100 Writers Project

My last blog entry sparked an idea. The "100 Writers" Project. A project centered on documenting the experiences of first-time novelists. Writing can be such an isolating activity that it's terribly easy to forget that you are not alone. Every author started somewhere and they probably started with just as much doubt and uncertainty as you and I.

So here's the idea. I'm going to have a series of guest bloggers, all first-time novelists, talk about their experiences writing their first book. I plan on having at least one entry per week and anyone who is interested in participating can contact me here on my blog, Facebook, or on Twitter.

We want everyone who is interested to participate! If you are not comfortable talking about your experiences publicly, we can make it anonymous. All writers are welcome. The only requirement is that you have either completed your first draft of your book or are close to completion.

This project is all about creating a safe space to examine our fears, struggles, and doubts as we work hard to reach that ultimate goal: becoming a published author. It's about support and encouragement and realizing that while we may write at home in front of our computers, we are not alone. It's about community.

If you have any questions or are interested in participating please comment below.


Art by myself.

Just Keep Going

I'm learning that writing a book never really ends. When I started out about a year ago, determined to take my shot at writing a novel, I had the idea that, at some point, I would feel accomplished. Like I'd done something. Finished some wonderful story and could move on.

So far, that hasn't happened. 

My first (very naive) assumption was that I would feel this way after finishing the first draft. Yes, I knew intellectually that there would still be a lot of work, but the emotional centers of my brain insisted that I would feel done. 

I finished the first draft last November (thanks to some intense NaNoWriMo encouragement!) and instead of feeling accomplished, I felt overwhelmed. Overwhelmed with how far I had come. Overwhelmed with how much further I had to go. I felt like I'd spent ten months climbing a mountain, a mountain that was steeper and more dangerous than anything I'd ever tried, only to find out that there was a much taller mountain just behind it. One that I couldn't see while I climbed the one in front of me. 

I spent December in a haze of stunned lethargy. Really? I'd come this far and I wasn't even close to finishing? I would have to push harder and farther than I'd imagined and I felt like, maybe, I couldn't. Maybe I wasn't strong enough. Good enough. Brave enough. Maybe I just wasn't capable. 

But at some point I decided to go on. To take one more step. To pick up this burden, this book I'd worked so hard on, and carry it a bit further. 

And here I am, pushing towards the end of the second draft. And I know that when I do finish this draft, it isn't the end. It isn't even close. And I'm okay with that. 

And, maybe, just maybe, some day in the distant future when I finally hold a physical copy of my book. Maybe then, I will feel done.




image credit: burtn.deviantart.com

Nothing to Envy

As a writer of speculative fiction, I am a firm believer in reading non-fiction. How else can you create a believable world (sci fi, historical, or otherwise) without first reading about the world we live in? Our world and our history as a species is stuffed full of amazing stories and often unbelievable circumstances. Whether you draw inspiration from the current political climate, the oral traditions of native cultures, or the story of a prison colony formed 200 years ago, absorbing all you can about human societies and our history will enrich your writing to a degree that reading only fiction can't.

One of my favorite topics is the Democratic People's Republic of Korea, more commonly known as North Korea. As a lover of all things dystopic, how can I resist the only true example of a dystopia in the modern world? For those of you who may be less familiar with the concept of a dystopia, think of it as a utopia gone wrong. It may look perfect on the surface (and often whatever force is in control tries to convince everyone that it is), but in reality it is deeply corrupted. The corruption often comes in the guise of totalitarian control (George Orwell's 1984), dehumanization (Margaret Atwood's A Handmaid's Tale), or environmental disaster (The Maze Runner by James Dashner). And with the rise of The Hunger Games by Suzanne Collins, dystopic fiction has taken on a new popularity with the general public. 

But in the real world, there's only one example. North Korea. It can be hard to get information on this small, isolated country. The iconic image of a completely dark North Korea above the vibrant, capitalist South Korea, shows the extreme poverty of a nation where the citizens are told that they have "nothing to envy." Even though the government, now headed by the notoriously private Kim Jong Un, keeps a suffocating hold on all information going in or out of the country, there are some who manage to defect. It is through the eyes of these refugees that we can catch a glimpse of their struggle to survive and the difficulty of fitting into the world they escaped to. Studying the country and the people who live there has given me more insight into how to control people and the emotional response of those people than all of the dystopic fiction I've read combined.

