Be Who You Think You Are

A couple years ago I went to a Sunshine Lodge Writing Retreat. The entire weekend was amazing and filled with dozens of empowering moments (not to mention an uptick in my word count).

Saturday evening of the retreat, we drove down to the restaurant at the nearby Sundance Ski Resort. The event coordinator had called ahead, reserving a larger table in the back for our group of writers. I was having a ball drinking in the stunning view and fancy restaurant, so I was last to file past the waitress and waiter standing at the entrance to the back room. I gave a happy smile to each as I walked past them, then was surprised to hear the waitress whisper to the waiter, "Who was that?"

"Dunno," he replied in a hush.

I moved for a chair, stunned.

Did they think I was somebody famous? Maybe they were just buttering me up for a better tip. Why would they think either?

As I thought about it, I think I came up with the answer: I was acting like someone important.

Through my writerly studies, I've learned from others writers that it's important to act and even dress professionally. Sure you can bum around in a t-shirt and jeans, but if you tried that in a professional workspace, it wouldn't fly. So consequently that night, I was dressed in nice jeans, a button-up shirt, sweater vest, and leather shoes (a wonderful neighbor with excellent taste gave me the shoes--I feel like a casual CEO when I wear them). My beard was well trimmed (a necessity for facial hair). I had on my best watch (a $25 Father's Day present from the Avon catalog, but it looks AWESOME), a silver Celtic braid wedding band ($10 from an incense shop), and my college ring (looks like it has a huge rectangular ruby with a diamond on top). When I dress up like this, I feel like Writer-Man, superhero writer.

So what? Who cares?

I care and so should you. Why? For two reasons:

First: everything I was wearing gave me self-confidence.

It may sound silly, but human beings really are affected by what we wear. For instance, I felt dressed up, which oddly enough, made me feel relaxed. I didn't have to worry what others thought about what I was wearing because I was putting my best foot forward. That took a LOT of emphasis off of me, giving me the opportunity to be myself.

Second: what I was wearing told others that I was serious about my work.

If you want someone to take you seriously, do you wear raggity clothes and don't shave? If you are asking for a raise, would you do it in a clown suit? No, you wouldn't. So don't broadcast that message to those around you--and even more importantly--to your self.

And So...

Try dressing up a little. Business casual should work if you normally slouch around in jeans and a t-shirt. Maybe NICE jeans and a t-shirt if your default is pajamas (just saying). Take yourself seriously. Get the self-confidence that makes others wonder who you are. You'll be glad you did.

The Art of Profanity

I don't like profanity. I can tolerate it in books (even enjoy it when it's well placed), but I personally--if ever--use it. When a 'choice word' does slip out, it's an event. Or I'm feeling awkward. Or lose my temper. Get cut off in traffic. Hmmm...

Anyway, when I began writing, this showed as a fatal flaw in my work. A memorable instance occurred when my main character, in a heated situation, called his mom a 'wicked witch.' This insult resoundingly fell flat with my writing group (none of them are heavy handed with artistic verbiage). Unanimously they said the proper word for this instance was, 'bitch.'

Was I wrong? Yeah, I kinda was.

You see, it all boils down to your audience. If your target is the middle-grade market, then little to no profanity is expected. A religious market? Probably the same. But the Young Adult market is going to expect a curse word or two. This doesn't mean the author has to use profanity, but it's permissible. My story was a gritty YA sci-fi/horror mash-up, so an arrogant little prick of a son, would be expected to call his mother a bitch. Not using that word made my character instantly unbelievable.

Chuck Wendig, an author known for cursing, once said that he would get letters saying he had too many F-bombs while simultaneously getting additional letters wanting more F-bombs. In the end, he wrote what was comfortable for him, and let his audience choose whether they read the books or not. Chuck follows the mantra of George Carlin, "My argument is that you don’t need paprika or oregano or a few other things to make a stew, technically, either — but you make a better stew. If you’re inclined to make a stew of that type, “seasoning” helps."

Ranking Profanity
In my writing group, author Jordan Ricks suggested that curse words had a severity ranking from 1 to 10. Words higher on the list would be much more severe, and thus, used less frequently if at all. So there's a better chance that I'll use a 'hell' (ranking number 2), in my writing, than take the name of God in vain (a 10). This ranking system would naturally vary from person to person. And if you're feeling so inclined, socially offensive words could be added to the list as well. These words, however, could define a character more than a paragraph of purple prose, but should still be used cautiously.

