Another month closes

And I feel closer to some characters, let down others have yet to live up to their potential, and ready to take on more challenges. What have I learned this month? That I do have the ability to pick out pieces of those around me, to dredge up some of the horrors from years past and distill them into a cohesive story, and mostly, that I have the power to continue working on something no matter how intense it gets, or how much it affects me.

So, another lesson. I actually figured out how to do a first draft of a synopsis. This very vital part of submitting has always eluded me. Sure, I wrote them. All writers do. But mine stank. And that was putting it mildly. Then a thought came to me. I had the five elements of a synopsis: hook, book's beginning, conflict main character faces, how he/she resolves conflict, ending. Okay, how hard is it to put that into one page? Oh, much harder than anyone realizes. See, writing is about description, it's about dialogue that moves the plot forward while sounding normal, it's about getting all this into a format that will attract a reader. Now they tell me they want it all shoved into a single page? GET REAL!

Well, I'm not in a position to change an editor's mind. Don't want to now that I've learned what the synopsis does. I painstakingly sat down and wrote one out before my current project ever saw its first critique. Why? Because I wanted my first impressions, my initial thoughts as part of this process. It still needs tons of work but I feel I have taken an important step toward being able to write one of these without developing a migraine and pulling out my hair then having someone tell me it stinks. Oh, yes, I have mastered the synopsis! Hooray!

The ultimate goal...what is it?

As I push myself to discover my characters as I write their stories, I also discover more about my life, things I've forgotten, things I never wanted to remember. So it goes with my current project.

I never wanted to relive some of the more painful moments from high school. Who does? Is it not more convenient to gloss over them, pretend to the popularity, the elitism that marked a successful school career? Who wants to admit they stood on the outside looking in, yet do not those things mark a person as strong as they make their way in an uncaring world?

So many now say world events age children before they really enjoy life. To them, I say phoeey. Sure, I depend on my children to show me the way as I wade through teen lingo but I also find myself leaning more and more heavily on the events of my childhood to find the true emotions. The current teen problems tied to relationships and other problems aren't new, they're only cloaked with new technology bringing out their consequences much faster. And so, I blend the old and the new, show the problems come from both sides of the generation gap (and have now marked myself from that particular generation), and find a solution more twenty-first century than twentieth, yet one that is fitting for both.

May we all look on our younger years with less jaded eyes and remember...take a deep breath and softly say goodbye.

New Project, Same Problems

Or not. Whenever I start something new it's like I have a million things to do, and I don't mean on that project. I have home issues dragging me away from writing. I have other projects demanding my attention. Mostly, I wonder if I have the concentration to begin anew running through me. The first few days, chapters, are difficult at best. Distracting at worst as I begin to get to know my characters.

Yet, this project is far closer to home than I've ever done. The antagonist has the same issues of some of those around me. The protagonist closely resembles another near me. Am I too close to the issue? Do I have to back off, release the anger and pain I feel in order to write a cohesive book or should I transfer those emotions to my main character, giving her a strength beyond her years at the end, as she untangles her life and becomes almost rabid about preventing another accident like the one she survived? So many questions, maybe that's my milieu, to have the questions and find the answers. Time shall tell as I plot out this novel.

A new month, new goals, new obstacles

Ah, June. A new month to accomplish new goals, to figure out how to improve my work so I can find that elusive contract, to take other steps to meet my ultimate goal of publishing a book.



One way I've figured out how to catch an editor's attention, to make my work more saleable, one I already knew, was reading books similar to mine. In other words, I needed more young adult fiction. Well, going to the library is definitely out. In addition to competing with teens doing their summer reading lists, I also have to bump right into the buying program. Believe me, our library depends heavily on donations, and they don't care what century they were printed in. Most of the stuff in the juvenile section is extremely old. Frustration sets in. I sure can't buy any more books since I blew the book budget for the year already. Just had to have the next installment of Michael Scott's Nicholas Flamel series. It's as good if not better than the Harry Potter books. Also, my youngest, a teen now, really wanted the last of Rick Riordan's Olympian series plus the Demigod Files, a kind of go along that explains all the unusual creatures in the series.



Now, just how would I figure out a way to read all those teen books and figure out what special element is missing from my work? Well, I found it. In http://www.bookdaily.com/ I choose what books I want to look over (all young adult fiction, since that's my focus now) and they e-mail me the first chapter every day.



I have to admit. The first few days I was about to toss out everything I'd ever done. I knew the Twilight series was hot now. I'd heard vampire books were hot now, but I never imagined they were quite that hot. To quote another writer friend: It amazes me that vampires seem to be a new metaphor for young love--a pairing that literally sucks the life out of the participants leaving them catatonic for eternity. Has our culture allowed the concept of love to evolve into such a dismal thought? I guess it is not any worse than believing that one day a prince will come and allow a girl to live happily ever after. Enough with vampires already!! Thank you, Dottie, for expressing my thoughts so eloquently.

However, I decided to plod through all the overdone vampire plots and look for the hidden nuggets within the chaff. And I found it. I discovered I'd found the right formula all along. Blend the sometimes boring descriptions into the action. Make them part of the plot, a reason for being. With that in mind, I've reworked a non-moving young adult novel into someting I hope will attract attention, sent to my local SCBWI contest, and am now reworking a historical fiction story about a girl who dreams of riding for the Pony Express. Slow going, that one, since I have to make sure I have all the facts right, but I think it will come out right in the end.

June goals? Submit new stories, look over a couple of magazines that accept fiction and maybe develop some stories for them, work on two already plotted books I've had on the back burner forever, and finish outlining a new story my daughter inspired me to write by one of her Facebook postings. Oh, and finally get a meeting together of local writers. The last one, I think, will be the hardest to accomplish.