At last, the answer to NaNoWriMo hangover...

Operation Awesome has the solution to your NaNoWriMo hangover (i.e. the December after you wrote a novel in thirty days wherein all your love of the novel dims and you realize: I have to revise this thing before submitting!)...

New Year's Revisions Conference!!

For more details: http://operationawesome6.blogspot.com/2012/10/announcement-part-2-our-big-news.html

Story Analysis Time: Pride, Prejudice, and Romance (my notes from Sarah Eden)

If you remember from my notes on Sarah Eden's All You Need is Love... and some other stuff presentation at LDStorymakers 2011, she names Three Things You Need in a Great Romance. Today I'll pass along my notes on how this actually applies to a famous and classic story: Pride and Prejudice by Jane Austen.

1) Emotional Connection

a) Between the characters -1st sight, intrigued but slightly turned off. Darcy watches her, getting to know Elizabeth, trying to figure out why he's so intrigued by her. Elizabeth reads THE LETTER, and realizes she's misjudged him. They both help out each other's loved ones.

b) Emotional connection to the reader -we see Elizabeth's love for her sister, her wit and resilience, her intelligence. She struggles with her difficult relations. We see her rally after emotional upheaval. The reader connects to her because she's real and we like her.

Darcy is harder because we don't get his perspective. Austen has other characters give insight into Darcy.

• Bingley likes him, and trusts him implicitly
• Georgiana's story tells us Darcy is kind and loyal
• Generosity to Lydia and Wickham

2) Need Fulfillment

a) What Elizabeth needs in a soul mate:

• Someone she can respect
• Someone who is intelligent
• Someone with money (very practical need)
• Someone who is responsible and serious because she often is not
• Someone loyal, unselfish, and good

b) What Darcy needs in a soul mate:

• Someone who lightens him up, yet takes his responsibility seriously
• Someone strong to challenge him
• Someone who loves his sister
• Someone who sees the real him

3) Uniquely Suited to Each Other

Darcy and Elizabeth are the only ones for each other because:

• Everyone's intimidated by Darcy except Elizabeth. 
• No one is as smart as Elizabeth except for Darcy.
• Everyone is afraid of Lady Catherine but Elizabeth.
• No one likes Elizabeth's wild family, but Darcy still takes care of them.

What do you think? Other things that make Darcy's and Elizabeth's relationship unique in literature or life? 

This discussion opened my eyes about my own characters, since my main guy is a bit Darcy-ish on some level. I hope it reaches you in the same way and helps you to define what's unique and special and necessary about the romance in your story, whether it's the entire plot line or just a blip in your epic fantasy. Enjoy writing the kissing scenes. :)

P.S.es

• I'm over at Operation Awesome today talking about The Lonely Hero a la Dr. Who and passing along three giveaway links you won't want to miss (free books and critiques).

• Afterglow has had a lot of seriously booklove going on recently. Skip over there to see which books are leaving our reviewers with a delicious afterglow.

All you need is love... and some other stuff (notes on Sarah M. Eden's epic romance class)

First of all, if you're not already a fan of Sarah M. Eden, run--do not walk--to www.sarahmeden.com where you can get to know this charming lady and find out about her regency romances, like The Kiss of a Stranger, and one now firmly on my TBR list: Courting Miss Lancaster.

Her presentation was incredible! Funny, relevant, detailed, and eye-opening. I left with all kinds of ideas for making my contemporary fantasy's romantic plot line more real and intense.

So here are my notes, mostly taken directly from her Powerpoint presentation at LDStorymakers 2011 with a few of my thoughts or interpretations added in (you know how notes are).

Love is a universal human experience and emotion.
Love is a basic human need.
Love adds depth to any story.

In a Romance:

• the story question is ALWAYS will the couple end up together?
• the story question answer is ALWAYS YES!
• the love story is what drives the plot; it's never secondary to any other plot line.
• the romance is the POINT to the story

Common Romance Pitfalls:

• Love in a vacuum: no existence outside of the couple OR so much else going on that you lose the romance, like they're never actually together.
• Romantic tension relies too much (or entirely) on the physical (i.e. too spicy on the Sweet N Spicy Spectrum)
• Little or no romantic tension: either they're not together enough or they come together too fast, too soon and the rest of the story is saccharine. OR they're unlikable characters and we don't care if they get together. 
• Weak sources of conflict: what's keeping them apart is something a simple conversation could solve
• The love has no foundation: it's purely physical or they don't spend enough time getting to know each other.
• Reader doesn't care: Since romance is character driven, the reader must care about them.

