Before I tell you about the conference, I want to point you to
my review of The Host at Deliciously Clean Reads.
The Host by Stephenie Meyer (instantly famous author of
Twilight,
New Moon,
Eclipse, and
Breaking Dawn) will be released in early May. And, as long as we are on the topic of Stephenie Meyer, I have been rather obsessed with all things concerning Twilight the Movie (due out in December of this year). Not as obsessed as the people
road-tripping to the scene of the filming, or
taking pictures of the
exterior of buildings that will appear in the movie, but it has been very fun to see
who they are casting for the various parts...and I AM one of the satisfied "Twi-hards" concerning the cast.
Okay, on to the Conference...
On Friday, the conference started with a bang.
TIM TRAVAGLINI, Senior Editor at G.P. Putnam's Sons was the Keynote Speaker during lunch (I'm a little nervous about blogging about him, since he did make an off-hand comment that he could give a whole speech about blog etiquette. I certainly don't want to say anything he wouldn't be happy about...Mr. Travaglini, if you are reading and oppose to anything, please let me know and I'll remove it immediately.). His topic: Getting Out of the Slush Pile...but, honestly, before you get all excited. THERE ISN'T A MAGIC SECRET. He gave an inspiring speech about the three elements of success.
1. Natural Talent
2. Training/ Instruction
3. Dedication/ Persistence
He said that many people succeed with only two of the above elements. If two are strong, you can usually get by without the third.
He said it is important to dream, but enjoy the journey. Improve your craft. Look inward instead of at market trends.
Kate DiCamillo had 400 rejections before she was published!
You should have folders overflowing with rejections. It shows you are trying. The harder you work, the luckier you get.
Be open to revisions.
"Be best friends with your local children's librarian."
Do your research. If he has a big pet peeve, it is having his name spelled wrong...but, really, that kind of thing won't keep a great story from getting published.
RACHEL ANN NUNES (LDS Author): Writing in Spite of a Busy Life.
Have the mindset of a writer. There is a big misconception out there...you have to have extra time to write. You have to make time. "If you don't try, you have already failed. If you keep trying, eventually you will succeed."
Tell yourself you're a writer. Take yourself seriously.
Tell others you are a writer. Help them take you seriously.
Be true to your God-given talents.
The average person spends 7 YEARS of his/her life watching TV. You can make time to write.
Have personal deadlines and goals.
In 20 weeks, writing 5000 words per week, you can write a 100,000 word novel.
Bible: Parable of the Talents...If you hide your talents, you'll lose them. When you use them, you'll get more.
KIRK SHAW (LDS Editor from Covenant): 10 Ways to Get Your Story Noticed.
Looking for gift books and clean fiction. All editors are looking for dynamic stories that they want to take home with them.
The most important part of a story is the climax. Build gradually. Make it a big deal.
Use fresh descriptions. Find and Replace your pet words.
Use sensory descriptions.
Write a killer opener for your book. Study great openings.
LISA MANGUM (LDS Editor from Deseret Book): Making the Leap
Wants books with LDS values, characters.
Worry about things you can control.
1. Am I in the right slush pile?
2. Who will buy this book?
3. How is it better than other similar books on the market?
4. What are people buying?
5. What is my marketing plan?
6. Have 5 HONEST readers given me feedback?
Write a killer cover letter. It's the most important page.
A Disney animator said, "Don't worry. Don't hurry. Don't stop."
After these workshops, we listened to an absolutely riotous speech from
Jessica Day George. Unfortunately, I couldn't take notes because I was laughing so hard I was crying. Sorry. You'll just have to come next time. :)
I only registered for Friday of the conference, but I went back on Saturday for my ms critique. I sent two picture book mss to TT of G.P. Putnam's Sons. I paced like a maniac until he finally arrived. I shouldn't have been so nervous. He made me feel at ease and gave some great feedback. He said my stories were a little on the short side. He said 300-500 words is probably best...but don't worry too much about word count. Try to follow the traditional story arc. He said I have a natural talent for prose and kid-humor (Hurray!) but need to work on building my stories out a little more. So, overall, it was a very positive experience.
I mean, the conference was full and interesting enough, that I hardly even pulled The Host out of my bag. And that's saying a lot.
All right, Dandi Mackall had our class do a few things for the picture book manuscripts we were working on. It might look like busywork, but I promise you it's helpful. At least was to me.
