Shanna Swendson's Blog, page 129
July 7, 2016
The Damsel Under Stress Reread: Chapters 5-7
Back to the Damsel Under Stress reread with commentary … now on chapters 5-7
The scene in which Ethelinda and Katie go out to a restaurant was the one I used for readings when I was promoting this book. I even recorded it for a feature on the local newspaper's web site. There were a lot of characters to work with, which let me do voices and generally have fun. I didn't name the restaurant in the book because I have this curse in which any restaurant I name in a book will promptly go out of business, and this one is something of a landmark, so I didn't want to be responsible for killing it. I don't know if the curse applies to blog posts, but just to live dangerously, the restaurant I had in mind was Pete's Tavern, which is famous for being the place where O. Henry wrote "The Gift of the Magi." I went there when I was in New York to research this book, hoping the mojo might rub off. Actually, I've been there multiple times, since it was very close to the hotel where I used to stay when I visited New York (they've since put mini refrigerators and small microwaves in each room and declared them to be "extended stay" suites they only rent for at least a week at a time, so I can't stay there anymore for quick trips).
A few of Ethelinda's blunders during this meal were somewhat based on real-life bits of awkwardness I've either experienced or witnessed. There was the non-couple eating together on a business trip who got mistaken for a romantic couple, and that happened a lot when I was traveling on business. People seem to have these blinders or filters so that they assume that when they see a man and a woman together, they're a couple. There were so many times when I'd be at a trade show and having dinner with a client or colleague because we both happened to get off the show floor at the same time and wanted food or I'd be visiting a client with a colleague and we'd grab dinner together after our meeting wrapped up before we headed to the airport or our hotel, and the restaurant staff behaved like we were on a date. We weren't necessarily being all business and talking business, since when you're thrown together in that kind of proximity you tend to become friends, but there were certainly no signs of affection. It got really awkward when a waiter would treat us like we were having a romantic date. Then there was the proposal Ethelinda rigged that wasn't intended, which reflects those really uncomfortable times when a relationship is way out of sync -- one of you thinks you're just friends, the other is thinking things are inevitably building toward romance. So, yeah, I created a bunch of one-scene characters just to torture them emotionally for our entertainment.
We start to get a bit more backstory on Owen when Rod preps Katie for the Christmas visit. This all stems from when I was drafting the first book in the series. At that time, I really didn't know his backstory. I was just having fun with the idea of the really cute guy who was also painfully shy. A friend who was reading along as I wrote fell madly for Owen (as you do) and wanted to know more about him, especially how he came to be that shy. That was when my quiet, shy character suddenly got very chatty in my head, and I learned/figured out all about his background. I had it in mind from about midway through the first book and used that in writing the next book before I started giving more of it in this book. The full story behind that backstory finally hit in book 5.
I get to go on another anti-shopping rant when Katie has to find gifts for Owen's foster parents. Do you get the impression that I hate shopping for gifts? It's not that I don't like giving things to people. I guess I'm just something of a perfectionist about it, which makes it stressful. There are a few people who are easy to buy for -- I know them well enough to know their interests, they actually have interests, and they don't buy much for themselves so you don't have to worry about what they already have. But buying gifts for people you don't know well is sheer torture, especially when you think you're going to be judged by that gift.
Then there's Katie's undercover assignment, posing as an oil baron's daughter to infiltrate the business that was stolen from Philip -- only to learn that they're probably in league with the bad guys. I think I originally had more planned in this plot line, but the book got very long. I couldn't cut this scene because it sets up some stuff later that explains what's going on with Idris, but at the same time, the reason Katie and Philip are there gets brushed over.
Another part that got trimmed a lot was the day out with Owen. I'm afraid my research was showing, as I wanted to fit in all the fun details I got from visiting New York in December, and I wanted to convey the experience. I found it particularly interesting that the theme for the store windows that year all over the city seemed to be fairy tales. It was like they planned it for me! But I had to cut the scene that was about the magic behind the store windows. This is one of those tricky things as an author -- you need to keep the plot moving and not have scenes of people just having a day out together, but then there are also the Katie and Owen 'shippers who desperately want a scene of them just having a day out together. I believe I put at least one deleted scene from this part of the book on my web site, so the ones who just want to see the characters together can do so, but it doesn't drag down the book itself. All this culminates in the dramatic fall through the ice, which shouldn't be possible on that particular ice rink. Gee, do you think something funny is going on here?
The scene in which Ethelinda and Katie go out to a restaurant was the one I used for readings when I was promoting this book. I even recorded it for a feature on the local newspaper's web site. There were a lot of characters to work with, which let me do voices and generally have fun. I didn't name the restaurant in the book because I have this curse in which any restaurant I name in a book will promptly go out of business, and this one is something of a landmark, so I didn't want to be responsible for killing it. I don't know if the curse applies to blog posts, but just to live dangerously, the restaurant I had in mind was Pete's Tavern, which is famous for being the place where O. Henry wrote "The Gift of the Magi." I went there when I was in New York to research this book, hoping the mojo might rub off. Actually, I've been there multiple times, since it was very close to the hotel where I used to stay when I visited New York (they've since put mini refrigerators and small microwaves in each room and declared them to be "extended stay" suites they only rent for at least a week at a time, so I can't stay there anymore for quick trips).
A few of Ethelinda's blunders during this meal were somewhat based on real-life bits of awkwardness I've either experienced or witnessed. There was the non-couple eating together on a business trip who got mistaken for a romantic couple, and that happened a lot when I was traveling on business. People seem to have these blinders or filters so that they assume that when they see a man and a woman together, they're a couple. There were so many times when I'd be at a trade show and having dinner with a client or colleague because we both happened to get off the show floor at the same time and wanted food or I'd be visiting a client with a colleague and we'd grab dinner together after our meeting wrapped up before we headed to the airport or our hotel, and the restaurant staff behaved like we were on a date. We weren't necessarily being all business and talking business, since when you're thrown together in that kind of proximity you tend to become friends, but there were certainly no signs of affection. It got really awkward when a waiter would treat us like we were having a romantic date. Then there was the proposal Ethelinda rigged that wasn't intended, which reflects those really uncomfortable times when a relationship is way out of sync -- one of you thinks you're just friends, the other is thinking things are inevitably building toward romance. So, yeah, I created a bunch of one-scene characters just to torture them emotionally for our entertainment.
