Sunday Writer's Treat: Middle Grade On The Narrative Breakdown

This morning, I discovered Scholastic exec. editor Cheryl Klein's amazing writing podcast (hat tip Andrea Mack).

Episode 35 of The Narrative Breakdown features author and editor Jill Santopolo. She and Klein discuss everything middle grade, touching on topics from outlining to what makes a book middle grade to increasing writing productivity. They also chat a bit about the series that made me love reading as a kid: The Babysitter's Club.

If you have some free time this chilly Sunday, put the kettle on, pour a cup of tea, and have a listen! The conversation lasts about 30 min.

Listen: Episode 35: Middle Grade With Author-Editor Jill Santopolo

-- More About The Narrative Breakdown --

In The Narrative Breakdown, Cheryl Klein, James Monohan, and other guest co-hosts discuss storytelling tips and techniques of interest to any writer, student, or fan of quality creative writing, screenwriting, playwriting, fan fiction, English literature, etc. Each episode, Cheryl and James draw upon their respective experiences in publishing and filmmaking to analyze popular novels, movies, plays, television shows, short stories, and song lyrics. Featuring various co-hosts and writers, as well as material from Cheryl Klein’s book ‘Second Sight’ and James’ iPhone / iPad app ‘The Storyometer.’

The Post-Conference Slump

At SCBWI LA with writing pals (left to right) Bridget,

Jodi, Pat, (me), Kathryn, Ghenet, & Edith

When I started writing fiction seriously about four years ago, I also began attending writer conferences. So far I've been to about six of them, and this August I made it over to the national SCBWI conference in LA for the first time.

Many of my writer friends consider this event one of the most special, motivating, and authentically fun weekend seminars for children's book writers. And I'm happy to report that the conference did not disappoint. The keynotes were delightful, particularly Laurie Halse Anderson, Matt de la Pena, and Jarrett Krosoczka. I had an amazing critique from an agent, and Richard Peck's first line workshop seriously inspired me to write more beautifully. I even got to meet a blogging pal - Cynthia from Read Is The New Black.

During the entire four-day event, I was pumped. The talks energized me to write the best book I can possible write -- to sharpen my prose, raise the stakes in my plot, liven up my characters. But when I got off the plane in NY, my brain remained in plan mode. Aaaand... I didn't write again for about three weeks.

This wasn't the first time I experienced a post-conference writing slump. In fact, it's happened to me after every single weekend-long conference I've attended. So what gives?

Last week at another SCBWI workshop (this one in New York) the words of a wise author hit home to me. And for the first time, I realized why conferences -- while stirring and enlightening -- have been so temporarily disruptive to my own writing.

Editor Wendy Lamb and Newbery winner Rebecca Stead at
SCBWI Metro NY's Professional Series

Rebecca Stead, along with her editor, Wendy Lamb, were special guests at my local Metro NY branch's monthly writing talk. If you read my MMGM features, then you know I'm a Fan of Stead. Yes, that's fan with a capital F. As far as middle grade goes, she's top notch, and I seriously wish I could have read her books in elementary school.

While describing her writing process, Stead mentioned how perfectionism can really get in the way of doing the work. And what writer can't relate to that? She said that sometimes, preparing to write is like setting up for a perfect dive. And if you're a good, dedicated diver, you'll stand on the edge of the pool and concentrate on the building blocks of that set up so you execute strongly.

But if you're too focused on setting up perfectly -- you might not dive at all.

Here is a tweet from another attendee that sums that up more concicely:

"Writing is like diving. U want 1st jump to be perfect...I've had to learn to throw myself off the board flailing." @rebstead @scbwimetroNY
— Ginny Poleman (@GinnyPoleman) September 11, 2013

Though I enjoy and learn a ton from conferences, the intense amount of information, feedback, and reflection put me in set up mode. I leave thinking of a million things I should change and improve. And for a small amount of time, I'm too intimidated to dive (ha) back into my writing. Because a piece of me wonders if I can ever live up to the renewed vision I have for my work.

That said, I seriously love attending writing conferences. This problem eventually solves itself, but next time, I might paste a few gentle reminders in my notebook to help bolster me from my own hyper criticism.

How about you? Do you ever psych yourself out when you're learning all the good stuff at writing conferences? Any tips on how to incorporate craft lessons without slipping into a slump?

