Sharp Curve Ahead: A-Z Challenge

The A-Z Challenge begins in 72 short hours. I am overly excited for this event hosted by Arlee Bird at Tossing It Out. The idea is that for the month of April, Challengers will post everyday except Sunday for a total of 26 posts. Not only that, but each of the posts will be themed after consecutive letters of the alphabet. So April 1st is A and April 2nd is B and so on.

There are currently a mind-blowing 753 Challengers signed up for the challenge. I've already found the challenge useful in a few ways. First, selecting a theme and attempting to plan my posts has helped me to focus my blog--much like writing a query letter before editing a manuscript to help identify the central storyline and themes of a novel. Second, I've already meet quiet a few awesome bloggers. I am eager to meet more as we dive into April.

The best news--there is still time to sign up! Go here. Do it. Now. Or don't. Whatever. I'm bad with pressure. So just do it.

In order to gear up for the challenge, I won't be posting until April 1st. Grammatical Monday will disappear for April, but it will be back in May along with some exciting new regulars that I haven't thought up yet. I promise they will be at least mildly interesting. I can do mildly interesting.

I was also recently honored with my first award. I am very touched to receive this

from Angeline Trevena. She is awesomeness--honest, thoughtful and interesting.

As a winner, I am supposed to pass on the award to three more recipients, and here they are. Please visit them. Like Angeline, they are all pure awesomeness.

Gina @ Writer's Blog -- Gina's blog makes me laugh. Not only does Gina have a wonderful sense of humor, but she is open and honest. I always look forward to her creative, well-written posts.

Dawn @ The Write Soil -- Dawn posts interesting writing exercises and encourages followers to do them along with her. I am a new follower of hers, and I see greatness in her future.

The Writing Bug -- Those of us who live in Northern Colorado are lucky enough to have NCW--a local writing organization. NCW helps writers connect, offers classes and workshops and hosts a conference every year. They also have a wonderful blog.

So there it is. Enjoy your week, and I will be back on Friday.

Grammatical Monday: e.g. and i.e.

What is the difference between e.g. and i.e.?

E.g. stand for exempli gratia, meaning for example.

I.e. stands for id est, meaning that is or in other words.

Use e.g. to give examples.

I enjoy eating Indian food (e.g. saag paneer, lamb madras and aloo nan).

This means that I enjoy eating Indian foods such as saag paneer and lamb madras. The list is not exhaustive--there are other Indian foods I enjoy eating.

Use i.e. to provide clarification.

I enjoy eating Indian food (i.e. saag paneer, lamb madras and aloo nan).

This introduces a clarification, meaning that I enjoy eating only saag paneer, lamb madras and aloo nan. No tandoori for me.

More examples:

Our cat, Mickey (i.e., the stinky cat we have to bathe weekly), loves to curl up on the cat tower.

Our cat, Mickey, loves to chase bugs in the spring time (e.g., bees, grasshoppers and crickets).

Ancient Romans were highly superstitious and feared anything to do with the left (e.g., being left handed).

Getting into the arena with an angry gladiator is like paying leapfrog with a unicorn (i.e., a very bad idea).

Creds...what creds?

There are a lot of blogs on writing, and many of them have great advice.

But what do you really know about the blogger? Does he/she have the creds to be preaching about writing? Is there even such a thing as writing creds? How do you get them? How do you know when you have them?

Natalie Whipple wrote a post yesterday about how she is going to be cutting back on her blog posts. In it she stated that she doesn't feel like she has the creds to be giving so much advice about writing. I love Natalie Whipple. She is one of the first bloggers I started following and one of the reasons I decided to try out my own blog.

So what are these mysterious creds? A MFA in Creative Writing? A teaching certificate in English? A published book? Ten published books?

It's hard to determine what writing cred is because there is never a point where one can say that they know everything there is to know about writing. Never. That's one of the things that make writing so rewarding--the learning curve is endless.

