I've written about self-editing before and I'm positive I'll do it again. I'll probably even repeat myself. Self-editing is a crucial step in the writing process and learning to do it well will save you--and your editors and beta-readers--a lot of headaches.
1. Read it out loud.
Listen to the flow of sentences, your word choices, and your dialogue. Reading aloud also helps you find those missing words you thought you wrote but totally didn't.
2. Have it read to you.
Back in the days before on-screen readers, I used to have my youngest sister read my fanfiction to me. Now, you can just save your file as a PDF and have Adobe Acrobat read it to you.
3. Read it backwards.
This step is useful for spelling errors more than anything else. Start at the end of your document and read backwards, one word at a time. It might also help you see if you fall into the trap of using the same vague words more toward the end of the text, when perhaps you're tired and frustrated and not as fresh and excited as you were at the beginning.
4. Find and replace "problem" words.
First you have to identify your problem words, which I would define as words you use excessively. I like to do a quick find-and-replace and substitute an all-caps version of the word for the word itself, that way my eyes catch on it and when I'm looking at the document as a whole, I can see the placement of the words. After that, I go in, look at, and edit each instance of each word.
5. Find and replace pronouns, and, then, as, like, was, were.
I like to get a sense of how often I use s/he, his/her/its, him/her/it, and the rest. I copy #4 for this tip.
6. Ignore it.
Sometimes, ignoring it is all you can do. The longer the work, the longer your break should be. When you come back to it, you'll see it with fresh eyes and read it with new understanding.
7. Save it somewhere else and read it from there.
If you write on your laptop, read it on your Kindle or iPad. Print it out and read it on the back porch with a glass of wine. Change your surroundings to jar you into seeing the piece differently.
8. Change font, size, color.
Simple tweaks like using a font you don't normally like in a larger or smaller size or different color can change the way you see the manuscript.
9. Read it as a reader, not as a writer.
Turn off your inner editor and just start reading. Don't do any editing until after you've consumed the work as a reader.
Showing posts with label on writing. Show all posts
Showing posts with label on writing. Show all posts
Tuesday, July 10, 2012
Thursday, June 14, 2012
Shoo Shoo Mary Sue
Look at your protagonist. Is she (he) a Mary Sue? Not sure? Then use the Universal Mary Sue Litmus Test to find out.
Tuesday, June 12, 2012
Nine Writing Things: Help! I Need To Name My Characters!
One of the things I like the least about writing is naming characters. It's hard. It's just as hard as naming a real baby. But it's okay! Because I know what to do when it's time to name a character.
1. SSA.gov - Popular Baby Names
This is especially useful if you're writing something set in the US after 1879. You can look up the top 1000 names for boys and girls for any given year. It's fantastic.
2. Thinkbabynames.com
This website is great because you can look up a name... and then look up variations of that name.
3. Baby Names UK
The thing I like about this site is the blog. The short posts glossing over issues relevant to the subject of baby names can be kind of useful, like this one on taboo names. As with any aspect of writing, research and reading can help stimulate creativity. Anything that makes you think is a good thing.
4. The Editor's Blog - How to Name Characters
An article on character name theory, complete with tips, examples, and explanations.
5. Name Generators
Wizards of the Coast, Behind the Name, Fantasy Name Generator... The Internet is full of these.
6. White Pages
If your setting is in the modern, real world, a quick Google search of white pages + location should turn up residential listings you can use to name your character. Even if it isn't, there's inspiration to be had.
7. Name Memes
Your Star Wars Name. Your Star Trek Name. Your Lord of the Rings Name. And the silly ones, like Your Porn Star Name or Your Spy Name. Ridiculous? Yes. But maybe something good comes out of playing even if the amusement isn't enough for you.
8. Family History
My family tree is full of names like Millie and Jeanette on my mother's side and Alma and Sabine on my father's side. Check out the old family Bible or the inside covers of the books in your grandmother's library.
9. Make shit up.
Seriously, that's what we're doing, anyway. Just make a name up and commit to it. If anyone asks, tear up and tell them it's the name of your dead grandmother/grandfather/child/beloved pet.
1. SSA.gov - Popular Baby Names
This is especially useful if you're writing something set in the US after 1879. You can look up the top 1000 names for boys and girls for any given year. It's fantastic.
2. Thinkbabynames.com
This website is great because you can look up a name... and then look up variations of that name.
3. Baby Names UK
The thing I like about this site is the blog. The short posts glossing over issues relevant to the subject of baby names can be kind of useful, like this one on taboo names. As with any aspect of writing, research and reading can help stimulate creativity. Anything that makes you think is a good thing.
4. The Editor's Blog - How to Name Characters
An article on character name theory, complete with tips, examples, and explanations.
5. Name Generators
Wizards of the Coast, Behind the Name, Fantasy Name Generator... The Internet is full of these.
6. White Pages
If your setting is in the modern, real world, a quick Google search of white pages + location should turn up residential listings you can use to name your character. Even if it isn't, there's inspiration to be had.
7. Name Memes
Your Star Wars Name. Your Star Trek Name. Your Lord of the Rings Name. And the silly ones, like Your Porn Star Name or Your Spy Name. Ridiculous? Yes. But maybe something good comes out of playing even if the amusement isn't enough for you.
8. Family History
My family tree is full of names like Millie and Jeanette on my mother's side and Alma and Sabine on my father's side. Check out the old family Bible or the inside covers of the books in your grandmother's library.
9. Make shit up.
Seriously, that's what we're doing, anyway. Just make a name up and commit to it. If anyone asks, tear up and tell them it's the name of your dead grandmother/grandfather/child/beloved pet.
Thursday, April 19, 2012
On Writing: Expanding Your Vocabulary
In order to use the right word, you need to at least be aware that it exists. Word of the Day calendars and emails are fun for adults, but most of us aren't still taking weekly spelling tests. (We totally should, though.) Sometimes, we get stuck in the rut of using the same words over and over again when there are so many out there just ready to be dropped into the perfect sentence. Here are seven ways you can expand your vocabulary.
1. Read the dictionary.
Yes, I'm serious. This works best with real paper books. Open your favorite dictionary, pick a word, and start reading. That's it. You'll run into a lot of words to know, but there will be some surprises. I'd even suggest writing down the ones you like.
2. Read the thesaurus.
Again, yes, I'm serious. Reading the thesaurus not only teaches you new words, it helps you discover similar and dissimilar words. Maybe "lucid" isn't the right word, but maybe it has a cousin that is.
3. Read technical non-fiction.
Specialized knowledge is valuable, that's why tuition is so expensive. At least, that's what I tell myself. If you're researching something for a story, get your hands on all the technical manuals, textbooks, and other non-fiction work you can. You'll absorb the specialized vocabulary in addition to the material.
4. Study technical diagrams.
You know that edge of reinforced cloth on a shirt where the buttons are? That's called a placket. I learned that from studying technical fashion diagrams. You can do this with pretty much anything. Need to know where the main arteries are in the human neck? Diagram. If you find the right one, it'll even tell you what doctors call those arteries.
5. Play word games.
Scrabble is one of my favorite games. If I had an iPhone or something, I'd probably play Words With Friends. When you play a word game, make rules for yourself, like no four-letter words. Be creative. Force yourself to recall as much of your vocabulary as possible.
6. Listen to people smarter than you.
And people who are effective communicators. Chances are they not only have large vocabularies, but they have excellent command of the language, too. Find the people you consider smarter than you, shut your mouth, and listen to the words they use and how they string them together.
7. Listen to people with specific knowledge.
My husband is a soldier, so when he comes home and talks about work, he uses quite a lot of very specific vocabulary. I am reasonably certain that he says things comprised entirely of acronyms. Long things. Like whole sentences or paragraphs. I don't always understand it, but if I ever get around to writing my epic military science fiction, I have a wealth of vocabulary to draw on. The same goes for doctors, lawyers, construction workers, engineers, chefs... Anyone, really. Everyone is an expert in something, after all.
1. Read the dictionary.
Yes, I'm serious. This works best with real paper books. Open your favorite dictionary, pick a word, and start reading. That's it. You'll run into a lot of words to know, but there will be some surprises. I'd even suggest writing down the ones you like.
2. Read the thesaurus.
Again, yes, I'm serious. Reading the thesaurus not only teaches you new words, it helps you discover similar and dissimilar words. Maybe "lucid" isn't the right word, but maybe it has a cousin that is.
3. Read technical non-fiction.
Specialized knowledge is valuable, that's why tuition is so expensive. At least, that's what I tell myself. If you're researching something for a story, get your hands on all the technical manuals, textbooks, and other non-fiction work you can. You'll absorb the specialized vocabulary in addition to the material.
4. Study technical diagrams.
You know that edge of reinforced cloth on a shirt where the buttons are? That's called a placket. I learned that from studying technical fashion diagrams. You can do this with pretty much anything. Need to know where the main arteries are in the human neck? Diagram. If you find the right one, it'll even tell you what doctors call those arteries.
5. Play word games.
Scrabble is one of my favorite games. If I had an iPhone or something, I'd probably play Words With Friends. When you play a word game, make rules for yourself, like no four-letter words. Be creative. Force yourself to recall as much of your vocabulary as possible.
6. Listen to people smarter than you.
And people who are effective communicators. Chances are they not only have large vocabularies, but they have excellent command of the language, too. Find the people you consider smarter than you, shut your mouth, and listen to the words they use and how they string them together.
7. Listen to people with specific knowledge.
My husband is a soldier, so when he comes home and talks about work, he uses quite a lot of very specific vocabulary. I am reasonably certain that he says things comprised entirely of acronyms. Long things. Like whole sentences or paragraphs. I don't always understand it, but if I ever get around to writing my epic military science fiction, I have a wealth of vocabulary to draw on. The same goes for doctors, lawyers, construction workers, engineers, chefs... Anyone, really. Everyone is an expert in something, after all.
