Heather Hayden's Blog, page 7

Lieutenant Junior Grade’s Log, Entry 4: September Month Map and August Wrap-up!

This is a bit late this month, but for good reason! I’ve been hard at work on the JL’s upcoming horror anthology, and also preparing for the next anthology in planning.

Let’s take a brief look at how things rolled up in August…

Upgrade

I managed to get through the crits for two more chapters. That was about 20 crits, which was almost one a day. Not bad, though not as far as I’d hoped to get.

In Her Reflection — COMPLETE!

My short story for JLA #3 is complete and has been formatted with the other nine stories into ebook and paperback. The release date will be announced soon, along with a cover reveal!

JLA #4

Due to the pressing deadline of JLA #3, I actually moved the due date for JLA #4 back to September 7th. So I didn’t complete JLA #4 in August as I had hoped, but I did make a good amount of progress on it.

Within the Ironwood

I made plotting progress for this–it’s now in the storyboarding phase. However, because I didn’t finish the storyboarding, I didn’t have a chance to return to writing. So this goal is a bust, but for a good reason–the story will be stronger with a complete storyboard behind it when I start writing again.

Goodreads Challenge — COMPLETE!

I actually blew this goal out of the park! Over the course of the month, I read a total of 19 books. Granted, a good chunk of those were manga, but they’re still stories (and enjoyable ones, at that). My favorite read in August was Spellsmith and Carver: Magicians’ Trial by H. L. Burke. I’ll be reviewing this for Magic Monday later this month!

 

Overall, August was a very successful month, even if the month map doesn’t reflect that.

Now, onward to my September goals!

Upgrade

This is more of a bonus goal this month (okay, I was a little lazy and decided not to update the map to have it as a bonus goal). I only have six chapters left, though, so I’m hoping to at least get two chapters done this month.

Cooperative Writing Project

My writers’ group, the Just-Us League, has started a new, three-month project that involved pairing people up with random partners to write a story together. My partner and I have really clicked and we’re already deep into the plotting process. I’m hoping we’ll wrap up that part later this month and then dive into the writing part! I don’t want to share too many details yet, but I will say that dragons may be involved.

JLA #4 — COMPLETE!

I finished the first draft yesterday, the 8th… A day late, but the nice thing about my writers’ group is that there’s a little flexibility when it comes to anthology deadlines. Especially when you’re the person heading the anthology. (Not that I would ever abuse such power… I’m not the only one who needed a slight extension.)

The “short” story wound up being a whopping 9,200 words–a bit over the 7-8k limit. It’ll be trimmed down with revisions, though, I’m sure.

Within the Ironwood

My goal for this month is to finish the storyboard. Once that is done, I can dive into the writing process and hopefully complete a first draft within a few weeks.

Goodreads Challenge

I’m setting a modest goal of six books for this month, as that’s all I need to read to stay on top of my challenge.

 

What about you? How did August turn out? What are your plans for September?

The Sunshine Blogger Award

My good friend and fellow blogger Elise Edmonds has nominated me for The Sunshine Blogger Award!

The purpose of the award is to answer a series of questions from the point of view of one of my characters. Not only am I honored to be participating, but I’ll also be nominating three other awesome bloggers to host their own character interview!

Branwen, from Within the Ironwood, has offered to participate. As Elise did not pose her own questions for me, I’ll be using some of the questions she answered and some of my own.

Take it away, Branwen!

First of all, who are you?

I am Crown Princess Branwen, but please just call me Branwen. Yes, I’m my father’s only child, and yes, I’ll rule when he passes away, but I really prefer to build beautiful mechanical constructs in my workshop. I’m not sure I’ll make a good enough ruler, as my condition means I can’t go outside.

What condition is that?

I’m very pale and burn easily. My hair is white (my ladies-in-waiting dye it black). My eyes tend to be reddish brown or red, depending on the light. I think you would call it albinism, but it isn’t a condition that’s heard of in our kingdom. None of the healers or chemists or mages have been able to do more for me than correct my eyesight (which was terrible when I was a child, according to my head lady-in-waiting).

Are you named for someone in your author’s life? If so, why? Do you like your name?

No, I’m not. She chose my name because it is related to the word “white”, like “snow white”. She didn’t want to call me Snow White or Snow, since those are the typical names used in fairy tale retellings of “Snow White”. My name actually means “beautiful raven”, but the “wen” part is derived from “gwen” which means “fair, white, blessed”. I love birds, so I love having a name related to a bird. Even if I think the “blessed” part is stretching things a bit.

Do you feel confident that you’re going to make it into a sequel (or would, if there was one)? Why or why not?

I’m quite confident of this fact, because it’s already planned and I know I play a (small) part in the story.

Do you have a sidekick or helper? Who are they?

Yes! When my story began, I was putting the finishing touches to a little mechanical sparrow, who I named Aeden (or Prince Aeden, as he insists). He’s a bit of a rascal at times, but truly a prince at heart, and he has become my constant companion. At least when my ladies-in-waiting aren’t chasing him out of the room!

Is your author disproportionately cruel to you, or does she enjoy embarrassing you for comic relief?

My story has only begun, so I’m not sure what she has in store for me. However, every time I try to broach the subject with her, she becomes upset and refuses to explain what’s coming. I have a feeling that whatever it is, I won’t like it. I can’t imagine her embarrassing me for comic relief, though. She’s not that kind of an author. At least to me (I can’t speak for her other characters).

What is something you’d like to tell your author?

Whatever you do, please don’t hurt my father. He’s the dearest thing in my life.

Let’s wrap up that interview–seven questions is a good number. Poor Branwen, she has no idea what I have in store for her yet… Let’s just say that she’s going to probably hate me for the rest of the book. Maybe for the rest of the series.

Now, for the nominations!

I nominate the following three bloggers for the Sunshine Blogger Award! Definitely check out their blogs and their books; they’re all awesome authors!

H. L. Burke

J. E. Klimov

Lea Doué

Here are your questions, everyone!

