WoW: A Royal View on Back Story

Today I opened On Writing to page 229...

The most important things to remember about back story are that (a) everyone has a history and (b) most of it isn't very interesting. Stick to the parts that are, and don't get carried away with the rest. Long life stories are best received in bars, and only then an hour or so before closing time, and if you are buying.
                                        - page 229, Stephen King's On Writing

Back story can help create 3-demensional characters and help to brighten the colors on the canvas of your literary masterpiece, but it doesn't propel the story forward. Make sure the back story is important and relevant to the primary story.

In my second book, I wrote a large chuck of back story that reveals a major insight into who one of the main characters is and why she acts the way she does. To make the story flow faster, I took this chuck of back story, broke it up into small bite-size pieces, and sprinkled it throughout the book. I think--I hope--it will ultimately be an effective device in keeping readers' interest and pique their curiosity.

Don't forget to visit me at Tossing It Out on Friday for my hijack of a guest post and big Book 2 reveal. Now, if you'll excuse me, I need to get back to writing. I'm so close to finishing my WIP!

WoW: A Message from the King and Lesser Things

I've mentioned on numerous blog posts and comments to others that the main writing book I use for insight and inspiration is Stephen King's On Writing. So I thought I could use my Wednesday on Writing segment to highlight some of the King's pearls of wisdom by opening to a random page and finding a quote worthy of noting. And I know every page is noteworthy, but this will be the test. I shall not cheat.

Talent renders the whole idea of rehearsal meaningless; when you find something at which you are talented, you do it (whatever it is) until your fingers bleed or your eyes are ready to fall out of your head. Even when no one is listening (or reading, or watching), every outing is a bravura performance, because you as the creator are happy.

                                     - page 145, Stephen King's On Writing

I've been having trouble balancing blogging and writing over the past few months. I've wanted to build my blog as much as possible, but my writing has suffered as a result. I've seen similar comments on other blogs, so I realize I'm not alone. Though over the past few weeks, I've put my foot down! And this time it wasn't under the wheel of a backing-up car (not a smart place to put your foot down). My writing has to come first. That's the reason I built this blog in the first place. So now I cut myself off if I haven't hit my allotted word count for the day, which is not always a painless process--I just need to check one more post! Just one more, and then I'll be done!

So with that, Book 2 in The Lorne Family Vault Series is chugging along and I can finally see the end. It's not within reach yet, but it's visible. I'm estimating to write that liberating final word in three to four weeks. I was so afraid when I started that it wasn't going to be as good as Provex City, but now I feel it will be even better once it goes through all the necessary rounds of editing.

My added motivation as of late is to get a new project started, which is in the planning stages right now. What is it you ask? I'm sorry, I cannot divulge such information just yet eager readers. But I can say that it's already keeping me up at nights with anticipation. This detour from Oliver's adventure won't be too long, but it will be refreshing to attempt a new story, with a new voice, and a new style.  Yes, that keeps me up at night.

How is you WIP going? Are you a fan of On Writing? Are you looking forward to the weekend already? The year's almost half over--isn't that crazy!?

WoW: First Wednesday on Writing!

 Writing Tip: Less is More.

Ernest Hemingway believed that through omission you could strengthen your story. The reader then must fill in those gaps with their own feelings and emotions. His Iceberg Theory states:

If a writer of prose knows enough of what he is writing about he may omit things that he knows and the reader, if the writer is writing truly enough, will have a feeling of those things as strongly as though the writer had stated them. The dignity of movement of an ice-berg is due to only one-eighth of it being above water. A writer who omits things because he does not know them only makes hollow places in his writing.

                                               - Ernest Hemingway in Death in the Afternoon

When Stephen King was in high school, submitting short stories to magazines, he received a rejection letter with a critique that he has used throughout his admirable career.

"Not bad, but PUFFY. You need to revise for length. Formula: 2nd Draft = 1st Draft - 10%. Good luck."

                                                                           - Stephen King in On Writing

Both of these quotes speak to not over writing. Get to the point. Get to the action. Describe selectively and focus on things pertinent to the story, driving it forward. Let the reader fill in the gaps. Take out the fluff. The leaner story should be more clear and flow more gracefully. There is an elegance to simplicity. Less is more.

Provex City News

Have you checked out the Provex City review from Allison at Geek Banter? If not, then I've got just the link for you! CLICK HERE. Geek Banter is also a great blog to follow, so don't be shy.

I've been so focused on this blog that I haven't really gotten out and campaigned Provex City around the web. I'm looking into utilizing Goodreads and the Kindle Forums more. I think that's a good place to start, but do you have any other suggestions?

I have to make a decision soon as to whether I'll remain exclusive to Amazon to keep Provex City on the Kindle Lending Library or take the opportunity to put it up on Smashwords, which will distribute the ebook to other sites like Barnes&Noble and iBookstore.

