A Writer Readstag:melizabe.blog.uvm.edu,2009:/awriterreads//52009-11-08T19:43:48ZReflections on reading from a writer's POV.Movable Type 3.34Switching Over to WordPresstag:melizabe.blog.uvm.edu,2009:/awriterreads//5.412009-11-08T19:41:22Z2009-11-08T19:43:48ZI'm combining my Rogue Researcher and A Writer Reads blogs and switching over to WordPress. You can find me at http://voiceofthephoenix.com...Mary Elizabeth
http://voiceofthephoenix.com ]]>
Technorati claim posttag:melizabe.blog.uvm.edu,2009:/awriterreads//5.402009-06-12T19:50:39Z2009-06-12T19:51:22ZTechnorati Profile...Mary Elizabeth
Technorati Profile]]>
Writing a Book Proposal Pt 4 tag:melizabe.blog.uvm.edu,2009:/awriterreads//5.382009-05-27T19:31:01Z2009-05-27T19:45:42ZAnother audience is crucial to consider as you compose your book proposal—the editor(s), agent(s), and marketing staff who may read the proposal. You may be so fortunate as to actually know the person or people for whom you are writing....Mary Elizabeth
Another audience is crucial to consider as you compose your book proposal—the editor(s), agent(s), and marketing staff who may read the proposal.
You may be so fortunate as to actually know the person or people for whom you are writing. If so, your task will be easier.
If you are writing for an audience you don't know, it may help to try to characterize him, her, or them to help you focus your writing for this audience. But how do you do this for people you don't know?
Writer’s Market, Guide to Literary Agents, or whatever source is appropriate.
Again, you may have done this before, but now focus on any quotations that are included to help you get an idea of personality—of course, this is not the most personal or revelatory prose, but you may get some hints.
And if you come to a sticky point, you can address your concern about your audience's background, and even do so subtly, for example:
Not all readers will initially be familiar with the basic outline of my hero Johann Joseph Fux's life—organist, court composer to Emperor Leopold I, and author of a famous text on counterpoint (1660–1741)—so I quickly establish this using a quotation and then proceed with the story.
which a) doesn't run the risk of leaving your audience mistakenly believing that the character is fictional rather than historical if they don't happen to be familiar with him but b) also is not phrased in such a way that your audience will find it condescending if they do know of Fux.
• If it seems appropriate, you could also try calling someone to get a better sense of "who s/he is."
If you know nothing about your audience and have no way to find out, it may help to choose someone you do know whose characteristics you would guess might be a match to your audience and write to that person. At the very least, this may help you achieve a consistent tone and approach.
In any case, just focusing on the fact that you're writing to an audience, not just "expressing yourself," is likely to help you write a better proposal.
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Writing a Book Proposal Pt 3tag:melizabe.blog.uvm.edu,2009:/awriterreads//5.362009-05-27T19:17:45Z2009-05-27T19:25:57ZWho's your audience? Especially during an economic downturn and at a time when print publishers are trying to figure out what's next, conceiving and presenting a book proposal that is likely to garner a large audience could be the difference...Mary Elizabeth
Who's your audience?
Especially during an economic downturn and at a time when print publishers are trying to figure out what's next, conceiving and presenting a book proposal that is likely to garner a large audience could be the difference between being published or not.
I think about this in two ways:
1) Writing for some large group - e.g., teenage girls, people who use the Internet, non-native speakers of English
2) Aggregating a number of groups to make a large group - e.g., word buffs + humor addicts + trivia hounds
Consider audience, too, when choosing a title. If you already had a title, consider whether it needs tweaking with your new ideas about whom you're trying to reach. Since subtitles are popular these days, consider referencing your target groups in the second part of your title.
Additionally, clarifying your audience may change your ideas about which publishers are most likely to have an interest in your book. Recheck your list, if appropriate.
Writing a Book Proposal Pt 2tag:melizabe.blog.uvm.edu,2009:/awriterreads//5.352009-05-27T19:11:01Z2009-05-27T19:13:40ZEasley Blackwood, Jr., pianist and composer, was my instructor for an independent study course in composition when I was in college. He once told me that there were two ways to approach any art: one was having made as full...Mary Elizabeth
Easley Blackwood, Jr., pianist and composer, was my instructor for an independent study course in composition when I was in college. He once told me that there were two ways to approach any art: one was having made as full a study as possible of all of the details, including what others in the field have done; the second was naively, leaving one free of influence, but also free of what might turn out to be essential knowledge.
