Favorites

F is for "Favorites"

I'm notoriously difficult to please. So every time I read a new book, I hold it to impossibly high standards. Five star books are rare. 

Some of my five-star books are: 

Caleb's Crossing by Geraldine Brooks
Set in Puritan New England, this novel read even better the second time around.

The Historian by Elizabeth Kostova
A retelling of the story of Dracula with a historical twist, this book was a complete surprise for me.

Phantom by Susan Kay
A retelling of The Phantom of the Opera, this is a much more intimate view of the Phantom and how he becomes the maniacal killer he is. Well worth the read.

The Count of Monte Cristo by Alexandre Dumas
I love this book for the intricate plot. There are so many character to keep track of, and so many subplots, but everything comes together in the end to create a beautifully crafted read.

Lolita by Vladimir Nabokov
Given the subject matter and the narrator, I didn't expect to like this book at all. I wanted to read it because it was famous, and I'm glad I did. I found the prose quite evocative.

A Tale of Two Cities by Charles Dickens
If you haven't read this book, the twist in the end is what clinches the deal for me. I'm not a romance reader by any means, but the romantic storyline in this novel strikes a chord with me every time.

These are a few of my absolute favorite books. What are some of yours?

~I.E.


Day 1: Absolution

Day 2: Biography

Day 3: Confidence

Day 4: Daphne

Day 5: Exposition

Exposition in Fiction Writing

Simply put, exposition in fiction writing is anything which conveys important background information to the audience. In other words, exposition could be considered an information dump. 

The problem with exposition is that a large chunk of it stops the plot cold. 

What could be more boring than interrupting a page of witty dialogue between protagonist and serial killer in order to describe that vital moment in the killer's life where his mother left him and his father beat him? Even if that's what made your character turn into a killer, untimely exposition can ruin a book. A reader won't have enough patience to reach the end of the story if you keep interrupting for an info dump—no matter how vital to the plot.

So how do you get around exposition? There are four main ways, outlined below.

Dialogue:
You can try to weave it into dialogue, but this can make your dialogue long and unrealistic. You could introduce a character who asks questions that the reader might be asking, I.e. The dumb friend, but that can sometimes be too obvious (and annoying). 

Flashbacks:
Flashbacks have fallen out of vogue to some extent, but this is an efficient way to give a lot of vital information. A flashback is a scene where the character experiences a flash back to a previous time in their life, usually connected in some way to the scene at hand. This experience could be triggered by a smell or sight or something another character says. The only problem with these are that they significantly interrupt the plot and take you back into the past—whether minutes or years, it's out of the action.

Memories:
Similar to a flashback, but shorter, memories look at the scene from the present, rather than experiencing it as it happened like in a flashback. Again, these could be triggered by a scent or sight or a comment. Since these are shorter, they could be considered less of an interruption than a flashback.

Sprinkle:
Perhaps the best way is to sprinkle it throughout dialogue and narrative. A sentence here, a sentence there, a little bit of setting, a little bit of backstory, but keep the focus on the action. 

It's sometimes hard to know when you're writing what is distracting backstory and what is crucial to the plot. I find I recognize exposition for what it is when I set my first draft aside for a few weeks, or a couple of months, and then do a quick read through in one or two sittings. During that read-through, I highlight the offending scenes and edit them later. (Yes, I've finally learned how to do this! My iPad is vital for this, because I cannot edit as I read.)

Striking a balance of exposition is difficult, and something that even best selling authors can get wrong. Of course, it's also something that readers have varying opinions on. So what to do? Well, definitely get second (and third and fourth) opinion, but try to keep the focus on the here and now. After all, the "here and now" is the story you're trying to tell, right? 

~I.E.

Day 1: Absolution

Day 2: Biography

Day 3: Confidence

Day 4: Daphne

Daphne

D is for "Daphne"

"There from [Love's] quiver drew Two darts of different power:—this chases love; And that desire enkindles; form'd of gold It glistens, ending in a point acute: Blunt is the first, tipt with a leaden load; Which Love in Daphne's tender breast infix'd. The sharper through Apollo's heart he drove, And through his nerves and bones;—instant he loves: She flies of love the name." Ovid's Metamorphoses, Book I, Lines 64-71

If you learned any Greek/Roman mythology in high school or college, you probably read about Daphne. I enjoy refreshing my memory of the ancient gods and goddesses, and figure Day 4 of the Blogging from A to Z Challenge is a great opportunity to revisit mythology. 

