Anna DeStefano's Blog, page 36

Waterfall Challenge: Stonewall Falls

Stonewall Falls is a shy, flickering interior cascade I almost didn't achieve. Almost… Some miracles take their time unfolding. They hide. They challenge the determined heart. Everything that could stop you bars your path, while magic lies just beyond your grasp.

"…a very easy cascade for waterfall watchers to visit while in Clayton…" says Boyd of Stonewall Falls (p. 107).

Difficulty of hike?

Easy.

Stream flow?

Medium.

Rating?

Good.

"Why not tack it onto the end of my hiking day," I say to myself as I read.

Then again, the printed guide I'm using is a decade old, and even then it was a reprint.

If you're local to the area and have a four wheel drive truck, I'm sure you could persuade yourself that this is an easy-to-get-to destination. Actually, this day I'm not sure at all. The park service has let things go a bit. Mostly, I suspect, because, as Boyd says, the area is a mecca for "campers and mountain bikers…" Not the pickiest lot, when it comes to the upkeep of their outdoor pleasures.

You get the idea. The dirt path I'm driving comes equipped with pot holes the size of the front of my car. Steep uphills and drops greet me, where rain and run off have made things steeper and more nerve-wracking. Nifty, not-so-little turns lead to near-blind hazards. Maybe this destination and I aren't meant to be?

Except, it's water. And I need to see it. One thing I've relearned about myself this last year: I crave the sight and sound and feeling of water, flowing around me, calling me, renewing me. And it's there, just ahead, as I'm trying to decide whether to keep going or turn back. It's late and hot (this was last fall) and I'm tired. But there's water waiting…

The next rut I encounter, really more of a ravine, finally stops me. The falls won't be mine this day. My journey's "very easy" ending has become another trip's destination. So I make some notes in my guide and find a place to turn back.

Turning back for now, but not giving up.

Giving up on water isn't possible.

Months later I'm back, this time with my family and my husband's truck. I've scouted the best place to park going in (because it's one of the places I turned off too soon and was almost lost before). It's a cooler day. Still warm, but breeze is promising a winter that will refresh and revive. And it's all new, this journey. It's finally the right time, for this water and me.

My husband and son beside me, I strike out on the hike I was too tired to take before. Dappled light dots our quiet way. Sights and sounds of nature surround us. No wonder campers love it, this well-loved place. And mountain bikers–you can see the deep grooves where they've cut in and out of their favorite paths, excitement and abandon and risk their guide.

It's peaceful and invigorating. A journey I wouldn't have enjoyed alone. We're following the dirt road that thwarted my car. I prefer woods for my solo adventures. But with my family this is a perfect match. Even my teen is excited about returning and camping in one of the rustic sites we pass–the same kid who didn't want to come at all.

Then we reach the magic beneath our falls. A natural swimming pool we didn't expect.

It's perfect.  Enchanting. Devious. Home. We long to dive in, though we have no extra clothes for the hike back.

"Next time," we say, because there are many more visits to come.We'll be back to is awakening that kept itself hidden from me. This shy, flickering, reflecting place that was to be ours, more than it could have been mine. 

It's the great miracle of my life, discovering water magic. 

Where do you discover yours?

Revising a Year: Rachel Zoe and Absolute Clarity

What does it mean to be a working artist? What does it take to succeed? How do you distinguish yourself above all others who do what you do every day? Writers write for the same reason they breath (we have to, or we won't survive). But some make it to "another level" and others don't. Why?

We're taking a break today from our regular blog rotation to dip our toes back into Revising a Year.I don't post to this category as much, because it's a more personal journey, I think. And because I'm working each day on looking forward more than back, and revisions always insists on looking back. It just so happens that this morning is one of those mornings that things were piling up and I was losing my cool and needed a break, so I tracked down a Hollywood Reporter article I'd been meaning to read about a celebrity I'm fascinated (okay, obsessed) with–celebrity stylist Rachel Zoe.

Poke fun if you must, but she's created an empire where others have sunk, she's at the top of her game professionally, and, having a baby at near-40, her life is changing at the zenith of her career… Oh, and I LOVE shoes and clothes and fashion talk of all kinds, so she's on my radar, and by association, yours.

Rachel Zoe is the fashion styling equivalent to a top, #1 NYT Best Selling Fiction author. Everyone's watching her, many want to be her, her faithful can't wait to see what she comes up with next so they can indulge, but no one's really sure how she got to be where she is in her career.

I'm not saying that's the type of success I aspire to (I'm more concerned with finding balance these days and slowly building to a place where I can enjoy everything about my life, including publishing my novels, while not sacrificing any of the things that are important to me). It's clear from watching RZ's reality show how much she's had to give up to attain the "freakish" success that she has. But… (say what you will about the frivolousness of her occupation, if you're so inclined to negative speak the fashion industry that inspires so many, like me ;o) this woman's business savvy is part of what's gotten her to the extreme side of "making it" that few will ever reach.

I'm ready to add whatever wisdom I can from her journey to mine as I revise. I thought perhaps you might be, too, whatever your 2011 goals might be.

I'd give you a link to the article, but adding it to my blog means The Hollywood Reporter takes over my site…Really? So just google and you'll find your way over.

Meanwhile, here are some excerpts and my thoughts (using a few "zoe-isms" along the way to keep things fun):

"The secret to Rachel's success is the absolute clarity of her taste and her uncynical passion for fashion," Harper's Bazaar editor in chief Glenda Bailey says… Yes, it's a bit too catchy a quote, but reread it and really think about the terms clarity, taste and passion. Say what you will about this country's (and Rachel's) obsession over appearances and fashion, but this woman plugged into that industry, brought her own viewpoint/voice and her drive and singleness of focus, and she's become the single most recognizable person doing what she's doing. She knew what she loved, she become the person others who love likewise go to for advice, and she never gave up on the thing that made her passionate about going to work each day.

