An Abundance of Katherines
August 20th, 2007 by Sara
HaikuReview: An Abundance of Katherines by John Green
X=good book
Where Y is graves, graphs, wild boars.
Therefore, read for laughs.
By the way, Sara Wilson anagrams to ‘Alias Sworn’
Sara Etienne to ‘A Insane Tree’
Posted in I heart this book, Haiku review, Books
August 20th, 2007 at 1:32 pm
excellent review. again, i am going to have to read this book. and i will, as soon as you read stardust!
-Ten Neon Yeti
Lower your standards (conference continued)
August 15th, 2007 by SaraEach and every morning, I have to get out of bed and choose, all over again, to be a writer. Sitting there at my writing desk, waiting for me, is Fear and his charming sidekick, Doubt. 
I don’t know about you, but my Fear is ugly. Massive chipped teeth, bad breath, twisted yellowing claws, not to mention his horrible paisley shirt. I have to walk over and kick him out of my chair, while he growls and shouts obscenities at me. But recently, I’ve been getting the upper hand.
How? you might ask.
“Lower your standards.” Lisa Yee imparted this sacred gem of knowledge at the SCBWI Writers’ Day this past spring. She didn’t mean that you should expect less from your writing. No. You have to lower you standards in the rest of your life, so that writing becomes your priority. Lisa lived this advice, somewhat humorously, by putting her kids to bed in their school clothes, so they were ready to go in the mornings. After all, she reasoned, the clothes were just going to get wrinkly anyway.
Lisa Yee’s not the first to suggest this radical priority shift. Donna Jo Napoli at the 2004 SCBWI Summer Conference stated that you could eat off her kitchen floor… for weeks without going hungry.
So at this year’s conference, when Elizabeth Partridge asked during her Sunday break-out session, “Would you rather have a clean house or a book?” my enthusiastic answer was, “A book!”
Now those of you that know me will also know that a clean house has never been a priority for me. While my bedroom was immaculate for an entire year once when I was 5, responsibility somehow lost its attraction for me along the way. But, I’ve taken the advice to heart in other ways.
I no longer apologize for my messy house. I’ve stopped using what other people might think about me as a criteria for the choices I make. And most importantly, since the conference, I’ve been setting tasks for myself or ‘manageable bites’ as Elizabeth Partridge put it. At the end of my writing day, I think about what I want to accomplish the next day and put them in my Writing to-do list. The list is purposely vague allowing me the flexibility that I need and love, but it lets me know what to do next, so I won’t wander off and start watching youtube videos. This has given me a tempting taste of success and I’m definitely ready for more. And Fear isn’t looking so cocky these days. He knows he’s not on my list.
Here’s a few of Elizabeth Partridge’s other pearls of wisdom (and a picture of one of her many books):
- Find 6 or 7 critical scenes in your book to be used as stepping stones. This way you know where you’re heading and how to get there.
- Barf on the page. Many people suggest this down and dirty outpouring of ideas for getting the first draft of your story.
- Write as many days in a row as you possibly can. Your story needs to be kept alive with your energy.
- Keep moving forward. Do not go back. Even if this means leaving large blanks or notes to yourself.
- Hang out with writers who have different skills than you, so you can strengthen each other.
- Make sure to take time to get re-inspired. Or as Julia Cameron puts it in The Artist’s Way, ‘Fill your well.’
August 20th, 2007 at 6:56 am
Hey I was just thinking You Tube may be great research for you…talk about a place where teenagers full of sadness and angst pour out their feelings! Watching some of those 15 year olds may help with your novel…not that I am encouraging any more pictures of that horrific dog!! Yuck!!! :) Meg
Channeling Faye
August 13th, 2007 by SaraI’m brain deep in character development, right now. Unfortunately it’s for Faye, the main character of a novel I’ve been writing on and off for 4 years. Same novel. From the very beginning, I knew Faye. Who she was. What she wanted. The concept in my head was brilliantly clear. Unfortunately, my writing wasn’t. 
After 3 revisions, Faye’s personality still isn’t coming across in my writing. I keep getting critiques (like the one at the conference) where people say they don’t want to spend an entire book with my character. To say that’s a big problem is like saying ‘I kinda want a book contract.’
And it’s not fair to Faye. I’m not doing her justice. Yes, she’s a little angsty. Yes, she might be crazy. But she deserves the reader’s affection or, at least, their undivided attention. She is, after all, the heroine.