Many years ago, I had the opportunity to serve as an LDS missionary. A few of the young men in my mission were--what I would call--less than apostolic. Nineteen year old boys can sometimes go awry, so consequently, my mission president was famous for uttering the words, "Damn it, Elder," when counseling wayward missionaries. One of these missionaries happened to ask him, if his swearing wasn't wrong as well. My mission president's reply? "Sometimes I have to say, 'Damn it, Elder,' just to get a missionaries attention."

And he was right.

Swearing is closely akin to an exclamation mark, and if you think about it, that's exactly what it is: an exclamation of intensity. Author David Morrell explained this principle best in, The Successful Novelist (If you haven't picked it up, I recommend you do).

"If the passage absolutely demands cursing, be moderate. A little of it goes a long way. I've seen beginning writers pepper curse words through sentence after sentence.

'If you don't -blanking- get your -blanking-blank-blank- in to this house this -blanking- minute, I'm going to -blank- your -blank- and nail it to the -blanking- door.'

"Two things happen when I read this junk: I get bored and I get angry. I didn't pick up your book to read garbage. If this is as clever as you can be, I don't want to read your prose. In life if you met someone who spoke like this, you'd want to flee. Then why put this stuff on the page?

"As near as I can determine, this abomination occurs because a writer is corrupted by the awful -blanking- dialog that movies inflict on us these days. It's also a sign of insecurity. The writer wonders if the dialog is strong enough and decides a lot of -blanking-blank- will do the trick.

"Someone might object that this kind of dialog is realistic in certain situations--intense scenes involving policemen or soldiers for example. I can only reply that in my research I spend considerable time with policemen and soldiers. Few of them curse any more than a normal person would. This garbage isn't realistic. It merely draws attention to itself and holds back the story. Use it sparingly."

The Final Word
Writing is--as always--an art. Every artist is different, which is fortunate because art is completely subjective. From King, to Heinlein, to you, each author paints with a variety of words, molding worlds for readers to explore. Just as one drop of paint can ruin a Matisse, one ill-used profanity can stagger a story. Readers are the final arbiters of what will be ultimately successful, but remember the words of Ricky Nelson, 'You can't please everyone, so you've got to please yourself.'

Going Deep

Recently I've been working on a short story. I won't go into details because I plan on submitting it to Writers
of the Future. And details mean disqualifications if the judges read them. While it would be incredible if any of the judges were actually reading my blog, it's far better to err on the side of caution. So 'nuff said.

The Heart of Darkness
I had an awesome idea: the emotional conflict between two characters.

       Well, 'duh,' you say, 'that's most stories.'

Yes, but remember, I can't go into details. May I continue?

       Right, heh, sorry.

Well,I'm still working myself through this little pickle, but it's something I can understand--through experience--both sides of the issue. But the story got 'high-centered' over an emotional reveal. The one character cares deeply (In a familial way) for the other, but he can't show it, mostly from machismo but also because of national security. This man does things behind the scenes to help and protect the other. The second sees the first as distant and aloof.

The problem I'm having is: 1)I keep falling from third into first person. This distracts the narrative and lets the second character hijack the story. And 2) the shift in point of view makes me really dislike the first guy, even though he's a great guy.

Just Write
My solution, so far, has been to write the scene several times, pushing myself through the scene. I can see the first character's emotion softening, which it really needs anyway. But more importantly, it may keep me sane to prepare the big reveal. The various drafts will eventually boil down to one, based on the comments of my writing group.

And the emotional reveal impacts the rest of the story.

The point is that I needed to think about it for a bit, chewing on both characters. Both characters are good guys, but the second can't see beyond his own trouble. The first sees everything and is fighting to protect the second. Seeing the strong emotions of the first, led me to writing a section from his perspective. It opened my view in to the deeper conflict.

Will this section survive the final draft?

I don't know. But it's moved me deeper into the characters and their story. And that's what writers do.

Keys to Great Research

If you want to be a writer, it's important to do your research. Research, after all, is a cornerstone of any great writing endeavor. Don't believe me? Okay... but I'm not responsible for any baldness that may occur.