If you're writing the kind of book for which there is competition, at some point, you need to both analyze the genre and also see what your competitors are up to in order to speak to this point in your book proposal.
before looking at the competition, keeping influence at bay as much as possible.
2) I read reviews of my competition, both using Amazon's review feature to see what customers are saying and using JSTOR through the UVM library's online resources to see professional reviews. This usually brings to light several things that could use improvement, and I incorporate these into my plan as they fit. I also note what they were praised for and consider what I can do in this regard (without plagiarizing).
3) I read the closest competitors and make notes on my experience of the book as a reader. This also brings up new ideas - both about what was well done and also what I can do better.
By starting my plan before looking at how others approached it, I am able to think about the book's subject "outside the box" and without conventional tethers. Examining the competition and what others think of it then builds on that foundation—altering it, if necessary, to fit any genre conventions or reader expectations about which I may have initially been unaware or just forgotten to address.
Of course, each book proposal is different, and sometimes book ideas come about when you're reading a book that suddenly turns—by the bubbling up of the idea—from your leisure reading into competition in an instant. But still, the sequence of sketching out your ideas before purposefully researching the field may help you create a proposal with a more satisfying blend of expected generic conventions and original elements.]]>
Writing a Book Proposal Pt 1tag:melizabe.blog.uvm.edu,2009:/awriterreads//5.342009-05-27T19:04:03Z2009-05-27T19:05:54ZOf my published books, some have been proposed by the publisher, and I competed with other authors for the opportunity to write them; some have been proposed directly to me with no other authors competing; and some have been based...Mary Elizabeth
Of my published books, some have been proposed by the publisher, and I competed with other authors for the opportunity to write them; some have been proposed directly to me with no other authors competing; and some have been based on original ideas of my own, written up in convincing proposals that led publishers to decide that my ideas were worth investing in. This series will provide suggestions from my experience for various elements of your book proposal.
We'll start with tips to help you figure out how to represent the competition in your book proposal so that you can explain how your proposed book will compare, contrast, and extend the field.
One type of research can be carried out by going to the largest and the smallest local bookstore that carry books of the type or on the topic that you're proposing.
At the largest bookstore check for:
• the (rough) number of books on the subject
• what the books have in common visually (i.e., without opening the book):
    • cut size
    • approximate page count
    • paperback vs. hard cover
• which volumes catch your eye on the shelf and why:
    • different size from the rest, e.g., oversize, "Nutshell Library"-size
    • unusual shape
    • striking cover illustration or font
• which publishers are represented
• which authors and how many are represented:
    • Is the section dominated by "big names"?
    • Are first time author's represented?
• the type(s) of title used:
    • the style, e.g., humorous, serious, tongue-in-cheek, etc.
    • the title content, e.g. is the subject name included?
If there are a reasonable number, note the titles. If not, we'll be coming back to this.
At the small bookstore look for:
• which titles from the set at the larger bookstore are included
• how the titles strike you in this setting
In the small bookstore, try talking to the owner and/or the person in charge of buying if the owner doesn't do this. Ask about the subject area—
• why the particular books that they carry were chosen
• what the sales in this area look like
• what, in this person's opinion, is great about these volumes and what, if anything, is missing
Now you've laid the groundwork for this part of your proposal, and you haven't even opened a book yet!
The Art of the Listtag:melizabe.blog.uvm.edu,2009:/awriterreads//5.332009-05-27T18:58:12Z2009-05-27T19:01:14ZThe general concept of a list, I think, connects it with the mundane and a style that is art-less. To-do lists, laundry lists, shopping lists, and wish lists are useful, but not something that we usually invest any craft in—they're...Mary Elizabeth
The general concept of a list, I think, connects it with the mundane and a style that is art-less. To-do lists, laundry lists, shopping lists, and wish lists are useful, but not something that we usually invest any craft in—they're functional, not artful.
Yesterday evening, lists came to my attention because of the incessant posting of one particular follower to one particular Twitter account, the owner of which had invited responses. I stopped following, but also started thinking about other lists, ones that I have actually admired.
Foucault’s Pendulum, but it is more a plot device there. The list as an artful type of sentence is something else.
