The Unlikeable Main Character...do we really like her?

Tip of the Day: Being sandals season, when you go to paint your toenails put lotion on first (on skin not nails). If you get any paint on your skin it'll rub off easily.

I've written six books now (and partials of two more) and I love them all. I've never written a book and felt iffy about it or felt like oh man, this one is torture to write, let's just get through it. I'm always very happy and in love with whatever project I'm working on. So if I get a different reaction to one of my books than another, I'm always shocked. What do you mean you don't like this book?! For example, with one of my books I've been told by some that my main character (MC) is unlikeable. I, of course, adore her. I guess I can see why people find her unlikeable. She does do some not so nice things. Even so, I still like her. So here's my question, can't we still love a book even if we don't love the MC?

For my book club last month we read Emily Griffin's Something Borrowed. I hated her MC. Really, I thought she was annoying, a bad friend, and thought to much of herself. But that didn't stop me from enjoying the book and wanting to read on in the series. So this unlikeable MC thing can work, right?

And aren't we all sometimes intrigued when we are told something is bad or we'll hate it etc. For example, Mandy Hubbard (author of Prada & Prejudice, out this June) had an awesome post this week about what do bad reviews really mean. Check it out here. Publisher's Weekly really gave this book a few whacks huh? You want to read it now don't you? I kind of do. I bet LOADS more people will read it now that this bad review was published. Maybe the unlikeable isn't so unlikeable.

What do you guys think? Ever love a book with an unlikeable MC?

Kristina, Miss Delighted to Debut

That Character Had a Name? (or I Swear It's Not Personal...)

Tip of the Day: Stuck for what to read next? Ask a YA or Children's Librarian for suggestions -- they will be so excited to point out their faves to you!

I am terrible with names. Unless we are friends, there is no way I will remember your name after the first time we meet. Maybe not after the second time either, unless we've had lots of face-to-face contact in between. I don't know why; it's just the way I am.

But don't feel bad! I do the same thing to novel characters! Unless the main character's name is in the title of the book a la Lisa Yee, I do not remember it. Even when I blog abbout a novel I finished right after I put the book down, I still need to read the blurb again to remember the main character's name.

Does anyone else have this problem?

I think the reason this happens to me when I read is bc once I establish early on what the MC's name is, I skim over it through the rest of the book so I can get to the exciting plot. I read quickly, so this is not unusual for me.

What have I learned from this? Is it a) I better come up with fantabulous names for my MCs so others with my name memory problem can no way forget my MCs' names, or b) if my plot is so great that it makes a reader forget the MC's name, who cares? Right now I'm leaning towards (b), but maybe that's bc that's already how I read!

Or perhaps my memory just sucks.

How about all of you?

Deena, Miss Subbing for Pubbing

Motivation is Key

Tip of the Day: need some motivation? Try writing outside or in a different location. You just might find new inspiration!

It seems like every few months one of us writes about finding motivation. Sometimes I feel bad for having to admit that I need to search for writing motivation so much. I mean if we love writing, then we shouldn't have to search for motivation all the time, should we?

But then I remember I'm not alone, and that just like with everything in life some days we are more motivated then others. One day you might have a hectic schedule at your day job, the next your kids might not stop screaming for attention, or the next you might be extremely sick and unable to physically work. With all that chaos, I don't know how people don't have to seek motivation to write (So if you are one of those lucky few, please share with the rest of us).

No matter how chaotic life might get, if you want to pursue writing for publication then you definitely have to find motivation. So this list of things to try to get your writing groove back is just as much for you as it is me:

1. Read!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! Sometimes that's all it takes is to immerse yourself in someone else's world to get motivated to create your own.
2. Try something new. If you are bored with what you are writing and have the option to work on something different, then do it. Or even just change where you write (just think how different your story could be written from the beach instead of your cramped couch) or how you write (hello old-fashioned paper and pen, how I've missed you). You might be amazed at the results. But if you are under contract, maybe just writing five minutes a day of something else might also help.
3. Surround yourself with a great support system. Someone wise once said that you are only as good as the people you keep around you. Having writing friends that can support you makes all the difference. Having non-writing ones are just as important for the days you need to take a break, which leads me to...
   
4. Take a break. Sometimes all you need is a break. So don't feel bad if you need to take a day, week, month, or even longer break from writing. Chances are everything will still come out fine, and your writing might thank you for the rest. Remember at your day job, you usually get two-days off a week for a reason :)
   

What about you? How do you find motivation, where no motivation exists?

--Emily, Miss Querylicious

Outline Ideas: Planning and Plotting

Tip of the Day: Now that the sun is finally shining in Upstate New York (can you believe it?), it's time for me to remember to apply my face moisturizer with SPF 30 in the morning. I'm so glad someone invented that stuff!

I just finished a later draft of a novel, and I have another novel where I stopped writing at the climax chapter. Nothing beats sitting down and churning out pages for getting things done, but I'm at the point where my projects need organization. I need a plan, and that means I need to spend time planning.

