Believe it or not, I've been asked to teach.
I know, right?
Clearly they haven't been reading this blog, or they'd realize I will spend at least part of my lecture talking about cupcakes. But for the other, non-cupcake related part I'll be talking about one of the things I do actually know *something* about. Here's the flyer:
In case the graphic isn't loading right, here's the details:
Friday, April 20th 6-9pm
Pomona College, Room SCC-217
Subject: Creating a Killer Plot
Speaker: ME
The dinner is only for club members, but the workshop from 7-9 is open to anyone. So if you live in SoCal, and want to watch me try to sound smart (and fill the awkward silences with in-depth cupcake discussion) feel free to join us. I promise I will do my best to make it worth while. (*dusts off tap shoes* *practices jazz hands*)
I *believe* the workshop is free--but don't quote me on that (I'm just the speaker, what do I know?) and if you decide to go, make sure you email them ahead of time so they know to have enough chairs:
christinabejjani (at) gmail (dot) com
And for those of you who can't go, I will try to eventually put together a blog post on the same topic. So if there's anything you've ever wanted to know about plotting please, feel free to ask away in the comments. I will definitely do my best to answer. Or... ramble about cupcakes. One of the two.
Hope to see some of you there!
Have a great weekend everyone!
Sooooooooooooooo sorry for not blogging yesterday--I'm still struggling to catch up from being gone last week at the retreat.
And I had big plans to write a brilliant, inspiring, fabulous post for today (okay, fine, it was going to be random and rambly, whatevs). But then a friend of mine told me there was a red tide and that that I needed to drop everything and get myself to the beach--stat. And you know what? She was RIGHT!
These pictures really don't do it justice, but they give you a small idea of what it's like to see the ocean glowing red and flashing neon green and blue with each wave.
Truly, truly breathtaking. And so worth the drive. (the pictures SO don't do it justice, but it was the best I could do). But, it meant I didn't have time to put together a proper post for you guys today. It also meant I lost a whole evening of writing time--and I'm already a little behind on where I need to be.
But... I actually think there's a lesson there too.
I am a BIG believer in pushing yourself hard and setting deadlines and sticking to them. But I also believe in "filling the well." If you never get out and experience anything, how will you find things to write about?
I may never write a scene with phosphorescent waves crashing against the shore. But watching them definitely inspired me. So really, I think it comes down to balance. Working hard and refining your craft and doing the butt-in-chair method is only part of it. You have to stop, and let yourself soak up life. And sometimes I forget that.
So I thought I'd pass that little reminder on to you. Push yourselves hard to get where you want to be. But don't forget to take some time for yourself too. Otherwise you might be missing out on amazing, inspiring things!
I remember when I first started dating I used to ask my older, already married friends how they knew they'd found, "the one." And they'd all give me the same answer: a smug smile, paired with, "you just know."
Yeah, I wanted to kick them in the shins and scream THAT DOESN'T TELL ME ANYTHING, YOU SMUG MARRIED PEOPLE!!!!!!!
And then I met my husband and... you know what? I *just knew.*
Sadly, I find the same thing happens when it comes to picking a project. One of the questions people ask me ALL the time is: how did you know your project was "the one" and that you should query it--instead of writing something else? And they usually look ready to kick me--or ready to fling salty brined things at me--when I say, "I just knew."
So I've put some thought into it and tried to figure out HOW I knew, since... well... one of these days someone probably WILL kick me or pelt me with olives when I tell them "I just knew" and... that really won't be fun. And strangely enough, it comes down to very much the same ways I knew the Hubs was the one for me:
- It needs to be different from the others
No, I don't mean your draft must be different from every single thing out there--though originality is definitely a big plus. What I mean by "others" is: OTHER THINGS YOU'VE WRITTEN. Yeah, I know there are those flukey stories where someone sells the very first thing they've ever written and it sells for a quadrillion dollars and is an insta-bestseller and we all kind of hate them and want to pelt THEM with olives. But that is RARE.
It's not an exaggeration to say we all have to purge a million bad words before we get anything good. I know it may not feel like it when you're writing it, because new words have a tendency to look really shiny and pretty. And you may even do a lot of revision on that first book and make it WAY better than it was when you first started it. But honestly? There's a really, REALLY good chance it's still not good enough. Because that's just how writing goes. Most published authors have really bad books/screenplays/plays/whatever shoved in their closets of shame. And for good reason.
