Patti O'Shea's Blog, page 189
February 6, 2011
More Revision Talk
I started talking about revisions on Thursday and I thought I'd say a little more today. What I mentioned in that previous post is all normal and happens with every book, but my other revision task is far from my usual MO.
I always know whose book it is before I start writing. (One character always has a bigger growth arc than the other one. With my early books, I tried making the arcs equal, but I always had one character becoming more prominent and the other throttling back, so it's never worked out that way on the page. But this is another post for some other day.) That's what Pre-Book and all the thinking I do beforehand is for--to know the who, what, and why. This time, I had it wrong.
In all the scenes I was seeing (and I was seeing a lot of them), my heroine seemed so together and 90% of what I was getting at this point was from the hero's Point of View (POV). Both these things made me believe he was the one who needed to change the most. Only he wasn't sharing what his issue was. I didn't even have a hint. I came up with ideas that could be it, but they weren't. Finally, after thinking and pressing him, I figured it out. Yea!
Too bad it turned out to be really lame when I was trying to write the synopsis. Yes, it's an issue. Yes, it's something that won't be easily resolved, but I knew it would be a challenge to make work for the reader. It's exacerbated by the fact that h/h have never talked about it. The hero's reasons for not saying anything work for him (and for me), but for a reader? I'm not so sure about that.
An SOS was sent to my writing friends. The suggestion was to focus on the heroine's issue in the synopsis.
But she doesn't really have an issue.
I knew that was wrong. All characters have issues even if they're not working on them. I thought harder and came up with something. Hmm. I'd realized this before--pieces of it, at least--but I brushed right past them as being unimportant. The more I thought about it, the more I realized that the heroine had a major issue. So major that it's her book.
It was quite a revelation.
A couple more conversations later and the story shifted. It's still the same story, the same plot elements, but the focus is different. And because of this, I have to rework the proposal chapters (the first three chapters of the book) with the heroine's growth arc in mind.
The things that kind of felt sort of wrong earlier? Yeah, they're completely wrong in light of this new revelation. Now I know why they felt off. When will I learn to trust my instincts?
I always know whose book it is before I start writing. (One character always has a bigger growth arc than the other one. With my early books, I tried making the arcs equal, but I always had one character becoming more prominent and the other throttling back, so it's never worked out that way on the page. But this is another post for some other day.) That's what Pre-Book and all the thinking I do beforehand is for--to know the who, what, and why. This time, I had it wrong.
In all the scenes I was seeing (and I was seeing a lot of them), my heroine seemed so together and 90% of what I was getting at this point was from the hero's Point of View (POV). Both these things made me believe he was the one who needed to change the most. Only he wasn't sharing what his issue was. I didn't even have a hint. I came up with ideas that could be it, but they weren't. Finally, after thinking and pressing him, I figured it out. Yea!
Too bad it turned out to be really lame when I was trying to write the synopsis. Yes, it's an issue. Yes, it's something that won't be easily resolved, but I knew it would be a challenge to make work for the reader. It's exacerbated by the fact that h/h have never talked about it. The hero's reasons for not saying anything work for him (and for me), but for a reader? I'm not so sure about that.
An SOS was sent to my writing friends. The suggestion was to focus on the heroine's issue in the synopsis.
But she doesn't really have an issue.
I knew that was wrong. All characters have issues even if they're not working on them. I thought harder and came up with something. Hmm. I'd realized this before--pieces of it, at least--but I brushed right past them as being unimportant. The more I thought about it, the more I realized that the heroine had a major issue. So major that it's her book.
It was quite a revelation.
A couple more conversations later and the story shifted. It's still the same story, the same plot elements, but the focus is different. And because of this, I have to rework the proposal chapters (the first three chapters of the book) with the heroine's growth arc in mind.
The things that kind of felt sort of wrong earlier? Yeah, they're completely wrong in light of this new revelation. Now I know why they felt off. When will I learn to trust my instincts?
February 3, 2011
Thinking About Revisions
I finally finished the synopsis from hell last Sunday. All synopses are horrible to write, at least for me, but this one was far worse than usual and I had to slog my way through it. I'll have to revise it since I came in much longer than I intended, but for now, I get to revise the proposal chapters.
