Rainbow Revising

November is dead and NaNoWriMo is over, and now you're probably left with a lumpy, shapeless manuscript that you're not sure what to do with. I hear you. I've been there, and I'm still there now.

The answer is color-coding. (I personally think the answer to everything is color-coding, but whatever.)

I've recently started doing something I call Rainbow Revising, in which I read through the manuscript and tag or highlight portions that relate to a certain aspect, and then go back and change them in the order of the rainbow. (I also like to be passive-aggressive and tell my manuscript to "TASTE THE RAINBOW" when I'm doing it. It's good to get the feels out.) The whole system is effective, and has cut my revision time in half since I started using it. Here are the colors you're looking for:

Red: Main Character
Orange: Secondary Characters
Yellow: Plot
Green: Setting
Blue: Tension
Indigo: Word Choice
Violet: Grammar, Spelling, Punctuation


1. ROYG-ify your manuscript. Read through as many times as it takes to highlight or tab the first four colors only. Those are the big points you're trying to hit and that need to be taken care of before you start worrying about the cool colors on the spectrum. So when you're looking for main character, highlight the thoughts, beliefs, and actions that influence your manuscript's direction. The same goes for the secondary characters, the ones that are essential to the story. Then thread through and find important plot points, and when your setting is described.

2. Red alert! Out of all these colors, red is the most important and the one that needs to be sorted out first. Your character should be directly influencing all other elements of your manuscript, so you need to be clear about how she thinks, what she believes, and how those two things influence her decisions. Go back through your red tabs/highlights and ask yourself if every action and choice make sense based on what your character wants and who she is. You'll find as you do this, how your secondary characters see her (orange), plot points (yellow) and how she uses and sees her natural surroundings (green) will also change. This is awesome; less work for clearing up one color! Once you think you've got red covered, take a few more passes through orange, yellow, and green to make sure they still line up.

3. BIV it up. Now it's time for the silky blues and deep purples of the visible light spectrum. Here's where you do your nitty gritty micro-writing. Take a look at each chapter, and then each scene, and check for tension (hint: there should be some in each one). One question you can ask yourself during each scene is: What's at play here, and how can I make sure the stakes are apparent to the reader? After that, go back and polish those pronouns and punctuation and make this thing sparkly.

I'm not saying this is the end-all, be- all to manuscript revision. In fact, you may need to make your book taste the rainbow in another pass after this one. But it's a concrete system that give you something to start with, which I think is important when you first get going.

How 'bout you, Secret Lifers? Do you color code when you revise? Or what are some of your favorite revision techniques? Share the wealth in the comments!

Andrea Hannah writes about delusional girls, disappearances, and darkness with a touch of magic. When she's not writing, Andrea runs, teaches, consumes epic amounts of caffeine, and tries to figure out how to prevent her pug from opening the refrigerator (unsuccessful to date). She's represented by Victoria Marini of Gelfman-Schneider/ICM, and her debut novel, OF SCARS AND STARDUST, is out now. You can add it on Goodreads here!

You can find her on Twitter @: http://twitter.com/andeehannah

Drop her an email @: andreahannahbooks@gmail.com
And visit her website @: http://www.andreahannah.com/

The Secrets to Co-Writing a Book

I feel a tiny bit deceitful writing this post. First, the title implies that I've co-written many books before, and second, that I have some kind of formula for being successful at it. Neither of those things are true.

I am, however, currently co-writing a book. And I have, however, learned a lot about what works and what doesn't through our many stops and starts along this path to our almost-finished first draft. I figure, why not share those now before you get started with your partner instead of starting and stopping a million times like we did? So, I bestow you with my sorta-kinda wisdom of co-authorship:

Pick the Right Partner. I know, I know. This seems like a no-brainer. But you'd be surprised how many partnerships fail when they stretch from "just friends" into "business partners" territory. And that's really what co-authoring a book, is: a business plan. It's our intent to write a marketable book, present it to our agents, and sell it. This is a business transaction, and then it's a friendship. That means you need to pick someone that has a writing style that gels with yours, who works in the same manner you do, has similar goals for the story and the finished product as you do. And, most importantly, will be honest with you and you're comfortable showing your very crappy rough draft work to. But underneath all that, there's the friendship element that matters too: Do you genuinely enjoy this person? Do you like talking to them, outside of book-related things? Do you feel like this person is caring and understanding of your life situations, if by chance you won't be able to make a writing deadline you set? Both of these elements matter. Choose wisely.

Sign a Co-Authorship Agreement. My partner and I are still working out the details of this, but basically: put something in writing. It doesn't matter so much during the drafting phase, but as you get into the publishing phase, you'll need to set some terms. What if you sell the book and then one of you wants to back out? What if only one of you can't make the publisher's deadline, so the other picks up all the slack and then you both get the same cut of the money? These are all possibilities. Life happens. It's important to protect yourself, your friendship, and your work.

Create a System That Works For Both of You. One of the reason why our first plan to co-write crashed and burned was because we didn't really have a system, or at least not one that made sense. We shared a Google doc with our story, and then we'd text and email each other our thoughts as we went. This did not work, for obvious reasons. Texts get deleted, emails get lost in the void, and stuff did not turn out the way either of us thought. If you're going to have two people with two totally different brains writing a story, you have to get organized. We still have our massive Google doc where we keep adding on chapters, but we also have a folder with separate docs for each chapter. After one of us writes, we'll also create a new doc for the chapter we've finished and jot down our general thoughts, where we think the story is going, and notes about what we'll need to fix in revisions. We also go back and comment on each other's notes before we write the next chapter to clear up any confusion. So far, this has worked well. It's allowed us to still dialogue about our story, but all of our notes are in the same place and will be easy to sort through in the revision stage.

