L.M. Long's Blog, page 36

I Check My Email a Million Times a Day.

Elana Johnson wrote a book on writing queries, and the final section is about waiting. Waiting. WAITING! Which is what I'm doing. Which is why I check my email at all hours. (Because some agent just might be up at two a.m. reading my excerpt and loving it--not because it's so late, but because it's so good ...) Right now I have a manuscript submitted to a publisher, and it's one of those cases where it might be six months before I hear from them. I have two thoughts on the issue-

*HOW THE HECK CAN THEY TURN IT DOWN? It's simply amazing. They'll all love it. I'm finally going to get published. I'm wondering what two weeks I should have my husband take off this summer so I can travel for book signings. And should I contact "Live with Kelly" now and offer them the first chance to interview me?
* ... I. Am. Never. Getting. Published.
Which makes checking my email a bit nerve racking. Once, after a small publisher asked me to revise a different novel and resubmit it, my husband was checking my email for something and saw a response from them. He happened to be on the phone with me because I was at the lumber store. "Hey, you got an email from [the publisher]." Ah. AHH. AHHH! "What does it say?"Long. Pause. "Uh, you can read it when you get home." (In case you didn't realize it, it was a rejection.)I heard an author once say she got 89 rejections before she got representation. I have another friend who's gotten well over 100 for what I think is a great book. I think technically I have like ten. Which I've handled very well. (Mostly because I'm no where near 89 yet, which seems to be some kind of magic number for me. I'll probably start crying the closer I get to that ...) I've been known to actually walk away from the computer when I see the name of an agent or publisher in my inbox. Because it's like that cat in the box thing--as long as I don't open it, it could be a "yes." That's the same reason that I'm okay with every day that goes by that I don't have an email from a publisher or agent.
It could still be a "yes."
...Excuse me, I have to go check my email again. ...

Day 18: Temporary Triumphs

[image error]
Think of the last time you were reading a novel and about halfway through the book everything seemed to be wrapping up nicely:  the guy got the girl, the promotion, the tattoo - whatever his goals were.  And recall your thought process as you were reading about how great life was becoming for the main character.  You probably sat there looking at that fatty book in your hand, seeing that you were only on page 200 of 400, and wondered to yourself what horrible incident was about to befall this beloved hero of yours.  Because there has to be an incident.  Else the next 200 pages are going to be a real drag.  
What is the point of this "temporary triumph" (to use the term coined by Victoria Lynn Schmidt)?  Obviously none of us are going to be fooled into thinking the hero has seen the worst of his problems and he's now going to sail smoothly for the latter half of the book, so it must have another purpose.  For me, temporary triumphs are the perfect opportunity to add some drama and showcase just exactly what this character is made of.  The protagonist has, by Act I, Part 1, already seen a few trials so he or she feels their temporary triumph is well-deserved.  They're sitting back relaxing in a canoe on a calm river, positive that they've overcome the worst of the river's rapids.  We'll let them revel in their momentary victory because we want to show the readers that, despite having done little to deserve it, our characters are proud of their achievements.  And yet we know, pride goeth before the fall.  What good is a story if the protagonist changes only their surface problem without ever changing themselves, without growing and learning from the opposition and coming out a better person in the end?  So that's what we're going to do.  We're going to let them pat themselves on the back, but then we're going to see their horror-stricken faces when they realize their problems are far from over (and secretly, we're going to be routing for that kind of gut-wrenching reversal because without overcoming great obstacles the hero can barely get an opportunity to showcase how truly heroic he can be).
Today's task is to brainstorm a few options for your own character's temporary triumph.  You can find the Temporary Triumph Brainstorm worksheet by clicking the link and scrolling down to page 270.  You must remember, however, to keep the triumph relevant to the overall conflict of the story.  As Schmidt says:

"If you are having trouble figuring out what your story's temporary triumph should be, remember that it needs to push the main character toward his ultimate goal.  Look at where you want that character to be in the end of the story [and ask yourself] how [you can] use the temporary triumph to support that ending" (BIAM, pg 146).

To give you a better idea of what a temporary triumph might look like I've listed some examples from page 145 of Victoria Lynn Schmidt's Book In a Month :Our heroine gets the job of her dreams and can now support her family (temporary triumph)  Oh no, it was just a scam and she already quit her old crappy job. (reversal)The hero found the love of his life and can let himself love again after going through a horrible divorce! (temporary triumph) Wait - she's already married and not interested in anything long-term. (reversal)The heroine discovers a cure for baldness! (temporary triumph) Oops - it has horrible side effects and her company is being sued. (reversal)Stay tuned for when we'll discuss reversals and reversal brainstorming in more depth.
MY DAY 18:  The day was hardly productive.  I spent my time editing my website and watching TV with the hubs (in my defense it had been a while...) and got only one measly scene completed.  Looked forward with hope for a better tomorrow.

