Quote of the Week: Tristan Riehl

99 Problems But the Witch Ain’t One

By Mary Pleiss

When I was a little girl, the witches I knew came from fairy tales. They were old, ugly, and mean–life ruiners who cast evil spells with no provocation. My young friends and I ran into the problem of the witch in our play. We didn’t want to meet a witch in a dark forest or a bright one, even if that forest was the pair of trees in our backyard. Certainly none of us wanted to be the witch. But we knew we had to have a witch. Witches made things happen, provided scary, shivery tension, and gave the good characters something to fight against and overcome.

We often solved this problem by keeping the witch offscreen; we called out plot points detailing the unseen, unheard witch’s actions: “Now the witch is casting her spell. If you get to the swing set, you’re safe!” or, “You stepped into the witch’s clover patch–you’re trapped!” We could imagine the witch without casting her because we’d read stories and seen movies (mostly Disney movies and of course The Wizard of Oz). We knew witches well enough to weave them into our play without having to face the fact that we all had it in ourselves to be witches.

In sixth grade, I read Elizabeth George Speare’s The Witch of Blackbird Pond, and I started thinking about witches in a different way. What made the people of Wethersfield believe Hannah Tupper and Kit Tyler were witches, when any reader could see they weren’t magical or evil–just a little bit different? Why did their neighbors feel the need to banish or imprison them? If Hannah and Kit weren’t really evil, what did that say about the fairy tale witches I’d always feared and hated?

The witches in our fiction today are very different from those in fairy tales, and it turns out that even the Wicked Witch of the West has more complexity than I realized when I was growing up. I knew her from the movie, but reading the books as an adult, and learning more about the history of the Oz books in particular and witches–and those who were accused of witchcraft–in western culture has witches in a new light. L. Frank Baum was heavily influenced by his mother-in-law, Matilda Gage, who was an historian and feminist who promoted influential theories about women who were called witches in history. Baum had those theories in mind when he populated Oz with witches who were more dimensional than what had come before; they had backstories and motivations, and while some of them were evil, just as many were good.

Since Baum, of course, a number of children’s and YA writers have included witches–and women accused of witchcraft–in their stories. Whether bad, good, or somewhere in between, those witches have developed into characters with more depth and complexity than even Baum could have imagined. As societal attitudes about the roles of girls and women have evolved, fictional characterizations of witches have changed, and we can’t  get away with taking the problematic witch offscreen or making her a one-dimensional villain. Now, when we write about witches, we work to make them as dimensional as all of our other characters, and our problem becomes the same as that we face with most other characters: how do we bring the witch to life?

Here are some suggestions and questions you can ask yourself if you’re including witchy characters in your fiction:

Consider doing some research into historical witches and witchcraft trials. You might find an angle or a detail no one’s ever written about before.

If your witches really do practice magic, is their power individual or communal, or some combination of both? Is magic learned or innate? Can you make witchcraft/magic a source of conflict, rather than a crutch that relieves it?

Does your character need to make choices about her “witchiness”—whether it’s to become a witch, to fully use or curtail her own power, or to educate herself about her power? Against or for whom she will use her power? Will she embrace her power right away, or resist it?

These are, of course, just a start to creating fully realized witch characters, but they’re a way to turn the witch into an integral part of your story, rather than a flat stereotype. Give your readers more to think about when you write witches, so that kids who play pretend will argue over who gets to be the witch, rather than relegating her to an offscreen ghost.

Mary Pleiss: Though some might say all the hours Mary Pleiss spent haunting the library and disappearing into book worlds hinted at her future in writing for middle grade and young adult readers, she confesses that at the time she just thought it was a good way to escape her noisy family (she loves them, really, but six siblings can be a bit much at times). She is a curriculum development specialist, teacher, and recent graduate of Vermont College of Fine Arts, with an MFA in Writing for Children and Young Adults.

Follow Mary on Twitter: @MKPleiss

This blog post was brought to you as part of the March Dystropian Madness blog series. 

Are You Writing Propaganda?

I was recently reading a book and halfway through it I realized I was reading propaganda! By propaganda, I mean that the author clearly had an idea that he/she wanted to promote with the book and was using the fictional device as a vehicle for that idea. I was simultaneously intrigued and appalled. I was impressed by the author’s ability to pull me into the story and make me feel. But I was appalled by how easily I was manipulated, particularly when I realized the manipulation.

This got me thinking about our authorial agenda as we write.

