Editing Experiment

You know me, I’m a mad scientist when I’m not writing, doing experiments every day.  But this time around I’m trying an experiment with revisions on A Paranormal Bromance, which you might remember was my NaNoWriMo novel last year.  Or maybe not, since it was NaNo, and who has time to write then?

As I wrote aPB, I knew I was going to have to rewrite at least one of my main character’s voices, possibly both.  I also noted a ton of structural problems, some because I’ve had the same problems in the past.  And then I knew there were things I wanted to add throughout the novel and characters that needed to change.  Knowing that the way I usually edit might not be effective for these edits, I decided to try something new.

For aPB, I’m rewriting the book from scratch in a notebook.  I have the original on the Kindle, and I’ll admit to referring to it a lot, but by writing out even the sentences, paragraphs, and scenes I want to keep intact, I still force myself to look at each sentence, paragraph, and scene and think about it, the way that I sometimes don’t while writing the first draft because I might be in the zone, or even just plodding along to get words down (because, let’s face it, it was NaNo).  It’s also easier to cut something and fix that cut when writing it anew, as opposed to trying to squeeze transition or info into lines that are already there on the screen.  For me, it’s just a mindset thing.  If I’m already rewriting it, it’s easier to change or add to it, at least in my brain.

I haven’t gotten to a part where I have to add more than a line or a feeling or descriptive details, so I don’t know how well this experiment will work there, but I’m excited to find out.

At the very least, this helps me change the voice and to create stronger sentences and paragraphs, so no matter what, I see it as a great exercise.

According to my Kindle, I am currently 13% done, but that’s a bogus number, because it will depend on what I add or subtract.  I’m also debating a plot/characterization point, and I’m sort of at a standstill until I decide it, but I don’t think that will last long.  Worst case scenario, I’ll flip a coin

Anyway, I’m excited to see where this new experiment leads me.  It feels productive right now, but we’ll see how I feel at 30% or 50% or 80% when the end looks so close, but so far.

What revision techniques do you use? Do you rewrite or revise within the same document you wrote the novel in?

Lots of love,Sage

The Advantage of Pitch Contests

If you’re researching the publishing world, you’ve probably noticed that there are a ton of pitch contests out there.  Blogs and twitter are the main sources of these contests.  A lot of people are afraid to enter them, but they shouldn’t be.  Pitch contests are an extra way to put your novel out there for potential requests without risking your chance to actually query.

When you query, you’re picking the best agent in a given agency for your book.  For some agencies, this is your only chance to query that book to any agent there, while others have policies that allow you to query several of them if the first one you choose doesn’t work out.  Either way, once you query that agent, it’s done.  With very rare exceptions, if you decide you need to rework your query, you still can’t requery a rejecting agent.

If you enter a pitch contest, you can do so with your query, as is, or with a different pitch altogether.  Some contests require a different pitch.  If you’re pitching on twitter, you’re restricted to less than 140 characters.  Some pitch contests on blogs give you a limit: for example, three sentences.  With these, you can mix up your pitches and try something new or just use a shorter version of your query.

Here’s a couple of examples of pitch contests, and how they work to your advantage.

1. Let’s say a writer friend is having a mystery agent visit, and she’s running a pitch contest on her blog for that agent.  You know what the mystery agent likes, and your novel fits the bill.  You put on your query or a three-sentence pitch or a one-sentence pitch–you know, whatever the contest calls for.  Then the agent is revealed and it’s an agent you love from a “no from one = no from all” agency!  The contest ends, and the agent doesn’t choose yours.

Now sometimes that doesn’t mean the agent wouldn’t have requested if it had been a query in their inbox.  I’ve had an agent in a contest not choose my query as his top three, but my query was already in his inbox, and he requested off of it once he saw my sample pages.  In that contest, he could only choose three, and mine wasn’t one, but some contests have the agent(s) choosing all the queries he or she wants to see pages from.

