Things YA has taught me.

 

I’m sure by now most of you have read the Wall StreetJournal article by Meghan Cox Gurdon and have even taken part of the Twitter camping #YASaves, but for those of you who haven’t I highly recommend reading the article and voicing your opinion. 

But for the short of it, this article condemns any dark YA fiction as damaging to young adults  "If books show us the world, teen fiction can be like a hall of fun-house mirrors, constantly reflecting back hideously distorted portrayals of what life is. There are of course exceptions, but a careless young reader – -or one who seeks out depravity — will find himself surrounded by images not of joy or beauty but of damage, brutality and losses of the most horrendous kinds." and even goes on to say "Alas, literary culture is not sympathetic to adults who object either to the words or storylines in young-adult books" and then goes on to suggest that "the book industry’s ever-more-appalling offerings for adolescent readers spring from a desperate desire to keep books relevant for the young."

Um… what? I’m sorry but the world is not always a happy amazing place full of sunshine and rainbows. That is not the real world, and it has never been the real world. As a society we are just coming to realize that a lot of these problems exist and need to be talked about, and we are not afraid to talk about them anymore. The article talks about the relevance of these subjects and even says that they can encourage young adults onto a self-destructive path. And that is simply not true. I am not going to bog you down with facts but millions upon millions of kids each year are dealing with eating disorders, self-harm, bullying, sexuality crisis, abuse and much more. Proving that these books are not only RELEVANT to the young adult reader but also NECESSARY, ignoring these issues will not make them go away and I believe that we need to talk about them. True it is not these are not easy subject to talk about but that is not a good reason not to talk about them. Books open our eyes; books give us ways to bring these things into the light and into open forums so they can be talked about. 

Silence is never the answer.

YA saved my life, YA has taught me I am not alone, YA gave me a voice when I didn't have one, YA has helped me to better understand my fellow man, YA has shown me that everyone has a story, Writing YA has giving me the voice I never had in high school, YA help me figure out what depression was and how to help myself, YA has made me more compassionate, YA has taught me about problems I never knew existed, YA taught me that is ok to be myself, YA kept me sane, YA taught me that it was not my fault, YA gave me an escape when I needed to get away.

I am 25 years old, I still read YA because YA opened my world and changed my life.

What has YA taught you?

What's the Score Blogfest

Today’s blogfest is brought to us by Rosie Connolly @ East for Green Eyes and it is all about music! It's the “What’s the Score Blogfest” and for a music geek like me it was very necessary to do. The instrustions are simple “Post any number of songs, artists, composers, posers, who/whatever that you might want to include in the soundtrack to your WIP.” Done!

My WIP Born for This is a futuristic fantasy/ dystopia (for lack of a better word) aimed at the “New Adult” demographic (ages 17-27 ish) And like I said in my last post I love to write to music, I love finding music that fits my themes and every so often I find a song that fits a character or event so completely perfectly I can hardly stand it. And those are the songs I will be talking about today. 

And first and foremost is a song by Katy Perry called “What Am I Living For?”. This song IS my MC Calista (you can get the down low on my characters here) Now there are a million reasons I love this song but mostly I think Katy cheated. After all the first line of the song is “I can feel a phoenix inside of me” And my MC does have a phoenix inside of her (think totem animal) and is represented by fire and when I first heard this song she instantly had my attention. But it is not only that lyric that applies to Calista, it is every lyric. This song is the musical version of her story.  But this song goes beyond just lyrics to relate to my character, it is the tone of the song, this is not the Katy Perry we are used to, and this song is not a pop song. It is deep and dark but also has a feeling of hope.

Take a listen here 

The next song is “The Drumming Song” by Florence and the Machine and is about my other MC, Tullio, who is Calista’s antagonist for most of the book (have you seen the Avatar the Last Airbender cartoon? Think Zuko’s story line) and this song is pretty much what happens to him every time he is around Calista. And it’s not really a love thing, it’s an energy thing. They are drawn together because of what they are and for Tullio (represented by water) especially he has a hard time dealing with her, she clouds his mind and spins him around, she is the hot to his cold and he has a hard time dealing.  And he spends most of the book trying to clear his head of her.

Take a listen here

Ok, I’ll admit it. My book has a little bit of a “love triangle” (actually it would be more of a love square, or a weird star. Since in the end all 4 of my ensemble all love each other in different ways.) But the song "Breath Again" by Sara Bareilles embodies the connection between Celest and Calista. They have a quick and fast connection in the book but Calista at this point in her journey cannot settle for what is easy, or what she needs. And Celest knows this and does not hold it against her and basically tells her “I love you, but you need to figure your shit out before I can even begin to be there for you. But once you do, call me.”  And this song is about knowing who it is that you need but not being able to choose them just yet but hoping that someday you will be able to be with them. And while Calista is represented by fire, Celest is represented by air/wind so in that way this song relates on an even deeper level. 

