Blog Archives
Silencing the Inner Critic
Because of yesterday’s post, I thought I take a look at some ways to help silence my inner critic and banish those handcuffs on my writing.
After some searching, I found a reoccurring theme. The consensus suggests that I monitor my thoughts and recognize the difference between criticism and condemnation. An inner critic can be helpful if the goal is improvement. Pscyh Central lists several ideas on how to control the self-criticism, including evaluating judgments, collecting objective data (in a thought log), and possibly re-evaluating values.
Alison Finch suggests embracing your inner critic in her article, “Challenging Your Inner Critic.” Instead of silencing her, Finch suggests several reasons why we need the voices in our heads. An inner critic might be trying to get you to listen to a better informed opinion. An inner critic might help you improve, either morally or with a specific skill or lifestyle.
I agree with Finch, my inner critic has helped me improve and reach goals I wouldn’t otherwise rise to. I need that little voice, sitting on my shoulder. She’s important. Maybe my problem isn’t the need to silence my inner critic, maybe my problem is the need for perfection, but that’s a whole different mental issue of mine. 
Day 10 NaNo 2010
I made it to day number ten, and though I started off a little rocky this year, I’m starting to catch up. What’s better–I’m excited about my story. This is novel number five for me.
Two years ago, I started my first real attempt at writing a decent novel (not just bad high school poetry) turned out to be a wonderful learning experience, but also put some handcuffs on my writing. With that first novel, I wrote simply because I had a story to tell. I loved my characters and didn’t feel any inhabitions by rules and plot diagrams.
After my first attempt, I learned about style and structure. I read every book on writing I could get my hands on. I discovered the awful truth about adverbs and sentence variety, rounded characters and plot pitfalls. And I joined writers’ groups who pointed out countless things I needed (and still need) to work on. I honestly feel like I’m a better writer because of the experience.
While all of this advice was golden and I feel I’ve grown so much as a writer, I also feel like it’s stunted every attempt at writing a novel ever since. I start, excited about a new idea and powerful characters, but as I write I hear the inner nag telling me to stop like an ameteur. Did I remember to vary my structure? My bad guy/hero is too much of a cliché. Or my story sounds just like everything else out there right now. As much as I try, I’m finding it harder and harder to turn my inner critic off. By the end of the story, I finish it, but I feel like it’s a lame attempt and never bother to take it beyond the first draft–what’s the point?
I know I’m not the only person to battle with an inner critic, but I hope I can continue with the same enthusiasm on this story and even work on the next step without succumbing to my negative Nancy.
How do you all deal with the inner critic? What stories do you find you most resonate with?
Good luck to all my fellow NaNoWriMos!
Would a rose really smell as sweet?
During the RMFW conference a couple of weeks ago, I sat in on Kristin Nelson’s query workshop–which was awesome. My brain felt overloaded for the next several days, but I took away more tips than I can count. One question Nelson fielded was about titles–how important are they when she is going through queries? Her response (paraphrased): while a title won’t make or break your book deal, it does have an impact.
This makes sense because an over done title might suggest your novel will be clichéd as well. A catchy title might make an agent look twice (or at least past the first sentence). So I started thinking about the title of my current novel, Lost Souls: Redemption. Google and Amazon didn’t produce anything specific on the full title, but many hits found the title, Lost Souls.
Then the ladies over at Restless Writer discussed the issue of character names over on their blog the other day which only solidified I needed to rethink my title. Juliet may wonder what’s in a name and claim a rose would smell as sweet, but people in the book store will drop a story if they don’t like the title or main character’s name.
Where to start though? I ran through a list of themes that appear in my book and narrowed down some of the most important elements: the soul, reincarnation, addiction, first love and grief. With this little exercise, I revised my title to–Soul Addiction.
This new title might not make it through to the final draft, but it doesn’t appear in a long list on Amazon.
Today’s question: how important is a story’s title in determining whether you pick it up off the shelf?
