Category Archives: real life

Do spoilers really spoil the story?

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I was intrigued to discover that researchers at the University of California–San Diego had studied this idea from a scientific/psychological perspective.  Nicholas Christenfeld and Jonathan Leavitt ran experiments with twelve classic short stories, including mystery, ironic-twist, and literary stories.  The stories were presented in three ways: as-is (without a spoiler), prefaced with a spoiler paragraph, or with that same paragraph incorporated directly into the story.  “Subjects significantly preferred the spoiled versions” (Kiderra, “Spoiler Alert: Stories Are Not Spoiled by ‘Spoilers’”), although when the spoilers were incorporated into the story, they weren’t received as well as the stories prefaced by the spoilers. 

Although “the researchers are careful to note that they do not have a new recipe for writers to follow” (Kiderra, “Spoiler Alert: Stories Are Not Spoiled by ‘Spoilers’”), I think there is much to be learned from this study.  Christenfeld boldly states, “Plots are just excuses for great writing.  What the plot is is (almost) irrelevant.  The pleasure is in the writing” (Kiderra, “Spoiler Alert: Stories Are Not Spoiled by ‘Spoilers’”).  Another further article regarding this study states:

Perhaps, [Christenfeld] said, people enjoy a good story as much as a good twist at the end. Even if they know how it comes out, they’ll enjoy the journey as much as the destination.

“Writers use their artistry to make stories interesting, to engage readers, and to surprise them,” Leavitt and Christenfeld said in their paper, to be published in the journal Psychological Science (Potter, “Spoiler Alert: Stories Not Ruined If Ending Revealed”).

Leavitt and Christenfeld, though not writers themselves, are onto something, and Death, the narrator of The Book Thief,  explains this very well:

Of course, I’m being rude.  I’m spoiling the ending, not only of the entire book, but of this particular piece of it.  I have given you two events in advance, because I don’t have much interest in building mystery.  Mystery bores me.  It chores me.  I know what happens and so do you.  It’s the machinations that wheel us there that aggravate, perplex, interest, and astound me.

There are many things to think of.

There is much story (243).

And this, I believe, is the crux of the matter.  Readers—voracious readers who truly love story itself—want to know those “machinations that wheel us there.”  Readers want the details.  Death/Zusak is right.  There are many things to think of.  There is much story.

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Works Cited

Kiderra, Inga. “Spoiler Alert: Stories Are Not Spoiled by ‘Spoilers.'” UCSanDiego News Center, 10 Aug. 2011. Web. 07 Feb. 2013.

Potter, Ned. “Spoiler Alert: Stories Not Ruined If Ending Revealed.” ABC News. ABC News Network, 12 Aug. 2011. Web. 07 Feb. 2013.

Zusak, Markus. The Book Thief. New York: Alfred A. Knopf, 2006. Print.

 

Do What Scares You: Big Sur, Part One

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Experts seem to agree: we grow by doing things that scare us.  I believe this!

It’s why I tackled cognitive-behavioral therapy, why I seek out public speaking opportunities, why I ask for criticism on the things that I write.  Those things all scare(d) me, but I knew I had so much to gain by facing them.  Self-confidence, networking opportunities, friendships, new & improved drafts, stronger character.  In the case of CBT, I gained back my life.

I am not ashamed of being frightened by things … but I force myself to do those things anyway.

As you are reading this, I am probably on a plane to Monterey, California, or perhaps I’ve already arrived for the Big Sur Writing Workshop.  Let’s be honest.  I’m quite terrified.

1) I am not good with airports.  Silly, I know, but I use them infrequently enough that they always make me nervous.  I try to always fly direct so that I don’t have to deal with the pain of connecting flights, but on this trip, it was unavoidable.  I’ll be connecting in Phoenix on the way there … and back.

2) I am not only asking for criticism on my novel but giving myself limited time to respond to it.  At the writing workshop I’m attending this weekend, I’ll get feedback and then have to turn around immediately and revise.  And repeat.  Generally, I like 24-36 hours to process a critique, get over it, and dive back into a new draft.  This entire conference is only about 48 hours, so there is the pressure to act and act now.

3) I will be interacting with literary agents, editors, and authors, all within the children’s and young adult genre.  I want to shine, not only in my writing, but in my personality and presence.  I love networking, but it can be exhausting to always be “on.”  In addition, I am just nervous in general about interacting with people who know so much about the field I’ve chosen.

