Be Genuine

“Every author in some way portrays himself in his works, even if it be against his will.” –Goethe

Be yourself. Two words most of us have heard since kindergarten, repeated endlessly almost to the point of cliché.

But the funny thing about those two ever-repeated words is that out of all the writing tips I could think of, this one stuck out to me the most. And it’s not just a writing tip really, it’s a life tip.

Be genuine.

But what does that have to do with that super-awesome fantabulous quote at the top? you wonder. It’s simple, really.

As the quote says above, parts of yourself will evidently end up in your writing (or any other art form, really). It’s inevitable. For writing, it’s in the cadence of your words, the essence of your story, the life of your characters—it’s intertwined into the very fiber of your work.

So if you’re trying to “improve” yourself by pretending to be someone you’re not, it will also, inevitably, show in your writing. It’ll come out stilted, forced and unnatural. People will notice.

For some people being genuine comes naturally—as it should. For others, it’s intimidating. There’s the fear of rejection and the fear of being viewed as a fake (even though you’re truly trying to be just you), to name a few.

But friends, being open and being yourself is key. In your writing. In your workplace. In your life.

Don’t be afraid to be honest in your writing—someone will taste its truth and it will resonate.

Don’t be afraid to be real on your blog, your Twitter, your tumblr, whatever your social media savvy is—your personality is what will make it special.

Don’t be afraid to be you—you are special, you are unique and no one else can do you better.

And for fun…favorite quotes! GO!

Making the Connection: Author-Reader

Photo credit: New Media MK on Flickr

So you’ve gone through your manuscript and you’re sure your characters are making the connection. They’re alive—smart, funny, stupid at times (and they’re NOT any of these). They make you laugh, cry, and scream in frustration. Good. You’re halfway there.

Now you need to make another connection—one that many writers (as many of us are introverts) struggle with.

The Author-Reader connection.

I don’t need to tell you how the world has changed in the last ten years alone. You already know that there used to be a time when authors wrote books and chose whether or not to connect with their readers after publication. If they did, they’d go on book tours and sit through hours of book signings and the especially nice ones would conduct interviews and host book readings.

I’ve touched on this before. Now I’m really going to dive into it.

Things are different, my friends. Long gone are the days when the Author-Reader connection didn’t begin until you had a book on the shelves. Now it doesn’t matter. Thanks to social media, you can begin to build relationships with your future potential readers now. It doesn’t matter if you have a published book or an agent. Hell, it doesn’t even matter if you’ve finished writing your first novel. When it comes to forging that connection, you can’t start too soon.

It took me a while to grasp that. I read this post by Nathan Bransford and protested the notion for months. But who would want to follow me? I thought. I don’t even have an agent looking at my work. I’ve never been published.

Who the hell would read a blog post written by me?

Well, as it turns out, at least 68 of you. Plus many more Twitter followers than I ever thought I’d have.

Things are different now, fair readers. I have at least one book in my TBR pile that I discovered not because of raving reviews, but because I thought the author was an awesome person. I should read her book, I thought, not because of a stunning blurb or a gorgeous cover, but because I liked her as a person. The fact that it did have an amazing blurb was a bonus.

The time to make a connection with your readers is now. I don’t care what stage of writing you’re in. If your eventual goal is to be published and you aren’t reaching out to your potential future readers, you’re missing out.

Start now. Don’t wait.

Take it from someone who was, at first, too scared to jump in. People will be interested to hear what you have to say, I promise. Go out there, just be you, and your personality will shine through. People will see it and they’ll gravitate towards you.

Then, before you know it, you’ll have a nice boost to your confidence as well as a circle of wonderful new friends.

What stage of writing are you in? Have you started forging your Author-Reader connection? If so, what reservations did you have before jumping in?

Making the Connection: Character-Reader

So first and foremost (and I really need not say it) there have obviously been a few changes to the blog. I sorta, might of spend all day yesterday redesigning it. What do you guys think?

I now have pretty buttons that link to my tumblr and deviantart, which really need more attention. I'll be working on that (pinky swear!). But I figured I'd let you guys see my artsy side.

Now! Onto the writerly stuff: the post.

