Blog Chain - Walking in My Character's Shoes

To all of my blog buddies out there, I'm sorry I haven't posted much lately. If not for blog chain, I'd be floating in a sea of characters, with a filthy house and unfed family wondering where the months have gone. Which is why Cole's question this round is so appropriate:

How do you get inside your character's world?

I'm one of those types of people who can get so caught up in a day-dream that I'm pulling into my driveway before I've even realized I'd left the grocery store. Visualization isn't hard for me. When I'm writing, I tend to walk through every scene, taking on the character's speech and mannerisms in my imagination, walking in his or her shoes. Even throughout my day, I find myself wondering, "What would this character do right now in my situation? What would she say?" It helps me write believable dialog and reactions.

As far as my character's physical world... I've tried to write about places I haven't seen and it didn't come off as believable. So I tend to stick to locations close to home, cities I've visited, even the town I live in. But like Cole stated in her post, sometimes I need a little help. Even though I've been to Seattle, I don't know it like the back of my hand--and my character does. So I use Google Maps a lot, you can actually position the camera view right on the street. It's like you're standing right in the middle of a still-frame. I talk to people who are more familiar with the night-life or the local nuances. I pull up stock photos and stare, and stare, and stare.

For me, the beauty of writing (and reading for that matter) is the escapism. The exploration of taboos, experiences, emotions and lives so unlike the person I really am. Check out Kate's post before mine and Sandra's tomorrow to find out how they build their wonderful worlds!

Blog Chain - Oh The Mistakes I've Made!

Between reading, writing, revising, critting, the stomach flu, and ice fishing (YES. Seriously. Ice Fishing! My husband is a lucky man!), another blog chain has come around. This round Rebecca goes all deep and thoughtful on us, asking:

What is the best mistake you've made so far in your journey as a writer? How has that mistake helped you grow :)?

I think I may have made every single mistake an emerging writer can make. Funny story, Tuesday night I actually received a rejection on a query I sent out two years ago. Yep. Your eyes aren't playing tricks on you. Two years. It was one of the first queries I'd ever sent out and man, it stunk to high heaven! Rotten. Honestly, I'm amazed it even garnered a response.

But if not for making the mistake of writing a truly horrible query, I would have never learned how to write a good one. How do I know? I've received a lot more agent love than I had in the past.

Another newbie mistake I'm glad I made was refusing to network. I dug my heels in and turned my back on the writing community. But when I finally came out of my shell, and overcame my shyness, I realized that a book isn't finished until it's critiqued. A lot. Period.

However, thanks to my mistake, I realized there was no way to navigate these waters on my own. I jumped in head first and made some great friends. Just look at my blog chain peeps. There are some kick ass writers here! ;)

And now, I'm going to break a taboo and share the biggest mistake I'm glad I made. I didn't let "No thanks" be the end of it. I know that we're told not to re-approach an agent after they've given us a rejection. I crossed the line and queried again and it's worked in my favor more than once.

Now don't go crazy... I didn't become an agent stalker. I didn't call their offices begging them to take a second look. I didn't re-query the day after the rejection. I took their words to heart. After all, they'd turned me down for a reason. I revised the manuscript and re-wrote my query and/or synopsis. I made BIG changes. Then, I re-approached the agent in a very professional manner. I've had partials and fulls requested this way. It took a lot of blood, sweat and tears. But it paid off.

Making mistakes is how we learn and grow and I'm grateful for every single one. Check out Kate's post before mine, and Sandra's tomorrow to find out what mistakes they're glad they made!

Blog Chain - Hearing Voices

It's blog chain time again. Didn't I just post? I've been in a revision time warp and just barely poked my head out. The super fantastic Sarah posed the question this time around:

How did you find your particular voice as a writer?

