Agency and the Legend of Korra

So this past season of Korra was a amazing. I take back anything I said about the show not being as good as Avatar. That said, I want to talk about the star of Beginnings Part I and II, Avatar Wan. (I might make this a blogging series, because I REALLY LOVE THIS CHARACTER, so yeah, we'll see.)

Yup, we're talking about this cutie.

One thing that I really liked about Wan's story (Which is a lot! I love that guy! <3) but one thing I want to talk about today, is Wan's agency. You'll notice that everything that basically happens to Wan good or bad, is a result of his own choices. (DON'T READ THIS UNLESS YOU WATCH THE LEGEND OF KORRA, YOU HAVE BEEN WARNED) Examples:

• Leading a rebellion against the leader's of his lion turtle city in order to get food and getting banished.
• Saving Mula the catdeer and meeting his animal guide/getting to live with the spirits as a result. 
• Freeing Vaatu and letting a chaos spirit into the world.
• Training with Raava to master all four elements and bring balance to the world. 

Okay, so my point here is, most of Wan's problems or the blessings in his life happen because he chose to do things. Here are some good things to keep in mind when editing:

• Are things happening to my protagonist, or is my protagonist making things happen?
• Your character;s choices reflect the kind of person they are. For example, Wan is a mostly goodhearted character. Yeah, he occasionally steals to survive, but overall, he does things like steal because his friend are hungry or choses to save Mula because he pities her and has has a good heart. he even freed freaking Vaatu because he thought'd been bullied for 10, 000 years. A selfish character is going to make things happen that benefit them. A more selfless character is going to make choices that benefit other people. 
• Keep in mind that there should be other characters who have goals that conflict what your main character is trying to do. Look at the scene in Beginnings when Wan's human and spirit friends meet and get into a fight. Spirits hate humans because humans are little gits who are selfish and hate nature. Wan's human 'friends' (I use quotations there because I think they were sucky friends) want to take down the spirits because they're afraid and want to avenge their friends. When Wan's friends fight,it hinders Wan's goal to bring balance to the world, and as Raava points out, makes things worse. Basically, everyone--protagonists and antagonists should think THEY are the star of their own story. 

What I've learned about Writing So Far This Year

• When starting out, do the work. Take the time to flesh out those characters and the worldbuilding before you start--the way I see it, it's better to have a spare character or two that doesn't make an appearance on screen versus not having a character when you need someone. 
• Make even a brief outline. It will help if you story has an arc, some sort of... Something that tells you were it's going, no matter how vague.
• Betas are the bomb, end of story.
• Write about people, places, and things you love and writing will be so much more fun. 

My mom took this while on a recent vacation. As a reader, there's nothing more that I love doing than going... "Ahhhh, pretty!"

• Before starting, I like to write what I think of as "prefanfic." Okay, so it's not fanfic, because it's your storyworld, but here's the thing about fanfic--fanfic writers write their fic of the joy of the characters. And I think it's SO SO SO helpful to write from your main character's POVs until you feel like you know them and their dynamic with the other characters--to the point where spending time with them feels just as fun as writing real fanfiction. 
• Give characters quirks. It's good for characters to have backstory, and it's even better when that backstory gives them interesting quirks. For example, I have a character who fiddles with jewelry when she's nervous, because, long story short, she lost a family member that she loved who gave her jewelry, so she clings to jewelry as a lifeline of sorts, because it reminds her of her loved one. 

Captives by Jill Williamson

Captives had a lot of action going on from the very begining and the more I read this book, the better it got. I loved Mason, he was hands down the smartest of the Glenrock group. I didn’t like Omar. I mean, I got his need for love and acceptance, but it made him act a bit stupid. Levi and Jemma…. They felt almost too perfect to me.  I liked Naomi if only because she was the only of the women smart enough to go “hey, this is twisted.” I also really didn’t like swallow Mia.

The stupidity of the people in the Safe Lands made me want to gag. What with the way they were sleeping with multipule people NO WONDER YOU’VE ALL GOT STDS. And the mothers all are dumb enough to drink while preganant. Those people were SO DUMB. You think they’d realize a lifestyle change could save them, but noooooo.

So overall, not the best book I’ve read, but definately worth picking up. 4/5. You can buy it on amazon.

Go Teen Writers by Stephanie Morrill and Jill Williamson Book Review

The question we hear most from new writers is, “How do I get published?”

