Diversity, show-don't-tell, and a query tip.

Oh wow, okay. It's been a very long time since I posted anything, but that doesn't mean I haven't been up to a lot. I've just passed the 50k mark on my current book titled Only Gingers Can Be Witches. I'm coming up on the official start of editing The Sometimes Sword version 2.0 (which some of you will remember I finished about two months ago). I'm now sitting on 4 novel-length works in my (admittedly short) writing career, which is a little mind-boggling to me. Hopefully I will be ready to begin querying The Sometimes Sword by the end of this Fall.

Sprucing up a character.

I'm doing this right now. Hopefully some of my ramblings will make sense, possibly even be helpful if you're having the same problems as me. As most of you know, I'm in the middle of a second version of my book The Sometimes Sword. One of the main things I wanted to do this time around was inject more personality into everyone. I feel like so far I've been doing well. Most every aspect is a hundred times better than the first version: plot, descriptions, character voice, action, creepiness, etc. I can do even better though. I'm about halfway through with 61k words complete, but before I go any further, I want to go through and spruce up my main character Astrid.

She's always been the weak link. I've always been so focused on making her likable and relate-able. As I've been reading other books lately, I've been struck by how directly related character personality is linked to their foibles. They walk hand in hand. Therefore, it stands to reason that if Astrid lacks the proper amount of flaws, she also lacks an equal amount of personality. So I'm taking her back to the drawing board, re-evaluating her, and adding in some crap. We'll see how it goes.

I'm still alive, I promise!

Working on a lot of things right now, glad to have too much to do, rather than too little. But I thought I'd drop by and give you all an update on what's going on. First off, this next month's interviewee will also be my second published author! (You can check out the first one here.) Bryce Moore (@bmoorebooks) has agreed to have a few questions thrown at him, which is great, cause he's a really amazing writer. His book Vodnik will be out soon, and I'm excited for all of you to read it. I've already had the pleasure of reading it pre-release, and it's amazing! More on that later though.

On a related note, my monthly Aspiring Writer Interview series will no longer be called such. I will be dropping the "aspiring" bit, because if a person writes, they're a writer. Period. There are good writers and there are bad writers, but that's another issue.

Right now I'm deep in developing plot within the second version of my own book, even as I write. It's kind of counter intuitive, but that's how I roll. I just passed the 52k word mark, which if my expectations are correct, means I'm just now over the halfway point. Woot! I know I have a lot of revision to do, but that's something I've come to terms with. I'm a messy first draft-er.

One last thing, if you haven't already, feel free to follow me on Twitter, as I've become a little more active there lately (@SometimesSword).

Local Writer Interview: Ali Cross

This month's interview is a little different, since Ali is not simply an aspiring writer, but also a self-published one. We met across the Internet machines through Melanie Fowler, another of my interviewees. Ali is very, VERY active in the writing community, and I'm excited to get to know her a little better. As you all know, I like to just jump right in, so here goes!

If it's not too much to ask, how old are you?

LOL, I’m in my 40’s. But I never really aged past 23. I’m eternally youthful. (Ha!)

Are you married? Kids?

Heck yeah! I have a rockin’ husband who’s a computer genius who slashes computer code and cuts hackers off at the knees. My two boys both eleven, are evil geniuses who take after their dad (thank goodness. One of them is a black belt and the other is close on his heels. At our house it’s all awesome, all the time.

Where in our lovely area do you live?

I live in West Jordan, Utah, but I’m not even an American. I’m a Canadian who’s followed her man (who followed a job) to the States and has been trying to get back home every since. (It’s been twenty years. I haven’t been too successful yet, obviously.)

How long ago did you start writing seriously?

I started writing seriously nine years ago. I know the precise date because my family and I were driving into the mountains for a weekend in the autumn leaves. On our way out popped from my mouth: “I want to write a book.” I swear I did not think those words before I said them, but as soon as I did, I knew it was true. My hubby and I chatted about the idea (I’d always wanted to write a story about my favorite Dungeons & Dragons character—hey, don’t laugh) and it wasn’t long before he admitted that he, too, would like to write a book.

We stopped at a Podunk gas station convenient store, happily discovered they stocked the basic materials with which to begin a book (notebooks, pens, index cards and tape!), brainstormed and outlined our books over our long weekend and … the rest is history! (And to follow-up, we both wrote our books, and finished them together, New Year’s Eve 2003!)

What project are you currently working on?

Right at this very second I’m finishing up the first draft of a middle grade fantasy called LAND MAGIC. Meanwhile, another MG fantasy THE SWIFT, is resting between revisions, and DESOLATION (book two of Desolation, my young adult urban fantasy series) is resting before revisions begin. Exciting stuff!

How long have you been working on Land Magic?

LAND MAGIC was conceived a couple years ago, but I didn’t have to work on it at that time. I did a quick and dirty outline and left it alone. I started drafting it during NaNo ’11, but couldn’t finish because of the release of BECOME (the first in the Desolation series). Time to finish this baby up!

Tell us a little about it.

Here’s my working blurb: 


In a world where land magic has fallen into disuse and land comes together and breaks apart like clouds in the sky, one boy must rediscover the ways of the old magic in order to reunite his family and save mankind.

Wow, that sounds kinda lame. I promise it’s a lot more fun and awesome than it sounds. J

What are your goals for it?

I self-published BECOME, and I love, love, loved the experience. I’d like for LAND MAGIC to reach middle grade readers which (I believe) there’s no doubt traditional publishing methods are (so far) better suited for, but . . . I honestly can’t imagine publishing in the traditional sense.

Have you sent out any queries? How many have you gotten responses to?

Oh yeah. I queried BECOME to 103 agents. Twenty-eight agents read the full manuscript. One agent read three full versions of the novel, and still rejected it. Another agent made an offer, but ended up being a flake and left me hanging for four months before I finally got wise and moved on. Crazy, right?

Have you published anything previously?

Nope! BECOME was my maiden voyage!

Do you have any special sales you'd like me to highlight?

YES! Through February 4^th (the day of NiNoCon, woot!) BECOME is on sale at Amazon here and Smashwords here for only $.99!

Anything else you'd like to tell us about works you've previously published/put on sale?