But I’m doing it.  I have wanted to go to this workshop for the last nine months, and I am finally making it happen.  If you pray, would you pray for me?

I simply want to write impeccably, charm everyone, enjoy myself, and come away with a better manuscript.  Is that too much to ask of one weekend? 😉

Love!

bebrave2

 

some details on my faith

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I wanted to post something about Jesus and my relationship with Him on my blog, just something short and simple and true so that my readers would know more about me and my faith.

I love Jesus the way I love my mother, my father, and my best friends all combined.  Most of the time I feel like I really know Him—like, really know Him.  It’s like Jesus called out to my heart across all the junk I manufactured in my head, and He never quit calling.  And better than that, even.  It’s like He fought through the junk—I picture someone in a jungle with a machete, ripping away the undergrowth, clearing a path, you know?  It’s like how a girl always wants a boy to fight his way to win her heart.  God did that—does that—for me.

Jesus has given me Truth and Purpose, and these things are my gravity, grounding me, centering me.  When I boil down all the desires I have—to be an excellent writer, to have a family, to love people well and make them think—the real core, the only real desire I have, is Jesus Christ.

God is perfect.  I am not.  The wages of sin is death—which is exactly what I deserved.  But instead, God had His Son die in my place.  What an incredible substitution!  And when Jesus rose from the dead, He conquered death.  Because He has rescued me and because I cling to Him, I now get to go along for the ride with this VICTORIOUS One!

The truth I know, the purpose that centers me, the friendship—actual, real friendship—I have with Jesus Christ … these are the things that I want for others.

 

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a bunch of v-day-related ranting

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Oh, February 14th.  Seems like just last year I was thinking, Ahhh, but I won’t be alone next Valentines Day.

Ooops.  Wrong again!

Sometimes I can sound a little bitter about being single, but I actually don’t always hate it.  I can be super selfish with my time, go to Barnes & Noble whenever I want, buy whatever I want.  I can drop everything and go to California for a weekend.  I don’t have to cook for anyone.  More time for ministry over the years.  And, though this might sound strange, years of watching friends marry and be married has taught me a ton about what I want in a husband, in a marriage, even in a wedding ceremony.

But good old V-Day.  It’s never very fun to be single on Valentines Day.

I have nothing against Valentines Day.  I don’t think there’s anything wrong with choosing a day to make a big deal out of love.  I don’t really care about the commercialism even.  I think, if you’re blessed enough to have someone you love, you should celebrate your relationship every day.  But why not make a big fuss over it one day a year?  Sometimes it seems like the couples who don’t celebrate V-Day are trying to make a statement I don’t exactly understand.

I was talking to a friend the other day about how I’m glad I didn’t marry young.  It’s true, even though at the time, it was all that I wanted.  I think students at Christian colleges get married way too young; the culture expects and demands it.  It’s not their fault.  They feel ready, and hey, maybe some are.  But I know I am so much wiser now, healthier now, Jackie-er now than I was ten years ago.  I have been forced to learn and do things that I probably wouldn’t have otherwise.  I know every facet of my identity in a much clearer way– heck, when I was in college, I was only starting to tiptoe into those waters!

I’m not saying college students shouldn’t get married or that it’s bad to marry young.  Well, maybe I am, a little.  Let’s be honest, there’s no formula to these things.  (Although I will say that almost every failed marriage I’ve seen has come from couples who married pretty young.)

Meh, I’m going to get myself in trouble on my blog.  On Valentines Day.  Listen, don’t yell at me too much.  Remember that I am all alone and show me grace.

I still love love.

Also,

Ahhh, but I won’t be alone next Valentines Day …

😉

v-day

 

 

a literary life

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What is your favorite thing about reading and/or writing?

It’s hard for me to choose just one thing!  I love that I get to create new worlds, love that it’s my responsibility to make people think about God and ideas.  But I think my very favorite thing is that I know that, when I write, I am sitting in the very seat of God’s will for my life … I am doing what I was created to do.  How many 31-year-olds are that clear on their calling (and are able to respond)?!  I love my literary life.

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my recurring dreams

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These are the dreams I seem to have most often:

1) I am friends with the VlogBrothers, and both John and Hank think I am awesome.

