Sunshine and the Next Big Thing

So I usually put awards and memes on my awards & memes page, but since I haven't blogged in a while, I thought posting some Q&As in my actual blogging space would be a good way to get back into the swing of things. (Except not really because I'm on vacation in the States right now, so it probably won't work, haha.)

THE SUNSHINE BLOG AWARD

Thanks, Sophia, for passing this to me (and our fellow cabinmates from this summer's Camp Nanowrimo)! :)

I'm going with the set of questions Sophia posted, so here goes:

1: Do you sleep with your closet doors open or closed? 

Um, basically in whatever configuration they're in when I fall asleep. Most of the time one would be open because I like the convenience and am too lazy to bother closing them, but sometimes I close the doors for aesthetic purposes.

2: Do you take the shampoos and conditioner bottles from hotels? 

Not often. I don't like taking random free things unless I'm likely to use it (I dislike clutter), so I'd only take them if I really like them and would use them in the near future.

3: Do you sleep with your sheets tucked in or out?

Hm, the only sheet on my bed is the bed sheet; I don't use a top sheet. But in hotels, they usually tuck in that top sheet and it always annoys me because it's so uncomfortable! If it's hot, I want want to be able to uncover my legs sometimes, and if it's cold, I want the blanket tucked around ME, not the entire bed. Warming up all that extra space is a waste of my body heat!

4: Have you ever stolen a street sign before? 

No. See above re: dislike of free things that will just become clutter. I guess a really cool street sign would make an awesome decoration for some people, but that's not really my style.

5. What is your favorite time of year?

Vacation time! I like being lazy. Weather-wise, whenever it's not too hot or too rainy. In Taiwan, that would be autumn. It's the best time to visit!

6. What is your favorite time of day?

Late afternoon, for the pretty golden glow, and nighttime, because that's when I get to do my own things. Mornings are the WORST. Do not try to make conversation with me at breakfast unless you like monosyllabic answers served with a side of scowl.

7. Which are better, Legos or Lincoln Logs? 

I never played much with either when I was a kid. Legos, maybe? I feel like they're more versatile. And also they have more books on the NYT Bestseller List. (WHICH IS TOTALLY LAME, btw.)

8. Do you always smile for pictures? 

Ha. I'm one of those people the photographer is always telling to smile more. To which I usually want to say, "But I'm already smiling!" I guess I prefer smirks and small smiles to big, toothy grins, and have a tendency to err on the side of not being smiley enough. People have told me I look mad when I thought I was being perfectly neutral. (Poll: Do I look mad in that photo of me in the sidebar? I think I look relatively neutral. But I'm pretty sure I thought I was smiling, at least a little bit, when that photo was taken. See how much effort it takes me to even get to neutral? Sigh.)

THE NEXT BIG THING

I was tagged by Lura, whose non-traditional epic fantasy sounds fascinating! Thanks for thinking of me, Lura. :)

What is the working title of your book?

Ahh... I don't really have one yet. For Camp Nanowrio I just went with "PURE AWESOMENESS" because I'm optimistic like that. :P I really suck at naming things.

Where did the idea come from for this book?

I still remember reading Deep Wizardry by Diane Duane and becoming fascinated with the idea of a magical reenactment of past events. I think I've seen that in other books as well, but that was the book that really made an impression on me. I love the idea of people having to take on the roles of great legendary figures of the past, and going through a ritual reenactment of an important major event, and having it actually do something magical rather than just for symbolism. So that's how the premise came to be.

How long did it take to write the first draft?

*cries* It's not done yet! I have random beginnings and free-writes but no draft of even a full outline yet. I do mull over my idea a lot and I do have some of the characters and pieces of the plot figured out, but my progress is sooooo slow. I'm someone who needs to have everything planned out before I write, and plotting is SO HARD, so I'm still very much in the brainstorming/plotting/outlining phase. Where I've been for a really long time. But I really don't want to plot AND write at the same time — I'm determined to come up with a good outline, with most of the holes filled in, before I officially begin drafting.

What actors would you use for a movie rendition of your book?

Meh, I'm not really fond of this whole choosing-actors-for-book-characters activity. I don't care much about matching book characters to photographs of real people. Plus I don't watch a ton of movies, so the only actors I can think of are the major stars, and none of them really fit for my story. Since my characters' looks would be similar to that of East Asians in our world, ideally they'd be cast with Asian American actors. (Which I think would be preferable to stars brought over from Asia, but even that would be better than — universe forbid — WHITE ACTORS *shudder*). Ooh, maybe Sophia can be in it, since she totally qualifies as an Asian American actress. :D

What is a one-sentence synopsis of your book?

