No Jumping, No Wings. Ever.

September 10th, 2008 by Sara

So… it’s that time again. Time to debrief from the SCBWI Summer Conference.

What? What’s that you say?

I already wrote about the conference? Well, tonight I have to host a whole SCBWI Schmooze on the topic, so you’re gonna hear about it again, whether you like it or not! In hopes of inspiring people to send their writing out, I’m mostly going to stick with info about editors and agents that I heard speak. What they’re looking for and what they love.

But first, let’s start off with Bruce Coville’s 7 deadly sins for writers: Dullness, Repetition, Sloth, Inattention, Perfectionism, Clumsiness and Cliche. He had virtues too, but hey, sins are more fun!

Diane Muldrow, an editor with Golden Books talked about making good picture books that are accessible to every child. This is what she is looking for in a book: Perfect for reading aloud. Doesn’t have too much text. Lively stories that convey the wonder of everyday experiences that are new to a child. Has a ‘twist’ that makes it special (a riddle, a game, a little joke that the kid is in on.) A book that will backdate well and become a classic.

Michael Bourret, an agent at Dystel and Goderich, gave a great talk about queries. His general suggestions were to have a killer opening with a great hook ie., don’t start with dry details such as word count or genre. Let the query represent your writing. And have 3 clean versions of your query letters ready for you to choose from so you can better match the agent’s personality. He also mentioned that is is looking particularly at voice. And he suggested simultaneous queries when looking for agents.

I took a revision class with Julie Strauss-Gabel at Dutton’s Children’s Books, but I think I need a whole different post for that class. Simply put, for her it’s all about voice, voice, voice.

The up and coming editor panel was great. My favorite part was the list of 3 books the editors wished they’d published. It gave an unique window into what they’re really looking for. Here’s the list, but I was writing fast, so I can’t promise they’re all right!

Gretchen Hirsch from HarperCollins: (looking for smart and sexy books, paranormal YA, soft spot for dogs) Don’t Let the Pigeon Drive the Bus by Mo WiIllems, Weetzie Bat by Francesca Lia Block, and The Disreputable History of Frankie Landau-Banks by E. Lockhart.

Amalia Ellison from Amulet Books: (looking for eclectic/commercial, paranormal YA) Twilight by Stephanie Meyer, Goose Girl by Shannon Hale, and Holes by Louis Sachar.

Nancy Conescu from Little Brown: (Self-declared “girly” person) Emily Gravett’s books, Clementine by Sara Pennypacker, and John Green’s books. In another talk at the conference, she said she’s looking for a different take on familiar subjects, like Vampirates. She divulged that she looks at Etsy.com and other artistic websites to find illustrators. She also mentioned edgier YA.

Namrata Tripathi from Hyperion Books: (Literary/Eclectic) The Patron Saint of Butterflies by Cecilia Galante, Wave by Suzy Lee, and Living Dead Girl by Elizabeth Scott.

If you didn’t go to the summer conference or hear these specific people speak, hopefully this post has given you a little peek into what they are looking for. So, now I’ll leave you with these last thoughts to motivate you to get those manuscripts out!

Leonard Marcus shared this wonderful quote from the great editor Ursula Nordstrom, “Is there any prettier sight in the world than that of someone sticking out his neck?” (I hope I got the wording right!)

And since I started with Bruce Coville, I’ll end with him too. He shared this scary and invigorating thought about writing: When you get to the edge of a cliff, jump. If you don’t jump, you’ll never grow wings. Ever. He may have said this more artfully, but you get the point. Send that book out!

Posted in Conference, SCBWI, Nifty happenings

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Not, not, not a box!

August 26th, 2008 by Sara

*First off, apologies to Antoinette Portis and her modern classic picture book, Not a Box for leaning on her wonderful pictures and themes. Go buy Not a Box! *

A box is a cozy place to be. It’s dark and quiet, with plenty of corners to curl up in. You can touch the walls around you and make certain they are there. You can make up all kinds of stories in your box in complete safety.

The box can be very important for stories just starting out life. The kind that will be vaporized under the hot sun. But if you stay in the box, that’s all they’ll ever be. Never sizzling, incredible, best-selling novels. Just stories.

