What style of critique is best for you?

(Remember to enter our Mockingjay contest all you have to do is leave a comment with your thoughts)

Critiques are a guide that can help you push your writing to the next level but they can be subjective and vary in complexity.  When working with a beta reader or critique partner, you’ll be able to get the most out of the experience if you can pinpoint what type of critique you want.  Be honest with yourself about what you are ready for so you don’t get overwhelmed.

Below, we’ve outlined the types we do.  If you submit to us, it helps if you let us know which of these you are interested in.

Fluffy – All positive, all the time!  This is a not a throwaway critique, don’t feel like ‘less’ of a writer if this is what you need.  It’s essential for you to find out what works so you know what to keep!  This is great for new writers, established writers in the draft stage, or when a writer’s block is discouraging you.

Overall –  General feedback related to the Big Basics:  plot, structure, character, etc.  We point out the positives but we’ll also note weaknesses so be prepared for your homework   This level is best for writers that have had some positive critiques and are ready for the next step, drafts that aren’t quite finals, and for writers who are new to the world of Marketability and Writing To Be Published.  We’ll include our thoughts on the trends and suggestions we’ve heard from agents.  We arrange this information in a summary so that you have concrete areas to work on that aren’t overwhelming.

Detail –  If you think you have a final draft, this may be the critique for you.  Make sure you’re ready for it because this line-by-line critique can make your page more red than black.  There will be more focus on nitty gritty issues like smooth sentence structure, verb chronology, and word choice in addition to an in-depth analysis of the Big Basics and market trends.

Hardcore -  A combination of the Overall and Detail critiques, we write down every thought that comes into our heads so be prepared for a LOT of reading, a LOT of rewriting, and a LOT of improvement (:

How far is too far? An Important Topic…

This week I wanted to to link to a couple of blogs I found that touch on a topic near and dear to my heart–censorship. Many times while writing my book I’ve paused and wondered if something I’m writing will offend a parent. Should I curse? Will it make parents mad that my MC smokes and fights and steals? I just have to keep reminding myself to tell the story the way it needs to be told–that no book is going to please everyone and that, if I censor my characters in an effort to give the book a broader appeal I’m basically selling them out. My MC grew up in a series of foster homes/group homes/reform schools. If he didn’t curse and have bad habits my book would be completely unrealistic.

Despite all my great advice to myself, I still sometimes pause before hitting the keys and wonder if I’m going too far, if the scene I’m writing will be the one that lands my book on a banned list. It’s funny, because I wanted to write a book with a Twilight sort of appeal (who doesn’t, right?) Something innocent and fun–nothing heavy. My characters had a different story to tell though. And…as it turns out, Twilight has (to my never-ending shock) made quite a few “banned lists” due to its “sexual nature.” Really? I must have missed something. Time to re-read the books. hehe  What do you guys think of this? Surprised? If not, why?

Anyway, without further ado, here are the links I promised you. I’d love to hear your thoughts on them!! Were the other authors right in withdrawing? Do you agree that this is censorship? (You’ll have to read some of the comments on Pete’s blog to understand the debate) Pete Hautman Says… & BITES.

Friends Don’t Let Friends Write Plot Zombie Protags

Ever read a book with a really bland main character?  I wrote one.  It’s not that I wanted to write a boring character, I started out Lightning Spliced with the idea of making a character who was “like Storm but more awesome.”  Somewhere along the way, Amy (now Analee) became a plot zombie.  She did what needed to be done so the plot could progress.  It took a lot of research and even more rewrites before I got her to the point where people now compliment me on her characterization in interviews!  Haha okay, so it was one interview but that’s not bad for an unpublished author and I love to pimp it (:

For a writer, a boring main character is a huge trap.  Readers will put up with plot holes and clichés galore if they have the chance to hang out with someone really awesome.  (Buffy, anyone?)  I’ve put together a few of the focus techniques that I used to fix up Analee, feel free to add your own!

First impressions – If I get a sleazy feeling from a character’s first line, I’ll spend the rest of the book suspicious of him.  What’s the very first thing your protag says and what does it show about him?  What about body language?  Environment, clothing, reactions to other people, reactions to his situation?

