Kate Larking's Blog: Anxiety Ink, page 62

Finding Inspiration: Bookstores

I love bookstores. There’s something so inspiring about the smell of paper, the rows of colorful covers and, simply, the diversity contained there. I love to wander bookstores looking for books I might not otherwise find out about or pick up. I record titles to look up again later at the library on my phone. Most recently this has led me to check out non-fiction such as The Skeleton Crew, The Poet and the Vampyre and Hitler’s Furies, and reminded me of books I’d wanted to look up like Bad Feminist and Dancers Among Us.

In fact, as I stood in the Boulder Bookstore on my vacation, my gaze was immediately drawn to Hitler’s Furies, since I’m working on a WWII historical. I’d recently had to step back from it because I’d discovered a historical inaccuracy that required me to move the setting and cut an entire POV thread because of it, and I hadn’t figured out what to replace it with. Seeing this book on the shelf I picked it up and skimmed, and my mind began to whirl connecting dots from my novel that were already present, but this book was filling in gaps between. I ended up buying that particular book and as I left the bookstore, already had ideas for a thread to replace the old one in its new, correct historical setting.

This happens all the time when I go in bookstores. If I just browsed online, I’d never track down most of these books since algorithms dictate what shows up on websites, usually books already selling well. I find wandering bookstores to be inspiration in a twofold manner: the way I described above where I find solutions to problems I’m currently facing, and also because finding new books keeps the well filled.

There are divergent schools of thought on whether to read within one’s genre while one is working on something or not at all, and it really is a personal preference, but I find that my interests are so varied I can’t read within only one genre whether I’m working on anything or not! So finding books I wouldn’t know about plants seeds for ideas I might never have come up with otherwise. It keeps my creativity up, my mind spinning. It fuels me.

I’ll be blogging other ways to find inspiration and keep the well filled, but this is one I recently experienced so I figured I’d lead off with it. Reading is so important as a writer, and whenever I hear a writer say they don’t have time to read or they don’t read much, I’m left flabbergasted. How do you keep on top of what’s being done in your genre? How do you improve your craft without looking at ways others do or don’t do it right? Obviously practicing yourself is important and often people will say if they spend more time reading they spend less time writing, but I believe reading is imperative to the writing craft and should be prioritized for that reason; one can always find a balance. If you only have an hour a day to work on your craft, spend twenty minutes reading and forty minutes writing, maybe. I spend most of my day reading in one form or another due to my day job as an editor and I’m careful to carve out time for personal reading because of this!

Of course, when going in the bookstore, the trick is to wander. If you zero in on your favorite section and never look anywhere else, you’ll still find new books and it will be helpful, but you may become insular. Develop other interests and at least try out other genres. Maybe you struggle with setting and checking out some travel writing can inspire how you fill out that narrative. If you write science fiction and fantasy, you should definitely be browsing the science shelves. A lot of the writing has become very accessible in that genre! Websites and magazines are the same in this regard, but I’m focusing on the specific sensation when one goes in a bookstore–that particular sense of quiet, the comforting smell. I find the very act primes my mind to get the creative juices flowing, and just looking at the rows makes me want to write, even if I don’t know what!

What inspires you?

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Plot Recovery Tools – Reknitting an Unravelled Plot

After last week’s plot fallout, I decided that I should write a follow-up post about the plot recovery tools I used to not only recover, but thrive, and get back in the game.

I decided that this was not the time for bandaids, bridging together existing pieces. I already had bandaids all over the work. It was time to rip them off, no matter how painful, and see how the result shook out.

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Step 1: Brandish the Scene Notecards

I went old school to start solving my issue. I needed to ditch what I had already build and start fresh. Little is more refreshing than pulling out index cards and penning scene titles onto them.

But this wasn’t the time to mark out everything I had that didn’t work. This was the time to pull out the pliers and pry out the scenes that just weren’t working to establish what I wanted.

Almost immediately, I wrote the title to a new scene and knew, “Yes, I need this scene. This will make the book stronger.” In response, I chucked out the weak scene that had been present (a previous bandaid).

I made a rough outline that I liked, and moved onto step two.

