Thanks to Craig Boyack for tagging me in this Writing Process Blog Hop!

So this is my second Writing Process Blog Hop, but it’s fitting because I’ve started a new project. So exciting! Hooligans in Shining Armour, what I focused on last time, has been at a development editor in Belfast for the past three weeks. It’s so close to done I can almost smell the impending agent rejection letters.

Anyway, I got bored. So what did I do? See below.

What Am I Working On?

My “high concept” logline for Hooligans is: Romeo and Juliet in Belfast. I’m HOPING this may be my last round of edits (provided the editor didn’t think it was utter rubbish) and then I’ll start sending querying agents. I’ve got my query letter and synopsis ready. I’ve also done my agent research and created a spreadsheet of agents I will submit to. My plan is to query US agents.

Since I couldn’t work on that, I decided to write a prequel, not trying to copy Star Wars or anything. As I wrote Hooligans, I found out this secondary character, Patrick (older brother to one of the protagonists), was a fascinating guy. My readers loved him. I decided that he had a story to be told, too. Very beginnings of a logline: All Patrick has ever wanted to do was join the IRA like his Da. When Patrick’s mother, long exiled from Northern Ireland, reaches out to him, he must make a choice…steal his brother and join their traitor mother in America or stay loyal to the cause. I have no title yet, but I’m playing around with something related to Soldiers of Destiny (an English translation of Fianna Fáil).

How Does My Work Differ From Others of Its Genre?

I write Young Adult. Obviously, the market is flooded with YA. What makes mine unique? For my current novels, I think it’s the setting. Post-Troubles Belfast is not something very many Americans think of; I’d wager most Americans don’t even know that Northern Ireland is a part of the United Kingdom. They have no clue about the sectarianism and tribalism that still divides, that peace walls still separate Catholic working class estates from Protestant fifteen years after the Good Friday Agreement in 1998 that ended The Troubles. These are just a few tiny examples about an incredibly complex situation.

Also, I like to focus on characters from backgrounds of which many people hold negative stereotypes.In the case of Hooligans and the prequel, that would being teenage boys coming from working class backgrounds in Belfast who have paramilitary involvement. Spides, steeks, chavs, white trash, gangbangers, whatever you want to call them. I like to show that, regardless of what we see of them in the world, they are people who love and think and question and have goals and yes, hate.

Professionally, I am a school psychologist. I have training and experience in working with kids and teens that have been traumatized by things such as community violence, domestic violence, and substance-abusing parents. I have also worked with gang-involved youths.

Why Do I Write What I Write?

I have written since I was in elementary school. I still have my first “published” work in a box in my parents’ attic from a 4^th grade writing contest. I’ve actually written five manuscripts. The first three will never see the light of day. One is a 250,000 word monstrosity! I’ve learned so much from these first attempts.

Why YA? There’s just something fascinating and magical about the threshold between childhood and adulthood; an almost infinite number of paths lie ahead of you. You start making choices for yourself and those choices close off paths while opening others. You experiment with the world and the people around you to figure out who you are and where you fit. There’s this beauty and innocence and intensity and emotionality that exists during this ephemeral period of life, lost as we morph into adults. Plus, I love working with kids and teens; it’s what I do. I hope my characters will inspire the kids I work with to persevere, make good choices, resist peer pressure, and think for themselves.

So why did some crazy American write a book set in Belfast? I traveled there in July of 2011 over the Twelfth, which is an especially contentious time of year. I won’t go into detail here; visit my Hooligans In Shining Armour page for links to my YouTube channel and my photo album of the trip. Let’s just say I was completely blown away by what I experienced and needed to understand. Out of my research came the inspiration for Hooligans. You can read an excerpt here.

How Does Your Writing Process Work?

The prequel to Hooligans was very different, and much easier, to write. I’d already done the months of research on setting, dialect, history, culture, etc. I knew Patrick well and I also knew how his story had to end. I had new things to research: historical events happening at the time it was set (2005), schooling in Northern Ireland (UK schooling is so different than the US. Still a bit confused!), and Catholicism, as this character is more of a practicing Catholic. SECRET: I was raised Protestant. Well, guess not so much of a secret anymore. Catholicism has quite a lot of differences.

I got a rough plot together on an excel spreadsheet based on on the Hero’s Journey from The Writer’s Journey: Mythic Structure for Writers by Christopher Vogler. Then I went a bit mental. I wrote a rough, rough draft in about a week!!!! (sidenote: I’m a full-time, unpaid writer while in Singapore. I have a job but only work like 5 hours a week, soooo I’m lucky).

I’m about two thirds of the way though a second draft and it’s sitting at 65,000 words. My guess, it’ll probably end up around 70,000 words. I’ve been writing every second I can, even on Singapore’s lovely public transportation system. I absolutely love this character and he’s just itching to get on the page.

