Sniffapalooza

I will be heading back to Manhattan this weekend for a 2-day fall fragrance premire extravaganza. We'll be meeting perfumers and representitives from over 65 high-end companies and sampling their latest offerings at a variety of stores around the city including Bergdorfs, Bendel's, Bond, Takashimaya & L'Artisan. It is going to be the largest scent event ever arranged! Best of all, they're including samples from my new Mademoiselle Collection in the swag bags right along with the samples from top French and Italian perfumeries! It's going to be an amazing networking opportunity and I'm thrilled to be able to participate.

This past weekend I attended a scent event at Fred Segal's and got to meet Ron Robinson of Apothia and sample exclusive scents from Givaudan (the largest fragrance house in the world). We also learned about scent trends and how they affect the market. They are working on putting together a huge LA event for Spring and I'm told Hannah's Handprints will be invited to be part of it.

Wish me luck in my fragrant travels!

XOXO

Spelling words

So my first-grader now knows how to spell the words "bar," "sin," "drug" and--my favorite--"cigar."

Now there's nothing stopping Hannah from writing her memoirs of sinful nights spent in bars doing drugs and smoking cigars, except well, the experience.

Thank you, California public school system, you are too kind.

Notes from "Beginnings, Middles & Ends" (Kress)

The following are my personal notes from the book "Beginnings, Middles & Ends" by Nancy Kress, which is part of the Elements of Fiction Writing series.

+Promises to the reader (what they can expect from the story) are made in the beginning, developed in the middle, and fulfilled in the end.
+4 elements that make a scene compelling: Character, conflict, specificity and credibility.
+Effective beginnings make use of specific details.
+3 basic options for second scene: backfill, flashback, continuation of story time.
+Swimming pool theory: The stronger the story kicks off, the longer the reader can glide through backstory.
+Flashbacks need to be clear how long ago they occurred. Don't flashback to something not connected to your first scene if your second scene is a flashback.
+When continuing the story, keep conflict but change pace and intensity.
+Characters reveal who they are in 6 ways: Actions they initiate, reactions to others actions, dialogue, thoughts, gestures and body language, and appearance.
+5 narrative modes: Dialogue, description, action, thoughts, exposition.
+The middle of a story is like a bridge that connects us with the beginning and the end.
+4 things required to make character changes believable: 1) The reader must understand the character's initial personality and motivation - why she behaves that way. 2) The reader must see evidence that the character is capable of change. 3) The reader must see a dramatized patterns of events that would reasonably affect the character. 4) A plausible motivation must replace the old one.
+Climaxes must, 1) Satisfy the views of life implied in your story. 2) Deliver emotion. 3) Must deliver an appropriate level of emotion. 4) Be logical to your plot and story.
+Steps for rewrites: 1) Become the reader, 2) Trace the promise made to the reader throughout your story - is it developed and fulfilled? 3) Analyze each scene, 4) Do a major rewrite based on the flaws you have uncovered, 5) Check for image patterns (if any), 6) Polish the prose.

Spilled Perfume Featured on Trashionista!

Thanks so much to Keris for choosing Spilled Perfume as one of the NaNo projects to feature on the book review blog Trashionista.

Here's the link to the feature: Kate Madison's NaNo

NaNoWriMo

I am currently participating in National Novel Writing Month under username katemadison (my pen name).

Here's the hook/summary for my story:

Two sisters, both alike in vanity, in fair California where we lay our scene…

Paige Miller has always been the responsible one. But while reeling from a devastating break-up, Paige decides to let loose and experiment—a decision which ultimately results in a host of unsuitable suitors, far too much alcohol consumption, and the title “Ho of the Year.”

Marisa Miller is a flighty New Age lesbian who’s allergic to commitment. But when Marisa finds herself homeless, jobless and on the road to single motherhood, suddenly a little security doesn't sound so bad.

Spilled Perfume is a story of sex, sisters and killer scents.

Notes from "Plot" (Dibell)

The following are my personal notes from the book "Plot" (Dibell), which is part of the Elements of Fiction Writing series.

+Plot is a verb.
+Beginnings should avoid clutter in all ways possible.
+Readers are only interested in explanation after their curiosity has been aroused by something in need of explaining.
+Only important things, things important to understand this story right now, should be explained.
+Make each piece of exposition justify its inclusion.
+Try to make each scene serve multiple purposes.
+Revelation is seen by the reader as motion, even if nothing has changed but knowledge or insight.
+Plot is the thing that characters do, think, say, feel that makes a difference to what comes afterward.
+A scene can convey moods, attitudes, a sense of place and time, anticipation of what's to come, reflection of what's past; but a scene must advance the plot and demonstrate the characters.
+Struggle, conflict, dissatisfaction, aspiration, choice: these are the basis of effective plots.
+Effective beginnings must encompass at least these three things: 1) Get the story going/show what kind of a story it's going to be. 2) Introduce and characterize the protagonist. 3) Engage the readers interest.
+Start in the middle of things - the first big crisis.
+Any story worth telling is worth revising.
+With a divided narrative you must compensate with increased strong connective character devices to make sure one character doesn't end up hogging the story and the reader's interest.
+Make sure each scene isn't static. End them subtly or obviously, with cliffhangers.
+Don't break viewpoint in the middle of a scene.
+Think of character sketches as the part of an iceberg underneath the water and your story as the top. Character sketches anchor your story, but don't have to be seen.
+Plot is the engine drawing everything along. If it's weighed down with too much exposition, it's going to come to a halt.
+Weave plots and subplots together like a braid but remember that your story is only as strong as your weakest strand.
+The job of a story's middle is to build toward and deliver crisis.
+Scenes are the foundation of fiction.
+A set-piece is a big scene the reader can see coming and can look forward to awhile, either in fear or hope, before it is reached. (Ex: The big duel at the end, finding out the identity of the murderer.)
+Stories need to be divided into stages - immediate short-term plots, each with it's own build-up, crisis and resolution.

