TCWT December 2014: Learning from the Masters

Tags

a tale of two cities, blogging, brian jacques, c.s. lewis, charles dickens, dee henderson, fahrenheit 451, g.a. henty, irene hannon, j.r.r. tolkien, lord of the rings, madeleine l'engle, ray bradbury, redwall, sir arthur conan doyle, story dynamics, teens can write too blog chain, the silmarillion, writing

We’re back again!

I am so sorry, I’m posting this a day late. I had planned to schedule it, but… well, let’s just say that though I know better than to excuse myself to my instructors at college, you guys might actually forgive me if I say that work and college conspired to destroy ANY plans I had for this week. AT ALL. Also, late happy St. Nicholas’ Day and on time happy Feast of the Immaculate Conception!

I know it’s been a while since I posted for the Teens Can Write Too blog chain, but I had good excuses. Crazy college and a new job made me take a hiatus from blogging for a while. I kind-of almost want to change to a history major, but I’m going to hang on with what I have now–I figure that if I want a history degree later, I can get a history degree later by transferring credits and attending part-time. Besides, I don’t think you need a degree to go to history conventions and get in on that conversation. History people are awesome.

Well, that’s enough about that.

On to the prompt!

Over the years, I have learned a lot, mainly by following the example of other authors. Remember how there’s that annoying little thing where your writing tends to mimic the style of the last author you read? Well, that’s part of it. But only part of it.

From The Lord of the Rings and the Redwall series, I learned about style and pacing. In Redwall, the style is very concrete, and the pacing is quick; when you get to the crises of the books, it’s a hard-hitting series of events leading rapidly up to the climax. The Lord of the Rings is paced slower and has a bit more of an ornate style. I have had my style compared to Tolkien’s *glares at Iris, sitting in the audience*, but I tend to prefer Jacques’ pacing.

From Irene Hannon, Dee Henderson, and Sir Arthur Conan Doyle I learned the value of not broadcasting your plot twists all over the place. Normally I have intuitions about whodunit, but in these cases I could not see the villain until he was right in my face. Genius.

From G.A. Henty, I learned that it’s okay to take detours. (Okay, Tolkien does that too, but I read Henty first.) Adding in side plots to prolong a quest+character development for side characters=an equation for 300 pages of a good read. (Don’t hate on me. 50k is all well and good, but I like books that are 150k or 200k, even. I read The Lord of the Rings in nine days straight and actually finished reading The Silmarillion.)

From A Tale of Two Cities, I learned the value of keeping up with history and using a cultural and historic background to my advantage. Realism is the name of the game, and while you’re simulating realism, it helps to be knowledgeable about the real history behind it.

From Fahrenheit 451 I learned the importance of keeping calm through criticism. (Don’t ask me how; that’s just the lesson I took away from it. I pick up on odd things sometimes.) I’m not used to being criticized in a negative light. If you’ve been reading my blog, and especially the comments on the posts, it’s only been once or twice that I haven’t received abject praise. I don’t know if that’s because I’m good at what I do or if I have a feel for what my audience likes or if they just can’t find anything to criticize. But it’s hard to be criticized since I’m so used to praise. I just have to find out what’s relevant, and not let the rest get to me.

From C.S. Lewis and Madeleine L’Engle, I learned that it’s okay to write the tough books, the ones that might get you hated on. You might be shocked to see how much criticism gets to me, even if you’ve known me forever, but I learned from reading Lewis’ and L’Engle’s works that you have to just kick fear in the teeth and write it. You’ll be surprised by how much support you garner.

You have to write the book that wants to be written, and if it’s too difficult for adults, write it for children. ~~ Madeleine L’Engle

5^th – http://thelittleenginethatcouldnt.wordpress.com/

6^th – http://nasrielsfanfics.wordpress.com/

7^th – https://erinkenobi2893.wordpress.com/

8^th – http://introspectioncreative.wordpress.com/

9^th – http://semilegacy.blogspot.com/

10^th – http://kirabudge.weebly.com/

11^th – http://whileishouldbedoingprecal.weebly.com/

12^th – http://randomosityofeden.wordpress.com/

13^th – http://musingsfromnevillesnavel.wordpress.com/

14^th – http://www.alwaysopinionatedgirl.wordpress.com/

15^th – http://www.juliathewritergirl.wordpress.com/

16^th – http://miriamjoywrites.com/

17^th – http://horsfeathersblog.wordpress.com/

18^th – http://unironicallyexcited.wordpress.com/

19^th – http://theboardingblogger.wordpress.com/

20^th – http://stayandwatchthestars.wordpress.com/

21^st – http://unikkelyfe.wordpress.com/

22^nd – http://fantasiesofapockethuman.blogspot.com/

23^rd – http://lilyjenness.blogspot.com/

24^th – http://oliviarivers.wordpress.com/

25^th – [off-day]

26^th – http://butterfliesoftheimagination.wordpress.com/

27^th – http://missalexandrinabrant.wordpress.com/

28^th – http://www.pamelanicolewrites.com

29^th – http://jasperlindell.blogspot.com.au/

30^th – http://maralaurey.wordpress.com/ and http://theedfiles.blogspot.com/

31st – http://teenscanwritetoo.wordpress.com/ (We’ll announce the topic for next month’s chain.)

Oh, are you still here?

I apologize again for posting late. Don’t stick around here, though! Head right over to the next blog and don’t miss out on their post!

Thanks for reading, and God Bless!

