On the Playlist: How Many Kings - Downhere
I'll warn you in advance, this post gets rambly and self-indulgent. Sorry. That was not my intention. It's just one of those nights where I need to question everything.
I was a fanfiction writer before I wrote Building Forts. All I knew were first drafts. I’d write a chapter, edit it a little, post it, and continue that way until the story was finished. After I wrote the last chapter, I was done with the story, and ready to shift my focus to a different fanfic.
Now that I’m near the end of Building Forts (I know, I’ve been near the end for weeks now. You’ll see why), I want to follow the same pattern. But, of course, I won’t be anywhere near done with the story after I finish the last chapter. The problem is that when I think of all the work I still have to do to make it beta-ready, let alone query-ready, I can’t help but wonder if I’m wasting my time, if there’s even a chance that this novel could sell, if I’m just not that great of a writer yet and I should write (not revise) a few more novels for experience before querying.
It seems so easy to start over with a new WIP. It’s a chance for me to do everything I should’ve done with Building Forts: make a timeline (not quite an outline) so five scenes aren’t happening with the same characters at the exact same time, save it all in one document (seriously, this was a surprisingly big issue with BF), and actually finish scenes instead of saying, “Oh, I’ll fill in the spaces later” (it’s later, and I still don’t know how to fill in the spaces).
And, of course, I like this WIP. I feel like I understand the characters’ motivation a bit better than I did with BF, though it’s always a little murky at the beginning. I know exactly what’s at stake for the characters. It’s more of a romance than BF is, and I’ve really missed writing stories that are intense romances.
Honestly, when I started this post, I thought I’d be talking about why I need to revise BF before focusing on this new WIP. Now, I’m not so sure what I should do. I don’t know if it’s just fear of the unknown that makes me wary to start revisions, or if some of my above fears are valid. I’d definitely come back to it, but maybe what I need is some space. Then again, sometimes I open the document for BF and go, “Wow, I know exactly how to make this better.” Others, I open it and go, “Wow, this just sucks.”
I know this decision is mine to make, but I’m curious to know what your first time in Revision Land was like. Did you love it? Hate it? Take a thousand detours so you’d never actually get there (that would be me)? Let me know!
Monday, August 30, 2010
Tuesday, August 24, 2010
Teaser Tuesday
On the Playlist: Scars – Allison Iraheta (Callie’s theme song!)
Time for another tease! I think this is the fluffiest snip I’ve shared, and it may be a little too fluffy, but hopefully others enjoy the cheese as much as I do. I love Callie and Chase most when the fight, but it’s nice when they’re just sweet and squishable.
Chase was invited to teach at a dance convention (BEAT), and Callie is trying to show him how much he loves teaching to get him to agree. So, she took him to a park where he used to take his students to see if that inspired him.
---
“Teach me like you taught your students,” I tell him, climbing on top of the picnic table. “It’ll be just like the night we danced together in the cold, when you told me to dance like the wind.”
His grin twists into a smirk. “With the wind.”
I shrug. “Same difference.”
“Ok then,” Chase says. He’s still grinning and I kind of want to jump his bones. Minus the kind of. “Dance like the wind.”
I dance like the wind.
In other words, I flail my body around like a total spaz until I fall off the table and into the snow.
Chase is laughing one of those full, beautiful laughs, and all I want to do is capture the sound with my mouth and keep it forever.
I know that I’m why he’s so happy, and that’s a much better thought than I’m why he can’t walk, dance, or live. “You like me, don’t you?” I ask as I stand up and brush the snow off me.
“Yeah, a little,” he says.
“You really like me."
Chase nods really quickly. I love it when he moves.
“Why?” I ask. It’s not that I’m some insecure girl who doesn’t believe that anyone could like me, but rather that I honestly don’t know what’s likeable about me.
“Well,” he says, wheeling himself over to me. “You’re fun. And yeah, you may not care about many people, but you give the people you care about everything you have. It doesn’t hurt that you’re really hot, either.”
Wow. Who knew?
“I like you too,” I tell him. “A lot.”
“Why?” he asks, his tone teasing. He’s close enough that I can feel his words on my lips. Seriously, he needs to figure out how to keep his dick up so he can do me now, right here in the snow.
I wonder why people think I'm a slut.
“You’re sweet,” I tell him. “And your passion for people and life is just really cool and inspiring.” I smirk then say, “It doesn’t hurt that you’re really hot, either.”
