Why Do Your Characters Like Each Other?

Photo credit: Boris SV

When working on my last MS, I encountered an unexpected problem—at least, unexpected to me. 

I was writing a dual-POV novel with romance-y bits, and in a scene where one character confessed having feelings for one of my POV characters, one of my critique partners wrote a note along the lines of: ok, but why does he like her? 

I stared at that question for a while. She’s a POV character! I protested in my mind. Why wouldn’t he like her? 

So I sat down and began writing a list of (oh-so obvious) reasons why said character likes my POV character. Or, I tried to write a list, but stared at the paper and realized, with no small amount of horror, that I had no idea. 

You see, the love interest liked my POV character because that was what I’d planned. But somehow, I’d never really figured out why the love interest would like her to begin with, which, for romance purposes, is a tad bit important. 

Without a legitimate reason for your love interests to have feelings for each other, you run the risk of writing the always evil insta-love. Romance without a reason for characters to be interested in each other to begin with is unbelievable, because while initial attraction is easy, a real relationship won’t get very far if the characters don’t know why they like each other. 

This is something that I’m going to be paying special attention to from here on out, especially while revising, and it’s a question I recommend you ask yourselves while editing as well. Because if your characters don’t know why they like each other, I promise you your readers won’t know either. 

Do you know why your love interests like each other? 

Twitter-sized bites: 

So your characters are falling for each other. But do you know why? (Click to tweet)  

Do you know why your love interests like each other? Writer @Ava_Jae talks the importance of knowing the answer. (Click to tweet)

10 Quirks Only Writers Understand

Photo credit: kurichan+ on Flickr

Writers are weird.

As someone who embraces the titles of writer and weird proudly, it occurred to me that we writers often share a number of quirks that probably seem odd to the non-writing world.

While this is by no means a comprehensive list of writer quirks (because let’s face it, there are a lot more than ten), I thought it’d be fun to share some of my favorites*:

1. We speak in code. We get cloud-nine excited over an R&R, grab every ARC we can get our hands on, frequently reference The One and The Call, talk endlessly about our NA/YA/MG/PB/SFF/etc. WIPs and MSes, and go crazy during NaNoWriMo. All during a perfectly normal conversation on Twitter.


2. We have questionable search histories. This tumblr post basically says it all. Click through to the pictures. I promise it’s worth it. 


3. We talk about our characters like they’re real. Because they are. 


4. We never have enough books. My TBR list (there we go with the code again) is like space: infinite and always expanding. 


5. We have a love/hate relationship with words. We cry into our keyboards and jump for joy over the most amazing paragraph ever, often in the same day. Because writing is hard, but even when we hate it, we love it. 


6. We’d rather write a novel than a one-page synopsis. Writers around the world agree that synopsis-writing is the tenth circle of hell that Dante forgot to write about. 


7. We surprise ourselves with our writing. This is one quirk that I think probably surprises non-writers the most: even when we plan things out, our writing will often take a turn we didn’t expect. A character will reveal a secret we didn’t plan for, or make a decision that wasn’t in the outline, or do something that we thought was out of character until we realize we know less about his character than we originally anticipated. And personally, it’s something I’ll never tire of.


8. We pay attention to everything. When we’re upset, or get hurt, or excited, or caught out in the rain, we writers pay attention. When we see a stranger with a particular walk, or interesting look, we take mental notes. When we overhear a fascinating conversation or experience something wonderful/terrible/awe-inspiring/terrifying, we hold it in our minds for use in our writing. Because in order to create an immersive experience for our readers, we need to pay attention to every life-detail we can manage. 


9. We laugh at our own jokes. (And cry over things we do to our characters). Even when we plan for terrible things to happen to our characters (which isn’t always the case), we still get just as upset about it as our readers (hopefully) do. Also, our characters are hilarious, so by extension, so are we. 


10. We live in worlds that we created, even when we’re not writing. Writers are daydreamers, and there are few things we like to think about more than the worlds and characters that we’re writing about. And the best part? We can call it work. 

*Please note: if you don't have many (or any) of these quirks, it doesn't mean you're not a writer! This is just for fun. I promise.

What quirks would you add to the list? 

Twitter-sized bites: 

Writer @Ava_Jae shares ten fun writer quirks—how many do you have? (Click to tweet)  

Do you have any writer quirks? Come share your writer mannerisms at @Ava_Jae's blog: (Click to tweet) 

Scrivener’s Version of Track Changes

Photo credit: Joe in DC on Flickr

Remember that time I said that I didn’t know if Scrivener had a track changes feature, but I suspected it probably did and I hadn’t found it yet and my Scrivener n00bness was showing?

Well, I was right—Scrivener does have a track changes feature. Or at least, it has it’s own version of it, and I happen to have fallen in love with it.

