Discussion: Do Short Chapters Make You Read More?

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So I’ve noticed something a little peculiar about my reading habits, lately.

I read Ignite Me not too long ago, which, like the other Shatter Me books, has very short chapters. It has 416 pages and seventy-eight chapters, which averages about five pages a chapter. And I noticed, while reading, that I had a tendency of saying “one more chapter” over and over and over again because they were so short, it was easy to read another chapter without worrying about a major time commitment.

A few days ago, however, I was reading a book with 377 pages and twenty-five chapters, which averages about fifteen pages a chapter. And it was a good book, and I enjoyed it, but I noticed when I reached the end of the chapter, I was way less likely to read another chapter if I had any time constraints whatsoever.

I imagine this is partially because I don’t like to stop reading mid-chapter (though I will if I have to for some reason), so before starting the next chapter, I sometimes have to consider how much time it’s going to take me to finish the chapter. And if it’s getting really late, or I’m getting tired, for example, chances are I’m going to put it down for another day. (Note: This only applies to print books, because I don’t usually go through the trouble of checking with e-books).

But not so with short chapters. I’ve been known to breeze through three or four short chapters (even though it’s the equivalent of one long chapter) because psychologically I guess, it just seems like it’s not going to take me too long. Which is silly. But I do it anyway.

So I’m curious to see if anyone else does this, too. Do short chapters encourage you to read more, or is it just me? 

Twitter-sized bite:

Do you tend to read books with short chapters quickly? Join the discussion at @Ava_Jae's blog. (Click to tweet)

Plot Essentials: Inciting Incident

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As over the years I’ve become a definite plotter, I thought now was as good a time as ever to write about some plot essentials, starting with my favorite: the inciting incident.

The inciting incident is the moment or event that changes your character’s life and sets them on the journey that is the rest of the book. It’s when Harry begins receiving acceptance letters to Hogwarts, when Clary sees the Shadowhunters kill a demon in a club, and when Tris’s faction test results are inconclusive, making her divergent.

The reason I love the inciting incident so much is two-fold—firstly, it’s the very first thing I figure out when plotting. Usually the inciting incident is where my story idea comes from—it’s the spark that sets off the rest of the brainstorming that uncovers the rest of the book. Second, the inciting incident is the first real taste of what to expect from the rest of the book.

The inciting incident is, by no means, an optional plot point. Without a life-altering event to catapult our characters in one direction or another, there isn’t a story. Don’t believe me? Let’s take a look at the examples above.

• Harry Potter and the Sorcerer’s Stone (J.K. Rowling): If Harry was never accepted into Hogwarts, he would have continued to live in the cupboard under the stairs at Privet Drive, hidden from the rest of the world, in a rather boring, depressing life. Hogwarts-free Harry, as it turns out, isn’t really epic seven-book series fodder. 


• City of Bones (Cassandra Clare): Had Clary never seen the Shadowhunters, she never would have begun to question the reality she knew, nor would she have encountered the hidden, paranormal world of Shadowhunters and angels and demons and werewolves and vampires and mages and all of that exciting stuff that makes The Mortal Instruments series so interesting. 


• Divergent (Veronica Roth): Had Tris’s test shown expected results (that is, that she belongs in Abnegation, or another single faction), she would have chosen a faction and lived a normal life in whatever faction she chose. The end. 

As you can see, without their respective inciting incidents, the above stories aren’t really novel-worthy stories. But with the incident that changes the protagonist’s life comes the fascinating stories that we all love and adore. And that’s the power of the inciting incident.

What examples of inciting incidents can you think of from your favorite books, movies or TV shows? 

Twitter-sized bites: 

Working on a plot for your WIP? Writer @Ava_Jae discusses the importance of the inciting incident. (Click to tweet) 

Do you know your WIP's inciting incident? Here's why it's so important to identify early on. (Click to tweet)

Discussion: What are Your Favorite Titles?

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I’ve been thinking about titles a lot lately.

There was once a time when I loved single-word titles. They were snappy, cool and easy to remember, and in my head, basically the bomb. Some of my favorites included Saint and the sequel Sinner by Ted Dekker.

But over time, I’ve come to realize that I’ve been gravitating more and more to longer, more evocative titles. I’ve realized I really love titles that create interesting images, titles that intrigue and echo elements of the book in an interesting and haunting way.

