For the Super Busy!

Tip of the Day: Kefir whole milk yogurt drinks are great for kids on antibiotics.

I. Am. So. Freaking. Busy.

Hours and hours of freelance writing committed to. A couple of books I'm editing are due to the publishers. A request and resubmit from a fantastic agent. Christmas shopping. Christmas decorating. Kid with strep throat. Mother-in-law wants to be driven places. Husband working all weekend. Mom angry at me for not calling. Teen girl also wants to be driven places. Christmas cards (ha!). Christmas outfits. Holiday piano recitals. Car repairs. Doctor's appointments. Dog. House. Cat. Laundry. Cooking ... I can't take it any more!!

So when life keeps you running the treadmill (except not actually exercising, who has time for that?) how are you supposed to feel like a writer?

Because the thing with writing is it never ends. Story ideas. Promotion ideas. Social networking. Revisions. Critiques. Always, always behind, even in the best of times. But now? Can't even type complete sentences.

But every Christmas, I re-read Dickens's A Christmas Carol. I watch It's a Wonderful Life. I try to go to bed early (not nursing a cold, I can't afford a cold) and read. And while I'm driving around, my mind is wandering, too. I'm that lady wandering aimlessly around Macy's trying to remember why I'm there, but getting some character's backstory straight.

Somehow Christmas dinner will make it to the table. Right?

-- Kate, Miss Perfecting the Pages

Bad Boys, Bad Boys, Whatcha Gonna Do?

Tip of the Day: I have a tumblr now, full of funny pictures. It's called YA from New New York.

I've gotten some feedback that the Bad Boy in my manuscript just isn't bad enough. He's too nice, not rough enough around the edges. So I spent some time thinking about my favorite bad boys and why I love them so.

1. Daryl Dixon/The Walking Dead
What's awesome about Daryl: Cool competency with a crossbow and sculpted arm muscles to match.
Weakness: Kids. He's got a soft spot for them.
What makes him a bad boy: Talk about rough. Daryl loses his temper, calls it like he sees them, resorts to violence and isolation as his fallback positions, and suffered from his alcoholic, neglectful parents.
How he sees himself: low self-esteem, a  loner, has trouble living up to his brother's expectations, thinks others see him as a no-account redneck.

Contrasted by: Big brother Merle, who raised Daryl. Merle has no redeeming characteristics but the same incredible competency at survival. Merle is BAD. He cut his own hand off, cauterized it, and replaced it with a bayonet. Merle's only saving grace is that he's on a search to find his little bro. But you know it will be showdown time when Merle and Daryl meet. Because there's only one person who can stop Merle from his sadism ... his brother. Dum dum dum! And so the fandom waits with eager anticipation for the Daryl/Merle meetup.
Daryl is the only one who can save: Glenn and Maggie, everybody's favorite characters, from Merle.

2. Sandor "The Hound" Clegane/Game of Thrones
What's awesome about Sandor: He's never a hypocrite and you can't intimidate him. Cool competency with a sword and sculpted arm muscles to match.
Weakness: Fire. Sansa Stark.
What makes him a bad boy: The first significant thing he does in the books is kill an innocent boy at his Prince's command. He's rude, he curses, he drinks, and his childhood makes Daryl's look like a picnic in the playground.
How he sees himself: Horribly scarred by a fire caused by his brother, he thinks other people see him as a scary freak only good for fighting, and he's internalized that.
Contrasted by: His older brother! Well, there's a pattern. But while Daryl has some good memories of Merle and was at least able to depend on him when they were kids, Gregor Clegane has always been an abusive ass. When Gregor came of age, their parents died in "mysterious circumstances." Gregor ruled the Clegane household with fear and fire, just as he now rampages the countryside. Only Sandor can match Gregor's strength; only the Hound can stop his brother. Cue inevitable showdown music please.
The Hound is the only one who can save: Oh, I can't give you spoilers on this one. But it will be characters we care about.

So what do I need in my book? An older brother? I don't have room for another character. But I need my bad boy to be outspoken (can work on more), have a contrast with someone less likeable (needed), be the only one to save  my main character (check), be competent at fighting (check), have self-esteem issues (hmmm), and be disliked by my other characters (hmmm some more).

Anything else to add to the Bad Boy checklist?

 -- Kate, Miss Perfecting the Pages

Literary Costumes

Tip of the Day: I just booked my flight for the February New York SCBWI conference. Let me know if you're going!

So last week was a washout here, with schools closed and no internet service. I hope my friends and family on Long Island and New Jersey are recovering. I grew up on Eastern Long Island and my hometown had 92 mile an hour winds! I'm thankful my family is safe and sound.


Halloween was rainy because of the storm. Actually it hasn't stopped raining since. But I bought a costume so I wore it. I don't usually dress up at Halloween but I had an idea this year. My daughter was sure I would traumatize the preschoolers down the street as I handed out candy, but all they cared about was the candy. Still, here is my first literary costume. I am one of the permanent inhabitants of the Overlook Hotel from THE SHINING.

Can I just say nobody understood my costume? It didn't help that the weather kept me inside of course. My mother in law said I looked pretty. Noo, I'm supposed to look creepy! Well, I didn't really expect people to say, "Oh, you're from the 1920's party in THE SHINING, I love that novel."

