Category: Creativity (Page 14 of 19)

September #InkRipples: Building a Fictional World

September 8, 2017 / Katie L. Carroll

What exactly is world building (or worldbuilding if your prefer is as one word)? Basically, it’s the creation of a fictional world. More than that, though, it’s how that world is explained within the confines of a story. The imagining and creating is the easy part (in my opinion). It’s choosing which pieces to include in the story and how to include those pieces with out a big info-dump that is the tricky part.

The reader must be grounded in the world and be able to feel like they are immersed in it, but you don’t want to bore them with too many details and world-building elements that aren’t essential to the plot and character development. It’s highly subjective, too. One reader may love lavish descriptions and explanations of how one aspect of your fictional world works, while another may skim through all that to get to the action.

And world building isn’t just for fantasy or sci-fi writers. Even if a story takes place in a high school and most of your readers are in high school or have been to one, you still need to establish the world of your high school. There’s a lot already written on ways to execute world building, so instead of me blathering on with tips, I’ll leave some links at the end of the post for you to peruse at your leisure.

Some of my favorite world building exercises have been making a map for the ELIXIR BOUND (see the picture at the beginning of the post and the entry “Exploring the world of Elixir Bound”). For PIRATE ISLAND, part of my world building included creating a chart with realistic tides and moon cycles. So much of my world building goes on behind the scenes, but having all that information in my head makes for a rich world on the page, even if the reader only sees a small portion of what the world entails. Plus, those elements that don’t make it directly into the story are great for things like blog posts and bonuses for readers.

Okay, before we get to the links, I’d love to hear some of your world-building techniques in the comments!

“Tips on World Building for Writers — How to Make Your Imaginary World Real” by Chuck Sambuchino

“The Ultimate Guide to World-Building: How To Write Fantasy, Sci-Fi, And Real-Life Worlds” by Claire Bradshaw

“25 Things You Should Know About Worldbuilding” by Chuck Wendig

(Apparently people named Chuck have a lot to say about world building!)

#InkRipples is a monthly meme created by Katie L. Carroll, Mary Waibel, and Kai Strand. We pick a topic (September is all about world building), drop a ripple in the inkwell (i.e. write about it on our blogs), and see where the conversation goes. We’d love to have you join in the conversation on your own blogs or on your social media page. Full details and each month’s topic can be found on my #InkRipples page.

July #InkRipples: The Hero Is the Villain

July 3, 2017 / Katie L. Carroll

When I think about the July #InkRipples topic of heroes/villains, I always think about the many quotes along the lines of everyone is the hero of their own story (there are so many versions of this quote with different attributions, I’m not even going to try attribute a direct quote).

I think this idea is especially interesting when applied to villains. The most interesting villains feel totally justified in their actions in their own minds as opposed to a villain who is presented as simply an evil character. We may judge those actions to be horrible, but for whatever reason–be that twisted or misguided or maybe a little justified but still ultimately bad–the villain considers themselves the hero.

On the flip side, others may view the hero of a story as a villain. Perhaps what the hero sees as a justified, noble deed is harmful to another. Now the person being harmed may be harming others and the moral thing to do is to stop them, but they will still categorize the hero as a villain in their own mind. And no hero of a story should be perfect…that would be boring. Heroes need to have flaws.

As a writer, it’s really all about how the story is framed. Vengeance can be a way for a reader to relate to and root for a hero, or it could be the means by which a character becomes a villain. I find stories with lots of shades of gray in the good vs. evil area to be incredible compelling.

What’s your take on heroes and villains?

#InkRipples is a monthly meme created by Katie L. Carroll, Mary Waibel, and Kai Strand. We pick a topic (July is all about heroes/villains), drop a ripple in the inkwell (i.e. write about it on our blogs), and see where the conversation goes. We’d love to have you join in the conversation on your own blogs or on your social media page. Full details and each month’s topic can be found on my #InkRipples page.

Recognizing Different Kinds of Productivity

June 21, 2017 / Katie L. Carroll

I’ve been feeling particularly unproductive this year, in part because I haven’t been doing much drafting. It’s my favorite part of the writing process and the one that creatively feels the most fulfilling. I feel whole when I’m in the midst of a draft and able to lose myself in the process of adding words to the page.