Gah, I suck at this one-sentence thing! It sounds so dumb when I try to condense the story. Didn't realize how impossible it is until I had to do it myself. And I don't even have definitive names for people yet (yes I suck at names)! This will probably be revised later, but here's my (terrible, horrible, no good, very bad) shot at it for now:

Confident and talented [protagonist] fully expects to be her goddess's representative for the Empire's most important ritual reenactment; but when an inexperienced newcomer is chosen instead, she takes it upon herself to make sure the girl's incompetence — and the rebel group determined to see a different outcome for the ritual — won't put the entire Empire at risk.

Will it be self published or represented by an agency?

Eh, dunno. Possibly neither. I'll worry about it after I've actually written the thing; I feel like it's too early for me to be thinking about this stuff already. I'm mainly interested in writing this story as a fun thing for myself. If it turns out to be decent then I'll think about monetizing it. Haha.

Who or what inspired you to write this book?

If you follow me on Goodreads or have discussed books with me, there is a good chance you've noticed that I have an inordinate amount of pet peeves (and Alz says they're even peevier than hers, so you know how bad they are!). Given how particular I am, it can be hard for me to find books that don't push my RAGE buttons while hitting all the right notes, like making me laugh or having characters I love or a brilliant plot (and all of that is very subjective and personal). So I guess I wanted to write a book for myself — one that includes my favorite tropes and stomps on the ones I hate. You know, like making a custom pasta dish yourself instead of going to a fancy Italian restaurant and picking one of the ones they have. Sure, the execution might not be as good (I'm a terrible cook), and some people will probably think my custom pasta is gross, but at least I will like it because it will have all of my favorite ingredients and NO MUSHROOMS!!!

Ahem. Mushroom hate aside, here's an old blog post about why I want to write that goes a little deeper.

What other books would you compare this story to within your genre?

Other than the YA Asian fantasies already out there, I'd want to compare it to Vessel by Sarah Beth Durst. Vessel also features a PoC heroine in a non-traditional epic fantasy setting who is involved in magical rituals that are important to her people, and decides on her own to take up a quest to fix an unexpected complication that pops up after years of training and dedication. At least that's my impression from reviews I've seen, since I haven't read it yet, so... yeah. But I got the ebook so I'll be reading it soon, and I'll let you know how it goes! (Also crossing my fingers that it doesn't have TOO many similarities with my story.)

What else about your book might pique the reader’s interest?

Hm. I guess you could say that it's the story of someone who'd usually be the "bitchy mean girl." I mean, there's a special snowflake in this story — she's suddenly swept into a new life, surprises everyone with an incredibly rare and powerful ability; she's expected to do great things; she doesn't think she's beautiful, but catches the eye of the Most Desirable Male on the first day (along with many of the slightly-less-desirable ones); she doesn't fit in with the popular girls, and her quirky sidekick — er, loyal friend — assures her that they're just jealous. But though she'd usually be the protagonist, she's not for this story.

One of the popular girls is the actual protagonist. She cares about looks, can be kind of conceited, and isn't particularly warm toward strangers. But she's also fiercely ambitious and practices her spells in the early hours because she's determined to be the best. She also has a close group of girlfriends (the other "popular girls") with whom she enjoys jokes and banter and gossip — particularly about Most Desirable Male, who she's been crushing on for longer than she'd like to admit. ;)

It might not work out, I know, but I thought it'd be kinda fun to try anyway. :P

That's it, and I hope you enjoyed reading my answers to these questions! Now I'm so curious about what everyone is working on. If this is something you'd be interested in doing, PLEASE steal these questions from me and do your own post about your WIP. I'd LOVE to hear about your inspirations and ideas! :)

Settings and Worldbuilding

I got a bit distracted with the excitement of winning a blog giveaway last week, but here I am, back to blathering about stuff I like and don't like to see in novels. So far I've talked a bit about protagonist and plot... what's next? Ah, yes. The setting.

Patricia C. Wrede wrote in her blog post, Big Three Redux, that most writers can easily pick out their strongest and weakest suit among the three biggies of character, plot, and setting. When I read that, I immediately thought, "She is so right! I bet I'll totally suck at setting." (I did not, however, think I had any strong suits to speak of — because I'm just super humble like that. :P)

When I think of settings, I think of those long descriptions I skim so I can get to the good parts — you know, action, dialogue, things happening. I only need a general gist of where the scene takes place, and my mind fills in the rest. I mean, cool settings are neat, but they don't make or break novels for me the way fascinating characters or mind-blowing plots do. So yeah, I don't pay much attention to settings. Which means I probably won't be good at conveying my mental image of a scene to readers. Definitely something I'll have to work on.

