So, it's about that time. I've been avoiding writing the ending of my novel like the plague. I don't now why, but it just hasn't come to me yet. Well, it's about that time. It's time to write the ending. Luckily, I've had a few ideas that have fallen into place recently, so this has gotten me going in the right direction.
Tonight, while watching a movie about a serial killer for inspiration, I started working my way through what has to happen in the end chronologically. I wrote a million different questions. Only half of the questions I wrote down tonight have answers. But at least some of them do.
Tomorrow we start the writing of the ending. Really pushing to get my whole novel written this week.
Sunday, January 31, 2010
Saturday, January 30, 2010
Writing is an Emotional Process
No matter what you're writing about, it's always emotional.
As every writer is and should be, I'm affected by my real life. Sometimes it's good to let my life flood in. They say write what you know, and on this one, they are 100% right. However, sometimes you have to block out what you are currently feeling to just get the job done. And you have to know the difference in these situations to ever make any money as a writer. This is a hard thing to learn.
I have spent the last few days with my entire immediate family. This week with my two sisters is always the best week of my year. There's nothing like our family reunion.
So while I haven't written anything today, I've been living in an intense state of happiness. And there really isn't anything better for my writing than experiencing this kind of euphoria.
I'm going to savor every moment of jubilation and pour this feeling into new pages tomorrow.
P.S. I'm going to finish writing my novel this week. We'll talk about editing and revising after that.
As every writer is and should be, I'm affected by my real life. Sometimes it's good to let my life flood in. They say write what you know, and on this one, they are 100% right. However, sometimes you have to block out what you are currently feeling to just get the job done. And you have to know the difference in these situations to ever make any money as a writer. This is a hard thing to learn.
I have spent the last few days with my entire immediate family. This week with my two sisters is always the best week of my year. There's nothing like our family reunion.
So while I haven't written anything today, I've been living in an intense state of happiness. And there really isn't anything better for my writing than experiencing this kind of euphoria.
I'm going to savor every moment of jubilation and pour this feeling into new pages tomorrow.
P.S. I'm going to finish writing my novel this week. We'll talk about editing and revising after that.
Friday, January 29, 2010
Serial Killer Decisions
This is how the process goes.
- What is the most effed up thing I can think of?
- What would freak me out most?
- Are these ideas I'm having too over the top?
- Do they work in my story?
Yesterday's post
Yes, I've fallen behind again. I'm catching up now though.
Yesterday was all about resurrection. Resurrecting chapters I've written I didn't think I was going to use, resurrecting old ideas and implementing them in new ways, and resurrecting hope of finishing my skeleton.
I have been writing this novel, really, since May of last year. There have been a few chapters along the way that haven't made the cut for one reason or another. So, they sit in whatever round of editing folder they were in when I last looked at them. As I work through my story and work my way toward the end, though, I found a way for one particular chapter to come back and plan an extremely useful role, actually. It was originally meant to be earlier on in the novel, I think, but now, it's one of the later chapters and has added more depth to the police investigation, which was a pleasant surprise. As much as I want to plan and make decisions ahead of time, sometimes the ideas only illuminate themselves when I'm reading and writing the chapter itself. And that's exactly what happened yesterday. I had a vague idea of what I wanted to do with this chapter when I resurrected it, but other, more concrete ideas put themselves into place as I was reading, trying to determine if this chapter really is worth resurrecting.
At the end of the day, I'm thankful for inspiration no matter how or why or when it comes. I'll take inspiration and ideas in any shape or form, especially if they pan out to be really useful like yesterday's did.
I'm beginning another round of editing today, and I think, fingers crossed, that we're ready to write the ending. Because I now have ideas for that. Finally.
Yesterday was all about resurrection. Resurrecting chapters I've written I didn't think I was going to use, resurrecting old ideas and implementing them in new ways, and resurrecting hope of finishing my skeleton.
I have been writing this novel, really, since May of last year. There have been a few chapters along the way that haven't made the cut for one reason or another. So, they sit in whatever round of editing folder they were in when I last looked at them. As I work through my story and work my way toward the end, though, I found a way for one particular chapter to come back and plan an extremely useful role, actually. It was originally meant to be earlier on in the novel, I think, but now, it's one of the later chapters and has added more depth to the police investigation, which was a pleasant surprise. As much as I want to plan and make decisions ahead of time, sometimes the ideas only illuminate themselves when I'm reading and writing the chapter itself. And that's exactly what happened yesterday. I had a vague idea of what I wanted to do with this chapter when I resurrected it, but other, more concrete ideas put themselves into place as I was reading, trying to determine if this chapter really is worth resurrecting.
At the end of the day, I'm thankful for inspiration no matter how or why or when it comes. I'll take inspiration and ideas in any shape or form, especially if they pan out to be really useful like yesterday's did.
I'm beginning another round of editing today, and I think, fingers crossed, that we're ready to write the ending. Because I now have ideas for that. Finally.
Wednesday, January 27, 2010
Writing and Traveling
Most of today was spent on the road. However, this is not going to stop me, the determined writer, from scheming and planning and writing... Yes, at this point you should be scared.
However, when I'm in the car, I can talk my ideas out to myself or Mags or whoever's watching the crazy woman talk to herself in her car next to them.
So, today as I was driving down the road, reveling in my 143 pages of novel, I started working out my ending. Planning always starts with questions. Okay, so Leia did this, but what happens next? What happens after she gets to her destination? Where do I want the final showdown between Leia and the serial killer to be? Who do I want narrating this part of the story? And the questions go on and on and on.
As I'm asking myself these questions, driving down the road, some of the answers to this myriad of questions starts coming to the surface of my brain. Given that I'm traveling and always forget something...I forgot my notebook that I write all of my ideas in. So, I grabbed a red pen and ANYTHING I could get my hands on while driving down the road.
I apologize to all of you driving down I-75 watching the crazy writer swerve around as she writes her latest brilliant ideas on the back of her checkbook, and a receipt, and a masseuse's business card. Now all I have to do is hold onto these VITAL pieces of paper long enough (until tomorrow morning) to write out these ideas.
Good night and good writing until tomorrow.
However, when I'm in the car, I can talk my ideas out to myself or Mags or whoever's watching the crazy woman talk to herself in her car next to them.
