How do you revise?

With the June session of Camp NaNoWriMo under way, I've been working on revising last year's novel.  I decided that in June, my goal will be to go through the entire manuscript and mark up the changes I want to make.  Then in July, I will make the changes.  I'll also be working on some remaining research during both months, though I think that might fall more into July's to-do list.

Revising a novel is infinitely different than revising an article or a blog post.  For the shorter things, I tend to revise a bit as I go, and then give it one last read-through on the computer when I'm done.  With the novel, though, I'm starting out by doing it the way Stephen King suggests in On Writing -- reading through the manuscript, marking changes, and then making the changes once I'm done.  The only difference is that since I want to be able to work on it on the go, I am marking up the manuscript in a PDF reader on my Nook.  It's much easier than hauling around a 300-page manuscript!

I'm not sure yet how much I like the method, though, and I am still in the process of figuring out what works best for me.  Therefore I am interested in hearing from other writers: How do you go about doing revisions on a longer piece, such as a novel?

Trends in teen fiction

Any good writer knows that it's important to keep an eye on trends in the publishing industry. Whether you want to write articles, books, or anything else, it's important to know what is selling and what is not.

Here's a tip for anyone who is interested in writing young adult fiction, as I am: According to an article in yesterday's Denver Post, darker plotlines are becoming more common — and more popular — in teen fiction.

If you look at the most popular young adult fantasy, you can see this is the case: The Harry Potter series got increasingly dark as it went along, and then of course there was the seductive vampire world of the Twilight Saga. Philip Pullman's His Dark Materials was pretty dark, too.

As one commenter on the article pointed out, dark subjects aren't exactly new to teen fiction — authors such as Robert Cormier and books like Go Ask Alice tackled tough topics long ago. But I guess the point of the article is that these books are becoming more common in young adult literature than they used to be.

The implication is that teens these days are more interested than they used to be in darker, more adult subject matter. Thinking back on my own teen years, I think they always have been, actually, but when I was in high school we just moved on to adult fiction earlier. Perhaps young adult authors are simply finally catching on, and giving teens what they really want. After all, young adult is still a fairly new genre, so it makes sense that YA authors are still learning how to get it right!

Where do you get your ideas for characters?

I saw a really interesting story on NPR yesterday, about a performance artist who develops characters from grocery lists. Hillary Carlip hunts for discarded lists, and then — based on clues such as what the list contains, what it is written on, and the handwriting — she creates a character sketch of each. She also goes a step further, though, dressing up as these characters (and boy does she look believeable!).

I'll definitely be checking out (her pun, not mine) the book, a la Cart, but this story made me think of how fiction writers — myself included — get ideas for characters. I know that I am fascinated with people, and often draw entire characters from short glimpses of strangers on the street. People-watching for character ideas isn't a new concept... but grocery lists?

How do you get ideas for your characters?

Lots of science fiction story ideas here!

I ran across this article the other day about a spacecraft that just landed on Mars. As I was reading it, I started thinking about how many starters there are here for a good science fiction story or novel. Since I already have more story ideas than I can use, I thought I'd pass these on to someone else who can use them.

Things to take note of:

* NASA doesn't know the fate of one of the failed soft-landing missions. The article says they lost contact with it before it landed. A whole lot of what-ifs to play with there!

* It only took the spacecraft 10 months to reach Mars. I don't know about you, but that's a considerably shorter span of time than I would have thought. Definitely a feasible amount of travel time for astronauts or even colonists.

* In 2002, water — one of the supposed building blocks of life — was discovered below the surface of Mars in the form of ice. Life on Mars? All kinds of great story ideas there! Someone with a good imagination could find a way to do that in a way that hasn't been done before.

* Phoenix, the spacecraft that just landed, carries with it a DVD with a "library of science fiction and art, as well as the names of more than 250,000 people." The DVD is designed to withstand deterioration, presumably in the hopes that someone — or something — will find it someday. If some type of life form finds this DVD, I wonder what assumptions they'll draw about us as a people?

All kinds of fun you could have with this story!

The nicest form rejection letter I've ever received

I received a rejection letter today from Orchid, where I had submitted one of my short stories. Although it was just a form letter, it was the nicest form rejection letter I've ever received. Here's an excerpt:

Your story was carefully read. We're sorry to report that your story does not meet our needs at this time. We're writers, too, and understand the disappointment of rejection. Please keep in mind that we're all in good company. The average story is rejected 25 or more times before being accepted.

The letter goes on to list rejections of now-famous works.

This form letter was more encouraging than many of the scribbled personal notes I've received in rejection letters. Way to go, Orchid, for rejecting the work without rejecting the author!

Vacation inspiration

I've noticed a trend: Every time I go on vacation and get away from my regular freelance work for a little while, I come up with at least one (and usually two or three) good story or novel ideas. It's like taking a break from the less interesting work I do — and the stress that comes with it — opens my mind to more creative thought processes. As a result, I am returning from this vacation with as strong a desire to concentrate more on fiction as I've ever had.

This particular visit, I came up with three good novel ideas. All of them were triggered by something we saw or talked about while driving, and each blossomed into a full-fledged novel idea within a moments of the thought entering my mind. Being a good little writer, of course I jotted all of them down (I keep a notepad and pen in my purse for that purpose, among others). However, I can't help but think that I would really like to actually write the novels, rather than a few notes about my idea.

Inspired partly by my creative inclinations during this trip, and partly by my failure to even start my NaNo novel this year, I have decided to shift my focus somewhat. Although I can't afford to give up my freelance work entirely (and, anyway, I have several clients I wouldn't want to give up), I am going to change up my schedule a little to allow for an hour a day of writing fiction.

