Seton Hill University's Writing Popular Fiction Program

I'm graduating from Seton Hill University's Writing Popular Fiction MFA program this January with a polished, market-ready middle-grade science fiction novel, and I have to say the program is definitely one of the best things I've ever done. If you're serious about writing popular novels (or other forms of popular fiction) and want to turn it into a career, I can't recommend the program enough. The writer I entered the program as is a mere shell compared to the one I am now.

Writing is, of course, a lifelong calling and journey, and there's no guarantee any novel you write will get published, including one that's gone through an MFA program. But I have to say that when it comes to Seton Hill's Writing Popular Fiction program, I must've shaved off at least ten years of toiling with writing on my own. There's really nothing like the hands-on expertise of mentors (published authors) in the field you write in, who not only tell you what you need to improve on, but literally help you achieve it in your actual manuscript. The program was also fantastic in the networking department. I have met some fine writers who have also become dear friends, and I hope to continue to both keep up and work with them beyond the program.

Overall, the program has been a mindblowing experience, and I can't imagine having not done it. For me, it was the big-picture stuff, such as building and applying a fleshed-out world and effectively developing characters' (especially the protagonist's) internal growth that I really needed to work on. It's funny how difficult big-picture stuff can be to see until somebody who knows what they're talking about points it to you. But, really, I had such a blast with this program and I know it's one whopping, important step in my journey as a writer. I wanted to make this post because I know lots of writers out there wonder if an MFA program is really worth it, since so many writers learn the craft on their own, so to speak, but I just wanted to add in my own two-cent experience: it was more than worth it. At least the program at Seton Hill University was.

And now back to what I try to do best: writing.

Project Update: Return to UNGIFTED

It's been a while since I've bloggd, so I figured I'd do another "Project Update," in which I egotistically discuss the current status of my my various manuscripts. It will probably wind up being a recurring topic on this blog, actually. Anyway, as I've discussed before, I have three projects a-brewing, so to speak.

My thesis for Seton Hill University's Writing Popular Fiction program, a middle-grade science fiction novel called Savage Jungle, has been approved by my mentors (yahoo!). However, I am setting it aside for a couple months to mull over a couple suggestions one of my mentors gave me about it. I agree with the suggestions and want to come back to the manuscript with fresh eyes before I make the changes and submit it out into the world.

Regarding my MG dystopian, The Adult Plague, I have finished the rough draft, as I think I mentioned in my last post. Therefore, I'm setting it aside for the next couple months so I can return to it with fresh eyes (sensing a trend here?) and make any additional changes before I send it out to critique partners.

That means I have some time here (a couple months if you've been counting) in which nothing's on my plate writing-wise, so I've decided to return to my other manuscript that's been sitting on the backburner for a while (about seven months), my MG epic fantasy, Ungifted. The decision behind this is twofold. To make it seem more exciting, I'm going to bullet both points below:

1. I don't have any new sparkly ideas for stories swirling around in my brain. Nothing. Nada. My brain feels very empty.

2. Over the past couple months my brain started to naturally, and quite nostalgically, think about Ungifted more and more. Clearly, the story hasn't quite let go of me. And since I've returned to the story, I've found that I've actually really quite missed it.

Now that I'm back to revising Ungifted, lots of changes are jumping out to me as I read it. I believe there's also a twofold reason for this (get ready for the exciting bullet points!):

1. I've improved as a writer.

2. I've had seven whole months away from it, so I'm returning to it with fresh eyes. And no, not a brand-new fresh pair of eyes, just ones that haven't laid themselves on the story in a long time.

All that being said, I'm not sure how long I'll be working on Ungifted, and I'm not sure what's going to come of it. Maybe I'll just work on it until it's time to return to the other manuscripts, but it's been fun coming back to it.

And now back to Ungifted revisions!

Just Finished Rough Draft

That’s right—I just finished the rough draft of my latest manuscript, a middle-grade dystopian book currently called The Adult Plague.  As writers everywhere know, there’s a certain feeling of euphoria that accompanies hitting those final words “the end” when finishing the rough draft.  Of course, they also know it’s still just one phase of the long process of writing a novel, but it sure feels good to get that initial draft done, even though the one I just finished is pretty short at 42,000 words long. 

Now comes the hard part—revision, revision, revision.  I’ve written down a list of things to do—things I want to accomplish before I send this bad boy off to critique partners.  The list includes stuff like add a subplot (yeah, that’ll be a big one), make sure the romance subplot is smooth/believable, incorporate a weakness for the protag’s romantic interest (she seems way too smart and capable at the moment; a weakness will make her seem more human and likable).  Anyway, I could go on, but those are some of the things I’m looking to tackle in the next phase of this story’s growth from childhood to novelhood (if that’s not a word, it should be).  Wish me luck!

A Sparse Writer

So it turns out I’m a sparse writer.  Always have been.  I guess that’s not too bad of a thing, considering I write children’s books, which tend to be on the shorter side.  But sometimes it’s a bit of a pain.  For example, I’ve just reached 25K words in my latest manuscript.  I call this a minor accomplishment, because 25K equals about a hundred pages in the publishing biz.  But, unfortunately, my story is coming down to the homestretch.  I’d be lucky just to get another fifty pages out of this draft before it all ends, and a hundred and fifty pages—for a middle-grade dystopian—not too long…not too long at all…

So…hmmmm…what can I do?  At the moment I’m not totally sure, but I do intend to go back after I finish this draft and develop at least one subplot, which should help beef up the pages.  I also want to beef up the romance between my protagonist and, well, his romantic interest.  Heck, I’d like some beef for dinner tonight! (Can you tell it’s almost evening where I live?).  Other than that, I’ll have to keep my eyes and ears open for ways to lengthen this story without adding anything extraneous.  Not always easy, of course.