The list as art first came to my attention not in fiction or poetry, but in a work of history, when I took a course called "History of Europe: 1500–1680" and read a portion of The Mediterranean and the Mediterranean World in the Age of Philip II, Vol I by Fernand Braudel, translated from French by Siân Reynolds. The work includes lists frequently, sometimes in a long sentence with extensive description separated by semicolons, as when he categorizes types of towns, and sometimes in a briefer, yet still evocative way, which I think we can probably attribute to Braudel, despite the fact of translation:
"India and the Far East welcomed coral and saffron from the Mediterranean, opium from Egypt, woollen cloth from the West, quick silver, madder from the Red Sea."
Braudel communicates luxury and opulence quite neatly and succinctly here.
A more familiar example to many (though I didn't meet it until after college, myself), and with a contrasting effect, is this:
"Rows of spotless plates winked from the shelves of the dresser at the far end of the room, and from the rafter overhead hung hams, bundles of dried herbs, nets of onions, and baskets of eggs."
Did you recognize it? It's a portion of the description of Badger's house given just after Ratty and Mole arrive there after having gotten lost in the snow in the Wild Wood in The Wind in the Willows. In this case, the list conveys a feeling of ordinary, everyday comfort and a homey, safe atmosphere: a place where everything is planned and ordered that contrasts sharply with the Wild Wood.
Do you have a favorite artful list?
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Children's Books and Beautytag:melizabe.blog.uvm.edu,2009:/awriterreads//5.322009-05-27T18:47:58Z2009-05-27T18:50:58ZIt's impossible to assess the impact of childhood experience, of course. But one of the bits of childhood that made a strong impression on me (which I can judge by my strong memories) was not only having children's books but...Mary Elizabeth
It's impossible to assess the impact of childhood experience, of course. But one of the bits of childhood that made a strong impression on me (which I can judge by my strong memories) was not only having children's books but having children's books that were exquisite.
This is partly by way of contrast:
One Fish two fish red fish blue fish . But I also had absolutely beautiful books. The first, I remember kind of fondly; the second, I treasure.
The two beautiful books I had as a child were The Fairy Tale Book: A Deluxe Golden Book, which has been reissued, and Japanese Fairy Tales: A Giant Golden Book, which has not. I was given the first when I was nine and the second when I was eight.
Whatever you think about fairy tales, I think that if you look at the covers shown in the links, we can probably agree that the illustrations by Adrienne Ségur and Benvenuti are of extremely high quality and that long hours and deep thought were given to their creation. In these attributes, they contrast sharply with the illustrations of other children's books, some of which give quite a different impression.
Perhaps a comparison can be found in the response of members of the Vermont Youth Orchestra Association after the Elley-Long Music Center was created out of an old cavalry drill hall in 2001 for their use for practice, rehearsal, and performance. That "they [the adults] built this for us" said something to the children about how they were valued. Perhaps a beautiful book may have the same effect.]]>
Building Character 2 tag:melizabe.blog.uvm.edu,2009:/awriterreads//5.312009-05-27T18:39:52Z2009-05-27T18:45:37ZWe call it waiting because we don't find it valuable in and of itself (if we did, we'd assign a different name): it's time that doesn't have its own meaning—a holding place until the real event starts. These days it's...Mary Elizabeth
waiting because we don't find it valuable in and of itself (if we did, we'd assign a different name): it's time that doesn't have its own meaning—a holding place until the real event starts.
These days it's often possible to avoid waiting—we carry cell phones and lap tops and PDAs to chase the waiting time away or turn it into time with a purpose. But there can still be odd moments when we're unprepared for the wait, or get bored with or need a break from whatever we brought along to do.
Last week I had an unexpected wait when someone had to excuse himself temporarily from a meeting. After wearing out the other options, I took a look in the magazine rack. Among magazines featuring recipes and decorating ideas, I didn't expect much of real interest or use. But I got a surprise.]]>
Natural History, a magazine I'd never even seen before.The cover caption? "Samurai Shrew," and the related article contained a description of the characteristics and attributes of shrews, in particular the North American water shrew, by shrew expert Kenneth C. Catania: “No Taming the Shrew,” also available online.
Now, it's not that shrews per se are of general or intrinsic interest. It's the fact that articles like these focus on unique and, often, recently discovered features of the animal that leads me to recommend them. When you're trying to develop characters with interesting and unusual traits, to find an example of characteristics that are not only not typical characteristics of people but are rare and distinctive even among animals might help you get beyond the tall/short, fat/thin, smart/unintelligent, brave/cowardly, etc. character. Or if not you, perhaps students in a writing course you teach.
