The Big Ten Books

I'm on a mission. I want to find 10 books that are magical. Ten books that I can't put down, that make me a self-proclaimed bookworm. You know the type. We all have them, I think. Some of us don't read as much as we used to, so our "magical books" are from our childhood. (As a side note, I think a lot of kids today don't read. I don't know that they have magical books and that breaks my heart.)

There are a few that were magical for me in my childhood. The one that stands out the most in my mind is Ella Enchanted by Gail Carson Levine. That book made me stay up all night, laugh out loud, and sob like a baby. Ms. Levine is the person who encouraged me the most to start writing. So yeah, Ella Enchanted is on my 10 Magical Books List.

What is this list for? Well, as writers, we can learn by reading. But we can learn a TON by reading like writers. I want to find ten books that are amazing, for one reason or another (or several) so I can pick them apart and find out what makes them tick. What about this scene brought out an emotion? Why do I love/hate this character? Why do I root for that character? Why do I feel as if this world is a real place? Why do I care so much about what happens next?

I want books that I wish I had written, books that can help my writing. Right now, I write Young Adult Fantasy. I want some books on my list that are classics, some that are brand-spanking new, and some that are just my personal favorites or hopefuls. I want a wide variety of books with a wide variety of strengths.

So far, here are the books on my list (and the biggest reason why):

1) Ella Enchanted by Gail Carson Levine (emotional impact, relatable characters, romance)
2) Harry Potter and the Sorcerer's Stone by J.K. Rowling (world building, sympathetic protagonist)
3) The Lightning Thief by Rick Riordan (voice, humor, worldbuilding)
4) The Goose Girl by Shannon Hale (creating constant conflict and raising the stakes, romance)

Books I have in my To-Read Pile that I hope will be magical:

1) Graceling by Kristin Cashore
2) Hush, Hush by Becca Fitzpatrick
3) Gossamer by Lois Lowry
4) Immortal by Gillian Shields

Books on my tentative/maybe list:

1) Twilight (character building/showing but not necessarily the characters themselves)
2) Fairest by Gail Carson Levine
3) Harry Potter and the Order of the Pheonix (action sequence, emotional development)
4) The Ruby Key by Holly Lisle (fantastic plot and world building, how to create doubt and emotion by showing, best ending ever, but not the most fantastic example of YA fiction, in my opinion. Also, I've learned a lot of Holly's techniques from her course, which may save me some trouble)
5) Something by Madeleine L'Engle
6) Something by Bruce Coville (another childhood favorite)

I have a lot more maybe books, but I want to get through the four to-reads I listed above before I delve into those.

What magical books make your list?

Good Story Ideas and Great Characters

Here are a couple of articles about getting started--getting ideas and getting good characters. I know it's a little late to post this (for those of you doing NaNoWriMo), but the articles are good and I think they're worth a look. If you are writing a novel in November, consider this a checklist.

First, You Need a Good Idea. Alexandra Sokoloff gives a great checklist for what a good story idea is. One thing writers need to realize is this: even if you have the BEST idea for a book, if it's not a story that gets you pumped, if it's not a story that gives you chills or makes you giddy, it's not a good book for you to write.
I could never have written Dan Brown's books, even if I had had the ideas first. I just wouldn't have done as good a job.
I think this is why we as writers probably shouldn't worry too much about people stealing our story ideas. There are exceptions, of course. Don't be careless ;)

Second: Show Some Character! This article focuses more on characters of YA fantasy, but I think the advice can be applied across the board. Make sure that your characters work hard for their happy endings. It's important that your readers connect with your main character. This is a great article that analyzes a common problem that doesn't get addressed very often.

How to Get Great Ideas and What to Do With Them

Each of us has a creative side. You wouldn't be reading this if you didn't. It's that little voice in the back of your head that throws out ideas. I call mine my Muse and I've talked about her before. (Yes, my Muse is a she.)

I was thinking about what makes my Muse "sing". Typically, if your creative voice is on, your cognitive, logical voice has to be turned off. If you're familiar with right-brain, left-brain research, this is exactly what I'm talking about. Your left brain has to take a back seat if your right brain is going to have any say. (Sometimes transition is pretty quick. There are exercises you can do to help with this.)

So how do you hand the microphone to your Muse? How do you turn off the left brain?
By doing something mundane, everyday, or mind-numbing. Sounds fun, right?

My Muse hates to be bored, so when the left-brain turns off, she steps forward and tries to make things interesting. (This is why TV usually isn't a great way for me to brainstorm. My Muse is already entertained.)

