The Great Noveling Adventure!

I forgot to tell you! I am officially joining The Great Noveling Adventure. I will be posting on Saturdays starting next week, 19 October! I'm so incredibly excited.

Also, I bought a Disney Princesses calender and a HUGE package of stickers today because I'm trying the sticker technique. (learn about it here: http://youtu.be/kvDtCIA-_dk)

In other news, I am listening to my G4 playlist for the first time in a while and OMG it is so spot on. Sometimes I really know myself/my brain/my writing. :)

Voice (and my TGNA audition piece)

My boyfriend and I recently drove from Columbus, Ohio to Princeton, NJ and back. In the gaps between Black Sabbath, Blue Oyster Cult, Rush, The Clash, Twisted Sister, and various others, we listened to A LOT of NPR talk radio. Deprived of the visual accompaniments afforded by TV news, the way in which the news was delivered mattered. It wasn’t just some airbrushed, pantsuit-clad woman sitting behind a news desk as images of bloody car accidents and struggling schools flashed across the screen. I listened to a report of the Navy Yard shooting and a music review within half an hour of each other, and I could tell the difference in subject matter from the get go.

All I could think about was Voice. 

Voice :

1. Voice is the author's style, the quality that makes his or her writing unique, and which conveys the author's attitude, personality, and character; or
2. Voice is the characteristic speech and thought patterns of a first-person narrator; a persona. Because voice has so much to do with the reader's experience of a work of literature, it is one of the most important elements of a piece of writing.

As a writer, I've spent a large amount of time constructing my characters and getting to know them. Recently, I've come to realize that even a wonderfully developed character can fall flat with the wrong voice.  Also, just as a poor voice can be detrimental, a quality voice can be redeeming. I remember reading a book a few months ago that was terribly predictable with a formulaic story line and stock characters. However, the voice of the narrator was so spot on, so acutely accurate, that I really enjoyed it.

My current project, G4, is narrated in the first person by Mirella, a drama nerd in her senior year of high school. She’s a bit off beat, loves old movies, and is dying to live a little. Getting the voice right is crucial not only to her character, but to the story as a whole.

For example, Mirella is snarky and smart but she doesn't sound like she is doing a voice over for National Geographic when she describes her peers and the world around her. That doesn't mean she can’t use “big words” or has to narrate in slang. (although she could). What it does mean is that the words fit and flow consistently with her character and mood. Mirella absolutely uses words like scampered, compares her classmates to lost kids in the grocery store, and occasionally uses extreme punctuation for emphasis.

To be honest, finding Mirella’s voice was both easy and hard. I know her, so I know what I am trying for, but actually getting it on the paper isn't always easy. Keeping the voice consistent is even harder. Sometimes I have to read what I've written out loud to really get a feel for what it sounds like (or doesn't). Other times, I know as my pen slides across the page that the words are perfect. Still other times, my CP’s have to point out things that slipped through. 

Take away from all that rambling? Experiment and find the voice that works for your character and your story. Then, keep it up. Use your skills and your (beta) readers to help. 

Happy Writing!

Checkpoint

Guys,

I have officially filled an entire one subject notebook with nothing but words for G4. I am so excited to be making real progress on this story. I love getting into the plot and character interactions. I love seeing where this story is going since I'm pantsing it.

I am going out of town for the next week so I don't think I will get much written but I will be having a great time anyway. When I get back it will be pen to paper all the time :)

Motivation

I've talked a little before about my summer day job teaching reading enrichment programs. Thursday was my last day for this summer, and something really cool happened.

One of my junior high students, S, had previously told me how much she wants to be an author. On Thursday, she noticed my writing notebook on my desk and asked what it was. I told her that it was my story notebook for my WIP.

"But you didn't tell me you write!" she exclaimed, and with the grabbiest of metaphorical grabby hands she wanted to know all about it. I gave her the very short version (high school, friendship, boys, musical theatre), and she was full of smiles and genuine interest. "How cool! Someday I'll see your book and be able to say you were my teacher!" she said before leaving.

It doesn't matter that she has never read a word I've written or that I don't write under my real name so she won't actually be able to do that. What matters is that her blind faith and excitement has motivated me to keep writing this story. My goal is to finish a complete draft by the end of the calendar year, and I am determined to reach it!

Chapter Swap

I recently did a chapter swap with Alex Yuschik (alexyuschik.blogspot.com) and it was awesome.

Her work in progress, Slings and Arrows, is great. I am all about her main characters. And I cannot wait until I get to read more of it!

And her comments on my first two chapters of Goodbye Good-Goody Girl were great.

Until recently I had been relying heavily on my dear friend Jenny Adams Perinovic for feedback and comments. In the last month I won a chapter critic from The Great Noveling Adventure from Sarah at injustyourword.com and have done this chapter swap. It has been a liberating and humbling experience. Having a feeling of community as I write feels so great!

Longhand

I have been writing a lot lately and its all longhand because that is part of my process. 

But I've written about that already as a guest on The Great Noveling Adventure. You can find it here: Why I Love Longhand

The Naked This

I was rereading a bit of G4 today and came across a Naked This. I knew my high school English teacher would be ashamed of me. It was his ultimate pet peeve, and though I found it ridiculous at the time I have come to really appreciate this simple bit of advice.

Take these two versions of my sentence from G4

Naked This: This was evidenced by the fact that I had somehow managed to smudge a long dark line down my cheek like a morbid mime tear.

 

Clothed This: This ineptitude was evidenced by the fact that I had somehow managed to smudge a long dark line down my cheek like a morbid mime tear.

 

I find the second sentence so much more successful. The first begs the question "this what?" and even with a preceding context sentence, what "this" is can be a lot more ambiguous to the reader that the writer thinks it is. 

This advice is still my go to rule for clearing up ambiguity. 

Let me introduce myself!

I'm L.S. Mooney. I have lived a few places and visited a few more but i'm a Midwest girl at heart and an enthusiastic alumna of The Ohio State University.  As a recent college grad with more interests than time, my life is a little all over the place right now. I spend my time teaching reading, taking ballet, falling in love, and applying to jobs like it is my job.

I plan to use this space to chronicle my writing life and my WIP (which I will talk about later because its deserves its own post). I am not a member of The Great Noveling Adventure (tgna.tumblr.com / thegreatnovelingadventure.com) but I will using the tag to chronicle my own adventure. If you don't know what that is, go check it out! 

I'm on tumblr (lsmooney.tumblr.com) and twitter (@LSMooney).