Wednesday, December 18, 2013
Book Soundtracks
I love music almost as much as I love movies, reading, and writing. I think music is essential to life. Music can bring light to the darkest of days. I honestly can not put into words how much I love music and how I could not live my life without it.
When it comes to the arts and the way music influences all arts, I believe that music is needed for all of them. I need music just to function in life. Music is essential to a movie. Music helps to convey the right tone of the movie or is used to convey a feeling. Jaws would be nothing without those three little notes. The Lord of the Rings would be nowhere as epic without Richard Howe's score. TV shows need music in the same way. One Tree Hill wouldn't be half the show it is without its musical influences and guests. As an audience member and a fan, I love knowing the songs on a movies sound track. I often buy these soundtracks and listen to them over and over again just to remember how I felt when I watched that certain movie.
Like movies and TV shows, I believe a book needs a soundtrack. Music does the same for the author writing the book as it does for an audience member at a movie. Without music to guide the story or help the author to know how to play the emotion in a scene or book, the audience may not feel the way they should for a scene or book.
Now, I believe there are different ways a soundtrack for a book can be used.
Some authors have one song that lays out the theme and emotion of the whole book. Some have a song for each scene, or each chapter. Some know the song that their character would be listening to or thinking about at certain times. Some authors have the story written but find songs that fit the mood, tone, or feeling of their book. And as always, other authors use songs or music in other ways. Jackson Pearce listened to one certain track, which was ocean waves, when she wrote Fathomless.
Generally, most authors use music the same way for every story they write. And as per usual with me, I use music in almost every way.
Most of the time I find songs that fit the book, but in different cases, I use music in different ways. In one of my books, there is a song that fits a scene perfectly for a certain character and a certain scene. It is not an over arching theme song, no, it is for one scene and that scene alone. Other times, I find some songs that fit the over arching theme of a certain character but not of the whole book. As long as I have music behind my books, I have feeling and drive. Without music, I fear I would be lost.
A lot of authors like to share their playlists or soundtracks with their readers. I think this is very lovely. Sometimes they just give the playlist. And then sometimes they give the song, which scene it belongs to and why it drives the scene. That is one organized author if you tell me. Or perhaps one with a lot of time. But I find it fascinating to get a glimpse into the authors mind and how they felt writing their story or what inspired them.
Anyway, I'm sure I got nowhere with this post, but at lease now you know how much I love music.
Until next time.
Saturday, November 30, 2013
NaNo Fail!
Today is the last day of November, and as the title of this blog may lead you to believe, I failed at NaNoWriMo this year.
Now, before I start with my epic tale of a fail, let me preface this by saying, I never should have even attempted NaNo this year.
So, there I was a little over a month ago on Facebook, reading a friend's status that said, and I'm paraphrasing here, 'I think I will do NaNoWriMo this year,' And of course, that lead me to think, I can do NaNo this year, so stupidly, I commented such. And, of course, when you put something on the internet, it is out there for everyone to see, and everyone to hold you to. And that is what people did.
As it does after October, November was fast approaching, and I had no plan for NaNo. I was panicing, but also, not worrying about it. But, eventually, I came up with a plan. I was not going to follow the traditional NaNo rules, but I was going to try to finish writing a novel I had already started and was very invested in. I had a good 50k words left in it anyway, so this was going to work.
November 1st rolls around and I do my job of writing the allotted 1,667 words. This worked for about three days. And as most people do, I have a plethora of excuses as to why I failed the rest of the twenty seven days. On October first, I broke up with my boyfriend and moved into my parents house. Trying to write while living at your parents is like trying to keep the sidewalk clear of snow in a freak blizzard, practically impossible. Then, my sister has two children, ages two and seven months. Now, I watch these children one to two times a week. And if you thought that the first senario was difficult, try writing with a two year old and a seven month old. Even more challenging. Then, my generous sister and brother-in-law bought me a house, so trying to write a novel when you are moving out of one house, into your parents house, out of your parents house, and into a new house, is rather challenging. Needless to say, November was not the right month to try writing a novel. But then again, excuses, excuses. I could have gotten my shit together and written the 50k words.
However, if it is any consolation, I did manage to write 17,000 words this month. Not near the 50k words I was supposed to have written, but I consider it a win. For whatever it is worth. 17k words is better than no words, and it just got me that much closer to the end of my novel.
Have any of you attempted and either failed or won NaNoWriMo? And if you ever plan on doing it in the future, may the odds be ever in your favor.