But there's more to setting than making sure scenes don't take place in a void, now that I think about it. After all, why else would I be so drawn to fantasy, if not for the secondary worlds full of magic or talking animals or unfamiliar cultures? Why am I so excited when aspects of a secondary world are not only fun and quirky but also clever and sensible? I might not be very enthusiastic about flowery descriptions of rooms and landscapes, but I find worldbuilding fascinating (probably why I adore Juliette Wade's blog).

And a little intimidating, too. I mean, have you seen this list of fantasy worldbuilding questions?? And readers expect everything to make sense and be internally consistent! (Well, I kind of do, at any rate.) Every plot point I think up results in tons of implications about how thing work in the world in which the story is set, and getting them all to form a cohesive whole, with plausible causes and effects, can be so overwhelming that the task seems impossible.

Still, that doesn't stop me from dreaming of crafting a fantasy secondary world with its own histories and cultures, and then having the world evolve over several books. I'm not a fan of trilogies or storylines that require multiple books for resolution, but you know what I think would be super exciting? A series of standalone companion novels that take place in the same world, though in different eras. I'd want to see how technology and magical knowledge advance, how fashions and speech patterns change, how borders and international relations shift. I want the characters' actions to affect not just themselves, but the characters that live in the world after them.

Of course, none of those things should take center stage; they'd be part of the worldbuilding, and only recognizable to those familiar with other books in the series (ideally, that is). Character and plot should still take center stage (since they matter more to me), but I'd love for there to be subtle references and connections. Like if one character's joke becomes the basis of a popular idiom generations later. Or if a decision made by a character in one installment effects the tense political climate in a book set years after the incident. Or if an innovation that defeated the villain in one book brings about drastic changes in the lifestyles and attitudes of the people who came after. You get the idea.

Doesn't that sound fun? But, alas, this will probably involve wayyyyy too much work. There are authors who have pulled it off, but when I think of the outlining and planning ahead and research and familiarity with the social sciences required... I think I'm crazy for wanting to make things so complicated. But hey, as long as I'm dreaming, might as well dream big, right? :)

Despite my grand plans, I'm going to start small. I've already decided the one non-negotiable thing about the world I'm going to create for my characters: it will be a world where people who look like me exist, and matter. And we'll see how things go from there, based on what I learn about the world from the plot and characters.

Hey, this might actually be fun! Well, until I hit a wall while trying to fit everything together and then want to pull out my hair. But I'll worry about that when I get there. :P

How about you? How much attention do you pay to settings when you read? Do you enjoy worldbuilding?

Plotting and Series

So I meant to take this one little break, and before I knew it, three weeks flew by. That's forever in blogging time! Thank goodness I'm not the only one on a summer hiatus lately (even though it doesn't really much feel like summer to me since I still have work. Oh summer vacation, how I miss you!).

My last post was supposed to be about my vision on protagonists, although I did kind of get carried away talking about other stuff. This one is about plot. But since Chantele's post on series triggered a strong reaction from me (from, ah, quite a while ago), I figured I'd talk about that here, too.

Most of my favorite novels earn that distinction on the strength of the characters — ones that make me laugh and cry and worry and wish to be as much like them as I can. They engage my emotions and make me care despite my general attitude of apathy.

But there are also novels that I love for stimulating my mind. I adore logic games and riddles and mysteries and intricately-woven narrative threads; I admire, so much, those masterminds who are brilliant enough to craft a complex puzzle as well as an elegant solution, and unfold both in just the right way to blow my mind.

I don't know if I'm brilliant enough to do that, yet. One of these days I want to write something with a non-linear plot, but I figured it's not ideal for a first project. So at the very least, I will make sure that any plot point I dream up is plausible (given the rules of the world), makes sense, and has a clear cause and effect. It bothers me so much when I read books that have plot holes or elements that just don't make sense to me.

And I also prefer reading about intelligent, observant characters. So many times I've read a book and guessed a twist or reveal ahead of time, then have to endure a character's surprise when he or she finally figures it out. The disconnect tends to pull me out of the narrative and make me think less of the character.

That's why it impresses me so much when I come across a book that's unpredictable on the first read, but when considered in retrospect, every event is logical, adheres to all the rules that were provided in the setup, and culminates in an ending that ties everything together in an inordinately clever fashion.

And oh, the ending. It's so important. One that I find unsatisfactory can ruin the entire book for me (an unhappy one, for example. Yes, I'm a sucker for happy endings). If I make it through a novel, I want closure and contentment when I put it down.

