Snow Day!

Setting Descriptions

Last week I talked about an author whose character descriptions I admire. Today I'm going to continue the theme by spotlighting an author whose setting descriptions just blow me away. As a reader, I'm not really big on reading setting descriptions, but Holly Black does such an amazing job putting me right in the scene that her descriptions are a joy to read. Both these excerpts are from Chapter 1 of Tithe:

The air was heavy and stank of drying mussels and the crust of salt on the jetties. Waves tossed themselves against the shore, dragging grit and sand between their nails as they were slowly pulled back out to sea.

A few lines later:

She loved the serene brutality of the ocean, loved the electric power she felt with each breath of wet, briny air.

I can see the waves, feel the heavy air, smell the drying mussels, taste the briny air, and feel the grit and sand. All in three sentences that are poetic and effortless, not dragged down with the effort of trying to convey too much.

Do you have an author whose setting descriptions you particularly admire?

Character Descriptions

One of my favorite ways of improving my writing is to study authors who are particularly good at what they do. One thing that struck me when I read Shutter Island by Dennis Lehane was his character descriptions. They're unusual and remarkably vivid. They don't just describe what the character looks like, but usually give a glimpse of his or her personality as well.

Here's an excerpt from Lehane's Moonlight Mile to show you what I mean:

He was a small guy, wiry and bearded. His baseball cap, cotton hoodie, and battered jeans were streaked with grime. The ripe odor coming off him told me it had been a while since he'd bathed. He didn't have nut-bag eyes, though; there was no meanness in him, no crackhead edge.

Can't you just see this guy (and smell him)? I may not know his exact eye color or hair color, but what I do know about him tells me far more. I already feel like I'm getting to know him in just four sentences.

Do you have a favorite author for character descriptions? Have you read any of Lehane's books, maybe Mystic River or Gone Baby Gone?

Query Time

Happy Friday!

Well, I survived two weeks of school (barely, but I'm still here!) The homework is overwhelming, but it's fascinating stuff, so that helps a lot. My first bachelors degree was in electrical engineering. I'm really not sure how I managed that one because I have no interest in it at all. But my classes now (Anatomy & Physiology and Microbiology) are geared towards nursing students and are all about the human body, so it's like learning about myself. Pretty cool! And the labs I was so nervous about have actually been fun so far. So all in all, a very busy but good two weeks.

In writing news, I think my query is about ready to go. I spent a lot of time with Elana Johnson's From the Query to the Call, had several critique partners review my draft, and I'm still spit shining, but I think it's close. I've also been lurking on Query Shark and learning quite a bit from reading the archives. I'm considering the idea of submitting my query for critique, but I'm not sure I'm brave enough. Has anyone out there ever had a query critiqued on Query Shark? Do you have any other sites or resources for getting your query critiqued? And what references do you like to use when writing a query?

I hope you all have a wonderful weekend!

Hello Again

Hi Everyone!

It's so good to be back!

My kids were off school Monday, so I actually forgot to post on Tuesday. Duh. But that's okay, because I've decided to switch my blogging day to Fridays to work better with my school schedule. And yes, I finally started school this week! I feel like I've been waiting forever to get started on this. I only have classes on Mondays and Wednesdays, so I've only been one day so far because of the holiday, but I think I'm really going to enjoy it! Except for all the homework - wow! I don't remember there being so much when I did this college thing twenty-some years ago. I've probably just blocked it out, though. :)

As far as my writing, The Legend of Payne Manor is out to critique partners for what I hope will be the final round of critiques before it's ready to query - yay! Now I'm fine tuning the query, which I thought was done, but of course when I went back to fine tune I changed most everything and now it's a big mess again. Oh well, hopefully each revision makes it stronger.

I can't wait to get out there and catch up with all your blogs today. So what have I missed? What's new with you? And how is your writing coming?

Holiday Traditions

My favorite holiday tradition is the advent chain I make for my kids. I cut twenty-four pieces of construction paper, write a holiday activity on each one, and then staple them together into a chain. Each morning the kids take turns tearing off a piece of the chain and that's our activity for the day.

Weekdays are pretty busy around here, so I keep the activities short: do a treasure hunt, read the nativity story together, or put candy canes on the Christmas tree. Weekends we can do more time-consuming activities like making Christmas cookies or having a family game day. We've been doing this since my kids were little. I figured they'd get tired of it eventually, but now they're teenagers and they're still excited to pull off the chain every morning.

What traditions do you share with your family during the holiday season - whichever holiday you celebrate?

I'm going to take the rest of the year off blogging to spend time with my kids over their break from school, so happy holidays to you all! See you in January!

An Outline is Born

Over the past few weeks, I've been outlining my new idea and shaping it into a story.

I started by identifying the different layers and subplots and then making an outline of each one on my computer. When I was happy with the outlines, I printed them out, cut them into pieces, and arranged each event in chronological order.

Then, when I had them arranged how I wanted them, I made a color-coded chart. I use a different color for each plotline so I can trace each plot and make sure I have a good mix of the different storylines. I just finished this last night and I'm glad to have it done - it was a lot of work getting to this point! This is just a starting point and it will evolve from here, but at least I've got a basic game plan.

Whew! So that's how I develop my outline. How about you? Are you a plotter or a pantser? If you're a plotter, does your outline or your method look anything like mine? And what have you been working on this past week?