Step 2: Murder by Plot Junkies

I am very lucky to have two editors in my life that are willing to stab things with no mercy for my feelings. Charming, I know. One is the pint-size “Crusher of Dreams”, fellow Inkette Jessica Corra. Another is Ella Beaumont, assistant editor at Edge. During a session at Write Club YYC, Jessica relentlessly impaled scene after scene, looking to string plot threads together, identify turning points, and forcing me to address the weaknesses in my previous draft. Ella looked on and pointed out with absolutely sincerity, “And that’s where they kiss.” *headdesk* Fine! Emotional attachment scene will happen!

At the end of write club, I had a deck of index cards, plotted, paced, and ready.

Step 3: Character Map

There was one more thing to do to make sure that I had enough balance in the new plot: characters. I had to make sure that my key players were evenly spaced throughout the narrative, recurring enough to not be forgotten. I maked down who was in each scene, lined up the bottom of my index cards and looked over it with Jessica to see if there were any issues.

Of course, there were still issues.

In the end, I axed a character (sorry, Grandpa!) to strengthen another (heya Grandma!). I recurred her role again, more than I thought I could. Increased an offstage role of a main character, and really firmed up the plan for this book.

In the end…

I am much happier with how my plot is working now. I mean, it’s no longer a mass of bandaids on top of bandaids. I doesn’t feel like it’s had an extended plot-hospital stay.

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The Final Stretch

Three quarters through the novel. At this point, the end is in sight. The main character has her darkest moment, then the big climax, and it’s all downhill from there. Easy momentum, right?

I wish.

Endings give me a lot of anxiety. Partly because it means I’ll soon be saying good-bye (at least until revision) to the characters and world, but mostly because I don’t have much experience with them.

Ten years ago, I was one of those writers-in-training who jumps from project to project, thought to thought, without properly finishing anything. I still feel like my endings often miss something. No idea what – the secrets of writing great endings are still beyond me; if I write one, it’s a fluke.

This also makes the final quarter of a novel some of the slowest, most agonizing writing from an already slow writer.

But I do know that from this point on, I can’t introduce anything new. No new characters of note, no new sub-plots, no new world building. (Not unless I edit in appropriate set-up and foreshadowing earlier in the book, but that can be a lot of work, so I’m ignoring that for right now.)

I have to keep reminding myself of this as I steer the ending toward where it needs to go. Because there’s more to the world that I haven’t been able to explore, or because another character would make this revelation easier.

But those are shortcuts – easy conveniences that are weak and lazy writing. Trust me: readers will know, and they will not be pleased. Using suddenly appearing, unsupported elements shows outright the “hand of god.” Also known as deus ex machina, and a cardinal sin in storytelling.

Exceptions, well, excepted. Of course.

Perhaps someday, I will be initiated into the secrets of writing proper endings. Until then, I cling to what little I know and remind myself every time I’m stuck (which is often) not to take the easy way out. I’ve already built all I should need. Now I just have to figure out how to use it.

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A Follow Up on Beta Readers

 

I mentioned that during When Words Collide Kate and I sat on a panel called Beta Readers, Critique Partners, and More. I hope it was informative for those in the audience because it definitely sparked points for me. I also covered Beta Readers in a post in December, which I edited slightly and re-posted here.

I feel like I didn’t get a chance to clarify myself as well as I would have liked during the panel. I still maintain what I said in the posts I linked to, but I have more to add. So here goes in no particular order.

One, beta readers and critique partners can never take the place of a professional edit. And I do believe that a solid edit should be done to each and every piece you write. But I also think the length of your work should factor in here. If you’ve written a full length book –YES, get an editor. A novella –yes, again. A lengthy short story –this depends on you: are you a relatively clean writer and a good self-editor? Even if the answer is yes to both parts of that question, I recommend at least one other set of eyes. Flash fiction and shorter short stories also depend on you, ask yourself that same question.

As far as the type of editor you need, that’s a good question to ask our resident editor! Because there are definitely different types of editors and you may need one more than the other or all of them

Two, it can take years to assemble a critique group or find reliable beta readers. Like many aspects of writing, connecting with people who will provide the feedback you need and want will take trial and error. I do suggest going to online forums and interacting with people. One of my best beta readers is a woman I met online. We connected over our love of reading and many other things we have in common. She’s turned into a good, supportive friend who is willing and excited to give me her time.

