Sports Writers

I've said before that some of the best, most dynamic writing around today comes from the sports scene.  As much as I love the Dallas Cowboys, and even though I've been at a number of the games in recent years, I am not savvy enough to know if I agree with the following, but man, is it an example of writing that uses solid energy and imagery to make a point.

About Dez Bryant:

The NFL’s greatest receivers each bring a little something different to the table, but for the most part, they’re tall, graceful, fluid athletes who make catching a football somehow look beautiful. Bryant is an exception. He makes it look brutal. Whether it was on his rampage of a 35-yard touchdown off a screen pass (which left half a dozen Jaguars disposed to the turf), his get-off-me 68-yard score, or the unstoppable back-shoulder throws that will forever populate Dwayne Gratz’s nightmares, Bryant was an absolute monster.

I'm making progress on nanowrimo, even though I'm not where I oughta be. Hope you're writing like crazy, whether you're part of the madness or not!

Awesome Story Analysis!

Seriously, this is great stuff. If you are at all familiar with the Disney movie Sleeping Beauty [or possibly even if you aren't] you may find this as terrific as I did.

Read it here.

It's about why Sleeping Beauty is the most feminist Disney movie ever, and why the protagonist isn't who you think it is.

Blogging nanowrimo

Day One, and I am sharing the true glamour of a writer's life, complete in technicolor.

If you're nano-ing, find me there as pooks!

About Those Minor Characters

Jody Hedlund has a nice piece on writing minor characters and understanding the story purpose that they serve.

She mentions that a single character can serve more than one purpose, but I'd like to point out that they can even serve counter-intuitive purposes. A character who is a supportive sidekick can turn into a nemesis in a scene where they suddenly draw the line and will go no further. (Neville Longbottom, anyone?)

Enjoy the article.

Mary Robinette Kowal's Gift to You

Mary Robinette Kowal says:

I know a lot of you are getting ready to begin NaNoWriMo. I’ve mentioned before that I wrote Shades of Milk and Honey for it. I’ve also mentioned before that I had planned a completely different ending for the novel. COMPLETELY DIFFERENT. Since this was the first time I’d written to an outline, I stuck with it through the end of November, even though I had a sense that I wanted the novel to be doing different things.

At the end of the month, I read my 50k words, thought “Yep” and tossed 20k to get back to the point where I was still excited. In subsequant years, I go ahead and revise the outline and count those words towards my overall total. The moral of the story is that if your outline isn’t pleasing you, change the outline.

Edited to add: Bear in mind that this was my first outline for a novel. When writing now, my outlines are longer and, at times, more detailed.

Go here to see the outline. Maybe it will help you with your nanowrimo. Maybe it will help you with your own outline.

She shared another outline the following day, if you want to keep digging on her site.

How important is editing?

[Note: I link to something important for self-published authors at the end of this.]

Editing is so important that most writers I know who are traditionally published--by that, I mean writers who received advances for their work and are under contract, and are published by NYC publishers--have their books edited before they turn them in to their editors.

Some even pay for editing before they send them in to their agents. What does that mean? That means that these are pro writers with a history of publication behind them. Contrary to popular opinion from those on the outside looking in, many agents don't automatically submit their authors' work. It has to meet a level of professionalism and also simply work as a novel before they will risk their reputations as agents by sending it to publishers/editors in an attempt to sell the work. These authors have their books beta-read and often edited before submitting to their agents because they want their agents to have the best product possible to sell, and because they want their agents to be enthusiastic and even passionate about the work their selling.

And they don't want their agent to decline to submit the book in its current state.

Despite the success of digital publishing and the opportunities it gives to self-publish, 70% of all books sold are still print, which means that over 70% of readers demand a professional level of writing, editing, type-setting, etc. in books. Are there are a lot of people who are reading digital books who lower the bar? Yes. But there are vast numbers who immediately disdain a book that has typos and errors and won't buy it at all.

Can you make money selling books that have errors to people who lower the bar and don't care? Oh, yes.

But it's up to you to decide what kind of writer you want to be, and what kind of book you want to be associated with.

All of this is leading up to this post that I am sharing now.

If you're considering self-publishing, read it and consider.

Nanowrimo Prep Begins today...

Today is the day.

Don't know what Nanowrimo is?

Look here.

And if you want great advice on how to prep for it?

Try this.

Your first draft...

I teach this concept. In fact, I just mentioned it to class last Monday night.  I'd lost track of where I first heard it, though. And this made me go, of course.

Sir Terry Pratchett. He is a 'Sir' because the Queen of England knighted him for his magnificent fantasy writing.