Tuesday, February 7, 2012
On Writing: Ten Things I Have Learned From The Muse
Like most authors, I have a muse. He has come and gone in various incarnations since I was about eleven, which was when I started taking writing seriously. (I wrote series of stories about a team of marine biologists in southern California. I drew book covers, printed the stories, and even bound them with glue and ribbon.) For a while, the muse was a marine biology grad student, then he was a vampire, then he was a Rebel Alliance pilot, and now he's a sloppy, honest punk with a penchant for red sheets and whiskey. He's a lot like the invisible friend most of us had as kids. (This is probably why that famous quote about writing being a "socially acceptable form of schizophrenia" exists.) I know my mother thought I was crazy for many years. She still thinks I'm a little off, but I have letters from several doctors saying that I'm not crazy, so. Anyway, the muse has been valuable throughout my pursuit of this writing thing. He has taught me a lot. Following are ten of the lessons he keeps having to re-teach me.
1. Take chances.
You will not always be successful, but you're far more likely to regret not doing something that you really wanted to do than you are to regret doing something you really wanted to do that didn't work out the way you hoped.
2. Be honest.
With yourself and with your audience. Mostly with yourself. Readers can sense when you don't believe in what you're writing. Fiction writers lie for a living, but you have to believe your lie and you can't half-ass it and only tell half-lies.
3. Don't hold back.
Writing is not the place to be reserved. Reservations make boring writing. So don't half-ass it, no matter what it is. Don't censor yourself out of fear of audience opinion.
4. Write what you really want to read.
Not what you think some vague idea of an audience wants to read. It will be unsatisfying and if you're unsatisfied you're unmotivated. Lack of motivation leads to lack of writing, which leads to writers' hearts withering and dying in their chests. True story.
5. Accept that you're not always going to succeed the way you want.
Your splatterpunk humor series might fail. And that's okay. But you never know if you don't try. Especially when it comes to something new or extreme--or new and extreme--you have to be aware of the potential for "failure." How you define success and failure is up to you.
6. Be yourself.
You are unique and special, like a snowflake. Don't melt into a puddle of boring old water just to fit in. It's your uniqueness that makes you interesting and helps you stand out from the crowd.
7. Remember that you are not special.
There is at least one other person out in the world with a similar set of interests, likes, and dislikes as you. You are not alone. If you're lucky, you'll find that person and you'll really know how not-alone you are. If you haven't found that person yet, don't worry about it. They're out there. (Even if they're not, it helps to tell yourself this.)
8. You are not an island.
Particularly if you hope to have people read what you write, you need a network. You need readers, you need critics, and sometimes you just need to get out of your own head and talk about things. People are good for this. Animals and inanimate objects can be sounding boards in a pinch. (I use my kid to talk things out when I'm stuck. Only appropriate things, though.)
9. Less is more unless you really need more.
Don't mince words. Use the words you need, even if your head tells you that there are too many. Words aren't just about connotation. They're about denotation, setting the tone, showing the story. Words are the brick and mortar of story-building. Use enough of them!
10. Never give up, never give in, never give out.
Keep writing, keep writing what you like, and keep writing even when your fingers won't move anymore. Remember what I said about hearts withering and dying? That.
1. Take chances.
You will not always be successful, but you're far more likely to regret not doing something that you really wanted to do than you are to regret doing something you really wanted to do that didn't work out the way you hoped.
2. Be honest.
With yourself and with your audience. Mostly with yourself. Readers can sense when you don't believe in what you're writing. Fiction writers lie for a living, but you have to believe your lie and you can't half-ass it and only tell half-lies.
3. Don't hold back.
Writing is not the place to be reserved. Reservations make boring writing. So don't half-ass it, no matter what it is. Don't censor yourself out of fear of audience opinion.
4. Write what you really want to read.
Not what you think some vague idea of an audience wants to read. It will be unsatisfying and if you're unsatisfied you're unmotivated. Lack of motivation leads to lack of writing, which leads to writers' hearts withering and dying in their chests. True story.
5. Accept that you're not always going to succeed the way you want.
Your splatterpunk humor series might fail. And that's okay. But you never know if you don't try. Especially when it comes to something new or extreme--or new and extreme--you have to be aware of the potential for "failure." How you define success and failure is up to you.
6. Be yourself.
You are unique and special, like a snowflake. Don't melt into a puddle of boring old water just to fit in. It's your uniqueness that makes you interesting and helps you stand out from the crowd.
7. Remember that you are not special.
There is at least one other person out in the world with a similar set of interests, likes, and dislikes as you. You are not alone. If you're lucky, you'll find that person and you'll really know how not-alone you are. If you haven't found that person yet, don't worry about it. They're out there. (Even if they're not, it helps to tell yourself this.)
8. You are not an island.
Particularly if you hope to have people read what you write, you need a network. You need readers, you need critics, and sometimes you just need to get out of your own head and talk about things. People are good for this. Animals and inanimate objects can be sounding boards in a pinch. (I use my kid to talk things out when I'm stuck. Only appropriate things, though.)
9. Less is more unless you really need more.
Don't mince words. Use the words you need, even if your head tells you that there are too many. Words aren't just about connotation. They're about denotation, setting the tone, showing the story. Words are the brick and mortar of story-building. Use enough of them!
10. Never give up, never give in, never give out.
Keep writing, keep writing what you like, and keep writing even when your fingers won't move anymore. Remember what I said about hearts withering and dying? That.
Thursday, January 19, 2012
On Writing: Be a Reader
"If there's a book you want to read, but it hasn't been written yet, then you must write it."
You're a reader, right? If you're a writer, I certainly hope you are. Repeat after me: If I want to read it, I have to write it. That's how it works in fanfiction and that's how it works in the world of professional fiction. I imagine that's how it works in non-fiction, too, since Mark Coker had to write the Smashwords Style Guide. Whatever you're writing can be improved by simply making sure you write something you want to read.
After all, if you don't want to read it, why should anyone else?
After all, if you don't want to read it, why should anyone else?
Write the story you want to read.
I like quick romances, short horrors, and really involved science fiction. Sometimes I like character-driven urban fantasy. Oh, and I like zombies. I really, really like zombies. So those are the stories I try to write. Except for science fiction. I'm not very good at that. Yet.
Write the characters, situations, dialogue, and plots you want to read.
I have a soft spot for mouthy, selfish heroines like Scarlett O'Hara. I also like strong men who don't speak much. Oh, and funny guys like Wes Janson. Those are the characters I enjoy writing. I think we all can tell by now that I thoroughly enjoy writing sex scenes. I'm actually not a fan of dialogue, but I don't write anything I don't believe is as close to reality as I can get. I'll confess here to really liking dark, twisted plots and the simple ones that showcase characterization.
Write to elicit the emotions you want to feel or to make your readers feel.
My favorite way to feel when I read is to be mildly disgusted and fascinated at the same time. My second favorite is to be amused. For a long time, I didn't write anything that I didn't believe would create the first combination of emotions in my reader. I've since backed off, but I won't abandon it. Whatever it is I want to feel is what I try to make my reader feel.
Write to make the point you want to read.
For me, one of the easiest ways to stay focused on a story is to keep in mind the point I want to make. The point could be something simple, like "Get over yourself." Whatever it is, I want to tell a story and make a point. I guess by now you can tell that I use my writing as much to learn about myself as anything else. I like for the work I read to make me think and to teach me something new, even if it's supposed to be just mindless entertainment.
Write the summary that appeals to you.
I do not like summaries or synopses that feature questions. I try not to use them. I like for my summaries to provide as much information in as small a space as possible, so those are the ones I try to write.
Use yourself as your very first test audience.
If I don't like my story, I don't expect anyone else to, either. I'm my first critical reader.
I like quick romances, short horrors, and really involved science fiction. Sometimes I like character-driven urban fantasy. Oh, and I like zombies. I really, really like zombies. So those are the stories I try to write. Except for science fiction. I'm not very good at that. Yet.
Write the characters, situations, dialogue, and plots you want to read.
I have a soft spot for mouthy, selfish heroines like Scarlett O'Hara. I also like strong men who don't speak much. Oh, and funny guys like Wes Janson. Those are the characters I enjoy writing. I think we all can tell by now that I thoroughly enjoy writing sex scenes. I'm actually not a fan of dialogue, but I don't write anything I don't believe is as close to reality as I can get. I'll confess here to really liking dark, twisted plots and the simple ones that showcase characterization.
Write to elicit the emotions you want to feel or to make your readers feel.
My favorite way to feel when I read is to be mildly disgusted and fascinated at the same time. My second favorite is to be amused. For a long time, I didn't write anything that I didn't believe would create the first combination of emotions in my reader. I've since backed off, but I won't abandon it. Whatever it is I want to feel is what I try to make my reader feel.
Write to make the point you want to read.
For me, one of the easiest ways to stay focused on a story is to keep in mind the point I want to make. The point could be something simple, like "Get over yourself." Whatever it is, I want to tell a story and make a point. I guess by now you can tell that I use my writing as much to learn about myself as anything else. I like for the work I read to make me think and to teach me something new, even if it's supposed to be just mindless entertainment.
Write the summary that appeals to you.
I do not like summaries or synopses that feature questions. I try not to use them. I like for my summaries to provide as much information in as small a space as possible, so those are the ones I try to write.
Use yourself as your very first test audience.
If I don't like my story, I don't expect anyone else to, either. I'm my first critical reader.
Wednesday, January 4, 2012
On Writing: Questions to Ask Yourself During Editing
Yes, I know it's not All About Editing week anymore. But I'm editing again, so it's on my mind again, which means you lovely readers get yet another post on the subject. This time, I want to talk about the questions you should ask yourself as you're reading your work and editing it.
