Ten Word Tuesday - Change

Change - mandatory for stories but fervently avoided in real life.

How Can You Tell You're A Fan?

First off I'd like to say a big thanks to Elana Johnson.  Being a part of The Great Blogging Experiment was fun and I got a ton of people stopping by to comment, so that was also awesome.  Count me in anytime, Elana.

If you haven't been a longtime follower (and welcome to all of you who recently joined), I'm a huge fan of Jamie Ford.  Ever since I picked up his debut novel Hotel On The Corner Of Bitter And Sweet, I've been following his blog, keeping track of what he's up to, waiting anxiously for his next book to come out.  I had the honor of actually interviewing him a while back and found out what a cool guy he is, good writing aside.

I missed the opportunity to get my copy signed when Jamie came through Denver, and I've been kicking myself ever since.  You can imagine my excitement then, when I read he's coming through once more on Nov 6th.  I double and triple checked his schedule to make sure I wasn't reading it wrong, but he is set to be at One Book Broomfield in Broomfield, Co (a burb on the outskirts of Denver).  He's hosting a Writer's Workshop (which hopefully I can manage to attend) and a author talk/book signing that evening.  I WILL be at one or the other.

Oh damn.  Then I remembered something very important.  Nov 6th is my wedding anniversary.  Yep, 18 years ago I asked (surprisingly I didn't have to beg) and she said yes and we're still happily together.  So my wife and I were laying in bed watching TV and I casually slipped it into conversation.

"Hey hon, I need to ask you a huge favor.  And feel free to tell me if you'd rather I didn't go.  Jamie Ford is having a book signing in Broomfield.   You remember, that awesome author I interviewed a while back?  It's on our anniversary hon, but it's the only time he's going to be here."

(Smile lovingly and hold my breath)

I got it all out in one quick breath rather than give her tons of time to think it through.  I mean, it's our anniversary.  I could see her calculating just how important it was to her.  Her eyebrow raised, and I'm sure she was deciding how hard it'd be to get me committed.  Or killed.  Finally she said,

"Well, since it's not our 20th, I suppose you can go.  As long as it's not all day long.  And you better have a really large diamond prepared for my finger when the 20th does come around."

I nodded like an eager puppy.  Anything you say, baby!  Yeah, my wife loves diamonds and I do my best to keep her happy with 'em.  It's easier than trying to afford the cherry red Corvette she'd rather have.

How can you tell if you're a true fan of an author?  When you're willing to risk life and limb from a spouse to attend a signing.  Yep, I guess I am that big a fan.  Anyone else done something similar to see their favorite author?

Great Blogging Experiment - Writing Compelling Characters

I know it's Friday and that usually involves nonsensical fun, but Elana Johnson has inadvertently interrupted the schedule with...

...The GREAT BLOGGING EXPERIMENT!

It's not too bad though, because while we won't be laughing at insane cats (okay, I couldn't resist the picture) or watching cool book trailers, we will be discussing cool writerly things.

So what is the Great Blogging Experiment?  Basically there are a ton of bloggers who are putting up posts about a particular topic, and the interesting aspect of this is seeing how everyone addresses the same idea.  To paraphrase what Elana's already said, it's probable that all these posts will be different because all the bloggers are different.

The question posed is this:

How do we write compelling characters?


While there are general similarities I think everyone could agree on, there is an aspect of this that depends on the writer.  What is compelling for one person may not be for another.  For example, I enjoy everyman characters that find themselves in extraordinary circumstances.  I like initially unremarkable individuals that become (or reveal themselves to be) quite remarkable as the story progresses.  When I choose a main character (or they choose me, to be honest), more often than not these are the types of characters that appeal.


What I have at that point however, is a vision of the character in my head.  The character is compelling to me, and it's my job as a writer to bring this character to life such that everyone else finds them compelling as well.  How can I do this?


