Tag Archives: creativity

9:32 am - August 20, 2014 - sjcarlson

Non-writers just don’t understand: How many different ways can I possibly show a character smile?

Okay, so for the record, I only used “sigh” 26 times so that meme is a hyperbole (my fancy word for the day). Anyway, I entered Hooligans in Shining Armour into writing competition called “Pitch Wars”. You submit your query and first chapter to four mentors. Mentors each pick one manuscript and help the writer whip it into shape to submit to an agent round in November.

I’m brushing up my manuscript. One of the things I like to do is search words and phrases to make sure I’m not being too repetitive: sigh, smile, grin, rolled my eyes, pissed up, icy fingers, etc. All writers have words or phrases that they slip into using too frequently. I’m trying to spot mine find more interesting ways to express them. In this MS, a lot of them are related to describing either emotion or drinking (lol, my hooligans drink A LOT). My novel’s written in first person. I’ve been working hard on using body language to show emotion of non-POV characters, rather than labeling the emotion or using sadly. I’m also trying word dialogue to imply tone, and use tone to show emotion.

Here’s the phrase I’m sprucing up now: She pursed her lips and sighed. “If your dad was arrested…” The character is feeling torn. She wants to help Fiona but she legally can’t, and she doesn’t want Fiona to take it into her own hands. It actually doesn’t sound too bad, except I’m watching how often I use the word “sigh”. Also she just pursed her lips and now she’s talking.

Here’s my #1 contender for spruced-up version: She pressed her fingers to her forehead. Her fingernails had been painted nude. “Fiona, if your Dad was arrested…”

That took me at least ten minutes come up with. I’m still mulling over “Her fingernails had been painted nude.” It feels a bit passive to me. Amazing how many tiny things go in to sculpting a novel.

One way I get inspiration for non-verbals is through reading. I write down good ones I find. Obviously, I don’t copy them, but they give me a starting place. I also use the power of the internet and pin good resources so I don’t lose them. Check out my Craft of Writing board!

Have you ever tried searching words in your WIP to check repetition? What word or phrase do you overuse?

Categories: Non-writers just don't understand, Writing Tags: creativity, PitchWars, writing

6:40 pm - August 14, 2014 - sjcarlson

Hey writer friends!!! Which imaginary cover do you like better??

There’s that old, old, ancient saying, “Don’t judge a book by its cover.” We’ve all heard it a gagillion times (yes I know that’s not a real word but I just like it). Let’s be honest with ourselves, okay? I’ll admit it. I judge books by their covers and i know I’m not alone. That’s why they’re so important, right?

So for funsies, in between final edits, I’ve been playing around with imaginary covers for my novel Hooligans in Shining Armour. I’m not sure which publishing route I’ll go when I’m 100% ready to put it out there, but it was just fun to do! One cover is more based on Fiona’s story, the other is based on Danny’s.

Here are the original photos:

My friend took this photo of my feet on Arab Street in Singapore. I chose this spot for the graffiti art. I staged it to look kind of like a peace wall that still separates a predominantly Catholic and Protestant community in Belfast. Also, Fiona wears red Converse the entire novel. I arranged my feet in a way that I thought suggested anxiety or insecurity.

This is a picture I took at a bonfire on Eleventh Night in a Protestant neighborhood in Belfast. This represents Danny’s side of the story and perhaps is more closely related to the title of the novel.

I don’t have Photoshop or any fancy photo-editing software, so I used this free website to do some photo-editing Windows Live Photo Gallery couldn’t do. Then I used this free website to add text, mostly because I liked one of the text options. There may be better sites out there. If there are, please let me know 🙂

Here’s what I came up with so far….

For this one, I tried to blur out the Converse logo but I’m not happy with the color. It’s too bright white, but it was really hard to even get that color.

For this one, I enhanced the color a bit and intentionally blurred the photo.

Anyway, this was just for fun. I’m not sure about the font or the color of the font at this point.

Any suggestions for improvement? Knowing very little about my WIP, which do you like better? If you’ve self-published, how have you gone about getting a cover?

Category: Writing Tags: creativity, photography, Self-Publishing, writing

11:38 am - July 27, 2014 - sjcarlson

Non-writers just don’t understand…. Wait, how many versions have you written?

So if my non-writer friends often struggle to comprehend how much work it takes to actually write a novel. It’s not just about getting it out of your head. Then you have to sculpt and perfect. The more you work at it, the more you see you can do to make it even better, until you reach the tipping point and you just have to stamp it done.

I THOUGHT I was close to stamping one of my novels done…. Until, during a re-write of the first chapter, I realized why I didn’t particularly care for one of the two POV characters. She didn’t have enough agency. Or spunk. All the sudden she went and completely evolved into a new, spunkier, more exciting character in my head. And now I have to pretty much re-write my entire perpetually-nearly-finished novel. Again. Draft 17 now.

Just kidding, I didn’t really do that, even though that’s kind of what I feel like doing.

It needs to happen, without a doubt. It’s absolutely why my readers were more drawn to the other POV character and why I didn’t even particularly care for her. Still it can be frustrating to be so close to “done” only to discover, crap, I’ve got much more work to do. Anyway, even though I’m feeling a bit lost as I work through it all, I know she will be much more compelling and my novel will be even better. I just have to take it slow and have patience with the character, myself, and the writing process as I work through it all.

Anyone share my pain? Have you ever had battles with your characters as they unfold in ways you don’t expect? What do you tell your non-writer friends?

Categories: Non-writers just don't understand, Writing Tags: creativity, writing

7:18 am - July 8, 2014 - sjcarlson

I’m going on an adventure!!! And hoping to refill my creativity well….

I’m off to Krabi and Chiang Mai, Thailand with two of my best friends. We don’t care about no military coup! Then we’re off to Angkor Wat, Cambodia. Beaches, elephants, and temples! I’ll try to keep regularly posting and I’m hoping to squeeze in a little bit of writing time, but we’ll see. If nothing else, I’m looking forward to returning to Singapore re-charged and ready to put the finishing touches on my novel, Hooligans in Shining Armour.

I’ve found that I have a finite source of creativity and I am currently tapped dry. Drained. I think this break from writing will do me good.

Have you ever drained your creativity well? What do you do to refill?

Category: Writing Tags: creativity, travel, writing

8:12 am - July 2, 2014 - sjcarlson

Survey question, writer friends!! How many different alpha/beta readers do you use?? (I seriously want to know)

Hey writer friends, as I’ve been trying to finish up my perpetually nearly finished novel, Hooligans in Shining Armour, a thought’s been nagging me. What is the most effective way to use readers, professional critique services, and editors to make your novel sparkle?

(No, no! Not this kind of sparkle!!)

(More like this, I guess?)

I do think you can have too much of a helpful thing, i.e. beta readers. That getting too much feedback can start to make things convoluted for the writer and potentially do more harm than good to the blossoming novel.

Also to all of you starting Camp NaNoWriMo today, happy writing! I’m supposed to be doing it, too, but I have a feeling it’s not going to be done with integrity…lol. I admit it freely, don’t judge!!!

How do you decide when it’s time to close the doors on that and focus just on editing? How many readers do you typically use? Do you have a strategy for how you use them?

Category: Writing Tags: creativity, writing

Sarah J. Carlson

Contemporary Young Adult Author