Sorry to have been away, Esteemed Reader. I've been bogged down by finishing my newest book and teaching my first fiction workshop, which has been a wonderful experience, but has taken away from my usual blogging time. I'll be back to regular posting soon, but today I have something fun to share with you.
One of my best friends, Jody Sparks, recently surveyed my beloved critique group, the YA Cannibals. If a book can be said to be an author's child, these folks are the co-parents to each of my babies (even if they won't admit to helping out with
The Book of David, they're thanked in the back).
If there's one thing I've been trying to impress upon my workshop class, it's that they need writer friends to support and critique them. To my delight, my students are doing that for each other. It's with them in mind that I offer up this collection of my favorite writers because they're my writing family. If you don't have writer friends like this in your life, go find some.
Alexander, Shannon Lee
Shannon Lee Alexander is the author of
Love and Other Unknown Variables and
Life After Juliet. She's a wife and mother (of two kids and one yellow terrier named Harriet Potter). She is passionate about coffee, books, and cancer research. She spent most of her time in high school hiding out in the theater with the drammies and techies. Math still makes her break out in a sweat. She currently lives in Indianapolis with her family.
Find her at
www.shannonleealexander.com
Sign up for Shannon's newsletter at
http://eepurl.com/09Igj
Click here to see her face The 7 Questions.
1. How do you tackle working on craft? Do you use specific techniques like craft books, classes, critique group work, writing exercises, etc.? Or do you just read, write, notice improvement? Or something else? Explain.
I like to read craft books. Some are helpful and some I don’t finish because they are doing more harm to my psyche and process than good. I also listen carefully to critiques, trying to understand how I can improve my writing (not just one particular book) from comments. I’d love to take more classes, have even considered an MFA in writing just for the ability to go back to class, but haven’t pursued that yet. Some of that is financial and some is time commitment. Some of it is fear.
I also mark up my favorite books, so I can easily go back and find bits that spoke to me and try to figure out why. What was the author doing here that really spoke to me? Can I make improvements to do the same or is this specific to a person/type of writing? As you can see, I ask myself a lot of questions when I read! :)
2. What's the best criticism you've ever gotten? Did it lead to a craft breakthrough?
Agent Laura Rennert telling me the stakes weren’t high enough for Charlie Hanson changed my writing life. That was my first big critique/rejection. I’m glad I listened and made changes. I still struggle with raising the stakes! But at least I know that’s a hurdle for me and go into any story prepared to meet it.
3. Tell me about a craft break-through you've had.
I feel like maybe I’m waiting on this still. I don’t know that I’ve had a breakthrough. Sounds awesome though. Sign me up for sure.
4. If the idea of having craft break-throughs doesn't resonate, then tell me how you notice when your writing improves.
If I’m improving, I think it’s in very small and almost unnoticeable ways. I know I must be getting better at this whole thing, but it’s not in some dramatic way. Instead, it’s more like I doubt myself less. Or my instincts for telling the story are more closely aligning with the ways people enjoy hearing stories (so while I’m still not a plotter, my stories ramble less and move forward more). And I think my characters are becoming more diverse and rich in texture and development. Again, all of this is small stuff, like grains of sand, but it’ll build up over time.
5. Name each cannibal and which aspect of craft you think they are best at--only one craft aspect per cannibal. There's no list to choose from. You just have to free write it.
Jody—characters I fall in love with
Sarah—characters I want to simultaneously strangle and protect
Lisa—give me your skill for using everyday words so beautifully
Rob—intricate plots with lots of moving pieces
Josh—willing to reinvent his own worlds
Laura—hook, line, and sinker! Laura’s ideas for story hooks dazzle me.
August—characters that contain entire worlds within themselves (I’m still reeling in the best sort of way from reading his last submission!)
Fipps, Lisa
I am an avid reader and just finished writing a YA novel in verse and am working to get it published. I have been the Director of Marketing and Community Engagement at a public library since 2011, after transitioning from a 19-year career in journalism in Indiana and Texas.
1. How do you tackle working on craft? Do you use specific techniques like craft books, classes, critique group work, writing exercises, etc.? Or do you just read, write, notice improvement? Or something else? Explain.
