Blogging from A to Z Challenge: Day 14 - Letter N

We've got N up for grabs in today's Blogging from A to Z Challenge - and my topic:

Naming Your Novel

So you've finally finished the last line of your manuscript. It's maybe even been through a dozen or so re-writes. Your critique partners have scoured over it - and your beta readers love it. But...what did you end up naming it? 

For some, the name just comes, as they write. For others, maybe it's at the end, when all is said and done. But for many, finding the perfect name isn't as easy as it would seem. In fact, it may have been easier to write those 80,000 words that make up your manuscript - but the few simple ones that will adorn the cover? Yeah, not so much.

Why is a title that big a deal?

A title is everything! It’s the first thing a potential reader sees - it's what will either catch an agent or editor’s attention or send all your hard work straight to the trash can. Just as your name represents you, the title of your book must be representative of your novel.

I've determined that titles can be separated into three groups: The good, the okay, and the not-so-good…

The first is the good: These are the titles that catch your attention right off the bat. They make a reader pick up the book, scan the front, turn it over and read the back...and ultimately, move on to the cash registers, with said book in hand. Examples: The Hunger Games, The Forest of Hands and Teeth, Slaughterhouse-Five, and The Lovely Bones.

The okay: These titles have a 50/50 chance of getting the attention of a reader - but that might only be because they had a great image on the cover, or maybe an impressive quote from the New York Times (or another reputable author). Examples: Twilight, Shiver, and Hourglass.

Then the not-so-good: Oy vey. If you didn't know a stitch about these books - hadn't heard any buzz what-so-ever...chances are, you'd walk right on by. Examples: The Road, Fallen, and Passion. 

So...how do you come up with a name?

It's all about being creative. 

Here are several tips that I use, when naming my novel:

Ah, my favorite: make a list:

1. List out all the names of your main characters.
2. Add all the major places in your book - school names, places of employment, locations.
3. Do you have any special talismans/objects that play a specific or important role? (for example: The Sorcerer's Stone)
4. Does your book contain any unique creatures, animals, or beings?

What is your story about?

1. What is the plot of your book?
2. Do you take your reader on a journey - and if so, to where?
3. Does your book relate to a current event or a trend?

When all else fails, turn to Google:

1. Search for pictures that represent your characters, your plot, maybe the school in your story - anything that represents aspects of your book. This is a favorite for me - and something I do from the very beginning of writing a story (and yes, I keep a spreadsheet of all my pics, so I can reference them later).
2. When you think of what other books your's would sit next to in the book store, what are their titles? This might get the creative wheels turning - but just make sure your title isn’t too close to another book already published!

Be creative and have some fun:

1. Pick out words that are unique to your manuscript - is there something there that can be played off of?
2. Use humor to help grab the attention your book deserves!
3. But don't forget - make sure your title is original. Don't be too quirky - but do pick something that's catchy.

Here are a few great articles I've found to help aid in finding a creative title for your story:

Writer's Digest posted a great article on the 7 Tips to Land the Perfect Title for Your Novel.

Absolute Write also posted a decent article, A Title for My Novel.

What's in a Name? Everything. So tell me, how did you come up with your title?

And just a reminder: the polls are still open to vote for your favorite book blog via Goodreads! If you'd like to support my blog and all the book reviews I post (and thank you very much!), please click on the voting button over there to your left (just above my Twitter and Linky sections). Thanks again!! 

Blogging from A to Z Challenge: Day 13 - Letter M

The letter M is up in today's Blogging from A to Z Challenge - and my topic:

Muses

Many authors believe in drawing their creativity from a devine source. A space perhaps otherworldly, that houses all the wonderful ideas of the universe - just waiting to flow through you, and onto your pages.

And you access this place of infinite creativity, by the works of the amazing muse. 

But what exactly is a muse?

According to The Free Dictionary.com, here is how they interpret the term muse: 

Muse  (myz)

n.

1. Greek Mythology Any of the nine daughters of Mnemosyne and Zeus, each of whom presided over a different art or science.

2. muse:

  a. A guiding spirit.

  b. A source of inspiration.

