Cherished Blogfest

Today I'm taking part in the Cherished Blogfest, hosted by Dan Antion, Paul Ruddock, Peter Nena, Sharukh Bamboat, Tom Benson, and Damyanti Ghosh. The idea is to talk about one of our cherished objects. Tell us what it is, post a picture of it if you like, and tell us why you cherish it.

The object I want to talk about popped into my head right away, well probably because it's always on my finger--my engagement ring. While you may think the reason for cherishing this object would be pretty obvious, it's actually a bit more complex.

This ring actually belonged to my grandmother, but I never met her. She passed away when my mom was 10 years old. My grandfather eventually remarried and we always considered my step-grandmother to be our grandmother because she was the only one we knew. I remember when I was little my grandparents gave the ring to my mother, and she wore it every day because it belonged to her mother and was special to her.

When my mom passed away two years ago, my sister held onto the ring along with her other belongings. My boyfriend and I had been together for almost six years and we had talked about getting engaged, but he didn't have the money for a ring. It was actually my brother-in-law's idea to give him my grandmother's ring. My boyfriend proposed to me on Christmas Eve of that year.

So there are a lot of reasons why my engagement ring is special to me. It's a piece of family history--something that existed before I was born and that I can pass down to my children if I have them (or my niece if I don't). It was something that belonged to my mother and I can remember her by. And of course, it's a constant reminder that I have the love and support of a wonderful man who will someday be my husband.

(This was the most recent picture of us that I could stand. You know how I hate pictures of myself...)

Editing Lists

I make lists all of the time. Pretty much every day I have a to-do list for the things that I want or need to get done over the course of the day. I don't know if you're like me, but if you just say to yourself, "oh, I'll get to that later," then that task probably doesn't get done. Writing down what needs to be done is a great way to not only remember these tasks, but to add a bit of motivation.

I try to use a similar method when it comes to writing, especially when it comes to editing. When you need to make changes to a story, it can be helpful to know exactly what needs to be done. You may not know how to fix everything right away, but just knowing what needs to be fixed is usually the first step.

It can be extremely helpful to write down any idea that comes across your mind. If you want to rewrite a scene, add something in, cut a particular section. It's a lot of information to try to keep inside your head. Chances are you'll forget some of it, and if you have a lot of good ideas, losing them could be devastating. Writing every idea down will help you make sure all of those ideas actually happen.

There really is no right or wrong way to make an editing list, as long as you're able to understand it. I couldn't even tell you how many lists I have. I have a separate draft with comments just for making line edits. I have a list of new ideas for the section I have to rewrite. I have separate lists for each chapter with things I want to fix. You can make as many or as few editing lists as you want. You could go by chapter like I have or just have one giant list with every necessary change on it.

I've recently been working on a new list that groups things based on what order I want to work on them. Group A is for the things I've already figured out and think I can get done quickly, Group B is for things that will be slightly harder, and Group C is for all the things I'm absolutely dreading working on. I haven't figured out all of my edits yet so the list isn't quite finished yet. I think that's why Group C is pretty much blank--technically all the things I haven't figured out yet are there. But once the list is done I think it will be a good way to stay motivated. I'll start with the things I'm actually excited about working on and hopefully as time goes on those things I'm dreading will seem easier to tackle.

Having an editing list can also help you keep track of your progress. One of the reasons I like having to-do lists is that sense of accomplishment you get when you finish a task and can cross it off your list. Imagine how great it will feel once every single task is crossed off the editing list. Maybe then I can actually say my book is done? We'll see...

Do you make editing lists? What's your strategy?

Searching for Ideas

I'm constantly struggling to find new ideas. New stories, new poems, new blog posts. Actually this post only exists because all I could think about this morning was how I didn't have an idea for a blog post. It happens a lot. It's a blogging day and I've got no clue what to write about. Sometimes there will be some new development in my writing that I can talk about, or sometimes I'll just ramble about nothing in particular. But it's always a constant struggle to come up with ideas.

I'm always in awe of those authors who seem to bust out a new book every month or so. I have no idea how they do it. It's not just because I have a tendency to take forever to write something. It's about ideas. I could never come up with that many ideas that fast. I'm sure when a writer needs a break from their WIP, they'll often work on another project. The problem for me is that I don't have one. I have a few ideas, sure, but none that seem good enough or that I care enough about to work on. So when I need a break from my main project, there isn't anything to turn to.

I don't know what it is, really. Am I just terrible at coming up with ideas? Or am I so hung up on my main WIP that I subconsciously block out any possibility for new ideas? It certainly doesn't help that I don't want to work on my WIP most of the time. Besides blogging, I couldn't tell you the last time I actually wrote something. How can you call yourself a writer if you're not writing?

Ok, this is turning into a sob story. This was supposed to be about ideas! I know it's possible to find ideas anywhere. For some reason they just don't seem to come to me. The only ideas I seem to get are usually a part of the universe for my main WIP--sequels, side stories for minor characters, or just random cute short stories that I probably won't let anyone read. So they don't really feel like new ideas to me because they involve the same characters.

