Moments, and Lies

I ate a salad today, so that should negate any junk food I chose to ingest. 

Also, fun size candy bars are called fun size, because you can eat as may as you want and they don't count toward your daily caloric total. And since most of that candy was stolen from the dwindling pile that used to be my children's Halloween candy, those few calories that seep through my logic radar, are burned off by my remembering that I was the one who took those monsters trick or treating, so... obviously those calories were burned off Halloween night.

And also...since we are taking a look into the lies I tell myself, I can do everything I say yes to.  

Sigh.

I want to be able to do everything I've signed on to do, but trying to do too much has robbed me of my time and creative energy.

Eventually I'll get to my point here, (or is that another lie I'm telling myself?)...

We've had a lot of fun here this first year at the Prosers. We've had 57,045 page views, from all over the globe. That's amazing to me. I've met people, brilliant people, that I wouldn't have met otherwise. One of my favorite authors said hi, I embarassed myself, and I even think I've learned a few things. 

It's been awesome.

We're going through a bit of a shift here on Prosers. I think it's going to be a great thing, so don't worry about my casual use of past tense.  

First off, the great news, Sarah is coming back. Everybody sing "Glory Hallelujah."  She's going to be blogging once a month, on the first Saturday of the month.

Second of all, in news that makes me sign an inward Glory Hallelujah, we've decided to shift from blogging once a week, to blogging every other week. So from now on, Myself, Susan, and Melanie will blog Monday, Wednesday, Friday one week, and then the next week, MaryAnn, Sabrina, and Trisha will blog on their designated days. (Tuesday, Thursday, Sunday). 

That should keep those logic critters away for a while.

***

My favorite moment from any movie ever, is from the movie The Avengers.  Joss Whedon had a lot of story-lines and characters to  juggle. He had a love story, battling immortals, crazy action scenes, and freaking Robert Downey Jr. who can, and should, be on screen as much as is humanly possible. 

But my favorite moment doesn't involve any of that. 

I'll set the moment. Loki has attacked, and the Avengers have come together for the first time to try to determine what to do.  They argue, and start to leave the room. But then, the moment. An unnamed S.H.I.E.L.D. agent turns away from the heroes, and turns his computer back to a shooter game called Galaga. 

(Thank you, Google).

It's funny, and unexpected. That three second moment adds a level of reality to the situation, it gives weight to all those SHIELD background character's who's lives are at stake. It makes the world of the story feel like a real world.  It's so brilliantly done.

And yet, it adds nothing to the plot. Most people looking at the movie with a scalpel, might cut that brief scene out.  The movie is so complex already, why waste those three seconds on an unnamed character?

The answer is simple, because it adds to the experience. 

I think, so often, newby writers can get caught up in the rules of writing. We get so caught up in  the weight of our dreams, that we forget that what we are creating is not a recipe. We aren't creating a paint by numbers picture, or even a frame of words that tells a story. What we are trying to create is an experience for our readers. We are trying to create friends for the friendless, escape for the trapped, and guidelines for those just figuring out their own rules.

My advice for this week, ( or two weeks) tell the story you want to tell. Don't let anyone stand over your shoulder and instruct you on how to tell your story.  Once you have the story you want to tell, take your story, and fill it with crazy, fun, real life, or random moments. Flesh out your framework with life. Make the experience as full as you can get it. You can always scalpel out those things that don't add as much as they cost, but leave your own mark on your own world.

Those strange moments, or quirks of characters, are what will set your story apart from everyone else telling a story by number. It's what will make your story unique.

Because if everyone follows the same rules, then everyone makes the same recipe.

And I've eaten as much junk food as I can handle.*

~Sheena

* lie.

Friday Guest Post by Trisha

Hey guys, Melanie is out this week, so I'm filling in for her.  It might be a bit early, but I've got a Thanksgiving post I want to share, and figured this was the perfect day to do it.
 

I’ve been helping make Thanksgiving dinner since I was nine.  We had just moved to Italy earlier that year, and it was the first time my mom was in charge of cooking for the holidays.  It was also the first year I got to help her cook anything, so I was on pins and needles with anticipation.