It's not just about playing with pretty things and the pretty people who wear them for her, it's her focus. It's her inspiration. It's how she sees the world and how she communicates that vision to others that draws people to her and holds them captive, listening carefully, to whatever she decides to fix her attention on next. Can you think of a better description of a branded author? The writer who, no matter what the book's about, you have to buy each time he/she has a new title out. Because that's a journey you can't wait to go on, wherever the story's going?

"Rachel is an expert in her field, at the top of her game, and she's addictive to watch," [Andy] Cohen says…We don't just want to know second hand what's happening to branded personalities like this. We're addicted. Think about the community authors like Sherylin Kenyon and others have built around the worlds and characters they've brought into our lives. We don't just read about these adventures, we dive into them and make them our own, and we follow these writers outside the bindings of their books because we want to keep experiencing that creativity. We need more. We don't want to miss a single thing they think or say. Not all authors can sustain this and a best-selling career, but those who do experience success that is "off the hook."

Straddling both ends of the fashion spectrum is Zoe's specialty…Part of her artistic personality is affordable style, and looking ""Ah-mazing" at any price point. Translating that to other artists, perhaps, might mean being flexible and willing to experiment and to reach out to those who love your work on many different levels. Not getting stuck on one thing, or one group of fans. Showing more of your own personality with each new project, instead of sticking with only what's worked bed in the past, so even more people can find and fall in love with your work. Norah Roberts is a perfect example of this. She's written all over the spectrum, written well in every genre/sub-genre she's tried, and with each new idea she hits it out of the part. She tries a lot of different things and hits it out of the part every time.

"I've never been driven by money; I'm driven by the path," she [Rachel] says. "And fear. The scariest thing I've ever done in my life was start a collection. Being a designer was one of those things where I was, like, 'Never, never, never!' Leave it to my heroes. Then I started to itch for it… "This quote says it all. She's terrified, but fearless. She's not satisfied with the status quo. She's not seeing the result, but the current day, then the next, and the path she's following. This is a hard one for me. For a lot of writers/dreamers who want to succeed in a difficult, creative business. It's so easy to look around you and wonder why you don't have what you want while others do. It's much harder to choose to take risks and stick with the risky path you've chosen for a sustained period of time, regardless of the short-term-results, and to give yourself the chance to reach the pay off (or not). It's very hard to trust your instincts and your talent and your training, then jump off the cliff and not flinch and pull the rope of your parachute too soon.

"When you're a creative person, whether you design clothing or homes, your brain is constantly moving," Zoe says. "What is beautiful? What gets you going?"Any of you still thinking that what she's doing isn't creative? Ever tell yourself that you can't be creative, while it seems so easy for everyone around you? The reality is, creating something from nothing more than your imagination is work–the hard work of mastering inspiration on demand and deciding what you want to say about the world around you (and within your own mind) every day. That's how we connect with others. That's how our unique view remains uniquely ours, even after we share it with the world. It comes from within. Before anything else, you have being with what gets YOU going, then you use that momentum to inspire others. It's "ba-nanas" to think of making a career out of something like that, right? Welcome to my wacky world…

Adds [Hal] Rubenstein: "In the end, the public decides whose taste they want to emulate, not magazine editors or people sitting in the front rows. And the public has decided that they like Rachel." So, let's review… Passion, insight, drive, clear focus and direction, identity, fearlessness, and the public decided they liked the whole package. She had to have all these things, AND what she was selling (herself style and advice) had to be what people wanted. Which is to say, in the end, she had no control over whether or not she'd be a success. What she did control was the day-to-day and the consistency of her path and business plan and her discipline and dedication (and, yes, her obsession that at times has threatened things in her personal life). She never quit, no matter the failures she racked up over the years, and now here she is–effortlessly successful.

I suspect most creative star's journeys are similar. Lots of fear and uncertainty and insane determination to keep going, regardless. Lots of second guessing, even while small good things are happening, that lead to a little bit larger good things, and then larger still. While you find the inspiration to keep creating and making something that is uniquely you for others to fall in love with. All while you remember it's not about you or the success, it's about the creating and the creation and the audience who will love it actually discovering what you've done and falling for it.

Find your voice, I teach aspiring writers. Find your soul in your work (or, as the article suggests, the source of your own "absolute clarity"), and be brave enough to bare it to your characters and stories or whatever art you create, and through it to your audience.

Is this what Rachel Zoe's done with her "empire?" I really believe so. It's a working artist's journey you're reading about in her HR article, whether you acknowledge the value of Rachel's success or not. And a similar journey, that I hope you see unfolding here in Revising a Year.

Happy Monday, everyone!

I Hear the Craziest Things: Forgeddaboutit…

I owe you a sonnet on Michelle's and my hotel experience last weekend, and I'm good for it. But this fine Saturday morning, my family's whirling like a runaway top, and I'm chasing dust bunnies in their shadows trying to keep up. So, here's some of the things that gave me some Internet happiness (or double-takes)  as I re-entered my "normal" life this week.

I've never worried about aging, never had a "list" of things I needed to do by a certain age to feel fulfilled, never looked back (much) at some point in the dwindling past thinking THOSE were the days.I accept every morning (and I know it's a blessing) that better stuff is ahead. The "it's all downhill from here" perspective of some? Forgeddaboutit.

So, I give you 4 Cool Women Making 40 Fantastic.

 

I do drink expensive, designer coffee, but only because Starbucks makes it the best, the way I like it (incredibly strong, yet decaf and doused in tons of fat-free milk and so cold you can feel your throat bracing itself just before you take your first sip).

What I don't do is indulge (very often) in the pastry in their cases or the hot chocolate or the other "light" and yummy looking things they offer that, to me, that seem just a little too good to be true. Not to mention the fact that if I ate that much sugar and fat in the middle of the day, I'd be in a coma before I managed to drive wherever I was headed next. But I know others love the goodies, and I dont' judge.

