So here's the situation: today is the last day I'm allowing myself to indulge the self-imposed vacation. I actually did a lot of work this month, I just didn't think about it as "work." It was really nice. I got a few things figured out, I made progress on a few projects, I watched a lot of movies, I listened to a lot of music, and I spent a lot of time hanging out on the living room floor coloring with my almost-two-year-old.
Over the next few days, I'm going to get caught up on my comments and emails and maybe do some website updates and talk about reviews and my new blog(s). For now, though, I just wanted to let the handful of you who are still around that I'm alive, I'm kicking, and I'm ready to get back to work.
Saturday, June 30, 2012
Tuesday, June 26, 2012
Nine Writing Things: How To Write Men (If You're A Woman)
In As Good As It Gets, Julie Benz's character asks Jack Nicholson's character how he writes women so well. "I think of a man," he says. "And I take away reason and accountability." Ouch. How do you write men if you're a woman, then? Here are nine of the tips I've found most useful in my years of experience writing men. Do I have all the answers? No. But I have been complimented by actual men on getting male characters "right," so I feel like I have some authority.
1. Watch the men in your life.
My dad, my grandfather, my husband, my male friends... They're excellent sources of how "real" men behave. They're just regular guys, the sort of men most of us are likely to encounter in daily life. The little things can tell you a lot about how they think and what they feel. Writing a romance? The way these men show the women in their lives that they care can be revealing and useful.
2. Remember that men are really simple creatures.
This isn't to say that a man can't be complex, but as with any character, you start with the basics. And men, generally, need three things: to be fed, to be fucked, and to be respected. Conflict arises whenever he's not getting one of those three things. (Alternatively, when writing women, I believe the basics are that women need to be loved, listened to, and needed.) Hunger can be about more than food, sex can be about more than physical release, and respect doesn't have to come from the community.
3. Watch movies targeted at men.
The kind of entertainment targeted at the type of character you want to write tells you what people in charge think about him. The really popular movies tell you about the men enjoying them. What they like, even why they like it, and what it says about who they are and what they deal with in their daily life. Entertainment is a form of escapism and knowing how men escape can give you clues about the day-to-day conflicts. (For example, as an archaeologist, I believe in the whole men are hunters thing--which, to me, explains why so many movies aimed at men feature weapons and a hunt of some sort. Most men these days don't get a lot of that in their day to day life.)
4. Read books targeted at men.
For the same reasons you'll watch movies targeted at men, read their books. Not sure which ones those are based on the bestseller lists? Ask the men in your life what they're reading or what they'd read if they had a chance. (My husband, for example, reads a lot of John Grisham, David Baldacci, James Patterson, and he hasn't missed a Tucker Max book yet. In my experience, men tend toward dramatic non-fiction or nearly-non-fiction, "crude" humor, and sex.)
5. Read magazines targeted at men.
Magazines have a flashier, more immediate feel. I know more men reading magazines than I do men reading books, to be honest. This suggestion isn't just for the mature-themed magazines, like Playboy and Maxim (though those really are useful for the articles; Playboy was where a lot of masculine cultural revolution began, and Maxim is as much about clothing and gear and being a modern man as it is about attractive women in skimpy clothing). Look at any magazine that targets a specifically male audience.
6. Read up on your male gender studies.
In this case, "gender" is the operative word. Manhood as a state of mind is something you want to at least vaguely understand before you tackle writing them. What do men want? How do they think? What do they feel? How does culture affect these things? What does it mean to be a man in his world? Generalized studies can help. Women's studies in the west tend to focus on things like "being pinked." Men are subjected to cultural restrictions and expectations as women.
7. Replace "I feel" with "I think."
This is probably the easiest tip. Anytime you have a character speaking or internal monologuing, replace every instance of "I feel" with "I think" and your man will automatically seem more manly. This isn't to say that men don't feel; they're just more likely to phrase it in terms of what they think.
8. Ask a man in your life to read the dialogue aloud.
My darling husband is more romantic than me. He's the most romantic person I know. And even still, I sincerely doubt he'd say any of the flowery things I sometimes catch modern heroes spouting in romance novels. If you're uncertain about your dialogue, bribe a man in your life if you have to. (I hear a good way to get to them is through their stomachs.)
