'Where Good Ideas Come From' & the Benefits of Crit Partners

It’s easy to get ‘too close’ to our work as writers. We write, we revise, we revise again. At a certain point, we need to just back away from the manuscript so we can see it with fresh eyes. But even then, chances are we’ll miss something in the solitude of editing.

That’s the reason you always hear critique partners are a wonderful fantabulous thing. For the past year+, I’ve had a great critique partner. We meet nearly every Wednesday at Starbucks. Sometimes we exchange writing, sometimes we don’t. But we always talk about what we’re working on and what’s not working in what we’re writing. Without fail, I walk away with ideas about how to move forward with my WIP.

So, I thought, why not find some more critique partners? Not to mention, I’ve also been on the hunt for beta readers, so I’m not scrambling when the draft of Through Charlotte’s Eyes is done. It seemed incredibly serendipitous then, when author Roni Loren started #betamatch on Twitter so fellow writers could find each other. Then, just days later, literary agent Mary Kole hosted a critique connection on her blog.

Connections made! Critique partners found! And as I’ve been getting feedback on my first few chapters, new realizations about my WIP seem to popping out like crazy. And I can thank all these new ideas on exchanging ideas with other writers, critiquing each other’s work, etc.

There’s a scientific basis in critique partners work, or so I’ve learned from reading ‘Where Good Ideas Come From: The Natural History of Innovation’ by Steven Johnson. The book takes a wide-angle lens perspective on where ideas come from. I haven’t gotten too far into yet, but he talks a lot about the influence of environment, about the way science works... and then there’s this section about where great ideas are often fostered (again keeping in mind, lots of his examples come from science):

Excerpt from pg. 61:

“Dunbar’s research suggests one vaguely reassuring thought: even with all the advanced technology of a leading molecular biology lab, the most productive tool for generating good ideas remains in a circle of humans at a table, talking shop. The lab meeting creates an environment where new combinations can occur, where information can spill over from one project to another. When you work alone in the office, peering into a microscope, your ideas can get trapped in place, stuck in your initial biases. The social flow of the group conversation turns that private solid state into a liquid network.”

Aha! Scientific reasoning behind why group thinking works (mind you, not herd mentality - that’s a different post for a different day). Just exchange his lab for the writing desk, and you’ve got a perfect analogy for why critique partners are a good thing. Get away from the solitiude of writing for a little while and talk to another writer about what you’re working on. Even if its online and not at a table in Starbucks, it helps immensely. Frees your thinking. Opens your mind to new possibilities.

I’ll write a more detailed review of the book when I’m done, but I already do suggest ‘Where Good Ideas Come From’ to any writer at any stage in the process. Johnson has a way of opening your mind to the different ways our minds open to new ideas.

Not to mention, he’s a huge advocate for writing ideas down (to form new connections to seemingly unrelated things). “You get a feeling that there’s an interesting avenue to explore, a problem that might someday lead you to a solution, but then you get distracted by more pressing matters and the hunch disappears,” he writes on page 83. “So part of the secret of hunch cultivation is simple: write everything down.” Again, that’s another post for another day.

For now, go out, write, and share your ideas! Speaking of, it’s time for me to meet with my critique partner.

Til next time, here’s to letting those creative ideas flow.

Why I Love Outlining

I know not everyone is going to agree with me on this, but I abso-friggin-lutley love outlining my novel... but only at a certain time in the novel-writing process.

I didn't outline my novel before I wrote my first draft. Sure, I made a timeline of important events - since I need to get the chronology straight since I based a lot of things I wrote on actual events - but I do NOT outline as a first step, ever. Otherwise, I'd feel too constrained, and I'd feel that the story wouldn't naturally unfold.

That said, on draft 3.5, I got stuck. I knew what I wanted to add, I knew I needed to move some scenes around, and I knew I needed to delete a few scenes (as much as it hurt to do), but I didn't know where to start.

So, I started my outline to get the big picture of my whole novel on just a few pages. In the end, I organized this outline based on what I learned over at Paperback Writer.

But first, I started simple with the barest of the bare Chapter descriptions followed by a few hits of 'enter' to give myself some room to make handwritten notes. I then cut all the chapters into slips of paper and took two hours of sitting on the dining room floor to reorganize the pieces of the novel puzzle. It was so cathartic. I finally started to see how certain scenes worked together - or not - and made sure that the two timelines were both given the word and page space they needed.

I added, moved things around, and, gasp, threw out a couple chapters (the hardest to get rid of being the first two), and then I taped the slips of paper together.

Then it was back to the computer. I rearranged the outline and then filled out the outline with specific scenes, all the while making notes of what I needed to add or to work out when I went back to rewriting the novel. And boy oh boy do I have a ton of stuff I still need to rewrite.

But here's the thing. While I had some ideas of how I wanted the novel to change and grow before I sat down to outline, I never expected most of what I realized when I actually did the work. The novel is going to be so much better now and that much closer to being done, all because I took a break from writing (kind of) and outlined.

Do you outline? Or, how do you go about making drastic changes to your work? If you outline, when do you: before starting the novel or sometime after? How do you use outlines? Or do you absolutely hate them?

Running is like writing

The hardest part is starting. You talk yourself into changing into your workout clothes. You talk yourself into sitting down at the dining room chair. Once those first steps are accomplished, you remind yourself of your goals: make it a mile then maybe two. Rewrite Chapter 3, then depending on how long that takes, rewrite Chapter 4, which was once Chapter 10. You'll run for 45 minutes. You'll write for an hour. The goals might be different, but the process, how it all works together, is all the same.