For the record, many people recommended his work to me but I just didn't get it, couldn't get into it, until I was told that not only did I not have to read them in order, but that the better entry points were later in the series.  For the further record, these are a few of my faves so far:

The Amazing Maurice and His Educated Rodents (Discworld Book 28)

Monstrous Regiment (Discworld Book 31)

Mort (Discworld Book 4) 

There are 40 Discworld books so far, and I am savoring them slowly, because Sir Terry is ill and, well, there you go. I love that there are so many for us to enjoy. What a brilliant, brilliant man.

 

 

 

That Business Stuff

As some of you might know, I was asked to give a Saturday workshop by the Writers Guild of Texas this November about the 'business of writing.'  And I said, sure!

And then, a week or so letter, I emailed and said, enh, maybe not.

Because I actually pretty much hate having to talk about it, and it is changing so much nonstop that any attempt to do a terrific job of it not only would take a lot more time than I want to spend on it, but would be outdated in five minutes.

Somebody else is going to do it, and I am sure they will do a great job of it.

In the meantime, here is some really smart stuff about the writing as a business from Hugo Award-winning Kameron Hurley.

I had a colleagues come to me recently gushing excitedly about selling their first novel in a two-book deal. “That’s fabulous!” I said.

“I mean… the advance isn’t a lot of money, but I know the publishers and they are great people,” they said.

“Do you have an agent?”

“Oh, well… it’s not for very much money. It’s like $500.”

Alarm bells started going off in my brain. A $500 advance is basically just “go away” money. It’s pat-you-on-the-head ha ha money. “Oh, well… what kinds of rights are they asking for?” I said.

“Oh, you know, everything. World English rights, foreign rights, movie rights…”

“OK, stop right there. You’re going to give a publisher complete ownership of your novels, including movie rights, for $500?”

“Well, the publishers are really nice people…”

Ok, my friends, let’s back up.

No Rules

As I have said many times, there is only one rule in writing that can't be broken.

A WRITER WRITES.

If you're writing, you're a writer. If you're not writing, you aren't. It's that easy, and that hard.

So. Are you a writer today?

Here's a reassuring quote. If you don't know who Neil Gaiman is, check him out. In the meantime, reassurance that there isn't One Holy Way to Write, Amen.

“Some writers need a while to charge their batteries, and then write their books very rapidly. Some writers write a page or so every day, rain or shine. Some writers run out of steam, and need to do whatever it is they happen to do until they’re ready to write again.”

—	Neil Gaiman

This Saturday, Meet You at the Library!

Saturday afternoon, September 13, 1-5 pm, drop by The Colony Public Library for a 'meet the authors and illustrators' event.

Sales will partially benefit the library programs, and we--the authors and illustrators--will be there to chat, answer questions, and if you're interested, sell and sign books.

Larry McMurtry Talks About Writing

Good interview. I haven't read all of his work, but I'd liked what I've read.

Larry McMurtry on Writing

Enjoy!

Describing Clothing--more than style and fabric

Dressed to kill?

How you describe clothing can and should be more than just a list of what a character is wearing.  It can be described in such a way as to show the point-of-view character's attitude about the apparel, or what the point-of-view character assumes because of it.  The point-of-view may be as astute as Sherlock Holmes or as biased as Severus Snape.

Here is a comprehensive list of descriptions. Don't use them as jigsaw pieces to plug into your work. Use them as inspiration for how your character would view and define what is seen, or what they're wearing on their own body.

Writing About Fashion by Sharla Rae


One snippet:

Less Than Presentable

All flash and no dash
Beauty blight
Bedraggled
Blowzy over-done
Boots with newspaper stuffed inside to cover the holes in the soles
Clothes painted on her
Donned grubbies for yard work
Dress gone limp in the heat
Dressed like an unmade bed
Dressed like he’s fleeing a fire/the devil
Ensemble clashes... and more!

Great Thoughts and Links from One Author's RWA Experience

Fae Rowen returned from the RWA National Conference with a list of the 13 most valuable things she heard, and links to where you can follow up for more info on those that sound helpful to you. It's a great list.

Example:

1. A complex character has two emotions at war at the same time. This increases reader interest. (James Scott Bell)

Check 'em out.

Digging deeper.

Mary Robinette Kowal and Neil Gaiman

Mary Robinette Kowal's blog today addresses authenticity in historical fiction, and digging deeper to find the right reference.

The term that concerned her was "paper cut."  Making a humorous reference to a paper-cut as a safety issue works today, but not two hundred years ago when paper didn't have sharp edges. She began to go through potential 'safety issues' involved in handling one's correspondence, until she found one that worked--but even better, it was more interesting.

