Chapter 9
Breathe, buzz, hint, spell,/Sigh, speak, say, tell: I love verbs.
Tension: It's hard to explain exactly the process of writing any book and what exactly I do in each revision. In this chapter, again the things Miri wants escalates. Each chapter must contain some kind of tension, which I would describe as the reader wanting something for the character(s) and anxious that they might not get it. Sometimes in rewrites, I'm looking at each chapter (or looking at creating/combining/cutting chapters) to see if the story in it has enough tension to keep me turning pages. Tension helps a reader care about a story. A story is the characters. Tension helps a reader to care about what happens to those characters.
A friend!: I'm so relieved that Miri has Britta. Things are going to get harder, but everything is more bearable with at least one good friend.
Quarry-speech: This also changed a great deal over the course of writing. At first it was a very lame and obvious kind of telepathy. My editor pointed that out, and she was right. I think Neil Gaiman said if someone says something's wrong with your book they're always right; if they tell you how to fix it they're always wrong.(paraphrase) As I recall, she made a possible suggestion about how to fix it and it just didn't gel with me. But I thought instead of the communication through memories, and the idea excited me. I remember talking it through with Dean, and he didn't get it. I could see the possibilities in my mind but couldn't communicate them to someone else outside of story. Once I wrote it into the story, it worked. Stories always communicate better than lectures and monologues.
Mary mom of 4 asks, "I'm curious if you hear a melody with the words of your poems/songs?" Yes, some of them I set to real melodies and some I made up and would sing to myself. Imagine me writing the songs and muttering them aloud to songs that would make music lovers weep--and not in a good way. I'm not musical, but I have a good imagination!
HP asks, "how old do you think someone should be before reading Austenland?" Looking over the "Is this book appropriate for kids?" section on my site, I don't have anything helpful I could add to that.
Keep the questions coming!
Also, this summer, in celebration of their 10 year anniversary, Bloomsbury is offering Book of a Thousand Days ebook for $0.99 wherever ebooks are sold, including for Kindle and Nook. You can get the Google ebook through my local indie, The King's English.
Yesterday I laughed at the subtitle Princess Academy: An Adventure in Education joke, but, really, it's pretty accurate, isn't it? It's just fascinating that the education Miri got through learning to read and then figuring out what the words mean and how that can help her and her fellow Mt. Eskelites.
Posted by: Heather | July 12, 2012 at 08:27 AM
I know this takes a lot of time for you to do, so thank you for sharing! I'm not a writer and don't know much about it so it is a treat to hear about your thoughts and writing process, especially when it's a favorite book by a favorite author.
Posted by: S Blackburn | July 12, 2012 at 09:51 AM
I love the quarry-speech in the book. It seems so natural and true in the world your wrote that it's hard to believe it wasn't always there.
Your words about tension in chapters are interesting. How do you figure out just the right amount of tension--enough to hold the reader without scaring them off?
Posted by: Isobel | July 12, 2012 at 12:33 PM
Just have to say I got the .99 Book of a Thousand Days. I wasn't sure it would translate well with all the pictures but I was pleasantly suprised (except that every w somehow ended up as 've'). I zoomed through Princess Academy and then couldn't stop reading Book of a Thousand Days. Got to take a break now or my kids might think I've disappeared.
Posted by: Laura | July 12, 2012 at 01:37 PM
I'm curious about the methodology for your rewrites. You've mentioned that you rewrite numerous times. How much rewriting do you do before your editor even sees the manuscript, and how much is in response to direct feedback from your editor? I'm a freelance editor who was edited a dozen or so novels, and I'm always struck by the fact that many of my authors give me what feels like a first draft. Sometimes it's hard for me to convince them that whole sections could use rewriting, and sometimes they seem to expect me to do all the rewriting for them--which never makes sense to me. If I were the author, I think I'd feel like you: Sure, tell me if something's wrong, but don't necessarily tell me how to fix it. Anyway, I'm just curious about how you motivate yourself to rewrite and rewrite again, and how much of that motivation comes from your editor.
Posted by: Leslie | July 12, 2012 at 01:43 PM
Just want to say thank you for doing this, I am loving it.
Posted by: Amanda | July 12, 2012 at 03:41 PM
Possible favorite conversation in the entire book:
"...Who cares about a prince anyway?"
"I'd wager the prince himself cares a great deal," said Miri as they rushed back to the academy at Olana's call. "And he might have a puppy who is quite fond of him."
Love! Absolutely love it!
Your books make me want to hug everyone around me. My cats don't appreciate it so much.
Posted by: Rebecca | July 12, 2012 at 06:00 PM