9. Remember that men are active and solution-oriented.
Men like to be doing something. It doesn't even necessarily have to be useful, though that's a bonus. And men typically aren't going to spend three hundred pages wringing their hands over a problem. They're going to be actively seeking solutions. This isn't to say that men aren't introspective, because they certainly are, they just prefer a more active approach to problem-solving, and life in general.
1. Watch the men in your life.
My dad, my grandfather, my husband, my male friends... They're excellent sources of how "real" men behave. They're just regular guys, the sort of men most of us are likely to encounter in daily life. The little things can tell you a lot about how they think and what they feel. Writing a romance? The way these men show the women in their lives that they care can be revealing and useful.
2. Remember that men are really simple creatures.
This isn't to say that a man can't be complex, but as with any character, you start with the basics. And men, generally, need three things: to be fed, to be fucked, and to be respected. Conflict arises whenever he's not getting one of those three things. (Alternatively, when writing women, I believe the basics are that women need to be loved, listened to, and needed.) Hunger can be about more than food, sex can be about more than physical release, and respect doesn't have to come from the community.
3. Watch movies targeted at men.
The kind of entertainment targeted at the type of character you want to write tells you what people in charge think about him. The really popular movies tell you about the men enjoying them. What they like, even why they like it, and what it says about who they are and what they deal with in their daily life. Entertainment is a form of escapism and knowing how men escape can give you clues about the day-to-day conflicts. (For example, as an archaeologist, I believe in the whole men are hunters thing--which, to me, explains why so many movies aimed at men feature weapons and a hunt of some sort. Most men these days don't get a lot of that in their day to day life.)
4. Read books targeted at men.
For the same reasons you'll watch movies targeted at men, read their books. Not sure which ones those are based on the bestseller lists? Ask the men in your life what they're reading or what they'd read if they had a chance. (My husband, for example, reads a lot of John Grisham, David Baldacci, James Patterson, and he hasn't missed a Tucker Max book yet. In my experience, men tend toward dramatic non-fiction or nearly-non-fiction, "crude" humor, and sex.)
5. Read magazines targeted at men.
Magazines have a flashier, more immediate feel. I know more men reading magazines than I do men reading books, to be honest. This suggestion isn't just for the mature-themed magazines, like Playboy and Maxim (though those really are useful for the articles; Playboy was where a lot of masculine cultural revolution began, and Maxim is as much about clothing and gear and being a modern man as it is about attractive women in skimpy clothing). Look at any magazine that targets a specifically male audience.
6. Read up on your male gender studies.
In this case, "gender" is the operative word. Manhood as a state of mind is something you want to at least vaguely understand before you tackle writing them. What do men want? How do they think? What do they feel? How does culture affect these things? What does it mean to be a man in his world? Generalized studies can help. Women's studies in the west tend to focus on things like "being pinked." Men are subjected to cultural restrictions and expectations as women.
7. Replace "I feel" with "I think."
This is probably the easiest tip. Anytime you have a character speaking or internal monologuing, replace every instance of "I feel" with "I think" and your man will automatically seem more manly. This isn't to say that men don't feel; they're just more likely to phrase it in terms of what they think.
8. Ask a man in your life to read the dialogue aloud.
My darling husband is more romantic than me. He's the most romantic person I know. And even still, I sincerely doubt he'd say any of the flowery things I sometimes catch modern heroes spouting in romance novels. If you're uncertain about your dialogue, bribe a man in your life if you have to. (I hear a good way to get to them is through their stomachs.)
9. Remember that men are active and solution-oriented.
Men like to be doing something. It doesn't even necessarily have to be useful, though that's a bonus. And men typically aren't going to spend three hundred pages wringing their hands over a problem. They're going to be actively seeking solutions. This isn't to say that men aren't introspective, because they certainly are, they just prefer a more active approach to problem-solving, and life in general.
Monday, June 25, 2012
Monday Miscellany: Being Irresponsible... Responsibly
Here we are, beginning the last week of my vacation. I know by now that it doesn't look like I've been on vacation, but that's just because I tried to plan a little bit ahead when I decided to run away from "work" for a month. It may have been an impromptu decision, but I tried not to be totally irresponsible.
That's the point of this entry. See, I believe that everyone ought to be irresponsible at some point. Do something ridiculous just because you want to. But I don't believe that a moment--or a month--of irresponsibility should have negative long-term consequences.