It’s not uncommon to start a book with a particular idea or point of view in mind. For example you might want to write about teen pregnancy, or school shootings, or true love, or any number of topics that you personally might have an opinion about. And here’s where it gets tricky… we should write about topics that we care about and are interested in. But, the question is: should we force our opinions onto our characters, their lives, and situations? If we do that, are we no longer telling honest stories? Are we instead creating propaganda where our characters become vehicles for our opinions?

I need to take a moment to define propaganda, particularly because it has a strong negative connotation. When we say the word propaganda, it’s easy to think about something “evil,” like war propaganda. We think of lies and rumors and things created with malicious intent. In fact, the dictionary definition reinforces this idea:

Propaganda:  information, ideas, or rumors deliberately spread widely to help or harm a person, group, movement, institution, nation, etc. The deliberate spreading of such information, rumors, etc.

But notice the key words I point out below, particularly in relation to our own intent as writers for children:

Propaganda:  information, ideas, or rumors deliberately spread widely to help or harm a person, group,movement, institution, nation, etc. The deliberate spreading of such information, rumors, etc.

When we focus on just the positive words related to Propaganda we see where propaganda comes from. Ultimately, one probably doesn’t think they’re spreading propaganda, they believe they’re sharing an idea that they think will help others. As adults writing for children, I think we may have a lot of ideas (and agendas) about how to help and influence children, including values and beliefs that we think will make them grow into healthy and happy human beings. It seems like a noble thing to do. Not to mention that literature as a “teaching tool” has a long history in children’s lit. But do we have the kids in mind when we do this, or are we working in service of ourselves and our own beliefs?

I speak from experience when I ask this. Not too long ago I was writing a YA novel about virginity. I wanted my character to not have sex and to realize that abstinence was an okay choice and she was a good person for choosing it. I clearly had an agenda! But you know what…I couldn’t do this book justice. I wrote draft after draft and it never worked. This is because what I wanted my character to do was not what she wanted to do. The issues of my book were much deeper, more complex and fascinating, than I was allowing them to be. I was trying to force my ideals into the book and it became didactic and soul-less in the process.

In a recent lecture at school, one of the faculty members said:

“It’s not our job [as writers] to take sides. If we do we are writing propaganda. It’s our job to advocate for both sides.”

I’ve come to agree with this statement, because the amazing thing is – my story came alive – when I let go of what I wanted to say and let my characters be honest to themselves and direct themselves through the difficult questions and issues that the novel wanted to explore. The story became infinitely more complex, deep, and honest without my meddling little hands on it.

Personally, I search for truth in my writing. That’s my bottom line. Truth. And I don’t think I can find the truth of my story with my agenda in the way. There’s a great quote that goes something to the effect of: “True wisdom is knowing that you know nothing.” And I take this nugget with me when I sit down to write. I may have my opinions, but I don’t know what my character needs. She does and she will tell me. All I can do is advocate for her, and advocate for her antagonists as well, so that she is truly challenged in her beliefs.  And it turns out, that in this writing process, sometime my beliefs get challenged too. But isn’t that what we really want to do with our writing? Don’t we want our readers to think for themselves and decide what they want to agree or disagree with, believe or not believe? Mustn’t we show both sides in order to have them do this?

Here’s some good gut-check questions to see where you stand with your story (and be honest with yourself):

Is there something you want your character to learn in this book? Or is there something you want your reader to learn from this book?

Are you willing to let your book develop and your characters to learn a different truth than you may have set out for when you started writing? If not, why not?

Do you allow your character(s) to make choices or take actions even if they will move the story in a direction other than the one you want it to go in? If not, what are you afraid will happen if they go in a new direction?

Have you ever found yourself forcing your character’s reactions to story events? If so, why does it feel like you’re forcing them?

Have you looked deeply into the other “side” of your story? What’s the point of view that’s the opposite of your protagonist’s? Have you only skimmed the surface or have you given it a chance to try to convince your protagonist that there’s a different way to live her life?

Have you simply let things fall into the camps of good vs. evil?

Do the answers to these questions mean you are writing propaganda? Not necessarily. I mention them only to point out how we – as authors – might be directing our stories more than we should, how we might have blind spots we weren’t aware of, and to explore how there is depth and complexity in some of the opportunities we may not be considering.

One of my current philosophies on writing is that if I want my character to read like a real honest living human being, then I must treat her like one. I must allow her to make her own decisions. I must not judge her if she makes choices that I am opposed to (even morally). I cannot force my character to do anything, and if I do, she’s no longer a human but a pawn of my story. I must do my best to respect, understand, and empathize with my character in order for her to come alive and trust me with her secrets. And I think we should do this for all our characters, even the villains and antagonists.

