Month: March 2015

Check This Out- Gotham

Once upon a time, when this blog was new, that I made a promise that I have yet to deliver on. Now, I made a lot of promises, back then. I promised that I would help you learn about writing, and I hope I’ve done that. I promised I’d show you one viable way to make money every week, and I do that. I promised that I’d make you laugh, and I guess you’ll have to just tell me if I’ve done that or not.

But I promised you that I would review geek related things, and in that promise I have failed you. I have not reviewed one single thing. My fault, I’ve been falling behind on watching tv and reading books.

This week, though, we’re going to take a look at my current favorite show, Gotham. If you didn’t catch the first season, catch up!

If you don’t know what Gotham is, consider it Batman’s prequel. It’s the story of Jim Gordon, starting the day the Waynes were killed.

I started watching Gotham thinking that I was going to have fun playing ‘guess what bad guy this is’. And there’s a lot of that. So far we’ve seen Joker, Cat woman, Riddler, Falcone, Poison Ivy, and Scarecrow. We also got a quick shot of the Graysons. That was fun. Oh, and of course, Penguin.

If that was all there was to Gotham, though, I’d get bored really quick, and I sure wouldn’t waste your time with it. It’s more than that, though. So very much more.

The story, which is all that really matters, is amazing.

The main plot so far has been about young detective Gordon, the one good cop in a very corrupt department. He’s all about doing what’s right, which is a rather dangerous decision. He’s being threatened by Falcone for making his life harder, he’s got a drunk sot of a partner, (Bulluk, who is easily my favorite character.) He’s got a girlfriend who’s flying off the rails, getting into drugs, and running off with an old flame before inviting a very young Selina and Ivy to come stay with her.

That’s just the main plot. We’ve also got Falcone fighting to keep the gangs under control while Fish Mooney tries to steal it. Until she gets tossed into a pit full of poor people who are having bits of themselves harvested to be sold.

We’ve also got Alfred’s seedy past coming back to haunt him while he struggles to look after a rather shell shocked Bruce Wayne.

The second half of season one starts April 13. Take an hour off and check it out.

Did you see any of the first part of season one? What did you think?

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The Writing Life- Keeping a Sketchbook.

Characters, (you remember that we’re talking about characters this month, right?) are a complex creation.  They must walk like real people, talk like real people, behave. This all takes time and hours of study. You must learn about psychology, language, and behavioral patterns. History doesn’t hurt either, along with a working knowledge of insert the thing your character knows more about than you do here. You’re going to be awfully busy, is what I’m saying.

With all of that to learn, it’s easy to forget one simple feature of a character; what they look like.

Now, this is a tricky one for me, so I do what everyone should do when things are hard for them. I practice a lot. How do you practice describing people? With a writers sketchbook.

A writers sketchbook is yet another theft from visual artists. They are never found without a sketchbook, after all, and you shouldn’t either. It can be a portion of your notebook if you like, doesn’t need to be a different book. In fact it probably shouldn’t be. After all, there is a limit to how much you can carry with you.

One thing to consider, though, is having some unlined paper with you for this experiment. If you’re the sketchy sort, you might want to have some illustrations go go along with your verbal sketches. Unlined paper isn’t required for this, but if you like it, you should use it.

Of course, you’re not relying only on visual sketches. You’re writing out a description of what someone looks like.

Sketch one- the basic description. Not a lot of explanation needed for this one. Look at someone in public. The old man sitting next to you in the coffee shop. The bus driver. The really irritating woman in the back of the bus who won’t stop having really personal cell phone discussions. They are all objects just waiting for you to describe them. You don’t have to be nice. Just describe what you can about the person, realistically. Try not to be flowery right now. That will come later. Just tell us how this person looks, good or bad.

Sketch Two- the flowery description. Now let’s have some fun. We’ve got our basic description, essentially what you’d give a cop who was looking for this person if they’d killed somebody. This time, we’re going to describe the person in a very poetic way. Fortunately, you’ve already got the basic description to work with, so you don’t need to have the subject in your sites while you write this one. Talk about hair that fell like straw, and the doughy skin that looked as though you could press your finger against it and leave an imprint. (I think I’ve mentioned before that I ride the bus a lot.)

Now, you do sketch one and two over and over. Do it on the little kids playing in the park and the old man reading an old magazine at the doctor’s office.

Remember, people are all characters. And in spite of what we say, you can tell a lot about a person based on how they look. A girl in sneaks and jeans is a different person than the girl in the heels. And skirt. For instance, guess which one’s more likely to cuss up a storm if they’ve got to walk a long while.

