C.J. Brightley's Blog, page 18

Characters I Love – Jean Valjean

Les Miserables, Victor Hugo – link goes to Amazon

Jean Valjean is the protagonist of Victor Hugo’s Les Miserables. I first read the book in high school and immediately had to watch the movie – the first version I saw was the 1998 version with Liam Neeson playing Jean Valjean. I haven’t seen the 2012 version with Hugh Jackman yet, but I’ve heard it’s good. Les Miserables is a hard book to get through. If you’ve read Victor Hugo before, you know what you’re getting into. I read the unabridged version, and it is a slog. But much like one of my other favorite books, Charles Dickens’ A Tale of Two Cities, it’s worth the work to read it. It’s not a fast paced adventure of a story, although there is drama.

Hugo layers commentary on the French Revolution and social justice (particularly the plight of orphans, as well as the poor in general). But what I love about it is how Les Miserables elevates the importance of love and compassion rather than law and justice.

Javert, the policeman who pursues Valjean throughout the book, dutifully serves justice and the law. He is a “good” man, in that he faithfully carries out laws meant for the good of society. Javert is blind to the purpose of the laws he upholds. He doesn’t understand how Jean Valjean changes from the angry criminal Javert meets at the beginning of the book into a selfless, generous man who is a benefactor to the poor and helpless. Justice cannot comprehend mercy.

As a Christian, I find Les Miserables one of the greatest pictures in literature of saving grace and transforming love. Jean Valjean is transformed from who he was into someone much greater by the power of his love and forgiveness. At the beginning of the story, you might pity him, but he isn’t someone you necessarily want to emulate. At the end, even Javert recognizes that Valjean is someone great.

1998 Les Miserables movie – link goes to Amazon

2012 Les Miserables movie – link goes to Amazon

Tragically, Javert cannot find a way to reconcile this recognition and his own sense of justice. The law must be served, even if justice has moved beyond the law. For the sake of the theft of 40 sous, Javert wants to have Valjean executed. Valjean, at the end of a long life that has moved beyond fear of punishment, is finally at peace with this idea and essentially consents. Javert commits suicide rather than follow through with it, although he’s been pursuing Valjean for nineteen years.

It’s been a long time since I read the book, and I confess some of the details are fuzzy. But the picture of love transforming an angry, bitter, desperate criminal into a generous, selfless man characterized by love and forgiveness has always stuck with me. Jean Valjean is what we should be…. maybe not what we are, but what we should be. Javert is what we might be, if we don’t value love, and we don’t put others first.

Honorable Mention (literally): Bishop Myriel AKA Monseigneur Bienvenu

Bishop Myriel takes in Jean Valjean when he’s first parolled from prison. Valjean has no connections, no food, barely any clothes on his back, no social skills… if anything, he’s even more desperate than he was in prison. Bishop Myriel offers him hospitality for the night, feeds him dinner, and gives him a room to sleep in. Valjean wakes during the night and flees, stealing most of the Bishop’s silver when he goes. He is quickly apprehended and brought back to Myriel, with the police assuming Myriel will confirm that the treasure was stolen. Myriel gently tells the police that he gave the silver to Valjean, tells Valjean that he forgot the silver candlesticks, and gives them to him with the admonition that he should use the silver to become an honest man.

I have a few thoughts on this section. First, I think it’s kind of funny that a “poor country priest” is presumed to have lots of silver laying around. Myriel was supposed to have been promoted to some higher office and continued to act like a country priest, which would partially explain the treasure. But that gives rise to the second thought, which is that the treasure would presumably belong to the church, rather than the priest himself. I understand that in 19th century France there may not have been a strict distinction between the priests’ personal belongings and the church’s estate, but it seems that a spirit of generosity requires a personal sacrifice, rather than giving of the largesse of an entity such as the church. Not that the church can’t be generous, of course, but then the generosity is more to the credit of the people who tithed and sacrificed to buy the candlesticks, rather than the priest who possesses them and gives them away. Of course, that’s my 21st century Protestant self talking, not my literary critic self talking. In any case, the incident is obviously meant to convey that Bishop Myriel is a generous, forgiving person. His other name, Monseigneur Bienvenu, translates as Sir (French honorific that doesn’t translate directly) Welcome, which gives you the idea of his purpose in the story.

Bishop Myriel gets an honorary mention because his actions in this incident are pivotal in Valjean’s transformation. He questions his own actions in light of Myriel’s generosity, and changes his behavior in order to be more worthy of Myriel’s trust and forgiveness.