The first (and most important) thing to do is write the character as honestly as possible.  When we're describing a good friend to an outsider, it's human nature to leave off the traits that others might find less than appealing.  We sometimes paint a picture colored with a rosy shade rather than a vision of stark reality.  In our writing however, we must earn the trust of the reader by keeping the writing honest and real.  Our characters therefore, must be three dimensional and we have to expose their bad traits as well as the good.  It is this practice that allows the reader to trust that everything we tell them will be honest, real, and worth reading.  As they get to see the character through our eyes, the same facets that make them compelling to us as the writer will make them just as compelling to the reader.


The second thing is to give this character something to be involved in.  A story about someone who sits in their living room watching soap operas all day (even if written honestly) will not be all that compelling.  Our readers want to see something happen.  Take that character out and let them walk through the world, experiencing things, solving problems, discovering life.  Whatever the story is, the character needs to be actively involved.  They need to be an integral part of what is going on, even if it's a scene where they are not present.


The third thing to do is to change this character.


Say what?  Did he just say what I thought he said?  I just created this honest, real character, dragged him out of the house, made him walk down the path, and now he wants me to change things around?


Yes, that's exactly what I'm saying.  Your perfect three dimensional character needs to change over the life of the story.  Speaking as someone who has almost hit his 40th year, I can tell you that everyone changes.  Whether we realize it or not, whether we admit it or not, every person changes over time.  This ties into the first part regarding keeping things honest, but if you want your reader to buy into the fact that this is a real person (or alien, or kid, or vampire), you have to keep them real throughout.  This means they need to be changed by their experiences, impacted by decisions they make, affected by the world around them.


There are many more ways to make characters compelling (and I'm sure my fellow bloggers will highlight other things, go check each of them out), but these are the top three as far as I'm concerned.  What are your ideas on making characters compelling?  What else should I have mentioned?  The comment box is open.  And everyone go have some ice cream.  Consider it a celebration of Friday.

Blog Chain - I'm Dead? Damn...

This blog chain round is brought to you by the devious Shannon, who evidently is wishing dire consequences on all her fellow writers.  Consider this evidence:


Imagine this: when you're gone, readers will remember your writing most for just one of these things: your characters, your plots, your settings, or your style. Which one (only one!) would you prefer over the rest? Why?




What did we blog chainers do to you, oh Shannon the wise, to deserve a premature death?  It must have been that fruitcake I sent last Christmas.  I swear they promised it would arrive fresh and tasty, so I don't know why you had such a debilitating reaction.


In any event, I will answer this interesting question regardless.  I suppose I should feel a bit morbid thinking about my own demise, but I'm fairly matter-of-fact about it.  I'm a firm believer in the idea that everything happens for a reason, including the end of all that is me.  But should such a travesty occur, what impressions would I want to leave behind?


Though I am as of yet unpublished, I expect (barring a random bus accident or falling off a bridge) that I will attain that goal sometime in the near future.  And with that, I'm hoping my words will reach more than ten people (not counting family, of course).  So if I have to pick just one thing I'd want those ten people to remember about me as a writer, I'd have to go with memorable characters.  Part of that is because I struggle to make my characters realistic, 3 dimensional beings, and being remembered for that would mean that I have succeeded in not only creating fully-fleshed out characters but also memorable ones.


I also am thinking about books that I have enjoyed thoroughly, and it really hasn't been the settings or plots or even style (though this is something I do like alot also) that I remember most.  It is the characters that an author creates - both good and bad - that stay in my mind long after I turn the final page.  Emulating these lingering tendrils of memorable personages is a worthy task and one I work at constantly.


Well, I've ranted long enough.  You needn't worry;  I'm sure the epitaph on my tombstone will be much shorter.  Something along the lines of, "He lived.  He died.  Play some AC/DC in his honor."


If you didn't get a chance to see the awesome Sandra's take on things, head on over here.  And Michelle Hickman's inspiring post on the subject will be up tomorrow.

Ten Word Tuesday - Absence Of Mind

Losing your mind will only matter if you miss it...

