Chris Baty's Blog, page 208

I Published My NaNo Novel! Dave Anthony on Love, Struggle and First Drafts

Do you write based on your life experiences? We seized the opportunity to ask Dave Anthony a few questions about this very topic. Dave’s historical fiction novel, Love and Struggle: Beyond the Rubber Estates was informed by his experiences as a Catholic priest in Malaysia.

Your novel came out last year. What can you tell us about the story?

Love and Struggle: Beyond the Rubber Estates is a historical novel. It traces the struggles of Indian rubber plantation workers in Malaya through the oppressive machinations of the planters, the Indian overseers known as mandors or kanganies, and the governments under British, Japanese and again British rule.

It is set in the period before, during and after the Second World War. A thread of romance runs through this tale of injustices perpetrated on the marginalized Indian plantation workers who left their homeland to come here in search of a better life. Many of them never returned and many thousands just disappeared. It is this forgotten part of Malaysia’s social history that forms the canvas on which the story is painted.

The salient facts of the social history of Malaysia are either masked or sidelined by the official history taught in our schools. The novel is another face of the social history of Malaysia.

How is the novel based on your real-life experiences?

As a Catholic priest for 21 years, my pastoral experience has been primarily with the poor Indian rubber plantation workers. The Church in Malaysia caters for the English, Chinese, Tamil and Malay-speaking followers. The Tamil-speaking people are the Indians, most of whom work in the plantations.

As a Redemptorist religious priest I would be invited by the parishes to conduct missions of faith renewal. As a Tamil-speaking priest I have traveled through the length and breadth of the country over 12 years visiting the plantations. I communicate not only with the Catholics but all the workers and their families who are mostly Hindus. Not to convert them but to get to know them and their problems. They live in poor and cramped conditions.

I drive my van into the estate and sleep in it with the mosquitoes. I have grown to deeply understand the hardships they face, particularly their low wages.

What have your NaNoWriMo experiences been like?

November 2011 was the first and only time I participated in NaNoWriMo. It had been a challenging and rewarding experience for me. The objective of reaching the target number of words each day pushed the story forward. I just kept writing with no sections or headings or chapters.

Being a historical novel it required substantial research and if I did both research and writing I would never reach the target, so I marked the space for research which could be filled out later and just kept writing.

After November is over, revision time inevitably rolls around. What was your revision process like? Any words of wisdom?

I found that the story was running all over the place and needed some ordering of sequence. Referring back to the plot I put it in some order and began my research where required. When I had finally finished the work I went over the script several times shaping and re-sharpening the storyline and editing out sections that did not contribute to the story. Each time I read it, there were more mistakes.

I would say: consider the 50k words as a rough draft and later sharpen the story line.

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

This was the more difficult task. I wrote queries to several agents and publishers but there were no takers. Some politely declined while most just ignored me.

Finally, I approached a local publisher who has no international distribution network. After 10 months, he offered to publish it.

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

A couple of times I had to travel and failed to meet the daily target. Since I had to work twice as hard to catch up I saw no point in pushing on. What I had been doing, though, was to write slightly more than the daily quota. Adding this up gave me an edge, so instead of giving up I continued.

Dave Anthony is a Malaysian of Indian origin. As a Catholic priest for 21 years, his pastoral experience has been primarily with the poor Indian rubber plantation workers. Trained in television production and journalism in Ireland, he was the editor and publisher of a nationwide Catholic Church magazine for 15 years.  He lives in Petaling Jaya, Malaysia with his wife and two sons.

Keep up with Dave:

On his Facebook
On his website

Writer Fuel: Mini Meatloafs and the Benefits of Pacing Your Revision

This August, we’re focusing on the writing life, with real talk from published authors, students writing, 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:

One of my favorite things to do when writing is to snack and cook. While snacking allows you to munch and not leave your masterpiece, the former requires you to get out of your chair and actually prepare a meal for you and/or any family members or pets.

