To have a little fun, we've got a Round Robin story going on this week at the YA Rebels. I love it because we all have such different methods of storytelling. Here's my part below, and you can find Tuesday's, which precedes it, below:
Please ignore the fact I wrote this around midnight after a VERY long day, a week with too little sleep, and an impending final exam this morning.
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And now, your lesson for the day: When all else fails, trust in the simple act of writing to relieve the weight.
I've been REALLY stressed lately. If you follow me, well, ANYWHERE online you probably noticed. And the frustration/exasperation/temper was getting worse and worse and I couldn't figure out what I needed to do to relieve it. And then I sat down, and wrote. And just like that, the stress began to bleed away. It's the simplest reminder that this is what I'm meant to do. This is what I'm made to do. It's so easy to forget that all this stuff that surrounds writing, the industry, the (mostly awesome) people, what it all comes down to, what's at its absolute center, is WRITING.
I'm over at the Elevensies (2011 debuts) site today, talking about a day in my writing life. There's dogs, vlogs, and gummy vites. Stop by if you get a chance and say hello/lurk/show some love :)
This week on the YA Rebels we're talking about how we get our ideas, and for some reason I kind skirted that question and instead talked about what I do with my little ideas once I have them :p
You should watch, because I actually committed to an analogy for once!
I was going to do a really deep post on subjectivity. I even started writing it. But then I realized I had something more pressing to discuss. CHOCOLATE.
Laugh if you will, but chocolate plays a big role in my writing. If you ever saw my very first YA Rebels vlog, I showed the world (or at least the 7 people watching the YAR that first week) my chocolate DRAWER.
The chocolate is strong in this one (I hope I got that line right, I have only seen Star Wars twice).
I made a comment about my chocolate love on Twitter last night. Apparently, others feel the same. I never expected to get so much sugary support at 12:15 on a Saturday night.
But then people say, HOW can you always be eating sugar???
And this is where the third factor in my writing triangle comes in. Thankfully, writing and exercise (not EDITING and exercise mind you; during editing I turn into a slug) are really intertwined as well. I've told people, only half in jest, that I tell my stories first to the stripe on the swimming pool floor.
So. Writing. Chocolate. Exercise. It makes a good triangle. But back to the CHOCOLATE.
Oh chocolate Bitter and yet sweet You tweak my words to make them richer You make my book complete Taken late night from the drawer Snagged in cupcake, bar or cookie I am always wanting more And sugarfied I sit awake And ponder that last chapter The rhythm, plot, mistake The line before, that scene right after Chocolate smooths the moments out And makes the scenes all sweeter Oh chocolate You make my book and me complete...r.*
That's about as far as I got before I realized this blog idea seemed MUCH better late last night.
But the moral is simple. Chocolate is important. As Jocelyn Davies and I agreed last night, chocolate is necessary for revisions. And drafting, and plotting, and musing, and editing, and percolating, and wondering, and formulating, and thinking, and reading...
*That was not intended as a serious attempt. Please don't judge me :p
PS. I love that I already had a post tag for chocolate.
The title says it all!! I have for you TWO AWESOME THINGS.
1. This week on the YA Rebels, we're having guest authors. And mine is...
2. It's time for my next Pay It Forward Interview!! It's none other than the witty, talented, pixie-haired... TESSA GRATTON!
1. Tell us about your book. (Publication Date, Publisher, One or two sentence description.)
BLOOD MAGIC is a contemporary gothic horror love story insane Frankenstein amalgam of a book about two teens who meet in a cemetery and plunge into a dangerous world of dark magic, first love, and the deadly secrets that hide in blood. It comes out Summer 2011 with Random House Children’s Books, and the sequel CROW MAGIC comes out in 2012. More here: www.tessagratton.com
2. Can you tell us a little bit about your road to publication (finding an agent)?
WELL. I did this weird thing where I would write a book, query 5 agents, and when they would read 50 pages or a full only to say “sorry, nice, but no,” I’d write a whole new book. Instead of, ya know, trying more than 5 agents.
