Craft Note: Writing Places You've Never Seen Before

So, I've decided that Monday's will be "craft note" days. I have yet to decide how many posts I'll plan for each week, at least two, I think.

Craft Note: Visualization

I have never created a world in my writing. Meaning: I've never created a place that is 100% different from Earth. A place called Borg, for example, where little blue people dwell and shoot lasers out of their eyes. I think that if I were to write science fiction a lot of world-planning would be involved. I like to stick with what I know and see and then expand upon that. But what do you do for fictionalized/make believe places set in "reality" but aren't a part of reality? Let's take my new novel "Surrender" for example. There is no such place as Falls, New Hampshire. It's actually based off two places in New Hampshire: Portsmouth, for it's quaint New England-y feel and Lincoln, a place that I only drove through, that's nestled in the White Mountains. I suppose when I really think about it, Falls is more Lincoln (because of the mountains) than Portsmouth (which is on the coast). At any rate, I merged the two places together to create something fictional. Another example is the school that my main character's go to: Stonegrove. I've never attended a private school before and had an image of my head (a cross between an English boarding school and a private school in Exeter, NH).

It can be incredibly difficult to create something from scratch and really "see" that place or have readers see it just as clearly. In order for me to do this, and be successful, I tend to sketch or draw. I make blueprints so I can see the layout as my character would see it. I've created whole towns like this. I don't know, there's something about visualization that helps me with the writing. And in order for these places to seem real, I have to believe they are real. Mapping them out helps with this, I think.

The top picture (click on all pictures to make them bigger) is the front of the school as I saw it. The most important feature to me was the large clock tower and the archway that the students walk through to get into the school. You'll also notice the cobblestone circular drive. The middle picture shows the basic region layout from the main town of Falls and up into the mountains where the school is. Lucas's house is also on the map, but not Cameron's. I'm surprised I didn't include the farmhouse, but on well. It's there. The bottom picture is another layout of the school (the entryway) that I wanted to put down. I accidentally cut off the big gate at the bottom of the school's "driveway." I really only describe the entryway once (Evelyn's first day of school), but it was important (not to mention fun) to get the image down on paper.

So, what about you? Do you just go on instinct and hope that all the details are right and believable, or do you get all crazy like me and start making maps and diagrams?

End of craft note.

Read Me: Surrender

Just wanted to make a separate post to notify everyone that I added a snippet of "Surrender" my new novel to the "Read Me" section of my blog (right under my fish). Please forgive me for the little typos that you'll see. I'll be editing for those next--the first round of edits was just to make sure the story was solid (I ended up adding 156 pages to do so). I hope that when I edit for typos I make the writing tighter.

Anyway... enjoy!

Hello Character.... Do I know you?

So, I am determined to post more often... hopefully I won't slip up and disappear for weeks on end. :)

Sometimes I just don't know what to write about because my days are pretty much the same and nothing exciting ever happens to me. Except for awesome TV shows like Supernatural, Fringe, Modern Family, Vampire Diaries, America's Next Top Model, and American Idol (though this is likely the last season that I will be watching Idol. I do love JLo as a judge though). Anyway... let me also give a shout-out to my favorite TV show of all time: The X-Files dodo do do dododo <--start of the theme song. Fringe is a good "substitute" for X-Files, but nothing will ever replace it in my heart. So, I doubt that people want to hear "wrote today" or "edited today" in every post, so I'll try to keep it snazzy by talking about some random things as well as the craft of writing.

So, on to today's "craft" note: Character Development

After completing the first "readable" draft of "Surrender", I've decided to get to know my characters a little better by employing the use of character worksheets (check out an example here). I looked at a bunch online and decided to create my own with the help of several different sites. I'm even going to attempt to "draw" the character as I see them in my head. I'm a horrible artist though so they'll likely be stick figures. Anyway, my goal is to create as much detailed information about each person from the novel and put them in a binder so I can 1) remember who the hell I write about, and 2) remember fine details so that I don't give Jordan brown hair in one scene and blond hair in another (I've done this). I'm excited about this project, and I think it's important.

As I write, I keep a notebook where I write down character names as they're introduced, and where I map out basic outlines for the chapters/novel. This notebook is vital and important. During the editing process, once I was finished with a chapter I would write a summary, which I hope will help me when I start writing the synopsis of the novel. Sometimes, especially since I write so fast, I tend to forget small details and plot points of what happens, so I think this will help me overall. I hope it also helps me see the plot as a big picture thing.

End of craft note.

I have a new "must read" author to share. I picked up Daniel Waters' "Generation Dead" from the library last week on a whim and have already plowed through the first two books (book two is called "Kiss of Life") and am nearly halfway through the third ("Passing Strange"). This is an awesome series about zombies or "differently biotic" people. The concept is unique and original, and the books are well written. I've never really be into zombie movies or books (although I loved Simon Pegg's "Shaun of the Dead"), but Waters has really inspired me. This is definitely an area of paranormal/abnormal that isn't huge on the YA market right now. I'm not sure how well his books are doing, but they definitely deserve to be read.