Watching A Revised Bit Of History...Completely Unaware

I was browsing through the DVDs at Walmart and saw a movie I had not seen for a long time.  The film is Where The Red Fern Grows and it is based upon an awesome book (of the same name) written by Wilson Rawls.  More often than not, movies made from books are terrible, but this particular one was exceedingly well done back in 1974.  Though I didn't recognize the images on the cover, I remembered enjoying it very much when I was young, so I picked it up right away.

As we gathered around the television - my wife and I relishing sharing this experience with our boys - my wife and I were confused because we didn't remember the people in the movie nor the images being displayed.  It was still an enjoyable movie however, so we chalked it up to fading memories from times long past.

After the movie was over (my wife wiping away a tear or two, no not me, I didn't cry.  I swear), I looked up the movie on IMDB and was surprised to find out the version we had just watched was a remake done in 2003 (as you can see in the two images here):

Now if it can be truly said that movies made from books are usually terrible, remakes of these types of movies are even worse.  I was pleasantly surprised however, to find that this remake was decently done, and neither of us had even noticed the difference until it was all over.

If you have never had the pleasure of reading this book (I will be heading to Amazon to find another copy right after this), you really need to pick it up.  And if you've not seen the film, I can honestly say either version does a decent job of portraying an excellent story.  The earlier one is probably the better of course, but the one created in 2003 wasn't bad at all.

What I enjoy most about movies like this is how well the author's voice resonates in this alternate medium.  Sure, there's an actor (Kris Kristofferson in the new version) speaking the lines, but the honesty and heart of the words speak louder than the person mouthing them.  I'll take a good book over a movie any day, but I can't ignore how movies like this seep into my bones and grab the writer within me.  It's similar to how the movie Stranger Than Fiction inspired me to pick up the virtual pen and become a writer again after years of absence.  Much like a good book will cause my soul to soar, movies like these have a similar effect.

Do you ever feel this way about certain movies or songs?  Do you seek them out from time to time as I seem to do?

Friday Funnies - Mommas and Poppas

Being the family man that I am, the badge I proudly wear is that of Daddy (though of course my 16 year old hasn't called me that for some time now;  "Can I just call you Dad now?").  So this video cracked me up big time.



For all you other Dads out there, feel free to replay it and sing along (or rap along, as the case may be).

Now, I know the majority of my followers are women and a great deal of you are Moms.  Don't worry, there's a new anthem for you as well:



I have to hand it to these people.  They did a pretty good job of turning these popular songs into hilarious alternate versions.  Made me laugh a bunch, anyway.

Have a nice weekend everyone!

Feeling a little better

Thanks everyone for hoping I would begin feeling better.  It must be helping because I actually am.  Or possibly it's because I'm nuking this damn thing with killer medicine.  I usually avoid taking any medicine at all, so when I do take any, it's pretty potent.

I'm a big fan of not taking medicine.  I'm a believer in the idea that our bodies have a great capacity for healing themselves.  Yeah, sometimes I have to suffer through a few aches and pains, but I do believe I'm healthier for it.  I don't take flu shots and the fact that they have to keep updating them for virus mutations tends to support my beliefs.  In fact, the worst case of sickness I ever had was after I got a flu shot once.  It might be coincidence, but I don't think so.

What does all this have to do with writing?  You know I always have to tie everything here into a writing post (since I haven't had any good writings of my own to share for a while).  As I ramble on here, I am thinking about beliefs.  I have pretty strong beliefs in general, and I tend to stick to them like glue.  What about the characters that I write?

I was going to say that all main characters need to have a belief system, but I deleted it.  That's not an accurate statement.  There are some characters that do have strong beliefs.  Their journey in the story might therefore involve figuring out how to fit in the larger world beyond themselves, given their belief systems.

Then there are characters who really aren't sure what they believe in.  These are actually my preference.  Their journey will most likely involve figuring out what to believe in and why.  This might not even be a conscious journey, but one they make without knowing it, until they find themselves changed at the end.

Do you think about the belief systems of your characters?  And how do you show that in your writing?

