The Burger of a Novel.

Writing a novel is the fun part. It's like the meat in a taco, a burger in its bun, that delicious gooey apple filling in a Apple Cinnamon donut at Dunkin' Donuts. Unfortunately for those of us who prefer to wipe off the cinnamon and just eat the delicious pie filling, writing doesn't work like that. You cannot have an epiphany in the morning, then write a brilliant novel, and be done with it. As nice as that would be, it doesn't work that way.

Research. Research has always been my nemesis (or maybe that was plot?). I have to sit down at my computer and open ye olde Wikipedia (shhhh, don't tell) and try to figure out what it was like to be a street rat in Prague in 1604 AD. I don't get to watch Aladdin and assume that every street rat everywhere in every time wears a purple vest as has a goofy pet monkey. I suppose I could assume that, but it wouldn't make a very good novel, would it? So we begrudgingly do our research. At least we've got it lucky! About fifteen years ago, a diligent writer would have to spend days in the library, cracking open encyclopedias for the knowledge we technology hermits have at our fingertips. Research: that is the top bun on the burger.

The bottom bun is editing. As much as we all like to think we're brilliant on the first shot, I triple-dog-dare you to put aside a manuscript that you love for a year, don't touch or think about it, then pick it back up and re-read it. You're gonna be embarrassed for yourself - trust me on this one. The characters are flat and the plot is draggy until the last ten pages and you really aren't even sure what that word was supposed to be... and you typed it! So it's back to the old drawing board we go. Does that mean your story should be scrapped?  Absolutely not!  Just... you know... changed.  A lot.

Then, there are the toppings.  Personally?  I like my burgers with Colby Jack cheese, french fried onions, barbecue sauce and ranch... and even bacon if I've got some.  It's not a very healthy burger, but it is delicious, and your novel should be too.  Don't put in a sappy love triangle if you don't think it belongs, just because someone else thinks you should.  Would you put pickles on your burger just because your best friend thinks they're totally delish?  Noooo.  The intrigues and imagery and little laughable moments are just as important to the writing of any good novel as the plot and characters are.

And maybe nibble on that pickle.  It might turn out that you'll like it.  If you do, maybe you'll put it on your burger, then.  While someone else's advice isn't always necessary, it certainly is helpful, and people give their opinions for a reason.  If you can trust your best friend to tell you honestly that yes, that bathing suit does make you look fat, then you might be safe to believe her when she tells you that Johnny Good-Looking doesn't seem like the chain-smoker type.

Burger?  Check.  Bun?  Check.  Condiments?  Check.  Dig in!

the edit monster says "omnomnom!"

Yesterday I blogged about my difficulties with one of my characters and speaking in her voice.  That is part one of my difficulties with editing Fate, and this is part two: the Edit Monster.

I think everyone has their own Edit Monster.  Mine has wrinkly orange skin and bronze-colored plates like a stegosaurus.  He's reasonably well-trained and never nips at me.  Edit Monsters certainly do tend to have their own qualities.  Mine, like any child, loves eating out.  Meaning that if I'm editing a friend's story, it will bleed.  Lots.  And when I edit my own, it bleeds lots too, but later on I find that the Edit Monster hid the brussell sprouts under the napkin and put way too much ketchup on its meatloaf.  After the whole process, yes, I've cut out a great deal, but suddenly it seems as though I have a thousand words more than when I started editing.  Um, doesn't that kind of defy the point?

Personally, I've always been a prolific writer.  I volunteer to do the single twenty-page essay because I know that if I try to do the 3-seven-page essays, I'll end up doing 3-twelve-page essays.  It's a gift, and sometimes it's a curse.  I know I'm not alone.  Sammy, over at Access Approved, finished her first novel at over 200 pages.  Mine doesn't get that far.

So what I want to know is... what type of writer are you?  Does editing sometimes seem add to your work instead of fine-tuning it?  And, most importantly, what does your Edit Monster look like?

Cheers!

hello darkness, my old friend

Let me set the scene for you.

The air inside the cabin is dank and musty, and you feel your allergies acting up, so you step outside on to the rough wood porch overlooking rolling fields.  The sun is just creeping up behind the farthest green hill, and the sky is splattered in pink and blue.  You're not alone on the porch, even though it's just barely sunrise.  But you're not surprised.

Leaning against the dipped wood rail, her hands are wrapped tight around the bone china teacup.  She doesn't say anything to you; just flicks her short red hair over her shoulder and takes a sip.  It's a little strange, seeing an experienced army pilot watching the sunrise and drinking herbal tea from a cup painted with dainty yellow flowers.

Meet Jylouna Martin.

She is my nemesis.

For the last I-don't-know-how-many-weeks I have been fighting a silent battle with her.  I avoid writing in her perspective because she simply disapproves of it.  Just.  Can't.  Get.  Into.  Her.  Voice.  Ever. I love her character (I love all my characters) but whenever I read back what I have written I feel like crumbling up a piece of paper and throwing it violently at... something.  Only I write on my computer, and it's harder to crumble my laptop screen.

I was pacing back and forth in my room when I reopened Chapter Four of Fate for editing.  Partially because Jyla was up to her old "you're-going-to-write-in-my-voice?--I-think-not" tricks, but my difficulties were also coming from a different character:  Timothy Brown.  Since my goal is to finish 'Tweens by the end of the year, I've been writing, even thinking a lot in Timmy's voice.  So as I was trying to write Jyla, I was writing Timmy.  Editing is slow.

Ever have that problem?  A character voice you have a lot of trouble writing in?  What is your greatest difficulty when switching efforts from one work-in-progress to another?

Also, I wanted to share this.  I know I'm three months early, but I just discovered the band All Caps and I thought maybe some people could relate to the sentiment of this video.