Purple Prose:
YA

The growing popularity of New Adult books (most of which are self published) recently had me contemplating the name of this so-called genre. I mean, who the heck came up with it? But then, who came up with the term Young Adult? My son turns thirteen next month. That’s right, the boy who defied odds when he was born three months premature is going to be a teenager. But is he an adult who happens to be young? Hell, no! He’s still a boy.

Okay, so back to the term New Adult. How come after you’re a Young Adult, you hit college and are reborn into something ‘new? I mean, if you think about it, shouldn’t you be a New Adult for maybe a year or two and then graduate to Young Adult status? Wouldn’t that chronologically make sense?

And it’s not just New Adult and Young Adult terminology that seem screwed up. What about Middle Grade? Most kids who start reading Middle Grade books are in elementary school, not middle school. So, where the heck did that name come from?

Now technically none of this really matters. Many people (including agents) don’t consider MG, YA, and NA to be genres. They are nothing more than guidelines so publishers and readers know for what age range these books are intended. When we see the term Young Adult, we know the protagonist is going to be between 12-18 years old, and is dealing with issues different from those of younger kids and adults. When we see the term New Adult, we know the protagonist is going to between 18-25 years old, in college, and things might get pretty steamy between the guy and the girl. And in some books, ultra steamy.

Do you consider MG, YA, and NA to be genres? Do you agree that the terms for YA and NA are a little mixed up?

More and more fiction writers are joining the growing trend of self publishing. Some have delusions of becoming the next Amanda Hockings (seriously, who wouldn’t want to be her?). Others have realistic expectations and know what it takes to produce an excellent product that will be noticed. These individuals also know that it will take a while to grow their career, just like for most traditional authors. They do their research, and they based their decision to join the ranks because it fits their goals.

With YA, things aren’t as clear cut as for other genres. There are two types of readers who read YA stories: teens and adults. As we know, teens are not adults. When it comes to adoption of eReaders, nothing is truer. Teens haven’t jumped onto the ebook train like adults have. This, though, is slowly changing.

When it comes buying books, again, both groups are very different. Teens have less disposable income and most don’t have credit cards. They tend to borrow books from friends and libraries (although there are a lot of teens who do buy books instead of borrowing them). The majority of the YA books sold are being bought by adults. Some are giving them to their kids as gifts. Many are being read by adults who love YA stories.

So what does this have to do with self publishing? Plenty when it comes to your goals. If you don’t care who reads your books, just as long as someone buys them, then self publishing is a viable option for you. Currently, there are about a dozen self-published YA books that have made it to the top 125 selling children’s chapter books on Amazon. The majority of the books in the top 125 are YA novels.

However, if you hope teens will read your books because you deal with issues that are important to them (think Speak and Thirteen Reasons Why), then you might want to focus on traditional publishing—for now. With traditional publishing, your books have a greater chance of ending up in public and school libraries (unless they are banned, but that’s a discussion for another day). This means they have a greater chance of being read by teens.

What YA genres do well self published? Paranormals and science fiction. This could be because they tend to be part of a series, and this is a great way to develop a fan base. These genres do much better than YA contemporary books. The contemporary novels that did well on the list were all through traditional publishers, most notable the big six.

If you’re interested in self publishing, but you would love teens to read your books, don’t fret. You can take this chance to build your list. That way, you’ll have a solid base when the teens take over as buyers of YA ebooks.

For more info on YA ebooks, check out the following links:

Breakdown of YA book sales according to format
Are teens embracing ebooks?
Teens on ebooks
YA Confidential (scroll down for the ebook question)

Have you figure out what your publication goals are? Have they determined which path you want to take?

(You don’t have to pick only one route. It’s fine to pursue both paths. It just depends on your goals.)

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YARWA is offering the workshop “author branding in YA.” It will be held online May 14 to 25. For more info, check out this link. You don’t have to be a member to register.