Funny story: I sent a story to her and another person who will remain nameless unless they want to name themselves. The nameless person is a writer and avid reader whereas my friend is purely a reader. In the opening of the story, pre-edit, my main character sticks her hands in a pond of acid and then takes a sip. Immediately her esophagus is burned and her clothes. But not her hands. I didn’t see it, neither did the other writer. The reader, however, was baffled by the lack of logic. Once it was pointed out I couldn’t stop laughing, by the way.

This leads me to my third and final point, don’t just use other writers as beta readers. Readers and writers approach stories differently and thus see different things. I use both because I want a comprehensive response. In my story above, writer-friend was looking for writerly things I asked her to look for: parts to cut because the piece was too long, character development, plot, plausible conclusion, and general construction. Reader-friend was there to let me know if the piece was engaging and whether she cared about the people involved. Her engagement made fallacies pop out for her.

Four, you can absolutely write without beta readers and/or critique partners. Your process is 100% up to you. I urge you to explore so that you can figure out what does and doesn’t work for you, but if even one option (aside from the editor) makes you anxious, don’t do it. You want to use just an editor, go for it. If you get a lot out of a critique group, all the power to you. If you want to use beta readers and editors, that’s awesome.

I’ve done those three combinations for various projects. My experience with critique groups is not conventional since mine involved 8-month-long creative writing classes where I didn’t get to select my critique partners. I learned a lot, but I realized this year at WWC that I’m perfectly ok not having a critique group at this point in my life. For starters, they’re time consuming. I also live far away from all the other writers I know. They’re also stressful, in a good way. Yet, they make you extremely accountable and they force you to produce. Plus, giving feedback on other peoples work is ILLUMINATING. I’ve sometimes grown more from reading other people’s rough drafts then I have from hearing feedback from them. Seeing my own bad habits in other’s work brings it home.

Long and short of my personal experience, I’m happy with beta readers and editors right now. I want to amass more beta readers but that’s going to take time. And I’m not in need of an editor’s services right now. Not because I think I don’t need one. I don’t have anything to be edited!

As a side note, I’m going to talk about writing groups at some point. Critique groups and writing groups can be synonymous but they aren’t in my world.

Let me know if I didn’t cover something, you disagree, or have something to add. This is a topic I could talk about for hours.

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Ask an Editor: What makes you stop reading?

For our inaugural Ask an Editor Thursday, I’ll go with the question that I do get asked a lot, not just because Kate and Elisa suggested it.

“What makes you stop reading a manuscript?”

 

First off, I’ll start by saying that at my publisher, Samhain, you do not need an agent to submit to us and we ask you to send the full manuscript. Always check guidelines, YMMV, etc. So I always have a manuscript to consider, not just a query letter.

However I can tell you that the query system works, and my gut reaction based on the query letter has always been borne out by my review of the attached manuscript.

When I read, I read on several different levels, and a ding on any of the levels will make me stop reading. The levels are in bold.

Is it good?

It should go without saying that the manuscript needs to be clean. By this I mean, SPELLCHECK. (You’d be amazed how few writers remember to do this.) Make sure your grammar and spelling and general writing is of a publishable quality. If you are really not good with grammar and spelling, pay someone to line edit for you. However, we’ve all read books with utilitarian language that did something else right, so don’t get too hung up on this one.

I’ll stop reading for flat characters, hands-down, if your character is a thinly veiled wish-fulfillment version of yourself, or too-perfect, or too-flawed (irredeemably so). These aren’t realistic. I need characters with strengths and weaknesses. Someone too perfect won’t allow any conflict to happen (boring). Someone too flawed won’t allow the story to adequately resolve (frustrating).

I’ll stop for a story without a real plot (ie, conflict and tension). If your writing is beautiful but the conflict can be resolved with a single conversation the characters put off having, I stop reading. If you mention a threat and then forget to follow through on it, I stop reading. Elmore Leonard said take out the boring bits, and he was right. Basically, don’t bore me and I’ll keep reading. Likewise, if event after event keeps happening with no cause-and-effect interplay, no rising stakes, I’ll stop reading.

