Craft exercises

Hello! If you're here for the first time via Write On Con, welcome! (And if you're a faithful reader, I like you a lot, too. Thanks for being here.)

Over at Write On Con HQ today, I waxed lengthy and opinionated about the importance of craft in a writer's life. (It read something along the lines of the below, but with more words, and a particular focus on craft).

You can read the whole post (and a lot of other great posts, too!) over there. But if you're here now, ready to turn abstract thoughts about craft into reality for your own writing, I thought a few practical craft-developing exercises might help. So, read on! Tweak, adapt, and adopt as you see fit for your own needs and own goals: And then write on!

1. Pick an ordinary object, or an ordinary view, or an everyday experience. Now describe it using five analogies or phrases that are entirely fresh, not clichés or familiar ideas. In other words, create an image that's entirely new, out of your words and perspective, and give it to one of your characters to speak.

2. Read a book that you admire aloud. Pay special attention to what’s NOT in the text as well as what is. Return to your own writing and see, as a result of your study, what you can remove and how the reader might actually benefit as a result—from a more compelling pace, from a more streamlined plot, from tighter writing, from more suspense.

3. Find a book that achieves some of the same things you’re trying to achieve in your own work. Take it apart. Dissect it. Turn it into a chapter-by-chapter outline, or even a scene-by-scene outline. Then study that outline to pieces, noting things like when subplots are introduced and woven in and resolved, and where the action rises and falls (and how often it does each), and the balance of dialogue and prose, and the sort of emotion each chapter opens and closes with, and where in the story's telling unexpected things happen and how that affects the overall pace, and the arc of each key character’s growth across the book.
     Don’t try to do all this in a day. Spend days on it, even weeks. Use it as a warm-up exercise before your day’s writing. Or stop writing for a little while, and devote yourself to this study intensely: whatever works for you. But eventually, go back to your own book, armed with new knowledge, with the ability to better master your own craft having studied another’s mastery.

4. Try writing from a different point of view than you’ve ever tried before; a different voice than ever before; a character who on the surface shares nothing in common with you. What might that previously untried-voice or perspective make fresh in your writing, set free in your writing? What will you learn from your foreign-seeming character, as a writer, and as a person?

5. Share what you know: leave some of your own favorite craft-developing practices in the comments below so that others can try them, too!

INSIGNIA: An Editorial Love Story

(I don't blog a lot about my authors' books while they're in-progress toward publication. In part, this is out of respect for the writing/editing/revising/ publication process: a lot can change for a story as we work on it. It's also out of respect for readers--because I think it's mean to taunt you with tales of fantastic books you can't buy yet! Thus this series of publication-day "Editorial Love Story" posts was born: to celebrate the fact that, at long last, an author's book is out on shelves, and to share a bit of the "making-of" story of that book, too. Hope you'll enjoy and be inspired by this post, and that you'll soon have a chance to read this great book!)
 

More than anything, Tom Raines wants to be important, though his shadowy life is anything but that. For years, Tom’s drifted from casino to casino with his unlucky gambler of a dad, gaming for their survival. Keeping a roof over their heads depends on a careful combination of skill, luck, con artistry, and staying invisible. 
   Then one day, Tom stops being invisible. Someone’s been watching his virtual-reality prowess, and he’s offered the incredible—a place at the Pentagonal Spire, an elite military academy. There, Tom’s instincts for combat will be put to the test, and if he passes, he’ll become a member of the Intrasolar Forces, helping to lead his country to victory in World War Three. Finally, he’ll be someone important: a superhuman war machine with the tech skills that every virtual-reality warrior dreams of. Life at the Spire holds everything that Tom’s always wanted—friends, the possibility of a girlfriend, and a life where his every action matters—but what will it cost him? 
   Gripping and provocative, S. J. Kincaid’s futuristic thrill ride of a debut crackles with memorable characters, tremendous wit, and a vision of the future that asks startling, timely questions about the melding of humanity and technology.  

INSIGNIA by S. J. Kincaid hits shelves today, and it marks an awesome YA debut: as a bookseller who read an early draft of the manuscript said to me, "This author is the real deal!" and I couldn't agree more: it is a thrill to watch an author launch, knowing she is talented in endless ways!

