"Adverbs," she said silkily.

ad·verb[ad-vurb] 

–noun Grammar. Any member of a class of words that in many languages are distinguished in form, as partly  in English by the ending -ly

 Oh, the beloved adverb.  I don't know about you guys, but my first drafts are rife with these little beauties.  Sometimes it seems like every other word has that pretty -ly stuck on the end of it.


You know, maybe that's why my second drafts wind up being so much longer than my firsts -- all the adverb replacing takes extra words.  ;)


Now, let's get right to the point -- finding a lot of adverbs in your MS is a good indicator that you're doing a lot of telling where you could be showing.  Does that mean every single adverb needs to be eliminated?  No.  Absolutely not.  Every once in a while an adverb is the best choice for making the biggest impact in a sentence.  Just use them sparingly.


I know a lot of people preach on about the adverb, but I think I'll give you a few examples to help you out on your journey to a stronger MS. 

Adverb/Telling --  Savanah bounds to her feet angrily.

Showing --  Savanah bounds to her feet with a flourish of lace and golden curls, her face redder than the reddest rose.

Adverb/Telling --  She looks at me knowingly.

Showing -- She cocks her head at me and purses her lips.

Something I do when I'm trying to rid myself of unnecessary adverbs is to put myself in the character's position.  If I were this character, what facial expression would I make, or what would it look like when I get so mad I jump out of my seat?

That approach, for the most part, helps me to form a more firm visual of the situation, which makes it easier to show it to my audience.

Are adverbs an issue for you?  What are some methods you use to keep yourself from being a little too liberal with them?

First Drafts and Their Weaknesses

I had planned a post for you guys for yesterday, and then thought I could do it today.  Unfortunately my slacker sister hasn't emailed me the videos yet.

We had the best time waiting in line for the showing of Deathly Hallows.  We met some great people and made a bunch of hilarious videos.  I'll corner her and force her to email them to me on Thanksgiving if I have to.  So look for that post on Monday next week.

For today, lets talk first drafts. 

Setting is something I struggle with in my writing.  In my first drafts you can pretty much guarantee that you're only going to get a vague impression of what the setting is like.  It's not that I don't see the setting in my mind, it's just that I don't want to over do it.  So in the interest of not going overboard, I do too little.

I think it is always easier to add than it is to cut from scenes.

What about you guys? 

I also find that in my first drafts I rush scenes.  Hold on to your hat because we are going places, people! lol  My manuscripts grow exponentially in revisions.

All the NaNo talk has had me thinking about first drafts and the way they differ from person to person.  Everyone has their own processes, strengths, and weaknesses.

So what about you?  What are you first draft weaknesses?

A Welcome Discovery

You know, I've posted several times about revisions and how painful they can be.  The thought of facing the monumental task of whipping Emerald in shape was daunting to say the least.  I do believe I did a lot of cringing. (And procrastinating)

Then I started the new WIP.

The perfect ending hasn't come to me yet, so I decided while I wait to revise.  I've been writing, revising, writing a little more, revising some more, etc lately. 

And there has been no cringing.

Yes, there are more -ly words than I will ever admit to, sentence fragments, missing commas, and all sorts of wording errors and omissions.  Yet I still don't cringe.

I realized -- I've fallen in love.  I am so head-over-heels for this story I don't think anything about it could make me cringe.  I love revising it!  I love fixing all the adverb-filled sentences and making them stronger because I AM IN LOVE.

Forgive me for being slow on the uptake, but I didn't know this was possible!  The first book I ever sat down and wrote was in high school -- never even went back and read it.  The second book I wrote -- well, tried to write -- is stuffed in a drawer, too painful to gaze upon.  Then came Emerald.  The first book I ever loved enough to go through the painful revisions.  I never loved the revision process though.

Now to have this WIP, and to have so much love for it that I'm looking forward to revisions?  I'm a little bit in shock.  I don't quite know how to handle it.  Well, except to plant butt in chair and go for it.

What about you guys?  Ever experienced the love so deep you can't wait to revise it over and over and over again?

Rule Breaker

I am a rule breaker.  I've probably broken every writing rule known to man in the course of drafting my stories.

And you know what?

I don't care.

