On Truth in Fiction

As fiction writers, we strive to create truth on the page. We invent characters and settings, plot twists and mysteries, all the while hoping that our readers will believe the beautiful lies we have spun--because truth is what touches us. Truth taps into our emotions, allowing us to relate and learn. Truth unites us, readers and authors alike.

What's interesting is that sometimes, the fictions we create are so painfully real that we question the propriety of truth in fiction--we question whether or not Tris should have been sexually assaulted in Divergent. We question Amy's near-rape in Across the Universe. These moments are hard for readers, but they are hard for authors, too.

As authors, we are drawn to the darkest moments of our character's lives. We want to see and hear and feel what they feel, but we also want to share those experiences with respect. Because the stories we weave are not fiction for everyone. For some readers, what we have written is their truth.

I've always thought it was appropriate and important to portray dramatic circumstances from real life. I support authors who take on the tough moments and show them with passion and respect. I just didn't realize that I am one of those authors, not until this week.

For those of you who don't know the story behind my first novel for middle grade, the plot centers around a girl whose little brother is battling cancer--neuroblastoma, to be exact. My life was first touched by NB five years ago in Brooklyn, when a neighbor friend of mine disclosed that her son had the deadly disease. Through their family, I became involved in Cookies for Kid's Cancer, helping launch the initial year of fundraising (NB occurs in such a low % of the population it is not a lucrative field for pharma and relies on donations).

This week I learned that my 4yo's classmate has been diagnosed with the disease. This is shocking and terrible and heart-breaking news. This child is only three years old. She doesn't deserve this. And even though I know how random and sudden this disease can be from my book research, I was stunned by the news.

At first I felt something like guilt, for having written a novel that portrays this real person's circumstances. But then I went back and read the book. And I saw that the story I told is true, but it is also kind and respectful and hopeful--and I felt a renewed sense of obligation as a writer to share these stories with the world. Even when it hurts to do so.

Neuroblastoma came into my life five years ago, and it has come again, so I am taking the hint from the universe. I remain dedicated to helping discover new and better treatments for NB and childhood cancers. If you want to learn how to help, too, just follow the link. And hug your kids today. Then hug them again.

Want to support children's cancer research? Buy a book! Help save young lives.

My Biggest Challenge: Idea Count

One of the things that always fascinates me about a great book is the simplicity of the underlying story. I mean, the characters and plot components may be super complicated, but the story itself usually boils down to a simple one-liner that's easy to take in and enjoy.

For example, my favorite book of last year, Shadow & Bone. This book is a layered, nuanced tale set in a fantastically rich folkloric setting--but the story really boils down to a girl who must choose to accept herself in order to master her powers and determine which of two men she really loves. It's a story of the heart, no matter its setting and secondary details--those bits make the story come alive, mind you, but the story at heart is simple and RELATABLE.

Here's where I come in. I have too many ideas. Upon reading that last sentence, some of you may say, GIVE ME A BREAK, but just wait--stay with me! Having too many ideas can be a problem. Secondary plot lines can add richness, or they can cloud the waters. There is a very fine line between the two states.

A typical project room wall in Product Design

I struggled with the same challenge as a designer. I recall one particularly long day in the project room rather early in my career, when I'd been sketching cell phones for hours without striking on one my project manager really liked. My sketches were hot, the lines crisp--but something about the designs just WASN'T WORKING. Finally, my project manager (a very sweet car designer with a great flair for cutting to the quick of things) took me over to the project wall for a talk. Melanie, you have too many ideas, he said. You only need one idea in each design. One design, one idea.

One design, one idea.

This notion was genius to me--and still is. Here I was, killing myself weaving three different concepts into one sketch when I could just make three quick sketches instead (which would come more easily from the lack of complication). I've been thinking about this concept in regards to writing these days, and I think the same mantra can be easily applied to storytelling:

One book, one idea.

I'm trying to let myself embrace the idea. It's much harder to risk 50 or 80 thousand words on the effort (as opposed to a ten second sketch), but every time I read an excellent book I find the same theory put to work--great books tell a great story--ONE great story. So tell your story. Tell just that story. Tell it from your unique point of view, in your unique voice, and let that ONE story shine.

The Madman's Daughter, Megan Shepherd

The Madman's Daughter by Megan Shepherd
My rating: 4 of 5 stars

The Madman's Daughter has an amazing premise--the daughter of Dr. Moreau seeks out her infamous scientist father on a remote island only to discover the truth of his work--but it's the writing that really shines in this story.

