Final NANO Update

Well, I got over 15,000 words written. Considering how much went wrong this month, I'm pretty happy! :)

I hope everyone had a great Thanksgiving! I was supposed to post pictures of the cake my oldest son wanted to bake, except there aren't any. He changed his mind from baking a cake to making his favorite vegetable: okra. Yes, okra. Who am I to argue with that? :) So there are no cake pictures, because there was no cake. But, christmas is coming and I've promised a cake that looks like a present to a good friend of mine. Those pictures will be forthcoming... :)

On a complete different note, we took our boys to the circus for the first time yesterday. Aside from it being a little too long, they loved it! My youngest was dancing and clapping in his seat the whole time - it was really cute. :)

Austenland by Shannon Hale

Plot Summary: Jane is a young New York woman who can never seem to find the right man—perhaps because of her secret obsession with Mr. Darcy, as played by Colin Firth in the BBC adaptation of Pride and Prejudice. When a wealthy relative bequeaths her a trip to an English resort catering to Austen-obsessed women, however, Jane’s fantasies of meeting the perfect Regency-era gentleman suddenly become more real than she ever could have imagined. Is this total immersion in a fake Austenland enough to make Jane kick the Austen obsession for good, or could all her dreams actually culminate in a Mr. Darcy of her own?

Shannon Hale is also the author of THE PRINCESS ACADEMY, a Newbery Honor, which I loved. It was fun with great characters, and kept me absorbed from page one.

So when I heard about Austenland, I got really excited. I’m a huge Austen fan, especially PRIDE AND PREJUDICE, so I opened these pages with anticipation.

First off, let me say this is an adult novel, though I can see teen crossover appeal. But it definitely has the flavor and forgiveness of an adult novel. I acknowledged this and adjusted, ready and wanting to love this book.

I didn’t. And I’m sad over it.

This book didn’t have Ms. Hale’s usual stellar writing and well developed characters. I guess you could consider this a light, fun read. But it’s also contrived, shallow, and predictable. Anyone who’s familiar with PRIDE AND PREJUDICE will know what’s coming well before it gets there.

As with all my book discussions, there are SPOILERS below.

This was such a fresh, fun idea that I eagerly wanted to get lost in. But so many things just didn’t ring true. Like the banning of electronic devices (like cell phones) when most of the kerosene lamps were electric, plumbing used instead of chamber pots, and 20th century makeup instead of 19th. And smuggling said electronics can result in being kicked out? Seems a bit much. I mean, who cares what a paying customer has in her room with the doors closed?

But no, Jane is nearly thrown out for smuggling in her cell phone, and she does nothing to stop it. That I just didn’t buy, especially since Jane has some serious leverage over the establishment: a drunken actor was a bit too forceful in his proposition for sex. In fact, this bit of info is completely forgotten. I expected it to come up again at least at the end, when Jane finally comes into her own and gives the proprietress a reaming. But she doesn’t. So what was the point of the inappropriate proposition for sex?

There were other inconsistencies, but all of these I could have forgiven. But I couldn’t forgive the characters. They were all flat and predictable, even Jane. It was obvious what role Mr. Nobley was playing. It was even obvious what role Martin-the-gardener was playing. I was expecting a refreshing twist to turn the story on its side, but didn’t one. Ms. Hale, I’m sorry to say it, but I know you’re capable of better. I’ve read it in your other work.

Anyway, if you like PRIDE AND PREJUDICE and want to read the same story in a modern setting, then you might like this. Otherwise, I’d stick to the classic.

Happy Thanksgiving!!!

For those of you living in the US,

HAPPY THANKSGIVING!!!

We're spending the day as a family, cooking our favorite foods. Even if it doesn't go with the traditional turkey dinner, we'll make it anyway. :)

Aside from a turkey breast, I'm making pumpkin pie. I look forward to a slice of this all year, slather with whipped cream. Yum!

My boys want to make cookies and cupcakes, of course. So we'll make them, but then I have no idea what we're going to do with so much dessert. But there will be pictures, of course. :)

My husband is going to add the flavor of India to our dinner. Which I'm really looking forward to. :)

Happy Thanksgiving everyone! Now, I must go put the turkey in the oven...

Make A List, Check It Twice

I recently attended the 4th Annual SCBWI Prairie Writer’s Day, with an absolutely amazing lineup of speakers. I tried writing up a summary of the day in one post, but just couldn’t do it. So this will come in a series. And out of order. So, for those of you who were there, sorry for the confusion. :)

Jennifer Rofe, an agent with the Andrea Brown Literary Agency, talked about Revision. She showed us examples of submissions that had come to her, the kinds of revisions she asked the author to make, and also the number of revisions editors had requested of the author. One editor asked author Cynthea Liu to cut 20,000 words from her MG novel, PARIS PAN TAKES THE DARE. 20,000 words!! The entire room gasped.

