Author: ransomnoble

Published Writer: young adult and science fiction

Noveling

I like to have it as an official rule that I only work on one novel at a time, but it doesn’t seem to be working for me. I’m revising Don’t Tell Your Mother with some success, but … but … but … !

So, of course, when I’m trying to focus on one, ideas start pouring out of my head. What’s the deal? Why can’t they just wait until I get to that lull where the current project made it through the big rewrite and needs less attention?

It seems to happen each time I get to about this point. I don’t want to abandon the current project and leave it in a randomly drafted state. It’s less random than most of my rough drafts, but it still leaves a lot that needs to be fixed, tweaked, whatever you want to call it.

Instead of completing denying the other one, I’ve begun plotting it. I am trying to hold it off so I can focus on it. I’m not one of those people who gets enough writing time to write until I’m blocked, which means I don’t need four works-in-progress at any given time.

Not that I don’t have those, but most of them are short stories that need revision, rather than novels that are begging me to write them.

I wish I knew a faster way to revise, but my rough drafts come out fast because of my focus. I think rewriting takes more of my thoughts to get the manuscript where I want it, and that makes it slow.

Any other thoughts on that? Do you work on one major project at a time, or dabble in several at once? At what point is it okay to start on that new project? How do you know you’re done with the last one?

Are you ever done with the last one?

Posted on by ransomnoble 2

Another Style Guide

According to Mashable, Yahoo now has its own style guide. It differs from the AP style guide, one cited example is email where the official AP still says e-mail.

It’s not just going to be a style guide, though. There will also be tips for writing on the web and how to get traffic to see your site.

So how many style guides do we need? It’s difficult to keep up with the English language as it is, so let’s throw more options into the mix. Does it make you wonder what it takes to set yourself up as an expert? Do you need anything official to create an official guide? Who decides where the language is going, if not the people who use it?

And if it’s the people who use it, aren’t we in deep, deep trouble?

English can’t be an easy language if so many of the native speakers can’t get the written word right. (The spoken words have issues, too, but perhaps not as many due to the informality of most speech.) Is it because English keeps evolving? Because it keeps borrowing words from every other language and making up more as needed? Is the versatility that makes English good for finding a proper word also bad for learning it?

Will there be an answer if the masses believe that if someone can make out a meaning, it’s good enough? When I’m writing, I like second opinions to make certain my intent is coming through. Often it doesn’t come through exactly like I envisioned it. So I dig through the issues until I fix it.

Not that it isn’t a great opportunity for humor where there’s more than one meaning, but a writer isn’t able to turn to the reader with that condemning look and say, “You know what I mean.”

That’s one reason for a style guide – to give a set way to put things on paper. To know where to punctuate and why, along with a ton of other stuff non-writers probably don’t give much thought to.

Which is why we can bandy their words about when they put them out there. Oh, such great games to play. Almost makes me want to go start a pun war.

Posted on by ransomnoble 0

Dedication

I’ve been accused of being dedicated to my writing. It’s true. I was more dedicated (are there levels of dedication?) before my daughter was born.

Kids change plans because we’re not just accountable for ourselves anymore. Someone else needs time and attention and diaper changes and food. Lots of food!

Luckily she naps and gives me time to write. As long as I sleep less than she does, there’s time to squeeze it in. So you won’t find me doing laundry or dishes or any other household chores during that time, because I only keep up with them enough to get by.

I know I’ll never be an immaculate housekeeper because it isn’t that important to me. I prefer to write. Who wants to spend all their time keeping the house in perfect order anyway? My daughter scatters her toys all over the floor and it would be a full-time job to keep them – and her – corralled in one spot. If the kitchen and bathrooms are in order, a lot of the rest can slide.

Yeah, I bet a lot of you aren’t coming to my house anytime soon, but those that do can’t complain. I don’t let it get to a point where it’s embarrassing, but like the old saying goes: “on your death bed, you’ll never say you wished you spent more time cleaning your house.” Or was it at the office?

Does it really matter? If you know what’s important to you, get it done. There’s always time to squeeze in a little more. And there’s no room for belly-aching if you just didn’t want to get off the couch because there was another movie on. You can spend 30 hours a week playing video games. You may choose to do anything you want (within certain limits, such as legality and morality). It’s a choice. Live with it.