But it's still hard. You stretch out your leg muscles. You crack your knuckles and then start typing, just trying to get your mind ready for what's ahead.

Then, you go. Your feet pound the pavement, and your fingers hit against the keyboard. You hit your stride. You feel like you can keep going and going and going, and no one will ever stop you. You can run for miles. You can finish one chapter, then two, then three.

Then there's those other times, when the going gets difficult. Your breathing gets labored, your leg muscles tighten. The words don't flow out and your fingers stop chattering against the keyboard.

But you push yourself, tell yourself that you just need to keep going, that you can do this. That you might not look your best while you're running past all the homes in your neighborhood, that you might not be putting your best words down... but you're making progress and you just need to turn off your internal critic/editor off for just a few more minutes. You're working toward your ultimate goal: losing weight and getting healthy, as well as finishing this novel. It takes patience and it takes practice, but you will get there.

Then, you finish for the day. Your run turns to a jog, which turns into a walk. A few more thoughts trickle out onto the page. You think about tomorrow, about how you'll improve, about what route you'll take next, and you feel wonderful for everything you've just accomplished.

Making More Time

If only it was possible to "make" time, as simple as throwing flour, sugar, milk into a mixing bowl and then baking in the oven; thirty minutes later - poof! - the clock rewinds a few hours, or, at the very least, time stands still.

If only.

Rather, I'm talking realistically: making sacrifices and making changes to my daily routine. It's a popular topic on a lot of writing blogs, and I wrote about back in March. As I've made a re-commitment to finishing this novel sooner rather than later, I've also re-committed to making more time for the writing.

The biggest change: watching less TV. I have DVR. I watch all my TV shows after they've been recorded, thinking it saved me time by cutting 60 minutes down to 44-ish minutes. But then I can watch two shows that were recorded in the same time slot... hence, more shows than I've ever watched before.

Which for my writing is bad, bad, bad.

I've now cut down my list to shows I will not give up, and ones that I can do without. HIMYM (no surprise there), Big Bang Theory, Grey's Anatomy, and Fringe made the cut. I have a couple others I'll watch too, maybe on the weekends (if I have time), but this is a drastically cut list of TV programming.

I'm already noticing a difference. In the past 48+ hours, I've only watched 20 minutes worth of TV, a vast improvement for me.

Lately, I've also been sacrificing sleep and going to bed an hour later than usual, but I'm not sure how long that can last.

How do you make time? What sacrifices do you make? And do you know a working recipe for making more time? Because I could use it. =)

November is revision/rewriting month

I have a confession to make: I haven't done much with the novel for about a month and a half now. At first, I thought it was because I wasn't sure where to go next, but I recently realized that I know exactly what I need to do - I even have a firm idea of where the novel will end - but I let myself get overwhelmed by all the things I need to do. So instead of working on Through Charlotte's Eyes the novel, I've been working on Through Charlotte's Eyes the short stories. My characters now are more fully themselves, and I realized: I just need to dive back in.

And that's when I realized, what perfect timing to think this! November, as all of you writerly people know, is NaNoWriMo - the time for people to dive into a new novel and write as much as possible over the 30 days of November (with a minimum word count of 50,000).

I will not be writing a new novel come November 1st. (This one needs to get out of my head first.) But since I want to make some progress on this novel and since I love having deadlines and since I love having a community of writers to help hold myself accountable, I'm doing my own version of NaNoWriMo. I'm rewriting draft 3.5.

What this involves:
1) Finish changing the novel from 3rd to 1st person POV.
2) Finish adding two new characters in. (This, by far, seems the most overwhelming of all, even though I already know who these characters are).
3) Rewrite/revise, well, pretty much the whole novel. Tightening up scenes, fleshing out others (especially the ones taking place during the French Revolution).

So, yeah, a lot. I'm not going to overwhelm myself more by saying that I'll get this all done by the end of November. After all, I do work 40+ hours a week. I'll be out of town at least one weekend in November... but I'm re-committing myself to finishing this novel in faster than 10 years.

I'm not the first person to think of November as a rewriting/revising month. For that credit, I point you to THE INTERN. If you don't already read her blog, become a follower right now. She is both crazy entertaining and insightful.

Plus, in reading her blog, I came across a comment about a great way to track how much you've written (without keeping your own Excel spreadsheet and wasting time making calculations, which I don't know about you, but this is a big time-waster for me). Interested? Check it out here.

Are you participating in either NaNoWriMo, or the new NaNoReVisMo? How do you keep track of your writing progress? Do you use spreadsheets? Or do you just fly by the seat of your pants?
On my writing agenda for the weekend:
- Revise "Loss" stories
- Come up with a game plan for the novel (i.e. update outline for the novel; yes, I like to outline. I'll post more about this later).

Good luck to everyone, whether you're starting a new project or trying to make headway on an old one.

Where I've Been

I can't believe how long it's been since I posted on my blog... but here I am. I promise that when life gets less busy (ha!), I'll start posting more. Or, maybe I'll just make more of an effort to post at least more than once a month. =)

But what has been making my life so busy as of late? In no particular order, here goes:

• Running. Yes, Liz, who didn't think she liked running, always opting for the pool instead, is now working out by attempting to run. It's kind of funny, in an out-of-breath, can't believe I'm doing this kind of way. But I'm loving the chance running gives me to explore my new neighborhood.


• Still getting the new apartment organized - which I can't believe I'm still saying a month+ after moving. But it's true. The last of the rugs arrived yesterday, so - slowly but surely - the apartment is almost done for my relaxation pleasure. I've also had some issues with repairs and with the building's management company but I don't feel comfortable sharing that on a public blog.
  
