Julianna Keyes's Blog - Posts Tagged "release"
"UNDECIDED" RELEASE DAY!
It’s heeeeere!! FINALLY! After what feels like a lifetime of waiting, “Undecided” is available pretty much everywhere, eagerly anticipating your download. (Okay, fine – that’s mostly just me anticipating things.)
In any case, as I have done with my previous books, I’ve prepared a week of non-spoilery posts about all things “Undecided.” Today’s post will appear in just a moment.
Tomorrow’s post talks about one of the most enraging moments of my entire life, and includes photographic evidence. (Yes, that’s right: I hold onto grudges AND proof.)
On Wednesday I’ll talk about instalove, Thursday discusses pacing (see if you recognized my plot scheme before you read this post!), and on Friday there’s a post about character arcs and a giveaway. You’ll want to read carefully, since there’s also a quiz. (I’m mean!)
As always, thanks for reading. :)
Paperbacks available on Amazon.
Amazon: www.amazon.com/dp/B01BXZMCEW/
Kobo: https://goo.gl/jQFgRX
Barnes & Noble: http://goo.gl/OyAvqm
Apple: https://goo.gl/gZ3yWW
In any case, as I have done with my previous books, I’ve prepared a week of non-spoilery posts about all things “Undecided.” Today’s post will appear in just a moment.
Tomorrow’s post talks about one of the most enraging moments of my entire life, and includes photographic evidence. (Yes, that’s right: I hold onto grudges AND proof.)
On Wednesday I’ll talk about instalove, Thursday discusses pacing (see if you recognized my plot scheme before you read this post!), and on Friday there’s a post about character arcs and a giveaway. You’ll want to read carefully, since there’s also a quiz. (I’m mean!)
As always, thanks for reading. :)
Paperbacks available on Amazon.
Amazon: www.amazon.com/dp/B01BXZMCEW/
Kobo: https://goo.gl/jQFgRX
Barnes & Noble: http://goo.gl/OyAvqm
Apple: https://goo.gl/gZ3yWW
"Undeclared" Release Week Post 2!
UNDECLARED
RELEASE WEEK POST 2
TIME TO WRAP IT UP
Figuring out when to write “The End” is harder than you might expect. Figuring out whether or not you need an epilogue is also a challenge. Some time ago (quite a long time ago, actually) I wrote a post about Want vs. Need, and I generally use that thought process to determine whether or not a story should have an epilogue. As a reader, I’m fairly indifferent. I don’t love them, I don’t hate them. Sometimes it’s an unnecessary bonus, a few extra pages with characters you’ve grown to love. Sometimes it’s necessary – the main story resolved, but we need to see a bit farther into the future to know for certain that things have worked out the way we hoped.
I wrote the epilogue for “Undecided” because I wanted to. I don’t believe it’s wholly necessary, but because so many of the story beats were centered on holidays, it seemed fun to include an epilogue that took place on Valentine’s Day. Lots of readers loved it, though I did see a review that actually deducted a star simply because it existed. Not much you can do about that!
“Undeclared” doesn’t have an epilogue because I don’t think it’s necessary, and I really have no idea what it would be about. Because it wouldn’t have any new information, I didn’t want to write something simply for the sake of it. Kellan and Andi have known each other their whole lives, and once they got their HEA, there was no new ground to cover. I’ve already had a few comments from people saying they wish there was an epilogue, and that’s when want vs. need comes back into play. I don’t think this book needs one, so it doesn’t have one. (Though, in hindsight, I think “Going the Distance” should have had an epilogue, and I now regret that I didn’t include one.)
Writing a book is hard. Getting to the end is hard. And knowing when you’ve reached that “real” end is hard too. It’s just something you know in your gut. Sometimes I shunt aside the want vs. need question and ask myself if I’m satisfied with the story. And that’s my answer.
The end.
I hope.
RELEASE WEEK POST 2
TIME TO WRAP IT UP
Figuring out when to write “The End” is harder than you might expect. Figuring out whether or not you need an epilogue is also a challenge. Some time ago (quite a long time ago, actually) I wrote a post about Want vs. Need, and I generally use that thought process to determine whether or not a story should have an epilogue. As a reader, I’m fairly indifferent. I don’t love them, I don’t hate them. Sometimes it’s an unnecessary bonus, a few extra pages with characters you’ve grown to love. Sometimes it’s necessary – the main story resolved, but we need to see a bit farther into the future to know for certain that things have worked out the way we hoped.