There are a few things that are on the list to handle. This is typical. Stuff often crops up as I'm writing the synopsis that requires some adjustment in the chapters. Sometimes it foreshadowing, sometimes it's details, but there's usually something. Then there are revision comments from one of my writing buddies. Things that I knew, but forgot to explain for the reader (oops!), shifting stuff around, layering. Nothing that should be too difficult--really--but I realized something about myself.
I always feel overwhelmed after reading revision notes, no matter who they come from.
I kind of had to remind myself that this is normal and happens every book. What I need to do is read comments and do nothing else that day. Just let my brain simmer overnight. By the next morning, I usually can wrap my arms around what needs to be done, but I always need that 24 hours to process.
And yes, it did happen this time, too. I felt overwhelmed as I looked at all the comments, but by the next day, I was breaking it into chunks to help myself work out how to attack the changes. I'm not talking chapters here or even scenes. I'm chunking it down to scene segments, for example the beginning to where my heroine has her number called (she's waiting in line).
Revising 20 pages might seem overwhelming, but revising a couple of pages? Much more mentally doable.
There are a few things that are on the list to handle. This is typical. Stuff often crops up as I'm writing the synopsis that requires some adjustment in the chapters. Sometimes it foreshadowing, sometimes it's details, but there's usually something. Then there are revision comments from one of my writing buddies. Things that I knew, but forgot to explain for the reader (oops!), shifting stuff around, layering. Nothing that should be too difficult--really--but I realized something about myself.
I always feel overwhelmed after reading revision notes, no matter who they come from.
I kind of had to remind myself that this is normal and happens every book. What I need to do is read comments and do nothing else that day. Just let my brain simmer overnight. By the next morning, I usually can wrap my arms around what needs to be done, but I always need that 24 hours to process.
And yes, it did happen this time, too. I felt overwhelmed as I looked at all the comments, but by the next day, I was breaking it into chunks to help myself work out how to attack the changes. I'm not talking chapters here or even scenes. I'm chunking it down to scene segments, for example the beginning to where my heroine has her number called (she's waiting in line).
Revising 20 pages might seem overwhelming, but revising a couple of pages? Much more mentally doable.
February 1, 2011
Today's the Day!
Before I start my post, I wanted to let you all know that I'm a guest today over at Loribelle Hunt's blog. I talked about where the idea for Shadow's Caress came from. Please stop by and visit and leave a comment. I'd sure appreciate it!
And now woot! Shadow's Caress is released today!!! Release day is always hugely exciting. Always!
This is a short story from Nocturne Bites set in the Blood Feud world and it focuses on the vampires and the vampire hunters. You can read an excerpt on my website and I also have links to Amazon, Barnes & Noble, Books on Board, and eHarlequin where the story can be purchased.
Here's the official blurb for the book:
Cass was so much fun to write--she's the one responsible for my using the word dude now! I swear, I never used it until she came into my head. Now it pops out all the time. Malachi is cool, too. He takes things in stride that and has learned to move past grudges and bitterness. I enjoyed working with both of them and I hope you enjoy reading them!
And now woot! Shadow's Caress is released today!!! Release day is always hugely exciting. Always!
This is a short story from Nocturne Bites set in the Blood Feud world and it focuses on the vampires and the vampire hunters. You can read an excerpt on my website and I also have links to Amazon, Barnes & Noble, Books on Board, and eHarlequin where the story can be purchased.
Here's the official blurb for the book:
Former vampire hunter Cass Lanier didn't think vampires could become ghosts...until the shade of Malachi James comes to her, arousing her with his erotic touch. Malachi was the last vampire she killed—an act she always regretted. Now Cass is his only hope of being brought back to life.
Then Cass discovers Malachi isn't the only one following her. Other hunters have learned she can resurrect the vampires she put to death, and they want to kill her first. Will Cass survive long enough to save Malachi and finally experience her phantom lover's caresses as pleasures of the flesh?
Cass was so much fun to write--she's the one responsible for my using the word dude now! I swear, I never used it until she came into my head. Now it pops out all the time. Malachi is cool, too. He takes things in stride that and has learned to move past grudges and bitterness. I enjoyed working with both of them and I hope you enjoy reading them!