I understand what she is saying. I get asked questions that I have no right to answer all the time. I have a law degree, and I passed the bar which means, technically, I'm a lawyer. I practiced for a few years before deciding to become a teacher instead. But people ask me for legal advice all the time. Can you look over this contract? Can you help me get divorced? Are the yellow cautionary speed limits mandatory? I've been asked all of those in the last few months.

The answer: I HAVE NO IDEA.

Having a law degree doesn't mean I know everything about legal matters. I expect it is the same for a MFA or being published. It means I have just enough knowledge to be dangerous.

Many bloggers who post about writing are the same. Including me. I know just enough about writing to be dangerous.

I haven't been blogging long, but a few things I have tried to keep in mind about taking/posting advice:

1. Feel free to ignore anyone's advice--even if they've published twenty bestsellers. No one's advice is perfect for you.

2. Take writing advice for what it is--that person's experience. I have no problem listing what I have learned on my blog. It isn't more than that--what I have discovered works for me.

3. If you feel like you don't have the creds (however they are defined), then stop talking. I have no skills when it comes to writing query letters. At this point, I would never give advice about querying. I might post one of mine to start a dialogue, but I won't pretend that I know anything because I don't have the creds. Helping to identify passive sentences--I can handle that because I taught writing and grammar for a number of years.

4. Be wary of bloggers who get annoyed when you disagree with them. A person who is comfortable with their advice won't get annoyed if someone politely disagrees with their ideas. One of my blogging goals is to have a dialogue, and the dialogue is pretty boring when all the comments are "great post!". Not that I don't like hearing that, but what I really want to hear are honest thoughts and other ways of looking at things.

Notice how I've just given a bunch of advice after preaching about being wary of advice?

Do you think there is such a thing as writing creds? What makes a person able to blog about writing advice?

What I've learned as a newbie historical fiction writer

I've been working on a historical fiction novel set in the late Roman Republic for 2 1/2 years. Last week I finished drafting the first quarter of the novel--meaning at this rate, I will finish the thing in ten years.

Ten years. A first draft of a novel generally takes me about six months.

Ten years.

I realize that this number is not accurate because I did a tremendous amount of research before I wrote the first page. I also spent a lot of time in the beginning researching overall considerations--dress, food, geography, political climate, slavery, etc. This differs from my current research which tends to be more specific--how are the streets lit up at night? or how would one travel from Rome to Pompeii?

Luckily, after 2 1/2 years, I have more passion for this project than any other I've worked on. I love every little detail that I come across about the time period and the characters. But it hasn't all been easy.

A few things I have learned that I wish I had known before beginning:

1. Keep organized notes and a bibliography. I am terrible at this. I wrote everything down in one notebook--page after page of information that I now have to comb through each time I want to find something specific. I've now started organizing the information on notecards that I keep in topic stacks.

2. The Internet is your best and worst friend. How tempting it is to type in a question and get an answer. But the problems with the Internet are many. There are, of course, reliability concerns. Getting a URL and creating an official looking website is easy. Ever been to martinlutherking.org? Everything I get from the Internet I try to verify by book--so I might as well just have used books in the first place. Another concern with the Internet is tunnel vision. If I am only interested in one fact, then I scan for that fact and often miss many of the other useful tidbits.

3. The local library is a good place to start, but you'll probably need more to finish. I've read every non fiction book my local library has on the late Roman Republic. All two of them. Luckily, I live a few miles from Colorado State University. It wasn't hard to get a community member library card to the university library, and the resources there far exceed the local library.

4. Decide how accurate you want to be and stick with it. My goal is not to having every tiny detail perfectly accurate, but instead to provide the flavor of the time period while being true to the historical figures that populate my novel. I am not an Ancient Rome scholar, and I never will be. I accept that my representation of the past will not be perfect and that for some readers, this will frustrate them. Oh well.