BECOME is an awesome, dark young adult novel—if you’re a Buffy fan, or a Lilith St. Crow fan, or a Melissa Marr fan . . . I think you’d like my book, too!

What is your favorite book or author? Why?

My favorite book(s) belong to THE FIONAVAR TAPESTRY by Guy Gavriel Kay. I’m not a fan of all of his books, but this trilogy is the one that inspired me to write (because I wanted to write something as amazing as those books—to reach people the way these books reached me). THE FIONAVAR TAPESTRY, is rich and beautiful, heartbreaking and fulfilling—it’s everything I think a truly great book should be. And I think it would nowadays fall into “new adult” fantasy, but back when I first read it it was just regular old fantasy. J

What has been the hardest part about writing your current work? About writing in general?

I’m not sure. I haven’t struggled with the craft in the same way that I know other people struggle. For me, the hardest part is believing in myself when no one else does.

What has been the best or most rewarding aspect of writing?

Without a doubt the most rewarding part are all the friendships I have formed through writing and blogging. Who knew that such a solitary art could give me such an amazing sense of belonging?

Do you have any "technical" suggestions for new writers?

A couple tools that have really helped me. Buy the book SAVE THE CAT by Blake Snyder. It’s funny, quick and easy to read. It’s a script-writing guide, but it absolutely relates to writing. I swear you will not regret it. Next to that, get thee a crit group! I think that should be in the writer’s ten commandments.

Do you have any sage advice for new writers?

LOL, no. Just, if you have a dream? Don’t let it stay in dreamland forever. Live your dream—because you CAN.

Is there anything else you'd like to tell our readers?

Come to NiNoCon this Saturday (February 4^th!). It’s a free online writer’s conference taking place at www.ninjaswrite.com. It’ll be fun! There’ll be lots of great info! And PRIZES!!

Give us some links to any blogs, websites, or other online media you run.

You betcha! Thanks for letting me plug, Trevor!

ali cross (blog) www.alicross.com

the writer’s dojo www.ninjaswrite.com

the indelibles (a group of 25 self-or-indie-published authors) http://indeliblewriters.blogspot.com

There you go people, go check out her blog and all the goodies she has for you, and read her book Become dang it!

Interview with Peter Orullian, author of THE UNREMEMBERED, now on special sale through Tor Books!

This is incredibly exciting for me, and I'd like to thank Peter for graciously giving me the opportunity to interview him. The hardback of his book The Unremembered is on sale right now for $7 on Amazon; click here to take a look.

Peter Orullian

I first met Peter at the Caped Conduit 2011, a sci-fi/fantasy writing convention held here in Salt Lake City every year. My wife Becky and I were making the rounds to all the hourly panels that we found interesting and pertinent to my own work, and stopped by one called "To Cliche or not to Cliche". As you can probably guess, the subject was figuring out when stereotypes, cliches, and tropes are appropriate in genre fiction (hint: more than you'd think). Peter was on the panel with a few other authors: Michael Collings, Berin Stephens, Suzanne Vincent and Tracy Hickman. Each panelist took turns talking about a lot of incredibly interesting things, but it was Peter Orullian who really struck me. Through the entire panel I kept thinking, "Who is this incredibly passionate dude with long hair, and why haven't I heard of him before?" I could tell whenever he spoke that he really cared about being at the con, and more than that, he cared about writers and writing in general.

After the panel, Becky and I stopped him in the hall and told him how we enjoyed his comments. Surprisingly, he took the time to talk to us for about five whole minutes, really paying attention and clearly investing in speaking to us. He told us about his new book titled The Unremembered that had come out, and showed us a copy he had with him.

We've spoken several times since then, and Peter has always been extremely amicable. I can think of no one I would rather have as my first Published Author Interviewee. So without further ado, I'll jump right into the good stuff. Ladies and worms: Peter Orullian.

Peter was born and raised here in Utah. He graduated magnum cum laude from the University of Utah, and later met his wife before moving to Seattle where he currently lives. He works full time, but still fits in writing, getting up at ungodly hours to write the second book in "The Vault of Heaven" series, a trilogy he sold to Tor Books. The first volume, The Unremembered was released earlier this year in April.

Take a look at the great recommendation by Terry Brooks (author of the numerous
SHANNARA novels) and ogle the beautiful cover art. Then go buy it. Really. Here. Now.

So Peter, tell us a little about yourself. Are you married?
Indeed. I snagged a good one, too. We went to high school together, but didn’t date until we’d both graduated. Actually, in high school, I dated her best friend. Don’t know what that’s about. She’s got a great sense of humor, though. Maybe that’s it.

What about kids?
Yes, two. Both are wicked smart. My son has perfected the Vector (from Despicable Me) butt-slapping dance. When we go to the bookstore, my daughter chooses books on geology, astronomy, geography . . . girl’s going to be a scientist. She’s starting to doubt the whole Santa thing. The other day, my son, who’s younger, says, “If you don’t believe, you don’t get presents.” Because she really does want to believe, she articulates this bit of logic: “I do get presents, therefore I must believe.” Love that kid!

What do you do for a living?
I work at Microsoft in the Xbox division. I’m in marketing—read: “separate you from your money.” So, ya know, if you gotta work . . .

Having a full time day job, how do you find a balance between work, writing, recreation, and your family?
Tough. I get up a little after 3:30 a.m. every day to write. I work at it until about 7:30, then I head off to a long day at Microsoft. Come home. Eat. Kids. Wife. Sleep. Repeat. Oh, and I fit in music there somewhere, both listening and playing. Takes a lot of discipline. But I have little choice now; Tor bought three books, and they wants ‘em.

How long ago did you first start writing?

Not easy to answer, actually. I wrote once every few years, for a single evening, when I was very young. Nothing sustained. Then, just out of high school, I did a few short stories. Very Stephen King-esque. (BTW, I recently re-read those, and I think they hold up pretty well.) Then, later, in college, I wrote an Honors Thesis, which was a couple hundred page piece of fiction called Skinwalker, based on the Navajo legend—more King-like prose. But I didn’t kind of get serious until about ten years ago, I guess. And ­real­ seriousness probably began about five years ago. So, pick your poison.


Tell us a bit about The Unremembered.

(He refers me to the back of the book, retyped here for your pleasure.)