In the case of this “no from one = no from all” agency, you now have the option to reconsider whether this agent is the one you should query.  The best part is that even though this agent saw your query, you haven’t actually queried them.  You can query this agent with a different pitch or query someone else at the agency.  No harm done.

2.  All-day Twitter contests.  I love these, especially when they’re like the #pitmad contest that was recently held.  Here you can pitch your novels all day long.  You can use a tried-and-true pitch or vary it every time.  Agents and editors come on when they have time and let authors know if they want to see more.  They don’t request usually, but instead ask for queries.  But in this case, you know they’re interested.  You can still query the same agents whenever you want, so you haven’t lost your chance with them, but if you get that “favorite” on your pitch, you know you have their attention, and it’s likely to lead to a request unless something in your query shows them that this isn’t really the novel for them.

These aren’t the only pitch contests out there.  Agents might hold their own.  Several blogs might get together and do something really complicated.  You might have to get in a certain time limit to even post your pitch.  You might have a ton of agents battling over pitches.  The contests can be simple or highly creative.

I know some people use these contests as a way to test their queries before they start querying.  I say it depends on the query and the contest.  If a single agent can only pick one out of a hundred queries, it might not be the best way to see whether your query is working, not compared to sending out queries to 10 agents who can request from as many queries in their inbox they feel like and getting no requests that way.  But if it’s one of those where your query is seen by several agents and they “bid” on queries they’d like to see more of and you don’t get any bids, you might rethink your query.  It just depends.

But overall, I think these types of contests are great ways to get your novel out there just one extra time without any risk whatsoever.  So give them a shot, and don’t be afraid.

Okay, so now you’re all my competition in the next pitch contest, right?

Lots of love,
Sage

The Write Way (#NaNoTip)

For the past few weeks, people have been giving out advice right and left about how to succeed at at NaNoWriMo.  For the new NaNoers or those that have never won, I’m sure that this advice is helpful.  Then there are people who beg you to tell them every detail of how you get through NaNo so that they can emulate you.  It’s really flattering.

But here’s the deal, folks.

There is no right way to write.

There is no right way to win NaNoWriMo.

Every writer is different.  Two writers might find that a technique works for both of them, but that doesn’t mean that every piece of advice will work for every writer.

I see this:

• Listen to music with headphones
• It has to be quiet
• Tweet your wordcount to keep you motivated
• Do not open the internet under any circumstance
• Start with a character and have them dictate your plot
• Start at the end and plot backwards
• Plot everything before you start
• You have to outline to keep yourself on track
• Don’t outline or you’ll get bored
• If you don’t click with your character from line one, pick a different character
• Change plot halfway if it feels too hard
• Do not change anything, just keep going because you can fix it in edits
• Don’t fix typos
• Fix typos but don’t fix whole lines
• Fix whole lines, but do it by crossing out the old one so you can keep the words
• It’s only a NaNo project, so what you write doesn’t matter
• Think about each line, because it matters
• Use Write or Die
• Write or Die will make your novel suck
• Write by hand so you can avoid distractions
• Write on your computer so you don’t have to type it up later for verification
• Write huge amounts on the weekend so you can relax on weekdays
• Write 1667 consistently every day
• Don’t take any breaks
• Take breaks
• Even if you have five minutes somewhere, write a line or two then
• You need to have big chunks of time to really get into the zone
• Have a ritual
• Don’t have a ritual or you won’t be able to write unless you’re in that situation

I gave some advice for the #NaNoPrep blog posts, but I tried to make it general and to keep in mind that what works for some, doesn’t work for all.  But I see so many people preaching their methods like gospel.

Here’s what matters during NaNoWriMo:

• You get to 50K before Dec. 1
• You have fun doing it

If you find that a certain writer’s past experiences help you get through your novel in November, that’s awesome!  But what works for someone else may not work for you.  So don’t stress that someone’s told you that you need to write during your five-minute break at work and you know that that’s not enough time to get into the story enough to write even a sentence.

There is only one right way to write: The way that works for you.