• Hot dogs! I'm still posting about hot dogs over examiner.com, albeit not as frequently - but hey, a girl can only eat so many hot dogs before she has to run another mile, or two, or three.


• Short stories. I'm still plugging away on editing, revising, and starting totally new short stories about my work-in-progress's main characters. I'm having some fun with it, and they're giving me tons of insight into my characters that I know I need before I finish up my current WIP draft.


• Reading lots of YA fiction. I've got lots to say about this, so I'll just save it for another post.


• A totally brand-spanking new writing project. The fact that I'm taking on yet another writing project in midst of all this craziness makes me question my sanity, but I'm having so much fun with it already. What is it you ask? You'll just have to wait. A proper announcement/blog posting will be coming soon!

With the way I've been using every second of my nights and weekends to write, work-out, do stuff for the apartment, etc., (when I'm not with family and friends of course), I've been contemplating not watching all the TV shows I used to watch when the season premieres start rolling in... but knowing me, who knows. I'll find a way to get it all done. I always do. For example, as of late, I've been using my new El commute time to write and read.

How do you make time to write in the craziness that is life? Comment with your ideas - I'll take whatever you've got!

Adding more characters to my WIP

I've been blogging about adding new characters to my work-in-progress, Through Charlotte's Eyes, so I thought I'd start a discussion about this very topic. Have you ever written a draft, only to realize that you need to add a character? Combine a couple characters? Or remove a character entirely?

I'm currently working on draft 3.5 (I call it this because I've rewritten/revised the first half of my novel more than I have the second half), and the idea of adding new characters seems a bit overwhelming. But then I think about how the novel will progress with these new characters and how these characters will influence the main characters, and it seems a tad less daunting.

Not only that, but as I revise my current draft, I notice scenes with plot holes that are filled perfectly by these new characters, as if I'd left a space for them at the dinner table and I was just waiting for them to arrive.

As of right now, I'm adding two characters in, each of whom play a pretty hefty role, along with a handful of minor characters.

One of the new characters is Leonoor, a girl from the States who is studying abroad in Paris. She runs into Anne a few times before they become friends. I'm still fleshing out her character's back story, but so far she's looking to be the antithesis of Anne's best friend from home. She's intelligent, driven, and always on the lookout to try something new. Unlike Anne's best friend, she knows how to take care of herself.

The second new character plays a large part in Charlotte's life. He is Aunt Bretteville's protector, who keeps track of the family's finances. But, unlike many people in Caen, he shares Charlotte's moderate views: he wants a revolution, but a peaceful one, and he doesn't believe in the authority of the king. While Charlotte never intends to marry, she finds a companion in Jacques [tentative name that will definitely be changed] that is nothing like the relationships she has with any other men in her life.

Biographies dispute whether or not such a figure actually existed in Charlotte's life, but as I write her story and the reasons for why she decided to murder Marat, it has become clear that Charlotte needed someone to talk to about what she wanted for France and why. Plus, her relationship to him adds an entirely new dimension to why she leaves for Paris in the first place.

As these characters develop and play larger roles in the lives of my main characters, my novel really feels like it's coming together the way I envision it. It's one step closer, and that's a great feeling.

I'm still not sure how I'm going to work on adding these characters in. Do I start from the beginning and work my way towards the end? But that means revising Chapters 1 through 11 again, without having touched Chapters 12 through 30. (I have the nagging feeling that I keep ignoring the last half of my novel, for good reason).

Or, do I add the characters in as I continue revising/rewriting the last half of the novel? But what if they change dramatically based on how they're introduced in the first half? Maybe, for now, I'll mark the spots where they'll play a large role and then go back? Then again, I worry, that will make the story too stilted. Ah, the decisions! I'm thinking I just have to suck it up and start revisions from the beginning... again.

Now, your turn! Have you ever finished a draft, only to realize that some of your characters needed to change in drastic ways? Have you added new characters? How have you gone about putting the characters into your next draft? Comment below!

What I Need to Do

I keep saying that there's "stuff" I need to do to my novel before it's *ready*, but I haven't said what that "stuff" is really. So, here's a rundown, starting with comments I received on my final thesis from my adviser and preceptor at The University of Chicago.

The parallel story lines
Charlotte's storyline in 1792/1793 is much stronger and focused than Anne's in 2005. I'm creating more of a narrative drive for Anne's story by first focusing on what motivates her and why. But these story lines are now merging more than they ever before, because...

Anne and Charlotte: POV
All of my drafts at UofC were in 3rd person. Anne and Charlotte were two distinct characters, even though Anne travelled into the past and saw what Charlotte saw (somewhat like Being John Malkovich) during the French Revolution. The problem that my advisers saw - and which irritated me as I wrote - was that Anne seemed to disappear behind Charlotte as the novel progressed. I've been changing the entire novel from 3rd to 1st, making Anne the central character. In this way, the characters of Anne and Charlotte have merged, and Anne is deciding whether she should follow what she knows of history or forever change what Charlotte is known for, which leads me to...

How does Charlotte become a murderer?
In third person, I wasn't showing enough of why Charlotte decided to kill Marat, especially when she constantly preached moderation and peace. (A couple months ago, I wouldn't have written on my blog what Charlotte was famous for, but since a Google search will tell you, I'm building the plot around things other than Charlotte's murderous act). In first person, and with an Anne becoming Charlotte, Anne has agency. She knows Charlotte's thoughts, has her memories, has to act like she is Charlotte to fool the rest of the world - but does Anne decide to kill Marat? Or does she forever change the course of the French Revolution and of history?

