Happy Halloween!

It's Halloween, everyone. You know what that means! Candy, trick or treating, parties, horror movies, costumes, and scary stories galore! Heck yes!

Halloween has always been my favorite holiday.

Sorry, Christmas, you've gotta take the backseat. I'm riding shotgun with HALLOWEEN! Clear the road, everyone! 'Cause this crazy train is about to take off!

Actually, there is no crazy train this year. I'm just gonna snuggle up on the couch and watch some good, old-fashioned scary movies. Haven't picked them up yet, so if you've got any suggestions, let me hear 'em. Oh, and we're eating cake. Yeah...it's not even a Halloween cake, but I don't care. Any excuse to have cake works for me.

What are you guys doing for Halloween?

Are you dressing up? If so, what're you going to be?

HAPPY HALLOWEEN, LOVELIES!

NaNoWriMo is a No Go

I'm not participating in NaNo this year. 

NOT.

Sorry, guys. I gave it some real thought--I mean, I reeeeally thought about it--but I just can't participate this time around. I'm already doing a buttload of work with my other projects, so stacking something as rigorous as NaNo on top of that would be insane.

I actually really wanted to take part in all the "festivities" this year, but things just aren't in order. Le' sigh. But that's okay. It just means I'll have something to look forward to next year. And I can still cheer for all of you guys lucky enough to be participating.

So yeah, I'm just going to be a cheerleader for NaNo this year.

What about you?

Are you participating in NaNoWriMo this year?

HAPPY WRITING, LOVELIES!

A Word of Thanks...and Tipster Tuesday

I just want to thank everyone who stopped by yesterday and today to read my blogfest post. And a double-thanks for all my new followers--you guys are awesome and I totally love you. *big hugs* I look forward to getting to know all of you :)

I'm deciding to dub Tuesdays "TIPSTER TUESDAY."

I'm going to dish out a list of quick tips on certain topics and hope to heck you guys find it helpful.

Today's topic:

CHARACTER CHANGES

Characters are meant to be flawed. And those flaws are sometimes meant to change by the end of your story. Skye was much more immature and childish at the beginning of the story compared to what she was at the end. 

Characters need to grow and learn. And it's your job to make those changes possible...and plausible. If your changes just come out of left field, your reader isn't going to buy it. They'll see that you forced your character to change, instead of having them choose to change.

So, what can you do to bring those changes on naturally?

--Put your character in situations that challenge their views.

By challenging your characters, you're showing them there are other ways of thinking. You can use these situations to show your characters their way of thinking isn't right/they need to be doing thing differently.

--Show the character doubting his/herself.

When that character begins to consider changing, show that. Let your reader see your character actively trying to change their behavior/way of thinking. Show the character's frustration/confusion/whatever. You know...show, don't tell.

--Don't bring it on immediately.

Your characters are supposed to come off as real people and real people can be pretty set in their ways. If your character has been a gritty, rough-and-tumble guy through most of the book, don't have him suddenly become a perfect gentleman after realizing that's the way to the heroine's heart.

--Don't have them change because you want it.

Contrived character actions annoy readers. Your character must change naturally, when they're ready. NOT because you need them to change so the plot will move in the direction you want. For instance, don't have your character, who has detested his girlfriend's BFF for a while, suddenly change and be perfectly okay with them hanging out because you--the author--need them to work together.

So, for those of you who skipped to the end, here you go:

*Put your characters in difficult situations that make them realize their need for a change.

*Show the character realizing they need a change, don't just tell us about it.

*Don't bring it on too quickly, or the reader's head will spin.

*And don't bring on a change just because it'll push the story in your direction.

So, how do you like to show character change? 

Do you think all characters need to change or just some of them?

HAPPY WRITING!

Never-Ending Scene Blogfest

Brenda Drake is hosting the Never-Ending Scene Blogfest. Basically, you pick a scene (500 words or less) that ends in an awesome cliff-hanger! I chose a scene from my WIP, BROKEN. Skye is having an in-class argument with her best friend. Enjoy.

---------------

I grit my teeth. I don’t see how he can be so mean. “Don’t be such a jackass--”

“I’m a jackass?” he roars, jumping to his feet. Every head in the room snaps toward us. Dozens of eyes burn holes through my flesh. “I’ve been your lackey for five years and suddenly he shows up and I don’t matter anymore! Well, I’m not gonna take it. I’m done, Skye. I’m fucking done!”

