Road Trip Wednesday: Writing Retreat

Road Trip Wednesday is a ‘Blog Carnival,’ where YA Highway's contributors post a weekly writing- or reading-related question that begs to be answered. In the comments, you can hop from destination to destination and get everybody's unique take on the topic.

We'd love for you to participate! Just answer the prompt on your own blog and leave a link -- or, if you prefer, you can include your answer in the comments.

This Week's Topic: 

Describe your dream writing retreat. Where would you go? Who and what would you bring?

This is a fun one. It's like a fantasy vacation for my mind!

First and foremost, I would bring absolutely no one but myself. Otherwise, I'm sure I wouldn't get any writing done...Okay. Okay. If I'm going to Hawaii in my mind, I have to bring my husband, but that's it (and he's off scuba diving while I'm writing or something).

Source

I'd wake up every morning, really early. Grab a coffee. Dig my toes into the sand. Whip open my tiny pink netbook. And WRITE. In reality, I'd probably get all set and ready and nothing would come to me (My brain doesn't cooperate like that...rarely do the writing ideas flow when I actually have the time to write.) BUT, this is a fantasy scenario, so let's just say I write full perfect chapters every day.

Wouldn't that be nice...


What would your dream writing retreat be like?

RTW: Where Do You Buy Your Books?

Road Trip Wednesday is a ‘Blog Carnival,’ where YA Highway's contributors post a weekly writing- or reading-related question that begs to be answered. In the comments, you can hop from destination to destination and get everybody's unique take on the topic.

We'd love for you to participate! Just answer the prompt on your own blog and leave a link -- or, if you prefer, you can include your answer in the comments.

This Week's Topic: 

Where do you buy most of your books? No one is judging!

Well...I try to buy most of my books from books stores, but some of them *cough* Barnes & Noble *cough* don't stock the books I want. I'm still a little peeved that I didn't see Blood Red Road on their shelves, but...maybe I'm being too hard on them. There are a lot of books out there, and they can't house them all in stores.

The truth is, I'm really grateful for Barnes & Noble because like many of you book lovers out there, I'm a rebel reader of actual books...you know the ones with paper pages. Oh yeah, those. I'm still not sold on the e-book. I can't bring myself to buy a Kindle or a Nook. I don't really have anything against the e-book lovers. Whatever floats your boat. In fact, Oppression will be out as an e-book as well, but I just love the feel, the smell, the weight, the look of a book. I think I always will. I'll be a squinty old lady trying to read the faded pages of old paperbacks and my kids and grand kids will marvel at the antique..."You don't know what you're missing," I'll gripe at them.

So, my go-to is Barnes & Noble. Next is Amazon.com (for the real deal).

What about you? E-book or Real Book? Book store or online?

Road Trip Wednesday: How far would you go to get published?

Road Trip Wednesday is a ‘Blog Carnival,’ where YA Highway's contributors post a weekly writing- or reading-related question that begs to be answered. In the comments, you can hop from destination to destination and get everybody's unique take on the topic.

We'd love for you to participate! Just answer the prompt on your own blog and leave a link -- or, if you prefer, you can include your answer in the comments.

This Week's Topic: 
We writers can form quite an attachment to our characters and stories. But we also know publishing is a business, and sometimes to make it in said business--to really build a career from it--we have to bend a bit. How far would you go to break into the publishing world?

When ZOVA Books signed me, they loved the concept of Oppression and my writing style, but no manuscript is ever perfect. Working directly with my publisher (with no agent) meant that I was coming to them with a manuscript that had not been reviewed or critiqued by an industry professional. The only feedback I’d gotten was from friends and relatives, which meant I knew there would be requested changes.

Now, ZOVA signed me before sitting me down to work through the weak spots in my story, so I wasn’t making crazy changes to please someone who didn’t believe in me. ZOVA has believed in me from the beginning. When they provided their critique, a list of weaknesses and suggested changes, I accepted them, but I’ll admit….I cried. After I cried, I worked really hard and re-crafted the lackluster parts of my story. Looking back, I am so thankful for their advice. Sometimes we fall in love with parts of our stories just because we wrote them, not because they help the plot along. In writing, we’re only supposed to take what we need to survive, right? Don’t be a Princess Vespa. What is it she says in Spaceballs… 

Source

 

“It’s my industrial strength hairdryer! AND I CAN’T LIVE WITHOUT IT!”