   S. J. Kincaid is an incredibly skilled world-builder, one who uses science and history to ground a tale of the future, making for a brainy, smart, totally plausible story. The plots that she brings to life are genius: full of sneaky twists and turns and high-stakes moments that make your pulse pound all the more because you're aware as you read that every bit of her story feels uncomfortably possible. And her ability to create characters and genuine relationships between them is perhaps her greatest talent of all. I want to climb inside this book and be friends with these characters! Tom Raines and his friends are hilarious and fiercely loyal; they have an endless capacity for having fun, and they belong to each other in a way that makes a reader somehow feel that same warmth of belonging, too. That's a rare writerly talent, and a special one. Each time I read this manuscript anew, it felt like I'd skipped work for the day and was hanging out with friends, scheming pranks and enjoying inside jokes--and being that girl laughing too hard in public, whether on the subway or in a coffee shop, editing, because this story is high-stakes and thrilling, but it is also wickedly, wonderfully funny! We don't see enough humor in YA, I think, for what a key part of life it is for teens, but these characters are pitch-perfect in the way they never miss a moment for sly wit or full-on hilarity.

It's easy to assume that an author like this comes out of nowhere, but I think one of the things that awes me most about S. J. Kincaid is knowing just how hard she worked to become an author. INSIGNIA is her debut novel, but it's actually the seventh manuscript she wrote. Along the way, not only was she incredibly perseverant, but she let those six early manuscripts teach her a ton about writing, about storytelling, and about craft. As a result, she is one of the most confident writers I've ever met, and one who is willing to drastically tear apart and rebuild elements of her story if she can see that doing so might make it stronger. I am convinced that she has entire epic universes in her mind, and I am so pleased that she's willing to share some of them with us, as books.

S. J. Kincaid found her way onto my list in a distinctly modern way: she and her literary agent responded to an appeal I'd made on Twitter: that I was hungry for stories that asked interesting "what-if" questions. The first manuscript they sent me wasn't even INSIGNIA. But I am delighted that the next novel she wrote *was* INSIGNIA, and that I've had the privilege of working with her on the series, ever since I read INSIGNIA for the first time over Christmas, two years ago, at my parents' house, and ignored my entire family for the better part of two days as I did so. INSIGNIA creeps up on you as it steals its way into being one of the most engaging stories you've ever read. It's about a gamer kid, and I am decidedly not a gamer, but by three pages in, that no longer mattered because I was hooked, and totally on the side of intensely likable mischief-maker Tom Raines. I think Tom's character taps into something that exists in all of us: a universal desire to *matter*, and to make a difference in the world somehow, by using the talents we're proudest of in ourselves, which makes it a story that a fascinating variety of readers will enjoy.

Want to help S. J. Kincaid celebrate her INSIGNIA's debut? Check out the book trailer for INSIGNIA; buy a copy for yourself or a teenager or a gamer you know from your favorite bookseller or check it out at your library; "Like" Facebook.com/insigniaseries to follow news about the series; or if you're in Huntington Beach (July 10th, B&N Huntington Beach; Salt Lake City, UT (July 11th, The King's English Bookstore); Houston, TX (July 12th) Blue Willow Books) or attending San Diego Comic Con, you can meet the author while she's on tour this week.  Finally, you can follow the author on Twitter (@sjkincaidbooks) or read her blog.

Happy publication day, INSIGNIA and S. J. Kincaid! I'm so excited for readers to find and love this book!

P.S. I posted this from my phone while out of town, so forgive any weird typos or formatting issues, please!

Dear Writers and Artists of SCBWI-Iowa

I am coming to meet you! Like, tomorrow. Like, I should be packing my suitcase right now instead of blogging (but I despise packing, so here I am). But I am quite looking forward to meeting you all, despite the fact that it will eventually involve packing. See you soon!

P.S. to writers and artists who aren't in Iowa: keep an eye on the "Places We Might Meet" list on the sidebar. I'll made some updates and will hopefully be adding another conference or two soon.

WriteOnCon redux

 There were some complications with the WriteOnCon website today (the kind where two thousand people all try to log on at the same moment and crash the server, oops), so in case you missed it, here's a post from me about giving yourself permission as a writer.