I was so excited that I spend most of the day scuttling around the kitchen, poking my head over the counter to see what we were supposed to next.  We burned a casserole, couldn’t get the turkey to thaw in the middle, and in general ruined half the dishes.  At one point my mom asked me to take a dish out of the oven, and I was so eager to help that I forgot to put on oven mitts.  Half way from oven to kitchen table, I realized my mistake and, deciding I was better off burning my hands than my bare feet, I ran across the room to deposit the dish.  My fingers blistered and bled, and I couldn’t hold a pencil (or a fork) for at least a week.

Despite all the missteps and blunderings, that Thanksgiving has never left my memory.  Every year I arrive at my parents’ house the night before to get the turkey in the brine, and my mom and I laugh and tell stories about all the cooking mistakes we’ve made over the years.  The time she mistook salt for sugar.  The year my sister set the stove on fire.  The year I dropped a twenty pound turkey into a bucket of brine and ended up with a mouthful of raw turkey salt water.  But above all, the first year we cooked Thanksgiving dinner together.

This year, my husband has to work the week of Thanksgiving.  So next week, I’ll be cooking in my own home, making a small meal for just us and the kids.  I don’t intend to forget the oven mitts, and I’ve made enough pies that I doubt I’ll burn the edges.  I’m even going to let my kids help mix things a few times.  But I’m going to miss the late pre-Thanksgiving talks with my mom.  No matter how great dinner turns out, I think my favorite will always be the year my mom and I made every mistake in the book.  I learned more from that one year of failure than I would have if we’d stumbled our way into a Rockwell-esque feast.

So I’m thankful for mistakes.  I’m thankful for the opportunity to learn and grow, becoming a better person—a better mother, wife, daughter, writer, and cook—along the way.

It’s a little early, but happy Thanksgiving, Prosers!

The Trouble with the Witness Character

This summer, while looking through my library for books on Melanie’s summer reading list, I came across this intriguing cover.

 Yes, it’s true. All you have to do is put a picture of a bird on something, and I’m so there.

Anyway, the plot is this: ordinary village girl Aggie is hired to be a companion to the ward of the owner of Murkmere. But mysterious Leah cares more for the company of swans than humans. As Aggie spends more time at the manor, she is drawn deeper into the secrets of her new mistress and Murkmere’s tragic history.

The book is very Gothic in tone: empty, forbidding manor; mysterious, injured guardian; flighty, wild daughter. But I didn’t really enjoy the novel, because the narrator of the book utterly frustrated me. Aggie was fearful, hesitant, superstitious, and almost completely lacking in personality. There was a token attempt at the end to give her a backstory, but to be honest, I don’t remember anything about it – though I remember Leah’s story quite clearly. In the end, it seemed like Aggie was a placeholder, a witness there so that the readers could go through these strange events.

After reading Murkmere, I came to realize that this is a fairly frequent situation in literature – and one that has always bothered me. I call them witness characters, but they’re often referred to as the “Everyman” character. The idea is that the reader thinks, if this ordinary character can do things, so can I. But they also risk being boring, empty slates. Some famous examples of Everyman characters are Arthur Dent from Hitchhiker’s Guide to the Galaxy, Dr. Watson from Sherlock Holmes (the original books), and Frodo (Everyhobbit?) from Lord of the Rings (and Bilbo, for that matter).

But it seems sometime that the attempt to make the character relatable can go too far. A frequent criticism of Bella in Twilight is that she is completely a blank slate, apparently in order to make it easier for readers to imagine themselves as her. I don’t think it has to be so extreme. Aggie from Murkmere is even more extreme in her own way. She is described, but she herself has so little stake in the story that she might as well not be there. Here are some questions I think it’s important to ask when building relatable characters.

  

What role does your character have? And what’s at stake?

One of the problems with Aggie in Murkmere is that she had very little at stake. Through most of the book, it seems like the worst she could do is lose her job. And… go back to live with her aunt. Who is apparently well off.  There are vague threats to her life and accusations of blasphemy, but though those troubled her greatly at first, the tension of that diminished rather quickly.

Take Frodo as a contrast. He’s not only putting his life at risk, he has the most important job in the Fellowship. And not only is his life at risk, but also his sanity (both his personal world and his physical world!)

  

What does ordinary mean?

Ordinary does not mean boring. Ordinary does not mean ineffective. In my view, all ordinary means is starting out powerless, and succeeding despite that. If you make your character too powerless, too frightened, you risk the reader getting frustrated. In my opinion, the idea is to produce an ordinary character that makes the reader want to be better. Do that right, and it can be very powerful.