Why Research
Its important to give yourself the time to do your research, because research is writing time too. Your word count may not be piling up, but you are making it easier to write once you do set pen to paper. Why? Because doing your research prevents the urge to stop writing and find that necessary detail.

Don't go there, my friend. That way lies madness.

Sure it might seem mundane at first, but toddle off to look up a name or random fact, and you're down the research hole for a couple hours. And how many words would you have been able to write during that lost time? Like the sucker commercial says, the world may never know.

So here are my recommendations for three of the most important things to research before you start that novel.

Maps
Maps are important for me because they get me into the environment. Even though I only do a rough outline before I begin a book, I scout out location for my scenes. When I find a city, I print off or buy a map of that area. Then I work the scenes there through my mind by putting myself into the map and walking the street. Nowadays this is actually even easier with Google Maps and Google Earth because you can usually get photos of your location.

Writing a story about somewhere not of this world? You can still find places on Earth for inspiration. But if you're making someplace specific, draw the map yourself. It doesn't have to be Rand McNally quality, just something to get you into the scene and understand the environment your characters will be experiencing.

Characters
Character details pop up on me all the time during my writing, but spending a little time researching each major character will prevent timely delays. For me, these include head shots I've grabbed from the internet. If you want to develop your characters I recommend a few books for suggestions:

• Building Believable Characters - Marc McCutcheon
• Plot Versus Character - Jeff Gerke
• Characters & Viewpoint - Orson Scott Card

And once you have notes on each character, it's always easy to add new elements to them when you discover new details.

Subjects
Writing a story about nano particles? Archery? Fashion? Sumo wrestling? Better do your research first.

The old axiom, 'write what you know,' doesn't mean crap if you're writing about a generation ship flying to a distant galaxy. But that doesn't mean you can't find a host of research about what life on a generation ship would be like. I have three places that I love to go to for research:

• The Internet
• Local Library
• iTunes Podcasts

You have to double check any information you find on the internet, but hey, we're writers so we make stuff up all the time. Just make sure you're little lie has a pound of truth in it or it won't ring anywhere near true.

Podcasts are invaluable for numerous reasons. Besides the obvious fact of listening in to your desired community, you can pick up accents and turn-of-phrases that your characters might be able to use.

Ultimately, there's a lot to see out there. You just need to decide how to use it.

Building Your Research Tracker
So you know what you need to research, now all you need is a way to track the research you do, as well as the topics you miss during your initial pass. Something will always slip through, and that's okay. The key is not to interrupt your writing for the research hole.

Making a research tracker is easy and you can tweak it to your own specific needs. I picked up mine from Victoria Schmidt's, Book in a Month. And whether you write it in a notepad or make sheet in your word processor, the end result is the same. Start by putting the working title of your current work in progress at the top, because someday, when you've written forty books, you're going to want to know which book these notes went to.

A good research tracker needs three elements:

• The topic to research
• What to look for
• Your findings

Make three columns for each category and wait for the questions to pop into your head. And they will come. But just keeping this little form near your writing area will stop you from straying away from your words per minute... provided you have the discipline to use it.

Summary
That's it! Pretty simple, huh? Now you're ready for doing your own stellar research. Do you have a research technique that's invaluable to you? Have you found something that stops you from dropping down the research hole when you should be writing?

The Death of 'So What'

Like most people, I have a healthy sense of my own inadequacies. And when you put yourself on display as you do with writing, you have a heightened feeling of standing on a cliff waiting for a good gust of wind to knock you down.

While I was at LTUE (Life, The Universe, and Everything writing conference), two members of my writing group began asking me what was going on with my story. You see, my submissions dried up in mid-October. But it's not like I didn't have good excuses. Moving into our new home, Thanksgiving, unpacking (which is not done), followed closely by Christmas (which is definitely done), and overtime at the post office. All these things had me seriously busy, but the main result was that my writing suffered.

But it's February now, so why am I still not writing? At least like I use to...

So my group started quizzing me where I was stuck. Or at least what I was thinking about my plot. I rattled off my ideas for finishing Blood of Mars and some of my concerns. As I near the end of the rough draft, I feel like I'm coming up with several logic errors relating to the worldbuilding. Worst of all, I was beginning to doubt whether some of the ideas I had for creating the storyline were really viable.

