Tension in the Break out sessions ~GASP!~

ImageChef.com Poetry Blender

So, did my title for today's blog catch your attention? Did it make you wonder what the topic was about? I hope so, because I'm trying to apply what I learned about tension from my second breakout session with Author Mark Johnson. (Yes, we're now back to notes from my SCBWI Carolina's conference)

We were given a list of 10 rules for creating tension. I'm just going to focus on the first one. Maybe I'll touch on the other points on another day.

Rule #1 Start the tension ASAP!

So, I decided to look at the first paragraphs of two current books that many people are calling "page-turners" "The Hunger Games" by Suzanne Collins and "The Adoration of Jenna Fox" by Mary E. Pearson. I wanted to learn how they create tension right away. Here's what I learned from their opening lines:

THE HUNGER GAMES:
"When I wake up, the other side of the bed is cold. My fingers stretch out, seeking Prim's warmth but finding only the rough canvas cover of the mattress. She must have had bad dreams and climbed in with our mother. Of course, she did. This is the day of reaping."

WHAT THIS TAUGHT ME ABOUT TENSION:
Create Tension by leaving hints. Make the reader wonder . . .: We don't know what the day of reaping is, but we know it's bad enough to cause bad dreams. We also know by the set up that there is a tenderness in the relationship between the protagonist and Prim. The reader is left to wonder about Prim and what may happen to this character later in the book.

THE ADORATION OF JENNA FOX:
"I used to be someone.
someone named Jenna Fox.
That's what they tell me. But I am more than a name. More than they tell me. More than the facts and statistics they fill me with. More than the video clips they make me watch.
More. But I'm not sure what.
"Jenna, come sit over here. You don't want to miss this." The woman I'm supposed to call Mother pats the cushion next to her.

WHAT THIS OPENING LINE TAUGHT ME ABOUT TENSION:
These simple lines burst with relational tension and leave us wondering and wanting to know more.
Who is Jenna Fox? Why doesn't she know who she is? What happened? What more is there?
We immediately see inner conflict in the protagonist as well as conflict with her mother. These end up being key issues throughout the book.

WHAT THESE OPENING LINES HAVE IN COMMON:
1) Neither hit us over the head with facts nor melodrama. They reel us in nice and slow.
2) Both "hint" at the conflicts that drive the action forward through the entire book.
3) They start out making the reader wonder what's going on and makes us ask "questions"

Are there any other insights you can gain from these opening lines? I'd love to hear your insights!

Come with me to a place of fantasy

Brenda Posted a fun meme on her blog. Here it is:

Find a song that sums up what you think it means to be a writer and post the lyrics on your blog and why you've chosen it. It doesn't have to be your favorite song, it just has to express how you feel about writing and/or being a writer. It can be literal, metaphorical, about a particular form or aspect of writing - whatever you want. Then tag 5 others to do the same (reprint these instructions).

I'm tagging anyone who reads this blog (and you do not need to tag others), So, You!. Yea, you. The one with the eyes reading these words. TAG! You're it! ;0)


It didn't take me any time at all to choose a song. I already knew what to pick. Over the summer I made a slide show of our summer vacation set to this song. While I was making it, all I could think of was how much this song made me think of writing. So, here it goes:


PLAYGROUND by SIA (with explainations)

Come with me to a place of fantasy I'll take you on a seesaw. (I write fantasy and I want to take the reader along)
Come with me to a place that's by the sea, I'll take you upon a boardwalk.
Take my hand I'll take you to the sand, you and me will build a castle.
Ready set go, I'll race you to the wall, I will win I am the fastest. (I often have to tap into my inner child in order to write, and I want others to enjoy what I create. I want them to feel like thy aren't just along for the ride, but that they are apart of the ride.)
I don't wanna grow up, bring me all the toys you can find (this is reality. Growing up isn't fun!)
You don't wanna grow up, you can be my partner in crime.

I'll be sure to write you from the war, put your guns away its tea time. (I love the simplicity of this line and the different ways this can be taken. I think about going from one game to another, and how it's all about fun.)
Water bombs and tea towel tired moms, looking for a little me time (back to reality again. I'm a tea towel tired mom looking for a little me time. As a matter of fact, writing is when I hang up my tea towel and have "me time"
close your eyes and count to 35, you may never ever find me
close your eyes and then I realize you are never far behind me (again, bringing the reader along,hoping the story is interesting enough to follow, but not so confusing that they get "too far behind or want to stop reading."
I don't wanna grow up, bring me all the toys you can find
You don't wanna grow up, you can be my partner in crime.

Lets have fun let me out under the sun, will you take my hand lets see how far we can run
etc. etc. etc.

This is great! I feel inspired to write now! :0) Thanks Brenda

Click on the youtube below to hear the song. Enjoy!

Tales from the Conference: Writers are really Good Fairies! Good Fairy 101.

Remember in the movie Pinocchio when the Good Fairy floats through the window in her sparkly blue gown with her handy-dandy magic wand in tow? And POOF! She turns Pinocchio into a real boy.

Guess what!? That's us! Writers have a magical power. The power to breathe life into our characters.