Finally, our ridiculous grins come together, and we make out like the horny, happy teenagers we are.
Stage One of Get Chase Back on BEAT was a failure.
That’s ok. I’d rather have him with me than have him teaching again.
Time for another tease! I think this is the fluffiest snip I’ve shared, and it may be a little too fluffy, but hopefully others enjoy the cheese as much as I do. I love Callie and Chase most when the fight, but it’s nice when they’re just sweet and squishable.
Chase was invited to teach at a dance convention (BEAT), and Callie is trying to show him how much he loves teaching to get him to agree. So, she took him to a park where he used to take his students to see if that inspired him.
---
“Teach me like you taught your students,” I tell him, climbing on top of the picnic table. “It’ll be just like the night we danced together in the cold, when you told me to dance like the wind.”
His grin twists into a smirk. “With the wind.”
I shrug. “Same difference.”
“Ok then,” Chase says. He’s still grinning and I kind of want to jump his bones. Minus the kind of. “Dance like the wind.”
I dance like the wind.
In other words, I flail my body around like a total spaz until I fall off the table and into the snow.
Chase is laughing one of those full, beautiful laughs, and all I want to do is capture the sound with my mouth and keep it forever.
I know that I’m why he’s so happy, and that’s a much better thought than I’m why he can’t walk, dance, or live. “You like me, don’t you?” I ask as I stand up and brush the snow off me.
“Yeah, a little,” he says.
“You really like me."
Chase nods really quickly. I love it when he moves.
“Why?” I ask. It’s not that I’m some insecure girl who doesn’t believe that anyone could like me, but rather that I honestly don’t know what’s likeable about me.
“Well,” he says, wheeling himself over to me. “You’re fun. And yeah, you may not care about many people, but you give the people you care about everything you have. It doesn’t hurt that you’re really hot, either.”
Wow. Who knew?
“I like you too,” I tell him. “A lot.”
“Why?” he asks, his tone teasing. He’s close enough that I can feel his words on my lips. Seriously, he needs to figure out how to keep his dick up so he can do me now, right here in the snow.
I wonder why people think I'm a slut.
“You’re sweet,” I tell him. “And your passion for people and life is just really cool and inspiring.” I smirk then say, “It doesn’t hurt that you’re really hot, either.”
Finally, our ridiculous grins come together, and we make out like the horny, happy teenagers we are.
Stage One of Get Chase Back on BEAT was a failure.
That’s ok. I’d rather have him with me than have him teaching again.
Sunday, August 22, 2010
Reading Quirks
On the Playlist: Broken - Lifehouse
We’ve all heard of writing quirks (i.e.: I can only write upside down while drinking Sprite on Saturday afternoons!), but I want to know if anyone has reading quirks. Do you read the last page first? Do you read ten books at the same time? Do you skip all prologues?
I don’t like to read the end of books. Generally, once the climax has occurred and all the big questions have been answered, I put the book down. I think I do this because I don’t want stories to end; I want to imagine what the characters will do the next day, in the next ten year, with the rest of their lives.
What about you? Do you have any reading quirks?
We’ve all heard of writing quirks (i.e.: I can only write upside down while drinking Sprite on Saturday afternoons!), but I want to know if anyone has reading quirks. Do you read the last page first? Do you read ten books at the same time? Do you skip all prologues?
I don’t like to read the end of books. Generally, once the climax has occurred and all the big questions have been answered, I put the book down. I think I do this because I don’t want stories to end; I want to imagine what the characters will do the next day, in the next ten year, with the rest of their lives.
What about you? Do you have any reading quirks?
Tuesday, August 17, 2010
Teaser Tuesday
On the Playlist: Lead Me On - Gloriana
It's teaser time, and this one is a little different. It's still from Building Forts, but it's from Revision Land, though it's still unedited (uh, yeah). Before I created the chapter this scene's from, Callie and Chase met, had maybe two conversations, got into the accident together, then were like LOLYAYLET'SDATE, which isn't really like either of them. So, my goal with this scene (and others) is to make the development of their relationship a bit more natural.
Callie and Chase met a couple of hours ago when their families had dinner together (well, officially met. They'd been ~intrigued~ by each other before). Moira, Callie's aunt, asked Chase to give Callie a tour of the apartment building, which neither of them actually wanted to do, but they did anyway. They're on that tour now. So yes, this is pre-accident, pre-relationship, pre-everything.
