Music and Writing

A few days ago, I was getting ready to edit a scene from my WIP and literally couldn't bring myself to start until I brought some music up in the background. I'm one of those authors who finds it much easier to write with music. It often reinforces and/or inspires certain characters or relationships, regardless of if the songs themselves are mentioned in the book.

That being said - My Chemical Romance has been my favorite band for several years. They have a brand new album out, and I've done more than I usually would to celebrate the occasion, partly because of the band, but partly because this album has already been an inspiration, from the time I heard the promo for the very first single. I won't be able to buy the CD 'til I get some funds (Christmas money is never saved with me), but I've watched every video, including one with the entire album on it (you can see why I love this band, yes?) and I'm excited. Very, very excited. There is one driving force behind this excitement: Spade.

I haven't talked about Spade much, and I won't, because it's not my project. Well, I'm co-author, but it's not my baby/brain-child, the idea came from a friend that just got too busy to do all the writing herself. I offered to help, and she offered to let me. It's my fall-back project for when I'm stuck on my own stuff, or just need a break.

Like MCR's new album, Danger Days, Spade is a dystopian set in California (though it's more governmental breakdown than true disaster story), and it has it's light/dark moments. We don't have masks, dracs, or blasters, but we do have a kidnapping, copious amounts of thievery, and rebellion. While hearing Danger Days for the first time, I thought continually about Spade, the characters and what I love about them, and about that book.

There was once a rather self-indulgent scene early in Spade where a large group of characters start bawling out 'Teenagers', a MCR song, when it came on the radio. Now, in my mind, that scene that probably won't make it past revisions has 'Na Na Na (Na Na Na Na Na Na)' in it, instead. Whenever I think about the two MCs, I feel like 'The Only Hope For Me is You' and 'Sing' are their songs, their hope and their message. And that's what I love about MCR, about this album, and about music. It rings true to me as a fan, a person, and a creator, and it makes me want to write and draw and get up in front of people and scream my lungs out. That's my definition of good music.

So in the spirit of Thanksgiving, thanks go out to MCR, for breaking the rules, making this album, and bringing back the sunshine and color. It's been a trip watching them grow as artists and leeching off their inspiration.

In closing, MCR rocks, dystopians are fun, and this was an unusually long blog post. Happy Thanksgiving, everyone.

English Journal: Paranormalcy

You know what's funny? I said I'd do these every Sunday. And I thought I'd be able to do it.

Wishful thinking = disappointment.

I lost one of my journalling notebooks, so for now I'll be using some from this year. The first three are for Kiersten White's Paranormalcy, which just came out earlier this year. Since it's such a new book, and by a blogger I happen to admire greatly, I'll probably post the others, too, over the next two weeks. Just remember: spoilers. My English teacher, sadly, will probably never get around to reading Para, but if you are planning to, you've been forewarned.


This is the first book I've ever ordered before it came out. It makes me feel all writerly and connected. Between that, and the fact that I read and love the author's blog, these journals may not be completely objective.

Basically, this is the paranormal book I've been waiting for. It's funny and sweet and a perfect comfort read, but it's also deep and the characters are personal. It doesn't take itself seriously, but parts of it are serious. High concept is all well and good, but sometimes you need a hobby read. And why shouldn't a hobby read be well-written, too?

The main character, Evie, made a pretty successful heroine. She had enough characterization to make her personality and originality clear without ostrasizing the reader, which I think is important for this kind of first person. When the story's moving quickly, which it usually is, she takes a little more of a backseat to help the reader experience the story.

She also falls in love without being supremely annoying to anyone who has not fallen in love, mostly, which is a pretty big accomplishment.

Englih Journal: "Rose Daughter"

Did someone here say something about posting journals every Sunday? What a little liar that person must be...

So, today I have another journal. I'm still trying to pick things that are at least a little known, which seriously limits me choices. This one is rather long, though I'm not sure if this is more of a downside for me, or for anyone reading this self-indulgent tripe.

Without further ado, an English class journal on Robin McKinley's "Rose Daughter."

