2010 in Review

The year is over in a few days and I decided to look back on 2010, in terms of reading and writing:

1--The number of novels I finished

83,000--The word count of my finished novel

75+--An estimate of how many books I read this year

11--The number of query letters I've sent out so far

2--The number of new novels I started writing

2,500--The length of my only short story this year

19--The number of blog posts, including this one, for 2010

99--Percentage of how happy I am when I write (characters do make it difficult that other 1%)

125,000--The number of words I've written this year


This is rather silly, but it'll be interesting to compare the numbers at the end of 2011. Here's to a great year in 2011! (I may even start saying twenty-eleven instead of two thousand eleven.)

Let's Revisit Short Stories

A little over a year ago, not long after I started my first novel, I toyed around with a few short stories. One of them I tried submitting, but it was ultimately rejected. It didn't bother much then or now since I like longer stories; short stories are too restrictive.

One of them, about the legend of Melusine, I ended up incorporating into my now second Secondworld novel. Melusine and her family will play a large role in the second book.

The other story, Burden of Discovery, I think still has an interesting premise (set in the future, where barren women are the outcasts of society and worth is determined by how many children you have), but is more suitable to a novel than a 5,000 word story. I've put in on the back burner for now, but maybe someday I'll be able to rework it.

Since I finished Melusine's story back in 2009, I have focused solely on my novels. I enjoy a larger cast of characters and the freedom to play around with the plot. I never thought I would try writing a short story again unless it tied to my Secondworld novels, hopefully after they'd been published. Then this week I started thinking, what if I gave short stories another chance? It'd be nice to write something that wasn't part of an 80,000+ word story and I could even write it in first person (something I want to do, but my current novels require narrow third person viewpoints).

I sat down and five minutes later, I had an idea. What if one of the characters from my second book, a huldra who can shift to the form of a fox, wrote a letter to his children about his first days as a shape-changer, offering fatherly advice along the way? I sat down and started writing. I finished half of it, took a day off for Christmas, and finished the second half this morning. It's cute, to say the least, and after letting it sit for a few days, I plan to edit it and submit it to a few online magazines.

After a year of near-constant writing and editing, writing a short story was easier for me. The key was to keep the topic narrower and focused, and not try to write a story spanning a number of years, as I had tried to do before. If my fun little exercise pays off, I may have to repeat it again in the future.

Encouraging the Next Generation

The holidays are here, which means I'm driving here and there, to one party, dinner or another, trying to keep my sanity. Yesterday, before going to my brother-in-law's birthday party, I decorated sugar cookies with my niece and nephews. This may seem ordinary, but to any aunt out there who is close to her nieces and nephews, it's not only a lot of fun, but dear to your heart.

After decorating the cookies, my niece had a surprise waiting for me that I hadn't anticipated: she finished her first story. If I'm such a good aunt, as I indubitably am, then how could something like this come as a surprise? Well, my niece is ten years old and like books with pictures, a la Diary of a Wimpy Kid. And while she loves the stories in Japanese Ghibli films, such as Howl's Moving Castle, she has never been a big reader (despite my nudges over the years). I was about to try and steer her towards manga (or graphic novels, if you prefer) when she blindsided me with her story. When I asked her why she wrote the story, she said, "Well, you and Leah (another aunt) both write and my teacher's son just got published, so I thought I would try it too." Let's just say she got a lot of hugs and extra love for that comment!

She was anxious to mail it off and even fetched an envelope. I read the story and afterwards I decided to help her pursue this new interest and had a "junior writer's talk" as I like to call it. In other words, I convinced her to type it up, let it sit a few days and have others offer some suggestions. She was pretty open to the idea, and I hope she takes my advice to keep writing (and to read more). Her story was creative, and if she keeps it up, she has potential. As an extra last minute Christmas gift I've decided to give her a notebook with "Stories by Joanna" on the cover and encourage her every step of the way.