Last week, Heather Howland (managing editor from Entangled Publishing) conducted an amazing online workshop. Here are some key points she stressed when writing kissing or sex scenes in YA stories:

• Avoid the cliches we are now seeing A LOT in YA stories. For example, the tugging of the lower lip during the kiss. Many of these things are found in adult novels and are not true to the teen experience. Heather rolls her eyes whenever she reads them in manuscripts. She’s probably not the only one.

• It’s all about the emotions. With adult novels, there’s more emphasis on the mechanics of the kiss or sex or everything in between. Not so with the teen experience. Make sure you have the visceral reactions (no clichés please) and lots of introspection. The focus should be on the introspection (something I still need to work on) and not on the choreography.

• Avoid being graphic with the naming of body parts (I can’t list them here because this is a PG-rated blog, but you get the idea). There are incidences when it’s okay, but this is when the character is viewing the act in a clinical sense. Most of the time, you want to avoid this. Examples used were Forget Me by Jennifer Ecols and The Anatomy of a Boyfriend by Daria Snadowsky.

• Write for teens. Don’t write steamy to make adult readers happy. Remember, the teen experience varies when it comes to sex. Someone who has never gone that far might be uncomfortable if you get too descriptive.

• Study how other authors do it (well). Below are a few of the books Heather used excerpts from to demonstrate her points. In the lecture (which I can’t do here), she explained why each excerpt worked.

If you have a chance to take a workshop from Heather (like Sex in YA), I highly recommend it. She’s a great instructor. Someone had a question about rape in YA, and Heather delayed her originally scheduled lesson to post on the topic. She also accepted anonymous excerpts from our WIPs and gave feedback on them. That alone made the course worth it. We all learned a lot from reading her explanations on why things worked and why they didn’t.

What cliches are you tired of seeing in YA or romance?

(This workshop was offered through YARWA, the YA chapter of the RWA).

(Geez, I’m dreading to see what google search words bring people to my blog now!)

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Update on the course I mentioned last week: Students will be refunded since the instructor is unable to finish the course due to health issues. Hopefully she gets better soon.

Why do readers of romance keeping turning the page instead of rushing off to clean the toilet? (I mean, other than the obvious reason.) It’s because they want to know what happens between the hero and heroine. This is true regardless if you’re writing YA novels, romantic suspense, paranormal romances.

But it’s not enough to give the two characters a happily-ever-after from page one (save that for the ending). You need to create tension and conflict between them, which is maintained throughout the story.

According to Leslie Waigner (Writing a Romance Novel for Dummies) this can be achieved by creating an emotional conflict (one that grows from the heart) between the two characters that has nothing to with the plot. After that, you can throw all kinds of complications at them.

However, don’t confuse emotional conflict with intellectual conflict. Intellectual conflict comes from the head, such as opinions.

Remember, at the end of the day, the reader cares more about what’s in the hero’s and heroine’s hearts than what’s in their heads. (Okay, you know what I mean.)

Even if the romance is only a subplot, you still want to keep these things in mind when you write this aspect of the story.

What keeps you turning the pages of a novel (and it doesn’t have to be about romance)?

Before I begin my regularly scheduled post, I want to send my prays and condolences to the friends and families in Norway who lost loved ones last week. My heart bleeds at the pain you're going through.

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First there was Perfect Chemistry.

Then came Rules of Attraction. (If you haven’t already seen it, you’ve got to watch this book trailer.)

And now there’s Chain Reaction by the awesome Simone Elkeles. (I met her in NYC during the RWA national conference. Trust me. She’s awesome.)

I loved the first two books (especially Perfect Chemistry), and can’t wait for Chain Reaction (August 16, 2011).

Do you have a book you’re dying to read when it comes out?

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I don’t know about you, but I LOVE IT when published authors share their writerly wisdom with aspiring writers (though I’m sure other published authors appreciate it, too).

Janet Gurtler has a YA contemporary novel coming out this month from Sourcebooks, so I asked her if she would share with us her favorite writing tips. In addition, I have a copy of Janet’s book, I’m Not Her, to give away (OMG, I so want this book, but I'm going to have to wait until my copy is shipped to me). Just let me know if you want me to enter your name, and include your email address in the comments. Sorry, this is only open to Canadian and US addresses.