Never let them see you rant. . .

Did you miss me? Oh.  Didn't notice I was gone huh.  Well I forgive you, Thanksgiving was hard on me.  Trying to exceed my own expectations for a perfect holiday and all that crap.  Was anyone else as annoyed as I was by all the thankfulness filling up the facebook walls?  I mean there's only so much "I'm so grateful for my husband" one person can take.  I was feeling a bit bah humbug about the whole thing until I began compiling my own list.  It went a little something like this.
I'm grateful for Bowel Movements.  I am grateful for laxatives.  I am grateful all of my children can usually make it to the potty before they need to "go."I'm most grateful for disposable diapers.  And baby wipes.  And Clorox disinfectant  wipes.  I'm grateful for Diet Coke and Tylenol.  My breakfast of champions.I'm grateful for Netflix streaming, especially when my daughter wakes at 2am and WON'T GO BACK TO SLEEP.  I'm grateful I can sleep through Yo Gabba Gabba.I'm grateful my husband has class until really late Thursday nights.  Because sometimes (sometimes) I really enjoy having the house to myself after the kids have gone to bed.I'm grateful my husband is a gearhead.  I don't care about tripping over the alternator in the yard.  Or the brake parts on top of my washer.  The V-8 engine my husband insisted on buying, will allow me to cut in front of that stupid hybrid Prius driving 50 on the freeway (no offense Prius drivers).I'm grateful for a giant, fast, intimidating cars.  Even if it does feel like a bus every once in a while.I'm grateful for grumpy friends.  And sarcastic ones.  And snide comments made under their breath. I am grateful for how real they are with me.I'm grateful for bad weather.  For the excuse to leave my kids in jammies all day and watch tv and eat cookies for breakfast.  Most of all I am grateful to you, blog reader.  I am grateful you are still reading this little rant because I would have stopped after the word poop.You are still reading, aren't you?  I had to let this list out.  All this snark inside me was just aching to go on facebook.  I don't know how many times I've logged on to see someone gush about how wonderful their husband is, or how grateful they are for a job, blah, blah, blah.   All the while I feel like I'm trying to (barely) hold on to some semblance of this holiday season spirit.And yes, nothing like a little snark to make the holiday season that much more. . .genuine.What are you truly grateful for this month?  Let it out here. . .I promise not to tell.-Laura

Improving Your Writing Through Your Assets

In my search to improve my writing, I like to read what other writers do and I often find myself learning from them.  Such is the case with Hope Clark who started the Fund For Writers website and newsletter.  Her last writing of encouraging words for writers was very informative.
"When we become a writer, we often have a goal in mind. We envision the "one day" of being a successful writer, which to many means a book. To some it's a special book after several near-misses. To others it's a reputation and a long list of bylines. 

All too soon after we begin this journey, we realize that long-term goal is pretty far down the path . . . almost out of sight. Then we wonder if we are on the right path. That writing 
gold ring seems too distant to take seriously. Most quit."
She points out that we can use our assets or our other talents to improve our writing skills by writing about them. What Hope says is that "we underestimate who we are and what we can do. And we greatly underestimate how those identifying factors and talents factor into who we are as writers."
 So think of and write down your top five talents or what you like to do the most besides writing. The sky is the limit as it could be gardening, exercise, reading, baking, organizing, sewing or crafts, parenting; the list can go on forever and this is a whole opportunity of topics to write about.
As Hope says, it does takes time to become a "successful" writer. Meaning earning a fair income from what we create which means others are reading our stuff. But as we are honing our craft in consistently writing day after day and week after week, what are the short term successes we can experience? We can be published online in other areas by submitting articles to magazines, online e-zines and blogs. This opportunity helps give us motivation to keep writing.
            Personally I have learned to diversify my writing.  I have been published under the topics of homeschooling children, book reviews and raising Christian children. It is amazing when you can "google" your name and find how much your writing is available for the public. We can continue to write all we want of whatever we love to do and we can improve our writing skills as we go.
As Hope suggests in what she calls "diversified writing" we can learn:how to write betterhow to find our voicehow to develop a platformhow to approach agents and editorshow to be patienthow to appreciate good writinghow to write our dream project betterSo keep your mind on your goal of writing that great American novel or romance-mystery but add on what interests you and what you have been actively doing for the past five, ten or twenty years and you will double or triple your readership.

