The Top 3 Questions that Writers (And Artists) Hate

When people find out you’re a writer, they barrage you with all sorts of questions. Some of them are intriguing, while others make us want to punch you for being so ignorant. If you have any friends who can’t shut their trap with these annoying questions, please direct them to this page at your earliest convenience.

1)  Where do you get your ideas?

Like the many questions on this list, it is so innocent but so ignorant, all at the same time. You can’t sum it up in a few simple sentences. In fact, I’ll most likely write a blog post on inspirations.

And your non-writing friends probably already think you are crazy, so telling them, “I had this weird dream about a girl named Sarah who was killed in a forest by a bloody X,” isn’t the best way to answer.

Trust me; this is also the same with other creative professions. I’ll keep bringing my friend Iana, a phenomenal drawing prodigy, into this conversation. Artists of all sorts get these questions or their variants. Iana dislikes this question as much as we writers do. We get our ideas from the strange half-erased message on the ground, dreams, TV shows, books, and so much more. It’s too complicated to explain that we are NOT WRITING A FANFIC just because I took a character’s name and personality from a TV show.

2)  What’s your book about?

I get asked this nearly every time someone finds out I’m writing a novel. They have no idea how much it irritates and annoys writers.

Sure, I have a logline, a summary rewritten for the fifth time and an in head story map. So why does this question bother me?

We’re putting our idea out for the world to see. Not the writing, the idea. One girl asked for an opinion about putting witches and wizards in her story, and everyone said it was cliché because of Harry Potter. JK Rowling DID NOT invent witches and wizards, if I recall correctly. Because non-writers are often ignorant or know squat about if something’s been done before (because, technically everything has been done before) or if something is cliché, it pisses us off.

(Plus, paranormal romance novels with vampire love triangles are pretty cliché at this point, in my opinion.)

The drawer’s variation of this is, “Who are you drawing?” or “Is that so-and-so?” For Iana, it drives her crazy because she doesn’t necessarily draw people. She makes people up in her mind, much like writers do. Since most of the time people can tell who she is drawing (Iana is really good), she usually hears the latter, and answers yes, even if it’s not, because it makes people shut up.

3)  Am I in your story/ Can I be in your story?

Please. I have about a bazillion requests for people to be put in my story. This is MY story. If you want to be in a story, write YOUR OWN STORY, for Pete’s sake!

 However, I do use names of people I know. So, just because your name is Maggie and the main character’s name is Maggie doesn’t mean you’re in the story! (Another reason why peer editing at school is horrible, but that’s another post.)

This question usually follows the ‘what is your book about’ question. We may or may not incorporate you into our story. Please try again on a different story.

That drawer’s version of this is: “Can you draw me?” Sometimes, Iana feels like drawing a rabbit-person with a Pikachu. Sometimes, artists DON’T like drawing all the time. Trust me. Been there, done that.

I’m leaving for camp in two days. I’ll be back next Saturday-Sunday or something. Don’t expect a post from me until then.

Happy writing!
~Reine~

First Novels

On my favorite writing website, KidPub, they have a place for polls. Sometimes the polls are random (what’s your favorite color), sometimes they are for school projects, and sometimes they are about writing.

One caught my eye today: I'm writing my first story and am only on chapter 5. Should I start a second one?

That’s a question of a new writer. Even without the “first story” part. If she had taken out that fact, I would still be able to tell. It’s a newbie question. So, I’m going to put my opinion in about first novels.

I’m going to pull from professionals who supposedly got famous off of their first novels: JK Rowling (Harry Potter) and Veronica Roth (Divergent Trilogy). We all know the story of Harry Potter, and Roth’s story is pretty similar, too. Both got rave reviews for their ‘first’ novel. Why the quotation marks?

Rowling had already written two novels for adults. Roth had written another manuscript. Very, very few authors get published off of their first novel. That’s why the correct term is ‘debut’ novel. Personally, I’m on my third novel.

To give you some background: I started writing Rising Sun (or RS) when I was eleven, over two years ago. First story I ever finished that wasn’t for school, at around 45k words. I did some major editing while working on its successor.

RS was the inspiration for Hope and Fear. If you read it, at the very end, you will meet a character named Kaia. Kaia Li. (If you follow HF, guess who Kaia’s character is now.) RS was the first in a trilogy, and Lost Sun (LS) followed suit. When I finished LS in about six months at a healthy 55k words (Fastest time for a completed novel. HF is about 67k and eight months through), I halted the series for three reasons.