5. Don't discount fictional books/movies/TV series set in the time frame. Like the Internet, these things have to be viewed with caution because it is the creator's view of the era, and it might not be your view. It is also important to know what biases your reader will have because of other fictional stories set in the same time frame. I'm writing about gladiators. Everyone in my writing group discussed the movie Gladiator after my first submission. I enjoyed this movie--but some of my struggles are around the fact that my world is not like Gladiator. Gladiator takes place 200 years later. A lot happened in two hundred years, and many of those changes influenced how gladiators functioned in Roman society. Heck the Colosseum hadn't even been built yet. But movies like Gladiator or the mini-series Rome or the mystery books by Steven Saylor or the documentaries on the History Channel help to bring all the facts to life and inspire me.

6. If at all possible, visit. I've been to Italy a few times and once spent about three weeks in Rome. Obviously, it is a different Rome than the one my MC lives in, but I can picture her standing where I once stood. Her feet and my feet connected on the same patch of earth with only time separating us (well, and the fact that she is an entirely made up character). When she looked up, she felt the same heat from the same sun. I've never felt more connected to my MC or more certain in the value of my novel.

7. Take a break when needed. I've written two other contemporary novels since the time I've started the historical piece. Yes, I could have probably finished the historical piece by now if I hadn't done that (you probably don't feel as bad for me now with my ten year guesstimate). But sometimes I need to just write without worrying about the type of sandals my MC would wear or how she would clean her clothing or what Roman soldiers wear under their armor. This time working on other novels is well spent because I always return to this project invigorated. However, I've never allowed myself to stop researching.

7. Enjoy it. Every genre of writing has its own unique challenges. Enjoy the challenge. I celebrate every chapter and every scene in a way that I don't when writing contemporary fiction. It is a long haul, but I'm writing it because I love the time period, the characters, the voice of my MC.

Are there any other newbie historical fiction writers out there? What do you wish you had known about writing historical fiction?

Grammatical Monday: Only

Which is correct?

I owe Sarah only three dollars.

I only owe Sarah three dollars.

If you ever wonder where only belongs in a sentence, you aren't alone. Only is a challenging word because we often don't use it correctly when speaking. The guideline is that only should be placed immediately before the word it modifies.

The first example is correct because only modifies three dollars.

When speaking, the speaker uses emphasis and tone to clarify which word only modifies--making it less important where only falls in the sentence. When writing, however, the sentence can be confusing if only is not placed directly before the word it modifies.

The following sentences have different meanings when shifting around only.

The memo confused the only employee.

The memo only confused the employee.

The memo confused only the employee.

So if you must use only, keep it next to the word it is modifying. But only is one of those words that can usually be cut to tighten the writing. The best advice is not to use it at all.

The memo confused the employee.

World Building: The place where time does not exist

I've been noticing a lot of posts on world building lately. It used to be I couldn't get though a day without seeing a new post on voice--but now world building seems to be taking over.

World building was originally applied to science fiction and fantasy. However, it seems to me that all authors use world building. All settings have rules and boundaries that the characters need to live by--whether that setting exists in imagination or in reality. Certainly a writer might spend more time world building when writing a dystopian than when writing contemporary, but like voice, world building is a universal theme that touches all fiction.

Most of the world building articles center on outlining what the world has. To me, this is the easier part of world building. The challenge (and fun!) comes with understanding what the created world doesn't have.

For example--in both of my current WIPs, time is not measured in minutes or hours or any other way regulated by a clock. One project take place in the future where clocks are no longer used. The other takes place in ancient Rome, before the use of personal timing devices (there was the concept of an hour, but it was relative--everyone could define the length of time differently). This means that whenever I write "after a few minutes" I have to delete it. Besides being a cliché, my characters have no idea what this means. What is a minute if you've never used a clock?

It can be helpful to create a list of what the world doesn't have. Some of the concrete missing items may be obvious. For my ancient Rome WIP, there are no cars, cellphones, toilet paper or snow. But also missing are non concrete experiences and that color the landscape of the world. In my MC's world, there is no concept of temperature as a numbered scale, no Christian ideals or traditions (at the time of my WIP), no (or very little) free education.

