Thursday, January 28, 2010
Wednesday, January 27, 2010
Apple iPad: What You Need to Know http://is.gd/7aqus #books #writing Jon, http://cbiclubhouse.com, Where Children's Writers Meet
Why you *may not* want a publisher http://ow.ly/112GF #writing #books Jon, http://cbiclubhouse.com, Home of the Fightin' Bookworms!
Monday, January 25, 2010
Children's Books: What Should You Write About?
You're driven to write a children's book, but you're not sure what to write about.
No problem, let's figure it out. But first, it's best to start with a few things you *shouldn't* write about:
* Subjects that have been beaten to death.
If you want to write another alphabet book, or a or a picture book in which our hero learns that it's OK to be different, or a story about a talking bunny and his magical forest friends, you had better have a really fresh take on things, or else you're wasting your -- and the editor's -- time. The best way to figure out which topics are overdone? Ask your local children's librarian about the types of stories she hopes never to see again. You'll get an earful -- and a clear picture of where not to go.
* Subjects that have already been done better than you can possibly manage. As far as I'm concerned, no one should ever attempt to record their own version of an Otis Redding song. Really, what's the point? Is it even remotely possible to do that song better than Otis did it?
But yet, some have tried. And they've come up short.
If you're inspired by a truly great writer, that's wonderful. Generations of writers have been sparked by the work of Dr. Seuss, or Judy Blume or Gary Paulsen. But no one will ever succeed simply by aping what those extraordinary talents have done. If you read Hatchet and decide that you're going to take a crack at your own story about a boy stranded in the wilderness after he has to land a plane on his own, you're missing the point. If you read Hatchet and decide that you're going to write an entirely fresh and original adventure story for boys, you're on the right track.
* Subjects you don't care about. So you read that horror for teens is hot right now, and you decide that your ticket into the publishing world will be a YA novel filled with frights and chills. That's cool -- if you understand and appreciate the genre. But, if you don't enjoy reading horror books on your own time just for the fun of it, what makes you think you're at all capable of doing the genre justice in your own writing? "Write what you know" is an absolute truism, but I would add "write what you're passionate about". That's the real key. (I have a simple and foolproof technique for determining this coming up soon.)
So, with that in mind, here are my two tips for coming up with a story idea that will resonate with readers and give your talent the best opportunity to shine:
1. Write about something from your own life and make it meaningful to today's readers.
A great way to start is to get outside your own head, and into your young readers' heads.
Before you start your story, create two "characters" to represent your potential readership. One boy, one girl. Give each one a name. Imagine their age, their physical appearance, the way they speak and how they dress. Think about what they do with themselves in the hours not spent reading your book. Who are their friends? Who are their antagonists? What else do they read? In what kind of house or apartment do they live? And, most importantly, what are they looking for when they pick up your book? To be entertained? Enlightened? Scared? Tickled pink with laughter?
Don't start writing your book until these two kids truly become real to you. Now, start writing your book for them. Forget the publisher, forget the editor, forget the (hopefully) hordes of other kids that will ultimately read your book. Write this book for those two kids.
Now examine your own life and find the things that have the most meaning for you. Did you overcome a great obstacle? Accomplish something you never thought possible? Experience a tragedy? Have a family member who got ill or was disabled? Develop an unusual hobby or interest? Make a list and see what speaks loudest to you. Now go back to your imaginary readers, take yourself out of the event and place one of them into it. In one stroke, you've obtained the necessary distance to write this story. Set your story in the child's world, not yours. Let the child deal with it in his or her own way, not necessarily in the way you dealt with it. Let go of the story and allow your new protagonist to take over. You just might find that your story is a heck of a lot more fascinating, unpredictable and meaningful than you've ever imagined.
2. Discover Your True Passions and Write About Them
Here it is, my foolproof method of determining the things that you truly and deeply care about. And it couldn't be simpler. Just answer this question:
When you're browsing magazine racks in a bookstore, to which section do you go first? Which section do you head to next? And after that?
You just listed your top three passions. Simple, right?
Me, I go to the music section first. Then I look at martial arts magazines. Then political magazines. How about you?
There, you've just discovered the subjects you should be writing about (unless, of course, your first three stops are Hustler, High Times and Soldier of Fortune, in which case I suggest you might reconsider this whole children's writing thing).
Interested in learning how to write a book and send it to children's book publishers? Come on over to The CBI Clubhouse for audios, videos, insider writing tips and much, much more!
No problem, let's figure it out. But first, it's best to start with a few things you *shouldn't* write about:
* Subjects that have been beaten to death.
If you want to write another alphabet book, or a or a picture book in which our hero learns that it's OK to be different, or a story about a talking bunny and his magical forest friends, you had better have a really fresh take on things, or else you're wasting your -- and the editor's -- time. The best way to figure out which topics are overdone? Ask your local children's librarian about the types of stories she hopes never to see again. You'll get an earful -- and a clear picture of where not to go.
* Subjects that have already been done better than you can possibly manage. As far as I'm concerned, no one should ever attempt to record their own version of an Otis Redding song. Really, what's the point? Is it even remotely possible to do that song better than Otis did it?