Not to mention, one of my absolutely favorite sculptures is of Daphne and Apollo.

If you don't know the story, it's basically this: 

Apollo, angry with Love/Cupid, the son of Venus, for daring to shoot arrows like he does, insults Cupid and boasts of his shooting prowess. Cupid retorts that, although Apollo's arrows hit all things, Apollo will be transfixed by his, Cupid's, arrow.

So Cupid shoots Apollo and Daphne with two of his arrows. But to exact his revenge for Apollo's insults, instead of shooting them both with the same type of arrow, Cupid shoots Apollo with one of gold, which kindles love, and he shoots Daphne with an arrow of lead, which happens to repel love. 

Apollo, mad for Daphne, tries to convince her of his love. Terrified of love, Daphne flees. Apollo pursues, and they run through the countryside. Finally, as she tires, Apollo is near to catching her. Daphne cries out to her father, the river god, Peneus, to save her. In answer, Peneus turns Daphne into a laurel tree. Despite her being transfigured into wood, Apollo can't help but love her, and so he promises to wear her branches upon his head and use them in his lyre and quiver. From then on, wreaths of laurel branches become a victor's crown.

It's a classic tragedy. Unrequited love, ending in the death of a character. It's a story which inspired one of the most gorgeous statues in the world, in my opinion. I've had the honor of seeing Bernini's statue in person at the Borghese Gallery in Italy. I could stare at it all day long, it's that captivating.

For another view, click here.

"Thus fled the virgin and the god;—he fleet Through hope, and she through fear,—but wing'd by love More rapid flew Apollo;—spurning rest, Approach'd her close behind, and panting breath'd Upon her floating tresses. Pale with dread, Her strength exhausted in the lengthen'd flight, Old Peneus' streams she saw, and loud exclaim'd:— “O sire, assist me, if within thy streams “Divinity abides. Let earth this form, “Too comely for my peace, quick swallow up; “Or change those beauties to an harmless shape.” Her prayer scarce ended, when her lovely limbs A numbness felt; a tender rind enwraps Her beauteous bosom; from her head shoots up Her hair in leaves; in branches spread her arms; Her feet but now so swift, cleave to the earth With roots immoveable; her face at last The summit forms; her bloom the same remains. Still loves the god the tree, and on the trunk His right hand placing, feels her breast yet throb, Beneath the new-grown bark: around the boughs, As yet her limbs, his clasping arms he throws; And burning kisses on the wood imprints." Ovid's Metamorphoses Book I, Lines 541-55

~I.E.

Day 1: Absolution

Day 2: Biography

Day 3: Confidence

Confidence (and April's Insecure Writer's Support Group)

C is for Confidence

Since today is the third day of the blogging A to Z challenge, but it also happens to be the first Wednesday of the month, which is the Insecure Writer's Support Group day, I decided to combine these two and post about my insecurity: lack of confidence.

I've been part of a writing forum for about six months now, and it has its ups and downs. Most recently, I've been quite down about it. This has arisen from one feedback I've given which gave me a proverbial slap in the face by suggesting that my personal beliefs had no bearing in the feedback I was giving. In other words, my personal beliefs should have nothing to do with how a particular scene comes across to me. In all honesty, I find that to be quite wrong.

Every reader brings their personal beliefs, backgrounds and experiences to a novel. I believe that a book is more personal than a movie. A reader spends more time on a book than a movie, and if the situations or the morals in that book or movie clash directly with the reader's morals, most likely there will be some dissatisfaction. Some readers are able to attribute the actions to an unlikable protagonist and read the book without agreeing with what happens, but there's a trick to that, which is not my point in this post. (E.g. Lolita by Vladimir Nabokov, which has an unlikable narrator.)

Dissatisfaction with a story can occur if a conservative or liberal reader reads a book which goes directly against their morals. A reader may put those books down if bothered enough by them, and a writer may have lost a reader. No author is for everyone. An author I adore, another reader may hate. As long as a reader can give a reason for their likes or dislikes, it's not wrong to love or hate a book. That's the joy of having so many books to explore.

But this incident has severely shaken my confidence and given me a huge insecurity in offering my feedback. Almost to the point where I don't want to give it at all. If my personal views are irrelevant to my feedback, then what am I left with giving? Merely grammatical edits? Is that all I am allowed to say? For my personal beliefs, interests and past experiences undoubtedly influence how I see a character, how I feel about them, and whether I believe them to be realistic characters. In fact, my personal beliefs, interests and past experiences are what makes up me. 

