David Lubar's Blog, page 16

Fear and loving on those pages

I'm pretty sure I won't be doing a tip every single day during NaNoWriMo, mostly becasue "NaNoWriMo" is such a pain to type, with all that mixed-case stuff, but also because I don't have all that many tips. I should emphasize that any tips I give are not really tied to the whole concept of writing a novel in a month. I'm pretty much neutral on that whole subject.

Anyhow, fear. Fear is good, if it is of the "I'm not sure I can do this," sort. Fear is bad if it paralyzes you. Anything that makes an artist edgy -- and, like it or not, a novelist is an artist -- is a good thing. When I got the idea for Dunk, I was afraid to write the book. All my previous books had been fantasy or science fiction. I had a growing readership, and Hidden Talents had started to establish itself in summer reading programs, Battle of the Books, and other places. So I was a genre guy. I was afraid to tackle a book that lacked a speculative element. But I really wanted to tell the story, and I loved the concept. So I pushed past my fears, and found a different sort of magic in the world of that book. I can cite plenty of other instances where a project scared me, but you get the idea. Feast on your fear. Adrenaline isn't just for downhill racers and bull fighters.

to frame thy fearful fantasy

Writing tip. Fanatsizing is fine, worry* is counterproductive. By all means, imagine your acceptance speech at the National Book Awards. (Though, if the King of Sweden shows up, you might want to work on your research skills.) Try to avoid worrying that your plot, your genre, or that whole chapter where the narration is taken over by the main character's favorite pen will keep your book from being a best seller, winning the Printz, or proving to your sophomore-year English teacher that he was wrong to give your best short story a C minus. Fantasy feed the heart. Worry kills art. And now I have to fart.**


Footnotes
*Worry is not the same as fear, but that's a different topic.
**I had to overcome a pinch of worry about adding the third line, but I knew it was the right thing to do.

Long enough to reach the ground

Today's writing tip: I don't follow NaNoWriMo, so I dont know if there's some sort of length target, but it's a good issue to touch upon at the start of a project. Length shouldn't be an issue during the first draft. There are plenty of other things to obsess about. Length isn't one of them. Write the story. Tell the tale. Then see what needs to be cut or expanded. I tend to write sparse drafts. Hidden Talents grew from 25,000 words to 55,000. On my second pass, sentences (e.g. "I followed him up the stairs.") became scenes, and objects gained something beyond generic descriptions. But I also often cut my first chapter. Or at least weed out all the sentences that say the same thing in three or four different ways.

Bonus tip: it might be okay not to worry about length too much on the second, third, fourth, or fifth draft, either.

Caveat emptier

Today's writing tip: Be sure to consider the source of any writing advice before taking it as gospel.

Tip me over, pour me out

Since NaNoWriMo starts today (Shazbat!), I figured I'd post a writing tip every day this month. I know myself well enough to realize that this means I'll post a tip today, and maybe even one tomorrow , before I get distracted, run out of ideas, or lose interest. But, hey, free advice is worth the electrons it's painted with, so it's no big deal either way.)

Today's writing tip: Don't worry about the contents or quality of the opening chapter. You'll probably decide to throw it out, once the novel is written. Really, we all like to riff and warm up. And we like to tell the reader what the story is about. Fine. Do it. Get it out of your system. It's a nice way to organize your thoughts. But it's probably going to get trashed, recycled, or used for parts. So just write it.

I love my fans

I know we hear all this artistic hogwash about how writing is its own reward, blah, blah, blah. But, really, when it comes down to feeling great about what I do, it's hard to beat starting the day with something like this:

My name is _____, and I go to _____ Middle School. I like soccer. I take singing lesions, dance, and love to read. But it's really hard to find books I like and books that I can read nonstop. And your books make me read!

I am a big fan of your book, Hidden Talents. One reason I really like the book is for the same reason I just said: I can't stop reading it! I love the detail and figurative language. I couldn't stop reading it at night, my Mom yelled at me for being up so late on Monday. (I stayed up until Midnight, my bedtime is 8).

Say, yay for me, and yay for her. (And double-yay for her for sending me an email that doesn't resemble a text message or a bad spill of Scrabble tiles. Punctuation makes me happy.)

Today's word is "symbiosis."

Eureka! The Law of FollyBlogging revealed

As I was contemplating the folly of blogging for an audience far smaller than the readership of my books, I was struck by a way to quantify everything. I humbly call the following proposition "Lubar's Law of FollyBlogging."

IF TWEB/AR > LIN THEN URI

Or, expanded, if the total words you've ever blogged, divided by your average readership, is greater than the length of the ideal novel you've been planning to write, then you are an idiot. (Disclaimer -- I probably qualify.)

This works in tandem with a law I posted several years ago: There is nothing on the Internet as interesting as the book you should be writing. Both formulations only apply to those who've ever contemplated writing a book, or have actually done so. Normal people can ignore all of this.

Alas, I am very bad at following my own advice. But I love blogging about it.

Words of wisdom

I just saw something on twitter that I think should be universally shared (which is why I'm sharing it here with my five loyal readers).

Laurie Halse Anderson (@halseanderson) just posted this on twitter:

"Love the 'It gets better' campaign, but want to make it better NOW. No teen should have to wait until adulthood to feel loved."

I think she coined a wonderful phrase and a powerful goal. MAKE IT BETTER NOW.

I don't know, yet, how to help do this, but I know I want to do whatever I can.

Simple markups

I was in the beverage aisle in the market the other day, and was horrified to see, next to the bitters and mixes, a 12 oz. bottle of simple syrup priced at $5.00. This has to be one of the largest mark-ups of all time, not counting bottled water. Consider this -- a 5 lb. bag of store-brand sugar is $2.50. That will make about 88 ounces of simple syrup. As the name inmplies, simple syrup is ridiculously easy to make. It's half sugar, half water. As a public service, here's my recipe.

1. Find a measuring thingee. It can be a dry-measuring cup (the one-cup size works well), a liquid measuring cup, or even a juice glass.

2. Fill the measuring thingee with sugar and then put that sugar in a small saucepan.

3. Fill the thingee with water and add that to the saucepan. Give it a quick stir. There will be a lot of undissolved sugar. Don't worry about it.

4. Put the pan on the range and turn on the heat.

5. Stir once in a while. Bring the liquid to a boil.

6. It's done. Take it off the heat and let it cool. Keep it in the fridge. Use it for tasty beverages.

If you lack a range and a saucepan, you can put the sugar and water into a Pyrex measuring cup and nuke it (assuming you have a Pyrex cup). $5.00 for 12 ounces. Sheesh.

In vein

Not sure if I have any purple clothes to wear today. Might have to just let my veins show my solidarity.