o:p></span></span></p> <p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 0.0001pt; line-height: normal;font-family:georgia;"><span style="font-size:100%;"><span style=""><o:p> </o:p></span></span></p> <p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 0.0001pt; line-height: normal;font-family:georgia;"><span style="font-size:100%;"><b style=""><span style="">Act III</span></b><span style=""> –With the help of the big guys, a lot of guns, and her highest heels she goes out to bring her boyfriend to righteousness. They find him and he goes to jail. The ladles are saved and returned to the country’s treasury. She breaks up with her boyfriend and realizes he really was bad (even thought not exactly for the reasons she thought). She’s sad, but then ends up hooking up with one of the big guys from the police and realizes that she <i style="">can</i> like good guys. Especially ones that know the value of a ladle.</span></span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 0.0001pt; line-height: normal;font-family:georgia;"><br /><span style="font-size:100%;"><span style=""><o:p></o:p></span></span></p> <p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 0.0001pt; line-height: normal;font-family:georgia;"><span style="font-size:100%;"><span style=""><o:p> </o:p></span></span></p> <p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 0.0001pt; line-height: normal;font-family:georgia;"><span style="font-size:100%;"><span style="">Okay, so I got a bit carried away coming up with Example 2, but I hope it made the disturbance and doorways clearer. <span style=""> </span>I should also mention Mr. Bell said that you don’t <i style="">have</i> to have these elements in your novel, but they make it more relatable to readers.</span></span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 0.0001pt; line-height: normal;font-family:georgia;"><br /><span style="font-size:100%;"><span style=""><o:p></o:p></span></span></p> <p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 0.0001pt; line-height: normal;font-family:georgia;"><span style="font-size:100%;"><span style=""><o:p> </o:p></span></span></p> <p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 0.0001pt; line-height: normal;font-family:georgia;"><span style="font-size:100%;"><b style=""><span style="">Agree or disagree? Does your novel have a disturbance and doorways?<o:p></o:p></span></b></span></p>Plamena Schmidthttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14222695582552877560noreply@blogger.com11tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4631364910342997782.post-42896972372745557062011-01-18T09:19:00.006-08:002011-01-18T09:47:47.734-08:00What's Your Process Blogfest!<a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEixABWT03i31GuFIC5yLhKZGDYRh_pBFwZlOUGeVYx4IpwvClNRWcNx3wG-3ZG5w-YlMqBmEBV4U5-stmWifgT4HymWYNjTdgIjnstkslTkLL2NjDSbcpvkPg_ns-cNgBEdhyphenhyphen5kY4sH8dU/s1600/PowerPoint+Picture.bmp"><img style="cursor: pointer; width: 400px; height: 250px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEixABWT03i31GuFIC5yLhKZGDYRh_pBFwZlOUGeVYx4IpwvClNRWcNx3wG-3ZG5w-YlMqBmEBV4U5-stmWifgT4HymWYNjTdgIjnstkslTkLL2NjDSbcpvkPg_ns-cNgBEdhyphenhyphen5kY4sH8dU/s400/PowerPoint+Picture.bmp" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5563576852359346098" border="0" /></a>
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font-size:11.0pt; font-family:"Calibri","sans-serif"; mso-ascii-font-family:Calibri; mso-ascii-theme-font:minor-latin; mso-fareast-font-family:Calibri; mso-fareast-theme-font:minor-latin; mso-hansi-font-family:Calibri; mso-hansi-theme-font:minor-latin; mso-bidi-font-family:"Times New Roman"; mso-bidi-theme-font:minor-bidi; mso-ansi-language:EN-US; mso-fareast-language:EN-US;} .MsoChpDefault {mso-style-type:export-only; mso-default-props:yes; mso-ascii-font-family:Calibri; mso-ascii-theme-font:minor-latin; mso-fareast-font-family:Calibri; mso-fareast-theme-font:minor-latin; mso-hansi-font-family:Calibri; mso-hansi-theme-font:minor-latin; mso-bidi-font-family:"Times New Roman"; mso-bidi-theme-font:minor-bidi; mso-fareast-language:EN-US;} .MsoPapDefault {mso-style-type:export-only; margin-bottom:10.0pt; line-height:115%;} @page Section1 {size:612.0pt 792.0pt; margin:72.0pt 72.0pt 72.0pt 72.0pt; mso-header-margin:35.4pt; mso-footer-margin:35.4pt; mso-paper-source:0;} div.Section1 {page:Section1;} --> </style><!