Okay, Janet, my blog is now yours . . . .

I’M Not Her

“For the first time in my life, I didn’t feel envy…”

Blurb: Tess is the exact opposite of her beautiful, athletic sister. And that’s okay. Kristina is the sporty one, Tess is the smart one, and they each have their place. Until Kristina is diagnosed with cancer. Suddenly Tess is the center of the popular crowd, everyone eager for updates. There are senior boys flirting with her. Yet the smiles of her picture-perfect family are cracking and her sister could be dying. Now Tess has to fill a new role: the strong one. Because if she doesn’t hold it together, who will?

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Confession. I find giving writing advice a little tough because I think every writer has their own way of creating stories. Some writers need to plot and outline and develop graphs and story boards with different color highlighters before they even begin their first drafts. Personally the thought of doing that gives me hives. If someone told me I had to do that, I would get a stomach ache and run away.

Not hard to guess then that I am a panster. Usually. The book I`m currently working on, I’ve done more outlining and plotting than others. Mostly I come up with ideas usually characters first, and then start to write. Plot as I go. My method would probably give many writers hives. So I guess that leads to my first piece of advice.

1. Try to work out what kind of writer YOU are and then be true to that. Don’t let other people tell YOU what you have to do. If you want to storyboard and plot, do that. If you want to sit down and write do THAT. But pay attention to what works for you and keep an open mind to new techniques or strategies. Take what you can use from books and other but listen to your gut. Guts are usually pretty honest with us.

2. On the other hand, be flexible with your instincts. I’ve found that some books come out different than others. Some books need hours of research, some books need more revisions and plotting. Some books are really hard to write. Some fly on the pages. Learn to trust each book’s individual process.

3. Read. Read within your genre. Try to see what other writers have done to make things work. Read for pleasure but also read with a writer’s eye. Why does something in a scene or a character resonate so well with you? How does the author use pacing etc. to heighten the reader’s experience?

4. Try to write every day. Make it a small goal if that’s what suits your lifestyle. I make it a goal to write 500 words a day. 2 pages. It doesn’t sound like much but it keeps me inside a story I’m working on. And for a 60,000 page book that’s only 120 days for a first draft. (And yes. I did have to consult a calculator to figure that out) On days when you’re in a good writing groove or involved in a particular scene and want to write more, that’s perfectly acceptable too.

5. Try not to edit as you go. It’s usually better to get that first draft on the page and go back and finish it after. That said, I usually re-read at least a few pages before I continue on so I can get my head back in the story. And I did hear one author speak who basically edited the entire thing as she went along so by the time she was finished-- it was a final copy. But in general, getting out the first draft is the most important part. Revision comes next.

6. Find someone (or someone’s) you trust to read your story before you madly send it off to an agent or an editor. I have patience issues and one of the mistakes I made (over and over) when I first started writing was being in a hurry and sending my writing off too soon. Even with an agent it’s still a good idea to get feedback from trusted beta readers before a manuscript goes off. I believe that critiques are really important from someone you trust. Another set of eyes can see things that you are too close to see.

7. This leads me to the next piece of advice. You don’t have to take every piece of advice you receive from someone critiquing your work. Someone else can give you outside perspective and help to pinpoint pacing problems or plot flaws or weaknesses. You also have to learn to trust yourself and your gut feeling about your story. Try not to let others have TOO much influence. Don’t let others re-write for you. Stay true to your own voice.

8. Use craft books and take from them what works for you. My favourite book is still Donald Maass’s Writing the Breakout Novel workbook. I love the hands on exercises and usually use the book after I’ve finished a first draft. Another book I found really great was, The Weekend Novelist by Robert J Ray and Bret Norris.

9. If you can afford it, go to conferences or workshops. If you can’t afford it, don’t stress over it. The online writing community is blooming with writing advice. Agent blogs, author blogs, editor’s blogs, they all contain a wealth of the information.

10. Nurture your inner writer. Talk to other writers. If you don’t know writers, try to find some in your community. Seek out groups like the SCWBI or try to connect on The Blue Board. Most writers are pretty passionate about the craft and man there’s nothing quite like sharing writing experiences with people who truly GET what you’re talking about. It`s hugely rewarding and great for your motivation.