The other part of feeling unproductive is being pregnant. With the bad colds all winter long, the morning sickness for the first half of the pregnancy, and the fatigue and swelling that’s come with the last trimester and warmer weather, I haven’t exactly been racking up the work hours. I get that my limits are temporary and necessary right now, but that doesn’t mean they aren’t frustrating as well.

So I’m trying to recognize other ways I’ve been productive this year. The obvious one is I’m growing a baby (no small feat!). I’m also bringing a book baby into the world in October with my middle grade adventure PIRATE ISLAND. I’ts the first time I’m self-publishing a book, and I’ve learned a ton about the process this year, much of which I’ve enjoyed…even when it’s slightly frustrating and takes more time than I had hoped.

Then there are those other little guys (The Boy and The Prince) who demand so much of my time. The Boy flourished in kindergarten and is on his way to being a big first-grader. The Prince is learning and growing so much and will start preschool in the fall. I’ve been doing my best to spend as much quality time with those two before baby (a.k.a. The Gentleman) comes.

I’ve been working on a picture book, doing some freelance work, and working on other small projects as well. Then there’s the veggie garden (we picked our first peas of the season the other day), prepping for baby (six months worth of laundry washed, sorted, and folded and new mini-van purchased), blogging, and all those other things that require time and attention (grocery shopping and dinner, I’m looking at you!).

So, yeah, I think it’s fair to say that I’ve been as productive as I can be with the time and energy I have right now. And it’s important to recognize that (even blog about it) to validate that I’m doing stuff…even if it’s not all the stuff!

What kind of productive have you been lately?

June #InkRipples: Utilizing Blurbs in the Drafting Process

June 7, 2017 / Katie L. Carroll

When I first found out I was expected to write my own blurb for ELIXIR BOUND, I was kind of terrified. The blurb is one of the most important selling tools of a book, probably only second to the cover. If a cover and title draw in a reader, chances are the next thing they’ll look at is the blurb in order to decide if they’re going to read the book.

What exactly is a book blurb? It’s what some call jacket copy, and it’s the brief description of the story you find on the back or inner jacket of a print book and in the book’s listing online. Some big publishing companies will write the blurbs for their authors (though they may take phrases from the author’s or agent’s original pitch of the book), but small presses often look to authors to provide one. And in self-publishing, of course, it’s up to the author to write a blurb or hire someone to do it for them.

Here’s what I came up with for ELIXIR BOUND.

Katora Kase is next in line to take over as guardian to a secret and powerful healing Elixir. Now she must journey into the wilds of Faway Forest to find the ingredient that gives the Elixir its potency. Even though she has her sister and brother, an old family friend, and the handsome son of a mapmaker as companions, she feels alone. It is her decision alone whether or not to bind herself to the Elixir to serve and protect it until it chooses a new guardian. The forest hosts many dangers, including wicked beings that will stop at nothing to gain power, but the biggest danger Katora may face is whether or not to open up her heart to love.”

I have actually started writing blurbs for stories as part of my drafting process. Sometimes I do this right at the beginning of the first draft and other times I’ll use the blurb writing as a tool to get me unstuck when I reach a tricky part of the drafting process that has me stalled.

I don’t generally outline a story before I write it (I’m what’s referred to as a panster vs. a plotter, who will outline the entire story before starting to write it), though I do usually know what the end point of the plot will be and at least some of the main plot points along the way (I do this all in my head in the beginning). I’ve found the blurb is a good tool to help me shape the story as I move along with it, and it also serves as a good reminder of what my original intentions were.

A blurb is not as rigid or detailed as an outline, so there’s plenty of room to move and change the story. It generally doesn’t take too long for me to whip up a blurb these days, so it’s not something that requires a huge time investment. That way I don’t feel like I’ve wasted time if I end up throwing the whole blurb out at the end and starting over once the draft is finished. As opposed to having a whole outline already written out and then having the book take an unexpected turn and having to rethink the entire outline. (I’m not disparaging plotters…I think we all work in the best way we can and every writer needs to do what works for them.)

Since writing that first blurb for ELIXIR BOUND, I’ve had a lot more practice with them, both for my own stories and as an editor for other writers’ stories. If I could do it all over again, I’d probably make some changes to the ELIXIR BOUND blurb, but it’s sufficient enough to leave as is…for now anyway!

