Teenage Writers Suck!

I read John Scalzi’s “10 Things Teenage Writers Should Know About Writing”  about a week ago and now that it’s had time to simmer in my mind, I’m ready to talk about it. 

First off, if you’re a teenage writer, I highly recommend reading this article (linked above). And if you’re not a teenager, but you are a writer, I still suggest you read the article. Don’t worry, you don’t have to read it to understand this blog post. This post is more about my reaction and my experience with writing. 

I started writing novels (no matter how crappy they were, they are still novels) when I was about 14. I distinctly remember the moment I decided that I was going to write a novel because I had a standard one subject notebook and a pencil in hand. I took both, sat on my stairs, kicked my feet back and forth (there are spaces in between the steps that you can put your legs through), and started writing. I haven’t really stopped since then. I definitely started as a teenage writer. Now that I’m twenty, I’m definitely not a teen, but that’s not the way I feel. 

When I initially read the article, I’m going to be honest, it stung a little. What is it that people always say? That the truth hurts. But the main point of the article is that when you first start off writing, it’s going to suck. Especially if you’re a teenager (but that doesn’t mean others aren’t susceptible to this). It’s just a fact of life. I mean I look back at the first novels I wrote out by hand and while they’re entertaining (because they’re so bad), there isn’t much there. No plot. No character development. Nothing. Nada.

But it’s okay. Reading this article helped me realize, that all other writers go through a phase like that. Scalzi mentions that it takes about a decade (a very long decade) or so to truly master something. It could be playing the piano, dancing, or opera-singing. It’s going to take time to get good at something. And going along with that logic, I should be a decent writer by 24—so I have about 3 years and 3 months left for this decade deadline. 

The thing is that I don’t feel like my writing hasn’t gotten that much better to be honest. I only started getting serious about writing when I entered college. So it’s only been about 2 and half years. I haven’t found my “true writing voice”. I haven’t been rejected by anyone because my writing is safe and sound on my laptop. I don’t write everyday like all authors suggest doing. I haven’t read enough writing craft books. I still don’t know “how to revise” a novel. There are so many things that I have to work on. And some days are harder than others to take that at face value. 

I guess the point I’m trying to make is new writers suck! Maybe not every new writer, but my writing was/is horrible in many respects. I’ll be the first to admit it. But I find solace in the fact that everyone goes through this phase. And on a spectrum from novice to master, I definitely fall in the middle with a little more weight towards novice. It gives me the motivation to work harder and suck a little less. 

I’ll just leave you with this quote. 

http://www.writersandreaders.eu/gallery-foto/album-inspiring-photos-59.html?id_img=5#1

What do you think about Scalzi’s article? How do you stay motivated to keep writing even though it may “suck”? 

Review: Burn for Burn

Today, I’m reviewing/recommending Burn for Burn by Jenny Han and Siobhan Vivian.

Here’s the Goodreads summary because if I were to write my own, I feel like I would spoil something, and I really don’t want to do that. (Unless you specifically ask me to spoil something for you. I have no qualms about that as you guys saw from my last blog post)

Summary: (from the goodreads page) 

Postcard-perfect Jar Island is the kind of place where nobody locks their doors at night, where parents can sleep easy, knowing their daughters are tucked away safe and sound in their beds. But bad things can happen, even to good girls . . . and sometimes, the only way to make things right is to do something wrong. 

Lillia used to trust boys, but not anymore. Not after what happened this summer. And she’ll do whatever it takes to protect her little sister from the same fate. 

Kat is over the rumors, the insults, the cruel jokes made at her expense. It all goes back to one person--her ex-best friend. Someone needs to teach her a lesson, and, with Lillia and Mary behind her, Kat feels up to the task.

Four years ago, Mary left Jar Island because of a boy. But she’s not the same girl anymore. Now that she’s got friends who have her back, he's going to be in big trouble.

Three very different girls who come together to make things right. Will they go too far?

Rating: 4/5 stars. 

Thoughts: 

Let me just start off by saying, that I finished this book in one sitting. Yep, I started at 10 o’clock at night and finished at about 1:45 in the morning. I initially picked up the book because I could tell I was going into a small book slump induced by the massive amounts of fantasy/sci-fi I was reading. Therefore, I wanted a little “slice of life” as my brother calls it. It’s just the way I read books: a "real-life" book thrown into the mix to keep my interest in reading piqued. Even though Burn for Burn isn't completely void of fantasy or magic. 

Either way, I was introduced to Burn for Burn after following Jenny Han on twitter. Burn for Burn actually caught my interest because the premise sounded similar to Revenge (a TV show) and I’m a huge fan of that show. And boy, it didn’t not disappoint. 

