Accepting Criticism and Critiques

Every novelist, every short story writer, every student and every person who has picked up a pen or pencil has encountered criticism in their life. Whether it is for work, school or play, the beautiful or ugly head of the critique will rear up and take nibbles from your written words. This can be a painful or a liberating process, depending on just how harsh the critique is and how thin (or thick) your skin is.

This blog post is intended for anyone who enjoys to write. It does not have to be for the science fiction or fantasy author. This blog post is intended for anyone who wishes to pick up a pen and express themselves on paper.

In fact, this is intended for anyone who has ever had the urge to get up and create something unique to themselves.

Having the courage to accept a critique and criticism is difficult for many people. Writers, painters and artists of all types tend to be emotional about their work. It is through dedication, passion and love of the craft that many pick up the pen, the brush or their instruments and struggle to make their art something that can be shared with others.

Some people never get the courage to share their works with others at all, which is the greatest tragedy of all.

Now that I have the little intro out of the way, let us dive down into the meat of this subject!

1: Asking for Critiques and Criticism

The first step to successfully surviving a critique is knowing how to ask for a critique. Every editor, reader or author critiques writing differently. If you just tell a person to "read my work and give me feedback", you may be setting yourself up for a lot of trouble. A *lot* of trouble.

Allow me to explain.

Feedback covers a lot of ground. Another writer who is reading your piece may work very hard to provide a meaningful critique that covers aspects of your story that need correction. They may, in the course of writing the critique, comment on your characters, your writing style, your dialog, your scene set-up and much, much more. They may find those little plot bunnies that have nested in important places. They might even locate discrepancies on the appearance of your characters.

For someone who is new to accepting critiques, this can be devastating. Thick skin is not something most people have in large amounts just as they begin. Because of this, you may wish to ask for certain things when you seek a critique.

Ask questions. This will help those who are critiquing know what you are looking for. If you need help with grammar, ask for advice on how to improve your grammar. Directed criticism is easier to swallow and can be extremely useful. In addition to this, if the critiquer knows that you need help with your grammar, they may explain the *why* to the rules, and not just point out that you have broken them.

In addition to this, you will want to ask your readers to avoid certain subjects if you are not comfortable with them, or you are already *so* well aware you have problems with them. This can let the reader know you're aware of the problem. That saves them time and allows them to focus their attention elsewhere. If you have thin skin syndrome, you can limit the amount of critiquing you have to swallow at any one given time.

2: Who to ask for Critiques and Criticism

If the first half of the battle is knowing what to get critiqued on, the second half is knowing who to ask for the critiques. There are many characteristics to good and bad critiquing partners. I can not sit here, hold your hand, and tell you exactly what makes a good partner for you. This is a personal process.

However, I can tell you what I look for in a partner.

First, I look for three or four basic types of people:

1: The Reader
2: The Writer
3: The Editor / Grammar Nazi
4: None of the Above

1: The Reader

This person loves books. They love reading the genre I am writing. They will dive into a story of any length and plow through it to the bitter end. They love to read.

This is the type of person I want *buying* my book. If I can't hold this person's attention, all of my work and effort has been done for nothing.

Unfortunately, it often defeats the purpose to ask 'The Reader' for specific critiques. Their feedback is so vital I tell these people to "Write whatever they feel at the time they read. It is important."

This type of critique tends to hurt the most. Why? I can't really tell them not to hit on any subject, and they are not writers. Their honesty is most valuable, but is also the most painful for me to cope with.

2: The Writer

This is your direct peer. The writer is that person who is taking the same exact journey that you are. They are trying to write a book they can share with others!

Writers tend to get together in packs. In a way, critiques from writers is similar to herding cats. There are know-it-all writers, writers with no confidence, and writers with too much confidence. There are those who are afraid to critique you honestly in fear that you will be harsh on their writing. Getting a critique from a writer is very much like reaching blindly into a bag of candies and hoping for that one type of chocolate bar that you really like.

Usually, you will get the tootsie roll. That is great, if you like tootsie rolls.

That said, I have gotten some very useful critiques from writers, but you need to be aware that getting critiques from your peer group can have its risks.

Sugar coating may be found in thick, sticky, gooey supply from this category of individuals.

3: The Editor

If you have an editor in your pocket, treat him or her like they are crafted of fine crystal and pay them in gold. They are worth their weight in it. An editor is often a reader and a writer, and blend the best of both worlds. They know the craft. They know their business.

You can trust an editor to be honest with you. It does not profit them in any way not to be honest. However, there are a few things you do need to keep in mind.

Not all editors are created equal, and not all editors are out to get you published. If you have an editor in your pocket, ask yourself if this person is actually an editor, or if they are a talented writer with editing tendencies. When I say editor, I mean a true editor: that poor person who spends their day leashed to a desk reading our manuscripts on a day to day basis.

Writer beware: an Editor is often constrained on time. As such, they will not sugar coat their commentary. Thick skin is definitely a requirement.

4: None of the Above

What? This doesn't make sense?

Sure, it does. If you have a friend who is neither a reader, editor *or* a writer, but is willing to read your book anyway, you may have something truly special.

Most people are aware of the phenomena of Twilight and Harry Potter. These books, somehow, not only snapped up the attention of those who like to read, but they grabbed those who typically did not as well.

Knowing how your book ranks among those who don't usually like to read can give you some surprising insight. You may even target those who *do* read, but don't read your genre. Either way, thick skin is required, but there is a lot to learn from those poor victims you manage to subject to your work who wouldn't typically pick your book up while in a bookstore. In fact, getting these people into a bookstore in the first place might have taken a miracle if they weren't your friends already.