Other than my adviser and preceptor's comments, there's other things I'm working on.

The character's relationships
Especially Anne's relationship to her dad, French grandmother, and Pierre. Anne is one angry teen and she lets her dad and grandmother know it. With Pierre, on the other hand, expect more chemistry than before.

More characters
Anne's going through a lot of personal things, especially in coming to terms with what happened with her mother, and in the first couple drafts of Through Charlotte's Eyes she didn't really have anyone she feels like she could talk to. Charlotte, too, feels isolated and alone because no one in her family agrees with her political beliefs. But isolation doesn't make for plot. I've added a few more characters that act, in ways, like side-kicks to Anne and Charlotte. I wrote a bit about this in my post yesterday.

Anne's rebellion
I originally wrote a few scenes in which Anne decides to not do something because she knows her grandmother wouldn't approve. (Like go to Caen - where Charlotte lived for about ten years - because of the riots ravaging the countryside). But as I'm changing the POV from 3rd to 1st, these scenes don't jibe with who Anne is. So, now, Anne's rebelling. And, oh, the drama that this creates! Gotta love the drama.

Paris
I need to visit Paris. That trip will affect so much of this novel that I can't even consider myself close to finished until I make it there. Trip dates: TBD - but know that I will go there (hopefully by the end of the year).

These are just some of the things I'm working on that are the reasons why the novel isn't ready yet. Slowly but surely, I'm getting there.

More on my process and 'aha' moments

I used to wait for inspiration, for something to catch my eye or an idea to suddenly burst into a story. I thought that's what I needed in order for the words to work on the page. But then I grew up.

In high school, I realized that the "novel" I was writing wouldn't spring up overnight. All the words wouldn't be "given" to me, as if a gift from God. And, even if they were, if I wasn't ready, sitting at my computer or my pad of paper, writing, the words would disappear. (Eventually I finished that novel, while in high school, but let's just say that first novel is better left collecting dust.)

Writing, I realized, starts with sitting down and simply trying to get words down on the page. Inevitably, even if I didn't feel inspired, I'd become immersed in the world I was creating and then good luck in trying to get me to stop. Even after I put the story or chapter away, the story would simmer as I thought about how the next scene or section of dialogue would pane out.

The most amazing thing about grad school was that I spent a majority of my waking life - especially in Spring term - immersed in the world of Charlotte Corday and Anne-Marie Gessner. Sure, I had to pull away from the novel and attend classes and write unrelated papers, but the rest of the time, I was in Charlotte and Anne's heads, and no matter whether I felt inspired or not, I had to write. I had to, or my thesis wouldn't have been ready in time. I couldn't wait for 'aha' moments; I had to make them come to me.

After grad school ended and I relaxed into summer (and started stressing about finding a full-time job), the revision process waned, even as I continued to think about Through Charlotte's Eyes. I knew the novel was "done" for school, that I had a complete draft, that my thesis advisor and preceptor thought it publishable, but it still didn't feel ready. I thought I could do better.

People began to ask me, "But how do you know when it'll be ready? Will it ever be ready?"

Yes, my answer always is. There's just some things I still need to do. (More on this in tomorrow's blog post).

So, how do I make inspiration come to me? By talking and writing about my novel, by bouncing ideas off of people (especially my boyfriend) and thinking about my novel as I walk to work, ride the el, and do chores around the apartment. Inevitably, this process forces ideas through and I'm ready to get back to the page. This is how 'aha' moments happen - not by magic - but by thinking about my novel.

My latest 'aha' moment sprung the other day. I was telling my boyfriend about the catacombs in Paris, which I've become obsessed with lately, and how I need to work them into my novel because they're so creepy. Plus, that's where Charlotte is supposedly buried.

As I'm telling him about cataphiles (people who explore the catacombs at night, despite and probably because it's illegal), an idea hit me about what brings Anne to explore them. She's with a group of people visiting Paris on foreign term from America, and they decide to go check it out as they tell ghost stories about the underground tunnels that house the resting place of more than six million Parisians. But I was annoyed with how Anne had just met these people and I wasn't convinced that she's the kind of person to just tag along.

This brought up another nagging issue for me: there's too many characters that pop up for a couple scenes and then disappear. So, I thought about the beginning of my novel, about Anne overhearing a conversation between a couple girls her age. Why couldn't she end up meeting one of them (instead of just eavesdropping), and one of these girls is part of this group that goes down to the catacombs at night? AHA. BOOM. TA DA. The light went on, and ideas about this new character and friend to Anne - who doesn't disappear after a few chapters - flooded my head. She's a foil to Anne's best friend who's back in Illinois, at home.

I'm giving too much away, so I'll leave it at that. I recognize that this new idea means that I need to go back and rewrite parts of Chapter 1 through 11 again, but if that's the way it is, that's the way it is.

I have an idea in my head for how I want this novel to be and it will not be ready until I achieve that picture. So, thank you friends, family, and fellow bloggers for your support while I work on this novel, but I've still got a ways to go. If you want to talk about the novel, I'd love to - in fact, I welcome it - but please try to avoid the question of "When's the novel going to be done?" I promise you. It will be complete and finished...eventually. But when this novel gets published, I want it to be everything I want and need it to be, and until then, it won't be ready.

