N.E. White's Blog, page 19

Nila’s Writing Rules

As some of you know, I’m a moderator over at the Writing forum on SFFWorld.com. There’s really nothing to moderate. I’m just a glorified coordinator. My main job is to stick and unstick contest threads. Occasionally, there’s a scuffle between writers, but we’re an insipid lot. We may wield our pens like swords, but they’re still pens. Retractable pens, even.

However, among writers, there are a couple of topics that get the blood boiling:

the difference between a novella and a novelette (don’t ask) and
writing rule(s).

Please note I did not enclose the word rule inside quotes. I mean rule in the sense it is meant: one of a set of explicit or understood regulations or principles governing conduct within a particular activity or sphere (Google definition).

It is the use of that word (rule or rules) that is what gets some writers so very upset. Their argument being: no governing body has authority to dictate rules for fiction so listing a set of rules, any rules, is ludicrous at best and damaging at worst.

I don’t see it that way. While using the word rule when listing things that writers might find helpful might seem harsh and dictatorial, really, folks, stop getting your panties in a bunch.

There are many of these writing rules bandied about the internet. Some list specific things you should not do in fiction writing while some list items you should include. But all of them, of course, are not absolute.

Why?

Well, isn’t that obvious?

As implied by the detractor’s own argument, there’s no Editor-God in the sky dictating these rules.

In my mind, at least, when folks attach the word rules to a list, they are simply giving advice and guidelines and maybe warnings a bit of an authoritative boost. In much the same way I say to my husband: It’s against the law to drop your dirty shorts in the living room! I’m just adding that word, law, for emphasis. So, too, do other writers use the word rule to add emphasis to their lists.

So, why don’t we join in, no?

Here are my writing rules:

Nila’s Writing Rules
Do not confuse

There’s nothing worse that being utterly confused when reading something. If you don’t like it, chances are most other folks don’t either. A mystery is great, but not when you can’t keep track of who’s saying or doing what. If you need to, use punctuation and paragraph formatting to set off text to make the dialogue and action clear.

Do not bore

Do you ever find yourself skimming through passages? Don’t you think that’s a waste of time?

If I find myself skimming through pages of a book, pretty soon I just abandon it. In my own writing, if I catch myself doing that during a re-read, I immediately highlight the offending text in red and figure out how to impart the information in other ways. Is the information necessary right now in the story? Or can I include it earlier in a description? Or later in some dialogue?

Do not get in the way of the story

Sometimes, I like to tell a story in a particular dialect. Or I have a cool historic fact I want to include. Or maybe there’s this one perfect line so poignant and brilliant, I have to include it.

No matter how much I like to use those items that give my writing its unique style and voice, I try not to – unless it supports the story.

Sometimes, that funky Chinese-American dialect I’m going for just confuses readers because I’m not particular good at writing it. Or that cool factoid has nothing to do with the story and is, really, a boring bit of history.

Do make sense

Are your characters acting like they would or are they running through your plot points because you want them to? Character motivations are the key to any story. Nail those, and the plot will write itself.

Remember to have fun

Sometimes, we forget this part. At least, I do. If you are enjoying the writing process, then that’s all that really matters.

So, what are your writing rules*?

*If using the word ‘rules’ is offensive, by all means, please substitute tips, guidelines, or any other agreeable word.

Filed under: Wednesday Writer Tagged: rules, tips, writing rules, writing tips

MJS: Authors Helping Authors

For those of you who do not know Michael J Sullivan, stop what you are doing and go read his fantasy series: The Riyria Revelations and The Riyria Chronicles.

These series are a lot of fun. Good fantasy tales that will keep you turning the pages well into the night. No, his work is not grimdark or edgy. Mr. Sullivan just tells a story very well. His work is sure to entertain, even when he tackles modern-day social issues, like in Hollow World. I’ve been a fan for a while and you should join the ranks. He started out as a self-published author (sort of), but got picked up by Orbit.

However, while Orbit is producing his latest series, Mr. Sullivan’s original series is still in his hands. Recently, as part of his self-publishing efforts for the latest in his Riyria Chronicles series, The Death of Dulgath, Mr. Sullivan hosted a short story contest via his wildly popular Kickstarter campaign. The winner of the writing contest will be paid handsomely and their story will appear in his next book. Sort of an added bonus for his readers.