She says, "This is a better joke, and I got to it because I’m using language that reflects the culture. Doing so also forces me to really think about what is happening in the scene, and what the lives of people in the time would be like."

This is true, and it's what I love about research, even though sometimes I drive myself mad googling and digging through my own references, and sometimes asking on facebook or twitter or emailing colleagues with vast knowledge in the area of my current projects.  What makes it worth it is that I inevitably end up with something, at the very least, more interesting than my original thought.

Often it opens up a new avenue to explore in the book itself, an 'aha!' moment that will brighten up my day, week, or longer, as a wonderful new 'what if this happens?' presents itself, because that small detour for research took me to new knowledge of the subject I hadn't considered before. Sometimes it makes a scene 'pop' and work in a terrific way I hadn't anticipated.

Sometimes--and this is more common than you might think--it presents a plot twist that makes me squee.

So, am I musing about research here, and authenticity, and if you don't write historical fiction, you don't need to care?

No. The idea of historical authenticity just got us into this idea.

The bigger idea is 'digging deeper' whenever the first thing that springs from your fingertips is so natural, so easy, so obvious--that it might even be a cliché.

While the paper-cut reference was satisfactory if the setting was contemporary, and nobody would have stopped cold and wondered about it, nor would any readers probably have thought, "How obvious, what a cliché," it's also worth highlighting or marking for later thought. (Never stop your writing process in the middle of a scene that is flowing over this kind of issue. Note that MRK was returning to this much later rather than during the writing process.)

Even if the setting is the year 2014 and paper-cuts are real, painful and can be funny if used properly in your story--if you dig deeper, can you think of something else to substitute? There are several options, and I'm sure you can come up with more.

1)  Some other easily-imagined minor office injury that is less generic and expected and thus--more interesting.

2)  A minor injury that reflects their specific location, business or interests, whether they are in a taxidermy shop, a morgue, or having a picnic in Central Park.

3)  A minor injury that refers back to something one of the characters did earlier, something meaningful. It can be a jab or tease, it can be an insult, or it can be a tender reassurance.

Have fun with it!

Oh, and sometimes, after much work and consideration, you will decide it really can be a paper-cut, after all.

Cross-posted at planetpooks.

Communication Styles

Many years ago I was told that women ask questions and men make statements.

Man: "It's too cold in here."

Woman: "Is it just me, or is it cold in here?"

Following a similar vein, check out this video:

In the bigger picture, you can use these and other techniques to make your women stronger, or weaker, or to shade how you write your men.

Writing Characters with Disabilities

Excellent 2-part list of 10 points about writing disabled characters. I highly suggest you read it.

10 Things Fiction Writers Need to Remember About Disability 1-5

10 Things Fiction Writers Need to Remember About Disability 6-10

And follow the links and comments for even more.

Just read a novel where several of the characters are 'survivors' of a war, each with a different kind of disability, and am wincing at a couple of devices the author used after reading these articles.

You'll want to read this one.

This is a GREAT article about writing, how to do it in the real world.

Dear Writing: I Hate You.

Are you writing? Have you slacked off?

In the past I was never a 'write daily' person unless I was under deadline. But I learned a new trick after over twenty years of writing--that writing daily has an unexpected benefit. It keeps my story in front of me. Making myself open the file and look at it daily, whether I write a handful of words or pages, keeps it on the front burner.

The more days I go without writing, the easier it is to slide away where I just don't think about it much.

I now write daily, even when I don't have a deadline. But I do have a deadline so I write even more daily. ;-)

Characterization

This is a really good post on characterization, and David Coe's process of using Secret, wall, loss, desire to develop character.

The vast majority of us have read the Harry Potter books, and Harry is a perfect example of a hero who fits this framework.  In the first book, Harry’s secret is fairly obvious, and it fits in the King Arthur/Luke Skywalker model.  He’s a wizard (“A thumpin’ good’un!”), but he doesn’t know it, at least not at first.  In subsequent volumes, his secret changes — he’s hearing odd voices that speak of killing people, or he’s part of the Order of the Phoenix and the leader of Dumbledore’s Army, or he’s using the Half-Blood Prince’s book, or he’s helping Dumbledore look for horcruxes, or  . . .  well, you get the idea.  The wall, though, remains the same throughout the books.  Harry is THE Harry Potter, and his celebrity is both a blessing and a curse.  There’s no doubt though that it sets him apart, isolates him, even from his closest friends.  He has lost his parents before he even knew them (as you’ll see, this is a fairly common source of loss), and this serves not only as the loss, but also as a means of making the wall that much higher and stronger.  And his loss also feeds his deepest desire, which is not only to defeat Voldemort, but also to find happiness with a real family.  He enjoys hints of this with the Weasleys throughout the series, but [Spoiler Alert] it is only with the ending of the final book that he truly achieves it.

