How to Use a Mentor Novel to Improve Your Writing

Some writers avoid reading books in the genre or age group that they’re writing for, because they don’t want to be influenced by a similar character, style or plot. But when I’m working on writing middle grade stories, I like reading middle grade books. I find that it helps to keep my mind firmly in the world of ages 9-  to 12- year olds and their humor and language. It’s the same when I’m working on a picture book – I want to read other picture books to get a feel for the pacing, language and level of humor.

Mostly, I read for enjoyment, hoping I’ll absorb something that will improve my own writing. But once in a while, I’ll take a favourite book and study it more closely to see why it’s successful and how I can make my own story more like that. And by more “like that” I mean, a story that gives a reader the same kind of satisfying, emotional experience that I get when I read one of my favourites.

It’s not that I copy the plot or even the writing style, but I try to uncover strategies that will strengthen my own writing. For example, not so long ago, I was stuck and not making much progress with revisions on one of my middle grade writing projects. So I studied The False Prince by Jennifer Neilsen to see what made it such a captivating read, and it reminded me of some things I could do to make my story stronger:

1. Make my character more active. There is never a dull moment in The False Prince. Even though some of what the main character is doing is “off stage”, he’s always up to something. As a reader, I feel like he’s always scheming and that keeps me hooked.

2. Bring out more voice. I really admired way Jennifer Nielsen gave readers a strong sense of Sage’s personality right from the beginning. My story has a totally different main character and perspective than Jennifer Nielson uses in The False Prince (my main character is a girl, and I’m telling the story in third person, not first), but by thinking about my "mentor novel" I could see that what my story needed was more of my main character's personality. I discovered that you need to be a little dramatic in creating your character’s voice, otherwise it can come across as too quiet or not distinctive enough.

3. Show most story events through the main character’s thoughts and feelings. I believe some people call this “interiority” (for more on that see literary agent Mary Kole's Interiority vs. Telling). To me, it means that if I'm describing trees, I'm describing what it is about the trees that is important or noticed by my character (and if she's not thinking about the trees, then I don't mention them). Through reading The False Prince, I realized that it's okay to "tell" the reader some things, if that's what the character is thinking about (just don't go overboard).

 

Do you ever use a novel as a "mentor text" to help you with your own writing?

For more tips, check out this post by Dee at Dee Scribe Writing, Tuesday Writing Tip: Why Writers Need to Read.

Finding My YA Voice

Lately, I’ve been working hard to find my YA voice.  But as we all know, voice is a slippery thing to pull off or even explain. Having spent a good bit of my time working on my recent middle grade, I’m finding it a challenge to get in touch with my 16-year-old self. But one of things my agent (the awesome Marie Lamba) suggested I do was write as if I was telling the story as my grownup self. It’s been helping. The way I “speak” and “see” things is a lot different now that I’m not trying to sound like what I think a teenager sounds like - but just sounding like myself.  

Here’s the original version of a scene where my 15-year-old MC is at the end of a secret date and debating whether or not to call her mom for a ride (note: AJ is the MC’s friend): 

Once outside the store, I checked my phone for the time. I suddenly felt like Cinderella. Only instead of running out of time at the ball, I was running out of time at the mall.  “I should probably call my mom for a ride,” I told Wil. 

“I could give you a ride,” he said. “I parked over by the food court.”

Did I dare? Maybe Mom and Dad wouldn’t look out the window when I pulled up. But what if (oh please, please, please) Wil wanted to kiss me goodnight? Mom and Dad would definitely notice if I didn’t come in right away. 

I decided the risk was worth it and texted Mom that AJ was giving me a ride home.

It was so much easier to lie when it wasn’t in person. 

  Okay. Notice the reference to Cinderella? How about the “Did I dare?” and the “oh, please, please, please” ? All very junior-high-ish. A young girl playing dress up. A romantic version of a date. (Don't judge me - I'm still learning! lol) 

Here’s the updated version of the same scene: 

I don’t really want this maybe-a-date to end but I check my phone for the time. “Crap,” I say. “I should call my mom for a ride.”

“I can take you home,” Wil says. “I’m parked by the food court.”