So if I need some good ideas, I have to do something like fold laundry, go for a walk, rake leaves, stare at a blank computer screen, or try to fall asleep. (Unsuccessfully. Usually. I do get some awesome dreams on occasion.)
It's darn inconvenient, but I get my best ideas as I'm drifting off to sleep. (A great reason to keep a notebook handy on my nightstand.) For example, last night I was trying to sleep while my husband was reading with the light on. And a voice came into my head. Not a literal voice, just words that had personality. And the personality wasn't mine. I had struck gold!

Unfortunately, my daughter had run off with my notebook. I didn't go and look for it and of course, I don't remember the whole thing. But I'd like to share my train of thought and the words that I do remember.

I was thinking about how to begin my story. I have a premise in mind and several scenes planned out, so I wasn't starting from nothing. My mind drifted to books that I love. Ella Enchanted by Gail Carson Levine is my favorite and it's young adult fantasy, just like Phantom. Ella Enchanted started just outside the story with the first-person narrator talking about something that happened before the story actually begins.

The other book I thought of was The Lightning Thief by Rick Riordan. I loved this series. It was the series I wish I had written. Anyway, the book starts with Percy (the main character, also in first person) talking directly to the reader. He tells us something about the main theme of the book and beautifully melds his world with ours.

So then I moved back to my book. I'm pretty sure I want to do first person. I write better characters and cleverer detail that way. I wanted to begin my books like Riordan and Levine did.

That's when my Muse sang. (Not literally. I'm not crazy.)

The words for the beginning of my story popped into my head. My memory only recalls bits and pieces, but here's what I have:

My school is haunted. They should have seen it coming, building a boarding school where a prison used to be.

That's all I remember. Sad, huh?

So let that be a lesson to you. It's always worth getting out of your nice warm bed to go get a pen and pad when an idea hits you. Make yourself do it. You won't be sorry.

Prepping for NaNoWriMo

This past week, I've been working through Think Sideways from the beginning. I'm currently working through the (numerous) modules that come with lesson 7. I already have some good stuff brewing: characters with needs, I'm beginning to see some depth in my characters, I have a handful of scenes in mind, there's already a lot of conflict, and a ton of cause and effect.

One module has you take the main conflict and find "organic conflict" that sprout from the planned stuff. You match up characters' wants and actions and find the effects of those wants as they clash to create new conflict and new scenes. It's really fun to see what pops up from my Muse.

If I work hard, I think I can get through all the planning stages of Think Sideways before NaNoWriMo starts.

Are you going to do NaNoWriMo? Look me up! My username is jollygreen23.

Writing Characters that You Care About

I figured I'd go back and hit a basic: Characters. How do you make them believable? Likable? Despicable? How do you make them matter? I think I'll turn to the experts on this one.

First, let's assume you have no idea what you're doing. You want to write a story with killer characters, but you don't know where to start. Holly Lisle (of course) covers this extensively in How to Think Sideways and her Create a Character Clinic. But if you're not into that, Holly did a great Blog Talk Radio episode where she goes through a (fairly lengthy but very detailed) exercise which will take you from ground zero into creating characters with need, a scene with sensory details, and conflict. Yes, it's that good. Here's the link. I recommend you download this as a podcast and pause it to do the writing parts. It took me an entire day to do the whole thing, just to warn you.

My personal recommendation is this: do not write your novel until you can breathe as your character. Do exercises, practice scenes, fill out charts, whatever you have to. But you're not ready to write your novel until you can be your character.

My own personal example:
For Shadow, the first character that lived for me wasn't my main character. It was her best friend, Lisa. I wrote out a couple of scenes between Lisa and Rachel to try and get a better feel for Rachel. One of those scenes had some nice dialogue between the two of them. Through that conversation, I was able to understand their relationship, and through that, Rachel. I really got to know Rachel and I found her through Lisa. That's when the story came alive. Incidently, that scene became the rough draft's opening scene. (That scene has been totally revamped, by the way. But the essence is still there.)

Anyway, the scene breathed because of Lisa. She doesn't play a huge role in the book, but without her, I wouldn't have given a hoot about anyone else. Lisa had needs. She was a regular teenager, but she lived in front of me.

Next Posts: Writing Characters that Have Depth and Writing Characters that Drive the Story

What Now? Life after the manuscript.

I think the manuscript is ready for submission. So right now, I'm nervous. I don't want to get my hopes up and then be let down, but I really think this one has a shot. It's ten times better than my last novel.

I've already sent 7 queries--my top picks. I'm on edge, expecting a reply any day, though it could take months. I'm still researching queries and agents and all that good stuff. I think I'll write another post on the subject, since I've found some good stuff.

So for the rest of the month, I'll submit my story to a few agents a day until I've exhausted my list of potentials. Starting October 1, I'll begin planning my phantom novel :) I'm excited about that. I may not be able to wait.

