Jade Varden's Blog, page 35

Writing 101: Are You Being Bullied...or Criticized?

Critical feedback is essential for each and every single author, and sometimes truth is harsh. On the other hand, criticism can cross the line. With one wrong word or turn of phrase, it turns into bullying. So when you read those scathing reviews and biting comments, you have to make a decision: are you being bullied...or criticized?

Indie Authors and Bullying
This is a touchy subject, and I'll do my best to tread lightly. There's been a recent outcry regarding indie authors and bullying, and it's gained so much momentum that non-indie authors are sounding off on the subject. But to call every single negative review or harsh remark a form of bullying is incorrect, because they simply are not. If we start to scream "bully" about everything, then that word begins to lose its power and then we've all got problems. 
So it's your job to learn how to differentiate between bullying and ordinary criticism that's just hard to deal with. In matters such as these, I find that it's best to take an analytical approach. 
If it makes you cry...it's not necessarily bullying. Some reviews can be harsh. Don't believe me? Type the name of your favorite book, your very favorite book, into Amazon. Now go read the reviews, and ten to one you'll find at least one that makes you gasp. My favorite book has plenty of one-star reviews, and while I don't think they're all fair I haven't found any that qualify as bullying. Some of the criticism is accurate, in fact. If it contains offensive language...okay, that's not good. But there is a difference in someone swearing and someone swearing specifically at you. A review that says "this book is no damn good" is essentially benign even if it is hurtful. But if the review says "the author of this book is a piece of &%$#" then that is much more in the realm of bullying. As a general courtesy to all, a reviewer should always leave the taboo words out of their critique. But by that token, let's all remember that these words are by and large meant to emphasize. They've been misappropriated as a tool to berate, but I think we ought to reclaim them for the good guys (who merely wish to stress a point). If it contains incendiary language...such as name-calling, it's probably bullying. If the reviewer says something regarding the author's personal character, convictions or preferences then that's bullying because that doesn't have much of anything to do with the book. If it says the book is terrible...it may just be a bad review. Calling a book "the worst I've ever read" or saying that all the characters are two-dimensional does hurt...but that's not bullying. That's a criticism, and even if it's one you don't want to read that's exactly what it is. 
Isn't It Personal, Though?
Many indie authors feel that they're being targeted, and that's why the word bullying is coming into play. If someone is coming after you specifically to attack you at all costs, you are certainly being bullied. 
Is that what's happening with you, though? A regular reviewer who reads all your work and writes about it may not be a bully; that could be a fan. Now, if someone is constantly telling you that you suck on your blog posts or creating threads to rant about you on Goodreads or specifically calling you out by name in other reviews they're writing, yes that does sound like targeted attacking. But a handful of comments, a few reviews, this does not necessarily a bully make.
Goodreads takes a harsher stance on bullying than I do; their definition is a bit more broad. Calling a book a piece of &%$# is harsh, this I grant you, but it's not bullying. I've said that about books, movies, TV shows. Maybe I haven't said it in a public forum, but I've said it. Some reviews are opinions expressed by readers, and that's what you need to hear as an author. 
It's not always easy to hear harsh words, I know. But the word bully is a serious one, an impactful one, a word that we cannot mis- or over-use because it must keep its power. So before you say it, be sure about it. Otherwise, try to take in the criticism as best you can. Remember the information you need. Discard what you don't.

Books on Film: The Princess Diaries

"The Princess Diaries" is one of those ever-popular Disney movies everyone has seen. It introduced movie star Anne Hathaway to the world, reminded us that Julie Andrews is amazing and spawned a sequel. But before all that, it was the beginning of a 10-book series.

The Book
Meg Cabot's story revolves around Mia Thermopolis, ninth grader. She lives in Greenwich Village in New York with her single mom, a free-spirited artist. Mia has a crush on senior Josh, and she's pretty normal.

Until her dad comes to town to drop a bombshell: he's secretly a prince. Mia is his only child, and the new crown princess of a little country called Genovia. 
So she isn't so normal after all. Mia's life becomes even more complicated. Paparazzi show up at school, her mom is dating Mia's Algebra teacher, and she has a big fight with BFF Lily. As if that isn't bad enough, she has to take "princess lessons" with her grandmother (the queen).
Will Mia learn to be a princess, make up with Lily and survive her grandmother? You'll find out if you read the book. 
The Film
"The Princess Diaries" became a movie in 2001, just one year after the book was published. Hathaway stars as awkward Mia, who is "invisible" at her school. There is no dad in  this version, just Andrews as the grandmother.

