(Are you sick of these yet?)

For subtle but mind-blowing genius, check out agent Donald Maass’s post on “The Inner Journey” at Writer Unboxed today:

A journey needn’t involve travel but it does enact a transformation. For a transformation to occur, two things are needed: outward events and inward change. Great novels use both.

Then over at the Divining Wand (which is a fabulous resource for learning about authors, particularly with new books coming out) Tanya Egan Gibson wrote about getting to know people through characters, and understanding real life through fiction. One of my favorite lines was:

“I can’t imagine a life without stories. But fiction, I think, is a means, not an end; a prescription, not a cure.”

…

Just 2 links today, folks. I’ve been crazy busy, both with work-work and with writing-work. Since Andy and I are on vacation all next week (first cruise for both of us!) I have been rushing around the office, trying to make sure everyone’s got what they need and the poor temp that’s covering for me won’t be up a paddle without a creek. Or whatever.

Meanwhile, I’m also off and running (or maybe jogging) on the new YA manuscript, and I love it. Looooove it. It’s fun and fresh and full of adventure. It is a joy to think about, and a joy to sit down and write. Even the rough patches, one of which I hit last night.

As for the blog, don’t you worry. I’ve lined up some AWESOME guest bloggers for next week. Want a hint? One has freckles, one plays origami with the earth, one is mighty with both pen and pencil, and one sets me straight in my own comments every. single. post.

While Amazon tortured me by withholding my (pre-ordered!) Mockingjay, Sarah sent me a little something to tide me over:

(Thanks, girl!)

Fortunately a coworker lent me her copy of the book (which she pre-ordered and then picked up from Barnes & Noble) and I read it yesterday. Folks, I was WRECKED after I finished that book.

If you want to know exactly how I felt about it, good and bad, check out JJ’s post (warning: MAJOR SPOILERS). She pretty much hit every nail on the head for me.

(There are some great discussions going on in the comments over there too.)

But if you’re not spoiler ready, or you just don’t care that much, let me talk about the book in broader terms. Truthfully, it was my least favorite of the series. I didn’t feel fully prepared by Hunger Games or Catching Fire for what Collins wrote in Mockingjay. The first 2 books were “adventure” stories; this last one was war. In Mockingjay, Collins took every good thing and broke it. She broke Katniss. And that was so, SO hard to read.

But the good kind of hard, you know?

Overall the writing in MJ was solid, and just as un-put-down-able as HG and CF. The pacing was a bit off, like she could have used 4 books instead of 3… But the twists, the characters, the way she brought things full circle from earlier books and scenes — that was all impeccable. Collins has a gift, and I hope I can reach that level of storytelling someday.

Maybe I would have done a few things differently, but as a whole, I think the trilogy is spectacular. Similar to Harry Potter, in some regards. (That’s another series I need to re-read…)

And if nothing else, Hunger Games has really opened my eyes to what a book can do. What a writer can do. What I could do. It has inspired me in so many ways for my next manuscript, Mountain Girls. (That’s a project name, not a real title.)

Now it’s just a matter of sitting down at the keyboard and making. it. happen!

I am an idiot. Despite my intense, extreme, borderline-embarrassing obsession, I have yet to read Mockingjay. Apparently I chose the wrong shipping option when I pre-ordered months ago. My book might get here tomorrow.

-_-’

While I wait (and neurotically refresh the Track My Package page) I’ve been catching up on stories that I marked to read but never did, and oh hey, writing my new book.

If you’ve already finished Mockingjay (I hate you!) or haven’t gotten your copy yet either (poor us!) then you should check out these links:

• First, because I’m shameless, my guest post “Planning a Book” over at designkitty.net. Les is in Japan (!!) so she let me take over her blog. Muahahahaha!

• Second, La Vita Nuova by Allegra Goodman. An excellent story, short and (bitter)sweet. I cried, and then I felt inspired to write short fiction again. Haven’t felt that way in quite a while…

• Last but not least, T.S. Bazelli and her buds have started up Serial Central. Each author is assigned a day, and every week they continue their story. Awesome concept, awesome folks.