I'm up to 16 reviews on Amazon, which is a great start. Now, how can I make it 100?

Work in Progress

Currently, my WIP is the second book in the Lorne Family Vault Series. For now, I'll just refer to it as Book 2. I've promised myself not to start using the title until I finish with my first draft, and as you can see from my left sidebar, I'm at 82,000 words with an estimated 110,000 for completion. It may only end up being 100,000, it's hard to tell, but I don't want to rush the climax. My writing has slowed as of late due to competing priorities, so my goal of finishing in a month's time is sliding back. Now, my goal is two months, and to hopefully have the book available by Halloween. Now that I've given myself some public deadlines (or estimated times of completion), I can't wait to see how I do.

How is your WIP going? Have you set goals for yourself? Do you have rewards planned for when you reach your goals? How much do you typically cut from a manuscript? Have you read a book by a fellow blogger that you'd like to recommend (I just finished CassaStar currently reading Slipstream, and just downloaded The Backworlds)?

"F" is for Fear

I was so tempted to title this one: "F" is for Friday! But then I was stuck.

Instead, I'm going with fear. Fear creates a lot of emotion and I enjoy using it to my advantage in my writing. Fear changes people. It causes them to do things they wouldn't normally do. Fear paralyzes people. Fear motivates people. Fear creates villains...and heroes. I love the theme of conquering fear to create a hero. There is a great struggle along the way, but the payoff, success, or reward is far greater in the end. Fear creates great stories.

In line with the fear topic, I am also a fan of horror (books and movies). I can't really explain why I enjoy it so much; my parents have often asked me because I am the only horror fan in the family. Maybe because it was a way of rebelling through my teenage years and now it's nostalgic. Maybe it was a way to build my identity and differentiate from the family instead of actually rebelling. Maybe it was me conditioning myself. I started off scared and therefor determined to continue to watch things that scared me until I conquered that fear, by which time I started to enjoy them. Maybe my morbid fascination stemmed from having a cemetery as a playing ground as a toddler. It's interesting for me to think about, but I don't have a definitive answer. All I know is that: I remember being scared of Michael Jackson's Thriller when it first came out (I must have been 4 or 5), Nightmare on Elm Street 3 was the first real horror movie I remember seeing (from 3rd or 4th grade) and thereafter haunted by nightmares of the puppet scene, and I was afraid of clowns long before I read Stephen King's It (no explaination on that one besides clowns are just scary).

And with that, I'd like to leave you with a few of my favorites in horror:

• It (book)
• The Exorcist (book)
• The Exorcist (movie)
• Halloween (movie, original)
• Poltergeist (movie)
• Saw (movie)
• Paranormal Activity (movie)
• American Horror Story (TV show)

Sometimes it's fun to be scared. And next Friday is Friday the 13th, which is a great night to turn off the lights and watch a scary movie with someone you love. Have a good scream. :)

Growing Up

I read all kinds of middle-grade and chapter books in elementary school. I think my mom still has many of them, which I'll have to get back one day for when my little girl gets older. I've always loved scary stories, from Scary Stories to Tell in the Dark to Wait Till Helen Comes. Then in the summer between 5th and 6th grade I read my first adult book--Stephen King's Pet Sematary. I didn't want to read any "kid" books after that. All I wanted to read was Stephen King. All throughout junior high school, I devoured as many of his books as I could get my hands on. My parents were less than thrilled. It was also the first time I told them I wanted to write a novel. I wanted to be the next Stephen King!

I wrote several partial novels in junior high school, one of which I still have, in spiral-bound notebooks. I wanted to write adult horror stories, so I added as much b-movie violence and swearing as I could. It was what I thought made adult novels and my way of rebelling. I wasn't allowed to swear at home, but if it was for artistic expression in a story then it was considered okay. I used the same kind of shock value throughout high school, turning in horrific and obscene short stories. Those old stories now sit in a pile on a shelf in the closet, and I take them out now and again to see how far I've come, as a writer and as an adult.

When I was young I only wanted to write adult stories, and now that I'm an adult I want to write young adult stories. It's funny how things change. Values. Perspective. Shock value has its place, but it's not the essence of a story. I think I've grown as a writer over the years, enough so that I know I don't want to be "the next anyone else." I just want to be authentic to myself, my voice, and my story. I want to just be me, for better or worse. I want to tell the story my way.

I credit Stephen King with turning me on to writing, making me excited about the words I can use to create new worlds, whether he likes it or not. But now I have many other influences to give me a healthy balance. I have since reread some of the Stephen King books I read in junior high, and I was astounded at how much I missed! I had no idea what I was really reading back then and I couldn't appreciate the writing and storytelling. I had just thought it was cool. And it made me feel older. Grown up. Mature. It's funny how things change.