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.

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...