3. muse: A poet.
4. (Literature / Poetry) a goddess that inspires a creative artist, esp a poet

[from Old French, from Latin Mūsa, from Greek Mousa a Muse]

Many of our talented predecessors believed in the muse - and even included her in their works. For example:

Homer, in Book I of The Odyssey:

"Sing to me of the man, Muse, the man of twists and turns driven time and again off course, once he had plundered the hallowed heights of Troy." (Robert Fagles translation, 1996)

William Shakespeare, Act 1, Prologue of Henry V:

Chorus:
O for a Muse of fire, that would ascend
The brightest heaven of invention,
A kingdom for a stage, princes to act
And monarchs to behold the swelling scene!

I am a believer in my muse. She's wonderfully talented and incredibly creative...but she also likes to vacation more than I do.

Not that she doesn't deserve a good vacation, because when she's here to work, she rolls up her sleeves, ties her laces tight, and is ready to run - often times allowing me to easily crank out anywhere from 20,000 - 30,000 words in a weekend. It's almost as if my fingers are unattached from my own body, as they fly across the keyboard and craft this potentially wonderful story - just waiting to be polished and fine tuned. 

But when my muse has packed up her bag and is off traveling to who knows where, here are a few tips that help me get through the funk:

1. Read. Read as many books in your genre, as you possibly can. A writer can never stop learning the tricks and trades of the business - and like a fine wine, the craft of writing only gets better with age.

2. Step away from your work. Sometimes you've been staring at the same chapter, same page, same paragraph, same sentence - same word - for who knows how long...but it's obvious that it's been long enough. Walk away from your writing - take a break and let your mind drift. Because when you try to force it, your Muse will never come out to play.

3. Spend time doing one of your favorite hobbies - go for a run, take a yoga class - perhaps an art lesson? Often times it's when you're participating in something else creative, that tempts your muse to come on home.

4. Talk to your writerly friends / CP's / Beta Readers - they understand what you're going through, sometimes better than your family. And sometimes, it's just what you need to get the creative juices flowing again. 

5. Jump on-line. Check out your favorite writer / author blogs. Stop by and read the latest post from a site you haven't been to in awhile. Stay connected.

My muse is kinda hanging out right now - she's patiently waiting in the cozy chair in the corner, feet tucked up underneath her, and reading a gossip magazine (she likes to do that, as do I). We're waiting for some feedback from Mr. Agent Man in the next week, to really dive in to all those re-writes I have ahead of me. I wonder if there's a way I can get her to write them for me. :)

So, do you believe in the writing muse? What do you do when she's not around? 

By the way, I wrote this post from the Maple Valley library. Yep, I said I'd come here today - and I did. And it's a beautiful space - not to mention, nice and quiet (although their YA section - while bigger than I expected - could still use a little help!). Plus, the view from my cozy table is so pretty - check it out:

And just a reminder: the polls are still open to vote for your favorite book blog via Goodreads! If you'd like to support my blog and all the book reviews I post (and thank you very much!), please click on the voting button over there to your left (just above my Twitter and Linky sections). Thanks again!!

Blogging from A to Z Challenge: Day 12 - Letter L

Today's hot topic starts with the letter L on the Blogging from A to Z Challenge - and my topic:

Libraries 

I happen to have two absolutely a-mazing libraries within a 5 square-mile radius from my home, in Maple Valley, Washington - and in the past nine years we've lived here (I can't believe I'm even going to admit this), I've never been into either of them, once.

I've been to other libraries, several times over the past few years...just neither in my own neighborhood - and I have no idea why.

That's down right embarrassing to say out loud - I mean, after all, I'm a writer! How could I not have been to visit either library - ev-ver? 

They're both beautiful - the architecture alone, is pretty spectacular:

Maple Valley Library

Covington Library

But then there are all the wonders both of them contain - all of those books, shelved perfectly, according to Mr. Melvil Dewey (organizational genius extraordinaire)...books just waiting to be plucked off the shelf and read. 

And if all of that wasn't enough - then there's the peace and quiet. Beautiful silence. The quiet hush. The sound of...nothing. What better place to take my laptop, grab a seat, and dive into those massive rewrites I've got ahead of me?

Which settles it.