And the answer is: Respect your dream

Every writer’s journey is different, yet as we’ve reflected on our experiences and those of the writers around us, we’ve seen time and time again that those who are successful are the ones who had the patience and endurance to stick with this writing thing. They didn’t look for shortcuts (at least, not for long), nor did they quit after five, ten, or one hundred rejections.

We can’t make the process easy for you, but it’s our hope that this book will be a tool you can turn to time and time again when you’re thinking, “Okay … what’s next?”

Includes tips for:

-Getting published

-Finding the right agent

-Book surgery

-Thicker plots

-Deeper characters

-Richer settings

-Weaving in theme

-Dealing with people who don’t get your writing

If you’re a writer, I cannot recommend this book enough. I have found that it improved not only my plots, but my dialogue too! It offers great industry tips and through some of Jill and Stephanie’s stories—you can tell they’ve been in your shoes, so to speak. And the way they teach you about the publishing industry? Hilarious.

-Allison

Doing things different today... Book review!

The Revised Life of Ellie Sweet

I read this book in one day during finals week. During finals week. (Which is where I’ve been  the past two weeks, sorry guys!)

I really loved Ellie. As a fellow writer, it was so cool to read about her struggles. Though I did want to hit her for not being smart enough to give the girls she wrote into her books different names. I don’t get why she didn’t think to change that…

Who else… Palmer was meh. Sometimes he was adorable and sometimes he was a jerk, but he totally redeemed himself in the end!

Chase was my favorite! Even though he did stupid things (like telling his parents he and Ellie were dating when she said she didn’t want to date.) But he just understood Ellie so well. J

Bronte was okayish. I liked that she encouraged Ellie, but arugh, spoilers! I guess all I can say she started acting like a child at one point.

I also loved Karen! It was nice to see someone that Ellie had as a type of mentor. You don’t see adults around to help the main character enough in YA.

I laughed so hard at the narrowminded Grandma. I think that’s everyone’s grandma personified.

The ending… !!!! Great climax!

I don’t read contemporary, so the fact that I enjoyed this book really says a lot!

5 of 5 stars. You can purchase the ebook here. Rated 13+.

Waiting for the big one

One thing I've noticed on here is--all I do is give out advice. Which is nice... But maybe it would also benefit you guys if I talk about my writing struggles? Nothing too personal. (Don't want to be "that girl who complains all the time.") But maybe seeing my struggles will help you guys see, "Hey, I'm not alone!"

I feel no regret about shelving my previous project.  The more I think about it, the more I think "That was a terrible book and I can do better!" (Yes, I know one of my betas will read this and go "But I loved it!" Yes, and I love that you loved it, thanks girl. :D) I feel like my skills are growing and now that I know that, with my new-found knowledge, that book wasn't worth publishing... Like, ever.

So now I'm kind of stuck. I literally do not know what to write next. I've had ideas--but nothing that really screams 'WRITE ME!' I've written 5k for two decentish ideas. I like them but... Again, nothing I feel like I should be writing RIGHT NOW BECAUSE I LOVE IT THAT MUCH. I feel like I'm just... Waiting for that great idea to come. THE big idea.

When it comes I'll let you guys know. Or maybe I'll be selfish and hoard the idea all to myself and have it be sekrit. (Shannon Messenger talked about sekrit projects on her blog and I think it sounds super motivating.) Who knows?!

Let us see your characters and plot progression

I love Doctor Who, but is has been boring lately (Except for last night's episode, which I loved!!!) and lately I've been thinking about why. The answer comes down to two things:

1. A lack of character development.
2. A lack of plot progression.

Let's take an in depth look at those shall we (And if you're not a whovian, stick around! This applies to everyone!)

• A lack of character development.

 If we aren't given a reason to care, then guess what? People won't care! In my current book, I have a bit of an antagonist in that I've put her there solely to cause problems for the MC. BUT I want people to feel for her, so I've given her motivations deep down, that once the reader sees them will make them hopefully feel... Something for her. Hopefully pity. If, however, I keep her forever in a state of "OMG, this character is so mean, I hate her." Then I'll never get to challenge how the reader feels about her, which is what I want.

• A lack of progression in the plot.

