Sarah Allen's Blog, page 55

Titles ideas from the notebook

I gather title ideas in the back of all my creative writing notebooks, and it's been a while since I've given a list of some of them. So here goes:Rise Ye Sunken ShipsLilith Don't Live HereAftermathThe Honey UnionHow To Land on the MoonHow To Spy in FrenchRefrigerated VoiceThrough the Clowns Mouth DarklyThe Darker Side of YodelingBlow with the HarmattanWhat I Really Learned at Traffic SchoolThe Boots My Mother Gave MeIf Leaves Fell in SpringtimeThis Time Not in PetticoatsOn a Solo SaxaphoneThe 9 1/2 wives of Oscar Pickendoom13 Ways to Love a Black BoyHee hee, that was fun :) I like looking through my old notebooks, and titles are fun. Do you have any fun title ideas? Which of these do you like best, and what story ideas do they inspire?
Sarah Allen

Things To Do While Waiting for Beta Readers

It's happened guys. I haven't finished editing the whole book, but I'm done-ish with the first 16 chapters, and I had an oh-duh moment when I realized I could just send those chapters off to readers so they could start. So I did/am in the process of doing so. Meaning some people have them and some others will get them/be invited to get them soon. Gah! It is crazy guys. I wrote a novel that people are reading. Another former roommate came to visit my visiting former roommate and I came home from work and saw her reading my book on the couch and she was even distracted by it instead of talking to visiting roommate for a while and it made me smile and giddy and warm and !!!!!!!!!!!! inside.

Now comes the beta-reader wait. And since waiting can really suck, here are some ideas for what to do in the meantime, which may or may not come from personal experience:

Flail and squee and dance around singing loudly to Wicked and Pocahontas and Smash.Read 'The Book Thief' in one day.Finish editing.Work on the cover and formatting of a short story collection to upload on Amazon once the rest of the stories get rejected from the magazines to which they are currently submitted.Think of fun/weird/random/plausible ideas for YouTube videos (marketing and creative outlet rolled into one) like audio-visual poetry or video children's books. Then realize that if you want this to be your own project and not have to rely/impose on anyone else you have to do the illustrations yourself. Spend more time deciding if that's possible/ridiculous/worth it.Spend inordinate amounts of time on Pinterest, IWasteSoMuchTime, and AccioBrain. Realize it's probably good that Pottermore isn't open yet.Re-watch series two of SherlockSpend increasing amounts of time on QueryTracker and AgentQuery.Also the gym. Hopefully.Try hard to start or at least brainstorm novel #2.Freak out some more and try really hard not to bug the readers, at least not the ones who've only had it for a 24 hours.Look up pictures of Chris Hemsworth and Tom Hiddleston.Browse Craigslist, stressing and over-analyzing the best way to support yourself for the next year before you apply to grad school.More flailing and squeeing and trying not to bug.So yeah. That's sort of what I'm thinking will happen for the next little while. Anyone else waiting on beta readers? What are your suggestions for making the wait more bearable?
Sarah Allen

Writing Lessons from Thor. The movie. Not the god.

I'll be honest here. When I took my brother to see Thor in theaters, my main reaction was pretty much:

The rest I was kind of just, meh. So when my former roommate/one of my bestest friends saw it and became OBSESSED (I mean obsessed obsessed. I'm talking look up the word obsessed in the dictionary and it would be a picture of her. After the picture of me) I was, frankly, surprised.

But she's in town this week, and nothing is as wonderful as being obsessed together, even though it may scare other people sometimes, and we've been geeking out about it and all the things, and whether I'm just easily infected or whatever, I'm officially in the ranks of those freaking out about The Avengers movie coming out on May 4th.

So here's what I've learned from this new introduction to Thor:

1. A sympathetic, complex villain is absolutely key. And sexy.
Snape. Benjamin Linus. Mr. Gold. The Phantom. Need I say more?

2. Biblical and Mythological basis/allusions are awesome. It automatically adds scope, history and complexity to whatever story you're writing. I honestly believe it reaches and connects people on a deeper, more universal level, which is part of its mythos. So yeah, reading and studying is good. And watching super hero movies.

