Chris Baty's Blog, page 207

Q&A with Jake Fleming: On Designing the 2013 NaNo Theme, and His 8-bit Creative Inspiration

Have you checked out the amazing donor goodies and great NaNo swag yet? Our 8-bit theme was designed to power-up your noveling for good by the incredible Jake Fleming. We asked him about his creative inspirations:

Jake! Thanks for coming on the blog. Be honest: what was your first thought when you heard what the NaNoWriMo 2013 design theme was?

My first thought was, “This is awesome.” I was born in the 80’s, so I grew up playing Nintendo. That’s why I think the idea appealed to me so much. Immediately after reading the design brief, I had an explosion of ideas and was anxious to start sketching out some concepts.

I can’t take all the credit, though. My brother Nate, another 80’s baby, is an 8-bit pixel-pushing master so I knew he would be a huge asset to the project—definitely a team effort here.

If you were a video game character, what would be your super skill that would make you invaluable to your team members?

If we’re talking real-life Jake packaged as a video game character, I’d have to say my super skill would be the ability to not crack under stress. So maybe I’d be some sort of impervious rock boy who blocks doors from being shut and shields my companions from dangerous projectiles. Yeah, that sounds pretty good.

Do you listen to music while you draw? If so, what were you listening to while you worked on these nifty NaNo designs?

I’m almost always listening to music when I’m sketching or arranging the final product on my MacBook. Usually it’s just shuffle on my Spotify library, but I made a special playlist just for the NaNoWriMo project.

The artists that the list consisted of were Anamanaguchi, Boy vs Bacteria, 047, Lifeformed, Jim Guthrie, and Starscream and was aptly named, “Hyper Super Mega.” No, I’m not joking and yes, these artists all make video game music.

If you powered up and did NaNoWriMo this November, what would your novel be about?

My novel would probably be about a man who arrives home after a long unspecified period of time, only to find his house is not where he left it. It’s mysteriously moved five feet to the right! Who would have gone through all this trouble to dig up his house and move it a mere five feet away?

Well, I guess you’ll just have to read the book to find out.

What was your favorite NaNo design to work on this year and why? We promise we won’t tell the other designs your answer.

The poster was the most fun. It has pretty much every element from the other designs in it. Creating the poster was really like creating a small video game, which is what I do in my spare time anyway so it was right up my alley.

I actually just released a game of my own to the iOS App Store, called Grilly The Cheese. It was so great to be able to pull my brother in to help me with this NaNoWriMo project. His 8-bit pixel skills are amazing and I couldn’t have pulled it off by myself.

You can see more of his art in his upcoming game Trigger Happy Hustle, and over here at pixeljoint.

What is your favorite video game from your childhood?

This is a tough one, but I think i have to go with Ducktales for NES. The music in that game just puts it over the edge for me. I’ve gone back and replayed that one every few years since my childhood and it never gets old. It’s the perfect example of what an NES game should be.

Born in Alton, IL and living in Chicago, Jake holds degrees in graphic design and business. In 2012, he cofounded Piasa Games, an indie game company whose focus is on iOS applications with the recently released title, Grilly The Cheese. He spends most days at Chicago-based startup, Appiphony, where he helps to design award-winning web applications and reigns infinitely as the ping pong champion.

I Published My NaNo Novel! Jason Hough on the Denial that Comes With Being a New York Times Bestseller

Jason Hough is the NYT best-selling author of The Darwin Elevator , a science-fiction novel set in Darwin, Australia. An alien race has built a space elevator there without explanation, and a deadly disease has started to spread across the planet, turning even survivors into “subhumans”.  We were blown away by Jason’s success and he was kind enough to answer a few questions for us.

You’re a New York Times Bestseller! Congratulations! How does it feel?

When my editor called, he asked me if I was sitting down. I said I was, but in truth I had my toddler in one arm and was pouring milk into a sippy cup with the other. Anyway, he took me at my word and broke the news. He and my agent were freaking out, sending virtual high-fives and hugs and tears. I was #24 on the NYT Bestseller list! All I could think was, “24 out of 25? That barely counts!”

So I think I’m still in denial. This all happened very fast, and I’m still in the mindset that I can’t believe anyone likes the book, let alone a lot of people. I’m trying to stay focused on what’s next and continuing to improve as a writer. Hopefully this doesn’t sound smug, but I know I’m just getting started.

How many times have you participated in NaNoWriMo? What have your NaNo experiences been like?