Sometimes we need editors, agents, or publishers to come at us with tough love and give us that reality check.

What I've learned is that people in the industry (or at least the people with ZOVA) are smart. They know what they’re doing and their feedback is honest. Now, that isn’t to say you should completely re-write your story because someone in the industry is telling you to (especially if they aren’t invested in you) but my point is, there is a lot to be learned from that kind of feedback.

ZOVA has not only believed in me along the way, they have been a great teacher, advisor, friend, mirror, critique partner, and genius publisher. They’ve helped me grow as a writer, and for that I am so grateful.

So how far would I go? I'd say I'm willing to be open to new ideas, suggestions, and advice about the details of my novels, as long as in the end, it's still my writing, my work, my creativity, and my story.

What would you do if a publisher, agent, or editor asked you to change your novel? Would you be open to it or say no thank you?

Road Trip Wednesday: Writing Superpowers

Road Trip Wednesday is a ‘Blog Carnival,’ where YA Highway's contributors post a weekly writing- or reading-related question that begs to be answered. In the comments, you can hop from destination to destination and get everybody's unique take on the topic.

We'd love for you to participate! Just answer the prompt on your own blog and leave a link -- or, if you prefer, you can include your answer in the comments.

This Week's Topic:

What are your writing and publishing superpowers? (drafting? beta-reading? writing queries? plotting? character creation? etc.) -- and what's your kryptonite?

 

Source

The neat-freak in me is the source of my writing superpower. I guess it’s no surprise I have a knack for proof-reading and polishing my manuscript. I’m not saying my manuscripts are perfect when I turn them in, but I like to think they are cleaner than most. In reality, you can’t catch everything, but I like to try. (Now watch me post this with a million errors…)

I wish my superpower was something different….something a little more useful. In my writer fantasy world, I would be able to sit down at the computer and type chapter after chapter of genius plot without stopping to blink. My writing doesn’t just pour out of me like that. It never has. When it does, it’s rare. That’s not for lack of ideas, but more a symptom of my perfectionism that won’t let me move past a scene that hasn’t been molded and groomed. Sometimes I look at books like Harry Potter and The Deathly Hallows or Breaking Dawn and think, How did they write such a long book? Didn’t it take them forever?

Thankfully National Novel Writing Month (NaNoWriMo) has helped me to overcome the nit-pickiness that is my kryptonite. The solution…just write for the sake of writing. Because you have a goal. Because you need to get it out. Because you need to move on.

For those of you who aren’t familiar with NaNoWriMo…

Source

National Novel Writing Month is a fun, seat-of-your-pants approach to novel writing. Participants begin writing on November 1. The goal is to write a 50,000 word, (approximately 175 page) novel by 11:59:59, November 30.
Valuing enthusiasm and perseverance over painstaking craft, NaNoWriMo is a novel-writing program for everyone who has thought fleetingly about writing a novel but has been scared away by the time and effort involved.
Because of the limited writing window, the ONLY thing that matters in NaNoWriMo is output. It’s all about quantity, not quality. This approach forces you to lower your expectations, take risks, and write on the fly.

Make no mistake: You will be writing a lot of crap. And that’s a good thing. By forcing yourself to write so intensely, you are giving yourself permission to make mistakes. To forgo the endless tweaking and editing and just create. To build without tearing down.

See what I mean…

My hope is to write on the fly every time I write. So far, it’s working.

What are your writing superpowers and what's your kryptonite?

Road Trip Wednesday: Be Honest...I Can Take It!

Road Trip Wednesday is a ‘Blog Carnival,’ where YA Highway's contributors post a weekly writing- or reading-related question that begs to be answered. In the comments, you can hop from destination to destination and get everybody's unique take on the topic.