And a huge boost to whomever wins that coveted spot!

Of course, I decided to enter a story. As the deadline neared, I didn’t have time to write a new story for the contest, so I thought I wouldn’t enter at all. But then I figured, what the hell, go through the trunk. I chose my dragon story set in World War One.

And it made the first cut.

(gulp)

Me being me, I am tempted to pull the story from consideration. I mean, what if, against all odds, Mr. Sullivan picks my story? More than just my writer friends and a few random folks on the internet will read it!

(swoon)

I mean, I don’t want to embarrass Mr. Sullivan. Of course, if he’s picking it, he’ll be embarrassing himself, right? It wouldn’t be my fault? Right?

(thump)

Excuse me. Had to hit my head against the desk.

(ahem!)

I’m sure my story will not make the final cut, but it is nice to know that my opening lines piqued Mr. Sullivan’s interest. Not only that, by making the final round, I’ll be sure to get a critique on the story. I’m very much looking forward to that. I plan to take his (and his wife’s) advice to heart.

In the meantime, I’m going to revise my latest ghost story (part of a planned series) and finish two epic novels (one with a dragon, one without) that I’ve picked at for the past four years. My goal for the rest of the year is to finish two novels and one novella. It’s a tall order, but if I don’t shoot for the stars, I’ll never get there. Wish me luck!

Until later, submit everywhere. You never know when you’ll score a hit.

Filed under: Monday Minutes, writing Tagged: Fantasy, Michael J. Sullivan, Riyria, short story, Short story contest, The Death of Dulgath

Deadline Looming

I know you know.

Really, I do.

But if you don’t know…or maybe you saw it the first time I posted but thought it didn’t apply to you…or maybe you think you are unworthy (you’re not)…

SFFWorld.com’s 2015 Anthology Submission Deadline is:
August 31st, 2015

Theme: Ecotones
Word Limit: 5,000 – 7,000
Payment: Token

Featured authors: Tobias S. Buckell (Crystal Rain, Xenowealth), Lauren Beukes (Zoo City, Broken Monsters),  (The Grace of Kings), and YOU!

Don’t miss it.

(Submission guidelines here.)

 

Filed under: Monday Minutes Tagged: announcement, anthology, SFFWorld, SFFWorld.com

Micro-fiction

Early this year, the folks who hang out over on the SFFWorld.com forum started a micro-fiction contest.

I know, I know. Micro-fiction? What the heck is that?

Well, according to the internet, it is very short fiction. If you thought flash fiction was short (usually 1000 words or so), try micro-fiction.

For the SFFWorld.com forum contests, we’ve defined micro-fiction at 100 words or less.

Yup, that’s it. 100 words. This post is three times as long (without counting my examples below).

No, it’s not poetry, or poetry prose, but it might be poetic. Essentially, you just write a really short story.

So, what’s micro-fiction all about?

That’s a good question. In this age of multi-tasking, I guess micro-fiction fills some instant story-itch. Really, I don’t have a clue. I suppose it is something for writers to do while they are procrastinating on writing their novels.

Is it even worth your time to read (or write)?

I guess that depends on whether you are having fun with it. If you like reading and/or writing micro-fiction, then it is not wasting time! It’s entertainment. And, you just might learn something. However, like any fiction, whether you get any value out of it depends on the story.

I’ve read some very clever tales told in fewer words than I take to order breakfast, but I do find that writing a story on such restrictions hurts my head. It’s just so hard. How do I fit a beginning, middle, and end? What details do I include? What if I want to evoke a mood? It definitely teaches one to economize and go for the throat as soon as possible.

Here are a few (terrible) examples of my own attempts at micro-fiction.

Behemoth from the Abyss (91 words)

We stood below the stunned creature, staring at what looked like its mouth. A tentacle the size of a redwood slipped from the NASA-designed grappling hooks, crushing the military semi-truck parked beneath it.

“Oh, dear,” I said. “I hope no one was in that.”

The lead scientist grunted. Her assistant gave me a look that said I should shut up, and the physicist said, “Maybe we should move.”

Why there was a physicist on the deep-sea live-specimen retrieval team, I never did find out. But we should have listened to him.

Dayto (94 words)

“Mom!” Janh said.