The End of NaNo

So this year, I pretty much sucked at NaNo, and I'm totally okay with that. You can't ask for a story to write itself every year! Admittedly I had a really great outline and an amazing idea, but for some reason it wrote itself out at 22k. I could've gone the phone-book-quoting route to add many more words, but I liked "High School Revolution" too much to add filler. So I made the decision to set it aside. I'll go back in a few months and see what needs developed and fixed to make it into a great novel.There's another big reason I'm okay with not getting 50k this year. This NaNo Mom-o made a crazy decision in the middle of November that she wanted to make her kids gifts this year for Christmas (for a more detailed explanation of this wildness, check out this post). This kind of decision happens for us every day. We decide to  use that extra few minutes we have every day to write to do something for our kids instead. And honestly, crafting has helped me. By not forcing my brain to come up with words, scenes, dialog, conflict -- it cleared a lot. When I hit writing hard again in January -- no fear, I haven't quit completely for December, just cut back A LOT -- I'll be READY! It's like when you edit for months and months, and by the time you're done, new stories are practically spilling out of your brain.So, my question is, what NaNo genius did you all create last month?

Day 17: Cultivating Conflict

[image error]
Doesn't it feel like we've already discussed conflict a few times?  Might that not be a hint that it is central to the entire story-telling process.  Yes.  Yes it might.
Continuing to follow Victoria Lynn Schmidt's "Write Your Novel in 30 Days" and Book in a Month calendars, our focus for today is on intensifying our characters' main problem.  In other words, making our characters' lives a bit more miserable by heaping additional conflicts onto their already harried lives.  But before we can begin brainstorming fun new ways to torture our creations we need to understand the three categories of problems every character will face, as identified by Les Edgerton in his book Hooked.  The Inciting Incident.  This is the problem that gets the story rolling.  We'll see a bit of "normal" life for the character and then the inciting incident occurs and causes a major disruption to that character's typical flow of activity.  In response the character seeks out a solution, which leads us to....The Initial Surface Problem.  This is the problem which will occupy most of the novel.  Although it may seem that this is the issue which must be resolved in order for the story to be complete, the novel's true ending is actually brought about via...  The Story-Worthy Problem.  This problem is less about outside circumstances and more about the changes a character must make within themselves to bring about a satisfying conclusion.So when Victoria Lynn Schmidt asks us to intensify our characters' main problem, is she referring to the Initial Surface Problem or to the Story-Worthy Problem?

The answer to that is yes.

After all, is it really possible to pile conflicts onto the surface problems without having them influence the story-worthy problems?  As Eleanor Roosevelt once said, "A [person] is like a tea bag.  You never know how strong she is until she gets into hot water."

So even though we'll be combining conflict to the initial surface problem, remember that these added difficulties will also inevitably impact your characters' story-worthy problem; that character should be pretty dang strong by the end of the novel 'cause we're adding some boiling water via the following types of conflict:
Barriers - a character tries out a new approach for overcoming his problem, but it is ineffective.  Schmidt offers the example of a heroine trying to get into the church to stop a wedding but finding locked doors and maybe a couple of goons to keep her out.Complications - a new character or situation enters the story and makes the current problem seem even worse.  A classic example of this, the misunderstanding, is shown in the fantasy-musical film Enchanted.  The hero, Robert, allowed the very innocent Giselle to sleep on his couch because she had no place to stay.  When his girlfriend comes over the next morning to find another woman in the house she walks out without giving him time to explain himself.  Now his current problem (having homeless girl sleeping on couch) has just been complicated. Situations - a new circumstance occurs which moves the story forward and adds tension.  Schmidt's example is of a man running for political office who suddenly finds out his sister has been arrested and that his campaign is now in jeopardy.Now its time to brainstorm some possible conflicts for your Act II.  Pull out your previous outline and plot worksheets and see what kinds of problems you had planned.  Now use the Conflict Brainstorm worksheet (scroll down to page 269) and think up a few ideas of barriers, complications, and situations.  Don't be afraid to make things too hard on your character.  The worse things are the more the audience will root for them!
MY DAY 17:  The day itself wasn't terribly productive, but once the hubs and kids were in bed I stayed up and began my writing.  I wasn't feeling it at first so I skipped ahead a bit to a scene I was very excited to write - the characters' first kiss.  Yep, got so engrossed in that one that I stayed up WAY too late to finish it, but man was it fun.  Days like that make me remember why I do any of this in the first place.

