Marcia Thornton Jones's Blog, page 174

Developing Characters by Darlene Beck Jacobson

A character has been living inside my head, making its presence known, on and off, for many years. I know it's a picture book character, not middle grade, because it speaks to me in a younger, more innocent voice.  It nudges me, cajoles me, even irritates me.  It wants, begs me to tell its story.
   
I've tried several times over the years to write that story.  Verse.  Prose.  With dialogue.  Without.

Each attempt ended up abandoned.  Going nowhere.  So many false starts that disappointed me and my character.

So I pushed it aside and let it be.

Lately, this character has been demanding attention again.  This time, its story has come through loud and clear.  Except for one thing.

There are few, if any, words to the characters story.  Only vivid pictures in great detail.  Beginning, middle, end.  Conflict, resolution.  Just like any good story.

The only way to tell this character's story in a way that makes sense, is to tell it without words.

How does a writer...a user of words...do such a thing?  I'm not an illustrator and my stick drawings would not do justice to this characters tale.

Dare I attempt to "write" a wordless story?

The character is insistent, relentless, and speaks in a voice that is loud and clear.

A voice without words.   

My Kind of Rain

(Plus a Giveaway from Jody Feldman)  Some of you — okay, maybe many of you — already know about the rain that made The Gollywhopper Games grow from a stand-alone book, to a series.

It was simply the readers.
There were a lot of them; a lot more than I could ever dream of. And so to celebrate the launch, in just 10 days, of #3, The Gollywhopper Games: Friend or Foe, I’m giving away 3 copies. Enter below.

P.S.
Do me a favor? Find any opportunity to keep reading and to keep kids reading books from the entire kidlit community. Thanks!











 a Rafflecopter giveaway

April Theme: Catching RaindropsBy Marcia Thornton JonesI’...

April Theme: Catching RaindropsBy Marcia Thornton Jones
I’ve published 133 books, and the seed sprouting each was unique.
·         VAMPIRES DON’T WEAR POLKA DOTS started with a bad day I had as a teacher.·         CHAMP started with a freewriting scene about a kid trying to do something that he’s not good at.·         RATFINK started with two kids in the front row of an author talk that were pestering each other.·         WOODFORD BRAVE started when I heard a kid Double Dog Dare another kid in one of my classes.
The process for completing each was equally diverse. Many were tossed back and forth between Debbie Dadey and me in our version of hot-potato writing. Some developed organically while freewriting scene after scene. Others were written from loose outlines.
“What I need is a better process,” thought I at one point.
So I studied plot structure with the goal of developing a more efficient process—something nice and neat and easy. A few of my favorite resources include:
·       NEGATIVE TRAIT THESAURUS by Angela Ackerman and Becca Puglisi·       PLOT WHISPERER and PLOT WHISPERER WORKBOOK by Martha Alderson·       GOAL, MOTIVATION, & CONFLICT by Debra Dixon·       FIRE IN FICTION by Donald Maas·       BOOK IN A MONTH by Victoria Lynn Schmidt, Ph.D.·       SAVE THE CAT by Blake Snyder
Fast forward to now. I’m starting a new mid-grade novel. The seed for it started with a character’s name and historical era. Funny how things like this just pop into a writer’s mind and won’t go away!
“Perfect!” thought I. “I have a character and setting. Now all I need is her goal, a negative trait, a flawed belief system, a worthy opponent, an inciting incident and key event, a few plot points, a B-story, the temporary triumph, a reversal, and a really good climax during which my character’s transformation is revealed.”
Easy-peasy, right? (That’s a rhetorical question—I know you know the answer.)
Getting a firm grasp on a plot fit for my character has been about as easy as catching raindrops in the palm of my hand while huddling under an umbrella.
In other words: Damn near impossible.
The thought of giving up occurred to me. But giving up means my character will cease to exist. Can’t have that! Instead, I’ve decided to try not to try quite so hard! First, I’m going to immerse myself in the world of my character by freewriting.
·         Who is my main character? What makes her unique? What does she think about her family? What kinds of friends does she attract? What kind of enemies? What does she want me to know? What does she think about in the middle of the night? What does she believe? What lies does she tell people? What lies does she tell herself?·         What is the story world like? What’s happening in the big wide world? In her town? In her neighborhood? What’s happening at school? In her friends’ homes? In hers?·         What themes keep popping up? What universal lessons does my character embody? What’s the point of the story?·         What kid events could embody the themes of the times? What kid conflict might illustrate the universal lesson in action?
While I’m exploring with freewriting, I’ll also soak up details by researching the era in which my story takes place—noting what resonates for whatever reason. Maybe it’s a tidbit I find fascinating. Maybe it’s something that reminds me of the character. Maybe it’s just a fact that makes me stop and say, “Well, hunh!”
After I’m thoroughly drenched with ideas and scene snippets, I’ll dip my toes back into those books on structure; straining the ideas to see which could be plot elements, which might develop into a scene, which illustrate theme. And the ideas that don’t fit the story? I’ll dump them back into the rain barrel and save them for when my muse is thirsty again.
Evidently, the process for this story is about learning how to rekindle writing joy by splashing around in puddles for a while. After all, it’s a lot easier to catch raindrops in an upturned umbrella than in the palm of my hand!