Of course, in reality we can’t always be “worthy” of forgiveness… that’s the point of grace. Grace hunts us down BEFORE we deserve it, just as Myriel forgives Valjean before Valjean ever considers asking for forgiveness. But the attempt to live in light of forgiveness already received… that’s how we grow. That’s how we become better than we are. Myriel’s influence lasts long after he leaves the story.

May we all be like Myriel and his candlesticks.

~~~~~

Please connect with me on Facebook or Google+!

The post Characters I Love – Jean Valjean appeared first on C. J. Brightley.

ou May Also Like:
Characters I Love – Sir Percival Blakeney
Characters I Love – Puddleglum
Characters I Love – Reepicheep

Sneak Peek: Urban Fantasy / Supernatural Thriller (formerly titled Invisible)

One of the first scenes was posted here (you may wish to read it first). This is a slightly later scene in the urban fantasy / supernatural thriller I’ve been working on. I skipped a bit because… well, there is excitement that I don’t want to post online yet. I am looking for a few beta readers for this series, so if you’re interested, please let me know. I may not be able to accommodate everyone, but I’ll see.

*****

Aria spent the next day inside. She had plenty of books full of sticky notes and highlighting and she stared at her computer screen for hours.

But the words wouldn’t come. She had ideas, but no thesis. No coherent story for her paper. She had no thread to pull that would unravel into a line of thought.

Except the uneasy suspicion that there were things the Empire didn’t want her to know. But that was silly. Every government has secrets. It doesn’t mean they’re wrong. No government can operate with complete transparency. She knew that. She wasn’t so naive that she didn’t understand the need for secrecy. Sometimes.

But… where had the beach gone? She could barely remember the word. The picture of it in her mind was so hazy it felt dreamlike. But she held onto it, tried to explore it. She’d been once with her mother and father. It was sunny and warm. The dry sand stuck to her sweaty toes before she got in the water. The water was… salty? With waves topped by white froth. They’d… done something. Built something with the sand. Her father called it a “sand castle,” which was the oddest thing. What was a “castle”? She remembered those words, but not his face.

Where had the book gone? Why did Dandra deny it? Aria was sure Dandra knew which book she meant. But why would she lie about it?

What if he’d died?

He had died, of course. No one could live with those injuries. No one could evade the IPF, much less injured so terribly. Maybe they’d found him and taken him to a hospital. But that’s not what they intended.

She bundled up against the cold and went out. A walk would clear her head. Or perhaps give it more to think on, anyway. More questions might lead to answers, or connections between questions, which might be almost as good.

She considered turning toward Sheron Street, where her friend Amara lived. But this was an alone kind of walk. An alone kind of mood.

Aria looked in the shop windows as she passed, but nothing interested her. She considered a hot drink but decided against it. The shop looked small and cozy, and the bleak weather suited her mood better. She had warm boots and a hood against the coming snow. She pushed her gloved hands further into her pockets and continued on.

There were few others walking the streets. Maybe they’re smarter than I am. It’s miserable out here. But there was traffic, the blueish headlights and red taillights of electric cars meandering through the commercial district. A door opened briefly as a man entered, and she heard laughter from inside the little bistro.

Without meaning to, she found herself near the river. She turned south, with the river on her right, and followed it morosely.

Had she caused his death? Had the IPF caught him? Why had they hunted him anyway?

Was it her fault?

She wondered if Dandra’s shop was open this late. Probably not. But she went there anyway, not looking up until she was nearly to the door. Then she stopped in surprise.

The lights were off, of course; that was as she’d expected. A handwritten note taped to the inside of the glass door said Closed until further notice. That was odd. She peered in, but the streetlights behind her barely illuminated the interior. Nothing looked unusual. The row of tiny tables near the coffee bar at the front was neat and clean; behind it the aisles of books looked as they always did. Shadows cloaked the bookshelves and tables, but nothing looked out of place.

She ran her hand along the icy handle and finally turned away. Maybe Dandra was ill or something. At the bridge, she looked to her right across the undergirding. She almost walked past, then a barely perceptible movement caught her eye and she froze.

There, forty feet above the water, was a dark form on the metal. Well out of the light, the dim mass was scarcely visible, but it was in the same place she’d seen him before.

It was impossible. He was dead. He had to be… anyone would have died, wounded like that.

But she stared anyway, trying to make out the shape. Was it a person? A dead body? His body? She glanced up and down the street and saw no one.

It took only a moment for her to decide. She slipped down the dark, wet slope toward the base of the bridge. The ladder rungs were high, and she had to jump to reach the bottom one. Her glove slipped and she nearly fell, but she caught it again and kicked hard against the metal piling until she could lunge upward for the next one. Finally she got one foot up high enough to climb the ladder the normal way. She was breathing hard, and she stopped at the top to catch her breath and look across the girder.

From this angle, it was clearly a man’s form. He lay on his back with his feet toward her, one leg dangling off the edge toward the water. He was barefoot in the cold, and completely motionless.