Even though cooking pulls you from your story, it doesn’t mean your mind has to be completely off of writing. (Of course make sure to pay enough attention to your meal if you’re using a hot surface, because if you’re absent-minded enough you’ll burn that writing hand.)

For revision, you can take a little more time out of your schedule since it’s a slower pace than working on NaNo or Camp NaNo projects. Apply that slower pace to your cooking, too, and it will allow you to be a bit more creative in the kitchen. When you present your family and friends with the new dish, they’ll be impressed not only by your creative prowess but by your cooking ability!

Today I’ll be spotlighting one of my family’s favorite recipes: a quick meatloaf that cuts the regular cooking time down by fifteen or twenty minutes. My mom calls them “mini meatloafs” and they’re basically giant hamburgers with enough punch that you won’t even need side dishes for them. I’ve personally always loved the smell of cooking beef, especially when seasoned just right…

Mini Meatloafs

Yield: Four large patties

Prep time: Roughly ten minutes

Cook time: Roughly thirty minutes

You will need:

One 9x13 baking pan
One large, sturdy spatula
A medium-sized bowl for mixing

Ingredients:

Two pounds of hamburger. I normally use ground chuck.
One can of mushrooms
Various spices of your choosing; I personally use Weber’s Steak and Chop Seasoning, seasoned salt and garlic.
Barbecue sauce, steak sauce or Worcestershire sauce. I typically prefer steak sauce but the others are worthy substitutes.
One egg
About half a cup of Italian herb breadcrumbs
Cooking spray or shortening

Directions:

Preheat oven to 450F (230C). Coat your baking pan with the spray or shortening, and set it off to the side.

Place the hamburger in the bowl and combine the mushrooms, spices, sauce of your choose, egg and breadcrumbs. The messy part comes next, which is stirring it all in. If you don’t wish to actually place your hands in and stir it around, you can use a spoon, which works just as well.

After you’re done, roll them up into little balls. You can now hold out your palm and throw the oversized meatball against it like you’re punishing a character who has done wrong. Continue this three more times.

Lay in the pan and place in oven for roughly thirty minutes. While you’re waiting, go do some more revising!

When the timer dings, pull them out and let them cool. You won’t need a side but if you want to, mashed potatoes are a good standby, or mix it up by having some caramelized Brussels sprouts (just cook Brussels sprouts in margarine until they’re dark brown).

Then serve and enjoy!

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!

At 3354 Adeline: Adventure Awaits!

This past spring, we said goodbye to one of our favorite interns ever. We’ve only just come to terms with the reality of it. Here now is Ari’s last blog post. (Interested in our internship program? Check it out.)

Saying a good goodbye takes practice. When I wrote my second introduction blog months ago, I understood too, that I would eventually have to write a goodbye post as well. But that was too far beyond what I could plan for myself. But now that the day has come, I’m ill-prepared. Luckily, being an intern for a second time means it’s my second goodbye—I’ve had twice as much practice since the last time I did this.

National Novel Writing Month has been one of my favorite places to work, and I could not recommend this internship more. Being an intern here meant a good share of spreadsheets, but it also meant I was able to own projects that interested and inspired me. I worked with a team of people who loved reading, writing, and design as much as I did. I learned how to be more comfortable on camera. I designed a book cover. I wrote my first sci-fi story during Camp. I indulged at the bakery next door. I karaoke’d Hall and Oates with my co-workers. I heard people say, “What do you think, Ari?” and really mean it. Through my new friendships here, I now have two of the best roommates I could ask for, and I joined an awesome writing group. There was never a day that I didn’t feel engaged or creative, or appreciated, and I use my amazing experience here as a litmus test for any future work environment.

In my time away I plan to write more, work more, and even spend some time on my new blog project. As the weather heats up in good ol’ California, I plan to wean myself off s’mores and onto ice cream sandwiches. 

So it is on this note that I say goodbye to OLL. It has been wonderful and exciting, and I am sad that it’s come to an end. But I know we will keep in touch. That’s what it means to be a part of this community. I wish all the lovely folks at OLL, continued adventures, and I promise I will have my own too.