Chicken Little’s eBook: Why Hardbacks Won’t Die.
Only one more week to enter my contest for a set of Mortal Instrument books.
Today I watched a video from a book expo earlier this year, discussing the future of publishing.
Over the past week I’ve noticed that many of my fellow bloggers are concerned with the onslaught of eBooks and this means for their beloved hardbacks. Will they become extinct?
Nathan Bransford posted an article on his site, ‘Top 10 Myths about ebook future,’ that gives us some hope the printed versions won’t become die out anytime soon.
But I also started thinking it sounds an awful lot like the Chicken Little syndrome. Is the sky really falling? In the past, the personal computer wiped out the typewriters; the car made the horse and buggy obsolete. It stands to reason the same may come to pass for the traditional book. Although I have to admit that the world, as least for a writer, feels much better on a computer than a typewriter. I couldn’t imagine playing with a scene or word choice as much as I do if I knew I’d have to retype the entire page. And with cars, I like the fact I can drive to the beach in a matter of days as opposed to weeks or months.
Does the invention of the eBook mean hard copies will disappear completely though? If we count the cavemen drawings, people have written stories for thousands of years. We have computers, but we also still have paper and pencils. We have cars, but people still ride horses. We have TVs, but people still read books. Why?
Yes, I think the demand for hardcover copies of our favorite books will decrease while the invention of a more interactive experience will increase (previous post on books of the future). However, I’m not running for the local bookstore, buying up every last title I can because the paper and ink version will continue to hold a place in many people’s lives. If people buy it, publishers will produce it.
What do you all think?
Distracted
Picture taken in the mountains outside Steamboat Springs, CO.
When I first left for vacation last week, I grumbled a bit. I know–grumbling on vacaction, what for? I had to leave my internet behind. I didn’t realize how plugged in I get until I go to a resort that charges for a web connection (and then it’s a hard line). My phone service was patchy at best. The first day in the mountains, I thought I was going through withdrawal: kept checking my phone, scanned for rouge wireless connections, tried to bring up Tweetdeck on my computer anyway.
Then an amazing thing happened. I got up every morning and typed for a few hours. With work done, I spent the afternoon playing with my kiddos. We went on bike rides, played in the pool, had ice cream at a local shop–and I managed to bust out almost 14,000 words on my WIP.
Now that I’ve been home for three days, I should be writing away. How much have I accomplished in those three days? About 500 words. Not all of that is internet distractions, but I know I have a harder time concentrating when I can travel around the world, visit with friends, all at the click of a button.
My goal for this week is to find the same balance I had on vacation. If all goes well, next weekend I should be able to report another 14,000 words. Guess I better get started.
Interactive Apps: the Novels of Our Future
Before we get talk apps, take a look at this funny video from Betchablog.com showing how readers’ expectations about books are changing.
Publishers and agents have been all over the topic of ebooks and how the print novel is evolving. But it sounds like ebooks will have to make way for another technology that will change the world of print.
The other day I was killing time at the bookstore and picked up a writing magazine, Writer’s Digest (I think but don’t quote me on that). One small article didn’t make much impact at first, after all apps are new but not right out of the box. I’ve had my iPhone for over a year now. After I’d walked away though, I kept thinking about it–apps and writing. Then I saw the above video about how kids would like to interact with their reading. Could you imagine, as a kid, picking up a textbook, something like an iPad, and reading your chapter with links, video and games? Not to mention one digital pad, as opposed to a dozen of hardback books, might mean less back problems. In fact, Cody Brown wrote a post entitled, “Dear Authors, Your Next Book Should Be an App, Not an iBook.”
The opportunities for nonfiction writers are endless, but what does this mean for fiction? Will our beloved classics get buried in some dingy antique store? Or will it be more like–you’re reading along; the scene heats up and–BAM–some sexy mood music pours into your ear buds. Or maybe the book is interactive like those Choose Your Own Adventure books where you get to the end of a scene and you, the reader, gets to decide what will happen next. There’s even an app that will allow kids to read their favorite nighttime stories in 3D. Cinderella looks much different these days.