As writers, we often wrestle with the concept of theme. How should themes weave through the narrative? How overtly do you build the connections? How much is too much, or not enough? Well, Megan Shepherd is a master of theme, and I highly recommend this book to anyone who wants to read a flawless example of building thematic connections without overwhelming the reader.

As we follow young Juliet's journey (which is a journey of the heart as much as across the sea), the themes of strangeness and otherness build effortlessly on every page. This story is not just read, but felt, from the scurrying, insect-like movement of the people and animals to the pungency of the salt air and suffocating heat of the jungle. As you read, you begin to feel Juliet's desperate need to escape at the core of your being, clawing away at you, worrying your stomach with the same fear she faces--what if you escape one terrifying existence only to discover you have fallen into another, more horrible reality?

If you aren't familiar with the classic story, The Island of Dr. Moreau, never fear. You don't need to know it to enjoy this story. The Madman's Daughter will sweep you up and take you on a terrifying thrill ride all on its own.

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Prepping for BEA!

Working on business cards, sifting through sketches...

So excited to attend my first BEA this year. I'm only going for one day, Saturday, but I intend to tear it up. Hope to see you there! I'll be at SCBWI-NJ the following weekend in Princeton, so I'm happy to say I'm finally reaching my goal of attending a writing conference. One step at a time, one step at a time. *grins*

Reading and Writing in Shifts

I almost titled this post, My TBR Pile is Out of Control, because, well, IT IS. When I'm writing a first draft, I don't read very much on the side. I know some writers who read every day, or every night before bed, but when I'm in the throes of a first draft, I have to keep my eyes on the prize so to speak. Other books can be a distraction.

My current May TBR pile (plus ebooks)

There are times, however, when I pause during drafting to read a book because I need an injection of voice--or a slap in the face, ie: look at how awesome this is and are your words even close to this good? Believe it or not, that kind of slap motivates me. It's really important to keep your goal in focus as you write--your goal being to produce something that's good enough to go on a shelf next to these other published books. Therefore, the published books MUST be faced, and wept over, and admired.

But other than those moments, I tend to hoard reading for when I'm not drafting. Generally, I read a ton of books while I journal a new idea. Each book does something in such a spectacularly awesome fashion that reading them while developing my own idea challenges me to address the awesome at a planning stage. Then I draft. When I'm done, I toss that puppy at my CPs from a moving vehicle and drive straight to the library/bookstore/home to read another avalanche of books.

This accomplishes two things: first, binge reading provides separation from the story I've been working on (distance that will make revision much easier); second, re-immersion into other people's craft highlights all of that awesome I'm trying to achieve yet again, so that when I DO begin my revisions, I'm ready to push myself even harder.

So that's why I end up reading and writing in shifts.

Do you do this, too? Or not? And if you have any awesome books to add to my May TBR pile, let me know!

Writing Under Pressure

This April is the first time I've ever taken on the Nano challenge--which, for those of you who are like whaa?, is a month-long novel-writing challenge wherein you partner with other writers and harass each other to produce enough words to qualify as a novel in ONE MONTH. Yes, that is a crazy idea. But for lots of writers, writing under pressure works.

I sort of unofficially Nano-ed last November, which is when National Novel Writing Month occurs each year. I happened to be writing my MG novel at that time, and so I tagged onto other people's writing sprints and enjoyed the company. During April, the same organizers run CampNano, a more flexible version of November's challenge, wherein you can set any goal, and my fabulous critique group decided to sign up together.

I wondered what it would be like to write under pressure. Would I enjoy having other people know exactly how much I wrote each day? Would I get crushed by a mountain of guilt if I skipped a day? Would I feel guilty if I wrote TOO quickly?

Today is Day 11 of the CampNano challenge, and I can say that without a doubt, writing with friends is the best. Even if you skip a day, someone else in your group rocks the words, and you feel better. When you hop on Twitter looking for motivation, it's pretty much a guarantee that someone else in your group will also be looking for a sprint.

And let's face it--I'm a sucker for charts.

And Camp Nano makes some pretty wicked charts of your progress, which appeals to the OCD writer in me who shouts, I MUST REACH THIS BULLS-EYE!