So, today as I was driving down the road, reveling in my 143 pages of novel, I started working out my ending. Planning always starts with questions. Okay, so Leia did this, but what happens next? What happens after she gets to her destination? Where do I want the final showdown between Leia and the serial killer to be? Who do I want narrating this part of the story? And the questions go on and on and on.
As I'm asking myself these questions, driving down the road, some of the answers to this myriad of questions starts coming to the surface of my brain. Given that I'm traveling and always forget something...I forgot my notebook that I write all of my ideas in. So, I grabbed a red pen and ANYTHING I could get my hands on while driving down the road.
I apologize to all of you driving down I-75 watching the crazy writer swerve around as she writes her latest brilliant ideas on the back of her checkbook, and a receipt, and a masseuse's business card. Now all I have to do is hold onto these VITAL pieces of paper long enough (until tomorrow morning) to write out these ideas.
Good night and good writing until tomorrow.
Tuesday, January 26, 2010
A Great Writing Day!!!
This was my FB status this morning: I just had an idea regarding my serial killer that was so powerful, I had to lean back in my seat, take a deep breath, and give myself a minute for the idea to sink in.
Yes, it was that good of a morning. I incorporated several of my new ideas into existing chapters this morning, as well as wrote a couple of new, rock solid chapters. Got more than 2,000 words written today, so by Stephen King's standards, I'm doing A ok!
Another great discovery that happened today was my workaround for my hot button issue. Like I said the other night, I just don't know that I want to depict an animal getting hurt in my novel. I just don't. It bothers me to read it or watch it on tv or whatever, so why would I write that? So, I didn't want anything to happen to my protagonist's dog. Well, I came up with a workaround that is equally as powerful as if, say, her dog got abducted. I actually came up with something freakier than that, and I can say no dogs had to be harmed in the process of writing my novel. Woo hoo!
A final novel thought: I said the minimum manuscript length advised by other fiction authors I've read is 200 pages. Well, drum roll please... I'm now at 143 pages!!! Oh my gosh!!! If I can write 150 pages of good novel, I can certainly write another 50! Are you kidding me? I've got this!
Heading to Mom and Dad's for five days but taking my manuscript with me, and of course, my computer. Determined to get some work done while I'm home.
Monday, January 25, 2010
Who likes Mondays anyway?
I really wanted to write three chapters today, but I'm dealing with a painful pinched nerve in my neck, so....I only got two new chapters written.
Small victories though:
More research accomplished. On serial killers. Well, one in particular. Per my writers' group suggestion. Interesting and very useful!
Two chapters. Ten more pages. Ten more pages working toward my minimum page limit of 200 pages. Many fiction novelists agree that any work must be between 200-400 pages, and if it's as few as 150 pages, they're going to throw it away. At this point, my story is not complete and my store of ideas has not run out, so I'll keep plugging away finishing my story.
The process gets easier as you go along. It's getting easier and easier to put my chapters in order. And I am extremely familiar with my work, and I'm more organized, so the writing train is plunging full steam ahead.
I now have 25 chapters. I don't know how many pages yet. It's not something I check until the end of a round of writing. So when I finish writing this set of ten chapters/ideas, I'll print them all out to edit and count the pages.
Heading to bed with a good book/more research.
Small victories though:
More research accomplished. On serial killers. Well, one in particular. Per my writers' group suggestion. Interesting and very useful!
Two chapters. Ten more pages. Ten more pages working toward my minimum page limit of 200 pages. Many fiction novelists agree that any work must be between 200-400 pages, and if it's as few as 150 pages, they're going to throw it away. At this point, my story is not complete and my store of ideas has not run out, so I'll keep plugging away finishing my story.
The process gets easier as you go along. It's getting easier and easier to put my chapters in order. And I am extremely familiar with my work, and I'm more organized, so the writing train is plunging full steam ahead.
I now have 25 chapters. I don't know how many pages yet. It's not something I check until the end of a round of writing. So when I finish writing this set of ten chapters/ideas, I'll print them all out to edit and count the pages.
Heading to bed with a good book/more research.
Sunday, January 24, 2010
Got out of bed to get the computer and get back in bed to post post
Writers's group tonight. Read them one of the new chapters I've written from Leia's perspective. This is the chapter that stemmed from something one of the members of my writers's group said last week. I got some really great feedback and ideas to make the chapter even better!
I had lots of ideas this past week. Met with my mentor and discussed a tentative deadline for me to have the book finished. Time to get serious again. Time to dig my heals in and finish this damn book! Woo hoo!
Tomorrow's goal: 3 chapters
I had lots of ideas this past week. Met with my mentor and discussed a tentative deadline for me to have the book finished. Time to get serious again. Time to dig my heals in and finish this damn book! Woo hoo!
Tomorrow's goal: 3 chapters
Saturday, January 23, 2010
Saturdays are great days for writing!
Let's just jump into it shall we? That's how good a day it was.
Okay, so I don't write my chapters in order. And I write what will write that day. I don't want to force it. When I force it, it's nowhere near as good as if I let it flow organically. So it goes something like this...plan 10 chapters, write 10 chapters, see where we are. Plan 10 more chapters, write 10 more chapters to fill in the holes/build up the story from the first 10 chapters. Well this is my third round of 10+ chapters, so the story's getting thick. The image I have in my head for this process is filling in a skeleton. And when you've completely filled in the whole skeleton, you've made a human. When I finish filling in my skeleton, I'll have written the whole novel. So we're really filling in the skeleton at this point.
My realistic goal for today was to write four chapters, and my dream goal was to write five. Well, I wrote three. But it totaled probably 5,000 words, so I'll take two beast chapters and a regular size chapter. And I planned out 7 more chapters, which will keep me writing for two more days. Then I'll read the novel as a whole again and hand write in the holes in the story. Then I'll take another day to make all of those edits. And then I start the process again. See. I have a process. Woo hoo! I am going to finish this novel...someday...
A couple of things I thought about today while writing...
