Up For The Challenge

I’ve been working on my first young adult novel for the last three years. It’s been a huge personal and creative challenge and there’s been many times I’ve wondered why I’m doing this to myself. Yesterday, I was reminded.

Because it’s fun and because the teacher invited me, I went to visit a local high school’s creative writing class. I’ve been in a few times this semester, talking about various things. This time, I was sharing a couple of chapters from my work-in-progress so kids can see that revision is a natural part of the writing progress. I told them to go ahead and rip my work apart, I have thick skin. “This is how I’ll get my very best work,” I told them.

The kids took their job seriously. They had spot-on and insightful comments. But one student kept raising his hand and demanding an explanation. My story’s topic is a tough one: a girl’s older brother is kicked out of the house for being gay.  The student couldn’t wrap his brain around the idea that if a parent and child had an otherwise good relationship that Mom would kick him out for this one “flaw.” (His word, not mine.) I tried my best to explain that the world isn’t always the way we wish it to be. He wasn’t buying it.*

But then, from across the room, another student defended the idea. “It happens more than you think,” he said.** 

When the bell rang, this second boy hung back to talk to me and the teacher. He shared with us that when he came out as bisexual to his strict and religious parents that his dad didn’t speak to him for a week. He told us that his parents still don’t accept this part of him and that he’s lost friends and family members because of his orientation. He seemed okay with all of this, or at least resigned in the way many LGBT kids are. I told him I’m the mother of a gay child and asked him to give his parents some time to come around. “They’re on their own journey, too,” I said and hoped it was true.  

This kid - and all the other LGBT kids and their siblings - these are the people I’m writing for. And they are the reason I’m working so hard to get this book right. I’m honored to be a part of their story. It’s a huge responsibility and I going to work my butt off to make sure I’m worthy.

Now. If you’ll excuse me, I have a book to revise.

~Carmella

*I actually kind of loved that this young man couldn’t imagine being disowned by his parents for being gay. Wouldn’t it be wonderful if no one could? 

** When I was going through what the kids had written me, I found a note from a girl telling me that her cousin had also kicked out her daughter for being gay.  

Luck, Lightning Rods and the Publishing Industry: Tips On How To Make Your Own Luck - by Debbie Ridpath Ohi

I have mixed feelings about the word "luck" when it comes to publishing success because sometimes it's used in a context that doesn't give the writer enough credit for his or her own efforts or work.

At an SCBWI conference earlier this year, I overheard someone commenting to a friend of mine about how lucky she was in her publishing success. No reference to how hard she had worked or how much they enjoyed the book, etc. Just how very LUCKY my friend was.

Hm.

I've also been on the receiving end of the "you're SO lucky" comment several times as well, so can sympathize. In case you're not familiar with my publication story, here's what happened in 2010.

Yet part of me can understand the other person's point of view as well, having had experienced many (many) years of collecting rejection letters myself, in both print and digital format. I still so strongly remember how frustrating and depressing it could get, working hard to improving my craft and seeing increasingly encouraging comments from editors, yet never getting a book contract offer.

"Just write," common writing advice told me. "Don't give up!" Easy for YOU to say, I remember thinking. You're already published.

Here's what I've learned:

Luck does play a factor, but you can help make your own luck.

My friend Maureen McGowan (author of The Dust Chronicles) compares this kind of luck to building lightning rods. You can't control when the lightning will strike but you CAN build better lightning rods.

So my advice is to stop angsting about what you can't control and do what you can to make your own luck. Build better lightning rods.

Don't go overboard while building that lightning rod!

Some suggestions on how to build a better lightning rod:

1. Meet others in the industry. I can't emphasize this enough. Networking online is great, but nothing can replace face-to-face interaction. If I could send a message back to myself before lightning struck, I would have told myself, "Start attending SCBWI conferences." I mention the SCBWI because that's how everything got started in my case. There are many other excellent conferences and events that might better suit your budget, geography and goals. In Canada, check out Packaging Your Imagination in Toronto; registration for this year's conference has just opened.