I find it perfectly and spectacularly awesome that I can, amazingly, use astonishingly high amounts of -ly words in nearly every sentence.  Really.

I love that I can allow myself to write without worry of run on sentences, or dangling modifiers.

Every time I see a missing comma it makes me smile.

My tense may change every other sentence, but that's okay because my character is being genuine.

It's the first draft, and I'm allowed to break the rules!

Will I go back and fix them?  Yes.

Giving myself the artistic license to write whatever I feel allows me to be authentic to my voice -- to the character's voice.  I can go back and refine it later.

It's what works for me.  I allow myself to use "just" every other word if necessary, along with "so", "like", and "maybe".

Whatever works to get the words on the page.

What about you?  Do you allow yourself to break the rules, or do you stress over every single word?

Friday Fun - Pitching

I'm sure you can all guess this, but I'm still gathering info on pitching to an agent. Lo and behold on Monday morning what should pop into my Google Reader but another more than helpful post by agent Rachelle Gardner. Her posts are always spot on. Here is the list she gives for questions you need to have the answers to in order to give a good pitch. Some of these I really would never have thought of.


11 Questions for Crafting a Pitch: (According to Rachelle Gardner)

1. What genre is your book?

2. What’s most unique or special about your book?

3. Who is the protagonist and what’s the most interesting thing about him or her?

4. Who is the antagonist and how is he/she standing in the way of the protagonist’s goal?

5. What conflict, dilemma or choice does the protagonist face?

6. What are the consequences of the choice or conflict?

7. What is the main event that gets the story started?

8. What are the main points of action that drive the plot?

9. What is the setting of the story?

10. What is the interesting backstory that affects your characters in the current story?

11. What is the book’s theme?


Pretty awesome, right? Now to get to work answering them. ;)

About Those Edits

With heavy revisions done comes the final phase for a WIP -- the edits. The time where you get to spend hours debating over comma placement, verb usage, and page formatting.

Yay.

So, not the most exciting part of writing is it? No. Admittedly not.

My first thought when I got to this stage was: How can I make this more exciting?

The answer? Having the whole MS printed and bound. It has a cover page and all! It cost me about $30 at Office Depot to have the whole thing printed on good quality paper, comb bound, with card stock front and back covers. Not too shabby. I also bought myself a new red pen.

I get so excited over office supplies. I can't help it.

Something I read a while back that I put to use for these edits -- before I printed the pages, I changed the font. I had read on kidlit.com once that changing the font can trick your eyes into seeing more errors because you're not used to the way it looks.

It works! For real!

What do you all do to get excited over edits? Just push through or try and make it fun?

It's really so interesting to go back and read the whole story through. There were even parts that surprised me -- that I'd forgotten about. It's surreal. I still find it odd to say, "I've written a book." To go back and read the whole thing -- well, it's just plain amazing.

Now, back to being a nervous wreck about making sure it is perfect. My goal is to have it done by Sunday so it can go through one final beta read-through before the conference.

Road Trip Wednesday

Time for Road Trip Wednesday!!



Road Trip Wednesday is a "Blog Carnival," where YA Highway's contributors post a weekly writing- or reading-related question and we answer it on our own blogs. You can hop from destination to destination and get everybody's unique take on the topic.

This week's topic:

If you went to school with your characters, would you be friends?

In Emerald's Keeper fourteen year old Mandy is a freshman in high school. Honestly, she's the kind of friend I wish I'd found when I was fourteen.

Believe it or not I was a painfully shy teenager. I didn't start opening up until I was maybe a Junior, but more-so as a Senior in high school. So if I could have mustered up the courage to even approach Mandy -- yeah, I'd have been her friend.

My newest WIP is about a sixteen year old girl named Kate. Now Kate is the type of girl I'd have wished I was friends with. She speaks her mind and isn't afraid to tell someone off. She's fun and spunky...everything I wanted to be as a teen but didn't have the guts to pull off. So I'd have pretty much worshiped her from afar.

What about you guys? Would you have been friends with your characters in high school?

Mommy Monday - Meanings

So, how many three-year-olds have you met that can sing Bob Marley's Three Little Birds?

Super Spawn can. The whole way through. lol

We listen to Marley a lot in our house. One Love was my brother's song that he lived by...even had a One Love tattoo. So, naturally, we think it is the coolest thing on the planet that Super Spawn is randomly spouting off Marley lyrics.