1. We all have our sensitive spots. You know. We all have our hot button issues that just hit that sensitive spot in our hearts because we've had personal experience with that particular issue. For example...all of you who know me know how I feel about my dog. She's my baby, and I protect her like so. I get it from my Dad; we are animal people. Whatever. However, as I'm scheming today, I have the idea for my serial killer to kill the protagonist's dog. I don't know if I can write that. I just really don't. And it's one of many ideas for this particular part of the story, so I may not have to write that. And if I don't want to, I simply don't have to. That leads me to my second point.
2. As the writer, I get to call all the shots. However, this means I'm the one making all of the decisions. Which means I have to make the decisions!!! Every decision. All of them. So, I have this constant debate raging in my brain. Well, if Leia does this, then she can do this, and then she can say this, and he can kill her like this. But if Leia does that, then she can do that other thing, and say this thing and he can kill her like that! Which one do I want to happen? And which one's going to work best and easiest in the story as it is right now? It's not a huge deal to change your story for a new idea, but I feel like once you hit the 100 page mark, the idea has to be really good to justify going back through and changing little teeny tiny details throughout 100 pages.
And that's where we are tonight. I'll probably watch football and write a few more chapters tomorrow. And edit the three I wrote today. It's a vicious cycle once I get started writing. And I have my writer's group tomorrow night, which is always good for inspiration and encouragement.
Okay, so I don't write my chapters in order. And I write what will write that day. I don't want to force it. When I force it, it's nowhere near as good as if I let it flow organically. So it goes something like this...plan 10 chapters, write 10 chapters, see where we are. Plan 10 more chapters, write 10 more chapters to fill in the holes/build up the story from the first 10 chapters. Well this is my third round of 10+ chapters, so the story's getting thick. The image I have in my head for this process is filling in a skeleton. And when you've completely filled in the whole skeleton, you've made a human. When I finish filling in my skeleton, I'll have written the whole novel. So we're really filling in the skeleton at this point.
My realistic goal for today was to write four chapters, and my dream goal was to write five. Well, I wrote three. But it totaled probably 5,000 words, so I'll take two beast chapters and a regular size chapter. And I planned out 7 more chapters, which will keep me writing for two more days. Then I'll read the novel as a whole again and hand write in the holes in the story. Then I'll take another day to make all of those edits. And then I start the process again. See. I have a process. Woo hoo! I am going to finish this novel...someday...
A couple of things I thought about today while writing...
1. We all have our sensitive spots. You know. We all have our hot button issues that just hit that sensitive spot in our hearts because we've had personal experience with that particular issue. For example...all of you who know me know how I feel about my dog. She's my baby, and I protect her like so. I get it from my Dad; we are animal people. Whatever. However, as I'm scheming today, I have the idea for my serial killer to kill the protagonist's dog. I don't know if I can write that. I just really don't. And it's one of many ideas for this particular part of the story, so I may not have to write that. And if I don't want to, I simply don't have to. That leads me to my second point.
2. As the writer, I get to call all the shots. However, this means I'm the one making all of the decisions. Which means I have to make the decisions!!! Every decision. All of them. So, I have this constant debate raging in my brain. Well, if Leia does this, then she can do this, and then she can say this, and he can kill her like this. But if Leia does that, then she can do that other thing, and say this thing and he can kill her like that! Which one do I want to happen? And which one's going to work best and easiest in the story as it is right now? It's not a huge deal to change your story for a new idea, but I feel like once you hit the 100 page mark, the idea has to be really good to justify going back through and changing little teeny tiny details throughout 100 pages.
And that's where we are tonight. I'll probably watch football and write a few more chapters tomorrow. And edit the three I wrote today. It's a vicious cycle once I get started writing. And I have my writer's group tomorrow night, which is always good for inspiration and encouragement.
Friday, January 22, 2010
Sometimes You Just Need a Little Encouragement
I got my encouragement today. And it was great!
I met with my adviser/editor today to get feedback on the ten new chapters I've written in the 2010. As well as all the scheming, planning, organizing, and reorganizing I've done. The meeting was really productive, and I'm not going to lie, it made me feel better about my novel and myself, and I'll take both of those any day.
I'm not saying I need my ego stroked, but to some degree, reader response is my compass as to which direction I need to head with a particular character. For instance, I need to know how creepy you think my serial killer is. That was I can tweak him if I need to. Also, as I've previously mentioned, I'm so intimately familiar with these characters, it can be difficult for me to see them any other way than I already see them.
Not to mention the fact that encouragement is just plain good! I want nothing more in the world than for everyone who reads my book to LOVE it! I want to be a successful writer, which means knowing my ideas are good and people will like my story.
Finally. We ended our meeting by discussing all of my new ideas that I haven't executed yet. We also discussed some of her concerns, as well as, some of her ideas for a couple of aspects of my story that still need work.
My adviser offered me one more piece of advice that I found extremely helpful. So, you know I've been talking about writing a time line of events... Well I still haven't written the damn time line!!! I've moved in that direction, but the time line is not close to completion by any stretch of the imagination. My adviser told me to move on and we'll deal with it later. She said that's little stuff, and it can be worked out in the end. Okay. Don't mind if I do!
So tomorrow I will work on turning these new ideas into novel chapters. My goal for tomorrow is four new chapters. Secretly I'm hoping for five. I can accomplish however many I want. And I know that.
I'll let you know how it goes.
I met with my adviser/editor today to get feedback on the ten new chapters I've written in the 2010. As well as all the scheming, planning, organizing, and reorganizing I've done. The meeting was really productive, and I'm not going to lie, it made me feel better about my novel and myself, and I'll take both of those any day.
I'm not saying I need my ego stroked, but to some degree, reader response is my compass as to which direction I need to head with a particular character. For instance, I need to know how creepy you think my serial killer is. That was I can tweak him if I need to. Also, as I've previously mentioned, I'm so intimately familiar with these characters, it can be difficult for me to see them any other way than I already see them.
Not to mention the fact that encouragement is just plain good! I want nothing more in the world than for everyone who reads my book to LOVE it! I want to be a successful writer, which means knowing my ideas are good and people will like my story.
Finally. We ended our meeting by discussing all of my new ideas that I haven't executed yet. We also discussed some of her concerns, as well as, some of her ideas for a couple of aspects of my story that still need work.
