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In Part 1, Editor Krista Marino explained how YA Voice is related to diction, perspective, dialog, interior monologue, and character. In this second section she explains what makes a young adult voice unique and different from an adult writing voice.
Let’s Talk about the Teen/YA Voice in Particular:
- YA is specific in terms of voice.
- YA is teen experience, outlook, and their limited life experiences.
- YA is about teen beliefs, likes and dislikes, etc.
- Think about how small your life was when you were a teenager. Remember when you believed in Santa? What did you believe when you were in high school? Did you think you were going to marry your high school boyfriend?
- An adult looking back on the teen experience is an adult book.
- “When you’re young everything feels like it’s the end of the world.” – movie quote. Teens have no reference to know that things will get better in their lives, where as adults bring life experiences with them.
- Teens are not making stupid decisions. They are making their decisions because they have only been on the planet for 16 years and don’t have any life experience.
- Teens have nothing else to compare their experiences to.
- When you are writing you need to erase the worldliness you’ve experienced over the years.
- Your protagonist can’t be simple.
- Every teen is questioning how other teens view them.
- Your character must evolve. Voice can change as a character grows and learns over the course of the book. Voice must change with the evolution and movement of the book.
Exercises to Get to Know Your Character:
- Exercise: List three character traits about your protagonist (i.e. sassy, romantic, uptight) then push yourself to go deeper and find out who they really are under those traits.
- Exercise: Write two pages that tell you something new about your character. These pages do not need to go into the manuscript. See what they will tell you.
- Exercise: Go to a public place and eavesdrop on teens. Write down their conversations exactly as you hear them. Now try to use that conversation in a scene you are writing. Watch how your characters interact.
Telling about Character in the Writing:
- Weave info about your character into the story, but make it invisible.
- In the writing insinuate how a character looks without listing everything they are wearing. Pick a particular trait to embody a greater image of the character. Example: A character wearing skull rings.
- You can’t assume the reader knows what is going on inside your character. You need to clue them in. Is the character tired? Excited?
- Layer your characters actions. Stomping could mean a character is angry, but they could also be embarrassed. Sometimes more is more.
- It’s better for someone to tell you to cut than add.
- Beware of too much telling, it will sound like you (the author) are speaking to the reader rather than the character.
Krista Marino is a senior editor at Delacort Press where she edits and acquires young adult and middle grade novels. Books she has edited include King Dork, The Necromancer, The Maze Runner, and The Forest of Hands and Teeth.
1 Comments on Perfecting Your YA Voice (Part 2), last added: 10/19/2011
Bloomsbury Editor Margaret Miller spoke at the 2011 Southern California SCBWI Writer’s Day event. She answered the following questions after her talk:
How Does an Editor Approach Pitching a Project?
- Yes, they do the “Hollywood thing” sometimes, but they are a bit sick of it. Everyone groans when you compare a book to Harry Potter.
- Has a book like this one succeeded before, and how is it different. That’s the way to approach pitching the book.
- How can I position this book so it is on the cusp of a growing trend?
- Editors can position about as “if they read it they will love it” but also know that it requires a certain type of marketing (to indy bookstores for example).
- The editor needs to provide evidence that other people (readers) will love the book.
Is YA Realism a Trend That’s on its Way Out?
- YA realism isn’t a trend. It will always be around. Kids always want to read books about “real life.”
- You need to find a hook that is genuinely unique, however. It’s hard to sell a book where stuff just happens in the real world. It’s hard when you have no plot in a mundane world.
What do you do if an Editor Changes Houses?
- You editor will always be the first person to have the most passion for your book. However, there are lots of other people at a house who also care about and have passion for your book.
- This is a hard question because there is a lot to consider.
- Passion for a project can fade at a house.
- You can move houses with your editor, but that can depend on your contract.
How Long Does the Editorial Process Take?
- That’s different with every author.
- Once the book is approved and ready to go (done with edits) then it takes a year. Before that depends on the author.
- It can also depend on how polished the drafts you send in are. We editors like polish!
What are the Trends Coming in?
- Lots of people say that Paranormal Romance is on its way out. But it will probably become something else. Romance is not going to go away. Be on the cusp of a trend and invent a new way for forbidden romance! Find new obstacles for your romantic book!
- There is a void in the market for really well drawn characters that have deep feelings and deal with difficult issues. The key words here being “really well drawn.”
