*But only if male, cisgendered, and white.
[It's been a while since I last posted and I have no excuse. I'll sum it up as LIFE and leave it at that.]
Instead, here's what I want to talk about: The Chosen One trope.
It occurred to me today that often, when this trope is used in a story, it refers to a male protagonist. Usually young (10-18), always--as far as I can recall--heterosexual cis-gendered, and frankly, usually white.
The kid learns that their normal life is a fraud/to keep them safe/about to change irreversibly, and they have been chosen to defeat a great evil. Harry Potter was far from the first, and nowhere near the last.
It's not to say girls/women can't be protagonists or heroes, but more often, they seem thrust into the role through circumstances. Katniss just wants to protect her little sister. Sabriel just wants to find her father.
What I do find more is the role of female protagonist as "Not like the other girls." You see it a lot in romantic comedies. Debra Messing's character, Cat, from The Wedding Date: not the first woman to hire Dermot Mulroney as a date, but the first to make him fall in love. Katherine Heigl's Jane in 27 Dresses is like many women in her love for weddings and desire to help friends, but she's the only person to make James Marsden's Kevin see the love and romance is weddings and marriages.
It feels like a way to simplify their characters. Why, out of all the other women these men meet, are these the ones who get through to them? Why, they aren't like other women! Of course! How aren't they like other women? Uh, well, they sing? You know what? Just trust us on this.
But that's not the only place. You can find the trope in fantasy books as well, but they take a different approach.
Alanna is the only girl who wants to be a knight in Tortall and poses as a boy to do it, and later, Kel is the first girl to become a knight since it was allowed through royal decree. Daine, in the same world, is the only Wild Mage. October Daye is a changeling who has one foot in the fae world and one in the human world, the first person to really befriend the Luidaeg, who doesn't like anyone. Cat and Beatrice in Cold Magic have their own special (slightly spoilery so I won't mention specifics) traits that set them apart from everyone else in their community.
But rather than being called Chosen Ones, and beyond their special something that separates them from other women, they are heroines through the choices they make and the circumstances of society around them.
It makes all of these characters even more complicated--sometimes they make the wrong choices and have to deal with those consequences. Sometimes they want to do one thing, but the rest of the world is working against them because other forces have their own motivations and goals. The characters are complex and the worlds are complex.
On the one hand, it'd be nice to see more female Chosen Ones. But maybe the answer is more to get rid of the Chosen One trope for males. One of the fan theories (almost canon? actually canon?) that's always intrigued me is the idea that Neville could have been the Boy Who Lived. He was born around the same time, his parents suffered because of Voldemort, and if Voldemort had thought it was him and gone after his family, the books might have turned out differently in some very interesting ways. It was a self-fulfilling prophecy in terms of the villains choices, but how could it have been different if there wasn't the label of Chosen One hanging over Harry's head?
Anyway, those are my thoughts today. I'll try not to wait so long to post again.
Books/Series referenced:
Harry Potter: The Harry Potter series by J. K. Rowling
Katniss: The Hunger Games by Suzanne Collins
Sabriel: Sabriel/Abhorsen by Garth Nix
Alanna: The Lioness Quartet by Tamora Pierce
Kel: Protector of the Small series by Tamora Pierce
Daine: The Immortals Quartet by Tamora Pierce
October Daye: The October Daye series by Seanan McGuire
Cat and Beatrice: The Spiritwalker Trilogy by Kate Elliott
Showing posts with label books. Show all posts
Showing posts with label books. Show all posts
Sunday, December 7, 2014
Saturday, August 3, 2013
A Year in the Life
Cross-posted from Red-Inked Leaf, my editing blog:
Up until this past year, I have edited numerous manuscripts. Some I have seen nearly from beginning to end, others only in fits and starts, some only a few pages. Such is the life of a writing group member.
Writing groups are a great way to gain experience as an editor, seeing how different people write, and different people to react to being edited. But it is a far cry from editing a manuscript from first read to final release.
Purple Haze took about a year from when I first received the manuscript until it was released into the wild. It's the first book I've edited with Savant Books and Publications, so in part, I wanted to take my time and see that I did it right. But I also needed to find the balance between writing my own work, teaching college-level English and Psychology, and editing nonfiction freelance (along with some weekly volunteer work, a vague semblance of a social life, and a year full of a number of health issues).
The first step, after an initial read-through, was to decide whether to edit a chunk of chapters and send those to the author, then do another chunk, and so on; or to edit the whole manuscript and send that. We opted for the former, running on enthusiasm and a desire to jump into it.
As I made edits and suggestions, I sent those out, and George edited them and sent them. I held off on my second round of edits, though, until I had gone through the whole manuscript. Then we started the process again.
At first, the focus was bigger ideas--content, plot, characterization. As those were edited, our focus narrowed to smaller issues, until it was line edits: grammar, punctuation, sentence structure.
It took about three or four rounds of "edit, send to author" before we felt comfortable passing it on to the proofreaders. At that point, we also starting working with the cover artist on the cover.
Now we are in the post-release marketing stage. So below is the press release of Purple Haze. Please read, and I hope you get the book, and pass along the description. Happy reading!
PRLog (Press Release) - Jul. 26, 2013 - HONOLULU --
Up until this past year, I have edited numerous manuscripts. Some I have seen nearly from beginning to end, others only in fits and starts, some only a few pages. Such is the life of a writing group member.
