Quis Leget Haec Crapus?

My goals for 2009 were as follows:

Number One: Polish Lawgiver and submit it to agents.

Number Two: Finish The Mercian Quarter (27 K so far)

Number Three: Continue to learn and get better at writing.


Number One: I did a lot of polishing of Lawgiver, but it's not ready for submitting to agents. I need to redo the second plot, the one that is set in the future/present. It was suggested that I keep to the past, the historic plot of Lawgiver, and let it stand on its own. But I think that if I can get both plots polished, it'll make the story simply awesome.

Number Two: The Mercian Quarter needs to be re-structured and rewritten. If it happens, it's not going to happen this year.

Number Three: I do believe that I've learned quite a bit. Some of the things I've learned:

I need more conflict and conflict of all kinds. Higher stakes, more interpersonal conflict, conflict within every scene.

I need more emotion in my scenes. Emotion that the characters are feeling. Emotion that connects the reader to the character. I think it's been there, but it's been hidden, too subtle.

I need more structure in my stories. Toward that end, I've read Save the Cat, a screenwriting book, and I've found www.storyfix.com, which translates the ideas from screenwriting story structure to novels. I've developed a Blueprint that seems to be working fairly well with my nano story.

So that's how 2009 went. With the holidays, I'm thinking about 2010 a little more. And I'll probably come up with a short set of goals for next year, too

It's Agent Appreciation Day across the internet, and let me tell you, I sure appreciate my agent, Holly Root.

You see, I used to have a not-so-good agent. One who didn't talk to me and ignored my e-mails and couldn't get the names of my books straight. I thought good, wonderful, OMG-perfect-for-me agents were for other people who were living the dream. So when Holly and I found each other, I was a little like my friend's ex-stray dog who thinks eating garbage is a way of life. (Okay, I wasn't that bad...)

Holly's awesome. She answers my e-mails, and with real answers about what's going on with my books. I'm not afraid to e-mail or call her any time, and she always sounds glad to hear from me. I can't tell you how many times I've been having a long, wonderful conversation with her on the phone, laughing together or speculating on the future, but expecting to get rushed off any minute now or grumped at for taking up so much of her time. But I think all my agent mates will agree that that would be so not Holly! She's always there to talk to me, and it's never a chore or a waste of her time.

There are a lot of ups and downs in publishing, but Holly makes them all sound like ups. She can put a positive spin on anything and always makes me feel like I rock and am just teetering on the verge of world domination. (She knows me so well, lol!) She *gets* my books, my voice, and my sense of humor, which are all very important to me. I know she's always got my back if trouble comes up, or even if I just imagine that troubles coming up. Now that I'm working on a new project, I'm getting to see that Holly is there for me every step of the way, from going over book ideas, and updated book ideas, to reading first pages.

A good agent has such a huge role in making a good book a publishing reality, I can't even tell you. I knew they did more than just make deals, negotiate contracts, and count their money, but I had no idea how important they were every tiny step of the way. Whether it's helping me figure out my next project, hooking me up with wonderful editors, negotiating contracts, answering my questions about publishing, life, the universe, and everything, squeeing over my book cover with me (yes, I did call her to squee), delivering bad news and making it sound like the best thing that ever happened to me, or just updating me on what's going on with my books--I honestly don't know how I'd do it without her.

So, in honor of Holly, I have ripped off composed this short poem:

Agents are sharks,
authors are blue,
book deals are sweet,
and so are you.

Thank you, Holly, and all the other wonderful agents out there who are there for their authors every day. YOU rock, and I'm pretty sure you're the one teetering on the edge of world domination.

Originally published at Chelsea Campbell.

A lot has been written on dialogue. I've even written a little bit, myself, but apparently not enough for a whole post.

This link was tweeted and I loved it:

http://www.sterlingediting.com/dialogue-its-not-just-what-you-say-an-exercise/

You can get across how a character is feeling by describing what they're doing, how they're standing and what they're saying non-verbally. Someone who's clenching her hands is angry, because that's when we tend to clench our hands. We know the non-verbal cues for certain emotions because we live them, and adding them gives more life to our characters.

An example without a lot of action:

"Everything looks sad in the rain." Lyall patted the lead horse, stroked his nose. "How far away is the Palace?" he asked Raelin.

Raelin was watching Da, too. "Only a couple of hours away. But we can't just ride up and announce ourselves. For one thing, we wouldn't get past the first guard, not with the wagon. We'll be staying with the camp for a day or two." He clasped Da's shoulder and squeezed.

"Do we have time?" asked Da. "You said that he was dying."

"We don't have a choice. But the soldiers aren't wearing black ropes on their jackets. He's not dead yet."


Now here's the same scene with more non-verbal action:

"Everything looks sad in the rain." Lyall patted the lead horse, stroked his nose. He kept looking at his father, not sure what he should say. "How far away is the Palace?" he asked Raelin.

Raelin was watching Da, too. "Only a couple of hours away. But we can't just ride up and announce ourselves. For one thing, we wouldn't get past the first guard, not with the wagon. We'll be staying with the camp for a day or two." He clasped Da's shoulder and squeezed.

"Do we have time?" asked Da, turning his head sharply. The forehead between his eyes wrinkled. "You said that he was dying." Lyall barely heard him, his voice was so low.

Raelin tore his gaze away from Da and fixed it on the soldiers riding along the edge of the camp. Leaning forward slightly, he said, "We don't have a choice. But the soldiers don't have the black ropes on their jackets. He's not dead yet."


Now, you can't do every gesture, but showing what the characters are doing is one way to add emotion to a scene.

And I need to add emotion to my scenes. :D

Does anyone have any other examples?