The examples Ms. Rofe gave were really interesting and useful, but they’re just one piece in the puzzle of Revision. There’s no way I could write an entire blog post on that, because it was one of those things where you had to be there...

Then, Gutsywriter asked a great question: is there some sort of Revision Checklist that writers can utilize?

Aha! :)

Using this question, I was able to go back through Ms. Rofe’s examples and pick out her more generalized comments (plus a few of my own).

OPENING HOOK. Does your story start in the right place? Is the main plot apparent on page one? Has the backstory been introduced such that it doesn’t slow down the story? Above all, is this interesting?

CHARACTERS. Do they seem real? Are they flawed? Do they know what they want, and is there something opposing this (i.e. constantly keeping them from getting what they want)? Also, are all of them necessary? That is, do they contribute to the story in such a way that there would be a hole without them?

SETTING. Is this vivid? Can the reader close his eyes and picture exactly where the characters are? Is it realistic? If it’s a fantasy/sci-fi setting, has the world been defined and adhered to, without paragraphs of info-dumping?

PACING. Is there anything that slows down or takes the reader out of the story?

THEME. Have you said what you wanted to say without preaching or being message-y?

PLOT. This is huge, but this is generally asking if you have a beginning, middle, and end. Also, does the reader react sufficiently to the story as a whole?

RESOLUTION. Does it fit the story such that the reader will be satisfied? For example, a story about a war building, with anger and anxiety on both sides, ending with peaceful negotiation – it’s a good ending, but can leave the reader feeling let down. Are all subplots resolved? All necessary questions answered?

VOICE. This is also huge, and generally asks about the voice of the story as well as the characters. Is it obvious who is speaking simply by the dialog (and not the tags)? Does the story have its own Voice (I.E. can the reader see an obvious difference in narration between this story and another)?

STRONG WRITING. This encompasses everything from word choice to evoking emotion from the reader – far more than I can put into this simple checklist. But, basically, are all the words you’ve used necessary? Both to the story and to the characters? Has each word been purposefully chosen?

OBJECTIVITY. This is the single most important thing when revising. Distance and objectivity allow you to see your work for what it is, not what you want it to be. If you don’t have this on your own, then find at least one critique partner who can be both honest and constructive.

It’s hard to put together a checklist for revising, simply because the things involved in writing are so huge. One could easily create checklists for each of these main points, but then we could get mired down in the details and not get any actual work done. :)

NANO update #2

Another week has gone by, and the flu has still infiltrated my house! My youngest son was down with it all week. Thursday was his first day back to preschool, and I got a little writing done on friday. So I'm up to 13,250 out of 50,000. *sigh* I was hoping to be further along, but oh well. :) With a sick child in the house, what are ya gonna do? :)

On the plus side, I absolutely LOVE my main character! I love writing her story, and right now I'm just writing what she tells me to write. It's such a joy, and her Voice is so strong! I guess you could say I'm in the first draft lovey-dovey stage, but there's more to it. She's a fabulous character to write, and so fun! That right there is going to see me through to the end of this story, and probably a zillion revisions afterwards. :)

On a completely different note, Editorial Anonymous has offered to grade writers on their ability to write a synopsis, based on a well-known novel. You'd think she'd have writers banging her door down, right? Nope. She's only got two, but she's giving everyone the weekend to write up a synopsis and email it to her. So if you want to test your synopsis-writing ability, get out those notepads!

Chains by Laurie Halse Anderson

Plot Summary: As the Revolutionary War begins, thirteen-year-old Isabel wages her own fight...for freedom. Promised freedom upon the death of their owner, she and her sister, Ruth, are still sold to a New York City couple, the Locktons, who have no sympathy for the American Revolution and even less for Ruth and Isabel. When Isabel meets Curzon, a slave with ties to the Patriots, he encourages her to spy on her owners, who know details of British plans for invasion. She is reluctant at first, but when the unthinkable happens to Ruth, Isabel realizes her loyalty is available to the bidder who can provide her with freedom.

I’m not a big historical fiction fan, but I’m a fan of Laurie Halse Anderson. So when CHAINS was nominated for the National Book Award, I bumped it up on my TBR pile.

I like history, but it’s usually presented in such a dry fashion that it can’t keep my interest. Not so with CHAINS. From page one, this story had me riveted. It’s an honest account of the time of the Revolution. It doesn’t paint all the Patriots in rosy colors, nor all the Loyalists as evil monsters. They were just people with different preferences and backgrounds.

Same with the slavery. It wasn’t just in the south; it was everywhere. Not all slaves are innocent victims, and not all slave owners are vicious monsters. Anderson has built this world through the most amazing way of Showing that I haven’t seen in a long time. It’s so good that I didn’t even notice how much she was showing me the first time through. I had to go through the book again, and then I was blown away. Fantastic.

This book is amazing, and I highly recommend picking it up right now. But, I warn you, you won’t be able to put it down...