Meredith Bond's Blog, page 25

Watch This Space

Are you ready for some major changes? I think I am. Yes, "think". I'm not entirely sure. Well, no, I guess I am because I'm going to do it, right?

I've have the same website, with minimal changes, since my first book came out in 2004. That was a long time ago. Naturally, it's now, shall we say, a little out-dated? Now, I can't say that I was the one who noticed this. No. It was my dear friend, Denny Bryce (check out her website, www.dennysbryce.com) — and I can call her a dear friend because not only did she notice this, but She Told Me. Only a good friend would do that, honestly.

Now, Denny is a marketing person. I'm going to assume that she's a good marketing person because she does it for a living — and because I'm going to be putting my website partially into her hands — we're going to work on this together.

She had the idea to change my website to a WordPress site. I'm all for that. I have absolutely no idea how WordPress works, aside from putting together this blog. I'm going to assume that doing a website with WordPress will be pretty much the same thing, only with more pages.

So, starting next week (or the week after, next week is kind of hell-week for me because of the election (I'm an election judge) and Passover (cooking, cooking, cleaning and then cooking some more), I'm going to shift my website over to this blog, and then start making changes. Soon, instead of getting my old website when you type in my url (www.meredithbond.com), you'll get this blog. Only, hopefully, it won't be the blog, but a new home page with a link to the blog. I don't know yet if you'll get straight to the blog when you type in www.meredithbond.com/blog (how you may have gotten here this time). But we'll see. If you don't get straight to the blog next week, go to the website and you should be able to get to it from there. Eeeek, so many uncertainties!

But one thing is absolutely certain — I want your input! I want to know what you like and what you don't. Please don't be shy, tell me straight up (I've got a really thick skin, honestly). Any suggestions on how I should change things? Keep anything the same? I appreciate any and all comments! Oh! And I almost forgot — I've started already with a new tag line (Writing magic) and a new banner and background. What do you think?

Where Do You Do It?

I’ve been asked to put together a course for very beginning writers to teach them how to get started writing and how to organize themselves. I thought of a four class course: Day 1) Organize your space and time; Day 2) Organize your thoughts on paper; Day 3) Organize your thoughts virtually; Day 4) Organize your writing.

So, on the first day of the course, I want to discuss where people write, and how they find the time to fit writing into an already busy life. This is my desk:

As you can see, it’s not very organized. I’ve got a pile of stuff on my left (all related to my writing), I’ve got a pile of folders behind that (all related to my teaching), and I’ve got a pile of stuff on my right (all related to my household expenses and miscellaneous stuff). This is organized, but not the uncluttered space that you would expect to be needed for creativity. And yet, it works for me. I’ve got my computer at eye level and my keyboard on a keyboard drawer at just the right height, so I’m completely ergonomic. And my desk is in our home office, which is only used by me for most of the day (when my children are home, they’re hidden away, upstairs in their rooms at the opposite end of the house where I don’t hear them). This works for me.

So, where do write? Do you have a desk? Do you sit in a comfy chair? Do you use a laptop or do you write on paper? I would love to know so that I can give my students options. There isn’t one right way to do it. What works best for you?

No! Not the MIDDLE!

The crisis, the point of no return, the middle of the book, whatever you want to call it — that's where I am now in my WIP (work in progress). I'm writing the third book in my YA trilogy, The Children of Avalon. I'm really looking forward to getting the series finished — it's something I've been working on for over two years now, maybe three? Actually, that's not a lot of time, considering I've written two books and am half-way finished the third. And in between writing the first two books, I started a completely different book (and when I say completely different, I'm talking women's fiction/mystery with a paranormal element. I'm talking a book so strange, I had to stop writing it to figure out just what it was that I was writing. But that's a whole other blog post!).

The book I'm writing right now is called Fire. Yes, the first was Air; the second is Water; and this one is Fire. They each have a subtitle which explains a little more (Merlin's Chalice, Excalibur's Return and Nimuë's Destiny, in order.) And each of the elements relates to one of the protagonists (there are three, one main one for each book). I love this trilogy. I think it's loads of fun. Very light. Not a lot of thinking involved. Not a heavy moral, although there is a deeper thing each kid is looking for or striving toward in each book, but I don't think I smash my reader over the head with it — at least, I try not to.

But I've reached the middle, which means that it's time for me to stop and figure out what I've got and where I'm going with this baby. Yes, I've started the book twice. The first time, the beginning was boring and nothing very exciting happened. I realized this about a quarter of the way through, so I stopped then and rewrote the beginning to include a fight scene which essentially changed the whole first quarter of the book — for the better! I was happy with it, despite the fact that it meant I needed to rework everything I'd already written. But that's ok. I'm totally fine with that as long as it makes the book better, and I'm convinced it did. But now I'm in the middle and looking toward the end.