If I had just abandoned all work for a month, didn't write or queue up any blog posts or set HootSuite up to occasionally post a tweet for me, my blog stats would be abysmal. Without blog traffic, I have pretty much zero visibility among self-published authors. And self-published--and small-print--authors are the ones I want to connect with here at this blog and on Twitter. I have slowly been developing this aspect of my "career" (oh, stop laughing, I'm trying) as a self-help resource for authors who are where I was last year, or who are maybe in the same place as me now but are looking for a slightly different take on it.
I desperately needed a break. But I didn't need one that would undo all of my work for the last year.
This is why I'm grateful for Blogger's settings that allow me to schedule posts and for HootSuite's software that allows me to schedule tweets. There's a lot of electronic help out there. I think I want to find more of it.
That's the point of this entry. See, I believe that everyone ought to be irresponsible at some point. Do something ridiculous just because you want to. But I don't believe that a moment--or a month--of irresponsibility should have negative long-term consequences.
If I had just abandoned all work for a month, didn't write or queue up any blog posts or set HootSuite up to occasionally post a tweet for me, my blog stats would be abysmal. Without blog traffic, I have pretty much zero visibility among self-published authors. And self-published--and small-print--authors are the ones I want to connect with here at this blog and on Twitter. I have slowly been developing this aspect of my "career" (oh, stop laughing, I'm trying) as a self-help resource for authors who are where I was last year, or who are maybe in the same place as me now but are looking for a slightly different take on it.
I desperately needed a break. But I didn't need one that would undo all of my work for the last year.
This is why I'm grateful for Blogger's settings that allow me to schedule posts and for HootSuite's software that allows me to schedule tweets. There's a lot of electronic help out there. I think I want to find more of it.
Sunday, June 24, 2012
Blog Roundup: Stella Deleuze
I have featured Stella Deleuze before. She makes regular appearances on my weekly blog roundup posts, usually for her Tip of the Week series, and she was gracious enough to be interviewed back in January. Stella, like Sirra, is both a writer and an editor and frequently rants about poor editing on her blog. In addition to editing and writing tips, she talks about her iguana--Zorro, a lovely fellow--and food--usually posting recipes that look just wonderful. If you're not following her already, you should go do it now.
Friday, June 22, 2012
Author Resource: Erotic Romance
If you write erotica, romance, or erotic romance, this blog should be on your blogroll. Emily Veinglory "reports about and comments on the world of erotica and romance publishing, with a focus on epublishers." She describes the blog's "serious" purpose on the About page, which is providing sales data. Sales data you can see here. There's a Resources page as well as a page on dead markets. This is one of my favorite blogs. Not just because everything about it is useful, but because Ms. Veinglory is funny and clever.
Wednesday, June 20, 2012
Gross, Creepy, Downright Terrifying: Six Books To Make You Question Reality
1. Lost Souls and Exquisite Corpse by Poppy Z Brite
Yes, right off the bat, I'm giving you a two-for-the-price-of-one entry. Can't help it. I can't pick just one book from her, but I can pick two. (Drawing Blood is also fantastic.) Poppy has such intensely beautiful command of the language. Lost Souls gives me chills every time I read it and I can't enjoy Dexter (the books or the show) without thinking about Andrew and Jay. (If you want to directly support the author, you can visit the Poppy Z. Brite eBay page.)
2. My Life with Corpses by Wylene Dunbar
The only entry on this list that is just creepy and disturbing, this novel is entirely underrated and under-appreciated. I haven't met anyone else who has read it and that makes me sad. It's such a good book. Funny, weird, beautiful, and thought-provoking, this novel is less horror and more existential, but it still makes the air feel a little colder.
3. American Psycho by Bret Easton Ellis
This is my favorite modern American novel. Yes, it's about a serial killer. Yes, it's about excess and self-indulgence. It. Is. Amazing. The first time I read it, I thought I was going crazy. That is, until I got to the first explicit murder scene. Then I realized that it wasn't me, it was Patrick, and holy shit this guy is fucked up. If you have the stomach for it, this is the sort of novel that will drag you bodily from your real world and throw you unceremoniously into the world the author has created.