And I think I’ve uncovered the problem. It isn’t that I don’t know who Faye is, but more I don’t know what Faye does. In the same way that you can love someone deeply, but not really know them until you’ve lived with them and discovered that they leave blobs of toothpaste in the sink and cute post-it notes scattered around the house.
So, I’m moving with Faye. Ransacking her CD collection. Mooching her chocolate hidden in the butter compartment of her fridge. Wearing her thrift store clothes out dancing. Peeking in the box of stuff shoved under her bed.
Unfortunately, since Faye lives in my brain, this is a bit trickier than it sounds. So I’m trying unorthodox methods. I’m desperate. I’ve made a mix for her/my ipod. ‘Get me away from here, I’m dying’ by Belle and Sebastian, ‘Psychobabble’ by Frou Frou, ‘Homesick’ by Kings of Convenience, are just a few of her songs. So, maybe she’s not so cheery. Give her a break, she’s 15.
I’ve also found a picture of Faye. She looks like the above picture of Juliet by John William Waterhouse, minus the renaissancey outfit. I’ve filled a shoebox with things that make me think of her. Pictures of Maine, smooth river rocks, packets of coffee.
There’s also some note cards in the box. I’ve jotted down questions I have for her, possible new scenes, food she likes, pretty much anything that comes to mind.
Hopefully, some of these things will help me channel Faye. Before I need an exorcism.
Posted in Characters, Revision, Writing
August 13th, 2007 at 4:30 pm
Super exciting stuff!!
Getting down and dirty. Spelunking. Sounds fun and rewarding!!
August 15th, 2007 at 9:20 am
Faye is lucky to have you! Erin wishes that her writer would spend a little more time doing things like that…
I know where you are with this. I’ve been trying to come up with a good system. For the record, I like Faye. I have to reading suggestions for you: The Story of a Girl and THe Year of my Mysterious Reappearance. Both feature characters who could be unappealing but aren’t.
August 26th, 2007 at 7:47 am
Hey, this is so cool! It makes Faye so REAL to you, and that will surely translate on the page. I especially like your finding a picture of her - okay, so the outfit’s all wrong, but there’s something cool about having a ’snapshot’ of your character as a springboard. It reminds me of what Tamara Pierce said, that she’s constantly cutting out pictures of people from magazines and putting them in a file, so that when she needs a new character, she just flips through her “casting” photos! I love that idea!
Rah! Rah! Saaa-rah!
August 29th, 2007 at 3:35 pm
Damon has drawn me pictures of my character. And even though I thought I had visualized her so thoroughly and told him exactly what to draw, he still made some things different than I imagined, which then inspired . . .
It really helps!!
Evil Genius Husband
August 12th, 2007 by SaraMilitant Slugs. Mutant Giraffes. Amoeba Teachers. This is what Today’s Artists are thinking, dreaming, and drawing about. 
Or at least the unbalanced people at Rhythm and Hues Studios.
Tony’s joined a collection of artists from work who look their creative sides straight in the eye and say, ‘Um…hello?’ Each week, ‘The Drawing Board‘ illustrates a new topic. This week’s topic, your favorite fat superheroes, definitely inspired Tony to take his creative side out to dinner, complete with in-depth discussion. As a result, he created a spectacular, slightly pathetic, and quite likable superhero. Congratulations, Tony. You’re AWESOME! Weight Watcher, Away!
Posted in Illustration, Nifty happenings
August 20th, 2007 at 6:46 am
That kicks Big Patutey!!!Is that a word? That is not only the best superhero I have ever seen…but the best drawn!!
A meeting of equals
August 11th, 2007 by SaraI’ve decided to do little mini entries about the conference as something strikes me. Here’s to the first of many. Also, click on Arthur Levine to check out the SCBWI website (where I shamelessly stole this picture, thanks!) for a great summary of the conference.
Arthur Levine is a genius.
And I don’t mean because he edited the Harry Potter books. He totally shifted my attitude about critiques with editors and agents. On Friday, there was a panel about how to deal with criticism and what to do with it. Well… we all know what to do with it, don’t we?
Ahem. Arthur said that critiques work best when they are a meeting between equals. But in what universe are Arthur Levine and I equals, you might ask? I, being a prepublished writer (kudos to editor, Dinah Stevenson, for that great term) and Arthur Levine having the power to buy my book and make me into a billionaire with a personal pool with a waterfall 
and twisty slide, my very own beautiful, italian espresso machine, and chocolates delivered daily from Switzerland. Sigh.
