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Coffee & Conversation: Are you a planner (plotter) or spontaneous (pantser)?

25 Monday May 2020

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I am, like most folks, some combination of the two.

Interestingly enough, for a good long time I was completely a pantser in my writing (no outline, just sit down and start writing with an idea (or an inkling of an idea)) while in my life I was a planner. The sort who memorized school schedules and maps and directions because otherwise my brain would freeze up on the spot.

This opposite behavior made some sense though, given in writing, it doesn’t matter how many times you get a sentence wrong, you can always go back and change it until it’s perfect. Could craft witty character interactions with hours or even days in between their responses to one another. You’re like a god or goddess meddling in people’s affairs. Powerful!

In real life there are no do-overs. It’s one and done. You say words backwards, you can’t suddenly unfuck them. You head for ten minutes in the wrong direction, you’re going to inevitably be late for everything, and if you sit in the wrong class or pull up to the wrong building you’ll get the immense pleasure of feeling like a moron when someone points out that you don’t belong.

Spontaneous behavior in life is freeing though. It breathes a sort of carefree happiness into your actions and there’s a lot to be said for its ability to alter your mental state. In a positive direction.

And outlining before you write can unfuck problems long before you fucked them up in the first place. (I guess that’s the purpose of planning, isn’t it?)

Which is all a convoluted way of saying that while I’m still a planner, I’m learning to be more spontaneous (though I do have to recuperate after each time), and while I’m still a pantser, outlines before you start are actually quite handy (even if I throw half of it out partway though).

~Emmi

 

Coffee & Conversation: What do you think should be censored?

18 Monday May 2020

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Personally, I’m in the camp that any and all adult fiction or non-fiction should not be censored at all for the adult population.

But you’re probably aware I purposefully said the word “adult.”

I think most people (or at least I hope most people) would agree that children’s fiction should not have high (or perhaps any) levels of gratuitous violence, sexual activity, swearing, hate, etc. And that’s simple enough to say when the child in question is reading board books, picture books, chapter books, etc.

But things begin to get slightly dicey when we reach middle grade, where certain levels of violence or difficult situations may, in fact, be favorable to show coming-of-age story lines or excite children who want to read about dragon-riding or dinosaurs or space battles where the heroes come out on top.

Then there’s YA, strictly in a camp all its own. And that camp is a complete and utter mess, if you ask me (which you weren’t, but I’m answering anyway).

YA, despite its moniker of young adult, is generally considered aimed at children between the ages of 12/13-18. Which, again, if you ask me, is a pretty huge disparity. Children at age 12 might not even have begun puberty, where at 18, you’re not only considered an adult in most countries, but you’ve probably been faced with many adult decisions concerning your own health, sexual activity, future, life choices, relationships, etc. One would hope that at 18 you’d have enough past experiences, enough common sense, enough knowledge to think analytically. Sure, you’ll still make mistakes, but we all do at any age.

However, I have a distinct problem with YA authors aiming their books solely at that higher range audience and forgetting that children as young as 12-13 will also be picking up and reading their work. No, I’m not going to say that all violence and sexual situations should be removed. However, I do adamantly believe authors of YA have just as much responsibility as any other children’s fiction author.

LET’S TAKE AN EXAMPLE: Continue reading →

Coffee & Conversation: How do you handle two-faced people?

11 Monday May 2020

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Not in your real life; I’d think that’s a loaded question with too many answers to count. But in writing, things are a tiny bit simpler. Tiny bit.

There are two main different situations where you might find yourself writing a two-faced person.

THROUGH POINT-OF-VIEW CHARACTER

This situation can be as complicated or as easy depending upon how self-aware the character happens to be.

An incredibly self-aware character, one who knows and accepts their two-facedness, can easily show their true colors through their interactions with other characters and through their own internal thoughts. Their internal thoughts will align completely with their actions, giving the reader a double whammy of explanation. This is where you can write simple, uncomplicated statements, such as “He/I lied” or “He/I didn’t care who he/I hurt” inter-spaced with other, longer internal motivation that will bolster the character’s actions and give the reader a complete sense of what kind of character they’re dealing with.

