Teen Writers Bloc

What better way to assess my time at The New School than to take a look at what I worked on, and try to determine whether or not I evolved as a writer, based on the work I created.

My first semester, I worked on an ill-fated YA novel told from four different narrators. It was a quiet, literary, plot-less pretty thing. It was exactly what I was used to writing. It had its challenges, sure, but mostly I was comfortable. There was atmosphere! Voice! Research! Complicated relationships!

The only thing missing? Plot.

My nemesis.

Second semester, I worked on a (still unfinished and unformed) middle-grade novel. I wrote in short little vignettes. Again there was a cute, snarky voice. An interesting set of family dysfunctions. Some keen observations.
And again, there was no plot.

While workshopping the middle-grade novel in class, I was also working on another project. A new YA. And though the piece I was writing for workshop wasn’t getting any stronger, my side project was benefiting from the criticism. I realized I needed structure. I needed plot. I needed a clear arc. I needed (god forbid!) a beginning, middle and end.

So although my teachers and classmates (with the exception of my Monday group classmates — Sona, Caela, Dhonielle, and Amy) never saw this new YA novel, it grew stronger from their feedback. I was listening. I was hearing them. I was accepting that it was high time to address the plot issue.

And that novel? That is the novel. The one coming out in Summer 2013.

This semester I’m pushing myself even further. I’m working on my next YA novel, and this time I’m working on a very plot-heavy book. There’s some mystery! There’s rising action! There’s a CLIMAX, guys! A real-live climactic scene. A true beginning, middle, and end. It hasn’t been easy. I have a lot of holes in my plot. I have classmates asking questions I don’t know the answers to. And sometimes I just want to write a nice interior monologue or some disconnected scenes that have no impact on the actual plot. I want some voice-heavy vignettes or to write one scene from eight different points of view for no actual reason.

But I am accountable, now, for the things I’m not so great at. I’m challenging myself to get better, and to accept that just because plotting isn’t my FAVORITE part doesn’t mean I can just never do it.

And maybe I didn’t learn that exact thing in any one class or from any one person, but it’s definitely a lesson learned during my time getting my MFA.

photo credit: http://navywifeadventures.blogspot.com

Popularity: 2%

As we reflect on our time at The New School this month, I am predicting a repeating theme: yes, this degree and endeavor was worth it for ME personally, but I wouldn’t say it’s ALWAYS worth it.

In the course of my time at The New School, I managed to finish three complete drafts for three separate novels and start countless others; I landed an awesome agent, Kate McKean; and I sold my first book in a two-book deal to Bloomsbury. I am 100 percent certain that this would not have happened if I had not taken the plunge, moved across the country and gone back to school. However, I also don’t think I would have reached these goals, and certainly I would not have reached them so quickly, if it weren’t for my classmates. And that’s the problem. Who you end up in class with is completely luck, right?

Well, maybe it doesn’t have to be. When I think about it, our class did practical things that lead to it’s effectiveness. So maybe we should talk about actual steps that will make an MFA, especially The New School Writing for Children MFA, worth it.

1. Write WAY MORE than required. You’re only going to be submitting every few weeks, but you need to write everyday. In my first semester I imposed a two hour a day rule on myself and I was disciplined. I would come home from work, turn my phone off, disconnect my internet, and set an alarm. Then I would sit at my computer until the alarm went off.  By the time I was required to submit my first ten pages, I had close to 80. When it was time for me to submit, I would then go back and edit the ten pages I was going to send. I would have a much better sense of the shape of the whole because I had so much more written. This made it much easier to weed out the helpful criticism during critique.

2. Find a small group of serious writers from within your class and form an extra critique group. Meet regularly and be dedicated to it. Sona, Corey, Dhonielle, Amy and I did this for the first two semester and Sona, Corey, Alyson, Dhonielle, Lenea and I have done this for the final semester. This has been incredibly valuable to me because I get more written with more deadlines, because I get to have a dialogue about my work, and because I get invested in voices outside my own. It’s easier for me to have a realistic (and not overly negative) opinion of my own work when I’m very invested in others’ as well.