Truth is not an easy thing to find. But if we put our own agendas and preconceived notions aside and truly follow our characters on their journeys, I think we might have a better chance at finding it together.

School, Drool, and Other Daily Disasters

School, Drool, and Other Daily Disasters was the title of author Rachel Vail’s keynote speech at the SCBWI LA 2010 Conference. In it she shared her process, writing for middle grade readers, and how to get inside your characters head. Notes from her speech are as follows:

Why Do We Read?

• A book is more than a story well told. It needs to have humor and heart.
• The theme of my writing career has been: What does love require of us?

My Writing Day…

• Typing
• Making Tea
• Wandering around and imagining
• Making more tea

Books That Really Influenced Vail:

• Of Mice and Men
• Tales of a 4^th Grade Nothing

What is Middle Grade?

• Middle grade is the age group of 3^rd through 7^th graders.
• Most middle grade books are structured like a one-act play.

What is the Middle Grade Dilemma?

• Middle grade is the moment you emerge into the world and you discover that your family is weird.
• It’s when you wonder if there are others out there like you.
• Life or death moments are a dime a dozen in middle grade. Those feeling knock you down. Your bones ache you are growing so fast.
• Little kids harbor secrets and worries that adults are not privy to.
• Being brave is not the same as being fearless.
• Remember that one somebody who took you seriously when you were a child? (Vail shared a story about her uncle who was the only one who wanted to know the rain cycle, which she had just learned in school and was excited to share with someone).

The Impossible Task of Writing…

• Writing a book opens a window.
• Writing a book is like building a sky scraper from the top down. You build, and then tear it down. You build again, and tear it down again.

Getting Inside the Head of Your Character…

• How do we become someone else? We aren’t all memoirists.
• Start with what you know.  J.K.Rowling probably didn’t live in a cupboard as a child, but she may have lived in a metaphorical one. I’m sure she knew the loneliness and dreamed of more.
• Mine and re-purpose. I write for a girl who is like me but not like me.
• Try speed writing. Write for ten minutes on your dad’s car. Go!
• Voice sometimes comes later, after many drafts.
• We have to listen to our characters as much as we do our own kids. It’s just as hard.

Finding Your Story…

• Michelangelo once said that when he was sculpting he was “chipping away at the stone to find the sculpture inside.” It’s the same thing for writing only we have to barf out our first draft to get a stone.

Great Notes from Rachel Vail’s Breakout Sessions:

• How acting can help you to develop character.
• Writing the adolescent voice.

Rachel Vail has written over 30 books for kids through teens. Her most recent include her trilogy for teens: Lucky, Gorgeous and Brilliant; and her novel for kids Justin Case: School, Drool, and Other Daily Disasters.

Seeing Your Characters: Creating Adolescent Charaters From the Inside Out

Author of over 30 books, Rachel Vail, has created her own fair share of characters. As an author of young adult, middle grade, and picture books, Vail gave insight on how to create believable adolescent characters for all age groups. The following notes were taken from her breakout session at the 2010 SCBWI LA Conference.

You Are Your Best Source…

• We often feel like our own lines are boring and obvious. But we are sometimes our own best source of material. Start with what you know.
• You contain multitudes!
• If you want, start with your own story. It’s a way in. A way to start writing.

Find a Core Part of Your Character to Guide You…

• A note Vail left on her computer for herself said “Don’t redeem Morgan.” This was an important point for her character. She didn’t want to redeem the “mean” character. However later, she replaced this note with the word “Shattered.” This seemed a deeper element of the character and why she was mean in the first place.

Writer’s Block is a Character Problem…

• If you find you are blocked it means you don’t know your character well enough.
• It could also mean you are avoiding a certain scene that you are afraid to write but the book probably needs you to write.
• If your character starts to use dialog where they say things like “I don’t even know what I want anymore,” the character is talking to YOU the author. The character lacks motivation and is asking you for some!

