Earlier in the year I did research regarding African proverbs (and those particular to Botswana) which I could pepper my main characters' speech with. Tonight I'm going through the proverbs and making notes about where best to use them. In some cases, I'd like to use them as chapter titles to get away from the old "Chapter One", "Chapter Two" business. A chapter with its own title sets it apart and also gives the reader something to look forward to. How many times have you looked over a book's table of contents at the chapter titles?
Here are a few choice proverbs:
When the elephants fight, the grass suffers.
You send a wise person on an important mission, not a long-legged person.
One should not ignore an elephant and throw stones at a small bird.
The result of continually chasing a chicken is that your hand touches some dirty ground.
When the drumbeat changes, the dance changes.
Too much haste splits the yam.
When a bird gets tired, it will land on any tree.
The shoe doesn't need a sock. (ie, Nothing closer to the truth.)
Friday, October 31, 2008
Thursday, October 30, 2008
Motown Moment
So I was in Jackson, Michigan the other day doing a little work for another campaign office and meeting a friend of a friend. While there, a native Detroiter and I were working when she opened up her iTunes and said, "Bruce Springsteen or Sam Cooke?" I reckon the former was a nod to my neck of the woods; the latter to hers. That's when I knew where I was.
Excuses, excuses
Now that the baseball season is officially over, you'd think I'd have an extra three hours to write, right? Yeah, me too. Then the local campaign folks sunk their teeth into me. I'm pretty much a goner from now through 11/4. Fortunately, one of the guys at the campaign office knows the folks at the bakery where I'd like to work for a couple weeks, so hopefully we can work that out. This would be key. For as much as I've learned about the area since 10/20 (today I had my first Coney Island (a hot dog with chili, mustard and onions) and learned that tonight is Devil's Night in the Detroit area...), I have not made inroads with the local Arab population. The baking gig would, potentially, improve that.
So, basically, editing hasn't gone as fast as I'd like. I'll plug away tonight, but between now and the election may be a wash. I hope not. There is no reason I can't finish editing the prologue tonight. Lord knows I got enough hot chocolate and potato chips to pull it off.
Fortunately, my next distraction doesn't start till 11/17: Davidson hoops. Pre-season #20, baby. That should give me some incentive to bang this shit out so I can enjoy the season.
So, basically, editing hasn't gone as fast as I'd like. I'll plug away tonight, but between now and the election may be a wash. I hope not. There is no reason I can't finish editing the prologue tonight. Lord knows I got enough hot chocolate and potato chips to pull it off.
Fortunately, my next distraction doesn't start till 11/17: Davidson hoops. Pre-season #20, baby. That should give me some incentive to bang this shit out so I can enjoy the season.
Monday, October 27, 2008
Double Sessions
I reckon I can edit pritnear all 19 chapters before leaving Dearborn. This'll mean one a day, but probably more like editing double sessions. I prefer to read through a chapter first making notes as I go (eg, add description here, what's another example of this there, etc...) and then to go back and fill in the blanks. At one point or another I typically hit a wall which is where reading or baseball comes in to provide a break so splitting the editing into two sessions a day should work well.
As I edit I've set out some goals:
1) Smooth transitions: Make sure you get from one word to another, one sentence to another, one paragraph to another and one chapter to another smoothly. Don't leave the reader behind without any bread crumbs.
2) Physicality: A complement to conversational humor is physical humor. Physical description also gives the reader a better feel for the characters. Lastly, it breaks up conversation which may move too quickly without it and with it may help build up a sequence.
3) Know your characters: Few of us know everything about those in our lives, but we know a few key things. This is an area where I need to do a better job. Plus, the more you know about a character, the more flexibility you have for humor, action and conversation.
4) Keep it tight: Every field of work and every couple have their own jargon. So does this book. The book's jargon touches on cars, U.S. history, Eddie Murphy films, baseball and Arab culture. What I can't do is extend references or allusions too far beyond that already wide swath otherwise I'll lose readers' interest, frustrate them and ask them to do too much work. While I enjoy reading good books more than once (mining them for more because I probably missed something the first time), the reader's reward should not come in the second or third reading. A reward should come the first time around.
Make no mistake, I refuse to "dumb down" this book. I refuse. Standards are already low enough out there.
As I edit I've set out some goals:
1) Smooth transitions: Make sure you get from one word to another, one sentence to another, one paragraph to another and one chapter to another smoothly. Don't leave the reader behind without any bread crumbs.
2) Physicality: A complement to conversational humor is physical humor. Physical description also gives the reader a better feel for the characters. Lastly, it breaks up conversation which may move too quickly without it and with it may help build up a sequence.