Problems and princess lessons soon commence. Anne Hathaway is adorable as Mia, particularly after a makeover. By the end of the movie, its clear that everything will be okay. But by the end of the movie, you may be confused about whether or not it's an adaptation of the book.
What Got Adapted?
A lot of  changes were made to turn "The Princess Diaries" into a book. Almost none of the characters look the same, not the least of which is Princess Mia herself. She has dirty blonde hair in the book and a flat chest. She also doesn't become gorgeous overnight.
The grandmother's personality is much softer on film. In the book she's a tough lady who does not act very Queenly. Also changed: Mia's father is alive in the book. They killed him to make the movie. Mia's mom is more of a mom on film. In the book she's a complete flake. BFF Lily is the same, but her brother Michael is much less nerdy on film. The bodyguard, who is Lars in the book, becomes Joe on film and has an extended role. In the movie, he's in love with the grandmother.
Some of Mia's school friends, other awkward kids, are omitted entirely from the movie. Plot points are altered to fit these different circumstances, but much of the flavor of the book (and Mia's personality) remain intact.
You'll have to read and watch both to see these different stories, and if you love the book you can go on to enjoy Mia's other 9 adventures.

Writing 101: Letting Go

Sometimes when I'm writing, I'll fall into an alternate reality where I know just what to say. There are times when I know I'm not even telling the story; the story is letting me tell it. But those stories always end up being the very hardest to shake. Are you having trouble with letting go of a book that you already finished?

Easy Come...
Some books speak really strongly to authors..and don't stop speaking. You'll continue thinking about the characters, even after you're supposed to be working on another project. And no matter how hard you try, you just can't devote yourself to that new project. How can you? The old one is still captivating all your attention. 
Letting go is one of the hardest parts of being an author, and this will manifest itself in a variety of ways. I'm pretty sure I've experienced all of them.
Too long is too long: When you're having trouble letting go of a book, you may find yourself unable to get to the ending. You know how the book ends, of course...but you just can't get there. This is an indication that you aren't moving the plot forward efficiently enough.Sequels: After I finished The Book That Shall Not Be Named, I couldn't stop thinking about it. I may have mentioned before that I couldn't even write anything else for two years. I found myself writing a sequel because I couldn't write anything else, though I had never planned to do this and the first story was totally complete. Blocked: When you're stuck on a book, you'll find it very difficult (if not impossible) to write a new book. As an author, you shouldn't let yourself get stuck on any project like this. Even if you're writing a lengthy book series, you should take a break from those characters and that setting every so often. Write a short story. Write a different book. Write something else, just to remind yourself that you can.
Letting go of characters and a setting you love isn't easy. But it's part of the job of being an author. Each project finishes, and another takes its place. Authors always have to objective about their books, and must avoid falling in love with any project. Fall in love with your work, and you'll find yourself getting hurt in a variety of ways...not the least of which is all the bad stuff mentioned above. So let go. Move on. Break up with that book, and find yourself a new sweetheart. 
I know you can do it.

Writing 101: Public Domain (Copyrights Don't Last For Ever)

So, I ran out of TV shows on Netflix and found myself watching "Just One of the Guys" the other day. It's a gender-swapping story featuring an actress named Joyce Hyser in the lead. I've also seen the same movie starring Amanda Bynes, Cameron Diaz and countless others. Some plots are repeated, and re-repeated, a hundred times or more. Have you ever wondered why? It's because copyrights expire. 

Much Ado About Plagiarism 
Seriously, the story of the girl who dresses like a boy and falls in love with this new boy she meets is as old as time. Well, that's not precisely true -- but it is as old as the Elizabethan era. I know that because Shakespeare is the one who wrote that story. He called it "Twelfth Night." 

And even if you didn't know it, you've watch the play many, many times. I know you know you've seen "Romeo and Juliet" a thousand times. Truly, it's one of the oldest and most often-repeated plots. You can find it in "West Side Story," "Warm Bodies" and any other story where a girl and a guy from opposite ends of a battleground wind up falling in love with each other. 
If you like one of Shakespeare's plots and you want to use it to write your own new story, go ahead and do it. There's a good reason why his work is so often copied and repeated: it's free to do so. You see, Shakespeare has been dead for a number of years. And after a certain number of years, all of your copyrights are going to expire, too.
So which Jane Austen plot would you like to repeat? Which Greek myth do you believe should be revamped? Because as of now, all those books are in the public domain -- and that makes them free for all. 
Public Domain
Copyrights expire. I don't know exactly why they do, but they do. Once the author of that work dies, it becomes public domain after a mere 70 years. So not only is Shakespeare's work totally fair game, so is anything ever written by Mark Twain. 
Not having a name can't protect your work, either. Anonymous works become public domain 120 years after the date of creation. So that's why you keep seeing Shakespeare over and over, and why "Pride and Prejudice" is re-done every couple of years. You can use public domain works to your advantage (I use it to fill my Kindle with stuff I probably won't read but it looks impressive) by re-using some of those classic plots and circumstances. And you can take some joy, perhaps, in the idea that maybe your books will repeated a few hundred years from now, too.

