Michelle McLean's Blog, page 27

WIP Wednesday

Well, I actually managed to stop procrastinating and start working on my WIP :D My goal is to revise a chapter a day (I'm rewriting the book but salvaging what I can so some of these "revisions" are really totally gutting and rewriting but keeping track by chapter is still much easier than by word count) and so far I am a chapter ahead. So I'm pretty happy with myself for the moment.

This is a partial verse novel and I am having a blast writing it. I just hope other people will like it LOL

How are you all doing on your projects?

Action - Motivation and Background = Massive Edits

I was commenting on the awesome Elana Johnson's post this morning and realized my comment was turning into a post of its own LOL So I copied and pasted it over here and left a shortened version over there :D (Definitely go read her post though if you haven't yet - great editing tips!)

Elana was talking about the things she'd learned from her editors, and asked what we had learned.

I think my biggest one (so far) was trying to jump right into the action without giving my readers enough about my MC to make them care about the action. When I started doing revisions with my agent I ended up adding a whole new first chapter just so I could set things up better, add some background on my character and why she's in the situation she's in, so by the time you got to my old first chapter you actually care about why she's doing what she's doing.

So often we hear that you have to hook people right away and in YA especially, I think that often translates into jumping right into the action. But if the reader doesn't know enough about the world, the characters, and the situation, they probably won't care about that awesome action you are putting right up front.

For my book, my MC is on the hunt for a treasure because she thinks finding it will save her family. And in my old beginning, I opened with her impatiently waiting for what she hopes will be a big clue - then in walks potential love interest who totally freaks her out and then a whole bunch of other stuff happens.

There's nothing wrong with what I had going on (in fact, it's still in the book...just not as the first chapter), but I hadn't spent nearly enough time setting up my character's backstory, who she is and what her motivation was for doing what she was doing. That didn't mean I had to write her entire backstory into the book, but without knowing a bit more about my character, her actions didn't make a lot of sense to my readers. And they certainly weren't as gripping and intense as I'd hoped they'd be.

With those motivations, characterizations, and background bits in place, the action I'd tried to create in the beginning worked much better. There is still action going on - she's still actively doing something, there is still mystery being created - I'm not just spelling out her life story - but I think I did a much better job of setting up the story before really diving into the heart of the matter.

What I learned - It's great to jump right into the action. But you've still got to give your reader a reason to care about what's going on or they won't be hooked, no matter how great that action may be.

What editing tips have you learned?

Blog Chain - Worth It In The End

This round of the blog chain was started by the amazing Shaun, who wants to know:

What are three books you would tell people that they need to keep reading even if they aren't immediately sucked in by the first page?
I love this question :D And it's been very interesting reading the others' answers. Twilight and The Host by Stephanie Meyers were two that immediately popped to mind and it was interesting to see that several other people on the chain felt the same. I ended up loving both books (and didn't have a problem with the rest of the Twilight books) but those were two that took me a bit to get into.

I'm not always a very patient reader and I'm definitely more apt to stick with a book if it is A) recommended by a friend or B) written by a friend (case in point - The Hollow by Jessica Verday. It took me a while to get into this book but once I did I couldn't put it down. And I devoured the other two in the trilogy).

But, most of the time, if I care about the main character and the storyline is one that I want to follow, I'll stick with it for a good 100 pages, sometimes more, just in the hopes things will get better. So, here is my list (although yes, I cheated a little bit and mentioned a few more above) :D

1. Harry Potter and the Sorcerer's/Philosopher's Stone - Once he hit Hogwarts I was glued to Mr. Potter through all seven books. I think I read them all in just under a week and I've reread them all several times. But the beginning DRAGGED for me. However, everyone was raving so much about them I stuck with it, and I'm very glad I did.

2. Diana Gabaldon's Outlander - I originally chose this book because I needed something to read on a plane ride and it was really long, had nothing embarrassing on the cover, and was conveniently placed in my grocery store checkout line. I struggled through the first little bit, but I was stuck on a plane with nothing else to do. Once Claire went through the stones and ended up in 1700s Scotland, I was completely hooked. I finished that 800 or so page book that night (totally ignoring my cousins whom I'd gone to visit in the process. Luckily, they understood...and I even got my cousin's wife hooked on the series before I left) :D

I'd recommend this book to anyone who likes historical fiction although I always caution them to stick with it until she gets through the stones. And I do tend to skim her rather long and rambling descriptions. But other than that, these books are AMAZING.