The book also goes on to address things like patterning for contrast and mirroring characters and plots. While good material, I found it difficult to transfer into note form. It also details linear and circular endings, which have already been outlined in my previous post on the book "Conflict, Action and Suspense."

Notes from "Conflict, Action and Suspense" (Noble)

The following are my personal notes from the book "Conflict, Action and Suspense," by William Nobel, which is part of the Elements of Fiction Writing series.

+Good writers have an unspoken partnership with their readers, and should never forget that
+With details, use image-provoking language
+To know more is to feel more
+Action means happenings, suspense means uncertainty
+Drama must build, it cannot stay at a constant level
+One way to escalate a story is to keep adding uncertainties to a resolution of the conflict
+Characters are the most important elements in a story
+Remember to use an active voice and active verbs
+Charge your images - make the mental pictures life-sized
+Reader's expectations are like cliches. Use contrast in characterization and setting to catch them off-guard.
+Excite readers by leaving them in the midst of conflict, then resolving the issue later.
+Scene cutting quickly and often moves the story forward and keeps the reader in heightened suspense
+Transitions (i.e. "ten months later") should occur during tense moments, and they should not resolve the conflict
+Dialogue offers the advantage of immediacy and quick drama, while Narrative allows a more thorough build-up
+Story pace means smooth, even writing without anticlimaxes or lengthy static prose, carefully constructed scenes that blend with one another and build to a satisfying climax.
+Pacing a story means controlling it, don't rush the story. Here's how: Don't pick up the story threads too quickly. Let uncertainty fester. Stretch out the solution. Offer less-than satisfactory alternative to dilemmas.
+You can leave readers hanging in the middle of a scene by beginning with something interesting or dramatic to establish conflict, then stopping at a point where the reader doesn't expect it (the point of confrontation, cusp of explanation, edge of victory). Satisfy yourself that the reader is intrigued, but don't give away the answer or explanation. Then shift gears. If you've been doing action, change to suspense and vice versa. Be sure to follow the shift to its conclusion, as you can't leave them hanging twice.
+Dialogue is conversation with drama and helps with characterization. It must contribute to the telling of a story. If it doesn't, it should be removed.
+Questions posed by a character need not always be answered directly or immediately. Indirect answers can be more realistic, especially if it moves the story fwd or if the reader already knows the answer.
+Underplay in a scene can add to the uncertainty. It can be done by: Being matter-of-fact in the midst of an emotional whirlwind, remaining quiet while others shout, showing little interest in a major discovery.
+Gesturing is a form of dialogue.
+Arrange things so that something severe could happen unless certain things are done (anticipation). Have severe things happen and then make it plain that even more severe things could happen (dread).
+Appeal to all of the senses--smell, taste, touch, sight and hearing.
+The 3 M's: Motives, Memories, Mirages. Motives are why they do it, Memories are what happened to make them do what they do, and Mirages are how the characters fool themselves about what happened and why they did it.
+Conflict should be sharper at the end.
+Plot-hypers make subtlety and misdirection possible. They create uncertainty that might complicate things and raise the tension. Making veiled references to things will keep the cat in the bag while opening it just enough so that the cat can breathe.
+Plot-hypers work by: Offering a thread of information. Forcing the reader to deduce the relevance. Not highlighting the information (make it seem like a natural outgrowth of the conversation), but not burying it either - no unreasonable obfuscation.
+The longer we keep readers guessing, the more attention they will pay to what they are reading.
+Hints and shadows don't trumpet their appearance or disappearance. They can be physical habits, out-of-place remarks, misplaced items, weird physical reactions from inanimate objects, or unexplained absences or presences.
+Good writing doesn't always follow the social norms (ex: handsome men don't have to be kind). +Reversals in expected characterization or setting can create conflict and spice things up.
+Tell a story, don't write at the reader.
+On Pacing: Plan your race - know where you're going. Understand that your story has limited strength and endurance - it can't go on forever, and needs to take breathers. Pace your race - Don't win too early.
+A crisis is a crucial moment when circumstances or people change, usually without warning. They should be spaced out in a story so as not to become normal or expected. Each crisis should create as many questions as it answers.
+Narrative pacing works best when: It opens the story or chapter, it runs on several pages, it builds into a crisis, it keeps the story moving, it develops conflict early and keeps it pulsing.
+Avoid bogging down the reader with narration or dialogue that goes on for too long without a breather.
+On endings: make the climax the hottest action or suspense scene. Rev up the conflict. Leave the final confrontation to the last scene if possible. Stay away from injecting sudden new elements.
+The circular ending: Concentrates on contrasts of then/now, showing changes that have occurred in the attitude, place and position. Usually has characters returning to or rediscovering the original story setting. Can tie up loose ends after the climax. Ends not with a "BANG!" but a "whoosh!"
+The linear ending: Shows character and plot have developed beyond original portrayal. Stops right after the climax. Introduces no new characters or subplots. Should be the result of a story narrowed to its essential conflict/confrontation, it's "ultimate" struggle.