All posts by Jordan

Reading

Modern readers–stupid, impatient or fatigued?

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Back in March, I came across an interesting discussion on reading the classics, and how it seems people today really struggle with said “classics.” (Sadly, I didn’t record where this discussion was. Brilliant. BAM! Thank you, Google and my memory!)

I’ve been thinking about the “classics” again recently. After (finally!) getting Netflix last month and (finally!) watching Sherlock, I decided to (finally!) try the actual stories by Sir Arthur Conan Doyle. Like many works in the (very late) Victorian period, they were originally serialized. I listened to a narration of the first chapter of “A Study in Scarlet” and decided . . .

Victorian times must have been very bleak indeed if that passed for entertainment, and anyone wanted to read on. The plot doesn’t start in the first chapter. It doesn’t start in the second chapter. (At that point, my drive ended, and I haven’t felt compelled to pick it up again. Also, my Kindle has gone missing, so I can’t read it anyway…)

Now, we’re all very quick to claim that modern readers are dumber than those in the original audiences of these stories, or that TV has rotted our brains, etc. etc. etc., but as I said in my comment on the original post, I wonder if there’s actually a different reader phenomenon going on.

I highly doubt that every person who doesn’t enjoy pages upon pages of description is stupid, attention deficient or illiterate. Perhaps, however, we’ve become accustomed to not just the speed, but the “density” of modern storytelling, wherein we can only include the things that are significant to the characters and story. Then, when we read a text with a bit more latitude (lassitude? 😉 ) in this regard, we exhaust ourselves trying to catalog all these little “clues” for later significance, when really they aren’t significant to the story as a whole (and perhaps not even particularly significant to the scene).

Or maybe I was right before: the nineteenth century was so bleak that reading a treatise on whaling passed for fun.

What do you think? Are modern readers stupid? Or smarter than we give them (us) credit for?

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Publishing, Reading

How to write discussion questions for your novel

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A couple weeks ago, I got a phone call from my sister-in-law. Her book club read I, Spy (!), and they wondered if I could provide any discussion questions.

Questions?If you’ve never seen this before, sometimes a book will include five to ten questions at the end to prompt and guide discussions of the novel. Often you see these in general fiction aimed toward book clubs, like These is my Words and The Secret Life of Bees.

I’ve been to book club meetings where there’s kind of nothing to talk about but the facts of the book—and even those aren’t in debate—so I definitely understand the desire for that kind of help. Of course, I also could’ve used some help coming up with those questions 😉 .

I figured I wasn’t the only one, so I wrote up with some ideas on how to come up with discussion questions for your novel.

Think about your theme

I really hope you’ve done this before you published 😉 . Beyond the events of the plot, what is your book about? In reality, you probably have a major theme and some minor supporting themes. Maybe you’ve tapped into the power of because.

Contemplate your characters’ journeys

What do your characters learn along the way? How do they change and grow because of the events of the story?

Ponder the plot

Rehashing the events of a book does not a book club make. They’ve all read it. How else might the events play out? How did the plot events affect the characters, and the readers?

Consider your characters

What are their attributes and flaws? How are they like—or unlike—people around you? How do their flaws affect the story?

Now: talk about how that applies to the reader

Take those concepts you’ve brainstormed by looking at these areas, and start thinking about how they apply to your readers and their lives. What can they talk about? How can they relate?

Open-ended questions (how, why, etc.) are better at prompting discussion than questions that can be answered with a yes or no. Yes/no questions can build to bigger discussion questions, however.

If your book deals with forgiveness, perhaps you could include discussion points on how to forgive, why we forgive, what you can and can’t forgive other people for, etc. Ask if they’ve ever known someone like this character, or what aspects of themselves they saw in that character. After X event, Character Q feels like he’s been abandoned by his last hope. Have you ever felt that way?

My discussion questions

So here’s what I came up with!

  1. Talia has to keep a secret from the man she loves. Have you ever kept a secret from someone you love? How did that affect your relationship?
  2. Talia learns that love can be a source of strength. How has love made you stronger? How else has love changed you?
  3. Danny feels betrayed by Talia. How have you dealt with someone you love lying to you?
  4. After months of training in DC, and several months of more in-depth instruction far away from family and friends, CIA trainees are allowed to bring their closest family members for a family weekend. As part of the weekend, family members are loaded onto a bus for a tour of the Farm facility.

    One year, the instructor-turned-tour guide clapped his hands and welcomed the family members to the CIA.

    One woman leapt to her feet. (In some stories, she’s even holding a young child.) “The CIA?” she exclaimed. “My husband works for the CIA?!” Could you forgive someone for something like that?

  5. Elliott has a hard time keeping his work and family priorities straight. (Don’t we all?) What would your priority be in his situation? Could you balance better than he does?
  6. Talia is afraid of commitment partially because of her family history, especially her parents’ failed marriage. How have you seen the effects of relationships across generations?
  7. Do you think you would make a good spy? Why or why not?

What do you think? How have you or would you come up with discussion questions?

Photo credit: Valerie Everett

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News & Contests

Goodreads Giveaway!

