Mette Ivie Harrison's Blog, page 101
December 9, 2010
how to manage your own writing business
There are three stages to the business:
1) not making any money
At this stage, you should keep track of your business expenses. For me, they included things like:
a) postage stamps, paper, mileage driving to post office
b) computer equipment, printer, desk, chair, books, bookshelves
c) fees for conferences, hotel, airfare
You can write off these expenses for a while before you have to show a profit, from your personal taxes. You can probably manage to survive without an accountant at this stage.
2) making a little money (under 20K a year)
This is the iffy territory in terms of getting an accountant. I did not have one at this stage, but it would have been easier if I had. You are still spending money on the same kinds of things in your business, but the reason an accountant can help is to alert you to new write offs that might not have occurred to you yet like cleaning fees for the carpet in your office, or a percentage of the rent/utilities for your office space, phone bills as a percentage of your business, even things like newspapers or magazine subscriptions, and what counts as a business trip and what doesn't at this particular moment according to the ever changing standards of the IRS.
This year, my accountant informed me that I can write off miles driven to a local book signing, but that I do not get a "per diem," even if I had to go out to lunch. I can only deduct the lunch if I go out with someone who I talk to about my business. However, if I go farther away and I stay over at a friend's house, I can still deduct the cost of a hotel in a bundled per diem.
(I hope I am not giving bad tax advice here. Please realize this is just my own best understanding, and that I consult with my tax adviser on such things as they do change constantly and one accountant may understand the rules differently than another.)
3) making enough to incorporate (more than 20K a year)
Once you hit this stage, you've got to have an accountant. You may need a tax lawyer or adviser, as well, if you are above 100k or if you are trying to make your family work on only your writing income, and so it is complicated by things like health care. My husband takes care of our regular financial needs, pays bills, and gets our health care. I think I would be frightened if I had to live on my writing income alone, even on years when I earn a good chunk of money, because it isn't regular. I won't speak to this demographic because I honestly don't know about it.
You should also incorporate, in my opinion, if you are a writer. Why? Because the tax laws are such that you can pay yourself a small salary and pay Social Security on that smaller portion, and then only pay taxes on the rest as dividends from your business. (Again, this is my small understanding of tax laws via my accountant. Please don't point the IRS to this site!)
Another reason to incorporate, in my opinion, is that it makes you think of your writing as a separate thing, not attached to you personally. I think it is useful for writers to think of writing as a business, and not as a hobby. This forces you to do so. It can also shield your other assets in case things go bad with the business (like your house or your 401K, for instance) or if you get sued. God forbid!
It's not that hard. Any accountant can tell you how to set up a corporation. (Mine is an S-corp, for those who care). I do not have to pay corporate taxes. I do have to pay a small yearly fee to remain a corporation. It is not a big deal. My accountant pays my quarterly taxes and he does my pay roll taxes, depending on which one I need to be doing.
1) not making any money
At this stage, you should keep track of your business expenses. For me, they included things like:
a) postage stamps, paper, mileage driving to post office
b) computer equipment, printer, desk, chair, books, bookshelves
c) fees for conferences, hotel, airfare
You can write off these expenses for a while before you have to show a profit, from your personal taxes. You can probably manage to survive without an accountant at this stage.
2) making a little money (under 20K a year)
This is the iffy territory in terms of getting an accountant. I did not have one at this stage, but it would have been easier if I had. You are still spending money on the same kinds of things in your business, but the reason an accountant can help is to alert you to new write offs that might not have occurred to you yet like cleaning fees for the carpet in your office, or a percentage of the rent/utilities for your office space, phone bills as a percentage of your business, even things like newspapers or magazine subscriptions, and what counts as a business trip and what doesn't at this particular moment according to the ever changing standards of the IRS.
This year, my accountant informed me that I can write off miles driven to a local book signing, but that I do not get a "per diem," even if I had to go out to lunch. I can only deduct the lunch if I go out with someone who I talk to about my business. However, if I go farther away and I stay over at a friend's house, I can still deduct the cost of a hotel in a bundled per diem.
(I hope I am not giving bad tax advice here. Please realize this is just my own best understanding, and that I consult with my tax adviser on such things as they do change constantly and one accountant may understand the rules differently than another.)
3) making enough to incorporate (more than 20K a year)
Once you hit this stage, you've got to have an accountant. You may need a tax lawyer or adviser, as well, if you are above 100k or if you are trying to make your family work on only your writing income, and so it is complicated by things like health care. My husband takes care of our regular financial needs, pays bills, and gets our health care. I think I would be frightened if I had to live on my writing income alone, even on years when I earn a good chunk of money, because it isn't regular. I won't speak to this demographic because I honestly don't know about it.
You should also incorporate, in my opinion, if you are a writer. Why? Because the tax laws are such that you can pay yourself a small salary and pay Social Security on that smaller portion, and then only pay taxes on the rest as dividends from your business. (Again, this is my small understanding of tax laws via my accountant. Please don't point the IRS to this site!)
Another reason to incorporate, in my opinion, is that it makes you think of your writing as a separate thing, not attached to you personally. I think it is useful for writers to think of writing as a business, and not as a hobby. This forces you to do so. It can also shield your other assets in case things go bad with the business (like your house or your 401K, for instance) or if you get sued. God forbid!
It's not that hard. Any accountant can tell you how to set up a corporation. (Mine is an S-corp, for those who care). I do not have to pay corporate taxes. I do have to pay a small yearly fee to remain a corporation. It is not a big deal. My accountant pays my quarterly taxes and he does my pay roll taxes, depending on which one I need to be doing.
