The Book You Wait For
I knew it was going to be one of those books. The kind that keep you from doing anything you’re supposed to be doing, the kind that makes you stay up too late and feel terrible the next day. The kind where you cannot STAND not to turn the page, over and over again.
And nope, it was not my usual kind of love. I’m not much into futuristic dystopian societies with high discomfort factors. And this was not only riveting to read, it was also very UNCOMFORTABLE to read.
So what was the book? Well, it was The Hunger Games by Suzanne Collins. I had it under my bed in my book stash for a year and a half. Knowing I would never put it down once I picked it up, I avoided it, until my fourteen-year-old son needed it for his freshman lit class.
Wow, what a book. Here are my thoughts on what I learned about writing a book that you simply cannot put down:
–You (i.e., the reader) immediately sympathize with the heroine because she is a normal person in an impossible situation, and she immediately makes an unselfish choice that may cost her her life. She makes this choice out of love. We also learn that she has done remarkable things to keep her family alive. She is one tough cookie.
Note to aspiring author self: Don’t let you heroine hang about and wring her hands because she’s not going to the ball, Cinderella! Make her do something! Make her remarkable! Don’t let her be a victim, where things happen to her. Make her make things happen, despite her unhappy circumstances. This can be a problem amongst us historical writers–to have a strong heroine who starts off fighting against her societal constraints, etc., but still be period-appropriate. But it is essential. (The stars aligned for me at RWA and I won a critique by author Kris Kennedy who brought this to my attention. And I saw it played out in this book so well. To see Kris’s tough-cookie heroine, just read her book The Irish Warrior and you’ll see what I mean.)
–There is a very strong external conflict and it is a high-concept conflict. The heroine’s life is at risk on EVERY page. You must turn the page to find out what happens next.
Note to self: You must have an idea that is a twist or turn or a novel spin on the tried and true.
–The book jumpstarts immediately and does not let you go until the very last page. Even when the main conflict ends, we worry about something else until the very last word.
Note: Pacing pacing pacing. High stakes. We are so emotionally involved with this teenage girl, we really CARE what happens to her.
–The love triangle also has high stakes involved with it. And it is a completely mystery how the heroine is going to solve this.
Note: Keep your reader wondering.
This is really a brilliant book in so many ways. The writing is concise, the way the book is constructed (as part 1 of a trilogy) is clever. It stirs conversation about deep topics and moral issues–hence it will be perfect for my son’s lit class and many other classes, or for anyone who enjoys discussing important issues. And it will be a classic and timeless read for years to come.
The Quirky Things Writers Do
A few days ago, I finished the first draft of a novel I began writing in April under the tutelage of Lori Wilde in her Novel in Six Months Class at SavvyAuthors. It came in at around 77,000 words. Now mentally exhausted and physically drained, I took the entire weekend off to reboot my weary self. Four romantic comedies and one Jane Austenesque book later, I found myself (as I sipped cold sparkling water in my back yard while reclining with aforementioned book) becoming introspective about the crazy life writers lead.
–Writing the climax of this book-in-progess of mine was the most agonizing thing I have ever done. I could not sleep until I got my hero and heroine out of crisis and tucked safely into their happily-ever-after. It took about a week for me to navigate those tricky scenes and I was mentally and physically affected. An example: my daughter asked me a question while I was furiously typing away and I mumbled an answer…and then she asked, “Mom, why did you just answer me in a British accent?!” The characters in my head were coming out to torment the rest of my life!
–Author Steve Berry, when he spoke at RWA in NYC earlier this summer, said something really interesting. He said (and this is from scrawls in my little notebook–so it’s a paraphrase)–Every writer he’s ever known has a little voice in their head. I have known about my little voice for quite some time now. But this was a revelation! Someone was actually admitting this out loud! On observing someone or something, the voice says particular things like, she cast her weary eyes downward or her skirt pouffed out like a skein of cotton candy at the most unexpected times. What a relief to know that others hear The Voice, too!
