Writing other things

Recently I started writing short stories again, after not having written one in a couple of years. I had been focusing on my novel for so long that I started to miss that feeling of having finished something. It's also is a good release-valve, allowing me to take a break from the novel when I'm getting frustrated, and blow off some creative steam. I've written a rather dark, depressing magical realism piece, and I've got some ideas for children's stories building up. It feels good to see finished things piling up in my short stories folder, and if I can improve my craft (I've never felt that I've really mastered the short story form), I may end up with some pieces that I can submit to literary magazines and competitions.

So, this makes me curious. Do you other aspiring novelists have side-projects that you work on? Do you short story writers have secret novels hidden away on your hard drives? Do you submit work to magazines and competitions, and, if so, to which publications do you submit? Feel free to post links in the comments to your published work!

Want to start reading comics, but don't know where to start?

If you're a comics reader, this will be old news to you. In August 2011, DC Comics ended all of their monthly superhero storylines, and started fresh in September with a relaunch of 52 issue number ones.

There are also other changes to the DC universe—many characters have been updated with new costumes and backstories, and the worlds have been modernized to make the stories more accessible.

If you haven't read comics before, but are curious about what they have to offer; or if, like me, you've only started reading comics recently, this is exciting news—it means you can start following the stories from the beginning, without any prior knowledge of the characters or universe.

I read a few of the first issues last week, and I found Aquaman, Batgirl, and Superman to be very good. Check them out at your local comic shop or order them online.

 Further suggestions for beginning comic readers:

• You can't go wrong with Neil Gaiman. His Sandman series follows Morpheus, the Lord of Dreams, and is filled to the brim with allusions to literature and mythology. It's also won a whole lot of Eisner Awards.
• Joe the Barbarian is a series I really enjoyed—told through the eyes of a boy suffering from hypoglycemia, whose hallucinations turn his house into a fantasy landscape he must battle his way through—with the help of his pet rat—to get to the kitchen and drink a can of soda before King Death can defeat him. Magical, action-packed, and sad. Written by Grant Morrison, illustrated by Sean Murphy.
• One of my personal favorites is an independent graphic novel called I Kill Giants, written by Joe Kelly and illustrated by J.M. Kim Niimura. The protagonist is misfit schoolgirl Barbara Thorson, who lives in a fantasy world to escape an impending family tragedy. In her imagination, Barbara is a giant killer; giants, of course, represent the personal disaster she tries desperately to ward off. 

So, readers, what are your favorite comic books and graphic novels? Do you read comics religiously, or are you an occasional dabbler?

What nobody tells beginners

I found this quote on facebook, where it's lately been circulating among artistic types. I wish I had read this when I first started writing seriously—it would have helped a lot with the fear of not being good enough. But I think it's relevant for all aspiring author types, so here you go:

In which I bestow blog awards

So, Sarah over at Squidink was kind enough to give me these two lovely blog awards! (Well, technically speaking, "One Lovely Blog Award" and one "The Versatile Blogger" award.) Aren't they pretty? Thank you, Sarah!

As the rules state, I must now share seven random facts about myself:

1) I once volunteered at a zoo, working with reptiles, amphibians, and invertebrates. There were a lot of awesome parts to it—I once got to play with a baby Channel Island fox, and I got to help feed the penguins, and I got to distract the American alligator so that my zookeeper could go into her enclosure without getting eaten. I also got to carry snakes around in pillow cases. The only thing I didn't like was cleaning out the giant hissing cockroaches. Shudder.

2) I love iced coffee. Especially a really well-made iced mocha. Nectar of the gods, that is.

3) I'm a vegetarian! Yay!

 4) My favorite animals are cats, elephants, squirrels, whales, and of course the great apes.

 5) One of my grammatical pet peeves is when people use personal pronouns when referring to professional sports teams. If you're actually on the team, go ahead and use "we." But I find it really annoying when people say things like "we beat the Raiders." No you didn't. A group of professional athletes, who have nothing to do with you, beat the Raiders. Also, historical events: "We beat the British in the revolution." You weren't involved; stop trying to claim credit.

6) I'm from California, but I've now lived in more cities in the UK than I have in the USA.

7) I'm a feminist and proud :D

And now it's my turn to pass on the love! I hereby bestow these blog awards on the following individuals:

• Audrey at ChiquePeek: Style Scrapbook, because she's my best friend and she's got amazing fashion sense.

• Jeff at JRussell Teacher Blog, because he's an awesome teacher of an awesome subject (English, of course!).