Registration will also soon be open for the SCBWI Canada East convention in Montreal (Oct.4-6, 2013); I'm going to be on the faculty along with Bonnie Bader (Penguin), Jill Santopolo (Philomel), Linda Pratt (Wernick and Pratt Agency), Laurent Linn (my art director at Simon & Schuster Books For Young Readers!!) and David Diaz (Caldecott-winning illustrator and SCBWI Illustration Mentor rock star :-)).



2. And when I say "others in the industry," I don't just mean agents and editors. Meet other writers, both published and unpublished. You can learn from all of them. What helped me: commiserating with others who were in the same situation, for mutual encouragement as well as helping to put things in context. This improved my overall attitude, which I'm sure showed in my public posts. I also became better acquainted with some of these contacts over the years we have helped each other from time to time, including sharing of info and helping promote new books.



3. Establish an engaging, active presence online. Learn how to improve your website and/or blog. Learn how to use social media. I have heard many agents and editors say that before they sign a client or offer a contract, they do research online to see what kind of online presence the author may have, what kind of person they are, etc.


 
BUT REMEMBER:

All the above advice assumes that you already have a good mss with market potential. If your writing sucks or your story idea is lame/overdone, having the biggest and most technologically advanced lightning rod won't help. So...

4. Keep working on improving your craft. Write every day. Work on getting better. Find a good critique group like MiGWriters.

Do you agree or disagree? Any other advice to suggest for writers? Please do post it below.

-------------------
Debbie Ridpath Ohi writes and illustrates for young people. For a list of her current and upcoming books with Simon & Schuster, HarperCollins and Random House, see her Books list. She blogs about kidlit/YA at Inkygirl.com and tweets from @inkyelbows.

Dear Readers,

I ran out to get the newspaper yesterday and found a package on my doorstep. I’m not sure how it got there - my dogs have poor manners when it comes to someone walking up to our house. (Ax murderer, UPS guy - eh? It’s all the same to them. Bark! Bark! Bark!) 

I wasn’t expecting anything so I eagerly scooped it up and brought inside. It was from my new publisher, Holiday House - a book on the house’s first sixty-five year history. Tucked inside, there was a dated, handwritten note:

Dear Carmella,

Welcome to Holiday House - and thank you for being a part of this story.

It was signed John Briggs.*

Wow. How cool was that?

I guess I never really thought about myself as being a part of something bigger, part of someone else’s story and history. It was a neat feeling and an unexpected surprise. **

Later in the afternoon, I got to thinking about it. You know, if we write for children and teens aren’t we ALL part of something special and bigger than ourselves? Most of us will never make the New York Times Best Sellers list or win an award. Shoot. Some of us may never be published. (Or be published again.) But that’s okay. We’ve got one of the greatest callings in the world. To inspired, teach, reach, comfort, delight, and challenge young readers. 

So in case no one has told you this lately, thank you for being part of the story. Thank you for writing the books and poems and songs and for illustrating those stories that help make the world better and brighter. 

Best,

Carmella 

* He’s the current owner and president of Holiday House.

** I don’t mean to in any way suggest that my other publishers haven’t been awesome. Because they totally have. They show me love in different ways and I thoroughly enjoy being a part of their stories, too.  

Finis Cornonat Opus

My oldest son has been marching in the Blue Stars, a World Class drum and bugle corps, this summer. (You can check them out in action here. But please don’t ask me to pick out my son - I can never find him unless he’s standing still.) It’s his rookie year and, from what I hear, it’s been a baptism by fire. The drill* is killer this year. It’s incredibly fast and tight and the kids have been struggling all summer to clean it up** and gain the respect of judges who seemed to have pigeoned-holed them early on. I’m talking literal blood, sweat and tears, not to mention twelve hour days on the field. But last night, their last show of the regular season, the kids scored their highest yet and beat out a rival for the first time all summer. It was a real high for these kids who have been working their butts off. And it was a great way to for them to move into finals week. They seem to be peaking at just the right time. 