It was fun writing a scene so early in the story to see how my characters have changed. Callie was even snarkier :P
---
“Oh!” Chase says after we pass the mailboxes. Apparently, the keys can be tricky, but you just need to jiggle them a little! Seriously. Kill me now. It’s the only chance I have to die happy. The next stop on the tour is sure to send me into a spiral of depression that will turn me into one of those women who yells at daytime soaps while eating ice-cream on Wednesday afternoons, a.k.a my beautiful, incredible, pathetic mother. “The laundry room! I can show you the laundry room!”
I really hope he’s making some sort of joke that I don’t get.
Chase legitimately runs to the laundry room and I fake enthusiasm by saying, “Are the washers top-load or side-load?” Totally believable.
“Side,” Chase answers, bored. Uh, dying a slow death is my bit. He is totally trying to steal my thunder.
And the rumors are true, the washers are side-load. I lean against one as Chase explains how to start them—useful, but I hate that he talks to me like I’m some sort of dumb spoiled brat. I mean, I am a spoiled brat, but I’m not stupid—and then I’m flying across the room.
I look behind me to see that the door opened. I turn around to find Chase pretty much pissing himself laughing. Charming. “What was that?” I ask.
“That machine has an attitude problem,” he answers. “Too much pressure and she snaps.” He walks over so he’s leaning against the washer on my left. “This one,” he says, “This one’s scared. It never starts, just makes excuses: too full, the door’s not locked, et cetera. And then this fighter,” he hits the machine on his left, “Does every job it’s asked to do, even when it’s given so much detergent that it gets sick.”
Chase sits on the fighter, so I sit on the one that’s terrified of life. “I started doing everyone’s laundry after my parents divorced,” Chase explains. “Just to make things easier on my mom, you know?”
“That’s sweet.” I’m actually not being sarcastic.
“Anyway, I got to know the machines,” Chase says, “Who they are—you know I’m not crazy, right?”
“No, but this is the most entertained I’ve been all night.”
Chase and I share one of those smiles that make other people hate you because you’re hogging happiness.
It's teaser time, and this one is a little different. It's still from Building Forts, but it's from Revision Land, though it's still unedited (uh, yeah). Before I created the chapter this scene's from, Callie and Chase met, had maybe two conversations, got into the accident together, then were like LOLYAYLET'SDATE, which isn't really like either of them. So, my goal with this scene (and others) is to make the development of their relationship a bit more natural.
Callie and Chase met a couple of hours ago when their families had dinner together (well, officially met. They'd been ~intrigued~ by each other before). Moira, Callie's aunt, asked Chase to give Callie a tour of the apartment building, which neither of them actually wanted to do, but they did anyway. They're on that tour now. So yes, this is pre-accident, pre-relationship, pre-everything.
It was fun writing a scene so early in the story to see how my characters have changed. Callie was even snarkier :P
---
“Oh!” Chase says after we pass the mailboxes. Apparently, the keys can be tricky, but you just need to jiggle them a little! Seriously. Kill me now. It’s the only chance I have to die happy. The next stop on the tour is sure to send me into a spiral of depression that will turn me into one of those women who yells at daytime soaps while eating ice-cream on Wednesday afternoons, a.k.a my beautiful, incredible, pathetic mother. “The laundry room! I can show you the laundry room!”
I really hope he’s making some sort of joke that I don’t get.
Chase legitimately runs to the laundry room and I fake enthusiasm by saying, “Are the washers top-load or side-load?” Totally believable.
“Side,” Chase answers, bored. Uh, dying a slow death is my bit. He is totally trying to steal my thunder.
And the rumors are true, the washers are side-load. I lean against one as Chase explains how to start them—useful, but I hate that he talks to me like I’m some sort of dumb spoiled brat. I mean, I am a spoiled brat, but I’m not stupid—and then I’m flying across the room.
I look behind me to see that the door opened. I turn around to find Chase pretty much pissing himself laughing. Charming. “What was that?” I ask.
“That machine has an attitude problem,” he answers. “Too much pressure and she snaps.” He walks over so he’s leaning against the washer on my left. “This one,” he says, “This one’s scared. It never starts, just makes excuses: too full, the door’s not locked, et cetera. And then this fighter,” he hits the machine on his left, “Does every job it’s asked to do, even when it’s given so much detergent that it gets sick.”