Except, when I see the latest "mini" bites of heaven tempting folks as soon as they walk in Starbucks door. Birthday cake pops and mini cupcakes and tiny red velvet woopie pies… OMG!!! If my low blood sugar wasn't the one thing about my system rivalling my thyroid problems for top billing in the making me sick department, I'd have dove head first, love at first sight, into the pastry case.

 

They're so cute. And they're just a tiny bite. Everyone can have one of these and feel good about their choice, right?

Forgeddaboutit.

Average calorie count: 170-190, for each tiny taste! For the spiced carrot cake with cream cheese frosting mini–100 out of 190 calories are from fat. 25% of which is saturated fat. Dietary fiber, 0 grams.

I mean, I know this isn't supposed to be health food. But here's Starbuck's "healthy" talk on their main food page, "You told us what's important to you – real, wholesome food that is naturally delicious. So we removed the trans fats, artificial flavors, artificial dyes and high fructose corn syrup from everything in our food case. All you enjoy is the goodness of delicious food made from real ingredients. So now our food not only tastes better, it is better."

I actually started laughing right there at the counter the other day.

And finally, in honor of my son–whom I believe was already an engineer in the womb–I leave you with the largest Great Ball Contraption in the world, made entirely of LEGO! You have to see this thing…

Now THAT's unforgetable!

Dream Theories: A Programmed Mind at Rest

"We teach others how to treat us," I told a group of students last weekend, when we shifted into the communication skills portion of our weekend together. In the Psychic Realm I've created in my Legacy novels (and in the fringe science I base my psychic world building on) our minds teach our dreams how to transport us while we sleep. Our "every day" programs our resting realities.

I've promised for a while  now to post regularly about what I've learned writing Secret Legacy and what I've created in both it and it's sister book, Dark Legacy. We're grooving toward an exciting May/June launch/re-launch season for both projects, so let's get busy talking about the spooky and not-so-spooky stuff that enthralls me about the mind's power to create.

Yes, our dreams are for encoding memories and filtering out the chatter and rebooting for a new conscious day. But sometimes the unconscious noise is too important to move on from, no matter how determined we are to lock it away. And it's these the seeds from which our strongest, most recurring dreams evolve.

As we stay unaware when we're awake, our dreams tend to crank up the dial on dealing with whatever need/goal/fear is being repressed. They actually take on the challenge of getting us back on the track of facing the inevitable reality that the energy we most avoid is the reality we most need to confront. So we do. Over and over. In dream cycles that keep the emotions of whatever's challenging us in the forefront of our minds, even if we turn away from actual topics themselves. Does this mean we're subconsciously programming the very dreams we need to confront our demons? Some believe so.

No, not THAT somebody, but it is a cool album. You should check it out ;o)

In Secret Legacy, the programming is more intentional. Managed dreaming is the technique government scientists are using to experiment with waking mind and behavior control. And, as we've discussed before, our brains are wired to forget dream specifics, most often only holding onto the emotions that drive us toward behavior. If someone were to meddle with our lives and realities through our sleeping journeys, we'd most likely never know.

Unless, as Sarah Temple and her psychic twin have discovered, we learn to consciously use our dream work for our own purposes.To plug into our unconscious desires and fears and the secret things we've hidden away all our lives that are so easily accessible when our mental barriers drop and we confront the core of what we've been created to be. In her and Maddie Temple's worlds, they either own their psychic gifts and take back the control of where there minds can go, or they lose everything. They're freedom. Their futures. Their legacy, and the little girl they only realize was part of who they should be when it's almost too late to claim her and the dangerous things being done to her mind, too.

In short, just like us, they either fight to become a lucid participant in the work their dreams are doing, or they're a victim of the onslaught the fall out of the whirling realities their sleep conjures.For us, this could mean anxiety and a sense of apprehension that we can't quite get a grip on, until we grow uncomfortable enough to do something about whatever's feeding our dreams. For the Temple twins and the little girl they're trying to save from being turned into a psychic weapon, not facing their destiny and the work they need to do to achieve it means death, destruction and mayhem for all man kind.

When you think about it that way, we're getting off pretty easy, right? So what's all the fuss about dreams and the fear of remembering them that blocks us from evolving beyond the emotional upset that frequently results from them? Heh. I get it. This isn't easy stuff to deal with, for normal folks who, unlike me, haven't had an give and take relationship with their dreams since they were little. This is fuzzy stuff, and there are reasons we don't want to look too closely at the things we dream of.

But if we can teach ourselves to see past the emotions and embrace the sometimes scary images and symbols we dream about, if we can reach into our minds just a little more, then a little more, we can touch a deeper part of our consciousness. We can see the things from before and learn to understand the things that can be and trust that our minds are working hard to connect the both, even when we can't.

No one, not even fringe scientists can tell us just how much sleeping and waking behavior we can actually program into our minds. The key to embracing whatever is possible with lucid dreaming is to reach for what we don't yet understand, instead of turning our thoughts away. Accept what might very well be impossible. Take that leap of faith, just like my Legacy heroine's do, so that your life has even more of a chance to be what it was always meant to be.

What a thrilling dream that would be.

Here's hoping you enjoy reading them, as much as I enjoy writing on this fringe, Psychic Realm stuff that makes you think and shiver and wonder if, must maybe, some of this could really be happening around you ever day… Bwahahahahaha ;o)

Publishing Isn't for Sissies: A Reality Check

We asked students last weekend to share every worst case scenario and fear they'd heard or thought about the way digital options seems to be consuming traditional publishing. What are the rumors? How bad do you think it's going to get. What are you chances now of ever getting a book contract and seeing your stories in a reader's hand?

