Yesterday at 2PM, me and a hundred-ish fans from the WesterForum hung out for about an hour and a half, and I answered many questions. For those of you who weren’t able to attend, I’ have compiled them into this blog post, typos and all! (So. Many. Typos.)
Enjoy:
“What kind of juice do you like?”
There are many juices I love. Mango! Pear! (Especially pear cider.) Apple!
“So Scott there’s been a rivalry going on (on the forum obviously) , based on the question : If the crew of the Leviathan got in a fight with Special Circumstances who would win? What’s your opinion?”
I think in a close-quarters fight the Specials would win, because they’re too quick. But in a proper battle, the Leviathan could mess them up with strafing hawks or bat-poo without ever being in danger.
“WHATS GOING ON WITH CROY?! CAN YOU GIVE US ANY INFO ON HIM?! ”
That info will be released at Leaky Con and Comic Con. THAT’S ONLY A FEW WEEKS. But I can’t tell you anything now, except maybe . . . you will SEE HIM.
“Did you use the same models on the cover of Goliath that you used on Leviathan and Behemoth?”
Yes. Same models, same photo shoot on the same day. Sometime I’ll show you guys the unaltered photos.
“At any point in Behemoth, does Dr. Barlow know that Deyrn is a girl? It has been a topic of great debate.”
Hah! Not saying now, but you WILL learn the answer to that in Goliath.
“Have you ever met someone in real life who reminds you of your characters?
Or vice versa.”
Hmm, not really. Although sometimes I see someone and say, ‘Whoa, he/she’s a total pretty!’
“Nice to meet you, btw. (and tell hi to Justine (Mrs. Larbaleister (sp?)) for me, please!)”
It’s Dr. Larbalestier, in fact.
“Can Justine cook?”
She’s a great cook of Thai food, and she wants me to add that she’s a good boxer too. (She’s been taking lessons.)
“What TV shows do you watch?”
Game of Thrones, Treme, just finished Vampire Diaries,
“This isn’t really a question, just a comment. I thought you’d like to know that I used to like history, and Leviathan made me love it again. I might even try writing something historical-ish myself. ”
Yay!
“Is Lilit lesbian/bi? (Please say yes.)”
They didn’t really have those categories for women back then, but she would be if she was alive today. (Strange but true fact: Male homosexuality was illegal in England back then, but female homosexuality wasn’t because lawmakers REFUSED TO BELIEVE IT EXISTED.)
“In Uglies, there are many messages, some obvious, some not so much. What messages/lessons do you want readers to take away from Leviathan?”
Hmm. I think that the big theme is about how different sides of a conflict (war or just ideological/technological) see each other, and how that can change when people are forced to work together.
“What kind of music do you like? (Do you like Florence+and the machine?)”
I like minimalism and trip-hop, and I don’t know of this Florence person.
“What is your opinion on the Hunger Games? (Will you see the movie?)”
Want to see the movie. Liked the first book, but didn’t read the others.
“When will you go on tour?”
September 17. DON’T KNOW WHERE YET! NOT MY CHOICE WHERE.
“Would you like to join my band of Ninjas?”
I have already infiltrated your band of ninjas!
“Do you like writing about diseases? Peeps was about parasites, Innoculata had to do with a virus and in So Yesterday the main characters dad is a Epidimiologist (I think).”
I love all kinds of biology, like beasties too. Studied philosophy of biology in college. (Yes, that’s a real thing.)
“Scott-la, in the Uglies series who was the most interesting character to create?”
Hmm, maybe Mr. Simpson Smith, because he talked funny and had a very different view of the world from everyone else.
“Is there a ball, wedding, or some other formal scene in Goliath?”
Yes!
“Will we ever see Deryn in a dress in the final book?
I need some hope..
Secret!
“Were you annoyed with my pie questions at the last meet up? xD”
No!
” I love Eddie is he important in Goliath?? ”
Hmm, this is spoilery, but yes he is important in Goliath. In fact, no one just disappears.
“Is Goliath the end of the Leviathan universe? I know you are writing the Manual of Aeronautics, but that won’t have any stories in it. Is there an Extras style book planned?”
