Behind Every Great Novelist Is…
Behind Every Great Novelist (an illustration for the NY Times Book Review)
Saw this on Tumblr, and had to repost it over here for the wonderful honesty of it. And hooray for loyal pets! 
8 Things I’d Love to Write
Idea stolen from Steph Bowe's blog, because I thought the idea was fantastic.
There are a lot of genres and ideas I'd love to work with, and my to-do-list of ideas is a mile long... but here are 7 things I'd love to write:
- Calligraphy. My handwriting is atrocious (and my signature is even worse, urgh), but I'd really like to learn Calligraphy one day.
- Hard Sci-Fi. There are very few women out there writing hard, technical sci-fi (and there are some good discussions about it). I'd love to change that, but a little voice at the back of my head tells me I don't know enough science and math to pull it off. I still plan or writing softer YA sci-fi, though.
- Contemporary YA. My writing always leans towards ordinary, flawed people going through extraordinary events.I'd love to strip out the fantasy aspects and do a contemporary, like something by John Green or David Levithan.
- A very 'British' fantasy or sci-fi. Ala Neil Gaiman, Terry Pratchett or Douglas Adams. Just something with a strong, British voice (or a strong Scottish voice, either would be good).
- Cyberpunk. This one is on the to-do-list. I love cyberpunk stories, and I've got the techie bones to pull it off, so at some point I definitely expect to write some awesome cyberpunk stories.
- Middle grade (children's) fiction. Another one on the to-do list, I've got a few ideas for children's stories that I'd love to try one day.
- A Memoir. Maybe when I'm older, and my life is interesting enough...
- Songs. I've been writing lyrics for years, and I'm pretty good at it, if I do so say myself. But apart from singing, my musical talent is lacking. If anyone knows an up-and-coming rock band in need of some dark and sarcastic lyrics, give me a bell and I will channel all my years of teenage angst into musical goodness.
What about you, writer-friends? I'd love to hear about what you want to write, so drop me a comment or link me to a blog post!
Getting Perspective
“When I look up at the night sky, and I know that, yes, we are part of this Universe, we are in this Universe, but perhaps more important than both of those facts is that the Universe is in us. When I reflect on that fact, I look up—many people feel small, because they’re small and the Universe is big, but I feel big, because my atoms came from those stars.” - Neil DeGrasse Tyson [x]This is a lot like how I get over my writing-related stress.
I go outside, stare at the sky for a bit, and remember how small I am.
Because I am ridiculously small. Ludicrously insignificant. Which makes it all the more brave that I’m spending my time working to achieve big things in my life.
Sometimes, getting a sense of perspective is good.
Clever, Powerful and True
Saw this image, thought it was clever, powerful and true. So I'm sharing it, as I do.
Reading this short article about being a YA writer, after reading this quote:
Writing coming-of-age novels of my own has led to a profound discovery. There are thousands of kids out there who are just like me. Secret readers. Tough-shelled, “mediocre students” who find themselves in books.
...and I thought that was clever, powerful and true as well.
Neil Gaiman on Writer’s Block
Neil Gaiman: Reposted as something that can be reblogged. ON WRITER'S BLOCK.:
I’ve seem to be hitting writer’s block far too often now. My grade in my creative writing class is suffering because i don’t turn in anything because i’m never really satisfied with anything i do. all my good ideas seem to turn into bad ones once i write it down. How do you get pass writers block?
You turn off your inner critic. You do not listen to your inner police force. You ignore the little voices that tell you that it’s all stupid, and you keep going.
Your grade isn’t suffering because your writing is bad, it’s suffering because you aren’t finishing things and handing them in.
So, finish them and hand them in. Even if a story’s lousy, you’ll learn something from it that will be useful as a writer, even if it’s just “don’t do that again”.
You’re always going to be dissatisfied with what you write. That’s part of being human. In our heads, stories are perfect, flawless, glittering, magical. Then we start to put them down on paper, one unsatisfactory word at a time. And each time our inner critics tell us that it’s a rotten idea and we should abandon it.
If you’re going to write, ignore your inner critic, while you’re writing. Do whatever you can to finish. Know that anything can be fixed later.
Remember: you don’t have to brilliant when you start out. You just have to write. Every story you finish puts you closer to being a writer, and makes you a better writer.
Blaming “Writer’s Block” is wonderful. It removes any responsibility from the person with the “block”. It gives you something to blame, and it sounds fancy.
