Studying Up on YA Fiction

I'm narrowing down my focus for my next project: writing a novel.

What I'd like to do is write a young adult novel. I don't think young adult novels are any easier to write than novels for adults. But somehow, in my mind, writing a young adult novel feels more straightforward. I think that perhaps the concept of writing a non-YA novel is tied up in my mind with obligations to try experimental forms of plotting. Whenever I try this in my short stories, readers wind up confused and unsatisfied.

YA seems to be everywhere these past few weeks. The July 2012 issue of Locus Magazine has a feature on young adult fiction with articles from writers and editors. And I ran across an excellent YA writer blog after looking at the list of writers accepted to this year's Launchpad Astronomy Workshop

One of the best resources I've found is distraction no. 99, the blog of Nova Ren Suma, author of Imaginary Girls. She's been keeping the blog since 2006, and it is really interesting to look back at her earlier posts where she's feeling those writerly doubts everyone has and then to look at her more recent posts and see the books she has published, the residencies and workshops she's participating in.

I know that every published author was once an unpublished author, that they probably all felt doubt and uncertainty. But sometimes looking at a published author, it seems as if they were always successful. Awarded a MacArthur Genius Grant when they were two, and at four a fellowship to Yaddo. So it is extremely helpful for me to see the arc of a writer's career. To hear the voice before, and not just the voice that's buoyed by their hard earned success.

But it's more than just the scope of Suma's blog that I find helpful. She also has a wealth of great posts. Two of my favorites are:

• "Why I Write YA"
• "My Turning Point"

She also hosts tons of really excellent guest posts on her blog from other YA authors. My favorite so far is the "Turning Point" series, where authors describe what set them in motion on the path to becoming published. There's also a series on "What Scares You?" and "What Inspires You?"

I've checked out a few books from the public library on writing fiction for young adults, but so far they're uninspiring and geared towards complete novices. I feel like I'm getting so much more helpful and timely information from Suma's blog than there even exists in book form. I hope she keeps blogging for a long time, and that the archives of her journal stay online if she ever decides to stop.

Do you have any suggestions for great online or print resources for writing young adult fiction? What YA books should I absolutely read?

Baking, Reading, Writing

It's baking hot here in Alabama. I step out of the front door, and a wave of heat envelops me. The heat messes with my brain and burns my skin. I have headaches, and get light sunburn from walking out to the car.

The heat is bad for my head, but good for some vegetables. 

Bounty from my parents' garden

We have more squash and zucchini than I know what to do with. And not tiny little squashes and zucchinis, either.

Furball and Zucchini

Zuchinni the size of a small cat.

I've never been someone who likes to cook anything beyond very simple meals that involve lots of cans and pasta. My attitude for a long time has been that it would be wasteful to try to learn even rudimentary cooking, like baking. I'm afraid of using up a lot of ingredients and making food that is completely inedible.

But we got a huge bag of zucchini from my parents this week, and I'm determined to use it before it goes bad. There are a few foods I remember making with my mom when I was a kid, and one of them was zucchini bread.

So I found a recipe for zucchini muffins online, and I started gathering the ingredients. Then I started to panic. Wait - no applesauce. Maybe I could chop some apples in the food processor? Wait - we don't have brown sugar. Would our other, non-bleached sugar still work?

I started to freak out. The scales were slowly tipping. With every missing ingredient the voice in my head said "Give up now. Don't be wasteful, the muffins aren't going to turn out right anyways."

So I took a break. I searched for a different recipe. And in just a few minutes, I found a recipe for banana zucchini muffins. This one had just three steps, fewer ingredients, and hey, even called for over-ripe bananas, three of which I had sitting on the kitchen table.

To someone who cooks regularly, I'm sure watching me as I mixed together the ingredients would have been a painfully boring experience. I went really slowly, making sure I wasn't confusing tablespoons and teaspoons, repeating the directions out loud. But my boyfriend was at work and even my cats were taking naps. If I failed, I planned to throw away the evidence, take out the trash, and never tell anyone that this had happened. I could be wasteful once, I reasoned.

But my muffins came out great. They didn't have the delicious alchemy of a gifted chef like my boyfriend, but they were solid, tasty muffins.