So I'm left with a difficult situation in giving feedback. And that is: How can I divorce myself from my opinion? If I knew someone like this "unlikable" character in the past, I won't like this character unless there is change. If the author asks for feedback on whether their character is likable and I see them as particularly unlikable for their beliefs, their actions or their personality, what can I say? Do I just not say anything at all? 

#IWSG Alex J. Cavanaugh's page

~I.E.

Biography

B IS FOR "Biography."

Although writing is generally accepted to be a solitary profession, there is a lot to learn from other writers. Particularly ones who made their careers out of writing and were entrepreneurs in the writing industry.

William Blake:

Blake was a poet who was born in London on November 28, 1757. Not only a poet, he was an amazing artist who combined his artistic abilities with his poetry to create beautiful, ethereal images to accompany his poems. In his early years, Blake claimed to experience visions of God and angels. His parents didn't believe him, yet acknowledged that he was different from other children. At age ten, Blake wanted to be an artist and his parents sent him to drawing school. At age twelve, Blake began writing poetry. Due to the cost of art school, a fourteen-year-old Blake began an apprenticeship under James Basire, an engraver to the Society of Antiquaries and the Royal Society. 

Copy engraving was a tedious process involving many time-consuming, labor-intensive steps. Although Blake earned a meager living from his work during his lifetime, the important thing is that he persevered with it. He must have loved both illustrating and writing poetry to make such art for one piece of writing. Each engraving is a masterpiece which endures for both its beauty and its message. 

He experimented with etching to give us "illuminated manuscripts," and used it for most of his well-known works. Instead of applying the usual engraving method he had been trained in, he invented an entirely new manner of etching, called "relief etching." For this, he can be considered an entrepreneur as well as a poet-artist.

The Ancient of Days by William Blake
source

I have long since admired Blake's poetry and his engravings, but the time I spent on this blog has encouraged me to pull out his poems again. But when I do, I will wish I had copies of his illuminated manuscripts—not just the printed poems. 

I think it's important to remember how books are meant to be enjoyed in all possible ways: cuddling, smelling, savoring, losing oneself in. Cuddling with my iPad just doesn't have the same feel to a paperback book. When I drop it on my face while in bed, it hurts. And reading Blake's poetry without the genius of his engravings? Well, it's incomplete.

Sources:

Biography information:

http://www.poets.org/poet.php/prmPID/116

http://www.blakearchive.org/exist/blake/archive/biography.xq?b=biography&targ_div=d1

Etching information:

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Relief_etching#Relief_etching

For prints of Blake's awesomeness, check out this website: 

http://www.william-blake.org/home-1-96-1-0.html

Absolution (A to Z Bloggers' Challenge Day 1)

As of last night, I was uncertain if I was going to undertake both Camp NaNoWriMo and the A to Z Blogger's Challenge for the month of April. But I read a post just this morning of a fellow blogger, Joanne Phillips, doing the A to Z Bloggers' Challenge, and her first post was "Aim high." After that call to arms, how can I not attempt both Camp NaNo and A to Z? 

A IS FOR "Absolution." 

There are several reasons I've chosen absolution to start of this challenge with. With such lofty goals for April ahead of me, I feel absolution is absolutely necessary. Absolution is a "formal release from guilt, obligation, or punishment." (Source: Oxford Online Dictionary.) With that definition in mind, it's only natural for me to absolve myself from guilt and punishment this month of April.

Note that I did not absolve myself from obligation this month. In fact, I've given myself a lot of obligation. For me,  an intermittent blogger at best, I must rise to the challenge of commitment.

However, there are several things that I feel I do need to absolve myself from this month, and forever, really. 

Fear:

This is a big one for me. Not that I am a particularly fearful person, but in terms of sharing my writing, there are several things I do fear. I fear failure, I fear ridicule of others, I fear putting my work out there and being told it's not good enough. I could list a million more things concerning my writing which I fear, but I don't think it's good to focus on the bad. Instead, I want to focus on the fact that I am absolving myself from these fears. I can throw them aside and I refuse to let them control me and my writing. I will take chances and put my work out for others to read. I will pursue paths that I ordinarily wouldn't just to laugh at fear in the face.