More than one way to plot

After receiving my first request for a partial, I decided to be more productive on the second book in my series. I know that one request for a partial doesn't really mean anything, at least not yet, but if I don't keep writing, I know for a fact I'll never have a chance at being published.

I wrote the first few chapters last week, but then I reached a point where I realized I need to flesh out a new character and my overall plot or this draft would end up a train wreck. Since I wanted to avoid that, I took some time to think about plotting.

Now, I'm pretty much a non-plotter. This means different things to different people, but to me, it means that I don't have every little thing figured out and take inspiration from my imagination as I write. For the first book, The Secondworld Stranger, I spent ages trying to put a plot together. I had read a number of books on writing (if you haven't read Writing the Breakout Novel or The Fire in Fiction by Donald Maass, I suggest you do, as these are some of the best) and all had different takes on how much plot you need to have structured to start writing. I tried writing all of the events on cards and putting them in the right order, but that didn't really help me. Writing the plot sequence out didn't help either, and in the end, I just started typing and it worked out okay. (I think it's because of the amount of time I spent thinking about the plot beforehand.)

This time around, however, I wanted to try something different. Somewhere I read about how you should, ideally, write your first synopsis before you start writing your novel. I thought, what the hell, maybe my spur of the moment inspiration would come through for this exercise. I started writing a synopsis, and what do you know, it worked. I don't have every little detail figured out (I need space to play around with for the story) but I was able to iron out some major questions I had about backstory. I have the last 1/3 of the book to plot, but I should have the basic plot outline finished today or tomorrow.

All in all, how you plot a novel is up to you and your style. Some people may be meticulous, thinking out every detail and write the story in a matter of weeks or months. Others may just write a first draft and go back. Or other are like me, and fall somewhere in-between. Whatever your style, the most important thing is to keep writing!

Go, go, go **deep breath** Go, go, go

Today I finished a book that left me exhausted. It wasn't a deep, philosophical work or a book written in Japanese (I have experience with both). Believe it or not, it was a paranormal romance.

If I reach page 50, or if I'm feeling generous, 100 and nothing has happened, I stop reading. Maybe a plot is too predictable, or maybe the writing is poor. At any rate, there is such a thing as not enough tension in a novel. What most people don't really talk about are the instances when a novel never stops for a breather. The novel I finished today was just like that; a nonstop ride from start to finish.

Now, don't get me wrong, I enjoyed the characters, but there comes a point when you've had enough action and banter to last you for days. It makes it hard to finish the book, or if you persevere like I did, you end up exhausted. I know a book shouldn't be too slow, but please give us a little breathing space every now and then. We want to believe good things can happen in novels along with the bad.

And I hate to say it, but I've had my fill of vampires for a little while. I think I'll go back to historical romance for a week or so and see if I can dive back in. Let's hope so because I have a stack of paranormal books from the library, just sitting there, waiting to be read.

Side Note: I've started writing book two of my Secondworld series. There's so much possibility...

Polished Completion Happy Dance

As the title suggests, I've finished polishing my manuscript. From my first big edit to a polished product took me three months. Editing was, and has remained, my least favorite part of the writing process. I owe a big kudos to Michelle, my reader extraordinaire. I only hope everyone else is as fortunate to have a sister who also has a knack for spotting inconsistencies and giving invaluable critiques. Of course this is the same woman who never lets me forget I caught her kitchen on fire that one time...

At any rate, you may be wondering what next? Well that's easy: time to start Oliver's story for book two. I recently sketched up the plot for books two and three, although being the non-plotter I am, I have just the bare bones. I love to incorporate ideas as they come. A prime example is this morning: while I finished polishing the last few chapters, I realized what the fourth book will be about. Some authors want to write a trilogy and move on, but I believe with a large, complex cast of characters, writing a series will be fun. I love the world I've created (Secondworld) and hope to work my way forward and back in history. If you think you know what's happened in the past, think again. The Fair-folk have hidden themselves well over the years...