Also, have you seen this movie coming out about THE SHINING? I'm dying to see it!

Have you ever dressed up like someone from a book for Halloween? There are three sisters on my street who all came to my door as Hermione. That was adorable. What's your dream literary Halloween costume?

Personally, I'm wearing this one again next year. Hope for better weather.

-- Kate, Miss Perfecting the Pages

Ta-Da! Cover Reveal!

Tip of the Day: Follow Free Book Friday? They give away books every Friday. Kristina Springer's THE ESPRESSOLOGIST is up for grabs this week. http://teens.freebookfriday.com/ Keep reading my post for more ways to win Kristina's books!

Today is the cover reveal day for Kristina's new novel, THE PAPARAZZI PROJECT. This sounds like a modern blend of romance and humor. First take a look at the eye-popping cover.

And here's the contest...

Kristina's running a cover reveal contest at her blog. Hop on over to http://kristinaspringer.blogspot.com/ and you'll be eligible to win an Amazon gift card, ebook ARCs, and swag, swag, swag. 

And here's the blurb...

THE PAPARAZZI PROJECT

Livvie Peterson thought taking Interpersonal Communications her junior year would be an easy A. But when the first assignment is given, her world flips upside down.  Here’s the deal: the class is assigned a six-week project and is split into three groups— Paparazzi, Tabloid, and Celebrities. The Paparazzi follow around the Celebrities taking pictures and grabbing any kind of quotes they can. The Celebrities try to navigate being tailed on a daily basis. And the Tabloid receives all the information collected by the Paparazzi and decides what makes the weekly summary report. Sounds harmless…and it’s all just pretend anyway, right?

Livvie is assigned as Paparazzi and when she is matched up with the über-cute Chas Montgomery as her Tabloid boss she’s pretty sure things couldn’t get much better. Livvie’s uncanny ability to capture the Celebrities in compromising photos matched with Chas’s skill of exaggerating captions and editing the photos make them an unstoppable team. And the long hours working side by side with Chas aren’t a bad bonus.

Livvie simultaneously launches an anonymous blog, leaking the class’ photos and stories on the Internet. Her rising follower number quickly becomes addicting and she possibly spills too much information online. Once she finds her own celebrity will she be able to give it back? And will Chas be gone before she ever has the chance to find out?

*available in kindle format on December 15th.*

Congratulations, Kristina! Happy Cover Reveal Day.

-- Kate, Miss Perfecting the Pages

The Reading Slump

Tip of the Day: Congratulations to Christina Farley on her YA sale, and check out her Epic Book Deal Contest for awesome swag!

I'm in a reading slump lately. Let's face it, editing jobs and my critique partners have made me picky about what I read. Now, every October, I like to try out some horror novels. Plus some of my favorite authors have come out with books this fall. So I have a great selection in my To Be Read pile.  Only every time I read one, I get disappointed. Why?

1. The main character can do no wrong. Start with a main character who's as down on his luck as you can imagine and then have good things happen to him. Can't go wrong, right? Yes, if you're me, it can. I'm sorry, real characters make mistakes. I've often said that good things shouldn't happen to characters by chance but bad things are okay to happen by chance. I'm starting to rethink this. Maybe the main character can create one problem during the book please? One unintended consequence? Because "everything he touches turns to gold" is pretty boring.

2. Plot strings that go nowhere. The main character goes to the library to research his haunted house. Ooh, good possible scene. He brings his son. For an unrevealed reason, the son is terrified and wants to go home. His mother picks him up because the main character is so engrossed in the town's history. Now go ahead and piss me off: have him discover nothing and never tell me what scared the son. Really? And I just read that chapter why?

3. Male privilege. In the end, all that mattered was the relationship between the father and son. Never mind that the daughter risked her life to save her father, or that the mother was the main driver of the plot throughout the book. Make sure the epilogue tight-focuses on Dad and Son. Who cares what really happened to female characters anyway? I'm tempted to blame this on J.K. Rowling but the trope is way older than Harry Potter. Do we really need most books that come out for the adult market to center on the father/son relationship? No wonder it's so hard to find a movie with a woman actor in a decent role anymore. (Yes, I know The Walking Dead will eventually go down this path too. It is horror's fallback plot. Just give me another season to enjoy it first, okay?)

4. Can you imagine the luck? Seriously, stop having good things happen to main characters for no reason. Or to quote Phillip J. Fry's book: "I am the greetest! Now I am leaving Earth for no raisin!" Like, can you believe that incredibly poor man your main character helped just happened to be a high financier lying low? And the next poor person your main character helps is an aristocrat down on her luck. You'd think there was nobody in the slums but the rich and famous in disguise. You don't want me to mentally compare your book to Phillip J. Fry's. 

5. World rulers less world savvy than me. I'm not a military strategist. I'm not a politician. I'm not an international businessperson. But when your main character's opponent is one of those things, I expect them to understand the world they live in. If I feel like a blind person wouldn't have fallen for the feint and split the army, but the opponent's arrogance leads him into the obvious trap ... how did the person get to be in charge again? Oh, right, for the main character's convenience. Every time you read this in an alternative history book, you should have to do a shot. Two shots if the antagonist acts stupidly despite his advisors' dire warnings.