This is, by far, the easiest two-faced character to create. However, if the character is completely morally ambiguous, you’ll have a much more difficult time convincing the reader to have empathy for him. To improve empathy, you’ll have to show his likableness by 1) having him engage in ‘nice’ or ‘kind’ behavior, 2) by showing other people enjoying his presence or comparing him favorably, or 3) by giving him a clearly defined motivation that readers can identify with.

A character lacking in self-awareness (a type of unreliable narrator), will cause slightly more difficulty given their actions and their thoughts will not align. This is the character who thinks of himself as correct, moral, or a victim in situations rather than a perpetrator. A character who does not take responsibility for the negative outcomes of his actions because he believes in his own false narrative. In this situation, you can’t write “He lied” ever because as far as the character is concerned, he isn’t lying. Continue reading →

Coffee & Conversation: What are your most used phrases?

13 Monday Apr 2020

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Oh, the dreaded repetition, always showing up, rearing its head as part of an unconscious bias as your fingers type across the page. Characters raising their brows or cocking their heads and everly speaking in dry manners. Characters turn and turn again, they sneak quick glances or stare unashamedly and hold each other’s gazes as if in a staring contest.

A lot of these phrases are used by millions of authors and I’m sure non-English speaking writers have their own bevy of phrases that crop in every tale known to man.

Some authors have their own specific words they seem to have fallen in love with. For instance, I once read a series where every male character would stalk across the room and pop their jaw (ouch?). Read another where every person was described as ingenious. Great word, ingenious, but its likely not every character meets its requirements.

Sometimes, a group of writers all joined by a social circle will use certain words or phrases in their books (the schlep phenomenon comes to mind).

As for me? I have my own specific quirks, notwithstanding the above mentioned plethora of head-cocking and dry-speaking. But here’s the rub…it’s incredibly hard to pinpoint your own overused phrases. There might very well be a million of them, yet unless the phrases are long enough and specific enough, it won’t stick out in my mind.

Here’s a paraphrase of one I’ve used a few times: “They do X, Y, Z, but he didn’t even know who ‘they’ were.” I’ve stumbled across myself using that one in both novels and short stories many times. Sometimes I catch it and edit the comments into something different. Sometimes I don’t catch it at all.

Another I use is a nostalgic beginning. I lean into a certain way of starting some stories: “Once he’d been…” or “There’d been a time…” or “Before he’d never…” and “Now he wasn’t so sure…” These types of phrasing all lend themselves to evoking a sense of loss or a sense of time passing, essentially that nostalgia I mentioned. It’s a hard habit to break because oftentimes I really like the feeling it calls and I’m not so sure what other powerful emotion I could replace it with.

I’m sure there’s many other examples. And I’m just as sure if you’re a reader you’ve caught plenty of these kinds of phrases from your favorite authors, just as I have. Habits are hard things to break though, especially when it all reads perfectly fine to you.

~Emmi

Coffee & Conversation: How has the coronavirus affected you?

17 Tuesday Mar 2020

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Literally everywhere I look, this is the only topic of conversation. I’d originally been going to answer a completely different question this week, but I decided to sideline that one until next week because of the last few days.

On Thursday last, I received an automated call from the county that all schools would be closed Mar 16 for at least two weeks (which is why this is coming out today and not yesterday–kids say hi though). In the 24-48 hours after, multiple messages went out postponing, then cancelling an all-day kid’s sporting event that had been scheduled this weekend, possibly cancelling the entire season, library closure noted (so much for working by myself), dentist closed up (was supposed to go in today and was hoping to get my popping jaw looked at), and restaurants have been effectively boarded up until further notice (this one doesn’t truly affect me, but I’m feeling for all of the owners who were struggling to stay afloat month after month).

Toilet paper is completely gone at the stores, as is bread and milk, paper towels, disinfectant, etc. The pandemic has people walking around wearing masks and gloves (that they take off to operate touch-screens and then put back on–I guess to cultivate the bacteria) and the grand total of cases of corona for an hour’s drive all around me is…nil.

Which means this is probably only the beginning of the hysteria.

The news is one-dimensional. My twitter feeds are jacked too, which I expected because twitter is a toxic hell-plane, but I’d have thought that people might occasionally have something to say that doesn’t include the words “corona” or “pandemic” or “toilet paper.” Memes are out of control. Everyone is referring to “quarantine reading” as if it’s somehow different than regular reading.

