Posts Tagged With: writing

Take Bad Reviews with a Dash of Salt

Posted on March 4, 2016 by Michelle Proulx

A few weeks back, I mentioned something called the “Immerse or Die” report — which is basically where this guy gets on his treadmill and starts reading a book. If he finds three glaring errors that pull him out of the story, he stops reading and marks the book as failed. If he makes it all the way to the end of his 40 minute treadmill run, the book passes. Simple enough, right?

I was a bit hesitant about sending in Imminent Danger, since A) harsh criticism makes me sad, and B) the reader is a 50 year old man, and thus not exactly my target audience. But then I thought “what the hell” and sent it in anyway.

Which was an … interesting decision. Spoiler alert: Imminent Danger did not survive the Immerse or Die report. You can read the report for yourself here.

So here’s where we get to the “take bad reviews with a dash of salt” part. Obviously, I was bummed out. In an ideal world, everyone would love my book. Not going to happen, of course, but it’s a nice dream. So I was feeling pretty down on myself as I started to read his review.

Then I finished reading the review, and I wasn’t down on myself anymore. In his review, he pinpoints three details in the first chapter that made him stop reading the book. Damn, right? Those must have been some pretty massive, glaring flaws. Except they’re not. Here are the earth-shattering problems he found:

  • “fellow high school classmates” is redundant (as in, classmates implies “fellow”, so both words weren’t necessary)
  • high schools start at 9am, not 8am
  • Eris is facing the trees, and then gets dragged in backward (did she turn around at some point? it’s not stated)

Points #1 and #3 are actually really helpful, because he’s absolutely right, and those two things (redundant language and keeping track of where my characters are) are things I will look out for in future books/editing. Point #2, however, is just plain wrong. According to the US National Center for Education Statistics, the average high school start time is 8am. Here’s the link if you don’t believe me. But I digress.

Basically, he stopped reading the book because of A) a wording choice, and B) a mix-up in which direction Eris was facing. Which is fine. I, personally, tend to stop reading books due to larger issues, like the plot not making sense, or glaring spelling issues, or an unlikable main character … but hey, different people are different!

So, all in all, I’m content with my decision to submit Imminent Danger to the Immerse or Die Report. Nothing ventured, nothing gained, right? Did his review frustrate me? Absolutely. Will I be reading his books, or visiting his site again? Definitely not. We obviously have completely opposite views on what makes a story good.

At the end of the day, the only thing you can really do when you get a bad review is read it thoroughly and:

  1. Pick out the legitimate criticisms and learn from them, and
  2. Ignore the rest

Now I just have to keep telling myself that!

 

Unrelated media of the day:

More excellent book dedications …

I Am, by Matthew Hubbard

The Land of Stories, by Chris Colfer

Categories: My Works, Self Publishing, Writing | Tags: , , , | 37 Comments

What’s the biggest thing you ever cut from a manuscript?

Posted on February 29, 2016 by Michelle Proulx

In honor of leap day, today’s theme is leaping. As in, leaping over awkward plot points to get to the heart of the story. During the editing process, writers cut all number of things: useless characters, random sub plots, flowery but unnecessary description, adverbs, etc. So, I put this question to you:

What’s the biggest thing you ever cut from a manuscript?

For Imminent Danger, the biggest thing I can remember is the “descent to Alpha Centauri Prime” scene. Originally, the galactic hub planet was surrounded by a minefield–the remnants of an old space battle. So ships had to line up to be guided through the mines. Varrin, being Varrin, decided to skip that whole tedious process and tackle the minefield himself, resulting in a 1000 word action sequence where Varrin pilots the Nonconformity down through the mines, and Eris and Miguri panic a lot.

When I sat down to chop 20k words off the story, that was one of the first scenes to go. It was fun, but ultimately didn’t need to be in there. Plus, as my brother pointed out, it kind of didn’t make sense that one of the biggest trade hubs in the galaxy was surrounded by mines that no one had bothered to clear out yet. So the action sequence was scrapped, and the descent to Alpha Centauri Prime was cut down to a paragraph.

For Chasing Nonconformity … hoo boy. With Imminent Danger, I did a lot of revising, but the basic structure of the book remained the same. But with the sequel, I pretty much re-wrote it from the ground up. So almost everything got cut and then rewritten–with the exception of Trystan, Sebara, and Fino’jin, who were in the story from day one.

So I can’t really pin down the biggest cut, but certainly one of the large ones was Bax. Bax was a shapeshifting bounty hunter who Fino’jin hired to help track down and capture Varrin. During the original climax of the book, Bax shapeshifted into a jsgarn (big angry monster) and nearly killed Sebara. She did eventually defeat him, although she then had to jump out of the low-flying spaceship they were in at the time (I don’t remember why) and then broke like half the bones in her body upon hitting the ground.