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Making Promises (And Breaking Them)

Tags

battlefield of the soul, c.s. lewis, fahrenheit 451, pet peeves, ray bradbury, the chronicles of narnia

Once more, Erin has returned to make her comments on writing, editing, and society in general. This time, I want to talk about the promises we make while writing. Liam of This Page Intentionally Left Blank commented on this in his posts Squids, on how if you do not keep the unspoken promises you make to a reader the reader will be mad at you, Chapter Promises, in which he states that every statement that ends a chapter is a promise (that the story will continue to follow along the line it takes at the end of the chapter), and Promises, about breaking faith with a reader. I am commenting on a similar phenomenon: unresolved promises. This is partly to address the phenomenon of unfinished, partially-posted fanfics that are then abandoned, temporarily or (gasp!) occasionally permanently (sadly, I’m partially guilty of this–I still haven’t worked on Battlefield of the Soul any time recently!), and partly to address the disturbingly common problem of loose ends in popular fiction.

It could only happen on the internet. A story is being posted serially. Maybe it’s not even fanfiction (though this occurrence is the bane of the fanfic realm.) It gets abandoned, or left on a permanent hiatus. This really, really annoys me when something like this happens, and even more so when it’s an original story that’s been left hanging. I can understand why someone would need to stop writing fanfiction for a time (maybe even permanently,) but I can’t get why someone would start posting an original story, poetry series, whatever, and then suddenly stop writing it.

I’m sorry, people, but this is majorly taboo. If you post something that’s a promise that you will continue to post it until it’s completed. (My bad on Battlefield of the Soul, people.) It’s not a spoken promise, it’s an implied one, but that doesn’t make it any less binding. So… FINISH WHAT YOU’VE BEGUN! If you’re just going to abandon it, why in the name of purple pickups did you start to post it?! People are just going to hate you for stopping.

And now, for the other problem.

Mystery promises resolution. To give any less would be to short-change one’s readers, alienating them in the process. Too often, authors leave ends untied and lying around. Untidy, and it bothers me.

For instance, there’s the matter of Clarisse in Fahrenheit 451, by Ray Bradbury. We never learn what really happen to her. The author stated in the commentary on the play and movie that he feels he should have specified in the book that she joined the refugees in the hills, as it was specified in the stage production.

And then there’s a similar instance in The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe, by C.S. Lewis. Lewis noted that he had received many letters from his readers, wanting to know what happened to the party-goers whom the White Witch turned to stone. He wrote,

I assumed that my readers would think that Aslan changed them back, as he did with all the other stone animals. I guess I should have written it into the story.

Save yourself from regrets, my fellow writers, and check your writing for loose ends. Your audience will thank you in the long term, no matter how annoying this may be in the short.

Thanks for reading, and God Bless!

Never Tell Me the Odds

Tags

author, completely random posts, confusing nonsense, contrast, explosion, flame it, insanity, j.r.r. tolkein, long rants, madeleine l'engle, rambling musings, ray bradbury, small rants, star wars, story dynamics, the silmarilion

Han Solo quote aside, just… don’t. They can be helpful, but statistics are also a nuisance. (Did I mention that the title is also the best Han Solo quote EVAR?!)

And then there are other things that you should never tell an author. Here are a few pet peeves (my own top ten):

10.”Oh my **** that’s so cool! What do you think about… {insert name of random celebrity who I have, honest to goodness, never heard of before}?” Or, “Sure, that’s nice. Do you mind getting more napkins?” Excuse me while I’m sick.

9. “So, you write novels all the time?” Sorry, no. I would love to, but there’s real life. Oh, and the fact that there is such a lovely thing as a short story. (Partial to Ray Bradbury, myself.)

8. “I can draw the illustrations for you if you like.” Er… ever heard of an author who does their own?

7. “Have you ever considered writing Amish fiction?” *facepalm*

6. “Have you ever considered writing about vampires?” Ewwww.

5. “Have you ever considered writing children’s books?” Gah. Should be the first consideration, to my mind. To quote Madeleine L’Engle, “You have to write the book that wants to be written. And if the book will be too difficult for grown-ups, then you write it for children.” Children believe better than adults, and aren’t going to laugh at you if you believe too.

4. “Are you getting this published?” Well, first and foremost, I write for myself. If other people like my stories, then that’s great, and yes, I will consider publishing. If not, I have lost nothing at all.

3. “I tried writing once, but I didn’t like it.” Do or do not. There is no try. If you are a writer, you will write, fair or foul, like it or not. Even if you just spend hours typing and erasing, that’s still progress. People who just give up are wimps.

2. “I might try writing some when I retire.” Seriously?! Everyone can write, if they try. This does not necessarily mean they will be good at it. That takes hard work, and a casual little moue like this indicates to me not wanting to really try. Even then, though, some people just (ultimately) can NOT write. This is why there are ghostwriters. Believe it or not, Miley Cyrus and all those bands don’t actually write all their own songs!

1. Don’t just make assumptions and randomly compare their work to the work of a published author, especially an uber-popular one. Some of us lesser-known authors have very strong likes and dislikes, and don’t care at all for Harry Potter, Twilight, The Hunger Games. Not that I have any dislike for any one of those in particular (never having read them), but, just for example. 😉

And, worst one of all time…

0. When someone tries to talk to you about a book you have never read that is really ultra-popular, completely ignoring that you just said that you liked The Silmarilion just two seconds ago!!!

Okay, rant over. You can go about your own lives again now. ;-P