4. Naked Lunch by William S. Burroughs
If American Psycho grabs you and drags you into Patrick Bateman's world, Naked Lunch bashes you in the head, knocks you out, and forces you to wake up cold, alone, and scared in the world Burroughs created. I've never done acid, or any other hallucinatory drug, but I imagine it can't be much different from reading this book.
5. Splatterpunks II: Over the Edge edited by Paul M. Sammon
All right, this one isn't a novel, it's a short stories collection. "A mosaic of viscera, excrement, sex, and degradation whirls before our eyes in this anthology of stories and essays that run the gamut from lame and pretentious to genuinely stunning." Reading this book is a lot like being suckerpunched repeatedly.
Tuesday, June 19, 2012
Nine Writing Things: Begone, Writer's Block!
We've all been there. We just can't write and it's a terrible, dark, empty, lonely place to be. There are millions of suggestions out there on the Internet for ways to beat writer's block. Let me be a cliché and offer nine more. Hey, it's an easy blog post. Give me a break!
1. Set small goals with a timer and a word count.
Unfuck Your Habitat is this fantastic blog on tumblr that has been hugely helpful to me in learning to manage my time. (It's a blog about cleaning and organizing, but the principles work for writing, too.) Set a timer for twenty minutes, set a word count goal (halve your normal twenty-minute word count), and then go. Is it good writing? No. But it's writing.
2. Write a conversation with yourself, your muses, or your characters.
The subject can be anything. Write out a conversation exploring why you're blocked, or what the muses think you should be doing, or the story your characters really want to tell. Get the characters to tell you a funny or sad story from their childhood. Whatever it is, just do it. It can and probably should be as messy as any real-world conversation, full of backtracking and stuttering and pausing and uncertainty.
3. Play a song you're unfamiliar with, try to write out the lyrics or what you think the lyrics mean.
No cheating! Ignore all the song lyric archives online. I did this a lot as a teenager. I'd listen to a new song, write out the lyrics as I heard them, and then analyze the song. This was before I knew pretty much every song ever is about sex, though, so your mileage may vary depending on your level of jadedness.
4. Talk to yourself.
Be as many different people as you need to be. I don't recommend doing this one in public, though. In your car is fine, in your home--alone--is best.
5. Drink. A lot.
Drink enough to lose your inhibitions but not so much you can't spell. Remember to save your work before you pass out or die from alcohol poisoning. You might be surprised at the sort of things you write when you've loosened up and lost the filters that make you fit for society.
6. Use Write or Die or a program like it.
Write or Die is a program that "puts the 'prod' in productivity." It basically forces you to write. I view it as a good parent. I'm not sure what's going to happen if I don't do what it tells me, but I'm pretty sure I'm not going to like it.
7. Take a shower.
I do my best thinking in the shower. It's like the steam loosens the gunk clogging up my writing arteries. This can backfire and lead to you sitting sopping wet in front of your computer, so... be careful. Maybe get a voice recorder or something, set it on a dry ledge near enough the shower that you can poke your head out and start shouting at it. A small child who can write or type would also do in a pinch. Oh! Or a significant other who can be bribed with a bit of a show.
8. Watch a movie you don't like.
Analyze every little thing about it that you hate. List those things. Rage at the movie. Decide that you could do better, grab your laptop, and actually do better. Rewrite it line-by-line and revel in your superiority.
9. Just start writing.
Sit down. Set fingers to keys or pen to paper. And just start writing. Your ABCs. Your name. Why you like the boy next door. What you think that cute barista does when she's home alone. Whatever, it doesn't matter. Just write.
1. Set small goals with a timer and a word count.
Unfuck Your Habitat is this fantastic blog on tumblr that has been hugely helpful to me in learning to manage my time. (It's a blog about cleaning and organizing, but the principles work for writing, too.) Set a timer for twenty minutes, set a word count goal (halve your normal twenty-minute word count), and then go. Is it good writing? No. But it's writing.
2. Write a conversation with yourself, your muses, or your characters.
The subject can be anything. Write out a conversation exploring why you're blocked, or what the muses think you should be doing, or the story your characters really want to tell. Get the characters to tell you a funny or sad story from their childhood. Whatever it is, just do it. It can and probably should be as messy as any real-world conversation, full of backtracking and stuttering and pausing and uncertainty.