A "must see" movie is "Temple Grandin" with Claire Danes. This made me cry and laugh and is a great movie about autism, humane livestock handling/slaughter houses, and the ability to be fearless in the face of your fears. Definitely rent/Netflix/or whatever. :)

Side Note: Although it may be a bit premature, I've decided to post the prologue and first chapter of "Surrender" here on my blog under "Read Me." If you feel like leaving a comment, please do so. But know that while I did edit these pages there are likely typos not to mention some wordy sections. I will be starting another round of edits in April to take care of these issues. For now, I just want to know if you'd read more (or if you even got through the opening). Thanks!

Three days late but....

today I finished the first round of edits on my novel! I now feel like it's ready to be read by others. I feel like the story/plot is solid (maybe a few holes, but hopefully not) so next I need to tighten up the writing. But, overall, I'm very happy with what I have.

The final page count: 572.

New title: "Surrender" (A Fallen Guardian Novel)

Let me tell you how hard finding the right title was. I'm not even sure if this is the right one, but this one is gonna be the final working title when I send it out to agents. It's better than "The Falling" in my eyes. I didn't really want something that had "fallen" in the title, because a lot of books about angels are 1) about fallen angels, and 2) have fallen in the title. I suppose "A Fallen Guardian Novel" sorts leans on the "fallen" thing, but OH well...

I'm not sure if I can summarize the story yet. Summarizing is a scary thing because so much leans on the summary or the book jacket. I know I'm not going to please everyone, but it's also about being honest and true to the story. Let me try... you'll probably read a few of these in the next several months.

"Surrender: A Fallen Guardian Novel"

For the last six years, Evelyn and her father have hopped from state to state chasing after his drug needs and running from a darkness in her past that she can't remember. Now, desperate for a little happiness and peace, she's returning to the only home she remembers with any joy: Falls, New Hampshire. But things have changed in Falls. As she starts a new school year at Stonegrove High she quickly learns that her world is not what it seems and she may never have a "normal" life. She can't find her best friend Lucas, she's being followed by a young man who she is frightened of and drawn to, catches the eye of a popular boy who constantly toys with her emotions, and then Lucas and his mother return and Evelyn's world tailspins. As her seventeenth birthday nears, Evelyn learns that she was created to be a vessel--either for good or evil--and that humans are not the only beings to walk the streets of Falls.

Soooo... there we go. It's difficult because I don't want to give too much away about the plot. So, this is another draft. Of course any suggestions would be welcome, just know that "it sucks" isn't very helpful. :) Oh, and I didn't change the name of the town because I couldn't think of anything better. I think I'll keep it the same.

Well.... I was almost there.

So, it's the last day of February and my goal was to have finished editing by March 1. That's not going to happen (it'll likely be March 6 now). But I have a good excuse: stomach virus. At first I thought it was food poisoning, but now that my sister is experiencing similar symptoms whatever I had must have been catching. I feel bad because it was certainly no picnic and knocked me out for a few days. I'm feeling much better now and will be starting Chpt. 21 of 23+epilogue in a few minutes.

So, that's a mini recap of what's been happening and where I'm at in editing. Hope everyone is well and healthy!

Happy Valentine's Day!

Here's a virtual box of chocolates from me to you... :)

Why I hesitate in re-posting Lovely Es and Moo

I've had so many lovely comments about wanting a return of Es and Moo. I'm still at 90% or where ever I was in that previous post. There are a few things that are making me hesitate:

First: That because it's "published" on FictionPress (or here on my blog) that agents won't be interested because it's already been released to the world. [side note: I plan HUGE changes/revisions to KM1, so this may not be a huge issue]. Actually, most of my FP stories would go through big revisions before I sent them to agents, so I just don't know. I was at a writing conference this past week where one agent said that he didn't care if it had been online, especially if it was good. I should have got his name!

and

Second: I own the copyright to my stories (as does anyone who creates something). But it's been a long time since I looked at FP's copyright guidelines. I can't remember if they own any of my work or not (I don't think so). If they do own something... I don't want to run into "self plagiarism" which I also need to learn more about.

I feel this way about a "Starter Boyfriend" too, but I'll be leaving that up for the time being. So, that's where I stand at the moment in regard to my KM series. *sigh* I'll figure it out soon.

Side note: When writing the KM series I looked through pictures to find a great example of what Caleb/Adam might look like and I came up with this hottie (this is just one of many choices). He's an actor... but I can't remember his name. I felt like he fit better for Adam than he did for Caleb, but they're identical so they have to look alike. :) Thoughts? Meeeeow!