I wrote the epilogue for “Undecided” because I wanted to. I don’t believe it’s wholly necessary, but because so many of the story beats were centered on holidays, it seemed fun to include an epilogue that took place on Valentine’s Day. Lots of readers loved it, though I did see a review that actually deducted a star simply because it existed. Not much you can do about that!
“Undeclared” doesn’t have an epilogue because I don’t think it’s necessary, and I really have no idea what it would be about. Because it wouldn’t have any new information, I didn’t want to write something simply for the sake of it. Kellan and Andi have known each other their whole lives, and once they got their HEA, there was no new ground to cover. I’ve already had a few comments from people saying they wish there was an epilogue, and that’s when want vs. need comes back into play. I don’t think this book needs one, so it doesn’t have one. (Though, in hindsight, I think “Going the Distance” should have had an epilogue, and I now regret that I didn’t include one.)
Writing a book is hard. Getting to the end is hard. And knowing when you’ve reached that “real” end is hard too. It’s just something you know in your gut. Sometimes I shunt aside the want vs. need question and ask myself if I’m satisfied with the story. And that’s my answer.
The end.
I hope.
Release Week Post 4 - Past, Present, Future...Past?
RELEASE WEEK POST 4
PAST, PRESENT, FUTURE…PAST?
When I plotted out the major turning points in this book, I made a mental note to give each section a type of theme, and given the storyline, the theme of “past, present, future” made a lot of sense to me.
When we first meet Aidan, he’s still living as his “past” self. He’s been at college for three years as part of a scholarship program for troubled kids, and while he’s doing enough to keep the scholarship, he still hasn’t really embraced the opportunity he’s been given. As you are likely aware, he moves in with Jerry, spots Aster, and does what he can to steal her. Not exactly hero behavior, right? But very much the behavior of his past car thief self.
Once Aidan has split up the happy couple, he becomes more of his “present” self, cued by seeing the harm he’s caused to both Jerry and Aster and starting, for the first time in his life, to feel bad about his actions. As soon as he experiences regret, it’s like a tiny light bulb switches on and illuminates the world around him, and it’s a turning point for his character. It’s also the first time both readers and Aidan see that he might just have the potential to be the hero of this story.
As the romantic relationship between Aidan and Aster progresses, Aidan, who initially just wanted to hook up with Aster to get his craving for her out of his system, starts seeing a possible future. A future with Aster, but also a clearer idea of the future he’d like to have for himself. It’s the first time he’s ever looked that far ahead, and it gives him the motivation keep learning and growing.
If past, present, future were all there was, we’d have a pretty nice story. But I need more conflict in my books, and if it ended there we wouldn’t have a way of knowing for sure that all the lessons in the preceding pages had made a true difference in the lives of these characters. So to test that theory, the past shows up again, forcing both Aidan and Aster to use the things they’ve learned to leave those ghosts behind them once and for all. Only after I’ve sufficiently tortured them are they truly ready for their happily ever after.
PAST, PRESENT, FUTURE…PAST?
When I plotted out the major turning points in this book, I made a mental note to give each section a type of theme, and given the storyline, the theme of “past, present, future” made a lot of sense to me.
When we first meet Aidan, he’s still living as his “past” self. He’s been at college for three years as part of a scholarship program for troubled kids, and while he’s doing enough to keep the scholarship, he still hasn’t really embraced the opportunity he’s been given. As you are likely aware, he moves in with Jerry, spots Aster, and does what he can to steal her. Not exactly hero behavior, right? But very much the behavior of his past car thief self.
Once Aidan has split up the happy couple, he becomes more of his “present” self, cued by seeing the harm he’s caused to both Jerry and Aster and starting, for the first time in his life, to feel bad about his actions. As soon as he experiences regret, it’s like a tiny light bulb switches on and illuminates the world around him, and it’s a turning point for his character. It’s also the first time both readers and Aidan see that he might just have the potential to be the hero of this story.
As the romantic relationship between Aidan and Aster progresses, Aidan, who initially just wanted to hook up with Aster to get his craving for her out of his system, starts seeing a possible future. A future with Aster, but also a clearer idea of the future he’d like to have for himself. It’s the first time he’s ever looked that far ahead, and it gives him the motivation keep learning and growing.