Writing groups are a great way to gain experience as an editor, seeing how different people write, and different people to react to being edited. But it is a far cry from editing a manuscript from first read to final release.
Purple Haze took about a year from when I first received the manuscript until it was released into the wild. It's the first book I've edited with Savant Books and Publications, so in part, I wanted to take my time and see that I did it right. But I also needed to find the balance between writing my own work, teaching college-level English and Psychology, and editing nonfiction freelance (along with some weekly volunteer work, a vague semblance of a social life, and a year full of a number of health issues).
The first step, after an initial read-through, was to decide whether to edit a chunk of chapters and send those to the author, then do another chunk, and so on; or to edit the whole manuscript and send that. We opted for the former, running on enthusiasm and a desire to jump into it.
As I made edits and suggestions, I sent those out, and George edited them and sent them. I held off on my second round of edits, though, until I had gone through the whole manuscript. Then we started the process again.
At first, the focus was bigger ideas--content, plot, characterization. As those were edited, our focus narrowed to smaller issues, until it was line edits: grammar, punctuation, sentence structure.
It took about three or four rounds of "edit, send to author" before we felt comfortable passing it on to the proofreaders. At that point, we also starting working with the cover artist on the cover.
Now we are in the post-release marketing stage. So below is the press release of Purple Haze. Please read, and I hope you get the book, and pass along the description. Happy reading!
Savant Books Announces the Release of George Hudson's
New Novel, "Purple Haze"
Savant Books and Publications LLC,
Honolulu, Hawaii, USA, announces the release of George Hudson's novel of past
and present murder and intrigue, "Purple Haze."
Savant
Books and Publications LLC, Honolulu, Hawaii, USA, announces the release of
George Hudson's novel of past and present murder and intrigue, "Purple
Haze."
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
George Hudson's "Purple Haze"
A skull discovered
in a lake leads FBI investigators Bryan Langston and Joe Mallory on a dangerous
search for answers to a thirty-year-old unsolved murder. What they don't know
is that there is someone still alive who will do whatever it takes to keep the
truth buried, even if that
means killing
again.
George Hudson was born in East Tennessee in
1947, into a family of seven other siblings. His life was deeply impacted by
the Tennessee Valley Authority and by the lakes throughout the area in which he
was raised. He has been a lifetime educator, teaching history in the public
schools in Tennessee for thirty years. George also taught as an adjunct
professor of history and is presently teaching at the University of
Tennessee-Chattanooga. In his writing, he intersperses bits of history about
the area to add local color and sentiment. He and his wife, Gail, live in
Chattanooga.
"It's
exciting to finally have this book available for all to read," says
Hudson. "'It has been an untold story in my imagination for a long
time."
"Purple
Haze" by George Hudson - 274 pages - 6" x 9" Trade Book - Color
Softcover. ISBN 9780988664050. Suggested retail price $16.95.
Released in July 2013 by Savant Books and Publications, Honolulu, Hawaii, USA.
This book
is available from the publisher, printer and Amazon.com at
http://www.savantbooksandpublications.com/9780988664050.php
from
Savant Bookstore Honolulu at
http://www.savantbookstorehonolulu.com
and
directly from Amazon.com at
http://www.amazon.com/Purple-Haze-George-Hudson/dp/0988664054/
Savant
Books and Publications LLC is a publisher of enduring literature and media for
the 21st Century. For more information visit www.savantbooksandpublications.com
Friday, July 26, 2013
First Book Release as Editor: Purple Haze by George Hudson
I've mentioned a few times that I have been editing for a local
publisher. It's been about a year since I first met with the senior
editor and founder of Savant Books and Publications. I've gone through the
interview, the training, the waiting for a manuscript, and the lengthy
process of editing an unfamiliar story and working with a new author (in
the midst of teaching, and for a time, editing someone else's psych
dissertation).
Well, I am stoked to announce (though I am keeping the squeeing to a minimum), that today marks the release of my first edited work with Savant: Purple Haze by George Hudson. You'll be hearing more about it over the next few months, but I hope you'll take some time to check out the description. You can buy it directly from Savant, or through Amazon.
Purple Haze is about a murder investigation set in Tennessee. A skull is found in a lake, and a thirty-year-old mystery is brought to the surface...
Well, I am stoked to announce (though I am keeping the squeeing to a minimum), that today marks the release of my first edited work with Savant: Purple Haze by George Hudson. You'll be hearing more about it over the next few months, but I hope you'll take some time to check out the description. You can buy it directly from Savant, or through Amazon.
Purple Haze is about a murder investigation set in Tennessee. A skull is found in a lake, and a thirty-year-old mystery is brought to the surface...
Sunday, July 21, 2013
Just Pictures...well, pictures and captions
 |
| Always a good suggestion, Tim Gunn. |
 |
| In the comments, what books would you wish this treatment on? |
 | |
| I'd argue picking a favorite kid is easier (especially when it's not my kid). Favorite is the quiet one entertaining themselves with a book. |
 |
| Every day. |
Saturday, September 10, 2011
The Twelve Dancing Princesses, Persephone, and an Herbalist walk into the Underworld...
Just wanted to send everyone to look at a recent "The Big Idea" post by John Scalzi. Various authors write about their recents releases, usually with some really interesting background about their inspiration.
This one: The Big Idea is about Merrie Haskell's The Princess Curse, which stems from some of her own fears, and loves.