December 8, 2010
the next great thing
A big name was talking to a group of authors this summer. He said that he had spent a lot of time thinking that whatever project he was working on was going to be "the next great thing." He thought that for years and years until he finally realized that there was never going to be the next great thing. There was only going to be projects that he either loved or didn't love, either was happy to have finished or not. And he had to decide whether to work on them based on that, and not on whether or not they were the next great thing.
It was one of those moments that has hung around in my head like a weight ever since then. I am always working on a project I am sure will be the next great thing, the book that will catapult me out of the mid-list author blues and into best-seller-dom, the book that will make me a ton of money and a household name, so that people don't look at me with heads tilted when I say I am a writer and ask, "Have you written anything I would have heard about?"
I think that in the back of my mind there is this hope that one day, I will be able to show everyone. You know who I mean. Those stupid kids in junior high who made fun of me for reading during recess. The guys I dated who never called back after I told them my dreams for the future. My professors in school and out, who thought analyzing other literature was fine, but trying to write it--not appropriate. My parents, who sort of wanted me to get a real job and most of the time tried not to come right out and say it like that. My in-laws who are convinced I could write a best selling novel if I just wanted to do it, because they don't look that hard, really. My kids, who would like to think of me as more than just the woman who goes to book signings when she should be driving them to lessons, then comes home depressed because she sold all of two books.
Most of the time, I tell myself that writing is worth it, all the angst, all the terror, the hard work, the being crazy with ideas all the time, because I'll have something to show for it. But a few times a year I look at the truth in the face, which is that I am a writer. I mean, I write. It's not glamorous, but it's the one thing I am confident that I do really well. I write because writing is part of the way I think and live and breathe. Maybe it is time for me to grow up and see that I don't write for other people. I write for me. And what matters is that I need to be proud of what I write, today and forever. It changes a lot of things, not just what I am writing, but how I feel while writing.
When I am out on a 50 miler, I tell myself all the time, just one more minute. Just one hundred more steps, and then you can stop if you need to. Just reassess in one hundred more steps. This is long after my dreams of getting a PR have faded, when I can't even see anyone else in the race, let alone imagine myself at the finish line. It's the moment when I know why I am out there. It's not because I have to be. No one cares if I finish, no one but me. I demand it of myself, I demand that intense focus and concentration and I demand the end result of doing my best, looking myself in the mirror the next day and knowing that I was tough enough to keep going.
That's what writing is, one long race, one hundred steps at a time where no one cares what happens but me. And that's what writing should probably always be.
It was one of those moments that has hung around in my head like a weight ever since then. I am always working on a project I am sure will be the next great thing, the book that will catapult me out of the mid-list author blues and into best-seller-dom, the book that will make me a ton of money and a household name, so that people don't look at me with heads tilted when I say I am a writer and ask, "Have you written anything I would have heard about?"
I think that in the back of my mind there is this hope that one day, I will be able to show everyone. You know who I mean. Those stupid kids in junior high who made fun of me for reading during recess. The guys I dated who never called back after I told them my dreams for the future. My professors in school and out, who thought analyzing other literature was fine, but trying to write it--not appropriate. My parents, who sort of wanted me to get a real job and most of the time tried not to come right out and say it like that. My in-laws who are convinced I could write a best selling novel if I just wanted to do it, because they don't look that hard, really. My kids, who would like to think of me as more than just the woman who goes to book signings when she should be driving them to lessons, then comes home depressed because she sold all of two books.
Most of the time, I tell myself that writing is worth it, all the angst, all the terror, the hard work, the being crazy with ideas all the time, because I'll have something to show for it. But a few times a year I look at the truth in the face, which is that I am a writer. I mean, I write. It's not glamorous, but it's the one thing I am confident that I do really well. I write because writing is part of the way I think and live and breathe. Maybe it is time for me to grow up and see that I don't write for other people. I write for me. And what matters is that I need to be proud of what I write, today and forever. It changes a lot of things, not just what I am writing, but how I feel while writing.
When I am out on a 50 miler, I tell myself all the time, just one more minute. Just one hundred more steps, and then you can stop if you need to. Just reassess in one hundred more steps. This is long after my dreams of getting a PR have faded, when I can't even see anyone else in the race, let alone imagine myself at the finish line. It's the moment when I know why I am out there. It's not because I have to be. No one cares if I finish, no one but me. I demand it of myself, I demand that intense focus and concentration and I demand the end result of doing my best, looking myself in the mirror the next day and knowing that I was tough enough to keep going.
That's what writing is, one long race, one hundred steps at a time where no one cares what happens but me. And that's what writing should probably always be.
December 7, 2010
The Replacement by Brenna Yovanoff--gush
This is a book that does all the things that good fantasy should do. I read it, increasingly worried that it was going to turn wrong and end badly, as these days a lot of books with promise do. And then, it got better and better. I can't remember who recommended the book to me, maybe Holly Black, but I am very glad she did!
It's the story of a boy who is a changeling, the replacement for the human body the fairies--THEM--have taken to sacrifice for his blood. He is a sickly creature who would have died except for the love of his sister Emma. And he has the chance to save another child from the fairies, but only if he is willing to pay the price.
I started dog-earring pages at this point:
"Is that why you hang out with me, do you think? Like, you don't mind how weird I am because when it comes down to it, you're kind of weird, too?" . . .
"It's not like that. I hate to break it to you, but there are other reasons to be friends with someone than mutual weirdness. You are actually kind of interesting, you know. And with you, I'm not always having to be happy or funny. I can say what I'm thinking. You pretty much such at being honest, Mackie, but you're easy to talk to." . . .