January 30, 2011
Bright and Shiny
A writing friend and I were talking last week about how the story we write changes from the original idea. It's something I've thought about in the past and it's a frustration that a lot of writers experience--at least this is my take on it from conversations I've heard online and in real life. It's also one of those things that we have to accept.
You see new ideas come in and they're bright and shiny and perfect. They're always more perfect and more shiny and brighter than what we're currently writing. Because they're conceptual in the beginning.
But as an idea is considered, it has to change. Logic holes are found, characters rebel and refuse to conform to the idea (at least if the idea came first and not the characters. For me, the characters often come first and tell me what their story is.), and new threads pop in, twisting the original idea because it's the only way they'll work together.
I don't see this as a bad thing. Sometimes what I get once I start writing is better than the original idea. Sure, it's not shiny any more--once you start writing, the shine always comes off because now it's work--but that doesn't mean it's less than what it was. It's simply different and different isn't inherently bad.
You see new ideas come in and they're bright and shiny and perfect. They're always more perfect and more shiny and brighter than what we're currently writing. Because they're conceptual in the beginning.
But as an idea is considered, it has to change. Logic holes are found, characters rebel and refuse to conform to the idea (at least if the idea came first and not the characters. For me, the characters often come first and tell me what their story is.), and new threads pop in, twisting the original idea because it's the only way they'll work together.
I don't see this as a bad thing. Sometimes what I get once I start writing is better than the original idea. Sure, it's not shiny any more--once you start writing, the shine always comes off because now it's work--but that doesn't mean it's less than what it was. It's simply different and different isn't inherently bad.
January 27, 2011
Spinning Right Round
I love the flow of ideas that I have. It's actually one of the coolest things about being a writer, although I sure wish I was 1) a faster writer and 2) able to write full time so I had more hours available to get the stories down. The thing is, though, that sometimes ideas aren't ready to be written or too slight to carry a book. That's one of the really cool things about ebooks--because there's no paper involved, short stories can be published now. Unfortunately, some ideas still aren't viable to be written.
As an example, Deke from In the Midnight Hour had his soul imprisoned inside a cartoon character of himself. That idea came easily ten years earlier. I wrote in my notebook: Deke Summers PI is a cartoon character who comes to life. Or something similar to that. Short, cool premise, no story. There was nothing to write at that point.
Then right as I was finishing The Power of Two, Ryne showed up and started talking to me. We started with reams of information about her society, but despite how much detail she was providing, I had no hero for her and no real story because she was just doing her daily job. Nothing was different and stories focus on when change happens for a character. And then I had this flash. Deke! is her hero. I suddenly had a story and when/how everything changed for her.
Some ideas have a bit more than what I had for Deke, but I still know I'll never write them and those become bedtime stories. I can't think about books I'm going to write because it'll keep me awake and start my mind spinning, but I've always told myself stories to fall asleep.
Only recently one of those "bedtime" stories is morphing into a real story. It would be a short length because it really can't support a full book even with the premise beefed up. I'm interested to see how this is going to work. I had no names for the characters, now I have names. I had no real plot driving events because bedtime stories are simply for my personal enjoyment, now I have a plot. I had a world built, but it wasn't very detailed--more like a set for a play. Now I have fully realized world.
It's been interesting to watch a bedtime story change into a story I actually plan to write. I can't wait to see what happens next.
As an example, Deke from In the Midnight Hour had his soul imprisoned inside a cartoon character of himself. That idea came easily ten years earlier. I wrote in my notebook: Deke Summers PI is a cartoon character who comes to life. Or something similar to that. Short, cool premise, no story. There was nothing to write at that point.
Then right as I was finishing The Power of Two, Ryne showed up and started talking to me. We started with reams of information about her society, but despite how much detail she was providing, I had no hero for her and no real story because she was just doing her daily job. Nothing was different and stories focus on when change happens for a character. And then I had this flash. Deke! is her hero. I suddenly had a story and when/how everything changed for her.
Some ideas have a bit more than what I had for Deke, but I still know I'll never write them and those become bedtime stories. I can't think about books I'm going to write because it'll keep me awake and start my mind spinning, but I've always told myself stories to fall asleep.