He had on white shorts, no shirt. The Vietnam morning sun glistened his tanned torso with youthful sweat.

“It’s not working again,” he added, giving their house-robot a swift kick.

“Turn it off,” his mother called from the interior of their stilt home. “Then back on.”

Muttering under his breath that he had tried that already, Janh followed his mother’s instructions.

Upon reboot, the house-robot blinked, and then a pre-programmed innocent smile spread across its face.

But by then, it was all over. Model Dayto-34J7 had broken free of its code.

Not exactly poetry, but those are my two attempts.

Would you like to read more? Or maybe try your hand at it? Join the fun over on SFFWorld.com and share your (100 words or less) story.

Enjoy the weekend,

N. E. White

 

Filed under: Fiction, Friday Fiction Tagged: micro-fiction, short fiction, very short fiction

Are you award worthy?

Yes, you are.

Okay, maybe not always, but I bet you have an award-winning story somewhere inside you just waiting to bust out! I bet.

The other day, out of the clear blue sky, a bird dropped into my lap, fluttered a little smile at me, and then took off (metaphorically speaking).

In actuality, Igor Ljubuncic posted in a thread on the SFFWorld.com Writer’s forum that his story, “The Girl with the Flaxen Hair”, in our anthology, Wars to End All Wars: Alternate Tales from the Trenches, had been nominated for an award. Specifically, for the Sidewise Award to be presented at the 73rd Annual World Science Fiction Convention on August 21st, 2015.

Exciting, right?

I know, it’s just an award. One I had never heard of until Igor mentioned it, but heck, it’s an award!

Whether Igor’s story wins in late August, this award-nomination has boosted my resolve. Sometimes, I think my anthology habit is a bit futile. But an award-nomination like this reminds me why I do it. I love reading stories, and I also love bringing them to you. If something I find touches another human being or inspires them to see the world in a different way or even just entertains them for a few moments, that’s worthy. And if someone wants to give us an award for it, so be it. Rest assured, I will continue to bring the world great stories. Better than that, I’m committed to bringing even better stories than the ones we have offered thus far.

Speaking of which…

Though I am not at the helm for the 2015 SFFWorld.com short story anthology, I am involved. And though you may have seen it else where, I’ll announce it here, too: We are slated for another great line up.

This year’s editor, Andrew Leon Hudson, has secured reprints from Caribbean-American author Tobias S. Buckell (Crystal Rain, Xenowealth) and South African author Lauren Beukes (Zoo City, Broken Monsters). In addition, we have an original commissioned piece in the works by none other than (The Grace of Kings)!

Amazing, right?

But wait, there’s more.

We also have twenty slots for more stories. Maybe your story can sit next to words written by Buckell, Beukes, and Liu. Wouldn’t that be something?

Check out the submission guidelines, create a SFFWorld.com forum user account, and submit your story. I want to read your potential award-winning story. And so do hundreds of other readers.

Yeah, we don’t offer much in the way of payment (token level), but you’ll get exposure!

Cool, right?

Okay, maybe not so much. I understand we all deserve to get paid for our work, but the only reason we can do these anthologies is because of everyone’s generosity. The sad fact is that anthologies just don’t sell like novels do (even bad novels).

So, are you worthy of an award? Absolutely!

(Just don’t ask to get paid for it. ;) )

Until later,

Write like there’s someone waiting to hand you a Hugo.

 

Filed under: A Grand Notion, Monday Minutes Tagged: anthology, Award, award nomination, awards, SFFWorld, SFFWorld.com, Wars to End All Wars

The Other Side of Writing

N. E. White:

The things we all hide beneath our internet facade…

Originally posted on Kristin McFarland:

I wrote this blog post a few months ago. It wasn’t easy to write, and it’s not easy for me to read now. But I think it’s an important topic, and one we don’t like to talk about simply because it’s not easy to discuss. There’s a chance, though, that my words may speak to someone else, that I may help someone who is struggling. And if there is a chance, and if my words reach someone who needs to hear them, it’s worth a few minutes of vulnerability. For those having a hard time, remember this: you’re not alone.

I want to talk some truth here today, dear readers.

I haven’t been around much lately, have I? I started a new job, I’ve been through a lot of changes in both my personal and professional life, and I’ve been trying to find my feet again. But that’s not all.