I read. A lot. Three books a week, on average. I read for the good details -- word choices, verbs -- and bad details -- tropes, convenient characters. If I'm struggling or just want to improve an element of my writing, I seek out classes (Chautauqua and three times at Highlights), conferences, and craft books. I find classes/workshops are costly and time-consuming, BUT the biggest changes in my writing have come from them.
At conferences, because I've been in SCBWI for 18 years now, I usually learn less but get radically inspired. Critique groups are, for me, crucial. I know Linda Sue Park doesn't use one. She hates people trying to tell her what her book should be because then she gets lost in their ideas for her work. That's what you have to be mindful of.
I also just love to play, play, play with words. Having been in journalism and on deadlines for 20 years, I know how to sit down and write pretty clean copy grammatically on the first draft. That's very helpful. It allows me to spend more time experimenting. I also write fairly fast because of my previous career. What slows me down is word choice. I can get bogged down for hours looking for one, perfect word. I won't let a poem go if there are word choices I don't love.
2. What's the best criticism you've ever gotten? Did it lead to a craft breakthrough?
That's a hard one. I guess the best criticism was actuallysomething that was most encouraging to me. It was from Stephen Roxburgh during the Highlights Foundation Writers’ Workshop in Chautauqua. He's honest. Brutally so. I was terrified. He saw a story I have since shelved that will be my third novel.
We were sitting at a park bench on the corner of South and Park (LOL), and he said, "This is damn brilliant." I literally almost vomited. Yes, he said there was all kinds of work to be done (and I’ve since changed it from prose to free verse to create more work), but he said the emotion and power I can get from words and the pictures I create were brilliant. I was just at the stage of deciding IF I could become a YA author or if I was only cut out to be a journalist for the rest of my life. So those words were life-changing and dream-affirming.
Then when Sonya Sones, whom I adore, liked my work, I thought, "Okay. I'm a poet." So those aren't necessarily criticisms, but they were, for me, essential. Without them, I’m not sure I would have had the courage to pursue writing YA novels. But Patti Gauch's words of "go there," so simple, so true, so needed in good writing, stays in my head. It makes me take chances.
3. Tell me about a craft break-through you've had.
I'd say at the Masters in Voice Workshop at Highlights with Patti Gauch in 2016. Studying how other authors "go there," was essential for me. At Chautauqua in 2009, Patti had said, "push, push, push." I did from then on. But I didn't "go there," until 2016. Those two words say to me, go to where you are afraid to go. Say words you're afraid to use. Rip open the heart -- mine and the reader's.
4. If the idea of having craft break-throughs doesn't resonate, then tell me how you notice when your writing improves.
I can usually tell if my writing’s improving based onif I am truly happy with a poem. I am my own worst critic. When I'm revising and willing to scroll past a poem, or I re-read it just for pleasure, I know I've done well. I also know I've done well if my fellow YA Cannibals "get it."
5. Name each cannibal and which aspect of craft you think they are best at--only one craft aspect per cannibal. There's no list to choose from. You just have to free write it.
Rob - I try to imagine what he's going to find wrong with it because he will always call out something that doesn't ring true.
Josh - He's great with action details.
Shannon - She's wonderful with word choice and actions not true to a character.
Virginia - She's the detailer of the group, catching every little comma.
Auggie - He keeps me outside of boxes, freeing me to write. He's also tough, but funny, making me notice my errors more.
Sarah - She's great at talking out plots.
Laura - I'm not used to her style yet. Sorry.
Jody - She sees the whole picture and the dovetails and asks, what if?
Kent, Rob(ert)
Robert Kent is the author of the horror novels
The Book of David and
All Together Now: A Zombie Story, and the novellas
Pizza Delivery and
All Right Now: A Short Zombie Story.
Under the name Rob Kent, he writes middle grade novels such as
Banneker Bones and the Giant Robot Bees and the upcoming
Banneker Bones and the Alligator People.