Clearly a Guy Chose November

Like any other NaNo Mom-o, I have a million things going on in November. Randomly odd things that may or may not have to do with the approaching holidays. I could say that no other November was this busy. That might be true. For instance, I've never taken a week long hunting trip in November in years past that cut me off from cell and internet service. Because obviously that was a big problem despite having a perfectly capable laptop. (Perhaps wasting time by messing around on Facebook is actually productive in some way ...?) And I always come back from the Thanksgiving weekend seriously behind on my word count. But I've always bounced back. It just feels like this November does not have enough days, which caused me to ask the question: Why the heck do we do NaNo WriMo in November? There's Christmas to think of. It's just over a month away, and I just got some wild hair to try and do homemade presents for my boys. And there's Thanksgiving. Everyone's going to lose at least three days there. (Well, in my family we do.) And now is SO not the time to cut back on my exercising since if I do I'll have like 20 pounds to lose in January instead of maybe 10. As Valeri so expertly pointed out, the holidays present a serious challenge to writers because our work times get annihilated by other things. 
So instead of just throwing that question out into the void, I went to the NaNo website to figure out what the heck is up. The reasoning? "To take advantage of the miserable weather." Yes, clearly a man made this decision. Originally NaNo WriMo was held in July. I could so do July. My older child would be home from school to entertain my younger child. Writing at the park anyone? The ability to send my kids outside to play? Um, sure, there's the Fourth of July to contend with, but that's just one night. Then I realized, I've been in worse positions than this for NaNo and I've come out on top. So what's with my doom and gloom this year? Well, that would be because I only have 16,926 words and my story is finished. Literally done. I know there's some character development and some relationships to beef up. But there is DEFINITELY not 30-plus words to add. Nowhere. Unless as I once read in one of Chris Baty's (NaNo founder) pep-talks, I start letting my characters read out of the phone book for kicks and giggles. I just happen to be the girl who can't write filler. I know I can cut it later to streamline a book I really want to go somewhere, but I can't bring myself to. It would mess stuff up.So I might flop for the first time in a couple years. And that's okay. I'm going to try really hard to keep my goal because I still believe in the power of NaNo WriMo. If I come up short, I can live with that.But if I made it--that'd be one for my record books. :D

Crunch Time Writing During the Holidays

            The holidays are fast approaching which means our writing time gets crunched.  Burning the midnight oil becomes more common as writing during Thanksgiving and Christmas holidays takes our normal writing time away.            Writing crunch time means we will do more with our family and friends and less writing for ourselves.  This is not a poor choice by any means, but just a change of venue as we need to spend more time with our families and friends during these memory making experiences.            Crunch time can also mean what we munch on while we are writing. The stuff we might snack on when we write helps us through our writer's blocks.  I love crunching on trail mix when I'm trying to think. Some how keeping my mouth chewing keeps my mind busy on how to improve what I have written. Emotions are high as well and sometimes we can write more heart felt dialogue or narration with holiday music playing in the background.            So sit back for holiday time and try to relax and enjoy the ride.  Family and friends are hard to come by so don't disappear to your computer too much.  This is what life is all about.

A beat of my own

The first time I heard Lady Gaga, I was standing in the grocery store debating if I could substitute couscous for quinoa (you can), when Paparazzi came on over the speakers. I stood there humming the catchy beat when my husband came up behind me and grabbed a box of plain rice.

"Why can't we just have this?" he asked.

Ignoring him, I asked if he knew who sang the song pumping over the loudspeakers.

"You mean Lady Gaga?" He asked in mild disbelief.

"Lady Gaga," I said, "I think I've heard of her."

"Of course you've heard of her, Laura! She's ridiculously famous. She even has a muzac track," he said, pointing to the ceiling. He shook his head and laughed, before grabbing another box of rice.

Later I related this story to my friend Ju, letting her know how I discovered this really good "new" artist named Lady Gaga. Like my husband, she laughed at me, before informing me I was way out of the loop when it came to music. Even she had heard of Lady Gaga.

I give you this example of my own cultural stupidity, because a month ago I received a request from a blogger for my book Founder's, "soundtrack."

"Soundtrack?" I thought, "What the heck is that?" It turns out most authors, what seems like every author, is inspired by music. They listen to music as they write, and their characters all have their own style of music.

Apparently this should have been an easy thing to do, but all l I could think was,

When did this become a thing?

I did more research. I read blog posts from other authors about their own soundtracks, and I began to feel more than a little overwhelmed.

I don't think Laurie Berkner was going to cut it for this one (and let's be honest, Laurie Berkner rocks- my kids sing "We are the Dinosaurs" in their sleep). Could I get away with mixing The Bangles, AC/DC, and The Doors? The last album I purchased was the soundtrack to Tangled, which is what I still stand by as, a "new release."