—Ari

I Published My NaNo-Novel! Julie Murphy on Moxie, Novel Revision, and Lightbulb Moments

Julie Murphy’s NaNoWriMo novel is set to be published in winter 2014. Side Effects May Vary is a story about sixteen-year-old Alice, who, after being diagnosed with leukemia, decides to spend her final months righting wrongs. But just when Alice’s scores are settled, she goes into remission and is forced to face the consequences of all that she’s said and done. Julie was lovely enough to answer our burning questions.

What have your NaNo experiences been like?

I have participated in NaNoWriMo twice. My first was in November of 2011 and the product was what is now Side Effects May Vary. My second time was actually Camp NaNoWriMo right after I sold Side Effects.

Man, I love NaNo. To me, it’s the Ironman Triathalon of writing—but with more junk food provisions—because if you’ve completed it, you wear it as a badge of honor. Plus, I thrive on a deadline. Without a deadline, I fall headfirst into my Netflix queue. And, ya know, the constant social media peer pressure doesn’t hurt.

After November’s over, revision time inevitably rolls around. What was your revision process like? Any words of wisdom?

The first time I revised Side Effects, I had no clue what I was doing. It was only with the help of some amazing and intuitive critique partners that I got Side Effects to the point where it needed to be before I could query it.

I think that, knowing what I know now, my best advice would be to put the red pen down and read what you’ve got from start to finish. Think long and hard about what you had imagined this book would be versus what it is. Once you’ve recognized that gap, you can figure out what needs to be done so that your NaNo baby can go from a runny-nosed infant with major conehead to a shiny toddler in a tiara. (Disclaimer: I love conehead babies. My analogies are really killing it today, you guys.)

Did I say critique partners yet? Because you need them. A good critique partner can spot all your blind spots. (And trust me, we all have plenty!)

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

I had an extremely traditional and, in a way, storybook path to publication. I connected with Molly, my agent, soon after querying, we did a round of revisions, and then we sold to my wonderful editor, Alessandra.

I think what’s important to know about publication is that it’s not a one-size-fits-all process. In the world of traditional publication, stories like mine are not the status quo. I know there will be bumps ahead because we all have our hiccups, but I also know how lucky I’ve been so far. The right people were there to open the right doors for me at the right moments. I owe those people a whole bunch.

What is your favorite word and why?

Moxie!

It rhymes with foxy.
The word just has a little bit of ‘tude and I like a slight attitude.

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

One of my lowest moments was Christmas Eve of 2011, just after I wrote Side Effects May Vary. I had been querying my first novel and was at a crossroads with it. I would either have to revise that sucker for months or fully commit myself to revising Side Effects May Vary.

I was pulling a tray of (most likely burnt) cookies out of the oven when my phone pinged and I found a rejection on a full request from an agent in my inbox. All I could think was, “Who rejects people on Christmas Eve?" I was so infuriated and disappointed. Not only that, but it was also time for me to make some major life decisions. Would I go to grad school? Law school? Wait and hope that writing would take off?

In the end, no huge decisions were made that night. I didn’t have this lightbulb moment where my life made sense. But, over the course of the holidays, I began to let go of that first book and was able to see the flaws in it that agents had mentioned in their rejections. By New Years, I was ready to ready tackle Side Effects and completely immerse myself in it. So I guess the way I overcame one of my low writing moments was to take a step back, eat some good food, and love on my family.

Julie lives in North Texas with her husband who loves her, her dog who adores her, and her cat who tolerates her. When she’s not writing or trying to catch stray cats, she works at an academic library. Side Effects May Vary is Julie’s debut novel.

Keep up with Julie:

On her Facebook
On her Twitter
On her blog

— Emily

Writing Marathons: How to Write 11,500 Words In One Day

It was a hot Saturday in July and NaNoWriMo’s two volunteer Municipal Liaisons (MLs) in New Jersey were doing something pretty spectacular in the recesses of the public library.