The subject for this post first occurred to me when I was editing Please, Sir and working on a particular scene. Paige is standing in her boyfriend's childhood home, in the foyer, and there are pictures on the wall. Originally, there were photos of her boyfriend's father. That just didn't make sense. I needed a certain reaction moments later, when Paige meets John, that just wouldn't have happened if she had seen pictures of him. Logic. Sometimes I have it.
Does this make sense?
My number one question. If you ask nothing else, ask this. Does this make sense? As I mentioned before, it made no sense for Paige to see a photo of John and then react as though she hadn't. If the answer is "no," things need to change. If the answer is "maybe," you should probably try to figure out why it isn't "yes." And if the answer is "yes," can you explain why that is?
Does this help or hurt the story?
A protagonist moves the story. There are various other definitions, but that's the one that helps me the most when it comes to identification. For me, words are also the protagonist. Each word should help move the story forward. (Or backward, whatever; I love Tarantino as much as the next cinema fan.) Every word, every sentence, every paragraph, every scene should move the story. It should help. It should help tell (by showing, but you knew that) the story. If it doesn't move things along, it hinders. It hurts. Hurting is bad. Pain means that something is wrong. So, you know, fix that or something.
Is this the right word?
If you've checked out the word usage tag here on my blog, you probably already know that I'm a big fan of the "use the right word" piece of writing advice. Not just because I have a literary lady-boner for Mark Twain, either. The right word makes all the difference. Are you using the right ones?
Why does this story need to be told? (What's the point?)
Maybe you're really good at asking this question before you even start writing. If that's the case... Okay, you can't see me, but I'm totally making faces at you. For the rest of us, a good time to ask this question is during editing. Why are you telling this story? Why does it need to be shared? The answer doesn't have to be epic and life-changing. It could be something as simple as, "Because I wish I could have read it without having to write it." If you can't come up with a reason--for real; if you ask yourself this question in a fit of insecurity and frustration, the results won't be accurate--then it's time to reevaluate what you're saying and why you feel the need to share the story with people.
Each and every piece you shove out into the world should be your very best. Taking the time to edit, to examine your work and your choices and your motivations, is vital to the process of making it the best.
The subject for this post first occurred to me when I was editing Please, Sir and working on a particular scene. Paige is standing in her boyfriend's childhood home, in the foyer, and there are pictures on the wall. Originally, there were photos of her boyfriend's father. That just didn't make sense. I needed a certain reaction moments later, when Paige meets John, that just wouldn't have happened if she had seen pictures of him. Logic. Sometimes I have it.
Does this make sense?
My number one question. If you ask nothing else, ask this. Does this make sense? As I mentioned before, it made no sense for Paige to see a photo of John and then react as though she hadn't. If the answer is "no," things need to change. If the answer is "maybe," you should probably try to figure out why it isn't "yes." And if the answer is "yes," can you explain why that is?
Does this help or hurt the story?
A protagonist moves the story. There are various other definitions, but that's the one that helps me the most when it comes to identification. For me, words are also the protagonist. Each word should help move the story forward. (Or backward, whatever; I love Tarantino as much as the next cinema fan.) Every word, every sentence, every paragraph, every scene should move the story. It should help. It should help tell (by showing, but you knew that) the story. If it doesn't move things along, it hinders. It hurts. Hurting is bad. Pain means that something is wrong. So, you know, fix that or something.
Is this the right word?
If you've checked out the word usage tag here on my blog, you probably already know that I'm a big fan of the "use the right word" piece of writing advice. Not just because I have a literary lady-boner for Mark Twain, either. The right word makes all the difference. Are you using the right ones?
Why does this story need to be told? (What's the point?)
Maybe you're really good at asking this question before you even start writing. If that's the case... Okay, you can't see me, but I'm totally making faces at you. For the rest of us, a good time to ask this question is during editing. Why are you telling this story? Why does it need to be shared? The answer doesn't have to be epic and life-changing. It could be something as simple as, "Because I wish I could have read it without having to write it." If you can't come up with a reason--for real; if you ask yourself this question in a fit of insecurity and frustration, the results won't be accurate--then it's time to reevaluate what you're saying and why you feel the need to share the story with people.
Each and every piece you shove out into the world should be your very best. Taking the time to edit, to examine your work and your choices and your motivations, is vital to the process of making it the best.
Tuesday, December 6, 2011
On Writing: How To Talk
Listen to people.
Listen to your family, your friends, people on the bus, people on the train, people at the zoo, people at the grocery store. Listen to what they say and how they say it, what words they use. Pay attention to your assumptions of them based on their speech, to how their words relate to their age, sex, and apparent economic position. Listen to how they interact with others. The absolute best way to learn how people speak is to just listen.
Learn how to properly format and punctuate dialogue.
Because it's action and because our eyes slide so smoothly over well-formatted and properly-punctuated dialogue, we as readers don't really notice it. This is a good thing. So learn the mechanics of it. Learn where to put action in relation to dialogue (admittedly, something I still struggle with). Learn when to start a new line, where to put commas and periods and quotations, learn how to use multiple sentence-ending punctuation (like ellipses and the interrobang).
Learn how to use dialogue tags.
He said. She said. He whispered. She hissed. Learn where and how to use these attributes and learn how to avoid "creative dialogue tag syndrome." (Stella Deleuze posted a series of excellent articles on the subject of dialogue attributes recently. Here's the first post.)
Friday, December 2, 2011
Resources: Devils In The Details
According to Wikipedia, "the devil is in the details" derives from an earlier phrase, "God is in the detail." I think that, when it comes to writing, though we may play God and an attention to detail is fundamental to our success in conveying the story, it's the devils in the details that can trip us up.
We're fortunate. These days, the entire human history of accumulated knowledge is at our fingertips. We don't have to be experts on everything we want to write before we set pen to paper--we can become experts. Why some writers choose to ignore this is beyond me.
Search engines.
Unless you know exactly what you're looking for, this is where you'll start. Google is great. But don't forget about Yahoo, Ask, HotBot, Excite, and MSN. Using difference search engines for each search is a good idea, since each will probably offer different results for the same phrase or keywords. This is research. You want as much information confirmed as independently as possible. (A personal rule is three sources that do not reference each other saying the same thing or similar things.)
Library websites.
Lots of libraries offer reference books online. You probably have to be a real-life patron in order to access the references (as with the University of Texas library), but there are some free sites (like Bibliomania). IPL.org seems to be an excellent resources site. Your local library probably has an online selection. I know that US Army Europe does.
Topic-specific websites.
When you search keywords, use as many of them in topic-specific language as possible in order to locate sites dedicated to what you want to know. Like how to make an obsidian projectile point (honestly not something I recommend even attempting for the first-time flintknapper). Maybe you're curious about vampire mythology. Maybe you need to know everything you can about how to clean an 1894 Winchester rifle. My point is that if you want to know something, all you have to do is find the website an expert already created. The site gets bonus points if it lists reference material that you can use, too.
Detail-oriented communities and picking the brains of loved ones.
I've pimped it before and I'll pimp it again: the Little Details community on LiveJournal is amazing. The benefit of communities like this one--full of people from all walks of life with all areas of expertise--is that someone probably has firsthand knowledge and knows how to point you in the direction of other resources. This can work in real life, too. Everyone you know is an expert on something. Maybe your dad knows everything there is to know about the 1959 Edsel. Maybe your niece knows everything about tea. My husband seems to know everything about high school wrestling (he was a wrestler in high school, is a current combatives champ, and refs for local high school wrestling matches on the weekends). Asking someone about something they love is a good way to spend some quality time with them, too.
Actual books and newspapers.
I know this is old technology, but stay with me. Newspapers offer a glimpse into community that websites just can't. Actual books--especially reference books--provide a snapshot of knowledge at the time of publication. Online, things change almost as fast as our knowledge does. What we know as true today may not be true tomorrow and it can be easy to lose the trail on the Internet. A reference book from the timeframe you're writing about will show you what people knew. A newspaper will show you what they cared about. Older, underfunded libraries may have those old books, or maybe your grandparents or older aunts and uncles have some in their homes. As for newspapers--that's what microfiche is for. (Or this website.)
We're fortunate. These days, the entire human history of accumulated knowledge is at our fingertips. We don't have to be experts on everything we want to write before we set pen to paper--we can become experts. Why some writers choose to ignore this is beyond me.
Search engines.
Unless you know exactly what you're looking for, this is where you'll start. Google is great. But don't forget about Yahoo, Ask, HotBot, Excite, and MSN. Using difference search engines for each search is a good idea, since each will probably offer different results for the same phrase or keywords. This is research. You want as much information confirmed as independently as possible. (A personal rule is three sources that do not reference each other saying the same thing or similar things.)
Library websites.
Lots of libraries offer reference books online. You probably have to be a real-life patron in order to access the references (as with the University of Texas library), but there are some free sites (like Bibliomania). IPL.org seems to be an excellent resources site. Your local library probably has an online selection. I know that US Army Europe does.
Topic-specific websites.
When you search keywords, use as many of them in topic-specific language as possible in order to locate sites dedicated to what you want to know. Like how to make an obsidian projectile point (honestly not something I recommend even attempting for the first-time flintknapper). Maybe you're curious about vampire mythology. Maybe you need to know everything you can about how to clean an 1894 Winchester rifle. My point is that if you want to know something, all you have to do is find the website an expert already created. The site gets bonus points if it lists reference material that you can use, too.
Detail-oriented communities and picking the brains of loved ones.
I've pimped it before and I'll pimp it again: the Little Details community on LiveJournal is amazing. The benefit of communities like this one--full of people from all walks of life with all areas of expertise--is that someone probably has firsthand knowledge and knows how to point you in the direction of other resources. This can work in real life, too. Everyone you know is an expert on something. Maybe your dad knows everything there is to know about the 1959 Edsel. Maybe your niece knows everything about tea. My husband seems to know everything about high school wrestling (he was a wrestler in high school, is a current combatives champ, and refs for local high school wrestling matches on the weekends). Asking someone about something they love is a good way to spend some quality time with them, too.