It was everything I wanted it to be. It has the perfect amount of revenge so I wasn’t bored and the revenge was the perfect amount of pettiness in combination with things that could actually get them in trouble (like serious trouble). It has amazing characters with rather valid grudges. Also, it definitely helped that one of the three main girls, Lillia, is a Korean American girl (like me!). It’s not something I see a lot in YA books and I really enjoyed it. Furthermore, the pacing was great; pacing is one of those things that make or break a book for me. A lot of books move a little too quickly for me and when it isn’t done right, I feel like I’m just panting for breath after a run. Burn for Burn wasn’t like that. It wasn’t too fast and it wasn’t too slow. It was just right. 

My only complaint was that some of the secondary character’s motivations and behavior felt a little off/fake. I think that will fade as the series goes on. Its a lot to juggle—three main characters and a whole boat of secondary characters. I’m excited to see more of the three main girls and all of the other characters in the second book. 

Last thing, the cliffhanger is practically a siren’s call to read the second book. So, if you’re going to read Burn for Burn, I suggest having the second one as close as possible. I completely regret not checking out Fire with Fire, but have no fear, I’ll be reading it soon! 

For those of you that have read Burn for Burn, what did you guys think? Any other books by Jenny Han or Siobhan Vivian that you would recommend? Any other books like Burn for Burn or Revenge I should pick up? 

Endings and Spoilers

http://www.theguardian.com/books/booksblog/2010/feb/10/some-conclusions-about-endings

I have a confession to make…I read the endings of books before I finish the book -ducks out of the way of flying books-. Sometimes I even open up to a random page in a book and read a couple sentences. Never more than a page, but always a line or two. It’s not because the story is boring me. It’s probably the opposite. The books I love are the ones that I want to read faster and slower at the same time. 

I was just reading The Offering, which is the third book in The Pledge Series by Kimberly Derting. (I would recommend this series to anyone who has a love of dystopias with a sprinkle of magic involved). I’m 75 pages into the book and I have every intention in finishing the book. I swear I do. And just as I close the book to go do some homework, I find myself flipping to the back of the book. Specifically the last page. Then I’m reading the last page or two.

The ending is, theoretically, the best part—where all the subplots and main plots are wrapped up nicely with a fancy schmancy bow on top of it. It’s where we find out if it’s a happily ever after or a horrible cliffhanger that leaves you groaning. I shouldn’t read the ending, yet it’s a temptation I cannot resist. It’s a habit of mine that I can’t seem to break. (I was doing well until The Offering, honestly. An four book record of not reading the ending or looking ahead.)

But actually thinking about this little “quirk” of mine, I realize it makes sense why I read the ending once I’m about 100 pages into a book. It’s like a safety net to catch you as you’re walking across the tightrope. I guess reading a book isn’t as dangerous as walking across a tightrope, but it put a pretty picture in your head, didn’t it? Or it made you roll your eyes seeing as how it’s a hot mess of a cliche. I’m getting off point. Either way, if I read the end of the book, I know what’s going to happen. I know that everything ends up okay (or maybe not). I know that it’s worth it to read the book and take my time doing it. And most of all, it helps me to keep reading. 

The only time I don’t read the ending of a book is when I read a book in one sitting. It happens a lot more than you would think. I’m pretty much a binge-reader meaning that I used to only read during breaks and summer when I didn’t have homework to interfere with it. But now that I’m writing and reading during the school year, I realize I still have binge-reading tendencies (i.e. reading a book in one sitting). All or nothing like an action potential, baby. Because I read so many books straight through, in one sitting. The ones that I actually have to read chapter by chapter are the ones that inevitably end up in my “to-be-finished-eventually” shelf on Goodreads. But if I know the ending or have an inkling of what’s to come, I’ll be more motivated to pick the book up and actually get to that point. 

Maybe I’m just validating my actions, but it’s what I do -shrugs- What are you going to do about it? And don’t worry, I promise I won’t blurt out any spoilers. I have a lot of practice, one of my closest friends absolutely loathes spoilers.

Does anyone else read the ending before finishing the entire book? Or do you hate all spoilers like reading a single line near the end that reveals little to nothing about the book? Comment below! 

Revising Reluctance

Revising….the great big hurdle that I just cannot seem to get over no matter how much I prepare for it. I could have all my colored pens right beside me, my manuscript printed out, and I could even make it as far as reading it through and making an outline of what I have, but there’s just something about revising that always stops me. It’s like a large red stop sign in the middle of the road that decided to jump out of nowhere. But since stop signs can’t exactly jump, let’s change that to deer. A deer that jumped out of nowhere so that you have to slam the breaks on. 

I’ve tried a lot to get past the my reluctance for revising. Especially after I read that the “best writers are those that revise…a lot”. Not only was it that idea that spurred me forward to really tackle this path to become published, but it’s also what holds me back in a way. 

What if I’m not good enough after revising? What if no agent wants to take my manuscript in so that it’s left cold and alone with only me for company—let’s be honest, I’m not the best company.