I'm not a great outliner. I'm not sure I'm even a mediocre outliner. I can write them, but they never turn out as expected. What I thought I could cover in a few pages turns out to be two chapters long. Then months later, I'll figure out how I can get from plot point A to plot point B a better way ... but then I'll have to scrap the outline! Horrors! It was so hard to write! Why did I bother?

On the other hand, looking at a draft of a novel and writing down as my weekly goal "Make this better" isn't working out either.

Right now, I'm really digging this article by Alicia Rasley called Outline Your Novel in Thirty Minutes (http://www.sff.net/people/Alicia/artout.htm). It's a series of 9 questions about your idea. I used it to test a potential plot idea for a new book to see if it had potential. I also used it for the novel I'm working on. That one already has a plot (or so I like to think), but the questions helped me identify a way to build in more tension that I'm excited about.

Here's the first question on the list: 1. At the start of your book, what distinguishes your protagonist from other people? What central strength does he/she have? How does this strength get him/her into trouble?

Isn't that brilliant? What makes your main character different from other people? (Okay, you can all take a minute and answer that one.)

So instead of working on a chapter by chapter outline, I've been working on big, macro-level outlines. I've noticed that it gives me ideas that I can slot into this chapter or that, and I jot them down with notes like "C3" for chapter 3. (Fancy code, right?) I'll still have to whip this into something with a timeline (ahh, the dreaded timeline!!!) but staring at a spreadsheet with a chapter column is so not me.

Hmm, start with the short plot summary and then expand it into details ... yeah, not so revolutionary. I've been hearing that forever. But hearing it and figuring out how to put it into practice are two different things! Any advice?

-- Kate, Miss Perfecting the Pages

Winner of CONFESSIONS OF A TRIPLE SHOT BETTY is....

Christine Farley!

Congratulation! Please email your snail mail address to:

author2author DOT blog AT gmail DOT com

Happy weekend, everyone!

Deena, Miss Subbing for Pubbing

The Strange and Unusual

Tip of the day: Last chance to enter to win CONFESSIONS OF A TRIPLE SHOT BETTY! You have until midnight tonight, EST to comment. Winner will be announced tomorrow – good luck!!

So I’m working on a new project right now. I’ve got 10,000 words and I think it’s going to end up being the longest thing I’ve ever written, assuming I’m able to finish it and all of that.

Right now I’m trying to get the first five chapters done so I can send them to my agent for a thumbs-up before continuing on. This book is going to be pretty cool, I think, but there’s one part that’s a little strange and I just want to make sure she sees it as a good strange and not a bad strange.

But really, does anyone see anything as too “out there” anymore? I mean, in books now we have tons of vampires, werewolves, shape shifters, and all kinds of other creatures. I think it may be all in how you execute it.

I’m really glad I have an agent who is willing to look over early chapters and/or a synopsis to give feedback and help shape a project so it goes in the right direction. I’ve written entire novels in the past that simply had parts that were too strange. In trying to be different, I went too far.

And as Agent Nathan Bransford posted recently, the kind of books people love are those that have a familiarity about them, but add a new twist of some kind.

Do you ever worry your story is too far-fetched, or has an aspect of it that might be so? Do you think these days, in YA, pretty much anything goes?

~Lisa, Miss Crafting a Career

Hook up with the Locals

Tip of the Day: Don't forget you still have TWO DAYS to enter to win CONFESSIONS OF A TRIPLE SHOT BETTY. Each day you comment is another entry into the contest. Comment, comment, comment!!!!!

I mean, if you want to. Whatever. :-)

Last week in my tip of the day I mentioned there was an Illinois Author Fair in Bolingbrook, IL. I wasn't part of the fair but I knew there would be some YA authors there so I really wanted to go and introduce myself.

I got to meet three authors: Stephanie Kuehnert (I Wanna Be Your Joey Ramone), Kimberly Pauley (Sucks to be Me), and Pamela Todd (The Blind Faith Hotel). They were all so cool and nice and it's so fun to meet other YA authors who live in the same area. In this field lots of times it can feel lonely because no one else is around that does what you do (unless you live in NYC, then you're pretty lucky to be surrounded by cool authors frequently!). Or, if you're like me, you've talked to other authors so much online that you start to think they look like the person on their book covers. (Come on, you do this too right? Right?) So if any opportunity to meet others in your area pops up, grab it.

I'd like to be a good blogger and give you pictures and more details about the Illinois Author Fair but it was kind of a blur for me. Saturday was one of those days where the list of family things to do was a mile high so I ran into the fair at the end at literally just scanned the room for Stephanie's cute hair. Once I found her I introduced myself and we chatted. And then she introduced me to the others. I can tell you the fair did look cool from what I saw. There were authors at tables all around the Fountaindale library in Bolingbrook, a B&N rep selling a ton of books, bits of swag all over to pick up, drinks and treats to munch on, and a raffle. I'm totally planning on participating next year once my book is out.

But even if you don't have any author fairs in your area, maybe put a shout out on Verla's or another Web site and see what authors are in your area? Have you guys hooked up with YA authors in your area? If so, how did find them? Share!

Kristina, Miss Delighted to Debut