In the re-write, Eris and Varrin’s plotline completely changed, and Bax didn’t work with the new story so he was axed. I don’t regret that one at all–he was mildly interesting, but definitely not a stand-out character. I wrote him as sort of a “blank slate”, in that he didn’t exhibit much personality at all because he shifted forms so frequently that even he didn’t really know who he was. But there wasn’t enough room in the story to explore his character properly, so instead of trying to shoehorn him in, I just cut him.

So, all you writers out there, what’s the biggest cut you’ve ever made? Or the most memorable? Or the cut that absolutely destroyed you, because you loved that particular scene/character and hated yourself for having to leave them out?

Unrelated media of the day:

Categories: My Works, Writing | Tags: , , , | 16 Comments

Awesome Book Dedications

Posted on February 8, 2016 by Michelle Proulx

I’m hard at work writing Cerulean Bound being on vacation and not accomplishing a darn thing, so I thought I’d brighten up your Monday a bit by sharing some excellent book dedications. These were collected on Imgur by PolarBlair924, so shout-out to him/her!

Thus, in no particular order, here are my favorites …

Categories: Random | Tags: , , , | 10 Comments

2016 New Year’s Resolutions

Posted on January 1, 2016 by Michelle Proulx

It’s not really until you take a step back and look at the past year that you get a true appreciation for how your life is going. And I have to say, my life is going pretty well. Not bragging or anything — just grateful. I may not be a best-selling author or a brilliant neurosurgeon or anything, but all in all I’m quite satisfied with where I’m at. And that’s really all that matters, isn’t it?

And now, the resolutions! In no particular order, this year I would like to:

  • Write every day. It doesn’t have to be a lot, and it doesn’t have to be any good, but I definitely want to get back into the habit of daily writing. NaNoWriMo is a fantastic motivator, but I want to have that kind of motivation all the time. And I’m so tired of having all these amazing stories floating around in my head just waiting to be written down, but stuck eternally in limbo because I don’t have the mental discipline to sit down and actually write them. Currently I’m working on a few projects (including Cerulean Bound — banged out the first chapter yesterday!), and hopefully at least a few of them will actually get completed this year.
  • Get down to 140 lbs. I won’t tell you where I’m at right now, but let’s just say it’s above where I should be. Not drastically so, but enough that my old pants don’t fit, which is both frustrating and inconvenient. I don’t have plans to become a bikini model or anything — I just want to fit in my pants, dammit! I’ve managed to drop about 12 lbs since I started counting calories back in September, so hopefully I can keep it up.
  • Stop sweating the small stuff. I fully admit that I have some anger problems. Not in the sense that I randomly flip out at people — I just find little stuff irrationally irritating, and after silently fuming about it for a bit (or a while), I have to take a step back and be like, “Michelle, for the love of sandwiches calm down, it’s totally not a big deal.” So ideally I’d like to be able to go straight from “getting irritated” to “calming down”, and skip the “fuming about it” part entirely. Because, at the end of the day, all I really want is to …
  • Be happy. Let’s be clear — I’m pretty darn happy already! I just want to continue being so. That means doing things I enjoy, spending time with people I enjoy, accomplishing the things I set out to accomplish, and generally feeling content with the life I’ve carved out for myself. Part of how I’m going to do that is every night I’m going to write down one thing I did that day that I’m proud of or that I enjoyed. And then, whenever I’m feeling down, I’ll flip open my little notebook and remind myself of all the reasons I have to be happy. And, hopefully, there’ll be a lot of them!

So those are my resolutions for 2016. What’s on your list?

Oh, and … HAPPY NEW YEAR!!!

 

Unrelated media of the day:

Categories: Random | Tags: , , , | 9 Comments

Monday Writing Update

Posted on December 7, 2015 by Michelle Proulx

NaNoWriMo is officially over, and I have officially … lost.

Dammit.

Now, in my defense, I came pretty darn close. I started at 31,881 words and ended at  71,889 words, which means I wrote a grand total of 40k words. Not quite 50k, but still a great deal more than what I started with! So, I’m calling this one a moderate success.

Of course, my story is still in shambles. I’ve reached about the 1/3 point in the plot, and I’m 70k words in. So that means the book is on track to be 210k words long. Yikes. Excessive editing and cutting and rewriting will cut that down, but it’ll be a hassle for sure.

