Teaser Tuesdays is a weekly bookish meme, hosted by MizB of Should Be Reading. Anyone can play along! Just do the following:
• Grab your current read • Open to a random page • Share two (2) “teaser” sentences from somewhere on that page • BE CAREFUL NOT TO INCLUDE SPOILERS! (make sure that what you share doesn’t give too much away! You don’t want to ruin the book for others!) • Share the title & author, too, so that other TT participants can add the book to their TBR Lists if they like your teasers!
Today I'm pulling my Teaser from a book I just started last night that I wanted to keep reading but it was getting late so I had to stop (sigh): Obsidian by Jennifer L. Armentrout.
"Yeah, it's kind of a hobby. What's yours? Kicking puppies?" "I'm not sure I should say in front of my sister," he replied, his expression turning wolfish. "Ew." Dee made a face. The images I got then were totally R-rated, and I could tell by his smug expression he knew it. (page 26) Got any teasers to share?
Start where the story starts. We hear this all the time and it should be one of the easiest pieces of advice a writer gets.
So how come sometimes it's not?
I've had so many beginnings to my MS Daze and Knights that I've lost count- proof that I've been having a hard time finding where the story starts. For me, the story starts when my MC lands in medieval times. My first few drafts had three chapters of her at home first, which I cut down to two, then one, then cut out altogether in the vein of starting where the story starts and also to slash some word count. Then I had a beta say that she wants to see my MC at home so we can see what she's missing when she's travelled, what she could potentially be giving up. So I wrote a whole new first chapter of her at home. Now I've received the advice that just that one chapter isn't enough- it needs more.
This got me thinking... for me, those chapters at home are really just backstory. Or intro-story. Here's my MC, this is what her life is like, this is what she's like... then boom, it's all taken away. I've been struggling over what to add, what's necessary to the story without just being info or random happenings. For me, if this isn't really where the story starts, what can I put in to make readers care about the character enough to want to take the journey with her?
I haven't found answers yet. I did find a great example of exactly what I'm struggling with though. Last week I read Grave Mercy by Robin LaFevers, an awesome YA historical that takes place in the 1400s. The story is of a girl who escapes an arranged marriage and joins a convent of women who serve Death- they are assassins. The story starts just as she's about to get married. For me, the real story could start when she gets to the convent, or even when she gets her first assignment. The other stuff we could have learned through splashes of backstory here and there. But would we have cared about her as much? I'm not sure. Robin LaFevers does an excellent job with those first chapters. They are a setup of the story to come, but they're fast-paced and interesting. We understand the MC and the choices she makes later based on those first few chapters.
Starting where the story starts isn't always as cut-and-dry as we want it to be. That's why it's important to take another piece of advice we always hear: Read Read Read! It's the best way to learn.
My daughter recently got into Anne of Green Gables. Or maybe I forced her to get into it when I made her watch all three very long movies (Anne of Green Gables, the Sequel, and the Continuing Story). Ha, just kidding. I started watching it while on the treadmill and she got interested and SHE wanted to watch it all.
I'm so happy my eight-year-old is growing to love Anne like I do. One of my favorite childhood memories is watching Anne with my Mom and eating mint chocolate chip ice cream. Now my daughter reads Road to Avonlea, and we've started watching Road to Avonlea episodes. It's been so refreshing watching a wholesome TV show.
So today, what do I love? Road to Avonlea.
And, completely unrelated, I need some book recs. First, I need some great women's fiction or chick lit recommendations. Anyone? The other I'm looking for is a medieval romance (nothing too bodice-ripping though). My character in Daze reads medieval romances and I figured I should read AT LEAST ONE so I know what they're like and what she'd learn from them. Anyone have any recommendations?
October!! It is SO fall! How does your writing (place, time, inspiration, etc)
change with the seasons?
First of all, is it really FALL? Because look at the view in my backyard right now: *sobs*
Crappy weather aside, let's get to the question.
So I could pretend to be a diligent little writer who never ever takes a break from writing, who's writing doesn't change with the seasons because I am so scheduled and so on all the time.
Wrong-o.
Actually, I am a very scheduled person. But this past summer I kind of let my whole schedule slide a bit. And I was okay with it. Summer meant an extra hour or two to sleep in. It meant spending lots of time outside. Summer was beach days and game days and spending lots of time with my kids doing what they wanted instead of what I wanted. This past summer meant no writing whatsoever.
