Writing Tips from a Personal Hero

Like a lot of people—like a lot of writers*—I'm a bit in awe of Joss Whedon. He makes complex writing look easy, fully flushed-out dichotomous characters appear natural, and weaves a fine balance of action, thrill, humor, and romance in ways that delight mass audiences. Much to my disappointment as an audience member, but my secret envy as a writer, he's ruthless with characters, and even favorite cast members aren't safe from death (so not Star Trek here, folks!).

Which is why, when I found his Top 10 Writing Tips, I felt disproportional glee when I read this:

My Idea Files Are Brimming

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I'm so excited by my next project! Wait, you say, aren't you still editing the novel you just finished writing. Yep. Still chopping 20 words from each page. Still debating over every single word. Still putting in the hours every day. But that just means that my creativity is free to explore ideas unconnected to this book without any censoring or plotting.

No critic. No agenda.

That's a vast, free place to exist in. 

Which means that while I'm excited to work on my next project, I don't really know what it'll be yet. However, I do have a plethora of options. In no particular order:

A Gift for Eva

Kyoko atop the
complete Eva manuscript

I have often fondly mocked Laurell K. Hamilton, despite being her devoted fan. I know from religiously reading her blog that she embraces a melodrama in her daily life that would be exhausting for me. To her credit, she seems equally as exuberant in love as she is in her darker beliefs. None of this I mock. I imagine her family loves her dearly for her intensity, and I know I benefit from it when reading her novels.

To be specific, I mock the fact that every Christmas, she blogs about purchasing gifts for her characters.

For. Her. Characters.

For the make-believe people that exist in her head. Yes, I understand her logic that the people are so real to her it feels like they exist, and since they are the manifestations that perpetuate her livelihood, it's great that they're so real to her. But to buy presents for them, or to get up to the register with an item in hand, only to realize the person doesn't truly exist, seemed just shy of insanity.

Eva Edits: Round 1 Done!

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The first round edits of my 443-page screwball magical realism are done. I now have four sticky note's worth of issues to address, one major plot point to streamline across the novel, and a genuine, good story.

I also have a few new stats (because we all know how I adore stats).

• Number of pages cut: 12
• Number of words cut: 3,728 (only 2 percent of the novel)

The New Page 69 of Eva

Last week, I posted page 69 of Eva, following the idea that page 69 of a book can give you a micro-view of the greater themes and characters of the book (according to The Page 69 Test).

However, I've been hard at work editing this last week. Editing for me often means trimming, so after cutting two pages worth of text out of the first 68 pages, here's the new page 69, which I feel more accurately reflects the themes and characters of the book even if it doesn't include one of my favorite scenes.