When rumors of threatened strife from ancient enemies reach the eastlands of Aeshau Vaalthe, those rumors auger an onslaught of raids and destruction more severe than any since the legendary Convocation of Seats, a gathering unknown in the land for generations without number.

For an author's son, a true threat would mean taking up a legendary weapon with hands that have never touched steel;

For an expectant mother, it would mean learning the harsh toll the world exacts from its children, and the latent power of her song to ease their suffering;

For the simple huntsman, it would mean discovering his lost childhood, and facing the truth behind the words he is impelled to speak each time he draws his bow.

These three, aided by an exile who fosters orphans in a desolate waste, a rogue member of a powerful ancient brotherhood, and a woman warrior of a legendary race, will fight the past even as the face a dark future.

Because the threats are more than rumor...

(Peter continues.)

As for where THE UNREMEMBERED fits in the broader fantasy genre, it’s squarely in the epic category. Lots of fantasy books these days are marketed as ‘epic’ by publishers, because they want to appeal to that audience. But most of them aren’t epic, really. But by most definitions of epic, THE UNREMEMBERED qualifies: war, conflict of nations, social tumult, scale, moral questions, family implications—you get the point.

How long after you completed The Unremembered was it published?
Ten long years. I wrote a few books afterward. Later on, when I found a new agent, the first thing he sold was the fantasy. Goes down like that sometimes. It’s all about patience with writing and publishing. Which means I’m constantly being tested. . .

If you could describe the process of writing The Unremembered from the first draft stage to the initial release day in one word, what would it be?
Glacial.

Where (chronologically) does the writing of The Unremembered fit into your other works?
Second. I wrote a dark thing very much like a Dan Simmons or Stephen King's novel first. After THE UNREMEMBERED, I wrote a couple of thrillers. Someday, I’m going to publish those thrillers. I’m quite proud of them.


I hear you are working on the next book in the "Vault of Heaven". Does it have a title yet? How is it progressing?
I do, but it hasn’t been unveiled yet. I imagine that’ll happen when Tor puts out the cover. I have to say, though. I quite like the title. I think it’s got power.

On the writing front, I’m closing in on the end. I’m going to have a whole lot of self-editing to do, though, as it’s gotten very big. I scoped a huge amount of story for the second volume. So, first draft complete pretty soon. Then, merciless cutting.

Why did you choose to write fantasy? What attracted you to that genre over other genres like science fiction or historical fiction?
Well, I do write in other genres, as noted above. Oddly, most of my published short fiction is SF. But I love writing fantasy because you can explore questions that if you tried to deal with in a contemporary novel would get readers panties in a bunch. Try writing a fiction book where good/evil—even if it’s all grey-like and ambiguous—is prominently featured and it’s present-day. You’ll immediately polarize your audience. People are funny that way. But with a fantasy, it’s somehow safe to explore such things. Plus, you know, magic, dragons, like that.

What has it been like to meet your fans, and talk about your fiction with them?
All smiles. I can’t tell you what a thrill it is. I wrote a book I’d like to read. So I get all nerdy talking about the intricacies of my world and plot and characters with folks who’ve read my book—if they want to, that is.

How do you get in the mood to write?
I get up. That sounds snarky, but honestly, if you’re finding yourself needing to get in the mood, you better question how bad you want it.

What do you do when you feel like your day's writing is crap?
Never satisfied; always content. My vocal trainer taught me this little bit of wisdom. Essentially, it means: I’m at peace with where I’m at, what I’ve done; but I’m always stretching for better. Hard to go wrong with this approach.

What is the hardest part about writing for you? Coming up with an idea, building an outline, writing dialogue?
Right now, it’s not over-lamenting that I don’t have more time to do it; and related to that, not hating on writers who do. They don’t suck for getting to write full time, honest.

Which one of your characters do you relate to the most?
Yes. Lame answer, right? But here’s the thing. They’re all me. And none of them are me. I’ve invested a lot of heart into all of them. There are things about each that I love: Grant’s uncompromising nature; Vendanj’s willingness to do anything to achieve his goal; Sutter’s good humor; the tragic backstory of Jastail; Wendra’s music capabilities; Braethen’s marriage of knowledge and desire; Tahn’s ability to relate to all of the above, and his passion for the sunrise. Gosh, I could get all sappy on you here . . .

Were there any scenes that just creeped you out to write? Or gave you goosebumps?
Yeah, Wendra’s scene in the high-mountain pass when she confronts the Bar’dyn and finally looses her dark song. I can both see it and hear it. Gives me chills.

Also, there are several scenes in book two which have been tough to write. You’ll see. But readers will have to confront some stuff when they come upon these ones. Hope you all survive. Bwa ah ah ah ah.

Pretty much all your characters in the Vault of Heaven have some sort of tragic past; where do you think your inspiration comes from, and do your characters ever depress you?
I guess I feel like it’s less interesting if a character’s history is daisies and parasols. We tend to be defined more by the trials in our lives than anything else. Plus, ya know, pre-industrial worlds are tough on folks. Beyond all that, I like giving my characters internal struggles and something to try and overcome. Where’s the inspiration come from? Well, our world has its share of strife, if I need source material. Mostly, things just occur to me as I’m writing or creating a character. But nah, I don’t get depressed. I’ll put it this way. Probably the nicest thing a reviewer ever said about the book was something to the effect of: The dark moments make the rays of hope shine the brighter. I butchered that. But she was referring to Tahn’s stint in prison. It’s a dark passage in the book for many reasons. And yet, there are some sublime moments that take place there. So, a ray of hope in the dark, maybe.

You've talked a lot elsewhere about how important good characters are. Do you have any particular process for developing your characters that you would like to share?
It’s somewhat instinctual. I will say this, though. As much as I love magic systems, and world building, and dragons, and sword fights, and all the rest of it, what you come away from a book with is a feeling (maybe a relationship, if you want to go that far) with the characters. That’s what you’ll remember, mostly, when the experience of reading the book is done. So, I kind of put some time in on characters. And it’s been gratifying that one of the fairly uniform comments from fans and reviewers has been that they think I did this well. I don’t wish to sound arrogant. I’ve got room—as all writers do—for growth. And even where characterization is concerned, I’m always putting in my time. But I think the investment of thoughtful energy in their creation is paramount. You can go a long ways by simply asking; What matters most to my character?