That's one reason I tend to dislike trilogies and series. I cannot stand cliffhanger or unresolved endings. It's bad enough that it seems as if all penultimate books must have one by default, but a lack of a satisfactory resolution in the first book pretty much guarantees I won't want to pick up the next one. I much prefer series where the books are companions, so that each stands alone (even better if they can be read in any order). That way, readers get to dive back into a world and maybe even catch a glimpse of favorite characters while enjoying a brand new story.

Trilogies seem all the rage in speculative fiction, and I understand the appeal. It can take multiple books to catapult a series to blockbuster status, and multiple books allow for more in-depth setup and worldbuilding. Still,  I haven't encountered many series where I loved every single installment; sequels tend to be disappointing. Reading a story that spans multiple books is more of an investment, which means the pay-off better be worth it — and I tend to lose interest partway through or find that the resolution fails to live up to my expectations. I'd rather read standalones and choose my favorites à la carte than as a set/saga/series. Of course, there are exceptions, but here's my general take: standalones with companions, please.

Anyway, these are a few of my thoughts on plot. What are your pet peeves? How do you feel about trilogies and series?

For My Fifteen-Year-Old Self

This is the first post in a series about creating a vision of what I want to write, as mentioned in my novel-writing game plan.

I've loved reading for as long as I can remember. My favorites as a teen were YA fantasies, and I still adore them now. I always dreamed of escaping to a magical world, having swashbuckling adventures, and living happily-ever-after with a swoon-worthy guy as the heroine of my own story. I figure the next best thing is penning (or typing, I guess) a YA fantasy novel myself, and write the story I've always wanted to read.

Thus when it comes to envisioning the kind of books I want to write, I already have my target audience in mind: my fifteen-year-old self. I was (and remain) a picky reader, and much of what I want to write is shaped by my reading preferences.

First, the protagonist. I idolized those strong, brilliant heroines I read about; I wished so much to be more like them, or to be part of their world. And yet a part of me felt it was impossible. As often as I fantasized about magically falling into their stories, I knew could never belong — I would be grossly out of place with my East Asian features.

I felt this even as a kid, when I played make-believe with my sister and childhood friend. We pretended to be magical princesses fighting to save our beloved kingdom from our wicked stepmother. Our alter-egos never looked like us, not even when we wanted a break from being princesses and pretended to be their maids (and best friends, of course). They were all blondes or brunettes or redheads with eyes the color of emerald, or sapphire, or steel. Because really, it would be ridiculous to have brown-eyed, black-haired Asian girls living in a medieval fantasy world... wouldn't it?

Almost all of the heroines I admired as a teen lived in worlds composed solely of people who looked nothing like me. I hated feeling I could never be a part of the worlds I loved so much, that I could only aspire to be like the characters in Asian historical fiction or Chinese mythology — who, at times, felt foreign and exotic to me, with values and worldviews that had but little in common with my Asian-American ones.

There were a lot of pseudo-European fantasylands; where were all the pseudo-Asian ones? Or, even better, where were the books where the protagonist happens to have Asian features, set in a fantasyland that's not based entirely on ancient China or Japan?

I know these books exist now, thanks to the increasing diversity of YA. And I am so, so grateful for the authors writing those novels. I admire them to pieces.

But to be completely honest, so far I haven't been able to find a book with an Asian protagonist that I can connect with deeply, despite how much I want to adore those books. It is completely unfair to the authors, because I think that, after so many years of longing, I've built up a specific ideal of the book I wish I could have read as a teen — and the books I read are the authors' visions, not mine. The only way to fix this is to start writing my own, so I can stop comparing the books I read to what I wish they were, and enjoy them for what they are.

That is why I'm going to write — for myself, because there are stories I want to tell; because, after all those years of reading, I want a story that belongs to me: a story that my fifteen-year-old self will embrace and adore, one that tells her that she, too, can be the heroine for once.

So I will write, and the protagonist will live in a world where she isn't out of place for looking Asian, and she will be capable and brave and clever and interesting and selfless (or try to be). She will fight for what she cares about and seek to do the right thing, and she will be the protagonist because of the strength of her character and not because of her birth — she will not be special due to a rare magical power or unique eye color or ancient prophecy, unless I am subverting those tropes (and I will). I will gift her with my own flaws, as well as with virtues I'm still striving to develop, and she will persevere despite all the difficult decisions and heartbreak I throw at her. And I will have succeeded with her when I know my teenaged self would read that book over and over just to watch her in action, laugh and cry and gush over her, and wish desperately to be half as amazing as she is.