Actually, you have to do a shot for all these things:

1. Main character's loser friend turns out to be rich/powerful/important but hid it for flimsy reasons.

2. Main character hasn't done or said anything less than perfect by page 100.

3. End of book pushes aside female characters or kills them off.

4. Rich, variegated plot degenerates into father/son fawning relationship.

5. Valuable information falls into the main character's hands through no effort on his or her part.

6. Antagonist doesn't understand the basics of his important job and acts through arrogance.

7. Antagonist ignores his or her trusted advisors, leading to his or her defeat.

8. You close the book wondering if you skipped a chapter because you still don't know what happened to X (the library visit, the history professor, you fill in the blank).

Feel free to add to the shot list. Just don't blame me if you get drunk on horror novels this October.

-- Kate, Miss Perfecting the Pages

Writer's Fear #71: Fear of Sloth

Tip of the Day: Fear of success for the win. J.K. Rowling admits to post-Harry Potter therapy. If someone expected me to write the next Harry Potter, I'd be in therapy too!

So this week my husband was hospitalized after being bit by a stray cat. All he did was try to feed a starving kitten. Result: 3 days in the hospital, minor surgery, and tons of IV antibiotics. I guess we dodged a rabies shot series. Usually, my teen daughter helps out with her little brother when I'm away from home (such as stuck in the emergency room trying to explain to doctors that my husband passed out because they didn't give him food for three days). However, she came down with bronchitis at the same time.

What am I doing about this one-two punch? Beating myself up for not getting any writing and critiquing done, of course!

I'm so lazy! Another writer--let's face it, a real writer--would have started a new novel in the hospital. It's not enough to think that someday, some romantic lead needs to be bitten by a stray cat. I should have that outlined. I should have done something. This is what separates the successful from the slothful! After I got home from the hospital, dosed out the girl's antibiotics, walked the dog in the rain, washed the dishes, cooked dinner, did laundry, and visited the hospital again, there were two hours before I fell asleep I could have used for writing.

And what did I do when I got my husband home from the hospital? I watched Star Trek all day on Netflix with him. OK, that's sort of an example of studying good writing. But you know, not really. It's not like I did anything.

It's the work ethic, that's the point. Plus now I've been out of my story groove forever. I couldn't have spared 15 minutes? I am a terrible person.

I have a huge fear of sloth, a constant, nagging feeling that I'd be a real writer if I wasn't so lazy. That in the end, I prefer to do nothing rather than work, and it will be my downfall. Motivation has always been the hardest part of writing for me. I've got a pretty darn good excuse this week, but what about next week? What will be the excuse then?

Eventually I feel so bad about it that I have to do something. And then I think, Wow, I'm pretty awesome. Look at me, Miss Accomplishment. But that mean girl voice inside my head is always ready to say: It wasn't enough, lazy pants.

-- Kate, Miss Perfecting the Pages

Making a List of Agents

Tip of the Day: Publisher's Weekly is gathering information for an upcoming story on African-American publishing. If you have information for them, check out their request.

I'm researching agents. Yay me. Actually, this isn't a difficult task, just time consuming. Inspired by my crit partner Lisa Tiffin, I set out to list 30 agents for my first round of queries. So how did I come up with this list?

1. Agents who have said nice things about my writing. Or just something. :) I save my submission logs from previous novels. If an agent requested a full or complimented my pages, I'm querying them again.

But wait. It's not that simple. Some of those agents are very busy with clients now and are no longer taking queries. Others have changed agencies. So I looked up each agent. If he/she is no longer taking queries, he/she may have a fellow agent at the same agency who is looking for my genre. So I googled each agent and each agency. That formed the basis of my list.

2. Agents of happy friends. Of course. For example, at MiGWriters, we recently ran a series of interviews with the agents of MiGWriters. Naturally, I'll be querying the agents in our blog interviews who are accepting queries.

3. Agents I researched through Literary Rambles's Agent Spotlight. Casey McCormick gathers all the online information she can find about agents accepting queries so you can decide if they're a good fit for your writing. I still looked up each agency's website, though. Even agents here who sounded great sometimes had fellow agents more open to speculative YA.

4. Verla Kay's Blueboards. Check out the Agent Response Time boards and then research the agency's website.

It's safe to say that I didn't choose any agent without seeing their agency website. That's how to find the best agent to query, get the guidelines, and find the email addresses. I added email addresses and submission guidelines to my Excel spreadsheet for submissions for this novel. Save those spreadsheets for the future!

I wasn't very impressed by Agent Query or Query Tracker. I found missing agents and outdated information. Your mileage may vary, but I say, always check the agency website. I'm not a very good Twitter stalker, either. Mostly, I find out about agents through other writers as I outlined above. But we'll see what happens when I expand my list past 30.

-- Kate, Miss Perfecting the Pages

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How Much Cursing?

Tip of the Day: Have you seen Debbie Ridpath Ohi's cartoons on our site? Well, I'M BORED, the picture book she illustrated, released this week!