This is what the first 250 words of my most recently completed MS looks like in Scrivener:

As you may have guessed, those beauteous rainbow colors aren’t there for aesthetic appeal (although they are pretty)—every color represents a round of editing. Blue for the second round, followed by green, then orange, then purple. First round of edits show up red, but I turned the color off while I was editing before I realized how much I like the colors. Anyway.

It’s ridiculously easy to do: on a Mac, you just head on over to Format (in the top menu bar) and choose Revision Mode > First/Second/(etc.) Revision.

What I really like about this system is that I find it really gratifying to scroll through my revised MS and see all the changes I’ve made laid out in beautiful, color-coded organization. It reminds me just how much work has been done with each revision. Plus, if you get tired of the colors, or want to export without having to change the text color in the final document, you can easily remove the colors by selecting Format > Remove Revisions.

And that’s it. Simple, easy and organized.

Do you use Scrivener? What’s your favorite feature?

Twitter-sized bites:

Do you use Scrivener? Here's a quick how to featuring Scrivener's version of track changes. (Click to tweet)  

Do you edit in Scrivener? Here's how to use it to color code your editing rounds. (Click to tweet) 

Helpful NaNoWriMo Links

Photo credit: mpclemens on Flickr

It’s the first day of NaNoWriMo! Which means, if you’re participating, and you’re here reading this post, you’re probably procrastinating. Or taking a break. Or procrastinating.

So short post today, because you should be writing. And so should I.

But that’s ok! Because in honor of thousands of writers around the world jumping in full steam ahead and making words happen today, I’ve decided to share some links with helpful NaNoWriMo tips, both from the archives here at Writability and from across the interwebs.

So here we go!

For those still not sure whether or not to participate (it’s not too late!)

• To NaNo or Not to NaNo? 
• NaNoWriMo Pep Talk from Rainbow Rowell
• Pep Talk from Yours Truly
• 12 Thoughts About NaNoWriMo (The Write Practice)

For those in the WriMo trenches:

• Great NaNoWriMo Survival Guide (bookgeekconfessions.tumblr.com)  
• Five NaNoWriMo Tips (tinyplasticdinosaurs.tumblr.com) 
• How (Not) to Be a NaNoWriMo Champ
• Brilliant post on the point of NaNoWriMo (Beth Revis) 
• Write and Don’t Look Back 
• How to Fast Draft
• How (Not) to Finish Your First Draft
• Why First Draft Writing Sucks (happier than it sounds, I promise)

Good luck, my fellow NaNoers! Remember that Write or Die is your friend, the writing community is here to cheer you on, and above all—keep writing! 

Twitter-sized bites: 

In honor of #NaNoWriMo, here are some tips compiled from the interwebs and Writability. (Click to tweet)  

Are you participating in #NaNoWriMo? Here are some motivational links and tips compiled just for you. (Click to tweet) 

Series or Standalone: Which Do You Prefer?

Just for fun, I decided to count up the books on my physical shelf (so these figures don’t include my e-book collection) and figure out the percentage of series versus standalone novels. Because that’s what everyone does for fun, right? Right.

Anyway. It was no surprise to me to find that the large majority of the books on my shelf were part of a series, but what I found interesting was the enormous discrepancy between series and standalone books, at least on my shelf.

For context purposes, my shelf is comprised of 37% Adult novels (nearly all from one author, heh heh)  48% Young Adult and 15% Middle Grade.

And for more context, the genre breakdown is as follows: 62% Fantasy (of all types—Paranormal, Urban Fantasy, High, etc.), 17% Thriller, 7% Sci-Fi (Note to self: buy more Sci-Fi), 3% Contemporary, 10% Dystopian and 1% Horror.

Now the series figures. Are you ready?

A whopping 82% of my bookshelf are books that are part of a series (versus 18%, for those who don’t like math).

And out of the series books, 44% are part of a trilogy.

Out of those standalone novels, 73% are Adult.

Out of the trilogies, 77% were Young Adult and 23% were Adult. (The two Middle Grade series I’ve collected on my shelf are part of a longer series).

So this probably says a lot more about my book buying habits than it does about trends and the industry, but I know I’m not the only one whose noticed that as of late at least, series seems to be king. Particularly trilogies. And I’ve noticed that some people seem to be getting tired of it.

I read a post not too long ago that mentioned that years ago, the promise of a trilogy made it easier to sell a book. It makes sense—the promise of more books equates more money in the long run, however, the post also mentioned that nowadays, you’re about equally likely to sell a standalone compared to a trilogy. (I forget what post this was from, but if anyone recognizes it feel free to let me know. I like giving credit where credit is due).

As far as reading goes, I’m not sure that I really have a preference. I love trilogies, series and duologies alike, although the trilogy format always seemed to be a perfect amount to complete a full story arc to me (although I still love longer series just as much, *ehem* Artemis Fowl, Harry Potter, Mortal Instruments and Percy Jackson). A series allows us to extend our time in worlds we love with characters we love, and I think that’s really special.