If past, present, future were all there was, we’d have a pretty nice story. But I need more conflict in my books, and if it ended there we wouldn’t have a way of knowing for sure that all the lessons in the preceding pages had made a true difference in the lives of these characters. So to test that theory, the past shows up again, forcing both Aidan and Aster to use the things they’ve learned to leave those ghosts behind them once and for all. Only after I’ve sufficiently tortured them are they truly ready for their happily ever after.
"Bad Princess" Teaser 4!
It’s the last #TeaserTuesday before release day! I’m so excited November 27 is almost here. I’ve made my final changes to the manuscript and uploaded the files to the distributors; prepared all the Book Blitz materials and submitted them; written drafts of 4 of my 5 release week posts (I’m still trying to come up with a great idea for the last one); and received one of the prize items I’m gathering for the newsletter giveaway. Once I get the other one I’ll take a picture so you can see what one lucky winner (and careful reader) might win… If no one is lucky (or careful) I will be the winner. heh heh
I’ve seen lots of writers on Twitter sharing mosaics/collages of images that help tell the story for their book, but when I tried, it looked horrible. I am not crafty and there will be no collage. It’s for the best, I’ve decided. Why bother, when I can embarrass myself in so many other ways? ;)
One of the last steps on my dwindling to-do list is to collect quotes from positive reviews that I can share and link to on my website, but that’s such a tricky proposition because I really do try not to read them so they don’t get in my head. I’ve been pretty fortunate that the people who @ me on Twitter are just doing it when they have something nice to say, so that’s kind of my safety net for finding things. If I google my name, I mostly just get pirate site results and sometimes a picture that doesn’t make sense.
Anyway, enjoy this last teaser, and thank you for reading along with me! I’ll be posting every day next week (*prematurely faints from social media exhaustion*) so feel free to join in the conversation!
Until then :)
Amazon https://goo.gl/DCq6Rm
Barnes & Noble https://goo.gl/AzWSeg
iBooks https://goo.gl/fxx7yC
Kobo https://goo.gl/xpxVH4
Add to Goodreads https://goo.gl/KQPNbB
Info & excerpt: www.juliannakeyes.com
RELEASE WEEK POST 1
MY, WHAT A NOVEL-LA IDEA
I’ve explained that I decided to write a novella as part of an anthology call for royal novellas. Before that, I’d never even considered writing a novella—I’ve read some, but not many, and I’m definitely far too wordy a writer to pack an entire story into half the space I’d normally use. But seeing the call sparked an idea, something that shaped itself into “Bad Princess,” and had the unexpected effect of convincing me that not only could I write a novella, I could write it quickly, because it was short!
Ha!
Ha!
Ha.
So, I did write it fairly quickly, but that’s mostly because it was one of those blessed occasions where the story just flowed. It definitely wasn’t any easier than writing a full-length story, because you still have to make sure you have a solid structure and an interesting plot and unique characters and sizzling chemistry and believable dialogue and all the things that make a book, regardless of length, worth reading.
When the anthology didn’t go ahead as planned, I knew I loved this story and wanted to publish it regardless. And for a brief moment, I considered beefing it up a bit, adding more scenes, more chapters, more words—my favourite—and making it a bit more substantial than a novella. But here’s the thing: I wrote a novella. Not a book that was missing pieces, but a complete story, in 40,000 words.
I thought maybe I could add the wedding scene, but I really didn’t want to. Or insert a chapter before they’re caught kissing—but that would be filler. Or I could change to a more omniscient POV and show other characters’ thoughts and activities, but that would just be different angles on the same plot points, not new information. Or maybe I could create an entire subplot to generate another 30,000 words—but…but I didn’t need to. I’d told a story, and the word count was right for it, so I left it as it was.
Sometimes it’s hard to know what to write, and other times it’s hard to determine what *not* to write. It’s always a balancing act, and whether or not you strike the right balance is entirely subjective. This post is meant to give you the overall perspective I had while writing the novella, and a couple of the posts coming later in the week will discuss some of those decisions in more detail. Until then, thanks for reading! 😘
BUY LINKS:
AZ https://goo.gl/DCq6Rm
BN https://goo.gl/AzWSeg
iBooks https://goo.gl/fxx7yC
Kobo https://goo.gl/xpxVH4
I’ve explained that I decided to write a novella as part of an anthology call for royal novellas. Before that, I’d never even considered writing a novella—I’ve read some, but not many, and I’m definitely far too wordy a writer to pack an entire story into half the space I’d normally use. But seeing the call sparked an idea, something that shaped itself into “Bad Princess,” and had the unexpected effect of convincing me that not only could I write a novella, I could write it quickly, because it was short!
