Jennifer Crusie's Blog, page 257

Novellas As the Future of Publishing. Huh.

Over on io9, there’s a post about Tor’s newest brainwave: Novellas as the future of publishing. You should read the whole Tor theory, but boiled down to TLDR: Readers don’t have much time and they want to be able to finish a story fast, so novellas will dominate the future of digital publishing.

I have some thoughts on this:

1. The guy who decided this isn’t a writer or he’d know that good stories tend to be the length they need to be, not what the author decides. For proof of this, read the short version of Flowers for Algernon and then the long version.

2. The guy who decided this isn’t a reader or he’d know that people who really love reading do not consider shortening that experience a plus.

3. The guy who decided this isn’t a bookseller or he’d know that the idea that there’s One Reader who wants One Thing all the time not only grossly underestimates the vast variety of readers out there, he grossly underestimates how the desires of any One Reader will change depending on circumstances, environment, how the day went, what he or she just read previously, and above all, why he or she is reading now. If there was One Reader who wanted One Thing, bookselling would not be the blood-stained casino it is now and always has been.

Granted, he does specify “our readers,” aka readers of Tor-published fiction, aka science fiction and fantasy readers, because everybody knows they don’t read doorstop-sized books of epic proportions . . . oh, wait.

It’s not that I think there’s no market for novellas; there’s a market for every form of fiction. It’s not that I don’t know that digital publishing has made novella more viable than ever before, that’s just common sense. It’s not even that I don’t like novellas, although I have a helluva time writing them. I think it’s great Tor is doing novellas, more markets are always good.

I just don’t think novellas are the future of publishing.

Now tell me I’m wrong . . .

Happy Cherry Saturday Feb 7 2014

On this day in 1940, the second full-length animated Walt Disney film, Pinocchio, premiered and gave us this:

and seventy-five years later, gave us this:

Seventy five years from now, some robot is going to be singing “Let It Go.” Very slowly.

Cherry Saturday 01 30 2015

On this day in 1971, Carole King’s Tapestry album was released to become the longest charting album by a female solo artist and sell 24 million copies worldwide.

This song is one of the reasons why.

The “I Want”

io9 has a post by Ria Misra on Disney’s use of the “I want” song, the point in their animated musicals when the protagonist opens her mouth and sings, “I want this, I need this, I’m gonna get this,” the first one being Ariel’s “Part of Your World.” The post acknowledges the formula even as it defends it for its clarity: don’t make your viewer guess what your protagonist wants, just lay it out there.

I’m torn. On the one hand, the idea of a doing fictional “I want” conversation makes me cringe. On the other hand, if I don’t know my heroine well enough that I could write a scene where she articulates her positive goal, then I really don’t know my story at all. The “I Want” is a damn good litmus test for how much of a grip I have on my book even I never write that scene.

The “I Want” is also a good touchstone for my biggest recurring mistake: the protagonist with a negative goal. Imagine Ariel singing, “I don’t want the sea anymore” and you can instantly see the problem with negative goals: They’re whiny and static because they don’t move a character toward anything, they just trap her in one place, bitching. But “I want to be where the people are” gives her movement toward a goal.

Another good thing about the “I Want” song? There’s no tortured back story, no wound, no motivation from twenty years ago that the protagonist hasn’t done anything about. “I want this because of where I an right now and because of what’s happening right now.”

Of course, it’s not always that easy. I’ve got Cat who wants to keep the neighborhood she’s lived in all her life safe. That’s a negative goal: don’t change my world. But her world is already changing, the crime boss who keeps order is distracted, bad things are happening without consequences to the evildoers, good people are going missing. So Cat’s goal, very broadly stated, is to restore order to her neighborhood. That’s a positive, active goal with a time lock. That’s an “I Want.”

I’m still not crazy about the formulaic nature of the “I Want,” but that doesn’t mean I can’t see how useful it is as story test.

Cherry Happiness Weekend Update

Jill posted this somewhere so I thought I’d just make it a full post. Put your happiness/Cherry News here, please:

From Jill:

Looks like this is my first chance to post a Cherry Saturday since December. I have 45 minutes left.

Corrina Lawson The Curse of the Brimstone Contract series starter

http://www.amazon.com/Curse-Brimstone...