Only recently one of those "bedtime" stories is morphing into a real story. It would be a short length because it really can't support a full book even with the premise beefed up. I'm interested to see how this is going to work. I had no names for the characters, now I have names. I had no real plot driving events because bedtime stories are simply for my personal enjoyment, now I have a plot. I had a world built, but it wasn't very detailed--more like a set for a play. Now I have fully realized world.
It's been interesting to watch a bedtime story change into a story I actually plan to write. I can't wait to see what happens next.
January 25, 2011
We're Doomed
I wasn't planning to talk about Day 2 of Human Factors Training, but I had a few people who asked about the survival scenario and I thought, Why not?
Most of Day 2 was listening to concepts until near the end. Then we were given a scenario:
The items were: a flashlight with four batteries, big jack knife, aeronautical chart of the area, big plastic raincoat, magnetic compass, compresses and bandages, 45 caliber gun with bullets, red and white parachute, bottle of salt tablets, 1 liter of water per person, book titled "Edible Desert Animals", pair of sunglasses per person, 1 liter bottle of alcohol (96%), light summer coat per person, makeup mirror.
Once we came up with our list, we were told to get into our tractor building teams and do the scenario as a group. We all had to agree on the order of the items. This is were the We're doomed comment came from because we failed tractor building, now we have to survive as a group?
We agreed on water being first on the list very easily. We disagreed on the compass and the map. I lost that argument and they became items 2 and 3.
I won the argument on the makeup mirror.One of the guys thought it should be number 15 (last) on our list. I said, "Dude, we need the mirror! It's the bat signal." I formed my fingers into a rectangle, held them up to the ceiling, and rocked them back and forth.
We had a few other debates about the raincoat (I said to collect water/moisture from the cacti that we attacked with our big jack knife), about the salt pills (no!), and about the light summer jacket. I said it didn't get that cold in the desert unless you were in the high desert and I didn't think Sonora was at elevation. It's too bad I won that argument because the jacket wasn't to keep warm, it was to keep the sun from baking us. Per the experts.
That's what we were given after we worked in our groups. The order that the experts ranked the items. They didn't put water first. The makeup mirror was number one for them.
After we got the experts' list, we had to go through and do some math, comparing the difference between our ranks and the experts' ranks. We added them together and got a total. As an individual, I had a 52. As a group, we scored 50. (The lower the score, the better.)
My tractor building group scored the best of the entire class. We were still doomed, though.
The experts said to stay with the wreckage. We planned to walk out after it cooled off. Wrong decision, but we had more of the correct equipment than any other group.
Most of Day 2 was listening to concepts until near the end. Then we were given a scenario:
You're on a plane that crashed in the Sonora desert. The pilot and copilot are dead, but you and your classmates are unharmed. Your plane was 70 miles off the course that was filed prior to take off and you crashed 50 miles southwest of a mining camp. You have 15 items with which to survive. Rank them from most important to least important.
The items were: a flashlight with four batteries, big jack knife, aeronautical chart of the area, big plastic raincoat, magnetic compass, compresses and bandages, 45 caliber gun with bullets, red and white parachute, bottle of salt tablets, 1 liter of water per person, book titled "Edible Desert Animals", pair of sunglasses per person, 1 liter bottle of alcohol (96%), light summer coat per person, makeup mirror.
Once we came up with our list, we were told to get into our tractor building teams and do the scenario as a group. We all had to agree on the order of the items. This is were the We're doomed comment came from because we failed tractor building, now we have to survive as a group?
We agreed on water being first on the list very easily. We disagreed on the compass and the map. I lost that argument and they became items 2 and 3.
I won the argument on the makeup mirror.One of the guys thought it should be number 15 (last) on our list. I said, "Dude, we need the mirror! It's the bat signal." I formed my fingers into a rectangle, held them up to the ceiling, and rocked them back and forth.
We had a few other debates about the raincoat (I said to collect water/moisture from the cacti that we attacked with our big jack knife), about the salt pills (no!), and about the light summer jacket. I said it didn't get that cold in the desert unless you were in the high desert and I didn't think Sonora was at elevation. It's too bad I won that argument because the jacket wasn't to keep warm, it was to keep the sun from baking us. Per the experts.