Now, before I start with my epic tale of a fail, let me preface this by saying, I never should have even attempted NaNo this year.
So, there I was a little over a month ago on Facebook, reading a friend's status that said, and I'm paraphrasing here, 'I think I will do NaNoWriMo this year,' And of course, that lead me to think, I can do NaNo this year, so stupidly, I commented such. And, of course, when you put something on the internet, it is out there for everyone to see, and everyone to hold you to. And that is what people did.
As it does after October, November was fast approaching, and I had no plan for NaNo. I was panicing, but also, not worrying about it. But, eventually, I came up with a plan. I was not going to follow the traditional NaNo rules, but I was going to try to finish writing a novel I had already started and was very invested in. I had a good 50k words left in it anyway, so this was going to work.
November 1st rolls around and I do my job of writing the allotted 1,667 words. This worked for about three days. And as most people do, I have a plethora of excuses as to why I failed the rest of the twenty seven days. On October first, I broke up with my boyfriend and moved into my parents house. Trying to write while living at your parents is like trying to keep the sidewalk clear of snow in a freak blizzard, practically impossible. Then, my sister has two children, ages two and seven months. Now, I watch these children one to two times a week. And if you thought that the first senario was difficult, try writing with a two year old and a seven month old. Even more challenging. Then, my generous sister and brother-in-law bought me a house, so trying to write a novel when you are moving out of one house, into your parents house, out of your parents house, and into a new house, is rather challenging. Needless to say, November was not the right month to try writing a novel. But then again, excuses, excuses. I could have gotten my shit together and written the 50k words.
However, if it is any consolation, I did manage to write 17,000 words this month. Not near the 50k words I was supposed to have written, but I consider it a win. For whatever it is worth. 17k words is better than no words, and it just got me that much closer to the end of my novel.
Have any of you attempted and either failed or won NaNoWriMo? And if you ever plan on doing it in the future, may the odds be ever in your favor.
Thursday, September 26, 2013
Advice
When writers are new or even old, they like to ask authors and other writers for advice. I have done my fair share of asking for advice. But when to take it and what advice to take can be tricky. I am not here to give you advice, I am here to tell you some of the things I have run into when asking for advice. Some advice is golden, like reading as much as you can. Other advice only works for certain people. And then there is advice that some authors or writers or teachers give that other authors, writers, or teachers will disagree with. I have learned that one must take only the advice that works for you as a writer.
When I was in college, I took a novel writing class. In this class, we were to write a 250 page novel in one semester. Every week we were to turn in at least one chapter, more was better. But once we turned in these chapters, our classmates would read them then give us advice or critiques. I got many critiques during the course of that semester. One of the things that my professor first taught us was to populate our novel as quickly as possible. He said that introducing new characters late in a book would be confusing to the reader and would make the character seem as an after thought and not make them important. I took that advice. In the first chapter I had two characters in the first page, and seven by page ten. I thought all was well and good, but then I sent my novel to be edited by Jackson Pearce who said that it was very bad to populate the novel so quickly. She said that introducing so many characters in such a short time was confusing to the reader and the minor characters will get tossed by the way side.
Now these two pieces of advice are very conflicting. So which to take? There are readers who are intellectual and like a challenge when reading. These readers would benefit from populating a novel early. But then there are the readers who read as a fun activity and don't want to have to work while reading. What I have learned to do is take both pieces of advice and combine them. Now, when I write, I make sure to introduce new characters, but at time span that is not confusing, that gives that character purpose, and still be interesting to the reader.
Then there are writers who say to edit while to write, while others say not to do that at all. There is an author who edits what they write once they finish a chapter. Then there is an author who won't even read a sentence of what they have written until they have finished their manuscript. I can see the merits of both of these points of view. Sometimes I can go a few days or longer without writing something in my novel and need to go back to find out where I am, but once I look back, I find something I want to change. But looking back can hinder you from going forward.
The next piece of advice is one I have touched on before. To plot or to pants. Now I believe that before I said that I do a little bit of both. There are some authors who plot so far in advance that they have their entire book, every scene, plotted out. Some authors don't have a single idea of their book plotted out. They want their characters, scenes, dialogue to come organically. Some say that plotting is a good way to write books very quickly and without much effort. Others say that plotting robs the writer of their creativity. So which to do? Either. Neither. Both. Like I said, I do a bit of both. I have a few select scenes that I know I want to happen. Some words of dialogue that I want to be said. I keep a notebook of every novel I am writing with the ideas and scenes and such that I have for them. But then I usually let the rest flow organically.