And here I am being hypocritical and talking about it too.

Honestly, the hysteria is the worst. I’m glad that steps are being taken; not so glad that people are suddenly becoming the worst germaphobes on the planet. I’ve seen people crap on others because they’re not “obeying the six-foot social distancing radius.” I’ve seen so many freaking rules on how to wash one’s hands that I’m starting to feel as if I’m in preschool again. I’ve seen nasty comment after nasty comment always about how others are being irresponsible (but never, ever the person being nasty).

I’ve had both my kids come home from school last week and talk about how they were bullied (they didn’t use this word, but that’s exactly what it was), because they had the gall to cough, or sneeze, or, in the case of one of them, throw up because he choked on a hard candy and his body needed to expel it. The fact that this hysteria had spread to our children to the point where my kids were upset that people were mocking them for “having corona” is despicable.

Is this a sickness that can kill the way the yearly flus can? Yes. Should we be careful? Yes. Should we fall into this mass hysteria because we love jumping on ridiculous band-wagons and lose what brain cells we possessed? No. Please, no.

The next few weeks are going to be tough whether you get the virus or not because the world is losing its freaking mind.

So, what I have to say to you is, good luck out there!

Figure out what you have to do to meet your responsibilities, to care for the people you need to care for, to get your work done, to feed your family, to protect yourself. And do it knowing that fear is the mind-killer. Don’t succumb. You are better than that.

Be kind, be brave, be awesome!

All my love,
~Emmi

Coffee & Conversation: Do you hoard anything and, if so, what is it?

09 Monday Mar 2020

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Notebooks! All the notebooks!

This is assuming you don’t mean books. Assuming that hoarding books is as natural as breathing for anyone who reads (and who actually has space) and that using books would be a cop out for that reason.

So my answer is notebooks. I have far, far too many. There are some people who only buy a notebook when they need one. Others who might grab a couple and keep them on hand. I have probably close to 200. And that’s just a guess because I’m not counting.

To be fair, not all of them are large. Some are super tiny, like index card size, and some are even smaller, talking you could string them on your keychain if you wanted, or stuff them in your pocket. I have one shelf that is two layered deep in unwritten-in notebooks because it’s shorter/smaller notebooks in the back and an extra layer of those super tiny ones in the front.

I’ve got spiral-bound ones, glued ones, some with locks, some with leather ties, some with recycled paper, some with glitter. I’ve even got one with a furry cover. Some were super cheap. A few not so much. Many were presents. It’s a go-to gift for me for a lot of people because they know that notebooks are always appreciated no matter what size/shape/style, especially so if they’re pretty.

Whenever I get knee-deep in a new novel idea or start a new challenge or just need to hit the refresh button on my mind, I’ll go sift through my notebooks to find one that fits the idea I have just right.

The one for my Houndmaster books is a floppy green that used to have a tie but it broke because I used it so much.

The one I’ve set aside for my shaman stories if I ever get to them is a pale blue folded cover with wood rods keeping it shut.

The one for Canvas Blues is a spiral-bound plain tan one that had hard covers so I could write short ‘yesteryear’ pieces whenever I was out and about.

The one for my poems was a gift. Feels like leather, but is probably fake, has a cute lock-clasp and a stone embedded on the front cover.

The one I used (but haven’t touched in years) for my DaSunder Chronicles is a smaller gold mottled, hard-covered notebook that reminded me of the desert.

It’s an obsession. But I guess it’s better than say, food wrappers or nail clipping or anything equally gross.

~Emmi

Coffee & Conversation: What would you do differently if you know no one would judge you?

02 Monday Mar 2020

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I wouldn’t feel the need to use a pen name. Wouldn’t feel the need to keep my writing to myself. I would talk about it openly among family and friends rather than vaguely.

The bulk of my family is heavily religious with some of them being the judgemental kind. Many are against the LGBT community. Many are against sexual activity in general. Many are misogynistic.

To give an example, I want to go into a story.

I write under two different pen names, this one where I feel free, feel as if I can write and publish and do whatever I want, when I want, how I want. Some people give me poor reviews, but I don’t read them, I don’t care. People are welcome to dislike my work because I’m doing something I enjoy doing and a stranger’s poor opinion isn’t going to take away this little pocket of freedom I claim. Continue reading →

Coffee & Conversation: What was your worst word mishap?