What these shrews can do is something that doesn't even seem physically possible: they can smell their prey underwater. Since there isn't air underwater, it's initially difficult to understand how this could be. It turns out that the shrews exhale air bubbles onto whatever they're investigating and are able to re-inhale the air to identify prey. It happens so fast that it took slowed-motion on high-speed cameras to make the process observable. Moreover, an amazingly large percentage of the water shrew's brain power is given to processing sensory data from its whiskers, giving the shrew a multi-faceted approach to scoping out prey.
Not a bad springboard for brainstorming some new traits for a human or non-human character. And that's only one of the stories in the magazine . . .
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Building Charactertag:melizabe.blog.uvm.edu,2009:/awriterreads//5.302009-05-27T18:11:40Z2009-05-27T18:36:47ZAuthors of fiction start their creative process in various ways. Some tout character, some setting, some plot, as the jumping off point for their writing. In this regard, I suppose that I am of the "eclectic" school, because my creations...Mary Elizabeth
Authors of fiction start their creative process in various ways. Some tout character, some setting, some plot, as the jumping off point for their writing.
In this regard, I suppose that I am of the "eclectic" school, because my creations grow from different starting points at different times.
And inspiration comes from a variety of sources.
Seventh Sanctum™. The site has name generators for items from "Beings" and "Characters" to "Anime/Manga." It also generates Equipment, Skills, Technology, and even story ideas.
It's (obviously) formulaic, and has some spelling errors, and I personally wouldn't use it for it's pre-generated character ideas, though perhaps you might wish to see if it would be useful for your purposes.
But that's not to say it isn't useful.
First, it's interesting to analyze the underlying structure. That is, what elements are considered as necessary to define, say, a Ninja?
• Character trait
• Gender
• Height
• Build
• Eye shape
• Eye color
• Hair color
• Hair style
• Outfits
• Preferred fighting technique
• Notable skill
• Magical power
This could form the basis of a brainstorming activity (either one's own or for a class, if one teaches) to build up a catalog of characters (and, of course, you could use the characteristics of vampires, say, instead of ninjas).
Second, the part of the site that I do actually make (tongue-in-cheek) use of is the Magical Invocation Generator.
My sister and I often chat or email on and off through the day, and when it seems appropriate, invocations make their way into our conversation. We prefer the form
By The X of X!
I believe that my sister is generating one at a time and using whatever comes up the first time (thus creating humor by non sequitur), while I generate 15 at a time and keep looking till I find something apropos (thus creating humor by coincidence) or just outrageous.
It works for us, by the adroitness of Leisean!
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Welcome!tag:melizabe.blog.uvm.edu,2009:/awriterreads//5.292009-05-27T16:06:18Z2009-05-27T16:08:44Z Writing in a wide range of genres shapes my reading. I've written trade books, textbooks, a children's opera libretto, poetry, search engine optimized articles, software content, picture books, and am planning a fantasy quintology. Or pentology. We'll see. I'm...Mary Elizabeth
Writing in a wide range of genres shapes my reading. I've written trade books, textbooks, a children's opera libretto, poetry, search engine optimized articles, software content, picture books, and am planning a fantasy quintology. Or pentology. We'll see.
I'm also a reading clinician, which has led me to give a lot of thought to how texts offer meaning to readers and how readers go about understanding texts.
So welcome to my blog. Here I'll record some of my discoveries, observations, and thoughts about reading. I prefer dialogue to monologue, so feel free to add your thoughts on the topic of the moment.
(n.b. This is a rebuilt version of the blog originally located at http://melizabe.blog.uvm.edu —moved here for a clearer URL connection.)]]>
Writing in a wide range of genres shapes my reading. I've written trade books, textbooks, a children's opera libretto, poetry, search engine optimized articles, software content, picture books, and am planning a fantasy quintology. Or pentology. We'll see.
I'm also a reading clinician, which has led me to give a lot of thought to how texts offer meaning to readers and how readers go about understanding texts.
So welcome to my blog. Here I'll record some of my discoveries, observations, and thoughts about reading. I prefer dialogue to monologue, so feel free to add your thoughts on the topic of the moment.
(n.b. This is a rebuilt version of the blog originally located at http://melizabe.blog.uvm.edu —moved here for a clearer URL connection.)]]>