Writing 101: Autobiography

Do you have to be famous to write an autobiography? How old do you have to be to write an autobiography? What actually makes a book an autobiography? Let's get the answers.

A Song of Myself
An autobiography is a very specific type of book, and must meet certain criteria before the name applies. A book is an autobiography when, and only when, it is a life story written by the person who lived that life. If I write a book about Jade Varden's life, it's an autobiography because I'm her. But if I write a book about Harry Truman's life, it's called a biography because I'm not him. 
On biographies, they're a bear to write. You have to get the person's permission (otherwise you have to bill the book as an "unauthorized" biography, and you have to make darn sure that every single fact is absolutely accurate). 
And all you have to do to write an autobiography is simply to be you. Authors have written them while very young and very old, so there's no limit on when or how you ought to do it. If your life story is fascinating and you want to write it, write it. But remember that you can only write about autobiography if it's about yourself...for the most part.
More and more writers are also writing fictitious autobiographies. You can write one about one of your characters, for example, or even a legendary character from folklore. Fictitious autobiographies are a little looser, rule-wise, and they're starting to become more popular. They could be the next "in" genre, so now's the time to start learning a little more about autobiographies.

Writing 101: Continuity

I remember very distinctly editing one of my very early manuscripts, only the second or third one I'd ever written. I sent the main character off in one scene, and this was a fantasy book so she was really gone and unreachable at that point. Then I noticed that I had her sitting with someone else just a few scenes later, because I had messed it up. Continuity is so important, you have to edit your book just for that at least once -- and stop getting bogged down in the minutia of looking for out-of-place commas. 

For Every Action...
Continuity is one of the most important elements of any book, and too often I see it ignored. There are many ways in which you can screw up continuity, and I know because I've made most of these mistakes myself: 
Injury: Authors injure their main characters all the time. We've all been hurt and had accidents, so we can identify. It's also a good way to make the character vulnerable. Drawing sympathy can make a character seem more likable. But if you injure your character in a scene, that character has to stay injured. If it's a break, they'll be injured for weeks. Sprains heal quicker. Look up the injuries you're giving them, know what that's all about, and make sure your time line is correct. Don't give someone a broken foot and have them dancing in a ballroom the very next weekend. Pregnancy: People get pregnant, and so do characters in books. Please remember that they're pregnant. I've read books where a character got pregnant, carried on totally normally for 7 chapters and suddenly an infant appears. Yeah, like I'm going to believe that. I want symptoms, I want big bellies, I want to see that character curtail their normal activities and start eating all the time because that's what happens. Hatred: If two characters have a falling out on page 56, I'm going to be terribly confused if they suddenly have a pleasant conversation on page 61. Make sure you keep track of relationships and feelings. If one character does something awful to another, I expect there to be some animosity. Relationships are fluid, and they change. Your story must reflect those changes. Appearance: People change their appearance all the time, or something happens and life changes it for them. If your character cuts her hair, receives a deep wound that leaves a scar or loses a bunch of weight you've got to continue to reflect and address these changes through the story. If I know she's cut off all her hair and 20 pages later she's wearing a ponytail, I'm confused. 
I get tangled up in logistics like the above all the time...so that means you have to edit all your stories very carefully for nit-pickers like me. Make sure your stories have continuity. Keep track of your own changes, because your readers certainly will.

Books on Film: Jurassic Park

Haven't we all been fascinated by dinosaurs, at one time or another? I remember that, as a child, I was always very concerned about what happened to them. It caused me great distress that scientists couldn't figure it out exactly. And I remember the very first time I saw Jurassic Park on the big screen. You wouldn't think that reading a book about dinosaurs would be as satisfying as watching them up there, but you'd be wrong.

The Book
Jurassic Park was a bestseller n 1990, and so popular it became Michael Crichton's signature book. For an author with a career like his, that's really saying something. The story was always destined to become a movie. Crichton originally envisioned it as a screenplay about graduate students who recreate dinosaurs.