One final piece of advice that I would like to talk about is where to start a novel. Some say to start in the beginning, chapter one, word one. Others say to start where the characters and novel scream the loudest. To me this doesn't really matter. Also, this is a bit of a complicated one for me. More often than not, I will discover the novel idea with a scene in the middle of the story. But then I figure out where it all started and begin with the first word of the first chapter. So I guess I would go with both. I'm not sure how important this piece of advice is. I think, as long as you start somewhere, that is the most important thing.
There you have it. The four pieces of advice that I have learned the most about and have heard asked or talked about the most often. Now, I know that these pieces of advice are all different and all conflicting, but I think that the most important thing is to find what works for you and go with it. Really, the most important thing is the writing, not the way you write. So go forth, use any advice that you like, write any way you like, but do write.
When I was in college, I took a novel writing class. In this class, we were to write a 250 page novel in one semester. Every week we were to turn in at least one chapter, more was better. But once we turned in these chapters, our classmates would read them then give us advice or critiques. I got many critiques during the course of that semester. One of the things that my professor first taught us was to populate our novel as quickly as possible. He said that introducing new characters late in a book would be confusing to the reader and would make the character seem as an after thought and not make them important. I took that advice. In the first chapter I had two characters in the first page, and seven by page ten. I thought all was well and good, but then I sent my novel to be edited by Jackson Pearce who said that it was very bad to populate the novel so quickly. She said that introducing so many characters in such a short time was confusing to the reader and the minor characters will get tossed by the way side.
Now these two pieces of advice are very conflicting. So which to take? There are readers who are intellectual and like a challenge when reading. These readers would benefit from populating a novel early. But then there are the readers who read as a fun activity and don't want to have to work while reading. What I have learned to do is take both pieces of advice and combine them. Now, when I write, I make sure to introduce new characters, but at time span that is not confusing, that gives that character purpose, and still be interesting to the reader.
Then there are writers who say to edit while to write, while others say not to do that at all. There is an author who edits what they write once they finish a chapter. Then there is an author who won't even read a sentence of what they have written until they have finished their manuscript. I can see the merits of both of these points of view. Sometimes I can go a few days or longer without writing something in my novel and need to go back to find out where I am, but once I look back, I find something I want to change. But looking back can hinder you from going forward.
The next piece of advice is one I have touched on before. To plot or to pants. Now I believe that before I said that I do a little bit of both. There are some authors who plot so far in advance that they have their entire book, every scene, plotted out. Some authors don't have a single idea of their book plotted out. They want their characters, scenes, dialogue to come organically. Some say that plotting is a good way to write books very quickly and without much effort. Others say that plotting robs the writer of their creativity. So which to do? Either. Neither. Both. Like I said, I do a bit of both. I have a few select scenes that I know I want to happen. Some words of dialogue that I want to be said. I keep a notebook of every novel I am writing with the ideas and scenes and such that I have for them. But then I usually let the rest flow organically.
One final piece of advice that I would like to talk about is where to start a novel. Some say to start in the beginning, chapter one, word one. Others say to start where the characters and novel scream the loudest. To me this doesn't really matter. Also, this is a bit of a complicated one for me. More often than not, I will discover the novel idea with a scene in the middle of the story. But then I figure out where it all started and begin with the first word of the first chapter. So I guess I would go with both. I'm not sure how important this piece of advice is. I think, as long as you start somewhere, that is the most important thing.
There you have it. The four pieces of advice that I have learned the most about and have heard asked or talked about the most often. Now, I know that these pieces of advice are all different and all conflicting, but I think that the most important thing is to find what works for you and go with it. Really, the most important thing is the writing, not the way you write. So go forth, use any advice that you like, write any way you like, but do write.
Friday, August 16, 2013
How to write about things you have no knowledge of
First of all, I have no answer for this. I can only tell you what I would do and have done in this situation.
There are a lot of books I want to write, a lot of topics I want to tackle, but most of the time I shy away because I feel I don't have enough knowledge about the topics and don't want to come off as a fraud.
However, there are many ways to help yourself feel more confident writing these challenging topics.
First, research. Do as much research as possible. I can not stress this enough. When you think you have researched enough, research some more. However, when you write, do not just spit out facts that you have memorized in your research. You want to make your writing feel authentic. Your readers will not care about your characters if you are just spewing facts.