Have fun!

Lots of love,
Sage

Making Time (#NaNoPrep)

One important part of preparing for NaNo is clearing time in your schedule to write.  Of course, some non-writing events have to exist.  If you have a day job, you’ll have to work it unless you are lucky enough to have some time-off to spare.  If you have kids, I suppose you might have to take care of them in November too.  And maybe there’s that TV show or sport you just can’t miss.

I have choir on Monday nights, several scheduled (and unscheduled) work outs, plus work, though I did manipulate my schedule to have that first day off by working the preceding Sunday.  But, overall, I’m going to have times when I can’t write.

But there are some ways to clear your schedule around those things, and you can prepare them now in this last week before November.

• Chores: Laundry, cleaning the kitchen and bathrooms, dusting, vacuuming.  The more of these you can get done at the end of October, the less you’ll have that nagging feeling that you need to do them.
• Cooking: It’s pretty hard to cook ahead for 30 days, but if you make something on Halloween (in between the candy) that has a lot of leftovers, you’ll get a good start on the month, at least.  Then you can decide if you’re going to spend the rest of the month eating pizza, ramen, and Panera or not.  That decision leads us to…
• Shopping.  Know that you’re going to need something later in November?  Buy it now, if you can.  Christmas shopping can be started in October, and then with that head start, you won’t feel so panicked about leaving the rest for December.  Plan your groceries for things that are easy to make and that sit well for the month
• Clearing the air:  If you’re like me, nothing puts a bigger damper on your writing high than being mad about real life issues.  If something’s been building, November is not the time for it to explode.  It may be scary, but working out real world problems in this last week of October–as much as they can be anyway–could save your November concentration.
• Voting:  Why would they put the election right at the beginning of National Novel Writing Month?  What were they thinking?  Well, there’s always writing while in line (I did that in 2008), but some states have early voting, so I took advantage of that this time around.

That’s all the prep I can think of for now.  Do you have any things you do in advance to avoid real life distractions in November?

Lots of love,
Sage

The Forums (#NaNoPrep)

Aren’t the NaNo forums awesome?  Wait, you haven’t checked them out yet?  Well, now’s the time!

Once November hits, the forums become this black hole that sucks away all your writing time.  No kidding.  You think you can stop in and check out that dare thread because you’re stuck and suddenly you’ve spent 3 hours reading about the fiction fairies you can adopt or helping someone else name their superheroes or filling out character surveys.

And it’s fun.  But you’ll be mad at yourself when you get to midnight and realize that you only wrote 37 words all day.

But I’m not saying avoid the NaNo forums altogether.  No, go to them now.  Read the Dares threads and tuck away some dare (or 20!) to use when you get stuck in November.  Fill out the character surveys and learn all sorts of new things about your characters before you start.  Read the adoption threads and adopt things.  Help others plan.  Ask for help you need.  Hang out in the chatty threads for your genre or age group or region.  Nominate yourself or others to 30 Covers, 30 Days.  Read the synopses there to see what others are doing.  Check out what events are going on in your area.

And have fun!  Because that’s what NaNo is about.

What’s your favorite part of the forums?  I’ve made a whole novel using dares (36, I think) once, so I have a fondness for that thread, but I love the 30C30D thread the most.

Lots of love,
Sage

P.S. One week left to enter the Trick or Treat Love Sucks giveaway.  That means one week to Halloween and one week left to prepare for NaNo.

Researching (#NaNoPrep)

Researching?  What is this researching thing?  We don’t need no stinkin’ research before NaNoWriMo.

Okay, I’ll admit it.  I tend to do my real research when I come across a need for it mid-book.  Very rarely do I say, “I’m writing a book set at a ranch, let me do all my research on horses in the months preceding it.”  I use horses because I did some recent horse research for a chapter book I wrote a few months ago.  It was very minimal, as I was just refreshing myself on some terms I already knew.  In that case, it didn’t take too much time away from my writing.