We start to get a bit more backstory on Owen when Rod preps Katie for the Christmas visit. This all stems from when I was drafting the first book in the series. At that time, I really didn't know his backstory. I was just having fun with the idea of the really cute guy who was also painfully shy. A friend who was reading along as I wrote fell madly for Owen (as you do) and wanted to know more about him, especially how he came to be that shy. That was when my quiet, shy character suddenly got very chatty in my head, and I learned/figured out all about his background. I had it in mind from about midway through the first book and used that in writing the next book before I started giving more of it in this book. The full story behind that backstory finally hit in book 5.
I get to go on another anti-shopping rant when Katie has to find gifts for Owen's foster parents. Do you get the impression that I hate shopping for gifts? It's not that I don't like giving things to people. I guess I'm just something of a perfectionist about it, which makes it stressful. There are a few people who are easy to buy for -- I know them well enough to know their interests, they actually have interests, and they don't buy much for themselves so you don't have to worry about what they already have. But buying gifts for people you don't know well is sheer torture, especially when you think you're going to be judged by that gift.
Then there's Katie's undercover assignment, posing as an oil baron's daughter to infiltrate the business that was stolen from Philip -- only to learn that they're probably in league with the bad guys. I think I originally had more planned in this plot line, but the book got very long. I couldn't cut this scene because it sets up some stuff later that explains what's going on with Idris, but at the same time, the reason Katie and Philip are there gets brushed over.
Another part that got trimmed a lot was the day out with Owen. I'm afraid my research was showing, as I wanted to fit in all the fun details I got from visiting New York in December, and I wanted to convey the experience. I found it particularly interesting that the theme for the store windows that year all over the city seemed to be fairy tales. It was like they planned it for me! But I had to cut the scene that was about the magic behind the store windows. This is one of those tricky things as an author -- you need to keep the plot moving and not have scenes of people just having a day out together, but then there are also the Katie and Owen 'shippers who desperately want a scene of them just having a day out together. I believe I put at least one deleted scene from this part of the book on my web site, so the ones who just want to see the characters together can do so, but it doesn't drag down the book itself. All this culminates in the dramatic fall through the ice, which shouldn't be possible on that particular ice rink. Gee, do you think something funny is going on here?
July 6, 2016
Magical Portals
If you follow me on Facebook, we had an interesting discussion going on yesterday springing from this spoof article from The Onion on how critical the first 48 hours are in finding children who've traveled through a portal to a fantasy world.
One of my favorite quotes:
“As soon as we learn a child has disappeared down a pool of light underneath their staircase or through a strangely shaped attic door they had never before noticed, we must act fast to assemble search parties and cover as much enchanted territory as possible,” said investigator Joe Phillippe, who urged parents to contact authorities immediately if they believed their child had passed into a gleaming world of crystal palaces or been transported back in time to the age of King Arthur. “If they’re not found within that critical 48-hour window, children typically become disoriented in the thick fog and dense forest of a land where it’s always night, or they’re led astray by a well-dressed fox who promises to take them to a place where kids can play all varieties of games. At that point, they become almost impossible to locate.”
For one thing, this now makes me want to write about the team of investigators that has to jump into action to find children missing in fantasy realms. For another, it brought on a huge wave of nostalgia because I loved these kinds of books when I was a kid. I felt like I recognized all the tropes suggested in the article. There was a strong sense of familiarity.
And yet, when I started thinking about it, I couldn't think of any actual children's books like this that were published when I was a kid, beyond the Narnia books and the Alice in Wonderland books. I have a really strong memory of lying on my stomach on my canopy bed during summer afternoons in Oklahoma when it was too hot to play outside, reading books like this that carried me with the main characters into fantastical worlds, but I can't remember specific books, and I didn't even get into the Narnia books until later, when we were living in Germany. Even before I discovered the Narnia books, I had this sense that there had to be special, magical places where you could enter other worlds. I remember that there were a couple of spots around my neighborhood in Oklahoma that I had decided were magical, where you might enter some other world if you went there under the right circumstances, so I had to have had the idea from somewhere.
In the Facebook discussion, we did come up with a few titles that I may have read, and a few I know I read but that I only vaguely recall. I read so much that I'm sure there were lots of books I enjoyed while I read them but then forgot about when I moved on to the next book.
Or maybe I know about these passages and it all sounds familiar because I actually found some and my memory was magically wiped …
I could think of a lot more (and more recent) books for adults that play on this trope, possible because of whatever other books out there people of my generation grew up reading. In the 80s, this was all over the place. Stephen R. Donaldson had a couple of portal series. Terry Brooks had the Landover series. There was the Coramonde series by Brian Daley, in which an APC crew in Vietnam gets transported to a fantasy world that needs mercenaries. And many, many others. But I don't think those were really playing on nostalgia for the children's books of this type the way more recent things like The Magicians do.
I may go on a nostalgia binge this summer and re-read or read for the first time some of these children's books. And yes, I have a couple of ideas for writing this sort of thing myself.
And if you have recommendations for children's magical portal books, please share!
One of my favorite quotes:
“As soon as we learn a child has disappeared down a pool of light underneath their staircase or through a strangely shaped attic door they had never before noticed, we must act fast to assemble search parties and cover as much enchanted territory as possible,” said investigator Joe Phillippe, who urged parents to contact authorities immediately if they believed their child had passed into a gleaming world of crystal palaces or been transported back in time to the age of King Arthur. “If they’re not found within that critical 48-hour window, children typically become disoriented in the thick fog and dense forest of a land where it’s always night, or they’re led astray by a well-dressed fox who promises to take them to a place where kids can play all varieties of games. At that point, they become almost impossible to locate.”