I’ve also seen a new trend of series comprised of companion novels, like the Graceling series the Losing It series, which I find especially interesting because they allow us to learn more about the story world an see aspects of that world that the original main characters couldn’t show us. And that, to me, is fascinating. As an added bonus—no cliffhangers! Every book has a fully completed arc from start to finish.

All that being said, I enjoy standalone novels just as much. The Fault in Our Stars was perfect on it’s own, as were some of my Adult favorites like Immanuel’s Veins, Thr3e and The Bride Collector.

As for writing, all of the manuscripts I’ve written thus far were written with a series in mind (although I haven’t written any sequels for reasons explained here). But with NaNo coming up and new ideas taking hold, I think I’d like to play with straight-out standalones in the future. With maybe an idea or two for companion books. Who knows?

So those are my thoughts, now I want to hear from you: when reading or writing (or both), do you prefer series or standalone novels? Why? 

Twitter-sized bites: 

When reading or writing, do you prefer series or standalone novels? Join the discussion at @Ava_Jae's blog. (Click to tweet)  

To series or not to series? Writer @Ava_Jae counts her books, makes pie charts & shares series & standalone stats. (Click to tweet)  

Quotation Marks: Not for Emphasis

Photo credit: interpunct on Flickr

A quick, (hopefully) informative post on today, on the proper use of quotation marks outside of
dialogue.

In this case, I’m not talking about using quotation marks for titles or to directly quote someone or something (which is entirely correct, and I imagine most of you know how to do that). Instead, I’m debunking a quotation mark myth.

There’s a common misconception about quotation marks that they can be used to emphasize something with a sort of air quote usage. I’ve often seen signs for “fresh” food or a “great” service, but you’re actually shooting yourself in the foot when you try to use quotations for emphasis.

Because the truth is, quotation marks outside of dialogue aren’t used for emphasis—they’re used to indicate something isn’t really whatever is within the quotation marks, that is, to denote sarcasm. So for example…

That “fresh” food isn’t actually fresh.

That “great” service is probably pretty terrible.

That “cheese” sandwich might not actually be edible.

Some other examples...

Photo credit: Brett Jordan on Flickr

Um...yikes?

Photo credit: The Letter E on Flickr

I gotcha. *wink wink*

Photo credit: alexliivet on Flickr

And I am now very "hungry."

Photo credit: hodgers on Flickr

Yeah...I don't even know what to do with that. 

Don’t believe me? Check out this great (and more comprehensive) post from The Write Practice. 

Repeat after me: quotation marks should not be used for emphasis, unless you want to be the subject of much snark and ire. Unless you’re trying to be snarky, in which case, air quote away.

What grammatical technicalities do you tend to trip up on? 

Twitter-sized bites: 

Do you use quotation marks for emphasis? You may be using them incorrectly, and here's why. (Click to tweet) 

Writer @Ava_Jae debunks a common misconception on quotation marks—with fun pictures. (Click to tweet)

How Important is Word Count?

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In a word? Very.

While I don’t think it’s something you need to stress over while first drafting—you can always refine during your revisions—after the first draft, you may want to take a good, hard look at your word count and make sure it’s within what’s expected for your genre and category. Particularly if you’re pursuing traditional publishing.

The truth is, if you’re way over or under the expected word count for your genre, it’s often a sign of a wide-scale problem in your WIP. That 200k-word YA tells agents that you need some major cutting: maybe your plot is unfocused, or you’ve got too many lengthy descriptions, or your pacing is way off, or the writing itself is rambling and unpolished. By the same token, that 25k YA tells publishing professionals that the story isn’t fleshed out. Maybe it’s true (which is likely), and maybe it’s not, but those are some of the assumptions that you’ll be facing.

If you’re not sure what the right word count is for your genre/category, here’s a great breakdown by agent Jennifer Laughran, which covers just about every fiction category except for New Adult and Adult.

Are there exceptions to the rule? Sure. There are always outliers, both successful and not on both sides of the scale, but the fact of the matter is, if you’re a debut novelist trying to get published, you don’t want to give publishing professionals a reason to automatically reject you. And a word count way over or under what is expected is one of those reasons.

In case you don’t read that fantastic post I linked to above, here’s a short snippet that I think is really important:

“* It is really not advisable to go over 100,000 words as a debut author, unless you already have a following. Consider yourself warned - 100k is often the magic number that makes editors and agents curse, cry, and possibly delete. Not that you CAN'T be published over 100k, it definitely happens for select super-awesome YA fantasy in particular... just that it really will be yet another hurdle for you.” 

(Read the rest of the post here. No really. Go read it). 

Getting published is difficult enough—the last thing you want is to make it more difficult for yourself by trying to be an exception to the rule.

Do you think word count is important? Why or why not?

Twitter-sized bites: 

Getting your manuscript's word count right is more important than you might think—and this is why. (Click to tweet)  

Don't try to be an exception to the rule—here's why getting your word count right is so important. (Click to tweet)