3) Know your characters: Few of us know everything about those in our lives, but we know a few key things. This is an area where I need to do a better job. Plus, the more you know about a character, the more flexibility you have for humor, action and conversation.
4) Keep it tight: Every field of work and every couple have their own jargon. So does this book. The book's jargon touches on cars, U.S. history, Eddie Murphy films, baseball and Arab culture. What I can't do is extend references or allusions too far beyond that already wide swath otherwise I'll lose readers' interest, frustrate them and ask them to do too much work. While I enjoy reading good books more than once (mining them for more because I probably missed something the first time), the reader's reward should not come in the second or third reading. A reward should come the first time around.
Make no mistake, I refuse to "dumb down" this book. I refuse. Standards are already low enough out there.
Sunday, October 26, 2008
How Far We've Come
70 posts. 17 chapters. A Prologue. An Epilogue. Over 54,000 words and 150 pages later, done with the first draft of Any Color You Want.
This is, of course, the first of several finish lines. Next is a fattened up, more thorough, descriptive, consistent and detailed second draft. Once that's done, I'll start passing it around to those interested in reading it for feedback. Then a third version which responds to the feedback. Then, if I'm feeling good about it, I'll start sending it around for rejection.
This is, of course, the first of several finish lines. Next is a fattened up, more thorough, descriptive, consistent and detailed second draft. Once that's done, I'll start passing it around to those interested in reading it for feedback. Then a third version which responds to the feedback. Then, if I'm feeling good about it, I'll start sending it around for rejection.
Saturday, October 25, 2008
Sweet 16
Chapter 16 is in the books. Yeehaw. I've also written up outlines for Chapter 17 and the short Epilogue.
Question: Do you read Prologues and Epilogues? If not, why not?
So now you're thinking, OK, those two chapters and he's done...right? Kinda. Then there's Chapter 1.5. I realized a while back that there ought to be a chapter between the introduction (Chapter 1) and the beginning of action in Dearborn (Chapter 2) where I give the reader more background on the history of Dearborn. Sounds boring, but it helps the story make more sense if you can understand the transformation this area has undergone in the last 80-100 years. In some ways, Dearborn was akin to Williamsburg, Brooklyn when it was one of the places to do business before the area's decline and then subsequent rise with the Hipster; that is, except for the rise part. When I've asked locals if they think Dearborn could become the next Flint I have yet to hear a denial or refusal. Usually there's just silence and/or a "maybe." Kinda scary.
Anyway, yeah, either I write 1.5 or I sprinkle in local history as I go.
Question: Do you read Prologues and Epilogues? If not, why not?
So now you're thinking, OK, those two chapters and he's done...right? Kinda. Then there's Chapter 1.5. I realized a while back that there ought to be a chapter between the introduction (Chapter 1) and the beginning of action in Dearborn (Chapter 2) where I give the reader more background on the history of Dearborn. Sounds boring, but it helps the story make more sense if you can understand the transformation this area has undergone in the last 80-100 years. In some ways, Dearborn was akin to Williamsburg, Brooklyn when it was one of the places to do business before the area's decline and then subsequent rise with the Hipster; that is, except for the rise part. When I've asked locals if they think Dearborn could become the next Flint I have yet to hear a denial or refusal. Usually there's just silence and/or a "maybe." Kinda scary.
Anyway, yeah, either I write 1.5 or I sprinkle in local history as I go.
Thursday, October 23, 2008
Mining Suzan; Book Trailers
My new style Dearborn-native friend Suzan continues to be a wealth of information. So far today I've learned more about Dearborn's old mayor, Mayor Hubbard, who was such a fierce racist that blacks from Detroit heading west would intentionally go around Dearborn to avoid him and his police force; that to get a pass (even a day pass) to the local recreation center, you had to be a Dearborn resident and that Hubbard kept blacks out of Dearborn (as did Henry Ford) which means they weren't hanging out at the rec center.
We also drove by the old Montgomery Ward site. I say "old" because, well, they done blown that shit up. Yup, the place where two of my main characters had an office is now dust. RIP Montgomery Ward Dearborn.
I also got to canvass around Dearborn Heights today which I'll do again a few more times before election day.
Lastly, Suzan's family and I went into Detroit to see a film. Before and after the film, Suzan and her sisters pointed out a myriad of local landmarks (the Fisher Building, Hitsville, U.S.A. (the home of Motown), the Fox Theatre, the new casinos and their geneses, the Wayne State University campus and the Detroit Institute of the Arts, to name a few). I'll see them again Friday night and hope to speak to a brother-in-law of Suzan's who used to work for Ford. Needless to say, I've been very fortunate to meet some good, informative people pretty quickly.