WIP Wednesday #5

My writing comes in waves. I write a ton and then… it trickles. I’ve been like this for years – not counting my year in grad school where I wrote every day because every day I had either a deadline or a goal that I needed to meet if I was to get my thesis done (which I did). But I graduated from The University of Chicago about a year ago, and my writing went back to coming in waves. In last week’s WIP Wednesday posting, I recounted all the progress I made in the previous three weeks – and then that wave of work ended. This past week I’ve been working on only one lonely chapter, and I haven’t made a drop of progress.

I want to get back to being as productive as I was back in grad school. Granted, I don’t have entire days to devote to my work – I have to pay back those grad school loans somehow! – but I know there’s more that I can do, and that’s why I wrote yesterday’s post and created some pretty hefty deadlines for myself. The deadlines make me a bit nervous, but I kind of like it that way. I have distinct goals that I can tick off each week; I can measure my progress. These deadlines – and thereby my nerves – help hold me accountable.

Then again, last night my daily writing consisted of writing the beginning of a story that got stuck in my head on my way to work, and that had nothing to do with my novel… but at least I was writing.

I’ve got a lot to do in the next two weeks – writing and otherwise – so back to it!

As always, happy writing!

If you want to join in on WIP Wednesday, check out Kate's blog here.

WIP Wednesday #4

It's been awhile, I know. My computer still has a virus, and until I get that fixed, I'm using my boyfriend's laptop - which is fine (even if it's disconcerting to look at the keyboard and see Chinese characters) but I know I haven't spent as much time writing as I should be.

It hasn't helped that I'm still having issues with my eyes. The eye doc says (after four appointments in the last two months) that my eyes are getting better and the nasty eye infection from my building's pool is starting to clear up enough that I can wear contacts again - finally! (But only for a couple hours, every couple days. Yeah. Seriously.) I've also been hunting for a new apartment, and am possibly moving further north but still well within Chicago city limits. I've been out of town, gone to weddings, have been volunteer teaching right after work... I know. I'm just making excuses for myself. I still need to write every day and keep plugging along! That said, despite my absence from my blog, I am making progress on the novel, albeit slowly.

In the three weeks since my last WIP Wednesday posting, I've revised/rewritten Chapters 4 through 10... okay. Wow. I didn't realize that until I looked it up. Seven chapters ain't so bad!

What I've been working on:

• Changing the POV from third to first person. I hit a couple road-blocks when Anne had her first time-travelling experience; the POV shift meant that her entire relationship to Charlotte changed. At first I didn't see how this would work. Would Anne just float around like a ghost watching everything? Nope! She becomes Charlotte, and I feel like I can say that without giving too much away. I'm still working out a few kinks - does Anne automatically know what Charlotte knows? - but so far, so good.
• Anne's voice. Ohmy. She sounds more like a teenager than ever before. Thank you first person! Not only that, but the dynamics of her relationship with the grand-mother she's never met before are coming out like never before. They clearly both want to get to know one another, but don't know how without coming off snippy and resentful because of their pasts.
• Incorporating more French Revolution history but not overwhelming the reader with too many dates, facts, etc. This is something I'll be working on until the novel is finished!
• Giving enough context for what's going on with France's 2005 riots for some of the scenes to make sense. So far, so good - but I still feel like I don't know enough about the riots. This frustrates me, so if anyone has any good resources, knows anyone I can talk to, please let me know!

Looking forward:

• I'm approaching the midway point of my novel, which makes me nervous. This is the least revised part of my book and I KNOW how much works needs to be done.
• The ending. I had a total 'light-bulb' moment two days ago about the novel's twist. That's all I'll say, otherwise it won't be a 'twist'! I might even write this twist (and the novel's ending) before I write the middle, because I'm way more excited about it and how it'll impact Anne and Charlotte.

As always, happy writing!

If you want to join in on WIP Wednesday, check out Kate's blog here.

I'm Still Around...

... just not blogging as much, for a few reasons:

1. The Internet in my apartment has been sucking. And now my computer has a virus so I'm loathe to go on the Internet for more than a second (if at all).
2. I've been blog lazy... but I don't discriminate. I haven't been keeping up-to-date on my blog reading either.
3. But I have been writing. The more I write on the novel, the less I tend to blog. And this Saturday, I'm participating in Write Your A$$ Off Day! Although, I might have to partake in long hand, due to reason #1.

So there. I'm still around, but just not around as often as I was before.

And, oh yeah... this is blog post #100! Go me!

WIP Wednesday #1

Before I dive into writing about my WIP, let me give credit where credit is due. I'm starting this new category of blog posts, called Work-in-Progress Wednesdays, after seeing it on Jamie's blog, and Jamie got the idea from Kate. Thanks Jamie and Kate!

My WIP status: Rewriting/revising to create my third draft. The novel is currently at 64,000 words, but I still have some major things to move around, add, remove, etc. All that fun stuff.

But, my BIGGEST WIP-related question right now is: should Through Charlotte's Eyes be in first person or third? Currently, it's in third but as I rewrite sections that voice in my head, Bob, keeps nagging me: But imagine how much more awesome that would be in FIRST person! For the life of me, I'm having the hardest time deciding...

That's where you, my lovely readers, come in! Below are two slivers of the first chapter (which might even become the opening scene). Thoughts? Reactions? Do you like one POV over the other? Or are you indifferent? Share your thoughts, please!

==========

3rd person:

Across the café, the man moved the newspaper from the tabletop to his lap.

Feeling the man staring at her, still, Anne sent the email to Lisa as she gulped down her coffee, despite how warm it still was. This guy had to get it through his thick skull that it was not okay to follow her.

As Anne approached him—he looked away and finally unfolded his newspaper—she realized she’d first seen him yesterday, at a bakery around the corner. Anne’s body trembled.