For one thing, this now makes me want to write about the team of investigators that has to jump into action to find children missing in fantasy realms. For another, it brought on a huge wave of nostalgia because I loved these kinds of books when I was a kid. I felt like I recognized all the tropes suggested in the article. There was a strong sense of familiarity.
And yet, when I started thinking about it, I couldn't think of any actual children's books like this that were published when I was a kid, beyond the Narnia books and the Alice in Wonderland books. I have a really strong memory of lying on my stomach on my canopy bed during summer afternoons in Oklahoma when it was too hot to play outside, reading books like this that carried me with the main characters into fantastical worlds, but I can't remember specific books, and I didn't even get into the Narnia books until later, when we were living in Germany. Even before I discovered the Narnia books, I had this sense that there had to be special, magical places where you could enter other worlds. I remember that there were a couple of spots around my neighborhood in Oklahoma that I had decided were magical, where you might enter some other world if you went there under the right circumstances, so I had to have had the idea from somewhere.
In the Facebook discussion, we did come up with a few titles that I may have read, and a few I know I read but that I only vaguely recall. I read so much that I'm sure there were lots of books I enjoyed while I read them but then forgot about when I moved on to the next book.
Or maybe I know about these passages and it all sounds familiar because I actually found some and my memory was magically wiped …
I could think of a lot more (and more recent) books for adults that play on this trope, possible because of whatever other books out there people of my generation grew up reading. In the 80s, this was all over the place. Stephen R. Donaldson had a couple of portal series. Terry Brooks had the Landover series. There was the Coramonde series by Brian Daley, in which an APC crew in Vietnam gets transported to a fantasy world that needs mercenaries. And many, many others. But I don't think those were really playing on nostalgia for the children's books of this type the way more recent things like The Magicians do.
I may go on a nostalgia binge this summer and re-read or read for the first time some of these children's books. And yes, I have a couple of ideas for writing this sort of thing myself.
And if you have recommendations for children's magical portal books, please share!
July 5, 2016
Holiday Fireworks
I am now at the 1/4 point of the new book. I was even really diligent and wrote on Saturday. I had grand plans for writing in spite of the July 4 holiday, but it seems that my brain really needs weekends. I ended up just watching some TV documentaries on a topic related to the book.
Though it may have had something to do with the lack of sleep the night before, which will also be an issue today. The smallish town near me did their fireworks on Sunday night, and that's the show I went to. There were some people in the neighborhood shooting off their own when I got home (in spite of that being illegal), and then a thunderstorm hit, replacing the firework sound with thunder. That eventually died down and I got to sleep, only to be awakened at 4 a.m. by the weather radio with a thunderstorm warning, and we got another storm with a rather spectacular light show and lots of thunder and heavy rain.
I stayed at home on July 4 and mostly just practiced music, caught up on the DVR, did some knitting, and cooked, and I was ready for bed early, but then the neighbors started blowing stuff up. That finally stopped and I went to sleep, and then the weather radio went off. This thunderstorm was even more spectacular than the previous night's excitement. Constant lightning and thunder, heavy rain, high winds. And then when that finally died down, the sirens started. I don't know if there were fires from lightning strikes or accidents on wet roads, but the police and/or fire departments were busy all night last night.
But now I really need to focus and do work. I'm getting into what should be the tough part of the book. The first three or so chapters were about why the heroine absolutely should not do this particular thing. The next couple of chapters were about why she absolutely had to do it (in spite of the reasons she shouldn't). Now I have to make her do this thing and figure out what the implications will be.
It's also a week until the release of Rebel Magisters and the paperback of Rebel Mechanics, so I need to do some publicity.
Though it may have had something to do with the lack of sleep the night before, which will also be an issue today. The smallish town near me did their fireworks on Sunday night, and that's the show I went to. There were some people in the neighborhood shooting off their own when I got home (in spite of that being illegal), and then a thunderstorm hit, replacing the firework sound with thunder. That eventually died down and I got to sleep, only to be awakened at 4 a.m. by the weather radio with a thunderstorm warning, and we got another storm with a rather spectacular light show and lots of thunder and heavy rain.
I stayed at home on July 4 and mostly just practiced music, caught up on the DVR, did some knitting, and cooked, and I was ready for bed early, but then the neighbors started blowing stuff up. That finally stopped and I went to sleep, and then the weather radio went off. This thunderstorm was even more spectacular than the previous night's excitement. Constant lightning and thunder, heavy rain, high winds. And then when that finally died down, the sirens started. I don't know if there were fires from lightning strikes or accidents on wet roads, but the police and/or fire departments were busy all night last night.
But now I really need to focus and do work. I'm getting into what should be the tough part of the book. The first three or so chapters were about why the heroine absolutely should not do this particular thing. The next couple of chapters were about why she absolutely had to do it (in spite of the reasons she shouldn't). Now I have to make her do this thing and figure out what the implications will be.
It's also a week until the release of Rebel Magisters and the paperback of Rebel Mechanics, so I need to do some publicity.
July 1, 2016
Summer TV
I guess I could call this week the beginning of the summer TV season, with the spring TV season having just ended, with the season finale of Game of Thrones on Sunday. Tonight, Killjoys and Dark Matter return to SyFy.
I liked both of these Not!Firefly shows last year. In terms of story and watchability, I think I ended up liking Killjoys more. That one was more Firefly-like in terms of tone and look. You could imagine it almost being the same universe. I guess you could say the main character was kind of like if Inara became a ninja-like assassin-turned bounty hunter, but otherwise the similarity was in tone, look, style, and maybe theme. Like Firefly, that universe seems to have worlds for the ultra-rich and then colony worlds that are more marginalized. I hope they do a good "previously on" segment before tonight's season premiere because I'm blurry on exactly how the season ended, and I don't have time to rewatch the last episode.