Are you named for someone in your author’s life? If so, why? Do you like your name?
Do you feel confident that you’re going to make it into a sequel (or would, if there was one)? Why or why not?
Are you a dog person, or a cat person, or neither?
Do you have a sidekick or helper? Who are they?
If you were caught in a sudden rainstorm and took shelter in a cave, only to find yourself face-to-face with a dragon, what would you do?
Is your author disproportionately cruel to you, or does she enjoy embarrassing you for comic relief?
What is something you’d like to tell your author?

The Cape Cod Writers Center Conference: Saturday, Part Two

This post describes the second part of my Saturday at the Cape Cod Writers Center Conference. You can read the first part here, and find more details about this blog series here.

Double-Duty Dialog: Day Two of Two

Class started a little late due to the late-running keynote luncheon (as mentioned in Saturday, Part One), but we dove right back into learning more about what makes good dialog. Ron powered through various techniques and tips, offering plenty of examples along the way. I couldn’t believe how much material we covered in two days, but I’m glad we did–I learned so much!

Here’s some more dialog tips I picked up:

Dialog can help establish the character and rhythm or ground the reader in the story. It can also help show relationships between characters through how they interact.
Characters often have an agenda when they speak. They may not consciously know what they want out of a situation, but it’s there.
Characters often don’t respond to what was just said; instead, they respond to what is left unsaid or they push their own agenda. Misdirection can be useful as well, such as when a character is trying to hide something.
An inability to communicate can be useful–perhaps the characters simply can’t find a common ground or are missing a connection. Someone using jargon instead of explaining it clearly, for example.
Leaving things unsaid can often be more powerful than stating things outright.
Half-attention, inattention, mishearing, deliberately ignoring… People don’t always listen, either because they’re distracted or too focused on their own agenda. This can be shown through dialog, and can help move the story along.
Characters don’t always say what’s on their minds, perhaps because they’re holding something back or out of kindness.

Challenge: Push your characters to find those moments where someone might say, “I can’t believe you just said that!” This can help develop the characters and move the story.

 

We actually had homework from Saturday for this class, but didn’t have time to go over it. We did, however, spend some time on an in-class assignment. It was called, “Keep it Secret,” and involved two characters, A and B. A is trying to keep a secret from B; B suspects something, but doesn’t know what. Ron gave us a bonus achievement to add a moment where one character interrupts the other, include a lie, and have something that goes unsaid.

We brainstormed several possible scenarios, so we would all be working on similar ideas. I’ll tell you which scenario I used, but first let me share the result:

Jane looked up as Peter walked in. “You’re home late.” She set the book she had been reading in her lap, one finger marking her page.

“Our meeting ran late.” Peter draped his coat over his chair and sat down with a sigh. “Any dinner left?”

Jane didn’t move. “You told me it would be over at five. It’s nearly eight.”

“It ran late.” Peter rubbed his brow, almost permanently creased these days. The wrinkles refused to smooth. He’d lost more tonight than usual.

“Are they making cutbacks again?” Jane asked.

It was a constant fear, these days. The economy wasn’t what it had been. “I still have my job.” Peter looked out the window, at the rain that had speckled his light blue shirt with dark spots.

“Then why so late, Peter?”

“I’m hungry, Jane.”

She released a sigh and stood, setting her book on the chair. “All right.” Her heels clicked on the hardwood floor as she left the room.

Peter looked at the book she had left behind. The spine read, Planning Your Divorce.

The front door opened and shut.

He closed his eyes, focusing on his aching stomach. It let him ignore for a moment the gaping hole in his wallet. His empty marriage. His hollow heart.

I didn’t manage to work in an interruption, but I did include a lie, something unsaid, and also used misdirection (Peter returning to the topic of dinner, trying to avoid Jane’s inquiries).

The scenario was this: a man gambles away his latest paycheck and must hide it from his wife.

I really loved this class and I wish that it could have been three days! Ron packed in a lot of information, though, and I learned so much.

Changing Trends in Publishing

My final class on Saturday was with Lou Aronica again. Having been in the publishing business for decades, he’s very well-versed in the topic. This was a part-lecture, part-discussion class, perfect for beginning to intermediate students.

I was actually stunned by how much I already knew. A lot of what he spoke about was review for me, but it was an interesting class nonetheless because I had a chance to learn more about the history of publishing from someone who had lived through several decades of it.

What follows is a summation of some of the interesting things I learned in the class; all percentages quoted are approximate.

Historically, book sales were split between hardcovers and paperbacks. Hardcovers tended to receive reviews, rewards, where more likely to be in bookstores, etc. Paperbacks tended to be reprints and genre fiction (westerns, mysteries, and later on, romance, scifi, etc.)

Today, the split is different. Nonfiction is still mostly traditional, except for a few small categories. Fiction, on the other hand, has a significant presence (50+%) of indie authors on the digital side. Print fiction is still mainly traditional publishers. However, digital has become a major part of the fiction market (60% or so).

Traditional publishers are now increasingly focused on books of substance—not high literary quality, but substantial (Patterson for example).

The indie world is kind of all over the place, but heavily populated with product. Indie authors with the greatest opportunity for success seem to publish frequently, as much as 4, 5, 6 times a year, and their audience is one driven by seeing the author show up as often as possible.

In the digital world, trads are pushing ebook prices as high as possible, whereas indies are trying to sell as cheaply as possible. This leads to a customer divide that is difficult to cross. On one side are consumers who think an ebook priced above $4.99 is robbery; on the other side are consumers who considered anything below $7.99 to be worthless. This has led to a split in pricing, where authors can either not go higher than $4.99 or not go lower than $7.99.

I found this part of the discussion fascinating, as it was something I wasn’t familiar with and something I hadn’t considered before. I know I personally don’t tend to pay more than $4.99 for an ebook. Often, the paperback isn’t much more expensive once you hit $5.99 and up, and I’d prefer to have a physical copy of a book, anyway.