1. In one or two sentences, what is your story about? (Stephen Fraser also talked about this. he calls it an elevator pitch. Be able to show the focus of your story in a line or two. He says to include the pitch in your query/cover letters.)
2. Write 10 possible first lines.
3. Write 10 possible last lines.
4. Fill in the blanks for your characters: ______ is the kind of person who _______. Make it descriptive. (My answer for one of my characters was: Lilly is the kind of girl who eats her imaginary sister's brownies. Now don't steal my character.)
Happy Weekending! I'm going camping. Hopefully I'll come back with fun, bear-less pictures.
Dandi Mackall led a breakout session about rhythm and rhyme. Here are my notes...
Not all picture books rhyme, but ALL need rhythm. An editor told Dandi that the number one reason she rejected manuscripts was for their lack of rhythm.
Rhyming picture books are the hardest of all manuscripts to sell but many do sell.
The rhyming cannot be easy. What words rhyme with call? ball, fall, tall. Try not to use any of the words that first come to your mind. They are overused and boring. Try rhyming words with different syllable counts such as: way to scary/ necessary. This rhyme is unexpected, making it more satisfying.
Use a good rhyming dictionary.
Rhymes are more satisfying when words end in consonants.
For rhyming picture books, the shorter, the better.
Use poetic devices=metaphors/similes
Don't use cutesy alliterated names.
Establish a meter and stick to it. Write out your ms with accents. This is the only way to make sure people everywhere will be able to feel the rhythm of the lines.
You may slow down meter and speed it up according to story. Speed up by increasing unstressed beats between stressed ones.
Use repetition.
According to the faculty....
STEPHEN FRASER: Have self-respect. Appreciate yourself and what you have to say.
MARGARET MILLER: Don't send a ms until you totally love it, and it is the best you can make it.
JEANETTE INGOLD: Write what you love to read.
RANDALL WRIGHT: Write whenever you can. "I'm giving you permission to take the time to write."
KRISTA MARINO: You are writers, published or not.
MARTINE LEAVITT: Nobody asks a trombone player how to play. They take lessons and practice. Write every day.
DAVE WOLVERTON: Use a support group.
GUY FRANCIS: "Put a lot of mileage on your pencil."
DANDI MACKALL: Awesome to have a week with writers who are weirdos. Most people hate writing. We pay big bucks to write and have professionals say "Eh" about our work. John 13:17 You know these things, now go home and do them.
RICK WALTON: If you write enough, something publishable is bound to come out.
CAROL LYNCH WILLIAMS: Read read read. Write write write.
Martine Leavitt gave an interesting workshop outlining specific questions to help you strengthen your plot. She was such a kind, soft-spoken lady full of brilliance. Don't forget to check out my review of her book, Keturah and Lord Death over at ![[info]](http://stat.livejournal.com/img/syndicated.gif)
cleanreads!
AFTER you have a rough draft, ask yourself these 8 questions.
1. WHAT DOES YOUR CHARACTER WANT? Desire drives them with a small object of desire to represent it. Example: Want a dress to get a boy.
2. WHY CAN'T S/HE HAVE IT? Must be a huge problem. What did Ariel of The Little Mermaid want? To live with Eric on land. Why can't she have it? She's a fish. A seemingly impossible thing to overcome.
3. WHAT WILL HAPPEN IF S/HE DOESN'T GET WHAT S/HE WANTS? In Keturah and Lord Death, Keturah will die if she doesn't find true love in one day. In Little Mermaid, Ariel will be miserable for the rest of her life.
4. HOW DOES YOUR CHARACTER STRUGGLE TO GET WHAT S/HE WANTS? Most of your story happens here. 3 tries and failures.
5. WHAT ADDITIONAL HARDSHIPS DOES THE MAIN CHARACTER FACE? Creat a character you love. Chase her up a tree and throw rocks at her.
6. WHEN IS IT HOPELESS? Whe you can't close the book, wouldn't leave the movie for popcorn. When Ariel can't swim to the boat and Eric and the Sea Witch are about to get married.
7. WHEN IS THE TENSION RELIEVED? How do they get what they want?
8. WHAT IS SURPRISING ABOUT THE ENDING? (Optional but satisfying.)
Ask these questions for you MC, then all the rest of the characters. Their struggles, though, must be related to MC's. Any part of the story that doesn't help answer these questions should be cut.
