"Oh My God, They Killed Kenny!"

Character death. For some writers, the best part of the job. For others, one they dread the most. Personally, killing off characters holds a very special place in my heart. Not to say I get warm fuzzies whenever I hack someone to pieces, but I do get a profound sense of, "This is a very important moment." (If I wasn't a writer, I might have some explaining to do for that sentence. lol!)

I'm a combination of a pantser and a outliner. I outline to a degree, let my imagination fill in the rest, and deviate from my plan if my characters feel so inclined. However, the one thing that I have never gone off-track with in my writing is when I kill off characters. When I sit down to write chapter one, I know exactly who will die, when, and why.

My philosophy on character death is very simple. I love it when a great character gets a wonderful death scene, because it can really give that character one final hurrah before they leave the story. However, if a character death feels contrived or put in simply for dramatic effect, I get really angry.

Whenever you decide to kill off a character, at whatever stage you are in your story, you have to ask yourself a few important questions.

1) Why am I killing this character off? You need to know this answer. This should be the FIRST question you ask yourself when character death pops into your head. WHY are you doing this? Will their death progress the plot? Give your MC more motivation? Give them heartache? You can have a dozen reasons for this, so long as you have one. Using character death to eliminate someone whose become unnecessary to the story is NEVER okay. Find some way to work them out of your story, or back in, or get rid of that character all together.

2) What effect will this have on the story? This is a little different than why. Think of a ripple effect. Everything a character does in a story has consequences, and so should this. If this character is important to the MCs, or villians, or just a primary player, their death will change the dynamic of the story. This is also how the reader will get hit with that solid emotional punch. It's not just that the character's gone, but in their absence, everything has changed, either for the better or worse.

For example, in Shell, one of my main characters is killed off, and the dynamic of the group of friends vastly changes. They went from being very close friends to each drifting away and falling apart on their own. It was more than just killing someone off. It was how that affected those left behind.

3) What do I want the readers to feel? This is my favorite question, and the one I have the most fun with. When this character dies in the story, how do you want your reader to feel about it? If this is a traitor's death, you may want your reader to be happy that this evil person is gone. How do you do that? Set up the character as sympathetic, and then take away all the sympathy during the betrayal. When we get to the death scene, watch your dialogue, watch every detail. Think of how your character is feeling as they die. What are their regrets? Their wishes? Their last thoughts? Now combine that with what you want your readers to feel. If you want them to feel remorse for your traitor, highlight sympathetic traits as he's dying, or shortly beforehand. Maybe show regret, so that even when they're gone, your reader feels some pity for them. Or, you can elimate all symathy during the death scene, and have him go down snarling and screaming, which will leave a very different last impression for your reader.

This is a question you must ask yourself as you write all the way through. Every time this character comes into play, consider that they are going to die. Their screen time is limited, so you have to make the best of it. Amp up the sympathy, but don't make them into a whiny baby. Craft them into a hero, so their death has that extra punch.

If you need to think of a good example of this, Rue from the Hunger Games is a perfect example. Her character is extremely sympathic, and coupled with her gruesome death, it leaves a heartbreaking last impression on your reader that resonates with them.

Always remenber: Someday, somebody reading your book will fall in love with this character, and when they die, you need to make sure their death is justified, so that reader will put down the book and admit the story is so much better for it.

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

The Year My Book Didn't Sell

This post is about 2 weeks overdue, but I know you'll all forgive me. ;)

So, some pretty amazing things happened this year, and some pretty amazing things didn't happen. About this time last year, my manuscript Shell scored me an agent, Mr. Michael Carr, whose know-how and agent-ness has helped me through some sketchy, author-related moments of flail.

I think every book, before I started querying, I sat down and said, "This is the one." I believed in every book I submitted to agents. How could I expect an agent to sell my book if I didn't even believe in it? But with Shell, things always seemed a little different. Writing it was different, editing it was different, and I knew when I held the printed off, finished version, that this one was going to get me an agent.

And it did. So why didn't it get me a publisher?