We'd love for you to participate! Just answer the prompt on your own blog and leave a link -- or, if you prefer, you can include your answer in the comments.

This Week's Topic:

What kind of writing coach do you need? When you have to coach friends, what kind of coach are you?

I don't know where I would be without my critique partners and the three musketeers at ZOVA (Dan, Matt, and Molly). They give me the one thing every writer needs to improve their work—the truth.

Many writers are afraid to share their work because they are afraid someone will tell them that it’s terrible. They’d rather stay in the fantasy world where their manuscript is perfect and everyone loves it. I don’t blame them. I lived in that fantasy world for a while. It’s nice, but it’s lonely and confusing, as you think to yourself, “Why don’t these agents know my book is awesome?” *crickets* Oh yeah, nobody’s there to answer you!

The way I see it, the flaws in your manuscript are like food in your teeth. Do you really want a writing coach (or critique partner) who is going to look you straight in the face and let you keep talking like they don’t see it? No. You want someone who says, “Hey buddy, here’s a mirror. Take a look at what I see. You’ve got a mouth full of spinach.”

Sure you’ll feel a little embarrassed at first. I mean, you didn’t know you had food in your teeth (or flaws in your manuscript) but aren’t you glad someone told you! Otherwise, you’d just keep on going around thinking everything is fine and dandy, meanwhile everyone is staring at you like you’re some weirdo for not knowing.

Get a thick skin and welcome an honest critique. You’ll be glad you did, because in the end, your book will be that much better. Thanks to my brutally honest critique partners and amazing publisher, OPPRESSION is the best it can be. 

Remember that honest critiquing goes both ways. It's hard to tell someone that their precious manuscript needs work, but do your writer friends a favor and be the bad guy every once in a while. You better believe my critiques aren’t sugar-coated. They are real, honest, harsh, and that’s how my critique partners and I like it. It may sound a bit like an abusive relationship, but our comments are always constructive and from the heart. Being honest doesn't give you the right to be mean.

Now, that being said, we all need that vote of confidence, and at the end of the day nobody has supported me and my work like my family. Of course they are a little biased, but every writer gets knocked down, and you need someone to pick you back up. A good writing coach/critique partner is key, but a team of cheerleaders doesn’t hurt! Love you guys!

What’s the best writing advice you’ve been given? Do you have any stories about brutally honest critiques? Did a critique change the way you looked at your book? Please share!!

Road Trip Wednesday: Update on OPPRESSION

Road Trip Wednesday is a ‘Blog Carnival,’ where YA Highway's contributors post a weekly writing- or reading-related question that begs to be answered. In the comments, you can hop from destination to destination and get everybody's unique take on the topic.

We'd love for you to participate! Just answer the prompt on your own blog and leave a link -- or, if you prefer, you can include your answer in the comments.

This Week's Topic:

What has your writing road trip looked like so far? Excitement? Traffic Jams and detours? Where are you going next?

What a fun topic this Wednesday! I've been wanting to give an update on the status of OPPRESSION. It's getting close...

For those of you who haven't been following my blog, OPPRESSION is book one of my YA series CHILDREN OF THE GODS. It is being published by ZOVA Books and will be available through Amazon, Barnes & Noble, etc. in regular old book form and as an e-book this February.

Over the past few months I've been consumed by the editing process. I'm not sure what other authors go through, but I imagine it's something similar to my experience. When I signed with ZOVA I assumed the publishing process went a little something like this:

Publisher: "You're book is amazing. We want to publish it."

Me: "HECK YEAH!"

Publisher: "Everything looks perfect. We'll fix all the little mistakes and get it in stores ASAP. Just sit back and watch the magic."

Me: "No problem. I'll just start writing the next one. See you in 8 months!"

Wow, right? I'm a bit of a dreamer, I know. Needless to say, that is NOT how it goes. After all the time you've slaved over that precious manuscript of yours (thinking all the while it is as perfect as anyone could make it) get ready for more work.