That's what we were given after we worked in our groups. The order that the experts ranked the items. They didn't put water first. The makeup mirror was number one for them.
After we got the experts' list, we had to go through and do some math, comparing the difference between our ranks and the experts' ranks. We added them together and got a total. As an individual, I had a 52. As a group, we scored 50. (The lower the score, the better.)
My tractor building group scored the best of the entire class. We were still doomed, though.
The experts said to stay with the wreckage. We planned to walk out after it cooled off. Wrong decision, but we had more of the correct equipment than any other group.
January 23, 2011
The Countdown Begins
Shadow's Caress is available Tuesday, Feb 1--9 days. Let the countdown begin!
I have the official blurb now that Harlequin wrote for the story. This is a Nocturne Bites, BTW, so it's a short story, not a full-length book. I can tell you, though, that I came within 20 words of the maximum word count Harlequin wanted, so it's a longish short story. :-) But then y'all know I like lots of words, right? ;-)
The cover copy is:
If you'd like to read an excerpt from the first chapter, I've got that up on my website now, too.
Shadow's Caress is available for preorder at Amazon and at Barnes & Noble.
I have the official blurb now that Harlequin wrote for the story. This is a Nocturne Bites, BTW, so it's a short story, not a full-length book. I can tell you, though, that I came within 20 words of the maximum word count Harlequin wanted, so it's a longish short story. :-) But then y'all know I like lots of words, right? ;-)
The cover copy is:
Former vampire hunter Cass Lanier didn't think vampires could become ghosts...until the shade of Malachi James comes to her, arousing her with his erotic touch. Malachi was the last vampire she killed—an act she always regretted. Now Cass is his only hope of being brought back to life.
Then Cass discovers Malachi isn't the only one following her. Other hunters have learned she can resurrect the vampires she put to death, and they want to kill her first. Will Cass survive long enough to save Malachi and finally experience her phantom lover's caresses as pleasures of the flesh?
If you'd like to read an excerpt from the first chapter, I've got that up on my website now, too.
Shadow's Caress is available for preorder at Amazon and at Barnes & Noble.
January 20, 2011
Adventures In Tractor Assembly
Everyone who works in Technical Operations at my airline is required to go to Human Factors Training. It's a two-day course to try to make people more aware that little things can start an accident chain. That's a real loose definition, but it's the best I can do to condense all those hours of training down to one sentence.
On the first day, we were split into five groups of five, given a plastic container with Lego pieces and 3 assembly instruction books, and told to assemble a tractor. Only it wasn't quite that easy. First we had to assign roles to each member of the group. I'm not quite sure how it happened, but I ended up as group leader. We also had an inspector, a wheel and brake guy, a guy who could only assemble black plastic pieces, and another who could only touch pieces that weren't black. Oh! And a materials guy. He was the only one who could hand pieces to those doing the assembly.
The age range according to Lego was 7-13. Surely, five adults (four of whom are airplane mechanics) can assemble something a seven-year-old child could. Even if we were only allowed 45 minutes.
If you said of course, you'd be wrong. :-)
When I mentioned three different instruction books that would be because there were parts for three different products in the box--a race car, a weird motorcycle thing, and our tractor. I grabbed the motorcycle instructions by mistake. The thing looked like a tractor to me. Luckily, I figured it out before we started putting pieces together.
First human factors crisis averted.
Lego does not put words in their instructions. It's all pictures. I do better with words with images as illustrations than with pictures alone. Strike one. Also, I found Lego's images ambiguous on where to attach things. So did my team.
We tried to line up with colors since there were red, blue, gray and green pieces in addition to the black. Lego didn't always show the color or at least we couldn't see it. Lego also would list we needed two pieces of the same type, but only show one being attached in their drawing. That forced us to page ahead trying to see where to put the second piece, and when that wasn't readily findable, guessing. Later, we'd find where the piece went and have to try to fit it on after we'd gone past that stage.
It took a while, but we finally built up some momentum. And then the instructor said shift change. That meant the guy who'd just started figuring things out had to hand off his job to someone else. Not long after this, the instructor started asking how we were doing and when we'd be finished.