3: Developing Thick Skin

So, you have identified the types of people you want to get critiques from and you have put some thought into what questions you wish to ask. Now, you need to know what to do with the critiques you do get.

First thing should come first: develop some thick skin.

The first critiques you receive may put you on edge. They may make you want to quit writing because you have been told just how terrible your writing is by someone.

First, it is okay to get upset. However, get upset in private. Never let your critiquer know you have gotten upset. Deep breaths.

This is the first stage of developing thick skin. Repeat the process until you can sit at your computer and feel like your chest is tight, but you can accept the words written on your screen. It hurts, but it helps.

Not all writers will have problems developing thick skin. However, you will only get thick skin if you subject yourself to enough critiques. It truly is a chicken and egg situation.

4: Making use of the Critique

Now it is time for you to make sense of the critique.

Read every bit of the critique before you put any serious thought into anything written in the critique. Everyone writes a critique differently. They may be disjointed, with some thoughts tying into commentary found at the end of the critique. Plow through the critique and make certain you have read all of the commentary first.

Next, go over the critique again and see what immediate points make sense. Take notes on the obvious corrections. Don't implement them now, but make certain you are aware of the changes you want to make.

The rest of the critique you will need to evaluate carefully. Does the critiquer bring up a good point, but you do not know how to deal with it? Does the critiquer mention something that makes absolutely no sense to you?

Does the critiquer comment on something that gets explained later? Sometimes pacing your novel to reveal important details can be difficult. Could this be an indicator you have failed at it?

Every critique is the *opinion* of the writer of the critique. You do not have to make use of the suggestions made in that critique. However, if you asked for a critique, it is your responsibility to at least take the time to properly read through the critique.

Yes, even if the person writing the critique seems to be a hater who wants to bring you down. Amidst their hate, they may have painful little truths that can do your book a world of good. Don't rashly discard a critique because you do not like what is written within it. This may be one of the biggest mistakes that you can make as a writer.

5: Give yourself some time

There are some errors, such as a grammar error, or a misspelling, that could use immediate repair. However, I would always put a week's worth of time between a critique and making changes if possible. This will give you adequate cool-down time and also permit you to clearly think of the best way to improve your story.

Granted, some people do not have the luxury of this time. Especially with looming deadlines.

What others have to say on Critiquing and Criticism

This would not be a very good resource blog if I did not include resources on critiquing and criticism.

Information on how to critique a novel: (I am not responsible for some of the horrendous colours found on these pages. My apologies, but the information was quite useful, even if I could live without the neon pink.)

Writing a Critique
How to Critique Fiction - Victoria Crayne
Vancouver Public Library - Novel Critique Section
Fiction Factor

And as a treat, a few quotes for your reading pleasure!

• A successful person is one who can lay a firm foundation with the bricks that others throw at him or her. - David Brinkley
• Criticism is prejudice made plausible. - H. L. Mencken
• It is not the critic who counts, not the man who points out how the strong man stumbled, or where the doer of deeds could have done better. The credit belongs to the man who is actually in the arena, whose face is marred by dust and sweat and blood, who strives valiantly, who errs and comes short again and again, who knows the great enthusiasms, the great devotions, and spends himself in a worthy cause, who at best knows achievement and who at the worst if he fails at least fails while daring greatly so that his place shall never be with those cold and timid souls who know neither victory nor defeat. - Theodore Roosevelt
• Criticism may not be agreeable, but it is necessary. It fulfils the same function as pain in the human body. It calls attention to an unhealthy state of things. - Winston Churchill
• Any fool can criticize, condemn, and complain but it takes character and self control to be understanding and forgiving. - Dale Carnegie

Statistics and Writing

Twitter is quite an amazing website, especially if you are interested in learning about the in depth details of certain industries. I peek at twitter a few times during the course of the day, which spawned an interesting conversation. Thanks go to Jane Smith and Carole Blake for bringing this subject up to my attention. If you have a Twitter account, I suggest that you follow both of these ladies. Carole is a writing agent, and Jane is a writer and editor who has a little blog that you can find here.

The article in question can be found here. I suggest you read it so that you are aware of what I am speaking of.

There are many, many opinions on the writing world, which in turn includes the discussion of publishing through a publishing house (see Tor, Penguin, DAW, Random House) or through a self-publishing agency (see Lulu). Both have their advantages, both have their disadvantages, and both have those supporters who believe one or the other will be the death of the publishing industry.

For the sake of argument, publishing houses are oranges and self-publishing agencies are apples. We all know that comparing apples and oranges can cause problems. Mixed together, they can make a delicious drink. In this case, they only cause problems. Perhaps the self-publishing agencies should be milk in this example. Then you could see how milk curdles when you add orange juice to it.

I have a few issues that i have with the article that I linked above for your reading pleasures. Above all, he compares apples to oranges and expects grape juice as a result.

What do I mean by this? Let me show you.

As Jane Smith mentioned on her twitter:

Para numbered 5: "The average book in America sells about 500 copies"
Paragraph numbered 8: "And the average new book generates only $100,000 to $200,000 in sales"
From that we can assume that the average book price in America is $200-$400. See the problem?

Apples and Oranges, ladies and gentleman. I preserved her tweets as they were in their form, only switched around so that they are easily read. (Twitter organizes by time published.. so it reads backwards according to regular logic.) This is directly from our discussion.