Why am I telling you all this? Well, besides the fact I’m a very proud mama? :-)  It’s because the Blue Stars have this great motto and I think it something worth sharing. 

Finis Cornonat Opus

It’s Latin and the basic translation is “The end crowns the work.” 

Isn’t that awesome? And so true. When I get bogged down in the messy, hard day-to-day work of writing, I try to remember this. Getting to the end will be worth it. Having a book I’m proud of will be worth it. All the work - the tears, angst, frustration, pain in my hands and wrists, research, worrying, never ending doubt and sacrifices to spend time writing - will pay off.  

I think that’s true for all of us. So this week, remember Finis Cornonat Opus and of course (cover your ears), GO BLUE STARS!!

* Drill - the visual lines and movement on the field

**Clean up - straighten their lines and move when they’re supposed to / play the right notes etc

The Drive to Write

As I struggle to get further ahead in the writing and publishing process (I’m in the “find an agent” phase), there’s always a new hurdle to face. Most of them seem to be about what I need to learn to get where I want to be.

A lot of my learning is through revising my novels, and sometimes I get to a point where I feel like I just can’t put any more hours into a project. Especially when it seems that there’s still so much more revision work to be done. The questions I’m trying to address are huge, because they usually involve rethinking the whole novel:

“How do I make my character stay real through the whole story?"

“How will I change the tone of the novel to match the ideas behind the plot?”

“How can I work on the pacing to make the entire novel more compelling?

None of them are quick fixes I can pull off in a couple of hours. To make matters worse, sometimes I get to a point where I can’t even tell if the changes I’m making are an improvement. [Usually that’s the time to take a break.] Am I really learning anything?

The feeling of not getting anywhere can be overwhelming. This week I really appreciated Shannon Messenger’s honest vlog about how, even after she got her agent, she considered quitting: Shannon Messenger Takes the Truth

I've considered quitting more than once this year, but I always end up persevering. Why? Part of it is because of the people cheering me on – my writing buddies and my family. Part of it comes from those small signs that I’m making progress – requested revisions, feedback from my crit group or beta readers. But ultimately, it comes down to me. If I didn’t have the drive to continue, the outside support wouldn’t be enough.

Writing is so embedded in my life that I don’t think I could stop. I also really hate to give up on anything. I even have visions of going back to those drawer novels one day and fixing them up. I always feel like I know I can do it, and this latest revision might be the one that helps me move closer towards my goal.

Some YA Highway love

Just a quick little post. One of the blogs I read on a regular basis is YA Highway. Today, there's a funny and spot-on-true post by Lelia Austin. I thought I'd pass it along if you're in need of a good laugh, need to hear you're not alone or just hate garden gnomes. Ready? Go....

HERE

I'm always on the lookout for awesome blogs to help me procrast... um, inspire me. What blogs do you read?

The Lifelong Influence of Good Children's Books

I was tidying up my office the other day and came across these:

I haven’t looked at any of these for a while but they still rank among my favourite books. They’ve always been part of my life. I remember going to the library many times as a child, signing them out or just sitting and reading my favourites. [My favourite is still The Tale of Two Bad Mice, but I also love The Tale of Peter Rabbit, The Tale of Benjamin Bunny, The Tale of the Flopsy Bunnies and The Tailor of Gloucester.] In high school, some of my friends and I even nicknamed one of our teachers "Puddleduck", after the character in The Tale of Jemima Puddleduck.

As an adult, I remember being thrilled to visit an exhibit about Beatrix Potter’s life and work, with her original sketches and paintings. My husband bought me the entire collection of the little books early in our marriage. And I “rediscovered” them again in reading them to my own daughters. On my bookshelves I have a biography as well as The Beatrix Potter Journal (a collection of letters, photographs, journal entries and art).