Motivations we can understand -  Great characters are ones we think about once the book is closed.

Admirable qualities – generosity, courage, selflessness, kindness to strangers/animals/babies, etc  You don’t want to overdo it and be sickening, but a little positivity goes a long way.  I found the kindness to animals quality to be a HUGE success.  I wrote Mayuri from The Deep Within to be a bitch and yet some of my critique partners found themselves liking her despite that, all because of her relationship with her dog, Bones.

Obstacles that challenge him – You’ll have people rolling their eyes if obstacles are too easy—or too hard—to overcome.

Humor! – I’ll even (especially!) love a villain with a good sense of humor!  Hades in Disney’s Hercules is my hero  But humor doesn’t mean your MC has to be a wisecracker, look for those giggle-worthy moments with bad-ass characters like Blade and Batman

Involvement –  Don’t let your MC be a plot zombie!  Make sure she reacts to what’s going on and make sure people react to her!

So what do you think makes a great character?  What are some of your favorite character traits?  I love the badass yet socially awkward girl and the trickster guy with the sensitive side.

Gender Perspectives and Authenticity

Last week I did an experiment to help me overcome one of my weaknesses: Describing the world in all 5 senses. Overall the experiment was helpful and I have since found myself actually noticing more of them even though I am no longer blindfolded and tripping over my dog. So I started writing these senses as an exercise from two different POV’s, male vs. female. Wow, that’s when I found not just another weakness, but I was amazed at how differently my characters approached this situation.

First the exercise was: Waking up in the middle of the night and the electricity has gone out in the house. This has probably happened to everyone at some point and you have to figure out how to navigate to some sort of light be it a candle or flashlight. But the point was, describe the journey to said light source. How do you know it’s your room. What things do you feel, smell, hear, touch, and even see that indicate you know your way around in the dark.

So I took it upon myself to do it from the POV of both of my main characters. A female and a male and making it authentic to both of their character voices. It couldn’t be more drastic. My female MC had a much more descriptive voice, and my male MC had a much different approach. So then I started thinking about the WHY?! For those of you getting to know me I don’t (didn’t) ask why nearly enough in my writing.

Okay let me rant on a peeve real quick to make this post make more sense. I read another book where it alternated between a male and female MC and I could not for the LIFE of me tell the difference in the narrative. They sounded the same and I was erked!   I, also, cannot stand when a male character has a real floral language when describing the world. I recently read where a male character was describing what lattice looked like, and I thought how many guys even know what lattice is? I think about all the guys I know and think “Would they really process this information in this way?” No, most of them don’t. Ask my husband the difference between this green and that green. He isn’t going to say this one is more like Olive where this one is similar to a Hunter green. He is going to say “umm..this one is lighter and this one is darker.” It’s not that my husband doesn’t notice the world around him, he just sees it differently.  The things he takes notice of are things I am oblivious to. I am the same, he could ask me to hand him a wrench and I say uh, which one is that? I’m not trying to be stereotypical at all in this post saying that men don’t notice what women do, but they do notice things differently.  Everyone does.

So this brings me to writing in an authentic voice, without stereotyping my male MC as the guy who is oblivious to the world around him. He isn’t, but he doesn’t know what lattice is and he really doesn’t care what shade of green he is seeing he just knows it’s green and then carries on about his business until he runs across objects, sights, smells, and noises that are authentic/important to him. Things that are noteworthy in his mind, and his life. Did I mention it’s a total peeve of mine when a guy’s voice is really feminine. IT IS!