My agent (Michelle Grajkowski) and I had been fielding industry questions and trying to get folks to open up for about an hour. It was the get to know you beginning of the conference. Folks were understandably guarded at first, talking with someone they thought might one day be an asset to their career (Michelle, not me, though I'm always good for an entertaining hour or two of conversation ;o). I'd tried to get them to ask digital publishing questions a few times, but no takers. Then Michelle helped me open the floor for comments. 

"What have you heard?" we asked. "What do you know? Don't worry about how bad it sounds. No holds barred."

Ah. We'd struck upon the thing to ask a room full of people who're starting to accept you into your group. More, "Let's get the the big ugly monster out of the closet." Less, "Let us know what you're afraid of."

Michelle and I had talked about this approach on the drive over from the town we flew in on to the on where we'd be teaching all weekend. We were pretty sure what we'd hear.

And we weren't disappointed:

Digital publishing is helping finish off the Mass Market segment of printed book sales.
Bricks and mortar stores are disappearing from the landscape.
Book store chains are closing, filing for bankruptcy or up for sale.
Racks/slots for books in the remaining discount stores are dwindling.
Online printed book sales are lagging behind digital sales.
Self publishing digitally may be the only way anyone can publish a book in the near future.
It's becoming difficult to distinguish a "publisher" from a self published digital book, at least on sight.
Badly written and produced digital books are flooding the market.
99 cent digital book prices devalue books in general and make it impossible for newer writers to make any money at all.
It takes so long to find a publisher traditionally, print advances are shrinking along with sales and royalties, publishers are struggling and going under, and an agent gets to take a bite out of whatever you do make–why not skip all the middle men and go it alone like everyone you see all over social media making a fortune self-publishing.
Publishers opening digital-only imprints aren't offering authors advances, are offering little or no promotion that the author doesn't have to take the lead in, and are making no promises of income from royalties. Therefore months/years of work could result in little or no profit for the author whatsoever.

The list goes on… Like I said, nothing new.

Except, the point we made later that night after everyone had pretty much agreed that we'd all heard the above list and more and didn't know what to think about it, is that IT'S NOTHING NEW.

 
Michelle and I called this the Reality Check portion of the evening program. Here's what we shared with the group, and believe it or not it made everyone a little more comfortable and contemplative and thinking a little more big picture about all the above stuff that, let's be honest, makes all of us want to hind our heads in the sand until the dust settles…

When the mass market publishing model began to dominate the scene, we used as an example, it was seen by many as a threatening wave that would spell the end of the more valuable but pricey hard cover novel, and the independent book store that didn't want to shelve endless cheaper-to-produce-and-stock paperbacks. And, well, it pretty much was.

Hardcover become the top echelon dream of writers for when they'd "made it," independent book stores have become more and more scarce over the years, while the chains and discount stores lured customers away with cheaper books and legal addictive stimulants and the chance to buy your toilet paper in the same place as you do the next Nora Roberts.

Mass market prices for books have become the standard that the majority of the book buying public is willing to pay, to the point that most of us don't pay full price for a hard cover unless we're sure it's something we want to keep forever. Me, I'll admit it. I mostly wait until something's remaindered or until it comes out in paperback.

The holy grail for as long as I've been thinking about publishing has been snagging that 6 figure+ hardcover book deal. THAT's when you know you're on your way, because only then is a publisher going to invest significant money into promoting and positioning your book to hit lists and sell, sell sell (because they've already invest so much in your advance, it had better sell, sell sell). Otherwise, you're lucky if your mass market release gets touched by readers in one of the many stores it might or not be stocked in, for the week or two that most stores rack paperbacks now days, before they strip them because a new month of titles is flooding in.

And along with lower mass market cover prices and sell throughs over the years, have come dwindling advances for authors.

Which all sounds grim, I know. And yet here we all are, still writing and publishing and promoting and reading books, even if they almost never involve a hard cover book contract anymore.

Plus, doesn't it sound eerily familiar? Like everything that's happened with the rise of the mass market paperback model is some kind of a freaky mirror we could hold up to the journey many are saying the industry is about to take with digital publishing. Are we watching the same dynamic play itself out al over again?

Let's not forget that along with the "unwanted" changes that mass market book dominance brought us, came some really good stuff, too:

Lower cover prices that made books were more accessible to every reader.
More opportunity for authors to be published who might not have been able to make it to the hard cover stage.
Expanded editorial and a thriving publishing industry that grew in speed and quality and flexibility from its former staid self.
A thriving book selling industry that feeds not just our desire to read but to write, creating outlets on every corner and in every grocery and discount and dime store.

Did the "mass market rules" wave that crashed over publishing do it's part in creating the very environment that is feeding the digital book revolution? 

In between has been a lot of hiccups: series books took their turn, cheaper than mass market paperbacks, driving prices and advances lower while flooding the reading market with even more titles each month; there was the rise and online networking of used book stores that deprived authors and publishers of income; I could go on and on. It's all come and gone (or stayed) as the past paved the way to the journey we're taking today. Industry players have been worried and wincing and bracing for disaster off and on at each turn.

Not to mention that publishers have never put much money into promoting any but their top tier authors. The rest of us have always had to do most of the work ourselves, funding it ourselves, until we hit a sell-through level that kicks us up a notch in the pecking order. And as chain stores dwindle, independent book stores are enjoying a recent surge in sales, as savvy readers look for book sellers that hand sell their favorites and know the market the way a digital shopping cart can't.

What we're reeling from now is no different from what's sent everyone spiraling in the past, or the anxiety and confusion that I have no doubt will come down the road. It's all about the same thing in the end.

It's about CHANGE that very few of us feel we can control.

Publishing keeps changing. The business of it, that is. How much or little respect/money/buy-in writers have into the process. How many choices and price points readers have to select from. How quickly a book can be written and produced and moved to the market place, and into how many different genres can a publisher successfully print fiction and non-fiction and everything in between.