If your story doesn't move forward, people will get bored. I mean, how long do you stick with a book if you get bored? For me, less than twenty pages. That means you have better keep the plot moving, and FAST. If you slow it down, you had better have a good reason. Like character development for example. :)

I mean, in the case of Doctor Who, I get the feeling they're slowing down character/plot progression so they can withhold the good stuff for the series/season finale and/or the 50th anniversary. 

But they're only limiting themselves as writers. What they SHOULD  be doing is revealing the good stuff now and giving us MORE good stuff... See Downton Abbey for an example of this. 

Have a great day guys. 

Trunking Ensnare

AKA the book I've been writing for eighteen months. It was not an easy moment. I'm sure I'll still have desperate moments when I still think "I can still revise this!" But I've tried seven times. That's enough.

Here is a fake cover I made back when I was thinking about pen names earlier this year. And no, I don't plan on publishing under "Leah Pointer." You can laugh at the cheesiness. This is why I want to be traditionally published.

Basically, the main reason I decided to truck was because the whole time I tried to make this book into something... There was never a story arc. It was never build to anything. It was just "Scenario happens, crap ensues!"

But there needs to be something deeper at work in a book, at least to me. You need to know what you are building towards and I never did. So unless I can find a way to do that, it's staying shelved. 

But what do I mean by, building towards? Here is what I mean:

I should have an idea of where this book is going if I want it to be salvageable .. It's like SPOILERS from Doctor Who and Harry Potter, one of which I'm hoping you're watched/read: (highlight to read)

• From Doctor Who: In the first season of Doctor Who, the Doctor and Rose keeping seeing the words "Bad Wolf" everywhere. At the end of the season, Rose realizes that "Bad Wolf" was a message she left for herself in order to save the Doctor, it was a paradox, which she fulfills to save the Doctor. 
• From Harry Potter and the Sorcerer's Stone: Harry goes to a vault with Hagrid to collect a tiny little package, that eventually ends up being the Sorcerer's Stone, that Harry has to stop Voldemort from stealing. 

Get what I mean? I didn't have a story or anything to foreshadow towards. Do I regret this book I spend so much work on? No! Because I feel like I learned so so so much from it.

Drafting/Revison Fatigue

You know how you can be deep, deep in a draft and just want to be DONE? That was me on Friday. I probably would have rushed the ending if someone hadn't given me great advice:

This is my dog. Her eyes aren't normally that red and scary. :P

Take a break.

If you feel like your work will be suffering from working on something, take a day off. I did. You will come back feeling like your work is a lot better than it would have been!
*Don't use this post to take a day off school and make your teachers (or boss) mad. This mainly refers to writing. :P

Things I've learned lately as a writer

Okay, guys, I'd like to first say I'm sorry for this blog going... Kinda crazy! But it's now back to being my writing blog, which is how it should be. *hugs blog* I've missed it! 
Here are some things I've learned lately about writing:

• Get betas. They can help you solve those weird problems you don't know how to fix. 
• Follow that little voice. You know, the smart alec that says "That shouldn't be happening yet!" 
• Your main character is not supposed to act fully like a human being. That may seem weird, but I forgot my MC is supposed to double as a narrator, too. Which means that sometimes, she has to pause and explain things to the reader.

Like so. Gif from tumblr.

• Use dialogue tags sometimes.
• Don't fully take the advice of one writing blog. Get writing advice from many places and take each's advice with a bit of salt. Especially when they contradict each other.
• Throw out the rules when they appear to be strangling your writing, but only consciously do so. 
• If you think something's wrong, and a beta reader agrees with you, it's wrong.
• Did I mention get betas? :P I've learned so much about writing in the ... Eh, four days I've had one? And not just people to cheer you on, people who can say "hey, you need to slow down and give the reader backstory/worldbuilding;" "this is telling;" "your characters are OOC," etc. And so on. Because as it turns out, I don't know everything. :P

Changes... Again

So I ditched this blog thinking I could find a better writing blog out there.... Well I couldn't! (Shocker!) Writing about horses doesn't interest me like I thought it would, so I'll be taking those down and putting some of my favorite writing posts up again, and resuming this as a writing blog. Sorry for being so wishy-washy guys! I'll probably change my url at some point, but I'm not sure what to.

Fantasy/Scifi and Real Life Commentary.