~~~~~

Please connect with me on Facebook or Google+!

The post Sneak Peek: Urban Fantasy / Supernatural Thriller (formerly titled Invisible) appeared first on C. J. Brightley.

ou May Also Like:
Invisible – New Novel Beginning
The Different Facets of Fantasy: Guest Post

Self-Publishing vs. Vanity Publishing

But wait, you say. Isn’t self-publishing just vanity publishing?

Not exactly.

Self-Publishing is not Vanity Publishing

Self-publishing is when an author pays for the expenses of having their work published – editing, cover art, formatting, etc. That’s a pretty broad category, and it includes a number of classic works. You see, publishing has always been subject to the whims of a number of gatekeepers – agents, editors, publishers, and bookstore owners, to name a few. Sometimes those gatekeepers hit a homerun – they identify and back a truly worthwhile book by a magnificent author. That’s great!

But sometimes, for whatever reason, a good book (even a great book) doesn’t make it past all those gatekeepers. It’s the wrong time, the agent doesn’t think it’s marketable for some reason, the agent’s list is full, the publisher doesn’t see the potential, the book directly competes with another author’s work that they’re already committed to, or something else. What happens then?

An author can decide to “trunk” the novel, i.e., put it away to deal with later (or never). Or, the author can decide to self-publish.

Vanity publishing is a subset of self-publishing

Vanity publishing means essentially that the author paid a fee to be “published” by a company. In practice, it typically means that the work has undergone minimal to no editing, and/or that the author was taken advantage of by a predatory company. Vanity publishing houses often pursue authors and aspiring authors with promises of great sales, lots of money, the excitement of seeing their name in print, and grandiose visions of awesomeness. They typically do NOT provide the editorial oversight that a traditional publishing house would (although some claim to be selective in what they publish, in practice, if they don’t edit, then they’re not selective), nor do they provide any real assistance in getting an author’s books into bookstores (which often do not accept vanity or self-published books anyway) or any other marketing assistance. They may recommend cover artists or accept the files provided by the author. In short, they publish anything an author submits – for a low low fee of much more than an author should spend!

Vanity publishing is to be avoided. If you are an aspiring author, and you get unsolicited emails/mail/phone calls about your awesome work, chances are it’s from a vanity publisher. A real, traditional publisher will never expect you to pay for anything upfront. They may eat all your profits through excessive royalties, they may give you a lot less marketing help than you expect, but they won’t demand money from you in order to publish your work.

Choosing to vanity publish basically means that A) the author was too naive, too lazy, or too much of a luddite to do the research necessary to avoid being taken for a ride by a predatory “publishing” company, or B) did not care about the downsides to vanity publishing because he or she just wanted to see their name in print (or some other reason I cannot fathom).

In contrast, savvy self-publishers realize that they DO need editing, professional cover art, and possibly marketing support. Yet they choose to forgo traditional publication for business reasons. Self-publishing means that the author either did not pursue, or did not find success (defined by the author), through publication with traditional/legacy publishers. Self-publication is an appealing option for authors because A) royalties are higher, B) the author retains much greater creative and artistic freedom, and C) the author has much more control over the marketing of their book. A number of traditionally published authors are now publishing their own work and making more money.

But how is self-publishing different?

It comes down to the attitude of the author/publisher. If you are an author and you are considering self-publishing your work, do your research! Approach your writing as a business, because it is.

That doesn’t mean you have to write for the masses. If you want to pursue purely artistic writing, and want to self-publish just to share your work, that’s fine. If you don’t care about sales, that’s fine too. But if you plan to charge money for your work, you owe it to your readers to give them a product on par with traditionally published works.

What does that mean?
Editing

Your work must be edited to a professional standard. Pay an editor. Trade services with a friend who has editing skills of a professional caliber. Get unbiased feedback from people who know what they’re doing. Don’t think that because you’re self-published, readers won’t mind grammar errors and meandering, pointless asides. Besides, your published work is your best advertisement for your next published work. If someone reads your book, and likes it, they might purchase the next one from you. If they don’t enjoy it, that chance to gain a new fan is gone.

