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?!

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

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. :)

How to Write a Good (Emotional) Fight

Today, I was rereading Beautiful Chaos, by the same authors of Beautiful Creatures.

(Photo credit)

Anyway, I was rereading of my favorite parts of the book--a fight between two of the characters, Lena and Liv. Let me give you some background so you can get why the fight is good (SPOILERS from Beautiful Darkness. Don't read the rest if you don't want to know!):






Basically, in the previous book, Lena thought that she was turning evil. She thought she had killed her uncle, and was feeling guilty.(Long story) Anyway, because of the lie she believed about herself, she started treating her boyfriend, Ethan, like crap. She ran off with another dude and her antihero cousin Ridley. (I know Lena sounds like a bad character, but trust me when I say she was going through a hard time!) Ethan, who is worried about her, chases after her with a smart girl named Liv and his best friend, Link. Anyway, in the book, Ethan, Liv, and Lena are at a party; Lena and Ethan now back together and Liv is trying to get over Ethan, who she fell in love with during the previous book. During the party, Ridley casts a spell to bring out the anger in everyone and that is when the fight happens.

Here is what makes their fight good:

• Before the big fight scene, they are polite to each other on the surface, especially in front of Ethan. The words are polite, but even Ethan can tell that they want to rip each other to pieces. They say stuff like "How are you?" "Good." But by their nonverbal actions, you can tell they hate each other. 
• Both of the characters are right. Both Lena and Liv have good points. Yes, Lena was awful to Ethan, which is Liv's point. But Lena's point was also right because she thought that she was turning evil. Her actions, though not good, were justified. In other words, in a fight, try and make both characters right. It will make the reader root for both of them, not just one. That will keep your readers united, and not saying stuff like "Well, I'm team Lena" or "I'm team Liv" when they fight. 

You could also, during a fight, have both characters be wrong, or be both right and wrong. Just know who you want the reader to cheer for. That said, make sure both have good arguments, don't make one person sound stupid to further the "right" person's cause. 

• When the fight happens, Lena and Liv don't hold anything in. They tell each other exactly what they think of each other. And their insecurities show up. Stuff like:

Liv: You treated Ethan like crap. And did I mention you're self-centered and a really powerful Caster*?
Lena: I thought I was turning evil! And you're smarter and blonder than me, and have a British accent! And you stole the affections of my uncle! You take everything that is mine!
(Summarized, not the real dialogue.)

Yes, I know you aren't always supposed to have people say what they think, but people tend to forget about, or not care about, politeness during a fight.

*Casters are a race of humans with superpowers. Like witches, but with a twist. Lena is capable of controlling the weather. 

• They use every weapon they can. The fight turns physical and Lena even uses her weather powers, making it rain. And Liv might not have powers, but she still tries to fight back as hard as she can, trying to hit Lena and kick mud at her.
• The authors included good dialogue. Example:

Lena: You really think this is a spell?

Liv: No, I think we always fight like dogs at parties.

Lena: There you go with being smart again.

(Summery, not the real quotes.)

• The fight has a good ending. Lena and Liv end up calling a truce and Liv finds love with someone new. Lena even gives a dance ticket to Liv so that Liv and her new love can go to a school dance. (In a twist of irony, she falls for the boy Lena ran away with. Go Liv/John! :D) Note that the "good ending" doesn't always have to equal "happy" if you want to have a sad twist. 

In case you can't tell, I like studying books I love in order to figure out how to improve my own writing. In fact, I plan on doing several more post on what this series has taught me about writing, including how to write a good climax. :)

World Building Part I

I'm constantly updating this, so look for changes in underline.

