In the Past or Present?

There is a fairly new trend happening in YA books today: present tense. Some people have very strong feelings against it, some don’t. Me? I love it. BUT. Yes, there’s a but. :) I only love it if it has been done well, and if it’s necessary to the story. Otherwise, I can't stand it, and this is why.

When we writers sit down to write a first draft, we are discovering the story. Even if it’s been planned out with outlines and whatnot, there is still plenty of discovery happening through the characters, dialog, setting, etc. That adds an element of immediacy, of being in the moment. But the problem is that it’s not coming from the characters; it’s coming from us.

In that first draft, we writers are in a state of complete discovery. We may know some basic facts about the story and the characters, but really we are living from moment to moment, recording the story as we go. In subsequent drafts, though, we are no longer in that moment. We are reflecting back on it, analyzing, perfecting, adding in the details we may have missed the first time around, and trying to show that moment to the reader in the best way possible.

The same is true for our characters. To have a completely effective story told in present tense, the characters must be in the moment, not the author. That means that there should be no reflection or analyzing of what is currently happening. They need to figure things out as they go.

Some good examples of present tense are The Adoration of Jenna Fox, Memoirs of a Teenage Amnesiac, and The Spectacular Now. In Jenna Fox and Teenage Amnesiac, the main characters have no memory of who they are. They’ve been told some basic facts about themselves, but they are in full discovery mode, trying figure things out. A perfect situation for present tense.

In Jenna Fox, Jenna stays in this self-discovery mode for the entire story because it’s not possible for her to reflect on who she was before her accident. It’s a very powerful story. The reader gets completely sucked into all of her moments and can’t wait for her to discover more, because that means we will discover more. This book is one of the most effective uses of present tense I’ve ever seen.

In Teenage Amnesiac, Naomi is suffering from amnesia due to a nasty bump on the head. So, in the beginning, we are discovering right along with her. It’s just as effective as Jenna Fox, and just as compelling...until Naomi regains her memory, and suddenly knows who she was before she bumped her head. At this moment, Naomi begins to reflect, comparing her old self to her new self. It’s also the moment that the present tense feels awkward. The reader is stuck in discovery mode, i.e. present tense, but Naomi is no longer discovering. She’s reflecting and analyzing.

The Spectacular Now is a different sort of book. Sutter is a party boy alcoholic. He completely lives in the moment, looking for the next fun thing. When that’s over, he’s off looking for the next one, and the next, and so on. His whole life is built upon not reflecting, because that would mean facing the possibility that he has a problem with his drinking. Hence, the title, The Spectacular Now. As Sutter shares his story with us, he presents it as-is, no frills, no I-guess-I-did-that-because rationalizations or reflections. He is completely in the moment, and this book is also one of the most effective uses of present tense I’ve ever seen.

So if you’re writing a story in present tense and you’re not sure if it’s effective, then take a look at both you and your character. Which one is in discovery mode? Which one is completely in the moment? If it’s you, then you might want to rethink using present tense. If it’s your character, then you’re probably on the right track.

In My Mailbox...

In My Mailbox is an exploration of what books I brought home this week, and is organized by The Story Siren.

I haven't posted one of these in a couple weeks because we've been on vacation, so I haven't brought any books home.  But a couple books for review arrived this week, and here they are.

ARC of Jekel Loves Hyde:

Jill Jekel has always obeyed her parents’ rules—especially the one about never opening the mysterious, old box in her father’s office. But when her dad is murdered, and her college savings disappear, she’s tempted to peek inside, as the contents might be the key to a lucrative chemistry scholarship.

To improve her odds, Jill enlists the help of gorgeous, brooding Tristen Hyde, who has his own dark secrets locked away. As the team of Jekel and Hyde, they recreate experiments based on the classic novel, hoping not only to win a prize, but to save Tristen’s sanity. Maybe his life. But Jill’s accidental taste of a formula unleashes her darkest nature and compels her to risk everything—even Tristen’s love—just for the thrill of being . . . bad.

 

ARC of White Cat:

Cassel comes from a family of curse workers -- people who have the power to change your emotions, your memories, your luck, by the slightest touch of their hands. And since curse work is illegal, they're all mobsters, or con artists. Except for Cassel. He hasn't got the magic touch, so he's an outsider, the straight kid in a crooked family. You just have to ignore one small detail -- he killed his best friend, Lila, three years ago.

Ever since, Cassel has carefully built up a façade of normalcy, blending into the crowd. But his façade starts crumbling when he starts sleepwalking, propelled into the night by terrifying dreams about a white cat that wants to tell him something. He's noticing other disturbing things, too, including the strange behavior of his two brothers. They are keeping secrets from him, caught up in a mysterious plot. As Cassel begins to suspect he's part of a huge con game, he also wonders what really happened to Lila. Could she still be alive? To find that out, Cassel will have to out-con the conmen.
 
What books did you bring home this week?

Winners of the March Book Giveaway!

It's time once again to announce the winners of this month's book giveaway!

The copy of Clone Codes goes to...
Noelle!!

The copy of Possessed goes to...
Bianca!!

The copy of The Dark Divine goes to...
Shy!!!

Congratulations to all the winners! Drop me an email with your snail address and I'll send them out to you: tabwriter at gmail.com.

Be sure to stop by next saturday to see what I'm giving away next month!