My adviser offered me one more piece of advice that I found extremely helpful. So, you know I've been talking about writing a time line of events... Well I still haven't written the damn time line!!! I've moved in that direction, but the time line is not close to completion by any stretch of the imagination. My adviser told me to move on and we'll deal with it later. She said that's little stuff, and it can be worked out in the end. Okay. Don't mind if I do!
So tomorrow I will work on turning these new ideas into novel chapters. My goal for tomorrow is four new chapters. Secretly I'm hoping for five. I can accomplish however many I want. And I know that.
I'll let you know how it goes.
Thursday, January 21, 2010
Late Night Inspirations
Lots of questions to which I will soon find answers. Constantly moving forward.
Scheming and Planning and Editing Oh My!
Today was a random day filled with lots of little details.
I had lunch with a proofreader friend of mine recently, so I schemed today and wrote up a mock contract to see if I can con her into helping me with this project. Okay, so I don't have to do much conning, or any at all really. And the offer was extended free of charge. However. I am a creative, and I understand how hard it is for creatives to make money. So, free of charge is not an acceptable term for me. And I need help. I need another pair of eyes and ears.
The necessity for another pair of eyes and ears stems from two things. First, as I was reading through the entirety of my novel again today, I realized that there really was no consistent time frame for anything. I do not write my chapters in order, so it was humorous, really, to see when things happen. Because it looks like I went willy nilly with the time references, sprinkling them here and there throughout the book. Leia investigated this on Thursday, ate at the Spanish restaurant last week, the killer killed Gina this afternoon and Simon and Leo Boyd early Monday morning. I actually ended up with two chapters in a row that started with It's Thursday... Yes. Yes. I agree with you. I need to fix my time frame, so I've written everything out as it happens and tried to make sense of it. In one chapter I say all the murders happen on weekends, which is so not true because, as I've previously stated in my blog, in some chapters, bad things happen on Mondays. I'm still working out all of these little details, and while I understand the importance of these details, I'm feeling pretty good about having more than half of my novel written and pretty finely tuned.
The second reason I need another pair of eyes is because, I'll get on a productive path and run as fast as I can down that road until that idea is run out, and then I spent 24 or 36 or 48 hours in this weird, lost, depressed land where I get some planning done but really no writing until after the 48 hour mark when I snap back into the real world and realize that I just need to do some more planning and figure out a new direction. (Sigh.) I've finally figured out, this last 36 hour period of time in Lost Land, that this is what I do and why I'm in Lost Land to begin with. I'm hoping to be able to remedy this in the future. And I think I have. It's been, you know, five days since this last lost period. I now completely understand why some writers go crazy!
Meeting with my third set of eyes/editor/adviser tomorrow! Very excited to have some feedback on the ten new chapters I've produced in the new year. I have to finish fixing my time line tomorrow and make all of those changes, and I have four new chapters planned out. Woo hoo! Hallelujah for direction!
I had lunch with a proofreader friend of mine recently, so I schemed today and wrote up a mock contract to see if I can con her into helping me with this project. Okay, so I don't have to do much conning, or any at all really. And the offer was extended free of charge. However. I am a creative, and I understand how hard it is for creatives to make money. So, free of charge is not an acceptable term for me. And I need help. I need another pair of eyes and ears.
The necessity for another pair of eyes and ears stems from two things. First, as I was reading through the entirety of my novel again today, I realized that there really was no consistent time frame for anything. I do not write my chapters in order, so it was humorous, really, to see when things happen. Because it looks like I went willy nilly with the time references, sprinkling them here and there throughout the book. Leia investigated this on Thursday, ate at the Spanish restaurant last week, the killer killed Gina this afternoon and Simon and Leo Boyd early Monday morning. I actually ended up with two chapters in a row that started with It's Thursday... Yes. Yes. I agree with you. I need to fix my time frame, so I've written everything out as it happens and tried to make sense of it. In one chapter I say all the murders happen on weekends, which is so not true because, as I've previously stated in my blog, in some chapters, bad things happen on Mondays. I'm still working out all of these little details, and while I understand the importance of these details, I'm feeling pretty good about having more than half of my novel written and pretty finely tuned.
The second reason I need another pair of eyes is because, I'll get on a productive path and run as fast as I can down that road until that idea is run out, and then I spent 24 or 36 or 48 hours in this weird, lost, depressed land where I get some planning done but really no writing until after the 48 hour mark when I snap back into the real world and realize that I just need to do some more planning and figure out a new direction. (Sigh.) I've finally figured out, this last 36 hour period of time in Lost Land, that this is what I do and why I'm in Lost Land to begin with. I'm hoping to be able to remedy this in the future. And I think I have. It's been, you know, five days since this last lost period. I now completely understand why some writers go crazy!
Meeting with my third set of eyes/editor/adviser tomorrow! Very excited to have some feedback on the ten new chapters I've produced in the new year. I have to finish fixing my time line tomorrow and make all of those changes, and I have four new chapters planned out. Woo hoo! Hallelujah for direction!
Meg's Fiction in A Flash
Augusten Burroughs, You Better Not Cry, Stories for Christmas
I've read a couple of books by Burroughs before, and after reading this one, I have come to the conclusion that they all sound THE SAME!!! His voice is the same in all of his novels, which is fine because I understand he's writing from the same perspective. However, when I'm reading this and thinking to myself, blah, blah, blah, this all sounds the same...that's a problem. This is not a good thing because it means that me, the avid reader, who's going to buy someone's fiction, is NOT going to buy another Burroughs book because I assume it's going to be the same as the rest of them.
Specific issues with this book:
Around p. 165, Burroughs makes a one sentence remark about a job he does as an advertising copywriter. He says he's so good at his job that he does work that would take the average person a week, in 1 hour. I'm calling BS on this one! He's a drunk. Readers don't hear about anything in his adult life but boys, booze, and Christmas until this point in the novel. I don't buy that he's such an amazing worker given the emphasis placed on his boozing and dysfunctional relationship habits.
On a positive note, when Burroughs is not wallowing in depressed alcoholic land, he's really funny! The absurd details he includes in his story are hilarious. And this is what first attracted me to Burroughs. He's absurd and matter-of-fact about his absurdity, and the combination is funny and makes me want to read more.