This brings me to writing in first person and how difficult this can be to take on authentic voices. The distant narrator in third I wish I had for the sake of descriptive writing. For myself, this is a challenge. I have to go way outside my comfort zone and research what my MC is seeing in the male/female perspective. They are different, whether or not we want to admit it, there is a reason for that book Men are from Mars/Woman are from Venus. The world is different between the genders. So I learned something else about myself, and a lesson from a peeve of mine and I am taking it to my writing. I want to make sure, that my male character and my female character see the world in ways that make sense, that make them authentic voices for my reader. Can I possibly give myself any more challenges. Seriously! And if you found this to be a type casted stereotype it wasn’t at all. It was a discovery I made along my journey to describing the world. Everyone sees it different. Some male characters can describe in a floral language but give me a REASON as a reader to believe it, and the SAME goes for a female. Give me a reason to believe that this is the world THEY see, and not to describe just for the sake of descriptions.  Make authentic to each character. So there ya have it! I found  *again this is not a steryotype, but a consideration on genders*

Questions:

1. Have you ever considered this in your own writing, the genders and their descriptions?

2. Have you ever read anything where it was absurd that a male or female would see the world in this way, or  rather that it felt unauthentic to the voice of the character?

3. has description ever felt like it was there for descriptive sake, leaving the character out of the equation?

Are They Flawed?

I’m sure this is something all writers have heard/read at some point.  The importance of the Character Arc.  I know, I know we all want to polish the perfect characters.  Like a stone they have to be rough around the edges before they can be polished.  To be able to take a character that resides in our minds (for most of us quite loudly and at inappropriate times, like while driving in traffic they suddenly demand I start taking notes…) and put them on paper. Then, if you’re anything like me, the fabulous character that’s floating around in space, whose hysterical, dramatic, romantic, full of life, fun to be around, etc, falls on the paper and the unthinkable happens.  The character goes from three-dimensional awesome to two-dimensional flat.  Why?  My “oh so great” character isn’t flawed enough.

I like to explore my characters, interview them, spend time with them and thus I don’t like to watch them suffer.  I become reluctant to give them flaws, or throw a wrench in their lives.  It’s something I have to get over.  So I put this question to the test, is my character flawed?  I found that no, they were not flawed enough.  There was little room for them to grow and thus I had a very little–and almost hard to find– character arc.  BAH! Why is this so important?  Why do I need to flaw a character, a friend, a companion that lives with me ALL the time?  Because the reader has to see them grow just as I do in my own mind.  This is what makes them three-dimensional.

All stories are about people, even if they’re about dogs, they’re about people.  We all want to identify with the main character, relate to their problems, be swept away when they are, cry with them, and root for them to overcome the obstacle in their path.  Can I put MORE comma’s in the post!

Back on track.  What is the importance of the character arc?

1. It adds realistic situations to our characters.

2. The stakes get raised (I typed that as steaks like six times).

3. The reader has a reason to root for the MC to overcome the obstacles.

4. It’s a great way to show not just inner conflict but outer conflict as well.

5. Tension is created. Tension is GOOD.

Where does the arc land?  Does it swing to the happily ever after?  Does it swing to the tragedy of a drama?  That’s the beauty of the arc, we can bring them to an ending of our choice and leave a lasting impression on the reader by allowing them to live in the lives of the characters who live in ours as the writer.  I know that last sentence is a mouthful but I think I got my point across, sort of.

One of the best examples I came up with (at midnight) was Top Gun.  Lame as that may be let me explain.  I know I should have gone for a book, or literary example but I think most people have seen this movie so I’m runnin’ with it.  At the beginning of the movie, Maverick as played by Tom Cruise, is arrogant and pushing the limits of authority.  He thinks he is invincible and has something to prove with a chip on his shoulder.  He’s a bit of a player with the ladies as well.  Through the movie we watch Maverick fall in love, make changes in his attitude because it’s affecting the life of his best friend Goose.  After the death of Goose, he has to deal with the remaining crumbs of that chip on his shoulder and finally, trust his fellow pilots and ultimately his rival, Iceman (Val Kilmer).  He has to learn to be a team player, overcome his arrogance and repent to the chick he ticked off.  Chip officially gone by the end.  His character arcs from trouble maker with the attitude of “I don’t need anybody” to” humble team player.”  For Maverick it took the death of his best friend to shake his world and change him. AND, he got the girl in the end! Perfecto! I realize that might be the worst description of Top Gun EVER, but I tried. *eye lids drooping*

So my questions for you all:

1. Are you reluctant to throw your character an obstacle because they are near and dear? (Like I was)

2. Is your character flawed just enough to give them room to grow? Can you take it an extra step to throw them another learning curve?