"Mackie, don't take this the wrong way, but all my life you've been the weirdest person I've ever met. That doesn't make you not a real person. In fact, it makes you pretty goddamn specific." . . .
"This is the defining event of my life and you're treating it like it's normal. Like it's nothing." . . .
"Well, maybe it should stop being the defining event. There's whole lot more to an average life than something that happened before you were a year old."
This is a conversation between two teenage boys, and it's about a fantastic event, about one of them not being truly human, but as the book clearly shouts to the reader in other parts--it's a metaphor. A giant metaphor that is carried out through the whole book, about the feeling that to me was so much a part of being a teenager, the sense of not being right, of having been born in the wrong place, to the wrong family, of being an alien and not being able to ever speak about what is different about me because no one will listen.
But the book just goes on an on with perfection in fantasy. There's the story about the hero who goes into the cave to be eaten and then comes out again, able to spout poetry.
And then:
"Sometimes you did your best, and it all went to hell anyway."
"You have to think about your options, weigh the consequences before you make decisions, but the advice was so worthless when it came to the things that mattered. This wasn't one of those times. This was the endgame."
"If you went willingly, then death wasn't death, but transformation. There are all kinds of things that can scare you every day. What if someone you know gets cancer? What if something happens to your sister or your friends or your parents? And what if you get hit by a car crossing the street or the kids at school find out what an unnatural freak you are?"
"You're saying it doesn't matter if they love you as long as they believe in you? . . .
"This is the natural order. Gods fall out of favor and become monsters. And sometimes they rise from the rank and file of the vanquished to become gods again."
"You have the complexity of hating what you are and where you come from. It's wonderful."
"If I was honest with myself, I hadn't been particularly brave. I'd just done the dirty work and the desperate things and then closed my eyes and hoped for something to work out."
"I did try not to get involved. . . .
"Maybe, but you came through in the end. When it counted."
This is a book that felt real in a way that only fantasy can feel real, because sometimes reality doesn't have the words to describe the nightmarish feelings that are part of life. I found myself tearing up through the ending because I felt like I had lived through the book. I don't know if other readers will have that particular experience, but I can't imagine anyone being disappointed in this book. Go buy a copy!
It's the story of a boy who is a changeling, the replacement for the human body the fairies--THEM--have taken to sacrifice for his blood. He is a sickly creature who would have died except for the love of his sister Emma. And he has the chance to save another child from the fairies, but only if he is willing to pay the price.
I started dog-earring pages at this point:
"Is that why you hang out with me, do you think? Like, you don't mind how weird I am because when it comes down to it, you're kind of weird, too?" . . .
"It's not like that. I hate to break it to you, but there are other reasons to be friends with someone than mutual weirdness. You are actually kind of interesting, you know. And with you, I'm not always having to be happy or funny. I can say what I'm thinking. You pretty much such at being honest, Mackie, but you're easy to talk to." . . .
"Mackie, don't take this the wrong way, but all my life you've been the weirdest person I've ever met. That doesn't make you not a real person. In fact, it makes you pretty goddamn specific." . . .
"This is the defining event of my life and you're treating it like it's normal. Like it's nothing." . . .
"Well, maybe it should stop being the defining event. There's whole lot more to an average life than something that happened before you were a year old."
This is a conversation between two teenage boys, and it's about a fantastic event, about one of them not being truly human, but as the book clearly shouts to the reader in other parts--it's a metaphor. A giant metaphor that is carried out through the whole book, about the feeling that to me was so much a part of being a teenager, the sense of not being right, of having been born in the wrong place, to the wrong family, of being an alien and not being able to ever speak about what is different about me because no one will listen.
But the book just goes on an on with perfection in fantasy. There's the story about the hero who goes into the cave to be eaten and then comes out again, able to spout poetry.
And then:
"Sometimes you did your best, and it all went to hell anyway."
"You have to think about your options, weigh the consequences before you make decisions, but the advice was so worthless when it came to the things that mattered. This wasn't one of those times. This was the endgame."
"If you went willingly, then death wasn't death, but transformation. There are all kinds of things that can scare you every day. What if someone you know gets cancer? What if something happens to your sister or your friends or your parents? And what if you get hit by a car crossing the street or the kids at school find out what an unnatural freak you are?"
"You're saying it doesn't matter if they love you as long as they believe in you? . . .
"This is the natural order. Gods fall out of favor and become monsters. And sometimes they rise from the rank and file of the vanquished to become gods again."
"You have the complexity of hating what you are and where you come from. It's wonderful."
"If I was honest with myself, I hadn't been particularly brave. I'd just done the dirty work and the desperate things and then closed my eyes and hoped for something to work out."
"I did try not to get involved. . . .
"Maybe, but you came through in the end. When it counted."
This is a book that felt real in a way that only fantasy can feel real, because sometimes reality doesn't have the words to describe the nightmarish feelings that are part of life. I found myself tearing up through the ending because I felt like I had lived through the book. I don't know if other readers will have that particular experience, but I can't imagine anyone being disappointed in this book. Go buy a copy!
December 6, 2010
why girls dump on girls
I had a conversation this weekend with 15 on the topic of dumb boys and stupid girls. We talked a bit about how boys treat each other. Then we talked about how girls treat other girls. And how girls treat boys. I think we both agreed that girls do treat boys the way that they treat other girls. I think that the reason for this is pretty simple. There is still a power dynamic going on between girls and boys. That is, boys have power that girls do not have, and even in this day and age when it's all about feminism and girl power, it is still there. I think it has just gone stealth from when I was that age, and it was all right to talk openly about girls being dumber than boys are, or just not being allowed to do certain things.