Check it out. I am going to be on the lookout for it when I next go to a bookstore.
This one: The Big Idea is about Merrie Haskell's The Princess Curse, which stems from some of her own fears, and loves.
Check it out. I am going to be on the lookout for it when I next go to a bookstore.
Sunday, March 30, 2008
The Last Evening of My Spring Break
So this past week has mostly been filled with my job. I had two full days off, which I usually get because of my Tuesday and Friday classes--my own fault, I never got around to asking for the time off, but we were losing someone so we'd either be short-handed or training someone new, and I figured I wouldn't get the time off anyway--and opted out of my usual Sunday routine to get a third day free.
Tuesday and half of Friday was spent reading American Gods by Neil Gaiman, which I loved for so many reasons I can barely verbalize. (Mostly I'm stuck sitting here motioning with my hand, to pantomime the words are spilling out of my mouth as a tumble of letters, incoherent.)
Friday from 4 pm on was spent hanging out and taking to dinner another coworker who was leaving. I did read a few pages walking to work on Wednesday and Thursday and finished the last thirty pages Saturday morning/afternoon (just before and just after a five-hour work shift). Maybe I'm a little too pleased to have read about 300 pages each day for two days.
So I'm a few years late, considering it was published in 2001, but I've had it for a little while and just didn't have the time to read it before. Using it for a presentation for one of my classes is always nice motivation. One of my favorite parts of my workshop course this semester, we chose our own reading lists, and I added to my required 5--I read all three Patricia Briggs' Mercedes Thompson books, a couple of writing books, including Terry Brooks' "Sometimes the Magic Works," and the Dave McKean-illustrated children's books by Gaiman 'Goldfish' and 'Wolves'. Oh, and since I received the soundtrack to "Wicked" for my birthday in February, I read the Gregory Maguire book it was based on, as well as the sequel, "Son of a Witch," and found all 14 L.F. Baum Oz books for $2.00 each at a used bookstore. I'm on book 2 of that last one ("The Land of Oz"). I've also begun "Unshapely Things" by Mark Del Franco and "The Good Fairies of New York" by Martin Miller (which I bought before seeing a mention of it on Gaiman's website, who has an introduction in it, though I'd have picked it up even without the introduction, it's pretty interesting so far).
Needless to say, something about this semester has stimulated me into reading book-books lately (I talked about that strange aversion to it for a while, where all I wanted to read was manga, yeah, I like comics, but I love novels as much, if not more).
So American Gods: I think there's a combination of long story arc, as we follow Shadow following Wednesday, with the almost episodic, now we're traveling, now we're staying with Mr. Jacquel and Mr. Ibis, now we're in Lakeside, etc., that engages all my attention. I finished the last few sentences wishing it wasn't the end, which is a good sign for me, but I had a smile stuck on my face and I was content, even if I didn't know what would happen to these people next.
I was taking extensive notes while I read, which I thought would disrupt the flow of my reading, but which didn't, for the most part. And while not fully versed in mythology, I know a bit of almost everything, so it was fun to see a hint of something and either know what it meant or know it meant something important and excitedly read on to see what the something was. There's a line said to Shadow, page 483--it sums up my feeling about the end in a much more succinct way that I, with my rambly blogging ways, consistently fail to do--"Not only are there no happy endings...there aren't even any endings." The story's over but this isn't the end. That figure walks away, but he's also walking toward something, and just because the reader doesn't know what -that- something is, doesn't mean all the characters stop moving around once the book is closed.
(Think of that childhood wonder/fear some kids have, that when they leave the room their toys move around, have conversations and live, but as soon as someone walks back in, they are perfectly still and in their original positions. This book ends with a sense of the completete opposite.)
And then, to prepare for my presentation, and having recalled a few links in reference to AG on his journal (linked on the sidebar) I searched his archives and read up on the journal from when it was solely an AG blog. (And I noticed he started his blog a little more than a year before I started mine, not this one, though.)
And then my laptop decided it didn't like me or the warm weather and started giving me trouble, so I took a break for dinner, restarted the computer and went to finish up preparation for that presentation. Finalizing my other presentation will have to wait until tomorrow after work. I know what I want to say I just have to organize it.
And all of this to say that reading words by Neil Gaiman, whether it's his books or his journal, or listening to audio clips, really motivates me to write. In this instance, I ended up writing about him and books, but I finally feel like I accomplished something today.
Also, if you haven't read American Gods, find it, buy it and read it. I think it's available for free online (you can find the link on Gaiman's journal) for at least one more day.
Tuesday and half of Friday was spent reading American Gods by Neil Gaiman, which I loved for so many reasons I can barely verbalize. (Mostly I'm stuck sitting here motioning with my hand, to pantomime the words are spilling out of my mouth as a tumble of letters, incoherent.)
Friday from 4 pm on was spent hanging out and taking to dinner another coworker who was leaving. I did read a few pages walking to work on Wednesday and Thursday and finished the last thirty pages Saturday morning/afternoon (just before and just after a five-hour work shift). Maybe I'm a little too pleased to have read about 300 pages each day for two days.