I think one of the most important accomplishments of the writer (or any other artist, for that matter) is the connection.

There are two types of connections that I’m going to cover in the next two blog posts:

1.          The Character-Reader Connection
2.        The Author-Reader Connection

As you can see by the title, I’m focusing on the first.

What establishes the connection between the character and the reader is hard to define. For first person, I think a lot of it has to do with voice. I hesitate to say that it’s easier to create a connection when you’re writing in first person because if the voice isn’t right, the connection won’t be made. It’ll feel fake, stilted, and worst of all—*shudder*—forced.

Third person may take a little longer to establish the connection (since you’re starting right off the bat a step farther from first person by describing the MC as “he” or “she”) but I wouldn’t call one easier than the other. They both have challenges you’ll need to overcome to create that spark.

I’m not going to sit here and tell you what to do with your character to create the connection, though, because I’m still figuring it out myself.

I WILL tell you, however, about some character types that serve as immediate turn-offs that will sever that connection in an instant.

•       The Whiner. You know that person who never shuts up about every minor problem they’ve ever encountered EVER and just goes ON AND ON about it until you want to SLAP THEM IN THE FACE WITH A FISH. Yeah. Don’t let your character be that person.
•       The Wimp. I’ll offer a small exception to this one: your character may start off as a wimp, but he better not be one for long. Readers have a low tolerance for wimps. This applies to both girls and boys, and I’d say especially girls. Because no one wants to follow a female protagonist who’s waiting for the next Prince Charming to save her. Save yourself girl, and kick Prince Charming in the nads. It’ll make the story a lot more interesting.
•       The Jerk. I’m not saying your character has to be nice to make a connection—some of the most interesting characters aren’t. What I AM saying is your character has to be nice sometimes or else the readers will tire of his badass attitude. Here’s a little secret: every badass has a soft side. If he says he doesn’t, he’s lying. Go find it.
•       The Pessimist (or the Emo Kid). I’m mean to my characters. Very mean. Once they start going emo on me, I hit them upside the head with a fish. Their pessimism is not welcome here. Like many of the other traits, this is acceptable for a phase, but nothing more than that.  I have one character who tries to commit suicide. Guess what? It doesn’t work. Not only does it not work, but he realizes what a moron he was being (with some help from his friend) and mans the hell up. That’s all the emo-ness I will tolerate and he doesn’t do it again for fear of death by fish slap.

Readers need to like your characters at least a little bit in order to connect with them. You want your reader to cheer for your MC and groan when he/she does something stupid. Without the connection, your characters will fall flat and your readers will move on to something else.

Next up on Wednesday: The Author-Reader Connection.

What characters do you think made the best connection? The worst? What do you think attritubted to your connection or lack thereof? 

To Be Read: The Ever-Growing List

So since I thought I might change things up a little, I decided to talk about books. Specifically, my to be read pile.

Because I write YA, it should be no surprised that my favorite genre to read just so happens to be YA. Specifically dystopian or paranormal. Something about those genres gets me excited every time, provided it has a decent story behind it.

Have I mentioned I’m a little picky with what I read?

Anyway, here we go. My TBR pile. I got all the pictures and summaries off of Goodreads. 

1.        Across the Universe by Beth Revis
   “Seventeen-year-old Amy joins her parents as frozen cargo aboard the vast spaceship Godspeed and expects to awaken on a new planet, three hundred years in the future. Never could she have known that her frozen slumber would come to an end fifty years too soon and that she would be thrust into the brave new world of a spaceship that lives by its own rules.
   
   Amy quickly realizes that her awakening was no mere computer malfunction. Someone - one of the few thousand inhabitants of the spaceship - tried to kill her. And if Amy doesn't do something soon, her parents will be next.
   
   Now, Amy must race to unlock Godspeed's hidden secrets. But out of her list of murder suspects, there's only one who matters: Elder, the future leader of the ship and the love she could never have seen coming.”
   
   
   I picked this one up at Borders and was drawn in immediately. Something about the nasty, painful procedure that makes you “frozen cargo” and the first person POV pulled me in. The book alternates in POVs between Amy and Elder (I’m assuming her future love interest) and though I found that a little jarring, I think it still works. From the little bit I read, anyway. I suppose I’ll find out.
2. 
   