It made me remember Sirens, and the panel I went to about women and fandom and why it is that women treat each other worse in fandom than they treat men. They seem to pull each other down more viciously, crabs in a pot sort of thing, and refuse to allow women to become successful in the way that men do--after fandom. I made the comment that this is simply the way it has to be in our patriarchal world. The way for women to get power is to steal it from other women. They do not really get it from men, because it's the wrong kind of power.
And of course, this is why I write the kind of fantasy I do, which isn't just about magic, but about people behind the magic, and about metaphors for our real world.
It made me remember Sirens, and the panel I went to about women and fandom and why it is that women treat each other worse in fandom than they treat men. They seem to pull each other down more viciously, crabs in a pot sort of thing, and refuse to allow women to become successful in the way that men do--after fandom. I made the comment that this is simply the way it has to be in our patriarchal world. The way for women to get power is to steal it from other women. They do not really get it from men, because it's the wrong kind of power.
And of course, this is why I write the kind of fantasy I do, which isn't just about magic, but about people behind the magic, and about metaphors for our real world.
December 3, 2010
the importance of using metaphor in fantasy
and also science fiction . . .
One of the ways that I can tell immediately (or in the first page, say) if I want to continue reading a fantasy is the proper use of fantasy metaphor. It is tricky. It is one of the reasons that I become annoyed easily by writers who suddenly think that fantasy is hot and so they are going to write some fantasy, because it can't be that hard, right? Just throw in some magic, people flying around, maybe a cool spell or two, and some magic rings, whatever.
To write proper fantasy, ONE of the elements is figuring out what kind of metaphors are appropriate for your fantasy. If you are not steeped in fantasy from childhood, you're really going to have to think about it and reread some great fantasy books to see how it is done. Almost everything you say in colloquial English is metaphorical in some way. You can't take it all out. You can't change it all or it will sound silly. But you want to change just a metaphor here and there with what really matters in the fantasy world.
What is different in the fantasy world? Because lots of stuff will be the same, you can leave that. But in order to get the point of view right (even with a third person point of view, even with omniscient), you have to figure out how people are going to see things differently, feel, smell, taste, and touch things differently. There might not be pens and paper. There might not be gravity (say, set in space). When little things change, everything changes, and one of those things is the very framework of language.
Robin McKinley, as I've said earlier this week, does this perfectly in her best books. I think Jim Butcher does it well. Garth Nix. Shannon Hale. The list isn't as long as I wish it was for me.
I won't start making a list of writers who do it badly. That would just be too painful.
One of the ways that I can tell immediately (or in the first page, say) if I want to continue reading a fantasy is the proper use of fantasy metaphor. It is tricky. It is one of the reasons that I become annoyed easily by writers who suddenly think that fantasy is hot and so they are going to write some fantasy, because it can't be that hard, right? Just throw in some magic, people flying around, maybe a cool spell or two, and some magic rings, whatever.
To write proper fantasy, ONE of the elements is figuring out what kind of metaphors are appropriate for your fantasy. If you are not steeped in fantasy from childhood, you're really going to have to think about it and reread some great fantasy books to see how it is done. Almost everything you say in colloquial English is metaphorical in some way. You can't take it all out. You can't change it all or it will sound silly. But you want to change just a metaphor here and there with what really matters in the fantasy world.
What is different in the fantasy world? Because lots of stuff will be the same, you can leave that. But in order to get the point of view right (even with a third person point of view, even with omniscient), you have to figure out how people are going to see things differently, feel, smell, taste, and touch things differently. There might not be pens and paper. There might not be gravity (say, set in space). When little things change, everything changes, and one of those things is the very framework of language.
Robin McKinley, as I've said earlier this week, does this perfectly in her best books. I think Jim Butcher does it well. Garth Nix. Shannon Hale. The list isn't as long as I wish it was for me.
I won't start making a list of writers who do it badly. That would just be too painful.
December 2, 2010
personal trainer
In 2003, I hired a personal trainer, Jonathan, at the local Gold's Gym, where I already had a membership. It was a life-changing experience. He was a big guy who could probably have lifted my weight with his ears. But I never felt intimidated by him. I ended up signing up for 12 sessions over a one month period. He gave me a nutrition plan to follow, and also asked me to keep track of my cardio sessions in a fairly simple way. Also, I was supposed to arrive at the gym early enough to spend ten minutes warming up on a bike or some other machine.
First, I will say it was expensive. The only reason I splurged on it was that my husband got a bonus and we had a little extra cash. The last bonus he got, he spent on getting a new bike to ride to work to keep in shape, so I figured it was my turn to do something for my health. My youngest was about 10 months old at the time and I was getting antsy about being tied to the baby, which always happens to me. I love nursing babies when they are small, but I get tired of it and continue out of obligation mostly (and frugality).
Second, I will say I did not lose weight. According to the measurements Jonathan made with his computer, I also did not lose any body fat. But this was patently ridiculous to anyone who saw me over this one month period. My body shape changed a lot. My clothing fit differently. My face looked thinner. And also, I was demonstrably stronger in every way. Jonathan made me run for the first time in ten years. I had knee problems, so I had stopped running in grad school. I kept swimming, but nothing that would stress my knee. I explained this to Jonathan, and also that I sometimes felt like I was going to pass out while running. He made me run anyway. Guess what? I got faster. I felt better.
Not everyone has an interest in becoming an obsessed triathlete like I am now, but let me tell you that then, I was simply someone who went to the gym 3-4 times a week for a half hour. I swam and did occasional spin classes. I hated aerobics. I hated running. I hated treadmills and almost every kind of cardio equipment. I also thought of myself as a non-athlete. I was an intellectual, see? A writer. Writers don't compete in athletic events. They certainly don't do marathons or Ironman competitions. Those were for crazy people. I didn't lift weights, because that was for weird weight lifters. I didn't have muscles that showed.