Check Out These Other Great Posts with Margaret Miller:
Margaret Miller is an editor for Bloomsbury Children’s Books USA. A former editor at HarperCollins Children’s Books, she joined Bloomsbury in 2008. She has worked closely with authors Dan Gutman, Ivy Devlin, Timothy Power, and Greg van Eekhout. At Bloomsbury, Margaret focuses on middle grade and young adult fiction, with a few select picture books.
What’s it like to work with an editor? What’s the process? What should a first time writer expect when they sell their book? These questions and more were answered by Bloomsbury Editor Margaret Miller at the 2011 Southern California Writer’s Day. Read on to learn what to expect:
What Rights Do You Have When Working With and Editor?
- An honest reply to your work.
- An editor who will help you realize your vision.
- Open communication.
What’s the Editing Process?
Step One: The Macro Edit
- This is the big stuff – issues with plot, character, setting, etc.
Step Two: The Line Edit
Step Three: The Copy Edit
- This is about correcting grammar, looking for consistency, and phrasing suggestions.
- The copy editor is not telling you what to do. Many writers write with incorrect grammar on purpose. The copy editor is only pointing out where your grammar is wrong and making sure you meant to do that intentionally.
What Do You Do if You Disagree with Your Editor on Revisions?
- Check out the blog post on this topic at: Editorial Anonymous
- Give your emotional reaction to an editorial letter time to pass.
- Vent to your friends. Don’t vent on the internet or to another person at the publishing house. Possibly talk to your agent about it if you need to.
- Authors who lash out at editors can get a reputation in the industry as hard to work with, and that will make the editor less likely to want to work with you in the future.
- Know that the editor does care about the book and is trying to make it the best book possible. They do write careful and thoughtful letters to you.
- Be honest with yourself. Are you upset with the feedback because it means you have to do a lot of work? Does it mean a major revision? That’s not a good reason. You’ve got to put in the work!
- Look to see what the real problem behind the comment is. Maybe a comment that says “set the whole story in Brazil” is really a comment that the setting needs to be fleshed out more. Are there other ways to deal with the issue that you might be more on board with?
- If you still disagree with your editor then talk to them about it. But do it in a civilized way!
- Editors see themselves as facilitators helping you to create the best book you can.
A Bit about Book Jackets:
- This is an area where the author should act as a “highly interested spectator.” You may not have as much say as you would like.
- The editor has weekly (sometimes bi-weekly) meetings about book jackets. Here they talk with the other marketing teams and discuss what is best for your book. They talk about what characters look like, discuss current trends in book jackets, art styles, etc. They are professionals looking to see what will make your book most competitive in the current market.
- After they’ve come up with a jacket they like they run it past the sales team.
- Don’t expect to be heard if you hate your book jacket.
- You can voice your concerns, but it is best to do this with concrete suggestions rather than “I hate it.” For example: “I envisioned the character to b
I’ve finally posted all of my notes from the 2010 SCBWI LA Conference!
For your convenience I have listed below and linked all of the keynote speeches and breakout sessions I attended to their corresponding posts. Be sure to bookmark this page for future reference!
2010 SCBWI LA Conference Keynote Speech and Breakout Session List:
FRIDAY:
SATURDAY:
From the top things look pretty good! But from such a high angle one has a different point of view of the marketplace. Four senior editors were kind enough to share their view of the current children’s book marketplace at the 2010 SCBWI LA Conference. This star studded cast included editors: Stephanie Owens Lurie (Disney/Hyperion), Francesco Sedita (Grosset & Dunlap, and Price Stern Sloan), Jennifer Brown (Little Brown), and Justin Chada (VP and publisher at: Simon and Scheuster, Anthem, and Margaret K. McElderly Books).
MODERATOR: Tell us a little about yourselves.
FRANCESCO: I’m the publisher of two imprints at Penguin. I was at Scholastic for 8 years before, an also worked at Knoph adult before that. “Leading by Instinct” is my motto. The spirit of a project is what is most important to me. I also went to school for writing and am the author of Miss Popularity.
STEPHANIE: The school library introduced me to Little House On the Prairie, and later my heart was stolen by Harriet the Spy. I worked at Little Brown for 12 years, then Simon and Schuster for 6 years. Dutton for 9 years, and now I’m with Disney Hyperion. I was interested in working with an entertainment company and a smaller staff.
JENNIFER: I work at Little Brown. Initially I started on the marketing side, and I also did an internship with Beacon Press. I’ve also worked at Time and Money Magazines, and Random House Adult, as well as with Lee and Low’s multi-cultural picture books. I’ve been with Little Brown for the past 9 years. We are a small boutique house and we “strive to be the best in the class.”