Lots more good stuff if you follow the link.

I have written more blog tour entries but am so far behind on writing and sharing them. Will post links soon!

Days Four & Five of the Blog Tour--all about writing!

These links are about writing. About screenwriting. About writing novels. About the choices we make and why we make them. About writing scared.

I'm in three places today. It's bizarre. But you'll have to follow the various links to see how this all happened.

Of course saying "Max" and "bizarre" kind of goes hand in hand.  It all started when I was going to write about Max and how she helped me with my writing on Max's blog, and she said, wait, you can't write about [redacted] on my blog. I don't allow [redacted] on my blog. So I had to write about something different on Max's blog.

So I wrote about [redacted] on Magical Words instead.

And then, I figured I might as well post excerpts of the two scenes that had [redacted] in them on the Fury Triad site, so you could see them for yourself.

Let me know what you think.

Let Max know what you think, too.

Okay, Day Five isn't about writing, its about food, but we have to eat to write, right?

FOODIE FRIDAY - Why British Food Doesn't Suck


BLOG TOUR:

May 5: The Word Wenches  How Research Gave Me the Home I Didn’t Want and the World I Needed
May 6: Get Lost in a Story  Welcome Patricia Burroughs Q&A
Mary Robinette Kowal: My Favorite Bit: Patricia Burroughs
May 7:  Suzanne Johnson: Q-and-A With Patricia Burroughs and Win a GC
May 8:  Celluloid Blonde Of [redacted] and Aubergine
Magical Words:  Of Adders and Writing Process
Fury Triad: Of Adders and Rattlesnakes
May 9: Lorraine Bartlett: FOODIE FRIDAY - Why British Food Doesn't Suck

And because this is what it's all about, don't forget that you can buy my book. Really. You can. I won't stop you.

 This Crumbling Pageant, is  available all sorts of places.

Amazon Kindle    Amazon Trade Paperback

BN-Nook    BN Trade Paperback

Kobo   iBooks

Hardcover links coming soon!

Day Three of the Blog Tour -- and more!

Before I give you the blog tour update, let me give you some links I think you might find helpful and/or interesting.

ConDFW was amazing. Seriously, if you need a jumpstart in your writing, go. If you want to get up-close-and-personal with other writers, whether they are unpublished, self-published, traditionally published, or blockbuster bestsellers? Go. If you want to learn important and new things? Go. If you want to chill and be surrounded by people who 'get' you and understand what you're doing?

GO.

Next year, be there. And come up and say hi, if I don't see you first.

One of my current students, Dell Parvin, wrote an unexpected but fascinating blog entry about his experience.

Also, I keep forgetting to tell you about this book, Wonderbook, which is the most beautiful and amazing book about writing you'll ever see. I carried it into class and half the class ordered it from Amazon that day. That I know of, maybe more. They're the ones who told me they did!

 I'm reminded of it because it just was announced as a Finalist in the Locus Awards.

 ~o0o~

Today [Wednesday] I am Q&Aing on Suzanne Johnson’s blog, and giving away a gift card to some lucky commenter. So go, read and comment! I’d love one of you to be the winner!

First question:

Give us the “elevator pitch” for your latest work?
Hunger Games meets Jane Austen. [Okay, dark and edgy tale of young, magical heroine in the time of Jane Austen.]

Also, tomorrow is a big huge lollapalooza of a blog tour day, with three simultaneous entries on three different sites, all linked back and forth for the fun and sheer madness of it! Don’t miss it!

BLOG TOUR:
May 5: The Word Wenches  How Research Gave Me the Home I Didn’t Want and the World I Needed
May 6: Get Lost in a Story  Welcome Patricia Burroughs Q&A
Mary Robinette Kowal: My Favorite Bit: Patricia Burroughs

May 7:  Suzanne Johnson: Q-and-A With Patricia Burroughs and Win a GC

~o0o~

This Crumbling Pageant, is  available through Amazon and BN in trade and digital today!

Amazon Kindle    Amazon Trade Paperback

BN-Nook    BN Trade Paperback

Kobo

Hardcover and iBook links coming soon!

Day Two of the Blog Tour

Two today. I was lucky enough to get invited to two great blogs on the same day so said yes.

Disclaimer: Neither are particularly business or writing-related.  The first is 'fun questions' and the second is an opportunity to talk about the new book.