As time and word count goes on, editing may become a little less tiresome, but only time will tell. I certainly hope I don't have to throw out the first 100 pages again, like I did with this first book, and start over.

Time to celebrate briefly with some upbeat music before chaining myself to the keyboard once more.

Query update: I've researched and found five wonderful agents, sent them letters and now have to wait. I'm still researching agents for my second wave of letters, but I'll wait a little bit longer before I send them out.

My First Battle Scar

Well, it's official: I've received my first rejection letter. While this doesn't really change anything, I suppose it tranfers me from the group of "I want to write a book" to the group of "I wrote a book and I'm trying to get it published."

Personally, I'm good with rejections. (After attempting to find a teaching job, or any job really, in this economy, you get used to it.) What I was sad to read was how many agents won't respond with a rejection email, but only respond if they're interested. The reason? Too many heated and nasty emails in return.

To all those people who can't seem to take rejection well: shame on you. With many popular agents receiving up to 100 queries a day, there is no way they are going to accept everyone. The agent business is subjective and no, not everyone is going to fall in love with your work. Treat others how you want to be treated. This is the motto I live by, and hold my students to, and maybe you should try the same.

If you can't take rejection, and refuse to believe there is a way to better your writing, then maybe you should rethink your goals.

And to all agents who have received the aforementioned nasty emails, I'm sorry you had to put up with it. Please do your job and know that at least this aspiring author will respect your decision, no matter if it's a rejection or not.

Query Update: I tweaked my letter and sent out my first real wave. Now I wait.

Breaking the Synopsis Myth

You've done it. You've finished your manuscript to a bright polish. You even managed to put together a decent query letter, but then you realize what you still have to do: the synopsis. People tend to debate whether the synopsis or the query letter is more difficult, but after finishing both, the query letter wins hands down.

But, but, but...

Well, let's take a look.

For those of you who aren't aspiring authors, here's a little glimpse into the world of publishing. Now, I'm not in publishing, nor have I been published yet, but I offer you my many, many hours of research in a short blog entry, free of charge.

When you want to find a literary agent, you know, a person to help with your career, manage contracts, find a home for your book, etc., there is a process. First, you finish your story. If you haven't, don't even bother unless you're lucky enough to be someone like Stephen King, Diana Gabaldon or Janet Evanovich. Once that's done, and edited to a high gleam, you need what's called a query letter. A query is a short pitch of your novel, usually around 250 words, that should give the plot and tone, yet can still invoke the "awesome-ness" reaction. In other words, you want people to be knocking down doors for your work. I've talked about queries a bit before here.

Some agents also require a synopsis--this is the plot of your novel in about two pages. Now, everywhere I went, I read how difficult it was. How nervewracking. There was no way anyone could write the plot of their 300+ page novel in two pages! Even I fell into this trap, putting off the synopsis day after day and instead spent my time researching. The research wasn't helping, until I came across the most relevant and helpful sentence this morning on Nathan Bransford's blog. Simply, it says:

A synopsis needs to do two things: 1) it needs to cover all of the major characters and major plot points (including the ending) and 2) it needs to make the work come alive.

That single sentence caused a lightbulb to turn on inside my head. If I had only seen this advice a week ago, I would've had the synopsis done without all this dread inbetween. I abhor formulas, which was mostly what I had found until today, but this advice just worked for me. I sat down and an hour later, I had a finished synopsis of 1,400 words and just a tad over two pages. I'm pretty pleased with it, actually. A few subplots were left out, but it's for the best.

So, if you're at the stage where you want to find an agent and try getting published, don't fret over the synopsis. The query letter is hard, I won't deny it (mine took a month to get where I wanted it), but after that, the worst part will be the waiting and the rejections. Don't fear the synopsis.

On a side note, I sent my first query letter today.

