If in doubt, read more

by Brooke Favero

It's been a crazy week, so I sought the advice of Stephen King:

How true is that? Whenever I get discouraged about my writing, I dig in and read more. After reading a book (or two), I'm ready to write again.

What helps you when you doubt your writing?

Last Monday Book: 120 Banned Books

Post by Jenny

It’s Banned Books Week 2011, “the thirtieth annual celebration of the freedom to read.” We are so fortunate that this freedom is guaranteed to us by the First Amendment of the U.S. Constitution, for the threat of censorship—well-intentioned and not—is as alive and well as ever. I hope you will take time this week to consider how the freedom to read what you choose enriches your life.

In keeping with the theme, this month’s Last Monday Book is 120 Banned Books – Censorship Histories of World Literature, by Nicholas J. Karolides, Margaret Bald, and Dawn B. Sova (2005). I have to confess, I did not read all four-hundred-eighty-something pages, but this is a fascinating book for browsing. The 120 titles are categorized according to the grounds for suppression—political, religious, social, and the like. Each entry is introduced by title, author, publisher, original date and place of publication, and literary form. The book and its censorship history are then summarized.

Many of the titles are no doubt as familiar to you as they are to me—books such as Animal Farm, Slaughterhouse-Five, Uncle Tom’s Cabin. But The Analects of Confucius…? I had no idea that in 213 B.C., the Emperor of China “ordered Confucian books burned and threatened to execute anyone who dared to quote them.” As if that weren’t bad enough, the next year, “460 Confucian scholars were buried alive.”

In a less tragic but particularly ironic example of literary censorship, Ray Bradbury’s Fahrenheit 451, wherein books are burned to keep society ignorant and happy, was “expurgated and marketed by the publisher that way for thirteen years” without the author’s knowledge. Over 75 passages were modified and two were removed in the "special edition" sold to high schools.

The Autobiography of Benjamin Franklin, the silliness of Captain Underpants, the poetry of Whitman and Ginsberg, innumerable religious and political texts—the written word has come under fire for hundreds of years and hundreds of reasons. 120 Banned Books is an excellent resource for anyone wanting to understand more about the social and historical contexts in which many of our most famous written works have been challenged and/or banned.

For Banned Books Week, I’m rereading The Catcher in the Rye, which is one of the last half-century’s most frequently challenged books. Are you reading a banned book this week?

E-books: rent, buy or borrow?

by Brooke Favero

This week Amazon announced that Kindle books are now available at local libraries. You can check out digital books from the library's website and download them to your Kindle.

GalleyCat also posted an article saying Amazon is considering an eBook rental service where you can pay a $79/year to rent as many eBooks as you like. It should work a lot like Netflix. I love Netflix, but I like to own my books. Still, I have many friends who love their readers and would love this. According to the article, publishers haven't bought into the model because it may "downgrade the value of the book business." So this may be more theory than reality.

I confess, I still don't own a reader. I'm a hardcover snob and use a library for the other books I want to read but not necessarily own. Still, a reader is high on my Christmas wish list. I was wanting a Nook because you can share your eBooks with your friends, but the library-enabled Kindle appeals to me for all the books I want to read from the library.

And if a rental service guarantees all the newest books, boo yeah, I kinda need a reader.

With these two options available, would you ever buy an eBook? By having these options, does it up your desire to own a reader?

How do you think these new eBook options will affect the publishing industry? Seriously, will anyone buy an eBook?

Secret To Lying Book Review

Post by Kerrie

A few weeks ago, award-winning YA author Todd Mitchell came to the NCW studio to teach a workshop on plotting and shaping compelling stories. During his presentation, he talked about how important it is for authors to hurt their main character and bring them to the lowest point possible, because then, the readers have the joy of watching this character emerge from the depths of despair to triumph.

In Mitchell’s latest book, The Secret to Lying, he illustrates this technique beautifully.The story centers around James, a fifteen-year-old who is not happy with his small town life. When he gets the opportunity to go to the American Science and Mathematics Academy public boarding school, he jumps at the chance. No one at the new school knows him so he realizes he can now be anyone he wants to be and that’s where the lies begin.