Recently I revealed the cover and blurb for PIRATE ISLAND. I decided to do a tagline teaser at the beginning before launching into the summary part of the blurb. One difference between writing a blurb for a YA or adult book vs. one for a middle grade book is that many middle grade books are bought by parents for their kids, whereas YA and adult books are primarily bought by the person who is going to read it. So that’s an extra layer of audience that needs to be kept in mind. I’m hoping young readers and their parents will be drawn in to the story based on what I came up with for PIRATE ISLAND:

A thrice cursed island, a legendary pirate treasure, and one not-so-brave boy. What could possibly go wrong?

For centuries, the whereabouts of Captain William Kidd’s lost pirate treasure has remained a mystery. When Billy’s best friend, Andy, proposes they look for it on nearby Pirate Island, Billy thinks it’s just another one of their crazy adventures. It’s usually Billy who ends up in trouble as a result, but he goes along for the ride…like always. The more he delves into the life and death of Kidd, the more he thinks the treasure is real and that it might be buried on the small island in Long Island Sound. Billy—nope, call him William—becomes obsessed with the captain of the same first name. He even believes he’s possessed by Kidd’s restless soul. Now he and the spirit of a long-dead pirate are leading the crazy adventure on Pirate Island. And what they find is far bigger than the treasure they imagined.”

A lot of blurb writing is about finding the right balance between giving enough specifics to entice a reader in while also not giving away too much of story to spoil it. You also want to make the writing interesting and not read like a plot summary (because that’s boring). It’s tempting to be all movie trailer dramatic in a blurb and be too generic. I find phrases like “must save the world” or “will the star-crossed lovers ever be together?” to be far less effective than something more specific to the actual story. Hooky sound-bites are great, so long as they offer something unique to the story.

What kinds of blurbs have your read that made you just have to pick up a book?

#InkRipples is a monthly meme created by Katie L. Carroll, Mary Waibel, and Kai Strand. We pick a topic (June is all about book blurbs), drop a ripple in the inkwell (i.e. write about it on our blogs), and see where the conversation goes. We’d love to have you join in the conversation on your own blogs or on your social media page. Full details and each month’s topic can be found on my #InkRipples page.

May #InkRipples: 10 YA and MG Novels Inspired by Fairy Tales & Myths

May 8, 2017 / Katie L. Carroll

Last week I touched on why fairy tales make for such good fodder for story ideas. And as promised, here are some of my favorite YA and MG novels that drew inspiration from fairy tales and myths (I’ve included myths here because they are also great sources of inspiration for similar reasons that fairy tales are…and I happen to have some great examples!) with quotes from the authors to give you even further insight into their ideas.

CRUEL BEAUTY by Rosamund Hodge

“A good fairy tale retelling taps into that sense of story-behind-story. It feels inevitable. You read it and you think, Yes, obviously, this is what happened. This is what it means. Writing a fairy tale retelling feels like discovery, not invention. Why did I combine Beauty and the Beast with Bluebeard? Because I was thinking about those stories one day and I realized, Beauty married the Beast in order to kill him. She’s afraid she will die like his previous wives. That’s what happened. How else could it be?” ~Rosamund Hodge (from an interview on Epic Reads)

ASH by Malinda Lo

“Ash has gotten a lot of attention because it is a lesbian retelling of Cinderella. But my first draft had nothing gay about it–Ash, the main character, fell in love with the prince…. After I got some feedback from a friend, I realized that Ash was actually much more interested in one of the female characters, the huntress. That realization was startling to me; I had written all of that into the story without even consciously knowing it.” ~Malinda Lo (from an interview on Cynsations)

THE LIGHTNING THIEF by Rick Riordan

“My son Haley asked me to tell him some bedtime stories about the Greek gods and heroes…. I remembered a creative writing project I used to do with my sixth graders — I would let them create their own demigod hero, the son or daughter of any god they wanted, and have them describe a Greek-style quest for that hero. Off the top of my head, I made up Percy Jackson and told Haley all about his quest to recover Zeus’ lightning bolt in modern day America.” ~Rick Riordan (from the author’s website FAQ)