Nothing planned, but I have a “prequel” to Goliath, sort of. It was a short story I was writing and decided to dump because I wanted to do a whole trilogy. And I mean to publish it sometime.
“Any Leviathan movie news that you would like to share?”
A contract is being written. Until it is signed, I can say no more!
“Have you ever tried fencing? Would you take lessons from Count Volger?”
Yes, in college. He sounds mean as a teacher, though. I’m a lazy student at physical stuff.
“Did you name Volger Ernst because that was the name Archduke Ferdinand named his son?”
Yes! Bonus points to you! He is the Ernst I erased from history.
“And how close was Volger and the Archduke exactly? Did he name his son after Volger?”
Volger’s not historical, so your second question is a no. But in my world they were very close, though they went through a bad patch when Volger told the Archduke not to marry Sophie.
“I’m Hungarian. Do we go to Hungary next?”
Sorry, no Hungary stuff in Goliath.
“What’s Lilit’s last name?”
I don’t know. (Naming varies a lot back then, however. She probably just would have been known as ‘Lilit, daughter of Zaven.’
“Do you find it interesting when we ship characters?”
YES! I love all the fan fics.
“Oh yeah, and how’s that bloke in your closet doing?”
He’s almost done with his master’s degree, and then I think he’s getting a PhD.
(This is an inside joke at the Forum. Do not be alarmed.)
“Ok, so since the Leviathan series is almost over, do you already have another series in mind? Or is the new Croy project the next big thing?”
Not a whole series, yet. But a standalone novel is in my head and there’s the Cory project and a graphic novel I’m writing.
“What kind of copyright it the leviathan trilogy and who holds it? will there eventually be a creative commons version?”
Not sure about more short stories. Leviathan is under normal copyright, held by me, but write all the fan fiction you want.
“Any advice on worldbuilding?”
Pay attention to how THIS world works, and how complicated it is.
“And, has anyone in real life been an inspiration for a character in the Leviathan series?”
Hmm, not really, except for those historical women who really pretended to be boys.
“Scott can you imagine that if you came to our houses we’d freak out and be like the lady in ‘Misery’ the movie/book?”
Thanks for the warning!
“Oh, and are Dr. Barlow and Volger in love? Us fans would die of happiness if they were!”
Barlow is married! (But they have a special bond.)
“Will you be coming to Texas any time soon?”
YES, I’m booked at the Austin Teen Book Festival, and therefore other TX cities are probably on tour.
“Okay, I HAVE to ask–will there ever be an Uglies movie?”
Maybe! New deal in the works. Will post news when contract signed.
“Are you going to see the last harry potter movie in the theatre?”
Yes, at Leaky Con, with Maureen Johnson.
“What was the weirdest thing you’ve ever been asked to sign?”
Answered that at the last meet-up, and I can’t remember what. Does anyone else?
(Further research revealed the answer to be, “A bra.”)
“On Justine’s website she says that she doesn’t drive cars. Do you drive cars? If no, does that have anything to do with Uglies?”
True, we don’t have a car or even licenses. And it KIND OF has to do with Uglies, in that I have environmental issues with them.
I never live anywhere where a car is essential.
“Ok, guys why don’t we just wait and let him answer all the questions we’ve already asked.”
Hah! Good luck with that.
“Are we going to see some sword fighting from Alek, Deryn, or particularly Voger in Goliath?”
Yes! There are swords! And a thing that’s not QUITE a sword.
“How many chapters are in Goliath?”
Um, 44 or 45.
“Have you eaten any pie lately?”
Not lately. But I will today IN YOUR HONOR.
“Can you give a vague description of the setting of the book after Goliath?”
Contemp US and a sort of mystical afterworld.
“Will you come to Europe?”
Yeah, but no plans at the moment. France wants me to come in a couple of years.
Where i really want to go is Brazil.
“Do you watch any anime or read any manga???”
Nana, Blood+, Monster, Princess Tutu, Moribito, Full Metal Alchemist, Pluto, 20th Century Boys.
“Why did you choose today as the meetup day? Do you like having meetups on the two year anniversary of MJ? xD”
Didn’t realize.