My personal conclusion based on my two previous notes: I don't like Burroughs depressed boozey voice that he speaks in the majority of this book. I don't like reading about his dysfunctional relationships and feeling my way through his depression. I just don't. I don't like that voice.
Food for thought: What do we think about the pieces of the story he puts in and leaves out? He left out a whole section about rehab that I thought would be more interesting than some of the details he chose to include. And I thought the part about rehab was kind of crucial to the story he was telling. Thoughts?
A final note: I loved the ending. It was happy and Christmas and just plain great because it was happy and Christmas.
I've read a couple of books by Burroughs before, and after reading this one, I have come to the conclusion that they all sound THE SAME!!! His voice is the same in all of his novels, which is fine because I understand he's writing from the same perspective. However, when I'm reading this and thinking to myself, blah, blah, blah, this all sounds the same...that's a problem. This is not a good thing because it means that me, the avid reader, who's going to buy someone's fiction, is NOT going to buy another Burroughs book because I assume it's going to be the same as the rest of them.
Specific issues with this book:
Around p. 165, Burroughs makes a one sentence remark about a job he does as an advertising copywriter. He says he's so good at his job that he does work that would take the average person a week, in 1 hour. I'm calling BS on this one! He's a drunk. Readers don't hear about anything in his adult life but boys, booze, and Christmas until this point in the novel. I don't buy that he's such an amazing worker given the emphasis placed on his boozing and dysfunctional relationship habits.
On a positive note, when Burroughs is not wallowing in depressed alcoholic land, he's really funny! The absurd details he includes in his story are hilarious. And this is what first attracted me to Burroughs. He's absurd and matter-of-fact about his absurdity, and the combination is funny and makes me want to read more.
My personal conclusion based on my two previous notes: I don't like Burroughs depressed boozey voice that he speaks in the majority of this book. I don't like reading about his dysfunctional relationships and feeling my way through his depression. I just don't. I don't like that voice.
Food for thought: What do we think about the pieces of the story he puts in and leaves out? He left out a whole section about rehab that I thought would be more interesting than some of the details he chose to include. And I thought the part about rehab was kind of crucial to the story he was telling. Thoughts?
A final note: I loved the ending. It was happy and Christmas and just plain great because it was happy and Christmas.
Wednesday, January 20, 2010
Hump Day Slump Day
Today was not a very productive day in some regards. My quantity of work has not been great. However, I have made a couple of new discoveries about my writing process. These breakthroughs are often more important than smaller changes involving a particular story.
So, as I've said in previous posts, I'm a discovery writer. I spend the majority of the beginning of my writing process actually writing where other authors would spend their time in the beginning planning. That being said, I am now in the planning stages. Maybe I work backwards but it works. My project at the moment is creating a time line of the events in my story, so I can make sure everything makes sense. Well, I've made a number of different attempts to create a time line. At this point, I'm too far into the story to be able to remember the dates and times of all of the events that take place. On my last read through, I took notes on the events in an attempt to create a time line out of my notes. However, after looking at the six pages of notes I took, I got really paranoid that I had left things out. Which I had. So, tonight I decided to go through and highlight every time I mention something that happens and the time reference to go with it. All of this is to say, I finally figured out how I could make sense of the events in my novel enough to create a time line out of them. And this is one of the most important aspects of being a creative...figuring out your process. The only way to do this is to try a million different things over and over and over again, figuring out what combination of tactics works best. So, I'll take a new discovery about my process!
Another revelation that hit me like a ton of bricks but made me smile: I can see my setting. For real. There are two ways you can write setting in any story. You can base your setting off of a real place, which means you have to know the specific details of the geography of that place. The other way to deal with setting is to make the whole place up! This is the route I chose. So, I've had to make it up and make sure the geography makes sense just like the time line. Well, tonight I'm reading through my novel, and I can see these places I'm writing about clearly in my mind. I can see them like I'm looking at a picture of some place, only it's the place I created. Part of my job is to make sure you, my many adoring readers, can see these places as clearly as I do. I would say my writer's group would agree I'm doing a good job in this regard, but I'm going to ask them specifically on Sunday.
So, as I've said in previous posts, I'm a discovery writer. I spend the majority of the beginning of my writing process actually writing where other authors would spend their time in the beginning planning. That being said, I am now in the planning stages. Maybe I work backwards but it works. My project at the moment is creating a time line of the events in my story, so I can make sure everything makes sense. Well, I've made a number of different attempts to create a time line. At this point, I'm too far into the story to be able to remember the dates and times of all of the events that take place. On my last read through, I took notes on the events in an attempt to create a time line out of my notes. However, after looking at the six pages of notes I took, I got really paranoid that I had left things out. Which I had. So, tonight I decided to go through and highlight every time I mention something that happens and the time reference to go with it. All of this is to say, I finally figured out how I could make sense of the events in my novel enough to create a time line out of them. And this is one of the most important aspects of being a creative...figuring out your process. The only way to do this is to try a million different things over and over and over again, figuring out what combination of tactics works best. So, I'll take a new discovery about my process!
Another revelation that hit me like a ton of bricks but made me smile: I can see my setting. For real. There are two ways you can write setting in any story. You can base your setting off of a real place, which means you have to know the specific details of the geography of that place. The other way to deal with setting is to make the whole place up! This is the route I chose. So, I've had to make it up and make sure the geography makes sense just like the time line. Well, tonight I'm reading through my novel, and I can see these places I'm writing about clearly in my mind. I can see them like I'm looking at a picture of some place, only it's the place I created. Part of my job is to make sure you, my many adoring readers, can see these places as clearly as I do. I would say my writer's group would agree I'm doing a good job in this regard, but I'm going to ask them specifically on Sunday.
Tuesday, January 19, 2010
Two for Tuesday
2 more chapters planned
2 read throughs of the whole novel finished
2 sets of edits corrected
2 more questions raised for every 1 question answered
2 more characters to put on the character list
2 ears infected
2 rounds of antibiotics in system
2 more hours reading the current pleasure book/research book
2 hours spent trying to hook up the blu ray player to the wireless router. OK, that has nothing to do with writing, other than it took away from writing time, and the mission was not a success!
2 new playlists created on a new website because Pandora told me I was getting to my max limit of free listening, and I require musical inspiration to write.