Do you have any words of advice for us aspiring writers?
Don’t give up. When someone beats down on your dream, let it make you mad enough to try harder. Defy the naysayers. Keep at it. If you show up at your writing desk every day, eventually good things will happen.

Do you know when you'll be stopping by Utah again for a signing?
Man, I don’t. I hope it’s soon. I may try to tag Brandon again for a joint signing like we did a few months back. With any luck, it’ll be in the spring.

Is there anything else you'd like to say, comment on, plug, pitch, or geek out about?
Well, if you manage to publish this soon, folks can get the hardback of THE UNREMEMBERED on Amazon for 7 bucks. That’s cheaper than the paperback will be. So, deal hunters take note. The paperback releases in February for readers who like that form factor. As for geeking out, I’ll turn to my music side for a moment and say: Folks, you need to be listening to Trans Siberian Orchestra! You’ll thank me.

Thanks Peter, I really appreciate you making yourself available to your fans! Hopefully we get some good hits on the interview and spread the word about your book.

Be sure to check out his site, watch some of his own interviews, listen to some of the music he's done, and read all the extra goodies.

Aspiring Writer Interview: Melanie Chaston Fowler

With this series, tentatively titled "AWI" (Aspiring Writer Interviews, clever I know), I hope to bring out some wonderful writers and get the word out about the great scene we have here in Utah. If even one person is inspired by it to begin their own writing endeavors, it will be well worth it. This is the first of (hopefully) many interviews I will be doing each week. 

Melanie Chaston Fowler

I thought I'd start off with someone I know: fellow aspiring writer, Melanie Chaston Fowler. We actually attended the same high school and performed in the same (awesome) choir. Several years after graduating I discovered that she too wanted to be a writer, and already had a few years under her belt. Melanie began writing in earnest in 2007, though she wrote a book in high school that was read each week by a friend as it progressed. She is 24 years old and married with two children, "the most beautiful daughter, and the toughest, sweetest little boy." She lives in Northern Utah, and loves it.


I had a chance to ask Melanie some questions yesterday, and I hope you enjoy hearing about what she has been up to.


Tell us what writing project you're currently working on?
Daughters of Etheria

How long have you been working on it?
Since 2007

Can you tell us a little about it?
It is a childhood game that my sisters and I used to play when we were young. It is about four girls who are the four seasons, and my book is about how the four seasons/girls, came to be. 

What are your goals for it?
I would like to traditionally publish but I'm open to other ideas if things don't work out.

Have you sent out any queries? How many have you gotten responses to?
None yet, but I know I'm getting closer because I just downloaded Elana Johnson's *FREE* e-book called From the Query to the Call.

What/who is your favorite book or author?
It changes so frequently, in middle school, my first love of books were Dealing With Dragons by Patrica C. Wrede, and Beauty by Robin McKinley. But now I love anything fantasy, and mostly YA (young adult) but I have a growing love for MG (middle grade), especially since another story of mine is going to be MG.

What has been the hardest part of writing Daughters of Etheria?
For my current novel, figuring out the point of view. And writing in general, learning how to balance it all, life, writing, and more life.

What has been the best or most rewarding aspect of writing?
Probably having author friends that have succeeded in getting their books published. It's simply amazing.

Do you have any sage advice for new writers?
New authors; don't be afraid to call yourself a writer. Also start a blog, create a platform. Learn from others, and go to a conference. Get a crit. partner. And lastly, it doesn't all have to happen at once. Take your time, but keep moving forward. Don't ever give up. If you have a story that you want to tell, keep working on it until it is perfect, and then when you think it's perfect. Work on it again. Just keep going.


Thanks Melanie.

Melanie runs her own blog Adventure Writes, and is quite active in the writing scene. I highly recommend you check her out, and get involved with some of the awesome stuff she has going on.

An article I thought you all might like.

My brother Travis sent this to me, and I thought it was interesting. Click here for the link. How do you do the whole "writing thing"?

Giving in to NaNoWriMo.

I officially signed up for NaNoWriMo last night. Yes, I know I'm half way through the month already, and I've only been writing for a week, but their little word count graph was just too much to pass up. I'm currently at just below 16,000 words, and need to step up my daily writing to finish 50,000 by the end of the month. My current goal was 2k per day, but now I need to do 2.3K to catch up. Will I succeed? I dunno. Finals are coming up in a few weeks, and I have a massive research paper in my Art History class, so I may be doomed to failure. However, it's important to me to know where I sit, and shooting for a goal will help motivate me, even if it may not be possible. So here goes.

I'll try to link my graph somehow....

I want to hear from you! (Not a survey, trust me.)

So the whole thing about this blog is that I'm an amateur. I don't know what I'm doing. Like all writers, I'm feeling my way in the blackness, hoping I don't find a ginger waiting for me in the shadows. I have done a massive amount of studying and research into techniques and advice, but that all comes to nothing if I can't apply it. This, I believe, is something every writer struggles with.

I want to make it obvious (if it isn't already) that I hope to spark conversations and the trading of ideas with this website. I want to hear from you, about your writing, about my writing, with advice and experiences. I want you to tell your friends to come visit me, especially the writer ones.

It's important to network and find other's that share a passion with your own interests. I encourage you to take a look at the other blogs I follow, and read the excellent posts from those writers. And speak up!

The excitement of a new book, and how I learned from the last one.

So I briefly posted that I was moving on from The Sometimes Sword, and I wanted to kind of dig in deeper and explain what I'm doing now.

After an initial decision to leave TSS as a stepping stone and nothing more, I have now amended my way of thinking, and decided to leave it as a work in progress for now, to be picked up at a later (much later) date. Right now I need to focus on improving my craft, and while useful, editing an old story isn't working toward that end.

So I've decided to start a new book, this time in a different way. In the post about My Beginnings, I talked about how I started TSS with absolutely no world building or character development. That was the direct opposite to my first work where I world-builded the crap out of it (and that failed horribly). With this book, I am seeking a balance between the two methods. I want to have a more engaging plot and conflict, along with a more detailed and fleshed out world. This requires some basic world-details and plotting before hand. However, just as with TSS, I want the focus to be character and I will continue to steer toward that. Another important point is that of Discovery with a capital "d". I find that if I world-build too much, I lose my own sense of excitement and discovery as I write and garden the book. So yeah, that's something to keep in mind also.

