The Book that Made Me Want to be a Writer

When people find out that I'm an English major or that I write creatively in my spare time, usually this question comes up:

So what's your favorite book/author?

And this is such a daunting question and only other readers understand just how impossible such a question is to answer. I am incapable of picking just one book or even just one author. I have a hard time even picking just one book per genre. The Hunger Games is one of my favorite books in the world, but so is Jane Eyre and those are not comparable. Throw in books like To Kill A Mockingbird, Tess of the D'Urbervilles, Pride and Prejudice, Divergent, and The Great Gatsby and you've got a mess that cannot possibly be sorted. At first I'd think I would have to pick something like Jane Eyre over something like The Hunger Games because it is a classic, but does that make THG any less important? Of course not. That discredits both books.

What I can tell you is the book that made me realize I wanted to write. I've wanted to be a writer since I was a little kid and even though I've strayed at times from that goal, the deep desire to write never left me. That passion for arranging words on paper all comes down to one pivotal book I read when I was six years old.:

The Lion, the Witch, and the Wardrobe by C. S. Lewis.

C. S. Lewis is arguably one of my top three favorite authors of all time and the Narnia series certainly ranks similarly, but like I said, I can't say it is my all-time favorite. That is simply impossible. 

What I do know is that when I read that book for the first time, I was enraptured by it. All I could think was How did this man tell such a story? That was the moment that I knew I wanted to write.

Now let's remember, I was six. Writing stories back then consisted of the worst sentences you've ever read and only about four of them. But that passion persisted. Throughout elementary school I wrote short stories that were a couple of pages long. By middle school, I could rack up about ten pages. In high school I started my first novel. In college I finished my first novel and started others while also writing several short stories.

Observing what C. S. Lewis was able to do with just words was astounding. Now, I am in no way comparing myself to him because I think the world of Lewis. Words cannot really express how much I love his writing. But reading Narnia showed me the potential that words can have in the right order, under the right hand. 

So can I accurately say that C. S. Lewis is my favorite author? No, I have too many. Can I say that Narnia is my favorite book? Of course not, I could never choose just one. But Narnia will always be close to my heart not just as merely one of my favorites, but as the book that showed me how powerful storytelling can be. Lewis showed me the magical power a simple lamppost can have. Lewis showed me how long a book can stick in your mind, something I'm reminded of every time I check a closet for tree branches and snow. Lewis showed me that good writing is a kind of magic in and of itself and it is unlike anything else.

So what is that book for you? What is that book that really impressed you and made you consider writing? I'd love to hear it in the comments!

You, The Author, Controls the Story (Also, Losing Writing Sucks)

So this post is kind of two-fold. Let's start with the first fold (see what I did there? I'm sorry...).

So this past week, I experienced every writer's worst fear: some of my WIP manuscript was corrupted and I lost over 2,500 words. My computer had some weird meltdown and I had to force close and when I restarted, Scrivener had lost the most recent scene I had written.

(Let's be clear. I emailed Scrivener support and they were wonderful, but unfortunately, the problem couldn't be fixed. Not their fault, but still devastating.)

So what did I do? Well, like any mature adult, I took notes from my computer and also had a full on meltdown. I was gloomy the rest of the day, moped well into the next, and then desperately googled any solutions I could find, but none worked.

The good news: I could reproduce the last 500 words or so from memory because I wrote them so recently. I also remembered that I wrote about 600 by hand and I still had the paper, so I could perfectly redo that part as well.

The bad news: I couldn't for the life of me remember how the scene started. I could remember parts of it, but not nearly all 1,400 words. It bothered me not being able to remember the scene, let alone the exact words I used. I whined and complained about that to my boyfriend and like the encouraging, supportive person he is, he said to me, "It may not be exactly what you wrote before, but it will still be good because you are a good writer. If you need time to vent, then vent. But then you can redo it."

Now, I was grouchy when he said this, but his words weren't lost on me. That was probably the best thing anyone could have said to a writer who just lost 2,500 words of writing. (Side note: He's pretty wonderful all the time.)

But that was still a hard concept for me to accept. I have a pretty good memory, even photographic at times, so not being able to reproduce the words exactly as they were bugs me. I can read a sentence, know that the words are not identical to before, but still not be able to remember them. And I hate that. 

