Brain Farts

Currently ploughing through a manuscript about that wonderful fantasy staple, an assassin. But hey, he's got a great voice, or so I'm told!

[lexiconia]

Test backdated post

This is called novel research!

[awkwardgirltales]

When I’m in a public place where everyone’s dancing, but this is the only type of dancing I know

[sehnsuchttraum]

You don’t have to achieve great things by the time you’re 25

You have intrinsic value above and beyond your perceived utility to other people and society at large.

You don’t have to have sex, or have sex in any way that you find uncomfortable or unpleasant, to keep…

[meaganspooner]

I wish I’d known that first one a lot sooner. I could have saved myself so much stress and worry. At the time, I thought selling my first three books at age 25 was slow. I thought I was already behind. (Which is ridiculous.) And in high school, I was desperately afraid that I was going to miss my “window” to be somebody if I didn’t start achieving amazing things while I was still a teenager. (Which is even more ridiculous.) *eyes teen self* What the hell, past Meg. I mean, yeah, ambition is good, and it’s probably why I’m an author now, but I think I probably could have been ambitious still without feeling like I was going to EXPLODE if I didn’t achieve All The Things right away.

These days all I want is for someone out there to keep reading enough of my books for me to be able to keep writing them.

Also maybe for my cat to stop yelling at me at 4am. #lifegoals

[lexiconia]

I see all these young authors who come straight out of school or uni and are successful, and I feel so old in the mid-twenties-and-still-nothing stage. But then I put my old-person hat on and remind myself that in the good old days, it took authors many years and many more books to even get published. So I'm doing it the old-fashioned way!

[meaganspooner]

Sometimes, during revisions/copy-edits/final-pass pages, I’ll read a sentence or a phrase or an idea that I originally wrote over a year ago and think, "Wow, that is actually kind of really good."

That thought is almost always followed immediately by one of two subsequent thoughts:

"Must have…

[lexiconia]

Kinda depressing that this doesn’t stop even after you’e published

[meaganspooner]

Seen one way it’s tooooootally depressing. I mean, if getting published doesn’t fix your confidence in your writing, what does?

But the flip side of that is that since outside confirmation of talent/hard work/whatever-indefinable-quality-gets-you-published doesn’t do it, that means it comes from somewhere else. It’s like people who are only confident about themselves when they’re in a relationship, and they have only that outside reassurance of their worth. It’s great when they first get into a relationship, but eventually doubts start to catch up with them and it all falls apart. Same with getting published. Outside affirmation (publication) is not the magic cure-all we all hope(d) it would be, because the self-confidence problem was never coming from the outside in the first place.

You have to learn to love yourself your writing from the inside out. Getting published has nothing to do with that, so the good news is you can start learning right now regardless of where you are in your career or journey. Having those thoughts of self-doubt is natural. I suspect they always happen and continue to happen throughout any artist’s life and career, and there’s not much you can do to control whether they come to you or not. What you can do is choose how you react to them.

Some days I’m really good at choosing my reaction and sticking to it. I usually get a lot done on those days. Some days… not so much. It’s a constant fight, but it’s one you can get better at with practice and one that does, very gradually, get easier. But it’s choice: you can either believe that little voice and stop writing for the day and go watch Game of Thrones and eat a whole bag of potato chips (yeah, I’ve done that)… or you can tell that little voice it’s wrong, and you do have worth because you DO, and that your doubts and fears just mean you’re joining the unbroken line of thousands of artists down through history that have all, at one point or another, said to themselves, “Sigh. I guess that was just a fluke.”

[lexiconia]

That has to be the best advice I've heard in a long, long time. The relationship analogy is awesome, though sometimes part of me wonders if it wouldn't be easier to find someone to love me, as opposed to loving my writing!

But it's insanely encouraging to know that even successful authors struggle with it, and the sole difference is the choice they make. That addition of free agency (no matter how hard!), outside the realms of skill, of experience, of luck, makes a huge difference.

[meaganspooner]

Sometimes, during revisions/copy-edits/final-pass pages, I’ll read a sentence or a phrase or an idea that I originally wrote over a year ago and think, "Wow, that is actually kind of really good."

