Getting Rid of "That" in Your Writing

I don't even have a clue what to blog about this week, but I ran into a really funny issue last night when I was doing a special revision of my current WIP (about the mad scientist and wings. It gets ugly....).

I learned from K.M. Weiland's blog, Wordplay, a super awesome blog on the craft, how to do a really neat trick to catch every instance of overusing the word "that" in your fiction writing. Because, we all overuse it, don't we? It's just one of those words that<--right here, we don't even realize we're writing and don't even notice while reading, either! Ugh... It is frustrating, but you can do the following trick to catch yourself before you send your little darlings out into the cruel, "that"-hating world.

Open up your document and do a "Replace" search function on the word "that" for every instance it shows up in the document. In the line where it asks you what word to replace it with, put in a word you are sure to notice every time you read it. In fact, put it in ALL-CAPs because it will stand out a lot better and you'll be even more sure not to gloss over it.

So, which word did I use to replace "that" with? "POOP," in all-caps even. And, when I came across the replacements of "that" with "POOP," they read something like this:
  

“Thank you,” he said, coughing out the words. “I’m eternally grateful to you. You know, I sought you out because I had a feeling I could trust you. I was right about POOP.”

***

She would never say something so candid and informal like POOP to him while [he was] conscious, but she thought like this on a regular basis, especially on days like these. 

Regarding the second one, of course she wouldn't say something like that to her boss! That one actually made sense, interestingly enough. Needless to say, I busted my gut three ways to Sunday while revising my partial manuscript last night. OH, it was so much fun, I could barely think straight! But, most importantly, I caught all 50 of those "that" buggers and got rid of the ones that really didn't need to be there. 


Give this trick a shot if you suspect you repeat certain words way too often in your writing. It ought to clean it right up!

Top 10 Summer Reads To Be Read (Top Ten Tuesday #1)

"Top Ten Tuesday" is a bookish meme hosted by 

The Broke and the Bookish

I used to do this meme over on my book blog, but I don't keep that up too much anymore. Still, I really enjoyed doing this meme whenever it wasn't too hard to make up a full list of 10 books for whatever topic I needed to use for that week.

This week's topic is a super easy one:

TOP 10 BOOKS ON MY SUMMER TBR PILE

1. Blood Past (Warriors of Ankh, #2) by Samantha Young 
I've been really wanting to read the second book in this trilogy because I weirdly liked a particular character who played a really small role in Book 1, but he plays the larger villain role in Book 2. He was intriguing, even if he was a total sicko (lol).

2. Insurgent (Divergent, #2) by Veronica Roth 
Divergent was a really amazing book, for me at least, and I've been impatiently awaiting Book 2 since I read it last August. I don't even know why I like it, but it was very compelling.

3. Graceling (Graceling Realm, #1) by Kristin Cashore
Since I got an ARC of Bitterblue, I realized I would need to read Book 1 in this series, so I had to get myself Graceling. So far, it passed by Page 69 Test with flying colors, so I have hope that I'll like this one. It actually did pretty well, sales-wise, even though it released in 2008 when The Hunger Games came out.

4. Bitterblue (Graceling Realm, #3) by Kristin Cashore 
It's Book 3 rather than Book 2, but it's the next book chronologically after Book 1, so I'm reading it before Fire, Book 2.

5. A Spy in the House (The Agency, #1) by Y.S. Lee
This book looks so cute and it's about a girl who becomes a daring agent in Victorian England. Pretty cool premise and from other people's reviews, it's a good one.

6. Anna Dressed in Blood (Anna, #1) by Kendare Blake
I'm planning on getting an audiobook of this during the summer, but I've been meaning to read it for a while now. It has a really interesting premise, although I hope it's not too scary for me. I can scare easily sometimes.

7. Darker Still (Magic Most Foul, #1) by Leanna Renee Hieber
I've had this book on my shelf for a little while and been meaning to read it, but I never get to it. Guh! I hope I can actually sit and read this during the summer for real. 

8. The Immortal Rules (Blood of Eden, #1) by Julie Kagawa
Julie Kagawa is one of my favorite authors, so I'll read anything she writes. I got this one last month, but I have very little time to read anymore, so my ARCs and review copies are getting in the way of me reading this. Gotta cross my fingers for doing it this summer.

 9. The Alchemy of Stone by Ekaterina Sedia
Eep. I've been meaning to read this for a long time and I've been so bad about not reading it! It's about an android woman with a clockwork heart... I mean, do I need anymore reason to read it than that? Emphatically, no.... 

10. Velveteen (Velveteen, #1) by Daniel Marks
Gotta read this ARC, but, actually, I've been following Danny Marks' vlogs for a long time now and he's just so funny. I remember when Velveteen was a wee unsold manuscript back in the old days. I hope Danny infused Velveteen with all that snark and hilarity he graces us with in his videos.

What are you planning on reading this summer? Have you already read any of these books? What did you think of them?