And I'm looking at my word count.

31,600 (120 pages) not including the big fight scene right at that 50% mark. That's not going to be a long enough book. Sigh. Why do I always do this to myself? And it's always at this point in the book that I stop and realize that what I've got, while not bad, is not going to be nearly long enough?

Only with Magic In The Storm, have I ever written a book that was long enough. Somehow that book came in too long and I ended up cutting stuff and it's still over 100,000 words (over 400 pages)! But I just couldn't cut any more out of it without taking out big chunks of the story, which I felt were essential.

But Fire. It's short! What am I going to do? Yes, after reading through it, I realize that I've forgotten to put in a subplot which has been running through the first two books, but that's going to add maybe one scene? A few sentences here, a look and a giggle there (yes, it's a romance subplot, but not involving the heroine of the book). And I need to make a secondary character less secondary and more fully developed — he's the heroine's love interest, even though he's not a major character. But even that won't add a lot of words.

So here I am, stuck in the middle. I have already completely trashed the second half of the book as I'd planned it out before I started writing (I plan out Everything before I start to write), and I have figured out a whole new second half (except the very end, that's staying the same — but that I've had planned out ever since I conceived of the trilogy, oh, so many years ago). But what am I going to do about it being too short — just write a short book? What do you think?

 

The Middle

The crisis, the point of no return, the middle of the book, whatever you want to call it — that’s where I am now in my WIP (work in progress). I’m writing the third book in my YA trilogy, The Children of Avalon. I’m really looking forward to getting the series finished — it’s something I’ve been working on for over two years now, maybe three? Actually, that’s not a lot of time, considering I’ve written two books and am half-way finished the third. And in between writing the first two books, I started a completely different book (and when I say completely different, I’m talking women’s fiction/mystery with a paranormal element. I’m talking a book so strange, I had to stop writing it to figure out just what it was that I was writing. But that’s a whole other blog post!).

So, this book that I’m writing is called Fire. Yes, the first was Air; the second is Water; and this one is Fire. They each have a subtitle which explains a little more (Merlin’s Chalice, Excalibur’s Return and Nimuë’s Destiny, in order.) And each of the elements relate to one of the protagonists (there are three, one main one for each book). I love this trilogy. I think it’s loads of fun. Very light. Not a lot of thinking involved. Not a heavy moral, although there is a deeper thing each kid is looking for or striving toward in each book, but I don’t think I smash my reader over the head with it — at least, I try not to.

But I’ve reached the middle, which means that it’s time for me to stop and figure out what I’ve got and where I’m going with this baby. Yes, I’ve started the book twice. The first time was boring and nothing very exciting happened. I realized this about a quarter of the way through, so I stopped then and rewrote the beginning to include a fight scene which essentially changed the whole first quarter of the book — for the better! I was happy with it, despite the fact that it meant I needed to rework everything I’d already written. But that’s ok. I’m totally fine with that as long as it makes the book better, and I’m convinced it did. But now I’m in the middle and looking toward the end.

And I’m looking at my word count.

31,600 (120 pages) including the big fight scene right at that 50% mark. That’s not going to be a long book. Sigh. Why do I always do this to myself? And it’s always at this point in the book that I stop and realize that what I’ve got, while not bad, is not going to be nearly long enough?

Only with Magic In The Storm, have I ever written a book that was a long as it was supposed to be. Somehow that book came in too long and I ended up cutting stuff and it’s still over 100,000 words (over 400 pages)! But I just couldn’t cut any more out of it without taking out big chunks of the story, which I felt were essential.

But Fire. It’s short! What am I going to do? Yes, after reading through it, I realize that I’ve forgotten to put in a subplot which has been running through the first two books, but that’s going to be maybe a scene? A few sentences here, a look and a giggle there (yes, it’s a romance subplot, but not involving the heroine of the book). And I need to make a secondary character less secondary and more fully developed — he’s the heroine’s love interest, even though he’s not a major character. But even that won’t add a lot of words.

So here I am stuck in the middle. I have already completely trashed the second half of the book as I’d planned it out before I started writing (I plan out everything before I start to write), and figured out a whole new second half (except the very ending, that’s staying the same — but that I’ve had planned out ever since I conceived of the trilogy, oh, so many years ago). But what am I going to do — just writ a short book? What do you think?

This Is Your Brain

There was a fascinating article in the NY Times on the 17th all about how our brains react to fiction. Called "Your Brain on Fiction", the article explains how our brains react to the different descriptions we use in our writing. The best example the author, Annie Murphy Paul, used was the difference between "he had strong hands", which apparently does nothing for us, and "he had leathery hands" which immediately lights up the sensory part of our brains.

