Writing Work In Progress

Claws Around the Cage

Adrian

I learned something after 2 years of hanging out on the SCBWI discussion boards. And the Blue Boards (when they were still separate). And occasional contests and… well, you get the idea. This is what I learned.

I was no longer learning much.

Because I wasn’t a newbie writer anymore. I was weighing in on random topics, gossiping, and helping people new to the boards. But not really improving my own craft. So I shelled up, became a hermit crab, and started making sure my limited free time either improved my writing, or WAS writing in some fashion*. It doesn’t replace writing. And hopefully never will.

So this is what I learned:

Limit your online time.

Limit the number of blogs you follow. Prune.

And limit the time you spend aimlessly wandering discussion boards and getting sucked into heated debates and critiques. Especially once you’ve moved up the learning curve and would benefit more from the insight of industry professionals (those who spend time on a professional polish, rather than the basic foundations of writing). You don’t have to cut it out entirely, but be careful it doesn’t suck up all your time**.

So build a cage, and put the laptop in there with you.

Then Write. Ruthlessly guard your time, and the value you get out of any writing activity. Learn new things. Don’t get stuck in a rut.

…

So what are you waiting for? Write!

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*yes, yes, I know that I have a blog on the topic of writing, which contradicts all this with great irony, but my blog has a stated purpose and time allotment each month, which I’m pretty firm about keeping.

**Fair warning: opinions vary, and this is just mine. The optimal approach to writing discussion board participation depends on what your priorities are. If fun and social interaction is what keeps you going down this thankless road, feel free to disregard! 🙂

For a general update, my short story is now up on OWW and I opened all my files on the Broken Detective (new title forthcoming), the old unloved story that I want to spruce up and put out into the world. A bit exciting and daunting, but hopefully this will be a fun detour for a few months. I still think it’s worth doing. We’ll see what the rest of the world thinks. 🙂

The featured image here is ink and black Prismacolor. I’m experimenting a bit to see if I can figure out a low maintenance style that would work well on the go, as I might consider a little bit of art in the Broken Detective manuscript if so. If I can make it convenient, it would make it a lot more likely!

circles

Overlapping Circles, I’m Enamored!

Adrian

I remember a post once that said you can’t break down all the pieces of a story and line them back up again, like you would the building blocks of a castle (can you tell I have young boys who like Lego?). The reason is that the elements of a story overlap. Each scene accomplishes multiple goals. The first scene especially. Let’s look at a sample first line:

The man in the torn coat strode toward the army checkpoint.

A single line, but it helps develop plot, character, and tension all at the same time. To tackle each element, for example with a single sentence each, would be too clunky. You need to multi-task (please don’t tell my wife I’m capable of such! It would shatter her world view…).

So in the last few days, based on some new word processing skills, I have to admit to loving overlapping circles, as shown below. So I thought I’d help use them to make this point. And also do some work on my new short story at the same time. The circles are the elements that I want to incorporate in my first scene, to make the story start off well. See the image below to see how I worked through the exercise:

overlapping circles w website

 

Just filling in circles won’t give you the answers on how to accomplish all the things you want, but it will certainly point out things you’re missing, and get the good old hind brain working on how to fix it.

I have found that it’s good to put some thought into what you want to achieve before you start the first draft of a scene. Partly because those words, once written, seem to solidify on the page, at least for me, becoming brittle and harder to change with each day that passes. It’s easier to get it right the first time. Or at least try.

And let’s face it, those circles are pretty. Aren’t they? 🙂

 

…really, please don’t tell my wife I can multi-task.

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As always, images are copyright. Please link to, but don’t steal them…

 

 

devilsih baby

Personal Randomness

Adrian

A short personal update (there’s been lots of craft posts lately).

I have to admit that I’m a bit overwhelmed with the free time that I’ve suddenly got in the last couple of days, as my Black Diamonds edits are done, the manuscript as ready as I can get it at this point, and nothing else major started yet. Aside, of course, from sick kids (do they ever get healthy?), a crazy job, and keeping the wife happy (in other words, cleaning the house). That’s just normal, right? 🙂 Anyway, given the significant time investment most of my projects take, I wanted to take a couple of days before committing to anything big, despite this unfamiliar spare time.