This morning, as I sat here munching my english muffin trying to decide what to blog about, that song got me thinking. Do you write with a deeper meaning, or just for the story?

Let me explain what I mean. Many of the scenes in my stories have much deeper significance than just in the story itself. Phrases that I use, certain reactions from the characters, etc, may come from experiences that I've had or actual events in my own life.

The title of one of my WIPs is The Clock May Soon Be Still, which is a line from a poem my brother wrote. That whole MS is based around his poem.

I guess I'm just wondering who else does that. Do you think it makes a story stronger, or puts it in danger of being "too close" to the writer so they don't see the flaws?

Mommy Monday - No!

Here's my thought. It seems like every weekend I have plans to finally sit down for a whole day uninterrupted and finish my final read-through.

But I have the "yes" gene.

I say yes way too much, and only because I don't want to make someone feel bad. Not because I mean it. This weekend for example. Wednesday evening I got a call inviting me to a birthday dinner Friday night. So, I said yes I'd love to come. And I enjoyed myself and celebrating a birthday is always necessary.

Then Saturday morning I got a call inviting me to the movies. Like, get up and go right now. It was with my sister and we haven't hung out as much lately as normal, so I reluctantly said yes. Did I have fun? Absolutely. Was that 5 hours wasted that I could have spent on my MS? Yep! *headdesk*

Saturday night there was a party at my BFF's house. Sunday I got up and had to clean the house and do laundry.

By the time I was able to do any edits, I only had time for a chapter.

I need to take lessons from Super Spawn. If you offer him something that he doesn't really want to do he says, "NO!" If you try to coerce him into it he says, "NO!" No matter what you say to him if the child doesn't want to do something he just by darn isn't going to do it.

Maybe there's a lesson there for mommy. If I really want to get through these final edits I need to start telling people (and myself) no.

Friday Ramblings

Yep, the title made you nervous didn't it? It should. I'm a professional rambler...I could go on for days about nothing in particular. But I won't. Yet.

I've been working this week on reading through my final draft of Emerald's Keeper. Okay, so not really final, but my nearly-ready-to-query draft. How about that? lol I've also been working on a new story. One that made Susan, the bestest beta ever, shout, "Oh my gosh, I love it!!!!!!" And yes, she really used that many exclamation points.

Now I'm suffering from the dilemma of so many writers: How to divide my time, and transition between the two stories.

The new story is quite original and fresh, and the voice of the main characters keeps me enthralled. She's so much fun! All I want to do is write her story! It's new and shiny and exciting. But then there's Emerald...my lovely, wonderful Mandy and her already finished, just needs to be polished story. It's dark and dangerous, and Mandy goes through so many trials and so much loss.

The stories are nothing alike. Emerald is 3rd person past, and the new story is 1st person present. Their plots are completely different, the characters are nothing alike, the settings are nothing alike. lol So I'm having a hard time jumping between the two.

My question for you is this: How do you handle transitions between stories? Balancing your time between them? Do you make the new story wait until the other is perfect?

Advice, I need advice.

Tipsy Tuesday- How Low Can You Go

Writing "rules" I could never follow.

1. Write every day - Sure, I do writing related things every day, but even before there was revising and blogging to be done I didn't write every day. Sometimes you need time to think, too.
2. Write what you know- Yawn. I'm a researchaholic and I like to write things I don't know just so I can research them. I'm also easily distracted, so if what I'm writing feels too familiar, I can't do it.
3. Don't read what you write- Um, but I'm supposed to write what I want to read. And keep reading while I'm writing. They aren't mutually exclusive! I'm sorry, but every chance I get I'm reading Harry Potter and you can't stop me. I think my book is better for it -- it reminds me to stay fresh and original.
4. Lower your expectations- No. No freaking way. My expectations are what fuel my drive.
5. Pay for an editor- Psh, please. That's what crit partners are for. They're amazing people that evaluate your novel for no monetary fee, they just want you to evaluate their own. Now, I'd pay someone if I were going to self publish, but I'm not.

Those are just my own that I purposefully ignore. What about you all? Do you have any writing "rules" you like to break?