So I'm a few years late, considering it was published in 2001, but I've had it for a little while and just didn't have the time to read it before. Using it for a presentation for one of my classes is always nice motivation. One of my favorite parts of my workshop course this semester, we chose our own reading lists, and I added to my required 5--I read all three Patricia Briggs' Mercedes Thompson books, a couple of writing books, including Terry Brooks' "Sometimes the Magic Works," and the Dave McKean-illustrated children's books by Gaiman 'Goldfish' and 'Wolves'. Oh, and since I received the soundtrack to "Wicked" for my birthday in February, I read the Gregory Maguire book it was based on, as well as the sequel, "Son of a Witch," and found all 14 L.F. Baum Oz books for $2.00 each at a used bookstore. I'm on book 2 of that last one ("The Land of Oz"). I've also begun "Unshapely Things" by Mark Del Franco and "The Good Fairies of New York" by Martin Miller (which I bought before seeing a mention of it on Gaiman's website, who has an introduction in it, though I'd have picked it up even without the introduction, it's pretty interesting so far).
Needless to say, something about this semester has stimulated me into reading book-books lately (I talked about that strange aversion to it for a while, where all I wanted to read was manga, yeah, I like comics, but I love novels as much, if not more).
So American Gods: I think there's a combination of long story arc, as we follow Shadow following Wednesday, with the almost episodic, now we're traveling, now we're staying with Mr. Jacquel and Mr. Ibis, now we're in Lakeside, etc., that engages all my attention. I finished the last few sentences wishing it wasn't the end, which is a good sign for me, but I had a smile stuck on my face and I was content, even if I didn't know what would happen to these people next.
I was taking extensive notes while I read, which I thought would disrupt the flow of my reading, but which didn't, for the most part. And while not fully versed in mythology, I know a bit of almost everything, so it was fun to see a hint of something and either know what it meant or know it meant something important and excitedly read on to see what the something was. There's a line said to Shadow, page 483--it sums up my feeling about the end in a much more succinct way that I, with my rambly blogging ways, consistently fail to do--"Not only are there no happy endings...there aren't even any endings." The story's over but this isn't the end. That figure walks away, but he's also walking toward something, and just because the reader doesn't know what -that- something is, doesn't mean all the characters stop moving around once the book is closed.
(Think of that childhood wonder/fear some kids have, that when they leave the room their toys move around, have conversations and live, but as soon as someone walks back in, they are perfectly still and in their original positions. This book ends with a sense of the completete opposite.)
And then, to prepare for my presentation, and having recalled a few links in reference to AG on his journal (linked on the sidebar) I searched his archives and read up on the journal from when it was solely an AG blog. (And I noticed he started his blog a little more than a year before I started mine, not this one, though.)
And then my laptop decided it didn't like me or the warm weather and started giving me trouble, so I took a break for dinner, restarted the computer and went to finish up preparation for that presentation. Finalizing my other presentation will have to wait until tomorrow after work. I know what I want to say I just have to organize it.
And all of this to say that reading words by Neil Gaiman, whether it's his books or his journal, or listening to audio clips, really motivates me to write. In this instance, I ended up writing about him and books, but I finally feel like I accomplished something today.
Also, if you haven't read American Gods, find it, buy it and read it. I think it's available for free online (you can find the link on Gaiman's journal) for at least one more day.
Tuesday, March 6, 2007
Classic Literature and why we love you
Wednesday I work until 7 at the store, which means I'm closing, which means that I probably won't get out until 7:30. That means that if I went to the writer's group this week, I wouldn't get there until 8 p.m. and my sister likes to leave at 9, so I'd only be there for an hour anyway, not really enough time for all the group members to read the pages as well as get a lot of feedback and I'd hate to make my dad drive back and forth so much. So I probaby won't go this week, although if my sister still does, I may give her my pages and just receive written feedback. I don't much care for the idea of them critiquing it while I'm not there though. My brain gets wrapped up in these issues with the writing and then sometimes I feel like, 'why bother bringing pages at all? It's all crap.' I don't feel like that all the time, or even most of the time, but I'm fighting that feeling right now even as I editing my pages with the group's comments in mind, because they had a point.
Swiftly veering away from talk of the group, however, I went to the library this Saturday and borrowed a pile of books. A couple of manga because they're fun and quick to read (satisfying my desire to read and complete a book, and look at pretty pictures), a Charles de Lint book, and three Jasper Fforde books. They didn't have The Eyre Affair, but they had books two, three and four:
Lost in a Good Book
The Well of Lost Plots
Something Rotten
I'm on page 212 of the first book, which is nice and a little guilt-inducing, as I don't work until 3 today, but will probably read for most of that time instead of editing which I would be doing.
Anyway, this post is jsut to once again assert my newfound love for Fforde's writing. this book takes place in 1985, but you don't notice that so much except in reference to fashion. Any other 80s references aren't so jarring (ahh, scrunchies, I bet I still have a bunch tucked in the back of a drawer somewhere).
Also related to literature, but not Fforde: I've seen commercials for a new movie called The Last Mimsy. I am almost certain it's based off a sci fi short story called Mimsy were the Borogroves, the title of which is taken from Lewis Carroll's "The Jabberwock" poem. As Fforde makes me want to look up all sorts of obscure nursery rhymes and reread Great Expectations, so does this make me want to drag out my sci fi anthology from a "Studies in..." course and reread that short story.
Books are fun!
I'm such a dork.
