Jennifer R. Hubbard's Blog, page 145
July 31, 2009
Unplugging
I'll be unplugged for about a week. I plan to resume posting, replying to comments, and commenting on others' blogs around August 9. I will miss you all, but it's good to step away from the computer and the Internet a couple of times a year. In the meantime, may you, too, find at least a few moments to pause, rest, and refresh yourself.
July 30, 2009
Questioning author-ity, part 2
After raising this question about the point at which a reader takes some kind of ownership of a character, the point at which the author's authority is no longer absolute, I decided to look back at a book I read recently. I read Neal Shusterman's UNWIND not too long ago, and I read with extra attention and awareness since I knew I was going to blog about it, and I think I can remember where this transfer might have happened for me.
It started to happen with the characters Risa and Connor at the
July 29, 2009
Prophecy of the Sisters
Michelle Zink's Prophecy of the Sisters officially comes out from Little, Brown on August 1, but has been seen in book stores already. (Its awesomeness cannot be contained!) The synopsis: "After finding an ancient tome called the Book of Chaos in her dead father's library, sixteen-year-old Lia Milthorpe discovers she's the key to a legendary biblical prophecy."
Having read an advance copy, I can tell you Lia discovers more than that. The novel begins, suitably enough, in a graveyard, and grows
July 27, 2009
Questioning author-ity
I was thinking about this today:
In the beginning of a story, the author shows the reader a character. The reader takes the details supplied by the author to build a mental version of the character in her own head. At this stage, whatever the reader knows about the character is determined by what the author chooses to provide. If the author says the main character loves lobster and suffers from insomnia and fights with his father, then by golly, that's the way it is.
However, there comes a poin
In the beginning of a story, the author shows the reader a character. The reader takes the details supplied by the author to build a mental version of the character in her own head. At this stage, whatever the reader knows about the character is determined by what the author chooses to provide. If the author says the main character loves lobster and suffers from insomnia and fights with his father, then by golly, that's the way it is.
However, there comes a poin
July 26, 2009
The order of the bookshelves
"How a society orders its bookshelves is as telling as the books a society writes and reads. ... Books are isolated from one another, like gardenias or peaches, lest they bruise or become bruised, or worse, consort, confuse. "
"My reading was scheduled for the six-thirty slot ... In the middle of one of my paragraphs ... I could see a crowd was forming for the eight o'clock reading, a lesbian poet. ... I continued to read, but wondered to myself: Why couldn't I get the lesbians for an hour? And
"My reading was scheduled for the six-thirty slot ... In the middle of one of my paragraphs ... I could see a crowd was forming for the eight o'clock reading, a lesbian poet. ... I continued to read, but wondered to myself: Why couldn't I get the lesbians for an hour? And
July 24, 2009
The rockpile theory of plotting
When a character changes--the first time s/he does things differently--we want to witness it. That's one reason we're reading. Usually this change happens at the book's climax.
But that change has to make sense; it shouldn't come out of nowhere. Even if we're not sure the character is really going to make this choice or take this action, we need to see the potential for the change.
We don't just want to see the pebble drop that tips the scale. We want to see the rocks pile up throughout the
But that change has to make sense; it shouldn't come out of nowhere. Even if we're not sure the character is really going to make this choice or take this action, we need to see the potential for the change.
We don't just want to see the pebble drop that tips the scale. We want to see the rocks pile up throughout the
Trust
Today, I can't say anything about writing that's better than Susan Taylor Brown's post:
"When you're writing a novel a lot of things can happen that you didn't plan on. ... And sometimes you have to try a bunch of things that don't work just so you can figure out what might. With me it usually starts with a character who wants to go someplace or something that makes no sense to me. My job as a writer is to follow him wherever he goes and to trust that it will all make sense later. ... The story w
"When you're writing a novel a lot of things can happen that you didn't plan on. ... And sometimes you have to try a bunch of things that don't work just so you can figure out what might. With me it usually starts with a character who wants to go someplace or something that makes no sense to me. My job as a writer is to follow him wherever he goes and to trust that it will all make sense later. ... The story w
July 21, 2009
Surfing, anyone? Two books
Surf Mules, by G. Neri
This YA novel follows two teenage surfers who decide to work as drug mules. More a road-trip novel than a surf story, this fast-paced read explores the nature of choices, and what friendship and loyalty mean. Although it's a serious read with abundant tension, I also found humor in the drug mules' cover disguises. For reading as a writer, I took notes on plotting and pacing!
In the Break, by Jack Lopez
This YA book also features a road trip and significant changes in frien
This YA novel follows two teenage surfers who decide to work as drug mules. More a road-trip novel than a surf story, this fast-paced read explores the nature of choices, and what friendship and loyalty mean. Although it's a serious read with abundant tension, I also found humor in the drug mules' cover disguises. For reading as a writer, I took notes on plotting and pacing!
In the Break, by Jack Lopez
This YA book also features a road trip and significant changes in frien
writerjenn @ 2009-07-20T21:04:00
One of my favorite writing prompts/writing accelerators:
Ask the character, "What's your biggest secret? What's something about you that nobody knows?" It's especially useful when the question, "What do you want?" elicits nothing but bewildered silence.
Ask the character, "What's your biggest secret? What's something about you that nobody knows?" It's especially useful when the question, "What do you want?" elicits nothing but bewildered silence.
July 20, 2009
A three-course blog meal
Appetizer
Just last week I was exploring the idea of male and female voice in writing. So I was quite interested in this thought-provoking post from Janni Simner about boys, girls, and reading.
Main Course
Today's topic is patience.
Writers are often asked what it takes to be a writer. We have loads of answers. It takes a love of language. It takes persistence, commitment, observational skills, etc., etc. I don't know how often we mention that it also takes patience.
It takes patience to rewri
Just last week I was exploring the idea of male and female voice in writing. So I was quite interested in this thought-provoking post from Janni Simner about boys, girls, and reading.
Main Course
Today's topic is patience.
Writers are often asked what it takes to be a writer. We have loads of answers. It takes a love of language. It takes persistence, commitment, observational skills, etc., etc. I don't know how often we mention that it also takes patience.
It takes patience to rewri
