Archive for » June, 2010 «
A sad but true state of publishing affairs. While I think it may be a touch exaggerated and somewhat a better fit for the movie business, I do think it speaks to the crunch of buying only something “guaranteed” salable. And, sadly more, something like that would have broader sales appeal than your standard “teen stuck in an attic” story. Appealing to the masses and all.
The sad thing is, I’m sure some of the advice given in the piece is actually given in writing classes. Ah, you’re so young! Maybe wait a few years to gain some more perspective on things. And just what happens after your last entry? Conclusions, please! Gah!
But Megan Fox? I don’t get her appeal. I think she looks greasy.
I’ve had this short story idea floating around in my head for at least a week. I think I woke up with it in there one morning. I just got around to start writing it a few days ago. The overall premise is rape from a teenage guy’s perspective. Actually, it’s the girl crying rape from the guy’s perspective.
There are quite a few stories out there about rape and the seriousness of it. It’s a horrible thing for anyone to go through, especially a teenage girl. But there’s also another side to it. There are cases of girls having regret about what they did. They feel ashamed so despite having there been no force, they cry rape as some kind of means to absolve themselves of the action and put the blame on the guy. He was the one that coerced her into doing those things.
So my story’s in two parts: the actual act and Monday morning, after the girl’s claim. It’s the act that I find myself having trouble getting through and I think it’s because I’m writing a lot of it. It’s by no means smut (although I’m sure that would be dependent on the eyes reading it) but it’s very telling and I can’t help but feel like I’m writing some kind of Cinemax-level kiddie porn.
But my goal with part A is to show what’s actually happening in the act. The guy is the “big man on campus” type and he can talk the talk. But the walk? He’s just making that walk for the first time. The couple is losing their virginities to each other. I wanted to show his awkwardness on not really knowing what to do, her awkwardness in thinking she knows what she’s doing but not really. And that involves getting a little deeper than listening behind the curtain. I need to show how he nearly explodes when the girl wraps her hand around him because, to me, that’s a testament to how he really is. No “player” would nearly end his night at the single touch of a hand. When he thinks she’s uncomfortable, he stops until she urges him to keep going.
I have absolutely no worries about the repercussions of writing a story like this. I don’t care. Because rape isn’t cut and dry and it isn’t always stereotypical. Yes, more women report rapes but men get raped too. And cries of wolf can often be made. And when that happens, and it’s the guy the wolves have been released on, there are horrible repercussions for him that he didn’t deserve. Duke lacrosse players, anyone?
To me a different story needed to be told.
I said I’d never do it. Why would I? I could barely think of anything to update my Facebook status thing with. What the hell use would I have with a Twitter account? Not to mention I’d only be able to access it like once a day. Kind of defeats the purpose.
But then I found out you can text in twits. And I upgraded my text plan early last month. The stars were beginning to line up.
So I signed up. And I update a few times a day. Usually with snarky commentary on stuff that happens to me throughout the day. Hey, whatever works.
Mainly it’s a tool to connect with fellow book bloggers. A lot of them have Twitter accounts. Not that I felt left out. I just didn’t feel the need. But after BEA, I wanted to get myself out there a little more. Twitting was the way to do that.
I also created a Facebook page for my book blog. Yeah, for exposure. Why not? Whatever works.
You can Like Bites on Facebook and/or follow me on Twitter at @donnaatbites.
I’m also posting a little bit of my writing stuff on Twitter as well. Like today when I was bored at work and working on Diamond Crier, I twitted about an awesome concept I came up with about family hearts. I like sharing stuff like that. In 140 characters or less.
I am a fanfiction writer. I make no qualms about that. I don’t try to hide it.
Cassandra Clare (The Mortal Instruments, The Infernal Devices) was/is also a fanfiction writer. At least, that’s where she got her writing start. I’ve only read City of Bones and I’m reading Clockwork Angel now and I can’t help but see a lot of writing issues in her books that one would find in fanfiction – excessive descriptions (in City of Bones, it was so bad I didn’t want to keep reading the series for fear of death by similes), no trust in the reader, heinous overwriting, awkward prose. And when I read her work I can’t help but think, “Yeah, that’s typical of a fanfiction writer.”