JUSTIN: I work at Simon and Schuster and Makelberry. I work on the fourth floor. I oversee 250 titles per year, and work with a staff of 15 editors and assistants. I used to write for kids television and this is my 12th year in publishing!
MODERATOR: Characterize what you do at each of your imprints.
FRANCESCO: Grosset and Dunlap was a licensed publisher for awhile, and did things like Star Wars, etc. We are trying to develop books for 1-10 years old and middle grade. Pryslter and Sloan is the original publisher of madlibs, and is thought of as the obnoxious little brother to Grosset. We like to try to new things with format and develop new ideas. We are trying out a $9.99 picture book. We are playing with margins to make books easier to read. Some of our books include: Frankly Frannie, George Brown Class Clown, and Katie Kazoo Switch-a-roo.
STEPHANIE: Disney Press publishes all things related to Disney. But Disney Hyperion does non-Disney related content. We publish everything from Pre-School to YA, and things that are high concept. We are author focused and have people like Mo Willems, Clementine (book), Rick Riordan, Ally Carter, Melissa De La Cruz’s Blue Bloods. We publish 100 books a year, including literary fiction through series. 80% of our titles (per year) are commercial, and 20% are literary.
It was a gorgeous 104 degrees outside… in the shade. The buzzards were circling. Resting under a saguaro, I was sure to find a cowboy whistling as he picked his teeth with a cactus thorn…
Luckily…
I wasn’t lost in the Arizona desert. Nope, I was in the cool air-conditioned conference room of the 2010 Arizona SCBWI Event: Welcome to Our House – Words and Pictures. This one day event was star-studded with kidlit superstars including Jill Corcoran (Herman Agency), Claudia Gabel (Katherine Tegen Books), Eve Adler (Henry Holt), Calista Brill (First Second Books), Francesco Sedita (Grosset & Dunlap), and Amelia Anderson (Chronicle Books).
More detailed notes on each individual talk is to come, but in the meantime here’s the quick take away:
Francesco Sedita:
- Never forget who you are in all of this. Remember your voice. Otherwise why do you do this?
- I am always looking to publish books that will become the entry point that brings kids to books and reading.
Claudia Gabel:
- Intellectual property and in-house project development is a great new way for writers to get their foot in the door.
- High concept ideas are those with both familiarity and “wow” factor.
- You can find inspiration for a book in anything (magazines, TV, adult books). “Remember there is a book in that, whatever that is.”
Calista Brill:
- Reading graphic novels (and comics) activates new areas of your brain that regular books and prose does not. Take note!
- At First Second we believe in making beautiful art objects. That is what a graphic novel is to us. It isn’t something disposable. We will become Comic Evangelists through making beautiful work that the world cannot deny.
- A graphic novel is a long form comic book with a binding.
Eve Adler:
- The decision to acquire your book comes from a marriage of voice, quality writing, and strong plot structure.
- Henry Holt creates long-lasting relationships with our authors. We hope to work with you your whole career.
- We look for authors that have a willingness and eagerness to revise!
Jill Corcoran:
- You need to make a decision about if you want to send your book to agents OR editors. If you want an agent, don’t start sending your work to editors too.
- Agents screen for crazy. We will look you up on Google. Don’t vent online! Vent to your friends and family, don’t do it publicly.
- You can’t have a career on one book. What are you working on next?
Amelia Anderson:
- At Chronicle we like to explore ways to build a book into multiple products including: games, paper dolls, advent calendars, baby flash cards, pop up books or cards. Etc.
- Being a west coast publisher, we like to think we have a different look. We want you to be able to pick up one of our books and know it is a Chronicle book right away.
The 2010 Arizona Conference was an inspiring and exciting event (despite the heat wave)! Check back soon for more detailed notes and information from this event.
4 Comments on Welcome to Our House (2010 Arizona SCBWI Conference): The Quick Take-Away, last added: 9/29/2010
Krista Marino is a senior editor at Delacort Press where she edits and acquires young adult and middle grade novels. Books she has edited include King Dork, The Necromancer, The Maze Runner, and The Forest of Hands and Teeth.
Thanks for this post. I’ve had problems with beta readers who’ve given feedback from the wordly experience perspective. But there’s a huge difference between a 17 year old and a 60 year old. Since I already knew this, I choice to ignore the feedback that came from the adult voice.