Twice. I first did NaNoWriMo in 2007. That was my first time writing anything with any seriousness. It was a romantic comedy called Tact or Fiction, and I went in with virtually no plan. What I thought was an idea for a novel was really just a single chapter. The story fell apart after that one scene, and it was a real struggle from there.

But, I did manage to finish (50,280 words). Afterwards I was proud, but I also had a newfound respect for authors. It was hard work! So hard that I decided screenplays would be my thing, instead. So that April I did Script Frenzy, and I was armed with a decent outline and a co-writer. It was much easier and resulted in a finished product I’m still proud of.

The friends I made during NaNoWriMo talked me into doing it again in 2008. This time I was determined to end up with a draft of a novel I could keep working on. I went in with a highly detailed outline, lots of character sketches and maps, and most importantly some idea of what I was getting into. That November resulted in the first 50k words of The Darwin Elevator, and I haven’t done NaNo again because I’ve been working on that book (and two sequels) ever since.

After November’s over, revision time inevitably rolls around. What was your revision process like? Do you have any advice for those of us who are struggling in the revision doldrums?

Step away from the project for a bit. How long is different for everyone. It could be a few days, or a month, or six. The benchmark to use is to wait until that time when you suddenly realize you haven’t thought about that project at all in a few days. That’s when you’re ready to go back to it with fresh eyes. If you can, get some people to read it during this “away time”, people you trust to give you actual honest feedback.

I know tools don’t really matter, and some people can write world-changing novels in longhand on paper, but considering using software tailor-made for writing a novel. Something like Scrivener. It makes the revision process so much easier!

Once your novel was polished up, what was your journey to publication?

Funny, even now I still feel like it could use more polish. But in my case, after I did my own revision pass I decided to hire a freelance editor. I really think this is something anyone serious about publication should do (especially self-pub!). He found all sorts of problems, big and small, and the resulting draft was much stronger.

Once that was done, I started to research agents and drafting a query letter. I had about twenty agents on my initial list, ranked by how good of a match they seemed to be for me. I spent a month or so reading queryshark to learn what the common mistakes were.

In the end I only queried my top choice, expecting a rejection that I might be able to learn from. Instead she signed me! Because of this the only advice I can really give on finding an agent is: do your homework! At least 75% of queries are discarded almost immediately by agents for simple mistakes. Lesson: It doesn’t take much to increase your chances significantly.

What is your favorite word and why?

'Was', because every time I see it, I get to destroy it. Incidentally that's one of the best and most succinct bits of writing advice I've yet received.

Jason M. Hough (pronounced ‘Huff’) is a former 3D Artist and Game Designer (Metal Fatigue, Aliens vs. Predator: Extinction, and many others). Writing fiction became a hobby for him in 2007 and quickly turned into an obsession. His debut novel, The Darwin Elevator (Del Rey), released on July 30th in the US and reached the New York Times Bestseller list the following week.

The trilogy, collectively called The Dire Earth Cycle, will be released in the summer of 2013. He lives in San Diego, California with his wife and two young sons.

Keep up with Jason:

On his website
On Twitter
On Facebook

Writer Fuel: Grilling People and Pineapple (One For Novel Feedback. Guess Which!)

This August, we’re focusing on the writing life, with real talk from published authors, student writers, and, of course, the intersection of our great loves: writing and food. We asked Ashleigh, producer of the NaNoWriMo Cookbook to share her writing and revision thoughts alongside her favorite recipes:

There is one final, very important revision tip you should follow when you finish or get close to finishing your novel: share it with everybody you know who you know could provide good feedback. Your parents, your siblings, your third cousin Bill and maybe some close, online friends. As long as it’s people you trust, you’ll be in good shape.

Ask them to give you a firm opinion on what is good and what isn’t, what they think belongs and what shouldn’t. I’ve personally found keeping a close group of people as your personal “reading squad” is mega-helpful.

By the end of this you should have a grasp of what your novel should be like, where you can put in some extra work, and what’s perfect. Congrats! You have gotten over the biggest hump of editing.

It’s time now to celebrate your hard work, so let have a barbecue! Get your grill, get your grub and get your friends. The best part about barbecuing is that literally anything you put on a grill tastes great. Pineapple? Let’s do it. Corn? Awesome. Leather shoe? …It could work.

Some of my personal favorites to throw on the grill?

Corn on the cob (Place on a hot grill until it begins to pop.)
Zucchini, seasoned (I like to use Mrs. Dash.)
Vidalia onion on a skewer
Chicken quarters
Pork chops
Pineapple, either in rings or skewered chunks
Turkey
Pizza dough (Simply throw on the grill and when it’s cooked through and crisp at the edges, put your toppings on)

I’ve always used a charcoal grill (sorry, propane and gas people!), so here are a few grilling tips.