Use a “Character Form” to Develop Your Characters…

• A Character Form is a list of questions you ask your character so you can get to know them better and really understand who they are. These start out simple with what the character looks like and their mannerisms. But you want to be sure to get into more complex questions as well. Some character form question examples are:
• My name is _____________. Who named her/him? Who are they named after?
• Character age____________.
• How do I look? This is a good question to answer in the voice of the character. This is more than the physical appearance. This is the character’s opinion of his/her own appearance. This will really help you to find the character’s voice.
• I cannot stand….
• I love my mother, but…
• My friends are…
• I wish…
• If I could change one thing about myself it would be…
• What is my favorite food?
• I love to wear…
• The worst thing I ever did… (this is a great one to help you with plot!)
• I wish I was more…
• Don’t panic if your character surprises you when answering these questions. That’s a good thing! That means your character is coming to life.

First Drafts and Brutal Rewriting…

• The story begins when the main character’s life is thrown off balance. Your job is to re-find balance for your character.
• A fully developed and realized character is not going to come out in the first draft. It will probably be somewhat boring and cliché. That’s okay. That’s what’s at the front of your head. Draft and re-draft!
• Astonish yourself! Your first draft is what you know. Re-writing will show you something new.
• Sometimes the deleting is the most important part of the story.
• When Edison invented the light bulb, he said he really invented 173 ways to NOT make a light bulb. You’ve got to go through many drafts.
• See your work with new eyes, again and again. (Re-writing)
• Don’t fall in love with your words or your characters. They may have to go.
• Fall in love with your story! Get lost in it, and then be ruthless! Then have some chocolate or scotch.
• Revise. This is the way to the truth.

Other Notes on Character Development:

• All the objects in our lives have history. Where did this scarf come from? Who gave you that ring?
• Young people are growing in plain sight, there is no place for them to hide, no cocoon. It’s hard.
• If you are not scared, then no bravery is required.
• 8^th grade is the great and horrible year of “Who the Hell am I?!”
• What does your character NOT say? What is she holding in?
• Seeing the world through different eyes. That is the challenge of being a writer.
• Get to know your characters through how they speak.

On Writing For Kids…

• Be kind. That should be the message.
• Kids have a built in, shock-proof, BS detector.
• Kids come to books to find hope.
• Even if it knocks you around, leave kids with something to hold on to.
• Kids are constantly evolving, learning, and growing. They aren’t who they were yesterday.

General Writing Tips…

• As a writer you must have a creative self. But you must also be an independent businessman/woman. That is also your responsibility.
• Know everything, and then learn more!
• You are not just what you are, you are what you imagine.

Rachel Vail has written over 30 books for kids through teens. Her most recent include her trilogy for teens: Lucky, Gorgeous and Brilliant; and her novel for kids Justin Case: School, Drool, and Other Daily Disasters.

How Acting Can Help You To Develop Character

Before becoming a writer, author Rachel Vail, studied acting and theater. Today she may not grace the stages of Broadway but her numerous books showcase her ability to “get into character”, or more accurately create them. During her breakout session at the 2010 SCBWI LA Conference she explained how it might be worth your wild to check out an acting class.

Things I Learned About Character From Acting Class:

• You must know everything about your character. Where were they the moment before the scene you are writing? How did they sleep last night? This will affect the scene and how the character behaves. (This was an acting lesson Vail learned before going on stage).
• What does your character want? What does your character enter the scene wanting? An actor friend of Vail’s told her that the way in which he keeps scenes fresh night after night of doing the same show is by changing what the character wants as they enter the scene. “Each time I do the show I have different motivations.”
• As hard as it can be to get into character, it can be just as hard to get out of it.

How Body Language Develops Character:

• Before I can know a character, I need to know them emotionally and physically.
• All characters walk from a different part of their body. This is called the center of the body. Some people are centered at the forehead and walk with their heads down. Others are centered from their chests and have a confident walk. Drunks often walk with their shoulders first. How does your character walk and move through space?
• For a book about a ballerina, Vail learned all about how ballerinas hold themselves (posture, walk, etc.) They often hold their hair back. They don’t cross their legs. These small physical effects changed the whole way in which Vail saw the character.

Rachel Vail has written over 30 books for kids through teens. Her most recent include her trilogy for teens: Lucky, Gorgeous and Brilliant; and her novel for kids Justin Case: School, Drool, and Other Daily Disasters.

Seven Ways to Develop Compelling Characters

Gail Carson Levine, author of Ella Enchanted, spoke at the 2010 SCBWI LA Conference. In her keynote speech she shared the following tips on how to develop your characters.

Seven Ways to Create Compelling Characters:

1) What role will my character play? I always start with plot when writing a book, then I think about the role in which my character will need to play in this story. That role is essential to creating your character. Do they need to grow into that role? Is it something inherent about their character to begin with? Etc. This is a keystone to build your character from.