It hit me yesterday that there will be some moments coming up in TL where I need to do some world building. (TS could also use a bit, but that can be put off for a while.) I can't just think "Well, think early 1900s, and you have Cat's world." I need to start thinking of things that make Cat's world unique. That said... What do I need to think about? Here are things other authors have suggested in other world building posts, as well as things I have thought of:

1. Geography 
• Making maps is a good idea.
1. How many islands does you world have?
2. Volcanoes?
3. Mountains?
4. Where are towns?
• What kind of people live there?
• What jobs do they offer? Are towns set up in certains areas? 
1. Farming towns?
2. Mining towns?
3. Fishing towns?
• Are there any unexplored/blocked areas? Why?
• Don't be afraid to base one country off another, but be careful not to make it so obvious you offend people. 
• Where are farms?
1. What do people farm? 
2. Who are the farmers?
• Oceans.
• What kind of sea creatures live there?
• What kind of boats travel the sea?
• Are there pirates? Who is the most and least fearsome?
• Are there any major ocean liners? (Think Titanic.) What are they like?
• Are their any famous sinkings?
2. Food.
1. Do they eat meat?
2. Vegetables?
3. Do they go on diets?
4. Do they eat much unhealthy food?
5. Where does the food come from?/Who makes it?
3. Wars.
• Why are they at war?
• Do they have enough supplies?
• What countries are their allies?
• What weapons do they fight with? Don't be afraid to make up new ones.
• Do they have a good general?
1. Who is the general?
2. How do people feel about him?
3. How experienced is he? Etc.
• Do people support the war? 
1. Are they making any scracfies for the war? 
2. Do they make things to support the war?
• Has your MC lost anyone fighting? How do they feel about it?
• Who are the soldiers?
1. Men?
2. Women?
3. Can anyone serve? What keeps people from serving? Why or why not?
• Injuries.
• Gender.
• Religion.
• Past history.
• Sexual orientation.
4. Religion
1. Are they monotheistic?
2. Polytheistic?
3. Atheists?
4. Reincarnations?
5. Do they worship animals?
6. Nature?
7. Also keep in mind creation stories, how they think the world will end, etc.
8. What rules do religions have? Do people care more about those or a relationship with their deity(s)?
9. Does the religion your characters follow really exist, or is a fake one that is made up? Whether or not the characters know they are right is up to you. ;)
5. Customs
• What rituals do they follow? 
• How to they observe them? 
• Do they get days off? 
• Are they followed for for:
• Government.
• Religion.
• Military.
• Celebrated leaders. (Think Martin Luther King Jr.)
• Themselves.
• Manners. 
1. What is rude?
2. What is polite?
6. Government
• Monarchy?
• Democracy?
• Theocracy? (Government based off religion.)
• Do people like the government?
• What are sub-departments?
1. Foreign affairs.
2. Sports.
3. Creatures.
4. Food.
5. Religion.
6. Jobs.
7. Law.
8. Protection of people.
9. Basically, brainstorm real-life government departments.
• What is the army, military, navy, etc like?
1. Is it a draft?
2. How to people feel about the army/navy/etc?
7. Fashion. 
• How do people dress? 
• Do they dress for comfort, work, or style?
• How does location effect dress codes?
• How do morals/values effect dress?
• Do men/women dress different? 
• Does it look like a certain era? 1600s, 1700s, 1800s, 1920s, 1930s, 1940s, 1970s. 
• How does religion effect dress?
• Do people wear tatoos, earrings, etc? What about jewelry?
8. Politics 
• What is controversial in your world? What is their equivalent of abortion rights debates, for example?) Why is it controversial?
• Who are the politicians, what do they believe? Are they corrupt?
9. Currency.
• Who do they put on currency? Politicians? Religious leaders? Someone else?
• What color are the coins?
• What are they made of?
10. Disasters.
• Where do natural disasters occur in your world? Do they have lots of tornadoes, hurricanes, or something else?
• Have they ever had a mass tragedy, such as a mass murder, or terrorist attack? Were those people caught?
• Does the government help clean up those tragedies or someone else?
• What was the worst disaster to ever happen in your world? How did it effect your characters, if at all?
11. Races/Appearances.
• What do you people look like? Do they have the same hair/eye/skin color as us?
• Do they have anything out of the ordinary about their appearence such as fur/scales/claws/something else?
