#missbookbug

[booksandeverything-in-between]

1.Always post the rules

2.Answer the questions the person who tagged you wrote and write your 11 new questions.

3.Tag 11 new people.

4.Tell them you’ve tagged them.

5.@ me so I can see your answer.

I was tagged by rowing-to-hogwarts

1: What has been your favourite book that you have read so far this year?     I'll just say Isla and the Happily Ever After. 

2: When you were growing up (until 13?) what was your favourite book?      Totally not sure! From 11+ it was PJO, but I can't remember if I had a super favorite before that.  

3: What do you think you will read after your current read?      Some book I find at my school's library or The Infinite Moment of Us. 

4: Of all the books you own, which cover is your favourite?      The Anna/Lola/Isla covers. I also love the Looking for Alaska cover with a flower on it, but I don't have it. 

5: Of all the books you own, which spine is your favourite? 

    This book called The Aviary. Or Isla. 

6: How many books have you read this year?     Not sure..40? More? I can never keep track of them. 

7: Do you listen to music whilst reading?  If yes, what type?     Only sometimes. Usually it's the slower songs I have so that I don't get distracted by it. I don't think there's an exact genre. 

8: How any books do you approximately own?        Around 120!

9: Are there any books you wish you got to read when you were younger?

        I don't think so.

10: What draws you to pick up a book you’ve never seen or heard of before?       Usually if the title catches my eye, or the cover looks pretty.

11: If you dislike a book, do you finish it?       Not normally. I think I never really go "I don't like this" very often but it's more of a can't get into it don't want to get reading it so it means I don't like it and don't finish it. 

My Questions: 1) What's a book that's really changed your viewpoint on life? 2) Is there any book that's made you cry?  3) When did you start wanting to own books? 4) What were some of the first books you remember reading? 5) How many "classics" have you read? 6) Favorite book quote?  7) Favorite author quote? 8) What kind of music do you listen to? 9) Do you ever eat while you read? 10) Favorite books-to-movie adaption? 11) Have you ever fallen asleep while you've been reading?

I tag:

bluestockingbookworm, beccaandbooks, missbookbug, therevenclawbibliophile, books-booksandmorebooks, adventures-of-a-bibliophile, findinghomeinabook, readin-n-dreamin, theperksofbeingabookenthusiast, islaandthehappilyeverafter, and midnightpoemslove.

[howtofightwrite]

My laptop glitched or something so I'm not exactly sure if my unfinished ask sent or not, but I had said that this question doesn't really apply to your fight advice, so I understand if you don't answer! I've started the beginning of a story I've written multiple times, but I can't seem to find a great way to start it. I always have this problem with writing, and I don't know if it's just cuz I'm not confident enough, or if I have a writers block. Do have any tips on moving on from the start?

Beginnings are always hard. That’s just one of those truths about writing. It's not a failure as a writer, whenever you're starting a project, the beginning will almost always be the hardest, and require the most revisions later.

When I was younger, I used to deal with beginnings by not writing them first. I’d start about 1/3 of the way through the piece, and then go back and actually rough draft the beginning after the fact.

There’s actually some decent arguments for this approach. Minor mistakes are more likely to be discarded by the reader without coloring the entire story, for them. You’re writing the part of the piece that needs to be strongest once you’re deeply invested in the work. But, you’re also drafting fragments of your story in isolation from the whole, and then trying to get everything to line up, which is a lot harder than it seems. It also creates a situation where, if you’ve screwed yourself, you won’t know until you’ve already invested a lot of time in the project. Finally, I’m not convinced it actually is easier.

You start with a little less pressure, but, in the end, you’re still going to have to suffer through the first portion you write, regardless. Just because it’s not chronologically first, won’t really save you.

The only reason this ever worked for me was because I always make sure I’ve got a fairly solid outline in my head before I start writing. And, back then, if I came up with a better idea once I was working on the early pieces, I was usually stuck with the original plan.

These days, I always write with one eye firmly on “what’s next.” When I’m writing an opening, I’m thinking about the followup, and in parts, what follows that. It takes a lot of pain out of writing the opening, but it’s also more time consuming.