But yet, some have tried. And they've come up short.
If you're inspired by a truly great writer, that's wonderful. Generations of writers have been sparked by the work of Dr. Seuss, or Judy Blume or Gary Paulsen. But no one will ever succeed simply by aping what those extraordinary talents have done. If you read Hatchet and decide that you're going to take a crack at your own story about a boy stranded in the wilderness after he has to land a plane on his own, you're missing the point. If you read Hatchet and decide that you're going to write an entirely fresh and original adventure story for boys, you're on the right track.
* Subjects you don't care about. So you read that horror for teens is hot right now, and you decide that your ticket into the publishing world will be a YA novel filled with frights and chills. That's cool -- if you understand and appreciate the genre. But, if you don't enjoy reading horror books on your own time just for the fun of it, what makes you think you're at all capable of doing the genre justice in your own writing? "Write what you know" is an absolute truism, but I would add "write what you're passionate about". That's the real key. (I have a simple and foolproof technique for determining this coming up soon.)
So, with that in mind, here are my two tips for coming up with a story idea that will resonate with readers and give your talent the best opportunity to shine:
1. Write about something from your own life and make it meaningful to today's readers.
A great way to start is to get outside your own head, and into your young readers' heads.
Before you start your story, create two "characters" to represent your potential readership. One boy, one girl. Give each one a name. Imagine their age, their physical appearance, the way they speak and how they dress. Think about what they do with themselves in the hours not spent reading your book. Who are their friends? Who are their antagonists? What else do they read? In what kind of house or apartment do they live? And, most importantly, what are they looking for when they pick up your book? To be entertained? Enlightened? Scared? Tickled pink with laughter?
Don't start writing your book until these two kids truly become real to you. Now, start writing your book for them. Forget the publisher, forget the editor, forget the (hopefully) hordes of other kids that will ultimately read your book. Write this book for those two kids.
Now examine your own life and find the things that have the most meaning for you. Did you overcome a great obstacle? Accomplish something you never thought possible? Experience a tragedy? Have a family member who got ill or was disabled? Develop an unusual hobby or interest? Make a list and see what speaks loudest to you. Now go back to your imaginary readers, take yourself out of the event and place one of them into it. In one stroke, you've obtained the necessary distance to write this story. Set your story in the child's world, not yours. Let the child deal with it in his or her own way, not necessarily in the way you dealt with it. Let go of the story and allow your new protagonist to take over. You just might find that your story is a heck of a lot more fascinating, unpredictable and meaningful than you've ever imagined.
2. Discover Your True Passions and Write About Them
Here it is, my foolproof method of determining the things that you truly and deeply care about. And it couldn't be simpler. Just answer this question:
When you're browsing magazine racks in a bookstore, to which section do you go first? Which section do you head to next? And after that?
You just listed your top three passions. Simple, right?
Me, I go to the music section first. Then I look at martial arts magazines. Then political magazines. How about you?
There, you've just discovered the subjects you should be writing about (unless, of course, your first three stops are Hustler, High Times and Soldier of Fortune, in which case I suggest you might reconsider this whole children's writing thing).
Interested in learning how to write a book and send it to children's book publishers? Come on over to The CBI Clubhouse for audios, videos, insider writing tips and much, much more!
Thursday, January 14, 2010
Fightin' Bookworms: Just Posted - "Editors on the Move: Latest Children’s Publishing News" http://cbiclubhouse.com
Tuesday, January 12, 2010
Fightin' Bookworms: Just Posted - 2 Contests Offer Chance to Get Your Novel in Front of Agents & Editors http://is.gd/68U6u
Tuesday, January 5, 2010
Remembering #kidlit folks we lost in '09: http://is.gd/5N8Gl Jon, http://cbiclubhouse.com, Come Join the Fightin' Bookworms! #books
Katherine Paterson new Nat'l #Kidlit Ambassador http://is.gd/5N8Bq Jon, http://cbiclubhouse.com, Where Children's Writers Meet #books
Kirkus reviews to re-start publication! http://is.gd/5N0TF Jon, http://cbiclubhouse.com, Home of the Fightin' Bookworms! #books #writing
Monday, January 4, 2010
Lerner Acquires Darby Creek Pub.: http://is.gd/5MgAa Jon, http://cbiclubhouse.com, Home of the Fightin' Bookworms! #writing #books
Saturday, January 2, 2010
► Writing Young Adult Books: Finding the Humor Inside Teenage Angst http://is.gd/5K6Lx #writing #books #YA #kidlit
Young Adult Books: Humor and Angst
It seems when kids turn 13, one word sums up their lives: melodrama. Emotions hover on the surface; every event is huge. Adults are idiots who don't understand them, and their classmates are constantly watching to make sure they don't do anything stupid (which includes wearing the wrong clothes to saying the wrong thing to listening to the wrong music). Oh. My. God. As adults on the receiving end of this hysteria, we may roll our eyes or deliberately show up at Back to School Night with wet hair, just to see our child's response. But as authors, we can mine the drama for its flip side: humor.