UPDATE: I have since written another synopsis, just over a page and it was kind of fun. You read that right: I enjoyed it.

A Unique Idea from a Strange Conversation

A little over a week ago I had one of the most entertaining conversations I've had in a while. My best friend needed a break from her three sons, and after her husband came home, she came over to hang out. What followed was a three hour conversation about the impossibilities of romance novels.

Now, I will freely admit that I'm addicted to paranormal romance novels. I devour authors such as Gena Showalter, Kresley Cole, Sherrilyn Kenyon, JR Ward, etc in a matter of days, if not hours. For some reason the fantasy aspect (vampires, werewolves, immortal warriors) makes the romance novel more believable to me. I know, I know, there is not a plethora of 6'6" men with six packs and drop-dead gorgeous faces, but the main point of fantasy is that it isn't real. You say there's an underground culture of vampires? Sure. Does the Greek goddess Artemis go around granting acts of vengeance? What the hell. It is fantasy.

Of course there are some patterns that emerge, no matter if the romance is paranormal or other. Those of you who have read some will know this, I'm sure. Things like the man always pleases the woman first and is okay with waiting for his own pleasure. Or the woman can handle 10 hour long marathons with an immortal warrior without getting tired or feeling sore. Etc, etc. Now, these patterns sparked an idea in my head: why has no one ever written a fill-in-the-blank romance story?

Imagine it: you choose certain numbers, places, objects, a la Mad Libs style, and get your own personalized, semi-ridiculous romance adventure. It would be nothing short of entertaining.

Maybe some day I'll attempt it, but what holds me back from writing paranormal romance novels instead of fantasy with romantic elements is my family. They would buy the book and read it, and I can't say I'd feel comfortable having my family read sex scenes and wonder what is real or made up. I'll warm up a scene when the romantic peak comes, but I'll leave the details to your own imagination.

Of course if fill-in-the-blank is too much of challenge, there's always Choose Your Own Adventure possibilities as well. That way if you don't like how the story ends, it's your fault.

Unique Expectations of Fantasy

When I was a teenager, and even into my early twenties, I loved reading fantasy. Reading is a form of escapism, and what better form of escape could there be but to visit a made up world? I devoured some of the more lengthy series by Terry Goodkind, Melanie Rawn, Robin Hobb and Elizabeth Haydon.

And then one day, I stopped. It was a combination of factors, such as moving from Japan to England and starting graduate school, that brought it about, but I stopped reading fantasy. When I did have time to read, it was either Diana Gabaldon or Jane Austen. When I finished grad school in the UK, I then went to grad school in the US. By the time I was done, I realized I had free time again, which meant I could start reading for fun once more.

For a long time I focused on historical nonfiction, which makes sense since I am a certified history teacher. But eventually I wanted easy-to-read fiction. I wandered the aisles at my local bookstore and a cover for one of Karen Marie Moning's Highlander books caught my eye. And thus my interest in paranormal romance was born.

After a while I realized something: I was writing a book that would be termed "fantasy" yet I hadn't read any pure fantasies, aside from one attempt at Robin Hobb's newest series, in years. True my work is closer to paranormal fantasy, but I knew what I needed do: buckle down and research some new fantasy titles and read them.

I managed to wade through Richelle Mead's Storm Born without too much trouble. Was it a little slower than I liked? Yes. But at least the writing was to the point, and the story a nice length. I tried another book (which I won't name because of the negative review I'm about to give) that seemed closer to my own story: fairies lived below 17th century London. Now the premise of the book was interesting: a dragon was banished to a "star" that turned out to be Halley's comet and 50 years later, the fairies must find a way to defeat the dragon or all of London will be destroyed.

Unfortunately, the writing was long-winded. There were too many scenes of no importance and the writing got on my nerves. (Odd, considering how several reviewers praised the writing as an example of what fantasy should be.) In my opinion, the writer was more concerned with world-building and plot than character development. For example, you have a character who is always calm and collected, and then boom, for one scene only, she's yelling and out of control. The events didn't merit the over-reaction in any way.

