Hey, I’m funny…I really am!

My sisters call me a laugh whore—because I laugh at everything. I’m currently laughing as I write this :)

My husband says I’m not as funny as I think I am. Whatever :) He’s crazy, I am funny. But—am I a funny writer? Are you a funny writer? How important is humor in your genre?

I write YA adventure/romance. It isn’t inherently funny, but I think humor is a great way to ease the inevitable tension of the story. Laughing releases endorphins, and causes euphoria. Won't euphoria make readers better connect to my story? Here is how I add humor:

Funny Characters: Lighthearted funny characters are important. They give readers an emotional break. Can you imagine the literary world without Ron Wesley or Mr. Collins? I’ve have a funny character who often gets drunk and spouts secrets and inappropriate comments :)

Funny dialogue: You know that delicious witty back and forth between Elizabeth B. and Mr. Darcy? Can you write that kind of dialogue? I’m not terribly witty, but I can write funny sarcastic dialogue. I tend to use sarcasim more than wit—I guess I’m just low brow.

Funny situations: I hope my crit partner Sara will forgive me for sharing this :) She has the most hilarious situation in her WIP that makes me laugh every time I read it. Her MC has car trouble and a boy she has a crush on stops to help her, but she is wearing her PJ’s—and not cute PJ’s but horrid faded holey old ones. Oh, the fantastically funny humiliation.

So what about it—are you a funny writer? Does it come easily to you? Or do you feel it doesn’t have a place in your WIP?

-Angie

What I learned about writing from Phineas and Ferb :)

My six year old has been sick for two days, which means I’m either confined to the couch holding her hand or rocking her in the chair—what will I do when she gets too big to rock? :( ?

So with all the sickness and fevers I’ve watched a lot of kids TV—Disney Channel in particular—Phineas and Ferb more specifically. And I’m becoming quite a Phineas and Ferb expert.

If you’ve never watched P&F (I need an abbreviation, I can’t keep typing that :) you should. Here are a few things about storytelling I’ve learned from P&F.

Have a relatable Villain: Evil Dr. Doofenshmirtz is a great bad guy. He has backstory. He’s funny. In fact he is sometimes so funny, you even root for him. You can relate to his shame and embarrassment. And really how evil is a machine that makes the city smell like dirty diapers?

How to juggle plots and subplots: There are always three plots running through the story: 1) What Phineas and Ferb are making, 2) What Candace is going to do about it, 3) And the showdown between Secret Agent Perry and Dr. Doofenshmirts. Now, I will admit that the resolution of all these plots is sometimes obvious, but it's fun to watch them get so twisted into each other. Plots and subplots should build off of each other. This show is a great example of this.

Quirky characters: A pet platypus that is really a secret agent, a British boy who rarely talks, two brothers who can make a rollercoaster in one hour, a high strung teenage girl conflicted about whether to “bust” her brothers or hang out with her boyfriend, and an evil scientist who just want someone to love him. You root for these characters and want them to succeed even though their goals are in opposition to each other.

It’s funny: Even though it is a kids show the dialogue is hilarious. Not potty talk or burp in your face funny—but clever and witty. Here is a tiny example:

Phineas: Time to test our maze.

Baljeet: Did somebody say “test”?

Phineas: It’s not really a test. We’re more like lab rats going after cheese.

Buford: Did someone say “cheese”?

Phineas: Buford, that’s just a metaphor.

Buford: Hmm, I am to metaphor cheese as metaphor cheese is to transitive verb crackers.

I couldn’t stop laughing. That is funny stuff—and not just written for kids.

I really believe that as writers we can learn from all kinds of storytelling: books, music, movies, dance, TV—and many more. So next time you have a sick day…enjoy it.

-Angie

How about it, anyone else have any favorite TV lessons or P&F parts?

Families in Storytelling

Maybe it’s because I just came back from an amazing family reunion, but I’ve been pondering the role of families in storytelling.

In a lot of the books I’ve read lately the family unit is destructive and even ruthless. Because this isn’t my personal experience with families I have a hard time relating.

In my WIP the MC’s family has been murdered by her betrothed—someone who is supposed to be her new family. This murder influences her choices and drives her desire for close relationships.

