TLIF - Let the Ideas Flow

This is my last post before I begin a month of 'guided' blogging. I need to grab the A-Z banner and make sure I'm ready for Sunday. After Sunday, I'll wing it.

A year ago, going into this, I had a lot of sudden free time on my hands. Getting laid off has that side-effect. Not that I didn't spend a lot of that free time interviewing for new jobs, but it still meant plenty of time each morning for me to think up witty new things to do with the letters of the alphabet.

This year I am (thankfully) happily employed. So I don't have that same luxury. I'll have to wake up every morning and get ready for work and do productive things and, and, and...yeah.

Which is why, I'm sure, my creativity decided to gift me with not one, but two brilliant, shiny new novel ideas. One I've been talking about for a while, but only just finished outlining. Sort of. It hasn't coallesced as nicely in my brain as I wanted it to. But I'm like 75% of the way there.

The other just came to me today. About...5 hours ago. I've already completely outlined it and have a rough idea of how 90% of the chapters will go.

That ought to make April a super-fun month. Because I am determined to finish one of these novels, and still get my work done, reach level 50 every week (did I mention my mild gaming addiction and my level 4,400 alchemist/mage/fighter I've spent 3.5 years obsessing over casually playing?), and participate in the A-Z blogging challenge.

And yeah, I'm looking forward to the insanity. This kind of inspiration, well, inspires me.

What motivates you?

And best of luck to you with the next 30 days!

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The Lost Art of the Sincere Compliment

I have a non-writing related post rant today. I saw something in the grocery store last night that just gnawed at me. I thought I could let it go, but it's been bugging me all night. I think it's because it's something I've had a problem with for a long time, but not been able to articulate.

Have we as a society forgotten what a sincere compliment is?

Sally (to Nancy): Oh my! That dress looks fabulous on you.
Sally (two hours later to Jane): Did you see here in that dress? She looked like a sickly penguin. Eww.

Or
"You have the most beautiful eyes. If you could lose some weight you'd be attractive."

Or

"That presentation for the board of directors was fantastic. They loved it. Too bad you didn't stick in an extra financials pie-chart so I could use the same one on my business trip next week."

Or

"Thanks for doing the dishes. I guess I'll have to take care of the laundry myself."

Why can't it be:
Sally (to Nancy): I don't think the black is doing it for you. But the red dress looks gorgeous.
Sally (two hours later to Jane): You should have seen the dress we found her for the company Christmas party. She looks amazing.

Or

"You have the most beautiful eyes. They light up a room when you smile."

Or

"That presentation for the board of directors was fantastic. I'm making a note now for your annual review. Way to knock it out of the park."

Or

"Thanks for doing the dishes. Every extra little bit helps."

I'm not going to ask why we think it's necessary to put those qualifiers in our compliments, or why it's so hard to make them sincere. I already have a pretty good idea there.

Instead I'm going to ask a favor, if I might be so bold. Compliment someone today. Be sincere. Don't use qualifiers, don't make it up. Just mean it and enjoy their appreciation and/or shy acceptance.

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Mind-Reading & Common Themes in Our Writing

When I was younger I read a lot of Dean Koontz. I never read any Stephen King, but that's a different post that will probably never happen.

Anyway, I read everything I could find about Mr. Koontz. And then waited for new books to come out so I could devour those. I beleive this was around the time 'The Door to October' came out (Fascinating premise, btw. At least I thought so. The unsolvable riddle when pondered in sensory deprived conditions becomes solvable and then anything is possible, which is bad for a psychologically traumatized child). After a while I started to notice a trend in every story. This was before I was familiar with things like tropes and themes and formula.

But I started to notice all the male leads all fit a similar profile. The female leads, same thing. There was the same cast of supporting characters, varrying by one or two people, but fairly consistent. And of course, every story was a horror/psychological thriller.

I think a lot of readers have favorite authors for that very reason. Even if they can't put a label on it, they'll read everything that author produces because part of them enjoys those shared similarities from book to book.

I'm not quite like that. I don't know when it happened. Possibly about the time I discovered it in Mr. Koontz's writing. And most recently I discovered it in Chuck Palahniuk's stories. His isn't quite as obvious, and he's still an amazing writer, even though the graphic details in his writing don't do it for me. But his male and female leads, and the underlying romance, always shares a common thread from book to book. I shouldn't say that. 'Diary' wasn't quite that way. 'Diary' is one of my favorite books of all times, for the record.

Because I've become bizzarly hyper-aware of this, I see it in my own writing, too. My male leads follow one of two patterns. I tend to have the reluctant but undeniably effective alpha, or the almost-but-not-quite omega. Or a blend of the two. My women always work, and tend to be a bizarre blend of self-aware and stand-offish, regardless of how shy/outgoing/pretty/plain they are.