Carry a sketchbook with you for a week. Find at least three people to sketch. See how much it helps the next time you sit down to describe your character.

By the way, if you’re running low on notebooks, The Pen boutique is having a special, and right now they’ve got free shipping.

Rhodia LD 3 1/2 x 5 1/2 Webnotebook

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Protagonist vs. Good Guy

Last week, we talked about what an antagonist doesn’t have to be. This week, we’re going to talk about the one thing your protagonist doesn’t have to be, a good guy.

Modern story telling has given us all sorts of examples of main characters who are not good people.

The bad guy with good intentions.

Example, Magnito. And yes he does count, because he’s the main character of his own comic recently. Magnito does really, really bad things. But it works for him, because he’s often the one doing the bad things that need to be done, allowing the heroes to keep their hands clean. This is a fascinating character, for any number of reasons, but the biggest one is that he’s deep. He’s also cathartic. It’s never going to be Scott Summers who decks the bigoted moron yelling racial obscenities. It’ll be Erik, or Logan, or even Emma Frost. We all hope to be the good example like Scott and Jean Grey, but we also know it wold feel better to be Erik and Emma.

The good guy with bad habits or dark past.

Then there are all the characters who are awesome now, but have a really dark past they’re trying to make up for. The sweet librarian who killed her husband. The wonderful doctor who used to work with the Nazis. My personal real life favorite example is Wernher von Braun. The man was a Nazis, which no one decent is ready to defend. Then he came here to America and helped found NASA, for crying out loud.

It doesn’t need to be just that. It can be a stand up guy who’s a little to quick to call his wife a dumb bitch, (like oh so very many of Steven King’s main characters.) It can be the iconic Iron Man, with the drinking problem. And the taking too many women to bed problem.

The bad guy with no good intentions at all, but who habitually does good things anyway.

Like House. He is not a good person, not even a little bit. He’s a drug addict who habitually uses the people around him for his own selfish needs. He must be tricked into saving people’s lives, because if someone’s just dying, it’s not interesting.

This is a great character because we want him to win, but not really. We want him to get better, but that would make it boring. We want, more than anything, to know what happens next.

The bad guy who is doing bad things, but we’re rooting for him anyway, for some reason.

This has been a popular character recently. Bad guys, just plain old bad guys, as the main character. Dexter, Ray Donovan, Breaking Bad. They are not trying to redeem themselves, they are not trying to make anything better, they are not good people. They are bad, just bad people.

But they are endearing because they are people. We care about Dexter when we see him trying to get along with his girlfriend. We want to see Ray connect with his kids. Because even though they are doing bad things for bad reasons, they are genuine people, and their stories are endearing.

Here’s the thing you’ve got to remember when you’re writing for grown ups. There is no need for morals. We are not writing to teach someone how to behave or be a stand up person. We are writing to tell a great story. And sometimes, the best characters are really, really bad people. That makes them the best protagonists

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Writing Prompt Saturday- A twist on the journal prompt

Alright, so this is a classic writing exercise. There’s a reason you’ve heard the advise before to write a journal entry for your main character, so that you can learn their voice. Do that, do it more than once. Write a journal entry for a normal day, the day after the climactic scene. Hell, write a mock bullet journal, if you think it’ll help you.

That’s not today’s prompt, though. No, that wouldn’t be the best advise. Remember, if the thing you’re writing’s been done before, twist it. Make it different, better, harder, or just give it a new ending than has been done a thousand times.

So, I don’t want you to stop with writing a journal entry for your character. Write a journal entry for a secondary or tertiary character. But it can’t be just any character. He or she should dislike your character. Not like the bad guy. Just a regular character, probably an ally, who just is rubbed the wrong way by your protagonist. Why?

Writing this kind of journal entry will allow you to explore the flaws your character has. Everyone’s got flaws, after all. Your character shouldn’t be any different.

Don’t forget to join us for the conversation every week on Facebook.

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Markets- Write To Done

This is a fun new contest I found recently. I’m hoping to get my rough draft done in time to actually participate in this one.

Write to done is a long short story contest. That means we’re looking at less a short story, and more like a novella. Here’s the fun part, this isn’t a contest that’s going to be judged by a panel. This one’s being judged by America. You’re story will be posted online, and people can go vote for their favorite.

This is an amazing way to get your name out.

Genre- Open

Word Count- 10,000 to 40,000. I told you it was a novella contest.

Sub Date- Undeclared until you register.

Wait Time- Undeclared until you register.

Payout- Same.