“Kelvin,” Mrs. McMillan gasps, hands shooting to her wrinkled lips.

“Don’t worry--I’m leaving!” He grabs his backpack and thunders out of the room. The door slams, bringing with it a dull roar of giggles and whispers from my classmates. Even McMillan is chuckling. A hot wave of humiliation crashes down on my shoulders.

I can’t take this anymore.

I grab my bag and follow Kel’s lead. I stumble blindly down the halls, my eyes too blurred with tears to see. My heart drops into my shoes and shatters into a billion tiny pieces. I dig my hands into my pockets, hoping to find a tissue, but only come back with those stupid iron balls I bought this morning.

I choke back a sob, throwing them to the ground behind me. Frustration and shame and anguish rip my insides to bits. It feels like I’m spinning out into space, destined to burn up in the sun.

“Oh my gosh, Skye!”

I can’t see, but I know it’s Rachel. She’s the only one I know that would ever say “Oh my gosh.”

“Are you okay?” she asks, putting her hand on my shoulder.

I shrug her hand off angrily, not wanting to be around a fake friend when the only real one I’ve got is breaking my heart. “No! Do I look okay?”

“What’s the matter?”

“Go away.”

“But--”

I push her back. “Just stay away from me.”

“Skye, I thought--”

“You thought wrong! We’re not friends anymore, Rachel! And that’s never gonna change.”

I turn and run off down the hall, completely blinded by tears. I don’t even stop when I hear her yell, “Good! It’s not like I wanted to hang with a psycho like you anyway!”

I burst through the double doors at the front of the school and spill out onto the concrete. I’m a weeping mess with nowhere to go. I can’t walk home like this, but I’m not going back in there.

The air flickers around me and something moves in the corner of my eye. I freeze, throat tightening. I squeeze my eyes shut, telling myself it’s all in my head.

“Skye,” a horrifyingly familiar voice hisses.

I spin around. Two men. But not the specters I was expecting. These two are very real. Griffith and a dark-skinned stranger. I stumble away from them and try to scream, but my voice is caught in my throat.

Something connects hard with the back of my head. Heavy fog rolls into my mind, blotting out my vision. My knees buckle and I stagger forward, but never hit the ground. Someone catches me.

I get the strangest sense of flying.

Then, nothing.

Distractions, Distractions, Distractions...

Here I am, writing diligently, when I think, Hm...haven't checked my E-mail in a while. So I do. I've got a few new messages, so I figure, Well, as long as I'm already here...I might as well check my deviantART messages too. I do, but there's nothing new there. I go back to writing for a while, then remember, Oh, wait, you need to check blogger to see if anyone posted anything helpful.

And that goes on and on like that for a while.

Heck, in fact, I actually pulled myself away from writing this blog for five seconds and got caught up in that process all over again. And now it's been a draft for the last five hours when it could've already been finished.

Distractions are EVIL!

And yet, I get distracted so easily. I think it's the Internet's fault. I mean...it's my fault too for having such a short attention span, but come on! The Internet is sitting there, calling to me, reminding me I might have a new message that needs a reply. But then it wants to play innocent like it's all my fault I got off track. Psh. Freakin' interwebs...

I've actually been doing a lot of work in my notebooks lately for that exact reason. It's easier to stick to writing if I don't have a million other things only a few mouse clicks away. I get more work done that way. But...alas...now I have pages upon pages I've got to type over again. Aw well, that's at least better than not having those scenes written at all. I'll get 'em all transcribed eventually. I'm just glad I got through them without getting distrac...ooo, look at that shiny button!

What distracts you most when you're trying to write?
And what do you do to overcome it?


HAPPY WRITING, LOVELIES!

All Those Pesky Scenes

(Okay, everyone, I wasn't feeling too hot there for a little while, but I'm finally back on my feet! Whoot!)

First and foremost, I'd like to say there are no rules when it comes to scene length. They can be as long or short as you want.

BUT!
A word of caution...

Shorter scenes make the story seem more urgent, but that can also mean it feels rushed. Longer scenes are great for showing lots of action/character development/whatever, but can be tiring for the reader.