I did this three times. And finally I had this YA book that I was really happy with and my crit partners (Maggie Stiefvater and Brenna Yovanoff) said, “TESSA THIS IS THE ONE.” So I wrote a query to Laura Rennert of ABLA, who was also Maggie’s agent, saying that I was Maggie’s bloodier doppelganger and that we should have literary babies (half of this clause is absolutely true). I only sent the book to her, and because she knew who I was through working with Maggie and our fiction website The Merry Sisters of Fate (www.merryfates.com), she asked for and I gave her an exclusive.
Three weeks later we signed together. We did some revisions after that, sent Blood Magic out to editors, were slowly and achingly rejected, revised again, sent out again, and then in August 2009 Blood Magic went to auction while I was at a wedding in England. WHEW.
It was almost exactly one year from writing the first words to getting the first offer.
3. Was there ever a time you felt like giving up? Why didn't you?
Only one time. I mentioned above that our first round of submissions failed. My book went to THREE acquisitions meetings, and still the final answer was no. I worked with my agent, my crit partners, and my SO to figure out what was drawing everybody in so well, but then ultimately causing them to reject. It came down to the fact that in the last third of my book I was dealing with to pretty major taboos; queerness and necromancy/suicide/grief.
The queer issues/gender issues were what had caused me to write the book in the first place, but the way the book developed over 6 complete rewrites made those issues less of the focus (to the betterment of the story, I assure you). It became painfully clear that I was trying to do too much. To say too much. The queer/gender issue had to go. It was too big for the role I’d given it.
When I quit graduate school to write, I promised myself I’d always try to make a difference with my stories. And I still believe that. But removing that theme from Blood Magic was the hardest thing I’ve ever done with my writing, emotionally and spiritually. But I truly believe that it is better suited to another story.
The morning I finally made the decision, I shut myself up in a bathroom stall and balled my eyes out. For about 2 minutes I considered quitting.
But I knew if I did, I’d never find the right chance to tell all the stories I’m meant to tell.
4. Bonus: Favorite kind of cupcake? (NO cupcake is NOT an answer O_O)
Red Velvet. Or lemon. Or… red lemon velvet. Does that exist? I should experiment.
Thank you, Tessa! Loved those answers. Everyone, make sure you check out Tessa's RIDICULOUSLY PRETTY WEBSITE.
Today on the YA Rebels I look at the query letter that first got me my agent.
And the query:
Dear Ms. Tipton,
I understand from your agency's website that you enjoy young adult fiction, and so I hope you'll consider representing my 56,000 word YA novel, "The Shadow Mile."
When their car hit the river three years ago, Nell's mother died, and Nell went to sleep. A deep, dreamless, sleep. The doctors called it a coma. She called it coping. But when Nell woke up a week later, something stayed behind. Since the accident, shadows have begun to bend the wrong way, the seams of the world glinting on the edges of her sight. One day a shadow peels itself straight off the wall and flutters away, like a moth. Even to Nell, this is a bit peculiar.
A world away, Death is growing restless. Bound to the Shadow Mile, the place between the living world and the one beyond, the reaper has grown sick of its mundane occupation. When the reaper decides it wants out, it calls in a professional. Death enlists recently departed scholar Lucas Bradley Link to devise a plan that could not only free the reaper, but ultimately lead to the downfall of the living world. Step one: Lure a living soul into the Shadow Mile, and steal their life
When Nell stumbles into Death's trap, she finds herself in the dreamlike Mile, where doors are one-way, people are shadows, and when it rains, the sky actually falls. A shifting space where getting out is much harder than falling in, and the price for staying too long is steep.
"The Shadow Mile" is a cat-and-mouse-game that forces Nell to confront her mother's death and her own disconnection as she tries to find her way back home before the reaper steals her life.
I am a rising senior in college, and this is my first novel. Thank you in advance for your time.
So, over the past few days I took a course to get my scooter/motorcycle license,got hit by a motorcycle, and then proceeded to crash my own scooter during a drill on a very, very rainy Sunday. Front wheel locked and went straight over the handle bars.