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Still need a copy of I, Spy? I’m sponsoring a Goodreads giveaway of an autographed copy! Enter now—it’s only open through Sunday! (US residents only this time.)

Goodreads Book Giveaway

I, Spy by Jordan McCollum

I, Spy

by Jordan McCollum

Giveaway ends August 11, 2013.

See the giveaway details
at Goodreads.

Enter to win

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Technique

The power of Because

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My last term of college, I took a 200-level class on English literary theory to fulfill the final requirement of an English minor. I’d already taken the upper-level English courses I needed—but the first week of class, my professor said something that made me wish I’d taken his class a lot sooner.

The typical thesis statement of a paper (say, written on a high school level especially) is usually insufficient, he Just Because by Lee leesaid. In fact, to get to a real thesis, you should add the word “Because,” and expand from there. For example:

Lame-o thesis: In The Age of Innocence, Newland Archer is a dilettante, even when social morés no longer prohibit him from acting.

This is especially lame-o because basically all you’d have to do to prove your thesis is quote the line in the opening scene where Newland Archer identifies himself as a dilettante, and then review the final scene of the book. Done.

Better thesis: Because Newland Archer is, “at heart a dilettante,” even when social morés no longer prohibit him from acting, his son Dallas represents the fulfillment of his dilettante desires and the evolution of societal norms.

(Man, I wrote a dang good paper about that book. Waaay better than that example. Wish I could remember the thesis!)

What’s Because got to do with it (writing)

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A couple months ago, I was preparing for a revision and thinking about my book’s theme. I’d really reduced it down to the very core principle—how do you get more crystallized than three short words?

Love is strength.

But realistically, is that a theme? Is that something worthy to be explored in fiction? Is that something you want to read about?

Meh.

Then “Because” popped into my mind.

Because love is strength . . .

I filled in the blank as it pertained to my story, I think, but there’s no one right answer here. That’s not what’s important—what’s important is digging deeper than a belief statement to create an action statement. It may not be enough to have a theme you can state simply—in fact, that might be a detriment.

What do you think? Have you tried the power of “Because”? How would you fill in the blank “Because love is strength . . .”?

Photo by Angel A. Acevedo, via Flickr & CC

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News & Contests

July accountability & August goals

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I’m guest posting today at Romance University on six steps to better character arcs in romances!

It’s the first Friday of the month! I’m reporting on my goals for July and setting new ones for August. Come join in!

July accountability

I had a lot of family stuff in July. My youngest sister graduated college (a 4-hour drive one way for me), so my parents came out for that. While they were visiting, we also blessed (christened) my baby, so my husband’s parents came up for that. Plus, we moved about two months ago, and it just. never. ends!!! Then we went on vacation.

Isn’t summer supposed to be, like, a lazy time? Sigh. So here’s what I did in July, writing-wise (mostly):

  • ACTUALLY FINISH THE BOOK—DONE!!! It ended up a little short in the first week of July, but it was fleshed out by almost 7000 words in the last quarter alone by the time I turned it in to my critique group on the 16th. That’s lots of work.
  • Finish editing this book for critique group. Yep, DONE.
  • Implement as much of my critique group feedback as possible—this book has required the most extensive post-critique rewrites. Sigh. I wrote the wrong book (at least in one storyline). Fortunately, my critique group is awesome and they were instrumental in figuring that out and helping me fix it. Now if only they could stop the world for me so I had enough time to fully fix it.
  • Continue unpacking Yeah, yeah. Always. I finished my office! Got most of my room unpacked! (I’ve been wearing the same week’s worth of clothes since we moved, so that’s a big deal.)
  • Start something new?? Probably something short. I have four ideas calling to me. We’ll see which one calls the loudest—still pondering this, plotting out a bit.
  • Load up on blog posts (including guest posts and interviews) so I can enjoy more time with my family—Check!
  • Read (while with the fam): tackle the digital TBR for a while—if I can find my Kindle. I just had it. . . . These things need locator beacons!—I finally found my Kindle. Funny story. Maybe I’ll share it one day 😉 .

August goals

I’m still neck deep in family time (and loving it, of course!), so some of these goals don’t really start until later this month.

  • Send the sequel to I, Spy out to my usual beta readers, plus probably a few more & incorporate their feedback.
  • Prep the sequel to I, Spy to send to editor (and do it!)
  • Start something new! My optimistic goal: 12,000 words on something new. Should be doable….?
  • Read, read, read! Still working on that digital TBR, but the physical one is calling to me, too.
  • Unpack: tackle the garage, landing place for most of the stuff we brought over in the month after we “officially” moved.

What’s up for you this month?

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Reading

TBR Tuesday: What makes you put down a book?

Goodreads conducted some research with surveys, Listopia and even digging into members’ bookshelves and reviews to find out what makes you put a book down. Their results, in a pretty little infographic:

putbookdown

via Sarah LaPolla on Twitter

So, what makes you put a book down? For me, it’s usually my insane schedule!

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Writing Life

Sometimes I get so tired of me

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But not in a bad way

(Huh?)

