I have about a billion-ty words to write to fix what I broke in Incubus. So, I am taking Weronika up on her challenge. Of course, I don’t write on Sundays, and it is 7:30 Friday night, but I am still shooting for 10K this weekend. Which means I better get to work.

Wish me luck!

I love blogging and reading others’ blogs. I even enjoy Twitter, even though I read the Tweets more than I actually Tweet myself. I have no doubt that social networking is valuable, but I am getting a little inundated with it these days. So I am cutting back.

Blogs

I will still be blogging regularly. Probably five days a week (most weeks) like I have been doing from the start. I just love blogging so much and I find it a great way to keep my head in the game and keep me focused on my writing and goals. So nothing will really be changing when it comes to this blog.

It is the blog reading that will have to change. I just follow way too many blogs! And that needs to change. As soon as I post this, I am heading over to my Google Reader and weeding things out.

I follow a lot of editor and agent blogs, and while they are very helpful, I don’t think they are all necessary to read every day. I have learned a lot from these blogs, but a person can only answer the same questions so many different ways, and it seems like a lot of these blogs are running in circles. I am thankful that agents and editors take the time out of their busy schedules to run blogs, because they are full of valuable information, but I am getting overwhelmed. Some of these blogs will go.

Other writers’ blogs are fun to follow as well. I add one here, follow another there, and before I know it I am up to my eyeballs in writer blogs. I won’t be following as many in the future. Don’t worry-all of my regulars are safe! I love y’all (and your blogs) way too much to stop reading. It is all the extraneous ones that I will take out of Google Reader.

Twitter

Twitter is not a big problem for me. I don’t Tweet a lot (and often I only Tweet in reply to someone else), and am not on Twitter all day every day like some are. I check in every so often and read my feed, and sometimes I won’t log in for days at a time. So, while I am not using Twitter to full capability or getting the most out of it (I am sure to find a plethora of blog posts on how to make Twitter work harder for me), I am happy with that. I don’t want to become completely consumed by Twitter. I have seen it happen to a lot of people, and folks: it ain’t pretty.

That being said, I do follow too many people, so I am going to weed out my Twitter feed so I can streamline that even more than it is now.

Other

hmmmm….looks like blogging is my only real problem. I do have a Facebook page, but it is only for friends and family – I don’t use it to network, but rather to keep in touch. And I don’t do any of the games or applications, so I don’t get sucked in that way (I actually think most of the games and applications are totally lame, but perhaps that is because I have never used them).

I am a member of Goodreads, but I really just read their monthly newsletter and don’t do anything else with it, so it is not a time-suck at all.

I think I am doing pretty okay in the other category.

And now I am off to detox my social networking.

This is a trend I can get behind

The topic of YA Lit Chat on Twitter a couple weeks ago was trend in YA. I participated in a small chunk of the chat, but left early once I realized:

Why am I spending time talking about trends instead of writing?

Anyone who reads can recognize certain trends rolling through books, YA or otherwise. You may notice a rash of steampunk suddenly, or be overwhelmed by the number of Jane Austen odes on the bookstore shelves. One doesn’t need to be an avid reader to know vampires are big.

It is tempting to want to write a certain kind of story after seeing similar ones become so popular. There is that initial rush of oh! people love werewolves right now…if I write werewolves, I will be IN!

Yeah…it doesn’t work like that, for many reasons.

First off: publishing is slow. Glaciers make the publishing industries look like bullet trains. By the time one writes a book, finds representation, finds a publisher, goes through rounds of edits, waits for the design team to do their thing, blah, blah, blah….and the book finally makes it to the shelves, the trend ship has long sailed. Your book releases and you suddenly find yourself in a world where nobody cares about werewolves anymore. Your poor little book hunkers down on the shelf, making a permanent home for itself, while books about midget superheroes and functional families are being sold like hotcakes.

Secondly: market saturation. If there are 167 sasquatch novels on the shelves, why would you want to add #168? Wouldn’t you rather add something new, something fresh? Something original? I know I would. I also know that agents and publishers always have their eyes open for fresh new writing. What editor out there is going to want to pick up a book that is remarkably similar to one they already have on their list?