--[if gte mso 10]> <style> /* Style Definitions */ table.MsoNormalTable {mso-style-name:"Table Normal"; mso-tstyle-rowband-size:0; mso-tstyle-colband-size:0; mso-style-noshow:yes; mso-style-priority:99; mso-style-qformat:yes; mso-style-parent:""; mso-padding-alt:0cm 5.4pt 0cm 5.4pt; mso-para-margin-top:0cm; mso-para-margin-right:0cm; mso-para-margin-bottom:10.0pt; mso-para-margin-left:0cm; line-height:115%; mso-pagination:widow-orphan; font-size:11.0pt; font-family:"Calibri","sans-serif"; mso-ascii-font-family:Calibri; mso-ascii-theme-font:minor-latin; mso-fareast-font-family:"Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-theme-font:minor-fareast; mso-hansi-font-family:Calibri; mso-hansi-theme-font:minor-latin;} </style> <![endif]--> <p class="MsoNormal" style="font-family:georgia;"><span lang="EN-US" style="font-size:100%;">As we all (hopefully) know, today is the <a href="http://shalleemcarthur.blogspot.com/">What’s Your Process Blogfest!</a> over at Shallee’s blog <a href="http://shalleemcarthur.blogspot.com/">Life, the Universe, and Writing</a>. If you just found out, I’m sure it’s not too late to sign up and share your process.</span></p> <p class="MsoNormal" style="font-family:georgia;"><span lang="EN-US" style="font-size:100%;">Shallee mentioned some fancy ways to use Word (which probably aren’t really that fancy, but I still hadn’t heard about them until today. Useful stuff!) I’ve only written one first draft so I’m definitely not an expert, but I’ll still let you know how I went about it.</span></p> <p class="MsoNormal" style="font-family:georgia;"><span lang="EN-US" style="font-size:100%;">Firstly, I thought I would be a pantser, but it turned out I’m a plotter. A relatively detailed plotter. Either that, or maybe it’s the fact that I write so much slower than I plot that by the third chapter I had a detailed plot. Which worked for me, because something about not knowing how the novel would end, or what will happen next, or if it will all turn out okay made me really anxious and paralyzed my writing, so I had to figure it out before I could go on.</span></p> <p class="MsoNormal" style="font-family:georgia;"><span lang="EN-US" style="font-size:100%;"><a href="http://abbyannis.blogspot.com/2010/04/i-think-im-addicted-to-post-its.html">Abby Annis</a> wrote a post about using post-its to help plan your chapters so I started out doing that, but the sticky notes kept falling off my dresser, and I moved onto fancier technology—PowerPoint. Very handy. I recommend it. You can move your slides around, and add new ones wherever you need them, and they don’t get lost under your dresser. </span></p> <p class="MsoNormal" style="font-family:georgia;"><span lang="EN-US" style="font-size:100%;">So after I transferred my sticky notes to PowerPoint slides, I arranged them around to my satisfaction. Each slide was a scene, and I moved them around till I got chapters. I found it really helpful to be able to see all the slides in front of me so I could “read” though my novel in a few minutes and check for pacing, and whether I’m missing something, and make sure there’s enough variety between the types of scenes (not too many action scenes right beside each other because they desensitize the reader, and not too many non-action scenes because they lead to snoozing). </span></p> <p class="MsoNormal" style="font-family:georgia;"><span lang="EN-US" style="font-size:100%;">As for how I actually write, I usually don’t write linearly because it becomes tedious for me. But I do write semi-linearly, as in I write up to a point, skip forward to write one or two scenes, and then come back to that first point, and continue. Writing a scene towards the end of the novel sometimes helps with fleshing scenes that happen earlier, especially if you need to add detail or foreshadowing to those earlier scenes. (If you already know what the later scenes sound like, it’s easy to slip in a few things here and there when you go back to write the earlier scenes.)</span></p> <p class="MsoNormal" style="font-family:georgia;"><span lang="EN-US" style="font-size:100%;">And that’s how I wrote my first draft. It’s at about 95,000 words right now, and I’m revising it, and trying not to freak out because it feels like it’s going to be just as difficult as writing it from scratch.