And here's where we transition into the second fold (again, sorry). I promise the two are related.

I have a really hard time taking helpful criticism from people for one specific reason: I don't like when people suggest big changes. Tell me that you think the dialogue would sound better this way, fine. Tell me I didn't describe the setting at all, we're cool. But tell me to change a character's name or change their actions in a scene, and I will bristle. I know that sounds weird so hear me out.

I once saw a quote that said something along the lines of writers don't control characters, they just follow them with a pen and write down what happens (please comment if you know what quote I'm talking about, I can't find it). I've always kind of operated under this philosophy. The characters have become so real to me that I often forget that I created them, that I control them. 

Now, that's not to say that I don't experience that thing that many writers describe where the scene you intend to write morphs entirely because the characters basically gave you the middle finger and did whatever they wanted (okay, I definitely sound crazy). 

But I constantly have to remind myself that I do have some control over what words appear on the page. So maybe I can't reproduce the lost scene exactly the way it was (and I'm still kind of grumpy about that, even though I have since redone it). And maybe I have to change actions I don't want to change because they don't fit the story. At some point, I have to trust what my boyfriend said, that I am a good writer, and that I can, in fact, manipulate the story to make it the best it can be. It's not always easy, but it's worth it.

The Importance of Writer Friends

Confession time: I don't like making new friends.

That doesn't mean I'm not good at it. I'm actually pretty good at making friends. It's easy for me to strike up conversation with people. I'm skilled at making fast friends.

But I don't like it. 

I have fantastic friends. I really do. I have wonderful, fun, supportive, caring friends. I'm happy with them. I don't ever feel like I need new ones. But there is one problem.

For the most part, they don't write.

Now I don't say that to criticize my friends. As I've said, they're fantastic. But there's something to be said for having friends who share your interests, studies, and goals. 

I recently adjusted my college course plan to include an English major with a concentration in creative writing and I couldn't be happier with my decision. My classes consist of a few literature classes and a few writing classes and I love it. Finally, my school work is intended to prepare me for what I absolutely love to do. 

But by far the best part of the new classes is the students. Everyone around me has the same goal. We all write. We all hope to get published. We all enjoy reading and writing and don't consider any one work to be better than another. It is only my second week of classes, and I've already had so many good conversations about books, about writing, about publishing, about all of it. These people get it. These people get me.

Before now, I had one friend who is a serious writer and she is amazing. What's even more amazing is now I have multiple friends like her. 

I may have amazing friends who are supportive, but as a writer, there is nothing more valuable than having writer friends. Seek out those writer friends, even if you hate making friends. You will not regret it.

KMG

Never Delete Anything and Never Give Up

Hey everyone! 

So I realize it's been a while since I last posted. Summer turned out to be busier than I thought. My summer classes turned out to be much more intense than I thought they would be, I've been trying to do a lot of writing, and I've been querying, not to mention my personal activities, where I've been trying to make the most of the summer before it passes me by!

Basically, I've been super busy not only this summer, but trying to get everything ready for the fall semester, when I start my English major. Unfortunately, blogging fell by the wayside, but now I'm back!

So let's talk about how things are on the writing front. Near the end of my spring semester (April?) I started work on a new manuscript. For the sake of clarity, let's call this one manuscript #3. I had stalled with the first story I started writing after my completed manuscript (we'll call this one manuscript #2) and this new idea came to me out of nowhere. As it always is when a story is fresh, I couldn't write fast enough to keep up with my mind. As summer started, I found myself with 10,000 words of a new story just like that. That is about 1/5 of a completed young adult book! I was so exhilarated by manuscript #3 and so frustrated with manuscript #2 that I basically just gave up on #2 and decided it wasn't meant to be. I've read a lot of information from published authors about how sometimes they write, or begin to write, a new manuscript and find that it just isn't right. And that's okay. 

So I accepted that that must be what happened. I was okay with it. It happens. So I focused on the new one, #3, and on everything I else I've been up to this summer. 

But like all new things, the writing fervor I was experiencing on #3 died out. I don't mean to say that I've given up on it as well, because that's the furthest thing from the truth. I am still working on it and I'm very happy with where it's going. I think this is going to be a good one. 