Take a listen here

And for the other half of my MC’s love triangle, the Calista/Tullio side, who have an amazing energy together but just ultimately destroy each other “Love the Way You Lie” by  Eminem featuring Rihanna is the perfect song for them. Because this song is not about blame, it is about both people knowing they are poison for the other person but also to being able to let go of them.  And about half the time I am rooting for Tullio and Calista to work out this song reminds me why they never will. (also i think the video is amazing)

Take a listen here

So that is that. Ultimately I am still looking for the perfect song for Evee and for Celest in their own right but I will know instantly when I find them. So in conclusion I will leave you with a song from Born for This’s companion book that is still untitled. This song is beautiful, but hauntingly so in reflection of what it means in context of the book. This song is for Agalia who is a woman represented by light, and this song in the back drop to her death right after her lover tells her not to worry and they will be able to save her, she kills herself as the only way to save them. “The Light” by Sara Bareilles.

Take a listen here

Anyway, I love music and I hope you all had fun looking at my choices ^.^

Keeping your head space

So you may not know this about me but I’m a bit of a film nut, but I mostly blame working at the movie theater for that. Now, I’m not so much into film as some people but I get into what I like quite a bit. A little over 5 years ago my good friend Lindz introduced me to film scores, and it had been a process but I am in love.  But not only did she introduce me to film scores she introduced me to writing to them. And I have found it is the perfect way to set up in my mind the tone of a character/chapter and the best way to keep my mind in the moment.  And so I began to collect soundtracks, many to movies I have never seen even just so I have the music if I need it (lol). Now I have well over my fair share of soundtracks, well around 120 or so. and it has opened up so much to me it feels. I tend to not be able to focus very well but I find that even when I wander away and then come back to my writing if I have one of my play-list running I can get back into the bit so much faster than without.

I have made so many play-lists for different emotions or character combos but I noticed that I keep returning to a few soundtracks more than a little bit. So I decided to share so of the tracks that I feel best represent my WIP and the overall tone and feel I am trying for.

Serenity composed by David Newman - Funeral / Rebuilding Serenity

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qtAfe-sY2-g

Fire Fly composed by Greg Edmonson - Inside the Tam house

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=f4mQ9-J02dI

Unstoppable composed by Harry Gregson-Williams - Are you in or are you out

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KQ-J2IhsGW0

Tron composed by Daft Punk - End of the line

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WujZjzX8WxY

Tudors composed by Trevor Morris -Anne’s final walk

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hyjVWGn66Uc

What do you do to keep yourself in the right head space for the moment?  

Also stay tuned because on June 1 I will be taking part in Rosie Connolly @ East for Green Eyes “What’s the Score Blogfest” she is holding to celebrate her one year blogiversary. She is giving away some wonderful prizes! And it looks like a lot of fun! For her blogfest I plan to share the "popular" music I have picked out for my characters.

How do you start a book?

Today’s blog is because earlier today a friend sent me a text that said “I know this is out of the blue… but how do you know where to start a book your writing?” Now I am far from an expert in the matter but I was touched that this friend was seeking out my advice. And while I tried to give her good advice, you can really only say so much over text so I began to write this to send to her, and then decided it would make a good blog post as well. Because isn’t that a question we all have “Where the hell to I start to tell this story?”

Now I don’t want to talk about “tricks” for the first chapter. You know what I mean; amazing first sentences, starting with a BANG, keeping the reader interested, and posing questions. Those are all thing a first chapter needs. But what I really want to talk about is the fact that you have this idea for this awesome story, with awesome characters but beginning are hard and you have no idea how to start the story. Where and how do you introduce your story?

For me the start of my story began very organically. I was driving and I just saw the start of it and I literally pulled over to the nearest place with paper (boyfriends work) stole some paper and locked myself away and just scribbled the idea down. It wasn’t until a little later after a had the first chapter hanging around for a while that I began to think about how and why this was the start of my book and began to edit it so it fit a little better. But at the end of the day it was the same, just with a little more context.

Now I know that not everyone has an experience like this, so here are a few questions I think you can ask yourself to find the beginning of your story.

Who is telling your story? I think this is an important question because it solidifies your POV right away but also if you know who is telling your story then you know what is important to them. And if you know what is important to them then you can figure out at what point of the characters journey they would think is the start of the story.

How do you want to introduce your MC?  I mean first impressions are everything, so I think it is a good idea to think about the first impression of your MC. After all is they are an awesome kick ass fighter it would seem fitting to introduce them in a middle of a fight. That way there are no questions about your characters bad-assness. Alternatively juxtaposition is always fun. But untimely how we meet your MC will always be how they are thought of, at least a little bit, so it should reflect their character strongly.

Where does your story start? Now this question seems redundant but I think it is important to ask before you start. Did the story start before the first pages or does it need some lead up before their story starts? Do you want to throw your reader into the middle and then sort it out from there or do you want them to go on the complete journey with your characters?

Ultimately I believe that if you have an idea you should put it down on paper. If it is good then wonderful! And if it is not so good at least you learned what does not work and you can try another avenue until you find something that feels right.

How did you choose where to start your story?

The Now Starring... Blogfest!!!

FINALLY! It is here! The Now Starring... Blogfest! I’m so excited to show you my cast and to get to see all of your casts and get to know your characters better through the actors you chose!