I really feel that story families do the same things that real families do.

• Support: Families compensate for our personal weaknesses. When we are at our lowest they make us strong. Literary example—Pride and Prejudice: Jane and Elizabeth Bennet use each other through out P&P. Without the other I’m not sure either sister could get through.
• Growth: We can’t help but be our true selves with our families. And sometimes that is our worst selves. Families can magnify our weaknesses and help us grow as people. Literary example—Summer of the Monkeys: Jay Berry Lee’s family lets him grow and learn until his growth culminates in the climax of the book
• Love: Having people who love us no matter what is a powerful thing. Families also give us an opportunity to love in return. Literary example—To Kill a Mockingbird: Atticus Finch's love for his children trickles down to all the other characters in the story. Scout and Jim can’t help but show others the love they receive from their father.
• Dysfunction: Competition, anger, undermining, passive aggressive behavior, neglect, and a million other examples of what can be wrong in families can still be useful to our characters. What better way to know what you don’t want than to experience it firsthand. Literary example—The Hunger Games: Katniss’s neglect at a young age drives her choices and her connection to her sister.
• Needs: Families either meet our needs or they don’t (deep, I know), either way it helps us focus in on what motivates us. Literary example—Harry Potter: Harry’s deep need for family is woven through the book. There would be no story without Harry’s need for family and connection.

Families—good and bad—are such a common human experience we can all relate. And whether families are amazingly supportive or horribly dysfunctional they shape our view of the world—and our characters world.

Description and Design

Description: How much is too much?

I popped over to Donna Weavers blog today and she had a great post about how much description to use and what to leave to the reader’s imagination.

Donna wrote about her stepmother who creates beautiful flower arrangements—but Donna struggles to. I like this comparison because I think the rules of design can be applicable to writing.

There are many design rules, but one I use when I’m designing a room or a flower arrangement is the Rule of Three.

The Rule of Three: Use three things to add depth and diversity. So if I was doing a flower arrangement I would look for:

Size: I use different sized flowers. Your eye always notices the biggest first, but the other fill in the blank space. How this applies to writing description: Readers always notice the obvious first—tall, small, black, or white. But if you use description well it will fill in the blank space of your story, adding to mood, setting, voice and even plot.

Color: Use an odd number of colors—one-three-five, I usually never go over five. How this applies to writing description: Just like color a little goes a long way—I think one or two well constructed sentences of description goes a long way.

Shape: Use different shapes. In flower arrangements shapes add texture. They challenge the eyes. How this applies to writing description: Use all five senses to describe. Multiple sensations add texture to a story.

My biggest complaint about description is that it can sometimes sound like a check list: Tall—check. Dark—check. Handsome—check. Yikes—check.

I love well done description. It can be some of the most memorable parts for me.

-Angie

Clichés

You hear it all the time—Don’t use clichéd writing! My sweet mother in law gave me a fun book: THE DICTONARY OF CLICHES. It has over 2000 entries—crazy right?

What exactly is a cliché? It’s anything that has “lost originality, ingenuity, or impact by long overuse.” I think we all know not to use “the cat’s out of the bag” or “caught red handed”—unless we are being ironic or humorous. But along with cliché phrases I think we need to watch out for cliché characters, situations and scenes.

Agent’s write on their blogs all the time about this cliché or that cliché and it always surprises me. Here are a few:

Characters:

• Damsel in distress
• Hero saves everyone from danger
• Wicked step-family
• Wise grandfatherly figure that has all the answers
• Emotionally scarred super villain
• Bad boy who is secretly soft and sweet
• Girl who doesn't realize she’s beautiful
• Annoying younger sibling
• Misunderstood misfit
• Spoiled mean rich girl

Situations:

• New kid at school
• Prince or princess posing as a commoner
• Two people start off hating each other and then fall in love
• Hero must save the world from and evil villain
• Someone is transformed with make-up or clothes into the popular kid
• Moody gunslinger type comes out of nowhere and helps family beset by baddies. (Good addition Tony:)

Scene:

• Chasing down your true love in an airport
• Meet cute by bumping into someone.
• After-life scene in billowy white clouds
• Nerd getting shoved into a locker or taped to a flag pole
• Beer party on the beach
• Confessions of love in the airport, at work, in the rain, at the train station, after throwing rocks at someone’s window—I could go on.

