|
|
Larissa's Blog
Monday, March 3rd, 2008
Not long ago, a friend asked me why I never blog about craft anymore. She pointed out that before I sold, I often blogged about the writing process, about method and voice, dialogue and conflict.
I started thinking about it, and yeah, I used to do that…and then I realized that I'm not the only one who stopped blogging about those things once I sold.
My answer was that my time is much more limited now.
But then I started thinking…what if deep down I'm afraid to blog about those things now? Because in a way, I was almost more confident BEFORE I sold.
Now I figured that I'll talk about these things, and then some reviewer will point out how I suck in the very subject I'm spouting off about. Maybe there's some fear that I really don't know anything and just got lucky with the right publishers at the right time, and if I talk about craft, I'll suddenly realize I'm a hack.
I don't know…it's just weird that I was so much more comfortable talking about craft before I sold.
Anyone else feel that way? Or once you sold, did you feel even more confident, like, hey, I really DO know what I'm doing? *g*
Posted in Writing | 8 Comments »
Saturday, February 23rd, 2008
Gah–been MIA for days! I have a friend visiting, and we've been super busy with sightseeing and Buffy and Angel marathons. Fun! :)
Anyway, I just got notice that my interview with a local magazine is up on the website…horrid pictures, but hey, I've never photographed well. Part of the interview is in the magazine, and what they couldn't fit went on the website if you want to take a look:
http://www.dailypress.com/features/custom/mytime/
Hope everyone is having a great weekend!
Posted in Writing | 7 Comments »
Tuesday, January 15th, 2008
Well, today Sven hangs up his whip. Sad, I know. Hope you all met your goals — I did manage to finish the rough draft of my second Demonica book — though when I say rough…er…yeah. It's fairly clean up through the halfway point, and then I have several scenes that amount to about four paragraphs and my personal note of "blah, blah, something happens." So yes, the rough skeleton is done, but there is a LOT left to work on.
Still, Sven helped keep me reaching for my 1,000 words a day, and even if I didn't make my daily goals, there were days when I made up for it and got more than 3,000…which is highly unusual for me. So yay!
Head on over to Sven's place for closing words from the sponsors, and for a little heads' up on the next challenge!
Posted in Writing | 5 Comments »
Sunday, January 6th, 2008
Don't forget to check in with your weekly totals!
I've been a total waste-case lately when it comes to writing. I hit a massive snag in my manuscript, and coupled with holidays and some other things, I just couldn't write. I finally started working backwards, since I know how the book will end, so at least I was able to get some word count in!
Posted in Writing | Comments Off
Sunday, November 18th, 2007
With Sven. Don't forget!
I didn't do so well this week. I came up short by about 1300 words on Shadow Lover. BUT I did write new scenes for the Seduced By The Stor revisions, so it wasn't as if I was goofing off. Plus, the work I did on Shadow Lover wasn't new scenes. I was cleaning up/fleshing what I already had, and that kind of writing is so much slower. But it was necessary. I'd reached a point in the story where forward motion was impossible because I'd lost my characters somewhere. Fleshing and shoring up emotions really helped. Hopefully, I can write a new scene or two this coming week.
How have y'all been doing?
Posted in Writing | 5 Comments »
Friday, November 16th, 2007
I just read a fascinating discussion at Dear Author about a review of JD Robb’s novel, Creation in Death. The reviewer, Jane, thinks the heroine did something out of character. Some commenters didn’t see the action as out of character, and others did, but didn't have an issue with it.
That’s all fine and dandy, and not what this post is about. You can’t help how you feel about a book or what you think the author was doing. What I’m talking about is trust. At one point Jane says about the heroine, Eve, “Either she has to deal with the repercussions [of acting out of character] and that makes me dread the future books or this is a blip that won’t be addressed again which makes me think – plot contrivance.”
That comment made me wonder WHY she (and probably others) would think the out-of-character thing might be a blip, considering this is a series — mainly because my first instinct is to assume that this plot occurance would be dealt with in a future book. So what makes a reader NOT assume the same thing?
