I Read Banned Books

I Read Banned Books, a photo by Oak Park Public Library on Flickr.

This is Banned Books Week and I'm blogging about a different banned book each day at planetpooks.

See ya there!

Or on twitter. Let me know you're there!

Or on tumblr. Where I posted this image and have watched it spread.

Pinterest, a different kind of corkboard.

I can't believe I'm doing this again, tempting you with another form of distraction research and inspiration, but I am!  Stephanie Burgis, author of an amazingly fun new series for girls, blogged today about Pinterest, "a virtual pinboard."

The best way to demonstrate is to follow Stephanie's links, but I'll follow one for you.  Another fabulous author, Caroline Stevermer, has a pinterest board of her inspirations.

I still will prefer collecting things in my Scrivener application, but still, pinterest looks like a lot of fun and a way to find new things to inspire and elucidate!

And now, something I found there this morning (after following another of Stephanie's links). This gorgeous image of Northern Ireland. And yes, I'm researching Ireland though at this point I'm not sure which area. But that's the fun and glory of this kind of hunting and gathering. Right now I'm just collecting. I'll make those choices later...

Source: sunsurfer.tumblr.com via mrs on Pinterest

Maybe I should have called it nekkidpeoplereading?

 I finally decided to get a tumblr account.  I once had an idea that I'd like to collect lots of small pictures--classical paintings and casual photos, whatever--of people reading. Put them in an arrangement on the wall.  A wall full of people reading. It appealed to me but was too much work. Plus I don't have an excess of bare wall space around.

Then I thought, tumblr. I could do that there.

I spent awhile looking at templates, frustrated. The one I finally went with was not one I'd even considered at first. And yet, the more I noodled around with others and was dissatisfied, the more frustrated I got--well, suddenly I clicked that one and went, "Wow. That works." Mind you, it didn't "work" for me the first time I skimmed by.

This happens in writing, too. I dismiss an idea for any number of reasons, mainly because I just don't like it.  But something brings me back to it, and suddenly it clicks. It works. In fact, it's brilliant if I do say so myself! (Or that's the way it feels in the moment.) In other words, in writing (and I guess, tumblr?) no doesn't always mean no.

Then there was my idea. I was going to go with people reading or people-reading or reading-people or something like that--but those names were taken.  Yes, these are generic titles but that didn't bother me. I wasn't trying to be original. (Why not? Too much trouble? Maybe. Maybe it was too much trouble for something as inconsequential as tumblr account, or seemed so at that moment.)  But that made me think a little harder.

Not a lot harder, mind you. Just beyond the first obvious thoughts. And "a book in the hand" popped into my head. It was snappier, at least. Familiar but not identical to the source phrase. I went with it.

Again, this is a writing lesson. I've taught it; I've lived it. Don't go with your first thoughts because no matter how much they satisfy you, they are most likely obvious. It's your second thoughts, your fourth thoughts, your twenty-seventh thoughts that bring that bolt out of the blue, that spark of "something different" that your story needs to go beyond the predictable.

[And no, I don't think "a book in the hand" is earth-shattering, but it's the process I'm looking at, and the process works.]

Finally, "a book in the hand" brought me a more narrow focus, a more narrow premise.

As I went through tumblr and found a few things to reblog in my own stream, I started out including quotes about reading or books, as well.  I alternated quotes with images.  But then I realized, no, these quotes are about reading and they are about books but they aren't about "a book in the hand."

And here is something about writing that some of us never learn. (Yes, I'm looking at myself here.) A broad premise, or an execution that spills over the edges and goes beyond the premise, is more difficult to write. It's more difficult to make work. If you get an idea for your story that goes off in some wildass direction away from the original plotline, there is a very good chance that you will spend a lot of time and effort writing in circles trying to find a way to make it fit, when it simply won't. Your premise, your idea, needs to be the spine of your story, and to support your story and allow all the lovely twining sinews and muscles and organs that make it come to life and move, the spine itself needs to be strong and straight.

And that's what "a book in the hand" was--the spine I had to mold to, twine around (hopefully in sometimes unexpected ways), but the thread that holds it all together.  I have one image I like a lot right now that I am probably going to delete because as lovely as it is, it really doesn't quite fit.  And oh so many images I love and would ordinarily share through a reblog, but they may be gorgeous but not about books and reading, or they may be of books but no people in the frame, or...

They don't fit.

And each time I make a choice to "like/heart" something without reblogging because it doesn't fit, I am again exercising the judgment writers have to use every day.  It's not just about "is it fun" or "is it pretty" or "does it make me say wow."

Does it make my story stronger? Does it make my story better? Does it work?

