Writing 101: Know Your Enemy

It's not easy to write something great. It's not even easy to write something that no one will want to read. There's a misconception that writers simply lounge around with tape recorders and laptops all day, busily typing away without cease. That's not what it's like. It's emotionally exhausting to write, and you can sweat for four hours and complete a single page of text. There's one great enemy that can make it impossible for you to write to your best capability. Do you know what it is...and how to defeat it?

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Fear

If you're a writer, your greatest enemy is fear. Lots of writers have been battered, maybe even a little damaged, by criticism and rejection. It's easy to second-guess your writing, to stop writing and read what you've just done...and hate it. You might start thinking about how readers will react, how literary agents will react, how publishers might react. What will the reviewers say? Will they see this coming? Will they say your writing is terrible?

Fear can easily take over your writing, and you may not even know it. It's important to stay organized when you're writing, to keep track of all your characters and always be writing toward some important plot goal. But you can't allow yourself to get too caught up in those details, and start focusing too much on trying to be perfect. Don't let fear of making mistakes keep you from writing. When you let fear do the writing, you're not going to be writing very well.

When you write, you have to know how to let go every once in a while. Just start writing -- don't think about it too much. If you just loosen up and type, you may be amazed by the words that appear on the page. In your first draft, you should always play things a little bit loose and stay relaxed. Don't think about the reviews. Don't think about agents. Don't think about the fans. Just write. When you go back later and edit, you can start stressing and fretting again. When you write that first draft fearlessly, your creativity will be at its best.

Writing 101: What Are You Reading?

Writers are supposed to be in their own heads a little bit. You have to completely immerse yourself in the world you're inventing in order to write it properly, don't you? But you've got to step outside of that world every once in a while, and into someone else's. What are you reading right now....and are you reading for you, or to improve your writing? 

Reading and Writing

Lots of writers also enjoy reading. Many authors have been inspired by other authors. I have a few particular favorites, myself. But you shouldn't necessarily be reading those authors that you love -- at least, not all of the time. Some of the time, you've got to read in order to improve your writing. You've also got to read to make sure you're writing within your own genre, and that you're marketing toward the right audience.

Think of it as reconnaissance. If you're writing YA books, shouldn't you be reading other YA books to see what's happening in the genre? Sure, it only makes sense. Make it a point to read popular novels in your genre, so you get a feel for what your peers are doing. 

Speaking of which, you should also be reading other indie authors. See what they're doing, and what's working and what isn't working. It's instructive to read great writing, but it's also instructive to read any writing.Read books like yours and authors like you, and you'll learn a great deal about how to be a better writer.

Books on Film: Dracula

How good is Bram Stoker's novel Dracula? So good, kids are still dressing up like his main character more than 100 years later. The novel was originally written in 1897, but it's come to life many times since then.

The Book

We're celebrating scary books this October, but Dracula is about a lot more than cheap thrills. The book touches upon the role of women in Victorian society, sex, even immigration (still a hot-button issue in some countries). Bram Stoker wasn't the very first author to write about vampires, but he's famous for bringing the vampire into the modern world. 

It's one of the most-adapted novels ever written. It's been around long enough to be adapted for the stage and the screen many, many times over. Dracula centers around a title character who is quite thoroughly undead, though many protagonists help to tell the story through diaries, letters, newspaper clippings and ship logs.

Dracula is the title character and the villain. Jonathan Harker is the hero. He's going to Dracula's castle in the Carpathian Mountains, and considering the year he's traveling by train. Harker is an Englishman and quite the upstanding, proper young man. A lawyer, Harker is going to meet with Count Dracula regarding the sale of some real estate. He becomes a prisoner in the castle, and begins to notice some rather odd things about the Count.

Later, a ship runs aground at Varna. The log reveals a strange set of circumstances on board, perhaps perpetrated by the mysterious dog that reportedly leapt ashore. The ship comes from Transylvania, near Count Dracula's castle. 

Elsewhere, Dracula locates Harker's fiancee Mina Murray and her friend Lucy. Lucy is vivacious and pretty, and so popular that she receives multiple marriage proposals in a single day. Lucy finally accepts Holmwood. But strangely, she falls ill. Lucy loses weight dramatically, and one of her suitors calls in a professor he knows, Van Helsing. Van Helsing examines Lucy and knows just what's wrong with her, but won't tell the others. When blood transfusions do not work to cure her, Van Helsing leaves to do more research. Lucy and her mother are attacked by a wolf, and both apparently die in the onslaught.