Want a super juicy turkey or chicken? Spread butter across it and wrap in tin foil.
If you don’t want your fire to die out due to pork grease, tin foil has another use: spread it across the grates of the grill (or under the meat), then simply discard when done.
For extra fire, toss some wood on your charcoal. Pecan wood seems to be the best, and adds a lot of flavor.
Don’t have quickstarting briquets and no lighter fluid? Lamp oil works well once you burn the fragrance out.

Once done, serve with your favorite sauces and to your favorite people and as you eat, brag over your novel. You’ve earned it.

To the NaNoWriMo public, Ashleigh is known as DM. She has been a Wrimo since 2005 and won from 2007-2010. She produces the NaNoWriMo Cookbook which collects a large amount of quick and easy recipes from participants. Email her or follow her on Tumblr!

Young Writer Chronicles: "Young Writers Are as Talented, Creative, and Resourceful as Older Writers"

Located in Kenmore, New York, the WNY Young Writer’s Studio is an organization we much admire. They offer year-long fellowships to young writers, and provide writing workshops and day camps. In their own words, “We  learn how to honor and support the writer in everyone, because writers make the world a better place.” Their fellows wrote an amazing post about how they’re learning to use their writing to improve worlds, both the one we live in, and the ones they create:

The WNY Young Writer’s Studio is a writing community in Kenmore, New York. Here, writers of all ages and their teachers explore what great writing is, how to produce it, and how to inspire others to do the same. Writers at the Studio work hard to create a space where people feel safe sharing their ideas, their works in progress, the things they are good at, and the things they struggle with, too.

At Studio, the focus isn’t on craft alone. Writers learn a lot about the values, beliefs, attitudes, and practices that help people become writers. Jumping into a piece and focusing our energies on perseverance rather than perfection is incredibly motivating, and it’s what first drew us to National Novel Writing Month!

Studio veteran Sarah Hanson’s first NaNoWriMo experience unfolded during her freshman year of high school five years ago when she participated in the Young Writers Program. She aimed for a lower word-count goal of 20,000 words and began sharing her nightly word counts with our Studios’ online community. Since finishing her first challenge in 2008, Sarah has aimed for 50,000 words each November and has either met or exceeded the goal.

“It’s not about the word count though,” she tells us. “ It’s about trying your best to persevere and set a certain amount of time aside to just write.”

Sarah is in college now, and her time for creative and personal writing has decreased drastically. NaNoWriMo inspires her to be mindful of her need to write more than research papers and essays for school though. 

“I know that I can start planning in September or October for the one month that’s just about my own passions. I get words into a document to work with later on and take 30 minutes to 2 hours a day (it varies) to just write what I want to in November!”

This yearly challenge to begin writing serves her well throughout the year. As her school work and other responsibilities threaten to consume her entire writing life, she achieves balance by returning to the work she began during NaNoWriMo.

“I pull out small parts of my novel draft one at a time and start revising to keep in practice. Quite honestly, if I did not have this process I’ve developed, I might not have kept up with my own writing at all in college. NaNoWriMo is one of the supportive communities that keep me going. The WNY Young Writer’s Studio is another!”

Sarah used to be terrified of asking others for feedback on her writing, and she admits that, often, she did not respect the suggestions that people had for her work. Through the WNY Young Writer’s Studio, she learned about a peer review process that provides criteria-specific feedback within a protocol that she finds empowering. Rather than receiving compliments on her work, Sarah learns where her readers are recognizing the achievement of the goals she has set for herself relevant to craft or process. Rather than receiving criticism, Sarah’s reviewers pose questions that help her consider where she might make her work better. 

“I’ve come to respect people’s expertise far more and I seek it out,” she tells us. “For example, some writers excel in the use of descriptive detail. I might ask one of those writers for help on a writing piece that I know is not the strongest it can be, and in return offer to share my expertise with character development or dialogue.”

Sarah has learned that everyone has expertise, regardless of age or experience level. “I remember how shocked I was by the amount of research a ten-year-old that I was working with put into his writing. The piece ended up being both creative and supported by facts. At first I was amazed by this writer’s talent, and then realized how narrow-minded it is to think that young writers aren’t as talented, creative, and resourceful as older writers.

I think the important part of Studio is that it opens up everyone’s eyes about things we tend to overlook, not only in writing but in the way we approach living. For instance, right now the elementary writers are studying acts of kindness and practicing them at home. Then, they are writing about them. This is helping them learn a lot about writing, but it’s also teaching all of us to look at the world and the influence of our words in a different way, too.”