For writers, this sounds like a nightmare. Instead of writing one scene, they will have to create twenty which would lead to twenty different outcomes which would lead to more choices and more scenes and so on. Now, not only are writers expected to come to the publishing table with platforms, social networking skills, ways to tap into extra content, they will have to multiple books in one, complete with soundtracks, treaser trailers, and various other bonus material.
But have no fear, there are some apps that are meant to help authors. Things like Storybook can help manage scenes, characters, and settings all with fun charts and color-coding. Mobile Roadie also teamed up with Random House to create an app for some best-selling authors. This app can help fans posted on latest news, including signings and release dates.
What do you all think? Would you create an app for your book? If so, what would it look like?
How to Write the Best Opening Line
Happy 4th of July!!!
A day late, but here are the answers for the first liners (want to test yourself–click here first). Then take a look at the writing tip at the end.
(1) Pride and Prejudice and Zombies by Jane Austin & Seth Grahame-Smith–A funny books that takes two seemingly opposites and meshing them together.
(2) Catcher in the Rye by JD Salinger–This first line is great at introducing us to Holden’s unique voice.
(3) Mark (from the House of Night Series) by PC & Kristin Cast–Yes, dead guys hanging out by your locker would make anyone’s day worse. I love how this starts us out with all kinds of questions.
(4) Burned by Ellen Hopkins–Although I can’t answer yes to her question, it still opens up an intriguing idea, morbid as it may be, that again sets the tone of the book.
(5) Twilight by Stephenie Meyer–This opening line, taken from the climax of the book, gives us a little taste of what’s to come.
(6) 47 Rules of Highly Effective Bank Robbers by Troy Cook–Love the opposites here. We get this bank robber who should be scary and mean, but instead she’s young and crying. How on earth did that happen?
(7) Uglies by Scott Westerfeld–Great novel, disgusting opening line, but it creates a very distinct image while setting up the tone.
(8) Twelfth Night by William Shakespeare–Need I say more? I do, okay. Shakespeare is saying that if music is the food of love, he hopes to get enough to drown in. Opposites: love and wanting to drown.
(9) Hester by Paula Reed–From the cover, you know it’s about Hester Prynne, adulteress and outcast. This first line sums up what she’d probably say about herself if she could share her story today.
(10) Harry Potter & the Prisoner of Azkaban by JK Rowling–This uses opposites again while introducing the main character and what makes him special.
(11) The Book Thief by Marcus Zusak–Death states the obvious, but in an usual way. He wants to go on a vacation. He sees the beauty in the colors and doesn’t sound like such a bad guy–the opposite of what we’d expect.
(12) The Monsters of Templeton by Lauren Groff–Just when you think it’s going to be another chick book, she throws a monster in the lake.
(13) Going Bovine by Libba Bray–Again, we see another case of opposites. Many kids would think the best day of their life happened at Disney World, but Bray throws in the near death experience and we have to read on to find out more.
(14) The Green Mile by Stephen King–King uses a casual voice here, but the subject it the electric chair. The fact that he mentions it in line one, we know someone’s going to fry.
(15) Tale of Two Cities by Charles Dickens–These famous lines do what many of the above authors also did, use opposites. The great thing about this line is that he says that things were good, the best for some people, but it was also crap, the worst. Then he compares it to today. Even though he was talking about the nineteenth century, it still applies today.
Writing Tip:
What can we learn from these catchy first liners? To pull people into a story, it needs to raise a question, something you reader feels compelled to figure out, within the first few lines. We want to know why zombies want more brains or why the dead guy is at her locker or why Harry isn’t allowed to do his homework.
Also some of the most effective first lines use the rule of opposites. Take a relatively ordinary idea or thought and twist or pair it with something unusual.
What do you think makes the best opening line?