Three Things Every Great Romance (or romantic plot line) Needs:

1. An emotional connection

• Between your characters: being hot isn't enough. Emotional connections require interaction/time.
• With the reader: strengths and weaknesses in characters, "realness." We need to feel like the heroine could be us or our best friend. And we need a reason to cheer for the couple (as individuals and together)
• Pitfalls this resolves: the love in a vacuum problem, readers not caring, cliché plot.

2. Need fulfillment

• needs can range from shallow to deep: a need to have an equal partner, a need to be loved, a need for companionship, a need for vitality and excitement
• the needs should complement each other so they aren't dependent but inter-dependent
• the deeper the need, the deeper the connection. Figure out what your hero and heroine need in a significant other.
• Pitfalls this resolves: the love in a vacuum problem, weak sources of conflict, cliché plot and characters, plot has no foundation
• what if their needs are in conflict with each other? Can they ever be together?

3. The couple is something to each other that no one else is (or can be)

• If their connection is not unique, it will lack impact and will not be satisfying for your reader.
• this is the reason their connection must go beyond love at first sight, infatuation, or physical pleasure.
• Pitfalls this resolves: romantic tension relies too much (or entirely) on the physical, cliché plot and characters, love has no foundation

I know these notes are never the same as actually attending the conference and hearing the connections our presenters make between each bullet and number, but I hope you found it at least half as helpful as I did. Next week, I'll bring you my notes from Story Analysis Time, which was a Pride and Prejudice chat at the end of Sarah's class--possibly the highlight of the whole conference for me. I love talking about Darcy and Elizabeth!

Until then, happy romance writing! And have a fabulous weekend!

Continuity in Story (more Larry Brooks notes)

Core Competencies

Yesterday I introduced my notes from Larry Brooks' 2-hour presentation on Storytelling and Concept. Today I've got a brush-through of what he's coined as the Six Core Competencies of Storytelling and more about story continuity. 

1) Concept: an evolution of your initial book idea. Concept is richer than an idea and interwoven with theme.


2) Character(ization): this refers to the character arc, the development of the hero through the story. Your character should evoke empathy in the reader.


3) Theme: what in your story points to the human experience, some universal, philosophical truth?


4) Story Structure: the linear, expository unfolding of story. Screen writers are awesome at this because the structure is rigid: 3 acts of story.


5) Scene Execution: is each scene written in context to the big vision of the whole story? Do you know the ending so you can allude all along to it with tight character and plot arcs?


6) Voice: this is the elegant writing we love to read and write. It is poignancy and metaphor and art, even if it's snarky and blunt. Voice usually determines your audience.


You know those books I was talking about yesterday with beautiful writing that made up for the loosely woven plot? They lacked story continuity. In other words, it's obvious when you read them that the authors didn't know the ending for the first half of the book. The ending suddenly came to them and they made it work, usually going back to add in foreshadowing and depth later. 


Writing this way can be difficult because Number 5, Scene Execution, requires a total vision. Otherwise you get scenes where the hero is wandering around looking for some way to solve his problem, or some side character stepping in and wasting the reader's time with something that has zero ramifications for the climax. 


Make the whole novel work with the ending so the reader doesn't get to the end and feel like she's just read two different books. Everything should point to the end: foreshadowing, character fears, symbolism, even the setting. Write every page in context to where the story is going and what it's really about (concept).


One more note about CONCEPT for those of you who read yesterday and felt my notes didn't really tell you how to do this:


Concept begs a question that people are dying to have answered. 
Frame your concept with a question that begins with "What if?"


I played around with this one-line-pitch style and had a heck of a time of it. It takes you a little bit out of plot (all the things that happen) and puts you squarely in the main conflict. 


What if a futuristic society split between a flourishing Capitol and thirteen emaciated Districts conscripts poor children to fight to the death gladiator-style for the entertainment of Capitol residents? What if your little sister was chosen to compete?


More on this two-hour class tomorrow. There was just SO MUCH good stuff! If you haven't already, follow his website, storyfix.com.

P.S.es


On Operation Awesome, Lindsay talks about too many great options in e-readers and compares it to the agent hunt with helpful links for agent research.