Lou continued the discussion by explaining that authors should have an idea of where they need to go with what they write. Literary tends to be harder to market on the indie side, but many genres can easily be successful as indie.

Traditional and indie publishing range from the major publishing houses to small presses to self-publishing. However, Lou made it clear that authors NEVER pay for a publishing arrangement with a true publisher. If you are asked to pay, it’s a publishing service, NOT a publisher. I think he’s referring to what I know as vanity publishers; something to watch out for if you’re pursuing traditional publishing.

Regardless of whether it is traditionally or independently published, however, the author must play a role in the marketing process. Publishers can do some things, but readers want to hear from the author. Readers care about what the author has to say. A publisher can’t replicate that. This is something I was already aware of, and part of the reason I chose to go indie by starting my own publishing company.

Authors need to work hard to build a social network that really drives sales. Email is still overwhelmingly the best way to sell books. Quantity also makes marketing easier, because there’s always something new available. Acquiring an email list can be difficult, but social media helps with that, and using a lead-in (such as a free book or sample) can be very successful. Most traditional publishers will help with social media through consultations and that sort of thing, but it’s still a time-consuming–but important!–process for the author.

Something that’s changed in recent years is the international side of publishing. Many foreign publishers don’t experience the digital side (Germany’s digital sales are only about 7% of the market), so they didn’t want to hear about breakout ebook authors, trad or indie/self-published. That’s changing now, and there are agents these days who only want to represent authors overseas.

Another thing to note is that format is often key, because customers often depend on the format (ebook, paperback, hardcover). The best marketing in the world can’t sell print books of a successful ebook if the customer isn’t buying in that “space”. There’ve been disastrous examples of this in the past; a million-dollar print-book-only deal that bombed, for example. There are also success stories, such as a Western writer who was originally published in paperback, and whose hardcover versions also did well.

In terms of editorial reviews, Booklist, Library Journal, and Publishers Weekly are the ones that really matter. It isn’t necessary to buy a Kirkus review; it won’t do much for you in terms of marketing.

These days, publishing is a lot riskier. It used to be that a poor performing book would still sell in the thousands; now, it could be as low as 0 sales. There will still be big deals for young authors, because that’s a story in itself and stories sell books. Blockbusters and sure things will continue to happen. However, publishers want guaranteed sales. In fiction, they’re now looking at authors’ platforms. They want to know there’s a selling floor before they take the risk of publishing the book. They also want midpoint authors, people who will keep selling even if it’s not high numbers.

Consumers are still excited about books. However, there is a concern with the rise of indie publishing that an onslaught of unedited works will cause readers to give up or lower their standards… This is something I’ve noticed myself in my own reading, and I agree that it could be an issue. However, I will always be careful to produce well-polished stories for my readers, and I know many other indie authors who feel the same. We can’t change the market alone, but together, we can work to make it better for everyone, author and reader alike.

The great thing about this day and age in publishing is that books never go away anymore. It used to be that after three weeks, books would be moved to the back of the store and then returned to the publisher. Now, some books suddenly find an audience, even after waiting a year or two. It could be due to something the author did, or Amazon’s mysterious algorithms, or something else, but that potential always exists.

Student Prose Reading

The last event of the day was the student prose reading, which ran from about 7:30 PM to 9:30 PM. Students were given six minutes to read an excerpt, after which a few minutes were taken for several mentors (and the audience) to offer brief feedback. I was nervous, as I haven’t read before people very often, but also excited. I also had no idea what I was reading, almost up to the moment I walked to the front of the room, because I’d brought three excerpts.

My friend K convinced me to read the third excerpt I’d picked out, unedited, from the first draft of Within the Ironwood. Given that most of the mentors had recommended students read the opening of the stories, and my excerpt was from later in the story, I was even more nervous as I walked forward. What if people didn’t understand the scene because they didn’t know the characters? I knew it was a first draft and there wasn’t enough description, but was there enough information despite that to bring the story to life? What if they hated it? Should I have chosen a different excerpt or a different story entirely?

I’m not sure if it was the general vibe in the room or my bravado fueled by exhaustion from a long day mixed with nervousness, but I threw myself into the reading and brought a life and vibrancy into it that I’ve never felt before. The 745-word excerpt I’d chosen flew by in an instant, leaving me standing, breathless, in front of a silent room.

I really enjoyed the experience, and the constructive feedback (from several mentors and the general audience) was exactly what I expected it to be: work on your enunciation/volume (for my speaking) and include more description (for my writing). They also added that I did a wonderful job slipping into the characters; the differences in voice between the narration and Branwen’s and the other characters’ dialogues were clear and compelling.

As I was standing at a podium, facing the audience, and reading from a printout, I didn’t have a chance to watch the mentors/audience. However, K was watching the mentors as I read, and she said that they looked “crestfallen” as I read the excerpt (it’s the death scene of Branwen’s father). It was clear that the scene had moved them, and that made me really happy, because that was what the scene was meant to do.

For those curious, this is the excerpt I read. Again, this is unedited, so definitely not the final version of this scene. It could be constituted as a spoiler, I suppose, but anyone familiar with Snow White (which this is a retelling of), knows the father is probably going to die.

Adelaide shook Branwen awake in the middle of the night. “Forgive me for intruding in your room,” the healer whispered. “But you should come. Now.”

The urgency in Adelaide’s voice sent ice running through the princess’s veins as she hurried after the woman. There was no need to ask. Something was wrong with Father.

They arrived in his room, which was dimly lit by lanterns. He lay, wrapped in the shadows of his bed canopy, struggling for breath. Air whistled in and out of his lungs, a sharp sound that sliced into Branwen’s heart.

“You have to help him,” she begged Adelaide and the other healers present. “Please do something.”

Her voice grew loud enough to catch the attention of her father.

“Clarinda, is that you?” he whispered, stretching out a hand.

Branwen wrapped it in her own, fighting back tears of grief and rage. “No, Father, it’s me. Branwen.”

His other hand reached up to stroke her hair, which was a dusty gray color—she’d refused Mella’s attempts to convince her to dye it. The last thing she wanted was to look more like her stepmother.