What's the key to enjoying this process? To actually getting something other than a boatload of disappointment out of a challenge like writing 50K words in one month? Here are a few tips on what has helped me so far:

• Pre-planning: I'm writing the second half of my YA space western, so for me it was key to plan out the wa-zoo. I have rough outlines, but I also have a hundred pages of journal material ready for reference if I get stuck. Sometimes, just reading my notes about a character spurs a scene that's moving too slowly.
• Scheduling time: My writing time varies. I have two little nuggets at home, plus travel for spring break to contend with, so it's been crucial to pick a writing time the night before each new day and stick to it. This involves being honest with family and friends about the crazy thing you are doing.
• Writing one word at a time: Even with most of the story planned out, I still hit transitions where I'm like, AND THEN WHAT, MELANIE? Well, I try to step back for a second and say, what else could happen here? Is there a character we have not seen for a while who would change the course of this scene? Is there another challenge or surprise I could pile on top of my MC? These are the moments when you can't worry about the outline too much. Follow the interesting words, wherever they lead. Sometimes these unexpected moments turn out to be the best thing ever.
• Cheering everyone on: As a designer, I competed with other creatives in a pretty cut-throat environment. It's taken me a year to believe that writers are NOT like that. The more I cheer, the more you cheer--for reals! It never fails. Even at a low moment, someone random will pop up on Twitter, cheering for the words I've cobbled together, and that's just plain wonderful. And I find that celebrating someone else's good news always brings a smile to my face--and often times, sends me racing to the keyboard.

Happy Easter! Passover! Spring!

You see that? Inside of every single one of these is a new idea, waiting to be cracked.

Twitter Roundup: Qtips

So, I thought I was being super clever when I tagged a bunch of query tips as #Qtips during WriteOnCon last week . . . and then I found out that people actually tweet about using Q-tips. As in, they tweet about jabbing cotton swabs into their ears, people! Therefore I apologize for using such a disgusting hashtag, and give you a round-up of the tips I tweeted below:

10 Ways to Come up with Better Ideas

If there's one thing a career in product design prepared me for, it's generating boat loads of ideas. So much so that I love brainstorming, and will often do so even when I'm not asked to--resulting in my friends saying, Jeez, Mel, will you just let me tell you about getting my finger stuck in the so-and-so without telling me how to fix it? (My husband would warn you never, ever to go shopping with me either, unless you want to learn more about the plastic junk on Target's shelves than you ever wished to know.)

Brainstorming sheets outside a project room, circa 2005.

But anyway, back to what you do want to learn from me: how to come up with better ideas. As a designer, and now as a writer, I use concrete methods to generate alternatives. Because, honestly, alternatives are what you're really after. Anyone can dump their hero into the ocean and then come up with a solution as to how he's rescued. But is your solution original? Intriguing? Funny? Astounding?

In order to come up with alternative ideas, and find solutions that have the zing of originality, here are ten things you can do to get your brain thinking along a new track:

1. Dictionary Hop: Flip to a random page in the dictionary (or any book), and stab at a word. Use that word to inform your scene. How does the word flutter change your plan for rescuing the hero? What about the word brocolli? This might seem silly, but encouraging your brain to take a lateral leap can get you off the boring linear track of thinking, and lead you to a fresh new idea.

2. Change your Goal: You're focused on rescuing the hero. How about you shift your focus to a different plot point--like introducing a new love interest. How does that change how he gets rescued?

3. Combine Goals: Similarly, you can take your current goal and pair it with an opposing goal: saving the hero + having him get caught by the bad guy = a rescue that turns out to be a worse fate than drowning.

4. Manipulate Your Setting: How does your setting feed into potential rescue scenarios? How is your setting unique--what surprises lie within?

5. Reveal a Secret: What do we NOT know about your character that might change the way he handles his predicament? Is there a secret you've been building towards that can reveal itself, flipping the scenario on it's head so that the situation we thought was a disadvantage is now an advantage?

6. Introduce a Mystery: Can something bizarre happen within your scene? Is there an element that goes against nature or the expected, that introduces a new layer of mystery (or ties into an existing mystery), giving our hero new options?

7. Read Nonfiction: Seriously, the weirdest stuff happens in the real world. Sometimes it's super helpful to step away from your fictional world and flip through a non-fiction book (or watch an hour of NatGeo. Did you know that a blue whale's heart weighs a thousand pounds?).

8. Check your Themes: What are the themes running through your story? Is there a way that your themes inform the solution? Even an abstract theme can feed into the way you address your setting and characters to reach the outcome.

9. Expect the Impossible: Ask yourself what the most impossible solution might be for your problem. Then explore what your world requires to make this a possibility--you might be closer to a solution than you think.

10. Take the Simplest Path: Sometimes, a simple solution is the answer. Note: not a boring solution, but not a ten-stage rescue that takes three chapters to unfold. Is the rescue even the point of your scene? Or is there something else you want the reader to focus on? If so, the rescue itself should be simple and intuitive. Don't resist the practical just because it makes sense. Sometimes, even writers have to make sense.

