Fall Passionately in Love with Your Book

Yesterday, dozens of us 2013 debut kid-lit authors offered writing and marketing advice at WriteOnCon. I feel like I need to expand upon the advice I gave over there, so I'm going to continue my thoughts here.

This is what I said:

Make sure you’ve fallen passionately in love with your book before you try selling it. If you don’t love it, readers won’t either. It’s also perfectly fine to call the book a practice run and move on to a completely new project.

If you're an aspiring writer and you're not feeling passionate about your current project, I don't mean to leave you shaking in your boots. I'm not suggesting you immediately scrap the entire draft of the troublesome manuscript you're tackling. But let me offer some food for thought...

Writing a book isn't easy. You're mapping out plots, struggling to make your characters fascinating and three dimensional, avoiding awkward sentences, keeping grammar in check, etc., all at the same time.

You NEED to have passion to keep you going. If your story is feeling more like a business relationship—something you feel obligated to sit down and do each day—and less like the rush of a brand-new romance, perhaps you should question yourself, "Why am I writing this book?" Is it because everyone else on Twitter is announcing their daily word counts and you want to keep up? Is is because you once caught the writing bug and are fighting to get it back? Or is it because you truly have a story inside you that needs to be told?

In the Shadow of Blackbirds is my first major book success story, but it's not the first manuscript I ever wrote. I started penning a few novels as a kid, completed my first book in high school, and finished another one in college. Those books were set aside. They were practice runs, not ready to head out to the world.

After I graduated from college in the mid-90s, I fell madly in love with an idea for a historical novel geared toward adult readers. I sat down and churned out the pages and daydreamed about my plot on my drive to work and while shopping in the grocery store. I was brimming over with the need to share this book with the world, and I was more than happy to revise it and polish it like crazy after receiving feedback from other writers.

That was the first book that landed me an agent.

The book never sold because of marketing reasons, and I did have to put it aside and move onward. But I learned that my own passion for a story would translate into other people falling in love with it.

Fast forward to 2007. I fell in love with another book idea, which led to me signing with a new agent. The book also didn't sell for marketing reasons. 

Fast forward again, this time to 2009: A brand-new romance bloomed. I fell head over heels in love with an idea for a WWI-era YA ghost tale. I was calling the manuscript simply Blackbirds at the time, and I knew in my gut this book was extra special. Yes, some scenes didn't come easily, and I would end up reworking the entire manuscript numerous times, but I loved the story dearly and always looked forward to sitting down with my characters. My agent and I sold In the Shadow of Blackbirds to Amulet Books in the fall of 2011, seventeen years after I started writing the first book that I sold to an agent.

Were there other books in between that didn't inspire as much passion in me? Yes. Definitely. I had many practice runs along the way—manuscripts I was rushing through just to try to sell anything, but those novels didn't garner agent interest. I knew deep down they weren't my best work, but I was trying to write books I thought would sell... not books I truly loved.

Can you eventually feel passionate about a manuscript that initially feels more like work than pleasure? Yes. I'm working on a new book right now, and earlier this year, that story started feeling more like a business relationship than a romance. After I put the manuscript aside a couple times to work on In the Shadow of Blackbirds edits, some serious character changes hit me, and I found myself daydreaming about the book at the grocery store, in the car, etc. In fact, I'm feeling the itch to work on the new manuscript as soon as I finish this post.

Why do you write? Is it just to put words down on paper in hopes that someone—anyone—will read them? Or is it because you have a story you want and need to share?

Your love for your story will become our love for the story. Find your passion, and you'll eventually find success.  

How Food Can Convey a Character's Mood and Setting

If you're a writer and you've never thought too hard about what your characters eat, perhaps it's time for you to pull up a chair at your protagonist's dinner table. A character's food tells a wealth of information about who she is: the region of the world in which she lives, her time period, her financial status, her personal tastes, her health, her cultural background.

Moreover, how she eats can convey her mood and situation. Imagine a starving little boy in a war-torn world eating one of the tomatoes pictured in the photo above. How would his actions and attitude toward the food differ from those of a confident villain taking a bite in the comfort of his lair? What if a woman in a white wedding dress were approaching the drippy scarlet food? Or an explorer from the ancient frozen tundra who's never seen a tomato before in his life?

In reality, the tomatoes in the photograph were sitting in a bowl on my kitchen table, and my math teacher husband will more than likely be the one chomping into them. If you're writing a scene about a man hurriedly devouring his lunch in a teacher's lounge, the tomatoes will turn into something entirely different than the meal of a starving little boy or a confident villain.

