Hooray for good news! After 2 1/2 grueling years, our son is cancer free! My husband retires today! And I have a new book! The padded board book edition of Baby Says "Moo!" is here, and you could win an autographed copy for you or your favorite baby.

Vermont College of Fine Arts
Photo by Vicky Lorencen

Kathi Appelt, David Macinnis Gill, Dana Walrath, Joy Peskin
Photo by Vicky Lorencen

You roll your quarters, register, and highlight the dates on the calendar. You pre-pick your plane seat and pack your bags. You’re going to a workshop! You look forward to it for months, fret about how many pairs of shoes to take, and finally, it’s time to blast off. I got to do just that earlier this month when I attended the amazing 12th Annual Novel Writing Retreat at Vermont College of Fine Arts. (If you’d like a great recap of the experience itself, I highly recommend visiting Debbi Michiko Florence’s site.)

I don’t know about you, but time passes at a sloth’s pace leading up to an event, but then the workshop itself whisks by at road runner speed. If you’re not careful (and by you’re, of course, I mean, I’m), it’s easy as gliding up an escalator to let the whole experience slip away once you’re back home.

Watch out for these post-workshop mistakes . . . 

1. Rushing to query or submit your manuscript. Some writers think, if I don’t send that editor or agent my manuscript as soon as I get home, they’ll forget all about me. Not true, especially when you wisely offer a little reminder in the first sentence of your cover letter about how you met. Even if a presenter gives you a teensy window–like six weeks–to submit, take your time. Better to email a glistening, well-groomed manuscript, than to rush yourself and offer a schloppy copy. Your work is a reflection of you. Go for shiny, not speedy.

2. Neglecting your notes–if your notes are handwritten (mine always are), type them up. Seriously. It won’t take long, and while you’re typing, you’ll be reviewing the gems the presenters shared with you. It’ll be easy to highlight the parts that resonate with you too. [Next, pop some brackets around a hint or suggestion that perfectly applies to your WIP and cut/paste it into your ms. to serve as a reminder when you return to that section.] Don’t want to type? Use an old school highlighter or sticky notes to spotlight the bits you most want to recall. Put those pages (or copies of them) in the folder of goodies (research, hard copies, feedback) you’re compiling for this new novel. The idea is to incorporate every epiphany, aha and eureka into what you’re working on now, plus you’ll make them easier to find for future follies, that is to say, novels.

Photo by Vicky Lorencen

3. Disconnecting with the people who “clicked” with you. Friend them on Facebook, send a follow-up email or connect with them on LinkedIn. Send a text, a tweet or smoke signal, whatever works for you. These are your new peeps who share your passion. Passing on this chance to expand your circle is criminal, okay, well, at the very least, a pity.

4. Cooling off—you arrived home pooped, but positively giddy about a new idea for your WIP, but then your fervor fizzled. Family, your tyrannical to do list and Facebook eclipsed your euphoria. Don’t let them! If you have a critique group (or a beloved writing buddy), share what you learned with them. Talking about the lectures will help to solidify concepts in your mind. Your group/buddy may also be able to help decide out how to best use what you learned (and of course, you can return the favor). Ask someone to hold you accountable and offer to do likewise.

How about you? How do you keep the momentum moving after a workshop or retreat?

It is our choices, that show what we truly are, far more than our abilities. ~ J.K. Rowling

Photo by Vicky Lorencen
Silver Bay, Adirondak Mountains in Lake George, NY

Studying the menu at a new restaurant can be tantalizing. You scan the appetizers:  olive tapenade, baked brie and calamari, then peruse the main course options: lamb chops, tilapia, steak medallions, and finally the scrumptious desserts: peach pie, crème brulee or chocolate lava cake. So many choices. Sometimes it helps to ask your server for a recommendations.

Well, my charming writerly friends, I have a different menu of options to tempt you. I can personally attest to the high quality and value of each. You simply cannot make a bad choice (unlike that unfortunate experience with the ahi tuna sushi special. Sorry to bring that up again. Ew.). Any one of these will nourish your writing skills and expand your network (without expanding your waistband!) Because you can click the links to get all of the particulars, I’ll focus on my personal experience with each.

Highlights Foundation

Whether you write picture books, novels or non-fiction, you will find an outstanding collection of workshops with top-notch faculty hosted in the gorgeous natural surroundings of Pennsylvania. The Highlights team will treat you like gold and feed you like royalty. Presenters take a personal interest in your work and the small workshop sizes allow you to get to know the other participants and learn from them as well. Workshops are pricey, especially if you need to fly, but Highlights does offer scholarships, free shuttle service and makes the experience all-inclusive, so there are no extras to worry about beyond getting there. I loved it!