This was a human factors element because mechanics would be dealing with this in the hangars. Me? This didn't bother me very much because it's a different mindset in the office--at least to some degree. I did nearly tell the instructor, though, that we'd be done faster if he'd stop bothering us. :-)
The first team finishes their tractor in 35 minutes. It looks like a tractor. I look down at ours. We're still working on the center assembly and looks nothing like a piece of farm equipment. A second group finishes their tractor and a third group right behind them. My group is still working.
Pieces fall off our center assembly when we turn it to add a new Lego. This isn't good.
Time is called. We're not even close to finished.
Our tractor is still only the center assembly and now our work is going to be critiqued. All the guys who finished their tractors had made mistakes on things. Well, I thought, we might not have made it too far, but at least what we did was correct. It wasn't. We'd attached part of the assembly in the wrong place. We failed. Utterly.
Since this is training what were the lessons learned? The big thing was that we should have divided the work and had more than one guy working at a time. I didn't think of that because I like to follow instructions step by step and not jump around. The second thing I learned was that I should never be in charge of a project like this. I have no experience in building things and can't make informed decisions. The only good thing about my being the leader is that I didn't have to do any assembly. Believe me, our tractor would have ended up in worse shape than it was if I had.
On Day Two, we were given a plane crash scenario--we are survivors of a plane crash, but we're in the desert and it's a 135 degrees. Rank the importance of the items you have. Then he told us to work in our tractor teams. My announcement? We're doomed.
On the first day, we were split into five groups of five, given a plastic container with Lego pieces and 3 assembly instruction books, and told to assemble a tractor. Only it wasn't quite that easy. First we had to assign roles to each member of the group. I'm not quite sure how it happened, but I ended up as group leader. We also had an inspector, a wheel and brake guy, a guy who could only assemble black plastic pieces, and another who could only touch pieces that weren't black. Oh! And a materials guy. He was the only one who could hand pieces to those doing the assembly.
The age range according to Lego was 7-13. Surely, five adults (four of whom are airplane mechanics) can assemble something a seven-year-old child could. Even if we were only allowed 45 minutes.
If you said of course, you'd be wrong. :-)
When I mentioned three different instruction books that would be because there were parts for three different products in the box--a race car, a weird motorcycle thing, and our tractor. I grabbed the motorcycle instructions by mistake. The thing looked like a tractor to me. Luckily, I figured it out before we started putting pieces together.
First human factors crisis averted.
Lego does not put words in their instructions. It's all pictures. I do better with words with images as illustrations than with pictures alone. Strike one. Also, I found Lego's images ambiguous on where to attach things. So did my team.
We tried to line up with colors since there were red, blue, gray and green pieces in addition to the black. Lego didn't always show the color or at least we couldn't see it. Lego also would list we needed two pieces of the same type, but only show one being attached in their drawing. That forced us to page ahead trying to see where to put the second piece, and when that wasn't readily findable, guessing. Later, we'd find where the piece went and have to try to fit it on after we'd gone past that stage.
It took a while, but we finally built up some momentum. And then the instructor said shift change. That meant the guy who'd just started figuring things out had to hand off his job to someone else. Not long after this, the instructor started asking how we were doing and when we'd be finished.
This was a human factors element because mechanics would be dealing with this in the hangars. Me? This didn't bother me very much because it's a different mindset in the office--at least to some degree. I did nearly tell the instructor, though, that we'd be done faster if he'd stop bothering us. :-)
The first team finishes their tractor in 35 minutes. It looks like a tractor. I look down at ours. We're still working on the center assembly and looks nothing like a piece of farm equipment. A second group finishes their tractor and a third group right behind them. My group is still working.
Pieces fall off our center assembly when we turn it to add a new Lego. This isn't good.
Time is called. We're not even close to finished.
Our tractor is still only the center assembly and now our work is going to be critiqued. All the guys who finished their tractors had made mistakes on things. Well, I thought, we might not have made it too far, but at least what we did was correct. It wasn't. We'd attached part of the assembly in the wrong place. We failed. Utterly.
Since this is training what were the lessons learned? The big thing was that we should have divided the work and had more than one guy working at a time. I didn't think of that because I like to follow instructions step by step and not jump around. The second thing I learned was that I should never be in charge of a project like this. I have no experience in building things and can't make informed decisions. The only good thing about my being the leader is that I didn't have to do any assembly. Believe me, our tractor would have ended up in worse shape than it was if I had.
