Why I Love The Hunger Games

I love The Hunger Games because I can't resist a genuine page-turner.

In The Hunger Games and its follow-up Catching Fire, Collins hits the reader on all fronts, putting Katniss is at risk physically, emotionally, psychologically and romantically. Talk about torturing your darlings.

Katniss is not only plagued by a relentless series of trials, but she resists trusting others, rarely agrees with anyone else, and constantly confronts people in uncomfortable and sometimes inappropriate ways. Her rare moments of peace and calm are immediately shattered by Something Very Bad.

After reading The Hunger Games, I figured that Catching Fire would have to be disappointing. After all, I was a seasoned reader. I knew what to expect from Collins, and yet somehow the tension was even higher as she took me relentlessly up the ramp of the largest thrill ride roller coaster in the world, let me enjoy the view for just a second or two (ah, look at those cute little monkeys in the trees, I think that one is waving at me...) and plunged me down to the bottom.

As a writer, I know that creating this kind of tension much harder than it seems. Fear, anger, controversy, uncertainty, self-doubt, suspicion, angst…these are all emotions most of us avoid. As a human, I don’t like being uncomfortable, physically or emotionally. My natural tendency in life is to create balance, stasis, calm and equanimity. As a mother, I have an ingrained need to make my child's life as chaos-free as possible.

But what works in life and child rearing spells death to storytelling, and I have to remind myself that my characters are not my children--they would be better described as my victims. Even keeping this in mind I have to constantly sniff out scenes where I've solved my characters problems too quickly, or failed to solve one problem without introducing another, much worse, one.

Writers That Like To Panic

Ahem. Yes, that title refers to me.

WSJ published an article entitled How To Write a Great Novel. Huge thank you to Tina Lee for blogging about it first and bringing it to my attention.

I read it with great interest, certain this erudite knowledge would become mine and at the very least, I would see myself and my process reflected in these great writers.

Instead I panicked.

As I read the profiles of each author I thought to myself: I don't do that. I'd never even think to do that. That's AMAZING, why didn't I think of that? This is why they're brilliant, because they think of things like this!

I hyperventilated for a bit and figured this was pretty good proof that my career as a writer was over before it got started.

And then I went back and read it one more time and saw that I do a few of these things, in a very different order, to lesser degrees and that I employ my very own unique techniques when it comes to writing a novel.

Yes, I realize unique is kind of the cornerstone of the creative life, but sometimes I like to panic first and think second (I'm working on this, I swear).

So no, I don't write by hand while a cute pool boy stands by ready to read my dialogue aloud and a transcriptionist floats on a pool chaise with laptop attached to a long cord. Nor do I write all of my novels from a biplane while mixing martinis with my toes.

But I do love to start with an image collage and plaster my work space with pictures of objects and landscapes that I think might inform my work. I download several new music collections that have the right energy for my work. And I do write on a boring old laptop unless I feel stuck and then I write in this ratty old red leather journal and sometimes make little maps of plot arc and lists of a 100 characteristics of my landscape or characters. Sometimes I think only about theme and write myself an essay about the internal world of my characters. When newly in love with my work, I will create an image system that will run beneath the novel like an underground river.

I have this certain stretch of highway I'll drive where in one direction I can see the mountains in Canada and in the other direction an unbelievably vast sky. The shower is also a great place to think but I can't say I just jump in whenever I need a new plot idea (my hair would be a mass of dreadlocks if it was wet and dry ALL day long).

And you? What is unique in your process? Does it change depending on the novel? During Revisions? Do you try new techniques when you're stuck?

Come on! Tell me. I need something new to panic about.

In Honor of Zombies and Werewolves

Pride and Prejudice and Zombies. And now Little Women and Werewolves. In honor of these classic books gone . . . feral, we've come up with a few titles of our own. Please fee free to join the discussion and add yours!