I finished rereading Hunger Games and Catching Fire last night, and I thought I would be okay, but seriously, IS IT AUGUST 24TH YET?! I NEED MOCKINGJAY!!!!!!

…

Ahem.

While I attempt to retain (or regain) my sanity, here is some interesting food for thought.

1. As a design professor once told me, limitations lead to the greatest creativity. If you had anything/everything at your fingertips, you would feel overwhelmed — where to start, what to do?! But when you are restricted, you figure out how to accomplish what you want with what you’ve got.

In terms of story, Jon blogged about how spectacular locations — or lack thereof — can impact a film:

Let’s face it, as Hollywood budgets for summer blockbusters expand, the sets get bigger, the special effects nastier, and the locations trendier. Except Toy Story 3.Think back, most of the action took place in a daycare center. The other parts of the movie were set in Andy’s house and a trash dump. Not exactly Pirates, right? Yet these set limitations set the writers’ imaginations on fire—adding a baroque texture to an otherwise boring series of sets.

2. Books are beloved. Oh, the publishing industry is terrified of ebooks, and ebook lovers call printed editions “Dead Tree Books” like they’re evil, but let’s face it, folks: we love books. I didn’t even realize it, to be honest with you, but then Lee pointed this out:

Nobody throws away books. We give away books to friends or family, donate them to libraries or prisons, sell them at yard sales or book stores, but we don’t trash them. In the worst case scenario, [when moving] books are neatly stacked next to the dust bunnies and left for the next occupant.

Where does this reverence come from?

Good question. And speaking of questions…

3. Team Gale or Team Peeta? Why? (Ooorrr… Team Haymitch? *snicker* Okay okay okay. More realistically: Team Katniss?)

This past weekend I set about rereading the Hunger Games series by Suzanne Collins. (A) Because it is brilliant, and enthralling, and I love it. (B) Because the third and final book of the series, Mockingjay, comes out in LESS THAN 10 DAYS OMGYESFINALLY! And (C) It’s inspirational/educational for me as I begin my new project.

The first time around, I couldn’t stop whipping through the pages, desperate to find out what new obstacle Katniss would face — and quickly! This time, as Sherrie points out, “the tension was still there on every page, but I was really reading every page, not racing to find out what happens next.”

Yes, this time I had my writer hat on, in addition to my reader hat, and I was able to think about what Collins was doing. I could see the seeds she had sown, whereas last time I could only marvel at the plants as they sprouted. I watched for how she drove tension, how she handled the limited first person perspective, how she withheld and then revealed information over time. Dare I say it, I even mentally edited a few sentences. Collins wasn’t perfect, but she was damn near it. She was masterful.

And hey, here’s what’s so awesome about being a writer: your “Master’s degree” can be free! (Shh, don’t tell my parents. We spent, um, a lot of money on my B.A.)

Pick up any book and you can learn a world of tricks and secrets. (Note: Erika Robuck blogged about this over at Writer Unboxed, specifically discussing characters, and how authors make you fall in love with them.) Good or bad, as a writer, you can take something from any book. Maybe the prose was beautiful but the story was boring. Maybe the story was great but the characters were inconsistent. Maybe the characters were lovable but the dialogue fell flat. Or maybe it’s all spectacular (see: Hunger Games, or The Secret Life of Bees) — then just try to understand and emulate it.

Yes, EMULATE IT. Do not be afraid of trying to recreate something that worked, in your own way. I am not advocating plagiarism, but rather, apprenticeship. Like playing piano, or building a house, or calculating profit margins, there are techniques already in place, templates to take advantage of. Artists are always afraid of this, afraid of “stealing,” but trust me, if you’re really an artist, you won’t. You will make it your own.

So learn from the masters. Figure out what they did right, what they did wrong, and what you can do differently. Then do it. Practice. Every day, every word.

Eventually you too will be a master.