Until I stared at myself in the mirror one day when I was lifting weights in a shoulder routine and I could see my muscles standing out. I began on a journey with that personal trainer. I know not everyone can afford a personal trainer, but if you want to get in shape and you have a little extra cash, it is a great investment. You learn a ton of things about what you can do, about how to set up a routine, how quickly you can push yourself, and just plain confidence. Because you will be doing things you never did before, but with someone right there to tell you everything you need to know.
If there were writing personal trainers, there would be better novels out there. Actually, now that I think of it, there are writing personal trainers. We call them editors. Or sometimes writing groups. Or friends.
First, I will say it was expensive. The only reason I splurged on it was that my husband got a bonus and we had a little extra cash. The last bonus he got, he spent on getting a new bike to ride to work to keep in shape, so I figured it was my turn to do something for my health. My youngest was about 10 months old at the time and I was getting antsy about being tied to the baby, which always happens to me. I love nursing babies when they are small, but I get tired of it and continue out of obligation mostly (and frugality).
Second, I will say I did not lose weight. According to the measurements Jonathan made with his computer, I also did not lose any body fat. But this was patently ridiculous to anyone who saw me over this one month period. My body shape changed a lot. My clothing fit differently. My face looked thinner. And also, I was demonstrably stronger in every way. Jonathan made me run for the first time in ten years. I had knee problems, so I had stopped running in grad school. I kept swimming, but nothing that would stress my knee. I explained this to Jonathan, and also that I sometimes felt like I was going to pass out while running. He made me run anyway. Guess what? I got faster. I felt better.
Not everyone has an interest in becoming an obsessed triathlete like I am now, but let me tell you that then, I was simply someone who went to the gym 3-4 times a week for a half hour. I swam and did occasional spin classes. I hated aerobics. I hated running. I hated treadmills and almost every kind of cardio equipment. I also thought of myself as a non-athlete. I was an intellectual, see? A writer. Writers don't compete in athletic events. They certainly don't do marathons or Ironman competitions. Those were for crazy people. I didn't lift weights, because that was for weird weight lifters. I didn't have muscles that showed.
Until I stared at myself in the mirror one day when I was lifting weights in a shoulder routine and I could see my muscles standing out. I began on a journey with that personal trainer. I know not everyone can afford a personal trainer, but if you want to get in shape and you have a little extra cash, it is a great investment. You learn a ton of things about what you can do, about how to set up a routine, how quickly you can push yourself, and just plain confidence. Because you will be doing things you never did before, but with someone right there to tell you everything you need to know.
If there were writing personal trainers, there would be better novels out there. Actually, now that I think of it, there are writing personal trainers. We call them editors. Or sometimes writing groups. Or friends.
December 1, 2010
Books Read and Recommended in November 2010
Life in the Pit by Kristen Landon
Skim by Mariko Hami
Charlotte's Web by E.B. White (read aloud)
Well-Wished by Franny Billingsley (read aloud)
Dark Water by Laura McNeal
One Crazy Summer by Rita Williams-Garcia
Market Day by James Sturm
Persona Non Grata by Ruth Downie
The Red Tree by Caitlin R. Kiernan (i)
Wimpy Kid: The Ugly Truth by Jeff Kinney
Mockingbird by Kathryn Erskine
Starcrossed by Elizabeth Bunce
Full Metal Alchemist Volume 1 by Hiromu Arakawa
The Hotel Under the Sand by Kage Baker
Odd and the Frost Giants by Neil Gaiman
The Other Side of Darkness by Sarah Smith (i)
Accomplice by Eireann Corrigan (i)
The Secret History of Moscow by Ekaterina Sedia
Pegasus by Robin McKinley
Drawing Down the Moon by Charles Vess
Hmm, I guess I got more reading done that I thought I had.
I just finished Pegasus and thought it was very much McKinley in the way that I wanted to write when I first read The Hero and the Crown, Beauty, and The Blue Sword, during graduate school in the 90's.
1. The pervasive sense of magic in even the most mundane descriptions of things. I love this about McKinley and I think this is one of the reasons that I write fantasy. Some writers of realism are really, really good at this and also make me feel that an ordinary experience is magical in the use of their language, but I think good fantasy does it better. McKinley is a master of this.
2. The new language of the world. Lots of fantasy writers try this. Almost all fail. I tend to shy away from made up languages or even made up words. Why? Because calling a "rose" a "tarmella" does not change its roseness and most readers can tell this. I hate those little glossaries in the back for the same reason. If I need a glossary to figure out what a word means, then the writer isn't doing his/her job. McKinley always does her job. I admit, the first fifty or sixty pages, I thought the book was a little heavy in the fantasy language, but as the story progressed I began to feel like this was a real language, that it expressed concepts that English truly was insufficient to, and by the end of the book, I really felt like I had been to a new land.
3. A truly changed protagonist. This is a key element to excellent fantasy for YA. I am not saying it isn't part of great fantasy for adults--it is! But it fits very well with the YA readers who are changing themselves so rapidly. The entry into a magical world and then the return into the mundane world is as old as fantasy itself, and possibly older. But McKinley does it so well. She makes her readers feel like we, too, have undergone the same transformation. It's an amazing thing.
4. Optimism and worldview. When I read a McKinley novel, or what I think of as classic McKinley, I always know that the heroine is going to win. It's not going to be easy, but I know it will happen. I also know that the bad guys are going to remain bad guys and they will be defeated and the world will be better without them. I suppose there are limitations to this, but while I'm reading the book, I don't feel them.