It will be a challenge, to be sure; despite reading widely, there are few protagonists I can say I truly adore. Still, I am excited. After all, these are books I'm dying to read — ones that no one can write but me. :)

Thank you for reading! Next week I'll continue the series with my personal preferences for plot, setting, romance, and all that good stuff. Do you have protagonist pet-peeves? Are you also motivated to write by the need to read the book of your heart?

Novel-Writing Game Plan

It's finally here! A bit belated, but at least I got it done. I meant to write an introduction, but that introduction turned into my post on why I need a master plan. So this time, I'll jump right in. Here's how I want to approach writing my first novel:

1. Create a vision

More and more, I'm learning to appreciate the value of having a vision. I always thought I wasn't an ambitious or passionate person, but maybe that's because I didn't really know what I want. How can I get anywhere if I don't even know what my destination is? That's why I'm going to write down my dream of what I hope to accomplish, so I have something to aim for. A guiding star, so I know which direction to take. I'm not sure, yet, how detailed this vision will be, or how well I'll be able to realize it, or how much it will change with time. But this is where I'm going to start.

2. Commit to a story

Remember what I said about putting things on to-do lists that I've already finished? Yeah, this is one of them. I've accumulated lots of different story ideas over the years, and I know I need to stick to one of them — so I chose one. Once I'm done with my vision posts I'll talk more about how I get ideas and how I decided which one to pick (the reason is kind of ridiculous — but you'll see). I hope I can stick with it. I tend to like keeping my options open, which can turn into commitment-phobia, but this time I want to see it through to the end.

3. Brainstorm more brilliance

At least, I hope there will be some brilliance involved. :P Sure, I have tons of ideas, but they need to be developed before there's enough material for a novel. I need to know more about the plot, setting, and characters. I'll be asking myself a lot of questions, coming up with answers that fit with my vision and with the specific story idea I chose, and trying to weave them all together into something that sounds good to me. There will probably be a lot of free-writing and list-making in this stage. Plus a lot of being frustrated with myself for not knowing the answer...

4. Organize an outline

I do enjoy scribbling ideas down by hand in notebooks and having files of random bullet points and snippets of scenes, but I like having my ideas neatly organized even more. I'll be taking my jumble of thoughts and sorting, trimming, and reorganizing them until I can see the big picture with all the pieces where they belong. I like plans and strategies, and having an outline will help me keep track of plot elements and character arcs. Structure is important, and I want to be sure to think ahead so I don't write myself into a corner.

5. Write!

This part scares me. So much. What if I can't make it past a few thousand words? What if my outline doesn't work and I get stuck? What if all I do is open the document and then proceed to surf the web instead of actually working on it? What if I do write something but it's absolutely awful? What if it turns out I'm not cut out to be a writer because I secretly hate writing?

I don't know how I will handle the writing part. I never wrote more than a few brief scenes before. I also never had a complete outline either, so maybe that will help. I don't know. I think I will need word count goals and schedules but I think I will probably fail those and then feel discouraged and not want to write. And I will probably want to edit as I write. Well. I'll worry about it more when I get to that phase. I'm sure I'll be struggling with this a lot. At least that means I will have material to blog about, hm?

6. Repeat 2-5 with a new project

OMG IF I EVER FINISH I WILL BE SO ECSTATIC. When I'm not beating myself up because I think what I wrote is a pile of crap, that is. I'll let myself celebrate a little and resist the urge to dive back in and fix stuff by distracting myself with a new story. I hope I make it to this part.

7. Revise first novel

I'm actually looking forward to revision. How cool is it to be able to read a book and fix all the things you think are wrong with it? I will be so happy to let my inner editor run rampant (though I should probably remind her to be kind, as I don't want me to be too discouraged). I have no idea how much work I'll have to do at this point but I think it'll be fun to see what I've written and try to improve it. Or maybe I'm being delusional and I will actually want to bash my head against a wall and tear my hair out if I make it to this stage. Huh. I guess we'll see.


So, there you go! A general overview of how I'm planning to go about this writing project. Although I did leave out one important element in this plan (there's a brief mention, but nothing concrete). Well, probably more than one, but there's one specific thing I'm thinking of. I don't have a good track record regarding that aspect of planning, so I sort of dread thinking about it. But it's important, so I guess I'll force myself to talk about it in my next post. Can you tell what it is?

If you notice anything else I've overlooked or have any advice or words of wisdom for me, please share! I'm open to suggestions for revising my plan and I would love to learn from your experience. :)