3. Do you not love the theme song of Top Gun?

How Do You Develop Your Story?

Before I was a writer, I was an artist.  If you ask my mom what my bedroom looked like growing up, she would probably describe it as something like Salvador Dali hit by a hurricane.  My walls were covered in paintings and drawings.  Every piece of furniture they bought for me was plain because after a few crayon incidents as a toddler they realized quickly it wasn’t a phase.  I was going to make that furniture into something else.  Even the toaster became a subject of creation.  My poor parents!

To make my point, I am a highly visual person.  If there is something that needs to assembled it better have pictures or I get lost and one table leg may wind up as a centerpiece.  Much like a painting, or some bizarre toaster project I found that the same rules applied in writing.  I could only develop my thoughts visually.  I tried to make outlines and quickly abandoned them out of boredom.  I gave taking notes a shot, and on occasion those worked, but if I’m going to be honest they usually turn into doodles. I integrate artwork into what I call my “Story Board”. 

When I am struggling with plot development, I stand on my treadmill with a Sharpie in hand ready to massacre the white board in front of me.  Now would be a good time to mention I have an addiction to Sharpies (just another reason my parents bought me furniture that could be in their words, “destroyed”).  I chart out my plot development with pretty markers.  I’m an artist, color is my life.  I have a small stack of post-its with doodles of my characters hanging on for dear life.  Yup, you got it, those get stuck next to the place I’ve plotted a cliff hanger.  Ah, and there is also my Red Herring post-it.  Everyone loves a Red Herring!

When drawing on my Boards doesn’t work, I turn to arts and crafts.  I hit up the local art store and buy things that remind me of my characters.  Once I get home I, with wild abandonment, will create something, be it a collage or a painting or as you will see a really random paddle.  This has also helped with writers block.  When I feel frustrated, but want to maintain that closeness to my WIP, I vent it out with a hot glue gun.  I have even had a casting call for the main characters in my book.  If you are interested you can find them here in our forum (Metro Coffee House thread). 

All of this is plastered in one corner of my living room, a place I can’t avoid.  Seeing my characters, and plot in a place other than my laptop, or in 12 font Times New Roman is what helps me develop my story.  I spend time with my characters and my plot in very visual ways, every day.  From strict outlines to writing on the fly everyone has their own way of developing their story. 

 My questions for all of you are…

How do you develop your plot? 

How do you visualize your characters or scenes? 

What is your personal process? 

This is mine. 

*Disclaimer* I have taken parts of my artwork out of this photo due to the blaringly obvious plot spoilers.

What do you want to read?

When we met Lisa McMann in Atlanta, we also ran into some members from the Midnight Snack Book Club.  They’re a group of voracious YA readers and we’re pleased to share their guest blog with you.

As writers, we write about what we want to write but it’s readers who decide whether our books succeed in the marketplace so their opinion is pretty valuable! I thought a book club would be full of the perfect people to ask–what do you want to read?  Maybe their answers will inspire us to write a book we all love (:

Here’s what they had to say:

We at Midnight Night Snack Book Club have read a lot of Young Adult books. Although we are open to reading any kind of books, young adult books really are our favorites.

Vampire books have been really popular lately. The Twilight Saga by Stephanie Meyer, House of Night Series by P.C. Cast and Kristin Cast , Blue Bloods Series by Melissa De La Cruz. There have been others but I consider these my favorites. But the Vampire thing has been driven into the ground. So many books on vampires are out now. It seems like once the Twilight books became really popular, anyone and everyone started writing about vampires.  Not to mention past books written by vampires were being pushed more.

Faery books are great reads.  I like the new take writers now have given them, they feel a lot more REAL. Wings by Aprilynne Pike, Wicked Lovely by Melissa Mar, and The Iron King by Julie Kagawa are three of my favorites.

