Music Makes Pictures

"When I heard the music, it made pictures in my head. These are the pictures." ~Walt Disney

The role of music in my work cannot be ignored.

I've been following the blog and tweets (@JMTohline) of JM Tohline. He had two posts on the topic of music, and the playlists we create to accompany the literary work we do (here's one... and the other).

Ara's Tangents: His twitter short stories are fantastic. Here's one: The debutante scratched her butt. The end. Here's another: She put on a Bill Clinton mask and came out of the bathroom. She had never looked better. The end. You owe it to yourself to follow him. His first novel, The Great Leonore, will be released Summer of 2011. I'm looking forward to it.

I wanted to share my madness with you. I'm a picture-driven type of person. If I can't see it (biological eyes or mind's eye), I can't create an effective scene. Music, like actual images, creates very real images for me. It is not an underestimation to say that some musicians have forever altered me--I am haunted by their words and their melodies.

When the seed for my story, Aces, was planted, I was in Paris on a business trip. I immediately took out my iPad and found some music that seemed complimentary to the type of story that was growing in my head [for those wondering, it's a love story]. As soon as I had the music going, I started mind-mapping the opening scene.

The music was from Colbie Caillat's Break Through and Coco CDs (Break Through, Oxygen, The Little Things, Realize and Bubbly). As I listened to those songs over and over (and over... 11 hour flight-- give me some slack here!), the personalities, the conflicts, the possibility all rushed at me. I was not able to write and draw fast enough. Needless to say, that as soon as I was back in LA, I bought everything Colbie I could find on iTunes (54 songs if you're keeping track).
 

With that, my play list started. I added about three dozen Chris Issak songs. About 80 Beatles songs, and then a bunch of one offs that felt right to me. If I heard something at the beach while hanging out, or at the market, I bought the song then added it to my playlist. My playlist includes songs from P!nk, Billy Joel, Kelly Clarkson, Sarah McLachlin, Sting... and more.

Ara's Tangents: If anyone knows Ms. Caillat and Mr. Isaak, can you ask them to collaborate on an album for me? Thanks. I owe you one!

My story starts in Paris, then travels to Malibu, then to London and finally ends in Barcelona. When I reached the Barcelona scenes, I had to tap into memories of my youth when we lived there. I found songs from Julio Iglesias and Peppino Galiardi that at the time were very popular. The music brought back memories, scents, faces.

Ara's Tangents: Peppino Galiardi? Who dat? The first person who can name that tune from Peppino that was popular in 1978 will get an autographed copy of a blank piece of paper... if I had something more valuable I would sign that.

A couple of people told me that my novel reads like a movie script (undoubtedly under the influence of expensive vodka). They can see the places, the faces and the storyline. If the Book Gods smile on my novel and it gets published, and if said book became a movie, I would ask the Director to remember the music that brought it all together. Since dreaming is free, I might as well dream big!

The Waiting Game - Part II

My manuscript is back out for review with the pro! Nervous anticipation rattles my brain.

What to do with all this free time? Sleep is one option. But I think a retrospective is appropriate at this stage of the game.

• I completed the first cut of my manuscript Aces back in early October. My wife (my first reader) loved it.
• I elected to get a professional to read my manuscript and give me a full helping of reality. I wanted to know if what I had was really good, or was I about to end up like those pitiful souls we see on American Idol? When we watch those auditions, we laugh and ask, "Don't these people have friends or family in their lives who can tell them the truth?" I really didn't want agents to use my manuscript as the "what not to do" example. Yes, I am sensitive... don't be hatin!

• The feedback that I got was the reassurance that I needed. I can't tell you how an objective opinion, from someone who is a best selling author, does for the ego. Each time I questioned my words, I could remind myself that objectively, my work is good.
• I spent two weeks on the rewrites: one week to outline my plan of action, and another week to make all the changes. The net effect was that two full chapters were completely redone, one chapter got dropped, some themes were crystalized and the word count went up to 95,000. More importantly, the ending changed. And in my humble opinion, the result is a great ending! I got to say, that I see now how I had short changed my characters. Gemma and Andre deserved better, and they got it now. When I was pushed to think down a different path, the paths opened up.
• A couple of nights ago my wife finished reading the revisions. She was elated with the result. That's got to count for something :)
• After some final edits, this afternoon I compiled the new manuscript and sent it off to Michael Levin... and now, we wait.

Writing... what a powerful medium! With a few clicks on my keyboard, the characters suddenly behave differently, say different things, and more often than not surprise me. They say things that I never expected, and behave in ways that makes me bubble up with excitement. 