First of all, RS and LS looked like they had been written by two different authors, a newbie and a talented artist, respectively. RS was, well, horrible compared to what I wrote in LS. I had improved so much in writing that first novel that LS was drastically better.

Second, I realized from writing about Kaia Li’s past is that I wanted to tell her story. Not Auburn’s, Roth’s, Lujah’s, Malu’s, Lilliana’s, or all the other characters’ stories I was telling. I brought some characters over and changed their names (Roth became Rykon-part II, you won’t know him; Auburn became Faye), dropped a lot of them (Sorry, Lujah and Malu), and changed roles of some (Specifically, Zane’s, who does have the same character personality in all three, but I changed his relationships and nationality around). I also just simply changed the name of some (Haros to Swabia- ruler of Domosia), while all four of the gods stayed the same.

Third, was that I think I made it too graphic.

Anyways, I digress. The main point was that Lost Sun was so much better than Rising Sun, because I had learned the ins and outs of novel writing.

So, back to this young lady’s question:

1)      You will most likely not finish your book.

2)      Go ahead and start another one, because you will most likely not finish that one either.

3)      Start as many as you like. Just keep writing!

4)      When you are ready (usually at least three years after you start writing. It took me that long. For some, it’s six months. For others, it can take five years), stick with a story and finish it.

5)      When you finish, learn how to revise YOUR way. Everyone revises differently. Learn how to have fun revising.

6)      Start a new book. And make it a ton better.

Happy writing!

~Reine~

Procrasti-Nation: Population- Writers

(Please excuse my pun. It is very punny.)

I use the thesaurus all the time, but it’s missing one key synonym for writers: procrastinators.

Common phrases that all writers say or think to themselves:

“I need to go do the dishes. I can’t write now.”

“Ugh, I’m at a boring part in my story. Maybe watching some Avatar: The Last Airbender or Adventure Time will inspire me.”

“Not now, I need some R and R. Let me go kick my brother off the Xbox and kill some frost trolls or dragons!”

“Ooh! Is that a story on Justin Bieber getting hit by a car! I. MUST. READ.”

“Uh, I need to work on slope intercept form for my math final.”

My friend Lynai always says, “Don’t procrastinate! Urinate!” That’s advice to live by, so you don’t get leaks. Unfortunately, writing and procrastination don’t rhyme. Well, technically procrastinating and writing rhyme, but urinate and procrastinate flow better together. This is why I’m not a poet XD.

If I really get down to it, I have to wonder why I like putting myself through daily torture. I don’t have to write. I don’t have to plod through migraines and irritability from writer’s block. I don’t have to try to fill in every loose end and think about why he likes her and why she wants to kill him.

Scratch that. I do have to. Else I would turn crazy. Insane. Even weirder than I already am. I wouldn’t have a purpose. For some reason, I always turn back to writing, whether I nearly threw my laptop into the remains of Tropical Storm Debby two days ago or end up falling asleep in the middle of math after writing at one o’ clock in the morning.

I’m a true procrastinator when it comes to school work. I have a system worked out. I actually DO work better under pressure. I once started a project assigned two months ago days before the due date and managed a perfect score. It involves a lot of threats from my mom, but all is AOK.

Most writers work better under pressure. It’s a component you need to be successful in the business.

So, to solve you’re procrastination issues, you need to make yourself work under stress. This isn’t as horrendous as it seems. You don’t need to set a due date for your WHOLE rough draft. That’s wayyy too daunting. Instead, break it into smaller chunks.

My first novel was done by the simple goal of ten pages a week. Set yourself a similar goal, based on your writing strengths. At first, let it be on the easier side. As time goes on, make it harder.

NOTE: I like weekly goals much better than daily goals. Some days you may be too busy, others you might have had a really bad day, and you can only write words I won’t say down. Monthly goals can be too daunting, and writing is a scary process already.

What happens if you DON’T complete your goal?

For the next week, not only do you need to complete the previous weeks’ goal, but you need to have consequences. Drats. I thought those were only for getting a C on a binder check!

You need to not let yourself do or have something you love, other than writing. Facebook, Skyrim, Xbox, cell phone, dessert… You name it. Mine is my guilty pleasure, going on Yahoo! Answers in the Baby Names category and giving opinions on names and stuff. It’s quite fun, considering that I hate my name and are fascinated by meanings. If you’re embarrassed to tell your friends that you’re punishing yourself for not writing your goal so you can’t text them, say you’re parent(s) got mad at you for not cleaning your room and took your phone away.