So check out this picture of a heatmap showing how much Americans swear on Twitter. In Rochester, NY, I apparently live on the corner of F and U.

From The Atlantic:  http://www.theatlantic.com/technology/archive/2012/08/how-america-swears-heres-a-heatmap-tracking-twitter-profanity/261438/

So how much swearing takes place in your manuscript?

I don't like to drop the F-bomb. I don't say it myself and I don't think it fits most of my characters. It would be totally gratuitous. Having said that, it is REALLY hard to write from a teen or adult's perspective and not curse at all.

Not everyone considers the same words to be swear words, though. I use hell and crap, and I consider that cursing, but I know a lot of people don't think those are swear words.

Now I don't mind reading a manuscript that has a lot of cursing. I love Stephen King. I've read one or two published books where it didn't fit--the F bomb was thrown in to make it sound more "authentic teen voice," and it fell flat. But the exceptions to the rules usually stick out, and most of the time, reading curse words flows right and doesn't bother me a bit.

The thing is, when I'm really upset, when I'm feeling at the end of my rope and I can't figure out how to get out of a situation, it's natural for me to cross a blasphemy with a curse. Goddamn. That may be one of my favorite words. I don't say it much (I have kids) but I think it all the time. I differentiate my characters by the ones who curse and the ones who blaspheme. I feel more comfortable taking the Lord's name in vain when I'm emotional. I try to write around that, but sometimes it just fits, you know? My main character really does want to know why God hates her. (Sorry, honey, it's not God, it's just me.)

Are there any words you really want to use but find yourself holding back? Is it because you think editors won't like them? Or because you don't want all your characters to sound the same? Or because you don't want to lean on curse words like a crutch? After all, we're not all from Rochester.

-- Kate, Miss Perfecting the Pages

Writing Alone. Sort of.

Tip of the Day: Help me congratulate my online crit partner S.J. Laidlaw on the new cover release for her upcoming YA, Infidel in Paradise! I'll be interviewing her here soon.

The kids are going back to school! Woo-hoo! I can't wait to reclaim some writing alone time. Not that I'm ever actually alone. My writing buddies are my dog Hudson and my cat Caesar, and they help keep me sane. My writing time often goes something like this:

Me: I just don't have a hook on this new novel. It's just a bunch of ideas thrown together because I suck.
Caesar: *jumps on my lap* Who cares? Pet me.
Me: I don't even know who would read this. Oh, you're so fluffy! But I'm worried about the lack of a hook.
Caesar: You should be worried about a lack of cat treats in the house. Scratch under my collar.
Me: You're so cute. What was I worried about again? Can I kiss you?
Caesar: Okay, but I'll run away.
Me: I have to kiss you anyway.

Hudson: Oh, good, the cat's finally gone. Can I sit next to you?
Me: Of course. My novel kind of sucks. What should I do?
Hudson: Rub my ears. *Big Dog Sigh* Nobody ever rubs my ears.
Me: I rubbed your ears this morning.
Hudson: Really? I'm a dog. I'm not good at retrieving short-term memory.
Me: It's not your fault. Give me your ears. Can I kiss you?
Hudson: I wish you would. Nobody ever kisses me.
Me: I kissed you ten minutes ago.
Hudson: Really? You're so smart. You're the smartest human ever. Your novel will be genius. You probably just need to take me for a walk.
Me: You're right. Some Vitamin D will get my brain going.
Hudson: I don't know what that means. I'm a dog.
Me: I'll get your leash.

Hudson: Listen, Cat, don't try to run outside with us. She's stressed enough.
Caesar: Nah, I'll just make a feint for the door for the look of the thing. I'm planning to expand the hole in the sheetrock I've been working on while you're gone.
Hudson: How's that going to help with her novel?
Caesar: Help who with what now?
Hudson: When we come back in, if she looks like she's going to cry in front of the computer thing, jump on her head.
Caesar: How would I recognize when ... never mind. When I get hungry, I'll jump on her head.
Hudson: Ooh, good plan.

-- Kate, Miss Perfecting the Pages

Outline Madness Wrap-up: Steal This Plot

Tip of the Day: The online writing conference Write On Con starts tomorrow morning. Check it out!

Okay, so you have a great setting and characters and you need some more ideas. Here's my last bit of advice: why not steal a plot?

I don't mean from your critique partners. But why not use a tried-and-true template to build on? Fairy tales, Shakespeare, the Honeymooners. My last book starts out with a brother and sister who live with their father. Food is getting scarce, and the new woman in Dad's life wants the old family gone. The brother and sister try to rescue each other. Yup, Hansel and Gretel. There are hundreds of settings and time periods where you could use the beginning of that fairy tale, and a wide variety of characters who would react to that set-up in different ways.

International folklore is another gold mine of plot ideas. Do you know what a ghoul is? In ancient Arabian folklore, dead prostitutes lured men out into the desert and devoured them. I've already got a story idea based on that hook.

Check out this title coming in 2013, The Madman's Daughter by Megan Shepherd. It's based on the fictional life of the daughter of Dr. Moreau from The Island of Dr. Moreau. I really want to read that!