What doesn't change is what the writer has always controlled: the quality of the book and the reading experience itself. How much effort and craft and care we put into each story, so what does get out there has the best chance possible of reaching and transporting and delighting and compelling its audience to want to read more.

Yes, in our world there's always going to be a quicker and cheaper way to throw something against the wall of publishing, to see if it sticks long enough for the world to notice. But we, the writers, want something marvelous up there for everyone to see and enjoy. We want the book stores to stay open, and if they can't we want the digital outlets to make their model work, and we want publishers to figure this whole thing out and to give a crap whether or not authors are making any money at this at all anymore so we'll keep writing.

But in the end, the reality is that more often than not it's the top books and the top writers that will get the most attention (digital or printed) and the best contracts. These craftsmen that wait longer and work harder and fight ruthlessly for every word and sentence and chapter and story. They don't rush, and they don't panic, and they don't follow the latest trend impatiently because they deserve their success NOW, instead of later when they and their books are ready to shine. These are the warriors that will make sure our industry survives this and future changes. They're our champions, not the flashier "get rich and successful now" promises of whatever trend is cresting the current wave.

And I want to be one of them–even while I delve into a hybrid version of digital publishing and try to figure out my place in this latest change threatening to dominate the "old" way. Whatever comes, I want to write a better scene today than yesterday, a better character, a better book for my readers.

So did that room of authors Michelle and I spoke with last weekend. We left our meet and greet feeling energized and excited and encouraged to spend the entire next day learning how to make our work and our stories better. We were a group with a mission–to embrace change and conquer our fear and write better than we ever have before, because there's always an opportunity waiting for a solidly written book by an enthusiastic author willing to pound the pavement, or the Internet, or whatever needs to be done to get the word out.

The reality is, digitally published or in print, it's all about the book. And we hold in our own hands the power to make that book the best it can be, every time we turn on our computers or open our notebooks, or start marking up a printout of our latest work-in-progress. That won't change,  no matter how much time passes.

How We Write Wednesday: Conflict Box–Failing and Fixing

Jenni made one thing clear about Conflict Lock last week: the conflict box seems simple enough, but when you try to chart conflict without motivation, which is essential to drill to the core of what drives your external story, things can get tricky. Lets get right to some examples to illustrate what we mean (review  our posts from last week again here and here  if you need to catch up), then I'll wrap things up at the end of the post and get back to talking about what's MOST important…character ;o)

My first pass at the conflict box for my WIP was a fail:

Pretty good, right?

But notice the amount of yadda yadda. Never a good sign in a chart that's supposed to be very simple.

Where I get myself into trouble with something like this is my (wait for it) need to understand character before I conquer the  mechanics of what will drive the characters' external conflict.There are two ways to come to story, either plot first or character first. And I'm not saying either one is better than the other (well, I AM actually saying it elsewhere in HoWW, but for the purposes of this plotting exercise I'm keeping things neutral, so please, in the comments, admire my restraint however you feel moved to).

The parts of the goal descriptions that begin with "so," have to go. Why the hero and heroine are doing what they're doing isn't important at this point. Likewise, the mention of "until his fear…" and her "inability to trust" are equally internal reflections.

The key to working with conflict lock, remember, is to focus on the actions, not the meanings. Don't complicate things. Don't do any more than you need to to insure the story will move forward outwardly. Then you can come back and plug in the layers of character depth that will make the story tension you've crafted shine.

What we want to see in a conflict box is how one character's goal drives the other's conflict–NOT how everyone feels about what they are or are not able to do throughout the course of the story (though the feelings are SO the point, and I resent not being able to dive right into them from the very start…pout).

My second pass (after much grumbling and careful pruning) got me closer:

Neater. More concise. No messy emotion to muck things up (though it's still not as straight forward as what Jenni can do…I'm just not worthy…).

It's not just the streamlined look at what each character's facing individually that I get from this rewrite. Now that I've focused on conflict alone, I can start to see how my characters goals will be causing each other's problems. 

Now, I can take the conflict box apart and look at how each character's goal is locking the other into conflict.

Looking at it this way, it sounds so simple it's a wonder I don't do this first off with all my stories.

Except the thing is, I failed several times before even arriving at the first box I included above. And that one was still a "fail." It still needed to be fixed. In fact, the whole point of doing a conflict box (or working with my Character Plotting chart or any other technique) IS to fail at first, then to keep working and fixing and mining deeper into your plot, until you better understand the story you're trying to write.

In the case of conflict lock, at least for me, I know too much about my characters right from the start. I'm too focused on them, to make this a simple exercise of plug and chug. I could have given up at any point and not made my way through to what's as close to a concise conflict box as this wordy girl's going to get. Instead, I kept working and finessing and drilling deeper in to my plot until I understood what I needed to about it, to make what I already knew about my characters work even better. What an amazing technique, right? Especially for a hard-headed character-driven writer like me.

Like I said, it's an exercise. This is a plotting method for making sure my story won't fall off its rails halfway through my draft, no matter how much my characters are feeling. No matter how many times I have to go back to the conflict box and refine and rework and fix, until I get an external dynamic that's focused enough to work with as I draft. Now I can rest assured. These two people will be in direct conflict as long as I keep each of their actions moving in the directions of the above goals and driving each other crazy as a result, causing them no end of trouble.

That's thing about character and plot. While they end up being the same thing in the end, it's important to see them as their own things at the beginning. To fiddle with character emotion and how it will arc through the story without looking at plot, then to see plot development without letting internal motivation blind you to what may or may not be happening on the page while the characters are feeling.

Not so simple at all. Not an easy job, this novel writing thing. And that's why we're talking each week about How We Write. Jenni and I come at this from different perspectives, which makes for great work together when we critique and brainstorm. You can use the same techniques with your writing group, or even working with yourself, on your own stories. To dig deeper and plan better and rewrite with more purpose. That's how our manuscripts get better. We assure you, putting in the same amount of work will help you. No secret handshakes. No quick fixes. Just lots of time and effort and love of the craft and willingness to understand what you're doing deeply enough that the story flows onto the page and makes what you've done come alive for the reader.