Rob(ert) Kent holds degrees in Literature and Creative Writing from Indiana University and owns over 900 Batman action figures. He lives with his family in Indianapolis where he teaches courses at the Indiana Writers Center and is hard at work on his next book.
Click here to see him face the 7 Questions, which he also wrote.
1. How do you tackle working on craft? Do you use specific techniques like craft books, classes, critique group work, writing exercises, etc.? Or do you just read, write, notice improvement? Or something else? Explain.
I’ve tried a little bit of everything, which is what I recommend writers do early in their career. You can’t know whether or not something is effective for you unless you give it a shot. I’ve got a pretty good understanding of how I write and what works for me at this stage, but no one’s a monolith and I occasionally try new things to keep writing fresh.
At this stage, I only do writing exercises if I’m at a conference and it would be rude not to. If I’m going to sit down and do the work of writing, I want a shot at selling what I wrote later. I absolutely attend classes when I can, with the caveat that I always read something the instructor wrote ahead of time to make sure I consider them worth listening to. I’m always shocked at the number of students who pay money to attend a class taught by me without first having read one of my books.
As for craft books, I read stacks of them when I was younger. Now I tend to read more about book marketing. I find the best teachers of craft to be
other people's books. But I keep the audiobooks for
Story by Robert McKee and
On Writing by Stephen King handy and listen to them at least once a year. And I never miss
an interview or
guest post at
middlegradeninja.com:)
2. What's the best criticism you've ever gotten? Did it lead to a craft breakthrough?
That's a tough one because I've been given a lot of great criticism. One thing that comes to mind was not a criticism of craft, but a criticism of my behavior outside of writing. When I was brand new to writing, I wanted to tell everyone how excited I was to be writing... at length. I would raise my hand at every opportunity in class and sometimes I would talk over other students because I was just so excited and, also, annoying.
My mentor,
the great writer Will Allison, told me to talk less and listen more. He told me I was a good writer and that anyone who read what I wrote would know that, so there was no need to tell them in advance. And while I was talking, I was missing a lot of opportunities to hear important lessons other writers had to share. Also, other writers are more willing to give you a hand when you're not an obnoxious egomaniac.
Now when I have over-talkers in my classes, I give them the same advice. But I get it. Most of us have been that guy and learning to not be that guy is a very necessary step toward maturing as a writer. When I meet an older writer who's still that guy, I'm embarrassed for them. If I had my way, I'd make a law that ever new writer be required to watch
Barton Fink, which illustrates this common behavior and its pitfalls beautifully.
3. Tell me about a craft break-through you've had.
I've had many and expect to have more. What's the point in continuing to write if I don't expect to continue to grow and improve? I can't think of any one moment where I was suddenly struck by glowing insight that made a foggy world clear. Unfortunately, most craft improvement doesn't work that way. It's a gradual process of improvement over time that presents as a cumulative effect rather than a moment of pure insight.
But since that's unsatisfying, I'll share an anecdote:)
I had a writing instructor insist that I start a horror story at the first instance of violence, because the class agreed that the first five pages of the story was too slow and things didn't get interesting until the killer was threatening the protagonist. After that, the class was unanimous that the story was scary. I argued those first five pages were where we got to know the character so we would care about him when it mattered. But the instructor was a big deal author, so I cut those five pages.
When I submitted the story to a new workshop, no one found it scary. They didn't care about the character, so they didn't care what happened to him. I realized the big deal author, while not entirely wrong, hadn't been entirely right either. That's when it hit me that no one knows how to write perfectly all the time. We're all figuring this out as we go and doing the best we can.
I rewrote the five pages to three pages and opened with a promise of the violence to come, thus hooking the reader and keeping them hooked because they cared about the protagonist. That version of the story got published.
4. If the idea of having craft break-throughs doesn't resonate, then tell me how you notice when your writing improves.
I like each new book better than the previous, whatever the author's opinion of his own work does for you:) I have to believe my next book will be my best every time because it's necessary to my finishing my next book (nobody's motivated to write their second-best book).
Even though, if I'm honest, I don't ever expect to top
Banneker Bones and the Giant Robot Bees, which I wrote eight books ago. But with every new project, even sequels to previous projects, I try to push myself to do something I haven't done before. You can't make all readers happy all the time, so I try to make me happy. And why not? It's my name on the cover.