Actual books and newspapers.
I know this is old technology, but stay with me. Newspapers offer a glimpse into community that websites just can't. Actual books--especially reference books--provide a snapshot of knowledge at the time of publication. Online, things change almost as fast as our knowledge does. What we know as true today may not be true tomorrow and it can be easy to lose the trail on the Internet. A reference book from the timeframe you're writing about will show you what people knew. A newspaper will show you what they cared about. Older, underfunded libraries may have those old books, or maybe your grandparents or older aunts and uncles have some in their homes. As for newspapers--that's what microfiche is for. (Or this website.)
Thursday, December 1, 2011
On Writing: To E Or Not To E
In my current WIP, I've had to use the word "fiancé" at least twice. It got me thinking about the French origins of that word and two other specific words I regularly see misused. Today's short post is to clarify the correct spelling and use of those words.
blond/blonde
brunet/brunette
fiancé/fiancée
There is a difference. These are all examples of gendered words, and while they mean the same thing in each spelling, the spelling is significant. That "e" at the end of each word signifies the feminine.
A blond is a man with yellow hair; a blonde is a woman with yellow hair. A brunet is a man, a brunette is a woman. A fiancé is a man engaged to be married, a fiancée is a woman engaged to be married.
As with any other word: if you're going to use it, use it correctly.
Tuesday, November 22, 2011
Self-Publishing: Research, Research, Research
Recently, I talked about things to do before you self-publish. I mentioned that one should do a lot of research before making the decision to self-publish and I wanted to expand on that. Publishing is more than just "write, submit, profit." I think that anyone who wants to publish should be as well-informed as possible. There is definitely a learning curve--in self-publishing and, I'm sure, in traditional publishing--but by researching the hell out of your industry and your genre, you can decrease the slope of that curve.
The Big Six.
"The Big Six" is a phrase commonly used to denote the six largest New York publishing houses, the most powerful traditional publishing houses in the industry. Each house has a number of smaller imprints. If you submit a manuscript to a publisher, you are most likely submitting to one of these six publishers. Read up on them. Especially if you want to go the traditional route, learn everything you can. Start with their official websites (Hachette Book Group, HarperCollins, Macmillan, Penguin Group, Random House, Simon & Schuster) then drill down until you know everything you can about the people who will be touching your manuscript. Learn what they want, how they want it, and who they want it from. Examine the bestsellers in the same genre as your manuscript. Have you got what it takes? If you don't, can you develop what it takes?
Small presses and publishers.
An alternative to the big six, small print presses and publishing houses are more likely to take on untested authors and publish manuscripts that may not necessarily be surefire bestsellers, especially in the current economic climate. Poets & Writers has a database of small publishers. Again, do your research. Make sure that the company is still operating and do your best to find out if it's doing well (in this business, small publishers disappear all the time). Read what other writers have to say about the publisher's practices. Learn what they want, how they want it, who you'll be dealing with. Check out the books they put out. How well are they doing? What kind of marketing are they doing for their books? What kind of treatment can you expect?
Self-Publishing: Print on demand.
Sites like Lulu and CreateSpace (there are others, many others) offer print-on-demand publishing. Your book isn't printed until an order is placed, eliminating warehousing costs. Startup can be expensive, and you'll usually have to pay for your proofs unless you catch a great sale, but if you want to see your physical book in hand, POD can give you that. Shop around. Think about what you want to accomplish from POD and choose a company accordingly. Do you just want a few books for posterity? To give as gifts? Are you hoping to get your book into local bookstores, or sell through your website?
Self-Publishing: Ebooks.
With the Kindle, Nook, Sony e-reader, and iPad, more and more people are reading books on electronic devices. Amazon offers direct publishing for self-publishers. Smashwords offers direct publishing, ISBNs, multiple formats, and distribution. Self-publishing electronic books is probably the most popular way to self-publish right now. It's easy, it's fast, and it can be entirely free. It's so popular that there is currently a flood of self-published work on the market right now. It is not fast money. Smashwords may pay out as soon as you reach the threshold, but reaching that threshold requires sales, which probably requires marketing. Amazon doesn't pay out until 60 days after the close of the month in which you make sales and they only pay once you reach their threshold, too. If quick money is your goal, get out now. Start hooking or selling drugs or something. Do you want to reach a wide market? Do you want to make your books easy to find and easy to read? Are you comfortable with electronic reading technology?
Quitting your day job.
The big question: Can you afford to? In my specific case, my husband was transferred overseas and we were ready to have a child. I was going to be staying home, anyway, and while that was mostly to raise said child until she started school, it was partly to see if I could get a writing career off the ground. If you work to pay the bills--and who doesn't these days--sit down with your budget and see what can be done. Do you want to quit your job? Change your hours? Telecommute? Do what you need to do in order to free up time to write, to network, to market. As I mentioned in the other post, set reasonable expectations. I started writing in April and self-published my first short-story anthology in August. I won't see a significant royalty payment until February. That's ten months from start to money I can do anything with. Read what other authors, self-published and traditional, have to say about income, their day jobs, and when they could quit to write full-time.
Sizing up the audience.
What do you write? What do you want to write? Who do you expect will be reading your work? Research that. If you write romance, start with the romance bestseller lists, romance reader blogs, romance writer blogs. Check out forums, message boards, and other online communities. If you write how-to guides, or gardening books, or design knitting patterns, it doesn't matter: the Internet can tell you what you want to know. What does your potential audience like? What do they hate? Which writers are the most popular? Why? Which are the least popular? Why? What kind of money are the readers willing to spend? I am not saying write to a specific audience just because you can cash in, but if you've decided to publish, they're going to be judging you. They're going to determine your success. It's a good idea to know as much about them as possible.
Sizing up the "competition."
I use that word loosely. I guess, technically, because publishing is business that writers are in competition with each other, but I don't know a single writer who actually thinks like that. Sure, with the economy in the bad place it is now, people have less money to spend on books, so we want readers to buy our books. I guess. What I mean by sizing up the competition is see what others are doing. What works for them, what doesn't, and why. Get ideas about how to write, when and where to publish, how to market and promote. Figure out who you'll best fit in with and figure out how to target their audience. The competition can teach you a lot. Learn from them.
The Big Six.
"The Big Six" is a phrase commonly used to denote the six largest New York publishing houses, the most powerful traditional publishing houses in the industry. Each house has a number of smaller imprints. If you submit a manuscript to a publisher, you are most likely submitting to one of these six publishers. Read up on them. Especially if you want to go the traditional route, learn everything you can. Start with their official websites (Hachette Book Group, HarperCollins, Macmillan, Penguin Group, Random House, Simon & Schuster) then drill down until you know everything you can about the people who will be touching your manuscript. Learn what they want, how they want it, and who they want it from. Examine the bestsellers in the same genre as your manuscript. Have you got what it takes? If you don't, can you develop what it takes?
Small presses and publishers.
An alternative to the big six, small print presses and publishing houses are more likely to take on untested authors and publish manuscripts that may not necessarily be surefire bestsellers, especially in the current economic climate. Poets & Writers has a database of small publishers. Again, do your research. Make sure that the company is still operating and do your best to find out if it's doing well (in this business, small publishers disappear all the time). Read what other writers have to say about the publisher's practices. Learn what they want, how they want it, who you'll be dealing with. Check out the books they put out. How well are they doing? What kind of marketing are they doing for their books? What kind of treatment can you expect?
Self-Publishing: Print on demand.
Sites like Lulu and CreateSpace (there are others, many others) offer print-on-demand publishing. Your book isn't printed until an order is placed, eliminating warehousing costs. Startup can be expensive, and you'll usually have to pay for your proofs unless you catch a great sale, but if you want to see your physical book in hand, POD can give you that. Shop around. Think about what you want to accomplish from POD and choose a company accordingly. Do you just want a few books for posterity? To give as gifts? Are you hoping to get your book into local bookstores, or sell through your website?
Self-Publishing: Ebooks.
With the Kindle, Nook, Sony e-reader, and iPad, more and more people are reading books on electronic devices. Amazon offers direct publishing for self-publishers. Smashwords offers direct publishing, ISBNs, multiple formats, and distribution. Self-publishing electronic books is probably the most popular way to self-publish right now. It's easy, it's fast, and it can be entirely free. It's so popular that there is currently a flood of self-published work on the market right now. It is not fast money. Smashwords may pay out as soon as you reach the threshold, but reaching that threshold requires sales, which probably requires marketing. Amazon doesn't pay out until 60 days after the close of the month in which you make sales and they only pay once you reach their threshold, too. If quick money is your goal, get out now. Start hooking or selling drugs or something. Do you want to reach a wide market? Do you want to make your books easy to find and easy to read? Are you comfortable with electronic reading technology?
Quitting your day job.
The big question: Can you afford to? In my specific case, my husband was transferred overseas and we were ready to have a child. I was going to be staying home, anyway, and while that was mostly to raise said child until she started school, it was partly to see if I could get a writing career off the ground. If you work to pay the bills--and who doesn't these days--sit down with your budget and see what can be done. Do you want to quit your job? Change your hours? Telecommute? Do what you need to do in order to free up time to write, to network, to market. As I mentioned in the other post, set reasonable expectations. I started writing in April and self-published my first short-story anthology in August. I won't see a significant royalty payment until February. That's ten months from start to money I can do anything with. Read what other authors, self-published and traditional, have to say about income, their day jobs, and when they could quit to write full-time.
Sizing up the audience.
What do you write? What do you want to write? Who do you expect will be reading your work? Research that. If you write romance, start with the romance bestseller lists, romance reader blogs, romance writer blogs. Check out forums, message boards, and other online communities. If you write how-to guides, or gardening books, or design knitting patterns, it doesn't matter: the Internet can tell you what you want to know. What does your potential audience like? What do they hate? Which writers are the most popular? Why? Which are the least popular? Why? What kind of money are the readers willing to spend? I am not saying write to a specific audience just because you can cash in, but if you've decided to publish, they're going to be judging you. They're going to determine your success. It's a good idea to know as much about them as possible.
