Writer's Block: Hometown Love

It’s been so long guys, so long, and I am so sorry about that. Writer’s Block really only happens when I have something to write about that’s relevant. If anyone has a question about writing, or writing/reading-related, like my favorite books in a certain genre, please comment! I’ll answer anything anyone has to ask whenever they want.

For this WB I’m going to be talking about something that makes me really happy: when books are set in Chicago! Why Chicago? ‘Cause that’s where I live. I feel like it’s left out a lot because books either take place in the desert or New York (I mean, think about it, really think about it) and Chicago is a big city where a ton of things can happen. So here are some books that make me smile by just simply taking place in my hometown (they make me smile for other reasons as well, don’t worry).

DIVERGENT TRILOGY by Veronica Roth

 

Of course everyone has pretty much read this so they know all about it. It takes place in a dystopian Chicago, and all the elements of my beloved city are there, albeit being pretty much degraded and rust covered. Roth herself is from Chicago, so it makes sense for her to set her bestselling trilogy there. Even better, the covers all have different places from Chicago on the cover and the movie was filmed there.

DRESDEN FILES by Jim Butcher

Definitely a worthy SF&F read anyways, Harry’s world is very much Chicago, although maybe not as obviously so as it is in Divergent? I’ve only read a few books in the series, so maybe some major landmarks come into play later, but overall, the Chicago-ness is there.

IMMORTAL RULES by Julie Kagawa

 

I’m cheating a little. Basically, in the first book, they spend a large deal of the end of the middle there and I just love the dystopian twist with all the docks and water. Certainly the most interesting and the coolest of the three series’ take on the fantasy aspect of it. Of course, they don’t spend as much time as I would like there, but you know, have to give a little, right?

What about you? What books are set in your hometown, or nearby? What other books are set in Chicago? Sound off in the comments!

Writer's Block: Female Characters

There are always critics making a big deal about female characters. In particular, strong female characters. There are a lot of good points made about this subject, a particularly good essay is over Pub(lishing) Crawl (http://www.publishingcrawl.com/2013/08/28/on-strong-female-characters/) where Erin Bowman talks about why female characters don’t need to be defined by their “strongness”. I recommend checking it out.

Today, though, I want to give you my take on the subject.

Personally, I read a lot of YA books (or hadn’t you noticed?) and the books I read are mostly written by women with female protagonists. My whole life I’ve been surrounded with the idea that girls are as capable as guys except that we can do it in heels. To me it’s completely normal that there are strong female protagonists. I wonder why people have to question them and why critics have to applause them. A character is a character and they’re not defined by their sex. They’re defined by how well they’re portrayed, or written, and that’s how I’ve always looked at them.

Personally, I don’t find many male protagonists in YA culture. When my friend and I do we always get a little excited over the fact that it’s a guy narrator, but we don’t question it.

For me, female characters are normal. I don’t know about you, but I find that the endless questions and debates on the subject are… a little pointless. Of course I’ll root for girl power, but we shouldn’t have to root for it. It should be the norm, just as guy characters are normal, too.

Writer's Block: "The New Twilight"?

How many times have you heard that?

The new twilight, hunger games, gone girl, harry potter, etc.

And how many times have you raged and started saying mean things about the person who said it?

Because, Mortal Instruments isn't Twilight.  Divergent isn't Hunger Games.  They're different!

I know the feeling.

After finally being fed up with all of this "new" idea, it got me thinking.  Why do people say something is the "new" whatever?  To help sell it.  When you read the back of a book (or movie, or whatever) there are always quotes depicting what's awesome about the book (or movie) and reviews do the same thing.  They try to grab the attention of people who liked the first thing by saying that the "new" thing is just as good or right up their ally.  And it works!  If people weren't comparing Samantha Shannon to JK Rowling would she be getting as much attention as she is?

But then there's the darker side.  When reviewers write it's the "new" to tell people it's a copy off of the "old".  These are the people you take offense to.  They're being harsh and negative, so you're not going to like them already.  By drawing unfair comparisons, they really just piss you off.  And there isn't anything you can do but stop reading.

When I saw an early review for the Mortal Instruments movie (a negative one) my first thought is, "Why is it bad?"  Well, the writer's answer was because it was just another copy of Twilight.  Yes, the production company was targeting the same audience- teenage girls- and yes, the main character was a girl, and yes, there are vampires and a love story (but not a love story with vampires) and a bad guy and good guys and.... what the hell?  Those really aren't comparisons.  They're vague and, honestly, rude.  It's saying one author's work isn't good enough to be original, they copied something else and it's not as good because it wasn't first.