Cover Art

The cover should be of professional quality. A number of considerations go into choosing cover art for your book, but suffice it to say that your cover is your book’s first chance to make a good impression. It should represent your book well, give the reader an idea of what to expect between the pages, and should be attractive and legible even in thumbnail format. You can find more information on choosing cover art here.

Formatting

Making a decent-looking ebook is not difficult, though there is a time investment. You may also choose to hire a “book designer.” To be honest, I’m not sure if the cost is worth it – I’ve always done my own formatting. But I am a detail-oriented perfectionist, and I’m fairly experienced with all those little-known options within Word and Scrivener, so doing my own formatting is practical for me. If you are not as familiar with the programs involved, it may be worth the investment to pay someone to do it for you. I am also not such a prolific author that I have 8 more novels clamoring to be written at any given moment – if you churn out novels at 3 or 4 a year (good ones, mind you!), it may be more cost effective to pay someone to format them so as not to delay your writing. Do your research! Read ebooks and note which ones look good and how they were constructed. Follow established formats.

Formatting a decent-looking print book is more difficult, but still doable if you are reasonably technically competent. Again, you may choose to hire a book designer, or you may choose to do it on your own. If you do it yourself, do your research! Use fonts that are available for commercial use. Pay close attention to books of your genre and note even the tiny details. What font is used? Is there a drop cap at the beginning of each chapter? What about all caps at each chapter or scene break? How are chapter breaks defined? What about scene breaks? Work within the templates provided by your chosen printer.

You are using a print-on-demand printer, aren’t you? If not, you probably should be.

Marketing

This is entirely up to you. As a self-publisher, no one else is invested in your success. You are the only one who cares whether your book sells.

I’m not a marketing expert. I prefer to write fantasy books, and I choose not to stress about my sales. But I realize I’m fortunate to have that option! There are a great many authors and marketers much more savvy than I am about book marketing. Do your research

My summary of marketing concepts is:

Write good books.
Write more good books.
Connect with your readers. Make it easy for them to find you – social media (Facebook, Twitter, Google+, etc), a website (preferably with a blog, or at least updated periodically), etc.
Spend more time writing than marketing. You won’t have anything to market if you don’t write.
Free advertising. Ideas include blog tours, sending out ARCs (advance review copies) of your work, blog interviews, press releases, KDP Select free promotions, etc. Don’t spend all your time promoting one book. It’s not worth the time. Write more books, then promote once you have a body of work.
Blog if you want to. If you don’t want to, don’t. Don’t let blogging take over all your writing time. Blogging isn’t going to finish your next book. A blog is important, but if you can’t maintain it, it looks bad.
Continue improving your writing. Have something new to offer when readers find you again: a new book, a new short story, a new extra that relates to one of your novels, etc.
Consider paid advertising. Don’t spend all your money on it.
Play with your visibility. For ebooks, try Amazon KDP Select, which requires that you distribute that work exclusively through Amazon, and experiment with giving your work away free. Or don’t. Try Smashwords. Or don’t. Be everywhere, or don’t. Consider alternate methods of visibility – try making an audio book, or a video. Post fan art on Flickr or deviantART (only if you have permission!). If you write short stories, submit them to contests and magazines. Get your name out.
Don’t be a pest! Be a good citizen of the writing community. Lift up others and they’ll lift you up too. Don’t always shout “Buy my book!” – it’s too easy to tune that out. Book marketing isn’t about marketing… it’s about connecting with your readers. Offer value and genuine friendship, and readers will be happy to buy your book because they want to hear what you have to say.
Write more.

~~~~~

Please connect with me on Facebook or Google+!

The post Self-Publishing vs. Vanity Publishing appeared first on C. J. Brightley.

Related posts:
Comments on: Joe Konrath/Barry Eisler on Digital Denial
Forbes Article
How to Support Indie Authors

Characters I Love – Reepicheep

 

Prow of the Dawn Treader – photo by David Jackmanson, Creative Commons License (link goes to Flickr)

I love Reepicheep.

Reepicheep is a talking mouse who appears in three of the seven books in the Chronicles of Narnia: Prince Caspian, The Voyage of the Dawn Treader, and The Last Battle. Reepicheep is brave, but sometimes a little too touchy about his own dignity. Eustace, who begins The Voyage of the Dawn Treader as a horrible little pill, picks on Reepicheep unmercifully, and Reepicheep fights back, taking great pleasure in embarrassing Eustace. Perhaps because he’s small, surrounded by larger, stronger animals, he takes himself perhaps a little too seriously, unable to laugh at himself because he’s offended. Brave, intelligent, and accomplished, he’s not quite secure enough or mature enough to see Eustace as a bratty child desperate for attention and respect.

Eustace grows up throughout the book as he is subjected to an embarrassing, painful experience in which he must beg for help and understanding. The first character to realize his predicament and take pity on him is Reepicheep… and this is one of many reasons why I love Reep so much. Reepicheep rises to the occasion – rather than holding a grudge, he is a steadfast friend and ally. At the end of The Voyage of the Dawn Treader, Reepicheep pursues Aslan (God) in a truly heroic and spectacular way.

Reepicheep has some flaws, but he’s a creature of character and integrity. He’s quick to admit his mistakes and apologize without reservation or quibbling. He’s brave in the face of overwhelming physical odds, and he’s brave in venturing friendship when there’s no real reason to believe it will be returned. He’s absolutely “sold-out” to Aslan – even though he has flaws, he ALWAYS does what he believes to be right, regardless of the cost.

That he’s a mouse who is cute enough to hug is just a bonus feature!