He starts creating stories and paints himself as this rebellious, trouble-making street fighter. His new friends eat this up and he goes from being a Nobody to a Somebody. All goes well until James starts getting instant messages from ghost44 who claims to know the truth about him.

Mitchell does an incredible job with character development. He takes us beneath the surface to reveal different layers and depth of each character, creating intrigue for the reader.

He then follows his own advice to hurt the hero. We watch as James rises to the top and crashes to the bottom. And just when we think it can’t get any worse for him, Mitchell “kicks” him one more time. As the readers, we empathize with James and wonder how he is going to get himself out of the mess he created.

Because Mitchell drew us in so skillfully at the beginning, when we get to the crisis point in the book we are invested in the characters, especially James and we want to see him rise up to be the hero we know he can be.

This is why this is such a good read and why it is a book I highly recommend to anyone who has ever tried to reinvent themselves.

Have you ever tried to be something you are not?

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Meet My New Boss

Post by Jenny

I recently had the rare opportunity to observe my husband in work mode when a department remodel meant a week of telecommuting for him. In general, he doesn’t like to work from home, but the prospect of dodging electricians and carpet-layers convinced him.

On the first day, I was curious how things would play out, so I spied on him. He had the occasional snack, he took a short break for lunch, but otherwise, he sat at his desk and worked. (Exciting, right? Well, it’s IT, not the bomb squad.) When his day ended, he turned off his computer. The next morning, he got up and did it all again.

I used to be like that when I worked at a real job. I had an In basket and an Out basket, and I moved things from In to Out as efficiently as possible. I knew what I had to do and how long I had to do it. My lunch break was half an hour, and any conversations with co-workers about non-work topics lasted only a few minutes.

Jeez, what happened to me?

The likeliest explanation is that I had kids. Anyone who has been home with a child or two knows that scheduled blocks of time longer than five minutes can be hard to come by, especially in the years between two-naps-a-day and elementary school. Even though my boys are well into their school careers—but thankfully still too young for driving and mustaches—this mindset persists. My years of mom-training mean that after spending between thirty seconds and fifteen minutes at my computer, I quite often have a sudden and uncontrollable urge to jump up and do something else. And so I do. The “something else” varies—it might be laundry, spontaneous toilet repair, or eating enough chocolate chips to kill a mongoose—but it is definitely not writing.

Thanks to my husband’s week of working from home, I’ve been inspired to try a new plan: when I sit down to write, I’m going to pretend that I’m telecommuting and that someone, somewhere, is monitoring my productivity. I can’t think of a better person for the job than George Jetson’s boss, the irascible Mr. Spacely. Sure, he’s a cartoon, but he has a big voice for a little guy, and I don’t want him yelling at me every time I get up out of my chair. If he works out, my next step is getting Rosie the Robot to clean my house.

How do you keep yourself on task when working at home?

My Inner Plotter Checklist to Better Dialogue

by Brooke Favero

I'm such a plotter, I can't help it, I need to know where my story is going but my current WIP is fly-by-the-seat-of-my-pants and I have no idea how I'm going to get to the end. It's a mystery even to me, so I battle my inner plotter and tell her, "Chillax, this story is dialogue practice."

And my inner plotter says, "Fine, but remember the dialogue techniques and use a checklist if you can because that would make me feel better."

"Whatever."

So here it is, my inner plotter checklist to better dialogue:

1. All dialogue should further the plot. Do not spend loads of time talking about weather or hey, how's it going? Your editor will cut it and your reader will be bored.
2. Watch your tags. It's a rookie mistake to swoon or scream or stammer every tag. Stick to s/he said so that when you use another tag it has more power. My favorite style drops the tag and sticks the dialogue with action. Brooke smashes the soda can into her forehead. "Guess I need another Coke Zero."
3. Integrate action and setting into the dialogue. These are your beats to bring life to the story.
4. Create dynamic character relationships through dialogue. This is by far one of my most favorite Nathan Bransford lessons. Every conversation between characters should develop their relationship for good or bad. It creates tension, conflict, and interest.
5. Be careful when using slang, character names, and info dumps in dialogue. I used Chillax above but I would never write it in a story. It will date the story faster than a cast member from Jersey Shore.
6. People rarely listen to each other when speaking, dialogue should reflect their different motivations. John Hughes was a master of this. Just watch Sixteen Candles. The whole plot is based on miscommunication. Classic.