Swiftly veering away from talk of the group, however, I went to the library this Saturday and borrowed a pile of books. A couple of manga because they're fun and quick to read (satisfying my desire to read and complete a book, and look at pretty pictures), a Charles de Lint book, and three Jasper Fforde books. They didn't have The Eyre Affair, but they had books two, three and four:
Lost in a Good Book
The Well of Lost Plots
Something Rotten
I'm on page 212 of the first book, which is nice and a little guilt-inducing, as I don't work until 3 today, but will probably read for most of that time instead of editing which I would be doing.
Anyway, this post is jsut to once again assert my newfound love for Fforde's writing. this book takes place in 1985, but you don't notice that so much except in reference to fashion. Any other 80s references aren't so jarring (ahh, scrunchies, I bet I still have a bunch tucked in the back of a drawer somewhere).
Also related to literature, but not Fforde: I've seen commercials for a new movie called The Last Mimsy. I am almost certain it's based off a sci fi short story called Mimsy were the Borogroves, the title of which is taken from Lewis Carroll's "The Jabberwock" poem. As Fforde makes me want to look up all sorts of obscure nursery rhymes and reread Great Expectations, so does this make me want to drag out my sci fi anthology from a "Studies in..." course and reread that short story.
Books are fun!
I'm such a dork.
Friday, February 23, 2007
Jack Spratt could eat no fat...and that's Spratt with two T's, not one
One of the things I love about the Borders in Waikele is that they position that trade paperback books right in the front of the entrance. Now, on the one hand, it’s totally a ploy to get people buying books. On the other hand, I chanced upon “The Lie that tells a Truth” there as well as Jasper Fforde’s “The Big Over-Easy.” If you like nursery rhymes and mysteries, then Fforde is for you.
I never would have picked up either book without seeing them as I wandered through the trade paperbacks for the few minutes I have before my writing group.
So when I saw Fforde’s second book in the nursery crime series, it was in hardback and I waited eagerly to see it in the trade paperback section. When I chanced upon “The Fourth Bear” in the library I snatched it up and read it in two or three days.
Fforde is a British writer and if you like mysteries or books that plays with archetypes in a fun way, Fforde is your man. He also has a series called Thursday Next, which I’ve never read, but I’m going to keep an eye out.
I’ve never read mysteries or thrillers, but Fforde has a writing style that’s easy and fast-paced without feeling rushed. Until you get to the end when the climactic scene arrives and all too soon it’s over and you’re left wishing for more. And by you, of course, I mean me, but it’s a good book and he’s a good writer and I urge you to come to the dark side.
I also finished Tough Guide to Fantasyland, which is funny and makes me want to write a story that plays off of some of the more interesting entries (the stereotypes about the Companions on a quest, or the prevalence of Stew, but no grazing cattle or sheep despite much leather and wool, etc.). It was just flat-out a fun book to read, and has inspired ideas and scenes for my pirate-y story SH in as much as it makes me want to write and puts me in that world’s mindframe.
Books are fun. Yay books!
On a completely unrelated, but more important, note, a favored professor of mine at the University of Hawaii Psychology Department passed away earlier this month. I only found out today when I checked my email. Edward Chronicle, it felt strange to think of you as Ed, even though you insisted, but you were a wonderful professor and made me love cognitive psych even more. You will be missed.
I never would have picked up either book without seeing them as I wandered through the trade paperbacks for the few minutes I have before my writing group.
So when I saw Fforde’s second book in the nursery crime series, it was in hardback and I waited eagerly to see it in the trade paperback section. When I chanced upon “The Fourth Bear” in the library I snatched it up and read it in two or three days.
Fforde is a British writer and if you like mysteries or books that plays with archetypes in a fun way, Fforde is your man. He also has a series called Thursday Next, which I’ve never read, but I’m going to keep an eye out.
I’ve never read mysteries or thrillers, but Fforde has a writing style that’s easy and fast-paced without feeling rushed. Until you get to the end when the climactic scene arrives and all too soon it’s over and you’re left wishing for more. And by you, of course, I mean me, but it’s a good book and he’s a good writer and I urge you to come to the dark side.
I also finished Tough Guide to Fantasyland, which is funny and makes me want to write a story that plays off of some of the more interesting entries (the stereotypes about the Companions on a quest, or the prevalence of Stew, but no grazing cattle or sheep despite much leather and wool, etc.). It was just flat-out a fun book to read, and has inspired ideas and scenes for my pirate-y story SH in as much as it makes me want to write and puts me in that world’s mindframe.
Books are fun. Yay books!
On a completely unrelated, but more important, note, a favored professor of mine at the University of Hawaii Psychology Department passed away earlier this month. I only found out today when I checked my email. Edward Chronicle, it felt strange to think of you as Ed, even though you insisted, but you were a wonderful professor and made me love cognitive psych even more. You will be missed.
Monday, January 22, 2007
I love books!
Frankly, one of my happiest memories revolving around high school (not that high school was terribly awful, but I was the chick who knew -of- a lot of people, but didn't hang out with more than a handful) is sitting outside of my best friend's English class and reading on either end of the bench.
So I am greatly pleased when my dad bought me a writing book as an early birthday present, entitled, " The Lie That Tells A Truth," by John Dufresne. I'm on chapter 5, page 52-53 and thoroughly enjoying it. The tone is easy-going, the exercises at the end of each section are simple and as rare as I do writing exercises or prompts on my own, there are some that intrigue me enough that I might actually do them on an off day. There are nearly 300 pages, but even at this point, I just want to read it, then read it again, taking notes the second time around.