So, after some thought, I decided that I would:

  • Take part in #PitMad, a twitter pitch contest (look at me, all social media active all of a sudden! He he, find me @AdrianCross15. If I stay active, I may put the link on the site more permanently). I think this will be fun, although my work schedule on Sept 9 is starting to look so hectic that I may not be checking in to the event much while it’s actually on.
  • Waiting for my Black Diamonds synopsis comments to come back, from the recent Writer’s Digest webinar event, which included a critique. Once I have that, I’ll start putting Black Diamonds out into the world. I think it’s ready, but still a daunting thought. Hopefully it’s well received! (if not, oh well, there’s always the next one.)
  • Create a cover image for my shelved manuscript, Broken Detective (probably not the final title), which I think is the next major writing project I’ll tackle. It’s a manuscript with a lot of good stuff in it, but some serious wounds to patch up as well, particularly in the opening scenes. As I’ve mentioned before, my current intention is to re-work it and then send it out into the world as an ebook (unless some agent wants to take a look at it, but the query letter has already made the rounds). As a result, cover art will come in handy when it’s finished. I’m not expecting to start a completely new novel until 2015, although there are lots of ideas in the hopper for when that time comes.
  • Write a fantasy short story (I’ve already got the ‘cool idea’ and am sketching out the rest of it), for submission to OWW (the Online Writer’s Workshop) and maybe to a wider audience, although we’ll see how well received it is at OWW first. I think that a new short story will make a nice change of pace for me, exercising some creative muscles before settling down to hardcore editing again, as I try to patch up Broken Detective.
  • I would also like to do some more site images, but we’ll see how the time goes. I’ve also decided to work on a non-fantasy art project on the side, so any large and polished art projects may stall until that’s finished (ok, I’ll cave and tell, it’s a cool picture book idea that I’ve mulled over for years and finally think is ready to take to the next level, but I don’t do picture book stuff under this site, so you’ll have to hunt elsewhere for that!) 🙂

And that’s the plan. And I have to smile. Because as I’m typing this, I’m also listening to Wiggle Wiggle (Jason Derulo and Snoop Dog) on my headphones and it reminded me of yesterday when I drove the two Hooligans home from daycare. The 2yr old was enthusiastically singing along to this song on the radio:

“Wiggle, wiggle, wiggle.”

So inappropriate. And funny.  🙂

The image here is just a cropped version of one I’ve shown earlier. But it reminded me a lot of my two year old, so there you go. 🙂

swordsman 500

The difference between listening to a lecture on velocity, trajectory, and the tensile strength of steel… and getting a dart in the ass.

Adrian

You can read all the writing manuals you want, physician but there’s nothing like a knowledgeable and impartial publishing professional giving you feedback*. I’m talking about paid critiques at writing conferences, case or First Page sessions.

I love writing conferences. And I hate them. It’s like going to a wonderful party with interesting new people—but knowing that for one terrible ten minute stretch, here you’ll have to strut around naked in front of them, while paying for the privilege, even as a personal trainer loudly points out your various bodily flaws, and states they would never date you.

Think I’m exaggerating? I suspect most writers would either agree with me, or have become so successful that they’ve forgotten the feeling–and possibly become that loud personal trainer themselves. 🙂

BUT the most valuable part of a writing conference is EXACTLY that. The five or ten minutes ‘naked’, hearing criticism that is tailored to where you are in your writing journey. Because guess what. Writing flaws can be fixed. Even more, they’re expected. Everyone has them (or almost everyone) and they should be expected. Writing craft takes time to develop. But one of the most frustrating situations to be in, and the most stunting to actually getting published, is not knowing what you’re doing wrong. And that can easily happen, in a world where agents are too busy to give personalized rejections. Paid critiques are usually a rare chance for professional feedback.

Let’s give a real life example. Back when I first started writing Black Diamonds, when I was still brainstorming the concept, I signed up for a SCBWI conference, and an opportunity to get a paid critique from an author and freelance editor was offered. I accepted, paid my $40 or whatever it was, quickly drafted three opening pages for Black Diamonds, and submitted it.