Finally remember there are always exceptions to every rule. Try to remember it`s not a race and it`s not you versus another author. Each of us has our own journey, our own path to publication. Someone is always going to get an agent faster, or get a better agent, a quicker book deal or a bigger advance. There`s not one way to get to the finish line. And anyways, who even knows what the finish line is.

It`s hard, but try to enjoy your own process. In the end, the only thing we truly control is the writing. Have fun with it!

Janet lives close to the Rocky Mountains, in Calgary, Alberta with her husband and son and spends most of her days with her laptop on her lap.

I’M NOT HER is her first YA release with Sourcebooks Teen Fire. It will be followed by IF I TELL in October, 2011.

©Stina Lindenblatt

I’ve seen this question a lot on the internet lately: Why do you write [fill in the blank] novels? Good question. What is it that calls to you to write a certain genre?

I could answer this like many YA writers do by saying I love writing about the Firsts. First kiss. First boyfriend. First taste of freedom. But this is the real reason I write it . . . .

You go to the hiding place in your room where you’ve stashed the knife, its blade seductively sharp. No one will notice, it reminds you. You’re perfectly safe.

You pull up the sleeve of your long-sleeved t-shirt, and find an empty spot. Or maybe, like a diabetic readying herself for her insulin shot, you search for another site. One less used. Maybe your thigh.

With pressure, you draw the blade across your skin, relishing the stinging bite. The physical pain is welcomed. Wanted. Craved. Anything to numb the other pain. The one you’ve cleverly hidden from your friends and family. They don’t know. So easily fooled.

Your heart sinks. There’s nothing more than a deep impression. Not enough to draw blood. You try again, this time a little harder. By the time you’ve finished, pinprick-sized drops of blood peak from the first attempt. Oh, well, guess you didn’t have to do it twice after all. Now you have two cuts to deal with.

Deep down you know what you’re doing is wrong, but you can’t help yourself. The release you feel afterwards is worth it. And sure, writing GUYS ARE ASSHOLES in permanent ink might be a more effective reminder. But that would be harder to explain than the cuts. At least with the cuts you can lie. You can tell people a branch scratched you. The thicker ones you can explain happened while canoeing. But better yet, you don’t let people see them in the first place. Especially while they’re healing.

I wasn’t a teen when this became a bitter part of my reality, but I was pretty close to it. I was in university at the time. I thought I was the only person who did this. I had no idea until a few years ago that there was even a name for it. No one talked about it. It was never mentioned in any of the books I read. Sure, there were books that talked about suicide, but these were adult novels. And cutting is NOT the same as entertaining suicidal thoughts and acting on them. Not even close.

Back when I was a teen, there were no YA stories about cutting, rape, suicide, depression, eating disorders, drugs. There were no novels that reached out to give hope to those going through these realities, to show them that there was help available, that they weren’t alone. That there were other teens dealing with the same issues.

Some people think these topics (including sex) should be excluded from YA novels. If we don’t talk about them, teens won’t do them. But that’s not true. When I was a teen, books didn’t talk about these things, but teens still did them. To me, the role of a YA writer is to reach out to a teen who’s struggling with an issue in her life (or knows someone who is going through the same thing). Maybe not necessarily these big issues. There are many smaller ones that most teens face that are no less important to them and that make great stories, including the first kiss, first boyfriend, betrayal by the best friend.

So, why do I write and read YA? For the firsts. For the raw honesty and emotion. And let’s face it, for the hot guys (the ones who are sweet and endearing).

Question:

Why do you write the genre(s) that you’re writing?

Or

How do you feel about these tougher issues being deal with in YA novels?

(Notes: 1. Okay, before you all freak out on me. That dark point in my life is over. Fortunately, I was eventually able to heal, and have since learned different coping mechanisms to deal with stress and emotional pain. 2. Thank you, Sarah Fine, for blogging about cutting and the YA novel, Willow, both which were the inspiration for this post. )

In celebration of her newly released book, Like Mandarin (my copy is in the mail somewhere over Canada!), Kirsten Hubbard asked her followers (and non followers) to post about this on our blogs:

This is someone we had a longing to be like as a teen.