Second, find people who have lived through those situations, diseases, times, whatever your topic. First hand account are priceless. If you want to write about a war and not just have a day to day account of that war, you will want to have a first hand account of it to get a feel for their emotions in the time and afterwards. Get first hand accounts, but do not steal their stories. Take inspiration from them, but do not rob them of their tales, their lives.
Tell your truth. Not having all the knowledge on a topic can be a hindrance, but it can also be helpful. Bringing a naivete to a topic can make the story more authentic, depending on the point of view and position and such of the character.
Know your characters and where they are at in their story. Then, do research and get first hand accounts accordingly. This may take years. Also, write only when you feel that you are confident that you are writing the story that you want. If you get ahead of yourself, you could end up getting frustrated and give up. However, on the flip side of that, if you start writing too early, your story could turn into something you never could have dreamed.
There are a lot of books I want to write, a lot of topics I want to tackle, but most of the time I shy away because I feel I don't have enough knowledge about the topics and don't want to come off as a fraud.
However, there are many ways to help yourself feel more confident writing these challenging topics.
First, research. Do as much research as possible. I can not stress this enough. When you think you have researched enough, research some more. However, when you write, do not just spit out facts that you have memorized in your research. You want to make your writing feel authentic. Your readers will not care about your characters if you are just spewing facts.
Second, find people who have lived through those situations, diseases, times, whatever your topic. First hand account are priceless. If you want to write about a war and not just have a day to day account of that war, you will want to have a first hand account of it to get a feel for their emotions in the time and afterwards. Get first hand accounts, but do not steal their stories. Take inspiration from them, but do not rob them of their tales, their lives.
Tell your truth. Not having all the knowledge on a topic can be a hindrance, but it can also be helpful. Bringing a naivete to a topic can make the story more authentic, depending on the point of view and position and such of the character.
Know your characters and where they are at in their story. Then, do research and get first hand accounts accordingly. This may take years. Also, write only when you feel that you are confident that you are writing the story that you want. If you get ahead of yourself, you could end up getting frustrated and give up. However, on the flip side of that, if you start writing too early, your story could turn into something you never could have dreamed.
Tuesday, March 26, 2013
Two Things
You know how a few days ago I was complaining about how editing and rewriting is daunting and how I wasn't looking forward to it? Two things have happened since then.
The first, I have recently gotten two critique partners. Each one of them has sent me either the first chapter or their work of the first 20 or so pages. I have edited both of them and doing so has really helped me with my work. Making corrections and giving suggestions to them has really helped me see what is wrong with my work and what I could do better or differently in my work. Also, I have loved being able to share my ideas with them, and hopefully, help them make their work the best it can be.
Second, I have started rewriting my book. Now, before I get into all that, I want to tell you about how I was feeling like I sucked as a writer and I wasn't writing. I was making a lot of progress on my newest project and I felt really good about it. Then, for some reason, I started taking time away from writing, I felt like I didn't have any good ideas anymore. And then weeks went by without me writing a word. This terrified me. Writing is what I want to do for a living, and do for the rest of my life. And when fear cripples you like that, where are you supposed to go from there? Then, I got my notes on my second book and there were a lot of them, telling me a lot of problems with my book. And that made me feel even worse. Then I saw this post on Maggie Stiefvater's blog about a crit partner love connection and I decided to give it a whirl. I was already getting help from a friend of mine from college to help me with my book and I figured another person or two wouldn't hurt. Getting my crit partners has almost been a life saver, or at least a career saver.
So anyway, second, I have started rewriting my book, and I can't say how much I am loving it. I was so afraid of starting over. And, I also felt like I loved so much in my book that I couldn't possibly change it or get rid of anything I loved. But I feel reinvigorated. I am only three thousand words into rewriting it, but I feel like I could conquer the world right now. I am a person who hates change. I take a long time to get used to new things and a lot of the time I don't get used to it. I though rewriting my book would be the same. But it's not. It has been so fun. I've come up with new ideas, and new directions to take the characters in and I feel great about it.
I guess what I am trying to say is this. It's okay to be afraid of starting over, but don't let that fear stop you from doing what you love. Because you never know how great it can really be.
Take care.
The first, I have recently gotten two critique partners. Each one of them has sent me either the first chapter or their work of the first 20 or so pages. I have edited both of them and doing so has really helped me with my work. Making corrections and giving suggestions to them has really helped me see what is wrong with my work and what I could do better or differently in my work. Also, I have loved being able to share my ideas with them, and hopefully, help them make their work the best it can be.
