Exceptions To The Rules

First - it's April Fools! Check out the fun post on Enchanted Inkpot this morning. 

Now - Last week I spoke about the cliche things I see in a lot of opening pages and while most people agreed, there was also a consensus that these things don't have to be avoided. I agree! So today I want to talk about taking these cliches and turning them on their heads - or sometimes just making them so darn good that it doesn't matter.

• Starting with waking up with or without a dream. 

• Some great books start with this! As someone pointed out the Hunger Games is one of them. And that's one of my favorite books. But I can't tell you how many I've seen and I'm not even an agent or editor. So what can you do if you are sure this is the right place to begin?

• Make sure it's the right place by asking what the inciting incident is and WHY you feel this is the right place. If you can find anywhere else do so!
• Tell us something new. Katniss woke up feeling for someone next to her that was missing. Someone that shared a room with her entire family and that's different. We also heard about the "reaping" right away and were drawn in by wanting to know more. 

• Parent has died and child is in new living situation.
• Sometimes we need to get those parents out of the way so they won't interfere. Or we know they've died because it's important to our story. Unfortunately it's important in a LOT of stories. Some of my own manuscripts are no exception. So what's different?
• Perhaps we can focus on the relationship with the remaining parent instead of the death. Think Beautiful Creatures which both starts with a dream AND has a dead parent. I still love that book!
• Maybe the parent's death was just that. A death. And there's nothing mysterious about it. And if they don't have to be dead, why not give them something else to do? Preoccupy them with another sibling, a job, or *gasp* have them be involved in the characters life, just not the one running the show. 
• Teen discovers powers she never knew she had.
• I know, I caught a lot of flack for this one. That's the whole point of the story very often! But I challenge you to ask yourself if it HAS to be that way. And if so, what's so special about your book? I'm not saying that to be mean, just to challenge you before you get out there and start getting rejected over it. I too am working on one of these believe it or not. I try not to usually though. I use someone who knows they have magic/powers. OR the MC doesn't (and neither does the boyfriend LOL). But if we must then...
• Don't make the MC a pathetic loser to begin with. Most of the time we see a meek girl who finds out there's more to her. Make her interesting before she finds her power.
• Don't give us the info right off the bat. You can hint subtly, but draw us in and connect us first. 
• Mysterious or drop dead gorgeous guy appears conveniently poised to become the love interest. 

• Yeah we all love a hot guy. You all know I have a soft spot for bad boys. But look at Hush Hush (another one I love). We really don't know whether the hot guy is good or bad. In fact (spoiler alert to turn away if you haven't read) he was bad at first and did want to kill her
• So give him a fault. Anything really, small or big. Don't make him perfect! Or better yet let her fall for the non-obvious one.  
• "Best friend" boy likes MC but she doesn't realize it.
• I've seen this a lot lately - I suspect trying to make up for the one above. It's true if they've known each other for a while a love relationship is more believable. But maybe he doesn't notice her and it's the other way around? If not:
• Find her another guy to go for and let the poor kid's love go unrequited. 
• Don't make it obvious! Make him mean or something to hide his feelings so we can forgive her for not noticing this. 
• Perky best friend has it all and MC is shy and awkward.
• Why do our heroic MCs always have a perfect, bubbly friend that you want to smack? 
• Give the friend some faults and make your MC just as great. Where is it written that the MC has to be shy?
• At least give that friend a true purpose other than the "sidekick" role. Let her have some fun too and give her a personality other than simply "perfect",
• MC finds it necessary to describe herself by looking in the mirror or thinking about her blonde hair and blue eyes 
• Most of you admitted this bugged you. But guess what? I bet we all did it initially and thought we were oh so clever! I know I did! I even use the mirror myself still, but I try to change it up a bit.
• If you feel it absolutely necessary to physically describe your MC, work it in other ways. For example: If your MC is super tall, don't have her say, "I'm six feet and awkward." Show it by having her have to duck to fit somewhere, or slump so she isn't taller than her boyfriend. We'll get the idea. 

What do you think? Does this clear it up? Or did I make it all more confusing? Mwahahaha! The point is, rules are there to teach us not to take the easy way out, but to challenge ourselves to make it more unique and interesting. Can they be broken? Yes! But only when it's REALLY necessary and you better do it well. 

Things That Are Overdone

Source

As you probably know, Martina Boone and I run something called the First Five Pages Workshop every month where a guest author joins us and we go through several critiques and revisions with the first five people to submit their work. 

We've been doing this for a while now and I've learned a lot from it myself. One thing that comes up over and over are cliche openings. If I see certain elements within those pages, I send up a red flag that agents or editors may quit at that point. What are these elements? Glad you asked!!

1. Starting with waking up with or without a dream. 
2. Parent has died and child is in new living situation. 
3. Teen discovers powers she never knew she had.
4. Mysterious or drop dead gorgeous guy appears conveniently poised to become the love interest. 
5. "Best friend" boy likes MC but she doesn't realize it.
6. Perky best friend has it all and MC is shy and awkward.
7. MC finds it necessary to describe herself by looking in the mirror or thinking about her blonde hair and blue eyes (because you know, I walk around thinking, 'I have red hair and green eyes'). 