• Has your character's past effected how they look, dress, etc? (Example: Harry Potter having a lightning bold scar from the night his parents died.)
12. Health.
• Do they go on diets?
• How do they exercise?
• What do sleeping patterns look like?
• Do people even care about keeping fit?
13. Transport:
• Cars?
• Wagons?
• Magic?
• Boats?
• Animals?
• Planes/other flying machines.
14. Architecture
1. Big or small.
2. Stain glass?
3. Skyscrapers?
4. Stone,wood, clay, or brick buildings?
5. Teepees? 
6. Do they live underground, or in homes dug in hills?
7. Architecture isn't really my thing, so the best advice I have is trying googling pictures of buildings you want to describe.
15. Large Gatherings
• Weddings
• Funerals
• Graduations
• Religious Holidays
• Birthdays
• What are decorations like?
• Anything else I might not have covered?
16. Hospitals
• How are they ran?
• Who is on the staff?
• What do they use to treat people?
1. Magic?
2. Medicine?
3. Something else?
• What do they treat?
• Who is allowed to be a doctor and who is not?
• What illnesses can't be cured?
17. Sports
1. How many people play them?
2. How do you get fouled?
3. How many balls are used?
4. Do they use animals?
5. For fantasies, is magic involved?
18. Jobs 
• Who does them?
• Do men or women work more?
• Are there any "dirty jobs" that people look down on characters having?
• What jobs are popular/glamorous?
19. Schools
• Where are people schooled?
1. Do people go to boarding schools?
1. Where is the school?
2. Where do students sleep?
3. How often do they see their families?
4. Is technology or magic allowed?
5. Do they play sports against each other, or rival schools?
2. Are they homeschooled?
3. Do public schools exist?
• Behavior
1. How well to students behave? Do they do homework?
2. How are students punished if they don't do work? Follow rules?
• Is the school known for its teachers?
1. Are they strict?
2. Do they give lots of homework?
3. Are they good mentors?
• Or is it known for a certain subject?
• Is there anything that school is forbidden to teach about?
• Are they forced to teach something that is untrue?
• What about cliques? 
1. Who is popular?
• Is it because of money?
• Family?
• Social status outside school?
• Jobs?
• Good looks?
• Hobbies?
2. Who is nerdy?
1. See reasons for why kids are popular.
20. Magic and its limits (If you are writing fantasy)
• Can it run out?
• Do you need to say a word?
• Do you need something to channel it? (Like a wand.)
• Is it genetic, or can you "steal" magic? If you can get magic, how? Is there a souce?
• Do only people or animals have magic? Is is gender-specific?
21. Technology(If any). What do they have in place of:
• Computers.
• Telephones.
• Cars.
• Refrigerators, ovens, etc.
• TV.
• Radios.
• Keep in mind that if you throw one thing in, something else might have been invented too. Such as, would an ipod exist without the computer?
• Also ask yourself what if X hadn't been invented, such as the phone?
22. How People Come of Age
1. Do they threw parties?  
2. Is it not a big deal?
23. Family Life
• Are people even raised by their families? 
• How close are people to their parents, siblings, etc? 
1. Does age affect closeness?
2. Birth order?
3. Something else?
• How close are they to extended families?
• Do they even see extended families?
• I know I'm going to get cyber-shot for this but... What about incest? 
1. Is it taboo?
• Who hates it?
• Why do they hate it?
2. Okay to a degree? For who?
•  Royalty? 
• Poor?
• Adoption. 
1. Do people frown on it? 
• Why?
2. Are all people adopted? 
• Why?
24. Class
• Who is rich? Poor? Etc.
• How do they view each other?
• How are the lives of the rich/poor similar? Different?
25. Prejudices
• Don't tell me your world doesn't have any prejudice, because sadly it happens.... Look at how many different times the US has been prejudged:
1. Against black people.
2. Against Chinese people.
3. Against Native Americans
4. Against Irish people.
5. Against Mexicans.
• Are people in your world prejudged over looks?
• Jobs?
• Customs?
• No matter what they dislike, think about why.
26. Celebrities
1. Do they have any privacy?
2. Do people look up to them?
• If so, do they care about their morals?
• Looks?
• Fashion?
• Home life?
• Religion?
27. Prisons
• How do people view prisoners?
• Has anyone ever escaped? Were they caught?
• What guards the prisons?
1. Animals?
2. People?
3. Something scary(Example, soul sucking dementors from HP.)