2 silver bullet's down, and I'm calling it a night.
2 read throughs of the whole novel finished
2 sets of edits corrected
2 more questions raised for every 1 question answered
2 more characters to put on the character list
2 ears infected
2 rounds of antibiotics in system
2 more hours reading the current pleasure book/research book
2 hours spent trying to hook up the blu ray player to the wireless router. OK, that has nothing to do with writing, other than it took away from writing time, and the mission was not a success!
2 new playlists created on a new website because Pandora told me I was getting to my max limit of free listening, and I require musical inspiration to write.
2 silver bullet's down, and I'm calling it a night.
Meg's Fiction in A Flash
Okay followers, however few or plenty you are. I have something new I'm going to try. As you know, I'm a writer and thus an avid reader. I'm writing my first murder mystery novel and reading voraciously in the process. I read a variety of different kinds of fiction but ONLY fiction. I've read enough different kinds of books in my lifetime having been an English Lit major in undergrad and grad school. Now that I'm reading for my own personal enjoyment and to help me become a better writer, I read lots and lots and lots of popular fiction. Some of my favorite authors are Stephen King, James Patterson, and Chuck Palahniuk, just to give you an idea of where I am coming from.
I'm going to start a segment on my blog called Fiction in a Flash. I'm going to give you my one minute book review. I'll review every book I read as I finish them, so this segment will appear sporadically but regularly. Maybe it will spur you to read something I've read and discuss. Please post comments on my blog. As you can imagine, I love nothing more than a good discussion on a good book, so anything you have to say is welcome. On books or writing or whatever. I look forward to hearing from you!
So here goes. Our trial run.
James Patterson's I, Alex Cross
Yes, ladies and gentlemen, I am one of those people who totally, completely, wholeheartedly bought into James Patterson's marketing campaign at Christmas. In his commercials, Patterson said something like, "if you don't buy my new book, I will kill Alex Cross." Of course, my reaction is one of OH MY GOD I HAVE TO BUY THIS BOOK SO YOU DON'T KILL ALEX CROSS! Yes, I was that enthusiastic.
However, after reading this book, I was not that impressed. Don't get me wrong. I liked it, and it was fine. Not his best work, by far!
The writing was par at best. It was not exceptional. His use of language was not as powerful as it has been in previous works. Granted, Pattersonn is not the greatest writer of the 20th century or 21st century no matter how popular he is. His plot lines help him make up for his deficiency in this area.
The plot line in this novel was confusing as well. There was just too much going on, and the writing wasn't as sharp, so the events of the plot felt muddled. Maybe not to the point where I had a difficult time keeping up, but definitely to the point where I was going ok, wait, let me think about this. What was that thing that happened earlier that might be related to this new event?
One more note on Patterson in general. He takes an easier route than some authors, including myself. His protagonist is a retired FBI agent that still works with the FBI if he needs to or if they need him to. And Cross's girlfriend, Bree, works for the FBI as well. This is not something you would think about until you start writing a murder mystery novel. This isn't something I thought about until I started writing my novel. My protagonist is a food cirtic, so I have to get creative as to how she's going to find out confidential police information. And for a murder mystery novel, there has to be some discussion of police investigations. With Alex Cross, as well as, Patterson's Women's Murder Club series, the author has multiple characters that are in the criminal justice fields whether they be a member of the police force, a district attorney, or a medical examiner. Patterson has his characters in these professions, so he can easily write privileged information, which is crucial to the novel. As a murder mystery novel writer, I'm calling Patterson out on this one. This might be a smart decision on his part, but it's also definitely the easy road!!!
Good writing and happy reading to all of you! Let me know how you think our trial run went!
I'm going to start a segment on my blog called Fiction in a Flash. I'm going to give you my one minute book review. I'll review every book I read as I finish them, so this segment will appear sporadically but regularly. Maybe it will spur you to read something I've read and discuss. Please post comments on my blog. As you can imagine, I love nothing more than a good discussion on a good book, so anything you have to say is welcome. On books or writing or whatever. I look forward to hearing from you!
So here goes. Our trial run.
James Patterson's I, Alex Cross
Yes, ladies and gentlemen, I am one of those people who totally, completely, wholeheartedly bought into James Patterson's marketing campaign at Christmas. In his commercials, Patterson said something like, "if you don't buy my new book, I will kill Alex Cross." Of course, my reaction is one of OH MY GOD I HAVE TO BUY THIS BOOK SO YOU DON'T KILL ALEX CROSS! Yes, I was that enthusiastic.
However, after reading this book, I was not that impressed. Don't get me wrong. I liked it, and it was fine. Not his best work, by far!
The writing was par at best. It was not exceptional. His use of language was not as powerful as it has been in previous works. Granted, Pattersonn is not the greatest writer of the 20th century or 21st century no matter how popular he is. His plot lines help him make up for his deficiency in this area.
The plot line in this novel was confusing as well. There was just too much going on, and the writing wasn't as sharp, so the events of the plot felt muddled. Maybe not to the point where I had a difficult time keeping up, but definitely to the point where I was going ok, wait, let me think about this. What was that thing that happened earlier that might be related to this new event?
One more note on Patterson in general. He takes an easier route than some authors, including myself. His protagonist is a retired FBI agent that still works with the FBI if he needs to or if they need him to. And Cross's girlfriend, Bree, works for the FBI as well. This is not something you would think about until you start writing a murder mystery novel. This isn't something I thought about until I started writing my novel. My protagonist is a food cirtic, so I have to get creative as to how she's going to find out confidential police information. And for a murder mystery novel, there has to be some discussion of police investigations. With Alex Cross, as well as, Patterson's Women's Murder Club series, the author has multiple characters that are in the criminal justice fields whether they be a member of the police force, a district attorney, or a medical examiner. Patterson has his characters in these professions, so he can easily write privileged information, which is crucial to the novel. As a murder mystery novel writer, I'm calling Patterson out on this one. This might be a smart decision on his part, but it's also definitely the easy road!!!
Good writing and happy reading to all of you! Let me know how you think our trial run went!