There you have it, my favorite techniques for improving dialogue. What's your best tip for writing dialogue?

Happy Friday, go watch Kid History. It is a master class in dialogue. Cheers.

Glow--A Must Read For YA Fans

Post by Kerrie
**CONGRATULATIONS to Dean Miller who was randomly chosen as the winner. He will receive a copy of GLOW. **

During my two-week sabbatical, I had the pleasure of reading Amy Kathleen Ryan's latest YA book, Glow, a Sci-Fi story that has spaceships, suspense, romance and of course teen drama.

As much as I loved Star Wars as a kid, I don’t typically read Sci-Fi books as an adult. They are usually hard for me to wrap my brain around since the fiction world is so far “out there.”  So when I got a review copy of Glow, the first book in Ryan's new series, I wondered how I would like it.

Bottom line—I loved it! She drew me into her world, took me on a short tour, introduced me to the characters, then Wham! I was hit with the action. The story took off at light speed and I was hooked. Ryan's tight writing and intriguing characters kept my attention throughout.  

In most stories there is a clear protagonist and antagonist, but in Glow it is not always clear. Ryan masterfully led me in one direction before dropping new bits of information that had me questioning whether or not I really knew who the "bad guy" was.

For two days I was consumed with the lives of those on the Emperian and the New Horizon and my head was not in the clouds, but in space. I was invested in these characters and concerned for their well-being. The end wrapped up the important elements for this story, but left questions that had me yearning for the next book.

I highly recommend this book to anyone looking for a good story that will take them away to another world.

Here is a quick blurb about the book.

Out in the murky nebula lurks an unseen enemy: the New Horizon. On its way to populate a distant planet in the wake of Earth's collapse, the ship's crew has been unable to conceive a generation to continue its mission. They need young girls desperately, or their zealous leader's efforts will fail. Onboard their sister ship, the Empyrean, the unsuspecting families don't know an attack is being mounted that could claim the most important among them...

Fifteen-year-old Waverly is part of the first generation to be successfully conceived in deep space; she was born on the Empyrean, and the large farming vessel is all she knows. Her concerns are those of any teenager—until Kieran Alden proposes to her. The handsome captain-to-be has everything Waverly could ever want in a husband, and with the pressure to start having children, everyone is sure he's the best choice. Except for Waverly, who wants more from life than marriage—and is secretly intrigued by the shy, darkly brilliant Seth.

But when the Empyrean faces sudden attack by their assumed allies, they quickly find out that the enemies aren't all from the outside.


*Win an ARC copy of Glow. Leave a comment to be entered. The drawing will be on Friday**
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The Voices in My Head

Post by Jenny

My boys have been in school for three weeks now, and the soundtrack that accompanies summer vacation at my house has come to an end. During the day, I no longer hear brothers joking around, telling stories, and picking on each other. I’m not serenaded by trumpet and guitar practice or Harry Potter and Star Wars video games. No tween-agers drop by with their boisterous voices and carefree door-slamming.

Until about 3:00 in the afternoon, it’s pretty darn quiet around here. I hear the occasional lawn mower, my washing machine thumps and spins, my old dog thwacks her tail when she thinks something food-related might happen. But this September silence is not such a bad thing, because it helps me hear the voices in my head.

Lest you worry about my health, mental and otherwise, rest assured that I’m not having auditory hallucinations. Also known as paracusia, they can be indicative of schizophrenia, temporal lobe epilepsy, brain tumors, Wilson’s disease, porphyria, sarcoidosis, and a bunch of other stuff I’ve happily never heard of.

