Whole Worlds

Cover page of the Children of Tamal

One of the hardest parts in writing Sci-fi/ fantasy, for me anyway, was knowing where to draw the line between providing enough information about your version of the world for readers that they understand and yet not flood them with irrelevant and boring data.

You can work out the full political system, but do they need to know that the Council only rules in the King’s stead while he is mad? Maybe. Do they need to know that it is the Council that determines whether or not the King is mad? Eventually, especially if the plot involves him trying to reclaim his throne. But when, where and how? These are questions you always need to ask.

So what are the alternatives? Here are  few examples of how.

 

• Third person observation – his reading of the fading calligraphy gave him but one answer, it was the Council that decided the King’s ability to rule.
• Third person conversation – upon reading of the crumbling scrolls, the ambassador looked across and his friend, “It looks like it is the Council that decides.”
• First person thoughts – “So how would he prove himself sane to those that stood to lose the most by it?”

Sometimes the where takes care of itself. If the opening scene is the King’s determination to return to his rightful place as ruler, then start telling them right away. If you mean it to be the final plot twist, then near the end makes sense.  But you can foreshadow – i.e. give hints.

Foreshadowing can be difficult. It often makes sense to you, but for those that haven’t spent ages immersing themselves in your world, it can be a confusing irrelevance that stops them reading long before the actual moment is in play.

The best advice I was ever given by my editors was to give it to a friend to read. Someone that will be ruthlessly honest and hasn’t ever heard you ramble on about the world before. They can be hard to find, but well worth it. If your book is suitable, I find a twelve year old is a perfect blend of ruthless and is unlikely to have been listening to you even if you did talk about it. Maybe mine will still be that way when she is old enough to read my books. Sigh.

Dropbox: Online storage by Jeanne St. James

It’s devastating to lose your hard work, whether it is one chapter or several manuscripts. As writers, we are always reminded by others (who have experienced that loss) to backup your data. For a long time, I was emailing myself my work and putting it on a second computer. BUT, I wanted something that would synchronize both computers, to make sure that I had the latest file (I frequently got confused which computer had the most recent file).

Then one day on Twitter (I love that site) someone mentioned Dropbox. My cyber-ears pricked up. A way to have online backup storage and a way to synchronize my laptop and my desktop for FREE? That’s for me!

Some of the benefits of using Dropbox (besides getting 2 GB of storage for free) are:

• You can publicly share files and photos.
• You can access your files from any computer with Internet access
• You can synchronize multiple computers automatically
• You can drag and drop files to Dropbox
• You can recover deleted or previous versions of files
• You can upgrade (for a fee) up to 50 GB of storage

Once you have Dropbox installed on your computer(s) and you connect to their server, Dropbox is just like any other folder on your computer. You simply drag and drop to move files around.  Any files or folders that are uploaded to Dropbox will immediately be synchronized within your account. Dropbox also keeps track of every change made to the contents of your storage and any changes are instantly updated to all computers linked to the account.

The Dropbox web interface also remembers all the changes you make to your files and allows you to restore to any previous versions of the file. You can even undelete files you may have accidentally (or not-so-accidentally) erased.

If desired, every individual folder can be shared with other people and the people you allow access to that shared folder can add, edit, and delete the contents inside but can’t access anything outside of that specific folder. In terms of writers, this file sharing system is perfect for critique partners to access each other’s works, or for writers who collaborate on manuscripts.

You are also able to share files with non-Dropbox users by using a public folder, which is made accessible by a hyperlink. This gives writers the option of making their excerpts, blurbs, and other information on their upcoming releases available to potential readers.

I keep all of my manuscripts and “works in progress” in separate folders like I would on my computer. It’s easy and organized. I love it. So get rid of the flash drives and stop emailing your files. Give Dropbox a try!

You can try Dropbox at http://www.getdropbox.com/

Jeanne St. James is an erotic romance author who loves to write about an Alpha male. Especially one in uniform: cops, Feds, or even football players! She resides in south central Pennsylvania near Hershey chocolate and the Amish. Her hot and steamy contemporary romances can include a male/female, a menage (male/male/female) or male/male relationship. It depends on what’s floating her boat at the moment. She has two releases in Fall of 2009: a m/f contemporary, Banged Up, with Liquid Silver Books (September 21st) and a m/m/f menage, Double Dare, with Loose Id (November).

You can find her on the web at www.jeannestjames.com. Also, come friend her on Facebook, MySpace and Twitter. Check out her blog for her upcoming events and great guest authors.