The fun comes in considering the impact of what is missing on the created world and characters. How do these missing elements cause characters to think differently about the world? Would you think about cleanliness in a different way if you used a communal sponge instead of toilet paper? urine instead of soap?

What do your characters live without?

Win all 5 of the Breathless Books

I've heard these are some excellent books! I haven't read any of them yet, but three of them are on my waitlist for the library. Just click below to enter.

The almighty playlist and other distraction busters

I am a distracted writer. I didn’t start out that way—but now I have a ten-month-old son. When he was first born, I struggled with how writing fit into my life. Before Riley, nothing distracted me. I ignored the Internet, TV, dirty dishes and my husband with ease. It was all background clutter that phased out as I sat and pounded out about 3000-5000 words a day.

My world has changed. Giving up writing was never an option, so I’ve had to adjust. At least until Riley can sit next to my laptop and play for four hours without complaint, and I’m sure that will happen any day now.

In my new writing world, a few minutes of uninterrupted writing time is unbelievably precious (I’ve already been pulled away from writing this blog four times). Before I could slowly seep into writing, taking fifteen or twenty minutes to do a little rereading and get back into the feel and voice of the text. No longer. One way I’ve adapted to the change is the almighty playlist.

I’ve always created playlists for my novels. Before it was an exercise in fun. Now it is mandatory.

Just before Riley takes his nap, I start listening to the novel’s playlist. This helps to pull me into the mood of the text and gets me excited about writing. That way, when he goes down for his nap, I click off the playlist and I am ready to start writing/editing/doing whatever I need to do immediately.

I listen to the playlist in other places as well, such as in the car or when we first get up in the morning--anytime that I want to feel the characters around me.

I started my current WIP, Protector, when Riley was two months old. I don’t know how many times we’ve listened to the thirteen songs on Protector’s playlist. I’m ready for his first words to be lyrics.

Playlists aren’t the only way that I have adjusted my writing methods since Riley. A few other things:

1. Theme. On the top of my laptop I have a post it note reminding me of the theme for my WIP. This keeps me focused on the central aspects of the novel.
2. Hand writing. I’ve always enjoyed writing by hand on occasion. I used to sit under a tree at the park and scribble away. Now I do it at home too when it isn’t convenient for me to be at the laptop.
3. No Internet during rough drafts. I disconnect the Internet and drop it where I can’t reach it.
4. Setting aside specific times to blog, write and read. This all revolves around Riley’s nap schedule. For the morning nap, I blog, respond to emails and get done any Internety thing I need to do (pay bills, research, etc). Afternoon is dedicated to my WIP. After dinner, when my husband is home, if I have time, I use it for critiquing or reading.
5. Focus on one WIP at a time. I never used to do this--I would flip between two open WIP in any one writing session. Now I focus on one at a time. On the rare occasion that I am home alone (it has happened twice since Riley was born), I go back to the working on two at once and wonder how I used to do that.
6. Talk about it. Riley knows more about my WIP than anyone--including me. I read out loud to him, discuss plot issues with him, explain character reactions to him. I also talk to the animals during their visits (I’m a petsitter/dog walker). This helps me to work out problems when I can’t be at my laptop.
7. Enjoy life. I love being a mom. I feel so honored that I get to spend everyday with Riley. He is with me almost 24 hours per day, and I still feel like that isn’t enough time. I also love being a writer. Our days get a little crazy sometimes between the petsitting and writing and just being a ten-month old, but it is a life that I would choose again and again. Sure things suck sometimes--money is tight and I hate how my husband has to work M-F and I work Sat and Sun, meaning we never have days off together, but that’s all details. I am a mom, a wife and a writer. Life doesn’t get better than that.

What keeps you on task while writing? Any suggests for how to limit distractions and retain focus? I’ll try anything!

Broken Hearts Blogfest

The Broken Hearts Blogfest is here! Dawn Embers at It's in the Book is hosting this blogfest from today until the 15th March.

