Writability

ANNOUNCEMENT: Ava Edits

Hey guys!

So I told you there would be some fun things coming and this is one of them! I've been building up to this for a while, and now that I'm done with college, I'm really excited to finally announce I'm finally taking the plunge and joining the freelance editing world. Yay!

So what does this mean? Basically, as of today you can now hire me to help with your query, Twitter pitches, full manuscript, first couple pages, etc. All the info is on my pretty new website which you can access via that link or through my fancy new toolbar above under "hire me."

And! To kick off the grand opening of my freelance editor doors, from today until the end of May I'm be offering 10% off any booked services to all who refer to this post. You don't necessarily have to have anything ready to take advantage of the 10% by the way—as long as you book before the end of May (even if you book for, say, July), it will totally count. :)

So that's the first fun announcement! Thank you all for your amazing support, and keep an eye out for fun thing number two at the end of next week!

Discussion: On Hitting Milestones

Photo credit: lisbeth.k on Flickr

So today is my first day ever of no longer being an undergrad—though the day I'm writing this is the day before my last final, but by the time this goes up, college will be over. Which is surreal, and awesome, and also kind of bittersweet.

So, naturally, I've been thinking about milestones because over the course of the last month or so, I've hit quite a few. Beyond the Red's publication, seeing my book in stores, going on my first book tour, participating in a book signing, starting a new manuscript, finishing my last college class, and now, this.

It's all really exciting and surreal and kind of overwhelming, but ultimately with a good result.

I'm also over 20,000 words in my first-in-a-long-time first draft, which is super encouraging. It's been interesting opening up MyWriteClub sprints every day, thinking I have no idea how I'm going to get 2,000 words down today and doing it anyway. And while it takes me longer to get those 2,000 words down than it used to (once upon a time I wrote 1k in 30 minutes no problem), I've still been trudging forward relatively quickly and so far I'm on track to finish mid-May, like I'd originally planned.

I've also got a couple fun announcements I'll be sharing shortly, but not quite yet. :)

So those are Things going on right now. But mostly I'm opening up this post because I'd like to see what milestones, Things, and accomplishments you guys have reached or are working toward. What Things would you like to share?

Twitter-sized bite:

What milestones/goals are you working toward/have recently accomplished? Join the discussion on @Ava_Jae's blog. (Click to tweet)

On Writing Dreams and Nightmares

Photo credit: martinak15 on Flickr

So I got a question semi-recently from a reader about writing dreams and nightmares. I found this an especially interesting question, both because I was surprised I hadn't covered it, especially given I've written a ton of dream sequences for various projects, including Beyond the Red.

Dreams are really interesting, and when done well, a dream or nightmare in a book can convey a few things:

Flashback/memory. Dream sequences can be a great way to flash back to or hint at an event from your POV character's life, especially if it's a traumatic event. Dreams are sometimes the way the brain processes difficult-to-process life things, and in writing they can be an organic way to look back at an important event in your POV character's life.
A character's fears, desires, or something they're struggling with. I'm sure just about every one of you have dreamed about something you wanted, or something you were afraid of, or something you were sad about, or someone you missed, etc., etc. Likewise, in books, dreams can be a way to show character emotion—especially emotion that your POV character is trying to bury.
Symbolism. When they aren't a direct flashback, fictional dreams are often symbolic. As the writer, you get to decide exactly what happens in the dream and what you want the readers (and your character) to focus on. Symbolism, whether through colors, the way the dream plays out, peoples/animals/things involved, or something else, can be a really effective way to hint at something going on without outright saying it.

I find the key to writing dreams is to keep them simple. The longer and more complicated a dream is, the more confusing it'll be to your readers (and, honestly, to your character). But sprinkling a few dreams here and there, when done thoughtfully, can be a really effective and memorable way to show the readers what's going on in your POV character's head. Like anything else, just don't overdo it.

Have you ever written a dream sequence for one of your projects?

Twitter-sized bite:

How do you write effective dreams or nightmares? Author @Ava_Jae shares some tips. (Click to tweet)

Vlog: World Building Part 2

Continuing from last week's new mini-series kickoff, here's part two of a four part series focused just on world building.