Actually, we’re equals in this universe. The one where a book is a creative endeavor between an editor and a writer. The editor, it turns out is just as excited about what your book can become as you are. They are also nervous, hoping you’ll like their advice about the story, hoping you’ll both work well together and have fun, dreaming of the possibilities that this new project will bring. (Not to mention the pool and the espresso machine they’ll get because of it making the NY Times Best Seller list for 5 months straight).
This advice was like fireworks exploding in my head. I didn’t have to pretend I didn’t care or summon some pseudo self-confidence. No, I just needed the right mindset. Find a way to remove the perceived power imbalance between editor and writer, so that you’re coming to the table as peers, both with the same goal of strengthening your story.
Thank you Arthur. You made my critique and conference so much funnerer and infinitely helpfuller. Maybe an editor will want my book now cause I write so good.
Posted in Conference, SCBWI, Nifty happenings, Writing
August 13th, 2007 at 4:27 pm
Hahahahahahahaha!! I like those last couple lines.
And the advice from Arthur, of course. My own issue is that I have a problem chatting with authors I’ve idolized too much. “I loved your book sooooo much” is a conversation killer.
Learning how to be an elephant
August 10th, 2007 by Sara
“It kinda feels like being an elephant in a room full of elephants, speaking on the topic of how to be an elephant…. I’m not sure what I know about being an elephant.”
This is how John Green (author of Looking for Alaska) started his speech about writing at the Society for Children’s Book Writers and Illustrators (SCBWI) Conference.
In other words, I just spent 4 intensive days learning how to be a better elephant. It was a whirlwind of inspiration, brilliant advice, and Aha! moments. Also, I got a hard-to-take, but fantastically perceptive and mind-opening critique, had jealousy occasionally nibbling my feet like a hungry fish, and, at the end of it all, had the desperate and undeniable need for beer and french fries. As with any good children’s story, it held obstacles, moments of mystery, thrills, doubts, and, most importantly, left us with the eternal ray of hope.
In my mind, the whole conference can be distilled down to 2 moments. One happened on Sunday, just before my manuscript consultation with Jennifer Hunt, the senior editor at Little, Brown (she’s awesome, by the way). A half hour before the critique, I climbed out of the cave that is the conference and into the sunshine in order calm the writhing monsters in my belly. So much for harmless butterflies.
I sat, feeling the sun beam down on my face, breathing deep. I let myself grab onto that tiny, twinkling idea that this meeting could completely change my life. Then, I put that idea down, next to all of the infinite other possible outcomes of the consultation.
I’d always thought of these critiques as the end point of the path. I’d write and I’d write and I’d write, chugging down the tracks, then I’d step out of the train, look around and either see the creepy hotel from The Shining or a glittering, pearlescent paradise with a free spa and endless dark chocolates on my pillow. And if the critique was disappointing, if I’d just stepped into The Shining after all, then it felt like I’d lost this enormous opportunity. I’d have to get out my Fodors Guide and start all over.
This time, though, I realized that this consultation was jut one moment of possibility along my path. It was neither an ending or a beginning, but merely a bright moment of hope among other moments. Perhaps a little cafe, instead of the hotel of destiny.
That changed everything about the experience for me and I sat there in the sun enjoying a perfect moment. I sipped my coffee, listened to shouts from the pool, and savored that hopeful ache I have to get my book out into the world. It is that yearning that makes me a writer, not the outcome of a critique or a submission. The yearning to translate the visions in my head onto paper, to share my stories with the world, to affect kid’s childhoods and adolescences the way great books affected mine.
The second moment, one I tried unsuccessfully to capture on my broken camera, came on friday. After a long day of talks and workshops and meeting new people, we all came back downstairs for the final speech of the day. And there in the lobby was ice cream. Not just any ice cream, but chocolate covered, Cherry Garcia ice cream bars. 1000 grateful, joyous people gobbled up ice cream and the energy, chatter, and excitement rushed back into the room. It seemed to me, that this was exactly what the conference was about. A thousand adults, who somehow never outgrew their childhood, all together to share the pleasures and wonderful gifts that our extended immaturity gives us. A unique ability to fully enjoy ice cream, stories, and silly pictures.
Well, I meant to blog about Arthur Levine’s brilliant critique advice, Ellen Wittlinger’s moving speech, and meeting Tamora Pierce and maybe I will later, but for now I’ll just try my hand at new form of short poetry I learned from Linda Sue Parks. A Sijo, kind of the Korean equivalent to a haiku.