This is how it really goes:

Step One: Content Edits - So you remember that supposedly flawless manuscript you've slaved over? Get ready to hand that puppy over...it's not so perfect after all. Thankfully the people that work for ZOVA are pretty close to writing super heroes. They didn't just take my manuscript as is and put it in print all easy breezy like I thought they would. Instead they opened my eyes to the weaknesses and the strengths of the story and gave me the opportunity to reorganize, take out chapters that didn't move the story forward, write in new scenes that are now key elements of the plot, and develop characters further. You can't imagine how much better the book is. Content edits are hard. They hurt. But they are worth it. If your publisher tells you your manuscript is flawless, you're either not getting the attention you deserve, or you're a super author genius and I hate you for being so dang perfect (just kidding...but seriously though).

Step Two: Fine-Tuning - After you get the email that says the content edits are good and you can move forward, don't get too excited. Although the really hard stuff is over, there is still a ton of work to be done. This second read-through is where you strip out redundant sentences, add more sensory details to the places that have too much internal monologue/narrative, and fine-tune sentences that seem choppy. 

Step Three: Line Edits - This is the most recent step I've taken on my writing road trip. Line edits mean it's the publisher/editor's turn to read through the manuscript and correct the remaining mistakes that you've failed to catch. These are mostly commas or whatever seems to be your bad writing habit (mine habit is comma placement...I'm terrible). After they do this, you then have to do a third read-through to approve the changes and make any last minute corrections. Sounds like the easy part, right? Unless, like me, you have to do it in two days. I didn't mind though. There was a reason behind the sudden rush to finish. Today they are having the largest book fair in the world in Frankfurt, Germany, and OPPRESSION is there! They're on the hunt for international publishers to pick up the series. It's very exciting...

As for what's next? I believe it is proofing (one last editing step) before ARCs are produced and sent out for reviews. Also, we drew up a mock cover, so that should be coming up soon as well. Stay tuned for updates!

Where are you on your writing journey?

Road Trip Wednesday - Supporting Characters

Road Trip Wednesday is a ‘Blog Carnival,’ where YA Highway's contributors post a weekly writing- or reading-related question that begs to be answered. In the comments, you can hop from destination to destination and get everybody's unique take on the topic.

We'd love for you to participate! Just answer the prompt on your own blog and leave a link -- or, if you prefer, you can include your answer in the comments.
 

This Week's Topic:
What supporting character from a YA book would you most like to see star in their own novel?

In terms of supporting characters, I find myself most intrigued by any MC's love interest. Stephenie Meyer had the great idea of actually writing a book from Edward’s perspective, but sadly that never made it full circle. I would love to see her do the same thing with The Host… Jared’s character (Melanie’s “soul mate”…lol…if you’ve read it you get that joke) is so mysterious and bad ass. It would probably be more of a masculine book, as I’m sure he did his share of alien killing and butt kicking. I would read it. It would be killer.

I find it so interesting how minor/supporting characters sometimes take on a life of their own. When I first started writing OPPRESSION, I had everything outlined. I knew what was going to happen and who would take part in what. As I progressed through the novel, there was this voice I couldn’t ignore coming from one of the minor “enemy agent” characters that helped “the bad guys.” I found myself writing chapters about her, and they were intriguing chapters. Well, soon enough she elbowed her little way into the book and became an integral part in the plot. It’s crazy how they do that….I would definitely love to write a whole book just about her. Maybe I will…

What supporting character do you love? Answer in the comments or click the picture above to join the road trip!

Road Trip Wednesday - Cover Lover

Road Trip Wednesday is a ‘Blog Carnival,’ where YA Highway's contributors post a weekly writing- or reading-related question that begs to be answered. In the comments, you can hop from destination to destination and get everybody's unique take on the topic.

We'd love for you to participate! Just answer the prompt on your own blog and leave a link -- or, if you prefer, you can include your answer in the comments.

This Week's Topic: What are your all-time favorite book covers?


Strangely most of my all-time favorite books are not my all-time favorite covers. I do like these though...

Iron Witch

Hold Still

Halo

Abandon

Imaginary Girls

The Host

Divergent

 

 

Hush, Hush

Under the Mesquite

 AND...