Whether your characters are making a Faustian bargain, getting help from a guardian angel, or being toyed with by a trickster fairy, take that traditional plot and give it a good twist. What bothers you about the original story? Where do you think it should come out differently? I hated that at the end of Hansel and Gretel, the kids run back to their criminally negligent father and the stepmother has magically disappeared. I knew my story wouldn't end like that. Also, it's hard not to be sympathetic to the ghouls. Has anyone ever taken their side before? You will imprint your personality onto the story like that. So it's not really copy-catting. It's,um, drawing from our rich cultural heritage.

-- Kate, Miss Perfecting the Pages

Outlining Madness #4: Okay, Now It's Turning Into Madness

Tip of the Day: Like Tumblr? You can follow YA Highway on Tumblr at http://yahighway.tumblr.com/. And Game of Thrones fans must get the excellent advice at http://jorahsays.tumblr.com/.

So an outliner is me. I outlined a trilogy based on a novel I wrote a couple of years ago and started rewriting the novel. And I don't like it. I don't feel like the outline is stiffening the writing or taking the surprise out of it. I just don't like it. Maybe revising an old novel feels like going backwards. Maybe I feel like I should be spending my time working on something more similar to my last novel.

Am I, an unpublished author, talking about branding? I might be talking about branding.

The problem is that my last novel required a lot of research, and if that's going to be my brand, it's going to be very, very difficult to produce in quantity. Which is a pain in the butt. Aren't we new media/new publishing world writers expected to have lots of product on hand? Have we lost the luxury of taking a year or more to write a novel because of the research involved?

Okay, back to the drawing board. The whole idea of having outlines this summer is so I'd know what to write. I went in fully prepared to put aside outlines and first chapters and ignore them. And if that's what I've decided to do ... well, that outline and opening chapters aren't going anywhere, and maybe they'll have some use someday. Ha.

But now I need to write an outline for a novel where I have no idea what the main plot is, I'm not sure   who all the viewpoint characters should be, and that naturally means I don't know where to begin the novel. I'm in pre-outlining mode. I'm Googling things like strip mining and Civil War regiments of colored troops and census names and hoping this all comes together into something.

Anyway, I have a page labeled "Promises to Reader." Actually, it's in my handwriting, so it's labeled "promses 2 readr" but you get the point. There are subtitles for things my setting promises the reader. (Underground tunnels. Fires/explosions.) And there's a subtitle which, in my writing, is YA Genre promses 2 readr. Here's what's under that heading so far:

romance
change
looking ahead, not back
injustice
proactive main characters
making difficult decisions about the future

Right now I've got what feels like 7 subplots but I'm missing the hook. The thing that would make you think "I have to read this book." So I'm still reading and thinking and putting things together, and trying to come up with something that will catch me a fast hook and not push me off a cliff to nowhere.

But this week I'll start sketching out scenes and character motivations, and that will give me the foundation of an outline. And then I'll outline it, write a few chapters, and decide whether to keep going or pick a different story idea from the Acme catalog of half-baked ideas in my brain. And probably somewhere in there, I'll fall off a cliff once or twice. Let the madness continue!

-- Kate, Miss Perfecting the Pages

Outlining Madness #3: Time Keeps On Slipping

Tip of the Day: Taking a long family vacation? Buy Dramamine before you go. It can be tough to find it on the road.

As you outline your new story, think about when the story takes place and for how long. Your outline can be your guide as to how much time will pass in your novel, but the time of year is so important to your setting. For example, here are the last two novels I read:

Men At Arms by Terry Pratchett: Tempers are high as the city suffers through a record heat wave. The summer drought allows people access to subterranean tunnels that are normally underwater.

The Fox Inheritance by Mary E. Pearson: Fake bees used for springtime pollination show how the main character reacts to pain, an important plot point. Later, spring rains cause the main character to use a city-provided raincoat, marking him without him knowing as part of a certain caste.

So think about the time of year and the weather and how it directly effects your characters. Here are some ideas to get you thinking:

1. Tie the weather to your location. Snowstorms in Montana are different than snowstorms in Virginia, and they can both be very interesting. Don't concentrate on making the weather convenient for your characters or putting your characters in a neutral weather season. Let the weather screw them up.

2. Use holidays or upcoming family gatherings for deadlines and tension. My last novel takes place on the Moon underground. No weather, but the book opens with my store-owning family needing sales stock for the Christmas season. Holiday plot possibilities are endless: Halloween, a Bar Mitzvah, a family wedding, Valentine's Day, birthdays ...

3. Where are your characters at a certain time of the year? If your characters are in high school, you may be avoiding summer for a school story, or placing your whole story in the summer to avoid school. Rather than completely avoiding a subject, try to start with a natural beginning. A summer job story might start with the job interview rather than the first day of work, for example. Why does your character need this job?

4. Not sure when to set your story? Research. Let's say you want to write a story about a farming community. Each of the four seasons on a farm has a different rhythm. Which is best for your story? Even if you grew up on a farm, you might need to brush up on different crops or time periods. Reading will give you fantastic ideas. Maybe your Dust Bowl idea would be best set in the summer, but your modern factory farming idea would work best in the fall.