~~~~~

Please connect with me on Facebook or Google+

!

The post Characters I Love – Reepicheep appeared first on C. J. Brightley.

Related posts:
Characters I Love – Puddleglum
Characters I Love – Sir Percival Blakeney

Comments on: Joe Konrath/Barry Eisler on Digital Denial

Joe Konrath hosted Barry Eisler on his blog recently for this article: A Newbie’s Guide to Publishing: Eisler on Digital Denial. Joe’s comments are at the bottom of the article, and they’re worth reading too.

It’s reassuring to me that formerly traditionally published authors are now choosing to publish their own work. Yes, the barriers to entry are lower, and yes, that means less-than-impressive works reach readers.

But it also means that authors have many more choices, and many more opportunities to shape their own careers. Generally, I believe choice and options are beneficial, and for far too long, authors have been given few choices if they wanted to stay in the business.

I presume Eisler’s account of his talk is accurate – I wasn’t there, of course. There were a lot of witnesses, and given the reasonable, logical tone of his article, I imagine his talk was similar. So I find it intriguing that some agents and others in the legacy publishing system were so incredibly rude, unable to even consider the point Eisler was making. That tells me that A) those involved in legacy publishing feel threatened by the increasing choices authors have, and B) authors dealing with at least those individuals should be concerned with how they are treated.

As an author, I like to think that my words are a critical part of the overall book. The cover is important, the editing is important, the blurb on the back is important, but fundamentally, the book is produced by the author’s creativity, talent, and skill. The book IS the words between the covers. Everything else is icing. Does that make sense? So it seems fair and logical to me that authors should be a valued part of the process of making and selling books. Without authors, books wouldn’t exist. These comments make it clear that at least some legacy publishers/agents/other personnel don’t think that authors SHOULD have choices. THE most critical person involved in producing a book should have no other options in how to get that book out to readers aside from playing by the rules set by an industry that doesn’t appear to value their contribution to the whole process. Really?

That’s… revealing.

Check out Joe’s notes on the financial reality of self-publishing vs. the reality of legacy publishing. I’m not saying that self-publishing is for everyone, or that everyone will make money that way. In fact, I hope that overall, the competition for readers drives up the quality of self-published books (because I agree, there are some pretty horrifically bad books out there).

