Vlog: World Building Part 1

You asked, I answered—here's the first of a four part series focused just on world building. Struggling to build the setting in your book? Here's a good place to start. :)

RELATED LINKS: 

• World Building: Insider vs. Outsider
• World-building Tip: 15 Details to Remember
• World Building Tip: Holidays and Rituals
• World-building Tip: The Ripple Effect
• How to Worldbuild (Without Info-Dumping)

Where do you begin with world building? 

Twitter-sized bite: 

Not sure where to start w/ world building? Author @Ava_Jae kicks off her 4-part world building vlog series. (Click to tweet)

Discussion: How Much Do You Stick to Your Plots?

Photo credit: Maya83 on Flickr

After a very long period of revising and a much shorter burst of working on a short sekret thing, I'm now on the cusp of being between projects. And bonus, for the first time, I've actually got a couple ideas to play around with. Yay!

And since I'm almost between projects, I looked at a half-plotted project I got distracted from and made it a messy, but fully-plotted project, and thus began thinking about plotting. And how necessary it is to me, even though I don't particularly love the actually plotting part (I like having plotted, not actually plotting). And how different the story will look if I actually write it, because everything changes.

I've mentioned briefly before that I use outlines as guidelines, rather than rulebooks. But I thought it might be fun to go into more detail about that, at least in how it affects me.

From the outline to the first draft, I'd say they're probably about 80-85% the same—barring really drastic changes that force me to re-outline a big chunk of the book...but that hasn't happened in the first draft for me quite yet. From outline to *final* draft, however, the percentage is definitely wayyyy lower. For example, I frequently have to replot/rewrite the last third of the book or so in revisions (have I mentioned lately how much I dislike writing the climax and ending?).

In Beyond the Red, I'd estimate probably 70% stayed pretty close to the original outline—though I did change things throughout the manuscript, and yes, rewrite the last several scenes completely (I think at least three times). But with exception to the completely rewritten parts, most of the changes I made, though they were scattered throughout, didn't massively impact the plot overall.

Not so much with my most recent WIP. With that one, I had to rewrite parts of the opening, cut parts from the opening, rewrite sections in the middle, and COMPLETELY rewrite the last third of the book. There was very little that stayed. And I deviated while first drafting, too. So from outline to final-for-now draft, we're looking at probably... 50% the same? Somewhere in there.

So long story short, as vital as outlines are to me (because without them, I frequently get stuck, and also psych myself out about not knowing how it's going to end, etc.), sticking to them is not really my top priority. They're just meant to give me a direction so that while I'm first drafting I don't hit any major roadblocks—if only because I know where the story is going from here.

For those of you who plot, how much do you stick to your outlines? 

Twitter-sized bite: 

Plotters, how much do you stick to your outlines when writing & revising? Join the discussion on @Ava_Jae's blog. (Click to tweet)

Looking Back: BEYOND THE RED's Query

So! YA Scavenger Hunt is over (and for those of you who participated—I hope you had fun!), and for the hunt as exclusive content I shared BEYOND THE RED's query. Now that the hunt is over, however, I thought it'd be fun to share with you guys.

So without further ado, here is the query that led to my signing with an agent:

Dear Ms. Fury:

I am querying you because you requested that I do so with the first three chapters of my manuscript after reading my Secret Agent pitch. 

Kora, an eighteen-year-old alien queen, has a problem as vast as the endless crimson deserts. As she’s the first female ruler of her territory in generations, her people clamor for her younger twin brother on the throne, even in the face of his violent rages. But despite assassination attempts, a mounting insurgency of nomadic human rebels, and pressure to find a mate to help her rule, she's determined to protect her people from what think they want: her brother ruling them. 

Eros is a nineteen-year-old rebel soldier hated by aliens and human alike for being a half-blood. But that doesn’t stop him from defending his people, at least until Kora’s soldiers raze his camp to the ground and take him captive. He’s given an ultimatum: be an enslaved bodyguard to Kora, or be executed for his true identity—a secret kept even from him. Some choice. Without another way out, he begrudgingly agrees to keep her safe.