Either way, starting on a piece is always going to be difficult, because you’re setting the tone for the story. The best advice, whatever your approach is; “everyone’s rough drafts suck.” It’s just a fact of life. Know where you’re going, set out, then clean it up in revisions once you’re working on your second pass. Also, be ready to revise the hell out of your opening, because it is the hardest thing to write, and it will take the most work, long after everything else is done.

-Starke

[thecharactercomma]

Hi! I've just recently followed your blog, but I really like it and I find it really useful when for writing. :) I have a character that is best friends with a guy, but she soon finds herself falling in love with him. Do you know the best way to transition her feelings to "just friends" to "I like him?" Does it sound to cliche? Thanks a lot!

First off, I’d like to thank you for being my 400th follower, actually. :)

Second off, don’t worry too much about clichés! Yes, it’s been done before—but never between your two specific characters! The experience will be unique to them.

My advice would be to hint at the possibility early on. In books you’ll sometimes see this in a line or two like “he always found a way to make me smile” or some variant of that. Right now that doesn’t necessarily mean romantic love, but it does show they get along and appreciate each other. They could be compatible. Same with physical attraction. I don’t know if she’s your MC or narrator or what, but if she has an opportunity to describe him, that’s a great place to start. She shouldn’t be gushy about describing him, but maybe a bit deeper than “he was taller than me and had short brown hair” or something. If you can add a personal touch, go for it. Things like she’s noticed his little quirks and mannerisms, and she finds them endearing. Depending on their relationship, this might be like a good-natured teasing like “he always wore this dorky blue hoodie” and hopefully by that point you’ve shown us enough of their relationship to know she means dorky in a friendly way.

Most importantly, consider the “trigger” to this change. And I don’t mean a flip switched and she was in love, but something that happened or was said to start her on this path. For example, maybe another character asks “how long have you two been going out?” and she laughs and says “we’re definitely just friends” and at that point, she honestly means it. But they’ve planted that thought in her head.

Then it becomes a game of planting hints and being subtle about it, so it’s more of easing into this change rather than something sudden. Have her think back on what that other character said about them dating (or whatever the triggering moment was). Maybe she starts to notice more details about him or be more aware of him, or be strangely nervous when they have to squeeze close together in a full elevator. Now she might say, “that same dorky hoodie that brought out his eyes.” Small things at first. Maybe show a disconnect between her thoughts and her body language, like her heart picks up a few beats when he smiles at her, and she can’t think of why. She shouldn’t jump to the conclusion that she likes him as more than a friend, but we as readers will notice and start making assumptions. When readers feel they’re able to piece together information through subtle hints rather than being told outright, the relationship won’t feel contrived or forced.

That’s how I would do it, anyway. It does highly depend on each of their personalities, what their friendship is like, how long they’ve been friends, and if he’s starting to like her as well.

Here are some other links I found for you!

Friendships and Relationships

How to Make Us Believe in Falling in Love

How a Romance Develops

Good luck! :)

—E

[a-novel-ty]

Taggy Tag Tagger Tag!

I've been tagged by the lovely mykingdomofbooks

Always post the rules!

Answer the questions!

Ask five new questions

Tag five new blogs

Message said blogs and let them know you've tagged them

Questions

Can you read with music?: Only when it's necessary. Like if I'm on the bus and there's a loud ass person on the phone distracting me from my book...I'll put my headphones in to block them out.

What's your favorite book quote?: "I am stronger than my trials. I can use my trials to help me; I can make them serve my own ends" - Kira from Partials by Dan Wells.

Do you drink tea/coffee/soda when you are reading?: I don't drink Tea, unless I'm sick, Soda unless I'm weak, and Coffee at all lol.

What book are you reading?: Charm and Strange by Stephanie Keuhn.

Mention one book that makes you cry: Welp, I didn't read TFIOS (and do not plan on it. Don't shoot me.) So I'll go with The Outsiders by S.E. Hinton. That book made me sob for a good four minutes.