You may have read about Bill Patterson’s plans for Monkey in a Box on this blog a couple of weeks ago. On July 20, during the one-day writing marathon event, Bill (the aforementioned “monkey") wrote for eight hours in a glass box at the Woodbridge Public Library, for a total of 11,500 words.

Richenda Gould, Bill’s co-ML and event facilitator, said her favorite part of the day was when a mom and her 12-year-old daughter came over to see what was happening.

“This girl stayed and read Bill’s novel on the big screen that was displaying his writing, then she proceeded to join in and write for the entire day. She was a real trooper. She could have done anything with her Saturday, but she decided to spend it with us, writing, from before 10 a.m. all the way until 5 p.m. And she really wanted to know when we’d be doing this again. That makes it all worth it as far as I’m concerned.”

With fingers flying, did the story go in unexpected directions? “Of course it did!” said Bill. “I got about two paragraphs into it and had that wonderful feeling you get when whole new vistas of plot lines and dialogue open up in front of you.”

The online response from the NaNoWriMo community was huge, with people participating from from Australia, Norway, Finland, England, Wales, and Canada, along with folks in the United States from Massachusetts to Alaska.

“We had folks ditch work, or totally rearrange their weekend just to sit down and write, because some old geek was hammering away in a library half a world away!” Bill said. “Oddly, with that much pressure to produce, I didn’t really suffer from writer’s block. I had to crank out the prose, so I just buckled down and did it. I’m just blown away by how much everyone did,” said Bill.

If you’re looking for monkey writing wisdom, Bill has plenty and it’s good. “Open up your manuscript. Now, draw a whole line of dashes. Below the dashes, centered, write ‘This is just babbling!’ Draw another line of dashes.

What you are doing is unhooking your inner editor, and keeping your conscious mind busy with doing stuff like forming sentences. Your subconscious, where all of the writing really takes place, then starts plopping ideas out onto the assembly line, where your conscious mind is busy packaging them for the screen. Do it right, and you’ll suddenly sit up and go ‘Whoa!’ at what the depths of your mind can generate.

That’s when you draw another couple of lines, signal the end of babbling, and write the rest of the story.  This being NaNo, never erase any of the babble—all of those words count for the goal!”

“By the end of the day I was exhausted but really happy and proud,” said Richenda. “We pulled off something awesome this weekend.”

— Emily

Photos by Richenda Gould

 

Ask a Published Author: "How do you keep from being cliché?"

Susan Dennard  is a writer turned marine biologist turned writer again.  Something Strange and Deadly  is the first in a Gothic trilogy, and the sequel,  A Darkness Strange and Lovely ,  has just released. She shares with her heroine Eleanor a healthy appetite for baked goods.

I want to publish my first fantasy novel to Kindle after I revise it, but I had some people tell me it wasn’t “unique enough" after I asked for an excerpt critique. But then others think it sounds awesome. So my question is, how much do you have to worry about being “cliché"? Should I just risk it and see, or try a different idea? —Anonymous

Yes, uniqueness is very important to writing a sellable novel, but oftentimes what makes a book feel unique is the writer’s voice and particular storytelling style. There are thousands upon thousands of epic fantasies or cozy mysteries out there, yet what makes each feel different is the author’s approach. Only you can write your story in your particular way, and that might very well be enough to make the premise not cliché.

That said, I am an author who firmly believes that every book should be thoroughly critiqued and edited by external eyes—no matter what publishing route you opt to take. You should draft your novel, revise it until you are sick of it, and then let your critique partner(s) read it. They can help you spot areas that feel cliché as well as problems with plot, character, pacing, etc. If you don’t yet have a critique partner, I’ll direct you here and here for help on finding one. (NaNo HQ: And you can always check out our Critiques, Feedback & Novel Swaps forum!)

I honestly urge you to avoid publishing something to Kindle without also finding a professional editor—or at the very least, a slew of very thorough, very experienced critique partners. Perhaps you are already planning to do this, but I just wanted to mention it.