Blog Chain - Exploring The Genres

Not even illness can keep me from posting a blogchain entry. I'm committed, dangit (or at least I should be).

This round's question comes from the ever-talented Margie who asks:

How did you come to write your YA genre (e.g. contemp, fantasy, etc.)? AND (yep, it’s a 2 parter), if you weren’t writing that, what genre would you be interested in exploring?

Like my predecessor Sandra, I don't think I write YA (nor do I think I could).  The biggest problem for me is that I don't really know what genre a particular tale might be in.  If it's obviously sci-fi or fantasy or horror, I'd probably be able to tell.  But despite reading many posts by other bloggers on the subject of genres, I still don't have a clue.

To answer the question however, it's probably safest to say I like to write thrillers with a paranormal twist set inside a horror background.  Oh, and throw in a few mythological creatures for good measure.  Okay, I have no idea what genre I am writing in, but I know what it isn't.  I don't write romance or historical fiction.  I don't think I have what it takes to write the former effectively (without it becoming sappy or turning into softcore porn), and the latter would scare the crap out of me because of all the required research.   One of the best benefits of being a storyteller in a made up world is I get to make all the rules, make up all the background, and ignore reality (to some extent anyway).

As for the second part, I've gotten some really good ideas from some of the other chainers.  I could see myself writing something in a Western setting, though like the Dark Tower style.  I don't know if I could write it as a straight Western though - gotta have something out of the ordinary.  I could also see myself composing a tale in a Steampunk reality, though the research devil rears its ugly head there.  I haven't written any fantasy stories since I was much younger, so that would be fun too.

If you haven't checked out what the incredible Sandra has to say on the subject, get on over there.  And the awesome Michelle Hickman will be presenting her thoughts tomorrow.

Ten Word Tuesday - Illness

Illness is God's way of saying, "Hey, slow down dude."

Missing On Monday - Feeling Sick

I know I said I would be posting more often, but unfortunately my loving wife has seen fit to share her nasty cold with me. Yeah, nothin' better than second-hand cold between loved ones.

Anyway, I will be posting tomorrow (since it'll be my turn on the blog chain), and I need to do a Ten Word Tuesday as well. I haven't done one of those in a while either. Since I don't have a bottle of Jack Daniels, I'm going to go find some cold medicine somewhere 'round here and go to bed early. Thanks all for stopping by.

While you all have your pens poised, can anybody write me a new ending to this tale of illness? I'd be most grateful :)

Thursday Thoughts - Sunrise, Sunset

If you've never seen or heard this song from the musical The Fiddler On The Roof, you've been missing out.



This video is from the film version, and the entire movie is easily comparable to any stage performance of this same story that I've ever seen.  In fact, The Fiddler On The Roof is one of best performed musicals on film ever IMHO.  Okay, stage performances have their own type of intensity, but this film is one that I regard just as highly.

If you listen to the words of this particular song however, you'll understand how I'm feeling lately.  No, I don't have any adult children getting married, but I do feel like the days, weeks, months, and years are flying by.  This is further emphasized by the fact that it's been a week since my last post and I hadn't even realized I'd let the time slip past.

I was thinking about this concept of time flowing past quickly, and I realized it would be great if I could continually capture that idea in my writing.  I don't mean that stories need to rush the reader along, but I think we can all agree that stalling the movement of a story is bad.  And since our lives generally keep moving along (whether we notice the passage of time or not), our stories should probably do the same thing.  This is not to say that there aren't moments in our writing where the pace should slow for a bit to savor a scene, but on the whole we need to keep things moving.

It's funny that we often try to create these worlds that are completely different from our own (especially those of us writing fantasy or sci-fi) and yet it's absolutely necessary that we include the same basic framework from our own realities.  I guess there actually are some universal truths, one of them being the unstoppable passage of time.

On that note, I'm going to get back to working on things.  But when was the last time you noticed the passage of time (either in your own life or your writing)?  And how do you deal with it?