Mis Preguntas (My Questions)

Who is your favorite male protagonist and or antagonist?

What is your favorite "underrated" book? (a book you love that no one else seems to know about.)

What books were so terrible you just could not finish?

What genre will you most definitely NOT read?

What was your first book of 2014? 

I Taggggg

abookloverconfessions

theclassycookie

vanillevampire

missbookbug

just-another-book-review

[wilddestdream]

What show are you talking about? Sorry I don't watch a lot of TV. (Too busy reading.)

In my last posts, I’ve been talking about the tv show ‘Reign’ :)

[howtofightwrite]

I have a character (I haven't even given him a name yet) and he's the main characters love interest... But they haven't met yet. When would be the best time introduce him in the book?

My general rule of thumb on love interests is to try to incorporate them into the story as early as possible and to ensure that they are fully fleshed out characters with their own arc in the story. A successful love interest is one that is a recognizable individual and, for me anyway, the best part about even a romantic subplot is watching the two characters interactions as they fall in love. In a novel that runs between 70,000 to 100,000 words that’s not a lot of time to fit in a subplot beneath the main plot if the love interest is introduced in the middle or at the end.

However, the real problem is that you haven’t figured out who this character is yet. If you don’t know who he is, what he likes, what his goals and dreams are, and the itty bitty minutia of quirks that make people so interesting, how can you know what his place in the story is or even if he’s going to be suitable to even be the love interest?

The thing about falling in love is that it is in essence, a learning experience. In my opinion, that’s the joy of the early stages love. The joy that comes after the infatuation stage. The joy of discovery, of finding the person behind the mask. I’m going to borrow the lyrics from The King and I song “Getting to Know You”.

Getting to know you,

Getting to know all about you.

Getting to like you,

Getting to hope you like me.

…

Getting to know you,

Getting to feel free and easy

When I am with you,

Getting to know what to say

Haven’t you noticed

Suddenly I’m bright and breezy?

Because of all the beautiful and new

Things I’m learning about you

Day by day.

However, for a love story to really take root, the characters need time to get to know each other and the reader needs time to get to know them. This can only happen though if there’s fertile ground for that to take root, otherwise you’ll end up falling back on generic language that usually relates to being in love but not what it means to be in love with Character X.

Love takes two and each character needs to be fully realized with their own roles in the story outside of their romantic subplot. This doesn’t mean the love interest needs to be as important as the main character in the greater context of the novel, but they do need to be present and relevant.

The other important point is this: love comes in several different stages, but there is a difference between a character falling in love with their preconceived notions of who someone is (or who they want them to be) and falling in love with the actual person in question. This happens all the time in real life in many different kinds of relationships, so your character discovering a dichotomy between who they think someone is and who they actually are is incredibly important.

To do that well, you’ll need two characters who are put into situations where they must interact with each other on a regular basis. They have to get to know each other, see each other for who they really are, and not look away. The good, the bad, and the ugly.

For me, real love is about finding someone with whom I can trust my broken pieces to. The safe refuge in the storm. The person who is willing to look at me, in all my imperfections, and not ask me to change to suit them. I don’t want the person who wants the best version of me, I want the person who wants me. As I am. No unnecessary edits to the personality to make me more palatable. A gloriously imperfect love between two flawed human beings. (Which I do have, thanks.)

There is nothing more frustrating for me as a reader than not knowing why two characters are getting together or, worse, that the process of them getting together is held off for several books when the couple’s issues could easily be resolved in one.

Writing romantic subplots is difficult. Good luck!

-Michi

[paperbackd]

Hey! I love that you post new authors books. Where do u find all of the books???

Thanks!  For book release dates, I usually rely on publisher's websites, goodreads, and twitter.  Goodreads listopia is a good resource for finding the most popular new book releases, but because it's fan-run it's not always accurate.  Publisher's websites are more accurate, because most advertise their 'coming soon' books either somewhere online or in newsletters which you can subscribe to for free.  Another great resource are e-galley catalogues like netgalley and edelweiss.  Hope that helps!