3. Start a project together. I think we would all agree that Teen Writers Bloc helped us to become a unit. It also gives us a way to stay connected to each other and our writing after we graduate.  And, when at times we were perhaps a bit frustrated with some select teachers, Teen Writers Bloc helped us feel supported and reminded us that there is a larger purpose to our writing than what’s happening in class.

4. After the first semester, your classmates are going to know your writing better than your teachers do, because they will have read more of it. Find the voices from your classmates that are helpful to you and listen to them. Listen to your teachers, but remember that they’re only with you for a semester. So you also need to find helpful critiquers among your peers.

5. Find the classmates who really know the business and talk post-drafting. Talk about query letters, agents, publishing houses, promotion, and other aspects of the business. Share agent stories. Share queries. (Heck, Sona basically wrote my query for me, and Mary helped me land an agent.). Get invested in each others’ careers because different people have different strengths. Use yours to benefit the entire class, and then tap on others’ shoulders.

6. Trade full manuscripts before your query. You need someone to read from beginning to end, not just in little spurts, and your best bets are going to be the people in your class, provided you have invested in their writing and careers as well.

7. Become friends. Go for drinks or coffee. Take a walk. Throw a holiday party like Corey did for us first semester. Ultimately, this was a positive experience of most of us, but with a huge side of frustration, disappointment, and lack of control. That’s what happens when you’re really passionate about your career. You will need your friends to commiserate and celebrate with, because no one else will understand what you’re talking about. And because sometimes you need to get a good gripe out before you can get back to work.

Photo Credit: Institute Childrens Lit

Popularity: 8%

Here’s the bottom line when it comes to me and spring cleaning: NO.

It’s not that I shouldn’t be tidying up, believe me. I should be listing, organizing my schedule, setting a writing goal and meeting it everyday, focusing.

For one thing, I have three projects going on at once right now. I also have two peer groups and I’m critiquing up to 100 pages of awesome writing a week. Plus, I’m blogging for Teen Writers Bloc and the Lucky 13s and soon to be blogging for the Class of 2k13. I’m working on getting my name out there — tweeting, creating a website, etc. I’m finalizing both parts of my thesis, the creative and the critical.

And on a totally different note, I’m getting married this summer and I’m somewhat ashamed to say that I sometimes lose hours or even days to silly things like trying on dresses or scheduling hair trails. (What is a hair trial? you may ask. But I’m afraid I’m not exactly sure.) Plus, I’m trying to spend time with the fiance, to ensure that we each actually still remember the other is on the wedding day.  Then there’s trying to spend time with family, friends, and everyone in between.

Oh yeah, and I still have that almost-full-time job.

At this point, I have so many things on my to-do list everyday that I rarely get 50% checked off.

So I totally need to spring-clean like woah! I need to prioritize that WIP!

But the thing is that I only get married once.  And I also only get one debut novel. And I only get one MFA thesis. I want to make sure I make the most of each of these.

There is a light at the end of the tunnel. We graduate in May. I get married in August. After that, there will be a lot more room in my schedule for cleaning and carving out time for new words as I have in the past.

For now, I’m really resisting this whole Spring Cleaning thing, and I didn’t really know why. I’m usually all for structured time. I’m usually quite diligent about my writing.

But I’m happy. I’m happy not knowing exactly what I’ll accomplish when I wake up each morning (as long as I at least get something written). I’m happy in this crazy hectic schedule (with the knowledge that it’s temporary, of course).

And this career isn’t one to cling to for any reason other than happiness. It’s inconsistent. It’s not very lucrative. It’s not even all that well-respected. If you want to be a writer for children, there’s only one reason: because it makes you happy. Because it’s all you can imagine doing.

I know that I’ll be cleaning up come fall. For now, I’m happy and I’m writing something or another everyday. For now, that’s good enough.

I’m ready to enjoy my messy spring!

Photo credit: harpyness, shutterstock

Popularity: 10%

March is Women’s History Month and what better way to celebrate the power of women than in recognizing their accomplishments — both fictional and not — in the field of children’s lit?

