What’s on my iPod : Closer by Nine Inch Nails

Catch and Release

It’s one of my favorite movies. Not a stellar, academy award winning story, but still a great film. I’m a huge Jennifer Garner fan – ever since Alias. But I chose that title for my blog today and it has nothing to do with the movie – which I highly recommend.

Yesterday (well by now it’s been 3 days), I finished turning a one page synopsis into a ten page one. Not Fun! But I did it, and with that, I am putting away BROKEN and focusing on CONJURED, my next YA paranormal/urban fantasy WIP.  I featured CONJURED on the Summer Reading Trail. I’m celebrating by watching HOT TUB TIME MACHINE – I am a huge John Cusack fan, too, and by posting a blog. Whoohoo.

I thought I’d talk about catch and release – the process of letting go of one manuscript and moving on to the next one.  I heard other authors talk about writers who got stuck on one manuscript, unable to let go, unable to see the flaws as a stepping stone to a better manuscript, and I never thought that would be me. *huge cough* For the past few months I’ve been telling myself just one more pass, just one more fix. Every time I received a rejection, I went write back into the manuscript and started tweaking. Yesterday, I told myself – No More. I have it where I want it. If an agent or editor doesn’t think this story is for them as it is now, then I’m done. I have to move on to the next story.

It’s hard to catch such a wonderful idea and see it through to fruition. You hold onto this idea, to the characters, to the love story – falling in love with it. But there is a point where you must divorce yourself from this story and move to the next. It’s hard because just like finding a new boyfriend, you must discover the way to fall in love with a new set of characters, a new plot, a new setting. You must wine and dine those characters to get inside their heads so that they will open up to you and reveal their secrets so that you can, well, torture them in your story to make it compelling, add conflict and ultimately hook the reader.

The release is two-fold, both painful and ecstatic. You must painfully “break-up” with your other characters – harder still if you see that first book as a series  because you’re going to have to fall in love with them all over again if you succeed in selling the first book and are asked to write the sequel(s). But the release can be ecstatic when you finally close that file and open a clean, fresh one for the new WIP.

So today I started really buckling down into my new WIP CONJURED. I’m a visual learner, and a visual writer. That being said I MUST have pictures to write to, just like a soundtrack. So I started thinking about the process of creating a truly memorable character.

Recently, I came to the conclusion that with a degree in Theater I focus on the characters first when sitting down to create a new story. I imagine a certain type character, perhaps pulling a unique name from thin air and dreaming up that character’s world.

Today’s post is all about that process.

My writing process is about as scatter-brained as I am, but nine times out of ten, I have the new characters sketched loosely in my mind before I ever set down a clean piece of paper. For BROKEN, I had a sticky note for over a year on my laptop that read “Angels – a new story.” I had the germination of the type of paranormal character I wanted to write, I just didn’t have the vehicle (Heehee) yet to get them there.

I actually started writing CONJURED before BROKEN. I had intended for CONJURED to be an adult para romance. I was sitting outside late one fall night, staring at the stars and my very favorite constellation – Orion. A million connotations floated through my mind about the origins of that cluster of stars – especially the Greek myth surrounding Diana and Orion. And then poof, I began to wonder more about that story and who the fabled Orion was. From there I decided that I wanted to create a knight with his name. He had to be larger than life just like the constellation he was named for, so his parents were legends too – Tristan and Isolde. And in a matter of five minutes I had created the back story and conflict for my new main character and hero.

So first part of the process, come up with a unique name or stereo type and begin the thought process. This when reading classic fairy tales or ancient myths comes in handy. Some authors use a baby name website or book. To be honest I don’t unless I need a secondary character’s name. I put much more thought behind my main character’s names. My heroines, even with a plain name like Sarah, has that plain name for a reason.

I usually will write a good 5000 words into the beginning of the new WIP before I began to get a taste of my characters. By this I mean, what they look like, how they speak, some of their idiosyncrasies. These are some of the things that help develop their inner turmoil/conflict and help determine the choices they will make through the story. For BROKEN, I wanted to focus on Caleb’s eyes. One of the first scenes I wrote I had him with a halo – only glowing in the dark at night. But I thought it was kooky, and deleted that instantly. But I wanted something else that glowed, shifted, and embodied his ethereal presence on earth – so I chose his eyes. Beside, I’m a sucker for a man’s eyes. The second thing I knew about Caleb was that he had a tattoo because the second scene I wrote for BROKEN was him revealing to Sarah his angel wings. I wanted them to be hidden to human eyes. No spoilers but with that revelation about his body – tattoos – I knew that he had to be a little hard edged. The next thing I knew about Caleb, pulling from some angel lore, is that he was an inspiration to humans – or that was his job. So why not inspire musicians. Angels are supposed to have the most beautiful voices. Ah, and so my little rockin’ angel was formed.