Also, something to think about. If you stopped writing on your current manuscript and deleted it, how would it feel? Does your heart stop at the thought? Or, are you relieved? If it’s the former, you know you love the work. If it’s the latter, you might want to rethink if you are enjoying the story. Maybe you need to modify the concept, change the POV, or even scratch the idea.

Keep writing!

~Reine~

If People Don't Like Your Writing (And Not Because it Stinks)

I never plan ahead for anything EXCEPT Halloween. I usually come up with a costume months ahead of time, like now. Considering my mom makes all of my costumes, it’s good to do that. However, my mom doesn’t know or approve of some of things I’m into. The not knowing is when I told her I wanted to be Princess Zelda, and she said: “Why don’t you be something pretty?”

The approving thing came into play today, in the car. “So, Mom, I was thinking about going as an assassin for Halloween. But, I doubt we’ll be able to find any appropriate costumes to wear.” I laughed.

My mom’s face turned into a frown, and she looked almost as horrified as a pacifist reading The Hunger Games. “What? That’s like going as a murderer! It’s revolting!”

I didn’t say anything. Yesterday, she had finished the eighty page excerpt of my book, Hope and Fear. This is the logline I’ve come up with for it (like, the thing you see on the guide on TV with one sentence summaries of movies): “When a life changing secret is revealed, a fifteen year old assassin runs from her enchanted homeland and into a war torn land.”

I believe my mom was thinking the exact same thing, so we had an awkward silence.

I recalled exactly what my mom said to me about my book. “It’s very, very interesting and well written. I think that if you worked hard enough, you could land a literary agent.”

She said my work was good, but she never said she liked it. That’s a difference. Knowing my mother, I believe she chose her words carefully. She didn’t approve of the themes in my book, although it was well written and interesting.

I’m in a rock and a hard place. My number one supporter doesn’t ‘like’ my work. And not because it sucks. I’ve gotten great reviews from every person who has read it. So, it’s at least NOT horrible.

Now, I’m wondering what she will think of the rest of Hope and Fear. Especially towards the end, where it describes a physical torture scene. Not graphic, but detailed.

Several of my mom’s church friends read The Hunger Games. One of them, Jackie, is a pacifist who cringes if she sees an ant being squashed, and she has likeminded friends. They were discussing how they hated HG and how horrible it was when my mom said, “Well, I thought it was pretty good.”

My mom was talking about it from a literary standpoint. She doesn’t believe (obviously) in kids being forced to kill kids. But, Jackie and the women were letting the horror of the Games get in the way of enjoying the well written book. (And, for the record, I believe Suzanne Collins doesn’t support the idea of sticking twenty four teens in an area to fight to the death on live TV.)

Speak by Laurie Halse-Anderson is also another example. The book follows Melinda, a high school girl who was raped at a party. Several people have tried to ban it, because it, well, deals with rape. I’ve read Speak, and it was beautiful and heart stopping, but not graphic in anyway. Halse-Anderson is an amazing writer, but certain people despise her writing because she wrote about a sensitive issue.

You can’t please everyone, or the Middle East problems would already be solved and we would have had Osama bin Laden drinking tea with the president. It’s like ‘you can’t have your cake and eat it, too.’ Personally, I think I just want to eat the cake, even if it’s not my slice. So, do that.

It’s your story. You don’t have to believe in the concept of the Hunger Games to write it. You don’t have to believe in violence against women to write a novel like Speak. You don’t have to believe in murder and war to write a book about innocent civilians being slaughtered. You just have to make it raise questions. That’s what a great book does: it makes you think.

Everyone is free to have their opinions. Don’t let it get in the way of enjoying and learning from a great book, though. Thankfully, my mom knows that.

In the meantime, if Hope and Fear ever becomes big and a movie’s made (probably not, but it is fun to dream on), I doubt I will ever be able to go as my own character Kira for Halloween.

Keep writing!

~Reine~

KidPub Book Recommendations

I’ve decided to recommend KidPub books that deserve to be read more. These books are amazing, and it’s hard to believe they are written by kids and young teens.

Dictionary of Themes: Ami

Written by Claire

Link to first chapter: http://www.kidpub.com/book-page-or-chapter/dictionary-thieves-ami-prologue-2144124901

The original idea was to create a short story about thieves, one for each letter of the alphabet, and compile them in a short story collection. However, Claire decided to forgo the short stories and make a series of twenty six novels based on each story. We wish her good luck in her ambitious endeavor. If the rest of the Ami is as brilliant as the first several chapters, then I will sure to read each and every book.