The dork that I am, I find it enormously keen that he includes various quotes about writing and writing-related character traits (like patience, or lack thereof), and I like to collect quotes, but I don't want to interrupt the flow of reading to jot them down. Hence the second reading when I'm done.
There's some humor, but it's also really informative.
Here's one of his exercises from the chapter on "Writing Around the Block," retyped fully.
"Making a List, Checking it Twice
Maybe it's that I'm obsessive-compulsive or maybe it's that I know I'll forget whatever is so important in two minutes (or maybe that's the same thing), but I make lists. (Lists were perhaps the first written litterature. Even before the list that Moses brought down from the mountain, and before Hammurabi's list of laws, someone probably scratched something about cleaning the cave, planting the wheat, hunting the mammoth, gathering the firewood.) I have lists of possible story titles, interesting names, lists of things I have to do. My characters make lists. I used to worry about this behavior, but these days I wonder how people get along without their lists. How do they know what to pick up at Winn-Dixie? Lists free you up to think about more important things, to daydream. Anyway, many of us do keep shopping lists, Christmas card lists, guest lists, birthday lists, and lists can be helpful for getting in touch with your usable past and with your obsessions.
So here are some lists for you to make in your writer's notebook:
1. List all of the friends you've ever had. Put an X beside those you've lost contact with.
2. List all of the pets you have ever had, even the short-lived goldfish from Woolworth's and the little turtle that turned into cardboard overnight.
3. List all of the moments you'd live over again for whatever reason. (To get them right this time. To enjoy them afresh.)
4. List everything you've done that you are ashamed of.
5. List every object that you've ever lost.
6. List the best meals that you've ever eaten.
7. List the toys and games that you owned as a child.
8. List your favorite songs.
9. List your favorite smells.
10. List your goals for the next five years. Prioritize them.
Take five to ten minutes on each list initially. They will suggest events, emotions, people, you haven't considered in a while. What else do they suggest? Use the lists in the coming days for sources of material for your fiction."
After reading that, I continued on, but it got me thinking. I have about ten pages covered in names, some already used for characters, some attached to story-less (currently) pictures. About six pages are names I made up, the rest are from name books with their meanings ('cause I'm a sucker for a name with a cool meaning, as long as it still fits the character). I make lists of goals, lists of groceries, countless daily/weekly to-do lists. And some of his suuggestions got me thinking to the point where I couldn't keep reading, so I pulled out my notebook and jotted down the title, "The Yellow Galoshes." Then wrote about two paragraphs about a girl in the rain with an umbrella and yellow galoshes wondering how people thought getting beaten on daily wasn't normal. It was normal for her. Was it different for other people? But she didn't wonder about that in a 'pity me' way, but from curiosity, because she was at that age where she's just beginning to realize not all families are like hers.
Of course, I didn't get all that information in two short paragraphs, just her opening thoughts about it. I don't know yet what makes those damn galoshes important.
...Or maybe I do. Hmm...
And that night, trying to sleep, three ideas for blog entries came to me and I jotted them down in the pitch dark (surprisingly legible considering I was also writing on a small post-it). And at some point that day, two titles for different stories.
I love lists.
As I read this book, I will be sharing exercises and interesting facts I find. I think taking a more thorough break from writing is good. I'll read this book and another and see how I feel then.
The "other" book (oo, see how cleverly I segued right there? heh) is "The Tough Guide to Fantasyland," by Diana Wynne Jones. This one I requested through the library after seeing a mention or two of it online. It was origially published in 1996, but reprinted in 2006, with a few changes if I remember correctly. I have the '96 copy.
So far (I paused in reading the other book to check this one out and I only began this one the other night), I am greatly amused. I opened it expecting it to be more humor than relevant advice and it is entertaining in terms of humor. It certainly doesn't take itself seriously as an actual guide to writing fantasy (unless by guide, you're thinking of tour guide, because that is definitely the feeling here).
Tangent: In college, I wrote a review of a book which the title suggested was a humorus how-to approach for college students/graduates writing resumes. I don't like to read other stuff about books before writing my reviews (to avoid biasing my own opinion). So I started reading it with only their back of the book and whatever promo stuff they sent. My problem was that there was more humor than actual advice, so it only worked as a humor book and less as a how-to. That irked me. I felt like whatever advice might be there was common sense, and for the most part, they stop short of anything really helpful. I didn't enjoy it as much because my expectations weren't met.
My point being that for Tough Guide, I went in assuming it was only meant to humor, so if I found no advice per se, it was okay, because I was only looking for entertainment.
What I found was lots of humor in spoofing/satirizing the stereotypes in fantasy, i.e. Assassin and Thieves' Guilds, "Northern barbarians" and their manners, etc. At the same time, I was seeing some things that I did (for example, they talk about how there are no normal animals--random woodland creatures or farming animals, in Fantasyland--and I do include, or I hope I do, normal animals in my writing, just small mentions here and there as they pass grazing cattle or the like) or didn't do, like giving the good guys normal, unmagic armor when they think there'll be fighting.
I would read an entry (designed encyclopedia-like) and see that I do include part of it, but not all, or would get an idea for turning a stereotype on its head, like that regarding bard (and apprentices). It was nice to see my expectations more than met.
Again, not done reading it, only just beginning, but both books are enjoyable to read for different reasons. And together they make me want to write, which was something I've still been struggling with.
(This post is horribly longer than I intended, isn't it? Heh, sorry.)