Right now, I’m working hard on revising my young adult novel. I’m digging deeper to find my character’s voice. I’m pushing harder to make the world a scarier and more rewarding place for my characters. And it’s working. But when I’m try to get those characters from Point A to Point B, I’m still relying on my box.

I just keep doing it over and over. Moving my pawns around efficiently, but without regards to what builds tension or plays better for the reader. I’m just making making my story happen and working around my obstacles the easiest way possible. And easy does not make a good read.

So, I’ve started to keep a few things in mind, hoping that these tricks will help me cut some holes in my box so I can see my way out of it. One of these tricks I learned in Julie Strauss-Gabel’s revision class at the SCBWI summer conference (Thanks Julie and the class for your excellent advice!) and it was a big Aha! moment for me. Obstacles can be solutions.

Often, when I come up against a plot point that doesn’t make sense, I’ll ignore it… hoping maybe the readers won’t notice. An example: My main character, Faye climbs up to a roof to escape. A security guard is standing nearby, so she has to be quiet. Later, a roof tile breaks free and smashes on the ground. Problem: Why doesn’t the security guard react?

I came up with all kinds of rationale for this in my mind. Was he rocking out to his favorite Britney Spears song? Were the clouds so interesting that he got distracted? Did a venomous scorpion sting him, plunging him into a coma? Come on, these are very realistic scenarios! But for some reason my readers weren’t buying it.

Solution: The scene actually works better with the security guard noticing. It gives Faye someone to interact with. It builds tension. And it grounds the scene in reality. And voila! The obstacle is the solution.

I guess in the same way, the box is the solution. If you get yourself out of it, flip it over, and stand on top, you can reach higher or use it to go farther than you have before. Then it’s not, not, not a box! Vroom! Vroom!

Posted in Conference, Authors, SCBWI, Revision, Books, Writing

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Conference Karma

August 11th, 2008 by Sara

Recently I’ve been really feeling good about my writing. I’ve had quite a few “Aha!” moments and, slowly but surely, my story is transforming into a novel. By this, I don’t mean that I’ve been making it longer or writing the acknowledgements page (don’t worry, you’re totally mentioned).

No. What I mean is that before, my manuscript was the story of a character, Faye, that I loved and crafted and who was very much alive in my mind. Now, Faye and her world is strong enough to live in other people’s minds. To capture their interest and make them ask the most important question in the realm of books. “What happens next?”

I can’t express how grateful I was that my suspicion, that Faye was finally alive and kicking, was confirmed at this summer’s SCBWI conference. One editor assured me that my ‘voice’ was strong enough. Another editor expressed interest in looking at the whole book and asserted that she really thought there was something there. Topping it all off, on Sunday I found out that I was nominated for the Sue Alexander Award for most promising critiqued manuscript at the conference.

Well, aside from bragging and shouting from the rooftops, what I’m trying to say is… “She’s Alllllllllive! She’s Alllllllive!” Now, if she only would stop clomping around all night and eating brains!

Posted in Conference, SCBWI, Revision, Nifty happenings, Writing

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100 days, 1000 books

September 23rd, 2007 by Sara

Linda Sue Park recently said, at the SCBWI Summer Conference, that before you can write a good picture book, you had to read 1000 of them. There was a similar equation for novels, 500 novels (or, she amended, any type of book) before you could write one yourself. Well, I’m fairly certain I’ve accomplished the 500 novels part, but I’m sorely lacking on the picture book front. So here I go!

I’ve decided to read 1000 picture books in the next 100 days. Yes, folks! That’s 10 books a day! By January 1st! Can she do it? Who knows? But it’ll sure be fun trying!

Click here to see what I’ve read so far.

“And now,”cried Max, “let the wild rumpus start!”

Posted in The Great Picture Book Read, Conference, SCBWI, Books, Writing

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A meeting of equals

August 11th, 2007 by Sara

I’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

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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!) 

See the entire SCBWI conference audience, Lisa Yee, Arthur Levine, and of course, John Green on his video blog (which then has nothing to do with the conference).

Ken Min blogs about the conference’s illustrators

GottaBook (4 entires, starting August 4th)

Linda Sue Park’s blog

More to come!!!!

P.P.S. thanks again to rhcrayon for the great Tamora Pierce picture. You’re my photography goddess!

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