3. Subtlety works magic. I'm a big fan of subtlety, which is honestly why super hero movies aren't typically my favorite. They're not about being subtle. However, Tom Hiddleston is. And really, for this movie, that's enough.

4. Women kick butt. Ok, ok, so I still haven't quite forgiven Natalie Portman for Star Wars, but she wasn't my favorite in this one either. (Meryl Streep should have done it. Just saying) However, I did appreciate that they emphasized strong, smart, and courageous kick butt women, even if they weren't totally developed.

5. Virus' do their job well. This is not the first time my roommates have infected me. (The Next Generation, Big Bang Theory, Sherlock, Firefly, Doctor Who...all their fault.) Granted I'm easily infected, like I said, but I still wouldn't have enjoyed it all as thoroughly as I did without their being some inherent awesomeness in the things they exposed me to. If you can infect a group leader, you infect the group. Word of mouth is something you want on your side.

So yeah, hope this helps. More pictures of Chris Hemsworth? Oh sure, why not.
Mmmm :)

Sarah Allen

Please excuse the crazy lady mooing at cats

So my parents have a cat. His name is Jasper. This is him.

He is fat and fluffy and has more personality than any cat I've ever encountered. He will literally roll on his back and meow and flail his paws when you walk in to the room. Not in a doggy way either, in a very twisty pathetic feline way. My parents have a drinking fountain, and if he hears anyone pressing it he will run into the room and jump up to watch. He lays on the drinking fountain all the time, making squirting him a constant temptation. And if you're in the bathroom with the door closed he will swipe his paws under the door until you let him in. He only likes to be pet on his head or behind his ears, and will snap at you if you try to pet his back or belly, which is ironic considering how much time he spends doing what looks like begging for belly rubs.
Anyway. Yesterday we were all about to leave my parents house, and he escaped into the front yard. He's not exactly the hardest cat to catch, considering that if you start cooing and sweet-talking him he rolls onto his back, but yesterday he was anxious to stay outside and had barricaded himself behind a bush.
Backstory: My little sister has a stuffed cow that makes a horrendous mooing noise. For a school psychology project she used tuna fish to condition Jasper to come when he heard the noise. And it worked.
We were in a hurry, and I didn't know where the cow was. So yes, I mooed at him. And not just once. Needless to say, it didn't work, and I had to crawl through the bushes and sweet-talk him, which is, of course, much less ridiculous.
I'm not even sure how, but I feel like mooing at cats is a metaphor for life sometimes, and that I've been doing it a lot lately. But either the cats start mooing back or the cows come home, right? Or something...
Sarah Allen

Chaos Writers vs. Structure Writers: Which are you?

I wanted to tell you guys about a conversation I had with my roommate last night. And let me just say, I love being able to have these kind of literary analytical discussions with my friends. Anyway, since both of us are in the recent graduate trying to decide what to do with life phase, we've been talking a lot about what options we have and which ones are best and that kind of thing a lot, especially lately. We were both English majors and both have novels in the works, and a lot of our conversation revolves around how to make our lives conducive to writing careers, among other things.

This is what we discovered last night. For her, when life is structured and relatively calm, the writing suffers. She feels dry. When life is exciting and a bit chaotic, it fuels her creatively and the writing somehow happens on top of everything. She even said that writing is her way of making sense of, and even putting structure on, all the chaos.

This is totally foreign to me. I crave stability and structure. Heavens I need stability. And actually, this is a relatively new realization for me. But really, when I can plan (back to planning. Of course) for writing time, marketing time, all that, and when I don't have a million little worries and stresses and undecideds crowding my mind, and can just WRITE, things work out so much more easily for me. I love being able to start from a solid, stable, structural base, and then building and adding more things from there, perhaps even some adventure.

Of course, the key here is to make the writing happen whether or not life is boring or chaotic. But knowing which end of the spectrum you fall on may help you make some life decisions. It can maybe tell you why the writing hasn't been going well for a while and what you could do about it. I know thinking of things this way has helped me understand that for me personally its best to find me a stable, structured place, work from there, and not necessarily feel bad or lame for not doing something totally crazy. Maybe later, when my feet are planted on solid ground. But solid ground first, at least for me.