Stories are about catharsis. They begin when the equilibrium of your characters is thrown off and they end when your characters reach a new one. If your story isn’t doing that, it’s flat and I’ll stop reading. This is how character, plot, and theme all work together to create resonance: by forcing your characters to achieve a new equilibrium. That’s why the building block of a scene is the concept of change. A good set-up doesn’t matter if you can’t stick the landing. This is why the ending is so important. It’s easy to get sucked in to a story, it’s hard to stay there. Authors are trying to juggling twenty-five flaming batons while lion taming, and it’s easy to see why few manage it properly.

Some less major craft-issue stuff that fits in this category includes purple prose and overblown language. I don’t have the time to help you with that. Since I deal with a lot of romance and sex, I will stop reading if your book has consent issues that I don’t feel I can address nicely with you in edits. Likewise, I stop reading for racism, sexism, ableism, etc (obviously wherein the author approves of these things, not where it’s part of the conflict).

Will anyone else like it? Do I have time for it?

I’ll stop reading for an utter lack of marketability or something that doesn’t fit my schedule. What this means is that even if I’m personally enjoying the story, the craft is all working, but I just acquired four other robot love stories, I’m going to stop reading yours. Or I’m enjoying it, but if nobody else will care about the history of the domestication of the weevil, I’m going to stop reading. Or if your book is really good but it needs a lot of work, lots of rewrites, even if I love it, if I don’t have the time to spend helping you through those edits, I know I’ll have to turn it down, and I stop reading. This is because my most precious commodity is time, and I don’t have time to continue reading a submission I know I can’t acquire for whatever reason. Please don’t get hung up on this one; it just must be said if I’m going to be thorough and, as usual, I am.

Do I like it?

I’m sure none of the above is a surprise, of course. The thing is, it’s an easy question to answer on the surface, but harder to apply. Because the last level I read on is whether or not I personally like it. You can write the most technically proficient novel ever but if it doesn’t click for me as a reader personally, I’ll stop reading. I’m going to read a book I acquire upwards of six times, so I have to like it. Ultimately, every editor or agent will answer this question much in the same way I have because with the exception of the last two levels, these are all basic elements of the craft. Having that part figured out is 98% of what keeps me reading, but it’s that last 2%, me personally as a reader and me professionally as an editor with a full roster of authors, that makes or breaks you, and that cannot be accounted for in a blog post or list or answer to a question. What makes YOU stop reading something? It’s somewhat the same for us. The only thing you can do is write the best book you can write, the book you’d want to read.

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When your Plot Unravels

My plot unravelled. In my work closest to querying/publication, my plot has completely unravelled. My timeline is off, my characters aren’t working, the atmosphere isn’t as palpable as I need it to me. While things aren’t easy for my main character, there are other things that are given to her that shouldn’t be.

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As I face this unravelling, I have undergone the stages of grief, specifically the Kübler-Ross model.

Denial – Per Wikipedia this is when “the person is trying to shut out the reality or magnitude of his/her situation, and begins to develop a false, preferable reality.” Spot on. Yup, a few things weren’t right but I just tried to keep working with the book like it wouldn’t really be a problem. Like a simple edit, changing a date in an edit. Slowly I began to graduate out of this stage and realize it wouldn’t be enough to really fix what I needed to fix.
Anger – “The individual recognizes that denial cannot continue.” Thanks Wikipedia. Yeah, I faced the building problems and realized that the quick fix I had in mind was a fallacy. It was not going to work. I blamed myself, mostly. How had I not seen these issues? Why did I not pick up on the wrongness of the situation sooner in the draft?
Bargaining – “The negotiation for an extended life is made with a higher power in exchange for a reformed lifestyle.” So if I change this one earlier scene, can I keep these four consecutive chapters of what I have written? Surely those portions that don’t directly talk about this one problem are okay. Right?
Depression – “The idea of living becomes pointless. Things begin to lose meaning to the griever. Because of this, the individual may become silent, refuse visitors and spend much of the time crying and sullen. This process allows the grieving person to disconnect from things of love and affection, possibly in an attempt to avoid further trauma.” So I was pretty much a moping mess. Friends offered to look at it to see if it was that bad but, at first, I refused. When I finally asked Jessica to look, I became even more depressed, determined that she would find my writing so awful it would be unsalvageable. I avoided writing fiction, determined that my unravelled plot would infect all my works.
Acceptance – “Individuals begin to come to terms with their inevitable future. [...] This typically comes with a calm, retrospective view for the individual, and a stable mindset.” I started to poke index cards, writing the names of scenes in my book. At first I clung to the possibility that I could just reorder the scenes (bargaining). But when I wrote down my first idea for a new scene that would convey the societal atmosphere I felt my work was missing, I understood. I accepted that I needed to change the book. Some scenes would live again, but not all. I knew it had to change.