For me, this describes one of my friends. Cheryl was an incredible artist. I wanted to be just like her. Not necessarily an artist. But someone who was so passionate about something, she wanted to make a career out of it. Fortunately Cheryl was smart. She knew how difficult this would be, so she planned to be an art teacher, too.

I wanted to be like her because I didn’t have that passion and dedication for anything. Heck, I didn’t even know what I wanted to do when I graduated. It took me years to realize I wanted to write novels (I was in grad school at the time). It was something I had thought of doing when I was a teen, but then gave up on the idea because I thought you had to be born with the talent to do it. Same deal with photography.

Now I know better. Now I know both come from hard work and determination. A creative gene doesn’t hurt either (thanks, Mom!).

This is the reason I encourage my kids to find something they’re passionate about, even if it’s just for now. I want them to have the opportunity to be just like my high school friend.

Were you passionate about something as a teen? Did it shape your future dreams/goals?

This is an excerpt from my WIP, Shot in the Dark (YA contemporary). Maddie and Daniel were watching a movie at his place. She fell asleep and had a nightmare. This is their first real—and I mean steamy—kiss together. Oh, and in case you’re wondering, they’re not dating—yet.

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“Sorry,” I say, voice little more than a croaked whisper. “I guess I should have warned you about the nightmares.”

He sweeps a strand of hair behind my ear, the same worried expression still on his face. “Are they because of the attack?”

The intensity in his eyes ignites a spark inside me. The warmth of it flickers hungrily, wanting, needing something more.

Half aware of what I’m doing, I lean toward him. His faint spicy smell soothes me, makes me feel safe. My gaze drops to his mouth then we’re kissing.

It starts out sweet and tentative at first, but the desire to soak him in, to taste him becomes overwhelming. With my teeth, I gently tug on his lower lip. A muffled moan escapes him. He tangles his fingers in my hair, pulling me closer, if that’s even possible.

The warmth inside of me swells as his lips part and our tongues dance together, touching, teasing. It never, ever, felt this way when I kissed my last boyfriend, and I never want it to end.

I tentatively slide my hands around the waist band of his jeans and inch them under the edge of his t-shirt, eager to touch and explore every part of him. Okay, almost every part of him. There’re some places I’m not ready for yet.

My earlier exhaustion has vanished. All I want to do is keep kissing him and escape the memory of my nightmare.

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For more steamy kisses, check out the list on Christina Lee's blog (my partner in crime for this blogfest). There are tons of great ones to get you in the mood for today.

First, I want to remind those of you who signed up for the Kiss Already Blogfest that it's for this coming Monday. I can't wait to read all the entries.

Now for the That's YAmore Blogfest . . . .

This is an edited version of an excerpt from my WIP. Maddie is Nordic skiing with Daniel, the potential love interest. She's faking a sprained ankle after he attacked her with a snowball.

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Daniel’s so busy examining my ankle, he doesn’t notice me scoop up a handful of snow until it’s too late. He tries to dive out of the way, but doesn’t move fast enough. I shove it squarely into his face.

Laughing, I roll onto my side and try to scramble to my feet. Only this time Daniel’s the faster one. He grabs my wrists and pins them on the snow above my head while I try to squirm my way to freedom.

An evil gleam appears in his eyes. “You surrender yet?”

“Never,” I breathe, suddenly aware of his muscular thighs on either side of my hips, his face close to mine. If I thought my pulse was fast from skiing, that was nothing.

For a long second, I wonder how his lips would feel against mine, but then shove the thought aside. It’s so wrong on too many levels.

I try to twist away from him, but he tightens his hold. He then shifts his weight so that one hand keeps both of my wrists in place, and with his free hand, he unzips my jacket. The cold air kisses my bare stomach. My long sleeve t-shirt must have wiggled its way up during our wrestling match.

He takes a handful of snow, and with a devious grin, rubs it onto my stomach. I shriek at the freezing sensation and try to buck him off.