Are you writing the right character?

Okay, so you’ve got this awesome idea for an eccentric character. This character is the one who takes up all your mind and pages and pages of notes. So… why is this person not your main character?

What would Murkmere have been like if it had been told from Leah’s perspective? Sure, there would be a couple of mysteries the author couldn’t have held over us, but imagine being in the head of a girl who can understand swans, whose loneliness and isolation might have resonated just fine with readers, even if they didn't want to live with swans. The witness character can be a powerful voice if handled right, but I think it's important for authors to go with the character who speaks most clearly to them.

That being said, Kait (the main character in my next novel, Swallowed the Moon), is pretty much an everyman (everywoman?). What do you do to keep your characters ordinary - and more?

Tips From a Writer's Spouse

Guest writer Bryan answers your questions regarding the person you love and their writing addiction.

Bryan,

I think my wife might be going crazy.  Ever since she took up writing, she acts like a lunatic.  One moment she's weeping over how terrible her book is and how stupid she was to ever think she could be a writer; and the next she's dancing a jig in the living room because she just wrote the most brilliant paragraph ever.  She dreams of becoming a published author, but slugs me if I mention to anyone that she's a writer.  And by the way, is it normal to throw a party when you receive your first rejection letter?

I'm proud of her and want to be supportive, but I'm not sure what to do when she goes into one of her "spells."

Sincerely, 
Confused in Portland

Confused in Portland,

Writers pour so much of themselves into their writing that it often becomes a very personal experience.  As a result, each pitfall and victory is felt very close to the heart, often causing bizarre behavior.  I recommend these tried-and-true coping mechanisms used by writer-spouses everywhere.

• Walking out of the room.
• Rolling your eyes.
• Gritting your teeth.
• Raising a single eyebrow in disbelief.
• Going out to eat.
• Taking a long drive.
• Walking the dog.

Combinations work nicely too.  The next time she's strutting around the house shouting "Woot, Woot" because she turned a 10 page chapter into 6, try raising an eyebrow, walking out of the room, and going out to eat.  Studies show that there's better than a 12% chance it will have passed when you return; that's twice as good as doing nothing at all, and a five-fold improvement over trying to be helpful.

Which brings up another important piece of advice. It is vital that you neither commiserate with your spouse nor point out any logical errors or fallacies in their thinking.  That will only antagonize them more.  It's best to simply stick to the list mentioned above until things level out.

All the best,
Bryan

Why Opening Pages Get Rejected

Picture from Stock xchange

Happy Election Day all you US citizens.  That is as political as I’m going to get.

Besides there are much more pressing matters to discuss like reasons why an agent might reject your first few pages.

This is an awesome blog post I came across the other day by author Anne Mini.  Apparently, she went to a writer’s conference and attended a session where attendees submit the first two pages of their manuscripts to be read out loud, and three agents on the panel tell the audience when they would stop reading and why.  Anne, being awesome and amazing, wrote down every reason they gave for not reading on and every reason they gave to read on.  She explains the whole thing much better on her blog post which is really insightful, so make sure you go read it.

There are seventy-four reasons given to not read on, and only eight reasons given to read on.  I don’t think this is a checklist of things to make sure you don’t do, and a lot of them are vague and subjective and while these are reasons that might stop these particular agents, others may not be bothered by them at all. 

But there are a few take home lessons I got from the seventy-four reason not to read on, so I thought I’d share them with you. 

1.  All those little rules that we writers teach each other, really do bug agents.  In fact, several of them may stop an agent from finishing the first page of your manuscript (#11-don’t start with a scene that ends up being a dream, #13-avoid cliché phrases, #21- don’t have a character looking in the mirror to describe him/herself, # 27-don’t open with flashbacks, # 52-aviod saidisms, #70-show don’t tell, just to name a few).

2.  Don’t try to create false tension by withholding information.  There are several examples of this #16, 17, 18, 19, and 20.  These include unnamed items, person, or facts.  As a reader, I also find this very frustrating.