Jenni's got something brilliant to say about narrative structure next Wednesday, so don't miss out. Ask questions below about the conflict chart, 'cause I think we're moving on after my rather impressive attempt to get 'er done this week, despite my aversion to plotting. Share your conflict boxes if you're feeling brave and want extra gold stars. Share your journey through your story, so others can cheer you on and learn from your experience.

Just to recap, here's March's HoWW plot journey so far:

Intro to the importance of Narrative Structure: Even the Best Characters Need a Plot
A closer look at how hard this can be for a character-driven writer: Plot THIS…
Intro to Conflict Lock: No Conflict, No Story and External Conflict: Lock and Load

And the Character (and critique/brainstorming) posts we spotlighted in February:

Mining for motivation
Layering motivation into plot
The Character Chart
Making characters realistic YOUR way
Character is just the beginning

How We Write Wednesday: Conflict Box–Failing and Flying

Jenni made one thing pretty clear about Conflict Lock last week: the conflict box seems simple enough, but when you try to chart conflict without motivation, which is essential to drill to the core of what drives your external story, things can get tricky. Lets get right to some examples to illustrate what we mean (review  our posts from last week again here and here  if you need to catch up), then I'll wrap things up at the end of the post and get back to talking about what's MOST important…character ;o)

My first pass at the conflict box for my WIP was a fail:

Pretty good, right?

But notice the amount of yada yada. Never a good sign in a chart that's supposed to be very simple.

Where I get myself into trouble with something like this is my (wait for it) need to understand character before I conquer the  mechanics of what will drive the characters' external conflict.There are two ways to come to story, either plot first or character first. And I'm not saying either one is better than the other (well, I AM actually saying it elsewhere in HoWW, but for the purposes of this Conflict Box exercise I'm keeping things neutral, so please, in the comments, admire my restraint however you feel moved to).

The parts of the goal descriptions that begin with "so," have to go. Why the hero and heroine are doing what they're doing isn't important. Likewise, the mention of "until his fear…" and her "inability to trust" are equally internal reflections.

The key to working with conflict lock, remember, is to focus on the actions, not the meanings.Don't complicate things. Don't do any more than you need to to insure the story will move forward outwardly. Then you can come back and plug in the layers of character depth that will make your guaranteed story tension shine.

What we want to see in a conflict box is how one character's goal drives the other's conflict–NOT how everyone feels about what they are or are not able to do throughout the course of the story (though the feelings are SO the point, and I resent not being able to dive right into them from the very start…pout).

My second pass (after much grumbling and careful pruning) got me closer:

Neater. More concise. No messy emotion to muck things up.

And it's not just the streamlined look at what each character's facing individually that I get from this rewrite. Now that I've focused on conflict alone, I can start to see how my characters goals will be causing each other's problems. 

Now, I can take the conflict box apart and look at how each character's goal is locking the other into conflict.

Looking at it this way, it sounds so simple it's a wonder I don't do this first off with all my stories.

Except the thing is, I failed SEVERAL times before even arriving at the first box I put in this post. And that one was still a fail. I know too much about my characters right from the start, I'm too focused on them, to make this a simple exercise of plug and chug. I could have given up at any point and not made my way through to what's as close to a concise conflict box as this wordy girl's going to get.

Like I said, it's an exercise. This is a plotting method for making sure my story won't fall off its rails halfway through my draft, no matter how much my characters are feeling. I can rest assured, these two people will be in direct conflict as long as I keep their actions moving in the directions of their goals and driving each other crazy as the result causes them no end of trouble, both independently and together.

That's thing about character and plot. While they end up being the same thing in the end, it's important to see them as their own things at the beginning. To fiddle with character emotion and how it will arc through the story without looking at plot, then to see plot development without letting internal motivation blind you to what may or may not be happening on the page while the characters are feeling.

Not so simple at all. Not an easy job, this novel writing thing. And that's why we're talking each week about How We Write. Jenni and I come at this from different perspectives, which makes for great work together when we critique an brainstorm. You can use the same techniques with your writing group, or even working with yourself, on your own stories. To dig deeper and plan better and rewrite with more purpose. That's how our manuscripts get better. We assure you, putting in the same amount of work will help you. No secret handshakes. No quick fixes. Just lots of time and effort and love of the craft and willingness to understand what you're doing deeply enough that the story flows onto the page and makes what you've done come alive for the reader.

Jenni's got something else brilliant to say about plot next Wednesday, then I think we'll have beaten this horse long enough. Ask questions below. Share your conflict boxes if you're feeling brave and want extra gold stars. Share your journey through your story, so others can cheer you on and learn from your experience.

The Thing About Conferences…

More I Hear the Craziest Things Friday  (after HoWW tomorrow and PIFS Thursday), where we'll delve deeply into the kinetic mess I call travelling. "But what's the thing about conferences?" you ask after reading the title of this post…

I taught with my fabulous agent last weekend, Michelle Grakjowski. And when we weren't embarrassing ourselves in restaurants driving the wait staff crazy, we got to know 35 amazing people from the Rochester/Syracuse areas of New York. We talked publishing industry trends (particularly the rise of eBooks and digital publishing as major players), I taught an interactive version of my character planning and rewriting workshops (with a dose of drafting/improvisation to round things out), and we did one of my favorite things–discussing the communication skills that can make or break your career.

 

But that's just the framework. The mechanics. The syllabus. My handouts are detailed and up on my website and a lot of the nuts and bolts of what Michelle and I teach can be taken away from just reading them.

The thing about conferences, especially magical events like this, is the energy. The dynamic of learning. The growing connection that began Friday night when after about an hour everyone loosened up and took me up on my offer to tell us every horrible thing they'd heard about digital publishing and everything they were scared about it doing to their careers.