Ring from a Marquess Chris Merrill http://www.amazon.com/Marquess-Harleq...

Double Blind Heidi Cullinan http://www.amazon.com/Double-Blind-Sp...

You’re So Fine Kieran Kramer http://www.amazon.com/Youre-So-Fine-K...

Love Me if You Dare Toni Blake http://www.amazon.com/Love-Me-If-You-...

Mortal Heart Robin LaFevers http://www.amazon.com/Mortal-Heart-Fa...

full page spread in RT

RT Reviewers Choice Nominees:

Heidi Cullinan (Best Contemporary Romance)Fever Pitch http://www.amazon.com/Fever-Pitch-Les...

Stephen Blackmore (Paranormal Romances and Urban Fantasy) Broken Souls http://www.amazon.com/Broken-Souls-St...

Lark O’Neal (Barbara Samuel) http://www.amazon.com/Brilliant-Going...

Barbara Monajem Captivated by his Kiss http://www.amazon.com/Captivated-his-...

Gin Jones Cozy Christmas Capers http://www.amazon.com/Cozy-Christmas-...

Corrina Laswson Ghost of Christmas Past http://www.amazon.com/Ghosts-Christma...

Corrina Lawson Phoenix Inheritance http://www.amazon.com/Phoenix-Inherit...

Cynthia D’Alba Texas Bossa Nova http://www.amazon.com/Texas-Bossa-Nov...

Robena Grant Corsica Gate http://www.amazon.com/Corsica-Gate-Ro...

And -all about me. I acquired a grand-dog (a cavapoo) over Christmas. And a beautiful great-granddaughter 2 weeks ago.

What Is This Book Anyway?

Toni and I had quite a time last week.

I finally hit the wall and said, “I can’t do anything else until I know what happens at the climax. Besides the Big Magic Bang.” Because given our characters, the Big Magic Bang could be sex; they seem to be heavily invested in it. But of course to know what happens at the Big Magic Bang, we had to know why the antagonist wanted a Big Magic Bang. We kind of knew but then we kept writing and the story got more complex (sweet Jesus, is it complex) and the antagonist was kind of stuck at the gate. Meanwhile my heroine was a humorless bitch and Toni’s kept offering to kill people, and my hero kept hitting people over the head, while Toni’s solved all problems without breaking a sweat because he was a superhero. So we finally came down to the big question:

What is this book about?

We had a TON of stuff, wonderful stuff–snappy patter, sexual tension, theft, violence, magic animals, fabulous settings that changed and thwarted our protagonists, family drama plus the-family-you-make drama–but I had no idea what the book was about. We needed to pick a main plot and then hang all the subplots on that. Actually, all the stuff was so closely interwoven that once we picked a thread and said, “This one,” everything would automatically hang together. So it was pick-a-lane time, and then all our problems would be over.

So of course, we built a new lane. Essentially we looked at everything we had and said, “What would tie all this stuff together, what motivation would throw all of these people into a life or death struggle, what is it they all want (for different reasons) that they’ll risk everything for?” And we thought up something new that had been there all along, we just hadn’t noticed it.

I love that moment when you pull one thread of plot and everything just kind of lines up.

Considering this started as an episodic collaborative novel about four women–an assassin, a waitress, a stable girl, and an (I forget), and then became an episodic collaborative novel about an assassin, a waitress, and a stable girl; and then became an episodic collaborative novel about an assassin and a waitress; and then became a non-episodic collaborative novel about an assassin, a waitress, a magic spy, and an undercover cop, it was amazing we’d gotten as far as we had. We’d even managed to keep the same antagonist. But last week, we had to look at it and say, “I don’t think is a romantic comedy any more.” There’s so much in there, the romances, the friendships, the team building/family-you-make, the parental stuff, the magic stuff, the con stuff, the violent stuff, the food, the animals, the mystery, the comedy . . . ARGH.

It’s a relationship story about a team that comes together to save the world. More or less. Their world anyway, although the repercussions of their failure would be international. With magic. And romance. And mystery. But mostly it’s a cross between Leverage and Person of Interest in 1926 with magic. At least, that’s what it is this week.

Like I said, last week was a doozy.

This First Scene Is Kicking My Ass

How many times have I said, “Write the first scene last”? “You can’t know how a book begins until you know how it ends.” “Don’t waste your time rewriting the first scene over and over again, you’re going to change when the book is finished anyway.”