How to Use Pretty Revision Tags

Since I posted a bunch of pictures of my revision process, I've had quite a few questions as to what the heck I am doing with all of my brightly-colored post-it tabs. As in, the tabs you see here, along the edge of my manuscript:

So here's a bit more information on my revision system, and why I do the things I do:

• Print the MS for a fresh look: I can and do make edits on the screen as I'm working on a draft. But for a full-scale revision, where I'm assessing all of the different aspects of the novel at once, I print a hard copy. I then DO NOT alter the digital MS until ALL REVISIONS are complete on paper. This takes self control, people. But it is *so* worth it. By the time you finish editing on paper, you're ready to hit the keyboard again.
  
• Color-code for frequency and balance: I use different colored tabs to track different characters, or thematic elements, or plot lines, so that I can physically see how they are distributed throughout the MS. If I have forty pages with no orange tab, I know I'm missing an opportunity for greater continuity in the story. I usually only track elements that are targeted for revision (there are a dozen different post-it colors available).
• Group for organization: I put different types of notes on different edges of the MS. You can see the colored flags on the right margin. The left margin has flags of another color--these are things I need to come back to, stuff I still need to address or can't figure out. Once I deal with those to-do flags, I remove them. My actual edits to the MS are on the page or on post-its along the bottom edge, that way they stay out of the way of reading the MS.
• Edit on Post-its for freedom of thought: Writing on the MS bugs me. If I get an edit wrong, and cross it out, and re-edit, only to cross it out again, I have a mess. So I edit on post-its. I can use a million post-its if I want to. They're cheap!
• Transcribe notes for further polish: When I'm finally done with my ten million post-it notes, I'm ready to transfer all of these hard-won revision jewels into the computer. And as I transcribe my notes, I of course react to them, and tweak them, and by the time I'm done I've not only revised, but polished those changes.

This system works for me because it evolved from my work in product design. Back in those days, I planned huge research reports and strategic line assessments, and I used a similar revision process. I'd print out mini-slides of my presentation, make notes on them, and then edit the document. My interns really loved me for this (ie: they wanted to kill me for having to print out slide miniatures for 500pg presentations). But I find the process invaluable now.

So, as you revise, take note of the systems that appeal to you. Do post-its make you happy, too? Or do you love the layered files in Scrivener? We each have our own crazy habits--the key is in figuring out what works for you.

Addicted: Vikings on History Channel

When I reach a writing milestone (like finishing a draft or rewriting half a book), I like to reward myself with some form of entertainment that is bound to be utterly addictive and soul-consuming. Sometimes, feeding my addiction comes in the form of a fantastic book (or more likely, a whole series of books). But other times, it's good 'ole TV.

This week, as I drew closer to finishing my latest round of revisions, I rewarded myself with VIKINGS, a dark, gritty new series from The History Channel. And oh, my, am I so pleasantly and thoroughly addicted. The production value on this show is so incredibly high that I feel like I'm there. I can almost smell these people, and their food, and I'm utterly fascinated with the strange ways they talk and eat and sleep . . . it's so wonderful to experience this brand new world. If you haven't yet, you should check it out.

And did I mention the FABULOUS HAIR? I mean, just LOOK at that!

Fracture, by Megan Miranda

Fracture by Megan Miranda
My rating: 5 of 5 stars

I was on my way into the city last week to luxuriate in my friend's hotel room (sans children), when I realized I had NOTHING to read. So I popped into one of those awful, cramped bookstores at Penn Station and scoured the shelves for something that looked addictive--I wanted to consume, and be consumed, and generally wreck myself for the afternoon.

I found FRACTURE tucked away in the YA section, and I got exactly what I wanted.

This is the story of Delaney Maxwell, a teen whose near-death by drowning (in a frozen lake OMG) leaves her struggling to get by--both in her own mind, and in her interactions with her friends and family. Her neighbor/bestie Decker hovers, tortured by the fact that he played a role in her accident, while her family questions her mental health. Which only worsens as Delaney becomes haunted by strange new sensations, odd pullings deep in her mind that seem to draw her to the dying . . . which brings Troy into her life--a mysterious older boy who can somehow relate to what she's experiencing, and whose guidance she cannot help but seek--even when the answers turn dark.

It turns out that nearly dying isn't just hard on the person who nearly-dies, as Miranda shows us in this fascinating story about the mind, and love, and death. Overall, FRACTURE is a fantastic YA read with all of the right components: a shadowy mystery, a winding love story, and some incredible, heart-pounding action. Highly recommend.

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