Cameron Darrow's Blog, page 22
December 13, 2018
Editing vs. Writing
'The phone rang.' = first draft.
'The quiet exploded in a sudden metallic racket that made everyone in the room nearly leap out of their skin.' = later draft.
The first one is a placeholder to get the idea across so that I can move on with telling the story, and not get bogged down in a single place and forget all about what I should be doing next. What good is spending a bunch of time thinking of the second one if it just ends up cut because that scene or event no longer serves the story I'm telling? (Yes, outlining helps immensely with this, but in my process I've yet to write an outline down to that level of detail. That, and "Things change," I said as I [REDACTED] in my second draft.)
Once I know that I need the phone to ring dramatically, and that it's worth putting more than a few seconds of thought into, I can go back and change it. Look at it, change it. Edit.
My mantra is 'say it better,' but rarely does that happen on the first pass, especially when I'm still feeling out the beats and events of the story. Story comes first, then I refine it into something better, when I know it's going to be in the final story.
I didn't used to be this way, I used to polish as I went, and I never finished anything. I had to change my mindset to do that, which was hard to do, but worth it. See my post entitled 'A Beginning Without an Ending' for more on that.
Or, in quotable form: Find the gold before you start polishing, because scrap iron is still scrap, no matter how shiny it is.
'The quiet exploded in a sudden metallic racket that made everyone in the room nearly leap out of their skin.' = later draft.
The first one is a placeholder to get the idea across so that I can move on with telling the story, and not get bogged down in a single place and forget all about what I should be doing next. What good is spending a bunch of time thinking of the second one if it just ends up cut because that scene or event no longer serves the story I'm telling? (Yes, outlining helps immensely with this, but in my process I've yet to write an outline down to that level of detail. That, and "Things change," I said as I [REDACTED] in my second draft.)
Once I know that I need the phone to ring dramatically, and that it's worth putting more than a few seconds of thought into, I can go back and change it. Look at it, change it. Edit.
My mantra is 'say it better,' but rarely does that happen on the first pass, especially when I'm still feeling out the beats and events of the story. Story comes first, then I refine it into something better, when I know it's going to be in the final story.
I didn't used to be this way, I used to polish as I went, and I never finished anything. I had to change my mindset to do that, which was hard to do, but worth it. See my post entitled 'A Beginning Without an Ending' for more on that.
Or, in quotable form: Find the gold before you start polishing, because scrap iron is still scrap, no matter how shiny it is.
December 6, 2018
First Draft = Word Vomit
I've started the revision process on Hall of Mirrors, and it's really messy, but here's why that's good:
It's a complete story, just skeletal. Now is the time I build up all the muscles, shape them, get them in good enough condition to show off at the beach. There's no big gaps or holes I have to fill in, and reading it from beginning to end, I'm glad I stuck to my 1st draft mantra of 'get the story out, dummy!' Everything else is window dressing. It's revising, not rewriting.
Another thing (for me), is that doing it this way lets me engage my editor brain, rather than my writer brain. Fix this, change that, move this here, stuff like that. But that distinction is another post I will get to at some point.
I used to try to make it all perfect from the outset, refining as I went along. You know, back when I finished zero novels. Now, it's write, edit, write, edit, edit, edit, publish. Something like that.
There are things I'm already quite proud of in Mirrors, and things that make me go "Ew! Delete! Delete!" So right now, it's not a novel, it's a process. It won't be a novel until you're reading it.
For now, back to work!
It's a complete story, just skeletal. Now is the time I build up all the muscles, shape them, get them in good enough condition to show off at the beach. There's no big gaps or holes I have to fill in, and reading it from beginning to end, I'm glad I stuck to my 1st draft mantra of 'get the story out, dummy!' Everything else is window dressing. It's revising, not rewriting.
Another thing (for me), is that doing it this way lets me engage my editor brain, rather than my writer brain. Fix this, change that, move this here, stuff like that. But that distinction is another post I will get to at some point.
I used to try to make it all perfect from the outset, refining as I went along. You know, back when I finished zero novels. Now, it's write, edit, write, edit, edit, edit, publish. Something like that.
There are things I'm already quite proud of in Mirrors, and things that make me go "Ew! Delete! Delete!" So right now, it's not a novel, it's a process. It won't be a novel until you're reading it.
For now, back to work!
November 29, 2018
About That Book III Title...
I have finished the first draft of Book III of the From the Ashes of Victory series, and as such I thought I would share with you a little bit about it. Yes, I'm teasing this out, because drama.