These days, the successfully self-published follow all the steps a traditional publisher would take: multiple rounds of professional editing, copy-editing, professional design & production, etc. As writers, we are simply too close to our own writing to properly spot errors and issues, and that’s why external, objective feedback is crucial to getting our best possible work out there.

Happy writing!

Ask a Published Author: "How do you develop your setting?"

Susan Dennard  is a writer turned marine biologist turned writer again.  Something Strange and Deadly  is the first in a Gothic trilogy, and the sequel,  A Darkness Strange and Lovely ,  has just released. She shares with her heroine Eleanor a healthy appetite for baked goods.

How do you develop the world in which your story takes place without bogging down the story itself, and how can you tell when it’s doing just that? — Anonymous

I would say you shouldn’t worry about bogging down your story until you reach revisions. It’s truly best to let yourself write freely, pour any and every idea on the page as it comes, and then worry about pacing or info-dumping when you revise.

If, even after you’ve revised, you’re worried about too much world-building, then you can turn to a trusted critique partner for feedback. I find crit partners are invaluable for helping me spot pacing errors since we, the writers, are often too close to our own story to really gauge if a scene is slow.

In fact, I was recently revising a work-in-progress for my agent, and she pointed out a ton of areas that were just littered with info-dumping—areas I thought were fantastic! She asked if I really needed all those world details, and I realized that of course the answer was no. I didn’t need all that info in the text for readers, but I had needed it as I drafted because it was how I figured out the structure, culture, setting, etc. But now that I knew my world, as I revised, I could shave out the unnecessary details (for possible later weaving-in) and help keep the pacing tight.

So, to boil this answer down, I suggest you draft without worrying about bogging down your story, and then after you revise, turn to your critique partner for help with pacing and world-building. Of course, if you don’t yet have a critique partner, I’ll direct you here and here for help on finding one. Good luck and happy writing!

You can also check out the Critiques, Feedback, & Novel Swaps forum when you’re ready to start revising your novel!

Ask a Published Author: "How do you know when your story is finished?"

Susan Dennard  is a writer turned marine biologist turned writer again.  Something Strange and Deadly  is the first in a Gothic trilogy, and the sequel,  A Darkness Strange and Lovely ,  has just released. She shares with her heroine Eleanor a healthy appetite for baked goods.

How do you know when a piece of writing is finished? — Steam-pug

That’s a tricky question because most authors will tweak their work for all eternity. In fact, I actually prefer to use the word “ready” because I will never deem a book “finished.” ;)

Ultimately, what dictates “ready” is when I’ve made the manuscript the best I can make it on my own. Then it’s “ready for my critique partners.” Once I’ve worked with them and likely revised some more, the manuscript is next “ready to give to my editor”—or, in someone else’s case, perhaps “ready to query to agents.”

As Neil Gaiman said, “Remember that, sooner or later, before it ever reaches perfection, you will have to let it go and move on and start to write the next thing. Perfection is like chasing the horizon. Keep moving.” And so, whenever you feel the manuscript is “ready for [insert your specific goal here]", then move it on and start working on your next project! 

Happy last day of Camp NaNoWriMo! Wishing you a draft that’s “ready to be completed by July 31" today. — Camp HQ

Ask a Published Author: "How do I make myself write?"

Susan Dennard  is a writer turned marine biologist turned writer again.  Something Strange and Deadly  is the first in a Gothic trilogy, and the sequel,  A Darkness Strange and Lovely ,  has just released. She shares with her heroine Eleanor a healthy appetite for baked goods.

How do you make yourself write when you really don’t want to? I have this problem a lot and am struggling to get myself to type. Please help! — Anonymous

This is something I encounter pretty frequently in my own work (loads of people do; you’re totally not alone on this), and what I’ve found is that what’s keeping me from writing can boil down to two things: 

More often than not, I’m just being lazy. It’s true! A lot of the time, the thing keeping me (and most people) from writing is actually me. It takes a huge amount of self-control to sit at a computer for hours on end and type, and I’ll admit that there are times where my self-control fails and I go play Assassin’s Creed instead.