As an author, I like having choices and some level of control over my own writing career. Will I make a zillion dollars on my books? Not likely. But at least now I have options to shape my own career, rather than being at the mercy of a publisher who prioritizes another author’s career over mine.

~~~~~

Please connect with me on Facebook!

The post Comments on: Joe Konrath/Barry Eisler on Digital Denial appeared first on C. J. Brightley.

Related posts:
Forbes Article
How to Support Indie Authors
My Writing Process

My Writing Process

I’ve been asked several times how my stories move from idea to polished story. Every author’s writing process is a little different. Often, every book’s process is different! However, the overall process tends to follow the same patterns, even if the details differ from book to book.

Inspiration and Pre-writing

A story can be inspired by nearly anything. Generally, my stories start with a scene. Sometimes it’s a conversation between characters, or a critical decision being made, or even just an impression. I’ll write out the scene, and no matter how it turns out, I’ll have questions. Who are these characters? What is their background? How do they relate to each other, and why? Where are they? What importance does the setting have in the scene, and why? Sometimes I’ll use a mind-map to keep track of ideas and figure out where the story might go. There might be contradictory ideas, and I’ll explore those by asking questions and filling out different sides of the mind-map with answers. It quickly becomes clear which story is more satisfying.

I’ve written quite a few academic papers and other nonfiction pieces. Pre-writing for essays and other nonfiction generally takes the form of an outline. It could just touch on general ideas, or it could be very extensive and detailed. Some people like to outline fiction stories as well as nonfiction works, and others feel that outlining and planning too much can suck the enjoyment out of writing.

I tend to fall somewhere in the middle. I’ll write some, then outline and plan a little, write a little more, plan a little more, etc. The King’s Sword was outlined extensively, but when I began writing, the focus of the story changed. Most of the actual events in the book followed the outline I prepared, but the story shifted from being entirely about Hakan to focusing much more on Kemen. I learned so much about plot vs. story as I edited The King’s Sword , and that greater understanding has been critical in the books I’m writing now.

In contrast, A Cold Wind began with a beautiful, heart-breaking near the end of the book. But I had no idea why the characters were at this point, what had brought them there, or what happened next. Writing the story was a matter of “why.” Of course, by the time I reached that beautiful scene, it had to be re-written! As a quick note for readers and new writers – even extensive pre-writing does not negate the requirement for editing! However, writing process can greatly affect the amount of editing needed. A well thought-out story written by a competent writer can produce a relatively clean draft with few major holes to be fixed during editing. A more scattered writing process can produce a great story, but the pieces may be out of order, with unclear logic and story flow, and other issues. These issues can definitely be fixed, but it does mean that editing may take more time and energy. That doesn’t mean those processes are bad! It just means that if this is your writing style, it’s helpful to understand that editing is of paramount importance in producing a polished story.

Writing

Most writers think this is the fun part! Depending on how much I outlined or planned, I may jump back and forth between writing and pre-writing. If there’s research to be done, it’s helpful to do it ahead of time, so that writing isn’t derailed by exploring all the internet has to say on how leather is cured or how rail guns work. I’m a relatively slow writer, and my first draft is generally FAIRLY close to the final draft. Obviously editing is very important, but there is a marked difference between the first drafts that are dashed out quickly, to get the story out, and the first drafts that are extensively planned and well-executed. I edge toward the latter. Neither is necessarily “better” per se, but it’s important to understand as a writer. For example, a very high percentage of the first draft of The King’s Sword is actually present in the final, published version. HOWEVER, and that’s a very important however, editing was still critical. The first draft was only about 50,000 words, and the final draft is around 75,000. What happened?

Editing

Editing is the phase in which you fix story problems. Some people call it revising. It includes removing, adding, rearranging, and replacing sections of text to make your story stronger. It’s best to take some time off from your story between writing and editing in order to gain some mental and emotional distance. This helps you see the writing as it is, rather than as you imagine it. This is actually one of the things I struggle with as a writer – taking time off! When I’m excited about a story, I tend to move directly from writing into editing, but that’s not ideal. Even if I do the majority of the editing before taking a break, I do try to give the story a rest and leave it alone for a while before the last editing pass.

I edit in several passes, but they’re not always discrete. Depending on how complete the story is at the end of the first draft, editing may take a matter of weeks or months. Some authors run through the story focusing on one thing at a time – pacing, characters, prose, or some other aspect of the story. I haven’t found that to work very well for me. Instead, I’ll fix any major holes in the story that I’m aware of at the end of the first draft. Then, I’ll run through the story and note anything that seems amiss – more characterization, a sense of setting, pacing that seems too sudden or too slow. I’ll fix those issues and then read it through again, considering the story as a whole while tightening the prose. Then, I’ll try to give it a break and think about something else for a few weeks. Coming back to the story with fresh eyes, I’ll go over it again, to see how it reads.

At this point, it’s fairly polished, because my first draft starts out fairly clean. But I still need new eyes on it, so at this point I’ll send it to a few beta readers. With certain stories, I’ve bounced ideas off of beta readers / brainstorm buddies much earlier in the process – my current work-in-progress is an example. I’ve been brainstorming extensively with one buddy, and I’ve had a few others see fairly early drafts. That works for me with a relatively clean first draft and the understanding that A) beta readers are not editors, and B) you don’t pester your beta readers with 87 versions of the same text. Beta readers are a precious and valuable resource! Don’t take them for granted. I wrote a post earlier on How to Choose and Use Beta Readers. The most important thing is that your beta readers understand the story you’re trying to tell, and then help you tell that story better. Generally I don’t use beta readers as a brainstorming resource, but when you find a beta reader that understands your direction, brainstorming with them can be immensely valuable.

Beta readers can often be other writers. If possible, return the favor! Sometimes the beta reading relationship only goes one way, for a variety of reasons – genre, writing style, experience level, or just personal preference. In either case, it’s important to understand how important beta readers are and appreciate the time and effort they put forth.

I LOVE my beta readers! But I wouldn’t mind finding a few more. If you are interested in beta reading some upcoming work, please contact me!

Authors often have professional editors to assist with the editing process. Editors can vary widely in skill and style, so it’s important to find the right fit. A good, varied group of beta readers can help a lot, so professional editing may not be necessary for some works (short stories, etc.). But editing as a phase is incredibly important and beta readers may not have the specific skills that an editor needs. If you’re a writer and plan on using a professional editor, be sure to give them as polished as story as you can. This will save you and your editor time and energy.

Proofreading

This is the final phase of writing before publication. I include copy-editing in this phase as well. During this phase, I go through the story word by word to ensure that everything I imagine is in the story is actually on the page.  This phase is more about fixing the prose, finding typos, addressing grammatical issues or lack of clarity, etc. At this point, major story issues should already have been addressed.

Even after reading a story many times, looking at it with fresh eyes during this phase is important. I try to give myself time between editing and proofreading. I’ll also have either some talented, skilled friends or a professional proofreader or copyeditor look at the story at this point. I’ll go through it multiple times both with others and myself, trying to catch those last little errors.

Publishing

Publishing is so different from the writing process that I’ll write a separate post on publishing instead of including it here. There are several ways to publish, from traditional legacy publishing, to self-publishing (AKA independent publishing, AKA indie publishing), to vanity publishing. Between ebooks, small print runs, large print runs, and print-on-demand, there are myriad options for publishing. Smaller works such as novellas and short stories can also be published in anthologies, serial publications and literary magazines, and other venues.

Self-publishing does have some unique challenges, but in many ways I believe it can be even more rewarding than traditional publishing. I’ve been happy to choose indie publishing for most of my work.

