Writing A Novel: Meet My Team

When I wrote BAND GEEK, it was mainly a solo experience. I did show my husband a few of my chapters along the way, but really didn't have anyone take a look at my work until my draft was completed. I then went back and edited (and edited and edited) my story until I came up with my final creation.

This time around, I'm doing things a little differently and am having people read and comment on my work chapter by chapter. This way, I can fix problems that come up early on and improve upon the entire story structure.

I have to say, I really like this approach! It helps to get feedback and it's been interesting because everyone on my "team" has had different ideas. Ultimately, I get the final say, but I'm really listening to my friends' suggestions and am incorporating the ones that work for my story.

I'll probably ask a few other friends to read my final product, but as of now, my team members are:

My longtime friend, Scott, on whom I based the lead male character, Griffin. He's giving me very general critiques, mainly on whether the sections involving Griffin's coming out story are realistic.

My fellow writer friend, Amy. Amy and I have had some great discussions about my work and she's come up with some great ways to shape my characters. She's alo very understanding when I vent to her about bad reviews and whatnot!

My cousin Tom. He' 85 and an accomplished actor, so he reads plenty of scripts. He has a very visual sense of my story, so his suggestions have added another dimension to my book.

My cousin Rachael. I've yet to hear her thoughts on my story (don't worry, no rush!!!), but she gave me wonderful feedback on BAND GEEK and has graciously offered to edit this book, as well. I can't wait to hear what she has to say because I know that it will be very insightful.

My friend, Elaine. She's a professional editor whom I know from my magazine days. I'm turning to her to help me catch all of those typos!

My husband, Jon. YA/chick lit isn't really his thing, but he's always on hand to help me work through difficult passages. Sometimes it helps just to talk about a problem with a chapter and he often helps me see things in a new light.

So this is my writing crew. It feels good to have the support and I appreciate the fact that so many people want to help out. I definitely wouldn't have gotten this far without them.

Please read and review REVENGE OF A BAND GEEK GONE BAD.

Writing A Novel: Deciding Your Novel's Theme

Yesterday I wrote about my friend Amy's advice: that a writer needs to find the conflict in a story. Another thing we discussed during our time together was our novel's themes.

In BAND GEEK, the main theme was revenge: what can drive a person to want to seek vengeance, just how far will a person go, do the ends justify the means? Most of my characters were seeking revenge on some level so that theme repeated throughout my story.

But there were other themes present, as well. One was redemption. Josh starts out as a typical "bad boy" but realizes that he has to eventually grow up. Melinda learns some lessons, too, when it comes to taking on the role of "bad girl." Lana's ex-boyfriend, Ken, betrays her in a major way, but becomes more likeable as the book goes on. Melinda's parents have issues, but they, too, attempt to redeem themselves when it comes to dealing with their daughter. Even the novel's villains, Kathy and Mr. Francis, show different sides of themselves over time.

When it comes to my latest novel, I'd say that the main theme is identity. Griffin has only recently begun telling people that he's gay and has to figure out what this means for him: where does he fit in with his friends? In the dating world? At school? On his sports team? With his family? With his religion? He has a lot of decisions to make, all which center on him deciding who he is. The same goes for Sadie, who for years, has merely identified herself as "The Fat Girl." She's let her weight imprison her, physically and mentally; once she begins to come out of her shell, she realizes that she's been trapped in this version of herself for so long, she has no idea who she is. So both characters have to go through a lot of self-exploration and maturing. This is why I set the story to take place during their freshman year of college. It's a time when most new college students go through many changes and explore their identities; they're living away from home for the first time and are exposed to different types of people and experiences. That theme of identity is there on a micro and macro level.

Of course, as I continue with my story and flesh it out, more themes will come up. I want my book to be as detailed and complex as possible and am still in the process of putting it together. Having an overriding theme, though, at least gives my tale a direction. I plan to use this "map" as I forge on ahead in my writing.

Please read and review my first novel REVENGE OF A BAND GEEK GONE BAD.

Writing A Novel: Finding The Conflict

One of the great things about having writer friends is that they'll help you view your own work in another way. Take my good friend, Amy. She's a really talented middle grade novelist and always have something constructive to tell me about my books.

We met earlier this week and shared some issues and concerns that we're having with our latest works in progress. One of her characters plays flute so she had a lot of music questions for me. I then read aloud the beginning of my most recent chapter.

"That sounds like a lot of information, a lot of exposition," she noted as soon as I'd finished reading. "I think that it would work better if you wove that information into a conversation between the main character and her mom."

At the time I wasn't so sure that I agreed, but decided to try it. And you know what? She was absolutely right! The section flows a lot better, plus I added in a really nice scene that highlights the close relationship between Sadie and her mother. In this case, Amy was right on the money.

Amy also had some general advice for me that's really made me think. She explained that whenever she comes up with a plot or situation, she tries to deepen the conflict; she doesn't want an easy answer. In other words, she doesn't want stuff to happen without examining how each character is affected; she really gets into the personal aspects of each situation and keeps from making things plot-driven.

I think that I do this in my writing, as well, but I liked the way that she put it. I also liked that she asked me all of these nitty-gritty questions about my characters, such as why I decided to call the male lead "Griffin" -- and I was able to answer everything! We're similar in that we put a lot of thought into our characters and their backstory and motivation. That's probably why she and I have been such close friends for so many years; because we think alike.

It's one thing to get an opinion from a friend, but I so appreciate having someone who can dissect my writing and force me to examine the details. I'm looking forward to our next brainstorming session!

Meantime, please read and review REVENGE OF A BAND GEEK GONE BAD.

Writing Tips: How To Write A Novel

I get many requests from friends and family members, and even friends of friends, to read their manuscripts. Many want to try their hand at writing a short story or novel and I applaud the effort. I almost always agree to do a read on their work, but I'm honest with my critique. I'll usually find at least one thing that I like, but won't sugarcoat the problem areas, either.

I've read some great pieces and some that were not as great. Whether you like MY work is up to you, but I'm confident in my abilities to at least recognize good writing in OTHER people. What I often tell wanna-be novelists is that knowing how to write won't automatically make you a great novelist.

You may know how to string a sentence together so that it's grammatically correct and know not to confuse there, their or they're, but constructing a novel goes way beyond writing the words. You need to build characters, weave A, B and C stories together and write convincing and realistic dialogue. And that's just the tip of the iceberg! You can write enough sentences to make up 100-plus pages, but if they don't really build a story then your novel isn't going to hold together.

I'm always encouraging writers to take classes. I've taken many and plan to take more in the future. You can never learn too much. I attempt to share some of my knowledge in this article I wrote for HubPages on novel writing.

If you want to become a novelist, the first step should be to take a class and learn HOW to write a story. Of course, keep at your writing, keep learning and never give up.

Please read and review my novel REVENGE OF A BAND GEEK GONE BAD.