One book in particular, Nothing to Envy: Ordinary Lives in North Korea by Barbara Demick, is especially good at putting a human face on an inhuman society. She chronicles the stories, dangers, and emotional journeys of six North Korean defectors. What makes this book so compelling is the author's ability to weave objective fact with the subjective narration of the individuals involved. It reads like a novel. A novel more terrifying in its truth than any work of fiction. 

But my main point is to read. Read everything you can get your hands on, fiction and non-fiction alike. My bookshelf holds topics as diverse as Victorian London, a memoir of a slave girl, a biography of J. Edgar Hoover, examinations of why some societies conquered others, and many, many more. Everything will make your writing richer, but if you're unsure where to start, just pick a topic that interests you. History and anthropology are two of my favorites. Then READ!

What was the last nonfiction book that inspired you?

She Reads Books

5 TV Shows for Writers to Watch

I watch a lot of T.V. and in many ways I prefer television shows to movies. You get to know the characters better and, ultimately, you get to see them more. Especially if it's a popular show with many seasons. Recently, I've been watching these shows not as a passive observer, but as a writer. I take note of the conflict, dialogue, and pacing that the writers of these shows use to tell their story, because writing a novel is basically the same thing. Same idea, different medium.

So here's a list of five shows that exhibit excellent writing and are worth watching both for entertainment and as a writer.

1. Sherlock

Sherlock is the modern re-imagining of Sir Arthur Conan Doyle's timeless mystery series following the antics of genius detective, Sherlock Holmes. The T.V. series takes place in modern day London, placing the characters firmly in the real world yet still managing to stay true to the original plots. Aside from the stunning acting done by Benedict Cumberbatch (Sherlock) and Martin Freeman (Dr. Watson), this show is exceedingly well written. The sharp and intelligent dialogue between the two lead characters is engaging and addictive, while the lead characters themselves are immediately relatable and interesting. The show's constant flow of wit and excitement keeps the pace up through the hour and half long episodes placing the watch firmly in it's thrall. Sadly, there are only three episodes per season.

2. Homeland

Homeland is the best psychological thriller on T.V. It brings what is a very popular genre in books to the world of television. Following the paths of C.I.A. counter-terrorist agent Carrie and alleged captive-turned-terrorist Lt. Brodie, Homeland has swept a nation already hooked on thrillers in book-form. Not only is this show exciting because of its basic premise, but the writers do an excellent job of gradually reveling information. They don't present everything you need to know right away, instead drawing both past and present events out through the eyes of the characters. Trusting your audience to figure somethings out for themselves and only giving just enough hints to keep them going is essential to any "thriller" story, but even in other genres adding a layer of hidden depth with make any story better.

3. Doctor Who

Doctor Who has been a staple in the Sci Fi genre for decades, but the most recent reboot (starting in 2005 with Christopher Eccleston) has gone further than the original. While the initial seasons still have genre-specific themes and questionable graphics, Doctor Who really shows itself to be deeper than many outsiders can understand. The most recent seasons are especially well done crossing all genres including Science Fiction, Mystery/Thriller, Drama - even tossing in a bit of romance for good measure. But what the writers do best in this series is the characters. The characters are vibrant, original, and very much their own. Dialogue, clothing, and idiosyncrasies are expertly woven together to give life to these characters who are at their worst, human, and at their best, still very much human. 

4. The Newsroom

From the creator of the West Wing, the Newsroom is a sharp, intelligent exploration of the characters involved in the media today. It follows idealistic news anchor William MacAvoy and an ensemble cast of a fictional cable news channel dealing with and presenting actual news. The writers do an excellent job of weaving fictional characters around fact-based events, while at the same time using their story to present the watcher with harsh truths about today's world. A constant stream of witty dialogue, actual catastrophes, and almost slap-stick personal problems creates a story-world that is exciting, scary, hilarious, heart-wrenching, and deeply relevant to its audience. 

5. Downton Abbey

Downton Abbey is the runaway hit that follows the inhabitants of its namesake through the sinking of the Titanic, World War I, and beyond. Placed against the beautiful back drop of an Edwardian era manor house, an ensemble cast of characters ranges from the lowliest kitchen maid to the Earl of Downton himself. Each character is amazingly well-cast with individual and vibrant personalities. The interpersonal conflict is what drives the story forward without the need for contrived melodrama or explosions. Reaching beyond its genre's usual audience of Jane Austen lovers (count me as one of those), Downton Abbey has managed to hook all kinds of watchers. As a writer, it is very much worth watching for the snappy dialogue, what is said, as well as the underlying tensions, what is not said. This series excels at touching overarching themes through the characters lives and subtle pacing that draws the watcher along until they are completely addicted.