The amazing group of writers at Get Lost in a Story let me play along with their traditional Q&A format, in which I got to answer questions like, “Hiking boots or high heels?” and “What’s the coolest thing you’ve ever done to research a book?” and “What color would you make the sky if it wasn’t going to be blue anymore and why?”

And I’m thrilled to be the “My Favorite Bit” blogger on heroine of the revolution Mary Robinette Kowal’s page today!

BLOG TOUR:
May 5: The Word Wenches  How Research Gave Me the Home I Didn’t Want and the World I Needed
May 6: Get Lost in a Story  Welcome Patricia Burroughs Q&A
Mary Robinette Kowal: My Favorite Bit: Patricia Burroughs

Be swept away into the first book of a dark fantasy series combining swashbuckling adventure, heart-pounding romance, and plot-twisting suspense.

Amazon Kindle    Amazon Trade Paperback

BN-Nook    BN Trade Paperback

Kobo

Hardcover and iBook links coming soon!

Hardcover, Kobo and iBook links coming soon!

This Crumbling Pageant is here, and a blog tour announcement

I usually post links to helpful sites that might interest you in your writing. Well, I'm going to be doing a lot more of that through the end of the month because as of today, I am beginning a blog tour. Because my new epic fantasy is available for purchase through Amazon in print and digital, and will be available through BN, Kobo and iBooks soon, I am promoting the heck out of it.  You may choose to ignore some of these posts, and that's cool. However, some of them might be useful or informative to you, as well. So I'm linking them all from this site as well as planetpooks, and that way you can follow those that look helpful.


Day One: How Research Gave Me the Home I Didn't Want and the World I Needed

About the research I did in my world-building stage for This Crumbling Pageant, and how some awkward discoveries ended up giving me some of most important and interesting elements, once I stopped fighting them and embraced them instead.  See ya there!

Amazon Kindle    Amazon Trade Paperback

BN-Nook    BN Trade Paperback

Hardcover, Kobo and iBook links coming soon!

#WeNeedDiverseBooks

That's the hashtag that has taken over twitter for the past few days.

This is not a new issue but it has gotten a burst of new energy with this.

Do you need help figuring out how to write more diverse fiction?

I've recommended Nisi Shawl and Cynthia Ward's Writing the Other already.

Here's another article to help you out.

The world is big. Don't write narrow.

What the Hell is Literary Fiction, Anyway?

A series of Guardian articles is attempting to address that question.  In the latest one, Elizabeth Edmondson makes a case for why "Genre fiction is no different from literary fiction."


She pulls together a few definitions:

"Literary fiction emphasises meaning over entertainment." (Venture Galleries blog)
"Literary novels are prose poetry … the subject of the work is engaged with something that might be called weighty … " (Dactyl Foundation)

And, joy of joys:

"Literary Fiction is experienced as an emotional journey through the symphony of words, leading to a stronger grasp of the universe and of ourselves." (Huffington Post)

 And then takes on literary snobbery:

            Lit fic: good. Popular, commercial, trash and pulp fiction: bad.

My own opinion is that you like what you like, and you write what you like, and there shouldn't be snobbery in either direction, but there is, in both direction. Ah the humanity.

Still, this is a good discussion. Follow it if you're interested.

More About Remainders

Remember me telling you how warehouses are cleared out and books bought for spare change, and then they end up on big tables with signs like "Any Book $5" and these are the remainders?

Konrath has more to say about it. Interesting stuff.

"Should I use profanity in my fiction?"

Excellent advice from Nat Russo.

Short answer: You're asking the wrong person.

Read here.

"Be a Writer."

If you have taken my class, you may remember that is one of your very first assignments from week one of the Basics class.

Are you a writer?

Are you being a writer?

Do you still feel awkward about calling yourself a writer, claiming the title, or do you feel like a fraud?

Bob Mayer has a few words for you on feeling like a fraud. 

When Writing Is Your Profession

When writing is your profession, you write whether you feel like it or not. You write to put food on the table. You meet deadlines, sometimes juggle multiple deadlines, and no matter what kind of heaven you think it will be to someday support yourself writing, the pressures of constantly producing imaginary worlds that people will pay money to read is immense.

That means writing from a hospital bed, or a hospital waiting room. Writing with a migraine. Writing when your family is sullen about you ignoring them, or taking advantage of the situation and fighting or getting into trouble. It means saying no when people ask you to a movie, to coffee, or call to chat on the phone. It means having people think poorly of you, if they don't understand the concept that working at home means actually working, and that may be at hours way beyond any they spend in day jobs that end at five.

All of this was brought home to me when I saw this image shared today, a reminder that even in hotel rooms, writers are writing. Is she there because she's at a conference, or on vacation, or...? I don't know. But she has a deadline and she's writing in a hotel room.