NaNoWriMo offers writers a different perspective about the writing life as well. “NaNoWriMo taught me the importance of being courageous and just going after an idea that pops up. If it doesn’t work out, so what? You tried it out and got some practice with a different genre or idea that you normally wouldn’t go after.

I usually write romance and young adult fiction, but one year I tackled a story about a kidnapping. I explored the mindsets of the kidnapper and victim and ended up producing something that was so unlike what I usually write. That happens to be my favorite draft that I still continue to work on even now,  two years later.”

Photos by WNY Young Writer’s Studio.

I Published My NaNo-Novel! Tilia Jacobs on the Power of Teaching NaNoWriMo in Prisons

NaNoWriMo has found its way into elementary classrooms and universities, foreign countries and hometowns. But did you know that NaNoWriMo also has a place in the prison system?  Dedicated volunteers like Tilia Klebenov Jacobs give inmates an opportunity to voice their stories. Tilia will be teaching NaNoWriMo in four prisons in Massachusetts this fall. She also recently published a thriller titled Wrong Place, Wrong Time.

First, tell us about your book that just came out! Was it a NaNo project?

Yep!  My book is called Wrong Place, Wrong Time, and it was my 2009 NaNo-novel. It came out on June 1. A brief teaser:

When Tsara Adelman leaves her husband and two young children for a weekend to visit her estranged uncle, she little dreams he is holding several local children captive on his lavish estate. Mike Westbrook, father of one of the boys, kidnaps her to trade her life for the children’s. Soon Tsara and Mike are fleeing through New Hampshire’s mountain wilderness pursued by two rogue cops with murder on their minds.

That sounds great! You’ve also taught NaNoWriMo extensively in prisons. What inspired you to do that?

I was a 2009 NaNoWriMo winner, and I knew what a rush it is to write an entire novel in a month.  I happened to get involved with teaching writing in prisons through an organization called PEN New England. It’s a very good program, covering poetry, nonfiction, and fiction writing, and I found it very rewarding. 

On the down side, I was frustrated at how seldom I was actually teaching (every two weeks, max) and the fact that there were always multiple teachers for each meeting. After the Spring 2011 PEN New England class ended, I emailed the Director of Treatment at a women’s prison where I’d been volunteering and asked if I might teach a course there on my own. She said yes immediately—she knows how much the women benefit from writing. Then I told her I’d like to base it on NaNoWriMo, and she was ecstatic. We took it from there.

What obstacles have you faced while bringing NaNo to prisons?

Everything depends on the individual Director of Treatment (DOT).  The first one I talked to was enthusiastic and very supportive of my efforts; then, in typical fashion, she got promoted out of her job. I talked to numerous other DOTs about teaching the course in other facilities, and none of them would give me the time of day. It was very discouraging.  Here is a program that costs them nothing, taught by (if you will indulge me) a ridiculously qualified instructor, with tremendous benefits to the inmates—and they wouldn’t do it. Blech!  

More recently, I happened to meet the volunteer coordinator for the entire DOC, and he put me in touch with the right people.  All of a sudden I have two more prisons begging for my services!  So it’s all who you know.  

What are the benefits of encouraging this creative outlet? How has it changed the prisoners?

The benefits are tremendous. I have had the women tell me, “I never knew I had a creative side before I took this course,” and “I now know I can use my mind toward anything positive,” and “Of everything I’ve done here, this is what’s helped me the most. Actually, it’s the only thing that’s helped me at all.”

A few months ago I happened to run into a former student who was on a work-release program at a local restaurant, and she told me she’s still working on her novel. It is her new passion. How cool is that? So yes, it definitely has changed some lives!

As for more general benefits, I recommend you look at a study called “Education Reduces Crime.” It is a stunning view into the benefits of education—any education—for inmates.

Can you describe some of the inmates’ novels and how they’ve managed to incorporate NaNoWriMo into their prison routine?

The women often write very autobiographical novels; a minority write very escapist stuff: spiritual/paranormal, etc. Naturally, there is a range in quality, but the beauty of it is that you can always rewrite.

As for how they incorporate writing into their routines, I’d say the answer is by hook or by crook. Their time is often not their own; many have mandatory programs, such as AA or parenting; they also have jobs and work-release programs; and of course, if someone blares your name on the PA system, you drop everything and come running. But many of them are quite dedicated to telling their stories, and they manage it.

The prison where I spend the most time has a computer lab, and we had to negotiate the hours my students would be allowed to use it, but once that was settled it was a very good arrangement.

