writing

Writing Retreat of Dreams!

Road Trip Wednesday is a ‘Blog Carnival,’ where YA Highway’s contributors post a weekly writing- or reading-related question that begs to be answered. In the comments, you can hop from destination to destination and get everybody’s unique take on the topic.
 
This Week’s Topic:
 
Describe your dream writing retreat. Where would you go? Who and what would you bring?
 
This topic is something I think about a LOT. Like many others, I squeeze writing into my daily life, and the idea of a writing retreat conjures up all kinds of images of productivity. Who wouldn’t want a a honeymoon with a WIP instead of a quickie?
 
Thus a dream retreat for me would really be anywhere that provided stretches of alone-time, plenty of tasty food and caffeinated beverages, and the opportunity for literary discussion, all in an inspiring setting.
 
The place that best fits the bill for me? Ronda, Spain:
 

 
Specifically, I’d choose the HOTEL REINA VICTORIA (http://www.hotelreinavictoria.es/es/hotel-ronda/main), a place that offered the Austrian poet Rainer Maria Rilke the peace and inspiration he needed to write.

I’d bring my laptop of course, a stack of books, and a notebook and pencil for scribbling in the garden. I’d love to have a group of writerly friends along too, for those literary discussions after productive writing sessions. Anyone with me?

Pseudo-NaNoWriMo

First off, I’m not a “real” NaNoWriMo participant.

But … but … even though I’m not doing it for real, I love the idea of NaNo. The zest and spirit floating around on the interwebs as writers pile up the word count and advance their stories. The dedication with which they attack their manuscripts one day at a time. Every day. I just love it.

So I decided to do a Pseudo-NaNo this year. It feels a little like cheating, but I just couldn’t pass up on the opportunity to surge forward with so much company. My Pseudo-NaNo has two simple rules: 1K words minimum. Every Single Day.

Another thing I’m cheating on is that this is not a brand new manuscript. I had close to 20K and a detailed outline for this project when I started the month, which means that the 30K from November will put me very close to finishing the first draft.  Motivation, people! It’s all about sitting in the chair. Isn’t it? *blinks*

So cheers and good luck to all the real NaNo-ers! And same to any other Pseudo-NaNo-ers out there! Feel free to share any Pseudo experiences here. 🙂

Rutgers 2011

There is nothing like the Rutgers One-on-One.

This conference for children’s writers, held yearly in October, is the place to see and be seen. The one-on-one ratio means that attendees get to rub elbows with as many agents, editors,  and published authors (the mentors) as other (likewise awesome) mentees.

The invaluable face time gives you the chance for others to later connect your name to you-the-individual, and gives you the opportunity to do the same. Because (*whispers*) even big-name editors and agents are people too. No, really. You might not click with your “dream agent” in person. Another who seemed beyond your reach might be totally accessible and down-to-earth.  Plus, if you aren’t sure if someone might be interested in your genre, you can ask! Like, “I read in an interview that you don’t like fantasy, but are you a fan of magical realism?”

One of the best things about the conference is the way it’s organized to maximize a successful conference for everyone. If you’re really shy, you don’t have to worry about approaching a Big and Scary editor or agent. You get the chance to learn from them (and even talk if you can muster the courage) at least four separate times:

  1. Your One-on-One. You get 45 minutes (45!!) alone with your mentor, who is either an editor, agent, or author. That morning, the mentors receive your 3-page sample you subbed to get into the conference, and you can spend time walking through that, through your manuscript as a whole, or talking about other projects, your query letter, or whatever else seems the best use of the time. My mentor in 2008 when I attended for nonfiction was an author, and I had an editor this year for YA fiction, and both of them were absolutely amazing.
  2. Your Five-on-Five. You also get 45 minutes with you, your mentor, and 4 other mentor/mentee pairs. One of the mentors moderates, and you get to discuss whatever people want to know: market trends, what their pet peeves are etc. At my table, we had 3 agents, 1 editor, and 1 author (who spoke that morning as the One-on-One Success Story from a previous year) Olugbemisola Rhuday-Perkovich. It was great to hear how they agreed on so many things, such as:
      • The importance of not writing to trend–just write a good story.
      • The dystopian wave has crested, but some paranormals and dystopians are still in the works–they just have to have a very different angle (or combination of genres, like dystopian historical).
      • Submit your very best work.
  3. The panel discussion. Again, more great insights from a team of authors and publishing professionals.  Mentees could email questions in advance, and agent Marietta Zacker, who moderated the panel, did a great job hitting as many bases as possible with a selection of those questions.
  4. Lunch. Agents and editors remain at their tables from the Five-on-Five, and you can sit wherever you want. Here’s your chance to seek out others on your list you haven’t met!
  5. OK, I said 4, but the last opportunity you can use is the short breaks in between activities. You should never (never) try to approach someone in the bathroom line (NEVER), but if someone is alone at a table or edge of the room etc., they are fair game. This is the perfect chance to put your face to your name with someone you’ve queried, or just to say hello to someone you’ve had contact with, or admire from a distance. Don’t expect or try to initiate a long conversation, but if you have something short to say, this is a good time.