View original 923 more words

Filed under: writing

That little bit of something

 

My job involves a lot of visual representation. And I’m the first to say that I’m not that good at it.

I mean, I’m great at organizing data, analyzing and summarizing said data, but then visually representing it on a map? Well, I do alright, but there are folks about there with a design background that do much better.

Still, I try. Every now and then I hit the mark and I feel a little proud. And since I’m prone to grand delusions, I inevitably think that I can do things like design book covers.

When I should be writing, sometimes I procrastinate by making book covers for my stories. But I know they suck. (The book covers, not the stories…ummm…okay, the stories, too.)

Not too much, mind you, but they’re just not quite there. They just need that little bit of something that a true graphic designer can bring to a project. Regardless, I forge on.

I thought it would be fun to show you some of my failed attempts at designing book covers.

Devil’s Blood (unpublished, trunked novel)
Devil’s Blood by N.E. White Book Cover Version 1

Gosh, I think I did this one about, what, three years ago? Maybe four.

It’s a tad on the busy side and I thought it would be cool to include a map. The story only had a tangential reference to maps, but darn it, I was gonna put a map on the cover.

Would you buy this book based on this cover? Ummmm, I think not.

Devil’s Blood by N.E. White Book Cover Version 1

The font is okay, but not exactly period (story set in 15th century Spain). And it’s not the easiest to read at the thumbnail size. Rather than pick a proper font, I tried to set off the text with blocks of transparent white and then added some shadow to confuse it even more. Too many failed effects, methinks.

I do like the colors. The browns and reds are nice, but that has more to do with the color choices the original cartographer used than anything I did. If nothing else, it does capture the mood I was in at the time: international adventure!

Blood Moon (unpublished, revamped, trunked novel)
Blood Moon Book Cover Spread

Then I went a completely different direction with this one (and I had some more grand delusions and thought I’d go print).

I think this is for the same story, but a completely revised version of it. I got rid of the map and thought simple simple simple, stupid.

I also wanted to feature the moon on the cover since much of the action in the story revolved around the phases of the moon. I must have seen someone else put the moon in the title so that’s what I did. But, at the thumbnail size, you can’t even see it. It just looks like a smudge or typo.

Plus, there’s something behind the text, isn’t there. What is it? Can you see it?

It’s meant to be tantalizing, but it just looks…bad.

Plus, it doesn’t exactly scream FANTASY or HISTORIC FANTASY, does it?

 

The Denouncer and La Murciélaga (unpublished, trunked-for-good novels)

 

At some point, the story got re-written again, and the following book covers show just how much better the story had gotten.

Second book for this series

The covers hint at the time period and what truly matters in the story (to me). Basically, all I did was keep it simple, but tried to 1) add a visually interesting center piece and 2) any other elements included were there to highlight or set off that center piece.

The font is filler and was not intended as the final. At the time, I knew I needed something better, and I even found the perfect one (for $400!). I put off purchasing it and I’m glad I did since this planned trilogy got shoved back in the trunk to never see the light of day again. The story was just terrible. Suffice to say I learned a lot writing this story, but not enough.

What I do like about this cover are the colors. Again, the creams, browns and reds made me think of the place I was writing about.

The historic illustrations also invoke a sense of time as well as add a hint of scientific discovery (for the first) and the confines of cultural norms (for the second). I rather liked these covers and would have been happy to slap them on the stories if I had decided to move forward with self-publication.

Alas, I did not.

That little bit of something

So, how do you get that little extra pizzazz? That nebulous combination of white space, font, and graphics that just make a cover pop?

Well, short of getting a degree in graphic design, I don’t know. Luckily, I have an awesome friend who has that little bit of something the rest of us can only hope to have in our dreams. (Well, my dreams at least!)

Audio file cover designed by Joe Bailey

Is that awesome or what? I can’t believe how good it looks. It’s just…thunderous, no? I can’t help but think of the Star Trek, Star Wars, or Battlestar Galactica theme songs (though the story is nothing like any of those but you get the idea).

I know, you’re probably not impressed. But I am and I think I lot of other folks will be, too.

Just for comparisons, here’s the first cover design:

Designer to remain unnamed to protect the guilty

Mind you, there is nothing wrong with the original. Again, I would be proud to use this as the front piece of my story, but Joe’s little bit of something really is worth going to the professionals.