Find a Pace and Keep Going. Momentum is crucial here. I'd say it's even more important with a co-authored project than one you write on your own because you're building off someone else's ideas. When I sit down to write after my partner's finished a chapter, it takes me longer to get back into the project because I have to re-read her chapter, notes, thoughts, and try to put myself into her head before I keep going. Imagine trying to do that when it's been a week since you've worked on this story. You lose passion for the story quickly. For us, it's been important to set a deadline that works for both of us. We started with a 24 hour chapter turn-around, but bumped it up to 48 hours. I have small kids at home, and sometimes it's just damn impossible to get a chapter done within 24 hours. It works better for each of us to have 48 hours to finish a chapter and get it up on the doc, and it's still at a pretty fast clip so that we don't lose our momentum.

With these systems in order, it has been such a blast writing this book with my partner. When you're organized about the nitty gritty stuff, you can allow the magic to happen. Her brain works so differently than mine and it's been fun to watch the direction she'll take the story in before I pull it back in my direction. And bonus: it's created natural tension in the plot, which is awesome.

Have you co-written a book before? Am I missing anything? What system did you put into place to help get you through?

Andrea Hannah writes about delusional girls, disappearances, and darkness with a touch of magic. When she's not writing, Andrea runs, teaches, consumes epic amounts of caffeine, and tries to figure out how to prevent her pug from opening the refrigerator (unsuccessful to date). She's represented by Victoria Marini of Gelfman-Schneider/ICM, and her debut novel, OF SCARS AND STARDUST, is coming from Flux in Fall 2014. You can add it on Goodreads here!

You can find her on Twitter @: http://twitter.com/andeehannah

Drop her an email @: andreahannahbooks@gmail.com
And visit her website @: http://www.andreahannah.com/

After the Book Launch: Now What?

Hi, lovelies,

It's so great to be back to The Secret Life after our blog hiatus and my own self-imposed shut down. I can't wait to catch up with you guys!

While The Secret Life was re-launching, I was off launching my first book baby, OF SCARS AND STARDUST, into the world. It officially came out on October 8th, although not everything went as planned, and some people got their books early.

Now launch month is winding down, and I've been feeling a whole mix of anxiety and, well, flat-out fear that I hadn't expected. And since this blog is all about authenticity, I want to share with you what it's really like post-debut. For me, anyway.

In the past few weeks, I've felt pretty good. I think that's because launch kept me busy with a party, two panels with some other super awesome YA authors, a writing workshop, and signings. But that, too, is dwindling down and I'm finding myself standing here with…nothing.

I don't mean nothing, like, I have no other projects going on. I do. I have plenty of things in various stages of planning/drafting/revision to work on. What I don't have is this book to work on. I thought I'd be happy about that, relieved even. And sometimes I am, when I remind myself that this is a huge accomplishment, that I'm so lucky the book of my heart got published. But mostly, I feel a little empty.

I've been thinking/praying/dreaming about this book for three years. And up until this past summer, I had been researching/planning/drafting/revising/editing/somehow working on this book for almost as long. While I'm happy and proud, I'm also grieving a little because this book is no longer mine. It's yours.

Which is every aspiring author wants all along, right? To be read. To have a book belong to someone other than me. I just didn't expect how mixed up I'd feel about that.

What has been helping, and what always helps, is the Next Thing. For creative people, there is always a Next Thing because making stuff is in our DNA. We can't not make stuff. So I'm working on the Next Thing(s) and truly lettings SCARS do its own thing in the world. No checking ratings or reviews or sales. No googling it (or me). I've done the best I can with it, and now I have to trust that it will get into the hands of the people who need to read it, for whatever reason.

The more I think of it like that, the less consuming the emptiness feels. My job is to write the book. That's it. I've done my job with SCARS, and I'm doing it again (and again, and again) with the next books. Your job is to read them, and I'm forever grateful for that opportunity. Thank you for making this transition from writer to author, empty to full again, that much easier.

xo.

Andrea Hannah writes about delusional girls, disappearances, and darkness with a touch of magic. When she's not writing, Andrea runs, teaches, consumes epic amounts of caffeine, and tries to figure out how to prevent her pug from opening the refrigerator (unsuccessful to date). She's represented by Victoria Marini of Gelfman-Schneider/ICM, and her debut novel, OF SCARS AND STARDUST, is out now. You can add it on Goodreads here!

You can find her on Twitter @: http://twitter.com/andeehannah

Drop her an email @: andreahannahbooks@gmail.com
And visit her website @: http://www.andreahannah.com/

The Book AFTER the Book That Snags Your Agent

Hey, lovelies!

Today I'm dishing out some behind-the-scenes info I wish I would have known before I signed with my agent. When I was in the query trenches, I didn't think that far ahead. I didn't even ponder the idea that after the contract signing and going on submission, I would eventually show my agent another book.

But eventually, there will be another book. The idea of that was…terrifying to me. Mostly because I did not enjoy the query trenches, like just about everyone, and I never ever ever ever ever want to go back there. Ever. Thoughts would flick around my mind like "What if she hates it and she drops me?", "What if she reads it and thinks I'm a hack and she made a mistake?", "What if I run out of wine while I'm waiting for her to finish reading it?" (Good news, that last problem was totally solvable.)

A year and a half later, after I clicked "send" on that email containing my wimpy excuse for a second book, I've learned a few things about this whole publishing thingy we're doing:

1) It won't be perfect. I can just about guarantee that no matter how many drafts you did before you sent your next manuscript to your agent, it will not be perfect. You will have to do at least another round of revisions with your agent, and they may even be major revisions. (In my case, seven. But who's counting?) And, from what I've heard, there's a high probability that you may even have to do more rounds this time than you did with the book you queried with. Why is this? *shrugs* I have no idea. My theory is that we spend so much time tweaking and prepping and polishing that first book, and less than we realize on the second because we don't have to query. It may be because we grow as writers, and we're trying out more complex story lines. Either way, you're going to have to revise. A lot. And that is A-OKAY. Your agent doesn't expect it to be perfect right away, either.