It's easy to focus on getting an agent, but the real fact of the matter is getting an agent is never the endgame. The endgame has always been to sell your book. Getting an agent is an achievement, but it's by no means a guarentee of success. Sometimes the book just doesn't sell.

Sometimes? Let's be real here. Most often, the books don't sell.

So, like many others, I'm kind of drifting through a strange limbo between submission #1 and submission #2. I think once we've come this far, we expect to go all the way. We expect the book to sell once we have an agent, because if one person likes it, why won't everyone else? Part of the problems stems from only hearing the success stories. The book that sold in a week. The book that went to auction. The book that's got a six-figure deal. But 99% of first books don't sell. Most second books don't sell either.

That's not to say that there's anything wrong with your book if it doesn't sell. The great and terrible thing about this industry is it's incredibly subjective and time sensitive. Perhaps your book didn't sell because one too similiar landed on the editor's desk earlier that week. Maybe it didn't sell because the editor doesn't like your vampire/elf crossover. Maybe an editor on the fence about your submission got some bad input from an intern and decided to pass. Whatever the reason, it's not a reflection of you as a writer. Rejection is an unfortunate side-effect of publishing.

I will say, setting aside Shell has been really difficult for me. Rejections are one thing, but shelving a book altogether feels kind of like giving up. I know it's not though. Shell was the first book I've ever written that's graced an editor's desk, but it won't be the last.

I think the most important thing I learned this year was how to let go. Not just when it comes to shelving Shell, but also about letting go of my control over the process. As writers, (unless we're co-writing) we have 100% authority over our world, characters and plot. But as we pursue publishing, slowly that control slips away. With an agent submitting my work, there was no querying to be done, nothing to keep track of, and I didn't have rejections rolling in every other day. I poked Michael every week in the beginning, just for some sort of update on what was going on. Of course, all he could ever provide me with was, "Nothing yet."

2011 was the year my book didn't sell, but I'm letting that go too. It's hard because it almost feels like accepting defeat, but it's anything but. I'm letting go of Shell, I'm letting go of 2011, and I'm letting go of my control-freakishness. I'm doing all this so I can start 2012 right-- by looking towards the future and writing new things.

Maybe 2012 will be the year my book DOES sell.

Peace,

-Katie

Writers and Negativity

So, recently I had a few friends ask me for a copy of my book, Shell. I have no problem of giving away copies of my book, but this time I chose to say no, because the book is currently on submission and I thought it would be best to wait and see if the book was published or not.

Naturally, people get huffy when you say no. They don't understand why I wouldn't want to. Suddenly, they think I'm in it for the money.

This baffles me every time I hear it. I guarantee no writer will ever say this. If I was in life for the money, I would have gotten into business. Or marketing. Or tried my hand t driftwood sculpting. Writers DON'T make that much money. Most writers don't make enough to live on. Not, "Oh, I'm not paid enough." More like, "I HAVE $12 DOLLARS AND I HAVE TO PAY MY ELECTRICITY BILL AND RENT."

Yes, there are writers who make it big. And honestly? NOBODY REALLY KNOWS WHY. People pretend to know why Harry Potter was so big or how the Twilight phenomenon came about. They nod their heads and smoke their pipes and say, "Mm, yes, we expected that to come along. Precisely as anticipated."

The truth? Nobody knows what makes a bestseller besides: write a good story. So, those writers that do enter into this world to make money? You have a better chance of winning the lottery. And odds are it won't leave you cursing out your laptop when it breaks down and you're under deadline.

So, writers? Honestly, not in it for the money. Even YA writers, even though there seems to be a strange misconception going around the YA writers are "trend writers" and are "trying to chase the popularity of YA right now."

Uh, no.

No.

*clears throat* No.

Are you a writer? Yes? Are there types or writers you don't have respect for? Maybe they're YA or MG authors. Maybe they're mystery or romance writers. Maybe they're nonfiction writers. If there's a certain *type* of writer that you look down on, then I'm sorry for you.