In the self-publishing world, it is true that the average book will sell somewhere between one hundred to five hundred copies.

In the publishing house world, a book is not viable for publication unless it can pay for the advertising and the editors that work on each book. As such, they need books to sell significantly higher in order to be viable. Because of this, the quality of writers for these publishing houses is also higher. After all, most self-publishing agencies do not require quality checks in order for a book to be printed with them. This is the beauty of print on demand. However, this lack of quality control is exactly why many of these books never make it onto a book shelf.

If you are a writer and wish to become published, just as I wish to become published, open your eyes, take that pinch of salt, and swallow it. While I try to expose the in depth world of writing to you even as I take that journey myself, you need to make certain that your sources are reliable.

Every advice, every grain of knowledge, you should approach as if it were a spider. Sure, some spiders are harmless, but others are quite poisonous. Some spiders even enjoy being pet! Others will put hairs in your eyeballs if you even think of trying it.

Even publishers have opinions. Just because an agent or a publisher states something is so, it is your responsibility to check your sources. If a publisher states something? Find out just what type of publisher that they are. Every genre is different. Harlequin, for example, functions far differently compared to Tor.

I might suggest you buy salt in bulk. It will save you a little money down the road.

Now, I will approach the meat of this, and go into what I feel are some of the misleading aspects that you should in turn research for yourself and make your own conclusions on.

Point 1: On Book Growth.

Truth: Self-Publishing has picked up phenomenally.
Misleading: Self-Publishing number focus does not indicate the health of the standard publishing industry. It just shows that people are willing to dip into their own pockets to see their book in print in any form.

Point 2: On Book Sales

This is misleading. First, he doesn't account for aspects like the recession. Inflation aside, that there was any increase at all % wise is phenomenal. That means people are still spending money despite that fact that many people have lost their jobs and have less money to spend in the first place. Second, he does not mention if the sales are by book or by retail value of the book. These numbers are rather meaningless in the long run. Nor does he account for whether or not these are publishing house or self-publishing sales. These are two totally different industries.

Point 3: Book Sales, by the book

Read this carefully. Then, I refer you to Jane's commentary above. She says it best.

Point 4: On Stocking.

Once again, I return to the differences between self-publishing and a publishing house. Of course many books will never make it on the shelf. Most people who purchase a self-publishing option acquire an ISBN. This allows them to be put on the shelves. This does not mean that the bookstore will be willing to carry a book from an unknown author without the backing of a legitimate publishing company. That would be like putting a blindfold on and driving 95 miles per hour down a busy highway. Someone is going to crash. The bookstore would be making a rather stupid error if they took every single self-published novel and stuffed them on the shelf. They want novels from the major publishers that have a good chance of being sold.

Point 5: How hard it is to sell books...

Of course it is hard to sell books. It is much harder to sell a book unless you have a name for yourself or you have a reliable company vouching for you. I don't know about you, but I choose TOR and DAW books over other publishing houses because that is the type of writing I enjoy reading. I am certain many other people have similar preferences.

... to be blunt, I have made it to the half way point and I am spluttering. There are many misleading details. Each one of these points could have their own blog post of notable length to the entire blog post in question just clarifying where these numbers come from.

Statistics, ladies and gentleman, are often assumptions that support your opinion. When someone mentions a statistic, I get nervous.

When someone mentions a statistic without specifying which of two very different industries it comes from... then I get disgusted.

Please be careful about what you believe. A nice presentation does not necessarily mean that something is true or completely accurate.

Personally, I will judge the publishing industry by one simple fact: There are books on the shelves that I have not read and wish to buy. So I continue to buy books.

Until the day comes where I cannot find an interesting novel or four to buy in a bookstore at any one given time, I do think the publishing industry is safe enough. Especially if you go with a reliable publishing house.

How to Procrastinate

Procrastination.

The beloved art of finding anything to do other than what you need to do.

Procrastination, my friends, is the death of a writer. It is very easy to stop writing because there is something else more interesting to do. Time keeps marching on, and writers who procrastinate are left in the dust. Let us face the truth: a writer who does not manage their time well will have a very difficult time succeeding at being a professional.

That said, I'm a procrastinator. I love the thrill of approaching a deadline and needing to chop to make it. It is an adrenaline rush that I should live without but somehow manage to always bump heads with.

However, I've become a bit of a trained procrastinator. Over the years, I have learned ways to procrastinate while still doing things that are useful. Sometimes, procrastination is the mask for resolving an internal writing block. Doing something else helps me break a block, and fairly quickly. In that aspect, a bit of procrastination is a useful thing.

Unfortunately, I am quickly learning that time is something that you have a lot of when you are young and a lot less of as you age.

I'm in that little special place in between. Now, I wish to remove my urges to procrastinate. This is a lot harder than it sounds. The human species is a creature of habit. Once you are into the habit of procrastination, it is very difficult to remove the habit of procrastination. This sounds terrible. Oh, believe me, it is.

Building good habits is like quitting smoking. It is easy to say, "I wish to quit smoking". It is not so easy to stop lighting up and quit.

I'm just glad I don't smoke. I don't think I could handle trying to deal with that many habits at one time!

This will be a reoccurring subject. As I try to get into the habit of using my time better, I will add little blurbs to my posts on writing to tell you all just how I am doing at it. I expect there will be a lot of failures in the near future, as I balance contract working, my epic series, and the other novels that I wish to write. Then, I want to add in some more writing related research...