Insurgent

Road Trip Wednesday!

Road Trip Wednesday is a ‘Blog Carnival,’ where YA Highway's contributors post a weekly writing- or reading-related question that begs to be answered. In the comments, you can hop from destination to destination and get everybody's unique take on the topic.

We'd love for you to participate! Just answer the prompt on your own blog and leave a link -- or, if you prefer, you can include your answer in the comments.
 

This Week's Topic:
What themes, settings, motifs, scenes, or other elements do you find recurring in your work?

Love. It’s probably the most obvious answer. Maybe even a little cliché, but I write what I like to read, and in every novel, I look for love. As it says before the first chapter of The Host, "love is the best part of every story." I truly believe that, and a good love story is present in everything I write.

I’m not particular about settings. I do however, like to set stories in places I’ve lived or know really well. I feel I can’t write honestly about a place I’ve never been to in person.

*An interesting side note about THE DESCENDANTS is that it was originally set in San Diego (because that is where I live now). After my publisher read through it, they suggested changing the setting to a more relatable city. At first I was in disagreement, but when I started exploring the idea, I really enjoyed reliving my childhood memories in San Francisco. I was born there and spent many summers at a friend’s house above a coffee shop in the Lower Haight. Turns out that exact apartment was the perfect place to put my main character, and the setting works better than I could have imagined.

As far as motifs, I like trees. For me they symbolize strength. Trees are sprinkled throughout THE DESCENDANTS, and I only really noticed after I’d written it. Then, when my English teacher mother  asked about symbolism in my novel, I told her about them.

“Of course I meant to do it,” I joked with her.

“It was probably ingrained in your subconscious,” she decided. “I trained you well.”

Feel free to play along! What themes, motifs, settings, scenes or elements do you find recurring in your work? Leave responses in the comments or reply on your blog and link back to the YA Highway :)

Road Trip Wednesday - Curing Writer's Block by Conquering Perfectionism

Writer's block used to be a huge problem for me. In college I used to toil over every word in every sentence. It took me days to write papers when my friends wrote them in hours. What really helped was figuring out what caused those moments of creative absence - the culprit, perfectionism. I’ve always been obsessive in that way, constantly searching for the perfect word, the perfect phrase, and in writing that can be a blessing and a curse. Mostly it’s the latter.

Sure being a perfectionist helps when you are trying to nitpick through your manuscript in its final round of editing, but that’s about it. If you have no manuscript to pick through, because you haven’t written anything, then…well, you see what I mean. If you don’t get up the guts to just vomit out all of your nonsensical words onto a page no matter how imperfect they are, you won’t get anywhere.

Don't let perfectionism stifle your writing process. If what you write is terrible, so be it. At least you wrote something.

When it comes to writer’s block in terms of ideas failing to come to me (as opposed to struggling to form perfect sentences) I tell myself, who cares if the idea is stupid? Write it.

When courage fails me, and I just can’t bring myself to write down my stupid idea, I’ve learned that the best solution is to walk away. Close up shop. The universe isn’t feeling giving today. Now this doesn’t mean I’ve decided to throw my hands up and quit (it doesn't even mean I've technically stopped the writing process) I’ve just switched mediums. Instead of trying to write by sitting and staring at a blank screen...I turn on the brain and think. I move on to something else, whatever is next on my to-do list, and while I’m doing it (washing dishes, laundry, grocery shopping) I dive deep down into my fantasy world and think, think, think. The beauty about thinking is it is safe. If a thought or idea is imperfect, silly, doesn’t fit the story, etc., it doesn’t matter, no harm done, no wasted time, no feelings of failure.

Usually, I give up writing for thinking until I’m satisfied with an idea (this could be days or weeks). If I’m not writing, you better believe I am spending every spare moment thinking about writing. I truly believe dedicating time to thinking about your story (without writing it) kills writer’s block.

Sorry I have no magical trick like drinking water upside-down while watching T.V., but everyone’s experience is different. My solution – stop writing and THINK.