Sarah Allen's Blog, page 43

How These Shows Would Have Ended If I'd Written Them (And its probably good I didn't)

We all do this. We watch a show, we are engaged, and then an episode comes along that makes us go, "Oh, come on guys, that's not what was supposed to happen." So lets indulge that impulse for a moment. Here are some shows I would have done differently.

Once Upon a Time: I'll admit, it is this show that has gotten me thinking about this. I have had twinges about the frankly awful dialog since the beginning. I like the characters and love the premise, and they do even throw bits of clever dialog in there occasionally. But since the season 1 finale it has been driving me crazy. I could get past the dialog if they HADN'T RUINED RUMBELLE. Ok. Sorry, calm. Except Robert Carlyle is THE REASON I watch this show and his face was so beautiful when Belle all the sudden walks back into his shop but then after that they totally ruined it. They needed a moment, and not just a cheesy, "I love you you monster" moment. Jeez, they didn't even kiss. Except apparently there's going to be this majorly smexy Captain Hook coming along soon so I can't stop watching now.

Lost: This is probably one that its good I didn't write, because if I had, it would for sure have just turned in to the Benjamin Linus Show. I always wanted EVERY episode to be a Ben-centric one. Honestly I didn't care about Jack or Kait. Hurley was awesome, Sawyer was hot, but really it was all about Ben. It just was. What they did give him I thought was brilliant. His Dr. Linus redemption episode in the last season is...perfection. His creepy "Got any milk?" and "Because you're MINE" were freaking incredible and I still can't even talk about his "I want to explain that I know what you're feeling" speech...gahh!!! I loved it all, I just wanted a lot, lot more.

Firefly: Fox...*facepalm*

Frasier: Niles and Daphne ALL THE THINGS.

House: This ones harder, because I actually LOVED the way they ended it. I thought it was perfect. Perfect for the characters themselves and perfect for the original Doyle source material. Its just there's this part of me that still really wants House and Cuddy to be together.

That was kinda fun :) Maybe I want all my TV to be about pining middle aged men but so what. :) What about you guys? What shows would you have changed and how?

Sarah Allen

Landscapes, Child Molesters, and Other Elements of Literary Fiction

Strange or not, I am, at the moment, feeling frustrated with my genre.

I should say, first off, that literary fiction is what I love. There is a reason mainstream is what I write. Austen, Dickens, George Elliot, Charlotte Bronte, Wallace Stegner, these are the stars by which I hope to guide my own literary efforts.

However. The waters of the modern literary novel are not feeling very welcoming at the moment.

Firstly, I get the whole lyrical prose thing. I really do. So much so that when I write I have to be careful it doesn't become detrimental to my plot. Characters are the most important, yes, the words on the page should sing. But does every literary novel or short story have to start with a five paragraph description of setting? Setting has its place. Again, I get the character and beautiful prose thing, and my betas can tell you that my pacing is actually quite slow, but still, lets start in the middle of the action, with a person, giving us a way to get to know them.

Also, and mostly. Gah. So, I check out a Pulitzer from the library. I've been excited to read it. I sit down and open it and am stunned. The first paragraph introduces me to an interesting character. The writing is gorgeous. The story is funny and interesting and progressing and it gets darker, but in a good way, and then, all of the sudden, the thirteen year old girl is getting raped.

*Sigh*. Look. I still love these books, in a difficult way. I love the beautiful writing. I even understand that we're getting at some important and incredibly tough issues here, and that's a good thing. I know bad, awful things happen, and its the artists job to make sense of the world. I accept that, I do not begrudge it.

But, is there any chance, any possibility, of a Pulitzer Prize winning novel being happy?

Ok, I'm being facetious, because I've actually read some happy Pulitzers. Well, "happy" is definitely the wrong word. They are hopeful, but in a way they are even more intense than the quirky, creepy, child molestation ones because they are just gloriously, beautiful, richly dense and heavy just by virtue of what they are. They deal with hard things too, death, loss, love, all of it, but with this kind of sense of morality and hope. And I don't feel like they're relying on any one scenario for intensity or shock value. The best Pulitzers feel as heavy and beautiful and real as life, and I mean that. I'm talking about Gilead by Marilynne Robinson, Angle of Repose by Wallace Stegner. Two of the greatest books written in the last century.