But really?  They're nothing alike.  Readers and fans of the books know that.  We know that Clary and Bella are pretty much polar opposites.  We know this and that makes us angry.

I'm getting angry just thinking about it.  And I'm losing the point of this post in all this ranting.

What I'm trying to say is, sometimes it is a good thing to say the "New Twilight" because it can help.  I'm also saying, I hate it when it happens negatively.  It's rude and unfair and if copies were really a bad thing would 50 Shades of Gray have been so popular (it was Twilight fan-fiction for heaven's sake)?

Writer's Block: The Cliffhanger

Cliffhanger’s can be a dangerous writing tool.  Some people are really good at them, but others are not.  It’s not whether the ending is shocking or not, it’s whether a reader will want to pick up the next book even if it doesn’t come out for another year.  I know a lot of people who won’t because after putting all this work into the book- getting to know the characters, the plot, the mythology- they feel like it was all for nothing.

Writing a good cliffhanger means you’ll have to wrap up some major questions throughout the book.  The reader needs to feel a sense of completion to an extent.  Then, when the surprise comes, don’t let them see it coming.  Don’t hint at it throughout the story too much, if at all, and don’t EVER make it something that feels so ridiculous the reader won’t believe it.

Writing a good cliffhanger also means that you want your reader to feel like they’re actually hanging on the edge of an emotional cliff by only their fingers.  The surprise has to not only be surprising in when it happens but with what happens.

I, personally, like cliffhangers.  They add to my experience and that’s what I’m always looking for when I read a book- an experience.  Any book that gets me to feel something is a 5-star book in my opinion.

For me, the cliff-hanger queen is Julie Kagawa.  The ending of Eternity Cure alone was mind blowing.  Who do you think is the best at writing cliffhangers?  Do you even like cliffhangers?  Let me know in the comments!

 

Hey, have a question?  Want to see me rant about something?  Curiosity eating away at you?  Want my opinion?  If you have a question writing related just ask it in the comments and I’ll do my best to answer it.  I’ll do research into it and answer it as full as I can.  Don’t be shy!

Writer's Block: Pen Name

Having a penname is pretty common now-a-days.  Sometimes it no more than keeping your maiden name, or substituting your middle name for your first, but other times it can be something completely different.

Writers use pennames for a variety of reasons.  Maybe they just don’t think they’re name looks good on a book (like me) or there’s a name they’ve always wanted instead.  Maybe it will help the book to sell- a name on the front that sticks in your mind is always good.

Besides ascetic appeal there are several publishing related reasons.  One is when a writer from one genre writes a book in another.  For example, an adult author going on to write a children or YA book.  They may not want they’re two “lives” intermingling.  Another popular reason is to keep more of their books on a shelf.  Unless you’re a really popular author a bookstore will only keep so many of their books in stock.  By using a penname, both the books from the original name and the new one will be kept around longer.

Still, it could be that an author just wants to hide their identity.  Take J.K. Rowling.  For one of her books (and I’m sure you’ve all heard about this by now) she used the pseudonym Robert Galbraith for the sake of keeping her identity private.

After deciding you’re going to use one comes the fun part: actually picking it.

Here are some famous pen names just for fun:

J.K. Rowling- her real name is actually just Joanne Rowling, the K. came when she published Harry Potter.  So really, she’s pulling a double pen name

Stephen King- he masqueraded under the name Richard Bachman for a stint

Stan Lee- his real name is actually Stanley Martin Lieber; the pen name is a lot easier to remember, let alone say!

Mark Twain- Samuel Clemens

Dr. Seuss- his real name is Theodore Seuss Geisel

Writer's Block: Are Aliens the New Vampires?

Obsidian, Star Trek, Icons, The 5^th Wave, The Host, etc.  Aliens are popping up everywhere and people are loving them.  They’re the new play thing for those in the entertainment business.  Why?  Because they’re versatile.  They can be sexy (see Obsidian by Jennifer L. Armentrout, The Host by Stephanie Meyer, or the I Am Number Four series by Pittacus Lore) or they can be scary (The 5^th Wave, etc.).  Basically, there are no rules to aliens because there can be more than one kind and the speculation is endless.  Helpful and friendly, or take-over-the-world.  Heck, half of the superhero’s on the big screen are aliens (Thor, Superman). 

It seems they’re replacing vampires, who could be equally cool or creepy.  Vampires, as many variations as there are, do have some setbacks that link them together: drinking blood and some sort of weakness to sunlight.  Pretty much the drinking blood part.  Which is cool, for the first fifty times you see it.  After that you’re like.  Great.  Vampires.  Drinking blood.  Bo-ring.  The fad has worn off.