Please note that there are exceptions to every rule! For instance, I just had one that started with waking up and I enjoyed it immensely. Will an agent? I don't know! I can only speak for myself. 

What have I missed? Can you add anything to the list? 

What About the Mummy? Where Are the Parents in YA?

We tend to ignore characters if they make things difficult for us. We see so many vampires and werewolves because they're much sexier than mummies. We avoid the parents because we want to put our MC in danger. We're all aware of the trope - the teen MC with dead or otherwise incapacitated parents, or the uninvolved, either selfish or simply ignorant mother/father. I'm talking YA, but the truth is this is even harder to deal with in MG because of the level of independence a 12 year old has when compared to a 16 year old. 

So what do we do? How do we cope? We know we can't rush to the rescue, so we need some way to keep the parents out of the way. Right? Not always. Here are three possibilities that may make the characters more complex:

1. The parent is part of the story in an integral and positive way. Sometimes they can play the role of guide or support. Yes, the MC needs to solve the problem herself. But we allow her friends and love interests, so why not adult interaction? Don't be afraid to give it a try, you might be surprised with what you find.
2. The parent has an agenda of his/her own that whether well intentioned or not, is in some way at odds with that of the MC. So they may be around, offer guidance even, but it may not be what the MC really needs.
3. The missing (whether physically or mentally) parent. I'm absolutely guilty of ditching the parents in my own work. I admit it. Sometimes it's just plain necessary. But (and here's the key I think) I TRY to make it a genuine part of the story - not just a convenience. It's important to me to make the pieces connect back to the larger puzzle. Sometimes I strike out, and I have to work even harder, but it's a worthy goal so I strive to meet it.

What other inventive ways can we involve the parents in the story?
photo credit

Boring Vampires

Okay, so I mention Vampires a lot. In this case I'm using them as fodder for a lesson in writing. See, here's the thing - even vampires can be dull, boring and (dare I say it) cliche. You think: 'Gee, if I put some ultra cool stuff in my manuscript then I can't lose! It's a formula for best-seller.' Um, no. See, I've heard it said (quite a bit because I keep saying it too) that it isn't WHAT you write, but HOW you write it. Granted, you need a plot. Something that moves the action along and propels the characters forward. But - here, let me show you what I mean. The following are a few examples of a boring vampire story:

1. Cliche Description

His eyes held me in a way that took my breath away.

"You've been watching me," he said. My cheeks turned as red as a beet.

He smiled, showing perfect white teeth. My heart beat sped up. "Do you know what I am?"

"I don't care," I said. "You won't hurt me."

2. Useless Dialogue

I jumped in the passenger seat and he peeled out of the drive. Alone at last - just me and my vampire.

"Where to?" he asked.

"I haven't had dinner yet," I said.

"Do you like Italian food?" he asked.

"Too many carbs," I protested.

"Sushi it is then."

"No. I don't eat raw anything."

"Thai?"

"Okay," I said, turning on the radio.

3. Telling Not Showing

We stopped at the doorway. It was late and the rest of the house was asleep. I felt nervous. He leaned forward and kissed me. It was amazing and when he pulled away I could see his fangs were extended. For the first time since I met him, I was afraid.

Now, lets take a look at the same scenes REVISED:

1. Try to say the same things in a slightly different way.

His eyes met mine and I froze, the air knocked from my body like when I was seven and fell off the swing in my backyard. I couldn't have moved if I'd wanted to.

"You've been watching me," he said. I fought the heat bubbling up my neck that threatened to incinerate me.

He smiled. Blood rushed behind my ears. "You know what I am."

"It doesn't matter," I said, finally finding my voice. Of course I knew. "You won't hurt me."

2. Replace with dialogue that is meaningful by showing us something about the characters' personalities.

I jumped in the passenger seat and he peeled out of the drive. Alone at last - just me and my vampire.

"Where are we going?" I asked, unable to stand the silence.

"Worried?" The corners of his mouth turned upward and he stole a taunting glance in my direction.

"No. Just curious where a vampire takes his date."

"I'm taking you back to my coffin so I can have a midnight snack."

"Very funny."

3. Show

We stopped at the doorway and he turned toward me. A thick slice of moonlight broke through the clouds bathing his face in soft blue light and reflecting off of his large, dark eyes. I sucked in my bottom lip as he stood motionless, silent, heartbreakingly beautiful. Crickets sang through the blanket of night. Then he moved, fast and smooth. One moment he was watching me, the next I felt his lips on mine, unexpectedly warm and soft. A shiver of pleasure trickled through my body and I pushed forward, eager for more.

He jerked back in a sudden movement and a gasp escaped my throat. His lips pulled back to reveal a row of elongated teeth, each as sharp and deadly as a steak knife. That wasn't what frightened me though. It was his eyes. His eyes filled with pain and a silent plea. Run.

See? I really didn't spend a whole lot of time on this and you can probably tell, but the second does read better, doesn't it?

Now, how about you? What are some boring vampires you've been wrestling with?