~~~~~

Please connect with me on Facebook!

The post My Writing Process appeared first on C. J. Brightley.

Related posts:
Forbes Article
How to Choose and Use Beta Readers
How to Support Indie Authors

Characters I Love – Sir Percival Blakeney

The Scarlet Pimpernel
1982 – Link goes to IMBD

I admit it. I’m a Scarlet Pimpernel fan and have been since high school. I first saw the 1982 movie starring Anthony Andrews as Sir Percy (absolutely brilliant!), Jane Seymour as Marguerite, and Ian McKellan as Chauvelin. I was hooked, and hunted down all the books I could find. The movie condenses a number of the novels, so if you read The Scarlet Pimpernel by Baroness Emmuska Orczy, you may be a little… surprised? In any case, you don’t get the same final conclusion at the end of the novel as you do at the end of the movie. The Scarlet Pimpernel was followed by a number of other novels and short stories, none as successful as the first. The novels are light-hearted and overly dramatic, filled with absurd banter and over-the-top pathos. I believe the ending of the movie may be adapted from El Dorado, one of the last of The Scarlet Pimpernel books (but I can’t remember – it’s been a while since I read it.). Emmuska Orczy on Goodreads

Set in the Reign of Terror just after the beginning of the French Revolution, The Scarlet Pimpernel follows the exploits of Sir Percy and his League of the Scarlet Pimpernel as they risk their lives to save men, women, and children from the guillotine. Baroness Orczy’s aristocratic sympathies are clear (noble birth generally corresponds to noble characters), but she does show commoners in positive lights at times. Sir Percy pretends to be an air-headed playboy fop in London to keep the identity of the Scarlet Pimpernel a mystery. Of course, secrets have a way of causing problems…

Sir Percy is thought to be the first hero with a secret identity, and the novels (and play) inspired a whole genre of superhero fiction – Batman, Spiderman, and the like. But Sir Percy doesn’t have any super powers – he’s intelligent, quick-thinking, and a brilliant actor and improviser. The League of the Scarlet Pimpernel is a band of young men who works with him, but he is unquestionably the leader and the one responsible for everyone’s lives. He’s a combination of military leader, undercover superhero, and Prince Charming.