So where do you find new ideas? Well, since the answer to that could be "anywhere" or "everywhere," I guess my question really should be, what do you do when those ideas aren't coming to you anymore? The more I write this the more I feel like it's just my brain telling me to finish what I'm already working on. Working on that is another issue entirely. But hey, there's an idea for another blog post!

Where do you get your ideas from? Are they constantly coming to you or do you struggle to find them?

Don't Look at My Book!

Usually the ultimate goal with any piece of writing is to get other people to read it. You've got a story in your head and you want to get it onto paper and share it with everyone else. But it takes a while to get to that point where you think your piece is good enough for someone else to read. You may have to go through several rounds of editing and rewrites before you let anyone else look at it, and even after that there may be more editing to do. But how do you know when it's ready? What if you need fresh eyes but you still have a lot that needs to be fixed?

It can take a while before you feel like your writing is ready for other people to read it. Until then, you probably won't let it see the light of day. You'll hold onto it for dear life, pull the shades down, turn off the lights, and hiss like a cat at anyone who tries to touch it. Ok, figuratively speaking, of course. But when someone offers to read it, you may feel like running in the other direction.

On the other hand, what do you do when you really could use a fresh set of eyes? What if you can't figure things out and just being able to talk to someone else about it could help? But what if you're too scared to let anyone read it?

I feel like I'm in some sort of paradox when it comes to having beta readers. I know I probably should have more, but at the same time, I already know a lot of things I want to fix in my book. I think letting someone else read it as is before I make those changes would be pointless. But it would also be nice to have more people to bounce ideas off of. But I also just really don't want anyone else to read it the way it is right now. See? It's a vicious cycle.

This is how it's gone so far: my fiance read the first draft (AGH NO NOT THE FIRST DRAFT! BURN IT!), which is great from a supportive standpoint but he couldn't really offer any critiques. For the second draft, I had one actual beta reader, and then a bunch of people who showed interest in reading it but then never actually did. Horrible mistake on my part. I thought they were serious about wanting to read it, and I was totally fine with getting no real critiques from these people. I thought I would at least get some sort of reader-based reaction, like "Oh, I loved this part!" or "Why did that have to happen???" But no. I got nothing. No responses at all. I'm not even sure if anyone actually read it. So I'm a little jaded when it comes to letting people read it.

So I have literally had only one person who read the whole thing and gave me feedback (and who I keep bothering with my editing ideas...). That's probably not enough, right? But I have so much I want to change for this third draft that I don't want to bother letting anyone else read the second one. And by the time I do finish the third, I want to be querying it. So I don't know if I should bother trying to find more beta readers. But querying will take a while so would it make sense to also have people beta reading in case there are other things I should change? I DON'T KNOW.

So I really have no idea what I should do. For now I'll probably just keep hoarding my book so no one else can read it...

Rewriting Chapter One

Out of the ten gazillion editing realizations I've made, deciding to rewrite the first chapter was probably one of the hardest to accept. You'd like to think after a long time with a story that you've been able to get the beginning right, but that isn't always the case. And if the first chapter isn't right, then it can be pretty hard to get people to keep reading.

It's a difficult decision because honestly, I really like the beginning of my book. I can breeze through the first five chapters like it's someone else's book and I'm just dying to know what happens next. Chapter 2 is my absolute favorite and I only have a few minor tweaks in my editing to-do list for that chapter. But I can't start the book with the second chapter. No one would know what the hell was going on. I need the first chapter to get the characters and situation established so the story can actually begin.

It's not all horrible, though. If I broke down the chapter, it really has four parts. The first two parts are the ones that need a massive overhaul, the third one just needs a little tweaking, and the fourth one doesn't really need any changes. So I really only have to rewrite half of the chapter.

On the other hand, there is a lot to change. I've never really been ok with my first line, and I'm sure you all know how important that is. So that has to go. I feel like the first scene may not make sense to some people, so I want to make sure that's clearer. There's also a lot of exposition that I think I could cut down. With the second scene, I'm actually excited about the change because I'm removing an unnecessary character and replacing her with someone whose name actually comes up again in the story. So I think it will make a lot more sense.

I also think I need to make my narrator a bit more sympathetic. Ugh. I kinda don't want to. Yeah, he's not everyone's cup of tea, and I'm ok with that. But I do actually want the people who decide to read this book to keep reading. If they're turned off by the main character right away then that's probably not going to happen. Luckily I do see some space in the third scene to sneak in some sympathy, and some of the cuts I'll be making from the first two scenes should help out with that as well.

So on my giant editing to-do list, rewriting Chapter 1 is right there at the top. I know I probably won't get it all done at once. That first scene rewrite is going to be tough. The rest will be easier since I already know how to fix it. I guess the next step is to stop thinking about it and just actually do it. That's just another thing I'm trying to work on.