Of course I think of my own work and I wonder if it reads like a piece of fanfiction. No one that’s read it has said that, thankfully. And the thing is, I’m not alone in my opinion of Clare’s work. Many people felt it’s derivative, not only of other works but of itself, Clare having rehashed her own plot in subsequent books.
In Clockwork Angel, every single thing is described, from a person’s looks to what they’re wearing, what they’re holding, what’s in the room and so on. There’s no trust. And it’s typical of a fanfiction writer to spell everything out. The similes have substantially died down but the descriptions she has in there now are awkward and clunky, like she was searching for a good descriptor, couldn’t think of anything and just settled on something. It makes for a very strange read.
So am I unnecessarily prejudice? Am I hypocritically prejudice? Should I take a closer look at my own work and hunt down any signs of fanfiction? Has anyone else read Clare’s work and felt the same way? The thing is, I’m entertained by her stories (although CA is really dragging, I’m closing in on page 150 and only 6 chapters in). It’s just the writing isn’t quite there for me, like she’s hanging on to some semblance of fanfiction and doesn’t want to let go.
Just for the record, no I’m not bitter that Clare was discovered by writing fanfiction. Good for her, actually. But again, I find myself going, “That’s typical of a fanfic writer” when I’m reading her work and I don’t know if it’s right. Not all fanfiction fits so nicely into a mould. Some is far more eloquent than a lot of published works. But a lot has telltale markers of it being fanfic. It’s just Clare’s style screams fanfic to me. I can’t help it.
From the first attempt to the final product, here is my query blurb for Earth Shatterer. With my synopsis finally finished, I should be sending out my last round of Tier 1 submissions to agents tonight and/or tomorrow. Here’s hoping!
Take 1
An earthquake that rattles northern California shatters not only Michael’s nerves but a giant sequoia behind his house. When the trunk cracks open, saw dust in the eyes would have been preferable to the blow dart-toting faerie that flew out of it. When the Fey start assaulting his house (and his face), Michael and his sister, Zana, take it upon themselves to check out the source of their problems. Only then do they realize the Fey are just the start of their issues.
As Zana gets yanked through the trunk by a set of arms that shouldn’t be there, Michael, and his dog, go after her. Only the dog doesn’t stay a dog. Squeaky toys mean nothing to a member of the co-ruling Saet family of Parna. Michael and Zana will just be the disposable chew toys to take its place. To solve their own Fey dilemma, they must follow the dog-turned-man into Parna but the line between ally and enemy is murky at best.
The Yehls, co-ruler and head-butter to the Saets, have their own uses for the teens from the Other Side but whose are altruistic and whose are out for multi-world domination? While Zana succumbs to the poison of this new world, Michael has no choice but to keep his head on his shoulders. The fate of his sister, not to mention his side of the tree, rests in his hands. But does he have what it takes to saddle that responsibility? Or will his side, and his sister, fall prey to the Fey?
Take 2
As blow dart-toting faeries and other whacked-out Fey start winging out of a cracked-open sequoia in Michael’s backyard, he and his sister, Zana, grab the dog and go investigate, leaving their home under attack. As Zana gets yanked through the tree, Michael and the dog go after her only to end up smack in the middle of an otherwordly family feud. Not to mention the dog isn’t a dog anymore but a human member of one of the battling families.
The only way to stop the Fey assault on Michael’s home (and potentially the world) is to close the opening in the tree. They need the dog-turned-guy’s help for that but he has other plans for them, starting with a cup of brainwashing tea that Zana sucks down in a gulp. Michael on the other hand, well, tea’s not really his thing.
When Michael is kidnapped by the enemy family, they shed new light on his former dog and they start to look not so enemy-like after all. He thinks. But even they have other uses for him. At least they’re up front about it.
Armed with only a knife, a hallucination, a concussion and his un-dog’s servant, Michael plots to escape with the help of the “enemy.” He doesn’t even know if he’s on the right side of the fight but he’ll lose his sister, his home, and possibly his life, if he does nothing. That is if he can muster up the stones to pull it all off.