Have a fun time with this part. Maybe your characters celebrate birthdays in a quirky manner. Maybe they have a unique religious observance people would love to learn about. Maybe they get stuck in a tornado shelter. Maybe your story takes place over several years but Valentine's Day always sucks. Maybe your story takes place in the future when the planet is hotter or colder.

So be specific, do some reading and research, and come up with a definite "when" for your plot. It will add another layer of interest and give you fresh plot ideas.

-- Kate, Miss Perfecting the Pages

Outlining Madness #2: Is This Plot Any Good?

Tip of the Day: Check out The Interns Query Tips (Twitter hashtag #querytip) and on Facebook at https://www.facebook.com/note.php?saved&&note_id=484093844953373.

So, I've been outlining plots and I keep wondering: do I have this down right? Because I have a habit of outlining important plot points with one sentence. In my last novel, my main character has to find her boyfriend, who is guarding a high security facility. So my outline says something like "She finds boyfriend, has him sneak her into facility." But then I started writing and realized that there was no way in hell she'd ever get her boyfriend alone. He's a 17-year-old security guard. He's outside of a heavily guarded factory. He can't follow a distraction and go off alone. He at least has to have a partner. So my main character couldn't get in the facility without interacting with the partner. Now I had a new character and had to rewrite the last 2/3 of my novel because I didn't think through that one sentence.

So after you write your outline, study it.

Do have any huge, multi-chapter events summarized in one sentence, such as "they escape"? I'm outlining by scene now, and I realize that what I now think is one scene may end up being two scenes. But I need to look for those red flags where I may have to hammer out more logistics or I'll end up with six scenes.

Is there always adhesive for the main characters in every scene? James Scott Bell uses this term in his popular craft book Plot and Structure. Basically, you should never have a point where any of your main characters could simply walk away and be okay. They have to be stuck to the plot: have so much at stake that they can't change their minds and leave the book.

Make sure reactions are realistic. Once something big happens, make sure you've left room for your main character to react. Big events should change your main character's direction. When she has a huge setback, don't start the next scene as if nothing's happened.

Think about how you can increase the tension between characters. Your characters should not be getting along. Best friends, family, lovers ... put them at each other's throats. Don't rely on your main character starting arguments because she doesn't know what's really going on, though. I like to think of ways the person the main character thinks she needs the most will turn against her. I may not use it, but it's a great exercise in torturing your characters. If you have a character who only exists for moral support, get rid of him or her (or change him to create more tension).

So I think I might list out my characters and write a note about how each of them is making life worse for my main character. This will give me lots of great plot ideas.

Here's a great tip from Rhonda Helms's plotting class: Resolve your subplot before you resolve the main plot. Don't try to wrap them both up at once, and especially don't outline this by writing something like "last chapter: tie up all loose ends." Decide how to resolve each subplot and where, and resolve the main conflict last.

Any other ideas to solidify your outlined plots?

-- Kate, Miss Perfecting the Pages

Outline Madness #1: The Three-Act Structure

Tip of the Day: Check out Megg's Big Freebie Bash to win free Amazon gift cards and get free ebooks.

Yay, it's another writing series! I haven't done one of these in a long time. This series is all about outlining. This is my summer of Outlining Madness--I'm outlining a trilogy and a few other books to decide what to work on next and learn the craft of pre-plotting. So come, pull up a comfy chair and learn about Outline Madness on Mondays.

What's the Three-Act Structure?

It took me years to get a Kate definition of this in my head. I went way off-outline in my last novel. As I printed it out, though, I found that the first third all took place in one location; then there was a plot twist. The two-thirds point of the novel brought my characters to a huge crisis. Have I absorbed the three-act structure without really trying?

As I develop a novel idea in my head, before I write a word, I have a succession of images: exciting things that could happen to my main characters. The meaty scenes I really want to write. They may not connect together perfectly yet. The three-act structure is about connecting them together. Something exciting is going to happen one-third of the way through the novel. Something else exciting is going to happen two-thirds of the way through the novel, something that will lead to the exciting climax in the third act. And if you're like me, you've probably figured out how the novel ends before you've figured out most of the rest.

So basically:
-- Something happens to kick off the novel
-- 1/3 of the way through, here's an awesome scene I really want to write
-- At around the midpoint, I'd better plan out something else to keep you interested
-- 2/3 of the way through, here's another awesome scene. After this, it's all downhill to the climax.
-- Toward the end, the climax scene resolves the main conflict

And then, you know, just fill in the gaps between the scenes so they happen in logical order.

So what's one-third of the way through? Depends on what you're writing. A 60K word novel, you've got 20K words to work with. How many scenes or chapters that breaks down to depends on your writing style.

Yeah, But That's Not a Plot, Is It?

No, it's not. It's a structure. I still have to figure out what the plot is. What does the main character want? How would I describe this novel in a sentence or two? Actually, it helps to figure out the plot before you try to plug it into a structure.

So, my main character wants a pony, but she's opposed by the fact that ponies have been crossed with lions and are now bloodthirsty predators.
-- Kick-off: My MC meets the pony of her dreams
-- 1/3 of the way through, pony of her dreams kills her neighbor's dog
-- At around the midpoint, MC and pony run away to the Outerbanks
-- 2/3 of the way through, the Federal Board Against Ponies comes to flush them out
-- Toward the end, the MC rallies the ponies to fight back
-- The climax is resolved when MC goes to live in a protected pony habitat she founds

See, I wasn't even really trying there.