My Chat With Rue

This weekend I got the chance to interview Amandla Stenberg (also known as the most perfect Rue from The Hunger Games in the world) for my pals over at Mockingjay. She was at Times Square's famous Toys 'R' Us signing newly released DVDs.

• Click here to see the full interview with Amandla.
• And here to see my photos of fans and Amandla from the event.

Along with the other press there, I was blown away by Amandla's maturity, grace, and poise. Nothing like me at fourteen!

Most of the scenes in The Hunger Games that gave me chills involved Rue -- and those moments stayed with me for quite some time. I asked Amandla if she got to talk to Suzanne Collins at all about Rue, and here's what she said:

"Yes, I talked to her about the character. She came to set around the death scene, and I asked her about Rue and I asked her – is this how you imagined the scene? And she was like ‘yes, exactly. It’s perfect.’ And it was just so great to hear that. I also talked to her about Rue in that scene, and she told me, Rue is feeling like – although she didn’t want to die and she’s terrified, she also tried to be brave for Katniss because she wants Katniss to have hope and go on and win the Games. We talked about that."

Yes, I totally got goosebumps all over again from that last part.

Hope you're having a relaxing Saturday. Tomorrow I'll post the winner of my giant giveaway. Until then, may the odds be ever in your favor.

Marvelous Middle Grade Monday: Coraline

To find out more about Marvelous Middle Grade Monday, click here. 
Title:  Coraline
Author: Neil Gaiman (link)
Genre:  Fantasy / Horror
Pub Date: January 2002

Synopsis: In Coraline's family's new flat are twenty-one windows and fourteen doors. Thirteen of the doors open and close. The fourteenth is locked, and on the other side is only a brick wall, until the day Coraline unlocks the door to find a passage to another flat in another house just like her own. Only it's different.

First Line: Coraline discovered the door a little while after they moved into the house.

When I was a kid, I loved creepy stuff. Horror movies, ghost stories, and haunted legends were totally my thing. Which is why I wish I had Coraline to scare my pants off when I was a middle grader. There's a secret door. Button eyes. Parents trapped behind a mirror, writing messages backwards. Seriously, right?

One of my favorite quotes describing the story is by Lemony Snicket, who said, "This book tells a fascinating and disturbing story that frightened me nearly to death." But it's not jut the creepy crawly fingers running down your back that makes this book amazing. Coraline is a fully formed, fun character who has normal kids gripes (like her father's cooking) that ground the otherwise fantastical tale. And the parade of secondary characters running around this book are truly unique and hilarious. Except for the other mother, who is anything but hilarious.

Will Coraline Be Too Scary?: For some kids, yes. Children who are overwhelmed by scary stories might need to wait a couple years before they are ready for this book. But most kids will love the twisty world that Coraline enters. In fact, the manner in which Coraline deals with the frightening plot will be empowering to many.

Why You'll Love Coraline (not Caroline): If you ever get trapped in a peculiar parallel universe, or maybe even a scary dream, you can only hope you'll act as brave and self-assured as Coraline. While the story had many frightening elements, Coraline took control of the frightening situation and made her own rules.

Want to find more marvelous middle grade books? Here's a list of MMGM bloggers with more recommendations!

What Is the Heart of Your Story?

Over the weekend I attended SCBWI New Jersey's regional conference. This was my second time at the summer conference, and I can't say enough good things about it!

One moment that really stood out for me was during a chat with agent Susan Hawk. We were discussing my manuscript, and she asked me what the heart of my story was.

Wait, what? The heart? Not the genre-elevator-pitch-setting-main-character-plot-query-marketability? I walked away really thinking about this question. What IS the heart of my story?

Within a few minutes, I narrowed it down to two basic thoughts. It's a story about:

• a boy who forgot how to love people
• a boy who needs to run away to find his way back home

Despite all the robots and steampunk and magic and climaxes and plot points, the true essence of the story, underneath all the storytelling, boils down to that. Bare bones!

So what about you? What is the heart of your story?

Fall Preview: BEA's 5 Buzz-worthy Middle Grade Picks

Happy Middle Grade Monday! This week I have something a little different to share. At Book Expo America, I had the chance to attend the Middle Grade Editor Buzz Panel. Five editors shared their most buzz-worthy books coming out in the fall, and they look fantastic.

