Looking At the Bright Side

A professor I knew in graduate school used to tell a story about a letter of recommendation he’d received for a prospective student. It said, “Anyone who takes [name redacted] into his lab will learn a lot about himself.”

As I slog along trying to turn my WIP into a novel, I’d like to add that any writer who attempts a revision of this magnitude will learn a lot about him/herself. Between you and me, it’s not always a pretty sight. To fend off discouragement, I’m trying to remember a couple things. 

First, when Name Redacted decorated the ceiling of the dark room with glow-in-the-dark stars, he earned a severe reprimand. Stray light is a bad thing in a dark room. Nowadays, most dark room work has been replaced with more sensitive technology, but back then, dark room time was a strange combination of sensory-deprived boredom and anxiety about how the experiment would come out. The image of a mini constellation shining down on tired and worried scientists has remained with me through the decades. 

Second, Name Redacted eventually had a successful scientific career.

Overheard #180

The more words I take out, the better my writing is.

Endowed Objects

One evening at Honesdale, we discussed endowed objects. The definition in my notes is: a subject or object that seems to mean something other than it is, or has significance other than the literal.  

I thought of many examples in fantasy and paranormal novels. Consider the ring, the mithril coat or Sting in Tolkien’s The Hobbit. The Harry Potter novels have too many to list. The Everafter by Amy Huntley is a novel of endowed objects as each item Madison finds allows her to revisit the time in her life when she lost it.   

Realistic novels can also have endowed objects. In Nowhere Girl by A.J. Paquette the tea box contains Luchi’s past and her future. The mountain in Louis Sacher’s Holes is the cause of Stanley’s curse and the means of ending it.  

I’ve been thinking about my novels. Over the years, I’ve “endowed” calluses, a basketball, a balcony, a camcorder, a chess set and a cane. What are the endowed objects in your manuscripts?

Sunday

Last summer, I repotted these begonias, and they thanked me by blooming a month or two early.

Overheard #179

"Do not let the facts get in your way!"

Polishing and Tinkering

Last Saturday, I brought a couple snippets of my newly transformed manuscript to critique group. Faithful blog readers will remember that my protagonist and his love interest changed places. This was the first time anyone had read the new stuff.

It was greeted with faint praise. 

Of course I was discouraged.

Then I realized that I’d lapsed into polishing and tinkering, and the manuscript isn’t ready. The do-si-do draft (where the characters changed places) was a quantum-shift revision. I need to embark on another. My protagonist’s personality, which is completely different from my previous protagonist’s personality, must shine from every sentence. 

Polishing and tinkering is simple, seductive and fast, so it’s easy to be lulled into revision complacency. I thank my critique group for waking me up and getting me back with the program.

Overheard #178

"You don’t know exactly what they mean by what it is that they said." 

Tracking Devices

I’ve been researching spy gear for my WIP with the understanding that products available on the internet may be less sophisticated than models used by real secret service organizations. So far, I’ve gleaned that it’s easy to make tiny cameras and listening devices and hide them in ingenious places. Making a micro-tracking device is more difficult, probably because of the size of the battery. 

The Spark Nano (link removed) is about 2”x3” and intended for use in a vehicle. The smallest tracking devices I’ve found are designed for pet collars.  

The BBC production called Spooks in the UK and MI5 in the US showed tracking devices about 1”x1/4” that could be attached to a lapel or collar. They may exist, but I haven’t found them on the internet. I’ve read (and I can’t remember the book) about tracking devices that were minuscule adhesive discs. I suspect it was a fantasy novel.

Sunday

Early morning light on the Red Cedar River.

 

zoom 

 

 

weird ice #1 (of 2012)

Overheard #177

"I sound more enthusiastic in writing."

What's In A Name?