Monday, January 18, 2010
Today's Lessons:
- I have to get over saying lewd, horrible, offensive things. I am writing about a serial killer. He commits several extremely violent and gruesome murders. He says vile, offensive things toward the protagonist you love so much. I'm not afraid to describe the crime scenes from Leia's perspective, but sometimes I feel like it's too much when I tell it from his perspective. So, I have to get over saying lewd things from the killer's perspective. He's a killer for a reason. And I have to find the right balance of vulgarity. That may be it. I really need to find the right balance of vulgarity and violence.
- I have an affinity for Mondays and Thursdays. Bad things happen on Mondays and Leia reflects on Thursdays or works on Thursdays or does anything...on Thursdays... Don't know why this is. Don't know, yet, if it needs to be changed.
- I need a time line. No, I haven't written one yet. I'm a discovery writer damnit! I don't plan in advance! Well...115 pages and 23 chapters in...I need a freaking time line!!! So...today while writing my setting in the rest of the chapters, I started taking notes as to when things happened in the story, on a Monday, last week, before Simon and Leo are murdered... And now I have pages and pages and pages of notes on when things happen. I've also made notes like: CH18: Lorraine's not dead yet. Needless to say, a time line is on tomorrow's To Do List. And I'm hoping I have enough notes to make it an easy process. I guess I'll find out about tomorrow.
Sunday, January 17, 2010
A Late Night Note
Went to my weekly writer's group tonight. Took one of the new chapters. This one from the perspective of my serial killer. In this chapter, he has a different kind of victim than in a few of the other chapters. Got some really great feedback from my writer's group! Excited about how his voice is sounding these days. Ready to go full speed ahead in the morning and get a lot of good writing done tomorrow. I love it when inspiration overtakes me, and my writer's group is so good for inspiration!
Yesterday's post
I'm late. I know I'm late. In my defense, my two roommates moved in, and we're best friends, and it was an all night, very fun process.
So here's yesterday's post.
I wrote yesterday afternoon. Great things happened.
It's getting easier and easier to read my work as a whole. I'm more familiar with it now, which is part of the process of writing a novel that's difficult. I'm writing so many things over such a long period of time, it is easy to forget some of the details. Thus, it becomes difficult to read the body as a whole and feel like it's comprehensive. I'm getting better at reading it as a whole and really appreciating that. I'm feeling like an expert, which I should.
Also, the more I write and read my novel, the easier it becomes to write in Leia's voice. Her voice becomes stronger and more familiar every day. I love writing something she said and really being certain that she would say it just like that. I am really enjoying getting to know her. She is so much that is familiar to me as she is made up of aspects of all of the women I love and me. I love her, and love spending time with her and figuring new things out about her every day. I'm very certain when you get to read it, you will love her as well.
Finally, we have some setting! Woo hoo! It's not a lot yet, but it's good, and there's more to come. I went through 8 of 21 chapters yesterday inserting little bits of setting, little details to make her life and the place she lives really believable. I will get through the rest of the chapters in the next two days. And I have one completely new chapter involving setting I'm going to write.
I'm on to the very difficult task of choosing which chapter to read to my writing group tonight.
So here's yesterday's post.
I wrote yesterday afternoon. Great things happened.
It's getting easier and easier to read my work as a whole. I'm more familiar with it now, which is part of the process of writing a novel that's difficult. I'm writing so many things over such a long period of time, it is easy to forget some of the details. Thus, it becomes difficult to read the body as a whole and feel like it's comprehensive. I'm getting better at reading it as a whole and really appreciating that. I'm feeling like an expert, which I should.
Also, the more I write and read my novel, the easier it becomes to write in Leia's voice. Her voice becomes stronger and more familiar every day. I love writing something she said and really being certain that she would say it just like that. I am really enjoying getting to know her. She is so much that is familiar to me as she is made up of aspects of all of the women I love and me. I love her, and love spending time with her and figuring new things out about her every day. I'm very certain when you get to read it, you will love her as well.
Finally, we have some setting! Woo hoo! It's not a lot yet, but it's good, and there's more to come. I went through 8 of 21 chapters yesterday inserting little bits of setting, little details to make her life and the place she lives really believable. I will get through the rest of the chapters in the next two days. And I have one completely new chapter involving setting I'm going to write.
I'm on to the very difficult task of choosing which chapter to read to my writing group tonight.
Friday, January 15, 2010
Scheming
Today really was entirely spent scheming ways to justify the last two murders my serial killer committed. It's not that I just have to justify these murders within the framework of who he is. I have to plot out little clues along the way that make you the reader fear for these people's lives even before he kills them. So, I did a lot of little planning today. Difficult. But fun because this means my serial killer gets to speak more, and I love his voice as much as I love my protagonist's voice.
More writing to come from the scheming.
More writing to come from the scheming.
Thursday, January 14, 2010
You have to take the good with the bad.
Today was not a good writing day. As a writer, I find I throw myself into a direction, and then when that direction runs out, I spend a day planning/scheming/searching for the next direction, another path to venture down, another dimension of one of my characters in which to explore.
So, I didn't get much writing done today. It just wasn't a good day for writing, but I did figure out two new directions in which to run as far as my story goes.
One aspect of my novel I need to work on is setting, and I did a lot of research regarding this angle today. So, tomorrow, I can really tackle this part of my story. By tackle, I mean printing out a copy of all of my chapters and going through and hand writing in setting where it needs to be. I hate printing my novel over and over again, as it is a novel, and I am an environmentalist, but sometimes it takes paper in front of me to be able to see the novel for what it is...to find the good, the holes, and the completely lacking. Honestly though. My philosophy at this point is: whatever it takes to get this novel finished and sold! It's time to finish it and sell it, so I can write another. This thought excites, overwhelms, and terrifies me all at the same time.
Another direction I need to run in is in regards to my serial killer. I figured this out in the shower today. I figure my life out in the shower and my protagonist's life out in the shower as well. It's just where I think most clearly. I decided today that in order for my killer to kill the two people he killed two days ago, I have to do/write x, y, and z. So....tomorrow and the next days involve writing x, y, and z.
Some days, the list of tasks left to finish this novel is overwhelming. I'm not going to lie. It's just freaking hard. However, this is my goal, and these are my dreams, and at this stage in the game, I'm not going to let anything get in the way of me finishing and publishing this novel, including my own self doubt.