With the first draft finished, I know what this book is, and what it's about, and this is 'round about the time that I also know what the title is going to be. Titles are important, like character names. You have to put a lot of thought into--
Get on with it!
It'll be called Hall of Mirrors.
It's not even in beta shape yet, and so the finished book is still a ways off, but I hope to have Hall of Mirrors out in late winter/early spring of 2019, so have the first two read by then! Or read them again! Or... give copies of them out for Christmas so you have something to share next year!
Excited yet? Here's a tiny sliver of an excerpt from Act I:
"EVE is going to Versailles."
Just a taste of the goings-on that I hope you're waiting to discover in book III of the From the Ashes of Victory series, Hall of Mirrors! Out in 2019; I can definitely say that much! Exclamations!
With the first draft finished, I know what this book is, and what it's about, and this is 'round about the time that I also know what the title is going to be. Titles are important, like character names. You have to put a lot of thought into--
Get on with it!
It'll be called Hall of Mirrors.
It's not even in beta shape yet, and so the finished book is still a ways off, but I hope to have Hall of Mirrors out in late winter/early spring of 2019, so have the first two read by then! Or read them again! Or... give copies of them out for Christmas so you have something to share next year!
Excited yet? Here's a tiny sliver of an excerpt from Act I:
...
"EVE is going to Versailles."
Stunned silence. Even the house itself refrained from making any noise. The normal pops and creaks that came with the warmth of rising day paused, and the bricks that walled them in took stock of what Selene had just said.
She produced a folded sheet of paper from her sleeve. "On behalf of His Majesty's government, the witches of EVE are extended the opportunity to attend the signing of the treaty of peace between the Entente forces and Germany, bringing formal end to hostilities between them," Selene said, clear disbelief at the words clear on her face.
...
Just a taste of the goings-on that I hope you're waiting to discover in book III of the From the Ashes of Victory series, Hall of Mirrors! Out in 2019; I can definitely say that much! Exclamations!
November 22, 2018
Surprising Yourself
Writing is a lot like acting in many ways. To write a character well, I feel you have to inhabit them, to some degree. Feel what they feel, go through what they go through.
So when moments come along that you feel an intense, singular emotional reaction without knowing it was coming, it's a very odd, very special feeling. Moments that are almost overwhelming, like they've taken over your brain and all you feel is what they feel right then. It feels authentic, real in a way that is amazing and encouraging. If I feel it, I hope you do, too.
Many writers talk about how their characters live in their head, and I'm no different. Victoria and Millie have lived with me the longest, so I feel them the most acutely, but Katya isn't far behind now. But knowing their hopes, dreams, fears, nightmares... these moments happen. Special ones.
Each book has had at least one, and I treasure them like no other. Book III just had one, and when you read it, I hope you'll feel it, too.
So when moments come along that you feel an intense, singular emotional reaction without knowing it was coming, it's a very odd, very special feeling. Moments that are almost overwhelming, like they've taken over your brain and all you feel is what they feel right then. It feels authentic, real in a way that is amazing and encouraging. If I feel it, I hope you do, too.
Many writers talk about how their characters live in their head, and I'm no different. Victoria and Millie have lived with me the longest, so I feel them the most acutely, but Katya isn't far behind now. But knowing their hopes, dreams, fears, nightmares... these moments happen. Special ones.
Each book has had at least one, and I treasure them like no other. Book III just had one, and when you read it, I hope you'll feel it, too.
November 15, 2018
Welcome
And to all of my new readers who've discovered me this week: welcome! I'm glad you're here, and I hope you enjoy what you've found. Book III updates coming soon!
After the Armistice
The story of the From the Ashes of Victory series starts over a month after the Armistice went into effect, on Christmas day, 1918. But here in the real world, the 100th anniversary of the Armistice has renewed interest in WWI, and if that's true of you, I wanted to share a few things you might find interesting.
One is a remarkable audio recreation released last week of what the moment (11am, November 11) the guns fell silent would have actually sounded like. There is an article here: https://www.smithsonianmag.com/smart-... about how it was made, while the actual audio can be found here: https://codatocoda.bandcamp.com/album... . I've listened to it several times, and it never stops being haunting. I've read stories about that moment, about how every side was still firing up until the last moment, but to hear it like that is moving.
Another is a documentary I've mentioned on this blog before, but I want to mention it again, called Women at War, 1914-1918 on Netflix that is a remarkable look into a largely untold story through use of colorized film that brings that period to life as few other things have. It's a Netflix original, so it should be available worldwide.