But in NaNo, having to do even a little research can detract from that all-important word count, so it’s good to get it in October or before, if you know what you need.  (Let’s not forget that pantsers might not even know what they could possibly research)

This year I was planning to do a different novel from A Paranormal Bromance, and it was going to require heavy research.  I searched for books, I watched documentaries, I looked for credible information and personal accounts on the internet.  Then I changed novels, so that research will have to hold for another time. But I certainly know people who do the heavy research where they read non-fiction about most of their novels, even interview people for them.  I really admire those people and their dedication, not to mention their creativity to make a novel out of this research.

But here’s how I usually research in October.  I read fiction in the genre I’m writing or about the same subject or for the same age group.  Last year when I was writing my chapter books, I read a lot of chapter books (and low MG to see the difference) to prepare myself for writing for that reading level.

This year I’m writing that paranormal bromance.  And I haven’t decided if it’s a paranormal romance but without lust between the mains or if it’s simply a contemporary fantasy with a humorous title.  Because these are two totally different things.  Even if I go the contemporary fantasy route, I still might use some tropes from PR.  So here I am reading ghost stories (because one of the mains is a ghost).  Oh, darn, ghost stories in October.  But I’m also reading paranormal romances, which are totally not my usual thing, as research.  What tropes do I want? Do I want any? Should I have a similar tone to PRs? Is there a certain formula that I can either follow or parody? Should I stay far far away from anything PR at all?  So that’s the kind of research I’m doing now.  But that’s generally the kind of research I do the most, and no matter whether you’re a planner or a pantser, whether you’re someone who does heavy research about the subject or not, I suggest reading books like yours (or potentially like yours)

What kind of research do you do leading up to NaNo or any other books you write?  Do you do any at all?  Do you find yourself researching mid-book like I sometimes do (or even during edits)?  Have you ever wished you had researched something before you started?

Lots of love,
Sage
P.S. Less than two weeks left to enter the Trick-or-Treat Love Sucks Giveaway.  This also means less than two weeks to Halloween and NaNo!

Plot-in (#NaNoPrep)

It’s a special Lots of Love Thursday this week.  I love my SNI (shiny new idea), I love plot-ins, I love preparing for NaNo, and I love listening to my iPod on random (more on that later).  Unrelated to this post, I’ll throw in that I love Halloween movies that I’m watching, I love having new episodes of Glee (although I’m caught up now), I love starting Christmas shopping early, and, hey, I even love this R&R I’m doing on Taylor-Made.

I decided to continue with the #NaNoPrep posts through October (in preparation for November when I might post, you know, once).  I had a request for some plotting tips.

I’m going to start off by saying that every writer is different and what works for me is not necessarily what will work for you.

One specific question I got was “where should you plot?”  And the answer, for me, is everywhere.  But more specifically it’s anywhere that doesn’t require my mind to be dedicated to the task in front of me (like I’m making phone calls all week for work, and that’s hard to plot through).  If I’m reading, writing, listening to something with a plot (audiobooks/tv shows on my iPhone), or talking about something not novel-related, I can’t plot.  I can plot and sing, though.  I do a lot of plotting while driving, while counting bugs in the lab, while working out, while getting dressed in the morning, and of course while I’m listening to music.

Of course, keep in mind, I am not an outliner.  Someone who needs to sit down and write their plot down is not going to be able to do so while driving.  In those cases, I would choose a location that inspires you or the same places where you like to write.

I do have very informal “outlines” of a sort.  You all know by now how much I adore making soundtracks for my novels.  At the beginning stages of plotting, I do a lot of listening to my music on random, “auditioning” each song for a place on my soundtrack.  Once I start building up potential songs, I audition them further by playing that playlist while I consider my characters and whether those songs really fit a plot that works for those characters and that concept.  I start to shape up the playlist into something resembling a soundtrack.  A ha, the novel will proceed in the same order as these songs.  Except, that never works out; songs get removed, replaced, added, moved all over.  Even though it’s sort of like an outline, it’s a very flexible one.  Sometimes I remove songs I adore because they just don’t work for how the characters feel or act.