After all, we have an wide array of women’s superstars in our industry, from Katniss Everdeen and Hazel Grace Lancaster to JK Rowling and Judy Blume.  And this parade of women marches far back behind the page. The majority of literary agents representing children’s’ authors are women; the majority of editors putting kids lit on the shelves are women; the majority of authors and aspiring authors putting words on the page for teens and young people are women.

When people discuss careers dominated by women, they usually mention eduction, nursing, fashion, etc.  It’s a growing list and it’s wonderful to be able to add the very alive world of children’s publishing to it.

But all of this adds to the mystery of the New York Times Best Sellers List.

I first noticed this a few weeks ago (February 12th to be exact) when I was reading the paper with my dad. He was discussing how the adult’s Best Sellers List tends to be the same authors over and over again, and I posited that that was probably true of the children’s list as well. But that’s not what I noticed when I checked that week’s Book Pages. Instead, I noticed that the list of names was as follows: John, Rick, Random, Brian, Jack, Shel, Rick, Brian. Not one woman’s name on the list!

Because my own short time in this industry has been so dominated by women — eleven of our twelve classmates, four of my six professors, my agent, my editor, and all of the other agents and editors I spoke with are women — this seemed strange. But I figured it was just a current trent. Probably just a fluke.

So I crunched the numbers. I listed every author on the Best Sellers List over a year’s time, but I excluded the non-fiction titles (i.e. The Lego Handbook), which don’t seem to belong on this same list as The Fault in Our Stars or The Red Pyramid anyway. Here’s what I found:

*41 weeks of the year, there were more men than women on the list

*8 weeks of the year, there were more women than men on the list

*4 weeks of the year, the list was evenly split between the genders

*6.2 was the average number of men on the list

*2.88 was the average number of women on the list

*4 weeks of the year, the list was topped by a woman

*48 weeks of the year, the list was topped by a man

I have to admit, this shocked me. What’s going on? Obviously, it feels like we should be aiming for a 50/50 split, which we’re far from.  But considering the majority of qualified authors are women to begin with, it seems like the data should swing in the other direction. How is this possible? Why would this be?

I have been trying to fill in the reasons ever since, but I haven’t gotten very far.

Perhaps there is a gender-based reason for this. Perhaps men are simply better at publicizing themselves and pushing their ideas toward the big money. Perhaps men tend to be more focused on reaching a broad audience or perhaps they are more likely to define success through becoming a Best Seller. Perhaps the fact that there are fewer men out there to push means that more people rally behind them.

Or maybe the reasons are more benign. Maybe it’s simply the old lore that girls will read about anyone, but boys prefer to read about boys, so men automatically end up with double the audience. (Although in my time teaching for boys, this proved to be entirely untrue.)

Or maybe it’s even simpler than this. Maybe it’s just that the recent super-stars are Rick Riordan and Brian Selznick, so there are men who often appear on the list multiple times in the same week. And maybe these numbers would look completely different in a year when the rage was Twilight or The Hunger Games. 

But no matter the reason, it seems a mystery worth exploring during Women’s History Month.

Photo Credit: croniclebooks.com

Popularity: 23%

I have started and deleted this post four times, five times, six times…I’m determined to write something about this topic, but, it seems like….It feels as if….It’s just that, well–

I keep getting stuck.  What do I have to contribute?  I’m worried that anything I say will come off as insincere, insensitive, offensive.

Why?

Because it’s FLIPPIN’ HARD to talk about race when you were a privileged white kid. (That’s me.)

(Note: I did not say that it is hardEST or hardER than if you were any other kind of kid. My guess is that it’s hard for everybody. But, for now, I’m speaking for myself.)

And it’s equally hard to write about race in fiction. But I do it anyway. The truth is that I spent my childhood in mostly-white schools in mostly-white towns, and basically comfortable. But the other truth is that in my adulthood I have become quite accustomed to being the only white person riding on a city bus, walking down a street, or sitting in a room. I have often said that while I’ve always wanted to be a writer, it is my students — their passions for reading, their raw emotions, their openness, their enthusiasm — that inspired me to write for teens.