Stealing a scroll landed Ami in more trouble than she could have ever imagined. Struggling to keep her and her brother alive in a world ruled by a cruel, monstrous entity called IT; Ami is thrown into a horrible prison. In her cell, she meets a terrified young girl, the daughter of the leaders of a failed resistance. She and Drya decide to band together as their execution draws near.
In a stunning twist of fate, seconds from the chopping block, Ami, her brother and Drya manage to make a run for it, leaving all they have ever known. Or, perhaps death might have been the better choice.

Persephone

Written by Veritas

Link to first chapter: http://www.kidpub.com/book-page-or-chapter/persephone-ch-1-rated-m-mature-997125402

Warning: Persephone isn’t for the faint hearted. Viewer discretion in this haunting, beautiful, tragic tale is advised.

Alana refused to take the knife to her heart when she was captured and forced into modern day slavery. The sixteen year old girl from California was helpless to stop her best friend’s death before Alana herself was kidnapped and taken across the Pacific to Russia, as a modern day slave.

Her mother hails from the Philippines, her father from Haiti, resulting in Alana’s beautiful complexion- her downfall. As she adjusts to the life as a slave, she wonders if she should’ve have ended it. Or maybe, just maybe, Alana might see the bonds of her captivity lift one day, just as Persephone saw the meadows once more.

“’For I know the plans I have for you,’ declares the Lord. ‘Plans to prosper you and not to harm you. Plans to give you hope and a future.’” Jeremiah 29:11, the inspiration for Persephone.

I encourage you to check out Ami and Persephone. Both are amazing tales with a gift with words.

Happy writing and reading!

~Reine~

Plot Writers and Character Writers

In general, there two different kinds of writers: plot writers and character writers. For plot writers, you first come up with a story, and then make a main character. For character writers, you come up with the character first, and develop a plot for the character.

Character writers (CW) develop the plot around their main character, or MC. Plot writers (PW) develop characters for their plots. Both sides have their pros and cons. Both CWs and PWs have their strengths and weaknesses.

I’m a plot writer.

Imagine playing a game of hide and seek. Or manhunt. Pretty much the same thing, but hide and seek is babyish. Anyways, you’re IT and the rest of the players are divided into two teams: Plots and Characters.

When I open my eyes, I find the Plots first because they hide in the places I’d hide. The Characters think different than I do. They hide in spots I’d never expect. When I’m not looking their way, they make a dash for the base. Sometimes, they beat me by a longshot. Other times, I’m within a fingertip’s length of yelling, “Gotcha!”

And as the Characters are safe, they taunt me. “Missed me, missed me, now you gotta kiss me!” And if it’s a hot dude and I try, they push me away easily and think I’m insane. That is, crazier than I actually am.

It’s vice versa for CWs out there.

It doesn’t matter if you have the best of the best plot out there. It doesn’t matter if you have the most complex character out there. You need to be able to take the best of both worlds. I think that most writers can be divided into those two basic categories. I also believe that no writer is born with the BOTH the abilities of writing page turning plots or crafting the most believable character. It’s something you have to learn.

For me, characters don’t really come alive and jump off the page and try to take over the real world. They become dummies for a plot. Think of Link in the Legend of Zelda. Epic games, but Link is just an avatar for the players to save Hyrule through. They do what I want, not what they want.

Advice for Plot Writers:

Crafting the MC to make him/her believable is important, but don’t forget the others! I guess it’s possible to make the character the last human/animal/ghost/alien/etcetera left, and so you only have to develop your MC, but what’s the point of having him/her survive? It’s impossible, or else you won’t have a story.

Put your MC and other characters through situations that aren’t in the plot. Ask them questions, even if it is an epic fantasy, about real life situations. And write them. Great writing AND character exercise. Pick and choose several from below.

1)      Would the character accept the answers from a friend for a major test coming up?

2)      Would the character text in class?

3)      Would the character stand up to a mugging by three masked, huge men? Or would he/she help the robbers?

4)      Would the character make up rumors to get revenge?

5)      What would the character do if he/she was forced to take ballet?

6)      Would the character make friends with the new kid, or ridicule him?

7)      What would the character do if someone insulted him/her to his/her face?

8)      Would the character throw a party (if he/she is old enough) if his/her parents left for the weekend?

9)      Would the character have a secret boyfriend/girlfriend if his/her parents didn’t approve of him/her dating?

10)   Would the character ever pretend to like/be friends/love someone to blackmail them later?

11)  Would the character ever consider committing suicide if he/she was charged with a crime he/she didn’t commit and sentenced to life?