5. Name each cannibal and which aspect of craft you think they are best at--only one craft aspect per cannibal. There's no list to choose from. You just have to free write it.
This is a difficult question, partly because the other cannibals will read my answer, and partly because I depend on every cannibal for multiple aspects of craft. My critique partners are extremely talented. I also don't want to repeat the answers of the other Cannibals being surveyed. But if I must pick one aspect for each of them and only one:
Josh - Is great at sentence structure. I typically make all of Josh's changes because the man knows how to diagram a sentence. Often, I feel silly for not seeing the simpler version of a sentence that was hiding in my overwritten word pile.
Lisa - Is our resident poet and wordsmith. She always lets me know when I'm overusing the same word or phrase. She can also be counted on to select a better, more precise word than whatever low hanging-fruit I've reached for.
Shannon - Is especially good at catching little details, even when they involve a bit of research on her part. She has more than once saved me from embarrassing myself by finding factual inaccuracies in my stories.
Virginia - Is wonderful for moral support. She leaves smiley faces throughout my manuscripts, which lets me know what's working. This is crucial as constructive feedback is best tempered with positivity.
Auggie - Is great at pointing out potentially offensive aspects in my writing. I may argue that something I've written wasn't considered sexist or otherwise terrible when I was growing up, but that means nothing to Auggie with his younger read on things. Guess what, Grandpa Ninja? Times change and it's no longer cool to describe your characters as 'crying like a girl' even though your dear old gym teacher used that exact phrase at least 20 times per class. Just because society is sometimes accepting of a phrase doesn't mean it's acceptable.
Sarah - Is especially good at letting me know when I've gone too far, as I frequently do. Whether I'm too offensive for a YA audience or too blasphemous for a religious audience, Sarah lets me know when I've crossed the line. Though I rarely cross all the way back to the other side, I'll at least retract some:)
Jody - Is very good at making sure my story is comprehensible. She never fails to zero in on something I haven't clearly explained, or something that's likely to be confusing.
Laura - Is amazing at big picture/concept stuff. I would love to write a dinosaurs-in-Indiana story, but Laura already beat me to it. She's got some unpublished stuff I also wish I'd written, but now I can't. Sometimes I completely agree with suggestions Laura makes to re-frame the novels of others, and sometimes she comes up with an idea that's far better than what I had. Usually, I want to read Laura's version of someone else's novel.
Martin, Laura
Laura Martin believes in chasing dreams, and she brought that philosophy to her classroom for six years as a seventh-grade English teacher. She is the author of the
Edge of Extinction series. When she isn’t writing stories about dinosaurs and underground civilizations, she can be found in the Indianapolis area with her dashing husband Josh, her two adorable kids London and Lincoln, and two opinionated bulldogs. You can visit her online at
www.lauramartinbooks.com.
Her latest,
Float, releases on May 29th.
Click here to see her face The 7 Questions.
1. How do you tackle working on craft? Do you use specific techniques like craft books, classes, critique group work, writing exercises, etc.? Or do you just read, write, notice improvement? Or something else? Explain.
Unfortunately, I’m not sure if I actually do work on craft. I did that A LOT leading up to getting a book published. I was a creative writing major, and I took an awesome community writing class which provided me with my first ever writing group, but since being published (and having kids…which happened pretty much simultaneously) I haven’t worked on craft as much as I’d like to.
What’s been most beneficial for me has been working with my editor on my books. The more I’ve revised, the easier it has become to spot my own personal weaknesses and improve them.
2. What's the best criticism you've ever gotten? Did it lead to a craft breakthrough?
The best criticism I ever got was from my writing professor at Butler University. He basically told me to just get over myself and write a good book, and if I could do that, the publishing thing would happen for me. And he was right!
He also told me that I needed to write another book while I was getting rejections for my first book. It gave me the distance from the first book to see what utter garbage it really was. A lot of times we get so wrapped up in our own writing we can’t see the good from the garbage without a little help.