Really, I want this post to be aimed at what TSS did for me as a writer, and what I can take away from it. I won't go into the specific details, but I want to highlight the process I used to make sure I learned all I could from it.

First, I wrote down a list of fundamental flaws withing TSS. (I used a giant 24x16 whiteboard. I have three of them, and seriously, they are so useful.) Then I had Becky and my alpha readers Travis and Robyn write up a list on another board, this time with everything that was good in the book.

Once I had both lists hanging on the wall, Becky and I went through them and defined the underlying issues/successes of each. I transferred them to a computer document and began to explore the methods of fixing/achieving each. This way, I essentially made a writer's guide for myself, allowing me to build a better book the next time around.

I'm in the middle of some foundational world building, and hopefully at the start of next week I'll begin writing the first draft. I'm excited to start this new project, and hopefully I'll experience the same level of improvement as I did when I first started TSS.

What are you working on right now?

I can't believe I'm doing this....

I have come to the incredibly painful conclusion that it is time for "The Sometimes Sword" and I to part ways. It has been an amazing several months, and I have pinned a lot of hopes and countless hours on this book. However, I have come to the realization that despite my best efforts, "The Sometimes Sword" is at best a step on my journey, and nothing more.


I will continue to write, and as I type this, I am concocting the beginnings of another book, one that will hopefully incorporate all that was good in "The Sometimes Sword", and none of the bad. To be honest, I'm feeling pretty emotional about it, and saying goodbye to these characters will be incredibly difficult to say the least. But, I have to be realistic, and if I ever want to be read by real audiences, I can't cling to something that is fundamentally flawed.


And so I say goodbye to you, Sometimes Sword, you will always remain with me, my first book, my first success, and hopefully not the last. Thank you for teaching me how to be a better writer.


Chale and Astrid, thank you for being my friends.

Romance. (And what the crap is my problem?)

I'm frustrated with myself. This last week has been horrible (and not in a complain-y kind of way, it's been my own fault). I feel like my life has been falling apart, and I've been letting it. I don't want to repeat too much from previous posts, but Writer's Depression and plain-old laziness have been beating me over the head. I've spent entirely too much time with our new computer and video games, or watching Netflix mindlessly. I haven't followed through with my goals, and it feels awful.


It's hard to shake off the shackles of self-doubt and complacency. I need to remember what I really want in life, and do what needs to be done to attain it. I will never get a book published if I don't stick to it. I won't succeed in college if I don't work at it. Both school and writing are hard, and I'll admit that I don't like to do hard things, but the end-result is well worth the journey. I just need to keep reminding myself of that. Enough on that. I think I may write a little bit about romance today.

Too young for romance?

Romance is something that you will find in most books on some level. I don't mind reading romantic sub-plots within a larger vessel, but when it overwhelms the rest of the story, that's when I gag just a little. I think many fantasy books strike a good balance with some exceptions. (I'm looking at you Terry Goodkind. And no, I don't consider Twilight to be fantasy, so let's just ignore that completely.)


When I first decided to write, I knew there would have to be some kind of romance, though I didn't relish the thought of actually writing it. My first book was to feature a female protagonist, and I was a little wary of writing romance from a girl's perspective. As you might know, that book never made it past the first third, and the actual romance was never written. In "The Sometimes Sword" I also knew I had to have some kind of love story (Becky was quick to remind me how much she liked that sort of thing), but I didn't want to have anything mushy. I was going to be writing young teen protagonists after all. So from the get-go, I knew I had to find that balance in a way that would seem natural, satisfy my readers, and at the same time, not make me want to puke while I was writing it. (You may begin to see a pattern here. I don't like the mushy stuff.)


The first order of business was easy: who is going to be romantic with who? My male and female protagonists were the obvious answer. However, their ages were slightly problematic. Though I started out with my male protagonist as age 12, he quickly moved to age 17, and so did my female protagonist. 17 is a better age to introduce love, but still quite young. So I thought back to when I was in high school, and realized that kids that age do "fall in love", it's just different from adult love, almost... unpracticed.


From there I decided to keep things light, maybe highlighting some of the awkward things two kids shoved together think about as they realize they like each other. I had so many books to use as bad examples (see: Twilight) and several as good examples, such as Fablehaven and Harry Potter. Young people can fall in love, but they don't need to be obvious about it, they don't need to have sex, they don't even need to kiss their love interest right off the bat.


It was important to me at the very beginning to have potential readers of the target age have realistic and healthy relationships displayed to them. Now, I have no delusions that anything I write will ever be read by anyone, just hopes that it will. If not this book, then one in the future, and it makes sense to start good writing habits now.


I'll admit, since the start of the book, the importance of the "love story" within has grown, but it's still muted, and stays within proper age limits. The goal is to remain well-rounded, and just like with character and plot, romance is an important focus as well.

See that little progress bar? (And a bit about excuses)

I'm going to begin tracking my progress through "The Sometimes Sword" third draft here on this blog. It might be kind of (horribly) innacurate to begin with as I figure out how to break the work into percentages, but hopefully it will assist in keeping me motivated.


Yesterday was supposed to be the third day of significant progress in the 3rd draft, but unfortunately the evening didn't turn out as I planned. First off, I neglected to actually schedule a particular chunk of work on my calendar (I myself am surprised at how much a difference this makes). That alone shouldn't have really stopped me, but then a few other things popped up. But first, some back story.


On Tuesday the 20th, my World of Warcraft account was hacked. What this means is that a person or persons unknown gained access to my password by means of a keylogger program (malicious software that records keystrokes such as passwords and usernames). They were then able to log onto my game from somewhere (China most likely) and steal my character's gold and gear, which they then sell on the internet for real-world money. 


Keep in mind this isn't Call of Duty. I have developed these characters over the course of two years, and starting over isn't really an option for me. So the thought of losing them is really, really sucky. This is a relatively common occurrence for World of Warcraft subscribers, as it is a very popular game, and the demand for easy (illegal) access to in-game gold has become a multi-billion dollar industry world wide. There is a process for recovering lost items and characters, but it takes a while. Anyway, the whole process of getting this fixed and receiving my in-game property back is still in the works (not without hiccups), and it's been a huge stress.