This all got me thinking: Why do readers accept long-winded prose and lack of tension in fantasy novels? Any other genre, with the possible exception of literary fiction, would throw the story out or require some serious editing. But not necessarily in fantasy. Some of the masters can create necessary tension, but even Robin Hobb's Shaman's Crossing, while beautifully written, lacked tension most of the time. I grew bored of Robert Jordan's Wheel of Time series a long time ago for that exact reason: nothing was happening. And as much as people will disagree with me, JRR Tolkien's Lord of the Rings is too slow-paced for my tastes.

You may be saying that world-building takes a long time and requires all those hundreds of extra pages. But if that be so, why can Anne McCaffrey or Richelle Mead create fully engaging worlds in under 400 pages? It requires focusing on what's necessary to know, not what's "nice to know." I'm begging fantasy authors: please take out the unnecessary and draw me in. I want tension, not flowery descriptions.

Broad Tapestries

Today I finished my big edit of "Book One" (still don't have a title) and started writing "Book Two." As the story ended on a cliffhanger for the first book, I thought about the influence of writers on my own style. Sure, I read a lot and have more than a handful of favorite authors, but do any of them really influence me? For the most part, no, they don't. Good writing makes me happy, end of story. Of course, there is one author I've been reading since I was 13 years old who definitely influences me to this day: Anne McCaffrey.

For those of you who don't know, Anne McCaffrey is most famous for her Dragonriders of Pern series. There are few authors who make you think you're reading fantasy only to discover it's really science fiction. (I dislike spoilers, so I won't go into specifics. But if you're curious, type in P.E.R.N. into a search engine, complete with the periods, and you should find out right quick what I'm talking about.) As you read the first book, Dragonflight, you realize the sheer number of characters introduced and think to yourself, "Doesn't this go against every how-to rule of writing?" Well, too many characters can be confusing if it's not handled correctly, but McCaffrey writes in "broad tapestries." For a better idea of her writing style, read the following quote:

I write in broad tapestries, interweaving characters lives, leaving the little details to the reader unless the details are important.

I have this scratched on a piece of paper I've kept since high school for a reason: this is my favorite style of writing. If you're going to create a whole world, it becomes more interesting with a variety of characters. Also, leave out the unimportant stuff. I don't want to know the description of every item in the room or read about you walking around the garden alone unless something is going to happen. SKIP the unnecessary, but DO include more points of view to help flesh out your world.

My own writing style reflects this, so if you're looking for elegant descriptions of rooms and clothing, or lots of irrelevant conversation, you may not like my stories. But if you do like stories that span longer amounts of time and leave room for your imagination to handle the little details, then mine might be worth a read.

I've always dreamt of Anne McCaffrey reading one of my stories, but we'll just have to wait and see.

Query Education

Since you're thinking it, let me ease your mind: I'm not talking about part of the XML computer language.

Okay, okay, that probably wasn't the first thing that came to your mind. If you were thinking of query letters, as in the letters aspiring writers send in to try and snag an agent or get published, then you'd be right on the money.

I'm less than 20,000 words away from finishing my first edit of my complete manuscript. While I'm waiting for my volunteer readers to finish, I decided it was time to start learning the best way to write a query letter. There are books on the subject, of course, but most of those focus on good ol' fashioned snail mail queries and most agents rely on email queries these days. But never fear, after a minimal amount of searching I found THE website for query advice (actually it's a blog): Query Shark.

Query Shark is run by an actual literary agent who critiques various drafts of query letters. Now, the beauty of this site is that the Query Shark is brutally honest, which can be amusing at times, but always helpful. After you read some of the posts, you begin to see patterns and detect glaring mistakes. (DO NOT put your address at the top of an email query. The Query Shark gets upset when this happens.) Once I finish reading the archives, I'm faced with the task of writing my own query letter. I cringe at the idea because I don't like "selling myself." I picked up some modesty whilst living in Japan all those years and it doesn't look to be going away anytime soon.

