Reminder: WriteOnCon!

We've said it before, but we still thought it important to remind you that it's the eve of something great. WriteOnCon is amazing for oh so many reasons like:

*It's free
*It's all on-line
*Great people
*A contest where you can earn $$$$$
*Perceptive writing tips from greats
*Tons of free feedback
*Ninja agents. (very misleading. I was really hoping to see Jen Rofe in black with nun chucks. Not that, but it's still awesome. Agents lurk the boards and request partials and fulls from unsuspecting authors)
*It's free
*Great insights into the publishing world from top professionals
*There is now a Thinking to Inking group anyone can join so you don't have to feel like you're attending it alone & we always like to make new friends for future conferences, too :)
*You can participate in your pjs while eating chocolate and no one will judge you.
*It's free

So if you haven't registered and said "hello" yet, what are you waiting for???

PS Contest closes today so get on it ASAP, and Ninja Agents start prowling tomorrow so you'll want to make sure you have your query, first 250 words, & first 5 pages posted in the forums.

Things I Learned in Improv Class, Volume 4: Getting Into Character

What's improv comedy and why the heck am I writing about it? Check out the intro of Volume 1 and Volume 2.

TODAY'S LESSON: Getting into character

Before an improviser steps on stage, they make a decision about what character they will play. This can manifest itself in something obvious like an accent, or something more subtle, such as a shift in the way they walk, a tiny tick in their right hand, or a slight change in their breathing. 

The simple choices the actor makes about their character will dictate how the scene moves forward, and how their character will react to their partner's character.

Learning how to create a character: The walking game

Everybody leads with a different part of their body when they walk.  Don't believe me?  Sit on a park bench for a while and watch people walk by. You'll notice that very few people walk perfectly erect - they typically lead with one part of their body, and it varies from person to person.

Shifting the leading part of your body is a very simple way to make a physical transformation into a new character. 

That's me, getting into character during a rehearsal.

To practice, start by walking around the room. Once you're comfortable, shift your weight so that you are leading with your head.  You can do this either with a slight shift forward or an extreme shift forward, depending on how extreme you want your character to be.

Walk around like this for a while. How does it feel? 

Ask yourself the following questions:

1. What kind of person might walk like this?
2. Are they male or female?
3. What might their name be?
4. What kind of day do you think they are having?
5. How old are they?
6. Are they married? Single? Are they happy about this fact?
7. What do they do for a living?

Now try shifting your weight so that you are leading with your knees. How does walking like this feel different from leading with your head? Ask yourself the same questions as above. My guess is you will come up with very different answers.

Keep shifting your weight to different parts of your body - you nose, your chest, your shoulders, your toes, your hips.  Alter the extremity. Can you see how a slight change in the way you walk can create an entirely new character?

so what's this got to do with writing?

Whether it's a character on stage or a character in a book, they are made up of more than the words they say. How they feel and what they think affects everything they do, and using physicality is a simple way to demonstrate emotion and other character traits.  It's also an easy trick to help you avoid 'show versus tell' pitfalls.

How might a brave person walk? A shy person? An angry person? 

Instead of the dialogue tag 'he said angrily', how might you demonstrate that anger through the character's physicality? Through their actions?

Leverage more than words to create your characters - think about their movements, and use those actions to create rich characters that can live outside of the pages of your story.

Happy writing!

SCBWI LA 2012: The Highlights

The hostess with the mostest.
Lin Oliver & Stephen Mooser rock.

We'll be covering many gems from SCBWI LA later, but here are some pics and a few highlights from my incomplete notes from the sessions I attended (when I still had battery left in my computer.)

*Arthur Levine tells us to tap into the deepest needs we have as humans in order to create a timeless work.

*Tony Diterlizzi keeps objects from his youth nearby so he doesn't forget what it's like to be young.