So while these were the steps of grieving my unravelled plot, there was one more step that the above section was missing.

Confidence. Beyond acceptance, this is the step where I know the changes being planned are essential and that the story can only improve with the changes. With a positive outlook, I understand that I can make these changes, grow as a writer, and I will have a better book. I can’t go back to the book how it was before–I know too much about the issues and can only move forward.

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Time Capsules

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Time is a funny thing.

A year ago, I didn’t know how long I could last posting weekly on writing related topics. But I made it – we all made it, and we’re still going strong. And with Jessica in the group, the cumulative awesome is a thing of beauty.

Sometimes, it’s impossible to envision how things will be in a year, much less ten or more. The reality is always different than what our imaginations and expectations conjure.

I’ve been thinking about this a lot in the past week, between the anniversary of Anxiety Ink and Margaret Atwood’s announcement that her next book will not be seen for a hundred years.

The concept of the project is seriously amazing. Every year between 2014 and 2114, an outstanding author will be invited to contribute to this future library. The trees have been planted that will eventually become the paper on which the books are published. Click the link above to go to the article in The Guardian that explains it in more detail. Seriously, click it. It’s fascinating.

I don’t know if I could do it. (Not that I’ll ever be invited, but contemplating in the land of What If.) With all the work and effort that goes into writing a novel, I think I would want to know that at least someone read and appreciated it. Although if I knew I would live to 130 with my mind and body mostly intact, I might do it.

But now I want to reach 130 just to have the opportunity to read those books!

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Happy One Year Anxiety Ink!

One year ago tomorrow marks the official launch anniversary for Anxiety Ink! I say that just in case you didn’t catch Kate’s happy birthday post this week.

So much has changed since this time last year when Kate and I, and then Melissa, conceptualized this blog that it’s hard to believe it’s only been 12 months. For starters, when we launched, I was anxiously unemployed, Kate pushed herself daily to a job that was fast losing whatever luster it once had, and Melissa was employed part-time. Now, I head to work every day wondering what new drama will unfold by the end of my shift and whether or not I’ll ever work my scheduled hours, Kate is unemployed but writing and job-hunting like a madwoman, and Melissa does the full-time job thing.

Needless to say our approaches to the blog have shifted dramatically, but we’re still holding steady and we’ve accomplished a lot. And intend to keep doing so. For instance, we’re expanding –you met out new Inkette yesterday, right?

I’m truly grateful to have Anxiety Ink and the team of awesome women that are its foundation. I’ve tried and failed many times to maintain a personal blog, for two main reasons. One, I don’t think my life is particularly interesting and I am not one for constantly talking about myself. I think anyone who knows me would agree I am a book firmly closed. Two, to presume to be an expert at writing and talk about my “expertise” alone makes my ability to articulate shrivel up like a salted slug. I am NOT an expert, I am a novice stumbling along hoping to teach others through my mistakes and successes.

Being accountable to Kate and Melissa, and now Jessica, as well as the amazing audience we’ve garnered in the past year keeps my head above the water. Have I thanked our consistent audience yet? Just knowing there are people who actually read and comment on our posts does more for us than you all can possibly know. So, thank you!

Another important point I want to bring up about the last year: simply knowing that I have at least two people who I identify with on a creative level and who comprehend the artistic struggle I face has really bolstered my writing confidence. We didn’t call this Anxiety Ink for nothing, after all.