That thought is almost always followed immediately by one of two subsequent thoughts:

"Must have...

[lexiconia]

Kinda depressing that this doesn't stop even after you'e published

[lindsxymxc-moved]

So now when you do Alt + Reblog, the reblog symbol turns green, "explodes" and then disappears.

[rainyapparitions]

[scurgal-archive]

I THOUGHT THIS WAS KIDDING SOGMLASG

[theshelbylife-blog-blog]

HOLY SHIT

[ask-pinkamena-and-jeffthekiller]

((Fuck, I’m on mobile))

[vlocally]

If you your on mobile you can just hold the reblog button down

[meaganspooner]

A Reluctant Star, Sia Deals With Fame On Her Own Terms

Sia says a lot of pop songs follow certain formulas, contain certain universal themes. There’s “victim to victory.”

"The ‘victim to victory’ theory," she says, "is that, if you listen to the radio, a large percentage of the hits are … about victim to victory, like ‘I’m having a terrible time.’ And then the pre-chrous is ‘I don’t know what’s gonna happen next.’ And the chorus is, ‘Now I’m brilliant, and everything is great, because something happened to make it great.’"

This is fascinating—because not only is it true of pop songs, I find it tends to be true of a lot of YA hits as well. You start out with the protagonist in a victim situation and over the course of the book they are forged and molded by the crucible of the plot and their choices into something stronger, more fiery, incandescent.

It’s certainly not true of all YA, but I think it says something about the kind of story that appeals to young women right now. The idea of emerging from victimhood—whether physical, emotional, societal—into strength and independence is so compelling that it takes over even our fantasies, even our art and music.

[readingwithavengeance]

On Writing: Running from Nobles

Alright, I have to speak up in favor of princesses and noble ladies.  Too often I’ve read books where they want to escape their lives because they’re just so bored of needlepoint and…needlepoint.  And needlepoint.  Because apparently no one can think of anything else a noble lady might be engaged in.

Honestly, there’s nothing wrong with the basic story of a noble lady (or lord) who wants to escape her or his life.  The grass is always greener on the other side, and all that jazz.  But this paint-by-numbers approach to it has to stop.

Tell me what they are, not what they aren’t.  Saying that a character ‘isn’t like other nobles’ or ‘doesn’t like such and such’ is next to useless.  It tells me nothing about them as a character; it only tells me what they’re not.  If all I know is that Princess Muffin doesn’t like to sew…I really don’t care.  Tell me what she does like.  Don’t tell me she hates all things noble and ladylike, tell me she has a passion for something outside her class.  Tell me what drives and motivates her, not all the things that have failed to do so.  If all I know about your character is their ‘nots,’ they might as well be a black hole of character development.  A character who goes to great lengths to leave a way of life based on a lack of motivation comes off as whiny, directionless, and quite immature.

Read More

[lexiconia]

Considering my first manuscript was all about 'noble escaping her life', this hits home. Hard.

[meaganspooner]

Years ago, when I first started blogging about writing and my hopes of one day getting published, I ran my first book giveaway to celebrate my birthday. Now, July 5th is the day I set aside to thank you guys for reading my books, for listening to me ramble on Twitter and Tumblr, and for just generally being awesome, book-loving, YA-reading rockstars. You guys are the best birthday present a girl could ask for.

To celebrate I’m giving away ALL of my books, including an early ARC of This Shattered World, plus swag, across five different winners, open internationally*. I’ll be drawing one of the four basic prize winners each Saturday leading up to the final grand prize drawing from the entire pool of entrants on July 31. The first drawing is TONIGHT, so jump on it sooner rather than later!

FOUR BASIC PRIZES: Your choice of any one of the above books signed and personalized, plus signed swag. (ARC of This Shattered World, poster, and custom These Broken Stars necklace are only available for the grand prize.)

ONE GRAND PRIZE: EVERYTHING pictured above! All signed/personalized however you want them. 

HOW TO ENTER:

Newsletter (+5): Enter by subscribing to the newsletter I share with amiekaufman. Each entry here is worth five points in the drawings. (If you already subscribe, you’ve already automatically got these points in the drawing!)

Twitter (+1): Retweet this tweet. (Can do this once a day for more points!)