3. Play a song you're unfamiliar with, try to write out the lyrics or what you think the lyrics mean.
No cheating! Ignore all the song lyric archives online. I did this a lot as a teenager. I'd listen to a new song, write out the lyrics as I heard them, and then analyze the song. This was before I knew pretty much every song ever is about sex, though, so your mileage may vary depending on your level of jadedness.
4. Talk to yourself.
Be as many different people as you need to be. I don't recommend doing this one in public, though. In your car is fine, in your home--alone--is best.
5. Drink. A lot.
Drink enough to lose your inhibitions but not so much you can't spell. Remember to save your work before you pass out or die from alcohol poisoning. You might be surprised at the sort of things you write when you've loosened up and lost the filters that make you fit for society.
6. Use Write or Die or a program like it.
Write or Die is a program that "puts the 'prod' in productivity." It basically forces you to write. I view it as a good parent. I'm not sure what's going to happen if I don't do what it tells me, but I'm pretty sure I'm not going to like it.
7. Take a shower.
I do my best thinking in the shower. It's like the steam loosens the gunk clogging up my writing arteries. This can backfire and lead to you sitting sopping wet in front of your computer, so... be careful. Maybe get a voice recorder or something, set it on a dry ledge near enough the shower that you can poke your head out and start shouting at it. A small child who can write or type would also do in a pinch. Oh! Or a significant other who can be bribed with a bit of a show.
8. Watch a movie you don't like.
Analyze every little thing about it that you hate. List those things. Rage at the movie. Decide that you could do better, grab your laptop, and actually do better. Rewrite it line-by-line and revel in your superiority.
9. Just start writing.
Sit down. Set fingers to keys or pen to paper. And just start writing. Your ABCs. Your name. Why you like the boy next door. What you think that cute barista does when she's home alone. Whatever, it doesn't matter. Just write.
Monday, June 18, 2012
Monday Miscellany: Coffee Is The Writer's BFF
Granted, the title of this post could also be "Whiskey Is The Writer's BFF" but it's kind of early in the morning for booze, don't you think? (The answer is, of course: No. No it's not. But let's pretend for the sake of what is socially appropriate that we all totally agree drinking before nine in the morning is not cool.) Most of us drink coffee. A lot of coffee. Coffee keeps us up at four in the morning when we just need to finish that last chapter, it keeps us sharp when our eyes want to go crossed and we start breathing blue, and it's the first thing we reach for when we stumble into the kitchen after a few hours of dream-filled sleep where our muses punished us for our dishonesty.
Or maybe that's just me.
Anyway, coffee. It's a glorious, wonderful, beautiful drink. Some of it is better than the rest. I know a lot of people swear by Starbucks, but... meh. I mean, it'll do in a pinch, and I guess it's better quality than Folgers. (Ever since I got a French press, I judge a coffee's quality based on whether I can drink it black straight from the press. Starbucks dark roasts pass, Folgers does not. I was a diehard Folgers drinker for many, many years, so this was a crushing realization.) I prefer Seattle's Best when I'm given the chance and Dilanos above that (though Dilanos is hard to get outside of northwest Washington state in my experience).
But the absolute best coffee I have ever had, ever, was Bad Ass Coffee. It even has a story.
A few years ago, while my husband was deployed and I was a receptionist and there was no kiddo in my life, I planned a cross-country road trip to visit a friend in Hollywood and do silly things like go to Disneyland and the tar pits. Along the way, I was planning to hit several archaeological sites, like Aztec Ruins and Mesa Verde and Chaco Canyon, then spend a night in my favorite southwestern city, Flagstaff. My friend found herself without a job a week or so before my planned trip, so rather than wait for me to get to her, she hopped a plane to me and we drove west together. It was amazing. She is the very best road trip buddy in the whole entire world. We saw Aztec Ruins and stayed at the Step Back Inn. We spent several hours driving around Albuquerque looking for liquor. We spent the night in Flagstaff, where we stayed up late having coffee in a diner near our hotel. It was a fantastic vacation even though we couldn't find a place to have pancakes in Winslow.
Thanks, in part, to Bad Ass Coffee. In Arizona, we had to take a detour. This detour took us on state highways instead of the interstate, and on the side of one of these highways, I saw a sign for a ridiculously named coffee shop. Come on, seriously? Bad Ass? With a name like that, it either had to be really good or really bad. So we turned around. We found the cafe. We parked. We went inside. And we ordered.