When you decide you want to be a stay-at-home writer, ask yourself if you're happier when you write in your spare time, knowing your bills are being paid and your benefits are covered? And then make more spare time by saying no more often.

Performance Anxiety

I've been asked to do two readings in the past few months. One went pretty well, but I was very frustrated because my book is set in England and my own Texas accent just bugs the crap out of me, whether reading the narration or--worse--the dialogue!  The second one was horrible because I picked it up and launched into it and realized I was reading the wrong piece, and the piece I was reading lacked cohesion and anything interesting that made sense. I ended quickly.

I am going to take a private lesson or two (yay, Skype!) from a drama coach who works with accents to be better prepared for 'next time' even though I have no clue if and when there will be a 'next time.'

Today, Barbara Claypoole White blogs about just such anxiety, and gives some smart ways to deal with it. If standing in front of people and talking about your book, or reading from it, strikes terror in your soul or even makes you mildly uneasy, check it out.

Bond Villains? Yes, Bond Villains!

I teach about the importance of a well-developed, complex villain.

Tee Morris is blogging about how great the Bond Villains are, and why. He's kind of convinced me.

See the Bond Villains.

 

Janet Reid: "Agents Going Off the Rails"

This is a solid--if not exhaustive--look on an agent's workload and things you should find out about an agent before signing with them.

Here.

He said/She said

And avoiding that.

Good article. Check it out!

Updated Info on the Blueprinting Your Novel Classes, Spring 2014

Previously posted:  For those of you who haven't had a chance to take the "Blueprinting Your Novel or Screenplay" class, or would like to take a repeat to outline a new book, the catalog goofed and listed two night classes this semester. The first one starting Monday, March 31 is almost full, but the class starting Tuesday, April 1 still has room. I'd love for them both to make, and would love to see you there! If you want more info, check the school catalog online or email me!  [planetpooks at gmail dot com]

I've had to make a couple of changes. Basics Class #8 has been pushed back a week, so instead of being Monday, March 24, it will be Monday, March 31.

One Blueprinting class will start April 1, as planned, if there are two more students who sign up. If this is the class you're in, you might want to keep an eye on it and if you're still in touch with students from previous classes, let them know.

The other Blueprinting class will begin April 7.

I look forward to seeing everyone again! 

Making Good Characters Rationally Self Destructive

I've never seen this addressed before, and it's a very thoughtful post about characterization by Steven Popkes at Book View Café.

No, I’m talking about  people can continue in a given course of action when it clearly, demonstrably, not being successful. You’ve all seen it. Somebody gets into a sticky situation and instead of stopping the behavior that got them there, they double down on that very same behavior. I’m thinking of this clinically. As a writer. After all, good characters need a healthy dose of self destruction.

How can people continue to do that?

Enter Prospect Theory.

More here.

Blueprinting Your Novel Classes Starting Soon!

For those of you who haven't had a chance to take the "Blueprinting Your Novel or Screenplay" class, or would like to take a repeat to outline a new book, the catalog goofed and listed two night classes this semester. The first one starting Monday, March 31 is almost full, but the class starting Tuesday, April 1 still has room. I'd love for them both to make, and would love to see you there! If you want more info, check the school catalog online or email me!  [planetpooks at gmail dot com]

Who Are You? Who Do You Want to Be?

John Scalzi is one of the most successful internet personalities around, and has been since the internet became a Thing.

Today he addresses a question, how do you stay so happy? We can all learn from his answer.

Well, one answer to that is that the reason I seem largely happy and well-balanced is that I intentionally choose to project an online persona that is largely happy and well balanced. I've always been pretty open about reminding people that the online John Scalzi is a tuned and mediated version of me -- not a lie, but a presentation of who John Scalzi is that brings some elements to the front and moves other elements to the back.

Follow the link for more.

Info about mysteries

This is a good Q&A with Julianna Deering that addresses the difference between mystery and suspense [as genres] and other good info for those interested in the mystery genre.

I love her book cover, too.

A vintage mystery series set in England. Methinks I'll be investigating. [You see what I did there? I am so clever I slay myself.]

The series starts here.

Me again with Chuck again.

Not for the weak of heart or meek of language, but Chuck Wendig has once again nailed the writing life to the wall and made it scream like a little girl.

Best analogy of a pro writing career ever.

"...but I will say that becoming a professional author is a little like leveling up in a video game... You master older, smaller challenges and you think, ‘Oh ho ho, now I’ve got the Sword of Editorial Dominance, the Save Against Query spell, and armor made from all the rejections.’ But of course what you’re going to face are new challenges. New deals, new contracts, book marketing, fans who form cults around your work and kill in your name. THE USUAL.”

