First-Draft Problems

-Changing your characters' hair color every scene
-Changing your characters' eye color every scene
-Making scenes sound very similar to ones that may have happened earlier
-Losing track of characters' names (I had the Corp president named Presidentdude for tens of thousands of words... Ah, revision)
-Bantering. And bantering. (Hey, anything for a plot, right?)
-Repeated and repeated words (most of which I don't even know about right now)
-Writing plot dead-ends because you don't know where it's going
-Stupid, endless description
-Maybe if I throw in a zombie love-triangle, it'll get a six-figure publishing deal? (You can hope, right? Surely I'm not the only one? Right, guys?)
-Rereading your draft to get more of a feel of your writing, and realizing the last thousand words are awful (and not caring to revise it enough to actually change it)
-Writing a blog post and not caring about the grammar errors (hey, it's a first-draft, right?)

Persepolis by Marjane Satrapi

*Note: I will be writing book reviews every other Sunday. I would've posted this last night, but my Internet was down. Enjoy!*

Persepolis is a "graphic memoir," or memoir in the format of a graphic novel. (I have no idea why my school likes making ninth-graders read memoirs so much, but they do.) It's about Marjane, or Marji, as she prefers to be called, and how she grows up during the Iranian revolution. As she grows older, the government becomes stricter. Laws restrict personal freedoms in the name of "being good Muslims" and "avoiding lavishness," and thousands of people are killed. As she becomes more rebellious, she has to strike a balance between defining herself and her personal safety.

Author: Marjane Satrapi
Title: Persepolis
Genre: Memoir (in a graphic-novel format)

In the preface, Marjane writes about how she "wants Persepolis to show that not all Muslims are terrorists" and that most of them are normal. She fulfills this throughout the book. I enjoyed learning more about Iran, and its people, as I'd only really known about it through the news. I found the story to be interesting as a whole, and the drawings were vivid. The attempts the population made as a whole to overthrow their government was astounding, and I really enjoyed reading about that. Marji's portrayals of her family and friends show that Iranians aren't that different than us, and if we were put in the same situation, we might very well do the same thing. I was really struck by Marji's devotion to her family, especially to her uncle.

Some parts of the story, however, were bland. The memoir seemed to go on a bit too long, and for every several chapters that were fascinating, there was one that seemed to drag on. There are also some derogatory terms used towards women, but other than that, there isn't much that's controversial about Persepolis. During the first few chapters, the overabundance of Iranian history was really confusing, and with so many passages depicted with a black-and-white drawing and a caption, it was sometimes hard to keep it all straight. I also felt that sometimes the graphic-novel format made passages unclear, but to be fair, it also brought many to life.

I'd give it three out of five stars. Overall, though I enjoyed Persepolis, its glut of Iranian history and length made it hard for me to highly recommend. While I enjoyed learning about Iran as more than a war-torn place, I won't be reading the sequel. Although rather unsatisfying, if you're looking to learn about Iran's true history (not just what's in the media) and the impact it has on its people, this is for you.

7 Bookish Pet Peeves

• Whiny characters: if you're going to be the star in a book, can't you at least be interesting?

• Girl meets boy who happens to be the perfect guy, as well as swoon-worthy, generally having an old-fashioned name, and they become best friends and fall in love until they find out the boy's past (the girl has nothing to hide) and then they love each other undyingly (this is why I hate teen paranormal romance)

• Bad endings

• Endless descriptions that don't actually further the plot (I'm looking at you, Tolkien; as much as I love hobbits, I don't necessarily need to know how every type of terrain was awful and what they ate for breakfast)

• Ignorant parents (Spoiler alert: This may be shocking, but in real life, parents are actually involved in their kids' lives, for the most part. They even impact what their kids do and how they act or something. Whooa.)

• Plots that just seem to hinge together (now, if that dashing boy hadn't come into the picture, that smart/nerdy/clumsy girl who's secretly insecure yet obviously pretty might have actually had to figure something out for herself for a moment there...)

• Fake dialogue (I do not say, "Oh, ____! You are okay!" when one of my friends is hurt. Surprising, isn't it?) 

Pass the Parcel

1. What are your top five favorite YA authors?
Markus Zusak (absolutely brilliant), Laurie Halse Anderson, Suzanne Collins, Lois Lowry, J. K. Rowling, Cornelia Funke, Trenton Lee Stewart (yes, half of these are MG. And there are more than five. I only got seven hours of sleep last night.)

2. What's the last YA book you read and what did you think of it?
As in the last book I finished? It was Notes From a Midnight Driver. I really liked it. After all, the main character is sarcastic ... It was a light read, complete with a grumpy old man at a nursing home, drunk driving, snippets of Yiddish, and an actual spunky, realistic girl character (in a boy-narrated book, nonetheless. My mind is BLOWN).

3. What's your favourite YA genre? (Dystopian, romance, sci-fi, contemporary, etc.)
My favorite YA genre is dystopian (pretty obvious), but I also love books from all genres, when done well.

4. Let's talk characters! Pick a character you love and tell us why?
Hmmm ... (I will not compliment my own character again.)
I love Liesel's dad from The Book Thief. From teaching her to read even though he can't really read that well, to helping her when she wet her bed, to telling her stories and playing his accordion, he was one of the few actually good people in Liesel's life. And he gives a starving man a piece of bread and gets beaten for it. Too bad he had to die.

5. Top YA villain?
I'm not really sure. I liked Hairwoman from Speak. Her name was a nice touch. And, of course, her hair looked awful. She was just a great, perfect typical high school English teacher. Why do they think they have to make reading awful and leech the meaning out of everything? I digress.