I also started writing a new book (yay, new book, but won't be saying word 1 about WHAT it is).
The thing about a new book is it means a new MC, and in the case of a first person narration, a new VOICE.
I have a few tactics for starting books, one of my favorite being to create a list of shots, essentially vivid still frames from the book. But no matter how much info I know about plot, or how many vivid moments I've got jotted down, I can't really get into a rhythm until my MC decides to TALK, to tell me the story in his/her own words. Once that happens, the book finally begins.
THANKFULLY, my new MC took pity on me.
If your MC won't start chatting, here are two things that work for me:
-Think about how your MC would describe the other characters in the book. This tells you about their voice, but also about relationships and dynamics and other things that tend to come in handy when building a story.
-Sometimes you can "interview" your MC, or any character in your book, but I prefer to take a walk with mine. As I walk and let my eyes wander onto different things, paying attention to the way thoughts trickle in, that is when I start to make progress. I start to think of where my MC's mind goes when they wander. And the seemingly innocuous thoughts are often very telling. I recommend not confining your MC to a list of questions, but letting them ramble.
I'm sure there are many more ways, but these are the two that seem to work for me. Do you have any techniques?
They're a funny thing for me. Up until about six months ago...
I'd never had one.
They kind of scared me.
THE PRE-CRIT PARTNER LIFE:
See, I'd gotten used to being judged by my agent, by editors, then by my editor, but not by my peers. Part of me justified by saying I got this far without one, but let me tell you, crit partners are INVALUABLE.
First I should say that my mother is my ultimate reader. No story makes it past our front door and out into the pub world without crossing her desk. She's incredibly intelligent, and honest, and if others are beta readers, she's the alpha.
So I didn't really know if I wanted crit partners, or how to go about getting them, and then one day a good writing friend of mine offered to read NEAR WITCH. I was TERRIFIED, because I didn't want this person's opinion of me to decrease if they didn't like the ms. I feel like our stories are clothes, and people judge other people by how they dress.
But I sucked it up and gave it to her.
And the feedback this person came back with was so thorough! So HELPFUL. I was in shock.
OH, SO THAT'S WHAT EVERYONE'S TALKING ABOUT:
The shock led to the realization of how much better my books would be, and I got braver and extended the circle of critique partners.
Now I have 4-5. All of them are authors at or around the same part in the publishing process. All of them are people I know and trust.
CRIT PARTNER ADVICE:
That last part is VERY IMPORTANT. These people are handling material that is private and precious (to me) until it makes its way onto the shelf.
Get to know your crit partners, choose wisely, test the marriage, do everything you need to, because if it's a good fit, it can be an incredibly fruitful, and hopefully fun, relationship.
Oh, and make sure I have a spectrum of NICE to EVIL. So I have 1-2 who are gentler, and 1-2 who will tear me a new one without fail.
Wherever your crit partners fall on the spectrum of mean, having them is great practice for letting your book out into the real world, and because of them, it will look a lot better when it gets there.
So I've been sparse, and I'm really sorry. I have a MAJOR deadline this upcoming Friday, and several things I'm trying to juggle, in addition to figuring out a PLAN B since I'm not getting into any MFA programs (and it's okay) and I have to remember to shower and sleep...
But I will resurface soon with an ACTUAL post full of yummy content. I promise. Please stick with me.
So I've been a stressed out Pout Monster lately, but I have a reason. What could turn this calm, composed young author into a cupcake-scarfing ball of angst?
This week I'm taking on the topic of "Hardest Scenes to Write" over at the YARebels. As usual, you can see the video below or via the link.
But I'm also curious to hear your thoughts. Our Monday Rebel said major climaxes, Tuesday said the quiet, in-between scenes, and I say scenes involving death/loss.
“If you are a dreamer,come in. If you are a dreamer, a wisher, a liar, a hoper, a prayer, a magic-bean-buyer. If you're a pretender, come sit by my fire, for we have some flax-golden tales to spin. Come in! Come in!” ~ Shel Silverstein
I thought this day would never come.