Your voice as a writer is the make it or break it secret ingredient. When I sat down to seriously take a stab at writing, I have to admit, it was like the equivalent of vanilla ice cream narrative. Not exactly a taste-bud stimulator. I was so worried about seeming "professional", using my words correctly, and sounding "proper"--or at least what I conceived proper writing to be. What I hadn't taken in to account was that I omitted "ME" from the story.

My second book was better, loose. I allowed my characters their personalities, but it still wasn't there. I was still afraid to let go, to let myself be heard. I hid behind what I thought people wanted to hear. It wasn't until I had one of those f**k it moments that I truly found my voice. I erased all of my preconceived notions and decided to throw the words out there and see what happens.

I let my character be who she wanted to be. I let a little of myself out on the page. I didn't worry about the profanity, the silly sayings that are mine alone, and the smart-ass tenor of the words. I let the story breathe and it came to life. I'm proudest of this book. It's gotten me the most attention. I've worked harder on it than any other project because it's a refection of how far I've come and a testament to how difficult it was for me to break down the walls and let my creativity take the lead. You have to trust yourself. You can't be afraid to be yourself. You have to bleed into every single word. And once you allow yourself to open up to your craft, you'll find your voice.

Check out Kate's post before mine and Sandra's tomorrow to read about how they found their voices!

Blog Chain: 2010 Writing Resolutions

It's the first blog chain of the new year, and Bonnie asks:

What are your writing resolutions for the year 2010?

I actually almost asked to skip this round. Yesterday was a particularly bad day for Amanda, the writer, and I thought about resolving to introduce my laptop to the snow-covered front yard. It was that bad. I almost resolved to pack it in: Put a fork in me, I'm DONE.

But after the sobbing and a manic desire to eat many bags of gummy fruit snacks, I pulled myself together. I put my cell phone minutes to work and I leaned on the shoulders of the fabulous friends and kindred spirits I have in the writing community. What an awesome feeling to connect with people who live thousands of miles away. I feel blessed that I can dial someone up, someone I've never talked to in person, and dive into an instant conversation that lasts over an hour.

I vented, I whined, I bitched and I moaned. And--I feel better. My friends pulled me from the ledge. And even though I'm still a little shell-shocked, I feel like I can sit at my computer and write this post about what I resolve to do in this fresh, new year.

I will listen to my peers and heed their advice. I will crit as many manuscripts as I can possibly read. My friends deserve it. I will continue to query my current novel, because I BELIEVE that it will find a home. I resolve not to neglect my two works in progress and I will finish them both by the end of 2010.

And last, but not least: I won't let this industry beat me down. I won't fall apart because of one bad experience. I won't let someone dash the self-confidence that I have fought two years to acquire. I won't allow a rejection or negative feedback to crush my spirit.



Check out Rebecca's resoltions before mine, and Sandra's resolutions tomorrow.

A New Way to Network

Okay, so I know I said I'd be taking a break, but I wanted to pop in and let you all know about a great new feature on QueryTracker. The brain-child of Suzette Saxton, it's a great new social networking tool that will allow writers to connect to one another quickly and efficiently.

You follow my blog, but you might not follow me on Twitter. Are we Facebook friends? No? How about my website, have you seen it? Thanks to Suzette, you can see all of my on-line haunts on one page and with one click, you can link to everything Amanda Bonilla ;)

If you're not a member of QueryTracker yet, I strongly suggest you join. It is HANDS DOWN the best site for querying writers. I attribute all of my successes to the relationships I've formed since joining. Once you're a member click on "My Stuff" and "Edit My Profile". From there you can enter your blog, website, Twitter, Facebook, MySpace, etc, etc... Whew! That's a lot of networking!

The new feature also allows you to connect with other writers based on your likes. You can add "Pen Pals" which is the equivalent of "friending" someone or "following" them. Click HERE to learn more.

Thanks Suzette and Patrick for helping all of us aspiring authors out! You're the best!

Taking a Break

I probably won't be blogging over the next couple of weeks, and I'm sure most of you won't be reading blogs either.

Have a restful, wonderful holiday season! I'll see you in 2010!