I'm going to my library THIS WEEKEND. I'm packing up my laptop and I'm going. And in fact, maybe I'll go to the Maple Valley library on Saturday, then the Covington location on Sunday. Done and done. 

So how about you?

Libraries - have you been to your's lately? If so, what do you use the space for - writing? Reading? Relaxing? 

The polls are still open to vote for your favorite book blog via Goodreads! If you'd like to support my blog and all the book reviews I post (and thank you very much!), please click on the voting button over there to your left (just above my Twitter and Linky sections). Thanks again!!

And I successfully participated in yesterday's #RocktheDrop - hosted by the amazing peeps over at Readergirlz and Figment, to support Teen Lit Day. What a super fun activity - and one I'll definitely participate in again next year! A big thanks to Jessica Love for recommending it!

Here are pics of the books I dropped:

THE FOREST OF HANDS AND TEETH by Carrie Ryan and THE DEAD-TOSSED WAVES (sequel to THE FOREST OF HANDS AND TEETH), also by Carrie Ryan

Outside the Issaquah, WA. Public Library

And THIRTEEN REASONS WHY by Jay Asher:

Bench in front of Great Harvest Breads, Factoria, WA.

Blogging from A to Z Challenge: Day 11 - Letter K

Not a whole lot of writerly words beginning with the letter K, so this post might be a tad bit of a stretch - but that's the beauty of the Blogging from A to Z Challenge! So to embrace the letter K and the fact that I write fiction, my topic today is:

Keyser Söze: One of the greatest multi-dimensional ficticious characters, of all time.

Writing is tough enough. But writing characters that have dimension? Yeah, that's an even harder task. It's so easy to think that the characters you've had in your head for so long, easily translate to your readers as just the best characters ever. But do they really? Which brings us to today's topic: Keyser Söze.

And who is he you may ask? Well, only one of the most brilliantly devised fictious criminal characters, from one of my all time favorite movies: The Usual Suspects, circa 1995. 

If you haven't seen The Usual Suspects, the premise of the film follows the interrogation of Roger "Verbal" Kint (Kevin Spacey), a small-time con man who is one of only two survivors of a massacre and fire on a ship docked at the Port of Los Angeles. The entire movie follows Kint's narration during his interrogation, as he fabricates a convoluted story about events that led him and four other criminals to the boat - and of a mysterious mob boss known as Keyser Söze, who commissioned their work. Using flashbacks and narration, Kint's story becomes increasingly complex, leading his interrogators to believe Keyser Söze is the mastermind behind everything. 

But it's all just a masterfully crafted plan by Kint's character, as he pieces together lie after wonderful lie - many of which are concocted simply by what Kint sees in front of him on the cork board in his interrogation room - creating one of the most brilliant fictious villians...hiding the real man behind the crime: himself. In the end, as he limps out of the pricinct - free on bail - and drives away, the police realize all-too late, that they've been had.

A brillant movie with so many twists and turns - all of it coming together in the last five minutes of the film, leaving you scratching your head and asking: did that really just happen? Friggin' fan-diddly-tastic!!!

And all of the above circles us back around to: writing characters that are multi-dimensional. This may be one of the hardest aspects of writing, whether you realize it or not - but to make a story grand, your characters must have more than two-dimensions. They need to be a story all in themselves, just like Keyser Söze. 

So this leaves me to ask:

Are your characters Keyser Söze worthy?

And just a reminder - the polls are open to vote for your favorite book blog via Goodreads! If you'd like to support my blog and all the book reviews I post (and thank you very much!), please click on the voting button over there to your left (just above my Twitter and Linky sections). Thanks again!!

Also, today is operation Rock the Drop! hosted by the amazing peeps over at Readergirlz and Figment, to support Teen Lit Day.

I purchased three of my favorite books: THE FOREST OF HANDS AND TEETH by Carrie Ryan, THE DEAD-TOSSED WAVES (sequel to THE FOREST OF HANDS AND TEETH), also by Carrie Ryan, and THIRTEEN REASONS WHY by Jay Asher. Now I just need to figure out where I'm going to drop them!

Blogging from A to Z Challenge: Day 10 - Letter J

It's J day in today's Blogging from A to Z Challenge - and my topic:

J. K. Rowling

One of my most absolute favorite authors, J.K. Rowling is right up there with Roald Dahl.

