Know your Writing

Whoa. Been a while. *blows dust off blog* How're all my lovelies out in the blogsphere tonight? It's been a while since I've posted anything, but it's not because I haven't been doing anything. I've finished ZAP, my YA steampunk with dragons, and got the crits back from Le Agent. I'm waiting to dive into it, but first up I'm finishing Riot, my YA thriller/sci-fi/I don't know what the hell it is. These two books have soaked up my attention for quite a few months. They're very different, and I've learned a lot from both of them. Mostly about the importance of knowing your novel. It seems like a pretty basic things for writers to do, but I don't think writers are diving deep enough into the story. They don't realize that as the creators of these worlds, writers should know absolutely every detail.

ZAP was a first attempt for me. Not necessarily my first steampunk, but definitely the first time I'd written a book so clean. It was heavily a romance, (new) and had a girl MC, which is often unusual and frightening for me. It's a tale of first love, competition, family, and dragons. There's lots of action, lots of characters.... and a lot of issues.

Riot, on the other hand, is a first person, present tense (new) novel from the POV of a boy growing up in Colorado. There are NO supernatural elements (new) and it's almost contemporary the way it's coming out. (new) It's the night to ZAP's day, dealing in edgy content, mucho death, and some nasty POVs on some touchy issues.

ZAP just came back from the agent with a lot of edits. It's a fun story, but it's not perfect. I spent a total of six months writing, editing, tweaking, and reading over ZAP, and by the time I sent it to Michael, I got a tepid, "I like it, but yeah, no." It can be salvaged, but it will take another whole draft and a hell of a lot of rewriting. The trouble is, I knew something was wrong with the foundation of the story when I was writing, and then editing, I just had no clue how to fix it.

Riot, though it's still being written, is a much more solid book. The characters are stronger. The plot makes more sense. It's all around a better book, and I have confidence it will go far. I haven't had such feelings for a book since I wrote Shell, the book that won me my agent.

So I've been thinking over these last few days: what am I missing? What component do Shell and Riot have that's missing from ZAP? And then it hit me.

With both Shell and Riot, I spent at least two months planning before writing anything. I planned out characters, I planned out the settings, background info, foreground info. I did research, I planned out some of my scenes, I did a bit of outlining. Granted, I did all this with ZAP. What I didn't do with ZAP was acquaint myself 100% with my story.

I didn't know every detail of ZAP's world. I didn't know every little thing about my MC. I knew most of it, but when it comes down to it, most of it doesn't isn't good enough.

As an author, no one knows our books better than ourselves. It's our job as the story's creator to know the world we're building, know the characters-- every little detail.

I couldn't tell you what Charlotte's (ZAP) favorite color is, because I didn't take the time to get to know her, her motivations, her dreams, her passions. I didn't look at where she came from or tried to think of how she reacted to events in her past. What did these events do to her? How has that shaped who she is now?

Whereas Riot? Ask me anything about my main characters. You could ask me what their favorite fish is, and I could tell you. I don't have to know every detail about the boys, but I do have to know them well enough to make an educated guess on what it would be.

So writers, here's my tip: Know your writing. If you think you know everything you can about your book, its characters and its rules, then ask a friend to test you out. Explain your book and have them ask questions. Anything from the functions of your world (How do the people get food? How do they travel?) to what your characters like to do for fun. You should be able to answer pretty much anything they ask you. If you can't-- especially to big, vague questions like "what is your character's biggest dream?" then you have more work to do.

I wrote ZAP when I wasn't certain on it, and it led to big problems. But starting Riot and Shell, I knew what I was writing, and it made the words-- and confidence-- flow a hell of a lot easier.

Peace,

-Katie

Looking for a Beta!

Hello bloggers of the world! I come with great news. ZAP is done. Done done. Not done done done, but done done. Which essentially means, ladies and gents, that I'm looking for a beta reader.

WOULD YOU LIKE TO BE MY NEXT BETA READER?

If you've been hanging around my blog, you probably know that ZAP is a steampunk YA with dragons. My pitch is below:

The art of dragon Breeding is dying, but it's the only life Charlotte's ever known. After her mother's death, Charlotte takes over the family farm, but business is bad--really bad. When Cynthia Ross shows up, claiming to be her aunt, Charlotte thinks all her problems have been solved. Aunt Cyn wants to enter her into the Steel Talon Tournament, where the world's best Breeders pit their dragons against mechanical walkers for a chance for fame, money, and immortality. For Charlotte, winning means more than saving her family farm-- Aunt Cyn has promised to tell her about her mother's shady past, as well as where her father has been hiding for so many years.