When I’m totally done with this book (including polishing), I’d be happy if it reached 50K words, but I’d really like it to reach somewhere between 60K-70K, but I don’t think that will happen.  Ah, well, we’ll see.  Of course, all in all, the most important thing I need to keep in mind is that the story should be as long as it needs to be, no more, no less.

So what type of writer are you?  Sparse or—er—non-sparse?

Resident Evil 6 - It's Finally Here!

Today we will be taking a break from writing and other book-related activities to discuss—the release date of Capcom’s Resident Evil 6 for Playstation 3 (and Xbox 360 and PC)!

Man, it’s been a long time in the waiting—about three years since Resident Evil 5 came out, which, like all the numbered games I’ve positively adored.  In any case, I can’t tell you how pumped I am.  I’m a massive Resident Evil fan, dating back to the first games on the first PlayStation console in recorded history, aptly named, Playstation.  I must’ve played Resident Evil 2 and 3 in particular a bajillion times to date (that damned Nemesis monster just never dies in my mind), and have massively enjoyed many of the others.

So what makes Resident Evil so near and dear to my heart?  I mean, aside from the unending zombie-shooting, blood-splattering mayhem?  I don’t know.  I think there are too many things to mention, so I’ll settle on what might be my favorite—I love its “eerie quiet.”  You know, those parts of the game where you’re not shattering zombies’ and other viral-infected monsters’ heads, but are simply navigating about the dreary, silent terrain.  Just waiting, waiting, waiting…for that next malicious zombie/monster to pop out and attack.  It’s that mounting of tension that gets me every time—the fact you know something evil’s in the area that wants to suck your blood clean, but it just hasn’t revealed itself to you yet.

Heck, maybe I can tie this all in to writing, after all.  Sometimes that sort of thing makes the perfect villain, too.  Sometimes when you can’t see the monster (especially in horror books and movies and, well, yes, videogames called Resident Evil), it can be all the freakier, including when special care is taken in building tension before the villain’s reveal.  I should think about that the next time I put my keys to the keyboard.  But yeah.  That’s what I love about Resident Evil.  Can’t wait to purchase me a copy of the sixth installment and get crackin’ on that bad boy (and on some zombies’ heads and other grotesque limbs and body parts).

World-build Before You Start Writing

Today I’d like to share a writing tip I learned recently that applies to writing science fiction and fantasy (though I imagine it can’t hurt to give some thorough consideration to your story’s setting/world).  Also, keep in mind that I’m just one writer, and that what works for me might not work for you.

This might seem obvious to some people, but I learned the hard way that it pays to build your world, including as many of its intricacies as you can, before you even start writing your book.  In fact, I wrote two books in a row in which I failed to build a fleshed-out world beforehand.  Problem was, when I finished drafts of those books, I had to go back and add in all those world-building elements, and it took a lot of extra work because brainstorming my world opened up all sorts of plot opportunities and character developments I hadn’t seen before—and just about all of them improved the story, so I had to add them.

See, the thing about world-building—it should affect every other part of your story in some way—characters, plot, etc. (all of the elements of a book should blend together and affect each other).  For example, the world you build might influence how your protagonist escapes the villain at some point in the story—perhaps your protag jumps on a hover scooter some kid left on the sidewalk, because, you know, the number one past-time in your futuristic world is hover-scootering.  In general, your world/society should affect how your protag fits into that world, perceives that world, etc., all of which could even affect your protag’s main goal that drives them throughout the entire story.  (Whoa…I know).

So, learn from my mistake, and build your world in advance.  As a result, you’d be amazed by how many appealing plot constructs open up just pleading to be constructed, and how many characters your fleshed-out world creates and influences that will make your story richer than if you hadn’t known about them before you started writing.  At the very least, you’ll save yourself a lot of work in the long run.

Project Update

OK, so here's an update (yes, it's been a while since I've last posted on this blog) on my various middle-grade projects.

SAVAGE JUNGLE - a.k.a. my thesis for the Seton Hill Writing Popular Fiction program - I've just submitted this to my two mentors for final review. Yes, that means the manuscript will now either PASS or FAIL (cue dramatic music). The very last thing I did before I sent it was read it out loud to myself, which, as I mentioned in another post, is seriously such a great exercise. Caught lots of nice, nitty-gritty little polishing errors (or things that could be tweaked to make the language smoother), but other than that, hopefully it's ready to make the grade (keeping fingers crossed lol). I will know in about a month from now (late October).

UNGIFTED - On the backburner. I'm now aware of a few things I could do to improve the story, and a couple of them I'm not entirely sure what to do about. I've decided to let it sit on the backburner and hope that some of those issues resolve themselves in my subconscious (one of them I will be actively trying to solve, but that one can apply to all my stories). But if not, this story may forever remain on the backburner, which would be sad, because I do like it and had a blast writing it (even if I sometimes tell myself I don't and didn't)...

NEW DYSTOPIAN STORY - though really not so new anymore - I'm now back into the thick of things on this one. I'd been writing it for a while, and then had a huge spell where I had to sit back and think through some brainstorming aspects that were basically of a worldbuilding and plot nature. But now I've got those ironed out (at least for the moment), so I've plunged back into the actual writing. Wish me luck!

And that is all for the update. Carry on...