“Clarinda, take care of my Branwen, please. She’s all I have left of her mother… I loved her so much… Branwen is the light to my heart and soul…” His voice faded to unintelligible mumbles.

Tears slipped down Branwen’s cheek. “Father, don’t go. It’s me! I’m here.”

His eyes refused to focus on her. “Take care of her,” he whispered again. A cough rattled in his chest, followed by a second, weaker, one. Then silence. A silence so deep and dark that the lights in the room seemed to dim.

A sharp sound pierced the silence. Branwen’s throat ached. She wanted to scream too. No, she was screaming, screaming so loud it might wake the entire castle.

Several guards came running in, but they stopped when they saw that those in the room stood with bowed heads and arms clasped across their chests. Branwen watched the other guards echo the salute, bidding their king farewell.

The healers followed suit, all save Adelaide, who stepped up to the bed and reached to close the king’s eyes.

Branwen knocked the woman’s hand away. “No.”

Adelaide’s eyes were deep pools of sympathy, and she bowed her head as the princess pressed her father’s eyelids closed. Already his body felt unnaturally cold, the life gone from it. At some point, she had stopped screaming, but the scream continued in her head, pure agony pouring from her soul. She collapsed on the blankets, sobbing.

When she finally lifted her head, something caught her eye. A small brown ceramic tea cup, resting on the nightstand. “What is that doing there?”

Adelaide frowned. “Princess?”

Branwen pointed a shaking finger at the cup. “What is that doing there?”

Adelaide frowned. “It’s tea.”

“Did you give that to him?”

The healer hesitated. “I-I don’t recall, Princess. Perhaps he had it brought—”

“No!” Branwen swept the cup from the nightstand with a shout. “I told you not to let him have anything you hadn’t checked. I told you!” Her voice rose in a shriek, and the healer shrank back from her.

“He hasn’t, your highness,” Adelaide insisted. “I never saw him take a sip from that cup. I’m not even sure how it got there. Please, Princess, you’re distraught—”

“Leave me alone!” Branwen pushed the woman away and ran from the room. Sobs pressed against her throat as she fled, nearly colliding with Clarinda.

The woman wore a plain black dress and dark makeup around her eyes. Her lips were dusted pale pink. She looked like a woman ready to mourn.

“You did this!” Branwen spat at the woman. “This is all your fault.”

“I don’t know what you mean—” Clarinda protested, but that crow-like glint was in her eye again. “Perhaps you better rest in your room, Branwen. I can handle things from here.”

Branwen tensed. There was something about the woman’s tone that sat uneasily with her, or was she just imagining it? She didn’t know. Everything was happening too fast, and it felt like she was being dragged down into a deep abyss from which there was no escape. She wanted to scream and flail and cry and plead.

Somehow, she knew that was what the woman wanted. “You won’t get away with this.” Branwen fled down the halls toward her tower, tears clustering in her eyelashes until she could barely see.

 

That wraps up Saturday! Sunday will be one more post, completing this four-post series on the CCWC Conference.

The Cape Cod Writers Center Conference: Saturday, Part One

Today I will begin going over my second–and longest!–day at the Cape Cod Writers Center Conference. Saturday was a very busy day, because I had four classes, the keynote luncheon, and I read an excerpt from my WIP, Within the Ironwood, during a student prose reading. 8:30 AM to 9:30 PM, followed by a half-hour drive back to my friend’s place, where I was staying. Needless to say, it was exhausting but a LOT of fun!

Saturday will be split into two parts, as otherwise it would be an extremely long blog post!

Story and Character Arc: Day One of Two

The first class I had on Saturday was my third of four classes. Michelle Hoover taught the class and she was awesome! After a brief introduction to the class and what we would be covering, she led us in a free-writing session for part of the class, during which we answered a series of questions related to our story and our protagonist.

Most of the questions involve potential spoilers, but the first one doesn’t.

Describe your protagonist’s (inner and outer) world at the onset of your story. What problems lie in the background in the protagonist’s background and/or psyche?

Branwen lives in a small kingdom in the northern part of the continent. The kingdom is known for its metal exports. The Ironwood forms part of its protective border, but is difficult to harvest due to the toughness of the trees’ wood (which is desired by other countries for magical and constructive purposes). Branwen, being the princess, is expected to rule the kingdom someday. However, due to her albinoism, she isn’t able to travel the kingdom easily and learn it from her experiences, instead forced to learn from her tutors and her father’s stories. In some ways, this makes her feel unprepared to be the ruler. Interactions with others in the past, since as other princes/princesses, have made her feel this way, as well as her own underlying insecurities.

After the free-write, we took some time to go over each question and listen to answers from various students in the class. Next, Michelle discussed various kinds of character arcs, starting with the well-known Hero’s Journey (described by Joseph Campbell). We also covered the Villain’s Journey, the Flat/Static Journey, the Existential Flat Arc, and the Heroine’s Journey, discussing various examples of each on the way.

Due to time limits, Michelle decided not to assign us homework for Sunday, instead choosing to have us do our next assignment in class. I actually did it Saturday night, however. The assignment was a simple one–choose an arc (or several) and sketch out how my story might fit to it by describing the story’s primary arc in paragraph form. This seemed similar in some ways to the three-paragraph summary I had just learned about in Writing an Airtight Narrative, but more focused on the character’s journey.

Writing an Airtight Narrative: Day Two of Three

After going over the three-paragraph summary a little more, and reading a few more of students’ examples, Lou moved on to discussing our next big step–the two-page summary. Note: this should only be 500 words long!

The purpose of the two-page summary is to determine…

How much story you have
How much background is needed
What should be told or shown
How much detail is necessary to bring the reader into the story so they can experience it

 

Also allowed in the two-page summary:

Digressive background paragraphs to explain why a character does XYZ
Subplots!

 

We didn’t work on our two-page summaries in class, as we didn’t have time, but I’ll admit my muse was already poking around at ideas while the class moved on to the next major step.

