About Amy K. Nichols

Amy writes short stories and YA novels. She's the editor of Liminal, a literary journal for teens. Visit her site at www.amywrites.com.

Everything Feels Possible

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It’s a gorgeous day today. I’m listening to groovy music. My dog is napping in a shady spot and my head is swimming with ideas. I’m excited about the novel I finished. The veggies in my garden are growing. I have query letters out to agents. My house is clean. I just ate a super-yummy lunch. I’m working on a new novel (or four). I have super-secret projects in the works. My finger is stitches-free and healing. I launched a new site offering my graphic and web design services for authors. My family is happy. We might be getting a puppy. The sky is a beautiful shade of blue.

Today, everything feels possible.

How are you?

When Is It Too Much?

When is it too much?

When have you gone too far?

Too Much is one of those things I can easily identify in other writers’ works, but find difficult to see in my own writing.

Overwrought description. Dialogue that meanders into meaninglessness. Emotions that spill all over the page.

(Was that Too Much?)

There’s something about Too Much that ruins the illusion of reality that a good story creates. A bit like breaking the fourth wall in theater, Too Much has the effect of the author pointing out his or her writing. “Look at me go!”

The other night my husband was reading a book that shall remain nameless. “Listen to this,” he said, and he read a sentence so heavy laden with adjectives and importance it nearly drowned under its own weight. I groaned and thought, Really? In that book?

But I do it, too. I imagine we all get carried away from time to time.

During our workshops, Jim Sallis points out Too Much by saying, “This is too on the nose.”

Too Much does all the work and leaves no space for the reader. “Don’t you see?” Too Much says, “My story is about (fill in the blank).”

Some of the best writing advice I ever heard came from Ron Carlson. He looks at the subject of a story like a target. The theme or point of the story is the bullseye. He suggests writers circle the target, aim to the side, and never hit the mark dead on.

Such a great solution to the problem of Too Much. Unless of course you then move into the opposite territory.

Writing Too Little.

*sigh*

500 Club (2/23)

Happy Thursday! It’s time for the 500 Club!

Before we get to today’s prompts, here’s a quick recap of the rules.

  1. Choose one of the prompts below.
  2. On your blog, write a 500-word story or scene based on the prompt.
  3. Post a teaser to your story in the comments below with a link to where we can read the rest.

Easy, right?

Here are today’s prompts:

1. Create a character who is the opposite of you and write a scene from his or her point of view. Be sincere. Honest. Don’t judge your character.

…or…

2. Write a flash fiction story with the opening: “The day the sun went dark…”

Happy writing!

Turning Your Rough Drafts Into Gems

(I know it's not quartzite, but it's pretty.)

“Mom, what does sandstone turn into?”

My daughter recently finished a geology unit at school, and was quizzing me on the things she’d learned.

“Quartzite,” she said. “What does the sandstone need to turn into it?”

She didn’t really wait for me to answer. “Heat, pressure and time.” She launched into an explanation of the process, using her hands to illustrate the pressure transforming the metamorphic rock.

It got me thinking about writing. (Okay, most things make me think about writing.)

The process writers go through transforming a work from first draft to finished project is similar.

The writing process requires heat, in the form of energy, passion.

It requires pressure, in the form of revision. Putting each sentence under scrutiny, and making it do as much work as possible.

And it requires time. Time for writing. Time for letting a manuscript simmer. Time for critiques and revisions. Time to cultivate the next idea.

Remove any part of the process and you don’t end up with a finished project. You still have sandstone instead of quartzite. And what is sandstone, compared to quartzite? Weak. Brittle. Unable to stand the test of time.

I guess the takeaway is simple: trust the process. Provide the energy. Do the work. Give it time. You may just end up with a gem.

Auspicious Pudding, Part III

This week we’re talking about endings. So it seems appropriate I should finally write my installment — the ending — of our most recent round robin story, Auspicious Pudding. Be sure to read parts one and two first, or this conclusion will make little sense. It might make little sense regardless. 

Auspicious Pudding, Part III

Ty followed Jasper’s steps over the rocks and tree trunks. Placed his feet where Jasper’s had been. They soon fell into a rhythm–one two, one two–and Ty filled in the third beat in his head. Three’s a better number than two.