Dark Matter turned out to be iffier. I like the concept a lot more than the execution. I'm a total sucker for stories that get into "what would you be if you didn't know who you were?" and that's the basic premise of the series -- a group of people wakes up from hypersleep on a spaceship with no memories of who they are or how they got there. Unfortunately, the actual show isn't nearly that good. I'm hooked on the big story question of who these people are and how they came to be there, and they do really good cliffhangers at the end of each episode that have me wanting to know more, but I have to admit that I haven't really enjoyed the episodes themselves. I put this one into the Not!Firefly class because you can map the main characters pretty easily onto Firefly characters, with one character being a blend of Kaylee and River. The structure of the universe also seems somewhat similar.
Now I really want to come up with a story about someone with no memories who has to figure out who he or she really is and the kind of person he or she wants to be.
I won't say much about Game of Thrones to avoid spoilers, though it has been interesting seeing how they're going ahead of the books. They've confirmed a few big fan theories from the books, and these things have been big enough that I can't imagine those plot points diverging from the books. I think most of the things that have bothered me in the show have been areas where they went off on huge tangents from the books, so it's nice to know that there's (well, maybe someday) an alternate universe in which things will go a different way. The cinematography of the last couple episodes was absolutely amazing.
We also got the end of Person of Interest last week, which really may have been one of the best science fiction shows on TV, although it was kind of a stealth SF show disguised as a procedural. By the end, it was getting into issues of artificial intelligence and the possible ramifications of that. Again, no spoilers, but I thought the ending was apt and meaningful and just a beautiful work of TV.
Unless there's something absolutely amazing on the schedule next season, my TV viewing is going to be really down next year, which is probably good for me. A lot of things I liked have been cancelled or ended, and some things I used to like have taken turns that make me less interested. I'm down to a couple of regular series that are must-watch (and even they've taken turns for the worst, but I like the characters, so I'm hanging on), a couple that now fall into the "watch OnDemand when I feel like it) category, and then possibly some of the PBS offerings and some mid-season SyFy shows. I'm kind of trying to avoid getting hooked on anything else, unless there's something really stellar, because it's rather liberating not having anything to watch. This week, I've been finding some great movies on TCM, and then there are all those documentaries on the various non-fiction channels. I'm liking the documentaries for background noise for exercise. Talk about multi-tasking -- I'm working out my body and my brain at the same time.
I liked both of these Not!Firefly shows last year. In terms of story and watchability, I think I ended up liking Killjoys more. That one was more Firefly-like in terms of tone and look. You could imagine it almost being the same universe. I guess you could say the main character was kind of like if Inara became a ninja-like assassin-turned bounty hunter, but otherwise the similarity was in tone, look, style, and maybe theme. Like Firefly, that universe seems to have worlds for the ultra-rich and then colony worlds that are more marginalized. I hope they do a good "previously on" segment before tonight's season premiere because I'm blurry on exactly how the season ended, and I don't have time to rewatch the last episode.
Dark Matter turned out to be iffier. I like the concept a lot more than the execution. I'm a total sucker for stories that get into "what would you be if you didn't know who you were?" and that's the basic premise of the series -- a group of people wakes up from hypersleep on a spaceship with no memories of who they are or how they got there. Unfortunately, the actual show isn't nearly that good. I'm hooked on the big story question of who these people are and how they came to be there, and they do really good cliffhangers at the end of each episode that have me wanting to know more, but I have to admit that I haven't really enjoyed the episodes themselves. I put this one into the Not!Firefly class because you can map the main characters pretty easily onto Firefly characters, with one character being a blend of Kaylee and River. The structure of the universe also seems somewhat similar.
Now I really want to come up with a story about someone with no memories who has to figure out who he or she really is and the kind of person he or she wants to be.
I won't say much about Game of Thrones to avoid spoilers, though it has been interesting seeing how they're going ahead of the books. They've confirmed a few big fan theories from the books, and these things have been big enough that I can't imagine those plot points diverging from the books. I think most of the things that have bothered me in the show have been areas where they went off on huge tangents from the books, so it's nice to know that there's (well, maybe someday) an alternate universe in which things will go a different way. The cinematography of the last couple episodes was absolutely amazing.
We also got the end of Person of Interest last week, which really may have been one of the best science fiction shows on TV, although it was kind of a stealth SF show disguised as a procedural. By the end, it was getting into issues of artificial intelligence and the possible ramifications of that. Again, no spoilers, but I thought the ending was apt and meaningful and just a beautiful work of TV.
Unless there's something absolutely amazing on the schedule next season, my TV viewing is going to be really down next year, which is probably good for me. A lot of things I liked have been cancelled or ended, and some things I used to like have taken turns that make me less interested. I'm down to a couple of regular series that are must-watch (and even they've taken turns for the worst, but I like the characters, so I'm hanging on), a couple that now fall into the "watch OnDemand when I feel like it) category, and then possibly some of the PBS offerings and some mid-season SyFy shows. I'm kind of trying to avoid getting hooked on anything else, unless there's something really stellar, because it's rather liberating not having anything to watch. This week, I've been finding some great movies on TCM, and then there are all those documentaries on the various non-fiction channels. I'm liking the documentaries for background noise for exercise. Talk about multi-tasking -- I'm working out my body and my brain at the same time.
June 30, 2016
Book News!
So, in less than two weeks, this will be available:
At the initial release, it will be available in the major flavors of e-book and in paperback. Later, a hardcover will be available, for those who want matching sets, for libraries, etc. I still don't know about audio.
On the same day, you'll be able to get this:
That's the paperback, which looks just like the hardback but is less expensive, in case you got the book at the library and want a copy to keep but the hardback was too expensive. At the same time, the e-book price will be dropping.