As the project developed, Crichton tweaked this original idea. As it stands now, the story opens in 1989 after a series of strange attacks on Isla Nublar in Costa Rica. In a different part of the world, billionaire John Hammond has paleontologist Alan Grant and his graduate student Ellie Sattler collected so they can be brought to Costa Rica.
When they arrive, they're introduced to Jurassic Park. It's a theme park that's filled with dinosaurs. Actual dinosaurs. They've been cloned from ancient DNA found inside gnats and ticks that were fossilized in pieces of amber. Missing DNA has been filled in by reptiles and birds available in today's modern era. Considering the impossibility of the plot to begin with, this explanation seems like it could be somehow plausible so props to Michael Crichton for that.
Hammond glowingly shows off his state-of-the-art facilities to his guests. He's thought of everything, like engineering all the dinosaurs to be female so they can't reproduce. The two scientists aren't alone on the tour. They're joined by mathematician Ian Malcolm and lawyer Donald Gennaro, who represents the investors. Malcolm particularly thinks the park is a terrible idea, bound for doom.
To round off the tour group, Hammond has invited his grandchildren. This is Tim and Lex Murphy. While this is all happening, there's someone on the inside with an agenda of his own. It's Dennis Nedry, and he's secretly working for a rival genetics firm. Nedry shuts down the computer security systems to steal embryos, which he attempts to sneak out of the park. 
But he did shut off the security systems, and by the way there's a tropical storm brewing. So Nedry is killed by a Dilophosaurus, the tour guests get attacked by a T-Rex and all hell breaks loose. Grant gets lost in the park with the kids, Malcolm is badly hurt and all the redshirts die in the background.
Things get really gory after that. Surprisingly, a lot of the blood was actually toned down for the big screen...but the film is still pretty epic.
The Movie
Jurassic Park hit the big screen in 1993, and everybody went to go see it. The ensemble cast is amazing, the effects were the absolute best of their day and it had Steven Spielberg pointing the cameras so the flick was bound for greatness from the word go. The marketing campaign alone cost a whopping $65 million.

The movie features the same main cast and premise as the book, though some things about the characters were changed for the film version. On film, the dinosaurs are terrifying. The tropical scenery is lush. And the music is practically enough movie all by itself. Jurassic Park earned more than $900 million the first time it was released to theaters and won three Oscars. 
It was a pioneer in visual effects, as both animatronics and computer-generated images were used to create the film. The movie spawned two sequels (the book had only one), and a fourth Jurassic Park is scheduled for release in 2015.
What Got Adapted? 
While major plot points are the same, lots of other stuff was changed to bring Jurassic Park to the big screen. Some of the changes are glaring. Many of the dinosaurs in the film actually didn't even exist during the Jurassic period. The majority of the species you'll see weren't around until the Cretaceous period. The Brachiosaurus and Dilophosaurus are the only two species who were around for the Jurassic period. 

Part of the ending of the story was re-written to feature the T-Rex, whom Spielberg considered to be the star of the movie. The animatronic T-Rex was 20 feet high and a true work of art. The scene where the beast chases the Jeep took about two months to finish.
In the book, Tim is the older child and Lex his younger sister. On film their ages are reversed. According to urban legend, it's because Spielberg was very keen on the child actor who played Tim and wanted him for the role. In the book, he's also the computer whiz and not Lex.
Dr. Alan Grant is not Ellie's love interest in the book, but her teacher. They are not romantic. In the book, the park is already finished. On film, it's not finished and not yet ready to open. Crichton himself has said that the movies are much different from the books. So to get another version of the story, read the original Jurassic Park before you watch the movie for the 50th time.

Writing 101: What #AmazonCart Can Do for Indies

If you're an Amazon customer (and I suspect that you are), you've probably already been spammed with emails regarding the new #AmazonCart hashtag. But if you're like me, you erased those emails. I don't read spam emails, but I do research things that interest me. And if you're an indie author, like me, #AmazonCart should interest you, too.

Not Another Hashtag
In a new partnership with Twitter, Amazon has unveiled yet another way to sell their products: #AmazonCart. If Amazon tweets a link to one of their products, you can simply reply to it with #AmazonCart. Through the magic of the Internet, that item will be added to your Amazon account. But here's the beauty of it: you can reply to anyone who posts a link to anything on Amazon. Yes...including indie books. You don't even have to click a link, just hit reply and you're shopping without leaving Twitter.
But since nothing is ever easy, there are some drawbacks to be aware of:
Linkage: In order for this to work, you've got to link your Twitter account to your Amazon account. If you're an indie author and you've used Author Central then you've probably done this already. Publicizing: If you start using the #AmazonCart hashtag, you're going to be making the contents of your shopping cart public. It Doesn't Work: Unfortunately, #AmazonCart doesn't work for digital items. So that marketing campaign that you were building in your head is going to have to be tweaked a bit. Because while digital items can't be added to your cart, Amazon will issue an automated email including a full picture of the eproduct and a link that can be used to purchase the digital item. 
The new hashtag is an interesting novelty, and as it catches on it could change the Twitter landscape. But for now, it's probably a little bit easier to keep posting direct links and hope that readers will directly click on them. Once #AmazonCart starts working for digital items, I'll let you know.