Some of my favorite titles include:

• The Unbecoming of Mara Dyer by Michelle Hodkin


• Days of Blood and Starlight by Laini Taylor


• Under the Never Sky by Veronica Rossi


• Between the Devil and the Deep Blue Sea by April Genevieve Tucholke


• The Wicked We Have Done by Sarah Harian


• Let the Storm Break by Shannon Messenger

Interestingly, I haven’t actually read any of those books (yet!), but I’ve found their titles to be particularly memorable.

But now I want to hear from you: what are some of your favorite titles and why? 

Twitter-sized bite: 

What are some of your favorite book titles? Join the discussion at @Ava_Jae's blog. (Click to tweet) 

5 Dual-POV Writing Tips

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So as many of you already know, I love dual-POV narratives. Reading multiple perspectives to me, is fascinating when done correctly, and writing it just never gets boring.

Writing dual-POV narratives, however, can be a little tricky, particularly if you haven’t done it before. Before you start, you’re going to want to make sure that having multiple perspectives is the right choice for your WIP (quick way to figure this out is to determine if you need more than one POV to tell your story. If you don’t, then stick with one POV). Even after you decide it’s the right option, multiple POVs can be tricky to manage, and so I’d like to share five tips to make your lives a teensie bit easier:

1. Make sure the voices are distinct. This one can be a killer if you don’t get it right. In any multi-POV novel, you should be able to flip to a random page, read a couple sentences, and know which character is speaking. If you find yourself reading and having to check back to the beginning of the chapter to see whose speaking, then that’s usually a blaring sign that your voices aren’t distinct enough. Which leads me to the next point… 


2. Really get to know your characters. This is the number one way to get two distinct, interesting voices—you need to know your characters inside and out. Level of education, slang, language choices, how their backgrounds affect their perspectives, temperament and values all play into perspective, and you need to know every one of those elements and how they affect your 
   character’s voice.
   
   Even description varies in POV—what one character notices, pays attention to, and what they think about their surroundings will all vary depending on their individual perspectives. (More on that here).


3. Pick up where the other character left off. I’m not going to say that I’ve never seen a successful flashback-like format where we went through the same event (or parts of the same event) from multiple character perspectives—I have, and it can work if the perspectives are enormously different. But most of the time, the most effective multi-POV method I’ve seen involves one character picking up where the other left off.
   
   The reason this works so well is because it avoids redundancy—if two characters are in relatively similar situations, then we really don’t need to see both of them eating lunch together twice from each perspective. By picking up where the previous POV character left off, you keep the story moving without giving readers a sense of massive deja vu. 


4. Carefully consider why you’re choosing one POV for a particular scene. Dual-POV narratives often alternate back and forth with every chapter—but it doesn’t have to. The most important thing to consider when plotting out your dual-POV book, is why you’re choosing that particular POV for that particular scene.
   
   Generally, the POV we want to be in is the POV most affected by the events unfolding in that scene. So, for example, if a character’s house catches fire, we want to be in the POV of the character in the house, experiencing the fire—not the neighbor walking down the street outside. If a character is being arrested, we want the POV of the arrested character, not the friend watching from the sidelines, etc.
   
   Sometimes this can be a little tricky because both characters are affected by the unfolding events. When this happens, you’ll want to think about who is most affected, and if that’s equal, then consider which POV would be the most interesting. 


5. Read books with multiple POVs. This almost goes without saying, but before you even start thinking about writing a multi-POV novel, you’re going to want to pick up some books with multiple POVs to see how it’s done. Some of my favorite multi-POV novels include the Across the Universe series by Beth Revis, The 5th Wave by Rick Yancey, and Faking It by Cora Carmack. I also recommend Every Day by David Levithan, which doesn’t have multiple POVs, but one POV in several bodies, which brings to light a lot of really interesting points about perspective. 

So those are my dual-POV tips—now I want to hear from you: what have you seen that works (or definitely doesn’t work) in effective dual-POV narratives?

Twitter-sized bites: 

Working on a dual or multi-POV WIP? Writer @Ava_Jae shares five tips you may find helpful. (Click to tweet)  

Five tips you may want to keep in mind when writing a dual-POV novel. (Click to tweet) 

How to Make Cuts Without Losing Anything Useful

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Oftentimes, when editing, there comes a time when we have to make cuts. Whether it’s because the word count is way too high, or the plot is on the sluggish side, or there are unnecessary words floundering about, it’s pretty inevitable to avoid some eventual cutting.

However, cuts don’t have to be painful, and sometimes, they can even be relatively simple. And so I’d like to share five easy cuts to make without experiencing too much pain.

