Category: Writing Advice & Tips

RTW: Literary Cliches

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Road Trip Wednesday is a ‘Blog Carnival,’ where YA Highway’s contributors post a weekly writing or reading related question and answer it on their own blogs. You can hop from destination to destination and get everybody’s unique take on the topic.

This Week’s Topic: What are your favorite literary clichés?

Okay, these aren’t necessarily my favorites, but there are several I always notice. Sometimes they’re done so well I’m envious of whoever it was that wrote the piece, and sometimes they totally pull me out of the story and force me to roll my eyes. In no particular order:

The sassy (redheaded) best friend – Best friends are almost always cooler, cuter, smaller and more experienced than the female protagonists they accompany. Often, they’re coppertops too.  

Emerald eyes – Do they exist? They run rampant in literature, YA especially, but I can’t say I’ve ever actually seen someone with eyes the color or emeralds. Or sapphires, for that matter. If you have eyes the color of jewels, I’m jealous.

So bad, yet so good – A la Romeo and Juliet. Or Perfect Chemistry. A couple that should never, ever be, yet they’re so amazingly good together you just wanna root for them.  

Surprise! It was all a dream! – Or multiple personality disorder. Or amnesia. Ugh… it can be so disappointing when this happens. While watching Alice in Wonderland with my daughter a few weeks ago, I had an epiphany: Lewis Carroll’s ending would have infuriated the readers of today.  

Perfect Guys – I’m probably totally guilty of writing flawless males from time to time, but there are a lot of literary heroes who are so darn perfect. Of course, there are a lot who are completely undesirable too (though highly sought after… go figure), which I suppose is a cliché itself.

So, those are mine. What about you? What are the literary clichés that stand out to you?

The Bookshelf Muse

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Today I feel compelled  to sing the praises of The Bookshelf Muse. If you’re a writer and you’ve never visited the blog of Angela Ackerman and Rebecca Puglisi, you simply must take some time to explore the awesomeness that is their Thesaurus Series. Broken into four main categories: Emotional Thesaurus, Setting Thesaurus, Symbolism Thesaurus and Color/Texture/Shape Thesaurus, these bloggers have so generously shared their wisdom and tons of wonderful inspiration with the writing community.  

Have you ever felt stuck trying to describe a character’s eye color? The inside of a library? Something slimy? The manifestation of anger? The Bookshelf Muse offers a fresh take on all these things, as well as lots of advice on similes, metaphors, imagery, and word choice. Their lists and tips get your wheels turning and force you to branch out from those tried and true, fallback choices.

Pitching…

So, I’ve had some interesting experiences with pitching in these last few weeks, and I wanted to take a moment to share them here. First, let me say that I’ve never pitched in person to an agent or editor, and I’ve only pitched live online a few times, so I’m by no means an expert. For some great pitching advice, look here (scroll all the way down!), or here,  or here (for a LOT of pitch info).

That being said, here’s what I’ve leanred.

As a member of the amazing writing community Savvy Authors, I’ve had the opportunity to pitch my work to some well-respected and highly successful literary agents in a private chatroom at the Savvy site. Sounds easy, right? Comfort of home, slippers on, no nerve-wracking face-to-face encounter to stress about. 

No. It’s not easy. Easier then pitching in person? Probably. But still, very much an anxiety inducing experience. Here’s how it works at Savvy: 

1) Show up in the chatroom on time.
2) You (and the other selected pitchers) are assigned the order in which you will pitch by a moderator.
3) Upon your turn, you enter the private Pitching Chatroom where the agent will be waiting. 
4) Very briefly introduce yourself (because time’s a tickin’! You’ve only got ten minutes!).
5) Copy and paste your title, genre, word count and 3-line pitch.
6) Wait (without biting your nails or tapping your foot or freaking out in any way whatsoever) while the agent reads and reviews your pitch.
7) Answer any questions the agent might have about your manuscript or yourself (they always have questions!).
8 ) Hope and pray that the agent will request to see more of your work.
9) Politely hank the agent for her time, no matter what the outcome of the pitch.
10) Return to the general chatroom and report to your fellow pitchers and moderators how things went.
11) Listen and respond while fellow pitchers and moderator either congratulate you (!) or sympathize with you.


 Here’s my pitching history so far.

Effort #1 – I’ll be the first to admit, my pitch was untested and a little iffy. The agent I spoke to was pleasant, though not much interested in my genre and not interested at all in my manuscript. Boo! But the great part is, she was forthcoming and more than willing to offer advice on how to make my pitch sparkle. Slightly disappointed about not getting a request, I went back to work on my pitch, taking her advice to heart.