I'll be trickling out details along the way, so stay tuned!
In my wildest revenge fantasies, sales of both will really take off and the publisher will feel stupid. I'll get to point and laugh. I know that's unrealistic, but it would be nice, and I can use all the help I can get, so please tweet, post, do Amazon or Goodreads reviews, etc., and if you've got a blog or web site and want a guest post or interview, let me know.
In other news, I started a new project that I'm not ready to talk about yet. I'm a chapter and a half into it, and I think it's going to be viable, but I want to be at least a 100 pages into it before I say that it's definitely going to be a thing.
In general, I was super virtuous yesterday because I not only did my writing, but I also exercised, ate properly, and drank plenty of water. I don't know if there's any link among all these things, but since I realized that in spite of thinking I was drinking enough water I actually came nowhere near the recommended amount and then started trying to drink more, I've had a lot more energy.
At the initial release, it will be available in the major flavors of e-book and in paperback. Later, a hardcover will be available, for those who want matching sets, for libraries, etc. I still don't know about audio.
On the same day, you'll be able to get this:
That's the paperback, which looks just like the hardback but is less expensive, in case you got the book at the library and want a copy to keep but the hardback was too expensive. At the same time, the e-book price will be dropping.
I'll be trickling out details along the way, so stay tuned!
In my wildest revenge fantasies, sales of both will really take off and the publisher will feel stupid. I'll get to point and laugh. I know that's unrealistic, but it would be nice, and I can use all the help I can get, so please tweet, post, do Amazon or Goodreads reviews, etc., and if you've got a blog or web site and want a guest post or interview, let me know.
In other news, I started a new project that I'm not ready to talk about yet. I'm a chapter and a half into it, and I think it's going to be viable, but I want to be at least a 100 pages into it before I say that it's definitely going to be a thing.
In general, I was super virtuous yesterday because I not only did my writing, but I also exercised, ate properly, and drank plenty of water. I don't know if there's any link among all these things, but since I realized that in spite of thinking I was drinking enough water I actually came nowhere near the recommended amount and then started trying to drink more, I've had a lot more energy.
June 29, 2016
Surviving as a Writer
In my writing posts, I've been talking about blocks and creativity. Before I move on to cover other topics (any suggestions or questions?), I thought I'd address some other emotional or psychological aspects of the writing life. I don't have solutions for all of them, but I may have suggestions or advice.
1) Perfectionism/fear of failure -- This is a big reason why many people dream of writing but never actually start. As long as the idea exists only in your head, it's pure and perfect. The moment you start trying to actually write it as a story, it becomes flawed. The thing is, that idea in your head really isn't perfect. Writing it down only exposes the flaws. It's easy to have an idea that consists of a concept and a few scenes. Having a plot and every scene needed to get from point A to point B is a lot harder. You can fix something that you've started writing. You can scrap it entirely and start over if it's not what you wanted it to be. But you can't sell an idea that's only in your head. Perfectionism and fear can also keep you from ever feeling like your work is good enough to submit. Making it the best it can be and going through multiple revisions is good, but when you get to the point you're editing your edits, you may end up editing the life out of it when you should be letting it go out into the world to find a good home.
2) Fear of rejection or criticism -- This is another potentially career-limiting issue. If you're going to be any kind of professional writer, you're going to face rejection or criticism at some point, whether it's from editors or agents or from readers and reviewers. Getting back an edited or copyedited manuscript does feel kind of like getting back a graded test or paper in school, but the point is to make your work better. The nice thing about an edited manuscript is that, unlike most tests in school, the whole point is to get a do-over and correct your mistakes. You're not being given a final grade. Fear of rejection is probably the worst possible reason to self-publish your work. I've seen way too many meltdowns happen that way -- an author decides to self-publish rather than face rejections from editors or agents, then sees negative reader feedback and completely flips out that someone didn't appreciate their genius. You've got to develop a thick skin to survive in this business. Fragile egos will go insane. Learn to spot valid criticism you can use to make your work better and disregard the clueless attacks.
3) Jealousy -- unless you get rave reviews, win all the awards, are a huge bestseller, and get big film deals with everything you write, you're probably going to face professional jealousy at some point in your career. This business is so public that it's way too easy to compare yourself to others. You can see Amazon rankings and bestseller lists, read reviews, read publishing news about contracts and deals, see bookstore placement, see who's getting invited to conventions and book festivals, see which books are getting advertising. You watch people who joined the business after you did leapfrog ahead of you, and it hurts when you feel like you've worked hard but don't have the success that others seem to be getting easily. The truth is, while a lot of stuff is public, there's also a lot you don't know is going on. Something that looks like success may not be as great as you think. There are authors who are winning awards, being invited as guests of honor, and even showing up on bestseller lists who are doing crowdfunding campaigns to pay their rent, while authors you may never have heard of are making millions. So, since your judgment of what's going on with others may not be accurate, there's no point in comparing your career to anyone else's. To stay sane, focus on what you can control, which is the amount and quality of your own work. Sometimes the cure for jealousy is to take a step back and stop giving yourself information for comparison. Unless you're searching for a new agent or publisher, you probably don't need to keep track of publishing deals, and knowing everyone's Amazon rankings doesn't do you much practical good. The other cure for jealousy is to lean in -- get to know the other authors you're comparing yourself to and make friends. It's harder to resent the success of people you care about, and when you get to know them, you learn all the stuff that might lie behind the success. Whatever you do, don't try to bring down the people you're jealous of with petty behavior like one-star reviews or public bashing. You're probably not going to change the minds of the people who made that author successful, and you'll only make yourself look bad.
If you are the person who gets all the good things and has it work out well for you, you may be the target of professional jealousy. You don't even have to be super-successful. You just have to have the career that someone else wants. Most of the time, you may not even be aware of it, though there have been times when people lashed out in destructive ways. I don't have a lot of experience with this, but I suppose the best thing you can do is ignore it. Being open about the good and bad of your career instead of only bragging about the good things might help.
