Sunday Post 010 | IMWAYR

Sunday Post is a weekly meme hosted by Kimberly @ Caffeinated Book Reviewer. It’s a chance to share news~ A post to recap the past week on your blog and showcase books and things we have received. Share news about what is coming up on our blog for the week ahead. See rules here: Sunday Post Meme

 Corny Joke Monday 

Why did the lion eat the tightrope walker?

He wanted a well-balanced meal.

 Last Week on the Blog 

Sunday Post 009 | IMWAYR
The Lake House by Kate Morton Review
Dembe Zuma (No 10), The Blacklist 4x16 Worth Watching

 This Week on the Blog 

Dear Anakin... Star Wars
Requiem,  The Blacklist 4x17 Worth Watching

EDIT: Unfortunately, due to unforeseen circumstances, I have to postpone these. I'm taking a short hiatus for the next week or so. Sorry, everyone! See you when I get back. Until then, keep reading! ^_^

 What I'm Reading: 

It's Monday! What Are You Reading? is a place to meet up and

share what you have been, are and about to be reading over the week. 

Heartstone by Elle Katherine White

I am loving this. I just haven't been taking time to actually read it. :P

The Wonder by Emily Donoghue (audio)

This one is going so slow I might move on to something else for a while. It's interesting, I'm just not in the mood for it.

Star Wars: Clone Wars Vol 2: Victories and Sacrifices (comic)

 What I Read: 

Not going to lie. It's been a slow-going reading week for me. :P

Star Wars: Clone Wars Vol 1: In Defense of Kamino

Marvel's Civil War

 Internet Shenanigans 

So I finally finished Sherlock Season 4. I say 'finished' because I actually watched the first episode pretty soon after it aired on PBS. AND I COULDN'T GO ON. I was so broken-hearted after that episode, I just couldn't move on to the next one. It was so sad and depressing and John was angry at Sherlock and... and...

But I finally moved on and I'm SO GLAD I did, because those last two episodes were absolutely amazing, story-wise, character-wise, but especially in further developing John and Sherlock's complicated and amazing relationship. Even better, the rest of the season also fleshed out and relieved some of the pangs from that first episode heartbreak so, while I'm still not totally over it, the show has at least saved itself from my everlasting ire.

It was absolutely amazing.

If YOU'RE a Sherlock fan, than you definitely need to check out Sherlock Season 4 Thoughts (Spoilers) over on my friend September C. Fawkes' blog. It is such a fangirl-fueled post, but she's one of the best I know at intelligent fangirling, gushing about developing relationships, subtext, character, and foreshadowing. Seriously. Check it out right now, because her fangirling only ever deepens my love and appreciation for shows I like. ^_^

 In Real Life 

I finished my Camp NaNo goal of 15,000 words!

And you know what? It didn't help me get back into a regular writing routine at all. I kept procrastinating the actual writing part until the last minute and wound up battling for my last 3k a few hours before Camp ended last night. Which is not what I was going for at all.

So this next month I'm not giving myself a word count goal. Apparently that's not really helping to motivate me at all right now. Instead, I'm going to make myself for an hour every day. No matter how much or how little I write, I'm going to write -with no plotting, researching, or outlining- for at least one hour every day.

Because that last 3k I crammed in last night? It was horrible. But it was first draft stuff, so the important part is I wrote down 3k that wasn't actually a waste, that actually has good content and momentum, it just needs to be reworked. But because it wasn't perfect, because I didn't love it, I felt like a failure, and I battled with the sick dread that failure brings on for several hours last night. That's always fun. It made me realize that I have lost a step and gone back into the unhealthy place of being uncomfortable with first draft material, and that needs to stop. Right now.

So hopefully, the far side of next month, I will have written so much crappy first draft material, I will be comfortable with that phase of writing again.

Also, MY JAZZ ARE MOVING TO ROUND TWO IN THE PLAYOFFS!

  What's new with you? 

Guest Post: Let the Reader Do the Work | September C. Fawkes

Today I'm honored to have a guest post from September C. Fawkes. She has some fantastic stuff over on her blog -like Writer's Tips and analyses of popular shows on why they work- so definitely check it out.

As a warning, this post does contain some Harry Potter spoilers. So if I'm not the only one in the universe who has neither read all the books or seen all the movies, beware!

Now, without further ado, September C. Fawkes, ladies and gentlemen! 

If you are like me, there are a couple (or ten) books you've cried in. There may be a couple (or ten) books you've wanted to throw across the room because you where so mad at the villians. And then there may be a couple (or twenty) books that left you feeling empty, bittersweet, and satisfied all at once.