No, my condition is more along the lines of Chronic Mental Composing of Conversations Between New and/or Familiar Imagined Characters Who Just Might Want Me to Write (or Keep Writing) About Them Someday in the Immediate or Distant Future. Because that’s pretty lengthy—even by medical standards—it’s easier to say that my affliction is also known as Being a Writer.

I’m certainly glad to have ears that work, for I enjoy listening to music and NPR and snarky coffee-shop patrons. But silence helps me by making room in my head for some good old creative cognition. Someone famous probably already said this, but a writer who is alone with his or her thoughts is never really alone. We can, and do, fit entire worlds in our heads. What’s more, we give the people/creatures/politicians who live there something to talk about.

So what are the voices in my head saying these days? Some are introducing themselves for the first time, some are complaining that I’ve been ignoring them (they’ve got me there, I’m afraid), and others are informing me that they took a vote while I was at the pool and they want a comprehensive plot revision and better dental. And they’re all reminding me that summer is over, and it’s time to get busy.

What do your writing voices have to say?

Lines

Guest Blogger: Dean K. Miller

Several years ago I attended a soccer coaching and licensing clinic. The three-day event was geared toward introductory level coaches. The clinic included four hours of class room instruction and ten hours of on-field work. Even though I’d played the game for nearly three decades, I found coaching to be a new ball game. The information and instruction were tremendously valuable.

The final day was testing day. A short, written test was followed by an activity centered on a coaching scenario one might encounter. This was “our” big moment in front of the entire class and instructors. To demonstrate our grasp of the many topics we’d been taught, we were required to run a brief session instructing players (the extra coaches) in actual drills

My randomly selected scenario to demonstrate a “coach” was the following: I showed up at practice and discovered that all my equipment; cones, flags, scrimmage vests, etc., had been stolen. The players arrived, each with their own ball. The only tools I had for coaching were the lines on the field. My task was to provide a meaningful training session without extra equipment. I managed to pass the scenario and the course, enjoying several years of coaching afterwards.

I’ve always remembered that coaching scenario. One of the things I love about soccer is the minimal requirement to play. For me, much of the beauty of the game is in its simplicity. You need a ball and a place to play. That’s it. If there are lines on the field, that’s always a bonus, but certainly not required. You show up and you play.

I’ve found the writing process to contain an analogous trait of simplicity. You show up and you write. Having a fancy computer, access to a creatively inspired writing cove, office or coffee shop, and tutelage from established writers and friends are great things to have, but they are not necessary. A piece of paper and a writing stick is all that is needed. Should the paper have lines, that’s a bonus, too. But again, it’s not a requirement.

At times I find I don’t even need paper and a pencil. On my frequent fly fishing sojourns to the Big Thompson Canyon, I find myself creating prose, suggestions coming from the surrounding beauty of nature that meanders through my soul.

Though I continue to utilize the extra equipment available to further my writing journey, I often recall the simplicity of the soccer drill and apply the same process to my writing. Sometimes I don’t even use lines and let my words plot their own course.

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To Trend or Not to Trend?

A friend of my sister called me today because she just signed with a small press. When I asked what genre she wrote, she responded YA paranormal. Her novel is a fresh idea for paranormal but my first thought was good luck. It is a saturated market and her press is offering little as far as promotion. She was given the advice: if you want to write a book, you should look at what is currently popular and write a story in that genre.

This was shocking to me because it seems all the blogging agents scream about NOT writing to a trend. Why? Because the industry is slow and it generally takes a book 18 months to be published. What is trending now may not be trending when your story is actually published. My sister's friend said the press was really pushing ebooks, and I can understand why. It can be out quickly before teens are over paranormal. (One positive, based on librarian opinion, paranormal is still heavily requested.) Although are teens actually reading ebooks? Maybe early adopters.

Still it made me think about my current story. It is a dystopia which is trending but not why I'm writing it. In fact many agents have already expressed they are over dystopia. So why am I writing it? For fun and to improve my dialogue and character development---but mostly because I love the genre and my idea despite the waning trend. I'm not really worried about it because I don't know if my story will go past a first draft.