Read a few posts from Query Shark and then read an "example" query here that highlights everything you could possibly do wrong. I laugh every time I read it, so enjoy!

And to be honest, I'm actually looking forward to sending out queries and hearing back. I think my first rejection letter will be the equivalent of a solider's first battle scar; it may hurt like hell at first, but you learn from it and move on, thankful to be alive to take on the world.

TXT Classics

Interacting on a daily basis with young people often leads to interesting conversations. For instance, I never would've read, "Diary of Wimpy Kid" if it weren't for my middle school students. The same goes for, "The Lightening Thief" of the Percy Jackson and the Olympians series. But yesterday something unique came up in conversation: How long will it be before someone writes a book in text shorthand? Unlikely, you say, but something similar has been done before to great success in Japan.

The book I'm referring to is, "Densha Otoko," or "Train Man" in English. A geeky Japanese man unexpectedly saves a beautiful woman on a train from some thugs. She thanks him and a strange relationship begins. At first the man is nervous beyond belief, but through the encouragement of his friends, he finally wins the girl. Now, the story of a man saving a girl and they fall in love is nothing new, but what makes this book unique is how the man receives encouragement. His friends are from an online messageboard/forum and the language used throughout the book for their "conversations" is a combination of emoticons (symbols used to create faces that represent emotion) and online Japanese shorthand. The book was a hit and a popular mini-series quickly followed.

It's only a matter of time before something like Train Man happens in English.

The question about a book in texting shorthand got me thinking and I've set myself a challenge: translate a paragraph or two from a classic into texting shorthand. I'm not sure how long it'll take, or when I'll finally get around to it, but I think it's worth trying once.

The Confidence Roller Coaster

Let me just say that I am one of the most optimistic and self-confident people you'll ever meet. Except, occasionally, when it comes to my writing.

In the last month my confidence has had as many ups and downs as a good wooden roller coaster. I was ecstatic to finish my first draft, but then I cringed at the writing of the first few chapters. I rewrote them and felt pretty good about myself again, but then came across some more bad writing in Chapter 5. I fixed that and felt strong, reaching a third of the way through and sent out my work to some readers. I'm still waiting for their feedback, but in the meantime I've been reading more about literary agents. If you ever want to test your dedication to writing, just read through the articles in a book like Guide to Literary Agents. There are query letters, networking, pitching, and lots and lots of stats. If I lived and breathed by numbers, I would've quit by now. Thankfully I don't, and when I read advice like, "Make sure to revise your draft before seeking an agent," I start to feel better. Who in their right mind would try to sell their first draft? I wish there was a way to prevent the hordes of "wannabe" writers from those of us who strive to do our best.

Some of the articles even made me reconsider the genre of my book. Sure, maybe series aren't great for every genre, but in fantasy, they're kind of expected. I panicked for a day, thinking I would have to axe five of my six points of view, add Senna's, and make it a romance novel. I have nothing against romance novels, some of my favorite authors write them, but I realized that's not really what I want to do, and a number of successful fantasy/urban fantasy/paranormal writers only have series. I'm sure Robin Hobb wouldn't be where she was today if the Farseer Trilogy had been one book. The same can be said about Anne McCaffrey's Dragonriders of Pern.

Thankfully I decided to keep to my fantasy genre (although I've been trying to decide if it's actually paranormal fantasy or just fantasy, but I have yet to make a decision).

Unfortunately today I came across another chapter that has to be completely rewritten, but there is hope. For some relief I skipped ahead to edit Chapter 17 and barely had to make any changes. I'm currently rewriting Chapter 12, so only a few more chapters to go before my revisions should be less painful.