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This is one of the great things I learned from the Writing Excuses podcast. They get all the credit for this one.  Publisher’s Lunch is a news feed that updates several times a day with all sorts of different publishing related news articles. That might not sound like a lot, but let me tell you some of the great things I’ve learned after a month of having it on Feedly.

Harper Lee is publishing a new book!

Several agents and editors I’ve queries in the past have moved companies or got new jobs. So, A, I’ll need to remember where they are now so I don’t send them the same material again under a different company name. And B, I know those jobs may likely be filled with new people, seeking new talent.

I know how popular book chains are doing on the market.

This is all business hat stuff. Let me tell you, my business hat is my hat least worn. It’s way back there behind writer hat, mommy hat, editor hat, wife hat and Marathon Warehouse 13 hat. That’s the problem that Publisher’s Lunch helps fix, though. I need to wear my business hat a little more. I need to understand that world, know those people, and sound like a grown up lady when I talk to them. Never forget that when you’re a writer, that subtitle is small business owner. The sweet old guy who owns the coffee shop on Main Street reads the Wall Street Times, and he does it for a reason. Consider Publisher’s Lunch your Wall Street Journal.

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The Writers Life- The writing bag

This post contains affiliate links. Please see my affiliate disclaimer, here.

There is just no way to get around it. If you’re a writer, you need a writing bag. I mean, in a perfect world, we could always write at home, with all of our wonderful tools around us. But this is not a perfect world, and there are lots of places that we work that are not our desks at home. Maybe you’re craving a mocha and don’t have an espresso machine at home. Maybe you’re house is full of noisy kids that cannot understand that when mom says, “I will be unavailable for twenty five minutes unless you’re bleeding puking or found something on fire.” (Yo) Or maybe you’ve just noticed that you’re so sun deprived you’re starting to wilt like a fern in an office. Whatever the reason, you’re going to sometimes work outside of the home, and you’ll need a well stocked writing bag when you do it. It means the difference between a productive writing session, and a frustrating one.

Now, over time, you’re going to learn what you need to have a good writing time. I know that every writer has something different that they consider to be essential to the process. But there are some basics that you should always have with you. So, it’s time for one of my favorite things, a shopping list. Now, I’m not going to go into a ton of detail on these, because I’ve done it before, and I hate to repeat myself. I do that enough with my children.

Shopping list for your writing bag-

1. Your Writers Notebook
2. A sketchbook for more visual inspiration
3. A thesaurus, or a smart phone that’s got a link to one.
4. White out
5. Your current project, and any mobile materials you need to work on it if you get stuck in some waiting room.
6. Index cards. Also useful for leaving helpful notes to people who don’t know not to park in the road.

Here are some other things I keep in my bag, but you might not need.

1. Advil
2. Antacids
3. Extra $5.00 in case my session runs over and I need another coffee.
4. Some eyeliner, because I’m a vain, vain woman.
5. Lip balm and lotion, because my hands and lips are often too dry and if I’m uncomfortable it’s all I can think about.

The difference between list one and list two is that list one is all about things I need to do my work. List to is to avoid distractions while I’m out. I know it sounds weird, but I live in a really small town, and I know everyone. So I like to look at least a little put together when I’m out. I also suffer from back pain and acid issues. If I’m in pain, writing doesn’t get done.

Once you’ve assembled all f the things you need, you have to have a bag to put it all in. This cannot be a purse, they are not built for this. You need something with pockets and dividers. And you might not want a book bag, if you’re sensitive about being mistaken for a local community college student. Personally, if I’m looking for a new writing bag, here’s my criteria.

It has to have sections. So that I can keep things separate. Though I’ve also found many small bags inside of one big bag can work just as well.
It has to be washable, because I spill things and pens leak.
It has to be big, because writing takes a lot of material.

I found some really awesome writing bags at the Pen Boutique. Actually, I found a lot of cool stuff on the website. Check it out when you get the chance, there are some seriously drool worthy pens and bags on that site.

Have some fun with your writing bag. It’s basically your mobile desk, so take some time to make it just what you need.

What do you put in your writing bag? Post it in the notes.

Don’t forget to join the Thursday discussion on Facebook.

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What your antagonist doesn’t have to be

If we are to talk about characters at all, of course we must talk about antagonists. It won’t be a very exciting story without them. Not much fun watching your mc achieve all of their goals without any sort of roadblock, after all. Your antagonist has to be at least as interesting as your mc, if not more so.