One last piece of the enormous pie of awesomeness that is Rutgers is the chance to network with other amazing writers. Because you have to send in a writing sample to get accepted, you can guarantee that the other mentees are as serious (and as good!) as you.  This conference is a great place to catch up with old friends and make new ones, and I simply cannot recommend it more!

Historical Fiction: Equal Parts Historical and Fiction?

When I first started my current WIP—a YA historical novel—I was hoping to use the facts exactly as they were and just fill in the holes with my fantastic story. *coughs* I wrote about 20K words using this plan.

Unfortunately, I hit a wrinkle.

When I started writing my detailed outline, I realized that my story would be soooo much better if I could change some of the facts.

And yet I waffled.

Some things I wanted to change probably wouldn’t be a big deal in regards to remaining true to history. I wanted to change the age and date of death of a rather obscure individual who most people don’t know. I think I’d be OK there. But I also wanted to push the dates that a hugely famous poet wrote a likewise hugely famous series of poems to four years earlier. Ouch.

Could I get around it? Probably. But it might be weird for other cryptic reasons. So I’m still waffling.

How close to history do you keep your historical fiction? Any rules or guidelines that you always follow? Any examples where you decided to break the rules?

Be Your WIP’s Project Manager

The more rounds of revision I do, the more I think about my former day-job in software project management. I’ve come to realize that the principles of project management–as un-creative as that sounds–can be a big help to my WIP. Here are the big three I’ve been thinking about along the way:

  • Shoot for success:
    • Set specific measures of success: Think about what you aim to do with your WIP. Gain admission to an MFA program or conference? Read it to your grandkids? Get it published? If your aim is publication, traditionally, or would you be satisfied with self-publishing?
    • Consider the typical dimensions of success: quality, time, and budget. Of these three, the only one that cannot be sacrificed is quality. Take all the time and invest in all the lattes you need to achieve it. As a software PM, I always had to fight for the time my people needed. As a writer, I have the luxury (luxury!) to take as much time as I need to get it right. As long as I can afford my lattes, of course, heh heh.
  • Plan, plan, plan:
    • Even if you’re a pantser instead of a plotter, a very basic plot outline (sometimes worked out after you’ve done a good amount of drafting) can help you stay on track. If you’re a plotter, go ahead and outline, knowing that your outline will probably change. Take a look at my “Outlining Using Agile” approach here: http://kiperoo.wordpress.com/2011/03/23/outlining-using-agile/.
    • Work out a deadline calendar with rewards, knowing that you’ll probably need more time than you think. See above about taking all the time you need. 🙂
    • Strategize how to revise. There are many great resources for revision out there (books, workshops etc.), so use them when you dive back into your manuscript to make it stronger.
  • Approval and Sign-offs:
    • Even the greatest ideas can be better with the right feedback, and most writers are thrilled when they find the right critique partner or group. I personally like to get sign-off from my partners on everything from my initial idea to my “final” full manuscript.
    • Read your manuscript out loud. You might find your one of your own best critics when you hear your own words.
    • Force yourself to wait until you get approval from your peeps before sending. Don’t make the mistake of submitting to early! Not that any of us *cough* have ever done that before.
Hope these are helpful! Any tips from your day job that you can apply to your writing?

Visual Tools

Erin Bow (author of the fantastic YA novel PLAIN KATE) asked a great question in the #wipmadness check-in on her blog this week: http://erinbow.com/blog/2011/06/wipmadness-check-in-for-the-third-week-in-june-1.shtml

The question: “Anyone else have visual keep-on-track tools they want to share?”

Erin included photos of her wicked cool calendar complete with stickers, and index cards with edits to do.

I do something similar, but with slightly different media. I also use a calendar, but mine is a small moleskine, and I also keep track of to-dos and even scribble down plot brainstorms and work through plot problems in my slightly larger moleskine notebook.

Everything needs to be small and portable to me because we live in a tiny apartment where I have no desk and no real writing space to call my own. I write on a small netbook computer, which I take with me along with my small notebook and tiny calendar to any part of the apartment or out into the world if it seems I might get a chance to get any work done. Works for me!

What about you? Any other visual tools that help you with your writing?

Week Five Check-in

The last day of May has rolled in, so time to take stock of #wipmadness progress! How did everyone do? Are you happy with where you ended up against your goals? Congrats to every single one of you for sticking with it!