Supernatural books are another favorite genre of mine. The Darkest Powers Series by Kelley Armstrong is one of the best Supernatural books out there. We highly recommend this book to our book club members, you will never get bored with her series.  Another series of Supernatural books are Fallen by Lauren Kate and Hush, Hush by Becca Fitzpatrick .  Both of these are amazing character pushers.  (Zellie:  Hey, we’ve been discussing these on the forum!)

I would like to see more authors write about brand new things, new races, new wonders. Or to put a new twist on existing themes.  I would definitely like to see more Supernatural themed books.

I’m sure there is a book out there for everyone regardless what genre it is. A book may be wonderful for one but fall short for someone else. Books give you an opportunity to get away from your reality for a while and step into worlds that will blow your mind away. A good book is sometimes hard to find but when you find it you will never put it down. How do you know when you find a good book? When you find yourself reading it over and over again.

—

Thanks for sharing guys!!

So what do you think…..what stories do you want to read?

I want to read about Mayan mythology that doesn’t have anything to do with 2012, I’m pining to work on an urban fantasy set in a Big Brother future with hoverboards, and I’d love to see a complex demon hierarchy kinda like Anne Bishop’s Hell.

Experience – The Spice in Inspiration

I’m not a writer who can hole up in an attic.  I used to do that, but not by choice.  I think to write vividly about life, I’ve got to get out there and live it.  I love walking the streets of Savannah, seeing the way cracks in pavement expose raw bricks like torn flesh.  If I didn’t live here, I wouldn’t know that.  I’d just write about cobblestones.

When we went on our trip to see Lisa McMann, we also visited the Georgia Aquarium.  I love this place!  We walked in and before we even saw any fish, Chance pointed to a ripple of light on the ceiling and said, “That’s in my book!”

He’s working on a novel called The Last Descendant and I’m on my second draft of The Deep Within.  The most bizarre creatures populate the ocean–perfect for generating creature ideas for our fantasy novels.

Not just creatures….but villains. Bwahahaa!

Like the spidercrab whose legspan can be the size of a car.

Or lionfish.  Holycrap, lionfish.  Don’t meet these guys in a dark alley.  Here’s what Wikipedia has to say about them:  ”The lionfish is one of the most venomous fish on the ocean floor. Lionfish have venomous dorsal spines that are used purely for defense. When threatened, the fish often faces its attacker in an upside down posture which brings its spines to bear.”

My personal favorite are the garden eels.  Pictures don’t do these guys justice.  They are fascinating to watch as they float out of their hole, then duck back inside at a hint of danger.  I can just see Bones terrorizing them!

Chance and I also talked about how cool it would be to take a creature like the ray but make it fly instead of swim.

And turtles are awesome.  Blame TMNT.

I’m especially psyched about Bones.  I adore this little dead dog and so does Kassidy.  She strapped him to her chest and made sure he got to see…..or explore…. every exhibit.  These are some of my favorite pictures and they’ve got me peculating on a Bones-of-the-Week picture series!

Chance said that the entrance to the River Expedition made him think of a canoe expedition for his characters with the rain forest  on either side. He also thought it would be really cool if the canoe went over the waterfall (which happens a lot in movies) but…instead of landing in water it landed in some kind spongy goo that sucks them all under into the dark water where they get attacked by a giant lion fish.

Query Hell: How to find an Agent

After agonizing over the millionth draft of my query letter, I created a spreadsheet to help me organize the agents I will submit to.  I included the agency name, agent’s name, interests, website, address, requirements, date submitted, and response date.  I also set up a color-coding system to mark my top agents and which accept email.

A great source of literary agents is fellow writers who are equally organized (:  But keep in mind, you still have to do the research.  An agent is someone you will have a long-term professional relationship with so make sure you’ve found someone you want to submit to before you send anything!

The next source is the Guide to Literary Agents which is updated annually and about the size of the Empire State building.  This book lists the majority of agents organized by genre and includes essential contact information.

With www.agentquery.com, I found a few more agents or details  about ones in my current list that I otherwise had missed.