I'm very interested in seeing Peter Jackson's They Shall Not Grow Old documentary, but it will probably be a while before I get the chance.
And I would be remiss if I didn't mention Dan Carlin's six-part series of his Hardcore History podcast entitled 'Blueprint for Armageddon'. Engrossing, captivating, horrifying, there are countless adjectives to describe it, but it is well worth the almost 20 hours that takes up. I've listened to the entire thing three times already, and it sucks me in every time.
None of these are books, I know, but I feel what I've presented here are more digestible, more visceral than words on a page, which is how most of us learned what we already know about the war.
From the Ashes of Victory is a fantasy set in an increasingly-alternate universe, but its heart is based in reality, in our collective history. The Order of the White Feather was real, Bezonvaux is a real ghost village in eastern France, the Chilwell munitions factory really did explode, killing 134 people. The unimaginable psychological toll was real, and that is what hangs over and drives our characters through every book.
As I take you through the stories of Victoria, Millie, Elise, Katya and others, I hope it inspires you to look into what actually happened, and start to see the threads that carry forward into today.
I hope my stories are worthy.
One is a remarkable audio recreation released last week of what the moment (11am, November 11) the guns fell silent would have actually sounded like. There is an article here: https://www.smithsonianmag.com/smart-... about how it was made, while the actual audio can be found here: https://codatocoda.bandcamp.com/album... . I've listened to it several times, and it never stops being haunting. I've read stories about that moment, about how every side was still firing up until the last moment, but to hear it like that is moving.
Another is a documentary I've mentioned on this blog before, but I want to mention it again, called Women at War, 1914-1918 on Netflix that is a remarkable look into a largely untold story through use of colorized film that brings that period to life as few other things have. It's a Netflix original, so it should be available worldwide.
I'm very interested in seeing Peter Jackson's They Shall Not Grow Old documentary, but it will probably be a while before I get the chance.
And I would be remiss if I didn't mention Dan Carlin's six-part series of his Hardcore History podcast entitled 'Blueprint for Armageddon'. Engrossing, captivating, horrifying, there are countless adjectives to describe it, but it is well worth the almost 20 hours that takes up. I've listened to the entire thing three times already, and it sucks me in every time.
None of these are books, I know, but I feel what I've presented here are more digestible, more visceral than words on a page, which is how most of us learned what we already know about the war.
From the Ashes of Victory is a fantasy set in an increasingly-alternate universe, but its heart is based in reality, in our collective history. The Order of the White Feather was real, Bezonvaux is a real ghost village in eastern France, the Chilwell munitions factory really did explode, killing 134 people. The unimaginable psychological toll was real, and that is what hangs over and drives our characters through every book.
As I take you through the stories of Victoria, Millie, Elise, Katya and others, I hope it inspires you to look into what actually happened, and start to see the threads that carry forward into today.
I hope my stories are worthy.
November 8, 2018
November 11
The 11th hour of the 11th day of the 11th month; Sunday will mark the 100th anniversary of the enactment of the armistice that ended the fighting in World War I. It is a momentous occasion, and will be marked by many people in many ways all over the world.
Given how large the First World War and 'November 11' in particular loom in the From the Ashes of Victory series, and the goals I set out for it (particularly in the first two books), I have decided to make both Remember, November and The Fires of Winter available for free from November 11 to November 15.
It's not much, but I feel strongly about remembering not only those who fought, but the cost of the war to those who didn't, even as told through fiction and with fantastical elements of magic and witchcraft. Remember, November especially, and Victoria's story in particular, are steeped in it, and this next week marks the perfect opportunity to share that story with as many people as possible. But please, if you do read them for free, leave a review when you're finished. Here, or Amazon, I, and the witches of ADAM/EVE, could really use your support.
If you've already read my books, thank you so much, and if you haven't, now is your opportunity to take a chance with me.
And on Sunday, I hope we can all take a moment to remember everyone affected by the war, and reflect on the immense consequences that it has had, and continues to have, on history. There are issues happening right now that are directly traceable to the First World War, and it could be considered one of the most influential events in human history. With only a century's hindsight, we'll have to see, but it has been quite the century.
Given how large the First World War and 'November 11' in particular loom in the From the Ashes of Victory series, and the goals I set out for it (particularly in the first two books), I have decided to make both Remember, November and The Fires of Winter available for free from November 11 to November 15.
It's not much, but I feel strongly about remembering not only those who fought, but the cost of the war to those who didn't, even as told through fiction and with fantastical elements of magic and witchcraft. Remember, November especially, and Victoria's story in particular, are steeped in it, and this next week marks the perfect opportunity to share that story with as many people as possible. But please, if you do read them for free, leave a review when you're finished. Here, or Amazon, I, and the witches of ADAM/EVE, could really use your support.