So I push forward. And push through the writer's block and self doubt to another good day of writing that will change my whole opinion of how the writing process is going. It's a very day to day process. Feelings, thoughts, plans, strategies all change as each day comes to a close.
I will continue to work on these dimensions through the weekend. I very much look forward to a meeting with my adviser/editor on Monday. Sometimes, another perspective is exactly what I need to keep pushing forward and jumping all of the different hurdles involved in this kind of novel. Because, frankly, sometimes it's all a little too much in my head and an outsider's perspective is what I need.
So, I didn't get much writing done today. It just wasn't a good day for writing, but I did figure out two new directions in which to run as far as my story goes.
One aspect of my novel I need to work on is setting, and I did a lot of research regarding this angle today. So, tomorrow, I can really tackle this part of my story. By tackle, I mean printing out a copy of all of my chapters and going through and hand writing in setting where it needs to be. I hate printing my novel over and over again, as it is a novel, and I am an environmentalist, but sometimes it takes paper in front of me to be able to see the novel for what it is...to find the good, the holes, and the completely lacking. Honestly though. My philosophy at this point is: whatever it takes to get this novel finished and sold! It's time to finish it and sell it, so I can write another. This thought excites, overwhelms, and terrifies me all at the same time.
Another direction I need to run in is in regards to my serial killer. I figured this out in the shower today. I figure my life out in the shower and my protagonist's life out in the shower as well. It's just where I think most clearly. I decided today that in order for my killer to kill the two people he killed two days ago, I have to do/write x, y, and z. So....tomorrow and the next days involve writing x, y, and z.
Some days, the list of tasks left to finish this novel is overwhelming. I'm not going to lie. It's just freaking hard. However, this is my goal, and these are my dreams, and at this stage in the game, I'm not going to let anything get in the way of me finishing and publishing this novel, including my own self doubt.
So I push forward. And push through the writer's block and self doubt to another good day of writing that will change my whole opinion of how the writing process is going. It's a very day to day process. Feelings, thoughts, plans, strategies all change as each day comes to a close.
I will continue to work on these dimensions through the weekend. I very much look forward to a meeting with my adviser/editor on Monday. Sometimes, another perspective is exactly what I need to keep pushing forward and jumping all of the different hurdles involved in this kind of novel. Because, frankly, sometimes it's all a little too much in my head and an outsider's perspective is what I need.
Wednesday, January 13, 2010
Writing a Novel Is the Hardest Thing I Have Ever Done
By a long shot! I've never written any kind of novel, much less a murder mystery novel, but I believe that writing a murder mystery novel has to be the most difficult kind of novel to write.
All of the balls I'm juggling have to stay in the air at the same time because my story has to be so intertwined within itself that everyone who reads it never sees it coming. I fail as a murder mystery writer if you see it coming.
Recent discoveries:
It took me six months to figure out who my main character is. And now I love her. And I completely understand her. And I think everyone who meets her will love her too. She's that awesome!
I have no setting. I have no setting because I set my novel in Colorado, and I've never been to Colorado. Why, you might ask, would I set my novel in a state in which I had never set foot. My answer: I don't know. But I did. And I don't want to undo it now, Mainly because it would be a lot of work, so I'll just research Colorado instead. Thanks to my many friends who are helping me with this one. Your knowledge and experience is proving invaluable. This part of the novel is still coming along. I still have minimal amounts of setting. I'm working on it. And the great irony here is I probably won't be able to afford to go to Colorado until I've sold this book. But you'll totally believe I've traveled there by the time I'm finished writing.
I know nothing about the journalism industry, and my lead protagonist is a food critic. I studied journalism in undergrad, which doesn't amount to a whole hill of beans at this point. I need to know all the little stuff like deadline stuff and procedure stuff and editor/reporter relationship stuff that you only get by working at a newspaper. Again, it's too late to turn back now. And I really like that she's a food critic. This combines one industry I've worked in for years and one industry I love to study. And they say, write what you know. So I am. Sort of.
I'm avoiding writing my ending like the plague. I don't know why, but I haven't figured the ending out yet. If I force it won't be as good as if it comes from some sort of inspiration. When it's inspired, it's much better writing. This needs to write itself very soon. Like in the next two weeks soon.
Back to it for now. I've got lots of work left to do. I cranked out ten chapters last week, and I've done a lot of research, editing, and planning this week. Time to write some more.
All of the balls I'm juggling have to stay in the air at the same time because my story has to be so intertwined within itself that everyone who reads it never sees it coming. I fail as a murder mystery writer if you see it coming.
Recent discoveries:
It took me six months to figure out who my main character is. And now I love her. And I completely understand her. And I think everyone who meets her will love her too. She's that awesome!
I have no setting. I have no setting because I set my novel in Colorado, and I've never been to Colorado. Why, you might ask, would I set my novel in a state in which I had never set foot. My answer: I don't know. But I did. And I don't want to undo it now, Mainly because it would be a lot of work, so I'll just research Colorado instead. Thanks to my many friends who are helping me with this one. Your knowledge and experience is proving invaluable. This part of the novel is still coming along. I still have minimal amounts of setting. I'm working on it. And the great irony here is I probably won't be able to afford to go to Colorado until I've sold this book. But you'll totally believe I've traveled there by the time I'm finished writing.
I know nothing about the journalism industry, and my lead protagonist is a food critic. I studied journalism in undergrad, which doesn't amount to a whole hill of beans at this point. I need to know all the little stuff like deadline stuff and procedure stuff and editor/reporter relationship stuff that you only get by working at a newspaper. Again, it's too late to turn back now. And I really like that she's a food critic. This combines one industry I've worked in for years and one industry I love to study. And they say, write what you know. So I am. Sort of.
I'm avoiding writing my ending like the plague. I don't know why, but I haven't figured the ending out yet. If I force it won't be as good as if it comes from some sort of inspiration. When it's inspired, it's much better writing. This needs to write itself very soon. Like in the next two weeks soon.
Back to it for now. I've got lots of work left to do. I cranked out ten chapters last week, and I've done a lot of research, editing, and planning this week. Time to write some more.
Tuesday, January 12, 2010
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