When Kora and Eros are framed for the attempted assassination of her betrothed, they must flee. Alone, under the light of the four moons, Kora realizes her feelings for Eros may be more than respect. But out in the vastness of the desert, they aren’t safe from predators—or dehydration. Their only chance is to turn themselves in to the high court, but when they uncover a violent plot to end the human insurgency in the process, they must find a way to work together to prevent genocide.

SLAVE & SIRA is a dual-POV 74,000-word New Adult Sci-Fi novel with crossover potential that may be described as THE GIRL OF FIRE AND THORNS on a technologically advanced alien planet. It is a standalone novel with series potential.

I run a writing blog, Writability, which is two years old and receives nearly 1,000 daily page views. I've also written guest posts for top-tier blog Problogger, and I am a reading intern at [redacted literary agency].

Thank you for your time and consideration.

Fun asides:

• Beyond the Red was originally New Adult (which surprises approximately no one when I mention it).


• Beyond the Red's old title is not nearly as awesome as the one it ended up with (have I mentioned how much I agonize over titles?)


• This query was actually later revised again and again and again as I continued submitting to other agents (before I got the call, of course). Goes to show there's some wiggle-room in terms of polish.


• Due to a blog contest (which I mention here) my now-agent actually read the first page before the query. Which in this case worked very well in my favor. :)

Twitter-sized bite:

Want to see a query that worked? @Ava_Jae shares the query that led to her signing w/ an agent. (Click to tweet) 

Discussion: Are You a Schedule-Type Writer?

Photo credit: @lattefarsan on Flickr

A few days ago, someone on tumblr asked me what my schedule was like, because they were curious about how I juggled writing, school, and editorial work alongside blogging and vlogging. I started answering with the expectation that it'd only take me fifteen to twenty minutes tops to detail out my weekly schedule, but my estimate was just a little off—it took me over an hour (though this is partially because tumblr bugged out and deleted my post when I was nearly done the first time, but anyway).

As I wrote up my schedule though, there were frequently times when I had to go back and add things because I'd forgotten I also did x and y and don't forget z. It was kind of a good exercise for me, if only because I realized I was busier than I imagined—which made me feel a little better about falling behind on things and/or being tired.

For the curious, this is the answer I gave:

Of course, that doesn't detail everything, and the time spans are rough estimates, but the idea is the same.

For me, scheduling is necessary because otherwise I doubt I'd be able to juggle so much. A rearranging my schedule several times a year is also necessary because depending on the time of year and/or what's going on, my available time for work and what work I need to prioritize changes.

I know, however, that not everyone is into organizing and/or scheduling their days like I do, so I'm curious. Do you use daily or weekly schedules to get through your tasks, or do you keep your days more flexible? 

Twitter-sized bites:

Are you a schedule-dependent writer? Join the discussion on @Ava_Jae's blog. (Click to tweet) 

Author @Ava_Jae shares her current weekly schedule & asks who does/doesn't use schedules. Do you? (Click to tweet) 

Vlog: 5 Books You Should Read

I've been doing lots of reading lately, and it's been a while since I've done a book recommendation vlog, so here we go! Five books I definitely enjoyed and you should all read ASAP. :)

RELATED LINKS: 

• SIX OF CROWS by Leigh Bardugo
• My review
• SWORD AND VERSE by Kathy Macmillan
• ON THE EDGE OF GONE by Corinne Duyvis
• THE GIRL FROM EVERYWHERE by Heidi Heilig
• My review
• A DARKER SHADE OF MAGIC by V.E. Schwab
• My review
• How to Read More (vlog)
• 2016 YA Debuts I'm Excited About (vlog)
• Top 5 TBR Books (vlog)

What books have you read lately that you really enjoyed?

Twitter-sized bite:

Looking for some book recommendations? @Ava_Jae vlogs about 5 great books you should pick up. (Click to tweet)

Crafting a Killer Opening: Four Writing Contest Finalists Share Their Tips for Success by Martina Boone

Surprise! I don't usually host so many guest posts so quickly, but when the Adventures in YA Publishing team contacted me about this, I though it'd be perfect for you guys. Enjoy!