Speaking of rule breakers...one of these would do the trick. I'll take one!
Neon Smurf

• Blueberry Schnapps
• Blue Curacao Liqueur
• 7-Up® Soda
• Sweet
• Sour Mix

Fill glass with ice. Pour blue Curacao and Blueberry Schnapps, splash of sour mix and fill with 7-up

Tipsy Tuesday- A Good Critique

A good critique is so much more than reading someone's work and saying, "I love it!" It's more than comma placement and sentence structure. Sure, those elements are involved, but a good critique goes so much further.



Here are a list of a few things I really focus on when giving a critique:

1. Tone - Does the character "sound" the same through the MS.
2. Pacing- Do I need more information to make the scene stronger? Do I need less?
3. Plot Holes- Mention anything that doesn't make sense. A quick "Where did this come from?" or a "I didn't know spaceships existed in ancient Egypt" will help the author see the missing link.
4. Sentence Structure- Sentences need to flow. If you stumble, note it.
5. Grammar- Yeah, yeah, we all need grammar help now and then.
6. Characterization- Do you connect with the character? Or need something more to make them "pop" for you?
7. Consistency- Suzy can't start the story with mousy brown hair and brown eyes to end it as a blond, blue-eyed goddess...unless there's an explanation for it in the story.
8. Interest- Hey, it needs to be interesting. If you're snoozing through a chapter the author needs to know! Everything is fixable in draft form.
9. Positives- Everyone needs encouragement in this business. So when I see something I love, I note it. First, I don't want the author to change it. Second, it helps soften the blow of all the other comments.

Critiquing can be hard. You don't want to make the author feel bad about their work, but you don't want to not mention things you notice are wrong either. So, I follow the sandwich rule. Something nice, something to work on, something else nice.

And you have to remember when you get that critiqued file back not to panic. They don't hate your story, they want to help it be all it can be.

Do you guys approach a critique the same way? What works best for you? As authors, do you appreciate this kind of in-depth evaluation? I know I do!

And what's best in summer time? Lemonade -- with a little vodka!

• 2 cups water
• 1 cup sugar
• 8 cups ice
• 4 ounces vanilla-infused vodka, recipe follows*
• 1 cup fresh lemon juice
• 1 lemon, sliced into rings
• 1 lime, sliced into rings

Directions

In a small saucepan, bring water and sugar to a simmer. Cook until sugar dissolves. Remove from heat and let cool.

In a large pitcher, fill with ice. Stir in simple syrup, vodka, juice, lemon and lime slices.

*for kid-friendly version, omit alcohol.

Vanilla-infused Vodka:

• 1 liter vodka
• 2 vanilla beans

Split beans lengthwise and add to vodka bottle. Let infuse overnight in a cool dark place. Strain into another sterilized bottle.

Friday Fun

Turns out I'm a cupcake!! See! (It's because of my affection for exclamation points, isn't it?)

Holly's Result: Cupcakes

on quiz: What Kind of Writerly Snack Are You?

Who: Industry insiders. When: To celebrate. To sob. At meetings. Whenever anyone's headed out for an errand - Hey! Grab me a Sprinkles on your way back! Why: Tender cake and lush frosting? Yes, please. You know what makes the publishing world go 'round.

Fun quiz! Thank you YAHighway for always bringing the awesome! It seems fitting -- we're having cupcakes at Super Spawn's party tomorrow.




On another note...don't you love it when your crit partner is EXACTLY right and you have to go back and change a bajillion things in your MS?

I do!! lol Sure, it's work, but it's so worth it. A special shout out and thanks goes to Susan today! She is so right.

Cupcakes for her too!


Okay, before I get distracted by more yummy snack talk. Most helpful post this week came from agent Mary Kole at Kidlit.com. This post is about tricking yourself for better revisions. A genius idea, really. She says to change the font on your MS and print the pages. It makes you slow down because the words look different, which helps you see errors more easily.

I'm totally trying it, once I finish this round of revisions, for a final polish.

That's all for today! Have a great weekend, my lovelies, and I'll see you on Monday.

Tipsy Tuesday- Character Development

Here is a simple list of questions I ask of each character to help form them, and their personalities, in my mind.