And, well, those students don’t look anything like me. They aren’t white. Or privileged. Or female. (Yep, most of them are boys.)

So, naturally, in the two books I’ve worked on at The New School the main characters both are upper-class white girls. Ha. But I do strive to at least touch on race in each of my books. Because, contrary to popular practice, white kids are not immune to race. Even white kids who grow up in all-white towns with all-white friends are not immune to race.

So, yes, in Me, Him, Them and It (my debut, to be published in 2013 by Bloomsbury), pregnant Evelyn deals with race (and stuff). She figures out that it actually means something that her adoptive aunt and hero is Chinese, and a lesbian. She faces being the only white kid in a room of Latina students. And when she finally makes a pregnant friend, she has to face the fact that life could be worse, a lot worse, if she was also broke.

But my books are not about race. Or religion or sexual orientation or social class or any of those issues. Race simply happens in the story and so does everything else. Evelyn doesn’t come to any conclusions so that these human differences make any sense. Of course she doesn’t. She couldn’t do that unless I could do that, and I know I can’t.

I’m not saying that this is the only or the best or even a good way to write race as a white author. I won’t pretend to be able to opine on how it should be done. But I do know that, while simply writing all-white, straight, same-class characters who don’t need to deal with these spit-fire political issues might be less controversial, for me it would break the Golden Rule of fiction–write what you want to.

The truth is that I’d love to write a book that actually tackles race head-on, one that features girls of totally different backgrounds learning how to communicate and respect each other. And have fun.  In fact, I’ve been working on that book for years now. It features a black MC who is from the neighborhood where I worked in Chicago. But I keep putting it away. I keep switching the voice and the narrators. I keep wondering whether I’m really qualified to tackle the huge issues of race and class, even though issues might be why I picked up the pen and started writing for teens.

Hopefully, one day I’ll get the guts.  For now this white girl is too chicken.

Photo credit: Image Vision

Popularity: 17%

Well, the biggest year of my life is officially over.  I seriously doubt I will have a more life-changing and monumental year than 2011 in the future, and I know I never have in the past (discounting, perhaps, 1981, as being born was probably pretty monumental, but I don’t remember much of that year).

2011 brought my 30th birthday, quickly followed by the news of my first book deal, quickly followed by a diamond.  I get to be an adult, an author, and a wife, woo-hoo!

(And obviously these things point at other monumental events like the book actually being published–2013–and Greg and I actually getting married–2012–but since those events will not be in the same year, I think it’s safe to say that 2011 can keep the award).

I’ve got a lot of great things going on in my life. So, what do I need in 2012? (Besides to hit the gym, of course.)

Here’s what I think I need to work on the most: a positive attitude.

People talk about the stress of wedding planning and the fear and cold feet that come with the committment of marriage and I’m happy to report that I’m expirencing none of those symptoms in my personal life. But it begs the question, why then, in my writing life, am I still such a scardy-cat?

I’ve never planned a wedding. I’ve never been married or shared property or planned a future with someone else.  Yet all of these ideas seem accomplishable. My to-do list on this side of the paper is pure happiness.

And the other side of the paper should match, right? Because I’ve been a writer for my entire life.  I’ve been putting words on paper since I learned to spell and spinning stories since I learned to speak.  I’ve been in love with words for decades longer that I’ve been in love with Greg (sorry, Babe).  So why does this new career bring on so many terrifying thoughts?

Like this:

What if no one reads my book?

What if everyone who loves me reads my book and hates it?

What if it’s not as good as I sometimes think it is? What if it’s just as bad as I sometimes think it is?

What if no one hears about it? What if no one even knows there’s a book to read?

And the most terrifying:

What if I can’t ever write a book that good again?

I try to keep these doubts on mute but they’re still hidden in my veins, laying dormant until they can attack me during a bout of writer’s block or a frustrated moment when I can’t figure out just how to design a background for my website. Suddenly, my brain becomes an earth-shaking flurry of terrifying questions that I have to stop with my first love, Words.

