The many layers of novel writing

Last night, as my mind wandered I found myself thinking about my work in progress. I’m not moving forward as I should be – not because I’ve got plot block. No, I know what comes next, but, I’m dissatisfied with the quality and flow of the last few thousand words.

We beat the dead horse over first drafts and inner editors. It’s just hard to get past that sometimes. When a painter decides to paint a picture of a bouquet of flowers, he doesn’t start with a petal. He starts with the curtain of the backdrop. Then, when dry enough he adds some shading and depth, and then begins on the centerpiece; painting the pieces that will result in the vision of the painter’s inner eye.

I know that I must follow the same concept: complete my first draft, which is my background. When dry, come through a second time and start working on the depth and texture. Go over it, again, to make the final masterpiece come alive and only then, if I’m lucky, will it match the masterpiece I am expecting.

Time to play... Name That Line!

There are some debates over the importance of an opening line for a story. Some people think the opening line should stand alone as a hook (or at least example of the author's writing skill) and others don't consider the opening line as that important. I thought for this week's Thursday Thirteen we'd play a little game. Here are 13 opening lines from books and below are the 13 books they come from. Can you guess which is which? Of these - which one is your favorite?

(Note: If there was a prologue, I skipped and went to the first line of chapter 1)

1. The ghastly, corpse-pale face appeared suddenly, materializing out of the depths of the fathomless darkness like some demonic guardian set to protect forbidden secrets.

2. The man in black fled across the desert, and the gunslinger followed.

3. The scent of slaughter, some believe, can linger in a place for years.

4. "Dear Deverell, of course I know exactly the right lady for you."

5. Mr. and Mrs. Dursley, of number four, Privet Drive, were proud to say that they were perfectly normal, thank you very much.

6. "Vicious little beasts, aren't they?"

7. On the night the Underworld put a contract out on me, a crescent moon dangled overhead like a celestial fishook and stars bobbed in the sky.

8. On his thirty-sixth birthday, May 18, Travis Corell rose at five o'clock in the morning.

9. Vampires.

10. My name is Odd Thomas, though in this age when fame is the altar at which most people worship, I am not sure why you should care who I am or that I exist.

11. Eragon knelt in a bed of trampled reed grass and scanned the tracks with a practiced eye.

12. Sssshhhh.

13. The first thing the boy Garion remembered was the kitchen at Faldor's farm.

(Ok, I've given you some easy ones... and some not so easy ones. Let's see if you can match the book to the opening line.)

Here are the books these lines come from:

Odd Thomas by Dean Koontz
Dawn of Prophecy by David Eddings
Eragon by Chris Paolini
Hunting Fear by Kay Hooper
The Paid Companion by Amanda Quick
The Loop by Nicholas Evans
To Distraction by Stephanie Laurens
The Gunslinger by Stephen King
Hunter by James Byron Huggins
Harry Potter and the Sorcerer's Stone by Rowling
Hell's Belles by Jackie Kessler
The Rest Falls Away by Colleen Gleason
Watchers by Dean Koontz

Good luck!

Debut Contest Reviews List

*Stickied! This post is staying up top till the 17th! Scroll down for recent blog posts!*

The Debut a Debut contest has two primary goals. 1. Encourage readers to read something by a new author (and hopefully find a new favorite) 2. Help promote debut books and debut authors!

We have a long list of prizes. On the 19th, Susan and I will randomly pull out participants and they will get a prize. We'll continue to randomly select participants until we are out of prizes!!! Prizes include gift certificates, books, goodies and more!