What do you think? Is this a fairly accurate dichotomy, and can it help? Which type are you, chaos or structure, and why do you think that is?


Sarah

Live in the present for 15 minutes a day

I'm really bad at the whole living in the present thing. Like, really bad. I have a pretty bad memory of the past as well. In my head it's all about the future. I tend to see today as a way to get to where I want to be later on. I plan relentlessly--how to get an agent, how to do more marketing, how to manage a day-job, how to get this book out as successfully and efficiently as possible--all plans to take me to some future place.

Which is okay, even good, in some ways. Planning is good. However, there are two major consequences to taking the future planning thing to the extreme, which I'm noticing in my life. First, the awesome things I already have in my life go horrifically under appreciated. Second, when plans don't work out as planned, or when, for whatever reason, planning itself is impossible for a while, it tends to lead to some pretty major freak out.

So, I'm challenging myself and anyone else who wants to join me to spend at least 15 minutes a day not thinking about the future, and immersing myself in the here and now. It is going to be hard, but I'm going to do it with certain awesome present presents:

Music. Maybe some days I'll just lie on my floor close my eyes and feel the rug and totally focus on some really good music. Or maybe dance around to it. I'm not above admitting that sounds fun.Nature. This is an obvious one, but for a reason. This is a great time to do it too, when things are starting to get warm and green. I've got some way cool parks and lakes (and even sandstone arches if I want to drive that far) in my little desert bubble of a state, and I could definitely be taking more advantage of that. Every place has beauty, you just gotta find it.Food. When was the last time you sat down to a really good meal and just enjoyed the taste of the food in your mouth, and took your time, without thinking of anything else? For me, way too long.Other people. This is the most natural anchor-to-the-present for me. I can be listening to music or outside or eating dinner and still easily be thinking about plans for the next blog post or agent research or next writing project or whatever. But when I'm in a good conversation with someone else I just forget to think about all that other junk. It's refreshing, really.What does this have to do with writing, you ask? (Even my plan to not plan is a plan. I told you, I'm relentless). Becoming more observant will automatically make you a better writer. Your words will be much more vivid and exciting when you know intimately what a crow sounds like or the smell of a wet parking lot or the taste of barbecue ribs. Living gives you something to write about. As well as being, you know, better than not living.
So there's the plan. What do y'all think? Are you as plan-crazy as I am? What other suggestions do you have for enjoying the present, even just for a little while every day?
Sarah Allen

Today's Writing Tips Brought to You By Disney Songs

My Pandora has been set on Disney pretty constantly for the past couple weeks. I've needed it. Also talks by Dieter F. Utchdorf, but yeah. Disney music. There's an optimism and magic in these songs that makes me feel better.

So here are the writing lessons I've gotten in the past little while, listening to Disney music.

Endurance. Sometimes it just boils down to pure grit. We have to fall back on our moments of clarity when we knew what we were doing, and what we wanted, and just let that propel us forward. The important thing, though, is to not give up. Keep writing, keep blogging, keep submitting, because really, we're almost there.


Don't forget you have help. Both professionally and personally. Editors, agents, publishers, don't be afraid to use their help, and be grateful for it. And in your own life, there are people who truly love you and care about you. They want to help, and want you to be happy. Humans are not solitary creatures, and being with people who care can make things better very quickly. Without them, you wouldn't have nothin.

Don't be afraid of uncertainty and risk. This one is particularly hard for me. I like everything to be planned and settled, but that's been the opposite of what's actually happening in my life. But you know what, that's okay. Really it's an adventure, seeing what's around the riverbend.

There you have it. I was going to do more, because Disney has lots of good stuff. But I'll just leave it here for now. Because now you're going to have one of these stuck in your head for the rest of the day :)

"What I like most about rivers is, you can't step in the same river twice..."

What is your favorite Disney song, and why?