My first break-out session at last weeks SCBWI Carolina's conference was with author, Stephanie Green. Her session was titled CPR FOR WRITERS.

I couldn't help but imagine my characters running around as little paper dolls looking up at the first bright light of evening (aka my computer screen) crying out "I want to be a real _______ (girl, boy, bad guy, etc.)" And with my trusty pen I point, aim and POOF! My paper dolls inflate like a balloon, their flesh fill out and voila! The Characters are no longer flat. They have been given life!

So, here's Good Fairy 101. Giving shape and life to your paper dolls:

Stephanie's major point was "motivation with emotion." Motivation is everything and it has to be strong and sincere.

ie: if your character wants to be popular. . . Why does she want to be popular? What is her motivation and the emotion behind the motivation. She has to have a good reason in order to be believable.

Stephanie gave a great writing exercise to help us conjure up emotions from our own childhood so we can use them in our writing. She suggested that we take 20 minutes (or whatever allotted time we choose) and write down memories from our childhood. Dig deep, try to find things forgotten and associate the emotions that go with those memories. Even things that may have seemed insignificant. You might be surprised at the results.

I was surprised to remember Christmas time, my cousin always brought a gift, year after year, with a tag labeled "To: Aunt Cecil"

I never met aunt Cecil. Aunt Cecil never can to our family gathering, yet my cousin always brought a gift. This Aunt Cecil was always a quiet mystery to me. Who was she? Why didn't she come? This wasn't an major part of my life, but it still stirred a great deal of curiosity within me. An air of mystery at Christmas time.

So, if you're ever having writers block, or are just in the mood for a writing exercise, this is a lot of fun!

hmmm. . . I think I need to go shopping for a tiara and a pen that looks like a magic wand. After all, a Good fairy isn't complete w/o such accessories! :0)

I can hear our paper dolls crying out to us now!

Happy Good Fairying!

Tales From the Conference: The Stories behind the Stories. What I learned from Anita Silvey

Saturday morning started off with author, Anita Silvey giving us a little talk about Our Greatest Children's Books and the Stories Behind Them. First I was thinking "OK, how interesting can this be?"

Answer: VERY!

First of all, Anita if funny with a capitol PH! She could talk about how paint dries and she could make it funny or phunny. But this lady did her homework. The content, along with her speaking ability was pure delight. Here's some mini snippets from some of the things that she shared.

**** The following words are not verbatim. These are from my notes. Hopefully I wrote down the info correctly. If it's not, the error is in my note-taking, not in Anita's presentation.

1) Anne of Green Gables started out as a Sunday School story. Big publishers turned her down. When she went to a smaller publisher, they said they would publish the story, but they didn't think the story woudl sell well, so they offered to pay her a $500 flat fee. Luckily for her (and her estate), she turned them down.

2) The Wind in the Willows by Kenneth Grahm = His editor HATED the book.

3) The Secret Garden = was considered an insignificant book in its time.

4) The Story of Ferdinand was meant to be a silly book, but because it was released during the war in Spain, it was taken to be political and it was analyzed as such.

5) Curious George was written by a Jewish German living in Paris. He and his wife had to wrap up his manuscripts, and ride their bikes out of the Country with the Nazi's 36 hours behind them all the way. When they arrived at the border, a German Guard stopped them for questioning. He asked what he did for a living. He replied "I'm a children's book writer." The guard asked to see his work, looked over the Curious George Manuscript, smiled and said "my son would love this book. You may pass through." So, Curious George literally saved the lives of his creators from the Nazi's.

6) The PB "The Carrot Seed" started out at over 10,000. No, that is not a typo with too many zero's. It really did start out at over 10,000 words. Now that's cutting down!

7) For Dr. Suess, No one would publish "To Think I Saw it on Mulberry Street" They all said his style was too different from the mainstream. He was about to burn his manuscript and give up writing when a chance meeting on the street brought him to the man who would go on to publish his book. He was known to say that if he had been walking on the other side of the street that day, he would have never been published and would have probably given up writing.

8) Gary Paulsen, the author of "Hatchet" didnt' put anything in his fiction that he hadn't tried himself.

9) Lois Lowry was encouraged not to write The Giver. They thought it would ruin her career.

10) Kate DiCamillo (author of "Because of Winn Dixie") was rejected over 4,000 times. Again, this isn't a typo. I'll type it again. 4,000 rejections. WOW! As a writer I don't know if I should be encouraged or discouraged!

I believe these stories (in more detail) along with many more are in Anita's book "100 Best Books for Children"


There was a lot more, but these are the ones that caught my attention the most. Anyone who was there, and would like to share anything else, please add it in the comments!

And the Lucky Winner of an Autographed copy of
LET MY PEOPLE GO IS . . . . . . .


BRENDA!!!!!!!

Brenda, contact me via e-mail with your mailing address and I'll get that to you ASAP! :0)

Congratulations!

Book Giveaway and an Author Interview with Tilda Balsley

I'm going to take a short break from sharing my conference experiences so we can have another Author interview and BOOK GIVEAWAY!

