The Importance of Input for Output

It’s been awhile since I’ve done an input/output entry. Lately I’ve been reading a great deal of non-fiction, books I’m not all that into, and watching a lot of episodic television, so I haven’t had much input to speak of.

I believe this directly correlates with how much trouble I’ve had writing this month.

I’ve said it so many times before: writers have to be avid readers. We have to constantly stimulate the mind in order to stay in touch with our creative sides; too much of our daily grind causes a complete shutdown of creativity, so in order to nurture, to cultivate a mind fertile for ideas to grow, it needs nutrients.

I’ve been starving my poor mind of stimulating input.

It’s true that I’ve had spurts of good, fun writing this month, but overall it’s been a slogfest.

Until two days ago. Writing the last two days has been easier than it has been all month. Fun even.

It’s possible that it’s because I’m nearing the end of my story – I’m finally on the downhill stretch, things are finally starting to happen, my characters are starting to reach the crest of their character arcs – but I think all of these things are happening because I finally read a book I was really excited about.

I have to remember to read while I’m writing. It’s tough sometimes to make time to write, let alone read, but the two go hand in hand.

Which brings me to this post’s actual input choice:

Grave Dance, by Kalayna Price

It only took me two days to read this book. I realized as I was reading it how much of my world in Online Dating for Demons was influenced by this series. My female lead has similar promiscuity issues, there’s a heavy use of glamour, the way magic/supernatural works in the world is similar. The main difference is I use demons instead of faeries.

I didn't mean to steal so blatantly from this author, but her books, while being pretty fluffy paranormal romance, are pretty awesome.

So. Yeah. If you like my story, you will love this series.

And with the help of this book and my writing group, my story will be done by midnight tomorrow, just in time for the end of National Novel Writing Month. I'm taking a long nap after that, and a short hiatus from writing.

Input/Output: Music and Art

Go listen

Are writers artists? I tend to think so. We are subject to all the same neurosis that other artists are.

Same with musicians. They are definitely artists.

As a writer, I talk a lot about other writers and books that influence me, but sometimes I forget how much the other categories of artists inspire me, as well.

Music is a big one. When I listen to instrumental music, I see worlds and envision scenes to fit with that music. When I was a kid, I used to lie in bed listening to my favorite movie soundtracks and make up new stories to go with them. Hell, I still do that. For Monsters, I have a Pandora station based around Evanescence and other angsty female rock bands, but I've actually found the Tron: Legacy soundtrack has shaped my story quite a bit - or at least inspired scenes I hadn't previously considered.

Last night, I went to a concert for these three amazing guitarists - one of them originally from Topeka. They are touring all over the country right now. The lead guy, Andy McKee, became an almost overnight sensation when he put himself on Youtube. Seeing him on stage, having a blast, doing what he loves and making a living at it - just the look of passion and being truly alive as he entertained us - inspires me a great deal to continue to push myself to follow my dreams.

Visual arts - painting and drawing and sculptures and photography - also trigger stories in me. I have always struggled with setting. I have a vague idea of what something looks like, but the details are missing in my writing. Visual representations help me really think about the details.  Also, sometimes a picture will really speak to me and I'll be driven to write a story that fits the scene. I'll want to tell the story of how that domed city on the cliff came to be, or why the sky has inexplicable green miasma in it, and where that dragon got all of those books. Then characters start to wander around inside the images to answer all of these questions for me.

I support all of my other fellow artists in the small ways that I can. I buy their products, I look for more stuff that they’ve done, I tell my friends about their work. I can't wait to buy the two anthologies my writing friend R.L.Naquin is about to be published in. As an artist myself, I like to enable other artists who are trying to make their way with their art, in hopes that someday people will support me and my passion.

It’s a whole other blog entry, but most of the time, artists who are trying to make it do it because they are driven to do it, not because they want to. Who would choose that life? It’s incredibly hard work full of constant self-doubt and the fear that you are just a passing fad or you won’t be able to finish the next project on which your next paycheck depends.

This input/output is a shout out to all my fellow artists, and a plea to the rest of you to support the artists you admire. Keep doing what you do. Maybe buy one of my books someday.

I Found Number Four!

I knew there was something I was forgetting last entry, and I finally remembered what it was. It was a quick input/output I wanted to do.

As you probably already know, I read a lot. I feel it's as essential for a writer to read as it is to write. Ehem. Sorry. Soapbox. So. As an avid reader, I've read a lot of novelists' first books. I've found that first published novels fall into two categories. One: the book has such a good idea, and there really is something shiny about it, but the writing has some room for improvement. In these cases (even with Stephanie Meyer - please don't throw shoes at me for saying this), the following books are always leaps and bounds better written as the novelist refines his or her style and voice. Practice makes perfect and all.