As I mentioned last week, the theme this week is finishing. My question for you all is when do you declare your manuscript done? Do you have a trusted critique partner who tells you to send it? Do you have a set round of revisions or a checklist  to pass your manuscript through? Do you reach a certain point when you know in your gut that it’s ready?

Because there’s that point, right? When you’re pretty sure you’ve done all the right things: multiple several rounds of revision, hiding the manuscript in the drawer, more critique, more revision, SEND!

And then, crap. Comments from someone else reveal the major work still needed.

#headdesk

So you do it all again, and again (and most probably, again). Desperately seeking perfection. I hope we all find it!

Week Four Check-in

Hello, #wipmadness writers, and welcome to week 4!

Is this month flying by for everyone, or is it just me? Are you on track to make your goals? Have your goals changed over the month? I’m still on track with mine (finishing my gazillionth revision before sending my manuscript off to beta readers), but it’s definitely taking a lot of hard work.

The theme this week is changing directions. I know some of you have made some bold moves this month, like tossing out thousands of words (Angelina) or deciding that your WIP is going to need a sequel (Erin). I wanted to applaud moves like that this week, because sometimes new directions and changed goals are just what the WIP needs.

So what’s the biggest direction-change you’ve done with a WIP? Were you happy with the results in the end? (unless it’s too early to tell!)

My biggest change was taking a kernel–a teeny-tiny kernel–from my very first WIP and turning it into a brand new, much shinier idea. It was scary because it meant the door to that WIP closed for me, and it was something I had hoped to work on again. But in the end, sometimes the darlings we kill have to be entire manuscripts, and I’m looking forward to getting back into the shiny new version once I finish my current WIP.

See you all back here next Monday for the last check-in of the month, where we’ll have another scary topic for discussion: finishing.

Happy writing!

Diversity in YA’s Boston Visit

We were lucky enough in Boston to be a stop on the Diversity in YA tour, which made its way from California to Chicago, and then from Boston to NewYork:

http://www.diversityinya.com/2011/05/we-are-on-tour/

The tour was spearheaded by Cindy Pon and Malinda Lo, two great authors who are doing everything they can to promote more diversity in YA books. The fantastic event in Boston was held at the Cambridge Public Library, around the corner from both Cambridge Rindge and Latin High School and Harvard University, and included authors Holly Black, Sarah Rees Brennan, Deva Fagan, Fransisco X. Stork, along with Pon and Lo.

Moderated by Roger Sutton from the Horn Book, the panel discussed the need for diversity in YA books. As Sutton pointed out, all the authors on this particular panel except Stork write Science Fiction and Fantasy, but between them, they represent Asian, Latino, biracial, LGBT, and disabled characters in their books.

One of the things they spoke about was wanting to read about characters like them. Another of the discussion points was about cover images: will a white kid pick up a book that has a black or Asian kid on the cover? How do we get them out of their comfort zone? The panel–and audience–were divided on this. On the one side, some felt diversity could be sneaked in. If the book isn’t about race, then it’s not necessary to show. At the same time, some felt that YA readers haven’t been given enough of a chance to choose for themselves.

Stork’s take was that putting characters into universal situations makes a book less about race and more about characters that everyone can understand.  He wants readers to accept books that are different to what they’re used to and not just about race.

So why is diversity in YA important to me–a white, straight writer? Having lived in other countries and immersed myself in other languages and cultures, I know what it’s like to be an outsider. It’s difficult, but it’s also interesting. I personally am less interested in reading about “normal” characters, and prefer to be thrown out of my comfort zone entirely.

I was glad to see the panel members agreed. While everyone acknowledged that it’s important to reach beyond stereotypes and do your research when writing beyond your experience, they agreed that diverse characters–even from non-diverse writers–are welcome. In the words of Fagan, “Don’t let fear of making mistakes stop you. Embrace the potential to fail. Do your research and be aware.”

Week Three Check-in!

It’s Monday, and you know what that means in the #wipmadness world. How are you all doing on your goals for the month? Is anyone hitting a mid-month slump?

The theme today is time-panic. I’m sure you know what I mean, because there are so many variations on the time-panic theme in a writer’s life. Here are but a few:

  • Gaaah, so busy. How do I find the time to write?
  • Is that whole revising, letting the manuscript rest, revising again, etc. thing for real? Even though I wrote my draft in three months, it’ll be more like a year or two until I can submit, gaaaaaah!
  •  I don’t want to be old when I first get published. But with the snail’s pace of the publishing world, that means I have to add about 3 years to my finish date, which means, GAAAAH! I’ll be old when my book comes out.
  • So I saw on amazon today that a book with a similar theme to mine is coming out this summer. I haven’t worked on it fast enough! Am I screwed? GAAAAAAAAAH!
Do any of these sound familiar? All of them? What’s your biggest time-panic at the moment? What do you do to stave off the panic besides applying a liberal coating of butt-glue?
Wishing a great and productive week to all!