For me, finding the perfect first sentence and opening scene for a novel is actually the hardest part of writing. It doesn’t get easier no matter how many novels I’ve sold or how many editors I’ve worked with (at least not so far). And it’s a topic I constantly come back to in posts for both AdventuresInYAPublishing.com and the1st5PagesWritingWorkshop.com, probably because I keep hoping to find a magic formula that will make it easier. (Tip: There are no magic formulas for anything writing-related, unfortunately. : ))

Because a lot of people struggle with this topic, Sandra Held, Sarah Glenn Marsh, and I have asked the finalists in our recent Red Light, Green Light WIP contest at Adventures which was all about the opening and the pitch to share some thoughts on finding the strongest place to start.

Interested in test-driving the opening and pitch for your own WIP? The next agent-judged Red Light, Green Light contest opens for entries on 4/7/16.

Four Writing Contest Finalists Share Their Tips for Crafting a Great Beginning

Joan Albright: To me, a great first line must do 2 things - invoke a visual, and leave me with a question. Here are some of mine:

"Let it burn!" - Pegasus Chained
"Eva took out her frustration on Mateo’s white shirt, attacking wrinkles with her iron as if they had done her a personal affront." - Quetzalcoatl
"Silas clung to his tiny chainskiff, arms wrapped around the rail while it rocked and pitched and finally settled against the chain that held it in the sky." - The Bottomless Sky

And the opening line from my all-time favorite book:
"The palace still shook occasionally as the earth rumbled in memory, groaned as if it would deny what had happened." - The Eye of the World by Robert Jordan

There are other good ones, of course. I love the simplicity in the Animorphs' "My name is Jake," and Watership Down's "The primroses were over." But lacking something snappy, that really sets the tone for the story in one line, a visual with a question is always a safe fallback point. Even better if you can work in all three!

~*~*~

Laurine Bruder: Hoo boy, this is a tough one, especially since I've changed my beginning sentence a lot since the contest. But what I try to focus on the most is putting the character into a situation and you learn something about them through how they handle it. For example, Ivy was in a prison wagon. This doesn't seem like a scenario where someone can do anything, can they? But she's doing something. She's thinking. Not just thinking, but her mind is ticking, like a clock. This implies that Ivy is focused, she's logical, almost mechanic, and approaches her problems through planning rather than action. But it also begs the question: what is she thinking? Is she thinking of escape or how she landed there or how uncomfortable she is in a tiny box on wheels? One sentence is already doing so much and the next one has to do even more because the writer has to build on what he/she began with the first. First lines are tough, and sometimes you have to go through hundreds or more but eventually you'll find the right one.

~*~*~

Holly Campbell: Begin as far into the story as you can get away with. My personal strategy is to dive right in to the character's world. The opening is an invitation: "Let me tell you a story." If you spend too much time getting to the point, the reader may lose interest. I try to make an instant connection with the character, the setting, or the story in that first sentence.

~*~*~

Lana Pattinson: The beginning of your story is the most important thing you can work on. Period. I think I’m on version #4 at the moment…and I might change it yet again.

My advice? When you’re starting out, just put something on the page. You gotta start somewhere, and you can always edit it later. No…you WILL edit it later. Again and again.

When you’ve got a full outline or a partial ready, take a step back and ask…is this the best beginning I could have? Come up with 3 other ideas of how to start the story. You’ll be surprised at how your brain creates more exciting intros.

Sometimes I think you don’t really know your story until you’ve finished writing it. Then you go back to the beginning and insert specificity, foreshadowing, and meaning into each sentence. Every piece of dialogue needs to be written from the character’s world view. Write out all the world building and the backstory you think you need for the intro, and then copy it onto on a fresh document. Only put 25% of it back in.

I entered a contest where you sent in your first & last chapters, and synopsis. That was pretty eye opening for me. I could see where the first & last chapters mirrored each other, and where they didn’t, and that helped me to reshape the story more cohesively. Specifically, I could see where they mirrored each other in mood/tone and setting (or didn’t); and how to track the character growth/what they overcame throughout the story. And I made improvements in both because of that side-by-side comparison.

Top tip: Read Hooked by Les Edgerton. It’s like a play-by-play for your first five pages and will certainly help you win the Red Light / Green Light contest next time around!