Blue Plate Special by Michelle Kwasney

Plot Summary:
Madeline: Big Macs and pop tunes mask the emptiness as Madeline watches her mom drink away their welfare checks. Until the day Tad, a quirky McDonald's counter boy, asks Madeline out for a date, and she gets her first taste of normal. But with a life that s anything but, how long can normal really last?

Desiree: Hanging with Jeremy, avoiding Mam, sticking Do Not Disturb Post-its on her heart, Desiree's mission is simple: party hard, graduate (well, maybe), get out of town. But after Desiree accepts half a meatball grinder, a cold drink, and a ride from her mother's boyfriend one rainy afternoon, nothing is ever simple again.

Ariel: Too many AP classes. Workaholic mom. Dad in prison. Still, Ariel's sultry new boyfriend, Shane, manages to make even the worst days delicious. But when an unexpected phone call forces a trip to visit a sick grandmother she's never met, revealing her family's dark past, Ariel struggles to find the courage to make the right choice for her own future.

As three girls from three different decades lives converge, they discover they are connected ways they could never imagine. Each of them finds strength that brings her closer to healing a painful past, and faith that there is a happier future.

I almost didn’t pick up this book because the title isn’t grabby, and the cover looks a bit non-fiction. But then I read a couple reviews, and decided to pick up a copy. I’m glad I did. This is a quieter book than some of the other YA available, and at first glance, it doesn't differentiate itself from the rest. But if you stick with it, you will be pleasantly surprised.

I love intricate plots, and I get super excited when story elements seem to stand alone, but are really linked somehow. How those links are revealed shows a lot about the level of talent the writer has, and I thought Kwasney did an excellent job. When I started to see how these girls were connected, the geek in me got super excited. The way the story is written gives the reader a ton of insight into their lives – so much more than we get in the usual YA.

The resolution wasn't as strong or thorough as I'd hoped, and endings are important to me so that was a bit of a let-down. But I am still very glad I read it.

If you like quiet books with an interesting twist, then this is definitely the book for you.

Good Showing and Bad Showing

A couple weeks ago, I posted about when it’s okay to use telling in your story. Since then, I’ve had a few conversations with people about showing, and it turned into a question of good showing vs. bad showing.

There is a difference, and it’s basically this:
Good showing is when your characters are in a specific action.
Bad showing is when they're in a vague action.

Good showing in a novel is hard to spot, because it’s seamless to the story. It's what sucks you in and helps you to connect with the characters and their situations, and puts you directly into the story so you can experience it for yourself.

Example:
James entered the room quietly.
James slunk into the room.

Both sentences have the same meaning, and both are showing the reader how the character is performing the action. But the second paints a more vivid picture of both the circumstance and the character.

Let’s talk about adverbs. Everyone is always saying how adverbs are bad, and I agree, for the most part. In the first sentence, an adverb is used to describe how James enters the room. Technically, that makes it showing. But the action is not specific enough to paint a vivid picture in the reader’s mind. If you need that specific picture in the reader’s mind, then you need to drop the adverb and describe the action in a way that brings out the character, the situation, and the story’s tone.

The best example of showing in a novel (that I've seen so far) is The Spectacular Now by Tim Tharp. It shows an alcoholic teen in stark reality. Specifically, it shows how the main character, Sutter, is an alcoholic through his actions, dialog, and interactions with others. Another alcoholic is probably different because he's a different person. That's what good showing is.

All aspects of writing are so connected that it's really hard to separate them. Therefore, some aspects of Show vs. Tell seep into characterization, pacing, structure, and a whole lot of other things. You have to keep these things in the back of your head as you write, and that’s why it’s SO HARD to get everything right. It’s also why you can’t write a really great book in one draft, but that’s a topic for another day. :)

Marcelo in the Real World by Francisco Stork

Plot Summary: Marcelo Sandoval hears music no one else can hear--part of the autism-like impairment no doctor has been able to identify--and he's always attended a special school where his differences have been protected. But the summer after his junior year, his father demands that Marcelo work in his law firm's mailroom in order to experience "the real world." There Marcelo meets Jasmine, his beautiful and surprising coworker, and Wendell, the son of another partner in the firm. He learns about competition and jealousy, anger and desire. But it's a picture he finds in a file -- a picture of a girl with half a face -- that truly connects him with the real world: its suffering, its injustice, and what he can do to fight.

This is an amazing story about life, love, and learning. Marcelo has a high- functioning disorder in the autism/Asperger’s spectrum. He’s been sheltered from the real world his entire life, even though his doctors say he would handle it just fine. So his father sets out to show it to him.

The way Marcelo processes information is so different from the average person, and Stork has captured it amazingly well. It takes Marcelo a bit longer for certain things to make sense, and he doesn’t always think of the obvious things that pop into your head or mine without any effort. This different way of thinking is fascinating, and made the book impossible to put down.

As Marcelo learns more about the world, and that people close to him have ‘secrets,’ another layer of depth is added to the story. When Marcelo finds the picture of the girl with half a face, we get another layer.

With each layer added to the story, another layer is added to Marcelo. The world is affecting him in ways he could never have anticipated, and it changes him in both surprising and positive ways. In the end, he’s learned far more than his father could have anticipated, and has made choices that completely changed his whole world. It’s mesmerizing.

If you liked The Curious Incident of the Dog in the Night-Time, you will love this story (and vice versa). Definitely recommended.