New Things! January 17, 2012

I’ll be honest, I’m not a huge fan of the whole, “New Year, new resolutions/plans/goals/dreams” thing. I don’t think people should limit themselves to a certain time of year for setting goals – it just doesn’t make sense.

I believe you should set a goal whenever the time is right and you’re prepared to follow through (April 14th, 2011 worked really well for me AND my waistline).

That being said, a lot of people stand by the whole, “New Year, fresh start” thing and I’ve got to admit, my life seems to want to fit this mould in 2012. (I really hope the Mayans were wrong, as this is shaping up to be an awesome year…)

Here’s what’s up with me so far:

New house – we bought a fabulous home that’s absolutely perfect for our family (or, at least it will be once the renos are done)

New book – I finished my second YA novel, tentatively titled INTO DARKNESS PEERING late last year, which means taking it out on submission this year

New website (and updated blog) – I know I posted about it earlier, but I just gave the blog a facelift so it’s like everything is new again, dahling

And…

(Drum roll, please.)

New agent!

Yup, you read that right. I have a new agent. I signed the contract today to make it all official-like, so I can finally announce I am now represented by Becky Vinter at FinePrint Literary Management.

*SQUEE!*

Seriously, this is a super *squee* moment. Every time I think about it, my mouth splits into this ridiculous grin and my stomach does this fluttery thing that makes me wonder if I’m perhaps a little drunk. (I’m not.)

I don’t know about you, but I happen to think FinePrint is an absolutely stupendous agency, and I’ve got to say, Becky is one amazing agent! I know you think I’m biased because she said nice things about my book (which is very true, flattery will get you everywhere with me), but this wasn’t my first foray into the agent-hunting waters and I had some very specific agents/agencies in mind when I queried this time around.

Gee, Cheryl, could that last announcement really have come more out of the blue?

I suspect some of you are wondering how my writing blog went from, “OMG, we’re taking Nikko out on submission soon!” to, “ZOMG, I have a new agent and I’m all totally in lurve with the writing world again!” with a lovely interlude of chirping crickets, social events, and family baking.

Let’s just say stuff happened and leave it at that for now. I tried many times over the past couple of months to write a post explaining what was going on – this is my blog about my writing journey and I plan on staying true to that purpose – but each time I deleted it. I couldn’t do it. I couldn’t tell you how I was feeling (and struggling with those feelings) while still in the middle of everything.

My journey isn’t over, not by a long shot.

Once I come down from my giggly, omg-i-have-an-agent high I’ll make another attempt at posting some of what I’ve been keeping in the dark. Please don’t come by expecting dirt or a rant. Nothing I have to say is unusual or unexpected in publishing, and I have no ill will toward anyone I’ve met or worked with so far; in fact, it’s just the opposite. The writing and publishing community is hugely wonderful and I’m so glad I stepped onto this path in 2009.

So, what happened is basically…

Things change.

Sometimes we aren’t expecting those changes.

We keep on keepin’ on and eventually new things happen.

Sometimes those new things are amazing.

C.

Change August 7, 2010

Here’s another exciting post based on Dwight V. Swain’s Techniques of a Selling Writer. Yesterday we looked at the five elements necessary for telling a story – and looked at how they can be combined to create a decent pitch. Today I want to talk about change and how it’s essential for beginning a novel/story.

Swain argues that change IS the thing you need to begin a story, and in order to successfully create a story around it, you need four things (taken from pg. 138):

1. an existing situation
2. a change in that situation
3. an affected character
4. consequences

Unlike yesterday’s list, where the items worked in a specific order, these four are “ingredients” -  they work in any order so long as all are combined to create the beginning of your story.

Each of these elements is pretty self-explanatory, but I want to draw attention to the concept of consequences. Swain states these must trigger a chain reaction. The consequence cannot be so minor that the character’s life returns to normal, they must propel the character down the road and further along the story. This, my friends, is the inciting incident.

It doesn’t matter what your character’s everyday life is like: a librarian working among the stacks of books, a firefighter battling burning forests, a womanizer cruising the Vegas strip, as long as you show your character responding to his/her circumstances as though they were routine.

Then you can introduce the element of change. It could be a yellowed note tucked into a book fallen behind a shelf, the failure of a water bomber to arrive, or the arrival of a very large and very angry boyfriend and his friends. The change can be good or bad, large or small, so long as it affects the character and has consequences.

Consequences that set off a chain reaction – leading from one scene to the next like pearls strung on a necklace.

C.