Lingering on First Drafts:

Ugh, this is a big one. And a timely one. My first NaNoWriMo taught me a lot about getting the words out on the page. If there's some coal, there's probably a diamond hidden in there somewhere. That is, as long as I have a lot of words (my coal), then there's a chance that I can find the words to keep (the diamonds). But first drafts never live up to my expectations. My first drafts always need a lot of work, and some need more work than others. But NaNo taught me to get the words down and worry about revision later. 

Perfection:

All right. I'm a perfectionist. Not in everything, but in writing, I am undoubtedly a perfectionist. The problem is, that I tend to lend myself to criticism. Oh, all right. I abandon myself to criticism. Perhaps that's why I find critiquing others' work both so rewarding and so hair-tearingly annoying. It's never good enough. That goes for my work and the work of others. The problem with perfectionists is that they hold themselves to such high—often unreasonable—standards, that they tend to hold others to those same unreasonable standards. In other words, it's never, ever good enough. But if you've been at the hand of my critiques, don't despair. I apply the same high standards to myself. No wonder I'm such a compulsive line-editor.

Mistakes:

At first glance, mistakes may seem to be a synonym for perfectionism. But it's not. We all make mistakes. Mistakes can be both deliberate (where you know you aren't doing the right thing and do it anyways) and accidental (where you think you may be doing the right thing, but it turns out you didn't). But the thing about mistakes in writing, is that sometimes, they can be the diamond in the rough. There are times where I've thought I've made a mistake and then returned to the novel to realize that my "mistake" is the one thing that is actually going right in that novel. The other stuff, the path I thought the novel was going down, was the dust, the distraction, and the "mistake" was what I found I absolutely had to pursue. So I hereby absolve myself from making mistakes, in the hopes that I make a few good ones along the way.

So for the month of April (at least), I intend to absolve myself not from obligation, but from fear, lingering on first drafts, perfectionism and making mistakes.

What are some things you resolve to absolve yourself from this April?

Today is the last day to sign up for the A to Z Challenge.

~I.E.

A Worksheet for Creating and Developing Your Characters

In case you didn't know, National Novel Writing Month, otherwise known as NaNoWriMo, isn't Camp NaNoWriMo goes on during the months of April and July. As I've been preparing for Camp NaNoWriMo, I am reminded of how much about my protagonist and antagonist I need to know before I write my first word today.

I always like to have a worksheet for my characters, and these get constantly updated with pertinent information as I write. Since I use Scrivener, I can directly link new information to my character worksheet.

So I've developed a worksheet to use for both developing and keeping track of my characters.

NAME:

If female--Maiden name?

ROLE:

Role in story (protagonist, antagonist, minor character, etc.):

Goal in story (i.e. what is my character trying to accomplish?):

WORK

-Occupation:

How long have they worked at their current job?

Is this their dream job, or would they rather be doing something else?

How does my character get along with his or her co-workers? Boss?

-Education:

Where

What subject(s)

Experience

PHYSICAL APPEARANCE:

-Clothing: 

What does my character wear to work?

What does my character wear at home?

How does my character come off to others by their dress? Polished? Rumpled? Enviable?

-Hair:

What style of haircut? 

How does my character wear it to work? 

How does my character wear it at home? 

Do they dye their hair or keep it natural?

-If female--Makeup styles (day and night):

PERSONALITY:

Reaction in a Crisis or Under Stress?

Interaction with someone he/she doesn't like?

Interaction with someone he/she does like?

What does my character value in his/herself? Is it the same as what they admire in others?

What is my Character's Biggest Fear?

How Does my Character Speak?

-What kind of vocabulary does he or she have?

-What does his or her voice sound like?

What is my Character's Biggest Strength?

What is my Character's Biggest Weakness?

Fatal Flaw(s):

How does it influence the story?

Does my Character Come off Differently to Men and Women--in either personality or appearance?

INNER CONFLICT(S):

-What does my character really want?

Can they ever have it? Why or why not?

EXTERNAL CONFLICT(S):

-What or who is keeping my character from their goal in this novel?

BACKSTORY:
-Here is a place to summarize anything about your character that might be applicable to the story.


This worksheet should give you a solid start to your character. You don't have to fill out all of it, but it helps to think about these questions so that you know most of these things about your characters. A lot of this may not be written into your novel (and probably shouldn't be), but the more you know about your character, the more real they will appear on the pages.


~I.E.