This all leads to the biggest reason I didn't write yesterday. Above I mentioned keyloggers. The scary thing is that World of Warcraft isn't the only thing they can hack. Anything I log onto can be recorded by a keylogger without me ever knowing: online banking, email, college records, tax records, etc. Now, Macs (the kind of computer I use) are a bit less susceptible to attacks from malicious software than Windows based PCs, but it still happens. The thing is, there aren't as many ways to clean Macs off (and as any tech savvy person knows, anti-virus software can be almost as bad as the viruses they are supposed to prevent), so I decided to perform a complete OS (operating system) restoration. This means that I had to back everything on my hard drive up (about 650 gigs worth of music, photos, and most importantly, documents for my books) which took 5.5 hours. Then wipe the system clean, and re-install the OS once more. (This was actually kinda nice, if annoying, as my system had slowed down a lot over the last 2 years, and it needed to be cleaned anyway, but still....)


I won't bore you with all the details of re-installing the OS, but the bottom line is that I was up way too late copying files over by hand onto my (practically) new computer. In the long run, it will be nice to have a fresh slate to work on my computer with, but I admit I obsessed over it too much (watching progress bars do their thing for a half hour at a time, etc.) 


So tonight I have extra work to do in order to catch up, and hopefully I'll even go above and beyond, and really get some nitty-gritty stuff taken care of in my book. When it comes down to it, I regret having made the excuse (even though it was important).


What about you? What excuses do you make for not writing, and how do you think you'll overcome them?


.

A quick update.

So I just finished a 5 page scene that has been needing to be written for over a month. I admit that I left it blocked out with a placeholder line, [Chale and Astrid's Reconciliation] in the finished second draft. Kind of a cop out, I know, but it's finished now, and it's a relief.


It was a little difficult sitting down at first, but I put in a two hour block on my calendar, and there it was in front of my face. I had to obey. It didn't take the whole two hours so I spent a little time cleaning up some of the climax. Feels good to be back doing work on it. Tomorrow I'll spend a similar amount of time, probably writing a few pages of revised material throughout the first 3 chapters.

Getting back that writing "spark".

Like I said in yesterday's post, I really need to get back to work on my book. I think I need to start another set of short term goals and perhaps a daily work requirement. It's been long enough that I'm a tad scared that I lost the spark (by "long" I mean it has been a month since college started, and my editing time has been severely limited).


True, there have been times when I have had... well, time, but something always holds me back. Part of it is Writer's Depression, but mostly I think I may be burned out on that particular story. I've tried to begin new books in the meantime, with little success. (One of them might still be written someday because of a pretty fun setting, but all I could think of while I wrote in it was The Sometimes Sword.) It's a dilemma, for sure.


I'm starting to think that I need to do what I had to do when writing the first draft: knuckle down and get over it. I can't afford to let writing become less a part of me. I need that spark back, and sometimes that takes work. Painful, painful work.


So tonight I begin again in earnest. My goal is a final draft ready for submission by the end of the year. I will make this happen, and I will not give up until I have at least fifty rejection letters. Less would be fine by me. So what if this is only my second real attempt at a book. No author's story is the same, and I plan to go all out!


What about you? What are your short-term writing goals?

Time to get back to "The Sometimes Sword".

So like I said in a previous post, it's been a while since I did anything meaningful in my book. With college, a blog (yeah, I know), and the odd video game, my free time has been too full. So out goes the video games (except maybe the weekends), and I think I'll cut my blog posts down to one every other day or so.


On another note, Writing Excuses had an excellent cast today. Recorded at Worldcon, they had a transsexual (female to male) author on as a guest to talk about gender roles, specifically in fantasy. It was actually pretty interesting, and I found some things that I'd like to modify about my own work. Take a listen.


Tomorrow I will try to make a full post, subject unknown. Do you have anything you want to talk about?

A bit about my book "The Sometimes Sword".

I still find it a bit awkward to say that I have a "book". It is indeed a book, and not having been published doesn't lessen that at all. However, like I explained in my post about writers being ashamed or writing, I have some reservations in saying the actual word to people. But hey, what the heck, I have a book dang it!

That aside, I thought I might relate some experiences and thoughts about my own process and experiences writing it. As some of you may know, I began writing it earlier this year, sometime in April or May. My goal was to complete the first draft in one month, just in time for college to start. I was, of course, insane. But it ended up working out. 

I don't want to repeat myself from other posts, but I do want to put out there that goals and schedules made it possible. What do I mean? Let me explain (don't worry, it'll be brief). When I started my first book, I had no set structure or short term writing goals (such as: so many words per day, or finish this scene by tomorrow, etc). With "The Sometimes Sword" I made a point of doing so, specifically 5 pages were to be completed per weekday, and 10 per day on the weekend. It was the only thing that got me to finish the first draft. In other words, it was all-important to me. I only missed two days, but seeing as I was sometimes writing 30 pages per day on the weekends, it all worked out.

Moving on, I want to lay out some of the problems I came up against, and how I found solutions to them (and if I didn't, feel free to give me some advice).

1. Character

There were many advantages to starting out blind, with no world-building or outlining to speak of (see my posts about Setting and Character). But there were also disadvantages, one of which was character development. I started out with a name, and a vague sense of personality. That was it. While this gave me freedom to go any direction I wanted as I wrote, it also made the process a little messy. For instance: my main character started out at 12 years old, but by the third chapter, I was writing him as a 17 year old. And my alpha readers could tell that he was getting older in my brain without me ever telling them. That required a bit of revising (which is a frustrating use of my time). It ended up working out, and the character is much better suited to the story at 17 years old.

Another problem was personality and quirks. All of my characters were written on the spot, as I needed them. Some never had much of an issue; there are three side-characters that developed strong, recognizable personalities from the get-go (not that there wasn't occasional need for tweaks). Unfortunately, my two protagonists (a teenage boy and girl) started out a little bland. They had no quirks to speak of, no voice, and no especially strong feelings about anything. This wasn't an insurmountable problem, but it did take a lot of time and extra material written to straighten out (on a side note, I'm glad it turned out this way, otherwise I might never have written several rather nice scenes. So it's not all bad).