It isn’t that any of these ideas are bad—they’ve just been over used. Any could be a great place to jump off—just make them different—change them to something unexpected.

Does anyone have any other clichés? If so post them on your blog and leave me a link in the comments and I will link it with this post—or just write them in the comments and I will add them to this list. I think the more clichés we know to avoid the better our writing can be.

-Angie

Bones of my Story

We moved from Boise about four years ago. We sold our home by ourselves and so I spoke with many of our prospective buyers. Without fail they all told me that our house had 'good bones' but it wasn't the right fit. Not all of them said it exactly like that, but that was the basic gist of the conversation.

Our house was built well...good foundation, solid roof, intelligent design. But even with all those factors in place, they still walked away. Maybe we were asking too much, or maybe it was the crash of the stock market. Probably both.

I've wondered about the bones of my story, my novel. How is the design? Have I crafted it with a solid structure? Have I painted a realistic and viable back story? Have I covered all the plot points, patched up any holes?

And last, but not least...Do my characters want to live here? Why? What sets my story structure apart from all the others on the market? Does my design suit my protagonist? My antagonist? Will it showcase and provide a large enough stage for my conflict?

Are the bones of my story strong enough to support some dramatic blows? Could it withstand a few stretches of imagination? The windows might rattle, and the pipes might leak...but by the final chapter, after all the twists and conflicts, will my story be standing?

I've been reading Story Engineering by Larry Brooks. It's one of those books that I read, and re-read, make notes, and then read once more. It has several levels to it and each time I flip through it, I feel like I get a new insight from it.

One of Larry's main points is: your story must have the organization, strength and basic architecture to support all of your themes, characters, plot twists, conflicts, etc. Basically, does your house have good bones?

I'm doing some renovation of my story. I think it has all of the right elements, but I discovered, with the help of my writing partners, that there are a few cross beams missing, or maybe a few tiles on the roof need repair. Who knows, after the repairs are made, I may throw out an extra wing, or put in a skylight. Who knows. Whether it's a cabin or a cathedral, by the time I type the last word, I want to proudly pronounce, 'This house has good bones.'

Adverb Charades

Okay…it’s a book…three words…first word...sounds like...

Don’t you love charades? I kick butt at it. I guess it helps to have a husband who can read my mind. Wow, I’m off subject already—not a good start.

I was telling my critique partner Amy just the other day that when I come across a sneaky adverb—I like to play adverb charades. I don’t know if I explained it good enough to her—so I will try again.

How to play:

1. When editing or writing and you come across an adverb you know you need to cut, you play—adverb charades.
2. What actions can you put into your WIP to replace the adverb?
3. Think about how you would act out the adverb in charades.
4. Voila—writing magic.

Example:

• Before adverb charades: “I’m not going,” Annie said stubbornly.
• After adverb charades: Annie plopped all 40 pounds of her uncooperative self at my feet—shooting me a challenge with her eyes. “I’m not going,” she said.

I use this game all the time to fix my pesky adverbs. I like to think of adverbs kind of like place holders. When I'm in my first few drafts and I just want to write organically, I leave them in. But I always try and replace them with something that shows more.

Did any of that even make sense? It's been a long day :)

-Angie

Villain Hair

My 6 year old asked me, “Which of your brothers do you like best? Pretend one of them is evil.” (I have two very kind brothers. I think the question was really about her brother--who she thinks is evil J ) This question bounced back and forth between my sisters and me. We decided on the one with “villain hair” was the evil brother.

This made me think theremust be more to a villain than hair. So what makes a great villain?

At the conference I just attended I heard something that stuck with me, “Villains think they are the hero of the story.” What a great thought.

Villains need developed just like the rest of the characters in a book.

• Back story
• Motivation
• Talents
• Redeeming traits
• Quirks

Pure evil can be scary but it is also boring. Give the reader more.