“Do you have a pic of the cool shoe lacing from So Yesterday? I hvent been able to find a pattern like that anywhere…”
One of my foreign editions has it. Search for So Yesterday on all my blog posts and go through them.
(I looked for this ,but still can’t find it.)
“Shuffling through some old blog posts I saw that you had posted about the possibility of a ‘So Yesterday’ movie. Is there still a chance it might be a movie?”
No, that fell apart. (But I got some money. Yay!)
“Do you like emilie autumn? muse?”
Don’t know them
“What is your favorite book you wrote?”
Hmm, Peeps was the most magical experience. Like, every time I had a plot problem, parasites solved it!
“Is Lilit gonna get married as a part of a plot in Goliath? (guessing this due to the April Fools joke pic). The plot due to the knife and the fact that Lilith obviusly wouldn’t get married for love anyways (i don’t think). ‘Specially since we know now she’s gay/bi. (not saying gay/bi people shouldn’t get married, just saying I hihgly doubt it was legal back then).”
Heh, I will say that she’s a part of the book, but THAT IS ALL.
“Do you like the television show House?”
Never saw it. I don’t watch much realism.
“Have you ever watched A very Potter musical???”
No.
“Does the Leviathan have a tail?”
Yes! You will SEE it and we will GO back there in Goliath.
“(If no one disappears in your books) what happened to Croy?”
He is saving himself for May/June 2012.
“will there be any good makeout scenes in goliath ??”
Yes there will be kisses . . . BUT WHO?
“Will volger die ‘cuz his first name meens fight to the death?”
EVERYONE DIES IN GOLIATH. (Not really.)
“My twinbrother would like to know: will there be new awesome warmachines or beasties?”
BOTH.
“Last time, you mentioned Newkirk doesn’t have a first name. Can you make one up now?”
Um, I leave that to you guys.
“We know that ‘Hearst’ from the Goliath Word Cloud is William Randolph Hearst, but who’s ‘Rogers’?”
Um, I can’t remember.
“I want deryn to tell alek so badly… you dragged it out for so long! why? why?”
The tears of my readers keep me young.
“My brother also wants to know if we’ll see anything with the clanker dirigibles?”
YES.
“How do you feel about people torturing your characters in fan fics and fan art, i.e. making them stupid, confused, killing them, and/or maiming them?”
Go for it.
“Ok, so is that Goliath prequel your next big thing or is there another new series?”
Like I said, there’s a standalone novel, and the Croy project, and a graphic novel.
“Is the Croy project really about Croy? Or is that just what you’re calling it?”
That’s just what I’m calling it. BECAUSE YOU ARE ALL OBSESSED WITH CROY.
“Eugene William Newkirk for the win! *fistbump*”
IT IS DECIDED.
“How did David get his eyebrow scar? Or is that one of those questions that you leave for the fans to decide? (I have already written a fanfic on it )”
Revealed in the Croy project!
“Will there ever be a Leviathan video game?”
I hope so, but no plans yet.
“Do you want a pet message lizard?”
Hmm. Hard to take care of, going back and forth between Sydney and NYC.
“Do you like Berry Burst Icecream Oreos?”
THEY SOUND INTRIGUING!
“Will there be a Russian revolution in the Leviathan-verse?”
We don’t get all the way to 1917, so not in the books.
“ALSO ….. my mother wants to know if there is another Risen Empire coming soon???”
Alas no.
“And if you have: Can you tell us just the last word? Not the last sentence, just the last word.”
It is . . . ‘allies’
“Will anyone go to the US?”
YES.
“Will there ever be a Leviathan Lego kit? ”
This came up in my last marketing meeting, and I said I will sign any paper necessary to make that happen. But nothing brewing yet.
“And have you ever tried the ‘real’ Bovril (the edible kind)?”
No. I’m a vegetarian.
“Have you finished Goliath yet?”
Yup!
“How do you feel about this forum as a whole?”
I think it’s great how big it is! But I haven’t read that much of it. It’s kind of you guys’s thing, not mine.
“If you could have one machine/beastie from Levi exist in our would, what would It be?”
The Leviathan itself. I would fly on it!
“Do you have skype and so would u like to come to our after meet up skype party?”
I don’t skype much, and I must do WORK.