Eh, but there are a lot of blogs that will tell you how to make a great antagonist, tell you all the things they should be. Here at Paper Beats World, I want to go a step beyond that, and shatter some illusions you might have about what an antagonist has to be. It’s your book, after all, you can make it anything you want. Just for the record, your antagonist doesn’t have to be-

Stupid or for that matter, smart

Someone’s intillect has nothing to do with whether or not they will make a good antagonist. Brillient authors have done it both ways to great effect. Take, for example, Saruman from Lord of the Rings. Great antagonist, really scary, really smart. Then, we’ll consider Buffalo Bill from Hannibal. He’s a freaking moron, but he’s still a really effective antagonist.

At the head of some group of evil do’ers with a bunch of henchmen

An antagonist doesn’t need to have anyone on his side to feel like the world is against your main character. Just any anybody who’s ever seen a horror film. The antagonist in those is almost always alone, but he doesn’t ever seem to have a problem ripping all those college kids to shreds.

Evil

This is a big one. You’ll notice, through this article, I’ve not said bad guy once. That’s because your antagonist doesn’t have to be a bad guy anymore than your protagonist has to be a good guy. He or she can be someone just doing their job, or maybe even someone who thinks your protagonist is the real bad guy and needs to be stopped. Remember, we’re all the heroes in our own minds. The same is true for your antagonist.

An actual person

Of course, you could just not have it be a person at all. Who’s says it’s got to be? Some of the coolest stories I know didn’t have a bad guy to root against. Jaws, Animal Farm, Perfect Storm. The list is endless. Nature can be a great antagonist, and animals are always a quick choice for science fiction slasher flicks. Then, there is time itself, the antagonist in all of our lives. Illness is another great non human antagonist. Want to see what I mean? Watch Contagion. Actually, if you’re just wanting a good movie to watch, watch Contagion.

So, to sum it up, there are only two rules about what your antagonist must be. It must be capable, and it must stand in between your main character and the thing he or she wants.

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Writing Prompt Saturday- Write a Senryu Poem

I’ve got a thing for Japanese poetry. I really love it. My favorite has always been the Haiku. It’s perfection is derived from its simplicity. You’ve got three lines, 17 syllables total, to show just one beautiful, natural, moment in nature.

You can imagine how excited I was, then, to find out about senryu poetry. It’s got the same basic haiku set up, three lines, 17 syllables. 5,7,5 if you don’t already know. But instead of being about nature, it’s about people.

Since I really do believe brevity is the source of wit, and I’m damn witty, here’s an example of a senryu poem that I actually wrote, for a change.

My daughters smiles
With crooked teeth and bright eyes
No better image.

Try your hand at a senryu poem this week. As always, feel free to post yours in the comment section below!

Every Thursday I start a conversation on Facebook, at the Paper Beats World page. Don’t forget to join us!

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Markets- Share A Sale

This post contains affiliate links. Please check out my affiliate page, here.

So, this weeks market is going to be a little different. I’m just starting out with affiliate links, and I wanted to share it with you, so that those of you who are bloggers can learn about it just as I do.

The site I’m working with is called Share A Sale. So far I like it. This will be my very first post with affiliate links, so I don’t have any solid numbers to give you yet, but I might post info quarterly if anyone’s got any interest in that at all. I know some of my favorite bloggers, like Just a Girl and her Blog (Not an affiliate, I just love her.) are posting their income logs quarterly.

So, I looked at a lot of different affiliate sites, and I went with Share A Sale because it seemed really low risk. I could look through a lot of different affiliate companies and decide who I wanted to work for. So I chose three, and got accepted by two.

I like this a lot, because I’m not going to shoehorn a link in somewhere it doesn’t belong. I decide what products I want to tell you about, and I decide when.

Join <a href=”http://www.shareasale.com/r.cfm?b=70&u=1072301&m=47&urllink=&afftrack=”>shareasale.com</a&gt;, Earn Cash!

As I said, this weeks market is different, because I can’t give you my normal info about what genre or deadlines you’ll have to adhere to. Think of it instead as sort of a partnership between you and the company you’re working with. But here’s a link to the site, so you can look around for yourself and see if it’s something you’d be interested in for your own blog.

Find a sponsor for your web site. <a href=”http://www.shareasale.com/r.cfm?b=44&u=1072301&m=47&urllink=&afftrack=”>Get paid</a> for your great content. shareasale.com.

If you’ve had any experience with affiliate companies, please feel free to share in the comment section, or drop me an e-mail at NicoleCLuttrell86@Gmail.com.

And don’t forget to check out the Facebook Page, Paper Beats World, every Monday for a fresh new literary agent when you’re ready to submit your first book!

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