Okay, But That's Not Necessarily a Great Novel, Is It?

In other words, just because I have an outline doesn't mean I'm not going to come up with a better plot as I write. How do I know that my outline is the best possible outcome for the bloodthirsty pony world? Or two months from now, will I realize that the book would be immeasurably better if, instead of a Federal Board Against Ponies, there were hunters killing the ponies for sport? And now I have to rewrite the damn novel. How does my outlining method prevent this?

And that will be the topic of my post next week!

-- Kate, Miss Perfecting the Pages

Summer Goals (Not an Oxymoron)

Tip of the Day: My Chautauqua writer friend Juliet Bond blogs with Swagger Writers. Check out her post on Scholastic's gender oriented non-fiction at http://swaggerwriters.blogspot.com/2012/06/how-to-be-really-daring.html.

Hi all! As a writer, guess what I hate to do the most?

Read rejection letters? Okay, that's it. But I mean besides the obvious.

It's outlining. I hate outlining. Yet somehow, I've committed to myself to create FOUR outlines this summer. That sounds crazy even if I liked outlining. Why have I committed to such insanity?

Here's the thing: I have to start a new project. I've had lots of ideas brewing while I finished my last novel, but none I've explored fully. I have 3 promising ideas, and I'd like to write one of them. But I have a misgiving about each idea. The horror idea seems too edgy in a sex and partying way. The science fiction seems too middle grade but I can't see how to make it into a middle grade completely. The weird western also seems too middle grade, too save the world from a bad guy, but that might be the nature of westerns. Western definitely equals research.

So I'm starting out by outlining a novel I would like to rewrite. I think only the beginning third needs a rewrite and the rest just needs to be revised. But I feel like an outline would reassure me that the plot is on track, and also give me practice in writing a good outline. I plan to use Rhonda Helms's outlining method, as she describes to people who take her plotting workshop. Then it's time to write the three outlines for the books that don't exist yet.

If I get tired of outlining (and I will, I will), I'll have the rewrite to distract me, so I can take a break between outlines. And hopefully, by the end of the summer, I'll be able to do one last revision on the novel I just finished revising and send out queries.

And hopefully hopefully, I'll know which new novel to take on. I actually have a fourth idea for a contemporary that may be too quiet, but how many outlines can one person write? And will this work for choosing the next project to spend a year on? I guess I'll keep you updated!

-- Kate, Miss Perfecting the Pages

How Do You Promote a Book on Twitter?

Tip of the Day: Lots of tips, actually, on blog tours from agent and writer Marie Lambda.

I follow a lot of writers on Twitter, which means that at any given time I log in, I may see up to 10  books being promoted at once. Right now someone wants me to check out a review, there are two cover reveals, two giveaway contests, an offer for a free copy ... and I haven't even scanned down yet. If I was on Twitter a lot, I'd probably read promo tweets for about 25 different books a day.

Obviously I can't look at all of these books. So what catches my eye from the sheer volume of promotions?

Things Not To Do

1. Don't tweet random lines from the book. I mostly see people doing this for their friends instead of authors doing it themselves. I know, that sentence in your friend's novel was really powerful when you read it, but out of context, it means nothing. Some people will tweet ten or twelve of these in a row, qualifying as spammers. Seriously, don't tweet about something ten times in a row unless you're at the Super Bowl or something more immediate in real time.

2. Don't rely on price point. I see this a lot. My book is free today! But like many readers, I have this place near me called the public library where many books are free. I'm not going to download your book only because it's a freebie.

3. Don't beg. "No one will review me, what am I doing wrong? Please help!" You're probably not doing anything "wrong," and there are a lot of great books that don't get the attention they should. But if your novel sounds compelling to me, I'm more likely to read it than if you beg me to do you a favor, Stranger I Don't Know on the Internet. Plus what if I hate your book? How do I review it?

Things That Draw Me In

1. Snippets of reviews or fan mail. "I couldn't put this down." "My new favorite character." You don't need a ton of reviews, but if you get a good one, let me know. I love recommendations.

2. Promote novels you like with a personal touch. "Stayed up to 3 am to finish this, need coffee." "This novel about a cruise makes me want to go on a cruise."

3. I think giveaways still work. But there's a difference between a giveaway and giving a copy away for free on Amazon. Giveaways are often connected to special content and often writers team up to give away a few things together.

One thing I'm becoming more aware of is that I should make it more of a habit to leave reviews on Amazon and Barnes and Noble for books I love. Now that I have an e-reader, I read these reviews a lot. I think a book needs quality reviews rather than quantity, but correct me if I'm wrong.

What book promotions work for you?

-- Kate, Miss Perfecting the Pages

How Many People Hate Your Main Character?

Tip of the Day: It's Meet our Agents week at MiGWriters. If you're looking for an agent, you'll want to read these four in-depth agent interviews.

I've been doing a lot of reading lately, and I figured out something about myself. I'm not crazy about books where everyone likes the main character. It's kind of like that quote: "If everybody likes you, you're doing something wrong."