“Do you ever base your characters off yourself or family members? (My first serious question beside the Croy questions!)”
Not really. Maybe little bits of them, like not liking chocolate or a turn of phrase.
“Will there ever be a creative commons attribution non-commercial share-alike license?”
Maybe if I ever get around to it. I’d almost rather throw it all into the public domain. Simpler that way.
“Thanks, Scott!!!!!!! I can’t wait for all these new projects. Will the graphic novel be from the same illustrator that does Levi?”
No. Keith’s too slow and complicated to do a graphic novel.
“Will this place ever have feeds or something like identi.ca.”
I don’t know what that is.
“Who do you like better, Alek or Deyn?”
Deryn’s more fun to write, because she’s basically happier and better adjusted. But Alek’s a bit more thoughtful.
“Is there any reason that I couldn’t request a friend of a friend to make me a t-shirt to be made that said ‘Team Cable’ or ‘Special Circumstances’ or ‘I don’t want to hurt you but I will if I have to’ or other quotes from Uglies on it?? Because I don’t want to get in any trouble for making one if it’s not legal–so is it okay to make an Uglies themed t-shirt for myself?”
Rock out! For personal use is okay with me.
“will this forum ever be in real-time?”
Hmm, I don’t know exactly what that means, so not soon. I’ll ask my webmistress.
“Would you consider writing another steampunk novel?”
Not for a while. Wouldn’t want to repeat myself.
“What is your favorite type of Leviathan Fan fiction?”
The more weird and unexpected, the more I like it.
“is the Goliath a beastie or a clanker machine?? dying of curiosity here!!”
Machine!
“Do you like bugs?”
Yes, but not in my food.
“Are you heading to the MA area anytime soon?”
Probably not.
“Have you ever used an IRC?”
Not for a long time.
“Has anybody ever recognized you and freaked out?”
An elevator full of librarians did once at ALA (a librarian conference) and they screamed!
“If I mentioned pie if I ever saw you, would you recognize me as Allie-wa?”
Lots of people ask me about pie, but I would still know it was YOU.
“Scott. MOST important question EVER…….Do you…own a blue bucket?”
I did, but it was stolen.
“Okay, so when Volger said that Dr. Barlow was an ‘interesting woman,’ he wasn’t declaring his undying love for her?”
He’s cagier than that, I think.
“does anyone important in the series die in goliath?”
People die, and I bet THEY think they’re important.
“Do you look at xkcd comics?”
Love them.
“I’m eating a kiwi gummy.”
Sounds yummy.
“How tall Is Deryn?”
Rather tall for her time. 5’10″ or so.
“What color are Deryn’s eyes?”
Don’t know. Brown, I think. (Further research revealed that they are BLUE.)
“Will you come to central Europe?”
Would love to. Let’s hope Leviathan does well in Germany.
“Are you a Nerdfighter?”
Not really. But I know and love many, and I try not to forget to be awesome.
“And how much shorter is Alek??? (than Deryn)”
Two inches-ish.
“In all your books and short stories, what scene was the funnest one you’ve ever written and why?”
Peeps. See earlier answer.
“What was the most annoying question you’ve ever been asked?”
Argh. Maybe this one.
“I know you are team zombie-but if there was a zombified Unicorn……..would you be team Zombicorn?”
I’d still be Team Zombie. I don’t want to shoot a horsey.
“Would Eddie use a camera kinda like this? [photo attached]”
Yes. But his camera’s in an illustration in Goliath, isn’t it?
“Will there ever be a live meetup??”
How would this work? Suggestions?
“What was your favorite part of Leviathan?”
Tossing out the gold.
“What was your favorite part of Behemoth?”
Maybe the sultan’s palace? Or the kiss.
“What was your favorite part of Goliath?”
The part where everyone DIES. (heh) Or maybe a certain KISS.
“What is your favorite Beastie?”
Bovril or the poo-bats.
“What is your favorite machine?”
The Stormwalker.
“I did my shoes with the lacing pattern from So Yesterday!! Ill have to post it.”
DO IT!
Okay, that’s it! Hope some of you Forum-shirkers come to the next one.
Back in 2009 I blogged a word cloud of Leviathan as a NaNoWriMo tip.