In other news, I’ve recently launched a proofreading service. This is partially because I’m good at proofreading and want to do more of it, and partially because my income is laughable at the moment and I need to pay rent. So, if you’re looking for someone to proofread your next book before it goes live, hit me up! The going rate is $0.0015 per word, which works out to $150 for a 100k word novel.

My final life update is something I mentioned before, but am still excited about–I’ve acquired a seasonal job at a local tea shop! The hours are whacky, and I’m having a devil of a time remembering the 150+ teas we sell (and by “devil of a time”, I mean it will never happen), but it’s still been quite enjoyable thus far. Money is always nice, not to mention it gives me a reason to leave the house and get a bit of exercise. I won’t be able to head back to Ontario for Christmas this year, but I’m planning an awesome road trip in January/February once the contract’s over so I can go see my folks. Huzzah!

I think that’s about it. What are you awesome people up to these days? Any fun holiday plans? What’s your favorite kind of tea? Let me know in the comments!

 

Unrelated media of the day:

1494407385336446793

Categories: Random | Tags: , , | 30 Comments

Help! NaNoWriMo Woes

Posted on November 23, 2015 by Michelle Proulx

We’re now on day 23 of NaNoWriMo, and I am very woeful. Apart from being 5 days behind on my word count (noooooo), I’ve also encountered a very frustrating problem that I’m hoping y’all might have some advice for me on.

Essentially, my story is going to be too long. Like, massively too long. I’ve spent the past two years turning this story over in my mind, working out all the details and character arcs and whatnot. But now that I’m putting it on paper, it’s way too long. I just hit 63k words, and I’m not even at the halfway point yet. Not even close. Right now, the story’s looking to be 150k+ words. Which, for a YA novel, is … not good.

So I’m basically looking for suggestions on how to proceed. Obviously the book can’t stay that long. But what’s my best option for dealing with this?

A) Keep writing, and finish the first draft. Once it’s all done, go back, re-read, and re-evaluate the story. Cut out unnecessary scenes, tighten phrasing, etc., and get it down to a reasonable word count.

B) Stop writing. Re-read what I’ve got and tighten it up now, so I can keep writing off a solid base.

C) Keep writing, and finish the first draft. Don’t go crazy cutting scenes — just let the story be how long it needs to be. If that’s too long for traditional YA books, either embrace it and publish anyway, or pursue other publishing formats — i.e., release the story in multiple parts (ala Lord of the Rings) at a reduced price

D) Whatever y’all can come up with!

Right now I’m leaning toward option A, because I figure getting it all down on paper first is my best bet before I start chopping stuff. But I welcome any and all suggestions!

While you come up with awesome advice for me, please also enjoy the very chill unrelated media of the day.

 

(Very Chill) Unrelated Media of the Day:

Categories: Writing | Tags: , , , | 33 Comments

Writing Prompt Wednesday: Zodiac Fun

Posted on November 18, 2015 by Michelle Proulx

So I was at the library today working on my “teenagers killing each other in space” story, and I ran across a book about astrology and writing. As in, how to use astrology to improve your writing. I think. I haven’t read it yet. The important thing is it’s filled with hundreds of absolutely phenomenal writing prompts, and I’ve decided to share one of them with you today.

So, without further ado, here is today’s writing prompt (inspired by my star sign, Sagittarius):

How is your character like a horse?

Yes, you read that right. That is an actual writing prompt. And now, because I’m in a silly mood, I shall attempt to answer it using my dear protagonist Eris Miller, space-adventuring heroine of the Imminent Danger series. Hold on to your horses …

Much like a horse, Eris is a four-limbed mammal born of a male and female of the same species–unlike a mule, which is of course the result of a horse and a donkey (in Spanish, “el burro” [often mistaken with “el burrito”, a traditional Mexican tortilla dish]) falling in love and emulating their avian and anthophila brethren in their time-honored mating tradition. Also similar to a horse, Eris has proportionally more hair on her head than the rest of her body, can move at different speeds (although speed names differ [walk, jog, run vs. walk, trot, gallop]), and communicates via emitting sound waves from her vocal cords. She has little interest in eating oats and hay, although she has been known to enjoy a sugar cube or two on occasion.

So there we have it! Writing prompt success. If you would care to compare your character to a horse (or any animal, for that matter) please feel free to do so in your own post, or in the comments below.

And now I shall be off, so I can go stirrup more trouble …

 

Totally related media of the day:

Source: http://funnystack.com/

Categories: Random, Writing | Tags: , , , | 8 Comments

How to litter your manuscript with typos (in 9 easy steps!)

Posted on November 13, 2015 by Michelle Proulx

Yes, this is based on a recent personal experience. Want the details? Keep reading!