Vermont College of Fine Arts

You probably already know about VCFA’s two-year low residency MFA program. But do you know there are also weekend workshops? What made this workshop a standout for me was the exuberantly positive atmosphere. The faculty–simply fabulous too. Truly. I came away feeling pretty darn giddy. I’m going again later this month and I can’t wait!

Falling Leaves/Green Leaves Master Class Retreats 

Hosted by the Eastern New York Chapter of the Society of Children’s Book Authors and Illustrators, these fall and spring weekends take place on magical Silver Bay in Lake George, New York. This retreat has an amazing participant:presenter ratio–35:5. It’s no surprise, spots fill quickly. This workshop will stretch you and give you a boost.

UCLA Extension Writers’ Program

This online program pairs you with an instructor and a small group of students. I took a course called “Creating Memorable Characters,” which included textbooks and novels to read, as well as the expected homework. Interacting with the instructor and with the other students who were from all over the planet made this course especially fun.

I’ll give you a moment to look over the menu. If you have any questions, please let me know. I’m happy to serve you. Bon appetit!

Hors d’oeuvres have always had a pathetic interest for me. They remind me of one’s childhood that one goes through wondering what the next course will be like–and during the rest of the menu one wishes one had eaten more of the hors d’oeuvres. ~ H.H. Munro

Katia Raina is the author of “Castle of Concrete,” a young adult novel about a timid half-Russian, half-Jewish teen in search of a braver “self” reuniting with her dissident mother in the last year of the collapsing Soviet Union, to be published by Namelos.

She also is attending the Vermont College of Fine Arts, where she has just completed her first semester in their MFA program. This past week she had a very good post about what she has learned during her first semester. The one I am sharing is the second article to that first post. The link is at the bottom of the page.

Here is Katia’s article on the Three Pillars of Fiction:

DESIRE

We all want things. That’s what makes life interesting. Fiction, too. Fuel your character’s journey with desire.

What does your character want? It sounds obvious. But looking back, I know I didn’t used to think enough about it. Now, before I write my scenes, I really hone in on the protagonist’s desire. If I am unclear on what it is, I pre-write, have my character speak to me for a couple of hundred words, or throw a few of my people together and let them have a conversation.

It’s good to be aware of both what the character wants throughout the entire story and what the character wants in the scene/chapter you’re working on. As Kurt Vonnegut said: “Every character should want something, even if it is only a glass of water.”

Not wanting something/dreading something can work well too. But, as I always tell my kids, when you focus on what you want, instead of what you don’t want, the results will be so much better!

There is another level of desire for the writer to be aware of: what your character thinks he or she wants. vs. what your character really wants. And why. That’s something else to know.

Finally, a good story is populated with people, all sorts of wonderful, terrible, flawed people, right? The more desires those people have, the more alive and real they will feel to both the writer and the reader. So, get to know your people’s secret (or not so secret) wishes. Then place them into your scenes, sit back and watch, as their desires clash and propel your story forward.

TRUTH

I credit one of my workshop advisors from January, the wise and generous Kathi Appelt, with opening my eyes up to the idea of a character’s “truest truth.” Every character — and I think maybe every person – should have at least one, a big one. Take a moment now to think: what is one thing you believe in with your entire being? What is one truth you could stake your life on?

And then do the same for your characters. Maybe he believes in the power of music. Maybe his belief is that life is not fair. Maybe her belief is that her physical beauty will carry her through. Or that her mom is perfect. Or that dragons exist, or that there is no God, or that global warming will one day kill us all, or that one day, she will sprout wings, that one day she will fly. (That last one’s from Castle of Concrete, my debut novel   ). Do you see? The belief can be wise or misguided, positive or negative. But characters are much more interesting when they believe in something.

Also keep in mind, belief is subject to change. When the character’s innermost belief is shattered by the challenges and events that have been pushing your story forward all along, it turns into an unforgettable moment that transforms your protagonist, and ideally, your reader.