When rumors of a mysterious woman terrorizing children in the night surface, Van Helsing reveals the truth to the others: Lucy is a vampire. He rounds up a crew, and they go to track her down. Lucy's head is chopped off, her heart staked and her mouth stuffed with garlic.

Dracula doesn't like the looks of this vampire-hunting crew at all, especially when Harker and his new wife Mina join in on the frenzy. He visits her and feeds her his own blood, creating a bond with her. The two begin to communicate telepathically. Still, Dracula has to flee back to his castle. Now, Van Helsing has caught on to Mina's strangeness and he's taken to hypnotizing her. 

The crew finally collapses on the count's castle and kill him. When Dracula crumbles to ash, Mina is free. The couple lives happily ever after in the final pages of the book, a pretty tame ending for an otherwise exciting story.

Victorian readers, Stoker's peers, didn't widely love the book. It was much less popular than gothic and horror novels written by his contemporaries (like Mary Shelley), but became incredibly popular among more modern readers.

Of course, all the adaptations didn't hurt.

The Films

Stoker wrote the very first adaptation of his work, which played at the Lyceum Theater in London. Movie versions were made in the 20s, in the 30s, in the 50s, in the 90s, about 8 years ago...so far, there are around 217 films based on the book.

But the definitive Dracula was re-told on film in 1931 starring the incomparable Bela Lugosi, heralded as one of the greatest horror actors. This version greatly expands on the role of the background character Renfield, no one knows why, who becomes something of a slave to Dracula. Renfield assumes all of Jonathan Harker's early duties in the story, and becomes the lawyer who travels to the castle in Harker's stead. Harker is merely Mina's fiancee, whom Dracula meets when he makes it to London. Lucy dies a much more respectable death this time around, and Renfield has become a raving lunatic. 

Van Helsing appears again to lead the mob against Dracula. There are numerous attacks and added scenes revolving around Renfield, though Lucy does wake up and terrorize the neighborhood kids like she's supposed to. Dracula is killed in his coffin by Van Helsing and Harker, who ends up taking his lady love off to safety once more.

Two scenes were cut from the 1931 film because the Production Code of the day wouldn't allow them. One was an epilogue in which Van Helsing appears to give the audience a final fight. The scene has since been lost.

Another truly great version of the story wouldn't be made until 1992. Gary Oldman plays Dracula this time, while Winona Ryder becomes Mina. Anthony Hopkins is vampire killer Van Helsing, and Keanu Reeves is Jonathan Harker. This version rather faithfully follows the original book, though it does add a love element between Mina and Dracula and more clearly emphasizes the link between Count Dracula and Vlad the Impaler, Stoker's original inspiration for the character.

What Got Adapted?

In the book, Dracula seeks out Mina with no good intention. In the 1992 film of the same name, he's chasing Mina because he loves her. On film, the count has a former wife who killed herself, and this was not the case in the novel. In the book, Mina is very much opposed to Dracula and very engaged in hunting him down and killing him. In some circles, she's even considered to be a contemporary take on the classic Victorian female -- ahead of her time. In the book, Mina is reduced to a somewhat lovestruck little girl who attempts to save Dracula's life. Nor is Dracula the type of guy who would win a lady's heart in the novel. He's a villain through and thought in the book, and it's all rather black and white. The book Dracula would have killed her without flinching.

But the story is still pretty good, whether you read the original 1897 version or enjoy one of the films made way later. Dracula is still one of the most iconic villains ever created, and vampires are still a mainstay of fiction. You have Bram Stoker to thank for it.

Justice Has Been Panda-Approved for Human Readers

"Jade Varden really has a way with bringing her story to life, I could easily picture everything that was happening and I was never bored." 

"You really can't go wrong, especially if you're looking for a quick, light YA read filled with intrigue and mystery."

Justice (Deck of Lies, #1) has been reviewed at Panda Reads and approved for even non-bear readers.  Visit the blog to read the whole thing, and find out which well-known author the reviewer compared me to!