1. Name:
2. Age:
3. Good, bad, or in-between?
4. How would you react to a family member's death?
5. Are you vengeful?
6. What motivates you?
7. What is your goal?
8. Where do you see yourself in ten years?
9. Do you have any tics or habits?
10. If you could do anything, what would it be?

Obviously there are many more questions that go into character development, but these are my basics. What I start with when a new character arrives.

What about you guys? What kind of things do you want to know right off the bat about your characters?

And for your tipsy pleasure...



Mai Tai- Myer's Rum, melon liqueur, triple sec, pineapple juice, orange juice, lime juice, and grenadine.

Mommy Monday- Guilt

Being a mom is never easy. I went to see Sex and the City 2 with my sister this weekend, and the scene where Charlotte locks herself in the pantry with babies crying at the door had me in tears. I've been there. I'm pretty sure most all moms have been there, and feel guilty for it.

Mommy guilt is a bitch.



The moral of the story for Charlotte was: she needed a break. Everyone needs a break once in a while to recharge their batteries. Whether it's a few minutes locked in a pantry or a weekend getaway, sometimes all you need is quiet.

What's my point? Well, my point is that, as writers, we need breaks too. I know the mantra is to write every day. Push, push, push. Go, go, go. But life happens.

Kids get sick, computers die, an apocalypse is knocking at the door. Well...maybe not the last one.

Then comes the writer's guilt. The -- I'm not doing enough! OMG I'm never going to finish this book/get published/make it through revisions -- thoughts that plague us just because we took a day off.

So, I'm here to say: It's okay to take a day off, as long as you come back.

Taking a day off is not quitting, it is not giving up or admitting defeat. It's giving your mind time to rest, to think, to percolate. Fun word, percolate.

Anyway, don't let writer's guilt (or mommy guilt!) get you down.

Writing may not be easy. You may find a challenge at every turn, but how you handle them is what defines you. Follow your dreams, live your life, and let nothing hold you down.

Road Trip Wednesday

Road Trip Wednesday is a "Blog Carnival," where YA Highway's contributors post a weekly writing- or reading-related question and answer it on our own blogs. You can hop from destination to destination and get everybody's unique take on the topic.

When and why did you start writing?

Well, it depends I guess. I've always kept a journal where I write my thoughts, poems, and even short stories. So in that respect I've been writing since, well, since I could write.

As far as novel-length fiction -- I started writing in August of 2009.
It all started as a fanfic, believe it or not. I belong to a community called Babycenter, and there was a forum for parents that are Harry Potter fans. Yes, it's quite obvious that we love Harry Potter in this house isn't it? (I'm even wearing my DA t-shirt today!)



Anyway, I made a couple of really great friends in that forum, and one of them started writing a Harry Potter fanfic. I had never experienced fanfic before then, and found it quite fun. So, I got to thinking. What could I write about?

I realized quickly that I'm not the type of person who can write stories about other people's characters. Instead of writing a story about Harry and the crew I decided to take it a step farther. What would the wizarding world be like in America? What schools would exist? What if it was a girl main character from a small town in a small school in a world that was totally different than the Harry Potter world, but still had magic?

That's pretty much how it went. I thought it'd be a short story, maybe a couple chapters worth. Then I got to know Mandy (my MC) and she had a very cool story. I couldn't let her go after just a few chapters, and I knew I was finishing a novel.

Here I am, nearly a year later, finishing off final revisions before seeking an agent. Working on three, yes three, more novels, and feeling like I have finally found my calling. Finally found what I was meant to do, and I cannot wait to write even more. It's a passion and a need. I need to write these stories, I really do. There is no more holding them in.

Mommy Monday- Tantrum Hell

It was one of those mornings. Super Spawn was acting like the spawn of Arch Nemesis instead of his sweet-as-pie self. Screaming, crying, throwing himself in the floor...it was full-on tantrum time. I wanted to scream and rip my hair out as I rushed around the house struggling to get ready for work.

I begged. I pleaded. I threatened. I promised toys and cookies.

Nothing worked.

We drive up to the sitter's house and then it is total melt-down: I-cannot-live-without-mommy-so-I-must-scream-and-make-her-feel-as-guilty-as-possible.




I was forced to leave him, hysterical, in the sitter's arms and dash out the door.