24 Monday Feb 2020

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Most writers have their arch nemesis, those fickle words that just won’t appear on the screen properly. Backwards vowels, missing letters, a correct spelling that ultimately is the demise of the sentence because it’s the wrong, freaking word.

When reading over work, especially your own, it’s easy for your eyes to fill in the missing gaps, rearrange words into a proper order, even delete instances of times when mistakes like “the-the” occur. This is one of the reasons a writer needs to set aside a book for long enough to forget the word structure or have someone else look the story over.

Here’s a short list of some of my most common mistakes, the ones that I can remember off the top of my head because they happen so often. This list is not comprehensive and I have done much, much worse, up to and including typing in rhyming words or even typing a synonym or close-to a synonym in place of the word I wanted to write. Continue reading →

Coffee & Conversation: Do you know how to ride a bike?

17 Monday Feb 2020

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While writing Canvas Blues, I had scenes with Brendon as a child riding his bike and while it wasn’t in any way a catalyst for the story, those pieces came from all the neighborhood bike riding I did as a child. That was back when knee pads and helmets were lol-what? to most people. I don’t even think I owned any protection, yet we were given free rein on our streets.

There’s actually a lot of leaning on my own life, where I grew up, that plays into Canvas Blues. And though the story is just starting on your end and bike riding isn’t exactly a plot point, it had a lot to do with linking certain places in the Past/Yesteryears timeline for Brendon.

So, yes, I know how to ride a bike. I don’t own one right now :( But it’s on the list of things I’d like to get one day. That elusive one day that may or may not become today at some point. Maybe I’ll ask Santa for one for Christmas. Or something. XD

~Emmi

Coffee & Conversation: Where do you get your ideas?

03 Monday Feb 2020

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Idea questions are one of the most common questions writers receive and let’s face it, the real answer is never enough for anyone not in the industry.

Because the answer is Everywhere!

To many people that sounds like a cop-out, a way to shrug the question off and move on because you’re too tired to actually answer. The reality is, it is the shortened form of the answer, the TLDR, the I’ve-answered-this-question-a-million-times-already response.

The longer answer is still Everywhere, but it’s more than that too. It’s about the wanderings of your mind and the questions that arise from those wanderings. It’s about the what-ifs and then-thats and can-I’s that follow.

You go for a hike, following a river, letting your mind wander:

What if the river ran up this hill rather than down it?
Then that would mean the water would pull from the ocean and pool in the mountains.
Can I create a setting, a plot or a character who sails the frigid seas pooling at the tips of those mountains?

You misspell something, miss-say something, miss-hear something: What if it’s not a mistake?

You take things that are figurative and you make them literal: What if getting mud on your skin really was the end of the world?

You take your fears and exaggerate them. Twist your own beliefs to see what kind of character might stem. You look at everything and everyone around you and ask yourself: What are they thinking? Why is that there? What if I change this small detail, what would happen?

But what about when this doesn’t come naturally to you? After all, creativity is a muscle like anything else and if you haven’t been practicing it might feel stiff.

One way to push past that stiffness that leads to general, overused ideas and force yourself to think outside the box, is to do the List 10 prompt challenge. Number down on a piece of paper to 10 and then choose a word/prompt (or have one chosen for you). Then for every number, you write whatever comes to mind based on that prompt. You’ll notice as you work your way down that the ideas become harder to come up with. The easy ones, the ones that mimic things you’ve seen or read, are already taken and you’re forced to push harder and further in order to link something–anything–back to that prompt.

The rule of thumb is, you write your 10 different ideas and then scrap every single one of them. Then you come up with number 11. That way you’ve walked past all the easy ones, the ones everyone else has already thought of, the ones that sprang to mind quickly because you’d read that book or seen that movie. And the one you finally decide on will be one that took you longer to reach, made you work for it.

Another way to push past the stiffness is to experience more. Go out beyond your normal haunts. Read books you normally wouldn’t read. Cook food you normally wouldn’t eat. Talk to people you normally wouldn’t get a chance to speak to. And listen.

Always, always listen.

And that is how I come up with ideas.

~Emmi