Word clouds (made easy by the lovely and clever people at Wordle) are graphic representations of which words appear, and how often, in your novel, blog, or whatever. The words are sized, of course, in relation to how many times they pop up.
Word clouds great for spotting words that a writer uses too often, like my terrible habit of people frowning before they say something, or my once-rampant obsession with the word “effulgent.”
They’re also kind of fun for creating quasi-spoilery anticipation. And with that goal in mind, I offer you the Goliath word cloud five months before the book comes out!
Click here to see the full-size version. You know you want to.
Your sharp young eyes will no doubt note that I had to remove one word from the results. It was just too spoilerizing, and rather big as you can see. But the rest remains unaltered.
Of course, certain words that are missing (or quite small) can be just as spoilery as the ones that are there. So don’t look too close unless you want to suffer from S3krit Knowledge You Cannot Forgetz.
For my own purposes, I’m glad to see that “frowned” is very wee, and “effulgent” nowhere to be found. Sadly, “barking” is smaller than I thought it would be, and “perspicacious” totally missing! (But don’t worry, “Bovril” is happily medium sized.)
Best of all, the dreaded “just” is either not there or too tiny to see, so that’s another bad habit of mine expunged. Yay.
If you’re a writer, this old NaNoWriMo post of mine will give you a few more hints how to use word clouds in your own work.
See you on Fan Art Friday!
Hey, sorry it’s been so long since I’ve blogged. I plead tour exhaustion. But here are things for you to listen to and look upon!
For the listening, while on tour I did two long interviews with Writing Excuses, a weekly podcast on the craft of writing.
The first interview is appropriate to the Leviathan series, because it’s all about the visual components of writing. Maps, diagrams, character sketches, floor plans, and full-blown illustrations—all those things writers create to help them visualize the world of their books. (And for those of you who are visual learners, or who hate the sound of my voice, here’s the transcript.)
The second interview is more generally about steampunk, the subgenre of which I am now the resident expert/bore (but not high priestess, waah). Listen here or check out the transcript.
And now for things to look at. As I’ve toured, I’ve talked a lot about the books that inspired me to make Leviathan series illustrated: the 1910s-30s teen novels that had cool pictures in them. But I didn’t make a point of showing examples to my audiences, and I haven’t put any here on my blog. This seems like an oversight.
So here from my research bookshelf, recorded by my iPhone with craptastic lighting, are a couple of these inspirations.
First is A Trip to Mars, both the cover and an interior illustration:
And here’s the cover and illustration from the glorious “boy’s own adventure,” A Trip to Mars.
Note the similarities and differences from Keith’s work. Some of the stiffness of Edwardian illustration is visible in these, and the caption on A Trip to Mars could totally go in Leviathan. The spilling off the frame isn’t present here, and these are in color, which is interesting. But the spirit of them is, I think, the same.
Also, you can see that Keith is much better than these old-fashioned dudes. Seriously.
But I will admit that, whether they’re pen names or not, Captain F.S. Brereton and Fenton Ash are the most awesome author names in history. Evar.
Okay, I’m about to transit hemispheres, so there may be another long pause in my blogging. But thanks for dropping by, and thanks again to all of you who made my tour so much fun.
Ciao for now.
We all have words we love too much.
Maybe for you it’s something fancy, like “effulgent” or “apodictic,” or something sillier, like “smellypants.” And because we love these words, we will use them too often, until our readers begin to snicker quietly at us.
But those big, obvious words are easy to spot. We’ll whack them in the second draft. And even if we fail to do so, our friends will probably slap us the fiftieth time they encounter the word “prognosticate.”
It’s the little overused words that kill us, that quietly undermine our text without us ever noticing.
My big overused word was once “just,” as an adverb. “He was just happy to see you.” “She was just standing there.” It cropped up everywhere. After this was pointed out to me by a wise editor, I went through an entire novel, deleting it everywhere it didn’t completely change the meaning of the sentence. That cured me.
But how could I be sure that there weren’t other overused words mucking up my manuscript?
Then I discovered the word cloud.