I wish I was one of those writers/authors that love revising or at least look forward to. I just dread it. I love the idea of revising. Who doesn’t? I’m going to change this and this and this and this and my manuscript is going to be so much better. 

But in order to actually revise, you need to be brutally honest with yourself. You need to make the tough decisions to “kill your darlings”. You might decide to scrap the entire novel and just start from ground zero (or ground naught…haha I’m so funny [not really, I know I’m not that funny]). It’s not even those things that stop me. 

I’m a perfectionist. It’s a trait that I love and hate at the same time. It’s inevitably my fatal flaw. But my perfectionism never rears its head when I’m writing. It’s so easy to lose myself in writing the next word, imagining my novel playing before my eyes, surprising myself as I write. There’s no room for my perfectionist to protest. Writing is bliss. 

Revising is an entirely different story. Revising requires my perfectionism and it’s so easy to get overwhelmed. I mean look at what you produced—you have a whooping 100k words that you have to get through. You have to worry about plot, characters, dialogue, foreshadowing, symbols, etc. I just want to crawl into a ball typing it out. 

I’ve tried a lot of different things—advice from authors, countless articles about revising, a couple of craft books about revising and writing in general. That was more than a few months ago (before school started actually). Now here I am in the first week of my last semester at school with a burning ache to start revising—a feeling I’ve never really had. Oddly enough, this burning passion to revise was after I had an epiphany as I was walking back from class (it’s one of the best times to think about all the ideas swimming around my head). 

Basically it amounts to this—I need to revise on my own terms.

I don’t have to follow a method to revise in order to succeed. I can create my own method. Frankly, I might not even need my own method. I mean that’s how I started writing—without a clue where it was going except for a single protagonist that consumed my mind. 

I realized that a revising method might work for others, but not necessarily for me. And so as I write this post, well, I’m really ready to start revising again. And the only thing I have to arm me is one statement: revising is where true writing happens. 

I just need to revise.

And when I inevitably start to dread revising I’m going to try repeating one simple fact in my head. Revising will make my story better and it deserves to grow and improve as I learn to do the same. 

Anyone else have trouble with revising? Any helpful hints or tips to help me? Comment below! 

Proud of YA

I tweeted about this topic not too long ago after I read The One by Kiera Cass (good, easy read if you’re looking for some drama filled romance). After letting the idea simmer for a couple of days, I realize a tweet and a Tumblr post wasn’t enough. Thus, this blog post was created.

It’s taken me a long time (20 years to be exact) to be comfortable with the things I love. I know it sounds a little crazy. That I’m uncomfortable and awkward with the things I love the most—writing and reading YA. It should be the simplest thing for me to talk about. It’s literally a never ending topic, but up until the middle of 2014 I wouldn’t talk about it. And if I did, it was always in the vaguest terms.

http://bookriot.com/2014/05/22/30-diverse-ya-titles-get-radar/

Q: What do you like to do? 

A: Write. Read.

That is literally how I would answer my classmates. It wasn’t even limited to people I didn’t really know that well. I never really talked about how much I loved writing and reading with even my close friends. Don’t even get me started on talking about that subject with my parents or family. They all knew I was passionate about it, but I never really talked about it.

I mean I’m not a very vocal person to begin with honestly. I rather listen than talk—mostly out of fear of saying something incorrect. And I think you guys know that look you get when you tell people that you read YA—I absolutely hate that look. There were always more reasons to listen rather than talk. 

But this past year, someone or something turned the switch in my brain. I became more open. I learned that I can talk about what I love doing even if the person I was talking to didn’t share my interests. I’m the one starting conversations because I have to tell my friends about the latest book I read or the scene I recently wrote. I’m the one chatting away in the bookstore pointing out all the books I’ve heard were good to my parents. 

I really don’t know what happened. Maybe I’m just getting older, more mature, more comfortable in my skin, blah-blah-blah. I’m just more open about the things I love to do now. I have no shame for loving the things I do and it’s the best feeling. The freedom to talk about things I’m actually interested in and not the things that I “should” be interested in. 

I’m not ashamed of reading/writing YA. I never really was, but I was always cautious. The things I do to satisfy my passion it seems takes time for me to share. They take time for me to be proud of myself and speak about them. I can’t even tell you how grateful I am that I’m able to do it with my writing now. There are thousands of things I want, but I really needed this. I needed the courage to talk about what I love. 

And I’m not saying, I’m completely open about it. I will still probably answer that I write/read to people that ask me what I like doing in this new semester. And I won’t always be willing to expand upon it. (It really just depends on my mood for the day, honestly). But there will be more days that I will want to talk and talk and talk until the person regrets saying “What do you like to do?” 

Because I love YA. Reading it. Writing it. Just being in it. Considering how close I am to being 21, I know I’m not a “young adult” but it’s what I love. 