Ha!
Ha!
Ha.
So, I did write it fairly quickly, but that’s mostly because it was one of those blessed occasions where the story just flowed. It definitely wasn’t any easier than writing a full-length story, because you still have to make sure you have a solid structure and an interesting plot and unique characters and sizzling chemistry and believable dialogue and all the things that make a book, regardless of length, worth reading.
When the anthology didn’t go ahead as planned, I knew I loved this story and wanted to publish it regardless. And for a brief moment, I considered beefing it up a bit, adding more scenes, more chapters, more words—my favourite—and making it a bit more substantial than a novella. But here’s the thing: I wrote a novella. Not a book that was missing pieces, but a complete story, in 40,000 words.
I thought maybe I could add the wedding scene, but I really didn’t want to. Or insert a chapter before they’re caught kissing—but that would be filler. Or I could change to a more omniscient POV and show other characters’ thoughts and activities, but that would just be different angles on the same plot points, not new information. Or maybe I could create an entire subplot to generate another 30,000 words—but…but I didn’t need to. I’d told a story, and the word count was right for it, so I left it as it was.
Sometimes it’s hard to know what to write, and other times it’s hard to determine what *not* to write. It’s always a balancing act, and whether or not you strike the right balance is entirely subjective. This post is meant to give you the overall perspective I had while writing the novella, and a couple of the posts coming later in the week will discuss some of those decisions in more detail. Until then, thanks for reading! 😘
BUY LINKS:
AZ https://goo.gl/DCq6Rm
BN https://goo.gl/AzWSeg
iBooks https://goo.gl/fxx7yC
Kobo https://goo.gl/xpxVH4
RELEASE WEEK POST 5!
STRUCTURE ME THIS
I saved this post until the last day of the week to hopefully give people enough time to read “Bad Princess” before this went up. If you haven’t read the book yet, you might want to wait—this post is about the structure I used for the story, and by design, it’s a little bit spoiler-y. I tried to think of a way to talk about structure without discussing the plot, but that turned out to be mostly impossible.
If you’re not familiar, I use a basic (and very well-known) three-act structure for most of my stories. There’s an Inciting Incident (which is the moment that gets the story rolling), the First Act Turning Point (which is kind of the moment where there’s no going back), the Mid-Point (when something shifts and sends the plot in a new-ish direction), the Second Act Turning Point (aka the climax), and the Resolution. I broke this down in some of the On Writing posts on my website, but I basically use the “big” romantic moments as the turning points in my stories, and here’s how that worked out with “Bad Princess”:
Inciting Incident (15%): Brinley and Finn get caught red-handed in the library. If they kiss but don’t get caught, there’s no story!
First Act Turning Point (25%): Wedding night. If Brinley and Finn don’t get married, they can still go back to how things used to be. I’ll be honest—I really didn’t want to write a wedding scene, and if I had, it would have been exactly the same as every other royal wedding. So I skipped to the “after” part of the wedding, and the unexpected: a bawling princess bride on her happiest day.
Mid-Point (51%): The trip to the dungeon. The farther Brinley and Finn descend beneath the castle, the more they shed their “royal” images and reveal their truer selves. That’s why the sex happens at this point—they’re at their most vulnerable and honest. And it changes the story from “will they-won’t they” to “yes they will” and makes them a legitimate pair instead of two individuals simply stuck together.
Second Act Turning Point (72%): The party at Castle Lenora, and the egg. This is the moment that jeopardizes everything, for everyone involved, and forces them to make choices that will determine the outcome of the story. I think it’s important that this happen at Finn’s home, because it finally gives us some insight into Finn and his upbringing, and helps us better understand his choices to date, and the choices he’ll make going forward.
Resolution (the rest): What happens after the party, the choices, and the results of those choices. You know how Coke has those different bottles during the summer? When I was writing this I randomly grabbed a bottle from the cooler and it said “Saving the Princess.” That inspired a certain white knight idea and influenced the ending of the book. Thanks, Coke!
