Mash-up: Links and WiP update

Links, links, links

Beth Revis is pure awesomeness for telling us how to make a boy hot, which is actually much more difficult than it seems.

Along a similar line, Julie Musil discusses creating heroes we care about.

Over at the Divine Secrets of the Writing Sisterhood, there is advice on writing those tricky sex scenes.

As for characters, Wordplay posted about the dangers of character overload and inconsistent character names.

Aimee Salter had a couple of interesting posts about plot elements: the black moment and the crisis.

Kay Kenyon posted some thoughts about first pages after judging a slew of them at a first page critique session.

Elana Johnson reminded me not to be indulgent--a reminder I need constantly.

And the amazing Veronica Roth wrote about her revision of Insurgent (yes--the sequel to Divergent!) And she's using Scrivener to do it, which in my mind is the most amazing writing software ever.

Finally YAtopia is having a Dark YA Blogfest during November.

WiP Update, Alphas and Manuscript Love

So I finished the first draft of Carbry's novel earlier this week and shipped it off to my fabulous alpha, Marie. I was really excited to see it go--the ms and I need a break from each other. I'm reminded of Bad Romance by Lady Gaga--every time I hear that song, I think about the relationship I have with this ms.

I always use an alpa. This seems to be a disappearing trend noticing how often bloggers talk about betas and ignore alphas, but it is endlessly valuable for me. Marie won't do any kind of line edits (unless something really bothers her). Instead she'll just be commenting on plot, character arcs, voice--all the biggies. Marie is a perfect alpha for me because, having read all my novels and a huge amount of shorts, she knows my writing better than anyone (including me). She understands what is important to me--how the most important thing to me in a ms is creating complex character relationships and intriguing themes. And she isn't afraid to tell me what isn't working for her--usually in incredibly blunt statements that are invaluable.

I also shipped of the first act of Protected this week to the wonderful Gina. I've spent more time on this ms than all the others combined, but I still feel like this is the one that needs the most work. Sending it off was good for me because it made me open up the document after months of ignoring it and got me thinking again. I skimmed some of the sections and remembered that...I completely love this story. I simply can't get away from it. I've already rewritten it once. And I'll rewrite it again and again if needed.

Do you have a story like this? One that you can't just get right--but you keep trying and trying because you love it so darn much?

I ask myself--why do I love this story so much? I know it is the characters--that I love them all. But the core is that I love writing the MC. She is cold, distant, protected and a total warrior.

A little excerpt from my awesome warrior chick:

I arm myself carefully, selecting holsters that I usually find too cumbersome but that hold more weapons. I load myself down with rends and blades, and I am even able to snatch up two sets of throwing knives. I run my fingertips over the word Pulmaire etched in the side of the metal, feeling the way the edges of the grooves scratch against my skin.

Angelica looks at my stack. “Planning to go to war?” she asks with a half laugh.

I just look at her until she shrugs and turns away. Her word catches me. War.

No. I just want to be free.