I think we’ve come extremely far as a group. To be frank, I don’t know that the three of us thought we’d make it to the New Year blogging consistently. The fact that we’ve made it to a one year anniversary and we actually maintain a social media presence (one we’re still working on of course) and are part of the artistic conversation baffles me sometimes.

Long, emotional story short, I’m really proud of Anxiety Ink and we have a lot of big plans for our second year.

 

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The Newest Inkette

Hello everyone! My name is Jessica Corra and I am your new Thursday Inkette. ::curtsies::

I’m happy to be here. Kate took pity on me when she found me in the Canadian Wild and nursed me back to health on a diet of anime and sarcasm. Without her, I’d have been lost to the polite elk.

I was amused with Anxiety Ink from my introduction to it. I’m a writer who actually suffers from debilitating anxiety and panic disorders. So expect me to talk about the intersection of such from, oh, time to time. I’ll try not to get too soapbox-y, but I’m American, so I don’t really do subtle. (Sorrynotsorry.)  I have strong opinions and I love to share them, particularly on the topics of civil rights for all (feminism, GLBT, disabled, you name it)! Thankfully, unlike many of my fellow Americans, I’m also fond of reason, rationality, and evidence-based thinking, so my opinions will be supported by stuff, usually science-type stuff. Or Jezebel articles, whichever.

I could point you to my Bio rather than do an intro post, but it involves extra clicking to get there and I know I’m too lazy for that, so here we are. As I said, I’m a writer. I write literary speculative and historical fiction for teens and adults. No, I am not missing any commas from that sentence. I write literary-minded fantasy, historical, and science fiction in various permutations, both adult and YA. Hence, no commas. My writing is represented by The Bradford Agency.

And the feather in my cap: I’m a professional editor. Not freelance, although I do take on a select client list independently. I’m an acquisitions editor for Samhain Publishing, which specializes in romance and erotica of all stripes and horror. (Two great tastes that–wait, no. Our horror line is completely separate from our erotica line, no worries.) At Samhain I have a reputation for claiming the science fiction and non-Regency historical subs, natch. (Also for really knowing grammar, but I digress.)

I’m not sure what all I’ll be blogging, but I’m willing to take topic requests. That said, every second Thursday of the month will be Ask an Editor, where I answer a question I get a lot. Feel free to leave questions in the comments, but I cannot guarantee a question will be picked up for AAE. Please note that if you are interested in submitting a manuscript to Samhain, we have guidelines on our website. I do not take queries through the blog. Thanks.

So, that’s me. Hi there. Let’s have fun.

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Anxiety Ink’s First Birthday!

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Happy Birthday to us… Happy Birthday to us… (Also, searching for images of cupcakes made me want one. A lot.)

It’s hard to believe that it has only been a year that Anxiety Ink has existed. It feels like more time has passed, that maybe this is the third birthday. But at one year old, there is plenty that Anxiety Ink has given me.

Anxiety Ink has allowed me to connect more deeply with my fellow Inkettes, Melissa and Elisa. Being able to see into their writing processes and their mindsets has broadened my scope of the craft for the better. Through our struggles and triumphs, we have pushed each other further in this year than we could have separately.
This connection applies to you, too, Anxiety Ink readers. We know you are there and you connect with us here via comments or on our social media pages. We love hearing from you, especially if you share a certain sentiment or struggle. The point of Anxiety Ink was to prove that we are not alone in how passionately we have fallen for writing and how it is a continuous, uphill battle to be confident in our words, craft, and stories. So thank you for being here with us.

Looking forward, we have a few changes for Anxiety Ink.

New Inkette – Starting tomorrow, Jessica Corra will be taking on Thursday posting. I will let her introduce herself but I am so excited to have her in the fold. She is an amazing woman and is prepared to take the writing world by storm.
Guest posts – Soon, we will be queueing up Anxiety Ink’s first guest blog posts. All of the Inkettes are connected to so many fantastic writers across all genre and we are so excited to feature their voices on the writing craft.

All of us at Anxiety Ink have grown and developed as writers and I hope that you, our readers, have grown with us.

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