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<br /><p class="MsoNormal" style="font-family:georgia;"><span lang="EN-US" style="font-size:100%;"><o:p> </o:p></span></p> <p style="font-weight: bold;" class="MsoNormal"><span lang="EN-US"><span style="font-weight: bold;font-family:georgia;font-size:100%;" >How about you? Is your process similar? Any revision tips are greatly appreciated : ) I look forward to reading everybody else’s entries! </span><span style=""> </span><span style=""> </span><span style=""> </span></span></p>
<br />Plamena Schmidthttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14222695582552877560noreply@blogger.com28tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4631364910342997782.post-62299571604761744492011-01-12T06:42:00.004-08:002011-01-12T07:15:45.706-08:00How to Get an Agent: Dream Version<a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/dotcompals/3449854626/"><img style="cursor: pointer; width: 400px; height: 266px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjLmcX2_E3NnBuLyxDRaSEYgYfFVeT5YK0xWjmpNTbYKLm8lUy8NelYDLCeJPUYrh3avTGn_S_MUfn8S-b_VlvxIkyPE6cPBYWzdCh8NbAAnTWP5S5qBjoCIaxpcIdz7C65fR6wwuFt3Jo/s400/Clouds.bmp" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5561310026349525778" border="0" /></a>
<br /><span style="font-size:100%;"><span style="font-family: georgia;">Photo by </span><a style="font-family: georgia;" href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/dotcompals/3449854626/">dotcompals</a><span style="font-family: georgia;"> via Flickr</span></span>
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mso-tstyle-colband-size:0; mso-style-noshow:yes; mso-style-priority:99; mso-style-qformat:yes; mso-style-parent:""; mso-padding-alt:0cm 5.4pt 0cm 5.4pt; mso-para-margin-top:0cm; mso-para-margin-right:0cm; mso-para-margin-bottom:10.0pt; mso-para-margin-left:0cm; line-height:115%; mso-pagination:widow-orphan; font-size:11.0pt; font-family:"Calibri","sans-serif"; mso-ascii-font-family:Calibri; mso-ascii-theme-font:minor-latin; mso-fareast-font-family:"Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-theme-font:minor-fareast; mso-hansi-font-family:Calibri; mso-hansi-theme-font:minor-latin;} </style> <![endif]--><span style="font-family: georgia;font-size:100%;" ><span style=""><span style="font-size:100%;"><span style="font-family: georgia; color: rgb(51, 51, 51);"></span></span><o:p></o:p></span></span> <p style="font-family: georgia;" class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size:100%;"><span style="">No, I don't mean like a daydream, where you hope that you'll write one query letter to the one perfect agent, and they'll call you right back the very next day, begging you to sign with them. I mean a dream while you're sleeping.
<br /></span></span></p><p style="font-family: georgia;" class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size:100%;"><span style="">Some time ago, I was reading a lot about how to get an agent, how to make your query really stand out, etc (not so much now, I’m trying to concentrate on revisions), and I guess all that psyching myself out finally seeped into my subconscious.
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mso-tstyle-colband-size:0; mso-style-noshow:yes; mso-style-priority:99; mso-style-qformat:yes; mso-style-parent:""; mso-padding-alt:0cm 5.4pt 0cm 5.4pt; mso-para-margin-top:0cm; mso-para-margin-right:0cm; mso-para-margin-bottom:10.0pt; mso-para-margin-left:0cm; line-height:115%; mso-pagination:widow-orphan; font-size:11.0pt; font-family:"Calibri","sans-serif"; mso-ascii-font-family:Calibri; mso-ascii-theme-font:minor-latin; mso-fareast-font-family:"Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-theme-font:minor-fareast; mso-hansi-font-family:Calibri; mso-hansi-theme-font:minor-latin;} </style> <![endif]--><span style="font-family: georgia;font-size:100%;" ><span style="font-size: 11pt; line-height: 115%;"></span></span> <p style="font-family: georgia;" class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size:100%;"><span style=""><span style="font-weight: bold;">My dream: </span><o:p></o:p></span></span></p> <p style="font-family: georgia;" class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size:100%;"><span style="">The agent is hosting a birthday party, kind of Great Gatsby style, but the dresses aren’t as fancy and there are pets. Everywhere. Because it’s a “Bring Your Pet Party.” So there are all these cats and dogs, and other furry animals running around knocking the furniture over, but nobody seems to mind. Because they have a goal: to woo the agent. <o:p></o:p></span></span></p> <p style="font-family: georgia;" class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size:100%;"><span style="">That’s right. The party consists mostly of writers who are looking for an agent, myself included. So I’m not surprised when I walk into a room and a hoard of admirers is clustering around the agent. <span style=""> </span>She’s sitting in front of a piano, and I can’t see it from all the people, but I know it’s there. (Remember: it’s a dream.) I have no idea how I’m going to make myself stand out or even get her to see me, but I still approach them. And then it gets even more dream-like.