For their dialogues to sound true and crisp, I spent a lot of time formalizing these characters. So much so that I am nearly certain that if I was asked to put them in different scenes, I would know exactly how they would react without much thought. It's a bit unnerving. Split-Personality Disorder is alive and well in my head!

I never thought that I would enjoy, absolutely love, the editorial process. Maybe it gets old after many months, and revisions.... maybe. But I must say, I enjoy my characters so much that each time I revisit them, they come to life. And when there is an opportunity to make them better, I am ready to hit the keyboard. My wife hit the nail on the head. "I miss them," she said. Yeah, I hear you.

Now, instead of catching up on some sleep, I think I'll start brainstorming a new idea that was born when my wife and I were enjoying lunch at the Cheesecake Factory. But before I start, I need to get the brain juices flowing. And there are two ways that my juices flow: music and exercise, P90X style! I'm a glutton for punishment!

10 Things I Love About Scrivener

I spent the last week finalizing the rewrites to my manuscript. The entire work was done in my tool of choice - Scrivener 2.0.

[Legal Disclaimer #1: just because my blog's name has the word "scrivener" in it, I am not affiliated with the developers... unless they want me to be... call me... we can do lunch!]

The good people at Literature & Latte have released the much anticipated version 2.0 of their tool. Let me be clear, they've always had the best tool... but this release put me in a poetic mood:

[Legal Disclaimer #2: some of this content is stolen from the developer's web site... it's for educational purposes!]

1) You keep me honest: What's your word count goal? Set it, achieve it.

2) You keep me on track: Set your daily goal and beat it... (don't judge me... I'm in rewrite mode)

3) You let me change my mind: Snapshots rule! Version control? Compare documents? Scrivener does that on steroids!

4) You let me play around with cards: I like being able to storyboard my ideas, move the scenes around and see the flow of the narrative

5) You let me look at my work on my iPad: ebook output is phenomenal! The formatting is spot on. Calibre? Fo'get about it! Write it at night, ebook it to my iPad before I go to bed, review my previous day's work while drinking coffee in the morning (double espresso Illy brand coffee).

6) You let me get inspired while I write: Import pictures of locations, people, etc. Side by side, look at image and translate what you see into words

7) You let me synch with dropbox: Love that cloud thing

8) You let me synch with SimpleNote on the iPad: Edit on the train, plane or automobile (hopefully while someone else is driving...)

9) You let me compile the whole thing in a beautifully formatted manuscript: I find that I don't need to do much formatting (at least during this stage of my writing) or export to Word. I am self-sufficient on one tool.

10) You read to me, when my eyes are too tired to read: Ok. So maybe you feel that I should have ended with more umph... I'm tired okay. But, this is a big deal for me. Hearing my novel read back to (granted by a funny voice who can't pronounce my heroine's name properly) is very powerful. My story is driven by conversations... hearing it out loud helps me improve the flow

Great tool. Great support. These guys get it. I better go. I'm getting emotional again :)

Value

I'm a big proponent of value creation. Anything you do should generate value. Said differently, are you being active or productive. What is it that you need to produce? Be absolutely clear in your head. When it comes to the art of creating something like a novel (while still gainfully employed) you better be effective with every ounce of time that you have.

For me there are a handful of things that I do everyday to make sure that I have a comprehensive approach to the craft:

• Read, read, read! I read a minimum of two, up to four novels per month. Two are always audio books (auidble.com). I'll pick up a paperback or two during the month. Being able to see how the author structured the narrative, the beats, the pauses, the sentence structure is an important element of my writing.
• Write, write, write! If you don't write, you can't be a writer (I know, I'm brilliant--no need to send me gifts). When I'm writing, I have a minimum quota of 1,200 words per day. But I'm so competitive (with myself at least) that I do my best to hit the 2,500 mark. As I've posted in the past, I only write after 9 or 10 pm at night for a couple of hours. So I need to be ready, in the right mindset to let the story accelerate out of my fingers. Scrivener, my application of choice, does this simple but critical function with grace.
• Right brain activity... I never mix right brain (planning, plotting, resolving issues, ...) with left brain activities (writing). In fact, I find that if I don't separate them, my writing slows down and the dialogues start to fall flat. I'm thinking too much while I write, as opposed to let the words come through. During the day, before I start, I think about things that bother me. I have a little Red Moleskine journal that's always with me. I will jot down thoughts, ideas, lines, names of characters, as the day unfolds. Before I start writing, I review what I have there and now the juices are flowing.
• Blogs and Tweets... It's somewhat cathartic to blog and tweet. It's also inspiring to read the blogs and tweets of others. There are so many generous people out there -- authors, editors, agents-- that want to share. I have been around various industries, and I can't say that this industry is packed with caring and generous people who want to help others. How cool is that. I therefore feel that the least I can do is contribute. I'm a nobody. But if I get signed, then my manuscript is picked up, maybe I'll give some beads of hope and guidance to other aspiring novelists.