2) Dream bigger, darling. I wrote a little bit about this for Camp NaNoWriMo this month, but basically, make sure you're with someone you trust deeply. I hope when you queried, you looked for someone you would want to be with for the long haul. And what that means is not just someone who has the connections to sell your book, but someone you actually like. As a person. Bonus points if you have similar tastes. The reason for this is because you greatly heighten the chances that your agent is going to love your next book this way. If you know that you both love the same books, themes, music, whatever, then there's a huge chance you're going to produce something that she is excited about and wants to submit. Why does this matter, you ask? Because if your agent is excited about the story you're trying to tell, she will do everything in her power to help you tell it. For me, that meant endless brainstorming sessions, outlines, and her willingness to read this thing seven times.

2) It's okay to be assertive. This is your career. You have an agent now, and that's great! You're making a career out of this writing thing you love to do. (Note: This is not saying that if you self-pub or don't have an agent, you don't have a career. For the purposes of this post, I'm just talking the traditional publishing route.) So remember, this is your destiny, and you're co-creating it with your agent now. If she gives you revision suggestions, it is okay to question them, to disagree with her, and to come up with a new solution together. Honestly, I followed almost all of my agent's suggestions because I agreed with them. But the ones I didn't agree with, we talked about, and I explained why I didn't want to change them. Ultimately, we came up with an even better idea when I voiced my concerns over it. You never quite know what magic could happen when you're honest about your work.

That's all, folks! I wish I would have known all this when I first sent that manuscript. What are some things you've learned along the path to publication? 

Andrea Hannah writes about delusional girls, disappearances, and darkness with a touch of magic. When she's not writing, Andrea runs, teaches, consumes epic amounts of caffeine, and tries to figure out how to prevent her pug from opening the refrigerator (unsuccessful to date). She's represented by Victoria Marini of Gelfman-Schneider/ICM, and her debut novel, OF SCARS AND STARDUST, is coming from Flux in Fall 2014. You can add it on Goodreads here!

You can find her on Twitter @: http://twitter.com/andeehannah

Drop her an email @: andreahannahbooks@gmail.com
And visit her website @: http://www.andreahannah.com/

Tips for Using Scrivener to Revise Your Novel

Hey, lovelies!

I'm back in the revision cave (again). I've been working on this book on and off for over a year now, and let me tell you, it's been a tough one. The first few drafts were just me trying to sort through the plot, and now I'm finally at the point where I'm tightening everything up. This is the last draft. I swear. For real this time.

Anyway, seven drafts later, I've learned a thing or two about how to maximize my efficiency when I'm revising or rewriting. Here are some tips for using the gloriousness that is Scrivener to help you finish that draft and not lose your mind.

1. Start a fresh document
I generally draft in Scrivener and revise in Word, so I already have a Scrivener doc with my entire manuscript. However, for this purpose, I'm going to start a fresh Scrivener doc and label it something like Manuscript Title_Revisions.

2. Make a separate section for each of your chapters. 
If you take a look at my screenshot above, you can see that I've added in (some of) my chapters on the left. I've also added in an old outline doc, and a brainstorming doc at the bottom.

3. Organize your thoughts within the chapters.
The first thing I do is take that snippet of my old outline (see the top of that doc) and put it in the appropriate chapter. I make an outline for every draft that I finish, just because it helps me to easily see the whole picture when I'm revising for big ideas and themes. Anyway, I put in that old outline at the top so I can see where I'm coming from before I get to where I'm going. Then I re-read the old chapter.

After that, I make two sections: Notes and Darlings. Notes is the place where I dump all of my thoughts, where I talk through revisions ("Okay Andrea, you're a nut ball. What were you thinking? None of this makes sense.") and where I make notes on things that need to change. The chapter in my example is a fun, light chapter and therefore is pretty light on the revision. Some (okay, most) of my chapters are filled with tons and tons of notes.

Darlings is the place where I put any of my old writing I've cut that I think I may want to use, if not in this chapter, later in the manuscript. Mostly this is important information that needs to show up somewhere in this book, I just know it's not supposed to go in this chapter anymore, so I'm holding onto it until I know what to do with it. I also use Scrivener's keyword function to help me find those darlings later when I need them.

Overall, this makes it easier to find everything I'm looking for, and to go back and see my thought process for each chapter. This way, when I'm re-reading my manuscript later and I notice something that doesn't make sense, I can go back to that chapter in Scrivener, see what I was thinking, and change accordingly.

I hope that helps! How do you guys revise? Do you use Scrivener, or do you have a different process?

Andrea Hannah writes about delusional girls, disappearances, and darkness with a touch of magic. When she's not writing, Andrea runs, teaches, consumes epic amounts of caffeine, and tries to figure out how to prevent her pug from opening the refrigerator (unsuccessful to date). She's represented by Victoria Marini of Gelfman-Schneider/ICM, and her debut novel, OF SCARS AND STARDUST, is coming from Flux in Fall 2014. You can add it on Goodreads here!

You can find her on Twitter @: http://twitter.com/andeehannah

Drop her an email @: andreahannahbooks@gmail.com
And visit her website @: http://www.andreahannah.com/

The Secret to Defeating the Guilt Monster

Hi, lovelies!

Today I'm going to talk to you about this epidemic I've been noticing in the publishing world ever since I started writing seriously a few years ago: Guilt, with a capital G.

I don't know how many tweets I've witnessed, or how many I've written myself, that include some version of "OMG I'M NOT WRITING I'M SUCH A SLACKER." I wrote one yesterday, for cripe's sake. (Note: old habits die hard.) Never mind that I've been teaching, raising two babies, taking care of my family, and finishing a graduate degree. No, all I could focus on was that I hadn't written a single word in a week and that I was a failure and a schmuck and that my writing career was going to shrivel up like an unwatered house plant.