4. Does location make it hard to escape?
• Is their prison even on Earth?
• Underground?
• On an island?
• In a mountain?
• Are there any famous prisoners?
28. Methods of Communication
• Do they use animals? (Think owls from Harry Potter.)
• Do telephones exits yet?
• Texting?
• Newspapers?
• Or just plain old word of mouth?
29. Time.
• Does your characters' world run on the same time schedule ours does?
1. How long is a day?
2. Month?
3. Year?
30. Hobbies.
• What do people do for fun? This really depends on how advanced your society is. 
1. If in modern-like times:
• What kind of TV shows do they watch?
• Movies?
• Radio? 
• Etc.
2. If in the past:
• What do they like to read?
• What music do they like(be warned, I have a whole other category coming just for music.)
• Mostly, think about what kind of world you have so far, and then ask yourself, "if I was in this world, what would I find to entertain myself?"
31. Music.
1. Do they have many instruments? Are there some of ours they don't have? Do they have anything totally new?
2. Who performs it, singers, an orchestra? Traveling minstrels?
3. What kind of songs would your character know? I'm guessing if they are from the country, they will know different tunes than the prince of their land will. 
32. Cultures. How are various countries different?
1. Does your country run any territories, like how the US "owns" Porto Rico?
2. How to they dress differently?
3. Do they speak different languages, or just have different accents but the speak the same language? What do the accents sound like?
4. Do people have similar, or different names?
5. Do they follow different religions?
6. Do have practice different kinds of medicines?
7. Do they have different methods of communicating?
8. Are they located in different geographic regions?
9. I could probably go on all day here, so I'm going to cut this bit off and say that main my advice is just to look at the stuff above and ask how you can make the main country the story is in and other countries really different.
33. Names.
1. What kind of names do they have?
2. Are they similar to our names?
3. Are they hard to pronounce?
4. Could you borrow names based off of real-life cultures?
5. Is it customary to name a child something specific, like naming them after a relative? I once saw Jill Williamson say online, maybe it was on GTWs, that she gave her characters names based off location, like if they lived near the sea, they were named Aljee.JK Rowling is also good at naming characters, if you want to take a look at her naming process, Families in her books tend to have similar names, such as the Evans sisters being named Lily and Petunia, or all of the Black family being named after constellations, or even a character in the epilogue naming their children after loved ones(If you're read it, you know who I mean, but I'm trying to avoid spoilers, for those who haven't read.) Basically, think about what your character's parents might have valued. 
34. History.
• What wars have been fought?
• When were new countries/objects discovered?
• What are some of the famous inventors/politicians/etc of your world?
• Are there any dead civilizations? Why?
• Have there been any civil rights movements of any kind?
• What have been controversial things in your worlds history? (Like slavery in the US.)
• Are there any famous disasters?
• Think about the history of food, fashion, technology, etc. (Glance around this list for ideas. What about the history of medicine? Governments? Etc.) My good friend, Jessi, once gave me some great advice and that is to make sure that your country is changing. It shouldn't be frozen in time forever. New technology should be invented every now and then.
• For more, I would go to history websites and look at timelines for countries like the US and Britain, and make notes about their history.
35. Furniture-is it made of...
• Wood.
• Glass.
• Plastic,
• Stone.
• Etc.

Wow, this turned out much longer than I thought! Do you guys have anything you want me to add?

Also, I'm thinking of making a series about this. :)

This post was inspired by the following(because you can't make a post this long without some inspiration, trust me! 90% or so of the ideas are mine, but I was inspired by a few people):
http://veronicarothbooks.blogspot.com/2010/06/like-party-in-your-brain-world-building.html
http://goteenwriters.blogspot.com/2011/04/worldbuilding-with-fred-warren.html
http://www.sfwa.org/2009/08/fantasy-worldbuilding-questions/