As I've been rewriting TDS, I've been taking stock of my female characters. I'm pleased that, to a large degree, they're different people and don't fall into any sort of stereotype. Because girls are not stereotypical.
Erin, I think, is certainly not a typical heroine. While posting my first draft on Figment, I was pretty pleasantly surprised by readers' reactions to her. Honestly, I wondered if I should expect complaints along the lines of "she's not strong enough" or "she's too vulnerable". But overall, people seemed to like dipping into the mind of an atypical heroine, who, I believe, is a pretty normal girl.
This led me to a question--where are the feminine heroines?
The standard YA heroine now (though I'm not sure I can classify TDS as YA, as it deals with a much older protagonist) is independent, aggressive, and confident. She needs no one. She's a Katniss, an Arya, an Alianne. She knows what she wants and is fearless about getting it.
And that is great. We need girls like that, because books should be about real characters. We need to show girls who can be leaders, who are tough and gutsy. However, not all girls are that. We can't embrace only this kind of heroine and say to girls, "This is what you must be to be a woman".
Why can't girls be real and brave and feminine all at the same time? Do we equate being womanly with being weak? A writer friend made the comment to me some months ago: "[A heroine] can wear a dress, but she can't enjoy it". She can lead a kingdom, but she can't yearn for a king at her side.
I know all sorts of girls--loud girls and quiet girls, girls who wear sweatpants and girls who prefer summer dresses but feel at home at a table of ten boys.
Shouldn't our heroines be like that?
They should be real girls--funny and girly and confused and vulnerable and hopeful and brave.
Showing posts with label Default Sweater. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Default Sweater. Show all posts
Monday, March 25, 2013
Saturday, June 9, 2012
Aaaand.....Close!
I hope I can officially say that my utter out-of-figment-craziness-just-remembered-she-has-a-blog time is finished. For those of you who actually read my blog, and to everyone who has been following my progress on figment, you guys have been very patient! Summer break has started, and aside from work, I have nothing to do. The freedom is bewildering.
Because it has been an embarrassingly long time since my last post, there's lots of news to share!
First and most exciting, Default Sweater is finished! It's officially official, folks. I really wrestled with those last chapters, but I'm thrilled at the way things turned out. It's odd not to turn on my computer and head straight for that word doc the way I've done for the past eight and a half months.
Final count: 76,969 words. Oooh, I can't wait to start editing some of those boys out. I haven't gone back and read the whole thing yet, but I know my fingers will start jumping to fix everything up as soon as I do. Editing is like cleaning, or washing dishes....cleansing, creating order out of havoc, isn't it? ....or is it just me?
I announced this on my figment account, but I'll go ahead and give it another plug--there's going to be a sequel! I can't usually plan sequels out in detail while I'm still working on Book #1, but even while I was writing TDS, I knew I wouldn't want to let go of those characters. At this point, I won't have to, anyway, since I'll be an editing fiend with the story for a good long while yet, but having reached the end of draft one, I'm glad I decided to continue the adventures for a while. Looking back at it, I really feel that there were a few characters who didn't reach the end of their own story, even though Erin has. I'm excited to continue for their sake.
So! Right now I'm being a good girl and working on my new main project, Lilla & the Tower, which will probably carry me through summer and into early fall. I'm very excited to switch back to that girl--she waited a long time for me. Sheesh.
Sequel details: The TDS sequel will be going up on my page in the late summer/early fall! It will feature a new main character who, yes, did appear in TDS. It's in the early planning stages right now, but it's looking to be something very new. I'm very excited.
To everyone who has given me so much help over the last months of writing The Default Sweater--thank you. I've got some homemade chocolate chip cookies with your name on them.
Because it has been an embarrassingly long time since my last post, there's lots of news to share!
First and most exciting, Default Sweater is finished! It's officially official, folks. I really wrestled with those last chapters, but I'm thrilled at the way things turned out. It's odd not to turn on my computer and head straight for that word doc the way I've done for the past eight and a half months.
Final count: 76,969 words. Oooh, I can't wait to start editing some of those boys out. I haven't gone back and read the whole thing yet, but I know my fingers will start jumping to fix everything up as soon as I do. Editing is like cleaning, or washing dishes....cleansing, creating order out of havoc, isn't it? ....or is it just me?
I announced this on my figment account, but I'll go ahead and give it another plug--there's going to be a sequel! I can't usually plan sequels out in detail while I'm still working on Book #1, but even while I was writing TDS, I knew I wouldn't want to let go of those characters. At this point, I won't have to, anyway, since I'll be an editing fiend with the story for a good long while yet, but having reached the end of draft one, I'm glad I decided to continue the adventures for a while. Looking back at it, I really feel that there were a few characters who didn't reach the end of their own story, even though Erin has. I'm excited to continue for their sake.