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Getting in Trouble

It’s not as easy as it sounds. You send a character into the basement with a task that’s sure to land him in trouble, and he comes through with the only choice of twenty that’s free and clear.

I suppose I can’t hold it against the character for acting like a real person and trying to stay out of hot water. It’s just not where I can let him go.

That’s what rewrites are for. And I will be rewriting until I figure out which of the other 19 choices are best for him to land in an awesome pile of trouble.

Somehow.

Posted on by ransomnoble 2

Common Usage

Do you wonder when it’s common usage mistakes or just someone being picky? I’m a writer and I have above average grammar skills. I know a few grammarians who still correct a few things about my usage (like ending sentences with prepositions) that may be part of common speech patterns, especially in my geographical area, but overall I can construct decent sentences and I use the proper word.

Some words are more difficult to use properly than others. Is it picky to make certain you use the proper form of lie or lay? How about your and you’re (and yore)? Their, there, and they’re? It’s and its? Affect and effect?

Do you wonder how long it will be before these words are indistinguishable?

Is it really that difficult to know which word you’re supposed to use? Does it matter?

From dictionary.com’s entry for “your”:

—Usage note
In American English the pronoun you has been supplemented by additional forms to make clear the distinction between singular andplural. You-all, often pronounced as one syllable, is a widespread spoken form in the South Midland and Southern United States. Its possessive is often you-all’s rather than your. You-uns (from you + ones ) is a South Midland form most often found in uneducated speech; it is being replaced by you-all. Youse  ( you  + the plural -s ending of nouns), probably of Irish-American origin, is most common in the North, especially in urban centers like Boston, New York, and Chicago. It is rare in educated speech. You guys  is a common informal expression among younger speakers; it can include persons of both sexes or even a group of women only. See also me.

This doesn’t even count the random variations like my mother-in-law’s “youze guys”. She wasn’t Irish, I swear.

So when the dictionary says “it’s rare in education speech,” they’re not counting anything on Facebook, right? And while it’s terribly rude to tell someone about those typos – deliberate or not – it sets teeth on edge for those of us who use the words properly.

And even some of us who don’t.

Do you ever wonder what the words you use say about you? They can tell where you’re from, how much education you have, and quite a bit more that I don’t recall off the top of my head. It’s one reason speech writers have jobs – to give public figures the words they need to get a point across without sounding like their normal selves. Interesting, huh?

Luckily, I’m a fiction writer, so I get to plop all kinds of words into character’s mouths to make them sound like the real people they are, or whatever other point I’m attempting to make at the time.

Posted on by ransomnoble 5

Formula

In math, formulas are the keys to making things work. Once you understand perimeter, you can figure it out even if you don’t know the exact formula for a shape. It isn’t just geometry; math follows rules that can be put into formulas and remembered.

Stories are works of art, and I wonder if the underpinnings of formula really can be set out. It’s arguable how many plots there are out there and I’ve heard they’ve all be done before.

I guess the question is whether the formula accents the story or inhibits it. Characters and plot are two of the most important parts of the story. The formula is meant to be like a skeleton, giving a basic structure to build things. Each species has a unique skeleton (or not, in the case of invertebrates), but every type has a similar structure for a unique being.

Stories are like that. Each is unique because of the differences, not the similarities. Characters and plot lead the writer in different directions, even if the underlying plot is a formula.

However, there’s a point where the formula overrides the differences. It’s such a fine line between making it work and making it a flop. It’s not easy to know which it will be.

I’m not sure if I manage, though I try. Do you think the formulas are there because we expect them? Are those formulas there because, as readers, we find what we need from a story from the formula?

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Doubt

I read in a book, I think it was by Orson Scott Card, that at some point in every novel he’d call his agent and say he was quitting his novel project and he had something else he’d rather work on.

Sometimes I wonder how common that is among writers, and if we hit that wall of doubt in similar places. I suspect we don’t.

I’m finding my doubts coming through lately, slowing my pace considerably. Rough drafts I can knock out without much trouble, and I always tell myself it doesn’t matter what kind of shape it’s in, I can fix it later.