   2.    Matched by Allie Condie

   

          “Cassia has always trusted the Society to make the right choices for her: what  to read, what to watch, what to believe. So when Xander's face appears on-screen at her Matching ceremony, Cassia knows with complete certainty that he is her ideal mate . . . until she sees Ky Markham's face flash for an instant before the screen fades to black.
   
   The Society tells her it's a glitch, a rare malfunction, and that she should focus on the happy life she's destined to lead with Xander. But Cassia can't stop thinking about Ky, and as they slowly fall in love, Cassia begins to doubt the Society's infallibility and is faced with an impossible choice: between Xander and Ky, between the only life she's known and a path that no one else has dared to follow.”

   
   

         I read the first page of this one at Borders, too. I like the voice, and I’m a sucker for the occasional love triangle. Looks interesting and I currently can’t get enough of dystopia so…added to the list!
   
   
3.        Forbidden by Ted Dekker and Tosca Lee (September 13, 2011)
   

   “A terrible truth has been revealed to one man: the entire human race has been drained of every emotion except one— fear. To bring life back to the world, Rom must embark on a journey that will end either in his own demise or a reawakening of humanity. But to bring love and passion back into existence will also threaten the powers of the world with the revolution and anarchy that had nearly destroyed them previously.
   
   
   After happening upon a journal through strange circumstance, Rom's world is shattered. He learns that humanity long ago ceased to "live," that it exists today in a living death of emotions. In a terrible risk, Rom exposes himself to the vial of blood folded into the old leather of the journal. His change is fearful and fraught with mind-bending emotion. A once-pious observer of the Order's passionless statues, he is filled with uncontrollable impulses. He is filled with love.
   
   
   He is undone, terrified, and alone in the desolate world.”
   
   
   Ok, I was ready to preorder this one before I even knew it was about, but that’s because Ted Dekker co-authored it and well…I’ve mentioned my Dekker obsession before. ANYWAY. This book isn’t out yet, but I seriously can’t wait. I’ll be preordering it without a doubt.
   
   
4.        Shatter Me by Tahereh Mafi (November 15, 2011)
   “Juliette hasn't touched anyone in exactly 264 days. The last time she did, it was an accident, but The Reestablishment locked her up for murder. No one knows why Juliette's touch is fatal. As long as she doesn't hurt anyone else, no one really cares. The world is too busy crumbling to pieces to pay attention to a 17-year-old-girl. Diseases are destroying the population, food is hard to find, birds don't fly anymore, and the clouds are the wrong color. 
   
   The Reestablishment said their way was the only way to fix things, so they threw Juliette in a cell. Now so many people are dead that the survivors are whispering war- and The Reestablishment has changed its mind. Maybe Juliette is more than a tortured soul stuffed into a poisonous body. Maybe she's exactly what they need right now. 
   
   Juliette has to make a choice: Be a weapon. Or be a warrior.”
   
   
   Sadly, the cover hasn’t been released for this one yet, but I am very excited about this. Dystopian novel AND paranormal elements? C’mon, that’s like combining my two favorite genres in one. IN ONE. Needless to say, I’ll be preordering this one, too.
   
   
5.          Insurgent by Veronica Roth
   Ok, ok, I know it’s a little presumptuous to put this on my TBR pile before it has a blurb or a cover, but Divergent was just that amazing. I loved it and as soon as there’s a release date for Insurgent, I’ll be preordering it. 

So for the sake of not drowning you in a ridiculously long post, I’m ending it there, even though there ARE more.

Now! The fun part! I want to know, peeps, what’s in YOUR TBR pile?

How NOT to Edit

First and foremost, I had the pleasure of guest blogging about Harry Potter on the awesome Lyn Midnight’s blog yesterday. Considering it was my FIRST GUEST POST EVER, the feedback was truly humbling. I also learned that guest posting is fun and I would TOTALLY do it again. YAY GUEST POSTING!

SO. Now that I got that out. On to today’s blog post!

I made a mistake when approaching my very first read-through with my very first manuscript. I made this same mistake more than a couple of times with later manuscripts, too.

I edited.