Even now while I'm typing this, the theme song is pumping from my children's princess karaoke machine.

I'm simply not inspired by music. I sing (barely). I dance (when necessary). I listen to. . .nothing usually. I like the sound of silence. You really learn to appreciate quiet when you've grown up in a huge family and now live with three incredibly rambunctious kids. Don't get me wrong, I have my favorite songs- I think music can be uplifting or enforce whatever mood I'm in. But I'm much more likely to be caught listening to an audiobook, then listening to some top forty hit.

I began feeling very alone in this feeling, so I called my friend Liz to discuss my problem.

My friend Liz, musical encyclopedia, equally horrified that I had never heard of Lady Gaga.

I handed over my iphone and she filled it with what I needed. Current music in every genre she thinks I would enjoy.

David Guetta, for the gym.

Grace Potter, for my car.

Adele, for my home.

For the next week I felt like I was surrounded in a music bubble, earpiece surgically connected to one ear as I concentrated on my characters and pieced it all together. My head throbbed with lyrics, my iPhone shuffling through different playlists. I visited the land of Pandora and had a brief relationship with Spotify. Then finally, finally I made something up and sent it off. Proud of myself for accomplishing the impossible.

Now I'm back to normal, and I wonder- Am I really so alone? I find the rhythm distracting when I write, especially when my characters need to have their own voices. I don't understand why anyone would need a soundtrack to their book.

But. . .what do you think? Do you listen to music while you type?

And what do you listen to?

"Show, Don't Tell"

[image error] Okay, so I'm deviating a bit from the Write Your Novel in 30 Days calendar to discuss a principle which has been on my mind recently - the classic "Show, Don't Tell" adage of writing. 
Back when we got engaged my husband and I were taking a class together at BYU.  We always sat together and probably even snuggled a bit (I'm not shy of such public displays of affection), but it wasn't until I wrote "I'm engaged!" next to my name on the attendance roll that I felt I had truly shown the world how excited I was for my upcoming marriage.  When I showed it to my then-fiancee he rolled his eyes good-naturedly, (public displays of affection are much less appealing to him) and then I handed the roll on to the next person and thought nothing more about it.  That is, until a few days later when the roll was being passed around again and I saw written next to my excited scrawl the words "No one cares."
I'm not sure why I keep thinking of this incident.  I wasn't really offended... I mean, I didn't even know the person who'd written it, so they obviously didn't mean it as any kind of personal attack.  Still, I wondered a lot about the type of person that would write such a thing.  Was this person left bitter after a recently-botched relationship?  Did they feel they were old and "beyond their prime"? (given the average age of married students at the BYU campus feeling "old" is a lot easier than you might think...)  Maybe they were just sick of hearing about marriage when they felt the focus of the institution ought to be on education - no time for frivolities like love.  I don't know.  I've never known, but I've often wondered.  
I tell you this story not for your pity (though you're welcome to offer it), but as a pretty dang good example of how your novel will be much more emotionally engaging if you reveal your characters through show rather than tell.  Let's say Mr. "No one cares" is the main character of your novel.  It would be easy to simply tell your readers he is a bitter old harpy who resents anyone else's happiness, but the reader would only "see" what you want them to see without necessarily feeling what you want them to feel.  What if, instead, you show an attendance roll being passed around.  You show it coming to your character.  You show how various emotions are roiling inside of him until he rashly dashes off "no one cares" next to the words "I'm engaged!" and then quickly passes the roll along before he can think too much about it.  Wouldn't a scene like that provide the reader with essentially the same information, but much more feeling?  That is the difference in showing versus telling:  feeling.  Whereas telling a narrative is merely relating a story, showing it helps the reader live through scene right along with the character, providing that magical illusion of being a part of the story.  
One of my favorite examples of "show vs. tell" narrative comes from Les Edgerton in his book Hooked.  I realize I've already shared it with you on this blog, but I think its worth a repeat:

"Characters are best revealed by their actions... For instance, if you feel it important to develop your protagonist's characterization as a skinflint, don't give some long, drawn-out tale of him pinching pennies as a youngster, or (worse!) tell the reader he's a miserable miser. Instead, in your opening scene, show him doing something miserly within the context of the inciting incident scene. Show him having to transfer two handfuls of hundred-dollar bills to one hand so he can scoop the inside of the coin return of a candy machine for forgotten nickels."

Have you struggled with understanding the "show, don't tell" principle in writing?  For those of you who are more experienced writers, do you feel it has become easier as you've practiced it?