1. Suddenly. “Jimmy crept around the corner, then, suddenly—” aaaaand stop right there. Suddenly is one of those words that we’ve been tricked into believing are useful. When we write “suddenly,” we’re trying to convey to our readers that whatever happens next happened without warning, but there’s just one problem—you’ve already warned your readers.
   
   Every time you use the word “suddenly” you’re basically shooting yourself in the foot. “I suddenly felt sick,” for example, takes away the suddenness of the nausea, because your readers read “suddenly” and knew something was about to happen. “Suddenly” doesn’t tell our readers not to expect something, it does the opposite—it warns our readers that something is about to happen. And that’s not very sudden, is it? 


2. Very, really, etc. These are often throwaway words. I want to say 7/10 times you use “really” or “very”, you can probably replace it with a single word that’s more powerful and effective. “Very tall” for example, could be “towering.” “Really slowly” could be “sloth-like.” Etc. etc.
   
   There is an exception, however. Sometimes words like “very” and “really” are used to accentuate a voice, especially with younger characters. For example, while “very fast” can almost always be changed to “quickly,” but “navy” may not be better than “very blue” if your POV character isn’t likely to say “navy.” 


3. Filter phrases. If you haven’t read Chuck Palaniuk’s post on “Thought” verbs, you need to do so now. I’ll wait. Go read it. I mean it.
   
   Did you read it? I hope so, because I can’t begin to tell you how incredibly helpful it is. Filter phrases are fine for first drafting, but when it comes to revising, it’s time to remove them and replace them with something more powerful.
   
   In case you didn’t read it, filter phrases are phrases like “he thought” “she wondered” “I knew” “he felt” “she saw” “I smelled” etc. The problem with them is that they add an extra layer of filtering, which distances the readers from the narrative.
   
   For example, “I smelled freshly baking cinnamon rolls” could be changed to “The sugary scent of cinnamon and sweet glaze was so thick in the air, I could almost taste it.” By showing us what the character is smelling rather than telling us what he/she is smelling, the imagery becomes much more powerful, almost as though the readers are experiencing it themselves.
   
   Yes, it can be a little tedious going through your manuscript and removing them, but I highly recommend you do. It’ll definitely make your work much stronger. 


4. I am, do not, will not, did not, etc. This is a super easy one. Oftentimes, especially in dialogue, I’ve seen writers forget their contractions. Sentences like “No, Jim, I do not think I will be going to that party” immediately sounds stilted just because the contractions were forgotten. “No, Jim, I don’t think I’ll be going to that party” sounds much more fluid, yes? (The answer is yes).
   
   It’s an easy mistake, and you certainly don't have to change all of them to include contractions (in fact, depending on your voice and the voices of the characters, you may only change a couple), but it’s definitely something to keep in mind because changing just a few can really add to the flow.


5. Unnecessary scenes. This one’s a little trickier, but 9/10 times that I see a plot that’s dragging, it’s because of this little evil sucker.
   
   Every scene needs to have a purpose. Every. Single. One. If you can’t go through each and every one of your scenes and identify the purpose (for example, character development, plot development, foreshadowing, etc.), then chances are it doesn’t need to be there. Another great way to determine this is imagine what would happen if you removed it—would your story still make sense? If your book would work without the scene, then chances are likely that you don’t need it.  

What other easy cuts can you think of when editing?

Twitter-sized bites:

Gearing up to submit your MS? Writer @Ava_Jae shares five easy cuts you may want to make first. (Click to tweet)  

Why suddenly is not sudden, filter phrases are evil, and other editing tips from writer @Ava_Jae. (Click to tweet) 

Why Mega-Successful Authors are Good News for Everyone

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So there’s this post floating around from the Huffington Post that activated some massive internal raging. 

I’m not going to link to it, because I don’t want to give it extra free traffic, but if you’re so inclined, it’s pretty easy to find on Twitter, as it involves telling J.K. Rowling to stop writing adult books because she’s hogging up all the success—but it’s ok for her to write kid lit because those books aren’t as good anyway. Yep. 

As much as I'd like to rage about why kidlit is just as important as adult literature, I know I'm preaching to the choir here, so I'm going to focus on something equally important (and a little less screamy).

The thing that some people, particularly people outside of the publishing industry tend to forget, is that there’s room for everyone to be successful. In fact, one author’s mega-success is actually good for everyone else.

Think about it.