<o:p></o:p></span></span></p> <p style="font-family: georgia;" class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size:100%;"><span style="">The people decide to wander away, and it’s just me facing the agent one-on-one. It’s my chance! Now or never. And I don’t remember now, but somehow (maybe from a comment I had just overheard before everybody left) I know that the agent has a cat and loves cats. I have a cat, too (see photo). And as I stare at the agent, my elevator pitch totally forgotten, I know one thing: my cat will get me an agent.<o:p></o:p></span></span></p> <p style="font-family: georgia;" class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size:100%;"><span style=""><span style=""> </span>That’s it. The key. It’s simple, and quite logical, really. I have a cat. Agent has a cat (a very similar one, too). It’s meant to be. I wave my hands around telling the agent to stay there, and that I would be right back. Because I know she would understand as soon as she saw my cat. Conveniently, I’ve brought it to the party, because it’s a pet party, duh. But as I weave in and out of the crowds, looking for my cat, more hopeful than ever that I will get an agent, my dream fades.<o:p></o:p></span></span></p> <p style="font-family: georgia;" class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size:100%;"><span style="">Yup. I just woke up after that. Kind of a bummer, but I was still so elated after the dream, and only half logical that I stayed happy. I mean, dreams like this must be a good sign, right?<o:p></o:p></span></span></p> <p style="font-family: georgia;" class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size:100%;"><span style="">Anyways, when I woke up and became my only slightly more logical and realistic self, all I could do was think back of the dream wishfully. A pet party? That’s one cool agent. Pets that get you an agent? Even more awesome.
<br /></span></span></p><p style="font-family: georgia;" class="MsoNormal">
<br /><span style="font-size:100%;"><span style=""><o:p></o:p></span></span></p> <p style="font-weight: bold;" class="MsoNormal"><span style=""><span style="font-size:100%;"><span style="font-family: georgia;">How about you? What kind of dreams do you have about getting an agent (daydreams included)? Do they involve pets?</span></span><o:p></o:p></span></p>
<br />Plamena Schmidthttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14222695582552877560noreply@blogger.com18tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4631364910342997782.post-89219396960924426912011-01-10T06:29:00.004-08:002011-01-10T06:38:31.377-08:00The Hottest New Idea<a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/qisur/4351196974/"><img style="cursor: pointer; width: 400px; height: 299px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgNptlnqRSO5DjzXiVex21npzKdUsggha8x4QjHUPmNiYQjxz6NqlNQpt8qFaTIt1eihGEpzRdJkAa9Y5YIe4YV5leN6-inlJp8uio3mKlcZPSFABeVUBsVX14rs_Z7HzsqwtdWJnamHAA/s400/Idea+Bulb.bmp" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5560565537601793170" border="0" /></a>
<br /><span style="font-family:times new roman;">
<br /><span style=";font-family:georgia;font-size:100%;" >Photo "<a href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/qisur/4351196974/">Idea Bulb</a>" by Ramunas Geciauskas from Flickr
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<br /></span></span></p> <p class="MsoNormal" style="font-family:georgia;"><span style="font-size:100%;"><span style="">Some people have said that vampires are getting old, and aliens will be the next big trend, but I disagree. The newest trend is… that there is no new trend, or novel idea. At least I don’t think so. It’s mostly the same old, basic ones that we recycle over and over again.<o:p></o:p></span></span></p> <p class="MsoNormal" style="font-family:georgia;"><span style="font-size:100%;"><span style="">Before I even started writing, I just sat around discarding story ideas because they were all too similar to ones I’ve read and I really, really wanted to come up with a novel idea, something that would shake the world up. And this was both frustrating and discouraging, because everything seemed to have already been written about, and I wished I could go back in time when fewer things had been written and there had been fewer writers so that I could write something for the first time. <o:p></o:p></span></span></p> <p class="MsoNormal" style="font-family:georgia;"><span style="font-size:100%;"><span style="">So I was kind of stuck and not writing anything, until finally I got my mind around to the fact that it didn’t matter. At all. And it wasn’t about the idea, but about how you write it, the spin you give it. It’s not as if I’ll wake up tomorrow and write something and say to you: <o:p></o:p></span></span></p> <p class="MsoNormal" style="font-family:georgia;"><span style="font-size:100%;"><span style="">“Hey, I have a book with a totally