RELATED LINKS:

What elements do you like to think about first when building the world of your book?

Twitter-sized bite:

Struggling w/ world building? Author @Ava_Jae continues her 4-part world building vlog series with part 2. (Click to tweet)

Fixing the First Page Giveaway #22!

Photo credit: faungg's photos on Flickr

Incredibly, we are more than halfway through April, I'm practically done with college, and fun announcements are forthcoming! But while I won't say anything else about that, the 22nd Fixing the First Page giveaway is a go!

For those who’ve missed it in the past, the Fixing the First Page features is a public first 250 word critique. Using the lovely rafflecopter widget, anyone interested in winning a PUBLIC (as in, featured in a post on this blog) first page critique can enter.

For an example of what this critique will look like, here's the last Fixing the First Page post.

Rules!

ONLY the first 250 words will be critiqued (up to finishing the sentence). If you win and send me more, I will crop it myself. No exceptions.

ONLY the first page. I don’t want 250 random words from your manuscript, or from chapter 3. If you win the critique and send me anything other than the first 250 words of your manuscript, I will choose someone else.

I will actually critique it. Here. On the blog. I will say things as nicely as I can, but I do tend to be a little blunt. If you’re not sure you can handle a public critique, then you may want to take some time to think about it before you enter.

Genre restrictions. I'm most experienced with YA & NA, but I will still accept MG and Adult. HOWEVER. If your first page has any erotic content on it, I ask that you don’t enter. I want to be able to post the critique and the first 250 in its entirety without making anyone uncomfortable, and if you win and you enter a page with erotic content, I will choose someone else.

You must have your first page ready. Should you win, you need to be able to submit your first page within 48 hours of my contacting you to let you know you won. If 48 hours pass and I haven’t heard from you, again, I will choose someone else.

You’ll get the most out of this if it isn’t a first draft. Obviously, I have no way of knowing if you’re handing me a first draft (though I will probably suspect because it’s usually not that difficult to tell). I won’t refuse your page if it’s a first draft, but you should know that this critique will likely be of more use if you’ve already had your betas/CPs look over it. Why? Because if you don’t, the critique I give you will probably contain a lot of notes that your betas & CPs could have/would have told you.

There will not be a round 2 (unless you win again in a future contest). I hate to have to say this, but if you win a critique, it’s NOT an invitation to send me a bunch of your revisions. I wish I had the time available to be able to look at revisions, but sadly, I don’t. If you try to break this rule, I will nicely say no, and also remember to choose someone else should you win a second contest. Which would make me sad. :(

So that’s it! If you’re okay with all of the above and would like to enter to be the twenty-second public critique on Writability, do the thing with the rafflecopter widget below. You have until Sunday, April 24 at 11:59 EST to enter!

a Rafflecopter giveaway

On First Drafting Again

Photo credit: Design Feast on Flickr

So in the past couple weeks, I've started first drafting again, for the first time since 2014. The first project was a short thing that didn't take long to knock out, but this week I started my first WIP experiment in a long time.

For those who aren't familiar with my process, I call all my new writing projects WIP experiments until I've hit 10,000 words. Usually at that point I feel fairly confident I'm not going to walk away from the project and work on something else (though I have on two occasions walked away from a project after hitting the 10,000 word milestone, so nothing is guaranteed). As of this writing I'm about 6.5k in, but I'm aiming to hit the 10k mark the day this post goes live, so fingers crossed.

After spending a full year focused entirely on revisions for various projects, however, first drafting has been...interesting.

I've written about how first drafts are not meant to be perfect and how you don't have to get (anything) right the first time, but the last year or so I've gotten much better at revising plot and recognizing big picture issues which means while first drafting my brain has been more nitpicky than usual. Plus the first full first draft post-publication thing probably is complicating matters too.