This week at The Lucky 13s, our theme is "Dinner with our characters: What's on the menu in our books?" I'm offering a sneak peek at my protagonist's 1918 life by asking you to have a seat with her in her kitchen. As you'll learn from what's NOT on the menu, life wasn't easy in the fall of that particular year, and what you cooked back then could have saved your very life.

Here's my Lucky 13s post:

http://thelucky13s.blogspot.com/2012/02/whats-on-my-main-characters-menu-and.html

Speaking of food and writing, at the end of this week, I'm running a workshop for fifth to eighth graders at a career fair. If you're one of my students signed up for my sessions, keep this post in mind. We'll be using food to learn about sensory writing, and we'll explore different characters' approaches to a piece of seemingly ordinary piece of fruit. Don't come hungry. You may find your stomach growling.

Read Books That Make You Squirm with Envy

I started reading John Green's new young adult novel, The Fault in Our Stars, today, and I immediately found myself hooked by his writing, his protagonist's memorable voice, and the novel's central predicament: a wisecracking, terminally ill young cancer patient named Hazel finds a new love in her life. Even as I sit here and type these words, I'm tempted to chuck all attempts at getting any writing done today and dive back into his story.

My instant love of Green's novel got me thinking about all the books I've read—from the disappointing to the brilliant—and I realized I can place them into four categories:

Category #1: Books I dislike shortly after I start reading them. Perhaps a rave review, the opening chapter, or the promising premise got me to pick up the book in the first place, but the book rapidly goes downhill. I usually set these novels aside instead of forcing myself to read them.

Category #2: The so-so books. I give the book a fair shot and eventually make my way through to the end, but it's not without some pain and regret. Usually I hold onto the hope that the ending will make the difficult journey worthwhile, and sadly, I'm often disappointed I stuck out the ride.

Category #3: The good books, worthy of 3- to 4-star ratings. I enjoy the reads, but there are one or two flaws that fail to make the book superb.

Category #4: The superb books. The authors are so skilled at their craft that they're able to juggle fascinating characters, a compelling plot, and ridiculously gorgeous writing without letting any element fall to the wayside. Typically, these are the award-winning books, and leaving their fictional worlds behind when I close the last page usually makes me feel a little lost. It's always hard to find a worthy follow-up read after finishing this type of book.

As a writer, I find Categories #2 and #4 are the ones that challenge me to write better books.

When I come across a so-so book in one of my favorite genres, I'm disappointed as a reader. In response, I set out to write the book I wanted to read. If all books in a genre were superb, I probably wouldn't feel such a compelling need to spin my own tales. For example, I've never experienced an overwhelming desire to write children's picture books, namely because the messages I'd want to get across for that age group have already, in my opinion, been achieved incredibly well by someone else. 

When I come across a book in the superb category, I feel my own writing improve. The skilled author sets the bar high, and as a writer, I find myself trying to climb to meet their nearly impossible standards and produce a story equally as compelling as theirs. It's like a cook who wants to improve themselves by eating a feast prepared by a master chef: you savor, you absorb, you fill yourself up with the other person's bounteous talents, and you learn.

If you're a writer, seek out the superb books as often as you can. Find yourself squirming with envy at an author's work. Treat your mind to writing that blows you away.

Never, ever be afraid of a challenge.

Your readers will be thankful.

My Musical Ode to Rejection Letter Survival

The theme this week at The Lucky 13s is What Keeps You Going When the Going Gets Tough. I responded with a song:

"THE TWELVE DAYS OF REJECTION"

My Long, Grueling Writing Road and the 21 JUMP STREET Writer Who Gave Me Advice

Once upon a time, when I was a teenager and some good-looking guy named Johnny Depp starred in a TV series called 21 Jump Street, I met a writer of that series at my friend's house. The writer knew my friend's parents, and I remember him sitting on their couch and telling me, "The best writing advice I can give you is to never give up." I believe I responded, "I won't," for I knew deep in my gut that I wouldn't and couldn't.

Decades passed, hairstyles dramatically improved, a recession came and went and then returned with a vengeance, people started needing to take off their shoes and half their clothes just to make it through airport security. Yet one thing stayed the same: I remained a struggling writer.

Recently, I got back in touch with my high school friend and asked her, "Didn't your parents know a screenwriter who wrote for shows like 21 Jump Street? Do you remember his name? I'm not totally imagining that incident, am I?" She wrote back, saying, "I am glad you did not give up. His name is Gary Hall."