Sweat and Tears -- Jane Kelley

It's raining today. When I was a child growing up in Wisconsin, we were desperate for spring. Unfortunately when it came, it was often cold and rainy. We wanted the adults to wave their arms and sweep away the clouds. Instead they offered slim comfort and said: April showers bring May flowers.

Of course they were right. I'm older now; I'm kind of wiser. I'm a mother; I learned patience. I'm a writer; I know a character takes time to grow. And so I wondered how I nurture the flickers of my imagination? I hope there's the sunshine of inspiration. I try to offer fertile ground. But mostly I provide rain in the form of sweat and tears.

Sweat. Because it's hard work. Don't let anyone ever tell you it isn't. There's research--because you have to get the facts about incantation bowls right even though this is fiction. There's world building-- because even if you're writing about your city, you have to describe that obelisk behind the Metropolitan museum to someone who's never seen it before. There's tension to build, clues to place, and multiple balls to juggle in the air.

Tears. Because you care about the character. Of course you care! Why else would you choose her? She's going through the pain you felt when you were humiliated that time (which is still too painful for me to tell you about). She's daring to stare at the glittering skyscrapers and dream. She's wanting more than an ordinary life. And she isn't getting it…. at least not yet.

But she will. Because thank goodness this is middle grade fiction and it's okay to have a happy ending.

April showers bring May flowers. Sweat and tears eventually bring this book which will be on the shelves in July.


BOOK OF DARES FOR LOST FRIENDS

Talking with Holly Schindler about FIFTH AVENUE FIDOS by Deborah Lytton

Today, as a special feature, I am happy to share with you my interview with the immensely talented Holly Schindler about her contemporary, comedic adult novel, Fifth Avenue Fidos. Holly is the author of four traditionally published books; her work has received starred reviews in Booklist and Publishers Weekly, has won silver and gold medals in ForeWord Reviews Book of the Year and the IPPY Awards, respectively, has been featured on Booklist’s Best First Novels for Youth and School Library Journal’s What’s Hot in YA, and has been a PW Pick of the Week. Fifth Avenue Fidos is her first independently published book. She is owned by a Pekingese named Jake and can be found working on her next book in her hometown of Springfield, Missouri.  



 Here is a little bit about Fifth Avenue Fidos:



Once upon a time, in a magical metropolitan kingdom…OR: When a mutt from Queens meets a purebred Upper East Side New Yorker, it takes man’s—and woman’s—best friend to convince them what they feel is more than puppy love.
Mable Barker, a hilarious, good-natured sweetheart who is always the pal but never the girlfriend, endures nine horrendous months of bouncing between lackluster jobs in Manhattan (and suffering unrequited love) in her unsuccessful attempt to find her one true talent. So when she meets Innis, the ill-tempered Fifth Avenue Pekingese, she assumes her dog-walking days are numbered, too; soon, she’ll be heading back to Queens brokenhearted, tail tucked between her legs. But Innis belongs to the adorable yet painfully shy young veterinarian, Jason Mead, a man whose awkward ways around women have him dreaming not of finding love for himself but of playing canine matchmaker—breeding Westminster champions.
When Mable and Jason meet, romance is officially unleashed: they find an instant connection and shared goal, as it appears that Mable could very well have what it takes to be a professional handler, soon to be seen holding Innis under a banner labeled, “Best in Show.” As Jason and Mable get closer to putting a new twist on the term “dog lovers,” outside forces—Mable’s overprotective brothers, a successful wedding planner with her eye on Jason, even the theft of purebred pups from Jason’s Fifth Avenue apartment building—all threaten to come between them. Will Mable and Jason simply let their burgeoning love roll over and play dead? Or will they rally to make sure Innis emerges as the leader of the pack?
Brimming with humor and endearing characters, Fifth Avenue Fidos offers more than a simple, sweet romance. Conventions of love stories and fairy tales merge to illustrate that each modern-day princess has her own happily ever after—with a prince, another princess, a four-legged furball, or a brachycephalic dragon…Schindler weaves a heartwarming story about the loves that help us realize our dreams, and vice versa, about the dreams that bring us to our lives’ most powerful loves.


Deborah: Holly, can you tell us a little bit about your new release Fidos--and how you came up with the idea for the book?
Holly: I started writing the book shortly after my own Pekingese came into my life. (I’ve had Jake now for eleven years, so this is a book I’ve long wanted to get out into the world.) I also wanted to write a book about where I was at that point in my life: I was a woman in her early twenties trying to make her way in the world. Mable is definitely in the same place. 
Deborah: Your dog inspired the story--I love that. Which character most resembles you and why?
Holly: You know, they always say you gravitate toward breeds that have personalities like your own. If that’s true, then it’s Innis! (Innis was actually modeled after my own Jake, to some extent. Jake’s smart, he’s pretty stubborn, he definitely has his own opinion of the world. Hmmm. Sounds like qualities every writer needs to have, actually…)
Deborah: You might be right about that:) For readers of your other books, what similarities can we expect from Fidos?
Holly: I think all my books show some sort of humor—but the humor’s more up-front in Fidos.  
Deborah: I have to ask you about the indie experience. Can you share some insights? 
Holly: With the explosion of hybrid authors, the line between what is traditionally and independently published is no longer the line between what is good and what is bad. There are some truly fantastic indie books out there. 
Fidos was on sub a few times—editors consistently said it was well-done (a few even said straight out, “This needs to be published”), but no one had a place for it. Wasn’t YA, wasn’t adult. This was before NA, of course, but even after New Adult became a well-read age category, Fidos was still breaking the mold. Unlike most New Adult books, Fidos is sweet (not sexy), and it’s not about college, but about the “real world.” It still didn’t fit the traditional publishing agenda. Which made it perfect for independent publishing.

Indie releases also teach an author so much about publishing that they wouldn't learn otherwise. I've already done some remarketing for FIDOS; I find that New Adult is still a lesser-understood category, and the readership for NA expects steamier reads, for the most part. Once I began circulating directly with NA readers, I felt FIDOS was a better fit for the adult readership--which meant a new cover, tweaked jacket copy, etc. 

That's one of the beauties of indie publishing: nothing's carved in stone. You can experiment. You can learn and try new things with an existing book.
For those interested in the technical aspects of getting started doing indie, I highly recommend Scrivener (you get a discount if you’re a member of SCBWI), which will help you format .mobi (Kindle) and .epub files. I also recommend Ed Ditto’s book on using Scrivener to format e-books. You can upload the book yourself to the copyright office (just $35), and ISBNs can be purchased through ISBN.org.
Deborah: What was the best part of the writing experience for you with Fidos? 
Holly: I already had the manuscript, but once I knew that I was going to put the book out independently, I edited the book globally in accordance to my own vision for what I truly wanted the final product to be. I’d say that’s the biggest “plus” so far for independent publishing: complete control over the final version of your book.  Deborah: You have books now in YA, middle grade and adult fiction. What's next for you? 
Holly: I’m doing the sequel to my YA romance, PLAYING HURT. I’m so excited about this project!

 


Deborah: Thank you so much, Holly, for chatting with me today! 

Fifth Avenue Fidos is available at Amazon (currently a free read through Kindle Unlimited). To find out more about Holly, visit her website . 