Fiction Fashion Icon: Cathy

It is the job of all authors to bring their characters to life. Most well-loved characters have a distinct look, noticeable characteristics, great flaws and strengths. Some authors even take things one step further, and create a distinct style for their leading ladies. To honor some of the great fiction fashion icons that I've read over the years, I'm introducing a new feature with one of my most favorite characters: Cathy Dollanganger.

Fashionable Femme Fatale 

Cathy Dollanganger is the main protagonist of the Dollanganger series, which spanned five books. The series was introduced in a debut novel from V.C. Andrews, Flowers in the Attic. It became an instant hit, though the movie didn't fare quite so well, and launched a career that has, phenomenonally, continued with new novels even beyond the author's death.  

It all began with Cathy. Through the series, she goes from age 9 to age 59 (or thereabouts), and that's a whole lot of clothes. For some special scenes, readers are treated to Cathy's outfits in exquisite detail. In fact, clothes are used to illustrate a lot of the turmoil she feels in the first book of the series. 

While Cathy is locked away in Flowers in the Attic, clothes are given to her by her mother Corrine, the woman who did the locking up. They're a compensation of sorts for the miserable life Cathy and her sister and brothers are now being forced to lead. In one memorable scene, Corrine gives Cathy beautiful ballet costumes so she can continue to live her dream of one day becoming a prima ballerina. The clothing is so beautiful, and represents so much, it fills Cathy's heart with love.

Later, clothes fill her heart with anger. After an extended trip away from her children, Corrine returns with tons of gifts...and more pretty fashions for Cathy. But as she tries them on, Cathy realizes that her mother is still buying clothing for a little girl -- a little girl she no longer is. The clothes represent all the neglect, and the blind eye Corrine is using to view the situation she's trapped her children inside. Cathy hates those clothes! She rips them off, tears them up and cries bitterly. 

Fashion...it's such a fantastic plot device. Clothing continues to be important in Cathy's life. She goes on a shopping spree in the next book of the series, Petals on the Wind, and the new items represent a freedom of choice she has never before enjoyed as a young woman. 

When Cathy is an adult, later in the book, fashion becomes her greatest weapon. By now, many years separate Cathy from her attic days of captivity, but the bitterness and anger has taken root in her and blossomed into full-blown revenge. It's not enough that she's free. It's not enough that she's achieved her dreams. It's not enough until her mother Corrine suffers. Isn't fashion a great way to make that happen? 

When Cathy decides to take her mother's husband, she invites him to dinner and dons a sexy red dress. The details of Cathy's seduction outfit are carefully revealed, and it's fair to say that she doesn't get the reaction from Bart that she wanted. He gets the wrong message from the red dress, and the entire plan pretty much falls apart. 

For the most climactic scene of Petals on the Wind, the huge confrontation for which readers waded through hundreds of pages to get to, Cathy plans her outfit much, much more carefully. For the ending scenes of the book, Cathy dons an outfit so important and so well-described, it cements her as one of my favorite fiction fashion icons. 

The green dress Cathy wears the night Foxworth Hall burns down was first seen years and years before, in Flowers in the Attic. The Christmas Party represents one of the only times during their attic imprisonment that Cathy gets to leave the little room in the big mansion, and the green dress is a fundamental part of the imagery of the party. It's worth by the ever-beautiful Corrine, Cathy's mother, as she dances and flirts with her soon-to-be-husband Bart. The green dress is a combination of velvet and chiffon, and it represents everything Cathy hopes to be when she grows up. 

Years later, the green dress becomes her symbol of revenge. She has it re-made in exquisite detail and copies the hairstyle her mother originally donned when it was worn so many years before in Cathy's childhood. She even sneaks into the mansion to steal the same emerald jewelry that Corrine paired with the dress the first time. In this grand fashion, Cathy makes her re-entrance into her mother's life. 

Revenge fashion is delicious when it's described by V.C. Andrews. The dress continues to be present through all the final scenes of Petals on the Wind, which ends in stunning fashion, and it left a huge impression on me the first time I read it. Every time I see green velvet paired with green chiffon, I think of Cathy Dollanganger, revenge, and blazing fire. It's a lot of powerful images, and it's all held together by some of the best fiction fashion you'll find in any book.

