The New Schedule!

So I've been thinking about what the schedule should be for a few weeks now. I've had several ideas for different series of posts but was unsure which series could be long term for the schedule. And then a couple of things hit me. So without further ado, here it is:

Monday: Writerly Thoughts

This is the day where I'll discuss topics that relate to my writing, writing in general, and books. This should be a familiar series to anyone who has read this blog for a while. Check out other posts labeled writing or writer to know what I mean.

Wednesday: Women of the Bible

We all know one of my New Year's Resolutions is to have a steady quiet time. I really suck at this sort of thing. I've had this women of the Bible book for a really long time. It's a devotional that focuses on a different woman of the Bible each week. So in order to create an accountability for myself, I will post about the woman of the week every Wednesday, my thoughts about her story like how it relates to my life or things I struggle with or more esoteric aspect of the story.

Fridays: Farscape First Watch
So tor.com has several show re-watches running, where someone watches The X-Files or Star Trek: The Next Generation and analyzes the episodes with knowledge of the entire series and society as it is now. These re-watches are fantastic--I've read the entire Star Trek one--and I would eventually like to do something like that for Stargate: SG-1, my favorite show of all time. However, I am also trying to meet a New Year's resolution of getting in shape (so I can survive the zombie apocalypse). The only time I managed to work out regularly was when I told myself I could only watch Buffy the Vampire Slayer if I worked out while watching it. This was my first watch of Buffy, so the episodes where brand new and surprising--and able to completely distract me from the fact that I'm working out.

Sometimes I like to think I've seen every Science Fiction TV show out there, but the truth is that simply isn't true. Whether its because I didn't get the channel or because I was too young for the content of the show, there are several SF shows I haven't seen, one of which is Farscape. So I've decided that is to be the show I'll watch while I work out.

I know absolutely nothing about Farscape other than the actors who play Valla and Cameron Mitchell from the later seasons of Stargate: SG-1 are the stars of the show. Because I'm coming from such a blank slate on the show, I think there is something to be said to chronicle my initial reactions and thoughts, whether they be first impressions or exclamations at how the plot unfolds.

If I only post Farscape episodes on Friday it will take us a long time to get through the entire series. However, for now it will only be Friday because I have no idea how I'll like the show and I don't want this to become the rant against Farscape blog. As I get into a blogging routine, I hope to one day expand to blogging every day of the week, except Sunday, and then I'll probably post two Farscape episodes a week. But for now, it's once a week.

So that's the new schedule! I hope you guys enjoy it! First Farscape post will be Friday, but otherwise things will start up on Monday!

Critiques and Descent

If you're a writer and you don't frequent the blog Miss Snark's First Victim, you don't know what you're missing. It's a great blog for aspiring and established writers to get critiques and see how agents view those crucial first 250 words of your novel.

This week, Authoress--the hostess--is doing a critique called "Drop the Needle" where writers could enter any 250 words from their story as long as it goes along with the theme she presets. This week's theme is revelations.

So why am I telling you all this? Well, for the first time, I was brave enough to try to enter one of her critiques and I got in! Woohoo! And I didn't just send in 250 words from any old story. I sent in 250 words from Descent, the novel whose inspiration I discussed in an earlier post today.

So if you're a friend and want a taste of the new Descent, go check it out my entry. If you're a writer, head over to Miss Snark's First Vicitm and join in the critiquing.

On a slight different note, if you're one of my non-writer friends, please don't offer a critique or comment unless you feel you're opinion is really valid. I don't want a rush of friends on my post saying "I love Mandy! I love everything she writes! Woohoo!". Serious critiques people. That's what Miss Snark's First Victim is about. Serious, helpful, but not snarky, critiques.

When Inspiration Hits

One of my current WIPs (WIP = work in progress) is something that is near and dear to my heart. I thought of the original idea that eventually grew into this story when I was a sophomore in high school. In many ways it was a reaction to Harry Potter, so yes, it involves wizards, but now it has gained a life of its own, and is a story that I think is worth telling and needs to be told.

So if this idea has been around so long, why haven't I written it? I've tried several times. I've started it so many ways. But every time I'll write three chapters and then falter. I can't go on. I'm no longer hearing it, feeling it. Somehow, what I'm writing is not true to the vision I feel in my heart.

Recently I've really struggled with it. I'd written six chapters, but I reached a wall. Not a wall of writer's block, I knew what should come next in this draft and know how to write it. No, this wall was a feeling that the story was failing, not staying true to what it should be.

In many ways this is the darkest story I've ever tried to write. It's a story of evil and its development, of how it slowly takes over. But my draft wasn't giving that feeling, that ambiance. It seemed too lighthearted, not enough darkness.

I thought of combining it with another WIP, trying to force them to come together to get that feel. But the characters wouldn't agree, they wouldn't mesh. It felt forced on every level.

So the story went on the back burner. I turned to another one while letting the juices of that story stew.

Then in class on Thursday, inspiration struck. I really can't describe it any other way.

I remembered the first line of one of my early drafts. I remembered the emotions I was trying to convey. And suddenly it was like I was hearing a voice speaking to me in my head. It was Chris, my main character, telling me his story.

I began writing in class, disregarding the lecture on statistics. I raced home, sat at my computer, and wrote for 4 hours. At the end of it, I had nearly 10,000 words. Ten thousand words that for the first time seem to get how this story is supposed to be.

Is it perfect? No. It'll all need revision of course, once I finish the story. But I think I've captured the voice, the mood, the feeling of darkness.

For the first time, I am confident that this start is one I can take to the finish with confidence. All I want to do is write in it.

This time Chris's story will be told and I'm thrilled.