1.) Starry River of the Sky by Grace Lin: Grace's editor and friend Alvina Ling presented this book with so much pride, it was difficult not to get caught up! It's a companion novel to her Newbery Honor Where the Mountain Meets the Moon, and experiments with some of the classic styles of the Chinese literary tradition, like using a narrator - in this case, Madame Chang. (Oct 2012)

2.) Malcolm at Midnight by WH Beck: Kate O'Sullivan from Houghton Mifflin called this story a "masterpiece" with an "intimate, personal arc about becoming one's own best self." She acquired it at auction when she fell in love with this tale of a secret society of classroom pets that helps keep the school children safe. (Sept 2012)

3.) Professor Gargoyle by Charles Gilman: This is the first book in the Tales from Lovecraft Middle School series, all of which have lentical covers that display a simple animation when you move them. Jason Rekulak, of Quirk Books said that though the covers are pricey, they grab readers right away, and even noted that when they were setting up their booth, groups of adult construction workers stopped to check the books out. (Sept 2012)

4.) Mira's Diary: Lost in Paris by Marissa Moss: Being billed as Midnight in Paris for middle graders, this story mixes contemporary with historical when Mira goes to Paris to find her mother, but ends up whirling through the past when she visits Notre Dame. The book has sketches by Mira doodled throughout, which is a nice visual touch to the artistic themes. (Sept 2012)

5.) The Peculiar by Stefan Bachmann: "Gothic, steampunk, fairy, and fantasy" - "dark, scary, weird, magical, whimsical." Virginia Duncan of Greenwillow press gushed over this debut and its 18-year-old author, saying she wanted to "live in this book." (Sept 2012)

Can't wait to start reading! Which fall books are you most excited about? Also, if you'd like to watch any of the panels at BEA, check out their livestream options.

FYI...

Writing Down the Bones: A Notebook Tip

I can't promise to stop buying them...

I kind of have a thing for notebooks. And legal pads and stationary and post it notes and index cards and envelopes, but mostly notebooks. Paper stores give me the kind of buzz normal New Yorkers get at sample sales.

My main use for notebooks is organizing (lists, press trip or conference notes, etc), but I also use them in my fiction writing. This is probably less common in the digital age, but pen to paper just makes sense for some of us.

Natalie Goldberg's Writing Down the Bones was written before there was a MacBook on every table at your local coffee shop. This is why many of her tips are computer-free. I found this craft book while cleaning up my bookshelves and decided to reread it. Here's an interesting tip she had about notebooks, and using them as a tool that works for you: 

"Sometimes people buy expensive hardcover journals. They are bulky and heavy, and because they are fancy, you are compelled to write something good. Instead you should feel that you have permission to write the worst junk in the world and it would be okay. Give yourself a bit of space in which to explore writing. A cheap spiral notebook lets you feel that you can fill it quickly and afford another."

Fancy notebook syndrome is a drag - I caught it once when I had a BIG IDEA that needed an equally spectacular notebook to expand in. I remember squishing my words so teeny tiny, because I was afraid of using up the pages too quickly. There was a grid pattern on the pages that also distracted me. I wanted my writing to be neat and error-free, like the perfect boxes that lined up and down the pages. Clearly, this was not the ideal blank slate.

Goldberg recommends using something cheap. She prefers notebooks with cartoon characters on the cover as a reminder not to take herself and her draft too seriously. With the right pen, filling up the pages should be the easy part.

A Lesson in Voice From "Suri"

From Suri's Burn Book:

"Sometimes I think Louis Bullock might be the only person who understands me. If my mother dressed me up as a pirate, got herself a matching hat, and took me to a party where the favors were made out of cardboard, I’d be pretty upset, too."

I have to admit that my insides feel  a little squishy over how much I enjoy Suri's Burn Book. The faux tumblr depicts Suri Cruise's musings on the Hollywood elite, from her own famous parents (who she refers to as Katie and Tom) to other celebuspawn.  While the posts are hilarious, it's completely unfair to hijack a 5-year-old's persona and snark on other kids while you're at it. Sure many of their parents shove them into the limelight for cash, but it's by no fault of their children.

At the same time, you can't help but adore the ultra sophisticated, pretentious voice that the blog uses. Voice can be a tricky thing for some writers (*cough*me*coughcough*). So let's put aside the obvious issues of posing as a celebrity toddler and check out the good stuff. 