But then I re-read this wonderful, brilliant advice my agent posted on her blog last month about the difference between procrastination and incubation, and it made me realize that I had no reason to be guilty at all. And you definitely shouldn't either.

Think about it: how many of us are constantly incubating our thoughts? Incubation is a tricky beast; it can look a lot like it's uglier sister, Procrastination, but they're not at all alike. How many of you daydream about your characters? Write down little snippets of dialogue in your phone? Smother your desk or car or refrigerator with stickies? I know you all do it. That's what writers do.

So all that time you're not writing down "a single word," you're actually writing down tons of words. In fact, you're probably writing down the most important words of all: the ones that touch you, inspire you. The ones that make you antsy to find time to sit down at that computer. One day. After the baby sleeps through the night or your finish that report for work or you get over that chronic head cold. That way, when you finally do have the time, you'll know exactly what you want to write.

In a way, incubation is actually pretty productive. 

Here's another thing to think about so that we can banish the guilt monster for good: the best stories are written by people who are actually living. So all that running around you're doing? You're out in the world, living (even though I always feel like errands are going to be the death of me). You're out there, interacting with people, listening to real-life dialogue, brainstorming ideas on life and love and world peace or whatever the hell you talk about with your friends. Even if you're changing poopy diapers instead of traveling the world, you're still downloading new beliefs and thoughts and ideas everyday and that is no small feat, my friend. Those little life nuances are what makes good stories great.

So instead of beating yourself up about what you haven't accomplished, pat yourself on the back for what you have been doing. You're snuggling babies and smelling the lavender soap in their hair. You're laughing your face off as you find one of your bras hidden under your son's bed (this actually happened to me yesterday, PS. He loves dressing up and wearing our clothes. And apparently hoards them?). You're having a drink a little too strong at your friend's house, you're reading a book that makes your heart break. These are the things that matter. And in between all of that, you're incubating, collecting your little snippets of inspiration so you can use them when you're ready.

That sounds pretty damn productive to me.

Andrea Hannah writes about delusional girls, disappearances, and darkness with a touch of magic. When she's not writing, Andrea runs, teaches, consumes epic amounts of caffeine, and tries to figure out how to prevent her pug from opening the refrigerator (unsuccessful to date). She's represented by Victoria Marini of Gelfman-Schneider/ICM, and her debut novel, OF SCARS AND STARDUST, is coming from Flux in Fall 2014. You can add it on Goodreads here!

You can find her on Twitter @: http://twitter.com/andeehannah

Drop her an email @: andreahannahbooks@gmail.com
And visit her website @: http://www.andreahannah.com/

OF SCARS AND STARDUST Cover Reveal!

Hi, lovelies!

Today is the day! I finally get to share a little bit of OF SCARS AND STARDUST with you all. 

When I was brainstorming cover ideas with my editor, we decided that it had to have an elegant and romantic (but not in, like, a kissing kind of way) feel to it. Because although this book is a psychological thriller and crazy things go down, it's also thoughtful and, I think, hopeful. This is the story of a girl who loves her sister with ferocity and who will do anything to keep her safe, even if it means doing the unthinkable. 

That being said, I think what my team at Flux came up with is so gorgeous and perfect and I wish I could just hug this cover (and them)! 

So heeere we go! The cover to OF SCARS AND STARDUST + a short excerpt: 

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        Somehow, I wasn’t completely panicked yet. Because to me, Ella was magic, bright and bubbly magic, and that kind of magic just didn’t get taken away. It just didn’t.

         As I came up to Rae’s house, I saw two Amble police cars tucked into the driveway. Grant’s silver bike was sprawled across the front porch. I let my feet hang off the pedals and the bike slide to a stop, just out of sight of the front window.

         I could tell them.

         I could tell them that Rae had left with some guy named Robbie that had a half-moon smile and heavy-lidded eyes. And that she’d packed all of her things in garbage bags and was probably somewhere past Ohio by now.

         I could tell them that Ella was with me at the party last night, even though I told her not to come. And that now she was missing.

         No. She wasn’t missing.

         I would find her. She’d be sitting in the field, knitting flowered hats or trying to decide if she should take home the half-frozen raccoon she’d found in between the stalks to feed it chicken soup. I’d take her home, and make her drink the cheap cough syrup that Mom always gives us, and put her to bed. And I’d make her leave the raccoon.

YAY! I'm so thrilled I get to share this little piece of this book with you! AND, even better, you can check out the reveal over at Icey Books today to win a signed copy!

Or you can pre-order a copy here, or add it on Goodreads right over here. Thanks again for sharing this reveal with me, Secret Lifers! 

Andrea Hannah writes about delusional girls, disappearances, and darkness with a touch of magic. When she's not writing, Andrea runs, teaches, consumes epic amounts of caffeine, and tries to figure out how to prevent her pug from opening the refrigerator (unsuccessful to date). She's represented by Victoria Marini of Gelfman-Schneider/ICM, and her debut novel, OF SCARS AND STARDUST, is coming from Flux in Fall 2014. You can add it on Goodreads here!

You can find her on Twitter @: http://twitter.com/andeehannah

Drop her an email @: andreahannahbooks@gmail.com
And visit her website @: http://www.andreahannah.com/

Outlining for a Novel with Dual POVs

I'm baaaaack! 

Hey, everyone! I've rejoined the blogging world this month after my little maternity hiatus. And you know, I'm glad I took a break. Anyone who's had a baby knows that first month is a blur of feedings and poopy diapers and "Why is her head shaped like that? Is something wrong?" and drool (hers and mine). Blogging wasn't on my mind.

But now it is, and it has been since I started drafting again this month. See, I'm trying out this new thing: dual POVs. I've never done anything like this before, and honestly, I've never really wanted to. If there's one thing that bugs me about a dual POV book, it's when I have to keep flipping to the beginning of the chapter to decipher who is actually speaking. And you know, that happens a lot. So I decided that I wasn't going to attempt dual POV unless I was positive A) the story called for it and B) I could figure out a way to distinguish their voices enough.