Using What You’ve Got by Christine Duncan

Are you ever not in the mood to write whatever it is you’re writing? I’m not talking about writer’s block here, but just those times where your life is not paralleling your book. So your next logical scene is a love scene but you’re in a foot stomping, let-me-at-’em mood and do not want to even think romance right now.
I seldom write linearly for just that reason. I have to work myself up to write scary (or even very sad) parts and some days I just don’t want to deal with feeling scared or sad. Lots of people force themselves to sit down and write it anyway. I figure there will be a day coming up when it will feel okay so I just go on to another part that I know must be coming.
Since I don’t outline, this is more difficult than it sounds. Sometimes this has resulted in the book taking turns that I never anticipated. Sometimes, it means that I waste a day writing something that will never see the light of day. But usually, I know in a general way where things are going. For instance, in my present WIP, my character has been building to having it out with her teenage daughter. If I’m feeling cranky (or chippy, if you’re Canadian) today, I can write that scene instead of the Christmas scene that I should be writing if I were keeping it in logical order.
The other trick to doing this is to somehow name or number the scene so that it is in your file somewhere near where you think you are going to need it. When I go back and do the next draft I put everything together and I may forget that I have written certain scenes. (Yeah, I’ve done it more than once.) So I have learned to have a file on the computer titled scenes I’m using. In it, I put the stuff that is out of order. The rest of the book is in (semi) chapter order with a file for each chapter. All of it is in one big folder with one folder per book.
I try to title the out of order scenes in some way so that I can figure out what the heck they are about. It makes putting everything together a little easier.
I would like to think that I am organized but the truth is, I seldom am. So I have learned to compensate and use what I’ve got. And if what I’ve got is a bad mood–well, better to take it out on the characters, right? And I get to stay productive.

Long time no see

It’s been a few months since I’ve posted and it’s great to be back.  Karen Fainges very kindly agreed to step in for me while I underwent a few surgeries.    Thank you Karen for doing a wonderful job. For everyone following her posts, please don’t despair – I’m sure she will make guest appearances.

So, with the surgeries behind me it’s time to get back to business. 

In the last week or so I’ve sent out some queries on Child’s Play – the nanny guide book.  I immediately received the generic “truth be told” rejection from Andrea Somberg at Harvey Klinger (funny!).  The next day, I received a proposal request from Amberly Finarelli at Andrea Hurst (thank you Amberly).  

While Amberly ended up passing on the project, she did give me some valuable feedback.  She said, It sounds like a good premise, but I’m afraid that, with the existing literature in this genre out there already, I don’t see how this stands out enough from them–particularly in this belt-tightened publishing economy.  And she’s right.  From the very beginning I was toying with a somewhat risky idea in relation to the tone of the book.  I decided to be cautious and go with a fairly conventional approach.  I don’t think that’s going to be enough in this market.  Amberly’s feedback has given me the shot in the arm I need to go back to the manuscript and give it a make-over…this time I’m throwing caution to the wind.  Absolutely nothing to lose.

I ask you all, do you have a project that hasn’t been picked up (who doesn’t, right??).   Maybe your work needs a make-over.  How could you rev it up?  What could you do to make it stand out?  I challenge you to go back and take a risk.

15 Favourites by Karen Fainges

Read the first chapter online for free

Recently I was asked by a friend to list my 15 favourite books – ones that stuck with me. I found it harder than I thought. My husband was no help, saying “Tell them Adhesives that work by V Elcro”.

Once I had hit him with a cushion, I stopped to think, what does make a book stick with me? For me, it is one of two things, passion or the ability to make me stop and rethink. If a book has both, it goes on my top 15 list.

One of my favourite authors I am rereading at the moment is Tamora Pierce.  Her Tortall series of books is supposedly for children and although my daughter loves her too, I find myself reading the ink of the page (or the pixels off the screen seeing I read ebooks). She makes me laugh, cry and sit back with shock. She examines people’s motivations without ever getting bogged down. Like a Chinese painting, she portrays incredible scenes with a few slight strokes.

It is the simplicity I like, allowing us to look through the eyes of her characters without judging or noticebly guiding the reader. When writing, I often find myself dropping into preaching mode when trying to make a point. I immediately delete that passage, only to find myself doing it again as soon as I relax. Caring passionately about something is important, but preaching about it is like trying to shoe a fish, frustrates both you and the fish and it’s ultimately pointless.

Actions speak louder than words. Tamora’s characters gently show the consequences of evil actions,  mine tend to just rip the evil guy’s head off. Still it takes all sorts. Which way do you prefer?