Last year I also plotted using post-it notes.  In this case I wrote down a bunch of plot points I wanted to include in the stories.  This was flexible just like the soundtracks, but I prefer the musical “outline.”

There’s one more place that I like to plot, and that’s a physical NaNo plot-in.  I started going to the plot-ins that my area was having two years ago.  At the very least a plot-in can give you an opportunity to tell people about your book and watch them be all supportive.  If you have a plotting problem, you can share it and see if anyone has an answer.  My favorite plot-in game is to give everyone 10 post-its or notecards, and give everyone 10 minutes to write down up to 10 (or more if they want) ideas for dealing with your plotting problem.  For example, for the Trouble books, I had some ideas for how Trouble could cause Bex problems, but I wanted to see what others might come up with.  Everyone wrote down a ton of ideas for trouble he could cause, and it was so much fun.  For my Twelve-Days-of-Christmas-themed novel, I had 4 “gifts” that I had no ideas for, and there were four people there that day.  Each person wrote down 10 ideas for how I could deal with that gift.

Another plot-in game I’ve played has been to use a party game where you ask the attendees questions.  In a party, it’s meant to be a conversation starter.  But while plotting, your character is answering the question, and so you might learn something about them when forced to think about their answer to a question that might have nothing to do with your novel.  But in answering that question, you understand them better.

But even if you play no games, there’s always talking about your novel and working out problems out loud with people who might think outside the box you’ve already placed your novel inside.

So there’s my advice.  Plot everywhere you can, record your ideas any way that works for you, and go to plot-ins.

How do you plot for NaNo?  Does it differ from how you plot for other novels?

Lots of love,

Sage

Naming your Characters (#NaNoPrep)

Today is NaNo Prep Day.  Between that and a recent request for me to blog about how I name characters, I thought this was a good post to have now.  After all, you don’t want to go into NaNo and suddenly have to search for a character’s name.

Even pantsers often have characters prepared that dictate what happens in the novel.  These characters need the perfect name.  But how do you choose that perfect name?

My characters’ names come from all sorts of places.  Sometimes a character’s name just is there.  Those are nice days.  Taylor had a name before he had a character or a plot, as did Trouble.  That’s because the source of inspiration for both characters was also the source of inspiration for the concept and the name.  Some names just fit the character perfectly and you know it.  I named Evie in the shower the night I made up Hero/Villain and I knew her last name was Dark, although I fought it because, come on, Evie Dark?  But then once I had Apollo Eastman and Ace Starr, Dark had to stay to foil all that light.

Characters can be named after characters in other books, shows, movies, songs, etc.  Ace was named from a Doctor Who character, as was Rosie (from Rose).  While Justin in Love Sucks was not named after anyone (but Justin in Taylor-Made was named after him), his last name, Chase, was after a character on House.

Sometimes you can name a character after a person you know.  Or because you’ve always liked that name.  Mailee was named after a person who works at my company (I actually hadn’t met her, only talked to her on the phone, at the time I wrote LS).  A character now named Noah in TM was named Craig because I needed a quick and easy name and that one fit him.  Unfortunately, I know a Craig at the same place I know a Justin (met after I named LS’s Justin), so I had to change one of them and Justin is always going to be Justin.  Malinda was named after an author because I liked the name. You might find inspiration from actors’ or singers’ names.

Sometimes you have a certain idea for what kind of name a character needs.  It feels like a name that starts with B (Blake) or it needs to be a wholesome name (Rebecca, but then I was sold when I saw the nickname “Bex,” which was a perfect nickname coming from Trouble), or it has to be from a certain culture.  Naming books and websites can really help in this area.  Also if you want your character’s name to mean something (Blake, btw, means black.  And white.) or you need a popular name from a certain timeframe (Lawrence was pretty popular decades ago), websites are your friend.

