In writing The Turning Tide, I had a terrible time becoming acquainted with the main characters. In an effort to know them, I did an interview with them. It’s terribly fun and so I thought I’d share. I particularly love Shaye’s interview. He was not easy.

Click here for the full interview

I’ve been having a tad bit of trouble with the website and posting, but I’m back! Been doing things with the kids, particularly school supply shopping. The list seems to get longer each year. But they are supplied and the boy does not have new socks because he argued he didn’t need them, and then I saw today how holey most of his socks are and I expect there will sock shopping in the future. Girlie made out when grandma bought her a bunch of dresses (lovely, hugely expensive dressed on %70 off sale, so that was a good thing). Boy made out with books, since he wasn’t into clothes. Girl got books too, just he got more. And I got myself a copy of Elie Wiesel’s Night and Neil Gaiman’s Odd and the Frost Giants.

Right now I’m working on finishing the copy edits for Shadow City. For those of you who don’t know what that means, let me splain. When you turn a book it, your editor reads it and sends it back with an editorial letter. That letter will include a lot of notes on how to improve it. You revise, and if your editor is happy, it goes to copy edit (if not, repeat step one).

The copy editor goes over the manuscript to correct if for grammar, house style, consistency, and anything else she finds. It then comes back to the editor who also goes through it making a few notes, and then it comes back to the writer. I go through it and can still make changes to my work (this is the last chance for substantive revisions), and to see if I agree with the changes of the CE or E. Sometimes I don’t agree. When I don’t, I STET the change, which puts it back to the original. Now I try not to do that too often, but sometimes the changes just don’t sit right.

Here’s a for instance. It’s more grammatically correct to say “it was as if a piece of every place that had ever existed or been thought of had come to Chadare and cropped roots.” (real sentence from manuscript). Only, given that Max is thinking that, she would never say as if. She’d say like. So even though it’s correct, it’s more important to me that the voice is right, so I STET it.

So that’s what I’m doing today. I do like the process, especially when the copy editor is as good as this one is. Now, back to it . . .

I want to talk about writing in different genres. I write traditional fantasy, contemporary fantasy and am playing around with some young adult stuff. It’s really strange in some ways how different these genres can be in style, and yet how similar. Here’s some things I’m noticing. When i write traditional fantasy, it can be slower to build and have more complexity to the overall plot. By that, I mean it can include more subplots and a broader cast of characters. And when I say “it can,” I mean readers have more interest and patience for that in traditional fantasy.

Contemporary fantasy is quicker. It tends to jump immediately into a problem and hustle through the action. There’s more emphasis I think on the plot than the worldbuilding, though the worldbuilding certainly has to be there. (I applied that sense of pacing to The Hollow Crown and I think it was very successful, but it was a conscious effort.)

Young Adult is far less about the worldbuilding Which means you have to be a lot more subtle and stronger in your choices because that description has to do more work. It reminds me of poetry, where you distill things down to the most essential language. The pacing is still pretty quick, the language (for me) is a little less complex–in the sense that it’s what teenagers would say and they generally haven’t developed a hugely broad vocabulary at this point.

All of them have to hit a particular kind of note in a particular kind of way. Don’t get me wrong, there is room for innovation and development, but for me, these are some of the differences I’ve encountered and it’s really interesting to me because each one teaches me a lot about writing better.

So today I got back into the groove of Crimson Wind, following the holidays and cold. I ended up writing 3200 words today, which makes me very happy. It means I may have found my way back into the groove. I think I even like a lot of it. Which is more than I can say about what came before, but I’m not sure if I can trust my own opinion on those other chapters since I had such a hard time with them having to draft them four different times. But I’m on track again and very pleased.

One of the things that’s been difficult is getting back into the heads of the characters. Max is easier than Alexander, especially since he’s more transitional. What I mean is that he’s undergone more changes and has to find his footing and identity again. That means he’s changing and developing, which means he’s in flux for me. But he’s about to go bad ass. More bad ass than before. It should be fun.

And now, a snippet from Crimson Wind.

She was watching him with cold implacability. Magic curled in her eyes like ribbons of smoke. Even this depeleted, she still had deep reserves of power.

“Never forget what I can do to you,” she said. “That was just a tiny tast of what will happen to you if you let anything happen to her.”

“She runs after trouble like starving sharks after blood,” he rasped.

“Yes. No doubt that will make the trip more interesting for you. Now go. It’s nearly dark.”

He hesitated then nodded respectfully and left. Outside, he found Niko at his side.