I re-read Stephen King's Needful Things, since I had last read it in high school. The main character is a small town sheriff. There are people who don't like him. Some people don't like him because he's a cop. Some people don't like him because he's nosy. One of the first lines in the book is how the townspeople think he does an alright job but he's no Big George (his predecessor). Is it me, or do you immediately like this guy hearing about who dislikes him?

Naturally, your Big Bad Villain will dislike your main character, but is that enough? I don't think so. And what if you're writing about a character who is naturally nice? That's what I'm doing. My main character Kiri has been trained since early childhood to be pleasant and helpful. Nobody has any reason to dislike her. But she finds out that because she was pleasant and helpful, nobody really believed she was smart or capable. Even the people closest to her didn't think she was capable of more. They don't dislike her, but they don't respect her. (If you're a Game of Thrones fan, think of Sansa Stark. She's always polite and she gets no respect, but watch out future!) I'm still worried that she's winning too many people over too soon, but I'll put that question to my critique partners.

This is also a YMMV (Your Mileage May Vary) opinion. Some people don't mind a book where everyone likes the main character, where she goes through life with everyone going out of their way for her, and of course she acknowledges their kindnesses with gracious, meaningful thanks. If that's you, there are plenty of books out there for you. That's not me, though. I mean, check out my picture. Nobody in the books likes Sansa and the Hound, so of course they're my favorites. They have no friends. They create tension. But they are essentially good people (well. probably good, in the Hound's case).

What kind of characters do you like?

-- Kate, Miss Perfecting the Pages

Kate Flashback: July 19, 2010

Tip of the Day: Kate's internet is down, so I'm posting a Kate Flashback Post from way back in 2010 when Kate was reading a book on her phone! OMG! My how fast ebooks have progressed...

So I'm stuck in one of those horrible, noisy bounce houses where apparently every kid in town has to hold his seventh birthday party, waiting for my son. I can't chat with Birthday Boy's Mom because she's chasing her even-younger kids around, and I don't know any of the other parents. But I have my new Android phone with me, so I decide to download the Kindle app and check it out.

Wow! Just wow.

Reading was easy. The print didn't seem any smaller than this, but I could change the font size if I liked. The pages were crisp and clear, turning pages was intuitive and natural, and the bookmark feature was great for my son's interruptions for bounce-related boo-boos. Amazon had a large selection ready for the Droid phone, too, and very reasonably priced. For my trial run, I bought a P.G. Wodehouse short story collection for $2. Best two dollars I ever spent. The average book price for a "modern" book ran from about seven to 13 dollars.

Not every book I would want to read was Droid ready, but I think it will become more common. In fact, Barnes and Noble sent me an email today that the B&N download for the Droid is "coming soon!"

I wouldn't sit at home and read my Droid instead of an actual book, but the next time I'm stuck in a bounce house or somewhere similar, believe me, I'll be ready to buy a download.

-- Kate, Miss Perfecting the Pages

As Long as There Are Queries and Deadlines ...

Tip of the Day: If you have an e-reader, check out the Baen free library at http://www.baen.com/library/.

St. Brigid of Ireland is my patron saint of writing. In the early sixth century, she founded a school of art specializing in illuminated manuscripts. She is the patron saint of poets, and just as when I lose something I ask St. Anthony to help me find it, sometimes when I'm writing or sending a query I ask St. Brigid for a little help.

Writing is hard on the self-confidence, as you've probably discovered. It's so easy to think "I can't do this. I'm not good enough." We put it all on ourselves: me, me, me. But when I am plagued with self-doubt, my faith reminds me that I am not alone. If I have something meaningful to say, God will help me say it. If this is what I am supposed to be doing, I shouldn't give up and I shouldn't let self-doubt ensnare me. There is not much I can do by myself if I believe in nothing but my poor powers of self-discipline. As long as there are queries and deadlines, I'll be praying for help as a writer.

Do you ever pray for help in your writing?

-- Kate, Miss Perfecting the Pages

Compound Verbs Are Just Not That Into You

Tip of the day: For mechanics, my favorite book is Self-Editing for Fiction Writers by Browne and King. It has great info on dialogue, point of view, etc. that scales up in difficulty so beginners and long-time writers will get a lot out of it.

Last week, I posted a tip about searching your manuscript for compound verbs. It's a basic tip, but one I want to elaborate on: compound verbs are not your friend. They're not starting to like you, they're not beginning to like you, they won't be liking you. They haven't liked you. There's only one way to put this: Compound verbs don't like you.

Oh, was that last sentence a little cold? Maybe you're thinking that compound verbs would never be that mean. You're right, they wouldn't. They're passive-aggressive whiners. They talk and talk, adding unnecessary words to your manuscript. They disguise themselves behind "-ing" and tell you that you need them. You can't write that they cried because they've been crying all along. Do you want your readers to think they just started crying?

Compound verbs began to pack their things, insisting they were leaving.

Oh, sure, compound verbs, you drama queens. Nobody believes you're leaving.

Compound verbs packed their things and left.

Huh, I guess they really meant it this time.

-- Kate, Miss Perfecting the Pages