Tumblr (+1): Reblog this post. (Can do this once a day for more points!) 

See below for contest fine print and basic contest policy/rules.

[yeahpitchbitch]

Amy Gray: Successful pitch examples and understanding editors

If I were Leslie Knope, I would constantly refer to Amy Gray as a generous, smart and genius-level ginger tabby cat. Her bylines are many, her game is strong, and she has kindly agreed to share some of her past successful pitches, with commentary. (And basically tips on everything else, too.) She has given us not one, not two, not three, but SIX WHOLE PITCHES to look at with wonder. We thank you, Amy. LAP IT UP, ALL! And follow Amy on Twitter.

I am a full time freelance writer. My time is spent either pitching or thinking about pitches. I aim for 3 to 5 articles per week, which can mean up to 7 pitches or more per week.

Understanding Editors

Most articles are an attempt to answer a question the writer is tumbling over in their head. The trick is to convince editors your question is an interesting one.

First up, you’re not just submitting work from a remote place to an organisation. You’re pitching to a person. You should be trying to develop a relationship with editors. Get to know them and how they work.

The more you write, the more your pitches will vary based on your relationship with the editor. You get to know them better and – through that constant agitation of acceptance and rejection – you learn what gets them interested, how they respond and how they work. Plus, they get to know you and will start contacting you with specific commissions.

Central to this is understanding that most editors are completely overworked and haven’t got time to hold anyone’s hands. Your job isn’t just to write, your job is to somehow make an editor’s job easier: your pitch needs to arrive in a format that suits them, at a time that suits them, and gives them the information they need to make a decision for an audience you had better understand.

Understand their schedules – when do they have their daily/weekly meeting to discuss stories? Get your pitches a minimum of two hours before (more applicable for print news op-ed).

Understand what they want – not only by reading their publications but, if possible, meeting or talking with them and finding out their interests. This is where you discover their pet interests and preferred working style, information that helps refine your pitch. Can’t talk or meet with them? Read their social media for clues.

Understand what you want to say – what is the topic and how will you answer it? Unless you have at least 3 months of regular writing with them under your belt, there should be no surprises between pitch and submitted piece. Tell them the issue, your argument and if there are particular elements you’re going to include.

The easier you make an editor’s life, the more likely you are to get published.

Read More

[lexiconia]

Language is a cracked kettle on which we bang out tunes to make the bears dance, when what we long for is to move the stars to pity.

Gustave Flaubert

[lexiconia]

One hasn't become a writer until one has distilled writing into a habit, and that habit has been forced into an obsession. Writing has to be an obsession. It has to be something as organic, physiological and psychological as speaking or sleeping or eating.

Niyi Osundare

[explore-blog]

1. Always try to use the language so as to make quite clear what you mean and make sure your sentence couldn’t mean anything else. 2. Always prefer the plain direct word to the long, vague one. Don’t implement promises, but keep them. 3. Never use abstract nouns when concrete ones will do. If you mean “More people died” don’t say “Mortality rose.” 4. In writing. Don’t use adjectives which merely tell us how you want us to feel about the thing you are describing. I mean, instead of telling us a thing was “terrible,” describe it so that we’ll be terrified. Don’t say it was “delightful”; make us say “delightful” when we’ve read the description. You see, all those words (horrifying, wonderful, hideous, exquisite) are only like saying to your readers, “Please will you do my job for me.” 5. Don’t use words too big for the subject. Don’t say “infinitely” when you mean “very”; otherwise you’ll have no word left when you want to talk about something really infinite.

C. S. Lewis on writing, joining other sage writing advice from Kurt Vonnegut, Billy Wilder, Jack Kerouac, John Steinbeck, Henry Miller, and David Ogilvy.

Simple, but oh so true--and oh so hard to do!

(via explore-blog)

[lexiconia]

Writing is like hunting. There are brutally cold afternoons with nothing in sight, only the wind and your breaking heart. Then the moment when you bag something big. The entire process is beyond intoxicating.

Kate Braverman

[aida-caroti]

Does your character have a particular voice type in mind? Do they have an accent? Are they monotonous? Does their voice grate? Is it silky? Sultry? Low? High-pitched? Do they slur? Stutter? What in the world is the difference between some of these? Here are some...