(Not a structural thing: The Brinley kicking bricks idea was inspired by a memory of my sister when we were younger. She thought I was standing on the other side of the wall so she came whipping around and kicked it as hard as she could. I was, of course, on the opposite side of the room, so I saw the whole thing and nearly died laughing.)
So that’s the structure I used for this book! I didn’t necessarily know how the moments themselves would play out, but I knew what types of events they needed to be, and where in the page count they had to fall to keep me on pace. If it’s not obvious, I kind of love talking about this stuff, so feel free to offer your comments (or questions, or suggestions) below.
And…that’s it for the release week posts! Thank you so much for being part of this release, and, as always, thanks for reading. :)
I saved this post until the last day of the week to hopefully give people enough time to read “Bad Princess” before this went up. If you haven’t read the book yet, you might want to wait—this post is about the structure I used for the story, and by design, it’s a little bit spoiler-y. I tried to think of a way to talk about structure without discussing the plot, but that turned out to be mostly impossible.
If you’re not familiar, I use a basic (and very well-known) three-act structure for most of my stories. There’s an Inciting Incident (which is the moment that gets the story rolling), the First Act Turning Point (which is kind of the moment where there’s no going back), the Mid-Point (when something shifts and sends the plot in a new-ish direction), the Second Act Turning Point (aka the climax), and the Resolution. I broke this down in some of the On Writing posts on my website, but I basically use the “big” romantic moments as the turning points in my stories, and here’s how that worked out with “Bad Princess”:
Inciting Incident (15%): Brinley and Finn get caught red-handed in the library. If they kiss but don’t get caught, there’s no story!
First Act Turning Point (25%): Wedding night. If Brinley and Finn don’t get married, they can still go back to how things used to be. I’ll be honest—I really didn’t want to write a wedding scene, and if I had, it would have been exactly the same as every other royal wedding. So I skipped to the “after” part of the wedding, and the unexpected: a bawling princess bride on her happiest day.
Mid-Point (51%): The trip to the dungeon. The farther Brinley and Finn descend beneath the castle, the more they shed their “royal” images and reveal their truer selves. That’s why the sex happens at this point—they’re at their most vulnerable and honest. And it changes the story from “will they-won’t they” to “yes they will” and makes them a legitimate pair instead of two individuals simply stuck together.
Second Act Turning Point (72%): The party at Castle Lenora, and the egg. This is the moment that jeopardizes everything, for everyone involved, and forces them to make choices that will determine the outcome of the story. I think it’s important that this happen at Finn’s home, because it finally gives us some insight into Finn and his upbringing, and helps us better understand his choices to date, and the choices he’ll make going forward.
Resolution (the rest): What happens after the party, the choices, and the results of those choices. You know how Coke has those different bottles during the summer? When I was writing this I randomly grabbed a bottle from the cooler and it said “Saving the Princess.” That inspired a certain white knight idea and influenced the ending of the book. Thanks, Coke!
(Not a structural thing: The Brinley kicking bricks idea was inspired by a memory of my sister when we were younger. She thought I was standing on the other side of the wall so she came whipping around and kicked it as hard as she could. I was, of course, on the opposite side of the room, so I saw the whole thing and nearly died laughing.)
So that’s the structure I used for this book! I didn’t necessarily know how the moments themselves would play out, but I knew what types of events they needed to be, and where in the page count they had to fall to keep me on pace. If it’s not obvious, I kind of love talking about this stuff, so feel free to offer your comments (or questions, or suggestions) below.
And…that’s it for the release week posts! Thank you so much for being part of this release, and, as always, thanks for reading. :)
It's the last #TeaserTuesday!
It's the final #TeaserTuesday post before release day, March 28! If you haven't pre-ordered, there's still time to jump on the $2.99 sale price (bumping up to $4.99 on release day).
If you're not following me on Facebook, consider it! Starting on Friday I'll have a series of release week posts culminating in a giveaway at the end. Come join!
AZ: www.amzn.com/dp/B07NDSVLM4/
B&N: https://bit.ly/2Shmuk8
iBooks: https://apple.co/2WPnkD4
Kobo: https://bit.ly/2tb5JYJ
GR: https://bit.ly/2BoVowZ
Website: www.juliannakeyes.com
If you're not following me on Facebook, consider it! Starting on Friday I'll have a series of release week posts culminating in a giveaway at the end. Come join!