I guess I feel frustrated because, and I say this with full recognition of its presumption and pomposity, this is the crowd I want to run with and in my head it has become divided into two camps: one camp too divine for someone like me, and the other, while ardently admired, not quite what I'm looking for and I don't think I'm what they want either.

My absolute core is inescapably optimistic, even joyful, and if that means that I will never win the Pulitzer Prize then okay. Its even worse that, it seems to me, optimistic and happy people are taken less seriously, approached like they don't understand or have never experienced true sorrow, unmitigated despair or depression. Happiness is an outlook on experience, not an indicator of it, and is not easily achieved. Any optimist can tell you that.

It doesn't really matter, because I, and all of us, will keep writing what we write, and we do our utmost with it. There is no changing that. I guess I just don't want to be told that life is poignant because it is dark and sinister and shocking. Life is not poignant because anything; it is poignant because it is life.

And life is capital H Happy.

Sarah Allen

Eyes Forward

I have felt very much at the foot of the mountain lately. At the bottom of the ladder, the beginning of the race. I have felt very twenty-three.
It is nice to have some stability. I am graduated and working, at least sort of a real person. I am getting back in to some steady habits with the writing, which is good. Which is the point. And that's what I have to hold on to. 
I'm at the beginning in a lot of areas. In writing, in work, even in friends since I'm in a new area. But I do have writing to point me forward. I know what I want, and what I need to do. It will take time and a lot of work, much of it tedious, but I can do it. I can do it because I know where it is going to take me.
I have my family. I have work to pay rent. I have a cell-phone to communicate with my friends. I have Downton Abbey. 
So much more to go, but you know what? That's okay. Because life is good.

Beginning the Query Process

It's time, guys.

It's time to seriously start submit my query letter to agents. I have talked about this a little before, and have sent out a couple queries already, but now its time to really get down to business. I have incorporated the feedback from my beta readers and worked my novel until it is as good as I can possibly make it. I hope. I have had my query letter looked over several times too, and it, too, is as good as I can make it.

So now it comes down to the actual sending of the query letter. It's even more intimidating these days when all you do is click one button and it's there. It seems so unceremonious.

I have a list of 35 agents that represent my genre. I think I want to have anywhere from 5-7 queries out at a time. It is hard to know where to start on my list. Do I just go from top to bottom? How do I know which ones can get me where I want to go?

Looking at this as a right or wrong choice I think is not helping me. To a certain extent choosing an agent is indeed a "right vs. wrong" type of situation, which one is "right" for you, etc. But on the other hand, each agent is going to hopefully do a good job, do good things for you, and its a much more organic and complex process than one might at first think. I need to keep this in mind and not stress about it like the worlds going to blow up if I misstep.

Honestly I'm terrified that I'm going to get through my list of agents with nothing to show for it but form rejections. Hopefully my work will pay off better then that, but I think I need to be prepared for that type of scenario. We're not in this for a short haul. Kathryn Stocket submitted to 50 agents before she got a yes, and if that's what it takes, then so be it.

But it will work out one day, right?

So for you more experienced queryers, any tips or advice? Tricks of the trade? Ideas to make this process easier, secrets we should know? Anything helps, because, needless to say, I want to do this well.

Sarah Allen

Happy People Make Better Writers

I have a specific reason for saying this.
Writers need to be present. They need to notice things and take note of them. They need to be aware not only of their own feelings but the feelings of others, and the various ways of expressing those feelings.
I find it nigh impossible to do this when I'm depressed.
Depression and sadness pull you inside yourself. You're focusing on your own stress, your own problems. You don't as much notice the sadness in the voice of the boy at the register or the sun breaking through the clouds because you are worried about how much longer your grandmother has to live, or how you're going to pay rent next month or a wide variety of other things. Sometimes we have big things we're dealing with, or just really hard things, and we can't help but be internal and sad for a while. That is fine.
However. It does not a growing writer make. When we are not stuck inside ourselves we notice things about the world. When we pay attention to how other people are feeling it gives us a fresh set of eyes. And I really, really need to do better at it.
The cool thing about this is that it works the other way around too. When you're down and low, make a conscious decision to notice something around you that you haven't noticed before. Take a closer look at a tree, at someones face. Pay attention to another persons emotional cues. Before you know it, hope and even a little happiness have come back.
Happy and in a good emotional place for writing. I think we all want that.
Sarah Allen