Here are some of my favorite villains:

Professor Umbrage (Harry Potter) – She breaks all the stereotypes. Loves pink, loves cats, and loves torture. She took me by surprise.

Darth Vader (Starwars)—I LOVE him! He has such tragic back story, I find myself rooting for him even though I know I shouldn’t. Isn’t that the best?

Gollum (Lord of the Rings)—About half way through the book I forgot he was a villain. And in the end without his selfish obsession—Frodo would have failed. Awesome!

Who are your favorite villains?

-Angie

Making your scenes multitask!

This is probably writing 101, but when I figured it out it changed how I wrote scenes and chapters.

You know those scenes that you LOVE—the ones that are your babies—the ones full of descriptive details—the ones that go nowhere? The ones you KNOW must be fixed, but you can’t figure out how.

This was my epiphany: Make my scenes multitask!

When I am writing a scene I try and make it do three things. It doesn’t matter what those things are, but it must be at least three. If my scene only does one thing I know I need to work on it. Here is my list:

• Develop the plot
• Reveal back-story
• Develop a character
• Pose a question
• Answer a question
• World building
• Raise the stakes
• Foreshadow an event
• Up the tension
• Explore a theme
• Set the mood
• Achieve a goal
• Discover something important

I was flabbergasted when I found a post on this exact thing on Janice Hardy’s blog—she does such a fantastic job of going into great detail, everyone really should check it out! If I’m not the only one thinking this, maybe it is a universal writing truth :)

- Angie

The GREAT What If Game

Most of the time plot is easy for me. My first manuscript practically wrote itself. But now as I work on my second manuscript I find the plot elusive as smoke when I try and grab hold. This problem gives me the dreaded-writers block, because I don't know where the story is going. (My writers block is so bad I would rather do edits on my first MS- shudder)

So I'm trying a little exercise that writers have always done: the great what if game.

Here is how you play. Ask yourself - what if? over and over until you have a great plot.

• What if your hero slips up and gives information to to the bad guys?
• What if an important character is kidnapped?
• What if your hero and heroine have a misunderstanding that changes their relationship?
• What if an escape plan is foiled?
• What if a character you thought you knew is someone else entirely?

You get the idea. I plan on doing this exercise until my smoky plot suddenly becomes solid. Then I am going to write the heck out of it :) Wish me luck.

-Angie

101 Best Websites for Writers

Writer's Digest has it's yearly list out naming the 101 Best Websites for Writers. Weird-the link is broken. Sorry. Here is the list from 2009.

I am not familiar with a lot of them, but I plan on checking them out.

Here are the top 10 sites that I use.

Thesaurus.com - This is ALWAY open when I am writing

Pub Rants - Agent Kristin Nelson's blog: I have learned tons about what steps I need to take to get published.

Query Shark - I've read through every post - all 202 of them, and I learned how to make my query shine.

Confessions from Suite 500- Two lit agents give line by line critiques of the first 250 words of authors first chapter.

The Other Side of the Story - Author Janice Hardy is amazing. Her posts about writing blow me away. I learn something every time I read it.

Baby Hold - A great site for finding character names by origin (African, Spanish, Dutch) without having to give the site your email.

Navigating the Slush Pile - Agent Vickie Motter gives great advice. I especially like her Wednesday Reads. She reviews current books and then I can read them and see if I agree with her. It is nice to know why agents like certain books.

The Bookshelf Muse - This site is a great writing resource when you get stuck. There are lists and lists of different ways to describe: emotion, weather, character, setting, etc.

Grammar Girl - Love this site when I have a grammar question: Lay vs. Lie, Take vs. Bring, Who vs. Whom. I should have payed better attention in school :)

Slush Pile Hell - When I need a good laugh.

Does anyone else have great sites that they use?

-Angie

Psychology 101 - For Writers

My husband is excellent at finding characters acting “out of character” in fiction. His main complaint about books is that authors write characters and then they don’t stay true to character. I think the reason he is so great at finding these discrepancies is that he not only has a BA in, but also a talent for—psychology.

This had led me to believe that writers must also be armchair psychologists. We all hear we need to know our characters motivations, but that could mean a million things.