Lots of good stuff here. Read and enjoy and maybe even learn a few things.

Perhaps I should share Chuck's site description and disclaimer while I'm at it, because it's true and like everything else there, funny.

Chuck Wendig is a novelist, screenwriter, and game designer. This is his blog. He talks a lot about writing. And food. And the madness of toddlers. He uses lots of naughty language. NSFW. Probably NSFL. Be advised.

 

Killing Your Darlings

I've referred classes to William Goldman's ADVENTURES IN THE SCREEN TRADE, particularly the chapter on "A Bridge Too Far," for years, to see wonderful explanations of why 'it really happened' is the worst reason to include it in a novel.

Stephen Leigh's example is faster to get to [just a click away] and free. I still recommend Goldman, but check this out. It's a classic situation with a classic resolution. The reason why 'kill your darlings' is classic advice is because not killing them is most often a classic mistake.

Classic.

And the book looks really good, too. 

An immortal Muse whose very survival depends on the creativity she nurtures within her lovers… 
Another immortal who feeds not on artistry but on pain and torment... 
A chase through time, with two people bound together in enmity and fury…
Magic and science melded together into one, and an array of the famous and infamous, caught up unawares in an ages-long battle…

Click book cover to find out more.

Nancy Jane Moore's "Legal Fictions" Series

Over on the Book View Café blog, Nancy Jane Moore is writing a series about law for writers. As an attorney, she is often frustrated when writers get things So Wrong, or miss the opportunity to make a story better because they didn't do their research.

Today's entry is particularly interesting to me because it explains how varied and complex US law is, and how that can apply to your world-building if you're writing Science Fiction or Fantasy.  In fact, I'll be sharing it with non-writing friends just because I think they'll find it interesting, too.

All of us at Book View Café have been drooling over the artwork she secured for her new short story collection, by the way.

Walking Contradiction

Writing, Money, Choices, Sacrifices

This is an honest look at a writer who today is an amazing success, and what choices and sacrifices she made to get there.

She talks specifics about money, about juggling a regular job with writing, about taking the plunge and being a full-time writer. For her it worked out. It doesn't always.

Rachel Caine's Living the Life.

http://www.magicalwords.net/specialgueststars/rachel-caine-living-the-life/

For the first four years of my professional career, I wrote one book a year … with one amazing year in which I had two books that debuted. And true confessions: the money amounted to maybe $5,000 a year. Obviously, not a full time job. I’ve always been a pretty fast writer, and it took me about six months to finish a novel, even with a full time job on top of it, so very workable. It meant giving up things, though. Principally, it meant giving up something very precious to me: music.

Characterization--a thought and a link

I have often considered this when writing, but am not sure I've ever articulated it.

“Sometimes, creating a character isn’t about deciding who she is, but who she isn’t.”

I saw that in David B Coe's blog entry today about characterization.

He was quoting Chloe Neill's blog entry from the day before.

They both give interesting examples of how this has been useful in their own stories and characterizations.  Check them out!

Headshots

I've talked about these before, but just having had one made, I thought I'd hit a few high spots.

ONE:  Micki Perry, a wonderful friend, writer and mentor once told me to beware of looking 'important' or 'aloof' or 'authory.' That people want to see a picture of somebody who looks like they have a good story to tell, who looks friendly, who is approachable.

I will update that by saying that today, when readers can have easy access to a writer through social media, I am told that readers want to see a 'real person' and not a cartoon character, not a picture of the author's newest book or pet, but a person. An approachable person. The more our interactions are from a distance, the more we want the feeling that they are personal.

TWO:  Max Adams, another wonderful friend, writer and mentor advised me to choose a photographer who does headshots for actors, not one who does families, businessmen, etc. I challenge you to google photographers who do actors vs the others. She's right.

However, if you can't afford a professional photographer right now, that doesn't mean you can't have a good headshot. You need somebody who hopefully knows how to use whatever camera or device you're using to take the photo, who you feel comfortable with. Take a lot of pictures and you'll probably get something you like.

THREE: My own advice is don't look like you're trying too hard. Look casual enough that people will think you might even look that good every day, not like you sat for an hour letting a pro do your makeup. [Ahem.]

Finally-- my new headshot.

  

 

Photo credit: Arianne Martin Photography

Makeup: Shade DuBois

If you're in the Dallas are, check out Arianne and Shade. I didn't get a special rate to promote them. I'm promoting them because they rock, they make it fun and do a fabulous job at a reasonable price.