One of the neatest things that the real author of this blog does is take a snobby character and make her likeable through humor and hyperbole. She is the queen bee, and has a strict set of social rules, that in turn lightly mock her own elitism. 

The posts take photos and stories you'd typically see on TMZ, and treat them with the diva's Hollywood sensibility. Fake Suri has fashion advice for kids who aren't as camera-ready, is appalled by denim and sneakers (but most of all, by Crocs), and calls Germany's President Angela Merkel one of her personal heroes. She has a Xanax-popping fear of the future royal baby stealing her thunder, and an old fling with Cruz Beckham, who "if we got married, his name would’ve been Cruz Cruise. Don’t even pretend like that’s not how that would go down."

The frustrating thing about voice is how hard it is to define and teach - the common idea is, you know it when you see it. Here are a few posts in which the author nails the traits that define this middle-grade Gossip Girl's voice so well:

• On frenemies
• On elitism
• On snark
• On parental annoyance
• On superior fashion sense
• On manners
• On social power

What are your favorite blogs that have great voice?

Slowing Down With Zadie Smith

Zadie Smith might just be the reigning queen of author readings. Last night at NYU, she read selections from the novel that she's been writing over the last eight years. I've always admired her amazing dialogue, but hearing her act out different characters totally blew me away. She wasn't being overly theatrical or anything, but I could see how she pictured each voice in her mind, and how she took great care to capture it just so on paper. Her pacing and word choice are thought out entirely, and the result was beautiful.

Here's something she said that hit home in the frenzy of my goals and being done, done, done already:

"It's not the typing that takes time. To type a novel would take six weeks, or not even that.  It's the mental blocks and those kind of horrors. But say you even wrote 500 words a day, which is nothing, you would have several novels completed in a year. But no one does that, because it's actually tough to find 500 words that you like. That's all the trouble."

Definitely an interesting thought to hear in the middle of National Novel Writing Month. The energy of NaNoWriMo is absolutely captivating. And we all don't have the luxury of working on a novel for years and years. But it was also refreshing to listen to her talk about her process, and how getting 500 words down isn't just difficult, it's almost painful. I'm inspired to take a little more time getting moods and attitudes right, to read my work aloud in different voices, and to obsess a little bit more over stringing together beautiful sentences.

Conflicts of Interest

A Venn diagram close to my heart on Indexed today, titled Consider the Sources.  Though advertising pays the bills, it's obvious when it tries to crawl into that A overlap, especially for us Internet editorial folks.

Weaving Charlotte's Web

Did you hear about the book that came out over the summer on EB White and his journey writing Charlotte's Web? Apparently I'm behind on all the good stuff these days.

I'm a little obsessed with spiders since a new neighbor took up residence in my doorway (warning: don't click if you're squeamish about bugs). The smart pal who tipped me on Sims' book told me it's just a plain old cross spider, Araneus diadematus. I find this funny, because to me it looks like a cat-eating tarantula. It's gotten even bigger since that photo was snapped (The Scientist claims it's because he leaves the porch light on for an hour every night to attract bugs), and observing it has been neat over the last few weeks.

If you're not sufficiently grossed out, just know this: EB White is weirder than me. Halloween is on Monday, so this little bit on White's spider fixation from an NPR piece covering the book is appropriately creepy. After meeting the spider that would inspire Charlotte's Web, then realizing it was about to make mini spiders:

White took out a razor blade and cut the silken egg sac out of the web. He put the sac in an empty candy box, punched some holes in it, and absent-mindedly put the box atop his bedroom bureau in New York. 

Weeks later, a movement on that bureau alerted him to the fact that tiny spiderlings were making a Great Escape through the air holes. White was delighted at this affirmation of life and left the hundreds of barn spiderlings alone for the next week or so — to spin webs from his hair brush to his nail scissors to his mirror — until, finally, the cleaning lady complained. 

Along with detail on the meticulous research and hours at the library that White put into his kidlit classic, The Story of Charlotte's Web also gives insight to his process. Here's a terrific thought for us slow writers out there. After finishing his first draft, White decided to shelve the book for a year: 

He said in a letter to his patient editor: "I've recently finished another children's book, but have put it away to ripen (let the body heat out of it). It doesn't satisfy me the way it is and I think eventually I shall rewrite it pretty much." 