So I am greatly pleased when my dad bought me a writing book as an early birthday present, entitled, " The Lie That Tells A Truth," by John Dufresne. I'm on chapter 5, page 52-53 and thoroughly enjoying it. The tone is easy-going, the exercises at the end of each section are simple and as rare as I do writing exercises or prompts on my own, there are some that intrigue me enough that I might actually do them on an off day. There are nearly 300 pages, but even at this point, I just want to read it, then read it again, taking notes the second time around.
The dork that I am, I find it enormously keen that he includes various quotes about writing and writing-related character traits (like patience, or lack thereof), and I like to collect quotes, but I don't want to interrupt the flow of reading to jot them down. Hence the second reading when I'm done.
There's some humor, but it's also really informative.
Here's one of his exercises from the chapter on "Writing Around the Block," retyped fully.
"Making a List, Checking it Twice
Maybe it's that I'm obsessive-compulsive or maybe it's that I know I'll forget whatever is so important in two minutes (or maybe that's the same thing), but I make lists. (Lists were perhaps the first written litterature. Even before the list that Moses brought down from the mountain, and before Hammurabi's list of laws, someone probably scratched something about cleaning the cave, planting the wheat, hunting the mammoth, gathering the firewood.) I have lists of possible story titles, interesting names, lists of things I have to do. My characters make lists. I used to worry about this behavior, but these days I wonder how people get along without their lists. How do they know what to pick up at Winn-Dixie? Lists free you up to think about more important things, to daydream. Anyway, many of us do keep shopping lists, Christmas card lists, guest lists, birthday lists, and lists can be helpful for getting in touch with your usable past and with your obsessions.
So here are some lists for you to make in your writer's notebook:
1. List all of the friends you've ever had. Put an X beside those you've lost contact with.
2. List all of the pets you have ever had, even the short-lived goldfish from Woolworth's and the little turtle that turned into cardboard overnight.
3. List all of the moments you'd live over again for whatever reason. (To get them right this time. To enjoy them afresh.)
4. List everything you've done that you are ashamed of.
5. List every object that you've ever lost.
6. List the best meals that you've ever eaten.
7. List the toys and games that you owned as a child.
8. List your favorite songs.
9. List your favorite smells.
10. List your goals for the next five years. Prioritize them.
Take five to ten minutes on each list initially. They will suggest events, emotions, people, you haven't considered in a while. What else do they suggest? Use the lists in the coming days for sources of material for your fiction."
After reading that, I continued on, but it got me thinking. I have about ten pages covered in names, some already used for characters, some attached to story-less (currently) pictures. About six pages are names I made up, the rest are from name books with their meanings ('cause I'm a sucker for a name with a cool meaning, as long as it still fits the character). I make lists of goals, lists of groceries, countless daily/weekly to-do lists. And some of his suuggestions got me thinking to the point where I couldn't keep reading, so I pulled out my notebook and jotted down the title, "The Yellow Galoshes." Then wrote about two paragraphs about a girl in the rain with an umbrella and yellow galoshes wondering how people thought getting beaten on daily wasn't normal. It was normal for her. Was it different for other people? But she didn't wonder about that in a 'pity me' way, but from curiosity, because she was at that age where she's just beginning to realize not all families are like hers.
Of course, I didn't get all that information in two short paragraphs, just her opening thoughts about it. I don't know yet what makes those damn galoshes important.
...Or maybe I do. Hmm...
And that night, trying to sleep, three ideas for blog entries came to me and I jotted them down in the pitch dark (surprisingly legible considering I was also writing on a small post-it). And at some point that day, two titles for different stories.
I love lists.
As I read this book, I will be sharing exercises and interesting facts I find. I think taking a more thorough break from writing is good. I'll read this book and another and see how I feel then.
The "other" book (oo, see how cleverly I segued right there? heh) is "The Tough Guide to Fantasyland," by Diana Wynne Jones. This one I requested through the library after seeing a mention or two of it online. It was origially published in 1996, but reprinted in 2006, with a few changes if I remember correctly. I have the '96 copy.
So far (I paused in reading the other book to check this one out and I only began this one the other night), I am greatly amused. I opened it expecting it to be more humor than relevant advice and it is entertaining in terms of humor. It certainly doesn't take itself seriously as an actual guide to writing fantasy (unless by guide, you're thinking of tour guide, because that is definitely the feeling here).
Tangent: In college, I wrote a review of a book which the title suggested was a humorus how-to approach for college students/graduates writing resumes. I don't like to read other stuff about books before writing my reviews (to avoid biasing my own opinion). So I started reading it with only their back of the book and whatever promo stuff they sent. My problem was that there was more humor than actual advice, so it only worked as a humor book and less as a how-to. That irked me. I felt like whatever advice might be there was common sense, and for the most part, they stop short of anything really helpful. I didn't enjoy it as much because my expectations weren't met.
My point being that for Tough Guide, I went in assuming it was only meant to humor, so if I found no advice per se, it was okay, because I was only looking for entertainment.
What I found was lots of humor in spoofing/satirizing the stereotypes in fantasy, i.e. Assassin and Thieves' Guilds, "Northern barbarians" and their manners, etc. At the same time, I was seeing some things that I did (for example, they talk about how there are no normal animals--random woodland creatures or farming animals, in Fantasyland--and I do include, or I hope I do, normal animals in my writing, just small mentions here and there as they pass grazing cattle or the like) or didn't do, like giving the good guys normal, unmagic armor when they think there'll be fighting.