2) There is another Harry Potter book/movie, and I am either reading it, watching it, or in it.  (Sometimes I’m even Harry.  My roommate has these dreams too.  Are we weird, or are there others?)

3) To the best of my knowledge, I have had only one truly recurring dream.  It is the same each time.  Every single detail.  Only each time, the dream is a little longer.  To set the scene: in it, my family lives on a lake in a small town, and someone new shows up in town.  My family welcomes this person and takes him home.  He turns out to be a murderer.  I hide in the closet (where he looks for me but somehow never sees me), and then I take my brother and sister and we start making our slow, scary way around the lake to a friend’s house.  In each dream, we get closer to that house.  I haven’t had the dream in a while and am wondering if I will again and if we will make it to that house.

sleeping

Recruiting: the Good, the Bad, and the Ugly

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I have been a college admission counselor for about 9 1/2 years now, recruiting for Northwestern College (undergoing a name-change Summer 2013!), the most wonderful Christian college and my alma mater.  Recruitment at a small Christian college is definitely different than recruiting for a large state school.  These are the pros and cons.

The Bad/Ugly:

* I like being a selective school, but it does make college fairs difficult.  We are not the best school for a lot of students I meet, and it’s an interesting balance to remain enthusiastic and love each student I meet, all while trying to point them in the right direction.

* LifeLight 2006, trying to recruit at a music festival in the middle of a South Dakota field when it has rained all weekend and the mud is higher than your ankles and threatens to suck your shoes off as you take three times as long just to move 100 feet away.

* Rude parents.  You would not believe how awful parents can be to college recruiters.

* When a student LOVES your school but the financial aid just doesn’t come through.  It about breaks your heart.

* Loving the students you work with and then having them choose another school in the end.

The Good:

* When those students you love go to another school but still keep in touch (and even visit you when you are recruiting in their college’s town!).  Caitlin, you made my visits to South Dakota so sweet, and I cherish your friendship.

* Meeting kiddos when they are in high school and then watching them come to your school, get involved, make great friends, and succeed academically.  I met Brieanne when she was in 9th or 10th grade … and now she is in her first year of grad school and living in the building next to mine.  I can’t tell you how proud I am of her now– and how many times she has made me proud over the years!

* That moment when your relationship with a student switches over from recruiter/recruit to just plain and simple friendship.

* When those kids you recruit become some of your very best friends.  When I was 21, I didn’t know that the high school senior named Desiree I was recruiting from South Dakota would eventually be my roommate and dear friend.  Likewise, even though Elyse and I emailed almost every day of her senior year, I still had no idea how close we would become over the years– now she is in graduate school and one of my favorite people on earth!

* When you just click with certain kids.  I was friends with Jamie since he was a high schooler and also through his first year or so of college.  He would always talk to me online and say, “Sorry for interrupting your work, but I have a question,” and I would say, “Jamie, you are my work.”  When he finally started at Northwestern, he came to my office and said, “Sorry to interrupt,” and I went to say my usual phrase, and he and I both stopped and stared in amazement at each other.  “I’m not your work anymore!” he said, wide-eyed, and we both laughed.  After that I jokingly nicknamed him “Dr. Interruption.”  Jamie would “smuggle” me Harry Potter books in those years when Christians were still so anti-Hogwarts. 🙂

* Enjoying certain towns because of the people you’ll see there, regardless of whether they are interested in your school or not.  McGregor girls, I’m talking about you.

* All the public speaking opportunities (Note: this could also be filed under the Bad/Ugly column!)

To all the wonderful students and families I have met with and bonded with over the years, thank you.  Students are often surprised when I can tell them my memories of first meeting them, even when it’s 6-10 years later, but the point is that you guys matter to me.  My life is built up of words and people and my God (who is both the Word and a Person), and you have made it special.  Thank you so much.  I love you.

I didn't even mention one of the best parts of recruiting: I have THE BEST CO-WORKERS EVER.

I didn’t even mention one of the best parts of recruiting: I have THE BEST CO-WORKERS EVER.

books books books

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Christmas vacation is definitely over– I haven’t had nearly as much time to read!  And now that I have only a few weeks to prepare my manuscript before I attend the Big Sur Writing Workshop, all my free time is dedicated to working on my novel (along with blogging and time with friends).  I have lots of new books on my shelf that are calling out to me, but I have to ignore them till after the workshop is over.