McKinley has a real "thing" for Beauty and the Beast. Good thing, too, because I'm the same way. I've read both her adaptations, "Rose Daughter" and Beauty", and another book with definite connections to the tale. So if there journals end up being about all three instead of just Rose Daughter, it's because I can't quite keep them straight in my head.

I've been reading a lot of books about magic lately. It's a little unusual for me, since I generally have little interest in it; my interest is in fantasy. The fact that the two often go together has softened me to warily accept the occasional magician. But the magic in these books is... quiet, maybe. Very Chronicles of Narnia, in a way. And I actually like it quite a bit. Particularly when magic is attached to the story in non-otherworldly ways. For instance, in "Rose Daughter" there are an awful lot of, who would've guessed, roses. (McKinley loves roses. I know this because I am now slightly obsessed fan of hers, and I read her blog every day.) In the story, roses are a symbol of, and a blessing for, love. "Not silly sweethearts' love," but real, true love. It's said that only wizards and greenwitches can get roses to grow because people didn't have enough love to give them. It's a continual question n the book whether our heroine, Beauty, is a greenwitch without knowing it because she got the roses in her new town to bloom again.

I'd kind of given up hope on roses - they're dreadfully overdone, in fiction and real life - but this has brought me back to them again. I think that's proof enough that "Rose Daughter" is a piece of literary magic.

English Journals: Howl's Moving Castle

So, basically, my language teacher is awesome. Every quarter we hand in ten journals - three-quarters or more of a page per entry - on outside reading books that we choose for ourselves, and I think that's about 25% of our English grade. I especially appreciate this because a lot of the books I read wouldn't get past the school's radar, if this program didn't give me something to do with them that doesn't necessarily hinge on their content. That's not to say I read dirty books, my school is just verrry cautious. Sometimes we journal on assigned books, but not usually.

It's been in my mind for a while now to post some journals - the good ones, and ones about more popular books - here, kind of like book reviews but without stars. There's a slight possibility for spoilers: insert flashing red WARNING sign. So, since I'm starting today and today is a Sunday, let's just say I'll post one (long) or two (short) every Sunday. I'll start with the ones from last year, since I can't find my journal from the year before, and work my way forward. They may read a bit oddly, since I write them with that specific teacher in mind, almost like letters. It's not quite the same as blog posts aimed at the public in general.

Journal #1: Howl's Moving Castle by Dianna Wynne Jones

"Now that's the kind of magic I admire. Taking something that already exists and making a curse out of it." Calcifer, Howl's resident landed-falling-star, says something to this effect in regards to a rather tricky curse spun out of a poem, "Song" by John Donne. I have to say I agree with him.

I generally don't go for fantasy magic: the negative side is a bit too "real" for my tastes, and a little magic goes a long way. But this is the kind of magic I admire. Between spells, seven league boots, and a handful of other unexplained magical elements, there is a magic so pure and simple that the heroine uses it without knowing what she's doing. It is the magic of talking life into things; plain things like hats and strange things like animated scarecrows. All Sophie Hatter has to do is talk to something (she's in rather a habit of doing this) and it takes on what she says, becoming either alive or bespelled.

The thing I like so much about this, though, is that the principle applies to our non-magical words as well; at least, if you truly believe that words have power, which I do. The things we say to people, even after the words are forgotten, brings something up in them that wasn't there before, or strengthens something that was. Whether we're tearing down or building up, the distinct mark of our words affect all we come in contact with.

Computerized!

Not only do I have a Twitter now (which I use to follow industry people - mostly agents and publishing houses - and a handful of my favorite authors), I also have a Zazzle. It's a fun little interweb store where I can make products with my silly pictures. It's not making any money, but that doesn't matter because it's FREE! ^_^ Gotta love the internet. And it wouldn't hurt me to work a little on design asthetic-y stuff. The reason this is here on my writing blog? Most of the designs on my products are characters from one or the other of my two big WIPs.

So, this is supposed to make my "Zazzle Panel" come up. Let's see if it works.


Create personalized gifts at Zazzle.