CHANGE

Of course your main character must change in the course of the novel. An interesting main character will also affect change on others around him. But keep change in mind on scene and chapter level as well, as you write, plot or revise your story. In every single scene something should happen. Which is another way of saying, in every single scene, a change must occur. Or it’s not a scene at all. Just as with desires, changes come in two varieties: internal and external. Here is what I do for every scene, especially when revising (not always when rough drafting, where I explore more):

I write down an Outer Turning Point and an Inner Turning Point for each chapter. Sometimes, by the way, there are more than one. An outer turning point deals with external action, (anything from witnessing a car accident, to leaving the room, to finding treasure), while an inner turning point shows a shift in thought or feeling: for example a change from hope to despair, or a shift in awareness (he will never like me; I am wasting my time). Being aware of these changes helps prevent the characters from constantly see-sawing, or flip-flopping, in their feelings and decisions. (As in: now she likes him, now she doesn’t, now she likes him again). Sure, sometimes a character might change his mind, but it happens in a series of inner and outer turning points building on each other, building into an arc, a progression of change and growth that feels true.

Also, sometimes when I am revising, I’ll copy the first sentence of my scene, and the last, and look at them together. This is a very telling exercise. If you do this, you’ll know right away if there was change or growth in your chapter. You will know whether it was cohesive, or if it falls flat.

So, that’s it. Desire, truth and change.

If your scene loses momentum, or your story does, go back to those three pillars.

These are good to keep in mind for real life as well.

In human experience, desire, truth and change mean everything — or at least they should.  As we live out our lives, let’s never be lulled by the daily routine, by the sameness of days and weeks and years, into forgetting our own truths and desires, and change — good change – will take care of itself!

Don’t Miss Reading Katia’s Post Titled, What I’ve Learned At VCFA Series: Semester One (Included: The Secret To Productivity!)

Katia talks about writing and history, and occasionally features interviews and all kinds of lists on her blog, The Magic Mirror, www.katiaraina.wordpress.com.

Talk tomorrow,

Kathy

This isn’t a quote, it’s an entire speech.

This is the commencement address from my graduation at the Vermont College of Fine Arts. It’s given by the brilliant and articulate, Martine Leavitt, and it captures the dedication, heart, and love it takes to write. A large portion of the address relates to going to VCFA in particular, but the larger themes will resonate with any writer.

Here’s a teaser:

“… These are the best reasons to do anything in life. People who say things like this are the kind of people who change the world. Who prevent the world from ending. Or at least they can change the inner world of a reader and that is a sacred power.” - Martine Leavitt

I highly suggest taking some time to watch this video:

If the image link above didn’t work, please try:

VCFA Graduation Website Link

Martine Leavitt is an American-Canadian author of many books for young adults, including My Book of Life by Angel, Tom Finder, and Heck Superhero. Her novel Keturah and Lord Death was a National Book Award finalist in 2006. She is a faculty member at the Vermont College of Fine Arts, and the mother of seven children.

This isn’t a quote, it’s an entire speech.

This is the commencement address from my graduation at the Vermont College of Fine Arts. It’s given by the brilliant and articulate, Martine Leavitt, and it captures the dedication, heart, and love it takes to write. A large portion of the address relates to going to VCFA in particular, but the larger themes will resonate with any writer.

Here’s a teaser:

“… These are the best reasons to do anything in life. People who say things like this are the kind of people who change the world. Who prevent the world from ending. Or at least they can change the inner world of a reader and that is a sacred power.” - Martine Leavitt

I highly suggest taking some time to watch this video:

If the image link above didn’t work, please try:

VCFA Graduation Website Link

Martine Leavitt is an American-Canadian author of many books for young adults, including My Book of Life by Angel, Tom Finder, and Heck Superhero. Her novel Keturah and Lord Death was a National Book Award finalist in 2006. She is a faculty member at the Vermont College of Fine Arts, and the mother of seven children.

It’s official. I’ve graduated from the Vermont College of Fine Arts with an MFA in writing for children and young adults! It’s been a vigorous and wonderful writing adventure and I’m proud of all that I’ve achieved.

My final residency was glorious (I love this community), stressful (I had to give my own lecture and reading), endlessly inspiring and a fabulous send off into the next stage of my writing life. There’s always more to learn, but I look forward to applying all the tools I now have. The following are a few final tid-bits of writerly advice that I gleaned from my last residency.

Highlights From My Final VCFA Residency:

The Writing Process:

• Writing is messy, magical, hard, and requires a daily leap of faith.
• A novel is a hundred ideas or threads that are all braided together.
• You don’t have to write a perfect sentence every time.
• There is danger in rushing toward the fun bits of our story. Slow down.
• Self congratulatory cleverness can be lethal.
• Several things can be true at once. There are no universal truths when it comes to writing.
• You can’t hide from pain if you want to evoke pain.  Sometimes the fear of censorship is really about protecting yourself from being vulnerable.