... I am sure that you can see where I am going with this. I'm already procrastinating on getting done any one of these things by making this post.

Today, I need to do a lot of things. I am going to try to hop to it. Let us see if I manage to manage my time better today.

With that said, here are some sites relating to procrastination, why people do it, and what you can do to stop doing it. If you procrastinate like I do, maybe you will want to try taking this little journey with me.

I will say this much: there are thousands of references on procrastination. Below, you will find a handful if you really don't have anything better to do with your time! I suggest you look at the causes and cures section. I am.

What is procrastination?
Wikipedia's Entry on Procrastination
Psychology Today - 10 things to know about Procrastination
Carleton University's Procrastination Research
Cal Poly's Reference

What are the causes of procrastination?
UNC.edu's reference
Reference Site, Causes of Procrastination
Suite 101's entry


What can be done to stop the habit of procrastination?
Mind Tool's Beating Procrastination
John Place Online
Canada One
Montgomery College

What other writers have to say about procrastination!
John Perry
Paul Graham

And as a final tidbit, famous quotes on procrastination!

"Nothing is so fatiguing as the eternal hanging on of an uncompleted task. " - William James

"Procrastination is the art of keeping up with yesterday. " - Don Marquis

"Anyone can do any amount of work, provided it isn't the work he is supposed to be doing at that moment." - Robert Benchley

"The two rules of procrastination: 1) Do it today. 2) Tomorrow will be today tomorrow." - Unknown

"I do my work at the same time each day - the last minute. " - Unknown

"Never put off until tomorrow what you can do the day after tomorrow. " - Mark Twain

I was also asked, randomly, to add a short entry on what my fish Cortez thought on Peanut Butter. Cortez reports that he would surely like to try Peanut Butter, but his mother is an evil tyrant and will not permit him to try it for fear of what peanut butter might actually do to a fish. He thinks this is entirely unfair, and that he is a noble Betta Splendens, who is afraid of no fish, no food and not even death itself!

Maintaining Motivation

Maintaining motivation is one of the most challenging aspects of being a writer. It is very easy to say, "I am a novelist!". Making the attempt or writing a novel, regardless of whether or not you make it to publication, is a very large and sometimes frightening task.

Straying back from posts that are based firmly on my experiences, I have dug out a few references that speak for themselves. However, I do have my own tips and strategies that I use to stay motivated, which I will share with you. If you're interested in my ramblings, go below the delicious links I have provided.

A few sites with references on how to stay motivated:

TheWritersSite.com
Writing-World.com
Wikipedia's Reference on Writing Motivation
FictionFactor.com
TheAdventurousWriter.com
Time to Write - Blog

... there are hundreds upon hundreds of motivational sites. There is no way I can list them all. This is a mere sampling of the motivational resources available to you. If you want more, I suggest you go to google.com and start a search.

What I do for Motivation

• I set goals and rewards for myself.

There are many different goals I will dig out of the closet and remove the dust from. These skeletons, for that is exactly what they are, tend to reside in that closet for along time. However, when I am down, these goals sneak their way out. The bones creak as they move, but they -do- move. There are some goals that stay with me for a very long time, but I will often set a tiny goal that will be immediately stuffed into that closet to decay. These goals are meant to motivate me right-here-right-now. They are not a long term solution to any given problem. They are a tool for me to get up off my lazy rump and get to work. Here are a few examples of some goals and prompts I use! Rewards are also a great way for me to get cracking. However, the rewards must be small. You'll see some examples below.

1. Write 500 words
2. Kill A Character Prompt
3. Kill a Village Prompt
4. Save a Village Prompt
5. Torment a Character Prompt
6. Write a short story in one hour or less and submit it somewhere
7. Spend four hours writing today.
8. Reach $x number of words by end of day today on $story.
9. Get up an hour early to write.
10. Go to bed an hour late to write.
11. If I finish $x number of words, I get chocolate. (Mhmmm chocolate.)
12. Convince significant other it is a good idea to go out for dinner if I finish $x hours of writing this week.
13. Buy new candles if I write $x hours of writing this week.

Goals and rewards? They work, but only if you ensure that you do not reward yourself unless you succeed at your goal.

• I write about what I enjoy.

This should be obvious, but if you are having a hard time writing, change what you are writing to something you truly enjoy. This will make the writing process less work and more play. You can't always do this, but it is a good way to up your motivation when you are blocked or having a bad day. Jump to a scene you have been looking forward to, if necessary, but continue to write. Sitting down and writing is the main priority here. You don't need to always keep every word written.

• I write about what I know.

Having knowledge on a subject often makes writing about that subject easier. If I am struggling, I often do not have the knowledge I need to successfully write the section I am having trouble with. If this is the case, I move onto something I know now, and use research time to get the knowledge I need to continue with the section I am working on that is giving me trouble.

• If I get blocked, I start a new temporary project.

Sometimes I just lose motivation for a story altogether. I've written myself into a major plot hole, or I dislike where the story is going. This is a common issue. I have an expedient fix for this: I start a new project and give myself a certain number of hours to work with it. This lets me clear my head of the frustrations of my main project. This is a common tactic among writers. However, make certain you only give yourself a certain amount of time to work on the new project. You are using this to clear your thoughts not to replace your project

• I focus on my goal.

Focus, focus, focus. This is a mantra that should be repeated. Become a pitbull and refuse to let go of your goal. My goal is to publish. I have to remind myself never to lose sight of this goal for the chocolates or the dinners or the short term rewards of being a writer. Every word I write is a step closer towards the summit. Publishing a short story, or even a novel, is not enough. It is to write, and publish over and over again. This goal will never end, for it begins anew when a project is completed. It is sometimes easy to lose sight of a goal that is far in the distance.