I think reading Beatrix Potter’s books and learning about her and her life planted the seed of my writing dream. Growing up, I was interested in drawing plants and tiny creatures from nature. And I made up stories about families of mice. The first novel I wrote was about tiny human-like people that live in a garden. It’s so interesting to see how the spirit and love of those tiny tales connects to so many different parts of my life and has influenced me as a writer.

-- Andrea

Comic: When The Inspiration Strikes...

Comic: Personal Muse

From the Inkygirl archives.

As I posted this comic, I realized that this actually ties in with Andrea's post last Friday. I know some people will disagree, but I think that everything we read influences us as writers. Maybe not directly (e.g. reading a Stephen King novel isn't necessarily going to make me write like Stephen King), but it does go into the melting pot that is my creative muse.

I read a wide range of books, from popcorn-type beach reads to nonfiction and literary, but I tend to mostly read books written for young people. Not just because that's what I write but (as Andrea says) because I enjoy them. When I'm writing a novel, though, I try not to read too many books by the same author in a row because I'm worried that that author's style will influence my own a little too much.

Looking Back for Inspiration

Lately, I've been feeling like the revisions on my current novel are taking forever. Guess what? I checked my notes and discovered I started writing the first draft last March. So, I've actually only been working on this project for a year (plus probably a few months where the idea floated around in my head and on the pages of my notebook).

Wow! That's hardly any time compared to my first novel.  It took five years before I reached the feeling that I'd completed it, or didn't know what else to do. I must be learning something.

Sometimes it can be encouraging to step back and look at the bigger picture. I often get caught up in the day-to-day details of writing, which have so many ups and downs. Sometimes a lot of downs. But a little over a year seems pretty reasonable for writing and revising a novel. Now I'm inspired to get my revisions finished!

Here are my goals for April:

1. Finish revisions on Novel #4.

2. Polish Novel #4. The feedback I'm getting from critique buddies suggests it might be ready to start subbing soon.

3. Write a query, pitch sentence and synopsis for Novel #4.

4. Oh yeah. And definitely decide on which title I'm going to use.

How is your writing project coming along? Have you ever found inspiration from looking back at what you've accomplished? What goals do you have for the coming month?

Investing in Your Writing

I’ve been thinking lately about what I mean when I call myself a writer. It’s not just about writing stuff when I get a chance. It’s about making an investment in myself, knowing that I'll be improving my writing. What kind of investment do I mean?

1. Making the time. Can you truly call yourself a writer if you don’t spend much time writing? It’s hard, but setting aside that time is about you telling yourself your writing is important. Slug through the hard parts and finish your project. Set aside some time to actually write.

2. Learning about the craft. They say you can improve your writing just by doing it. (Isn’t that cool? But see point #1.) Even more improvement can come by reading the work of other writers to see how they do things. And by finding out your weak points and learning more about them (now you know why I’ve been visiting The Plot Whisperer).

3. Going to Conferences. Okay, they are expensive and not for everyone (I haven’t been to one yet). It’s hard to ignore the benefits though. So much happens there that can’t be captured in a buddy’s blog post... all the great, inspiring stuff. And I keep hearing about people that get great agent and editor contacts, too.

4. Sending out queries. I have to admit I haven’t been so great about doing this. I’ll send out a few, then get some rejections. So I assume something is wrong with my novel and set it aside (because by then I’m already working on another one). Those queries aren’t always just about trying to get published. They are about you saying you are taking steps to reach your goal. No one will ever see your book if you don’t let them know it exists, right?

Investing in your writing is a way to say you believe in yourself.

How do you invest in your writing?

A great quote to start off July

Creativity is a selfless act, demanding you give of yourself simply for the sheer love of giving. We cannot give our work to the world expecting anything in return at all. That this simple act requires courage is merely creativity's gift back to us. (Suzanne Falter-Barns)