Writing 101: First-Person Interaction

Writing in the first person takes a lot of skill. When it's done well, it can really bring the main character and the story to life. Readers will truly feel and think like that character, truly live inside your fictional world. But when it's done badly, your writing will feel distracting, confusing...and sometimes, even silly. 

It's My World, You're Just Reading in It 

Writing in the first person takes a very delicate hand. You don't want to over-load the book with "I." It gets boring when every sentence or paragraph starts out that way, and the last thing you want to create in your writing is repetition. You have to make sure you describe the character to the audience somehow, and that's tricky. You have to remember to see everything through the character's eyes; they probably can't read minds or hear thoughts, so they have to rely on observation alone to figure out what's going on. 

But you also have to remember something else when you're writing in the first person, something that many writers tend to forget: you character can't see their own face. 

And when authors forget that, it's just bad writing. Here's an example of what you should not do if you're writing first-person interaction: 

"Jade, I really hate to tell you this...but you use bad grammar." Lily was afraid to meet my eyes when she told me. 

She could tell from my stricken expression that I was upset. We both looked tense as we sat, staring at each other across a chasm of truths.

Stop! There's so much wrong here, it's hard to know where to start. First and foremost, "Jade" in the example above doesn't know what Lily is thinking, or what Lily can tell. But more importantly, "Jade" shouldn't be able to tell that her own expression is stricken because the scene infers that Jade is looking at Lily, and Lily is clearly not a mirror. The main character is also clearly in her own body and relating this experience because she was present inside of it. Therefore, she can't know how her and Lily look as they're having this discussion.

These are some of the reasons why it's so hard to write in the first person. If you're coming at the reader with an "I" perspective, you may not be in a position to make a lot of observations about how "I" look. But there's still plenty of room for description. "I" can still hear my own voice, and "I" can feel my own face. The first-person character will know when they're smiling, or raising an eyebrow, or crying. They may not necessarily know that they look crushed and hurt by something, or that they are glowing with happiness -- observations like this need to come from dialogue with other characters or interaction with a reflective surface.

First-person interaction with another character is a fine art. The best way to write it well is to completely immerse yourself inside your character's world. Really see your scenes unfolding as you write them and literally put yourself in that character's place. This will make it easier to write naturally from the first person and make observations that are actually plausible.

Writing 101: Quotes Within Quotes

Ever told someone about a song you like, and they didn't recognize it, so you had to sing a few lines? Ever mention a great line you heard on that TV show you love? Ever told a friend what another friend said about them, word for word? Yeah, there are lots of reasons why you might need to use quotes within quotes when you're writing. Don't ignore the simple punctuation rules that dictate exactly how you're allowed to do it. 

Double Punctuation, and Other Disasters

Lots of things have to be enclosed in quotation marks when you're writing. Proper titles of magazine articles, exact quotes, clever nicknames, popular sayings -- you might use quotes around all that stuff. But if you're already using quotes because you're mentioning these things in dialogue, then you've got to use a form of double punctuation: quotes within quotes.

It's really easy to get them wrong. It doesn't help that there's a lot of confusion surrounding proper quotation punctuation in the first place; the British do it differently than the Americans, and it turns into a punctuation free-for-all where authors have trouble figuring out the proper format and going a wildly inconsistent route instead. 

But I digress. Here's all you need to know about quotes within quotes: you can't repeat the same mark consecutively. What's that mean? I'll show you:

"Mary told me that her and Johnny are just 'friends.'" Christie rolled her eyes when she said it, making her own opinion on the matter pretty clear. 

It goes without saying that you won't put quotes in red when you're writing, but I'm making a point. The single quotation mark is surrounding friends because Christie is repeating a direct quote from Mary, as the passage explains. Both the single quotation and the double quotation, which is at the end of the sentence because it closes the dialogue being spoken aloud, are behind the period. It looks terrible. 

But it's technically correct. Now, you may not always be ending a sentence on a quote, but basic punctuation rules still apply. 

"She told me last week that she would 'consider it' if he asked her out, though," Becca offered.

No additional punctuation is required with the single quotation mark inside the dialogue above; I'm treating it the exact same way I would treat double quotation marks. 

More importantly, I'm not repeating quotation marks. The double quotes go around the entire piece of dialogue, as is proper, but I'm using single marks around the quote inside that dialogue. I wouldn't use double quotes around consider it (to use the previous example) because it's just too darned confusing (and also incorrect). 