“Damn. That looked like it hurt,” the other man said with an unsympathetic grin. “Glad it wasn’t me.”

Alexander tossed him a baleful look but did not rise to the bait. “So where is Max? I do not want her to leave without me.”

Niko’s expression turned grim and a chill spidered down Alexander’s spine.

“Where is she?” he demanded.

So I’m usually rather disorganized about my editing process. My editor sends me a letter giving me her feedback. Usually that involves a couple of pages of the larger issues, then a list of things by page number that are much smaller issues to deal with.

The way I usually approach the revisions (once I’ve howled and stomped my feet that it isn’t perfect–not that I expected it to be, but I can dream, can’t I?) Anyhow, the way I usually approach things is to scribble notes all over the editorial letter so that I can remember what my thoughts are as I go through, and then I start at the beginning and just start rewriting from page one. I do this because I’m a linear writer and so I need to start at the beginning and push forward.

This time, I’m trying to be more organized about it. First, I printed the manuscript out in comment mode, which means that the page numbers match my editor’s page numbers, but the print is about 9 point and I have two inch margins on the sides and three inch margins at the bottom–lots of room for making notes.

The next step is to go through and put post it notes on the pages where my editor indicated problems. After that, I’ll go back through and mark the specific problems so that I’ll be able to notice them when I get there.

After that, I will go back and read the whole book and try not to take a lot of notes, unless something obvious jumps off the page. Then I’ll start at the beginning and reread the chapter, and then go through and make changes to it, then rinse and repeat.

Hopefully this means I’ll be able to approach the changes more carefully. We’ll see. Reports to follow . . .

If you want to know more about how I came to the ideas for Bitter Night, I’m talking about just that on John Scalzi’s Whatever. So come read!

I’ve published six novels, with the seventh on its way in October and the 8th with my editor. You’d think I’d felt like I had some mastery of the craft, but in all honesty, i feel like a newbie every time I set out. Now I realize I’m not because I teach creative writing and each time I do, I remember what newbie-ness truly is, and that’s someone who’s just learning about plot and character and pacing and so on. these are people who’ve never practiced the craft whatsoever. How scary and exciting that must be to start out fresh! I can’t even remember that.

But I do feel panicked and nervous every time I start a new work, every time I return to write on it, every time I take up revisions . . . . In short, I never feel like I know what I’m doing. Part of that is because I hope I’m stretching myself, pushing at the stories to make them deeper, more compelling, more entertaining, and generally better written. Of late, I’ve felt like instead of getting better, that I’m slowly dwindling in my abilities. I wonder if that’s true, or if it’s a case of the more you know, the more you know how much you don’t know. Hmmm.

I’m always on the lookout for books and blogs and articles and so forth that teach me more about writing. I don’t like all of them. Some I look at for commiseration–that I’m not an anomaly. Some I look at for real ideas on improvement of craft. I know there are a lot of writers who don’t read books on writing at all. They think they are mostly useless. I tend to read them and frequently find something useful, though many are more basic than helpful now. But some will still have gems that let me see writing in a new, different way.

I just got Don Maass’s The Fire in Fiction. Haven’t read much of it–like 10 pages, but it definitely sparked some thoughts for me on what I’m currently writing. It wasn’t anything new or unusual, but it was just said in such a way that made a key snick in a lock and suddenly I had ideas. This is why I continue to read those craft books, and why I go to panels at cons on the craft of writing, why I read a lot of writing and industry blogs, and why I talk writing frequently. Something will light a match for me and I’ve got to chase it down.

For me (and every writer is very different) I need to read about craft every so often. Sometimes I sink into the writing and I get running down paths that I’m comfortable with–and not necessarily bad paths–but I know I need to think about the craft and push the boundaries. I need to try new ways of doing things and stretch myself. It’s the only way to improve. To quote Robert Browning, “A man’s reach should exceed his grasp or what’s a heaven for?” You should always reach for more than you can achieve to grow your craft. Never let yourself be comfortable in the old grooves, the good enoughs.

How about you? what do you do to improve? Whether it’s the craft of writing or something else?

I remember reading somewhere as an undergraduate an essay by a writer. Someone had approached him and asked him what he needed to be a writer. His reply, slighly flippant, was “first you have to like words.”

Here’s the thing, as flippant as that might sound, it’s very true. And I LOVE words. I love to learn new ones (I get words of the day from dictionary.com) and I pay attention to words in books and look them up. I have dictionaries of very specific kinds of words, like the one called Home Ground for land and water masses. I have a Describer’s Dictionary. And I have a a Visual Dictionary so I can details right. And it goes on. I love to flip through them and read them.