3.  There seems to be these little tricks we writers use to make writing easier for us, and the agents are on to us and don’t like it.  Here are a few examples: 

#15. "The opening had a character do something that characters only do in books, not real life. Specifically singled out: a character who shakes her head to clear an image, 'he shook his head to clear the cobwebs.'" This is something I do actually do in real life.  I do subconsciously shake my head when I’m deep in thought, and I’ve caught myself doing this, so I really don’t think that this action is unrealistic.  But I’m guessing agents must see this kind of phrasing a lot.  I’ve used it in my writing.  I think that this could be a crutch because it is such an easy way to transition from a character being deep in thought to returning to what is presently happening in the story.  So I do think this is something to watch out for.

#60. "The writing falls back on common shorthand descriptions. Specifically singled out: 'She did not trust herself to speak,' 'She didn’t want to look…'"  Once again, I don’t think that these type of phrases should never be used, but they must be overly used or used in the wrong way to annoy agents enough that they won’t read on.

4.  Conflict, conflict, conflict.  A story really needs some sort of conflict right up from the start (see # 6, 32, 33, and 41).  But don’t try too hard (#4, 42, 65, and 69).

 Although I do think that there is a lot to learn from the reasons these pages were rejected, I also think we can learn more by considering why some opens weren’t.  Here are a couple that really stood out to me.

#1 "A non-average character in a situation you wouldn’t expect."

#4. "The scene was emotionally engaging"

#5. "The voice is strong and easy to relate to."

#6. "The suspense seemed inherent to the story, not just how it was told."

#8. ”There was something going on beyond just the surface action.”

But I think this whole list can be summed up in that there was something interesting going on on the page.  Whether it was mysterious, emotional, or engaging.

I know this is a lot to take in and it feels daunting thinking about all the reasons your story might be rejected so quickly, so I want to leave you with my take on how stories should begin.

I believe every story has the right place to begin, and I think for probably most of us aspiring and even published writers, it is really, really hard to find that place.  Sometimes you have to write the whole story before you see it, sometimes you need a little insight from your beta's, and sometimes the beginning just comes to you from the moment you start typing.  

I think it is really important to find that perfect spot and not fall into the trap of easy openings like waking up, character dreaming, or looking in the mirror.  And once you find that spot, you need write it honestly, in the moment of the character, and let the plot points and characterization and world-building fall naturally into place.  Don't force information on the reader, but don't keep it from them either.  Let the story unfold naturally.

And I think if you do that, then it won't matter if you violate one or two or even ten of these reasons for rejection.  You can read this list and shrug it off because that is where and how your story begins.

Not that any of this is as easy as it sounds, but writing is never easy.  

~MaryAnn

5 Self-Published Books I Love

"It was a simple plan. She would help him pass algebra. He would help her win the student election. What could go wrong?Take one geeky sixteen-year-old girl deathly afraid of speaking to any crowd larger than one, but who desperately needs something on her application other than perfect grades to get her into Stanford. Add in a star basketball player who's Mr. Popular to everyone else, but who's hiding more than a few startling secrets. Throw in a crisis of identity, a scheming girlfriend, and troubled family lives. Oh, and make sure everything that can go wrong does. Then count the votes.The result is PRESIDENT JOCK, VICE PRESIDENT GEEK, the story of two mixed up teenagers struggling to find themselves and the craziest student election ever to hit the halls of Rexton High."

~ Synopsis from goodreads.com/ president-jock-vice-president-geek.

I didn't write that. From the synopsis, you might just think this sweet little book could be the next Disney Channel movie. But what the synopsis doesn't tell you, is how heartbreaking this novel is.  Scott William Carter takes this simple paint-by-numbers plot, and flips it upside down. This book surprised me, over and over, and then when I read it the second time, it truly broke my heart.  I don't want to give any spoilers away, but I'll add this. Read this book for the voice, and the characters.  Not for young teenagers.

"There’s nothing wrong with a touch of madness. – Cheshire Cat
Someday Hatta will save the kingdom. In his mind, at least. But his talents of uncharacteristic kindness and a passion for colors hardly qualify him for such a destiny. In a kingdom that doesn’t need saving, a young man ignorant of social norms is the unlikeliest of heroes.
Along the way, the Cheshire Cat, Queen of Hearts, White Queen, and other familiar characters emerge to fill their eminent roles as well. 
Witness literature’s most lovable lunatic’s tangled ascent into madness."

~Synopsis from goodreads.com/hatter.