3. Anything by Anne Rice - I love most of her books. Her vampire series especially. Louis and Lestat were my first vampire loves. But I think it takes a good 1 to 3 chapters (sometimes more) for me to get into her books, until the day came where I picked one up and just couldn't get through it at all. But...up until then, once I'd pushed past the first few chapters, I'd be hooked. And after reading a couple books, I knew this would be the case so it was easy to keep going, knowing it would eventually get better.

What books make your list? Why did you stick with them?


Check out PK's list HERE and be sure to stop by Tere's blog tomorrow and see who made her list.

Friday Funnies

(more funnies from Facebook) :)

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8 years ago today I became a mom. Best. Job. Ever. :)Happ...

8 years ago today I became a mom. Best. Job. Ever. :)Happy Birthday to the sweetest little man in the whole wide world :) 
(His Dr. Evil impression LOL)

Happy Release Day to Bethany Wiggins and Shifting!!

Today a very dear friend is celebrating the release of her debut novel. I posted about this at Operation Awesome on Saturday (head over there if you haven't yet because I'm giving away a SIGNED COPY - you can enter up through midnight tomorrow) but I just couldn't let this day go by without giving a huge shout out and congrats to Bethany Wiggins and her awesome book Shifting.

I've got something special planned in a couple weeks that you won't want to miss, but for today, I just wanted to wish Bethany all the best and implore all my lovely readers to go buy this book. I love this book, and I'm not just saying that because I'm friends with the author :D

This book has it all for me: weird happenings, cool (and creepy) mythology (made even creepier by the fact that it is based on legends about the area where I lived at the time...and there were plenty of local stories about the stuff in this book...and yeah...I'd get freaked out A LOT after talking to Bethany lol), romance, and mystery, and really really bad guys, and an awesome MC who may just be one of my favorites EVER.

Seriously, you all need to check this book out :) Here is the Amazon blurb:


After bouncing from foster home to foster home, Magdalene Mae is transferred to what should be her last foster home in the tiny town of Silver City, New Mexico. Now that she's eighteen and has only a year left in high school, she's determined to stay out of trouble and just be normal. Agreeing to go to the prom with Bridger O'Connell is a good first step. Fitting in has never been her strong suit, but it's not for the reasons most people would expect-it all has to do with the deep secret that she is a shape shifter. But even in her new home danger lurks, waiting in the shadows to pounce. They are the Skinwalkers of Navajo legend, who have traded their souls to become the animal whose skin they wear-and Maggie is their next target.




You can find Bethany at her WEBSITE, BLOG, on TWITTER, and on FACEBOOK. And you can buy Shifting HERE  :) Stay tuned for even more fun stuff in a couple weeks ;-)

And CONGRATS Bethany!!!! :)

Odd Inspiration Moment

I love love LOVE when something about a WIP finally clicks. I was struggling a bit figuring out the backstory of my book, and since the backstory is a HUGE part of this particular book, this was kind of a problem. There were several things I was struggling with:

why my MC had ended up where she hadwhy her love interest was also therehow he got there, and how he came to be her love interest in the first place (I needed their families to be against their being together, but I didn't want it to be too Romeo and Juliet with all the hate and family feud issues going on)and there were several other issues about my MC and her family/background/personality/character, etc that I just was having a really hard time figuring out.So, needless to say, work on this WIP has been pretty slow because I needed this stuff worked out before I could really dive in. Oh, and add to all that the fact that I've been toying with making this book a partial verse novel (and hence needed to decide when and where to use poetry...and what type of poetic form(s) I wanted to use) and yeah...issues LOL
And then last night, I was sitting there watching Drop Dead Diva (awesome finale, can't wait for next season!!) and all the answers just fell into place. And I'm not really sure why. There was a murderer on death row on the show. He'd killed somebody = he was bad. But he loved his sister, wanted her to have his heart after he was executed, and he seemed genuinely sorry for what he'd done = maybe he wasn't so bad. 
And something about his character sparked an idea and everything about my story that I was struggling with just fell into place. I'm not even sure what it was because I'm not going to make my MC (or her love interest) a murderer or anything like that. It wasn't in any way a literal "ooo I'll do the same thing." 
But something about that character's story, the conflict in him, tweaked the right creative thread and the issues I was having in my manuscript were suddenly clear...as were their solutions. 
I grabbed a notebook and wrote out 2 pages of notes. And for the first time in a long time I am excited to start writing :D
Have you ever had a weird inspiration moment? Where something totally unexpected inspired an idea or made that problem area you'd been working on suddenly fall into place?