This past fall, the lab was being updated so it was closed, and the women did all their writing longhand. We had lower word totals that way, but not as much as you might expect. The bottom line is that if you want to do it badly enough, you’ll find a way. And of course I teach with the blessing of the administration, so that probably helps a bit.

Tilia Klebenov Jacobs holds a Master of Theological Studies from Harvard Divinity School and a Secondary School Teaching Certification from the Harvard Graduate School of Education. Despite lacking the ability to breathe fire except in the strictly metaphorical sense, Tilia has taught middle school, high school, and college. Tilia lives near Boston with her husband, two children, and two standard poodles.

Writer Fuel: Filling Characters with Detail, and a Pie Crust with Quiche

This August, we’re focusing on the writing life, with real talk from published authors, student writers, and, of course, the intersection of our great loves: writing and food. We asked Ashleigh, producer of the NaNoWriMo Cookbook to share her writing and revision thoughts alongside her favorite recipes:

Today, I’m going to break into more of my revision rituals. Sometimes after NaNoWriMo, our characters just feel flat. So on that note, here are a couple of my favorite ways to pump up the character volume, and depth of my novel.

Your characters can’t go homeless. Find them an abode.

When you can’t visualize the specifics of your character’s homes and settings, you can use sites like Zillow. Enter a city name, or just browse. You’ll get great ideas for addresses or street names, and avoid those thrown-together sentences like “He entered some room.” 

Need a better visualization of your characters? Dress them up.

To get a better idea of your character’s wardrobe, you can use Polyvore to design outfits for them, get ideas for style and how it reflects personality, and the like. I also like to use Your Fashion Inspiration for those moments I’m uninspired.

Now, for today’s dish. After a day’s worth of revision and making your novel fancy with setting and character details, let’s make ourselves a fancy dish. I do love me some quiche, and I feel quiche is very fancy. It’s also very easy to make, actually!

Ham and Cheese Quiche

You will need:

One pizza pan
A spatula
A skillet

Ingredients:

Pie crust, thawed
Margarine
6 eggs
Chopped ham (deli, or pre-packaged luncheon meat)
Extra sharp cheddar cheese
1 onion
A splash of milk

Note: The ham, cheese and onion are to taste; however much you want is how much you add.

Preheat oven to 375F. Meanwhile, coat the skillet with margarine and put it on medium-high heat. When all the margarine has melted, place the onions on it and stir around, cooking until translucent.

Meanwhile, beat the eggs, then mix the ham and milk in. When the onions are done, place them into the mixture. Pour into pie crust and place shredded cheddar cheese on top.

Bake for about 45 minutes or until cheese is golden brown. Pull out and let cool for 5 minutes, then serve.

My personal favorite side dish for quiche is broccoli, but whatever you feel goes well; go for it!

To the NaNoWriMo public, Ashleigh is known as DM. She has been a Wrimo since 2005 and won from 2007-2010. She produces the NaNoWriMo Cookbook which collects a large amount of quick and easy recipes from participants. Email her or follow her on Tumblr!

Evaluating the Evaluators: A Review of CreateSpace's Editorial Services

CreateSpace is a long-time sponsor of NaNoWriMo. After seeing the incredible ways our Wrimos have used their services, they asked Sara McBride, our Municipal Liaison in Los Angeles to give their editorial services a whirl:

As a Wrimo, I was seeking inspiration and direction for a 50,540-word novel I wrote last November. I usually work with a team of beta readers that includes fellow writers (and I admit it, my mother) but I wanted a more objective and professional opinion to help me decide if I should continue the project (after all, I have other NaNo-novels to work on!).

CreateSpace now offers editorial services and editorial evaluations for manuscripts. I sent CreateSpace the first hundred pages and was happy to receive an evaluation that was critical, encouraging and very positive. The detailed response gave me great ideas to explore throughout the rest of the novel.

The Evaluation Process:

First, you must upload the book into one of their printing formats, like a 6” x 9” size. This can be technically challenging, but their system will tell you when there are problems and how to fix them. However, the evaluation process cannot move forward until your upload is accepted. 

Second, you’ll need to provide some background about your novel so you and the evaluator know what you hope to achieve with the evaluation. This is a great general NaNo Prep exercise, as well:

Summary of novel
Description of main characters
Book genre
Target audience
What inspired you to write the book?
Anything else you’d like the evaluator to specifically look for?

Third, you wait two weeks for your evaluation. 

