Eggs or Live Birth?

I belong to several on-line groups of artists. I was once involved in a “fairy wing” discussion on a sculptor’s site. The discussion was about where fairies wings were located anatomically. It seemed to me the correct answer would be, “Anywhere you want them. It’s your fantasy.” But, then they got into how a fairy has babies: eggs or live birth and was it like a sea horse?

They could totally suspend belief to accept little flying people, in our world, but they drew the line at where the wings went and live birth or eggs. Everyone had their own idea of what was “correct” and good, logical reasons why. I began to take the whole issue a bit more seriously.
I, for one, feel that a fairie's wings need to be between the shoulder blade to balance the body weight. Maybe I’m just a klutz, but if I was hanging by a harness and it wasn’t at shoulder blade level, I would probably be upside down most of the time.

I’m not too far into Terry Pratchett’s, Color of Magic, but I want to totally believe in a world that resides on the back of a turtle. By page one hundred and twelve, I'm not sure what the laws are, but I'm pretty sure he has them. This may be the worse example I could give, but hey it's a really fun book.

Readers will suspend their belief for your world, as long as you make your rules and stick to them; or make the world so wild they just don't care anymore. These rules do not have to be complicated, just logical.

Think of all the things we need in our world and how would your magical world handle it?

EXAMPLE:

Food: In Harry Potter’s world, J. K. Rowling does now allow food made out of thin air. Her characters are, however, allowed to take food and enlarge/multiply it. That is but one of her rules.

So, start with your world, from brushing teeth in the morning to getting into bed at night, and decide the rules you need to create to make your magical world believable and stick to them.

A discussion of Eggs or Live Birth anyone?

Two sides to every writer; this one at least.

I am a loner and an introvert, like a lot of writer’s. This side of me is mute in social gatherings. I am working on my camouflage skills to I can fade into the wallpaper. This “social” me, has no idea what to say.

But the other side of me, almost like a split personality, is adept at speaking to large groups of people. This is the side that has taught art classes, both to college classes and in private situations of one sort or another, for twenty years.

I am not afraid to stand in a hall of one thousand people or before a group of four, or even at a reception with a glass of wine in my hand, as long as it is my subject; meaning, my art or my writing, or just the teaching of any of these.

So, the professional me is comfortable and knowledgeable and can even be funny and entertaining.

Now, if I could just get that professional me to teach the personal, introvert me how to talk in a personal setting, I can quit blending into the wall.

What makes a 'book' person

I am not usually a person to do what is “in” but anyone remember Rod McKuen? He was a popular poet some time ago, in my youth, I was in love with his poetry and had several of his books. I read and reread that book that was my favorite until the binding was broken and in sections. It was even one of the books that I 'defaced' by writing in it.

Many, many years ago, a new 'sort of'' boyfriend borrowed it. He wanted to share. Then, sometime later, he wanted to do something nice for me and he returned it.

Only, it was not my book he returned. It was a sterile, brand new book; in one piece without any dog ears, or spiffy little notes in my handwriting. He was most proud of giving me this pristine new book; thus improving my ife. He really thought he had done me a favor. Needless to say…

I never went out with him again.

He had no understanding of what a favorite book can mean to a person.

Are there real people in your book?

I am sorry, that I have been gone so long from blogging. I have had a touch of the flu here, as well as working with my camera (it is fairly new). I need to really have it down as I am taking wedding pictures, for my niece, in two weeks. I did her mother's wedding photos, oh so long ago.

But, back to the book, I wonder how you 'see' your characters.

Are your characters based on real people?

My book is set in a fantasy world but I definitely use real people for inspiration. Sometimes it’s just a face in a magazine, sometimes an actor and occasionally, I am inspired by someone I know.

As a portrait artist and some-time doll maker, I have always collected photos of interesting faces. I search through this file for faces that say they belong to my character. Usually, already have a good solid description of their character first and use the picture to make them come alive for me. I am a visual person.

One character in my Middle Grade novel, was giving me trouble. I had a description, but for some reason I just could not “see” him. He was a wooden character; without a personality. I decided it was time to find his face.

Nothing in my file fit, nothing spoke to me. It was a voice that finally did it. And, readers of my personal blog Savanvleck’s Weblog have my permission to start laughing, but this is how it happened.

I was watching that extra disc of information that they put in the Lord of the Rings I and III, and other, movies. I was making some notes and not watching it really, just listening and I heard my character speak. I looked up to see they were interviewing Viggo Mortensen. His every day, non-acting voice, was the voice was my character. It was the first time I had heard his calming tone and my charcter came alive and said, "This is who I am." I finally found “the” face.

The really odd thing was that when I went into my character charts to see if I needed to update his description, the only thing I had to change was his eye color.

I almost always have a picture for my character, even if it is a sketch, and a lot of the personality quirks of my three protagonists fit the three boys in my house; obviously real people. Which, is not surprising as they were the inspiration for the story and, in some ways, it is their story.

Is it good enough to make me cry?

Actually, the answer to my title is, "It doesn't take much." But, good paintings move people’s emotions. I have always been fascinated with Picasso’s Guernica and it’s agony of war. Good books have the same effect. They move me to experience their world.

I wish I did not cry so easily. It can get darn embarrassing actually. I cry over books and movies, parades and flags, babies and old people. I can see a little old stooped guy with saggy pants and my eyes fill with tears. Of course, it usually reminds me of my dad. I had to turn the Cancer telethon off last night because I was bawling too hard to watch it. Which was perhaps not the effect they hoped for? But then again, I have lost seven relatives and several friends to cancer, so there is that too.