new concept, I’ve decided to call it <i style="">love</i>. It’s a little elusive, but I’m hoping to fix that during revision, maybe my crit buddies will help.” <o:p></o:p></span></span></p> <p class="MsoNormal" style="font-family:georgia;"><span style="font-size:100%;"><span style="">And that’s okay. And maybe it’s even better that way because all the important things have been written about—love, friendship, fitting in, finding yourself, etc. As writers we always strive to come up with new stuff and I think we’re often scared that it won’t be new enough, it won’t be different enough, why are we even bothering, but really, it should make us feel better. Because 1) in the end the important things are all the same, so really we shouldn’t worry so much about coming up with something because it’s already been done, we should concentrate on expressing it, and 2) that means that there’s a lot of other people out there trying to say the same things as us so even if our unique viewpoint on them doesn’t reach that many people, theirs might.<o:p></o:p></span></span></p> <p class="MsoNormal" style="font-family:georgia;"><span style="font-size:100%;"><span style="">Just a thought. <span style=""> </span><o:p></o:p></span></span></p> <p class="MsoNormal" style="font-family:georgia;"><span style="font-size:100%;"><span style=""><span style="font-weight: bold;">What do you think? Agree or disagree?</span><o:p></o:p></span></span></p>
<br />Plamena Schmidthttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14222695582552877560noreply@blogger.com7tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4631364910342997782.post-21063770121046573422011-01-08T21:00:00.002-08:002011-01-08T22:34:10.764-08:00Thank You!<a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/27282406@N03/4134661728/in/photostream/"><img style="cursor: pointer; width: 450px; height: 338px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgSHthzUplBxmvZNvkpZFn8YDD5gRlJLI1UqH0kdII_fJaUMaNHmKbEiFcoQjfy143aZ8xhKagGNr5TSkCXOq01l-T-2tKwHDlnHwGABmCRYvGyhQlDaOm4AFgQuELKvy25O-plYVxf414/s400/Thank+You.bmp" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5560068402850808322" border="0" /></a><br />Image by <a href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/27282406@N03/4134661728/in/photostream/">vistamommy</a> from Flickr<br /><br /><p></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="font-family:georgia;"><span style="">I was going to write a gushy and rambling post about how delighted I am by the warm welcome from the writing and blogging community, but I have a headache (I don’t know why) so I’m going to keep it short and sweet. <o:p></o:p></span></p> <p class="MsoNormal" style="font-family:georgia;"><span style="">Thank you so much to everybody who stopped by my blog (the lurkers and the commenters), thank you for the encouraging comments and the warm welcome. And an especially big THANK YOU to my crit buddy, <a href="http://abbyannis.blogspot.com/">Abby Annis</a>, for being so thoughtful and mentioning my new blog on hers. I really doubted my post would reach anybody I didn’t know, but it did and made me super happy! It definitely made my <s>week </s>day!</span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="font-family:georgia;"><span style=""> <o:p></o:p></span></p> <p style="font-style: italic;font-family:georgia;" class="MsoNormal"><span style="">Oh, and I almost forgot to mention the <a href="http://shalleemcarthur.blogspot.com/2011/01/announcing-whats-your-process-blogfest.html">What’s Your Process Blogfest</a> Shallee is hosting. I already signed up, and it sounds like a great opportunity to talk about your writing process, and maybe even learn something new.</span></p>Plamena Schmidthttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14222695582552877560noreply@blogger.com4tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4631364910342997782.post-76944730905968643322011-01-05T21:00:00.017-08:002011-01-06T17:28:26.940-08:00Starting at the Beginning<a title="Old newspaper by ShironekoEuro[busy], on Flickr" href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/shironekoeuro/4040697914/"><img alt="Old newspaper" src="http://farm3.static.flickr.com/2735/4040697914_27341dc15a.jpg" width="450" height="350" /></a><br /><br /><span style="font-family:times new roman;">Photo "Old New<span style="font-size:100%;">spap</span>er" by </span><a href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/shironekoeuro/4040697914/"><span style="font-family:times new roman;">ShironekoEuro</span></a><span style="font-family:times new roman;">, available under a </span><a class="external text" title="http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc/3.0/us/" href="http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/2.0/deed.en" rel="nofollow"><span style="font-family:times new roman;">Creative Commons Generic license</span></a><span style="font-family:times new roman;">.