[lexiconia]

So very, very useful. I'm terrible at describing voices, so this is brilliant!

[lexiconia]

Les Miserables - Valjean's Soliloquy (What Have I Done) and Javert's Suicide

Image credit: Rick Payette

I think it was something like the 30th or 40th time I listened to the Les Mis soundtrack this morning that I finally noticed - these two songs (What Have I Done and Javert's Suicide) are exactly the same song, but with different lyrics - right down to the verses. 

Yeah, I'm an idiot. 

They're such perfect bookends to the musical, showing the stark contrast between Valjean and Javert. 

Take a look at their first few lines. In both these cases, Valjean and Javert have just received undeserved mercy - Valjean from the priest he stole from, and Javert from Valjean after he'd been outed as a spy.

Valjean

What have I done? Sweet Jesus, what have I done? Become a thief in the night Become a dog on the run

and then:

Javert

Who is this man? What sort of devil is he? To have me caught in a trap And choose to let me go free?

I love it how the musical uses the same tune to highlight the stark differences in their outlook all throughout the songs. In this case, Valjean realises that it's himself who's to blame: "What have I done?" Javert, however, refuses to accept the blame: "Who is this man? What sort of devil is he?"

It goes on to contrast the effect this mercy has on each:

Valjean

Yet why did I allow this man To touch my soul and teach me love?

and:

Javert

How can I now allow this man To hold dominion over me?

To Valjean, mercy is an act of freedom, a gesture of love that does not need to be repaid. To Javert, however, he sees it as a shameful thing - an act of enslavement, as he now owes his life to the man he hates.

Their contrasting reactions following this are equally interesting:

Valjean

Instead he offers me my freedom, I feel my shame inside me like a knife

and:

Javert

My heart is stone and still it trembles The world I have known is lost in shadow.

Valjean feels shame at his actions; Javert, unwilling to even contemplate the fact that he may have been wrong, finds himself mired in the darkness instead.

This decides their choices in how to move forward:

Valjean

What spirit came to move my life? Is there another way to go?

and:

Javert

That granting me my life today This man has killed me even so?

Valjean acknowledges his wrongs, accepts the mercy, and the shame drives him to search for another path to take. Javert continues to blame others, rejecting the mercy as enslavement, and even though his life was saved, he refuses to step out of his darkness - now he's at a dead end.

The end of the songs are beautiful parallels that encapsulate the outcomes of their choices. I'll leave you all with them, and nothing further from me. The lyrics say it all.

Valjean

I am reaching, but I fall And the night is closing in And I stare into the void To the whirlpool of my sin I'll escape now from that world From the world of Jean Valjean Jean Valjean is nothing now Another story must begin!

and:

Javert

I am reaching, but I fall And the stars are black and cold. As I stare into the void Of a world that cannot hold I'll escape now from the world From the world of Jean Valjean There is nowhere I can turn There is no way to go on.....

[lexiconia]

David Mamet's Master Class Memo to the Writers of The Unit

Despite the all-caps nature of his email, this is a brilliant piece of advice that applies not only to screen writers, but novel writers as well. 

For example:

ANY SCENE, THUS, WHICH DOES NOT BOTH ADVANCE THE PLOT, AND STANDALONE (THAT IS, DRAMATICALLY, BY ITSELF, ON ITS OWN MERITS) IS EITHER SUPERFLUOUS, OR INCORRECTLY WRITTEN.

and:

START, EVERY TIME, WITH THIS INVIOLABLE RULE: THE SCENE MUST BE DRAMATIC. it must start because the hero HAS A PROBLEM, AND IT MUST CULMINATE WITH THE HERO FINDING HIM OR HERSELF EITHER THWARTED OR EDUCATED THAT ANOTHER WAY EXISTS.

and:

I CLOSE WITH THE ONE THOUGHT: LOOK AT THE SCENE AND ASK YOURSELF "IS IT DRAMATIC? IS IT ESSENTIAL? DOES IT ADVANCE THE PLOT?

ANSWER TRUTHFULLY.

IF THE ANSWER IS "NO" WRITE IT AGAIN OR THROW IT OUT. 

Seriously, just read it all. It's brilliant.