Let’s take J.K. Rowling, for example. The Harry Potter series was one of the first major crossover kid lit titles that blew the door wide open for other kid lit successes. Why? Well let’s take a look.

Harry Potter, as we all know, sold incredibly well. Incredibly x a million. Hugely successful books means more money for publishers—who then have more cash to buy more books from writers and give more debuts a chance, more money for bookstores—who then run less of a risk of crashing and burning like Borders, and more money for the authors—who, quite frankly, deserve their success. But it’s not just the money—hugely successful books are the direct result of more people reading. 

Why is more people reading a good thing, you ask? I can’t even tell you how many people I’ve heard say “I didn’t like reading but I loved [insert popular book title here].” Successful books show people who didn’t think they liked to read that reading can actually be great. Successful books get more people buying books, and guess what? Many times when they finish reading said successful book, they look for another book. Because maybe reading isn’t so bad after all and they’ll like the next book just as much as that successful book they just read.

Time and time again, successful books have proven that they help so much more than the author.

The Twilight series brought the spotlight down on YA lit.

The Hunger Games series opened the door to a variety of fantastic dystopian novels, like say, a little series called Divergent.

The 50 Shades of Grey series gave a huge boost to erotica sales.

All of these books created new readers—people who didn’t really read much before because they thought they wouldn’t like it and changed their minds after reading that successful book. And that’s good for everyone, because more readers = more book sales, and more book sales = good news for writers.

See, this one huge aspect of the publishing world that I love—we can genuinely be happy for each other’s successes, even (and especially) crazy-massive successes, because it’s good news for everyone. Books are not a market like cars or laptops or iPads where the customer will only buy one for several years. The success of one book opens the door for the successes of many others, and to me, that’s one of the many things that makes this community so incredibly wonderful.

So let’s cut the jealousy and the bitterness and just be happy and supportive for one another, okay? There’s no need for negativity in this incredible community that I will always love.

What do you think? 

Twitter-sized bites: 

Writer @Ava_Jae breaks down why mega-successes like J.K. Rowling & E.L. James are good for the publishing community. (Click to tweet)  

.@Ava_Jae says “…there’s room for everyone to be successful [in the publishing industry].” What do you think? (Click to tweet) 

Book Review: BROKEN by C.J. Lyons

Photo credit: Goodreads

I guest posted on Deanna Di Lello's blog just recently on what keeps me writing. Feel free to check out the post and say hi! :)

So I don’t usually do two book reviews in such close proximity, but after I finished reading Broken by C.J. Lyons, I knew I’d have to make an exception. Because this book deserves a boost.

As per usual, let’s start with the Goodreads summary:

“The only thing fifteen-year-old Scarlet Killian has ever wanted is a chance at a normal life. Diagnosed with a rare and untreatable heart condition, she has never taken the school bus. Or giggled with friends during lunch. Or spied on a crush out of the corner of her eye. So when her parents offer her three days to prove she can survive high school, Scarlet knows her time is now... or never. Scarlet can feel her heart beating out of control with every slammed locker and every sideways glance in the hallway. But this high school is far from normal. And finding out the truth might just kill Scarlet before her heart does.”

So what really drew me to this book was the combination of a disabled protagonist (which I was pretty psyched about) and the promise of a fast-paced thriller, according to the blurb on the back cover. And I’ll admit, for the first 150 pages or so, I was wondering when the thriller bit was going to kick in, because I didn’t find the first half of the book to be particularly fast-paced.

That being said, the beginning wasn’t boring. I enjoyed reading about Scarlet’s life, and her perspective as a teenager never having been to public school before was pretty fascinating—it just wasn’t the fast-paced thriller that I’d been promised.

Queue plot twist.

I don’t want to spoil anything, so I’m not going to give details, but I finished the second half of the book in a couple hours. I don’t usually stay up late to finish a book (which I know is rare for a voracious reader like myself, but I tend to be pretty self-disciplined), and yet I totally did with this book. Post plot twist, the “fast-paced thriller” promise really did live up to my expectations.

Broken features a disabled protagonist who is doing everything she can to live her life to the fullest, covers mental illness in a powerful and realistic way and definitely ends with a bang. I’m rating it 4/5 stars and giving it a definite thumbs up.

I'd love to read more books that cover disability and/or mental illness while still providing an exciting plot. Any recommendations? 

Twitter-sized bite: 

Writer @Ava_Jae gives BROKEN by C.J. Lyons 4/5 stars. Have you read this book? (Click to tweet)