• I give myself a day off.

We all need mental health days. Just don't take them every day.

• Identify my bad habits.

Knowing why I fail is almost as important as standing up from it when I do. Failure is a crucial tool. Identifying my bad habits is knowing why I fail and learning from it. Once I have identified it, it is up to me to fix the problem.

Quotes

Quotes are something that motivates many people for some reason. I am no different. Here are a collection of quotes that motivate me when I am down, or keep me going when I am up on cloud 9 breathing the clean air of success.

• "Do you know, I always thought Unicorns were fabulous monsters, too? I never saw one alive before!' 'Well, now that we have seen each other,' said the Unicorn, 'if you believe in me, I'll believe in you."- Lewis Carroll
• “Two roads diverged in a wood, and I -- I took the one less traveled by, and that has made all the difference.” - Robert Frost
• "Try not to become a man of success but a man of value." - Albert Einstein
• "Every artist was first an amateur." - Ralph Waldo Emerson
• "Men do less than they ought, unless they do all they can." - Thomas Carlyle
• "Happy are those who dream dreams and are ready to pay the price to make them come true." - Leon J. Suenes
• "He who has imagination without learning, has wings and no feet." - Joseph Joubert

The Plotting and Revision Process

Greetings!

This post will be similar to my map post. This is from my personal experiences and will not link out to other people's works, as some of my other posts have done. However, as editing and revisions are an important part of the writing process, I thought I would lay out how I am editing my epic novel series, just in case it proves useful to you. Feel free to use my method if you desire -- that is why I am posting it after all.

An epic series, whether it is science fiction or fantasy, shares one thing in common with every other epic series: length and detail. While I have been drafting this series, I have noticed one thing: my brain simply needs assistance keeping all of the details in order. The first draft got the general idea of the story onto paper, developed my characters so I have an idea of their personalities, where they start and where they go, and ensure that I have a good idea of where I want the story to go.

The revision process is making all of these details coherent and stick together. This post will relate, in some ways, to the devious plot hole post.

However, instead of covering how the plot hole is found, this will cover how I fix them.

For this project, I am using word 2007. I have the full version of it, which is proving invaluable.

Coupled with word 2007, I am using One Note. One Note is a journal program that is bundled with Office 2007. It is nearly as invaluable as word 2007 is. I'm quite fond of it. Thank you, Microsoft, for making a product that has behaved itself fantastically. However, that doesn't stop me from making backups out of sheer paranoia.

Now that I have listed my tools for this, I will make one commentary: my husband is cheap and didn't buy me note cards, so I had to make due without. He told me I could waste all of the printer paper I wanted, though. I will probably print 'note cards' for some parts of this process. For now, I am just using One Note and seeing how it goes from there.

An epic fantasy novel has a few characteristics. It has many characters, many lands, many cultures and many events going on throughout the world. For the sake of demonstration, and because I recently read the books, I will use David Edding's Belgariad and the Alera Codex as examples of *why* I'm doing this as I have.

If you have not read either of these series, I strongly recommend it. The Alera Codex (Jim Butcher) is very, very entertaining. The Belgariad I consider a classic.

The first thing I will note about both of these series is the rich characters found in them. The Belgariad typically follows two points of view: Belgarion and Ce'Nedra. Others are thrown in, but you mostly see the world from these two young folks.

The Alera Codex is deeper. It follows many PoVs, ranging from Tavi , his mother, and a long range of supporting *and* main characters. My novel shares the Alera Codex's methodology and character range. I found that my epic just could not be done with only one or two points of view.

Either way is fine.

While the Belgariad does not go into more than two direct PoVs (seriously at any rate), you get to see many other characters on the rate. Where Eddings' excels is through his ability to stay true to his characters. They grow and change, but you never go "What the heck, this character would not do this!". He builds up to the important roles as much as necessary. The Alera Codex uses characters that are deeply shadowed in shades of gray. They are mysteries and you never know exactly what will happen next.

I am attempting a blend of these two styles.

So, in order to accomplish this, I have to take all of the ground work that I have done in my first draft and put it to words. When I drafted, I went in with nothing but a keyboard, a copy of word 2007, and determination to get it done. Thus, I started to write. I did make the error of not pausing to write down character information as I went. I was too eager to get the story onto paper.

So now I have a lot of extra work on my hands. I suggest you write this stuff down as you go. It will save you time. However, it is very useful for rereading your story for plot holes if you do not choose to write it down as you go. I'm still torn a bit on which way I prefer, so I do jump back and forth between the methods.

My first step was to open One Note and start laying out my journals. Currently, I have the following journals made. Please note that this is a work in process and I am by no means done the general plotting footwork of this novel.

Characters, To Do, Kingdoms, Char 1 Plot, Char 2 Plot, Char 3 Plot, Char 4 Plot, Villain Plot

I have removed the names of my characters, but Chars 1-4 are the main protags / antags. The villain plot is the general overview of the bad guys ploys -- this involves more than one or four individuals with different stories, but a more concise, cohesive force. This may be different for others, but my main protagonists are not very cohesive, at least from the start. Because of this, I have to weave their plots separately. If my good guys were more united (such as Mercedes Lackey's Valdemar Heralds) I may have just had an Antagonist Plot and a Protagonist plot. However, this is not the case with this specific series. I will be adding a general Protagonist Plot tab, but I will mostly be working with the specific char plot lines.