If you're writing in the Queen's English and you read the Oxford English Dictionary instead of American Heritage, flip it around. Sometimes, British writers use single quotations around dialogue instead of double, but the rules don't change. Don't repeat the same quotation mark type if you're writing quotes within quotes. It's either double-single-single-double, or single-double-double-single, and those are your only two options.

That's what I love about punctuation. It's always very cut-and-dry, with definite rules. Punctuation is one of the only things you can get right for sure, because readers are going to have an opinion about everything else.

Writing 101: The Monologue

Some of the greatest fiction characters ever written have wonderful monologues where they reveal some inner truth or meaningful plot point. Fancier folks might call the long-winded, solo speech known as the monologue a soliloquy instead, but it amounts to the same thing. One of the most famous monologues ever written begins with the phrase "to be, or not to be." Lots of authors want to write a great one, and use them to create dramatic scenes. But writing the monologue is an art form, and it's not something you should be doing at all lightly.

Talking with Myself 

The monologue is just a one-sided speech. A single character takes center stage, so to speak, to reveal something important. A monologue can be an actual speech that's being delivered to one or more characters, but some writers have their characters speak aloud to themselves. In the same vein, monologues can be internal speech -- the character "talking" to themselves inside their own thoughts. 

What's the point? Monologues are used to tell the reader information they've got to have. Often, the monologue reveals the character's inner thoughts and provides explanation for past or future actions. There are many great dramatic scenes that feature a central character delivering a powerful monologue. Many actors memorize monologues from plays and movies for auditions; they use them to demonstrate their ability to bring drama or humor to their stage of choice. You'll find monologues in books like Dracula, The Princess Bride and The Crucible.

Writing Monologues

They're great. A good monologue can echo in the mind for ever. But like every other literary device, they can be over-done. If you're going to write a monologue, take care to do so in discerning, not distracting, way.

• People don't speak in monologues. 

It's hard to incorporate a monologue into a book for one simple reason: people don't talk that way. When was the last time you honestly stood up in front of anyone else and pontificated on a subject, revealing some inner thoughts to bare your soul? ...Without getting interrupted? We live in a very verbal society, and if you can rattle off four sentences of though-provoking subject matter without getting stopped by a stray comment from someone else you're either a politician or a gifted orator...or talking to very young children. 

When was the last time you stood in an empty room and eloquently discussed the inner workings of your mind with the walls? Exactly. People don't speak in monologues, and in books long speeches just don't make for good dialogue.

• Speaking of speaking...

That's another problem with monologues: formatting. Big chunks of text aren't pretty and they aren't easy to read, so you aren't doing your book any favors if you've got a lot of them. In books, speech is properly formatted when it begins and ends in quotation marks.

However, you have to start a new paragraph when you're pursuing a new subject -- even if you have to do it in the middle of a monologue. When a character is speaking, and continues speaking through a new paragraph, you do not close the previous paragraph with a quotation mark...but you do open the new paragraph with one. Example: 

"Henceforth, I shall be known to one and all as Jelly Bean, for I am now the czar of that particular candy and I'll accept nothing less.

"If I am incorrectly addressed by anyone from now on, I shall simply have their heads removed from their shoulders, lest they be tempted to make the mistake a second time." 

See what I mean? When the paragraphs are quite long (and the speech is quite long-winded), the eye begins to wander. Readers aren't going to stick with a long speech unless it's incredibly juicy. If it's really good and juicy, this only increases the likelihood that another character will interrupt the monologue. Always write to reality, don't write to be writing.

• Don't patronize me.

Monologues can become a little patronizing, depending on how much explaining you're actually doing. Writing a monologue for monologuing's sake can cause this mistake. Make sure you're giving the reader information that they have not already received. Otherwise, you're just wasting everyone's time and your own book space. You usually won't have to explain things twice to your readers, and if you've written your character well enough chances are good that they're going to understand the character's thoughts and motives already. 

When they're necessary and dramatic, monologues can be wonderful. Just remember that it's a short slide from literary genius to bad writing; the line is very fine indeed. When you're writing monologues, keep this in mind: if you're bored while writing it, there's no chance that I'm going to be excited when I read it.