Sizing up the "competition."
I use that word loosely. I guess, technically, because publishing is business that writers are in competition with each other, but I don't know a single writer who actually thinks like that. Sure, with the economy in the bad place it is now, people have less money to spend on books, so we want readers to buy our books. I guess. What I mean by sizing up the competition is see what others are doing. What works for them, what doesn't, and why. Get ideas about how to write, when and where to publish, how to market and promote. Figure out who you'll best fit in with and figure out how to target their audience. The competition can teach you a lot. Learn from them.
Thursday, November 17, 2011
Self-Publishing: Before You Take The Plunge
Being a writer is not an easy thing. Both routes to publication--traditional and self--are rough. But, as with anything else in life, with research, patience, and a lot of hard work, you can succeed.
Define "success."
What do you need to consider yourself successful? Do you need to be #1 on the bestseller lists? Do you need movie deals, merchandising options, and $50 million? Do you need to be read by every literate person in the world? Do you need to write the Great American Novel? Do you need to make a comfortable income and entertain? Your definition of success will determine what you write and how you plan to achieve that success.
Do your research.
As a writer, you should already be proficient at finding out what you don't know. Use those skills to learn everything you can about the publishing industry. Right now, there's a great deal of discussion on the subject. I recommend starting with general information, like who are the Big Six, and then driving down to more detailed information, like who publishes work similar to what you write and how much those authors make. Read the blogs of traditionally-published authors, read the articles on publishing at online news sources, look at the bestseller lists. Learn absolutely everything you can about the traditional publishing industry. And then look at self-publishing. Don't just look at Amanda Hocking and John Locke. They're stellar, absolutely, and they're very inspiring--but they are not the norm. Look at less-exceptional self-published authors. Read their blogs, check out their books on the bestseller lists. Some of them may even be willing to share their sales numbers and figures. Arm yourself with all the knowledge you can gather.
Self-publishing or traditional publishing?
As self-publishing becomes more viable, as authors eke out a respectable living and corps of fans, the stigma dissipates. It's not entirely gone, not yet, and it may not ever truly be gone, but right now, self-publishing is not the bad idea it used to be. With that said, it's not for everyone. Decide what you want out of your publication. Look at each method and determine which one offers the most of what you want.
Make a plan.
For example, my plan looked like this: 1) Start writing. 2) Get blog. 3) Get Twitter. 4) Get website. 5) Publish. That's a very basic plan, and each step had several bullet points beneath it, and the plan has since expanded to include things about more pen names and the possibility of starting my own publishing company in the next two years or so, but I could not have done any of this without a plan. So make your plan and know what needs to be done. Take action.
Set reasonable expectations.
Your chances of becoming the next Stephen King, Dan Brown, Nora Roberts, J. K. Rowling, or Stephenie Meyer are slim to none. Your chances of becoming the next Amanda Hocking or John Locke are even slimmer. I'm not saying don't dream big and don't try hard, I'm just saying that you should start this publishing journey with reasonable expectations. Writing is not the way to get rich. Self-publishing is definitely not a get-rich-quick scheme. I came into this with the expectation that it would take at least one year to start selling enough books to pay for things like our car insurance, and that it would take two or three years to start making my old salary. And that only if I had five or ten solid books with good covers and decent reviews. My expectations were in the low-to-reasonable range. I expected to be in this for the long haul. And, I'll be honest, it never really occurred to me when I should consider this endeavor a failure and when I should give up. But...
Decide what constitutes failure and have a backup plan.
I should have. There is a lot of trial and error in this business. Sometimes, books just won't sell, no matter how aggressively you market on social media websites or in the paper or wherever else. If Cowboy wasn't selling as well as it is and those sales didn't seem to be spilling over to Cass and Better, I would have to re-think my strategy. (My strategy of "tell the people I know and then do some other stuff if I need to." I didn't say I had all the answers.) You should probably set a timeframe. Say, a year. If your best-selling book isn't moving enough units to satisfy your reasonable or low-to-reasonable expectations, try something else. Maybe you need an agent. Maybe you need a vanity press. Maybe you need to go back to the drawing board. Just remember that everyone fails. Failure is part of writing. Learn a lesson and move on.
Write.
I'm operating under the assumption that if you want to be published, writing is a compulsion. This may be obvious, but I think it bears stating. Don't stop. Don't ever stop writing, don't ever stop learning, don't ever stop getting better, and don't ever stop trying. Write from before you decide which route to take to publication, write while you plan, write write write.
Tuesday, November 15, 2011
Fanfiction: Good Idea, Bad Idea
Fanfiction is work based on media written by consumers of that media and not the original creators. We can all thank Gene Roddenberry for inspiring the fanboys to create the modern incarnation of fanfiction. I know I'm grateful. If it wasn't for the powerhouse combination of sci-fi fanfiction and the Internet, I would just be a bored housewife.
Good Idea
For me, and for a lot of fanfiction authors I knew, fic was a way to hone our skills. Someone else did the hard work of creating the characters and the universe and the initial stories, we could swoop in and tell more stories and swap those stories with other fans. We could take Character A and learn to write him really, really well, down to his thought processes and dialogue. We could experiment. We could find our own voices. Once we were comfortable writing within the confines of the universe, once we understood the rules and could follow them perfectly, we could break out of that universe and break those rules.
And best of all, we had a built-in audience. We had access to a multitude of people who knew everything there was to know about the universe we were playing in and they weren't afraid to tell us when we fucked it up.
That's why I think fanfiction is a good idea for the new, unpublished, untested writer. I'm not saying that I think fic is the only way to go. I'm just saying that I learned a lot from my time in fandom. I learned how to write good characters and good plot. I learned who people loved and why, who they hated and why, what readers wanted to read. I learned to target my audience. I learned how to give criticism and, more importantly, I learned how to take it. (Back in the early days of my involvement in fandom, "cyberbullying" was called "flaming" and if you sucked, you got flamed. Sometimes you got flamed right out of fandom. Yes, I've been flamed.) I cut my teeth and my skin got thick.
I made friends. Writer friends. Friends who understood the agony of writer's block, the frustration of the fifth round of edits, the angst of balancing sexual tension. Friends who understood why I was up at 3:00 am screaming at my characters to just start listening to me already, I was their God, couldn't they see that? Friends who understood the devastation of a lost muse and the insanity of a million plot bunnies bouncing around inside my head.
Without friends, without people who understand what goes into writing, writers probably stop being socially acceptable schizophrenics and start getting themselves committed to nice white rooms with padded walls.
Bad Idea
Even in the beginning, I was careful. Fanfiction isn't technically legal and some media creators, the copyright holders, don't take kindly to it. Anne Rice is a shining example of what I mean by that. Other creators (an incomplete list can be found here and a more complete one here) have also set explicit policies. As the copyright holders, it is fully within their rights to set policies and pursue legal action against those who violate their rights. I never participated in any fandom forbidden to exist by the creators. (There was no need, as you can see; plenty of talented creators support fanworks.)
It's the tricky legal issues that have me restricting knowledge of my fandom identity to a very small circle of close friends. And this is the crux of my post today.
Trying to bring your fandom fanbase with you when you crossover into publication seems like a very, very bad idea to me. What happens if you rewrite some of the fanwork and use it in an original publication? What happens if you participated in one of the blacklisted fandoms and that information reaches the copyright holder?
What if you were a shady, plagiarizing, scandal-ridden BNF?
The Bottom Line
My Good Idea section is bigger than my Bad Idea section. Overall, I think fanfiction is a good thing. (One day, I hope to write something that inspires the existence of a fandom.) But I think the amateur and the professional should remain as separate as possible. For me, the benefits of bringing your fanbase with you when you make the jump to original publication don't outweigh the cost. I assert this as an award-winning fanfic author.
I was the new kid on the block once before. I found my voice, found my niche, and wrote well-received work once before. I didn't have half of the skills, tools, or confidence I have at my disposal now. It should be easier this time around.
Good Idea
For me, and for a lot of fanfiction authors I knew, fic was a way to hone our skills. Someone else did the hard work of creating the characters and the universe and the initial stories, we could swoop in and tell more stories and swap those stories with other fans. We could take Character A and learn to write him really, really well, down to his thought processes and dialogue. We could experiment. We could find our own voices. Once we were comfortable writing within the confines of the universe, once we understood the rules and could follow them perfectly, we could break out of that universe and break those rules.
And best of all, we had a built-in audience. We had access to a multitude of people who knew everything there was to know about the universe we were playing in and they weren't afraid to tell us when we fucked it up.
That's why I think fanfiction is a good idea for the new, unpublished, untested writer. I'm not saying that I think fic is the only way to go. I'm just saying that I learned a lot from my time in fandom. I learned how to write good characters and good plot. I learned who people loved and why, who they hated and why, what readers wanted to read. I learned to target my audience. I learned how to give criticism and, more importantly, I learned how to take it. (Back in the early days of my involvement in fandom, "cyberbullying" was called "flaming" and if you sucked, you got flamed. Sometimes you got flamed right out of fandom. Yes, I've been flamed.) I cut my teeth and my skin got thick.
I made friends. Writer friends. Friends who understood the agony of writer's block, the frustration of the fifth round of edits, the angst of balancing sexual tension. Friends who understood why I was up at 3:00 am screaming at my characters to just start listening to me already, I was their God, couldn't they see that? Friends who understood the devastation of a lost muse and the insanity of a million plot bunnies bouncing around inside my head.
Without friends, without people who understand what goes into writing, writers probably stop being socially acceptable schizophrenics and start getting themselves committed to nice white rooms with padded walls.