On Day Two, we were given a plane crash scenario--we are survivors of a plane crash, but we're in the desert and it's a 135 degrees. Rank the importance of the items you have. Then he told us to work in our tractor teams. My announcement? We're doomed.
January 18, 2011
Playing the Name Game--Again
In the past week or so, I've seen two authors on Twitter talk about their trouble choosing names for their heroes and heroines that they haven't used before. Both times it made me stop short and go, Whoa! That's right. Some authors get to pick names.
I don't. At least not usually and I don't have a problem with this. I've had one character a few years ago who let me name her. The experience was awful. I spent weeks going through names, trying different ones out, eliminating one, trying again. After that experience, I stopped complaining about this. Oh, every now and then I still feel a small pang that I can't use some super cool name I've seen, but then I remember the Chaya incident and always tack on, But I'm okay with it. Just in case. I never want to go through that again.
Right now, as I work on my synopsis for one proposal, I'm in Pre-Book for another story. The heroine dragged her feet a little on her name, I got one that was semi-close (okay, it ended in the same letter as the name she finally claimed), and then got her real name. I probably should put real in quotation marks since she's not sure if it really is her name or a nickname. It's a long story. :-) Bottom line--I had her name in a week with very little effort on my part. I like this.
The hero, however, is proving to be much bigger trouble. For a while, we played around with H names. Finally, I got the right H, but it turns out it's his surname. Okay, I can deal with this and it doesn't really matter which name comes first, right?
His given name didn't come quickly. It starts with an R, he tells me. I run through baby name sites, I flip through baby name books, but he refused to claim any name that started with an R. I tried one that I thought might maybe work. Yes, I do know better, but I'd spent so much time and I just wanted a name. It didn't survive more than a couple of hours before I gave up.
With nothing coming, I started wondering if what I thought was his surname was really his first name. He seemed open to this. I found a new surname and told a writing buddy, this is my hero. It wasn't.
Last Friday, I think he finally gave me his name. At least this name has stuck for four days, so I'm hopeful. I'm not sure why the hesitation since it's a normal, common name. My theory is that it's because I'm working with a different hero and heroine who have my focus right now and this makes it harder for me to connect with other characters.
And despite all this time and effort on my part? Yeah, I'd still rather have the characters pick their own names. It really is easier.
I don't. At least not usually and I don't have a problem with this. I've had one character a few years ago who let me name her. The experience was awful. I spent weeks going through names, trying different ones out, eliminating one, trying again. After that experience, I stopped complaining about this. Oh, every now and then I still feel a small pang that I can't use some super cool name I've seen, but then I remember the Chaya incident and always tack on, But I'm okay with it. Just in case. I never want to go through that again.
Right now, as I work on my synopsis for one proposal, I'm in Pre-Book for another story. The heroine dragged her feet a little on her name, I got one that was semi-close (okay, it ended in the same letter as the name she finally claimed), and then got her real name. I probably should put real in quotation marks since she's not sure if it really is her name or a nickname. It's a long story. :-) Bottom line--I had her name in a week with very little effort on my part. I like this.
The hero, however, is proving to be much bigger trouble. For a while, we played around with H names. Finally, I got the right H, but it turns out it's his surname. Okay, I can deal with this and it doesn't really matter which name comes first, right?
His given name didn't come quickly. It starts with an R, he tells me. I run through baby name sites, I flip through baby name books, but he refused to claim any name that started with an R. I tried one that I thought might maybe work. Yes, I do know better, but I'd spent so much time and I just wanted a name. It didn't survive more than a couple of hours before I gave up.
With nothing coming, I started wondering if what I thought was his surname was really his first name. He seemed open to this. I found a new surname and told a writing buddy, this is my hero. It wasn't.
Last Friday, I think he finally gave me his name. At least this name has stuck for four days, so I'm hopeful. I'm not sure why the hesitation since it's a normal, common name. My theory is that it's because I'm working with a different hero and heroine who have my focus right now and this makes it harder for me to connect with other characters.