And then, the next day, we took another special detour. Because there was another one outside of Phoenix, according to the Google search she did on her phone.
Bad Ass Coffee is perfect, delicious Hawaiian coffee and no matter what you do to it, it's amazing. If you click the link and check out the store, you might have a mild heart attack at the prices. Pay them anyway. It's worth it.
And if you're ever in the Los Angeles area, I seriously recommend Coffee Bean and Tea Leaf. They serve some pretty great Hawaiian coffee, too.
Or maybe that's just me.
Anyway, coffee. It's a glorious, wonderful, beautiful drink. Some of it is better than the rest. I know a lot of people swear by Starbucks, but... meh. I mean, it'll do in a pinch, and I guess it's better quality than Folgers. (Ever since I got a French press, I judge a coffee's quality based on whether I can drink it black straight from the press. Starbucks dark roasts pass, Folgers does not. I was a diehard Folgers drinker for many, many years, so this was a crushing realization.) I prefer Seattle's Best when I'm given the chance and Dilanos above that (though Dilanos is hard to get outside of northwest Washington state in my experience).
But the absolute best coffee I have ever had, ever, was Bad Ass Coffee. It even has a story.
A few years ago, while my husband was deployed and I was a receptionist and there was no kiddo in my life, I planned a cross-country road trip to visit a friend in Hollywood and do silly things like go to Disneyland and the tar pits. Along the way, I was planning to hit several archaeological sites, like Aztec Ruins and Mesa Verde and Chaco Canyon, then spend a night in my favorite southwestern city, Flagstaff. My friend found herself without a job a week or so before my planned trip, so rather than wait for me to get to her, she hopped a plane to me and we drove west together. It was amazing. She is the very best road trip buddy in the whole entire world. We saw Aztec Ruins and stayed at the Step Back Inn. We spent several hours driving around Albuquerque looking for liquor. We spent the night in Flagstaff, where we stayed up late having coffee in a diner near our hotel. It was a fantastic vacation even though we couldn't find a place to have pancakes in Winslow.
Thanks, in part, to Bad Ass Coffee. In Arizona, we had to take a detour. This detour took us on state highways instead of the interstate, and on the side of one of these highways, I saw a sign for a ridiculously named coffee shop. Come on, seriously? Bad Ass? With a name like that, it either had to be really good or really bad. So we turned around. We found the cafe. We parked. We went inside. And we ordered.
And then, the next day, we took another special detour. Because there was another one outside of Phoenix, according to the Google search she did on her phone.
Bad Ass Coffee is perfect, delicious Hawaiian coffee and no matter what you do to it, it's amazing. If you click the link and check out the store, you might have a mild heart attack at the prices. Pay them anyway. It's worth it.
And if you're ever in the Los Angeles area, I seriously recommend Coffee Bean and Tea Leaf. They serve some pretty great Hawaiian coffee, too.
Sunday, June 17, 2012
Blog Roundup: Sirra
Sirra is the origin of the #stabbylove hashtag on Twitter. She's a freelance editor and translator anse d she's the sort of editor you want on your payroll: she's not nice. In fact, she's brutal. But she's fair and she's brutal only because she wants to help you be the best writer you can be, which means that she really is exactly the type of editor new writers in particular need and should pay attention to.
If you only choose one tag to look up on her blog, read all the entries that fall under Twitter Writetip and EditTip. These entries are collections of her Tweets on the subjects of writing and editing and they're short, sharp, and very informative.
And if you're looking for an editor, head over to her editing blog, read her requirements, and then contact her. I understand that her rates are really reasonable and she's an excellent, quick editor.
If you only choose one tag to look up on her blog, read all the entries that fall under Twitter Writetip and EditTip. These entries are collections of her Tweets on the subjects of writing and editing and they're short, sharp, and very informative.
And if you're looking for an editor, head over to her editing blog, read her requirements, and then contact her. I understand that her rates are really reasonable and she's an excellent, quick editor.
Friday, June 15, 2012
Writer Resource: Savvy Authors
Savvy Authors is a writing resources community. Joining is on my to-do list for several reasons. Among them, the blogging networking and the resources like Autocritter and Cliche Finder. It seems really well-organized and well-run. Here's the link for new user registration.
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