Bad Idea
Even in the beginning, I was careful. Fanfiction isn't technically legal and some media creators, the copyright holders, don't take kindly to it. Anne Rice is a shining example of what I mean by that. Other creators (an incomplete list can be found here and a more complete one here) have also set explicit policies. As the copyright holders, it is fully within their rights to set policies and pursue legal action against those who violate their rights. I never participated in any fandom forbidden to exist by the creators. (There was no need, as you can see; plenty of talented creators support fanworks.)
It's the tricky legal issues that have me restricting knowledge of my fandom identity to a very small circle of close friends. And this is the crux of my post today.
Trying to bring your fandom fanbase with you when you crossover into publication seems like a very, very bad idea to me. What happens if you rewrite some of the fanwork and use it in an original publication? What happens if you participated in one of the blacklisted fandoms and that information reaches the copyright holder?
What if you were a shady, plagiarizing, scandal-ridden BNF?
The Bottom Line
My Good Idea section is bigger than my Bad Idea section. Overall, I think fanfiction is a good thing. (One day, I hope to write something that inspires the existence of a fandom.) But I think the amateur and the professional should remain as separate as possible. For me, the benefits of bringing your fanbase with you when you make the jump to original publication don't outweigh the cost. I assert this as an award-winning fanfic author.
I was the new kid on the block once before. I found my voice, found my niche, and wrote well-received work once before. I didn't have half of the skills, tools, or confidence I have at my disposal now. It should be easier this time around.
Wednesday, November 9, 2011
On Writing: Characterization
The last few books I've read (with the notable except of The Iron Admiral: Deception) have had so-so characterization. To me, poor characterization is the mark of a writer who doesn't care enough about her work to breathe real life into the people telling her stories. Yes, it's difficult to write full, complex, realistic characters. But it's not impossible. All it takes is attention to detail and a willingness to understand.
As a reader, I want to believe the character. I don't have to like her, or agree with her, or support her decisions, but I do have to believe her. As a writer, I strive to create consistent, strong characters. I believe that any character mentioned in any story should be completely developed, whether we see that full development in the story or not. Here are some of my favorite tips for creating characters.
Use a character chart.
This is the one I use. It has been cobbled together over the years from various sources and from my own needs. I rarely use that actual document, but I typed it up to share today. (You're welcome.) Even if you don't use that chart or at least a chart, it's a really good idea to write down the basics about your character and solidify her history in your mind. Those things are important because...
Characters are people.
Or dogs. Or horses. Or robots. Whatever. The point is that they're real. They have personal histories just like real people. They have reasons for doing what they do. They have ways they speak, dress, behave. They have goals, ambitions, fears, desires, dreams, good habits, bad habits, secrets. As the writer, you need to respect them. Your reader doesn't need every single detail of your character's personal history, but in order to effectively develop and write your character, you need those details. In your writing, you'll dole out those details as needed.
Characters are not mouthpieces or puppets.
Characters should not exist solely to convey information in a dialogue and they should not exist solely to give voice to your thoughts and opinions. Characters are not you, the writer. They do not exist only to live out your fantasies or do things you wish you could do or be who you wish you could be. Characters exist to tell a story.
Characters are vital.
And without them, there would be no story to tell. If the characters you're writing don't belong to that story--as in, without them, the story would be just fine; or, without them, you could sub in any characters--then you're doing it wrong. Be sure you're writing the right story with the right characters.
More tips:
As a reader, I want to believe the character. I don't have to like her, or agree with her, or support her decisions, but I do have to believe her. As a writer, I strive to create consistent, strong characters. I believe that any character mentioned in any story should be completely developed, whether we see that full development in the story or not. Here are some of my favorite tips for creating characters.
Use a character chart.
This is the one I use. It has been cobbled together over the years from various sources and from my own needs. I rarely use that actual document, but I typed it up to share today. (You're welcome.) Even if you don't use that chart or at least a chart, it's a really good idea to write down the basics about your character and solidify her history in your mind. Those things are important because...
Characters are people.
Or dogs. Or horses. Or robots. Whatever. The point is that they're real. They have personal histories just like real people. They have reasons for doing what they do. They have ways they speak, dress, behave. They have goals, ambitions, fears, desires, dreams, good habits, bad habits, secrets. As the writer, you need to respect them. Your reader doesn't need every single detail of your character's personal history, but in order to effectively develop and write your character, you need those details. In your writing, you'll dole out those details as needed.
Characters are not mouthpieces or puppets.
Characters should not exist solely to convey information in a dialogue and they should not exist solely to give voice to your thoughts and opinions. Characters are not you, the writer. They do not exist only to live out your fantasies or do things you wish you could do or be who you wish you could be. Characters exist to tell a story.
Characters are vital.
And without them, there would be no story to tell. If the characters you're writing don't belong to that story--as in, without them, the story would be just fine; or, without them, you could sub in any characters--then you're doing it wrong. Be sure you're writing the right story with the right characters.
More tips:
- Debbie Lee Wesselmann's Tips for Characterization
- Publetariat's summary of 14 Tips for Effective Characterization
- Charlotte Dillon's Building Fictional Characters (complete with a character chart and many, many links)
- Fiction Factor's Character Creation articles
- Writing Corner's Characterization (solid tips and character chart if you can ignore the font)
- Eclectic's Character Chart
- Men With Pens: Character Creation
Tuesday, November 8, 2011
On Writing: Resources for the New Writer
With National Novel Writing Month upon us and with the ease of self-publishing, it seems like first-time writers are setting pen to paper or fingers to keyboard and telling their stories in astonishing numbers. I, for one, think this is great. But I also think that those first-time writers need resources. All writers need resources. First-time writers need the basics, the books and guides that teach the finer points of the art and help you build your skills starting with a solid foundation. I know I certainly did. I also know that I still look for resources and ways to strengthen my foundation... and I've been writing and sharing for nine years now.
The Fundamentals
The very basics of writing: words, including spelling and definition, and how to string them together coherently and format them for easy reading.
How to Write Fiction
The Feedback
The Fundamentals
The very basics of writing: words, including spelling and definition, and how to string them together coherently and format them for easy reading.
- an online dictionary
- http://dictionary.reference.com/
- http://www.merriam-webster.com/
- http://www.thefreedictionary.com/
- http://oxforddictionaries.com/
- a hardcopy dictionary
- an online thesaurus
- a hardcopy thesaurus
- a style guide
- manuscript format guide
- Proper Manuscript Format (example from William Shunn)
- Tameri Guide for Writers: Formatting a Manuscript
- The Writer's Digest Guide to Manuscript Formats
How to Write Fiction
Tips, tricks, guides, and other resources for creative writing.
- plotting
- The Snowflake Method
- Novel Outlining 101
- How to Make a Novel Outline
- How to Create a Plot Outline in 8 Easy Steps
- Plot & Structure
- voice
- definition of "voice"
- Finding Your Unique Voice
- Developing Style and Voice in Fiction Writing
- Developing Your Voice for Fiction Writing
- Narrative Voice
- Finding "Voice" in Creative Writing
- characterization
- Characterization
- Characterization
- Fiction Factor: Creating Characters (a series of articles on the subject)
- Fiction Writer's Character Chart
- dialogue
- Grammar Girl: How to Write Dialogue
- How To: Dialogue Attributes (part 1, part 2, part 3)
- How to Write Dialogue that Works
- How to Write Good Dialogue
- Crafting Authentic Dialogue
- prose
The Feedback
Feedback is essential for two reasons: 1) it helps a writer improve; 2) it helps a writer develop "thick skin."
- self-editing
- Self-Editing
- Self-Editing for Fiction Writers
- Self-Editing Checklist
- Self-Editing for Fiction Writers: How to Edit Yourself into Print
- writers' groups
- http://www.forwriters.com/groups.html
- http://www.nawg.co.uk/
- How to Choose a Writers' Group
- The Writer Magazine: Groups
- beta readers
- editors
Thursday, November 3, 2011
On Writing: The Process
In order to give myself a break from editing Better Together, I thought that I would share my writing process. I thought that I would share why I think writing is hard.
Spoiler alert: It is long!
Step 1: Have brilliant idea for a story.
Maybe it starts with a character, maybe it starts with a scene, maybe it starts with a line of dialogue, maybe it starts with a point to make. However it starts, it always seems like the best idea for any story ever.
Step 2: Pre-write.
I'm a plotter, so I do everything. I write the one-line summary, the one-page summary, and the longer-than-one-page summary. I write out the big plot points and the subplot points and diagram the conflict. I summarize character backstory and the story's backstory. I research names and places and any details I may need to know. (For Cass, I looked up the old Route 66 and used Google maps to plot her route. For Cowboy, I researched cattle ranching in northern Colorado.) Everything gets written down and I refer back to it frequently.
Step 3: Write the action draft.
An action draft is the first draft of the story. If the outline is the skeleton, the action draft is the skeleton with muscle attached. Action, emotion, and dialogue are written out, usually in incomplete sentences. Well, the dialogue is usually complete. An action draft is usually written in present tense with an omniscient viewpoint, whereas the final result will be past tense third-person subjective.
Step 4: Write story.
Once the first draft is done, I write the second draft. I write full sentences, change the tense, stop head-hopping, that sort of thing.
Step 5: Rewrite.
Then I fix it. Usually whole sections need to be re-written. Dialogue is altered. Sometimes the point of view changes. By the time I'm done with this step, it's okay, but not ready. Not even close.
Step 6: Editing, round one.
This is usually when I get rid of the passive voice, delete the -ly words, and abandon commas, em-dashes, and semi-colons. (While swearing to stop my abuse of the English language immediately.)
Step 7: Editing, round two.
During this round of editing, I tend to focus on word choices, characterization, tone, voice, and dialogue. I start looking at sentence structures, overall rhythm, and sentence/paragraph length.
Step 8: Hate it.