One comment that fascinated me was one that came after the author, Nora Roberts, explained why she handled the out of character action and that there would be consequences/discussion in a later book. The commenter said that they would now think on the book in a different way, knowing that the action would be explained/justified/whatever.
Her exact words are, “reading that Nora wrote it with this in mind makes me feel better about the whole thing. If she’s going to address all of this in upcoming books it will make a big difference in how I perceive this one. There are going to be serious repercussions within Eve if she has to redefine herself, and I look forward to reading them.”
What I’m wondering is why people would assume that an author would do something that won’t be explained in a future book – especially if said book is part of a series. Do some readers not trust an author to tie up threads? And why not? Is it because of the way the book was written? Is it because they've been let down before, by series books or even TV or movies? Is it something else?
Steph and I have been lucky in that 99% of the reviews for Riding The Storm have been wonderful, but some of the criticisms have to do with the subplots – some readers think that because they aren’t neatly tied up, we dropped the ball. Others think that because the special world/operatives special powers aren’t fully explained, we dropped the ball. The answers are all coming in future books – we promise. It has all been carefully thought out. So why do people think it isn’t?
Perhaps in our case, it could be that Sydney Croft is a new author and trust needs to be earned. Maybe we could have done a better job for those readers in making it clear that the loose ends would be tied up/explained (as Jane says about Creation in Death, “some clues should be put out there,”.) But in Nora Roberts’ case…I don’t know. Seems to me that someone of her caliber and reputation would know exactly what she’s doing when she does something that seems…off.
Personally, when I read a series (and I do prefer series over stand-alones,) I trust the author to answer all questions and wrap up all loose ends as the series progresses. Yes, there I times I finally give up, but that's usually because the series has gone on so long that I'm tired of waiting for the story I really want.
So what about you? Do you automatically trust authors to answer questions and address issues in future books, do you trust them until they burn you, or do you not trust until they’ve proven themselves to you? I'm especially curious because my first Demonica book kicks off a series, and I really want to know what people think!
Posted in Reading, Writing | 7 Comments »
Sunday, November 11th, 2007
Don't forget to check in with your Sven challenge totals!
I did good this week — my goal is 1,000 words/day on Demonica: Shadow Lover (Demon ER book 2,) and this week I managed 8,080 plus revisions on Seduced By The Storm, which is the third Croft book and the product of the last Sven challenge.
I love Sven! 
Posted in Writing | 2 Comments »
Monday, November 5th, 2007
Well, today I really need to dig into writing. I took WAY too much time off, including this weekend. I really needed to recharge the batteries, so I spent the weekend watching movies and reading — both fiction and craft books. I feel MUCH better today.
Getting me revved up, in part, is the fact that I'm guesting over at Fanlit Forever. There are lots of authors to chat with, as well as some writing challenges and giveaways, so head over there and check it out! I'd love it if you stopped by my thread and said hi! *g*
Okay, off to write. I only have about 10K words to make up…
Posted in At Other Blogs, Writing | 1 Comment »
Sunday, November 4th, 2007
To check in with Sven today! *g*
Posted in Writing | Comments Off
Sunday, October 21st, 2007
Today is the first Sunday check-in for the new Sven challenge. So how did you do?
I did well at the beginning, but with a trip to Wisconsin coming up tomorrow, I started falling behind. It wasn't that I wasn't writing, but I wasn't working on the project I'm trying to finish for the challenge. My goal is 1,000 words/day on the second Demonica book, Shadow Lover. So today I shoud have had 7,000 words. I came in under that at around 6,000. BUT, I definitely made up the word count during revisions to the third Sydney Croft book, Seduced By The Storm, which was finished during the first Sven challenge.
The problem I'm running into is that I've needed to work almost solely on SBTS because I'm going to be out of contact with Stephanie for several days while on vacation, so it has been important that I get as much done as I can on my scenes so that Stephanie can work on hers while I'm gone.
But I do plan to work on Shadow Lover while I'm traveling, so hopefully I can make up my word count while I'm gone.
Anyway, I hope y'all have done well this week. Now go check in!
Posted in Writing | Comments Off
|
"Make it dark, make it grim, make it tough, but then, for the love of God, tell a joke." - Joss Whedon
|
Recent Comments