He’d given up talking. Each time he’d opened his mouth, Jasper would tell him to hush it. He’d wanted to talk about the birds. To ask again about the trees. See if Jasper knew why the branches moved when there was no breeze. Most of all, though, Ty wanted to ask about his belly. About the mass growing up and down and out.

Jasper hopped onto a log, took a deep breath and let out a yell that stopped Ty in his tracks. Sent a shudder through him that about knocked him to his knees. He wiped a hand over the sweat on his face.

“What you go and do that for?”

Jasper said nothing. Just watched the trees before continuing on his way.

Ty didn’t like this anymore. Jasper had said this trip was for fun, but all it’d been was weird. Birds and bellyaches and–

The ground shivered. Jasper dropped his pack and turned in a circle, his arms out at his sides.

“Jasper?” Ty eyed the trees above. Felt the knot in his middle twist. “Why–”

“Shhhh.” Jasper held a finger to his lips. “Listen.”

Ty held his breath and listened beyond the beating of his heart. “I don’t–”

Jasper held up a hand and raised an eyebrow. He stood so close, Ty could smell his musky breath. The ground shivered once more, and with it the coil in Ty’s belly. When Jasper spoke, his voice hissed like water. “The king is in his counting house, counting his…”

Ty wiped away a fleck of Jasper’s spit that had landed below his eye.

“Counting his what, Ty?” Jasper leaned in even closer. “What does the king count?”

Ty turned, catching his foot on a rock, and he fell. He spine cracked against the rocky ground, shattering the silence not with the thud of flesh but the sharp jangle of metal. He tried to reach down, to touch the jagged mound stretching the skin of his belly toward the sky. He gasped. “Can’t move my arms, Jasper.”

And then, “Jasper?”

His friend stood just out of sight. But Ty knew he was there from the laughter. Low like a growl, but building like thunder.

“Gold.” Jasper’s feet stomped the ground–one two, one two–raising a cloud of dust Ty could see from the corner of his eye. One two, one two, Jasper’s feet danced. He added a clap in for the third beat. Three’s better than two.

The branches shook and the sky turned inky black. Hundreds of magpies filled the trees. In quorky voices they repeated the answer to Jasper’s riddle.

He leaned over, blocking Ty’s view of the murder in the trees. “Does it hurt now?” he asked. “In your belly?”

Ty shook his head. He felt nothing beyond his shoulders.

Jasper nodded and rubbed his chin. “What was it you said was the number ten? Gold, a time of joyous bliss and what?” He leaned in, his face twisting to grotesque. “The devil himself?”

Ty screamed. Jasper clapped his hands twice and the forest went silent. “Traveled so far, haven’t you?” he called out to the birds. “Ain’t you feeling peckish?”

Gold gold gold, the hungry birds answered.

With a flourish of his hands, he stood aside and the magpies rained down, pelting the taut skin until it broke forth. Ty felt nothing–a small mercy–as he gaped in horror, watching each bird carry away a shining coin.

Writer, Interrupted

It’s confession week. Here’s my confession:

My writing has been hampered of late.

Here’s my reason:

Ouch.

A couple of weeks ago, I cut my finger catching a broken drinking glass. Stitches and steri-strips and numbing shots, oh my!

Needless to say, I’m behind in just about everything. But the good news is today I got my stitches out and I am typing this post 100% unhindered. Hooray!

This means it’s time for me to get back to writing. And if any drinking glasses should throw themselves hari-kari from the countertops again, I shall LET. THEM. FALL.

500 Club (2/2)

Hello. Welcome to today’s 500 Club. We’ll be taking off for our destination momentarily. Today’s cruising speed will be 500 words and we’ll be flying at an unlimited altitude. The sky is the limit. As we taxi away from the gate, we’d like to review the guidelines for flying with PLC airlines.

  1. Write a 500 word response to one of the prompts below.
  2. Post your story on your blog.
  3. Put a teaser in the comments below, and include a link to where we can read the rest of your story.

Now, please fasten your safety belts and secure your tray in its upright position.

Prompt #1: Write a story involving flying. The concept of flying is open to your interpretation. Focus on description.