Mr. Gary Hall: Thank you, thank you, thank you for planting that "never give up" advice inside my head. Since that day I met you, I've written countless manuscripts geared toward adult audiences, won several writing awards, received dozens and dozens of rejections, signed with two different agents, married my college sweetheart, given birth to two remarkable children, and pulled at my hair, wondering why, why my books are considered too risky and too unmarketable for publishers. Several times I considered giving up. I didn't understand why my brain was telling me to write when no one wanted to publish my words.

But...I also flew to a Society of Children's Book Writers & Illustrators conference in January 2010. Over dinner, I told my agent an idea for a young adult novel involving a teenage girl and the dark, bizarre world of early-twentieth-century spiritualism. I saw the excitement in my agent's eyes and dove back into the new manuscript as soon as I returned home. I shared the book with critique partners, revised, showed the book to my agent, revised again, and just this past fall sold that book to Amulet Books/Abrams. I did not give up. As recently as this past September, I cried on the phone while telling one of my best friends I felt like I was wasting my life by chasing this agonizing dream, but I still kept going.

Richard Bach wrote, "A professional writer is an amateur who didn't quit." We writers hear quotes like that all the time and absorb the words of wisdom into our souls, but sometimes we want to shout out, "Wait a minute. I'm not giving up, but I'm still not getting anywhere!" You know what? The advice is true. I'm proof that determination, time, blood, sweat, tears, and the pure, incomparable joy of spinning tales can indeed eventually lead to a deal with an amazing publishing company.

In celebration of Gary Hall and his advice that never left my brain, I'm sharing the 21 Jump Street opening credits below. Thank you again, Mr. Hall! To the other struggling writers out there: if writing feels as essential as breathing, keep plugging away.

Oh, and enjoy the Johnny Depp clips. I wonder whatever happened to that kid. ;)

Sequels, Series, & Stand Alones—What's a Girl to Do?

Before I get into my main subject here, I thought I'd share a picture of some snowflakes we experienced this morning.  The photo doesn't do the flakes justice; those puppies were HUGE.  When I dropped my kids off at school, I thought a staff member was wearing a bow in her hair, but I realized it was a giant clump of snow that had landed on her head.  The flakes made loud smacking sounds as they hit my jacket.  It seriously felt like I was getting pelted on the losing end of a snowball fight with the heavens.

Anyway. . . the main thing I wanted to discuss this morning was the issue of sequels, series, and stand-alone novels.  What do you as a reader prefer?

Personally, I'm a fan of stand-alone books.  I think the creation and completion of a plot between the covers of one novel is an art form, and I love the thrill of working my way to a satisfying ending that blows me away.  However, I completely get the joy of a series.  Being able to continue a journey with beloved characters is also extremely gratifying, and I understand why both readers and publishers eat up sagas that stretch throughout several books.

I've been reading several young adult series lately, and I do have to say that I'm not a reader who can always handle the cliffhanger endings that won't get continued until a year later.  In the earlier days of fiction, when the works of authors like Dickens appeared serially, readers only had to wait a week or a month to receive the next installment of the series.  Today's readers typically have to wait three to twelve months.

On the one hand, waiting an entire year for a story isn't a bad skill to learn in our modern world of on-demand entertainment.  My eleven-year-old daughter isn't always the most patient person in the world, but even she can handle the suspense of a year's wait for a book.  However, if I'm personally not bowled over by the first installment of a series, I often won't seek out the second book—and I'm left with no ending.  I suppose that's the gamble involved in a series: you keep devoted readers, but you risk others falling by the wayside (others who might grumble about a lack of an ending).

As far as writing books go, I've been told that you don't want to necessarily sit down and write a series.  Write the first book with a potentially open ending, see if editors like it, and, at most, have an outline of ideas for further installments.   

My book that's currently out with publishers is a stand-alone novel.  It contains a definite ending.  Here's the problem, though: my main character won't get out of my head.  I think she wants me to tell more of her story.  She and I are a little at odds with another right now.  I've told her my opinions about the stand-alone novel as an art form, but she's a stubborn character and doesn't necessarily want to listen to my lofty views of literature.

We'll see what happens.  Perhaps her story will continue.  Maybe I'll play around with an outline and see if the ideas are worth pursuing.  For now, I'm reading both stand-alone novels and multi-book series and hoping the endings either leave me breathless for more or end with an unforgettable bang. 

A book recommendation for writers. . . and readers

I keep forgetting to recommend a book I received for my birthday: Scout, Atticus, & Boo: A Celebration of Fifty Years of To Kill a Mockingbird by Mary McDonagh Murphy.  If you enjoy Harper's Lee's fifty-year-old classic, I think you'll find Murphy's tribute to be an entertaining look behind the scenes of the novel's creation, the making of the 1962 movie, and the life of a private American talent who called it quits on the publicity machine and never published another title.