After that, I finally get to finish my research for Oliver's story, for book two of the Secondworld series. Yes, I made an executive decision to switch the name from Otherworld to Secondworld; too many writers use "Otherworld." If you think "Secondworld" sounds simple, you're right, it is, but you'll soon see that the Fair-folk were less than inventive when it came to naming places...

Snip, Snip

Here I am, a week later, with a few thousand less words, four rewritten chapters and a stronger story. I feared going cross-eyed for a few days, but the feeling passed and I've got the heart to keep on going.

In theory, editing seems so simple. Re-read the story, take out the unwanted parts, fix a few words and presto, it's done. Unfortunately the reality is something else entirely. The constant battle for the right word or expression. The feeling that you know a certain paragraph or scene seems off, but you don't want to rewrite it, but you finally end up going back to do it anyway. The grueling process of fixing out of character slips(would he say this or wouldn't he?), or in my case, out of time slang and references (my story is set in 1891). Filling in plot holes or inconsistencies. Jotting down unanswered questions with a hope they are, in fact, answered by the end.

And so on.

Of course all of this hard work is starting to pay off. I started reading a book yesterday, which I'll leave unnamed for now, and kept thinking, "I write better than this. The story is slow, the explanations clunky, the characters a little extreme to the point of being unbelievable." If this person was published, and continues to be published, then surely I can be published too. Sometimes I forget this when I read some really good books, but it's nice to be reminded that it is indeed possible.

Next comes the scary part: having my reader extraordinaire go through it, make comments, suggestions and all around critique it. The first third is going out today, so we'll see what she says.

Now back I go to my cave to finish editing the other two-thirds of my story.

Editing 101

As the title suggests, I finished my first draft (at just under 88,000 words) and am in the process of editing.

After three days, I can honestly say this is my least favorite part of writing so far.

The process is necessary for several reason, a few of which I'll touch upon in a moment. The biggest surprise, however, is the difference in the caliber of writing. Now, if you think about it, it only makes sense that your writing changes the more you do it, hopefully for the better. But I didn't realize just how much I'd tidied things up by Chapter 31 until I started editing Chapters 2 and 3 (I rewrote the first chapter). I know you have to start at the beginning, but it's knocked my confidence down a few notches.

At this point I think I'm going to rewrite Chapters 2 and 3, because if I don't, I think I may go crazy. Sometimes editing just isn't enough and you have to scratch it.

Off and on, over the last year, I've been reading books about writing. They always preach about the importance of editing, and I can now say I wholeheartedly agree, but you have to be careful. It's fine to edit a little as you go along, but the most important step is to FINISH the damn thing and then rip out the flaws. Finishing a draft gives you insight into structure, pacing and a number of other things. I've been writing on and off since junior high school, but this has been the best experience by far.

The reasons for editing? Well, believe it or not, the way characters act in the beginning aren't always the way they act at the end. Inconsistencies, especially with six viewpionts, is bound to happen. Now is the time for me to clear them up.

Useless information also shows up. You can't be afraid to snip, because when you get down to it, content is more important that word count. Have you ever read a two page description of something that could've been done in two paragraphs? Yeah, me too and it's something I hope to avoid.

I know my story is worth it, but I can't help but complain a little bit along the way.

Emotional Involvement

Today I was faced with the task of writing a very emotional scene of loss. Honestly, I almost started crying once I was in the character's mindset and tried to find every excuse NOT to write. The most difficult scene is now done, but I fear for a few coming up. Say what you will, but unless you're an actor or a writer, I'm not sure if you can truly understand the emotion that stems from trying to understand another's point of view. For writers it's much worse since we decide what actually happens to a character, but if everything was perfect, you wouldn't have a story. To be more precise, you wouldn't be truly alive if everything went just the way you wanted it, all the time. Readers may criticize and whinge (a lovely British word for whine), but without hardship, you'd have a pretty boring story no one would want to read.