The five-page outline. Lou didn’t give us a word count for this one, but I estimate it’s supposed to be around 2500 words long. This is the last big step before the storyboard, and we spent the rest of Saturday’s class discussing all the fine details of what goes into these five pages.

In short, the five-page outline tells you:

If you have everything a good novel needs
If the plot has a clear drive and is compelling through the entire story

Also tells you if you ever deviate too far from the main plot (remember, never be more than 15 pages from it)


If there are enough plot complications to keep the reader interested (surprising the reader is important!)

Note: you may only need one; it depends on the story


If the characters are interesting vehicles for telling the story

Also tells you what the POV will be. How many POVs? Whose POVs?
Also includes a brief surface description of each key character. For example, Branwen’s (rough) description is: An albino princess with hair dyed black who loves to build mechanical constructs and is worried she will never be worthy of ruling the kingdom, given her inability to travel.
Also includes a brief biography of the main characters; where they came from, where they want to go, and what’s driving them there.


If the story engages the readers (are they invested in the stakes?)
If the ending is satisfying

 

The important thing to keep in mind while writing this part is whether the story is about something. Entertainment is one thing, resonating with the readers’ lives is another thing entirely, and the latter kind of stories tend to be the ones that are discussed. Themes, messages, etc., are all welcome in the five-page outline. What are your aspirations for the work? Noting these things now gives you something to refer to during the writing process so you can check that you’re still on target for where you want to go with the story.

Finally, the last paragraph of the five-page outline should describe how you want the reader to feel. Not just whether they’re happy or sad–you should go deeper. This part was difficult for me at first, and I actually had to think about it for a while when I worked on the five-page outline. I write stories because I love writing them, but I don’t have a theme or message in mind when I do. It will be interesting for me to see how Within the Ironwood develops, as I write it following this process.

As an interesting side note, there’s a marketing reason behind this as well–readers recommend books that make them feel something at the end. Even if the story is barely good enough for most of it, a fantastic ending usually means they’ll love it and want to share it. (The reverse is also true; a poor ending after a fantastic story tends to disappoint readers.)

I will always, always strive to make my stories as exceptional as possible, beginning, middle, and end, but I was surprised by this concept. And it’s something I’ll watch for now when I read.

Lou wrapped up the day with a brief lecture on characters. In fiction, characters are the most important thing, and he explained that you should really know your characters before starting to write. Otherwise, you could run into trouble, such as a scenario where a character needs to do something because of the plot, BUT it’s something that the character would never do. The story and characters should be intertwined and working together.

Lou also recommended getting a clear physical picture of the characters. Not as if you were casting for a movie, but just a way of seeing the character as you’re writing. I’ve never done this before (I just have mental images of my characters), but I think I’ll give it a shot for Within the Ironwood… After all, spending hours on Google Images is allowed when it’s for research or plotting purposes!

Finally, Lou made sure to emphasize that none of this is etched in stone. As you write the story, some things might shift or change, and that can always be reflected by revising the five-page outline and/or storyboard…the latter of which we would be learning about on Sunday.

A few tips I picked up in class:

The reader wants to become part of the story through the characters. Make sure there’s enough detail to bring the reader in.
If you can remove a scene or subplot and the story still works, it isn’t needed. There needs to be a relationship between the subplots and the main plot.
Subplots provide more context, enrich the story’s world, and can offer insight into characters by showing how they react in different situations. Always test subplots with the one-paragraph summary method to be sure there’s enough in them to hold up. They need to have their own arc.
Never head hop. Scenes should be told from the POV of a single character. Yes, there are some situations where breaking this rule works (all writing rules can be broken under certain circumstances). But always ask yourself if it’s really necessary, because head hopping can easily jolt the reader from the story.
Finally, reading is the hardest form of entertainment. There is a level of work from the person being entertained that isn’t present in other forms. You need to reward this or you aren’t filling your obligation.

 

Keynote Luncheon!

The speaker for the keynote luncheon was B. A. Shapiro, author of The Art Forger. I haven’t read her book (yet), but she was spectacular. There were some microphone issues so she didn’t begin speaking until late into the luncheon, but she was an extremely charismatic person and did a beautiful job telling her own story of how she became an author.

I loved her entire discussion, which ranged from how she plots (using statistics in some parts!) to how she went from having five published but “dead” novels to becoming a NYT bestselling author. In part, it involved finding the right agent (and the support of her husband, who encouraged her to keep writing). In part, it involved finding her own genre (one that hadn’t existed before!) And in part, it involved her unceasing determination to become a successful author, despite the many setbacks along the way.

I think the most important message she had was this, “After twenty-five years of working in the trenches, I became an overnight success.” This really resonated with me, because I know at times I look at other authors’ success and wonder if I can ever hope to reach where they are now. But I’ve only just begun my writing career! As long as I keep working hard, one day I’ll make it to where I’m going. And I’m going to do my best to enjoy every part of the journey.

 

That wraps up Saturday, Part One… Part Two will be following in a few days!

Announcement: Kindle Giveaway!

I’m participating in another giveaway! This one is running from now until September 18th, and one lucky winner will win both a kindle and 15 awesome fantasy books, including From the Stories of Old!

The Books

From the Stories of Old: A Collection of Fairy Tale Retellings by Heather Hayden

The Temptation of Dragons by Chrys Cymri

Echo of the High Kings by Kal Spriggs

Fade by Daniel Humphreys

Doctor to Dragons by Scott G. Huggins

Who’s Afraid of the Dark? by Russell Newquist

Brotherly Envy by S.D. McPhail

Scales: A Mermaid Tale by Pauline Creeden

Honor by Rachel Rossano

Fallen Emrys: Niawen’s Story by Lisa Rector

Playing With Magic by Carrie L. Wells

Got To Be a Hero by Paul Duffau

Toonopolis: Gemini by Jeremy Rodden

Aerisia: Land Beyond the Sunset by Sarah Ashwood

Where Carpets Fly by Elise Edmonds

ENTER HERE

By entering this giveaway, you acknowledge that your email addresses will be added to the newsletter email lists of   all 15 participating authors. You will receive email from them, but never spam.