I have been wallowing in mopey broken hearts in my WIP, so I wanted to do something a bit different for the blogfest. Here is my entry---

Letter to the woman I saw kissing my husband outside the Dollar Mart:

Dear Suck-face-whore-of-evilness,

You may think that your attentions toward my husband have gone unnoticed. Let me assure you that this is not the case.

Let us begin this lesson with some definitions of terms.

hus·band 

[huhz-buh nd]

–noun

1. My eternal life partner.

2. The father of my children.

3. He is mine. Get your own, bitch.

suck-face-whore-of-evilness

[suhk-feys-hohr-uhv-ee-vuh l-nes]

-noun

1. You

Me

[mee]

--pronoun

1. Your worst nightmare.

2. For real.

Now that these definitions are clear, I want to illustrate the error of your ways when you chose to suck face with my husband (eternal life partner; father of children; mine, not yours) outside of the Dollar Mart while your cellulited ass hung out of your postage stamp sized mini skirt.

Your first error was in thinking that my husband is going to provide you any kind of solace or happiness or, for that matter, anything else. While I can see from your excessively dyed hair and acne scars that you are in need of some solace, you will never receive said solace from my husband. You see, he provides me (your worst nightmare; for real) these benefits per the already agreed upon arrangement where he is my husband (eternal life partner; father of children; mine, not yours).

You may be thinking that I should take this issue up with my husband. He has his own letter to read and that, just like my husband’s lips, is none of your business.

Your second error was to assume that I would sit idly by and observe this attention toward my husband without response. You see, I am a woman of action [ak-shuh n]. And that is where my attention is currently focused: future action.

Some might use the term revenge to describe this yet to be revealed future action. I, however, would not apply that term. When a bank robber is sentenced to prison, we do not call it revenge. It is more aptly described as punishment. The goal of this punishment is to keep the criminal (you, suck-face-whore-of-evilness) from becoming a repeat offender. You see, I can tell from your skankish ways outside the Dollar Mart that this is not the first time you have attempted to claw your cheaply polished hooks into someone else’s husband. I am confident that the aforesaid punishment will cure your recidivist ways.

Perhaps, with so much of your attention diverted to the way that you whoreishly twist your hips and pout your lips, you have failed to notice me (your worst nightmare; for real). This is an admission on your part that will be rectified shortly.

I will be seeing you. Soon.

Eternally yours,

Your worst nightmare. For real.

Thanks for reading! Head back to the blogfest here!

Shiny New Ideas

Shiny new ideas are all around me. I can’t go anywhere without tripping over a novel idea. I have a word document that is page upon page of ideas, random characters, random scenes. Things that I thought up forever ago and have completely forgotten about.

I used to jump on shiny new ideas immediately and test them out. I would start writing just to play around. I have around thirty books that I’ve started writing. A few of them are just a few of the first pages. Some are detailed outlines. Over half of them are more than 10k words. A handful are over 25k.

Does every writer have as many false starts? Why does it take me 10k words before I know if I want to write the novel or not?

It feels like this is a ridiculous amount of wasted time. I tell myself this isn’t the case—that with every start I learn more about world building, about creating characters, about different voices, about who I am as a writer.

And maybe I just need to accept my madness—that this is how I decide what to write. I have to try on an idea too see if it fits, how it feels, how it moves and flows. At least I don’t have to write 50k or 80k before I decide if an idea fits me.

At what point do you decide to drop a novel?

Should we (writers) listen to agents?

Should we read their blogs? Take their general advice? Hang onto their every word?

First let me start by saying that this is not a “bash the agent” post. Far from it--agents are generally intelligent people who know way more about the publishing industry than little ol’ me. I appreciate any agent willing to put their efforts into a blog/website/conference, and I usually find agent advice valuable and thoughtful.

What, then, am I talking about?

Writers are artists. And I believe one part of every artist’s job description is to push lines, to be creative, and to ignore what is saleable. When a writer is faced with a blank page, their first allegiance should be to the work--the story and characters and themes. Artists are limited only by their own abilities, and everything they attempt should push at the edges of those abilities.