(I'm still working on and failing at B, but that's another topic for another day.)

So since I haven't quite figured out B yet, let's talk A. How do you know your story absolutely needs a second POV to get the job done? The simplest answer is that one character has information that the other couldn't possibly know, and your readers need that information to make the story make sense. There you go. Think of Lena and Hana in Lauren Oliver's REQUIEM. They're at different, integral locations in the story, each fighting in the revolution in their own way from both inside and outside of the city. We need to know what's going on in both places in order to understand how the climax comes about, yes?

So I came to the conclusion that I needed both of my main characters, airplane mechanic, Nell, and her major screw-up BFF, Ronnie. Great. But how to outline?

I'm a Save the Cat beat sheet purist, and that method works well to outline when you're following one main character through a story. (I did a whole long post on how to outline with a beat sheet over on Pen and Muse if you want to check that out first for reference). So here's what I did to make this story structure make sense, and hopefully this can help you too!

When you're writing for dual POVs, I think it's important to remember that each of your main characters need to have their own, individually compelling plots and sub plots. If one is coming out as kind of the "sidekick," then you either don't need that character's POV, or you need to give him/her a bigger piece of the story. Example: When I first did the beat sheet for this story, it looked a lot like this:

• Nell fixes the airplane engine, the fire alarms go off; Henry gets in the plane she fixed
• Ronnie talks to her brother
• Nell runs to the scene of the arson, finds a clue in the rubble
• Ronnie talks to her uncle

See what I mean? I had to give Ronnie her own story. So this is what I did to make sure that happened: 

• First, take a look at a beat sheet. Here's a quick reference guide.
• For each section on the beat sheet, write two points: one for each character. Example: the first section is the Opening Image on the beat sheet, so if you're writing dual POV, you need to write a point for each character's opening image. On mine it's "Nell: working on an engine in her garage, pulls out her dad's old notebook. Ronnie: is sitting in the air traffic control tower with her uncle while he works because she's in trouble again, and he doesn't trust her to be home alone." 
• Do this for every single section.
• When you get to the start of Act III, your characters' stories should be converging. Right around the climax is when you want your reader to see why, exactly, you needed both of them in this story. Think of THE SCORPIO RACES. We had Sean and Puck's POVs the whole time, but it really made our hearts pound when we got to see their opposing thoughts during the race (Is Sean going to throw the race for Puck and lose everything? Is Puck going to let Sean win? etc.). 
• From Act III until the end, both characters' POVs should help bring the story to a satisfying ending. They each should have their part in closing out the story. 

And that's that! Honestly, I'm still learning about this whole multiple POVs thing as I go along, but this method has worked pretty well so far. Have you written in multiple POVs before? Any tips or tricks to share? Add them in the comments! 

Andrea Hannah writes about delusional girls, disappearances, and darkness with a touch of magic. When she's not writing, Andrea runs, teaches, consumes epic amounts of caffeine, and tries to figure out how to prevent her pug from opening the refrigerator (unsuccessful to date). She's represented by Victoria Marini of Gelfman-Schneider/ICM, and her debut novel, OF SCARS AND STARDUST, is coming from Flux in Fall 2014. You can add it on Goodreads here!

You can find her on Twitter @: http://twitter.com/andeehannah

Drop her an email @: andreahannahbooks@gmail.com
And visit her website @: http://www.andreahannah.com/

How to Write When You Feel Like Death

Hey all,

If you've been hanging out on Twitter recently, you may have noticed that I am not there. This is a bit of a travesty, guys, because I love it there and I miss you all. But see, I'm two weeks max away from delivering my second baby, and I basically feel like death warmed over. All day. Everyday.

I'm also doing NaNoWriMo.

So there really is only so much energy allowance I have per day, and I know that I burn most of it up by 6pm. Therefore, between the hours of 6am and 6pm, I know I have to work, take care of my other slightly needy kid, and write for NaNo. Twitter is on the back-burner for now.

Which brings me to this list here that I compiled. Even though I haven't been actively tweeting, I have been stalking all of your feeds and watching you ratchet up your word counts through the insanity that is NaNo. I've also seen a few of you get the flu, start feeling run down, and just downright burnt out. That is so sad, and I feel you. My word count is abysmal at this moment. But if you're struggling with feeling awful and still have the drive to finish, I have a few tips I've picked up from my author friends and from my own experience (I was in a similar situation last year and still managed to finish!).

Let Go of Your Story: I know the point of NaNo is to complete a draft of something or other in 30 days. But I find that if I tell myself it has to be this draft, in this way, I close off all the creative floodgates when I need them most. And let's be honest, you need as much excitement and creative power as possible right now to carry you through the next fifteen days of this marathon. So feel free to give yourself some space. That plot bunny that's come up during the first half of this? Follow it down the hole. That short story you've been wanting to finish? Do it. Writing is writing, and writing is more fun when you're doing it passionately. So bring some life back into this race when you're not feeling at your best but you still want to reach the finish line.

Write or Die. Sometimes It Feels Like They Take That Literally: I love Write or Die for certain situations, like when I've planned out the next scene pretty meticulously and I know I can whip through it with a little help from Write or Die, and I feel like the words will still be decent ones. However, this is a code red situation, and you may not feel up to putting in anymore effort into planning for this story on top of actually writing it. So just turn that sucker on in kamikaze mode, and write. And don't care if they're shitty. I swear, don't. It's about survival right now, remember?

Small Chunks Are Key: Part of the reason my word count is awful is because I haven't tallied up all of my words scattered over my iPad, phone, and various notebooks yet. I write whenever I feel a tiny bout of energy bubbling up, and I write for literally five minutes (or until that energy evaporates. Sometimes it's three minutes). I don't usually operate like this, and it's kind of tough for me. I like to write in looooong stretches, because I can feel myself getting better as the time goes on. I run the same way. But when you're not feeling like your most awesome self, feel free to write for five minutes here, ten minutes there. It makes the task less daunting, plus you'll be surprised how much you actually get done throughout the day.