But the café was full of curious Parisians. She would be okay. She just had to tell him to leave her alone and that’d be that.

“Qu'est-ce que c'est ce bordel? What the hell?” Anne demanded. “Just because I’m an American doesn’t mean you can stalk me.”

The man awkwardly smiled. “I am so sorry, mademoiselle,” he laughed, causing Anne’s heart to race. His accent was slightly off—but not American. “It is just, you are so striking, and now that I finally see you up close, I am sure.”

“No,” she said, rolling her eyes. “Don’t bother with the lines. I’m not interested. Got it?” She buttoned the top button of her pea coat as she turned to go.

“You misunderstand,” he called after her.

Despite the man's subdued demeanor, Anne walked away. Wind blew her hair into her eyes and mouth. She wiped at them both. She stopped an intersection, looking left, then right. He didn’t seem crazy—just odd, especially with his comment. What kind of strange pick-up line was that supposed to be? She slowly felt calmer, feeling like she’d done the right thing confronting him. He wasn’t anyone to be scared of.

“Anne Marie?” The man caught up to her.

Anne spun around. Her heart was suddenly pounding full throttle again, nervousness, like blood, surging through her veins. He knew her name. He was really stalking her. There could be no other explanation.


==========

1st person:

Across the café, he nervously moved the newspaper from the tabletop to his lap.

I clicked send on the email to Lisa and gulped down my coffee, ignoring how warm it still was. I had to get it through this dude's thick skull that it was not okay to keep staring at me, or to follow me from one cafe to the next.

As I sauntered over, clutching my tote bag to my side, he looked away and finally unfolded his newspaper, and I almost stopped. I'd seen him before, the day before at the bakery where I bought a croissant. I trembled - but forced myself to keep walking.

The café was full of curious Parisians, staring at me, this naive, American girl, approaching some man I didn't know. Hadn't I learned this was exactly what not to do, when I grew up in Chicago? I took a deep breath. This was different. This was Paris, and I could handle my own. I would just tell him to leave me alone and that’d be that. Simple.

“Qu'est-ce que c'est ce bordel? What the hell?” I demanded. “Just because I’m an American doesn’t mean you can stalk me.”

The man awkwardly smiled. “I am so sorry, mademoiselle,” he laughed, causing my heart to jump and miss a beat. His accent was slightly off—but not American. “It is just, you are so striking, and now that I finally see you up close, I am sure.”

“No,” I groaned.“Don’t bother with the lines. I’m not interested. Got it?” I buttoned the top button of my pea coat and turned to go, thinking that was it, thinking that was all he needed to hear.

But then his low voice called out to me, beseeching, “You misunderstand.”

I continued walking away anyways, refusing to honor his stalkerish ways with one more word. The wind blew my hair into my eyes and mouth. I wiped at them both. I paused at an intersection, looking left, then right. He didn’t seem crazy—just odd, especially with his comment; what kind of strange line was that supposed to be? Definitely unlike anything I'd heard before. I slowly felt calmer, reassured by the feeling that I'd done the right thing in confronting him. He wasn’t anyone to be scared of.

“Anne Marie?” His voice, no longer carried by the wind, came from only a few steps behind me.

I spun around. My heart suddenly pounded full throttle again; nervousness, like blood, surged through my veins.

He knew my name. He really was stalking me. What other explanation could there be?

What Keeps You Writing?

I asked the question, What keeps you writing?, in my last post, and I figured I should supply an answer of my own if I expect (and hope) other people to answer it too.

It's one of those questions that its hard to put a finger on an answer because it's so many things at once. For one, saying that I've been writing since I was a kid doesn't explain my motivation to continue writing now, when I'm 26-years-old. And saying that I hope to become a published novelist (hopefully starting with my current WIP) doesn't explain it either (although it'd be wonderful if it happens), since I know I'd continue writing for the rest of my life even if I never got published.

So, what is it exactly? It's definitely no one thing, but, what I can tell you is that it's...

• Words... discovering the right words and stringing them together to form a great sentence, paragraph, page. When I find those right words, it's an electric feeling that keeps pushing me forward to string together even more electric sentences that, as a whole, tell a story.
• Curiosity... It's why I read and it's also why I write; this general desire to know more about the world and people around me pushes me to look deeper into the hows, whys, wheres, whats, and whens.
• The act of writing... Obviously tied to my fascination with the way words work together, simply sitting down and getting an idea out on paper doesn't feel like work to me. Okay, sometimes it does, but I live for those days when the words fly right out onto the page, and the story comes out of me as if it never belonged to me in the first place.
• Okay, okay, getting published keeps me writing, too... when I get frustrated with any of the above, knowing that I'm working towards my goals of publishing my stories and novels gets me back on track and focused on what I need to do next with my writing.

So, now it's your turn: what keeps you writing?

Motivation & My Process

It's been almost a week since my last post, so I've got lots to say. Prepare yourself for another long post, folks!

First: Need a kick in the butt to get some writing done? Wondering if your novel (and you) are good enough? Check out this blog post from Toni McGee Causey, which asks, "How do you know when to quit?" which I came across by way of Janet Reid's blog. It's a great reminder that luck is really opportunity and preparation meeting.

Secondly (but definitely relating to the first), as I've been plugging away at rewriting Through Charlotte's Eyes, I've been thinking a lot about the process of writing my first historical fiction novel. But first, you should know this about me: my organizational skills are lacking. I wouldn't necessarily call myself scatter-brained, because I know where everything is and consider everything to have it's place... but no one else knows where anything is because the way I "organize" looks pretty messy.