So after you’ve found a unique place to get an idea, write and write until your characters begin to show their attributes. Those quirky behaviors can lead to…

(sorry I will get back to this post..my computer and WordPress crashed in the middle of writing it – but don’t worry, I have some great stuff planned. Sorry for the inconvience)

I always intended to post a playlist for my novel BROKEN, eventually even breaking it down into characters’ personal songs. When my book is published, the actual chapter titles will be bits of songs, most of which were on my very first playlist.

Author Gwen Hayes turned me on to iLike. It’s a great little site where you can create playlists and share. (HERE’S Gwen’s website and playlist for her new YA Paranormal.) So I created the first list of songs that motivated this story.

This is a love story between an angel (of musical inspiration) and a teenage girl – music has been very important to the development of these characters and this story…..

So a brief explanation of some of my choices. Right off the bat, I knew that I would be listening to the Foo Fighters – a.) they’re my favorite band, b.) I always imagined Caleb sounding and playing a little like Dave Grohl. The second group that was on the repeat loop was Evanescence. I LOVE Amy Lee’s voice, and thier haunting lyrics and melodies felt right for the story and for Sarah’s voice.

I needed songs that either captured the bottled-up feelings of my characters, or an explosive action sequence, or lighter comic scenes.

I chose to listen to the Lost Boys soundtrack for the final battle sequence, layered with 3 Doors Downs “Not My Time.” I also listened to early 80′s bands like the Cult, the Smiths, and the Church when writing the developing romance scenes between Sarah and Caleb. I also needed some classical music and Beethoven and Mozart felt most natural.

So here’s my playlist for your listening pleasure. And please support the artists on the list; they’re awesome.

What’s on my iPad (that’s right I got one!) : Everlong by the Foo Fighters

          I’ve been so busy the past month with revisions on my requested manuscript that I haven’t been able to post. So today, I thought I would throw up my experience with world building since I’ve done quite a bit for BROKEN and REDD and because there’s a boon in paranormal both romance and young adult.

          When I decided that my first YA novel would involve a hero that was an angel, my mind went to work recollecting all the mythos, movies, and books I’d read. And the majority of what I pulled from came from movies, perhaps because the characteristics were more secular and that’s what I wanted.

          So when you first set out to create your own characters’ world, pull from what you already know. I think it’s easier to start there for two reasons : you’re already familiar with it, and more than likely it’s ingrained in your chosen markets’ heads (the readers of paranormal)

          When I started writing BROKEN, there were very few novels with angels as protagonists (now it’s a growing trend). And as writer, I wanted to steer clear of those novels as not to be influenced in my own world building. With say vampires, the lore is pretty much well established – it’s hard to escape it. But that’s not to say that as a writer you can’t get creative. In fact, agents and editors are looking for the more ingenious worlds because, sad to say, they are seeing TONS of vampire stories.

          As you sit down to put to your world on paper, write down those preconceived myths. For instance, with BROKEN, I knew a little about The Fallen (angels that fell when Lucifer did, ect) and the general assumption is that Fallen angels have been stripped of their wings. But my hero, Caleb, had his wings. The second scene I ever wrote was the hero revealing those wings to the heroine. And I also knew how he kept those wings hidden (no spoilers :>) So with that idea I had the first part of my world created, and had to come up with a reason that an angel would be in hiding on earth if he wasn’t one of the Fallen. So I created a new distinction among the angels called Renegades. They are hunted, and most likely if they are caught by Heaven they’ll be stripped of their wings, and if caught by Hell, they’ll burn in eternal damnation. <— more world building there. 