Then Michelle and I started leading the group through a reality check that was cathartic for everyone. Yes, it's scary out there. But the thing is, it always has been. Yes, change is closing some doors, but that's how all the current traditional publishing avenues got their start, too. In the ten years Michelle and I have both been involved with publishing in one way or another, the story's been the same. It's only the current "threat" to everything staying the same that's changed.

It was "…the beginning of a beautiful relationship…" as the movie quote goes. It was the class agreeing to trust us and let us become one of them and break down the barrier of getting to know you that sometimes doesn't fade when it's a larger conference with multiple speakers and everyone's rushing from here to there too fast to settle into a synergy of, "we're all in this together."

Literally, there were no empty rows at the front of the class Saturday morning, the way there had been the night before. Everyone had scooted up and we were all eager to get down to what we'd come there for. I convinced them to see plotting as a character thing (new converts!). I bared my latest WIP and showed them how it worked. Someone in the class was brave enough to do the same, and we were off. There were heads nodding. There were questions. The class started making suggestions to the writer who'd volunteered her story. She was gracious enough to let us work with her en masse. It was an amazing hour or so I wish could have lasted all day.

The thing about conferences that makes them good is when everyone's learning. The teacher and the students. It's best when it's not a class at all. When it's just a room full of writers who love their work and their stories and others who do the same thing, and we're talking and helping each other get better. Published and unpublished. Newbie and veteran. You couldn't tell the difference, really, by the time my agent joined us again and we began working through our communication skills material.

This is stuff that's essential for everyone, whatever you life or job or relationships. Communication is the coursework that I'd teach above all the rest, if I was forced to do only one thing for the rest of my "teaching" life. It's life-changing techniques, and it doesn't work if the students don't believe you're in this for them. If they're not open to better understanding something they think they've already mastered. And this group was magical.

The thing about conferences is that it's a relationship.There's a level of trust that, once you've earned it as a teacher, takes everyone to another level. It's a two-way conversation that opens mental doors and says, "Come in, I've got something to share." It's a beginning, and learning about communication together was a great start to something I hope I get to continue with these special students for a long, long time.

Thanks for a great weekend, Central NY RWA!

I Hear the Craziest Things: Rochester Edition…

The Central New York Romance Writers are an amazing group. Michelle Grajkowski and I just had our best weekend workshop experience EVER with them. The travel experience is always bizarre, though. I hear the craziest things…

Did you know milk has more calories when you cross the California state line?

At the Subway where we grabbed lunch Friday on the way to our afternoon "meet and greet," this sign on the sneeze guard in front of the sandwich counter of course caught my attention, if no one else's.

 In case you can't read it–it says 1% low fat milk has 160 calories everywhere but in California, where it magically increases to 180 calories.

I mean, really? I get what this might mean: a larger container of milk is used in the California region; the caloric definition of "1% low fat" might be gauged differently based on California FDA regulations; CA cow's milk has given up worrying about how it looks in HD and has let itself go, and, really, what's 20 extra calories when you've already hit 160…

Still as a tech writer, I read things no one else does (and I assure you, few have bothered to follow the asterisk and marveled at this ridiculous caveat with nearly as much attention to detail as I have…).

Which led me to start giggling like a loon in the middle of a Rochester Subway. And then once I explained, my agent and or conference coordinator (the even wackier-than-I Jenni Holbrook-Talty) were laughing, too, and then the guy behind the counter who just wanted to take our order and get on with his minimum-wage morning was frowning at us, so of course Michelle and Jenni had to explain, to which he said no on who works for Subway ever reads those things… Which is kind of my point. 

Why bother writing something if it makes no sense when it's read? Why bother making no sense with your writing for so long that people block out what you've written on sight? Why post information for customers that is so unclear that your staff knows it's better not to bother? Why confuse and mis-represent cows to everyone who orders milk from you, no doubt causing personality disorders and identity confusion and even further body image dysmorphia for our west coast bovine friends who already have to deal with their fat content being put on display for the entire world to ponder?

Did you ever wonder what goes through a Subway employee's mind when you ask for a veggie sandwich?

While the sandwich guy watched us warily as we belittled his milk, I sobered enough to order my 6-inch veggie. To which he asked, not missing a beat, holding up his right hand, if I'd like for him to change his glove…

Um… I actually think I bit my lip at this point, to hold back the next giggle.

I stared at the thin plastic covering on his hand for a second, trying to keep it together. My mind veered in a totally inappropriate direction, regardless. The women with me must have sensed it, because they were holding their breath, waiting for me to say–

"I guess that depends. What have you been doing with your hand?"

"Touching meat," the sandwich guy delivered with a straight face.

At which point everyone on my side of the counter dissolved into hysteria again, because of course he'd gotten the joke, after our earlier ridicule of the milk sign, and he was joining in the fun.

Except, no, as it turns out he was simply doing his job and offering the supposed vegetarian (me) the opportunity not to have him touch my food with the same glove with which he'd just made someone else's non-vegan sandwich…

Poor kid. I think he was blushing. It was hard to tell with the tears streaming down my face.

Of course, he might have been teasing back after all. When we were finally done torturing him with our juvenile behavior and headed out the door with our to-go lunch, he asked Jenni if we were local. When she said no we were headed out of town to our workshop venue, he asked if she'd leave my agent and I there for the rest of the afternoon instead. Heh.

It's good to know, in the end, that we might have lightened his morning burdens after all.

Did you ever see something so ridiculous on a menu that you knew instantly that no one's ever ordered it with a straight face?

It was a great weekend where Michelle and I enjoyed teaching more than we ever have and the conference attendees were some of the best students we've ever worked with and there was a lot of wacky hotel stuff to warrant a future I Hear The Craziest Things post all it's own.