Moving Right Along in the Novel-Writing Process

I'm done with my hard edit (scribbling in my printed out first draft)! It took me two and a half weeks. The biggest ploblem I had was that there was too much to add. I couldn't write it all in. My muse hates longhand, but she sings when I'm at a keyboard. I have references, hints, action, entire scenes that I want to add to my book, but didn't write in. (Not in any detail, anyway.) So I ask myself: How do I make sure I get everything in?

One thing on my to-do list is to type up a synopsis. Preferably one page, since then I can send that to agents upon request. So, since I've stolen about four days from my work schedule, I'm going to write up that synopsis this weekend (AFTER I get my homework done, of course). I'll type up everything that happens in my book, and in another color, type in everything that I want to happen that's not in my book. (I'll trim it down to one page next month.)

Then, starting September 1, I'll edit my novel on the computer using all the marks and changes I wrote in the hard copy as well as all the additions I put into the synopsis.

Keeping a writing journal has been so helpful. I never realized how many steps are actually involved in writing a novel. So far I'm done with the planning, first draft, and hard edit. Then I have the synopsis, soft edit, quick read-over, query letter, and submitions to agents. And then I'm dependent upon other people to progress much further than that.

It's a tough gig. I only do it because I have to :) (My muse is making me!)

How to Cope with a Writing Workshop

I had my first Advanced Fiction Workshop this week, and I think I'll keep going. Our first assignment is people-watching, which I need to do more of. This class will be good for me. Looking at the assignments, I can see that there's a lot that I would never do on my own.

We'll be writing a short short story (2-3 pages--yikes!) every WEEK for the first half of the semester.

I'm intimidated. Getting a full story in three pages is just plain scary. Not to mention the fact that I need to come up with a new story idea on a weekly basis...

ON TOP OF revising and rewriting Shadow Bound AND planning and writing my phantom novel.

Our last day of class is November 30th. How inconvenient. This means crunch time falls right in line with NaNoWriMo. I'll definitely have my hands full.

But it's worth it. I'll grow as a writer and I'll get to use some techniques from Think Sideways. In the first month of the course, we're taught to "summon lightning", or a story idea. I did it, but I wasn't looking for a new story idea at the time. Now I'll get to put it to good use. :)

There's also a later lesson on using "spies" -- basically, people who know more about what you're writing than you do. For example, I ask a doctor about hospital procedures so my writing is more authentic. Well, guess what? One of our assignments is to write a story that requires research and an interview. Nice how that works out.

How to Get More Writing Done

I'm back from my little experiment. I took off nearly a week from the internet in order to get more writing done.

First, if you think you might want to do this, you need to realize that if you shut down your internet access (and, as I did, your computer access) that a bunch of other things will try to fill in your time gap. I had no idea how many things I wasn't doing. Seriously.

But, not having the distraction of the computer did help my writing. No question. I revised a huge chunk of my book and wasn't pressured by my goal of fifteen pages a day. I hit the mark with ease :)

I was more focused when I wasn't working, too. If I was doing something else, my mind was a little clearer and I could think about my writing and what I wanted to change, and all that good stuff, so I was more efficient when I did sit down to work.

And when I came back? I turned on my computer and sorted through emails, checked (and read) the blogs I follow, checked and replied to a slew of forum posts, checked facebook, etc... all in about three and a half hours! Over the course of five days, I usually spend closer to ten hours doing all that stuff. An amazing time saver, though I may have missed some stuff.

So, I'm halfway done with the hard copy edit of my ghost novel. My goal is to finish by the end of the month, then do my soft copy edit. (Basically, going back and typing in all the edits and notes I made on the hard copy.) That leaves me with querying agents. I should be done with plenty of time to plan my phantom novel for November.

So, my next post will be on revising a manuscript. I've searched for different methods in preparation for what I'm doing now, and I'll share the best of it with you.

Tomorrow. I'm exhausted.

Hope all is going well with your writing!

Preparing to Revise My Novel (aka: Cramming)

This week I'm preparing for my big edit. Yes, the once-over. This involves printing out all my note cards, chapter notes-to-self, and advice from my critique group. I'm also flying through my Think Sideways lessons as fast as I can so I have as much stuffed into my head before I dive in.

The process makes me feel like I'm cramming for a final exam. I have that fuzzy, tired feeling behind my eyes that demands that I stop staring at words on my computer screen.

But it's worth it. I'll get into my manuscript, tear it apart, and come out with a polished draft that's ready for submission.

My biggest problem right now is trying to remember everything I need to edit. Grammar, character, scene, plot, sensory details -- and that's not even half of it. I'm probably forgetting the other half.

I'm guessing it'll take three weeks. We'll see.