Number Three: Passion shows through in writing. When I read a book I can tell if a writer was passionate about her characters, her story, her work. When a writer is passionate about her book, that radiates off the pages and makes the book so much better. When a writer starts writing something just because they think it is the next big thing! that passion is just not there. And as a reader, I can sense that.

Now, don’t get me wrong here. While I don’t think anyone should try to write to trends, I also don’t think anyone should shy away from what they want to write because it is a trend. Strong new voices shine through every day, and you should never be scared to write what you want. Write the book you love, and work as hard as you can to make it great.

Okay, okay…I am almost done. One final thought on trends: in 1997, teenage girls did not know they wanted a movie about a sinking ship. But they did. They wanted it over and over again.

That is all.

What I am about to tell you may come as a shock: boys and girls have the same emotions. I think that when we remember this, we are set to write from either perspective. Sure, there is a fundamental difference in how boys and girls are hardwired, but when we strip each of us down to the core, we are the same.

Everyone knows what love feels like. Everyone knows what fear feels like. Hope, anger, frustration, anxiety, loneliness, despair, happiness, embarrassment, joy, nervousness, peace, contentment, betrayal, calm. We know what these things feel like, and when we grasp those emotions, we can write whomever we want.

While it is important to remember that boys have the same emotions as girls, it is equally important that they respond differently. That is where the difference in our writing needs to come in. But even more important to remember is that each boy will respond differently, just as each individual girl would respond differently to the same situation.

So while we need to remember that certain differences exist (ie: society has taught boys that it is not okay to cry in the movie theatre, so they probably won’t, while girls just might), we need to write each individual character as a separate entity, not just boy or girl. Frank might react much more violently to an oppressive father than Jim would, because they are different characters who have had different experiences.

So whether you are writing boys, girls, or rainbow-spotted unicorns, remember that they are people first (well, except for maybe the unicorn). Think of your characters as people first, regardless of gender, and you will write a more full character. And that’s what we want – great, full characters, regardless of their sex.

Every Wednesday night, there is a YA lit chat on Twitter. A bunch of YA authors, editors, readers, whatever get together to talk about all things Young Adult. Some weeks we just have free discussion; other weeks there is a specific topic. I was not able to participate in YAlitchat last night, but Georgia McBride is great. She posted the full transcript of the chat on her blog. I just finished reading it.

The topic last night was “Teens and intimacy: how much is too much?” This topic spurred a great chat. The conversation started out very thoughtful and productive. There were parts I didn’t agree with (“Thing is, YA authors are right up there w/teachers, parents, mentors.” Um, no we are not. Things that should be taught by parents, teachers and mentors should be taught by parents, teachers, and mentors, not us). However, people are entitled to their own opinions, and while some did not match mine, they were still part of a really productive discussion.

What irritated me as I read the transcript is that a really great discussion turned into a Twilight bashing session at the end. Not only did this have nothing to do with the topic at hand, it is something I am really sick of seeing people do. As YA authors, we should be happy about Twilight and its success. We all have our own opinion as to whether we like it, but there is no need to openly bash it if we do not.

I have thought about this a lot over the last few months, as I have seen more and more authors bash on Stephenie Meyer and Twilight. I find that when the subject comes up, they are usually hitting on the same points over and over:

1. Poorly written! Purple prose!
   Stephenie Meyer is still a new author. Twilight was her first novel. Just like all other writers, she improves with practice. So the writing isn’t the strongest; you know what is strong? The story. She wrote a story people want to read, and that is a powerful thing (this same sentence can be applied to Dan Brown, by the way). As for the “purple prose“, refer to Natalie’s post, Teen Girls LOVE Adverbs.
2. Bella sets the feminist movement back 30 years!
   Apparently this argument comes from the fact that Bella chooses to get married at a young age instead of pursuing education and a career. The key word in that sentence is chooses. Choice is what the feminist movement is all about–the choice to work outside the house, the choice to remain unmarried, the choice to receive benefits equal to men’s, the choice to, the choice to, the choice to…The choice to marry young, if one wants. When the world is telling a young woman a career is the most important thing, Bella goes against the norm and chooses a family. At its core, it was actually a very feminist choice. And the education and career? Really? She is now immortal. She has all the time in the world to pursue those things.
3. Breaking Dawn promotes teen pregnancy!
   And Harry Potter promotes murder. I mean, Harry did kill Voldemort, right? Get a grip; just because something is in a book, it does not mean the book is promoting that thing. If that were the case, we would be hearing the same people who are crying, “Breaking Dawn promotes teenage pregnancy,” cry, “Twilight promotes saving sex until marriage,” and, “Breaking Dawn shows consequences for actions–unprotected sex can lead to pregnancy, even if it is not thought possible.” Why don’t we hear more of that from the nay-sayers?
4. Bella is weak! She is a poor role model for young girls!
   First, we should not be expecting our daughters, our sisters, our friends to find role models in books. Role models help shape a person, give them someone to follow. Role models are parents, siblings, teachers, friends, aunts, uncles, coaches. I could go on for pages, but “characters in books” will not make that list. Bella is a character, not a role model for girls. I have heard many reasons for the Bella is weak argument:
   1. She is wishy-washy and doesn’t know what she wants.
      Who remembers being a seventeen-year-old girl? Being wishy-washy is totally normal at that age. One week, you are sure of your life goal. The next, you are still sure of your life goal–it is just a different goal. This is not a sign of weakness; it is a sign of normalcy. Teenagers are still learning all about themselves and the world around them. It is completely normal for their minds to change in the process.
   2. She is a pushover and does everything Edward wants her to.
      Am I the only one who remembers her running away from Alice and Jasper to meet James, against Edward’s will? Or running to La Push to spend time with Jacob, against Edward’s will? Or convincing Carlisle to make her a vampire, if necessary, against Edward’s will? Or not aborting her baby, against Edward’s will. There are more examples, but I think I made my point. Things she was passionate about, she did, whether Edward wanted it or not. And the things Edward wanted her to do? When one is in love, sacrifices are made. Things are done for the other person. I have done things that I didn’t want to do for my husband, because he wanted me to. This does not make me a pushover. He also does things for me that he doesn’t want to. This is called compromise.
   3. She falls for Jacob even when she says she loves Edward.
      For the life of me, I cannot see how this makes her weak. Love is a strange thing. It is powerful, overwhelming, scary. Sometimes everlasting. Many people never lose the love they had for their “first love”. It is not uncommon for people to still love one person as they grow to love another (it is also not uncommon for that to happen when they are still with the first person, but that is another post for another time). The love Bella has for Edward is intense. It came along quickly and burns brightly. The love she has for Jacob is another creature altogether. Bella chose to love Jacob. Their love developed slowly (from her end at least). They got to know each other first, and let the passion come later. If anything, I think Bella’s choice to move on and find love after Edward makes her strong.
5. Edward thinks Bella is incapable. He won’t let her do anything for herself!
   This is by far the most ridiculous cry I hear. And I hear it regularly. The Twilight bashers have decided that Edward opening doors and pulling out chairs for Bella means he thinks she is incapable. People, this is how a man should treat a woman! It has nothing to do with him thinking she is unable to do it herself; it is about respect. He respects her and he treats her accordingly.

Oy. I think I have strained my ranting muscle.

Whether we love the book, hate the book, or fall somewhere in between, I think we YA authors owe a lot to Stephenie Meyer and Twilight. Young Adult books have always been around, but Twilight really put them on the map, so to speak. YA has been much more prevalent in the media and in the bookstores in the last few years, and for a large part, we have Stephenie to thank for that. Teenagers are reading because of her books; someday teenagers might be reading my books because Stephenie Meyer blazed a trail for me. Like her books or not, I am indebted to her for opening the door of opportunity.

*Rant over. Feel free to go about your normal business now. Unless, of course, your normal business involves bashing Twilight and Stephenie Meyer.*