Hating my work is a vital part of any project. By the end of the second round of edits, I hate every single word on every single page. I hate the characters. I hate the situation. I hate everything about it and I wonder what kind of crack I was smoking when I thought it would be such a good idea.
Step 9: Whine about hating it to anyone who will listen.
I am fortunate enough to have three good friends who are also writers. They understand the process. I think I amuse them when it comes time to whine. I also tend to whine about the writing to my parents. My dad is a photographer so he understands art and my mother just thinks I'm crazy.
Step 10: Editing, round three.
Each word, each sentence, each paragraph, each scene... This is the details round. Is that the right word? Are these sentences too much alike? Can his hand be here? What kind of hat is that?
Step 11: Read it.
I usually wait a few hours or a day between the last step and this one. I try to read it with fresh eyes. I try to read it as a reader and not as the hate-filled god of the world I've created.
Step 12: Give it to beta-readers and editor(s).
While it's off being hacked to small pieces by others, I ignore it. Pretend it doesn't exist. Don't open the file. And I stress and angst and panic about it the whole time. I also usually read it a few more times and make more changes before they send back their notes. Yes, I do mean plural. I send each story off to at least two people and usually four or five, depending on what it's about.
Step 13: Editing, round four.
This round of editing is mercifully short. I go through each beta's/editor's notes and make changes as I see fit.
Step 14: Read it again.
But I still have to read it through one more time as a reader. At this point, I'm usually drunk, so my hate is mellowed by whiskey/champagne/red wine.
Step 15: Angst about it.
Is it good enough? Does it say what I want it to say? Is this the best story I can tell? Is this my story or could it belong to anyone? Why did I write this? Why is it special? Why do I think anyone will want to read this?
Step 15: Publish it.
I shove it out into the world. I'm done. It's ready. It is good enough. It does say what I want it to say. It is the best story I can tell.
Step 16: Have another brilliant idea for another story.
Wednesday, October 26, 2011
All About Editing: The How
This subject is nearer and dearer to my heart right now because I've finished the first draft of the new romance novelette and I started the editing process (with any luck and a lot of hard work, it will be a novella when I'm done). So I thought that I would share my editing process.
The first thing you should know is that I absolutely hate sending out a manuscript unless I think it's ready to be read by people who don't like me. That intense aversion to mistakes and bad writing led to the development of an editing process that is far more involved than the writing process (and my writing process is pretty involved).
Read the whole story.
Read the whole story, beginning to end, as a reader. You can make notes about what to edit, but just read it first. See it for the whole piece that it is because you're about to break it down into its most basic parts and it will be easy to forget the whole.
Read each section/chapter.
Each individual part should stand on its own. Not, you know, totally on its own, but each section should have a beginning, a middle, and an end. It should move the story along. It should add value to the story. It should be complete.
Read each paragraph.
Each paragraph should be consistent. It should be about something specific. It, like each section, should add value to the story and move it along. Each paragraph should be a shining example of your writing. It should be excerptable. (That is a word now.)
Read each line.
Like each section and each paragraph, each line should be valuable. It should also be different from the one before it and the one after it unless you're going for something specific that requires repetition and similarity. Sentences, lines, have rhythm and flow. I'm not musically inclined, but I know that variation in sentence sound and structure is much more pleasing to my inner ear than a bunch of the same thing over and over.
Read each word.
Each and every word in your manuscript should be the right word. Not almost the right word, not sort of the right word, not close enough. It should be the exact word you mean to convey your meaning. I strongly believe that every writer should spend some time writing poetry. Nothing teaches you to use the right word better than writing poetry.
Search for easily-misused words.
This is a technical detail. Search your manuscript for words that are easily misused. Your/you're, their/there/they're, through/threw and the like. Spellcheck won't catch this because you've correctly spelled the words. Chances are that you'll catch any of these mistakes when you read each word, but it's never a bad idea to be safe.
Search for overused words and phrases.
We all have pet words. We probably even have pet words that change, or words that we associate with a particular story. I had one story that was very lush, very padded, and I used the word "plush" repeatedly throughout it. My beta wanted to beat me with the word. So what I'm saying here is: search your story for overused words. Unusual words and phrases--words like exacerbate and loquacious, phrases like "come with" and "piss-poor"--will stand out to the reader, so using them even more than once in a short piece, twice in a longer piece (unless, again, it's a conscious choice vital to the story/formation of the story) is going to stand out.
Search for -ly words.
Really. Lovely. Squiggly. These words are filler words. They have their place, but the chances are that they've been overused, abused, and treated as a crutch. It's okay, it happens to everyone. Use them sparingly. Think of them as a potent spice, or an expensive one. The more you use them, the less precious they become.
Search for very.
Mark Twain said it best when he said to replace every instance of "very" with the word "damn." It has the same effect and your editor will take them out. If you're DIYing your writing (or you just don't want your editor to think you're overly fond of swearing), change every "very" to "damn" for fun, read your story, and then delete the damns.
Check your details.
The Internet is a great place. It has websites like Google and Wikipedia and communities like Little Details. It's full of people who are experts on something and they're willing to share their expertise. Use them. Check your own details, first. Make sure your protagonist doesn't suddenly change hair color halfway through the story. Or cars, or location, or whatever. Trust me, the reader notices these things. Then check the other details. For example, I had to change my hero's job in the Marines based on some information I found at Wikipedia. Also--and this is a tip from my days as a researcher--it's a good idea to have different sources of information, sources that don't call on each other for backup. I like three sources, personally.
Check your characterization.
You can tell your readers that your hero is a good guy, but if you're writing him being a dickface to waiters and kicking puppies, they're going to know that he isn't. Make sure that you're showing the character traits you want your characters to possess. If he's kind, show him doing something kind. If he's an ass, show him being an ass. And be consistent. Unless, of course, the point is that your character completely changes who he is throughout the story. Then you can do whatever you want, I guess. Just make sure that your character is behaving in the ways you would expect from someone who is like him. This is where observing people becomes a useful skill.
Check your plot.
Are there any holes? Sew those suckers up. You don't want the reader to be halfway through the story and saying, "This doesn't make any sense." Remember: the difference between reality and fiction is that fiction has to make sense. It has to. You can't rely on your readers to say, "Ah, well, that's just how it goes." That is not how it goes. How it goes is exactly how you write it and you need to be the God of your written world. You need to keep track of everything and make sure that everything has a purpose and a reason.
Check your subplot(s).
If you're writing anything longer than a short story, you probably have subplots. Do the same checking for them that you do for your main plot. Resolve them however you want, but a resolution is not abandoning them mid-story because they're inconvenient.
Read it out loud.
Reading your work out loud forces your brain to relay information to your mouth. Because it has to work harder, it notices things it missed when you were just reading silently. I don't know if that's true because I made it up, but reading your work out loud is just one more way you're guaranteed to find things you wouldn't have found otherwise.
Ignore it.
I know that every list of advice on writing tells you to ignore your work or leave it alone. This is good advice. You gain some distance and some perspective. You return to your work with a fresh eye and a fresh ear. Let it sit for as long as you need, then come back to it and repeat the editing process.
Read it again.
Read it to yourself and then out loud one more time. Make changes as needed, but this time, it doesn't need the machete it needed before. It just needs little tweaks. Sound good? Look good? Feel good? Great. Only two more steps left to go!
Send it to someone else.
No matter who you are, your writing can always benefit from someone else's perspective. That's why publishers employ editors and that's why good fanfic writers use betas. If you value your writing at all--and of course you do, you're reading this post--you will hand your work over to more than one someone else. These will be people you trust. These should also be people who are not butt-kissers. They should be just as hard on you and your writing as you are. (But not harder. No one should ever be harder on your own work than you are.)
Make changes accordingly.
Once you get your manuscript back from your editors and beta readers, you should have feedback to consider. The changes you make are entirely up to you. You're the writer. Your word is law as far as your writing goes. But, again, if you care at all, you will consider the feedback you get and you will make changes.
Read it one more time.
Okay, I lied, there's one final step. Read it again. All the way through. Resist the urge to make any more changes as you read and simply read it as a reader. It should be as perfect as you can make it now. This should be your best possible work. Congratulations!http://parchmentplace.files.wordpress.com/2011/04/red-pen.gif
Wednesday, October 19, 2011
All About Editing: Self-Editing
Identify your problem areas and focus on those.
I tend to abuse the em dash, the semi-colon, and the comma. Maybe you confuse your and you're, or you abuse the ellipsis. Whatever your weakness may be, focus on it. Scour your manuscript for instances of your weakness(es) and eliminate them. If you're anything like me, this will get frustrating and you will, eventually, learn to stop being so abusive of language.
Compare your manuscript to a traditionally published manuscript.
Especially if you are a "new" writer (read: a writer who has just set pen to paper/fingers to keyboard), compare your manuscript to one that has been traditionally published. If you write fiction, pick up a fiction novel. If you write non-fiction, pick up non-fiction. Really look at the published work. Do your quotations look the same? Do your paragraph styles look similar? Are your chapters roughly the same length?
Focus on the basics.
Spelling. Grammar. Use your word processor's spell check. If you use MS Word, give the sentences with the green squiggly a second glance, but keep in mind that MS Word is not programmed with the Grammar Bible. Speaking of the Grammar Bible, it's a good idea to learn the rules of grammar. You are not too old or too smart or too big to go back to third grade (or fifth grade, or whatever) and re-learn elementary English. Keep in mind that you can't effectively break the rules of grammar unless you actually know those rules.
Don't jump heads.
Nora Roberts is notorious for this. You're probably not Nora Roberts, so don't do it. Pick one point-of-view (POV) and stick with it. Many first-time novelists choose first-person narrative, and that's fine, but whichever POV you choose, make sure you don't slip into Author Narrative and tell the reader things your POV character can't possibly know. Don't mix things up until you're confident that you can do one style consistently and well.