What the Summary Evaluation Covers:

Title Relevance: does your title fit the contents of the story?
Audience: which audience does your story target?
Genre label: where in the bookstore is this book to be found?
The Introduction: how good is the set-up of the story?
The Manuscript Critique: plot holes, too many storylines, unanswered questions?
Beginning and End: do they work for the book, or should they go in a different direction? Does it fit the genre?
Pacing: Is it even throughout, jumpy, or inconsistent?
Dialogue vs. Description: Is there an even amount of each?
Cliché vs. Originality: If cliché, does it work for the book?

Chapter and Character Evaluations:

The evaluation continues with a summary of each chapter you sent, including what works and what doesn’t. My evaluator included really helpful thoughts about what questions the reader might mentally be asking at the end of each chapter, and if the next chapter addressed those questions. For example:

For Chapter 1: The evaluator mentioned, “In the back of readers’ minds will be the idea that the family is probably very unhappy with Alexis being the sole heir.” 

For Chapter 2: The evaluator concludes with, “Good chapter, as it echoes what readers might be thinking about the family and losing its inheritance to Alexis.”

The characters are evaluated as to whether they are well developed and necessary. If not, how can you better develop them, or who could be cut?  

This is where your earlier character descriptions can really help the evaluator. If your characters are really clear in your description, but an important background element never really comes through in the novel, or was accidentally cut in a previous draft, the evaluator will notify you. Since I only sent the first 100 pages, but a full character description, the evaluator gave me great ideas for the character arc of my heroine. 

Inconsistencies and Improvements Evaluation: 

The evaluator provides suggestions to correct grammar, formatting, inconsistent character names or timeline confusion. This is not meant to be a line-by-line edit of the book. 

I was reminded of grammar rules I repeatedly ignored, like when to write out numbers, or “every day” vs “everyday.” Another detail I’m grossly guilty of is redundant wording, like “Each stone descending down from …” The evaluator pointed out that the only direction “descending” could indicate is “down.” 

Writing Style Evaluation:

The evaluator offers possible solutions to consistent problems.

A great catch was, “Slurping his soup, he said, ‘Why didn’t you tell me about this?’” The evaluator said:

"When we have a verb ending in –ing, this implies ongoing action. But can he really be slurping his soup at the same time that he speaks? Try it. Instead it should be written: He slurped his soup and then said, ‘Why didn’t you tell me about this?’"

After reading this comment, I found several impossible moments of verb & speech combos; Sneezing and speaking, catching my breath and speaking, and of course, drinking and speaking.

The Conclusion and Next Steps:

For my first 100 pages, the evaluator wrote:

“The success of what has been written is absolutely great and highly suspenseful, with a steamroller plot, great characterization, and description. What is the next step? Finish the manuscript.” 

Although I cherish my beta readers, my CreateSpace evaluator was enthusiastic, positive, critical, incredibly helpful, and offered a level of detail that is difficult to get from anyone but a professional editor. This is an excellent service with enormous bang for your buck. I absolutely recommend it.

Photo by Flickr user cellar_door_films.

I Published My NaNo Novel! Teri Brown on the Tenacious, No-Holds-Barred Writer's Mentality

Teri Brown, Wrimo, resident history nut, and the author of  Born of Illusion , a YA novel set in 1920’s New York, was kind enough to share how her NaNo-novel about Harry Houdini’s illegitimate daughter came to bookstores, and how writing taught her never to give up:

Your novel, Born of Illusion, came out this past June—it’s set in a dark and magical 1920s New York. What inspired you to write about this time?

The period of time between 1900 and 1930 has always fascinated me. It was a time of change across the board—women’s rights, technology, music, arts and literature were all going through a metamorphosis. Cultured hurtled into the modern age during that time and the affect all these changes had on people was incredible. It makes for a lot of conflict, which is what good stories thrive on.

What draws you to writing historical fiction?

The stories! There are just so many amazing time periods to tell stories about. I’m currently writing in the 1920’s and the Edwardian era (as T.J. Brown), but I have no doubt I’ll move on to other time periods, as well. I have the seeds of a tense young-adult western rattling about in my brain, sort of like Django Unchained meets the Wild Wild West, but it hasn’t quite jelled yet.

How many times have you participated in NaNoWriMo? What have your NaNoWriMo experiences been like?

I think the first time I participated in NaNoWriMo was 2002. I won, but the book was terrible. I didn’t attend any meet-ups at all that year.

The second time I did NaNo was in 2010, and it was for Born of Illusion, which at the time was titled The Life and Times of Harry Houdini’s Illegitimate Daughter. (I know the title is bulky, but I actually loved it!) I went to several meet ups with my best friend’s teen daughter who won NaNo that year, as well.