I've long thought that "whenever I have time" I'll work on some fiction at the end of the day. Something about that plan doesn't work, though, because I haven't written fiction since NaNoWriMo ended last year. So instead of placing my fiction hour at the end of the day, I'm going to do it first thing (well, after I get back from the stables). That schedule will ensure that I am forced to squeeze a little fiction into every day — not to mention it'll be a good way to warm up for my freelance work, since I'll start my workday with a little more enthusiasm.

At any rate, that's how I envision it working out. I'll let you know if it really works out that way.

Can you suggest some good fiction blogs?

Just a few days ago, I tagged the main character of my 2007 NaNo novel for the Random 8 Meme. (I'm working on the post right now, for those of you who were wondering.) Anyway, I was wondering if anyone knew of any similar fiction blogs? I thought it would be fun for "Lorelei" to tag eight other fictional characters, and get this meme circulating around the fiction blog world. Good exposure for my blog, too. :o)

Let me know if you have any suggestions.

Here's a nifty word meter!

When I participated in NaNoWriMo last year, I loved the word meter that was provided. It was linked to my NaNo word count page, so it always showed what I was currently at. I put the word meter in the sidebar of my blogs, and set it up so that it linked to my NaNo progress report. (Knowing HTML is a bonus if you do a lot of blogging and other online writing.)

I had thought that it would be pretty cool if I could find a word meter to use on projects other than NaNoWriMo, but until just the other day I had not found one. A day or two ago, though, I ran across another writer's website (albeit one that was apparently abandoned). Her website had a Zokutou word meter on it.

The Zokutou word meter is pretty simple, but it does what you need it to do. There are eight different color choices and a handful of different meter styles. The meter uses a colored bar to show how close you are to your goal, and posts exact word counts underneath.

These guys have also written what they call the "Zokutou clause" to NaNoWriMo. This is for previous NaNo winners who no longer need to prove that they can write 50,000 words of fiction in a month. If you would much rather finish a prior NaNo novel than start a new one from scratch, Zokutou supports your goal -- and they even give you buttons to display on your blog or website, just like NaNoWriMo does!

Announcing my new blog

I wasn't going to start my new blog just yet, but last night I had some good ideas for initial posts (while I was trying to go to sleep, of course). I jotted them down and wrote them up this morning (even though they aren't all dated today).

So, I'd like to announce my new blog, Lorelei's Lovers, and explain the purpose.

Lorelei's Lovers is a novel idea that I've had for some time. I've outlined, wrote a little bit here and there, immediately scratched everything I wrote, and decided to write it when 1) I have more fiction experience and 2) I have more time.

Well, over the last few months I've come to two realizations: 1) I am stalling and 2) I'll never have time unless I make it.

Specifically, I read a couple of books that all said the same thing: you have to publish your ideas when they are hot. Since Lorelei's Lovers is kind of a twist on a chick lit-style novel, I figured I'd better hurry up and write it. Also, after participating in NaNoWriMo last November and writing a novel in a month, I think I've refreshed my fiction muscles. After all, that's all I wrote in high school, and writing is like riding a bike -- you always come back to it.

So, although I've been planning on starting on Lorelei's Lovers for some time now, I'm hoping that starting (and announcing) the blog will force me to start on the novel. The purpose of the companion blog is to generate interest and, hopefully, to have a solid following by the time I finish the novel. (I got the idea for a book marketing blog from Richard Hoy of BookLocker.com.) I have a big project I'm working on for a client right now, but I'm anticipating to start working on the novel in 3-4 weeks.

The companion blog is entirely fiction, and entirely Lorelei's. In other words, "I," Katharine, am not going to talk at all -- I'm going to let Lorelei do all that. Don't think of it as a preview of the novel, though, but a companion to it. You'll see what I mean when I finish the novel.

I hope you'll check out the Lorelei's Lovers blog and let me know what you think!

Sans Michael

Tonight will be the first night I have spent apart from Michael in almost two years. Michael is away on a business trip for the next few days, and it feels very strange to be alone in the house -- even stranger still to think of going to bed alone, waking up alone, and eating my meals alone.

I've been planning to use this time to get a lot of work done. Michael has proved time and again to be an irresistible distraction when I am supposed to be working, so I figured several days without him would be a perfect opportunity to work ahead a little.

Now, I'm not so sure. Dropping Michael off at the airport was much more upsetting than I had imagined -- I teared up when we said goodbye, and actually started crying when he called me ten minutes later to say he'd gotten checken in. When I got home, I didn't feel like doing much of anything: I went outside with the dogs, ate a snack, found the webpage where I could track Michael's flight, and finally settled in to read for a little while. And that's how I've spent the last few hours.

I'm feeling a little better after having read for a while. I'm hoping that I'll be able to shake the gloomy feeling off after a little while and get down to business, but I decided that if I need to take tonight as an "adjustment" period, I might as well let myself have it. After all, I'll have plenty of time to catch up.

I have some goals that I am hoping to meet while Michael is away, of course. I have several projects that I would like to knock out: book reviews, personal essays, (paid) blog posts, and several pages of web copy. More importantly, though, I've decided that it's high time I start pursuing my fiction aspirations again. My goal is to either 1) dedicate a couple of hours each day to writing some fiction, or 2) get everything else done so that I can dedicate an entire, uninterrupted day to fiction. I haven't decided yet which plan is the better one, as they both seem pretty appealing.

Well, I'll post again later and let you know how I'm getting along!