I would read an entry (designed encyclopedia-like) and see that I do include part of it, but not all, or would get an idea for turning a stereotype on its head, like that regarding bard (and apprentices). It was nice to see my expectations more than met.
Again, not done reading it, only just beginning, but both books are enjoyable to read for different reasons. And together they make me want to write, which was something I've still been struggling with.
(This post is horribly longer than I intended, isn't it? Heh, sorry.)
Wednesday, January 17, 2007
Reading--far too serious a topic for a funny title
Okay, now I know as a writer, one good habit is reading a lot. And had you asked me during high school, how many books I read for fun, I couldn't tell you, because there were so many. In college, my response would be X number fun books over the summer, because I didn't have time during the semesters.
I have been out of college since this past May and if you'd asked me the day I graduated how many books I figured on reading between then and now, I would not have been able to give you a more specific response than, "So many I couldn't count them."
That is not the case, unfortunately. As far as fiction novels go, I started and got about half-way through Kate Elliott Crown of star series (I'm still reading and enjoying them), read Lackey's "Mad Maudlin." What I do is read fantasy, but not in the same subgenre as I'm currently writing in (so reading an urban fantasy while writing something set in a medieval-type land). I've also read some books that technically fall under YA fantasy (but I sometimes think my style lends itself well to YA, so I can use the excuse that it's research as well), and... I don't know. I read some humor nonfiction stuff, some research-y books. But what I read most was manga. Since around Christmas of 2005, I have been devouring manga.
When my brother got a job at a bank, there was a bigger library nearby with a larger manga section (versus the tiny library near our house), so he would come home almost weekly with a large bag full of the Japanese comics. I read most of them. It doesn't seem fair, in my head. If I counted up all of the volumes of every title, I would probably have read hundreds of books, but I can't equate manga with books in my head. I can read one in half an hour uninterrupted, an hour if I was an hour-long program at the same time. They're addictive I tell you.
So I need to read more. And I go to bookstores (and buy manga) and book sales(where I buy book-books), and one of my resolutions is to read at least ten books I've bought and have not yet read. I've got more than that, but ten is my goal.
I think part of it, other than how quick it is to read a manga, is that reading a fantasy novel can take a lot of time. I can finish one in a day or two, maybe three, if I devote the whole day to reading. But few series make me want to do that. And then I feel like, if I have all that time, I should be trying to write. That actually sitting down and writing is more productive than reading in my genre, even though I know reading is an important part of writing. Especially reading the new stuff.
I should try reading new debut authors as well. I'm very iffy about spending money on something I'm unsure about, though.
Not reading enough makes me feel a little guilty, I guess is what I'm trying to say. I've been seeing a lot of "Currently reading..." or worse yet, "The list of books I read in 2006." (How do they remember? I wish I kept a list like that.) I think my own 2006 reading list would be painfully short did I not include manga.
Any comments out there from other writers? How do you make the time to read for fun? Do you ever feel guilty (or is it just me and my Italian guilt trip ability) for reading when you could be writing?
I have been out of college since this past May and if you'd asked me the day I graduated how many books I figured on reading between then and now, I would not have been able to give you a more specific response than, "So many I couldn't count them."
That is not the case, unfortunately. As far as fiction novels go, I started and got about half-way through Kate Elliott Crown of star series (I'm still reading and enjoying them), read Lackey's "Mad Maudlin." What I do is read fantasy, but not in the same subgenre as I'm currently writing in (so reading an urban fantasy while writing something set in a medieval-type land). I've also read some books that technically fall under YA fantasy (but I sometimes think my style lends itself well to YA, so I can use the excuse that it's research as well), and... I don't know. I read some humor nonfiction stuff, some research-y books. But what I read most was manga. Since around Christmas of 2005, I have been devouring manga.
When my brother got a job at a bank, there was a bigger library nearby with a larger manga section (versus the tiny library near our house), so he would come home almost weekly with a large bag full of the Japanese comics. I read most of them. It doesn't seem fair, in my head. If I counted up all of the volumes of every title, I would probably have read hundreds of books, but I can't equate manga with books in my head. I can read one in half an hour uninterrupted, an hour if I was an hour-long program at the same time. They're addictive I tell you.
So I need to read more. And I go to bookstores (and buy manga) and book sales(where I buy book-books), and one of my resolutions is to read at least ten books I've bought and have not yet read. I've got more than that, but ten is my goal.
I think part of it, other than how quick it is to read a manga, is that reading a fantasy novel can take a lot of time. I can finish one in a day or two, maybe three, if I devote the whole day to reading. But few series make me want to do that. And then I feel like, if I have all that time, I should be trying to write. That actually sitting down and writing is more productive than reading in my genre, even though I know reading is an important part of writing. Especially reading the new stuff.
I should try reading new debut authors as well. I'm very iffy about spending money on something I'm unsure about, though.
Not reading enough makes me feel a little guilty, I guess is what I'm trying to say. I've been seeing a lot of "Currently reading..." or worse yet, "The list of books I read in 2006." (How do they remember? I wish I kept a list like that.) I think my own 2006 reading list would be painfully short did I not include manga.
Any comments out there from other writers? How do you make the time to read for fun? Do you ever feel guilty (or is it just me and my Italian guilt trip ability) for reading when you could be writing?
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