So! Right now I'm being a good girl and working on my new main project, Lilla & the Tower, which will probably carry me through summer and into early fall. I'm very excited to switch back to that girl--she waited a long time for me. Sheesh.
Sequel details: The TDS sequel will be going up on my page in the late summer/early fall! It will feature a new main character who, yes, did appear in TDS. It's in the early planning stages right now, but it's looking to be something very new. I'm very excited.
To everyone who has given me so much help over the last months of writing The Default Sweater--thank you. I've got some homemade chocolate chip cookies with your name on them.
Friday, January 6, 2012
Writing Around Writer's Block
These past few months have been tough. I feel like schoolwork has punched me in the gut, tied me up, and rolled me in front of an eighteen-wheeler. Now, back from Christmas break, I have something amazing plunked right in front of me.
"'Free time'? What is this 'free time'?"
That's pretty much how I feel. The last few days, I've barely moved from my computer, which is a shame, because Texas has suddenly gotten a burst of beautifully sunny weather, and I'm missing out.
But I've been writing, which is awesome.
I finally managed to crank out Chapter Twelve in TDS. I've been really frustrated with it lately. I feel almost like it's turned into a series of events, like Alice wandering around in Wonderland. Now she meets the caterpillar. Now she goes to a random tea party and they talk about silly things. I didn't want my story to turn into a predictable romantic comedy via Valentine's Day, and I worried that that's exactly what it was doing.
As a distraction on the side, I'm challenging myself with Lilla & the Tower, which has been enormously fun to write, and very good for me, since I'm a) foraying into the whimsical and the fairy tale with a retelling of Cinderella, and b) not doing a chapter mapout. With Hearthsinger and TDS, I sat down and wrote out exactly what would happen in however many chapters. I do give myself room to move. Chapter Eight in TDS, for example, where Danny brings Erin to help with birthday celebrations, was not in my original draft, but once I started writing it, I definitely felt like there had to more than just 'Erin goes to give Danny his library card, and they wander around and talk'. That, coincidentally, was another very difficult chapter to write. Writing is kind of like gambling. It's lovely, and very rare, that I can sit down and crank out two thousand words in one sitting. More often, I have to write, check my word count, check my chapter map, encourage myself with chocolate, go running, get up to smell the Christmas tree, make a cup of tea, or take a shower. In the case of Chapter Eight, or the last two chapters I've written, Eleven and Twelve, I had to write a draft, print it out, mark it up in red ink, trash most of it, and rewrite.
Anyway. Lilla. With Lilla, I had one of those wonderful moments where I just sat down and started writing the first chapter out by hand because I didn't even make it to a keyboard. I'm having so much fun with it, because unlike any of my other projects, in which a single chapter can take me a couple days to write, each of Lilla's chapters are only about a thousand words. I'm challenging myself not to map chapters out. Stay strong, Savannah!
My chapter mapping usually looks like this:
Six:
Start with some reflections. Erin is thinking as they walk through London. The party: Erin, Jenny, Emily, Roxanne, Allison, Kathryn. It’s apparent that Allison and Roxanne don’t always see eye to eye. Erin gets separated from the others and, frustrated, sits down on a bench, wishing she had a working phone. She starts talking to Danny, and they talk so long that he finally asks, tentatively, if she would like to come have dinner with him. Erin confesses she’s actually lost, and he helps her call home and gives her money for a train. “I haven’t actually got a car. I’ve got a bicycle.”
There are both pros and cons to this. It's something that works very well for me, and helps me construct the pacing, so that I'm not dumping information on readers or rushing through an important section. It also sets some constraints on me that makes it difficult for me to stray from the original outline when need be. So Lilla is an experiment. I felt like, unlike with a really involved storyline like TDS, Lilla would do better if I just felt my way through it. At the end of each chapter, I sit and stare vaguely at my computer screen, and decide what's needed in the next chapter.
I'm guessing this is working well for me with a simpler story with shorter chapters. But we'll see. Either way, I'm having fun.
One pro, though, to doing my chapter progression, is when I'm stuck with writer's block. I've been so annoyed with TDS lately, I feel like everything I write falls flat. I think I was mostly just grumpy. Today, I went back to my chapter progression to write a note for myself, and I got to looking through the chapters coming up in parts two and three. It reminded me how excited I am to write this story, and how much fun it's going to be, and how much I like the characters and the little moments I have in mind and a lot of mushy gushy stuff that only writers understand. (Right?) I'm standing here in front a semester of nothing but college applications and half-days of school, and I have this wild hope that Default Sweater might be finished by the time summer rolls around. We'll see about that.
I should have another chapter posted tonight or tomorrow, and then I've really got to get to unpacking. Really. It's shameful that I've let myself go like this, just to sit at a computer for two days and write about a girl and her sweater. :)
"'Free time'? What is this 'free time'?"