Megan: An Exercise to Grow Characters

One of the people who most impacted me as a writer was Monica Wood. As I wrote about here back in Februrary, I took a one-night workshop with her that helped to get my focus and career on track, and then was lucky enough to take a one week workshop on memoir that she taught. Monica is the author of The Pocket Muse and it's sequel, which are chock full of advice and exercises to get your writing going.

In her classes, Monica often does an activity where participants go around the room taking turns saying a word which then becomes part of a long word list. The exercise is to write a piece using as many of those words as possible. It's a great ice breaker for a class about to spend time writing together, and I've used it in the classes I teach. I have also adapted it for my writing. I put myself in the head of a character and just start listing words. The idea is to capture whatever words might pop into my character's mind. I use this as a way of building voice, literally creating a word bank for the character. However, the exercise often also provides a way of revealing aspects of a character that I was previously unaware of.

In my upcoming middle grade novel The Friendship Riddle, Ruth has lost her best friend to the popular crowd which is headed up by a girl named Melinda. My goal was to push a little bit past the typical mean girl characterization of Melinda. So, I decided to write her list. I wrote: Pony tail and realized that Melinda was an athlete who wore her hair in a high and mighty pony tail. I kept going with my list adding things that Melinda might notice or care about, and then I wrote two words in order: ocean and lonely. The book is set on a peninsula on the coast of Maine, so the town is surrounded by the ocean, and the ocean, I discovered, made Melinda feel small and lonely. Now, this did not redeem her completely to me or Ruth, but it was a window onto her personality, a crack that gives a view that she herself would probably not like to see.

Melinda's sense of loneliness does make it onto the page, but sometimes these lists are more for me to better understand my characters. They are part of the work that undergirds the world of the novel. I know some people use questionnaires or the like, but for me, this type of exercise is the best way to let my characters grow.

Writing to Listen, Play, Discover by Irene Latham

The Writer & Her Niece, Evolving at Schonbrunn
Palace in Vienna, Austria.Aren't we continually evolving as writers?

To me, that evolution is one of the most irresistible and fulfilling things about being a writer -- the neverending learning curve, how the words change and we change, again and again, never stopping in any one place for long. For those of us with wanderlust in the bones, it's pretty much the perfect way to while away the hours!

And it's something that's been on my mind a lot in these past few months as I've journeyed through The Artist's Way by Julia Cameron -- and journeyed across Austria, Germany & Switzerland. Some of my thoughts on this came out in a blog post I did recently for Little Patuxent Review, a journal that so kindly accepted a poem of mine to include in their "Food" issue.

Here's an excerpt. I invite you to read the whole post!

"These days I reject the notion of writing poetry as my “work.” Work is something one does, an act, something outside oneself. Clock in-clock out. There is no clocking out of my poetic life. It isn’t work so much as practice. I don’t craft so much as listen, play, discover. If I could go back and tell my younger poet self one thing it would be, slow down. Pay attention. Rest. Approach the page with the reverence a bee gives an aster. The practice of writing poetry is a way to love the world – not a way to conquer it."

Also: Happy National Poetry Month! Some of my evolution is evident in once-ultra-private-writer-me posting an original poem each day this month on my blog. Holy imperfection!! I've selected works of art and will be responding to them with a focus on dialogue, conversation, what does the piece say?

Please do stop by and offer me a word of encouragement. :)

Growing Characters By Ann Haywood Leal

I am looking at the frozen New England tundra of my back yard, with serious doubts that anything will ever grow there again.  I'd much rather think about growing characters.  I can't make the dirt-streaked snow melt, but I can do whatever I want with my characters.

E.B. White said, "Don't write about man.  Write about a man."

I love that quote, because it reminds me that a well-drawn character takes a story to a completely different level.  If a reader does this well, she can make her reader laugh, or cry -- or both.

By creating real characters, a writer can bring out raw emotion in the reader.  I'm not only talking about realistic fiction, either.  I'm talking about creating a character so real, that without even noticing, the reader invites that character into his life.  Well after he has put the book down, he is quoting the character, or saying things like, "That sounds like something Bilbo Baggins would do." ...or..."I'm more of a Gryffindor than a Hufflepuff."