• SP Sipal at Harry Potter for Writers, because her blog is always interesting and insightful.

• Brad at Brad Jaeger—Aspiring Author, because he posts lots of interesting stuff.

So, there you go! Feel free to pass on or ignore these awards as you see fit.

Revising a novel

If you've been here at the café long, you know that I'm revising my first novel, Water Magic, a young adult fantasy. Because this is the longest story I've ever written—the rough draft was over 100,000 words—the revision process has been different from anything I've worked on before. With short stories or essays, my revision process is pretty simple: read through it a couple of times to make sure it makes sense, maybe read it aloud to check how it flows, tweaking a few things here and there as I go. Done.

But, novels? They are much more complex creatures. Especially those that, like mine, have many intersecting plotlines to keep track of, most of which are happening in a made-up world with its own set of rules. Sometimes I feel like half the battle is just forcing this thing to make sense as a cohesive whole.

Which is why, for the first time in my writing career, I've been following a revision strategy. It has four main points:

First thing's first: New outline

Once I finished the rough draft, I had a good idea of what I needed to go back and change at the beginning of the book. So the first thing I did after letting the draft sit for a month was write out a new outline. I have a special green notebook that I use for all of my novel notes and outlines—actual writing I do on my laptop, but for note-taking I have to be able to scribble and sketch and cross out and add things in the margins and draw lots of arrows and highlight things. I outlined the whole novel in my notebook, making note of the major events that needed to happen in each chapter. This outline isn't set in stone—in fact I've had to change it already when I recently decided to rewrite most of the first half of the book—but it acts as a trail to guide me through the thick jungle of plot and characters, and it helps me to remember what is supposed to happen where. Breaking the story down into chunks like this also makes it seem much more managable, which is important for the aspiring author's morale and/or sanity.

Major rewrites

Once I had my shiny new outline, I felt prepared to dive into the major changes I needed to make. At this stage I was able to work quickly, and I began to feel pretty positive about how the novel was shaping up. And then I hit a snag—I realized I needed to rewrite a lot of my rewrites—about 20,000 words. And so, reluctantly, I took a step back and returned to the "new outline" stage. After a couple of weeks, I feel I'm finally getting back on track with the newest version of my outline. At this stage, my main priority is making sure the plot makes sense—weeding out weak points and internal contradictions—in other words, creating a story that works in a world that works.

Quick revisions

As I'm going through the manuscript, I do a quick read-through of each chapter I've written or revised, to make sure there are no glaring contradictions or awkward phrases. The key is working quickly, and not getting bogged down in going back to endlessly edit.

Focus on one section at a time
My book has three parts, and I've been focusing on each part individually. Having smaller chunks to work with makes an enormous job seem less daunting, and more managable.

So, that's what I've been working on lately. It feels frustrating sometimes, going over ground that I feel like I've covered a million times before, but it also feels good to see the story slowly improve week by week.

What about you, writer friends? Do you have your own special stratagies for revision, or, like me, are you still finding out what works best for you?

Tough writing decisions

As I think I mentioned, a few months ago I started to rewrite the first half of my novel. I'd known for quite a while that I needed to do it. By the time I finished my rough draft last Christmas, I understood the characters, the plot, and the world so much better than I had when I started the book in 2009. The first half of the book was unfocused, the characters weak, the plot meandering, the motivations unclear. Luckily, armed with the knowledge I had gained writing the second half of the story, I was ready and willing to roll up my sleeves and get to work fixing the beginning of the book. I made notes, diagrams, drawings. I brainstormed and made lists and outlined chapters. I filled 28 pages of my notebook.

And then I started writing. And it was great!

...at first.

Our wedding ceremony poem

 

On Marriage

You were born together, and together you shall be forevermore.
You shall be together when the white wings of death scatter your days.
Ay, you shall be together even in the silent memory of God.
But let there be spaces in your togetherness,
And let the winds of the heavens dance between you.
 

Love one another, but make not a bond of love:
Let it rather be a moving sea between the shores of your souls.
Fill each other's cup but drink not from one cup.
Give one another of your bread but eat not from the same loaf
Sing and dance together and be joyous, but let each one of you be alone,
Even as the strings of a lute are alone though they quiver with the same music.

Give your hearts, but not into each other's keeping.
For only the hand of Life can contain your hearts.
And stand together yet not too near together:
For the pillars of the temple stand apart,
And the oak tree and the cypress grow not in each other's shadow.

—Kahlil Gibran, The Prophet