In other news, supposedly "book trailers" are all the rage as marketing tools. I kinda like the idea, though it also kind of defeats the purpose of a book (and being a writer) if you still have to sell your idea/work via a visual image/film. Regardless, I came up with about five different ideas for trailers last night. Buiser, if you're reading this, I'm gonna knock on your door, bro.
We also drove by the old Montgomery Ward site. I say "old" because, well, they done blown that shit up. Yup, the place where two of my main characters had an office is now dust. RIP Montgomery Ward Dearborn.
I also got to canvass around Dearborn Heights today which I'll do again a few more times before election day.
Lastly, Suzan's family and I went into Detroit to see a film. Before and after the film, Suzan and her sisters pointed out a myriad of local landmarks (the Fisher Building, Hitsville, U.S.A. (the home of Motown), the Fox Theatre, the new casinos and their geneses, the Wayne State University campus and the Detroit Institute of the Arts, to name a few). I'll see them again Friday night and hope to speak to a brother-in-law of Suzan's who used to work for Ford. Needless to say, I've been very fortunate to meet some good, informative people pretty quickly.
In other news, supposedly "book trailers" are all the rage as marketing tools. I kinda like the idea, though it also kind of defeats the purpose of a book (and being a writer) if you still have to sell your idea/work via a visual image/film. Regardless, I came up with about five different ideas for trailers last night. Buiser, if you're reading this, I'm gonna knock on your door, bro.
Tuesday, October 21, 2008
Learning on the fly
In the last six hours, I've learned the following about Dearborn:
1) The local public transportation system is, even by locals' standards, laughable. The bus stops give no indication of a schedule, a route or what buses stop there. Helpful!
2) No handshakes, please, we're Arab women. While volunteering in town, I met a young Arab woman who I greeted with my name and a hand to shake. In turn, she put her right hand over her heart and bowed slightly. That's how they roll. Now I know. (She then went back to business...putting some of her make-up on another volunteer)
3) I've also been fortunate enough to meet a very informative local who drove me around town pointing out good places to food shop and eat (she now lives in the Bay Area), discussing the history of the area (there's been not only white flight because of blacks, but because of Arabs) and who has helped me better understand how the Arab community has flourished here.
4) I also stopped into a local bakery where I'd like to work. My contact there wasn't in, but I picked up a slice of chocolate mousse cake, two petitfours and another chocolate treat for...$2.50! A delicious steal.
Last night I combined all chapters written so far into one document, standardized the names of my characters (I had changed my mind a few times on one, though she may undergo one more change) and will now go back to finishing up the final three chapters.
Tomorrow I look forward to canvassing through various parts of Dearborn and picking my friend's brain some more.
1) The local public transportation system is, even by locals' standards, laughable. The bus stops give no indication of a schedule, a route or what buses stop there. Helpful!
2) No handshakes, please, we're Arab women. While volunteering in town, I met a young Arab woman who I greeted with my name and a hand to shake. In turn, she put her right hand over her heart and bowed slightly. That's how they roll. Now I know. (She then went back to business...putting some of her make-up on another volunteer)
3) I've also been fortunate enough to meet a very informative local who drove me around town pointing out good places to food shop and eat (she now lives in the Bay Area), discussing the history of the area (there's been not only white flight because of blacks, but because of Arabs) and who has helped me better understand how the Arab community has flourished here.
4) I also stopped into a local bakery where I'd like to work. My contact there wasn't in, but I picked up a slice of chocolate mousse cake, two petitfours and another chocolate treat for...$2.50! A delicious steal.
Last night I combined all chapters written so far into one document, standardized the names of my characters (I had changed my mind a few times on one, though she may undergo one more change) and will now go back to finishing up the final three chapters.
Tomorrow I look forward to canvassing through various parts of Dearborn and picking my friend's brain some more.
Friday, October 17, 2008
134 and counting
For shits and giggles, I just took a tally of total pages written for "Any Color You Want". I figured I was around, maybe, 110. Turns out, I'm at 134. This surpasses a 120 page novella I wrote a while back and, with 2-3 chapters left, bodes well for 150 by the end of the first rough draft. And this means the chances of me hitting 180 after editing are looking good.
Now, quantity isn't always quality, but in this case if I can hit 180, I'd like to think it's because I will have filled out the thin areas that currently exist.
Chapter 16 is on deck. I wrote out an outline tonight and will start it tomorrow. This is where all the rising action comes to a head. I feel good about this one and then the epilogue, it's the chapter in-between those two that needs more thought. If I can finish 16 before I make it to Dearborn on Monday, I'll be a pretty happy camper.
Now, quantity isn't always quality, but in this case if I can hit 180, I'd like to think it's because I will have filled out the thin areas that currently exist.