Martina Boone (author of Compulsion, Persuasion, and upcoming Illusion) was born in Prague and spoke several languages before learning English. Her first teacher in the U.S. made fun of her for not pronouncing the "wh" sound right, so she set out to master "all the words”—she's still working on that! In the meantime she’s writing contemporary fantasy set in the kinds of magical places she'd love to visit.

What do you guys think? Do you have any opening pages tips?

Twitter-sized bite:

Struggle to come up w/ the right opening? Check out these tips from 4 contest finalists. #writetip (Click to tweet)

Book Review: A DARKER SHADE OF MAGIC by V.E. Schwab

So I'd been hearing lots about the Shades of Magic series and then in the summer of 2015 I saw V.E. Schwab tweet about Lila Bard being genderfluid and I knew I needed A Darker Shade of Magic ASAP.

@demijolras She has no connection whatsoever to her gender. She's gender fluid to the extent that someone in 1819 would intuitively be.

— Victoria/V.E. Schwab (@veschwab) August 13, 2015

As it turns out, ASAP ended up being early 2016, but I finally read it and WOW I am so glad I did.

But before I tell you guys why, here's the Goodreads summary:

"Kell is one of the last Travelers—rare magicians who choose a parallel universe to visit.
Grey London is dirty, boring, lacks magic, ruled by mad King George. Red London is where life and magic are revered, and the Maresh Dynasty presides over a flourishing empire. White London is ruled by whoever has murdered their way to the throne. People fight to control magic, and the magic fights back, draining the city to its very bones. Once there was Black London—but no one speaks of that now. 

Officially, Kell is the Red Traveler, personal ambassador and adopted Prince of Red London, carrying the monthly correspondences between royals of each London. 

Unofficially, Kell smuggles for those willing to pay for even a glimpse of a world they’ll never see. This dangerous hobby sets him up for accidental treason. Fleeing into Grey London, Kell runs afoul of Delilah Bard, a cut-purse with lofty aspirations. She robs him, saves him from a dangerous enemy, then forces him to another world for her 'proper adventure'. 

But perilous magic is afoot, and treachery lurks at every turn. To save all of the worlds, Kell and Lila will first need to stay alive—trickier than they hoped."

Photo credit: Goodreads

So first of all, I don't read a whole lot of Adult Fantasy—but wowwww this was so so so good and I'm glad I stepped out of my usual reading because I loved it. The pacing at the beginning was a little slower than I tend to like (but expected, given that it's an Adult Fantasy), but I was still totally interested while reading because of the characters and world building. The layered Londons makes for such an interesting (and complicated!) setting, and I loved seeing the differences between them, from the access of magic, to the physical setting, to the people and the languages they spoke.

The magic system itself was really interesting to read, and I very quickly connected with Kell, Lila, and Rhy. Kell and Lila made for especially interesting point of view characters, and learning about their motivations and desires and what makes them tick was totally fascinating.

And! I was *so* drawn to Lila, like whoa. From her snark, to her gritty (and stubborn) determination, to her masculine style, Lila's character really resonated with me—probably more than I've experienced from an AFAB (assigned female at birth) character ever. I can't wait to read more about her (and Kell and Rhy, of course!) in A Gathering of Shadows, which I don't have on hand yet, but absolutely will because THIS BOOK WAS SO GOOD.

I also want to make a note about the antagonists because I loved (and loved to hate two of them) so much. I won't name them, since at least one is kinda spoilery, but I will say my favorite characters extended being the main three. I kind of loved every character for a different reason, which is super rare for me with books.

A+ character development, A+ world building, A+ need more right now—this book was an easy five star rating and I honestly cannot recommend it more to fantasy lovers. If you haven't read it already, you need it like yesterday.

Diversity note: Major character Rhy is openly bisexual, and Lila is pansexual and genderfluid.

Twitter-sized bites:

.@Ava_Jae gives 5 stars to A DARKER SHADE OF MAGIC by @veschwab. Is this unforgettable Fantasy on your TBR? (Click to tweet) 

Want a Fantasy w/ nonbinary & bi characters? Check out A DARKER SHADE OF MAGIC by V.E. Schwab. (Click to tweet)