The Line

(Please note that I am a member of Goodreads. I have discussed the situation with several other members on the site and really enjoy my use of the website. None of the author's names or reviewers are mentioned; however, if you are interested in finding out which authors/reviewers, please check Goodreads.  I have not read any of the authors' books, and I have tried to make this post as unbiased as possible. If you feel that there is something wrong with my post, please list it in the comments. Hopefully we can have an enriching and interesting discussion and I will correct all errors mentioned. Again, this entire post is all my opinion and not the author's or Goodreads, or other Goodreads members.)

Recently, a few events one would consider troubling or dergatory has happened on the website Goodreads (goodreads.com). A reviewer posted a review of a book, said she disliked it, and several other people agreed and said that they were not interested in the novel either. An author commented on the review and essentially said that the reviewer, who was entitled to her own personal opinion, was wrong. The reviewer responded graciously though the author continued to harass her. A small campaign began on the author's Twitter, with other young adult authors participating and claiming that Goodreads was a site where authors went to ruin their future careers, bash books, and a place for assholes. Most of the tweets were removed. However, most of the members of Goodreads found the comments deragatory and false. Many people stood up on the original review, and several of the authors left apologies. But despite the apologies, many people on Goodreads said that their opinions of the authors had been damaged and they would no longer be reading their books. They marked the author's novels under a "will-never-read" shelf.

This is only the most recent controversy, though plenty of others have popped up both on Goodreads and other places online. This controversy, though, really highlights the author-blogger relationship and all of its many challenges.

Many authors now have blogs and websites. This is considered a standard for authors, and I'll admit it's one I expect; when I Google an author and find that they don't have a website and/or blog I'm disappointed. The authors usually update their blog with information on what they are writing, events that will be held (such as book signings or school visits) and sometimes book reviews. Many authors now write book reviews, and these reviews are often enjoyed and given many comments. The reviews can be very excellent and some authors are fantastic reviewers both on their blog and on Goodreads.

It is possible for an author to have a seamless relationship as both an author and a reviewer. But sometimes there is a hard line. Authors get out of line, by posting reviews getting angry about negative reviews, or bashing a review community like Goodreads. Both situations happened in the Goodreads debacle.

It's a hard line that the authors need to remember. They need to honor and respect reviewers just like they are. They are reviewers and should respect reviewers, as they are just like the other reviewers: they post book reviews with their opinion and people comment. They need to not bash other reviews or reviewers online. Fine, they can bash other reviewerers privately, but they shouldn't post bashes online anywhere -- whether it be Goodreads or Twitter.

I know that it's hard to be a reviewer and an author. There are questions -- like should I write a Goodreads review of my book? Am I sucking up to people in reviews? There are more, but I cannot think of any.

And it's the same with reviewers -- should I post this scathing review? Do I only ever write 4 star reviews? There are questions for each one.

But both authors and reviewers have to make sure that they stay on that invisible line. That they stay respectful of other authors and reviewers. I think if this line was bridged, we'd have a better YA blogger community.

Reviewers and authors are becoming more and more seamed together, as more authors have blogs, Goodreads profiles, and interact with other reviewers. But both the authors and the reviewers need to stay on that thin line.

Happy 2012!!!!!

Considering the fact that there is simply only one thing you can really post about today, I wanted to say that I hope everyone had a fantastic year. All of our writing journeys were different, but we still connected as writers, bloggers, readers.

Thank you for everything you've done this year!

Feel proud of yourself, and have a fantastic New Year's Eve and New Year's. 2012 is going to rock our socks, I can tell.

HAPPY NEW YEAR!!!!!!!!*

*** Disclamer: I am usually not a big fan of multiple exclamation marks, but it's a big enough occasion that it counts. :P

Looking at My Manuscript Like a Real Manuscript



One of said avatars, Photoshop being my helper/creator/assister.



So for the past few months, I've been writing a YA manuscript. The story is titled Building Houses and in a nutshell it's a girl's path to growing up in a small town while she tries to figure out if a girl is a fraud. I've spent hours and hours writing it,  I've made countless promotional graphics and covers for it. I love the story. I love the characters and the setting and the plot and the foreshadowing and the mystery and everything.

But there's something missing. I look at other writers, their manuscripts in progress. Sometimes I get envious, of course, and sometimes I feel like my manuscript isn't a real manuscript. And I don't understand or know why. And now I finally understand. I wasn't looking at my manuscript the right way. I was just looking at it in a carefree way.