Rewards and Rest: I've written about rewards are rest on my personal blog before, but I'm just going to reiterate it here: you're not going to want to do this when you feel like crap if there isn't some kind of reward in it for you. I'm not talking about intrinsic rewards, the "Oh, but I feel so accomplished ones!" No. That may work when you're not stressed and sick, but that is not going to fly right now. I reward myself with Tums. How pathetic is that? But it works. My conversation with myself goes something like this: "I know you have terrible heartburn right now, but I need you to write in this notebook for five more minutes. I'll set a timer. When you're finished, you get some sweet, sweet relief in the form of Berry Smoothie Tums, mmk?" If you're not into the whole depriving your body of medicine and pee breaks tactic, try something else you want just as badly: a twenty minute nap, a fifteen minute browse on Pinterest, a latte, a cookie, whatever. I'm serious. Whatever works.

So there you have it! By the way, these tips don't just apply to NaNo. I also use these when I'm feeling under the weather or stressed any time of the year and there's a deadline I'm trying to meet. Anyway, I know you guys can do this! See you at the finish line!

Andrea Hannah is a YA writer represented by Victoria Marini of Gelfman Schneider. Her debut novel, OF SCARS AND STARDUST, is coming from Flux in Fall 2014. She writes stories about criminals, crazy people, and creatures that may or may not exist. When she's not writing, Andrea teaches special education, runs, spends time with her family, and tries to figure out a way to prevent her pug from opening the refrigerator (still unsuccessful). Oh, and she tweets a bajillion times a day, mostly about inappropriate things.

You can find her on Twitter @: http://twitter.com/andeehannah

Drop her an email @: andreahannahbooks@gmail.com
And visit her website @: http://www.andreahannah.com/

October Updates from the Writing Community

Hi, guys!

October flew by, yes? And I bet November will be the same with so many of us participating in NaNoWriMo. I know I sure missed a lot of awesome stuff that happened in October! So if you're like me, here's a little snippet of what's been going on the last couple of weeks around the Twittersphere.

• Our Secret Life buddy, Gail Nall announced her book deal for her middle grade debut, DON'T FALL DOWN! For more updates from Gail, check out her site (linked above) or follow her on Twitter.
• Amy Lukavics also announced the sale of her YA book, DAUGHTERS UNTO DEVILS, to Harlequin Teen! You can follow Amy on Twitter here.
• The finalists for our Spooky Flash Fiction contest are up and ready for your vote. There are only three days left to vote, so help us hook one of these writers up with some swag and pick your favorite! 

NaNoWriMo:

Ah, the topic du jour. Here on the Secret Life blog, we have some of our own golden posts chock full of tips and tricks for surviving NaNo. (You can find them all here, linked at the bottom of Farrah's post). But I've done a little perusing myself in prep to conquer NaNo again this year, and I've found some gems in case you're looking for some extra support this November: 

• A word of advice from agent Sarah LaPolla on NaNoWriMo, and how to go about making your NaNo novel sparkle before you query it.
• Practical advice (like how to guarantee you'll take pee breaks!) during NaNoWriMo from Angi Black. 
• Gearing up for NaNo tips from Pen and Muse. 

• And this guest post on the NaNo blog, from me. It's one of my favorite blog posts I've ever written, and I hope that it'll keep you going when you hit Week Two sludge. 

Happy writing!

xo. 

Andrea Hannah is a YA writer represented by Victoria Marini of Gelfman Schneider. Her psychological thriller, OF SCARS AND STARDUST, debuts from Flux in Fall 2014. She writes stories about criminals, crazy people, and creatures that may or may not exist. When she's not writing, Andrea teaches special education, runs, spends time with her family, and tries to figure out a way to prevent her pug from opening the refrigerator (still unsuccessful). 

You can find her on Twitter @: http://twitter.com/andeehannah

Drop her an email @: andreahannahbooks@gmail.com
And visit her website @: http://www.andreahannah.com/

The Secrets of a Sale

Hey, lovelies!

So yesterday, I got to share my book deal news and it was awesome. I so appreciate all the love and support! You guys made it so fun for me. And today, I get to tell you some of the secrets behind my sale.

Yaaaaay! It's so small. I don't know how to make it bigger.

One of the toughest parts about being on submission is that you have to pretend like you're not slowly developing a psychological problem, like it's normal to find relief in tearing your eyelashes out while you wait, or eating your sixteenth cupcake after you've read your sixteenth rejection letter. You have to play it cool, never mention it on social media, and pretend like it doesn't even matter while you slog through a new draft of something that seems less important. But now that it's over (*sobs*) I want to share my experience with you guys. I want you to know that if this is you, and things seem abysmal, they can still turn around. And you should probably stop pulling out your eyelashes.

Anyway, if you've followed this blog for awhile, you've read my posts about THE DIARIES OF ELLA GRAHAM (now titled OF SCARS AND STARDUST). This is the book of my heart, not my first manuscript, but the one I love more than any of the others. I believed in this book every step of the way. Lucky for me, so did my agent.

In June of 2012, shortly after signing with Victoria, I put SCARS through its first major overhaul. In July (over a year ago), we sent it out into the world and it was fresh and shiny and I was fresh and shiny and I couldn't wait for good things to clutter my inbox.

In came the rejections.

One after another. But the thing is, there were so many close calls. In those rejections letters, there were some of the nicest compliments I've ever received about my writing, which almost made it worse in a way. Victoria and I were both frustrated; no one could quite pinpoint what it was about the manuscript that seemed "off," just that it was.