Entries accepted until September 18, 2017.

The Cape Cod Writers Center Conference: Friday

Earlier this month, I attended the Cape Cod Writers Center Conference. It is a weekend literary conference that has been an annual occurrence for 55 years, making it one of the oldest on-going writing conferences in the US.

I attended the conference with a good friend of mine, and we both took four classes (one of them together). This blog post series will cover all three days (Friday through Sunday) of the conference, focusing on my experiences in the classes. I’ll also speak briefly about the keynote luncheon I attended on Saturday, during which NYT bestselling author B. A. Shapiro spoke to us about writing and the joys and trials thereof.

My classes were: Writing an Airtight Narrative, run by Lou Aronica (three-day class); Double-Duty Dialog, run by Ron MacLean (two-day class); Story and Character Arc, run by Michelle Hoover (two-day class); and Changing Trends in Publishing, also run by Lou Aronica (one-day class).

I enjoyed all of the classes and all three of my teachers were well-prepared and knowledgeable about their given subject matter.

On the first day, Friday, I had Writing an Airtight Narrative and Double-Duty Dialog. When I attended the opening ceremony on Thursday, I’d dropped off some paperbacks for the conference bookstore, so all I needed to worry about on Friday was driving in, grabbing some breakfast in the hotel’s restaurant, and getting to my first class.

Writing an Airtight Narrative: Day One of Three

The week before, Lou Aronica had emailed everyone with an assignment to write a one-paragraph summary of our story. The summary needed to be about JUST the story–no details about the characters or even character names unless they were needed to understand the story.

Thankfully, I’d written one of these for the novel I was planning to use in my classes, Within the Ironwood. I wasn’t entirely sure it was what Lou wanted, but I sent it off anyway.

In class, Lou spoke a bit about writing and plotting–specifically, that they are two separate things. He then explained that his process involves starting with a single-paragraph summary of the story that is unpacked in subsequent steps until the final product (a storyboard) is ready to use for the writing process.

In short, the one-paragraph description is the “high concept” or elevator pitch, and it answers the simple question: Do you have a story that will make readers keep reading? If done well, writing this description will makes it easy to talk about your novel, will provide you with material that could be very close to cover copy, and also makes it easy to determine the target audience.

It should be about four sentences long.
It should show the thread that drives the reader to keep returning to the story, the “objective”.
NO character description should be included unless necessary.
NO message/theme; this information will be included in a later step.
It should NOT be a situation. A situation would be: a dragon suddenly loses her wings. A story would be: a dragon suddenly loses her wings, but she goes to a sorcerers’ academy to learn magic so that she can fly again.

 

After discussing these points, Lou read a few of our submitted paragraphs. Guess whose he read first? Yes, it was mine! Here’s what I submitted:

Within the Ironwood: A Snow White Retelling

Branwen has spent most of her life in her castle tower, building beautiful, intricate constructs. Her favorites are the birds, who can fly freely in the sunlight, unlike their pale-skinned creator. When her new stepmother orders the destruction of her birds on the eve of her father’s death, Branwen realizes she is no longer safe in the castle. She flees into the Ironwood, a dangerous forest within which many wondrous and terrible things lurk. In the home of a family of dwarfs, Branwen finds welcome refuge, but as her stepmother’s preparations for war begin, the princess must choose between her own safety and protecting her kingdom.

I was nervous because 1) I used both character name and description and 2) I had written this in about five minutes the day I got the idea for the story, and then expanded it a tiny bit when I was later writing paragraphs for all the other ideas that suddenly popped up for the now-planned series.

After reading my paragraph, Lou asked the class what they thought. The general consensus was that it had all the building blocks of plot–circumstances, where the story was going, etc., and it was interesting enough to carry on. Lou agreed and informed me that it was a fantastic example of a one-paragraph story.

YAY!

The rest of class whizzed by with us going over a few more examples, and then learning more about plotting.

A few key tips:

Never be more than 15 pages from the main plot.
Sometimes it’s better to drop into the story further in, then pull back and show how the characters got there.
Science fiction: You get one suspension of disbelief that everything else needs to fit into.
Mystery: Get the mystery on the page by the end of the first chapter.
Dark/tragic stories: Stories go very dark, but they still need a heartbeat of humanity. If your main character dies, bring someone else in at the end for the affirmation.
Romance: Lovers need to survive in a true romance. However, they no longer need a guarantee of happily ever after; “looking good [for now]” is accepted.

 

He had us do a free-write in class, where we expanded our one paragraph into three paragraphs. I won’t share mine as this post is already getting quite long (and because it spoils the ending), but here’s what we had to keep in mind as we wrote:

Do you have enough of the story?
Start to unpack the story. Introduce the middle.
Introduce major plot complications (shifts in the narrative/plot twists. These must be logical!_
Introduce the major plot twist.
Have a clear ending for the story.

 

That wrapped up my first day in Narrative. Next, I had lunch with my friend, chatted with some awesome people, and then it was back to class!

Double-Duty Dialog: Day One of Two

Our teacher, Ron MacLean, was extremely well-prepared for this class! He’d thought it was a three-day class, so had six hours of material prepared (each class lasts two hours). However, his endless enthusiasm for the material and fast pace ensured we got through most of the material in the two days we had, without the class being overwhelmed (at least, I don’t think we were).

Late the week before, he’d sent us some reading assignments–short stories that demonstrated various methods of using dialog to convey information and meaning. In our first class, he gave everyone a thick handout of excerpts from various stories that we would be referring to over the course of the class.

On the first day, we discussed topics such as what makes good dialog, tips for effective dialog, and reasons to use dialog. For each topic, Ron read a few excerpts from various stories (which we followed along with the handouts) to demonstrate good dialog examples.