5. Taking the time to tell the story. I love that McKinley has a style that is unique. It is a wandering style. She isn't going to tell a story in short bursts. Her chapters are long. Her paragraphs are long. Her sentences are long. Occasionally, I get impatient. But not very often. Because I know that it will be worth it to wait. McKinley is telling the story her way. I don't know how she works with her editor, but I like the way it turns out.
6. First person point of view, girls who are not dependent on anyone. Yes, they have people trying to take power away from them. But they are strong and they triumph. They never feel less feminine for that. I don't know how she does that, but I love it.
7. A book that is easy to sell to readers. I mean, the first line of this book is, "She was a princess, so she had a pegasus." I'm thinking the marketing department at Putnam was jumping up and down at that. It's a bankable brand, and while there are some downsides to that as a writer, feeling a little bit boxed in, for the reader, it is a good thing. I am going to be recommending this book to just about every girl between 8 and 80 I know.
Skim by Mariko Hami
Charlotte's Web by E.B. White (read aloud)
Well-Wished by Franny Billingsley (read aloud)
Dark Water by Laura McNeal
One Crazy Summer by Rita Williams-Garcia
Market Day by James Sturm
Persona Non Grata by Ruth Downie
The Red Tree by Caitlin R. Kiernan (i)
Wimpy Kid: The Ugly Truth by Jeff Kinney
Mockingbird by Kathryn Erskine
Starcrossed by Elizabeth Bunce
Full Metal Alchemist Volume 1 by Hiromu Arakawa
The Hotel Under the Sand by Kage Baker
Odd and the Frost Giants by Neil Gaiman
The Other Side of Darkness by Sarah Smith (i)
Accomplice by Eireann Corrigan (i)
The Secret History of Moscow by Ekaterina Sedia
Pegasus by Robin McKinley
Drawing Down the Moon by Charles Vess
Hmm, I guess I got more reading done that I thought I had.
I just finished Pegasus and thought it was very much McKinley in the way that I wanted to write when I first read The Hero and the Crown, Beauty, and The Blue Sword, during graduate school in the 90's.
1. The pervasive sense of magic in even the most mundane descriptions of things. I love this about McKinley and I think this is one of the reasons that I write fantasy. Some writers of realism are really, really good at this and also make me feel that an ordinary experience is magical in the use of their language, but I think good fantasy does it better. McKinley is a master of this.
2. The new language of the world. Lots of fantasy writers try this. Almost all fail. I tend to shy away from made up languages or even made up words. Why? Because calling a "rose" a "tarmella" does not change its roseness and most readers can tell this. I hate those little glossaries in the back for the same reason. If I need a glossary to figure out what a word means, then the writer isn't doing his/her job. McKinley always does her job. I admit, the first fifty or sixty pages, I thought the book was a little heavy in the fantasy language, but as the story progressed I began to feel like this was a real language, that it expressed concepts that English truly was insufficient to, and by the end of the book, I really felt like I had been to a new land.
3. A truly changed protagonist. This is a key element to excellent fantasy for YA. I am not saying it isn't part of great fantasy for adults--it is! But it fits very well with the YA readers who are changing themselves so rapidly. The entry into a magical world and then the return into the mundane world is as old as fantasy itself, and possibly older. But McKinley does it so well. She makes her readers feel like we, too, have undergone the same transformation. It's an amazing thing.
4. Optimism and worldview. When I read a McKinley novel, or what I think of as classic McKinley, I always know that the heroine is going to win. It's not going to be easy, but I know it will happen. I also know that the bad guys are going to remain bad guys and they will be defeated and the world will be better without them. I suppose there are limitations to this, but while I'm reading the book, I don't feel them.
5. Taking the time to tell the story. I love that McKinley has a style that is unique. It is a wandering style. She isn't going to tell a story in short bursts. Her chapters are long. Her paragraphs are long. Her sentences are long. Occasionally, I get impatient. But not very often. Because I know that it will be worth it to wait. McKinley is telling the story her way. I don't know how she works with her editor, but I like the way it turns out.
6. First person point of view, girls who are not dependent on anyone. Yes, they have people trying to take power away from them. But they are strong and they triumph. They never feel less feminine for that. I don't know how she does that, but I love it.
7. A book that is easy to sell to readers. I mean, the first line of this book is, "She was a princess, so she had a pegasus." I'm thinking the marketing department at Putnam was jumping up and down at that. It's a bankable brand, and while there are some downsides to that as a writer, feeling a little bit boxed in, for the reader, it is a good thing. I am going to be recommending this book to just about every girl between 8 and 80 I know.
November 30, 2010
how to kill off characters
I have killed off many a character. I have read books where other authors have killed off characters. So I think I know some of the tricks, and also some of the dangers.
As an author, one of the problems is that you want to kill off characters you don't like. Characters you haven't spent a lot of time to build up. You want to kill off the characters you don't understand. And if you know a character is going to die, you will tend to make it easier on yourself if you can. Why spend all that time and effort and emotion investing in a character?
You know what I am talking about. The red-shirt phenomenon isn't just in the Star Trek movies. It happens all the time, in TV shows, movies, and books. Someone has to die to make the menace seem real. It happens early on, before there's much time to get to know that characters. And afterward, well, that person is dead, right? S/he can't be a character any more, right?
I have made this mistake a lot of times. You'd think that I would have learned from it. But in my current WIP which is whipping me, I have a couple of characters who die and I simply don't spend as much time building them up as other characters. It would be a waste. Their purpose in the novel is to die, right? They are place holders?