Until next time, don’t try it yourselves, writers.

Also, don’t forget to check out Devenio Concepts. What Joe does for visuals, they do for audio.

NOTE: From the moon, I know Earth (and the background view) would not look like either of these representations. These are artistic representations. Here’s what it really looks like:

Image courtesy of NASA
Filed under: writing Tagged: Book cover, book covers, graphic design

Algae Balls

Does anyone know what these are?

Click to view slideshow.

They go crunch-crunch when you step on them.

Filed under: Friday Photo Tagged: algae bloom, green balls, green balls on soil

What on earth is she doing?

To all my recent followers:

(don’t ask about the gif, it just is)

This is one of those posts where I go on and on about my writing progress. If you are not a writer (or a reader inexplicably interested in my nattering about the words I write), here’s an old video about sheep and l.e.d. lights you might like to watch instead:

Okay, now that I’ve lost about everyone except my most dedicated friends (bless all three of you), I bet you’re wondering what I’ve been up to…right?

Sure you are. You want to read this. Trust me. (Or don’t. I understand…maybe…)

Writing Progress/Projects

In my last update, I didn’t really detail my writing plans for 2015. I didn’t because I didn’t really have any. I had the novel I was working on, from which I provided a snippet. I wrote a lot more of that story, but half way through it, I came upon some major plot flaws. I’m mentally working through those. In the meantime, I went back to a story I wrote sometime in 2014. It’s a paranormal urban fantasy. Not exactly the sort of genre fiction I normally write, but several folks liked the character and setting enough to encourage me to fix the story (which was all a-jumble).

So, I’m trying something ambitious: a serial. I plan on three to six short stories in this urban fantasy world of mine. It’s called Ghost Stories and is set in Oakland, California, one of the most ethnically diverse cities in the United States. Added bonus: it’s close by. It’ll be easy to research the various locales where dastardly deeds occur in the story. So far, the first “episode” is going well.

What’s really ambitious about my Ghost Stories project is that I plan to self-publish each installment on Amazon. There are very few markets that accept serials. So, unless I want to just keep it to one short story or write a novel, self-publishing is really all that a wannabe writer like myself can do with it. I’m sure the only person who will buy them will be my mother and maybe my brother, but hey, if they get a kick out of buying it – I’m happy.

SFFWorld.com Anthology

While I still have my (grubby) hands in it, I have ceded editorial duties for the SFFWorld.com anthology to Andrew Leon Hudson. In his capable hands, I’m sure this year’s short story collection will be just as good (and probably a great deal better!) than our previous publications. If you are interested in submitting a story, head on over to the forum for a look at the theme and submission requirements. I look forward to reading your stories!

Marketing

Eek, such an ugly word. For a writer, marketing ranks right up there with editing and formatting. No one really likes to do it, but if we want folks to read our work, gotta do it.

Did you notice I started a newsletter? (As of this writing, I have 10 whole – no halves – subscribers!)

I know! It’s crazy. I didn’t think I would start something like this, but I figured I’d give it go. While it is yet one more thing for me to fret and stress about, I think it could help, well, sell my work. I’m not entirely sure I want to dedicate so much effort into selling my upcoming Ghost Stories series, but I figured I could use the newsletter to announce other things, too.

Other Things?

Like other author’s great upcoming fiction. I get to read many good stories over on SFFWorld.com, from both established and up-and-coming authors. Inevitably, they offer signed books.

No. They are not bribes for a review.

Well, okay, maybe they are bribes, but just because someone gives me a free, bad book, it’s still bad.

But I also get free, good books. Since I read primarily on my Kindle, and we live in a super small place, I really don’t want the hard copy. But you might.

I figured it would be fun to do some random-drawing giveaways via the newsletter. The first will be Oracle by U.K. author Susan Boulton. For a chance to win a copy, sign up for my newsletter. I’ll thank you with a free story by me. And in my first newsletter due out in mid-June, I’ll announce how to enter the drawing for a chance to win that hard copy of Oracle.

So, come on, join my posse.

Filed under: Wednesday Writer Tagged: update, writing update

This is what they mean when they say ‘rape culture’.

On this here blog, I don’t often like to tackle controversial subjects. I figure, there are enough people already doing it and they are better at it than I am.