So if the project you're working on is the very first thing you've ever written--EVER? There's a really good chance it's not, "the one." AND THAT IS NOT MEANT TO BE DISCOURAGING. No writing is ever wasted. You never know what you might do with it. But odds are, if you let that project sit and then return to it in a few months you'll reread it and realize wow, this wasn't "the one."
- It needs to stand the test of time
You can't rush good writing---and you SHOULD NOT query your draft the second it's done. I know how exciting it is to finish a book and how much work it was and how much you want to get it out there and hopefully get that huge book deal. But it needs time, first. For revision--yes. But also, you might want to consider giving you and the project some space. Put it on a shelf for a couple of months and work on something else. When you go back and reread it, you may be stunned at what you find. Time has a way of giving you a whole new perspective on what is and isn't awesome about the draft. You may go back and realize "wow--this is even better than I remember!" Or you may realize, "yeah, this was part of those million bad words."
- It needs to
The writing process is a pretty miraculous thing, when you think about it. It never ceases to amaze me how word by word, sentence by sentence, page by page a story unfolds itself in front of me. And most of the time I find myself rereading my words at the end of the day and thinking, "wow--where did that come from? I didn't know I had that in me."
But it's also a very ... fragile process.
If my confidence gets shaken, or my resolve gets shattered, or I let too much noise into my head, it can set me back for days, weeks--maybe even months.
So I've learned that I have to sort of ... nurture my inner-writer--protect that part of myself in various ways, in order to keep myself going. And I've developed a few personal rules I try to live by in order to do that:
I write for me.
Yes, in order to be published I have to think about what agents / editors / publishers / readers / reviewers / teachers / librarians might want from my story. But I CAN'T think about any of that when I'm writing--especially in the drafting stage. At that point I'm just writing to entertain myself, to see the story in my head play out on the page. As long as I'm having fun and liking what I'm seeing, I'm good. I'll worry about all those other people in the revision stage.
I have full permission to suck.
Writing is rewriting. It really, really is. Sure, we all wish we could get it right the very first time. But that just doesn't happen--at least not for the draft as a whole. There's always some stuff that's salvageable--and the more I write the more salvageable stuff I seem to get. But on the whole, I'm going to spew out a whole lot of stuff that SUCKS in the beginning. And that's okay. That's just Step One in the process. Word vomit on the page. I will clean it up later.
My writing life is a drama-free zone.
Honestly, I have no time or tolerance for drama in any part of my life--but DEFINITELY not in my writing life. I surround myself only with supportive, talented, encouraging writer friends who build me up when I need it, push me to make every word I type the best it can be, and cheer me along at every victory--big or small. Nothing can be more discouraging or damaging to a writers confidence than being surrounded by competition or comparison or negativity. So if I see any sign of that (which fortunately doesn't happen very often in the children's writing world) I separate myself as quickly as possible.
My journey is my own.
It's HARD not to compare myself to others--but that is such a toxic, destructive thing that I take extra care to prevent it from happening. I refuse to let myself dwell on how much a book sold for or how fast it sold or how much publicity it's getting. Sure--I'm aware of it. It's impossible not to be, and honestly, I always want to be able to celebrate for my friends, so I want to know what's happening for them. But then I force myself to put that out of my mind. It's not easy to do, but here's how I do it: I love what *I'm* writing. Do I wish someone else loved it enough to snatch it up for seven figures within mere hours of me typing, "The end"? Sure. Who doesn't? But if they don't, I'm okay with that, because *I* love it. It's *my* book--the book *I* wanted to write. At the end of the day, that's what matters.
I write the way that works for me.
Some people write in public. Some people write in groups. Some people write on a schedule, with daily goals and deadlines. Some people write at a desk. Some people need total silence. Me, I write at home, alone, in my bed with my laptop, for large blocks of time but withou
Two posts from me in a row--can you believe it? (I know, I'm stunned too!) But I'm trying to get back in my good blogging habits. So I thought I'd post today about something that has come up in several conversations with writer-friends recently.
Remember in school, how teachers used to say "eyes on your own test paper"? (Yes, in those dark ages before they had to say things like: "no texting during the test!" and "put that smart phone away!")
They said it, of course, because they didn't want us to cheat. But I remember discovering another reason why looking at someone else's test paper was a VERY bad idea.