How to litter your manuscript with typos

  1. Create a character with a short name that could easily be found in many longer words — i.e., “Kat”
  2. Write 40,000 words of a story
  3. Realize that you prefer an alternate spelling — i.e., “Cat”
  4. Do a “Search All” and “Replace All” to change the spelling — i.e., “Kat” > “Cat”
  5. Write another 10,000 words
  6. Realize you prefer the first spelling
  7. Do a “Search All” and “Replace All” to change the spelling back — i.e., “Cat” > “Kat”
  8. Casually reread the story and realize you’ve created 218 typos — i.e., “sKatter”, “reloKated”, unsKathed”, “mediKations”
  9. Success!

This definitely just happened to me, and I spent twenty minutes using Ctrl+F to find all my ridiculously spelled words and fix them. Honestly not a big deal, but still a very silly thing I could have avoided. Ahh, the joys of NaNoWriMo!

 

Unrelated media of the day:

This is a fun little song where a YouTuber got his followers to send in clips of them playing musical instruments, and then put all the clips together into a surprisingly catchy tune.

Categories: Writing | Tags: , , , | 39 Comments

NaNoWriMo! Here we go again …

Posted on November 2, 2015 by Michelle Proulx

Okay, so I have a confession to make. I’m terrible at NaNoWriMo. I have attempted it every year since 2006, and I’ve won … three times? Possibly four. The point is, I have a bad habit of starting all gung-ho, getting a week in, falling behind, falling more behind, and then giving up halfway through. Sigh.

So, once again, this year I shall attempt NaNo. Do I plan to succeed? Yes. Will I succeed? Probably not. But I’ll try, dammit. And maybe–just maybe!–this time I’ll succeed.

In flagrant violation of the rules, I have decided to write 50k words of an existing project, the whimsically titled, “Teenagers killing each other in space story”. This is not the final title (although several people have suggested it should be). I started at 30k words, so by the end of the month, God willing, I will have an 80k word story. The story definitely won’t be finished by that point (I seem incapable of writing a first draft under 120k words), but a good chunk of it will definitely be done. Huzzah!

What are your NaNo plans? Please feel free to share your stories of past failures with me so I feel a little better about myself. In the meantime, have an amazing week, and stay awesome!

 

Unrelated media of the day:

Categories: Writing | Tags: , | 23 Comments

Writing Prompt Wednesdays! Rhino Castle

Posted on October 28, 2015 by Michelle Proulx

Today’s writing prompt is a cool painting by Ray Caesar:

Plodding step by plodding step

He trudges along packed earth

Weighed down by the city

Strapped ‘cross his great girth

His skin thick like chain mail

His horn strong as stone

Feet sturdy like oak trees

And iron in his bones

But why does he wander?

Does he search for his home?

Or is he an aimless nomad

Content simply to roam?

Thus, I present my humble poem for your afternoon amusement. Enjoy at your leisure.

Since I missed my Monday Musings post, we’ll do a quick life update now instead. If you recall, I recently interviewed for a job. I didn’t hear back from them, but I did interview for a different job, and I got it! It’ll be a seasonal position (so, until Jan 8th), which works just great for me. As for the job itself, I’m not going to reveal the company I’m working for, but I will tell you it involves large amounts of delicious tea. Make of that what you will!

On the writing front, I’ve been working on my “teenagers killing each other in space” story (not its actual name). I’m about 30k words in, and I’m pretty happy with it thus far. My only problem is the writing is extremely slow-going. My current writing process is as follows:

  1. Write a chapter.
  2. Re-read and re-write the chapter.
  3. Go on a long walk and realize the chapter is wrong.
  4. Re-write the chapter.
  5. Take a shower and realize I should change something huge.
  6. Re-write the chapter. Perhaps even re-write several chapters, if need be.
  7. Remind myself that you’re not supposed to edit until you’ve finished the first draft.
  8. Edit anyway.
  9. Drown my sorrows in pizza buns.

It’s fairly time-consuming, and results in me eating a lot of pizza buns. But … I mean, the process does seem to be working, albeit slowly, so I think I’ll stick with it. Better that I find and fix issues now, rather than pull a Chasing Nonconformity and literally rewrite the entire book from the ground up.

Oh! And if you have a chance, support fellow indie author Beth Madden by heading over to her Inkitt project page for her story “Stuffed” and vote for it! Takes all of five seconds, and she would really appreciate your help.

That’s all from me! Have a fabulous week, and stay awesome.

 

Unrelated media of the day:

I am completely in love with this song right now. I love the throwback feel, not to mention the beautiful, dreamy chorus. Enjoy!

Categories: Writing | Tags: , , , | 2 Comments

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