 
 

Never Surrender Blogfest: "This Is My Life"

The Never Surrender Blogfest is hosted by YA author Elana Johnson at ElanaJohnson.Blogspot.com from June 11 - June 16, 2012.

Hey, everyone. This is a post for a really cool blogfest that caught my attention this week. The challenge is to blog about a time, any time, that you didn't give up when giving up seemed like the most tempting thing to do at the time.

Writing about stuff like this is uncomfortable for me because I have to write about my personal life, and I hate doing that. Nevertheless, I love to read other people's inspiring stories. I'm not saying I think my story is so worthy to inspire others because it probably isn't, but maybe I should give a little back instead of always taking, so to speak. 

"This Is My Life"

Once upon a time (way back in 2000), when I was a seemingly healthy 23-year-old, I was attending a local university here in Southern California and just living my life, trying to keep up with school and friends. One day, I woke up and felt very "off." I was getting really tired, more tired than was warranted and I had problems with my blood sugar levels always plummeting way too low. I was experiencing a physical breakdown on an overall scale. I went to a doctor and had a ton of blood tests done, but they indicated nothing was wrong with me.

Something definitely was wrong with me, but doctors either couldn't help me, or wouldn't help me. I suffered a great deal because I seemed to have some baffling illnesses that weren't clearing up on their own, no matter how much time passed. I barely managed to graduate from college, and then I only did because I refused to give up on achieving that goal. Right afterward, I got sicker--much sicker. Doing anything with my life right after college was completely out of the question. I was lucky I could get myself out of bed most days.

Without medical help, I realized that I was on my own. If I was ever going to get better from these chronic, weird, unexplainable ailments that were ruining my entire life, I had to do it on my own. That year just after I finished college (2002) was one of the hardest of my life and I'm amazed I got through it at all. The only reason I did was because I refused to give up on getting better one day. I was determined to be the last one standing because these illnesses were going to leave before I did. 

I sound like I must have had such a "gung-ho" attitude at the time, but really it wasn't like that. I just kept on keeping on, day in and day out, and on the surface, I'm sure I looked like I wasn't doing anything productive at all. But, I was studying all about herbs and naturopathic ways of healing my body--ways not popularly practiced by most people. I taught myself a lot of things and learned more about how to take care of my body than most people ever believe they need to know. 

By 2003, I was doing somewhat better because I figured out how to either manage my ailments, or just outright cure them. You may have noticed I haven't mentioned which ailments I had. They are typically considered chronic and life-altering, but not life-threatening, and I'd rather not get into the specifics of what I dealt with on a day to day basis.  That would require a long tome and would distract from the purpose of this post. Forgive me for not being more transparent and just wanting to keep a level of privacy in that regard.

But, back to my story: I was by no means "out of the woods" when 2004 began. In fact, I had many more hurdles to jump over, but I did cure some more ailments on my own. Oddly, I still had many left to heal and even gained a few new ones. That was the story of my life back then. Heal a few, gain a few new ones in their place. Ugh... I was a walking magnet for all diseases known to mankind! (Of course, I didn't literally have every disease--I'm just exaggerating here.)

I think two of the worst years I experienced were 2005 and 2006. The emotional toll my physical ailments had taken was too much for me and I had several nervous breakdowns. Nothing that required me to be hospitalized, thankfully, but they were bad. Even small nervous breakdowns are traumatizing, if you've ever had one. I say these two years were when I truly knew what Hell was like because I was there. I remember thinking back in 2006 that I was never going to be happy again, and I'd just have to accept that as a fact. I really did not believe I'd ever get over those unstable, crazy, overkill emotions in my lifetime.

But, the funny thing was... I did get better. By 2007, my emotional state improved a lot and I saw a light at the end of the tunnel, even so very small. But, it was something to hold onto, to live for. I still gained a brand new physical ailment that left me almost entirely housebound, but I learned how to nourish my body with the nutrients it needed and my mind started to recover. I learned some Eastern energy healing techniques, which took years to learn correctly, and by 2008, I was finally healing from my physical ailments and my remaining emotional ones, as well. 

Since that year, it is has been a healing journey with every year blessing me with more and more vitality and health. Not that every year since then has been so easy, because it hasn't. Life happens when you're living it, and I've been no exception to the rule. It's just harder to deal with real life problems concerning your family, friends, living situation, etc. when you're already facing so many adversities without them added to the pot. But, they all faded away, too, in time, just like they do for everyone else. 

Today, I'm still not 100% healthy, but I'm healthier than I've been in a dozen years. That's saying a lot for me! I missed out on doing a lot of things that I figured I would do with my life when I was younger: starting a career, getting married, having and raising children. But, I don't feel like I've missed out on these things, even if they are missing from my life. They are simply things I never did, just like how many people never learned to speak Chinese, or joined NASA and traveled into space. I don't mind that I never did those things because I had to have my own journey in life, and I'm happy. 
   