...was awesome. I have so many notes, I don't even know where to start. Each morning I was with the same instructor, Dandi Mackall (Pronounced Mackle), and a group of 12 students. Dandi is an incredible woman. Warmth and light emenate from her. I felt inspired just to be in the room with her.
The first day, Dandi taught the basics. I suppose I'll start there, too. Here are my notes.
Normal Picture Book Size- 8x8, 32 pages.
Her favorite market guide- Jeff Herman's Guide to Book Publishers, Editors & Literary Agents-for the most accurate info, look for it in August and note changes from Harold Underdown's website.
THE STRUCTURE OF A CLASSIC PICTURE BOOK
Ask yourself, "Why is this page HERE instead of HERE?" Make sure you have a narrative arc.
Start with a character who wants something. This becomes the plot.
-Character needs to be distinct. (Example-He was the kind of man of wore cufflinks made of human teeth.)
-Give character a major problem.
-In classic structure, the character will make three tries to get what he wants. Character is the one acting and reacting. With each attempt, character should show growth.
-Illustrations can't show sound, smell, or taste. These are great details to add to picture book text. Illustrators show facial expressions and colors better than writers.
-Use compressed language. Make each word count. Use metaphors and similes.
-If a story would work with only one illustration, consider selling as a magazine piece.
-It should end with a punch. Don't let the air slowly out of the balloon. Much better if balloon suddenly pops at the end.
-Make a dummy of all picture book mss. Here is a formula for a dummy in classic structure...
Page 1: Title Page
Page 2-3: Title, Author, Illustrator, Publishing info
Spread 1: (pp. 4-5) Lights! Camera! Action! Main Character, Setting, Problem. Point of view, Tone, Time, Voice, Language.
Spread 2: (pp. 6-7) Deepening Awareness of Problem and Character.
Spread 3: (pp. 8-9) Main Character's First Attempt to Solve Problem [Action]
Spread 4: (pp. 10-11) Reaction/Result
Spread 5: (pp. 12-13) Things get worse!
Spread 6: (pp. 14-15) Main Character's Second Attempt to Solve Problem [Action]
Spread 7: (pp. 16-17) Reaction/Result
Spread 8: (pp. 18-19) Things get worse!
Spread 9: (pp. 20-21) Main Character's Third Attempt to Solve Problem [Action]
Spread 10: (pp. 22-23) Reaction/Result
Spread 11: (pp. 24-25) Things get worse!
Spread 12: (pp. 26-27) Main Character gets it! Inner Climax. Epiphany. It's okay to teach a lesson through your character.
Spread 13: (pp. 28-29) Main Character acts! Outer Climax.
Spread 14: (pp. 30-31) Solution works!
Possible Single Page: (p. 32) Bonus: Twist, ah-ha, gotcha
Of course, these notes do not apply to all picture books. But know the rules, and then break them responsibly.
Many thanks to Dandi. I learned a ton and loved every minute of it!
Tomorrow I'll be back here with advice from Martine Leavitt on "How not to write a boring story." I'll also be posting a review of Keturah and Lord Death at Deliciously Clean Reads.
Rosemary Wells considers herself a Professional Illogical Thinker, given that creative career-people (like writers and artists) are opposite of logic-based career-people (such as professors and lawyers).
PICTURE BOOKS
-How does she get her ideas? She has a 'junk drawer'. If she throws all the junk together and puts in a kaleidoscope, it becomes something marvelous. WRITING IS ADDING LIGHT TO JUNK.
-Wells loves art stores. She loves to buy everything.
-In a picture book, THE STORY IS IT. It must be strong enough to be read 500 times without boring the reader. Other genres do not have to withstand this test. Only a small percentage can write for children.
-Maurice Sendak's editor at Harper once said, "I am a former child, and I have forgotten nothing."
PUBLIC SCHOOLS
-Children come to school with various amounts of pre-knowledge. Just as a mechanic cannot fix a car without the right parts, a teacher cannot help a child without the right basis for learning.
-The US is seriously in trouble because parents are not proactive enough.
-In a recent study, 60% of teachers in the midwest said that the #1 problem they deal with is parental involvement.
-Wells does not write about issues, but she hopes to share her passion for family and the importance of reading through her speaches.
-She has a new book coming out, A Shining Star. It is a companion book to Read to your Bunny. A Shining Star has 10 characteristics Rosemary Wells believes are crucial to a child's learning.