That's pretty much how I feel. The last few days, I've barely moved from my computer, which is a shame, because Texas has suddenly gotten a burst of beautifully sunny weather, and I'm missing out.
But I've been writing, which is awesome.
I finally managed to crank out Chapter Twelve in TDS. I've been really frustrated with it lately. I feel almost like it's turned into a series of events, like Alice wandering around in Wonderland. Now she meets the caterpillar. Now she goes to a random tea party and they talk about silly things. I didn't want my story to turn into a predictable romantic comedy via Valentine's Day, and I worried that that's exactly what it was doing.
As a distraction on the side, I'm challenging myself with Lilla & the Tower, which has been enormously fun to write, and very good for me, since I'm a) foraying into the whimsical and the fairy tale with a retelling of Cinderella, and b) not doing a chapter mapout. With Hearthsinger and TDS, I sat down and wrote out exactly what would happen in however many chapters. I do give myself room to move. Chapter Eight in TDS, for example, where Danny brings Erin to help with birthday celebrations, was not in my original draft, but once I started writing it, I definitely felt like there had to more than just 'Erin goes to give Danny his library card, and they wander around and talk'. That, coincidentally, was another very difficult chapter to write. Writing is kind of like gambling. It's lovely, and very rare, that I can sit down and crank out two thousand words in one sitting. More often, I have to write, check my word count, check my chapter map, encourage myself with chocolate, go running, get up to smell the Christmas tree, make a cup of tea, or take a shower. In the case of Chapter Eight, or the last two chapters I've written, Eleven and Twelve, I had to write a draft, print it out, mark it up in red ink, trash most of it, and rewrite.
Anyway. Lilla. With Lilla, I had one of those wonderful moments where I just sat down and started writing the first chapter out by hand because I didn't even make it to a keyboard. I'm having so much fun with it, because unlike any of my other projects, in which a single chapter can take me a couple days to write, each of Lilla's chapters are only about a thousand words. I'm challenging myself not to map chapters out. Stay strong, Savannah!
My chapter mapping usually looks like this:
Six:
Start with some reflections. Erin is thinking as they walk through London. The party: Erin, Jenny, Emily, Roxanne, Allison, Kathryn. It’s apparent that Allison and Roxanne don’t always see eye to eye. Erin gets separated from the others and, frustrated, sits down on a bench, wishing she had a working phone. She starts talking to Danny, and they talk so long that he finally asks, tentatively, if she would like to come have dinner with him. Erin confesses she’s actually lost, and he helps her call home and gives her money for a train. “I haven’t actually got a car. I’ve got a bicycle.”
There are both pros and cons to this. It's something that works very well for me, and helps me construct the pacing, so that I'm not dumping information on readers or rushing through an important section. It also sets some constraints on me that makes it difficult for me to stray from the original outline when need be. So Lilla is an experiment. I felt like, unlike with a really involved storyline like TDS, Lilla would do better if I just felt my way through it. At the end of each chapter, I sit and stare vaguely at my computer screen, and decide what's needed in the next chapter.
I'm guessing this is working well for me with a simpler story with shorter chapters. But we'll see. Either way, I'm having fun.
One pro, though, to doing my chapter progression, is when I'm stuck with writer's block. I've been so annoyed with TDS lately, I feel like everything I write falls flat. I think I was mostly just grumpy. Today, I went back to my chapter progression to write a note for myself, and I got to looking through the chapters coming up in parts two and three. It reminded me how excited I am to write this story, and how much fun it's going to be, and how much I like the characters and the little moments I have in mind and a lot of mushy gushy stuff that only writers understand. (Right?) I'm standing here in front a semester of nothing but college applications and half-days of school, and I have this wild hope that Default Sweater might be finished by the time summer rolls around. We'll see about that.
I should have another chapter posted tonight or tomorrow, and then I've really got to get to unpacking. Really. It's shameful that I've let myself go like this, just to sit at a computer for two days and write about a girl and her sweater. :)
Monday, October 31, 2011
Songs for Erin
I mentioned yesterday that the Gumption score is on my playlist for Default Sweater. Here's more of the playlist that I'm starting to turn on whenever I sit down to write another chapter about Erin. Which is coming soon. I promise.
Lonely Lullaby, Owl City
Colgando en Tus Manos ("Hanging in your hands"), Carlos Baute and Marta Sanchez
All About Us, He is We and Owl City
Fever, Michael Buble
Spontaneous Me, Lindsey Sterling
What If, Colbie Caillait
I've Got the World On a String, Frank Sinatra
October Road, James Taylor
Lose Control, Maria Mena
The Bird and the Worm, Owl City
Hamburg Hinter Uns ("Hamburg Behind Us") , Revolverheld
So She Dances, Josh Groban
A Thousand Miles, Vanessa Carlton
Rhythm of Love, Plain White T's
Sunburn, Owl City
Ich Bin Ich, Rosenstolz
I Am a Man of Constant Sorrow, from O Brother, Where Art Thou?