Normal for My Age

[image error] Have you ever thought about what it would be like to be someone else for a day? Well, of course you have. You're a writer. What I think would be so wonderful about it would be the chance to get perspective on your own head and your own experience. To see how other people see the world. Do they see people the same way you do? Which of your habits are just habits and which are neurosis? Do you come across way more snarky or shy or loud then you think you do? 
So a lot of these things you just can't know. You can't see yourself from the outside, which I think is probably a blessing for most of us. We all probably have way more neurosis than we think we do, but I also think its more okay than we think it is. It would probably surprise us, though it shouldn't, how quirky and messed up everybody else is too.
I think there is one thing I would like to try, though. We can't compare brains, but maybe we can sort of compare experiences. I don't mean compare in a vertical sense, as in one type of experience is better than another. I actually have quite the vendetta against that line of thinking: one persons struggles and joys and obsessions and heartbreaks and traumas are just as intense and valid as anybody else's. But they are wide in variety and type. While everybody's day equals one day, nobody experiences the same things in that day or even experiences the same thing in the same way. 
So. When you were my age, twenty-three, who and where were you? Where did you live? Where did you work? Where was your family? What was your relationship status? Who were your friends? And if you are younger than I am, who and where are you now, for me to gauge my younger self.
As much as I am trying to deny it, I suppose I am in a sense seeking validation by asking this question. I want to make sure I'm not behind the norm, make sure I'm doing okay and am on the right path, make sure I'm not doing something I shouldn't. On the other hand, though, I don't think there is a "norm." We're all different, and that's as it should be. Regardless, I still think its an interesting exercise.
Sarah Allen

The Danger of an Outline

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I should start off by saying that I am a huge outliner. My outlines are basically just a list of bullet points, but I have it organized chapter by chapter, scene by scene, so I know which part goes where and roughly how many words each scene and each chapter needs to be to add up to the desired whole. If I don't know by my outline that I have enough material to fill a whole novel, I get anxious.

But as I've edited the novel I've noticed that a lot of the problems and flaws that I need to fix come from using an outline in the first place. The flaws are much easier to see after having given it some time as well as seeing the novel through the fresh eyes of my beta readers.

There are definite pacing problems, and spots where the emotional arc just does not flow. These things can be fixed, but I think these problems originate from sticking too closely to a laid out list of plot points. When you use an outline it is easy to follow it and ignore the subtle emotional reactions and changes in your characters that might actually influence or even totally change what happens next in the story. This makes the pacing feel off, the emotional reactions forced or unrealistic.

Outlines still definitely have their good points. Many, in fact, or I would not have used one. They keep you moving forward in a deliberate direction, giving your story necessary focus. They help you know where you are going. But I'm learning that even if you know where you are going, which is good, you still need to let your characters move slowly or stumble or run or skip or move forward in the way most natural to them, let them stop at the interesting cabin, look at the clouds, smell the roses. Let what happens happen. If it doesn't work you can always nix it later.

This is what I hope to be able to do next time.

So how many of you are outliners? How do you avoid this problem? If you're a pantser, how do you find the confidence that your idea is large enough for an entire novel?

Sarah Allen

Cover Reveal: Souled by Diana Murdock!!!

So excited to reveal the cover of Souled by Diana Murdock :) Look how smexy that is, guys. It definitely has my interest...
Synopsis:
Power and Control…
What 17-year-old boy wouldn’t be tempted by the promise of power and control - no matter what form that promise came in?
Seth knew exactly what he would do with power and control.  He’d be well on his way to a wrestling scholarship, his dad could stop working so hard to make ends meet, and he’d forever have the heart of his girlfriend, Sandpoint High’s most beautiful girl.
For Seth, the temptation was much too strong to resist. And why should he?  The way he saw it, he had everything to gain. 
But when he unknowingly invites another soul to share his body, Seth discovers that not all power is good – especially when it was never his to wield.  And when the soul reveals its true intentions, will Seth have the strength to fight it or would death be less painful?
About the Author:
Diana Murdock: California-grown, now in Idaho, writer of women’s fiction and Young Adult paranormal with enough energy to write, raise two boys, run, and dream – but not always in that order.
Reason for Cover Change:
As much as I loved the original cover of Souled, I felt I needed to capture the essence of the love story aspect of the book as well as the ancient back story.  I was fortunate to have Scott and Elaina, both teens in the Sandpoint area, agree to model for this cover.  Though not professional models, they certainly acted like pros and I think they conveyed exactly what I was looking for - a mature love that would see the characters to hell and back. 
Available on Amazon:http://www.amazon.com/Souled-ebook/dp/B008CL38OO/ref=sr_1_3?ie=UTF8&qid=1348370826&sr=8-3&keywords=diana+murdock
Connect with me:Website: http://www.dianamurdock.com/Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/pages/Diana-Murdock-Author/114706771907294Goodreads:  http://www.goodreads.com/author/show/4078383.Diana_MurdockTwitter:  @Diana_Murdock

