A Fly on the Wall

Highlights from the Richmond Children's Writers September Meeting

Our September meeting was fantastic! Everyone is back from vacation and ready to rock and roll. Here are a few of the more interesting things we discussed:

We all like wacky picture books, but how wacky is too wacky? Can a picture book be too far out? Take this book for example: Dinosaurs Love Underpants. Dinosaurs are a perennial kid favorite, true. And underpants, as discussed in our August meeting, can work for a kids' book. Having said that, Dinosaurs Love Underpants, for me, was just too wacky. But . . . it is a published book, which is nothing to sneeze at. Just goes to show that one person's too-wacky-for-me is another person's book deal. We had some wacky submissions this month, and predictably, those stories drew a variety of reactions from the group.

After reading a chapter from a young adult novel, we discussed this concept:

"The wind howled" is stronger rather than "She heard the wind howling." This is due to fact that in the second sentence, the main character is inserted between the reader and the action. The first sentence makes the reader feel he is the one who is hearing the wind howl. That translates into a more engaging text, which is another way of saying the writing is stronger. Fiction writers would do well to take a good look at sentences phrased with "She saw" or "He felt" or "I heard" or any verb that tells what the main character is perceiving, and rewrite it in a way that allows the reader to experience the sensation as directly as possible.

A submission from a different young adult novel led us into a discussion about novel writing technique. Writing fiction is a complex task, and requires finding the right balance of a lot of moving pieces. Each scene has to move the story forward. It has to do at least one or two other things too, like develop character, set the scene, infuse a mood, build tension, and such. But the primary job of a scene is to move the plot forward. All those other things can be worked in. Each chapter, each scene, has to accomplish several different things at once.

If there were a goddess of multitasking, I imagine she would look something like this.

We will conclude with the September writing prompt:

Write a wacky action scence that weaves in two other elements (choose from character develoment, setting description, mood, or tension). Bonus points for including either dinosaurs or underpants.

Now, write away!

Not-to-Do List

For anyone who is new to children's publishing, here are a few common mistakes that are easily avoided. 

1. Don’t get an illustrator for your picture book manuscript. It’s the publisher’s job to assign an illustrator to the project. So if you are planning to go the traditional publishing route, you don’t need to include illustrations. In fact, unless you are a professional illustrator, sending illustrations in with your manuscript is a sign of an amateur writer. A few sparse illustration notes are acceptable if absolutely necessary, but for the most part, editors and agents will be able to “get” your story without any visuals. They do this every day.
2. Don’t mention anything about how much your child or grandchild loves your book. This is the equivalent of writing “my mother thinks I’m really smart” on your college application. Of course your child loves your story, but it tells the editor or agent absolutely nothing about the quality of your manuscript. It means your child loves you. Which is wonderful, but don’t put it in a query letter.
3.  Don’t rush. It’s not a race. Too many writers are in such a hurry that they send out a manuscript that still needs work. Or they send out a manuscript to any publisher at all without taking the time to find the best fit. That is a formula for automatic rejection. Be deliberate. Be purposeful. Be professional.
4.  Don’t worry about copyrights. There are all kinds of ideas about mailing your manuscript to yourself, or paying fees to register the copyright paperwork. Forget all that. The moment you write anything, your writing belongs to you legally, lawfully, copyrightedly, and every other way. The only way that changes is if you sign a contract that assigns rights to someone else.
5.  Don’t be paranoid about someone stealing your idea. Only you can write your story. Even if someone else were to have the same idea, no two people would write it in the same way. You wouldn’t want to plaster your manuscript all over the internet, but sharing your manuscript discreetly with a writing group or a critique partner is a good idea.
6.  Don’t give up! It’s very rare that a writer’s first written work gets published. Keep moving forward. What will you write next? Develop new projects, try a different kind of writing, practice patience and perseverance. You’ll need it in this business. 

Writing for Young Readers

"I have a great idea for a book." 

Great ideas are wonderfully exciting! The hard part is knowing what to do with it. How does one become a writer? There are many answers to that question, and one of them is to get involved in the writing opportunities in your community. There are writers who live right here in Richmond who have had great ideas for books and figured out how to get them published. 

