How many times have you seen these words as an intro to a book or film title?
Chasing (insert name here) Amy, Harry Winston, Daylight, etc.
Becoming (insert proper noun or verb here) Jane, A Madman, Quincy.
I mean no offense to anyone with one of these titles. I'm just wondering if it was the writer's decision or the publisher's.
Maybe someone did a psycho-graphic profile of potential readers and saw that their synapses fired when they saw books that began with one of these words. What's your theory?
Being true to your characters
What does this mean to you? I've always heard this thrown about and have never really given it a lot of thought. It's simple: just create some believable characters and there you go, why all the DEEP THOUGHTS?
But then I had an epiphany.
I was doing some revising, thanks to my crit group, and I came to a passage where I was changing a character's reactions and his motivation. This character is named Balthazar. It suddenly dawned on me.
Balthazar wouldn't say that. He would be more serious and grave, almost threatening.
And that's when it clicked. Sure, it's a small thing, but it was the first time I ever really felt it with one of my characters. It was looking at the scene in a new way, from Balthazar's point of view and saying, No what would he REALLY do in this situation? Don't just gloss over it.
Sure, this may not be a great revelation to some of you, but for me, it was progress. It was especially enlightening because the passage I changed was one that I have had from the book's first incarnation, a year and a half ago. Me: "I can't change that passage. That's the way it's always been. If I change it, oh my God, what will happen then?"
Just let go.....
So, I don't know if I expressed this very well, but if you understand my babbling, let me know how you feel about being true to your characters.
But then I had an epiphany.
I was doing some revising, thanks to my crit group, and I came to a passage where I was changing a character's reactions and his motivation. This character is named Balthazar. It suddenly dawned on me.
Balthazar wouldn't say that. He would be more serious and grave, almost threatening.
And that's when it clicked. Sure, it's a small thing, but it was the first time I ever really felt it with one of my characters. It was looking at the scene in a new way, from Balthazar's point of view and saying, No what would he REALLY do in this situation? Don't just gloss over it.
Sure, this may not be a great revelation to some of you, but for me, it was progress. It was especially enlightening because the passage I changed was one that I have had from the book's first incarnation, a year and a half ago. Me: "I can't change that passage. That's the way it's always been. If I change it, oh my God, what will happen then?"
Just let go.....
So, I don't know if I expressed this very well, but if you understand my babbling, let me know how you feel about being true to your characters.
Emerald Tablet
Since my post from a few days ago had the heading: I Support Writers, I better hold true to that. Which is why I'll be buying fellow Blogger
P.J. Hoover's new MG book, the Emerald Tablet. It's the first in a series and it sounds really cool. She's also a cool Blogger and it 's the cool thing to do. All the kids are doing it. So there. Go get a copy.
Who Are Your Readers?
No, not the potential ones for when your book is published, but the ones who point out all the flaws in your work in progress?
I recently joined an online crit group and it's my first one ever. Now I wonder how I could have gotten this far without one. It's helping me become a better writer. Reading and line-editing others' work helps you notice things in your own. I also thought my book was almost ready to query agents. Er, not so fast Mr. Prince. Now I see how much work still needs to be done.
Fortunately, I'm lucky enough to be with some really good writers and I'm glad to be in their company. Before joining, I imagined I would send the book to a few readers--some relatives and friends that have young kids who read MG and YA. I think I'll still do that in the future, once the book is the best it can be.
So who are your trusted readers: spouse? friends? yourself?
I recently joined an online crit group and it's my first one ever. Now I wonder how I could have gotten this far without one. It's helping me become a better writer. Reading and line-editing others' work helps you notice things in your own. I also thought my book was almost ready to query agents. Er, not so fast Mr. Prince. Now I see how much work still needs to be done.
Fortunately, I'm lucky enough to be with some really good writers and I'm glad to be in their company. Before joining, I imagined I would send the book to a few readers--some relatives and friends that have young kids who read MG and YA. I think I'll still do that in the future, once the book is the best it can be.
So who are your trusted readers: spouse? friends? yourself?
I Support Writers
I support writers. Much to the detriment of my wallet. I walked into Borders on my lunch break yesterday and saw a sign for a local author who was scheduled to do a reading. So I go upstairs and see that there's a good-sized crowd, which was nice, as I've been there on occasions when there is no crowd at all. That always makes me feel bad for the writer.
Anyway, this guy Brendan Short is the author of Dream City. It's literary fiction in the tradition of Nelson Algren and Michael Chabon. I will admit that I don't read much literary fiction these days. In my twenties and thirties, when I thought I would be the next James Baldwin, that's all I read. But after I decided to write YA it became about the only genre I read. Blah, blah, blah.
So Brendan gave his reading, complete with singing from a participating audience member. Yes. Singing. There's an Irish lullaby in the book and she sang the passage in a very beautiful voice.
From what I heard, it sounds like an interesting story. So I bought it and got him to sign it for me. I asked him about agents and he mentioned Miss Snark and Agent Query, two sites I'm sure you're all familiar with. I couldn't resist buying, just to support fellow writers. So that's my Good Literary Deed for the Day.
Maybe I'll read it in a few years.
Elf Realm
I really have no idea what this book is about. I bought it because it's in my genre, for one, but the main thing was the cover. Wow, look at that at image. Go ahead, I'll wait. Done? Cool. It's illustrated throughout by the author. Very nice charcoal drawings. It's also pretty big for a MG novel: 500 pgs., which must be at least 150,000 words.
So what's the cover image for your book? If you're published, what did you think of it? If you're not, what do you want it to convey? Kind of a weird question. But I need to post something because I've been lax of late and, um, this was the best thing I could think of.
Royal Business
Prince Balthazar has been very busy in the kingdom. Nay, not the realm of jousts, castles, moats and fair maidens. The arena of cars, cheeseburgers, insurance and other B.S.!!!!!!
Argggghhh!!! Can somebody pay me to just work on my novel?
Please?
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