So to create real characters, you have to go out and look at real people.  Eavesdrop and study mannerisms and quirks.  Don't keep to yourself.  (Change out of your pajamas and get out from behind that computer screen.) You need to mingle--to be nosy.  You need to talk to strangers.  Strike up a conversation with the least likely person.  I'm not asking you to go chat up the meth dealer on the corner, but talk to someone who you think is the least like you.

Then write down what those strangers say-- and not just what they say, but how they say it.  How do they stand, sit, move?  What are they doing with their hands?

Write it down.  All of it.  Take a piece of one person, and a phrase from another.  Add.  Water.  Prune.  Your characters are beginning to grow...I can't wait to meet them.

SMACK DAB NEWS

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On March 24, GONE FISHING: A Novel in Verse by Tamera Will Wissinger released in paperback from Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Books for Young Readers!





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Wheels of Change has been chosen as a Notable Social Studies Trade Books for Young People 2015 by the National Council for Social Studies (NCSS) and the Children’s Book Council (CBC).  

Darlene Beck Jacobson’s Book WHEELS OF CHANGE was also chosen as one of this years 2014 Mighty Girl Books. Here is the link to view all: http://www.amightygirl.com/mighty-girl-picks/2014-mighty-girl-books   
  
WHEELS OF CHANGE  is published by Creston Books, Berkley, CA.       ISBN: 978-1-939547-13-2
The paperback edition of THE JUNCTION OF SUNSHINE AND LUCKY is out!

...Auggie Jones is coming to a Scholastic Book Fair near you...

Pitfalls Schmitfalls, It's All About Perspective by Tracy Holczer

I have been slaving over my second book for a long, long time. I originally got the idea for Lucia (Lucy) Melania Samantha Rossi's story about three years ago and whipped out a quick fifteen pages for the SCBWI conference. The premise had problems, but I fell in love with the characters, and decided she was worth the next chunk of my life. I noodled around as I started the submissions process on my first book.

A few short months later my whole world would change as I landed an agent and sold my first novel, The Secret Hum of a Daisy. It was a two-book deal and I felt confident that I would be able to wrap up Hum and then get started on the new project lickety-split.

Hahahahahahahahaha.

I didn't know what was coming. The year leading up to debut is a busy one. Major edits that required full immersion. Marketing strategies. Attending events as I wanted to get to know fellow writers in my area, a busy one full of amazing talent. Suffice it to say my obsessive tendencies kicked in and I did all sorts of spinning-wheel type things. Spending hours identifying libraries I could pitch to or fill out their suggest-a-book forms. Researching and then contacting blogs for interviews, etc. Hours and hours spent fretting about reviews and galleys going to the right people and wah, wah, wah.

Hours I could have (note I did not say SHOULD have) been writing about Lucy.

And the reason I didn't say should is because I try not to should all over people or myself. I feel that we do the best we can in the moment, mostly, and in those moments leading up to debut, the best way for me to tackle the massive anxiety I had about the upcoming changes in my life was to Sweat the Small Stuff. Not create a new work of art. Not channel my energy in a positive way. Not rise above my lizard brain and it's imaginings. No, I poured myself 100% into the task of freaking out. For months.

And I wouldn't change a thing.

Mostly because for the first time in my life I was all I'M FREAKING OUT RIGHT NOW AND I TOTALLY DON'T CARE. I don't usually give in to that. Usually I tuck in my shirts and eat proportionate meals and act like a completely normal person. Mostly. But there was something about the excitement and intoxication of realizing a dream and about a hundred other things I hadn't anticipated that just made me fall into a hundred pieces.

So now, I'm stuck with the repair (which interestingly, is a HUGE part of what Hum is all about). I have to lose some weight, get back to the gym and finish the second book in my contract (which, if my editor or agent is reading this, I have been working on madly since debut-I swear!!). But the weirdest thing, that thing that makes me feel no time is ever wasted? Lucia Melania Samantha Rossi? She has poured herself 100% into the task of freaking out, too, and it brings her world crashing down around her. I'm not sure I would have seen that as clearly or written it as well back then.

I'm not sure what came first, the chicken or the egg. But I'll take both (after I lose this extra fifteen pounds, that is).