Agents are focused on what is saleable. I’m not saying that agents aren’t interested in creativity and stories that push boundaries. Quite the opposite--agents (generally) are looking for new and different. But a certain kind of new and different; a kind of new and different that they can sell. Agents are operating within certain familiar boundaries.

My argument is that writers shouldn’t limit themselves to the boundaries that surround agents. Therefore, when an agent gives writing advice, writers need to take that advice for what it is--coming from a place where new and different must also be saleable. It is pointed advice, and pointed advice should always be taken with caution.

If we, as artists, limit ourselves to what is saleable, then we become shadows of what we could be--of what we could achieve. Our growth should only be limited by our desire--not by what type of voice is currently selling or how many words a manuscript should have.

Certainly a writer’s viewpoint will differ from mine depending on the urgency to which she feels the publishing dogs nipping at her heels. And my viewpoint changes when I am on submission and trying to elicit agent attention (if they aren’t driven away by this crazy post :D).

But when it first begins--when we are looking a blank page that’s only watermark is endless possibilities, then we shouldn’t limit ourselves, shouldn’t hold back and shouldn’t listen to what anyone else has to say.

Catch me if you can!

Thank you for taking the time to visit. I appreciate any and all comments.

Thank you!

Title: Gladius (working title)

Genre: YA Historical Fiction

The day that Caesar returned to Rome, the city dripped with an endless humid heat. I sat, not yet knowing what the day would bring, watching two men fight. Sweat burned my face. I could feel the heat of the sand pressing up through my sandals like a fever spreading up from my soles to my ankles to my knees.

The Forum spread out before us. The center of Rome. The center of the world. Stone buildings surrounded a wide rectangle of sand and cement. Between the temples and government halls bustled shopkeepers, prostitutes, rushing women and tight groups of talking men. People moved away from the two fighting men quickly, used to the constant turmoil of human interactions always on public display in the Forum. No one bothered to step between them.

I didn’t know why the two men were fighting. I didn’t really care. It was too hot to fight. And, because of that, Severus had let us out of training early. He had even allowed us the rare opportunity to leave the training house. Usually, I would have been disappointed, but sitting in the forum hoping for one small cooling breeze, I couldn’t complain. I wondered, however, if Severus’ decision had more to do with Caesar’s impending return than the heat. A hot day in Rome was a common occurrence.

Marius laughed next to me as he watched the men fighting. We sat at the bottom for the steps of the Temple Concord. Marius stretched his legs out in front of him and leaned back against the steps, pulling at the leather armor that wrapped his arm.

“Why didn’t you leave your armor at the training house?” I asked.

Marius shrugged. “I was eager to get out of there,” he said with a sigh. He pushed away dark hair that curled slightly on his forehead and twisted toward me.

“The little guy,” he said thoughtfully.

“No way,” I argued. “He’s a stump. One good hit and he’ll be down.”

Marius laughed. “Never doubt the smaller one,” he said. “You should know.”

I glared at him. The small man ducked around his larger opponent, obviously scared of him. As he avoided a strong blow, he fell back and then quickly scrambled up to his feet. It was not an appealing picture. Was he trying to insult me?

“What’s that supposed to mean?” I snapped.

“Aria, you’re like the size of a nymph. And a small nymph at that.”

“I’m not a nymph,” I said quietly. Marius’ comparison burned in my thoughts. I looked down at my legs, singed with a warrior’s tan from the cut of my greaves. Nymphs were feminine and sensual and everything I was not.

Marius was broad and strong, and his easy smile was seared into my mind. I looked at him now. He wiped sweat from his forehead, and for one moment, I didn’t abhor the heat. But Marius had never noticed me. We had trained together in the same collegia for over a year, but he saw me only as a fighter—never as a girl. I quickly turned my thoughts and my eyes away from Marius. I tried not to think about the spoils that he received for choosing so notorious a profession. I was quite certain those girls did not sport a warrior’s tan.