Back In Town

The title is a bit misleading, since I really haven't traveled anywhere.   But I was on a leave of absence of sorts from blogging.  I don't know exactly how much I got accomplished, but do we ever get everything done we'd like to?   Probably not.

In any event, you can expect regular posts from me once more.  Thanks to Cassandra Jade, I had the opportunity yesterday to be a guest on her blog and she on mine.  That's a first for me, and to be honest it was both fun and daunting.  Let's face it - blogging on the page of a published author is awesome, but it also left me hoping that my words would be good enough.  Cassandra has a pretty big following (for good reason), and I was hoping to do her page justice.  Judging from the comments though, I guess I didn't do too bad.

I have a four day weekend coming up, and I'm hoping to take at least one of those days and spend it working on revising my short story.   It actually felt good to do some revisions a little while back, because I could see the story becoming clearer.  It's pretty cool when I feel like I'm making good progress on my skills as writer as opposed to feeling completely lost (like how the classes in my Masters degree program have me feeling lately LOL).

This is a short post, but I'll try to put up something more fun tomorrow in celebration of Friday.  As Michelle McLean shows each week, each Friday should be filled with fun.

What writerly things are you going to do this weekend?  Think you can squeeze in a paragraph or two, revise a passage here or there?

Guest Blogger - The Characters Inside by Cassandra Jade

Note from Eric:   I've had the lucky opportunity to be a part of Cassandra Jade's blog tour (the first person, no less).  I can't tell you how cool this is for me, not to mention the honor of having a writer like Cassandra gracing my blog.  She even allowed me to put up a post on her blog, so you can check out my post here.  Without further ado, heeereeeeee's the talented and awesome Cassandra!

I want to firstly thank Eric for hosting me today and officially launching my blog tour. I’ve been reading Eric’s blog for some time and really love his candid nature as he discusses his writing journey.

As the title suggests, today I am writing about the characters that dwell inside all of us, whether we write them in to life or let them languish in forgotten corners of our minds. I know there are many writers that dispute the idea of characters creating themselves but it often feels like characters find us.

Where do they come from? Probably from hours upon hours of subconscious thought, putting together attributes and ideas before our conscious mind pays any attention and so the character creation process is probably still taking place but without really thinking about it. But these characters spring to life and then they want us to tell their story.

And they all have a story.

I think that’s what I like about characters that seem to simply appear rather than the ones I laboriously construct. These characters have depth and layers that if I was creating a character from scratch on paper, my creation just wouldn’t have. They have backgrounds and likes and dislikes and motivations that I wouldn’t consciously have thought of but these characters come along and just want their story told.

Maybe these are left over imaginary friends from childhood, but somehow I doubt it.

The problems really begin after these characters have been floating around inside your head for awhile. Getting all of the many attributes that you know and love about these characters onto paper becomes difficult and no matter how you write it, they never seem as alive as they did when they were inside your head. The other problem, is after you’ve been writing them for awhile, they seem to exist outside of you and aren’t really bouncing around anymore, clamouring for your undivided attention. And I am all too easily distracted by the next character that comes along.

Other problems arise when you create a character that you don’t personally like. While these characters are sometimes fun, when they are bouncing around your head they can really make you want to delete them.

There were definitely moments when writing Death’s Daughter that I really disliked my protagonist – and mostly I was supposed to dislike her – but sometimes it made writing a scene hard as I would have her say something and then flinch, wondering why I would have her say something that horrible.

So the question for the writers out there is this: Do you have characters inside of you? If yes, what do you do with them?

Cassandra Jade is a fantasy writer from Australia. You can visit her blog at: http://cassandrajade.wordpress.com

Her first novel, Death’s Daughter, is available from Lyrical Press.

Blog Chain - Challenge Yourself

It's blog chain time and guess who is starting off this round?  You'll never guess.  That's right, writer fans.  It's your friendly neighborhood Spider...er...I mean little ol' me.  So jump on the crazy train (queue Ozzy Osbourne music) and ponder these questions:

What do you find to be the most challenging aspect of being a writer?  What is your greatest reward from writing?