It has always annoyed me when people say that Harry Potter is just a children's series. Maybe I'm being a bit of a fangirl here, but there is SO much real life stuff hidden in the pages! (FYI, this is a post mostly for scifi/fantasy writers, though maybe other genres can benefit, too?) I'm using mostly HP and Doctor Who as examples of real life found in fantasy/scifi.

HP either is anti or has metaphors representing:

1. Torture.
2. Genocide.
3. Prejudice.
4. Bullying.
5. Alcoholism/addiction (Winky)
6. AIDS (Lupin being a werewolf is supposed to be a metaphor for a person with AIDS.)
7. Date rape. (Think poor Tom Sr.)
8. Newspapers that print lies.
9. Crappy political leaders.

DW has commentary on:

1. Plastic surgery. (Cassandra.)
2. Suicide.(Van Gogh)
3. Family. (Rose and her parents.)
4. Confidence. (Donna)
5. Change and repentance (think of when Rose wanted to show the Dalek mercy.)
6. Genocide.
7. Being forced to be a parent. (When Ten had his DNA used without consent to make Jenny could be seen as a metaphor for surprise parenthood.)
8. PTS (Nine and the Time War. One of my favorite bits of character development on Doctor Who ever was watching Nine fight his PTS over the war and what he did. *sigh* I miss Nine.)
9. Love, and gaining it and losing it. (Rose! And River! And the Ponds!)
10. Knowing when to walk away from a bad relationship. (Martha.)

And my own work in progress so far has a metaphor for cloning. So, fantasy/scifi writers, you want to make your book more real? Pick up a newspaper and ask yourself what you could do to make metaphors of real life. :)

PS

Yes, I realize that this isn't a Myers-Briggs post. Next Sunday. ;) And yes, I know that today isn't Sunday, but my time it's only 44 minutes to Sunday, so I think it counts!

What Not Writing can Teach you about Writing

Biggest contradiction ever, right? Well, not writing can teach you plenty about writing. Let me tell you a little about my writing life for the past eleven months.

• I get into writing so much I pretty much lived and breathed it.
• Hardly take a break or think about anything else for nine months.
• Finally take a break in September/October this year. Read some books. Watched a lot of Doctor Who:

Source as far back as I can trace it. Including this because blog posts without pictures are weird, and Doctor/Rose is a great pairing. :)

• Start writing again in tiny bits.Marvel at the improval in my writing because of the break.

Okay, first. Making my life writingwritingwriting was kind of unhealthy. Well, okay, not just kind of, more like a lot. It caused me to put so much pressure on myself that I started to hate writing. (Not to mention, my prose sounded really repetitive.)

And hating writing's not right, because I love writing. 

Anyway, I took a break for a month and half and, as I said above, doing stuff like reading books and watching TV had really helped my prose. For starters, watching TV gave me a good idea how people react to stuff in ways other than "she smiled" "he laughed"  etc. And reading? It's given me even more ways to fix up that stale prose. Like, I forgot that when describing something, you could compare something to something else. Like "Professor McGonagall gave Harry a hawk-like look." (Not a quote from HP that I am aware, I just made it up on the spot, lol. If there is a quote like that in HP, then my subconscious is channeling Jo, apparently.) Rather than my usual description of a stern gaze, which is "She narrowed her eyes." Saying that a gaze is hawk-like is far more interesting.

Anyway, hope you guys liked the post! Soon I may do a post on Myers-Briggs tests and writing. Also, I just noticed that I have 29 followers. That feels like a huge milestone. Thanks guys!
Also, I don't like making commits for fear of breaking things, but I want to at least try to update this once a week. We'll see if that happens. What do you guys think of me updating the blog every Sunday?

What JK Rowling Can Teach Us about Picking a Genre

Have you heard that every author should pick a genre? It's been mentioned on Go Teen Writers and I agree with it--it gives your readers a good idea of what to expect. I, for example, write YA speculative fiction. That said...
JK Rowling shaped my childhood so much, I don't know who I'd be if I hadn't read her books.