Still, if I’m finding that I don’t want to write, I make myself go BICHOK anyway. I put my Butt-In-Chair, Hands-On-Keyboard. Oftentimes, this will get the words flowing, and before I know it, I’ve written the chapter that needed writing.

If, however, I find I’m still having a hard time writing or I find that I hate everything I write, the answer could be that…

There’s a problem with what I’m writing. It could be a problem with what I’ve planned, a problem with the world I’ve built, a problem with a scene I just wrote, but basically something isn’t right—and that something is what holds me me back from writing.

So whenever this happens, I sit down with my headphones and my epic music, and I think really hard about what would make me want to write.

Have you ever heard the phrases “cookie scene” or “candy bar scene”? They refer to those special scenes that really excite you to write the book—the parts of the story you just can’t wait to reach.

But here’s the thing: Every scene should be a cookie scene. Plain and simple. You need to make every scene include something that excites you because if you’re not having fun, your reader won’t either.

Now, for me, this will sometimes mean letting go of everything I’d planned or built in the world—or maybe an entire draft I’ve already written and rewritten (this has happened; multiple times with multiple projects). I can’t make the story what I want it to be or dig out the yummy chocolate chips if I’m not willing to let go of what I’ve already done. And I never view that as work wasted. At least I learned what wasn’t going to work. Every new word made me a stronger writer at the end of the day.

Sometimes, though, it’s a simpler solution that will get me excited to write again. Sometimes it just means skipping a scene I’d planned and moving straight to the good stuff. Other times, it’s as easy as changing a scene’s setting or adding a favorite character into a scene to give it some deliciousness. 

Heck, I’m actually doing this right now—I’m stuck in the brainstorming phase. I have pages of notes with ideas and yet none of them are really resonating with me. There are no chips (yet) that inspire me to write a full story. But I’m not worrying about it. I know that with the right idea (and the right epic music), I’ll find a story that wants to be told eventually. It might take days, it might take weeks. I just have to be patient and keep on thinking.

:) Good luck!

Ask a Published Author: "When writing science fiction, how much technobabble is too much?"

James R. Strickland has been telling stories since before he could read. After making his career in high tech, he took part in National Novel Writing Month, and in 2004, wrote the first draft of Looking Glass , which was published in 2007. He lives in Denver, Colorado.

How much technobabble is too much? At what point does it start bogging down the actual plot, and how do you keep it from doing that? — Moustache de Plume

Ah, technobabble, my old nemesis. My first novel, Looking Glass, probably had the most. It also got the most complaints. A good friend confided in me recently that “I probably didn’t need the explanation of how IPv6 addressing works."

The real problem with technobabble is that it’s most often a big wad of exposition, and like all exposition, it’s deadly to story flow in large doses. A simple answer to this issue? Don’t explain it. Use the technology to turn the tide of battle. Involve the technology in a high-stress moment, when your character’s interaction with it will reveal information about both your character and the technology at the same time.

In my second novel, Irreconcilable Differences, I have my narrator sharing the body of a 16-year-old farm girl who is up in a wind turbine changing the oil. My narrator doesn’t like heights. That tension gives the scene motion, gives me space to characterize my narrator, her host, and their situation. At the same time it exposes how the turbines work so that when it becomes important later, I don’t have to explain. The reader already knows.

So take the technology apart. Debug it. Repair it. Break it. Blow it up. Read the documentation and make snarky comments. (I did this in Looking Glass, and it seemed to work for the particularly critical technology of neurofibers and how they work.) The point is, ideas and yes, technobabble are fundamental to science fiction, but they need to be presented as part of the narrative and plot, not separate exposition.

Our final head counselor will be Susan Dennard, whose book,  A Darkness Strange and Lovely, hits shelves today! It’s the second in a trilogy blending historical fiction, horror, romance, and mystery .