But it’s probably more honest to think of it as a combination of laziness, perfectionism and Getting Stuck. If you’re being lazy, don’t be. If you’re being a perfectionist, don’t be. And if you’re stuck, figure out where the story went off the rails, or what you got wrong, or where you need to go deeper, or what you need to add to make it work, and then start writing again.
Things I need to remember.
Imaginary Memoirs
Today, for their Road Trip Wednesday question for bloggers, YA Highway asked: What would your memoir be called?
Oh, sweet, time for my ego to briefly shine - I've got this one planned out already. I'm a long way away from being 'memoir' level interesting (not enough excitement and adventure yet, and definitely not enough explosions and high-speed chases), but when I do I've got the title prepared:
Eight-Legged Demons.
See also: my imaginary band name. I actually have an expansive roster of imaginary bands that pop out throughout my stories.
See also: I keep over-thinking this and worrying about how awkward a word 'Legged' is. Leg-ged. Ugh. WHY ARE YOU SUCH A TERRIBLE WORD. But as of yet I've been unable to find any word to replace the infernal 'legged' without destroying the imagery.
The title is a nod to both inner demons and my arachnophobia. Frickin' spiders, man. I just can't handle them.
Flash Fiction: The Fall
Now that Janet Reid's Insurgent contest is over, I thought I'd post my piece - it didn't make the cut for finalists, but it was up against some ridiculously talented people so that's to be expected. It exists in a similar universe to Killing Machine, where I take elements of my 'Rebel Against Heaven' project and transport them to a sci-fi setting.
The challenge was to come up with a story in under 100 words, using the words choice, destroy, risk, sequel, and allegiance. Here we go:
The higher-ups call it a show of allegiance, proving our loyalty to the army that've spent billions making us more than human. We call it suicide: a 100-storey jump that could destroy us in a mess of blood, bone and steel.
It's not really a choice, unless you want to risk living your life as a deserter with 20 tons of limp metal fused to your back. Adrenalin and fear is the only thing the wings respond to. The intended sequel: the wings work, we survive.
We have to rely on our instincts to save us.
When Ideas Collide!
Today, for their Road Trip Wednesday question for bloggers, YA Highway asked: What story ideas have you trunked because they were too similar to published/well-known stories?
I’m lucky here in that I think the answer is... none. Like every other writer out there, I’m inspired by elements in other stories (and art/music/film/TV) when creating my own, but when all these different sources of inspiration come together my ideas end up very different to existing stories.
But, on the more unfortunate side of things, my stories tend to fall into ‘over-saturated’ markets and genres. Nothing to do with the actual writing or story, just the genre label. That’s always frustrating.
RTW: What’s In A Name?
Today, for their Road Trip Wednesday feature, YA Highway asked: If you couldn't use your own name, what would your pseudonym or penname be?
This is a question that, due to my own over-thinking about branding and the future, I've already dealt with in small ways.
My original penname was just my full name, 'Emma Maree Urquhart', but for future books I'm shortening my penname to just 'Emma Maree'.
It's short, it's memorable, it makes a snazzy URL, it's easier to spell and pronounce than 'Urquhart' (Urk-hart), and it helps avoid any fussing about if I ever have to change my maiden name.
I wouldn't mind trying out a brand new name if I ever had to write anonymously, it would be kind of fun to create a new identity from the ground up. I think it would have to have either a nice ring to it, or a subtle pun there somewhere - most of my favorite pseudonyms do (Frank Quitely, for instance).
EDIT: Thanks to the lovely Colin in the comments, I've now decided my super-anonymous(/gender neutral) pseudonym is: M. Amaree. Ta-da!
RTW: GIANT TEDDY BEARS
Today, for their Road Trip Wednesday feature, YA Highway asked: What would be the ideal holiday present for your main character (or favorite character)?
This is an easy one. A GIANT TEDDY BEAR. GIANT TEDDY BEARS FOR EVERYONE.
Tyler, the unstable main character of my story, would hate the teddy for a few hours then spend his time confiding in it.
"WHY IS TONI SO MEAN? I HATE MY LIFE."
Ray, ex-soldier and AV geek, would dress it up in a Batman mask and leave it sitting in dark corners.
Toni, no-nonsense training instructor for newcomers to the world, would hug it and fall asleep. She doesn't get much time to relax and be happy.
Hailing from the wet and windy Scottish Highlands, Emma is an avid reader and writer of YA novels. She works in IT and drinks too much tea.
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