Source My favorite J.K. Rowling book. :)

But, I have a complaint. Now that she's done with writing HP, she's willy-nilly writing whatever she feels like--adult novels! Children's books! While she has the right to publish whatever she wants, as a reader, this is kind of disorienting, because I don't know what I'm getting from her anymore. A book about dentists? An epic fantasy? A historical? It's far more comforting as a reader if I know the author will be writing something in the same genre, or a similar one. Kami Garcia, for example, after writing the Beautiful Creatures books, for example, is writing another YA paranormal romance--though I think this one is darker that BC. Her writing partner, Margaret Stohl, while she's venturing out and writing a YA scifi--which I can't wait to read!--she's still staying within YA spec fic. I have an idea of what to expect from both of them. (Or at least I think I do, lol!)
I'm not saying that you have to write the same exact genre and again. I'm not suggesting if you write historicals, you can only write about WWII forever. You can write about other periods in time. But it would be weird to see you write a fantasy.

What do you guys think? Should an author be able to write whatever comes to mind, or should they pick a genre, even if it's a general one like speculative fiction?

What BC can Teach Us About Originality in Writing

So, y'all know that I am big fan of the Caster Chronicles by now. Like, it's my second favorite series out there. (First is Harry Potter.) Anyway, the release of the movie trailer has gotten me wondering: Why do I like this series so much?

BTW, before we get too far, here is the trailer:

If that premise doesn't get you excited, I don't know what will. :P

Anyway, as you can see from the trailer, Lena doesn't get to chose if she's good or evil. It will be decided for her when she turns sixteen. I mean, that's revolutionary for a book. I've never read a book where the MC has no choice if they get to be good or evil. I mean, what? That's totally new. I mean, even in my own books, the MC gets to chose if she wants to be good or evil. Anyway, aside from the amazing characters, beautiful setting, I think what I love most about those books, is how original they manage to feel. I've felt things I've never felt before while reading this series.

Source. Englert and I-can't-spell-his-last-name don't really fit my mental picture, but this does fit the tone of the book a little. I love Ethan/Lena. I don't care how many people say she's emo, she's having a hard time. *Restrains self from going on an EthanXLena defense rant.* I WILL GO DOWN WITH THIS SHIP!

Anyway, my point here is, is that the authors take risks. They're willing to do things are the reader won't even consider in order to make their story a bit more original. Ugh, I really wish I could go into this deeper without spoilers--and trust me, you don't want the plot spoiled, but I can think of off the top of my head... Uh, five times that they did something that absolutely stunned me. And now I feel like they've challenged me as a writer to always ask... How can I take this plot further? How can I shock the reader, deepen the stakes? Make things even harder? Make the reader's heart break a little more?

More Romance Thoughts, with help from the Doctor

*spoilers from Doctor Who, mostly first two seaons*
Okay, so if you follow my tumblr then you know that I have been watching a lot of Doctor Who lately. It is an awesome show and one thing that I have grown to love is the pairing 9th/10th Doctor/Rose.

Source (I think... You never know with the internet. But yeah, thanks to whoever made this!)

Okay, so major spoiler alert from the end of season two: What makes Doctor/Rose a great pairing is that they don't end up together. The show starts with Rose accompanying the Doctor on his journeys through time and space and along the way, they fall in love. And it's a beautiful, wholesome love because they never even really act on their feelings for each other--they're just there and it's obvious they would do anything for each other.

Then stuff happens and Rose is trapped where the Doctor can't come get her. They have to say goodbye for good. It's a beautiful story:

Source (Mostly likely. Like I said, you never know. Once again, thanks whoever made this!)

Yes, I know those who like happy endings are like "What, are you kidding me?" right now. And while I think some stories can work with a happy ending, sometimes, if you want your story to really stick with people, you gotta do something that will make them cry every now and then. The Doctor and Rose wouldn't really stick with me as much right now if they didn't have a sad ending. The fact that they want to be together and can't because of where she is... So heartbreaking! Whereas if they flew off into space and stayed together for the rest of Rose's life? Boring, and very forgettable.

That said, this tactic can backfire if you don't use it right. The writers of DW give the Doctor plenty of time to grieve Rose after she's gone. He doesn't find someone else right away--as far as I know, he doesn't find anyone else romantically for a season and a half or something like that. (River, right? I'm only on season/series 3.) They show the Doctor grieving Rose: Wondering what she would think about things if she was there, imagining/remembering himself dancing with her when a crowd of people are dancing, finding some of her stuff on board the TARDIS. (aka his space ship, for those not in the know.) He doesn't move on right away, and if you're going to do the sad route, you have to make sure you get the pacing right, or it makes the whole storyline for nothing. If the Doctor had a new love two episodes later, it would have cheapened his and Rose's love story, in my opinion. 