As writers, we have a great community. And that community should be supportive. We are NOT in competition with each other. Even if you think we are, we're not. Someone who picks up a YA fantasy book but ignore yours? They like YA fantasy, and odds are they may pick up your book too. Between genres? We're not at war with each other, and we need to stop acting like it.

No matter what you write, you work hard at it, and we can't compare writing a MG fantasy to an adult contemporary. There is no comparison. They both have pros and cons and they're both not easy. If you compare genres or "difficulty level" of types of writing, then you are no different from children holding up their picture and saying they did better to a parent who really doesn't care.

It may seem like writing romance or a children's book or a contemporary is easy, but that's because it's our job to make it look easy. Writers get good at what they do so it seems effortless. But it's not. And as fellow writers, we should understand each other's pain.

Which leads me to another point. Writers who dehumanize agents and editors, saying they only want what's hot, who are only interested in money, who are plain "rude" for rejecting them, come on. I shouldn't have to say this. There are plenty of agent/editor blog posts where they say WE ARE HUMAN. WE LOVE THIS JOB. WE DO WANT YOU TO SUCCEED. Agents and editors are people too, people who LOVE this business, otherwise they wouldn't be in it. Like writers, agents and editors are usually sensitive people, because many of them are writers themselves.

This business is tough, and sometimes you need to rant. It's hard to deal with rejection and waiting and the struggle. But it's absolutely intolerable if you decide to take out your frustrations on agents, editors, or fellow writers.

We are not in high school. We are not dealing with office politics. We are all grown-ups here, and sometimes certain writers need to get their heads out of their asses and realize they are not the only people who love this business. Realize that writers write what they are called towards, even if you don't enjoy their genre. Agents and editors are doing the best they can, and they don't want to be rude. They don't like sending out rejection letters, but they cannot feasibly represent every author who emails them.

And I think this brings me to my point of this post:

If you are a writer that brews negativity, that just can't get over their spite and jealousy for fellow writers, that thinks agents and editors only care about money, this is your warning.

Get over yourself, or get out of this business.

The road to publication is long and frustrating, and if you're negative about the business, it will only drag you down. It WILL alienate you from your fellow writers. It WILL make editors less inclined to work with you. It WILL put off your agent. You will drown in this business. The thing about writing (and art in general) is there is a lot of put downs, and a lot of roadblocks. And if you can't pick yourself up and move on, you will never get anywhere.

So if you're a negative writer, look at yourself and ask: is this where I should be? Is the joy I get out of this worth dealing with all the bad things?

Can I put aside my anger and frustration and jealousy and love what I do?

I want you to succeed. But if you're just going to drag everyone else down into your pool of negativity, then you can go succeed elsewhere, because we don't want you here.

Shell + Crash: Setlist

Hello everyone! Thanks to the wonderful support I received on my dorky post about contemporary YA, I've decided to keep with my contemp idea and really try to see where it goes. I've decided on a tentative title: HOW TOBY RIDEWOOD ACCIDENTLY ON PURPOSE BROKE THE WORLD. Catchy, eh? It's a nice change from my one word titles I've had going on for a while.

Anyway, I promised you guys a setlist from Shell (currently on sub) and Crash (current WIP). I do use a lot of music when I write. I plug in my iPod when I sit down to write and zone out so I don't have to pay attention to anything else going on. Music inspires me a lot too, but I've never really given it much thought. I mean, I love music, but I'm not a music-person. I grew up with band geeks who could hear a song once and then play it on whatever instrument tickled their fancy, so I've never considered myself musically knowledgeable.

But I figured I'd do a blog post about some of the songs that inspire me. Who knows, maybe when (if) these books ever make it to print I could do up a CD and give it away in a contest.

Either way, that's a long ways from now, so let's start, shall we?

SHELL

All the songs are linked to the music videos on youtube so you can have a taste of what I'm talking about.