My writing definitely picks up in the fall, slacker summer or not. Two of the three manuscripts I've written I wrote in the fall. (The third was a sequel and lower on my priority list, so I worked on it here and there, in between revisions and during querying and whenever inspiration hit.) As soon as school started this year, I got right back on schedule, carving out about 3 hours every afternoon for my writing/revisions.
Usually my writing slows down around Christmas time because, well heck it's Christmas and I'm too busy reading or watching Christmas movies in front of the fireplace and beside the Christmas tree. It picks up again with January resolutions and I usually stay pretty consistent until... summer hits again.
So there you have it: I'm a slacker during the holidays- how unoriginal. What about you? Does your writing change with the seasons?
Tuesdays are my least favorite day of the week. True story. At least it's Teaser day, which means I get to share what I'm reading and check out what other people are reading. I always love adding to my TBR list.
So here's my teaser for today from Something Strange and Deadly by Susan Dennard:
The shrieks of terror drowned me out, but I shouted again- "Go back!"- and stepped toward the spirit. My strength grew with each inch I gained. (page 33)
I got this book from the library based on a recommendation without even knowing what it was about. When I read the inside flap and saw the word ZOMBIES, I cringed. But guess what? This book has had me from page one.
This is one of those days where I stare blankly at blogger and think, what am I going to post about???
Sometimes I feel like I'm so busy that I don't have time to think. At least about extra stuff. I'm neck-deep in Sway revisions, I'm critiquing, and when I'm not doing those, my brain is busy working on revision ideas for Daze. And then of course there's mothering, cleaning, cooking, reading, trying to find time to catch up on my PVR'd TV shows, exercising, and finding the time to shower so I'm not a greasy disaster. And then we add in all the other stuff- groceries, shopping because the kids have grown out of their clothes again, driving the kids to their activities, teaching piano, church, etc.
Do you ever feel like your head is too full???
This is why I write. I write to help de-stress. To leak imagination from my brain to the computer keys, giving my head some room for the normal, every day stuff.
Unfortunately, revisions don't allow for that same pressure release. I think I've said this before, but if Dumbledore could lend me his Pensieve, I'd be really grateful.
I've got a thing for all things medieval. Which is obvious considering the MS I'm querying. I've always been a fan of the Robin Hood story- I've seen the Errol Flynn version, the Kevin Costner version, the Russell Crowe version, the cartoon version, and even the Men in Tights version (have I missed any?) So naturally, when I heard there was a TV show about Robin Hood, I decided to check it out.
I don't know much about this show. My local library has three seasons but I don't know if that's it, or if the show is still on TV, or what*. What I do know is after four episodes, I've fallen for it and I'm anxious for next episodes.
First though, a couple of pet peeves about the show:
1) It's a bit cheesy. Sometimes the dialogue, sometimes the action scenes- they induce mild eye-rolling at times.
2) Robin Hood is too scrawny. Maybe it's just me and the fact that I like my hero's with some meat and muscle on their bones. This Robin Hood needs to buff up just a tad.
3) Why won't Robin Hood kill the Sheriff already? Okay, it's a TV show, and so they've gotta keep the bad guy around, obviously. But every episode I can't help but think, if you'd just kill the guy, all your problems would be over.
Here's what I LOVE about the show:
1) Robin Hood. Yes, he's scrawny. But he's also charming and funny and rakish and roguish. I love how they didn't make him the brooding hero. We get the sense that he's got tough things from his past in the crusades, and he's serious about helping people, but that doesn't stop him from being the Robin Hood who cracks a smile, winks, or gives Marion a pick-up line. I LOVE that.
2) The Sheriff. He's not the evil-just-to-be-evil bad guy. He's the quirky bad guy who does weird things. He's an almost cheerful bad guy. But none of that takes away from the fact that he's a BAD guy.
3) Richard Armitage. Need I say more? He plays Guy of Gisbourne and, mullet aside, there's something about this guy that draws your eyes. When he's on screen he demands your attention. So far they've barely scratched the surface of him as a character but I hope they delve a lot deeper. Plus his voice is super-sexy. (Yep, I said it.)
4) Robin Hood's bestie- Mudge. Is that his name? I can't ever be sure. Anyway, this guy is so endearingly pathetic, sometimes funny, always loyal. He's another character I hope they give a little more backstory to as the episodes roll along.
5) The setting, costumes, weapons, etc. Everything medieval. They nailed it as well as putting their own spin on things too. This stuff alone makes me want to watch. And it's good for the brainstorming I'm doing for my R&R.
Are those enough reasons to check out this show? What about this?
*I just read on Wikipedia that they axed it after the 3rd season. Dang.