Just finished:

Bitterblue by Kristin Cashore | This is the sequel to Graceling, and while I enjoyed it, I did think it was weaker than Graceling and Fire, the prequel to Graceling.  Set 8 years after Graceling, Bitterblue is now 18 and a queen, dealing with a country that is still really broken.  I liked the characters in this: Katsa, Po, and Giddon make reappearances, and readers meet a cast of other fun new people as well.  I don’t want to spill too much so that I don’t spoil the first two books.  Cashore again leaves readers with an unexpected ending, which is refreshing in some ways and disappointing in others.  Still definitely worth the read, although Fire remains my favorite of the three books.

The Night Circus by Erin Morgenstern | I have reviewed this book before, but let me just say that the second time through it was just as breathtaking as the first.  Morgenstern is a sensory genius.  I grovel at her feet.  And she is so humble and likable too.  I cannot wait for the Night Circus movie to come out and for Morgenstern to write another book!

Saving Francesca by Melina Marchetta | Another re-read for me, but this time around, I think I liked this book even better!  (Which is saying a lot, since I loved it the first read through!)  I think because I am working on a young adult novel about a girl with her own family issues, Saving Francesca rang a bell in me that just didn’t exist the first time I read it.  This is the story of Francesca, a young Australian-Italian girl who is learning to navigate a new co-ed school (new to her and also new to being co-ed … and the boys are not excited that there are girls there now) all while her normally active and energetic, lifeblood-of-the-family mother has sunk into a deep depression.  This book is marvelous.  I can’t recommend it highly enough.  I still think Jellicoe Road is my favorite of Marchetta’s books, but Saving Francesca is right up there, competing with it!  (This book is one of the reasons I started thinking about going to grad school.  I want to be as good a writer as Marchetta.  Ironically, she doesn’t even have a bachelor’s degree in writing, let alone an MFA!  BRILLIANT, I TELL YOU!)

The Piper’s Son by Melina Marchetta | This is the sequel to Saving Francesca, and it is so good to be with those characters again.  This story follows Tom, one of Francesca’s friends, years after high school, after he has made a mess of his life.  It isn’t as friendly as SF.  Tom is a jerk through a lot of it, but you still find yourself loving him and rooting for him and his family.  Marchetta is a genius.  If I could go study under her, I think I’d do it in an instant.

Up next (after Big Sur) …

Son by Lois Lowry | The fourth book in the Giver series!
Janie Face to Face by Caroline B. Cooney | The final book in The Face on the Milk Carton series, which I first started reading back in 1990.  (In other words, this book is a long time comin’!)
Unwholly by Neal Shusterman | The sequel to Unwind, which I read last October and loved.
The Raven Boys by Maggie Stiefvater | Desiree’s fiance bought me this for my birthday!  So excited.
Help Thanks Wow by Anne Lamott | Her new book on prayer (thank you, Des, for buying me a bunch of these books as birthday presents!)
A Thousand Mornings by Mary Oliver | Her latest poems
The Knife of Never Letting Go by Patrick Ness | I read Ness’s A Monster Calls recently and loved it.  So excited for this book.
Hokey Pokey by Jerry Spinelli | His new book about a land without adults and how growing up someone still creeps in!!!
Vex Hex Smash Smooch by Constance Hale | The book on verbs my daddy bought me for Christmas
Across the Universe by Beth Revis | From what I gather, this is a story of survival in space after being cryogenically frozen.  Eeep!
The Age of Miracles by Karen Thompson Walker | A novel about one girl’s life when the earth’s rotation begins to slow.

Ordered …

Under the Never Sky by Veronica Rossi
Under the Wolf, Under the Dog by Adam Rapp
Stupid Fast by Geoff Herbach

Pre-ordered (because I am just so excited about them) …

The Holders by Julianna Scott | Includes a boarding house for kids with special powers.  Makes me think of Hogwarts and of Ender’s Game.  Can’t wait.  Love boarding school books– get rid of those adults!!!
The Sea of Tranquility by Katja Millay | Advanced reader copies are getting rave reviews, and I’m so jealous and want to read it now instead of waiting until this summer!  The story is about a girl who refuses to speak and a boy who has everyone he’s close to die, and about their friendship.  

So … yeah.  A lot on my radar, as well as a potential grad school application and application materials.  But I’ve got tunnel vision until after Big Sur!  I love my literary life.  Sigh.