Thank you, Mr. White, for making it okay to rewrite a book, pretty much. And also to be an eccentric spider-keeper.

Think Before You Slip Your Manuscript Into an Editor's Handbag

Just caught this September Village Voice piece eloquently titled: "I Will Not Read Your F@cking Script." It was pretty interesting, but also wince-inducing. As an unagented, unpublished n00b, I cringe at the idea of aggressively treading on people's toes to get my "in." If you've been to writing conferences, there's a chance you've witnessed some pretty embarrassing stuff.  

Luckily, kidlit isn't quite as cutthroat as Hollywood.

I especially like this part:

"Which brings us to an ugly truth about many aspiring screenwriters: They think that screenwriting doesn't actually require the ability to write, just the ability to come up with a cool story that would make a cool movie. Screenwriting is widely regarded as the easiest way to break into the movie business, because it doesn't require any kind of training, skill or equipment. Everybody can write, right?"

There's a similar stereotype in kidlit - that it's not real writing, or serious writing, especially in the ways of picture books. Well, there's a reason so many great ideas don't turn into books... and a reason why the ones that do become classics stay with you for a lifetime.

Teddy Wants You to Quit Balking and Finish That Book

Checking in for Row80! My goals right now are all about revising, and I'm happy to report that I haven't derailed, despite attending an 8-hour work event on Saturday.

I only had 25 pages to read through this week, so I planned ahead and breezed through them by Friday. Today, I'm incorporating line edits and bigger changes for the first 50 pages into my manuscript doc. It's slow-going, but still satisfying.

I also reorganized the notes I have for the broader changes I need to make. They range from switching someone's name to rearranging entire chapters. This part gets a little sticky. One of the greatest things about writing a book is that you get to create everything - you are an architect, fashion designer, governor, CEO, psychologist, and sometimes chief torture agent.

Given all these fancy responsibilities, there are times I seriously don't want to make a decision. I wish someone would just tell me what to do. Beta readers and critique groups can give you ideas, but ultimately it all comes down to you and what you decide. Ditch an entire character? Rewrite the beginning? Switch from third-person to first? The pressure... the pressure!!!

This quote is a nice motivator for me when I want to demote myself from all responsibility:

Theodore Roosevelt: In any moment of decision the best thing you can do is the right thing, the next best thing is the wrong thing, and the worst thing you can do is nothing.

I've been stuck doing nothing before, and it definitely is the worst.  Happy writing (and rowing) all!

Tyra Banks and the 1,000 Page First Draft

Source

Did you see Wall Street Journal's interview with America's Top Model/Talk Show Host/Author on her bestselling YA book?

Along with revealing the dangers of writing kidlit (the stress gave her alopecia), Tyra Banks mentions giving her first draft to a very close beta reader:

"Q:Who did you turn the first draft into?

A: My mom. I told her to go to a hotel and focus. It was 1,000 pages. First she said: Tookie has too many bad things happening to her, so I removed a lot of heavy stuff. It was imperative that the reader connect with her and invest. The second thing was she liked that she felt me, that kind of gay male thing that I do. That campiness was important. My editor said a lot of the same things as my mom. The next step was painful, because we had to cut 50%. But looking back I could cut more."

 Unfortunately, mama Banks didn't flag naming the main character Tookie de la Creme. Maybe it was the wagon-load of paper that distracted her. But she was spot on with her word count advice. Whenever you're feeling stubborn about killing your darlings, just remember that even super models have to follow rules. If Tyra did it, so can you.

Reading in the Ancient World

A friend suggested I pick up Cleopatra: A Life for vacation reading while I was in Italy. I was waiting for it to come out in paperback, so it wasn’t a hard sell.

She threw in some fun factoids anyway about the difficulty of reading scrolls that sent me straight to the bookstore after work to procure my copy. Here’s the scoop:

“A twenty-sheet long scroll of papyrus was both unwieldy and fragile. Reading was very much a two-handed operation: you balanced the scroll in your right hand and rolled the used portion with your left.”

And I complain that I can't eat pistachios when I read! That type of labor makes me wonder if scroll readers would bemoan a Kindle out of sentimentality, or jump straight into the digital age. After being convinced an e-book isn't evil witchcraft, of course.