But the problem is, your readers won't care about those deaths. More important than that, your readers will guess what is going to happen. Your readers will feel dismissive of any time that character is on stage.
You know the old phrase, kill your darlings? Well, it doesn't just mean cutting out phrases that are purple prose. It means that when you kill off characters, you had darn well better love them. Don't make them red shirts. Make the reader love that character. Make that character a hero. Make your character who dies your favorite. And then, yes, it will hurt more in the death. But that is what a death needs to be in a novel. Not something that you throw away mentally or emotionally. It should hurt. And if doesn't hurt you, the author, it's not going to hurt your reader, either.
Also, just as an addendum--when a character dies, s/he should stay dead. That's my position and I'm sticking to it. If not, then death doesn't matter, does it. (And yes, I still love Joss Whedon and I understand why he kept bringing Darla back to life).
As an author, one of the problems is that you want to kill off characters you don't like. Characters you haven't spent a lot of time to build up. You want to kill off the characters you don't understand. And if you know a character is going to die, you will tend to make it easier on yourself if you can. Why spend all that time and effort and emotion investing in a character?
You know what I am talking about. The red-shirt phenomenon isn't just in the Star Trek movies. It happens all the time, in TV shows, movies, and books. Someone has to die to make the menace seem real. It happens early on, before there's much time to get to know that characters. And afterward, well, that person is dead, right? S/he can't be a character any more, right?
I have made this mistake a lot of times. You'd think that I would have learned from it. But in my current WIP which is whipping me, I have a couple of characters who die and I simply don't spend as much time building them up as other characters. It would be a waste. Their purpose in the novel is to die, right? They are place holders?
But the problem is, your readers won't care about those deaths. More important than that, your readers will guess what is going to happen. Your readers will feel dismissive of any time that character is on stage.
You know the old phrase, kill your darlings? Well, it doesn't just mean cutting out phrases that are purple prose. It means that when you kill off characters, you had darn well better love them. Don't make them red shirts. Make the reader love that character. Make that character a hero. Make your character who dies your favorite. And then, yes, it will hurt more in the death. But that is what a death needs to be in a novel. Not something that you throw away mentally or emotionally. It should hurt. And if doesn't hurt you, the author, it's not going to hurt your reader, either.
Also, just as an addendum--when a character dies, s/he should stay dead. That's my position and I'm sticking to it. If not, then death doesn't matter, does it. (And yes, I still love Joss Whedon and I understand why he kept bringing Darla back to life).
November 29, 2010
How to Deal With Reviews
No one likes a bad review. Yeah, yeah, they say any publicity is good publicity, but it doesn't feel like that. Even a moderate review can hurt a writer. Even when you tell yourself that the review isn't meant for you, that it's meant for librarians or booksellers. Even when you tell yourself that it's completely wrong, that the reviewer probably never even read the book and also hates everything in your book category, so no matter how well you did it, you'd still have failed.
So, this is what you do:
1. Write a response to the review. Be as nasty as you want to be. Save it somewhere on your computer. Or my preference--delete it. Never EVER let anyone see this response. Not your best friend. Not your agent. Not your editor. Because the moment you start letting people see it, that is when you are going to get into trouble.
2. Wait for several days. Or weeks. Or months. However long it takes for you not to get that anxious feeling anymore. Wait until it feels like an editorial letter, just a professional response to a professional piece of writing. Then, look at it again. Is there anything in the review that makes sense? There may not be. But for me, a review hurts even more when it hits on my real fears about certain parts of the book. You are allowed to think about these ideas. Not obsess over them. Just think about them.
3. Consider whether or not the review in question has anything to do with what you are currently working on. There is nothing you can do about a novel already published. It is the best you could do at the time. And remember that the same is true of all the great writers. What they produced was simply their best at the time. They couldn't learn faster than was possible. And what their best was is valuable even if it isn't perfect. Sometimes imperfection is better than perfection, in a strange way.
4. Then remember what is the best part of your work. If necessary, get some feedback from those who know your work best. Think about this.
5. Write your best novel. It's not about getting revenge on the reviewer. It's not about making sure you never make that mistake again. It's just about letting yourself start fresh and do your best without reference to others. You are not responding to the reviewer by writing your new novel. You are writing to yourself as reader, as you always do. Don't stop that.
I don't google myself or my books, by the way. I don't go on goodreads. I certainly don't respond to reviewers there or anywhere else. I am not sure that this is virtuous of me. It is simply what I need to do. For one thing, I don't have time to worry about what reviewers say. I am busy writing.
But--I do read reviews that my editor sends to me or from people I know. I am not trying to live inside a bubble that protects me from all criticism, you understand? Criticism can be valuable. But you're net getting a critique from the professor of your class when you get a review. Nor are you responding to a bully at school. On the internet, you are not free to say whatever you want. It is a public forum, and your response will last forever. Be classy, if you must say anything at all. I think silence is very classy.
So, this is what you do:
1. Write a response to the review. Be as nasty as you want to be. Save it somewhere on your computer. Or my preference--delete it. Never EVER let anyone see this response. Not your best friend. Not your agent. Not your editor. Because the moment you start letting people see it, that is when you are going to get into trouble.
2. Wait for several days. Or weeks. Or months. However long it takes for you not to get that anxious feeling anymore. Wait until it feels like an editorial letter, just a professional response to a professional piece of writing. Then, look at it again. Is there anything in the review that makes sense? There may not be. But for me, a review hurts even more when it hits on my real fears about certain parts of the book. You are allowed to think about these ideas. Not obsess over them. Just think about them.