I tell you this because the way I organize also affects the way I research and, in turn, write.

When I started working on Through Charlotte's Eyes, I was a graduate student at The University of Chicago. This YA historical fiction novel was to be my thesis - that I was going to write in less than nine months. Intimidating? Of course. But I managed to research and write two drafts of the novel in this time span, which, to this day, still amazes me.

Let's back up (see? I can't even stay chronological!)

I came up with the idea for the novel back in 2006, after reading Anna Karenina. Spurred by a single footnote, I dabbled in research about Charlotte but didn't really start digging. In 2007, I started grad school, wrote a proposal for my thesis, and luckily found a thesis advisor that was willing to take on my novel project (which somehow evolved from a strictly historical fiction about Corday to a historical fiction/urban fantasy about one of Corday's ancestors, despite (or perhaps because of?) my lofty goals.

This is where it gets tricky. I set my novel in two historical time periods: the French Revolution and Paris in 2005. Yes, I consider 2005 historical, because certain 2005 events are key to understanding what's going on in my story. And 2005 isn't the present, so it must be the past, and therefore, ladies and gentlemen, it's historical.

I found book upon book, article upon article, about both these time periods... well, books about 2005 are lacking. By the Winter of 2007, I jumped head-first into the research. My biggest obstacle? I had seven more months to finish my research AND write a novel. Eek! Yeah, there was a bit of freaking out, wondering what I was doing, etc. I had a couple chapters, a rough outline, but I needed details galore. I wondered: how am I ever going to do this?

So, I started researching - yet, that doesn't mean I didn't stop writing. I needed to do both at the same time, otherwise there was no way I was going to get enough words on paper to constitute "a novel." I know a lot of writers say that they prefer to research everything completely and then start writing, but that process has it's drawbacks; for me, I would have put off writing, telling myself I needed more info before I could do anything else.

By researching AND writing at the same time, I was getting my ideas out on paper, playing with them, and, best of all, figuring of what I needed to know more about. My writing, therefore, informed the way I conducted my research.

Luckily, this process proved to be successful. I completed a second draft of my novel, successfully completed my thesis in the May of 2008, and received an 'A.' But "completed" is a funny term; I completed my thesis, but I did not complete my novel. I still saw things that I was missing, holes in my research, minute details that I still needed to really enrich the story. That's why I'm still working on my novel almost a year since I turned in my thesis.

I keep revising, keep researching, until the story is how I want it be. Whether this process proves to be successful, only time and more writing (and more research) will tell.

So much for telling the "story" of my writerly beginnings in a chronological way on this blog. Stories don't have to be told chronologically, in order to be interesting. In fact, I think some stories are best told by skipping around... but maybe that's just me.

Either way, thinking about where I started out (with just a speck of an idea) to where I am now (working on the third draft of my novel) not only amazes me, but keeps me moving forward. I can do this.

So, my answer to the question: how do you know when to quit? NEVER. If you're passionate about something, willing to work hard, and willing to be patient - then you should never give up. But read that other blog post if you don't believe me.

Writers - how do you go about the research and writing process, whether you write historical fiction or not? Do you prefer to finish all your research and then write? How do you decide you've done enough research? And, perhaps most importantly, what keeps you writing?

Asking Why: Character Development

So, I've been working on some short stories about my two main characters - Anne and Charlotte - and I'm already reaping the benefits of these "background" stories. These stories help me rethink my characters actions, both why they act and react in the ways they do in the novel. Motivation is clearly a huge part of this, and, as usual, a useful writing exercise can come out of this sort of thinking: asking "why" questions about your characters.

Here are some questions I've been thinking about lately, as I revise my WIP novel...

Why does Anne have a difficult time talking to her best friend about her mother?

Why is Anne intent on "finding" her mother? This one seems obvious, in ways, but then...

Why does Anne have difficulty talking to her grand-mother about her mother's past, if she's so desperate to "know" her mother?

Why is Anne experiencing Charlotte's life? Why does Anne think she's experiencing Charlotte's life?

Why can't Anne grasp what's going on with the riots or with Pierre?

Why can't Charlotte live with her father?

Why does Charlotte refuse to share her true opinions about the revolution with her family (except for her father)?

Why does Charlotte believe that France should be a republic, rather than a monarchy?

Why does Charlotte believe she has the destiny she does?

Why does Charlotte decide to go to Paris and commit...

I'll stop there; I don't want to give too much away =). Although, hopefully my questions - all of which I answer in the novel, both in subtle and non-subtle ways - intrigue you. For me, at the very least, these questions have been useful as I revise my novel, making sure that how my characters act lines up with their past actions.

Try this yourself; ask 'why' questions of your characters and delve more into their motivations, goals, etc.

Progress!...

... but not completely the progress I expected.

So, I didn't complete all my "writing goals" for this weekend. Other stuff came up (like studying for my French test), distractions arose, the usual. But I still made progress. I finished revising Chapters 1, 2, & 3... but didn't rewrite Chapter 8. Instead, I worked on revising Chapters 4, 5, & 6. Not what I planned, but, in ways, it was more than I had planned to do. So, I'll take it!

I also worked on a couple themes that run throughout the novel, pulling them out more, creating subtle hints towards them. Again, it's not everything I planned, but I'm making progress on the novel, and it feels great!

And, yesterday's blog post held me accountable. I knew I would write on here whether I accomplished my goals, and it helped motivate me, so expect more accountability posts in the future!