4) Frustration -- This is the source of a lot of the professional jealousy, when the things you can't control seem to be conspiring against you -- your editor leaves and the replacement doesn't care about your book, your publicist drops the ball, you can't seem to get reviews, your book doesn't get shelved, the trend your book fits into tanks. Again, the only real solution is to focus on what you can control. It's up to you when or if to decide that it's not worth it. You can either keep on, try doing something different, or quit. Let your frustration motivate you, but don't let it poison you.
1) Perfectionism/fear of failure -- This is a big reason why many people dream of writing but never actually start. As long as the idea exists only in your head, it's pure and perfect. The moment you start trying to actually write it as a story, it becomes flawed. The thing is, that idea in your head really isn't perfect. Writing it down only exposes the flaws. It's easy to have an idea that consists of a concept and a few scenes. Having a plot and every scene needed to get from point A to point B is a lot harder. You can fix something that you've started writing. You can scrap it entirely and start over if it's not what you wanted it to be. But you can't sell an idea that's only in your head. Perfectionism and fear can also keep you from ever feeling like your work is good enough to submit. Making it the best it can be and going through multiple revisions is good, but when you get to the point you're editing your edits, you may end up editing the life out of it when you should be letting it go out into the world to find a good home.
2) Fear of rejection or criticism -- This is another potentially career-limiting issue. If you're going to be any kind of professional writer, you're going to face rejection or criticism at some point, whether it's from editors or agents or from readers and reviewers. Getting back an edited or copyedited manuscript does feel kind of like getting back a graded test or paper in school, but the point is to make your work better. The nice thing about an edited manuscript is that, unlike most tests in school, the whole point is to get a do-over and correct your mistakes. You're not being given a final grade. Fear of rejection is probably the worst possible reason to self-publish your work. I've seen way too many meltdowns happen that way -- an author decides to self-publish rather than face rejections from editors or agents, then sees negative reader feedback and completely flips out that someone didn't appreciate their genius. You've got to develop a thick skin to survive in this business. Fragile egos will go insane. Learn to spot valid criticism you can use to make your work better and disregard the clueless attacks.
3) Jealousy -- unless you get rave reviews, win all the awards, are a huge bestseller, and get big film deals with everything you write, you're probably going to face professional jealousy at some point in your career. This business is so public that it's way too easy to compare yourself to others. You can see Amazon rankings and bestseller lists, read reviews, read publishing news about contracts and deals, see bookstore placement, see who's getting invited to conventions and book festivals, see which books are getting advertising. You watch people who joined the business after you did leapfrog ahead of you, and it hurts when you feel like you've worked hard but don't have the success that others seem to be getting easily. The truth is, while a lot of stuff is public, there's also a lot you don't know is going on. Something that looks like success may not be as great as you think. There are authors who are winning awards, being invited as guests of honor, and even showing up on bestseller lists who are doing crowdfunding campaigns to pay their rent, while authors you may never have heard of are making millions. So, since your judgment of what's going on with others may not be accurate, there's no point in comparing your career to anyone else's. To stay sane, focus on what you can control, which is the amount and quality of your own work. Sometimes the cure for jealousy is to take a step back and stop giving yourself information for comparison. Unless you're searching for a new agent or publisher, you probably don't need to keep track of publishing deals, and knowing everyone's Amazon rankings doesn't do you much practical good. The other cure for jealousy is to lean in -- get to know the other authors you're comparing yourself to and make friends. It's harder to resent the success of people you care about, and when you get to know them, you learn all the stuff that might lie behind the success. Whatever you do, don't try to bring down the people you're jealous of with petty behavior like one-star reviews or public bashing. You're probably not going to change the minds of the people who made that author successful, and you'll only make yourself look bad.
If you are the person who gets all the good things and has it work out well for you, you may be the target of professional jealousy. You don't even have to be super-successful. You just have to have the career that someone else wants. Most of the time, you may not even be aware of it, though there have been times when people lashed out in destructive ways. I don't have a lot of experience with this, but I suppose the best thing you can do is ignore it. Being open about the good and bad of your career instead of only bragging about the good things might help.
4) Frustration -- This is the source of a lot of the professional jealousy, when the things you can't control seem to be conspiring against you -- your editor leaves and the replacement doesn't care about your book, your publicist drops the ball, you can't seem to get reviews, your book doesn't get shelved, the trend your book fits into tanks. Again, the only real solution is to focus on what you can control. It's up to you when or if to decide that it's not worth it. You can either keep on, try doing something different, or quit. Let your frustration motivate you, but don't let it poison you.
June 28, 2016
The Damsel Under Stress Reread: Chapters 2-4
Getting back to my Damsel Under Stress reread with commentary after all the travel and home repair issues … Now with chapters two through four.
Katie jumps at the excuse of needing to find a Christmas gift for Owen as a reason to get away from her friends, and then she goes into a burst of paranoia about what would be appropriate to get him so soon into a relationship. This is based on a situation I faced when I started dating a guy right around Thanksgiving. Since we'd just met (it was a blind date that went well), I was wondering if we were even at a gift-giving stage, but then he mentioned wanting to get together so he could give me my present. I went into a panic of trying to figure out something to give him. As I mention in the book, with women you can give stuff like candles. There's not really a male equivalent. Most of the less expensive, less intimate gifts, like books, CDs or DVDs, require enough knowledge to know not only what the person would like but also what they already have -- and that's the tricky part, since if they want something, they tend to get it right away. Even buying things for male friends is a challenge. I'll have an idea for a brand-new DVD as a gift, and then hear how he bought it for himself the day it was released. I've run into similar problems with office gift exchanges. There are tons of potential generic gifts for women, but fewer for men. (Incidentally, his gift to me was what ended the relationship pretty quickly, because it was soooo not appropriate that early in the relationship and showed a complete disregard for my stated tastes and interests. I noticed the red flag, among other red flags, and ended things.)
