Patricia C. Wrede's Blog, page 79

Reading like a writer

Most people just read books. That is, they absorb the information, or enjoy the plot and characters, without thinking too much about how and why they work. It's a lot like watching a play, or a magic show. It's supposed to be relaxing, so sit back and enjoy.

Reading like a writer is more like being another magician who's watching the magic show. Some of the tricks, you already know how to do, so you watch to see if they're done smoothly and without everyone else seeing what the guy on stage...

Recognizing "Good Writing"

A bit ago, I got asked to do my standard rant on this. I put it off 'til the book was done, but it's done now. So here's the short form:

Read a story. Does it work?

Yes? Then it's good.

The problem with the term "good writing" is that it assumes there is an agreed-upon standard, to which everything can be compared. If a piece of writing measures up, it's "good;" if it doesn't, it isn't. Unfortunately, about fifteen minutes' worth of open-minded examination of great literature ought to be enough ...

Finish line…first draft

Finished up the last chapter of Circuit Magician yesterday around noon; spent the rest of the afternoon doing final clean-up of assorted things that had been tagged to fix but somehow hadn't gotten fixed yet, and sent it off. This morning, I had notes from my editor and agent saying they received it, so the first draft is now officially put to bed.

Naturally, the very first thing that happened after I sent the thing off was that I spotted four typos and a missing word that I really should...

Down to the wire #4

Thanks to some last-minute schedule changes and cancellations, I am now very confident that the first draft of Circuit Magician will be finished by late this week, even if I don't quite make the June 1 deadline. Since I've already cleared that with my editor, this will work out fine. Sooner would be better, though. 

The hardest part at the moment is deciding where to stop for the day. I'm in the final stages now, with the barn door in sight at last, and between that and the deadline looming...

Meeting the cast

How well does a writer need to know her characters?

There seem to be two sets of conventional wisdom about this. One holds that writing characters is rather like method acting - the writer has to become the character, so as to know them from the inside. The other is more mechanical, and is typified by "character sheets" - pages-long lists of questions about each characters' physical and mental attributes and backstory.

Each of these methods works sometimes, for some writers, and doesn't work...

Down to the wire #3

One major plot point to go, and about a week and a half to do it in. I got lucky on the deadline - my editor is on vacation, and while he will be back June 1, he'll be spending his first few days catching up. So as long as I get the ms. to him by the end of that week, I'm good. This is an enormous relief, as I have to spend Memorial Day weekend helping clear out the lake place that Dad is selling, which means I'll lose a minimum of two days' writing time…and just now, that's HUGE. Having...

Hurry up and wait

The first thing you need to know about getting published is that the process is best described as interminably long stretches of boredom and anxiety, punctuated by moments of panic and frantic activity. And this applies to the whole process, not just the submission part.

Most people who want to be professionally published figure out pretty quickly that the submission process is the poster child for hurry-up-and-wait. You get your submission package together (meaning, whatever the publisher...

Down to the wire 2

OK, I said I'd post updates on how things are going. This week wasn't bad, but everything is taking longer than I think it should (longer in the more-words-and-scenes sense, rather than longer in the more-time-to-write-one-scene sense). In one way, this is good; it means there's lots of juice in this story. In another way, not so good - I can only type so fast, so the more words it takes to get where I want to go, the more time it takes to get there…and I only have two weeks left. (Eeeek!)

How...

From the Mailbag #3

Where are your best places to write?

I can write pretty much anywhere; I learned that trick when I was still working and had very limited time in which to write. ("A writer with only two hours a day can write in the back of an open truck on the Interstate." - Gene Wolfe) Most of the time, I do my writing at my desk, on my computer. Fairly often, especially if I'm having trouble, I take my laptop to a coffee shop or restaurant and work there (I know exactly which tables are near outlets in all ...

Down to the wire

 Circuit Magician (the tentative title of the sequel to Thirteenth Child) has been giving me fits for months…years, if the truth be told. Many of the problems have been external (I didn't have any control over when Mom had her stroke), but it's also just a tough book to do. The middle of a story is always tough for me, and this is the middle book of a trilogy, which means the whole book is middle.

Even so, I swear this book is cursed. Every time I start to really get going, the car breaks...