I remember I used to write these suuuuuuper long scenes, but when I'd try to read over them, I ended up getting distracted before getting to the end. I just thought that was because I had the attention span of a gold fish. But as it turns out, I was asking too much of my scenes. It took me a while, but I eventually learned (the hard way) that short scenes are just as super-special-awesome as long scenes.

All right, now that we've got that out of the way, we can get down to the nitty-gritty.

There are quite a few different types of scenes out there. If you want to know about each one in depth, I suggest picking up a copy of Make A Scene: Crafting a Powerful Story One Scene at a Time by Jordan Rosenfeld. I love, love, love that book. It's so insanely helpful. Even if you think you already know everything there is to know about writing (shame on you), you should still pick this book up.

These are just a few of the many types of scenes out there:

The First Scene
The first scene you need to worry about. The scene that sets everything in motion. Something interesting and important needs to happen. I've seen a lot of stories where the first few scenes are full of set up/build up. I say cut all that junk. But I'm not going to go into my opinions on set up again. If you want to see that, read my post on Set Up vs. Diving in Headfirst.
I have trouble with the first few scenes--always have. With BROKEN, (renamed it again. Thank you, Travis.) I had to rework the opening scene at least five times before I decided I was pleased. And I already know I'm going to have to redo the first few scenes in OPHELIA.
And there is nothing wrong with that. I think rewriting your first scene a few times is a good thing. I heard one writer say you should rewrite that scene at least twice. Now, I'm not sure if that's true for everyone, but it seems true for me.

Suspense
Besides actual action scenes, this is my favorite type. These are the scenes where you use foreshadowing/symbolism/other nifty literary term to build up tension for the characters and the readers. I love building up to that big moment when (excuse my language) shit goes down. The readers and the characters sense something is amiss, but they aren't quite sure what it is yet.

Drama
Things were a little touch-and-go between me and dramatic scenes for a while. Your characters are under intense emotional pressure and must react realistically. If things don't get heavy enough, the scene won't have enough impact, but if things get too heavy, you cross into melodrama. I used to either down-play the emotions too much, or blow them way out of proportion. Getting your characters to stay completely realistic during these very emotional times can be a little tricky sometimes. I read through a few of my favorite books to observe how those characters reacted, and eventually my drama started getting better. I'm not going to say it's splendiferous or anything, but it's better than it way.

Action
As I mentioned up there, I HEART ACTION! Which is weird, considering how docile I am. Anywho...do I really need to explain action? Yes? Le' sigh. Okay. Action is, basically...freakin' AWESOME! No--seriously, now. Look, this is my serious face.
Action scenes are when emotions boil over into more serious conflicts, or maybe it's when your MC is involved in a gun battle with a drug syndicate. This is (excuse my language again) where shit goes down! This is just a personal preference, but I believe short, choppy sentences work better for action. The words are sharper and have more impact. And it keeps everything move at a nice, quick pace.

Climax
The climax scene is where everything gets really, really real. Conflicts come to a head, emotions boil over--basically, it's on like Donkey Kong. The MC can either sink or swim. While this scene comes near the end, it usually isn't the actual ending, just the point where tensions are running the highest. The volcano that's been building up throughout your book is finally erupting and things have never been more complicated for the MC.

The Final Scene
Quite possibly the scene I struggle with the most. Writing endings for me is just...ARGH! That's the only way I can describe it. It's like taking my dislike of writing beginnings and multiplying it by some huge, imaginary number, like a hundred-thousand-bazllion. I like to believe it's because I'm also horrible with goodbyes and the ending is like saying a huge goodbye to those characters...unless you've got a sequel planned, of course. It's like saying, "Okay, it was fun writing you, but I'm done now. I'm gonna go do something else now. Thanks for the good times, though."
Ahem. Anyway, the ending should come after you've tied up all your strings and solved all your MC's problems. The ending has to be just as satisfying to the reader as the rest of the book. If you've got a strong beginning and middle, but leave off on a weak ending, you're going to tick a few readers off. They want payout--a big payout. If you spend the entire book building up to a huge fight, don't have the heroes talk it out with the villains in the end. That is...just horrible. Teasing in the worst kind of way.