Check your tense.
Examine your manuscript for consistent tense use. If you start off in present tense, don't suddenly start using past tense. It is entirely too easy to switch back and forth while you're writing, so be very careful.
Hardcopies are your friends.
The best way to edit your manuscript is the old-fashioned way: a printed copy and a pen that can double as a machete. If you can read your work out loud as you edit, that's even better. If you absolutely must edit on the computer, read backwards. Start at the end and work your way back, word by word, then sentence by sentence, then paragraph by paragraph.
For more self-editing resources, click the following links.
- Self-Editing by Lori Handeland
- How To Edit Your Own Writing: Self-Editing Checklist
- Self-Editing Success by Carole Moore
- 10+ Ways to Improve Your Writing by Self-Editing
- Before You Submit: Tips for Self-Editing
- Seeking the Write Life tag: Self Editing Tips and Tricks
- More Self-Editing Tips
- 10 Tips for Self-Editing
- Three Tips for Self-Editing
- Self-Editing Tips at the Novel Doctor
Wednesday, October 5, 2011
Interview: Kelsey McCarthy, Author/Designer/Illustrator
Today, I have for you an interview with Kelsey McCarthy, my personal favorite designer and illustrator and a fantastic writer to boot. (She's working on a seriously awesome fantasy story right now, I can't wait for it to be done.) If you're looking for a cover artist or a web designer or, really, have any graphic design needs at all, she is your woman. You'll see what I mean a little farther down the page.
How long have you been interested in writing and in art? Which came first?
Which is harder depends on how I'm feeling any particular day. Sometimes I can't get a painting right, so I write. Sometimes I'm bashing my head into a wall with a story, so I fuck off and doodle. It's a nice way to be productive and not burn out on any particular thing.
I tend to like character-based commissions the most. I love painting people, though I'm making an effort to get into doing more backgrounds and landscapes, especially with some of my own work. Book covers and posters are my favorite formats right now.
Is there anyplace we can see examples of your work online?
Unfortunately Marginalia's hosting has been a mess and our site isn't up to snuff yet. The best way to get in contact with me specifically for commissions and professional work is through my gmail: shadowsreflectsky at gmail dot com
Thank you! Everybody go buy Miss Leona's books!
How long have you been interested in writing and in art? Which came first?
I want to say the art came first, but I can remember telling stories at the same time right along with it.
Is it easier to write or paint?
Which is harder depends on how I'm feeling any particular day. Sometimes I can't get a painting right, so I write. Sometimes I'm bashing my head into a wall with a story, so I fuck off and doodle. It's a nice way to be productive and not burn out on any particular thing.
I know you're in the middle of an epic work-in-progress. How is that going? What are your plans for it?
I don't know if it's an "epic" work-in-progress, but it's certainly the biggest thing I've ever tackled. My current plans are applying the edits I have right now thanks to some lovely beta readers, then sending out the whole draft to them (as they've only read chunks thus far). Said huge draft should be thrown at people some time in December. I'd like to eventually go for publication with it, but if that fails, I'll self-publish. Despite the massive amounts of hatemail I'm sure to get, I just want to get the story out there and share it with people. Money isn't that big a deal if I can move some people.
How did you approach the research for it?
Researching stuff for it is still a constant thing. It started out with character ideas, then I went and read as many versions of the mythology as I could find and just let them grow together. I wanted to keep true to the mythology while still letting it be my own story. Luckily vikings have a pretty batshit insane mythology. Lots of room for moving things around. Right now is the fine-tuning: mind-sets, customs, battle tactics, etc. Also trying to weave in what needs to be there in order to make a smooth transition into the second story.
What is your favorite thing to write?
Favorite thing to write: Gritty dark fantasy, whether urban or high fantasy. I do dally with normal fiction, too, because if you can't write that, then you can't write good fantasy either.
What is your favorite writing tip?
I don't know if it's an "epic" work-in-progress, but it's certainly the biggest thing I've ever tackled. My current plans are applying the edits I have right now thanks to some lovely beta readers, then sending out the whole draft to them (as they've only read chunks thus far). Said huge draft should be thrown at people some time in December. I'd like to eventually go for publication with it, but if that fails, I'll self-publish. Despite the massive amounts of hatemail I'm sure to get, I just want to get the story out there and share it with people. Money isn't that big a deal if I can move some people.
How did you approach the research for it?
Researching stuff for it is still a constant thing. It started out with character ideas, then I went and read as many versions of the mythology as I could find and just let them grow together. I wanted to keep true to the mythology while still letting it be my own story. Luckily vikings have a pretty batshit insane mythology. Lots of room for moving things around. Right now is the fine-tuning: mind-sets, customs, battle tactics, etc. Also trying to weave in what needs to be there in order to make a smooth transition into the second story.
What is your favorite thing to write?
Favorite thing to write: Gritty dark fantasy, whether urban or high fantasy. I do dally with normal fiction, too, because if you can't write that, then you can't write good fantasy either.
What is your favorite writing tip?
Favorite writing tip: Allow yourself to write badly. The first draft is meant to be fugly and awful, then you go back for a second pass and you find the awesome parts that take you places.
What kind of commissions are your favorites to take?
What kind of commissions are your favorites to take?
I tend to like character-based commissions the most. I love painting people, though I'm making an effort to get into doing more backgrounds and landscapes, especially with some of my own work. Book covers and posters are my favorite formats right now.
Is there anyplace we can see examples of your work online?
Marginalia Studios is a design collective made up of a bunch of us from the same college. We were dreading the job market after graduation, so we decided to band together and make our own job opportunities. The project is still trying to get off the ground because we're rather scattered right now, but hopefully it'll gain speed once we start getting clients.
How can potential clients get in touch with you?
How can potential clients get in touch with you?
Unfortunately Marginalia's hosting has been a mess and our site isn't up to snuff yet. The best way to get in contact with me specifically for commissions and professional work is through my gmail: shadowsreflectsky at gmail dot com
Thank you! Everybody go buy Miss Leona's books!
No, thank you! And, dearest readers, if you need a graphic artist, I hope you get in touch with Kelsey. Check out her portfolio up there at Artician.com for more examples of commissions she has done.
Tuesday, October 4, 2011
Humans Are Social Animals. Yes, Even Writers.
There are probably people sitting in coffee houses to write because they're douchebags who want people to see that they're writing; if you're one of those douchebags, please stop. Nobody is impressed. Being a writer is like being an archaeologist or a history major or a business analyst: most people, upon finding out that you're "a writer," are just going to discover how quickly their eyes can glaze over. Unless you're, like, Stephen King or something. Which you aren't, otherwise you wouldn't be reading a blog on writing.
I like to give people the benefit of the doubt, though, and I tend to assume that writers in coffee houses are there to get away from the distraction of their homes/offices, or that they write better in crowded public spaces, or--and this is where the subject of my post comes in--they like the social aspect that they get in the coffee house. (You can sub "bar" for "coffee house" if you have to.) Public spaces are a great place to spy on human interaction. You can eavesdrop ("If it weren't for my horse, I wouldn't have spent that year in college.") and you can people-watch. I know that when I meet up with friends I haven't seen in a while, we head over to Starbucks; I imagine the case is the same for most people. While eavesdropping and people-watching, you can learn tips and tricks on characterization. You can catch snippets of conversation that could turn into story ideas. You can see how people dress, how they walk, how they treat the servers. People in coffee houses are usually casual and off their guard.
This goes for most public spaces. People behave differently in different public spaces, though. As a writer, I think one of the best things I can do for myself is to always be aware of others. I never know when some random passing stranger is going to have the look, the gait, the aura I'm going to need to inspire a new character.
Another aspect of community that is immensely useful is the writers' group. I strongly believe "new" writers (writers who have just picked up a pen or have set fingers to keyboard or writers who have never shared their recreational writing with anyone) should join these groups. Critique groups, writers' clubs, whatever you want to call them, they're good ideas. At the absolute least, they should find a few like-minded people and communicate regularly about writing. These groups are safe places to share your new piece or your WIP and to see others' work, safe places to give and receive critique. If you join a group, or make a group, where you know the people and respect (even like) them and trust their judgment, it's much easier to hear that something in your writing just isn't working. Writers' groups are also a good way to expose yourself firsthand to the differences in personal opinion. They're an excellent way to build that thick skin you absolutely must have. I think writer's groups are important for established writers, too. It never hurts to get safe fresh perspective on your writing.
Right now, I'm looking for a good young adult or paranormal group. I'm currently a member of the ERWA, a list I have found immeasurably helpful. Everyone on the list seems to be intelligent and articulate and willing to share their opinions and expertise. I'd love to find a group of writers who focus on vampires, werewolves, and the like for the 16 - early-twenties crowd, since that's what my current WIP is.
Just keep it small. I favor five to fifteen people. The ERWA is a bit larger than that, but it's not my main source of group support, so that's okay.
Readers are people. I know! Shocking, right? People like to talk. There's a reason Goodreads is such a popular site. All the promotion you do isn't going to do you any good if you can't interest people and connect in some way with community. And all of your promotion can very easily come undone if people read your work and tell their friends, "Don't read this. It's awful." As an author, the bulk of promotional duties fall to you--even if you're traditionally published by one of the Big Six, you're still going to have to do a lot of work on your own. That's where sites like Twitter and Facebook come in. If you're self-published or published through a small, independent house, you should join the site-specific forums, like the Kindle Direct Publishing forums. I also joined the MobileRead forum, which has a lot of authors but seems to have just as many readers.
You have to go where the readers are. Don't spam them, don't piss them off, but find them, find out what they want and what they have to say. Not necessarily because you want to write at them (you should always always write what the story demands and write what you like, then worry about the audience), but so you know. Information is always a good thing to have.
So now you know. Go forth! Be social! You might even make new friends and reach a new audience. At the very least, you'll probably learn something.
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