3. Consider whether or not the review in question has anything to do with what you are currently working on. There is nothing you can do about a novel already published. It is the best you could do at the time. And remember that the same is true of all the great writers. What they produced was simply their best at the time. They couldn't learn faster than was possible. And what their best was is valuable even if it isn't perfect. Sometimes imperfection is better than perfection, in a strange way.
4. Then remember what is the best part of your work. If necessary, get some feedback from those who know your work best. Think about this.
5. Write your best novel. It's not about getting revenge on the reviewer. It's not about making sure you never make that mistake again. It's just about letting yourself start fresh and do your best without reference to others. You are not responding to the reviewer by writing your new novel. You are writing to yourself as reader, as you always do. Don't stop that.
I don't google myself or my books, by the way. I don't go on goodreads. I certainly don't respond to reviewers there or anywhere else. I am not sure that this is virtuous of me. It is simply what I need to do. For one thing, I don't have time to worry about what reviewers say. I am busy writing.
But--I do read reviews that my editor sends to me or from people I know. I am not trying to live inside a bubble that protects me from all criticism, you understand? Criticism can be valuable. But you're net getting a critique from the professor of your class when you get a review. Nor are you responding to a bully at school. On the internet, you are not free to say whatever you want. It is a public forum, and your response will last forever. Be classy, if you must say anything at all. I think silence is very classy.
November 25, 2010
discovery--I am a rule breaker
In a discussion with my editor about my next book, I realized from her reaction to my feelings that the books I am most excited about are the books I feel like I am forbidden from writing. I think I have heard this before, that you should write the book you are afraid to write, but I honestly didn't "get" it until now. I felt like it meant to write books on topics I was afraid of, or not to shy away from writing the very difficult scene. It probably means those things, as well. But I look back on my history of publishing:
1. Mira, Mirror, a book I wrote because someone challenged me that I could not possibly write a novel entirely from the viewpoint of an inanimate object. I looked around for the most interesting inanimate object, and hit on the mirror in the Snow White fairy tale, the only character in that whole story I am remotely interested in.
2. The Princess and the Hound, a book I wrote because it was from a male viewpoint and I didn't know if I could do that. Also, got rejected by my publisher because it was too much in the seam between adult and YA. Also has a really tricky romance which I won't give away by describing here. But I was nervous that it would be COMPLETELY misinterpreted.
3. The Princess and the Bear, a book I wrote because I did not know if I could write a sequel. I had never written one before and I was terrified to do so. It took months for me to get over the terror and sit down to the writing. Having the book under contract before writing it was also terrifying.
4. A Crown of Diamonds and Sapphires, my first attempt to do a BIG, FAT fantasy. Still don't know if I will be successful at this one. It take three books to tell the whole story and yet readers only get to buy the first book. If it tanks, who knows what will happen to the others?
5. Tris and Izzie, which I wrote to thumb my nose at a very particular German professor of mine who told me to quit writing and focus on my teaching career unless I thought I was going to be "the next Orson Scott Card." So of course, that made me determined to be the next Orson Scott Card. Or something. Whatever I am now.
6. Whatever is next--some very audacious things. See how audacious they are? I won't even mention them here for fear of sounding too audacious. My agent doesn't even know what these books are because I am too afraid of mentioning them to him in case they are actually terrible. But they just sort of leaked out in a discussion with my editor because she is very good at weaseling things out of me.
Apparently the only way to get me to write in an interesting way is to tell me not to do it. I had no idea I was this way, though I am sure every one who knows me is laughing. I think of myself as very conformist. Well, outwardly anyway. In school, I think I was pretty darn obedient. Did everything I was told to do, the way I was told to do it, felt like I was great at reading the teacher's mind and testing well to test-writers. Maybe I am sick of it now.
1. Mira, Mirror, a book I wrote because someone challenged me that I could not possibly write a novel entirely from the viewpoint of an inanimate object. I looked around for the most interesting inanimate object, and hit on the mirror in the Snow White fairy tale, the only character in that whole story I am remotely interested in.
2. The Princess and the Hound, a book I wrote because it was from a male viewpoint and I didn't know if I could do that. Also, got rejected by my publisher because it was too much in the seam between adult and YA. Also has a really tricky romance which I won't give away by describing here. But I was nervous that it would be COMPLETELY misinterpreted.
3. The Princess and the Bear, a book I wrote because I did not know if I could write a sequel. I had never written one before and I was terrified to do so. It took months for me to get over the terror and sit down to the writing. Having the book under contract before writing it was also terrifying.
4. A Crown of Diamonds and Sapphires, my first attempt to do a BIG, FAT fantasy. Still don't know if I will be successful at this one. It take three books to tell the whole story and yet readers only get to buy the first book. If it tanks, who knows what will happen to the others?
5. Tris and Izzie, which I wrote to thumb my nose at a very particular German professor of mine who told me to quit writing and focus on my teaching career unless I thought I was going to be "the next Orson Scott Card." So of course, that made me determined to be the next Orson Scott Card. Or something. Whatever I am now.
6. Whatever is next--some very audacious things. See how audacious they are? I won't even mention them here for fear of sounding too audacious. My agent doesn't even know what these books are because I am too afraid of mentioning them to him in case they are actually terrible. But they just sort of leaked out in a discussion with my editor because she is very good at weaseling things out of me.
Apparently the only way to get me to write in an interesting way is to tell me not to do it. I had no idea I was this way, though I am sure every one who knows me is laughing. I think of myself as very conformist. Well, outwardly anyway. In school, I think I was pretty darn obedient. Did everything I was told to do, the way I was told to do it, felt like I was great at reading the teacher's mind and testing well to test-writers. Maybe I am sick of it now.
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