Many books for teens feature characters who are on the edge of the abyss and facing life-or-death situations, extreme moral choices, or have been dealt a tough hand and have to somehow live with it. Their drama is achingly real. Or, a protagonist might be self-assured enough to rise above the sniping judgements of his peers. Both characters are admirable, but often not funny. Humor comes from a flawed character the reader genuinely likes, who's in a sticky situation the reader can easily imagine. Then the author turns it up a notch. The reader gets to laugh at someone who's like her, but from the safety of not having to actually suffer the humiliation personally.
In Denise Vega's click here (to find out how i survived seventh grade), Erin Swift is not having the best start to middle school. Her big feet are the butt of jokes, she lands the role of Corn Cob in the school play, and the Cute Boy she has a crush on becomes infatuated with her best friend Jilly. But Erin's a whiz with computers, and joins the Intranet Club to become the lead designer for the school's web site. She also keeps a secret blog where she spills all her innermost thoughts and true feelings about everyone at her school. When her blog accidentally gets posted on the school web site, Erin's convinced she's going to die. Vega's taken traditional middle school dynamics and filtered them through Erin's self-deprecating lens, which lightens up the angst of the genuinely heart-wrenching scenes (Cute Boy's attraction to Jilly, Erin overhearing girls criticizing her in the bathroom). Then Vega throws in every middle schooler's worst fear: that they'll be stripped metaphorically naked in front of their peers and revealed for who they really are. If Erin's public blog was the only drama in the book, we'd pity Erin but not really identify with her. But because of the melodrama in earlier scenes, we know that Erin's learning to laugh at herself, and she'll find a way to survive this very real problem.
Parents offer endless inspiration for melodrama. If you're looking for a good adolescent plot twist, simply ask yourself, "What the most embarrassing thing a parent could do to this character?" Your answer might give you a whole book. The opening line of Shelley Pearsall's All Shook Up says it all: "Looking back, I would say everything in my life changed the summer I turned thirteen and my dad turned into Elvis."
Like Vega, Pearsall keeps close to comforting upper middle grade territory but then cranks up the embarrassment. Josh is sent to live with his father in Chicago one summer when his mother has to take care of his sick grandmother. Josh hasn't seen his dad for a while, and assumes he's still the scatterbrained shoe salesman he remembered. But Dad's got a new gig as an Elvis impersonator. And what's more, when Josh's visit is extended into the fall and he starts school in Chicago, one of his classmates leaves him anonymous notes about Elvis. Josh's dwindling ability to keep his dad's identity a secret is completely shattered when Dad is invited to perform at the school's 1950s concert, and Josh must take drastic action that threatens to ruin his relationship with his father forever. Readers will certainly emphasize with Josh, but also observe how he and his father learn to compromise and respect the person each has become. Josh is forced to think about someone other than himself, which (along with the fact that Dad is a terrific performer) helps deflate the social suicide of having Elvis for a dad.
For my money, one of the best young adult beach reads you'll find is Two Parties, One Tux, and a Very Short Film About The Grapes of Wrath by Steven Goldman. 17-year-old Mitchell is a slightly scrawny, socially inept, average student, whose best (and only real) friend tells Mitchell he's gay one day at lunch. Mitchell's junior high school year is marked by trying to talk to girls (Does his sister and her best friend count?), navigating the school hierarchy, reassessing his friendship with David, and turning in a slightly pornographic claymation film in lieu of an English paper on a book he hasn't read. Much of the humor comes from Mitchell's dry, somewhat clueless first-person voice. He's hovering outside the whirl of popularity, and so can comment on high school without having much to lose. School Library Journal called the book "A side-splitting slice of male adolescence, [that] turns the spotlight on the ridiculousness that is the average, contemporary American high school experience."
When I asked Goldman how he writes humor, he said, "I was just trying to capture some of the feelings I could remember from high school, and really see the world through the eyes and the running narration of a character with a particular view of the world and a particular way of expressing his feelings. One of the things I really enjoy about writing YA is that I find high school students to be funny. Frankly, I think they have better senses of humor than adults. They are willing to put themselves in situations that no one with a brain would, and yet they have the intelligence to realize that they are doing it. That risk-taking extends to language as well — they will say things that are brutally honest and horrible and therefore frequently funny." This brutal honesty, both with each other and themselves, creates those situations bordering on melodrama. Once of my favorite scenes from Two Parties is at prom, when Mitchell is in the bathroom thinking about his date who's abandoned him, and he accidentally pees on his white tux pants. While laughing at Mitchell's description of himself, I couldn't help but cringe at the image of him walking through the school gym with wet pants. Even as an adult, I still feel I share in Mitchell's experience. That's why writing humor for teens may be easier than you think. As Goldman said, "We never really recover from our adolescence; those years starting in middle school and continuing through high school are so formative that they we can still find them in a lot of the ways that we feel about things as an adult. I might be 45, but when I walk into a party I swear I’m still 17 and clueless about what to do next. We may leave high school, but we never really escape it."
Interested in learning how to write a book and send it to children's book publishers? Come on over to cbiclubhouse.com for audios, videos, insider writing tips and much, much more!
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