“You asshole!” Maybe it would have sounded more convincing if I wasn’t giggling.

He grabs another handful of snow. “Surrender?”

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There you go. For a much steamier excerpt, check out my entry on Monday's post.

How many times have you read a bestselling novel and let it influence your writing, but when your critique partner or an agent sees it . . . well the results aren’t pretty?

There are rules in writing we need to follow to increase our chances of landing an agent or being published. Some rules are flexible enough to allow us to bend them for creative purposes. Other rules are rigid. Try to bend them and disaster will befall you.

The trick is knowing which rules can be successfully broken. However, bestselling authors aren’t necessarily the ones to shows which rules they are. These writers have more leeway than the rest of us.

Examples: (These are from a few of my favorite YA authors.)

Flashbacks

Because flashbacks pretty much stop the action of the story, you want to be careful with them. Keep them as short as possible, and only use them when necessary.

Sarah Dessen uses flashbacks a lot in her novels, but instead of the main character flashing back to a time before the start of the book, she flashes back to an event that took place between the last scene and the current one.

I tried that and was told if the event in the flashback was that important, then I needed to write it as a scene. Great advice. Sarah’s allowed to do it her way. We aren’t.

Dialogue

One of the most common pieces of advice says don’t start chapter one with dialogue since the reader hasn’t had a chance yet to visualize the scene because of the lack of context.

Same advice should apply to individual chapters, unless it’s starts off where the last one ended. I’m a fan of Alyson Noel’s Immortal Series, but she has, on occasion, left the reader in suspense because she starts the chapter off with dialogue, but doesn’t tell the reader which character said it. Sometimes it’s take you the whole page to figure out who said it. This is false suspense, and it's annoying. The reader needed to know who said it so she can visualize the scene. Of course, this hasn't stopped Alyson from selling books. And it hasn't stopped me from buying them.

Gerunds

We know we’re not supposed to overuse –ing verbs and the passive “as” such as in this sentence:

I take long, slow breaths, reminding myself there’re thousands of psychos on the streets. (From my novel, Still.)

They’re fine, as long as you don’t abuse them.

Alyson Noel has made it part of her style to use tons of sentences such as:

Leaving me to stand there, jaw dropped to my knees, as both doors spring open and sweep him inside before I can blink. (Dark Flame)

She can get away with that. We can’t.

Echoes

A few weeks ago, I blogged about repetitive words, phrases, or concepts that often appear in our manuscripts until a crit partner points them out. Some readers might not notice them. Others might be ready to hurl your book (which happens to be on their computer) across the room if they read the phrase one more time.

I read a book by a bestselling author (who shall remain nameless) in which not only was the phrase abused an estimated 150 times (sometimes twice on the same page), but it was the clichéd eye rolling. Seriously, I’m surprised the main character’s eyes didn’t get stuck due to all the eye rolling that happened.

Adverbs Galore

Too many adverbs and adjectives are the kiss of death, especially when overused in dialogue tags. Of course, if you’re J.K. Rowling, this rule doesn’t apply to you. But for the rest of us, don’t do it!

So what do you think? Should we take risks like these bestselling authors, or should we play it safe? And without giving away names, do you have any examples of rules you’ve seen broken by a bestselling author, which would be a big no-no if we tried it?

Edited: I should add that Lisa McMann (Wake trilogy) broke many rules in her debut novel, and it seriously rocked. So, there's something to think about.

As you may remember, a few weeks ago I won a blog contest. My prize was a ten page crit and a five minute phone conversation with Joanna Volpe (agent). This is NOT a transcription of the phone call. I scribbled some notes and as soon as I hung up, I was typing the answers like crazy.

1. What are your biggest pet peeves when reading the first chapter? (Note: Joanna doesn’t request sample pages with the query. Her manuscript requests are based on query alone.)

• When the writer starts at the wrong point in the story. Maybe she should have started on page three or on chapter two.

• When the story starts with forced back story. In other words, the back story doesn’t have to be there for the reader to get what’s going on. It can be delayed until later, if it’s needed at all.