And, that is the thing with a good book or a good movie or a good painting; they are all something to touch memories we have. They should open up our hearts, even if it is to some past pain. We need to identify with the protagonist and live the experience, feeling their emotions and let our own emotions out.

I have heard people who comment that they cannot feel what other people experience and I am sorry for them. The one person I know who has stated this a few times is an avid reader. I think he must miss an awful lot of the essence of a book when he cannot feel the emotion. I know he is a bear to watch a movie with as he likes to point out all the “things” that are not possible. I so want to say, “For crying out loud, this is fantasy. It’s a movie. It’s not life, just shut up and get lost in it, or just pretend.”

I may not be enjoying the made up words so much in Terry Pratchett’s “The Color of Magic”, but I sure do enjoy his world. It has its laws too but they do not intrude on the wonderful story. He takes you off on an adventure, where chests have legs and run away, cameras have little painters in them and giant turtles “with geological slowness” and "hydrogen frost on his ponderous limbs” and “sea-sized eyes…crusted with reum and asteroid dust” live. Yes, I am wearing those lines out but I love them.

These are the items that move my emotions and memories. They help me visualize his world with things I can see, and even though I cannot see sea-sized eyes, I can see what they would look like.

Looking at Guernica, I can see the agony of a people being bombed out. Just as I can see the Star studded night sky dancing in VanGogh’s Starry Night. And, cry my eyes out when Dumbledore dies or when Harry is so bravely walking to his death. And, cry over the Ghost and Mrs. Muir, even though I have seen this movie more times than I can count.

I think of this each day as I do my final edit and go over each sentence. Is it good enough to make someone visualize this world? Is it good enough to make someone laugh, or cry? If not, is it necessary? If yes, reword it. If no, cut it.

Submitting my novel to Master's Daughter

I am one third of the way through my line edit. Since the first chapter has been edited a gazillion times, and the last two chapters are not complete, it will get slower as I go. I thought though that you might like to see my instructions to Master’s Daughter, who is doing an edit of my book. She is a teacher, mother of three (four, counting her bear of a husband), and a knitter with a busy life. I decided to send her installments so she can edit them at her leisure and not open her email and go, “OH NO!!” She did know it was coming eventually.

Dear loving and patient daughter, who is doing me an enormous favor:

I am attaching my completed chapters 1 through 7.

I am basically doing my final edit (till the very last two chapters) and have completed the attached, so rather than flooding you will all of it at once, I thought submitting it in installments might be better.

Believe me, I know you are busy and this is low on your list. So, don't panic. "Oh, no. I have to grade papers, feed children, knit, enjoy life and here's this thing." Don't worry. Just grab it when you are in the mood.

Mainly, I need checks on punctuation, grammar, tense, etc.
Second, IF YOU WANT, mark up anything else that needs help.

I want honesty. Total honesty. Because if you think it's crap, and you have read a lot of sixth grade novels, then there is a good chance editors/agents will agree. I would rather turn around and start something new and "hopefully not crap", or fix this (if there are just minor problems) than waste time on something that is going nowhere. I will not be heartbroken, perhaps bent a bit, but not broken.

One thing they say is , it is good to have editors put their first gut feeling in places that are either like "Wow, awesome scene." "Really tense" "Boring and slow" "What the hell is this about?" "Don't understand" "You are the second coming of ***" or "Go take a course in advertising copy. Maybe you can write that."

If you catch anything wrong, please mark it. Like not wrapping up plot points or "What the heck is the Plot supposed to be."

Love you.
Mom

Don't make it harder than it has to be

I am a person who tends to make things harder than they should be. I am rather easy going but hard on myself, I guess. Not hard enough in some areas. I am still not back to my Body for Life program, which I know works for me, and yet my weights sit there staring at me and making me feel guilty. But, what I am talking about today is my book and the ways I deal with things I need to do.

A while ago, I posted about a method I was using to keep track of facts. Since I am envisioning this novel as a five part series, I need to make sure I have laid a foundation in book one for things that happen in other books. That is in addition, to the plot and subplot of book one and wrapping those items up in that book.

It was not working as it was just too complicated. So, I started over and am working with three files open in Word. First, is my book. I have it all formatted now to send, as a Word document, to my Master’s daughter for her edit. She is in charge of catching those things you can read over and over, and since you know what it is supposed to say, you don’t catch the mistake it happens to have in it. That is in addition to: punctuation, tense, and just anything wrong. A big job, I’m sure, for someone who has a full time teaching job. And, she’s not even getting paid for editing either.

Second, I have a document open called outline. In this I place just one liners of the chapter I am editing/reviewing. I will need this when I send in Query letters and am asked for an outline. When Master’s daughter is doing her edit, I will be polishing this outline so it is ready to go out to agent/editor.

The third and final document I have open is titled “Follow up and List-Magic words.” In this I have items I need to remember to reuse/wrap up/etc. This is for this book and the whole series. It includes a list of Magic words used, which are very nominal actually for a fantasy. The reason for that is probably because I am not a “word” person. I do not delight in words for words sake. I love them only when they are put together and form a great story.

Knowing my propensity for charts, I will most likely go back and chart this file also so that I know what I need to put into book two, three, four and five from this book. It's all rather in my head but I really do not trust my memory.

So, while you need to do what works for you. You also need to find out what isn’t working for you and let go of it. Happy Labor Day!