For me, though, names often come from the world-building.  In AFTRLYF and HEVNSNT, my angels of death are always named after some mythological or religious name associated with death.  In DownLoad, the cyborgs were named based off two letters of the alphabet.  Since most ended with N, this made for convenient normal(ish) names.  Dean, Ian, Finn, Gwen, etc.  In In a Pear Tree, the elves are all named after Christmas- or winter-related things (except Shin’s family which is Jewish).

So that’s where most of my character names come from.  What about you?

Lots of love,
Sage
P.S. Two weeks left to enter the Trick-or-Treat Love Sucks Giveaway.  Don’t forget

Lots of Love Thursday – 6/28/12

So as I sit here, waiting for the A/C guy, I thought I would write a blog post.  If you squint real hard at my last title and this one, you might think that I wrote two days in a row (Workout Wednesday and Lots of Love Thursday).  But, no, I was my usual lazy blogging self and neglected the blog for like a month and a half.  It’s hard to get motivation to write (anything) when I’m baking in the oven that is my house these days.

I am cursed.  This is my ninth summer in Ohio, and for eight of them, I have had a broken A/C.   This spans three different places I’ve lived and five different A/C units.  Last year was the only year I didn’t have to get the A/C unit fixed or replaced (it had been replaced the year before…for free, but apparently with a broken model that started leaking coolant…last year).  It’s been a hot spring and summer, but today is supposed to get into the 100s, so I start off LoLT with:

• My A/C is getting fixed!
• Which also means that our windows won’t have to be open all the time, which means fewer bugs and fewer allergens in the house
• I went to check out a choir (for joining) and had a great time
• I rediscovered what a joy it is to read on my Kindle
• I read THE SELECTION like I was addicted to it, which is pretty exciting since I never feel that need to read books by people I don’t know anymore.  I’m not saying it’s great literature or anything, but I could not put it down.
• My parents got back from their cruise and I wowed my dad with his Father’s Day gift
• My Dear Teen Me letter is up.  You can find it here
• My friend Suz’s book, A WANT SO WICKED, is available (our indie bookstore should have it in today or tomorrow).

Since I last was on here, tons of stuff has happened, but this was just the love for this past week (which was pretty nice).

Writing stuff:

I’m working on my Trouble kidlit, although I’m having trouble (haha) deciding where to start the series.  I thought Trouble at School was logical, but it makes the timeline of the series awkward.  I did, however, print out Trouble with Pets, which I wrote in November, and I’m highly enjoying editing that.

I wrote the Dear Teen Me letter.  Dear Teen Me is also doing an anthology, in which the lovely Hannah Moskowitz participated.  Her letter is a tear-jerker, trust me.

I’m waiting on betas for Taylor-Made, but my first beta gave me lots to think about already.

Anyway, that’s all the love for now.

Lots of love,

Sage

Haustor/Haustoria

So way back when I was writing Love Sucks (a million years ago, I think), I was looking for a name for my love/lust/inhibition drainers.  If it had just been love, I probably would have been find with “love drainer” or something, but for some reason “drainer” or “sucker” didn’t really appeal to me as an all-encompassing title for these demons.  This was before vampires were impossible to sell, but “vampire” didn’t quite seem to fit.

I turned to my writing buddies and asked for suggestions.  One had been taking Latin, and together we came up with “Haustor” or “someone who drains.”

Today I was working on a report that summarized major threats to different species.  Imagine my surprise when I came across the word, “Haustoria.”  Obviously, I couldn’t let that go without looking it up.  It turns out that the haustoria (haustorium = singular) are the part of a parasitic plant or fungus that draws nutrients from the plant.

Of course, it makes perfect sense that Haustores and haustoria have similar names and do basically the same thing–drain food from a host with a touch.  They were both named with the same Latin root (“to drain”). But it was cool to have my work and writing worlds collide with the chance encounter with a word I basically consider to be mine.

Do you ever have your writing world intersect with the real world in a weird way like this?

Lots of love,

Sage