If you've already read my books, thank you so much, and if you haven't, now is your opportunity to take a chance with me.
And on Sunday, I hope we can all take a moment to remember everyone affected by the war, and reflect on the immense consequences that it has had, and continues to have, on history. There are issues happening right now that are directly traceable to the First World War, and it could be considered one of the most influential events in human history. With only a century's hindsight, we'll have to see, but it has been quite the century.
November 1, 2018
Accents
One question I've been asked is why Millie and Elise don't have their accents written out. In the first draft of Remember, November, they were! But, as you've (hopefully) read, I changed that in subsequent drafts.
Why? Elise is the easier answer: it looked bad. It looked stereotypical, like PePe LePew or Lumiere from Beauty and the Beast, even when I wrote it out as true-to-life as possible, so I scrapped it. Now her English is tinted by sometimes scrambled grammar and a lack of contractions, making it distinctive without being... weird.
As for Millie, she just has so much dialogue, especially in the first one, that it was just tiring to read. Not in a boring sense, but because of the way we read. We don't read letter-by-letter, especially when we're flying through a page-turner like Remember, November (beep-beep, goes my own horn), we go by the shape of words. So something like "I don't care for it" is all familiar, so our eyes skim over it without having to slow down. But if it's more like "I dinnae care fer i'" it looks different, and we have to slow down to figure out what it's supposed to sound like, and then mean. All the missing letters, extra apostrophes, and unfamiliar portmanteaus like 'dinnae' and 'cannae' break the flow and after a while, make your brain tired. I want you to focus on the story, not solve a puzzle. This was a factor for Elise as well, and I only broke it once, in November when she says, "'Zat is 'orrible!" Weird, right?
Since I did this with Millie and Elise starting in book I, I carried it over into book II with Katya and the other Russians, and went for grammar and vocabulary differences to highlight the fact that English is their second language. But as for characters like Ivy and Edith, I've kept theirs because they only have a handful of lines, and it fleshes them out a little bit more.
Writing is a series of choices, and I just thought I would give some insight into a few I've made so far.
My third blog post in as many weeks, I'm trying! Thank you for your continued support.
Why? Elise is the easier answer: it looked bad. It looked stereotypical, like PePe LePew or Lumiere from Beauty and the Beast, even when I wrote it out as true-to-life as possible, so I scrapped it. Now her English is tinted by sometimes scrambled grammar and a lack of contractions, making it distinctive without being... weird.
As for Millie, she just has so much dialogue, especially in the first one, that it was just tiring to read. Not in a boring sense, but because of the way we read. We don't read letter-by-letter, especially when we're flying through a page-turner like Remember, November (beep-beep, goes my own horn), we go by the shape of words. So something like "I don't care for it" is all familiar, so our eyes skim over it without having to slow down. But if it's more like "I dinnae care fer i'" it looks different, and we have to slow down to figure out what it's supposed to sound like, and then mean. All the missing letters, extra apostrophes, and unfamiliar portmanteaus like 'dinnae' and 'cannae' break the flow and after a while, make your brain tired. I want you to focus on the story, not solve a puzzle. This was a factor for Elise as well, and I only broke it once, in November when she says, "'Zat is 'orrible!" Weird, right?
Since I did this with Millie and Elise starting in book I, I carried it over into book II with Katya and the other Russians, and went for grammar and vocabulary differences to highlight the fact that English is their second language. But as for characters like Ivy and Edith, I've kept theirs because they only have a handful of lines, and it fleshes them out a little bit more.
Writing is a series of choices, and I just thought I would give some insight into a few I've made so far.
My third blog post in as many weeks, I'm trying! Thank you for your continued support.
October 26, 2018
Millie Hat
It's weird how writing works on a day-to-day basis. Since I write in such a strict POV style, whatever I write has to come filtered through the mind of whichever character is living it. I refer to it as putting on my Millie hat, or my Vickie hat. (Or my Katya hat, or my [BOOK III SPOILER] hat, for the completionists out there.)
Some days, I can't find my Millie hat, or it doesn't fit, and I have to hunt down my Katya hat, because she's feeling more cooperative. It's one of the benefits of having multiple POVs, I can just work with whoever feels like working that day. It's not always that easy, of course, some days you need to work on a certain scene, and you have to sort of force it.