…Or…

Prompt #2: Write a story about a missed flight. What is the consequence of missing the flight? Focus on emotional content.

We hope you enjoy your flight. And thank you for choosing PLC airlines.

Stuck in the Middle

This week we’re talking about middles. Not middles as in waistlines. Middles as in that section of your novel that connects your brilliant beginning with your stunning conclusion.

Middles can get murky. They can catch you like quicksand and suck you down to oblivion. Stall you out like the doldrums. Cut you off at the knees.

Okay, enough dramatic cliches.

There are some telltale warning signs you’re headed into a swampy slowdown.

You might be in trouble if:

  • Your character stares out the window, thinking
  • Two characters pass the time talking about what’s happened up to that point, rehashing information they both know but are saying anyway for the reader’s benefit
  • You take up wide swaths of chapters describing the scenery in minute detail while your characters sits at a table doing nothing

Do you see a common denominator? No movement.

The key, I’m quickly learning, to getting through the murky middle is to keep your characters actively moving through the story. In order for them to do so, you’re going to need…

A plot.

I used to be a pantser. I would sit at the keyboard and wait for the story to land in my head and flow through my fingers. And too many times my novels fizzled about halfway through.

I had no plot.

And then I read Save the Cat, by Blake Snyder. And I learned how to map out my story before writing it.

Guess what? It worked.

I’ve written two manuscripts since I learned how to Save the Cat, and both times, I’ve zoomed right through the middle. My stories maintained their energy and the momentum carried them through to the conclusion. Yay!

Now, you might be shaking your head, thinking outlining and plotting aren’t for you. That’s fine. We all have our own processes. But the next time you find yourself stuck in the middle, you should consider evaluating where your character is, where you need him to be, and how to get him there before you write another word. It’s okay. Your character will wait for you. He’s not doing anything anyway. He’s just staring out the window.

500 Club (1/12)

It’s Thursday! You know what that means. It’s time for the 500 Club!

Before we get to today’s prompts, here’s a quick recap of the rules.

  1. Choose one of the prompts below.
  2. On your blog, write a 500-word story or scene based on the prompt.
  3. Post a teaser to your story in the comments below with a link to where we can read the rest.

Easy, right?

Here are today’s prompts:

1. Write a scene where an outsider is revealed to be an insider.

…or…

2. Write the scene the comes after the character receives the life-changing news.

Happy writing!

Trust me. You’re going to want to read this book.

Unless you’ve been living under a rock, you’ve heard about Harbinger, the YA psychological thriller debut by Sara Wilson Etienne.

Just in case, here’s the description from Amazon:

Girl, Interrupted meets Beautiful Creatures in this fast-paced thriller

When sixteen-year-old Faye arrives at Holbrook Academy, she doesn’t expect to find herself exactly where she needs to be. After years of strange waking visions and nightmares, her only comfort the bones of dead animals, Faye is afraid she’s going crazy. Fast.

But her first night at Holbrook, she feels strangely connected to the school and the island it sits on, like she’s come home. She’s even made her first real friends, but odd things keep happening to them. Every morning they wake on the floors of their dorm rooms with their hands stained red.

Faye knows she’s the reason, but what does it all mean? The handsome Kel tries to help her unravel the mystery, but Faye is certain she can’t trust him; in fact, he may be trying to kill her – and the rest of the world too.

Rich, compelling writing will keep the pages turning in this riveting and tautly told psychological thriller.

It’s one of several books I am excited to see published this year.

Now, in the spirit of transparency, Sara is a friend of mine. She’s also been a guest blogger here at the PLC. And she’s an all-around amazing person. Which is why I want to help spread the word about her book.

Harbinger will be released on February 2, 2012. Which is, like, a couple of days from now.

Trust me. You’re going to want to read this book.

If the book description and my gushing about Sara hasn’t convinced you, maybe her book trailer will:

And because now you’re sitting up in your seat and really paying attention, you should read this post from Sara’s blog and then watch the Behind the Scenes/Making of the Book Trailer video she created:

Finally, you should read this interview Sara gave over at The Compulsive Reader, and this one at Distraction 99 to read Sara’s own words about Harbinger, her writing process and  what obstacles she had to overcome to write it.

Congratulations, Sara!