For me, the most challenging aspect is finding time to write and actually starting to write.  Once I get going and my fingers are typing away, I get lost in the story and everything flows pretty well.  But at the moment I'm juggling about a thousand different balls and writing is but one small part of that.  I haven't yet figured out a good way to balance them perfectly yet, but my life is a work in progress.  Hopefully with a happily ever after ending.

The greatest reward I get is when I'm in the groove, the words are just flowing along, and I feel like a writer.  Like when I look back at a particular phrase or scene and I can honestly say "Oh man, that's awesome."  That's when I really feel good about being a writer, when the words are dripping from my virtual pen like sweet honey straight off the comb - or like acid dripping from the fangs of a xenomorph.  It just depends on what I'm writing, though the latter is more fun.  Yeah baby, that's when all the planets are aligned and everything is good in my universe.

Now I'll pass the torch to the ever-awesome Michelle H., who should have her answer up tomorrow.  But feel free to tell me your thoughts in the comments.  What are your challenges and rewards where writing is concerned?

Blog Chain - What The Heck Am I Doing?

As you can tell from the lack of posts this week, school is demanding the greatest portion of my time right now.  With that in mind, I'll be mostly unplugged this month as I try to catch up.  Sorry, but working my way through this current class has me feeling really thick-headed and slow, and I don't have much mental energy for anything else.  I'll be back in Sept though, starting with a guest appearance on the 1st by the talented Cassandra Jade (and I'll be posting on her blog that same day).

Today's blog chain query however, comes from the funny, the inspirational, the awesome writer Cole.  She asks:

Are you querying? Gearing up to go on submission? Writing? Revising? I'd love to hear what's new with you. And if you'd like to share a snippet of your WIP, even better!

I'm nowhere near ready to query or submit anything, and I've stopped writing new things due to time constraints.  So that leaves only revising (which you can tell how much I love it from previous posts).  It's a fairly slow process for me, both because of how little time I have to spend these days on writing as well as how hard it is for me to revise.  I see all the things I need to fix when I'm looking at a piece, but figuring out what fixes it is always a long process.  Still, I do enjoy when I have trimmed off excess or changed wording and the sentence comes out better.  The end result is worth the headache.

Below is my snippet, and for anyone who wants to give feedback here, my goal during these revisions is characterization, characterization, characterization.  One of the resounding themes during the critiques was the lack of description and characterization in my writing, so I'm attempting to combat that as best I can.  Enjoy, and don't feel like you have to say fuzzy bunny comments if you don't like it;  I got the flame suit on ;)


“This can’t be it”, Jeremy said as he looked around. The street was empty, other than a rusted orange Volkswagen on blocks. Hairs on the back of his neck stood out as he felt someone watching. Jeremy examined the building’s covered windows, sheets of plywood and scraps nailed up haphazardly across them. The front door was grimy, the dirt-brown paint peeling, but it was accessible. Shrugging off his uneasy feelings, Jeremy knocked on the door. It opened a moment later without a sound.


He looked in, feeling very uncertain. Beyond the entryway was a front desk of sorts, reminiscent of an old hotel. The ceiling and stained walls were engulfed in cobwebs and a thick layer of dust lay over everything.

“He..hellooo?”

“Come in and have a seat.” The dulcet tones contrasted against the dingy interior before him.

Jeremy couldn’t see who spoke, but the voice compelled obedience. He took a step in, grimacing at the dust swirling around his badly-shined shoes. Jeremy didn’t want to make a bad first impression, but there was no way he was going to sit down here.

“Ahh, there you are.”

A woman entering the room captured his attention immediately, and he couldn’t help but stare. She had long dark tresses that fell past her waist, caressing an hourglass figure. Her sky-blue eyes mirrored the iridescent dress she wore, and the hue of her skin was like a barely ripened peach. The neckline plunged dangerously low, threatening to spill its contents at any moment. Jeremy tried unsuccessfully to keep the flush from his face, hoping the woman wasn’t a mind reader.