Once I got my spreadsheet populated with agents, I turned to Writer Beware to cross-reference the names against their list of recommendations and scammers.  This site is maintained by members of the Science Fiction Writers Association.

Next, I checked Publisher’s Marketplace to find the recent sales for each agent I’m researching and did my best to rank that agent in my preferences according to sales that would be similar to my current and future writing.

My last stop is Google where I can find miscellaneous information from writers at places like Absolute Write.  It’s very valuable to learn from writers who are represented by each agent–or who ended up firing that agent.  Got to take the advice with a grain of salt though, their problems may not be mine.  They also hold interviews there which help me get a feel for the agent’s temperament.

Last, there are conferences that offer pitch sessions.  I’m not sold on the idea that an agent would accept my pitch in person but not via a query letter.  However, if I was going to a conference for the workshops I’d certainly sign up for a pitch session (:

What do you guys think?  Are there other resources you use to gather the names of agents or information about their tastes?  If you have an agent, how did you start that relationship?

Finding the Muse

Sometimes the hardest thing about writing is just getting started.  Even if you enjoy working on your novel or current writing project, if you’re like me, you may look for any random task to complete to distract you from the computer.  But when I have written something, even if it’s just a new page or two, I feel an extreme sense of accomplishment. So why is it so difficult to get started? Maybe work has made you particularly tired and drained all your creative juices; maybe your shoestring budget is stressing you out so much that you can’t concentrate.  Whatever the case may be for your lack of inspiration there are simple solutions to recapture that muse.

I find inspiration in common places.   I have been working on a script for a graphic novel for several years now and it is still not complete.  I pick it up and work like a demon for several days straight and then just stop one day to let it sit for months.  Last week I watched Ghost Rider and I have to say that the badass motorcycle riding demon slayer ignited a fire within me.

When I watched the movie I thought about how imaginative and engaging the hero was, not to mention visually stunning.   How could you not be interested in a character with a flaming skull for a head? I thought about my own graphic novel and how amazing it would be to see my own vision come to life in a published comic series or a movie one day.

Gary Friedrich first took Ghost Rider to marvel in 1971, and I bet he had no idea how popular the series would become.  I did some research on him to find out how he came up with the idea for this character.  I found an old interview with him in which he states a movie called The Wild One, with Marlon Brando was his original inspiration for the story.  Gary goes on to say that in the fifties and sixties there were many motorcycle movies and he felt that America could really get behind a cycle riding superhero.  He was right!

I am currently reading a book entitled “The Fiction Writers Workshop,” by Josip Novakovich, which is full of great ideas on how to stay motivated and improve your writing.It is a tool I readily use when I am feeling uninspired.  One exercise Novakovich recommends is to walk into a coffee shop or café and pick three random people to write stories about.  What are they there for?  What are their motivations?  What could have possibly happened to them earlier in the day before they came into the coffee shop? It’s a fun exercise to try and you may even end up with a cool new character when you’re finished.

Another helpful motivational book I discovered was “Writing Down the Bones:Freeing the Writer Within,” by Natalie Goldberg.  I don’t own this book but I have some sample chapters and it seems helpful.  Natalie has a much more spiritual approach to the writing process and has devoted much of her time to motivating others.  Natalie will also be giving a workshop in Charleston called “For the Love of Writing,” at the Sophian Institute on May 14^th and 15^th.  For more information on this event check out the website www.thesophiainstitute.com.

Aside from motivational writing books and borrowed inspiration from a good movie, one thing that I feel always works is a short jog.  It really clears my head and gets my heart rate up. While I’m running I often have some great ideas I had never thought of before.  It doesn’t have to be running though; anything that gets you outside and gets the heart rate up can work.  Sometimes you just need a change of scenery.  Why not go walk the dog?  Or play Frisbee in your front yard?  A good cardiovascular boost really helps with focusing and is a natural mood enhancer.  Whatever you choose just make sure you come back to your writing when you’re done.

“Write while the heat is in you.  The writer who postpones the recording of his thoughts uses an iron which has cooled to burn a hole with.” –Henry David Thoreau