And that's how the past few days on tumblr have been emphasizing basic writing techniques even though I made an early decision to keep it simple and only photoblog w/o words.

And now, without further ado, abookinthehand.

Don't expect much. It's just a lot of images. Tell me if you spot the one/s that doesn't fit.

[Maybe I should have called it nekkidpeoplereading? Even narrower focus, wider audience?]

from buried in books

The Agent/Writer Relationship

A must-read post about the relationship between writers and agents from Natalie Whipple.

Check out her Happy Writers Society, "dedicated to spreading writerly cheer, celebrating the journey, and otherwise purging writers of angst," while you're at it.

Once more with feeling.

It's in the air, the curse of people wanting to write about things without actually knowing what has already been written, what is being published today, what it means to write that thing.

Here is a detailed explanation of why you must read YA to write YA from new YA author Julie Cross, whose brand new book will be out in January 2012.

Excerpt of article:

"I can’t even tell you how many unpublished writers I’ve chatted with, whether in person or through crit sessions, that have decided YA is for them and when I ask them, “Oh, have you read….”and I either get, “No, never heard of it, but I LOVED Twilight” or even, “No, but I hated Twilight so…” And then you get the rare few (and I say rare because most of these writers wouldn’t bother talking to someone like me who wastes time writing *gasp* commercial fiction), the intellectuals, the ones who are determined to create the next Catcher In The Rye and are so above anything non-literary and couldn’t possibly rot their mind on something like, Vampire Academy."

If you don't know what YA is--it's Young Adult. And if that's what you want to write but you don't know the term YA, you need to start learning. This article also has a solid list of recommended YA reading.

Have fun. The adventure awaits!

A great summation of information you need

25 Things Writers Should Know About Social Media

There it is. Read it and learn, and if you have questions, ask!

In the meantime, I'm here:  me on twitter

If you only follow a single person in publishing, it should be: Colleen Lindsay on twitter

But if you follow her, you'll quickly find yourself following a lot of other agents, editors, writers, and people in the biz, because she is smart, experienced, shares her knowledge and her humor freely, and she knows everybody.

Have fun!

What are you reading?

You must read what you write. If you write YA (young adult), you must read it.  If you write epic fantasy, you must read it.

Unless.

Unless you've already read and absorbed it because you are a True Fan.

I know people who don't read what they write. They read other things. And this is fine, as long as you truly know the area you're writing in.

"Write what you know," doesn't limit; it demands. It demands that once you've found that story, that character, that universe that you have a passion to write about--you learn it. You know it inside out.

If the genre is already part of your blood? You're ahead of the game.

If not, read what you're writing.

So, what are you writing right now?


What are you reading?

An unnatural desk.

So, Max [extraordinary screenwriter and teacher, follow that link for the best courses ever] supplied this information about her desk/office space in comments to a previous post.

I have a wall board I got at Ikea, it's glass, extends about an inch out from the wall, you can write on it in dry erase markers if you wish, or clip papers to it. It tends to be very spare and neat but I do put things up on it, often I have a favorite photograph on it that just makes me feel good in the space.

[You thought I was going to say totally bare white walls didn't you Pooks?]

And now she has graciously supplied us with a picture of her desk as described:

And here is her new desk.

Unnaturally pristine, but then, it takes all kinds.

And to reassure myself over my own slovenly ways, here is Einstein's desk and wall:

Are you a Max or an Albert?

First Class Links

Dinotopia Storyboard Explained by James Gurney

You can go to Amazon's listing for Dinotopia: Journey to Chandara and click to see inside pages to understand why Gurney uses the kind of storyboard he does, with images.

Jennifer Crusie's essay on mapping her way to the end

Jennifer Crusie's essay on collage as pre-writing and inspiration

The Jennifer Crusie book we saw two collages for, the one that worked and the one that didn't: Agnes and the Hitman

Jennifer Crusie collages

The books the others are about:  Bet Me, Don't Look Down.

Anne Gracie's webpage about a writers' retreat and the collages they made.

The book we saw in collage form: The Stolen Princess

What grabs, what doesn't.

So you've been revising, and you think you've got it. You think your book is ready.

Are you sure?

Author/editor Rhonda Stapleton chimes in on how to wow an editor with your first three chapters.

Since editors and agents often ask for the first three chapters of your book (with synopsis) before they'll request the full manuscript, this is important information for you.

Check it out before you attach and hit send! 

Reminder: Are you reading the Practical Meerkcat series linked from my sidebar? You should be! Every Friday, another entry from multi-published fabulous author and editor, Laura Anne Gilman.

Never underestimate the wisdom of the meerkat.

Image source.