Effort #2 – I had a new and improved pitch. This agent was incredibly kind. She doesn’t tweet or blog, though, so I didn’t feel like I had a great handle on who she was or what she was seeking. Luckily, she was interested in my pitch and had tons of questions. I mean TONS. That’s good though. She wasn’t bored. I answered them as quickly and directly as possible. And… she requested a partial! Awesome!

Effort #3 – Intimidating. This pitch was with well-known agent in the Kidlit scene. Popular on Twitter, popular blog. It’s weird how you feel like you sort of know a person just from their online presence. Again, she was very nice, as I imagined she would be. She had questions too, most notable, Can you compare your book in voice, subject matter, etc… to that of another author. Why, yes, I can! Again, she was interested and happens to be seeking books that fall into the genre I write. And… another partial request!

Now, I just have to wait. The hard part. 🙂

Here’s the greatest thing about these online pitches (other than getting to wear slippers while you do them!): Pitching online (or at a conference, for that matter) cuts out a lot of waiting time. For example, one of the agents I follow on Twitter recently commented that her query inbox was at over seven-hundred queries. Seriously?! I imagine it will take weeks to get through all those, and I can also imagine that it will be difficult to give each and every one close and personal attention. Pitching takes that portion of wait time out of the game. It also makes your name just a tiny bit more memorable in a sea of hundreds (thousands?) because hey, she spent ten minutes discussing your book with you. That, in my opinions, is so much better than being one letter in a sea of many, many more.

Moral of the story? If the opportunity to pitch arises, run with it!

Friday Five!

1 – Savvy Authors (my favorite writing community) is hosting a Summer Symposium. Here’s the basic info: Join us for five days as we talk craft – from plot and character, to dialogue, suspense, theme and story question (with a bunch of stuff in between) in chats, Q&A forums and mini-workshops. Our presenters will be sharing what works – whether it’s world building or setting or layering in back story; or even if it’s a technical detail and the fruits of research, they’ll be exposing the craft that underlies a good story. We’ll also be talking about publishing and promoting, offering pitch opportunities to the attendees and raffling off books on craft from folks like James Scott Bell and Sherrilyn Kenyon, software such as Liquid Story Binder, 3-chapter critiques from published authors and more. Click here for more info! (Make sure to scroll down!)

2 – Pillars of the Earth by Ken Follett is one of my very favorite books and has been made into a miniseries that will air on Starz beginning July 23. We don’t get Starz, but you’d better believe I’ll be ordering it specifically so I can watch. The trailer is below and looks amazing, and if you haven’t read the book, I highly recommend checking it out.

3 – Had some major revision issues to think through this week, which led to long(er) showers, lengthy car rides and leisurely bike rides. My poor daughter was my little shadow, dutifully following wherever I went, chatting my ear off, cheerfully picking flowers on the long walks we took. Thankfully, I figured some plot stuff out and got plenty of exercise. I live in a small town on a river, surrounded by lots of farms. It is around these farms that I usually take my bike rides. The other day I took pictures. The quality isn’t the greatest (taken with my phone, not my actual camera!) but you’ll get point. I’m lucky!  

 

4 – Read a great article on writing the other day: Janet Fitch’s 10 Rules for Writers. Among them: Write the sentence, not just the story, Smarten up your protagonist, Learn to write dialogue, and Kill the cliché. Definitely worth checking out!

5 – My munchkin’s birthday is coming! She’ll be three on August 3rd (her golden birthday!) and we’re planning a big party for her. The official theme? The Princess and the Frog Mardi Gras Birthday Bash! I bought beads and little Mardi Gras masks for the kids and I’m serving virgin hurricanes and beneits (as well as all the traditional birthday treats). Super excited!

Hooks & The Hunger Games

**There are mild spoilers in this post. If you haven’t read The Hunger Games and don’t wish to have the book spoiled, you might want to stop reading here.**

This morning I started reading The Hunger Games by Suzanne Collins. I don’t read much dystopian, but I’ve heard the hype about this almost-trilogy and had to see what it’s all about. I’m currently about halfway through and completely blown away. Ms. Collins has created a world that’s unique—brutal, disturbing, vivid, frightening, and totally fascinating. Her imagery (setting, food, clothing, etc…) is colorfully stunning. Her descriptions of fear, betrayal, pride, and love are spot-on and pull at all the right strings. Her weaving of back story throughout the novel is seamless.

What I love most, though—what’s stuck out among all of Ms. Collin’s literary talents—are her end-of-chapter hooks.