In studying writing craft, I've learned that one of the three crucial 'things' your story has to deal with is the 'So What?' factor. In other words, why should readers care about your story?

I think that, in addition to being busy, I was losing my sense of wonder with elements of my story. My techie things weren't techie enough, the characters were cardboard, and the vampires were just lame. Then these thoughts fed their own fires. I mean, who really wants to read a vampire story anyway? They're over done!

But one of the most critical things a writing group can give you is feedback. Mine told me that everything was working and that ideas I had for continuity were fine. I just needed to get back to work. Any real problems I did have with the story, they helped me untangle. And in my head, sometimes those ideas are just like the tangled ball of Christmas lights I'll be untangling in November.

The result is that between the emotional boost I got from LTUE and my cheer-leading writing group, my writing is back on track. I've put a stake in the heart of my own 'So What?' and just started writing again. I began laying down new chapters and writing a few short stories for contests, always kicking myself in the head for forgetting that writers write.

Follow Your Bliss!

I'm actually pretty bummed I won't be doing NaNoWriMo this year, but I want to encourage all of you who ever wanted to write a novel, to jump in and do it. Last year at this time, I was seriously taking my writing into a higher gear. I signed up for NaNoWriMo and David Farland's Writer's Death Camp. But the most important thing I did was recognize that, if I was going to be serious about my writing, I needed to start investing in myself and do it NOW.

Life has a way of throwing a million things at you. All of them important. But if you feel you have something you desperately want to do... something that your life feels empty without... then you have to find a way to make it fit in with everything else.

Dan Wells, bestselling author of the John Cleaver series, is famous for saying he knew he had to give up gaming if he wanted to be a successful author. Now, is Dan still a gamer? Sure! But gaming isn't his passion now. It's writing.

I'm a recovering World of Warcraft player. I spent 2+ hours everyday on the computer playing that game. Well... Let's be honest. It was more like 4+ a day. Two hours would have been on a busy day. This made me realize how many other things I could be doing (And Warcraft was starting to get boring anyway).

So, taking inspiration from Dan, I killed my gaming time and started focusing on my writing. I signed up for NaNoWriMo and the Death Camp. These little steps led to many other things including my AWESOME writing group, listening to a host of writing related podcasts every week, and attending workshops and conferences for writing. But most important, it brought me to where I am now. Finishing my first novel.

Am I still a gamer? DUH! But I play little games on Facebook. Nothing that takes too long to play. And when I finish my rough draft, I have Homefront and Skyrim waiting for a try before I rush off into the revision process. Gaming is my reward system. It has become my chocolate ice cream after a days hard work.

So, back to NaNoWriMo. If you have ever thought you wanted to write a book, start now. You have the drive to do anything you set your mind to. You know where to fit in the time. One author interviewed, said she wrote in her laundry room because she knew her family avoided work. Another said she would tell her family she was running to the supermarket, but would spend and hour in her car, at the park, writing. She finished almost her entire novel in the car.

It doesn't matter if you make your goal. Sure it's awesome if you do, but how much closer will you be than if you do nothing now? Sign up for NaNoWriMo and get going! And if what makes your motor purr isn't writing, well, get going on what does! Sign up for a class. Check out a book from the library on something you've always wanted to learn. Just do it so that one year from today, you can say you've done something you've always wanted to! And when it comes right down to it, you're worth investing your time in.

To NaNoWriMo, or not to NaNoWriMo...

To NaNo, or not to NaNo...

That is the question.

Last year was a big year for me. I decided to really push my writing by signing up to compete in NaNoWriMo (National Novel Writing Month) and going to Dave Farland's Writer's Death Camp. Since the Death Camp started November 6th, I figured that would be the perfect time to start my NaNoWriMo project.

Now, keep in mind that I'd never actually finished a novel before. The one that I came closest to finishing went down in flames when I learned that there was NO chance of selling it. (Lucas Film has this thing that you can't write Star Wars novels unless you're on their approved author list and you can't get on that list unless you've written something they've liked.)

So, I show up at the Death Camp with only an idea of the story I want to write. You know what I forgot?

A lot of plotting and research.

It seems that writers do a LOT of research into the stories they're going to tell. Most of it revolves around character and world building, but I showed up with only the idea of a general plot coupled with a few characters. Fortunately, I managed, with the tolerance of my writing group, to catch up. Seven months later, I'm banging down the last third of the novel I so horrendously began last November.