I also thought Death was a great villain. His point of view was really intriguing. And of course, in the end, he comes through.
Check out this excerpt:

It's the leftover humans
The survivors.
They're the ones I can't stand to look at, although on many occasions I still fail. I deliberately seek out the colors to keep my mind off them, but now and then, I witness the ones who are left behind, crumbling among the jigsaw puzzle of realization, despair, and surprise. They have punctured hearts. They have beaten lungs.

6. Top YA couple?
I don't know. I don't really read about couples! Umm ... Pass? I liked Skylar and Connor together from Me, Just Different. I seriously can't think of any other couples that I like that were in an actual relationship. Do I really read that little teen romance?



7. With dystopian on the decline, what do you think will be the next hot-trend in YA?
I think it'll be YA thrillers/mystery.

8. What's the next YA book on your to-be-read pile?
Glass Girl by Laura Anderson Kurk. It looks quite intriguing.

9. What's the fastest time you've ever finished reading a book in? (And what was the book?!)
An hour or so? I'm not sure which books I've read specifically in an hour. A lot, though. I'm a very quick reader.

10. (And now for the burning question) Do you think books should be sorted according to colour or title? (This matters.)

I don't sort them by either. I have too many books to care a lot about sorting them (and I'm not really into that sort of thing). I sort them by genre.
For example, on my bookshelf I have a stack of awesome books by my Kleenex box, ones that ... were designed to make me cry? I'm not really sure why the scissors are there, though.

I also have shelves of MG novels, new MG classics, a Roald Dahl shelf, and a Beverly Cleary shelf. I have no idea where my Little House on the Prairie set is, though. Maybe my mom gave it to Goodwill or something. I also have my what-was-I-thinking-when-I-enjoyed-this shelves.

Of Writers and Wordcounts

I love writers. I love how they as a group have so much personality. I love how writers are witty and mostly kind and generally awesome. I love how they write books and that they love books. Seriously, loving books is fantastic. I love their creativity. I love reading their books, their stories. I love how they always seem so real and generally try to help other writers. I love how their characters' personalities show me different perspectives and how to become more open-minded. I love being a part of writing communities, both online and off, where I can pour out my drizzle of thoughts and get praise and constructive criticism. Basically, I love being a writer. And writing.

As for my noveling efforts, The Tinkers is coming along well. Dem is being awesome, as well as imprisoned. It currently stands at 49,000 words. In other words, it is 89 single-spaced pages, or 178 double-spaced pages. I am quickly approaching the climax, and slightly panicking. I've kept extending the rising action, because although I know what the climax will be, I have no ideas, really, for a resolution. I've never had a successful ending for a novel yet. Maybe planning is a good idea. (No, that's too much effort. I'm sure I'll figure it out eventually.) Now, if only I could get one of those word-count bars....

Making Your Story Real

  Every reader knows that irritating moment when you close a book without finishing it, feeling unsatisfied. Maybe it was the story, or the plot, or the characters. Something was off, or just wasn't quite good enough.
       As writers, we want to make sure that never happens with our stories. If your story isn't real, it won't be interesting. It doesn't have to be realistic, but if the characters seem manufactured, the plot is totally implausible, or the descriptions are dull, no one will want to read it. Make the details matter. Here are fixes to three common problems:

If your setting is bland:
Add description to make it feel like you could live there. It can be the drizzle of pounding rain, the jolt of adrenaline when you start a race, or the rush of cars under the hazy glow of streetlights. Make your setting worthy of its characters and stories.

If your characters are bland:
Make them quirky. Give them tics and different personalities. Mix stereotypes and cliches so they're unique. Give them attributes, without having them defined by them. Make their setbacks as natural as their successes. If your characters don't stand out, the plot isn't going to. Figure out what makes them different from everyone else and expand on that.

If your plot is bland: Put your characters in interesting situations. Make them react and adapt. Make sure there's always something happening, whether it's internal conflict or external conflict, or a combination. It doesn't have to be big, but it will play a part in your main character's life and surroundings.

Excerpt from The Tinkers

 I tried to really capture Dem's emotions as he's being held captive. This is a 330-word excerpt from The Tinkers, my first-draft WIP.

***

He stares at me, searching my battered form for signs of weakness. He clicks his teeth like he's snapping a whip, prowling around me. I hold myself stiffly, the headache dulled slightly with the presence of almost-enough sleep. Victor watches me rabidly, staring with feverish concentration in his beady eyes, until I look away, defeated. He smiles maliciously, his features compressed in a frown. He shocks me, tapping his wrist like he's beating someone. I try not to flinch as the shocks invade my body, traveling through my nerves. He holds his hand steady, his long sleeves flipped back to show me just how much power he has. I, again, am powerless. I watch wearily as he shocks again and again, until they no longer register. I scoot back, my back pressed to the wall, as he comes toward me. Her bends down and hisses at me, his harsh breath smelling of charcoal.

"When he gives them to me a second time," he smiles, "they don't get out alive." He snarls at me with a glowering smile, barely visible in the dim light. His mood lightens, as he toys with me, sending shivers of radiation up my spine.

I fight the urge to scream, to break the silence. He watches me carefully, waiting for the precise moment when I will break down. His eyes gleam as he pushes me further and further, watching me silently beg for mercy. I will not grovel. I will not. I bite my lip hard as he shocks me, violent blasts of energy quivering through my body. He glares at me with cold, calculating eyes. I feel myself become numb. I try to distract myself, thinking about Luria and Jack and Siri. Who are all going to die because of me. The tension intensifies, strangling my bones, until all I can think about is the pain. My heart pounds. I feel myself slowing down, my organs beginning to shut down ... My breath grows ragged. I'm going to die.