Why do I love him? He’s good. He’s courageous. He risks his life and sacrifices his own happiness for the sake of others. He’s driven by morality (and although he’s a born risk-taker, he’s not irresponsible). He’s intensely loyal and even when his own League messes things up, he won’t leave them behind. And… well, suffice it to say that the ending of the novel makes up for the heartache that precedes it.

If you like superheroes, fantastic period costumes, dramatic love stories, and pointed insults, you will love The Scarlet Pimpernel. Make allowances for the 1982 cheesiness, pay attention to the story, and you won’t be disappointed. Just a heads up, though… this is not an explosions-and-big-special-effects heroic movie. It’s quieter than that, but no less powerful.

What characters do you love? Why?
~~~~~

Please connect with me on Facebook!

The post Characters I Love – Sir Percival Blakeney appeared first on C. J. Brightley.

Related posts:
Characters I Love – Puddleglum

Characters I Love – Puddleglum

Puddleglum is a marsh-wiggle from C. S. Lewis’s The Silver Chair, part of The Chronicles of Narnia. He enters the story as a pessimistic wet blanket of a character (somewhat like Eeyore, actually, who I also love!). I love his pessimistic side, even though he notes that he is uncommonly cheerful for a marsh-wiggle (one wonders what the others are like!). As Eustace, Jill, and Puddleglum search for Prince Rilian, who disappeared a decade before, they enter the Underland, the realm of the Emerald Witch. Despite the fact that Puddleglum is not particularly courageous, talented, charming, or fierce, he is critical to the trio’s success. Even after he seems to have lost hope, he clings to it anyway, arguing:

Suppose we have only dreamed, or made up, all of those things—trees and grass and sun and moon and stars and Aslan himself. Suppose we have. Then all I can say is that, in that case, the made-up things seem a good deal more important than the real ones.

Puddleglum succeeds because of his tenacity, his refusal to give up even when his heart wants to, even when everyone around him has lost hope. Even when everything is dark and he’s almost forgotten what the light even looks like, he holds on.

Who are some of your favorite characters? Why?
~~~~~

You can also find me on Facebook!

The post Characters I Love – Puddleglum appeared first on C. J. Brightley.

No related posts.

Why do you read fantasy?

Tor.com has a post titled “Fantasy, Reading, and Escapism.” Fiction reading, particularly fantasy and science fiction, are sometimes derided as “escapist” and somehow less worthwhile than other forms of literature.

Escapism isn’t a bad thing. How else am I going to be an amazing swordsman, a slave, a Roman soldier, or an aristocrat? Much less all in the same day?

But I think there’s more to fantasy than just escapism. Sure, there’s plenty of bad fantasy out there (perhaps more than some other genres). But fantasy is also a, pardon the word, fantastic way of exploring the full range of human experiences, real or imagined. Drama, emotion, love, politics, prejudice, forgiveness, terror, and joy… you can experience them all in fantasy. Isn’t that part of what reading is about? Not just exploring a fantastic world, but exploring human emotion.

The best fantasy writing is like the best of any other writing – you gasp at the end like you’re coming up for air. You wish the characters could come back to delight you again (or you’re glad they’re dead! Or at least glad they’re fictional.). You’ve experienced a world that is like your own in some ways, but very different in others… and you’ve grown a little because of that experience. It’s like traveling to a foreign country, except less expensive and uses less vacation time.

What do you think? Why do you read fantasy? Why do you read? Do you think fantasy has value beyond entertainment?

~~~~~

You can also find me on Facebook!

The post Why do you read fantasy? appeared first on C. J. Brightley.

No related posts.

Review of The King’s Sword on ChristianReads

Iola Goulton recently posted a nice review of The King’s Sword on her blog ChristianReads.

I especially liked the fact that the story was character-driven, as this meant the author managed to tell the story without descending into violence and abuse (I haven’t read Game of Thrones, but found the TV series far too dark and violent for my tastes). I don’t need a thrust-by-thrust description of the sword fight – I want to know what happened and how it affects the characters, and The King’s Sword managed this well. …(re: being written in first person:) Personally, I found that he had an engaging and self-depreciating style that was highly engaging… The sequel to The King’s Sword, A Cold Wind, has just been released (and added to my wish list). Well worth reading for fans of historical fantasy.

 

~~~~~

You can also find me on Facebook!

The post Review of The King’s Sword on ChristianReads appeared first on C. J. Brightley.

Related posts:
Erdemen Honor Book3 Kickstarter!