For me, because I don’t draw, casting has always been an important part of writing for me. Because I need to be able to picture my characters as people, I never use the actor as my muse or write the character just for an actor. I just find that being able to visually have a physical body to attach to my characters helps me see how they move and act better. I think it is the director in me. If I could draw them, that would be awesome then I could just draw how they look, but unfortunately I cannot. So without much further ado, the cast for my WIP Born For This.

Small note, the drawing of my characters where part of an x-mas gift from the lovely Lindz who is helping me host this Blogfest, she gave me the line work and I half assed colored them in Photoshop just for you, I also Photoshoped the some of the actors badly to look a little more like some of the characters! Also Lindz made the table for me.

Click it! It gets bigger!(and readable!)

Anyways I hope you all had a lot of fun getting to know my characters a little better! Now I am off to look at all of yours! Also don’t forget to check back and see who the winners are of the box of Magnetic Poetry for Book Lovers, and a thing you can scribble on in the shower!

Defining your world through language

Honestly, I am trying to get better at this whole blogging in regular intervals, but mostly I think I have to actually be saying something in order to blog and I don’t feel you all care or need to hear my every thought, so for right now I think it is better this way. I’m too scatter-brained to try to come up with any sort of blogging schedule.

But today I do feel like I have something to share! Something near and dear to my heart. The language of books. Now I’m not talking about the language you are writing in or how you are writing but I am talking about how your characters are talking. And I’ll be honest, I do not read a whole lot of contemporary literature, I am more of a fantasy/dystopia/steampunk king of girl, so this is more geared towards that (tough believe me I have read contemporary novels with this problem too). And actually this has become a point of focus for me. But I think how your characters talk to each other is just as important as anything else they do, and as important as any part of your world development. After all if JK Rowling had never written the word “Muggle” or “Mud-blood” how different would those books feel? My bet is very. 

Language is such an important part of our everyday lives we a lot of times do not think of all the words that are slag or particular to just us, and I think it is something that is overlooked often when writing. Because honestly if I am reading a book that take part in a fantasy word a random “oh my god!” really pulls me right out of it. I think there are masters at this, Scott Westerfeld for example has such a gift for making the language his characters speak in feel real and organic and it just flows. Tamora Pierce is another I feel is a good example. But just as often as the language is good it is also bad, James Dashner for example I feel really missed the mark in his Maze Runner books. It did not feel truthful and more like he just replaced the words he wanted to use with different words to make it seem different.  I really feel that this is what happens most often, that authors just replace the curse words or slang words they want to use with something else they made up to make the language stand out. But to me it always feels cheesy and forced and makes me stop cold.

But I think I have some tips to help you define the language in your world just a little bit better!

 I think this is usually a huge one for me when reading a fantasy work but a well-defined Parthenon of Gods can make or break a fantasy book. I think Tamora Peirce’s Tortall books are a fantastic illustration of this. Because if your book does not take place on earth then I do not feel like your characters should be calling on the same gods we do. And knowing what gods your characters worship can do a lot to help you develop not only the characters but the culture they live in as well. After all, a culture that worships a war god and one that worships a sea god are going to be vastly different. And they will have different types of speech as well.

Another thing you can pull from is a well-defined sub culture. This is something that can be very useful when writing a book that takes place on earth, but I think it really helps everyone. Is your character really into punk music? Tattoos? Dancing?  Knowing the kind of things and people your character deals with every day will go lengths to helping you know basic words in their everyday vocabulary. Personally being a person who  spends a lot of time playing with, cutting, styling and coloring hair I use a lot of words like foils, bonding , developer, brassy,  and tone,  I’m sure not ever one dose and likewise  I do not use the same words a dancer would.  Heck I can’t really even say I know very many. Another way is to create your own sub-culture; I think Cassandra Clair did this very well with her Shadow Hunters. Because she did not just say “Here are the shadow hunters…. Deal with it.” But instead she actually wrote them a complete history and blended it with real history so it feels more organic and real. And that seaways into my next point nicely…

But a good history will take you a long way, as will knowing your time period. Again I feel this is beneficial to all types of books but I feel it is especially useful for dystopian novels.  But you have this world, and I want to know and feel that the human (or not human as the case may be) has evolved  since point A to point F, after all the language used in the 70s is not entirely the same as the language we use now. So likewise if you are writing a book that takes place in the future your characters should not be using the same words as me. Scott Westerfeld excels at this, but for those of us not as gifted with words I have a few tips. Knowing your history is number one, if you have events you can riff on or people you can pull those names or events  into your slang/cussing. Also if it is a dystopian world, how have the world languages settled?  Could you pull slang from other languages into your world? Not a book, but I think Joss Whedon did this well in his show Firefly, deciding that English and Chinese are the only two surviving languages from earth and thusly everyone speaks a mixture of both.

Ultimately, in my opinion, language can make or break a book. And I think that it can do wonders to helping you define your world without having to actually say anything.  Because language just is. We need it, your characters need it, and I think it is one of the greatest tools in the constant battle of showing not telling. The way your character talks can show so much of the world to the reader that never has to be fully explained, I think everyone can benefit from thinking about their characters language just a bit more. 

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And don't forget, the Now Starring Blogfest being held on April 25^th by Lindz and myself.