Another thing you can do is write the character’s past. You don’t have to include it in your story, but it can help you gain a better understanding of the character.

Advice for Character Writers:

You need to find out what your character wants the most. Maybe he/she wants to save the world. Maybe he/she wants to bring back his dead parents. Maybe he/she wants a special someone to notice him/her.

Choose one, and that’s the basic story. Let’s say Bob is five, and he really, really wants a candy bar. If his parents just handed him the chocolate, there wouldn’t be a story. There needs to be obstacles.

Maybe Bob is overweight. To get that candy bar, he must lose weight. Maybe Bob’s parents are super strict. Maybe Bob must convince them that he MUST have that candy bar.

For a more ‘mature’ example, let’s say Ellie wants to become a YouTube star, because her mom’s dream was to be an actress, and she has terminal cancer. Ellie is far more complex than Bob is. She will be balancing school, friends and her mother’s illness. Now, you need to make it extremely hard for her to fulfill her dream.

Both sections are good for every writer. If you are a CW, but want to know a character better, look through the advice for PWs. If you are a PW but stuck on a plot, look through the CW section. Every writer can benefit from advice from all areas.

Happy writing!

~Reine~

Challenge: Can YOU write a short story detailing Bob's candy bar journey? Post the link and I'd love to read it.

The Soul Story Myth

Have you ever heard a writer say: “I’ve found my soul story”? Maybe you’ve even been the one saying that. Nonetheless, on writing websites everywhere, people refer to one of their manuscripts as the mystical ‘soul story’.

A soul story is your story. The story you’re destined to tell. It’s the tale you’ve been assigned to spin by the forces that be.

I don’t believe in soul stories.

Stop gasping and close your mouth already, before I stick dynamite into it.

The soul story myth is popular among writers who have never been published. Because, when you dig a bit deeper in a writing career, there are no soul stories.

Reasons why having a ‘soul story’ can negatively affect your writing:

1)      You think of it as a part of you.

All stories we write are a part of us. However, you tend to treat a so called soul story like a child. And, every parent grows defensive when someone criticizes your little angel. Your baby is absolutely perfect!

Yeah, right. Every human has their flaws. And humans write stories. No one can make a perfect story. For many writers, including myself, it is a hard discipline to separate criticism for your story from criticizing you, the writer.  

To many, a soul story is the best story they have ever written. They think it’s amazing. It’s their special little gem. And the hammer of reality knocks them in the head. Knives and scalpels probe at all the imperfections.

It is harder to separate rejection of your soul story from rejection of yourself. A soul story is, well, part of your soul. In writing for a career, you have to be able to understand that rejection or criticisms of your stories aren’t personal.

2)      You think it doesn’t need revising or rewriting.

“My manuscript is perfect as it is. I don’t need to rewrite it or do a lot of plot revisions. Sure, I might have used the wrong ‘there’, but hey, my editor will catch it.”

Perfect rough draft= Soul story. This is one of the reasons why no professional writers really believe in this definition of soul stories. I’m willing my hand to go and slap some sense into you.

3)      You’re going to get depressed when you don’t get picked up instantly.

This is something every writer struggles with. Rejections from agents and publishers. But, with a soul story, you get angry. You want to go hire a hit team to slap some sense into them. This is your soul story. It’s so special. This is your story.

It’s normal to get angry with rejections, especially at first. But if you get it with a soul story, it drives you to the brink. You will refuse to consider the possibility that it may need a lot more work before an agent will be interested.

My definition of a soul story:

A real soul story is a journey. It is the first work you are committed to finishing. It teaches you so much about writing along the way. At the end, you are a better writer.

My soul story taught me so much about writing. It taught me how to develop characters, plot twists, set goals and, most importantly, how to revise.

This is what a soul story is. Mine is sitting on a computer file, untouched, with no plans for it. It is a trek into a treacherous land, not mapped or plotted (no pun intended), and you will barely be able to get out alive.

Face it. There are thousands upon thousands of finished manuscripts looking for publication. You aren’t very different at all from your fellow writers sending in queries to every agency they can find.

Once you take the journey of a real soul story, though, you are a step above the pack. You have learned how to travel across raging rapids. You can build a shelter to weather the strongest of storms. And it is time to face the jungle again.

The more times you complete this journey, the more skills you will learn; the more paths you will discover. Use these journeys of novel and storydom as experience. And you will be ready when the time is right to craft a novel worthy of the best seller list.

Happy writing!

~Reine~