The bulk of the book consists of essays written by people as diverse as Oprah Winfrey, Mary Badham (Scout from the movie), James Patterson, and Harper Lee's 98-year-old sister (who still works at the Lee family's law office!).  While the essays themselves don't always consist of exemplary writing, they offer lovely nuggets of wisdom about how to write an outstanding novel that will stand the test of time.  Some of the essayists describe the cleverness of To Kill a Mockingbird's opening paragraph.  At least two authors cite one of my favorite paragraphs as being a model use of sensory writing (it's the paragraph that describes the ladies as being "like soft teacakes with frostings of sweat and sweet talcum").  Others discuss characterization and the bravery of tackling taboo subjects.

Scout, Atticus, & Boo is also a tribute to the art of writing a stand-alone novel, which is becoming a rarity in today's era of sequels and series.  I personally feel there's a great deal to be said about an author who's able to tie up all her loose ends within the pages of one book.  It's not always easy, but it's something to be admired.

As a writer, what I found most inspiring was the story behind Lee's original, contracted version of To Kill a Mockingbird, which was a far cry from the completed novel we see today.  Editor Tay Hohoff said of the first version, "There were dangling threads of a plot, there was a lack of unity."  It took two years of Lee rewriting the book before Mockingbird became publishable.  As I'm tearing into my own manuscript and rewriting major scenes, I keep thinking of the story behind To Kill a Mockingbird and reminding myself that revisions can be well worth the time and effort.  Even celebrated authors don't get it right the first time.

My manuscript and I have left the honeymoon stage

I'm almost ready to let Blackbirds head off to my next critique partner this weekend. I recently realized the book and I have reached a new stage in our life together. Even as recently as July, we were still in the honeymoon phase: I loved it unconditionally, we were inseparable, and I didn't feel a burning urge to change anything about it.

One critique partner and two months later, my viewpoint is different. We're now in the "paper anniversary" stage of our author/book marriage: I still love it dearly, I'm happy to be struggling financially with it, I'd never dream of abandoning it, but I've been living so closely with it that I'm now able to see some of the warts and pet peeves I didn't realize were there. Moreover, other people are alerting me to some of those warts and pet peeves and other faults that weren't so noticeable during the honeymoon.

But--as with every healthy bond--my relationship with my book is becoming far more rewarding because of the time I'm putting into it. I've been wrestling with some problem scenes and character weaknesses, polishing up sentences, and sealing up plot holes.  In some ways, this stage is better than the honeymoon because it's richer, more satisfying.

While my next critique partner reads Blackbirds, I'll be copy editing her novel, so I may not be posting updates much this month.  I'll be lovingly packing up my book and sending it out the virtual door for a mini-vacation.

Absence makes the heart grow fonder, even with a manuscript.    

How dark can we go with young adult fiction?

I met with an editor recently and mentioned I have some violence in my YA manuscript. I asked if that's a problem, and she said, "Not at all." When I first tried breaking into fiction for adults, violence was an issue...as were love triangles and non-Hollywood endings. The freedom to be edgy and dark and imaginative is exhilarating.

I've read modern YA, and it's clear teens are eating up books that aren't sugar coated. Suzanne Collins's Hunger Games series has topped the bestseller lists with a plot that concerns a dystopian reality show in which kids hunt each other to the death. Harry Potter has a staggering body count by the seventh book, and the ending of Markus Zusak's YA bestseller, The Book Thief, is both violent and emotionally intense. I have no idea why I even asked that editor about the darkness of my own novel. Perhaps I'm worried the rules will suddenly change and YA authors will have to treat readers as delicately as the supposed audience of women's books.

My current favorite YA book cover is the one for Brenna Yovanoff's upcoming novel, The Replacement (see above).  On my Suburban Vampire blog I've mentioned how YA fiction gets the best covers, and this one's no exception.  Artistic.  Intriguing.  Deliciously dark.  Can you imagine a cover with scissors and knives dangling over a baby's pram showing up in the aisles of women's fiction?  That would be a no-no. . . yet so many grown women read YA fiction.  I'm guessing I'm not the only adult female who flinches at candy-colored covers and the gentle happily-ever-after tales we're told women want.  Grown-ups gobble up YA fiction alongside teens because YA writers are allowed more freedom with their tales.  Imaginations can soar.  I love that I discovered the pleasure of writing YA; I can let my mind be as creative as it wants to be.  That's why I fell in love with writing in the first place.