AZ: www.amzn.com/dp/B07NDSVLM4/
B&N: https://bit.ly/2Shmuk8
iBooks: https://apple.co/2WPnkD4
Kobo: https://bit.ly/2tb5JYJ
GR: https://bit.ly/2BoVowZ
Website: www.juliannakeyes.com
RELEASE WEEK - POST 2
CAN YOU FEEL THE LOVE TONIGHT
Many of my books are inspired by a place or time in my life that I wanted to capture in words the way I can’t capture in photographs. (I’m a truly garbage photographer.) I wrote JUST ONCE because I’d worked on a dude ranch; I wrote GOING THE DISTANCE because I’d lived in China.
Capturing the “feeling” of something without describing it like a travel brochure is easier said than done. My biggest weakness in writing is description. I never, ever describe settings. Like, ever. I always have to go back during edits and remember that no one can see my imagination if I don’t write it down. (In a writing class in university I wrote a short story about a girl who lived a boring life in a boring apartment. The chief criticism I got from literally everyone was that they did not know what she or the apartment looked like. I remedied this by saying the walls were painted eggshell white, and I genuinely believed that to be sufficient. It wasn’t.)
But describing something is more than just telling people what it looks like. It’s getting them to feel like they’re inside of it, so they can fill in the details of those eggshell white walls with sensory details from their own experience. When writing TEAM PLAYER I really wanted to be mindful of describing the game and the setting in a way that “felt” right. Not everyone loves baseball, and it’s not about convincing them how insane they are, it’s about showing why *I* love it, and I don’t love it because the grass is green and the seats are blue and the chicken strips are $14, I love it because of how it makes me feel. The energy of a Major League baseball stadium is obviously more intense than the feeling of stepping onto a field for a softball game, but I was lucky enough to play some games on fields where they play national championships, with manicured grass and stadium lights and towering bleachers and *that* feeling is what I wanted to get on the page.
I watch a ton of cooking shows, and when someone says they cook with love I always thought, “What on earth does that taste like?” But then I ate at this restaurant where the chef’s love for his work truly came through in every bite, and I finally understood. This week I’ve been proof-reading the paperback version of TEAM PLAYER, and that loving feeling has come through the pages, making me giddy for release day, and the start of the new baseball season. I hope you feel it too!
Many of my books are inspired by a place or time in my life that I wanted to capture in words the way I can’t capture in photographs. (I’m a truly garbage photographer.) I wrote JUST ONCE because I’d worked on a dude ranch; I wrote GOING THE DISTANCE because I’d lived in China.
Capturing the “feeling” of something without describing it like a travel brochure is easier said than done. My biggest weakness in writing is description. I never, ever describe settings. Like, ever. I always have to go back during edits and remember that no one can see my imagination if I don’t write it down. (In a writing class in university I wrote a short story about a girl who lived a boring life in a boring apartment. The chief criticism I got from literally everyone was that they did not know what she or the apartment looked like. I remedied this by saying the walls were painted eggshell white, and I genuinely believed that to be sufficient. It wasn’t.)
But describing something is more than just telling people what it looks like. It’s getting them to feel like they’re inside of it, so they can fill in the details of those eggshell white walls with sensory details from their own experience. When writing TEAM PLAYER I really wanted to be mindful of describing the game and the setting in a way that “felt” right. Not everyone loves baseball, and it’s not about convincing them how insane they are, it’s about showing why *I* love it, and I don’t love it because the grass is green and the seats are blue and the chicken strips are $14, I love it because of how it makes me feel. The energy of a Major League baseball stadium is obviously more intense than the feeling of stepping onto a field for a softball game, but I was lucky enough to play some games on fields where they play national championships, with manicured grass and stadium lights and towering bleachers and *that* feeling is what I wanted to get on the page.
I watch a ton of cooking shows, and when someone says they cook with love I always thought, “What on earth does that taste like?” But then I ate at this restaurant where the chef’s love for his work truly came through in every bite, and I finally understood. This week I’ve been proof-reading the paperback version of TEAM PLAYER, and that loving feeling has come through the pages, making me giddy for release day, and the start of the new baseball season. I hope you feel it too!
RELEASE WEEK POST 3
WHO’S THE BOSS?