The Fear of Silence

Lately I've started to think it's not just me.

Unscary things become scary when its quiet. When I'm alone I need music or TV or some kind of background noise or the silence becomes terrifyingly loud. Of course it's worst at night. Dark does kind of the same thing as silence, turning everything into something you haven't seen before, and putting them together can create one of the most frightening monsters in the world, all the more frightening because it is the most real.

All I can say is, thank God for Jim Dale and the Harry Potter audiobooks. I know my nighttime commute would be deadly without them.

I think silence (and darkness) is so terrifying because it is the outward symbol of the thing I think human beings try to avoid most of all: aloneness. When we are with someone it is not quiet or dark, and if it is, then it is calm and soothing.

I wish I knew how to make silence not so scary, but I have no clue. There is Jim Dale and Billy Joel and the Discovery channel, but still the silence is sometimes there. One of the most unavoidable phobias. There are monsters you can skirt and shirk forever and be fine, but not silence.

Maybe there is nothing to be done to make it less scary, but maybe there is a way to put that fear on our side. Maybe it can motivate us or inspire us. Maybe it just takes some living with, and then it's not so bad.

Of course, I couldn't write about silence without leaving you with the definitive words on the subject:

Sarah Allen

The National Book Festival and the Time I Saw John Green

You guys you guys you guys you guys omg omg omg holy crap AHHHHHHHH!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

I can't even...there are no words. But I will try.

Saturday was pretty much the greatest day of my life. I woke up early and even though John's presentation didn't start till ten I was on the metro before eight, and a good thing too, because when I got there the first three rows were already almost full. I joined the crowd up front, third row seat.

You know those times where you are with a group of people and even though you are all strangers you feel more yourself and more comfortable letting go than you do sometimes around your own family? *Nerdfighters are all that is awesome, I am telling you. When you easily chat for an hour and a half with the girls around you and the conversation naturally flows from John Green to Dr. Horrible to Firefly to Sherlock to Dr. Who to House to Castle to Sherlock to Buffy the Vampire Slayer to Game of Thrones to Sherlock you know you are with the right people. There were pizza John t-shirts and TARDIS phone covers everywhere. I even heard someone singing The 25th Annual Putnam County Spelling Bee.

And the noise when he walked onto the stage. I mean, we had already been told to clear the isles and erupted into cheers when the Nerdfighters of the DC Area group walked in with their sign, and then to see John HIMSELF? My heart had already been racing for fifteen minutes and the vocabulary of the girls I was talking to had significantly and hilariously deteriorated and then THERE. HE. WAS.

He seemed totally unphased, too, totally chill. He smiled and said thank-you and remained his adorable, jittery, hilarious, genius, slightly hunched self. I was actually surprised, and pleasantly so, at how similar he was in real life to how he is in the videos. (All the sessions this year will be posted on YouTube, and I will link it when it comes, but for now there are videos up from several years past that are definitely worth checking out.)

I did not wait in the signing line. The choice was to either spend the rest of the day in that line or spend it going to the other sessions, and so I went to other sessions. I will meet John directly one day.

All this was just the blissful, explosive opening to a literary heaven of a day. I saw, with my natural eyes, Lois Lowry and Steven Millhauser and Jeffery Eugenides and Walter Dean Myers and Colson Whitehead and Sandra Cisneros and Michael Connelly. It would be hopeless of me to try and recount what they said, but it will all be up on YouTube soon. I enjoyed just breathing the same air as these people, praying that genius is contagious.

And things like this fuel my tank too, because guys? One day it will be us.

Sarah Allen

P.S. If you have not already, watch this channel and convert to the ways of Nerdfighteria. You will not regret it.