So, let us delve a little deeper into what I'm doing with these journals!

• Characters

This is the major list of my characters. I have cp'd a small snippet of the type of things I'm including in this listing. As I write sections that introduce or name these characters, I write down at least the very basics about them.

Age	Gender	Hair	Eyes	Build
24	M	Pale	Blue	Tall/Muscular

Personality	Likes	Dislikes
Easy Going Loyal	Horses Traveling Haggling	Combat Arguments Cunning Women

This is a bare bone model for a character. The more advanced the character, the more in depth I will go with this. However, this is the minimum I will tend to use if I name a character. I use this as a basic template, then build it as needed. Things I include for more common characters are the clothes that they wear, their professions, etc. This is a very good start for me when it is a minor character. (All major characters also start it this sort of information.)

Let us go a little into the specifics. I try to be as clear as possible when I write out this information. I want to remember what I meant later. For example, build is purely physical, just to help me remember what they look like a bit. Obviously, every character has different needs, so it is up to you to decide what is best for your book.

I have a section in this journal for every named character, regardless of whether it is a protag or an antag.

• To Do

Next we have the To Do list. These are things I need to do in the near or far future that I do not want to forget. In this journal, I have several sections.

• General To Do List
• Character Modifications
• Plot Hole Fixes

This list will grow as I progress in the novel. The novel will not be complete until I have addressed all of the items in my to do list.

• Kingdoms

This section ties in with that big maps file I have. For every kingdom listed, I am working on defining the political, economic and cultural aspects of the people of these kingdoms. In a way, these kingdom sections in the journal will become general templates for the people found in them. There will be a section dedicated to the stereotypical behavior pattern, classes and beliefs of the people of these kingdoms. This section is a massive amount of work. I am approaching this by listing all of the kingdoms and basic general points about them. When my characters are active in a kingdom, I flush it out to make certain it is consistent with what I have written. Some of these kingdoms may never actually find their way into the novel as a major role, but it is important to know regardless.

• Character Plot Points

Plot Point #

Main Plot Point

Second Point

Third point

Fourth point

Importance

This is the basic template that I am using for the plot points. This will help me get their overall plot written out. Each Plot Point # will become a section of its own. I may have several Plot Point #'s per a chapter, but each plot point # will only have one Main Plot Point. This is to help keep all of the threads of the plot organized. I may add another column to reference previous plot point numbers so I don't have to dig back as often. The second, third and fourth points are to make small notes of important things that occur based off of their importance. I may have three or four things listed under secondary points. The Importance is just how vital this point is for the success of the plot I want for the novel.

I will use variants of this for all of the character points *and* the villain points.

This is the basics of my structure. Once I have the plot points listed out, I may print out the One Notebook as my note cards, cut them out per plot point and use that to determine where things should happen.

I am chewing on whether or not to have a "date of event" column in my plot. This may be very useful keeping things in chronological order, but I am still uncertain if I will do this.

Now that you know how I structure my notes for revisions, I can begin the rewrite. This is the second draft, and may or may not use sections from the original. I have some sections that will remain mostly intact. However, a lot of the sections can use improvement. While I will keep the general idea of the passages, I will not necessarily keep the exact wording. However, some gems will remain in the final novel! I know some of my more powerful sections will be remaining with some revisions for the sake of consistency.

The second draft is about letting that editor come out and play. While I will be doing a lot of writing and rewriting and working, I will be picking apart every section to make certain that I do this correctly. Writing in this stage is slow. When I work, I expect 500 to 1,000 words per hour. This is rather slow compared to many others I know. However, unlike some events during the year, Quality trumps Quantity. However, time is precious. If you are serious about novel writing, you will remember this. Time is precious. Do not waste it.

Good luck with your writing, and I hope this proves of some use to you!

The Art of Mapping

If you are writing an epic length novel of any genre, mapping is important. I don't know about the rest of you, but I find myself deluged in plot holes, consistancy errors and many other problems if I do not have maps.

So, I am going to share with you the efforts of the past day or two.

In order to create these maps, I used gimp 2 and a wacom tablet. This can be done with a mouse or with tracing paper and pencil. Regular paper won't work as well due to the fact I try to make 'layered' maps -- if you're really willing to splurge, you can use see through drafting paper. These *can* be done on printer paper, but it is a lot more work.

Before I start showing you the maps, please note that these are a work in progress. I'm not finished with them by any means. However, I have enough of a base to use as a guide for how I make maps.

With my current novel series, I am using a single continent and a set of islands. As this is the scope of my novel, this is all I am mapping for now. Eventually, I will add a world map. If you have a lot of sea trade, you may need your world map immediately. However, most of my novels take place midland, so the sea trade aspects of my world aren't necessary for my novel.

The first step I use to generate a map is to draw the landmasses.

Thus, Map 1 is born. This will become the base for the rest of my maps.

Map 2 is the kingdoms. I will use this to colour in political regions, economic regions, religious regions, territories of influence, etc. This map is uncoloured.

Map 3 is the kingdoms map with colour fills.

Map 4 is the religious regions. This world has broad areas of influence of primary religions.

Map 5 is the general geographic lay of the land. This elevation map is used to help me determine what resources would be found where. This is a significant map, as it really helps determine my trades. I view the economy as a very important part of a world setting.

Map 6 is an elevation map with -major- rivers. This does not include every creek in existance. These are the major waterways in the land, as well as notable lakes.