Writing 101: Unresolved Subplots

If there's anything that will put me off a novel or book series, it's loose ends. I want every question to be answered, and where appropriate I'd really like to learn the ultimate fate of every single character, ideally. And that's why I don't truck with stories that contain unresolved subplots. Here's why it ought to matter to you: I'm not the only reader who feels this way. 

But What About the Dog? 
Subplots are used to add meat to the main story. They're around to provide excitement, or perhaps mystery, maybe even romance. In the best stories, I find, the subplots are intricately woven around the main plot and all the threads interconnect somehow. When subplots are just hanging out there for no reason, I always feel a bit like my time is being wasted so I appreciate it when everything ties together.
And frankly, I want it tied together in a nice little bow when I get to the end of that story. Even if the end of the story is that everyone's dead now, this is a resolution I can live with. What I can't live with is not knowing. 
For example, whatever happened to Leah Clearwater from the Twilight series? I always found myself particularly concerned about her well-being, and hopeful that she would find a love of her own. Stephenie Meyer never gave me that, darn it. 
If you close a book and the story's clearly over and you're still asking yourself something like "but what about the dog?" it's an example of an unresolved subplot. And I don't know about you, but it really sticks in my craw. 
Always go back and read your book, looking for loose ends. If you still have questions, then so will the readers. Tie it all up for them, and put a bow on it. Because there are some readers out there who won't care about your subplots. For the readers that do, go ahead and put a cap on the story...because it certainly won't hurt those others.

Writing 101: Are You Too Hard on Yourself?

As an indie author, you're in charge. You decide what to publish, when to publish, how the cover will look and how the promotion will go. You're the boss...but you're also your own employee. And every once in a while you need to stop and ask yourself if you're being way too hard on yourself. As an indie author, it's really easy to become your own worst enemy. 

Evil Twin
I'm not a good boss. I know, because I make my only employee work 10 hour days and 7 days a week. She doesn't get holidays off. In fact, she hardly gets any days off -- one a month, so far, in 2014. She has to eat while working and generally only gets negative feedback from me, the boss. My only employee is myself, and I have a habit of being way too hard on myself.
It's because the other side of the coin is so attractive to me. On the flip side, some indie authors take it way too easy and play it way to fast and loose, at least for my taste. You've got to promote all the time, work all the time, be prepared at any moment to stop and write when the right moment strikes. Actually, you don't have to do that. You're the boss, so really you can do whatever you please. But you'll get more traffic if you promote every day, and more traffic can become more sales (work on your hook).
The point is, there is a happy medium out there. And lots of indie authors, myself include, have a hard time balancing themselves on that razor-thin edge. I tend more toward being too hard on myself. I'll work too late and get too little sleep. I'll ignore hunger and just keep working. I won't give myself any free time until it's done, and if it's not done until bedtime then so be it. I'll berate myself for not getting more done, and most days I feel like I haven't done enough because there's always so much more to do. 
Are you too hard on yourself, too? It's easy to slide into this mentality. It's easy to drive yourself to exhaustion. Many people tend to be much harder on themselves than on others; it's common to hold oneself to an entirely different set of standards. If you're an indie author and you're driven to succeed and you have other responsibilities as well and you want to stay ahead of the game, it's very easy to start spreading yourself too thin. Combine this with ambition, motivation, ironclad work ethic or even a simple desire to succeed, and you're on a slippery slope. Soon, you could find yourself completely exhausted...like me. 
Find a balance. You're only human. Start paying attention to how much you're working, and try to cap it off at a reasonable level. More than 50 hours a week is really too much; more than 60, and you're pretty much asking to start suffering from ill health. Give yourself some time to unwind, and take a day off every once in a while, to avoid driving yourself completely mad. 
And if you can't, if you've got to keep pushing yourself regardless, you've still got to find ways to relieve the stress. Take 5 minutes, or 10, to unwind and relax. Or to hit a punching bag. Maybe you need to have a quiet glass of wine. Whatever works for you, take the time to do it. Because sometimes you've got to be hard on yourself...but sometimes you've got to be nice to yourself, too.