My first Writing Process Blog Hop in case you’re curious.

Tag People!

Jennifer Austin She’s a mother of five and currently writing a YA post-apocalyptic novel. Amazing!

Annabel Watkinson Fellow expat living in Southeast Asia and fellow author who’s got a finished novel and another on the way.

Check them out, friends!

Seriously, what is the rule for semi-colons? 😛 Here’s  a website on it, since we’re talking about editing resources http://www.grammarbook.com/punctuation/semicolons.asp

Anyway, I’ve been stalking around Word Press, making writer friends and whatnot, and it seems like I am not the only one in the throes of editing and revising and all that joy. So a week or so ago, I posed a question about resources for self-editing. I got several responses from fellow bloggers and I also asked my fellow writer friends. Thought I’d share what I’ve found thus far, in no particular order:

English Language & Usage (website)Great and usually very accurate when it comes to the finer points of grammar. Suggested by http://amosmcarpenter.com/

http://english.stackexchange.com/

Sin and Syntax, Constance Hale. It’s informative but not boring. Suggested by http://stellawilliamsauthor.wordpress.com/

Amazon people say: “Today’s writers need more spunk than Strunk: whether it’s the Great American e-mail, Madison Avenue advertising, or Grammy Award-winning rap lyrics, memorable writing must jump off the page. Copy veteran Constance Hale is on a mission to make creative communication, both the lyrical and the unlawful, an option for everyone. With its crisp, witty tone, Sin and Syntax covers grammar’s ground rules while revealing countless unconventional syntax secrets (such as how to use—Gasp!—interjections or when to pepper your prose with slang) that make for sinfully good writing.” (Written by American)

Writing Tools: 50 Essential Strategies, Roy Peter Clark. It takes a more positive stance, instead of “don’t do that.” Suggested by http://loyalmuse.wordpress.com/

Amazon: “WRITING TOOLS covers everything from the most basic (“Tool 5: Watch those adverbs”) to the more complex (“Tool 34: Turn your notebook into a camera”) and provides more than 200 examples from literature and journalism to illustrate the concepts. For students, aspiring novelists, and writers of memos, e-mails, PowerPoint presentations, and love letters, here are 50 indispensable, memorable, and usable tools. ” (Written by American)

Revision and Self-Editing for Publication, James Bell

“In Write Great Fiction: Revision & Self-Editing, James Scott Bell draws on his experience as a novelist and instructor to provide specific revision tips geared toward the first read-through, as well as targeted self-editing instruction focusing on the individual elements of a novel like plot, structure, characters, theme, voice, style, setting, and endings.”

http://www.writersdigest.com/qp7-migration-books/wgf-revision

Grammatically Correct, Anne Stillman

Amazon says: Covers topics including: spelling variations, hyphenation, frequently misused words and phrases, irregular plurals and negative, punctuation, syntax and structure, agreement of subject and verb, tenses, active versus passive voice, clarity/tone, sentence length and order, and much more. It claims to steer clear of academic stuffiness, focusing instead on practical strategies and intuitive explanations.

The Elements of Style,Fourth Edition, by Strunk and White

Here’s what Amazon says: “You know the authors’ names. You recognize the title. You’ve probably used this book yourself. This is The Elements of Style, the classic style manual, now in a fourth edition. A new Foreword by Roger Angell reminds readers that the advice of Strunk & White is as valuable today as when it was first offered.This book’s unique tone, wit and charm have conveyed the principles of English style to millions of readers. Use the fourth edition of “the little book” to make a big impact with writing.”

Self-Editing for Fiction Writers, R.Browne D.King

According to Amazon: “In this completely revised and updated second edition, Renni Browne and Dave King teach you, the writer, how to apply the editing techniques they have developed to your own work. Chapters on dialogue, exposition, point of view, interior monologue, and other techniques take you through the same processes an expert editor would go through to perfect your manuscript. Each point is illustrated with examples, many drawn from the hundreds of books Browne and King have edited.”

The Penguin Writer’s Manual (Penguin Reference Books)  According to a writer in my Singapore Writer’s Group: a bit of everything: typical grammar mistakes, punctuation errors you spell check won’t notice, elements of style. Compact and easy to understand.

Amazon claims: The Penguin Writer’s Manual is the essential companion for anyone who wants to master the art of writing good English. Whether you’re composing an essay, sending a business letter or an email to a colleague, or firing off an angry letter to a newspaper, this guide will help you to brush up you communication skills and write correct and confident English.

Grammar Girl

Blog with lots of great grammar tips!

http://www.quickanddirtytips.com/grammar-girl

I haven’t checked any out yet. Downloading Elements of Style to my Kindle right now. I’ll keep you posted!

 

Have you used any of these? If so, how did you find them?

Have you used any other helpful books or websites?