In the second category: the book is absolutely phenomenal. This story idea has been peculating in the author's mind since birth and has grown and morphed into the best book it can be over the years.

Obviously, I'm hoping that my first novel will fall in the second category. I have a feeling it'll be the first, though. But I think I'm ok with that.

Anyway. I digress.

What I wanted to tell you is that I am reading The Warded Man, by Peter V. Brett right now, and this is a book that blows the second category's mind. It's not like the Cassandra Clare novels that I love because they were the books I wanted to write. This is an epic fantasy so sublime that I could never hope to write anything nearly as amazing. This world is rich and vibrant and extensive. The characters are complex and varied, and very real people. And the writing - oh my goodness the writing - is brilliant: paced just right, with strategically placed world building that makes the backdrop vivid without bogging the story down, it has a fantastic balance of action, narrative, dialog, and backstory; and it is the easiest thing in the world to read, direct entertaining, without the typical flowery, distracting description that most fantasy novels are known for.

What I am saying is, first and foremost, if you like fantasy, you will love this book. It's a series, I believe. It has one sequel out, and it looks like the next one will be out sometime in 2012.

What I am also saying is that books like this discourage the hell out of me. I look at the novels I've partially written and vaguely finished, and I can't even begin to hold a candle to this author's blaze.

But then I read blog posts from my writing group buddy, R.L. Naquin, that remind me It's Not a Competition, and I realize I should stop comparing myself to other writers.

My first novel will be amazing in its own right, regardless of whether it lands in the first or second category.

And besides...sometimes those folks in the second category never write another book, or another book as good as their first. I plan on writing dozens of books, each better than the last. The only person I am in competition with is myself.

The Input/Output for Camp Nanowrimo

Urban fantasy has been the rising star genre lately. I'll admit, I read a lot of it. It's always so jam packed full of action and horror and fantastical creatures and, as long as it's not YA, some sex thrown in (although even then, sometimes you get some good before-the-cutaway scenes).

It's all so fun and fluffy. So dramatic. No wonder people like it. It's almost like watching television.

Since I enjoy reading the genre so much, I've really wanted to try writing it for awhile.

Enter Camp Nanowrimo. What better genre to write when trying to cram a 50,000 word novel into a month?

And so my first true attempt at urban fantasy is beginning to take shape. I'm roughly 11,500 words in, and I haven't introduced my first supernatural creature yet - at least not a full frontal look. Lots of things lurking in the shadows and the corner of the protagonist's eye. But the big reveal is a scene that's coming up soon, and then it will all be chaos and action and blood and fighting and death. Rawr!

I'm only slightly worried about the fact that I am terrible at writing action scenes.

Anita Blake Vampire Hunter Guilty Pleasures Vol 1

I've found while writing this particular story that I am pulling a lot from the Anita Blake novels. Anita Blake is a badass vampire executioner who also happens to be a necromancer. All kinds of baddies from vampires to zombies to shapeshifters make trouble for her. Some of the snippets I've written, jumping ahead in the narrative, have been a bit influenced by Hamilton's world and style. It's also interesting because her books take place in St. Louis, Missouri. So not too far from home, since my story takes place in Lawrence, Kansas.

The other series I am finding myself heavily influenced by is the Mortal Instruments books by Cassandra Clare. I love the world she created, with the angels vs. demons dynamic, not to mention her characters are dynamic and deep. Her pacing is excellent and her dialog is brilliant - laugh out loud funny at times. The entire time I was reading, I kept thinking "these are the books I've always wanted to write." So now I am. I've stolen a couple of character traits and other ideas from her novels. I can't quite nail down the humor, though. I'm just not that funny, I guess. Don't get me wrong, I find myself hilarious, but not many other people get my sense of humor.

Diana, maiden goddess of the hunt

I've also found myself drawing from Greek/Roman mythology. I'm not sure how it happened, but I have two characters based on Roman gods. Their stories are nothing like the stories of those gods, but I've stolen character traits and relationships from these two gods. My protagonist is named Diana, which I thought appropriate since she is going to become a vampire hunter. I've given some of the traits associated with the goddess to her. That's all I will say for now, in case this story turns out to be any good. I would hate to give out spoilers for my own work.

Finally, both surprisingly and unsurprisingly, a lot of my own life experiences have inspired this story. A year ago this month my mother passed away after a long fight against breast cancer. While I am so lucky to have lots of friends and family left, I got to thinking about a person who might not have much family after losing someone close. And what if that person had the only family member she had left violently taken from her? What would that look like? How would I react? I have put a lot of myself into my protagonist, even if she isn't actually me. In a way, all of my protagonists are me, or at least share some of my experiences.

But I digress.

And I procrastinate.

It's time to go work on that novel I've been yammering about.