Hatter is a study in opposites.  Hatta  is a scared, colorful, young hatter, who is slowly succumbing to mercury poisoning as he runs away from his past, and falls in love with the Queen of Hearts. Chism, a brave, colorblind, young soldier, is chasing his past, as he fights against becoming the puppet of the Queen of Hearts.  Hatter is a companion novel to Jabberwocky, which I confess I haven't read yet. It's well written, and very entertaining. Highly recommended.

"This Omnibus Edition collects the five Wool books into a single volume. It is for those who arrived late to the party and who wish to save a dollar or two while picking up the same stories in a single package.
The first Wool story was released as a standalone short in July of 2011. Due to reviewer demand, the rest of the story was released over the next six months. My thanks go out to those reviewers who clamored for more. Without you, none of this would exist. Your demand created this as much as I did.
This is the story of mankind clawing for survival, of mankind on the edge. The world outside has grown unkind, the view of it limited, talk of it forbidden. But there are always those who hope, who dream. These are the dangerous people, the residents who infect others with their optimism. Their punishment is simple. They are given the very thing they profess to want: They are allowed outside."

~ synopsis from goodreads.com/wool-omnibus.

This story is simply self publishing done right.  But more importantly, is Sci fi done done right.  The story is like a grown up version of City of Ember ( which I adored) except that going outside means dying.  It's this post apocalyptic story where hope is like a disease. Wool is brilliant,  beautiful,  dark, and twisty.  Stop what you are doing, ( unless it's Nanowrimo. Keep going ladies, keep going!), and download or read it. Here's a link to order the createspace version, wool-omnibus.

"You would think Petronella’s sixteenth birthday would be cause for celebration. After all, fashionable friends are arriving at her country estate near London, teas are being served, and her coming out party promises to be a resplendent affair. Everything is falling nicely into place, until, suddenly—it isn’t. For Petronella discovers that her guardian, Uncle Augustus T. Percival, has developed a most unVictorian compulsion: He must eat bugs. Worse still, because he is her guardian, Uncle Augustus is to attend her soiree and his current state will most definitely be an embarrassment.During the festivities, when Petronella would much rather be sharing pleasantries with handsome Lord James Sinclair (swoon), important guests are disappearing, kidnapping notes are appearing, many of the clues are insects, and Uncle Augustus is surreptitiously devouring evidence. It’s more than one sixteen-year-old girl should have to deal with. But, truth be told, there is far more yet to come . . . "

~ Synopsis from goodreads.com/petronella-saves-nearly-everyone.

Petronella Saves Nearly Everyone is a weird, sweet, little book. I really enjoyed it, from the title to the first line, to the Jane Austen feel/references. The prose is a little thick, and a bit too sweet, kind of like maple syrup. I don't think this book is for everyone, but I dug it. Then again, I have a sweet tooth problem. 

"What would you do if you were born to be a predator? Would you fight your natural instincts or give in to your nature? 
Eden is a soul eater closing in on her awakening. Her family has convinced her that soon she will have to take a life in order to save her own. It’s a decision Eden doesn’t want to deal with even as her hunger for souls grows stronger every day.
To complicate her impossible position, new guy in school Noah Valois’ determination to befriend her puts Eden in touch with a humanity she’s never known. Addicted to his company, his friendship and affection, she becomes more and more terrified that giving into her hunger will mean losing him forever…
… But when she discovers that Noah is not what he seems, his betrayal forces her to face two choices. One will offer her revenge and the destruction of a boy she loved. The other may offer her a life of eternal redemption…"

~Synopsis from www.goodreads.com/blood-will-tell.

Eden is both the hero of this story, and the monster. She'a a soul eater, and once she awakens, she has to eat a soul in order to survive. Noah, the super hot boy she's falling in love with, is a Warrior of Ankh, soldiers who are trained from birth to destroy soul eaters. Problem is, falling in love with Noah is what's making her awaken. 

Yummy, right? Conflict!

It's a great book, although Samantha Young has a smirking problem. 

Blurg. But it's self published, so what are you going to do?

***

I chose these first five books for specific Prosers. Petronella Saves Nearly Everyone is for Melanie, (Jane Austen-ish good clean fun).  Wool is for Sabrina, ( Dark, twisty, and wonderful).  Hatter I chose for Susan, (Read it, you'll get why).  Blood Will Tell I chose for Trisha, Sarah, and MaryAnn (and anyone else who loves a good paranormal romance), and VP Jock P Geek, I chose for... well for me. It's my favorite book that I've read all year.