Today, in revisions, I got to use the term: oriel windows. Isn’t oriel a lovely word? And it’s perfect! No, I”m not telling you what it is. Go look.

I know you’ve heard this from me before, but as I get into rereading this book (aka Crosspointe 4), and remember I’ve made a point of NOT going back and revising or reading, but have written it straight through, so this is my first real reading of it as a whole, I can say this:

Holy KRAP Batman! It doesn’t suck! I like it so far. Even the the necessary info-dumping background bits aren’t as heavy handed as I feared. Whoohoooo!!!!!

And some of you have asked, so explanation: This was going to be called The Traitor King. I thought it would focus more on one of two characters. But it took a left hand turn and that title just doesn’t fit. I think Cursed By Sylveth, which was the original title of The Turning Tide might work better, but not sure if that makes me happy. I will be trying to figure it out as I revise and then later when my betas read and tell me things.

I can go into more detail, but that might be spoilicious for The Turning Tide, so if you have questions, ask them, then I’ll answer them in a spoiler warning post. KK?

I am slightly better. Have managed some writing. Had to take a puppy to the vet today. He’s okay, but his foot’s sore. In a week we start heading for Oregon for our annual camping trip. Looking forward to it. Hope my neck/shoulder is better, and I hope i get all the work done that I need to before then. But in the meantime . . .

mela_lyn asked:

How well do you know your characters before you write? Do you do any kind of character study or discover them as you go?

I used to start out with some basics–characteristics, jobs, background, appearances, etc. The basics. And then I would usually have an image or idea for the opening, and I would have the plot sketched out. But to be honest, I was never all that familiar with the characters. I needed to write about them to know them and I wouldn’t really feel like I knew them until about 30K in. That meant a lot of time rewriting the beginning of the book, and a lot of time make false jets into various directions and feeling my way through.

Then with The Turning Tide I had to change that. I did a bunch of character interviews so that I could get acquainted better with my main three. Otherwise, I couldn’t even begin. I knew a whole lot more about them at that point and was able to jump in and hit the ground running. Because so much depended on character relationships in that book, I had to really know them and how they got along and what made them tick right from the beginning.

What about secondary characters? How do you know when there are too many?

So I’m not GRRM. I can’t manage a cast of thousands. Nor am I Charles Dickens. So here’s a story about Bitter Night. I had too many characters. So many that my beta readers and my editor couldn’t keep track of them all. Part of the problem was that I didn’t’ differentiate them enough. Part of it was that I made them all too visible. Sometimes a walk on character can be nameless and generally faceless. Stock characters–the butler, the servant, and so forth. So I cut a few characters, but more importantly, I cut names and individuality for some of them. That made the others stand out more and their individuality become more noticeable.

So I guess the answer to too many is this–do they serve a useful purpose–preferably more than one? Are they well differentiated? Do they pile up on one another and fade together? Can you remember which one is which if they walk off the scene for half a page? Could you have one do the work of three?

My feeling is to reduce them wherever you can and make the ones you keep as important as you can.

What’s the average length of a chapter? Is there an average length? How do you know when to stop?

I used to try to keep all the chapter lengths the same. I worked hard at it. And it was pointless and stupid. I mean, why? The chapters have to be as long as they have to be. I’ll admit I tend to avoid short chapters. As a reader, I don’t like the choppiness of reading them. But now for the hard question. How do you know when to stop? I have to admit that for me it’s more of a feeling. My chapters revolve around moments/scenes. There’s an action component in each chapter and an emotional component. When I feel that both have been satisfied, I move on. I try to have pithy endings or slightly clifhangerish endings to lead people on to the next scene. I have a tendency to use one point of view per chapter so if I need to change points of view, I’ll change chapters.

In the end, there’s a feeling when things are done and adding anything else will be too much. I guess that’s something I’ve learned about my own stories and probably the doneness factor is peculiar to me. Everybody’s doneness is peculiar to themselves. It’s a feeling you have to learn to trust, as well as a skill you have develop so that you can trust it. If that’s not too circular in the land of logic.

What was the best advice you received that’s helped you become a successful writer?

I’m not sure I can remember anything specific. But I think the main thing is to write. Don’t stop. Persevere. I think I’ve seen that in example from successful writers. They write through thick and thin, bad and worse, ups and downs. Keep writing. And keep learning. Keep developing your craft. You can always be better. Keep striving.