2) There’s a tarantula on your head. What are you gonna do? I need to be with my characters for awhile to learn how they will react. I discover who my character is through writing dialog, actions, and internal thoughts about who he/she is. Put your character in different situations and see how they will surprise you.

3) What if? What if? This is a book full of great questions that will help you to get to know your character. Answer the questions for your character.  A lot of authors also use a character form or questionnaire with a list of questions they have created. (Examples of character forms can be found at: Elfwood Character Creation Form or Writing.com Character Development Form).

4) Invented characters vs. real humans. In a novel it is not possible to create a character with as many layers as a real human. The reader is going to end up doing a lot of the work themselves, that’s okay. The reader will build from their own experience to create depth for your characters. But you have to show the reader the way.

5) You know, like, dude! It’s just how I talk, duh! Look for speech mannerisms in your characters. For example, I have a friend who always starts a sentence with: “You know what…” and always follows it with something angry, “…this sucks.” Etc. Some people always start sentences with “I have to tell you…” How does your character start sentences? What tags do they put at the end of sentences? This will help each of your characters to sound unique.

6) Don’t invite the circus! Don’t overload the reader with a circus of exotic talkers. You want each character to stand out and be unique, but if everyone has crazy lingo and weird phrases, the audience is going to get tired. No to mention the in-authenticity of too much jargon!

7) I could have danced all night! Movement is a tip off to character. Use body language. Simple examples include: She rolled her hands. or Her eye twitched when she was nervous. Why do people touch one another? Some do it  to show dominance, others just have a touchy feely nature. Another character might twirl their hair while they are plotting. Show us actions! In a movie we see all these actions, but in a book you need to remind the reader.

Gail Carson Levine is the author of seventeen books for children. After nine years of manuscript rejection, many writing classes, and enthusiastic membership in SCBWI, her first published book, Ella Enchanted, won a Newbery honor in 1998. She blogs about writing at www.gailcarsonlevine.blogspot.com

Stories That Cross Borders and Boundaries

Multicultural literature is the new buzzword in town and authors Jennifer Cervantes, Christina Gonzalez, and Guadalupe Garcia McCall have some great tips on how to do it right! The following tips on authenticity with a multicultural voice was shared at the 2010 SCBWI LA conference.

A Little About Each Author:

• Christina Gonzales – “I am the author of The Red Umbrella. I am an SCBWI success story. I met my editor at an SCBWI Event. I wrote my book in 6 weeks (to finish it, per the editors request to see it at the conference). My parents are Cuban. My mother-in-law was part of the exodus which takes place in my book. My heritage is part of me and part of my passion.”
• Guadalupe Garcia McCall – “I am from Texas, and before that Mexico. I came to the USA at the age of six. I teach poetry. I tried marketing a collection of poems, and found an editor interested in my work but who doesn’t sell poetry. She asked me to re-write the book as a novel in verse. Under the Misquite was the result. It is the story of a girl dealing with her mother’s cancer.”
• Jennifer Cervantes – “I am a bi-racial child. I am half Mexican half Anglo. My book Tortilla Sun is an exploration of identity, and it does reflect my own personal experience.  My culture is strongly reflected in my books.”

Why is Multicultural Literature the New Buzz Word?

• Multicultural Lit is the newest buzzword that you hear from editors and agents.
• The real question to ask is why do editors and agents want multicultural literature?  The answer is it’s all in the numbers. On half of all kids under the age of five are minorities. They can see where the future of the market is going.
• Multicultural kids want to see themselves in books.
• These books are a window to a new culture for everyone one else.

There Are Two Types of Multicultural Books: Culturally Generic and Culturally Specific

Culturally Generic Books:

• These books are wink to a culture, but not meant to teach about culture.
• You will often see a supporting character with an ethnic last name like Hernandez, but they don’t speak Spanish.
• Race is not the point of these books. Being multicultural is a character trait but it is not the crux of the novel.
• Examples: Gaby Triana’s Riding the Universe, The Gone Series, Leading Violet.
• There is definitely a place for these kind of stories.

Culturally Specific Books:

• This is a traditional multicultural story.
• The culture is endemic to the story. These are often historical or truly immersed in the culture.
• Examples: A Single Shard by Linda Sue Park, Surrender Tree by Margarita Engle, The Absolutely True Diary of a Part Time Indian By Sherman Alexie.