Using words that not only describe how something is or generally what it looks like, but invokes a sense really sparks a reaction. So while I could have written "it was really hot" in the beginning of Magic In The Storm, I have "heat swirled around them threatening to burst into flames". Instead of "she cried", I've got "barely keeping the tears from her voice". More evocative. More sensory.

So many times, we've been told to use the five senses in our writing. Now we've got empirical, hard facts proving to us just how important this is.

What I find so fascinating about this, aside from all the really cool stuff neuroscientists are doing now, is that they say reading a story which sparks the senses in our brains is as exciting to us as experiencing these things in real life. We get that movie playing in our heads, we experience the highs and lows our characters are going through, we "see" what they see, "feel" what they feel. We get a complete experience just from diving in between the pages of a book. Can you get any better than this?

As a writer who works hard on that deep point of view, on making that experience as real and exciting as possible, I don't think anything could be more exciting than this. Is evocative writing easy? No way! It takes writing and then rewriting and then editing and then rewriting some more to create that experience, but in the end, it's so worth it. So get out there, people, and spark some neurons!

This is your brain…

There was a fascinating article in the NY Times on the 17th of March all about how our brains react to fiction. Called “Your Brain on Fiction”, the article explains how our brains react to the different descriptions we use in our writing. The best example the author, Annie Murphy Paul, used was the difference between “he had strong hands”, which apparently does nothing for us, and “he had leathery hands” which immediately lights up the sensory part of our brains.

Using words that not only describe how something is or generally what it looks like, but invokes a sense really spikes a reaction. So while I could have written “it was really hot” in the beginning of Magic In The Storm, I have “heat swirled around them, threatening to burst into flames”. Instead of “she cried”, I’ve got “barely keeping the tears from her voice”. More evocative. More sensory.

So many times we’ve been told to use the five senses in our writing. Now we’ve got empirical, hard facts proving to us just how important this is.

What I find so fascinating about this, aside from all the really cool stuff neuroscientists are doing now, is that they say reading a story which sparks the senses in our brains is as exciting to us as experiencing these things in real life. We get that movie playing in our heads, we experience the highs and lows our characters are going through, we “see” what they see, “feel” what they feel. We get a complete experience just from diving in between the pages of a book. Can you get any better than this?

As a writer who works hard on that deep point of view, on making that experience as real and exciting as possible, I don’t think anything could be more exciting than this. Is evocative writing easy? No way! It takes writing and then rewriting and then editing and then rewriting some more to create that experience, but in the end, it’s so worth it. So get out there, people, and spark some neurons!

The Power of Point of View by Alicia Rasley

One thing I struggle with every single book I write is point of view. Getting close enough and not pulling away. Showing my story through not only my character's eyes by his or her heart as well. The way to do that is through writing deep third person or first person point of view. But my words keep pulling me away, my brain keeps trying to make me into a "storyteller" instead of a novelist. It's a constant fight.

Alicia Rasley to the rescue! She has written the most comprehensive book on point of view I've ever seen and it does me a world of good to go through it every single time I begin editing a book.

Rasley's not a new book. The copy currently sitting on my desk in front of me was published in 2008. It's also thickened with lots of little post-it tags marking all the most important items I need to remember.

She breaks up the book into three parts — "the basics": what is point of view and how can you use it to your story's advantage; "building your story" in which she details the different points of view with loads of fabulous examples so that you really understand them; and "the master class" where she discusses the depth of point of view and perception and goes into more detail for the experienced writer.

Beyond just the definitions of the different points of view and how to write them, Rasley goes into wonderful detail about the effect of differing points of view. Why choose to write a story in first person, rather than third? Why show the story from one character's point of view rather than another? What are the advantages and disadvantages of using multiple points of view and when should you change and why should you change?

Each character has an agenda, Rasley points out. Each character brings to the story their own life's experiences, their own values. What one person sees and relates might be completely different from what another experiences from the same event. Rasley makes me stop and think about this and so much more. The power of point of view pervades an entire work, determines how will be read, how it will be seen and whether or not a reader will connect.

It is this connection that I strive for in everything I write and so thinking deeply about point of view is vital to my writing. With this book, Rasley sets the right questions into my head and gives me the room to step back from my work and really think about how I can achieve that deep connection that makes a good story and great book.

The Power of Point of View — Review

The Power of Point of View, by Alicia Rasley

One thing I struggle with every single book I write is point of view. Getting close enough and not pulling away. Showing my story through not only my character’s eyes by their heart as well. The way to do that is through writing deep third person or first person point of view. But my words keep pulling me away, my brain keeps trying to make me into a “storyteller” instead of a novelist. It’s a constant fight.