Banana Zucchini Muffin - My first baked thing

My attitude about wastefulness also applies to my writing. I've been wanting to try writing a novel for a while, but I've been holding off, reasoning that I need to get better at writing short stories first. The thought of spending a year or more on a novel, and never seeing it published, is terrifying. The same voice that keeps me from trying to cook also tells me how complicated writing a novel would be, how much time it would take, and how in the end it wouldn't hold together. I'm afraid I'd be forced to throw the whole thing out, and pretend my first novel never existed.

Supporting this voice are the novels that I love most. I like complicated, lengthy novels with twists in perception that creep up on you. I've just broken a two-month long novel-reading drought with Sarah Waters' Affinity. It's a gorgeous book, and I'm reading it slowly, because I love the characters and I don't want to stop hanging out with them.

I'm worried about writing a novel because I feel like I don't have all the skills that an amazing book calls for. How can I hope for the expert alchemy of Peter Carey or Sarah Waters or John Crowley when I'm still learning how to make short stories?

What I think I need to do is plan a novel in steps: make an outline of a character's journey and set myself the small task of taking each step. Tell myself not to stress over writing the best novel the world has ever seen. But write a good novel, that holds together, and that I'll share with a few friends. Tell myself as many times at it takes that trying something new isn't wasteful.

*

{Here's the easy, yummy Recipe I used to make my muffins.} 

Organization: Submission Board

When I have writer's block, I organize. 

Sometimes it's furniture, sometimes wall decorations, but often my organizing has to do with my writing. Organizing helps me stay up to date on my projects, reminds me of goals I've set, and unearths old stories I once thought were rubbish but now think are quite ok.

My latest organization project is a submission board. 

Submission Zone, still in progress

Separating the Creative Self from the Business Self

I've been having a lot of writing anxiety lately - just completely unable to get a first draft done. Today I remembered the advice to separate the creative writer from the business writer. The creative writer writes the stories; the business writer sells them.

I've had my submission sheets taped to the wall behind my laptop for the past few weeks, and today I decided to move them - to create two different spaces. One for the creative writer and one for the business writer.

I'm making my desk space, where I create, free of clutter and surrounded by inspiration and encouragement. On the other side of the room is a small bookcase. Inside the bookcase are short story journals that I love to read (both SFF and literary) as well as my rejectomancy and acceptance boxes. Above the bookcase are my submission boards.

I have a few genre stories on submission at the moment, and I'm gearing up for a big submission push once the literary journals open back up in the fall.

Since I'm submitting to both genre and literary magazines, I needed to make two separate systems.

My Genre Submission Board

Genre magazines usually do not allow simultaneous submissions. They have a faster turnaround (some as fast as two days) and usually ask that you do not submit to the magazine again for a certain period of time after being rejected (usually a week or two).

So I need to make sure that I don't submit multiple stories to one magazine at the same time and also respect the magazine's guidelines for waiting to submit again.

My SFF submission board is organized by the name of the magazine. I put the names of the stories I'm submitting on post it notes and move them around the board.

There are more genre magazines than I could fit on a wall, but for the purpose of this board I'm sticking with journals that are SFWA qualifying markets (Pro markets), pay at least a token amount, or have an aesthetic similar to my own. I've narrowed my initial submissions to magazines that I love to read and where I think my stories would fit.

If I've been rejected from a magazine that has a courtesy period, then I put a different colored post it with the date rejected or the date when I can submit again.

I can also use the post its to mark when a magazine is closed to submissions, so I don't waste time wondering if a story is a good fit.

Submission Board for SFF Stories

This tactic is working really well for me so far. I can see where my stories are at a glance, and it also reminds me of all of the magazines where I'd love to be published. This makes me consider which of my stories might be a good fit for those markets, and encourages me to send them out.

My Literary Submission Board

The submission board for literary stories is a bit different.

Literary magazines usually encourage simultaneous submissions, as the turnaround time can take up to a year. Like genre magazines, multiple submissions to the same magazine are not allowed.

With my literary stories, I need to make sure that I've got each story out at several different journals for consideration at any given time. This way they have the best chance of finding the right reader at the right market.

My literary submission board is organized based on the stories that I currently have on submission.

Each sticky note has the name of a journal, with a little "E" or "P" at the bottom to designate whether I submitted electronically or through the post, and therefore where I should be on a lookout for a response.

