Thursday, October 10, 2013

Thursday evening ramblings

1. What happens when a writer interviews herself? Take a look. If the interview sounds completely neurotic to you, welcome to the mind of a brilliant writer like Joyce Carol Oates.


2.


Also known as:

Now that I no longer have exams to contend with in November, I'm more than ready for NaNoWriMo. This will be the first time I'm taking part in it, even though I've completed a novel in a month before (LAMBS FOR DINNER) just to see if I could do it. 

I originally planned to write INDIGO TIDES for NaNo, but it's just not coming along. I don't see the theme of the story, can't figure out my characters, and basically don't understand why I want to write this story other than create pretty prose. But a novel is so much more than just pointless purple prose (sorry, couldn't resist sticking an alliteration in there). I can't write a story without believing in it, or feeling strongly enough about it. It has to be a story I am consumed by, whether I'm awake or asleep, where scenes pop into my mind as I brush my teeth or getting dressed, and where characters converse in my head while I'm swimming laps in the pool or on my way to work, where I think about what they would say to the things I encounter every day.

Damon Salvatore (from THE VAMPIRE DIARIES) says it best: 

Yes, a love like that would be nice. But for now, a story like that would do. 

(On a sidenote, hurray for Season 5 of TVD! Something to look forward to every week again, along with SUPERNATURAL and THE ORIGINALS.)

And with a bit of luck, I woke up yesterday with a pretty much completed novel in my head and a ready-made title to go with it: NO ROOM IN NEVERLAND. Yes, it's the Peter Pan-inspired one I've been going on about for months. I have my characters, I have their motivations, dreams, fears and voices figured out, I have the climax for the three main acts planned, and the opening scene is just waiting for me to pound it out. Cause for the happy writer dance? I think so.

In case you need a reminder of the face that triggered my Peter Pan obsession, here it is:
 

(I admit, I might just be looking for a reason to post his pretty face here.)


3. YA writers, here's an update on the new trends in the YA market.

I'm glad contemporary YA is making a comeback. It's been a while since books like Sarah Dessen's have taken up a good part of the shelves, and I've been searching for a simple coming of age story in which the protagonist goes through a significant transformation and growth that is gratifying to the reader, preferably with a generous dash of romance. Contemporary YA has always been and will always be my first love. I remember the book that started it all: KEEPING THE MOON by Sarah Dessen. It was the first Dessen book I read and I've been a fan of her ever since. Shortly after came Deb Caletti and her book, WILD ROSES, which inspired my first standalone novel that I completed in 2008 (after working on it since 2005), WHEN THE LILIES TURN ORANGE. There are certain books that change your life and influence you and your writing, and these two happen to be of the contemporary YA genre. Which is why this genre will always be my true love, despite how much fun I'm having with urban fantasy now.

But even though I agree that we need more contemporary YA now, I find it a bit of a stretch to say that the time of YA fantasy is coming to an end. While it's true that the YA market is saturated with paranormal fiction of all things fanged, furry and/or winged, and that it's understandable for literary agents to get weary of such stories and crave something simple and authentic and grounded in reality, something that can resonate with them and the readers, I believe that a well-crafted story, regardless of its genre, will always have a place on the bookshelf. 

Perhaps the disillusionment with the fantasy genre stems from the done-to-death formulae: forbidden love between angel and human, pact between wolf packs, average human girl is introduced to the mysterious dangerous world of handsome paranormal boy. But writers like Maggie Stiefvater have broken from the norm and created versions of this genre with their personal stamp on them. And writers like Laini Taylor have gone beyond the regular run-of-the-mill fantasy story and brought the genre to whole new levels of awesomeness, with mind-boggling plots and perfect prose and pacing and complete character arcs.

Really, all we need is just a good mix of contemporary and fantasy. Personally, when I get tired of writing contemporary, I dabble with some urban fantasy. And when I feel like I can't take reading or writing another paranormal story, I go back to contemporary.

Maybe it's all about shaking things up and attempting the things that you've never tried before and that scares you. I think I'm terrible at writing from third-person POV, which is why it's the challenge I'm going to take on for INDIGO TIDES. For now, though, INDIGO is not the story I'm ready to tell. So I'm just sticking to my first love, what I know and love best, contemporary YA romance told from alternating first-person POVs.

Whatever genre we write in, as Joyce Carol Oates put it, "We write to create the books that we would like to read, that haven’t yet been written." Fantasy or contemporary, we write whatever is true to us, whatever moves us; we write the story that we believe in. A friend of mine asked me a couple of days ago where I find the patience to complete a novel and all I could say in response was, "If there's a story you strongly believe in that you want to share, you WILL find the patience for it no matter how much it torments you."

And maybe we all have a story like that in us. And we might just discover that this NaNoWriMo. Happy writing!


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