On the last night we met at a Panera with a bunch of other Nano-ers. I had a charm bracelet engraved with her name and “NaNoWriMo 2010 Winner”. I wrapped it up in a box and bow and set it next to her computer. She could have her gift when she finished up. At twenty minutes to midnight she hit her word count and was able to open her prize. It was a fun year!

I did NaNo last year because I was actually trying to finish book three of four contracted books, which I ended up writing in eleven months… NaNo prepared me well for those deadlines! And yes, I won again. Does that mean I get a triple crown?

What was your journey to publication like?

My journey to publication is sort of convoluted. I scored an agent fairly soon in my career, but it took two books before I finally sold my first YA novel in 2007. Then I couldn’t sell again to save my life. My agent and I had a parting of the ways, I wrote another book and shopped until I found another agent. That book didn’t sell either and I thought my career was over. Seriously over.

I had an idea that would become Born of Illusion, but my agent at the time really enjoyed edgy YA and had little interest in historicals. I had to tell the story of Houdini’s daughter, so I left my second agent, wrote a banging proposal and went shopping again. To my delight, I had several offers and finally chose Mollie Glick from Foundry Literary agency. She is brilliant. (She is also warm and wonderful but mostly brilliant!) We worked on BOI for about eight months before we sold it in a preempt in 2011 to Kristin Rens at Balzer and Bray.

Six months later I also sold an adult Edwardian Trilogy to Gallery Books.  You know the old adage it never rains, but it pours? That.

What is your favorite word?

Myriad. I don’t know why. I like plethora too.

What was your lowest moment while writing and how did you overcome it?

I have had so many low moments, but doesn’t every writer? Isn’t that part of our chosen profession?

When I was working nonfiction, there was that moment when I interviewed a prominent author and she contacted the editor after reading the article I submitted and told the editor I lied about a quote… luckily I had the email with the exact quote in it. The editor asked me what I wanted to do and I told her to scrap the article. That was a pretty low moment.

There was also the moment when my first agent and I broke up. And the moment when my second agent and I broke. Then there are the rejections and the occasional poor review. Like I said, low moments happen. A lot. You just have to develop a tenacious, no-holds-barred mentality. I am never going to give up. Never.

Last summer was particularly bad for me… I was diagnosed with throat cancer and had to undergo radiation treatments and I had all these deadlines… it’s times like those when you realize how much your writing career means to you. I wrote no matter how bad I felt. And the stories got me through.  

Teri Brown is most proud of her two children but coming in a close second is the fact that she parachuted out of a plane and beat the original Legend of Zelda video game. She resides with her husband and way too many pets in Portlandia.

Keep up with Teri:

On her website
On Twitter

Writer Fuel: Rainbow Chocolate Chip Cookies and the Colored Pen Method

This August, we’re focusing on the writing life, with real talk from published authors, student writers, and, of course, the intersection of our great loves: writing and food. We asked Ashleigh, producer of the NaNoWriMo Cookbook to share her writing and revision thoughts alongside her favorite recipes:

I use some unorthodox methods when I’m revising my novels. I like to have some hardcore revision music playing (lately, I’ve been enjoying electronic music: Röyksopp, Aphex Twin, and Savant are three choice groups), and I also use the colored pen method.

What is the colored pen method? Here’s how it works:

After slowly reading and familiarizing yourself with your novel, pull out your pens. I typically use light blue, purple and pink but you can use whatever you wish. You could also use highlighters or colored pencils, doesn’t matter. Designate what color will mean what to you. Here’s how mine would stack up:

Light blue: Important things that must be kept. Anything from a line you thought was really witty to a critical point in your plot, if you think it’s necessary for your novel’s life, leave it.

Pink: Stuff that should be used later. Did you put a bit of dialogue in that should’ve waited a couple chapters? Introduced a character too quickly? Mark these things. Then later on in your revising process, mark where they should be.

Purple: Completely unnecessary things that should be omitted and burned with fire and forgotten forever. Mark them as a reminder that they should never enter your novel again.

On the topic of color, do you know what a really good snack is for revision? Cookies! I know, I know: what do cookies have to do with color? Everything, when you give your plain old chocolate chip cookies a pop of color!

Rainbow Chocolate Chip Cookies

You will need:

One 9x13 baking sheet

A large bowl

An ice cream scoop

Ingredients:

1 cup unsalted butter, room temperature

3/4 cup white sugar

3/4 light brown sugar

2 eggs

1 ½ teaspoons pure vanilla extract

2 and ¼ cup all-purpose flour

1 teaspoon baking soda

1 package of M&Ms

Cooking spray

Directions:

Preheat your oven to 375 F. Coat your sheet with spray and set it aside.