Happy November everybody,

~Sheena

Once Upon A Time

Melanie's post about the show The Event got me thinking about my favorite television shows, and how the characters interact and evolve throughout the course of the season.  My top favorite show right now is ABC's Once Upon A Time.

If you're not familiar with it, I'll give you a brief run down.  Emma Swan, a woman with a troubled past, is celebrating her twenty-eighth birthday alone, when out of nowhere, the boy she gave up for adoption ten years prior shows up on her doorstep.  Henry convinces Emma to go with him to his home town of Storybrook, Maine, where he says she is destined to break an evil curse.  Emma has no desire to be a part of this boy's life, but upon meeting Henry's less-than-loving adoptive mother, she decides to stick around and keep an eye on him.

This is where the story really takes off.  You see, the residents of Storybrook are all characters from classic fairy tales.  (Disney fairy tales, to be exact, since Disney gave ABC the green light to use their licenced characters in the show.  How cool, right?)  Henry's mother is none other than the evil queen from Snow White, and she cursed the fairytale world to live in a land without magic, transporting everyone to Storybrook.  None of the residents can remember their past lives, and until Emma arrives, they've been stuck in a timeless existence, unable to leave the town boundaries.

Emma's arrival sends the gears of changes (and the town clock) into motion.  She quickly befriends Mary Margaret Blanchard (Snow White) and even takes a job as deputy sheriff.  She and the evil queen (Regina Mills in Storybrook) are constantly butting heads.  Despite Henry's insistence that the stories in his fairytale book are real, Emma refuses to believe the truth, even when it's standing right in front of her face.  Season one wrapped up with a showdown between Emma and Regina, but I wont go into details in case you haven't seen it yet.

There are a lot of relationships within the show that are fun to watch.  For starters, the way Emma slowly falls in love with Henry, stepping up to be the mother he both needs and deserves, is what drew me into the show in the first place.  I love a good romance, but this mother/son bond is so much sweeter than watching Cinderella or Snow White get her prince.  It's nice to see a show that centers around family in such a unique way.

It's a theme that repeats over and over throughout the first season.  In Storybrook, Snow White's Prince Charming turns out to be a married man.  David (Charming) and Mary Margaret try to fight their inexplicable draw to one another, with varying degrees of success.  I'll admit their relationship in Storybrook annoyed me, but it was tempered with flashes of their past lives together, and that's what got me through their less-than-noble affair.

Or there's the dynamic between Emma and Mary Margaret.  They are friends in Storybrook, but they, too, have a shared past.  Emma, you see, is the daughter of Snow White and Prince Charming.  She was sent to this world as a baby because of a prophecy that said she would save the kingdom from the queen's curse during her twenty-eighth year.  It's sweet to see these two women interacting, never knowing that once the curse is lifted, they will be the family Emma never had growing up.

I think my favorite character in the show, though, is Rumpelstiltskin.  I don't usually fall in love with the bad guy (and make no mistake, Rumple is involved in some pretty shady business) but I can't help it.  Like most of the characters, Rumple is looking for his family, though the methods he uses are decidedly evil.  Still, as you watch the show, you get bits and pieces of his history, and you find that he's not such a monster after all.  Part of me wants Rumpelstiltskin to succeed, despite his nefarious methods, just to see how that changes him as a character.

Regina, too, is slowly evolving into a good guy, though that doesn't really get going until the second season.  I'm at the point where I don't know who to root for.  There are so many factions, all of them struggling against the others, all with their own motives for doing what they do.  At the moment, the best I can do is hope for a new villain to step up, bringing the factions together to fight against a common enemy.  Though I suppose I'll just have to wait and see.

This is my favorite kind of story.  The one that makes me rethink good and evil.  The characters are three-dimensional.  They are forced to make sacrifices, sometimes for the better, sometimes with unforeseen consequences.  Even the dainty princesses from Disney's original films turn out to be flawed, which makes them just about perfect in my eyes.

So if you're looking for inspiration in developing your characters--heroes, villains, or something in between--check out Once Upon A Time.  (And yes, season one is available on Netflix!)  If you're already a fan, I'm dying to know...who is your favorite character?