First Tries

The story was titled SUMMER OF CHANGE. It was a heart wrenching coming-of-age tale involving a young girl with three brothers who were forced to readjust after losing their parents in a firey car crash. The brothers may have been older. And good-looking. And very, very protective. And the plot may or may not have borrowed heavily from S.E. Hinton's The Outsiders with a few necessary plot changes and the addition of myself--um, er...I mean, a thirteen year old girl as the lead character.

Of course, SUMMER OF CHANGE never saw the light of day. That is until Mom found it a few years ago when she and Dad were cleaning out the attic.

Even to this day I get embarrassed when I think about it. It's not just that the writing was so bad or the plot stolen--it was just so...so...

Melodramatic.

And so exactly what a thirteen year old girl who had no brothers but who had watched The Outsiders a billion times might fantasize about. I wrote it by hand on loose leaf paper and bound it with twist ties. The whole thing was probably less than ten thousand words.

Unfortunately, embarrassment got the best of me that day, and I threw it away without even rereading it. At the time I considered becoming a published author to be a childhood fantasy and had abandoned it for more solid pursuits like being a wife and teacher. I'd give anything to have it back though. Because, you see, that little thirteen-year-old writer-me had something this forty-year-old one doesn't:

Courage.

That's right-the thirteen-year-old me was BRAVE. She wrote uninhibited. She didn't worry about having a great opening line or believeable dialogue or whether or not she was revealing too much backstory. She wrote with passion, thinking only of how her story made her feel. Never doubting that the world would love it.

I miss that girl. I've been trying to revive her lately. Trying to write first and think later. It's hard. Fear is my greatest enemy.

What about you? What's the first "real" thing YOU wrote? Was it a short story? A novel? Did you let anyone read it? Or did you hide it away, embarrassed by its candor? Tell me. I'd love to hear about it.

In the meantime, I think YouTube's got a clip of Ponyboy and the gang getting ready for the rumble...

How-To Book Review: Make A Scene

I must admit, I sometimes spend my writing time reading how-to books. I justify this by telling myself it's an investment. :) Actually, in this case, it was.

MAKE A SCENE by Jordan E. Rosenfeld addresses everything from architecture of a scene to core elements to scene assessment and revision. Most helpful for me is the section in which Rosenfeld discusses scene types. Here, she takes each type of scene (the first scene, suspense scenes, action scenes, etc.) and explains how to craft each one most effectively. These chapters end with a bulleted list of "muse points" that summarize the most important points. Perfect "pre-reading" material before you craft a new scene!

In case you're interested, here's a list of Parts and Chapter Headings:

Part I: ARCHITECTURE OF A SCENE
Chapter 1 Functions of a Scene
Chapter 2: Strong Scene Launches
Chapter 3: Powerful Scene Middles
Chapter 4: Successful Scene Endings

Part II: THE CORE ELEMENTS AND THE SCENE
Chapter 5: Setting
Chapter 6: The Senses
Chapter 7: Character Development and Motivation
Chapter 8: Plot
Chapter 9: Subtext
Chapter 10: Dramatic Tension
Chapter 11: Scene Intentions

Part III: SCENE TYPES (My fav!!)
Chapter 12: The First Scene
Chapter 13: Suspense Scenes
Chapter 14: Dramatic Scenes
Chapter 15: Contemplative Scenes
Chapter 16: Dialogue Scenes
Chapter 17: Action Scenes
Chapter 18: Flashback Scenes
Chapter 19: Epiphany Scenes
Chapter 20: Climactic Scenes
Chapter 21: The Final Scene

Part IV: OTHER SCENE CONSIDERATIONS
Chapter 22: Multiple Points of View
Chapter 23: Your Protagonist's Emotional Thread
Chapter 24: Secondary and Minor Characters
Chapter 25: Scene Transitions
Chapter 26: Scene Assessment and Revision

Enjoying the Write

A few years ago as my husband and I prepared to take our children on a much-anticipated trip Disney World, we decided that instead of focusing on what WE wanted to do, we were going to simply “enjoy the ride”, meaning we were going to have a good time no matter what circumstances we found ourselves in.

I thought of this phrase the other day after I’d sat at my laptop a couple of hours stressing over a few lines of description. Why? Well, put quite simply, I wasn’t “enjoying the write”.

I don’t know about you, but often I try so hard to make my writing “right” that I forget it’s supposed to be fun. I have to stop and remind myself that, more than anyone else, this book is for me. I’m the one I’m writing for. Yes, I want to be published, and yes, I know that means considering both my audience and the market. But when it comes down to the nitty-gritty, if I’m not enjoying my story, no one else is going to, either.

So, you might ask, how exactly does one “enjoy the write”? Well, for me, enjoying my writing means that I quit obsessing over the words, and focus more on the story. When I study some of my favorite authors, I’m surprised at how simple their descriptions are. They aren’t worried about making their writing sound fancy; they simply tell their story. And that's why I need to do.

What about you? Do you find yourself sucking the fun out of writing, or are you able to cruise along "enjoying the write"?

Musical Inspiration

I know it’s happened to you: You’ve been driving down the road, jammin’ to the radio (or if you’re like me, listening to your iPod) and all the sudden you get the BEST idea for a scene in your book. It’s called inspiration, and for me, it often comes in the form of music.

This week it’s Uprising by Muse. Not a group I usually follow, but I heard the song on a movie trailer and badaboom-badabing! Instant scene idea! I’ve probably listened to it a fifty times, and each time the details become a little more concrete.

When this happens, I usually grab my notebook and make some notes. If I'm lucky, the scene will actually fit somewhere in my story. If not? Well, it's still fun to imagine, and maybe the scene will work in another book.

So what inspires you? Is it music? Poetry? Sitting outside listening to the birds sing? Tell me what gets your creative juices flowing.

When Writing Is Hard

This has been one of those weeks when I wish I could give up. I’ve spent hour after hour typing on the computer, only to come back the next day and delete every word.

Used to be when I hit a rough patch, I’d threaten to quit. I mean, this is just a hobby, right? Hobbies should be fun.

Now I don’t even bother. I’m not going to quit, bad as I want to. Why? I’m not sure. Maybe it’s because I’m stubborn, or maybe I’m just stupid. Either way, I know it won’t be long before I muster my courage, pick up my laptop, and try again.

Because maybe, just maybe, this will be the day I get it right.

TODAY'S WORD COUNT: 563 (not counting the bajillion I deleted)

Summer Challenge: Day 5

WORD COUNT: 7, 039

1. DID I WRITE TODAY? Yes, off and on for a couple of hours. I could've written more if my family didn't insist on eating. :)

2. DID I "LET IT FLOW"? No, to be honest I mostly edited. My critique group meets this Saturday, and I haven't submitted anything lately, so I want to get the first five pages as polished as possible. But I do feel like I made progress on these pages.

3. DID I QUERY ANYONE? Yes, I'm proud to say I queried two agents today.

What about YOU? Been writing lately or taking a break? How do you plan to spend your summer?

Summer Challenge: Day 4

CURRENT WORD COUNT: 6,998

1. DID I WRITE TODAY? Yes. Not quite as much as yesterday, but that was due mostly to me spending 2 1/2 hours at the hair salon getting "blondified" then having to run errands.

2. DID I "LET IT FLOW"? Yes! This pleases me more than anything. Leaving a scene when I know I can make it better is really hard for me, but I seem to be making progress in this area. Knowing I only have two months to finish this draft serves as strong motivation.

THE BEST PART? I'm really enjoying writing right now. It's fun to discover new things about my characters, to find them saying and doing things I hadn't planned . Who knows? Maybe I've had a breakthrough!