But that old one, #2, the one I gave up on, is bugging me. Lately, I can't get it out of my head. It's begging to be written and it's getting harder and harder to ignore it. I looked at it again. I only have about 7,000 words. I thought I had written more than that. I tried to write and couldn't come up with a single word. I got frustrated, growled at the computer, then gave up and ran back into the comfortable embrace of #3. 

But #2 is still bugging me. I whined about it to my mom and my boyfriend, and while I complained, I realized something so stupidly obvious, I feel ridiculous for saying this. My first (completed) manuscript was so hard to write. Was it hard because it was my first? Certainly. Was it hard because I had wanted to give this story words for so long so I felt pressure? Of course. Was it hard because it was fantasy and required special considerations while writing it? Definitely. But I persevered because I knew it had to be written. Even if it never gets published (even though I really hope it does), I'm glad it's written.

I think if I was meant to give up on #2 now, it wouldn't still be bugging me. I think I would have long ago forgotten about it and not worried about it. But it's pestering me because it deserves to be written. It's an interesting story, I think, and I want to see it through.

Is it going to be hard? Oh, most certainly. But I think it will be worth it. And in the meantime, when I get frustrated with it, I still have #3 to work on as well. I hope to finish #3 within the next couple of months, based on the pace at which I'm writing. 

All of this to say that I never deleted #2. I still have it on Scrivener, and I'm so glad. If I had deleted it, I would have to start all over and that would be nearly impossible. Now I already have 7,000 words and an outline to go off of.

So here's my point. Don't delete anything and don't give up on anything just because it's hard. See it through. I'm going to start trying to take that advice myself. 

<3 KMG

On Protagonists Who Act Their Age and Readers Who Don't Like That

If there's one thing I can't stand about the literary world, it's bad reviews.

Now let me be clear. You, as a reader, are absolutely free to give a book a bad review. If you genuinely did not like a book, you are free to express that opinion in a non hateful way.

My issue is when you give a book a bad review because you don't understand literature.

Let me give you an example, which also happens to be the thing that made me want to write this post. I recently finished a book (and for the sake of the author and the reviewer, I won't say what the book was) that I absolutely loved. It was part of a series that is one of my favorites and this book lived up to the glory of its predecessors. I thoroughly enjoyed it. 

So, my first step upon completing the book was to freak out about the cliffhanger to add it to my "read" list on GoodReads. I happily added the book, gave it five stars, and was pleased to find that the average rating was about four and a half stars. Good. That book deserves it.

My mistake came when I scrolled down and started reading reviews.

The first review on the page gave the book one star. I was horrified, but curious. What could have provoked this person to give such a great book such a terrible review? I started to skim the review, but the more I read, the angrier I got.

The gist of it is that the reviewer did not like the main character. He thought she was bratty, selfish, immature, mean, and a million other things. Which is fine. You know why? She was supposed to be.

The whole point of that story was that she was self-centered and immature. That's what made the story so compelling. 

The point of the protagonist is not the be the perfect example of good character and likability. The point of the protagonist, or any character for that matter, is to feel real. If characters fall flat, the book suffers, no matter how good the story is. Real and relatable characters make all the difference in storytelling.

So yes, the reviewer is right that she was kind of bratty and very self-centered, and a little annoying sometimes with how immature she was. But here's the thing: She's eighteen. She's facing challenges that are beyond what an eighteen year old should have to deal with. 

I think you'd be hard-pressed to find a teenager who isn't a little selfish and immature.

Somewhere along the line, the notion that protagonists had to be 100% likable 100% of the time became popular, and frankly, I think it does literature a disservice. Some of the best books I've ever read have had protagonists who have made me actually yell at the protagonist for being stupid, annoying, selfish, rash, heartless, or a million other things. They have frustrated me, annoyed me, angered me, and, usually, in the end won me over. 

And that's a sign of really good writing. If this author really inspired this much anger and hatred in this reviewer, then clearly she is an excellent writer. 

Again, I don't say any of this to criticize the reviewer, but honestly, I kind of like when a character inspires that much emotion in me, even if it is annoyance. It means they're doing their job.