So what do you think? Should you write to a trend or follow the solid advice of the agents and write what you're passionate about?

Lazy Labor Day Post

We’re celebrating Labor Day today in the U.S., a day “dedicated to the social and economic achievements of American workers. It constitutes a yearly national tribute to the contributions workers have made to the strength, prosperity, and well-being of our country.” (U.S. Department of Labor) The first observance of Labor Day was September 5, 1882, which, if my math is correct, makes this 129th holiday.

Many of us will observe this day by doing less work than usual. In the spirit of a little end-of-summer down time, today’s post is a collection of quotes relating to the work of writing. Enjoy your day!

People on the outside think there's something magical about writing, that you go up in the attic at midnight and cast the bones and come down in the morning with a story, but it isn't like that. You sit in back of the typewriter and you work, and that's all there is to it.
Harlan Ellison

Writing is physical work. It's sweaty work. You just can't will yourself to become a good writer. You really have to work at it.
Will Haygood

The way you define yourself as a writer is that you write every time you have a free minute. If you didn't behave that way you would never do anything.
John Irving

A writer never has a vacation. For a writer life consists of either writing or thinking about writing.
Eugene Ionesco

I find that the harder I work, the more luck I seem to have.
Thomas Jefferson

Through joy and through sorrow, I wrote. Through hunger and through thirst, I wrote. Through good report and through ill report, I wrote. Through sunshine and through moonshine, I wrote. What I wrote it is unnecessary to say.
Edgar A. Poe

Writing energy is like anything else. The more you put in, the more you get out.
Richard Reeves

Either marry your work – take it seriously and do it every day – or date it – write only when you feel like it – but know which you are doing and the repercussions of both.
Anonymous

I write to tell stories. I believe that there are some professions in the world that will last forever: doctor or a nurse, teacher, builder and a storyteller. I write also to become myself, more so day by day. Writing is a way to shape out visible and invisible, in myself as well as in the world.
Eppu Nuotio

Being a good writer is 3% talent, 97% not being distracted by the Internet.
Anonymous

Do you have a favorite quote about a writer’s labor of love?

How to Write Spiritual/New Age Fiction

Post by Guest Blogger: Pam Swanwick

What is spiritual/new age fiction? Novels such as Art of Racing in the Rain by Garth Stein, The Alchemist by Paulo Coelho, or Celestine Prophecy by James Redfield. Similar books might be labeled Spiritual, Metaphysical, Speculative Fiction, Visionary Fiction, or Paranormal, but labels don’t matter.

What good spiritual/new age novels all have in common is that the authors weave spiritual and metaphysical themes into strong story lines that keep readers turning the pages despite their sometimes pedantic tone. Readers want to be both entertained and educated. They want to get lost in an enthralling story that captivates their emotions and nourishes their spirit. Keenly interested in all things spiritual but not necessarily religious, they want to have fun learning, instead of wading through a nonfiction tome.

How do you write good spiritual/new age fiction? Understand what readers want. In The Writer Magazine, Salon critic Laura Miller identifies what readers care about in order of importance:
1. Story
2. Characters
3. Theme
Note that theme is last on the list. You first must have great characters and a solid plot, and then structure your thematic elements to support the story without overwhelming it.

Where do spiritual/new age authors go wrong? They forget that fiction comes first. Many write fictionalized memoirs that don’t meet the basic requirements for a good novel: A great story and engaging characters. Some write instructional guides draped in fictional trappings. Even if the spiritual message is strong, weak writing skills can drive the reader, who first and foremost wants to be entertained, to drop the book before any education can take place. Good spiritual/new age fiction appeals to both the emotions and the intellect.

The web site Fiction For A New Age reviews and recommends novels that achieve the fine balance between theme, story, and character. Check there for examples of successful spiritual/new age novels.

Bio: PJ Swanwick writes and reviews spiritual/new age fiction at pjswanwick.com.