In January, we had run through our list and I thought that it might be time to drawer SCARS, even though I didn't want to. But Victoria was not having any of that nonsense. We pulled back, we brainstormed for weeks, and I wrote a very detailed, chapter-by-chapter outline of SCARS as it was, at her request. We tore that sucker apart. Actually, she tore that sucker apart and I died a little inside, but it was cool, it was cool. And then SCARS went through its second major overhaul. (It was during this time period that I began referring to it as Frankenbook--a stitched up version of its former self.) I rewrote a third of that book in six days. I was single-minded about it, almost feverish. I still loved it, and I was determined to make this book the first of my book babies to leave the nest.

In March, it went back out on submission.

I prayed to any freaking ethereal being that would listen to me, I compulsively checked my email as writers on sub do, and I waited.

One month went by. Then another. Then a third.

And I gave up.

I don't mean that I gave up in the way that I thought it would never get published and I'd never write another thing and that I was a failure. I mean that I let it go. I stopped having certain expectations for SCARS and what it needed to do and how it needed to enter the world. I stopped thinking of it as a "right now" book and put in in a quiet place. It became a "someday, maybe" book. I finished revising my next thriller, and began writing another. I tucked away thoughts of SCARS and thanked it for being the manuscript that hooked me up with an agent, and taught me the art of perseverance and patience.

And then it sold in July.

Of course, right? Doesn't it always work out like that? (By the way, I have absolutely no tips on how to let things go so that they can happen in their own way. My strategy thus far has been to cling to everything I want like a barnacle until I'm too tired and battered to hang on anymore. Which, you know, don't do that. It's exhausting.)

Victoria and I tried to act "normalish" as the whole thing unfolded, but failed and swore (excitedly) instead.

So, in case you're keeping tabs, OF SCARS AND STARDUST sold one year after it went on submission, and went through two major rewrites during that year. And now you'll get to read it. <3

So, I have several people I need to thank endlessly for helping make this creepy, quiet little book become a reality.

My very first critique partner, Michelle Levy, who asked the question, "WHAT THE HELL DOES ELLA'S DAMN NOTE SAY?" twenty-five times throughout my draft until I figured out I should probably add that in. After Michelle came Leigh Ann Kopans, who has just as fierce love for SCARS as I do, and who has championed this book from the very beginning. And because of Leigh Ann's championing, thank you to all of the people who read and critiqued this book due to her gushing (I don't even know how many of you there are now, but I'm so incredibly grateful anyone wanted to read it at all).

While Leigh Ann was cheering on SCARS from behind the scenes, Victoria took it to the front line. She never gave up on this book, even when things looked dreary for awhile there. She put hours worth of work into her revision ideas and to cutting up my outlines, and because of her there's ten times more creep factor in this book. (Thank you a bajillion times over.)

And thank you to all of the writers that kept me (kind of) sane over the past year by sending love notes in the mail, sweet emails and texts, and pictures of dinosaurs puking up rainbows: Heather Marie, Megan Orsini, Amanda Olivieri, Megan Whitmer, Erica Chapman, Jamie Grey, Hay Farris, Kristen Jett, Dahlia Adler, Kelsey Macke, Heidi Schultz, Dan Hanks, and Becca Weston. (And so, so many more, but it's 1 A.M. and I'm blurry-eyed and I love you.)

And a quick little shout out to my husband, who made my kid magically disappear during the dark days of revision, and to my best friend, Keri, who has talked to me about this book pretty much every freaking day since I wrote it, and has read it almost as many times as I've said the phrase, "But I just really want it to be this book."

And now it is.

xo.

*Giveaway announcement: This Friday, September 27th, I'll be giving away six books throughout the day on the @LifeofWriters twitter feed. We'll be playing Name That Book! Join in throughout the day to win FREE STUFF. 

Andrea Hannah is a YA writer represented by Victoria Marini of Gelfman Schneider. She writes stories about criminals, crazy people, and creatures that may or may not exist. When she's not writing, Andrea teaches special education, runs, spends time with her family, and tries to figure out a way to prevent her pug from opening the refrigerator (still unsuccessful). Oh, and she tweets a bajillion times a day, mostly about inappropriate things. 

You can find her on Twitter @: http://twitter.com/andeehannah

Drop her an email @: andreahannahbooks@gmail.com
And visit her website @: http://www.andreahannah.com/

A Quick Tip on Creating Authentic Characters

Hi, lovelies!

I'm bouncing onto the blog today to talk a bit about character creation and a trick I've found useful in making my characters unique. I've never actually blogged about characters before, and a big part of that is because I don't have a specific formula for that like I do outlining or revising. I don't even have a method for choosing character names. It's all very loosey-goosey up there in my head, a lot of "Does that sound right?" and "Does that feel right?"

But there is one little trick that I've adopted recently to make them unique, and I want to share it with you today. 

I don't know about you guys, but sometimes it's hard to come up with flaws, strengths, and interests that haven't been done before (or haven't been overdone!). We've all seen the strong-willed, female lead that loves sports or the shy, kind of nerdy male love interest that plays video games. And there's a reason for that. In fact, we've probably encountered a lot of people like that in real life, movies, TV shows, etc. So our brains start attaching certain traits with certain interests and it gets difficult to think outside of the box, right?

Here's where the tip comes in, I promise. 

I'm a pretty visual person, so there are two different things I do when I want to come up with a new interest/trait for a character in question:

Tarot cards. I know this sounds weird, but hear me out. If you've ever looked at a deck of tarot cards, there are a ton of really cool, unique images on them. So when I started my latest WIP, I was looking for a unique hobby for my love interest, who isn't really an emotional guy. I picked one of those cards out of the deck and found that it had an image of a field, flowers, and trees all over it. That's when it dawned on me: How cool would it be to have this kind of burly dude be really into horticulture? Maybe he's in 4H club? And the ideas grew from there. (There's also a book called Tarot for Writers, which is fun and insanely helpful in figuring out how to use the images on cards to make memorable characters.)