It's flawed and it still needs work, and I'm still adding pages, but it's up. And it's ME. It's very, very me. And that's all I wanted.
Come into my blanket fort and learn about BAD ROMANCE. *starts singing Lady Gaga to self*
So, it's Wednesday again. And that means that, just like last week, I made a vlog. I also made a blanket fort. Actually, it's a SECURITY BLANKET FORT. And this week I'm talking about the balance between ATTRACTION and REPULSION in "bad romance".
My blanket fort is cushioned. And stocked with chocolate. And I have a diagram I use to talk about bad romance involving a stapler, a photo holder, and raisonettes.
I actually had to THINK really hard about this post, and you all know what state my brain is in during tennis (edits), so please come say hi. Or at least click the play button :p It would make my day.
In between tennis matches (edits), and this is what's on my plate:
-Planning my next vlog for the YA Rebels, in which I actually have to talk about something :p Really excited though! Our 2nd week is going to be so much fun (for us at least, we hope you have fun, too!)
-Working on the website. Yes, the one I mentioned MONTHS ago. It will be done. One day.
-Working on trailer. This too will be done. One day.
-I'm taking a southern lit course!
-Obsessively checking Goodreads, Twitter, FB, etc. It's a problem, but I like to call it a "fascination" because it sounds less like obsession and more like curiosity.
-TV show: Chuck. Hey, that show is actually REALLY addictive.
-TV comes back this week! This makes me happy because it's the only way I know what day it is. Consequently all through the holidays I thought it was Saturday. Please don't feel the need to tell me how pathetic this is :p
-I've come to the realization that I need things in my life that are deliberately NOT writing. Because writing isn't such a great break from writing, and so much of writing is waiting, and it's too easy for me to drive myself crazy either waiting or trying to write while waiting on other writing and you see how this can all go on and on until you feel slightly dizzy.
-To end on a positive writing note: I finally feel like I understand my characters. You might be saying, "But V, shouldn't you have gotten to that point many ages ago?" And the answer is no. I *tried* to understand them, and got to the point of auras and shadows and vague notions of their wants and motives, but have really struggled to GET them, to answer the fundamental questions of what it is they want, in life, in the story, etc. I finally feel like I understand, and if I could put into words the HOPE that this understanding fills me with, I would.
FACT: I am not a Twitter Quitter. I made it the whole week! I don't know about you all, but this was a surprise to me!
FACT: I got 10k written during my Twittercation. Just saying.
FACT: I read 4 books this week. City of Ashes, Strange Angels, Wicked Lovely, The Magician's Elephant.
FACT: I am taking over the internets, bit by bit.
So my website won't launch until the new year, in honor of all the fun we're going to have in 2010! But in the meantime, I've begun my slow and steady journey of taking over the internets! [insert malicious laugh]
FACT: I missed Twitter!
FACT: This is not a fact but I didn't want to ruin the motif. I don't do linkage often, but I really, really want to link this blog post by Courtney Summers called On Mean Girls & Writing Some Girls Are.
Hell, Fall! I'm so happy to see you. Feel free to announce yourself in Nashville with some cool weather and perhaps even some changing leaves if you feel up to it.
A few cool things to kick off Fall!
1. My friend and fellow writing team member SCOTT TRACEY got a two-book deal today with Flux!! Isn't that awesome? You better go congratulate him, AFTER you're done here.
2. I have started my edits. Yes, that was fast. Yes, I have my work seriously cut out for me, and yes, I did spend several hours wandering aimlessly around the house murmuring to myself "it will be okay." I am still murmuring. But I'm ALSO cheering on the inside, because these edits are going to make this book (hopefully) squee-worthy. Future me, the one NOT facing the edits, is squeeing.
3. I'm still working on my Q & A. I need a couple days to get my head back in the vicinity of my shoulders and then I will post the answers to all the wonderful questions that did not make the cupcake video cut.
4. I am loving this song right now. Thank you, Emily, for suggesting this. (And I am working on a NW playlist, fyi, but that also goes under the category of "Oh dear god let me where has my head gone and is it coming back??")