Here are the current participants:
Karen Morsie reviews The Interpretation of Murder by Jed Rubenfeld
Writing The Winnower reviews The Skewed Throne by Joshua Palmatier
Confessions of a Literary Persuasion reviews The Last Templar by Raymond Khoury
Eclectic Closet reviews The Friday Night Knitting Club by Kate Jacobs
Eclectic Closet reviews Was She Pretty? by Leanne Shapton
Littlebird Blue reviews Firmin: Adventures of a Metropolitan Lowlife by Sam Savage
Cherie Pie reviews The Rest Falls Away by Colleen Gleason
The World in the Satin Bag reviews The Tower of Shadows by Drew Bowling
Eclectic Closet reviews Special Topics in Calamity Physics by Marisha Pessl
Karen Morsie reviews Kabbalah: A Love Story by Lawrence Kushner
SahBu reviews Nightmare in Laos: The True Story of a Woman Imprisoned... by Kay Danes
Breeni reviews Speak Right On: Dred Scott A Novel by Mary Neighbour
Eclectic Closet reviews And Only to Deceive by Tasha Alexander
Mark Baker reviews Death on the Flop
Mark Baker reviews A Killer Collection by Jennifer Stanley
Scooper reviews The Rest Falls Away by Colleen Gleason
Karen Morsie reviews Torch by Cheryl Strayed
Prester John reviews Rumble on the Bayou by Jana DeLeon
She reviews Don't Be Afraid by Rebecca Drake
La Lady Lisa Westerfield reviews And Only to Deceive by Tasha Alexander
Eclectic Closet reviews The Glass Books of the Dream Eaters by Gordon Dahlquist
Megan reviews Disobedience by Naomi Alderman

Rashenbo's Debut Reviews
Hell's Belles
Passion Draconic
The Skewed Throne

Debut authors you may want to read during the Debut contest

1. Albyn Leah Hall -- The Rhythm of the Road
2. Aliya Whiteley -- Three Things About Me
3. Brian Martin -- North
4. Cate Sweeney -- Selfish Jean
5. Conor Corderoy -- Dark Rain
6. Derek Armstrong -- The Game
7. Diane Setterfield -- The Thirteenth Tale: A Novel
8. Edward Charles -- In the Shadow of Lady Jane
9. Ellis Avery -- The Teahouse Fire
10. Gillian Flynn -- Sharp Objects: A Novel
11. Gina Buonaguro and Janice Kirk -- The Sidewalk Artist
12. Heidi Pitlor -- The Birthdays: A Novel
13. Hisham Matar -- In the Country of Men
14. Hugh Paxton -- Homunculus
15. James Canon -- Takes from the Town of Widows and Chronicles from the Land of Men
16. Jason Webb -- The Ghost of Che Guevara
17. Jennifer Gilmore -- Golden Country: A Novel
18. Jonathan Drapes -- Never Admit to Beige
19. Joshua Palmatier -- The Skewed Throne
20. Karen Russell -- St. Lucy's Home for Girls Raised by Wolves: Stories
21. Lu Vickers -- Breathing Underwater
22. Lucy McCarraher -- Blood & Water
23. Marisha Pessl -- Special Topics in Calamity Physics
24. Michael Stephen -- The Manuscript
25. MWF Curran -- The Secret War
26. Naomi Alderman -- Disobedience
27. Pam Jenoff -- The Kommandant's Girl
28. Patrick Hyde -- The Only Pure Thing
29. Peter Bourne -- The Deserter
30. Racy Li -- Ninja
31. Rebecca Drake -- Don't Be Afraid
32. RG Willems -- Targets of Affection
33. Roger Morris -- Taking Comfort
34. Ryan Boudinot -- The Littlest Hitler: Stories
35. Samantha Grosser -- Another Time and Place
36. Suroopa Mukherjee -- Across the Mystic Shore
37. Thomas Mullen -- The Last Town on Earth: A Novel
38. Tom McCarthy -- Remainder
39. Tony D'Souza -- Whiteman
40. Will Beall -- L.A. Rex

If you are a debut author and you'd like us to include your name and title on our list, just drop an email to Rashenbo or West of Mars.

This list can also be found at Westofmars.com

Getting to know your character. #1 Results

Yesterday I made a post on a character prompt.

As promised, here are the thoughts on each character response:

Strengths:

Courage: Manifesting courage is consistent with a character who takes pride in standing up and in not failing himself or, alternatively, with a socialized character who falls into step with the norms of society, which includes acting a certain way in emergencies.