The book also has neat tidbits about the library in Alexandria, which had 500,000 scrolls arranged meticulously in bins, divided by subject alphabetically. It was the largest, most prolific library in the ancient world, until Julius Caesar burned half of it down. Whoops!

The sections of the book covering this nerdy stuff - Cleopatra's rigid education, or making a mortal enemy of Cicero when she snubbed his request of a scroll from her famous library - bring vivid context to a completely foreign time and place... especially since the borders, cities, and texts largely don't exist today.

Baby Got Back Story

Another gem from Stephen King's On Writing - this time on research, and not letting it take over your time/story. While writing a book that heavily referenced the Pennsylvania State Police, King first wrote the novel, and intends to put in legwork doing ride-alongs and shadowing officers when the opportunity arises. This might seem backwards, but his thinking was that the story should never be driven by the details he needs to flush it out - the main course is made up of much more:

"Research is back story, and the key word in back story is back. The tale I have to tell in Buick Eight has to do with monsters and secrets. It is not a story about police procedure in western Pennsylvania. What I'm looking for is nothing but a touch of verisimilitude, like the handful of spices you chuck into a good spaghetti sauce to really finish her off."

I can get lost for weeks in research, so this is a nice reminder in the form of a food metaphor. And there's no better way to my brain than through my stomach.

Now that I'm done with On Writing, I'm considering a new craft book. Maybe Cheryl Klein's Second Sight.   Here's a great list of recommendations from the Mixed Up Files crew on their favorite reads. What are your favorite books on craft?

Wednesday is a ROW80 update day, but there's not much to report here, other than that I'm still stirring the main ingredients into my good spaghetti sauce.  Hopefully I'll have more to say on Sunday. Maybe even a pie chart ;)

King of All Wild Things Doesn't Hold Back

Did you check out the pretty darn entertaining Guardian interview with Maurice Sendak? There's some strong hateration in there, for everything from e-books ("I hate them. It's like making believe there's another kind of sex. There isn't another kind of sex. There isn't another kind of book! A book is a book is a book") to Gwyneth Paltrow ("I can't stand her.").

Between all the the money quotes, there's some interesting background on Sendak's life. Who knew he was such a saucy character?

XKCD on Sharing

Hover Text: In the new edition of The Giving Tree, the tree uses social tools to share with its friends the best places to buy things

Don't Put Carrie in the Corner

Like a good newbie, I recently picked up Stephen King's On Writing: A Memoir of the Craft.

The cover of the edition I bought is terrific. Isn't it great peeking into a writer's workspace? And as a silly aside, I also kick my legs up on my desk during my day job, laptop in lap - it's seriously the most comfortable way to work. But I digress...

Along with being an interesting and smart read, there's a lot of wisdom in it. I just got to the part where he discusses his breakout novel, Carrie. After outlining then writing a few pages, King crumpled up the story and tossed it into the bin. He couldn't connect to Carrie (a high school girl), and didn't see the story going anywhere. His wife ended up finding the pages and saw the potentional. She convinced him to keep going, and even helped out with some of the non-paranormal horrors teenage high school girls face.

Of all his early characters, King said he learned the most from Carrie White. The two main lessons being: 

"The most important is that the writer's original perception of a character or characters may be as erroneous as the reader's. Running a close second was the realization that stopping a piece of work just because it's hard, either emotionally or imaginatively, is a bad idea. Sometimes you have to go on when you don't feel like it, and sometimes you're doing good work when it feels like all you're managing is to shovel shit from a sitting position."

Point #2 really resonates with me, and packs a more powerful pow than the typical 'don't give up' rally cry. Before Carrie, King was trailer park broke, working intense, draining hours to support his family, and slipping in one or two hours of writing every day. All of these moments lead up to a dramatic win - the kind all unpublished writers hope to have one day.

I've put almost 2.5 years now into my first book. This personally rocks because I can't count on two hands how many projects I've started, then shelved. I'm proud that I keep going with this story, even when I wanted to chuck my laptop off a tall building. Or when a newer, shinier idea popped in my head.  Or when my day job got so busy, I was getting home at 9 most nights.

And when I finally hit save for the last time - even if the story never gets published - it will still be a sweet victory.

Will post anything else I see of note in Mr. King's book - I'm sure there will be many nuggets of wisdom to choose from.