We don’t talk commas, parenthesis, dangling whatevers.
We share beating hearts, cold shivers, fear down in our bellies.
And now there’s a new flap to my ears and a spring in my trunk.
P.S. But… you don’t have to take my word for it!
SCBWI website’s pictures and summaries (click on summer conference)
Lisa Yee blogs with AWESOME pictures here and here.
rhcrayon’s fabulous slideshow (complete with x-rated santa!)
Ken Min blogs about the conference’s illustrators
GottaBook (4 entires, starting August 4th)
More to come!!!!
P.P.S. thanks again to rhcrayon for the great Tamora Pierce picture. You’re my photography goddess!
Posted in Conference, SCBWI, Nifty happenings, Writing
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The way things should be…
August 2nd, 2007 by SaraA friend of mine passed away last week and I’ve been walking around with this hollow, dull, shell-shocked feeling. I didn’t get a chance to see him very often, but already, the world seems emptier without him.
Tomorrow morning, I’ll be walking into the SCBWI conference to pick up my badge. I’m going to turn around to get some coffee and he should be there, chatting with his critique group, an excited smile on his face.
Later, I should run into him in the hallway between sessions and we’d chat about which authors’ talks we loved and which ones we’d fallen asleep during. We’d compare notes about our individual critiques, pulling apart each phrase and dissecting it to get at what the editor had really meant when she’d said ‘nice font.’
He should be there. But I know in my sinking heart, that that is not going to happen. That shoulds do not always work out in this painful, beautiful world we live in. And so tomorrow there will be an terribly empty spot in the lobby where he should be standing. There will be an empty spot on my bookshelf where his book should’ve been sitting. And an empty spot inside of me.
No. Not empty. Full of the joy of knowing him and the sadness for all of us that will miss him.
Tomorrow, when I walk across that crowded room, I’ll smile and think of all the imagination, humor, and support he gave to us. Knowing that in that way, and so many others, he’s still right here with us.
Posted in Writing
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It’s the Most Wonderful Time of the Year!!!!!
August 1st, 2007 by Sara
No, it’s not Christmas yet… it’s CONFERENCE TIME!!!!!
Can’t you hear the “clang, clang, clang” of reclusive writers and artists everywhere, busting open the manacles that bind to them their keyboards? Friday, they’ll be brushing the confetti of shredded stories off their sleeves, crawling out of their caves, and blinking up into the dazzling LA sunshine.
Did I mention it was CONFERENCE TIME?
The Society for Children’s Book Writers and Illustrators (SCBWI) holds an annual summer conference here in LA and it’s by far the most spectacular event of the year. For me at least. I get giddy just thinking of all those kids and young adult books just waiting to be bought. Precious signatures to be inked across the title pages. Editors to be Schmoozed. AUTHORS to be Q&Aed. BUSINESS CARDS TO BE HANDED OUT!!!!
Okay, just let me just catch my breath for a minute…
So, this year, the highlight for me is Tamora Pierce. Can you say Trickster’s Choice? The Immortals Series? Strong women? Amazing fantasy settings? She’s one of my absolutely favorite authors and I can’t wait to hear her speak. I even sent her a fan email, when I heard she was coming to the conference. Shhhhhh….. don’t tell anyone!
She’s doing a talk in the main room on Saturday, but what I’m super looking forward to, is her smaller talk on ‘Developing Cultures in the Fantasy Novel.’
I’m also excited to see John Green, who wrote Looking for Alaska.
Susan Patron, LA’s most famous children’s book librarian, will also be there. She has the distinction of being this year’s Newbery Award winner and infamous user of the word ’scrotum’ on the first page of a middle grade book. Ah, fickle fame!
Other notables, Walter Dean Myers, Sonya Sones, Arthur Levine (check the spine of your Harry Potter books), Linda Sue Parks and so, so, so many more awesome writers,
illustrators, editors, agents, bloggers, poets, and, of course, attendees. We’ll all be partying together Saturday night!
Last, but not least, I’ve submitted a chapter to be critiqued by some random, unknown Book Person. Could be an author, editor, agent, or, perhaps, a yeti. I’ll make sure to tell you how the critique goes. I’m glad tear stains don’t show up on computer monitors… though there’s the much more disastrous possibility of shorting out my laptop!
See you on the flip side!
Posted in SCBWI, Nifty happenings, Books, Writing
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