So I’ve spent the last week rewriting the first scene. Hell, I’ve spent the last three months rewriting this first scene.

In my head, in the computer, on paper, I’ve done everything but draw it on the ceiling, although I’m not ruling that out. The thing is, this is a collaboration, and Toni has the next scene, so I can’t just blithely say, “Oh, I’ll do that at the end.” Her first scene is set in the same time and place. And this book is so complex I actually do need that first scene in place roughly the way it will be in the finished book.

The first pass was that mess that you all rightly loathed. Then Toni pointed out that it started too late in the story, that she needed an extra half hour before that. I wrote the half hour before that which was mostly Cat thinking and chatting. So that had to go. Then Toni said, “How about starting with the Cat and Harry scene” which is a much better scene that starts about half an hour after the fireball. So I tried that, but shoehorning in the necessary info from the first scene just wrecked a perfectly good scene, so I went back to starting half an hour before the fireball.

At that point, Toni and I discussed whether we needed the fireball. Honestly, we do have a grip on this story, it’s just this freaking first scene . . .

We decided we needed the fireball, it just had to be smaller. A detail, not an event. Back to the beginning. Which had to introduce Cat, Keely, Pansy, Maggie, Harry, Phil, and several other characters. Had to establish Cat’s problems which were many. Had to be structured on the conflict with Maggie. Had to have description because you guys are so picky. (And Toni. Toni wanted description.) At about my fortieth rewrite, I thought, “ARGH TOO MUCH,” but I’m stuck. This stuff has to go in there.

So I’m going back to the basics.

Who’s the protagonist? Cat

What does she want? To solve the problems that are dis-ordering her safe world.

Who’s the antagonist? Maggie

What does she want? To concentrate on the threat she perceive to the man she loves while ignoring the fact that he’s not taking care of the problems Cat’s worrying about.

Is there a conflict lock?

Kinda.

So if I use Cat and Maggie struggling over Phil as the spine, then I can use the Keely and Pansy interruptions as complications. Plus there’s description.

All I need is about twenty-six Diet Cokes and some graph paper and I can solve this. I know I can.

ARGH.

Back later.

The Process. Argh.

I must have said, “It’s a process” a thousand times while I was teaching the McDaniel classes. And yet, it’s a lesson I have to learn over and over. Case in point: Toni’s and my collaboration on Monday Street. This book has changed so much since the beginning and it’s so much better, clearer, sharper now, but we couldn’t have gotten here without everything we did to get here. And now we’re in another rip-it-all-apart-and-look-at-the-pieces phase, so once again . . .

IT’S A PROCESS.

In the beginning, this book was going to be four interwoven stories. Then Lani dropped out and then Krissie dropped out, so Toni and I were going to interweave two stories. The idea was that all four three two would start with the same fireball in the restaurant so the reader would know that time was being re-set. “When the fireball went up, Cat/Keely/Mari was . . .”

Yeah, it wouldn’t have worked. It really didn’t work with two, especially since Toni needed to write the stuff that came before the fireball. So we threw that out and started earlier. Somewhere in there, one of us said, “Do we even need a fireball?” (“Why do we even have this lever?”) and we got rid of the fireball. Then we brought it back. Then I realized that my new first scene had a traveling antagonist (first this person, then this person, then this person) so that had to go. I tried starting with the next scene which is when stuff actually happened, but that was confusing. Meanwhile Toni was trying to figure out how to incorporate stuff from my scene in there that just didn’t fit.

Then I decided that the problem with the opening was that I didn’t know what happened at the climax. Toni said, “A big explosion.” Because I am picky, I need more. “A big magic explosion.” So we’re regrouping. Every time we regroup, we tear at our clothing and weep, and every time, the book gets better. This is not fun but it is interesting. I mean some of the things we’re arguing about discussing are just weird. Spirits trapped in perfume bottles and whiskey decanters. Exactly what’s in a magic-contaminated wilderness. What makes a magic-contaminated bay bubble. How old can a street kid be and not be considered as savvy as an adult. How did X find out Y and when. Why was there a fireball? Why is there a Big Magic Explosion? What fairy tale is this? How did we get into this mess?