Local DFW Writers--READ THIS

Next Friday-Saturday-Sunday is ConDFW.  You may think this doesn't interest you. You may be WRONG.

Why? Because this is one of the most economical cons you will attend. It's not all about writing, but there is enough about writing to make the $45 3-day pass a bargain.

I've been going over their schedule and am finding much that is of interest to writers who don't write SFF so let me point out some presentations that you might want to see.

Dealing with Distractions
Self-editing Err0rs
Selling Yourself for Fun and Profit
Historical Warfare: Writing Realistic Combat
Crime Scene Investigation: Trends in Mystery
Is the Pen Mightier Than the Foot? Writing Martial Arts
History and the Usage of the Bow
Don't Quit Your Day Job
ePublishing and You
How to Use Your Villain
Researching the Past: Creating Historical Fiction
Predicting the Near Future [writing fiction set in the next 25 years and how to present technology]
How to Create a Sequel
Publishing Pitfalls: The Science of the Contract
Writing and Collaborating
World-building and when to Stop
Creating Maps
Young Adult vs New Adult
Escape from the Slush Pile
Tips and Tricks for Aspiring Authors
Social Media Marketing

I may have missed something.

I will be autographing my westerns at 1:00 and reading from my new book at 2:00 on Sunday and there will be cookies at both events! If you see me anywhere please stop me and say hi and maybe even take a selfie!

Cool Discovery! Merriam Webster Provides Free Research

This is an interesting article on several levels, but the really cool takeaway:

On page 1624, it says, “Merriam-Webster’s Language Research Service offers owners of Merriam-Webster’s Collegiate Dictionary the opportunity to take advantage of the editorial resources of America’s foremost dictionary publisher – at no cost. If you have a question about a particular word, such as who first used it or why it has not been entered in the dictionary, an inquiry to the Language Research Service will bring an accurate and concise reply from a Merriam-Webster editor – a member of the largest permanent staff of lexicographers in America.” 

Read more HERE.

This is actually the dictionary I recommend, though any good American dictionary is fine. You do want to use American spellings unless you are selling to a UK publisher, in which case it's fine to use their dictionary and spellings and save them from having to change color to colour, center to centre, gray to grey, etc.

Writing Conference Tips - DFWcon 2013 - KelsNotChelsNOTLIVE ep. 14

I have students going to conferences all over the place. Whether you've been to several or this is your first, you'll find some good pointers here!  And if you see me, say hi, remind me who you are. You know I am terrible with names and faces, but I do want to see you!

Linkage to Possibly Helpful Information

A collection of links worth exploring:

Bob Mayer is a successful writer who is sharing "some basic tools and concepts every successful writer uses." Even though the word "every" makes me itch, because I guarantee unless the only tool/concept shared is "writes words" there are always exceptions to every rule... you may find this helpful. Check it out. It's free.

Active vs. Passive Voice: Read and learn. It's easy, once somebody explains it clearly. I'm lazy and am letting Max explain it clearly. However, there is an even clearer way to explain it, "by zombies!"

David Mamet's Formula for Story: Okay, this is extremely simple and powerful. Add all three things. Stir. Simmer. Enjoy.

If you are in my current class and you have found this entry, leave a comment for extra credit!

Opt In for Sneak Previews and Prizes!

You might wonder why I have a new mailing list and why you'd want to sign up for it.

People on the mailing list will be first to see the cover of my new book [coming in print and ebook in May]. And that cover-reveal is going to happen pretty soon! [I'm waiting to see it myself right now and am giddy and nervous.]

People on the mailing list will get sneak previews of the new book, introductions to characters and excerpts from the book. [These are fun characters. Promise!]

People on the mailing list are going to be eligible to win cool stuff. [Seriously cool stuff.]

And I'll be sharing a few photographs, behind-the-scenes info on the research trips to the UK and Ireland, that kind of thing. [I promise not to bore you with home movies, though.]

So if this sounds like something you'd be interested in, please sign up here!

I'm extremely proud and excited, and I want to share it with you.

Pooks

Self Publishing, my new pov

For a fascnating exchange of information and links that go off in different directions for even more fascinating reading, I suggest you read a recent entry on The Passive Voice about self-pubbed authors and their earnings, and the comments.

Steven Zacharius, CEO of Kensington Books, has been fielding comments and challenges and giving a lot of information about traditional publishing, as others--largely those who self-publish--attack his points. He certainly needs to know more about the current state of self-pub, but his calm, patient responses are well worth reading.

We are all limited by our own experiences. I'm impressed that he's open to learning and understanding more, and will be following his writings on Huffington Post and elsewhere.

ETA: An interesting response from JA Konrath.