Author, Tilda Balsley has graciously answered a few questions about writing and reading and her picture book LET MY PEOPLE GO.

I was impressed with this book. This is a humorous and catchy picture book in rhyme. It's fun and memorable!

Leave a comment in the "comment" section below, so you have a chance to win a free copy of LET MY PEOPLE GO!

Comments will be accepted up until this Saturday at Noon. After that I will pull out my trusty tupperware bowl and draw the name of our lucky winner.

Until then, enjoy our interview with Tilda.

On Writing:

1) Can you share a little bit about how "Let My People Go" came into being. (ie: slush pile, assignment, etc.)

I wrote "Let My People Go" (a readers' theater/picture book) specifically for the children at our church who were studying Passover. They decided to perform it during church. Several friends-- who knew I was writing and submitting children's books --said "Well, have you sent out this one?" So I did. I chose Kar-Ben because their turn around time was so much better than anywhere else and I was reaching a "discouraged" point with rejections. I never had to send it anywhere else. From the very beginning, Kar-Ben has been wonderful to work with. Within the next few years, they will publish two more of my books: a readers' theater for Purim about Esther and Mordechai, and a book for Hanukkah (rhyming but not readers' theater).

2) Did you find it difficult to convey such a serious subject into a PB format?
While writing it, my goal was a fun, easy to read and remember, rendition of the plagues. I felt removed from the human tragedy. However, once it was published and my three year old grandson was sitting on my lap looking at the "bloody" water, I was struck with the seriousness of the themes. I found myself skipping over some of the harsher aspects. I never really intended the book for a three year old audience--but I've found they love that NO! NO! NO!. (And of course, it's meant to allow even a toddler to participate in a family seder.)

3) What do you hope people will get out of "Let my People Go"?

As with every picture book, every reader (listener) enjoys and benefits in a different way. As a former reading teacher, I know that the readers' theater aspect will improve the fluency of beginning readers. For readers at Passover, I hope it will enrich their Seder experience. For all readers, I hope it will be lots of fun.

4) What did you enjoy the most about writing this book?

I always love writing rhyme.

5) Do you have a current work in progress that you can tell us about?

I just finished a humorous collection of poems written from a dog's point of view. Children's poetry can be hard to sell, but children love dogs, laughter and sillly rhyme, so I'm hopeful.

6) What advice would you like to impart to aspiring authors?

Read what you have written over and over and over. Each time, be open to revision. Aren't we lucky to have computers to make this process easier?

7) How about a writing schedule? Do you have one?

I do not have a strict schedule, but I do some kind of writing (editing or researching included) every day, usually starting before breakfast. I'm a "half an hour here-half an hour there" writer. It can go on all day with other stuff interspersed.

On Reading:

1) What books or authors have inspired you the most? I'm inspired by other picture book writers (and illustrators). I still love those "old" Dr. Seuss books like "The Foot Book" and "The Eye Book." And I love Shel Silverstein, Lauren Child (That Pesky Rat), Mem Fox (Tough Boris etc.), and scores of others. >

2) What is the last book that you've read?
I just read Wendell Berry's "Hannah Coulter." It was wonderful.

Thanks for your interest in my book.




Now . . . Start leaving those comments for a chance to win an autographed copy! :0)

Tales from the Conference: My critique and Place your vote!

My SCBWI Carolina's conference experience started off with a 10 page critique with editor Martha Mahalick, editor at Greenwillow.

Martha gave me great insight and encouragement. On my current work in progress.

The encouragement: She said that what she read intrigued her and that she could tell that I had created a fully-realized world with interesting characters. My writing is smooth and dialogue flows naturally.
~squeal!~ That makes me happy.

But. . . . there's still work to be done.
1) my villian is too villiany, aka, too flat.
2) and she felt that some of the dialogue that included back story had too much info. There was a feeling that those sections of dialogue had a feeling of "too much info" for the readers benefit, instead of how people would really talk.

3) She thought I could give more thought to the Title. My original title was "The Search for the Charm Keepers" but she said that sounded more MG than YA. And though she wouldn't reject a piece based on a title, she said that there have been things that have come across her desk and the title alone made her want to pick it up and read it. So, if a better title can get an editors attention, you better bet your bippy that I'll work on it! :0)

So, what am I going to do to fix it?

1) I'm going to take my villian out for coffee and ask him about his childhood and what makes him tick. Why does he do what he does? How does he justify his actions, because surely he doesn't see himself as villian. How does he see himself? hmmmm. . . maybe I can get him a spot on Oprah, I'm sure she can get him to spill his gutts.

2) I'm not quite sure how to fix dialogue. The first step is to go through it again, find the places that need to be fixed and have my critique group do that too, and then go from there. If anyone has any advice on how to fix dialogue, please leave it in the comments. Any in put is appreciated.

and last #3) The title. I think I've decided on a new title "Unseen Enemy"
Do you like it? Cast your vote now!










Not onlly does Martha have great advice, but she has an awesome collection of shoes as well! and she says, I quote, "I think cute shoes are the secret to world domination."