Chapter 16 is on deck. I wrote out an outline tonight and will start it tomorrow. This is where all the rising action comes to a head. I feel good about this one and then the epilogue, it's the chapter in-between those two that needs more thought. If I can finish 16 before I make it to Dearborn on Monday, I'll be a pretty happy camper.
Tuesday, October 14, 2008
Last two, except for the other two
"So how's the book coming?" a co-worker asked me last night.
"Good. Got two chapters left."
"That's great!"
"Yeah," I admitted, "but I've been saying that for the last two chapters."
I am, no doubt, in the thick of it. All the plot lines are coming together like plaid. I now go into fictional huddles with my characters, or as a friend calls them, "my imaginary friends", to ask what everyone's gonna do in the next chapter. One guy who was integral early on has been on the sidelines lately. Just today I saw him on the bench and figured it was time to call his number again. I'm also getting to know my players better, by name not just number. Just gave one a tattoo! Rather proud of that.
I'm also antsy to finish this sloppy first draft so I can jump into editing and make this shit nice. So far, I've got most of the general stuff down, but lately my head's been flooded with details that I ought to incorporate; details that'll give it all more personality and pop. I've even found ways for characters in books I haven't even written yet to have bit parts in this one (and vice versa) which is an idea I like, especially after you've got to know these folks to the point where you actually want to see them again.
"Good. Got two chapters left."
"That's great!"
"Yeah," I admitted, "but I've been saying that for the last two chapters."
I am, no doubt, in the thick of it. All the plot lines are coming together like plaid. I now go into fictional huddles with my characters, or as a friend calls them, "my imaginary friends", to ask what everyone's gonna do in the next chapter. One guy who was integral early on has been on the sidelines lately. Just today I saw him on the bench and figured it was time to call his number again. I'm also getting to know my players better, by name not just number. Just gave one a tattoo! Rather proud of that.
I'm also antsy to finish this sloppy first draft so I can jump into editing and make this shit nice. So far, I've got most of the general stuff down, but lately my head's been flooded with details that I ought to incorporate; details that'll give it all more personality and pop. I've even found ways for characters in books I haven't even written yet to have bit parts in this one (and vice versa) which is an idea I like, especially after you've got to know these folks to the point where you actually want to see them again.
Sunday, October 12, 2008
Michigan ho!
After numerous phone calls (with more to come) and inquiries, I've finally got substantive enough answers to move on. What am I talking about? I'm talking about a month-long sojourn in Dearborn during which time I'll volunteer on the Obama campaign (yes, I know McCain has withdrawn from MI, but there are few better ways to learn an area's geography and issues faster than campaign work) and, hopefully, do a stint at a local Arab bakery.
This is key as it allows me to be in the place where the story takes places when it takes place. I will also be living with a local and working with locals so I can get more local perspectives, get a feel for diction/accent and make the story truer where it needs to be.
I hope to leave October 20th at the earliest, November 1st at the latest with a return to NYC ahead of Thanksgiving.
This is key as it allows me to be in the place where the story takes places when it takes place. I will also be living with a local and working with locals so I can get more local perspectives, get a feel for diction/accent and make the story truer where it needs to be.
I hope to leave October 20th at the earliest, November 1st at the latest with a return to NYC ahead of Thanksgiving.
Tuesday, October 7, 2008
Buckley, 11, Prologue, Readers...
So I ended up going to the luncheon with Christopher Buckley last week, but it turned out to be a much larger (and senior) event than I had expected so no chances to talk shop with him. That being said, I think the time I took to think of questions for him also helped produce possible answers which I've been able to use.
I've also made progress writing. I finished a draft of chapter eleven and added a prologue before the intro chapter. The prologue does a better job of laying out the book's big question/premise while also aligning the book's story with some of the later allusions to Eddie Murphy films. Work on chapter twelve has begun.
A number of people have also volunteered to read the book when finished, including a literary agent friend. This is good news and I look forward to their feedback.
I may also be writing short scripts for a comedy troupe that hopes to air their work on YouTube which would be fun.
Lastly, I hope to have some other good news to announce relatively soon. Just want to be 100% sure first.
I've also made progress writing. I finished a draft of chapter eleven and added a prologue before the intro chapter. The prologue does a better job of laying out the book's big question/premise while also aligning the book's story with some of the later allusions to Eddie Murphy films. Work on chapter twelve has begun.
A number of people have also volunteered to read the book when finished, including a literary agent friend. This is good news and I look forward to their feedback.
I may also be writing short scripts for a comedy troupe that hopes to air their work on YouTube which would be fun.
Lastly, I hope to have some other good news to announce relatively soon. Just want to be 100% sure first.
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