Signs of bad dialog:

Too much information (info dumping)
Not going anywhere (a conversation that meanders or has no purpose)
Verbatim “real” dialog

 

Good dialog should:

Be effective in moving the scene along, establishing the character/situation, and/or making a moment come alive
Mimic “real” dialog in a way that feels natural
Be JUST ENOUGH to move the story along, no more

 

This class was more lecture and learning through example than hands-on, but I did learn a lot about dialog and I’ll be applying it to my writing from now on!

Magic Monday: Chung Jo and the Sea Dragon by Erica Laurie

Magic Monday is back, today with a review of a fantastical folk tale by Erica Laurie. The first thing that caught my eye about this book was its gorgeous cover.

The blurb that accompanies it is brief, but promises a lot:

The lonely sea dragon,Yong, wants a bride.

Chung Jo wants her father to regain his sight.

They will strike a bargain, and Chung Jo travels to Yong’s palace beneath the sea.

Beneath the sea, Chung Jo befriends a young servant of the sea dragon, and together they help Yong discover what it is to be loved.

 

This is a light, sweet romantic fantasy, with a strong female lead who possesses a kind heart. The events described in the blurb actually take about halfway through the story, which was unexpected but didn’t cause me any trouble–even though I knew where the story was headed, I enjoyed the journey and watching Chung Jo’s determination as she faced struggle after struggle.

My favorite part of the story is actually a character–the imugi dragon Iseul. He’s a small, beautiful dragon with a big heart and a strength of character that defies his size. I wish I was a mudang (a person capable of bonding with imugi) so I could bond with my own imugi!

I also liked Yong, the semi-antagonist of the story, though at times I did feel he was being overly dramatic (however, that worked in the story, which had a very fairytale-like feel to its writing.) I’ve often pondered what immortality is like, and how lonely it would be.

Though I knew how the story would end, it still made me smile. I love fairy tales for the ever-present gleam of hope they bring to the world, and this story accomplished that with ease.

Readers who enjoy Asian folk tales, dragons, and romance will find Chung Jo and the Sea Dragon a light and entertaining read with which to spend an afternoon.

If you’re intrigued, you can buy a copy here. You can also find out more about Erica Laurie on her website.

Lieutenant Junior Grade’s Log, Entry 3: August Month Map and July Wrap-up!

Wow, July went by so fast! I had a lot of fun with Camp NaNoWriMo and my other ongoing projects. I also enjoyed a mini vacation in the beautiful province of Prince Edward Island.

Now I’m back in Cape Cod for a bit, in order to attend the Cape Cod Writers Center Conference! Looking forward to meeting other authors and learning a lot in the classes I’m taking.

Before I dive into my August goals, let’s take a look at July’s results!

What a shiny month map! I didn’t quite finish all of my goals, but I made a LOT of progress!

Upgrade

Final count: 12 out of 20 chapters done. With only eight chapters left, I should be able to handle that in August, and then dive into my own revisions, with the ultimate goal of releasing Upgrade no later than December 2018.

July Camp NaNoWriMo – GOAL COMPLETE

Halfway through the month, I switched projects. I’m not tossing To Save a Kingdom–the outline is done and it’s going to be a fun story. However, another plotbunny (actually, six so far) snuck up and bit me, so I dove straight into a new project and I’ll be focusing on that one through August. Between the two projects, I did manage over 15,000 words before midnight of the 31st, so this goal was wrapped with just hours to spare.

JLA #3 short story – GOAL COMPLETE

I revised this story several times over the course of the month, and on the 30th, I finalized the draft for the judging phase. Now I’m waiting (nervously) for the judges’ responses.

Here’s a quick little snip as a teaser from the current draft (not necessarily the final one!) of In Her Reflection (working title):

She almost had me. Aileen crouched against the side of her bed, the hard wooden bed frame pressing into her spine. Her breaths came in sharp gasps, tinged cinnamon by the faint traces of toothpaste from brushing her teeth hours ago. Fingers clenched into her arms, Aileen dug her toes into the soft carpet, anchoring herself in her room.

Moonlight pouring through the gaps in her window blinds carved sharp shapes from the darkness. Window on the left wall from the door—check. Desk on the right wall, with accompanying chair—check. Bunk beds on the far wall—check.

Mirror hanging to the right of the bedroom door—check. The ancient, iron-rimmed monstrosity glinted in the moonlight that shimmered across its flat surface. Aileen was in the shadows by her bed, but she could see a flicker of brown in the mirror. Brown, like her hair. Brown, like the hair of her doppelganger, the girl in the mirror.

Goodreads Challenge – GOAL COMPLETE

I read six books in total this month for my challenge. I had hoped to read more than that, but time was precious this month and I put most of my spare time into my writing. August will be my first catch-up month, as I’m now a wee bit behind on my goal of 100 books (current count is 50).

 

Now for AUGUST!

The background for this month map is a sunset picture I took last year at the beach I frequent in Cape Cod.

A quick rundown of my goals:

Upgrade

With an average of eight crits per chapter, and eight chapters left, I’ll have around 60 crits to go through. That’s a lot… But if I do two chapters a week, I’ll easily complete this goal.

JLA #3 short story

In Her Reflection has a deadline of August 31st for the final draft. The judges should be done about halfway through August, so I’ll have two weeks to finalize the story. Then it’ll be formatting and proofing time, followed by the release! Expect a cover reveal for the anthology later this month.

JLA #4 short story

First drafts for the fourth anthology are due September 1st, so I have all month to complete this story. I’m about a third of the way into it, and I’ll share more details in the future. What I can tell you is that it’s a mash-up of fairy tales, and I’m loving it so far!

The Ironwood

A persistent little plotbunny, this story popped into existence partway through July and I’m already about 10k into it. I’ll be sharing snips on my Facebook page throughout the month as I continue working on the first draft. In brief, it is a steampunk retelling of Snow White set in a world where machinery is replacing magic. Branwen, the protagonist, is an albino who builds mechanical constructs.

Goodreads

I need to play catch up a bit, as I fell behind my goal last month. This month, I want to read 10 books for my challenge.