In Regard to Your Reader:

• Don’t tell your reader everything. Give them 2 + 2, but don’t give them 4. Make them work for it and become involved in the story.
• Tension happens on the page between your characters. Suspense happens between the pages, it’s the interaction of the reader and the book.
• Look for the illusive quality of your work, the weight and felt presences. The ghost within the work that the reader will feel but not articulate.
• Do your character’s choices empower your reader?
• If you were telling your story out loud in front of a group of 10-year-olds, what would you keep and what would you cut? You’d probably cut more than you think.

On Plot:

• Ask yourself what charge every action in your story carries.
• What is the promise whispered to your reader in the first pages? Can/does your story fulfill that promise?
• Every novel starts with a coincidence, after that no other coincidence will be believable!
• At the end of the book we are looking for catharsis, redemption, that “good cleaned out feeling.”

On Writing Picture Books:

• Look for contrasts and opposites when you write a picture book.
• Sometimes we know how a book ends, but it is the HOW that is important. How do we get there is what will bring a kid back for re-reading.
• Animal characters can be easier to access for kids, because they aren’t influenced by gender, race, etc.
• Pack your sentences. Say more with less.

A VCFA residency is full of a thousand musings, genius thoughts, inspirational quotes, and new ways to think about craft! I will dearly miss my bi-yearly residencies. Thank you to all the faculty, students, alumni, administrators, and friends that make this amazing education possible! It’s been a wild and wondrous ride.

Now… to the writing cave!

It’s official. I’ve graduated from the Vermont College of Fine Arts with an MFA in writing for children and young adults! It’s been a vigorous and wonderful writing adventure and I’m proud of all that I’ve achieved.

My final residency was glorious (I love this community), stressful (I had to give my own lecture and reading), endlessly inspiring and a fabulous send off into the next stage of my writing life. There’s always more to learn, but I look forward to applying all the tools I now have. The following are a few final tid-bits of writerly advice that I gleaned from my last residency.

Highlights From My Final VCFA Residency:

The Writing Process:

• Writing is messy, magical, hard, and requires a daily leap of faith.
• A novel is a hundred ideas or threads that are all braided together.
• You don’t have to write a perfect sentence every time.
• There is danger in rushing toward the fun bits of our story. Slow down.
• Self congratulatory cleverness can be lethal.
• Several things can be true at once. There are no universal truths when it comes to writing.
• You can’t hide from pain if you want to evoke pain.  Sometimes the fear of censorship is really about protecting yourself from being vulnerable.

In Regard to Your Reader:

• Don’t tell your reader everything. Give them 2 + 2, but don’t give them 4. Make them work for it and become involved in the story.
• Tension happens on the page between your characters. Suspense happens between the pages, it’s the interaction of the reader and the book.
• Look for the illusive quality of your work, the weight and felt presences. The ghost within the work that the reader will feel but not articulate.
• Do your character’s choices empower your reader?
• If you were telling your story out loud in front of a group of 10-year-olds, what would you keep and what would you cut? You’d probably cut more than you think.

On Plot:

• Ask yourself what charge every action in your story carries.
• What is the promise whispered to your reader in the first pages? Can/does your story fulfill that promise?
• Every novel starts with a coincidence, after that no other coincidence will be believable!
• At the end of the book we are looking for catharsis, redemption, that “good cleaned out feeling.”

On Writing Picture Books:

• Look for contrasts and opposites when you write a picture book.
• Sometimes we know how a book ends, but it is the HOW that is important. How do we get there is what will bring a kid back for re-reading.
• Animal characters can be easier to access for kids, because they aren’t influenced by gender, race, etc.
• Pack your sentences. Say more with less.

A VCFA residency is full of a thousand musings, genius thoughts, inspirational quotes, and new ways to think about craft! I will dearly miss my bi-yearly residencies. Thank you to all the faculty, students, alumni, administrators, and friends that make this amazing education possible! It’s been a wild and wondrous ride.

Now… to the writing cave!

One of the things I love about attending the Vermont College of Fine Arts (VCFA) is the school’s traditions. We name our classes and have class-name “reveal” ceremonies. We  decorate the portraits that hang on campus with silly kidlit references. There’s even a costume party themed in honor of the graduating class, and more.