Her imagination is crazy amazing. And it's insane the number of children and adults alike, she turned on to reading through her fabulous Harry Potter series. Some even say, she started the craze for Young Adult books - and I'd like to thank her for that, if I could.

J. K. Rowling has inspired my imagination, along with my writing. From a great article found on Bio. True Story - here's a little about her:

J.K. Rowling (b. July 31, 1965, in Chipping Sodbury, England) became an international literary sensation when the first three installments of her Harry Potter children's book series took over the top three slots of The New York Times best-seller list. The phenomenal response to Rowling's books culminated in 2000, when Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire became the fastest-selling book in history.

A graduate of Exeter University, Rowling moved to Portugal in 1990 to teach English. There, she met and married a Portuguese journalist named Jorge Arantes. The couple's daughter, Jessica, was born in 1993. After her marriage ended in divorce, Rowling moved to Edinburgh with her daughter to live near her younger sister, Di. While struggling to support Jessica and herself on welfare, Rowling worked on a book, the idea for which had reportedly occurred to her while she was traveling on a train from Manchester to London in 1990. After a number of rejections, she finally sold the book, Harry Potter and the Philosopher's Stone (the word "Philosopher" was changed to "Sorcerer" for its publication in America), for the equivalent of about $4,000. The book, and its subseqent series, chronicled the life of Harry Potter, a young wizard, and his motley band of cohorts at the Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry.

By the summer of 2000, the first three Harry Potter books, Harry Potter and the Sorcerer's Stone, Harry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets and Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban earned approximately $480 million in three years, with over 35 million copies in print in 35 languages. In July 2000, Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire saw a first printing of 5.3 million copies and advance orders of over 1.8 million. After a postponed release date, the fifth installment, Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix, hit book stores in June 2003. The sixth installment, Harry Potter and the Half Blood Prince, sold 6.9 million copies in the United States in its first 24 hours, the biggest opening in publishing history. Prior to its July 2007 release, the seventh and final installment in the Harry Potter series, Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows was the largest ever pre-ordered book at chain stores Barnes & Noble and Border's, and at Amazon.com.

Rowling, now Britain's 13th wealthiest woman—wealthier than even the Queen—does not plan to write any more books in the series, but has not entirely ruled out the possibility.

Most every writer dreams of having stats like J. K. Rowling - and while her's is such a rare talent, it's still fun to dream. I mean, to sell over 35 million copies, and be printed in 35 languages? Holy cow. And then there's the fact she's wealthier than the Queen of England. Jeesh. It's a good thing she started to scribble that story down on that napkin, all those years ago - not to mention kept pushing forward, when all those publishers said no. 

J.K. Rowling: Has she inspired you in any way?

Blogging from A to Z Challenge: Day 9 - Letter I

The great letter I is up in today's Blogging from A to Z Challenge - and my topic:

Inspiration

Inspirtion can come from many different places. And thanks to my passion for writing, I'm constantly looking for sources that inspire - here are some great places I go, for writing inspiration:

The Internet:

1. Pinterest
2. Google
3. Twitter
4. YouTube
5. Blogs

In Nature:

6. Going for a long drive
7. Opening my front door and taking a 5 minute walk
8. Watching a child swing at the local park
9. My garden

In my home:

10. Where I write
11. Where I cook
12. Where I watch TV
14. Where I read 

Out and About:

15. A great bookstore
16. The mall
17. The library
18. A sporting event
19. A previous vacation
20. Sitting in traffic

So many places can provide inspiration, if you just stop for 5 minutes to look at what surrounds you!

I find I get much of my inspiration for my writing, from my travels and the pictures I've taken. Not only do the pictures bring back great memories, but they give me a visual image to focus on. Here are a few pictures I've taken that I like to keep on hand: 

Anniversary in Kapalua, MauiBusiness trip to Machu Picchu, PeruHoneymoon in Italy

Inspiration: where do you find it?

Also - today the polls are open to vote for your favorite book blog via Goodreads! If you'd like to support my blog and all the book reviews I post (and thank you very much!), please click on the voting button over there to your left (just above my Twitter and Linky sections). Thanks again!!