My main focus was the addition of quirks and thoughts. I had struggled with quirks for a long time, scared to over do it: "Marion flipped her hair in annoyance," or, "Halmul's eye twitched before he could complete the lie". These aren't truly horrible, but if they become the one thing you identify your character by, your readers will quickly become annoyed. That being said, don't be afraid to explore natural reactions and quirks your character might have. It's a work in progress for me, and will continue to be so until the last draft is finished. Character thoughts, for me, are a great tool, one I wish I had utilized more from the start. Using italicized thought "bubbles" (not really a bubble, but an actual thought they have in their head, similar to a comic strip character's thought bubble) in the text allow you to get right into the character's head, and allows for direct communication of voice. I'm still in the process of adding a lot of thoughts into the individual character's point of view.

One smaller problem I ran across with character was last names. My world has surnames as part of their culture, but my characters don't. It was a simple, but frustrating oversight. I have yet to introduce a surname for my male protagonist.

2. Setting

I had always wanted a simple setting for this book, one that would make the reader feel comfortable. I didn't want complicated political plots or intricate religious dogma. I wanted to use terms like "The City" or "The King's Road". Now, I have nothing against broad worlds with insanely developed cultures and inhabitants (in fact, my favorite series The Wheel of Time is full of that stuff). But it wasn't for me, at least not yet. I feel like it has helped me stay a bit more focused on plot and character. At the same time, it also made it a bit difficult for my alpha readers to orient themselves within the world. As a result I began adding more details, gave some things actual names and so on. It still feels simple, but now it's a bit more fleshed out. Don't be afraid to adjust your original vision sometimes.

One more thing about Setting. In the wish to write simple descriptions, I feel like I might have gone too far, and left out a lot of opportunities to beautify my world. I regret that a small bit, but it's nothing I need to go back and redo.

3. Plot 

Holy crap Plot. The bane of my existence (no wait, that's editing). I've always had ideas for great beginnings, and sometimes good endings, but middles... middles are the bane of my existence. Okay, enough with that phrase. My default go-to plot is the travel log. Such as: protagonist has something bad happen to them, so they have to travel somewhere to fix it. Stuff happens in the mean time. That's pretty standard right? (And just to be clear, I think I pulled it off well enough in "The Sometimes Sword".) Just find some crap to do to them on the way. Well, it's not so easy as that. I found myself writing things in that had nothing to do with the overall plot. See, there's nothing wrong with events happening to make things hard for your character (see my post on writing dark fiction) or establish your world, but they should also serve a purpose in moving the story forward. I'm still trying to revise large chunks to make them fit the story arc better.

Watching the curve of your plot can be really hard to do. The book itself is too big to really see the whole thing in my mind's eye. It's something I still need to watch.

4. Dialogue

This is one thing that I am completely willing to admit is my weak spot. I can get it right after a while, but when my first draft was finished... it was bad. Let me tell you. I have to keep reminding myself that dialogue needs to sound natural, that I can't just dump info every time a character opens their mouth (sometimes called maid-and-butlering, look it up on Writing Excuses for more info). My dialogue tends to follow this format: Person 1 asks question, Person 2 answers. Person 3 asks for clarification, Person 4 gives clarification. Ugh. It's horrible, and I want to scratch my eyes out when I read it. Only after careful examination can I fix each conversation.

This is my intended fix: once all the other problems are fixed with plot, setting, and character, I'm going to sit down with my wife and alpha readers and have them read the dialogue like a play. I'll listen quietly and type revisions furiously as all the awkward crap floats to the surface. I'm actually looking forward to it.

5. Voice

I still feel a bit in the dark about this one. Voice is almost an ethereal, unattainable quality to me. It's the thing that makes a writer instantly recognizable just from reading their work. Some might call it the writer's style. It's something I know will come with practice, and some might say it already exists in "The Sometimes Sword", but I have my doubts. For now, I don't have much advice to give, as I myself need some.

So there are some of the things I have struggled with in my book. They certainly aren't all of them, and I might continue on with a few more in the future. What about you? What mountains have you come across in your writing, and what are you doing to surmount them?

Writer's Depression is worse than Writer's Block.

So today was supposed to be a post about Setting, and it might still be, but first I want to relate some thoughts about depression. Now, when I say "depression", I'm not talking about the generic kind you take a pill for (though they share a lot of similarities). What I really mean is the feeling of worthlessness (also known as "suckiness") that many (all) writers worth their salt feel at some point.

In fact, it's the very thing I'm battling with with at the moment. It has been several weeks since I did anything meaningful in my book, and it feels horrible.

Everyone has heard of Writer's Block (when a writer sits down to write and simply can't. It may be lack of ideas or something else unknown even to them). Sometimes it's so hard to get past that writers go days or weeks without writing anything. Writer's Depression is similar, but I think it deserves its own category.

You see, Writer's Depression isn't a lack of ideas, or a bad plot, in fact it may be the opposite. The writer's brain may be brimming with ideas, overflowing into his eyes like greasy sweat. But a million ideas do no good if they seem to have no merit. There come times when you look at your work and all you see is crap. Vomited-up bilge from a sea monster that just ate Justin Bieber. It's literally painful to read what you had done at times like this. You can't help but believe that it's all swill, unworthy to be read by the meanest high school jock. There seems to be a physical force holding you back from placing fingers to the keyboard, and a mental revulsion to looking at the screen.

This can come about from many sources. Some people may be learning to write faster than they can actually, you know, write. They look at the last two chapters and cringe, because they've already surpassed their skill from a week ago. (Yes, this actually happens.) Others may know something is wrong with their story, but not be able to diagnose it. This is especially frustrating, and very easy to become overwhelmed by. Sometimes your plot and scenes (even simple ones) become tangled up so thoroughly in your brain that you just want to throw it all away, then burn the dumpster. Sometimes it's the result of what someone else says (this is especially dangerous). If you have others reading your work (such as a writing group or alpha readers) it can be very easy to let their usually well-intentioned critiques bury deep in your heart like poison-tipped arrows. The most innocent remark about pacing, dialogue, or even your writing's voice can make you want to retreat into your shell and block out the world, because you know, everyone's a bunch of ass-hats. You put yourself into what you wrote dang it, and when your readers inspected it, they found it lacking (those jerks). (This is not the way it should be, but sometimes it is, despite our most logical effort. Remember that your work is not you, and it's not your baby. It is a flawed manuscript that you are responsible for improving. It's hard to see it that way, I know.)