I tell myself: “Stop. You are where always wanted to be.”

I guess sometimes that’s a scary place.

But I’m still glad I’m here.  Bring it on, 2012, bring it on.

Popularity: 17%

It’s our thesis semester. It’s time to write the book I planned to write from the beginning.

When we first started TeenWritersBloc.com, all of my posts focused on how much inspiration I had drawn from my work at Chicago Jesuit Academy and the extraordinary teenagers I knew there. While working there, I began a novel called Trippin’, which became my writing portfolio for my MFA applications.

When I began at The New School’s Writing for Children’s program, I was certain I was going to take the opportunity of these two years to write that book.  But something happened. Another voice rooted in my brain — one not based on a situation I had fought and lived though. It was a lot easier to let this new voice get workshopped.  At some point during my second semester workshop, I attempted to finish Trippin’, but I went so crazy trying to improve the story and widen the possible audience that it simply became something other than what I wanted to write.

So now here we are on the brink of our last semester and Trippin’ remains in the same shape it was on my application. If I want to get it done during my time in school, I have one semester to make that work.

In the meantime, this is how I’m feeling: How is it possible that we only have one semester left? How sad that Tuesday is about to become a regular day of the week! I’ve been productive during our time as an entire class and I’ve learned so much. There is a lot I will miss about our regular semesters as we go into this last one.

But I’m excited for this upcoming thesis semester. I’m going to work with a fantastic advisor, Patricia McCormick, author of Sold, Cut, and other novels for young adults. I have a fantastic peer group who I know will provide wisdom and encouragement (and who are writing books that I’m thrilled I’ll get to finish reading). Outside of school, I’ll be working with my editor to finalize my first novel for publication, Me, Him, Them and It  (Bloomsbury 2013). And, finally, I’m really going to finish the book I’ve wanted to write from the beginning. Because if I don’t do it now, I’m afraid I never will.

Photo Credit: FlickRiver.com

Popularity: 15%

Lauren Myracle, you are the definition of a class act.

By now we know the story: Myracle’s most recent teen novel, Shine, was nominated for a National Book Award.  She was informed about the nomination via phone call; she kept the biggest secret of her life bottled up in her heart for two full days. Then she celebrated the joy of being recognized so highly with her family for two full hours.

Then came the “oops.” The NBA judges had meant to nominate the book Chime, but when they read the list of titles over the phone the message was unclear.  At first, Myracle was told that by a unanimous decision the judges would leave her book on the short list. But that was apparently another mistake, because later the NBA committee asked her to withdraw her name.

Ouch.

So we all know what happened. Now we’ve been able to read about Ms. Myracle’s feelings on the Huffington Post and hear her side of the story on NPR. But the devastation of this even can be summed up in one sentence from her interview with Vanity Fair.

“I felt ashamed that I had the gall to believe this book was worthy.”

Heck yeah, this book is worthy. Because it deals with a hate crime in a way that brings humanity to both the victim and the criminal. Because it’s a mystery fraught with raw emotion. Because it’s sense of setting is apt and palpable. Because it’s narrator is the most open-minded person in the book, and even she needs to pry her mind further open. Because it deals with religion in a way that is not damning or preachy. And, perhaps most impressively, because it brings humanity to even the most ignorant and hateful characters.

So it angers me greatly to know that this book will not be winning the National Book Award, after I thought it just might. I want lash out and scream at the NBA judges and anyone else who will listen. And if it’s making me angry, how must Lauren Myracle feel?

Well, regardless of how she’s feeling, she is certainly acting like someone who would write such a touching and respectful book.  She’s turned her devastation into a donation to the Matthew Shepherd Foundation, which, she told NPR, “works on protecting the integrity of young people and putting tolerance over hate.” She’s referred to Harold Augenbraum, NBA committee member and the bearer of the bad news, as a “darling.” She made jokes in her Vanity Fair interview. She’s defended the work of Franny Billingsly — author of now NBA-nominated Chime — and all of the nominated authors. And, she’s defended the humanity of the NBA judges and committee, saying there is no way that they removed her book as an act of intolerance, and that they simply made a mistake, as all people do.

