Friday, September 30, 2011

The Myths About Co-authoring


Lindsay and I have a unique and amazing situation.  We think alike, have similar writing styles, and the same affinity for edge.  It is a seamless relationship that has worked pretty flawless for us so far.  Because of this, I get a lot of questions about co-authoring and how it works. I thought I would address a few here.  

The YA contemporary piece I want to write is too big of a project for me alone so I was considering taking on a co-authoring.  Ahh . . .yeah . . . no!  Co-authoring is not something you jump into because the scope of your manuscript is so broad you need a second brain to sort out the plot.  Narrow your focus, get yourself a couple of good critique partners, plot, outline, erase threads if you have to, but don’t expect another writer to come in mid-way through and sort things out for you.

I was thinking of taking on a co-author because writing is such a lonely task for me.    Co-author or not, writing is a lonely task.  Your muse solely resides in your head; he’ll bug you in the middle of the night, in car pool line, on your Friday night date regardless of whether or not you have a co-author.  Reach out, network with your fellow writers, join a critique group, but don’t take on a co-author just to have a writing buddy to talk to.

I think it would be fun to toss ideas around with a fellow writer, so I am in the hunt for a co-author.  Oh, its fun alright . . . so long as you are both on the same page.  Co-authoring is a melding of two minds and two writing styles.  When done right the reader shouldn’t be able to tell who wrote which part.  When done wrong or when one author has a completely different vision for you characters, you can end up with an emotionally charge heap of crap.

If I take on a co-author I can finish my project twice as fast.  Whoa hold up there a sec.  First off writing is a process not to be rushed through and writing with a co-author is no exception.  Period!

So you and Lindsay are tied to each other forever.  Yes and no.  We have a go-author agreement that spells out the all the details regarding any joint project and we do continue to write as a team.  But, we each have individual agent contracts, and we both write independently of each other as well.  I, for example, write a fair amount of YA contemporary; it is my first love and one I will continue to write regardless of how successful our joint projects are.

You and Lindsay must spend a crazy amount of time together. Nope . . . never met the woman J  LOL.  We are not college roommates, or PTO cohorts, or even drinking buddies.  I live on Cape Cod; she lives in Chicago.  Physical proximity in not a requirement to the co-authoring process.  We did, however, have a great deal of experience with each others writing BEFORE we became co-authors.

 So there you have it.  If you have a question I have not answered, feel free to ask!

Tuesday, September 27, 2011

Ladies and Gents...We have a Winner!

Thank you all SO MUCH for entering, retweeting and blogging about the 300 followers contest that Lindsay and I hosted!  We did indeed hit 300 and even surpassed it.  Next up?  500 followers.  Let's hope we get there sooner rather than later:)



Congratulations to ...

BESS WEATHERBY!! Yippee!  Bess, shoot Lindsay an email lindsayncurrie@gmail.com and let us know your mailing address so Lindsay and I can ship off your goodies:)   We can make your critique arrangements then as well.  Thanks and congrats!!

Back tomorrow for a proper post.  Have a great day guys!

Thursday, September 22, 2011

300 Follower Contest!

Would you believe that both myself and my writing partner, Lindsay Currie, are both incredibly close to hitting 300 followers?  Yeah, I know - I was shocked too!  Shocked and grateful.  So, I'm going to keep this short and sweet today. Lindsay and I would like to ring in 300 followers with style.  We're both still a handful away, but were hoping you guys would help AND are proposing a little contest for fun!  Here's how it will work:

1.  Be a follower on both our blogs and leave us a comment and let us know you want to be part of the contest.  

2.  Last but not least, here's the part where you help us!  Use any social platform to help us achieve our goal of 300 followers.  If you tweet about our blogs, great!  Tweet and add it to your blog sidebar or feature our blogs in one of your posts - even better!  Any way you choose to help us will get you into the contest:)  Lindsay's twitter ID: @lindsayncurrie   Trisha's twitter ID:  @tleaver  Just don't forget to comment on our blogs so we know you're in!

Now, on to the good stuff.  The prize.  Come Monday,  Lindsay and I will go through both of our blogs and generate a random winner!  (the oh-so-advanced random generator will likely be one of our children pulling a name out of a hat BTW.  Yeah, we're technological like that).  