As the competition heats up, Charlotte finds herself in a world of political mind games between Draconites-- dragon sympathizers and Breeders-- and the Cogs-- business men and technology enthusiasts. With the help of her sponsor Gaspar Laroche and his mysterious and tantalizing son Vern, Charlotte navigates deadly battlefields and even deadlier social events. When Breeders start dying, all clues point to betrayal by a fellow Breeder. Charlotte isn't sure who she can trust anymore. Certainly not the other Breeders. Certainly not the Cogs. And certainly not the infuriating Vern Laroche.

Sound interesting? Want to get your hands on this baby?

--> The wordcount if 114K. Yes, I know about half of you just winced. I understand it's on the long side, and I hope it won't deter too many of you.

--> My deadline for this is January 15th 2012. If you don't think you can make it by this time, just let me know, and we can figure things out.

--> Are you looking to trade manuscripts? Great, I'd be happy to look at your ms! Just know that my specialty is YA and I have the right to say no if I don't think I can handle the project (Which never happens.)

--> Whatever editing style you prefer is up to you. If, because it's longer, you would rather do an overview, that's fine. I prefer line edits, but whatever you're willing to contribute would be great.

--> Uhhhhh.... as you can probably tell, it has no title. ZAP is a WIP title that stuck. So if you have any title ideas while reading, PLEASE pitch them to me, as I haven't a clue what this beast should be called.

--> If something comes up and you have to back out, just let me know. That's no issue at all. I understand that life gets in the way sometimes, just don't leave me hanging.

Want to help me out? You will be rewarded with (internet) cake and icecream. Just shoot me an email at katiecarson at hotmail dot com.

Peace,

-Katie

Word Count Experiment

So, SO, my lovelies. I finished a book.

YAY.

I'm so happy ZAP is finished. I love this story and can't wait to start sharing it with other people. So, as I finished it yesterday, there has been much:



and:




and of course:




But the point of having a blog post about it is I tried an experiment with this WIP. When I began, I wrote like most authors did-- with a sharp eye on my word count. But as I neared 60K and the end was nowhere in sight, I grew really nervous. I started entertaining horrible ideas of it turning out at 140K or 160K. I feared I'd have to cut my book in half. I was watching every thousand words go up, until I grew tired of it.

So I turned off my word count, and decided to write the rest of my first draft without looking at the word count.

For the first 10K, it was easy. I loved it. I wasn't worried about it anymore. But as I began explaining what I was doing to other writers, I got a similar shocked response: "Wow." and "I couldn't do that."

I started to understand what they were talking about. It was driving me mad, and I wanted badly to peak. I didn't, because I wanted to see what this effect would have on the length of my WIP. I began dreaming about my WIP coming out as 140K or 160K, and I was kinda back where I started.

I finished without peaking since 60K. My WIP turned out to be 119K words. Would it have been shorter if I'd been keeping a close eye on it? Probably not. I cut plot points that were in my notes because I didn't think they'd help. If I had written them in, it certainly would have been longer.

But what I did learn from all this was that writers are addicted to their word count. With good reason. It's how we communicate progress, it's used in publishing all the time, and there are restrictions. But with first drafts, I think its important if writers take time away from their word count. I admit, I did have the same fears, peaking or no, but there were times where I was finally able to let go. I didn't miss watching the numbers roll up one bit.

Try it. On your next book, turn off your word count. See how long your first draft comes out to be and compare it to your drafts you've had in the past.

Did you miss it?

WIP Wednesday

I don't often do these, mostly because I'm convinced all my snippets of writing are MUCH better in context, but today I figured, what the hell.

Right now, my current project is a steampunk with dragons. (Yes, that is how I pitch it to everyone, why do you ask?) I pumped out three chapters today, and am debating whether I'm up for a fourth.

Here's the end to a scene. Charlotte has just won another round of the Steel Talon Tournament, where dragons face off against walkers.

Charlotte closed her eyes, and let victory wash over her.

There wasn’t any joy in it, she found. There was elation, a thrill, even pleasure in knowing that she made it one step closer to her goal.

But there was no joy in this.

Beatrice screamed over the cries of the crowd. “No! No! Let me go! I can put it out! I can put out the fire!”

A hand touched her arm and Charlotte turned, finding Riley at her side. His brow was creased in concern.

“Are you all right?” he asked.

Charlotte’s lips quivered, and she feared the answer would never again be ‘yes.’

She wrapped her arms around his middle and held him, tightly, as all around her the world burned.