• When a character has powers and the beginning opens with her using the powers just show she has them. It comes off sounding forced, and that’s a big turn off.

2. If you have key background information but don’t want to reveal for awhile to create suspense, how can you do this without driving your readers crazy?

(I’m going to use an example here without naming the book. I was stunned when Joanna knew which book I was talking about. Turns out she had been involved with the project when she was an editorial assistant.)

Example: In the YA book, the main character has witnessed her best friend being raped. She’s the last person to see the friend alive. The main character was drunk at the time and doesn’t report what happens. Her friend goes missing. Near the end of the book, her body is found. However, even though the mc knows about the rape from before page one, the reader doesn’t find out the truth until the climax. (If you want to know which book I’m talking about, send me an email. It’s a great book.)

Joanna’s answer: You have to determine what the main focus of the story is. In this case, it was the main character coming to age, not the rape and disappearance of her best friend. The latter part was the inciting incident, but the story was really about how the main character grew as she dealt with her guilt. Pacing, storytelling, and tension also play a role.

3. What should a writer do if they query an agent and land a request, but before they receive the request, they win a critique from a different agent for a portion of their manuscript? The feedback resulted in substantial changes. Should they mention this to the requesting agent?

If the agent is responding to a query alone, the answer is just send the requested material. But if the writer sent sample pages with the query, she should mention to the requesting agent that the writer won a critique in a contest, which resulted in rewrites to the sample pages.

4. When someone participates in a conference pitch session, how long should the pitch be?

It depends on the length of the session. Basically, the pitch should be half the length of the session. If it’s ten minutes, then your pitch should be five minutes long. It gives time for the agent to ask questions, but it’s also long enough so the agent isn’t still left wondering what your book is about. And it should definitely be longer than a one liner.

Can the writer reader her pitch? Yes. Agents don’t expect you to memorize them. [Remember, you’re selling your book, not auditioning to play a role in a movie.]

5. What do you wish writers would ask you during THE CALL?

She didn’t have any specific questions, though she likes it when potential clients ask how she works so they know if they’ll mesh together as a team. If she’s calling the writer, it means she’s passionate about the book and really wants to represent it. She’s trying to sell herself to the writer.

6. Do you have advice for writers who want to write in different genres, for example MG and YA, or different subgenres within YA (paranormal, contemporary, and thrillers)?

Write what you want to write. It really depends on the writer, and it’s something that the individual and her agent would discuss. It certainly isn’t a problem. Published authors are doing it all the time. For example, Suzanne Collins had a successful middle grade series before The Hunger Games trilogy was published. Joanna pointed out that maybe because Suzanne had the successful series first, the violence in The Hunger Games wasn’t as much of a problem as it might have been if she had been a new author.

She also said that if you write a middle grade fantasy series, writing a YA one makes sense. Your readers will eventually outgrow the middle grade series and will move onto your YA one. Bonus for you.

I hope you found the answers helpful. If you’re interested in querying Joanna (and I highly recommend it. She’s super sweet), check out these sites for more info about her. And make sure you’re querying what she’s looking for.

Mother. Write. Repeat

Literary Rambles

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I’m not a big fan of blogfests. But Steena Holmes is having one you don’t want to miss out on. Why? Because there’s an ultra cool prize for the best logline.

That’s right. Steena is hosting a logline blogfests/contest on Monday (which means there’s no photography post next week) to help us prepare for the MSFV December auction.

Last week, I talked about how teen logic and adult logic are not the same. This is an important distinction to make when you write for teens, as two of my commenters pointed out.

Riv Re: As a teen myself, I hate reading a book written about an adult in a teen's body. You're totally right, about the logic and emotions of it.

Alyssa Kirk: Also, you're right about teen logic. Myself (and all teens) can spot an unauthentic teen voice immediately and those are the books I usually don't finish.

In the book Inside the Teenage Brain, Sheryl Feinstein describes the remodelling the brain undergoes during adolescence. I’m not going to go into the neuroscience of it, though I do recommend reading the book. Sheryl does a great job explaining it in layman’s terms, and it really is fascinating.