Love Song, Sara Bareilles
Both Sides Now, Joanie Mitchell
She's Funny That Way, Frank Sinatra
J'aime a Nouveau, ZAZ
I Won't Say (I'm in Love), from Hercules
Layla (acoustic version), Eric Clapton
Monday Morning, Melanie Fiona
When the Stars Go Blue, The Corrs
Missing You, Allison Kraus
I Can Love You Better, The Dixie Chicks
Lazy Days, Enya
Gumption, from The Holiday
Lonely Lullaby, Owl City
Colgando en Tus Manos ("Hanging in your hands"), Carlos Baute and Marta Sanchez
All About Us, He is We and Owl City
Fever, Michael Buble
Spontaneous Me, Lindsey Sterling
What If, Colbie Caillait
I've Got the World On a String, Frank Sinatra
October Road, James Taylor
Lose Control, Maria Mena
The Bird and the Worm, Owl City
Hamburg Hinter Uns ("Hamburg Behind Us") , Revolverheld
So She Dances, Josh Groban
A Thousand Miles, Vanessa Carlton
Rhythm of Love, Plain White T's
Sunburn, Owl City
Ich Bin Ich, Rosenstolz
I Am a Man of Constant Sorrow, from O Brother, Where Art Thou?
Love Song, Sara Bareilles
Both Sides Now, Joanie Mitchell
She's Funny That Way, Frank Sinatra
J'aime a Nouveau, ZAZ
I Won't Say (I'm in Love), from Hercules
Layla (acoustic version), Eric Clapton
Monday Morning, Melanie Fiona
When the Stars Go Blue, The Corrs
Missing You, Allison Kraus
I Can Love You Better, The Dixie Chicks
Lazy Days, Enya
Gumption, from The Holiday
Saturday, October 1, 2011
Out of my Comfort Zone
My strongest instincts in writing have always always been toward fantasy. I'm terribly lazy about doing research for stories, so historical fiction is off-limits unless I get my head in the game, and I've always shied away from modern stories. Writing is a kind of escape from the real world, and especially in this last crazy year of school, when my life is full of math problems and college applications and computer programs, there's nothing I want more than to leave that behind. Not to say that my life is unpleasant--just busy!
I've always been drawn to write fantasy. The whole idea of creating another, new world is irrestible.
But suddenly, there is The Default Sweater.
Writing a modern novel is freeing in a completely different way that writing a fantasy is. Writing fantasy can be exhausting; you have to constantly invent, because you're creating a completely new world. In a modern novel, however, the world is around you, there to draw on. It's a wonderful break sometimes when I need a rest from Hearthsinger, a fantastic cure to writer's block. I might not be working on my main project, but at least it's keeping me at the keyboard/notebook occasionally.
Sometimes, stories emerge in your head fully formed. Just as with the title for this one, Erin marched through my mind one day, found a comfortable corner, and set up shop. I really enjoy writing her.I'll be posting more as soon as I can! Just now I'm really enjoying putting it on Figment, but I'm tentative to post more than the first three or four chapters. And still, Hearthsinger is my priority, especially with my secret project coming up in the spring (more on that later!).
I'll be posting more about the inspiration for Sweater in another post, and you can hear all about the sweaters that I have and kissing and all the chocolate chips on top. Do I end these posts with mentions of food too often? It must be that it's autumn. I haven't baked a thing yet.
I've always been drawn to write fantasy. The whole idea of creating another, new world is irrestible.
But suddenly, there is The Default Sweater.
Writing a modern novel is freeing in a completely different way that writing a fantasy is. Writing fantasy can be exhausting; you have to constantly invent, because you're creating a completely new world. In a modern novel, however, the world is around you, there to draw on. It's a wonderful break sometimes when I need a rest from Hearthsinger, a fantastic cure to writer's block. I might not be working on my main project, but at least it's keeping me at the keyboard/notebook occasionally.
Sometimes, stories emerge in your head fully formed. Just as with the title for this one, Erin marched through my mind one day, found a comfortable corner, and set up shop. I really enjoy writing her.I'll be posting more as soon as I can! Just now I'm really enjoying putting it on Figment, but I'm tentative to post more than the first three or four chapters. And still, Hearthsinger is my priority, especially with my secret project coming up in the spring (more on that later!).
I'll be posting more about the inspiration for Sweater in another post, and you can hear all about the sweaters that I have and kissing and all the chocolate chips on top. Do I end these posts with mentions of food too often? It must be that it's autumn. I haven't baked a thing yet.
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