Two months later, I arrived at the conference, got lots of wonderful speeches and casual chats with other writers, then had to face my one on one critique session. I sat down across a table from a stern-faced lady who proceeded to list all the things I was doing wrong. She didn’t like my descriptions, they didn’t have specific detail; she didn’t like my writing style, too simplistic, closer to middle grade than young adult; and she really didn’t like my opening scene, she thought that I’d started in the wrong place**.

If I hadn’t had some time in the writing trenches, I probably would have been squashed at that point. Horrified. Mortified. And admittedly, it still wasn’t a super fun moment, because you’re never expecting any of the things that are said. Because, if you’d have known what was wrong, you’d have fixed it, right? Or at least I would have done.

But, as I’ve been trained to do, I thanked her politely. She then frowned and apologized for her comment on my prose. I think she expected that one to be devastating. But I just shrugged. I was confident it could be fixed. I’ve written both prose plain and lyrical (see the post on poetry in writing), simple and complex. To me, that’s just editing, and style choice. Honestly, I was more interested in her comment on plot.

Because she was right. I saw it immediately. I’d missed something. Despite her comment meshing with things I’d clearly read it in writing books, I just hadn’t seen it. I was too close to my own work and ended up with a blind spot, that took an unbiased view to point out.

That conversation, for all its negatives, was some of the best money I’ve spent on my writing. Way more valuable than any of the speeches that preceded it.

So I deleted those three pages, found a place to start that I was happier with (stumbling down a mountainside with a wounded brother, which plays more heavily to a reader’s curiosity) and have had positive reader reactions to those pages ever since.

I have had this or similar experiences several times, which is usually beyond what I can achieve in a critique group, where the bluntness, level of knowledge, and impartiality is almost by definition lower. No offence to my critique partners, they’re great and talented writers, especially now, but when we first started out we were all aspiring authors, with similar flaws and blind spots. We’ve improved together, but early on, none of us could have offered the same quality of feedback that a publishing professional could.

It’s up to you what you do with this information, but I would encourage you to keep reading craft books, polish your craft by writing as often as you can, and join a critique group if that’s your thing (people tend to be really hot or cold on this). But every once in a while, if you can afford or beg it, find an industry professional to give you feedback on YOUR work.

A dart in the ass hurts. But it sure does get you to the finish line faster. 🙂

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* I’m assuming that the person giving you feedback is a reputable professional, with reasonable knowledge of craft. I would guess that for most SCBWI events near major population centers this should be true, but obviously, do your due diligence, as best you can. Bad advice is worse than no advice at all.

** For those curious, I opened the first three pages with the main character’s mother’s death, in a fairly busy action scene. The critiquer noted that it fell flat because there was no empathy and little tension, despite the violence, because the reader didn’t know the characters yet. So, it was theoretically horrible, but didn’t really strike the reader in a significant emotional way.

 

The featured illustration is the one I started earlier, and showed with this post. Watercolor. Enjoy! And you know why I had time to finish it? You guessed it. Edits are done! Whoot, whoot! Now I’m writing a synopsis, getting ready for a twitter pitch party, and otherwise celebrating my sudden abundance of free time. 🙂

 

My Spherical Pink Mass has an Uzi (or when the Creative Mind rebels)

Adrian

Bit of a disturbing image, sorry. But a fun cartoon. But when the going gets repetitive, my mind starts going… well, anywhere but the grinding routine it should be doing.

My best whimsically funny writing comes after a day of being incredibly organized and single minded at work. My hottest flashes of plot innovation come while robotically brushing my teeth or walking the dog. And flashes of incredibly compelling story ideas bubble up and call to me when I’ve committed myself to editing.

Um, like now.*  🙂

Edit, edit, edit. God, I’m bored with it. Fun and shiny ideas call to me! Grrr.

My chubby pink warrior will do anything to not grind out one more revision. Even draw himself armed to the proverbial and missing teeth. He he.

Unfortunately, the fun’s now up. Post’s done. Back to editing, big guy! 🙂

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Still working on polishing Black Diamonds, for the record. Be so nice when it’s done and I can move on to editing something else. 🙂 Or creating. Oh yes, or creating.

This image was done with a new set of Prismacolors that I bought myself out of nostalgia for looking at all my old teenage pictures. Of course, actually using them reminded me that you can get pretty rusty not using a certain media for twenty years or so. 😉