Combine all ingredients in a large bowl, mixing until there are no dry spots. Sprinkle the M&Ms in last. Once you’re done, begin spooning out the dough with the scoop. They don’t have to be totally neat, but the scoop will make your life a lot easier. Place on the pan, roughly four to five inches apart.

Place in the oven for about eight to ten minutes—enough time to glance through a paragraph of your novel!

Once they’re done, pull them out and let them cool. They will still be soft on the inside but a little crisp on the edges. Once cool, pluck them off the pan and enjoy! You can eat one every time you use that colored pen.

To the NaNoWriMo public, Ashleigh is known as DM. She has been a Wrimo since 2005 and won from 2007-2010. She produces the NaNoWriMo Cookbook which collects a large amount of quick and easy recipes from participants. Email her or follow her on Tumblr!

Young Writer Chronicles: 500 Sixth Graders Write, Revise, and Publish their Novels

If you’re a fan of NaNoWriMo, you already know that we think deadlines are every writer’s secret weapon. Daniel Stone, a sixth-grade language-arts teacher joins us today to tell us how NaNoWriMo’s Young Writers Program helped 500 students at Marvin Ridge Middle School in North Carolina write and revise their novels with a looming deadline:

This school year, my colleagues and I went through the Young Writers Program with our students. Over 500 novels were written, revised, edited, and published by our 6th grade students and teachers! One of the biggest reasons for this success was that the students knew that they were going to get their books published by CreateSpace. It’s one thing to be able to say that you’ve completed a huge writing project, but it’s another to hold in your hand a real novel with your name on it. That became a big motivator for many of our students.

Another reason for our success was the fact that we had over 500 students doing this project together. They knew that there were 500 other people who were having the same fears, going through the same struggles, and feeling the same sense of pride in their work. On top of that, their teachers were also writing a novel. This wasn’t just an assignment we were giving them; we were going on the journey by their side, and sharing our fears, struggles, successes, and failures with them along the way. 

Finally, December arrived. Most of us had reached our goals, but some of us needed an extra week or two to finish up. But all 500 of us celebrated by eating snacks, reading parts of each other’s novels, and reminiscing about the journey we had just gone on.

Then, we got down to the business of revising and editing. We didn’t want to waste the enormous amount of enthusiasm and momentum that we had built up for a month and a half! The students had already put so much time and creative energy into the stories, and they wanted their final published product to look as good as possible. They truly cared about revising and editing their work. Some of the peer revising/editing discussions that went on in our school during December and early January could have been mistaken for conversations between professional authors and editors.

Eventually, however, the revising and editing process started to wind down. By mid-January, most students were done—or as done as they were going to get. That’s when we started to work on the finishing touches to make our novels ready for publication. These “fun” activities (like our About the Author page, Dedication, and Reviews) helped to re-energize us and carry us through the rest of the process.

The free copies of our published novels via CreateSpace were a huge motivator to finish our novels. The samples from the students who went through it last year served as a great visual example of what was waiting for us at the end of the process.

While CreateSpace offers a template to use for the interior of your novel, and their Cover Creator is laid out in an easy, step-by-step format, having 500 middle schoolers go through that process was quite a challenge! All of the teachers became “experts” on troubleshooting students’ problems with formatting their novel and navigating through CreateSpace. 

When the first book arrived, you could feel the excitement in the class! That student felt like a “real” author, and the rest of the class was even more motivated to publish their novels. From then on, every time a new student novel was brought in, there was a mini-celebration where we showed it off to the class and read the blurb on the back of the book. It was a great start to many of our school days for a few weeks.

We also had a final celebration that we invited the parents to attend. The students were lined up throughout the hallways in the school, holding their novels. Then, the parents (and some other teachers, superintendents, reporters, etc.) walked around and listened to the students share their novels. It was wonderful to see the excitement and pride on the faces of the students, parents, teachers, and everyone else who stopped by that day. It was absolutely the perfect way to end our novel writing journey.

NaNoWriMo was so successful, and almost unanimously well-liked by the students, parents, teachers, and everyone in the community, that we’ve already been making plans for what type of changes we can make to it for next year! I think a huge part of that success is because of the published copies that everyone received. It’s a tangible reward for months of hard work, and something that these 500 students (and their teachers!) will keep with them for the rest of their lives.

— Daniel Stone, 6th Grade Language Arts Teacher, Marvin Ridge Middle School