It’s a huge risk. If Mom or even Dad is looking out the window when I pull up, I’m dead. 

But then I think, what the hell?

  I text Mom that AJ is giving me a ride home and that I’ll be back soon.

It’s so much easier to lie when you don’t have to do it in person. 

My MC is now 16-years-old (and you might have noticed the change in tense) but   see how her attitude is also more daring? No fairly tales and more realistic language. She’s still calculating the risk of having the boy drive her home but she’s more impulsive. (I cut 32 words to help convey this.) As a 16-year-old, of course she’s planning on a goodnight kiss. And even though she’s still worried about being caught, I don’t come out and *say* that - it’s simply implied by her thinking about Mom and Dad looking out the window. 

I still have a long way to go, of course. But I think I’m making progress. What tricks do you use to find your young adult voice? 

Voice- The Song of the Writer

You hear editors and agents continually asking for stories with VOICE in it. They want to hear a distintive sound, different from what they have already seen. So of course the question writers ask back is what is voice?

Jill Santopolo in her interview here talks about the writer's voice as their 'soul print'. She goes on to share that the best way to find your author's voice is to keep writing and writing.

She says, "The same way I can walk down the street and recognize the work of certain clothing designers or architects, I should be able to read a book and recognize the soul print of the author who wrote it."

I often think of it as the sound the author wants to create with their words. Depending on how you construct your sentence, it will give you a different sound.

Think of it like music. There are different categories such as classical, R&B, pop, soundtracks. The words in a book also could fall into different categories.

Look how different each of these phrases pulled from various books sounds:

"The Mudshark was cool. Not because he said he was cool or knew he was or thought it. Not because he tried or even cared. He just was." From MUDSHARK by Gary Paulsen

"I tread slowly, my bare feet giving me an advantage because on this rich green carpet I'm practically silent. I pass the doors, listening for sound, signs of life. But the only sound comes form the door at the end of the hallway that's slightly ajar. There are moans, gasps." From WITHER by Lauen DeStefano

"Yikes. I slam my hand down on the paper. Sucking in a deep breah, I peek under my palm again. Yikes again. A fat red F shimmers before my eyes, its wide arms swaying, mocking me, calling me lame names." From i so don't do mysteries by Barrie Summy

I love how each of those lines gives me a totally different feel, a different sound. They are music rising up from the pages.

Great links for more on The Writer's Voice:

• 10 Steps to Finding Your Writing Voice- by Holly Lisle
• Don't forget to reread Andrea Mack's post (one of our own MiG Writers) here
• Maggie Stiefvater has a some good insights on Teen Voice on her blog

What are some books with great voice that you recommend?

~ Christina

Writers & Voice (Part 2): Stephen Pressfield & The Fabrication Of Voice

Previous: Part 1

As I mentioned in my previous post, there often seems to be an aura of mystery around the whole concept of voice in writing. I've heard some say it can't really be defined, that a writer with a middle grade voice can't write YA (and vice versa). That having "a strong voice" is necessary for some genres but not others. That you can't change your voice so therefore it's important to find what your own writing voice IS so you can write the appropriate type of material.

I've been wrestling over how to approaching this series of posts and I've decided that I'm going to start out by looking at how different writers approach voice.

Stephen Pressfield is an American screenplay writer and author of historical fiction. His blog post, The Writer's Voice, was fascinating.

Stephen points out that the writer's voice is fabricated:

"The critical fact to remember is that the writer’s voice is artificial. It’s an act of artifice, crafted by the professional to achieve a specific effect in a work of the imagination. It’s not the “real” writer’s voice and if you try to find your own, you’ll drive yourself crazy. Because “you” don’t really exist. I don’t either, no matter how convincingly anybody tells us that we do or how much we choose to believe it. But that’s a subject for another chapter."

On the role of voice:

"The writer’s voice casts a spell. The right voice makes the work accessible; it gives us the tone and point of view that best illuminate the material and make it shine."

On finding the right voice for your story:

"To me the trick is getting your own ego out of the way. What voice does the material want? Find that. You the writer are not there to impose “your” voice on the material. Your job is to surrender to the material–and allow it to tell you what voice it wants in order to tell itself."