Alicia Rasley to the rescue! She has written the most comprehensive book on point of view I’ve ever seen and it does me a world of good to go through it every single time I begin editing a book.

Rasley’s not a new book. The copy currently sitting on my desk in front of me was published in 2008. It’s also thickened with lots of little post-it tags marking all the most important items I need to remember.

Rasley breaks up the book into three parts — “the basics”: what is point of view and how can you use it to your story’s advantage; “building your story” in which she details the different points of view with loads of fabulous examples so that you really understand them; and “the master class” where she discusses the depth of point of view and perception and goes into more detail for the experienced writer.

Beyond just the definitions of the different points of view and how to write them, Rasley goes into wonderful detail about the effect of differing points of view. Why choose to write a story in first person, rather than third? Why show the story from one character’s point of view rather than another? What are the advantages and disadvantages of using multiple points of view and when should you change and why should you change?

Each character has an agenda, Rasley points out. Each character brings to the story their own life’s experiences, their own values. What one person sees and relates might be completely different from what another experiences from the same event. Rasley makes me stop and think about this and so much more. The power of point of view pervades an entire work, determines how will be read, how it will be seen and whether or not a reader will connect.

It is this connection that I strive for in everything I write and so thinking deeply about point of view is vital to my writing. With this book, Rasley sets the right questions into my head and gives me the room to step back from the work and really think about how I can achieve that deep connection that makes a good story and great book.

The Amazingly Exciting Life of a Writer

I would like to congratulate Vickie who won my first-ever contest! Yay, Vickie! In recognition of her win, I'm going to attempt to fulfill her request for my blog topic today — my life. Wow, Vicki, I have to say, you are a brave woman to ask me about that because my life just couldn't be more romantic and exiting if I threw the laundry in there. I won't, because I hate doing laundry and rely on my husband to get me through that chore, but that's another story…

Do you ever hear yourself say something and then immediately mentally slap yourself across your head? I did that the other night. And judging from the look on my husband's face after I said it, he wanted to smack me too.

We were at a dinner party for my husband's work — a really nice dinner party, very crowded, but very good food and interesting company. We met and started chatting with another couple. My husband had worked with the gentleman and he happily introduced his wife who told us where she worked and that they were looking for volunteers to help out with their work. I immediately said that I would love to do that — it's working with people who have just moved to this country and sounds like something really interesting. Yes, I would, conceptually love to do that, and if I wasn't also writing a book, trying to market another and teach two courses at my local community college, I would be there is a heartbeat. But now I've said that I would do this too! Argh! If only it weren't such a fascinating thing to do! I've now got to fit it in to my already overly busy life.

Ok, so what all do I do — I've got a son who's a freshman in college. I don't have to worry about him anymore, except to make sure he gets a summer internship and doesn't get too distracted and forget to study. I've got a teenage daughter in high school — enough said, no? She's literally counting the days until she can get her learner's permit and start driving. Ok, I survived teaching my son to drive, I can do this again (I hope). I've got a fabulous husband who works so hard, I've had to pick him up from the metro station at 9pm or later every single night for the past week. By mid-April this project will be done and I'll begin to see him again — I hope.

And then there's my work, which I've already spelled out above. Aside from all that I told you about, I also volunteer at my daughter's high school and am on the board of directors at my synagogue. Why? Because I'm a glutton for punishment. No, no, really, I love interacting with people and when I'm writing all day and the only people I speak to are either on-line (and therefore, virtual) or people I made up and reside in my head, I do get a little starved for human interaction. So, I volunteer and I teach. It can be great and I get my people fix.

So, have you ever stopped and wondered if you're actually asleep, having the most wonderful dream, and you're a little afraid that sometime you're going to wake up and your life is just going to disappear? I do. My entire life isn't exactly a dream come true, it's just really terrific and I know how very lucky I am.

Contest

Hey all,

I'm going to try something new and different (for me!) and I'm going to run a contest.

Every week I scour my brain for something to write on my blog that will amuse and instruct or just be plain helpful, but I'd really love your input. I want to know what you want to see on this blog. So, tell me. It can be anything writing related — self-publishing, writing craft (if you can, what area of craft, ie dialogue, show and tell, world building, etc), or if you just want to know more about what I'm writing, I want to know!  And the best part of this is that not only will you get to give me your opinions, but by doing so, you'll be entered to win a copy of either one of my ebooks, Chapter One or Magic In The Storm, AND get a $25 gift card to Amazon — how fabulous is that!

What, you want more chances to win? No problem. "Like" my fan page on Facebook (www.facebook.com/meredithbondfan), follow me on Twitter and/or tweet about this contest. It's so easy!

So, what are you waiting for? Sign up and leave a comment telling me what I should blog about!

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