When it comes to making decisions, teens use a different part of their brains compared to adults. Teens rely on the amygdale, which is the emotional center of the brain. Adults use their frontal lobes, which is the last part of the brain to be developed during adolescence. This is the logical part of the brain. The part that knows the difference between a good decision and a bad one.

A few other points to remember:

• There’s a huge difference between the brain of a twelve year old and the brain of a seventeen year old.

• "The teenage brain is designed for misunderstandings and misinterpretations" (page 19). Perfect for YA writers, not so great for parents.

• Impulse control develops with age. So a twelve-year-old’s self-control is going to be less than that for an older teen.

• Younger teens say one thing and then do something else, instead.

• "Teens believe they are indestructible" (page 31). Don’t believe me. Think teenage boys and cars.

• The teenage brain has the delightful (not) way of making teens feel like they’re the only ones to experience something. When a girl says to her mother: “You don’t understand. You’ve never been in love.” She actually believes it. Again, great for YA writers.

• "Older teens can better logically follow an argument than can younger teens" (page 51).

• "The emotional part of the brain doesn’t reach maturation until the person is about twenty years old" (page 51). Personally, I don’t think I’ve even reached this point. Maybe that’s why I can write YA.

Does this mean you can’t have a character who is logical? No, it doesn’t. Everyone is different. Our experiences, personalities, interests all play a role in who we are and our ability to solve problems. The point is to remain true to your characters and don’t treat them like they're mini-adults. They aren’t. Even a teen who is forced to take over the adult roles in the family, for whatever reason, is still not an adult. Her emotions will still play a role in the decision-making process, though maybe not to the same extent as for another teen.

Remember, teens want to read about believable teen characters. They don’t want to read about adults masquerading as teens. And they know when something feels real and when something's contrived.

Any additional thoughts, suggestions, or comments?

(And yes, parents, I highly recommended the book. There’s some great advice on how to make to most of the developing brain and to help your teen through those rough years. It’s the best book I’ve seen on the topic.)

I recently entered my query for Lost in a Heartbeat (YA thriller or romantic suspense—still trying to figure which one it is) in the Adventures of Children’s Publishing query contest. Our queries (which could be only 175 words max) would be assigned a mentor, and we would crit five other entries. We would then have a chance to fix them up for the final round—the judging.

During WriteOnCon, I received some great feedback on my query. I entered this contest to see if there were some things that needed further tweaking. Okay, the prize was pretty cool, too.

To my surprise, it was attacked. Some critters told me that my main character’s behavior wasn’t logical, and that I wasn’t setting a good example for other teenage girls in who are in a similar situation.

Three problems with their comments:

1. Not every survivor of rape reports it. Not every teen age girl who is raped tells her parents and/or the police.

2. If I did what the critters wanted me to do, then there would be no story, no consequence. And there’re definitely consequences. I just can’t tell what they are in the query because it’s a query not a one page synopsis.

3. These critters were using ADULT logic not TEEN logic.

During WriteOnCon, nineteen-year-old author, Kody Keplinger (her book THE DUFF was released yesterday—I can’t wait to read it!!!), talked about writing authentic teen novels. Check out the link for the full article, but here’s the main point:

What

Would

Teens

Do?

Scary question for some, I know. But that’s what you have to ask yourself when writing YA fiction. You have to think like a teenager when you write.

Not like a parent – even if you are one.

Not like a teacher – even if you are one.

Not like a big sister or brother or aunt or uncle worrying about the lessons you are teaching today’s youth and what not.

No, you have to think like a teenager. Plain and simple.

According to Inside The Teenage Brain by Sheryl Feinstein (I’ll be discussing this book in a future post), teenagers and adults rely on different parts of the brain. "Teen brains are ruled by emotion and adult brains by logic".

So for you YA writers out there, my question to you is (and you don’t have to answer here): are your teenage characters using adult logic or teen logic?

And my question to everyone, what are your query woes? Do you have any?

(note: since my query is now 217 words--thanks to all the suggested changes--I am no longer eligible for the contest. But that's okay. Hopefully I now have a kick-ass query. *grins*)