But, after two days of travelling from here to there and back and unpacking and repacking and unpacking suitcases and talking in front of a room full of people until your brain's fried, there's not much functioning grey matter left. You're barely capable of ordering your egg white omelet without drooling all over your menu. Then you see something like this (notice the NEW omelet option at the top of the list).

We were laughing so hard while the waitress tried to take our order, we had to repeat ourselves several times. Her eyes were rolling into the back of their sockets. We were no doubt the most disturbing booth she had to deal with all morning…

But, honest, it was one of the best moments of the weekend!

Publishing Isn't for Sissies: A Team Approach to Digital Publishing

Last week's PIFS's NetGalley post earned top billing in blog hits for a single article. There's a world of authors searching for digital publishing and promotion information. Today, let's look at the growing popularity of using a Team Approach to releasing books independently. It's exciting to see groups of authors who would otherwise self publish on their own are working together to share knowledge and skill sets and experience.

Dorchester's PR team will be back soon (I should have a schedule of their PIFs visits to share next week), discussing specifics about the amazing things they have planned for Secret Legacy and other direct-to-digital titles they're spotlighting this spring. But that's a hybrid NY publishing model.  What about the solitary author with a backlist he/she wants to re-release or a new work of fiction he/she wants to digitally distribute, when the traditional publishing route isn't a viable option?

Jenni Holbrook-Talty is with us today (in her non-How We Write capacity) to talk about her journey into the independent digital publishing arena with business partner Bob Mayer. Last year, he asked her to put her business and IT experience to work to help him re-release his best-selling backlist on the digital stage. The result was Who Dares Wins Publishing (WDWPub). Their learning curve was steep. There was progress, mistakes, work and rework, and the frustration of dealing with a kaleidoscope vendors and formats and packaging requirements. Until they finally began producing quality product that fans are now snatching up daily through outlets like Amazon, Sony, and iBooks.

I asked Jenni why she thought their partnership worked, and why she'd recommend something similar to other authors thinking of digitally publishing independently.

She said, "The team approach allows each member to utilize their talents to their fullest capacity. We used Bob's years of training in the world of Traditional Publishing to begin the process of publishing his backlist. I had been published by a reputable ePublisher and understood some of the things about digital publishing that Bob's background didn't. He knows the business better than most, but he didn't have the technology base that I had, so by merging the two together we were able to put his books, my books, and other authors' books out there for our readers to enjoy. The team approach also frees up our time so we can both do the one thing we love the most: write. Right now, I know Bob is going through some edits of his next release due out 12-April while I'm taking care of some necessary business obligations by finalizing the copy edits for Devil's Sea and put the book back into production."

Jenni wrote a great article on Bob's Write It Forward  blog: Can any writer self-publish? Should any writer self-publish? She takes you through their initial experiences with the business and some of the many vendor and production hoops you'll have to go through if you try to do this on your own.

Explore WIF when you get the chance.  These two have learned tons on their journey and aren't shy about sharing their experiences. Bob did a great blog series with best-selling author and fellow digital publishing expert Randy Ingermanson, here, here and here. I'd also recommend looking at these WIF discussions, if you don't have time for the rest:

eBook Pricing
Cover Design
Social Media
Author Platform

Once they'd pioneered their way through the process for Bob (and several of Jenni's backlist titles, too), once WDWPub was off the ground, he and Jenni began seeing the value of their teamwork approach for other authors. They currently have three additional authors whose backlists and first-run novels are being offered as digital and print-on-demand titles under the WDWPub imprint (in exchange for a percentage of the royalties from the books' sales).

I asked Jenni about their business model, and she mentioned they were first and foremost offering options, so an author doesn't have to confront the self-publishing, digital model alone.The author still has a responsibility to market and promote his/her own books (beyond what WDWPub offers on their site and social media networks). But he/she doesn't have to take on the learning curve of mastering the mechanics of digital publishing. They don't have to reinvent a process that Jenni and Bob are working hard to master.

"We do the cover art, the eBook conversions, the print-on-demand (POD) book…we help promote our authors…our authors offer their personal expertise to the group," she said. "I think we are going to see more and more authors going indie and more and more authors banding together to form similar TEAM publishing models. For Bob and I it was a matter of I could do what he couldn't do on his own, and I am now in a position to utilize my background to help other authors achieve their desired goals."

So, what does discussing the benefits of a team approach to indie publishing mean for you?

I began recording my Dorchester move from the mass market publishing model to direct-to-digital/trade, because I saw early on that this experience isn't mine alone. An exciting new publishing frontier is unfolding for all of us. In the midst of rapid change and increasing risk, authors have more control than ever over how their work is published, and how much of the profit from their work they retain. 

But with this increased opportunity comes a slew of complex choices that must be made. Publishing isn't for sissies, and we are (the authors) in this together. We can learn from each other and help each other, regardless of whether we team up or chose to strike out independently. That's what this blog series and many other blogs out there (including Write it Forward) are about.

Exploring non-traditional, digital publishing options for your books involves a tremendous amount of work for the self-pubbed author, beyond getting the next book written, and written well. Remember that the author's job is to always, ALWAYS, put the book and the writing first. An independent team approach like WDWPUb is just one of the many hybrid publishing forms emerging that might help you maintain the kind of balance and focus you'll need.

I asked Jenni for some final advice for an author considering solo self-publishing alone vs. a team approach–

"The only advice I can give is do your homework. Read blogs like The Newbie Guide to Publishing, LJ Sellers blog, our the Write It Forward and Publishing Isn't for Sissies. Talk to people who are doing it and find out what worked for them and what didn't and then form your business plan. Remember, this is your business and you will be constantly making adjustments. Join places like Kindleboards. Use social media and watch what others are doing. Independent publishing isn't a quick fix or easy money. If you are to be successful you will be required to not only write a better book, but go out there and find your readers. The best thing about going indie is that there is nothing standing in between you and your readers."