If You Want to Write a Multicultural Story, You Should Be Aware Of…

• You must ask yourself if you are writing a culturally specific or generic story, and why.
• What are you trying to achieve? Does culture add to the work or is it superfluous?
• Beware of stereotypes when writing.
• Are you an insider or an outsider? How does this affect your writing? (Insider is a term for someone who grew up in the culture).
• Don’t paint all multicultural characters with the same brush stroke.

How Do You Approach Multicultural Books the Right Way?

• Take evaluative measures. Be aware of how to avoid stereotypes. These can be the greatest pitfalls.
• No distortions! Befriend people in the culture. Ask questions, check facts. Find primary and secondary sources and have them help check your dialog, etc. People love to talk to writers!
• Beware of insulting those in the culture. Make sure your characters are fully developed and multi-layered.  Complex!
• Be aware that there are different dialects within the same language (Spanish for example). People speak differently in California vs. Arizona vs. Texas vs. New Mexico. Think about this like the use of the word soda. It can be called: soda, pop, or coke, all depending upon where you live and the slang for that area.
• Characters should be strong enough to solve their own problems. Don’t have another culture bail them out! There should be personal strength within the character.
• You don’t have to be PC on every little thing. But be careful, there is a fine line.
• The idea of the hero is important in race related books. Don’t have the characters bail out, or undermine the culture.

How Do You Show Culture When Writing?

• Don’t say “so and so is __________ (insert ethnicity/race here).”
• Use sensory details to show ethnicity. What type of food do they eat? What is their name? What type of music do their parents listen to? What kind of nick-names do they have? What slang terms do they use?
• Beware of cliché areas that certain cultures are thought to live in. For example there is a cliché that Hispanic cultures in books about Hispanic teens should be set in Los Angeles, Miami, or New York. In reality there are very large Hispanic populations all over the place – particularly Oklahoma, Minnesota, and North Carolina.

Must You Be An “Insider” to Write a Multicultural Book With Authenticity?

• There is a controversy that only insiders (those brought up in the culture) are the only ones who can write multicultural books with authenticity. We disagree.
• With the proper amount of research and homework you can be very authentic. You have the skills!
• Saying only an insider can write an ethnic story is like saying no one can write historical fiction unless they were alive in that time period! But there are lots of historical fiction novels! The key is research!
• There is even pressure for those that are insiders to “get it right.” We all have fear as we write, and we all want to do it well.
• In the end, know that not everyone is going to like your book. This is true for all books. Embrace it and move forward.
• The best you can do is know that you did your research and you wrote the story you wanted to tell.

Where Do You Get Good Sources?

• Try international students at colleges or universities. They love to talk about their cultures and experiences. Do note that they may be privileged.
• Beware of internet information.
• Friends and Family.

Good Stories Transcend Culture:

• Most stories will transcend culture. Find the universal themes in your book and use them.
• Grow your novel.

Other Points of Interest:

• Code-switching is when someone fluidly changes from one language to another such as Spanish to English.
• Hispanic-Americans are looking for stories about them! But they are looking for multicultural generic books, not just the history of the culture. They want to see themselves reflected in modern culture and in contemporary novels.

Writing Exercise:

• Write about a multicultural character who has come home for dinner at night. But don’t tell us their ethnicity. What would they do. Have a friend read it and see if they can guess the character’s ethnicity.

Jennifer Cervantes grew up believing in the magic of story and often asked “what if…” She is the author of Tortilla Sun and is a faculty member at New Mexico State University where she teaches writing, and young adult literature. You can learn more about her at www.jennifercervantes.com.

Christina Diaz Gonzalez is the author of The Red Umbrella a compelling novel about a 14-year-old girls journey from Cuba to the USA as part of Operation Pedro Pan. Christina is an SCBWI success story as she met both her agent and editor at SCBWI Conferences. You can find out more about her at www.christinagonzalez.com.

Guadalupe Garcia McCall is the author of Under the Mesquite a novel-in-verse. Guadalupe was born in Piedras Negras, Cohuila. Her family immigrated to the US when she was six, so she could attend school. She is an English/Language Arts teacher in San Antonio, Texas.

How to Wow an Editor With Your Book

“This book needs to be read!” Assistant editor, Rachel Abrams, of Harper Collins shared her insight as to how to get an editor to say these very words, at the 2010 SCBWI So Cal Writers Day. The following is her recipe on how to hone your craft and make your writing the very best it can be.

Your opening paragraph needs to…

• Grab the attention of the reader and hook them.
• Be powerful and punchy.
• Set up goals for the rest of the book.
• Establish perspective and voice.
• Introduce your protagonist.