And despite all this time and effort on my part? Yeah, I'd still rather have the characters pick their own names. It really is easier.
January 16, 2011
Research Head Rushes
I've been mostly writing a synopsis for the last week, but I've also needed to do some research, not only for the story I'm working on now, but the one that's next up. I hope to transition by Feb 1 to the new project and need information to hang the story on.
The thing that's so awesome about research is it can bring in new threads to the story that I was unaware of before I found out more information. I had exciting things pop up on both projects and that is so cool!
On the Work In Progress (WIP), I found out information about what my heroine is doing for her job. I'd like to go into detail here, but won't because this isn't sold yet. It did, however, add an entirely new layer to the story. My heroine has a strained relationship with her parents. They had her life all plotted out for her, but she broke away from the script and they turn the screws to try to get her back on their track whenever they talk to her. What I discovered adds another conflict between Zo and her mom and dad. As if they didn't have enough already. Hehehe. (That's my evil author laugh.)
But layers of conflict are a good thing. Maybe the fact that Zo decided not to walk the path they wanted isn't strong enough in some readers' minds for the amount of strain that's there. Adding in this new area of conflict reinforces it and this is a deep philosophical difference, something both sides feel strongly about. On top of everything else, yeah, it should sustain the rift nicely.
While researching the WIP focuses on more specific information, researching for an upcoming project involves a more general type of study. This overview look is critical for setting the foundation of the book in my mind. Sometimes what I'm looking for in Pre-Book research will never show up in the story itself, but it's stuff that I need to know either as background or to world build.
I blogged last Thursday about the head rush I got as information about my heroine flowed in. I got a different kind of head rush that night when I began researching the story. This was critical for a big piece of the world building which mean it impacts everything--the characters, their backgrounds, the world around them, really just everything.
I kind of knew I wanted to do this, but from what I'd heard in the media, I didn't think my idea would be right. Thursday night I researched it and found out what I want to do will work perfectly. It was OMG PERFECT! All capital letters and exclamation marks. :-) The more I read, the more excited I got. It worked on every level for what I needed. No fudging, no exaggerating, no having to come up with a different plan to create the world I see around the characters. Woot!
The only drawback? Learning my idea would work gave me an adrenaline surge that kept me up too late Thursday night. Thank heavens for coffee!
The thing that's so awesome about research is it can bring in new threads to the story that I was unaware of before I found out more information. I had exciting things pop up on both projects and that is so cool!
On the Work In Progress (WIP), I found out information about what my heroine is doing for her job. I'd like to go into detail here, but won't because this isn't sold yet. It did, however, add an entirely new layer to the story. My heroine has a strained relationship with her parents. They had her life all plotted out for her, but she broke away from the script and they turn the screws to try to get her back on their track whenever they talk to her. What I discovered adds another conflict between Zo and her mom and dad. As if they didn't have enough already. Hehehe. (That's my evil author laugh.)
But layers of conflict are a good thing. Maybe the fact that Zo decided not to walk the path they wanted isn't strong enough in some readers' minds for the amount of strain that's there. Adding in this new area of conflict reinforces it and this is a deep philosophical difference, something both sides feel strongly about. On top of everything else, yeah, it should sustain the rift nicely.
While researching the WIP focuses on more specific information, researching for an upcoming project involves a more general type of study. This overview look is critical for setting the foundation of the book in my mind. Sometimes what I'm looking for in Pre-Book research will never show up in the story itself, but it's stuff that I need to know either as background or to world build.
I blogged last Thursday about the head rush I got as information about my heroine flowed in. I got a different kind of head rush that night when I began researching the story. This was critical for a big piece of the world building which mean it impacts everything--the characters, their backgrounds, the world around them, really just everything.
I kind of knew I wanted to do this, but from what I'd heard in the media, I didn't think my idea would be right. Thursday night I researched it and found out what I want to do will work perfectly. It was OMG PERFECT! All capital letters and exclamation marks. :-) The more I read, the more excited I got. It worked on every level for what I needed. No fudging, no exaggerating, no having to come up with a different plan to create the world I see around the characters. Woot!
The only drawback? Learning my idea would work gave me an adrenaline surge that kept me up too late Thursday night. Thank heavens for coffee!