Currently, I've spent time on revising and developing the approach to resolve the areas of improvement that was raised by my writing coach. I'm really enjoying the process by the way. He has raised such great points, that I can already see will enhance the overall experience from the reader's perspective.

I read this great post by Ed Hogan (@edhoganderby) on "What Editors Do". Since I actually enjoy this editorial process (so far), then maybe, when the day comes that my novel gets picked up (envision a positive future!), then I'll be loved by my editor :)

Feedback Part I

I got some fantastic feedback today from my coach (see Bring on the Professionals). I'm giddy and nervous all at the same time. Did I mention "fantastic"?

We're going to talk in person next week, but for now I got some in-depth analysis in an email. Each point he raised made me pause--look to the sky--ponder--and say "Dang dude! He's right!"

There is one controversial point--but instinct tells me he's right--my heart tells me "That's a significant rewrite!" I love people who are so sure about their opinion that just by their use of language they inspire you to think outside of the box.

In Stephen King's On Writing (have I quoted him before?) the 3rd Foreword states, "The editor is always right." In this case, he's not the editor per se, he's the pro. Why would I enlist a pro if I'm going to claim that I know better.

I have a full weekend ahead of me. I'm going to dig into each of the points that he raised and address them. This weekend will be an "Ideation" weekend. Mind-mapping here I come!

I must say that I am encouraged, greatly, by his words. The compliments were stunning (because I'm not good enough), but the questions he raised were so well thought out that I knew right then and there that I did the right thing for my novel.

Did I mention fantastic feedback?

I am Inspired!

As most adults will do, I was following twitter last night (judge not!) and came across power-agent Janet Reid's (@Janet_Reid) message about a must read novel by Veronica Roth (@veronicaroth).

If that's not an endorsement, nothing is! So I found my way to Veronica's site and started to read.

Man, I was stuck on her site for a good thirty minutes. In my life, that's a long time (it's like dog years). She was recently signed and her book will be published in May of 2011 (Divergent).

Two things stuck out:
(1) Her blog is written in a way that is easy to follow, her humor comes through, and it keeps me engaged. There is a profound level of honesty that makes you feel at ease. I suspect that her novel will be written the same way, which implies that I will have a hard time setting it down.
(2) There is a generosity in her site that is inspirational. She shares everything about her process in there. She has pictures of her signing her contract, when she received her arcs... it's just a great story and one that really got me happy.

It reminded me of a passage from Stephen King's book "On Writing." He tells us about the day that he got the call from his agent. The call that informed him that Carrie's paperback rights were picked up for something like $350k. This was his first book. Advances of that sort were unheard of. Add the financial desperation of his life at the time, and then his very honest and human reaction to this news... ("Can you say that number again?" as he slid to the floor) that was such a heartfelt moment that I found a bit... ahh, well... you know... an eyelash got caught in my eye. Yeah, that's what it was. Leave me alone, will you!

Here's a classic line from her blog:

This is what I keep thinking to myself: My NAME is on it! MY name. And it's like...a thing! That you can HOLD! In your HANDS!

How can you not root for her? To know that your story will be read by others must be an out of body experience. The fact that she shares this type of information is inspirational and is the carrot. The possibility that we will one day get that call as well.

Here's to all of us who want to be like Veronica! I hope it's an instant best seller. I know I'll get a copy.

Why Do You Need a Professional to Read your Novel???

Why indeed... well, one of my favorite blogs captured the reason succinctly.

Jane Friedman wrote:

"Why are editors rejecting my work when family and friends love it so much?

Your family and friends love you and see you in your work. An editor doesn't know you and is often more objective, especially when it comes to marketability. Publishing professionals have distance; you and your closest friends/family may not." There Are No Rules - Agents

Objectivity is critical. 

Writing is an art... publishing your art is a business. 

You need to know that a business executives (Agent and then Editor for the publisher) believe that many people will want to read your story. Chances are that your story has some things in there that will delight your friends and family... because they know you, they get it, and maybe they are excited by what you have done. The agent and editor don't bring all that baggage to the game.

Bring on a dose or reality... that will make me a better writer, a better story teller.