So, NaNoWriMo is nearing again and I promised myself I wouldn't begin another novel without research. But last night I realized that if I'm going to do NaNoWriMo this year, now is the time to start doing my research. Then again, I also promised myself I wouldn't start a new project until I'm done with the old one.

Either I need an aggressive writing goal or I need sit back and enjoy the journey.

Hmmm...

"To do, or not to do, that is the question:
Whether 'tis nobler in the mind to suffer
The lack of sleep and aching hands,
Or to take caffeine against a crushing word count,
And by opposing end them?"

Worldcon Lessons

Friday and Saturday nights, I dreamed I was back at Worldcon. The dreams were very vivid and felt like they took up the whole night. I would wake from one and drift into another. Like the bathroom breaks between the convention panels.

So in my dream, I'm schmoozing a lot of editors when I realize that none of the ones I'm kibitzing with, are ones that are relevant to my writing. For instance, the guy I was chatting with Friday night, was a school book editor and he was asking me where my desire to write textbooks came from. Naturally I made something up. I didn't want to offend the guy since he was being so nice to me. Maybe I'm just afraid my writing is that bad and I'm doomed to write non-stop boredom.

(Remember, none of this really happened.)

Anyway, I realize the real reason for all this insanity is that I was thinking about Worldcon at work on Friday because a good friend wants to hit Worldcon in Chicago next year. But, to be honest, I wasn't that impressed with this one. I felt some of the panels were weak to say the least, even though it was fun watching authors, editors, and agents chat about various topics. And while it was interesting seeing the costumes and quirkiness of fandom, I was there to work.

I assessed everything my writing group and I did during the whole convention and was wondering what we could have done more. This made me remember what Dave Wolverton/Farland said at our Writer's Death Camp. He told us, that when we go to these conventions, we should go sit in the hotel's bar and stay there. When the agents/editors come in to relax a bit, we strike up a conversation and talk about their work and the industry with them. Find out what they like and what they're looking for. Then if the opportunity presents itself, we pitch our book.

The convention itself hosts two types of great networking opportunities: the Kaffeeklatch and the Literary Beer. Both were held in noisy halls, where it was sometimes hard to hear. But at least, with six other people, you got a chance at some face time.

As I thought about the convention on the whole though, I wondered if we should have skipped some of the panels and been offering to take editors out to lunch or dinner. Chat over a soda and such. Or at least looked for extra opportunities to have conversations with them. My writing group doesn't come off as rabid dogs and I think we might have garnered extra time with the editors of our choice. But we're so new to 'cons,' that we didn't think outside the box. Looking at Shaun Ferrall's photos on the Adventures in Sci-Fi Publishing site, that guy was everywhere. His superior ninja networking skills totally put us to shame. And he was only there for one day! He obviously knows how to optimize his time and made great contacts.

There were also three floors of parties going on at the Atlantis, and we only went to the floor with the Tor party. Granted, the Tor party is the one everyone must attend, but what did we miss on the other two floors? Would we have ran into Lee Harris (editor for Angry Robot) and had a nice chat? The world will never know... (Besides, we saw him pressed in the throng at the Tor party, but were too scared to strike up a conversation.)

Maybe Worldcon isn't about the workshop and is actually all about the networking. That's what I think Dave Wolverton was talking about when he mentioned sitting at the bar. Sure there's lots of interesting things to see, but you're there to meet people. To talk with the people in your 'field' and make friendships with them so that you have the connections to get your work looked at.

What it really boils down to, is that with one Worldcon under my belt, I'm not as intimidated by approaching the people I want to talk to. They're genuinely nice people looking for writers with great stories and personalities they can work with.

Will I go to another Worldcon? Maybe. There are a lot of cons around and some are more focused than others. It wouldn't hurt to explore my world. One thing is certain though: there will always be someone there to talk to about the industry and writing.

Vampire Assaults With Google Maps

I recently had to go back and write a new chapter one for The Blood of Mars. This made the previous chapter two into chapter three, while the previous chapter three melted into the new chapter two. Confused? Yeah. Sometimes I just have to go get a PB&J and hope I got it right.

So I'm making the 'clickity-klack,' typing away, when I realize I need to know my exact location in Belfast, Ireland. Locals get snippy if you don't get your facts right, so in order to stay true to the emerald isle, I whip open Google maps and find the streets I need. But you know what's cool?