 

August is going to be another busy month, but I’m confident in my goals and excited to see what the month has in store for me.

How did your July turn out? What are your writing, reading, or other goals for August?

Lieutenant Junior Grade’s Log, Entry 2: Month Map Update and Giveaway!

I’ll get to the details on the giveaway momentarily, but first, here’s my shiny, updated July Month Map!

Now for a quick rundown on my progress…

Upgrade

I have not made any further progress on this goal yet, mostly due to the fact that I just spent almost a week at my parents’ internet-less summer home and forgot to save the critiques to my computer before I left. Still, I only have eight chapters left to go through and I’m certain I can make more progress (or even finish!) by the end of the month.

To Save a Kingdom – July Camp NaNo

I’ve enjoyed writing this story so far. Haven’t progressed as far as I would have liked, due to a few other plotbunnies that turned up while I was away on my mini-vacation. I also decreased my goal from 25,000 words to 15,000 words. Why? I’d rather complete my goal than overreach right now, and I didn’t get much writing done while I was in Canada. Long story short, a good friend took several vacation days so he could hang out with my sister and me, so I had a lot of fun kayaking and gaming and hiking. I had a wonderful time and it really helped recharge my writing batteries–now that I’m home again, I want to dive into my stories even more!

As I mentioned in my previous post, you can find me on Camp NaNoWriMo as Shark13 (that’s pronounced shark-thir-teen, not sharkie).

Also, here’s the derpy cover mock-up I made with five minutes on Canva, along with a derpy blurb I wrote in about the same amount of time.

Definitely NOT the final blurb:

When spoiled Princess Alarice drags Oats into an argument with her parents–by kissing him–the castle’s most incompetent servant boy finds himself accompanying her to complete three quests. Thankfully, they have her very competent bodyguard, Delmon, along for the ride. However, Delmon’s secretive past will put them all in danger. Can they complete the quests? Will Oats ever see home again? And will Alarice ever stop whining?

JLA #3 short story – GOAL COMPLETE

I’ve revised this story to good effect, I think! It still needs some work, but I’m waiting for feedback before I revise it further.

Goodreads Challenge – GOAL COMPLETE

I’ve read four books so far this month for my challenge. I have a few more I’d like to read before I leave Maine again (they’re from my beloved local library, so I can’t take them with me.)

What else has happened so far this month?

I drove over a thousand miles in the space of a week. Cape Cod to Maine to Prince Edward Island and back to Maine again. Thank goodness for cruise control!
I spent almost a week in The Land of No Internet (aka my family’s summer place). My original plan was to get lots of writing and reading done. I didn’t, but for a very good reason, and now my writing batteries have been supercharged by all the fun I had! (Plus the arrival of a few more adorable plotbunnies.)
My sister Heidi and I had an author-illustrator talk at the Casco Public Library yesterday, and it went well. We talked about our writing and her artwork, answered a lot of awesome questions from our captive audience, and even sold a good pile of books! I’m always nervous about events like this, but I had a lot of fun.

 

Now about that giveaway…

You can win a paperback copy of Between Heroes and Villains along with 18 other ebooks and paperbacks (and a beautiful journal set)!

Enter now and join the adventures!

If you can’t wait to read one of these titles, you can find all of them listed here: Hall of Heroes Giveaway. Between Heroes and Villains is available on Amazon (and is free through Kindle Unlimited)!

Lieutenant Junior Grade’s Log, Entry 1: July Month Map!

Before I dive into my July goals (and progress so far), I’d like to take a moment congratulate the winners of my Birthday Giveaway: Elise Edmonds, Allie May, and JD Burton!

Congratulations, you three! Your signed paperbacks will be shipping soon.

Now it’s time for that shiny month map.

Upgrade

I’ve made it through 12 chapters so far in terms of critiques (some were done in previous months.) I generally wait until I have feedback from two or three different people before going through crits. However, this time I left it too long and now I have between five and twelve(!) critiques on each chapter, which means that at times progress is very slow. I’m pressing forward, regardless, and am extremely grateful for the time and effort of my critiquers, who have given me a lot to consider as I approach the final draft of this novel.

To Save a Kingdom

This is my first attempt to write a novel from an outline. My sister and I brainstormed a bunch for this novel, and then I sat down and wrote a chapter-by-chapter outline for the entire book. Though originally meant to be a joint project, I think it is likely that I will write the first draft mainly by myself and she will help me in the editing process. You can find me on Camp NaNoWriMo as Shark13 (that’s pronounced shark-thir-teen, not sharkie).

Here’s the derpy cover mock-up I made with five minutes on Canva, along with a derpy blurb I wrote in about the same amount of time.

Definitely NOT the final blurb:

When spoiled Princess Alarice drags Oats into an argument with her parents–by kissing him–the castle’s most incompetent servant boy finds himself accompanying her to complete three quests. Thankfully, they have her very competent bodyguard, Delmon, along for the ride. However, Delmon’s secretive past will put them all in danger. Can they complete the quests? Will Oats ever see home again? And will Alarice ever stop whining?

JLA #3 short story

I’ll be providing more details on this soon, but suffice to say that I missed the deadline by a couple of days and the story is currently very rough and rather short. It needs a lot of editing, but overall feedback on the idea has been positive. Just need to fix up the execution a bit. And add more description.

Goodreads Challenge

My challenge was going very, very well. At the beginning of this month, I was still ahead. However, I recently decided to change my goal to 100 books, so I’m behind again. Although I need to read 7 books to catch up, my goal for this month is 4 because this is a very busy month for me (lots of driving, for one thing!)

What else do I have going on this month?

I’ve driving about 1500 miles in the space of a week.
I’m spending almost a week in The Land of No Internet (aka my family’s summer place). YAY for uninterrupted writing and reading time!
I have an author talk at my local library on the 18th! So excited!

 

How about you? Anything exciting planned for July? Are you participating in Camp NaNo? Any suggestions for surviving without internet?