“Word clouds” are graphic representation of the words in a text, scaled by how many times each word occurs. You’ve probably seen then in blog sidebars and Amazon listings. They’re software-generated, and therefore reveal common words that humans might overlook. (Though the software ignores super-common words like “the” and “a” automatically.) They’re also a great place to start when you begin work on your second draft.
This is what the word cloud for my latest novel, Leviathan, looked like after my first draft:
generated by the excellent Wordle.net software
As you can see, my two main character names, Alek and Deryn, are the biggest words by far.
Now, you can use word clouds to check relative importance of character names in your text, but I’m not interested in that here. (Alek is a bit bigger, but only because Deryn often goes by other names, like “Dylan” or “Mr. Sharp.” So no surprises there.) So let’s check for any overused little words.
The first thing that seems to be dominating is “eyes.” That may mean I’m relying too much on eyes for emotional cues, which could get boring. I definitely checked that as I worked on the second draft.
“Looked” is also a bit big, and got some scrutiny, I’m sure. If your characters are spending a lot of time looking at things, you probably got lazy at some point.
I also would have taken a search-pass on the word “voice,” which is often used as a shortcut to convey emotion. Too many phrases like “said Scott in a strained voice” is not a good sign.
“Feet,” “head,” and “hands,” are all big, but they’re all equal, so that doesn’t bother me as much. It’s a very physical book, after all, with lots of jumping and grabbing, and whacking of heads.
Note that I’m also ignoring interesting words, like “engines,” “walker,” and “hydrogen.” Those are just part of the world I’m writing about—airships and walking machines. I’d be worried if some cool words like that didn’t show up big.
See how it works? One glance at a word cloud can make all the difference.
To create your own word cloud, just copy and paste your entire text into this text field here at Wordle.net. Enjoy!
That’s it for today. Don’t forget to check out Justine’s Nano Tips on the last two remaining even-numbered days. See you on the 29th with my final entry!
This is my ante-penultimate Nano Tip, so you must be nearing the end of your fantabulous NaNoWriMo novel. Soon you’ll need to read the whole thing over with an editorial eye, polishing every sentence for sparkling clarity.
But how to concentrate on mere clauses and word choice while your amazing story is sweeping you along in its wake? How can you focus on all those pesky details when your characters are bleeding heroically onto the page?
Three words: Read it backwards.
Reading through a novel in reverse order is an old trick used by many writers. It’s like when an optometrist covers up one of your eyes to test the other. You’re covering up your “story eye” to bring grammar, spelling, and sentence structure into focus.
So what do I mean by “reading backwards”? Do you literally read the last word of your novel, then the one before that, then the one before that until you get to the beginning?
Well, that depends on what you want to concentrate on. Reading in reverse word order would bring spelling errors into sharp relief, but would probably also break your brain. No one I know does that.
A more feasible strategy is reading in reverse paragraph order. That serves to isolate sentences and word choices, without the drama of the scene pulling you past mistakes. On the other hand, if you read in reverse chapter order, you’ll be focused on the structure of individual scenes.
See how it works? The larger the unit you use for your reverse reading, the more “pulled back” you are from each level of writerly technique. But it’s up to you to discover which kinds of reverse reading are helpful for you.
Another reading-out-of-order technique I’ve used is to look at all the scenes in which a certain character appears, just to make sure they stay consistent.
Warning: if you start to get a headache, stop for a while before continuing. But don’t worry. It’s just like your first non-flipped manga; your brain will adapt eventually. That’s what it’s good at.
That’s it for today! Don’t forget to check out Justine’s Nano Tips on the even-numbered days of November. See you on the 27th.
So . . . you’re more than two-thirds done with NaNoWriMo, and maybe you’re starting to crumple a bit. Your dialog sounds forced, your action scenes are flat, and your plot twists have all turned to spaghetti. What can you do to break out of this slump?
Here’s my tip for the day: change your brain!
“Um, what now?” you may ask. Allow me to explain . . .
This tip was inspired by a recent article in the journal Brain and Cognition, about how traffic levels between the two hemispheres of your brain affects thinking. Researchers found that any activity that promoted neural cross-talk in test subjects also promoted creativity.
In other words, if you can get the two halves of your brain talking, you’ll be more likely to find inspiration. And it’s easier than you think.