Rod's makeover starts in this book. I guess that magically crazy semi-date with Katie was a wake-up call for him. He's starting to work on his real appearance instead of relying on illusion. I think some of this was inspired by the fan mail I got for him. I was a little surprised by how much readers liked him, and that made me consider humanizing him a lot more and making him less of a punchline.
Writing a real date for Katie and Owen was rather difficult, and I suppose that's appropriate, given how awkward the transition from friendship to romance can be. I was trying to capture that sense of nerves and shyness as they make that transition. Of course, it helps that they can't seem to have a normal date without some excitement, and after that excitement, things seem to settle more into a comfort zone.
I never seemed to let poor Katie settle into any one job for any length of time. In this book, off she was sent to work in Owen's lab, having to leave her spot as Merlin's assistant behind. Into the gap comes Kim, Katie's biggest rival as a magical immune. Actually, from Katie's point of view, Kim is just another coworker, but Kim sees Katie as a rival. That's somewhat based on an experience I had in my career, where I've had a few people whose jobs I had zero interest in who seemed to see me as a major rival and threat, and who jumped at multiple opportunities to undermine me. Writing these books and using all my work experiences was very cathartic for me. Incidentally, many years later, I made a friend named Kim who was very similar to the way I described book Kim -- physically, not in personality. It was a little weird meeting someone who looked like my character and had the same name.
I really like the bit about wanting a fairy godmother for work -- getting the killer suit and awesome presentation, but you have to get out of the office by five before the Armani suit turns into JCPenney separates and your laptop becomes an Etch-a-Sketch. But I'm not sure a career fairy godmother would have helped me much, as I wasn't really cut out for the career I had. I sure could use one now in my publishing career. Poof! Publicity!
Then I had to pick up on what happened to Philip -- why he was turned into a frog all those years ago. I sort of tied that off in an offhanded way in the fifth book, but I think that's still a dangling plot thread. There was just too much going on in this book to really deal with it.
Katie jumps at the excuse of needing to find a Christmas gift for Owen as a reason to get away from her friends, and then she goes into a burst of paranoia about what would be appropriate to get him so soon into a relationship. This is based on a situation I faced when I started dating a guy right around Thanksgiving. Since we'd just met (it was a blind date that went well), I was wondering if we were even at a gift-giving stage, but then he mentioned wanting to get together so he could give me my present. I went into a panic of trying to figure out something to give him. As I mention in the book, with women you can give stuff like candles. There's not really a male equivalent. Most of the less expensive, less intimate gifts, like books, CDs or DVDs, require enough knowledge to know not only what the person would like but also what they already have -- and that's the tricky part, since if they want something, they tend to get it right away. Even buying things for male friends is a challenge. I'll have an idea for a brand-new DVD as a gift, and then hear how he bought it for himself the day it was released. I've run into similar problems with office gift exchanges. There are tons of potential generic gifts for women, but fewer for men. (Incidentally, his gift to me was what ended the relationship pretty quickly, because it was soooo not appropriate that early in the relationship and showed a complete disregard for my stated tastes and interests. I noticed the red flag, among other red flags, and ended things.)
Rod's makeover starts in this book. I guess that magically crazy semi-date with Katie was a wake-up call for him. He's starting to work on his real appearance instead of relying on illusion. I think some of this was inspired by the fan mail I got for him. I was a little surprised by how much readers liked him, and that made me consider humanizing him a lot more and making him less of a punchline.
Writing a real date for Katie and Owen was rather difficult, and I suppose that's appropriate, given how awkward the transition from friendship to romance can be. I was trying to capture that sense of nerves and shyness as they make that transition. Of course, it helps that they can't seem to have a normal date without some excitement, and after that excitement, things seem to settle more into a comfort zone.
I never seemed to let poor Katie settle into any one job for any length of time. In this book, off she was sent to work in Owen's lab, having to leave her spot as Merlin's assistant behind. Into the gap comes Kim, Katie's biggest rival as a magical immune. Actually, from Katie's point of view, Kim is just another coworker, but Kim sees Katie as a rival. That's somewhat based on an experience I had in my career, where I've had a few people whose jobs I had zero interest in who seemed to see me as a major rival and threat, and who jumped at multiple opportunities to undermine me. Writing these books and using all my work experiences was very cathartic for me. Incidentally, many years later, I made a friend named Kim who was very similar to the way I described book Kim -- physically, not in personality. It was a little weird meeting someone who looked like my character and had the same name.
I really like the bit about wanting a fairy godmother for work -- getting the killer suit and awesome presentation, but you have to get out of the office by five before the Armani suit turns into JCPenney separates and your laptop becomes an Etch-a-Sketch. But I'm not sure a career fairy godmother would have helped me much, as I wasn't really cut out for the career I had. I sure could use one now in my publishing career. Poof! Publicity!
Then I had to pick up on what happened to Philip -- why he was turned into a frog all those years ago. I sort of tied that off in an offhanded way in the fifth book, but I think that's still a dangling plot thread. There was just too much going on in this book to really deal with it.
June 27, 2016
Time to Go!
I finished my sewing and most of my plotting. As is always the case, it's the details that get you. That brilliant idea in your head looks a lot weaker when you start writing it down, get to the turning points, and realize that you don't have much more than "and then something happens here." But I got those parts worked out, so I think I may start writing actual words today, though I do have a lot of other things on my to-do list.