With just one exception, all of my books have started with a character first, story second. In this case, I wrote TEAM PLAYER approximately six different times, all from scratch. And they were pretty terrible. Some of the fundamental elements were the same: Ty, Gwen, Strip, and the structure of the season. The rest, however…
It’s a really frustrating process to feel like you have the essential elements right, but still not manage to achieve the outcome you want. And the thing I struggled with most was pacing. I had so much back story in my head about Ty and Gwen’s pasts and too much of it was ending up in the book and holding up the actual plot. While I think it’s important for authors to know their characters and have done their research, sometimes that information doesn’t need to make it onto the page, and I was writing down WAY too much. It wasn’t being written well, either. Just random lumps and clumps that kept interrupting the momentum (what little I could build) and slowing things to a crawl.
In what ended up being the first draft of what ultimately turned into the final product, I still had much more back story than you see in the finished book. It just wasn’t working. And it’s one of those cases where the more you peel away, the more what remains stands out weirdly, so you take out a bit more, then a bit more… In the end, I went with very little back story. I tried to include enough details to give a sense of why and how Ty and Gwen had become who they were, without taking away from the present-day plot, which was already eating up my word count. I figured if I couldn’t work it into the story in a way that felt organic, then it wasn’t meant to be there. So essentially I wrote five books of character sketches, then one actual book. That is not an efficient process!
When I was in school we had to go out and write a piece about a random person. I was so shy about approaching a stranger that I’d rather have just died, but then I finally spotted a guy in a cigar shop, looking incredibly bored. I went in, asked if I could write a piece about him, and he agreed. Except when I tried to ask about himself, he just kept talking about cigars. I kept trying, he kept up the cigar chatter. Eventually I wrote a piece about cigars. (That turned out to be very interesting.)
In the case of TEAM PLAYER, I did a ton of (accidental) character work for Gwen and Ty, but then Baseball, which was intended to have more of a supporting role, showed up and demanded to be one of the leads. I kept trying to shunt it into the background, it kept insisting. Five drafts later, it had a starring role. That’s writing for you!
Heads up: Tomorrow’s the last of the release week posts, and it’s a deleted scene I think is short and sweet and worth the read!
With just one exception, all of my books have started with a character first, story second. In this case, I wrote TEAM PLAYER approximately six different times, all from scratch. And they were pretty terrible. Some of the fundamental elements were the same: Ty, Gwen, Strip, and the structure of the season. The rest, however…
It’s a really frustrating process to feel like you have the essential elements right, but still not manage to achieve the outcome you want. And the thing I struggled with most was pacing. I had so much back story in my head about Ty and Gwen’s pasts and too much of it was ending up in the book and holding up the actual plot. While I think it’s important for authors to know their characters and have done their research, sometimes that information doesn’t need to make it onto the page, and I was writing down WAY too much. It wasn’t being written well, either. Just random lumps and clumps that kept interrupting the momentum (what little I could build) and slowing things to a crawl.
In what ended up being the first draft of what ultimately turned into the final product, I still had much more back story than you see in the finished book. It just wasn’t working. And it’s one of those cases where the more you peel away, the more what remains stands out weirdly, so you take out a bit more, then a bit more… In the end, I went with very little back story. I tried to include enough details to give a sense of why and how Ty and Gwen had become who they were, without taking away from the present-day plot, which was already eating up my word count. I figured if I couldn’t work it into the story in a way that felt organic, then it wasn’t meant to be there. So essentially I wrote five books of character sketches, then one actual book. That is not an efficient process!
When I was in school we had to go out and write a piece about a random person. I was so shy about approaching a stranger that I’d rather have just died, but then I finally spotted a guy in a cigar shop, looking incredibly bored. I went in, asked if I could write a piece about him, and he agreed. Except when I tried to ask about himself, he just kept talking about cigars. I kept trying, he kept up the cigar chatter. Eventually I wrote a piece about cigars. (That turned out to be very interesting.)
In the case of TEAM PLAYER, I did a ton of (accidental) character work for Gwen and Ty, but then Baseball, which was intended to have more of a supporting role, showed up and demanded to be one of the leads. I kept trying to shunt it into the background, it kept insisting. Five drafts later, it had a starring role. That’s writing for you!
Heads up: Tomorrow’s the last of the release week posts, and it’s a deleted scene I think is short and sweet and worth the read!