But the more time I spend with each character, the easier it is to find and wear their hat, and the more distinctive their voice becomes. Sometimes I don't know which hat I'm going to grab until I'm already wearing it, it's weird.
Today was a [SPOILER] hat day, and she had lots to say.
I'm over the hump on Book III; all the hardest choices have been made, and now I'm beating it into shape, grabbing hats like mad. I try to only put on one per day, but the more experience I gain, the more confident I am in being able to change. That, and the later in the process, the less choice I have, because that stub that's only 150 words long needs to be fleshed out so it can lead into the next scene, which is already 1,500, and so on.
And hey, I can always change it later!
Until the book is out. Then I put on my tequila hat.
Just kidding. I won't wait that long.
Some days, I can't find my Millie hat, or it doesn't fit, and I have to hunt down my Katya hat, because she's feeling more cooperative. It's one of the benefits of having multiple POVs, I can just work with whoever feels like working that day. It's not always that easy, of course, some days you need to work on a certain scene, and you have to sort of force it.
But the more time I spend with each character, the easier it is to find and wear their hat, and the more distinctive their voice becomes. Sometimes I don't know which hat I'm going to grab until I'm already wearing it, it's weird.
Today was a [SPOILER] hat day, and she had lots to say.
I'm over the hump on Book III; all the hardest choices have been made, and now I'm beating it into shape, grabbing hats like mad. I try to only put on one per day, but the more experience I gain, the more confident I am in being able to change. That, and the later in the process, the less choice I have, because that stub that's only 150 words long needs to be fleshed out so it can lead into the next scene, which is already 1,500, and so on.
And hey, I can always change it later!
Until the book is out. Then I put on my tequila hat.
Just kidding. I won't wait that long.
October 18, 2018
Taking My Own Advice
Wow, it's been awhile. Sorry about that. I've been deep into flailing about on Book III of From the Ashes of Victory, a book that's been harder than the other two, until now. Partly because this one, in my mind, is the beginning of Act II of the series, and Act II is the hardest.
For a while, I found it hard to write, the ideas weren't coming and I was feeling overwhelmed. I had forgotten a lot of what I had learned writing Remember, November, and was missing the forest for the trees. So I went back to my own Q&A here on Goodreads to remind myself what I was supposed to be doing.
And it helped! I'm not trying to toot my own horn here, or say that I have all the answers, but going back to basics, and reminding yourself of why you're writing this story... remember what it's about. Not what happens. I was all plot, plot, plot, not why. The ending is why, and you work backwards from there. How? With because.
One of the pieces of advice that has stuck in my head is 'the most important word in fiction is 'because.'' Why is a question, because is the answer, and to write a story you need answers if it's going to be effective. It's a chain of becauses from the end back that makes a story coherent and satisfying. It has to all lock together and make sense.
Well, I've gone back to the end, and things have turned around. Book III is humming along nicely now. I'm hitting my word count every day and have actually had to start a second notebook for ideas, which is another first for this series! It has a tentative title, which I'm not ready to reveal yet, but it's far enough along that I have one, which I don't do until I really know what a story is. And the theme, which is a subject for another time.
Thank you for reading this far, and for your continued support of my books and the characters within them. They'll be back soon!
"I object to the notion I am made of magical soup."
-Katya Gurevich, The Fires of Winter
For a while, I found it hard to write, the ideas weren't coming and I was feeling overwhelmed. I had forgotten a lot of what I had learned writing Remember, November, and was missing the forest for the trees. So I went back to my own Q&A here on Goodreads to remind myself what I was supposed to be doing.
And it helped! I'm not trying to toot my own horn here, or say that I have all the answers, but going back to basics, and reminding yourself of why you're writing this story... remember what it's about. Not what happens. I was all plot, plot, plot, not why. The ending is why, and you work backwards from there. How? With because.
One of the pieces of advice that has stuck in my head is 'the most important word in fiction is 'because.'' Why is a question, because is the answer, and to write a story you need answers if it's going to be effective. It's a chain of becauses from the end back that makes a story coherent and satisfying. It has to all lock together and make sense.
Well, I've gone back to the end, and things have turned around. Book III is humming along nicely now. I'm hitting my word count every day and have actually had to start a second notebook for ideas, which is another first for this series! It has a tentative title, which I'm not ready to reveal yet, but it's far enough along that I have one, which I don't do until I really know what a story is. And the theme, which is a subject for another time.
Thank you for reading this far, and for your continued support of my books and the characters within them. They'll be back soon!
"I object to the notion I am made of magical soup."
-Katya Gurevich, The Fires of Winter