Though we can't definitively trace our McCollum line past Tennessee in the 1700s, we guess that we're part of the MacCallum clan, and we have this clan crest hanging in our home. The Latin means 'He attempts difficult things.'I can be highly obsessive. I can get so sucked into a story—my own or someone else’s. I can be consumed by that world.

And then I need a break.

This is especially true of stories that have a very strong voice—for me, especially in first person. For example, I love Ally Carter’s Gallagher Girls novels (though right now I’m digging Heist Society more, but that’s probably because I’ve read it more recently). I love Melanie Jacobson’s novels. Both of these authors use a strong voice in first person, and it’s great and I love it.

But I only love so much of it at a time. I cannot read more than one book in a row.

Similarly, in my own writing, I’ve gotten to the point where I have to take a break from my own stories and my own voice. Once upon a time, I did write three novels in a series in a row (and within a year).

Now? I can’t—and I don’t think I should—write two stories from the same POV in a row. In fact, I don’t know if I can continue to write the in the same person/tense. Five of my last six works (a broken drawer novel, I, Spy, a NaNo novel that I won’t even get to edit for like a year, Mr. Nice Spy, and the sequel to I, Spy) have all been first person present tense. I never thought I’d write first person or present tense, but I’ve come to love it.

And I’ve also come to need a break. So I’m up for something different. Third person past, my old friend? A mix of first and third? Novella, serial, novel? Maybe something a bit more literary, or a different genre? I don’t know.

Go do something that makes you sweatBut I do know this: I’m compelled to grow constantly, to change constantly. Even in other creative hobbies, like knitting, I don’t like to undertake a project unless I either love the finished result or will learn a new technique (preferably both). I love to challenge myself—and I’m ready for a new and different challenge.

Then, once I’ve accomplished something different and new, once I’ve pushed myself in a new way, once I’ve branched out, then I’m refreshed and ready to go back to another series with new energy.

What do you think? Do you live to challenge yourself in your writing? If so, how? Genre hopping? Story elements? Character? Voice? Person/tense?

Photo by Tribesports

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Mechanics

Did you “use to” or “used to”??

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One strength of the English language its flexibility. We have lots of ways of rewording things. For example, we can use simple past tense (I went to the store), or we can use a two-word “paraphrastic” past tense, usually for emphasis or negation these days (I did go to the store, or I didn’t go to the store.).

The Store (By Guinness). I didn't use to go to this store.Notice, though, that in English, when we use a paraphrastic tense, only ONE verb carries the tense: “I did go to the store,” not “I did went to the store” (or, to get crazy with it, “I did wanted went to the store.”). Naturally, in forming past tense questions, we also split the past marker off: “Did you go to the store?” not “Did you went to the store?”

That’s very, very simple and straightforward, right?

Of course not! Ha! Ridiculous! This is English. How can it be simple?

What happens when you introduce another type of paraphrastic in there? Specifically, I’ve come across this issue more than once with the verb phrase “used to.” Obviously, in simple past, we can say, “I used to go to the store.” (And equally obviously, never “I used to went to the store.”)

“Used to” is already extra tricky because vocally (where you’d usually hear this colloquialism), “used to” and “use to” are pronounced almost identically, so many speakers aren’t sure what the correct form is in the first place. (It’s “used to.”)

But what happens when we get crazy with the paraphrastic past, emphatic or negative?

“I did use to have a job, you know.” vs. “I did used to have a job, you know.”
“I didn’t use to worry about these things.” vs. “I didn’t used to worry about these things.”
“Did you use to visit often?” vs. “Did you used to visit often?”

While “use to” often looks wrong in this context because the simple form is correctly “used to,” I’m of the opinion that you shouldn’t have two tense markers in the same verb. Just like you wouldn’t say “I did/didn’t went to the store,” I don’t think you should say “I did/didn’t used to go to the store.”

And of course, in very formal writing, you should never have used either 😉 .

Want to get technical? Of course! Here’s a usage note on “used to” from the Oxford American Dictionary to back up my theory (emphasis original):

1 The construction used to is standard, but difficulties arise with the formation of negatives and questions. Traditionally, used to behaves as a modal verb, so that questions and negatives are formed without the auxiliary verb do, as in it used not to be like that and used she to come here? In modern English, this question form is now regarded as very formal or awkwardly old-fashioned, and the use with do is broadly accepted as standard, as in did she use to come here? Negative constructions with do, on the other hand (as in it didn’t use to be like that), although common, are informal and are not generally accepted. 

2 There is sometimes confusion over whether to use the form used to or use to, which has arisen largely because the pronunciation is the same in both cases. Except in negatives and questions, the correct form is used to: we used to go to the movies all the time (not we use to go to the movies). However, in negatives and questions using the auxiliary verb do, the correct form is use to, because the form of the verb required is the infinitive: I didn’t use to like mushrooms (not I didn’t used to like mushrooms). See also utilize (usage).

And, of course, for the negative, you could always rephrase with “never” (if that’s what you mean).

What do you think? Did you use to think that? 😉

Photo by Miguel Ángel Díaz Rey via Flickr & CC license

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