I graduated this week (woohoo!), which meant my class (The Dystropians) had the our honor of introducing the VCFA faculty at our last residency. Per tradition, the presentation is inspired by the graduating class’s name. My class is the Dystropians — a play on Dystopian “end of the world” literature and the literary device of tropes. We named ourselves the Dystropians because we graduated in Jan 2013, having just survived the Dec. 21st 2012 Aztec apocalypse.

With our theme of “rising from the ashes of the apocalypse,” the Dystropians introduced the VCFA faculty as SUPERHEROES who must write, teach, and spread the written word after the end of days.

This all serves as preamble for the fact that I had the honor of drawing all our faculty members as superheroes! And I would like to share them with you.

Thus, I present to you – The VCFA Kidlit Universe!

.

After the apocalypse the future of writing is secured with the Dystropian Task Force!

Illustrations by: Ingrid Sundberg

One of the things I love about attending the Vermont College of Fine Arts (VCFA) is the school’s traditions. We name our classes and have class-name “reveal” ceremonies. We  decorate the portraits that hang on campus with silly kidlit references. There’s even a costume party themed in honor of the graduating class, and more.

I graduated this week (woohoo!), which meant my class (The Dystropians) had the our honor of introducing the VCFA faculty at our last residency. Per tradition, the presentation is inspired by the graduating class’s name. My class is the Dystropians — a play on Dystopian “end of the world” literature and the literary device of tropes. We named ourselves the Dystropians because we graduated in Jan 2013, having just survived the Dec. 21st 2012 Aztec apocalypse.

With our theme of “rising from the ashes of the apocalypse,” the Dystropians introduced the VCFA faculty as SUPERHEROES who must write, teach, and spread the written word after the end of days.

This all serves as preamble for the fact that I had the honor of drawing all our faculty members as superheroes! And I would like to share them with you.

Thus, I present to you – The VCFA Kidlit Universe!

.

After the apocalypse the future of writing is secured with the Dystropian Task Force!

Illustrations by: Ingrid Sundberg

This Christmas card was sent in by Gwen Connolley.

Names All Children’s Writers Should Know How To Spell: A Tribute to Kidlit Greatness 

Though the below descriptions/explanations are mine, this list is from a lecture by Shelley Tanaka, an award-winning nonfiction children’s author, Canadian children’s book publisher and editor (link: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Shelley_Tanaka). 

In preparation of starting my studies at the Vermont College of Fine Arts in pursuit of an MFA in Writing for Children and Young Adults in less than a month from now, I came across a handout from one of my teachers, Shelley Tanaka, which, with her gracious permission, I would like to share with you. This list is more than a checklist of names with tricky spellings – although it’s that too. It is a reminder of our roots as children’s writers. These are the names of the great kidlit warriors, whose shoulders we are all trying to stand on.

(Note: Don’t feel bad if you don’t know all of them. I had to look up a couple!)

1. Newbery Medal. Named after an  English bookseller John Newbery, the medal aims to recognize excellence in      young people’s literature.
2. Hans Christian Andersen. Yes, we all know the wonderful andwhimsical storyteller from Denmark – author of  numerous fairytales, novels, poetry and more — but some of us sometimes confuse his name with Anderson, as in M.T. Anderson, another name to know in young people’s literature, by the way).
3. Noel Streatfield. A Carnegie-medal winning English author.
4. Katherine Paterson. The beloved author of many young adult and children’s novels, including my personal      favorite, Newbery-winning “Bridge to Terabithia.”
5. Stephenie Meyer. Some in kidlit circles like to look down on this author of the wildly popular “Twilight” saga. But she has definitely proved herself a force to be reckoned with, luring millions of girls to her romance with a vampire. Did you know that in addition to writing, Meyer is a film producer?  Her production company is behind a movie based on Shannon Hale’s adult work, “Austenland.” (Yes, Shannon Hale’s another great one.)
6. Kate DiCamillo. Best known as theNewbery-winning author of  sometimes tender, sometimes whimsical fiction for children, DiCamillo has also written picture books, early chapter books and published stories for adults.
7. Diana Wynne Jones. Born in London in 1934 and having passed away just last year, Jones was best known for her numerous fantasy novels for children and adults.
8. Ursula K. Le Guin. This author of  several popular children’s series (as well as standalone stories), was a huge influence on many of the fantasy and science-fiction novels we read today.
9. Kenneth Grahame. This Scottish author wrote such children’s classics as “The Wind and The Willows,” and “The Reluctant Dragon,” both of which became Disney films.
10. Rosemary Sutcliffe. This British novelist was best known for her exciting historical fiction for young readers – especially her Arthurian stories (some of which were for adults).
11. Arthur Ransome. Another Englishman, considered one of the classic children’s authors, best known for his “Swallows in Amazons” adventure series set in between two world wars.
12. J. R. R. Tolkien. Though he didn’t write for children specifically, one could easily call him one of the founding fathers of fantasy, influencing such modern works as the “Harry  Potter” series by Tolkien’s fellow Englishwoman J. K. Rowling (and yes, I trust we’ve all heard about her, and know her name’s spelling). Though of course fantasy was written before his time, it seemed his “Lord of the Rings” series resurrected the once-dying genre.
13. Madeleine L’Engle. Much beloved and missed, this American Newbery-winning author passed away in 2007. In her obituary, the New York Times described her work as “childhood fables, religious meditations and fanciful science fiction” that “transcended both genre and generation, most memorably in her children’s classic ‘A Wrinkle in Time.’”