        So, the next step is write down a list of what is all ready out there. Then take those ingrained concepts and twist them to your benefit. The first prime example, from two VERY popular vampire series TWILIGHT and THE VAMPIRE DIARIES, is the sunlight myth. Both Smith and Myer had to creatively get around the traditional myth of sunlight burning a vampire/ staying out of the sunlight/ only coming out at night but still get their high school age vampires in to high school. I actually prefer LJ Smith’s version. She uses rings with a special gemstone that Damon and Stefan wear. And on the TV show I love looking for new characters to see if they are wearing some piece of jewelry to give them away. Of course, Myer went out in left field, creating an anomaly where vampires sparkled in the sunlight. Still what a creative way to twist around a well conceived vampire myth and make it her own. It sold – gazillions! Another myth that both authors twisted to fit their worlds was the blood drinking. This is one of those myths that just can’t be fooled with too much. The whole point of a vampire is that is what he does – drinks human blood. The idea of vegetarian vampires, hillarious, actually worked – first for Smith because Stefan feeds only on animals while his brother Damon is more the monster and feeds on humans. And Myer took this concept and expanded it, making the Cullen family outcasts among all vampires for their odd eating practice. Even Charlaine Harris took a spin, her vampires drink synthetic blood that just like the real thing.

         Enough about vampires. But once you have plucked the myths and concepts to create your world, twisted them, used them, abused them for your benefit. Now it’s time to test those new theories.

         What I discovered while revising BROKEN is that my world kept shifting slightly. As I learned more about my characters, I found that they revealed things to me that had to be fit together a little bit differently. And then I had to create the other half of the spectrum, the world of demons. In essence, I was still adding to my world up until the day I sent my revised manuscript off.

          Finally, several thoughts. Always remember no matter what, this is your world that you created. If your vampires live off syrup, so be it. Just remember that part of creating your world is providing the back up evidence to support the why and how. Second, take notes, lots of notes. And research. You’d be amazed if I told you that a large chunk of my world, some of the terms and how the heirarchy works, came from a Role Playing Game. I was lucky I found it, but I learned a lesson. Always bookmark, jot down, copy and paste the info to a Word doc, because you may not find the site again. But you can find some very interesting ideas in the most random places. Never rule out anything.

So to summarize :

1) start a list of what you already know about your world, the myths, legends you already know

2) research those myths, legends, ect and take notes. Be sure to keep a hard copy or favorite the sites you visit for later reference.

3) take those theories and twist them for your benefit to create a new and exciting world

4) write and listen to what your characters tell you, as they will reveal things you had no idea about

Well, I thought this might a good time to blog about my own personal journey to publication. The basics are the same : write a manuscript from start to finish, edit, revise, and repeat. Then write a hook and query/pitch and begin to query agents. Along the way thicken your skin, either with some tough (But great) critique partners, and getready for hte rejections. You’re going get them. Don’t take it personal, becuase it’s not. It’s business. An agent may not like your story, that doesn’t mean it’s bad. What it means is its just not in their particular taste.

So where I’m at right now. I’m in the querying process and the revising and tightening process. It means I’m querying, and not everyone all at once, but a few agents at a time. As I query I’m tightening my manuscript. This is also the time when I read everything I can get my hands on, and not just in my genre (YA paranormal) but everything, including craft books.

This really is a slow process, so I’m also working on my next manuscript, not as diligently as I did my first. And I’m networking - connecting with fellow writers and agents and editors. The internet has really brought the publishing community out of an elite status and into a more homegrown, grassroots movement. Well at least I like to think so.

Hey I’m up over on Victoria Janssen’s blog. She devoted this month to asking a few fellow writers about where their love and passion of writing originated. I’m up today. Wow, it’s so much easier to write ficiton than a personal story.

Check out my response on Victoria’s site HERE.

What’s on my iPod : Slow Poison by The Bravery

Well, I’m so excited that two of my fellow YA writers are recently agented. Bria Quinlan just signed with Kim at Book Ends Literary Agency, and R F Long just signed with Colleen Lindsay. YAY, girls!!

Catch up with Bria on her blog here.

and RF Long here.

ON MY iPOD : Rehab by Amy Winehouse

Well, I thought that my first official post on my new website would be a reflection. I just sent in my full MS to an agent, and it got me thinking about the uneasy feeling, as a writer, one gets when they first send that well-polished manuscript out. We give it wings and hope to God that the thing can fly on its own. We pray it will sing. But as we patiently wait weeks, even months, we begin to feel that perhaps our precious little creation maybe has Icarus Wings and might fall to its death just the same.  That’s my thought, and sums up how I feel currently.