Pinterest and Instagram. Sometimes I browse through random people's Pinterest pages, especially hobby or craft pages, to find something unique that my character could be into. I also browse Instagram's "most popular page" to see if there's anything cool in there. Sometimes I find a setting that would be an awesome backdrop for a story, or a picture of a girl that looks like someone I would want to write about, etc. I recently got some inspiration from a girl I follow on Instagram: She's fifteen, and she runs her own Etsy business, making little odds and ends like hair bows, mugs, and knitted sweaters. I thought that would be a kind of cool person/hobby to write about. In general, I've found these to be pretty great places to pull up random inspiration.

Anyway, I hope this helps. Happy writing, everyone!

Andrea Hannah is a YA writer represented by Victoria Marini of Gelfman Schneider. She writes stories about criminals, crazy people, and creatures that may or may not exist. When she's not writing, Andrea teaches special education, runs, spends time with her family, and tries to figure out a way to prevent her pug from opening the refrigerator (still unsuccessful). Oh, and she tweets a bajillion times a day, mostly about inappropriate things. 

You can find her on Twitter @: http://twitter.com/andeehannah

Drop her an email @: andreahannahbooks@gmail.com
And visit her website @: http://www.andreahannah.com/

Overcoming Hot Mess Status So You Can Write Stuff

I used to be a hot mess.

I'd go to pull out my sweater boots from my closet and find one mysteriously AWOL, even though they hadn't seen the light of day since last fall. (Still haven't found that second boot, by the way.) I'd never know which bills were due when, whose birthday party I was supposed to attend that coming weekend, and I'd have to call the doctor's office about three times before my appointment because I couldn't remember when I'd scheduled it. And I'd lost the convenient little reminder card they give you.

Disaster to the millionth degree.

It was also around this time that I decided to start writing seriously, and by seriously I mean everyday and with the intent of publishing my work. So, you know, adding in a few hours of creative work everyday was super helpful in my organization process.

I did this for a few years, and it never seemed like I could find balance. I'd write my heart out for a few weeks, and then look up from the end of a draft and notice that I had, like, no clean underwear. So then I'd do all the cleaning/laundry/organizing for a few weeks, and zero writing (but at least I had clean underwear). Rinse and repeat. It was...exhausting.

That's about the time I figured out this is an ass-backwards way of going about a creative kind of life. (Hey, I never said I was quick to catch on.)

I think that some people have this pre-programmed stereotype that organization and creativity are mutually exclusive. I mean, I know when I think of a writer or artist, I see them sitting at a desk littered with crumpled papers and half-empty Chinese cartons, angsting over a deadline in the middle of the night. But it totally doesn't have to be that way.

Creative people can also be organized people. And, dare I say, probably should be organized people. 

Because here's the thing: our brains are pretty messy, and that's a good thing. When thoughts about epigenetics and pterodactyls and leftover cheesecake are rolling around in there, our brains have a chance to make connections between ideas that shouldn't really go together. And voila! A shiny new idea is born. But how can you relax and let the magic happen if you can't find a matching pair of socks, or you're constantly dodging the curveballs you keep throwing at yourself because you forgot about your kid's bake sale that's tomorrow and you have to cut your writing time to make freaking cookies at 1 AM?

Here are my binders. I know, I have a problem.

So do me a favor, okay? Take some time to get yourself together. Let go of the stereotype that creative people are disorganized disasters and put a system into place that will run smoothly, even without your constant attention. In my house, I'm the Binder Queen. In my cleaning binder, I keep a checklist of chores that need to get done daily, another for weekly, and another for monthly. And, because I have a bit of a chart-making problem, I also include obnoxiously specific instructions for each major chore, and a list of a cleaning supplies needed for that chore. You know why I'm that crazy? So that when I crawl into my writing cave at the end of the day, any of the other people in my house can (and do!) crack open that binder, check things off, and most importantly, don't have to ask me questions. About anything. I don't have to interrupt a kick-ass revising session to show someone which cleaner to use on the tub. It's already in there. Now leave me alone.

In my cooking binder, I keep grocery lists, a weekly and monthly meal plan, and a plan for my son's lunches. I also keep a calendar of special occasions coming up where I might be expected to make something. This act alone usually keeps the random trips to the grocery story in the middle of the week at bay, so that I can just do it all one time, once a week, and not waste any precious writing time running to get something stupid like a stick of butter so I can make those 1 AM bake sale cookies.

The finance binder is mostly just weekly and monthly budgets and receipt trackers, but I've recently included a section of every single password for every single website I've ever used since the beginning of time. Once again, this is so that everyone will leave me alone. You want to order something from the Amazon Prime account? Good for you. Just go find that binder, check the budget for the week, and then look up the password yourself. And don't bother me. Please.

I'm not going to lie, making all of this stuff was a pretty Herculean task at first. But once it's done, it's done, and all you have to do is maintain the binders once in awhile. Not only has this system saved my sanity, but also oodles of time. Honestly. After my kid goes to bed, I can escape and write for a few hours every night if I want. Hell, I can even read something for fun sometimes. I know, I know, a dream, right?

If you're interested in making your own organization system, a good place to get started is with Clean Mama Printables on Etsy. She makes all these handy-dandy organization kits for everything you can imagine. They're pretty cheap, and you can instantly download (and modify!) them. I've used them before and love them.

And remember, binders are a writer's best friend. xo.

Andrea Hannah is a YA writer represented by Victoria Marini of Gelfman Schneider. She writes stories about criminals, crazy people, and creatures that may or may not exist. When she's not writing, Andrea teaches special education, runs, spends time with her family, and tries to figure out a way to prevent her pug from opening the refrigerator (still unsuccessful). Oh, and she tweets a bajillion times a day, mostly about inappropriate things. 

You can find her on Twitter @: http://twitter.com/andeehannah

Drop her an email @: andreahannahbooks@gmail.com
And visit her website @: http://www.andreahannah.com/