Missing by Evanescence. This song always, ALWAYS, reminds me of Jamie Winchester, one of my MCs. Jamie is a sweet, kind boy who is a little depressed and is the typical "sacrifice." Something about Amy Lee's haunting voice makes me think of Jamie and his problems, and the chorus, oh the chorus, always reminds me of a major plot point which I'm not going to talk about for fear of spoilers. This song actually helped inspire a specific scene near the end of the book. Three guesses what happens.

The End by Classic Crime. This song always makes me think of the other MC from Shell, Adam Fenn. The slow tempo and the singer's voice just always reminds me of Adam, and the lyrics fit him PERFECTLY. It gives me shivers thinking about it sometimes. Mostly, this song makes me think of what Adam would say to himself. He doesn't have much of a self-esteem, despite his cocky and carefree attitude most of the time.

Univited by Alanis Morisette. This song 100% inspired Leila Litt. I was listening to this song and an image popped into my head of a girl of Indian or Middle Eastern decent wearing a veil and riding a camel. So many sexy images came out of this song, which later ended up being transferred into sexual tension between Leila and Adam.

Down by Jason Walker ft Molly Reed. This song is Vetis, my sort of maybe anti-hero. OMG, Jason's voice is so much what I imagine Vetis's voice sounds like. Really, this reminds me of Vetis's life as an angel, him rebelling and casting into Hell. I think this song really illustrates his longing for his return to Heaven.

(If my beta readers are reading, I'm sure you're wondering where Avery's song is. She's another major character, but Avery wasn't inspired by a song, and I could never really find one that really fit her character. She was actually inspired by Harry Potter, but that's a story for another day.)

All You Did Was Save My Life by Our Lady Peace. This song to me, really illustrates Adam's relationship with Jamie, (and Arthur's relationship with Seth). Because Jamie does save Adam's life. Over. And over. And over. And over....


CRASH

All Around Me by Flyleaf. This song birthed Dahlia Slade. I was listening to the song and all of a sudden I was struck with an image of a punk girl wearing ripped fishnets, long brown hair singing on stage in front of a crowd of people. Even though Dahlia's character has changed since then, I think this song still encompasses her passion, and how she puts her heart into everything she does.

When I'm Gone by Three Doors Down. This song is Arthur Fenn, and I have no idea why. The lyrics don't really fit him, (besides the chorus, and even then that's a stretch) but the guitar here and the singer's voice just create the perfect atmosphere. Arthur is hard and soft, a lover and a fighter, and I think this song captures that dual aspect of him.

Crashed by Chris Daughtry. This is Seth Beckett, and really the whole book itself. I listened to this song once and couldn't get it out of my head. All I could see was Seth, fighting his way through the troubles of his life. The line "Then I crashed into you, like a runaway train, you will consume me, but I can't walk away." That IS Crash, and Seth too. Plus, the line about bursting into flames kept bringing up an image of Seth, quite literally, on fire, so I ended up adding that scene into the book because I couldn't get it out of my head.

Cold as it Gets by Patty Griffin.(Couldn't find a youtube video for it. Look this song up, it is amazing.) This song is another one of Vetis's. His character really fits the slow songs best. The haunting sound of the singer's voice makes me think of the struggles he's gone through. Plus I can't shake the image of him in old west times in a cowboy hat and riding a horse looking for Rhamiel. So much love.

Made of Steel by Our Lady Peace. This is Jynx's song. It started off as a joke, because Jynx is essentially a robot, but it grew on me. And really, he does want to be the hero in the end.

It's Not Over by Daughtry. This song is totally another one for Seth. It ain't over until it's over, and I think it demonstrates Seth's stubbornness and his unrelenting will.

Anthem of the Angels by Breaking Benjamin. This one is kind of general, and that kind of speaks about the relationship with the characters, especially between Jynx and Seth and Arthur and Seth. It just sounds dark and bleak, and I think it shows the world they're living in. It feels hopeless, and that's really how this book feels closer to the end.

Well, there you have it, I think. My playlist. What I wrote to, and am still writing to.

Peace,

-Katie