A sea of amazing people

*Jordan Brown wants writers to study the market to find the gaps. He's also drawn to people who are telling old stories in new ways, a younger version of an adult hit, a sports story that isn't just about the sport like Friday Night Lights, an alternate version of history "what if", or a darkly comic religious story.

*Sara Shepard worked writing for others before starting her own series, and learned how to write quickly and efficiently. The hands-on experience taught her more than her MFA. She also says that people love to read about seemingly good people doing bad things.

*Patricia MacLachlan reminds us to always remember that children experience life beside us-- not in front of or behind us.

Chocolate makes listening even better.
Thank you Chuao!!!!

*Emma Dryden says that the key so social media is that it's about relationships. Also, Twitter and Facebook are great for networking, but it's tough to reach kids that way.

* Dan Gutman tells us to break rules and just keep going. You're going to get rejected a lot. Be a boxer. Take your beatings and keep going.

* Karen Cushman suggests there must be production and repose. Discover the world through writing, and know who you are.

*The editor's panel wants you to read all you can, be wary of too much advice, be aware of the market, create what is authentically you, and don't be afraid to finish and get out there.

*Bryan Collier went to art school, got a day job, and spent the next seven years taking his portfolio in for review once a week to publishers whose work he liked.

* Jay Asher says that the key to suspense is anticipation. Anticipate more wise words from him coming soon!!!

*It took Clare Vanderpool 16 years to be published. Then she knocked it out of the park with a Newberry win. She says "discipline" doesn't count if you don't have to battle through screaming kids to write.

*Deborah Underwood talked about the need for quiet and pondering time in the creative process.

* Ari Lewin gave an inside scoop on what goes on in an acquisition meeting. They all need to love it, and then look at the P&L (profit and loss) statement to see if they can sell it. She highly encourages new writers to avoid going out too soon.

* Deborah Halverson gave an encouraging snapshot of the marketplace. Character-driven picture books (but less positive for first day of school, grass is always greener, or books lacking character development or voice). There is a lot of room for growth in chapter books and middle grade seems to be the sweet spot right now. Teen is still going strong (with ebook numbers still rising), but mid list is still struggling, and over trends are dying down. Realistic fiction is on the rise. Overall, there is room for debut authors, and agents find most clients at conferences.

Ducked out to Thinkspace gallery &
saw this right after Ruta Sepetys
phenomenal keynote. Almost cried.
* Ruta Sepetys brought the house down by encouraging writers to go to the emotional places they really don't want to go. Stay a while, and go from participant to observer. For research, she went to a re-created Soviet prison, was beaten up, and had to face her savage side to write her award-winning novel.

* At the agent's panel, they suggested things like: follow your own path, read a LOT of books, houses don't want books will compete with ones they already have, once a trend is identified it's too late, you will need to market yourself, be aware of book scan (tracks sales and will often determine whether or not they can sell your next book, make decisions based on having a long-term career -- not a quick sale,  and have confidence when you write (it shows up on the page.)

Hippie Hop dancing with the (literary) stars!

Having fun, but missing Triona

* Tim Ditlow chatted candidly about Amazon taking on Marshall Cavendish, and how when considering who to take on, he wants to his as many key markets as possible: Institutional, Trade, ebook, & box stores. Books should work for all channels.

*Jennifer Bosworth is an introvert who believes that great publicity comes in all forms; you just need to be true to who you are. Her sincerity in the first video made a bigger splash than the uber-fancy super super cool trailer her director husband made so play to your strengths, and watch her videos. :)

* Gary Schmidt ended the conference beautifully with his keynote where he reminded us that "surprise is the only gift God gives us that he, himself, cannot experience," and that we have a great responsibility to our young readers to help anchor them in the truths of being good.

All in all, it was a phenomenal experience. Really inspiring.

Signing lines almost as long as bathroom lines :)

Jay Asher

Sara Sheppard

Jennifer Bosworth

Writer's Resource: Absolute Write Forums

Absolute Write is a writer's resource extravaganza. Arguably the most helpful part is the vast online community of the Absolute Write Water Cooler.