Here are 10* questions that should help. You need to be able to answer these questions to have a well fleshed out character:

1. What is their background? How does it affect their actions today?
2. What is the defining moment in their life?
3. What do they want most?
4. What will they do to get it?
5. What is something they assume to be true that is not?
6. What do people believe about them that is false?
7. What are their talents? How did they develop them?
8. What are their flaws? How did they develop them?
9. What is their main goal?
10. How do they go against stereotype?

If you can answer all of these you are well on your way. If not take a deeper look. The answers could help and even drive your plot—especially #4.

-Angie

*Some, but not all, of these questions came from a class it took on Characters by J. Scott Savage and Deanne Blackhurst

Punctuation and Pacing

I took a great class at my last conference. It was on Pacing and taught by Josi Kilpack. She said a lot of great things but my favorite was about how punctuation can affect the pacing of our stories.

I hadn’t really thought about it in the cool way she put it:

Think of punctuation as road signs signaling your readers what you want them to do:

• Period (.) – Full stop.
• Comma (,) – Pause, or slow break.
• Ellipsis (…) – Pause, or rubbernecking at an accident.
• Semicolon (;) – Longer pause, or a rolling stop.
• Exclamation (!) – STOP. Yelled stop (That could get annoying fast, use in moderation)
• Question Mark (?) – Pause + prod to do something, or sharp turn.
• Em Dash (—) – Pause + look aside, like slowing to read a billboard.

I am a sucker for a metaphor. Thanks Josi. I won’t think of punctuation the same again.

-Angie

Endings

This post isn't about book endings but chapter endings. The end of a chapter is the perfect place for a reader to stick in a book mark and change the laundry, sleep, mow the lawn, etc.

As a writer I want to write a book you can’t put down. I want to write a book that makes you feed your kids cereal for dinner because you lost track of time.

But how do I do that? I think a great way is to end a chapter with a BANG. End with something that makes you read on:

• End with a threat
• End with a mystery
• End with a kiss, but no reaction
• End with trauma (emotional or physical)
• End with emanate danger
• End with a discovery
• End with a question
• End with conflict

There are more examples. Just think about what you want your readers to do, keep reading or do the dishes, and you will find ways to end the chapter.

-Angie

PLEASE DON’T READ AND DRIVE

Beginnings

The first sentence of your book can be nerve wracking. Writers are told that all our hopes hang on these 10 to 20 words (unless you are Dickens:) Feeling the pressure?

On top of the pressure there are all kinds of arbitrary rules: No dialogue, No weather, No back story, and most important Nothing boring! Break these rules and the door to the publishing world will be slammed in your face like a solicitor. But rules are made to be broken--oh, I forgot, No cliche's:) Instead of rules how about a few ideas:

• Start it in a way that makes sense for your story.
• Leave your reader with a question.
• Showcase something special.
• Think about your book as a whole.

Lisa Mangum said that the first sentence is important but it matters less than the first page. That makes me feel good. It means I have about 250 words to grab a reader instead of 20.

Just to prove that point here are a few first sentences from some of my favorite books:

It is a truth universally acknowledged that a thirty-something woman in possession of a satisfying career and a fabulous hairdo must be in want of very little, and Jane Hayes, pretty enough and clever enough, was certainly thought to have little to distress her. – AUSTENLAND by Shannon Hale

Have I done the right thing in establishing Georgiana in London, I wonder? – DARCY’S DIARY by Amanda Grange

When he was nearly thirteen, my brother Jem got his arm badly broken at the elbow. – TO KILL A MOCKINGBIRD by Harper Lee

Mr. and Mrs. Dursley, of number four, Privet Drive, were proud to say that they were perfectly normal, thank you very much. – HARRY POTTER AND THE SORCERER’S STONE by J.K. Rowling

On the morning of that day in March, in the Year of the Boar, when the ugly stranger came to Tsin Kai-feng, I opened my eyes and felt a pang of despair to find nothing had changed. – MOONRAKER’S BRIDE by Madeleine Brent

You can see, some are great and some are just okay. The point is they were good enough to keep me reading. It was the book that made it my favorite not the first sentence. I’m not saying don’t write a killer first sentence. I’m just saying don’t stress about it.

-Angie