Abrams shared the following three examples of strong opening paragraphs:

1) An Abundance of Katherines by John Green: This has a strong opening because it has a punchy first sentence which also tell us a lot about the main character. We immediately get a sense of the quirky voice of the book. We become aware of the conflict – that the main character has been dumped. Every detail is actually pertinent to the plot, including the bathtub, Archemedies, and the eureka moment (all of which come back later in the story). Everything is carefully planned and well thought out.

2) Gorgeous by Rachel Veil: We get a sense of an authentic teen voice right from the beginning. The setting is established, and the plot is introduced. Abrams was really pulled in by the snappy first sentence “I sold my cell phone to the Devil.”

3) The Graveyard Book by Neil Gaiman: This book opens with suspense, and immediately the plot is set into motion. Even though it has a somewhat ambiguous feeling you are still sucked into the mystery and the story. It also uses punchy, descriptive, plot driven words.

Finding your voice…

Voice is something that is very difficult to teach. As an editor, Abrams feels like she can’t teach you voice, but she can help you to hone it. Things that will help you to hone your voice include:

• Know your market. Watch what teens watch. Read what they read. Get into your market’s head.
• Find a unique perspective.
• Get to know your characters.
• In regards to historical fiction, know that the issues the characters encounter are similar – parents, friends, relationships. It is the setting that is different.
• For the broadest audience, don’t use swear words.

Effective dialog will…

• Reveal character.
• Increase the pace of the scene/novel.
• Add conflict.
• Establish voice.
• Reveal only limited back story.
• What is not said is often more powerful than what is said.

Dialog pitfalls (to be avoided) are…

• Revealing too much back story (aka: the information dump).
• Characters who blurt out everything.
• Chatty on the nose gabbing.
• Adverbial speech tags – the emotion should be expressed in the dialog itself, which will make the speech tag unnecessary. (This is a personal pet peeve of Abrams’).

In regards to character development…

• Character development is what Abrams really likes to focus on. In her opinion, plot is secondary to the characters.
• Nothing should feel random or tacked on.
• Detail does not equal development.  The details must matter.
• Map out your character arc. Know how your characters will evolve.
• Equip your characters with the tools to help them to get from point A to B and then to point C.
• Know how the traits of your character affect the plot as it evolves.
• Equip your character with motivation and a full set of personality traits.
• Try and keep the number or characters in your book to a minimum.
• Understand why your characters do things. This is about motivation, why do your characters act the way they do?

Lets talk about plot and pacing…

• It is always good to fall back on a three act structure. Act One: Introduce characters, reveal characters, set plot in motion, establish setting. Act Two: This is longer and where the plot develops, the story becomes more complex, and you explore subplots. The act ends with a major event that helps to build to the climax. Act Three: climax and resolution.
• Avoid episodic structure.
• It’s a great idea to at least outline the major set pieces of your book. These are the big scenes that really affect the direction of the plot. Major set pieces are packed with a lot of emotion and are the scenes that your smaller scenes are leading up to.
• Think of your scenes as mini stories with a beginning, middle, and end. There should always be a goal, conflict, and outcome.
• Always push to raise the stakes of the plot!
• If you are stuck in a scene try to throw in something that will raise the stakes. This is a great way to get out of writers block. Remember, you don’t have to keep it. Find out where the boundaries are by going past them.
• There is nothing better than a good wrench in the plan! “A good story is only a good story because bad things happen” – ? What your characters do to get out of the situation is what makes reading the story rewarding.
• Don’t bog down the plot with too much back story.

Ways to develop your own personal style…

• The art is in the details. Editors want writing that sparkles. They want writing that will give them chills.
• Dip into you. Look inside at yourself, and how you feel.
• Editors will help you to make lovely sentences.
• Weigh your words. Find the right word.
• Details are a red flag to the reader which tells them to slow down and savor the moment. It tells the reader to pay attention. Therefore, details must be intentional.
• Revealing sentences will tell the reader what they need to know.
• “Fondle the details.” – Nabokov
• Slow down and explore. Use as few words as you can to express as much as you can. A good example of this is the introduction of The Grey (a large horse) in The Graveyard Book. The author describes the horse has being 19 hands long versus using the word enormous. This has more impact.

Why it’s a good idea to get an agent…

• An agent will help you to get a more experience editor for your book.
• They will help your book get seen by more people.
• They are the first filter for you, and will help you revise your book before you send it out.