3. Tell me about a craft break-through you've had.
My one big break-through was about making a novel exciting for young readers. I call it my frying pan-fire break-though. If your character just got out of the frying pan, it’s high time you threw them into the fire and vise versa. I did that a lot in my
Edge of Extinction books…as soon as my characters were feeling safe, I made sure something showed up that made that feeling go away.
4. If the idea of having craft break-throughs doesn't resonate, then tell me how you notice when your writing improves.
My writing improves when I can get it in front of someone else, be that an editor or a writing group. I love hearing what people think of my writing. Creativity (for me at least) can’t happen in a bubble.
5. Name each cannibal and which aspect of craft you think they are best at--only one craft aspect per cannibal. There's no list to choose from. You just have to free write it.
This one is hard since I’m still new to the group, but here it goes!
Shannon—She really paints a wonderful picture with her writing. I FEEL like I’m sitting there watching her characters because she sets the stage so well.
Sarah—Her writing is so fun because she’s effortlessly funny. Even when she’s writing something serious, she makes me laugh.
Lisa—I will never be a poetry writer…but if I was, I’d like to write like Lisa. She makes you feel with five words what it takes me fifty…
Rob—He has really nailed the middle grade voice, something I feel I still struggle with. (note, Laura has not read
Pizza Delivery--MG Ninja)
Josh—SORRY! I haven’t read anything of Josh’s yet!
August—He writes fabulous and unique descriptions and somehow manages to capture his character’s voices just by the way he describes them.
Jodi—She creates the best characters. They are unique and quirky and believable all at the same time.
Prokopy, Josh
Josh Prokopy is a stay-at-home dad with a love for young adult action adventure and mysteries set in exotic locales. When not writing or looking after the house and kids, he loves to practice martial arts and brew great beer. You can find his in-depth reviews of dozens of YA action adventure novels, good and bad, at
www.yaactionadventurenovels.com
1. How do you tackle working on craft? Do you use specific techniques like craft books, classes, critique group work, writing exercises, etc.? Or do you just read, write, notice improvement? Or something else? Explain.
In the past I have read books on craft, taken online classes, and, of course, gone to conferences. And early on I definitely got a lot out of that. Before my first conference, I thought I’d written an amazing book (Just send it out right now. They’d be crazy not to publish it.). Within the first two sessions I knew how wrong I was.
But these days, most of what I do in terms of craft is just writing, getting those gut wrenching Cannibal critiques, and critiquing stuff for others. That last one is huge, because I read so much differently and more carefully when I critique, and it’s a great opportunity to learn about writing in a way that just doesn’t happen when you’re reading for fun.
2. What's the best criticism you've ever gotten? Did it lead to a craft breakthrough?
The best criticism I ever got was actually from my first Cannibal’s critique when I learned that many of the actions and reactions my characters were having where not actually in character. I was writing for convenience and for fitting into the plot as outlined – but what my characters were doing just didn’t fit with who they were. The advice was to go back and really assess each action my characters were taking, to think about who they were and whether or not this was actually something they would do. I have no doubt that my characters still do things for the convenience of my plot, but I try much harder now to root that out.
3. Tell me about a craft break-through you've had.
Not sure I can really identify any single break through. It’s been more of a steady progression.
4. If the idea of having craft break-throughs doesn't resonate, then tell me how you notice when your writing improves.
Well, I suppose I always feel like each draft I write is better than the last one. But ultimately, the only way to really gauge improvement is to show that work to a group of people who aren’t afraid to tear it up. That has its down sides, and after a harsh critique it can be incredibly hard to motivate and get back to writing – sometimes it requires an extended break. But no matter how crappy the critiques make me feel, the end result is inevitably a much better manuscript. Of course, to get that kind of outcome you have to show your work to other writers, to people who aren’t afraid to tear it up and will say more than, “that’s great” or make a few grammatical corrections.
5. Name each cannibal and which aspect of craft you think they are best at--only one craft aspect per cannibal. There's no list to choose from. You just have to free write it.
Rob – Creates incredibly compelling story lines. Even if the characters are sometimes reprehensible, you can’t stop reading.