Keeping an Open Editing Mind

Having an epiphany about a piece of writing can be a great thing. You could be struggling to figure something out and then out of nowhere the solution hits you. It could be something you never expected, and it could require a lot of work. But if you keep your mind open and let the ideas come to you, and you put in that hard work, you may just be able to figure it all out.

One of the hardest parts about editing is cutting parts from your previous drafts. When you first write something, it can seem so perfect that you think there's no way you'd ever get rid of it. But as time goes on and you get away from that first draft high, you're able to see things more clearly. If you spend enough time with your story, you'll know what's working and what isn't, what needs to be rewritten and what needs to be cut completely.

I've been with my story for over 4 years now so I pretty much know everything that needs to be fixed. Figuring out how to fix it is another thing entirely. Every solution isn't going to come to you right away. You may need to think about it for hours and hours, going over every possibility until you figure it out. If that doesn't work, you let the idea rest for a while, and if you're lucky the solution will just come to you out of nowhere (for me that means someplace inconvenient like in the shower, or when you're trying to sleep...).

Keeping an open mind is very important when letting the ideas happen. I'm on my third draft now, but I don't think my mind was very open when writing the second draft. I basically just wanted to make the first draft better, but keep everything exactly the same. Sure, I rearranged a few scenes, added some needed background info on a character, but there weren't a lot of major changes, just a lot of rewriting. For some parts, this can work. Maybe just rewriting will fix the problem. But this isn't going to work for an entire draft. Big changes usually need to happen, and if you're not open to them, you'll never be able to come up with those solutions.

I realized yesterday that cutting an entire chapter from the beginning of my book would help out a lot. It was something I'd never considered before. But it was a chapter that I didn't know how to rewrite, and I felt like it slowed the story down a bit. Then I realized any important information from this chapter could be moved to the last scene from the chapter before. It's going to be tricky finding the balance of what information to put where, but once I get it all done and that chapter is gone, I think the story will flow a lot better.

If my mind was still closed off when it comes to editing, I never would have made this realization. If you edit thinking that everything is perfect, or that all of the parts of your story need to be there, you may never be able to actually step back and see what's wrong with it, and what parts aren't even needed.

Do you have trouble keeping an open mind while editing? Ever made any unexpected edits?

My Muse's Boyfriend

Every so often you'll create a character who causes trouble. They don't do what they're told, they run amok creating new plot lines and relationships, maybe even an entire new book (*cough cough*). They keep bothering you with their new ideas to the point where you're not sure who's in charge anymore.

Sounds like a muse, right? Except I already have a muse, and he's not the one who keeps bugging me, throwing ideas at me, invading my dreams (I wish I was kidding). But it's not like they don't know each other. This pestering character is actually Jordan's boyfriend. Well, future boyfriend.

I say future because they don’t get together until Book 3, and I’m still working on Book 1 (but my muses are technically ageless/can change their ages, so they are together? Maybe? It’s ok, I don’t understand it either…).  He’s not even in Book 1, actually! But whenever I think about Book 3, there he is, telling me what to do. Hogging my attention when I should be focusing on the first book. Just like a….A MUSE. 

His name is Adam and he’s a bass-playing, bisexual JERK who always has perfect hair for some reason. He was supposed to be straight. No, wait, let me rephrase that. His sexuality wasn’t supposed to matter. No details about him (including his hair) were supposed to matter!  All he was supposed to do was stand there in the background, play bass for the band when it was necessary, and maybe if he was lucky I’d throw him a line or two. But nooooooooooo. That wasn’t good enough. He wanted an upgrade. 

So Adam is the main love interest for Jordan in Book 3. Actually, he's the whole reason Book 3 exists. Because he told me (Yes, told, not asked. Because he's pushy.) that he was going to come out to Jordan at the end of Book 2. I had two responses: A) So? You're not important, and B) That doesn't mean you're gonna get together. He just said, "Are you sure about that?" and then threw all of Book 3 at my head. Characters, right? They don't like to listen. 

I have such mixed feelings about Adam because as a character, I adore him. Seriously, he's too perfect. I need to give him a flaw. But this pseudo-muse version is getting on my nerves. I dreamt about him singing a song (one that I hadn't heard in years) and now it's on my playlist for Book 3! You’d think I could get Jordan’s help on this. He’s not exactly one to give up the spotlight. But no, all he can do is blink innocently and say “What? I can’t say no to that hair.” I think he just likes not having to do all of the muse-work.

But I did not sign up for a second muse! Especially one who is dating my first muse! No no no no no. I’ve done this before. When I was a teenager my muses were a couple from a book series I was working on. It’s just awful. They’re either ganging up on you or just not inspiring you even a little bit because they’re too busy doing…err, things. Either way, it’s a recipe for disaster.

Seriously, though, Adam needs to back off a little. If he’s not careful, I’m gonna change his name to Yoko. Or I could always kill him off! Oh, who am I kidding? My characters never take my threats seriously…

Do you have any characters who won't leave you alone? Ever had a couple for muses (DON'T DO IT)?