Afterglow contributor Kristine Asselin wrote her first review! You've heard of the movie Beastly, but have you read the book yet? Kristine makes a convincing case for why you should read BEASTLY by Alex Flinn.


And a tribute to the SHORT STORY on The Best Damn Creative Writing Blog called Why Write Short Stories?

Sarah M. Eden was one of the most golden finds at the LDStorymakers conference. I have notes from her class (All you need is love... and some other stuff) to be posted sometime in the next few weeks. But for now, I wholeheartedly recommend her website: http://www.sarahmeden.com/ She's posted the hilariously adorable videos she shared of her kids when she was MC-ing the conference. And Afterglow's Angie Cothran raved about Sarah's most recent book (The Kiss of a Stranger) on Monday. 

Writing Conference THIS WEEKEND!!

My first writing conference (well, in-person writing conference; August's WriteOnCon was my first) is this weekend! I'll be driving an insane number of miles and spending an exorbitant amount of money (to me). But I'm SOOO excited! I'll have the chance to meet (this is not a comprehensive list) Elana Johnson, Sara Megibow, Sara Crowe, and Larry Brooks!! And I'm going to live pitch an editor for the first time ever. So lots to be excited about!

There are plenty of things going on across the web if you're looking for some excitement this lovely Monday! I'll post several for your browsing enjoyment:

May's Mystery Agent contest (as of this moment) has 1 spot left, if you've got a completed novel ready to pitch in 25 words or fewer! Hurry! It'll go fast. But don't assume we're full. When we are, we'll close comments. Update: All 50 spots have been filled! Great work, guys! Thanks to all who entered!!

Nathan Bransford's got a very insightful How I Write post today that covers everything from frequency of writing to how he goes from high concept idea to full manuscript. As a former hotshot agent and current hotshot author, his take on this is invaluable!

Looking for an adorable picture book about imagination and magic? A Magic World is now available, ebook and print editions. I've ordered mine in print and can't wait to read it with my little guys.

Afterglow Book Reviews contributor Christine Fonesca is on blog tour for her new book 101 Success Secrets for Gifted Kids! I've read a preview and it's amazing! Your gifted child will so benefit.

Speaking of Afterglow Book Reviews, Anne Riley posted her raving afterglow review of DIE FOR ME by Amy Plum. While there, be sure to follow because we're going to have an ARC giveaway in the next few weeks that you won't want to miss. And if you're feeling the heartbreak, head over to Anne's blog to show your support after tornadoes hit everywhere around her home.

My love and prayers for all of you whose lives have been touched by recent catastrophes all over the globe.

My Urban Fantasy... nearly fulfilled

This has something to do with my story. Shiny Pretty. Pic from here

Thanks to a quick review of this quote from literary agent Jennifer Laughran, I'm officially characterizing my book as YA Urban Fantasy with sci-fi elements (but that second part only if you ask).

Initially I thought it would be paranormal romance, but the paranormal elements just became more and more fantastic and complex until the fantasy world separate from Earth became kind of an important part of the story. Integral, really. So now that it's about two worlds, it's firmly in the fantasy category, but there are still plenty of high-school based scenes on Earth, which would probably technically make it suburban fantasy, if there were such a thing. Whatever.

The point is I've categorized it! Yay!

And the other good news is that my 60,000-word finish line expanded as I hoped to 65,000 words once I added the details that were sorely missing. Still a few more lines of revisions to be done, but it's close. It's really close. I'm starting to feel like {warning: cliche coming} the end is in sight.

And just in time for the LDS Storymaker's Conference in SLC!! My first writing conference- Yay again! I've signed up for a pitch session with an editor, so any and all advice on live pitching is very welcome. It's a ten-minute session.

And it's a week and a half away!

What genre are you writing right now? 
And do you have any live pitching advice for me?

WriteOnCon is Live!! (and free, people. free!)

If you've managed to miss the widget to the side of this blog counting down the days to WriteOnCon, I'm posting a reminder:

WRITEONCON IS GOING ON!!

Sorry for yelling, but this is seriously epic! You simply must drop everything and check it out right now.

Try the main site WriteOnCon.com, but if that doesn't work (too much traffic, methinks), skip on over to Elana Johnson's blog where all the vlogs and articles are being posted until the site gets running again.

When the site DOES get up and running, simply register for free to take part in the forums, critiques, and chats. I'm very excited. Can you tell?