Three different times today I’ve been reading along and thought I’ll stop at the end of this chapter and get something productive done. On all three of those occasions, I’ve reached the end of the chapter, gasped with surprise, and flipped the page filled with anticipation and (usually) dread. The first time it happened: the end of Chapter One, at the reaping when Primrose Everdeen is called forward to participate in the Hunger Games. The second: the end of Chapter Nine when Peeta declares his love for Katniss at the pre-Game interviews. The third: the end of Chapter Eleven when Katniss realizes that Peeta has joined up with the Career tributes. Each time I’ve read on, gripped with anxiety, dying to find out what happens next, all the while shaking my head in awe at how successful Ms. Collin has been at writing a literal page turner.

Now, I’m inspired to go through WIP and ensure that I’ve got amazing end-of-chapter hooks of my own. Isn’t it incredible how with each book you read (good, bad, or otherwise) you absorb something new?

Friday Five: What we can learn about writing fom SEX AND THE CITY…

My mom and I went to see Sex and the City 2 last weekend. First, let me say that I did not regret purchasing the ticket or spending two-and-a-half hours of my sunny Saturday in the theater—I was perfectly entertained which, these days, is all I really ask for. BUT… this movie was not exactly fine cinema. I couldn’t help but wonder: What is it about the SATC franchise that makes it so successful, even through bouts of mediocrity? And what is about this movie in particular that made me excuse away a whole lot of flaws and actually enjoy it?

Most importantly, how can I apply this stuff to my writing? (Because really, isn’t that all that matters?J)

ONE – The Characters­ – The four main women of Sex and the City are distinct in their characteristics and wonderfully flawed. Charlotte is a perfectionist who keeps her emotions bottled up. Miranda is a no-nonsense workaholic. Carrie is funny and romantic and a bit self-involved. Samantha is a makes-no-apologies sexual revolutionist. Say what you will about these women, their quirks, and their not-so-demure sexual practices, but their motivations are always clear. You can pretty much always predict how they’ll react to certain situations. The most shocking dialogue isn’t a real surprise because it always fits the character who utters it. Even their clothing fits their unique personalities: you’d never catch sultry Samantha in one of the buttoned up power suits that Miranda rocks.

**Lesson: Characters must be distinct, fresh, and with clear motivations. They must have attributing characteristics that define them in the reader’s mind. Though surprises can be wonderful, characters shouldn’t behave in a way that makes the reader think, What?!

Two – The Bond – Above everything else, this series has been about friendships and the bond between women. Sure, they argue and bicker. Yes, they all have their own lives: families, jobs, and personal struggles—but when it comes down to it, Carrie, Charlotte, Miranda and Samantha are each others’ soul mates. They support each other, though they also question each other, something that makes their relationships feel more organic and honest. The interactions between the four women are all unique, for example, Carrie’s dynamic with Charlotte is slightly different from the way she interacts with Samantha. They stick together through thick and thin and their bond feels strong, sympathetic and real. 

**Lesson: Main characters must have a friend or two (especially in YA) but the camaraderie must feel genuine and authentic to be truly appreciated. Contrived friendships are a throw-away.   

 

Three – The Romance – SATC has some of the hottest relationships on TV/in movies. There’s a reason this show began on HBO! People like romance. Women like romance. Women like steamy romance. We like relationships we can cheer for, blemished or not. We like relationships that grow and evolve with the characters. We like to see characters challenged by their romantic relationships. SATC’s romances take a leading role, second only to the friendship between the four main characters. Through the revolving door of men, we learn more about the women, about their goals, ideals, and weaknesses.

**Lesson: Strictly my opinion, but I wouldn’t read (or write!) a book without some romantic element, no matter how small. Too much is to be gained through romantic interactions to leave them out completely.   

 

Four – The Setting – SATC is set mainly in NYC. I’ve never been there, nor do I really want to visit. That fast-paced, crowded lifestyle isn’t really for me. That being said, NYC is a fascinating place, AND the perfect setting for such a colorful show. In SATC2, the girls take an impromptu trip to Abu Dhabi, one of the few cities on the planet that might be even more vivid than New York. When I first heard that some of the movie was set in Abu Dhabi, I thought it was an interesting choice of locale. Upon seeing the movie, I whole-heartedly believe it was a courageous and powerful choice. Carrie, Samantha, Charlotte, and Miranda learn about themselves through experiencing the much more modest Middle Eastern culture very different from the lifestyle they’re used to. But, they also learn that women can be a united front no matter what background we’re brought up in.

**Lesson: Setting isn’t just a backdrop. If done well, it can become a force all its own.

 

Five – ­The Complete and Utter Outlandishness –  Okay, the stuff that happens on SATC—the stuff of this movie in particular—will never, ever happen to most of us. It’s all way, way out there. Glamorous dinners in NYC? All-expenses-paid exotic vacations? Gorgeous men around every corner? No. Not in my world, anyway. But isn’t it fun to watch?! It’s a total escape from reality, which is what we want when we pay big bucks to go to the movies (or bug bucks at the bookstore). But even through all the glam and craziness, there are still elements of SATC that the average person can relate to. Pressures at work, crying kiddos, a stale phase in a relationship. Those elements of the story bring us back to the real world and give us something to hold on to, investing us in the characters and the storyline.