(A quick note before I go on: most of the right-brain, left-brain stuff people repeat is total rubbish. There isn’t a “creative lobe” on one side of your head and an “analytical lobe” on the other. Both sides of your brain perform both analytic and creative tasks. The key here is to make them talk to each other.)
In this study, the subjects moved their eyes back and forth along a horizontal axis, like when you’re watching a tennis match. (Or a really boring game of Pong.) After thirty seconds of eye exercise, the subjects gained about ten minutes’ worth of improved scores on various creativity tests.
So if you need a quick hit of creativity, try looking from right to left for thirty seconds and see what happens.
Of course, you can’t move your eyes back and forth every ten minutes of your writing day. That would be dizzying and tedious. So how do you keep your creativity levels high for, say, all of November?
Luckily, there’s evidence that you can improve cross-talk levels (and thus creativity) on a permanent basis, simply by pretending that you’re left handed.
Here’s the thing: left-handed and ambidextrous subjects had no benefit from the eye movements in this study. In fact, in some studies lefties and ambies seem to get stupider after cross-talk exercises. Many scientists think that’s because lefties and ambies already operate at an optimal level of cross-talk, generated by the fact that the world is designed for right-handed people.
That’s right, all those rightie-baised scissors make lefties more creative.
Or to say it another way, being challenged by the world wires your brain for creativity!
So here’s my exercise for you today: Pretend you’re left handed. Open doors, eat, and mouse with your left hand for a day or so. You’ll be promoting cross-talk in your brain, and rewiring yourself for creativity. It may feel weird, but it should give your creative juices a boost.
And for those of you who are already left-handed or ambidextrous? Hey, you don’t need my help. You’re already creative geniuses! (Or rather, you’re already operating at optimal cross-talk levels, so you’ll have to find some other trick to make yourself smarter. Sorry!)
That’s it for today! Don’t forget to check out Justine’s posts on the even-numbered days of November. See you on the 25th.
Being a writer should change your daily life. You should scan the newspaper for story ideas, deconstruct old fairy tales in the shower, and eavesdrop shamelessly in the name of dialog development.
And being a writer should also change the way you read.
The next time you read a scene that makes your socks roll up, make yourself stop and learn.
Even if it interrupts your readerly pleasure, take a moment to wonder. How did the author just make you cry? Which elegant phrase or shameless trick jerked those tears from you? At what point in that action scene did your heart start pounding? What was the exact moment that you went from hating this character to liking them?
One of your jobs as a writer is to take novels apart and see how they work. Don’t go for the easy enjoyment of letting the words wash over you. Instead analyze and nitpick. Get your hands dirty.
Writers re-read.
Okay, I’m off to NCTE in Philly, so that’s it for today! Many amazing writers and I will be doing a benefit for the Philadelphia Free Library summer reading program while we’re there. Please come and support your local library!
Sunday, November 22 1:00-3:00PM
A NOVEL IDEA:
Laurie Halse Anderson, Jay Asher,
T.A. Barron, Sarah Dessen,
Steven Kluger, Justine Larbalestier,
David Levithan, Lauren Myracle,
Jacqueline Woodson and me!
Children’s Book World
17 Haverford Station Rd.
Haverford, PA
Don’t forget to check out Justine’s Nano Tips. See you in two days!
If you ever take a linguistics class, you will hear this catechism from the first day on:
1) Speech is primary.
2) Speech is universal among human cultures, and separates us from other animals.
3) Speech is innately acquired-–-unlike writing, which is a skill that must be learned.
4) Therefore speech (not writing) is the primary material for linguistic study.
Yes, dear NaNoWriMor-ers, writing is important. But speech is the bee’s knees. So when you want to measure your burgeoning novel against a basic human yardstick, read that sucker out loud.
Every week or so, Justine and I read aloud to each other the last few chapters of whatever books we’re writing. We like to entertain each other, but we do have one important rule: the reader is allowed to stop at any time to fix a lousy sentence, even if it leaves the listener hanging.
We’ve found this practice extremely useful for the following reasons:
1) When you read aloud, pacing issues become readily apparent.
2) It is physically impossible to read a crappy sentence without flinching.
3) Reading dialog aloud prevents unintentional hilarity.