In middle school, I had an evil teacher (no really, she was. I mean, she taught math--need I say more?) and because she was evil, she decided that her tests would be timed. TIMED. (See? She was a minion of evil, I tell you. I bet she had fangs and frothy saliva and bloodshot eyes when she left the classroom)
So of course I spiralled into Shannon-panic mode. What if I ran out of time? How fast did I have to answer questions in order to make it? WHAT IF I COULDN'T KEEP UP??? (I was...a bit high stress as a kid. SHOCKING, I know)
All of that panic bubbled inside of me. And do you know what it made me do? Something I'd never, ever considered doing before. I didn't keep my eyes on my own test paper.
I wasn't cheating. I wasn't even looking at their answers. But I was looking. Because I wanted to know where they were. Were they on a question ahead of me? Was I working too slow? Why couldn't I keep up? WHAT WAS I DOING WRONG????
It ... didn't go well.
For one thing, I was very lucky the teacher didn't notice (since I'm sure she probably had some sort of evil lair she sent all rulebreakers with chains and torture devices and an endless supply of old Urkel episodes to make the naughty students sit through). But worse than that ... I did not get a good score. Not because I didn't know the information. Because I was so distracted by everyone else, so focused on what THEY were doing, that I didn't pay enough attention to myself. And I ran out of time because of it.
The same lesson applies to this crazy publishing journey we're all on. It is SO EASY to get caught up in: she just signed with an agent and she queried for less time than me, what's wrong with me, why am I still querying? Or: their agent is a bigger agent than my agent--are they a better writer than me? Or, hey--they sold their book for a gazillion dollars and I did NOT sell mine for that much, what am I doing wrong? Or why do they get more marketing support than me? Why do they have more blog followers? How come they sold their book so fast? How come they're friends with so many writers? Why do they get to go to so many conferences? How come they can afford to quit their day job?
Compare. Compare. Compare.
It's a very downward spiral.
Trust me, nothing THEY'RE doing has anything to do with what YOU'RE doing. Watching them won't get you an agent faster, or make your book sell for more, or get you any of the things that they're getting that you want. But it WILL slow you down. Maybe not in obvious ways. But I guarantee you, it will. Because let's face it, it's discouraging. It's discouraging to see other people getting the things we want. And when we're discouraged, it's really hard to focus on our craft and our stories and make them the best they can be--which is kind of the most important thing when it comes to our career as writers.
Believe me--I know it's hard. We have to pay *some* attention to these things, because we also need to keep up with the industry. Plus, we need to be able to be happy for our friends when they find success.
But we have to keep our eyes on our own test paper too. We can't let ourselves focus on THEM. They're not us. We're all on our own journey--and the only thing that matters is that we're doing the best we can to reach our goals. If we focus on that, we'll eventually ge
Awww Good Luck Shannon!! I for one would love to see your jazz hands and tap dancing! :-) Yay!! Oh but seriously - enjoy!
Take care
x
Glad you'll post some of your class here. Awesome you'll be teaching a class.
Cool, Shannon! You're so brave to be willing to stand in front of everybody and talk about creating a killer plot. So how do you plot out your books? I would like to know your technique on it. :)
Congratulations. You will have fun and you'll do great.
Good luck! Also, any discussion involving cupcakes is sure to be brilliant. :)
knock em dead, Shannon!!
Awesome! You'll do great!
I'm going to try to attend! So glad you tweeted about this AND that you're in SoCal. yay! ;-)
This is so exciting! I wish I could be there to cheer you on.
: )
I wish, wish, wish I could be there!!!!! I know you'll be awesome. :-)
Awesome! Have fun.
That's so awesome, Shannon. Wish I could go.
Awesome!!! I wished I lived a whole lot closer :)
Sounds like a blast, Shannon! And congrats! I so wish I could be there! Plots are my nemesis.
And now I want a cupcake. =)
Sounds like a GREAT workshop - too bad I live at practically the other end of North America. Have a great time.
AWESOME! Some questions I have:
What's your process while Plotting- particularly when it comes to either MG/YA Fantasy?
How do you know when the amount of research you have is enough for plotting or not enough?
How do you go about plotting out scenes or chapters?
What are some tips you have on making the process easier?
How fun! You'll do great, Shannon!
Awesome. (=