Also, brilliant colleagues/pals Martha Mihalick (editor), Holly Root (agent), and I made our debut as vlogging fools, er, publishing mythbusters, and you can check out the advice and inadvertent moments of hilarity here. And, I'll also be participating in the live Panel of Professionals on Thursday evening at 9 p.m.; hope to chat with some of you there.

But my contributions are just a small part of all the awesomeness of WriteOnCon. Check out what's happening over the next two days here, and be sure to follow @WriteOnCon on Twitter for real-time updates, too!

In which we get our Write On!

I have been a very, very bad blogger this summer. However, I'm attempting to make up for my wayward ways by getting involved in this week's WriteOnCon, from August 10th-12th.


If you haven't heard about WriteOnCon, go check it out. Basically, 7 kidlit writers found themselves wishing for a *free* online writers conference . . . and then, since one did not exist, and because they are Made. Of. Awesome., they went out and made it happen. (Note to self, never-ever underestimate the power of writers with a good ideaa...)

Seriously, take a look at the schedule, and poke around on the website. Instead of the in-person workshops and lectures and breakout sessions of a traditional conference, you'll find editors, agents, and published authors presenting via blogs and vlogs, talking about every element of the industry imaginable, from craft to querying. (Yours truly will be both vlogging and blogging, oh my!).

Wishing for something a little more interactive, or that allows your questions to be answered? Then take part in live chat panels every night (come say hi to me on Thursday evening! Be sure to read the instructions in advance to get registered).

And because a conference wouldn't be a conference without a chance to meet other amazing writers, there are forums for conversations and critiques and connections.

And it's all FREE. (A.k.a, no "what should I wear??" panic! You can wear your pajamas!) You can follow along in real-time if you're able, as the presentations go live, or you can catch up later by scrolling back through previous "sessions."

Sound awesome? I expect that it will be! My hat's truly off to the ladies who dreamed this up, rallied the industry to take part, and then brought it all to fruition in a matter of mere months. Once again, the children's book community proves itself to be quite an amazing, giving community, abounding with enthusiasm and possibility. So...hope to see you at the conference!

West-coast bound

It's that time of year again! Off I go to the beautiful Oregon coast to meet a crop of eager, ambitious writers and get up to our elbows in storytelling and writerly craft . . . and then to frolic beside the Pacific for a few days in one of my favorite little corners of the world.

See you in a few weeks!

Your ALA mission

...if you chose to accept it:

1. Find me or Anne Hoppe in the HarperCollins booth, or roaming the exhibits floor, at ALA this weekend. (Hint, I'll definitely be in the booth on Saturday afternoon after 3pm. Anne Hoppe will be there on Saturday at 11 a.m.)

2. Tell us, "I am talking about YOU."

3. After thanking you graciously, we will give you one of these fantastic buttons*. (And an ARC** of YOU, Charles Benoit's brilliant YA debut, if you haven't already gotten your hands on one.)


4. Keep spreading the word--because everyone is talking about YOU!


*while supplies last.
**also while supplies last.

And away we go!

I'm off to one of my many adopted hometowns tomorrow, this time to Milwaukee, Wisconsin, which is home to my wonderful alma mater Marquette University! And the glory that is Kopp's Frozen Custard! And wonderfully friendly people who call their water fountains "bubblers" and their ATMs "Tyme Machines." Best of all, I'm off to meet the good folks of SCBWI-Wisconsin, who have graciously invited me to speak at their Spring Luncheon. I'll be talking about why editors fall in love--and keeping my fingers crossed, too, that one of the writers in attendance just might have a story in the works that will make THIS particular editor fall in love. Cross your fingers for me!

P.S. Please don't break the internet or Twitter or let Facebook change their design again while I'm gone this time, okay, kids?

California...California!

And...I'm off! To Monterey, CA for the Big Sur Children's Writing Workshop, which is put on by the fab agents of Andrea Brown Literary Agency.


This picture is courtesy of Google, and the words "Monterey, CA," so I'm not sure if it will actually look like this, or if I'll be anywhere this near to the Pacific, but right now, I'm choosing to believe so!

Cross your fingers that I meet some amazing writers with some equally amazing manuscripts this weekend! Oh, and you should probably cross your fingers that I actually decide to come back home to NYC, too, because if it does look like that, well--I make no promises!