Now, now, I know that doesn’t seem so bad, but hear me out.  I wasn’t just editing during my first read-through I was *shudder* line-editing. You know. Like you do to the final, polishing drafts.

It’s not that I didn’t know you were supposed to tackle the big things first—I knew that. But I had a pen in my hand and a stack of paper on my lap and the temptation was just too much. I saw something I didn’t like. I marked it up with my pen. I thought I did a good thing.

What I didn’t realize was that I might as well have carved out the final details to a rock. I forgot about the big things—the characters that needed tweaking, the scenes that needed cutting, the situations that sounded a million times better in my head that needed COMPLETE re-writing. Instead I was fixing awkward sentences and descriptions I didn’t like.

Then—even worse—I was moving on like it was ready for betas.

GOOD NEWS is I now see the error of my ways and vow to NEVER do that again. *phew!* I also decided to write a blog post about it to warn you awesome people about this trap. The first read-through is not a place for line edits.

Let me say that again: the first read-through is NOT a place for line edits. DON’T DO IT.

I’ve developed a method for myself to make sure I don’t fall into it again. It’s simple, really, and it acts as a laser crossbow to that tricksy little trap. TAKE THAT! HEE-YAH!

Eh-hem. For the first read-through I now keep a notebook and a pencil beside me. When I see something that needs fixing (and I DON’T mean an awkward sentence, that’s for later edits so RESIST, MY CHILDREN, RESIST!) I write it down in my notebook. I make a running list. See how long I can make it. The longer the better, really, because it means I’m being nitpicky which is what I want when I’m picking apart my WIP.

Because in the end, each fixed bullet point will make the new draft THAT much better.

SO! When you’re reading that shiny new WIP for the first time, remember to look out for the BIG problems. The characters that need fleshing out and the evil plot that upon second glance is actually a little bit ridiculous. Yeah, those bad boys. They need a butt-kicking first.

Then you can worry about making that manuscript sparkle.

Have you ever fallen into the line-editing trap? What tips do you have for the first read-through? 

Cooling Off

Finishing the first draft of a WIP is exciting. It’s that time when you jump around the house screaming OMG GUYS OMG I JUST FINISHED MY NOVEL LET’S HAVE CUPCAKES and then you have a baking extravaganza with lots of confetti and chocolate icing.

What? Don’t look at me that way. You know that’s totally your fantasy, too.

Anyway. If you announce the completion of your first draft on Twitter and I see it, I’ll throw virtual confetti at you because that’s just what I do. Wait. That’s not the point I was trying to make. Where was I?

Oh yeah. Upon completing the first draft, writers tend to have a lot of energy. We’re (usually) amenable to a day off, but our minds are already thinking about the editing and what it’ll be like to have it TOTALLY DONE FOR REALS. Oh, the excitement, the terror, the EXCITEMENT!

So it’s not surprising that I see this on Twitter all the time: I JUST FINISHED MY WIP CAN’T WAIT TO EDIT TOMORROW.

To which I slam my head against the keyboard and scream something incoherent reminiscent of a dying cat and a giggling goblin.

It’s tempting to begin editing your newly finished WIP immediately. I know. Even waiting a week is hard because you want more than anything to dive back into it and make it shine. But if you really want to get the most out of editing, if you really want to be able to see the flaws so you can stomp them out early, then guys you need a cooling off period.

This is not optional. In order to really edit your work you need to distance yourself, and that’s pretty difficult to do when you finished your WIP yesterday.

I wait a minimum of a month. During that month I distract myself with other things. This too, is important. If you spend your cooling off period thinking about your WIP, you haven’t done anything but waste your time, because you haven’t distanced yourself at all.