Chase sits on the fighter, so I sit on the one that’s terrified of life. “I started doing everyone’s laundry after my parents divorced,” Chase explains. “Just to make things easier on my mom, you know?”
“That’s sweet.” I’m actually not being sarcastic.
“Anyway, I got to know the machines,” Chase says, “Who they are—you know I’m not crazy, right?”
“No, but this is the most entertained I’ve been all night.”
Chase and I share one of those smiles that make other people hate you because you’re hogging happiness.
Tuesday, August 10, 2010
Teaser Tuesday
Hi guys! It’s been awhile since I’ve teased, thanks to the fact that I’ve entered Revision Land. My first draft is so close to being finished, but I didn’t want to write the actual end until I’d sorted out the mess that was the beginning. Now that’s done, and I’m back to finishing the first draft, so I have new material to tease.
Callie and Chase are spending the weekend alone in a hotel room together so they can attend a dance convention that Chase is teaching at. It’s his first real teaching job since he became paralyzed. Callie knows that if all goes well, Chase won’t need her anymore. This scene is the night before that class.
I definitely won’t have time to read all the teasers tonight, but I promise that I will read and comment on each one eventually.
---
Chase moves me, and then he kisses me. It’s so hard and deep and full that I’m sure the world’s moving around us, but his kiss has enough power to keep me as still as he has to be.
Wow.
I don’t care anymore. I don’t care that tomorrow will change us, that I don’t click with his friends, that I don’t know what either of us will be doing after graduation, that I’m still a stupid, spoiled, slutty girl to everyone but Chase, that I lost my virginity to the world’s biggest douchebag, that I lost my best friend because I lost my virginity, that Moira doesn’t care about me, that my parents probably resent me for how selfish I was this year, that Chase is paralyzed, that I’m why he’s paralyzed, or that even after all these dance lessons and conversations and moments that seemed to matter, I’m still a mess of a person.
I care about Chase. And he’s kissing me and he's great, and together we’re great, and with him I’m great, and if I think about tomorrow now and how ungreat it will be my heart will actually, physically break.
But Chase keeps kissing me, so I push tomorrow out of my mind, out of us, out of our moment.
“You’re, uh,” I say when he comes up for air, and then feel stupid. Words aren’t enough for this moment. I need confetti, or firecrackers, or an earthquake because gosh that’s what this feels like, like everything’s shifting and shaking under me and I have no control. I just have to change as the earth does. “You’re like an earthquake.”
“Destructive?” he breathes the word into my mouth and I cream my pants.
“No,” I say. “Changing.”
Chase’s eyes widen at this, and after one, sweet kiss, he leaves my body.
Callie and Chase are spending the weekend alone in a hotel room together so they can attend a dance convention that Chase is teaching at. It’s his first real teaching job since he became paralyzed. Callie knows that if all goes well, Chase won’t need her anymore. This scene is the night before that class.
I definitely won’t have time to read all the teasers tonight, but I promise that I will read and comment on each one eventually.
---
Chase moves me, and then he kisses me. It’s so hard and deep and full that I’m sure the world’s moving around us, but his kiss has enough power to keep me as still as he has to be.
Wow.
I don’t care anymore. I don’t care that tomorrow will change us, that I don’t click with his friends, that I don’t know what either of us will be doing after graduation, that I’m still a stupid, spoiled, slutty girl to everyone but Chase, that I lost my virginity to the world’s biggest douchebag, that I lost my best friend because I lost my virginity, that Moira doesn’t care about me, that my parents probably resent me for how selfish I was this year, that Chase is paralyzed, that I’m why he’s paralyzed, or that even after all these dance lessons and conversations and moments that seemed to matter, I’m still a mess of a person.
I care about Chase. And he’s kissing me and he's great, and together we’re great, and with him I’m great, and if I think about tomorrow now and how ungreat it will be my heart will actually, physically break.
But Chase keeps kissing me, so I push tomorrow out of my mind, out of us, out of our moment.
“You’re, uh,” I say when he comes up for air, and then feel stupid. Words aren’t enough for this moment. I need confetti, or firecrackers, or an earthquake because gosh that’s what this feels like, like everything’s shifting and shaking under me and I have no control. I just have to change as the earth does. “You’re like an earthquake.”
“Destructive?” he breathes the word into my mouth and I cream my pants.
“No,” I say. “Changing.”
Chase’s eyes widen at this, and after one, sweet kiss, he leaves my body.
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