The winner will receive a 3 chapter manuscript critique and a query critique...not from one of us, but from BOTH.  Two sets of eyes.  Two sets of comments.  Also, if you'd like to get more than just our feedback, we're willing to put your query up on the blog for our daily readers to comment/give feedback on.  In addition to the critique, you will receive some writing essentials swag from both of us:  
Trisha survives on a combination of chocolate and caffeine and will ensure that you have a basket of those delivered to fuel all of your writing/revising needs!  And, isn't that mug adorable? You need this basket of goodies:)
Lindsay relies on hordes of journals, highlighters and index cards when she's writing or editing, so she'll stock your writing area with them!  And, since Fall is here tomorrow,  a mango-peach candle and pumpkin shaped stress relief ball are perfect writing companions:)  
 
So, you on board?  We'd love to pass 300 and would love celebrating it with you guys even more!

Wednesday, September 21, 2011

A Glimpse Inside My Mind

As writers, I think we all strive for the same thing -- creating a world for our readers to slip into, one that they feel a part of and never want to leave.  I want my readers to scream at my MC's and get frustrated with their situation.  I want them to laugh right long with them and feel the same gut-wrenching pain when they fails.  To do this, it's essential that I create multi-dimensional character, one that is a product of not only their history, but of their present situation. They have lives, and friends, and families.  They feel, fear, pain, joy, anger and an overwhelming sense of responsibility -- and sometimes all at once.  They are truly a crazy mix of fatal flaws and beautiful hope.  To create these amazing characters is not easy.  It requires a lot of pre-planning, and in my case, one archaic character map better know an "my mental whiteboard"

My mental white board is a source of constant amusement for my writing partner, Lindsay.   When I am playing connect the character dots or trying to add a new thread, she will often chuckle and tell me to flip the board back a week or two to see what I've missed. As irritating as her suggestion is, it is surprisingly accurate!  I simply shuffle whiteboards  . . . toss one to the back while bringing another forward.  I have one for each of my characters, each of my manuscripts, as well as for those works I am critiquing.  I don't know how I keep them all straight --probably heavy doses of caffeine and an insane need to compartmentalize!

She asked me once what my character map for our MC, Jake, actually looked like.  It took some time, but I think I've created a rather accurate rendering for her to view.  Here it is!  It may not make any sense to you; but to me, it contains all the information I need to create a fully fleshed-out character.

Monday, September 19, 2011

An Indescribable High

This past Friday I finished a set of revisions to a YA contemporary manuscript I've been working on for the past six weeks.  This book has plagued me for the better part of a year. It's been tossed around to critique partners, hacked down to bare bones, and built back up, only for me to do it all over again.   Even when I put it aside to work on my Spec. Fiction pieces, it festers in the back of my mind, egging me on, daring me to make the characters stronger, more flawed, more complex. And now  it's done, officially revised to completion . . . for now anyway!

The best part?  Saturday morning I climbed out of bed and got to write the first word, of the first sentence, in the first chapter of a brand new YA contemporary.  Starting something new, knowing that I have a new set of characters leading the way is an indescribable high for me.  In fact, it may just be better than coffee!

Tuesday, September 13, 2011

Who Are You Writing That Book For Anyway?

I’ve been known to insert an expletive here and there when I am critiquing YA manuscripts.  Not because their manuscripts have me slamming my head into the desk with the perpetual comma splice or flowerily prose. Nope, rather it because there are certain scenes, certain characters that call for a bit of edginess and their manuscripts fail to deliver.  And God knows I love me some edge!  This usually incites a conversation about why they have purposefully avoided the edge. The most common response:

“I am not opposed to it, but what if my mother, or my neighbor, or the PTO board at my preschooler’s school reads it?”

My usual response:  “Who the hell are you writing your book for anyway?”

Now, please, don’t get me wrong.  I have no issue with writers who, because of their own convictions and/or feelings about the edginess of some current YA books, purposefully, with masterfully crafted intent, avoid this type of content.  Fantastic, ten points for you!  What drives me insane is writers who hold back their characters emotions, tailor character responses out of fear of what some random parent, most who are not even in your target market, will think. 

If your character needs edge, then give it too him.  If he is stuck in the bowels of the earth, surrounded by ash, facing down his knife wielding, demonized best friend, then I doubt an “oh golly gee” is going to work.  So write the book you want to write.  Give your characters the personality they demand.  And the hell with worrying what the apron-wearing mom who sells cupcakes at the school bake sale thinks about your occasionally use of the f word.