I just finished critiquing a novel for a woman I met at that SCBWI-MO conference. She had emailed me an electronic file named "Everyone’s Counting On Me." I wrote quite a bit about why I didn't like the title. I told her it was a plot of action so of course we're counting on the hero. I suggested her title could hint at the steampunk genre since the early chapters felt like historical fiction. I blathered on.

She wrote back to tell me the manuscript does not yet have a title. She named the file "Everyone’s Counting On Me" to remind herself that her husband and critique group expected her to finish and submit this manuscript.
 

Ha! I guess I’ve been taking myself too seriously.
 

Currently my work-in-progress is saved in a file called Honesdale Draft 3 which has little to do with the plot. 

Sunday

Michigan bridges falling down

Overheard #176

"When I grow up, I'm going to be a grownup!"

The Core Story

Tell me what your novel is about in one sentence. I don’t mean an elevator pitch intended to sell the manuscript in thirty seconds or less. What is your deepest connection to the story? Why are you writing the blasted tome anyway? When we discussed this at the Whole Novel Workshop, Stephen Roxburgh suggested considering concepts like redemption, salvation, forgiveness or recovery.

Here are the core stories for my many trunk novels and works in progress.*

A boy rediscovers friendship.

A girl acquires courage.

Two brothers learn to love each other.

A girl rescues her grandfather.

My statements are general enough that they could describer many novels, but they state the underlying concept that the reader is supposed to identify with and remember. They also remind me why I started the project in the first place.

*I have another WIP that my family and critique group have encouraged me to focus on. To be truthful, I don’t yet know the characters or the plot well enough to state its core story. I can’t write that novel until I figure out what it is about.

Sunday

Mid-Michigan lost a lot of trees during this snowstorm, but most don't break like this.

 rosehips

This isn't barbed wire.

first ice

Overheard #175

"Someday you’re going to sing a level of poetry that will move you."

Holiday Links

Writing quotes (Susanne Gervay) 

Writing excuses (Kathy Cannon Wiechman of Swagger) 

Reading suggestions (Nancy Pearl and NPR) 

Inspirational animal rescue (Great Whale Conservancy) 

Are you ready for Christmas? (The Bearded Iris) 

Solstice song (James Taylor and Yo Yo Ma)

Happy Holidays

Our holiday officially started last night when we picked up Sam after his last final. For the next couple weeks, the house will be full of young rock stars, ninjas and mathematicians. Amazing amounts of food will be consumed. The Christmas tree will shine and Chanukah candles will blaze.

I also plan to finish my current draft, the one where I’m listening for Selena’s voice. I don’t imagine that I’ll nail it, but I hope to make progress. My next draft is also dedicated to Selena’s voice.

Sunday

Does anybody know what these pink berries are called?

Overheard #174

"Sometimes the nearest exit is behind you."

Dear Ann: This Sounds Ridiculous.

At the Whole Novel Workshop in Honesdale, our teaching assistant, Candy Dahl, proposed an exercise for developing a character’s voice.

1. Take a blank piece of paper.
2. Write “Dear [your name]” at the top.
3. Write “Love [your character’s name]” at the bottom.
4. Lie down on your bed and imagine your character entering the room and talking to you.
5. After five minutes, get up and write what the character said. Stream of consciousness is okay.

Yeah, it sounds crazy, but it works.

I experimented with this technique at Honesdale and got amazing results. I am doing a major revision in which my main character and his love interest change places, and the voice of the new main character has eluded me. Since every draft should have one purpose, I put aside my worries about voice and focused on the major changes in the plot.

The first draft is finished, and now is the time to think about voice.

I decided to start each writing day with Candy’s exercise. My (new) main character is bossy and more than happy to tell me what to do. It’s working so far. 

Sunday

across the Charles River in Boston

Overheard #173

"She must have an opinion. She drives a Cadillac."

Sunday

I photograph this crabapple tree a lot. This time, I was trying to catch the last bit of light before the sun sank below the tops of the trees. The snow always photographs a bit blue at this time of day.

Overheard #172

"There will be words on the page."