Shannon – She’s capable of huge emotional depth.
Lisa – Gorgeous use of language. She can create rich emotional scenes with very few words.
Jody – Amazing character development. It’s so easy to fall inside her characters’ heads.
Laura – Does a fantastic job with plotting. Her stories are wonderfully paced and a joy to read.
Sparks, Jody
Jody Sparks Mugele was born and raised a Hoosier but spent some time in Tennessee, California, and Michigan before returning home 2011. She’s been married to her husband for twenty years. Jody has two kids, but sometimes others wander in and stay for a while. She used to do marketing writing, but now focuses on fiction. She’s also on the board of the Indianapolis chapter of PFLAG.
1. How do you tackle working on craft? Do you use specific techniques like craft books, classes, critique group work, writing exercises, etc.? Or do you just read, write, notice improvement? Or something else? Explain.
I do all those things, but find classes most useful. Once, I read a child psychology book because I needed it to develop an adult character who was a child psychologist, and that book actually turned out to be one of the more informing books on the craft writing for children. It really opened my eyes to specific developmental milestones I'd never thought of exploring.
2. What's the best criticism you've ever gotten? Did it lead to a craft breakthrough?
The best criticism I ever got was from Andrew Karre. I'd built a hero character who, at the end of the book, was discharged from the Navy dishonorably. Andrew challenged me to think about the current pulse and temperature of America (early 2000s, just after 9-11), and to ask myself how salable I thought the book would be. I was pretty sure I couldn't write the book without the dishonorable discharge, but I wanted to try.
I ended making enormous revisions and completely changing the course of the character's future with the Navy. And the story still worked. I felt like I was still being true to the heart of the book, which was about sacrifice. I realized I could write against my natural instincts and against some of my own values (I'm not anti-military, just for the record) to create a more marketable book. I still haven't sold it, but it is the book that helped me land my first agent.
3. Tell me about a craft break-through you've had.
My last breakthrough was with voice. I'd worked on it at Highlights. The next critique I received, all the smiley faces and compliments were directly related to work I'd done at that workshop. Nice to see the class had paid off. But it's not like I took the class because I felt I was struggling with voice. I just took it because it sounded really good. The best part is that I can take what I learned there and apply it to future manuscripts. Sometimes with craft work it's very hard to see the gains. But in this case, I could be deliberate in how I applied what I learned.
4. If the idea of having craft break-throughs doesn't resonate, then tell me how you notice when your writing improves.
Besides small break throughs like the one above, I've had one giant improvement that I've noticed. A couple years ago, I stopped writing "safe" books, which for me are contemporary YA books that are mostly hetero white middle class love-and-suffering stories.
But then I had this idea that was so funny to me that I wanted to write it just because it just seemed so fun. I said yes to everything including non-white characters, non-hetero characters, nudity, gender non-conforming characters, and a school setting that broke all the norms of a typical high school.
I pushed myself to write through fear and discomfort and the nice clear boundaries of a contemporary setting. It showed me a lot about discovering universal truths as well as empathy. That book is so far the best book I've written. I'm staying on this playground for as long as I can.
5. Name each cannibal and which aspect of craft you think they are best at--only one craft aspect per cannibal. There's no list to choose from. You just have to free write it.
Shannon—Her prose is like a walking into a bakery on a cold day. Just mmmmmmmmm.
Sarah—Action. No matter what her characters are doing, I'm into it. I want to know what happens next.
Lisa—Imagery and emotion. So efficient with language!
Rob—His plot puzzles satisfy! When there's a gun on the mantle in the first scene, that baby will go off in chapter three. The ending of
his zombie novel is one of my favorite endings of a book in all of ever!
Josh—World building. No details left behind here. I want his stories as movies so I can SEE them.
Laura—Still learning Laura's writing, but I love the efficiency of her dialog. You get to know a lot about a character from their word choices. And she infers tone somehow, which is amazing!
August—Character building. He's so imaginative! He writes Stargirls and Tiny Coopers and Viking God Balders and Don Quixotes.
Not available for survey: Sarah J. Schmidt.
Click here to see her face The 7 Questions.