–What caused all this reflection was a passage in the book I am currently reading, A Weekend with Mr. Darcy by Victoria Connelly. The book is about an English professor who’s secret passion is reading Regency romance novels, especially ones by a particular favorite author. (You can read more about this charming book here–this review made me instantly download the book.) Anyway, the author character in the book makes this revelatory comment about writers (here’s a bit of a setup before the comment for context):
“Warwick watched her as she looked around the hall, tiny white teeth biting her lower lip, and a part of him wanted to go help her–to take her bag and say, ‘Come this way,’ but the writer in him stayed perfectly still and watched.
That was one of the things about being a writer–one always stood slightly apart, listening and watching. It was hard to tell sometimes, if one were really alive, for life seemd to be happening to everybody else, and yet the writer’s lot seemed to be one of permanent stillness. Had Jane Austen felt like that? he wondered.”
So, do you get emotionally involved with imaginary people in your head? Have difficulties with the voice that rambles around in there at the most inappropriate times? Or find yourself observing and imbibing the details of life, sort of voyeuristically? You may not need Haldol after all…you just might be a Writer.
Keeping the Reader in the Story–Advice from Susan Elizabeth Phillips at RWA 2011
I had to go to France to find an English Garden
I just came back from the family vacation of a lifetime and wanted to share this with you…and then I promise, I will stop talking about gardens!
We went to France, even though, alas, I of course wanted to go to England. But with two teens who have taken years of French, France won out. (That’s okay, some day it will be Regency England tour without the teens!)
Below is a picture of the very French gardens at the palace of Versailles, outside of Paris. Notice the geometrical lines, the regularity imposed on the disorder of nature, which indicted how the king had the power to impose his will on his vast kingdom. (The source on this is here, a PBS link, but the picture is mine.)
The long sight lines are a metaphor for the king’s power, which extends in all directions, as far as the eye can see.
But just around the corner (okay, these gardens are pretty vast, so farther than that) is Marie Antoinette’s Hamlet (the “Hameau de la Reine”) which was her private retreat in the park of the palace built around 1785-92. This retreat was complete with rustic buildings and was a real working farm. It has a pond and a windmill and various little buildings. But the best part, at least for me, is that it has an English garden!
Notice the meandering gravel paths that wind around the sights,
the benches that offer a place to admire the view or to reflect on the scenery…
And here’s the requisite folly–the classical Temple of Love, with Cupid in the middle.
From far away, it looked really small.
Here are some shady characters crossing a little bridge.
The paths, just as in Jane Austen’s day, were quite wide, condusive to talking and walking.
But the best part of all was the ha-ha wall. (Another shady character standing atop that!)
So you can really tell a difference between the winding paths and broken vistas of the English garden vs. the linearity and expansiveness of the French one. Voila!
Next stop for me is RWA Nationals! See you all there!
In the Garden with Jane Austen: Part 2, The Shrubbery
The English garden was built to be experienced by walking through it and discovering surprising elements–vistas, benches, follies, grottoes, etc.
Garden path in a Regency shrubbery.
Look how extensive the original plan of Stowe Garden (Buckinghamshire, England) was in 1739.
This is a color plate from a book called Observations on Modern Gardening, and Laying Out Pleasure-Grounds, Parks, Ridings, etc. by Horace, Earl of Orford, and ornamented with plates chiefly designed by Mr. Wollet.
This is a German estate (Rastatt Favorite Palace) but it has an English garden.
Stowe Gardens, designed by William Kent.
Two more of Stowe, above and below.
A shrubbery could be open, i.e., planted on one side, or closed, (on both). Of course, the closed kind is far more beneficial for everything secretive your heroine must do on her socially acceptable walk, since the shrubbery will give her ample opportunity to get as close to your hero as you’d like.
This is a watercolor of Sheringham Hall in Norfolk, designed by the premier landscaper of 18th century England, Sir Humphrey Repton (1752-1818). He considered the landscaping of this estate his finest work.
This is Bramham Park, Yorkshire. The picture shows an example of the English Forest style from the early 1700’s, with avenues and extensive plantings of forest trees.
So there you have it, and not a weed in sight. 🙂