Antagonists

Technically main characters are "protagonists" and opposing characters/bad guys are "antagonists". However, outside of my AP Lit class I've rarely called a main character a "protagonist" but "antagonist" is a word I can't help using. Why? Because not all opposing characters are actually bad. They're not all villains. But this is common knowledge, I'm sure, so I won't cite literary examples or anything. I'm sure you can all think of antagonists who weren't actually bad.

I'm a huge fan of bad guys who aren't pure evil--who have good sides. Mainly this is because unless your bad guys is the devil, Sauron, or some equivalent, he probably wasn't born evil. At some point in his life, he was probably a decent fellow--if not good--and he made some bad choices, like Saruman the White Wizard in LOTR. And then there are antagonists who aren't bad at all--they just stand in the main character's way.

Spirit Riddled has two kinds of antagonists. Those who are genuinely bad (but weren't born that way) and one who is actually good but just stands in Jess's way. How did I think of these antagonists? Well, it's all about creating conflict--something we still have a need to discuss. In the world of Spirit Riddled our three (that's right, three) antagonists came directly from the world building. We have the High Priest--who staunchly believes that all people with magic are demon-possessed. We have the Godfather like ruler of the thieves--who seeks to take out his revenge on Mage. And we have the ruler of the nation--who simply fears that Mage might overthrow him with all of his "magical" power. Basically, all my antagonists run on fear of these magical people.

Spirit Riddled is very much a story about fear in that way.

To create a good antagonist, you need someone who is going to oppose your main character, someone whose intentional and unintentional actions create road blocks.

Generally, my antagonists come in two sorts: products of the world and products of the main character. The products of the world are rulers, priests, lords--people who come form the world building, who would exist regardless of whether the main character existed. The products of the main character are people who are directly connected to the main character and who are unimportant otherwise: an abusive father, a jealous brother, a former best friend, a neighbor.

It's hard to talk about antagonists without talking about conflict, but fear not. Soon we will. And conflict is what drives the story.

Main Characters

In recent posting we've been discussing the beginning evolution of a story, or how a story springs into mind and develops. We've talked about the chaotic inception that happens in my mind, we've talked about the needed formula, and we've talked about world building. That leaves two other aspects of our formula: characters and conflict. Furthermore, I feel its important to divide characters up into three more categories: main characters, villains, and secondary characters. In this post, we'll focus on main characters.

Most of the time, a main character is the first thing I think of after the initial Question. Sometimes its just an image of the main character doing something. Sometimes its a comment that the main character will make. And sometimes its an action. With Spirit Riddled and Jess it was definitely an action. But the funny thing was Jess wasn't inspired by an action that actually happens in Spirit Riddled. The first thing I imagined the character that would be Jess doing actually takes place much later, in a sequel.

I created the story of Spirit Riddled during one of the most interesting summers of my life. I was in Toulouse, France living with a French family. Every day was an adventure. Around every corner was something exciting and inspiring. But Jess wasn't inspired by my magical surroundings. She was inspired by my older sister, back home, who decided she was going to contact her biological father.

Now a bit of backstory. I have three siblings; I am Three of Four*. My older siblings have a different biological father from me, but two years before I was born, my dad adopted them. I didn't know any of this until I was in eighth grade. Up to that point, I thought we all had the same parents. When I learned about it, it didn't change anything for me. But when I was a senior in high school my brother decided he wanted to contact this man who voluntarily gave him up. Two years later, my older sister did the same.

I was mad. Really really really mad, when my older sister did this. She had spent the past two years saying my brother was stupid, that he was breaking up our family, and then she went in did the same. I didn't understand. I still don't understand. All I could think was why would you want to find a man who gave you up? I was born to my father, and that's awesome. He loves me, and I love him. But my siblings? My father CHOSE them. He didn't have to have them. He didn't have to love him. There was no biological imperative and he loves them anyway. They've treated him like crap in the past couple of years, and he loves them anyway unconditionally. And he chose it. How beautiful is that? How awesome is that? And wouldn't it be nice for once if someone was actually freaking grateful for that?

And thus was born Jess. I pictured this action, this choice she would have at some point. At some point the man who took her in (Mage, who we've discussed before) is going to ask "I chose you. Can't that be enough?" And instead of crying that no it isn't enough, or instead of running back to the man who abandoned her Jess is simply going to say "Yes."

Aha! Did you catch that? Jess wasn't just invented there. So was Mage. The two were invented together. Weird. It sometimes just happens like that. But Jess and Mage are an inseparable duo in my mind and in the story (well...until Jess grows up and marries---never mind. No spoilers. :)

Anyway, when Jess was created, Mage was created simultaneously, and the two were created to compliment and strengthen each other. And in turn their creation helped create their world, since Jess and Mage are the two "demon-possessed" we are following. The villains (or really antagonists) were created in reaction to Jess and Mage to create conflict, and the villains definitely shape the world as we will see in the next post

*Yes, that is my Borg designation. Yes, my mind really does think like that. And yes, my mom is a Trekkie so its kind of appropriate.

Query-licious

The art of the query is something that eludes me. Once I've written a novel it's just so hard for me to turn it into a blurb. How can tens of thousands words be made into like 300? What if what I think is the cool attention getter in the story isn't what an agent thinks is cool? So much stress!

Recently I've taken to writing my query before I write the novel. In this method, I can't get bogged down in details because there are none. I think its working well, for the most part.

Unfortunately, the project I am currently revising and hoping to submit is not one I wrote the query before hand for. I'm really struggling with it. But maybe you can help!

I sent in my query to ktliterary.com for a critique! Click THIS link and go help advise me on my query!

And yes, I use my real first name on that website. :)