Racheal (Wade) Renwick's Blog, page 2
September 11, 2013
New Page Up
There’s a new page up on my blog titled: Second Breath. I’ve posted the first chapter to, what I consider, my best work yet for ya’ll to enjoy. So… you know… go enjoy it. ;)
September 2, 2013
Taking Advantage of Writing Woes
Writing is hard. But it’s not just writing a book and completing it that makes it so tough. It’s the edits, revisions, agonizing over every word and phrase, the queries, the rejections that slice through your heart, more revisions, and more, the new queries, the last bit of hope you saved, the despair and self-loathing, the waiting and tearing hair out, then more rejections….
It’s enough to make any writer depressed. We want to give up and move on. Tell ourselves that we’re not good — we weren’t meant to write and make a career from it. Even those who have been published before are feeling this over-whelming sense of failure.
I know how it feels. I’m there right now, somewhere in the midst of the “despair and self-loathing” category. But this isn’t a post to tell you “you ARE awesome, just keep querying”. Instead, this post is about how to use your pain to make your work better.
Not everyone wants to hear the hard truths. The heart-wreching crits from readers, agents, editors, other writers…But consider this: when you’ve been criticized in the past for things, did it make you mad? Want to prove them wrong? Show them you can be better and “do the damn thang”? There you go. That’s your new muse.
Take those harsh crits, and learn to make yourself better. Research prose and opening lines, learn to hook your reader and add tension. LEARN. Learning is good people. This is how we know what we know. So take that pain and anger and focus it on your writing. There’s always room for improvement — ALWAYS. We never stop aging and growing as a person, so why should our writing be any different?
August 31, 2013
"I believe any cliche’ can be done, when done properly and with honesty. Just as any writing..."
- Racheal Renwick
August 26, 2013
"Don’t judge a book by it’s cover or the words upon its pages, but the story that’s..."
- Sweet Tea w/Lemon
"Don’t judge a book by its cover or the words upon its pages, but the story that’s woven..."
- Sweet Tea w/Lemon
August 22, 2013
August 16, 2013
"…the use of the term Mary-Sue comes with an obvious assumption attached: if characters like this are..."
…the use of the term Mary-Sue comes with an obvious assumption attached: if characters like this are simply unacceptable by definition, then there must be other types of characters out there that are OK. After all, not every single female character ever written can possibly be a Mary-Sue. Even the people who cling to the term Mary-Sue as if it was their long-lost twin would not dispute that.
The Mary-Sue is a ‘fake girl’. A plastic girl, an unrealistic girl, a perfect girl. Her opposite number in that case must be a real girl. A human girl. A realistic girl. An imperfect girl. Fictional ladies whose failures and flaws are right there on the page. Ladies who cannot be dismissed as ‘too perfect’ or ‘wish fulfilment’. Let’s call this type of character a Sarah-Jane.
Now, because Sarah-Janes are in total contrast to the Mary-Sue, defying all the traits that are supposed to make a Mary-Sue unacceptable, then the Sarah-Jane, by definition, must be acceptable. I mean, obviously they’re not as tightly defined as the Mary-Sue type, and because their major trait is that they’re realistic, they’re going to vary a lot. But they must be the kind of character that readers want to see. The kind that readers will embrace. The kind that they will at least give a chance.
Right?
Yeah. No. It turns out the vast majority of talk about Sarah-Janes - realistic, flawed, prominent female characters in fiction - *still* centres on what is wrong with them, and all the reasons they are SO ANNOYING for… not being perfect?
”-
Zoë Marriott, “Real Girls, Fake Girls, Everybody Hates Girls”
This is just a sample of a long and thoughtful essay — check out the rest!
(via rj-anderson)
August 13, 2013
Prizm Books Back to School Sale
Prizm Books and Torquere are having a back to school special on all their books including my new YA: Just for Kicks!
Message from Torquere/ Prizm:
Ready to return to school? Use coupon code “bts2013” to get 20% off at prizmbooks.com til Friday at midnight!
Summer’s almost over! Use coupon code “endofsummer” to get 20% off at torquerebooks.com Thursday til Sunday at midnight!
Prizm Books is a line of Young Adult fiction, focused on providing great mainstream or LGBT stories in all genres, from science fiction to historical to contemporary.
August 12, 2013
August 9, 2013
The Cult of Me: Guest Author Interview - Racheal Renwick
Author Michael Brookes interviews me on Just for Kicks, writing, and my next novel: Second Breath.