It’s after that when the doubts settle in. When I’m trying to change those stubborn passages until they work within the greater whole. When I’m working on the subplots that just popped up and took too much out of the main story. When the thing stares at me and just won’t do what I want it to do.

A couple of my short stories are similarly stalled at the moment. I’m at a loss how to pick up and go from here. I’d rather not start something new, but I don’t want to be doing nothing, either, when I’m so stuck on the current chapter of my book.

These niggling doubts hold me back, but I can’t just dismiss them. Well, I’d like to, but they won’t go away. It probably doesn’t help when I read about how tough it is to break into the publishing markets (nevermind that I’m already published, I still worry).

How do you deal with doubts?

Posted on by ransomnoble 5

Critique Group

Writers and critique groups can’t be separated. Many writers need to have feedback to polish their stories, and critique groups are a good place to find that.

But what do you look for in a group? Where do you find one? How do you know it’s the right group for you?

Look for a group that is as serious as you are about writing, not more or less. If it’s a bad fit, you’ll either outstrip them with your progress or they’ll leave you behind. The meeting times need to work for you. Frequency needs to be long enough for you to get something else ready and not too frequent that you spent more time reviewing other’s work than minding your own.

One way to find a group is to ask other writers. They know which groups are good and can let you know a bit about it. Libraries and bookstores often host them. There are also a lot of writers online willing to meet virtually.

Knowing if it’s the right group for you is an individual decision. Can you get to the meetings and hold up your end of the critique? Are you getting the feedback you need for the piece? Can you work around all the personalities in the group?

That’s always a good question – the other people in the group. If you’re part of an existing group, they made it work. Some of them might grate on you, but the important part is working together. Sometimes it might seem impossible, but if you’re still learning from the group and getting what you need, it’s worth working against a difficult personality.

I hate missing my critique group. Luckily, I should be able to see them a bit next Saturday. I only hope I can get my stuff together by then.

Posted on by ransomnoble 4

Father’s Day

Last year I got my husband a book to read to our daughter. I think I’ve read it to her more than he has. So I probably ought to skip the book route for him.

But books are so fun to look for, buy, and read. I suppose no one can blame me for that- I’m a writer. It should be expected. I come from a family of readers – books are always great gifts.

I suppose one day I will accept that my husband is not – and never will be – a reader. Luckily, the same does not seem to be true for my daughter, who loves to page through her books, my books, any kind of paper she can get her hands on.

It’s cute, though also frustrating. I never know where I’ll find anything! Pens must be out of reach, too, because she wanders off with them. And everything else she can toddle off with.

And I get to spend the rest of the day with her and my husband. I hope he likes the non-book gift.

Okay, I got him one book this year, but it’s not the main gift, and I think he might like it… Maybe? Hopefully?

Posted on by ransomnoble 2

[Amazing Title Here]

A couple of my friends laugh at such stunning works of authoristry like the one above. Generally I use something like that as a placeholder when I’m not certain where the story is going or what will be the end.

Makes sense that a lot of they don’t get very far most of the time.

On the other hand, I’m not great at coming up with titles most of the time. I’m either spinning a title off that I think is fine, or I can’t think of one for the life of me. Some people seem to have a knack for it, and I don’t think I’m one of them.

So I always laugh when friends ask me for possible titles. Michelle Tuesday asked me about this last night. Incredibly, I had a few ideas, but I’m not sure whether or not she’ll be able to use them.

It’s fun to bandy about words in IM, though. She was going back and forth with another author we know who loves his puns. Maybe it’s easier to name some sorts of things. A group of musicians might be easier than another short story when there are already a few. Perhaps it’s just because it’s a defined thing, unlike the short story that’s slowly pouring from my brain.

Sometimes slow. Often unfocused when the title is missing. Is that what titles are for? To focus, to alert to what’s ahead for the reader, to bring out a main theme?

Working titles are sometimes meant to bridge between the beginning of the story and when the author can find something meaningful to title the work. My working title for The Art of Science was Janie’s Robot. I knew it wasn’t the best, but it kept me focused on one of the aspects of the story.

How do you use titles? Where do you find them? Do they pop out fully formed or does it take a lot of tweaking?

P.S. Thank you, Sarah, for the title for my book The Art of Science.

Posted on by ransomnoble 0