I was serious about the manuscript, but I wasn't looking at it seriously.

I cared about the story, but I didn't look at it seriously. I didn't look at it in my mind as a real novel, though its word count is officially a novel now (50,000 words is the guideline for a novel and BH is incomplete at 53,000 words).

I needed to look at it seriously. If I didn't look at it seriously, editing would be harder. Rewriting would be harder. Even just continuing, when I could say ehh, forget this, and move on -- that would be harder. I needed to have a seriousness to my manuscript. I needed to understand that yes, writing is hard, and yes, that I needed to be serious about my writing. If I wasn't serious, I wouldn't be confident in my writing. Being confident in your writing is key. People have blogged about it before, but you need to love what you write.

And you need to be serious about it.

Have fun times -- like sitting in fields of flowers

That's not to say that everyone needs to be serious about the writing. The truth is, and this was brought up in this week's #yalitchat, that some writers write just for the hobby. If you're a hobby writer, or you have no intention of getting published or getting an agent or writing a query letter, that's fine too. There's nothing wrong with that. Having fun with your writing is great. Have all the fun you want! You don't need to be serious all the time. And if you're a serious writer, make fun times for yourself, too.

But if you're a serious writer, and you do want to be published, find an agent, be published anywhere, you need to be serious.

If you're a serious writer, you need to be serious about your writing.

If you're not, you won't get anywhere. Look at your manuscript seriously. Look at it like a real manuscript. That's what I do now; I look at my manuscript like a real manuscript. And if you want to be a serious writer, look at your manuscript(s) seriously.

It'll get you further.



The Best Friend Trope

Today I'm going to talk about tropes. One trope in particular that I'll call The Best Friend Trope. Now, this trope might have an actual name. It's probably listed on TV Tropes somewhere with a long and funny article. But as I don't know the actual name -- or if the trope even has a name -- from here on it shall be called the Best Friend Trope.



these girls love the sun

 Everyone has a best friend. If you're lucky you'll have more than one.
I see best friends in YA all the time. There are good BFFS, a la Jellicoe Road and horrible BFFs a la Before I Fall. There are heartbroken friends and mean friends and chirpy friends and quirky friends and happy friends and every single kind of friend under the sun. Best friends, if they're used wisely and have a role in the story, can enrich the plot. If they aren't used wisely they can become nothing more than a trope or a plot device.

Below is a situation I see often in YA. This is not necissarily *every* best friend situation there is.

Cool MC: Hey, I'm super cool. I have a BFF. She is cool too (names reason BFF is cool). We hang out all the time.

BFF: Squee!

MC: Oh look, a mystery/hot boy/problem /every single thing under the sun we need to figure out.

BFF: I'll help

*they problem-solve*

MC: Wait, whoa! MY BFF IS NOW ACTING WEIRD.

BFF *acts weird*



I hate drfiting away BFFs!



MC: Now a major plot point has happened and my BFF is drifting away!

BFF: *drifts away*

MC: *is sad* :(

And thus brings me to the problem. I see this all the time. The BFF and the MC start to work on a problem. It could be any problem. Getting the guy, figuring out what's going on at the old spooky haunted house, or punching some creeps in the face. The two of them work on it together in blissful, peaceful harmony. And then a major plot point happens. The BFF drifts away. She runs away. She forgets about the MC. She ignores the MC. She and the MC fight. And then the BFF isn't a character. She's a character forced there for a little while, while the writer pushes her away so the MC can do....whatever the MC wants to do.

I see this ALL THE TIME. It's predictable and annoying. And it's a sorry excuse for a writer. Don't just push your characters away like that. Plot device characters are annoying. Best friends seem to be the ones chosen for this most normally. Develop your best friends. Give them emotions. Feelings. Give them more than three scenes. Give them a real relationship with your MC. Make the relationship different and nonpredictable. Make the MC a character.

I don't feel any relationship towards your characters, towards your MCs, when you push them away and make them plot devices. Make your best friends strong, give them real purposes in your story. And if your MC's best friend exists only for one reason, to further the plot, to add suspense, then develop them. And if you have to, cut them apart with scissors. Make a best friend that someone would really be friends with.

Don't make your characters tropes. Don't make them plot devices. Because when you do, they become predictable. They become annoying. And they aren't best friends anymore.

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