The good news is I recognize it, and I know to remind myself that it's fine. It doesn't matter how many issues I recognize while first drafting. It doesn't matter if the pacing is off, or characterization isn't quite right, or subplots are jumbled, or ending fizzles. It doesn't matter if the writing itself is less than spectacular, or the dialogue is corny, or there are seven characters with names that start with S. Everything will be fixed later, but first the story needs to be written down so there's something to fix.

First drafting again is a relief, because last year I was feeling pretty not great that I hadn't written anything new.

First drafting again is scary, because I have no idea if I'll actually get through this WIP, even though I really want to.

First drafting again is helpful, because it's a great distraction from other things I'd be obsessing about right about now without it.

First drafting again is hard, because I've gotten used to working already-written words, and getting to the already-written stage can be challenging.

First drafting again is exciting, because I've got new characters to discover and situations to explore.

Regardless of whether or not this first draft actually makes it to The End, it's nice to be getting new words down on paper again. And with any luck, it'll become a project I'll actually get to develop and grow.

What writing thing are you working on right now?

Twitter-sized bite:

Author @Ava_Jae talks first drafting again for the first time in over a year. (Click to tweet)

Book Review: ON THE EDGE OF GONE by Corinne Duyvis

Photo credit: Goodreads

So! Wow, I've been wanting to read On the Edge of Gone by Corinne Duyvis (author of the awesome Otherbound) basically since the publication announcement, and I finally did! And it was every bit as awesome as I hoped. :)

Before I tell you guys why, here is the Goodreads summary:

"January 29, 2035.

That’s the day the comet is scheduled to hit—the big one. Denise and her mother and sister, Iris, have been assigned to a temporary shelter near their hometown of Amsterdam to wait out the blast, but Iris is nowhere to be found, and at the rate Denise’s drug-addicted mother is going, they’ll never reach the shelter in time.

Then a last-minute encounter leads them to something better than a temporary shelter: a generation ship that’s scheduled to leave Earth behind and colonize new worlds after the comet hits. But each passenger must have a practical skill to contribute. Denise is autistic and fears that she’ll never be allowed to stay. Can she obtain a spot before the ship takes flight? What about her mother and sister?

When the future of the human race is at stake, whose lives matter most?"

I love me some YA Sci-Fi, and On the Edge of Gone was soooo different from any other YA Sci-Fi I've read and it was awesome. Usually apocalyptic-type books are post-apocalyptic, but On the Edge of Gone starts right before a massive comet strikes Earth and obliterates everything, then continues on in the days afterward and people try to survive and Denise tries to get her family safely off-planet.

Denise struggles with a lot—her autism makes everything she experiences more difficult for her to handle, all the while she resents people knowing about her disability (particularly when she isn't the one to reveal it), and because she's Black in a very white area that comes up as a subtle obstacle several times too. At the same time, her Dutch mother is an addict, and her mother's struggle with addiction and how it affects Denise and her family plays a major role in the book. Plus trying to survive on a dying planet. Plus trying to find Denise's missing sister, Iris. Plus trying to get her family aboard the ship bound for the stars.

On the Edge of Gone was fascinating and totally captivating. I really connected to Denise and felt her highs and lows while reading, the characters were really complex and interesting, and honestly the whole thing just felt like something that could really happen, which made it a tad chilling, too.

All in all, I very much enjoyed this book, and I can't wait to see what Corinne Duyvis has for us next. Super recommended if you like YA Sci-Fi and are looking for something different, or would like to read an authentic portrayal of an autistic protagonist, or just want to read a great book.

Diversity note: As the author puts it, "The protagonist is an autistic, biracial, part-Dutch part-Surinamese Black girl. The story also features a prominent bisexual trans Black girl, as well as lesbian, Muslim, and Jewish characters, among others." The author is also autistic, so that part is #ownvoices.

Twitter-sized bites:

.@Ava_Jae gives 5 stars to ON THE EDGE OF GONE by Corinne Duyvis. Is this unique world-ending YA SF on your TBR? (Click to tweet)

Want to support #ownvoices books? Like YA Sci-Fi? Check out ON THE EDGE OF GONE by Corinne Duyvis. (Click to tweet)