Friday Funnies - Facebook Changes Again

So, Facebook pulled some major changes on us recently and many of us were upset. And weren't shy about sharing that :D The upside...several funny little pics popped up around my news feed. Here are a few of them :)

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Contronyms Part Deux

Some more awesome wordage :D


Handicap: An advantage provided to ensure equality, or a disadvantage that prevents equal achievement
Lease: To offer property for rent, or to hold such property
Left: Remained, or departed
Let: Allowed, or hindered
Literally: Actually, or virtually
Mean: Average or stingy, or excellent
Model: An exemplar, or a copy
Out: Visible, as with stars showing in the sky, or invisible, in reference to lights
Out of: Outside, or inside, as in working out of a specific office
Presently: Now, or soon
Quantum: Significantly large, or a minuscule part
Quiddity: Essence, or a trifling point of contention
Quite: Rather (as a qualifying modifier), or completely
Ravel: To entangle, or to disentangle
Refrain: To desist from doing something, or to repeat
Rent: To purchase use of something, or to sell use
Rock: An immobile mass of stone or figuratively similar phenomenon, or a shaking or unsettling movement or action
Sanction: To approve, or to boycott
Sanguine: Confidently cheerful, or bloodthirsty
Scan: To peruse, or to glance
Screen: To present, or to conceal
Seed: To sow seeds, or to shed or remove them
Shop: To patronize a business in order to purchase something, or to sell something
Skin: To cover, or to remove
Splice: To join, or to separate
Strike: To hit, or to miss in an attempt to hit
Table: To propose (in British English), or to set aside
Temper: To soften, or to strengthen
Throw out: To dispose of, or to present for consideration
Transparent: Invisible, or obvious
Trim: To decorate, or to remove excess from
Trip: A journey, or a stumble
Unbending: Rigid, or relaxing
Variety: A particular type, or many types
Wear: To endure, or to deteriorate
Weather: To withstand, or to wear away
Wind up: To end, or to start up

Can you think of any others? I LOVE these words! :D

(The original post came from Daily Writing Tips HERE)

Contronyms = Coolest. Words. Ever.

My lovely friend Toni Wilson forwarded this list to me a few days ago. It's absolutely awesome :D Especially for someone who writes kids books and poetry. Because nothing is more fun than using the same word but having it mean two completely different things. And not just different things, but opposite things. The same word with contradictory meanings. Too dang cool. Gotta love the English language, huh LOL

The list had 75 words. I'll just post a few of them today and post a few more another day :D

1. Apology: A statement of contrition for an action, or a defense of one
2. Aught: All, or nothing
3. Bill: A payment, or an invoice for payment
4. Bolt: To secure, or to flee
5. Bound: Heading to a destination, or restrained from movement
6. Buckle: To connect, or to break or collapse
7. Cleave: To adhere, or to separate
8. Clip: To fasten, or detach
9. Consult: To offer advice, or to obtain it
10. Custom: A common practice, or a special treatment
11. Dust: To add fine particles, or to remove them
12. Fast: Quick, or stuck or made stable
13. Fine: Excellent, or acceptable or good enough
14. Finished: Completed, or ended or destroyed
15. Left: Remained, or departed
16. First degree: Most severe in the case of a murder charge, or least severe in reference to a burn
17. Flog: To promote persistently, or to criticize or beat
18. Off: Deactivated, or activated, as an alarm
19. Give out: To provide, or to stop because of a lack of supply
20. Hold up: To support, or to impede
21. Overlook: To supervise, or to neglect
22. Oversight: Monitoring, or failing to oversee
23. Peer: A person of the nobility, or an equal
24. Put out: Extinguish, or generate
25. Puzzle: A problem, or to solve one

(The original post came from Daily Writing Tips HERE)