I've also got several journal sticky notes that have a star in the corner, to indicate that the last time I submitted to the magazine I received a "please send us more" or similar encouragement.

I like to think of these submission boards as the volume control. If there aren't any bars beneath a story title, then it's too quiet. I need to find some new markets for the story and send it out.

Submission Board for Lit Stories

My submission board is pretty cheap - just printed pieces of paper and post it notes. But one day I might upgrade to a dry erase board or cork board.

I prefer to keep my own submission board low tech, but I bet this would work really well on Kanbanpad or in a simple spreadsheet.

I'm hoping that these submission boards and the separated spaces will help me push through my block. From my desk I can look over my shoulder and see by the colors on my submission board that my stories are out in the world, doing their work. Then I can turn back to my computer and be the creative self who worries about the story at hand.

Gaming with Strangers (Deep South Con 50)

I'd just come from a panel and I was making my way to the autograph table to see which authors had signed up for a time slot. A woman stood in the middle of the walkway with the top of a game box in her hand.

"Want to play a game of Munchkin?" she asked me. 

I've wanted to get more into gaming for years. But my gaming history is next to non-existent (let's not count Candyland and Monopoly when the power went out as a kid). I've watched the gaming tables at comic shops, and peeked into gaming rooms at conventions, but I'm always afraid to ask to join a game. I don't want to burden those already playing by my novice status. 

Last year at Clarion West one of my classmates, Erik David Even, brought some amazing games with him to the workshop (check out Letters from Whitechapel!). And because most of the other people in our group hadn't played the games before either, I felt more confident in giving it a try. And the games were so much fun. Erik was a patient and fun game master, and it's due to my positive experiences gaming at Clarion West that when a complete stranger asked me if I'd like to play a game at a convention I said yes.

The woman motioned me over to a table in the middle of the atrium. I walked over and introduced myself to two other players sorting out cards. Within a few minutes a guy walked up and asked if he could join in. And just a minute later a very tall man in a cape and with a double red light saber asked if he could join as well. His name badge read "Count Dooku." 

The young guy, Sam, and Count Dooku had both played Munchkin many times before. Myself and another girl were complete newbs, and the woman who had recruited me and her husband had played a few times. 

But after the cards were sorted, we realized that half of the deck of cards was missing. There was no way we could play the game without the treasure cards. 

Another group of people sat playing a game at a table near us. It was one of those conquer the map type games that I associate with seasoned players. The Munchkin recruiter went over and asked if they happened to have a game of Munchkin with them. A man with a long white beard pulled three small boxes out of his backpack and brought them to our table - a full set. 

We started playing, using pennies for level markers. I became a bard with a spring-mounted magnificent hat. I listened at the door, kicked the door down, and once I even went looking for trouble. 

My hand early on in the game of Munchkin at DSC50

Count Dooku helped me with each of my turns, and after a while I started to get the hang of the game. He made quippy jokes and transitioned from someone physically intimidating to a really fun person to hang out with.

If I had been watching from across the room, I think I would have mistaken our laid back game for a group of seasoned players. And that would have kept me from approaching and asking to join.

"My name is Count Dooku. Don't worry, I never strike an unarmed opponent," he had said when he first sat down.

Then he handed me a lightsaber and smiled. "Here, hold this."

The next time I'm at a convention, I'm going to ask to join a game. I know I'll be able to learn how to arm myself as I go.

Deep South Con 50: Novel Workshop

Deep South Con 50 didn't officially start until Friday, but for myself and my fellow novel workshop participants, our convention experience started Thursday night with a lecture by editor Lou Anders of Pyr Books. 

Lou's talk, "Using a Character-Based Screenwriting Formula for Novel Writing," was fantastic. I had listened to his talk about using screenwriting on the Writing Excuses podcast, but his lecture at the workshop was more in-depth. At the end of his presentation, I felt like I had learned completely new elements of screenplay storytelling that I had not encountered in my graduate classes or in my readings. I'd highly recommend the podcast, and if you have a chance to attend one of Lou's screenwriting lectures don't pass it up. 

After Lou's lecture, the entire workshop group walked across the street to the public library to hear Gregory Benford's talk. The admission tickets were $10 to the event, but as workshop participants our tickets were comped (free!). 