Love Scenes
To be completely, 100% honest with you all, I'm not a romance writer. I love to sprinkle romance into my story, but I'm definitely no romance writer. But I can refer you to someone who knows what they're talking about. Roni Loren's romance tips kick the hell outta mine, so if you want to know about love scenes, read her posts, Types of Love Scenes and Love Scenes 101.

Would you suggest writing scenes out of order?

Do I suggest it? Not exactly. But if inspiration strikes and gives you the perfect ending, write it down! Don't let something like that slip through your fingers just because you're not quite there yet.

Can I leave a scene unfinished and move on to the next one if I get stuck?

Sure. That's cool as long as you know exactly how the scene you're leave off on ties in to the scene you're about to write. If you don't, it'll just mean more work for you when it comes time to finish that scene.

How do you keep track of your scenes?

Lots of notebooks. I just bought twenty not too long ago and I'm zipping through them like there's no tomorrow.

So, if something were to happen to those notebooks...?

I'd die.

HAPPY WRITING, LOVELIES!

Totally saw that Coming

M. Night Shyamalan, everyone. *applause*

Okay, who loves a good twist ending? Yep, me too. But, lately, I've been feeling a little jaded to twists. I can always figure it out before the big reveal. I mentioned the Demonata series. in my post about dead parents. I love that series because of the awesome twists.

But with the last few books, I totally called the twists. The books are still phenomenal and it's not like Darren Shan made the hints too obvious or anything--my mom read the books right after me and she didn't see any of it coming. (The end of the fourth book got me, but I called all of the other twists.)

Maybe it's because writers have sharper eyes for those things. Or maybe it's because I've finally seen everything and there's nothing left in the world that can surprise me.

What I'm basically trying to say is:
I want something to surprise me.

HAPPY WRITING, LOVELIES!

Digging Yourself a Hole and Climbing Out Again

I felt like I'd dug myself a nice deep hole with my writing. So deep, in fact, that when I stopped digging and looked over my shoulder, I felt like I'd never be able to get out. I had sunk myself in so deep, with so many projects, I had no idea what to do. And I panicked a little.

But I'm here today, so I must've figured out how to get out, right?

Well...kinda. I'm still climbing, but at least I can see the opening now. When you go overboard like I did, all you've really got to do to get back on the boat is manage your time appropriately.

Right now, I'm pretty close to the top, so my stress levels are nice and low. (Yay!) I'm at the revision stage with Shattered (yep, changed the title), I'm drafting Ophelia, and I'm working on a collab with my best e-buddy, Steph. (*waves* Hi, Steph!)

That sounds like a lot, but it could be way worse. Shattered is in the revision stage and Ophelia is in drafting, so it's pretty easy keeping them seperated in my mind. Writing two stories at once can be a little difficult sometimes, but I manage. I wouldn't suggest you do it, though--just look at me, I'm a mess. (Lol.)

I've got most of my attention focused on the project I'm doing with Steph, 'cause it's just so darn fun! But I also try to type at least 250-500 words in Ophelia every day as well. And I read Shattered in my spare time with Travis.
So, I think I've found a nice flow.

HAPPY WRITING, LOVELIES!

Set Up vs. Diving In Headfirst

I hate beginnings. I never know where to start. Should I dive right in to the action, or give my readers a page to get to know my MC.

I usually lean toward giving my readers a little time to get to know my characters because...well, who really gives a damn if some random person they don't know is being hunted by a demon that's half-centipede and half-platypus? If you give your readers a little snippet of what normal life is like for the MC, they're more inclined to care about what happens to them. Think about every movie ever made. There's usually a quick bit at the beginning that shows the characters doing whatever it is they normally do. That's where you get to know a little about the character and start to care about their problems.

But set up can be pretty gosh-darn boring. If you put in too much set up, it'll send the reader into a fit of temporary insanity. Readers can be fragile like that. Too much boring information and BOOM!

Insanity ensues.

And before you know it, the world is overrun with temporarily insane people, burning stuff down and stealing all the chocolate chip cookies from the local bakery and breaking into your house to hide your car keys while you're sleeping.

And nobody wants to live in a world like that.

So, to avoid all that, you've got to find the right balance of set up and action. I usually shoot for a page of set up and then sink straight in to the good stuff. If you can fit in everything you need in less than a page, then more power to you. But I usually go with the One Page method.

HAPPY WRITING, LOVELIES!