These are five of my favorite T.V. shows and the ones that I think would benefit any writer to watch.

What are some of yours?

An Ending

The Wheel of Time turns, and Ages come and pass, leaving memories that become legend. Legend fades to myth, and even myth is long forgotten when the Age that gave it birth comes again.

- Robert Jordan

I finished the final Wheel of Time book last night. (Don't worry. No spoilers.) For those of you who are unfamiliar with this series, the Wheel of Time is an epic fantasy spanning years and continents, filled with unforgettable characters, universal themes, and some sort of highly addictive substance that is likely to be banned if scientists can isolate it. 

Robert Jordan tells the traditional child-of-the-prophecy/coming-of-age story, weaving the arc through a unique conglomeration of familiar and foreign cultures, maintaining constant tension with thrilling battles, intense conflict, and clever riddles hinting at something larger and darker than we can imagine. Oh, and he writes women well. 

But this isn't an entry about the series. This is about me.

I started reading this series when I was thirteen or fourteen. I was a sophomore in high school and my first boyfriend gave me a copy of the first book, The Eye of the World. Needless to say, my relationship with the series far outlasted my relationship with the boy. Now I'm twenty-three. I've been reading this series for a decade of my life. Each book is somewhere between 700 and 1000 pages long and there were eleven available. I burned through them.

On September 16, 2007, Robert Jordan died. I was furious. He'd died before he could finish the series. He left me hanging on the edge of a literary cliff, desperate to know what was going to happen to the characters I'd fallen in love with. How dare he. This was the instant reaction of my seventeen-year-old self and it took me a while to come to terms with his death. His books had become an important fixture in my library and in my mind. Thankfully, Brandon Sanderson took up the unimaginably daunting task of finishing the series. 

And he did.

And now I'm done.

Where do I go from here? I spent two days completely engrossed in the final book. About three quarters of the way through I began to think about what my literary life would be like post-Jordan. I was excited at the prospect of reading new epic fantasy series (something I'd denied myself while in Jordan's thrall). I was excited to be finished and relieved that the last book had finally made it to my hands. And then I reached the end. 

Many of you will understand the type of melancholy that arises upon reaching the end of an especially beloved book or series. I made it through fourteen harrowing volumes and suddenly it was over. I feel an emptiness, knowing I will never see these characters again. In many ways I will miss them more than actual people that have come and gone through my life. But then again, I spent ten years with the characters of the Wheel of Time. I have seen their beauty and their flaws and their strength. They reverberated in my mind, reaching out of the page and changing who I was and how I saw the world. I loved them and they never disappointed me. 

That is the power of a truly spectacular series. It lives in its readers forever and refuses to let them go. Even at the end. But then...

There are no endings, and never will be endings, to the turning of the Wheel of Time. 

But it was an ending. 

On the Immorality of Black Friday

I'm writing this while sitting in a Barnes and Noble at 10:41am on Black Friday. The only thing I have purchased is a coffee. Let me preface by saying I am not against buying presents for friends and family. I am not against the idea of gift giving. But I am disgusted by the overwhelming consumerism that grips our nation one day a year. Ironically, Black Friday happens the day after we are compelled to be thankful for what we already have. Instead, millions of Americans have left their family to spend hours in line to buy cheap, made-in-china products from corrupt mega-corporations. And I really don't understand why.

Do you really need the box set of some banal tv show that you probably won't ever watch again? Do you need another blender? A slightly different drill? What drives people to such a level of shopping fever that they are willing to trample other human beings in order to buy something they don't strictly need?

Someone I know was explaining that while she was going to go Black Friday shopping, she was only going to local, craftsman-based stores. I support this. I support buying from local artists and eschewing the likes of Walmart. But the fact that most people who go shopping today are going to mega-stores like Walmart or Target or Best Buy just blows my mind.

So in conclusion, I will not participate in the insane, inane "tradition" that is Black Friday. But if you do, I urge you to shop local, not just today, but every day.

And with that rant out of my system, back to my book!