I did get around to rewatching Aliens over the weekend, and I think they super-specialed the Special Edition. I had the Special Edition VHS and had watched it a number of times, but this was the first time I'd watched the Special Edition DVD, and there were scenes and moments that seemed entirely unfamiliar. I don't know if it's just that I was more familiar with either the theatrical version or the TV version, and the Special Edition that combined the two is less familiar, or if there really was more stuff on the DVD, but I kept having those "hey, is that new?" moments. At any rate, it was fun to watch knowing what I know now about how they were deliberately playing the relationship. It's also highly amusing now that I know that almost all of the secondary Marines (other than the main characters) were serious stage actors in their first film roles. The casting was done in England (since it filmed there), and for the secondary cast, they were recruiting American actors who were there working in British theater.
I also used a couple of Hallmark movies that were on my DVR as background noise for brainstorming (I find that it sometimes helps to have other stuff going on for that -- I can't write with background noise, but that does help my thinking). But we won't talk about those because, wow, so very bad in weirdly amusing ways.
I capped off the weekend with a fun Sunday afternoon concert of geeky pop/folk. And now to get my nose to the grindstone and work on my writing.
I did get around to rewatching Aliens over the weekend, and I think they super-specialed the Special Edition. I had the Special Edition VHS and had watched it a number of times, but this was the first time I'd watched the Special Edition DVD, and there were scenes and moments that seemed entirely unfamiliar. I don't know if it's just that I was more familiar with either the theatrical version or the TV version, and the Special Edition that combined the two is less familiar, or if there really was more stuff on the DVD, but I kept having those "hey, is that new?" moments. At any rate, it was fun to watch knowing what I know now about how they were deliberately playing the relationship. It's also highly amusing now that I know that almost all of the secondary Marines (other than the main characters) were serious stage actors in their first film roles. The casting was done in England (since it filmed there), and for the secondary cast, they were recruiting American actors who were there working in British theater.
I also used a couple of Hallmark movies that were on my DVR as background noise for brainstorming (I find that it sometimes helps to have other stuff going on for that -- I can't write with background noise, but that does help my thinking). But we won't talk about those because, wow, so very bad in weirdly amusing ways.
I capped off the weekend with a fun Sunday afternoon concert of geeky pop/folk. And now to get my nose to the grindstone and work on my writing.
June 24, 2016
One Thing Leads to Another
I ended up with an unplanned morning out. Yesterday, I decided to take my own advice on creativity and work on another creative project while I brainstormed, so I worked on a sewing project I've been thinking about. It worked, as I found a solution to a plot hole -- something I needed to happen but that I didn't have a good reason to happen. But then midway through, I ran out of thread. I figured I'd run up the street to Wal Mart this morning -- a quick 15-minute errand (at the most). However, while they had a rack for the kind of thread I needed, it was just about empty, with only a few odd colors and not the white I needed. That meant I had to go all the way to Jo Ann, a 15-minute or so drive away. Then they were having a fabric sale, so I figured that while I was there, I might as well get some for future projects. There's a DSW across the street, and I figured that while I was in the neighborhood I may as well check it out because there are a few old, worn-out pairs of shoes I really need to replace but haven't found quite the right replacement. I lucked out and found two pairs that fit my needs, and they were on clearance. They were really nice, high-end brands for about what I'd pay for something similar (but lesser) at Payless. And then I figured I may as well swing by Sprouts on the way home to get some produce.
Two hours later …
So now I have a little more sewing to do to finish the current project, and I need to write down my brainstorming. It's amazing what your mind comes up with when you're focusing on something else. I've started having scenes playing out in my head.
This time, I bought a bigger spool of yarn because I figure I'll be needing it eventually. And soon I will have a whole wardrobe of light muslin summer nightgowns -- a good practice project while I get used to this sewing thing, and it doesn't matter if I mess up because no one will see it.
Two hours later …
So now I have a little more sewing to do to finish the current project, and I need to write down my brainstorming. It's amazing what your mind comes up with when you're focusing on something else. I've started having scenes playing out in my head.
This time, I bought a bigger spool of yarn because I figure I'll be needing it eventually. And soon I will have a whole wardrobe of light muslin summer nightgowns -- a good practice project while I get used to this sewing thing, and it doesn't matter if I mess up because no one will see it.
June 23, 2016
Filling in the Details
I gave myself a morning out because it was the last day the latest Jane Austen adaptation, Love and Friendship (adapted from "Lady Susan"), was going to be in the theater. And I'm glad I went, as it was very well done -- laugh-out-loud funny to the point I'm going to need the DVD to catch all the lines, with some amazing costumes. Plus, the return of the Cold Comfort Farm version of Kate Beckinsale (as opposed to the American action film version).
I also may need to track down the book. I suspect it's available via Project Gutenberg. It's a shorter work rather than a novel, and Austen never submitted it for publication. The credits, in the part where they say "buy the soundtrack on whatever label" said to read the book by Jane Austen, "in which Lady Susan is vindicated." That makes me wonder what they may have changed or left out in the movie.
Now it's back to brainstorming. I did enough yesterday that the plot is starting to come together and I have the major throughline. Now I need to figure out the details. The details are the hard part. When it's still more of a vague idea, it sounds utterly brilliant. Then you start drilling down into the how and why, and it starts to fall apart. So far, my research has paid off because it's given me a lot of ideas and has already filled in some of the "how" stuff. So all that time reading wasn't a waste.
The next real test of the idea will come when it's time to put it in words.
I also may need to track down the book. I suspect it's available via Project Gutenberg. It's a shorter work rather than a novel, and Austen never submitted it for publication. The credits, in the part where they say "buy the soundtrack on whatever label" said to read the book by Jane Austen, "in which Lady Susan is vindicated." That makes me wonder what they may have changed or left out in the movie.
Now it's back to brainstorming. I did enough yesterday that the plot is starting to come together and I have the major throughline. Now I need to figure out the details. The details are the hard part. When it's still more of a vague idea, it sounds utterly brilliant. Then you start drilling down into the how and why, and it starts to fall apart. So far, my research has paid off because it's given me a lot of ideas and has already filled in some of the "how" stuff. So all that time reading wasn't a waste.
The next real test of the idea will come when it's time to put it in words.