As a reader, I love and yearn for books that make me feel powerful emotions. Sometimes I'm surprised how one book can deal with big conflicts but leave me feeling apathetic, while others deal with small conflicts but make my heart ache or my spirits soar.

In books, a lot of the emotion we feel has to do with how the writer handles that emotion. I'm a writer myself, and I have the opportunity to read a lot of unpublished fiction. Today I'm going to talk a little bit about why some books hit us in the feels and others . . . don't.

There is a writing rule I heard that states that "If your character is crying, then you reader doesn't have to." When I first heard that, I wasn't sure I agreed with it, but I thought about the books I'd read, and I talked to a few other readers and realized there was some truth to that statement.

I'm a huge Harry Potter fan, went to midnight releases and everything. In the books, Harry is on the verge of crying several times, but he never actually does. Fact: I cried more in those books than any other book I've ever read! And loads of other people cried too. In Victor Hugo's Les Miserables, Jean Valjean weeps several times just in the first 200 pages. I never cried once. (And anyone who knows the story, knows how heart wrenching it is.)

If Harry ever broke down and bawled, I don't know that I would have. I may have still gotten teary-eyed, but I don't think I would have sobbed like I did. There is something about having ther character cry that takes the tension out of us, the readers. The character is doing the emotional work, so we don't have to.

I soon realized this applied to more than crying. In one unpublished story I read, one of the characters was often worrying about a mystery. She asked all the questions, did all the wondering, the worrying, and I found that I, as a reader, didn't have to. And you know what? I wasn't as engaged. The author didn't let me do that part. So instead of participating in the story, I was merely "watching" it.

I Open at the Close by Yume Dust

I'm not saying authors can never have their characters cry etc. (there is a time and place), but it's best if kept minimal. As a writer, you want to build up those feelings in your reader so that they experience the story, not just read about it. Just because you didn't write that your characters were crying, or worried, or angry doesn't mean they weren't.

In fact, I've come to accept that those passages where I was bawling my eyes out were moments where I was vicariously crying as Harry. And frankly, that's what readers want. As a reader, I want to be in the character, in the story, because only then can I reach that deep, emotional plane where the story leaves an indelible mark on me.

So for writers, when their characters are sad, anxious, fearful, embarrassed, or angry, instead of focusing on how the character feels and reacts emotionally to it, they should focus on how to elicit those emotions in the readers, so that we become part of the story. This is often done by focusing on the event that caused those emotions and rendering it in a way that amplifies those emotions. For example, how much emotion do these sentences conjure?

Harry watched Sirius fall through the archway to his death. Harry couldn't believe it. He was upset and started crying.

How much more emotion does this passage conjure?

It seemed to take Sirius an age to fall. His body curved in a graceful arc as he sank backward through the ragged veil hanging from the arch. . . .

And Harry saw the look of mingled fear and surprise on his godfather's, wasted, once-handsome face as he fell through the ancient doorway and disappeared behind the veil, which fluttered for a moment. . .

Harry heard Bellatrix Lestrange's triumphant scream, but knew it meant nothing--Sirius had only just fallen thought the archway, he would reappear from the other side any second. . . .

But Sirius did not reappear.

"SIRIUS!" Harry yelled, "SIRIUS!"

[Harry] sprinted to the dias, Lupin grabbed Harry around the chest, holding him back.

"There's nothing you can do Harry--"

"Get him, save him, he's only just gone though!" . . .

Harry struggled hard and viciously, but Lupin wouldn't let go.


The second example is more likely to give the reader that vicarious feeling, the sense that they are experiencing the story firsthand. That's the kind of writing I like to read.

So as readers, what books made you feel a lot of emotion?

Giveaway!

September is also hosting a fan-tastic giveaway on her blog! The prizes include a Fullmetal Alchemist pocket watch, a Time Turner necklace from Harry Potter, and a key to 221B Baker Street.

To enter, just click here!

About September

Sometimes September C. Fawkes scares people with her enthusiasm for writing and reading. People may say she needs to get a social life. It'd be easier if her fictional one wasn't so interesting. September C. Fawkes graduated with an English degree with honors from Dixie State University, where she was the managing editor of The Southern Quill literary journal and had the pleasure of writing her thesis on Harry Potter. Today she works for a New York Times best-selling author, is penning a novel, and sharing writing tips on her blog, which you can find at www.SeptemberCFawkes.com