On April 27th, the Mid-Atlantic Region of the Society of Children’s Book
Writers and Illustrators is hosting their Spring Mingle and New Member Welcome. This local event is perfect for anyone interested in learning to write for young readers. Best of all: It's free! 

WRITING FOR YOUNG READERS:

Changing the World One Reader at a Time

Featured Speaker: Louise Hawes

Author of Black Pearls, Rosey in the Present Tense, Anteaters Don’t Dream, and other books for young readers. Co-author of the graphic novel, A Flight of Angel. Co-founder of the MFA program in writing for children and young
adults at Vermont College of Fine Arts.

Meet and greet

Break-out groups for writing exercises

Book sales and signing

Refreshments

Saturday, April 27, 2013

1:00 - 4:30 p.m.

Richmond Public Library

101 East Franklin Street

FREE

Please pre-register by April 25, and bring pen & paper for writing exercises. To pre-register, email your name and break-out group preference to
SCBWISpringMingle@gmail.com

Break-out groups:

picture book (PB)

middle grade (MG)

young adult (YA) 

illustrators (IL)

nonfiction (NF)

Facilitators for break-out groups: Gigi Amateau, Ellen Braaf, Ginjer Clarke, Troy Howell, Erica Kirov, Lana Krumwiede, Meg Medina, Anne Marie Pace, Brian Rock, and A. B. Westrick.

Many of us from Richmond Children's Writers will be there, and we would love to meet you!

The Deductive Detective is on the case!

Last week, the world got its first peep at Brian Rock’s latest picture book: The Deductive Detective.

This delightful book is filled with everything kids like: animals, mystery, humor, and suspense. Parents and educators will love the fact that this book teaches reasoning skills-- like sneaking zucchini into brownies! 

Brian’s book launch party at the Children’s Museum was just as amazing as his new book. In addition to treating us to an author reading, Brian had a real-life detective talk to the crowd. Yummy cupcakes and rubber duckies galore made the atmosphere fun for both kids and adults.

Thanks, Brian, for a terrific party for a terrific book!

Be sure to check out Brian's other titles:

Lana's Book Launch Party!

Our own Lana Krumwiede hosted a book launch party for her terrific middle grade novel, FREAKLING, this past Saturday at bbgb's in the Fan district of Richmond. Since her book's main character, Taemon, is forced to use slight of hand on occasion, Lana hired a magician to wow the crowd with some pretty amazing tricks. Lana then answered questions from the standing room only audience and even gave a few clues about her next book. She took time to autograph copies and even provided cupcakes decorated with mini Freakling cover edible toppers!
Here are a few pics from the festivities!

 

 

 

Congratulations Lana!
We couldn't be prouder of you!

 

 

Kim Norman goes wee wee wee to NY Times

Our dear friend and occasional mentor, Kim Norman, has just had her book, I KNOW A WEE PIGGY, featured in the New York Times Sunday book review! Based on the "I Know An Old Lady Who Swallowed A Spider" story, Kim's little piggy wallows instead of swallows. Check out the feature on the New York Times online. Congratulations Kim! We hope your little piggy goes wee, wee, wee to the bestseller list!

Great Summer Reads for Kids and Young Adults

Roller Coaster, by Marla Frazee

This picture book captures the roller coaster experience perfectly! I have used it in writing workshops for elementary school students as a model for using emotion and sensory detail to write about an experience.

Kid Vs. Squid, by Greg Van Eekhout

This wild, wacky book is the perfect beach read for seven- to ten-year-olds who love adventure and humor.

The Scorpio Races, by Maggie Stiefvater

Okay, technically this book takes place in November, but it does involve beaches and ocean. This book has a unique story concept, cool folktale elements, and absolutely gorgeous writing. The fabulous Maggie Stiefvater lives in Virginia, in case you didn't know.

Ship Breaker, by Paolo Bacigalupi

A gritty, raw, post-apocalyptic adventure set in a futuristic version of the American Gulf Coast region, where grounded oil tankers are being broken down for parts. Very compelling!