Climbing Her Way Out

An attempt at microfiction. It was crazy-hard to keep it under 150 words (it's currently 147), and I need your opinion on whether I lost the plot or meaning, if there's an "ending," etc. . . critique away! And then maybe I'll try to get it down to 100 words - yikes!

==============

The day the office celebrated Julie's year-anniversary with the accounting firm, Julie stepped off the elevator and tripped. She looked back, noticing the elevator didn't quite line up with the 15th floor. Thinking nothing of it, she went about her day, staring at numbers, waiting for the work day to end.

Each day, the elevator stopped short a few more millimeters. The millimeters turned into inches, until one day Julie had to step up to get off the elevator. When she complained to management, they tested the elevator, said nothing was amiss, and gave her a funny look.

As the elevator grew worse, Julie's work began piling up. Then, the day of her company review, the elevator stopped so short, that she couldn't see the office floor. When she reached up, to start climbing out - she couldn't. Only the tips of her fingers touched the floor.

The Typewriter

In the early 1990s, when I was kid, I either wrote my stories out long-hand or I used the family typewriter.

The typewriter sat in the back corner of the basement and faced a blank wall. I used to sit there for hours, my small fingers clicking away at the keyboard. I loved the sound of the daisywheel switching, hitting each letter against the paper. I liked rolling each individual piece of paper through the roller, watching the page move left as my words filled in to the right.

Back then, I didn't have much of an inner editor. I was a kid, willing to experiment with my words and rarely doubted myself. I was just writing, for me, myself, and I. But, if I had an inner editor back then, it had more difficulty expressing itself. With a typewriter, I couldn't just go back to an earlier paragraph and switch a couple words out, or add more sentences. I was forced to continue writing, and only erase the last few letters I wrote.

This is how I wrote my Julie & Beth story series, inspired completely by my avid reading of the Nancy Drew novels. With the typewriter, I liked the way my mystery stories laid on the page, always in a "Courier" font.

We eventually got a new-fangled computer, and my sisters and I were loathe to use anything else. The typewriter started collecting dust in the hall closet.

Years later, while in high school, I wanted the typewriter back, so I could roll a sheet of paper through it, watch my words unfold, and feel like I had to keep going... I always had that sense with a typewriter. Add a page. Roll it down an inch or so - and go.

Unfortunately, the typewriter barely worked. Certain letters failed to press ink onto the page - the letter 'e' being the worst victim of all. I tinkered with it, wanting to achieve that sense of drive I had with the typewriter when I was a kid, but I'm no mechanic. Nothing I did helped.

Now, in my mid-20s, there still seems to be something magical about that typewriter, and I don't care if I'm being nostalgic and corny - I loved that typewriter!

When you first started writing was there something that kept you writing and inspired? What was it? Why do you think it affected your writing? If it can be bought, would you buy it?

There's typewriters selling on eBay for $129. I'm pretty tempted.

Photo source: http://new.idsa.org/webmodules/articles/anmviewer.asp?a=264&z=62

Third-Grade Lessons

When I was a kid, I didn't always like to go outside during recess. Dorky from an early age, I know.

I begged my teachers, asking to stay inside and write. More often than not, my teachers of my earlier years - first and second grade - insisted I go out each and every day; you know, fresh air, physical activity, and all that jazz.

But in the third grade, my teacher - Mrs. Engle - let me spend a couple days inside to write. The stories I wrote generally revolved around ghosts. My best one, that I still keep in a pocket folder decorated in pink, purple, and green, is about a girl who discovers that a ghost lives in one of her books. Then there were the days that I didn't know what to write about; to solve this dilemma, I marched over to the classroom's library, chose an encyclopedia at random, flipped open the heavy book, and wrote a quick story about whatever entry I happened to land on. The most difficult one, I remember, was about the "sun".

I was scribbling one of these stories, on looseleaf lined paper, when Mrs. Engle approached me one day. She sat down in one of the small chairs and huddled over the table where I patiently worked.

"How would you like to start a writing group?" she asked.

I was totally game. The idea of sharing stories and working together with my friends to create stories sounded like fun. It was optional for everyone in my class, and, surprisingly to me, a handful of other kids were willing to forgo their Friday recess to join in. It was the first time I was able to share my passion for writing, and I have Mrs. Engle to thank. I owe her even more thanks than that though.

Back then, adults often asked what I wanted to be when I grew up. I honestly answered, "a famous novelist," and I'd often get a smirk or a laugh, or something else that equally showed they didn't take that dream seriously.

But Mrs. Engle did. She was the first - and one of the few elementary school teachers of mine - who believed I could do something with my writing.

After elementary school, I continued to write, but my interests grew and expanded, and I slowly found myself writing less often. By the time I reached high school, I wasn't writing anything (save for in my diary).

I started volunteer tutoring at some of the local elementary schools, and when I was 16, I was taken back to my old school. One day, after finishing up some English tutoring with a student, I was roaming the halls with a friend, as we reminisced about our years there, when we ran into Mrs. Engle.

The first question that passed her lips was: "Are you still writing?"

Ashamed, I told her I wasn't.

She asked why, and a conversation ensued about writing every day and working towards my goals of one day writing a novel. Even when you feel like you don't have anything to write about, she told me, sit down and try - like I used to do with that encyclopedia. You can't fulfill your dreams of writing, of becoming a novelist, if you don't try.

Not too long after this conversation, I set to work on my first novel. While this novel never got published, it did get written when I was sixteen years old. Plus, it taught me how to go about writing a novel, from creating outlines to sending queries out to agents, and I truly believe that I wouldn't have learned any of this had it not been for the encouragement of my third-grade teacher.