Second, I have started rewriting my book. Now, before I get into all that, I want to tell you about how I was feeling like I sucked as a writer and I wasn't writing. I was making a lot of progress on my newest project and I felt really good about it. Then, for some reason, I started taking time away from writing, I felt like I didn't have any good ideas anymore. And then weeks went by without me writing a word. This terrified me. Writing is what I want to do for a living, and do for the rest of my life. And when fear cripples you like that, where are you supposed to go from there? Then, I got my notes on my second book and there were a lot of them, telling me a lot of problems with my book. And that made me feel even worse. Then I saw this post on Maggie Stiefvater's blog about a crit partner love connection and I decided to give it a whirl. I was already getting help from a friend of mine from college to help me with my book and I figured another person or two wouldn't hurt. Getting my crit partners has almost been a life saver, or at least a career saver.
So anyway, second, I have started rewriting my book, and I can't say how much I am loving it. I was so afraid of starting over. And, I also felt like I loved so much in my book that I couldn't possibly change it or get rid of anything I loved. But I feel reinvigorated. I am only three thousand words into rewriting it, but I feel like I could conquer the world right now. I am a person who hates change. I take a long time to get used to new things and a lot of the time I don't get used to it. I though rewriting my book would be the same. But it's not. It has been so fun. I've come up with new ideas, and new directions to take the characters in and I feel great about it.
I guess what I am trying to say is this. It's okay to be afraid of starting over, but don't let that fear stop you from doing what you love. Because you never know how great it can really be.
Take care.
Thursday, March 21, 2013
Woe is me! Editing and Rewriting
You know how they say books are not written but rewritten? Ain't dat de truth!
Recently, Jackson Pearce edited my manuscript. What I got back was 13 pages of horror. I mean, I can't say enough how much I loved having her edit my book. But let me tell you, she did an amazing job of tearing my book apart. Now, when I went to college and got my degree, I minored in editing and publishing and one of my professors said when you edit you need to tear it to shreds, and that is precisely what Jackson did. However, she just enabled me to see what I was doing wrong and how I can fix it.
Also, however, I need to do a lot of reworking and fixing. Jackson suggested that I just start completely over with a new outline and new ideas. That scares me. Not that I haven't considered it, but it is such a daunting task. I spent four months writing that book and to think about spending another four or so months on a whole new outline for it, I feel as though I wasted four months. But then again, I could look at it as spending four months learning from my mistakes and how to fix them. I don't know.
So now I have all these thought and conflicting opinions. A friend from college has read my book and thinks I don't need to start over, that I can work with what I have and fix it, even though it will be difficult. Jackson says to start over. Another friend says I can work with what I have. However, one of my friends who told me to work with what I have is not a writer and the other is a writer but isn't as dedicated to it as I am. And Jackson is a published author with 7 books under her belt. I have recently reached out, via Maggie Stiefvater's blog to find a critique partner. I believe that having someone who is also a writer and knows what I am going through will be a bit help.
So, if you are a writer or want to be a writer, think long and hard about it, don't quit your day job, and be prepared for a lot of time spent rewriting! After all, books aren't written, they are rewritten.
Recently, Jackson Pearce edited my manuscript. What I got back was 13 pages of horror. I mean, I can't say enough how much I loved having her edit my book. But let me tell you, she did an amazing job of tearing my book apart. Now, when I went to college and got my degree, I minored in editing and publishing and one of my professors said when you edit you need to tear it to shreds, and that is precisely what Jackson did. However, she just enabled me to see what I was doing wrong and how I can fix it.
Also, however, I need to do a lot of reworking and fixing. Jackson suggested that I just start completely over with a new outline and new ideas. That scares me. Not that I haven't considered it, but it is such a daunting task. I spent four months writing that book and to think about spending another four or so months on a whole new outline for it, I feel as though I wasted four months. But then again, I could look at it as spending four months learning from my mistakes and how to fix them. I don't know.
So now I have all these thought and conflicting opinions. A friend from college has read my book and thinks I don't need to start over, that I can work with what I have and fix it, even though it will be difficult. Jackson says to start over. Another friend says I can work with what I have. However, one of my friends who told me to work with what I have is not a writer and the other is a writer but isn't as dedicated to it as I am. And Jackson is a published author with 7 books under her belt. I have recently reached out, via Maggie Stiefvater's blog to find a critique partner. I believe that having someone who is also a writer and knows what I am going through will be a bit help.
So, if you are a writer or want to be a writer, think long and hard about it, don't quit your day job, and be prepared for a lot of time spent rewriting! After all, books aren't written, they are rewritten.
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)