However, the other day, I read something on Robert Jackson Bennet’s website that changed my mind about the presentation of rape in our fiction.

I’ve stated before (somewhere in a comment, and I can’t find it now, of course), that we should not be so quick to self-censure ourselves in regards to rape in our fiction.

Rape happens, right?

A lot. We know this because, well, you probably know someone who has been raped and you even may have suffered from this terrible crime.

There are many people who feel rape shouldn’t be bandied about so easily in our fiction – particularly genre fiction. And while I may agree with that, I also do not think I have any say in what others write or read. It’s a free country, after all.

And it seems (though it is not true) that every book I’ve read (and enjoyed) in the past ten years had a rape (or two) in it.

Up until a few days ago, I thought that was okay.

I didn’t like it, but I thought it was okay because, well, rape happens (see RAINN link above). It is a part of our society, our existence. Just like theft and murder happens, so does rape. No one is calling for us to stop representing theft and murder in our fiction, so why call for no rapes in our fiction?

Because we don’t have to.

We don’t have to mimic reality in our fiction – particularly in our genre fiction.

I know. Revelationary, huh? Even, revolutionary.

Here’s the thing. In my opinion, to censure rape from our fiction would be silencing those stories. Stories that should be told to hold accountable the monsters who commit such crimes.

But after reading Mr. Bennett’s article, now I wonder if maybe my logic is flawed. Maybe, instead of giving rape victims a voice in our stories by laying bare their most intimate scars, we are not shining a cathartic light on the situation, but a lurid red one.

Don’t get me wrong. I’m not saying millions of readers are getting off on these rape scenes (though, I’m sure there are some among us).

But we are being entertained by them – are we not?

As readers, we ride the emotional highs – and lows – of the characters we read about. We want the drama, the danger, the – do I dare say it? – the excitement.

Yes, rape scenes in fiction, very much like in life, are terrible things to experience, but we all collectively do. If the writer does her job right, the reader feels what it is like to experience that rape from which ever perspective they are writing the scene from. The rape scene becomes a part of the story, part of our experience of that book. And by the end of it, were we not entertained?

This isn’t meant to be funny. But an animated GIF always lightens the mood.
Why on earth would we want to read that? Why do I?

Because rape, particularly the rape of a woman, is an acceptable narrative in our culture.

It’s okay if a woman gets raped in our fiction because that’s what happens.

But what if, in our fiction, the rape victim was a man?

What if, in the past ten years, all the books I read that had a woman getting raped instead had a man getting raped?

Wouldn’t I think that odd? Not just because men, in general, do not get raped, but because – damn, that’s just terrible! Who would want to read something like that? Our hero is supposed to avoid that kind of shit or be a big enough badass to kick the living daylights out of whomever is about to do the raping.

So, why can’t our fictional heroines be just as badass? Why do we accept the narrative that rape is acceptable for a woman – even in our fiction?

Badass Heroine?

Earlier this year, I started a new novel. It’s a second-world fantasy so that means I’m making it all up. All my characters are humanoid, but it’s not set on earth. The two warring species have unique histories that are nothing like our own. One of the warring nations has magic, putting the females and males on par with each other. There is a scene in the book where my heroine does something taboo. She reveals herself to be the worst kind of magic-wielder, worthy only of scorn. In my outline, after my heroine’s secret comes to light, she was to be beaten in public – and then raped.

As I was writing that scene, I realized it was all wrong. She wouldn’t be raped. Not in that culture. It just wouldn’t make sense.

But here’s the thing. I had initially thought it should. And it kind of wormed into my head that because all she was going to experience was a horrific beating (instead of a beating and a rape) that that wasn’t enough to push her over the edge for what she had to do next (defect to the other side). I still thought I needed to push her further.

Isn’t that crazy?

I am so immersed in the narrative that a woman is bound to be raped that I felt it mandatory in my own fictional story. A story set on a completely other world where rape isn’t even a part of the culture.

Now I understand why they call our society a ‘rape culture’.

My apologies to my regular visitors, comments have been turned off.

EDIT: See, this is why I usually leave this sort of stuff to folks (Emmie Mears in this case) who are much better at this than I ever will be! Also, there’s this article by Kameron Hurley.

Filed under: writing Tagged: Rape, rape culture, rape in fiction