Once Gregory Benford's talk ended, most of the workshop participants headed over to the con suite in the hotel for free beers and snacks. I wound up talking to some of my fellow local writers, like Louise Herring-Jones. We'd met a time or two at the SF Writers and Cake Appreciation Society critique group, but Deep South Con was the first time we really got to sit down and get to know each other. I also got a chance to meet one of my Deep South Con novel workshop group mates,  April Steed, whose novel has an amazing thematic idea. I can't wait to see what she does with it. And I spent a few minutes geeking out about belly dancing with Julia Mandala, who performed with Ravenar during the opening ceremonies. 

Friday the novel workshop split into two groups. Each one was led by a professional editor. My group was helmed by Toni Weisskopf of Baen Books, and the other by Lou Anders of Pyr. Each group had eight workshop participants who had each submitted up to the first 5,000 words of their novel and up to a 5 page synopsis of the rest of the book. We started our critiques at 10AM, and went until 4PM with a short break for lunch. 

This was my first time in a novel workshop, and my first time attempting to write a novel. It was really instructive to read my workshopmates' stories and hear everyone's critiques. One common piece of advice - slow down. Novels are much longer than short stories; you've got tons of time. Really get us into the scene by specific description and mood-setting.

As far as my personal novel submission and critiques, it was extremely helpful to me to hear my fellow writers' suggestions on my main character's motivation and for world building. As a first-time novel writer, this early feedback has given me the confidence and direction I need to continue writing a first draft. 

Scott Hancock, who won the Deep South Con 50 short story contest, was in my group. He made the most amazing critique packets I have ever seen. 

The packet contained a copy of Southern Fried Sci-Fi and Jambalaya Genres (a chapbook published by the Huntsville SF writers group in 2001), my workshop submission with notes in the margins, and a copy of the typed notes for all of the workshop stories. 

Scott is an amazingly friendly person and a wonderful writer. He had an account of his meeting with Dr. Von Braun published in the Deep South Con program book, but you can also read it here. 

At the end of the day on Friday, Toni gave a lecture on world-building which included a group exercise. We went through the rubric together - where does the energy come from? Where does the water come from? Which family member do we want to focus on? What about the arts and entertainment in this culture? And in five minutes, we'd created an interesting, layered world ripe for a story. 

Then Lou and Toni answered our questions about submitting novels to agents and/or presses. Some stray notes:

• Don't invest everything in one book. Set it aside/submit and move on.
• Look in Locus Magazine at the books sold page for tips on which agents you might want to work with. 
• Joshua at Jabberwoky - Blog: Awful Agent
• Sometimes it takes 10-15 years of rejection head banging to learn to write to a market.
• Slushpile - mostly B+ when you want As
• It is worth a cut of your money for the services that publishers provide. 

Before we disbanded, we each received a copy of the essay "Style, Substance, and Other Illusions" by Gregory Benford. 

The best part of the novel writing workshop was meeting my fellow writers. I never ran out of people to talk to the entire weekend. After the panels there would invariably be a small group of workshop participants gathered in the back of the room talking, and because I'd been in the workshop I felt confident in going up and chatting with them.

In the hallways, the con suite, and at room parties, I had great conversations not just about writing, but about specific stories that we had written. Nancy S. Brandt told me what it was like to publish a genre book through a small press. Zan Oliver was a blast to hang out with in the party rooms, and she told great stories about New Orleans. And Alice and I people-watched from the balcony and talked about learning and re-learning. 

It was a wonderful, hearty dose of writer camaraderie.

Deep South Con 50: Anticipation!

This weekend is Deep South Con 50. This convention is held in a different location in the south each year. This year, it is returning to Huntsville, where the first Deep South Con was held.

I'm already very impressed with the organization and promotion of this convention. They've got an active Facebook page, a beautiful and often-updated website, and they're partnering with the public library for a public lecture by one of the attending authors: Gregory Benford.

When a convention is well-organized and promoted, it makes me even more excited to attend. It bodes well for the panels and events running smoothly, and for having an all-around wonderful con experience. My hats off to the organizers.

For the past month or so, the con has had a display of science fiction books and artwork set up in the entrance to the main library downtown.