Working on a novel in any genre, nonfiction book, short story, or freelance pieces? There's a section of the forum for each at the link above. There you'll find tons of information on writing, editing, and publishing your work. A tip: if there are stickied threads at the top of a forum, read them through before posting a question. The regulars sometimes get a little testy if they're answering the same question for the eighty-ninth time that month.

Another area to check out in the Water Cooler is Share Your Work (SYW). Free registration is required to view this part of the forum. Here you'll find hundreds of people sharing their query letters, synopses, and pages for peer critique. Once you accumulate 50 posts, you can post your own work for critique.

A very important word of caution: SYW is not for the faint of heart or thin of skin! People will be completely, sometimes brutally honest about their reaction to your writing. Keep in mind that a lot of it will be subjective--but if you get more than one person posting the same comments, you would be wise to consider their suggestions.

The Absolute Write Water Cooler isn't right for everyone, but it can be a great way to connect with like-minded writers and find critique partners. Check it out and see what you think!

Villain of the Month: Everyone in Titus Andronicus

I attended The Cedar City Shakespeare Festival a few weeks ago and they performed the play that was the most popular in Shakespeare's day: Titus Andronicus. The masterpiece is not given the same kudos today and is often seen as a “lesser” play, but its pervasive villainy and the toxic darkness of revenge were so well acted and directed by the company that I could see why it was so popular at a time when people routinely watched hangings for sport. After watching, I was inspired to study the villainy of this work further to apply to the writing of modern revenge themes. 

The basic plot: Titus kills the son of Tamora the Goth as revenge for the deaths of his sons in battle with the Goths. The murder tumbles into a play of back and forth espionage for gruesome revenge with numerous killings, the chopping off of hands, cutting out of a tongue, and even the murder of Tamora’s two sons who are then chopped up and served to her in a meat pie (yes. I’m creepy, I did buy and eat one of the concession’s delicious meat pies before entering the theater).

So what writing lessons did I get out of this?

1.     Know your character's motivations: As horrific as it is, we are still somewhat sympathetic to the architects of villainy in this feud. Each has lost children/siblings/friends at the hand of the other. While some villains skew to sociopathy, most are deeply broken at some point. Shakespeare only lightly alludes to the pain of Titus losing his sons at the start of the play when Titus first kills Tamora’s son, but it's there. And we are definitely sympathetic to a woman who is forced to watch her own child murdered. Later, when she plans to have her sons rape then have Titus’s daughter’s tongue cut out and hands chopped off, we may hate her, but we understand. A little. She is a round character.

2.     The devil is in the (background) details: The most haunting image for me—by far—was when Titus kills his daughter as a mercy act. The daughter knows it’s coming and accepts. The father stabbing his own daughter is the height of tragic, and was beautifully performed, but my memory is of the background. Unlike everyone else on stage or in the theater, Tamora is cold to the mercy killing. So cold she’s just sitting there eating her pie. And the dramatic irony of us knowing she is unknowingly eating her own children coldly while her enemy kills his child is played out so subtlely and beautifully here I will never forget the scene. Its total degradation of everyone highlights the epitome of the inevitable results of revenge. And it reminds me that an intense scene can be rendered sublimely poetic by layering a small detail in the background.

Spielberg's first film: my mom is the one on the left. Isn't she beautiful?

3.     Stop just before the absurd: I attended the festival with my delightful mother who attended high school with Steven Spielberg and was even in his first film. When she met up with him after filming Jaws, he commented that the trick to horror was to go to the point just before the terror was so extreme the viewers could only cope my viewing it as comical. This performance nailed that line, and Spielberg’s advice will forever haunt me. 

If you live in Utah or nearby, I highly recommend that you get to see Titus Andronicus before it closes & I Hope your Monday is far from horror-filled. Come back soon to get highlights on the AMAZING SCBWI conference three of us just attended.