I'm on the home stretch, nearly at 80,000 words and everything's coming together. Even the set-up for book two is mostly in place, which I can hardly wait to start writing. I have the ambitious goal of finishing the first complete draft by the end of this week (Sunday, perhaps), but it all depends on the final length. 90,000 words is doable, but 100,000 would be pushing it.

Right before I start editing, I'll be rewriting the first two chapters. I'm horrible at beginnings until I know the ending, and being the non-plotter I am, I'm still a little hazy about the details for the ending. What I had wanted to do originally may not work. In any case, the current Chapter One I have just won't do and needs to be jazzed up a little. Then I'm faced with the impossible task of fixing plotholes, mistakes and inconsistencies (Oh, I already know I have more than a few).

I'd better get back to writing and stop procrastinating. True I write best in the morning, but lately I've been writing more than 2,000 words a day, which requires some evening time. Maybe I should chain myself to the desk...

A Million and One Ways to Interpret Mythology

It's nearly the end of summer, and as I currently work the same days as the school calendar, it has been a summer of unemployment, good reading and getting into shape. The reading part is what concerns us this time around, as I have been addicted to mostly paranormal-related romances and fantasies.

When did stories about gods, goddesses, fairies, vampires, werewolves, harpies, and all matter of related creatures become so popular? Most "hot" titles feature one of the above creatures as their main character, but the world that surrounds them varies with each and every author.

For example, take Greek mythology. I have become a big fan of Gena Showalter's Lords of the Underworld series about a group of warriors who opened and destroyed Pandora's box because of jealousy and have since been forced to house the demons inside of them (Pain, Death, Misery, Lies, Doubt, Nightmares, etc). The results are some engaging, steamy romances books (with a great background story and cast of characters, I might add), focusing on how every person, no matter their weakness, has someone out there meant for them. Take this approach and compare it to Sherrilyn Kenyon's Dark-Hunter series, divided into those who were created by Apollo (Apollites), who sometimes work with the daimons, and those favored by Artemis (the Dark-Hunters) who are granted a single act of vengeance before they serve her. The Dark-Hunters are immortal, seeking out those daimons and Appollites at night who wish to hurt humans. The use of the same set of mythological stories produces two very different worlds.

Another example is the portrayal of fey in Karen Marie Moning's Fever series and in Richelle Mead's Black Swan series. Again, the same set of stories and myths produce two very different takes on what it means to be an outcast fey in a modern world.

These are the type of stories I've dreamed of reading since I was little, but I guess my imagination was ahead of the curve. No matter, I enjoy the stories now and am nothing but guilty of producing yet another take on what it means to be "fairy" in a world interconnected to our own.

Now, I'm going ponder what the difference is between paranormal fiction and urban fantasy and see if I can come up with an answer, because honestly, they blend and overlap in my mind.

From a long hiatus

My life took a different turn from the end of November last year, ending with me substituting long-term as a Japanese teacher. I love to teach, but I had never taught a foreign language class before. My training and internship was in social studies, so this assignment was difficult, time-consuming and full of trail and error. Once that hurdle was completed at the end of January, I went back to day-to-day substituting and my sanity, which of course meant I could write again. I know people will say, "Make time!" but these people have not experienced life as a new teacher. Being both teacher and surrogate parent to middle school students is draining on many levels; when you get home, you are mentally exhausted. This is why I prefer teaching high school, as it is not as emotionally draining when you deal with students who are nearly adults that also understand your humor.

I have been writing since the end of February and now stand near the 40,000 word mark. I rewrote the first 30,000 words into a new 20,000, thus giving me more story for the word count. I've started a summer routine that forces me to write every morning, after breakfast. I may not yet be 30, but I naturally wake up around 5:30am every morning, giving me peace and a fresh start to my day.

No one is likely reading this, but the lonely link showed up in my browser today, and I couldn't stand the thought of leaving my last entry in November all alone. Posting will be infrequent, but yes, I am still alive and, most importantly, writing.