Mental Disconnect

I seem to have a disconnect lately, one that is driving me absolutely insane.  I have a thousand ideas swimming around my head, all of them vetted and passed by critique partners.  I have narrowed it down to four possibilities and have begun to mentally hammer out the plots for each of them.  Problem is, I can't get the words from my head onto the damn paper.  I have been working on the same two chapters for the same two books for the better part of the weekend.  And you know what -- it still all sucks.

So I am off to play in the dirt.  I will weed the garden, harvest the strawberries and plant the cucumbers.  Perhaps the change in scenery and a bit of fresh air will unlock the words. 

Ohh . . . and here's to hoping I don't get eaten by the big black bear that is lurking in the woods behind my house.  I know, funny because we live on Cape Cod, and there hasn't been a bear sighting here in centuries.  Literally centuries.  Guess the little bugger hoofed it down from Western Mass and swam across the canal only to take up residence in the woods behind MY house.  Fantastic!  Flipping Fantastic!

Writing What You Want vs. Writing What You Should

I was out for drinks last night with a friend of mine.  She went through the standard haven’t-seen-you-in-a-while litany of questions – How’s was your vacation? What are your plans for the summer?  Have you read Fifty Shades of Grey?   You know – all the stuff girlfriends talk about. Then she hit me with the big one: “What are you going to write for me next?”  I found myself speechless, staring at her as my mind drew a blank.  She laughed, citing how she found it amusing that had no problem talking about the indecencies of one Christian Grey, but when asked a run-of-the-mill question about writing, I floundered.

Here’s the problem: There is the book I want to write, and then there is the book I should write.

I am not talking trends; I am referring to tone and theme.  My passion is emotionally-driven YA contemporary.  As a well-trusted writing friend of mine once said:  “You don’t build relationships.  You take existing, fully-functioning relationships and tear them apart, toss you characters into a pit of despair  just so you can rebuild them.”  In a sense, she is not wrong.  The problem is, there is a narrow niche for that type of book.

Which brings me to the book I probably should write – the lighthearted YA contemporary that is infused with humor and a ton of awkward firsts.  I have thought about it, even have the plot worked out and the character set to roll.  I even went so far as to get the green light form my agent.  I could write it, probably have a decent first draft done by the beginning of July.  Problem is, I’d hate every second of writing it.  Let’s face it, those of who know me and/or writing can say without any reservation that I don’t do peppy or hopeful well;   desperate and despondent is more my style!

Now let me say if first because I know you are all thinking it.  You should write the book you want to write. And I agree, but . . .

Revising Vacation Style

Taking a break from mid-vacation revising to show you why I love it here in Savannh so much.  Hope you all had a fantastic holiday.

This is what I want to do - take pictures of all the amazing wildlife down here.

I have named him Ted.  He pops up from the lagoon to sun himself every afternoon around two.

Bald Eagle in my parent's back yard

Egret . . .  they are everywhere down here. 

And this is what my kids want to do!  They are winning the battle.  But I can't complain; there is nothing like sitting by the pool working on revisions!



Wandering Mind

I'm going home, folks, for three weeks.  Starting next Wednesday, this is where my mind will be for nineteen straight days:

This is where my mind is now:

This is where I NEED my mind to be for the next five days!

Yeah . . .  just yeah!

Ground Your MC

It has been awhile since I have unleashed on of my snarky rants.  But it's Monday   . . . and  . . . well it's Monday.  Now before you read further, please remember that this is READER TRISHA not WRITER TRISHA who is expressing her opinions here.

I love layers in my characters.  I love writers who get that people/ characters don't exist in a neatly sealed box, that their past and present always collide, forcing them to make some horrendous decisions.  I love mystery and action.  In fact I crave it, need some something to propel me to turn that page and exclaim holy crap.   I thoroughly appreciate the need to set seeds and thrive on a good game of literary connect-the-dots.  
What I hate is getting it all at once!

I don't want nor do I need to be introduced to thread after thread  in the first twenty pages. No matter how well written, no matter how important you think those ten pieces of back-story, those five extra characters and those twelve tiny hints are to your plot, if you toss that at me all in the first two chapter, then and suffice it to say I'll get confused.  (and a tad bit pissy)

It's not good if I am two chapters in and still wondering if your MC is dreaming, awake, high, or just one fucked up human being.  I don't want to have to guess if your plot is set in the present or the future. I don't want to have to remember seven character names in the first five pages or try and keep their back-stories straight.   And I sure as hell don't want be guessing at the gender of your MC. 

As a reader, I need you to ground your MC.  I need a firm grip on setting.  I don't mean I want an elaborate description of the color of the falling leaves or the missing shutter on the third window from the left.  What I mean is a concrete sense of time, place AND tone.  Start there, then add the threads.  You have 250 some odd pages to develop your character.  Use it all.

That One Perfect Line!

We all have our favorite lines -- ones that encapsulates the entire theme of the book into one fantastically written sentence.  If you are like me, then you find them rattling around in your head for weeks, months, even years after you've read the book.

“Because this is what happens when you try to run from the past. It just doesn’t catch up, it overtakes … blotting out the future.” ~Sarah Dressen, JUST LISTEN


“Scars have the strange power to remind us that our past is real.”  ~Cormac McCarthy, ALL THE PRETTY HORSES


"It was a bright cold day in April, and the clocks were striking thirteen."  ~George Orwell, 1984


“The only way out of the labyrinth of suffering is to forgive.”   ~John Green, LOOKING FOR ALASKA

It's easy to point to these out in other people's work.  As writers we appreciate, even savor that truly awe-inspiring sentence and find ourselves dumbfounded by the profound depth they convey. What I challenge you to do is look at your own work and find that one sentence that brings your character, your tone, your entire manuscript to life.  I guarantee it's in there, that awe-inspiring sentence that has you saying "Shit . .  I wrote that?"  Then share it here for the rest of us to marvel over!  And as encouragement, I wil throw myself out there with some of my own lines.

 "The darkness would've scared me years ago, but not anymore.  If you couldn't see it, then you didn't know it was there to be afraid of."  ~SILO

"I knew that look in his eyes, knew it had nothing to do with pity or even anger.  It was haunted hope -- that shaky belief that I'd be alright when every experience he'd ever had screamed otherwise." ~ INSIDE OUT 

 "It took me a few minutes, but I finally grasped what this tiny dark room actually was – one fucked up way of sending a naughty child into the corner, complete with locks and sensory deprivation." ~LEAVING EDEN

My Shiny New Toy

Here is is.  The shiny new toy I have been waiting weeks to play with.  It is nothing more then a stack of blank paper clipped together, but it has been calling to me for weeks, begging me to scribble on it.  

With all my current WIP's in their requisite places,  I can now pull out that empty, white sheet of paper and start tossing out dialogue, themes, character names, everything I will need to create my next YA contemporary.

It has been over a year since I started on a fresh YA contemporary idea, and I am freakishly excited to start churning out a new one, to tap back into all those wondrously horrid teenage emotions. So here's to plain white paper, a fresh idea, and raging teenage hormones!