Wow, pretty. Makes you want to click on it and spend money, doesn't it? =] I kid, I kid. There's really nothing there that anyone who doesn't know the characters would buy.

The blog-o-sphere is a mystical and lovely place... It feels kind of awesome reading about authors and agents, anticipating a good book before it's even out (Kiersten White's Paranormalcy makes me very happy. Eleven days...). And the contests! Seems like as soon as I start stressing about querying, there are a whole bunch of query and submission contests going around.

Karen Gowen is hosting this one: http://karenjonesgowen.blogspot.com/2010/08/lettuce-write-and-get-your-chapters.html Send in the first three chapters of your manuscript. While three winners get to send in a full for editor Allie Maldonando to review for them, every entry will recieve some feedback on the three chapters.

Another hosted by Adventures in Children's Publishing for MG/YA pitches: http://childrenspublishing.blogspot.com/2010/08/new-contest-yamg-pitch-to-query-letter.html At noon tomorrow they'll be open for fifty pitches, but the contest progresses in steps. The prize is a three-chapter critique from agent Sarah LaPolla (who was on my list of agents-to-query before I found out that she's on an indefinite vampire break. Twitter saves my butt, yay) who is also judging the contest. But they're encouraging a lot of critique between contestants, and there's a panel of "mentor authors" that'll comment on the entries, so at any rate it's a good way to get feedback.

Sara B. Larson is also holding a pitch contest: http://sarablarson.blogspot.com/2010/08/my-path-to-getting-agent-pt-6.html The winning pitch gets a query critique.

This is one of the coolest: http://motherwrite.blogspot.com/ Come up with a good title for Krista V.'s WIP (currently called Bob), and four wonderful prizes will be divided between the three winners, including 1st pg and query reviews by agents.

I hope I get around to entering all of them. <3

The Chronicle of Late Night Doubts

Dear non-existent reader,

It's about three thirty A. M. and I am not, unfortunately, sleep-typing, but completely awake. This is going to be one of those posts I hope I can look back on, one or two or five years from now, and laugh (either because I've proved myself wrong, or because I've proven myself right and gotten over it).

Lately, I've been wondering why I wrote Accidents. Which is really a stupid question - I wrote it because I realised that my last series, Colorblind, was a horrible dead-end idea, and I needed something new I could throw myself into with everything I'd learned up to that point. I'm not exactly sure when this was anymore - maybe summer/fall '07? I'm not saying I regret writing Accidents or Colorblind, because I learned alot from practical application that I couldn't learn in English class. I discovered my areas of fault, learned to be my own editor, developed the desire to be original, to be great, because I hated looking at what I'd written and not being able to say, "I love this. This is amazing. This is my best work yet, and even when I've become a better writer, I will not be able to make this any better. This is perfect." It's kind of the unattainable dream, right? I know that nothing I write will ever be perfect, but that has to be my goal, or there's nothing to shoot for. I don't want to just be as good as anyone else.

I know that some of my best writing so far has gone into Accidents. I don't think it's a bad book, or a bad concept, or that it wasn't worth my time. And I still think it's a good book to enter the market with. But the more I think about it, the more I feel like, why am I doing this? What connection do I feel to these characters? What am I trying to say?

Truthfully, I say a lot of things in the novel - little tidbits of myself, tucked in here and there - but in the grand scheme of things, the theme of Accidents is overcoming all the cr*p that life throws at you. It's something I care about, obviously, but I don't know if it'll really speak to other people in that way, because my MC has a rough time with that - the overcoming. It's not so much how a person should do it, but how my MC does do it, which isn't a perfect or healthy method at all. Maybe it'll be a warning to people. Maybe, if I get a chance to see the series to it's end, it'll give people a little hope that the passage of time really is a good healer. I just don't know.

People who've read it, or part of it, say things about the characters, the writing, the plot, but I haven't heard any thoughts on the theme. I'm worried that I've written a book that will not stay with you. But now that it's done, really the only thing I can do is keep moving forward with everything I do from now on.

I am always learning. It's a little painful.

Sincerely,

Shadows