 

Next, Angels were growing in popularity.  But, again, there are setbacks.  They have wings (which is expensive on television) and they really don’t tend to be bad.  That’s demons.  Plus, there is always that small amount of religious context that goes along with them which is something a lot of people try to stay away from.  So, angels aren’t the next thing like most people were expecting.

Aliens kind of took us by surprise and I think they’re really just a branch of the really popular fad right now: Dystopian/Post-Apocalyptic.  Everyone wants to tell Sci-Fi.  It’s exciting and it’s grimy.  It can parallel real problems and have some deeper meaning, or it can be fun.  Aliens are the perfect villain in post-apocalyptic stories because they are so other.

Anyways, I think Aliens are the next thing.  Slowly but steadily they’re becoming the go-to in books, TV, and movies.  What do you think?  Are they the next fad?  What is?

Writers Block: To Keep a Journal or Not to Keep a Journal

There are several ways to approach this question, really.  In the end, however, it really depends on the writer.  Some people like to keep a journal, like me, of every single idea, while others prefer to only focus on one idea in a particular journal and not wander around with their ideas, and still others don't keep any journal. 

If you're not sure whether you should or not, I recommend trying it.  And don't follow anyone else's rubric for one.  Just write how you feel most comfortable.  When I decided to keep a journal I wasn't sure what to do and wrote down whatever idea came to mind instead of focusing on one thing in particular and using all my energy on that.  My imagination is always working in over time and I don't want to waste any of my ideas or completely drop whatever it was I was working on because I found The Next Best Thing, so this worked perfect for me.  Better then perfect, actually, and I'm on my third journal because the others filled up.

But this may not work for you.  Like I said earlier, some people like to focus on one idea/subject per notebook or journal.  Other's may keep their's like a diary.  Or just write poems.

And then maybe you just don't need to keep a journal.  Stephen King doesn't.  He says that the really good ideas stick around (and he's right!) and why should he write down all the bad ones.  Maybe this works best for you, I know several people who work this way, and I used to work this way.  However, I tend to get attached to all my ideas and like to write them down now.

Where to keep your journal is another big question.  While I mainly use a little notebook at home and when I'm on the move, sometimes I like to keep it on my computer.  I also keep ideas on scraps of paper that lie around pretty much everywhere.  It's a bit scatter-brained.  Computer's are nice because you can keep adding to an idea and never run out of room or mix different notes for things if you don't want.  Physical notebooks are nice because they can travel easier.

Anyways, it is up to you.  Don't forget that when you start journaling (or not).



Music: Wolfgang Amadeus Phoenix by Phoenix

Writers Block: Character Archetypes Based off Beautiful Creatures

Hey, welcome to a new type of post you should see about every thursday.  I no I'm no bigshot writer with any work published and probably don't have any right telling you how to write, but I have been doing it for a while now and thought I could share some advice because, personally, I'm always looking for some myself.  In Writer's Block I'll post anything I find useful, basically tips and tricks.

This week I was thinking about why authors tend to create similar characters (archetypes) and what really got me thinking about this was Ridley from Beautiful Creatures so I thought I would sort of base the post around the characters from the Castor Chronicles.  No worries, no spoilers here, but if you haven't read the books you might be a bit lost.  See the movie, it's close enough character-wise and much shorter.

Ridley
Character's like her are fun to dress up.  An author can out anything on one of these characters and get away with it because anything looks good on them and the bad-ass attitude can rock any conversation because they are the equal amount humorous and kick-ass.

Link
The stable best-friend is something everyone wants, especially female writers.  They create comic relief and a companion who means a lot without being romantically involved or has familial-ties with the protagonist.  Expendible, but heart-breaking.

Boo
An animal is hard to resist, especially a really cool animal you could never have in real life.  Really, these are just characters created out of selfish reasons.

Macon
Ah.  It all started with the wisest mentor of all- Obi Wan Kenobi (OK, it started before him).  A father-figure/teacher, common among stories with orphans and paranormal romances, help introduce a character into the world and/or magical powers, vampires, werewolves, dragons, lightsabers, castors, take your pick.

Ethan's Father
The missing parent.  If they aren't playing a role like Macon, adults tend to be missing from YA fiction.  Why?  Simple, teenagers don't want to escape into a book where the parents are bossing the kid around like in the real world.  If a parent is present, they A) don't care, or B)the kid fights the man and ends up winning.

That's it for now.  If you enjoy this, please comment and say so!  I really hope it helps.  P.S. Did you see the book trailer for Clockwork Princess?