Map 7 is the elevation and river map with the coloured kingdom maps + the outline overtop. This lets me get a general view of where the kingdoms are situated in accordance to the land and terrain types.

Map 8 is one of the hardest maps to generate. This is a village / town / city map of one of the kingdoms and surrounding regions. This map is no where near done. However, there are a few interesting things to note here. First, I have laid out the route that one set of characters takes. Squares that are a yellow orange are visited locations. These are locations I need to generate note sheets for. I have done roads for locations on the route. Blue Xs are major cities, red xs are larger towns, black small x's are villages. Green squares around Blue Xs designate largest city in the kingdom, and typically where the ruler resides. Some kingdoms have several ruling parties, so each city with these parties are labeled with the green square. As you can tell, this map hasn't been cleaned up yet -- but I can see where the rivers are at, as well as the country borders. This area doesn't have any elevated major locations, so you can't see the elevations. If it was in a region with elevations, you would see those markings as well.

For each kingdom, I need to make a repeat of Map 8. This is extremely time consuming. Other maps I am planning on adding are resource maps. These will go with elevation / river maps, and denote things like trade routes.

How every person maps is different -- this is just my method of doing it.

Now that you have seen the maps, I will go into a little detail of how they are made. You CAN do all of this by mouse if you are patient, and gimp 2 is free. (See gimp.org for a copy of the program I use.)

Step one:

Draw your continent. The more rough around the edges, the better. Shorelines aren't neat and perfect, so there is no need for perfect circles. Because of this, mouse work is totally acceptable. I find a wacom or other pointer device useful when drawing the elevation and river maps.. but, once again, it can be done with a mouse.

When you draw your continent or world, you should do this on a transparent layer above your background. You want your background to be a plain white background with nothing on it. This will let you adjust your maps as needed. So, add a transparent layer and draw your lines on that.

Once you have your continent, lay out your kingdoms on a -duplicated- layer of your continent map. You want the edges of your continent as a part of your kingdoms. This will make future steps easier. Draw your kingdoms as necessary.

Next, make a duplicated copy of your kingdoms layer. You can do your colour fills on here. I set my transparency at 30% or so when I fill. This just tones the layer so it can be used beneath things like your elevation maps.

Now, go back and duplicate the NON coloured version of your kingdoms layer. Move this layer ABOVE your coloured layer. This will restore your nice dark lines for visibility. Duplicate it again.

On the second duplication, colour in sections as you desire for religious factions, political factions, or whatever factions you like. You can repeat this as many times as you like.. just duplicate your kingdoms layer as needed.

To do your elevation map, you will need to go back to your continent only layer. Duplicate this and move it to the top. Now is a good time to HIDE your previous layers. Hiding is done by clicking the eyeballs in your layers in gimp 2. Don't worry, just clicking that spot again will bring them back. You can adjust your maps accordingly.

When I did my elevation maps, I determined where I wanted mountains. I used series or 4-6 elevations to represent mountains. The first elevation ring is low hills.. then higher hills.. then we're into foot hills and mountains. The basic non ringed areas are flat lands, slightly rolling hills and plains. The more rings, the more detailed your elevations. I coloured light for low elevations to dark for high elevations. Make a duplicate of your elevations map before you colour it in.

Rivers are done in the same way as elevations, except in blue. You may want to adjust your elevations (like I did in the northern section) based off of location of some major rivers.

Making the kingdom map is the hardest.

First, you need to use a selector tool to select the kingdom and some areas around it. hit control-c to copy. Go to File -> Create -> from clipboard

This will create a small file the size of your copy pasted section. Now, go to Image -> Scale Image.

Blow it up. You will have larger lines.

I work in 1600x1400 resolution typically.

Then you can work on your detailed maps. I use the same theories with multiple layers for my blown up maps.

That is how I do my mapping. Enjoy! I hope this is useful

The Stereotypes and Cliches of Fantasy Writing

First, I'd like to thank Ian T. Healy (spelled correctly this time..) for the subject of today's blog post. His original post is as follows: @rebeccablain "Fantasy: more than dark elves, demons, and magic"

There is so much more to this subject than just dark elves, demon and magic... so I thought it would be a good time to do the post on the whole lot of them.

Let us first be honest with ourselves. It is very difficult to write a 100% original fantasy piece. With thousands of fantasy novels on the shelves, many of the ideas held within those volumes are twists on cliches or stereotypes of some sort until they are no longer cliche or stereotypical.

However, there are a lot of writers who stick with the cliche / stereotype. This is a shame, but it is not really avoidable. After all, you must border on true genius in order to totally escape having these elements in your novels.

With that said, I will start by regurgitating a very insightful post from a short story publisher of the science fiction and fantasy genres. If you are not aware of this publisher, you should be. Allow me to introduce you to Clarkesworld Magazine. The below is an except from their submissions page. This content is a direct copy paste and used for educational purposes. It in no fashion belongs to me. I only wish I were this brilliant.