**Lesson: Your plot, your setting, your characters—they can all be as eccentric or as bizarre or as out of this world as you choose to make them, but if there’s nothing the reader can relate to, you’re in danger of losing their emotional investment.

Friday Five

Happy Friday Readers! I think I might be an anomaly, but I LOVE the revising stage. Getting the actual story details worked out and then onto the page is much harder for me than going through and making the story better.  So today: My five favorite revision tips. Enjoy!

One ~ Cut the beginning and end. Leave the middle. Just like with sandwiches and pie, the middle is almost always the best stuff. My very first draft of Forget Me Not was—are you ready for this?—130,000 words. Ridiculous! I was able to cut about 30,000 of those words on my first round of revising because the beginnings and endings of my chapters contained a whole bunch of arbitrary details that were helpful for fleshing out the characters, setting and back story, but had very little bearing on the actual plot. It was super satisfying to highlight and cut huge chunks of random text and paste them into my Outtakes folder because 1) I needed to drop my word count in a serious way and 2) My story was SO MUCH better without all that extra crap! It was after that first major round of revising that my story started to read like an real book. *In case you’re wondering, Forget Me Not is now 79,000 words.  

Two ~ When revising, pay careful attention to your favorite parts, the parts you think are clever or funny or really, really good. Those are often the parts you don’t need. My Outtakes folder is full of witty dialogue snippets, gorgeous descriptions, and cute interactions that always make me smile when I read them. It was painful to cut some (okay, a lot) of them, but if I’m being completely honest, they didn’t add to the plot or characterizations. They had to go.

Three ~ Conversely, if you find yourself skimming over certain sections every time you do a read through because they bore you to tears, take a second to seriously consider whether you need those parts. If you do, then find a way to rewrite them in a more dynamic way. If you don’t, cut! If you the author aren’t enthralled by every word of your manuscript, then why in the world would an agent or editor or reader be?  

Four ~ The FIND function on your computer is one of the most important tools for revising. My first FIND search was for all words ending in –ly, otherwise known as adverbs. I cut a lot of them, but not all… I like a well-placed adverb here and there. The adverbs I did cut were either unnecessary or redundant. Other FIND searches I ran: seems, just, was, suddenly, pulled (my fabulous critique partner claimed I used that word way too much, and after searching for it, I was alarmed to see that she was very right!), and I love you (because it loses its punch when overstated; Mason and Faith only say the words a few times). I also searched for my characters’ names, especially Mason and Faith, because again, thanks to my critique partner, I discovered I was overusing them.

 

Five ~ When you think you’re completely done with all revisions, change your font to something drastically different from Times New Roman and read through your entire manuscript again. My eyes and brain were so used to reading Forget Me Not, I’d practically memorized it. Changing the font forced me to slow down and read more carefully, making the little mistakes I’d somehow missed the first thirty-five times jump of the page.    

Friday Five

Today: My five favorite writing/publishing blogs… my MUST READS!
One:  Editorial Ass – Information on everything from querying and contracts to trends and advances from an anonymous individual in publishing.

Editorial Ass: I work in publishing and I like to read things. Herewith: free association on books, nice things I ate, publishing, editing, and other nice things I ate.

 Two: Kidlit – Everything you need to know about writing, querying, and (hopefully!) publishing picture books, middle grades and YA novels.

A site for writers, readers and fans of children’s literature written by Mary Kole, associate agent at Andrea Brown Literary Agency!

Three: Nathan Bransford – If you’re an aspiring writer and you’re NOT reading Nathan Bransford’s blog, you’re missing out on a wealth of information presented in a fun and witty way.

I'm a literary agent with the San Francisco office of Curtis Brown Ltd.

Four: Kiersten White – Her debut novel’s coming out in a few months and she’s proof that perseverance pays off. Plus, she’s funny and candid and an average mom & wife who’s about to be published. There’s hope for all of us!

I'm a YA writer represented by the wonderful Michelle Wolfson of Wolfson Literary. My first novel, PARANORMALCY, will be published by HarperTeen in September, 2010, with two sequels to follow. Which makes me all sorts of happy.

Five: Rachelle Gardner – Honest advice for both aspiring and published writers. She posts info you don’t even realize you need until you’re reading it. Lots of great guest bloggers, too.   

Rachelle Gardner, Literary Agent at Wordserve Literary