<br /></span><span style="font-size:100%;"><br /></span><span style="font-size:100%;"><span style="font-family:georgia;"><span style="font-family:georgia;">When I started writing my very first WiP back in May 2010, I promised myself I would start a blog after I finished it. Middle of December 2010, I finished it. And since then I’ve been twiddling around trying to start a blog.<br /><br /></span><span style="font-family:georgia;">While I was writing my WiP, I read a ton of blogs, learned a lot, was sure I had gotten the hang of it. Many times I went to bed with possible blog entries I could write rolling around in my head. But when I finally set my blog up a few days ago, all I could do was keep changing the background, tweaking the</span> colours of the letters. As if that would help me have a good blog. As if getting that shade of green a tad darker would make everybody like me.<br /><br />I knew that if I could just write those first few entries, I would be fine, but I couldn’t come up with anything. So I didn’t.<br /><br />Not until I saw this: </span><a href="http://www.ted.com/talks/brene_brown_on_vulnerability.html"><span style="font-family:georgia;">http://www.ted.com/talks/brene_brown_on_vulnerability.html</span></a><span style="font-family:georgia;"> on </span><a href="http://skateorbate.blogspot.com/"><span style="font-family:georgia;">http://skateorbate.blogspot.com/</span></a><span style="font-family:georgia;"><br /><br />I clicked on it just to see what it was about, and almost stopped right away when I saw it was twenty minutes long. Twenty minutes? I had so many other things to do. Like finding the perfect background of my blog. But I was hooked after only a few seconds, and ended up watching the whole thing and rewinding over several parts. Brene Brown made a great speech, pausing at the right moments, inserting a joke here and there. And she said cool things like “shame is the fear of disconnection” and “vulnerability, this idea of, in order for connection to happen, we have to allow ourselves to be seen, really seen.” And that to deal with the discomfort associated with vulnerability, you have to believe you are worthy of love, belonging, connection.<br /><br />Her speech touched me. Not in a creepy way, in a good way. Like I’ve rediscovered the world, or somebody had given me a special pair of glasses that made everything clearer. And while she was talking about being worthy, a memory resurfaced in my mind about when I used to take the subway to high school and college. There was a newspaper (I’m pretty sure there still is, I don’t know why I’m talking like it was decades ago, it was only a few year back) called metro, and most people read it since it was free. Having something free definitely shoots its popularity way up, and it doesn’t matter so much if it’s any good or not because, hey, you’re not losing any money on it. And metro was decent, and helped to pass the crowded, sweaty, rush hour subway ride to work, or school, or wherever you were going. But I didn’t pick it up for years.<br /><br />I’m not sure why I thought I shouldn’t get one for myself. Maybe not to waste it because somebody else might like to have it? I liked to read it. I read it after one of my friends in high school was done reading it, a way of recycling it. But it took me three, if not even four years to get one. One day I walked past the stacks of newspapers that were almost my height and wished I could read the newspaper, but it was too bad that none of my friends were around to get it from them. And then it hit me: I could get one myself. Right now it’s laughable how long it took me to come up with that, but it wasn’t because I didn’t already know that. Technically, I knew I could. I never really felt worthy to get one, I guess. But if anybody else could have one, why couldn’t I? Sure, somebody else might like to have it, but I had as much right to it. And so I backtracked, grabbed one, and walked away with it like it was a thick wad of money, because it wasn’t about the newspaper, it was about the sense that I was worthy, as good as anybody else, and that, even though in only a tiny way, I had owned up to it.<br /><br />As soon as I remembered this, I knew the problem I was having with my first blog entry was similar. It wasn’t that there was too much pink in my back ground (even though there might be). And it wasn’t that I had to keep changing it till I get the right one (even though I probably will keep changing them, it’s kind of fun). It was because I couldn’t own it, be who I am, believe I was as good as anybody else who blogged, and had just as much right to be liked.<br /><br />But the funny thing is, as soon as I pinpointed my fear, it shrank and was almost gone. I say almost because it’s still there, but as long as I know what it is, I can keep my eye on it and keep going. It doesn’t paralyze me anymore. And so here I am. Starting a blog. Starting at the beginning.<br /><br /><strong>How about you? Were you nervous about writing your first blog entry? Did it take you a lot of time or did you just dive right in?</strong></span></span>Plamena Schmidthttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14222695582552877560noreply@blogger.com15