There is no easy way around it, no magical potion to wash away the shame of Writer's Depression. There is a nearly physical pain sometimes in powering through it, and heaps of mental agony. I'm not exaggerating one bit, believe me. It can be worse for those that already have a tendency to get "down" about things in the first place (like me). The only solution is to keep on, persevere, and never give up.The pain of doing so is what separates us from the hipster in a scarf at the coffee shop. Said hipster feels nothing but self-congratulation at the amazing work he will produce, and thus does nothing to learn and improve himself. On the other hand, we who experience Writer's Depression can't go on without re-evaluating ourselves and what we produce. This does eventually lead to higher-quality work.

In conclusion, I suppose my point is this: you aren't alone with your thoughts of word-genocide. As much crap as you think your story is, it probably isn't. Don't kill it, but strive to improve it, and keep your head above water. Sometimes you need to take a break, walk away for a few days, or work on something else like a blog (aha, insight!). You'll come back refreshed, ready to cut the crap out, and write better stuff in.

So you want to begin writing, but don't know where to begin? (Part One: Character)

At some point, you just gotta realize what you want. More than that, you need to accept it (as my brother once told me). Some people want to draw comics, others want to paint, some people want to be in a band, and some people want to write. Obviously it's the latter I want to talk about; all you people out there who have a story to tell, even if you don't know it. I'm talking about all you who spend hours day-dreaming about the book you just read, or the people who can't play an rpg without filling their heads with character back story (among other things).

With this post I hope to answer some questions you might have, not just about how you should do things, but if the way you're already doing things is correct. When I first started, it wasn't like I had no idea what I was doing, I was simply in the dark as to the best way to do things (you'll find that there are no right or wrong ways generally). I hope to smooth out some of those worries and most of all, get you started in the wonderful world of writing.

I don't claim to be an expert, but here are some things that I wish I had known when I first started:

Character
To me, it's important to begin with character. The best stories are about people, and what they do, not what's done to them. Writers often spend a lot of time obsessing over this part of the writing process, and for good reason. Your main characters are important in establishing your voice, or the tone your writing will (hopefully) make your work instantly recognizable.


When I started The Sometimes Sword (my novel-in-progress), I had an archetype in mind (ie: the Sage Wizard, the Farmboy, the Evil Overlord, etc.) that I wanted to write about and that was it. I didn't even have a name. So for me, discovering the type of character (see above) was the first order of business. You have to decide who you want to write about. A lot goes into considering this. How many times has the Farmboy been featured? Star Wars (Luke Skywalker), The Lord of the Rings (Frodo Baggins), Arabian Nights (Aladdin), and many others. Its the rags-to-riches, young-hero-saves-the-day story, and we love that stuff. But is it what you want to write about? (For me, it was).


What about the Sage Wizard? This one is almost as easy to list. Star Wars again (Obi-Wan), The Lord of the Rings (Gandalf the Grey, and later White), The Sword of Truth (Zedd), The Prydain Chronicles (Dalben the Enchanter), and so on. While this archetype makes a good side character, feel free to make it your protagonist. There are no rules, just don't copy and paste. Remember, an archetype is one thing, a cliche is another. (Writing Excuses does an excellent job of defining the difference.)


We all know what the Evil Overlord is. Sauron from The Lord of the Rings, Emperor Palpatine from Star Wars, Darken Rahl from The Sword of Truth, and many, many others. He is the quintessential bad guy that ruins the protagonist's life and threatens the world or universe or whatever. Very hard to write from their point of view, but feel free to try. The worst that can happen is failure. Really. It's all a learning experience.


There are others (spend some time learning about them), all wonderful types to form your character from. Pick one that resonates with you and find what is unique about your Farmboy (or whatever you happen to choose). You will never write a completely original character, but that's not the point. Just like real people, characters follow certain traits and sometimes stereotypes. It's okay. Just make sure he/she doesn't blend into the crowd.


That brings me to another point, a quick one. Don't be afraid to write the opposite gender, of that's what you want. My first book attempt featured a female protagonist, and though rocky at first, it wasn't as hard as I had thought. My current book shares time equally between a male and female character, and (I've been told) that it works just fine. Go for it. You might just find that you understand more about the opposite gender than you thought.


Moving on to one of my favorite parts of starting a character: names. It doesn't matter. Seriously.


Okay, okay, I'll talk about it. I really do enjoy picking names. It's like having a baby, without the messy diapers and nine months of vomiting. Names help us connect to the person that is the character. It gives them identity. Feel free to experiment and go wild. Have fun. Just try not to obsess over it. Chances are (very high) that you will end up changing even the main character's name. I've done it several times across both books. It happens. Keep in mind also, that you want the reader to be able to recognize the names in your work, and try to keep the apostrophes to a minimum (in my opinion). Another thing to consider is the culture your character is based in (culture is another thing entirely, one I will try to touch on in a later post). If you have a seafaring culture, consider some nautical sounding names, or if your protagonist lives underground, perhaps they have earthy, rocky names. You can't really go wrong, but you can be more right.


One more note on names. If your culture uses surnames, try to think of them before you get 30k words in (just a bit of advice from experience).


Another thing I want to talk about is quirks. I'm sure you have all heard the term, and unfortunately sometimes we get the wrong idea. A quirk doesn't have to be a nervous tick that you mention every other sentence (in fact, please don't). It can be anything that sets your character apart, that makes him instantly identifiable. It could be the way a soldier touches the hilt of his sword, or the way a girl tosses her hair (this one can be overused also, so be careful). Quirks make your characters more human (or elvish, whatever), and while some may be subtle, your reader will pick up on them.


To sum this all up, feel free to start your writing project with a character. Feel free to name them, and spend time doing it. Be aware of what archetype you are writing into, and make them real (remember, unique is impossible). Focus your story on character, and you won't go wrong.


Tomorrow's post will be about Setting. Which I am looking forward to.