Ms. Myracle, I have always been a fan of your books and it is heartening to know that you practice what you write. Because it’s hard to be a good writer, but it just might be harder to be a good person.

Photo credits: Amulet Books

Popularity: 25%

I love costumes. Probably for the same reason that I love books for kids — dressing up as something silly is a chance to embrace my inner child.

In the time that I’ve been a grown-up, I’ve dressed up as a Peppermint Patty, a generic pirate, Eminem, Captain Hook, a Double Dare contestant and many others things that I just can’t remember.  I’ve been blessed with a plethora of friends who enjoy this youthful activity with me!

But I am ashamed to say that I’ve never dressed up as a character from literatureThis year, that’s going to change. I’m coming into the library where I work in full costume this year, dressed as a character that all of the kids are sure to recognize. I don’t want to give the character away here in case any of them read my blog, but it will include this:

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

And this:

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

And probably this:

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Photo credits from Craftster.com

Popularity: 18%

I hate it when books are banned.

It’s a simple and guttural reaction for me: Keep the books on the shelves! Let the children discover whatever world they want! Stop putting causal clauses where there is absolutely no evidence to back them up! And for bleep’s sake, authors for children are artists, and you can’t tell them what to write!

I am currently a school librarian–and writer–and that is my professional opinion under both of those hats.

However, this was a little more challenging when I was a teacher. There is a world of difference between allowing a book to be on your school library’s shelves, and assigning a book to an entire class. The bottom line is that when you assign a class book, the students can no longer self-select and say “I’m not ready for this material.” This is especially pertinent in middle school when the maturity and worldliness of each student varies so heavily. However, it was important that my students–who were inner-city young men–be exposed to books with characters who acted and talked and felt like the people they knew. It was important to me that they faced some tough issues in our literature so that they learn how to discuss tough issues in life. My colleagues and I taught many books that could have drawn objection from an adult or discomfort from a student–namely Bad Boy, Monster, The Outsiders, The Giver, The Glory Field, The True Story of Hansel and Gretel, and more. When we did, we always prepared a detailed explanation for any questioning parent.

Turns out that was a lot of useless preparing. I never had anyone object to a book with content that was actually capable of making any of my students uncomfortable.

Instead, the only direct challenge I ever faced as a teacher (from a parent) was to Harry Potter and the Sorcerer’s Stone. If you have read even a few of the books that I’ve mentioned in this post, you’ll understand why this is a joke. And while I spoke to this parent with respect, there was no way I was changing the curriculum, even for her son alone. I asked her to read the book, of course, and she refused. However, we came to an amicable conclusion: I will make sure that your son understands that magic–i.e. flying brooms and cars, Quidditch, three-headed dogs, and Voldemort–is not actually real, and your son will continue to read the book with the class. I simply had to hide the flying broom I rode to school everyday after that.

However, when a student raised a concern about a book–namely Monster–and he was truly unable to handle a book that takes place in prison while members of his family were incarcerated, he was given an alternate assignment. This objection is quite different because kids actually can think for themselves and their discomfort is a real feeling.

But his objection was also a bit more difficult to interpret. While the mother who doesn’t believe in my Nimbus 2000 objected by calling me on the phone, requesting a conference and stating that her pastor was concerned about the book, my student raised his objection by throwing things in class, turning around in his seat, pretending his pens were spaceships or wrestlers, etc. It was not that he didn’t have the language or the words to tell me that the book was upsetting him, it was that he didn’t know he would be listened to.

Yes, kids can think. But they aren’t always used to this ability being acknowledged. So, here is my proposal to all of you teachers, parents, librarians, pastors–let kids ban their own books. If a book makes them uncomfortable, they won’t read it and (as long as that’s actually the reason they aren’t reading) that’s ok. If their book makes you uncomfortable, read it yourself and talk to the kid about it.

Because if you tell her not to read it, she’s bound to find a way to get her hands on those pages. I’ve seen that happen enough to know.

Popularity: 14%