“Uh…yeah…I...I’m here to apply for the…a…the job”, Jeremy said. “I mean, the IT position.”

“Of course you are. Follow me please.” Spinning on high heels, she turned and led Jeremy through a door. A cheap folding table dominated the center, with three chairs positioned behind it. Jeremy stumbled as he noticed all three women. They must all be related, he thought; the resemblance between them was unmistakable. The woman in the middle identically mirrored the first blue-eyed beauty, but one generation older. And the matronly woman on the end continued the trend. He nearly fell into the chair.

“Anything wrong, Mr. Franklin?” The coarse voice reminded him of an elementary school lunch lady.  How appropriate, he thought.


So that's a glimmer of what I'm working on.  If you didn't get the chance to read Sandra's post, head on over there.   Tomorrow we'll all get to see what Michelle H. is up to.

Friday Fun - The Right Word

One thing I mentioned yesterday was that I hate revising because it bugs me when I can't find the right word.  When you find the right word, everything flows and you feel it.  It's like an electric current running up your hands and arms from the tip of your pen.  Today's Friday though, so I'm not going to dive into a deep discussion about this.  Instead I'm going to share a song and video with you that completely personifies the idea of choosing the right word.



Can you imagine how much work had to go into crafting the lyrics for that song?  That would have seriously driven me crazy.  It's one of my favorite all time songs though.  If you've got any other examples of something like this, feel free to share in the comments.  And have a great weekend everyone.

Blog Chain - The Revisionist

Before I plunge into today's blog chain, I owe Abby Annis an apology.  She is holding her 200 Followers contest and I didn't post about it.  And it ends soon.   I'm sorry Abby, but here's me making up for it.  Don't take me off the Christmas card list.  I really am an avid follower of your blog.  Almost stalker-like even.  Oh, and thanks for changing the color of the drapes.  The old ones were really horrendous.

So for the rest of you, if you haven't popped in to Abby's blog lately, you need to hustle on over.  She has over 200 followers for a good reason, and she's celebrating by giving away some awesome stuff.  The winner will receive books, some awesome pens, and a journal to use them in.  Does it get much better than this?  Well okay, a publishing contract worth 2 million would be nice too, but let's not get greedy.  Get over there and enter the contest right this second.  The contest ends on the 31st, so you don't want to miss out.

Today's blog chain question is brought to us by the incredibly talented (and recently agented for her book Revenant) Sarah who asks:

How do you handle revisions? Do you revise as you're writing, or do you wait until you've gone through beta readers and crit partners to revise? How soon after you finish do you begin your revisions?

Okay, this is a question I have been dreading, as I watch all the others on the chain explain how they do it.  This is one of the problems with being the newbie.  It just sucks because everyone else seems so cool by comparison.  Sigh.  Yeah, I know I shouldn't do comparisons.  Hard habit to break, but I'm workin' on it.

Revisions are the devil.  They're a demonic gatekeeper, laughing as they toss the key to publication from hand to hand, knowing full well you'll never pass their test and be allowed into the light.  Wow, that's dark.  Sorry.

So how do I handle revisions?  As I write, I struggle with word after word, my brain refusing to acknowledge which one might be right.  I have really had to work hard to turn off my internal revisor (and sometimes I'm even successful at it) so that I don't revise on the fly.  When I catch myself going back over a sentence, I have to mentally smack myself.  Leave it alone for now, I tell myself.  Yes, it sucks right now, but leave it alone.  I'm not always able to shut it down, but I'm getting better.  The electro-shock therapy works wonders.  And no I haven't noticed any side effects.  Side effects.  Side effects.

Oh, where was I?  Revisions.  Right.  I recently took a short story class and I was the first person to submit my story for critique.  This was when I really got a taste of why revisions are necessary.  The class tore my story to shreds (virtually, not literally) and well they should have.  Let's face it.  My story was a first draft and it sucked.  Well, it didn't suck, but it was definitely not good.  I took everyone's advice though and put it (and the critique comments) to the side for a while.  I then helped critique everyone else's, learning all the while how the things I were finding in other people's story could help me improve my own.