I will have no shame. I will be proud. And I will talk about it without fear of judgment. 

Have you guys ever had trouble talking about your passion? Have you ever had to monitor what you say around certain people? Comment below!

Top 5 Books To-Read in 2015

Hello people of planet Earth. I have come to this foreign planet with a very important mission….actually not really. I just want to talk about books again (I love books if you haven’t noticed). So here’s another short and sweet blog post about the Top 5 books I’m looking forward to read in 2015! 

1. Snow Like Ashes by Sara Raasch

I’ve recently heard about this book on Twitter and Tumblr. I’m slightly scared about all the hype it’s getting, but I’m really excited to read it. I’m praying it’s as great as it sounds. Not to mention that Sara Raasch seems like an awesome author that’s great about interacting with her readers (always a plus). 

2. Heir of Fire by Sarah J. Maas

This beast of a book is definitely one of the first things I’m going to read. I swear Ms. Maas’s books just get better and better. Not to mention that I’ve heard so rather positive/exciting things about Heir of Fire…cough cough Manon and Rowan. 

3. Six of Crows by Leigh Bardugo

I’m ecstatic that Ms. Bardugo has another book coming out in 2015 and I’m even more excited that it’s set in the Grisha world. I have quite awhile before I can get my hands on this book (it’s released Oct 8^th, 2015), but you can bet money that I’m definitely going to buy it the day it comes out and devour it in one sitting. Also I can't wait for the cover to be released--if it's anything like The Grisha series' covers, it's going to be epic. 

4. Red Queen by Victoria Aveyard

So I first heard about this book after I joined the Twitter universe and the moment I read the blurb, I knew I was going to be reading this book ASAP. I cannot wait until the book is released. Do you see how beautiful and simple the cover is? I really hope it's lives up to all the hype! (But I'm always a sucker for great ideas whether they're executed well or not--sue me :P) 

5. Anna and the French Kiss by Stephanie Perkins

I’m cheating again because with this one, I’m actually really want to read all three companion novels. I love reading contemporary YA novels in between the various dystopias and fantasy novels. I’ve been itching to read these for a while now and can’t wait to get my hands on them.

Bonus: Truthwitch by Susan Dennard

I haven’t read anything by Susan Dennard, but I do read her blog a lot and everything she’s posted about this book/series seems awesome. I can’t wait to read this and I really really hope it doesn’t get pushed by to 2016. I don’t know if I can wait that long. Also I'm really sad that it doesn't have a cover yet. 

What books are you looking forward to read now that 2015 has rolled around?Any other books I need to add to my to-read pile? Don’t be afraid to comment below! 

Resolutions for 2015

Good news, I’m back from Costa Rica!

Source: http://pulpypics.com/new-year-2015/

2^nd piece of good news: 2015 is here (Yay!!!!) and I’ve never been so happy to write my resolutions (not that I’ve ever written them down before—they were always just abstract ideas I would think I could do in the year) But this is different. I am determined to make 2015 my best year ever. I realize everyone says this and I’m probably just fooling myself, but I really do want 2015 to be a better year for me. 

So my goals for 2015 are broken into five categories: School, Physical, Writing, Blog, Misc. 

School

- Try not to stress out too much since it’s my last semester (continuous)

- Do my best and study as little as possible to keep a decent GPA—this makes me sound like a horrible student, I swear I’m not that bad (Continuous) 

Physical

- Run at least once a week (continuous) 

- Run a 5k by the end of August

Writing

- Finish Draft Naught of GUARDIANS by January 31^st 

- Finish revisions for THE LOY by the end of February (this is really really ambitious, so at least the first draft revisions) 

- Send out queries to agents by the March 31st (if THE LOY is ready, etc.) If it’s not ready, try to send out queries by April 30th

- Worldbuild for PALM READER by February 14^th

- Write first draft for PALM READER by April 30^th

- Draft/Brainstorm/Outline a new novel with Korean Mythology at the forefront, possibly a retelling by April 30^th 

- Make an active attempt to find a Critique Partner/Beta Reader by the end of March 

Blog

-  Make my blog “fancier” by updating all the pages I have with “Coming soon” the January 20^th

- Work on the menu bar for my blog by January 31st

- Get over my fear of cameras and take a photo to put up by January 31st

- Update my blog no matter how many readers I do or don’t have at least twice a week (continuous)

- Comment and meet other writers/bloggers (continuous) 

Misc

- Read as much as I can, but at least 75 books in the year of 2015 (100 books would be better) (continuous) 

I’m definitely printing this list out and taping it to the wall above my desk. I’ll also most likely add to it as time goes by just because I know forgot things. I always do. 

What do you think about the concept of resolutions? Is it better to lie to yourself and have concrete goals, or is it better to just take on the new year as it comes?