Quite Possibly the Maddest Thing I've Ever Done

Almost exactly a month ago, I started a new piece. It's super duper different from Savior, as I'm attempting to make it an adult epic fantasy, for the hell of it. I wrote a bit about my inspiration for it over here. The original idea was to write the minstrel character from the song I linked to, going to war and all that fun stuff. Then I added magic and craziness, to make it an actual fantasy piece (and because I love magic). I had a vague idea of the cause for this epic war, but nothing solid.

Then I came home from the conference last Sunday with this desire to add two more point of view characters, just to play with it. I've been wanting to attempt a story with multiple points of view for a while now, why  not try it with this one? So I did. Neither of them are as developed as the main PoV character at the moment, because I just started them, but they've already given me the cause for the war, the main antagonist, and an insight into the initially 'evil' country that started the war.

Only problem is now this story is going to be huge. And it no longer follows the inspirational song basically at all. That makes me a little sad, but oh well. The story's got plot now! That's kind of important. And I've always wanted to write something that included both sides of a conflict as 'good guys.'

So let's hope this experiment works! Anyone else had a story veer sharply from the original intent after a single decision like this? Or is that a pantser thing?

What I learned at the RMFW 2011 Conference

Because I like lists and this feels like it ought to be in list format, here we go! In no particular order, some of the things I learned at the conference last weekend. The bold ones are really important things that everyone should know.

Conference Roundup

This year's Rocky Mountain Fiction Writer's (RMFW) conference was so much fun! I somehow found the guts to not only pitch but to sit at a table full of agents and editors one night, gather a fantastic group of people together for a critique group (if any of you guys are reading this, you're awesome!), and just put myself out there more than I normally do. Not to mention I learned so much from the fantastic workshops all weekend long; everything from how to write a good pitch, to how to use archetypes in a story, to different communication styles believable characters can use, to bartitsu--a Victorian fighting style that ought to be used more in steampunk.

It was fabulous to see so many faces I recognized from last year! And absolutely wonderful to meet so many amazing new people. We all need more writer friends, right? Or is that just me?

As soon as I catch up on the sleep I lost this weekend, I hope to post some of the more interesting or important things I learned this weekend. For now, though, I think I'm going to go attempt to figure out which characters want to be my secondary viewpoints for the new piece that I decided ought to have alternating points of view this morning, take a nap, and hope that I'm more coherent when I return!

RMFW Conference

Two more days before the Rocky Mountain Fiction Writer's conference. This will be my second year in attendance and I'm totally looking forward to it! This post is lucky to exist, as I'm taking a break from finishing up the critiques for the critique session on Friday to write it. 

Why am I so excited for this conference? It's really the only one I can afford to get to at the moment, for one. But the opportunities a conference includes are absolutely fantastic. This time, for example, I signed up for a critique session with Jennifer Unter (and I'm psyched that the lovely Jess of Falling Leaflets is in my group! Yay!), have a pitch session with an agent (I won't know who until I check in), and I've promised myself to sit at an agent or editor table during dinner one night to rub elbows. All this on top of the fantastic workshops and panels and lectures and the ability to just mingle with like-minded crazies. I say that with the utmost respect. I'm of the firm opinion that all writers have to be a bit of good crazy, after all. At least, they are if they're serious about their craft. 

Needless to say, the Saturday post will again be missing this week, as I will be eyeball-deep in overwhelmingly fantastic information in a hotel across town. Maybe I ought to choose a different day to update! 

Pantsing for Life

While I'm a proud pantser writer (I write 'by the seam of my pants,' having no idea where anything's going, for those of you who aren't part of the heated pantser vs planner debate), I'm learning that attempting to be a pantser in the rest of your life is a bit...well, difficult. You can't just randomly pop into the dentist's, most of the time, or expect the money to pay your school loans (ugh) to just fall in your lap. Life doesn't come with built-in, useful plot devices. At least, not when you need them. Wouldn't that be something, though? Just at the moment you need it, some rare spell shows up, or you find a magic sword.

So! All you planners out there: are you planners in real life, too? Or just in your writing? Any tips for a floundering pantser?

Whoops What Ifs?

Obviously, Saturdays are not working for me. I have no excuse for not updating yesterday, except the fact that I totally just forgot. Poof! I was even at home and on the computer most of the day, working on my new story idea (that I can't tell anyone about because I'm terrified if I do, I'll lose all my motivation for it), and just never got around to posting anything here. Whoops.

And I am still agentless. But! This time, for the first time, I don't feel a slump coming on. I'm still confident in my skills, I'm still working, and I've got a list of agents I'd like to query (thank you, WriteOnCon, for giving me a place to start!). So off I go!

Before I leave, though, I want to share some good advice I found on the Random Buzzer's blog. It's all about writing the story that only you can write. Everyone has a unique set of interests and knowledge and you can put that to work for you to create something entirely new and different. John Bemis (the author of the post I linked to above), suggests creating a list of what he calls Magnetic Nouns, the things that really, truly interest you--people, places, things, concepts, time periods, what have you. Then ask "what if?" questions about those Magnetic Nouns, and see if any of those spark an idea.

So! I'm going to give a shot right here, right now. My Magnetic Nouns: MAGIC, FAERIES, NORSE AND CELTIC MYTHOLOGY, TRICKSTERS, MUSIC, CULTURE CLASHES, PIRATES, LANGUAGES, IRELAND, and DRAGONS.

Lots of magic fantasy stuff! Okay, some questions. What if a dragon tried to join a pirate crew? What if a character from Norse mythology showed up in modern day Ireland? What if music was the cause of a cultural war? What if a trickster figure somehow wreaked havoc on the faeries? What if a normal teenager found out she was really a goddess from Celtic mythology?

So many crazy ideas! So, what are the thing that fascinate you? How can you use those to write a story that is only yours?

On the Query Train

I have this fantasy of going to a pitch or sending out a query and getting a request for a full, followed almost immediately by an offer of representation. What author doesn't, right? Unfortunately (or fortunately, depending on your point of view), it rarely happens like that. Especially not for new authors like me. But that doesn't stop the dream!

It's only when that dream, that fantasy, gets in our own way that problems arise. Me, for instance. That dream of getting representation from a single pitch session at a writing conference has made me hesitant to start sending out queries again. I mean, wouldn't it be terrible if I miraculously got an offer of representation  before my pitch session at the conference? What in the world would I say to the poor agent I'm pitching to: "Oh, I'm sorry, but I've already decided to work with someone else?"

Of course, there's no real way I would get a representation offer in two weeks when it takes most agents at least that, if not longer, to get to initial queries. So what's holding me back?! That silly, glowing, golden fantasy in my brain.

So today? Today I send out a query. The first letter I've sent out in months. The first one since I finished the fourth rewrite. Am I nervous? Heck yes. Is it what I need to be doing? Definitely.

Wish me luck!