Now I'm revising the short story and I'm glad I took the pause and let it sit for a few weeks.  I am seeing not only things I can do better, but I'm also seeing where I can add to the story to help flesh it out properly.  My revision process is still a work-in-progress, but I have learned alot just from the answers everyone else has given on the chain.  Like the practice of laying all the critiques out side by side as I revise.  Great idea.  I still have a bit of work to do before I can say I have a concrete revision process, but the one thing I can admit is that this question has given me some really good ideas (from the other blog chainers).

Wow, I made it through this one.  Why was I dreading answering it?  Who knows.  You should probably go check out how Kat handled it.  And make a note on your calendar to stop by Margie's blog for her take on the subject.

Dungeons And Dragons - Character Traits

Before I jump into today's topic, there's a bit of housekeeping stuff I need to attend to.  Alex J. Cavanaugh is celebrating 200 followers and he's holding a contest for it.  I only recently started following Alex, but I'm a big fan.  Check out this trailer for his book CassaStar:



If that doesn't get you excited about the book, I don't know what will.  I'm seriously hyped to pick this one up.

The reason for today's title isn't to show off my geek card (though I do have one, in solid gold no less).  One of the blogs I follow had a post a while back that got me thinking about character traits.  I tried to remember who it was, but I honestly don't know (so if it's you, please accept my most humble apology for not giving credit where credit is due).

Now for the uninitiated, here's a quick glimpse into what DnD involves. The Gamemaster (GM) is a storyteller, and he tells how the player characters got where they are. Each player has a character they have created (on paper), and they are usually focused in a specific direction. For example, there may be a party composed of a warrior, a bard, a priest, a mage, and a monk. The player characters (all sitting around a table) then listen as the GM unfolds the story and they walk their characters through the GM's world, fighting, saving people, obtaining treasure, and making choices. This is an extremely simplified view of things, but hopefully you get the idea. If you're a DnD vet or just interested in learning more, my friend Matt Conlon has a great DnD blog you should check out.


Back when I was an avid DnD gamer, I was part of a group that had an extremely talented (GM).  He was very creative, and he would challenge us to make the characters we played more realistic.  So before one session, he wrote random character traits (faults, actually) on note cards and had us pick one.  They were things like drug addiction, alcoholic, uncontrollable temper, easily seduced by women, etc.  We were then expected to incorporate these traits in how we managed and played our character.  Some of the players didn't like the change, probably because they just wanted to go kill stuff and loot treasure holds.  Looking back though, this was one of the most fun sessions I experienced.
 
I believe my particular character got the fault of being an alcoholic.  This meant I had to make sure he always had alcohol on him and that he was always drinking.  It also meant minor to severe negatives during combat, depending on his level of inebriation.  It was a lot more difficult to play, but it made my character that much more real.  And it challenged me to literally step into his shoes for a bit.
 
I am in the process of fixing a short story, and the biggest thing I have to fix is characterization.  On my first draft, my characters were flat.  I was using amateurish tricks to liven them up, but I recognize now (thanks to my critique partners in the short story class) how flat they are.  Thankfully a friend has offered to help me out a bit, since some of the characters are mythological and I need more knowledge in that area.
 
Remembering that DnD session though, has put me in the right frame of mind for this.  One thing that does make a character more real is quirks, traits, or faults.  Now I'm not saying I'm going to randomly assign my character to be a drunk, but I am trying to once more step into someone else's shoes.  Is my character rich?  Are they poor?  How does that affect their psyche?  What about my mythological immortals?  How does living forever change their outlook, and what habits have they picked up?  All of these questions (and more) are running through my mind, and I'm hoping my previous DnD experience will help me answer them. 
 
In your writing, are you asking questions about your characters?  Do they have traits you haven't yet identified?  And how will you include hints of them without stalling the story?

Ten Word Tuesday - Expectation of Brilliance

Waiting for brilliance leaves you staring at an empty page.