But AVA, you say. What am I supposed to do for a WHOLE MONTH? Do not despair! Distraction month can be great:

• Read a book. Or two. Or four. 
• Write a book. That’s right, start a new COMPLETELY UNRELATED story. No sequels. NO SEQUELS. Sequels make you think of the WIP you’re trying not to think about and that’ll just give you a headache. 
• Watch movies. Lots of them. Like, ridiculous amounts. I don’t know about you, but movies give me awesome ideas. Plus they’re just pretty sweet in general. 
• Go outside. Let’s face it, you’ve been writing probably a while now. When’s the last time you just chilled outside without thinking about your WIP? That’s right. Now get some sun on that pasty skin.
• Spend a day with friends and family. They missed you. Just don’t talk about your WIP. That’s against the rules.
• Travel. If you can, anyway. But if you get the opportunity, go for it. At the very least, you’ll make your Twitter friends jealous and you might get some inspiration for a new idea. 
• Dance! DANCE MY PRETTIES, DANCE! Err…I mean…dancing is good for you…or…something. IT’S FUN! 

You get the idea. The possibilities are endless; just do something that’ll take your mind off your WIP.

THEN, in a MONTH, guess what? Vacation’s over. Now get back to work.

What do you do during YOUR cooling off period?

First Draft Blasphemy

I’ve been hesitant about writing a post about first drafts because I don’t want to just reiterate what’s been said a million times. It’s an important topic though, so I don’t want to neglect it either.

Conundrum.

So I guess I’ll tell you the way I get my firsts drafts on paper, which isn’t exactly the norm.

Most have heard the Just-Get-It-Down rule, but as I’m aware not EVERYONE is able to slap words on the page without looking back, I’d like to add to the rule. But first a disclaimer: this works for ME. If you have no problem just slapping down a first draft then excellent. Please continue to do so. Truly, this method is for those like me who feel the need to edit SOMETHING along the way. People like me.

Ok. That being said, my philosophy when writing a first draft is to just get it down…but if you HAVE to edit, edit yesterday’s writing.

Now, now, before you all burn me at the stake for being a heretic, let me explain.

When I say edit, I don’t mean spending hours looking over what you wrote and moving major plot arcs around or anything like that. Please, PLEASE don’t do that. It’ll make finishing that first draft very near impossible.

In this case when I say edit, I mean review. See, every morning before I jump into writing I like to look over what I wrote the day before. This can take me anywhere from five to thirty minutes depending on how much I wrote. Why you ask? This is why:

THE BENEFITS:

1.       GET IN THE ZONE. The first few words of the day tend to be the hardest (for me at least) to write. Reading what I wrote yesterday puts me back in the zone. I fall into the story again and rather than trying to pick up based off the last paragraph, I remember everything that happened the day before, including those little nuances I completely forgot about so I can include it in today’s writing.

2.       OH WAIT BUT I GOT AN IDEA. Sometimes when I’m reading what I wrote the day before I get an idea. Sometimes it’s a big deal, sometimes it’s a minor adjustment. Either way I’ll incorporate it before I start today’s writing goal UNLESS it’s a major OH CRAP THIS CHANGES EVERYTHING event in which case I’ll start today’s writing like it already happened and make a note to change it later.

3.       IT PLEASES ME. The perfectionist in me in satiated when I read over what I wrote and make minor adjustments. After I do so I can shut off the editor and write freely for the day. Some part of me is just happier knowing that yesterday’s work wasn’t COMPLETE crap and that whatever I put down today will be tweaked tomorrow. Maybe it’s just me. Either way, in some weird, twisted way, editing yesterday’s work shuts off that part of me that wants today’s work to be perfect.

NOW. There is ONE rule to re-reading. ONE UNBREAKABLE RULE THAT MUST BE ADHERED TO AT ALL COSTS OR I WILL HUNT YOU DOWN AND SMOTHER YOU IN SHINY CONFETTI. 

The rule is simple:

READ ONLY YESTERDAY’S WRITING.

See? That wasn’t so hard, was it?

The reason this rule is so insanely important is because if you read anything more than that, you will fall into the editing everything trap. This is fatal. Ok, maybe not FATAL but very difficult to recover from and you really don’t want to have to deal with that, do you? Let me answer that for you: no. No you don’t.

So! Moral of the story is DON’T EDIT EVERYTHING PLEASE PLEASE PLEASE! Get that first draft down. Don’t stop to look back, but if you MUST then glance a little at yesterday’s work. Then move on. MOVE ON AND GET THAT DRAFT FINISHED.

Because shiny confetti is pretty until you’re being smothered in it.

What is your philosophy on first drafts? Do you tend to edit or just slap it down?