1. Respect
2. Listening
3. Patience
4. Trust
5. Work
6. Honesty
7. Children spell love T-I-M-E
8. Reading
9. Writing/Drawing
10. Good Habits/Schedule
These are things that must be learned at home to prepare a child to learn at school. School can open up the world to a child at age 5, IF PARENTS HAVE PREPARED THEM AND CONTINUE TO BE INVOLVED.
If you would like to know more about how Rosemary Wells feels about this topic, read her speech HERE.
A COUPLE RANDOM THINGS ABOUT ROSEMARY WELLS
-She hates TV/video games. Surround children with books.
-She is working on a new mid-grade called Father Abraham. It is about Abraham Lincoln as a father.
-She loves the Maisy books, Margaret Wise Brown, Babar books, Tomie dePaola and David Shannon's Fergus.
I'm slowly coming out of the depths of my Stephenie Meyer obsession and am finally ready to share my notes about another brilliant author. Joan Bauer is the author of many award-winning novels, including 2003 Newbery Honor book, HOPE WAS HERE.
Bauer's books are filled with strong, inspiring characters with unusual talents. For example, in Hope Was Here, the main character, Hope, is an extraordinary waitress.
Here are my notes from BYU's Midwinter Books for Young Readers. I'm not sure I've ever seen a more enthusiastic speaker...
-As a young mom, Joan Bauer wrote in the loft in her home. However, it soon became apparent that not having a door was a problem. She used to stall the kids by putting a jar of jelly beans on the stairs, to get a few extra minutes of writing time.
-There was a time when Bauer was very depressed. She was supposed to speak to a group of 400 blind/handicapped children in New York. She wanted to give them her all, but she was beating herself up inside. The day was rainy. A little girl asked her what she would be speaking about before she started. Bauer said vaguely that she'd be telling some stories. The girl continued, "Well, are they good stories?". Bauer wasn't sure they were. She began her speech. She spoke about a terrible accident that almost took everything away from her, including her writing ability. A boy wanted the mic. Bauer wasn't sure it was a good idea, but she let him have it. It took several minutes for the boy, Rodney, to get up and speak. He said, "Every day I need to laugh." She hopes her stories show the pains of life and where laughter fits in.
-One of her books, STAND TALL, begins with Ecclesiastes 3, which says "...a time to weep, a time to laugh..." She wrote this book in the wake of September Eleventh. It's about a time to face war, internal and external.
-Bauer likes to think about all the hands that touch a book. Every person that touches the book, adds their own story and experiences to it.
-She is a strong believer in hope and passion. This is why she gives each character a strong passion/talent. And she hope all her books are infused with hope.
-When she was recovering from her accident, a lawyer made her question, "Who am I to have this big dream anyway?" He said that she could prove she was a writer one day by sending a book to him. She thought, "Yeah right. When I'm a writer, you can go buy my book at the store."
-When asked how she can write for children, she says, "I am every age that I ever was."
-Pain and laughter go together. Think of Moses with his staff. The Lord said to throw it down and it became a serpent. "What do you have in your hands? Throw it down." Find out what power it has.
-Music comes from the soul, not just the instrument.
-She doesn't usually do writing exercises, except in her head. However, she'll sometimes do a 30-page character sketch. She thinks/researches for 2-3 months before beginning a novel.
Stay tuned for the final amazing speaker I heard on Saturday....Rosemary Wells.
I usually blog on Monday, and if I don't, I blog Tuesday morning. But this week I didn't because I was too busy reading this:
HOPE WAS HERE by Joan Bauer (think she's related to Jack?) is an excellent novel that will appeal to fans of Deborah Wiles (Each Little Bird that Sings and Love, Ruby Lavender).
I am also reading many picture books by Rosemary Wells. MAX'S CHOCOLATE CHICKEN is a bundle of fun.
I have been waiting and waiting for Stephenie Meyer's book, TWILIGHT, at the library. And I really hope I get it by this weekend.
So, why am I reading up on Joan Bauer, Rosemary Wells, and Stephenie Meyer? I am going to see them on Saturday at BYU's Midwinter Books for Young Readers Symposium. AND it looks like there will be plenty of time for questions. So, come on, don't be shy...what questions would you like me to ask these brilliant authors?
Because, here's a confession. I hate speaking on-the-spot. Ask me to speak in front of a group, and sure, I don't have a problem with that if I am prepared. If I go there, questions-in-hand, I'll be perfectly fine and composed. If I go unprepared, I'll sweat, turn read, stutter, and probably chicken-out of asking anything at all.