I have faith we’ll get it worked out. It really is miles better than when we started. The fireball is back. I put in description. We’re making progress.

Anyway, that’s where I’ve been. With Toni on Monday Street. Trying to figure out why we’re gonna have a Big Magic Explosion.

Argh.

Om

I was just e-mailing with someone about writer mantras, the things we say to ourselves to keep us on track or just to keep us from going crazy. One of my faves is Susan Elizabeth Phillips’s “Protect the work,” which she beat me over the head with until I finally listened (SEP is always right, except about offices). I also like Elmore Leonard’s advice which was not a mantra but should be; the shortened version is “Don’t write the parts people skip.” Mine is “Stay fluid and unpredictable” which is good in all things, not just writing, as is Wil Wheaton’s Wheaton Law: “Don’t be a dick.”

So now I’m looking for a few good mantras. Whaddaya got, Argh People?

Okay, Okay, Okay. I’ll Post.

Look, it’s been hectic here.

I’ve been talking to heating companies since October. I’m now on my third because people DON’T LISTEN TO ME. I don’t know if it’s because I’m an old woman or because I seem like a pushover but honest to god, if you don’t listen me and don’t get back to me, I will drop your furnace-installing ass. The poor third guy caught the worst of it. “You’ll have to put in the ceiling first.” “No.” “Just a piece of drywall.” “No.” “So about ductwork.” “No ductwork.” “Why?” Evil stare from woman who has been having the damn ductwork argument for two freaking years. He’s supposed to get back to me with an estimate this week, but I may have scared him off. The other two guys came up with $22,000 and $21,000 respectively to heat 1000 square feet. No.

Then there’s the book. Remember that first scene I put up here that everybody hated? It’s gone. I wrote a new one. So much better. It’s gone, too. This week Toni and I looked at everything we’d done in the beginning of the book and said, “No,” and started over. It’s a good thing, but jeez, the e-mails have been flying.

Then there’s firewood because I’ve been heating with my excellent fireplace insert. Bill delivered the wood today about four-thirty. It gets dark at five and tomorrow we’re getting freezing rain. So I stacked about 3/4 cord of firewood before it got dark. I threw a tarp over the rest but I’m not kidding myself. It’s going to get wet. Such is life.

And of course, the house in general. I got all the Christmas stuff hauled upstairs and stashed neatly in the Christmas closet so that’s done, but I’ve still got the back porch to sort out so I can work back here. That room I wanted to use as an office is never going to be warm/cold enough to actually be a room, so it’s now a breezeway to the garage, or it will be as soon as I get good doors put on it to keep the kitchen warm. And I’ve been putting up plastic again over the windows of course. And I’ve got to get the rest of the shelves up so I can get the last of this stuff put away and get to work, plus I have to build my closet shelves, so there’s that.

And the dogs have to go to the vet to get their rabies updated early because the township won’t license a dog whose rabies vaccine is going to run out before November. Which seems odd, but hey. So that’s two afternoons shot because even when Lani was helping me, taking four dogs to the vet is for masochists.

And then in there I did get time to catch up on some TV. Person of Interest: That show got me again. That last episode was a damn fine piece of storytelling and then it ripped my heart out and fed it to the cat. Although evidently there is some shred of hope. I understand the ratings aren’t so good, so call all the Neilson families you know and have them watch PoI because it’s just so damn good. I also tried the new Librarians series because, hey, Christian Kane, but he’s the only good thing in it, so I quit halfway through. Grrrr.

Oh and the bears. They’re hibernating down by the boathouse now, a big pile of black fur. My neighbor says his daughter-in-law is afraid to go out on his deck because the bears come up there, but I told him to tell her they’re sleeping now.

And I am socked into my bed with my essential electric mattress pad (best invention ever for winter), working on the book and crocheting and discussing with the dogs why we do not go down and bark at the bears. “They’re sleeping, they’re bigger than you, and it’s annoying. Stop it.”

So that’s why I haven’t posted. Well, that and I have nothing to say. I’ll try to dig up some of the questionables I never answered and do those. And figure out Cherry Saturdays for the rest of the year. After I stack the rest of the firewood and harass the heating guy and rescue Milton from his proximity to bears and figure out my umpteenth opening to this book, then I will post something worthwhile.

Probably.