Sarah Allen

Beta Readers and How to Find Them

So, I'm getting pretty darn close to the end of this run-through of edits. I'm getting to the point where I really, really need to put this thing in someone else's hands. I'm not sick of it exactly, it still makes me excited and I'm having fun with it, but I'm just very anxious to get out of this phase and into the next. Ready to get this thing out there.

That mean's now I'm looking for the other hands to put it into. Fortunately, I've got a high quality crew already. Three of my roommates were English majors, and two of them minored in editing. So there's them, and some other friends and of course my smart family.

Of course one needs to taken feedback given by family and friends with a grain of salt. This is, I suppose, true of any feedback, but especially true with people who know you.

That's where I'm coming to you. What are some ways I can stretch my beta reader's circle? It might be wise to have some smart strangers look at the book before I start submissions. Is it crazy for me to open it up and say, would any of you be interested in being beta readers? Who have you used as beta readers? People you know? Writerly people from the interwebs?

Thoughts?

Sarah Allen

Writing and Illustrating for Young Adult Readers 13th Annual Conference

There's something very, very exciting going on that I wanted to bring to your attention. The 13th Annual Writing and Illustrating for Young Adult Readers Conference in Sandy, Utah, June 18-22. Spots are already starting to fill up, so if this is something you are interested in, I highly encourage you to check out their website for more information and sign up.

One of the workshop teachers is the wonderful Tim Wynne-Jones, and we're lucky enough to have him answer a few questions for us today:


What is your usual writing process?The trick is in that word "usual." Every bookseems to require a slightly different way of handling it. Sort of like yourkids. They've all got the same genetic make-up but boy can they be different!Ideally, I launch into a novel when I have a really strong opening scene Ican't wait to write. Whether it actually ends up being the opening scene isn'timportant but it's my way of getting started. And if the idea is involvingenough it will lead me on to the next scene. I never start with an outline. Itjust seems boring to follow a predetermined course, although I know all sortsof great authors who do use outlines. Sometimes in the middle of a book,especially if there are several voices telling the story, I will need to writeout a careful outline of the next few chapters, let's say, so that I get thesequence of events just so. But generally I want to write to surprise myself!Ideally, I write a first draft as quickly as possible -- get the whole thingout there on the table so I can sort through it and find the good bits. That'sthe second draft and that's when it's really fun to be a writer.
What genre of books do you most enjoy reading?Mysteries.
Do the plots from your stories come from things you haveseen in your life? Inevitably, at least to some degree. Plots come from askingyourself what if... You see something only slightly odd and make it odder. Yousee something broken and wonder how it got to be that way. You see, forinstance, a street kid staring at a fancy hotel and wonder if he knows thatthere is food in there on trays outside people's rooms and how would he goabout getting it? That's what happened with Blink & Caution. Or you seesome weird little article on page three of the newspaper and rather thanfollowing up on it to get more facts you let your imagination have a go at it.You introduce some random event to an otherwise ordinary moment and imagine theevent that ensues. As a writer you're like a detective always looking for cluesto something that never happened!
What do you consider your greatest accomplishment?Raising three pretty fabulous kids. Being published infifteen countries and in a dozen languages. Being made an officer to the Orderof Canada. Being nominated for the Hans Christian Andersen Award.And somehowmanaging to make a life as a writer for the last thirty years or so.
Hope this is enjoyably helpful, and hope all of you YA writers can find your way to Utah in June. Have you ever been to a writers conference, and what did you learn there? 
Sarah Allen

In which I'm interviewed and show you pretty things

I absolutely love being approached about interviews, or giving or receiving guest posts, stuff like that. It's my favorite, and it always makes me smile. So I am very, very happy to say that today I am over at the blog of the ever lovely Vanessa Eccles, where I answer questions about getting ideas, childhood books, and which character I would choose to meet in real life. Drop by and say hi.

And here are the pretty things I promised you. An animated poem:


And this picture...I just think her face is so so interesting. Awesome character fodder.
[image error] And yes, this picture is from my writerly inspiration Pinterest page. That you should check out. After you check out Vanessa's blog and watch the video.

Happy Thursday :)
Sarah Allen