The Grapes of Wraith

The Vampire also Rises

Gone with the Werewolf

The Count Dracula of Monte Cristo

Anne of Green Ghouls

Of Mice and Monsters

A Tale of Two Zombies

For Whom the Bell Trolls

Alice in Zombieland

Uncle Tom's Cabin of the Dead.

Around the World in 80 Days. With Zombies.

And for another little treat, check out this interview with Francesca Lia Block - about her new book called Wood Nymph Seeks Centaur . What's your true animal nature?

National Book Award Finalist! Laini Taylor...

How awesome is this??

Laini, I thought nothing could improve Jim's gorgeous cover...but look! That sticker is just what it needed. Congratulations!!

Wordstock and Ten Tips to Turn Up the Tension

Sunday was the first time I've been able to attend the Portland literary festival Wordstock, and it was terrific. For starters, it was a day away from the suburbs. That alone was worth the price of admission (which was amazingly cheap at $5 for the exhibit hall and $35 for each conference session). There were acres of signed books being browsed by hundreds of wonderful and strange writer types that ranged from ear-tunneled manga-toting twenty-somethings to slick New York literati. There was even a mountain man with matted beard fur, whom I named Leonard Sasquatch. With all these elements in one place, Wordstock could hardly fail to be a great experience.

I even met Sherman Alexie, which was a personal thrill and enabled me to blather incoherently about The Absolutely True Diary of a Part-Time Indian while he signed my new copy of War Dancers.

But the blathering aside, the best part was the sessions. Mystery/thriller writer April Henry had a terrific list of 49 Ways to Turn up the Tension. Some of these applied mainly to the genre, however I've pulled ten of my favorite tips that I thought were useful for any type of novel.

1. Start with action.
2. Replace an overcome obstacle with a greater one.
3. Make an old fear even worse when it becomes reality.
4. Omit beginnings and endings of scenes and jump from middle to middle.
5. Cut backstory. She said that Donald Maas recommends holding all backstory until after page 100.
6. Keep chapters under 10 pages, or 2,000 words
7. No chit-chat. Whenever possible, two speakers should be in conflict.
8. End a scene with a character making a decision not revealed to the reader.
9. Number things. She cited John Greene's technique in Looking for Alaska, where he uses headings that number the days before a monumental and life changing event, but does not reveal the nature of the event.
10. Look for passages that describe the weather, the landscape, the aftermath or travel. Then cut them. (Of course, depending on the type of novel you are writing, you may not want to take this idea to its extreme. But I believe every description must serve to move the story forward in some way.)

There were no soccer games, no marketing work, no meals to cook--just great writers with practical tips and strategies. Wordstock rocked.

Later this week, I'll post again about a Wordstock session on characterization.

Wordstock, Here I Come!

It's been a busy summer, capped by even busier and somewhat sucky start to autumn. There has been little time to flex my writing muscles lately, but I have two new books in the works. I'm am almost ready to wrap up the worldbuilding, character creation and plotlines for the one I call Porcelain Monkeys. You know, after the Warren Zevon song. (If you aren't familiar with the song, or God forbid, Warren Zevon, don't admit it out loud. He's a genius. Go immediately to iTunes or your local record store and get Excitable Boy, at the very least.)

But I'm feeling a bit tired. A tad uninspired. What to do...what to do? (taps chin)

Wordstock.

A book and literary festival, right here in lovely Portland on October 10th and 11th. Perfect! Writers, workshops, a sea of books...just what I need to feed my creative spirit! I'll have a full report next week.

It's National Punctuation Day! It's National Punctuation Day!

That's right, kids. You remember it. Dad coming home with nicely wrapped apostrophes, mom dressed in a flowing gown made of semicolons. Ahh, the memories.

No seriously, today is, in fact, National Punctuation Day. Don't believe me? Look here.

So what's your favorite punctuation mark? I don't have a favorite, but I despise semicolons. Just make up your mind and decide whether you're a period or comma for God's sake.

I also have a particular fondness for the old em dash--love it.