DSC 50 display at the Huntsville Madison-County Public Library

Lovely art and books in the display at the public library

Skylife, edited by Gregory Benford

Gene Wolfe's book on display in the library

Almost all of the books are original hardcovers, and the gorgeous painting is either an original or a high-quality print. Every time I go to the library I have to stand and gawk at the treasures inside the display.

Here's a few of the programming items I'm looking forward to:

Thursday

• Novel Workshop lecture by Lou Anders of Pyr
• Gregory Benford speech at public library, "The Wonderful Future That Can Still Be: Science Fiction and Current Science"
• Beer in the consuite with novel workshop participants and teachers

Friday

• Novel Workshop critique sessions
• Novel Workshop lecture by Toni Weisskopf of Baen Books
• Lois McMaster Bujold reading
• Bellydancing workshop

Saturday

• "Hard Fantasy" - Lou Anders, Danny Birt, <3 Gene Wolfe <3, Lois McMaster Bujold, Tony Daniel
• Ravenar Belly Dance performance
• Dr. Demento live performance

Sunday

• "Violence for Writers, with Demos of Hard, Sharp, Pointy Things"

There are dozens more amazing lectures, live music performances, and demos going on throughout the weekend. 

If you're within driving distance of Huntsville and can take a road trip this weekend, I think this convention will be well worth the trip.

Write-a-thon Goals and Moving Forward

I got an envelope from Clarion West in the mail today, which always makes me happy. Inside were two pieces of paper: a flyer for the instructor reading series and an invitation to the Friday night parties.

This year's Clarion West Readings and Parties

I can't show you the second piece of paper in detail because the parties are often held at supporters' homes, and the residential addresses are listed. But it's amazingly cool - if I could travel to Seattle, I could pop into these parties.

Who is going to be at these parties? In addition to the awesome people who make up Seattle's SF community and the Clarion West class of 2012, each week's instructor will be there: Mary Rosenblum, Stephen Graham Jones, George R.R. Martin, Connie Willis, Kelly Link & Gavin Grant, and Chuck Palahniuk.

This time last year, I was beginning to freak out big time about attending Clarion West. Mostly, I was afraid of letting my fears get in the way of the workshop experience. I was afraid I would be too shy to talk to anyone, and too afraid to step out of my writing comfort zone. Sometimes I failed on both of these counts. But mostly, I was able to close my eyes and push myself forward. And my workshop experience was better for it.

I also had to move forward with my writing. At Clarion West, I had to write five fresh stories. We were encouraged to bring ideas for stories as back up, but not use them. When I moved from Alaska, I had a bunch of stories that I hated. I had spent so much time working on them that I felt weighted down by my responsibility to make them the best they could be. It was so freeing, and so healing for my writing psyche, to go to Clarion West and be made to write completely new stories.

They were shitty first drafts. But they were new, and that made them wonderful. My stories got better from week to week, and all of the advice I'd gotten over the years began to make sense.

Ultimately, three of the stories I wrote at Clarion West as well as my Clarion West submission story ended up in my masters thesis. After the workshop, when I went back to my pre-workshop stories, I zipped through revising them. I wasn't frustrated with them anymore, because I knew that they weren't the only stories I'd ever write. I could work to make them better, but I wouldn't let them haunt me forever.

Clarion West is starting in two weeks. I can visit Seattle and go to the parties, but I can't go back to the workshop. So instead, I'm taking part in the Clarion West Write-a-thon.

My original goal was to revise each of the stories I wrote at Clarion West and submit it. But I've already been revising and submitting my Clarion West stories, perhaps too much, and I need to move forward. So I'm going to return to the concept that made Clarion West so helpful for me the first time around and write a fresh story, every week from June 17 - July 27.

This summer I'm putting my old writing in a drawer so I can explore the rest of the house. I know there have to be some secret balconies here, somewhere.

Want to know more about the Clarion West Write-a-thon? Here are the details:
If you're looking for a challenge this summer, joining the Write-a-thon could be a great option. You'll be part of an amazing community of writers and you'll be helping to raise money for the workshop. You don't have to be an alumni to participate. 

• My Write-a-thon page
• Go here to sign-up to take part in the write-a-thon, make a donation, and see individual author pages of those participating.