Oh, and if you're going to bring in a new love interest afterward, make sure they have personality. I don't want to spend the whole new romance thinking, using the Doctor as an example, "I hate this new person, bring back Rose."  That is the last thing you want your readers thinking, so please make sure the new person is as enjoyable and has as much chemistry as the old couple. Just make sure that they are different from the old couple. I don't know about everyone else, but I don't want a repeat of what I just saw, but with a new face.

Anyway, that's all, hope you found this helpful. :)

What Evie from Paranormalcy Can Teach Us About Character Voice

Okay, so I've been rereading Paranormalcy to prepare myself for Endlessly. (I tried to read it and I couldn't remember any of the plot, lol.)

 

Source

And anyway, one thing I've always loved about Evie is that she has a great voice. Here are some things I love about her:

1. She has flaws that repulse even her. (Can't go into what, spoiler.)
2. She feels hurt and lonely at times. For example, she often feels hurt that her guardian, Raquel, isn't her real mom, and when Raquel reminds Evie that she is an employee, it hurts her feelings. 
3. Despite those things, she is happy, and blubbly; something I love. She chooses to be happy and not negative. 
4. The best things about Evie are the little details, like her love of pink, her pink-and-rimestone taser, the fact that she has a favorite TV show(Easton Heights.), how she says "bleep" in place of cuss words. Those little things make her feel so real and three dimensional to me. I mean, how do you not love a character who fangirls at lockers?
5. Just seeing Evie going about her routine is great--like when she meets with her tutor Charlotte, and hasn't done her homework(And writes in Spanish "I am dead meat." :D), to her going on a bag-and-tag (aka her job) and going to talk with her best friend when she gets back, and then chill after that by watching Easton Heights. White took the time to get to know her MC that is for sure. 

So what are some things that we can take out of Evie?

Could your story benefit from specific goals?

Kami Garcia and Margaret Stohl went into writing Beautiful Creatures with a vision. A dare from teens they knew. The dare was this, write a book with the following things:

1. No vampires.
2. No whiny girl narrators.
3. Give the girl powers, not the guy.
4. Book must not be generic. (This should be a goal with every book, in my opinion!)
5. Specific setting, please.

(In other words, it sounded like the teens who dared them to write BC were sick of Twilight, lol. Anyway, the interview where I found the info on the dare can be found here.)

So, here's where I make a confession: I like paranormal romance, sometimes. Not Twilight crap. It has to, like the dare mentioned, not be generic. One of the reasons why I loved Timeless by Alexandra Monir was because it felt different from other books in the PR genre:

(Image source... BTW, isn't that cover awesome!?)

For one thing, the heroine, Michele doesn't just "curl up and die" (as the book puts it) when awful things happen. She does stuff. When her boy is in danger, she takes action. And did I mention that she can time-travel, not her boyfriend? Plus, the book has beautiful description. (Oh, and by the way, this is a book I feel like I can recommend on here! The close thing it has to swearing is stuff like taking God's name in vain, and if you're like me, you can just pretend they said "my gosh!" or something. I know we have a lot of conservative readers on here, so I try and be careful what I recommend. Other than that, no smut! :] Anyways...)

So yeah, I like the genre if the author can make the book feel unique. That's why, when planning my own paranormal romance, I went into it with my own goals:

1. Must have a unique POV.
2. Must have a specific setting, including mention of weather/decent description. (A challenge for me!)
3. Must have a amazing storyline, not just be about the romance. 
4. Like my two favorite paranormal romances, the female MC must not be whiny and she should be more powerful than the male.
5. Main characters who do stuff, stuff doesn't happen to them. (Or at least 80% of the time they do stuff, 20% of the time stuff happens to them.)
6. The main couple can live without each other, but are better together. 
7. Must not be generic. (Note that a ton of stuff my on list springs from this rule.)

And that's all I can think of in terms of goals for my book at the moment. Do you guys have goals for your books? Do you think you could benefit from them? I think that this is really helpful--to close on the words of Margaret Stohl from the same interview above "...When you read a book, read it critically and think, “Did I like that, yes or no? Why didn’t I like that?” What were the components that made it interesting to you, because then you start to develop a perspective and I think that’s kinda the first thing to developing a voice which is more than anything something an author needs to have."