Quick Conference Schedule Alert

Just an FYI, especially for those reading through an RSS reader, that I've updated my "Places We Might Meet" sidebar with my list (to-date), and as many details as I currently have, for the 2009-2010 writers conferences where I'll be on faculty. Click through the links for more details (if available). Here's hoping that I'll see some of you in North Dakota, California, Massachusetts, Eastern NY, or Oregon!

"I went to Oregon," she said, happily.

So, I already kinda knew this, but two weeks there proved it all over again: if I ever run away from home, there's a pretty good bet that you might find me somewhere on the coast of Oregon. Here's just a handful of the many, many highlights of my two weeks there:

1. Professional inspiration: David Greenberg has created something quite special with his Oregon Coast Children's Book Writer's Workshop: an environment with stunning natural beauty, filled to the brim with interesting, creative people, and with enough time and silence for wonderful works to begin and mature. As I am at every conference, I was inspired by the brave, smart, eager writers who were there to throw themselves into their craft for a week, and enjoyed seeing their writing grow in exciting ways over just a handful of days. A most excellent added bonus? Being surrounded by dedicated, fascinating, simply wonderful fellow faculty members, and hearing their sage and generous advice about the writing life, their stories of being storytellers and the caretakers of stories.

2. Personal inspiration: Walking beside the ocean for hours on end and losing all track of time. Collecting sand dollars. Studying the sounds and sights of the ocean in its many moods. Discovering an abandoned sand shovel and digging holes and watching them fill up again, and realizing there are analogies for pretty much every part of life--relationships, spirituality, even writing--to be discovered in the simple act of digging holes in the sand. Meeting a wonderful woman at the edge of Netarts Bay--a dentist from British Columbia whose name I didn't even get, but who positively delighted me by explaining that she'd realized a number of years ago that one should always carry a kite in the trunk of one's car--just in case. (I so wish I'd captured a picture of her and her kite roaming beside the ocean, but I'd left my camera behind that afternoon.)

3. Unanticipated Poetry: How I love moments filled with unexpected poetry! Inspired by Oceanside's beauty, fellow editor Jill recited (by heart, no less!) a gorgeous Mary Oliver poem one morning, and left us all a little more filled up inside because of it. And around the lunch table of instructors, an impromptu "Kipling-Off" between authors David Greenberg and Eric Kimmel amused me more than anything has in ages. It's a shame, I think, that more of us don't know whole books' worth of poetry by heart, because there's something truly wonderful about the way it can keep us company. Less unexpected, but no less enjoyed were the volumes of poetry on the bookshelves at my favorite B&B, and the afternoon I happily lost, leafing through them. And then there was the sheer poetry of waking up every morning to the sound of the ocean....

4. Connecting and re-connecting: After more than two years' worth of emails and phone calls, I had the wonderful fortune to meet publishing royalty face to face as author Virginia Euwer Wolff and I shared an evening of good food and fascinating conversation. I think we could have talked all the way through till morning! Lucky Oregon to have Jinny, and lucky Jinny, to have Oregon.... I also spent some wonderful hours talking to Judy, the world's most wonderful B&B owner, who I want to grow up and be one day, because she utterly inspires me with quiet wisdom, an inner sparkle, and and open-armed embrace towards all, absolutely all, of life. And I saw a college friend for the first time in nine years, and he and I had a wonderful evening of talking till the near-wee hours, and realizing happily how much we'd grown, yet how little had changed, except for the fact that we were drinking far better beer than we ever did in college!

5. Small joys: And right up there with many other delights (Visiting Kennedy School! Getting lost among the stacks at Powell's! Savoring Tillamook ice cream! Daily visits to Brewin' in the Wind, a perfect little indie coffee shop that I wish I could transport into Brooklyn! Roaming along the Willamette River and into downtown Portland on a perfect-weather day! Fresh clam chowder and marionberries galore!)--was the world's most comfortable hotel bed, EVER. But for the stupid details of airline security, I totally would have somehow smuggled it home with me!

Now I'm back, staring down a multitude of copy deadlines and an apartment that oh-so-desperately needs cleaning...but instead, well, I've been googling for kites. Because urban-NYC-life-sans-car or not, I think I need to keep one on hand, just in case.

But I'm sure I'm not the only one who's been roaming lately, right? Distract me from my deadlines! Tell me about some of your own summer adventures, discoveries, and delights!