3) Drafts are easier to share when no one can see your crappy punctuation and spelling. (In early drafts, you often don’t care about such details yet.)
5) Non-verbal responses like laughter and gasps are invaluable.
6) Novel writing is a lonely process with extremely long lag-times for feedback. Storytelling has the advantage of instantaneous feedback.
7) Loving to tell stories is why we got into this racket.
So the next time you’re stuck, consider finding a friend and reading aloud to them. Surprisingly, a stuffed animal works almost as well, because it’s not the listening that changes everything, it’s the talking.
Speech is primary.
You can still read my chat with Naomi Novik here at Suvudu.com. Don’t forget to check out Justine’s post from yesterday, about avoiding stereotypes, and her new one tomorrow. See you in two days!
One of your brain’s jobs is to turn frequent actions into habits. If you force yourself to turn the lights off every time you leave a room, it eventually becomes automatic. If you open the fridge door every time you’re in the kitchen, that too will become hardwired. You don’t have to think when you tie your shoes or say thankyou; those actions are ingrained.
But what about more complex activities? Can writing be a reflex?
I am here to tell you yes.
Make writing a habit.
But writing requires higher brain functions! you protest. It demands one’s full attention! The writer must focus on every detail, not wallow in habits of phrase!
Well, yes and no. I’m not saying you should write reflexively, typing cliche after cliche. I’m saying that the overall writing experience should become habitual—your brain and body should know when it’s writing time, and must be taught that writing time is sacred.
To understand what I mean, try this for a month:
1) Write at the same time every day.
2) Keep your physical cycles around that time consistent: sleep, meals, coffee, etc.
3) Write in the same chair.
4) Utilize the same protocols for every session (E.g., check email for 15 minutes, then WRITE! Or do twenty push-ups, then WRITE!)
Now maybe school and/or work make these suggestions impossible. But anything you can do to habituate yourself helps. Even silly stuff, like saying a prayer for a good writing day to the Flying Spaghetti Monster, or wearing a special writing hat or magic writing ring. These tiny maneuvers, repeated over time, wire your brain so that it knows when WRITING TIME IS HERE.
It’s sort of like when batters step up to the plate and make all those little ingrained motions: scrape the feet, adjust the uniform, spit to the left. Those habits trigger memories of all the other at-bats that batter has experienced, saying to the muscles, eyes, and brain: It’s showtime!
My version: I always start writing the moment I’m done with the morning coffee, right after breakfast. I sit in the same chair, and start by looking over the last few days’ work. I have water standing by, and I don’t answer my phone or email for the first hour. I wear the same basic clothes, almost a uniform.
But it doesn’t matter what I do. You should create your own habits. Or perhaps a better word is rituals. But whatever you call it, repetition has power. Whatever feels natural to you, make it your habit, your tradition, your religion.
Writer’s block is no threat to the well wired brain.
Good luck for the second half of NaNoWriMo! And don’t forget to check out Justine’s post from yesterday, and her new one tomorrow. See you in two days!
By the way, there is exactly one more appearance in the Leviathan tour. It’s this Sunday in Philly, and it’s a benefit for the Philadelphia Free Library
summer reading program. Please come and support your local library!
Sunday, November 22 1:00-3:00PM
A NOVEL IDEA:
Laurie Halse Anderson, Jay Asher,
T.A. Barron, Sarah Dessen,
Steven Kluger, Justine Larbalestier,
David Levithan, Lauren Myracle,
Jacqueline Woodson and me!
Children’s Book World
17 Haverford Station Rd.
Haverford, PA
One other reminder: you can buy interior art from Leviathan here, and color art from the series here, here, and here.
That’s right, NaNoWriMo-ers, take at least one day off this month. About now is good, because we’re halfway through November and your brain needs a rest.
So take a day off and do nothing!
I know I just did.
Shay's Story, a graphic novel version of Uglies, is OUT NOW!
The Uglies series has been adapted into graphic novel form, with the events of the trilogy told from Shay's point of view in three volumes.
The first one comes out March 6, 2012!
Click here to contact Scott Westerfeld.
Jill Grinberg
Jill Grinberg Literary Management
info@grinbergliterary.com