BEAUTY (and ROSE DAUGHTER) by Robin McKinley

“Beauty and the Beast has been my favourite fairy-tale since I was about six; I still have the book I first read it in. When I wrote Beauty, I sat down, as I thought, to write a short story, and found I had more to say than I expected…. Beauty and the Beast is still my favourite fairy-tale…it was the only fairy-tale around that didn’t have the heroine waiting limply to be rescued by the hero…. I wrote Rose Daughter, as I say, in a six-month hurtle. And in hindsight I realize what fueled the hurtle, why, having tapped into a new lode of Beauty and the Beast in my mind and heart and bloodstream, the story shaped itself and shot out onto the page as it did.” ~Robin McKinley (from an essay on author’s website)

ELLA ENCHANTED by Gail Carson Levine

“I wrote [Ella Enchanted] because I love fairy tales and I’d just read Beauty by Robin McKinley, which I admired enormously…. I was starting a new writing class and needed an idea, so I thought maybe I could expand a fairy tale too. “Cinderella” is such an important tale, it’s the first one I thought of. But when I considered it, I realized I didn’t like Cinderella or understand her. She’s so disgustingly good! And why does she take orders from her horrible stepmother and stepsisters?” ~Gail Carson Levine (from the author’s website)

ICE by Sarah Beth Durst

“I was initially inspired by a picture book of the Norwegian folktale “East of the Sun and West of the Moon” illustrated by P.J. Lynch. Specifically, there’s one illustration in there of the “lassie” where she has her hand on her hip and she’s wearing this you-won’t-stop-me expression. As soon as I saw that illustration, I knew I wanted to write about that kind of girl–a fearless girl who won’t be stopped.” ~Sarah Beth Durst (from an interview on YA Book Queen)

THE HUNGER GAMES by Suzanne Collins

“[The Hunger Games is] very much based on the myth of Theseus and the Minotaur, which I read when I was eight years old. I was a huge fan of Greek and Roman mythology. As punishment for displeasing Crete, Athens periodically had to send seven youths and seven maidens to Crete, where they were thrown into the labyrinth and devoured by the Minotaur, which is a monster that’s half man and half bull. Even when I was a little kid, the story took my breath away, because it was so cruel, and Crete was so ruthless.” ~Suzanne Collins (from an interview with the School Library Journal)

QUEST OF THE HART by Mary Waibel

“Quest of the Hart…the first book in the Princess of Valendria series, is a reverse Sleeping Beauty. This story all started when a friend suggested I write a book where the girly-girl saves the guy. While thinking about how to adapt this idea, I kept thinking of the princess in the tower needing rescue, and Sleeping Beauty popped into my mind. I pulled out my DVD, sat down with pen and paper, and jotted down the sequence of how things happened in the Disney version. Armed with a plan, I started working on my own version, and Quest of the Hart was born.” ~Mary Waibel (from an email from the author)

CINDER by Marissa Meyer

“I entered a writing contest [and chose two prompts]: Set the story in the future and include a fairy-tale character. My contest entry was a sci-fi version of “Puss in Boots” and I had so much fun writing it that I thought I would try to do an entire series of science-fiction fairy tales!… So I started to brainstorm what futuristic twists I could give to some of my favorite fairy tales. A couple months later I was drifting off to sleep when the lightning bolt struck: Cinderella… as a cyborg! My head instantly filled with all sorts of ideas and I had to crawl out of bed and start taking notes.” ~Marissa Meyer (from the author’s website FAQ)

ENTWINED by Heather Dixon

“I’ve always loved the Twelve Dancing Princesses. I remember looking through page after page of a beautifully illustrated storybook when I was a kid, and just wishing I could live in their world. So, the visual element just really stuck for me.

I also have, like, a million sisters.” ~Heather Dixon (from an interview on Enchanted by a Book)

Okay, now it’s your turn to share your favorite retellings (and feel free to branch out from books and include other media)!

#InkRipples is a monthly meme created by Katie L. Carroll, Mary Waibel, and Kai Strand. We pick a topic (May is about fairy tales), drop a ripple in the inkwell (i.e. write about it on our blogs), and see where the conversation goes. We’d love to have you join in the conversation on your own blogs or on your social media page. Full details and each month’s topic can be found on my #InkRipples page.