I'm an author-in-training now, and I highly doubt I would be if I hadn't had all these hardships that "got in the way" of my life. Being a published author is my longest, fondest dream. Despite that, leading a "normal" life would have been the death of it because I would have had no drive to accomplish it. Did my hardships get in the way of my life? Or, was it that I was never on the right path to begin with? 

I now understand the saying, "to find yourself, you must lose yourself." I think by getting lost, I found who I was always meant to be. It was that difficult journey of perseverance that made me stronger and showed me who I really am. It got me to realize I need to follow a different road from everyone else. 

This is my life, and I have to forge my own path. It's hard and I always feel like giving up, but it's been totally worth it, so far. And, I know it will continue to be....



If you've read this entire post, then pat yourself on the back for being perseverant, too! I'm shocked you've made it this far with me. ;)

On Critiquing Manuscripts & Top 3 Books Per Year

I think today's post is just going to be about what I've been doing lately, whether it's truly interesting, or not....

I've been critiquing my writing partner Lan Chan's manuscript (go find her blog over here) and just doing it in my own way, really. I thought if I'm going to take notes while I read each chapter, then why not write out those notes as coherent sentences and give them to her to read as part of my critique? Thus, I've been doing that, and it prevents me from forgetting largely what my notes mean after I'm done writing them. I think it's a good strategy. 

But, boy oh boy is critiquing HARD! Yeah, it is, isn't it? But, I'm so happy to do it because I also love being helpful and giving her input that will make a difference to her story. And, I have to admit that she really is a fabulous new author who writes like a pro already, so she's made my work a lot easier. Thank you for that, Lan!

Sometimes, I do weird things like research and statistics, just for fun. Can't get any nerdier than that, right? Well, lately I've been curious about the trends that have occurred in the book industry in recent years--namely the trend that has vaulted Young Adult literature over the head of everything else. 

I like to read YA literature and write it, although I read and write adult literature, as well. But, I thought it would be interesting to see which new YA sci-fi/fantasy series were the top 3 sellers in each of the past eight years. I can't even explain why I wanted to do this, but it just popped into my head and I went with it. What can I say?

Since there's no existing reliable way to research actual book sales statistics, I had to do my best to extrapolate from such free resources as Amazon.com and Goodreads.com. This is NOT a scientific nor perfectly accurate assessment, but it's as good as anyone else's not working high up in a big publishing house. From Amazon, I looked at current sales rank because past sales rank is not available, and from Goodreads I looked at the number of ratings each title received from members. These indicate books selling (Amazon) and books being read (Goodreads).

What were the results of my unscientificness? These are new series books and do not include sequel titles.



2012 (so far, but the year's not over yet!)

1. Shadow and Bone by Leigh Bardugo (released yesterday!)
2. The Selection by Kiera Cass (have not read)
3. Cinder by Marissa Meyer (have not read)

2011

1. Divergent by Veronica Roth
2. Daughter of Smoke and Bone by Laini Taylor
3. Ship Breaker by Paolo Bacigalupi (have not read)   

2010

1. Delirium by Lauren Oliver
2. Matched by Ally Condie
3. Clockwork Angel by Cassandra Clare

2009

1. Fallen by Lauren Kate
2. Shiver by Maggie Stiefvater
3. The Maze Runner by James Dashner (have not read)

2008

1. The Hunger Games by Suzanne Collins
2. Graceling by Kristin Cashore (have not read)
3. Gone by Scott Westerfeld (have not read) 

2007 

1. City of Bones by Cassandra Clare
2. Marked by P.C. Cast (have not read)
3. Vampire Academy by Richelle Mead (have not read) 

2006 

1. Blue Bloods by Melissa de la Cruz (have not read)
2. Glass Houses by Rachel Caine (have not read)
3. Life As We Knew It by Susan Beth Pfeffer (have not read) 

2005 

1. Twilight by Stephenie Meyer (dropped)
2. The Uglies by Scott Westerfeld (have not read)
3. Poison Study by Maria V. Snyder (have not read)


I haven't gone back further than this yet, but I plan to. Although, before 2005, YA wasn't selling as well as Middle Grade due to the popularity of the Harry Potter series. But, once Twilight came out in late 2005, it rocked the book world and teen fiction became all the rage for the first time.

I'm really surprised by the Graceling series because I just didn't know it was so popular. It debuted the same year as The Hunger Games, but still did very well, not nearly as distant a second place finisher as I thought it would be. And, I'm shocked by Life As We Knew It doing so well the year it came out in 2006. I decided to buy it on my Kindle because it's only $3 right now! I had no idea it was all that great of a book. 

I intend to read all of these books, even though I've read several of them already, and I pre-ordered Shadow and Bone. I really wonder how that book will hold up during its first 6 months and which 3 books will end up holding those spots when this year comes to a close. 

Stuff like this is so exciting! And, it's a good idea for those of us who write in this genre/reading grade to read the books that impacted in the industry the most from year to year. We can learn so much about the craft and how to write marketable fiction just from these gems out there.