What I got out of this blog post:

According to Stephen Pressfield, a writer should theoretically be able to change his or her voice from one story to another. In fact, the voice SHOULD change and be created to best suit the material:

The writer’s voice (or director’s, choreographer’s, photographer’s, entrepreneur’s) arises from the material itself and acts in service to that material. It can, and often does, change from book to book, dance to dance, album to album, business venture to business venture.

This is encouraging news for someone like me. I've been told that my novels are written with a strong middle grade voice. While this is fine for my middle grade novels, what if I want to write YA? And what about specifics? What's the best way to change voice?

More in my next post.

You can read Stephen Pressfield's full post on The Writer's Voice.

-- Debbie Ridpath Ohi

Finding your YA voice

My senior photo

Along with Debbie, I’ve recently committed myself to learning more about the elusive thing known as “voice.” This began because, like my critique buddy, I’ve been repeatedly told I have a middle grade voice. I take that as a great compliment and embrace it. But (there’s always a “but” isn’t there?) I have an idea for a YA book and would really like to expand my skills and nail the YA voice.

Turns out I’m more in tune with my inner-twelve-year-old. But I’ve been working hard to get in touch and reconnect with my inner-sixteen-year-old. It may not be very scientific, but here are some ways I’ve been trying to do that lately:

Reminisce about my first, high school love. Fortunately, I married the guy so this has been easy for me! I’ve been asking myself: What made me fall in love with him? What kinds of things did we do (including those things we *don’t* tell our three kids about - ha ha)? What did we fight about? What dreams did we have as a couple?  

Listen to the music I listened to in high school. It’s amazing how hearing Melloncamp’s “Jack and Diane” or Prince’s “DMSR” takes me right, smack back sixteen. 

Watch shows that are popular with today’s teens like Glee, Skins and Teen Mom. These shows may or may not accurately reflect today’s teens true experience, but they’re still good when you’re trying to tap into dialog and possible story lines. (Sixteen and Pregnant and Teen Mom - guilty pleasures of mine since season one - especially remind me how girls that age think and how they tend to romanticize relationships.) 

Pay closer attention to my older teenagers. Yes, they’re boys but they have girl friends and girlfriends. I eavesdrop when I can on their conversations and ask about who’s posting what on Facebook etc. And I’m trying to remember what it was like to learn to drive and decide on a college - things very much on their minds these days. 

Keep in touch with high school friends. Awhile ago, a former classmate found me via Facebook. So now I can keep in touch with her as well as other classmates. 

Going to my class reunion site. Though I didn’t attend the last class reunion, there are lots of pictures and seeing those familiar faces can help bring back memories. If I still had them, I’d also go through my old yearbooks, too. (Speaking of class reunions - there is no freaking way *I* should be having a 25 year reunion! I'm too young. Ack!) 

Any other ideas for reconnecting with your inner teenager you’d like to share?

~Carmella 

Writers and Voice: Part 1 in a Series

I've been told that I have a "middle grade voice" in my novels and I used to be okay with that. Now, however, I want to find out more.

As I start to explore writing different types of books and pushing my personal creative envelope,  I've become a lot more interested in the whole concept of voice. It's a common term in the publishing industry. Editors and agents are always looking for new voices, a strong voice, a unique voice. "WONDERFUL voice in her book!" a review will declare...but what do they actually mean?

I've come across many different definitions of voice. Some editors say it's hard to define a great voice, but they recognize one when they see it. Others say it includes word choice, sentence and story structure, and even the way you use punctuation.

Anyway, I'm going to be doing some in-depth research about voice as it applies to one's writing, and sharing what I learn. In this series of weekly blog posts, I'm going to be answering the following questions:

What IS voice, exactly?

How important is voice, compared to other factors in your writing?

How can you figure out what voice YOU have? How can you develop your voice?

Can a writer have more than one type of voice? Can a middle grade writer develop a YA voice and vice versa? How?

Stay tuned for more. Plus check out the comic I recently posted about voice on Writer Unboxed.

--- Debbie

INKYGIRL: An Illustrated Guide For Writers