I don't tend to write child characters. Or married couples. Or large families. 90% of the people in my imaginary universes are in their late 20's (or act like it), single, and enjoying the life that single people in their late 20's are supposed to according to popular sitcoms.

And if I were to tell you the theme of every novel I've finished in the last five years, it would be "Big brother is watching and in control, and Bob and Sally don't like it. So they make their own choices and tell Big Brother to go shove it. Who knew thinking for onesself could be so sexy and liberating?"

I suppose I have some sort of subconscious desire to not be ruled by corporate america for the rest of my life. Which is funny because my lifestyle dictates that exactly the opposite will happen to me.

I ponder this occasionally and it doesn't really bother me. Or it didn't until about a week ago. I have two separate novels. One I'm just wrapping up and one I'm just starting. I came up with these ideas at two very different times in my life. The one I'm just finishing has grown and evolved and is only loosly what it started out like.

The one I'm about to start is completely unrelated. It's almost a different genre, and again I came up with the characters and the basic concept at a very different time than the first novel.

And then I saw this:

Ronnie loved that her empathy translated to physical sensations when she was in a mortal body...

versus

One of the doctors Taylor's mother had taken him to had called him an empath. He didn’t know what it meant, but he did know he wanted the foreign feelings to leave him alone.

Contemporary/Urban Fantasy versus Dystopian/Cyberpunk Sci-fi

Angels versus Technology

And somehow my main characters are both empaths.

Technically, I could change my new story and not have it fall apart. Not only just because I haven't written it yet, but because...for lots of reasons.

I just don't know if I want to.

Is it bad to have two characters in entirely different worlds and universes sharing such a distinct trait? Or am I overthinking this?

And on a personal note - what is it that has me fascinated with people who can read other people's emotions? (Or maybe don't answer that one ;-)

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Prepping for the A to Z Blogging Challenge

Like so many of the wonderful peoples in blogging land, I'm prepping for the A to Z Blogging Challenge. Last year I swore I would go into it and just make it up as I went along. Because to me, the challenge was coming up with something new every day. If it was all planned out ahead of time, not much of a challenge, right?

Well, this year...I still feel the same way. Not for all of you, but for me. But I'm not going in completely without a plan this year. I've got photographs. That I took myself even. And they'll have quotes on them. And some how, some way, they'll align with the letters of the alphabet on each day.

I will take the photos in advance. I've already done that.

I've been trying to come up with a theme. Like quotes from famous authors or other people, or random words that relate to the pictures and to writing, or, or, or...

And my brain knows better than to tie me down to that kind of commitment.

So I have pictures. And quotes. And maybe other stuff.

The point is (besides this being an excellent way for me to avoid talking about other things that are on my mind ;-), it's going to be a blast whether you've got it all planned out or not. So if you haven't signed up yet, I'd love to see your name on the list and see what kind of thoughts you have around the letters of the alphabet. If you have signed up, I'm still looking forward to all of the above.

What are you waiting for?

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What do you mean a 2-page synopsis!?!?

I'm writing a synopsis for another novel. I don't like this bit because how do I sum up a 100,000 word story in 2 page? In a lot of ways for me it's even more difficult than a query or a pitch. In a query I can pick the very, very core of the story and build some information around it.

In a synopsis though, I have to cover plot points. Climax. Denoument. Conclusion...

Both times I've done this, I tried to start with a bullet point list of my story. An outline of what happens in each chapter and the significance of it to the story. I don't know why I tried this a second time because it didn't work the first time.

So, here's my synopsis writing process. It won't work for everyone, but if you're stuck for a place to start, this is my 3-step (sort of) suggestion.

1. Without looking at the manuscipt, I write a summary of the story. I should know it well enough to get an overview. I write whatever comes to mind and don't worry about length, formatting, or clarity. (As an aside, this is about 4 pages double spaced for me. That seems to be a consistent number in my case)
2. Read through again. Look for repeated information and missing information. Delete and add where appropriate. Once again, I don't worry about length.
3. Now the real clarification and trimming begins. Read it through and look for more threads that can be cut without muddling the main story. Cut excessive and/or repetative information as needed. Repeat until you're down to about 2 pages, double spaced.

I walk away when I can't see any more places to cut and/or clarify. If it's not short enough yet, I come back in a couple of hours. Things will be more clear then. If I like the length, then I hand it over to critique partners.

In my novels, I always have to add word count when I'm done. I write short first drafts. I frequently wish I wrote long drafts, because I think it's a lot easier to cut than to add information. That's why I don't start with my query and try and turn that into a synopsis. I've already trimmed my query to be succinct and snappy. Adding to it again, even for another purpose, tweaks my brain.

I have about half a page left to cut from this current synopsis before I hand it over to someone else for feedback. It's taken me about 2 hours to get this far, which is fast compared to the week I spent griping about how much it was going to suck to do. I'll probably also wait for them to finish the story so I don't spoil the ending ;-)

How do you approach the daunting task of a synopsis?

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