Sunday, September 11, 2011

Just Breathe

I have a bit of a compulsive personality.  I thrive under pressure and tend to be a bit of a perfectionist. I can maintain a high-level of activity for insanely long periods of time, and then I crash.  For example, I am currently revising a WIP, am 20,000 words away from completing my 2nd co-authored work, have three critique projects going, and am fleshing out a new YA contemporary idea.    I also have three kids (in three different schools), a husband who commutes bi-coastal (from California to Cape Cod), one irreverent dog, and a kitten who insists on fleeing every time I open the door.  I am a soccer coach, the Vice President of the PTO, and the advancement coordinator for my son’s Boy Scout Troop.  I DO NOT have a cleaning lady, I run carpool twice a week, and I have teenage daughter who thinks my sole purpose in life is to supply her with endless wads of cash.  Let’s just say, every once in a while I have a melt down – full on three-year-old type temper tantrum . . . as was the case yesterday.  The cause of my most recent descent into hell was not a stumbling block in my revisions or even a power surge that erased half of my documents.  Nope, yesterday afternoon at exactly 3:07pm I. Ran. Out. Of. Coffee.

My husband, after wisely securing an industrial size container of my favorite brew from the local warehouse store, very sweetly suggested that I turn my computer off, not write, or email, or even check blogs for the rest of the weekend. I grumbled, rattled of all the things I had to get done, then reluctantly agreed.  And instead we went out to dinner and the movies, sans kids.  I slept in late and took the kids out for breakfast rather than cook. We went to the village festival and let my five year old daughter ride the pony seven times while my son learned how to juggle.  I didn't complain about the lines or the three snot-nosed kids who kept cutting everybody else.  I let my kids eat ice cream and fried dough and what looked a lot like a hotdog.  I didn't even freak out about the lack of hand sanitizer at the petting zoo or ketchup stain on my son's white shirt.  And tonight, we ate dinner from a box, no fresh vegetables, no silverware, and soda instead of milk. 

And I am better for it!  Why?  Because my mind is now clear, my focus stronger, and my WIP's will be better because of it.   

So what's the moral of this story . . . hmm, perhaps a break from writing is sometimes a good idea, gives us writers a chance to recharge our muse.   Maybe, or perhaps it is just to always buy coffee in bulk!  

Thursday, September 1, 2011

Parental Controls -- The Conversations your MC will Never Have!


I’ve been doing a lot of critiquing lately, primarily in the genre of YA contemporary.   I am averaging three to four manuscripts a week and have started to notice a distinct pattern – PARENTS. All in heavy doses, and all extremely supportive.

You all know my sentiments on parents and the purposeful insertion of moral lessons into YA literature.  If you don’t, take a look at last week’s post No Preaching Allowed.  But I am not here to reiterate that post, rather speculate as to why me and my fellow CP’s are suddenly seeing the insertion of June and Ward Cleaver into nearly ½ of the books we are critiquing.  For what it’s worth, here’s my take on it.

In the last couple of years, we have seen the emergence of a new phenomenon – the crossover novel.  A significant portion of YA sales are being tracked to the 25+ crowd, a population that has survived the tumultuous teenage years.  Add in the fact that the YA genre is seeing an explosion of new authors, a lot of whom are in that crossover age bracket, and I think we've found the problem. We, the authors, possess an unfortunate amount of hindsight.

Hindsight is fantastic when you are thirty-something and trying damn hard not to repeat the idiotic mistakes you made as a youth.  It’s what makes me fill my tank every time my gas gauge goes below a quarter of a tank.  It's what prompts me to drink liquor before my beer and never leave the house without makeup.  What is doesn’t give me is license to inject my clear-headed, rational thoughts into the out of control life of my MC.  It does not give me the go ahead to insert my opinions into the novel via supportive parents.  And it sure as hell doesn’t give me the right to treat my MCs with kid gloves.

Do my Mc’s make heinous mistakes?  Absolutely; in nearly every chapter.  Do I want to reach out and slap them, scream at them to just stop and think?  You bet.  Do a make a conscious effort to rein that urge in? HELL YES!  Why? Because being a teenager is messy business. Sure we all got the parental talk about sex, and drugs, and drinking and driving.   I got it on both ends – parents and Catholic School.  But not once did anybody ever talk to be about what to do when your boyfriend of two years gets drunk at a party and decides to play a little game of Russian roulette with his father’s police-issued pistol.  I never heard the conversation about what to do when the girl who sits next to you in Chemistry class is no longer there, her brother having gotten drunk that weekend, wrapping his car around a tree and killing his only sister.  And I sure as hell never got the lecture on what to do when your best friend decides to get pregnant rather risk losing her boyfriend to some college girl three thousand miles away.  

These are all things your teenage mc’s have to struggle through themselves.  Let them!  Let them grow, and learn, and fall flat on their asses, but please, please don’t let their parents swoop in and make everything perfect!