Boy do I feel like slime.

Then the wheels started turning in my head. Don't manuscripts do exactly the same thing? I think they do. I've seen them referred to as "teenagers" before. In my humble opinion, I must disagree. They're more like rotten three-year-olds who don't want you to ever leave them alone so you can work or sleep or eat.

Your characters bug you in the shower, in the car, at the table -- taunting you. Then they won't just behave and have all these wild ideas about where a scene should go.

Eventually you get so fed up you don't know what to do with them. So you thrust them into the hands of a trusted Beta and drive away to the sounds of their cries, with tears stinging your eyelids.

But when you go back to get them, that manuscript is all smiles and cheer. It runs to greet you and characters fling their arms around you with reckless abandon.

And you remember again why you do it all.

So, in a way, my manuscript is like having another toddler in the house. Now that's a scary thought.

Friday Fun - Writing Style

It was really interesting to see everyone's comments on Wednesday. I love learning how other people work through their stories.

I seem to be in a lonely camp. I write start to finish, even when I know the ending and major plot points. Why? Well, you've got me! No clue. It's just how I do it.

For me, the lure of the major scenes is what drives me. My mind is in "gotta get there" mode and spills out whatever it takes to get to the next big deal in a hurry. Dangling carrot idea I suppose.


Now I begin to wonder what would happen if I wrote the scene that has my enthusiasm spiked. Would it kill that urge to fill in everything else? Or make it easier? Hmm.

And how do you keep up with everything you've written? Do you go scene by scene and, say, number them? Or...write it all in one file still? Doesn't it get confusing?

I'm so full of questions.



I'm very impulsive by nature, but I'm also very meticulous. I need all the answers before I let my impulsiveness out...unless it comes to my hair. I really like being impulsive with my hair. But when considering trying a different writing style on for size?

It looks all shiny and new and sparkly and beautiful...until you're lost in the trenches and can't see for the thick layer of...*insert description here*. I'm getting carried away with myself.

So, my questions for you are...

Are you a pantser or a plotter?

I try very hard to be a pantser, but it doesn't work for me. I'm anal and need an outline to follow. :)

Do you write in short bursts of creative energy, or can you sit down and write for hours at a time?

I'm totally a short bursts writer. My mind turns to goo if I try to write too much at once. Sometimes I wonder if I have ADD.

What about you guys? Plotting? Hours at the computer? I wanna know!!!

Road Trip Wednesday

It's that time again on the YAHighway! This week's question:

How and/or when do you know an idea isn't working?

That's a tough question, really. I usually have ideas, write them down, mull over them. Sometimes I'll start an outline, or maybe write a couple pages of notes on what the story is about. When that process doesn't work...if I lose interest before the first pages are written, I know I can't write that story.

Another test of durability is making it past the fifty page mark. That seems to be where I always clam up and grind to a hault. If I can outline, brainstorm, or just push my way through I know it'll go the distance. Otherwise? Well...it has yet to happen yet. But I suppose it'd go to the junk yard.

What about you? How do you know when an idea won't work?

Friday Fun

Hello, my lovelies! I hope you are all having a wonderful Friday!

So, I was tripping along the internet this morning to my usual haunts, and came across a most excellent article (at the YAHighway, thanks girls!). It is about invisible tension and was written by Donald Maass.

Linky.

Now, I don't know if you have ever read his book Writing the Breakout Novel, but you should. Also, he's super nice in person. And funny. I had the pleasure of meeting him at a conference this year. Definitely check the article out.

Also, agent Mary Kole had an excellent blog post this week about Newer vs. Established agents. Anyone considering finding an agent in the future should read it.

Another? Yes, yes, I have another. The GotYA ladies had an excellent post this week on Titles, Queries, and Pages everyone should check out.

In other news -- I've made it half way through revisions now with super critique partner Susan! It's all fun and stuff, but I can't wait to be done! lol But then, when I'm done -- well, then what will I do? Oh, yeah, maybe finish that other WIP sitting on my hard drive. It glares at me once in a while and I'll placate it with a few words. That won't work for much longer though. And the query -- I'll have to write the dreaded query. Dun, dun, DUN! ;)



Have a great weekend everyone, and I'll catch you on Monday!