Rachel Abrams is acquiring and she is looking for…

• Mostly middle grade and young adult books. Also, a few picture books.
• Paranormal and teen romance.
• Middle grade series’.
• Her favorite middle grade gooks are Walk Two Moons, The Wimpy Kid Books.
• Her favorite young adult authors are Libba Bray and E. Lockhart.
• Her favorite picture books include Spoon, Hip Hop Dog, and books that are quirky.
• Editorial pet peeves include clunky dialog, adverbial tags, and underdeveloped characters.

Rachel Abrams is an assistant editor at Harper-Collins Children’s Books. Since joining the company in 2007, she has worked closely with authors Avi, Neil Gaiman, Lemony Snicket, Chris Lynch, and Rachel Vail, as well as illustrators Brett Helquist, Dave McKean, and Vladimir Radunsky.

Write With Reckless Abandon

You must write with reckless abandon! This was the first sentiment author, Libba Bray, shared at the SCBWI New York Conference in January. Her most recent novel Going Bovine indeed pushes the limits of narrative storytelling when a teenage boy gets mad cow disease and goes on a road trip with a dwarf and talking garden gnome in order to save the universe from black matter. Sound like a crazy adventure? Well it is, but it is also this year’s Printz Winner. “It is our duty as writers to explore fears, grudges, hopes, dreams, and oddities. We must explore the things that we hide, and craft them into our characters.” Bray says.

The following is Libba Bray’s Four Rules on Risk Taking and Writing:

1)  Be the Giraffe!

• Push your work! Look for the unexpected! “Be the giraffe” is a reference to a conversation Bray had with her son. She asked him what he wanted to be when he grew up and he said a giraffe. He was too young to understand one can’t grow up to be a giraffe, of course, but it forced her to think about what we take for granted.
• Explore what we don’t know! We write to open up a whole new conversation with ourselves and the world. Don’t have the same conversation as you’ve heard before, push the conversation to new places.
• Avoid your first instinct. Inevitably your first instinct is what everyone else would do too. Don’t force your work down the conventional track. Let your characters surprise you. Look to the book How to Say Goodbye in Robot by Natalie Sandiford as an example of pushing the boundaries and doing the unexpected. In this book, the author doesn’t let sexual tension stand in for under developed characters.
• People are frustrating. Let them be!

2) Find the Cracks and Let in the Light.

• This topic is based on the song lyrics: “There is a crack in everything, that’s how the light comes in.”
• Make your characters fully human. Humans make mistakes. We need the nitty-gritty bits!
• Put your characters in the way of painful truth – that is what allows for growth and transformation.
• Find an authentic beating heart.
• Sit at the kitchen table with your characters. See what they would say. See how they would hold a spoon, or fold their napkin. Don’t just stop at the dermis. Perform your due diligence and get to know your characters.
• Keep asking yourself “Is it true yet?”
• Don’t fall in love with your characters. You will miss out on who they can really be.

3) Say No to the Pterodactyl Boyfriend

• The pterodactyl is the super beautiful and good-looking boyfriend who is flawless (as in she’s taken out the word vampire and replaced it with pterodactyl). These characters are not interesting, and they are too easy a stereotype to fall into. Get rid of them!
• Beware the thought “Should I….”  (As in, ‘Should I bring in the beautiful boyfriend now?’) Follow yourself and not what you think others may want you to be doing, or even what the industry may want you to be doing. When in doubt, follow your own instincts.
• There is no sure thing other than writing the thing you want to write the most.
• “I write for myself.” That’s all you can do. Don’t think about teen voice. Make it true for you!
• Write with no one looking over your shoulder. “Find out what you want to say, it is all you have to offer.” – B. Kingsolver

4)  We Made it!

• “Jump off the cliff, then build the wings.” – Ray Bradbury.  There is nothing without the leap of faith.
• Libba’s book “Going Bovine” was a huge departure from her previous work which was historical/magic. But this was the story she wanted to tell.
• Experience the weightlessness, feel the fear. (Reference back to the R. Bradbury quote above). If it is not scary then there are no stakes. And if there are no stakes then it is not worth writing.
• Put your marrow on the page.
• Make this year the year of writing dangerously. Write with your heart and soul.
• “Never avert your eyes.”
• Start building your wings – lace them with courage and vulnerability.

Libba Bray is the author books for Young Adults, including Going Bovine and the Gemma Doyle Series: A Great and Terrible Beauty, Rebel Angels, and The Sweet Far Thing. In 2010 she was awarded the Michael L. Printz award for Excellence in Young Adult Literature.