Scene for the Vampire Assault at Chichester and Seymour

Google Maps has a feature called Street View. Some of you more experienced users already know this (and to tell the truth I've seen it before too), but I was looking for street names and accidentally zoomed in one time too many.

Suddenly I was on the corner of Chichester and Seymour streets in Belfast. By looking around and moving up and down the street, I discovered the perfect place for a scene in my story.

The sixteen year old protagonist, walking along Chichester to his first blood donation, crosses Seymour street and sees a newborn vamp, down by the street light, taking a bite of the local flavor. Can you see it? I could! For the next two hours I was totally submerged in the streets of Belfast.

When I looked up at the clock afterwards, I was blown away at the time. True, I'd managed to crank out almost eight pages. But the writing just flowed through me. All because I could experience a city that I've never seen.

At Dave Farland's Writers Death Camp, I talked with Dave about how writers today really don't have to have the reference library that they did twenty to thirty years ago. The internet has made so much information available online, that, for instance, you don't have to pay $200 for a comprehensive world atlas.

So, I got thinking about all the sites on the internet that writers have today that they didn't have twenty years ago. Here's a sampling of some of my favorites.


Atlas Obscura - A Compendium of the World's Wonders, Curiosities and Esoterica
Forensics4Fiction - Great Forensics for a Writer
Google Maps - World Maps
Dictionary.Com - Great Online Dictionary & Thesaurus
Urban Dictionary - Random Information and Slang
Behind the Name - Information on Names
Baby Names - Information on Names
Google Translate - Online Translator
Write or Die - Writing Productivity Motivator (For online use or purchase)
Funny Mean Names - Mean Name Generator



As with most things online, some of these sites should be taken with a grain of salt. Remember, it never hurts to check your sources.

Kaffeeklatsch... God Bless You!

Susan Chang at Tor's Room Party

The first thing Worldcon introduced me to is the Kaffeeklatsch. I know, I know... sounds kinda like a rude explicative, right? But kaffeeklatsch is brought to us from those wacky Germans, who also gave us Schadenfreude, and actually means coffee gossip.

Unlike the Literary Beer where you could share a brew (or any beverage) with the author, editor, artist, or agent of your choice, kaffeclatsch just lets you share a chat--sans any libations. Well... okay... the four editors I sat with were provided beverages by the Worldcon hosts.

While there were so many people we wanted to talk with, the three editors my writing group and I were most interested in meeting were: 

• Susan Chang - Tor Books YA Senior Editor
• Lou Anders - Pyr Editorial Director
• Lee Harris - Angry Robot Editor 

We also had a Literary Beer session (I think he actually had a Coke) with:
David Hartwell - Tor Books Senior Editor 

Three of our group at Worldcon (myself included) are in various stages of completion on YA (Young Adult) novels, so Susan Chang was someone we really wanted to meet. Since she's the only YA editor with Tor, I'm sure she's regularly bombarded with requests and questions. But taking it all in stride, she was very cordial and offered excellent advice for everyone at the table. She let us all give her our pitches and commented on the elements that most interested her. And, hey, she let a Tor fan boy and hopeful Tor author take a photo with her, so you know she's cool!

Lou Anders' energy was undeniable. I'm pretty sure his enthusiasm for the publishing industry could power Rhode Island if not the entire Eastern Seaboard. After hearing him in the Pyr Books presentation, I was dying to meet him and seeing little Pyr logos on the spines of my books. Super nice and very approachable, he also deserves a big, "Congrats!" for winning this years Hugo award for Best Editor, Long Form. Pyr's YA books have awesome covers too!

Lee Harris is a man I would love to work with. A genuinely nice guy who cares about his author's interests, Lee's work at Angry Robot is enough to make any writer sit up and take notice. Although he said they are currently not looking for YA titles, he did say to, "watch this space," giving me hope that one day he'll have one of my submissions on his desk. And when it really comes down to it, my YA may skirt the line a little like Dan Wells.

It would have been great to meet the legendary Tom Doherty and chat more with some of the other editors that came to Worldcon, but time was short and I'm a bit of a chicken. Besides, I'm pretty happy with having talked with the top three power houses I'd ultimately love to work with.