Writer's Depression

Taking a break from my series about learning from good books to focus on something very important: Writer's Depression.

All writers probably get insecure from time to time. I have. Probably you do, too. Anyway, this post has been brewing at the back of my mind for a while now. Basically, here's what happens:
You're reading your favorite book and once the 'wow, this is amazing!' thoughts are done, all you can do is thinking about how you're not as good of a writer as Author X, and never will be. Here are some things to keep in mind:

• You cannot compare your book to a published book. This isn't really my advice, it actually comes from Kami Garcia, in an interview. That had to be some of the most helpful advice I've ever read as a writer: Don't compare your work to something finished! Especially not something that has been gone over by the authors, beta readers, agents, publishers, etc 1 million times. A draft that isn't even done isn't the same as a published book. Pause to reflect on that before you go on. 
• Even authors you love write awful first drafts. This ties into the interview I mentioned above, where Garcia says something like "I wish you could see what the original story was like, before we edited it." How humbling to know that one of my favorite books was awful when it was first written. I love that! Even more humbling, was when I told Garcia that I felt that way on twitter, she said that she finds it encouraging when authors she loves write bad drafts. 
• Even really successful people (including writers) get insecure. A week or so ago, I watched Oprah interview Lady Gaga on her show Oprah's Next Chapter and one thing that shocked me was when Gaga said that she found Born This Way an intimidating song to write, and she had to imagine Whitney Houston singing it in order to write the song. Wow. I mean, no matter how you feel about Gaga, it's hard to imagine her feeling insecure, isn't it? I mean, this is a woman who isn't afraid to go out in public wearing meat.
• Even authors you love have errors in their books. Including published ones. I've been rereading Harry Potter and the Sorcerer's Stone lately, and so far I've found two errors. And it's a published book and a bestseller, not to mention something that totally changed my life. Even J.K. Rowling is human. 
• If you let someone read your book, they might like it. After a mass editing spree, I sent an unfinished book my mine to be read by a friend. I thought she would hate it, and that it would be too confusing for her to like; too this, too that. But she told me on Facebook she liked where it was going. 
• If you find yourself hating your book, keep in mind that there was once a time you liked it. If you still hate it, put it away and come back to it. Reread it and then see if you like still like it. Often, I weed out the ideas I love from those I don't because the ideas I love are the ones that don't leave me alone. 
• If you can, study other authors and see what makes them so good. I've been having fun doing with my series about 'What my Favorite Books have Taught me about Writing."

How to Write a Good Climax

Okay, so once again, I'm using this book as an example:

From here

This book had a kick-butt climax for many reasons. Here are some:

• Secrets are revealed. Like a traitor, for example. There are loads more, but I don't want to spoil it. But even the secrets have extra twists to them that make them unique.
• There is a ticking clock. For both the bad guys and the good. They have to accomplish their goal by midnight, or bad stuff happens.
• The authors took risks. They weren't afriad to do things that made me go "Whoa, what just happened???" And their other climaxes are just as explosive, in the other books in the series. I advise you to take risks, if you can. Do something the reader won't expect. And readers are used to predictable plots, so I advise you to be creative. 
• They did something different, like switching the POV, which meant the reader went into book 2 sharing a secret with the MC's girlfriend and housekeeper. You, and those two are the only ones who know, for a part of book two, what really happened. Even the main character of #2 doesn't know. Which diffinately made book 2 interesting. 
• The villains are bad. They don't hesistant to do things or hand out info that makes me go :O. Like, in the climax, there is a moment where I think (SPOILER): "WOW, how could a mother do something like that to her own child??? Killing her daughter's boyfriend! What a little #%@&*." Well, I wasn't swearing, but it made me want too. 
• The characters use every weapon they can. Like I mentioned in my how to write a good emotional fight post.
• Have stuff happen in your climax that the MC doesn't know about. This is the best tip I can give you. In the series I'm using as am example, in the following two books we are learning at least once per book secrets on what happened in the climax of the first book. How was this done? Well:
• Characters are doing things that the MC doesn't know about. This ties into advice that Stephanie Morrill gave on her blog about every character thinking they are the main character. Have other characters do stuff. Don't have the MC know about it. Plan your climax before you write it. 
• Things are happening that no one knew about or could have predicted. For example, in Beautiful Creatures, a bit of magic goes wrong in the climax... But no one realizes it until book 3.