Though no particular setting, theme, or plot is anathema to us, the following are likely hard sells:

• stories in which a milquetoast civilian government is depicted as the sole obstacle to either catching some depraved criminal or to an uncomplicated military victory
• stories in which the words "thou" or "thine" appear
• talking cats
• talking swords
• stories where the climax is dependent on the spilling of intestines
• stories where FTL travel is as easy as is it on television shows or movies
• time travel too
• stories that depend on some vestigial belief in Judeo-Christian mythology in order to be frightening (i.e., Cain and Abel are vampires, the End Times are a' comin', Communion wine turns to Christ's literal blood and it's HIV positive, Satan's gonna getcha, etc.)
• stories about rapist-murderer-cannibals
• stories about young kids playing in some field and discovering ANYTHING. (a body, an alien craft, Excalibur, ANYTHING).
• stories about the stuff we all read in Scientific American three months ago
• stories where the Republicans, or Democrats, or Libertarians, or the Spartacist League, etc. take over the world and either save or ruin it
• your AD&D game
• "funny" stories that depend on, or even include, puns
• sexy vampires, wanton werewolves, or lusty pirates
• zombies or zombie-wannabes
• stories originally intended for someone's upcoming theme anthology or issue
• stories where the protagonist is either widely despised or widely admired simply because he or she is just so smart and/or strange
• stories that take place within an artsy-fartsy bohemia as written by an author who has clearly never experienced one
• your trunk stories

This is perhaps one of the best pages I have ever seen that goes into exactly what not to do for a serious submission. Read this, absorb it, and quickly Hall of Shame most of the things for this. However, there are venues for this type of writing. But, for the most part, they are hard sells, just as the magazine states.

Let us go through this list and pursue just why these are stereotypical, cliche, or hard to sell.

• stories in which a milquetoast civilian government is depicted as the sole obstacle to either catching some depraved criminal or to an uncomplicated military victory

First, milquetoast means the following: sissy: a timid man or boy considered childish or unassertive -or- A person of meek or timid disposition; meek, timid (source, define: milquetoast via google.)

Reason: Well, first, anything timid or meek isn't really a challenge. Second, give us a better villain, something more interesting, please! Granted, this is just my interpretation, but I wouldn't be interested in reading this.

• stories in which the words "thou" or "thine" appear

Reason: Above all, most people do not use thou or thine appropriately. It takes away from the genre, it does not add to it, ladies and gentleman. I have seen it used exactly once in modern writing to good success. David Eddings used it sparingly as flavour text. This is why he got away with it. Thou and Thines often take away, they do not add to the environment. Especially when they are not used properly.

• talking cat, talking swords, talking.. anything.

Reason: I lumped these together because it is the same basic concept. Talking animals can work, but in this case, it doesn't fit the publication. I can think of several great series and stories that use these concepts. However, most tend to be cheesy at best, without good justifications for the talking pets and objects. This concept is so abused that publications like Clarkesworld have totally just abandoned them completely.

• stories where the climax is dependent on the spilling of intestines

Reason: I absolutely love this. I became a huge fan of Clarkesworld just for this reason. Gore has its place in fantasy. Especially Sword and Sorcery. However, a story dependent on it is not a great story. I've yet to read a published work that was dependent on it and I ever read a second time. With that said, there is stuff like that out there. But, I have not returned to those novels since reading them. This does not mean that you cannot have death or gore in your books. It means that you should not base the story or novel on the gore. This is an important distinction.

• stories where FTL travel is as easy as is it on television shows or movies (time travel too)
  

Reason: Magic can be limitless... but limitless magic can be truly annoying. If they can do all of these things so easily, then what is the point? In my opinion, once a character is able to do such things easily, he or she should be able to snap their fingers and get it done. Then, there would be no point to the story.

• stories that depend on some vestigial belief in Judeo-Christian mythology in order to be frightening (i.e., Cain and Abel are vampires, the End Times are a' comin', Communion wine turns to Christ's literal blood and it's HIV positive, Satan's gonna getcha, etc.)

Reason: I think this is fairly obvious. There are markets for this type of work, but your short story or novel should stand on its own feet, not on the belief systems of the real world.

I have done a few of them... you can figure out the rest.

Dark Elves, Dragons and Dungeons, Oh my!

Novel or short story writing is not without entering into the world of stereotypes and cliches. I have stated this before, I will state it again in the future, I am certain. What will determine whether or not you are a good writer is what you do with the stereotypes and cliches you come up with.

There is nothing stating that you cannot use a cliche or stereotype. However, in order to succeed, it is up to you to make certain that you somehow twist it so that it becomes something new. Making something unique is truly a difficult task. It is very difficult, as a writer, to separate yourself from the things that inspire you. Writers who read and enjoy a certain series will often pick up aspects of that series in their own writing. It is so very common. The key is that you catch yourself doing it and transform trash into gold. Until you make it your own, those elements are trash. Just accept that, it will make you a better writer in the long run.

Is there more to fantasy beyond the stereotypes? Of course there is. Make your Dark Elves distinct by stepping away from the normal evil elves and go into a world where these elves separated from their lighter skinned brethren for a good purpose. Have them just be a genetic mutation and no different than their lighter counterparts. Get rid of the lighter counterparts altogether. And for the love of all that is pure, don't make them look and act like a cookie cutter. Make them dark skinned humans with an ear mutation. Do something to make them different than opening a Dungeon Master's Guide and reading about it.

Dragons? There are lots you can do with dragons. The best concept I've heard for a dragon? Make them stupid and dislike hoarding things. That will make people stop long enough to go "What the heck is this?"

The instant you make your reader ask questions is the moment that you are stepping away from the stereotype. Fantasy need not be cookie cutter. If you find your concept in another book, add or take away until your concept becomes unique. Then take it and make it your own. Only then will you surpass the cliche.

I cannot give you a template on making sure your races and people are not stereotypical. That is something personal you have to conquer on your own. However, we have all dealt with it. If you find a truly unique concept, work with it. It may just go somewhere really pleasant.