Presence of Mind: Manifesting presence of mind is consistent with a character who is a natural leader in emergencies, knows useful skills like first aid and CPR, and can be expected to think through - and then make - any hard choices that may confront her.

Resolve: Manifesting resolve is consistent with a character who has persevered through a lifetime of hard knocks and who has the self-awareness to recognize that in any situation, even the roughest, how she will react is in her control.

Calmness: Manifesting calmness is consistent with a phlegmatic character with a low heart rate, slow movements, and a calculating nature who likes to think before he acts and prefers quiet to bustle.

Self Control: Manifesting self-control is consistent with a character who has learned to manage anxiety through strictness and who knows how to ration scarce resources, denies herself treats, and is likely a fan of corporal punishment and of children being seen but not heard.

Weaknesses

Self-Pity: Manifesting self-pity is consistent with a self-indulgent, pampered character who is likely to whine, blame others, love material things, and lack empahy.

Cowardice: Manifesting cowardice is consistent with a secretive, grandiose character who feels both frightened and superior, and whose approach to danger is to hide and to let other inferior, disposable human beings do the dirty work and take the risks.

Lack of resolve: Manifesting lack of resolve is consistent with a blustery character who appears self-confident and can talk a good game but who is more anxious and frightened than she appears and who consequently falters in crunch time.

Mental confusion: Manifesting mental confusion is consistent with a character who lacks real autonomy and independence, who likely thinks of himself as dumb, silly or addled, and who leaves the decision-making process to others - like a mate or parents - while internally criticizing those decisions.

High anxiety: Manifesting high anxiety is consistent with a generally anxious character whose anxiety escalates in emergencies, reaching phobic proportions, and culminating in panic and hysteria.

Getting to know your character. #1

While I'm reading the First Five Pages, I'm also flipping through another book I picked up recently: What would your character do? It's a neat little book that has some good advice on building a character and then it presents many scenarios and answers... little character prompts really. I thought I'd share a prompt with you and see how your character responds.

A MOMENT OF HIGH DRAMA

Out of the blue, your character is confronted by a moment of high drama. Depending on the nature of your character and your novel, choose one of the following dramatic moments: (1) caught in a major earthquake; (2) unjustly arrested for murder; (3) tailing the kidnapper of a child; or (4) watching a loved one die unexpectedly.

Get the incident clearly in mind. What was your character doing before the moment of high drama commenced? What was she feeling? Picture the drama unfolding: the building beginning to shake, your character feeling the handcuffs going on, your character noticing a man snatching a child, your character hearing the loved one's death rattle. Once you have the incident clearly in mind, proceed to the following questions.

***************

1. What strength of character does your character manifest in this moment?

A) Courage?
B) Presence of Mind?
C) Resolve?
D) Calmness?
E) Self-control?

2. What weakness of character does your character manifest in this moment?

A) Self-pity?
B) Cowardice
C) Lack of resolve?
D) Mental confusion?
E) High Anxiety?

Think about your character. Pick a characteristic for each question. Tune in tomorrow. I'll list the descriptions of the different traits as detailed in the book.

Writing in the news.

The Pittsburgh Tribune-Review had an article, Novel writing not for the faint of heart, authors say.

I'll allow you a moment to say, "well duh".

The article is pretty interesting and has some good comments on writing.

Some tidbits from the article:

According to the United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization, there were 172,000 books published in the United States in 2005. Only in the United Kingdom, where 206,000 books were released, were people more intent on putting their ideas into print. And that's not counting the thousands of books that never see the light of day and those that are self-published.

"When people tell me they want to write a book, I tell them 'good luck,'" says Michael Connelly, the author of the crime novels "The Narrows," "Blood Work" and the recently released "Echo Park." "The road to publication is hard and full of obstacles."

So, how to even begin with such a daunting task ahead? Connelly advises any would-be writers to first be good readers.

"They must know the best work out there if they are hoping to join the ranks of published authors," he says, noting that finding an established literary agent, especially one that represents new writers, also is a must.

Then, a writer must remain true to his or her vision.