(link: http://www.nytimes.com/2007/09/08/books/08lengle.html?pagewanted=all&_r=0)

I love the quote on her website: “You have to write the book that wants to be written. And if the book will be too difficult for grown-ups, then you write it for children.” 

14. Horn Book. This magazine publishes articles about trends in children’s and young adult literature in print      and online, including its influential reviews. Each year, the staff chooses a list of what they considered to be the very best titles from among 500-plus books they have reviewed. (link: http://www.hbook.com/2012/12/choosing-books/recommended-books/2012-horn-book-fanfare/)

There are two more I’d like to add to this list:

15. Laurie Halse Anderson. Another great author name with literary spelling, this versatile YA giant writes books on difficult subjects spanning from rape and anorexia, to slavery.

16. SCBWI! Founded in 1971, by several Los Angeles writers, including the versatile Stephen Mooser, author of more than 50 works, including picture books and chapter books, and the middle-grade series author Lin Oliver, our beloved Society of Children’s Writers and Illustrators is a source of knowledge and support, organizer of conferences and forger of great ties, and a promoter of children’s literature all around the world.

Of course this list only barely scratches the surface, and if she chose to Ms. Tanaka could probably have come up with a book filled with names of importance. But if there is anything you’d like to add to the list, please post a comment, below.

Katia Raina is the author of “Castle of Concrete,” a young adult novel about a timid half-Russian, half-Jewish teen in search of a braver “self” reuniting with her dissident mother in the last year of the collapsing Soviet Union, to be published by Namelos. On her blog, The Magic Mirror, http://katiaraina.wordpress.com Katia talks about writing and history, features interviews, book lists and all sorts of literary randomness.

Katia will start her MFA program in January 2013 at the Vermont College of Fine Arts, pursuing a degree in Writing for Children and Young Adults. (link: http://www.vcfa.edu/wyca)  

Talk tomorrow,

Kathy

I’ve made it back from my second VCFA residency!

I’m exhausted, inspired, in love with my class, and ready to dig in to a new semester of writing. Overflowing with insight and inspiration, I’m hoping the acclimation process (back to “normal” life) is slow and tender. In the meantime, I thought I’d share a few quick take-away’s from the last eleven days of stick-toffy-pudding-VCFA-Awesomeness!

1. Never let your character’s cry more than once in a manuscript! If you do, you’re being too sentimental and force feeding your audience sticky-toffy-pudding (which is just too sweet).

2. Writing a picture book is not just about the text. You must leave room for the illustrator, but you must also leave room for the performer!

3. When writing multi-cultural literature, beware of perpetuating the one story that speaks for a culture. There is never a single story that encapsulates a whole group of people.

4. Trust your readers to pick up on the clues and details you leave for them. Trust your audiences ability to intuit.

5. Learn to hesitate, question the nature of things, and be the writer who creates riddles out of answers. Sometimes the questioning, the searching, and the ability to see things a-new is more the profound than finding an answer.

6. It’s not always about “show not tell.” Sometimes, careful and informed telling can deepen the showing.

7. Beware the abstract word. Be specific and vivid. “Beautiful” is abstract and means nothing. We want a world with pearl buttons, spiced rum, and creased wax paper.

8. The metaphorical is sexy! Discover the action of your story by finding the metaphor for the emotional core of your story.

9. The landscape of your story is not just place and earth and dirt. The landscape of your story is overlain with memory, expectation, and thought.

10. There are lots of not-so-good books that get published. The reason they are published is because the author FINISHED THE BOOK! You can talk all you want about writing, but until you finish your book, your writing will never get published.